Return to Transcripts main page

One World with Zain Asher

UK PM Keir Starmer Announces Resignation; High Level U.S.-Iran Talks Conclude, Technical Work to Continue; Burnham Sworn in as MP, Announces Leadership Bid; Officials: U.S., Iran Agree to "De-Confliction Cell" Involving Lebanon; Vance: Talks to End Israel-Hezbollah Fighting a "Work in Progress"; Spain Soundly Defeats Saudi Arabia 4-0. Aired 11a-12p ET

Aired June 22, 2026 - 11:00   ET

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

[11:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ZAIN ASHER, CNN HOST, ONE WORLD: All right. Coming to you live from New York, I'm Zain Asher. This is a special edition of "One World". U.S. Vice

President J.D. Vance says that President Trump's threats did not derail peace talks with Iran as he lays out the next steps in negotiations.

MAX FOSTER, CNN HOST, ONE WORLD: I'm Max Foster, outside 10 Downing Street, where the British Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced that he is

resigning, paving the way for the UK's Seventh Prime Minister would you believe in a decade?

So, we start with those developments, very fast-moving developments in the last few hours. Starmer announcing his resignation on the doorstep behind

me, following intense pressure from within his own Labour Party. He basically lost complete support within his parliamentary party. At least

Starmer has set out July 9th as the start date for a new leadership contest.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEIR STARMER, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: Every decision I have taken has been about putting the country I love first. That is why I will resign as Leader

of the Labour Party.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Well, man likely to take the top job has just been sworn in as a member of Parliament in Westminster. I say likely. There are no other

options at this time. And Andy Burnham has confirmed he will be standing for Labour Leader following a resounding victory by in a local by-election,

and the main contenders have said they're falling in behind him, but major challenges remain for this British Government.

Nigel Farage, the Head of the Hard Right Reform Party, which is surging in popularity, is now demanding a general election. Clare has been here since

the early hours, still standing. This is a Labour Party story, isn't it? They basically replaced the Prime Minister. There won't be a general

election unless they choose to do that.

It's pretty obvious Andy Burnham doesn't want that. But he's going to -- he's going to be crowned, isn't he? He's just going to be given this job,

and it could happen in a matter of weeks.

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It has a sense of inevitability about it, I think at this stage, Max, no one else has officially thrown their hat

in the ring. In fact, Wes Streeting, who was seen as the sort of the most likely person to do that, has come out today and saying that we're not

going to spend the summer sort of emphasizing our differences.

Instead, I think some of my ideas can translate into being part of his team. Potentially we don't know what kind of job he could get. But those

kinds of conversations, I think, have been happening behind the scenes, and no other person has come forward and said that they'll do it.

So, look, July the 9th, as you said, that's when the nominations open. That will mean that Keir Starmer manages to cross over the two-year threshold,

at least as Prime Minister. But then you know it could happen quite quickly after that. If it's just Andy Burnham, then perhaps it will all have gone

down and be sewn up before the summer recess, which starts on the 17th.

FOSTER: You were running around across parts of the North of England last week with Andy Burnham. He's a very different character, isn't he? Just

tell us about him.

SEBASTIAN: So, he almost ran on that, really, in Makerfield. And Makerfield is a place, it's not necessarily a bellwether for the country, but it is a

place that would be a prime target for reform. Reform swept the board in local elections there in May, and Andy Berna managed to flip it around.

And I think partly because of his local appeal, he's the Mayor of Greater Manchester, Makerfield is in Greater Manchester. But also, because he did

run on this sort of platform of being essentially a dissident on the inside, that he was a different politician.

FOSTER: Campaigning against his own party?

SEBASTIAN: Yeah, I mean that was sort of the elephant in the room throughout. But he talked about local issues, he promised that Makerfield

would sort of become synonymous with the political change that the country needs, so he tread that -- he treaded that line quite carefully. How that

will translate into government policies, let's just not know yet?

