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New Strikes Test Fragile U.S.-Iran Ceasefire; California's Slow Counting Sparks Baseless Fraud Claims; Multiple People Shot Near Festival in Toledo, Ohio; Police: Multiple People Shot Near Festival in Toledo, Ohio; Missing College Student Found Dead in Japan; Anthropic Warns A.I. Could Soon Improve Itself Without Human Help. Aired 7-8p ET

Aired June 06, 2026 - 19:00   ET

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

[19:01:03]

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.

JESSICA DEAN, CNN ANCHOR: You're in the CNN NEWSROOM. Hi, everyone. I'm Jessica Dean in New York.

Breaking news, as authorities say multiple people have been shot near a festival in Toledo, Ohio. Police say they are actively searching for the suspect or suspects in that shooting. Toledo police saying officers responded to a report someone was shot near the festival and then when officers arrived, they discovered multiple victims. Authorities say victims have now been transported to nearby medical facilities. We'll continue to keep an eye on that and bring you updates as soon as we get them.

In the meantime, tonight, Pakistani mediators have arrived in Iran for a new round of negotiations on behalf of the United States. The latest talks come despite a new volley of strikes between Washington and Tehran. This is U.S. military video showing the interception of ballistic missiles and drones fired by Iran toward the Strait of Hormuz and Gulf.

U.S. Central Command saying it fired its own attacks, hitting Iranian radar sites that monitor shipping in the critical Strait of Hormuz. CENTCOM saying the strikes were to defend against further attacks on shipping in the strait, while Iran says the targeted American bases -- says it targeted American bases in Kuwait and Bahrain.

Now, all of this despite the fact there is supposed to be a ceasefire in effect.

Joining us now CNN's Julia Benbrook, who is traveling with the president in New Jersey this weekend.

Julia, what is the president saying on the status of talks and everything that's going on with Iran?

JULIA BENBROOK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And starting with those strikes there that you detailed, Jessica, the United States military says that it intercepted drones and missiles launched by Iran toward the Strait of Hormuz and countries in the Gulf region. Those attacks in response to U.S. strikes on Iranian radar sites, and which Iran's Foreign Ministry says violated the ceasefire agreement in place.

And I want to read you part of that statement. They said, quote, "The ministry described the attack as a clear violation of the April 8th ceasefire and an act of military aggression against the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Islamic Republic of Iran." But that recent exchange of fire, it leads to a lot of questions about the ceasefire, also about the peace negotiations, which seem to be at an impasse right now. As a top Iranian official tells CNN that those negotiations are deadlocked, over $24 billion in frozen Iranian assets.

Now, the most recent that we've heard from President Donald Trump on this was in a "Meet the Press" interview with NBC's Kristen Welker, where she asked him about his repeated statement that the Iranians are desperate to make a deal here. If they are so desperate, she asked, why have they not yet accepted his terms? I want to play you a bit of that exchange.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KRISTEN WELKER, NBC'S "MEET THE PRESS": You have been saying for months, Mr. President, that Iran is begging to make a deal.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: True.

WELKER: If they are so desperate to make a deal, why haven't they made a deal with you yet?

TRUMP: Because they -- it's a very hard thing for them. They've had great independence. They've dealt with very weak and ineffective leadership on behalf of the United States and other countries, frankly, that were -- that allowed them to get away with murder, and I don't -- I think they can't believe they're in the situation where they've been virtually decapitated.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BENBROOK: He went on to say that the Iranians are strong and proud. And while it might take a while, he believes that eventually they will have no choice but to make a deal. And when it comes to that timeline, back in February, following those first joint U.S. Israeli strikes against Iran, Trump said over and over again that this conflict would end soon. He is now pushing back against any criticism of how long this has gone on.

In this interview, approximately three months later, he says that he believes he's moving quickly, that these things take time, sometimes even years, to resolve.

[19:05:08]

DEAN: All right. Julia Benbrook in New Jersey, thank you for that.

And joining us now is Dana Stroul, the research director at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, and former deputy assistant secretary of defense for the Middle East.

Dana, thanks so much for being here with us. Look, this has gone on for a very long time in terms of the back and forth. We have seen these new strikes in the region that we were just talking about really in the last 24 hours. How would you describe where we are in this moment? There's a lot of pieces of information out there right now. But what is important to you and what are you focusing on?

