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Trump Blasts Israel's Prime Minister; Obama on Iran Deal; U.K. Announces Social Media Ban for Kids; Rep. Johnathan Jackson (D-IL) is Interviewed about the Iran Deal. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired June 15, 2026 - 06:30   ET

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

[06:30:00]

MIKE LEON, HOST, "CAN WE PLEASE TALK?": Leaning in to like boxing events through the relationships that I have in the (INAUDIBLE) sports space. And it's just -- there's voters there that I feel are being left out. And they feel they're being left out of the conversation. And the president at least humors them by going to these events.

I think you could get a trickle, but then it comes back to, how many people truly watched a UFC event that was behind the paywall on Paramount Plus. So, we'd have to see what the ripple effect looks like.

AUDIE CORNISH, CNN ANCHOR: OK, Mike Leon, thanks for your expertise. Appreciate it.

And if you have questions about last night's UFC fight at the White House, CNN's John Berman, Sara Sidner and Donie O'Sullivan will react and answer to those subscriber questions in a live, interactive Q&A. Head to cnn.com.subscriberseries to drop your questions now and join them today at noon Eastern for the live discussion.

And straight ahead on CNN THIS MORNING, Obama says doubtful Trump's agreement will be much different than his. We're going to look at what could be the difference between the two agreements.

Plus, the Carolina Hurricanes raising the Stanley Cup. More on their win to cement them as two-time champions.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:35:34]

CORNISH: Good morning, everybody. I'm Audie Cornish. Thank you for joining me on CNN THIS MORNING.

It is half past the hour. And here's what's happening right now.

NTSB investigators will arrive in Missouri today after one of the deadliest U.S. skydiving plane crashes in decades. Twelve people are dead after a plane went down shortly after takeoff Sunday in Butler, Missouri. This is about an hour south of Kansas City. Nine of the victims were actually experienced skydivers, and some family members were watching from the ground below.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MARK ALFORD (R-MO): This is tough. It's a -- it's a beautiful day here. Blue skies. Green grass. People out enjoying something that I think some of these were first time skydivers preparing to skydive in a tandem formation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: The airport manager believes the plane may have lost power, and the pilot may have been attempting to land on the highway before going down nose first. The investigation could take years to complete.

And Senator Mitch McConnell was admitted to the hospital Sunday morning. His spokesperson did not reveal the cause. He told CNN the 84-year-old is receiving excellent care. Now, the Republican senator has faced a number of serious health conditions in recent years, including a concussion and broken ribs in 2023 after a fall. He is currently serving his final term in Congress. He is not running for re-election.

And Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin clearing up remarks he made about ICE at polling places. Speaking to CNN's Kasie Hunt, he said, if deployed they wouldn't be there for immigration enforcement.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARKWAYNE MULLIN, DHS SECRETARY: What I said is that we would only be there if a threat is arise.

The only reason why we would be there is not for voter identification. It would be because a law enforcement is needed. And the local law enforcement would be part of that conversation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: Mullins says there shouldn't be a need for ICE action because only American citizens should be at polling centers.

And the Carolina Hurricanes are Stanley Cup champions for the second time in franchise history.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Carolina Hurricanes have won the Stanley Cup for the second time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: The Hurricanes shut out the Las Vegas Golden Knights three to nothing for their first NHL championship title since 2006.

And before President Trump confirmed the U.S. and Iran had reached an agreement, this tentative deal was almost derailed by Israel. And Trump blasted Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu after Israel bombed Beirut's southern suburbs on Sunday. He told a reporter from "Axios" Netanyahu had, quote, "no f-ing judgment."

Vice President Vance detailed the high stakes backchannel diplomacy that kept the agreement alive.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

J.D. VANCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: After the Israelis struck Beirut, we were very worried. And we saw a lot of evidence that the Iranians were going to launch a large number of missiles at the Israelis. With our communication with them over the course of getting to this, to this signed peace deal, they assured us that they were not going to respond to the Israelis, and they were going to sign this agreement and get to peace.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: CNN's Oren Lieberman is live in Jerusalem.

And, Oren, you've got an Iranian officials saying, quote, "Lebanon is our lifeblood. Any violation of the Islamic Republic's red lines will not be tolerated."

And then you've Israel and the political reaction there, which, correct me if I'm wrong, seems kind of like universally poor.

