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CNN Projects Democrat, Xavier Becerra Will Advance In California Governor Race; Republicans Fight To Retain Control Of Congress In Midterms; Israel And Hezbollah Trade Strikes, Testing Fragile Ceasefire. Aired 6-7p ET

Aired June 06, 2026 - 18:00   ET

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

[18:01:05]

JESSICA DEAN, CNN HOST: You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Hi, everyone. I am Jessica Dean here in New York.

It is a waiting game in California. We do now know one of the candidates who will be in the ballot for the race for California governor. CNN projecting, Democrat, Xavier Becerra will advance. Not clear yet who he will face off against as election officials continue to count a large number of mail-in ballots.

Becerra, thanking his supporters and volunteers following his victory last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

XAVIER BECERRA (D), CALIFORNIA GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: We are just getting started.

You stayed in the fight with me, and on election night we proved this state is worth fighting for.

Now we take that fight all the way to November.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: Meantime, President Trump-backed Republican Steve Hilton and Democratic candidate, Tom Steyer, battling it out for second place to see who will advance to the general election against Becerra. Hilton projecting confidence while speaking to reporters Friday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEVE HILTON (R), CALIFORNIA GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: However long it takes, we are confident that we are going to be in the top two at the end of this process. There is nothing that we are seeing that changes our assessment that we will be in the top two once all the votes are counted.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: Steyer is encouraging voters to be patient. He posted on X, replying to President Trump, who attacked the states mail-in ballots and falsely accused Democrats of stealing the election. Election officials there in California telling CNN, the Justice Department is now involved.

An attorney was sent in to observe the ballot counting. The Justice Department did not immediately respond to CNN's request for comment.

There are still a number of key races in that state that have not been called, including the race for Los Angeles mayor. We do know Karen Bass, the incumbent, is headed to the runoff. The question is who will be there with her?

We are joined now by former Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.

Mr. Speaker, great to have you. Thank you for being here. We are appreciative for your time on a Saturday night, and I want to start with your home state of California.

I know you've been quite outspoken about how long it takes to count those ballots there. California is notoriously slow due to the fact that it accepts those ballots mailed in on Election Day.

The President has said that he believes this is a sign of Democratic cheating. Now, there is no evidence of that. Can you accept and hold at the same time that you can be frustrated, as you yourself have expressed in how long it takes, but also understand that that's not necessarily a sign of fraud.

KEVIN MCCARTHY (R), FORMER SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: Well, thanks for having me on.

What you really have to look at is what changed in California. Prior to Gavin Newsom being elected to governor, we used to count our ballots between one and three days, but there have been a number of laws and election laws that have changed since that time under Gavin Newsom. He made same day voter registration, universal mail-in ballot.

One of the challenges, anytime you want to go to universal mail-in, that's -- California was very liberal in their voting record. I mean, if anybody wanted an absentee ballot, they can grab one, but there were safeguards that went along with that.

Now everybody has mailed a ballot. You want to make sure your rolls are cleaned up because people move in different locations. But if you're not removing them or they pass away from the rolls, you have an opportunity there where their ballots are sitting out there.

Then he has allowed people to cure their ballots, and you can same day voter registration, you mail the ballot in. They still take at that time, they give you seven to 10 days to cure that ballot. So now, after the election of Gavin Newsom and these law changes, we've gone from one to three days of counting it until, on average, seven to 30 days, and that builds to individuals.

Look, they could be honest elections, but what happens in that situation is you lose trust in the system. If people watch on election night, well, here is the majority of the ballots sent in. Who is in first? Who is in second? Then two weeks later, somebody jumps ahead of somebody else. Now, people begin to question the system.

You don't want them questioning the system.

[18:05:08]

If you look at other major populations, like a Texas state or a Florida, they count theirs in hours. It really would take some election law changes to put California back in a place where people could trust it when it happens and less doubt going forward.

DEAN: But there is a difference between what you're saying, which is, I think based on what you're saying --

MCCARTHY: I am sorry, what -- what is different than what I am saying? I just gave you the law and the history.

DEAN: No, no, no, no, I am saying there is a difference between what the President is saying and what you're saying, which you're trying to say, I think is, look, I -- that you would like some different laws that you think it needs to be sped up, that there are other states that do this quicker and that California should look to them for maybe how to set this up.

MCCARTHY: Well, California used to do it better.

