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Trump To Nominate Blanche For Attorney General; House Rebukes Trump, Approves War Powers Resolution; Rubio To Lawmakers: War With Iran Is "Over". Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired June 04, 2026 - 06:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:30:50]

AUDIE CORNISH, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everybody. I'm Audie Cornish. Thank you for joining me on CNN THIS MORNING.

It is half past the hour, and here's what's happening right now.

President Trump expected to nominate Todd Blanche, the acting attorney general, to be the next attorney general.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: He's acting attorney general. Tomorrow, I'm instructing Dan and everybody else that's involved in that very complicated process, which is going to go, I think, very quickly, that we are going to make him permanent attorney general.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: Now, Blanche previously served as one of the president's personal defense attorneys. He's been currently serving as acting AG since the firing of Pam Bondi back in April.

The White House Correspondents Dinner rescheduled. The event back in April was disrupted by a gunman. President Trump said he wanted it back on. The new dinner will take place July 24th. In a "Truth Social" post, the president says he'll be there.

And then, a stunning rebuke of Trump. The House approving a War Powers resolution on Wednesday that would halt the US military action against Iran. A handful of Republicans actually joined with Democrats this time, and the resolution is supposed to limit the president's ability to initiate or escalate military hostilities without congressional approval.

So the question is, are we at the end or are as some lawmakers are worried about? Are we at the start of something that will be long and protracted with Iran?

On Wednesday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio told lawmakers that the war is over.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. SARA JACOBS (D-CA): We're taking you at your word. The war is over. Who won?

MARCO RUBIO, SECRETARY OF STATE: But first of all, you're not taking me at my word. It's a fact. We're no longer conducting sustained strikes inside of Iran to degrade their military because Epic Fury is over.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: Here's how the president described it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: We hit them pretty hard the night before and actually last night.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: So there are fresh hostilities between the U.S. and Iran overnight spilling into neighboring Gulf countries. One person was killed, more than 60 injured, in an Iranian drone strike on Kuwait's airport.

So we're bringing in Harrison Mann to the Group Chat. He's a former U.S. Army major and former executive officer of the Defense Intelligence Agency.

Thank you so much for being here. So as we talk, we talked about the potential, the hostilities here. I want to talk about the possibility for the deal. Iran over and over keeps bringing up restitution. It wants to be basically its assets unfrozen.

Can you talk about what they're looking for and how much of a sticking point this is for the U.S.?

HARRISON MANN, FORMER EXECUTIVE OFFICER, DEFENSE INTELLIGENCE AGENCY: First, I want to point out that, you know, this so-called sticking point was that was a demand from before the war, right? When Trump did the surprise attack with Israel in February, what the US and Iran were discussing was some kind of sanctions relief, which would be a de facto release of funds in exchange for freeze on Iran's nuclear enrichment.

And so I think it's, in my mind, a little misleading to say this thing that we've known is always going to be in Iranian demand is a sticking point. I think really the principal sticking point remains Trump's lack of interest in actually pushing for a deal.

CORNISH: Okay, let me just play a little of it first --

MANN: Yeah.

CORNISH: -- so people have some context for what you're talking about.

Here's what he said about whether or not a deal could be reached in the coming days.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: The negotiation itself has gone very well, actually, very well.

REPORTER: Mr. President --

TRUMP: It could have -- even if it happens, and it might not happen, who knows? But if it happens, it could happen like over the weekend.

The blockade is the most powerful thing. I think the blockade maybe has more impact than the bombing has, but the blockade that we have the naval blockade is incredible. Not one ship has gotten through unless we wanted it to. And people respect it a lot.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MANN: Yeah, so I think -- you know, Trump may actually believe that the blockade is working and he might believe that it's sustainable. The Iranians don't believe either. I think they're pretty confident their ability to withstand some loss of oil sales.

[06:35:00]

And they really don't like the status quo. It seems like Trump kind of thinks he basically ended the war, and occasional tit-for-tat strikes can go on really forever.

