Return to Transcripts main page

CNN News Central

Vance Leaves Switzerland, Touts Progress In Peace Talks; Iran Pushes Back On Vance's Claim About Nuclear Inspectors; Trump Admin Uses DHS Fund To Force States Into Election Changes; Trump Threatens 10-Year Sentence If Reflecting Pool Vandalized; Five Accused Of Vandalizing Reflecting Pool, Others Cited; Keir Starmer Resigns As U.K. Prime Minister. Aired 3-3:30p ET

Aired June 22, 2026 - 15:00   ET

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

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: We also had reports of very large hail. You're talking the size of tennis balls or even larger as well as damaging winds. Every single one of these dots you see on the map represents a storm report of some kind over the last 24 hours, and we're likely going to add more dots to that map as we go through the rest of the day today.

You've got a cluster of showers across portions of the Northeast, but the focal point really is down across the Southeast. This is where we've had a lot of those severe thunderstorm warnings off and on throughout the day, and they're likely going to continue through the afternoon and evening hours.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Allison Chinchar, thank you so much for the update.

A new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts right now.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Nuclear Options: Vice President J.D. Vance says Iran has agreed to allow nuclear monitors into the country, but Tehran denies making any new commitments. We'll have the latest on negotiations.

Gloom and Bloom: The Reflecting Pool turning into a monumental mess for the White House, and now the administration is trying to figure out how to fix it.

And want to get away with discount airlines like Spirit grounded. More Americans are hitting the road and leaving the driving to Greyhound. We're following these major developing stories and many more. All coming in right here to CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

Vice President J.D. Vance is making his way back to the U.S. after leading the first round of peace talks with Iran in Switzerland. Right after negotiations wrapped, Vance touted the fact that Iran agreed to allow nuclear inspectors back into the country, but in the Memorandum of Understanding, that issue was effectively already agreed to. Still, Vance offered this message right before he left.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) J.D. VANCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Whether good faith or bad faith, you -- you can't trust anybody's words. You have to trust what they actually do. Letting in the inspectors is a big deal, but again, we're going to see what they actually let the inspectors do once they're in the country. That's going to continually be a part of our negotiation, so my point is not that I trust or distrust anybody. My point is that I trust actions.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: CNN's Kristen Holmes is live for us at the White House with the latest. Kristen.

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I mean, it -- there's a lot going on here, especially given the fact that we're in the 60-day countdown on these negotiations and there seems like very thorny issues that are going to have to be worked through the first. Of course, being the big announcement that Vance made about these inspectors coming in.

But as you noted, this is alluded to in the Memorandum of Understanding and we still don't have any details: What sites are they going to observe, what kind of access are they going to get. One of the things to keep in mind here is that yes, the Iranians had cut off all access to these U.N. inspectors after the United States bombed their nuclear facilities roughly a year ago.

But back in that Obama-era deal, that Trump had ripped up, this was part of that as well. These U.N. inspectors coming in and observing those nuclear sites.

Now, President Trump said this on Truth Social about it. He said, "Everybody is fully aware that Iran will agree to have major weapons inspections in order to ensure 'nuclear Honesty' long into the future."

Again, we still don't know exactly what this is going to look like. Some of the other things that we now have coming out of these negotiations are the fact that Iran and the U.S. are going to form a new committee on nuclear for sanctions talks. There are also -- we've also learned this -- again from the Iranian foreign minister, that oil sanctions have begun to be waived and those frozen assets released.

J.D. Vance had talked about this kind of concept that Jared Kushner had come up with that comes to those frozen assets, talking about how these assets will be released, but they're going to only be released in some sort of form of humanitarian aid and purchasing things from the United States to give back to the people of Iran. That's still going to raise a lot of questions for people, specifically around if they are getting various funds for humanitarian aid, does that mean that they're going to free up other funds for potentially -- to give to their proxies, to give to these various terrorist organizations. So, what exactly does that look like and how is the United States going to monitor it?

Now, the other thing we heard from J.D. Vance was a pretty stern denial that President Trump's threats over the weekend did not, at any point, threaten to derail the talks with Iran. Take a listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VANCE: We told the Iranians yesterday is when you guys engage in what us millennials might call trash talk, you can't expect the President of the United States not to respond and not to correct the record. So, when they say things that aren't true, the President is going to respond to it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: And we know President Trump is always going to respond. He is not one to sit back and just let things be floating around out there. We also heard from Vance talking about how it was confusing to be negotiating with the Iranians at various points and he also encouraged people not to listen to what was coming out of Iranian state media, saying that, of course, they have their own politics at play that they're trying to get out there as well.

