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Three Mamdani-Backed Candidates Win; Israel-Lebanon Issue Separate from U.S.-Iran Talks; Rep. Seth Magaziner (D-RI) is Interviewed about Rubio's Comments on Talks; Europe Swelters Under High Temps. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired June 24, 2026 - 09:00   ET

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

[09:00:00]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: In Utah has now burned more than 31,000 acres and is still not contained. High temps, strong winds, dry conditions are making obviously a perfect storm for this fire to continue to grow and making it very difficult to put out. The fire started on Monday near multiple campgrounds and homes and quickly grew to 2,000 acres in just a matter of hours. Evacuations have been ordered for parts of Beaver County, Utah. The cause of the fire is under investigation.

There are -- they have some pig problems on a California highway. A big rig carrying, yes, pigs overturned, leaving some of them stuck in the truck while others escaped, were stranded and nowhere to go. Traffic was shut down for hours while they all worked to rescue them all, I guess we'll say. All the pigs have now been accounted for. The driver of the overturned rig was unharmed, thank goodness. But good images for -- good images to bring you this morning as we begin.

A new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts now.

All right, shockwaves from the Democratic Party. A major shift to the left in New York as the ideological struggle within the Democratic Party is on full display in a new way.

And Senate Republicans are getting ready for a high stakes meeting with President Trump amid rising tensions within the Republican Party as well. One big question now is, what's going to happen between Trump and the Senate majority leader, John Thune.

And a deadly heat -- a deadly heat wave continues to grip Europe. When are they going to get a break?

I'm Kate Bolduan, with Sara Sidner and John Berman. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: It was a big moment overnight for the Democratic Party. Voters in New York sending a loud message to Democrats in D.C. And it could change where the party is headed and how it approaches the midterms. New York mayor, and Democratic socialist, Zohran Mamdani delivering a massive win for progressives. All three candidates that he endorsed won their congressional primaries, ousting two sitting congressmen in the process. Mamdani saying this is just the beginning of a movement.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR ZOHRAN MAMDANI (D), NEW YORK CITY: That we are showing there is a new path for politics in our city and in our country. We are showing that last June, a year ago tomorrow, was not an anomaly. It was not the end. It was the beginning.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: So, now there's a big question for Democrats, how do you talk about key issues like Israel, affordability and A.I.? All talking points that helped these candidates dominate their races in New York and win back Congress in the general midterms coming November.

CNN's Gloria Pazmino is with me now.

You've been following Mamdani all this time, from before he was mayor, and now you're seeing the result of someone who's been in office, what, six months now.

GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Barely. Sara, frankly, it is shocking. You know, the mayor took a big swing with these three congressional candidates. He took a big bet. And he is waking up a winner this morning.

And I think there was -- in fact, I know there was a lot of people in the city that did not think he would be able to pull off a win in all three races. This was a sweep across the board for the mayor. We should also mention, several down ballot races in the city and the state that Mamdani endorsed in also notched several wins. A huge win for the Democratic Socialists of America. They now have three people on their way to Congress. That is going to be a significant shift certainly for the delegation, the congressional delegation in New York.

And I think that if you are Hakeem Jeffries or Chuck Schumer, you're waking up this morning looking at these results and not only wondering whether they are next, but, frankly, how they are going to adjust, if at all, their messaging going into these midterms.

And yes, we can talk about how not everything that happens in New York City --

SIDNER: Right.

PAZMINO: Applies to, say, the Midwest or other parts of the nation. That's a fair argument. But I think we are seeing consistently that these candidates who have focused on affordability, affordability, affordability, how expensive life has gotten, not just here in New York City, but frankly, in so many other parts of the country. And also criticism and sharp criticism of Israel. All these three candidates share the political ideology of Zohran Mamdani. They are critics of the state of Israel. They believe that U.S. military aid to Israel should end. They campaigned on that, especially in the Brad Lander versus Goldman race. I think we saw that dynamic play out really just in a remarkable way.

This is a district home to a lot of Jewish New Yorkers, a lot of progressive Jewish New Yorkers.

[09:05:01]

And you had sort of your typical Democrat, Dan Goldman, supported by AIPAC. Brad Lander, much more to the left, also Jewish. Two Jewish candidates. And Brad Lander pulling out the win.