OREN LIEBERMAN, CNN JERUSALEM BUREAU CHIEF: Absolutely. We haven't heard from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. And we'll come back to that in a second. But we have heard from some of his government ministers, even as we don't know the full extent of this deal. One minister said, quote, "the deal is bad for Israel and the entire free world," while another one said, "it does not ensure our security." So, you see that reaction.

Netanyahu, however, has been notably quiet. In fact, the only message he posted on social media yesterday related to any of this was a happy birthday message to Trump.

And yet you have Lebanon in the middle of all of this. You have Netanyahu, who wanted to continue and still wants to continue the wars, both in Lebanon and with Iran, but President Donald Trump is simply making it clear that he's pursuing diplomacy, going in a different direction, and believes that this ceasefire agreement will, frankly, in his -- in his mind, solve a lot of the region's problems.

[06:40:05]

It's also noteworthy that Trump, and it's hard to imagine any other Republican or Democratic president doing this, called the Hezbollah attacks on northern Israel that triggered Israeli attacks in Beirut, quote, "very small and meaningless." Difficult to do -- to see anybody else doing that for an attack on Israel from a U.S.-designated terrorist organization.

Now the question is, will the conflict in Lebanon derail what will be very difficult negotiations following this -- following this signing of the memorandum of understanding here? And that is, at least as of right now, unclear. Trump has demanded that Israel stop attacking anywhere in Lebanon. And he said Hezbollah should stop attacking Israel. But that's a demand we've seen before in mid-April in a previous ceasefire. And that fell apart within a matter of days.

Meanwhile, Israel's defense minister has said that Israel has no intention and will not withdraw from the territories it occupies in southern Lebanon. And that could also put a roadblock in all of this as Iran is demanding a Lebanon ceasefire as part of this broader agreement. And, Audie, I think it's quite clear where Trump is headed here in terms of what he's looking for.

CORNISH: OK, that's Oren Lieberman with the word from Jerusalem.

I want to turn to this other aspect of this tentative agreement. We're just at the start of the process. But former President Barack Obama says when he negotiated a deal with Iran more than a decade ago, he did it without military intervention. Now we know that Trump withdrew the U.S. from that agreement in his first term. This was in 2018. But now Obama is saying that he's skeptical that a better deal has been produced under the current administration.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: It is doubtful that any agreement that arises is going to be significantly different or a significant improvement from the deal that we had in the first place and had worked for a long stretch of time before we, the United States, pulled out of it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: Group chat is back.

There's a lot of differences. We can go down the rabbit hole on that deal and how it dealt with inspections and verification. Why do you think Obama is speaking up now? We don't usually see him comment on policy in real time.

SARA FISCHER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA ANALYST: Well, one, I think he has broader communication goals around things that he's doing with his foundation and his library. So, that's part of the media tour. But then, two, I think he wants to remind the American people that what they did in 2015 was, in some ways, a more permanent solution to than what we have now. Because what they focused on in 2015 was really focused on the nuclear program. It wasn't as broad as what Trump is trying to do. And as a result of that, I think Iran felt pretty committed to it.

What the Trump administration is trying to do now is so much more broad that I think Obama is trying to remind people of his skepticism that something that broad can, a, get done, but, b, even last long term, because as Trump did, he came in and reversed this agreement, right?

CORNISH: Right.

FISCHER: What's stopping a new Democratic administration from coming in and dismantling the one that Trump is putting forth?

And then I think the last thing that the former president is trying to remind everybody here is that, these actually, from the nuclear perspective, are relatively similar in some ways.

CORNISH: Yes, at the end of the day.

FISCHER: I'm not talking about the broad agreement, just the nuclear piece. Both have sunset provisions, meaning that Iran could revisit this in like ten or 15 years. And both of them are essentially trying to get Iran to concede on the uranium side. But he wants people to know, like, all this for what?

CORNISH: Right. And by this we mean strikes. We were just talking about Israel, its push into Lebanon. These strikes were launched with Israel at the start.

