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Isa Soares Tonight
Voters In Colombia Head To The Polls On Sunday; Burnham Secures Commanding 55 Percent By Election Win; U.N.: Nearly 118M People Forcibly Displaced Worldwide; Soon: Team USA Takes On Australia In Seattle. Israel and Hezbollah Renew Shaky Ceasefire; Race for U.K. Leadership Looms After Prime Minister Starmer's Main Rival Burnham Wins Seat in Parliament; Washington's Reflecting Pool Water Turns Green. Aired 2:30-3p ET
Aired June 19, 2026 - 14:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[14:00:00]
ISA SOARES, HOST, ISA SOARES TONIGHT: A very warm welcome to the show, everyone, I'm Isa Soares. Tonight, hours after escalation, Lebanon has a
ceasefire being renewed. We're hearing Israel and Hezbollah have agreed to stop fighting.
And you've probably never seen this man before, but take a look at him. Next week, Andy Burnham may be introduced as a new British Prime Minister.
And there's something in the water. The Reflecting Pool Water in front of Washington's Lincoln Memorial. We will, of course, explain it all.
But first, tonight, a new ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah is now in place. After the war in Lebanon threatening to derail a U.S.-Iranian peace
deal almost before the ink had even dried. Talks between the U.S. and Iran were supposed to begin in Switzerland today with Vice President J.D. Vance
leading the Trump administration delegation.
But they were postponed as mediators scrambled behind the scenes to secure that Lebanon truce. Well, earlier in the day, Israel carried out blistering
strikes on Lebanon. Lebanese health officials say at least 47 people were killed, including women and children.
Israel was responding to a Hezbollah attack that killed four Israeli soldiers operating in Lebanon. The big question now is whether this fragile
truce will hold. The IDF says it will remain in southern Lebanon and will continue to respond to Hezbollah threats.
But a diplomat tells CNN that Iran wants guarantees the Lebanon war will end before it begins. Detailed talks with the U.S. over a 14-point peace
plan. We'll speak to our international diplomatic editor, Nic Robertson in just a moment, who is in Switzerland.
But first, I want to take you to Kevin Liptak at the White House, and our Oren Liebermann, as you can see there in Jerusalem. So, Kevin, let me go to
you, first. Is it clear to you why what the White House is saying in terms of why the planned talks in Switzerland with the VP were called off? Is it
to do with Hezbollah, with Lebanon? And where does this leave then, this agreement?
KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: I think, you know, White House officials were ready to go essentially last evening. They had the
plane fired up over at Joint Base Andrews, but it became clear to them that the Iranians would not be coming, at least today, because of this, you
know, exchange of fire inside of Lebanon.
And so, that was the point at which they decided to keep the Vice President in Washington and essentially allow this to play out before he got on a
plane to head to Switzerland. Now, they do say that he's ready to go, the quote, "first available opportunity."
And I do think, you know, he and President Trump have every reason to try and get these talks going. You know, the issues that they are set to
discuss on enrichment, on the nuclear program, all of the very difficult problems that they weren't able to resolve in the first round of
discussions that led to this Memorandum of Understanding, are the items that the President is going to need to secure if this deal is to be
considered a success.
Because in Washington right now, it very much is not the President's -- even his own supporters are calling this a capitulation, saying that it
concedes too much to Iran. And so, the President has the interest to try and get some of these nuclear issues resolved.
And that is why I think Vice President Vance is quite eager to get to Switzerland or wherever they decide to convene these discussions, to start
this 60-day period. All of this, I think, just underscores how fragile this Memorandum of Understanding actually is.
You know, the very first paragraph says that there will be a cessation of hostilities including in Lebanon. But obviously, Israel is not a signatory
to the document. And so, a lot of it really rests on the President's ability to control Benjamin Netanyahu, which at this point, it's not clear
he has the ability to do that.
And so, I think there's still a lot of questions about when these talks will take place. But there is an imperative, I think, on both sides to see
them up and running.
SOARES: Yes, let me go -- you mentioned Prime Minister Netanyahu. Let me go to Oren, who is in Israel for us. And Oren, sources have been telling us
that a ceasefire is in place between Hezbollah and Israel.
[14:05:00]
You and I have spoken about this, we've seen previous ceasefires before. They didn't really hold. But I'm now seeing that Israel -- and this is an
Israeli ambassador to the U.S., saying in a statement on social media in the last few moments that Israel remains firmly committed to an immediate
ceasefire. Give us just -- speak to the tensions we have seen as well as the rhetoric.
OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN JERUSALEM BUREAU CHIEF: Well, the -- effectively, the vow, the promise we just saw from Ambassador Yechiel Leiter; Israel's
ambassador to the United States is very similar to a statement we saw from Hezbollah earlier in the day, effectively saying, if the other side keeps
the ceasefire, will hold it as well.