I want to play the sound bite from Darializa Avila Chevalier. She was a challenger in the 13 Congressional District. That was another earthquake last night. Washington Heights, Inwood, parts of the Bronx, Adriano Espaillat, a five term incumbent, now likely on his way out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DARIALIZA AVILA CHEVALIER (D), NEW YORK CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE: The politics of the past ends today. What we have built over the last eight months and what we have delivered here today is a clear mandate that the era of taking a check and cashing a check and calling it representation is over.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAZMINO: Sara, this was the race that not everyone was quite convinced on. This was a candidate who was not picture perfect. She had made a lot of controversial statements in the past few years. She has called for the abolition of police, the abolition of jails. And there was a lot of talk that she might not actually be able to pull this out. But as we saw, she won by not an insignificant margin in this district last night. And I think that all of these incumbents, and certainly party leaders, looking at the results from last night and wondering if and how they will change in the next few months.

SIDNER: Yes. It will be fascinating to see how they go forward.

Gloria Pazmino, thank you so much. Do appreciate it.

John.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, a live look at Capitol Hill. You can see right there, a glorious day over the U.S. Capitol. President Trump will soon head there for a big and possibly tense meeting with Senate Republicans. Divisions are growing in the Republican conference over his agenda, and he has lashed out at four Republican senators who voted with Democrats to limit his war powers on Iran.

The president is also pressuring the Senate to pass a federal elections overhaul bill, which some Republicans see as a nonstarter. Senate Majority Leader John Thune has warned that they do not have the votes to pass it.

But we've got new CNN reporting this morning that the president is growing increasingly frustrated at Thune, venting privately that the majority leader is not fighting hard enough for his priorities. But we are told a growing number of Senate Republicans are lining up behind the Senate leader on this.

So, we will watch this meeting very closely for signs of what's to come, Sara.

SIDNER: All right, thank you, John.

Now to the Middle East. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has just arrived in Kuwait. His latest stop on his visit to the Middle East. He's making the case to allies in the region to get on board with the U.S.-Iran agreement.

But there are, of course, several sticking points as talks move forward, including Iran's insistence that fighting between Israel and Iran's proxy in Lebanon, Hezbollah, be part of broader U.S.-Iran negotiations. Rubio is saying they are two separate issues.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARCO RUBIO, SECRETARY OF STATE: It's separate because Lebanon is a sovereign country.

Now, there's an Iranian issue with regard to Lebanon, and that is their support and sponsorship of Hezbollah. And so that will -- that factor will be discussed as part of our conversations with the Iranians. But as far as the future of Lebanon, the future of Lebanon belongs to the Lebanese people, through their sovereign, elected government.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: CNN's Jennifer Hansler is live in Washington watching all of this.

What are you learning this morning?

JENNIFER HANSLER, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: Well, Sara, Rubio is taking part in what he's describing as a listening tour in these three critical gulf states. He just came from the United Arab Emirates, where he sat down with their president. He is now in Kuwait, where he is expected to meet with top officials there. And then will head to Bahrain, to meet not only with Bahraini officials, but also the broader GCC.

Now, Sara, when he landed in the UAE yesterday, he said he was seeking to hear more than he talked at this allies, particularly after that first round of talks in Switzerland over the weekend. However, he did seem to acknowledge that there is skepticism around this framework that has been reached between the U.S. and the Iranians. He said that, you know, everyone wants peace but it's going to come down to these technical details, which are a work in progress.

Now, even as Rubio is saying that they are soliciting the input of these allies, particularly when it comes to economic and security concerns, the U.S. has made very clear that they will be looking to the gulf to help implement very critical parts of this deal, particularly when it comes to the Strait of Hormuz, which Vice President J.D. Vance and others have said they are looking to the Omanis and the broader gulf region to help secure that critical waterway and ensure that there is free -- toll free passage.

We have also heard that the administration is going to be looking to them to contribute to this $300 billion Iranian reconstruction fund. This is something that Rubio said he does not anticipate bringing up during this trip. That has -- but it has raised eyebrows, especially in these three countries that have been incredibly hard hit throughout the course of the war, as well as during the nominal ceasefire period we saw Iran continuing to launch attacks on these countries, which have housed critical U.S. assets.

[09:10:11]

So, a lot at stake here, Sara.

SIDNER: All right, Jennifer Hansler, thank you so much. Pictures there of Marco Rubio just now landing in Kuwait.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: All right, joining us right now is Democratic Congressman Seth Magaziner of Rhode Island. He sits on the House Homeland Security Committee.

Thanks for being here.

I'm curious what you think of what the secretary of state is saying while he is overseas and the case he's trying to make, saying that the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon should be a separate issue from the ongoing broader negotiations between the U.S. and Iran. Do you agree that they -- it should be separated, unlinked, if you will? If so, do you think they're actually going to be able to untether them now four months into this war?