DANA STROUL, RESEARCH DIRECTOR, THE WASHINGTON INSTITUTE FOR NEAR EAST POLICY: Well, first, it's clear that both sides, the United States and Israel, actually do want to get to some sort of framework for an agreement. We know that there are further preparations taking place on the American side. Two of Trump's envoys started doing consultations with nuclear technical experts here in the United States, which suggests that they're actually thinking about those technical aspects of what this agreement might look like.

And on the Iranian side, the Iranians are still working through Pakistani mediators. And if they thought they were better off without an agreement, they wouldn't still be engaging in these negotiations. And finally, the region really wants this. All of these mediators are continuing to encourage the different sides to sit together.

Now, in terms of the Iranian attacks, I think this is a really typical Iranian playbook. They're testing the U.S. military. They're testing the U.S. military's readiness. They're trying to see if there's any vulnerabilities or weaknesses in that naval blockade. And they're testing whether or not the United States is willing to hold that line, that if there are further attacks by the Iranians, the U.S. military is actually going to respond.

And we've seen the Trump administration and CENTCOM, Central Command, respond twice now each time the Iranians were testing the military blockade.

DEAN: And so what are you looking to as the next -- what are you looking to next to move this forward?

STROUL: I think this is two sides circling and seeing what they can get in the final stages of this initial negotiation. So what's very clear is that we're really talking about a framework to continue negotiations. There's maybe an open for open. The United States opens its side of the naval blockade, and the Iranians open their side of the Strait of Hormuz and allow traffic to resume. And then there are further discussions about the nuclear program and everything else.

But what the Iranians really, really need right now, because their economy is so severely degraded, is that sanctions relief. And so this is -- these reports about the $24 billion in sanctions relief or unfrozen funds that they're asking right now, that is all about them trying to twist the knife and see how much they can get in those final stages of negotiations before people are ready to sign on the dotted line.

DEAN: Yes. And so, OK, to your point, a top Iranian official telling CNN yesterday that these negotiations hinge on whether the U.S. will release billions of dollars in frozen Iranian funds. I mean, that tells you how -- to your point, how seriously they're taking that issue, how high they are prioritizing that. How do you see a way through that?

STROUL: Well, first of all, I think it was really significant that a senior Iranian official went on CNN to try to speak directly to the American people, and not only through the mediators and then the leaks about what these negotiations are. And so what they're trying to do is build pressure on the Trump administration to agree to this really significant amount of sanctions relief with minimal concessions when it comes to opening the Strait of Hormuz and the nuclear program.

And I think it's a real challenge here for President Trump how much he needs to open the Strait of Hormuz, how much he needs to get global shipping and the international financial system going versus extracting these meaningful concessions that he said were the reasons he took the United States to war in the first place.

DEAN: And to that end, they -- the administration, the president continues to say, and his allies as well, no nuclear weapon. If we can ensure there's no nuclear -- that Iran has no nuclear weapon, that's what this was about, that's what has to happen. That is what the president is trying to do. How likely do you think that outcome is?

STROUL: Well, what we know right now is that their nuclear program is severely degraded, but we have not, through military strikes, cut off every single pathway for Iran to turn its nuclear program back on and then restart work towards acquiring that nuclear weapon capability. And what's very clear right now is there's pressure on both sides just to restore freedom of navigation.

And so whether or not we actually get through a diplomatic arrangement, a political process that gets international inspectors back into Iran, deals with the disposition of that highly enriched stockpile of uranium that Iran still possesses, these are real key issues that are not going to be resolved immediately.

[19:10:17]

And they're not going to be resolved through a return to war. So this is really about the United States holding the line diplomatically as they go forward with these talks.

DEAN: All right, Dana Stroul, thank you so much. We appreciate it.

As primary ballots are counted in California, the Justice Department now heading into observe. Plus missing for days, an American college student's body is found outside one of Japan's largest cities. And a warning from inside the A.I. industry. Artificial intelligence will soon be able to improve itself on its own without any humans needed.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:15:33] DEAN: In California, CNN projects Democrat Xavier Becerra will advance to the general election in the state's gubernatorial race. It's unclear, though, who he'll face off against in November, Trump backed Republican Steve Hilton or fellow Democrat Tom Steyer. Ballots in the closely watched race are still being counted, in part because of the large number of mail-in votes that can be accepted as postmarked on Election Day, but arrived days later.

