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Republicans Criticize GOP Rep. Ogles' Now-deleted Homophobic Post; Trump Administration Says It Won't Move Forward With DOJ Fund; Trump's Pick for Intel Chief Faces Major Pushback on Capitol Hill; Los Angeles School District Proposes Limits on Technology in Classrooms. Aired 12:30-1p ET

Aired June 03, 2026 - 12:30   ET

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

[12:30:00]

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT AND ANCHOR OF 'INSIDE POLITICS': -- stupid and hurtful post and that they were reprimanded. CNN's Lauren Fox caught up with Republican Mike Lawler, who was one of the first to criticize the post.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MIKE LAWLER, (R-NY): I'm not going to dispute his statement, but the fact is that tweet was offensive. I know it was offensive to many colleagues and staff members here, and it was pretty clear that it was [expletive] stupid.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Lauren joins us now. I would say repugnant, not just stupid. What are you hearing from other Republicans, and specifically, also from the House Speaker and other members of the leadership?

LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Dana, we call this an unforced error in politics, and obviously Speaker Johnson responded this morning to that post. Here's what he told reporters about his view of what transpired.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MIKE JOHNSON, (R-LA) HOUSE SPEAKER: I haven't had a chance to talk to Rep. Ogles yet, but Andy is a good guy and his tweet explained that. They pulled it down. He explained that some errant staffer did that.

I'll tell you what my world view is. I mean, I'm pretty clear on this, and you'll understand. I believe the Bible is unequivocal. We're supposed to love our neighbor as ourselves, everybody. We want every member here to walk in the dignity of their office, Republican, Democrat, Independent or otherwise. And we're always consistent about that.

That's my statement on it. You know, there's nothing more to say. Andy took it down and, you know, did it publicly.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOX: And Dana, obviously, Republicans have evolved over the last two decades on the issue of gay rights, but there clearly, according to the Speaker, is no place in the party for this kind of language. I think it'll be interesting to see if he continues to have a conversation with Representative Ogles about what transpired, despite the fact that Ogles blamed this on a staffer.

BASH: Yeah, and this is obviously egregious, but it's not the first time that this congressman has posted controversial things before.

FOX: Well, that's right, Dana. And you know, I was talking to a couple of other Republican members about what kind of impact this has just months before the election for them, because Representative LaLota, who's running in a swing district, he told me simply that this is an opportunity that he's going to take every time to distinguish his views versus those on the far fringes of his party. Here's what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. NICK LALOTA (R-NY): It's worthy of being denounced. My understanding is he deleted it. That's a small step in the right direction, but more needs to be done to right that wrong.

FOX: Can I just ask you, like, does this have an impact on the midterms, given the fact that, you know, you probably have Republican voters who might be looking at the party and wondering if this is what you guys are focused on?

LALOTA: There are some wacky people on both sides of the aisle, on both extremes, and politically, it provides me an opportunity to contrast myself with some of that wackiness.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOX: And Dana, I just want to underscore that this is obviously not what Republicans want to be talking about. They want to be talking about affordability. They want to be contrasting their message to Democrats. But obviously, this is a distraction in the party right now, and something that Republican colleagues were really frustrated with.

BASH: That sounds like a new bumper sticker for LaLota, contrast myself with the wackos.

Appreciate that, Lauren. Thank you so much for your terrific reporting. Up next, the attorney general, he's the acting attorney general, says he's dropping a plan to pay off Trump allies who claim they were targeted by the Justice Department. But is he on the same page as the president? We have brand new comments from President Trump coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:37:58] (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TODD BLANCHE, ACTING ATTORNEY GENERAL: The reasons for the fund, I think, remain as important as they were before, but we are not moving forward with the fund.

REP. GRACE MENG, (D-NY): Not moving forward ever?

