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Anthropic Pulls Its Most Powerful AI Models After U.S. Bars Foreign Access; U.S. Air Force B-52 Bomber Crashes in Southern California. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired June 15, 2026 - 15:30   ET

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

[15:30:00]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Currently in Washington, D.C., hoping to resolve a dispute with the White House after the government forced the company to take its latest AI models offline. Their visit comes after Anthropic suspended access to its Mythos 5 and Fable 5 models. The decision follows U.S. officials instituting a ban Friday on foreign governments, companies and individuals from using them. Anthropic says the government cited national security issues. CNN's Hadas Gold joins us now. Hadas, what can you tell us about these national security issues, the justification?

HADAS GOLD, CNN AI CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Boris, so just to lay the scene here, Mythos is the latest AI system from Anthropic. It's been seen as so powerful when it comes to cybersecurity that it's kind of spooked industry and the government. And Anthropic didn't even release it publicly at first because of how powerful it was, limiting it to a select group of organizations and individuals who could then study it and help it to patch their own vulnerabilities.

But then last week, Anthropic released a general purpose use version of Mythos. So it's Mythos with a lot of guardrails known as Fable. But Fable only lasted for a few days before the government called Anthropic up on Friday afternoon, said we've discovered through a partner, which we've now learned is Amazon, that there's a jailbreak, a way to get around those safety guardrails.

And they gave, according to a source of mine, 90 minutes to Anthropic to pull these models down. And then they instituted what's an export control ban, which means that no foreign nationals can touch these systems, including Anthropic's own employees. So Anthropic said they were forced to remove access to both of these new systems entirely.

So nobody can use these new AI model systems that have been getting a lot of attention because of this export control ban. And all this comes down to whether there is a jailbreak on this model. And there's a bit of a narrative fight going on, not only over how serious this jailbreak is, but also how Anthropic responded to the government's request.

Now, Anthropic says that they work with the government before they released the models and that they were given the OK to do so. And they said the jailbreak that was spotted by Amazon is actually relatively simple. They claim other models have the same potential jailbreak and did not demonstrate a flaw in their safety system.

I'll read you what else they said. They said, "We disagree that the finding of a narrow potential jailbreak should be cause for recalling a commercial model deployed to hundreds of millions of people. If this standard was applied across the industry, we believe it would essentially halt all new model deployments for all frontier model providers."

Now, the government side of this is they had to do this. There's national security implications going on here. These models are so advanced.

If they get into the wrong hands, it's like having a million hackers working on somebody's behalf. And you're seeing here right now the tension of the fact that we don't really have a regulation system in place when it comes to artificial intelligence. And the government is kind of creating one on the fly.

I'll read you what Trump advisor David Sachs said about all this. He said, "The admin's hope now is that Anthropic remediates the safety issue. The expert control is lifted and Fable goes back into general release."

He says, "The admin wants all of this to happen as soon as possible and that it is frankly bewildered that Anthropic hasn't wanted to comply with safety requests that it previously said were its highest priority."

So as you said, we have sources that say that Anthropic senior staff are in D.C. as we speak, trying to work with government officials to release this expert control ban, because this is really serious for Anthropic. This is their latest model.

Anthropic is really seen as being ahead when it comes to AI, when it comes to AI safety. So they want this fixed as soon as possible, Boris.

SANCHEZ: Hadas Gold, thank you so much for the update there.

Still to come, what's in the fine print? President Trump's agreement with Iran remains under seal. The issues that may not be resolved right away and the immediate impact the framework could have on the U.S. economy when we come back.

[15:35:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: We are following some breaking news now out of Southern California where Edwards Air Force Base is confirming the crash of a B-52 bomber shortly after takeoff today. A B-52 has a wingspan of about 185 feet, typically carries a crew of five. B-52s have been flown by the U.S. military since the 1950s.

CNN's Josh Campbell is in Los Angeles following this story. Josh, this is a huge plane. It's an old plane. It's still in service. What are you learning about this crash?

JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Well, extremely concerning development. You can see some of the images there. We've seen video as well as pictures of this large black plume of smoke.

The U.S. Air Force now confirming that there was indeed a crash of a B-52 in the Mojave Desert just north of where I am here in Los Angeles. In a statement, Edwards Air Force Base said that a U.S. Air Force B-52 Stratofortress crashed shortly after takeoff on the airfield around 11:20 a.m. local time here in California. They said that emergency crews were launched.

