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CNN This Morning
President Trump Visits Northwestern Wisconsin To Talk Agriculture; Graham Platner Faces New Allegations Just Days Ahead Of Maine Primary; Iran Warns Of Wider War, Demands Release Of Frozen Assets; Israel Ramps Up Strikes Against Hezbollah In Lebanon; Brendan Banfield Sentenced To Life In Au Pair Affair Murder Case. Justice Department Tells Courts that Challenges to Trump's "Anti- Weaponization" Fund are Moot; Tech Stocks Lose Ground Amid Weakness in A.I. Stocks; Sherpa Rescued After Surviving on Mount Everest Without Food and Oxygen. Aired 6-7a ET
Aired June 06, 2026 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[06:00:30]
VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to CNN This Morning. Here's what you need to know to start your weekend.
President Trump was in Wisconsin yesterday to pitch farmers on his trade policy kind of.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: Come up here today. I don't need this. I got elected. I don't know. What the hell do I have to be here for. I got elected. I'm here because I like the farmer.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLACKWELL: So we'll talk about the importance of his visit, what he was supposed to do there, and the GOP efforts to hold the Senate in the midterms.
The road to the Senate majority also runs through Maine. And Democrats are being forced to make some tough choices.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Either get it all out there or shut up. One of the two.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm going to vote for him. Yes, but I don't like it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLACKWELL: How Graham Platner's mounted controversies are impacting that race.
And a new U.N. report says that AI data centers put out as much pollution as some large countries. One of the authors of that study is here.
Plus a Sherpa guide stuck for six days on Mount Everest. No food, no bottled oxygen. Everyone thought that he was dead until he came crawling back to base camp.
It's Saturday, June 6th, 2026. I'm Victor Blackwell. Good to have you along.
President Trump returned to the campaign trail yesterday as he tries to rally his MAGA base for the upcoming midterm elections. The president visited Chippewa, Wisconsin, for a rally branded as Fighting for American Farmers. Some farmers say that they've been hurt by some of the administration's trade policies and the war with Iran.
But in his remarks, the president seemed more focused on other topics, like his beautification projects. Back in D.C. CNN's Jeff Zeleny is in Wisconsin with more on the president's message to farmers.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRRESPONDENT: Victor, it was a return to the campaign trail of sorts for President Trump on Friday as he campaigned here in western Wisconsin. Now this is the makings of the roundtable. It actually had more of a feeling of a rally as his supporters are taking their lead.
Now this is one of the biggest battlegrounds in the country in the fight for the midterm elections. Republican Representative Derek Van Orden is in a very tough race. Even Republicans acknowledge that and the impact of the President's tariff policies and trade policies are being felt quite deeply here in rural America.
The President signaled that he's interested in helping the American farmer, but he also seemed to suggest he doesn't need to be campaigning at all.
TRUMP: I fought for the American farmer like no one has ever fought before. Nobody's like, I'm up here today. I don't need this. I got elected. I don't have. What the hell do I have to be here for? I got elected. I'm here because I like the farmer.
I mean, when you think about it, I guess there's a lot of truth to that, right? I could be home right now in the beautiful White House, enjoying watching somebody else on television talking. Life is much better than my life. I will tell you. Your ear wasn't a little pierced over here. You didn't get pierced. You have a nice, safe, beautiful life.
ZELENY: There's no doubt we'll be seeing more from the President over the next five months between now and November as Republicans try and hold their House majority and their Senate majority as well. A question here is, are Democrats more energized by the President visiting these areas? Are they more turned on by trying to change policies or is the president really trying to rally his base?
He of course won reelection less than two years ago, but history shows that the midterm election is always rough for the President's party Victor.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLACKWELL: Jeff Zeleny, thank you. New this morning, CNN projects that Democrat Javier Becerra will advance to the November general election in the race for California Governor. Becerra previously served as California's Attorney General and L.A. based congressman.
