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Trump Sends Tougher Terms To Iran For Peace Framework; Israel Seizes Crusader-Era Castle in Deepest Lebanon Push in 26 Years; Kenya Proceeds With Ebola Center Amid Court Order; Cuba Begins Distribution Of Donated Humanitarian Aid; Colombia Presidential Race Heads For Runoff Later This Month; Pride Month Celebrations Kick Off Around the World; Pope Leo to Celebrate Mass at Iconic Basilica in Barcelona. Aired 1-1:45a ET

Aired June 01, 2026 - 01:00   ET

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

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BEN HUNTE, CNN ANCHOR: Hello wherever you are in the world. You are now in the CNN Newsroom with me, Ben Hunte in Atlanta. And it is so good to have you with me. Coming up on the show, U.S. President Donald Trump sends the Iran peace proposal back with changes. This as we are learning about new U.S. strikes in the region.

Aid groups are worried about the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo, with one warning that children are being hit particularly hard.

And early results show Colombia's presidential election is heading to a runoff, a development that could put the country's international relations up in the air.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Live from Atlanta, this is CNN Newsroom with Ben Hunte.

HUNTE: Welcome. The U.S. says it has carried out measured and deliberate strikes against Iranian radar sites and drones this weekend. It says the strikes were in self-defense. This all comes as negotiations over the peace proposal will continue this week, well after the U.S. president declared the deal, quote, largely finalized.

U.S. officials say Donald Trump has sent back changes to the proposal. We don't yet know specifics, but one foreign official tells CNN for the changes aren't, quote, substantive and are mostly about assurances for the U.S. CNN's Mike Valerio joins me again from Beijing. It's good to see you again, Mr. Valerio. What more do you know about the U.S. strikes? What can you tell us?

MIKE VALERIO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And it seems as though, Benny, that these strikes were trying to focus on drone and radar sites from the Iranian side of these skirmishes that were threatening from the American and international point of view, I should say American allies point of view, threatening ships within the Strait of Hormuz. So we know that those two strikes happen in Goruk, which is a city

that's very close to the Strait of Hormuz in southern Iran. And Qeshm Island, which is essentially the biggest island in the Persian Gulf, lines the Strait of Hormuz. And then the other side of the water would be the mainland of Iran.

And it's also interesting, you know, we heard reports over the weekend from Iranian state media that they shot down an American drone, this MQ1 drone that had strayed into Iranian territory. The United States side is disputing that, saying that their drone was over international waters. And that is one of the reasons why these strikes happen on both Benny Saturday and Sunday, which is incredibly interesting to take into account that this is after the president on Friday sent the peace Memorandum of understanding back to the Iranian side after he was finished that meeting with the cabinet in Washington, DC.

So it absolutely begs the question, and you addressed this last hour with your guest, and how much longer can this back and forth between the Iranian and the American side with these skirmishes in the ceasefire period, how much longer could this happen?

We were also talking last hour about, about the Iranian parliamentary speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who says that he needs tangible and Iran needs something tangible coming out of this memorandum of understanding and this agreement. And that first and foremost would be the unfreezing of $24 billion to help prop up the Iranian economy after a shell of its former self now exists. Even though Iran has so much leverage with the Strait of Hormuz, the, the economy itself has been decimated in of course, large part to the American blockade that is still in full effect with its form of, of course, counteracting the closure of the Strait of Hormuz from the Iranian side.

So also the Iranian side is saying over the weekend that it needs assurances that its nuclear program can continue. But the president is saying that he needs more assurances that Iran will never have a nuclear weapon. So, of course, there are myriad analysts who are saying that this is so close to the finish line, so close to the goalpost, but those two issues, the unfreezing of assets and the enrichment of uranium, those are still two sticking points that have remained over the past two weeks or so.

I also think it's interesting, Benny, when we were talking about the Gambian ship that was fired on after it tried to cross the American blockade.

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So still a lot of tension in the Strait of Hormuz with this issue of what is happening with the memorandum of understanding yet to be resolved. Now that we're past lunchtime here in East Asia, we're all certainly watching for developments. Benny.