This has led to false claims about election fraud in that state. Many of the baseless accusations coming directly from the White House. President Trump accusing Democrats of cheating and stealing the election in multiple social media posts. Again, no evidence of that. Officials in California tell CNN the Justice Department is now involved.

CNN's Evan Perez has more details on that -- Evan.

EVAN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Jessica, the Justice Department sent an attorney to observe ballot processing in Los Angeles on Friday. Now the move comes days after President Donald Trump said the top federal prosecutor there was investigating the vote counting after Tuesday's primary elections. The L.A. County elections office told CNN that it was notified that an assistant U.S. attorney was being dispatched to watch the ballot counting activities.

It's not uncommon for election results in California to take sometimes weeks before they're finalized, in part because of the processing of mail-in ballots. Trump has claimed repeatedly, without evidence, that the slow pace of the count from Tuesday's primary was a result of Democratic cheating. Several key races in the state, including for governor and the L.A. mayor, still not been called.

We haven't seen any public signs that the Justice Department has found any evidence of a crime. And earlier Friday, First Assistant U.S. attorney Bill Essayli, a Trump appointee who leads the U.S. attorney's office in Los Angeles, said his office had, quote, "multiple election fraud investigations underway." He said this in a social media post that bashed California's election system.

Now, county officials have defended their processes, writing on social media that dedicated staff is working hard to ensure that every count, every vote is accurately processed and verified for counting. And the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office told CNN that they had not received any complaints from the federal government regarding criminal misconduct related to related to the vote counting or fraud in the Los Angeles County primary election -- Jessica.

DEAN: All right. Evan Perez, thank you so much.

Maeve Reston joins us now. She's a contributor for Elie Material and author of the Substack "On the Road with Maeve Reston."

Maeve, it's great to have you here with us. There has been a lot of talk about the counting of these ballots. You've covered politics for a long time. You've covered California for a long time. It takes a while for them to count the ballots there. How are people reacting to that?

MAEVE RESTON, CONTRIBUTOR, L.A. MATERIAL: It really does. And, you know, you think about when you normally go in to vote in person, they verify your name, your I.D., in some cases, if there are circumstances. But here, all of that checking happens on the back end. And so you're looking at, you know, just so many ballots coming in in the most populous state in the country and all of that signature checking and verification happening on the back end. And so, of course, Californians are frustrated with how long it takes. It takes weeks, and as Evan said, sometimes months for these races to be called.

And we have a lot of really tight races here. And so, it's -- you know, the ballots that come in can be -- as long as they're postmarked on or before election day can come in up to seven days after. So it may just take a while. And of course, that leaves a lot of open time for President Trump and his allies to make the same allegations, the same baseless allegations that they often do. But the attorney general here has said that they haven't heard, you know, anything specific about these allegations that they're making. So I expect this will just kind of go on for a while.

DEAN: Yes. Let's talk about that gubernatorial race. You wrote a piece on Substack ahead of the primary. You described Becerra as the cardigan of the governor's race, with many voters turning away from the razzle dazzle, as you wrote, that some of the other candidates might try to offer. So how would you assess what the kind of -- what's going on in that race and what you're expecting to see?

[19:20:01]

Obviously, we're waiting to see who that second person will be to slot in with Becerra for the fall.

RESTON: That's right. Yes.

DEAN: But what were the dynamics like in that race? What are they?

RESTON: Well, obviously, Steve Hilton, the Republican, is still looking really strong in the early returns, whereas Tom Steyer, the billionaire, is still a ways down. And he would have to just make up, you know, a lot of those late ballots that are coming in are from Democrats who are really unsure about this race. Obviously, this was a race that had a sort of dramatic upset with Eric Swalwell dropping out.

A lot of Democrats were holding on to their ballots, trying to figure out who to go for. And so in the end, it may not be enough for Tom Steyer to make it. It's looking increasingly likely like Steve Hilton will face Becerra. But Becerra just became this kind of safe, comfortable cardigan choice for a lot of Democrats who, you know, when I talk to voters out in the field, a lot of them would just -- they wouldn't necessarily bring up his ideas or big policy proposals, but rather just that they felt sort of safe with him, that he would be steady hands at the wheel. And in this moment when there's been a lot of upheaval in California,

whether it's, you know, the ICE raids or everything else that's been going on, people just wanted a safe choice this time, and that's what they went with. And it'll be interesting because it's a big contrast to Governor Gavin Newsom, who's termed out, of course, but who's been kind of a larger-than-life figure on the national stage, whereas Becerra is much sort of more steady, low key, a different kind of figure for sure.