Ballots in California are still being counted so it is still not clear who Becerra will run against. He will either face off against Trump backed Republican Steve Hilton or fellow Democratic candidate Tom Steyer. The eventual winner will succeed term limited, Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom.
Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner, let's talk about him. He may be a favorite to win Tuesday's primary in Maine, but he is also quickly losing voters enthusiasm.
[06:05:00]
Platner is a Marine vet, an oyster farmer and the frontrunner to take on Susan Collins in the November election. But a barrage of scandals, from a covered up Nazi link tattoo to toxic relationship allegations has voters ready to cast their ballots while holding their noses. CNN's Danny Freeman talked to voters in Maine about how they feel about voting for Platner.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BONNIE DEPP, MAINE DEMOCRAT: Either get it all out there or shut up. One of the two.
DANNY FREEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Many Maine Democratic voters we spoke with, they said they're frustrated with Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner, who they feel could give them their best shot at defeating longtime Republican Senator Susan Collins and help pave the way for Democrats to retake control of the Senate.
FREEMAN: Are you considering holding your breath and voting for him?
DEPP: I got until Tuesday to decide, but I'm pretty sure I'll vote for him. I don't think a lot of this crime is anybody else's business.
FREEMAN (voice-over): For some Democrats, they're willing to look past the interpersonal stories.
ZOO CAIN, MAINE DEMOCRAT: I'm not really interested in the guy's foibles, you know, I'm interested in his vision and what he has to say. And I love what he has to say. So yes, it's been definitely difficult because everybody is piling on this guy.
FREEMAN (voice-over): But others did not buy Platner's tattoo explanation.
SANDRA BRADEN, MAINE DEMOCRAT: He's an intelligent man. Of course he knew about it. I don't blame him for denying it.
FREEMAN: But that's still not enough not to vote for him. You're still going to vote for him likely?
BRADEN: I'm going to vote for him, yes. But I don't like it. I'm not in favor of all that.
FREEMAN (voice-over): Still for some, the drip, drip has left voters confused.
WOODY HAYWOOD, MAINE DEMOCRAT: I don't know if it's misinformation or disinformation. Right? Like I don't know, do we -- do any of us really know what's going to be or what kind of character he has? Don't know, unproven. Unproven. So is it the devil that we have or the devil, the devil we know or the devil that we don't know yet?
FREEMAN (voice-over): According to a pair of recent polls conducted before the latest allegations, a head to head matchup between Platner and Senator Collins appears competitive. One with no clear leader and the other showing Platner with an advantage. While Platner is the clear favorite to win the Democratic nomination on Tuesday, another high profile candidate's name is still on the ballot. Governor Janet Mills suspended her campaign back in April, but a source now tells CNN she's been getting encouragement to reenter the primary.
Beth Dindas, a Mills supporter from the start, thinks it's likely too late.
BETH DINDAS, MAINE DEMOCRAT: I think that ultimately, unfortunately, we're going to lose this race again and we're going to have six more years of Susan Collins, who has let down the people of Maine time after time.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FREEMAN: Now, Victor, on Friday night, Platner had a rally in Bar Harbor, Maine, and he was defiant, saying we are in the of our lives and adding, when politically motivated, serious and false accusations are made against me, Maine, you have my back. We'll see what voters say on Tuesday. Victor.
BLACKWELL: Indeed we will. Danny Freeman reporting. Thank you very much. Peace talks between the U.S. and Iran have reached a critical stage. A top official in Iran tells CNN a potential deal hinges on the Trump administration agreeing to end its naval blockade and releasing $24 billion in frozen Iranian assets.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GEN. MOHSEN REZAEI, SENIOR MILITARY ADVISER TO IRAN'S SUPREME LEADER (through translator): If the war continues and the naval blockade is not lifted, we will drag the war to the Indian Ocean, the Bab El Mandeb Strait, the Red Sea and the Mediterranean. (END VIDEO CLIP)
Overnight, the U.S. military struck several coastal sites in Iran. It also intercepted a wave of missiles and drones launched by Iran toward the Strait of Hormuz as well as toward Kuwait and Bahrain that's threatening an already fragile ceasefire. Israeli forces also ramped up attacks against Hezbollah targets in Lebanon. It killed more than 20 people.