They responded to the scene. They described the situation as currently active and ongoing. Still unclear about the fate of that crew, whether there were indeed any injuries or what their status is.

Obviously, we're hoping and praying for the best. But you see that smoke billowing, then the statement coming from the military as well confirming an actual crash here. As you mentioned, this type of aircraft, according to the Air Force, the Stratofortress, it's a long- range heavy bomber.

They say it's used for multiple different types of missions. It could fly at subsonic speeds up to 50,000 feet in altitude. Also say that the potential payload that it carries can include nuclear or precision-guided ordnance.

They say that it is often, it can be used worldwide. Again, we're awaiting further details, but you can see there are just really concerning images coming out of Edwards Air Force Base, U.S. military confirming the downing of a B-52 Stratofortress -- Brianna.

[15:40:00]

KEILAR: Yes, we're seeing, these are live pictures coming to us from affiliates KCBS, KCAL there in Los Angeles. This is a tough scene as you're seeing really just the charred wreckage of this B-52 Stratofortress that has crashed there. And it appears to be along the runway or on the edge of the runway there at Edwards Air Force Base.

We're seeing, Josh, as well, just a very big response, a number of fire vehicles. There appear to be a number of ambulances there as well. And as you mentioned, this should have been carrying a handful of crew members, and we aren't aware at this point if they were able to get out of the B-52.

You said that this was shortly after takeoff. Do we know anything about whether it, you know, made it into the air? Do we know anything about how far this was going?

CAMPBELL: We don't. And I mean, to your point, just looking at that images, any time that we hear of some potential situation involving an aircraft, there is a question where the pilots maybe attempting to try to make some type of emergency landing. But you look right there, I mean, the images speak for themselves about how devastating this appears right now. But as you mentioned, we do know that according to the Air Force, it happened after takeoff. No other details about what actually happened. Was there some type of signal of distress from the air crew?

Were they attempting to return to the airfield whenever this happened? All those questions we just don't have answers to. This is a massive military installation that spans parts of two counties up north of L.A. And so we know that fire crews, emergency responders from all around that area have now responded to include the military installation Edwards Air Force Base that has its own first responders. Again, we're awaiting additional details on the fate of the crew. I myself don't know what the capabilities are of this aircraft as far as the air crew potentially being able to evacuate if there's some type of situation. But again, we're waiting for additional details on exactly what happened, what their fate is.

And then obviously there will be a major question about how this actually happened. The Air Force will almost certainly be launching an investigation of their own to try to determine what happened as a standard protocol of, again, just very, very concerning images that we're seeing here with the downing of this B-52.

KEILAR: Our hope, of course, is going to be that there was this crash and the crew was able to get out, but we just don't know at this point what happened. So, Josh, we know that you'll keep an eye on this story and we will update our viewers as soon as we get more details about it. Josh Campbell, thank you so much.

SANCHEZ: Let's discuss with CNN senior military analyst, retired Admiral James Stavridis. He's a former NATO Supreme Allied Commander, now the vice chairman of the Carlyle Global Investment Firm. Admiral, thank you so much for being with us.

We had been scheduled to talk about this framework for an agreement with Iran, but obviously this breaking news is unfolding in Southern California. I wonder what your reaction is to hearing that this B-52 bomber crashed at Edwards Air Force Base.

ADM. JAMES STAVRIDIS (RET.), CNN SENIOR MILITARY ANALYST: Three quick thoughts for us. First, most obvious and most heartfelt, you have to realize how difficult this is for obviously these families, this community, and all who follow military operations. I've flown several times in B-52s.

They are remarkable machines of war, and this is a very difficult scene to look at. The fact that evidently there were no parachutes deployed is not a good sign, but let's not presuppose anything but let us hold these families and these crew members in our hearts. Second thought, to tie these two things together, B-52s are a backbone of our strategic nuclear triad, the other two being the ballistic missile submarines, and of course our intercontinental ballistic missiles.

This is the third piece of that triad, and we built onto it, but B-52s go back 60, 70 years, which comes, I'm sure, as a surprise to many viewers, but they're extremely reliable. Today we have B-1s and B-2s. All three of them have been used in these wars in the Middle East repeatedly through their service life.

[15:45:00]

They are not invulnerable. They have a lot of capacity and capability, but occasionally we will lose one in an event like this. So point two is this is a significant strategic nuclear weapon and also used in long-range conventional strikes, for example, in the Middle East.

And then third and finally, Boris and Brianna, whenever you see an event like this, you really need to hit pause on your assumptions because it could be some kind of mechanical failure. It could be some kind of pilot error. It could be an environmental condition, although the conditions look quite clear there.

