Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Forecasters Say El Nino Could Come Between June And August; U.S. Iran Talks Are Back On Track; Lost World War II Submarine, USS Herring, Identified Off Japanese Coast; Musicians Pull Out Of Great American State Fair Event; Trump's Personal Initiatives Face Growing Backlash. Aired 4:30-5a ET

Aired June 02, 2026 - 04:30   ET

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

ANDREW HAZELTON, ASSOCIATE SCIENTIST AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI CIMAS: Getting into El Nino territory, the way it's defined, it's usually based on like a three month average, so maybe a little bit before it's officially declared.

[04:30:07]

But I think we're already seeing it in the water temperatures and in the atmospheric impact. So typically these events peak in the wintertime. So I think you'll see this grow throughout the fall, summer and fall, and then probably peak in the wintertime and maybe start to decay in the spring. But it will probably be the main driver of climate and weather across the globe for the rest of this fall, certainly and into the winter.

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, we talked about the potential for storms. I wonder maybe we'd focus now on land, typically with these El Nino events. Andy, what are the sort of extreme weather events that we could expect in various parts of the world?

HAZELTON: Yes, it really kind of shifts where the rainfall is focused. You get less rainfall typically across Australia, Indonesia, places like that, because, you know, that warm water shifted east, like I said, more rainfall across the Pacific. You can get some changes to the Indian monsoon. Sometimes it can be a little bit suppressed. In the United States, North America, you kind of get a lot of enhanced rainfall that kind of along the Gulf coast maybe, then drier in the northern U.S. and Canada.

Typically it's a lot drier in the Caribbean. And so, you know, it's just a shift in that and sometimes that can be good. Like here in the southeast U.S. we need -- we need rain, so hopefully that'll be beneficial. But of course, if it gets too extreme and severe weather comes with it, then it's -- it's not a good thing.

SANDOVAL: Of course, some people may ask if there's any -- any connection perhaps with climate change thus far. Is there any conclusive evidence that these sort of El Nino events, especially these -- could be more intense than previous ones, that they may be growing stronger or perhaps even more frequent because of climate change? HAZELTON: That's a good question. There's a lot of ongoing research. Some climate models have suggested that El Ninos could become more frequent with a warming climate. Over the last 10 years or so, this actually hasn't been the case. We've seen, you know, kind of a typical oscillation and even several La Nina years where the Pacific is cooler.

So this oscillation, this back and forth, is always going to be there. But I think having climate change on top of that, you know, adding that warmth, adding all that water vapor into the air, can make some of the impacts more extreme, for sure.

SANDOVAL: Yes, yes. Look, these -- these sort of weather, amplified weather patterns have the potential to affect millions around the world. So it's such an important conversation. Andrew Hazelton, thank you so much for joining us for it.

HAZELTON: Thanks for having me.

SANDOVAL: A source says the talks between the U.S. and Iran are back on track. But apparently it took a very heated phone call between the leaders of the U.S. and Israel to get to actually get there. We're going to explain in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:36:09]

SANDOVAL: Welcome back, everybody. Let's get you up to speed on one of our top stories. A regional source now says that talks between the U.S. and Iran, they're back on track. Iranian media reported the negotiations were called off because of Israel's continued attacks on Hezbollah in Lebanon.

But Israel apparently agreed to postpone some strikes on Beirut after a phone call between U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Your CNN's Kristen Holmes in Washington.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: It remains unclear what exactly is happening behind the scenes when it comes to these negotiations between Iran and the United States. But one thing is very clear, that any kind of diplomacy right now is incredibly strained.

Now, earlier today, we saw Iran state media saying that they were halting any negotiations with the United States because of attacks from Israel on Lebanon. That led to a number of questions, including an interview with President Trump in which he said he didn't really care if Iran halted these ongoing negotiations, that maybe some silence would be good.

He actually said at one point that he thought there was too much talking going on, but that didn't stop him from trying to figure out what was going on between Israel and Lebanon and stopping the firing, obviously trying to get that deal back on track. He posted this after a conversation with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He said at a very productive call with Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu of Israel and there will be no troops going into Beirut and any troops that are on their way have already turned back likewise, through highly placed representatives. I had a very good call with Hezbollah and they agreed that all shooting will stop, that Israel will not attack them and they will not attack Israel.

Now, that there at the end certainly sounded like a renewed ceasefire. However, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu seemed to contradict that when he came out after these remarks saying that the Israeli military would keep striking southern Lebanon as planned. This was planned, these airstrikes. So it's really unclear here what's going on.

