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Mike Lindell Facing Defamation Trial; Video Revealed of Ukraine Drone Attack; Trump Administration Removing Migrant Children From Homes; Interview With Ontario, Canada, Premier Doug Ford; Musk Blasts Republican Budget Bill. Aired 11-11:30a ET

Aired June 04, 2025 - 11:00   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 HOST: Happening now, breaking news -- quote -- "He's flat wrong." That's the message from House Speaker Mike Johnson to Elon Musk, as the tech billionaire slams President Trump's spending bill.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: We want to welcome 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.

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

BLITZER: And we begin this hour with breaking news, war of words between Elon Musk and the GOP lawmakers.

This comes after the tech mogul is speaking out again on the president's sprawling spending bill, describing it as a disgusting abomination.

BROWN: House Speaker Mike Johnson is downplaying concerns and offering to speak again to Musk as he projects confidence about the bill's fate in the Senate.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA): And then yesterday, 24 hours later, he does a 180 and he comes out and opposed the bill. And it surprised me, frankly, and I don't take it personal. We don't take it personal. He's a -- policy differences are not personal. I think he's flat wrong.

I think he's way off on this, and I have told him as much and I have said it publicly and privately. I'm very consistent in that. But am I concerned about effective this on the midterms? I'm not. Let me tell you why, because when the big, beautiful bill is done and signed into law, every single American is going to do better. This bill is geared for middle- and working-class Americans.

And they are going to feel the effect.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: All right, let's go live now to see the congressional correspondent Lauren Fox on Capitol Hill for the latest.

Lauren, what is Speaker Johnson -- what else is he saying this morning?

LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, he told reporters during this press conference that he did try to reach out to Elon Musk last night, that Elon Musk did not pick up, but he's going to try to connect with him again today to have a conversation.

It's just really a fascinating moment, in part because it's not really clear at this moment exactly how much influence Elon Musk has over House members or senators when it comes to his opinion of this bill. Now, on the one hand, there are Republicans and conservatives in particular who are very concerned that this House bill didn't cut more in spending.

And the CBO report that just came out a couple of hours ago reflects the fact that this is going to contribute $2.4 trillion over the next decade to the country's deficit.

But, on the other hand I talked to Senator Thom Tillis just a few minutes ago and he made clear that Elon Musk's view and tweet doesn't really weigh that heavily on him. Here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. THOM TILLIS (R-NC): I don't want to be critical, but -- of the bill. I want to take something's a fundamentally sound project, make it better to get the 51 votes we need in the Senate.

And Mr. Musk, Mr. Musk is a brilliant guy, very, very successful. And he's also got resources. You want to drill down and talk about specific things that we need to change, that's great. But, like I said, I can't respond to platitudes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOX: And Majority Leader John Thune was also -- just talked to -- with reporters back in the U.S. Capitol and he told our colleague Ted Barrett that he talked to Musk a couple of days ago and that Musk had not expressed the level of concern that he expressed in that tweet series yesterday, making clear that he believes that the Senate still has a job to do and that he doesn't think that this is going to ultimately derail their effort.

Obviously, the Senate has a lot of work ahead. Senate Republicans are going to be meeting for an extended lunch today to try to talk through exactly the changes they want to make to the House bill. Then Senate Finance Republicans are going to be headed to the White House for a separate meeting later today to discuss this bill further -- Pam.

[11:05:15]

BROWN: All right, Wolf.

Lauren Fox on Capitol Hill, thanks so much -- Wolf.

BLITZER: All right, Pamela, happening now, a major escalation in President Trump's trade war with Mexico and Canada, a new order from the White House effectively doubling tariffs on steel and aluminum imports to a whopping 50 percent.

I want to discuss this and more with the premier of Ontario, Doug Ford.

Premier, thank you so much for joining us, President Trump.

DOUG FORD, PREMIER OF ONTARIO, CANADA: Thank you.

BLITZER: As you know, President Trump says these new tariffs were necessary to protect U.S. industries and U.S. national security. What's your response?

FORD: Well, Wolf, first of all, thanks for having me on.

