Return to Transcripts main page

CNN News Central

Pulte Begins Mass Firings; Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) is Interviewed about the Pulte Firings; Europe Hit with Record-High Temperatures; FAA Launches A.I. to Help Manage Flights; Trump Claims Vandalism of Reflecting Pool. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired June 23, 2026 - 08:30   ET

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

[08:30:00]

ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: These letters because there were so many letters that were simply just trying to take advantage of the situation.

But the Guthries, remember, there is still a reward out there, and Savannah Guthrie continued this morning saying, desperately hoping that someone will come forward.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Absolutely.

Ed, thank you for your hard work and trying to report this out with also with big heart and big care throughout. Thank you so much, Ed. We'll continue to follow these developments.

Sara.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: All right. That's our Ed.

All right, parts of Houston covered in black smoke as crews keep fighting this massive warehouse fire that has been burning now for hours.

Plus, new cameras installed at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool as the president insists that vandals are causing the problems plaguing the recent renovation while not giving any evidence.

Those stories and more, ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SIDNER: Mass firings are underway at the heart of the U.S. intelligence community.

[08:35:01]

Sources tell CNN that Trump's acting Director of National Intelligence, Bill Pulte, a housing official with no intel experience, is ordering job cuts in his first full week on the job. Now, CNN learned that Pulte showed up early last week and demanded a list of every employee at the office, which oversees 18 intelligence agencies. Now, top Democrats warn he's putting national security at risk. Joining me now is CNN's senior law enforcement analyst and former

deputy director of the FBI, Andrew McCabe.

What is happening if he is going -- if Pulte is going about firing a large number of people, what does that mean for the safety of this nation?

ANDREW MCCABE, CNN SENIOR LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well, Sara, let's remember why the directorate (ph) of national intelligence was created. This is a post-911 reform. It was created to directly address a key failure that contributed to the 9/11 disaster, which was the inability of intelligence agencies, much like my former one, the FBI and the CIA, to coordinate and share information effectively on very important investigations. So, we -- Congress creates the DNI to ameliorate that, and it ends up growing into the bureaucracy that we know it to be today. Like every government bureaucracy, could it be slightly smaller? Could it be more efficient? Could it be more effective? Absolutely. Those are all good reforms directed at any government entity. But this one is very particular.

Before going in and making massive cuts, the leader of the Director of National Intelligence should know, first of all, what the threats are. What are the over the horizon strategic threats that we face and then balance those threats against the current staff, figure out who do you have, what are they doing, what's the most important work, where do we need to go in the future and then make cuts to lower priority initiatives. It does not seem that that process is being followed in any way here, as we now have the new acting director, not the full director, the acting director making allegedly massive cuts even on his second day there.

SIDNER: I do want to ask you about how this is being seen, because this is the same person that the president sort of used as an attack dog in the housing job that he's in to go after some of President Trump's perceived enemies. Do you think that the people that he's cutting, after getting this list, have something to do with, you know, displeasing the president? Is that how it, at least, seems?

MCCABE: Well, we don't know because they haven't made any disclosures about who is being cut or what sort of functions are being trimmed back. But certainly with Mr. Pulte's history of using the data that he had access to as the kind of federal housing czar, to go after the president's political enemies, that raises that prospect that you mentioned very clearly, is it possible that these cuts in staff are really directed at people who the president perceives or the White House perceives as being disloyal?

On a broader level, it raises the very basic question of, how does Bill Pulte know who to fire? This is a guy with no intelligence experience, never been in the military, never been in law enforcement, never been associated with any of the 18 agencies that he now oversees. This is a guy who came in on his first day last Friday and had to ask what sort of clearance might he be given? So, clearly, doesn't have any appreciation for the significance and the sensitivity of the information that he's going to be exposed to. How would someone, with that lack of background, know which programs

and people to cut? So, if it's not being done for a political purpose, which it might be, the other prospect is just sheer incompetence.

SIDNER: There are Democrats and Republicans alike very concerned about what they are seeing here, especially since he is the acting director right now with no intelligence experience, as you mentioned.

Andrew McCabe, I know we'll all be watching this, as will Congress. Thank you so much. Do appreciate it.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: And let's ask that question of Congress right now. Democratic Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois is joining us, the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee.

I wanted to get your reaction to this reporting on mass firings underway, as directed by the acting Director of National Intelligence Bill Pulte, Senator.

SEN. DICK DURBIN (D-IL): Pulte has no business supervising our intelligence agencies. Eighteen agencies that are trying to keep America safe every minute of every day. And for this man with no security clearance, no intelligence background, to walk in with a shopping list of people to fire is not very encouraging.