DEAN: Yes. Those are two very, very different politicians, no doubt about it.

Take us to Los Angeles for a minute where that mayoral race also not quite set yet. Karen Bass, the incumbent, will be advancing to the fall. But we're waiting to see if it's Spencer Pratt who's seen his popularity just shoot up and all the A.I. videos and everything around that, and also Nithya Raman who you see there is currently in third place. Walk us through that one.

RESTON: Yes. And Nithya Raman, who's a very progressive L.A. councilwoman, again, this is that same dynamic with Democrats holding on to their ballots later. We did see a lot -- her catching up a lot of ground in these last couple of days when the later ballot drops came in. And that that is because, you know, political strategists here are expecting more and more Democratic ballots to come in.

If you think about both the governor's race and the mayor's race, people were really excited to vote for Spencer Pratt. A lot of the Republicans, MAGA folks, even independents in Los Angeles who are just sick of the way that things are coming. And so it makes sense that there would have been kind of an early wave and then a strong election day turnout for him among Republicans. But all of these Democrat ballots that are trickling in, you know, are from some of the more younger and progressive voters.

And so this really may take quite a while to see whether Rahman can catch up. And that will completely change the dynamic in November. Obviously, Karen Bass would rather go up against Spencer Pratt in a sapphire blue city like Los Angeles. It's going to be a much tougher race if she's up against a younger, progressive candidate when something like two-thirds of the voters in Los Angeles are Democratic or progressive.

So that will be a really big fight. A lot of people have compared Nithya Raman to the next Zohran Mamdani of L.A. so that would be a really interesting race if it ends up being against her and not against Pratt.

DEAN: Yes, very different candidates. All right. Maeve Reston, good to see you. Thanks so much.

RESTON: Thanks so much, Jessica.

DEAN: Days after searching the mountains outside Kyoto, volunteers discover the body of a missing American college student. We'll give you an update on all of that when we come back. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:28:17]

DEAN: We have breaking news, as authorities say multiple people have been shot near a festival in Toledo, Ohio. They're actively searching for a suspect or suspects.

Let's bring in Gloria Pazmino, who is following this for us.

Gloria, what more do you know?

GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Jessica Dean. We're just trying to get some information as it's coming in here, but what we do know is that local police there in Toledo have reported many victims following a shooting.

I want to show you, just to give you an idea of where this is happening. This is happening at a street festival in Toledo, Ohio. That was supposed to launch this morning. So far, we are told that officers are actively searching for a suspect or suspects that may have been involved in this incident. Police responding to the scene around 5:30 this afternoon. That's according to the Toledo Police Department.

Now, as I said, we've been told there are many victims who were transported, but we do not have an exact number on how many people were injured or what their conditions may be. Police are asking people in the area to stay out of the area as they continue to conduct this search for potential suspect or suspects, and we do know that this shooting took place at the Old West End Festival.

And what I can tell you about that event is that it's an annual two- day event in the city's historic district in Toledo. It's a large neighborhood festival that likely attracts thousands of people. So, as I said, early reports of multiple people injured at this festival in Toledo, Ohio.

[19:30:06]

Many victims transported to area hospitals still waiting to confirm how many people were injured, what their conditions are, and waiting, hopefully for an update from police in the next hour or so to try and get a little more detail about what exactly happened, what led to this shooting, and the status of those potential victims -- Jessica.

DEAN: All right, Gloria Pazmino, thank you so much. And CNN law enforcement contributor, Steve Moore is joining us now. Steve, as Gloria just outlined, we know very, very little about what's going on right now. They are in the very early stages of this investigation. But the fact is that they are having to secure and go through an investigation during a whole festival where there's obviously a very large crowd. What is that like, and what are they -- what are the challenges with that? STEVE MOORE, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CONTRIBUTOR: Well, the challenges are going to be based on what your belief is about the crime. If you believe that this is an active shooter who is randomly shooting people, then you would have a very serious issue with trying to hunt that person down immediately because you've got so many targets out there.

If, however, you believe that this was something localized or a gang shooting or something like that, then you would have a completely different situation where you're looking for one person or somebody who might be in a particular group, or you might from the victims have already figured out, they might have recognized the shooter.

