Key Primary Results, Trump's Intel Pick & Summer Jobs - Wednesday, June 3, 2026

**Erica Mandy** (0:00)
Today is Wednesday, June 3rd. We have some early takeaways from the biggest primary night of the midterms so far. Also, we'll tell you about some of the most intense fighting in the Middle East since the Iran ceasefire began, and President Trump's unconventional pick to lead agencies like the CIA, plus promising new research on a shot to help stop skin cancer from coming back, the way hackers used Meta's own AI chatbot to break into high-profile Instagram accounts, and why a well-known journalist was just fired from CBS News. Those stories and even more news coming up.
Welcome to The NewsWorthy, all the day's news in less than 15 minutes. I'm Erica Mandy. Thanks so much for being here. Let's do this.
Results are still trickling in from what was considered the largest primary night so far in the midterm election cycle. We'll start with California, where the rules say the two candidates with the most votes move on to November regardless of party. The California governor's race has not been called yet, but early returns at least show the frontrunners are Democratic former health secretary Javier Becerra and conservative commentator Steve Hilton. California has not elected a Republican governor in 20 years, so Hilton making the general election could become one of the night's biggest bright spots for the GOP.
One of the night's biggest upsets came in Iowa, where the Trump endorsed candidate for governor lost to his Republican challenger. The Democrat ran unopposed in his primary, and now Democrats see this as one of their best opportunities to pick up a governorship this year. Also in Iowa, voters set up a high-profile race to succeed retiring US. Senator Joni Ernst. They chose Republican Congresswoman Ashley Hinson and Democratic Paralympian Josh Turek for the general election. Meanwhile, the governor's race in New Mexico could make history since Democrats picked former Interior Secretary Deb Haaland. If elected in the fall, she could become the first Native American woman to become governor of a US state. Of course, those were just a few highlights out of hundreds of races yesterday. Next week, it's time for Maine, Nevada, North Dakota, and South Carolina primaries.
Courts have been going back and forth on Alabama's congressional map for five years now. And yesterday, with just two weeks to go before the state's primary, the US. Supreme Court has handed down a decision. The high court decided Alabama could use the map Republicans prefer, that includes only one district where black voters are the majority, instead of two. And one Democrat is expected to lose his seat in the US. House because of it. Of course, this is just the latest in a series of Supreme Court rulings that could reshape the midterms mostly in favor of Republicans.
He's a wealthy businessman who became the federal housing regulator, and now he's about to start leading the US intelligence community at a time of war and global tensions. President Trump named Bill Poulty as the acting Director of National Intelligence, even though he has no national security experience. But he's known as a Trump loyalist who has used his position as head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency to push for investigations of the president's perceived enemies, accusing five of them of mortgage fraud. In announcing his choice, President Trump cited Poulty's deep experience managing the most sensitive matters in America, specifically mentioning the stock market and his oversight of mortgage giants. Poulty will stay on as the Director of the Housing Regulatory Agency and Chairman of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, while also managing the 18 agencies within the US intelligence community, including the CIA and NSA.
The interim head of the Justice Department confirmed the so-called anti-weaponization fund is being shelved for good. But another part of the controversial settlement between President Trump and his own administration remains in place. We're talking about the part that protects the president and his family from getting audited over any of their past tax records. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche got into these details at a congressional hearing yesterday. As we've told you, both the fund and the audit protection for the Trump family were part of a settlement to end Trump's lawsuit against the IRS over his tax information getting leaked. Even Republicans have been especially critical of the anti-weaponization fund, saying it would improperly use taxpayer money to compensate Trump's allies and reward people who assaulted lease officers during the capital riot. Now, with the fund off the table, attention is shifting to the audit protection. While it has generated less backlash, it's still an unusual feature in a settlement like this. And some lawmakers say they expect that provision to be challenged as well.
The ceasefire between the US and Iran is facing one of its biggest tests yet. Overnight, Iran fired missiles and drones toward Kuwait and Bahrain, and at least one of them landed. Authorities say Kuwait's international airport was damaged this morning, and multiple people there were hurt. In a clear example of this conflict, now once again spilling into civilian areas. Iran says it was actually targeting US military facilities in response to an earlier American strike on an oil tanker headed toward Iran. No US troops were reported hurt. In response to these latest attacks, the US launched strikes on an Iranian military facility in the Strait of Hormuz. Meanwhile, there are mixed signals about whether diplomatic talks are still on track. As Iranian news outlets report, Iran's leadership has stopped communicating with mediators. Though President Trump says negotiations are continuing.