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Inflation Tops Four Percent; Trump Says Iran Has Taken Too Long; Platner Wins in Maine; Gates on Capitol Hill to Testify; Teen Sentenced for Fatal Stabbing. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired June 10, 2026 - 09:00   ET

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

[09:00:00]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: For us. I really appreciate it.

John.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, in Jacksonville, Florida, a suspected drunk driver plowed through the course of an ironman triathlon. Triathlons are hard enough without this. And the driver apparently just narrowly missed several athletes who were there somewhere on the course. There they are. They're doing the bike section of the course. That man now faces several felony charges.

In Louisiana, a series of questionable decisions. A man fled a traffic stop and ran right into a swamp that had alligators. You can see the thrashing going on there. One apparently got ahold of him. The suspect is fine and now charged with operating a vehicle while impaired and resisting an officer. No charges against the alligator.

A new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts right now.

All right, the breaking news. We just got brand-new inflation numbers hitting a three-year high, up over four percent. Much higher than when the president took office. This could have a major impact on the midterm elections.

Also breaking this morning, the president tells a reporter, just a short time ago, he is close to ordering new strikes on Iran.

And then a dramatic chase and shootout speeding through Los Angeles. We're getting new pictures in this morning.

Sara is out today. I'm John Berman, with Kate Bolduan. And this is CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

BOLDUAN: All right, let's get to the breaking news.

New data in showing inflation just hit its highest level in three years, now over four percent. And very clearly driven up by the war with Iran.

Matt Egan brought us this breaking news. He's been digging more into it. He's joining us right now.

Matt, what are the details?

MATT EGAN, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Well, Kate, the war in the Middle East continues to make life here in America more expensive. So, consumer prices were up by half a percentage point between April and May. That was in line with expectations. That's actually a cool down from the month before. However, that is just way too hot of a number.

And it's not a blip. If you look at this, there's actually a three- month average for this reading, and it's the highest level in almost four years. On an annual basis, prices were up by 4.2 percent. It's the first time that inflation is back above four percent since 2023.

And when we look at the trend here, it's important to remember that inflation is not nearly as bad as it was back in 2022 when it was nine percent.

BOLDUAN: Right.

EGAN: However, it's also clearly going in the wrong direction. Back when the president started his second term last year, inflation was three percent. It got to as little as 2.3 percent last spring. However, look at this, it's going sharply higher since the war with Iran started.

Now, the good news is that core inflation, which excludes food and energy, it actually cooled down a little bit on a monthly basis. So, that does suggest that this is not nearly as widespread as it was four years ago.

But look, our viewers, they can't exclude food and energy from their budgets.

BOLDUAN: Right.

EGAN: And energy is really the biggest culprit for why headline inflation is going up again. It accounted for about 60 percent of the overall increase.

BOLDUAN: I mean, yes, I would say so.

EGAN: Right. And a lot of that is gasoline. Not shockingly. Gasoline was up by seven percent. Now we know gas has since come down over the last few weeks, but it's also sharply higher than before the war started. And jet fuel has surged. So, that's increased airfare by almost three percent.

The news wasn't all bad, though. Groceries. Groceries were almost unchanged on the month. Some things actually went down in price, including meat, cheese and tomatoes. However, other things, like eggs, up by four percent on a monthly basis and lettuce skyrocketing 16 percent. That's the biggest one-month increase on record.

Now, look, for consumers, if it feels like you can't keep up with these higher prices, it's probably because you can't, right? Wages are still going up. Wages were up by about 3.4 percent year over year in May. However, that's not even close to inflation. Look at this, inflation, 4.2 percent. So that means if you adjust for inflation, real wages are actually shrinking, right? Paychecks are just not going as far. And some consumers, they've had to dip into savings. They've had to put some of their spending on credit cards. And that's just not sustainable. It's not healthy.

My former colleague, Heather Long, I think she summed it up best on X a few moments ago. She said, "this isn't just bad vibes about the economy, there is real pain, especially for the middle class and lower income households."

BOLDUAN: That is very important. She's very smart. And that is a very, very important line to remember.

It's good to see you. Thank you so much, Matt. I really appreciate it.

EGAN: Thanks, Kate.

BOLDUAN: John.

BERMAN: All right. This is important. And a lot of it has to do with Iran.

[09:05:01]

And just moments ago, the president told Fox News he's getting close to ordering new strikes on Iranian bridges and power plants because negotiations have been so slow. And before that, on social media, he wrote of Iran, "now they will have to pay the price."

This follows a range of back-and-forth attacks between the U.S. and Iran overnight. Iran saying it launched strikes on U.S. targets in the Middle East, including a base in Jordan and the Fifth Fleet in Bahrain. Iran's state media says U.S. strikes hit two reservoirs, cutting off drinking water to 20,000 people. CENTCOM has not yet responded to that.