BOLDUAN: Do you -- do you -- are you aware that -- of who's getting fired? How many are getting fired?

[08:40:00]

Have you gotten any word on this?

DURBIN: No, it's a mystery. Obviously, someone had compiled a list, I think frankly for political purposes, and Pulte was supposed to execute the plan. Remember, the president resurrected his nomination in the middle of the night when he was flying back from Europe. He was determined -- the president was determined to put Mr. Pulte in this position because he follows orders.

BOLDUAN: Yes, as acting at least.

We've also heard, when you're talking about intelligence, and we heard a lot of Republicans say that allowing the surveillance tool, section 702, as we've talked about it and for so long, of FISA, allowing it to lapse is a threat to national security and will be on Democrat's heads essentially if an attack occurs.

Let me play this from a couple of Republicans.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN CORNYN (R-TX): We don't -- we don't have 702, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, that makes up 60 percent of the president's daily intelligence briefing, which means basically now our intelligence that the president, the commander in chief, receives is degraded by 60 percent because we've gone dark.

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC): There's too many threats to our country for 702 to go down. Anybody who owns the shutting down of 702 under FISA will own a future attack against the United States. We're playing with fire here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: So, it has lapsed as of June 12th. You actually say, though, that this isn't true. Why isn't this true?

DURBIN: Well, look what happened. Nothing. We've continued using 702 while we're debating it in Congress. Just remember, we had a plan to extend 702. I'm one who wants to change it, but I was not going to call for ending 702. That's an irresponsible position to take. And the president came through in the middle of the night and changed that plan and said 702 will not be extended.

So, to blame the Democrats for this is completely wrong. There was a decision made on the Democratic side in the Senate to move forward with 702. The bottom line, as we are seeing is that 702 continues to function. Why? Because the law provides that when the FISA court extends it, that it has authority, at least until next year. I think we ought to move forward, finish the business and have a reform of 702. But this notion that the Democrats are somehow at fault ignores that midnight phone call from the president, which ended up suspending our plan.

BOLDUAN: But -- so are you saying that it is a scare tactic, that there is no lapse happening right now?

DURBIN: That's exactly right. And we've said that ahead of time because we know what the law says in terms of the use of 702 as an investigative tool. It continues under the authority of the FISA court.

BOLDUAN: Also just this morning, President Trump is up in posting, insisting that Iran has agreed to, the way he put it, the highest level of nuclear inspections and moving into the future, in perpetuity essentially. But this is after, Senator, Iran said that it has not agreed to let U.N. inspectors into nuclear sites the U.S. and Israel bombed, that nothing had changed in its cooperation agreement with the U.N. -- U.N.'s nuclear watchdog. But this was a big part of the announced progress we heard from J.D. Vance just yesterday in Switzerland after talks. So, which is it?

DURBIN: I wish I knew. How many times in this 100 plus day war that the president initiated on his own have we heard these contradictions? We're winning. We're losing. We're at the bargaining table. We're going to blow them into kingdom come. It just goes back and forth. Average American trying to keep up with the president's statements will find it impossible.

Listen, I want to see a peaceful resolution to this quickly. The fact of the matter is, we don't know where we stand today. When President Obama got into this business of trying to end the nuclear threat in Iran, he spent two years negotiating. He had a coalition of nations, not only friendly to the United States, but including China and Russia in the effort. He had experts when it came to this fissile material and uranium enrichment. He did it seriously and he did it in a responsible fashion. And at the end of the day, he called on inspectors from the U.N. to be on hand to make sure that the Iranians lived up to their promises. That was all obliterated by Donald Trump. When he became president in his first term, he ended that. Now we pray to goodness that we could get back to that status again.

BOLDUAN: Let me also ask you, because the president is very focused on this, the Reflecting Pool. The president now says that he's personally seen what he calls vandalism at the Reflecting Pool, claiming there's evidence of a 300-foot slice in the lining. John asked Republican Congressman Pete Sessions last hour if he believed that there was evidence of such a cut in the lining. Let me play this from Pete Sessions.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. PETE SESSIONS (R-TX): You know, I don't know.

[08:45:00]

I would say that the president evidently has got it. I assume law enforcement has that. I assume this is against the law. And I assume somebody will follow up from the -- from the Park Service. The park police, I assume, have some responsibility in this. So, I would ask the park police what they have and go that direction.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Do you believe there is evidence of a cut? Do you -- do you believe or leave open the possibility that this was a result of vandalism? Can Congress demand answers on this?