So, what I'm seeing here from, from police response is more along the lines of the fact that they do not believe that there is a general threat to the population in that area, that this might have been, specifically targeted type of shooting. And frankly, I wouldn't be surprised if the victims might have recognized the shooter.

DEAN: Yes, I mean, you bring up a good point in the sense that if those victims are able to speak, if they know who the shooter is, that can help law enforcement tremendously. And that these are two very different situations that you're describing.

MOORE: Absolutely, and you know where the victims were. If you had five people standing within five feet of each other each, you would say that this is aimed right directly at them. Active shooters tend to have victims all over the place because they're just randomly shooting and the bullets go where they go, and people fall where they're hit. And a shooting where you get all the victims in a relatively small area indicates that it was kind of a face-to-face shooting, specifically targeting those people or somebody that they thought were those people.

DEAN: All right, Steve Moore, thank you so much. Good to have you here, we appreciate it. And stay with CNN. We'll bring you updates on this as we get them.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:37:24]

DEAN: An American family says they are in the middle of a nightmare after their son was found dead while they were vacationing in Japan, 20-year-old James "Weston" Higginbotham disappeared after leaving his brother and parents to explore Kyoto on his own about a week ago.

After days of searching, his family confirmed his body was found today by a volunteer search and rescue group in the mountains outside the city.

CNN's Hanako Montgomery is joining us now from Tokyo with the latest on this.

I know you've been following this story for several days now. And now this very, very sad ending. What more can you tell us?

HANAKO MONTGOMERY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, this is an extremely tragic end to a days' long search for Weston Higginbotham. His mother, Nancy, shared on Facebook that the 20-year-old student from Auburn University was found by a volunteer search and rescue party on Saturday, local time, in a mountainous area just outside of Kyoto.

And in her Facebook post, she said, "The grief we feel is impossible to put into words. We are forever grateful for the time we had with our sweet, precious Weston, but cannot begin to understand what life without him will be like." I mean, just an unimaginable amount of grief for this family.

Now, the local police have told CNN that the cause of death is still under investigation. And in terms of what led up to Weston's death, we know that the family got to Japan on May 22nd for a family vacation to celebrate their younger son's high school graduation.

They were going around the country and got to Kyoto on May 29th, one of their last stops. And we know that the family had a small spat. Weston, as a known, passionate naturalist, felt very frustrated with his mom's use of ChatGPT, given that ChatGPT has a huge environmental impact.

So, after this small disagreement, everyone decided that they needed some time alone. They needed to cool off, and Weston chose to split off from his parents and his brother and explore the city on.

Now, that was around 6:00 P.M. local time on May 29th. He was found walking around Kyoto station again on his own, and then two hours later, he was again spotted around the Yamashina area of Kyoto, near a path that leads to a hiking trail. Now that is the last known sighting of Weston.

Now, we also know that, of course, this is a hugely, hugely tragic moment for the family. And after a days' long search for Weston, the family is now just coming to terms with what is an unimaginable end to a supposedly, you know, a fun family vacation.

The family told us just how sweet Weston was and how loved he is by many, many people. Listen to this.

[19:40:08]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NANCY HIGGINBOTHAM, MOTHER OF JAMES "WESTON" HIGGINBOTHAM: Like he's just this little, just amazing person that everybody loves. Everybody loves. He's got a heart of gold.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MONTGOMERY: Now, his parents have asked for privacy as they deal with this unimaginable loss and as they come to terms with their new reality.

Back to you.

DEAN: All right, Hanako Montgomery, thank you so much for that. A lot more ahead after a break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:45:16]

DEAN: This week, the big monthly Jobs Report was an absolute banger, firing on so many cylinders compared to what economists were expecting, 172,000 new jobs created last month, more than double the forecast and unemployment steady at 4.3 percent. Hiring picked up in health care and hospitality, hotels, restaurants, bars as we head into the World Cup and summer vacation season.

And this is three months in a row of solid job growth, pulling the job market up and out of a rut of the fall and winter. Economist, Justin Wolfers is joining us now to talk about what this means for the broader economy.

Justin, this was almost the classic kind of Goldilocks', not too hot, not too cold that Wall Street loves. But then it appeared that enthusiasm was wiped out by the tech stock selloff. What did you make of all those pieces coming together?

