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The Situation Room

Frontier Passenger Restrained; Primary Results; Interview With Rep. Marlin Stutzman (R-IN); U.S. and Iran Trade Fire. Aired 11-11:30a ET

Aired June 03, 2026 - 11:00   ET

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

[11:00:00]

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Nosebleed seats at MSG are nearly $4,000. That's roughly five times the get-in price of tonight's game one in San Diego -- oh, San Antonio.

(LAUGHTER)

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: Good correction.

PAMELA BROWN, CNN HOST: Good catch.

BLITZER: All right, Coy Wire, thank you very, very much.

WIRE: You got it.

BLITZER: And the next hour of THE SITUATION ROOM starts right now.

BROWN: And happening now, breaking news: inside Iran. CNN returns there for the first time since a recent exchange of attacks with the U.S. that threaten to derail a fragile effort to end the war.

BLITZER: And in-flight chaos. Passengers jump into action after a man allegedly tried to open an emergency door and enter the cockpit.

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.

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

BLITZER: We begin this hour with the breaking news, deadly fighting in the Middle East, as the U.S. and Iran accuse each other of launching new strikes.

Kuwait says one person was killed and more than five dozen injured after an Iranian drone struck the country's main airport. Bahrain's military also reported it intercepted and destroyed three incoming Iranian missiles and a number of drones.

BROWN: And those attacks coming after what the U.S. describes as its self-defense strikes on Iran. State media reports explosion-like sounds near Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz after the U.S. military hit an oil tanker headed toward an Iranian port. But amid these growing concerns that the conflict is escalating again,

President Trump in a new interview says there's no need for U.S. troops inside Iran.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We don't need boots on the ground. We wiped out much of their military with just bombing. We didn't put anybody on the ground. You don't want to do that if you can avoid it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: So there he is saying no boots on the ground.

CNN senior international correspondent Fred Pleitgen is in Iran amid growing uncertainty over whether it could make a deal with the U.S. to end this war. We should note that CNN operates in Iran only with the permission of the government, but maintains full editorial control of its reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We have just entered Iran, and we're currently driving towards Tehran.

I would say that the drive is probably going to take well north of 12 hours. And we come here at a pretty decisive time, as the United States and Iran are trying to inch closer to a memorandum of understanding that would at first end the hostilities between the United States and Iran, but also pave the way for negotiations for a broader peace agreement that could then happen maybe a month, maybe two months down the line.

At the same time, the security situation, especially in the Persian Gulf area between the U.S. and Iran, remains fragile and it remains volatile. Just overnight, there have been attacks that went back and forth, the United States hitting some targets on some islands in the Persian Gulf, the Iranians responding with ballistic missile strikes targeting American installations in places like Bahrain and Kuwait.

So, all of that, of course, makes for a very difficult situation, as the two sides say they are committed to try and reach some sort of agreement to end this war.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Fred Pleitgen, thank you very much. Fred is in Iran.

BROWN: He's been there multiple times at this point.

And joining us now is Republican Congressman Marlin Stutzman of Indiana.

Nice to have you back on the show. So, President Trump tells "The New York Post" he was -- quote --

"perturbed" with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over Israel's strikes in Lebanon. Meanwhile, Trump says he and Iran's supreme leader seem to be getting along quite well.

I'm curious what you think about that. Does this difference in the president's rhetoric towards our ally Israel and our adversary Iran concern you as the U.S. works toward a peace deal?

REP. MARLIN STUTZMAN (R-IN): Yes, Pamela, Wolf, great to see you both.

This is just part of a working process. I was describing the conversation that President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu between my brother and I, whether it was a business problem or whatever. They're very comfortable working with each other, and they can be very honest with each other.

And what we have to remember is that President Trump is working with some of the most difficult people in trying to negotiate a deal with Iran. They move the goalposts. They say this. They say that. And so it gets to be very frustrating working with them.

And then, of course, they use the situation with Lebanon and Israel as a bargaining chip to try to cause a problem negotiating with President Trump. So I really see this, that conversation as just a good, open, transparent conversation and a working relationship trying to fix the problems.

BROWN: Just to follow up, then, on to your point, you're saying it's difficult to negotiate with the Iranians, but the president essentially praised the supreme leader, saying that they are getting along quite well.

STUTZMAN: Yes.

BROWN: What do you think about that?

STUTZMAN: Well, he's trying to build trust. He's trying to build a way to work with them to get to the point that we need to.

[11:05:07]

I mean, we need to figure out some sort of solution. And, sometimes, you have to work with the people that are in power, whether you like them or not. I remember Condoleezza Rice always telling us that, that working with these dictators, it's very difficult. They can go off the handle, fly off the handle very quickly. You can offend them quickly.