It's doing the total opposite. It's a $4 billion tax on American products that have steel in them. We know that the cost of any product with steel in them in the U.S. has gone up 16 percent. We ship in approximately $30 billion of steel from the U.S. We're going to onshore as much as we can. We have great steel manufacturers in Ontario and across the country, like steel beams that build buildings, rebar, all those items.

We're going to onshore and start producing it ourselves. So that's going to cost not only the $4 billion. It's going to cost $30 billion of business, which is equal to tens of thousands of steelworkers' jobs.

And what I recommend, why don't we have a goal together and say we're going to produce more steel with America and Canada and we're going to create 250,000 new steel jobs? That's what we need to do, rather than penalize Canada.

And then look at China. They're shipping in cheap steel, slapping made in Mexico stickers on or other countries, and shipping it into the U.S. and Canada and costing American and Canadian jobs.

BLITZER: So you're putting forward a serious proposal. But how do you think the Canadian government should respond?

FORD: Well, I have highly recommended that the prime minister directly that we slap another 25 percent on top of our tariffs to equal President Trump's tariffs on our steel.

You know, he has to start looking around the world at China and other locations that are taking Chinese steel and really stop the flow of steel. That's the problem. Canada is not the problem. Again, we purchase $30 billion with a B of steel off the U.S. And that's going to come to an end real quick.

BLITZER: I know you said yesterday, Premier, that a trade deal between the U.S. and Canada is -- quote -- in your words, "very close." How much do you see these new tariffs complicating these ongoing negotiations?

FORD: Well, it just seems, with President Trump, it's five steps forward and 10 steps backwards. And that doesn't help. It doesn't help the situation.

Again, it's going to add a $4 billion tax, I call it, on the backs of Americans. They're going to pay a lot more for any products with steel in them. And that's unacceptable. It's working against his philosophy. And it's unfortunate that he's taking this route against Canada.

BLITZER: There's a new acronym -- you may have heard it -- that's being used by some investors and Democrats here in the U.S. to describe the president's on-again/off-again tariff policies, that word, TACO, T-A-C-O, which stands for Trump always chickens out.

Do you think it's likely the president, President Trump, will back down once again once we start to see the impact of these tariffs on the markets and on the cost of products?

FORD: I'm just hoping for the sake of the American people that -- I wouldn't say chickens out. I would just say, let's come to our senses and start working together.

We're so much stronger together. I propose the Am-Can fortress, American-Canadian fortress, put a ring around it, and we'd all be more prosperous and safer and wealthier. That's what we need to do. We need to focus on that, opposed to constantly attacking.

And we're the strongest ally, number one customer, as the U.S. is our number one customer. And I'm just dumbfounded the approach he's taking. He's lumping us in with every other country in the world. And that's unfortunate that he's taking that avenue.

BLITZER: It's hard to believe the U.S.-Canadian relationship has deteriorated as it has.

Before I let you go, Premier, a quick question. I want to ask you about the rise in antisemitic incidents we're certainly seeing here in the United States and indeed around the world. I know Ontario, especially Toronto, has a large Jewish community.

[11:10:11]

How are you dealing with this rise in anti-Jewish hate?

FORD: Well, I have zero tolerance for any hate, any discrimination of any kind.

I stand with Israel, I stand with the Jewish community. Everyone should be living peacefully. And I'm just tired of all these protests that are happening. I always say the antisemitic slurs and attacks is unacceptable.

If you want to attack anyone within the community, go back and start attacking within your own country. Don't bring your problems over to Canada. I'm just -- I'm sick and tired of it. We have 110 nationalities. Everyone needs to get along. And I say that for -- by the way, for any religion.

Let's live peacefully together, and I think we will all have a great life. But when it comes to race, antisemitism, Islamophobia, anything, I don't stand for it.

BLITZER: Yes, good point.

Pamela has a quick question for you as well, Premier.

FORD: Hey, Pamela.

BROWN: Yes, because we're seeing some reaction from industry groups and steel companies today to President Trump's increase of 50 percent on steel. And they are applauding this. They're saying, look, this is going to help American steelworkers and producers. They are happy about this move.

So what do you say to them and to Americans who are applauding this and say that this is good for American workers?

FORD: Well, it might sound good, but they can't see the force beyond the trees. They're shortsighted.

