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Final Results In California Elections Could Take Days; Hilton, Becerra Lead In California Governor's Race; Trump Says He Doesn't Know If $1.8B Fund Is Dead. Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired June 04, 2026 - 04:00   ET

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

[04:00:00]

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POLO SANDVAL, CNN ANCHOR: Hey everybody. I'm Polo Sandoval live in New York, and this is CNN Newsroom.

A closely watched race for California governor still too early to call. We'll share the latest results as the counting continues.

Plus, what's behind the mixed messaging from the U.S. and Iran. We have a live report from the region about the status of the negotiations.

And a little later, you may want to think twice before throwing fists or throwing back one too many beers on your upcoming flight. We'll tell you what the UK is proposing to penalize unruly passengers.

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

SANDOVAL: Hey, everybody. Welcome.

Right now we are expecting updated vote totals in elections across California, including the hotly contested governor's race and also the race for L.A.'s mayor. Vote counting it is underway across the Golden State. Final results, they could take 10 -- they could take potentially days as mail in ballots postmarked on or before Election Day still have one week to arrive and then they got to get counted.

Republican Steve Hilton leading in the governor's race for now, followed by Democrats Xavier Becerra and Tom Steyer. The top two candidates, they're the ones who get to advance to November's general election to potentially be the next governor of the state of California. Hilton spoke with supporters in Sacramento and had this to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEVE HILTON, REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE FOR CALIFORNIA GOVERNOR: Change really is coming because this state desperately wants change. There's a majority for change in California. 56 percent of people in the poll just the other day say that the state's going in the wrong direction and we need change. Now you may say who's the 44 percent who think that California is going in the right direction?

I don't know. The politicians exactly. But we don't need 100 percent. We just need a majority and there is a majority for change in California.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: Onto the L.A. mayor's race, incumbent Karen Bass will be advancing to that general election in her bid for a second term. For now, Republican Spencer Pratt is in second place, followed by L.A. City Council member Nithya Raman.

We get more analysis on these races in just a moment, but for now we do want to get the very latest on what's happening and head over to anchor of CNN's The Story Is, Elex Michelson.

ELEX MICHAELSON, CNN ANCHOR: Ballot counting is underway here in L.A. county in counties across California, but it could take a while. Here's where we're at in terms of the governor's race. Steve Hilton, Republican, former Fox News host, and Xavier Becerra, the former HHS secretary, a Democrat, are in the 1 and 2 position.

Tom Steyer, the billionaire philanthropist, is in third. He needs a big number to start coming in for him to get to second place. We did not see a big change in the dynamics of the race on Wednesday as more ballots came into places like here in LA County.

In terms of the L.A. mayor's race, CNN projects that Mayor Karen Bass will advance to a runoff. The question is, who's she going to be in a runoff against? Nithya Raman, Democratic Socialist on her left, or Spencer Pratt, a registered Republican, former reality show star.

Pratt right now is in second place. Raman needs to catch up with him. On Wednesday, she made up the margin by 3,000 votes, but still trails him by 37,000 votes. But could take up to three weeks to count all the ballots. So it still could be a while before we know who advances in both the mayor's race and the governor's race. Elex Michelson, CNN, from the City of Industry, California.

SANDOVAL: All right, let's head over to Gustavo Arellano, columnist for the L.A. Times. He's live from Santa Ana, California. Gustavo, thank you so much for joining us.

GUSTAVO ARELLANO, COLUMNIST, LOS ANGELES TIMES: Gracias for having me.

SANDOVAL: It's a pleasure to have you with us. So we're going to zero in on a specific voter demographic in California. But before I get to that, I'm just curious. If I could get your overall view, your overall thoughts as Elex just laid out where the numbers stand and as that voting continues.

[04:05:02]

ARELLANO: The big surprise, or the big rise, if you will, is Xavier Becerra, a man who just a few months ago was in danger, basically being asked, not by name, but by reputation or polling numbers to drop out of the race by California Democratic Party Chair Rusty Hicks for the -- for the sake of the party, because he was polling so low. Now look at him. He seems to be going into the general election.

You saw a lot of people really pushing for him, because if he gets to the general election, then he has a very good chance of being the first ever Latino governor elected. There was one appointed back in the 1800s, but it would be a totally historic moment.