DURBIN: I believe that the -- attributing this to some act of terrorism, there's a 24/7 camera on this Reflecting Pool, I'm told, that would easily disclose anyone who made a 250 foot slash in the liner of the Reflecting Pool. The president can get back up for his position on this by showing this film to the American people. Let them see it with their own eyes if it exists.

BOLDUAN: Well, vandalism. We will see if the president decides to provide evidence of vandalism here.

Senator Dick Durbin, thank you for your time.

John.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, this morning, record high temperatures fueling a life-threatening heat wave across Europe and France. Authorities report at least 40 drownings as people tried to find relief in whatever water they could find.

Let's get right to CNN's Melissa Bell, live in Paris.

Anyone you hear from Europe right now, all they're talking about is the heat, Melissa.

MELISSA BELL, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It is so hot. This is already proving to be one of the most intense heat waves on record in some parts of Europe, not least here in France. What we had overnight was the hottest night on record. And then this morning, this crisis meeting by the government, after which we heard from the prime minister who said that ever since this heat wave kicked sort of middle or late last week, there had been 40 drownings in France alone. And this, of course, because people are seeking what respite they can. It is very hot. More than 107 degrees recorded yesterday in Bordeaux (ph). That was a record for the city. And you're seeing these records being hit in different French cities, but also in Germany, Italy, Spain, and it's heading towards the United Kingdom.

This is also, and I think it's significant looking ahead to what's going to happen in terms of wildfires, the second heat wave we've had in just a couple of months. And already some of those have started here in France. So, authorities putting out those red alerts to warn people to do what they can to stay hydrated, to stay home. Many schools here in France have closed. Many trains have been canceled. It is simply too hot to function.

And I think it's important to note that here in Europe we just don't have the air conditioning that you do in the U.S., for instance. About 20 percent of homes across the continent have air conditioning compared to 90 percent in the U.S. So, we are not equipped for this kind of weather. And that's one of the major problems that authorities are facing.

So, you've got the drownings that I just mentioned, but also heat related deaths that we've begun to hear of, at least 18 here in France. And that's likely to continue climbing, sadly, because the temperatures appear to be going upwards still. There is no end in sight to this particular heat wave, with all of the consequences that then -- that then has.

But what we have seen these last few years are hotter summers, more intense heat waves, more heat waves in the course of the summer. And I think one of the notable things about this one is how early in the season it is. Normally you'll see heat waves kick in in July and August. We're still in June and already at the second one. But really, Paris is about as quiet as you'll ever see the city right now.

John.

BERMAN: Yes, summer really only just begun.

Melissa Bell, in the shade smartly this morning, thanks so much for being with us.

Sara.

SIDNER: But it still looks beautiful. That's the thing.

BERMAN: It is still Paris. It is. That's on the plus side.

SIDNER: It's the thing.

BERMAN: It's still Paris.

SIDNER: It's kind of hard not to go, I should go there. There's no one in the street. And then you burn up.

All right, markets reacting to a global tech selloff. That's accelerating this morning. Take a look. Things not looking so great this morning for the markets.

He's -- now, he's a World Cup star and he can't even kick a ball. He hails from the streets of Mexico. How Merlin the Duck waddled his way to Mexico's national palace. He's so cute.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:53:14]

BOLDUAN: This morning, the FAA is unveiling new artificial intelligence technology that it's leaning on to help air traffic control and reduce flight delays, reduce cancellations. The shift towards A.I. is the latest move by the Trump administration to try and modernize aging air traffic control infrastructure that's really been forced into the spotlight after several incidents in the past year.

CNN's Pete Muntean has this reporting for us. He's joining us right now.

And, Pete, what are you learning about this move?

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's fitting that we're talking about this now, Kate, because all of New York's major airports, all of the major D.C. area airports, were under ground stops yesterday because of thunderstorms. That contributed to 8,000 flight delays, hundreds of cancellations nationwide. And the FAA is warning of another rough day today, making this announcement even more timely.

The FAA says this new pair of A.I.-powered systems will help spot flight delays before they begin. It is a tall order, which is why the agency just awarded an $875 million contract to Boston-based Airspace Intelligence. The first parts of this are expected to go live at the FAA Command Center in Virginia this fall, and a nationwide rollout is targeted for the end of 2028.

And the FAA just gave reporters a demonstration. This sort of looks like Waze but for flights. The system predicts where congestion will develop, suggest a better route for the flight before it even leaves the gate. The FAA showed us this one example of a flight leaving JFK. The system predicted that the flight would eventually encounter congested airspace, so it generated an alternate route for the air traffic controller to then approve it.

