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Secretary Marco Rubio Pushes to Separate Israel-Lebanon Issue from the U.S.-Iran Talks; Deliberations to Begin in Palisades Fire Trial; New Warning about A.I. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired June 24, 2026 - 09:30   ET

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

[09:30:00]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Epstein's employees were also abused, making it difficult for Gates to rule out that he was never around any Epstein victims.

Sara.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is in Kuwait right now, the latest stop on his trip through the Middle East. His mission, selling the U.S.-Iran agreement to allies in the region who may be skeptical. One major sticking point, the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, Iran's proxy in Lebanon. Iran wants that to be part of the larger discussion with the United States in order to make this deal. But Rubio insists they are two separate issues. And this morning, Israel's defense minister says it will not withdraw from Lebanon, even if the U.S. demands it.

Joining me now is CNN global affairs analyst Kim Dozier.

Let's talk about this issue with Lebanon. Look, we just saw Marco Rubio land just, you know, not long ago this morning. He says he's mostly there to listen, but he does want to get this deal done. But you have this this nagging issue where Iran is being insistent about something. Now Israel is chiming in, saying they're not going to be a party to it. And you've got Rubio saying this is a separate issue. How does this get solved?

KIM DOZIER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Yes, Rubio would like it to be a separate issue. But as long as Iran and Hezbollah are as closely allied as they are, there are actual Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps officers commanding parts of the Hezbollah military wing. You have to include Iran in the equation unless you want to fight the Hezbollah remnants and force them out of southern Lebanon.

And at this point, the Lebanese army doesn't have the firepower to do that. And so, the Israelis say, what else can they do? Their people are demanding that they be kept safe from Hezbollah attacks, which are continuing.

SIDNER: They're not a party to this, as we understand it. They're not a party to these negotiations right now.

DOZIER: Yes.

SIDNER: Both Lebanon nor Israel. Do you see them eventually having to bring them into the fold?

DOZIER: Well, Lebanon and Israel are actually in talks in Washington today trying to sort out that issue. But Hezbollah has rejected those talks and called on the Lebanese government to pull out of it.

In terms of the Iranian negotiations, you know, the Iranians would reject being present with Israeli negotiators, full stop. But what you could do is at least include Israel more in briefing them on what's going on. So far, with Israel and gulf states, they have been caught by surprise again and again by what's happening inside the negotiating room, often in Geneva or Pakistan.

SIDNER: I do want to ask you, John Berman just spoke with Jonathan Swan and Maggie Haberman about their brand new book called "Regime Change: Inside the Imperial Presidency of Donald Trump." And there was something really striking that came out of the conversation that is in their book when it comes to the way the president sees himself vis a vis the world and the world order. Let me let you hear what Jonathan Swan said to John Berman this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JONATHAN SWAN, CO-AUTHOR, "REGIME CHANGE": Well, one other thing that happened when we went and saw the president in March was he handed us a document that he wanted us to read. And it was a two-page document that he said was written by a historian. And it opens with a statement that Donald Trump is the most powerful man who's ever existed on the planet, by far. And then it goes on to compare him to Mao, Stalin, Hitler, Alexander the Great, The Caesars, Genghis Khan, Attila the Hun, William the Conqueror, you know, all the sort of liberal democrats of, you know, history. And Trump wanted us to understand, it was not a moral. There was no mention of a moral comparison. It was that he had power that no one has ever had before. The U.S. has the most powerful military, economy, technology, but that he's willing to use it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: What do you see here? Do -- that meaning to, in this context, to Iran, to Israel, to Lebanon, and to the region as a whole?

DOZIER: President Trump still seems to think that military force equals total victory. And many of those various historical leaders went down in flames because they overestimated the extent of their power. They had great power for a while and then were ultimately defeated. Because when you take on the world, the world ultimately fights back. What President Trump seems to miss that many past leaders have embraced is that the U.S.' strength is based in not just its military might, but in its alliances. And President Trump has instead beat up his allies. Right now those allies in the gulf and in Israel are feeling a bit bereft and wondering if they're going to be left to fight Iran on their own.

[09:35:10]

SIDNER: Kim Dozier, it's a pleasure to have you to talk us through all of this. Thank you so much. I do appreciate your time this morning.

John.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: An urgent warning from the world's top intelligence agencies, governments and businesses have months, not years, months to fix potentially fatal cyber security flaws.

And it takes a very nimble police officer to catch a very nimble deer. Man, that was impressive. That deer was trapped there. Not any longer.

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[09:40:26]

BOLDUAN: Very soon, a jury is set to begin deliberating in the trial over that massive, destructive and deadly Palisades Fire. Prosecutors, during the trial, painted the suspect as angry at the wealthy, vengeful, really at the world -- against the world, while his defense -- his defense team argued, though, that there is no evidence that he started this massive blaze.

CNN's Nick Watt is following this one in Los Angeles. He's back with us.