And when we start on shoring $30 billion, tens of thousands of jobs in the steel sector in the U.S., they're going to wake up quickly. And all it is, he's throwing another $4 billion tax, I call it, on the backs of the American people. This doesn't work. The philosophy doesn't work. It may sound good, but wait until we start onshoring everything from steel beams to rebar to every steel product.

I have asked for a list of every product that we ship in, and then we're going to start producing it here ourselves, which is unfortunate. It's a shame.

BROWN: All right.

BLITZER: Ontario Premier Doug Ford, a frequent visitor, frequent guest here in THE SITUATION ROOM and a good friend, thanks so much for joining us.

FORD: Thank you so much, Wolf, Pamela. Great to see both of you.

BROWN: Thank you.

FORD: Thank you.

BROWN: Well, this is quite a story, Wolf, hundreds of migrant children taken from their homes as the Trump administration continues to crack down on immigration, multiple sources saying that children are being put into government custody now. Top aides and the president are saying that these children crossed the

border without a parent or guardian under the Biden administration. But they argued that the children went unaccounted for and are in potentially dangerous situations.

Priscilla Alvarez is here to talk more about this.

So, the administration is saying this is all about protecting children. But aren't there supposed to be extensive checks before a child is released to a guardian?

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, there are checks when it comes to their release into the United States.

But this has been part of the aggressive push by the Trump administration to, they say, locate children who crossed the U.S.- Mexico border alone and again have been released to what are called sponsors, the majority of whom are families and parents.

Now, I have talked to former Health and Human Services officials, as well as experts and advocates, who say it's not true that hundreds of thousands of children are missing. There have been in the past cases of exploitation and trafficking. There have been cases of that, but they are checked on by child welfare experts, who then may warn law enforcement.

So there has been a process in place in the past for there to be these checks. What the administration is doing that is new is Immigration and Customs Enforcement as well as the FBI in some cases doing these welfare checks. And, according to sources, 500 children have been taken into government custody after those checks.

And that is an unprecedented number of children in some cases returning to government custody. Now, the Department of Homeland Security in a statement to me said that they're doing these welfare checks to -- quote -- "ensure they are safe and not being exploited," they being the children.

They go on to say that: "These welfare checks have resulted in arrests of some sponsors of these unaccompanied minors. And as a result, the children have been placed in the Office of Refugee Resettlement Custody," that office, by the way, being the federal agency charged with the care of kids.

But it's not just this. Sources tell me that there has been a makeshift war room set up within the Health and Human Services Department where they are collecting these lists, where they are poring over sensitive data, very sensitive data, that typically immigration enforcement officers do not have access to.

Ultimately, advocates and experts say these checks, while they would be best done by a child welfare expert, not by law enforcement, some children reporting to legal services providers that it was scary, it was chilling, because, again, they are seeing ICE at their doorstep in a moment, of course, where there has been this immigration enforcement crackdown across the country. [11:15:17]

BLITZER: What happens, Priscilla, to these children, these kids while they're in custody?

ALVAREZ: So, while they are in custody, there may be steps again to release them to someone, but it has been near impossible for that to happen, because there are so many new guidelines in place, be it income requirements, DNA testing, as well as other document requirements, that have made it difficult for those children to be released.

In addition to that, they will be in deportation proceedings oftentimes, and those are now being fast-tracked. So some of these kids could also be more swiftly deported. But the other part of this that has been concerning for those observing the number of children in custody is how long they're staying there.

It used to be around 67 days, average length of care. Now it's 170 days. Internally, at the Health and Human Services Department, there has been acknowledgement among officials, according to sources, that children may be languishing in facilities because of these different policy moves, and that some kids are reporting that they are depressed.

BLITZER: Yes, I'm sure they are.

BROWN: All right. Priscilla, thank you.

BLITZER: All right, we have some more breaking news coming into THE SITUATION ROOM right now, new video just coming in showing Ukraine's bold drone strike on Russian aircraft.

This is 2,800 miles from Ukraine's border, 2,800 miles.

CNN's international diplomatic editor, Nic Robertson, is joining us. He's monitoring all of this from London.