HUNTE: OK. Mike Valerio, thank you so much for that. I appreciate it. Speak to you again soon.

VALERIO: Yes. HUNTE: Sina Azodi is the director of the Middle East Studies Program at George Washington University. He's also the author of "Iran and the Bomb: The United States, Iran and the Nuclear Question." He joins me from Washington, D.C. it's good to see you, sir. President Trump has apparently set changes to this draft agreement based on what we're hearing. Does this suggest that the two sides are actually close to a deal or are there still major obstacles for them to overcome?

SINA AZODI, DIRECTOR, MIDDLE EAST STUDIES PROGRAM, GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY: I think we are still close to the deal. We heard in the past few days that they were very close to the deal. But it appears to me that President Trump is under a lot of pressure, and it was in your reporting, actually, that he's under pressure from the right wing of his party, a lot of pundits on the right side, the people who really have historically opposed diplomacy between Iran and the United States.

And he really doesn't want to give him any excuses. That's why he needs to adopt a more kind of a hardliner position, especially when it comes again, as it was in your reporting, unfreezing of the Iranian assets. So this is why I think there's a lot of back and forth. The Iranian side has also said that they want assurances about the deal and the future of the deal. They've also threatened that if it doesn't serve their interests, they're going to tear it apart. And they actually use the example of the US in 2015. So there's a lot of back and forth and both sides are trying to protect their chips.

HUNTE: President Trump did recently describe the deal as largely finalized, though. So do you think that was an accurate reflection of where things were at?

AZODI: I think so. But we have to keep in mind that nothing is agreed until everything is agreed upon. Meaning that this MOU or the memorandum about understanding that Iran and the United States are trying to come to an agreement. It really involves a political understanding about ending the conflict and Iran's commitment not to ever procure in any way nuclear weapons.

But it's going to be far more in detail. There has to be technical understanding of how Iran will curtail its nuclear program and so on and so forth. And what will the United States do. But I think -- I still think we're very close. But the details need to be discussed and agreed.

HUNTE: If a deal is reached, what would success actually look like for the United States? Is the goal preventing Iran from building a nuclear weapon or eliminating its nuclear future altogether?

AZODI: Well, I think the President's stated comments are that Iran cannot have developed nuclear weapons. This is something that the Iranians have committed themselves under the NPT and actually JCPOA. But I think the President is conflating non-nuclear weapons with dismantling of the Iranian nuclear program, meaning that he really, at least he's under pressure from some people to pressure Iranians to completely dismantle the nuclear program something that they are not going to agree to. They want to preserve some nuclear capacity. But if he really wants no nuclear weapons, I think there are many ways to ensure that Iran cannot procure or sneak out and develop nuclear weapons. I think there are many ways to do that. For example, the option of zero stockpile of enriched uranium, which was previously on the table and the Iranians have had agreed to it, I think that's one way to ensure that they can never develop nuclear weapons.

And moratorium also on enriching uranium, that's also another way that would ease the concerns of the United States for a long period of time.

HUNTE: And from Iran's perspective, then what would leaders in Tehran need to show their own people that this deal was a success?

AZODI: I think there are two things on the nuclear front. One is preserving what they call the right of enrichment -- right to enrichment. And they've said in the past and they've done in the past that they could agree to a suspension of enrichment, uranium enrichment.

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But I don't think that they will surrender on the principle of enrichment. This is something they're not going to agree to. And secondly, it's the unfreezing of Iranian assets and some sanctions relief, which is something they desperately need after this war because they need to recover their economy. Inflation is really high as a result of the war.

Unemployment has gone up. So they really need that money to redevelop their infrastructure and bring back some life to their economy.

HUNTE: Sina Azodi, thank you so much. Appreciate it.

AZODI: Thank you for having me.

HUNTE: Despite a U.S. backed truce, fighting in southern Lebanon is getting more intense. Israeli troops seized the 900 year old Beaufort Castle as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu orders troops deeper into its neighbor's territory. CNN's Jerusalem bureau chief Oren Liebermann has the latest for us.

