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Trump Say he Loves Inflation; Democrats' Threat over Interim DNI Pick; Sleeping Presidents Threat to National Security; Rep. James Walkinshaw (D-VA) is Interviewed about the DHS Funding Bill; Crisis Meeting Over Epstein Files. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired June 11, 2026 - 06:30   ET

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

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[06:31:00]

ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Half past the hour here on CNN THIS MORNING. I'm Erica Hill. Nice to have you with us today.

Here's a look at what's happening right now.

Violent anti-immigration protests are taking over Belfast. The protests in northern Ireland sparked after a Sudanese man was charged in a stabbing attack. Police now using water cannons against crowds as masked rioters, were told as well, broke into some homes, setting fire to buildings and cars, targeting immigrants. Northern Ireland's first minister calls the violence "outright thuggery."

President Trump is directing Republican lawmakers to deliver a massive $350 billion cash infusion to the Pentagon, and also demanding they push through an election overhaul bill that has stalled now for weeks in the Senate. In a Truth Social post, Trump called on Republicans to act immediately with, quote, "no games, no delays and no weak promises."

Another round of U.S. military strikes against targets across Iran now finished, but U.S. Central Command says that round of Tomahawk cruise missiles was targeting military sites across Iran. Iran is vowing to retaliate with new attacks against U.S. military targets.

Soaring global energy costs, the war with Iran, both putting increased pressure on the U.S. economy. And the newest Consumer Price Index report shows inflation hitting 4.2 percent in May. That is the highest rise for inflation in three years. As for President Trump, he loves it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REPORTER: Are you concerned, Mr. President, about the latest inflation number, which came out this morning. Could that be a negative for Republicans who are trying to hold the House and Senate?

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: No, I love it. The numbers were great. You know what I really love? I love the inflation. (END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: Joining me now in the group chat, Aaron Blake, CNN senior reporter, Mike Dubke, former White House -- Trump White House communications director, and Meghan Hays, former Biden White House director of message planning.

It's lovely to see all of you this morning.

I want to play some of the reaction that we heard to President Trump's comments when he was asked about inflation. Specifically, here's what we heard from Marjorie Taylor Greene on those comments.

Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE, FORMER MEMBER OF CONGRESS: It's pretty hard to take from a billionaire president when he says he loves inflation brought on the American people because of a war that he decided to pursue. And, you know, that one's going to come back and bite him. He basically just handed the Democrats a great big campaign ad for the 2026 midterms.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: Mike, is it, in fact, the great big campaign ad for Democrats?

MIKE DUBKE, FORMER TRUMP WHITE HOUSE COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: Oh, it's absolutely going to be a big, fat campaign ad for Democrats. They are going to use it. I think, with the president in context, he was basically quoting blood, sweat and tears. What goes up must come down. I think that's -- he's assuming that once we cease hostilities with Iran and oil prices come down, that the momentum going into the midterm elections is going to create a situation where people feel good about the economy.

The unfortunate part, I think, right now is that runway, until we get to the midterms, is shrinking. And so, we really -- we -- if that's going to happen, it's got to happen soon.

HILL: So, as we wait to see for that, you know, whether and when that will happen, it's important to note, and, Aaron, you have a great piece out about this, this is not the first time the president says something that that doesn't land well, right? And perhaps most recently, I'm thinking of comments that he made where, you know, that he doesn't think about Americans when he -- and the economy, which he doubled down on when he was asked to clarify.

The fact that this is not a one off for the president, Aaron, just walk us through where we're at.

AARON BLAKE, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Yes, this has been a trend with President Trump I would say dating back to last year. We might remember at the time inflation was starting to become a real political problem for him. And he was supposed to go out and give some speeches and rallies in places like Pennsylvania, where he talked about affordability, and what he was going to do about these very real concerns that the American people had. And it just became clear that he didn't really want to talk about this. He was talking about affordability was a hoax and things like that.