The Iranians don't want that. They think they've got an advantage and they want to press it. And so, like we saw with the attack on the Kuwaiti airport, I think they're going to actually start escalating a little more to try and break this impasse.

CORNISH: Against allies, U.S. allies of the region, this idea of just spreading it into the region more.

MANN: I think against U.S. forces and against U.S. partners, which they still hold responsible because U.S. attacks are sometimes launched from their territory. And so I think they are going to basically -- they have found also their strategy is not working because Trump is not actually convinced that he has to change the status quo.

So they're pretty willing to go back to war more than Trump is. And I think we're going to see them push closer and closer if Trump doesn't actually get serious about making a peace deal.

CORNISH: Can I also get your opinion on this war vote? We were all talking about why these various Republicans, there's only a few, right, four, who have decided to vote against the president going to war and being able to do more hostilities. And we were looking at issues like reelection, what districts, what state. Can you talk about what you know about their backgrounds and whether

you think there is also a broader conversation happening within the vet community about this?

MANN: Yeah, I think these defections, which I don't want to call them that because these Congress members of Congress did the right thing, right? They're trying to end this war, represent two things.

One, the costs of the war and the kind of stupidity of the war have become impossible to ignore, right? We're three months in. You can't pretend Trump's got a plan. You can't ignore the very visible and tangible economic effects, right?

I saw you playing before fertilizer, increasing the cost of food, and of course, the pain at the gas pump.

On top of that, I think the most recent generation of veterans who served in the war on terror in some capacity, contrasted maybe with Lindsey Graham, who's also a veteran.

CORNISH: Well, Pete Hegseth.

MANN: Or Pete Hegseth.

CORNISH: I mean, remember, there are people in power here who have that same experience. That's why I'm wondering about the divide.

MANN: Yeah, I do. You know, as a veteran, I don't want to say that putting a veteran in a leadership position automatically means they're going to make a good decision, right? You got Pete Hegseth. You got J.D. Vance. You had Tulsi Gabbard, you know, for her short-lived DNI career.

But some of them clearly took the correct lesson away from the war on terror, which was we shouldn't be doing these stupid, destructive wars for no reason. And it's really clear, it's been clear from the start, that's what this is going to be. I think tons of Republicans, both veterans and not, have understood this, were biting their tongue basically to see if Trump could resolve this quickly and they could avoid having to take a stand.

So yeah, I think these four are probably just the tip of the iceberg. You know, we've seen some Republican senators also threaten in the past to support War Powers resolutions. And I think we're only going to see more of this --

CORNISH: It is.

MANN: -- especially as, you know folks understand that their lives are getting qualitatively worse and more expensive because of the war.

CORNISH: Well, right now, it's still just a trickle politically. I'll let you know and bring you back when it becomes a wave, all right, if we see more people jump on.

Thank you so much for being here. We just mentioned national intelligence and the president's choice to

become acting director of national intelligence is actually getting a lot of blowback on Capitol Hill. The person he's chosen is named Bill Pulte to oversee the nation's intelligence agencies. He does not have a background in intelligence. His current job is at the administration's Federal Housing Finance Agency and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

But from that job, he's also managed to launch criminal investigations into several of the president's political foes. One White House source said the change from Trump was easy, saying, quote, Trump likes Tulsi, but she's very methodical. She's a thinker. Bill is a move fast and break things kind of guy, the source said.

Many senators, including Republicans, but Pulte is not the right guy for the job.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN CORNYN (R-TX): I see no evidence of any qualifications for that job.

SEN. THOM TILLIS (R-NC): I think he's the worst form of sycophant and advisor to the president that is going to hurt the president's legacy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: So the group chat is back. I got to go to our friend here at "Semafor" because you got the scoop. You got scoops about how this guy got pushed to the forefront, how you went from, "hey, handle the houses" to "hey, handle 18 intelligence agencies".

ELEANOR MUELLER, WHITE HOUSE ECONOMY POLICY REPORTER, SEMAFOR: Yeah, I've been covering Bill Pulte for a long time since actually he was nominated as FHFA director and he came in hot. He laid off a ton of executives. He made himself chairman of Fannie and Freddie, which was an unprecedented move.