REP. SETH MAGAZINER (D-RI): Well, first of all, politicians have been sending other people's kids to fight and die in the Middle East for my entire life. And the American people are sick of it. This entire war in Iran was a blunder by the president of the United States. We have nothing to show for it. Even after more than a dozen American military members, countless civilians were killed, tens of billions of dollars of taxpayer money that could have been spent here at home has instead been wasted on another pointless war.

And where are we now? We have a framework, apparently, of a deal that is worse than the one that President Trump tore up, that had been negotiated by Barack Obama. As of right now, we see no regime for inspections of Iranian nuclear sites, no accountability. The Iranians appear to still have de facto control over the Strait of Hormuz. And, you know, when it comes to Lebanon, the war continues there. Civilians are dying.

What I would say to the secretary on that issue, to your question is, you know, the United States may not be able to control what happens in Lebanon, but we can certainly control our role in it. And I joined nearly 100 other members of the House in voting last week to state clearly that the United States should not be funding a war in Lebanon that is not our war.

You know, at the end of the day, we need to get out of this repeated pattern of presidents blundering us into unnecessary wars in the Middle East. I think part of what we got to do here to get out of this mess is have more experienced negotiators around the table representing the United States' interests.

The Iranians are tough negotiators. And the first round of negotiations that led us to this bad framework of a deal was led by the president's relatives and real estate buddies. We need to get some experienced negotiators at the table, and then Congress needs to reassert our prerogative under the Constitution to be the ultimate decider of when the United States goes to war and when we don't, and not give the president, or any president, frankly, so much leeway to blunder us into unnecessary wars like this one.

BOLDUAN: One thing I think you're getting at is continued U.S. support for sending -- U.S. support for Israel in terms of sending weapons and -- weapons over to Israel as part of this. You voted -- I believe you voted, I think it was last year, against certain -- sending certain -- a transfer of certain offensive U.S. weapons to Israel over this. And Netanyahu has been talking about this actually, saying that he's ready to try to transition out of kind of that relationship, and Israel should be making their own weapons at this point.

I bring this up because U.S. support for Israel was central in all of the New York primary races that we saw last night and we've been talking about all of this morning, progressive candidates backed by the Democratic socialist mayor won three congressional primaries, ousting two incumbent Democrats. One of them, Darializa Avila Chevalier. She won despite attending a pro-Palestinian rally the day after Hamas' October 7th attack, which was a rally that the New York governor called abhorrent and morally repugnant.

When you see these progressive Democratic wins, what does it mean for the Democratic Party?

MAGAZINER: Well, what I think we're seeing in yesterday's election, and frankly throughout the whole election season, both on the Democratic side and the Republican side in these primaries, is that the voters are tired of this system of corruption that has taken over Washington. People can't afford to pay their rent. People can't afford health insurance. And then they look at Washington and they see members of Congress profiting by trading off of inside information. They see the president profiting, selling cryptocurrency out of the Oval Office. They see dark money flooding elections funded by big tech companies and others. And they're tired of it.

And I think what voters are asking themselves is, who is going to fight for me instead of the corrupt system. And in some cases, they -- the voters are making the determination that its new faces who are going to fight the hardest for working people.

[09:15:06]

In other cases, you know, they see that the incumbents, in a given race, are fighting against the corrupt system, and they support the incumbents. Sometimes it's moderates. Sometimes it's progressives.

But I think the average person in this country, the ordinary people, don't always think of things in these sort of left, middle, right categories that those of us who follow politics really closely do.

BOLDUAN: So, Congressman, are you -- are you --

MAGAZINER: Most voters, at a fundamental level, look at the at the candidates and they -- and they say to themselves --

BOLDUAN: OK.

MAGAZINER: Who is going to fight for me and stand up to the corruption? And I think that's exactly what you saw last night. I'll just -- one example, real quickly.

BOLDUAN: So, you don't see a progressive -- you don't see a progressive wave washing over the Democratic Party. But there is an ideological struggle that is very clearly playing out within the Democratic Party.

Senator John Fetterman was asked kind of about how what is playing out -- what was playing out with these primaries. And his quote to CNN was that, "the dirtbag left is having their moment." Do you agree with him?

MAGAZINER: I think what you're seeing is an anti-corruption wave sweeping not only the Democratic Party but the entire country. You have candidates on the left, the middle and the right who are running in support of my bill to ban members of Congress and the president from trading stocks, for example. That is one of the top issues that candidates across the spectrum are running on is supporting my bill to do that.

I think, again, there's just widespread dissatisfaction. People see corruption in Washington across parties, and they want people who are willing to shake up the status quo. In some cases, that means people turning to the left and others it means supporting incumbents who they see with the courage -- you know, demonstrating the courage to take on that fight.