DEAN: The President has -- hang on. The President has said that this is just outright fraud and that they are stealing the election, and that actually injects a tremendous amount of questioning when the President of the United States says that, when there is no evidence of that.

MCCARTHY: Well, the problem is you can find evidence of problems going on, like what we have found, if you go through different counties, there are 58 of them, you look at different district attorneys because of the mass mailing, we have found people vote ballots that are from somebody else in there. We've watched people go to elderly care facilities and collect.

But what California did as well is they changed the law on these and they let people go harvest ballots. So there are avenues to cause that which make people feel that they can't trust it as much.

I mean, a couple of things you want to do. First of all, you want to make sure the rolls are cleaned up. So, if someone passes away, somebody moves, they are off the rolls. So there is no ability that someone can have that. Secondly, you shouldn't really have same day voter registration because you don't have any checking when you go in to vote, no one checks your I.D., so it is harder to be able to know whether they are there. So cut it off like we did before, maybe one month before or 14 days before.

And then what you can have is, if you're going to allow these ballots to keep coming in, it is going to take you longer to count. You want to make sure you have a very honest, supportive system, which you can have today, but you also want the public to trust it. That's the second road that we have lost in this process, and a lot of people like to go in the day of and vote.

In California before, you used to be able to have an absentee ballot very easily, but you only had certain people who could bring it in, your family and others, and they sign it back. That was all taken away. So, now you have people questioning that.

I'd rather have a system that makes it open for everybody to vote very liberal. If you want to vote from home or you want to go in, give me that choice. Cut it off a couple of weeks ahead of time and let's count the votes the day it happens.

DEAN: And so just to be clear, though, you don't think that that there is any stealing of an election or election, that this is a fraudulent election right now.

MCCARTHY: Well, what I see right now is the votes are still having to be counted. I've seen that there are small cases of individuals doing that, and that have happened many times before. But I haven't seen a big challenge outside of that.

There is a lot of doubt that people are going to have, but I don't see it right now.

DEAN: Yes, Okay. Okay. So you don't have the doubt right now is what you're saying.

MCCARTHY: Well, I have a doubt with a system that doesn't work. You've got 39 million people. Every other state does it better.

You know what happens when this transpires like this and you have weeks after the election still talking about it? People are become less engaged in the system. People don't trust it. People don't want to run it. It is harder to govern in those cases after the person gets elected. You don't want that. You want to unite the state.

So what I would say is the laws under Gavin Newsom has sent us backwards instead of forwards. So let's have a system that worked for California before, and let's go to one that worked and people trusted.

DEAN: Okay, I want to talk about what we are looking ahead to, which are these midterms, which these primaries are setting us up for.

MCCARTHY: Yes.

DEAN: You have put yourself in Mike Johnson's shoes for many years. You were the leader of House Republicans. You were the Speaker of the House at one point. How, if you put yourself in his shoes, he has already got this tiny majority, which you also dealt with and you know what that's like, trying to kind of get that -- herd those cats, as it were.

In terms of what the President is doing right now and the things he is prioritizing, we could go through a long list, but just to name a few, you've got the war with Iran, you've got gas prices being what they are. You've got what you've said about the economy and saying people just need to hang in there and it is going to get better, and he is not worried about that right now.

You have this -- the DOJ fund, what he calls the Anti-Weaponization Fund, which Republicans, some Republicans have pushed back on.

There are a number of things that if you're a House member running for reelection right now, you have to answer to because he is not on the ballot during the midterms.

[18:10:12]

Do you think what he is doing right now is helpful to people who are running?

MCCARTHY: Well, let me tell you what I think is very helpful that President Trump is doing. He is doing exactly what he said he would do when he ran for the election of the president and he won. He won every swing state.

DEAN: He said he wouldn't engage in new wars.

MCCARTHY: Okay, well, let me know when I can answer and I will answer.

DEAN: Please go ahead. I just want to say --

MCCARTHY: If you want to interrupt me -- if you want to ask me a question, tell me when I can answer without being interrupted and I will answer for you.

DEAN: Okay, okay. Go ahead. Please.

MCCARTHY: Okay, so what I would run on, exactly what he said he would do. He said he would secure the border. You know what? That is done. Under the Democrats, that was not.

He said he would bring inflation down. He has done that.

You look at the jobs report that just came out last week, four times larger than what people said.

He said Iran would never be able to have a nuclear weapon. He is making sure that is happening without any troops on the ground.