But to everyone who is saying, gosh, I can't imagine what happened with this vital nuclear-capable aircraft, I'd encourage you to hit pause. As you mentioned, the U.S. Air Force will, I guarantee you, tear this apart, understand precisely what happened, and come to us at the right time.

KEILAR: And certainly those are all very, very good words because there's so much, we don't know at this point. As you, I think one of the, I was surprised to see just how this was right along the runway there, Admiral. I wonder as you were looking at these aerials, what is standing out to you?

STAVRIDIS: Precisely what you just said, Brianna, to have a major piece of destruction right at an airstrip where you're theoretically at a pretty safe physical area. But again, you have to recognize that that act of taking off or landing obviously is highly risky, short of combat aerial operations. It's the point at which the aircraft is most vulnerable.

But looking at that kind of strip and burnout, you have to think fuel might have been involved, fire might have been involved, really perhaps all occurring at an extremely vulnerable moment in the operation of the aircraft. But again, too early to speculate. I am hoping, along with everyone else, that somehow, we'll see survivors emerge.

But I think it is ominous that we've not heard anything from the department about that thus far.

SANCHEZ: Yes, we will still hold out hope for that as we await more news. Admiral James Stavridis, please stay with us. We're going to continue this discussion.

On the breaking news, a U.S. Air Force B-52 crashing at Edwards Air Force Base in Southern California. More details straight ahead.

[15:50:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: We're staying with our breaking news, a crash involving a B- 52 at Edwards Air Force Base in Southern California. KEILAR: Joining us now is Mary Schiavo, CNN Transportation Analyst and former Inspector General for the Department of Transportation. Mary, we're looking at some pictures coming to us from our affiliates there in Los Angeles, KCBS, KCAL. What are you seeing in these pictures?

MARY SCHIAVO, CNN TRANSPORTATION ANALYST: Well, I mean, total destruction, but I think the information that we're getting, it might be a little more helpful. They're saying it was on takeoff. And that's always very helpful because, you know, right away you look towards engines.

And on a plane of this size and knowing that it carries very heavy loads and having worked on accidents in the past where on takeoff there was load shift, meaning the load was moving as you took off and it made the plane go out of weight and balance, that will obviously be an interest and fueling. But, you know, these planes are workhorses. There were like 743 of them built.

They were built from '55 to, I think, about '63. And they're just real workhorses. But starting about 2020, the Defense Department had a program to replace the engines.

And so this will certainly be looked at in this case, too. Did this have the new engines? Was the engine replacement done on this?

What was the condition of this plane? So there's lots of things that the investigators can go on. And, of course, the military will be the investigative authority.

I don't think we'll have anything to do with the runway or airport because Edwards has long been known as just a fantastic place if you're going to have an emergency. You know, there were a couple crashes where if they could have only gotten to Edwards, they could have put the plane down on the runway. What's interesting is it doesn't appear to be on the runway.

And I doubt that it's straight off the runway. So there's a lot to find out about why it is where it is, you know, particularly there. And, of course, they could have had control issues as well.

So there's an awful lot for the investigators to, you know, to look at, to go on. And, you know, starting with, of course, the age of the plane. These are very old planes, but meticulously maintained, used continuously.

And like I said, starting 2020, had a re-engine program to replace the engines.

SANCHEZ: And as we're looking at these live pictures from Edwards, you can see firefighters appearing to be spraying water and foam at the wreckage. As you were discussing, Mary, these planes have been in service since the early 1950s. And even though they are meticulously maintained, there are some questions about the reliability of a plane that has been -- a design of a plane that's been in use for 70 years.

[15:55:00] I wonder if you could speak to the process of updating them and making sure that they're still flight worthy.

SCHIAVO: Exactly. I mean, this plane is from 1955. That makes it, what, you know, 70, 71 years old.

And so that is, you know, in any other category, you would say this is tired iron. They quit making them in about '63. These are very old planes.

And there's been lots of discussion over the years. And of course, the fatigue on these planes, the metal fatigue, et cetera, is a huge issue. Crew of five, even that has changed over time.

They've cut down with crews. And there isn't -- there's no way to get a crew of five out with ejection seats. So we'll have to see.

SANCHEZ: Yes.

KEILAR: Mary, thank you so much for that. We do appreciate it. We'll continue to keep an eye on this. "THE ARENA" with Kasie Hunt starts after a quick break.

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