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Trump Says the Deal is All Signed With Iran; Spain Kicks Off World Cup Campaign; New York Knicks Are 2026 NBA Champs. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired June 15, 2026 - 13:30   ET

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

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[13:30:00]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": -- break down those concerns when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": Back now to the Breaking News. President Trump is now in Europe ahead of the G7 Summit, a day after he announced a U.S. agreement with Iran. Vice President J.D. Vance says the tentative deal was signed electronically on Sunday, but the details here are still very scarce.

President Trump says as part of the agreement, the U.S. will end its blockade of Iranian ports. And at the same time, two semi-official Iranian news agencies say Tehran will allow free transit through the Strait of Hormuz while in a 60-day window for further negotiations. So let's talk about all of this with retired General Wesley Clark. He's former NATO Supreme Allied Commander.

[13:35:00]

General, let's be clear, because there is so much about this agreement that we do not know, but based on what you're hearing, how would you describe this? And what about this are you seeing positively?

GEN. WESLEY CLARK (RET.), FORMER NATO SUPREME ALLIED COMMANDER: Well, I would describe it as an agreement to continue to argue about the important issues in the region. But I do think if we get the Strait open and there's no toll, that would be positive. But of course, the Strait was open before we started this, and everybody understands that.

But still, it's important because we're taking the slack out of the oil network globally. By the end of July, we were going to be in real trouble. So I think it's important that the Strait's going to be open here while we do these negotiations.

KEILAR: So if the Strait is open, toll-free as the president puts it, right? That's what he's calling it. It's still not fully open because there are mines, as we understand it. It's unclear exactly how many. But this is restricting transit through, I don't know if you want to call it the fast lanes, but the easiest place to go through, which is right through the middle. So now you have ships, if they are going to go through, they're going to have to hug the coast. They're not going to have as much room to move through.

That is going to restrict some traffic. What does it entail to get rid of these mines, to really ensure that nothing is still there and is a danger?

CLARK: First of all, we've got to hold the Iranians accountable to get the mines out. And we've got to double-check it ourselves. We've got surface mine sweepers. We've got ability to use unmanned undersea vehicles to search for these mines. We can detect some of the mines.

There may be some that are very hard to detect. There could be a composite on the bottom buried in mud with command control linkages. We don't know that. So we're going to have to really lean on the Iranians to do their part of this as rapidly as possible.

KEILAR: Another thing about this is because we do not have the details, we're not seeing it written down. We are reliant somewhat on the characterizations of this agreement. And they're different when you look at them from the U.S. and Iran. Iran says that by this agreement, the U.S. has to release billions of dollars of frozen Iranian funds for them to begin. So release the funds, then the 60-day negotiation period begins.

A U.S. official tells CNN, quote, "This is completely not true." And the Trump administration is emphasizing that they're going to release money as they see Iran implementing their commitments. How do you see this? Because these two things are mutually exclusive.

CLARK: I see moving forward with a lot of friction. And every single step is going to be difficult. But the Iranians are excellent at this. This is what they do in negotiations. They can drag this out. And Brianna, I think you have to look beyond this agreement and say, what's happening behind the scenes? Well, what's happening on the American side is we're going to pull off the troops and get some of these ships back to home port, replenish, give the sailors a break.

What's happening on the Iranian side is the Russians and Chinese are continuing to beef up Iranian military capacity. And so with every passing week, they're getting stronger, whereas we're giving up our leverage. And when I look at negotiations and in my experience, the leverage is critical as you're going through this period.

So I know we want the price of oil down, and the president wants to take a victory lap on this and so forth. And there are a lot of political forces pushing him in that way in the United States. But in terms of dealing with the Iranians, you've got to have continuing leverage.

In my view, we could have opened the Strait militarily. We should have done it. We should have taken that leverage away from the Iranians weeks ago through Project Freedom. But we didn't do that for whatever reason. So now, we're left with a situation where we could be in a long-term argument. I'm sure some money is going to be released conditionally.

And that's not what we had hoped would be the outcome of this. Apparently, the axis of resistance is going to be untouched. Hezbollah is going to be there, the Iranian militias continuing military support to the Houthis in case they need to close the Red Sea, and continued buildup of the Iranian missile forces.

So when you look at this on balance, it's pretty frightening.

KEILAR: You're not impressed as you're hearing this clearly. When you talk about that leverage, and you see the president giving it up because U.S. troops are pulling out of the area, what can the president do?

[13:40:00]

What should he be doing, obviously, besides that, in your view? Because he does need leverage in this key part of dealing with these big nuclear issues during further discussions.

CLARK: Well, I would hope he'd first go to the leaders in Congress and set aside these concerns about the War Powers Resolution. Because he's doing what he can right now. He needs the congressional support, keep the troops in place. And if shooting starts again, you want the Congress and the American people behind you.

