California voters extend two key races; US and Iran exchange heavy strikes
An upset in Iowa, a runoff in Los Angeles and California’s gubernatorial race remains too close to call. The biggest primary winners from Tuesday and one of the night’s biggest surprises.
Plus, a private CBS meeting turns into a very public firing. Scott Pelley is out, and his parting shot keeps the fight alive.
And the Trump administration pulls the plug on its $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization fund.” The program died before a single dollar went out the door.
These stories and more highlight your Unbiased Updates for Wednesday, June 3, 2026.
Los Angeles mayoral race heads to a runoff; California governor’s race too close to call
Another day of primary elections is over, and Los Angeles is headed for a high-profile mayoral runoff. Incumbent Mayor Karen Bass is on track to advance to November after falling short of the 50% needed to win outright.
With ballots still being counted, former reality TV star Spencer Pratt appears to have the inside track for the second spot, holding a lead over city council member Nithya Raman.
Bass is campaigning on experience and on her efforts to rebuild Los Angeles after last year’s wildfires.
“Los Angeles is the creative capital of the world, where we dream and we make our dreams come true,” Bass said Tuesday. “Where our industry was leaving, but we are bringing it back. We’re bringing it back.”
Pratt has positioned himself as a political outsider promising change at City Hall.
“Now I feel very confident that I am going to continue to work hard and learn everything I need to learn how to build my teams, show all the experience I’m going to surround myself with,” Pratt said. “We have five months to build the best team the city could ever dream of around me.”
Meanwhile, the California gubernatorial race is still too close to call. Republican Steve Hilton holds a narrow lead in early returns, with former Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra close behind.
If those standings hold, both men would advance to November under California’s top-two primary system.
Billionaire Tom Steyer remains in contention as counting continues.
“Change is coming to California, and it’s long overdue,” Hilton said. “I want to just say something from my heart to every single person who’s voted for me. We’re not — we’re not there yet, but it’s looking good.”
Becerra also recognized ballots were still being counted, but noted he’s confident he will advance.
“While I take nothing for granted, there are lots of ballots left to be counted,” Becerra said. “It appears that we are on track to advance to November. One step closer, one step closer to the son of those hard-working immigrants, Maria and Manuel Becerra, becoming the next governor of the great state of California.”
Steyer made similar comments.
“We’re going to wait until every ballot is counted,” he said. “We’re going to give democracy time to work. And we know we finished really strong.”
Across the country in Iowa, one of the biggest surprises of the night came in the Republican race for governor. Trump-backed Rep. Randy Feenstra lost to farmer and businessman Zach Lahn by about one percentage point, a margin of roughly 2,000 votes.
Feenstra conceded, and Lahn will now face Democratic state auditor Rob Sand in November.
In Iowa’s open U.S. Senate race, Republican Rep. Ashley Hinson won the GOP nomination and will face Democrat Josh Turek in November.
Across the country, the U.S. Supreme Court has allowed Alabama to use its current congressional map while legal challenges continue. A lower court recently found the map discriminated against Black voters. The Supreme Court’s order means it will remain in place for now.
US, Iran trade new strikes with Kuwait airport reporting major damage
The ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran is under new strain Wednesday after both sides exchanged some of their most significant strikes since the truce took hold overnight.
The escalation began when the U.S. said it used a Hellfire missile to disable an oil tanker headed for Iran.
Iran responded by launching missiles toward Kuwait and Bahrain, accusing both countries of bearing what it called “direct and clear responsibility” for U.S. attacks by allowing American forces to operate from their territory.
Kuwait said its international airport suffered significant damage in the strike. Bahrain said it intercepted multiple missiles and drones before they could reach their targets.
Meanwhile, the U.S. carried out additional strikes on Qeshm island, targeting a drone command site and communications infrastructure that officials say Iran uses to coordinate unmanned aircraft operations.
CBS fires Scott Pelley following clash over ’60 Minutes’
The turmoil at “60 Minutes” has intensified. Just days after a major leadership shakeup, CBS News fired veteran correspondent Scott Pelley after a heated confrontation with the show’s new boss.
According to multiple reports, Pelley used a staff meeting Monday to blast CBS News leadership, including editor-in-chief Bari Weiss. He reportedly accused her of “murdering ’60 Minutes'” and questioned the qualifications of new executive producer Nick Bilton.
(Michele Crowe/CBS News via Getty Images | Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images
Less than 24 hours later, Bilton hit back.