And that's kind of where we are right now. The ceasefire itself is only a few hours old at this point. And as you pointed out, Isa, we have seen so
many of these earlier this month in April, November 2024, and they fall apart pretty quickly.
When you see what's happening on the ground, it's possible that happens again. It is worth pointing out that it does seem like the U.S. and
President Donald Trump once again set a boundary around what Israel was able to do and how far Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could go.
Four Israeli soldiers killed as one of the deadliest incidents for Israel in southern Lebanon since the start of the war. And yet, we didn't see
strikes on Beirut. We did, obviously, in southern Lebanon, in the Beqaa Valley. The Lebanese Ministry of Health says at least 47 were killed.
So, these are pretty serious major strikes, but not in Beirut. So, there is certainly some influence, some pressure here that Trump is able to exert.
And it's also worth noting that Iran is able to exert this pressure. How?
Well, they say they're not going to attend the talks, and that 60-day window for negotiations goes nowhere without Trump forcing Israel to a
ceasefire in Lebanon. And that's where we stand right now. Iran is able, through Trump to pressure Israel.
And that creates a very difficult dynamic, knowing full well that an escalation in Lebanon risks the talks themselves. So, the ceasefire only a
few hours old now seems to be holding from what we're seeing. But we've seen these fall apart fast.
It becomes largely a question of how much pressure is Trump willing to put on Netanyahu? How willing is Netanyahu to fight back against that? So far,
it seems like not very much. He knows he needs Trump, especially with an election coming up.
But it is a difficult diplomatic problem in and of itself. And that's apart from very difficult negotiations between the U.S. and Iran. And Isa, the
last thing I'll point out is, next week, the U.S. is set to host another round of talks between Israel and Lebanon to try to get that process moving
forward.
SOARES: Yes, interesting to see how Netanyahu is going to thread this needle, right? With the pressure from Prime -- from President Trump, and
also the domestic pressures that you and I have discussed at great length.
So, we'll get to with Gideon Levy in just a moment. Let me go to Nic, do we have Nic Robertson? I think he's in Zurich. We do -- oh, fantastic. Let me
bring in Nic. Nic, just add into this conversation that you know, we were just having right there with Kevin Liptak and with Oren.
Just give us a sense of the array -- of what you're hearing from the Iranian side, because we heard from Kevin, we heard from Oren. This was
supposed to be a meeting where you are supposed to kick-start the 60-day negotiating period.
What are -- what the Iranians -- what's the Pakistan mediators -- what are they telling you? And where does this go from here critically?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes, look, I think if we take a sort of a slight step back and try to take the big picture and
the arc of these talks, they're troubled. They've been troubled over the Lebanon issue.
I mean, I think what has struck me is not that Iran decided not to come because of the uptick of strikes. Israel strikes against Hezbollah,
Hezbollah's attacks against the IDF, deadly attacks, not because they didn't come because of that reason, but how quickly it appears
diplomatically, that both sides have been able to patch this up, apparently, with this ceasefire agreement.
I think it speaks to the level of diplomatic pressure put behind the scenes by the Qataris, by the Pakistani mediators as well likely to get the
Iranians to get back to the table or get to the table. And also, the pressure that the White House is prepared to put on Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu, as Oren was speaking about.
So, that pressure coming into play speedily, but hardly surprising because everyone knows this is the difficult -- Lebanon is the tough issue. Lebanon
is the thing that has so many fault lines on it, so many potential reasons and ways to kind of offset and deviate the sort of bigger peace plan here
between the U.S. and Israel, that there's a lot of tension play to it.
So, I think the speed with which that's been put back together augurs well to get the talks going sooner rather than later, but also speaks to the
fact that anything this complex and difficult put together in haste.
[14:10:00]
Ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah put together that quickly is probably not going to stand the test of time over the longer term. But if
it's enough to get the sides in the negotiating room talking, that will be a positive. Tomorrow, 58 days left on the clock to make progress on the
MOU.
SOARES: Nic Robertson for us there, our thanks to Oren Liebermann as well as Kevin Liptak. Thank you very much. Want to stay with this conversation,
I'm pleased to have with us Gideon Levy. He's a columnist with the "Haaretz" newspaper and a former adviser to Shimon Peres, a well-known face
here on the show.
Gideon, welcome back to the show. You heard there from my colleagues, Nic, Oren and Kevin, to give him their perspective where things stand. I'm not
sure if you heard that our source is telling us that Israel and Hezbollah have agreed to renew a ceasefire, though a spokesperson for the IDF
actually refused to acknowledge a ceasefire in a briefing today.