I want to get right to CNN's Alayna Treene, live at the White House, with the president talking in a much different way, much different way this morning than he has.

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: No, absolutely, John. This is quite a sharp turn from what we had heard from President Donald Trump not even 48 hours ago when he had said early Tuesday morning that he believed a deal could be two to three days away. Now, of course, posting online that he believes that Iran has "taken too long to negotiate a deal," which he said "would have been great for them. Now they will have to pay the price." Those are the words from President Trump this morning.

I should note as well, he also spoke with Fox News, and he indicated that he was considering wider military action toward Iran, arguing that peace talks have continued to falter.

Again, very different from what we've heard from the president. And I note that over this entire ceasefire, which started back in April, the president, at least 37 times, has been trying to indicate that a deal is close.

Now, of course, I think some questions around, is this really, you know, is the president being sincere when he says this? Did the strikes, the exchange of fire that we saw between Washington and Tehran yesterday, the U.S. saying they were defensive in nature in response to that downing of an Apache helicopter on Monday. Has this really changed the president's mind about where talks are and whether or not a deal is actually possible? Or, of course, could this just be bluster from Trump trying to exert more leverage and pressure on the Iranians at a time when many officials, again over the past couple of days, have said they believed a framework deal was close? We have to wait and see.

Now, I do want to share with you that when I spoke with a U.S. official yesterday about the U.S. retaliatory strikes in Iran, they had told me that really they were designed to be a warning shot. You heard from CENTCOM saying that the attacks would be proportional and that they had came out and said yesterday that they were -- had finished. They have concluded after a series of those U.S. strikes and exchange with Iran. A question, of course, though, is whether or not they have been contained enough that both the U.S. and the Iranians believe that diplomacy is still a viable option.

Again, you know, this is a very fragile time in the ceasefire, not just after these strikes, but after we saw over the weekend the fire exchange between Israel and Iran as well, really testing the willingness of all sides and their commitment to diplomacy.

I will say, we are hearing, though, some, you know, potential signs that diplomatic talks are still on the table. We know that there is a Qatari delegation right now in Tehran trying to bridge the gaps between these two sides. We'll have to see how this goes forward. But I think a big question, of course, is whether or not this is the president really trying to exert pressure at this time or if he is sincere. We are going to hear from him, John, around 10 a.m. So, hopefully, he can offer some clarity there.

BERMAN: Yes. Multiple choice really about whether the president is talking tough or talking about, you know, negotiations. We'll see.

Alayna Treene, great to have you there. Don't go far because things could change rapidly.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: The Senate race in Maine now set. Graham Platner pulling off a decisive victory in the Democratic primary yesterday, despite the multiple controversies that have followed him through the campaign. Platner is now set to face five-term Republican Senator Susan Collins in a race that very likely could decide control of the Senate.

Let's get over to CNN's Arlette Saenz. She's in Maine for us this morning.

And what does -- what does it look like there today? ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kate, the real fight now will

be that general election matchup in November between this Democrat, Graham Platner, and Republican Senator Susan Collins. Platner overwhelmingly won the Democratic primary here in the state despite those controversies that have surrounded his campaign. But voters who cast ballots in the general election battles here in Maine are typically very different from those Democratic primary voters, really raising questions about Platner's ability to win there but also Senator Susan Collins and how she will navigate some of the political headwinds that are facing Republicans in this year's elections.

Now, starting with Platner, Republicans have made clear that they plan to put these controversies, including that tattoo that resembled Nazi imagery and Platner's past treatment of ex-girlfriends front and center in their messaging against him.

[09:10:09]

He had started to face some of this criticism during the Democratic primary. His former opponent, Governor Janet Mills, had run a few ads highlighting some controversial Reddit posts from his past. But what Republicans are planning will be on a much bigger scale as they try to remind voters, who may be not tuned in just yet, about these scandals and controversies surrounding Platner.

But for Platner's part, he has argued that voters need to keep their focus on Senator Susan Collins. Last night in his speech he said that she is someone who doesn't serve the people of Maine, that she simply serves President Trump.

And for Collins, she has successfully won here five times. This is her fifth term that she's serving in. She's seeking a sixth term. But what she will have to contend with is some of this angst from Democratic voters, from even some independent voters, about the way that President Trump and Senate Republicans have handled his past two years in office. Collins' team and national Republicans believe that she has brought a lot to this state. She's the chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, a powerful committee that has poured resources into the state of Maine. And so that is one way that they will continue to try to boost her going forward.

But this is election -- an election in November that could very well boil down to how female voters are feeling. They make up a huge part of the electorate here in Maine, and that is something that both candidates will have to work to try to win over those women voters heading into November.

BOLDUAN: It's good to see you, Arlette. Thank you so much for being there for us.

John.