What are you going to be looking for this this morning?

NICK WATT, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, listen, Kate, the jury is going to start deliberating at 8 a.m. And either they are going to find somebody culpable for one of the largest wildfires in the history of Los Angeles, burned 37 square miles, took 12 lives, destroyed over 6,000 structures, or if this guy is acquitted, then attention could turn back a little bit to officials here in Los Angeles and what they did or did not do before and during and after that fire.

So, here's what prosecutors say happened. They say that this 30-year- old former Uber driver, Jonathan Rinderknecht, was angry at the world, was Uber driving on New Year's Eve, didn't have a date, didn't have a party to go to, was angry and, just after midnight, up on the hills above Pacific Palisades, lit this fire. That fire was then put out, or supposedly put out, by the L.A. Fire Department, but then was burning, prosecutors say, in root structures underground. And when the wind picked up January 7th, reignited and it caused all this damage.

Take a listen to what Rinderknecht's lawyer had to say just after the jury was given the case.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEVE HANEY, JONATHAN RINDERKNECHT'S ATTORNEY: I think the lack of scene preservation, the fact that they got there after a lot of the evidence was missing, not a lot of direct evidence, it's a circumstantial case, which is always difficult as a prosecutor to prove. But they did a good job, and they put on a lot of evidence. And I think we put on a good defense. And now it's in the hands of the jury.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATT: So, nobody denies that Jonathan Rinderknecht was on that hill just after midnight New Year's morning. But his lawyer says he dialed 911 17 times because he saw a fire and was trying to help. Prosecutors say he was trying to create an alibi. Those calls were ridiculous.

There's no witness. There's no video of him actually doing it. And there is no confession. But prosecutors lent heavily during the trial on this idea of him being this vengeful man who hated the world, who hated the rich. They talked about ChatGPT prompts, where he created images of flames and rich people laughing, and also apparently asked ChatGPT, why am I so angry all the time?

Now his lawyer says Rinderknecht is just a convenient suspect and a scapegoat. One woman I spoke to in court yesterday, who lost her home, said, I don't want this guy convicted if he's just a patsy. I want to know the truth.

Now, the prosecution said, we have got enough evidence. It's circumstantial, but we have got evidence that puts him there that proves he did this. Jury begins deliberation in a couple of hours, about an hour from now.

Guys.

BOLDUAN: All right, let's see where they take this today. Thank you so much, Nick. It's great to see you.

Sara.

SIDNER: All right. Thank you, Kate. A major warning about artificial intelligence from intelligence agencies in several countries. How long could it be before A.I. is able to breach government and business defenses?

Plus, one of the most coveted cups in America is coming back with a twist. How you can get your hands on the new Starbucks "Bearista" cup.

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[09:48:31]

SIDNER: How about this? A police chase with speeds up to 15 miles per hour. Yes, like bicycle speeds. Deputies say the driver took off, but not very quickly, because they were in that RV, clearly with some issues. All those sparks flying. They say he hit at least two other cars, weaved across lanes before he finally stopped in front of a home and began taking off on foot, which was even slower than 15 miles per hour. Deputies eventually did catch the man. He's now facing a slew of charges, including DUI, driving with a revoked license, and possession of a controlled substance.

All right, and World Cup goalies got nothing on this officer in Pennsylvania. Look. Look at this catch. Oh, a little deer. Two officers were sent out to track down a fawn that got trapped at a local high school. When they found it, one officer, you see him there, scooping up the little deer and released the fawn into nearby woods. All safe and sound. Cute.

All right, if you missed the first Starbucks "Bearista" cup, get ready, there's another one. The company's releasing the "Bearista" glass in a new pink drink-inspired look. This time the popular bear glass will come with a little strawberry on the straw. The limited- edition pink "Bearista" glass cups will arrive in selected Starbucks July 13th. If you're a Starbucks Reserve member, you're real fancy, you can get early access on their online shopping starting in a couple of days, July 9th.

John.

BERMAN: Or you can have some dignity.

[09:50:01]

New this morning, international intelligence agencies are issuing a new warning about A.I. The group known as The Five Eyes, the U.S., the U.K., Canada, Australia and New Zealand say that A.I. models could be just months away from launching major cyberattacks that would overwhelm governments and businesses.

CNN tech reporter Clare Duffy is here with the latest on this.

This seems like a pretty dire warning.

CLARE DUFFY, CNN TECH REPORTER: Yes, this warning essentially that it is not a matter of if but when A.I. models would become capable of launching these really dangerous attacks that we are just not ready for. And this is moving faster than experts previously anticipated. They thought it would be years. Now they're saying that it's months.

And we have been hearing escalating warnings along these lines. Just a few weeks ago you had Anthropic's co-founder saying that the world needed to agree on a way to pause A.I. development if the risks got too far ahead of our capabilities to deal with them. Now you have the U.S. government directing Anthropic not to allow foreign nationals to use its most advanced A.I. models, Mythos and Fable. The company has since just paused access to those models.

