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The Situation Room

Melinda French Gates Donates $215 Million to Improve Women's Health; Status of U.S.-Iran Negotiations?; Ex-CIA Officer in Court; Interview With Martha Raddatz. Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired June 05, 2026 - 10:30   ET

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

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GRAHAM PLATNER (D), MAINE SENATORIAL CANDIDATE: There are some allegations in this piece that I just want to be kind of unequivocal about are simply not true.

Anything alleging physicality, anything alleging that I knew what my tattoo was, these are the statements of someone who is politically motivated.

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WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: Platner's campaign was previously rocked by reports that he had exchanged sexually explicit messages with multiple women outside his marriage. He says he has not considered ending his campaign.

And a dramatic rescue caught on camera in South Carolina. Watch.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Come on, ma'am.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Come on.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Come on.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Come on. Grab it. This way.

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BLITZER: A Chester County deputy rushed to save a woman from her burning car after a crash along a major interstate. Cutting her seat belt, he was able to pull her from the vehicle to safety, thank God. The woman survived the incident and was able to reunite with her rescuer in the hospital. So nice.

And we're following other breaking news right now, the case of the ex- CIA officer charged with allegedly stealing approximately $40 million worth of gold bars and foreign currency from the very agency he worked for.

David Rush is appearing in federal court in Alexandria, Virginia, just outside Washington, D.C., right now for a detention hearing. He has not yet entered a plea.

Joining us now to discuss, the former federal prosecutor Berit Berger.

Berit, thanks so much for joining us.

Besides this eye-popping value of goods that the FBI accuses this former CIA officer of stealing from the federal government, why is this case so significant?

BERIT BERGER, FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: I think this case is so significant not just because of the monetary value, because of what it shows about the real systemic breakdown of how this actually happened within an agency that prides itself in having the highest standards for security.

So, beyond one person's misdeeds, I think it raises real questions of, what was the vetting process, why did this fall through the cracks, and how can we be sure that something like this is not going to happen again?

BLITZER: Yes, the CIA has to learn from this experience and do a better job vetting all these employees.

In addition to the more than 300 gold bars, the FBI also says it discovered $2 million in cash and 35 luxury watches in Rush's home. Just given that evidence, Berit, what do you think? What sort of challenges does the defense in this case face?

BERGER: Yes, it will be interesting today.

We probably will get a little preview of what the defense may be during this detention hearing. Again, part of the detention hearing, in addition to showing that he's not at flight risk, he will say the government's case is not that strong. So we might get a sense of what his arguments will be.

My guess is that it will be something along the lines of, this was all part of things that I needed to do my job as a CIA officer. We have reasons for this, although, honestly, given that all of this was found in his home and was unaccounted for in CIA records, it seems like a real uphill battle to me.

BLITZER: It certainly does.

According to the federal government, Berit, this former CIA officer worked for the agency for, what, 17 years. Considering that length of time, is it possible he could face additional or perhaps even more serious charges than theft of public money?

BERGER: Certainly.

I mean, I would expect to see some false statement charges. Again, this is somebody that probably had to undergo some sort of polygraph examination, probably not once, but multiple times during his tenure at the agency. How he was able to get beyond those, whether there was anybody else that was involved in those schemes, I don't know if other people might be charged along the way.

This is all things that I will be interested to see. But at the very minimum this is an astounding failure, both on the part of Rush, but also on the part of the agency, in letting something this significant happen not just for a few months, but, like you said, over a 17-year period, so a real failure on the security part here.

BLITZER: Yes, good point.

The FBI in an affidavit alleges that Rush became a senior executive government employee with top secret security clearances by repeatedly lying on applications about his military service as a Navy pilot and his education.

But court documents, at least so far, do not clarify why the CIA failed to detect those false claims before hiring and promoting him repeatedly. So how notable is that?

BERGER: It's so notable.

I mean, for every government position, there is a pretty intense background check. When I became an assistant U.S. attorney, they went and interviewed friends, they interviewed my family members, really trying to make sure that there was nothing that was inaccurate on my application, but also that there was nothing that could potentially be held against me as some sort of blackmail, some sort of national security threat.

The fact that this person had some pretty glaring errors in their record that was not caught in any of these intense background checks, which are even more heightened for the CIA than they were for me as a U.S. -- as an assistant U.S. attorney, again, it really just raises questions about what the process was.