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OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN JERUSALEM BUREAU CHIEF: As Israel pushes farther and deeper into Lebanon, the Israeli military has seized a historic Crusader Castle. The 900-year-old Beaufort Castle sits on a ridge north of the Israeli occupied zone. But over the course of the past several days and more, Israeli forces have been pushing north and out of that zone, seizing more territory in southern Lebanon. And that now includes the ridge on which the Beaufort castle stands.

Israeli forces raised not only the Israeli flag but also the Golani brigade flag. That is a brigade within the Israeli military that seized the castle itself. And this whole operation was accompanied, according to the Israeli military, by a wave of airstrikes and bombardment of the area. We have seen over the course of the past several days the Israeli military strike the Lebanese cities of Tyre and Nabatiya.

Those are outside of the Israeli military's occupied zone in southern Lebanon as well as the Beqaa valley which is well outside of southern Lebanon. Beaufort Castle itself sits about 9 miles or 14 to 15 kilometers from the border between Israel and Lebanon. So you see there that seizure of territory as Israeli forces move north. The goal there is to try to push Hezbollah farther away from northern Israel. Israeli military says Hezbollah has had used that ridge on which the fortress sits to fire onto Israel.

Meanwhile, over the course of the weekend, we have seen an increase in Hezbollah rocket and drone attacks into southern Lebanon and Israeli troops there as well as into northern Israel. So you see very much an escalation between Israel and Hezbollah during what's supposed to be a U.S. brokered extension of the ceasefire.

In fact, the Israeli home front command announced that schools in northern Israel that are close to the fighting would be closed on Sunday and Monday as well as one of the hospitals in northern Israel moved to its secure underground complex.

Despite all of this, despite a ceasefire that's almost impossible to see, there is an expectation that another round of direct Israel Lebanon talks between ambassadors will be held in the coming days. Oren Liebermann, CNN, in Jerusalem.

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HUNTE: A Russian drone attack triggered a fire that engulfed a logistics terminal in Dnipro, Ukraine. In a post on telegram, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said emergency crews were working at the Nova Poshta terminal following the strike, which set a warehouse ablaze. There were no immediate reports of casualties.

Rescue operations are underway after a blast in northeastern Myanmar killed at least 45 people and injured at least 70 more. The blast happened around noon on Sunday in a building storing mining explosives. Rescue workers say six children are sadly among the dead.

The explosion occurred in the village of Kongtuk near China's Yunnan province. That area is controlled by one of Myanmar's many ethnic minority rebel groups. It says the cause of the blast is under investigation.

OK. Still to come, Kenyan officials are pushing ahead with plans for a new Ebola quarantine facility. We will have the latest on that outbreak just ahead.

Plus, surprising results in the first round of voting in Colombia's presidential election. How the emergence of a pro-Trump political outsider has apparently led to a runoff. See in a moment.

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HUNTE: Welcome back. Kenya's high court is set to hear continued arguments this week on whether the government can open an Ebola quarantine facility in partnership with the US. A judge ruled against the facility opening in Kenya while facing legal challenges, but government officials are still pushing forward with those plans regardless of the court order. All of this comes amid concerns of bringing active cases of the virus into Kenya.

The World Health Organization reports more than 270 confirmed cases of Ebola across the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda. That data indicates at least 43 people have died in the outbreak so far.

Humanitarian group Save the Children reports children in the DRC are one of the most vulnerable groups to the outbreak. Government figures released just days ago showed children making up 25 percent of the confirmed Ebola deaths.

Rescuers in Laos have discovered a 100 meter vertical shaft dropping down to a deeper part of the cave where five men were rescued last week. Crews are trying to locate two more men believed to be in a different part of the cave system. System they hope the vertical shaft will be a shortcut to finding those missing men.

You may recall that four of those other men walked out of the cave unaided on Saturday after being trapped for more than a week.

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CNN's Will Ripley has more for us on the unexpected appearance that stunned rescuers.

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WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I didn't see this coming. When I was chatting with the rescue divers here in central Laos, they told me it would be a miracle if all five villagers made it out alive. And then a miracle happened.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. OK.