But this is, of course, not just a one company problem. You have many companies that are on the frontier here advancing this development very quickly. And it's happening around the world. And so that is why you are seeing these cyber security agencies making this warning. In this statement they say, "frontier A.I. models are anticipated to exceed current industry expectations, fundamentally transforming both offense and defensive cyber capabilities. The timeline is years, not months.

And even currently, John, you have relatively unsophisticated actors who are able to access this very advanced technology in a way that could be really damaging to small and medium sized businesses that are not prepared for this. So, this is not just a warning, but also a call to action. This Five Eyes group is asking businesses and government leaders to stay abreast of A.I. evolution, A.I. advancement, to develop layered security protections, things like upgrading old systems, patching faulty software, removing access to sensitive systems for people who don't need it. And they're also urging businesses to use A.I. for cyber security, and not just the efficiency gains that we have heard businesses talk so much about in the last few months.

BERMAN: Got to say, restraint seems hard. And I just don't know in this industry if it will work.

Clare Duffy, thank you so much for that.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: Scotland plays Brazil tonight in the World Cup. And Scottish fans are not just enjoying soccer while they're in the U.S. for the tournament. They're also getting into baseball.

Randi Kaye has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): If you're looking for the Scottish World Cup fans, they're not hard to find.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We love to party. Any sport event. We love to drink. We love to party.

KAYE: Is the stadium going to run out of beer tonight?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, absolutely. We need to phone up Scotland and say, can you send more beer? Because we're going to drink it all tonight.

KAYE: Scotland hasn't been to the World Cup in nearly three decades. So, the soccer fans who came here to the U.S. for the games are certainly making the most of it. But it's not just soccer that has them cheering. It's baseball.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We love baseball. And we know the one song you've got. It goes like this. Do, do, do, do. Do, do, do, do. Do, do, do, do. Do, do, do, do. Da, da, da, da, da, da. And that's all we really know.

KAYE (voice over): Scottish fans call themselves the Tartan Army. In between World Cup matches, they've been taking over stadiums in host cities. In Miami, the Marlins team dubbed Monday night's game "the Tartan takeover" after about 8,000 tickets were purchased by Scottish fans.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are here to see Scotland play Brazil, so we thought we would just come and see the baseball and support the fighting fish.

KAYE: What do you think makes the Scottish fans so unique? UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, no one else wears kilts. We have lots of

fabulous songs.

KAYE (voice over): And where the Scots go, the party follows.

KAYE: Many of these Scottish fans have never attended a U.S. baseball game, but that doesn't seem to be getting in the way of their fun.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He throws it. And he hits it as far as he can. Is there more than that?

KAYE: Can you explain the rules of the game to me here?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As a Scottish man, I would say, there's a man throwing a ball. Another man is trying to hit it out of the park. And nine times out of ten he misses.

KAYE: Do you think they should just use a bigger ball out here? Would that make more sense to you?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I would say a bigger ball and a bigger bat.

KAYE (voice over): The Marlins lost to the Texas Rangers 4-3, but that didn't dampen the Tartan Army's spirits.

CROWD (singing): No Scotland, no party.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I love this city.

KAYE: I don't think there's anybody happier in America right now than the Tartan Army and the Scots. I got so many random hugs and so much beer spilled on me, but it was worth it. Of course, they are a great group and many of them are going to be back here for another Marlins game tonight.

[09:55:05]

Not as many fans, though. I am told by the Marlins that they broke a record for attendance at Monday night's game. More tickets were sold on a Monday night since 2017, and they credit the Scots for that. But, of course, Wednesday is the big game. That's when Brazil takes on Scotland in the World Cup here in Miami.

Randi Kaye, CNN, Miami.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BOLDUAN: I love them.

SIDNER: That's amazing. That looked really fun that the Scots found their freedom. Sorry, I couldn't help myself.

BOLDUAN: There you are.

BERMAN: And then entrails.

Randi Kaye plays hard (ph). That's all I can say about Randi.

BOLDUAN: She works hard. You know what? She gets some tough assignments.

BERMAN: Yes.

SIDNER: She does.

BOLDUAN: And she really puts everything into it.

BERMAN: That was awesome.

SIDNER: She got hugs and beer spilled all over her. I was with her until the beer spilled.

BOLDUAN: Sounds like a classic Wednesday.

SIDNER: Totally good.

BERMAN: Classic Wednesday.

By the way, the Scots do play tonight, 6 p.m. against Brazil. That should be fun.

SIDNER: It's going to be wild.

BERMAN: Kind of a game they need to win.

SIDNER: Yes.

BERMAN: Thanks so much for joining us. This has been CNN NEWS CENTRAL. "THE SITUATION ROOM" is up next.

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