He said in The Big, Beautiful Bill that you could keep more of the money that you earned. That is happening.

So Republicans can run on exactly what he has done, and it is very, very helpful to do so.

Look, I was yes, the Leader and the Speaker. Every single election when I was leader and forward, we only gained seats. So what I have found, when you run on these issues, you will win. When you do what you say you will do, you will win. And you know where we won, too? Nancy Pelosi was Speaker from California and I was leader from California. We picked up five more seats in California without redistricting.

We elected the most Republican women, the most Republican minorities. We won in states that Democrats thought they were very strong, and then when they won the presidency, what did they do? Wide open borders, inflation that we haven't seen since the 70s. We weren't strong around the world.

We have a much better place to run for and win more seats based upon what President Trump has done.

DEAN: I hear you. What I am curious about is, though, if you're a sitting congressperson and you're now talking to your constituents who are paying more for gas, which is something they see depending on how much they drive, it is America, a lot of people drive a lot, maybe every day, but certainly probably weekly, they are having to maybe fill up or make a decision about how they are spending that money.

So many people voted for this President because they were really concerned about the cost of living in this country, and he promised and they believed him and voted for him to do those things, to bring it down. That is still when you look at poll after poll after poll, that is still top of mind for people and he is underwater in terms of how people feel like he is dealing with that.

This war in Iran is unpopular. He promised no new wars. So if you're one of those people trying to sell this to constituents, what are you saying to say, give me -- give us more time. We can do this -- when he has not done those things?

MCCARTHY: He has not done those things? He didn't secure the border? He didn't let you keep more of what you earned? He didn't --

DEAN: I hear you. I'm just saying --

MCCARTHY: Okay, so you're picking one item that is today, if that gas price is still up there in November, it is a harder election. But gas moves every single day. And at the end of the day, if the price of gas is lower and Iran is not able to have a nuclear weapon, when presidents before have not been able to deal with that situation, that Americans will be safer, the world will be safer going forward, I think that will be a good campaign for Republicans.

DEAN: In terms of Iran not being able to have a nuclear weapon, there are question -- obviously, those negotiations are ongoing at this point and TBD on where they land on all of that.

But if at one point, the reporting indicated that any deal would be a negotiation that involved the Strait and some other issues, and then it would give more time to negotiate the nuclear piece of this, which is very complicated as we all know, if they're not able to get that done, how serious of an issue is that?

MCCARTHY: Well, I believe they will get it done. We are just in the midst of it right now.

Iran is in a weaker position to be able to build a nuclear weapon today because of what we've been able to do. We've watched ships, about 70 have been able to go through the Strait recently. You do not want Iran to be able to control that.

Each day, when the mines get removed, America gets a little -- and the world gets a little safer and a little stronger in that process.

I think you'll find, you and I are not in the room on these negotiations, but one thing the President has said very clearly, no deal is better than a bad deal, and this is a moment in time in history, because if you think for one moment, if you read Henry Kissinger and Graham Allison's article before he died and you speed it up, it has been 80 years since the world power has been in a big war, okay?

[18:15:10]

That is the longest time in Earth's history since the Roman Empire. There are nine countries with the capability of having a nuclear weapon. If Iran is able to have a nuclear weapon, I think there will be 40 countries and it will be much more difficult.

We haven't faced something like this. When you look at what people call the CRINKs -- China, Russia, Iran and North Korea -- bounding together to fighting the western democracies, as you would say, we haven't seen something like that since the 30s.

There is no real leader in Europe. I am very proud of what President Trump has been able to do. You look at what transpired in Venezuela. Tell me any other country that can do that? In less than five minutes, pick up the individual. I've been to Venezuela twice since then, it is a whole different country, and the people there are very excited of what has transpired in the hope of freedom.

We look at what is changing in the power structure of the world. Will there be some disruptions during that time? Yes, there will. But will the world be safer and will America be in a stronger position to make sure they are able to lead for the next century as well? Yes, and I support our President, and I would hope members of Congress and I've been in this position before, where the party had somebody else than who I voted for. You are an American first and if you're a member of Congress in the House and Senate, you should back your president during these times to have that negotiation to come out as strong as possible.

DEAN: I want to stay on Iran for just for just one moment, though.

MCCARTHY: Sure.

