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England Faces Off Against Ghana in Pivotal Matchup; Brutal Heat Wave Roasting Europe; Trump to Speak on Economy Amid Rising Costs, Iran Peace Talks; Primaries in NY, Maryland, Utah Today, Runoffs in South Carolina; Acting Director of National Intelligence Begins Mass Firings. Aired 2-2:30p ET

Aired June 23, 2026 - 14:00   ET

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

[14:00:00]

AMANDA DAVIES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: -- on the outside of the stadium. There's as many people wearing sequins as there are England shirts. Not a bad idea for the kit manufacturers, I can tell you. And Harry Styles very much embraced this mixed media vibe during England's last game against Croatia. There were loads of fans watching his show but also the game. They celebrated when England scored those four goals, they played "Three Lions, Football's Coming Home," Harry Styles very much leading it.

And that is what we are expecting more of the same against Ghana this evening. As you said, both England and Ghana, top of Group L, both of them looking for their second win of the tournament, knowing that victory will see them book their place in the Rounds of 32 with a game to spare.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": Yeah, but they can cheer for Harry and they've covered all of their bases with that one cheer. Amanda Davis, thank you so much.

(LAUGH)

KEILAR: Live for us from London. A new hour of "CNN News Central" starts right now.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": Right now, the president is in battleground Pennsylvania. Will voters there be more receptive to his economic message with many Americans struggling to make ends meet?

Plus, A.I. arms race, a warning from the U.S. and its intelligence partners. Artificial intelligence models capable of launching major cyber attacks are months, not years away.

And a summer under siege. Europe has a major heat problem that is only getting worse. We're following these major developing stories and many more, all coming in right here to "CNN News Central."

At any moment, President Trump will make his return to the campaign trail in Pennsylvania. He is set to deliver what he hopes will be a winning midterm message at a Mack Trucks assembly plant. For voters, of course, the economy is top of mind. But as peace talks with Iran remain fragile, Americans are feeling the strain of inflation.

Gas prices still roughly $1 higher than before the war with Iran began. Let's go now live to the event where CNN's Betsy Klein is standing by for us. We heard, Betsy, from the president in the last hour. What more can we expect to hear from him at this event?

BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, Boris, President Trump is here on the midterm campaign trail and this is something that we had expected to see aggressively throughout the winter and into the spring. But it's become increasingly rare, and that is because of the president's actions in Venezuela as well as the war in Iran. But today's event expected to return that focus to the economy.

The president expected to tout investments here in Pennsylvania and jobs. He's also very likely to talk about falling gas prices. The price of gas nationwide now just under $4 here. In Lehigh County, about $3.75 a gallon.

But we are in Pennsylvania's 7th congressional district, and this is going to be a major battleground come November in the midterm elections in the battle for the House of Representatives. It is currently held by Congressman, Ryan MacKenzie, a Republican. He spoke earlier here during the pre-program, and he won his race back in 2024 by just about 4,000 votes, a very narrow margin.

Right now, running against him is Democrat, Bob Brooks. He is a firefighter from Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and he has been running, trying to tie MacKenzie to President Trump and to the president's policies. He says that he voted in lockstep with President Trump in a statement today.

But MacKenzie today, Made in America message to about 1,000 people here at this Mack Truck plant, and president very popular in this room, but his popularity is slipping more broadly here in Pennsylvania, where it's down to just about 29 percent approval rating, according to a new Franklin & Marshall poll, Boris.

SANCHEZ: Betsy Klein, live for us in Pennsylvania, thank you so much for that.

So the president's trip to this battleground comes as voters headed to the polls for primaries in four states today ahead of the upcoming midterms.

KEILAR: That's right. Let's talk about it now with Frank Luntz. He's a pollster and a communication strategist. And I wonder, Frank, what you think about the fact that we haven't really seen Trump out there stumping for Republicans so much this primary cycle. Is that sort of a missed opportunity?

FRANK LUNTZ, POLLSTER & COMMUNICATION STRATEGIST: He's the most impactful political leader that I've seen in decades. When he made an endorsement in the Texas Senate race, it changed the outcome. And he made endorsements in Louisiana, when he's done so in congressional races in places like Kentucky and California, it really does matter.

So he doesn't have to be there. He is more seen, more heard and more listened to than anyone in American politics.

SANCHEZ: The president is also trying to sort of change the message because a lot of what he's been forced to talk about in recent weeks has been the war with Iran.

[14:05:00]

Today, as he landed in Reading, Pennsylvania, he was talking about manufacturing and the U. S. economy. What message do you expect to hear from him on the stump? Typically, Trump kind of floats through a number of different subjects. Do you think he'll be focused more on the economy?

LUNTZ: Affordability. Affordability. Affordability. Affordability. It's all that matters. In the end, people aren't concerned about their jobs. They feel relatively secure. They're not concerned about their retirements right now. It's can they afford gas, which you've seen prices have gone down. Can they afford food? Can they afford health care and their housing?