President Trump seemed to try to clarify that in another post saying that he had gotten Netanyahu to stop any raids, any very specific raids of Beirut. But there's a lot of back and forth here. And Iran and the United States are continuing to trade strikes. And it's not clear what's happening in terms of those negotiations.

Last tangible that we have right now is this memorandum that President Trump sent back to Iran on Friday asking for specific tweaks to the language, asking for stricter language on the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, asking for stricter language when it came to the nuclear program. All of these, the United States just looking for more reassurances. At least that's what we're hearing from our sources there. But it's unclear how all of the way that this is playing out publicly could affect those behind the scenes negotiations as well.

Kristen Holmes, CNN, the White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL: A discovery more than 80 years in the making. The Navy now says that it can definitively say where a World War II submarine was sunk decades ago. We speak with a Navy historian about that discovery.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:42:34]

SANDOVAL: The US Navy has found the final resting place of a submarine that was lost during World War II. Officials confirming that wreckage discovered off the coast of Japan is in fact the USS Herring. This submarine here. This announcement came exactly 82 years to the day after the boat disappeared at Sea on June 1, 1944.

Joining me now is retired Rear Admiral Samuel J. Cox. He's the director of Naval History and Heritage Command. Thank you so much for joining us.

REAR ADMIRAL SAMUEL J. COX (RET.) DIRECTOR, NAVAL HISTORY AND HERITAGE COMMAND: Good morning. Thank you for the opportunity.

SANDOVAL: Of course. Good morning to you, Rear Admiral. Tell us what this development means not only for your organization, but also for the families of those who were on board.

COX: Well, for one, sunken warships, including submarines, remain sovereign property in perpetuity, not subject to the law of salvage, like merchant ships. So the ship remains US Property even though it's in Russian territorial waters. But it's also a war grave for the 83 crew members who were on board and lost when she went down with all hands. And so this is just an opportunity to bring some closure to the families of those who, you know, didn't return home.

SANDOVAL: Yes, I remember about three years ago, after his father's final resting place, what was confirmed by your organization in a separate submarine wreck, a man from Missouri told me that he and his family had waited decades for that closure, to finally know where their father had died. So I'm sure this goes a long way. Have you heard from the families of any of those aboard of the USS Herring?

COX: We have not. But an organization that we work with called On Eternal Patrol, who tracks very closely the names of everyone who was on board a submarine that was lost. I do know that they have been in contact with families.

SANDOVAL: The wreck itself, it was discovered, by my understanding, was discovered by the Russians in 2017, returned to the site in 2020.

[04:45:00]

So tell us about how time consuming, how difficult it is to analyze the data, to definitively say that that, in fact, is wreck that you have been searching for.

COX: Well, one, the wreck is 360 feet down, which for a submarine is not that far. But you know, the water quality is very, you know, it's very dark, it's very murky. Pictures don't show. You can't really ever see the entire submarine in one look.

And there are three other U.S. submarines that are lost somewhere in the Coral Islands. So the length was to make sure that we had comparison the photographs, the sonar, historical records to make sure it wasn't one of the other submarines and that it was in fact the Herring. And that's what took a fair amount of time.

SANDOVAL: If you could, Rear Admiral, tell us a little bit about the Herring. What do we know about this specific sub and the role that it played during World War II?

COX: Well, Herring, what was called a fleet submarine, that was -- construction started actually before World War II in anticipation that we would be going to war. She conducted eight war patrols, rather unusually, the first five were actually in the European theater. And during the invasion of North Africa by the Allies, she sank a Vichy French cargo ship, which is a bit unusual, but they have a US submarine in an area with hundreds of German submarines. That turned out to not be such a good idea.

So she was sent to the Pacific along with virtually every other submarine and conducted three more war patrols there. And she was on her eighth war patrol cumulatively when she was lost in the Kuril Islands. The day before she was lost, she had sunk a Japanese escort ship, a navy ship, small one, but pretty potent capability, and a cargo ship.

And because she sank the escort, a different submarine, the Barb, was able to pick off two other of the convoy. Two Japanese ships took refuge off of Matua Island and the Herring went in close to the island and torpedoed and sank both those -- those cargo ships. But in doing so ran up on some rocks and was temporarily immobilized, which enabled Japanese shore batteries, you know, artillery to get the range and accurately and hit her twice in the conning tower, which would have immobilized or killed, you know, everyone in the control room. And she subsequently slid down and sank to, like I said, about 360 feet.

She's the only US submarine that was sunk by shore battery fire during the war.