BLANCHE: Correct.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: That was Acting Attorney General, Todd Blanche describing the Trump administration's current plan for the controversial, nearly $1.8 billion anti-weaponization fund. His boss, the president, described it a little bit differently in a New York Post interview recorded yesterday, just out this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIRANDA DEVINE, COLUMNIST, NEW YORK POST: The anti-weaponization fund, have you dropped that?

DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: No, a court ruled against it. These were many great people, and I gave them pardons. I'm very proud to have given them pardons, and I think they should be reimbursed for a crooked government.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Marc Caputo, you speak fluent Trump. Can you translate what he said versus what his acting attorney general said?

MARC CAPUTO, SENIOR POLITICS REPORTER, AXIOS: When I first reported the story before the announcement, one of Trump's advisers put it this way, it's dead for now, right? So I think there's always the possibility of a resurrection in Donald Trump's show, characters come in and out, issues cycle in and out.

It wouldn't surprise me to see some form or version of this. Lindsey Graham, the Senator from South Carolina, always loves to get as much on Trump's good side as possible, has issued a lengthy post saying there needs to be a weaponization fund and Congress needs to make one. So I don't think it's completely gone yet, but Todd Blanche knows that if he wants to get confirmed as Attorney General, this was a big checkmark against him.

BASH: Right. I mean, that's such an important dynamic here that this and many other moves that Todd Blanche is making is part of an audition process.

You know who is done auditioning for Donald Trump? John Cornyn, after he lost his primary thanks to Donald Trump. What he said in a post is, the way to ensure the Trump retribution fund is more than mostly dead would be for Congress to put a stake through it, meaning legislate.

[12:40:00]

TIA MITCHELL, WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF, THE ATLANTA JOURNAL- CONSTITUTION: Yeah. And I think that's something that there are Republicans and of course, Democrats would support that. I think that would be harder to do, particularly in the House, where so many House members, you know, even if they don't quite like the weaponization fund, they're not necessarily going to vote for putting in legislation something that ties President Trump's hands in such a stark way.

I do think also some members of Congress are just thinking about potential unintended consequences, potential, like, if you start here, where could it go next and how that could affect the federal government and federal dollars. So I think that's another reason why there's so much pushback on kind of opening this can of worms.

BASH: Yeah.

CAPUTO: James Comey would love to get a piece of that fund once the new president takes over.

BASH: Yeah. Well, I was going to say something. Tell me that the people in charge wouldn't be, you know, returning his calls. OK.

So in a very much related move that we reported on the show yesterday, but the ramifications are still going, this idea of picking Bill Pulte, who is -- runs an obscure housing agency, but has shown to be creative in how he tries to go after the president's political adversaries, is now Acting DNI, at least the president wants him to be.

Kristen Holmes, Alayna Treene and Jeremy Herb did some excellent reporting playing that out and report what's perhaps most consequential about Trump tapping Pulte as Acting Director is that it puts a loyalist in a position to influence the president's actions ahead of the midterm elections, which Trump has called for nationalizing.

Some of the president's allies have urged him to declare a national emergency and take control of the election. I mean, they have a lot of good nuggets in this story. This to me was the most important, red, giant, blinking light that we come back to time and again on this show, because it is so important to watch the bouncing ball of Trump as we head towards the midterms.

DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: And it's just the perfect illustration of what is most different in Trump 2.0 from Trump 1.0, when we talk about surrounding himself with loyalists and people who are willing to do and give in to his aid (ph) and what he wants to do and fewer guardrails and all those things. This is the perfect illustration of that.

EVAN MCMORRIS-SANTORO, POLITICAL REPORTER, NOTUS: Well, I'll say, you know, the other thing about this is it's not as though the DNI had a really big role in this administration up to now. Right? I mean, Tulsi Gabbard was cut out of all the conversations about the various wars that we are in. BASH: Well, she did show up at a FBI raid.

MCMORRIS-SANTORO: That's true. No, no, I mean, the election thing that you're talking about is a huge part of that.