SANDOVAL: Yes, and just to correct myself, I meant to say the vote counting continues, of course, voting over there in the Golden State. So, Becerra, as you just mentioned, he certainly stands a very, very strong chance of being one of two names on the ballot. If he wants to go all the way, he's going to need support from his fellow Latinos in California, as, you know, the biggest demographic in that state. So, what case would Xavier Becerra need to make to California Latinos in order to win do you think?

ARELLANO: That he is them and he is them? I mean, the story that Xavier has laid out throughout his, at this point, 30 some career -- 30 some year career in politics. Child of immigrants, working class immigrants, first in his family to go to college, served as Assembly member and Congress member down here in Southern California and Los Angeles, became, of course, Attorney General for in California, worked under the Biden administration. He has seen it all.

He has carried all these stories with him. He came of a generation of politicians who became, some people would say radicalized, I would say conscious about the plight of undocumented immigrants in a xenophobic era, just like, just like this current one, but back in the 1990s.

So Xavier, both of the candidates, and frankly, Steve Hilton, needs Latinos way more than Xavier does, because it's implied and assumed that Xavier is going to get a whole bunch of them just by virtue of his ethnicity.

SANDOVAL: There's a Latino draw for Xavier Viserra, but something tells me that that won't be enough for so many families in California. What else are they looking for? Obviously, California, home to some of the highest, if not the highest, gas prices in the country. We are very familiar with rising costs.

And then, of course, President Trump continues with this immigration crackdown that was impacting the migrant community there, you know, not long ago. So, what are voters, especially Latino voters, going to be asking of Becerra beyond just, you know, making his -- potentially making history.

ARELLANO: It's these raids are still happening in California, although on a far more quiet scale. So obviously for a lot of Latinos standing up to, not just Latinos, by the way, a lot of Californians standing up to Donald Trump and his hatred of California is important, but we are talking about affordability crisis. And California has always been a more expensive state than other states. So, they are looking for relief.

And that has been the hallmark of Republic -- of the current leader right now in the election results, Steve Hilton. He has been the one who has really been pushing I am your affordability candidate, created that very sweet term Californability. And he has been going to these working-class communities, mostly Latino, in areas that president, not presidential politicians for, like running for governor rarely go to in the Central Valley, in the Imperial Valley. But he's playing catch up to Xavier Becerra, who knows these communities very, very intimately.

So for Latinos to go for any candidate, they're going to go for the one who really is going to say, hey, I'm going to stand up to Trump and, and I'm going to make your lives more affordable.

SANDOVAL: Gustavo, quickly, before we wrap up, should we see a Democrat and a Republican, of course, referring to Hilton, if we see him on the ballot, what kind of strategy do you think he'll be putting forth forward if he does make the ballot?

ARELLANO: You're going to see again, anything that's going to appeal. Like, they're like, look, the Latino population is not unique from any other population except that a lot of us speak Spanish. But we care about affordability, we care about education, and we care maybe a little bit more about immigration than other groups. So, whoever's going to win needs to appeal to that.

And Hilton's big problem is that he's already going off and saying, I'm the candidate for legal immigrants. That is not -- that's not going to play at all in California or aligning yourself with Trump.

So at least right now, if both of them go into the advantage or into the general election, and also the fact that California is a deep blue state. Xavier has a huge advantage over Hilton just by default, but he cannot take anything for granted. Definitely not this year.

[04:10:00]

SANDOVAL: So still a big question there. Exactly what two names that are those that we just showed our viewers will end up on the ballot? We'll have to see as that meticulous counting continues out West. Gustavo Arellano, as always, a pleasure. Thank you for your time and your analysis.

ARELLANO: Gracias for having me.

SANDOVAL: President Trump is defending the controversial $1.8 billion anti-weaponization fund. He says that he's not sure if it's actually dead. And this even after the acting attorney general said that the administration is not moving forward with it. The Latest now from CNN's Kristen Holmes.

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: President Trump once again mucking up the waters when it comes to this anti weaponization fund. After we heard from the acting attorney general Todd Blanche telling Congress that this was over, this fund was not going anywhere, period. You saw President Trump kind of trying or at least acting as though that wasn't necessarily the case, that this wasn't dead in the water the way that we had heard from Blanche. Here's what he said about it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: It's -- I'd have to ask the lawyers. I don't know. I know one thing. The weaponization -- are you talking about the weaponization fund?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, what's your decision?

