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Trump: "Not Even Thinking About Elon"; Judge Threatens To Remove Combs From Court For Nodding At Jury; Russia Launches Air Assault Days After Ukraine's Brazen Raid. Aired 11-11:30a ET

Aired June 06, 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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[11:01:39]

PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now, breaking news, slinging insults, and pointed jabs. The latest on the very public feud between two of the world's most powerful men, President Trump and Elon Musk.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: 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.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN Breaking News.

BLITZER: And we begin this hour with the war of words between President Donald Trump and Elon Musk. The bitter feud between the world's richest man and the leader of the free world, showing no signs of letting up.

BROWN: And as Trump allies try to broker a truce, the President tells CNN he's, "not even thinking about Elon." This as Washington, Wall Street, and Silicon Valley all watch from the sidelines.

For all the latest on this is chief national affairs correspondent, Jeff Zeleny, who joins us now. Clearly, Trump is trying to apparently lower the temperature a little bit today. What is the latest you're hearing this morning?

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Look, there's definitely some de-escalation going on, but the President spoke to our Dana Bash and saying he's not thinking about Elon Musk at all. Sure he's not. I mean, the reality is yesterday was so jarring to the White House, to the President, it went far deeper and escalated far. It got hotter than I think the President was anticipating.

The question now is what does this mean? What is the impact of this? The reality here is the White House is unsure what Musk is going to do. Is he going to put his money essentially where his mouth is and invest in candidates who could derail the Trump agenda? Probably not. But the government also has a considerable number of contracts with Elon Musk, SpaceX, Starlink.

But for Elon Musk's side, he also is clearly trying to de-escalate this. Last night, after threatening to essentially remove SpaceX from the Defense Department and other things, he has said he won't do that. So I think the question is where does this go from here? Does Elon Musk just move on to other things? Or does he keep this fight alive?

What it signals really is something that has been sort of bubbling up a little bit. The spending issues on the MAGA world. The President is not really concerned about being a fiscally conservative. He's not a fiscal conservative. But Elon Musk is really speaking to fiscal conservatives. So is this going to sort of trigger a split in MAGA world? We shall see.

But the President obviously still has support on Capitol Hill. What effect it has on the Senate bill, it's -- I think remains to be seen.

BROWN: It remains to be seen. What also remains to be seen if there ever would be a truce between the two men given how much it has evolved yesterday.

ZELENY: It is hard to imagine that -- that the relationship can ever go back to what it was. Elon Musk, other than a family member, no one was closer to Donald Trump than Elon Musk. He slept in the Lincoln bedroom. He traveled with the President. But the relationship only goes back a year.

I mean before the last year, they -- they really didn't know each other. But we will see where it goes from here. But as of now, we're told the White House said the President has no plans to speak -- to speak with Elon Musk. And he is the President. Elon Musk is not.

BROWN: All right, Jeff Zeleny, thank you so much. Fair point.

BLITZER: Significant developments indeed. For more on all of this, longtime tech journalist and CNN contributor Kara Swisher is joining us right now. She's also the author of "Burn Book: A Tech Love Story," and host of the podcast "Pivot and On." Kara, thanks so much for joining us. I know you know Musk well.

[11:05:14]

KARA SWISHER, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Thanks Wolf.

BLITZER: You predicted this clash actually would come back in November. So now that it's actually happened, what's your reaction to the way this has exploded, if you will?

SWISHER: Completely unsurprising given two people. I mean, and now Trump today is doing the, you know, you didn't break up with me. I broke up with you kind of thing, which is very typical. It's kind of ridiculous on its face how they're talking to each other and behaving like a pair of toddlers, essentially. That said, it could have big implications, say, for the bill or different things around the rest of the Trump administration.

It could hurt him quite a bit if Elon keeps up because it'll keep reminding people of the chaos and the affiliation. That said, Republicans 12 to one back Donald Trump compared to Elon Musk, who is sort of a come lately to this party. So we'll see what happens and how they behave.

If they can deescalate, I'm not sure what that means. It's not saying anything, but I think that's impossible for these two.

BROWN: So bottom line, who do you think has the most to lose? I mean, given the power of both of these men, who has the most to lose in the short term and the long term here with us?