FOSTER: Well, that's why we want to speak to Quentin Peel, because he is joining us now. Quentin, this is the point, isn't it as Clare was saying,

we know a lot about Andy Burnham's local policies. He literally refused to answer any, even national policies, let alone international policy

questions, which was fair enough as he was running in a local election. But we know nothing about where he stands on any of those issues?

QUENTIN PEEL, FORMER FOREIGN EDITOR, FINANCIAL TIMES: Yes, that's absolutely true. It's the big gap in his CV, if you like, is the lack of

any real foreign policy experience. He has been very successful on the domestic front, and particularly up in Manchester as the Mayor there.

But he doesn't have any track record on the Middle East, on Ukraine, on dealing with Trump, dealing with Putin. So, I think that will be a real

challenge, and in a way that was what Starmer was hoping would save himself, but really this whole thing, as far as I can see, is not so much

about the Labour Party as about the elephant in the room, which is the far- right reform UK and Nigel Farage?

[11:05:00]

The coup is because Labour is desperate to stop Farage.

FOSTER: Yes, so this election that Clare was talking about in Makerfield, Reform had won the local elections there, but then you have Andy Burnham

coming in and having this resounding victory over Reform. But does that suggest that Andy Burnham is the one who can fight back against Farage and

his party when Samakin (ph)?

PEEL: Up to a point, because, of course, it's still a very small local election. But having said that, he has demonstrated that he can do it, that

he is a man who can win back, if you like, the votes of what we tend to call the left behind. The old white working class of the North of England,

who have switched in big numbers to backing the anti-immigration policy of Reform UK.

And I think that's exactly where Andy Burnham would hope to actually be the man who can see them off, and that's why the by-election mattered.

FOSTER: He's got a great character, hasn't he? I mean, you don't meet anyone that doesn't like him on a personal level. I guess that's because we

haven't learned a huge amount about his policy level certainly, Downing Street.

He's tried to get in here three times, twice before, I think, hasn't he? But why do you know -- what happened here? Was it pro-Burnham or was it

anti-Starmer? Because Starmer came in on this wave of popularity, that extraordinary election result, one of the greatest in modern history. And

then it just seemed to collapse after that. So, what was it? Anti-Starmer or is its pro-Burnham?

PEEL: Well, it's obviously a bit of both. But I would say more than anything it is in fact anti-Farage, and that's the reason he is seen as the

man to see off Farage. And it was so obvious that Keir Starmer, his popularity was down in the doldrums, it was really low, although Farage is

not that popular either.

And the truth is that if you look at all the major political figures in the country, Andy Burnham is the only one whose popularity is actually in

positive figures. So, that's why he is -- he's got the vote now, and I think will undoubtedly win the party leadership over the next few weeks,

probably as a form of coronation with nobody else running against him, precisely because he's the man who looks like an election winner.

FOSTER: Yeah, and just take us through how quickly that could happen? Starmer suggesting it would be September. But actually, if he doesn't get

any whiff of competition in this, won't the Labour Party, you know, the national executive just decide to push it through sooner?

PEEL: Yes, absolutely. If there is no competition, the lists are going to be open for any other competitors on July 9th and closed on July 16th, when

Parliament will go off for their summer holidays. And so, if there is no other candidate by July the 16th, I think we're looking at Andy Burnham

being Leader of the Labour Party by July the 17th, and effectively asked to form a new government by the King almost immediately thereafter. So mid-

July is the answer.

FOSTER: How do you think President Trump is going to take him, because he'll be a completely unknown quantity, presumably to President Trump? And

of course, we saw how Starmer tried to find that common ground with President Trump, and it did break away a bit more recently over Iran,

didn't it? But how do you think Burnham will handle Trump?

PEEL: Well, you have to learn very fast. The one thing about -- what we know about Donald Trump is he likes a winner, and if he sees Andy Burnham

as a winner, as in contrast to I think he rather tended to see Keir Starmer towards the end now as a loser, then I think he will perhaps play his cards

a little more carefully.

I mean, it was extraordinary that Donald Trump came out only yesterday and night before Keir Starmer had said anything and actually declared to the

world Keir Starmer is going to go. The sort of behavior that really is extraordinary. I think that Andy Burnham is quite charming and very

articulate, and I think he probably starts off on the right foot.