And he completely overhauled a ton of different policies. And since then, he's kept up that momentum, right? We've seen him lead the charge.

CORNISH: Which is hard, houses. Houses is your job.

MUELLER: Well --

CORNISH: So how did he end --

(CROSSTALK)

MUELLER: -- your job, right? We've seen him submit the criminal inquiry to the Justice Department that was the basis for Trump's attempt to fire Fed Governor Lisa Cook.

[06:40:00] He's clashed with cabinet members, including Scott Bessent, over basically encouraging Trump to fire Fed Chair Jerome Powell. And that is what his supporters wanted him to bring to this job, right? Roger Stone, Tulsi Gabbard, these are folks who said, this is what we need. We need someone who's not going to necessarily respect the typical M.O. and instead come in and just get stuff done. And clearly Trump agreed.

CORNISH: It's interesting because he's got, as you said, he comes in hot. And somebody who comes in equally hot in response is the Treasury Secretary Bessent. And it's been Washington lore that they had a fistfight for a long time, confirmed.

And in this moment in a hearing on Wednesday, Tom Tillis asked about it, kind of as a character witness, so to speak. And here's what Bessent had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TILLIS: Did you actually tell Pulte you were going to punch him in the face?

SCOTT BESSENT, TREASURY SECRETARY: No, sir. I actually said I was going to kick his ass.

TILLIS: Good. Okay, good. I share the emotion. Thank you.

BESSENT: And as I said, that was last summer, summer of '25. And many teams have fights in the locker room and then go out and win for the team on the table.

TILLIS: Yeah.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: Fights in the locker room. I'm being judgmental. I'm like, you've seen a locker room. What do you see when he's talking about this? I don't think that's totally wrong.

MANN: Yeah, I mean, I think first of all, like Trump, Trump loves it when people are competing for his affection. Like that's -- that's kind of his ideal. You know, I'm not. I'm not. It's tough for me to imagine him getting a fight with anybody, but I think like I'm much more kind of scared here about the idea of putting somebody who's even more of a kind of submissive loyalist than Tulsi Gabbard into this role.

Yeah, Pulte has shown kind of extraordinary talent for weaponizing the pretty obscure position that he was originally in. But I think really anybody who's a loyalist to Trump, even if it's not Pulte, even if they find somebody who has like better resume than Pulte, could use the DNI position to cause a lot of harm.

CORNISH: Yeah, and this is one of those things where it starts out about being one thing, like the weaponization fund, and it causes problems for other priorities. In that case, it was immigration. With this one, with Pulte, all of a sudden, you've got some senators

like Warner who had been working on a bipartisan deal on FISA being like, oh, you want this guy? Well, let's have a conversation about the FISA rules. And can it disrupt other priorities? Is it worth it to get this guy in?

MIKE DUBKE, FORMER TRUMP WHITE HOUSE COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: Well, first of all, Pulte's never going to be the nominee, and I'll just say that. I don't think he --

CORNISH: Oh, really?

DUBKE: I believe that. I think that this is --

MUELLER: That is true. Trump said he was making him acting DNI. I think they knew from the jump that he could never get confirmed by the Senate.

DUBKE: The bigger political question here is why poke the bear of the Senate for any reason on this by putting Pulte in this position? And that, I think, especially when you've got FISA reauthorization, you know, that the deadline for that coming up --

CORNISH: Yeah, it's going to sunset.

DUBKE: It is a -- it is a fight that maybe wasn't worth picking for this guy. But let's be just clear about this. Pulte is a flash in the pan in terms of DNI.

MEGHAN HAYS, FORMER BIDEN WHITE HOUSE DIRECTOR OF MESSAGE PLANNING: Yeah, I just think he can do a lot of harm while he's there, right? We have elections coming up. Their whole thing is to prove that the '20 elections didn't happen.

Tulsi Gabbard was in Georgia. Why? Who knows? This guy's already shown that he's going to weaponize more. Now you're going to weaponize 18 intelligence agencies.