[15:05:12]

KEILAR: All right, Kristen Holmes, live for us at the White House. Thank you. Boris.

SANCHEZ: Now to some new exclusive CNN reporting on how the Trump administration is planning to use Homeland Security funding to force states and local governments to change how they conduct elections. We spoke to multiple sources and obtained documents that show how the President is threatening to withhold 10s of millions of dollars in grants from states that ignore the new guidelines.

It's his latest push to root out alleged voter fraud, despite data that show it's rare and not quite the problem he claims it is. CNN's Gabe Cohen has more on this exclusive reporting.

Gabe, walk us through what this funding is and what the administration is planning to do with it.

GABE COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, so what these new rules, Boris, are actually impacting are these large grant programs at the Department of Homeland Security that just this year are expected to distribute about a billion dollars to cities and states across the country to help them prepare for terror attacks, cybersecurity incidents, major disasters.

And what the administration is doing is saying, if you want all of that money, you are going to have to implement these mandatory election changes. And states that don't comply are going to end up losing 20 percent of that grant funding, which in many cases could mean millions of dollars lost for these jurisdictions that consider this money critical to keeping the American people safe.

Let's go through the list of what exactly the administration is asking them to do as part of these election reforms. They want states, first off, to transition away from certain electronic voting systems, the ones that use QR codes, barcodes, and instead move toward hand-marked paper ballots. It's something this administration and Trump allies have been talking about for a long time. They want states to conduct these manual election audits, but specifically, they want them to use methods that are established by the administration, by the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security.

They also want states to use a government-approved system to verify the citizenship of all workers at various polling locations across their states. And perhaps most controversial of all, they're going to want states, or they're going to order states, to run their full voter lists through the SAVE system at the Department of Homeland Security, the citizenship verification tool. Very controversial. It's had a lot of false positives.

And I'll remind you that we've been talking about for months now, the Justice Department currently suing 30 states, trying to force them to hand over their voter lists to get them to run it through that DHS system.

SANCHEZ: So, unilaterally, the President, the White House, has limited power to enforce changes to election laws. I mean, it's essentially something that is determined by states. So, I wonder what legal challenges the administration could face here.

COHEN: Yes, and you can expect, once this does go through to states, which we expect those guidelines to go out later this month, it is going to be very quickly challenged. And we've seen conditions on federal funding that the administration has tried to put in place over the past 18 months. A lot of it's been challenged. A lot of it has been blocked by courts.

So, you can expect there is going to be that attempt to block it. We don't know what they're going to be able to get through here. But I will tell you, DHS, when I asked them for comment on this, they said it's not finalized. They don't want to comment on the specific guidelines we're talking about, but they did say any recipients of federal funding should expect accountability for how taxpayer dollars are spent, which gives you a sense of what their mindset is here, that this is a leverage point where they can say, look, if you want federal funding from our administration, you are going to have to implement our administration's priorities.

SANCHEZ: Yes, I -- I wonder with the midterms now months away, theoretically, how soon could this be implemented and what would the cost be? How much would it cost?

COHEN: Well, it's going to cost a lot of money. In terms of implementation, I believe that states are going to have to have their applications filled out for these grants by somewhere midsummer. In terms of actually implementing it, they do have some time, but the administration has made it clear they are trying to get states to implement major reforms and they've gone about it all these different ways between the SAVE America Act, between some of the executive orders we've seen from the President. This, again, just another point. So, they definitely want to get some of this done ahead of the

midterms. It's not clear if this exactly could accomplish -- accomplish it, but it's an interesting leverage point for the administration.

SANCHEZ: And we'll see what kind of legal challenges play out once they try to implement it, if they do. Gabe Cohen, thanks so much for this great reporting.

Still to come, President Trump claiming without evidence that vandals are responsible for the peeling paint and the algae blooms at the Reflecting Pool on the National Mall. He's now threatening hefty prison sentences for those allegedly involved.

Plus, as summer travel season gets more expensive, Americans are looking for cheaper ways to get to their destinations, including trading plane tickets for bus fare.