The way that Pete Hegseth is trying to distinguish the difference in this is he saying, look, the Obama deal relied on going through international inspectors and putting up with Iran's nonsense with cameras and hiding things on inspection day. But he says the Trump deal will be different. And here is how he explains that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETE HEGSETH, DEFENSE SECRETARY: It's performance based. No money released to Iran until they perform. There's no trust and verify. There's a -- there's no trust here. And we're going to verify everything. Nuclear material will be destroyed and removed. The nuclear program will be dismantled. The Straits will be open. No tolling. This is -- this is not a -- the JCPOA was a path to a bomb. What this deal will be will be a wall to a bomb.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FRANCESCA CHAMBERS, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, "USA TODAY": I don't think the Trump administration would disagree with Obama on the point that they did bomb Iran, and they're still threatening Iran with bombs. I mean he went on to say that if they don't comply with this, that they're going to have to deal with the Department of War. There are, of course, skepticism today whether or not the U.S. would actually continue or restart, rather, a bombing campaign against Iran.

CORNISH: But he's saying our threats are enough. Our threat of military action is enough.

[06:45:02]

We don't need to set up all the guardrails and things that went through diplomacy, because Iran is like sufficiently scared.

CHAMBERS: Well, they're also saying, though, that we would be willing to restart that. And there is skepticism right now as to whether, as we get closer to the midterms, that they would actually restart a bombing campaign, as we were talking about in the earlier segment with the high gas prices and the president's approval rating and the like. I mean that is -- the threat has to be legitimate in order for it to work.

ELENA SCHNEIDER, NATIONAL POLITICAL REPORTER, "NOTUS": Well, and I think, too, that there's just a difference in reality of what the Iranian people and the Iranian government feel like they're able to do in this moment versus what they thought they could do in 2015. They are sort of, in some ways, newly empowered in their ability to realize that they really can, you know, choke off the oil markets through the Strait of Hormuz and can affect real change. That's a shift in a power dynamic that is, I think, notable from what, you know, the Americans were dealing with in terms of the 2015 negotiations, where, again, Iran feels like now they have a bit more of a lever here.

CORNISH: They learned what their leverage is.

OK, you guys, stick with me. I want to turn very briefly. The U.K. announces a sweeping social social media ban for children under the age of 16. And this is going to apply to both social media sites, as well as gaming and live streaming. And the British prime minister, Keir Starmer, made this announcement earlier this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEIR STARMER, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: This is not something I do lightly. And I will not present it as cost free, as if social media has brought no benefits to young people, because clearly that is wrong. But government is always about choices. And it's clear to me that a full ban is the right choice.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: So, from London, CNN's Nada Bashir.

Nada, walk us through how this ban is going to work and what the reaction is this morning.

NADA BASHIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, look, Audie, this is being described by the government as a watershed moment. And it won't come into effect instantaneously. But this latest regulation is expected to come before parliament, before the end of the year, and is expected to be implemented fully early 2027.

And, of course, this wasn't an immediate snap decision by the government. There have been months of consultations with parents, with young people, with industry professionals as well.

We've heard from the government putting out those statistics, saying that they spoke to more than 1,116 people, that more than 83 percent of parents agree that the benefits of this social media ban outweighed the negatives. And of course, while there have been some measures put in place in the past of trying to protect child safety online, including from organizations like Meta, this is being described as one of the most sweeping bans and regulations that we have seen to date. And, of course, follows a similar decision taken by Australia to limit

and restrict social media for under 16. But, of course, this has received a mixed response. On the whole, it appears that parents feel that this is a positive measure.

Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If it's how kids are socializing, then are we going to have problems with like isolation and loneliness? So, there needs to potentially be alternatives for younger children. Social media that's safer for teenagers rather than just point-blank wiping it out.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I didn't have social media until I was 16. I loved life before that. And I think, like a lot of insecurities I had were from, you know, interacting with stuff online.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good thing. Too much time spent on screens is not good for anyone, never mind someone whose brain is still developing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASHIR: And, Audie, it's not just social media. The government is looking at restrictions on live streaming platforms, on platforms that allow young people to speak to strangers online. And they are also looking at potential measures for curfews to prevent doomscrolling at night for under 18 year olds as well.

Audie.

CORNISH: That's Nada Bashir in London about that social media ban. Thank you.

And I want to turn next to President Trump en route to France for the G-7 today. Does news of a, quote, "agreement" with Iran change how he will be received? We're going to hear from Democratic Congressman Jonathan Jackson. He sits on the Foreign Affairs Committee. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:52:21]

CORNISH: President Trump now aboard Air Force One en route to Geneva, Switzerland, for a G-7 summit in France. News of a deal to end fighting with Iran has been a welcome development for European leaders, but Israeli lawmakers are furious. Netanyahu's far right national security minister tweeted out, quote, "Trump's agreement does not bind us," adding, "Israel is not subordinate to the United States. And then the leader of Israel's left wing party seems to agree, saying the deal was, quote, "made over Israel's head."

