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The Situation Room

Was Ebola Outbreak Undetected?; Trump Pick For Intelligence Director Raises Eyebrows; Marco Rubio on Capitol Hill. Aired 11-11:30a ET

Aired June 02, 2026 - 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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ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: 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.

We're following major breaking news up on Capitol Hill. Right now, the secretary of state, Marco Rubio, is testifying before lawmakers for the first time since the Iran war began.

PAMELA BROWN, CNN HOST: Rubio is facing several questions about the Trump administration's diplomatic efforts around the world. Here's what he said about the ongoing conflict in Iran:

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SEN. CHRIS MURPHY (D-CT): What commitments you need Iran to make in order for you to release the blockade and we hope for them to release the blockade as well. So, give us a little insight into what your bottom lines are. What is going to get the strait reopened?

Because this is kind of the only question that matters for American consumers right now. And every day, we get wildly different signals from the president as to whether he even is engaged in this question as to whether the strait is going to reopen.

MARCO RUBIO, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: Yes, I think your question gets right to the heart of the matter. So I think that's a -- it's a good question.

Let me first bifurcate two things. The only reason there's a blockade, the only reason why there's a U.S. blockade is because Iran has closed -- they're firing on commercial ships and they have mined large segments of Hormuz, international waters.

And so the blockade is only against Iranian ships. And it's very simple. The notion is, if no one's ships are going to get out, then Iran's ships aren't going to get out either. We can't live in a world in which they get to close the straits and tell everybody, pay us a toll or we will blow you up, but their ships get to go out unfettered.

So that's the reason why there's a blockade. There wouldn't have been a blockade if Iran had agreed to do what they said they would do when the cease-fire kicked in, which is, they were going to open the straits.

So let me just focus on the straits for a moment. Number one, what they're doing is unlawful and illegal. There isn't a country on Earth other than Iran, and maybe Oman that flirted with it, who's in favor of what Iran is doing in the straits. The Chinese are against it. The Russians are against it. Everyone is against it. The whole world is against it.

So condition number one is, they have to reopen the straits. And reopening the straits means the following. Ships can sail through international waters, the way they can do through other choke points around the world, without being fired upon, without paying a toll. That's condition number one.

MURPHY: But the strait is closed because of our decision to invade Iran. This is a consequence of our military action.

So, I guess I'm not interested in litigating that question. We all know why the strait is closed, because you took military action against Iran, and we knew ahead of time that that would be their likely response.

The question is, how are we going to get it reopened? Are you going to drive a bargain that is so tough and so hard that the strait remains closed? So how are we going to get it open?

RUBIO: Well, the first thing, that is a predicate to anything else happening. The straits have to be reopened.

So the way to think about it is this. If Iran wants to be able to move its oil again through the strait, they will have to reopen the straits. If they refuse to do so, then we have other options available to us, but we would prefer to negotiate the opening of this, which means the following.

(CROSSTALK)

MURPHY: So tell us about the negotiations. What do you need from them in order to get the strait reopened? We need the strait reopened tomorrow.

RUBIO: Well, what needs to happen is very simple. They need to announce that they will no longer fire on commercial ships that are going through or threaten to fire on ships, because, in many cases, ships just won't move.

They won't go, not because they got fired on, but because of the risk of being fired upon. And so they have to announce very clearly, the straits are now open. We're not charging a toll. We will help remove the mines that they put in there, and they will not fire on ships.

MURPHY: But the president says they also need to make commitments on their nuclear program. That's what I'm asking.

RUBIO: Oh, I see what you're saying.

(CROSSTALK)

MURPHY: What commitments do they need to make in order for the strait to be reopened, for our blockade to end?

RUBIO: Well, the second thing they have to agree to as part of this is -- so, in addition to the straits, that's the predicate that opens the door to phase two.

Phase two is they have to commit to very specific negotiations on highly enriched -- the disposition of the highly enriched uranium that still is buried deep in a mountain somewhere. They have to agree on negotiating severe and long-term limitations and/or cancellation of enrichment activity in their country.

MURPHY: In the second phase of negotiations?

RUBIO: Well, that would -- obviously, these are highly technical matters. So I don't think you could work those out in five days. That would require a team of experts to meet over a 30-, 60-, 90-day period and work out the details.

But they have to commit to their willingness to do that. For example, they have to commit to say, we will dispose of the enriched uranium. And the question now is, what are the mechanisms by which we do so? That can be negotiated.

MURPHY: Final question. In order to get to that second phase, are you willing to release sanctions or release frozen money that the United States is withholding from Iran?

RUBIO: No.

Right now, everything that's been discussed with them is that any sanctions relief -- now, remember, sanctions come -- there's international sanctions. There's congressional sanctions. There's executive sanctions. So, some, we can release, and, some, we cannot.

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But any sanctions relief is condition-based, which means it has to be in return for the reason why those sanctions were put in place in the first place, which is their nuclear program.

So, yes, look, Iran is being sanctioned because they enrich uranium. Iran is being sanctioned because they have highly enriched uranium. Iran is being sanctioned because of their nuclear activities. If they agree to give up those things, there will be sanctions relief associated with their commitment and compliance with those agreements.