What can you tell us, Nic?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Very dramatic video, Wolf.

I mean, you're just looking at it there. You can see how close the drones get to the aircraft. You can see at one point they sort of fly under the fuselage of the aircraft. You can see a missile attached to the underneath of one of those aircraft.

We're looking here at the Tupolev 95, the long-range strategic bomber with -- that has four big propellers on it, a workhorse of Russia's long-range strategic capacity to send fast missiles into Ukraine, so a major part of their work.

But what you're looking at here, you can see these aircraft on the runway, this Tupolov 23, I think, we're looking at here, which is one of the fast-wing fighter, if you will, design bomber -- long-range strategic bomber jets.

You're looking at vehicle tires, rubber tires placed on the upper body of these aircraft, as if you were to sort of protect them from some kind of missile strike. We're also seeing here the Antonov 50, the An- 50, which is Russia's early warning aircraft system, a sort of an AWACS, if you will.

Russia doesn't have many of these. The count over a year ago was about six, and probably Russia's believed -- Ukraine has claimed to have shot down a couple of them before. So Russia doesn't have many of these. All of these were hugely valuable, but the drones get so close, you can not only sort of see the rivets, but you can see the screw heads where you would fit the screwdriver in on the parts of the wing and the fuselage.

You see netting over some of these aircraft. We have seen plenty of video until now of all the explosions, but I think this just gives you a sense of how audacious it was, how much sort of in control of what they were doing the Ukrainians were, that they had time to fly these drones additionally, not smashing into aircraft and blowing them up, but recording the event, getting detail of these important Russian jets on the ground.

Again, just underscores the long reach, the out-of-the-box thinking quite literally, that these were hidden in mobile cabins, if you will, and just the audacity, again, of this type of attack, Wolf.

BLITZER: And a related question, Nic, very significant development. I'm now told that the U.S. defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, is not attending a critically important NATO Summit meeting on aid, military aid, to Ukraine in Brussels right now.

This is the first time in, what, three years that a U.S. defense secretary has decided to avoid this kind of NATO ally meeting. What's the significance of this?

ROBERTSON: Yes, Lloyd Austin, the last defense secretary, was right at the forefront, chairing so many of those meetings in the past.

And this has been noted. And people are asking this question. They asked this question of NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte this morning. And he sort of tried to sort of pass over it, saying that Pete Hegseth -- scheduling is a difficult thing. He's in Brussels to have meetings with the NATO defense secretaries tomorrow, so he will be there, part of that.

So, even NATO sort of trying to gloss over the impact of this. We had a very clear message from the U.S. ambassador to NATO today, saying very, very clearly, when the leaders get together in three weeks time, President Trump will be there, of course, he said that he is going, the expectation, the demand of NATO is that they commit 5 percent of their GDP to defense spending.

[11:20:14]

This is a massive uplift, but he made it very clear that's the minimum the U.S. is looking for right now, Wolf.

BLITZER: All right, Nic Robertson reporting on the latest developments for us.

Nic, thank you very, very much -- Pamela.

BROWN: All right, still ahead right here in THE SITUATION ROOM, the latest on top Trump loyalist Mike Lindell, who is now facing a defamation trial connected to his claims of conspiracy about the 2020 election.

BLITZER: Plus, a pair of researchers busted for sneaking a dangerous fungus into the United States. What federal agents believe the two were planning to do with it.

Stay with us. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.

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[11:25:30]

BROWN: Happening now, day two of MyPillow CEO and Trump loyalist Mike Lindell's defamation trial.

The plaintiff is a former executive for Dominion Voting Systems who claims that he got death threats after Lindell spread false conspiracy theories about the company and the 2020 election.

CNN's Donie O'Sullivan spoke with Lindell at the courthouse about the case.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

MICHAEL LINDELL, CEO, MYPILLOW: Pretty good, huh?

DONIE O'SULLIVAN, CNN BUSINESS POLITICS AND TECHNOLOGY REPORTER: So, you're going to live on Bannon now?

LINDELL: Yes.

You guys, what we decided at MyPillow because we really do need your help.

O'SULLIVAN (voice-over): This is Mike Lindell, the MyPillow guy, doing a live promotion for his pillow company on the steps of a federal courthouse in Denver.