CNN's Barbie Nadeau is tracking the latest developments. She joins us now live from Rome. Barbie?
BARBIE NADEAU, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, you know, Victor, there's a lot of talk about peace, but when you see this sort of escalation of military activity over the last couple of days, it's really hard to understand what that is starting to look like. We've had 20 people killed in Lebanon. We heard the president of Lebanon tell CNN's Christiane Amanpour that he felt Lebanon was being used as a bargaining chip. We hear Iran saying that's not true. There's just a lot of back and forth.
And as you say, these interceptions of drones and missiles and attacks towards Kuwait and Bahrain, sending people to take shelters, very unsettling. But we did hear from President Donald Trump. Let's listen for a second, hear what he had to say about these peace talks.
[06:10:01]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: We're at a point we're going to come out of Iran very quickly and it's going to be very strong one way or the other, whether it's a piece of paper or the very tough way. OK. The very tough way is maybe the easier way.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NADEAU: And you know, Victor, one way or another, the tough way, the piece of paper, that's very unsettling for people in the region there, you know, and for the global economy as it stands. So it's a lot of waiting, wishing, wondering and trying to interpret what messages really mean. Victor.
BLACKWELL: Barbara Nadeau reporting for us. Thank you, Barbie.
Happening now, we are following Pope Leo as he kicks off a six-day tour of Spain. How he's confronting one of the church's biggest controversies along the way.
Plus, father in Virginia is sentenced in that double murder plot involving his family's au pair. We have details for you that ahead.
And President Trump is facing backlash over his pick to lead the intelligence community. Why the president is waving off questions about Bill Pulte's qualifications.
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[06:15:47]
BLACKWELL: All right. Here are some of the headlines we're watching this morning. Pope Leo is kicking off a visit to Spain with political polarization and migration front and center. Pope Leo is set to visit migrant centers and address Spain's parliament. Investigate -- immigration rather has become a key priority for his papacy. And he's been outspoken about how migrants are treated.
This six-day trip also includes a major stop in Barcelona to visit Sagrada Familia Basilica. It is also expected that he will meet with sexual abuse survivors.
The search is intensifying in the Bahamas in that mysterious disappearance of an American sailor. The U.S. Coast Guard has now taken custody of the dinghy where Lynette Hooker was last seen. Her husband, Brian Hooker, told investigators that she fell overboard on April 8. Officials opened a criminal investigation three days later after raising questions about that account.
Cadaver dogs, divers, specialized equipment, they were brought in earlier this week as search teams look for any remains. So far, no suspects have been publicly identified. Her husband has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.
In California, a jury has awarded millions to the family of two young boys killed in a hit and run. It happened back in 2020. Prosecutors say the boys were hit in a crosswalk. Their parents and younger brother were awarded $176 million after the jury found socialite Rebecca Grossman and former major league pitcher Scott Erickson negligent. Grossman was driving the car and was already convicted in a criminal case. She's serving 15 years to life.
In Virginia, a man convicted in a double murder plot has been sentenced to life in prison. In February, a jury convicted Brendan Banfield of killing his wife and another man. This was a case that centered on an affair with the family's au pair. You might remember it. The family members faced him in court yesterday and delivered emotional statements before the sentence. CNN's Sherrell Hubbard has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sir, is there anything you wish to say?
SHERRELL HUBBARD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Convicted murderer Brendan Banfield, a former IRS agent still attempting to maintain his innocence before being sentenced to life in prison without parole Friday.
BRENDAN BANFIELD, SENTENCED TO LIFE IN PRISON: I loved her very much, despite what you may think of my affairs.
HUBBARD (voice-over): The judge in the case said she had no qualms about handing down the sentence. JUDGE PENNEY AZCARATE, CIRCUIT COURT IN FAIRFAX COUNTY: The level of cruelty calculation and inhumanity in this case reflects something far deeper than anger or impulse. It reflects evil.