FOSTER: Yeah, you can imagine them getting on a personal level, can't you? Quentin, thank you very much indeed. Zain, we are about to have another

Prime Minister starting to feel like a bit of a pattern.

[11:10:00]

ASHER: The seventh, right, the seventh in a decade? Max Foster, thank you so much for that. Iran has agreed to admit UN nuclear monitors into the

country. That statement coming from U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance. Earlier today, he spoke in Switzerland after what he called very good day of

negotiations between the U.S. and Iran.

Vance is heading home, but says that technical teams will continue negotiations this week, and he says a foundation has been laid for a

successful final deal. It comes after an Iranian source told CNN that talks briefly stalled after President Trump took aim at Iran in an interview with

Fox News. Vance downplayed that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

J.D. VANCE, U.S. VICE PRESIDENT: We told the Iranians yesterday, is when you guys engage in what us millennials might call trash talk, you can't

expect the President of the United States not to respond and not to correct the record. So, when they say things that aren't true, the president is

going to respond to it. I'm going to respond to it.

Americans are going to respond to it. When they make threats that aren't rooted in reality, they have to accept that the President of the United

States, is actually going to set the record straight. That's all that happened. So, yes, there was a little bit of threatening, there was a

little bit of whining, but at the end of the day, the talks continued, and we made great progress.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ASHER: All right, as for Lebanon, Vance says what he calls a deconfliction cell has been established to prevent fighting between Israel and Hezbollah

from spiraling out of control. Kevin Liptak is standing by for us at the White House. But first, let's go straight to Nic Robertson in Lucerne,

Switzerland.

So, just in terms of what the vice president is saying that this idea that great progress has been made, mainly pointing to the fact that Iran has

agreed to allow nuclear inspectors to sort of make sure they have been complying with the agreement.

Despite all of that, we're still in a fragile territory, especially given the fact that the U.S. President himself remains unpredictable in terms of

some of his threats. Just give us the lay of the land here, Nic?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yeah, it's a very bumpy lay of the land. And we went into the weekend just a couple of days after

both the Iranian President and U.S. President signed that memorandum of understanding, yet the two parties couldn't get around the table as they

were supposed to Friday here.

And then huge amount of diplomacy to get the moving the Iranians in particular to the table, then then Vice President J.D. Vance giving a very

sort of diplomatic speech at the beginning of the talks, and almost at the same time President Trump sort of derailing them by a very undiplomatic set

of comments.

We're sort of back on track again. I think you could take any particular issue, whether it's the Lebanon deconfliction cell or the lines of

communication over the Strait of Hormuz, or the way that Vice President J.D. Vance has framed the frozen assets of Iran and sanctions lifting, but

the IAEA inspectors, he said, allowed into Iran.

This was a big point, he said, because Iran had agreed to that. I kind of see that as very instructive about the nature of what is agreed in the

memorandum of understanding. And how firm it is between the two countries. Because, of course, clause eight, not to get into the weeds here, but

clause eight very clearly said that the IAEA would be there in Iran to oversee some of the nuclear issues, including the dilution of the highly

enriched uranium.

It didn't specify in what capacity or how they would be doing it? But that was already both presidents had signed that. So, the fact that J.D. Vance

felt that this was a very important point, at the Iranians had apparently agreed to it up there in the hotel on the mountain top behind me, you know,

sets the frame of understanding how secure things are in that memorandum of understanding.

If Iran had signed the document but hadn't actually really agreed to it, but now they have. What else does that tell us about the document? So, I

think we've come out of the weekend with band aids put on the memorandum of understanding on the Strait of Hormuz, band aids put on the memorandum of

understanding about a ceasefire in Lebanon.

These are positive band aids, but they don't deal with the root cause. There will still be, of course, much difficulty ahead, and sort of nailing

down as we go, or as they go, bits of the memorandum of understanding that become unglued and start floating free. I mean; I think that's where we've

got to. It survived the weekend, that's where we are.