DEAN: Because if you look at where we sit right now, the same regime is still in control. Yes, they were able to kill a number of people and those airstrikes were clearly quite successful at doing that, but that same regime is in control. The Iranian people have not been able to break free from the clutches of that regime.

The Strait, which had been open for many, many, many years; now, Iran knows how to use that as a weapon in all of this and many of the experts I've spoken with said that if -- you know, when they would kind of game this out, that was really a worst case scenario was putting the Strait of Hormuz into play and having Iran be able to be effectively in charge of it in any way, even though we do have our military there, and as you note, obviously, even just very recently in the last 24 hours, there has been exchanging of missiles and whatnot there.

But the fact is, all of these things that they set out to do, they haven't achieved -- people will say they haven't achieved those goals yet, that the Strait is still in play, that the regime is still in place, and they still, for the time being, have uranium.

MCCARTHY: They don't have uranium that they can use. The uranium is deep. It is probably deep down in in a barrel of a building on top of it that got blown apart.

You have a regime that wants to have negotiations, which is much different. The only thing that this terrorist regime is good at is killing their own people. So it takes time.

I remember when Ronald Reagan sat before the Berlin Wall and said, "Tear this wall down." When it finally collapsed, he had departed. But the actions he took at that time made the world change.

This might be a little different for you, but, you know, in the 80s, American navy was escorting ships through the Strait back then as well. I think it is smart of the President to do this blockade, to make sure Iran can't control the Strait. And every single day we are able to take away any mines that they put in there, so it is becoming a stronger place. Two years from now, I don't think the Strait will be as important.

Just like within COVID, your supply chains changed after that. I think there will be new pipelines where oil comes through in others. So, at the time, Iran will become weaker every single day. Their storage is more difficult. And this is why it is so important.

If you wanted to walk away from this, Iran would try to control the Strait, and you've watched what they've been trying to do. I think what is transpiring right now is you're watching the process.

Give him the opportunity and the strength. The last thing we want somebody to do is to question the strength of this President's ability to negotiate, because you know who that goes to? The leaders of the terrorist organization in Iran to think they could do that.

And if you think this organization, what did they do? They funded the Houthis. They funded what we saw the attacks from Lebanon into Israel and others. This is not good people, and it is not something that can be solved overnight.

[18:20:10]

But we are in the process of doing it right now.

DEAN: All right, former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, we are going to need to leave it there, but I do appreciate your time tonight. Thank you so much!

MCCARTHY: Thank you for having me.

DEAN: Still to come, Iran is accusing the U.S. of violating the ceasefire after Central Command says it struck radar sites on Iran's coast. More on that when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:25:07]

DEAN: We are following new strikes in the Middle East between the U.S. and Iran, including Iran saying it targeted American bases in Kuwait and Bahrain. Peace talks between the two countries appear to be at a standstill. However, Pakistani mediators are in Iran for further negotiations this weekend. And CNN Jerusalem Bureau Chief, Oren Liebermann has more on the latest developments now from the region.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN JERUSALEM BUREAU CHIEF AND CORRESPONDENT: The U.S.-Iran ceasefire and any path forward on negotiations very much under question now, after we have seen a very volatile Saturday between the U.S. and Iran and around the Gulf region.

Early Saturday morning, the U.S. Navy says they intercepted four one- way attack drones fired from Iran. Semi-official Iranian state media says they were fired at what they believed were U.S. Navy vessels transiting or attempting to transit through the region.

In response, the U.S. struck surveillance radars on Iran's coast. Iran called that a violation of the ceasefire and several hours later, we saw seven ballistic missiles launched towards Kuwait and Bahrain.

U.S. Central Command, which governs U.S. military operations in the Middle East, says six of those were intercepted, while one of those didn't make it to its target. It is worth noting that it was just this week that an Iranian attack hit Kuwait's airport, killing one and wounding at least 60.

Under this latest attack, there were alert sirens in both Kuwait and Bahrain. So you see the difficulty here and how this makes a diplomatic path that much more challenging.

Meanwhile, a Pakistan Minister is in Tehran trying to make those negotiations happen and trying to find a path forward. Pakistan has acted as the mediator there. It is not just in Iran we are seeing an escalation, Iran has demanded that there is a ceasefire in Lebanon as part of any U.S.-Iran ceasefire.

But when you look at what is happening on the ground along the Israel- Lebanon border, it is just the opposite.