SWISHER: I'm not sure Donald Trump has dealt with someone who really is a scorched-earth kind of personality. Elon's willing to take a lot of risks. As you see, he blows up rockets to see which one can work. So he doesn't mind chaos in that regard in a way that Donald Trump I don't think quite understands.

Obviously, Elon's lost a lot of money. It gained a little bit back. Tesla stock, for example, went way down, $156 billion, and then it rose a little bit more when the idea that it would calm down a little bit. So he's got financial things at stake, but his -- he doesn't care. That's the issue. They could certainly investigate him, the Justice Department.

There were a bunch of investigations that got quashed. They could unquash them, I guess. And in terms of Donald Trump, he could just keep up the drumbeat of recession, chaos, overspending, et cetera. He's got one of the world's biggest platforms. He's one of the world's most famous people aside of Donald Trump.

And so, you know, this isn't just anybody leaving the White House. This is someone who has a lot of ability to do something about it when he feels wronged.

BROWN: Yes, it's just -- the -- the stakes are so high, you can't even, you know, encapsulate --

SWISHER: High and low.

BROWN: High and low. There you go.

SWISHER: I think so low, too. I mean, we're not a serious country.

BROWN: When you say that, what do you mean?

SWISHER: This is ridiculous what's happening here. We look ridiculous.

BROWN: So on that note, you know, look, Musk has been one of Trump's fiercest allies. I know we all sort of expected the implosion, but he has been, right? What do you think is really fueling this sudden about-face for Musk?

SWISHER: Well, I think they shoved him out of the White House. I think he made himself a nuisance. He bothered other cabinet members, and they moved him along. And this guy doesn't, you know, he's a member of Fatal Attraction. You can't ignore me. It kind of feels like that a little bit. And, you know, he has issues.

He has definite issues with -- with the deficit. That is a real thing. He obviously didn't get some things he wanted, although he certainly got a lot of things he wanted with Trump.

And so I think probably a whole bunch of factors that he was, you know, maybe disappointed about Trump, how -- how much dealing he did, and he thought he meant it. I think DOGE didn't work out quite the way anybody thought. And the way Elon conducted himself made it worse, I think, with the chainsaw and stuff like that.

So, you know, a lot of recriminations. And -- and Elon doesn't -- isn't like the rest of the Republican Party. He doesn't have to sit there and show fealty, even if he doesn't like Donald Trump. A lot of people in the Republican Party have to do that, as you must know from talking to people off the record in the party.

But he can -- he can make -- he can say what he thinks, and that's what he's doing right now. And he's very -- he's emotionally, obviously, problematic person. He's got other personal issues. And so he's just saying what he thinks. And here we are.

BLITZER: He certainly is. So, Kara, what do you think this breakup will mean for Musk's businesses and government contracts, for that matter?

SWISHER: Well, Trump can go after them, but then it'll be pretty explicit that's what he's doing. Then he'll look exactly like what people accuse him of, which is an autocrat who, you know, sort of a Putin-lite, I guess, because Putin did this to oligarchs in Russia, right? He -- he had favored people who were strong, who were like Elon Musk.

He got rid of them and put in his own oligarchs. I don't think Trump's capable of that in terms of competence to do that, but he could try. He could do all kinds of manner of investigations. He could revive them. He could not give a bunch, there's a lot of A.I. decisions to be made. There's a lot of Elon allies doing the A.I. stuff. We'll see if they end up staying.

So, you know, really, it'll hurt this country because we really do need cogent, important guidance on A.I. as it goes forward. And instead, this is a, like, we're in the middle of WWE, which is just not the way you conduct a country, I think.

[11:10:02]

BLITZER: Kara Swisher, thank you, as usual, for joining us.

SWISHER: Thanks. Thank you.

BROWN: Well, the man accused of setting people on fire in Boulder, Colorado at an event to support Israeli hostages in Gaza is set to appear in federal court today. Prosecutors charge Mohamed Soliman with a federal hate crime. The 45-year-old Egyptian national also faces more than 100 state charges, including 28 counts of attempted murder.

The group still plans to hold its weekly demonstration for the hostages despite last week's attack. A leader of Run For Their Lives, Boulder Chapter, tells the Times of Israel, "we will not be deterred or stopped by this kind of action. Canceling the march is exactly what these people want us to do."