KEILAR: Farmers have also been a constituency that he appears here recently to be speaking to, and it's curious because he's talking about the unfreezing of Iranian assets, and he's saying that that money would be used exclusively to buy American farm products. He's talking to a constituency that's had it pretty difficult. I wonder how you're seeing that messaging.

LUNTZ: It's essential for him because that's who Republicans are up for re-election, and if he loses the farm constituency, he loses the votes and the people who matter most in his effort to keep both the House and the Senate.

SANCHEZ: And if he loses both chambers, there's a lot at stake for him.

LUNTZ: Well, I hear some people talk about oversight, other people talk about accountability. I consider it much more of a proctology exam --

(LAUGH)

LUNTZ: -- that they will look at apps (ph) --

KEILAR: That Congress would be doing.

LUNTZ: Oh my god. It would -- the president would be more -- it would be very difficult for him because impeachment would start on day one, day two, day three, day ten, day 100, and nothing would get done, and I don't think that's good for the country. That in the end, at some point, at some point, you have to put aside politics to do policy, and if you have a Democratic House and Democratic Senate with a Republican White House, with the leadership that they have right now, I don't see anything getting done.

KEILAR: So he should obviously be paying a lot of attention to the Senate side of things, especially here, as there may be more up in the air with that, a bit more of a jumble.

LUNTZ: There are specific Senate races, and the three that I'm watching the most are Maine, because you've got a moderate Republican against a very progressive Democrat, Iowa, which would not have been up in play if Joni Ernst had run for election and now it is up for grabs, and Ohio, where the Republican incumbent was not elected initially and we have a former Democratic Senator running. Those three states are the states I'm going to be watching over the next 150 days to see which way the winds are blowing.

SANCHEZ: Notably, in two of the states you mentioned, there are very different candidates on the Democratic side. Sherrod Brown in Ohio, sort of more establishment, a more sort of moderate Democrat, you can argue. Graham Platner, very different. Which argument do you see winning in the Democratic Party? Where do you see the future of the party headed? Does it have to be the kind of party that maintains both?

LUNTZ: It needs to be the kind of party where the public can look to them and say, I can imagine them governing. I can imagine them being in charge. And the issue for the Democrats right now is do they play to their base, because their base is very left-wing, very progressive, and very outspoken, and they really want to get revenge.

It's not just being against Donald Trump, it's punishing him. Or do they want to go with a softer, quieter Democratic Party, which the activists don't want, but your middle-of- the-road voter, your centrist, is looking for. We don't know which side is going to control in November.

It's not clear right now. And in the end, we're not going to know who's going to be running the Democratic Party until they start to vote for president, and that's now more than a year away.

KEILAR: A lot to watch as we are getting much closer to November. Frank Luntz, always great to have you. Thank you so much.

LUNTZ: It's an honor.

KEILAR: And still to come, imagine being fired by someone with no experience in your field and who up until a few weeks ago lacked the security clearances to do your job. Well, that's what's happening at one critical government agency where the president has put one of his loyalists in charge, and we have the latest.

Plus, an urgent alert warns A.I. models are just months away from being able to breach government and corporate systems. What this could mean.

SANCHEZ: And later, an update on the Reflecting Pool saga. President Trump says it'll be drained around July 4th for more repairs. We have these important stories and much more coming up on CNN.

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[14:14:12] KEILAR: A major purge is underway at the office tasked with keeping all Americans safe. A source telling CNN that right now, Acting Director of National Intelligence, Bill Pulte is carrying out large- scale firings. And even before today's firings, both Republicans and Democrats had been alarmed by Pulte's temporary elevation to this top intelligence role, partly because he has no intelligence experience, no national security experience.

CNN's Kristen Holmes is tracking the developments from the White House. Kristen, what's the latest here?

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Brianna, most of the firings that we've heard of so far are political. They're Tulsi Gabbard holdovers. We were told that Pulte was concerned about leaks or just having anyone linked to Gabbard in the office. But more firings are coming.

A number of different departments are said to be targeted. We'll be keeping a close eye on that.

[14:15:00]

We do know that different departments were asked to rank individuals, their personnel, essentially saying whether or not they believe they should be fired. This is after Bill Pulte had asked for a list, even before he started, of all of the people who worked at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence so that he could make those cuts.

Now, I do want to point to a letter that was sent out by the top Democrats on both the House and Senate Intel Committees before we had learned about these mass firings starting. And this is what they wrote. It's pretty damning language.

It says, "Given your lack of experience within the intelligence community, it's difficult to imagine that in such a short amount of time that you've already developed fully informed views as to how to shrink ODNI without incurring risks to national security. Making significant structural changes to ODNI to include a reduction in force is not an appropriate course of action for anyone in an acting capacity, let alone without consultation with Congress. And you should refrain from doing so."

Now, I've been told that Pulte is not, in fact, going to refrain from doing so. And we should mention that Pulte was seen here at the White House in the Oval Office with President Trump yesterday, when he was signing an executive order. One of the things that sources close to Pulte and around the White House have told me about how he even ended up in this position is that he had this proximity to President Trump.

