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Officials Say, Suspect Planned Boulder Attack for a Year; Moments Ago, Axios Reports, U.S. Nuclear Deal Offer Allows Iran to Enrich Uranium; Congress Awaiting DOGE Cuts Package from White House. Aired 10-10:30a ET

Aired June 03, 2025 - 10:00   ET

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

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PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now, horrific attack a year in the making, new disturbing details just being revealed about the suspect in the Boulder attack on a Jewish community event. The late reporting coming into CNN.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: At Bewilderment at FEMA, the head of the disaster agency now telling staff he previously didn't know the U.S. had a hurricane season. How officials are now responding this morning.

Welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer with Pamela Brown, and you're in The Situation Room.

Happening now, we're learning chilling new details about the suspect in the Boulder, Colorado, attack. Authorities saying he told them that he waited until after his daughter's high school graduation to perpetrate the attack that injured 12 people. The charges against him now include hate crimes and attempted murder.

Let's go live right now to CNN Law Enforcement Correspondent Whitney Wild. She's in Boulder for all of us. Whitney, the FBI says the suspect planned this attack for a full year.

WHITNEY WILD, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, he had actually at one point tried to get a firearm, and when he learned he couldn't get one, that's when he decided to make these Molotov cocktails.

And law enforcement is really stressing these two things because they're pointing out this, while as horrific as it was, could have been deadlier.

Let's talk again quickly about his attempt to get a firearm. He went to lengths. He took a concealed carry class. He learned how to shoot. He tried to buy a gun, but was denied again because he was not a U.S. citizen. That's when he decided to make these Molotov cocktails. And he said that he learned how to make those online. He also found out about the group he eventually attacked online. We were also learning a lot more about the how the day unfolded. So, Wolf, he came from Colorado Springs, which is 90 minutes to two hours away from Boulder. He dressed as a gardener to try to get as close to this group as he can or as he could. And then he threw those two Molotov cocktails at the group that was peacefully walking to raise awareness about these Israeli hostages who remain in Gaza.

Further, Wolf, we know that there were 16 Molotov cocktails he did not throw at that group. And law enforcement collected quite a bit of detail in an interview with him following his arrest. And he said a lot. But, first, he said he threw the two Molotov cocktails and then he didn't throw the rest because basically he got scared. He had never hurt anyone before. He also said that he had no remorse, that he would do it again, that he wanted everyone in that group to die, and actually he had planned to die himself. And he told law enforcement that he would not forgive himself if he didn't carry out this attack.

He's facing a very long list of charges. As you point out, the maximum for the federal charges in the state is in effect life behind bars. I mean, on paper, hundreds of years behind bars, Wolf.

BLITZER: All right. Whitney Wild with the latest in Boulder, Colorado, thank you very much. Pamela?

BROWN: Well, Wolf, in Gaza, the Palestinian Ministry of Health says nearly 30 people were killed and dozens were wounded as Palestinians on their way to an aid distribution site came under fire for the third straight day. The Israeli military says it fired shots at those who had deviated from designated routes and were moving toward them. Palestinian officials say more than 60 people have been killed since Sunday on their way to secure food from the site, as famine conditions in the war-torn enclave worsen.

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MOHAMMAD QDEIH, GAZA RESIDENT: People are starving. There's no place to get food except that dangerous point. It's not a humanitarian point, it's a death trap.

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BROWN: All right. Let's go live now to Jeremy Diamond in Jerusalem for the latest. Where do things stand, Jeremy?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Well, Pamela, this is the third day in a row now that Palestinians have been shot and killed while on their way to this controversial American and Israeli-backed new aid distribution site in Southern Gaza. And today was indeed quite deadly, with at least 27 people killed and dozens more wounded, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health. Once again, like on Sunday when we saw more than 30 people who were killed, eyewitnesses on the ground as well as doctors at local hospitals say that it was Israeli gunfire that was responsible for this.