Though, in the last few minutes, I have to say, Israel has said the Israeli ambassador to the U.S. has said that Israel is firmly committed to a
ceasefire in Lebanon. So, just your take. How do you read it? Because, I mean, Nic Robertson saying that perhaps it won't stand the test of time.
Your thoughts?
GIDEON LEVY, COLUMNIST, HAARETZ: I totally agree with Nic, and even more than this. Let me, Isa, be very clear. As long as the Israeli troops are
inside Lebanon, the friction between Israel and Hezbollah will lead to more violations of the ceasefire within hours or maximum, within days.
Don't expect any other reality, even if both parties promise on the name of God, that they will not violate the ceasefire. This friction, this Israeli
occupation of southern Lebanon cannot remain, cannot guarantee stability.
And therefore, I'm quite surprised that it is so important for the United States, and it is important for the United States to get to an agreement
with the Iranians. He should have insisted on withdrawal of the Israeli troops.
Now, add to this, Isa, is the fact that Benjamin Netanyahu, let's say it in a -- in a soft way, is not extremely interested that the Americans will be
(INAUDIBLE) keep the ceasefire. So, all together, we are facing a great -- I don't see how --
SOARES: Yes --
LEVY: The -- without --
SOARES: Gideon, I'm sorry to interrupt --
LEVY: Sure --
SOARES: We -- I'm sorry to --
LEVY: Sure --
SOARES: The connection isn't great. The connection isn't great. We're going to try and fix this, and call you back to see if we can fix the
connection, because there's not much clarity on that. So, stick with us, we're going to try and fix it --
LEVY: Sure --
SOARES: Behind the scenes, but we are going to continue the show. Let me go to David Goldman, I think, because staying with the Strait of Hormuz,
staying with the war in Iran, we have seen 25 ships or so, right?
Twenty-five ships crossing in the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday. And I think that's the most since April, right? But that's still far fewer than the
100-plus that used to transit that crucial waterway. So, talk to us about the oil because we've seen so much of the oil -- the oil is bottled up for
four months, right?
Global supplies have been at crisis point, commodity tracking and firm Kpler says it is 1.15 billion barrels of oil have gone missing from the
markets. And reality check, not a quick way to replace it. So, David, good to see you.
He's a senior -- CNN's business senior reporter. Talk us through -- you've been tracking this. Strait is open. That's -- you know, really good news,
but there's a knock-on effect, right? Speak to that.
DAVID GOLDMAN, CNN BUSINESS SENIOR REPORTER: Yes, I mean, you just said it perfectly, so, I don't know that I need to do my segment now. But I'll talk
a little bit more about it. I mean, 1.15 billion barrels is a lot of oil.
It is a ton of oil. That's what has happened in the past four months. How big of a deal is that? It's -- well, it's bedlam, according to President
Trump. He said that in about four weeks, we would run out of oil.
So, what is actually happening here and how significant is this? Well, the strategic petroleum reserves, those are what we use for emergency oil,
well, over the course of the past four months, we have gone down to the lowest levels globally since 1990.
Here in the United States, that is the lowest since 1983. That's the year that I was born when they were filling the strategic petroleum reserve. And
that puts us in a precarious spot because if something happens like a hurricane or the war resumes, we are almost out of emergency oil.
But it's not just the emergency stockpiles, it's also the commercial stockpiles as you mentioned. Look at Cushing, Oklahoma, that's the pipeline
crossroads of the United States.
[14:15:00]
That's where all the oil is shipped into, and then out of. It has a capacity, a pretty big capacity of 75 million barrels, but look where we
are right now, 20 million barrels. And that is at the operational low, right?
What does that mean? It's like when you go to an urn you're trying to get coffee out of it, you hit the spigot and nothing comes out. So, you've got
to kind of tip it toward you a little bit to get that sludge out from the bottom.
That is my nightmare, by the way. But it is also really bad when it happens in the oil market, because you can't force the oil through the pipelines.
OK, so, well, now that the Strait of Hormuz is reopened, problem solved, right?
Well, not so fast, because here is all the stuff that needs to happen first. First of all, you've got to get these tankers out of the Strait of
Hormuz. And then if you want to get the tankers back in, you have to demine the Strait.
That's going to take about a month. There's a ton of mines in the Strait right now, leaving two channels to get in and out, not enough space to get
the tankers in. Once the empty tankers come in and then go out again, then the Middle East can start producing the oil again, putting it on tankers to
get it out of the Strait.
But that is a long process. This is about 3 to 4 months of work. And so, what does it mean? Well, we talked about 1.15 billion barrels. The IEA,
that's the International Energy Agency says that we are going to be supplying a ton of oil in the next several months.
Five million barrels means 230 days to get back that 1.15 billion barrels, Isa, it is not looking like it's going to happen any time soon.