ASHER: All right Nic Robertson, live for us there. Thank you so much. Let's get some perspective now from Washington. Kevin Liptack joins us live now

from the White House. So, Kevin, just in terms of the sort of predicament that J.D. Vance was in over the weekend, I mean, obviously he has to

maintain credibility with the Iranians.

He has to show them that the United States is serious about a deal. But he also has to explain and downplay the sort of threats that President Trump

is making, particularly when the U.S. President talks about potentially kidnapping Iranian negotiators, that puts the Vice President in a really

awkward position Kevin?

[11:15:00]

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Right. And it puts the diplomacy in an awkward position as well. You know, these are very delicate

discussions absent the rhetoric coming from Washington, but also the rhetoric from Tehran, as well. And it's evident that in each capital there

are sets of people who are opposed to this deal.

Obviously, President Trump is not opposed to it, but he wants to make the case that he's fully willing and able to go back to this war if the

Iranians don't capitulate to his red lines. Whether the Iranians actually believe that, I think, remains to be seen. You know, President Trump

himself said that he wanted this war over because he wanted to avoid economic catastrophe and didn't want to be compared to Herbert Hoover.

So, just how willing he is to restart the bombing, I think, remains to be seen. But that's not to say he isn't going to issue these threats that

completely upend the diplomacy, for as much as J.D. Vance wants to downplay it, he did say that at least some part of the weekend was spent explaining

to the Iranians, who he claimed were threatening and whining that the president was going to continue to go about this.

And when you only have 60 days to work, or 55 days now, I think, since this memorandum was signed, when you only have this very compressed time period

to negotiate things like nuclear enrichment, like down blending highly enriched uranium, things that will require some very technical discussions

every moment that you're not talking about that is allowing time to go past.

And based on the descriptions from both sides of this, of what happened over the weekend, it does not appear as if the nuclear issue was really at

the center. Much more at the center was talks about the Strait of Hormuz, where the conflict in Lebanon, which Nic correctly pointed out, seems to

have been resolved in the memorandum of understanding.

And so, I think it's evident, just listening to all of this, that despite the good progress that Vance says was made over the weekend, there are some

very difficult talks to come, and the president himself has shown a willingness to kind of completely go around the diplomacy that his vice

president is trying to conduct in Switzerland.

ASHER: All right Kevin Liptak, live for us there. Thank you so much. All right, still to come, Lebanon could certainly be a wild card as the U.S.

and Iran negotiate final peace agreement. We'll analyze that issue later on this hour. Plus, we'll take you back to Downing Street for more on the

fallout from Keir Starmer's resignation, and a look at how global leaders are reacting to the news?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:20:00]

FOSTER: Back to our top story, then unfolding right here in Downing Street. Keir Starmer resigning as Prime Minister of the UK a few hours ago here.

His departure means this country will see seven different prime ministers in about a 10-year period. It's extraordinary. Attention now turning to

this Starmer's race for succession.

And Andy Burnham sworn in as an MP in the House of Commons earlier today after winning an election, he's declared his leadership bid. There are no

other runners or riders at the moment, so it looks like he's heading towards Downing Street. Burnham is also picking up backing from another

heavyweight in the contest, that is the Former Secretary for Health and Social Care, Wes Streeting. He is now backing the one contender.

World Leaders paying tribute to Starmer on social media, praising his leadership through a turbulent period marked by war and uncertainty. The

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanking him for support and the joint decisions that have helped make our Europe and our protection of life

stronger. He added that every meeting and every conversation we have had has always been filled with real substance.

And the European Commission President Ursula Von Der Leyen told Starmer it can take many leaders years to grow into the statesman you became in just

two years. European and Ukrainian security are stronger because of you. But one leader responded on his own timetable, and with a predictably distinct

tone.

President Donald Trump didn't wait for Starmer's formal resignation, even posting on social media on Sunday to announce it himself, saying, quote, I

wish him well. The relationship between the two recently hit a rough patch after the UK declined to join U.S. action in Iran, despite earlier efforts

by Starmer to build ties.

