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Selenia Destefani is Interviewed about Conditions at ICE Facility; Schumer is a Flashpoint in Iowa Primary; Voters Pick Candidates for Los Angeles Mayor; Aired 6:30-7a ET
Aired June 02, 2026 - 06:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[06:30:00]
AUDIE CORNISH, CNN ANCHOR: Hope you will be back as we learn more from this White House.
Straight ahead on CNN THIS MORNING, the growing calls to close that detention center in New Jersey. This morning, there's a new push for the Newark mayor, claims of inhumane treatment inside Delaney Hall.
Plus, the Trump administration is moving ahead with Medicaid work requirements. What that means for people and their coverage.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[06:35:00]
CORNISH: Good morning, everybody. I'm Audie Cornish. Thank you for joining me on CNN THIS MORNING.
It is half past the hour. Here's what's happening right now.
It is primary day in six states across the country. Voters are heading to the polls in Iowa, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, South Dakota, and, of course, California, where voters there are voting in what's called a jungle primary for both governor and also L.A. mayor.
Today, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Dr. Oz is set to deliver remarks. This is a day after his agency announced a new framework for Medicaid work requirements under Trump's, quote/unquote, big, beautiful bill. This is going to require people to work 80 hours per month to keep their coverage. And that must be verified at least every six months. States can choose to check even more frequently. Pregnant people, new parents, vets with disabilities are exempt.
And we're now in the new era of Serena Williams' reign. The GOAT announced she is returning to competition. She's wasting no time getting back on the tennis court. She's going to play in the HSBC championship, which kicks off in London next week. The 44-year-old announced her retirement nearly four years ago.
And in just a few hours, the mayor of Newark, New Jersey, will hold a press conference outside the ICE facility, which has become the latest flashpoint between protesters and the Trump administration. There's a mandatory curfew in effect outside Delaney Hall amid this chaos. And inside, hundreds of detainees have launched a hunger strike. They're protesting spoiled food and inhumane conditions, according to their attorneys. And several Democratic lawmakers actually went and toured the facility Sunday after previously being denied access. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries spoke to CNN about what he saw.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES (D-NY): Not a single person who we spoke with at Delaney Hall yesterday was a violent felon.
Immigration enforcement in this country, it should be fair, just and humane. And nothing that we saw at Delaney Hall, or that people have previously experienced at Delaney Hall, suggest that that is what is taking place. And that's why we believe it should be shut down.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: So, joining me now is Selenia Destefani, a lawyer whose firm represents dozens of detainees held at Delaney Hall.
Good morning. Thank you for being with us.
I want to start with what Hakeem Jeffries was just saying, talking about conditions. Now that lawmakers have actually gotten inside, now that there have been all these protests, what are conditions like? Have they improved for the people you represent?
SELENIA DESTEFANI, MANAGING ATTORNEY, NOVA LAW GROUP: Good morning.
They have not improved. We have many detainees, some of them with medical condition. And the last contact we had was Friday. It's been a little harder to schedule legal call with our clients.
However, with those that we spoke, they were telling us that their tablets were taken away. The tablet is a mean for them to communicate with their family member and order commissary food. They've been telling us that they've been pepper sprayed, section 2A and 2B where pepper sprayed last week. They've been threatened with violence. They've been eating bread with mold. There was an episode right before the hunger strike started where they were served food with maggots. And, you know, this is not about cultural food, it's about minimum sanitary food.
CORNISH: Yes.
DESTEFANI: Like, you can't eat. We had a client that was released last week and then was hospitalized, had to have surgery because of the food that he was served within Delaney Hall. We had cancer patients that were not receiving medication or the client that has seizure and they were calling us because they were afraid to fall and hit the concrete floor because they were not receiving anti-seizure medication. So, it's -- the condition are not good.
CORNISH: Yes.
DESTEFANI: There's no medical attention. And if there, you know, their symptoms are downplayed.