Joining me now to talk about this, Congressman Jonathan Jackson. He's a Democrat from Illinois. Good morning. Thank you so much for being here.

I wanted to talk to a lawmaker because Lindsey Graham tweeted out this. First he said, "I'm somewhat concerned that Iran's view of the agreement seems different than what the American negotiating team is claiming." And then he says this, "under our law, any nuclear deal with Iran will be sent to Congress for review and a vote." And he says, he looks "forward to reviewing the final product."

Do you expect Congress to want to review this deal?

REP. JONATHAN JACKSON (D-IL): Absolutely. And the question, I think, Audie, comes down to, is this a deal versus a diplomatic agreement. A diplomatic agreement would have the allies buy in. It would have the lawmakers participate. The deal was purely transactional, trading concessions. The Iranians had, after their bombing, had closed down the Strait of Hormuz, and only for the Trump administration to say, they've now put sanctions on the closing of the Strait. Well, it was already closed.

And so, it's very convoluted. It's not clear. And this is very transactional. It's too myopic, in my opinion. And what they've agreed to essentially is to have the opportunity within 60 days to further negotiate a memorandum of understanding of what they can talk about. It doesn't make much sense.

CORNISH: Right. This is an extension of the ceasefire. We should be clear, full text is not released, but the claim is that they would be lifting the naval blockade, reopening the Strait of Hormuz, and ensure that the Strait remains toll free. And then, as you said, nuclear talks would begin after any kind of formal signing.

The thing I notice is, the president was saying something about policing and the U.S.' ability to police this area. When you hear a word like that, do you hear troops on the ground? Do you hear just our ongoing ability to keep Iran in line?

JACKSON: Oh, it's troops on the ground, no doubt about it. And we've also heard conflicting messages of, they've been -- the United States has been taking millions of barrels of oil. People would like to have further clarification of that.

[06:55:01]

Curiously missing in this negotiation or this discussion is Mr. Jared Kushner, our super volunteer. This is not being led by Secretary Rubio. This is not being led by the secretary of defense, who misled the president on what the Iranians response and capabilities would be. And so, we need to get the diplomatic corps. I'd like to see Secretary Rubio lead this negotiation. He's capable. He's qualified. We don't need a super volunteer, Mr. Jared Kushner. He was going to Islamabad just last month saying he was negotiating this. Let's get our diplomats and get our professionals back to the table so members of Congress can get information.

CORNISH: You had Lindsey Graham calling J.D. Vance the architect of this deal. He's the one name I didn't hear you say just now. Do you think he's the architect of this deal?

JACKSON: I don't know what J.D. Vance really does. He does slap-stick and just is an attack person, but he's not been in a very constructive role. I know Mr. Witkoff and Mr. Jared Kushner had been going to Islamabad. I think Mr. -- the secretary -- the vice president had gone over there. But it should be going through the corresponding channels of the diplomats, which would be in the secretary of defense and the secretary of state. Then the Congress would know who we can talk to.

We, frankly, don't know who to talk to. I would like to see some of these personnels come before our chairman, Chairman Mast, on the Republican side, our ranking member, Mr. Meeks, on the Democratic side, so we can do this in the normal course of business in the United States Congress.

CORNISH: OK, that's Congressman Jackson. Thank you so much. Appreciate it.

JACKSON: Thank you.

CORNISH: All right, I want to talk now about what's in our group chats, because it's the start of the week and we've got the president on the way to Europe. We've just come off like multiple sporting events. Talk about, Sara, what's in your group chat.

FISCHER: I have been loving watching the World Cup tourists come into the U.S. and post on social media all the things that they think are wondrous about our country.

CORNISH: OK.

FISCHER: So, like, watching them experience big gulps for the first time, or a Taco Bell for the first time.

CORNISH: Who among you?

FISCHER: There's a viral --

CORNISH: Yes.

FISCHER: Who among us has not? There was a viral clip of somebody experiencing a New Jersey deli, which is a Jersey girl I really appreciated. But it also makes you think about how special it is that we are hosting the World Cup here.