JUSTIN WOLFERS, ECONOMIST: Yes, I think, Jessica, you got it right. Absolute banger. What a description. I wish economists talked that way more often. It was a banger, bit a banger as far as Wall Street is concerned, is not the same thing as Goldilocks.

So, what Wall Street saw was, it's a banger. Look, here's what the Wall Street is worried about the Fed. Here's what the Feds worried about. Is the labor market doing well enough. And turns out it's doing pretty well right now. So, therefore we don't need to cut rates to look after this.

The other thing the Fed worries about is inflation. Well, inflation is really up right now. And so, we've moved from a world in which were expecting a bunch of rate cuts -- so, the next movement is likely to be a hike in rates. And what that in turn does, if you own the sort of business that relies a lot on profits in the future, if interest rates are higher, your business is worth less.

Let me say that another way that led to a big tech sector selloff, because these are bets on the long run future. The long run futures less of a good bet if interest rates are high.

DEAN: And so, a key measure of all of this sentiment is at a new low because gas prices. So, like were talking about what you're -- you have that piece of it, then you have the gas prices still very high. It's about $20.00 more on average to fill up your tank. Inflation is picking up.

We're running into this thing again where Americans don't feel positive about the economy, even if there are positive indicators. WOLFERS: Yes. And so, the thing I love about that, Jessica, you've got an ability to recognize that look, it is murky. Theres no single story. Theres no simple story for what's going on out there. There are some indicators like this month's Jobs Report, which look very, very good.

At the other end, you've got consumer sentiment, which is literally at the lowest level it's ever been according to the University of Michigan, where I happen to teach. And so, how can all these things be true? Let me give you a guess. But I want to be clear, this is just a guess.

The actual economy is doing fine right now. I didn't say it was an A, but it's doing fine. But as you look forward into the future, what are you thinking about? There's that that pit of unease and uncertainty in your stomach as you're thinking about, how's the war in Iran going to end? What's going on with the trade war? What new hell is The White House going to unleash tomorrow? Or many of us are worried about the future of our jobs with A.I., coming for -- to reshape the world of work.

So, you can be okay with where we are and deeply worried about the future.

DEAN: And spending is strong. Credit card balances are rising. I just want to play a quick clip from National Economic Council Director, Kevin Hassett.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEVIN HASSETT, DIRECTOR OF THE COUNCIL OF ECONOMIC ADVISERS: One of the reasons is that people are spending more on gas, but they're also spending more on everything else not just groceries, but restaurants and so on. And I think that that's a sign that you would see when people are optimistic about the future.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: What is your reaction to that?

WOLFERS: I'm going to give you a little secret. If you want to tell when Kevin Hassett is lying, just look and see if he's smiling. Whenever he smiles, he lies. He just said people are feeling good about the economy. A moment ago, I told you the actual data, the actual data show that people are feeling miserable, the lowest level of consumer sentiment that we've ever seen.

In surveys, if you ask people whether they believe that economic policy is currently well run, 77 percent of Americans say its run poorly. That's not only the highest it's ever been, it's the highest by a lot. People have never had less confidence in the economic policies of the White House than they have right now.

DEAN: All right, Justin Wolfers, always good to have you on. Thank you for being here.

WOLFERS: Pleasure, mate.

DEAN: Anthropic is asking the world to hit the brakes on artificial intelligence. Warning the technology is evolving so quickly it could start soon, making new versions of itself without getting any permission from humans.

The company is pointing to what's called full recursive self- improvement, which is when an A.I. system teaches itself essentially how to get better all on its own. Anthropic says, that could pose a threat to humanity if companies lose control over their own creations. And joining us now, CNN's Jon Sarlin.

Jon, Anthropic says the industry needs to develop, "a brake pedal." What do they mean by all this?

JON SARLIN, CNN DIGITAL PRODUCER: Right, so they're using a car metaphor. Jack Clark, the co-founder of Anthropic, talked to our colleague Anderson Cooper. He likened it to a car, right, that were getting very good at the gas pedal part of A.I. development, right? We keep developing new models that are getting exponentially better.

But the gas pedal, in case things get out-of-control, in the scenario, he outlines the scenario being humans start to lose control of the A.I. that we are developing, he says we need a global solution to that because if we don't have a global solution, if this A.I. does begin to go off the rails, then some company or some nation state could use responsible actors, slow down to advance their own technology.