CORNISH: Selenia, let me -- let me jump in here for a second, because I do want to know, you are someone representing these people who you're describing their conditions. Now, when I went and looked at the data, the backlog right now for these immigration cases in general is clocking at 3.2 million. People can be in detention for as long as 800 days. Do you expect your detainees to be there for many months to come, possibly two years?
DESTEFANI: It depends. Unfortunately, especially when you go into appeal with the BIA, the Board of Immigration Appeal, the process can take years. So, unfortunately, yes, immigration process are -- they take a lot of time.
But it's not just about the time that it takes, it's about the actual fairness of those hearing, especially when it comes to New Jersey and immigration court and bond hearing.
[06:40:10]
Many of them, you know, we get a bond hearing through a habeas corpus when the person entered without inspection. And the hearing has to be fair and individualized hearing. Many of them do not get that. Especially when people are unrepresented and don't have an attorney, they really don't get their day in court.
And that's what, aside from the food conditions, started the hunger strike within Delaney because they felt they were not, you know, given constitutional protection, due process, and their voices were not heard.
CORNISH: Before I let you go, we talked about this curfew because of the protests and the escalating clashes with federal officials. Are the protests hurting or helping?
DESTEFANI: Depends. So, there's two type of protester. The -- initially family members were there. They were just trying to see their detainee family members. Those people do not have criminal record. Their mothers, fathers, children, they were detained and they were just trying to get justice for their family member.
Now, of course, the -- as Governor Sherrill said, there's out of state protesters that are coming in. And those are not helping. But, you know, what is happening at Delaney Hall is what happened in other part of America is just people are tired, are tired of injustice. And so, those that are peacefully protesting are helping. They're raising awareness of what is happening within Delaney Hall. And Delaney Hall is not, you know, one single bad apple. There's many detention facility around America that are like that.
CORNISH: That's Selenia Destefani, who is representing some of the detainees who are in that detention center in New Jersey, Delaney Hall, where there have been many clashes.
Thank you so much for your time. Appreciate it.
DESTEFANI: Thank you.
CORNISH: Now, I want to turn to Iowa because voters there are heading to the polls in what's shaping up to be a Democratic primary centering around Chuck Schumer of New York, who is, of course, not on the ballot. But the long standing Democrat and Senate minority leader has sparked debate in a state Democrats are hoping to flip in November. State Senator Zach Wahls thinks party leadership is not advocating for everyday Iowans.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ZACH WAHLS (D), IOWA SENATE CANDIDATE: I was in Scott County, which is one of the most important, pivotal battleground counties in our state. I asked the audience, who here thinks that Chuck Schumer is doing a good job as the leader? Three hundred and fifty people, not a single hand went up.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: So, is Chuck Schumer vulnerable to be replaced as leader after the midterms?
Group chat is back.
Can I start with you, V.? I don't know what the word is on Chuck Schumer, but he is saying in his, you know, not scientific study, but getting some sentiment that people are frustrated with the top even down at the state level.
V. SPEHAR, DIGITAL JOURNALIST AND CREATOR, "UNDER THE DESK NEWS": Yes, obviously. I mean, everybody's very frustrated with the idea of like Chuck Schumer, Hakeem Jeffries. And my point is, then move on and find other heroes. Just because they're the establishment leadership doesn't mean that's the only people doing the work on the ground. There are grassroots groups. There are progressive caucuses. You've got the working families party.
CORNISH: But isn't the frustration that those are the people who can put their thumb on the scale. Those are the people who can do spending in places. And that that's what this clash is about, is where the money is going.
SPEHAR: It's about diversifying where that money is coming from too. The DNC is also having a really hard time raising money because people are going more direct to these smaller groups. And so, I think that distributes the power that Chuck Schumer has lost.
CHUCK ROCHA, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Let's talk about why that guy is going to lose today in this primary. He's polling about 20 points behind. Let me start there.
CORNISH: All right, we're not saying who's losing on a voting day. But you are saying that there are people with vulnerabilities.