Of course, the one thing that's a little sad, there's no World Cup matches, Audie, being held in our nation's capital. The hope is that when the new Commander stadium goes big, then we're going to get to experience something like that.

CORNISH: Yes.

FISCHER: But it's just been fun to watch the whole world experience parts of American culture that we kind of take for granted here.

CORNISH: You can't build one of those on the lawn? That doesn't -- no, not enough room for the --

FISCHER: You can't -- you can't really replicate a big gulp anywhere else, Audie.

CHAMBERS: Sara, I'm actually with you as someone who's from Kansas City. This has been a very exciting time, you know, for the World Cup to come to Kansas City as well. So, I'm with you on that one.

CORNISH: OK, what's in your group chat? Is it that?

CHAMBERS: OK, what's -- no. But, no, it wasn't -- it wasn't that actually, no, OK.

So, me and my friends are really loving this ice cream truck that is going around Sarasota in the water in Florida. Yes. OK.

CORNISH: Oh,

CHAMBERS: So, it's a boat. Yes, it is a boat, but it's an ice cream truck on a boat. I love --

CORNISH: How has someone not thought of this before?

CHAMBERS: I know I -- honestly, who doesn't love an ice cream truck? I wish that we had --

(CROSS TALK)

FISCHER: (INAUDIBLE) Potomac.

CHAMBERS: You know what -- that's true. And we could get it down the Potomac.

CORNISH: All right, now I know why people haven't done this before. How do kids get to it? The whole thing, kids --

CHAMBERS: Well, on the boats.

CORNISH: OK.

CHAMBERS: They come to boats that are already in the water. So, you're right, we don't (INAUDIBLE) for jumping.

FISCHER: We've got to have a boat though. Where am I going to get a boat. That's the most expensive ice cream I've ever had.

CORNISH: I know. I like the idea --

CHAMBERS: Sara and I are like concocting a business plan now.

CORNISH: I know. I like maybe my kid being like, ice cream, and the boat just like going past and me being like, I don't know, sorry.

SCHNEIDER: I know, that's my reaction. It's like, I used to love ice cream trucks as a child, but now as a parent you're like, oh, no, cover their ears. Don't let them listen to it. CORNISH: Yes, cover their ears. OK, do you have a sports one or not

sports one?

SCHNEIDER: I have a sports one.

CORNISH: Do it.

SCHNEIDER: I'm joining you in the World Cup joy. I mean like as somebody who is not a huge soccer fan, but who really commits every two years when the World Cup comes around, it's so much fun. And watching the American men win four to one a couple days ago over Paraguay, that was just really exciting. And it took me back because I really remember watching the 1999 women --

CORNISH: Oh, yes.

SCHNEIDER: Mia Hamm, Brandi Chastain. Like those are the -- those were my heroes at the time. I stayed playing soccer long after I never should have been playing soccer because I was so --

CORNISH: I'm sure you had some skills.

SCHNEIDER: No, it was terrible. But it was fun because you could imagine yourself in those places and spaces and dream about being on those big stages. So, it's really fun to get to watch a new generation of young people, my boys included, getting to get into these games, learn about a sport in a way that they aren't necessarily always exposed to, at least not to me.

CORNISH: I forget it can have that sort of generational impact. Any kind of big sports moment.

FISCHER: Yes.

CORNISH: Whether it's the Olympics or something like this. Because I remember that.

SCHNEIDER: Yes.

CORNISH: It was 1999, right?

SCHNEIDER: 1999. Yes, exactly.

CORNISH: Yes. Yes.

FISCHER: And also you're a Carolinian, so talking about sports. You guys just won the Stanley Cup. Congratulations.

SCHNEIDER: It's true. As a North Carolinian, this is very exciting.

CORNISH: You know about hockey? Are you going to call this like stick sport or something?

SCHNEIDER: I'm going -- I'm going to admit that I knew that they won last in 2006, which is a, you know, it's a notable thing that they've done. [07:00:05]

But, no, I can't say I know much about it.

CORNISH: Oh, that's OK. I mean start with heated rivalry. I did.

OK, you guys, thank you for being with us today. We've got a lot of news kicking off the week, especially with this memorandum between the U.S. and Iran. What are the details? We've got the headlines for you next. I'm Audie Cornish.