SOARES: Well, yes, and there's another element of this. We don't have to talk about that today. There's not much time. It's a question of
confidence, right? How much confidence do they have in actually moving through the Straits, given the state of this Memorandum of Understanding.
Appreciate it, David Goldman there, thank you very much --
GOLDMAN: Oh, thank you --
SOARES: I promise you; we're going to try and fix Gideon Levy's audio. He's back with us. He's a columnist with the "Haaretz" newspaper, former
adviser Shimon Peres, was speaking to him before the break.
Hopefully, we fixed it now, Gideon. You were saying to me, and correct me if I misheard you, you were saying, there's never going to be -- there
won't be a ceasefire or an agreement on this Memorandum of Understanding until the IDF leaves Lebanon.
So, how do you see this? Because I was looking at the first article of the Memorandum of Understanding, and I think Lebanon's mentioned something like
three times, Gideon. Can -- if Netanyahu won't accept this for whatever reason, at home, domestically, can Trump force him? Just speak to the
position he's in right now.
LEVY: Nothing is easier than this. I mean, Trump has to be devoted enough because Israel and Netanyahu in person are not in a position to say no to
Donald Trump. Netanyahu is now in his weakest point domestically, and he's banned by the entire world.
And Israel is not in a position. He was so right last night and other night, the Vice President Vance, when he said, Donald Trump is your only
friend right now in the entire world, you cannot say no to your only friend.
And therefore, if we want to see this agreement really becoming to a new reality, Israel must leave the southern Lebanon. Now, there is no purpose
of staying there. We tried it so many times in the past, and it didn't bring any security, only an agreement can, if at all, bring some kind of
security to the people of northern Israel.
And therefore, if I would have been the Israeli Prime Minister, I would have done it by my own initiative. That's my contribution for peace. We are
withdrawing from southern Lebanon in order to enable the best conditions for a new era.
SOARES: I wonder, then, what you make of the recent public criticism, Gideon, that we've seen or disagreements coming from President Trump and
indeed from his administration. Let me read it out. The President said this week, "I think they can do better with respect to Hezbollah.
I'm not saying they shouldn't protect themselves. I'm saying when two drones are shot into the desert and dropped harmlessly, you don't have to
knock down buildings in Beirut. They could have behaved better, and frankly, they could do a better job."
VP, Vice President Vance then went much further yesterday when he had to say this about Israeli cabinet minister. Let me play it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAMES DAVID VANCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You've seen people within Bibi's cabinet who have come out and attacked the deal and, in some
ways, very personally attacked the President of the United States.
[14:20:00]
And I guess my message to them would be twofold. Number one, Donald J. Trump is the only head of state in the entire world who is sympathetic to
the nation of Israel at this moment in time. And he happens to be the head of state of the world's superpower.
If I was in the cabinet of the Israeli government, I might not be attacking the only powerful ally that I have anywhere left in the entire world.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOARES: How are those words, Gideon? How has this landed domestically?
LEVY: Domestically, the feeling is that Israel was beaten and was defeated in this war, and here comes the American expression, feeling is that Israel
has to start to reconnect with reality. And the reality is that Israel's superpower and the United States cannot continue to be in our little pocket
forever and get all those billions of dollars in way.
The feeling shouldn't be that (INAUDIBLE) --
SOARES: Unfortunately, Gideon, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, well, unfortunately, we lost you half-way through that sentence. We have to fix the audio. But
Gideon, as always, it was so good to have you on the show. Thank you very much indeed. Gideon Levy joining us there. Thank you.
We're going to try and fix that, obviously, for next time for you. Still to come right here tonight, has 0.1 percent of the British population decided
the next British Prime Minister. The story of how an election in a small northern town could change everything. That is next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SOARES: Welcome back. Albanian media report police have arrested 27 more people and charged them with public order offenses. And this comes amid
demonstrations that have been going on for almost a month now.
They're protesting plans for a luxury resort to be built near protected wetlands, known for their flamingos, and a turtle nesting site. The project
is backed by Qatar-based company linked to Jared Kushner and the son-in-law of U.S. President, of course, Donald Trump.
It has escalated. We've -- we're now in what? The 20th day, I believe these are live, are these live images? These are live images coming to us now
from Tirana in Albania. What started a protest over this Kushner-link project has now escalated with growing calls for Prime Minister Edi Rama to
resign.
[14:25:00]
And if you remember, just a few weeks ago, just taking you back slightly, Mr. Rama told me the project had not been approved. He said it on the show.
He reiterated that same message on Thursday to my colleague, Eleni Giokos.
But confirmed the land for the development has been purchased. Have a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ELENI GIOKOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Has the land been bought already by the investors?