[10:05:00] Unlike on Sunday, though, today the Israeli military acknowledging that they did indeed fire on people who were about a half a kilometer away from this aid distribution site. The Israeli military claims that they fired warning shots at several individuals who were approaching their forces and then ultimately opened fire on them because they said they were approaching their forces in a suspicious manner. They didn't provide any more information to explain that.

But we know from speaking with the families of those who were killed today, that those individuals were largely people who were going to try and get aid at this Gaza Humanitarian Foundation site in Southern Gaza. And all of this is raising more questions about this aid distribution mechanism and highlighting the concerns that we have heard from humanitarian aid officials for weeks now.

Even before this aid site became operational, before people started to be shot as they were on their way there, this is exactly the kind of scenario that humanitarian aid officials have warned could take place when you have a very small number of aid distribution sites, in fact, just one currently operational for this Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, when you have individuals who are going to have to walk, you know, thousands of people walking several miles through dangerous combat zones through Israeli military positions, that this is the kind of scenario that could unfold.

And that's why we're seeing humanitarian aid officials calling for the old model of humanitarian aid distribution in Gaza to be reinstated, one in which you would have hundreds of aid distribution sites throughout Gaza closer to where people live and limiting these kinds of dangers. Pam?

BROWN: Jeremy Diamond, thank you. Wolf?

BLITZER: Right now, Pamela, we have some breaking news on the nation's economy and new measures on the jobs market. Just moments ago, the federal government released its job openings and labor turnover survey or jolt says, economists call this important snapshot.

I want to go live right now to CNN Business and Politics Correspondent Vanessa Yurkevich in New York. Vanessa, the numbers just came out. What are we learning?

VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS AND POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, this is a snapshot of the labor market looking back in April, these are the number of job openings available in the public sector. And what we saw is that we saw actually an unexpected increase in the number of jobs available in the month of April, 7.4 million jobs available.

Hiring picked up a little bit, mostly unchanged, but just a slight pickup, 5.6 million, total separations, which talks about quits and layoffs, about 5.3 million. We saw layoffs in categories, like healthcare and social assistance, also in state and local government. About 14,000 and obviously we've been tracking the federal government, what's been happening with jobs there. A little bit of layoffs going on there, about 4,000 in terms of layoffs. Likely, we'll see most of the federal government job layoffs pick up through the summer towards September because, as you know, a lot of people have stayed on. There have been some buyouts in the federal government, so those layoffs in the federal government probably not coming for a few months from now, Wolf.

BLITZER: Vanessa, quickly, this morning, the discount retailer, Dollar General, raised its annual sales outlook. Tell us why that's significant.

YURKEVICH: Well, it is significant because Dollar General said that it's performing a lot better than expected amid this tariff uncertainty. Sales actually grew by 2.4 percent last quarter, and the company essentially saying that they're well-positioned to serve their customer base among this economic uncertainty. They've even grabbed customers from their competitors, low income consumers, as well as middle income consumers who are looking for deals.

The company also saying this morning that they are updating their outlook now because of these robust Q1 sales. And they're saying that they're able to mitigate a significant portion of the potential impact to the cost of goods because of tariff uncertainty. Of course, consumer behaviors and consumer spending could change, but, ultimately, they're revising their outlook for the rest of the year. They're saying that they're going to see net sales growth of about 3.7 percent to 4.7 percent compared to what they initially forecasted, which was 3.4 percent growth to 4.4 percent growth of sales.

Now, Wolf, I just want to point out that this is a little bit of a unique situation with Dollar General. Most companies are actually pulling back their forecast because of tariff uncertainty or revising down their forecast. This is a company that is clearly thriving amid economic uncertainty as consumers are looking for cheaper deals, better prices, as they are bracing for higher prices elsewhere. Wolf?

BLITZER: All right. Vanessa Yurkevich reporting for us, thank you very much.

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Pamela?

BROWN: All right, Wolf. Just in, new CNN reporting that President Trump is privately complaining the Supreme Court justices he appointed have not sufficiently stood behind his agenda. Sources tell CNN, this has gone on for at least a year.