MURPHY: But you will not give them sanctions relief just in exchange for reopening the strait?

RUBIO: No, that's not been discussed. That's not been offered.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Senator Hagerty.

SEN. BILL HAGERTY (R-TN): Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

And, Secretary Rubio, it's good to see you here. I want to...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: All right, excellent exchange between Senator Chris Murphy and the secretary of state.

Joining us now, CNN political and national security analyst David Sanger and former NATO Supreme Allied Commander retired U.S. Army General Wesley Clark.

Thanks to both of you for joining us.

David, let me start with you.

First of all, what do you make of Rubio's testimony, what we just heard, at least so far?

DAVID SANGER, CNN POLITICAL AND NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Well, we heard a few new things, Wolf, things that had been rumored during the course of the talks with Iran, but which the administration had not explicitly laid out.

So the first is that this overall framework agreement that the president keeps talking about and the one that he said he found a little boring yesterday is actually not about the nuclear program at all. It is just an agreement to negotiate on those issues.

So, for example, they are supposed to commit that they will get rid of the nuclear material, the 60 percent enriched that's closest to bomb- grade and, if we interpreted his comments right, all the rest of the uranium that they have in the country, but that would all be left to what he called a 30-, 60- or 90-day negotiation after that.

And, of course, the concern, Wolf, is that the Iranians are great at dragging these out. It took nearly two years for the Obama administration to do a similar negotiation in 2015. And it's pretty certain the Iranians see an opportunity here to wait for the president's attention to go elsewhere and keep these negotiations going maybe to the end of his term.

BROWN: General Clark, curious what your reaction is to Rubio's testimony so far this morning.

GEN. WESLEY CLARK (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: I was very pleased that he said that there are there's no financial reward to the Iranians for opening the strait, that that is the precondition for getting everything going, that they're supposed to -- and they failed to do this -- completely open the strait.

And he put the conditions on that, no tolls and no restrictions on shipping. So, to me, this gave a lot better clarity to what the administration's striving for.

Now, the problem is, as David brings out, they're playing rope-a-dope. They can keep this going and keep this going and keep this going. And what's happening while it's going is, they're rebuilding their military. They're bringing in more equipment from other nations. They're finding alternate routes to export a little bit of their oil through the Caspian or elsewhere.

And so we're not gaining through this. We're losing ground with each passing day. And they haven't fulfilled their obligation to open the strait. And that means, to me, that we need a military operation to open those straits.

And if I were advising the president, that's exactly what I would tell him, and the time to do it is now.

BLITZER: We will see if that happens.

David, let me get back to you on another sensitive story that emerged today. Axios has new reporting about a phone call between President Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

They say the president lashed out bitterly at Netanyahu, saying at one point -- and I'm quoting now -- A"You're effing crazy. You would be in prison if it weren't for me. I'm saving your ass. Everybody hates you now. Everybody hates Israel because of this" -- end quote.

So -- and then he said this, according to this Axios report: "What the eff are you doing?"

How fractured is this relationship between these two leaders right now, David? What do you think?

SANGER: Well, we haven't separately confirmed what Barak Ravid had there. But even if the wording is slightly off, I think the tonal implication is probably dead on.

Look, President Trump is trying right now desperately to find himself an off-ramp for a war of choice that he finds he cannot choose to easily get out of. And what's hanging it up is the continuing -- among other things, including Iranian intransigence, is the continuing conflict in Lebanon, which Prime Minister Netanyahu is, if anything, accelerating.

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And so the president needs to go figure out a way, if he's going to get the Iran deal, to rein him in. That's not an easy thing to do with Netanyahu. There have been moments, including, Wolf, you will remember back in the fall, when the president had to really twist Netanyahu's arm to get the agreement with Hamas and get the release of the hostages, when this has worked. But it doesn't work all the time.

BLITZER: Interesting point.

All right, David Sanger and General Wesley Clark, to both of you, thank you very, very much -- Pamela.

BROWN: Thank you.

And still ahead here in THE SITUATION ROOM, Wolf: President Trump has a new acting national intelligence director, and it's already raising eyebrows on Capitol Hill.

We will be right back.

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BLITZER: More breaking news this morning.

President Trump has picked a replacement for Tulsi Gabbard as the director of national intelligence. He named Bill Pulte, a controversial housing official who played a key role in pushing the Justice Department to pursue some of Trump's perceived political enemies.

But when it comes to national security and intelligence, Pulte has no demonstrated experience. Just minutes ago,

Senator Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, released this statement. And I'm quoting him now: "The concern is not only that Mr. Pulte lacks the extensive national security experience required by statute for the job. It is that he appears to have selected -- he appears to have been selected precisely because the White House believes he will provide the narrative it wants, not the intelligence we need" -- end quote.

BROWN: CNN's Alayna Treene is right outside the White House.

Alayna, needless to say, this is quite the unorthodox pick for someone like him, who has no demonstrated intelligence experience, to be running the DNI, which oversees 18 intelligence agencies.

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: No, absolutely.

