The News You Need on Tuesday, June 2, 2026.
Netanyahu is blocking Trump's 'peace' plans, Bari Weiss is intent on destroying 60 Minutes, Melania's connection to Epstein unfolds and other news you need today.
How Netanyahu Successfully Blocks Trump’s Peace Plans
Financial Times
Scott: It’s really all about Lebanon. From the beginning Lebanon has played a central role in what we call the “Iran War.”
And its centrality boils down to this: By pushing his invasion of Lebanon ever more aggressively, Benjamin Netanyahu has the ability to collapse any peace initiative that Donald Trump pursues with Iran and achieve his obvious objective: Keeping America locked into a war with Iran that has no boundaries and no obvious conclusion.
Lead Israeli Iran strategist Danny Citrinowicz expresses this clearly:
Trump’s Iran pity party last night puts the blame for the failure of his efforts on “unpatriotic Republicans,” who give voice to all his efforts shortcomings, echoing for the most part what Netanyahu thinks but does not say.
Netanyahu responds to a deal he doesn’t like by forcing the evacuation of Lebanon’s second city, threatening to “flatten” south Beirut, and pushing his ground invasion far beyond the boundaries he first laid out for it.
His strategic objective in doing this is neither “peace for Galilee” nor the eradication of Hezbollah—rather it is simply to collapse any peace talks. His plan is well crafted, and it is successful.
If you can call the miasma and misery of endless war a success.
Iran has suspended its back-channel negotiations with the United States and warned that it could “complete the closure” of the Strait of Hormuz, the latest sign of escalating tensions between the warring parties.
Tasnim news agency, which is affiliated to Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, said the decision was taken in response to Israel’s bombing campaign in Lebanon against Hizbollah and “ceasefire violations” on all fronts.
The response of that consummate master of the art of the deal, Donald Trump?
In an interview with CNBC, he remarked: “I don’t care if they’re over, honestly.” “I really don’t care. I couldn’t care less,” adding he thought the protracted talks “started to get very boring.”
The War at CBS News
New York Times
Charles: Most serious journalists—and virtually all CBS News alumni—assume that anyone who is willing to run 60 Minutes for editor-in-chief Bari Weiss is by definition unqualified for the job.
That’s because of Weiss’ pristine ignorance of broadcast news and the disastrous news judgement she has displayed since assuming her current job last October. Worst of all is her eagerness to please her Donald Trump-supporting boss David Ellison, and his father Larry, who helped bankroll his son’s purchase of Paramount (which included CBS) and the pending merger with Warner Brothers, which will bring CNN and HBO under the Ellisons’ control. The Wall Street Journal reported that as part of its campaign to get the Trump administration to approve its takeover of Warner Brothers, both Ellisons have already promised the White House a deep overhaul of the CNN network Trump has long said he loathes.
Last week Weiss fired the much loved 60 Minutes Executive Producer Tanya Simon, her deputy Draggan Mihailovich and 60 Minutes correspondents Sharyn Alfonsi and Cecilia Vega. She simultaneously announced the hiring of Nick Bilton as the new boss of 60 Minutes.
Like Weiss, Bilton has zero broadcast news experience.
That was enough to guarantee one of the most vitriolic meetings in the history of broadcast news, according to the tape of it which was promptly leaked to The New York Times.
Bilton opened the meeting with his new staff by declaring that Weiss “loves” CBS News and 60 Minutes.
Then veteran 60 Minutes correspondent Scott Pelley exploded.
She is murdering ‘60 Minutes, the correspondent said. She does not love this place. She was brought in to kill it, and she’s been doing exactly that.
She has no qualifications for her job; you have slender qualifications for this job. The changes that she’s made at the ‘Evening News’ have been catastrophic, so why should we expect that any of this is going to be any better?
I care so deeply about this institution,” Mr. Bilton said, to which Mr. Pelley interrupted: Oh, please.
At one point, Charles Forelle, a top deputy to Ms. Weiss, urged Mr. Pelley not to act “rude” toward Mr. Bilton.
“I’m not being rude,” Mr. Pelley responded. “You know what was rude? Black Thursday was rude”—referring to the day of the most recent 60 Minutes firing.
A CBS executive told the Times Weiss had been prepared to attend the meeting, but given the animosity of the staff towards her, she was warned that would be a very bad idea.
At this point if Weiss fires the rest of the people who hate her, there won’t be any 60 Minutes left worth saving.
Melania Named in Bombshell New Epstein Claims
Daily Beast
Scott: Amanda Ungaro has started making her disclosures about Melania Trump (née Melanija Knavs) and Jeffrey Epstein.
A former associate of Melania Trump has sensationally claimed the first lady was an “escort” for Jeffrey Epstein and met the president through the notorious sex offender.
Former Brazilian model Amanda Ungaro dropped the bombshell allegation on a taped recording, accusing her ex-partner, modeling agent-turned-presidential envoy Paolo Zampolli, of lying about introducing Melania and Donald Trump at a party in 1998.
The story of how Melania Knauss later met her future husband while working as one of Zampolli’s models in New York is now part of MAGA folklore.
It is also something the first lady referenced when she held a surprise press conference in April, mysteriously denouncing what she claimed were “mean-spirited and politically motivated lies” linking her to the late child sex trafficker.
But in her recording posted on X overnight, Ungaro, who has been locked in a bitter custody battle with Zampolli for months, disputes this version of events.
“Let’s tell the public you never was the one introducing Melania to Trump. It was Jeffrey Epstein, as she was escort of Jeffrey Epstein. That’s how she met Donald Trump,” Ungaro claims in the WhatsApp recording.
“And I know, because I was with you 20 years and you always told me it was not you—it was Jeffrey Epstein,” she added.
Knowledge Is Power
Scott: I believe passionately that one of the really poor items in media coverage in the United States is science reporting.
I am routinely pulling things out from major science journals that are significant news in themselves but haven’t really been covered as news.
Try getting the news you need from Charles and I, free for two weeks.
