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Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees
U.S. Official: Witkoff and Kushner Heading to Switzerland for Iran Talks; Report: Inside Hegseth's war on Diversity; Italy's Prime Minister: Trump Completely Fabricated Claimed She Begged of Photo; Kennedy Center Responds To Court In Battle Over Closure; Blue Material Peeling Off Bottom Of Reflecting Pool, Days After Costly Renovation; Mikaela Shiffrin On Returning To The Sport After Losing Her Father. Aired 8-9p ET
Aired June 19, 2026 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: ...should be removed from inside the park. There are currently two pieces of legislation, two competing bills in the city council. One, would outright ban the industry, the other one would create some additional protective measures. Right now, the Ban Bill has the majority of support -- Boris.
BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Gloria Pazmino live for us in Central Park, thank you so much. And thank you for joining us this evening. Erin is back next week. AC360 starts right now.
[20:00:35]
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST, "ANDERSON COOPER: 360": Good evening, from the Newsroom. Topping our CNN Global War coverage, one of the two top American negotiators is heading to Geneva, Switzerland, for peace talks with Iran. Steve Witkoff is on his way tonight, Trump's son in law, Jared Kushner, is also expected shortly, according to a U.S. official.
The talks were derailed last night over Israeli operations against Hezbollah in Lebanon, grounding Vice-President Vance, who canceled his own flight to Geneva at the last moment.
Today, after what Lebanese officials say was the second deadliest day of the fighting there, Israel and Hezbollah agreed to renew their truce. The President praised Israel's prime minister for doing that and in a conversation with AXIOS reported yesterday but released today, he said Israel would follow his guidance.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARC CAPUTO, "THE AXIOS SHOW": Are you going to be able to control Israel from attacking Lebanon?
DONALD TRUMP (R) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Yes. I will be. I mean, I wonder, they have a lot of respect for me and they do as I say.
(END VIDEO CLIP) COOPER: Well, that was recorded yesterday before Israel strikes today
in Lebanon, meaning Israel does not seem always do as he says. The President also underscored where he thought Israel would be without him.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: If it weren't for Donald Trump and Bibi Netanyahu worked well with me. But he will tell you, we're the ones with the guns. We're the ones with the whole deal. We're the ones with the B-2 bombers, et cetera. If it weren't for Donald Trump, Israel would have been eviscerated.
CAPUTO: Your relationship with Netanyahu --
TRUMP: It's good, but we have to keep him a little bit sane.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: A new report in "The Washington Post" could explain some of his attitude. According to "The Post", U.S. Intelligence agencies have warned the President that Netanyahu is likely to take steps to undermine efforts to reach a lasting peace deal with Iran.
Today, the President pushed Tehran for a quick final settlement, giving the regime one of dozens of vague threats he's given over the course of this war.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: It's 60 days, they have to make a deal. Otherwise, we will do things that won't make them happy. But I don't think it's going to get to that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Well, he was harsher in tone in a social media post earlier today, which reads in part, they are finished. We'll play out the 60 days, they get no money, not ten cents.
In point of fact, the memorandum of understanding now in effect calls for the immediate unfreezing of $24 billion in Iranian assets, and Iran is already shipping out millions of barrels of oil.
There were also comments today from the man behind the 2015 agreement with Iran that President Trump turned away from. Here's what former President Obama told NBC News.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: We've now fought a war, spent billions and billions of dollars, you know, put enormous strain on our military. A lot of people have died and it feels like we're back where we were before we started the war, except maybe a little bit worse off.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Joining me now is CNN global affairs analyst Karim Sadjadpour and former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for the Middle East, Dana Strohl.
Karim, what does it signal to you that Witkoff and Jared Kushner are headed to Switzerland for talks?
KARIM SADJADPOUR, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: I think it signals, Anderson, that the Trump administration remains very much committed to this deal. You know, my talks with administration officials, they're not looking at this as just a nuclear nonproliferation deal. They're hoping that there could be a broader breakthrough, almost a normalization with Iran. And you saw that in the statements from Vice- President Vance.
They claim that in their private dealings with Iran, Iranian officials signaled that they're open to changing the 47 years of hostility between America and Iran. But certainly, we don't see any public examples that that's the case.
COOPER: And, Karim, I mean, haven't people in past administrations kind of sung that song as well?
SADJADPOUR: Virtually every administration since 1979 has sought to change and improve the U.S.-Iran relationship because it's in America's national interest. Frankly, it's in Iran's national interest, but it's never been in the interest of a revolutionary regime in Tehran, which believes that its power is better preserved in isolation rather than re-integrating with the international community.
COOPER: Dana, initially, it was Vice-President Vance who was to head to Geneva. It's now Witkoff and Kushner. What does that change mean to you?