EDI RAMA, PRESIDENT, ALBANIA: Listen, don't go there because you'll remember me now that you are from CNN --
GIOKOS: Yes, no problem --
RAMA: And I hate --
GIOKOS: Let's stick to the facts. I hate to -- I hate to say that in this, I've learned in the hard way, that you are not an objective -- an objective
source. But you being -- you being Greek makes me feel an obligation to not go there.
So, yes, the land has been -- has been bought by the investors. Yes, it's a private land. Yes, an environmental impact assessment is ongoing. Yes,
there is not yet a project being approved. Yes, there is not yet a building permission.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOARES: Well, the Albanian Prime Minister, as you heard there referencing CNN and our reporting on the plans for a luxury resort in Albania. We've
been showing you these protests right from the beginning, showing you live pictures right here on the show.
Well, we stand by our reporting, and we continue to ask the questions, and we stand by the questions we ask. Well, one of Donald Trump's renovation
projects around Washington D.C. has turned into a major headache for the administration.
The President spent more than $14 million to fix up the Reflecting Pool, saying he wanted the water to look as blue as the American flag. Instead,
the water has turned green from algae, and it now appears the blue paint applied to the pool is peeling off and floating in the water. There you
are. You see it. We get more now from CNN's Tom Foreman.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): A lot of people are searching online for reflecting pool, or maybe even the word green. Here's why? The
Reflecting Pool here in Washington D.C. along the National Mall between the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument, underwent a $14 million
renovation by the Trump administration to try to get it ready for 4th of July in the nation's 250th birthday.
The problem is now some of the American flag blue sealant that was put on the bottom appears to be floating to the surface in some areas, and there
has been this consistent problem of algae, which they're trying to deal with using what's called nano-bubbler technology, which puts oxygen in the
water to stop the formation of algae.
And these sort of water vacuums to get the algae up off the floor of the Reflecting Pool altogether. Now, you may wonder, when you're searching for
the words, "reflecting pool", well, what the company behind this renovation has to say about all that.
We reached out to Eddie Wood(ph), who owns Atlantic Industrial Coatings. That's the Virginia-based firm hired to renovate the Reflecting Pool. He
said, "when you look at these images of blue stuff coming up from the bottom, that there's not enough information looking at them to tell exactly
what that is.
But there are several things that we've got to address when we come back from maintenance, and anything like that will be addressed if it's a
problem." Experts say, a coating like that can be knocked loose by chemicals, or maybe by the physical process here.
They don't know either. They're sorting through it. But now, when you hear people talking about the Reflecting Pool, you're looped in.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SOARES: Our thanks to Tom Foreman there. And still to come tonight, two presidential candidates, two starkly different visions for how to counter
powerful drug cartels. Next, we head to Colombia, where voters face a crucial choice this weekend.
[14:30:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SOARES: Welcome back. For decades, Colombia has been as seen fighting a seemingly never-ending drug war. In Sunday's presidential runoff, voters
there will have to make a critical decision. Which candidate can put the country on the path toward what's proven to be a very elusive solution to
that devastating problem.
Stefano Pozzebon takes a closer look for you.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
STEFANO POZZEBON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CONTRIBUTOR (voice-over): Colombia is at a crossroads between two different visions for how to put away half a
century of violence. And a far-right populist with Trump's backing who promises to go after criminal groups with all guns blazing.
To understand Colombia's conflict, we joined a demining unit from the army. A legacy of decades of guerilla warfare, Colombia is one of the countries
most affected by landmines in the world.
Last year, Colombia recorded 137 landmine incidents. Everyone working here must wear protective gear as a precaution. A deminer can clear only 10
square meters of forest every day. And this unit has 37,000 to deal with in this location alone. A quick fuse and the landmine is taken care of.
In town, even the children learn about the landmines. The army sends instructors to primary schools every month to hold classes like these.
POZZEBON: They're using puppets and videos and cartoons. It can all seem very funny, but actually the core of the lesson is that in this part of the
world, touching or even poking with a stick a weird object can be very dangerous.
POZZEBON (voice-over): While landmines have been used in Colombia for decades, attacks have grown in recent years. The war on drugs and the
violence stemming from it are at the core of this week's presidential election.
Behind armored glass, far-right candidate Abelardo de la Espriella promises a new offensive, including joint operations with the U.S. military.
Colombia is the largest cocaine producer in the world, and production remains at record levels despite government efforts to replace coca with
legitimate crops.
Farmer Maria Pena says the state must support people like her who started growing cocoa beans instead of coca.
MARIA PENA, COCA FARMER (through translator): We saw criminal actors entering our territory and we didn't want to go back to the same violence
as before. I bet against cocoa for my children.