I think that his lack of experience, Wolf and Pamela, when it comes to national security, having no previous role in a national security position or those types of credentials, certainly going to be a reason why this faces a certain blowback.

But to the other point that Senator Warner made I think is also a valid one. I mean, it's clear Bill Pulte is someone who has been a bulldog for President Trump and someone who is deemed kind of the loyalist of all loyalists. He is very close to President Trump. He has a direct line to him,. The two speak directly. He doesn't have to go through other people.

And, many times, it's actually been a source of contention with other administration officials, just Pulte having that relationship to be able to go directly to the president to make his motivations for something clear, his criticisms of something clear.

I'd remind you that we actually saw Pulte and the treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, get into a very heated exchange last year over that exact reason, with Bessent arguing that Pulte had bad-mouthed him directly to Trump.

All to say I think a key part, of course, for the reason that the president selected him is because of that close relationship they have. And I have been told from my sources, just speaking with them in the aftermath of this announcement, that the president has been in the past very impressed by how Pulte has used his position as the director of the Federal Housing Financial Agency to kind of go after some of the president's political opponents.

I'd remind you, a lot of the times we have seen Pulte's name in the headlines is because he has found ways to go after people like the New York attorney general, Letitia James, Senator Adam Schiff. He was the one who was behind the ousting, the president's firing of the Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, so a number of different people he has targeted.

He's also been crucial to really trying to lead that investigation into the Federal Reserve Chairman, former now, Jerome Powell, and has been very involved in a lot of the criticisms from this White House regarding him, so, again, someone who the president really does view in many ways as a bulldog.

And it's no question that I think that's part of why he selected him for this role, in hoping that he will be that in his role as acting director of national intelligence, but, again, not a lot of national security background. So I think we have to wait and see really whether or not this can stick moving forward.

BROWN: Well, and it's worth mentioning that he's already Senate- confirmed in his role as a top housing official. And because he's going to be in an acting role overseeing DNI, he doesn't need to be Senate-confirmed for that role. It's not required.

Alayna Treene, live for us from the White House, thank you so much -- Wolf.

BLITZER: And still ahead: dire warning. New concerns the Ebola virus may have gone undetected three months before the first case in this latest outbreak was identified.

Lots going on. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.

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BROWN: Happening now: a warning that the Ebola outbreak in Central Africa may have gone undetected for months.

A humanitarian relief group called the International Rescue Committee, or IRC, says the outbreak is probably larger and even more advanced than official figures suggest. More than 300 confirmed cases and nearly 50 in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda have been reported so far.

BLITZER: Dr. Mesfin Tessema is with the IRC, and he's joining us live right now.

Doctor, thanks so much for joining us.

I know you cautioned that health officials are -- quote -- "flying blind" and your organization says the virus may have started spreading as early as March. What prompted this warning?

DR. MESFIN TEKLU TESSEMA, INTERNATIONAL RESCUE COMMITTEE: Thanks, Wolf, for having me.

For the IRC, what we are seeing on the ground is what prompted us to alert -- to issue this alert, because the numbers that you have quoted in terms of actually confirmed case and days are the tip of the iceberg, because identification and contact tracing is not keeping up, up to the level of the spread of the virus.

So we are only seeing very few cases, and that's why we don't have a full view of the extent of the spread.

BROWN: So what is the status on efforts to develop vaccines and treatments to stop this virus?

TESSEMA: So, at the moment, the certain -- the international organization are coming together to develop vaccine.

There is no approved vaccine for this strain of the Ebola virus. So, previous vaccine work for other strains of Ebola, other results, international organizations like CEPI, the Epidemic Preparedness and Innovation, have signed agreement with pharmaceutical companies like Moderna to develop and test the vaccine.

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And that will take probably a couple of months before we have a vaccine that's effective for this strain. So, there is effort ongoing, but it's not going to be effective immediately. And we have to rely on other non-pharmaceutical measure to control this outbreak.

BLITZER: As you know, Doctor, there are more than 1,000 suspected cases out there right now. What is the risk of further spread?

TESSEMA: So, the risk of further spread is high regionally.

Regionally, in a sense, means that the epicenter of this outbreak is in Eastern DRC. And it has already spread to Uganda. And the most alarming is that it has already also spread to major urban center within DRC. That's including Goma.

So, the area which is affected by this outbreak share porous border across South Sudan, and as well as the border with Uganda and other countries. So, people are moving. And this is an area affected by conflict. And it's also an area where there is mining and artisanal mining and low-scale mining activity going on.

So people move for work and labor to make a living. So, because of that population movement, the spread within the region is very high. And that's the reason why we are very much concerned that the risk for other countries within the African continent is high.

BLITZER: Dr. Mesfin Tessema, thank you so much for all that you and the IRC are doing. We appreciate it very much.

(CROSSTALK)

BLITZER: Thanks for joining us.

TESSEMA: Thank you very much for having me.

BROWN: And we also have a story coming up with our own Clarissa Ward right there in the Ebola red zone.

Up next: ticked off at "60 Minutes," the new crisis for CBS and its iconic news program.

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