Trump's extensive mockery of the British Leader caused a souring of the infamous special relationship. Let's hear more on this from Washington. CNN

Politics Senior Reporter Stephen Collinson. Stephen, thank you for joining us. I mean, he did his best to build this relationship, didn't he, Starmer?

But ultimately, he did have to fight back, and it is interesting because you're seeing other European Leaders do the same.

STEPHEN COLLINSON, CNN POLITICS SENIOR REPORTER: Yeah, you remember that famous moment in the Oval Office where Keir Starmer pulled a letter from

the King inviting Trump to a state visit in the United Kingdom that was seen at the time as a master stroke. And for a long time Starmer did appear

to have forged an unusually close and workable relationship with the turbulent American President.

And I think he got a lot of credit for that. But what I think he found out, and there's what almost everybody who deals with Trump finds out, is that

loyalty only goes one way. As soon as there is a priority that the president sees is not advanced by someone he's been dealing with, he turns

on them, and that came with Starmer and with many European Leaders over the Iran war, which they thought was a bad idea, and would turn out to be a

disaster.

You could argue that many of their reservations have proven to be true. You can see why Starmer tried to forge this relationship with Britain out of

the EU and reliant on America for its defense, and to try and boost growth in the anemic economy. But in the end, it's an impossible task I think to

manage Donald Trump. And that I think will be a big test for Andy Burnham if he becomes Prime Minister in the next few weeks.

FOSTER: Yeah, because this is really interesting. He's a really well-known figure, isn't he, Stephen, in the UK? But outside the UK, he's hardly known

at all, because he's never really been involved in any sort of foreign policy. So, is that an advantage?

Can he start a relationship effectively with Donald Trump? And you'll be aware of a few of the things he said about American politics when he was

campaigning in the North?

COLLINSON: Yeah, I think it's obviously on the world stage is going to be a massive test, because as those statements from world leaders were showing.

Starmer had built up a great deal of respect as a statesman. You might argue that he was much more effective internationally than he was

domestically.

So, Burnham has to be careful. The relationship with Trump will be crucial. But I do think it perhaps opens up a bit of a political avenue for him

domestically at a moment when Trump is rejecting European Leaders. There may be some political capital for him to stand up to Trump a little bit

more.

Indeed, he could make the argument that the Reform Party of Nigel Farage, which you could argue is one of the reasons why he's going to get the job

of Prime Minister, because voters see him as more likely to beat Reform than Starmer in the next election.

[11:25:00]

He could argue that Reform is too close to Trump, that Britain doesn't want any kind of Trumpism in the United States -- that was a in the United

Kingdom. That was an argument that Starmer couldn't make, because it contradicted his number one foreign policy priority of trying to keep close

to the Americans.

So, some potential domestic leverage, even though you know when he goes to these big summits, he comes up against Trump and other leaders is going to

be very much the junior partner of the Western Leaders Club.

FOSTER: Well, it may very well happen sooner than we all expect, right Stephen? He could, you know, if this goes through as quickly as we'll

expect, he could be the Prime Minister at the NATO Summit, couldn't he, over the summer? And that's where he's going to realize that he needs

American money right?

COLLINSON: Yeah. And that is going to be very interesting, because one of the arguments that weakened Starmer at the end was the resignation of the

Defense Secretary, John Healey, because he was saying Starmer wasn't living up to his pledge to massively increase defense spending to levels that

Donald Trump has demanded, and which Healey saw as vital to defending the United Kingdom against Russia and other global threats.

Is Burnham now going to stick to the line that there isn't more money for defense spending, that they shouldn't cut welfare programs to fund defense

spending? Or is he going to go ahead and increase it? That would be something that would ingratiate him with Donald Trump very quickly. But it

would be an exceedingly difficult political decision to take domestically.

FOSTER: Yeah, he's going to be tested for sure. Stephen Collinson in Washington. Thank you very much. Well, 10 years, seven prime ministers, one

senior politician, that's outlasted them all. And by politician, I mean, of course, politician, because I'm talking about the chief mouser here.