DANA STROHL, FORMER DEPUTY ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF DEFENSE FOR THE MIDDLE EAST: Well, first of all, this rush to Geneva, honestly, is pretty unnecessary. They've already signed this deal twice, and they didn't really need to sign it a third time either Vice-President Vance or anyone else. And they have 60 days, and the MOU says that this entire thing can be extended.
So, Witkoff rushing to Geneva, I think, actually shows some desperation and urgency on the part of the Trump administration and what happened today in Lebanon is, is really important. The Iranian regime, as Karim said, is not interested in integration and normalization. They're actually challenging the U.S. position here.
[20:05:32]
COOPER: And Karim, that's important, I mean, Iran is not going to be abandoning Hezbollah.
SADJADPOUR: Not at all, Lebanese Hezbollah, in my view, is essentially part of the Iranian revolutionary guards. And I think the key distinction here, Anderson, the key difference between America and Israel and Iran here is on the concept of sovereignty, because Iran says Lebanon is a sovereign country and Israel shouldn't violate that sovereignty.
Israel says, yes, Lebanon is a sovereign country, and therefore there shouldn't be an Iranian militia on Lebanese soil lobbying strikes against us. And this is an issue which, in my view, the memorandum of understanding, which was written, didn't really address this issue at all.
COOPER: And, Dana, you heard the President say that a deal has to be made in 60 days. Otherwise, "We will do things that won't make them happy again." One of those kinds of vague threats he's been giving a lot of. Can all of the very complicated details realistically get hammered out in 60 days when the talks aren't even happening yet?
STROHL: There are so many complex issues related to verifiable assurances on Iran's nuclear program that, honestly, from an American security interest, we wouldn't want it to only happen in 60 days. This Iranian negotiating team has been negotiating with successive groups of U.S. Administrations, Democratic and Republican, they've run circles around us.
So, the idea that we would rush to a bad deal in 60 days when, frankly, this MOU is quite concessionary toward Iran, it would be better off actually to just spend more time stay in this MOU and actually take the time to build international support, especially among members of the security council on verifiable commitments related to Iran's nuclear program. So, we can know that they actually will not ever have a pathway to a nuclear weapon capability.
COOPER: Karim, I've heard you say that this agreement is a massive strategic defeat for the U.S. and you've also said that Trump has acted like a poker player who believes his own bluffs. Can you explain?
SADJADPOUR: Well, it's a massive strategic defeat, Anderson, and that we just spent perhaps upwards of $100 billion and we've gotten an MOU, which is much worse than we would have gotten before the war began. So that's the definition of a strategic defeat.
COOPER: Worse, because?
SADJADPOUR: Well, worse in that our leverage was much worse. We're essentially in this MOU ceding potentially the Strait of Hormuz to Iran after 60 days. They have had far more leverage over us now than they did before the war. And yes, indeed, President Trump, you know, he made a lot of blusterous statements beginning on the night of the war that he was going to further obliterate Iran's nuclear program, raise its missiles down to the ground, destroy its proxies, potentially unseat its regime.
And now, his language is totally changed in four months, he's gone from an Iran hawk to an Iran apologist, saying there's a new group of reasonable men. We can work with them. Mojtaba Khamenei is respected. They should, they deserve to have a missile program.
And so, his language on this has changed quite dramatically.
COOPER: Yeah, I mean, Dana, the President has said they seem less radical than the previous regime. Is there any evidence of that?
STROHL: If we wanted any indication that this Iranian regime is no different, it's that after securing the President's signature on an MOU that is so much to the benefit of the Iranian regime, they then upped the ante by directing Hezbollah to attack Israel in Lebanon. And there were four Israeli soldiers that were killed just today.
So, this entire narrative that it's Israel that's escalating in Lebanon actually ignores the fact that it's the Iranians who perceived the wind t their back because of how harsh President Trump and Vice- President Vance have been towards Israel. They're directly challenging Trump to stick with this MOU at this point in time. And the pressures on Israel, when really the pressure should be on Iran, who said that it would commit and respect Lebanon's sovereignty in this MOU, and it's Iran that's not doing that.
COOPER: Dana Strohl, Karim Sadjadpour, thanks so much.
[20:10:00]
Next, detailed new reporting on just how far Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth is going in his campaign against diversity in the military. A new piece in the New York times about secret vetting that he and his team have been conducting against high-ranking Black officers who have spoken about diversity in the past and how they're getting blocked for promotion.
Also, President Trump says Italy's Prime Minister begged him for a photo with him. Now, she is essentially saying (foreign language). We'll explain ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: New reporting tonight in "The New York Times" about the extent of Defense Secretary Hegseth war on diversity in the Armed Forces. It seems targeting officers who have spoken out about diversity in the past, often encouraged to do so by the military.
