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Mamdani-Backed Candidates Sweep New York Democratic Primaries; Senate Votes To Limit Trump's Iran War Powers In Rare Rebuke; Rubio In Middle East To Discuss Iran Agreement With Gulf Allies; Heat Wave Grips Multiple European Nations; Jury To Begin Deliberating Palisades Fire Arson Trial. Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired June 24, 2026 - 04:00   ET

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

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[04:00:33]

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN ANCHOR: Hey everybody, thank you so much for joining me. I'm Polo Sandoval here in New York. It is 4:00 a.m., about 9:00 a.m. in London and here's what's coming your way here on CNN Newsroom.

Progressives sweep House primaries with endorsements from New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani.

And poorly timed and meaningless Donald Trump lashing out after the Senate voted to curb his war powers.

Plus, a record breaking heat wave engulfing parts of Europe. And it's only getting worse.

ANNOUNCER: Live from New York, this is CNN Newsroom with Polo Sandoval.

SANDOVAL: We do want to begin right here in New York where the state will be waking up to a whole new slate of congressional nominees. And it's progressives who are coming out on top in a number of key races. The big story right now, it is a clean sweep for New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani. You see all three of the candidates that he endorsed, they actually won their House Democratic primaries and that includes Brad Lander who happened to have run against Mamdani during last year's mayoral election.

Well, now CNN projecting that Brad Lander coming out on top there in the House 10 Democratic primary. Lander we should mention there. You see him currently with that CNN projection. He is now calling for Democrats to make a bold decision when it comes to campaign funding.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRAD LANDER, U.S. HOUSE DEMOCRATIC NOMINEE: It is time for the Democratic Party to walk away from corporate PAC money, to walk away from PACs funded by Wall Street and crypto and AI and AIPAC. We can only stand up and fight the corruption of Trump and his cronies if we make the line just as sharp and clear as it actually is.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: In New York's 12th House district, CNN projecting state assembly member Micah Lasher will advance to the general election. And this was a crowded field that featured JFK's grandson, Jack Schlossberg. Both he and Lasher are warning Democrats that their party must change if they want to make a real difference in Washington.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICAH LASHER, U.S. HOUSE DEMOCRATIC NOMINEE: When we started this journey nine months ago, when I began this race, I said there were two things above all that I wanted to do in revamp and recharge a Democratic Party in Washington that has in so many ways failed to meet the moment and help transform it into the opposition party it must be, so we can take on the madman in the White House, hold him and his whole corrupt cabal accountable and take our country back.

JACK SCHLOSSBERG, FORMER U.S. HOUSE DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATE: We need to do things differently. We don't just need younger candidates. We need different leaders. We need different voices. We need different instincts and different styles. Unless Democrats learn from the signals that are being sent all across the country, we're going to keep on losing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: Let's begin our COVERAGE now with CNN's Gloria Pazmino, who has more from the headquarters of Micah Lasher.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, State Assemblyman Micah Lasher claiming a victory here tonight after this closely watched race was called on his behalf. Micah Lasher will be replacing outgoing Congressman Jerry Nadler, who is retiring after serving 17 terms in office. And it was a real gathering of Manhattan political establishment here tonight, including Governor Kathy Hochul, who joined him on stage to talk about tonight's win. He was joined by several Manhattan Democrats who were supportive of his campaign.

This was a closely watched race, a big race that attracted a lot of big names, including Jack Schlossberg, the grandson of John F. Kennedy, and also George Conway, former Republican turned Trump critic. But it was really a race between Micah Lasher and Assembly and Alex Bores. They were the ones that really had the edge going into primary night.

Alex Bores also had significant ties to this district, and that was going to be a determining factor going into this election. We heard from last year, tonight, he specifically called out the amount of money that AI groups spent on this race, specifically Alex Bores, who drafted AI regulation legislation.

[04:05:10] He had several groups from Silicon Valley spending both against him and on his behalf. A lot of outside influence, outside money impacted this race. But Micah Asher tonight declaring victory. He will go on to the general election, expected to win in what is overwhelmingly a Democratic blue district here in Manhattan. He will likely go on to serve in Congress representing the 12th congressional district, the center of Manhattan, and certainly a powerful position in Congress. Gloria Pazmino, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL: Joining me now is Nick Reisman. He is the Albany bureau chief at Politico. Nick, thank you so much for joining us.