BERMAN: All right, with us now, the Washington bureau chief for "The Boston Globe," Jackie Kucinich, and CNN chief national affairs correspondent Jeff Zeleny. And friends, if you will, I actually want to broaden this out and talk

about the environment now that every election in the country in November will be held in, in light of the new economic data out just a few minutes ago, where inflation is now back up over four percent, the highest it's been in three years. Well higher than it was when Donald Trump took office.

And, Jeff, you've been a lot of different places in the country over the last few weeks. And if inflation is as it is now, even if it drops a little bit before November, its June. I mean things get baked in. How do you think this is impacting the voters out there across the country?

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Look, there is no question that this really just underscores what we've all been seeing all year long, that affordability and the rising costs of everything are really driving this election.

And just a short time ago, we obtained a memo from the National Republican Senatorial Committee, which makes this exact point, the race that we've just been talking about all morning in Maine.

Listen to this one line from this memo, John. It said, "the political fundamentals in Maine remain challenging, and it's a fatal mistake to assume Graham Platner is too damaged to win." Because of the fundamentals, they're talking about the economy. That is exactly what is driving this race and so many others.

I was with the president just on Friday in Wisconsin, and talking to so many voters there, and farmers and dairy farmers, they are just deeply concerned about the rising prices here. And everything is sort of connected. I mean what we're seeing happening in the Middle East, there's no end in sight to the Iran War here. So, it's all driving together. So, huge warning signs for Republicans no doubt.

BERMAN: Look, you have the inflation numbers in. You have the president telling Fox News just a few minutes ago, and this is from a Fox News alert here, that he told Trey Yingst that the U.S. is getting close to ordering new strikes against Iranian power plants and bridges because the Iranians are dragging things along.

And, Jackie, you know, you cover -- you -- you're from "The Boston Globe." Maine's pretty close by. Maine, of course, used to be part of Massachusetts. A little-known fact there. But people are so focused on the candidates here and maybe not on the broader fundamentals, which is why you have the Republican Senate committee saying, hey, wait a second here, be careful. Be careful getting too excited, Republicans, that Graham Platner got the nomination.

JACKIE KUCINICH, WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF, "THE BOSTON GLOBE": Susan Collins always has a tough race. I mean that that has been true, you know, for many cycles at this point. But as long as Graham Platner is talking about Graham Platner and not about Susan Collins, that is problematic. The NRSC is right to point out that the economy is going to be a headwind. And not to mention, Republicans have another thing that's kind of pushing against them, and that's the president. Usually, this messaging is coming from the White House in normal times. We're far from normal times. So, they're not only having to contend with Democrats hitting them on this. They have a president who is doing unhelpful things, like, you know, like continuing this Iran War with no end in sight.

So, this -- truly this is going to be a tough environment for Republicans, and they are acknowledging that in Maine and around the country.

BERMAN: Yes. It's so interesting that you say that, Jackie.

[09:15:01]

And, Jeff, you weigh in here because again, the president's going to wage this war the way he's going to wage this war. And in theory, you want to keep political considerations away from it. But the way that it is happening right now, I don't get the sense that Republicans running for re-election are happy. And it's just day after day. And it's getting much later in the cycle. And you were out there with the president. You just don't get any signs that this is something that they are going to pivot from.

ZELENY: Look, I mean, wars are obviously more difficult to end than they are to begin. We've talked about that so many times over the years, but it's apt in this case right here. And of course, you want to keep the politics out of it. But it is all one piece of the same challenge for Republicans here.

Now, Democrats have enough challenges of their own. There's no doubt about it. The party is still defining itself. It's still an uphill challenge to win control of the Senate. There is no question. Even in this environment. Democrats have to perform nearly flawlessly to do that. And that is unlikely in this era. I mean one race is likely to fall apart or something unknown will happen.

But we do know one thing. The midterm elections are never friendly to the president's party, particularly with these headwinds here. And the fact that what is happening at the White House. There's much more time being spent talking about renovations and things.

I was also struck by that, listening to the president as he was speaking, a lot of silence from Wisconsin farmers as he was talking about the ballroom and the other renovations he's been doing in Washington. It's not their chief priority. It may be his.

BERMAN: Jackie, just very quickly, Graham Platner was out speaking this morning, Arlette played some of it, earlier today. A sense that he's talking in a way that would alleviate the concerns of Maine voters or maybe national Democrats?

KUCINICH: We'll have to see, John. You didn't see a rousing statement from Democrats last night. Janet Mills didn't even mention him in her -- in her statement, which was very noteworthy. It did -- but, you know, when you do look at the margins, he did manage to consolidate many Democrats. But, I mean, as it was said earlier, those independent women in Maine, those are going to be the ones that he's going to need on his side if he wants to win in November.

BERMAN: Jackie Kucinich, Jeff Zeleny, great to see you both this morning with so much developing news.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: And we do have more on that breaking news that we are tracking, which is Bill Gates on Capitol Hill right now. He spoke to reporters moments ago as he was heading in to face questions as part of the House investigation into Jeffrey Epstein.