SANDOVAL: What a story. Rear Admiral Samuel J. Cox, thank you for getting up early for us to share that. And we know the work is far from over with more submarines that authorities continue to search for. Thank you for your time.

COX: All right. Thank you.

SANDOVAL: Performers they are pulling out judges -- actually, performers are pulling out judges and are also pushing back in some of President Trump's biggest legacy ventures. They are on some shaky ground. You see the growing fallout over his high profile pet projects is on the way. Don't go anywhere. You're watching CNN Newsroom.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:52:42]

SANDOVAL: The White House currently scrambling to salvage a concert series that was planned to celebrate the country's 250th anniversary. Problem is that a majority of the performers have dropped out. Some say that they were told the event would be nonpartisan and feel misled. But rapper Vanilla Ice, who is confirmed to perform, says that the politics shouldn't matter.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VANILLA ICE, MUSICIAN: That's all we're doing is celebrating the birthday of our country. What's the big deal here? And as far as entertainers, I don't think it's fair to put any of us on a pedestal like that as far as politics goes because, you know, it shouldn't matter. We're just here to play. I'd play for anybody. So it's, you know, I go play for Biden's family or anybody. It doesn't matter.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: President Trump mocked the performers who dropped out on social media and suggested that he could replace them. He preferred to -- he actually referred to himself as, quote, the number one attraction, the man who gets much larger audiences than Elvis in his prime. Words from the president.

The anniversary concert, it is the latest in a series of high profile legacy projects facing growing backlash. CNN's Sunlen Serfaty has a look at the mounting pushback against some of the president's most ambit personal initiatives.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Many of President Trump's high profile pet projects.

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: We're ahead of schedule.

SERFATY (voice-over): Have crescendoed into controversy.

TRUMP: This is my gift to the United States of America.

SERFATY (voice-over): Days after the lineup for the nation's 250th concert series was released, a string of artists abruptly dropped out, publicly admonishing the event, saying they felt misled about the event's political associations. Rapper Young MC telling Rolling Stone it was a bait and switch, saying the artists were never told about any political involvement with the event. And country singer Martina McBride saying she was told it would be a nonpartisan event. But that turned out to be misleading.

President Trump fired back, announcing that he will now personally kick off the celebration, blasting the artists as overpriced singers who nobody wants to hear whose music is boring, and calling to cancel the whole event to replace it with a Make America Great Again rally.

As critics charged, the president is making this about him. The secretary of interior stating he should be involved.

[04:55:00]

DOUG BURGUM, U.S. SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR: The president plays a key figure in helping to again celebrate, kick off and be at the opening of these events. It's very appropriate.

SERFATY (voice-over): Meantime, Trump's other major and much touted personal endeavors are also facing serious headwinds. The ballroom.

TRUMP: It's going to be one of the most beautiful buildings that's ever been built in the country.

SERFATY (voice-over): Reflecting pool makeover.

TRUMP: I want to keep our country beautiful and safe. Beautiful also. This place was disgusting place.

SERFATY (voice-over): And planned arch.

TRUMP: It's called the Triumphal Arc. It's in honor of the veterans. SERFATY (voice-over): All facing uncertain futures while they remain under litigation. And on Friday, a federal judge dealt a massive blow to the President's plans for the Kennedy Center.

TRUMP: You can't have this looking like it does.

SERFATY (voice-over): A judge saying Trump cannot add his name to the Kennedy Center and blocking the planned two year closure for renovations meant to start next month. In response, the president distanced himself from the arts institution that he had once coveted, leading as chairman of the board.

TRUMP: I was honored when the board changed the name a little bit.

SERFATY (voice-over): Saying he has no interest in continuing unless he was free to do what he wanted to do. Even the President's UFC fight arena that is being built on the south lawn of the White House.

JOE ROGAN, HOST, "THE JOE ROGAN EXPERIENCE: The White House thing is odd. I don't like it.

SERFATY (voice-over): Getting pushback from the president's own allies.

ROGAN: And it's D.C. and we looked it up the last time like last year, same day was 100 degrees.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You have the lights.

ROGAN: Oh yes, the lights.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You add the lights. Yes. It attracts bugs.

SERFATY: Now, it's not entirely clear yet what President Trump's role will be an opening night of that concert series. But notably this was an event that was organized by Freedom 250, a group that was launched last year by President Trump. Notably, that is entirely different and separate from Another group called America's 250 that almost also has several anniversary celebrations around the 250th anniversary.

Sunlen Serfaty, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL: Thank you so much for joining me the last hour of news. I'm Polo Sandoval in New York. Our coverage continues with CNN Headline Express in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:00:00]