Now, "The Times" focuses on a Navy Rear Admiral named Steven Barnett, that's him. Someone who top leadership in the Navy identified as their first choice for a promotion in new command. The times headline reads secret vetting and blocked promotions inside Hegseth's war on diversity.
He's been waging that war since first taking office, and is not shy about saying so.
[20:15:19]
PETE HEGSETH, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF WAR SECRETARY: The single dumbest phrase in military history was peddled in our Army only a few short years ago. You've all heard it. Maybe in your first two years at West Point. Our diversity is our strength. These ideas are what get people killed. Diversity is not our strength. Unity is our strength.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: This new "Times" article goes into great detail on how he's turning those words into action, and the effect it's having on some of the services most qualified senior officers, including, seems rear Admiral Barnett, who was in line for command overseeing the Navy's bases at home and abroad.
Top Navy leadership considered him to be their top choice, but the final decision fell to secretary Hegseth and, quoting now from "The New York Times", "The officer, however, had a big strike against him. Like other black military leaders, he had been encouraged by his superiors to help the Navy recruit and retain minority officers, who remain significantly underrepresented in the force".
His years old remarks on the importance of diversity had been flagged in a secret vetting process designed to weed out senior leaders, whom Mr. Hegseth and his team pegged as a problem. Secretary Hegseth promoted a White officer instead who was the Navy's leaderships third choice for this job, not their first who was Admiral Barnett?
As we've seen, he's not the only one going all the way up to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, General C.Q. Brown, whom the President dismissed earlier this year.
Secretary Hegseth at the time said he was, "not the right man for the moment," adding that the Pentagon needed a Merit-Based approach and fresh leadership.
Now, with this new reporting, we know more about how that is being carried out. Kate Kelly shares a byline on the story. She joins us now. The incredible reporting on this. You reported back in 2021, Rear Admiral Barnett had made remarks at a Black history month event that were flagged in a secret vetting process for the position he was being considered for. He said, as the country becomes more diverse, it makes sense for our military to become more diverse and went on to say, monolithic organizations cannot and will not survive. What did these remarks do to his chances for promotion?
KATE KELLY, INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER, "THE NEW YORK TIMES": Well, the problem, Anderson, which we've seen with some other examples that Greg Jaffe and I have been writing about, is any sort of speaking, affirmatively about the importance of diversity or even reminiscing about a person's earlier days in the military.
Let's say it's a woman who came through the ranks at a time when there weren't a lot of women or a Black man who had a similar experience. That can be seen as somehow promoting this DEI agenda that, of course, President Trump and also Secretary of Defense Hegseth are very much opposed to the mentality of it can be perceived by, SecDef Hegseth as too woke. This is his word that he uses all the time. And he criticizes the mentality of, you know, promoting, concerns about diversity or identity over merit. What's so stunning, though, about the Barnett example, as you point out, is he was the Navy leadership's first choice for this role in a merit-based process. And what we find when we look at the One Star and Two Star promotions, which are slightly lower ranks, than what, Admiral Barnett was looking at here.
This is a board driven, secretive process. These boards meet in a clandestine setting. They're in the sort of equivalent of a skiff where they can bring phones or notebooks or anything else. There are strict rules regarding the secrecy and the process, and it's entirely merit driven.
So, this search for social media history, comments about diversity and so on are a totally new feature of a process.
COOPER: And that's what you reported that essentially, they've set up Hegseth and his team have set up kind of this side vetting process, separate from the actual vetting process of Navy leadership and it's looking at social media posts, looking for any evidence of, you know, using naughty words like diversity or inclusion.
KELLY: Right, and one thing in our story is that, there's a theory in and out of the Navy among folks that are watching this process and are concerned about it, that those who commanded a large ship in the navy and had a public affairs officer on board, whose job was to tout all the good work that they were doing and all the all the events that they had, whatever they may have been, they could have been a community event.
They could have been a team building event. They could have been a pride event in the month of June, right. Those all landed on social media in an attempt to burnish the Navy's reputation, but now can be used against those people.
And what's also worth noting, Anderson, is that these were the types of events and comments that were very much encouraged in the prior administration. So, you have officers here who were simply following the Commander in Chief and the SecDef's instructions or cultural sort of priorities at that time and now these things in a different administration that has a very different point of view about this, are being used to block their promotions or even essentially force their retirement.
[20:20:33]
COOPER: Yes, I mean, they were asked by others to speak. It's remarkable reporting, Kate Kelly, thank you so much, appreciate it.