According to Lebanon's Ministry of Public Health, Israeli strikes killed 21 people in Lebanon on Friday and then according to Lebanese military, an Israeli strike on a vehicle in Southern Lebanon near the city of Nabatiyeh killed a Lebanese Brigadier General and several other officers who were traveling inside that car.

The Israeli military says they identified the car and it was moving suspiciously in an area that was under evacuation. They say the incident will be investigated and they will learn from this. They say any movement from the Lebanese Army in that area needs to be coordinated with the Israeli Military.

This coming just days after Israel and Lebanon signed another ceasefire agreement, but it was Hezbollah's leader who rejected that agreement, as you see continued Hezbollah fire on Israeli Forces in Southern Lebanon.

Oren Liebermann, CNN, in Jerusalem.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DEAN: All right, Oren, thank you for that.

Theres a deep state of economic unease for many of the nation's farmers. What might that mean in November?

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:32:26]

DEAN: With the midterms fast approaching, President Trump made his way to rural Wisconsin to talk with farmers there, many say they are still suffering from his tariffs and rising fertilizer costs due to the war in Iran, and CNN's Jeff Zeleny has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: It was a rare return to the campaign trail for President Donald Trump, who visited Western Wisconsin on Friday appearing at this rally where it says "Fighting for American Farmers," but his talk about farm policy really took a back seat to many of the projects he has been working on in Washington.

Now, this is one of the biggest battleground districts in the country. Republican Congressman Derrick Van Orden is in a very tough race, even Republicans acknowledge that.

The President sort of laughed at the fact that he is even campaigning at all after winning his own election.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: As President, I fought for the American farmer like no one has ever fought before, nobody has -- like, I am up here today. I don't need this. I got elected, I don't know what the hell do I have to be here for? I got elected, I am here because I like the farmer. I mean, when you think about it, I guess there is a lot of truth to that, right? I could be home right now in the beautiful White House, enjoying watching somebody else on television talking.

You wouldn't want my life, believe me, you don't want it. Your life is much better than my life. I will tell you, your ear wasn't pierced over here. You didn't get pierced.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZELENY: The President did talk about foreign policy a bit, acknowledging the high prices of fertilizer and diesel because of the war in Iran, but he said that was something that was worth it. Now, the President also talked about a variety of things here, but he really did not focus on some of the substantive issues that farmers have been concerned about, and that is the impact his trade policies and tariffs have had on the American farmer.

The owner of this farm bluntly said it has been very difficult for farmers to sell their own goods. Now, there is no doubt this is the beginning of the President's return to the campaign trail over the next five months or so, Republicans are fighting to keep hold of the House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate, but it is less clear how interested President Trump is being on the road like this.

He urged his roundtable participants to move quickly so he could get back to the East Coast. Now, there is no doubt Republicans are in a difficult fight here to maintain that narrow House Majority and perhaps even hold the Senate. But President Trump is trying to rally his base. That, of course, is key.

But the bigger question, does he also fire up democrats, also eager to win control of the House and possibly even the Senate.

Jeff Zeleny, CNN, Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[18:35:10]

DEAN: All right, Jeff, thank you for that.

Let's bring in John Boyd, Jr. now. He is President of the Black Farmers Association. John, always good to see you. Thank you for being here.

Currently, from where we sit, where would say farmers stand on, on what's currently going on and what the policies from this administration have been?

JOHN BOYD, JR., PRESIDENT, BLACK FARMERS ASSOCIATION: Well, it certainly isn't what the President was describing at his rally. You know, this isn't the Golden Age for farmers, and he said that farm income was on the rise and he inherited high fertilizer costs from Biden. All of these things aren't true.

We have 270 plus pending farm foreclosures right now as we speak in Dinwiddie, Virginia. We had a farm suicide with a father and son, took their life, I'd like to send condolences to the Jones family, to Rudolph Jones' family. This thing is real and we are in a farm crisis, and the President is having a pep rally.

And I watched his press conference, and it looks as though many of the farmers were holding back on reality on the high cost of fertilizer, fertilizer is up 35 percent, that's $200.00 a metric ton for farmers. Five or six dollars for diesel fuel, there is a seed shortage where I can't get a good quality soybean seed right here in my home county, you know, Mecklenburg County, Virginia.

This is a farm crisis, and the President is playing footsie with America's farmers. He went out there to hold a Republican pep rally, you know, and we didn't have a seat at the table since the President has been elected president, we haven't had a seat at the table at any of his meetings and someone should ask him about that.

