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Demonstrators Near ICE Facility Arrested After Curfew; Delaney Hall Protests Puts Spotlight On Trump Immigration Policy. Aired 4- 4:30a ET

Aired June 01, 2026 - 04:00   ET

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

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[04:00:34]

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN ANCHOR: Hey everybody, thank you so much for starting your week with us. I'm Polo Sandoval live in New York and this is CNN Newsroom.

The U.S. and Iran, they exchange a new wave of strikes as Donald Trump sends back a proposed peace deal requesting changes. Plus, protests outside a New Jersey detention center leading to arrests as demonstrators disobey a newly imposed curfew. And a little later, how YouTube creators are revolutionizing Hollywood and what it means for the future of filmmaking.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Live from New York, this is CNN Newsroom with Polo Sandoval.

SANDOVAL: Let's begin in the Middle East where U.S. Central Command now says that it conducted what it describes as self-defense strikes on Iranian targets this weekend. Iran meanwhile, saying that it struck a U.S. base allegedly used to launch an attack. And all this is coming as U.S. officials are saying that President Donald Trump requested changes to the proposed peace deal. Now we don't know any actual specifics on that, but one foreign official is telling CNN that the changes are not substantive and that they're mostly about assurances for the U.S. Let's expand on that now and head over to CNN's Paula Hancocks who joins me live from Abu Dhabi.

Paula, as we enter now the fourth month, where do peace prop negotiations actually stand?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Polo, we do know that President Trump has asked for some changes in that memorandum of understanding. And it comes as we are seeing this renewed exchange of fire between the U.S. and Iran. Now it's not the first time that it's happened since the ceasefire was called, potentially not the last time that we will see it. But what we saw over the weekend, according to U.S. Central Command, cleared fire against Iranian radar and command and center when it comes to the drones in two separate locations, they said because they were retaliating for one of their Raptor drones being shot down over international waters.

Now we've also heard from the Revolutionary Guard that they have targeted a U.S. air base. They say that it was used to launch a strike against a telecoms tower in one of its islands. Now they don't say exactly which country, but we have heard from Kuwait that they were engaging what they called hostile drones and missiles in the early hours of Monday morning. Iranian state media releasing what they claim was the launches against that air base. We can't confirm the veracity of that video, though.

So at this point, we understand from, from officials that Trump has sent the memorandum of understanding back. He wants some changes. U.S. officials saying that he wants stronger language potentially when it comes to opening the Strait of Hormuz, when it comes to the nuclear program as well. We're hearing from the Iranian side as well that they're not going to be agreeing to this deal until they see concrete concessions. Polo.

SANDOVAL: And Paula, just in the last hour, we also learned that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has issued a new order to IDF forces to initiate strikes against targets in some of Beirut's suburbs. I'm curious, what are you learning on that front?

HANCOCKS: Yes, so this was a joint statement that the prime minister made with the defense minister, Israel Katz, saying that they've ordered the military to carry out strikes in the Dahieh neighborhood. This is considered a Hezbollah stronghold in the capital itself. Now, last Thursday, we did see a strike against a commander in a Hezbollah missile unit in the capital as well. And it comes as we're hearing from the Israeli side that they are pushing deeper into southern Lebanon now on Friday, saying that they had crossed the Litani River. That's about 15 to 20 miles or 30 kilometers north of the Israeli- Lebanon border.

It does come at the same time, though, as we are hearing suggestions and expectations that there will be another round of discussions between ambassadors from Israel and Lebanon, which U.S. mediated at this point, trying to clarify this ceasefire, trying to turn it into something more concrete. But on the ground we are seeing Israel push further and we're seeing Hezbollah respond into Israeli territory with missiles and drones. Polo.

[04:05:18]

SANDOVAL: CNN's Paula Hancocks, it's always grateful for your reporting.