Some new diplomatic fallout from the President's long-standing habit of claiming people begged him for something. In this case, a photograph, he told an Italian T.V. outlet that the Prime Minister of Italy, Giorgia Meloni, begged him for a picture with her at the G7 Summit. Quoting him now, "She begged me to take a photo with her. She wanted a photo with me so badly, I could have skipped it, but I felt sorry for her." Complicating the matter, the Italian channel did not play his original words, dubbed over them. Instead in Italian. Neither the White House nor the State Department responded to our request for comment. However, the Italian Foreign Minister canceled an upcoming meeting here with Secretary of State Rubio calling the President's begging claim, "offensive" and it clearly offended Prime Minister posted this on social media.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GIORGIA MELONI, ITALIAN PRIME MINISTER: Donald Trump's statements are completely made up. I am frankly astonished. I don't know why the President of the United States behaves like this toward his allies. It's not the first time. Moreover, I can only say it is disappointing that he does not show the same determination with the enemies of the West and of the United States, whose leaders he instead treats with far greater indulgence. There is one thing he should remember neither I nor Italy ever beg.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Joining us now to political strategists from the right and left, respectively, Brad Todd and Meghan Hayes. Brad, do you think it's acceptable the President make a comment like that about a U.S. ally if it's not true?
BRAD TODD, CNN COMMENTATOR, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: No, first off, if it is true, it is surprising to me and actually confusing. You know, Giorgia Meloni has been one of Donald Trump's best allies. He called her a fantastic leader a year or so ago. He said this about Friedrich Merz or Keir Starmer or Macron, I might understand it, but you know, Giorgia Meloni does not always agreed with him. She didn't let us use the Air Base in Sicily for the war in Iran, which I wish she had. But by and large, she's as good a friend as he has in Western Europe, so I'm surprised by it.
COOPER: Meghan, what's your reaction to this and the fact that it turned into a diplomatic incident with the Italian foreign minister canceling his trip to the U.S.?
MEGHAN HAYES, FORMER BIDEN WHITE HOUSE DIRECTOR OF MESSAGE PLANNING: Yes. Look, I mean, these G7 and G20s are, all these leaders are there and there's so much interaction, and it's a lot of it is on camera. So, it's astounding to me that he would just flat out lie. But it goes with the pattern of Donald Trump insulting women. He's done it with reporters. Now he's doing it with world leaders. There's really no reason to do this, and there's no reason to insult one of his biggest allies or any of our allies in in Europe at all.
COOPER: Brad, you know, what the Prime Minister was alluding to is this idea that the President has repeatedly pushed allies away and seems to be cozying up, you know, to praising Vladimir Putin or, you know, Xi in in China, what do you make of that? Is that a concern of yours at all?
TODD: Well, what's a concern of mine is that we find ways to cultivate allies who are, who stand with us and Giorgia Meloni has defended Donald Trump to other leaders in Western Europe. He has a real hard time with folks who are with him 90 percent of the time as John Cornyn found out in Texas.
And I think you have to be willing to take allies who are with you 80 or 90 percent of the time and call them friends. That's what Ronald Reagan always said.
COOPER: Meghan, as you know, much of the friction between the administration allies in recent months have been over the Iran war, Steve Witkoff, Jared Kushner now heading to Switzerland. Where do you see this going?
HAYES: I mean, hopefully there is a deal. I think our global economy needs it, as I'm sure that a lot of these conversations at the G7 were around opening the Strait of Hormuz up. This has impacted not only their citizens, but a lot of Americans as well with gas prices and food prices escalating because of it. So, one would hope that they get a deal. And this negotiation, this MOU, actually turns into an actual deal.
COOPER: Bret, when you were on the program earlier this week, you were saying that none of the Republican elected officials and candidates you spoke with think this agreement with Iran in its current form is a good idea. If there aren't changes in upcoming talks or if these 60- day talks go nowhere, as most people seem to indicate, there's no way such a complex deal could be done in 60 days, even if it's extended two or three times. How much of a political problem would that be for the President?
TODD: Well, I think that, you know, the Republican party, the rank and file are hawkish, and they want to see our enemies defeated. They liked what Donald Trump did and frankly, with seven Presidents overdue to go after Iran and try to end their nuclear program, that's really the shining moment of his presidency if you ask a lot of Republicans, especially elected officials. I think failing to finish that job will weaken him within the party.
You know, it's often said that there's this MAGA wing that's dovish. There really is like 20 people on the internet who have big followings are dovish. It's not really the Republican rank and file is that way. So, I think, I hope the President doesn't misread that and I hope that he drives a really hard bargain.
[20:25:16]
COOPER: Brad, do you really don't think that this war was unpopular among many of the President's supporters? No, I have I have survey research to back it up. You know, the Republican supporters consistently supported the President in this war. The problem is, is his few critics on the Republican side on this are people like Tucker Carlson who have big megaphones, but they literally do not represent what your standard rank and file primary voter is.
I mean, we surveyed it all throughout the process. And if anything, stopping attacking Iran was the most unpopular thing he did among Republicans in the war.
COOPER: Meghan, do you think the Iran war is going to be a major issue come midterms?