And also ahead, a pilot who flew tens of thousands of passengers for more than 17 years is now facing criminal charges, accused of flying with a fake pilot's license.

And NASA is taking the next step in its mission to the moon. We've got new details this morning for you.

We'll be right back.

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[09:22:03]

BOLDUAN: Right now, Bill Gates is on Capitol Hill, and he's set to take questions from the House Oversight Committee behind closed doors as part of their investigation into the handling of the Epstein files and Jeffrey Epstein in general.

He spoke to reporters moments ago saying that he wants justice for Epstein victims.

CNN's Annie Grayer is on Capitol Hill.

A little bit unusual to hear him speak to reporters before going in. Many people do not. What are you hearing about this?

ANNIE GRAYER, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: That's right. I've covered a lot of these interviews, and usually witnesses don't speak to the cameras at all, let alone before it even takes place. But Bill Gates came to the camera to make a statement to reporters before his closed-door interview began.

Take a listen to what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL GATES, MICROSOFT CO-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: Lawmakers have a lot of questions for Gates. He is all over the Epstein files and mentioned hundreds of times in emails and phone calls and calendar invites. But most interestingly are these two explosive draft emails that Epstein allegedly was writing to himself but never sent, where Epstein claims that he helped set Gates up with women, and he helped Gates procure medication to hide a sexually transmitted infection from his then wife Melinda.

Now, Gates has vehemently denied those claims. They are uncorroborated. And he says that they are completely false.

But Gates has also said publicly that he regrets ever having any sort of interaction or relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. And lawmakers plan to ask him about all of this today.

Gates is the 15th witness that the Oversight Committee has brought in as part of their investigation into Epstein and his inner circle. Yesterday they heard from Epstein's longtime assistant, Lesley Groff. Last week they heard from another assistant, Sarah Kellen. They've also heard from former Attorney General Pam Bondi and others.

So, this closed-door interview today we're expecting to go for a long time where lawmakers will be asking a lot of questions.

BOLDUAN: That's right.

Annie, thank you so much for being there. Much more to come from this.

John.

BERMAN: All right, north of Dallas, 19-year-old Karmelo Anthony was found guilty in the death of 17-year-old Austin Metcalf for fatally stabbing him at a school track meet. He was sentenced to 35 years in prison. Now, just after the verdict was read, protests erupted outside the courthouse. The jury rejected Anthony's defense that he was acting in self-defense during a confrontation under a team tent during a rainstorm.

CNN's Jean Casarez has been covering this case, the verdict and now the sentencing.

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There are no winners here. Absolutely no winners. And the Texas Department of Corrections will now take custody of him as a convicted murderer.

But I think what everyone wants to know is what are the facts?

[09:25:01]

And how did this confrontation happen to begin with?

Well, this is what the jury heard. This is what the arrest report said. That it was at the stadium in Frisco, Texas. It was two track teams, the National High School track team, the victim, Austin Metcalf, was a member of that. And then you had Centennial High School. And that was the defendants' track team.

Well, track team members have a tent and they sit -- they stand under their tent. It's a foldable tent. So, the National High School Austin Metcalf and his teammates were there. And Anthony comes to their tent. And so, Austin Metcalf said, you know, can you -- can you leave, this is our tent? Can you get out of our tent? And then a confrontation and the other players, and they were black and white, they were asking Anthony -- Karmelo Anthony to leave the tent. Karmelo Anthony looks at Austin Metcalf, according to the witness testimony, and says, you touch me and you see what's going to happen. So, Austin Metcalf touched him. And then he said, why don't you push me and you'll see what happens. Austin pushed him. And the testimony was a light push, a medium push, a tough push. He rummaged through his bag. Karmelo Anthony took out what the law enforcement said was a three and a half blade knife. It was a foldable knife. And put it straight into his chest. And the medical examiner, according to WFAA, said it went into the ventricle of the heart and he was dead almost immediately. It was very fast. And then Karmelo Anthony left the tent.

So, the defense was self-defense, just as you said in your introduction. But they did not put Karmelo Anthony up on the stand. And in a self-defense case, you want to know, why do you feel that death and serious bodily injury is about to happen to you? It's critical for a self-defense case. Didn't happen.

And even in the penalty phase, he could have -- Anthony could have taken the stand and talked about what he went through, what he felt, his mindset. Didn't happen. And there was a conviction of murder.

BERMAN: Thirty-five years.

CASAREZ: Thirty-five years.

BERMAN: In prison.

All right, Jean Casarez, thank you so much.

All right, jet fuel costs soaring. So, how do you go about buying your plane tickets for your summer travel?

Then a wild scene. A man leads police on a chase, crashes his car, jumps out and starts shooting.

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