CNN law enforcement correspondent Whitney Wild joins us. So what are we expecting from today's court appearance, Whitney?

WHITNEY WILD, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CORRESPONDENT: Pamela, this is going to be pretty short. You know, when he first appears in court, it's really just an administrative thing. The judge is making sure that he's healthy, that he's, you know, had a chance to talk with his attorney, that there's no immediate big issues that have to be addressed.

He's appearing on this one federal hate crime charge. As you had mentioned, in the state court, I mean, he's facing a very long list of charges, 118 total. And what's contributing to the volume of those charges is they're charging the same charge, but under different theories. So you can think about it like the same charge, but sort of different sets of it.

So, for example, there's 62 attempted first-degree murder charges, but those are kind of parsed out under different theories. Pamela, this has rocked this community. And as you pointed out, that group who had protested last Sunday plans to protest again. Here's what Boulder police say the law enforcement presence is going to look like Sunday.

BROWN: All right, Whitney Wild, thank you so much. Wolf?

BLITZER: Still ahead, widespread Russian attacks rock Kyiv and other cities in Ukraine overnight, days after Ukraine launched its brazen drone attack against Russian air bases. All this as President Trump compares the two countries to squabbling children.

BROWN: And we are live from New York as one of Sean Combs' accusers takes the stand in his federal trial.

Sorry, I thought you were --

KARA SCANNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Kara Scannell outside of Sean "Diddy" Combs' trial. One of his accusers is on the stand providing emotional testimony. I'll have more coming up next.

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[11:17:02]

BROWN: Happening now, the Sean "Diddy" Combs federal sex trafficking trial is back in session. Combs' ex-girlfriend is on the stand again today testifying under the pseudonym Jane.

This follows a shocking day in court yesterday. The judge in the case threatened to remove Combs from the courtroom as he was apparently trying to engage with the jurors. So let's go live now to CNN's Kara Scannell, right outside that courthouse. Kara, why was the judge so concerned with Combs' reported actions yesterday?

SCANNELL: Well, Pamela, this came up during the cross-examination of one of the government's witnesses, Bryana Bongolan. She was testifying that Combs had dangled her over a balcony and his lawyers were trying to undercut that testimony. The judge said he witnessed Combs nodding vigorously and facing the jury.

The prosecutors had said to the judge that they believed Combs was effectively trying to testify in that moment by agreeing with his lawyers' questioning and what she was suggesting actually happened. So the judge admonished Combs and told him that he didn't want to see any of this anymore. No one was to engage with the jury.

And he said if it got to the next step, he would not hesitate from removing Combs from the courtroom. But today, right now, Jane is back on the witness stand. She is still being questioned by prosecutors for the past hour.

It's been very emotional testimony, and she's discussing these hotel nights. These are the nights that she says she was forced to have sex with male prostitutes. And it's her testimony. She said most of the time she did this under the influence of ecstasy. She said Combs supplied her with these drugs. She said otherwise it felt too real.

And she described to the jury one time that she was sober during one of these hotel nights. She said she had had sex with two men, went into the bathroom, and threw up. Combs followed her, and he said, oh, good, now you'll feel better. Let's go. A guy is here.

She said she then had sex with a third man and that then afterwards she said, I was disgusted, I was repulsed, I was so mad at myself, I deeply regretted it.

Now the jury also saw a text message that she sent to Combs in September of 2023, about halfway through their relationship, where she's telling him she doesn't want to participate in these hotel nights anymore. Combs at the time was paying her rent $10,000 a month. She said that she was feeling that she was obligated to do this because she didn't want to lose the roof over her head.

But she text -- this was from their text to Combs. She said, I don't want to play this role in your life. It's dark and sleazy. Pam?

BROWN: All right. Kara Scannell, thank you so much.

[11:19:26]

BLITZER: And up next, Russia pounds Ukraine with a massive drone and missile strike, one of the biggest since the war began. Ukraine's president says almost all of this country was being targeted. And now President Trump is signaling he may want to stay out of the conflict entirely.

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BLITZER: All right, there's breaking news this morning. At least three people were killed after Russia launched a massive aerial assault across Ukraine. President Zelenskyy said 49 people were injured in those attacks, and that Russia used more than 40 missiles and some 400 drones.