This could also help with weather delays, especially pertinent when it comes to talking about the summertime. A line of thunderstorms can force the FAA to impose these sweeping delays, impacting hundreds of flights. It's sort of a scattershot approach. [08:55:02]

And this new system is designed to identify gaps in the weather, allowing for air traffic managers to route flights more precisely.

You mentioned this is all part of the Trump administration's multibillion dollar overhaul of aging air traffic control infrastructure, everything down to copper wire that connects air traffic control facilities.

Of course, airlines love this new idea. They, notably, are providing data that this system will analyze. The industry's top lobbying group estimates air traffic control delays cost airlines about $8 billion a year. It means lost time for you. Also something called schedule padding, when airlines intentionally build extra time in the flight schedules because the delays are so common. We'll see if this helps, Kate.

BOLDUAN: Yes, I mean, we -- it's such a fascinating thing and an idea and a usage of A.I. technology, right? And also the question that I have is, you've done such good reporting on the stress on air traffic controllers and the need for, you know, hiring more air traffic controllers. But the fact that they're retiring and the attrition, because of this stress that they're under, if this can also contribute to alleviating that, to kind of get them more of the time that they need back to do their jobs at peak performance, it's a fascinating thing, Pete. It's really great. Let's see, as this rolls out --

MUNTEAN: It remains to be seen how this will work with air traffic controllers. And I asked Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy about this, will A.I. replace air traffic controllers? He says, no, this will only augment their jobs. But we'll see as time goes on how A.I. becomes more and more integrated into the air traffic control system.

You know, airlines are using this too, to try and help them predict delays and change their flight schedules at a time when fuel is costing them more, and that leads to higher fares for passengers. So, this could mean good news for passengers too.

BOLDUAN: We'll take the good news today, Pete. Thank you so much, as always.

John.

BERMAN: All right, this morning, the quarantine is over for the last six American passengers from the cruise ship hit by a deadly hantavirus outbreak. They spent the past 42 days at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. None of them became infected. Now, the outbreak was on a cruise ship that sailed from Argentina in April. Three people died, 13 other people became ill.

A duck named Merlin, dressed in a team Mexico jersey, is now getting presidential recognition, invited to -- invited by Mexico's president, Claudia Sheinbaum, to the National Palace. That's a long way to go for the pet of a street vendor. Merlin was also named by FIFA as a World Cup ambassador. You can see how excited Merlin is by the recognition. Mexico plays tomorrow. They have already clinched the top spot in their group.

Sara.

SIDNER: He's cute. I like him.

All right, just like you, John.

All right, this morning, mobile surveillance cameras now being set up around the Reflecting Pool at the National Mall in D.C. President Trump says, without evidence, that vandals have damaged the pool and they should face up to ten years in prison. Trump's threats come after that $14 million makeover that has visitors seeing green instead of the American flag blue the president had wanted.

CNN's Sunlen Serfaty has the very latest from D.C.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You're going to have something to be very proud of.

SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): A peeling bottom --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's still not fixed. And it is, it's disappointing.

SERFATY (voice over): Arrests for alleged vandalism, a high-profile lawsuit, and won $14 million green-hued pool, the president's Reflecting Pool makeover is now overflowing with controversy.

TRUMP: We did a hell of a job. But everybody's looking at that Reflecting Pool.

SERFATY (voice over): And yet, 18 days after the pool was filled with water, after the initial renovation, President Trump is now saying the pool will likely need to be shut down and drained again, blaming it on what he says are vandals that have forced a new round of repairs.

TRUMP: I can't help it if somebody goes in with a knife and starts hacking it up. And we also have pictures of it. You know, we have pictures.

REPORTER: Can you release the photos? We've been asking for that.

TRUMP: Yes, at the right time you'll see it. You'll see it in court.

SERFATY (voice over): Administration officials say that police have made several arrests at the Reflecting Pool, alleging vandalism.

TRUMP: And I understand they've arrested five people, and they have another five people that are under investigation.

SERFATY (voice over): Three-time U.S. Olympian David Hearn says he was arrested after touching blue material partially detached from the bottom of the pool. DAVID HEARN, FORMER U.S. OLYMPIAN: And I took my left hand glove off

and reached down into the water and sort of felt the end and bent it around a little bit.

SERFATY (voice over): Hearn denies vandalizing the pool and says he was cited with destruction and defacing government property and disobeying a government employee.

JEANINE PIRRO, U.S. ATTORNEY FOR D.C.: There are several citations that have been handed out to individuals, and these are cases that will be prosecuted to the full extent.

SERFATY (voice over): On Truth Social, without evidence, the president wrote, "they took some form of knife or blade and put a 250-foot-long gash into the beautiful facade of what took so much work, competence and money to build and complete."

[09:00:06]