Well, half a dozen states across the country, they are set to hold primary elections on Tuesday. Some of these races, they could possibly change the political landscape ahead of the midterm elections come November. We didn't see Georgia on that map, but the state's Republican runoffs for Senate and governor, they are just over two weeks away. In the governor's race, billionaire health care entrepreneur Rick Jackson challenging Georgia Lieutenant Governor Burt Jones, who is currently endorsed by President Trump. For the Senate seat, Congressman Mike Collins is in a runoff with former footage football coach Derek Dooley. And on the Democratic side, Senator Jon Ossoff, running for reelection, hosted a rally in Atlanta with gubernatorial nominee Keisha Lance Bottoms on Sunday. CNN's Rafael Romo was there.

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The Ossoff campaign called the rally the first major event of his reelection campaign following the May 19 primary here in Georgia. Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff took the stage just before 5:00 p.m. to address a crowd of supporters here at the Tabernacle, a mid sized concert hall in downtown Atlanta built as a church more than 100 years ago. He spoke for about 40 minutes, relentlessly attacking the record of the Trump administration, especially when it comes to the war in Iran, voting rights and affordability. He also criticized President Donald Trump specifically for what he said were the more than 52 messages on social media he posted over six hours last night, which Ossoff said included attacking the pope and posting his own face on Mount Rushmore.

He called President Trump, quote, "a failed president and a national disgrace." But he placed special emphasis on moves in Republican led states to redraw electoral maps, diluting, he said, minorities political power.

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SEN. JON OSSOFF (D-GA): We see the Voting Rights act eviscerated and then like clockwork, as if they'd been lying in wait 61 years since the moment the ink dried from President Johnson's pen. The president's allies set out to remove black elected officials not by defeating them at the polls, but by manipulating maps to dilute minority power.

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ROMO: Earlier in the program, a cafeteria worker spoke about rising health care premiums and two young parents who highlighted the impact of inflation on their family. Keisha Lance Bottoms also got on stage. The former Atlanta mayor won the Democratic primary earlier this month to run for Georgia governor in November.

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KEISHA LANCE BOTTOMS, GEORGIA DEMOCRATIC GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: This White House is making lives of Georgians more stressful. They're making it difficult for families across Georgia with rising grocery prices, health care prices and gas costs. And Georgians certainly will not sit by as those same leaders threaten the voting rights.

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ROMO: On the Republican side, Congressmen Mike Collins and Derek Dooley, a former head football coach at the University of Tennessee, won the right to run against each other in Georgia's runoff election on June 16 after the state's primary on May 19. The winner will run against Ossoff in the November midterm elections.

Rafael Romo, CNN Atlanta.

SANDOVAL: And also happening on Tuesday, voters in California will be deciding which two candidates will advance in the race to succeed current Governor Gavin Newsom. Right now, the polls are showing that former HHS secretary, Democrat Xavier Becerra and Republican Steve Hilton are locked in a tight race at the top. CNN's Chief Data Analyst Harry Enten, taking a look at the numbers out west.

HARRY ENTEN, CNN CHIEF DATA ANALYST: California, the most populous state in the nation goes to their polls for their primary. Of course, it's a top two primary which all the Democrats, all the Republicans all run in one primary. And the top two vote getters advance in the November general election. And there's been some massive movement where the Democrat Xavier Becerra looks like he's probably going to end up in that top two. His chances have gone through the roof.

Take a look here. Chance to be in top two in the California governor primary. Look at this. At the beginning of this month, he had a 52 percent chance. Look at this, now, an 89 percent chance of Xavier Becerra, the Democrat, advancing to the November general election.

But as Becerra's chances have gone up, another Democrats chances have gone down. And that is Tom Steyer, the billionaire. Look at this. He had a 65 percent chance at the beginning of this month of advancing to the November general election. Now it's just a 37 percent chance.

Thirty-seven percent though, isn't nothing. In fact, it's possible that both Steyer and Becerra do in fact advance the November general election and there is no Republican on the ballot. But chances are there will be, Steve Hilton, whose chances have stayed pretty gosh darn steady here. The Republican 74 percent chance at the beginning of the month to advance in the November general election, now an 80 percent chance. So probably it is Becerra and Hilton.