POZZEBON (voice-over): Outgoing President Gustavo Petro tried a new approach to the war on drugs dubbed total peace. It meant engaging in
negotiations with insurgents rather than prosecution. 9,000 hectares of coca have been cleared in the last year, he claims. But many believe this
is too little, too late.
If this strategy is so successful, why have the U.S. criticized it? Was it a diplomatic defeat that you couldn't present this new plan to go beyond
the war on drugs?
[14:35:10]
GUSTAVO PETRO, PRESIDENT, COLOMBIA (through translator): The Trump Administration decided to decertify Colombia because they saw cocoa crops
explode. The beginning of my mandate and not my program in action.
POZZEBON (voice-over): This month, Trump-endorsed De la Espriella who has managed to turn this election into a vote on Pedro's peace efforts.
Colombians will decide whether to give him a strong mandate to resume the conflict or stick to peace negotiations with Petro's ally Ivan Cepeda.
Teacher Karen Martinez, who sees the scars of war every day in a town surrounded by minefields, says that neither option convinces her. She has a
dream of a Colombia free from conflict, but how to get there remains an open question.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SOARES: Very important report there from Stefano Pozzebon. He joins us now from Bogota. So, Stefano, let's look ahead then to this election this
Sunday, the most polarized election of course in Colombia in years. We saw Abelardo de la Espriella winning the first round. He could be of course one
of those who wins come this weekend. If he does win though, give us a sense what type of leader we expect him to be.
POZZEBON (on camera): Yes, Isa. Well, the Colombian -- you rightly said, the Colombia pollsters are not allowed to publish the results of opinion
polls in the week before the election, but the last time we were able to check on Saturday, well, Abelardo was leading on all polls with a
percentage lead of between four and eight percentage points. He really is poised to be the next president of this country.
And when it comes to figuring out how Abelardo de la Espriella will rule, well, that remains an open question as well. We have known very little of
how he intends to -- he intends to rule this country. He has never published a program for example or a platform, and he has really risen from
almost the unknown in the last few months. He doesn't have a majority in Congress for example.
So, we expect that he will have to find an alliance with the traditional conservative or right-wing parties here in Colombia who have been the
backbone of the opposition to President Gustavo Petro, and in a way he will rule similar to other Latin American leaders who have also sought Trump's
support, the Milei of this world or the Bukele. But at the same time brace for the unexpected. You can campaign being an ally of Donald Trump, but it
doesn't mean that you're going to be with him throughout your presidency. Meloni's case this morning, for example, is there to show it. Isa?
SOARES: Indeed. It's a very clear example of that. Stefano Pozzebon there, thank you very much indeed. And please be sure to join us on Monday. I'll
be speaking with former Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos. We'll get the Nobel Peace Prize laureate's reaction to the election results from his
country.
In what many are calling Britain's most consequential by-election, Labour's Andy Burnham has won the Makerfield Parliament seat by more than 9,000
votes. The small town of Makerfield quickly became the center of U.K. politics after Burnham, mayor of Greater Manchester, entered the race. The
win opens the way for Burnham to challenge Keir Starmer for the country's premiership. The prime minister says if there's a contest, he will not step
down without a fight.
Our Clare Sebastian has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Standing between a fox and a trash can, a surreal picture to end a five-week
whirlwind campaign for Labour's Andy Burnham. The man who may now challenge British Prime Minister Keir Starmer for his job making it clear he plans to
shake things up.
ANDY BURNHAM, BRITISH LABOUR MP: Everyone knows that politics isn't working. Everyone can feel that the country isn't where it should be.
Tonight could -- just could be the turning point.
SEBASTIAN (voice-over): The scale of that victory may now strengthen his case for change. Burnham secured 55 percent of the vote, a comfortable lead
over Robert Kenyon of Nigel Farage's hard-right Reform U.K. Party, who came in second place with 35 percent.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right here. Glance this way.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This way.
SEBASTIAN (voice-over): It was a campaign fought on the doorsteps of a collection of former coal mining towns in northwest England.
BURNHAM: We're doing everything possible. We're not taking anything for granted.
SEBASTIAN (voice-over): Burnham, a former cabinet minister who has been the popular mayor of Greater Manchester for the best part of a decade, talked
as little as possible on the campaign trail about his larger leadership ambition, focusing instead on local issues.
NIGEL FARAGE, LEADER, BRITISH REFORM PARTY: What really happened here is it was vote Burnham, get Starmer out.
[14:40:03]
SEBASTIAN (voice-over): Reform leader Farage admitting Friday he's disappointed in the result. His party beaten at its own game.
Meanwhile, uncertainty ahead for Starmer and for Labour as Burnham plots his next move.
KEIR STARMER, PRIME MINISTER, U.K.: If there is a contest, just to be clear with you, then yes, I will run. I will stand. And I've said repeatedly, I'm
not going to walk away from that.