RIPLEY: I get goosebumps thinking about it. The rain for just long enough and the pumps worked just well enough. And the men inside the cave were just brave enough to go for it. And they did it. They crawled and climbed their way out and shocked everybody. Shocked me.

I do believe in a higher power, and I feel like I felt that power standing there watching this incredible community of people from Laos and Thailand and all over the world come to this remote place in the middle of the mountains, come together in a feat of engineering, technology, willpower.

Congratulations.

And the monsoon rains that held off just long enough to make this possible. We traveled a long way, many hours to come here, and I feel like it was a blessing and a privilege to witness this miracle here in Laos.

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HUNTE: CNN's Will Ripley filing that report for us. Authorities in Cuba have begun distributing aid across the island for nearly two tons of skimmed milk and supplies were donated by Mexico and Uruguay. The aid comes as the nation grapples with its worst economic crisis in decades, largely provoked by a tightening U.S. blockade on fuel deliveries to the island.

Preliminary results show Colombia's presidency is headed for a highly polarized runoff election that could redefine relations with the U.S. that comes after a pro Trump political outsider surprisingly won most of the votes, but not a majority.

Stefano Pozzebon has more from us for us, from Bogota.

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STEFANO POZZEBON, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: He might have been unknown to many here in Colombia just 12 months ago, but the far right populist Abelardo de la Espriella is now poised to be this country's next president as he's leading the vote, heading to a runoff that is set for June 21. De la Espriella has won more than 10 million votes in the first round of the presidential election on Sunday, and he's surpassing the government candidate Ivan Cepeda by more than 500,000 votes.

It is a surprise result because Cepeda had been leading in the opinion polls in pretty much most of the campaign and especially most of the year so far. But it seems that de la Espriella was managed to boost his support in the last few days, in the last few weeks, especially by coalescing around himself.

The voters of other right wing candidates, including, for example, the third placed candidate, Paloma Valencia, who arrived a distant third. It's clearly a very polarized scenario between a populist far right that seek the support of figures such as Nayib Bukele from El Salvador or Donald Trump in the United States, and Ivan Cepeda, who has been the support -- who has got the support of the president Gustavo Petra, who is barred from the election.

And De la Espriella celebrated his victory with the characteristic vitriolic language that we have come so accustomed in the last few years by these far right populists that have been leading in the polls both in the Americas and in Europe. This is how he described the contest that Colombia is heading to in three weeks-time.

ABELARDO DE LA ESPRIELLA, COLOMBIAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE (through translator)" The time of empathy is over. This is the final battle for Colombia and freedom, a battle we need to fight united to achieve the miracle Colombia deserves. It's a battle we are not going to lose because we are a pack that will defeat Gustavo Petro and Ivan Cepedo once and for all. POZZEBON: And de la Espriella was speaking behind armored glass because security and crime have been a top concern for voters here in Colombia. Last year, for example, a leading presidential candidate, Miguel Uribe Turbay, was killed after receiving an attack by an assassin here in Bogota.

De la Espriella was speaking from a boat fronting the port in the coastal city of Barranquilla. Ivan Cepeda instead told his supporter that he still does not believe that the count that the vote that he received were the actual total. He has cast doubts on the election results as proclaimed by the electoral authority late on Sunday night. But he also urged any Colombian that he says supports life to front up.

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And to join his campaign against a far right candidate that is promising to withdraw most of the policies that the president, the left wing president, Gustavo Petro, was the first left wing president in the history of this country, has proclaimed and has pushed from the government in the last four years. It's a clearly polarized scenario. It's not a novelty. We have seen it happening in so many other countries in the last few years.

And Colombia is heading to the election with both candidates totaling more than 40% of the votes and with a very, very small margin of undecided. The election, the final round of the election, the second round is set for June 21st. For CNN, this is Stefano Pozzebon, Bogota.

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HUNTE: All right. Still to come, June 1st marks the first day of Pride Month. Plus, amid all of the celebrations, there are some new concerns. The details just ahead. See in a moment.

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HUNTE: Welcome back.