HUBBARD (voice-over): Prosecutors said Banfield hatched a plan to kill his wife, Christine Banfield, and another man, Joseph Ryan. They say he used a fetish website to lure Ryan to his house under the guise of having consensual sex with his wife. The plot was to frame Ryan, whom Banfield would allege attacked his wife, telling the jury he killed Ryan in an attempt to save his wife's life.
DANIELLE HOCKER, CHRISTINE'S OLDER SISTER: I didn't truly know Brendan at all. I don't believe anyone did. Not family, not friends, and certainly not Christine.
DEIRDRE FISHER, JOSEPH RYAN'S MOTHER: Joe wasn't just the disposable caricature. He had a name. My son was a kind human being.
HUBBARD (voice-over): Over five days of the trial, Fairfax county prosecutors called more than 20 witnesses, including the au pair at the center of the case, who testified about the scheme to, quote, get rid of Christine Banfield. The au pair said Banfield wanted to be with her but did not want to pay for a divorce or share custody of the couple's daughter.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He thought he could create the perfect crime. He thought he was smarter than everybody else. He wasn't.
HUBBARD (voice-over): I'm Sherrell Hubbard reporting.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLACKWELL: All right, Sherrell, thank you. The au pair is serving a 10-year sentence. She pleaded guilty in October 2020 -- 2024 to involuntary manslaughter for fatally shooting Ryan and agreed to testify against her former lover in exchange for that plea deal.
Still ahead, the Justice Department has officially killed plans for President Trump's so called anti-weaponization fund. But is there a chance that it could come back?
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[06:24:28]
BLACKWELL: President Trump says he's interviewing five candidates for the job of Director of National Intelligence. Trump made these remarks yesterday aboard Air Force One. Now, this is after the firestorm over his decision to install Bill Pulte, his Federal Housing Finance Agency director, in that position. And Trump, of course, clarified that his appointment is only temporary.
And he does plan to name another permanent replacement. Pulte has no known intelligence experience. He also did not have a security clearance before Trump chose him.
[06:25:02]
Let's talk about this now with Errol Louis, political anchor for Spectrum News. He's also the host of the Big Deal with Errol Lewis. Errol, good morning to you.
So let's start here. The President probably knew that Bill Pulte didn't have the security clearance, but he knew that he was loyal. Right? And that is what is most important to the President.
Let me play here what the President said about his choice.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I don't think he'd want to be permanent, but he's a very smart guy, and he may find out some things about the rigged elections, et cetera, et cetera. I think he'd like to do it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLACKWELL: Trump also told the Wall Street Journal that he wants him to make the ODNI smaller and maybe consider getting rid of it. What do you make of the marching orders to Bill Pulte?
ERROL LOUIS, POLITICAL ANCHOR, SPECTRUM NEWS: Good morning, Victor. Well, it was kind of obvious what Bill Pulte is there to do or selected to do. This was the same person who provided a lot of the information for some of the baseless indictments of Donald Trump's enemies. These are indictments that grand juries rejected in one jurisdiction after another.
But it was based on information, in part, whenever you hear about these allegedly fraudulent mortgages that the president's enemies appear to or have been accused of taking out. Well, this was information from the housing agencies controlled by Bill Pulte.
So this was somebody who was already working hand in glove with the President to try and take out his enemies. And I think some of the alarm that you saw on Capitol Hill at the notion of this person getting intel -- control of the intelligence apparatus is that he's already shown that he's part of the retribution campaign that the President is waging.
BLACKWELL: He's got 210 days max in that position, which, of course, if anybody's counting, takes us right through the November elections.
Let's talk about Graham Platner, likely to be the Democratic nominee for Senate in Maine. The claims that he admits to and those that he denies. Do those complicate the races outside of Maine?
LOUIS: I mean, you talk with Democrats about Graham Platner, they bring up Ken Paxton, the Republican nominee in Texas. Does this have residue that stains other races for Democrats across the country?
LOUIS: Well, there's a resource question, if nothing else. Republicans have said they're going to spend $42 million to defend Susan Collins in Maine. Democrats have said that they're going to spend $24 million to try and prop up Graham Platner. Now, that number may change Depending on what else is learned about him.
And if it starts to look like he's not viable, that might change. But that's $24 million that would not go to other candidates. So, yes, it all works together as far as brain space, you know, talking about scandals. Sure. It enables Republicans to say, well, we've got Ken Paxton, who's got a lot of problems. Well, you've got this guy, Graham Platner. And so everybody's got problems. And it kind of takes away certainly a talking point for Democrats.
BLACKWELL: Let me ask you about the so called anti-weaponization fund. The Department of Justice has now told two federal courts that cases challenging that fund are moot because the administration has abandoned the program. Two points here. First, one of the cases is 35 former federal judges alleging that the President and the Department of Justice defrauded the court, that there was no real conflict and they colluded to create this fund.
Does that just go away? Because Todd Blanch says, never mind.
LOUIS: Oh no. Oh no, no. The issue of whether or not there was a fraud on the court, whether or not there was a real case and controversy at the core of all of this, that's been reopened and there judges, I think the jurisdiction is in Florida where they're looking at that.
Oh no, by no means has that question gone away. Now the funding is there for the slush fund. And by the way, Victor, you have to point out there have already been a number of settlements. I mean, using existing programs, the Justice Department can funnel maybe not $2 billion, but quite a lot of money to two people that the administration or the President thinks are deserving of some, quote, anti-weaponization money.
So the issue has not gone away. The question of whether or not the fund should ever have been created has not gone away. And what Todd Blanche says about what they plan to do with it, frankly, never really had very much credibility. You really have to watch the numbers, not the statements from Todd Blanche.
BLACKWELL: And there are some members of Congress, including Republicans, Senator Cassidy, Senator Tillis, who wanted to codify that this fund would never exist. Is it possible even if we hear from and read from the DOJ to courts, that it's a moot point because they've abandoned it, that it could be resurrected?
[06:30:08]
LOUIS: Well, you know, it can be resurrected because the two gentlemen you just mentioned, Thom Tillis, Senator Cassidy, Senator Cornyn, these are all Republicans who are on their way out because they were not hand-in-glove, in lockstep with the President.
And so, yes, they -- they're trying to sort of maybe show a glimmer of independence now, but it's too late and they don't have the votes. And the bill that just passed, in fact, did not outlaw it as they could have when they considered getting rid of this fund and making clear that it should not exist. And so, now the fund -- the fund will probably exist, it will be
funded. It's going to take real guardrails, you know, sort of talking about it, talking about breaking from the pack after you've been defeated, after you're on your way out and you're a lame duck, that's really not going to get it.
BLACKWELL: One more here for a New Yorker. The President says that he's going to be at game three of the NBA finals at Madison Square Garden. Knicks up 2-0. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said that the President will be the first sitting President to attend the NBA finals.
He also said that sports is something where we can emphasize, we -- what we have in common, not what pulls us apart. It creates a sense of belonging. I wonder, Errol, is that what you expect we'll see when the President's face is flashed up on the big board at MSG?
LOUIS: No, I don't think so. This is much bigger than the President, to be honest with you -- the energy here. You spent many years living up here, Victor --
BLACKWELL: Yes --
LOUIS: You know how long we've been waiting, half a century, most of my adult life we've been waiting for this. So, no, I don't think so. In fact, you know, to be honest with you, positive or negative reaction when the President's face is flashed on the screen, that's just a sideshow. I mean, we got real business here. We've got -- we've got a really important third game to win.
(LAUGHTER)
BLACKWELL: All right, we'll see if they can do it in four. They're up 2-0. Errol Louis, always good to have you on a Saturday morning, thanks so much.