So it's a very tenuous conversation. And so President Trump feels like he's making progress, he's working forward, and he doesn't want anything to set it back. But that's -- in the Iranian situation, is the biggest deal that we have got to sort out and figure out. And President Trump is doing everything he can to do that.

And he knows how to communicate with them in order to try to get the deal done. So we will see what happens.

BLITZER: As "The Washington Post" reports this morning, Congressman, you actually met with Prime Minister Netanyahu in Jerusalem last week, and you provided him with a draft House resolution that would end U.S. financial military aid to Israel.

Tell us more about your proposal and how the prime minister viewed it.

STUTZMAN: Yes.

So, we had a great meeting. I tell you, the relationship between the United States and Israel is stronger than ever. In fact, I often ask people, who is the greatest ally of the United States? We used to say it would be Great Britain, but, these days, it's Israel.

And they have grown so much, 10 million people. Their GDP is growing towards a trillion dollars. And this was actually something that came from Prime Minister Netanyahu's conversation with "60 Minutes" a couple of weeks ago, when he said that the next MOU with the United States and Israel, he would like to see us move away from the $3.8 billion annual supplement that we send to Israel.

Now, does this end antisemitism? I doubt it. Does it create more conspiracy theories? Probably. But this is real. This is a maturing relationship. And we have been calling it aid to trade, moving from an aid supplement to a trade agreement, to defense agreements, and a real mature partnership, because Israel has grown tremendously.

And their abilities and capabilities are incredible. And so he was very open and excited to see the resolution. I filed it today here in the House of Representatives. And we just want to show President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu that Congress would support moving this direction.

BLITZER: Have you had any other conversations with the White House and the Republican leadership in Congress, for that matter, about whether they'd support your proposal? Israel would continue to purchase a lot of U.S. military equipment, fighter aircraft, tanks, other military equipment.

In the past, the U.S. taxpayers almost always paid those defense contractors for that equipment. But now you say that the Israelis themselves should pay for all that military equipment.

STUTZMAN: Well, I really believe, if we have a strong trade agreement, what I have seen over the past 10 years is, Israel is like a Silicon Valley. The technology, the defense industry, their capabilities are incredible. They're known as a start-up nation.

They have more start-ups than any other country in the world besides the United States. And I saw that there were a lot of businesses that wanted, of course, access to the U.S. markets. And so this makes it a little simpler and easier for U.S. industries and Israeli industries to work together.

And I think that they will see the increase with their GDP growth and that they will easily offset the $3.8 billion annually that the taxpayer sends to Israel. And I think it also just shows that, as we talk to the administration, the State Department, speaker of the House, they have asked us to simply talk to folks and see what kind of support we find.

Ambassador Leiter has been a great ambassador here to the United States from Israel. Ambassador Huckabee just posted this last week that we should move ahead without aid in the next MOU. So the momentum is definitely building.

BROWN: OK, I want to turn to something else and ask you about this announcement that President Trump made yesterday that he's appointing a housing official, Bill Pulte, as his acting director of national intelligence, even though he has no known intel background.

Let's watch how some members of your own party responded to that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. THOM TILLIS (R-NC): I don't know of any national security experiences that he has.

SEN. JOHN CORNYN (R-TX): I see no -- no evidence of any qualifications for that job.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: Are you comfortable with this appointment?

STUTZMAN: Well, I'm definitely open to listening.

And I think that the members there that made those comments are probably not going to be very supportive of the president's agenda moving forward. And so I think that we -- I'm definitely open to finding out the qualifications. This is going to be a Senate decision, of course.

But one of the things that we know when it comes to housing, there's great demand here in the United States. I hear from a lot of homebuilders and other builders that they need the support of the federal government with less regulation.

[11:10:06]

And so somebody from the industry, I think, makes a lot of sense. And so I'm open to definitely hearing more of those reasons why he should be the next secretary.

BROWN: Can you just help us better understand your logic there, saying someone in the industry in housing makes a lot of sense for the head of DNI overseeing 18 intelligence agencies?

And what do you say to the concerns from members of your own party that Pulte could use these intelligence agencies against Trump's opponents, as he has done as the director of Federal Housing Finance, going after some of Trump's perceived enemies? STUTZMAN: Yes, well, I think that it's going to be up to Mr. Pulte as

he comes in and he meets with the senators.

The senators are obviously going to make their decisions based on his credentials and whether he's capable. So, again, I have not met with him. I don't know what the reason was, why the appointment. But that's why we have a process of confirmations in the Senate. And it sounds like it's going to be a tough lift.