He had a direct line. He didn't have to go through any kind of proxies or intermediaries. And of course, as we saw yesterday, he was standing right there, center in the Oval Office.

KEILAR: And how long can he serve in this acting position, Kristen? HOLMES: So, Brianna, technically, he can serve for 210 days without having to go through the Senate confirmation period. Now, I am told that behind the scenes, President Trump has assured Republicans who are pretty skeptical about Pulte that it would be less than that, that it might even be closer to 90 days or shorter than that, that what he wanted Pulte to come in and do was essentially clean house, and then he would go and the next person would step in.

As of now, that next person is still slated to be Jay Clayton, the U.S. Attorney in the Southern District of New York. They have not pulled that nomination. But, of course, as we know, President Trump asked Clayton not to show up for the hearing in front of the Intel Committee because he wants the SAVE America Act passed. That's something he's going to be discussing on Capitol Hill tomorrow. But right now, again, he could serve up to 210 days. I am being told it is unlikely he will go through that entire period.

KEILAR: Interesting. Kristen Holmes, live for us at the White House, thank you.

Next, a deadly heat wave gripping Europe as temperatures surpassed 113 degrees in some cities. We're live in Paris, where only a small percentage of homes have air conditioning.

And then later, she claimed to have proof Dr. Anthony Fauci funded the research that sparked the COVID-19 pandemic. How Tulsi Gabbard's evidence found anything but.

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[14:22:33]

SANCHEZ: Millions of people in Western Europe are suffering under a deadly record heat wave. An oppressive heat dome is baking the region for the second time in two months and the situation in France is so dire that drinking alcohol in public is temporarily banned and schools are also closed. Right now, the hottest French town is close to 109- degrees Fahrenheit and today could break the country's all-time record.

Spain's Andalusia region topped 113 degrees. Notably it is only June. CNN Senior International Correspondent, Melissa Bell is in Paris for us. Melissa, Americans may look at these temperatures and say ,well, they're a common occurrence in the U.S. Help us understand why this level of heat is more of a threat in Europe?

MELISSA BELL, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We just aren't equipped, Boris, to deal with temperatures like this. I mean what you've seen over the course of the last few days, and this started sort of the middle of last week, is this really hot weather, hot and sticky, settle over so much of the European continent with people really trying as best they can to stay cool and it stayed. And now, it's sort of plateauing. You mentioned that high. We've now heard that here in France today is the hottest day on record since they began in 1947 and we're not equipped. If you look at, for instance, air conditioning, here in Europe, it's about 20 percent of homes that are equipped against 90 percent of homes in the U.S. And what you've seen over the last few years is a continent, this continent, European one, which is the fastest warming continent on the planet, seeing year after year, every summer, heat waves, wildfires, the heat waves getting earlier. You mentioned we're only in June, we've had two already and this one is already being described as one of the most severe that we've ever had, and it's here to stay.

We expect that these temperatures are going to continue over the next few days and that has pretty catastrophic consequences. We have the heat-related deaths and that toll continues to climb here in France and elsewhere, Boris, but also, we heard from the French Prime Minister this morning after an emergency crisis meeting, 40 drownings in the last few days as people just seek some kind of respite in any way they can, often in bodies of water that are not usually swum in and unsupervised with those disastrous consequences.

So authorities really telling people to stay home. More than a thousand schools have been closed here in France, some until the end of the week. Trains have been stopped in many parts and it isn't just France, this is Spain, Italy, Germany, where you're seeing similar conditions and similar fears for people's health.

[14:25:00]

There is, of course, the effect that it has on the elderly, people who may not be very well to begin with. And what we're seeing here in France as a result of the sustained period of extreme heat are public services now creaking at the seams because of all the people arriving at hospital with these heat related conditions and just dehydration. So, the word is people need to stay at home and stay hydrated and really, if you look around Paris today Boris, it's pretty empty.

People have done just that, sadly, without any air conditioning on the whole but at least staying in the shade. In fact some of the public parks like the one I'm in, normally close at night. They were left open last night, so that people could at least get some fresh air and leave their sweltering apartments and you saw Parisians actually sleeping in the park because it was the only place they could get any fresh air at all. Even staying out in the park to watch France's match against Iraq yesterday, so hot was it for them in their apartments.

So the problem with this is that by the time our cities here in Europe have adapted, it's going to take many, many years before air conditioning is installed and before we have the kind of facilities to make these heat waves bearable. For now, everyone is just kind of trying to get through it and hoping that conditions change. But for now, what we're hearing is that heat dome that is trapped above Europe with all of that hot air coming from the Sahara is sadly here to stay. So I fear this is something that's only going to get worse and you're already seeing from Greece to France, those wildfires begin, Boris.

SANCHEZ: Wow, the summer has just kicked off, so we hope the best for our friends over in Europe. Melissa Bell in Paris, thanks so much for the update.

Still to come, a new warning. A.I. models just months away from being able to breach government and corporate systems, some major implications, next.

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