NICK REISMAN, ALBANY BUREAU CHIEF, POLITICO: Thanks for having me.

SANDOVAL: So let's begin with New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, what appears to be now his sweep from Tuesday night, the candidates that he backed winning all their primaries. What is the statement you think that he's delivering to Democrats, not just across the country, but also other lawmakers on Capitol Hill?

REISMAN: Yes, I mean, this is a massive victory for Mayor Zohran Mamdani. I mean, he put a lot of political capital on the line by backing these insurgent candidates who were all going up against either incumbent Democrats or people who were backed by incumbents. And ultimately he was successful here.

I mean, this is a symbol and a sign that he's really trying to remake the Democratic Party, at least in New York for the time being, very much in his image. The Democratic Socialists of America really had their biggest win last year with his shocking election victory a year ago.

And now we're seeing him be able to replicate that at the House of Representatives level here. I was just talking to a political operative in New York who said this is really a sign that he has some serious coattails and in New York politics. And a big question is going to be is whether he can even replicate something like this nationally.

I mean, this is a real symbol and a sign again, that he has been able to build up a power base here in New York and he now is going to have some allies that he's ceding in Washington.

SANDOVAL: Yes. And it's interesting because I'm also curious if that comes with a political price. Obviously, he put it, as you mentioned, a lot of political capital here. But ultimately, do you think that he's also sort of earning some enemies along the way, even within his own party?

REISMAN: Well, clearly, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, this is not what he wanted this evening, even though he was actually quite conciliatory when he was asked about all of these incumbents. But the big question is going to be is how these new expected House members, because these are very deep blue seats, how they're ultimately going to be working in Washington. Will they be reliable votes for Hakeem Jeffries? Will they support him to remain the Democratic leader, much less the House speaker, if it actually comes to something like that?

So there are a lot of question marks here for somebody like Hakeem Jeffries going forward. At the same time, Congressman Adriano Espaillat, who went down in defeat this evening, is a top ally for Governor Kathy Hochul. And so she cannot be too happy that Espaillatt lost his election as well.

SANDOVAL: Yes. 10 years in office that he was. And then I'm also curious about just the Mamdani brand of politics. I remember having these conversations when he was first elected, really asking if that kind of brand of politics would play well in other parts of the country, more middle of the road political territory.

I mean, clearly it would work in some of the more progressive strongholds. Right. But do you see it perhaps more, you know, voters in other parts of the US for this brand of politics being, you know, for them being open to supporting it?

REISMAN: Well, both parties right now are pretty polarized. Right. I mean, you've gone on the Republican side where Donald Trump, the president, is trying to remake the GOP in his image, and now we're seeing progressive left wing candidates on the Democratic side also gain some traction.

Look no further than Graham Platner in Maine, where voters are willing to look back, look aside to some of his political baggage, and support him in a pretty important U.S. Senate race.

So, yes, there is a desire and a hunger out there for candidates who are now a little bit further to the left, a little bit further to the right, especially anyone who's espousing this economic populism right now. And that's a major sea change that we're seeing in this nation's politics right now.

SANDOVAL: How did Mayor Mamdani manage to seize on this apparent buckling of incumbency power? You know, we saw him endorse candidates running against two seasoned legislators. We were just talking about one of them, mainly those in districts 10 and 13 in New York.

[04:10:00]

REISMAN: Right. I mean, one thing that the DSA in particular has been able to do is they have a very sophisticated voter turnout operation at this point. And that's something that they never really truly had before except in the last couple of years. Look no further than Mamdani's own victory, which relied on a very sophisticated voter turnout model. And we're seeing that now play out at the House level.

So, this is not so much just persuading people, it's finding these new voters and getting them to turn out. And this is a pretty major moment for the Democratic establishment here that if they cannot contest something like that, that is really going to be a major problem for them going forward. And they're going to have to knit together a very different coalition than the one they have right now. SANDOVAL: That is quite the wake up message for Democrats nationally for sure. Nick Reisman, as always, thank you so much for all your reporting and for joining us. Appreciate your time.

REISMAN: Thanks for having me. Thank you.