There's clearly a broad dissatisfaction in the electorate right now. People are tired of working people not being able to pay their bills while the elites in Washington are enriching themselves out of the -- on -- off of the system. And I think you saw that sentiment very clearly in New York City last night. But you've also seen it in races across the country, including on the Republican side, by the way.

BOLDUAN: Yes.

Congressman, thanks for your time.

Sara.

SIDNER: All right. Thank you so much, Kate. Appreciate it. Ahead, an extreme heat wave hitting Europe. It's got countries

scrambling for some relief. And new research shows this may be just the start of scorching temperatures every year for the continent.

And we're on verdict watch in California as jurors decide the fate of the man accused of starting the deadly Palisades Fire. More on that.

Also, a man in an RV is accused of taking police on a dangerous, low speed chase. Why authorities say he ran driving that.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:21:53]

BERMAN: This morning, record breaking heat scorching Europe. There have been 42 drownings in France in less than a week. That just shows you the ends that people are going to cool off somewhere. Trains, canceled. Schools, shut. People buying fans. And as I said, swimming in canals or rivers, wherever they can, to escape the heat. This is one American visiting London.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I've been traveling like through London and it's like, so hot. Like I Ubered to the train station, even though it's like a 15-minute walk. It's been -- it's been a nightmare.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: With us now, CNN chief climate correspondent Bill Weir.

And needless to say, they're just not used to it there the way they are here.

BILL WEIR, CNN CHIEF CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT: Europe was not built for this world. The world of 2026. The Tube in London, there's no air conditioning in those trains.

BERMAN: Oh.

WEIR: And there's no room to put them there because it's such an old system.

In France, it's supposed to get over 100 degrees today. They suspended alcohol sales at their big musical festival just to take the pressure off of emergency crews.

Six countries, the top red alert now because it's this heat dome that's just parked right over Europe. Five years ago, similar thing happened in Washington, Oregon, the pacific northwest. It's a result -- as a result of that, the first wrongful death lawsuit against big oil companies is happening because of that heat dome. Now, Europe dealing with this in so many countries there.

BERMAN: Holy cow. WEIR: And it's because of the jet stream breaking down. The jet stream is this river of wind around the top of the planet. It usually holds the cold up high and keeps the warm down below. But as the planet overheats, that jet stream is wobbling. And you see these big lobes of either super cold air in the wintertime or super hot air just sitting over places.

And this time is much worse than the last heat wave because the humidity is so much worse. That wet bulb temperature, you can't cool off. Overnight, temperatures second highest ever in France. So, this really preys on the elderly, the vulnerable folks in these old homes that just aren't equipped to deal with this kind of heat.

BERMAN: Melissa Bell was telling us a couple things. One, first of all, its forecast to last for a while.

WEIR: It is.

BERMAN: I mean, this is sticking there. The second thing, what, 20 percent of Europeans have air conditioning compared to, you know, upwards of 80 or 90 here in the United States.

WEIR: Exactly. So, adaptation has to happen so much faster. And Europe is actually heating up twice as fast as the rest of the planet.

I was just up in Svalbard, Norway, in the Arctic. It's heating up seven times faster because that -- as that ice at the top of the world disappears, there's a lot more open water to absorb heat. And Europe is catching that, the brunt of it, right now.

BERMAN: Wow.

WEIR: But, U.S., get ready, because it's going to be a hot summer here.

BERMAN: I'm just looking at those temperatures in places. The 100 degrees in France, that's not something they can deal with there. Ninety's in Europe -- in England and stuff. Oh, you know.

All right, Bill Weir, thank you very much.

WEIR: You bet, John.

BERMAN: Kate.

BOLDUAN: People are protesting outside a New York coffee shop now after that coffee shop banned a congressman over his support for Israel.

And we are getting a new read from what Bill Gates -- new read out from what Bill Gates told lawmakers during his closed door Capitol Hill interview about Jeffrey Epstein. We'll bring you those details.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:29:25]

BOLDUAN: The transcript has now been released of what Bill Gates told House investigators behind closed doors, including that he says that he never interacted with victims of Jeffrey Epstein, but Gates does acknowledge in this transcript that he may have been in their presence during his meetings with Jeffrey Epstein.

The Microsoft co-founder has maintained throughout that his connection with Jeffrey Epstein was strictly professional and said that he never witnessed nor participated in any sexual misconduct. But in the conversation, you can see that the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, Congressman Robert Garcia, said that the investigation has shown that some of Epstein's employees were also abused, making it difficult for Gates to rule out that he was never around any Epstein victims.

[09:30:08]

Sara.

SIDNER: All right. Secretary