LOUIS: Thank you --
BLACKWELL: Wall Street closed for the week with most major indices in the red. And tech stocks accounted for much of the heavy losses. CNN's Richard Quest breaks down what led to the massive downturns in that space, and why A.I. could be responsible.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RICHARD QUEST, CNN BUSINESS EDITOR-AT-LARGE (on camera): It was an unpleasant end to the stock market week with the Nasdaq, the S&P and the Dow all losing ground, and in some cases, the worst sessions for many months. But today's accident didn't just happen on a Friday.
The warning signs had been there for several days, particularly when Broadcom announced its results and the market gave it a thorough beating up. It simply wasn't good enough. And then, as the week continued, so the rot set in.
By the time you get to Friday, where we're seeing some impressive losses, Nvidia down 6.25 percent, Broadcom down another 7.9 percent, Intel off 11 percent. And the reason is the same. The market is coming to the realization that the sheer amount of money being plowed into A.I. by these companies simply will not bring the returns in the short to medium term.
They are worried that huge sums are being spent and the path to profitability, whilst certainly, the businesses are making money, can't justify those levels of investment. But here's the conundrum. Everybody knows that A.I. is the only game in town.
Therefore, if you are one of those companies, you have no choice. You have to find the money and you have to keep spending, and yes, the market will exact its wrath. Richard Quest, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLACKWELL: All right, Richard, thank you very much. And let's stay with this, this theme of A.I., because there's a new report that really paints a troubling picture as there are more data centers being built across the U.S. What we're learning about the economic and the environmental costs.
And if you're heading out, take me with you, please. Remember, you can go straight to the CNN app and stream our show anywhere in the U.S. You can also go to cnn.com/watch.
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[06:35:00]
BLACKWELL: President Trump announced plans to host leaders from major A.I. companies in the White House, possibly as soon as next week. The President signed a new A.I. and cybersecurity executive order, asking tech companies to voluntarily submit new A.I. models to federal government for review before releasing them to the public.
This week, a new report by the United Nations University raised concerns about the real-world environmental impact of A.I. It found that A.I. data centers consume more electricity than most countries on average, and they also require massive amounts of water.
[06:40:00]
Professor Kay Ivey Mamdani is co-author of that study and its lead investigator, and he joins me now. Thank you so much for being with me. And I want to start with just some of the numbers that are astonishing from this report.
Let's put them on the screen. Global data centers use 448 trillion- watt hours of electricity. That electricity used to produce about 208 million tons of carbon dioxide, and consumed about 1.2 trillion gallons of water, and you predict the water and energy usage will double by 2030. Talk to me about the environmental impact of just the extraordinary level of consumption.
KAVEH MADANI, UNITED NATIONS UNIVERSITY: And let me tell you that this is only the tip of the iceberg, because those numbers are only related to the electricity consumption and the amount of water, we need for the electricity consumption and some other elements of the process.
It doesn't include the water that we pollute and use during the extraction of critical minerals that we need to produce the basic infrastructure and hardware for our A.I. operations. And then also, what we need to do at the end with its e-waste, and all those processes, we use water and energy.
And there's nothing there that is dry and doesn't require water. Why is this important? Because most people around the world, most societies, still the dominant discourse around A.I. is thinking that A.I. is just a virtual thing, right? It's a -- it's a virtual product.
It's a digital technology, not associating it with all this massive infrastructure, the physics behind it, the major material supply chains behind A.I. And then that was the -- what we wanted to do. Not to say that A.I. is bad, not to say that governments should not be investing in A.I., but to remind them that we have to also worry about these impacts because we already know that the world is water bankrupt.
We don't have enough water in many regions of the world. We know that carbon emissions are high and adding more electricity demand to our needs, to our portfolio means that we have to -- we will compromise the decarbonization process and create a lot of problems.
That's why you see in many parts of the world, including the United States, now, people are having conflicts over the establishment of these data centers because farmers are worried or cities are worried, urban population, indigenous communities around the world are worried about these data centers coming to their place, and they are only bearing the cost, not taking advantage of the benefits.