SANDOVAL: President Donald Trump says that he plans to sign a new landmark housing affordability bill. The measure was approved by Congress in a bipartisan effort aimed at lowering the cost of home ownership throughout the country. Potential solutions include boosting the supply of homes and also reforming local zoning and permitting restrictions. The bill also includes a first of its kind provision that limits large investors from buying up single family homes.

President Trump is also firing back at the U.S. Senate after they voted to limit his war powers in Iran. He posted the following on social media. The president writing, quote, the U.S. Senate decides to have a poorly timed and meaningless War Powers Act vote a telling the number one sponsor of terror in the world that the United States doesn't like what I'm doing to them and I must stop and by so doing has provided aid and comfort to the enemy. Again, a statement from the president.

CNN's Kristen Holmes with this report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: In a rare rebuke, the Senate voted to limit President Trump's Iran war powers. Now this is largely symbolic because it doesn't require a signature of the president. It does not carry the force of law. And this is something we had seen coming for some time.

Democrats had forced a number of votes on the issue. But this time it can't be overlooked that so many Republicans did join this vote that got it across the finish line. Those Republicans being Senators Rand Paul, Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski and Bill Cassidy, who President Trump primaried and effectively forced him out of his current job. So he certainly has an axe to grind there.

Now the White House brushed this off in a statement to CNN saying it has no significance. They also reiterated that does not carry the force of the law. And they blamed a Republican absences for the reason that this actually got across the finish line, though only two Republicans were absent from this vote.

Now, additionally, they said that what this does is and I'll say this, it says, they say that while it does direct the president to remove U.S. armed forces from hostilities in Iran, there are no hostilities from which to remove U.S. forces as hostilities terminated with the ceasefire on April 7th.

But all of this goes to show just how much support anything that limits President Trump's war power is gaining and really the disdain for this war in Iran. President Trump and his entire administration remain cautiously optimistic that they will get to a deal. We heard Vice President JD Vance talking about how they have the foundation of a deal, but nothing is quite there yet.

We've both seen both of these sides, President Trump and the Iranians, claiming different things, pushing back on one another. In fact, over the weekend, President Trump started leveling threats at the Iranians when it came to these negotiations and anything that they were saying publicly.

The vice president has urged all sides to take with a grain of salt what the Iranians say specifically in state media. But of course, we've been down this road before where we hear both sides saying that they are cautiously optimistic and then things end up falling through is clearly still a volatile situation. Kristen Holmes, CNN, the White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL: And President Trump's top diplomat is in the Middle East right now hoping to hear what Gulf allies are saying and what they're concerned about when it comes to this U.S.-Iran agreement. Right now, Secretary of State Marco Rubio is in Abu Dhabi, but he'll eventually travel to Kuwait and Bahrain.

And we' also hearing conflicting statements about the U.S.-Iran agreement. Despite Tehran's denial, President Trump claims that Iran has agreed to new U.N. nuclear inspections.

And now the head of the UN's nuclear watchdog agency says that the IAEA will be visiting nuclear sites in Tehran, but they did not lay out a timeline.

So what's next? Let's go now to CNN's Eleni Giokos, who joins me now from Abu Dhabi, I should say from Dubai. Forgive me.

[04:15:05]

So just wondering if you could just bring our viewership to speed on just the challenge that Marco Rubio faces in hearing the concerns from Gulf allies, some worries that they have about not only this memorandum of understanding, but what so many people hope will be an eventual deal.

ELENI GIOKOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I mean, Marco Rubio has a task and he says that it's going to be more about listening to allies and their concerns as opposed to talking. So, some of those concerns and only for here in the UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain and frankly other allies is long term security guarantees.

Now, keeping in mind that Iran's missile program wasn't Included in the MoU, Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian also on record says that it'll never be included in the 60-day negotiation. Clearly it is going to be part of some, some kind of framework that comes out of this because it does concern the region because they have been assaulted so dramatically by Iran since the start of the war.

The other thing that is on the table and where we're seeing big deviation, Polo, coming through is just what happens with the IAEA, the International Atomic Energy Agency. Now its head Rafael Grossi weighing in and he basically said that whether the inspections happen the day after tomorrow or in one week or in 10 days, it's important but not essential.