HAYES: I think that the downstream effects of the war with the gas prices and a failed deal and all the resources and money that we've spent and gotten nothing from it, I think that is what's going to become a big deal. I think he's completely misjudged the political calculations.
But again, Donald Trump is not on the ballot in November, so he'll never have to pay the price for his terrible decisions and the things he's doing to our economy. It's all these rank-and-file members, as Brad is mentioning that have to be supportive of him or they would have lost their primaries. So, those are the people who are going to lose.
TODD: J.D. Vance has to run to one day, theoretically, if he chooses to.
COOPER: What do you think about Marco Rubio? He seems awfully silent these days, Brad.
TODD: He does, we heard a lot more from Marco Rubio in the wake of Venezuela. And, you know, the Vice-President has taken a very big gamble here. He thought the war was bad. And the deal is good. And most Republicans, again, I think they think the war was good and the deal is bad.
And so, it's a real big chance he's taking. He has a lot of assets. He's a good communicator. He's got a lot of a lot of future. But I think this is a political risk for him and I'm surprised he's taken it.
COOPER: Brad Todd, Meghan Hayes, really appreciate it. Thanks so much.
HAYES: Thank you.
COOPER: Coming up next, we have breaking news in the court battle over the President's name on the Kennedy Center. That and a question why is there still a tarp covering up where that name once was?
Also, new reporting, one of the companies hired to fix the reflecting pool, specifically the man connected to it and his connection in turn to the President. This while the pool remains green in places and its fresh blue bottom has started coming undone, more details ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:31:29]
COOPER: We have more breaking news tonight at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington. A tarp still covers the name of the building a week after the president's name was removed following a judge's order. That judge also blocked the president and the rest of the Kennedy Center board, largely composed of his allies, from closing the building for renovations next month.
The judge had demanded by today a plan for continuing performances there, and that filing has just come out. CNN's Julia Benbrook has been reading it over, joins us now from outside the Kennedy Center. So, what's in it? What's the latest?
JULIA BENBROOK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, this filing, it came out just moments ago. It is 14 pages long. We're still diving into some of the details, but the top lines here are the Kennedy Center is asking for more time. They're also outlining some of the potential ways forward.
They have put out three main options that the Kennedy Center could be closed, that they could have performances at other venues, or that minimal performances could be booked here. So, a lot to still be worked out here, as they are asking for more time to work through this.
But this comes in response to a federal judge who temporarily blocked the Trump administration's plans to close the Kennedy Center, saying that that would then be in the way of them carrying out their congressionally mandated activities.
So, he asked for this response. He asked for the Kennedy Center to outline how it would maintain public access and ongoing programming activities and operations following that July 4th expected closure. Now, I did look at the schedule coming up after that.
There are only just a few things on it, including some outdoor movies, showings of Superman and The Princess Diaries, as well as a children's concert and some children's craft activities. But when it comes to those big Broadway productions, those big names, those are a lot more complicated. They sometimes take weeks, months to get booked.
And then on top of that, there's the issue that a lot of these acts had been canceling even before we knew that this might be closed, saying that they were having some issues with the political nature of where the Kennedy Center stands right now.
And I want to step just to the side for a minute so you can see what is behind me here, because this is all related. That same judge is the one that called for Trump's name to be taken off of the building.
Now, the Kennedy Center says that his name is now off of the building, but if you come out here looking for proof of that, you're not going to find it. This tarp has been up for several weeks now and just created a lot of questions. There's a lot of people came out here really cheering on that moment, some that had issues with his name being on it.
They can't see exactly what has happened. We do know that Trump himself has had the opportunity at least to see this as his motorcade passed through here just last weekend.
COOPER: Julia Benbrook, thanks so much. Appreciate it. An update now on the president's no-bid reflecting pool project. He promised clean water, but days after the renovations, as you know, pieces of its new blue-painted bottom are now being found loose in the water.
Today, a CNN team saw crews pumping algae-ridden water out of the pool while workers with skimmers were trying to keep busy cleaning up the water. All this despite the more than $14 million renovation.
The New York Times now is reporting that part of the project, focusing on the water purification system with a price tag of $1.7 million, went to a firm fittingly called Green Water Services, also known as Green Water Solutions.
And according to the Times, that company is owned by an investment trust led by this man, John Cafaro.
[20:35:04]
The Times reports his connections to President Trump go back at least a decade. According to the report, he's a Mar-a-Lago neighbor and has given more than $300,000 to the political committees tied to the president. According to the Times, back in 2001, Cafaro pled guilty to conspiracy to bribe then-Congressman James Traffikin Jr., seen here, and later testified against the Ohio Democrat.
An Interior Department spokeswoman told the Times, quote, the Department had not been aware of Mr. Cafaro's political affiliation when it awarded the contract. Adding, quote, this company was selected because they had the expertise, work force and materials, needed to complete the job in time.