But if he can make the case why he should be confirmed, we will see what happens.

BROWN: All right, Congressman Marlin Stutzman, thank you so much. We appreciate it.

BLITZER: And thanks from me as well.

And coming up: an unusual setback for President Trump on primary night here in the U.S.

And former Congressman George Santos is back in the news. What investigators are now looking into.

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:16:12]

BROWN: And we are following breaking news this morning.

Results are rolling in after voters in six states punched primary ballots on Tuesday.

BLITZER: We're watching several key races, including the one for governor of California. Democrat Xavier Becerra, the state's former attorney general, who served as the health and human services secretary, and Republican former FOX host Steve Hilton, who worked in British politics, they are fighting to face off in November.

CNN political director, and Washington bureau chief David Chalian is with us right now.

David, they're still counting the votes. What does it look like?

DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Yes, so you just had the California governor's race up here, Wolf.

Notice here, 58 percent of the estimated vote is in. That's a key number to look at because there are lots of votes to still count. In California, if your ballot is postmarked on or before primary day, it could still arrive seven days after the election and be counted. So there are lots of votes to count.

And here's what's important to note in the California governor's race and in California generally. If past patterns hold up this time, the votes -- the ballots that get counted in these days after the primary, the late-arriving ballots, tend to be more Democratic than everything that was counted sort of on Election Day.

And that is what is giving Xavier Becerra and Tom Steyer hope that they are going to jump ahead of Steve Hilton and end up with two Democrats in November. We will see. Steve Hilton right now sits at 27.8 percent. He has the most votes.

But as these votes continue to get counted, it is not at all unreasonable to think that certainly Becerra and maybe even Steyer, their numbers will grow. This percentage may shrink a little bit for Steve Hilton. And we will see which two candidates of these top three make it into November.

BROWN: All right.

And we have got to ask about the mayor's race in Los Angeles, David, because you have Karen Bass now going to this run-off. And the question is, is it going to be against Spencer Pratt?

CHALIAN: Yes, and similar scenario that we're in here. Obviously, L.A. is the big city in California.

Karen Bass, the incumbent, Pam, has already advanced to November. You see she's currently got 34.8 percent of the vote. But, again, 63 percent of the estimated vote is in. So we have 37 percent, our estimate, of the vote remains to be counted.

And that's why we don't know the answer to the question yet of whether it'll be Spencer Pratt or Nithya Raman, the progressive challenger to Bass, Spencer Pratt, a Republican, if -- indeed which one will emerge. If all of these votes that are still being counted are heavily skewed to Democrats, you could see how Nithya Raman may add to her totals, Karen Bass may add to her totals, and that would drop Spencer Pratt's percentage.

But, look, this is a pretty wide margin here. And I would note that Spencer Pratt right now sits in pole position to perhaps be the challenger against Bass. But we have to see indeed what the rest of the votes say.

BLITZER: Interesting race in Iowa as well, David, the race for governor.

Trump endorsed Randy Feenstra, but Randy Feenstra lost to Zach Lahn. What does it say to you that Feenstra is the first statewide Trump endorse to lose a primary this year?

CHALIAN: This cycle. We have seen that in the past, in the 2022 cycle, I recall.

It says it's a black mark on Donald Trump's endorsement record, no doubt, Wolf. Zach Lahn here, who emerged, he had the support of the MAHA movement, Make America Healthy Again, the Robert F. Kennedy Jr. movement. And Feenstra was seen as a weak candidate. So Trump's endorsement could not get him over the line. It came in at the end of the day. Zach Lahn, though, may prove to be a

stronger general election nominee for Republicans against Rob Sand, the Democrat who had no competition and is seen as a rising star, trying to turn that red state blue.

BROWN: All right, David Chalian, thank you, as always.

BLITZER: He knows his stuff, to be sure.

BROWN: He does. And he probably didn't have very much sleep last night either.

[11:20:02]

So, thank you.

(LAUGHTER)

BLITZER: He's a hardworking young guy.

All right, and this is just coming into THE SITUATION ROOM right now, some rather tense moments up on Capitol Hill for the U.S. treasury secretary, Scott Bessent-, when he was asked about comments President Trump made last month about the finances of the American people.

Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SCOTT BESSENT, U.S. TREASURY SECRETARY: I believe his remarks were taken out of context.

(CROSSTALK)

SEN. MAGGIE HASSAN (D-NH): No, look, here's what he said. He said -- quote -- "I don't think about Americans' financial situation. I don't think about anybody."

So I'm asking you -- that's the direct quote -- do you think about how the American people are paying more for gas, groceries, and utilities, since the president clearly said he didn't? And you speak with the president regularly. Are you trying to tell him the truth about how much costs have increased for the American people?