And Grossi also says that it was included in the MoU that further nuclear inspections would be occurring in Iran. Iran has of course said they have made no such commitments, but important to note that nuclear sites in Iran have been targeted and hit since the start of the war.

And the last time the IAEA inspected an active Iranian nuclear facility that was in fact early June this year. But it has been roughly a year since the agency had access to any other nuclear facilities that was damaged in the 2025 U.S.-Israeli bombing as well.

So really important to note that the nuclear issue still, you know, front and center to what we're seeing as part of the diplomacy that's ongoing.

SANDOVAL: So is a straight up for most I can imagine. So I'm wondering now --

GIOKOS: Yes.

SANDOVAL: -- just a few days into this two-month technical negotiation period. I mean, how is marine traffic looking there, especially for those people who've been stranded there for months?

GIOKOS: Yes, and that's a really important point. We've frankly covered the seafarers that have been stranded, trapped in the Persian Gulf, trapped on these ships for basically three and a half months now. The U.N. Maritime Organization says they're going to start the evacuation process of the 11,000 people that remain trapped on these vessels. And this basically has to do with just increasing traffic out of the Strait of Hormuz and getting these vessels out.

We also have been speaking to experts in the say the vessels that are going to, of course, be priority are the GTL tankers, the LNG, and any crude tankers that will be prioritized because that's directly correlated to, you know, alleviating the pressure on the oil market on a global scale. But there is movement and their numbers are encouraging. According to Kepler, there were 71 vessels that moved over Saturday and Sunday. Yesterday we saw 31 vessels, Monday, 42 vessels.

Now, that's still a shadow of what we normally see during normal times when it was deemed as an international waterway. But importantly, Iran and Oman meeting yesterday talking about joint process of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz. They've been talking about creating some kind of mechanism for some time now. How that's going to materialize in the future remains to be seen.

But I tell you this, a lot of shippers are still hesitant, reticent in terms of moving through the strait because they still don't understand the process. Iran is still trying to assert itself saying fill in this form. And of course, the southern route, the U.S. route seems pretty much unaffected by Iran at this point.

SANDOVAL: Now we can understand with shipping companies having so much on the line. Eleni Giokos --

GIOKOS: Yes.

SANDOVAL: -- live in Dubai. Thank you so much for that full report. Still come here on CNN Newsroom, from people across much of Europe, they are battling a major heat wave as temperatures continue to soar. We'll get the latest on the extreme weather and a live report from London. Stay with us.

Also on the way, technology may be headed to an airport near you. What aviation leaders told lawmakers about a new tech makeover.

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[04:23:10]

SANDOVAL: Welcome back. Just look at the numbers across the board right now and those temperatures. It's clear that there's a major heat wave that has people right now sweltering across parts of Europe. France seems to be really the epicenter of this extreme weather.

On Tuesday, that was the hottest day on record in France. And there are concerns that today is likely going to be even hotter. The heat forcing officials to close the Eiffel Tower, leaving some tourists disappointed. And the extreme temperatures are also disrupting transportation in Switzerland.

Officials are saying that the high temperatures can cause railroad tracks to expand, creating potential safety concerns. And in the U.K., there are hundreds of schools that are either closing or having to move to half days. Officials are also warning of some severe impacts on energy and also even water.

In fact, just a couple of hours ago, we had an expert here on CNN saying that, you know, one of the concerns is for many cities, European cities, homes are actually designed to keep heat in for the colder months. So you can imagine people there are trying to stay as cool as possible. We'll continue to follow this worsening heat wave throughout parts of Europe.

Jury deliberations begin in just a few hours. In Los Angeles, in the trial of the Palisades fire suspect. Federal prosecutors are arguing that Jonathan Rinderknecht, a 30-year-old former Uber driver, was angry at the world when he allegedly started a fire near the Pacific Palisades community on New Year's Day last year where the fire killed a dozen people and destroyed thousands of homes and businesses.

The defense says that there's no evidence that he started the fire and that he actually called 911 several times asking for help. The defendant here could face up to 45 years in prison if he's convicted.