ROCHA: He's got a really good shot at losing, let me put it that way. And because of one thing. There's a group -- a veterans group called VoteVets --
SPEHAR: Yes.
ROCHA: That spent $9 million, Audie, for Turek, the other candidate, who's in a wheelchair. His father was in Vietnam. He was exposed to agent orange. So, his son is in this wheelchair. They spent $9 million to put this Senate seat in play for November. That's what nobody's talking about.
This seat should not be in play. Donald Trump won Iowa by 13 points. There are 200,000 more registered Republicans than Democrats in Iowa.
CORNISH: Yes.
ROCHA: And VoteVets almost single handedly have put this seat in play by running all positive ads. I'm not even sure they knew that this Wahls guy is on the ballot.
CORNISH: Let me -- I'm going to at least put up the ad spending, to Chuck's point. And you are right, VoteVets, $9.9 million.
ROCHA: Imagine that. Chuck's --
CORNISH: Josh Turek, $1.5 million. Zach Wahls, $1.4 million, Iowa Action, $150,000.
And then I want to put up for people what's at stake. These are the key Senate races for 2026. His thesis is this shouldn't be a thing. What's your thesis?
TERRY SCHILLING, PRESIDENT, American PRINCIPLES PROJECT: I don't think it's a thing. I think what's happening here is, they're taking a page from the Rahm Emanuel 2006 playbook. These Iowa -- Iowa is a conservative state. By the way, it's the 26th state just this week to enact age verification for online adult content to protect minors. And --
[06:45:07]
CORNISH: Yes, which is sort of bipartisan, but, yes. Yes.
SCHILLING: It's actually very bipartisan. But what they're seeing is that Washington, D.C., Democrats, and, by the way, a lot of Republicans, aren't representing the best interests of the people at heart. And so, they're going to talk like a moderate in Iowa and then vote like a progressive in D.C. And it is just a big --
CORNISH: Do you think there's such thing as a moderate?
SCHILLING: I do. I think there is.
CORNISH: Can you name one?
SCHILLING: Oh, man, that's a good question. No. No, I think a lot of them -- a lot of them are -- CORNISH: It's a real question, because a lot of people who Democrats are arguing are moderates in sheep's clothing, that they're not progressive. Republicans have the interest of painting them as they're going to suddenly turn to be progressives later on. And I think the voter is actually weighing in on who they see as a path that represents them.
ROCHA: Yes, we were about this a little bit in the green room. Voters don't look at themselves as Democrats, Republicans, independents, moderates, conservative, my neoliberal. Hell, I don't even know what a neoliberal is. But the voters want somebody that's going to fix some things.
Remember that lady in California who was like, throw them all out. I'm tired of everybody. She's better reflective of where the electorate is right now than anybody.
SPEHAR: There are change makers and complacence. And that's really what people are voting for. Are you a change maker or are you complacent?
CORNISH: Oh, interesting.
SPEHAR: Right now Republicans are in power, so they're looking for somebody who's opposite of that because they don't feel comfortable in their life. That's the go.
CORNISH: I like that thinking about John Cornyn and his race, right? Like maybe he was --
ROCHA: I like that. John Cornyn was on my plane from Austin when I got on the plane Sunday. I've never seen a more lonely guy in my life. On a Southwest Airlines plane in the middle seat with me back in the back of the airplane. Whoo.
CORNISH: I mean, I would be depressed if you were wearing that hat and I was in the middle seat.
But the idea of complacence versus change makers.
SPEHAR: Yes.
CORNISH: I think that makes a lot of sense.
SHILLING: And that's playing out on the Republican side too, right? In Iowa you have Zach Lahn going up against Randy Feenstra. Randy Feenstra is the more moderate Republican in that state in the race. And Zach Lahn's the populist. He's been endorsed by (INAUDIBLE). APP, my, full disclosure, we just endorsed him.
CORNISH: Yes.