So, this has been a very long running problem for the White House and for Republicans' hopes in the midterms, where the president just treats these issues very flippantly.

[06:35:01]

And the American people, if you look at the polling, have seen that and said that this guy is not taking this issue seriously enough. There are -- a CNN poll showed two-thirds of Americans think that the president is not taking inflation seriously. It was as high as three quarters in a CBS News poll that I've been watching for a while.

So, this is a very real issue. And he does not seem to be changing his tack on this. And I think it's giving Republicans real heartburn right now.

HILL: Meghan, all of that is happening. And we're seeing Republicans, right, who are acknowledging the pain that their constituents are feeling. We talked about this being an attack ad. The interesting note is, are you saying that Democrats are effectively harnessing that messaging?

MEGHAN HAYS, FORMER BIDEN WHITE HOUSE DIRECTOR OF MESSAGE PLANNING: Yes, I think that they are. I also think the American people are just tired of Donald Trump and his flippant, callous remarks that he constantly makes. But they're more tired of Congress, who doesn't act. And they're not acting here. And so that -- they're the ones who are going to be up for re-election. Donald Trump's never going to be on the ballot again. So, he can say whatever he wants. But the fact that Congress isn't acting and these Republicans aren't being a check to Donald Trump, they are the ones who are going to lose.

So, I think the more he says and the crazier statements he makes and Republicans stand by and just let it happen are the ones that are going to lose these re-elections. And that's when you're going to see a bigger sweep come in the midterms.

HILL: Let's take a look at another story we're following very closely. President Trump refusing to back down from his trip -- his pick, rather, for interim director of national intelligence. You've got Democrats, of course, threatening to allow FISA to lapse if Bill Pulte is appointed. This is a critical surveillance tool, as we know, used by intelligence officials for national security. The president's backers trying to make the case here that Pulte is only interim.

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REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA): He is in the process of interviewing the persons who would potentially be the next DNI. They're going to be highly qualified. All these potential nominees are.

We know that FISA would expire on Friday. We cannot allow that to happen. This should not be a partisan matter.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: On Tuesday, the president announced that Pulte would begin his role as acting DNI on June 19th.

So, as we take a look at this one, there is bipartisan concern here, it's important to note, when it comes to Bill Pulte and what we are hearing.

Mike, I'll kick this one off to you again to start.

DUBKE: Yes.

HILL: How do you see this playing out in this moment?

DUBKE: So, here's the --

HILL: There's a lot at stake.

DUBKE: Here's the problem, though, with the setup on this. There is bipartisan concern about Pulte. But there's also bipartisan concern about FISA expiring. So, if there's this level of bipartisan concern, hopefully we would see some bipartisan action on this. Unfortunately, we're now in a game of chicken between the White House and Pulte and Democrats in Congress.

So, my guess is, how does this play out? We're going to go through the weekend. We're going to have FISA expire on Friday. Before Congress leaves for the -- either the June 19th break or the Fourth of July break, we're going to see some movement on this. The president's going to appoint somebody. Something else is going to happen.

But we're now in this classic game of Washington chicken, and nobody's winning.

HILL: In terms of the Washington chicken, Meghan, how much do you think could actually be happening behind the scenes between Democrats and Republicans, given that there is bipartisan concern and, in some cases, outrage?

HAYS: Yes, I think that there's a lot happening behind the scenes. People -- members that I've talked to on The Hill have, you know, they're -- everyone is working closely to get either a new nominee or to get this passed. Both things can be true here, right? FISA shouldn't expire and Pulte shouldn't be in DNI at all. I mean, I think Democrats have real concern about election integrity and security here and the way he has weaponized his role already. And then using the intelligence that he'll have access to.

So, there are some real concerns here, but there are real concerns of letting FISA expire. So, I would imagine that there is significant negotiations going on behind the scenes. And I agree with Mike, that they'll have some sort of solution, whether it expires, and then they name someone very quickly. But this will -- this will resolve itself in Washington fashion, and it'll be very dramatic. HILL: Because it will have -- Washington fashion is dramatic? Did I

hear that correctly?