The Times also reports that a White House spokesman said the president was not involved in selecting Green Water Services for the project. Joining me now with more of this, The New York Times investigative reporter, David Fahrenthold, who's on the byline for the story.
So explain how this no-bid contract for the water purification system was awarded, and what more do we know about this guy, the owner of the company?
DAVID FAHRENTHOLD, INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER, THE NEW YORK TIMES: Well, so what they're doing here is installing a water purification system among the filters for the pools. So the water in the pool gets piped over to this filtration system. It's supposed to get cleaned and then sent back.
What we don't understand is there are lots of companies that do this. There's lots of companies that produce the technology they needed, and they -- the Park Service says that many of those companies have actually expressed interest in doing this job, but they pushed them all to the side and gave the job directly to this one company owned by this person, obviously connected to the president, a former donor, a longtime donor of the president's.
What we don't know is why. Of all the companies in the world, if you were going to shove them all aside and just pick one, why this one, and how did they come to be on your radar? Other than saying that Trump himself didn't do it, they haven't really explained how that happened. COOPER: He also -- the president once spoke about this guy, J.J. Cafaro, at an event back in 2016. Let's -- I just want to play that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: J.J. Cafaro from Florida and from Cleveland. He's a man who made a lot of money in Cleveland, does a good job, and a fantastic man.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: So, he's got an interesting background. So, what was his deal with Traficant? He, not only, there was some sort of bribery scheme and then he actually testified against Traficant?
FAHRENTHOLD: That's right. He was accused -- he's from Youngstown, Ohio. He was accused, or he pled guilty to conspiracy to bribe Traficant, who was a congressman at the time, for help getting a technology he had in further use in the government. He pled guilty and then testified against Traficant.
So, yes, this is someone who's had that brush with the law, but then he's come -- he's still very rich and he lives near Mar-a-Lago. His wife was the chairwoman of a major gala at Mar-a-Lago in 2017. So, he once told the Financial Times, Mr. Cafaro did, that he had known Donald Trump for 50 years. These are people who have quite a history together.
COOPER: The president denied selecting the contractors, but his story has repeatedly changed. I just want to play what he said back in April.
Or not. We can just stare at the mustache.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: So what we're going to do is, I'm going to call all three of these people that have worked for me in the past doing swimming pools. That's all they can do is a swimming pool. And, I said, give me a good price.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: I mean, it's the amazing thing about this president is because he needs to pump out content so often and wants to constantly be in the news cycle, he says all this stuff, and then later, doubles back on it and said, oh yes, I actually didn't know anybody involved in this.
FAHRENTHOLD: This is so bizarre. This was something that Donald Trump said in the Oval Office and then said again in this video that they filmed especially and put out on YouTube. They really wanted people to hear this story.
And the story was, Trump himself, personally, had found the contractor who was going to fix the reflecting pool, and he knew that contractor because they had done work on the pools at his golf clubs. So, what we know now is that there are, in fact, two different no-bid contracts to fix the pool. One to waterproof it, one to fix the filter.
As far as I can tell, neither one of them have ever worked on Trump's pools, and he himself has now gone back and said, I don't know these people. I didn't choose them. So, the story he told in the beginning that he found these people personally and negotiated with them, you know, talked to them and choose the color, it sounds like that was all just completely wrong.
COOPER: And this idea that, you know, the projects the president cares the most about, the ones that have to be -- the ones he wants done right away, which end up being no-bid contracts, are often the ones that are done, you know, that don't work out or are done poorly or that balloon in cost because nobody is stepping up and saying, you know what, Mr. President, there's a reason these, you know, there's bids on contracts. You get a better price or, you know, you get better services.
FAHRENTHOLD: That's right. That's what, to me, makes this such a compelling story because it's a little microcosm that tells you so much about the way Donald Trump's government works, which is, as you said, the things that he cares the most about, they get done so poorly because the people in government who would normally take those ideas and refine them and find the best person to do the job, they're just told, do it, do it as fast as you can. Don't question it.
[20:40:00]
The only thing you can do wrong here is to tell Trump he's wrong or to stand up or slow down his ideas, you know, just go as fast as you can. So they end up choosing these contractors that, in this case, have produced a really ugly, embarrassing reflecting pool for the president.
COOPER: Yes. David Fahrenthold, thank you as always. Fascinating reporting. Appreciate it.
Just ahead, my conversation with Olympic skier Mikaela Shiffrin about how hard it was to return to the sport that she and her dad both loved so much after he died six years ago. It's part of a special Father's Day edition of my podcast. All there is. We'll hear from Mikaela in a moment.