SHILLING: But you're seeing this also in South Dakota with John Hansen. It's a three-way tight race. One point between the three top candidates. I think you're going to see a lot of this kind of thing (ph). ROCHA: Bottom line is, there's very few Senate seats in play for
Democrats. It's a horrible year for us. And VoteVets just put Iowa in play.
CORNISH: OK. Interesting. You guys, I like this detail.
Next, we are going to talk about yet another race. I promise, this one's super interesting. The three-way race for mayor in L.A. So, could Democrats be opening the door to a major upset?
And then later on CNN, this bleak survey on Americans' finances. Why most people say they are feeling unfulfilled.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[06:51:41]
CORNISH: So, in just a few hours, voters head to the polls in America's second largest city to decide who will be the candidate for mayor of Los Angeles. And the frontrunners in the race, current Mayor Karen Bass, Councilwoman Nithya Raman and former reality TV star Spencer Pratt. And they all spent Monday making their final pitch to the voters.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAREN BASS (D), LOS ANGELES MAYOR: Let me just say, no time for amateurs. We don't need a TV reality show villain, nor do we need a former councilwoman who has been in city hall twice as long as I have, and who is OK with tents in the street.
NITHYA RAMAN, LOS ANGELES MAYORAL CANDIDATE: I have demonstrated my capacity for delivering results in my time as a council member and as a legislator that has led the city.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She says it's not time for amateur hour.
SPENCER PRATT, LOS ANGELES MAYORAL CANDIDATE: Agree. That's why I'm running. She failed us. She was in Ghana when she should have been the mayor and let 7,000 homes burn to the ground due to literal, literal negligence.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: OK, group chat is back.
This is another, quote/unquote, jungle primary. So, it could be a situation where you have the -- you could have Raman and Bass, you could have Raman and Pratt, you could -- whatever. It could be a number of things.
People have been paying attention to this because of the savviness of Pratt's ability to get attention. "The Atlantic" was writing, "it's infused," his campaign, "with the same shamelessness and media savvy that made him a TV star. He's new to politics, but he's been playing this game for years." So, let me start with you. Can, as "The Atlantic" suggests, infamy be
political currency?
ROCHA: It may be in today's primaries because it's a small electorate in this California primary. It's not everybody that will vote in the general that's normally motivated to show up and vote. So, when you have a smaller electorate, when you have these --
CORNISH: So, even with the jungle primary you're saying that doesn't mean more people turn out?
ROCHA: No.
CORNISH: OK.
ROCHA: And it's smaller. It's smaller of the groups of people that are voting. And actually voter turnout has been a little bit down. And for those of you at home, you should know that Spencer Pratt's whole deal is that his house was one of the houses that got burned up that he was talking about. It motivated him to go. He now does videos of him living in, quote/unquote, living in a travel trailer where his house used to be talking about his words, not mine, the incompetence of the current mayor.
CORNISH: Yes.
ROCHA: And then you have another woman running to the left of this mayor, saying, what we need is more progressive values.
CORNISH: Right.
ROCHA: And it will be really interesting to see where that lines up.
CORNISH: And that's councilwoman Nithya Raman, who is very much trying to outflank Bass from the left.
Can we go back to that idea you said earlier, what was it, change makers.
SPEHAR: Change makers versus complacence. Yes.
CORNISH: So, where does that work here, where I think Pratt is very much saying, I'm the change maker and both of these people, by virtue of being in office already, are the complacence.
SPEHAR: Well, you -- it depends on how you're going at it, right? Like, just being different doesn't make you a change maker. Does he know how to implement policy? Does he know how to help people? I don't think so.
And I do have to correct you, he wasn't a reality star. He was the reality star's boyfriend. So, he was a little bit separate from that.
CORNISH: OK.
ROCHA: (INAUDIBLE). CORNISH: Pratt did have his moments and his IMDb credit.
ROCHA: He was adjacent.
SPEHAR: He was adjacent to reality star. No, this is --
CORNISH: Listen, behind every great politician is a good woman.