In a termination letter, he accused Pelley of hijacking his first staff meeting and publicly disparaging him with what he called “remarkable incivility and contempt.”
Pelley responded with a statement of his own, taking aim at Weiss and the network’s management.
“The leadership of 60 Minutes is no longer recognizable,” Pelley said. “The principles I hold dear are gone, and so I must leave as well.”
The firing comes less than a week after CBS removed correspondents Sharyn Alfonsi and Cecilia Vega, along with several senior producers, as part of a broader overhaul of the network’s flagship newsmagazine.
(Michele Crowe/CBS via Getty Images | Jemal Countess/Getty Images for Voto Latino)
Anchor Anderson Cooper announced in February that he too is leaving the show.
The changes have sparked a growing debate inside CBS over the future of “60 Minutes” under new ownership. Last year, Paramount’s Skydance leadership hired Weiss and acquired her media company, The Free Press, as part of its effort to remake CBS News.
DOJ confirms $1.8B ‘anti-weaponization fund’ nixed
The Trump administration has confirmed the controversial $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization fund” is dead.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche told lawmakers Tuesday the Justice Department will abandon the program altogether.
The fund resulted from Trump’s settlement with the IRS over the leak of his tax returns and was intended to compensate people who claimed they’d been targeted by government abuse or political prosecutions during the Biden administration.
But Democrats blasted it as a taxpayer-funded payout for Trump allies. Critics said it could end up sending money to people convicted in connection with the Jan. 6 Capitol attack.
Todd Blanche, acting attorney general: “We are not moving forward with the fund, period. The reasons for the fund is something that President Trump talked about for a long time, which is the fact that there were a lot of people in this country who had their government weaponized against them. The reasons for the fund, I think, remain as important as they were before, but we are not moving forward with the fund.“
Rep. Grace Meng, D-N.Y.: “Not moving forward ever?”
Blanche: “Correct.“
The Justice Department had already paused work on the fund after a federal judge temporarily blocked it last week. But Republican senators wanted something more permanent, fearing the issue could derail a broader GOP push to approve billions of dollars for immigration enforcement and border security.
Trump orders new AI security review
Trump has long argued the government should stay out of the way of artificial intelligence. Now, his administration is asking some of the most powerful AI companies to give Washington an early look at their newest models.
Trump signed a new executive order Tuesday that would ask companies developing the most advanced AI systems to voluntarily give the government access to those models up to 30 days before they’re released.
The order says advanced AI makes the country stronger, but also creates new national security risks.
The White House said the goal is to spot cybersecurity threats before powerful new systems reach the public. The move follows growing concerns that next-generation AI tools could help bad actors find software vulnerabilities or launch more sophisticated cyberattacks.
Trump scrapped an earlier version of the order last month, saying he didn’t want to slow America’s AI race with China. The final version shortens the review period from 90 days to 30 days and makes it clear that participation is voluntary.
The order also creates a new AI “cybersecurity clearinghouse” to help identify digital threats before they spread.
Blue Origin to launch New Glenn rocket by end of year
Less than a week after a dramatic and fiery explosion, Blue Origin said it’s already on track to get its New Glenn rocket back into space.
The company’s CEO, Dave Limp, said damage to launch complex 36 wasn’t nearly as bad as first thought, and the company now expects to fly its New Glenn rocket again before the end of the year.
In what he described as a stroke of good luck, most of the pad’s key structures survived the blast. Even the damaged support tower can be repaired on site rather than demolished and rebuilt.
The rocket that exploded last Thursday is a total loss, but a second New Glenn vehicle, stored inside the nearby integration facility, escaped damage and is available for a future flight.
Investigators are still trying to determine what caused the explosion.
The New Glenn program is expected to play a major role in NASA’s long-term plans for the Moon.
NASA administrator Jared Isaacman said earlier this week he remains optimistic the U.S. can return astronauts to the lunar surface by 2028.
More from Straight Arrow:
Why cities are eyeing nonprofit real estate to solve their budget crises
When Maine Public bought a largely empty building for a new studio in Portland, it figured the deal would come with the same property tax exemption that the radio and television nonprofit has long claimed for sites it owns in two other Maine cities.
In February, the Portland tax assessor sent a bill anyway.
Nobody disputes that Maine Public is a nonprofit. And Maine state statutes allow nonprofits with “benevolent” and “charitable” missions to bow out of paying property taxes.
But does that include Maine Public?
Did it ever?
Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief
