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Early Start with Rahel Solomon

Trump And Musk Joust In Astonishing Social Media Duel; Russai And Ukraine Exchange Attacks Overnight; Israel Attacks Suburbs Of Beirut, Targeting Alleged Hezbollah Drone Factories; Bodies Of Two Israeli-American Hostages Recovered From Gaza; Marco Rubio Sanctions ICC For Targeting U.S. and Israel. Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired June 06, 2025 - 04:00   ET

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

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[04:00:10]

RAHEL SOLOMON, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning and welcome to our viewers joining us from the U.S. and all around the world. I'm Rahel Solomon. It is Friday, June 6th, 4:00 a.m. here in New York. and straight ahead on Early Start.

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DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: Elon and I had a great relationship. I don't know who it will anymore, but I'm very disappointed in Elon. I've helped Elon a lot. I don't know, it is. It's sort of Trump derangement syndrome.

MIKE JOHNSON, U.S. SPEAKER OF THE HOSUE: I've tried very hard to speak with Elon over and over, you know, and talk with him about what I believe are misconceptions he has about this bill.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Until Ukraine is able to get a full assessment, we won't know if this was the full retaliation that Russian President Vladimir Putin seemed to have warned Donald Trump of.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Now, Jane, similar to Cassie Ventura, is a former girlfriend of Sean Combs. Then she says that Sean Combs introduced his fantasy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOLOMON: The gloves are off between Elon Musk and President Donald Trump. Tensions have been mounting over the contentious U.S. spending bill. And on Thursday, the two billionaires publicly launched both professional and personal attacks against one another.

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TRUMP: You know, Elon's upset because we took the EV mandate. Look, Elon and I had a great relationship. I don't know if we will anymore. But I'm very disappointed in Elon. I've helped Elon a lot. I don't know what it is. It's sort of Trump derangement syndrome. (END VIDEO CLIP)

SOLOMON: Now, during the president's White House remarks, Musk, wasting no time slamming him, insisting on X, that without him, Trump would have lost the election and that Democrats would control the House. But Trump seemed most insulted by Musk's attack on the spending bill.

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TRUMP: I'm very disappointed because Elon knew the inner workings of this bill better than almost anybody sitting here, better than you people. He knew everything about it.

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SOLOMON: Musk fired back, false. This bill was never shown to me even once and was passed in the dead of night so fast that almost no one in Congress could even read it. He went on to post that, quote, Congress is spending America into bankruptcy, but the President is standing by what he has called his Big Beautiful Bill.

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TRUMP: I'd rather have him criticize me than the bill because the bill is incredible. It's the biggest cut in the history of our country. We've never cut. It's about 1.6 trillion in cuts.

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SOLOMON: CNN's Kristen Holmes has a closer look at the meltdown of this once powerful alliance.

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KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, there is a breaking up and then there is publicly taking a flamethrower to the other person's reputation, to their livelihood. And that is really what we saw and continue to see playing out between two of the world's most powerful men, Elon Musk and President Donald Trump.

Of course, what we saw is changed so much since last Friday when Elon Musk had his government send off, leaving the government. Donald Trump and Musk talking highly about each other has now devolved into politics, personal attacks on each person's respective online platform.

All of this stemming from this bill, this congressional spending bill. Elon Musk earlier this week starting to attack the bill pretty aggressively. We first saw Karoline Leavitt, the press secretary, respond to this in real time. She was giving a press briefing and she laughed it off, saying, Donald Trump knows where Elon Musk stands. He's going to continue with this bill.

But since then, this continued to devolve. Elon Musk ramping up the pressure saying how awful this bill was. White House officials telling us behind the scenes that they believe this is all about the electric vehicle mandate, the rolling back of electric vehicle credits. And that's why Elon Musk was mad.

We were also told that Trump himself, behind closed doors before he reacted, was speculating this was all about business for Musk, but this was all about him going back to Tesla and these were things he needed to do. But today, Donald Trump broke his silence, was asked a question about Musk and really went into it saying he was disappointed in Musk.

This is all about those electric vehicle credits that they had a very good relationship. He didn't know if they were going to have one again. Musk then began responding himself in real time on Twitter, on X, his own platform, hitting back at several things that Donald Trump said.