And next, an Illinois man shares what it was like to survive a powerful tornado that torn to his home with destructive force. He captured the terrifying moment on video.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:45:02]
COOPER: Well, moments before Trevor Kreke's house was destroyed by a tornado in Effingham, Illinois on Wednesday night, he got a call from his grandfather telling him a tornado had touched down. So he went on the porch where he saw a weird cloud, went back inside, started recording, and then take a look. This is what happened.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TREVOR KREKE, TORNADO SURVIVOR: Oh, my gosh. What in the world just happened? I think I'm good. It doesn't seem like my head's bleeding at all. The Lord saved me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Trevor Kreke joins me now. Hey, Trevor, it's good to see you. You were just inside. I mean, the -- the lights went out. How quickly did, did all of this happen?
KREKE: Oh, it was probably 10 to 15 seconds. I got off the phone with my grandpa, walked inside and about 20 seconds later, everything started shaking. Honestly, I started recording because I was going to send a video to my friend. Like it's getting pretty nasty out there. And within about 10 seconds, it got very real, very quick.
COOPER: And where did you stay in the house that you made it through? Because I mean, is the house -- was the house totally destroyed or what? How -- how bad was the damage?
KREKE: Yes, it was a modular home, so I didn't really have anywhere to go. I guess the bathroom would have been the best place, but I'm not sure if it would have been the best place in this case scenario. I walked in and got in the living room and walked around the corner and heard the glass breaking. So I got behind this big bookshelf that was by me.
Yes, I was right inside the middle of the house when the tornado swept it up, but there was nothing left standing at all.
COOPER: And how -- how long, like the video we're seeing right now, is that right after?
KREKE: Yes. So the first video, I actually went and looked on my camera roll today. The first video where the lights shut off and it starts shaking was at 8:10 pm. And then I think my camera just stopped recording because I was in the middle of the tornado and I guess it couldn't record. And then the next video was at 8:11 pm. So I -- it was definitely a minute or less.
COOPER: And -- and you -- I understand you felt the tornado actually lift you off the ground.
KREKE: Right. Yes. I felt my body go off the ground and felt everything around me. I couldn't control my movement. All I could do was say Jesus's name and ask him to help me. And that's what I did.
COOPER: It's so hard to even imagine what that feels like. I mean, could you actually tell you were lifted off the ground?
KREKE: I mean, I guess not technically, but all I know is I didn't feel anything under my feet and I couldn't control any movement, but it was also pitch black. And, I mean, my initial thought once it all started getting intense was I was dying. That's what I thought.
COOPER: And -- and when you finally saw the damage and now we're seeing it, you know, in -- in the light of day, I mean, it's just -- it's just devastating. What do you do? What do you do now?
KREKE: I mean, it was -- it was just shock. I'm still a little in shock going back the next morning. I was looking at everything in shock. And I mean, it was a house that I was renting, so I feel very bad and I really don't feel great for my landlords, but it wasn't a house that I owned.
COOPER: Right.
KREKE: But I was just in shock.
COOPER: Well, Trevor, I'm so glad you you're OK. That's the most important thing. And I really appreciate you taking the time to talk to us.
KREKE: I appreciate you. Thank you very much.
COOPER: You take care. Well, a, you all know who Craig Ferguson is. Scottish born comedian. He's hit the road to find out what it really means to be an American. Each episode of his new CNN show, "Craig Ferguson: American on Purpose." And that's what he is. He became an American citizen on purpose. He explores a different defining aspect of the country.
This weekend's focus land of the individual. Here's a sneak peek.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CRAIG FERGUSON, COMEDIAN: One of the major things that drew me to America was the automobile. You'd see movies and people are driving cars like this.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
FERGUSON: The cave.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The outhouse door.
FERGUSON: The outhouse door. That American idea. Being an individual is a complete negation of the class system that I grew up.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right. Exactly.
FERGUSON: And the wrong end of it as well.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
[20:50:00]
FEGUSON: So that you get -- you ditch the class system. You ditch the idea that you're -- you're born this way and you're born to the service and you -- you'll get to be a housemate system. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right.
FERGUSON: It's like, no, we got fins. Ostentatious success was the way to put forward your individuality.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's right.
FERGUSON: That was like, you've made it, you got the American dream.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right. Of course.
FERGUSON: An individual actually made a piece of art.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Well, I recently sat down with Craig Ferguson for lunch at American cut restaurant in Tribeca. Here's that conversation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: You grew up in Glasgow. It's a legendarily kind of tough city.
FERGUSON: It's a fantastic city, but it's also like a lot of fantastic cities. It's got some real grit about it. And the town was kind of rough. And so it seems like America was in color and that my life was in black and white.
COOPER: I mean, Glasgow is a big drinking town.
FERGUSON: It is. It is a big drinking town. And Scotland's a big, the U.K. is a big drinking.