HAYS: Yes, exactly.

DUBKE: Drama. Drama.

HILL: A little bit of drama.

Aaron, I'll give you one last bit to weigh in on that. As we watch all this, I mean, just, if you could, put it in perspective. You know, people hear this tossed around, right, there are the concerns about the DNI and the fact that he doesn't have the extensive national security experience that is required of that job. And they hear FISA. But the reality for most Americans, why does this matter to them?

BLAKE: I mean, this is a very significant spying authority that the United States government uses overseas to prevent, you know, threats that could attack the homeland. So, I think that creates a situation in which, you know, Democrats want to hold the line on this. They want to -- they want to be very firm when it comes to opposing Bill Pulte for the DNI job. But, when you do that, if you're the ones that are going to wind up holding off these spying authorities and letting them lapse, even for a small period of time, that is a risk if something were to happen.

This is a very significant thing for the United States government. That's why there's such a big debate about this right now. And so, it's going to be interesting to see whether those Democrats are actually going to be able to all hold the line, or if we might see some break ranks and say, OK, well, let's allow a short-term extension just while we negotiate this and figure out this whole Bill Pulte situation.

[06:40:11]

I do think it's notable that you're seeing in those comments from Mike Johnson and from the White House, they're telegraphing that this Pulte thing is a very short term thing, that they're looking for a permanent director. Whether that's good enough for Democrats to move forward and support this short term extension, I think that's a really big question right now.

HILL: Yes. It is interesting to see those comments as they try to downplay, in many ways, by saying, not a lot to see here, it's just an interim move. That certainly hasn't been enough for some, as we know.

One other thing we wanted to get your take on this morning. There has been a lot made about how the president is doing during certain meetings and moments, including this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. SYDNEY KAMLAGER-DOVE (D-CA): I rise today to sound the alarm about a grave national security threat, Donald Trump's sleeping habits. I know we have rules about decorum, so I will stick to the facts, because this is, in fact, a serious matter of oversight, transparency and national security.

We cannot have a president asleep on the job. Is he sleeping in classified briefings, on calls with foreign leaders? How can we trust a president who is literally asleep at the wheel to make informed decisions about national security?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: Meghan, you get first crack at this one. Is it a national security threat?

HAYS: I mean, it's a national security threat that he's not paying attention, yes, but there is a massive apparatus around the president when these decisions are made. Whether or not you trust the people that are around the president is a different story. I just think this is rich coming from a White House that criticized Joe Biden so much in calling him "Sleepy Joe Biden."

So, I mean, if I was Donald Trump, I would be embarrassed. Also, you're president of the United States. I don't understand why you can't stay awake during daylight hours to do your job.

HILL: Marco Rubio has said he's awake, not just during the daytime, but also all throughout the night. That he hears from him regularly in the wee hours. We do see the posts in the wee hours.

Mike, but they're, you know, legitimate questions, right? There's a lot of criticism about what wasn't said about Joe Biden. Is this a fair game?

DUBKE: This -- this is -- sure, everything's fair game, but this is political theater. And Marco Rubio is absolutely correct. I got calls -- when I was in the White House, I got calls at 2:00 in the morning from the president. The man does not sleep. He does keep odd hours. And I'm not -- I am really not concerned with him closing his eyes and Democrats jumping on a couple of, you know, photographs of his -- of his eyes closed in this setting. This is -- this is theater in this -- in this particular case.

HILL: My grandfather used to say he was just checking his eyelids for holes. I'm just saying. Maybe, you know --

DUBKE: Oh, there you go.

HILL: There you go.

Still to come here on CNN THIS MORNING, Republicans just passed the immigration funding bill after a nearly 80-day partial government shutdown. What does this do? Did Democrats lose their leverage?

Plus.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You had some of Trump's most senior advisors, the top level of the government, gathered in the Situation Room.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: The latest excerpts from a forthcoming book revealing how President Trump's closest advisers reportedly tried to manage the Jeffrey Epstein fallout and the release of the president's name.

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[06:47:25]

HILL: A nearly $70 billion boost to President Trump's immigration and deportation agenda. Trump signing that bill into law yesterday, which ends now a six-month fight over funding for the Department of Homeland Security, which began after the shooting deaths of two U.S. citizens, Alex Pretti and Renee Good.

Now that bill provides $38 billion for ICE, $26 billion for Border Patrol and an additional $5 billion for unseen costs. The funding is set to last for the next three years. Keep in mind here, typically it would only be funded for one year at a time. It was also passed without the support of a single Democrat.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA): The American people are going to remember it. They're going to remember, too, that it was Republicans and Republicans alone who did the responsible thing and funded these critically important agencies at this critical time. Democrats, on the other hand, demonstrated to the entire country once again how little they prioritize the security of our borders and the livelihoods of those who put their own lives at risk and on the line to defend our homeland.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: I want to bring in now Democratic Congressman James Walkinshaw of Virginia, who joins us this morning.

Nice to have you with us.

When we look at where things stand, in terms of this funding, the fact that it was passed for three years, this essentially shields the agencies from the appropriations process. So, what oversight will Congress have over the course of these next three years?

REP. JAMES WALKINSHAW (D-VA): Well, look, I'm certainly hopeful that there'll be a change in control of Congress in January, which would allow us to conduct robust oversight in the form of hearings, subpoenas when necessary, depositions when necessary. But currently, this Republican congress is quite consistent that they're not going to provide real oversight of the reckless, out-of-control mass deportation agenda that we have seen.

So, I don't know that there will be much oversight for the remainder of this year, but I'm hopeful that in January 2027 we can get some oversight and bring this under control.

HILL: Among the list of demands that Democrats had, we have, of course, limits on face coverings, body camera requirements, clear use of force standards, which led to the record shutdown. Really, none of these demands made it into the final bill. Was it worth it?

WALKINSHAW: Well, look, what Democrats said is federal law enforcement, ICE, CBP, should operate similarly to our local and state law enforcement, right? Have the same expectations of professionalism that we have of our local police. Republicans, led primarily by one man, Stephen Miller in the White House, said, no way, no how.

[06:50:03]

So, from my perspective, it's always worth it to fight to protect the safety of the American people who were being terrorized by their own government, by masked agents surging into communities. I think that fight is always worth it.

We're going to continue that fight. We're going to have to take it to the ballot box in November. I think the mood and the polling across the country is quite clear that the American people, even those who might have supported the idea of stronger immigration enforcement that Donald Trump ran on, are looking at what they're seeing and saying, this ain't what I voted for. I didn't want to see kids with cancer deported. I don't want to see pregnant women dragged through the street. I don't want to see American citizens shot dead and killed.

The American people know this is out of control. Democrats are going to keep fighting to bring it under control.

HILL: Let's talk Epstein if we could. Bill Gates, of course, on Capitol Hill. You sat in that hearing yesterday, listened to his testimony. Representative Burchett, afterwards, came out and told the cameras that he had, in his view, very good coaching. That he had paid for very good coaching is what he said about Bill Gates. Did you find Bill Gates credible?

WALKINSHAW: I did. I did find Bill Gates credible. Everything he said was consistent with what's in the files or in the public record. Look, it is an egregious error in judgment. It's the most charitable way to describe Bill Gates deciding to engage, meet with Jeffrey Epstein even after he knew of Jeffrey Epstein's 2008 guilty plea/conviction for a sex crime. Gates acknowledged that yesterday. He said that was a terrible, terrible mistake, and it certainly was.