SEBASTIAN (voice-over): Another battle may lie ahead for Burnham. But first, a victory lap.
BURNHAM: The word Makerfield in the future must be known as a byword for the change that came to British politics.
SEBASTIAN: Andy Burnham speaking to supporters at a local football club isn't directly addressing the big question when and how he could challenge
Keir Starmer's leadership. Instead, focusing on what the campaign now believes won it for them. That core message of hope and the promise of
change.
Clare Sebastian, CNN in Ashton-in-Makerfield, England.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SOARES: Plus, ahead right here on World Refugee Day, the president of the International Rescue Committee joins me to discuss Ukraine and how became
Europe's greatest refugee crisis since World War II. That's after this very short break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SOARES: Welcome back everyone. From Syria to Sudan, Afghanistan, Ukraine, Myanmar, Gaza, and now Lebanon. These are just some of the countries where
conflict, persecution, and humanitarian crisis are forcing people from their homes and really into a life of uncertainty as a refugee or
internally displaced person.
Right now, the U.N. says nearly 118 million people worldwide are forcibly displaced. That roughly corresponds basically to the population, just for
context, of Japan. and it's nearly double what it was years ago. In Europe, in the past four years, the Ukraine war has created the largest and fastest
displacement crisis since World War II. Six million people have fled and millions more are displaced inside the country.
While the International Rescue Committee is working across Ukraine to support refugees, I'm joined now by its president and CEO, David Miliband.
He's been meeting with families living near the front lines and he joins me as you can see there from Kyiv in Ukraine.
David Miliband, welcome to the show. As we just said and I know from my team they pass on the message as well that you have been meeting not only
with the families with the communities as well who have been displaced by the war. Just share some of the stories that you've been hearing and really
what struck you from their conversations.
[14:45:04]
DAVID MILIBAND, PRESIDENT AND CEO, INTERNATIONAL RESCUE COMMITTEE: Yes, I'm actually in Mykolaiv in the south of the country, southeast of Ukraine.
You'll know that alongside Mykolaiv, there is an east-west corridor that stretches from Odessa in the west right through to Kherson in the east.
And it's very important for us that we get as close to the front line as possible. There are people who've been trapped in their own homes for the
last four years. I met some of them today. Their village was occupied for months by Russian troops. They were then chased out, but the damage is
still there. And that damage is both physical in the buildings that remain bulldozed effectively by missiles, but also the invisible scars that come
as soon as you ask any questions because every family in Ukraine has lost someone, a brother, a husband, a son.
And so, the needs that we're trying to meet are very basic to help people with basic health care, mobile health care, but also to address some of the
less visible scars, the psychological health, the mental health, and also to help people cope with division because many families have family members
in Europe or even further field.
SOARES: And I imagine also, David, that you know, many families now as we've been reported, I've reported from Ukraine as well for months, have
lived with displacement for years. How much of what you've seen is an immediate humanitarian emergency and how much is it becoming a long-term
displacement crisis?
MILIBAND: Well, that's a very good point and the answer is it's both because there is acute short-term need. Just yesterday I was meeting a man
with his family who'd been -- who'd left Kherson. I mean, his -- he was a builder. His house had been bombed once. He rebuilt it. It's now been
bombed again. And he's left to head west to greater safety. So, he's in an acute situation.
But of course, you're right that four years of war takes its toll. Maybe Europeans forget to remind people of this, but the Ukraine war has now gone
on for longer than the First World War. And the long-term damage obviously means that problems accumulate both at an individual level and at a social
level because for the -- for cities and towns across the south and east of Ukraine, there is now a massive question about their future.
SOARES: Yes. And look, it's a story that we continue to bring to viewers' attention, but there are just so many crises as you well know, David, and
it extends obviously beyond these crises beyond Ukraine. In Lebanon, as you've seen, we've been reporting on this daily, communities coping with
conflict, economic collapse, and also large numbers also of displaced people.
Just give us a sense of how concerned you are about the developments on the ground where the situation continues to be incredibly dire just in the last
hours despite this memorandum of understanding between the U.S. and Iran.
MILIBAND: Well, you're making another important point. We just published a report at the IRC called more shocks, fewer shock absorbers. And that's the
way it feels on the ground. I was in Beirut myself seven weeks ago and families there were saying that they feared they would never be able to go
home. And there's nothing worse than a ceasefire in which fire does not cease. And that's obviously the grave danger at the moment.
And I think everyone wants this deal whatever concerns they have about its content to hold at the most basic level and that's desperately important
for Lebanon to hold its stability. Last year it had a new government that was credible and authoritative and serious. And 2025 looked like it
heralded a new start for Lebanon. And 2026 has taken Lebanon back to the bad old ways where it is the victim of other people's wars.