DEAN: And we can see A.I. is already rapidly improving in one area -- video. You reported this week on this new A.I. scam that's spreading on Instagram and TikTok, where you can see fake video of people selling handmade items. Tell us about that scam and what you're tracking.

SARLIN: Yes, that's exactly right. So were talking about A.I. getting better. This is A.I. video six months ago, a year ago, this wouldn't have been possible. But A.I. video has improved so rapidly that now people are getting confused on their feet about what's real and fake.

So we found this huge ring of A.I. scam videos that are spreading like wildfire on Instagram and on TikTok, and they all have this simple narrative, which is there is a crafts maker who is putting their blood, sweat and tears into some product, and then they go to a crafts fair, sell it, and they are mocked mercilessly just for wanting to sell it.

Now, what's interesting is they are selling, you know, some scam product to you, but they are taking that central narrative and subbing in different characters to try to exploit different community's empathy. So, in one set of videos, it's a kid being bullied for being Black, another one, a kid being bullied for being gay. We found one that was someone being bullied for being a hippie, another one for being a goth, and so on and so on.

So essentially, they're taking these different communities, seeing which ones they can exploit to open up your wallets. DEAN: Wow, and so what did TikTok and Instagram say about this?

SARLIN: Yes, so this is actually interesting. They approached it very differently. They both gave statements that were similar. TikTok told us that they continue to iterate and evolve our approach as A.I. generated content itself evolves in our industry. Instagram said they are continuously working to improve their ability to detect A.I.

But what's interesting is when we flag these videos to Instagram and TikTok, Instagram took the videos down that we sent them. They said, yes, these are scams. They violate our policies.

TikTok, though, did not remove the videos. They instead just slapped an A.I.-generated label on the videos. Now, I should say right before this segment, I went back on Instagram and I found more videos with no label on them.

DEAN: Very interesting. And before we let you go, I think a lot of people have this question like, how do you know? How do you know what's A.I. generated and fake and what's real? What's the best way to know?

SARLIN: You know, this is, this is a problem that's getting harder every day, right? With these videos, some of them really passed the eye test. We had to slow it down. In one video, we found a kid wearing a Lakers jersey. And from one clip to the next, the Lakers logo switches from side to side. You, kind of, at this point, have to zoom in and look at those little bits and pieces because while the A.I. is getting rapid, you know, better and better, you know, were making better photos, better images that are harder to discern.

What's not getting better is our ability to upload something and have A.I. or an app tell us whether something is A.I. or not. So, this is a huge problem that all platforms like Meta and TikTok are now facing.

DEAN: Yes, it can be really hard to tell. All right, Jon Sarlin, thanks so much we appreciate it. And well be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:58:18]

DEAN: We continue to follow breaking news tonight, as authorities say a number of people were shot near a festival in Toledo, Ohio. They're actively searching for the suspect or suspects in that shooting.

Toledo Police say officers responded to a report that someone had been shot, and then that's when they discovered multiple victims. Those victims have been taken to nearby medical facilities for treatment. Stay with CNN for the latest on that.

In the meantime, tonight, be sure to tune in for a brand-new episode of "Craig Ferguson: American on Purpose." Craig explores the role of capitalism in America.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) CRAIG FERGUSON, ACTOR, COMEDIAN, WRITER AND TELEVISION HOST: Pre America, capitalism is what its feudalism.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. So, capitalism actually stems from the end of feudalism. Feudalism simply was just where the nobility would bequeath land to certain lords, and then they would have serfs who worked for them. If you did not win the dice roll of life and you ended up at the bottom of this system --

FERGUSON: Right, your luck, right.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: --You pretty much didn't really have that much of a shot to improve your station. That's why capitalism became popular, is because it was the belief that anybody could make their own destiny. They could start their own company. They could become a provider and make money.

FERGUSON: So, it lines up with the American dream.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Correct.

FERGUSON (voice over): From Scotland, I saw the land of opportunity as exactly that, opportunity meant success, and success meant money. But it's more complicated than just that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: The new episode of "Craig Ferguson: American on Purpose" premieres tonight at 9:00 Eastern, only here on CNN. And then will be streaming tomorrow on our CNN App.

Thanks so much for joining me this evening. I'm Jessica Dean. I'm going to see you again tomorrow night starting at 5:00 Eastern. We'll be right back here.

"Real Time with Bill Maher" is headed your way next. Have a great night, everyone. We'll see you tomorrow.

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