[15:10:05]

And later, arguably the greatest soccer player of all time, Lionel Messi, just made history, breaking a record in the World Cup. That and much more coming your way on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:14:39]

SANCHEZ: The saga of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool has gone from chronic algae to now criminal accusations. President Trump today threatened a 10-year sentence to those who damage it, blaming vandals for its problems, despite a lack of evidence that he's provided the public. A senior administration official says that five people have been arrested for vandalism. Some of them also cited.

One of the suspects, Olympian David Hearn, told CNN that he merely touched the peeling material in the bottom of the pool. He says he didn't remove, break, tear, peel, rip, or destroy anything. Law enforcement officers were seen standing by the attraction on D.C.'s National Mall this weekend. The government has spent more than $14 million renovating the Reflecting Pool for America's upcoming 250th birthday celebrations.

The President says the 300,000-foot -- 300,000-square-foot pool, I should say, will have to be drained for further repairs. Let's discuss with pool and spa expert Steven Goodale. He's better known as Swimming Pool Steve on YouTube.

Steve, thanks so much for being with us. Let's start with the algae leak theory. What is more likely, that someone planted this algae, or that it occurred and spread naturally?

STEVEN "SWIMMING POOL STEVE" GOODALE, SWIMMING POOL & SPA EXPERT: Well, somebody definitely planted the algae, and it was the very first bird that landed in the water. You know, in an open-air environment like this, that's -- there's no stopping the algae from coming. It's -- it's going to be in the water. It's just, how are you going to deal with it, knowing that it will be expected.

SANCHEZ: So, to that point, how can it be fixed now?

GOODALE: Well, at this stage, the latest I've read is that it's going to have to be drained, or at least partially drained, to deal with the damage that's happened to it. So, the -- the green water situation is probably just going to be back-burnered now, as we, you know, deal with the more immediate remediations. And then, perhaps we could look at, you know, in the future, seeing the system start back up again, hopefully this time without the, you know, green algae bloom that we saw last time.

SANCHEZ: Efforts have been taken now to try to mitigate the algae problem, including dumping gallons of hydrogen peroxide into the Reflecting Pool. I saw an image on social media over the weekend. It was kind of sad. And, honestly, CNN has not been able to verify whether it's real or not. But it showed an animal that seemed to be deceased in the water. Do -- we -- we don't know if the cause had anything to do with what's been done to mitigate the algae, but could that chemical that's being put in the pool have an effect on wildlife?

GOODALE: It -- it would really come down to a matter of concentration. And, again, we're talking about, you know, 6.5 million gallons of water or more, so it would take an awful lot of product to get to dangerous levels of contamination here. It's why hydrogen peroxide would be commonly used for an open-air, clear-water environment like this, because it is kind of the safer of the options. It's why we don't use something like chlorine, which wouldn't be as safe for the wildlife. And I'm very sorry to hear about the duck. I did hear about this as well.

SANCHEZ: Yes, again, we -- we don't know what the cause was, but people were speculating, and so it's important to get context about the -- the capacity of hydrogen peroxide to be harmful. There's also this blue material that's at the bottom of the pool, still unclear whether it's paint or sealant. Let's say, we -- we're going to ask whether there was subterfuge afoot. If, theoretically, someone wanted to damage the pool, how difficult would it be to tear up that bottom?

GOODALE: You know, in -- in my experience, and, you know, when I heard that it had been vandalized as well, my reaction was surprise, as I really tried to understand the mechanism of damage that would cause this kind of vandalism, and certainly done in a stealthy kind of way, you know, no power tools assuming, because this is a robust, strong, puncture-proof material. That's why it was likely chosen for this application. It's why it's used in commercial and industrial applications.

So, it would take absolutely a concerted effort. I don't know exactly what it would take, but it would take a concerted effort to cause significant damage like that.

SANCHEZ: Is it something that could be done, like, very discreetly at night, or would it be obvious to people and cameras that are around this national monument? Would it easily be noticeable? GOODALE: It's -- I can only speculate, but it seems to me that it

would be noticeable. You know, you could, you know, do some -- what I would consider to be more superficial damage, you know, easily, quickly, something like that. But again, this product is specifically used for how strong and puncture-resistant it is.

SANCHEZ: Yes. And Steven, before we go, if you had to guess, can the work be done to mitigate the algae, to fix the -- the bottom of the Reflecting Pool before July 4th?