Two Downing Streets, Larry, he's been wandering around, he's getting older by the year. He's had so many owners, don't know how he keeps up. The 19-

year-old Tabby has ruled the halls of number 10 since 2011 when he was adopted under David Cameron. That's 15 years of loyal service.

Media reports suggesting that Larry has appeared on Faze Bill, the fuss here in Downing Street today, but he does have to put up with us most of

the time. And you know he has to be his own cat, Zain.

ASHER: What does Tabby?

FOSTER: I didn't write that. I just read it.

ASHER: I know, but you did a great job. You delivered it perfectly.

FOSTER: Thank you.

ASHER: Max, that's what counts.

FOSTER: Thanks. Well, perfectly.

ASHER: I like what you did there. Thank you, Max Foster. All right still ahead, the U.S. Vice President describes talks to end the fighting between

Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon as a work in progress, could the conflict there derail ongoing U.S.-Iran negotiations? We'll talk to an expert after

the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:30:00]

ASHER: All right, welcome back to "One World". I'm Zain Asher in New York. Here are some headlines we are watching today. British Prime Minister Keir

Starmer has announced his resignation following intense pressure from within his own party. The process to replace him will begin next month.

The Former Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, is expected to become the new leader of Britain's Ruling Labour Party. He was sworn in as an MP a

short time ago after winning a local by-election.

U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance is outlining some progress in the Iran talks. He says that Iran has agreed to admit nuclear monitors into the

country. Over the weekend an Iranian source told CNN the talks briefly stalled when President Trump took aim at Iran in an interview with Fox

News.

In Colombia's Presidential runoff, Trump-backed far-right candidate Abelardo de la Espriella has narrowly won the preliminary vote count. His

opponent, left-wing Ivan Cepeda, has acknowledged the result, but he's also calling on voters to wait for the final tally, which may take several days.

Extreme heat is hitting Europe this week, with triple-digit temperatures in the UK and across the continent. Parts of France could see temperatures

above 107 degrees fahrenheit, that is above 41 degrees celsius. The French government has ordered the closure of more than 800 schools, according to

"The Associated Press".

All right, the U.S. Vice President is touting what he calls a very, very good day of negotiations at high-level U.S.-Iran peace talks in

Switzerland. J.D. Vance, who is now heading home, says that Tehran has agreed to admit UN nuclear monitors into the country. He says the U.S. and

Iran have laid a foundation, but have yet to build a house.

Technical teams will continue negotiations to address key issues in the memorandum of understanding. Iran says the oil sanctions were waived, some

frozen assets released, and a reconstruction and development plan was launched. The U.S. Vice President calls talks to end fighting between

Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon a work in progress as well.

But he says that a deconfliction cell has been established to make sure that fighting in Lebanon doesn't spiral out of control. Israeli strikes and

clashes with Iran-backed Hezbollah last week threatened to derail the interim agreement. Meantime, an Israeli source says the country is

considering announcing symbolic withdrawals from minor areas in Southern Lebanon.

CNN's Jeremy Diamond joins us live now from Tel Aviv, Israel, with the very latest. So, Jeremy, it has been a sort of quieter 24 hours in Southern

Lebanon. But we are not out of the woods just yet. Lebanon, of course, for the foreseeable future, is going to remain a sort of trip wire in these

negotiations, whereby a single rocket, drone strike, any kind of strike, can literally derail months of negotiations.

Just walk us through how much of a sticking point this continues to be, especially because we know that Iran, of course, has control over

Hezbollah, but how much control the U.S. actually has over Israel seems to be the ongoing issue here?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, that's certainly a big part of it. And you know what we have seen over the last few days is yet

again Iran making clear just how central a ceasefire in Lebanon is to the broader ceasefire agreement that it is, you know, going to hold the

negotiation process to that red line.