BASH: Yeah.

MCMORRIS-SANTORO: I mean, I'm saying that this has been going on even without this DNI aspect. Right? Democrats have been talking about this for a long time. There are a lot of people who are really upset about it and really think this is a very strong possibility. This administration has not backed away from its claims that there's a massive amount of fraud in the way elections are administered, that there is a lot of problems that need to be corrected, and the federal government needs to come in and take over.

The challenge is that if you go back to what we're talking about, this weaponization fund, for example, this is a different Trump moment than it was maybe last year when he was talking about this. We'll see what Republican electeds actually do if the president comes forward and says, these elections are invalid. We don't like what's going on here. It'll be a real pressure point for him in his own party.

And I'm not sure that he has the support that he needs inside Congress anymore to kind of back that kind of thing up, which is not saying he's not going to do it or try to do it.

MITCHELL: And he could muddy --

(CROSSTALK)

MCMORRIS-SANTORO: But it's a very different situation for that.

MITCHELL: He could muddy things up. He could stall things. He could create confusion in states that are friendly. I mean, we saw what happened in 2020 and it ended in an insurrection. It ended in people wanting to find and hang our vice president.

So I don't think, you know, it's scary to think about the what ifs. And again, could it all end up at the hands of the Supreme Court? And I think a lot of people are scared about that, too.

BASH: Yeah. Well, this might be a nice segue for the next segment we're going to do, which is on mental health. So thank you all. Appreciate it.

But don't go anywhere because school's out for the summer. Screens, are they in? Well, next, we're going to talk with a mental health expert who will discuss what parents should know about technology and their teen's mental health. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:48:50]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) ERIC SCHMIDT, FORMER CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER & CHAIRMAN, GOOGLE: Last December, Time Magazine selected its 'Person of the Year' for 2025 and this time, it was the architects of Artificial Intelligence. Interesting.

(CROWD BOOING)

GLORIA CAULFIELD, VICE PRESIDENT OF STRATEGIC ALLIANCES, TAVISTOCK DEVELOPMENT COMPANY: The rise of Artificial Intelligence is the next industrial revolution.

(CROWD BOOING)

CAULFIELD: What happened?

SCOTT BORCHETTA, MUSIC INDUSTRY EXECUTIVE: A.I. is rewriting production as we sit here. I know it, deal with it. Like I said, it's a tool.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: If there was one theme for graduation speeches across the country this year, you heard it. Don't bring up A.I. unless you're willing to get booed. But at the same time, a new study shows more adolescents are increasingly turning to A.I. for mental health advice. Nearly one in five young adults and teens reported asking chatbots what to do when they're mad, anxious, stressed and sad. 92 percent of those surveyed say, they find the advice helpful and according to the study, it has increased from the year before.

[12:50:00]

Joining us to help understand technology's impact on young people's mental health is Ross Szabo. He is the Wellness Director at Geffen Academy at UCLA and author of "A Kid's Book About Anxiety."

Ross, nice to see you again. Thank you for coming on. What's your take on that study? Is it concerning to you as a mental health professional? I mean, you're literally in a classroom now, that young adults are turning to chatbots?

ROSS SZABO, WELLNESS DIRECTOR, GEFFEN ACADEMY AT UCLA: So it's great to see you, Dana. Thanks so much. And it is concerning. I think the reality is young people are curious. They've been curious for as long as young people have existed. It's just what they can do with their curiosity has changed.

When we were kids, we got curious and we like picked up our dial phone and called someone or we experimented with other people. Experimenting with A.I. can take you down so many rabbit holes. I think the other thing though to keep in mind here is they do want to talk about mental health and they are reaching out in different ways.

And so, anytime I see data like this, I'm obviously scared because of the percentage of people who use A.I. and can go down a really dark place with their mental health. But if you take it from a different perspective, you see that they do want to talk about it. So how do we fill that gap?