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Was anybody else involved here? And how was he able to get around these pretty intense checks?

BLITZER: Yes, the CIA has to learn from all these blunders. All right, Berit, thank you very, very much.

Berit Berger helping us.

Also happening now, uncertainty around the U.S.-Iran negotiations, with conflicting messages over the status of the cease-fire talks. President Trump insisting a deal could come soon, but Iran's foreign minister says there's been no significant progress, his words, no significant progress.

With us now, CNN global affairs analyst Karim Sadjadpour.

Karim, is President Trump overselling this deal while Iran is trying to buy time?

KARIM SADJADPOUR, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Well, I do think, Wolf, that President Trump over the last several months has always consistently -- he's been overly optimistic about the likelihood of a resolution.

Iran is in less of a hurry to resolve this issue. They're sticking to their demands. And so I do think that it doesn't seem like the two sides are anywhere near resolution to at least phase one of this deal.

BLITZER: Yes, good point.

And amidst all of this, President Trump has voiced his repeated frustration now over Israel's campaign in Lebanon, as Hezbollah is rejecting the cease-fire agreed between Israel and Lebanon, while Iran is demanding an end to the conflict in Lebanon.

Also this morning, our CNN chief international anchor, Christiane Amanpour, sat down for an exclusive interview with the Lebanese president, Joseph Aoun, who told her that Iran is using his country as a bargaining chip.

How much leverage does the war in Lebanon represent for Iran in its negotiations with the U.S.?

SADJADPOUR: Well, since the 1979 revolution and shortly thereafter, the creation of Lebanese Hezbollah, Iran has always prioritized Lebanon not to advance the interests of Lebanese citizens, but to use Lebanese soil to attack Israel.

And so I think you saw in that interview which President Aoun of Lebanon did with Christiane the enormous frustration of -- he speaks for many Lebanese -- that Lebanon is a country which has teetered on economic bankruptcy, and it will never be able to thrive so long as it's kind of viewed and considered to be part of the proxy war between Iran and Israel.

And so that is leverage that Iran has and that it said that it wants Lebanon to be part of any cease-fire agreement. And, frankly, Wolf, here is a source of tension between America and Israel, because President Trump is keen to do this deal with Iran, and the Israelis say, listen, this is a national security concern. We can't simply sit on our hands while a militia on our northern border continues to attack us.

BLITZER: Yes, good point.

And we will have more of Christiane's exclusive interview with Lebanese President Aoun. That's coming up in our next hour.

Karim, a final question to you before I let you go. President Trump said he'd be open and even honored, his word, honored, to meet with Iran's new supreme leader if a deal comes soon. Would Tehran even consider that kind of a meeting?

SADJADPOUR: Very unlikely, Wolf.

The father of Mojtaba Khamenei, Ayatollah Khamenei, never once agreed to meet with any U.S. officials in his 37-year tenure. And now you have Mojtaba Khamenei, the son. His father was killed by American missiles. His mother was killed and his wife was killed. He's living and hiding right now, interacting with very few people.

So I think the likelihood of a meeting between Mojtaba Khamenei and President Trump is very slim.

BLITZER: Why haven't we even seen or heard from the new supreme leader, Khamenei, since he took over?

SADJADPOUR: I think it's partly for security reasons, given that he has -- he had a bullseye on his back, and he's probably living underground in these missile cities.

So it's partly operational security, but it also is likely because of the injuries he suffered, and the extent of which are still unclear, but he may be physically incapacitated. His ability to speak is also in question, because we not only have not heard from him. We haven't seen him, but we also haven't heard his voice.

BLITZER: Yes, good point. All right, Karim, thank you very, very much.

Karim Sadjadpour helping us appreciate this situation.

SADJADPOUR: Thank you.

BLITZER: And coming up, Emmy Award-winning journalist Martha Raddatz joins us live here in THE SITUATION ROOM to discuss her brand-new, very important book, sharing the stories of the nation's heroes.

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BLITZER: We have a very special guest joining us here in THE SITUATION ROOM right now.

The Emmy Award-winning journalist Martha Raddatz has covered some of the biggest stories for ABC News. Now she's sharing the stories of our nation's heroes in a brand-new and really important book entitled "The Hero Next Door: Stories of Patriotism and Purpose." And here's a copy of it.