[04:25:00] Senate lawmakers depressed aviation industry leaders at a hearing on Tuesday scrutinizing the current state of air travel in the U.S. where near misses, Runway intrusions and also safety technology were hot topics. And this comes on the heels of an announcement by the Federal Aviation Administration that AI technology may be coming to an airport near you.

Sherrell Hubbard, with more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SHERRELL HUBBARD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The safety of our skies brought to the fore of a Senate Commerce subcommittee hearing on Aviation, Space and Innovation Tuesday. Senate lawmakers they're discussing aviation safety gaps that have led to crashes and near misses.

SEN. TAMMY DUCKWORTH (D-IL): In far too many of these incidents, the difference between a close call and a deadly disaster has come down to a single highly trained and professional individual taking emergency action.

HUBBARD (voice-over0: One possible solution, modernizing aging air traffic control infrastructure. The Federal Aviation Administration announced a new contract Monday totaling $875 million to deploy two technologies to assist controller with managing flights and collecting data.

Officials say the new AI technology will analyze weather, airport capacity, airspace conditions and operational constraints.

SEN. JERRY MORAN (R-KS): Recent reporting highlighted FAA's efforts to evaluate how artificial intelligence could assist with air traffic management, reduce congestion and support operational decision making.

HUBBARD (voice-over): The FAA says the systems are designed to lessen flight delays and cancellations by identifying congestion before it happens. The president of the Air Line Pilots Association or ALPA, admits they could use the help.

JASON AMBROSI, PRESIDENT, AIR LINE PILOTS ASSOCIATION: We all want something that help efficiency.

HUBBARD (voice-over): But he feels a measured approach is needed.

AMBROSI: But there is no silver bullet. I can't replace the decision making of a human, any AI or any program like that. Still, any decision made should rely on an air traffic controller in the pilots and the people that are out there on the front line.

HUBBARD (voice-over): I'm Sherrell Hubbard reporting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL: And we do want to get you back to that brutal heat wave in parts of Europe. CNN's Clare Sebastian is joining us from London with just how people are dealing. I read somewhere, Clare, that some 35 degrees Celsius yesterday in some parts. I mean, are people in London used to these kinds of extreme, extreme dreams?

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely not, Polo, and that is the big concern here. While many parts of the world might be used to these kinds of temperatures, we're simply not used to it in London. And the fact that it's happening in June, which is traditionally the coolest month of the summer, I think has taken people even more by surprise.

It is expected that perhaps today the U.K. will smash its previous record for June temperatures of just over 96 degrees Fahrenheit, 35.6 degrees centigrade. That was set in July of 1976. Now the overall record was set in 2022 of about 40 degrees Celsius. It could get up to that point.

It's not expected as of now, but there are major concerns about how this is going to affect life. The U.K. Met Office, the weather authority, has warned that there could be health impacts even beyond the most vulnerable. People are being urged to take precautions. We have this 300-year-old lake, the Serpentine, here, where people have been out swimming all morning together with the swans.

That's fairly normal, perhaps more so today than usual. We've even seen some people out running, trying to get their run in before the weather takes hold. But as I said, it's really serious. We're seeing schools that are having to either close or urging parents to pick up their children halfway through the day. And we were speaking to some parents at a school in London yesterday about their concerns around their school that had to close for the week.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's only so much that can be done, especially if schools haven't got the funding to, you know, to cover the cost of adaptations. Ultimately, the government have to provide that in order to make it safe for children to be at school and keep everybody happy and healthy.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I suppose that the schools need to think about how they're going to tackle this in the future because while some one off closure is fine, we can cope with it somehow if this becomes a regular thing, we all working parents. So that's going to be very difficult to manage.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SEBASTIAN: So the questions that those parents are facing are now going to be questions that I think politicians in this country are going to have to face around resiliency of the infrastructure here. Hardly any of those schools have air conditioning. And I think this being the second heat wave that we've already seen this year is really going to concentrate minds on that going forward. Polo.

SANDOVAL: Yes. These heat waves come in with some very serious and important questions for officials. Clare Sebastian and her team, I'm sure resisting all temptation to take a dip in that lake as you continue to try to stay cool. Thank you so much, Clare.

Still to come here on CNN Newsroom, when President Trump endorses both candidates in a South Carolina runoff election, we'll tell you more about the race where he wanted to cover all his bases.

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