LINDELL: We put everything back up there. The MyCrosses, you save 50 percent. We're turning that into resources for this trial.

O'SULLIVAN: Lindell is here to stand trial in a defamation lawsuit brought against him by a former Dominion Voting Systems executive.

(on camera): So even when you're fighting in court, you're still doing the day job promoting pillows?

LINDELL: Yes, I have to. That's my job.

O'SULLIVAN: Yes.

LINDELL: You know, MyPillow has been attacked. I got to do commercials every day.

O'SULLIVAN (voice-over): Lindell, one of the country's best known election conspiracy theorists, is being sued by Eric Coomer.

LINDELL: How dare him come and sue MyPillow? He's a scumbag for doing that. Put that in there. Scumbag, S-C-U-M-bag.

O'SULLIVAN: Coomer and his former employer Dominion Voting Systems have been the target of election conspiracy theories dating back to 2020.

ERIC COOMER, FORMER DOMINION VOTING SYSTEMS EMPLOYEE: I have been in hiding in a -- in a secure location. I have not been able to return to my normal life since all of these baseless accusations came out.

O'SULLIVAN: A right-wing podcaster made a baseless claim that he had heard Eric Coomer on a supposed Antifa call talking about rigging the 2020 election.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And so then Eric responds, you know, keeps speaking, and then someone interrupts and says, "What are we going to do if effing Trump wins?" And, he respond -- with, and I'm going to paraphrase this because, obviously, I didn't write exactly what he wrote, right -- is, "Don't worry about the election. Trump is not going to win. I made effing sure of that. Ha, ha, ha."

O'SULLIVAN: Coomer strongly denies being on the call, and there is no evidence that he was. But, still, that baseless claim spread throughout the MAGAverse, and eventually, Coomer got on Lindell's radar.

LINDELL: You've been part of the biggest crime this world has ever seen, Eric Coomer.

O'SULLIVAN: Coomer sued Lindell in 2022, saying that he had faced death threats and harassment as a result of Lindell's conduct.

The moment Lindell was served with legal papers caught on camera.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What is this? Sir, sir, what is this?

O'SULLIVAN: Now Lindell is facing a jury for the first time.

(on camera): If this jury sides with Eric Coomer, will it give you pause? Will it give you a moment where you say, hmm, maybe I'm wrong about this election stuff?

LINDELL: Never. I'm not wrong.

O'SULLIVAN (voice-over): Pillows are everywhere in this case. Coomer alleges Lindell used viral online conspiracy theories to drive traffic to Web sites that in turn advertised his pillows.

(on camera): In the lawsuit it says that MyPillow, I think, made something like $2.5 million through promo codes to do with defaming Coomer and pushing election conspiracy theories. Is that true?

LINDELL: No, no, we didn't change any of our business model that I have been doing for 15 years. There's tens of thousands of promo codes out there.

O'SULLIVAN (voice-over): Pillows came up in Lindell's deposition.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And I'm not asking about the lumpy pillow calls.

LINDELL: No, they're not lumpy pillows. That's not what they call on, OK? When you say lumpy pillows, now you're an ass (EXPLETIVE DELETED). You got that? You're an ass (EXPLETIVE DELETED) is what you are.

(CROSSTALK)

LINDELL: No, he's an ass (EXPLETIVE DELETED). He's an ambulance chasing ass (EXPLETIVE DELETED).

O'SULLIVAN: Pillows even came up in jury selection.

(on camera): One of the questions for the jury was if they had bought a MyPillow.

LINDELL: Right.

O'SULLIVAN: And some people had.

LINDELL: And they eliminated those. That other -- each side can eliminate people.

O'SULLIVAN: This must be the first trial ever where the jury pool was selected based on what pillow they slept on.

LINDELL: Yes.

(LAUGHTER)

LINDELL: That's good.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: You got to love Donie. That was CNN senior correspondent Donie O'Sullivan with that report.

Thanks so much.

BLITZER: We appreciate it.

Up next: U.S. officials meeting with the top Ukrainian delegation right now, as Kyiv sends a strong message with widespread surprise attacks continuing on key Russian targets.

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