SOARES: And you know, I have had many conversations here on my show, David, with other humanitarian agencies who have, you know, we -- and we've
touched on this on just the many crisis that we have, warning that they're being forced in many ways, and I wonder this is something you're seeing
too, being forced to make almost impossible choices because international funding simply isn't keeping pace with the global need.
I mean with so many crisis happening as you was just line -- outlining there in Lebanon and Ukraine, I haven't even mentioned Sudan, Afghanistan,
how -- I mean, where do governments decide where these limited resources go? What are you seeing? Speak to the struggles on that front.
MILIBAND: Well, that question of how resources can be stretched to meet growing need is obviously very difficult indeed. We do have to make hard
choices it means going to the hardest to reach. And that means you can't make as much effort on those who have slightly less or different
challenges. We're obviously all being stretched across the humanitarian community.
What I would say though is that there is a rebound when humanitarian aid is neglected. We're seeing that in eastern Congo at the moment where the
reductions in health provision, the reductions in water and sanitation have led pretty directly to the Ebola outbreak that you're seeing now. A failure
to diagnose it early enough. A failure to have proper health facilities for those who are infected, breakdown of contact tracing, all in the midst of
conflict and hunger.
So, I think that there is a real warning sign in the various crises you listed. They can either be seen just as a litany or as a warning and we see
them very much as a warning.
[14:50:48]
SOARES: David Miliband there for us. A correction, not in Kyiv, as you heard, in Mykolaiv. Thank you very much, David. I really appreciate you
coming on live there from Ukraine.
We're going to take a short break. We'll see you though on the other side.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SOARES: Well, a round I'm sure to be exciting World Cup games on the schedule today, including Scotland taking on Morocco and Brazil versus
Haiti. And in just a few minutes, let me have a look, in about seven minutes or so, it is Team USA versus Australia in Seattle. And what will
today be like, you ask? CNN's Andy Scholes gives you a preview.
ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Isa, the excitement is building here in Seattle as the U.S. is just moments away from taking the
pitch for their second group stage game in the World Cup against Australia. And what will Team USA do for an encore after that incredible 4-1 win over
Paraguay? So, since the World Cup went to three group stage games, the U.S. has never won their first two games. A win today over Australia and a
Turkey loss or draw. The U.S. would then clinch first in the group.
Australia though they are also riding high right now after upsetting Turkey and the U.S. knows they are going to be in for a battle today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TYLER ADAMS, MIDFIELDER, U.S. SOCCER TEAM: We just need to continue the same approach. We can't get too ahead of ourselves. It's time to flip the
page. Australia is an incredibly tough opponent. So, yes, that's where the focus needs to be.
TIM WEAH, FORWARD, U.S. SOCCER TEAM: We know what they're capable of. We have a huge respect for them. And you know, we want to go into the game
with the right mindset and well prepared.
ANTONEE ROBINSON, DEFENDER, U.S. SOCCER TEAM: The performance has definitely got the country excited and the world, you know, to kind of
recognize that, you know, we're a really good team and we can do things in this tournament which I don't think people expected us to do beforehand.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[14:55:00]
SCHOLES: Yes, the fans are certainly excited as the team has already scored more goals through one game of this World Cup than they did the entire
tournament four years ago. And that's thanks in large part to striker Folarin Balogun. Balogun is the first U.S. player to score two goals in a
World Cup game since 1930.
Now, Balogun was born in Brooklyn only because while his parents were visiting the U.S. from the U.K. His mother was not allowed to board the
plane back due to safety concerns of her being heavily pregnant. So, he and his parents actually returned to the U.K. when he was two months old. But
Balogun, he chose to play for the U.S. over England and Nigeria, and he says he's ready to find the back of the net once again today.
FOLARIN BALOGUN, STRIKER, U.S. SOCCER TEAM: That's what I'm here to do. You know, that's what -- that's what, you know, I practice and that's what I
try to build my game around, you know, being ruthless and, you know, scoring goals and making decisions for the team that count, you know, and
it's what you practice and it's what you're ready for. And, you know, the rewards for scoring in a competition, you know, like the World Cup are
going to be huge. So, yes, something to be excited about.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHOLES: Yes, the U.S. surely would love to see two more goals from Balogun today. But I tell you what, Seattle, Isa, good luck for Team USA. They are
6-0 all-time at this stadium behind me. We'll see if that streak continues here today.
SOARES: Thank you very much, Andy Scholes. Excitement in the air without a doubt. That does it for me for tonight. I'm going to go and watch the
football. Do stay right here. "WHAT WE KNOW' with my colleague Max Foster is up next. You'll have much more, of course, on the game.
END