COOPER: That's the thing about the UK. I think it surprises some people like, I think the American impression is like everyone's so sort of, you know, going to garden parties and stuff in London and you get there. And at 11 o'clock, the pubs close and like people are vomiting and pissing in the streets.
FERGUSON: Well, that's where the upper class English accent is. They've managed to convince the world that it's posh. It's not posh. They're hammered.
COOPER: It is true.
FERGUSON: That's not the accent. That's just very drunk. That's very naughty Paddington. Ooh, blinky, blinky.
COOPER: Are you saying naughty Paddington?
FERGUSON: I'm saying Paddington bear.
COOPER: Yes, I know.
FERGUSON: It's a very naughty, naughty Paddington bear. It's a very naughty bear. I feel like they drink a lot there, which is, you know, I'm not a temperance advocate by any means, but it's too much for me. COOPER: What is the idea behind your show?
FERGUSON: I wanted to make a show which was positive about America, but that seemed radical at a time when the nature of political reporting and news reporting is very hyperbolic. And -- and so the idea of saying, well, it's not that bad seems like the antithesis of news, but I'm not saying it's not that bad. I'm saying that's not everything.
COOPER: What gives you hope about America?
FERGUSON: That it's always been like this. That's kind of what gives me the hope about it.
COOPER: Is that there's always been division.
FERGUSON: You know, a sitting vice president of the United States shot and killed the secretary of the treasury. That's pretty bad. That's pretty bad. And so in about 200 years, there's going to be some great musicals about now is what I'm saying. There are so many different ways to be. I said, you know, I've said this before. I've been Americans. Like, it's like stretchy knitwear. you know, it takes the shape of the person who's wearing it. You know what I mean?
COOPER: I was raised by a Scottish nanny.
FERGUSON: Yes.
COOPER: I told you I'm a McClendon and your accent it's so brings up so many incredible, wonderful memories.
FERGUSON: Right.
COOPER: Should we conclude with some Tunnock's?
FERGUSON: Oh, yes.
COOPER: You gave me these.
FERGUSON: I gave you.
COOPER: I grew up with the Scottish nanny and she -- these were like the greatest treats. These were like gold bars when she would come back from Scotland and give them to me.
FERGUSON: Yes. Yes.
COOPER: So I will give you this.
FERGUSON: Thank you very much. Indeed.
COOPER: So I think these are like --
FERGUSON: Yes, yes, this is -- that's the good stuff. Oh, my God. Yes. Cheers. Oh, sorry. I said caramel log. This is a caramel wafer. I think the nostalgia factory is playing hard with you because basically it's cardboard with a thin layer.
COOPER: I don't want to hear that. Not in my mind. I would ration these out. Like she would bring back a box. No, I would ration them out as long as I could.
FERGUSON: So that's how you and I are different. If I got a box of caramel wafers, I'd eat them all in like 15 seconds. That's why I needed to go to rehab.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Tunnock's caramel wafers. Incredible. Again, you can see Craig's special "American on Purpose" tomorrow night at 9:00 p.m. Eastern.
Up next tonight, my conversation with Olympic skier. She's remarkable. Mikaela Shiffrin and her dad, Jeff, died in 2020. She talks to me about how difficult it was to return to a sport that they had loved together. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:58:39]
COOPER: New episode my podcast All there Is now available with legendary Alpine skier Michaela Schiffer. And you can scan the QR code or watch it at CNN.com/AllThereIs. It's a special Father's Day edition.
Mikaela is a three-time Olympic gold medal Olympian. She -- who shares how hard it was to lose her dad, Jeff in 2020.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MIKAELA SHIFFRIN, THREE-TIME OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALIST: I got a call from my brother and he's like, dad had an accident and you guys have to get home. The last images I have of him are pretty gruesome. And somehow I feel like he -- I still feel like he's beautiful.
COOPER: I wrote a really beautiful essay that you wrote. You said that night everyone cleared out of the room and I climbed into the bed with him. I just put his arm around me, just letting him know that I was there. I put my head on his chest and I could still feel his heart beating.
SHIFFRIN: At that point it was like the only thing keeping him alive is life support.
COOPER: How much time did you have with him?
SHIFFRIN: I laid in bed with him for about nine hours. And that's about when everybody around us just said like, you kind of need to pull the plug.
COOPER: Do you think he felt you there? SHIFFRIN: I would like to think so, but I don't really think that he
felt me. I just really appreciate that I could hold his hand and I could still feel him when there was warmth to his body and say goodbye.
[21:00:07]
COOPER: You were able to hold him?
SHIFFRIN: Yes. So I had -- I heard his heart stop. You talk about feeling your dad with you, and that's something that I don't feel. I was just wondering like if there's a trick to be able to.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: You can hear more of my conversation with Mikaela, wherever you get your podcast or watch it at CNN.com/AllThereIs. That's it for us. The Source with Kaitlan Collins starts now.