TRUMP: The weaponization fund, as far as I'm concerned, was a beautiful thing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Now, obviously, President Trump is talking to his lawyers. We know that they've been working together, going through whether or not they were going to move forward with this fund and ultimately deciding that they weren't going to, at least according to the acting attorney general, Todd Blanche. But there's also raising an enormous amount of questions here as to what could down the road President Trump, he has said that he thought this was beautiful. You just heard that.

He also we are told behind closed doors that he still believes there should be some kind of weaponization fund where people, allies of his are reimbursed for what he believes were political weaponization under the Biden administration. So that is something that lawmakers on Capitol Hill are watching closely because while the acting attorney general said point blank, we are done with this, it is over, period. He also wouldn't commit to that in writing.

So, there's still enormous amount of questions, particularly when you hear President Trump talking like that, as to what exactly this means for what's coming next with this weaponization fund. Kristen Holmes, CNN, the White House.

SANDOVAL: A stay in Washington now. And on Capitol Hill, a remarkable bipartisan rebuke of President Trump as the House passed a resolution to limit his war powers in Iran.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RANDY WEBER, U.S. REPRESENTATIVE: On this vote, the yays are 215 and the nays are 208. The concurrent resolution is adopted.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: Four Republicans cross party lines supporting that measure, which still has to be approved by both chambers. And the president still has the option to veto it. House Speaker Mike Johnson warning that reining in the president's war powers could have a negative impact on negotiations.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE JOHNSON, U.S. HOUSE SPEAKER: I think it is a very dangerous prospect to take away from the administration and the commander in chief right now the ability to negotiate. That's what this does. It weakens us, our position and our leverage in negotiation on the peace in that situation. Operation Epic Fury is concluded.

This operation was immensely successful. The objectives that were well defined were achieved. The president is now in the process of concluding a peace agreement and we have to allow him the latitude to do that. And I think a war powers resolution right now is very untimely and a very, very negative and dangerous thing for the country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: And those comments are coming as Iran's foreign minister says that there has been no significant progress in talks with the U.S. over the past few days. U.S. President Trump, though, had a different take. He said that his administration is negotiating a very powerful deal with Iran and that the talks are going very well.

While he says that Kuwaiti Aviation Authority releasing some of this video here, they say that it shows an Iranian strike at the international airport. 63 People were reported injured in that strike, which makes it now one of the highest injury counts among Gulf states hit by Iran since the fighting started. Iran is claiming the damage was caused by a malfunctioning U.S. patriot missile. Let's go to CNN's Paula Hancocks now, who's following developments out of Abu Dhabi.

Paula, I wonder if we could perhaps begin with what could be perhaps driving these conflicting narratives from, from both sides.

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Paula, we've been hearing a very positive take on these talks for weeks now from the Trump administration, in particular from the US President himself. Just last weekend he said he believed a deal could be done within a week. He's now said he could believe -- he believes it could be done by the weekend, saying it might not happen. But if it happens, it could happen over the week, saying that these talks are going very well. Now, we have been hearing very positive signs from the Trump administration which have not been backed up by anything concrete that -- that we have seen as to how this, this process is progressing. The latest we have heard from U.S. officials is that President Trump pushed back on some of the wording in a document which was supposed to be the memorandum of understanding between the U.S. and Iran, wanting to have strong, stronger language when it came to the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and also when it came to the nuclear program.

[04:15:35]

So what we're hearing from Tehran is most recently from the foreign minister Abbas Araghchi, saying that there is no formal negotiation process, but there is still an exchange of messages, but pointing out that there has been no significant progress.

Also at pains to say that if there is not a cease fire in Lebanon that is adhered to, then there will not be a cease fire and a deal between the United States and Iran, making sure that those two issues are very closely linked. Polo.

SANDOVAL: CNN's Polo Hancocks with that live update from Abu Dhabi. Thank you, Paula.

And happening now, thousands of people are gathering at a shrine just south of Tehran. These are mostly religious conservatives who are gathering there who are commemorating the death of the founder of the Islamic Republic 37 years ago. These are some pictures that were sent in from Tehran just a few moments ago where it's almost noontime.

CNN's team in Iran spoke to some people at that shrine who say that they're skeptical of current efforts to broker a peace deal with the United States. Some of them are calling for retribution, waving red flags with the word revenge on them. Others carried photos of late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in an airstrike in February. CNN operates in Iran only with the permission of the government, but does maintain full editorial control over its reporting.