I'm very proud of you, Martha. Good work.

MARTHA RADDATZ, AUTHOR, "THE HERO NEXT DOOR: STORIES OF PATRIOTISM AND PURPOSE": Thank you so much, Wolf. Thank you. It means a lot to me.

BLITZER: Thanks for doing this.

Tell us a little bit about your new book and what inspired you to write it, because it's so powerful, so meaningful, and brings back a lot of important information.

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RADDATZ: And I'm sure for you as well too, Wolf.

This is a book, for me, that looks back and looks ahead for the 9/11 generation of our service members that we went through as a country, thank you for your service, in these intense wars. This is not about whether you like the wars or not. This is not about politics. It's people who fought them, the people who joined because our country was attacked.

I have known some of them for more than 20 years through battles. And the reason I wanted to do it now is because of what they have done since. Some are still active duty, but others have found purpose, have found a way to serve even when they're out of the service.

And I just think it's one of those lessons we can all take away and look at people who inspire you. I -- they are a gift to me, knowing them, seeing their perseverance, seeing their resilience, seeing the power of overcoming challenges that they faced during battles, after battles.

And I just think we can all learn from them.

BLITZER: We certainly can.

And I have covered a lot of these American heroes, but you -- unlike me, you actually sat down and spoke to them at great length and wrote "The Hero Next Door." And we all learn a lot from that book.

What was the process like going in-depth and speaking to these heroes?

RADDATZ: I think one of the reasons I stayed in touch with a lot of these people over the years is because I can't walk away from them. I have shared some of the most intense moments in their lives, the worst days of their lives, some of the best days of their lives. And I feel a connection.

So, talking to them, none of them -- none of them think they're heroes. I can tell you that right now. We...

BLITZER: But they are.

RADDATZ: They're absolutely heroes. None of them think they're heroes.

But I convinced them. I twisted their arm a little bit, because they represent so many others who are in the same situation, who are still serving the nation in some way. So, having those conversations, to me, was natural and important. And love these guys.

BLITZER: Is there any one story that emerges from "The Hero Next Door" that you want to share a thought or two about right now?

RADDATZ: They're -- I'm going to do two quickly.

The beginning chapter is a young Navy lieutenant who was in the Pentagon and almost died and was saved by someone else who went on, I learned, many years later to the CIA to be on the high value target team that found Osama bin Laden, so kind of an incredible circle.

But, also, it means so much to me the home front, mothers who are still taking care of traumatic brain-injured sons, which is just remarkable. Debbie Schulz was 49 years old when her son was hit with an IED, badly brain damaged. She's more than 70 today.

She has taken exquisite care of her son, Steven, and he's thriving because of it. But she has spent her lifetime giving him care. And these are the kinds of stories that people just don't understand are out there and how inspiring they are.

BLITZER: So moving.

What do you hope people will actually take away after they read "The Hero Next Door"?

RADDATZ: I hope they take away just -- I hope they're inspired. I hope they read it and, when they have a challenging day, getting up and saying, well, I have to do this or that today, that they remember what these people have done, this no-less-great generation than the Greatest Generation, what they have done, what they are doing now.

They had no decision in going to war or deciding what wars we would be in. So I just think it's inspiration. I think dads and moms and graduates all should read this, because I had one retired general say to me last night, which was very moving, "I think every American should read this to understand our service members."

BLITZER: I agree with that general, because, if you read this book, you really learn what's going on in-depth with all these individuals who volunteer, go fight for the United States. And, unfortunately, very often, they get hurt.

RADDATZ: They do.

And there's also one young soldier who I was in the combat support hospital in Baghdad the day he was brought in with his legs clearly missing or just about to be. That young man, Mark Little, still continued to serve for many, many years.

And then, when he got out, he did what he could for other veterans. And those are the kind of stories, Wolf. They're just an incredible group of people who I have just stayed in touch with and am so close to.

BLITZER: I give you so much credit for doing that.

And what's been the reaction from the people you write about in this book since the book came out?

RADDATZ: The reaction is, I think they're very proud.

Again, they're very humble people. There is Steve Workman, who saved Kevin Shaeffer in the Pentagon that day and pulled him out of the rubble and the fire, spoke about it to his family for the first time.