And I think he needs to come to the American people, not in a tweet, but actually speaking to the American people about what this means, why he did it, what it means for the future. I think he needs to pull the country together rather than having it divided on this.

If he can do this, he'll have greater leverage in getting the right outcome in these negotiations.

KEILAR: General Wesley Clark, we appreciate you being with us. Thank you.

CLARK: Thank you, Brianna.

KEILAR: Coming up, one of the darlings of the World Cup hitting the pitch, but things are not exactly going according to plan. We'll have the latest on Spain's opening match next.

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[13:45:40]

SANCHEZ: Definitely not my favorite story of the day. I'm kind of being forced into this. I don't really want to do it to be honest with you. But it is the chant that is uniting the entire city of New York. Knicks in 5. After a 53-year drought, the New York Knickerbockers are once again NBA champions.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now, four-point lead. Here comes Fox. Five seconds remaining. F ox to Wemby, Wemby tries a three, puts it up, off the mark. Anunoby the rebound. It's over! It's over! Knick fans, this is not a dream. Your long, long wait has ended. Go ahead and cry. After 53 years, the Knicks are finally NBA champions once again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Team captain Jalen Brunson was named Finals MVP. The championship parade is not until Thursday. But of course, crazed Knicks fans celebrated all weekend, some perhaps a bit too much. More than 60 people got arrested. Fans jumped cars and set buses on fire. Several police officers were injured.

Joining us now to discuss this victory for the Knicks is former New York Knick, Quentin Richardson. Q, thank you so much for joining us. That fan base has been waiting 53 years, so what does this win mean for the city of New York?

QUENTIN RICHARDSON, FORMER NEW YORK KNICKS PLAYER: This is everything. Like you said, 53 years is a super long time. The city has been waiting for this moment all the way since then since '70 and '73. And this team -- this team did it for them, man. You got to take your hat off to the front office to, you know, Leon Rose, Worldwide Wes, the whole staff up there and then the coaching staff, the players. You got to take your hat off to them because they did something that this city has been waiting on for 50 plus years and you can see how happy they are about getting this job done.

And I've never seen New York like this. It's been -- it's been amazing to watch. I mean the good stuff at least. I hate the bad stuff that's happened.

SANCHEZ: Agreed, agreed. Let's talk about Finals MVP, Jalen Brunson dropping 45 in the closeout game. Is he now the greatest Knick of all time?

RICHARDSON: I would let the greats decide that. I'm not going to jump into that. I'm nowhere near that conversation as a former player. I do think that he is in that conversation. He's definitely in that class of former knick players and all-time knick greats. And, yeah, I'll let the -- I'll let the greats debate about that and they can settle that because I'm sure they are definitely welcoming him with open arms. You've seen him throughout the playoffs show up and show out for the team and show support. So, yeah, I'll let the legends deal with that ranking.

SANCHEZ: I doubt that he's ever going to pay for another drink or another meal in the city ever again.

RICHARDSON: Right.

SANCHEZ: Brunson took a pay cut, right, to give the team room to build around him. It's the age of tanking and hoarding draft picks, right? That's what OKC has done. So what does it tell you that this roster came together the way that it did with him as the centerpiece about what it takes to win in today's NBA? RICHARDSON: Yeah, I mean, he definitely shows you what it means to walk the walk more than talk the talk. A lot of people say they want to be champions. A lot of people say they are willing to sacrifice and willing to do different things. Jalen Brunson actually showed that example by sacrificing $113 million in contract money, so that the Knicks could still go out and put, you know, the right type of players around him to build this thing into a championship.

And at the end of the day, you got to take your hat off to him because they were able to do that. And it was it was definitely heavily supported by him being able to, you know, leave that money on the table for them to make this team, right? So he did all of the things that needed to be done. And at the end of the day, he still was the guy who had to put the ball in the basket and lead them the whole way.

So, yeah, Jalen Brunson, the Captain Clutch, the captain, the sacrificial guy, he deserves every moment of this and all the love he's going to get.

SANCHEZ: Yeah. Q, how did you celebrate the victory?

RICHARDSON: I was actually working. I was in NBA T.V.

(LAUGH)

RICHARDSON: I was here in L.A. doing NBA T.V. and the association. So it was, you know, we celebrated right down at T.V. I definitely was happy for the team and the fan base and everything that is going on. So that was that was my celebration, right? Right in studio.

(LAUGH)

SANCHEZ: I'm not going to lie, Q. Watching the Knicks win felt like somebody kicked me in the gut because I have not let go of the late '90s Heat-Knicks rivalry.

[13:50:00]

Those series were brutal to watch. I've not let go of the way that Jeff Van Gundy could not let go of Zo's leg when him and (inaudible) were exchanging punches.

(LAUGH)

SANCHEZ: I need some hope, Q. Can the Heat challenge the Knicks next year? Are we getting Giannis? Do you see the Knicks perhaps running it back?