The worst form of a sycophant. Some Republicans are not holding back their criticism of Donald Trump's selection of Bill Pulte as acting director of national intelligence. More from Capitol Hill in a moment.

Plus, new information on the suspect who took test and hostages in California on Tuesday. What we're now learning about him after he was killed by police officers following an hours long standoff. You're watching CNN Newsroom.

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SANDOVAL: Todd Blanche may officially become the U.S. attorney General. A private White House dinner, President Trump announced that he will be nominating Blanche for that role. He has been serving as acting Attorney General for two months since his predecessor, Pam Bondi, was fired.

Blanche, Trump's former personal attorney, has secured indictments against some of the president's personal foes, including former FBI Director James Comey. The man that the president wants to officially make the U.S. s top law enforcement officer has also rolled back gun control measures as well as issued subpoenas to journalists for their sources.

President Trump's pick for the role of acting Director of National Intelligence is drawing some swift reaction, including from Republicans who are currently questioning or even criticizing the selection of Bill Pulte. Pulte currently runs the Federal Housing Finance Agency. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, they have been vocal over Pulte's lack of intelligence experience and even his actions as top housing official facilitating mortgage fraud investigations against some of the president's political foes.

Here's just some of the reaction from Capitol Hill.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

THOM TILLIS, U.S. SENATE REPUBLICAN: I think he's the worst form of sycophant, an advisor to the president that is going to hurt the president's legacy.

MANUR RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Any issues of Bill Pulte's acting DNI?

TODD YOUNG, U.S. SENATE REPUBLICAN: Don't know much about his background. I'm waiting on the administration to explain to us, credentials.

RAJU: On Bill Pulte, are you planning on trying to scuttled FISA over Pulte's dominator appointment?

MARK WARNER, U.S. SENATE DEMOCRAT: Section 702 is the most important tool we have to protect our country. But I wonder, does the president want to kill Section 702?

I've yet to talk to a Republican that doesn't think this is an outrageous choice. Is anybody going to tell the emperor in the White House that he has no clothes on this one?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: Police in Bakersfield, California are currently searching for what motivated a man to take 10 hostages inside his school district's offices. He was killed by police on Wednesday after holding the hostages for about 15 hours and claiming to have explosives. CNN's Veronica Miracle is following the investigation this morning.

VERONICA MIRACLE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This all took place on the second floor of the Chase Building right behind us where the Kern County School district has office. 10 School district employees were held hostage by the suspect, who we now know is 41-year-old Anthony Scott Searles-Harris. Five of those hostages were bound up. Some of them had incendiary devices strapped onto them.

And we understand the FBI says at a certain point they recognized that there was no threat from those incendiary devices. They did not go as far to say as that they were inert. But they are currently studying them. They're testing them. But at a certain point in their investigation, they realized that there was no threat from those bombs.

So that's how they were able to move forward. Now we understand that the suspect has a very long criminal history and it could play a bit of a role in the motivations of why he did this, according to authorities. Take a listen to what authorities had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SID PATEL, SPECIAL AGENT IN CHARGE, FBI SACRAMENTO FIELD OFFICE: He was a 41-year-old white male who served in the U.S. army from 2006 to 2007. However, he was dishonorably discharged for going AWOL. That's absent without leave. He was no stranger to law enforcement and has a criminal history of using weapons to commit violent offenses.

[04:25:07]

In 2014, he was charged with sex acts with a child under 14.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MIRACLE: The suspect was apparently very concerned about one of those cases in his criminal history. Now, they didn't specify exactly which case, but apparently it was a part of the negotiations where he wanted information about one of the cases and how he was perceived. And he had very great concerns about that. And so that's a lot of what they were talking about during the 15th process.

We did speak to one of the suspect's neighbors who lives two doors down who told us that a couple of months ago it appeared something had happened in his personal life and he became very withdrawn, very unapproachable, and the neighborhood noticed there was a sudden shift in his behavior. And for something like this to happen, of course, nobody thought that would happen, but they did say that something was off with him as of recent. They also suggested that he may have been a drug user.

So there were a lot of concerns there going into what ended up being, you know, a very incredible situation here where authorities were able to make sure that all 10 hostages were physically unharmed and they were able to reunite all of those 10 hostages with their family members. Veronica Miracle, CNN, Bakersfield, California.

SANDOVAL: And still ahead, Ukraine makes a blunt move ahead of a showcase international event in the Russian president's home city.

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