HILL: When we look at where things stand, Congressman Burchett also calling for transparency, as you know. James Comer, the House Oversight chair, there has been some back and forth on what should be public. But he also talked about who he wanted to call in next. I just want to play that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JAMES COMER (R-KY): I would like for Todd Blanche to come in, in July. Come in and let me -- let me be very clear. Todd Blanche came in a

month ago. He came in with Pam Bondi to answer questions from the Oversight Committee, and the Democrats stormed out.

What a missed opportunity for the Democrats. But Todd Blanche answered questions that Republicans had for several hours.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: I'm curious, both your response to that and also what you feel you would get from Todd Blanche.

WALKINSHAW: In an effort to help Pam Bondi avoid having to come in and speak under oath and answer questions under oath, Chairman Comer tried to set up a secret, closed-door briefing with Bondi and Todd Blanche. That briefing would have had no or has no transcript. The media, the public would never know. In fact, he just described it. Do you have any idea what they discussed in that meeting? What questions were asked? You don't. It's part of the cover up. And Democrats said, look, we're not going to participate in secret behind door -- behind closed doors briefings as part of this coverup. We want Pam Bondi, under oath, in front of camera so the American people can judge it. And we want Todd Blanche, under oath, in front of cameras and let the American people, not the Oversight Committee members, decide whether they think he's telling the truth or not, about this massive cover up that the Trump administration has been engaged in around the Epstein files.

HILL: We will see if that happens. Certainly a lot of interest and a lot of questions.

Congressman Walkinshaw, I appreciate you taking the time this morning. Thank you.

WALKINSHAW: Thanks for having me.

HILL: While some of Jeffrey Epstein's associates are facing questions on Capitol Hill, we're also learning more about how the White House was attempting to deal with the fallout of this crisis last summer. New reporting from "New York Times" reporter Jonathan Swan and Maggie Haberman details how Trump's top advisers assembled high-level meetings to talk about the growing crisis without the president.

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JONATHAN SWAN, WHITE HOUSE REPORTER, "NEW YORK TIMES": So, over the summer of 2025, you had some of Trump's most senior advisors, at the top level of the government, gathered in the Situation Room.

MAGGIE HABERMAN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Which is typically used for national security or responding to national disasters.

SWAN: To figure out a way to spin their way out of this.

HABERMAN: Not with the president, but among themselves. The discussion in the Situation Room was not about how to give these

women a hearing or a chance to tell their stories. These meetings were about how to handle the political fallout around the White House.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: The group chat is back.

Look, it's a fascinating read, an excerpt from their forthcoming book, as we look at the way all of this is playing out.

Aaron, one of the many things that stood out to me, it was not only the players that were involved, but how they were responding to these moments in public versus in private. I think Dan Bongino may be the best example. In public, pretty measured.

[06:55:01]

In private, the exact opposite. And had some pretty stark warnings for officials.

BLAKE: Yes, it was pretty remarkable to see some of the quotes from Dan Bongino talking about his superior, who is Attorney General Pam Bondi, and her handling of this. Basically her botched handling of this.

Of course, she was out there on TV in the months before talking about, you know, she was asked about the client list. She said, it's on my desk. She handed out those binders that turned out to be rather old information about this. There was very much concern about the politics of this internally. And clearly these politics were taken very seriously.

One of the things I was really struck by was, these meetings included high level officials at the Justice Department. You remember -- might remember back in the Obama administration there was a big controversy about Attorney General Loretta Lynch meeting with Bill Clinton on the tarmac of an airport during the Hillary Clinton email investigation. Well, now we have this reporting that basically the Justice Department is strategizing with the White House about how to insulate the president from this budding kind of scandal last year. And it kind of seems par for course for what's been happening in recent years.

HILL: The other thing that struck me in this moment were the involvement of Todd Blanche, Meghan, especially as we were just talking about, right, what could potentially be learned from Todd Blanche if, in fact, there were more questions from the House Oversight Committee. Given his involvement and his suggestions in those meetings and where he is now and the fact that Pam Bondi, right, was saying, just in the last several days, well, Todd Blanche was responsible for everything related to the release here, it's fascinating the way this all sets it up.