BESSENT: Well, Senator, I'm going to have to disagree with you on some of that, because I have groceries that are going down. And, to be clear, since President Trump took office, food prices, or as many people like to call them, groceries, food at home in the statistical data, is up 2.5 percent.

HASSAN: When's the last time you earn a grocery store? Because my husband and I were just in one. And, look, the average Granite Stater has paid...

(CROSSTALK)

BESSENT: But, Senator....

HASSAN: Let me be clear. The average Granite Stater has paid $3,000 more since Donald Trump took office for basic goods and services.

(CROSSTALK)

HASSAN: Meanwhile, the country lost 100,000 manufacturing jobs in 2025. So do you tell the president this information or not?

BESSENT: Again, Senator, except for inflation, which is, I believe, going to be a short-term blip, the economic data is very strong. The jobs data has been very strong.

The manufacturing ISM has been very strong.

HASSAN: No, actually, that's incorrect. So let's move on, because what's clear to me...

BESSENT: Which part was incorrect, Senator?

HASSAN: No, what is very clear to me is that neither you nor the president nor this administration are willing to acknowledge how much more people are paying at the gas pump, at the grocery store, in utilities, for health care, for all aspects of American life, nor have you acknowledged the number of manufacturing jobs that were lost in 2025.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: A key inflation report, by the way, found that the cost of groceries in the United States has risen almost 3 percent since February of last year.

BROWN: And he didn't answer the question of when the last time was he went to a grocery store.

BLITZER: Right. I was in the Giant Food and Safeway and Whole Foods just the past few days.

BROWN: Well, there you go. Duly noted.

(LAUGHTER)

BLITZER: Yes.

BROWN: Wolf Blitzer goes to the grocery store.

BLITZER: Yes, he does.

Up next: chaos in the cabin. What federal officials say this man tried to do that forced a plane to land about 1,400 miles from its destination.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:27:24] BLITZER: New this morning, a Frontier Airlines passenger has been charged after he allegedly choked an off-duty flight attendant, tried to open an exit door, and also tried to get into the cockpit.

You can see here a video appears to show passengers trying to restrain the man. Arrest document show he became disruptive about 45 minutes after the plane left San Juan, Puerto Rico, for Chicago, saying he wanted to get off the plane. The flight diverted to Miami, where he was taken into custody.

CNN aviation correspondent Pete Muntean is here with us in THE SITUATION ROOM.

So, what else are we learning, Pete?

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: Well, the bottom line here is that the system worked, but this incident was a real doozy. It happened late Sunday, but the video just coming to light now.

It shows 51-year-old Juan Reyes on this Frontier Airlines flight being restrained by fellow passengers. They're not only using seat belt extenders to keep him on the seat, but also flex cuffs that police records say Reyes broke out of multiple times.

Want you to listen now to what one of the passengers who helped restrain Reyes said about this whole experience.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOSH LONGOOD, FRONTIER AIRLINES PASSENGER: I knew that I could take care of it and handle it without him or anybody else getting injured. I was already ready for something to happen, so I instantly restrained him, put him in his row, laid him down, tied him up with a seat belt.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MUNTEAN: A few big things that the court records point out here that Reyes tried to bash his way into the cockpit door shoulder first.

He also got on top of an off-duty male flight attendant and tried to choke him. There's one more headline that's making the rounds now. Charging documents say that Reyes tried to open an emergency exit in flight, very hard to do at altitude while the passenger cabin is pressurized and pushing the door against the rest of the frame of the airplane.

By the way, we have reached out to Reyes' attorney. We have not heard back yet. This flight was on its way from San Juan, Puerto Rico, to Chicago, had to divert to Miami.

That becomes a huge inconvenience for passengers, but no captain wants to be the one who makes the wrong call, especially when an unruly passenger incident turns into a security incident. This comes after back-to-back passenger incidents on United Airlines flights.

On Friday, a man tried to get into a locked flight deck door after what appears to be a mental health episode. No charges filed in that case. It's important to note that unruly passenger incidents are way down from the highs of 2021, when mask mandates were in place. People were flying again, but not used to being in close quarters after COVID lockdowns.

So, it was a pretty bad mixture. Airlines reported nearly 6,000 unruly passenger incidents that year. This year, we have seen about 10 percent of that number. Many of these cases do not result in criminal charges, but this latest case, Wolf, could bring up to 20 years in prison if Reyes is found guilty.

BLITZER: And if you're a passenger, it's pretty scary to be on a flight like that.

MUNTEAN: No doubt.