I mean, it's just disgusting. I just didn't know -- to his point, I just didn't know that you could have someone less qualified to be in this role. And I think it should scare the American people. And it's clearly making noise in the Senate.

DUBKE: Just because she was a Democrat. I didn't think she was less qualified.

HAYS: I mean --

CORNISH: I just want to say that -- I want to end with you, Eleanor, because you talked to like industry people from banking and even they were like, we don't understand why you would put this guy who in his regular real-time job went into the tickle files unprompted. He gained files for people to investigate and presented them and now put him in front of top secret documentation.

MUELLER: I think it shocked many people within the banking industry who have seen firsthand what he's done at FHFA since he was picked last year. I was with Senator Warner when the last DNI stepped down and he said explicitly, you know, we want to see someone who's going to stay in their lane like past DNIs have.

And with Pulte, he has a very cut and dry track record of very much not doing that, not only on these issues of mortgage fraud, but also on housing policies like the 50-year mortgage, where he's taken advantage of this personal relationship with Trump to bring him ideas that the rest of the party has then immediately said, absolutely not.

CORNISH: Blown up. Yeah, yeah.

Before I let you go, can I ask how much damage can they do? Is this a job -- some people thought Tulsi was sidelined in a lot of ways. People have always complained about this gig, whether it really does do anything.

What kind of access will he have to top secret materials and what's the concern?

MANN: So he won't just have incredible access. There's 18 intelligence agencies.

[06:45:00]

Other than the CIA and the FBI, the rest of them don't really have representation in the White House. They don't have the same representation or the same level on the Hill.

So they are much more sensitive to the demands of the DNI, right? We saw there's a feud between Ratcliffe, the CIA, and Gabbard. That's not going to happen with the Office of Naval Intelligence or, you know, even the intel agency that's under DHS. He sets budgetary priorities, like in bureaucratic world, he can exercise a lot of control over these other agencies, and he can use that to basically investigate Americans or target Americans.

I think it's a good thing that Trump's authoritarianism basically got in the way of itself, and he's disrupting the renewal of FISA Section 702, because I don't want somebody like Pulte or Kash Patel to have access to that kind of basically warrantless surveillance of us. But that's the kind of stuff he could do and could exploit.

A lot of the authorities of the I.C. have already been abused or misused, you know, not just under Gabbard, but under previous administrations. If this is a guy who could weaponize, you know, housing finance, there is a lot he can do with the intel world.

CORNISH: Okay, Harrison, thank you so much for being here.

Coming up on CNN, there's another setback for the president. We mentioned the anti-weaponization fund, all but dead. Are we at this kind of turning point in this presidency?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) REP. THOMAS MASSIE (R-KY): I think it sends a good message from the People's House that people are tired of war.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: Which leads us to that rebuke. The House passes a War Powers resolution to limit his authority in Iran. We're going to talk with Congressman Kevin Kiley, the only independent in the House, about it. He's here next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:50:48]

CORNISH: So what's going on with Republicans and President Trump? Well, before the break, we were talking about this outcry over his pick for the interim director of National Intelligence.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. KEVIN CRAMER (R-ND): Well, I think it's a funny pick, to say the least. It seems like a funny pick. It's interim for now, I guess. We'll see. But I think it's a big -- but remember, he's replacing Tulsi Gabbard, who was a Democrat not very long ago.

MASSIE: I don't think he has any experience whatsoever that translates into that position. So I'm not sure why he was put there other than maybe he's just considered to be very loyal to the president.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: Then there's that $1.776 billion anti-weaponization fund. Trump's DOJ is basically saying that's dead, even though some senators don't buy it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. BRIAN FITZPATRICK (R-PA): On this issue is not dead. It's not over. We have to fix the law.

TILLIS: We got either eliminate it, streamline it, guardrail it. It can't go in its current form. And if that's the only choice we should have, we should eradicate it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: And in the biggest backlash of his presidency, four Republicans voted to limit the president's war powers in Iran.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. TOM BARRETT (R-MI): And I definitely feel what people are experiencing back home. You know, I go back home to my district every single week. You know, I fill up my gas tank too. I have four kids. We're taking them to practice. We're taking them to

school. We're driving throughout my district. I see it as well. It's not something that I'm unaware of.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: So every one of the people we just heard from all Republicans. So we're asking whether or not we're at a kind of turning point for Trump's presidency.