GOODALE: It's -- the -- the scale of this project makes this so challenging, you know, and I really just don't have enough of a bead on the, you know, how many workers are out there with how many pumps running to get this thing empty so that they can expose the problem areas and make the repairs.

And fortunately, from what I understand, working with products similar to this one that's been used for the Reflecting Pool, it is something that you can go in, you can remove some of the delaminated or damaged material, and then make what you could essentially describe as a patch, which should have a reasonable likelihood of success.

SANCHEZ: Steven Goodale, very much appreciate the expertise. Thanks for joining us.

[15:20:03]

GOODALE: Thank you.

SANCHEZ: Of course. So, stop if you've heard this before, and if you're British, you've definitely heard this before. The U.K. has a brand-new Prime Minister, the sixth in seven years. What happened to Keir Starmer when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:24:57]

KEILAR: Moving trucks are becoming a pretty common sight at 10 Downing Street. Yet, another new prime minister there in Britain soon will be calling it home. The sixth in seven years.

SANCHEZ: Earlier today, Keir Starmer announced he is calling it quits, leaving the post up in the air. One possible replacement was a mayor up until Friday. CNN's Clare Sebastian joins us now from 10 Downing Street.

Clare, this kind of turnover, a bit wild to witness. What is the reaction in the U.K.?

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, we have become rather used to seeing that podium arrive outside 10 Downing Street over the last decade or so. Before that, I have to point out, the U.K. was able to hold on to prime ministers. But there has been a lot of churn in the decade since the vote to leave the European Union, the Brexit vote, which was 10 years ago this week. For Keir Starmer, this was a dramatic fall from grace, though. It's

less than two years since he was elected. He came in on a gigantic landslide, one of the biggest parliamentary majorities in modern British political history. The first Labour government in 14 years. And it ended up today with a very tearful speech. A speech that he had fought to avoid having to make. He tried to hang on until the last minute, but the pressure within his party just got too much.

Now, we're going to have a transition. They really hope Downing Street and those who are potential contenders hope it will be orderly. Take a listen to how the prime minister laid it out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEIR STARMER, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: I will remain in post as prime minister until the contest is complete. And I will do everything I can to ensure an orderly handover of power. I will also give my successor my full and unequivocal support, knowing that they will inherit a Britain that is far stronger and fairer than the one I inherited two years ago, better prepared for the challenges ahead, and better able to ensure the Labour Party secures a second term in office.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SEBASTIAN: So, a contest, he says. At this point we don't know if there will be a contest. Right now, the one person who has thrown their hat in the ring for a leadership race is the former mayor of Manchester, Andy Burnham, who was sworn in this afternoon as a Member of Parliament. That is a prerequisite to run in a leadership race according to Labour rules. So, he has -- has been brought back to Parliament by a special election last week.

As of now, and this doesn't mean they won't, no one else has thrown their hat in the ring. If someone does, this could last through the summer. If they don't, we could see Burnham in Downing Street by the middle of July.

KEILAR: Wow. And of course, Clare, the person -- or I should say, not -- I mean, he's kind of a person, most concerned about all of this I think might be Larry the Cat, right? Because he at this point has now seen so many prime ministers, we all love Larry the Cat, they just sort of come and go under his watch. He is sort of steadfast there at 10 Downing Street. He must be wondering whether it's Burnham or another Labour leader, is this next PM going to actually be able to hang on to the position?

SEBASTIAN: Yes, I mean certainly Larry was looking a little elderly when we saw him this morning, he came out of Downing Street before the Prime Minister's speech. Look, that is the question. We've seen so much churn in the last 10 years. And Andy Burnham, he made a speech on Friday, a victory speech after that by-election, that special election. I was there up in the north-west of England and he said this is the last chance for our party, we have to prove that we are going to change.

I think, look, he is promising sort of non-specific change at this point, similarly to what we got from Keir Starmer two years ago. But Burnham is a different character and perhaps he will have the powers of persuasion to win over the voters where Keir Starmer didn't. But at this point, A, he's not prime minister yet, and B, we just don't know how it's going to go down.

SANCHEZ: We'll see whether he can win over Larry. We'll find out. Clare Sebastian at 10 Downing Street, thank you so much.

Still ahead, Iran now pushing back after Vice President J.D. Vance claimed a, quote, "major milestone" in peace talks. More on that next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)