[04:10:12]

There are a lot of other Democrats who are also running in another Republican as well, but no one else has above a 5 percent chance of in fact making the November general election. But even if Steve Hilton does in fact advance to the November general election, chances are he's not going to be the next governor of California. And you can see it right here very clearly, chance to win California's governor election, the gubernatorial election, again, Becerra's chances way up. At the beginning of the month, a 39 percent chance. Now the clear favorite to be the next governor of California, a 68 percent chance.

Tom Steyer, though interestingly enough, even though he's running third in the chances to in fact advance in November general election, has the second best chance to be the next governor. He's at a 23 percent chance right here. You can see it. That's down considerably from the beginning of the month, but still above Steve Hilton's chance to in fact be the next governor of California. His chances pretty gosh darn stable here, 8 percent at the beginning of month, 10 percent chance now.

And again, no one else has above a 5 percent chance to in fact be the next governor of California. Now why, why is Steve Hilton struggling so much in terms of the odds of being the next governor of California, even if his chances to advance, his chances to advance to the November general election are pretty gosh darn high at 80 percent chance? Well, simply put, Donald Trump is an anchor, is an anchor that is dragging Steve Hilton's chances down come the November general election.

Look at this, OK, net approval rating in California. Look at how far underwater Donald Trump is. He is 40 points, 40 points underwater. His net approval rating is minus 40 in the Golden State. And a lot of Republicans, they like to rip on the Gavin -- on Gavin Newsom, the Democratic governor of California.

But you know what Newsom is, he actually provides a little bit of a boost, a little bit of a boost to those Democrats running statewide in California, if you believe the polling data. Look at this. His net approval is plus 8 points. He's on the positive side of the ledger in the Golden State, nearly 50 points more popular than Donald Trump is in California.

So look, California, a Democratic state likely to continue that tradition come the November general election. In California, chances are that they will be electing another Democratic governor, even if Steve Hilton probably does advance to the November general election, the Republican.

SANDOVAL: Thank you, Harry Enten.

Democrats, they have high hopes for Iowa this campaign season. And they have set their sights on the races for governor and for Senate. Recent special elections there, they have really seen some big shifts towards Democrats.

Many farmers in the state, they are struggling right now. They've been hit hard by Trump's tariffs, also by some of the now soaring fertilizer costs that have been caused by the ongoing war with Iran. And Tuesday's primary elections will be kicking off as it's really going to be starting a sprint to the November midterm elections with three competitive House races and a Senate race that will help decide control of each chamber of Congress. Democrat Zach Wahls, who is in a primary battle for the Iowa seats in the U.S. Senate, says that Iowans are fed up with Trump's policies.

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ZACH WAHLS, DEMOCRATIC IOWA SENATE CANDIDATE: Donald Trump's approval rating in our state is collapsing because his policies that Ashley Hinson has been a rubber stamp for doing -- have been doing just devastating damage to our state's economy, whether it's the tariffs, the cuts to Medicaid or so much more, of course, now this war with Iran. Iowans here are fed up. They're ready for a new direction. That is a message that is resonating with people as we travel all over the state because Iowans trust that -- I'm not running to work for Chuck Schumer or Donald Trump, I'm running through what I think is right for Iowans. That's what Iowans are looking for.

(END VIDEO CLIP) SANDOVAL: President Trump endorsed this man, Republican Congressman Randy Feenstra, for Iowa governor just days ahead of Tuesday's GOP primary. The winner of that vote expected to face the Democratic state auditor, Rob sand, in the election for governor in November.

And this just into CNN, rescuers and Laos, they say that they are now investigating a possible knocking response deep inside a flooded cave network where two more men are believed to be trapped at this hour. They say that the response was heard about 70 meters or about 230 feet down a shaft in that cave system. Now, the sounds, they came as rescuers rappelled down a newly discovered vertical shaft that may provide a safer entry into a flooded cave and then lead to a chamber where the men are possibly in. Crews are now trying to locate two more men believed to be in a different part of that cave system. They hope that the vertical shaft will be a shortcut to finding those missing men.