And joining the group chat, we have someone who used to be a Republican and is now an independent, Congressman Kevin Kiley of California.

Welcome back. Congratulations are in order, I suppose, right? The last time you were here, we weren't --

REP. KEVIN KILEY (I-CA): Sure, I'll take it.

CORNISH: You'll take it sooner or later.

How come you're not one of the people voting yes on this Iran War Powers resolution? And what's your response there? You just heard some lawmakers saying why they have changed sides.

KILEY: Yeah, I certainly appreciate the willingness for Congress to assert its constitutional authority. In this case, I just don't agree with a particular mechanism, which is a War Powers resolution, which is largely performative. Even if it were to pass, which it has passed, the president's going to veto it. Even if it were overridden, it's not something that would be enforced by the courts. And even if it were enforced, what it specifies is that we have an immediate withdrawal, which even if you think we need to wind this conflict down to that we shouldn't have started it, I don't think that's the right way to do it.

CORNISH: Yeah, but it sounds like they're leaning into that symbolism. I mean, he's talking about what he's hearing from constituents. He's talking about the economy and gas. What is it that you think is, are we looking at actual movement on this issue or is it still just one or two?

KILEY: Well, I think we are. I think that there's broad concern across party lines about where we are right now and of course on the ramifications on the economy and fuel prices and everything else. What I'd like to see is Congress to assert its constitutional authority in a way that has real teeth.

And so for me that means through the budget process, through our power over appropriations, we can direct how any funds related to this conflict are used. And number two, through real oversight of the conflict so that Congress sense of what the strategy is and assure that it's being carried out in a way consistent with our objectives though.

CORNISH: Okay, the other thing I want to talk about, because you brought up funding and the power of the purse, this 1776 billion -- your mouth just went all the way up like this.

So are you among the people who's not so excited about this fund?

KILEY: I would certainly say I'm not excited about it. And in fact, I was one of the first to speak out against it the day after it was announced.

CORNISH: Do you believe it's dead?

KILEY: I think it's dead, but I voted the day after it was announced on the Judiciary Committee for subpoenas for those who are responsible for it. So, we need to make sure it's dead. If that requires putting it in law, then absolutely.

And I also think we need to figure out how this sort of thing came about so nothing like this happens again.

CORNISH: Last thing, I'm going to play Senator Tom Tillis. He of the YOLO BOLO, I'm calling it, somebody who he's had it. He's had enough. And this Bill Pulte suggestion to put him in charge of in a key intelligence role, here's what the senator had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TILLIS: People and the administration need to understand math. They need to understand timing.

[06:55:00]

My God, you put forth this restitution fund when we're trying to get Homeland Security funded for three years? You put an incendiary attack dog like Pulte out on the agenda while we're trying to get 702 authorized and he would be one of the major users of it? It's like whoever these people are in the White House need to get the hell out of the White House. I am tired of amateur hour.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: OK, I do think some people look at him as part of the like wounded bear caucus like people who -- this is from "The Wall Street Journal". And -- but at the same time I liked what he said about math and timing and same thing for our message folks.

Does this administration understand when they actually have the votes for things or do they just not care?

KILEY: Well, I don't know if I can answer that question specifically. I like the term YOLO caucus, by the way, because my newly drawn district includes Yolo County.

CORNISH: Oh, nice, nice, well played.

KILEY: I'd be part of that.

But certainly on something like FISA, which there is broad bipartisan recognition that this is something that is vital to the national security of the United States, but there are also legitimate civil liberties concerns. Throwing a nomination like this out there really doesn't help matters.

And I think that to echo the senator's comment, there is a need to sort of have a paradigm of competence and experience and effectiveness when it comes to these top positions. And when you see a nomination like that, a lot of people think that's not what's happening.