So, let's go live now to the White House and Reporter Alayna Treene. You know, Alayna, I had Stephen Miller, a top White House official, on last Friday, and I asked him about this. I said, what does the president think about picking Amy Coney Barrett? And he said, look, I'll just say that we're not going to use The Federalist Society moving forward to help pick our judges. And now the White House team is learning that Trump has been griping about Amy Coney Barrett and other judges he picked for a while now. ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: That's right. And this is great reporting from our colleagues, Kristen Holmes and John Fritze. He essentially shows that behind the scenes, and it's not just related to, because you make a good point about, you know, what you asked Miller and, and his comments about The Federalist Society, it's not just about that recent ruling where three-judge panel, including one judge that the president appointed himself had ruled that he did not have the authority to impose his sweeping tariffs in the way he did, though, they're told that he has been complaining about that privately as well.

This has been going on for much longer, even before Donald Trump actually was sworn into office. And part of this, we're told, is that it's particularly this, you know, animosity and frustration behind the scenes is being directed at Amy Coney Barrett, his most recent pick who was on the Supreme Court. But he's also been criticizing and condemning some of the decisions that have been made by Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh, the two other Republican Supreme Court justices, conservative ones, I should say, who he put on the bench.

Now, one of the rulings that the president took particular issue with, and a lot of this is because he's been hearing from outside allies, outside conservatives, who are telling him that perhaps they are not standing up for the president and his agenda, really, as much as he should be. The one that really stuck out people said was when Barrett voted to reject the president's plan to freeze nearly $2 billion in foreign aid, a lot of people calling up this White House, calling up the president directly to complain about this.

Now, all to say, I think we have to be very clear here that Amy Coney Barrett is still very conservative. At the end of last term, she voted with the -- excuse me, the benches most conservative justice 80 percent of the time. So, it's not like she's, you know, not always siding with the conservative justices on the court, but this is something that behind the scenes we're learning the president has been very frustrated with. Pamela?

BROWN: Yes. And I had also asked Stephen Miller whether the White House expects judges, justices to just rubber stamp what it does or if it expects checks and balances, and didn't get a clear answer on that. And now this new reporting is really illuminating.

Alayna Treene, thank you so much.

Still ahead, she is one of the 1,500 January 6th defendants who got a pardon from President Trump. Later this hour, she'll tell us why she doesn't want that pardon.

BLITZER: And up next, will Iran be allowed to have an enriched uranium? Barak Ravid is standing by to join us live with his new reporting right here in The Situation Room.

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[10:15:00] BLITZER: We have some breaking news coming into The Situation Room. Ukraine says it has hit a bridge connecting Russia and the occupied Crimean Peninsula. Very dramatic video shows an underwater explosion going off next to one of the bridge's pillars. This is the third attack on this vital Russian supply line for Russian forces since the war began.

Ukraine Security Service is taking credit for the attack, saying it used more than 2,000 pounds of explosives. Just days ago, Ukraine launched a drone attack deep inside Russia that caused billions of dollars in damage on military bases in Russia, including major aircraft in the process.

Also new this morning, turning to Iran, a new round of nuclear talks could be in jeopardy following what one Iranian official is calling a, quote, incoherent and disjointed proposal by the U.S.

BROWN: The key issue here, whether or not the U.S. could allow Iran to enrich uranium under this new agreement.

BLITZER: All right. Let's discuss all of this and more with the Axios Politics and Foreign Policy Reporter Barak Ravid. He's also a CNN Political and Global Affairs Analyst. Barak, thanks for joining us.

You have some important new reporting on all of this going on. Give us a little bit more what you're learning.

BARAK RAVID, CNN POLITICAL AND GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Hi, Wolf. Well, what I learned is that the U.S. has presented Iran with a proposal for a nuclear deal. This proposal was presented last weekend. And in this proposal, the U.S. basically agrees to allow Iran to have enrichment of uranium, low level enrichment of uranium, limited enrichment of uranium on Iranian soil.