And you may recall that four of those other men who actually walked out of that cave unaided on Saturday after being trapped there for more than a week. So of course, high hopes that a rescue could be imminent at this hour where it is midafternoon in Laos.

[04:15:13]

Arrests overnight outside of a detention facility in New Jersey, a CNN legal expert joins us to look at the allegations against ICE and also how the Trump administration is responding. Plus, a large crowd gathering to mark the annual Israel Day parade here in New York City. We'll have report on those celebrations on that political march. Don't go anywhere.

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SANDOVAL: Authorities in New Jersey, they've arrested demonstrators who refused to comply with a nightly curfew near an ICE facility in Newark. A local authorities, they say that many protesters, they left ahead of the curfew, but that a few of them had come equipped with helmets and shields, others with gas masks, and that some refused to comply. The arrest marking the latest flashpoint at Delaney Hall. Already for more than a week, demonstrators have gathered to protest alleged inhumane conditions inside that detention center.

The Department of Homeland Security disputes any claims coming from those protesters. Earlier, CNN spoke to John Sandweg, who's a former acting Director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, about the challenges of running these facilities.

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JOHN SANDWEG, FMR. ACTING DIRECTOR, U.S. IMMIGRATION & CUSTOMS ENFORCEMENT: Detention is hard. It can be hard to provide that adequate level of care. You know, and the goal should be, frankly, to only use detention when absolutely necessary to protect -- keep public safety threats off the street or to guard against flight risks. Unfortunately, this administration has chosen to do a rapid expansion of detention. And the problem is when you go that quickly, you can -- you can -- not that -- not that ICE cares, because it might -- doesn't care, excuse me, in my experience, ICE very much cares, but it is just an incredible logistical challenge.

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SANDOVAL: We're joined now by immigration attorney Raul Reyes to talk more about what's happening in New Jersey and also currently what's happening right now on the immigration front.

Welcome back, Raul. Great to see you.

RAUL REYES, IMMIGRATION ATTORNEY AND ANALSYT: Hi there.

SANDOVAL: So, protests, they continue this weekend near Delaney Hall ICE facility. Just curious, from your perspective, what's your legal assessments of the allegations that have been made over inhumane conditions for immigration detainees inside before we talk about what's happening outside?

REYES: Right, right. Well, look, to be fair, no matter who is president, conditions in immigration detention have generally never been good. You know, through the years, we've seen all sorts of documented reports of violence, sexual abuse, assaults, lack of access to counsel and clergy. Really terrible conditions.

But it is fair to say that under the current administration, conditions in immigration detention are probably the worst we've seen. And that's in part because immigration detention has expanded so, so rapidly. There's 60,000 people in immigration detention. Last year was the deadliest year in immigration detention with 32 reported deaths. I believe this year it's been about 18 deaths in immigration detention, which works out to one death every six days.

So these are very inhumane conditions that people are protesting. And you have to think how bad it must be that these vulnerable people who are already in basically, what is immigration prison, that they are willing to go on a hunger strike to try and raise awareness of their plight.

SANDOVAL: And Raul, what have you found, perhaps more concerning about what's happening outside of those detention centers? We know that New Jersey authorities are planning to institute this curfew, hopefully to crack down on some of these clashes that we've seen between protesters and authorities.

REYES: Right. Well, the big question for me is when we see what's happening outside Delaney Hall, we've seen tear gas used against lawmakers, including a U.S. Senator. We saw this type of violence last year around Delaney Hall last May. We see the increasing use of state police and troopers to try and control these crowds and protests. And things are becoming so chaotic and so out of hand. But for me, the question this raises is if this is the type of conditions we're seeing outside Delaney Hall, what is happening in Delaney Hall? Out, you know, out of view, that's the big question here, because by law, these facilities are U.S. government officials, senators, congressmen, they have the right to inspect these facilities even without any prior announcement. And the fact that the government has been so secretive about these conditions raises so many questions about what detainees are going through.