[04:05:04]

Now, this continued to go on and on until the attacks got personal. At one point, Musk saying that Donald Trump's name was in the Epstein files. That itself trying to have a low blow here to Donald Trump. Now, it was quiet after that. We saw Donald Trump's only engagement in this was a post about the bill saying he was fine with Elon turning on him, but he wished he wouldn't turn on the bill.

Now we have a statement, the most recent one from Karoline Leavitt, the press secretary, addressing these accusations from Elon Musk. He says this is an unfortunate episode from Elon who was unhappy with the One Big Beautiful Bill because it does not include the policies he wanted. The president is focused on passing this historic piece of legislation and making our country great again.

Well, there is a reason that this is so focused. It is because the directive from the top, of course, being President Trump, is to keep focused on the bill. Try not to get in the weeds here because of course, this bill is Donald Trump's legacy, Donald Trump, his administration, they believe so much of what he needs to get done on his agenda, the things he's promised to do is wrapped up in this bill.

So for that reason, he is currently telling his team to stay focused on the bill. But that could change at any time. We obviously are not seeing any letting up on either side, particularly Musk, who at one point earlier today agreed with a post that called for Donald Trump's impeachment.

So as this plays out, this is one of the most public breaking ups of two high powered individuals that we've seen in quite some time. Kristen Holmes, CNN, the White House.

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SOLOMON: And the bitter dispute over the government spending bill is making House Republicans uneasy as it moves through Congress. Speaker Mike Johnson trying to take a diplomatic tone.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) JOHNSON: I don't know what motivated this disturbance to begin, but obviously it's not helpful. My way is that policy disputes are not personal. I have -- I've tried very hard to speak with Elon over and over, you know, and talk with him about what I believe are misconceptions he has about this bill and what it is.

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SOLOMON: Other Republican lawmakers say that they hope the two can overcome their differences but seem to fall firmly on the side of President Trump.

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TROY NEHLS, U.S. HOUSE REPUBLICAN: Right now this tit for tat going back and forth isn't helpful. I'll tell you what, Elon, this is what I'll do. Calm down the Texas 22nd district, right? I'll pay your filing fee and run against me.

TIM BURCHETT, U.S. HOUSE REPUBLICAN: I'd go with Trump politically, you know, two biggest dogs in the pound, they're going to turn on each other eventually. And that's what's happened.

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SOLOMON: All right, let's take a look and see how U.S. markets are reacting to the Trump-Musk feud. In the pre-market, all of the major averages look set to open higher at this point at 407. Dow, Nasdaq and S and P trading higher at this point between let's call it 4/10 of a percent. Rounding up a little bit for the Nasdaq to. Yes, just about 4.10of a percent across all of the major averages. We do get that may jobs report in just a few hours. So let's see how that moves the market as well.

And back to the Trump Musk feud. Earlier, CNN senior political analyst Ron Brownstein said that no one is surprised that the showdown reached this point.

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RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: The last political divorce this acrimonious may have been JFK cutting off Frank Sinatra in 1962. I mean, it was just extraordinary to watch the two of them go back and forth. You know, not surprising in the sense that Musk is notoriously mercurial and erratic. And Trump really has never had a lasting alliance with anyone whose last name isn't Trump.

So, I don't think we're surprised that we got here, maybe that it was so public and so vicious so quickly. But that is really kind of in the character of the two protagonists. I kind of look at kind of the arguments that they're each making against each other and find them extremely revealing.

On the one hand, you have Musk arguing that senators should vote against the bill that passed the House, the budget and tax, the spending and tax bill because increases the debt too much. There are a lot of people who agree with that.

But Musk's argument is that the problem is that it doesn't cut spending enough. He ignores, like Senators Ron Johnson and Rand Paul, he ignores that it's spending $3.75 trillion to extend the Trump tax cuts from 2017 and the new tax cut promises from the 2024 campaign and is basically arguing for them to cut spending more at a time when it is already going to be difficult, if history is any guide for Republicans to sell the public on the idea of cutting programs that mostly benefit the middle class to fund taxes that mostly benefit the rich.

And then equally revealing, you know, yesterday, the idea that the federal government could not get needed contracts with all sorts of Musk companies to do Musk, you know, Musk business.

[04:10:10]

And today, you know, all of those don't make sense anymore. I mean, it's just a rebel. It's just a reminder of how much Trump envisions the entire federal government as a way to reward friends and punish enemies.