BASH: Yeah, I mean, that's a really good point. We just -- just on a kind of slightly different topic with regard to technology and teens, several states are exploring laws to limit classroom screen time. In L.A. where you are, it's the nation's second largest school district.

The school board votes this month on specific restrictions and the changes include daily and weekly screen time limits by grade level, eliminate student digital device use in early education through fifth grade, prohibit YouTube access, considerations to block video games that are not instructional in nature like Roblox and Fortnite.

Since the pandemic, schools have really dramatically increased technology usage. So, is it really helpful or realistic to get rid of devices to tackle the problem? Because people just -- the genie is out of the bottle and people, especially students, use technology as part of their education.

SZABO: And there's a couple of things to think about with that question. So, number one, students are used to tech. I think what that bill does that is so important is it bans games and removes games. You know, when you teach in any school, students have a swipe screen and that swipe screen is what they go back to as soon as you walk away or as soon as you can't see their laptop.

And that swipe screen could be social media, it could be the games they're talking about, it could be shopping, it could be anything. And so, I do think it's important that if we're going to use tech, we use the tech that works, that does teach them because that does exist.

BASH: Yeah.

SZABO: But I think the other thing that these bills are missing is, if you just take tech out of the classroom, that's only half the battle. Teachers do need -- they need to be prepared for that. They need to be able to adjust back to classrooms that don't have tech and that needs to be a part of those bills.

BASH: And how do you balance that? I mean, so you're literally a mental health professional inside a classroom. You deal with technology all the time. What are some of the tools that you think that teachers and parents and students need to have to face the reality that technology is here, it's not going anywhere?

SZABO: There's a long list of tech that does support student learning. There's even A.I. tutors that can support student learning and there's a list that people can easily see. The other piece of it though is knowing when to put tech away. So, for a lot of my classes and a lot of teachers in my school, they've gone back to blue books, they've gone back to other things to engage students' brains.

What we do see is when students are off of tech for even as little as 72 hours, their brains do change, their dopamine receptors recover, they do feel a lot calmer. By two weeks or a month, it changes even more. And so, it's knowing that right mix of saying, yeah, tech exists, it's not going away, to your point, how can we use it to scaffold you in important ways, but also how can we ground you and get you off the screens when it's necessary to?

BASH: That's incredible data. I just want to -- you are in L.A., you're in Hollywood, so I want to ask about Toy Story 5. It releases this month. There's a new character, Lilypad. We're going to wait and see how the tablet changes Buzz and Woody's lives, but here's a trailer that gives us a pretty good preview.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JESSIE, TOY STORY 5: First we were playing, and then the world started changing.

WOODY, TOY STORY 5: No.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are we getting donated?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hmm, Doughnuts.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, sweetie, donated.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You've got a friend in me.

LILYPAD, TOY STORY 5: Bonnie doesn't want to play with toys anymore. She needs me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[12:55:00]

BASH: Really interesting, I think. What age do you think families should start talking about this? And by this, I mean the impact that you just described of screens.

SZABO: I think as soon as you can. I think the longer you wait, the longer you delay comfort in discussing difficult topics in general. So my book, "A Kid's Book About Anxiety" is for kids as young as age five to eight to start learning the difference between feeling nervous and actually having an anxiety disorder.

BASH: Yeah.

SZABO: My school is grades six through 12, and we talk to sixth graders about everything under the mental health radar. Everything that they could experience, everything that they're going through because it gives them the skills that they need. I think when you delay, it makes it harder. And I do think there are a lot of movies out there that make it easier.

BASH: Yeah.

SZABO: "Inside Out" is a great one. "Toy Story" has done --

BASH: Yeah, that's right.

SZABO: -- a really good job and I think that's important.

BASH: Ross, thank you so much for joining me. I really appreciate it. Nice to see you. Thank you for what you do.

Thank you for joining "Inside Politics" today. "CNN News Central" starts after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)