And I had interviewed Steve. He had been interviewed shortly after the event, but not since. And that's so important, and other incredible things that happened to him that week that the Pentagon was hit. And his son told me it was so good for his dad to talk about that and to share that story.

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And that's what I say to people too. If you know a veteran, if you know a family, listen to them. Learn about where they have been. They may not want to talk about it, but be there to listen and share, and be proud that there are people who volunteer to do this for us.

BLITZER: I think I speak for all of our viewers. We're grateful to you for writing "The Hero Next Door: Stories of Patriotism and Purpose" by Martha Raddatz.

Thanks very much for writing this important book. Thanks very much for coming in.

RADDATZ: Thanks, Wolf. I appreciate it.

BLITZER: We will stay in touch.

RADDATZ: Thanks.

BLITZER: Appreciate it very, very much.

And here's what's coming up all new at the top of the hour.

Shifting policy. Why ICE is changing the way it reports deaths of released detainees.

Lights, camera, A.I.? Artificial intelligence has Tinseltown on edge right now. Our SITUATION ROOM series examines its threat to Hollywood and how actors are trying to remain in the spotlight.

Also ahead:

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BLITZER: Persistence pays off, the campaign launched by an entire senior class to get Michelle Obama to speak at their high school graduation.

That's all new in the next hour.

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BLITZER: Philanthropist Melinda French Gates discussing an important announcement with our own Dr. Sanjay Gupta on his podcast. She's giving away a lot of money, a ton of money, we're talking about hundreds of millions of dollars, to address women's health.

Our chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, is joining us right now.

Sanjay, how much is she donating? And is the money earmarked for anything specific?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, so, first of all, it's a lot of money, $215 million this time around, but this is going to make it $600 million just over the last couple of years.

And this is coming from her organization, which is called Pivotal. Now, in the past, she's really focused on global health, but now the focus is on women's health, and a lot of that focus right here in the United States.

Reproductive health has been sort of the focus over the last few years. But when I talked to her, she seemed to have an increased focus on menopause and perimenopause specifically, which was an area that she sort of said, look, has had a sort of woeful lack of funding in general.

And where we sort of started the discussion was trying to figure out why that happened. Take a listen.

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GUPTA: Why are women's health issues minimized compared to men's health issues?

MELINDA FRENCH GATES, PHILANTHROPIST: Well, we have funded men's health issues for a very long time, but we are -- have underfunded and under-researched conditions that affect women.

And so, for so long, the medical community assumed the male body as the default body. And then we would take medications and say, OK, well, we will take it down by a certain amount of a dosage for a woman. That's just not true. A woman's body is very different than a man's.

And so we just have not funded this area. And if we're going to accelerate progress, we really do need to fund women's health.

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GUPTA: Yes, it is fascinating, Wolf. I mean, half the population obviously affected by this, and there really hasn't been much money spent on menopause, perimenopause.

One thing she said to me really struck me, is that women, as compared to men, spend about 25 percent more of their life with some sort of illness, oftentimes debilitating illness. That translates into years of life at those pivotal times of life. So I think that's what she was really getting at.

BLITZER: Yes, that's really amazing.

Sanjay, at one point, you actually talked with her about the future of her own granddaughters. What did she say about that?

GUPTA: Yes.

Yes, I mean, she -- so she's a grandmother now. She's got two granddaughters, 18 months old and 3 years old. And it's a great source of pride in her life, no surprise. But I think what struck me was, when I asked her, is she optimistic about their lives, especially as compared to her own. Take a listen.

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FRENCH GATES: It's very hard to think that my two granddaughters have fewer rights than I have in this country. Because of the Dobbs decision, they have fewer rights than I had growing up. That is the oddest thing in the world.

We had a policy on the books for almost 50 years for women, and we rolled it back. That is very bizarre to me.

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GUPTA: Wolf, you're starting to get a sense of what she's focused on, I mean, obviously hundreds of millions of dollars.

But when we dug into that part of the conversation, Wolf, Dobbs, the impact that it may have on her granddaughters, what was interesting is that she now is talking about starting to fund not just policy, but potentially political candidates as well, something we really haven't heard from her or the Gates Foundation even in the past.

This idea that she wants to take some of that money and address some of these things that she's so passionate about through this organization Pivotal, I mean, it's the first time I'd really heard her talking like that, Wolf.

BLITZER: Yes, really important, powerful interview.

Sanjay, thank you very, very much.