DEAN: And so what would you say to him? Is it the cost of fertilizer? Is it the tariffs? What is it? Is it all of it together that is that is creating your reality versus what he was talking about in what we saw yesterday?

BOYD: Right, you know, my reality is a 360, you know, as a farmer in this country, I watched another interview where the reporter asked the President about unemployment rates for Blacks being up and he said something about Black jobs and factories. I don't know what a Black job is, I really don't, but I can tell you what it is like for a Black farmer in this country when we are losing our farms, we are facing foreclosure

This administration hasn't reached out to us and we haven't been a part of American agriculture fabric for the Trump administration. Those are our realities, and someone should tell the President we want to keep our land. We want to keep our farms. We want access to credit. And we want a complete farm moratorium, a complete moratorium includes direct loans at USDA, guaranteed loans and agricultural secondary lending in this country.

We should not be losing our farms due to the President's tariffs and due to this President's war. I want to be clear. This is something that Biden and Obama didn't do these things. The person who is at the number one seat, who happened to cause all of these things that are happening to America's farmers is President Trump and his administration and bad policies for America's farmers.

DEAN: What is the single policy you think that could make the biggest difference for you and your farmers right now?

BOYD: I would say stop cutting all of the programs. You know, a few weeks ago, we cut a $300 million grant that allowed Black farmers and other farmers of color to purchase land. Now, what was the reason for cutting those programs you know, as mind boggling to me. The Food Aid Program, what was his reason for this administration to cut the Food Aid Program that was helping our needy countries around the world, something that the U.S. led the way. We are going backwards in agriculture under this administration and someone should tell the President, we need a seat at the table. He says, they want to do away with that DEI and all this other stuff. Then why aren't we at the table is my question. There is no DEI on my farm. There is nothing that looks like DEI on my farm other than myself, if that is what the President is alluding to that he doesn't want Blacks at the table, that's another conversation.

But there is no DEI on my farm. People have to be able to produce a crop, just like the next farm have to be able to buy diesel fuel and fertilizer, just like the next farmer. So why don't we have a seat at the table when the President has meetings in Wisconsin, when he had the one in The White House, they told me I couldn't come, and they were doing away with the small farm issue, the Black farmer issue, and those were the reasons why I was not invited to The White House meeting.

[18:40:17]

Are we going backwards in this country? And someone needs to tell the administration and maybe the voters will tell the President that he is taking this country in the wrong direction, and the midterm elections. That's what I am hoping for that people that look and sound like me, they are frustrated, will show up in record numbers and speak out to this administration that this President is taking this country in the wrong direction.

DEAN: All right, John Boyd, Jr., thank you for your time. We appreciate it.

BOYD: Thank you so much for having me.

DEAN: A Russian teenager wins the French Open, and you'll hear who she thanked after that match. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:45:32]

DEAN: In the French Open Women's Singles Final that no one likely expected, a Russian teenager conquers the clay. CNN's Patrick Snell has more on this 19-year-old who goes home as a first time Grand Slam champion.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PATRICK SNELL, CNN WORLD SPORT ANCHOR: So, a women's champion is crowned on this Saturday at the French Open in Paris, a never to be forgotten weekend for the Russian teenager, Mirra Andreeva. The superstars out in force this weekend as well at famed, Roland Garros for the Women's Singles Final, is that Brad Pitt in the house? I think it is.

Andreeva facing polish qualifier, Maja Chwalinska, who can be so proud of all she has accomplished at this event this year. Both players breaking serve early doors in this one before the 19-year-old from Siberia finally taking control to take the opener by six games to three.

You know, winning that first set was absolutely huge because it swung the contest Mirra's way. Remember, she burst onto the scene as a 17- year-old two years ago when she reached the semis here.

By this point, there was just no stopping the Russian player. She powers her way to the title by winning the second, six-two and there is the moment that Andreeva, a major champ for the very first time, what this must mean to her and her family, as the teen there, we saw her slumping to the ground in the tear, but you know, sharing the moment with those who mean the most to her.

Her coach is in there, Conchita Martinez, and how about this? A special hug for a special canine pal as well. Mirra Andreeva, a Grand Slam champion for the first time ever.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIRRA ANDREEVA, TENNIS PLAYER: I want to thank myself for believing in myself, always giving my hundred percent, even when it is tough, trying every day to be better as a person and as a player, believing that I can do this. Fighting so many demons inside of me. Only I know how tough it was for me and how nervous I was throughout these two weeks.