HAYS: Yes, absolutely. I mean, I think that Blanche is going to have a hard time getting out of committee anyways, and he's going to have to answer some questions about the Epstein files if he wants to get confirmed, regardless of this story that just came out.

But I also think, I mean, they said that they talked to over 1,000 people I know for the whole book. But this is a lot of people who are no longer with the administration trying to make themselves look better when they were all at fault. This whole handling of this has been disgusting and gross. And I, you know, I've been in the Situation Room for meetings. So has Mike. These are -- that is a sacred place where you have national security conversations. So, the fact that they are talking about how to get Donald Trump out of being in the Epstein files is just gross to me and a complete misuse of those facilities in the White House.

But the -- this is a lot of people just trying to make themselves look better in this book that they talk to them. So, the fact that they're even leaking on these meetings that were in the Situation Room is offensive to me.

HILL: So, I think the leaking of the meetings is the other thing I wanted to talk about with you. So, Mike, when you -- when you see that, right, and I should point out, CNN has reached out to both the White House and the DOJ, waiting to hear back. But the fact that there is so much detail in this book, so many quotes, what does that tell you about how this White House is working?

DUBKE: Well, I'm not sure it tells you anything about how this White Bouse is working. And I think Meghan was spot on, this is a bunch of individuals who have left the administration who are trying to, you know, salvage their reputations. And that's what happens when you get leakers.

I mean, there's really three leaks in Washington, one on public policy, you know, issues, one on going after somebody, your political enemy, and the other is to make yourself look better and more important. And I think this is a classic example of that third instance of leakers talking to Swan and Haberman and that wonderful "New York Times" music that they play to make everything seem so serious about what they're revealing in their -- in their things.

This is -- this is typical. The White House saw a crisis. They gathered the people together to give their advice to the president, made sure that everyone was on the -- on the same page, or at least aired out what they thought about this, and then went to the president with their decisions. I'm really not seeing anything here that is outstanding or unusual when it comes to the inner workings of a White House.

HILL: All right.

Let's shift, if we could, to the group chat before I let you all go, let's take a break from the politics, people.

Aaron, you kick this off because -- I can say kick and it relates directly to what's in your group chat.

BLAKE: Yes, it's a big day. I mean the World Cup's starting. I've been excited about this for a long time. I would encourage people, and we've been talking about this with the people in my life, look at this guy Freddy from Germany. His Twitter feed about his travels through the American south. Experiencing true americana. It will -- it will resurrect your love for this country to see somebody experience these things for the first time. And it will change your perspective about these things that maybe you're starting to take for granted.

HILL: You got to go to a Buc-ees that is for sure.

Meghan, I'm going to go out on a limb here and I'm going to say "Summer House" in your group chat.

HAYS: Of course. Of course. It's all that matters in my life is what's on Bravo. The third installment of "The Reunion" was this week. It was incredible. I think that there's a lot of -- a lot of thoughts back and forth of how people feel. The emotionlessness of Wes and Amanda was incredibly awkward for everyone involved. But, you know, I'm here for more in our new series of "In the City." I'm here for it.

HILL: One of these days I'm actually going to watch it, I swear.

[07:00:02]

Mike, you're talking dishwashers. The big debate, to rinse or

DUBKE: No, I --

HILL: No, you're not supposed to rinse.

DUBKE: Yes, it's a -- like -- I -- you're not supposed to rinse. Modern dishwashers get the dishes clean. Found that out.

But I love this Freddy story. The modern de Tocqueville, walking across the southeast of the United States, exposing what America is really like for Europe. I love it. I love it.

HILL: All right, so you're joining in the group chat with Aaron. I love it when we bring people together.

Good to see you guys.

HAYS: Thank you.

HILL: Thanks for joining us. I'm Erica Hill. The headlines are next.