BLACKWELL: Yes, and there are some communities who are trying to keep these data centers out of their communities locally. More on this report. It explores the tens of billions of watt hours that it takes to train some of these A.I. models, massive amounts of energy.
I want you to listen here to OpenAI CEO Sam Altman on what he says when it comes to training these models is an unfair comparison. Watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SAM ALTMAN, CEO, OPENAI: One of the things that is always unfair in this comparison is people talk about how much energy it takes to train an A.I. model, relative to how much it costs a human to do one inference query.
But it also takes a lot of energy to train a human. It takes like 20 years of life, and all of the food you eat during that time before you get smart. And not only that, it took like the very widespread evolution of the 100 billion people that have ever lived and learned not to get eaten by predators and learned how to --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes --
ALTMAN: Like, figure out science and whatever to produce you. And then you took whatever you know, you took. So, the fair comparison is, if you ask ChatGPT a question, how much energy does it take once its model is trained to answer that question versus a human, and probably A.I. has already caught up on an energy efficiency basis measured that way.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLACKWELL: Do you agree with that? You think it's -- his framework is fair?
MADANI: His framework is reflective of part of the problem. His narrative is correct, but not necessarily complete. Actually, it is true that, and the -- it is not enough to only focus on training. Training uses a lot of energy that has a lot of water footprint and carbon footprint and land footprint.
But what we show in the report is saying that, that's only about 10 percent of the total use, because what matters is not one query of me or you. What matters is billions of queries that we every day, you know, essentially issue and the task we assign to A.I.
And that's what we show, about 80 percent to 90 percent of the total use is related to our cumulative inferences and the cumulative tasks that we assign. Now, the other issue is that we are becoming wasteful. We are being very consumptive of these services.
[06:45:00]
We are getting used to some stuff that were not part of our life now. We don't use the brain intelligence anymore, our natural intelligence. And for every single -- simple task, we go to A.I., ask what time is it? We ask for recipes from A.I. We ask for some of the simplest thing, and we fall in love and we engage further and further with machines and tools that have been designed to engage us further.
BLACKWELL: Yes --
MADANI: The report says that we all have responsibilities, consumers can do better, developers can do better, and governments ultimately need to do better when it comes to controlling these impacts and ensuring that they know what's going on.
BLACKWELL: It all comes at a cost. All right, Kaveh Madani, thank you so much for being with me this morning. Still ahead, a miracle on Mount Everest. The Sherpa's family had already started his funeral, and then he was found alive.
Also, the relationship between President Trump and Ultimate Fighting Championship President Dana White has been decades in the making, and now it's playing out on the White House lawn. CNN's Sara Sidner got a rare behind-the-scenes access to find out what's really behind that loyalty.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Since winning the 2024 election, the President has attended three UFC fights, each time after a politically explosive decision or incident. On this night, for example, he made his first public appearance after being convicted of 34 felony counts for falsifying business records just 48 hours prior to the fight.
Here he is after sending a large ICE presence to Los Angeles, sparking protests, and again as peace talks failed in the midst of the Iran war.
DANA WHITE, PRESIDENT, UFC: So, they look at us and say, oh, you're political, you're this or that. This man is my friend. Through wins, through losses, through ups, through downs, through things he says, things he doesn't say, this guy has been a really good friend to me, and that's the bottom line.
Donald Trump and I, who happens to be the President of the United States, is one of my very good friends.
SIDNER (on camera): There's a dual loyalty. Do you think that?
WHITE: A 100 percent.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The UFC is Donald Trump's safe space. It is the place he can go where no matter how the world treats him, no matter how much his polls are collapsing, it is the place where he can go to, feel like a champion, and the UFC will always --
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BLACKWELL: Watch UFC at the White House this Sunday on the "WHOLE STORY" with Anderson Cooper at 8:00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific on CNN.
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[06:50:00]
BLACKWELL: Checking your top stories this morning. ICE said it will no longer report the deaths of recently-released detainees. This change in policy comes as there's increased scrutiny over the deaths of immigrants in federal custody.