And this is interesting because for several weeks now, administration officials said that they are pushing for zero enrichment in Iran. That was the line Marco Rubio, secretary of state, has pushed in several public statements and interviews. This is not going to be the case. There's going to be very limited enrichment in Iran, very low level enrichment in Iran, but there's going to be enrichment in Iran.

BLITZER: Barack, CNN has also learned this proposal suggests the U.S potentially could join a consortium overseeing enrichment with Iran within Iran itself.

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What would that entail?

RAVID: Yes. So, I think the whole framework of this deal or the umbrella under which this deal will be implemented maybe in the future is the establishment of this regional consortium of, you know, the U.S. is going to be part of it, Iran is going to be part of it, but there are going to be other regional players that are part of this consortium. And this consortium will basically manage some of the Iranian nuclear facilities that will stay operable to the benefit of all of its members.

And I think that this way, on the one hand, there is enrichment on Iranian soil, as the Iranians demand. On the other hand, the Iranians don't have the monopoly over this uranium enrichment, and it is highly monitored and other state actors are involved in it.

BROWN: What else do we know about how this current proposal differs from the 2015 Obama era deal that President Trump withdrew from?

RAVID: So, I think it's -- on the one hand, when you look at it in first glance, you know, people say, oh, that's the JCPOA, that's the 2015 nuclear deal. Well, some of the elements obviously are similar. Like, for example, shutting down or making some of Iran's nuclear facilities inoperable, that's definitely the same, cutting down on the enriched uranium stockpiles in Iran, that's definitely the same. But I think that the issue of how to handle uranium enrichment in Iran will be very different than how it was handled in the 2015 nuclear deal.

It's a very complex issue. There are a lot of nuances. So, in first glance it looks the same, but when you dig in, you see that some of the details are very much different.

BROWN: All right. Barak Ravid, thank you so much for bringing that reporting to us.

RAVID: Thank you.

BROWN: And coming up, formalizing DOGE cuts in Congress. The major step the White House is expected to take today to get a slew of federal spending cuts approved.

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BROWN: Happening now, the White House is preparing to send its long- awaited spending cuts package to Capitol Hill, hoping that Congress will formalize its slew of controversial DOGE cuts. We're told the package could total $9.4 billion.

So, let's go live now to Capitol Hill and CNN Congressional Correspondent Lauren Fox to tell us more about what's in this package and what's next. Lauren?

LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. This has been weeks in the making. We started reporting on this package of spending cuts expected to come to Capitol Hill more than a month ago, but it took some time and some behind-the-scenes conversations with appropriators to finally get this unlocked. It also was part of the process so that House Republicans could focus on the president's broader big, beautiful bill agenda in their chamber before this package got sent up.

We do expect it to be transmitted to Congress today. And at that point, Speaker Mike Johnson said this is going to be a top priority for his chamber. Here's what he said yesterday. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA): I think there's an appetite amongst all House Republicans to cut wasteful spending. The outrageous things that were uncovered with DOGE in USAID, for example, is something that we've been anxious to handle and address. So, we'll take the package, process it as quickly as possible. I'm determined to do that.

I think there may be multiple packages, rescissions packages coming, and we'll process them as quickly as we can. I mean, it's a big priority for me. So --

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FOX: And we expect that this package will include cuts to public broadcasting programs as well as foreign assistance programs. We're going to get more specifics when this package is unveiled and when it's formally transmitted to Capitol Hill.

I would also note, though, that moving forward with these kinds of spending cuts packages can be really difficult, in part because it only takes a handful of members to be really committed to certain programs to block it. And Trump tried this back in his last term of presidency. He submitted a package for about $15 billion. And it was rejected by a couple of Senate Republicans, including Senator Susan Collins, who obviously is now the chairwoman of the Senate Appropriations Committee. Pam?

BROWN: All right. Lauren Fox, thanks so much. Wolf?

BLITZER: All right, Pamela. Just ahead, FEMA staffers left caught off guard and totally bewildered the head of the agency in charge of disaster relief now says he didn't know the U.S. actually had a hurricane season. So, was he joking or not?

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