SANDOVAL: And you also bring up another important point earlier, which is just what has been that kind of immigration climate beyond just the last two years under previous administrations and questions about the conditions that these migrants and families have been held under. It's interesting in 2024, I mean, President Biden, he carried out the highest level of migrant deportations in a decade. So why then are we now --

REYES: Right.

SANDOVAL: -- seeing such a significant protest movement under the current president term? I mean, it started with -- essentially, it started with Los Angeles.

REYES: Right, right. And like I said, the conditions in immigration detention, they pre -- they predate this administration. Conditions in immigration detention were terrible under President Obama. Same for President Biden, now the Trump administration.

Again, part of the reason we're hearing much more about it, it seems, right now, is because in prior administrations, there were some internal watchdogs that were part of Homeland Security and ICE that where the government could basically investigate itself. But the current administration has pretty much gutted those agencies. So the only opportunity for oversight has to come from the outside.

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And remember, the people we're seeing who are in immigration detention right now, 70 percent have no criminal convictions at all. That is a very -- a very big difference from the prior administration. And the figures for Delaney Hall, specifically, I believe it's -- this is according to I.CE.'s data from March, 88 percent of the detainees there have no criminal convictions. So that's why we're seeing sort of this groundswell, I believe, of public protests, especially in the wake of not just Los Angeles, but particularly in the wake of Minneapolis, the situation with ICE in Minneapolis last year.

SANDOVAL: Attorney Rael Reyes, always grateful for your perspective. Thank you so much for your time.

REYES: Thank you.

SANDOVAL: Massive security presence that we saw here in New York as the city marked its annual Israel Day parade on Sunday. It's usually an opportunity for community members to celebrate their heritage and their culture. This year, though, in a break with long stranding -- long standing tradition, New York City's Mayor Zohran Mamdani decided to skip the parade. CNN's Gloria Pazmino was there and has these details.

GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: What a sea of blue and white along Fifth Avenue here in New York City. As you can see, there are thousands of people who have gathered here today to celebrate cultural Israeli pride. We've spoken with so many revelers who came to the celebration today who told us that they wanted to be here to celebrate the state of Israel, to celebrate their culture, but also to talk about peace. They are thinking about the ongoing conflict in the Middle East and they said that they want to see peace in the region. Take a listen.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Because I really want to support Israel. I feel like Israel really needs our support right now. And it's great. It really is nice. And I appreciate all the security, but it's great to be able to see the parade.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're a peaceful people. We all want peace. And I think the world needs to know that that's all we want, is peace. And we're here to show our support for peace and love and democracy. We're a people of love, we're a people of unity, and we're people that want to see everyone living happy together.

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PAZMINO: Now, there is one significant absence during this year's parade, and that is the Mayor of the City of New York, Zohran Mamdani has skipped the celebration, breaking with years of political tradition here in New York City, home to the largest Jewish population outside of the State of Israel. Mamdani had said that he would not be participating. He is a strong supporter of Palestinian rights and has said that he doesn't believe the State of Israel should exist in its current form.

But having said that, he guaranteed and said that the NYPD would be out here in full force to make sure that it was a safe and secure celebration. And we have seen exactly that so far. There is a significant police presence, a very wide security perimeter around Fifth Avenue. It's very difficult to get into this area unless you're participating in the parade.

So we have seen the celebration go on as planned. And we heard from some people who told us they're OK with the mayor not being here because they're aware of his position on Israel.

Gloria Pazmino, CNN, New York.

SANDOVAL: Still to come, it's been now more than a week since U.S. President Donald Trump said that a peace deal with Iran was largely finalized. We'll look at where those talks stand. And an experimental drug is giving you hope to patients with pancreatic cancer. Just ahead, part of my conversation with a lead researcher involved in the pills groundbreaking clinical trial.

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