RICHARDSON: Listen, right now, as far as running it back, man, I would be hard-pressed to see anybody doing that with the way the league is set up and the way things continue to happen. The last eight, nine years has been a different champion every year and like we've got the parity (ph) that everybody have been asking for. So I don't know.

I mean, I do know this. It's a lot of rumors and a lot of things floating in the air right now with Miami being involved in -- if one of those things could happen, you all going to be right back there in it. But the one thing I do know about the Miami Heat, man, and Pat Riley and that group over there, they are always swinging for the fences. So they always are like one move right out of being in right in the mix of things. So you never know what's going to happen this offseason with a lot of rumors about moves being made and we'll see whether he shake out with it.

SANCHEZ: In Riley we trust, as they say. Quentin Richardson, thank you so much. Congrats on the Knicks winning the chip.

RICHARDSON: Yes, sir. Thanks for having me.

SANCHEZ: Of course. Brianna?

KEILAR: World Cup fever is in full effect. There's a full slate of action today after what was an exciting first weekend on the pitch. One of the tournament favorite, Spain, playing right now against Cape Verde in Atlanta and CNN's Patrick Snell is just down the street from where that match is taking place. He's at the FIFA fan zone.

What's the atmosphere like there?

PATRICK SNELL, CNN WORLD SPORT: Hi, Brianna. Yeah, welcome to the Atlanta fan zone. It is absolutely electric here, thousands of fans right behind me here watching Spain, the reigning European champions, against tournament debutants Cabo Verde.

We are on the verge with your seconds to go on one of the most extraordinary results in World Cup history. Cabo Verde, Cape Verde ranked 64 in the world playing, in their very first World Cup, one of four tournament debutants. This is their first-ever World Cup game and with just seconds to go, they are holding the 2010 winners, Spain, La Roja, a team stacked full of absolutely wonderful players led by teenage phenom from Barcelona, Lamine Yamal.

If you hear a massive roar behind me during this live shot, it is one of two things, either one of the teams has gone ahead or Cape Verde are celebrating an absolutely seismic victory. I'll keep you updated just as long as we're on the air. But earlier in the day, we had scenes of mayhem when the gates to the fans won't open here just after 10 o'clock Eastern here in Atlanta, literally saw fans bursting in running into the Centennial Olympic Park here, trying to get their best spot, their favorite spot or even get their hands on a coveted item like a World Cup charm bracelet.

Then it was all about the fans ahead of kickoff. We've got great video of Spain's fans in their thousands marching through Atlanta in the downtown area to get to the Atlanta Stadium or the Mercedes-Benz Stadium, if you prefer, wonderful scenes, great atmosphere. It was all part of what we've been seeing at this World Cup, this off the back of what we saw on Saturday night when Brazil were playing Morocco, this park here, the fan zone was packed. We had about just under 10,000 fans in with that Brazilian-Morocco game, over 20,000 coming through on Saturday, Brianna, on that day. But as of right now, at this hour, everyone is on tenterhooks. Everyone has got their eyes firmly fixed on the big screen here. Just seconds to go, we're deep into stoppage time. It's still nil-nil and as of right now, Cape Verde are on the brink of history. It's still goalless though. I'm trying to keep talking because I want these (inaudible) or a goal to go in, but it's not happening just yet. It's so exciting here.

KEILAR: I'll keep talking for you, Patrick. I'm hearing them. I have to tell you what I can hear. It's like little waves and they're getting so excited behind you. You can tell it's getting closer and closer. They're priming themselves for a massive celebration here. Put that into perspective for us, just what an upset this would be.

SNELL: It would be absolutely huge. Absolutely huge. As I said, off the top, it's their first-ever World Cup game. Cape Verde with a population of around half a million people, no one expected them to even qualify for the tournament, but they did. And I want to say that Spain were not intending to play Lamine Yamal, but they've had to bring him on.

They brought him on with 20 minutes to go. He's been absolutely busting a gut to try and change the flow of the course of this game, trying to make an impact. He's been giving it everything. He's recovering from a hamstring injury.

[13:55:00]

Spain absolutely, in my opinion, did not intend to play him in this match. The expectation was that the European champions were going to win this match with something to spare. That hasn't been the case at all. Ahead of the tournament, I interviewed Cabo Verde Head Coach, Bubista, and he told me we're not just coming here to make up the numbers. We're here to make people sit up and take notice.

And as of right now, I tell you, Brianna, he is absolutely good to his word. His players have been absolutely magnificent I want to highlight Vozinha, the 40-year-old. Vozinha in goal for Cape Verde making a whole string of excellent saves, especially in the first half. It's still nil-nil. The final whistle still hasn't gone. I have to send it back to you I'm told, so I will.

KEILAR: All right, Patrick. We are on tenderhooks waiting for this, but we will have to wait a little longer. Patrick Snell, thank you. We'll be right back.

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