A federal judge has struck down a series of Trump administration limits on asylum and immigration applications. Last year, the White House suspended parts of the asylum process and froze immigration applications for people subject to the administration's travel ban.
Heat is building up, and so is the storm threat from the Midwest to the Northeast. Millions of us could see some strong storms today. Meteorologist Melissa Nord is tracking it all. We're talking about some dangerous storms here or just the rain.
MELISSA NORD, METEOROLOGIST: You know what? There's going to be some heavy rain, Victor. But I think the wind threat could be pretty significant in parts of the northeast. But those are going to fire up after we see all this heat building today.
BLACKWELL: Yes --
NORD: So, we already had 90-degree mark in a lot of spots along the 95 Corridor yesterday. We're going to see that again today. You can see Philadelphia as we head out towards Washington D.C., even New York, we're going to see once again up in the 90s, humidity not too oppressive, but with stagnant air in place.
We've also got code orange air quality alerts along the 95 Corridor before their storms start to fire up. They will fire up ahead of this cold front. Already, some storms ongoing right now, pushing through Gary, Indiana, Chicago, Illinois as well.
And as we add in that fuel, these storms will move east and intensify again later on today. So, you can see, we've got a level-two risk of severe weather for a large chunk of real estate, highly-populated cities, New York over to Philly there.
Boston, and a level one risk of severe storms and back towards Cleveland and also Columbus, Ohio for that large hail. But really, the damaging wind threat going to be that greatest threat as we look at New York City later on this evening.
So, a couple storms ongoing right now, watch them blow up again later today, approaching that 95 Corridor after sunset this evening. We'll also track more heat for tomorrow. Victor?
BLACKWELL: All right, Melissa, thank you. Now, let's talk about what's being described as a miracle on Mount Everest. The Sherpa who was presumed dead has been found alive. The Sherpa made his way back toward base camp after he spent nearly a week alone in some of the world's harshest conditions.
Officials believe he did not survive initially, but he fought his way back. Derek Van Dam has his story.
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DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST (voice-over): Missing for almost a week on Mount Everest, Nepali-climbing guide Hillary Dawa Sherpa beat the odds, surviving six days without food or bottled oxygen on a mountain known not only for its brutal conditions, but the number of lives it's claimed.
But Hillary Dawa miraculously isn't one of them. Frostbitten and exhausted, he was found alive by a cleaning crew on Thursday, crawling near the Khumbu Icefall just above Everest base camp.
[06:55:00]
He was airlifted to a Kathmandu Hospital, where he is stable and recovering. His family, thinking he was dead, had already begun funeral rites for him.
MENDO LHAMU SHERPA, HILLARY DAWA SHERPA'S DAUGHTER (through translator): At first, when we received the information, we weren't sure if it was him or not. Later, they sent the photos and it was confirmed that it was indeed him and we felt happy.
VAN DAM: Hillary Dawa's group was one of the last to descend the mountain just as climbing season came to a close. Other climbers say they last saw him on May 29th just above camp three, located at around 23,000 feet, an area near the infamous death zone where oxygen levels are so low it's difficult to sustain human life for any extended period.
Search helicopters were deployed this week, but couldn't locate the missing Sherpa. His family says they should have begun searching when he was first reported missing.
KARMA GELJE, HILLARY DAWA SHERPA'S NEPHEW (through translator): If he had been a foreign climber, the rescue would definitely have been organized much faster and prompt.
VAN DAM: The family has filed a complaint with Nepal's Department of Tourism and a police case against Hillary Dawa's employer, the Himalayan Traverse Company, which has so far not commented. Not much is known about how he survived for so long alone on Everest's notoriously inhospitable slopes.
That survival story, for now, is between him and the mountain. CNN meteorologist Derek Van Dam, Atlanta.
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BLACKWELL: There's much more ahead on the next hour of CNN THIS MORNING WEEKEND. We have the latest on that search for a 20-year-old American student who disappeared during a family vacation in Japan. That report is coming up.
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