SPEHAR: And what he wants to do now is start a reality television show if he were to become the mayor. This is his end goal.
Now, when it comes to Nithya Raman, she's sort of run in a -- in a way where I wish she would talk more about being a city planner. We have the L.A. Olympics coming. That is a skill set that I think would be better.
CORNISH: But is talking about being a city planner as sexy as talking about whatever the heck mister -- the guy who used to sell crystals, and also the fact that people are still mad about the fires.
SPEHAR: I just want people to leave people alone (ph).
SCHILLING: I --
SPEHAR: Sure.
[06:55:03]
SCHILLING: They're absolutely outraged about the fires. The only reason that we're talking about Spencer Pratt is because of how dysfunctional L.A. has been.
And Reagan said it best. And I know this is years and years ago. But he said, the more the plans fail, the more the planners plan. And that's exactly what we have going on here in L.A. These guys are failing to actually address the problem.
I said this earlier, $91,000 is what they're paying in taxpayer funds per homeless person. Why not just give them the money directly?
CORNISH: Not homeless from the fire, you're talking about unhoused people.
SCHILLING: No, homeless people. Yes, in general.
CORNISH: OK.
SCHILLING: But, at the same time, why are we giving clean needles? Why are we giving clean crack pipes? Why --
SPEHAR: Well, let's give them the money then, Terry. I think that sounds great.
SCHILLING: Let's do it --
SPEHAR: We found that when you put money in the pockets of people who are experiencing homelessness, they are able to level up.
SCHILLING: They're --
SPEHAR: I used to work in food security. When you provide food for somebody, then they can -- they're like, OK, that's covered. I can work on shelter and a job. So, I think you have a good point there. We should be putting universal basic income into people who would be homeless.
SCHILLING: Well, here --
CORNISH: It's like, this isn't like --
SCHILLING: Can I say something real quick?
CORNISH: Yes, go ahead.
SCHILLING: Because Spencer Pratt has made a very good point about this. And again, I know this because my dad was a recovering addict. These are not unhoused people. It's not that they're in a bad spot because they don't have a home. They're unhomed because they are drug addicts. That is the driving force. Talk to anyone that actually knows this issue of people being homeless. They have serious mental problems and they also have drug addiction.
CORNISH: Let me just say --
SPEHAR: (INAUDIBLE) homeless, though. Don't you think that the mental is exasperated.
SCHILLING: You get drug addicted.
SPEHAR: Your dad wasn't homeless.
SCHILLING: He got clean.
CORNISH: Hold on one second. One thing I'll say that you guys are (INAUDIBLE) is, this is an actual microcosm of the race, of the mayor's race. This is what the conversation sounds like online. And especially as Pratt has leaned harder into the kinds of arguments you are making, which I think in city races, as soon as you start talking about crime and drug addicts, it can have its own kind of momentum.
ROCHA: Right.
CORNISH: I'm going to leave it there because I want the voters to be able to decide.
ROCHA: Good choice.
CORNISH: In the meantime, what is in your group chats?
We're going to start with V., because we don't always have you here. You are visiting in town. What are you talking about in your world?
SPEHAR: Optimism. Optimism. And that when you stand up for yourself -- CORNISH: Is this just like three happy emojis or what's in the group chat?
SPEHAR: It's three happy emojis and a basketball right now. So, women's basketball, obviously a personal joy of mine.
CORNISH: I didn't know that.
SPEHAR: Yes.
CORNISH: OK.
SPEHAR: First of all, I --
CORNISH: We'll talk after.
SPEHAR: Boys play basketball and hockey, apparently, too. I only know women that do. They do a great job.
Something that's really interesting is, we've been fighting for fair pay and to close the wage gap when it comes to women's sports versus men's sports. And there were some advancements just recently talking about how the pay gap for -- or the revenue share for men is 48 to 50 percent. It was only 10 percent for women. It's going up to 20 percent. That's a recent win. That's a huge deal.