So also thanks to myself for working so hard and giving my best.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SNELL: And up next, it is all eyes on Sunday's Men's Final as German star, Alexander Zverev looking to end his Grand Slam major drought. Zverev taking on the Italian player, Flavio Cobolli, and with that, it is right back to you.

DEAN: All right, Patrick Snell, thank you for that.

The New York Knicks are now two wins away from doing something they have not done since Richard Nixon was in office. The Knicks winning game two of the NBA Finals last night, 105 to 104. They have now won 13 straight playoff games, the second longest streak in NBA playoff history.

They last won a title back in 1973.

But meantime, in connection to this is abuse that's piling up online for Elmo after he tried to be neutral about the NBA Finals.

On Wednesday before game one, the Sesame Street star posted "Elmo hopes both teams have fun." New Yorkers didn't like that. They unleashed some fury on him, blasting Elmo as a traitor, telling him to pick a side.

Former New York City Mayor Eric Adams getting in on the action with that image there, the Empire State building posted, "You pick the Knicks. Let's be for real, Elmo."

The city's Transportation Department even threatened, "Don't make us take this down, bro." You'll see, that's the sign there for the 50th anniversary of Sesame Street.

Now, Elmo is a new yorker. Sesame Street is fictional, but it was always set in Manhattan. On Friday, Elmo joked "Knicks, that last message, Elmo didn't mean to Spur you on." He also likes puns.

All right, we will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:53:56]

DEAN: Television's hottest actors are on CNN. It is a new season of "Variety's" Actors on Actors, with new episodes daily on the CNN app.

CNN entertainment reporter, Elizabeth Wagmeister joins us with a preview of tonight's episode with actors Kerry Washington and Tony Goldwyn.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ELIZABETH WAGMEISTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT REPORTER: Hey, Jessica, I am not sure if you were a huge fan of "Scandal" like I was, but I got to be on set with Tony Goldwyn and Kerry Washington, who reunited, if you can believe it, more than 15 years after "Scandal" went on the air.

This was an incredible conversation, reminiscing all about the show, but also talking about their own political activism in their own lives. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KERRY WASHINGTON, ACTRESS: Do people constantly ask you to run for President in real life?

TONY GOLDWYN, ACTOR: Yes. Generally on the street corners.

WASHINGTON: And then what do you get all the time, right, like how do you handle that? Because I am often in --

GOLDWYN: Don't you get Olivia Pope'd all the time?

WASHINGTON: Yes, constantly, and that I should run for office or Olivia Pope, you have to fix this. So what do you say to people?

GOLDWYN: I used to say that -- thank you so much, but that's a really bad idea.

WASHINGTON: I don't think you would be a terrible president, to be honest.

[18:55:10]

GOLDWYN: I probably wouldn't, but I don't know that I'd be a great president.

WASHINGTON: Really?

GOLDWYN: And honestly, I think --

WASHINGTON: I think you'd be pretty great.

GOLDWYN: Thank you, Kerry.

WASHINGTON: Because you'd assemble a really wonderful Cabinet and team around you as well, really smart people.

GOLDWYN: I would, I'd bring you in.

WASHINGTON: And you care. You would not bring me in. I would not be available.

GOLDWYN: What Cabinet position would you want?

WASHINGTON: I would -- I would like a Cabinet position of sitting on my couch and cheering you on.

GOLDWYN: That's the other thing. It is such a hard job. I am like -- I really like -- I like what I do, so --

WASHINGTON: Yes. And you do, you serve in other ways.

GOLDWYN: Well, yes. We do, we do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WAGMEISTER: Now after Tony and Kerry completed their "Actors on Actors" conversation, I spoke to them right off the set, and I asked Kerry if she thinks that we will ever see a female president in her lifetime. Take a look at what she told me.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WAGMEISTER: Are we going to see a female president in our lifetime?

WASHINGTON: From your mouth to God's ears, if it is the right female president also that matters. You know.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WAGMEISTER: You can catch the rest of my conversation with the actors on CNN's YouTube and do not miss the full "Actors on Actors" conversation, which is on the CNN app -- Jess.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DEAN: Elizabeth Wagmeister, thanks for that.

And check out the new episode of "Actors on Actors" now streaming on the CNN App.

[19:00:00]

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