Pride Month celebrations are underway in many parts of the world. Thousands of people filled the streets of Bangkok to kick off the annual Pride Parade.

Thailand made history last year after becoming the first country in Southeast Asia to recognize same sex marriage.

In Budapest, police say they won't be cracking down on any Pride celebrations. The decision signals a major shift in Hungary's LGBTQ policy since Prime Minister Peter Magyar took office earlier this.

Meanwhile, in Ghana, lawmakers approved a bill criminalizing promotion of LGBTQ activity. The proposed legislation makes it illegal to fund, sponsor or even promote LGBTQ acts with prison terms ranging from three to five years. Well, earlier I spoke with Maria Sjodin, the executive director for Outright International, about Ghana's strict legislation proposal and how resilience in Hungary has made a huge difference for the LGBTQ community there.

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MARIA SJODIN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, OUTRIGHT INTERNATIONAL: Unfortunately, this is quite a horrible law that isn't just -- you know, I'm using that loosely here, but it's not just targeting LGBTQ people. And it's targeting their very existence, freedom of speech, their ability to get funding to do anything, any kind of advocacy.

It essentially criminalizes anyone from who wants to identify as LGBTQ. It means that other people have the duty to report if they are aware of sexual acts between people of the same sex, and even allies could be sent to prison for being allies to the LGBTQ community.

So, of course, this is sending a horrible message to people in Ghana and really, I think in the entire region.

And what I think is very concerning is that this bill has passed through parliament. It's waiting for the president to potentially sign it into law.

But it's also been cheered on by conservatives from the U.S. and from Europe -- Christian conservatives who have been cheering on and supporting and supposedly even funding the passage of this law.

HUNTE: Hungary offers quite a different story. After efforts to restrict Pride events for many years now, authorities say that Budapest Pride can go ahead in full this year. Does that show that public resistance can still make a big difference?

SJODIN: Absolutely. You know, Budapest Pride was banned last year. And in spite of that, it was a record number of participants, hundreds of thousands of people participated in Budapest Pride last year.

And they did so, of course, many of them to show support for the LGBTQ community, but also to demonstrate to the government that their authoritarian regime was not what people wanted.

So the Pride itself became a broader protest. And I think this is something to, for the rest of us in the world, to be inspired by. That protesting and marching can still make a difference and play a role in protecting democracy for everyone.

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HUNTE: Still ahead, a rare lunar event in the skies, we have a look at the stunning pictures that marked the end of spring.

See you in a moment.

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HUNTE: Welcome back.

A Catholic community in Barcelona is preparing for a visit from Pope Leo XIV. He will be visiting the community of Saint Augustine Church on Wednesday as part of his six-day trip to Spain. Churchgoers are marking the occasion with t-shirts printed with the Pontiff's photo. The parish is run by the Augustinian order to which Pope Leo belongs.

The visit to Barcelona will include a papal mass at the iconic Sagrada Familia Basilica, where the Pontiff will bless the church's central tower.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, we're very happy.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're happy.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're very happy.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's a blessing for us.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's a blessing. Yes, it's a blessing.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We want to see the Pope in person.

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HUNTE: Italy's first big heat wave of the year sent locals and tourists flocking to the beach this past weekend as temperatures soared.

Italy's health ministry activated its heat wave monitoring system. That tracks conditions in 27 cities and provides forecasts up to three days in advance.

Multiple countries across western Europe are now grappling with record high temperatures.

Ok, have a look at this. You are currently seeing a very rare blue moon rise above the Temple of Poseidon in Greece on Sunday.

And no, your eyes aren't deceiving you. Despite the name, the moon is not actually blue. However, the term refers to the rare lunar event when a second full moon occurs in the same calendar month.

The phrase "blue moon" dates back to the 1500s, when it was used to describe something thought to be impossible.

The celestial event only happens every two to three years, and this year's blue moon also marks the end of spring.

Ok, that's all I've got for you. Thanks for joining me and the team. I'm Ben Hunte in Atlanta.

"WORLDSPORT" is next and I will see you next week with so much more CNN NEWSROOM.

Thanks so much.

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