CORNISH: Oh, because of their collective bargaining agreement.
SPEHAR: Because of their collective bargaining agreement, right.
CORNISH: Yes. We haven't talked about that, folks. That agreement came to pass.
SPEHAR: We've got a -- we've got a salary cap at $7 million. Used to be $1 million. And if we can get things to be more fair and more structured, the way that the men's sports are, get more historic investments from companies, if the fans are showing up, it's the rest of the media that needs to show up.
CORNISH: Yes. I would just say, this has been a turning point with the fans.
Terry.
SPEHAR: So, that's been a good thing.
CORNISH: Eight is enough. Tell me, how's the family? What's in the group chat?
SCHILLING: Eight kids and counting. Please.
CORNISH: Yes.
SCHILLING: So, look, 250th anniversary is coming up. July 4th is going to be a big deal. We're going to have the largest fireworks show in the country. But my friends and I have been stuck on the constitutional convention.
Fifty-five delegates put away 54 bottles of Madeira, 60 bottles of claret, eight bottles of whiskey, plus tons of beer and cider. My friends and I are all, you know, we're in our 40s now, so we're actually debating whether or not we can still get to that level. We could do it in our 20s, but --
CORNISH: Now, from what I know of this period, water quality was not the best. So, I'm thinking their choices were not ideal.
SCHILLING: I don't know if they knew what water was then.
CORNISH: But that may explain some of the confusion we have to this day. Some of the clauses that fell by the brown liquor wayside.
ROCHA: Oh, I like that one.
CORNISH: All right, tell me what -- also, hold on. One other thing. I actually appreciate you looking for 250 things on your own that you're interested in, because I'm doing the same thing with my family.
SCHILLING: Yes.
CORNISH: Like, what are things you can look at yourself about our nation's history.
ROCHA: I mentioned being on a plane back from Austin with Senator Cornyn. I wasn't in Austin with Senator Cornyn. Let me be clear. I was in Austin doing a candidate's training. And what I want to bring up is, something's happening in Texas. And for the first time ever, they have a Democrat in every state house race running opposite a Republican. That's never happened in its history.
CORNISH: And this is after the redistricting fight.
ROCHA: Absolutely. And so the Democratic Party in the House caucus had me go down and do a candidates training with all of these folks. And I've done candidate trainings before. And normally it's doctors, it's lawyers, it's people that are realtors who want to get their name out on yard signs.
CORNISH: Is that a thing?
ROCHA: These were like --
CORNISH: Realtors?
ROCHA: Yes, absolutely.
CORNISH: OK.
ROCHA: Realtors run for office all the time so they can sell houses.
CORNISH: Yes.
ROCHA: I'll let that go and just say that, look, there was lots of nurses, a lot of school teachers, a lot of folks who had been, get this, retired federal employees who had moved back home to Texas to run.
CORNISH: I believe that. Yes.
ROCHA: And it was something very different in that room. And I'd never seen energy like that.
Does that mean we're going to win every race, Terry? No, we're not. I'm just saying, it's different to actually have a training where a lot of grassroots people get together and try to have something like in common and see and share ideas.
CORNISH: Yes, we were talking about that earlier during the break about California in a way, right? Like it's about pipeline. Who is moving into the pipeline? Who is your party drawing who, not now, but in five or 10 years could be in leadership.
SCHILLING: Well, that and, you know, I think the unspoken thing about the Texas statehouse, I've worked in Texas quite a bit, Democrats actually have a lot of influence in the statehouse.
[07:00:07]
They get chairmanships. They work out deals. And they edge out a lot of the more conservative members of the Republican caucus. So, they -- they've already got a lot of say and control over there.
CORNISH: I mean that's a wild lot of politics then giving the redistricting fight, which was supposed to give them an edge.
ROCHA: Right.
CORNISH: We're going to find out if that's what happens.
I want to thank all of you for talking to me on this primary day. Good luck to all of you who are headed to the polls and candidates who are running.