DUBKE: No, I think there's a lack of pushback in the White House right now, frankly, that when the president, when the president has an idea, there should be some individuals that stand up and say, let's think about that. Let's look at the broader picture here than just making one nomination because things do affect each other.

And what we've seen, we're moving now on the -- on the election calendar. We're five months out from the midterms. Filing deadlines are over. Most primaries are over.

The strength that the president had for long term gain by nominating and praising several of these of these individuals are causing short term pain right now and will for the next five months.

MUELLER: This is -- oh, go ahead.

HAYS: I just think it's gross. I mean, it's wildly incompetent. These people are so incompetent, but I don't understand why we are now a year and a half into the administration and Congress is just starting to be like, four people are like, we're going to vote against the War Powers Act. We're just finding our backbone now.

DUBKE: Let me, can I repeat what I just said? The filing deadlines are over. The primary --

HAYS: I get it, but like also gross.

CORNISH: OK.

MUELLER: People not the party happening in a vacuum, right? Trump in a lot of other ways is making it harder for a lot of Republicans on the Hill, including by helping out John Cornyn, which Senate Republicans thought was their best shot at keeping that seat. And so, yeah.

CORNISH: Okay. Well, I got to talk group chats, especially since we have a guest.

Meghan, I want to start with you because you, me and Eleanor apparently have the same group chat and that group chat has what?

HAYS: "The Summer House", part two of the reunion in it. And you did an entire podcast on it coming out on Friday. But I think that we are all talking about it. It's all that's in my group chats.

And I think that there's a Ciara versus Amanda fight going on and how everyone is reacting.

CORNISH: Every once in a while, there's a reality show blow up that crosses the feed and this is one of them.

So in your "Summer House" chat -- no.

(LAUGHTER)

CORNISH: What is it that you are all talking about now that you're back in town?

KILEY: Well, you know, I mean, there's obviously a lot on the agenda here. In California, we just had our primaries as well. So that kind of is behind us and we're preparing for the general election.

CORNISH: Those are your results we're putting out for people.

KILEY: There you go. So, you know, I think we kind of made history in my race as the first independent, I believe, in California's top two era to finish first in a primary, assuming that stands with all the late ballots coming in. If I'm elected in November, I'd be, I think, only the second independent elected to the House.

CORNISH: Who would you talk with if you won?

KILEY: So I'm going to decide that at the time. And ideally, you wouldn't have to caucus with one side or the other.

CORNISH: That's how it works, my friend.

KILEY: Right, exactly. That's what's kind of messed up about the way the rules are right now is that the committee assignments, for example, are the properties of the parties. And so you have to caucus with one or the other.

CORNISH: So you're going to campaign on that question. A lot of people are going to wonder that.

Mike, what about you?

DUBKE: Live events are back. People want real experiences, not reality "Summer House" crap.

CORNISH: I will not stay for "Summer House" slander.

DUBKE: There's going to be "Summer House" slander. Live events are back.

The movie theaters are having their biggest summer since 2019 and Hollywood's not happy.

CORNISH: Oh yeah, wait for this.

DUBKE: Which I'm very -- I am very happy about that. Hollywood is upset because the top two grossing films are done by 20-somethings that started on YouTube. These projects started on YouTube.

CORNISH: A24 Focus feature, but you --

DUBKE: Fine. You know who's dead? You know who was dead last week? Baby Yoda. Baby Yoda came in third. This is huge.

CORNISH: Let's put under him local man --

DUBKE: It's a paradigm shift.

HAYES: Let's go back to "Summer House".

(LAUGHTER)

CORNISH: Eleanor, what's your group chat?

MUELLER: Got to say it is my engagement last week.

(CHEERS)

CORNISH: Oh my gosh. Where did you get engaged? Where was that a picture of?

MUELLER: Zion National Park. So Canyon Overlook Trail at sunrise. It was amazing. And yeah.

HAYS: Well, cheers to you.

CORNISH: Congratulations. Engagement ring emoji in the group chat.

I'm Audie Cornish and stay with us. The headlines are next.