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SOLOMON: And at one point Thursday, amidst all of the back and forth, Musk said that he would start to decommission SpaceX's Dragon program. That came after President Trump threatened to end Musk's government contracts. The Dragon spacecraft is the only U.S. method to get astronauts to and from the International Space Station. Ending the program could have devastating effects on NASA. Musk later walked back that threat.

All right, overseas, Russia and Ukraine are assessing the damage after the two exchanged a barrage of attacks overnight. The mayor of Kyiv saying that at least four people were killed, 20 were wounded in Russian strikes on the Ukrainian capital. Search and rescue operations are ongoing.

Russia launched ballistic missiles and drones in the early hours of Friday morning. And Ukrainian officials accused Russia of targeting residential areas in Kyiv and a number of targets across the country.

Meanwhile, Russian officials say that a Ukrainian drone attack hit an industrial site in the country's south. The Defense Ministry saying that it intercepted more than 170 Ukrainian drones from Thursday evening to early Friday morning. CNS Nick Paton Walsh more details now on the overnight strikes on Kyiv.

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NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Ultimately until dawn until Ukraine is able to get a full assessment of exactly what has happened over the skies of Kyiv and other key cities during the past hours. We won't know if this was the full retaliation that Russian President Vladimir Putin seemed to have warned Donald Trump of during that phone call literally a matter of hours ago, really.

But we do know of the long range Tupolev 95 propeller driven bombers that were so frequently targeted during the weekend's attacks on Russian air bases there in the air, says Ukraine's air force attacking Ukraine at the same time too are multiple waves, it seems, of ballistic missiles, including Kheibar missiles fired from the south of Russia as well.

So a lot, including drones being thrown at both the capital Kyiv, and indeed missiles fired towards the Kharkiv region in the northeast and Sumy to the north as well, where there have been significant Russian land advances in the past week or so, but minimal damage reports always from Ukraine. During assaults like this, they try and limit the information they make public to make the job of Russian targeters easier. Indications there were power cuts in the capital and indeed injured in the capital as well.

Many Ukrainians deeply on edge because of that Trump-Putin call will be lying awake tonight wondering indeed if this is the big one, if there is in fact worse to come or if there might be multiple nights like this. But I should stress Ukraine experiences nightly barrages of missiles and attack drones.

And indeed, in just the hours before the weekend's attacks on Russian air bases was launched, there was a record 400 or so drones launched by Russia against Ukraine. The vast majority of them indeed intercepted and stopped. But Moscow increasingly capable to add to the kind of horrors it's able to inflict on ordinary Ukrainians every single night. But there are fears potentially that what we're seeing in the recent hours may mark something perhaps more significant. But perhaps at this stage, it's too early to tell. Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, London.

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SOLOMON: All right, still ahead, Israel launches new attacks against its neighbor to the north, what they targeted and how Lebanon is responding.

Plus, Israel pays tribute to a couple who were kidnapped and killed in the October 7th attacks. How the military managed to recover their bodies from deep inside Gaza after the break.

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[04:18:24

SOLOMON: Welcome back. The conflict between Israel and Hezbollah may be heating up again in southern Lebanon. The Israeli military says that it struck terror targets in the capital, Beirut and surrounding suburbs on Thursday. The IDF says that it gave multiple warnings before hitting what it called drone factories.

The strikes marking the largest escalation in fighting since Israel and Hezbollah agreed to a U.S. backed cease fire in November. Lebanon's president and prime minister are condemning the attacks. Israel's defense minister says that he holds the Lebanese government responsible for all terrorist activities that against his country.

Meantime, the leader of Hamas says that he's not rejecting the latest cease fire deal proposed by the U.S. but he wants stronger guarantees that Israel won't resume fighting once the temporary truce ends. Hamas also wants a complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza.

U.S. plan proposed by presidential envoy Steve Witkoff calls for Hamas to release the bodies of 18 hostages plus 10 living captives. That would happen over the first week of a 60-day ceasefire.

A kibbutz in southern Israel is making funeral plans for a couple killed during the October 7 terror attacks. Their bodies have been returned to Israel after a military operation by the IDF and the Shin bet Security Agency. CNN's Jeremy Diamond has the details.