All this comes just days after Operation Spiderweb, the brazen Ukrainian drone raid targeting Russian warplanes. Joining us now to discuss this and more is Ian Bremmer, President of the Eurasia Group. Ian, thanks so much for joining us.

As you know, President Putin promised a retaliatory strike for Ukraine's rather daring and successful drone attacks deep inside Russia. Do you think the overnight assault was that retaliation, or could another major strike still be coming?

[11:25:09]

IAN BREMMER, PRESIDENT, EURASIA GROUP: I mean, if it is, it's not much of a retaliation. With -- with, of course, not to minimize the civilian deaths that we're seeing in Kyiv. But the Russians have been targeting civilians, unlike the Ukrainians, all the way through this war. And Ukraine has been able to shoot down an awful lot. That's very little compared to $300 drones taking out $100 million strategic bombers of Russia.

And even in Putin's controlled information environment, that's not going to look like much of a retaliation. So no, I don't think we've seen the full extent of what we're going to expect from Putin at this point.

BLITZER: Yes, I suspect you're right. Presidents Trump and Putin spoke on the phone on Wednesday. President Trump said the Russian leader told him Moscow would have to respond to Ukraine's drone attack. A Ukrainian parliament, a parliamentarian, is accusing Trump of giving Putin an actual green light to do so. Do you think that's how Putin actually sees it?

BREMMER: I guess he sees it as a flashing yellow. I mean, President Biden tried the stick against Putin to try to get him to back away from this illegal invasion, and Biden failed. Trump has now tried the carrot with Putin to sweeten the offer, engage diplomatically, say that he'll get rid of sanctions, willingness to engage on national security and economic investment, and Putin has said no.

So they both failed. And I think the more important meeting this week, Wolf, was yesterday in the Oval Office with Chancellor Merz from Germany. And here, what we see is that the U.S. and NATO are much more aligned on Ukraine today than they were a month ago when Zelenskyy was getting beaten up by Trump in the Oval Office, and the U.S. was suspending intelligence and military support.

We're very far from that. Trump is now thinking about washing his hands from the diplomacy, but he has a critical minerals deal with Ukraine, and you're going to see continued U.S. intelligence support and weapons sales to support the Ukrainians on the ground. So in that regard, the war is ongoing, and there's going to be a lot of pain and human suffering and a lot of cost, but the Americans aren't walking away from NATO, aren't walking away from Ukraine. I think that's quite important. BLITZER: You make an important point that President Trump seems to be taking a more hands-off approach to these ceasefire discussions. Where do you see all this going in the immediate days and weeks ahead?

BREMMER: Well, hands-off in the context of a Trump administration that's been generally quite supportive of Ukraine and a Republican and Democratic Party in the House and Senate that's been very supportive of Ukraine, it feels like status quo ante. So, I mean, Trump has been unable to get a deal done in 24 hours or in several months.

He's focusing more now on peacemaking in and with the Iranians and in the Middle East than he is on Ukraine. Again, he's gotten a willingness of the Ukrainians to accept a 30-day ceasefire without preconditions.

He also has a willingness of the Ukrainians to do a critical minerals deal. So, if the Americans provide ongoing intelligence, they're supporting U.S. economic interests that didn't explicitly exist before Trump got that deal. So, he's going to show up at NATO with a more compliant Ukraine.

He's also going to show up at NATO with American allies committing to a 5 percent target of defense spending of GDP, 3.5 percent direct, 1.5 for infrastructure. Trump will be able to say in both of those cases, I got that done. So I would say that again, the war looks like it's going to be ongoing for a long time. Russia is still going to be treated as a pariah by the West. Trump will have failed to bring peace to Ukraine, but he will not have broken the alliance. In fact, the NATO alliance arguably is going to look stronger.

BLITZER: Yeah, important point. On a other issue in -- in -- in global national security related matters. The Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is now publicly confirming his government has been arming local Palestinian anti-Hamas militias in Gaza in an effort to try to destroy or defeat Hamas.

The former Defense Minister and Netanyahu rival, Avigdor Lieberman, calls the operation, and I'm quoting him now, complete madness, warning the weapons could one day be directed towards Israel. What do you make of this move?

[11:29:58]

BREMMER: The Israelis have been unwilling to send food into Gaza because they believe that they can't ensure that Hamas won't take all of it. So, I mean, the notion --