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JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: The Israeli military announced on Thursday that it had recovered the bodies of two American Israeli hostages inside the Gaza Strip. 70 year old Judi Weinstein- Haggai and her husband Gadi Haggai will now be laid to rest in Israel.

[04:20:02]

They had both gone out for their morning walk on that fateful morning of October 7, 2023 in their kibbutz of Nir Oz when Hamas launched their attack. They were actually both killed on that day and their bodies were taken into Gaza by a group known as the Mujahideen Brigades. That's the same militant group that had also taken Shiri Kfir and Ariel Bibas into captivity for more than 600 days.

Judi and Gadi's bodies were held as bargaining chips until they were recovered on Thursday in an Israeli military operation. Now the couple is survived by their four children and seven grandchildren, who said in a statement that they were grateful for the closure that this Israeli military operation was able to bring them.

This now means that there are 56 hostages still held in Gaza, 20 of whom are still believed to be alive. Among those 56 are the bodies of two last remaining American citizens, American Israelis Itay Chen and Omer Neutra. Both of them were serving as Israeli soldiers along the Gaza border on October 7. They were killed in the attack that day, and their bodies have been held since then inside of Gaza.

Meanwhile, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation resumed operations on Thursday following several days of deadly Israeli gunfire that killed more than 60 Palestinians, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health and eyewitnesses on the ground. The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation said following those shootings that it was going to make logistical improvements to the site and was working with the Israeli military to make improvements to the routes leading to that site in southern Gaza.

And so after closing that site for roughly 36 hours, it reopened on Thursday within an hour both sites that were opened on Thursday were closed with all of the aid having been distributed. And that, of course, speaks to the enormous need for humanitarian aid that still exists in Gaza. The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation says that they are still working to make improvements to make the process more efficient and more safe. Jeremy Diamond, CNN, Tel Aviv.

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SOLOMON: The Trump administration is imposing new sanctions on the International Criminal Court for its attempts to investigate alleged U.S. and Israeli war crimes. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announcing the move, calling the ICC's actions illegitimate and disgraceful. The court has issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and it's looking into alleged war crimes committed in Afghanistan by U.S. and Afghan forces.

The suspect in antisemitic firebombing attack in Boulder, Colorado, is expected in federal court later today. The hearing comes the day after Mohammed Soliman appeared via video link before a state judge. He is facing nearly 120 state charges, including 28 counts of first degree attempted murder. But today's court appearance will deal with a federal hate crime charge that he is also facing.

The FBI says that Soliman used a homemade flamethrower and Molotov cocktails to attack a peaceful march supporting Israeli hostages in Gaza. At least 15 people, including one Holocaust survivor, were injured in Sunday's attack.

Still ahead for us, bitter attacks as two billionaire exchange. As two billionaires exchange blows. The relationship between Elon Musk and the U.S. President imploding online for the world to see.

And it's costing Musk an astonishing amount of money. This feud as both Tesla and his personal net worth take a massive hit. We're talking billions. We'll get into it. We come back.

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[04:28:35]

SOLOMON: Welcome back. The bromance between Donald Trump and Elon Musk has turned into a nasty public showdown with the two billionaires embroiled in a vindictive divorce. The U.S. President has threatened to slash Musk's huge government contracts, to which the Tesla CEO replied, go ahead, make my day. The growing animosity stems from deep disagreements over the congressional spending bill.

Musk claims that it's filled with, quote, a mountain of disgusting pork. President Trump insists it's a Big, Beautiful Bill. And CNN's Manu Raju has reaction from Capitol Hill where Trump's spending bill is making its way through the Senate.

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MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, despite becoming an unwelcome distraction for Republican leaders who are trying to piece together a fragile coalition to get this bill through the Senate and then get it back through the House after the senators make changes.

The question is going to be whether it goes further in trying to cutting down federal spending because this bill, according to projections, would increase the national deficit. But can they go any further in cutting spending? If they do, perhaps that causes them support from some of the more moderate members are trying to protect key programs, particularly social safety net programs like Medicaid, which parts of which could be on the chopping block depending on how exactly this bill is structured in the United States Senate.

But nevertheless, there is major concern.

[04:30:00]

Some are citing them siding with Elon Musk. Others say that Elon Musk is dead wrong and say they are going to be on Donald Trump's camp no matter what --

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