And willing to derail broader negotiations if that ceasefire in Lebanon is not respected. And what we've also seen now is a real recognition from the

United States of the kind of effort that's going to need to be put into bringing about a real ceasefire in Lebanon, and also potentially trying to

create the conditions for the ultimate withdrawal of Israeli troops from Southern Lebanon, which Iran has described as a major sticking point.

[11:35:00]

We heard the U.S. Vice President, J.D. Vance, today talking about what they've achieved in the talks, including the creation of this new

deconfliction cell to address ceasefire violations across the region. But in particular, it would seem inside of Lebanon to get Israel to respond to

Hezbollah violations of the ceasefire, not with air strikes, but at that deconfliction mechanism instead.

We've also heard from an Israeli source that Israel is considering some symbolic withdrawals from parts of Southern Lebanon, perhaps as a show of

good faith to the negotiations that are set to take place this week between Israel and the Lebanese government, which has also stated that it is

supportive of efforts to disarm Hezbollah and is now trying to find a path with Israel to get to that point, so that Israeli troops can also withdraw

from Southern Lebanon.

But the rhetoric coming out publicly from the Israeli government is still one of saying that they have the full freedom of action to thwart any

threats that they see inside of Lebanon. And also, the Israeli Prime Minister today vowing that Israeli troops will remain inside that security

zone in Southern Lebanon, as long as is necessary.

And so, the United States, you know, J.D. Vance was asked whether or not the presence of Israeli troops in that security zone poses a threat to the

broader ceasefire agreement. He wouldn't answer that question directly, but where he did go with that was that, you know, the United States is working

to a place where Lebanon's sovereignty and territorial integrity can be respected, and that ultimately seems to point to the ultimate withdrawal of

Israeli troops.

So, they're trying to get from point A to Z, but there's obviously a lot of points in between there. And I think the message from the United States to

Iran is, we are working on this, but you can't expect an immediate withdrawal of Israeli troops right now. That's clearly not going to happen.

ASHER: All right, Jeremy Diamond, live for us there. Thank you so much. Take a closer look at the situation in Lebanon with Maha Yahya. She's the

Director of the Middle East Carnegie Center and joins us live now from Beirut. Thank you so much for being with us.

So, as Jeremy Diamond was just saying, there one of the most important things in all of this is just the insurance that Lebanese territory and

sovereignty continues to be respected, or rather is respected going forward, and that means the eventual withdrawal of Israeli troops from

Southern Lebanon. What would it take for that to actually happen Maha?

MAHA YAHYA, DIRECTOR, CARNEGIE MIDDLE EAST CENTER: Hi, Zain. It's good to be with you again. Honestly, it's not clear to me what it would take.

Israel talks about the full demobilization of Hezbollah. That's a pipe dream militarily. That's not going to happen simply through military means.

That requires internal Lebanese dialog, it requires the support of Iran, given Iran's undue influence and direct control over the military parts of

Hezbollah. So, the -- and it also requires, I think, a real change in the thinking, if not the leadership in Israel.

What we've seen so far from Israel's Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, is continuous war over the past almost now three years for the sake of war

without clear political objectives. The Lebanese government has been trying to -- has been talking about trying to find a way out of this long before

this war began again in April.

But even you know after the first 2024 war ended, Israel's breaking of the ceasefire at the time, agreement did not stop. I think they had something

like 19,000 infractions, so which Hezbollah did not respond to. So, I think it's a very tricky path. It's very clear that Israel is not interested in

ending the conflict.

The only reason why there is a cessation of hostilities for now is because of U.S. pressure and Iran's insistence that this happens before they move

forward with the MOU. It's a combination of both. So, this also means that Lebanon is the place where the further MOU could be derailed.

So, it's for me, it's not clear, it's a positive signal that we could be now on the light -- on the right track. There is an open or a slight

opening in the window, a roadmap could be put in place. There's already negotiations between Lebanese and Israeli teams.

[11:40:00]

This could be scaled up to try and reach some sort of detente, if you like, but it has to be in phases. I mean, the road is very rocky ahead of us.

ASHER: One of the things that you touched upon, and I think is really important, is this idea that, yes, even though Israel views the situation

in Southern Lebanon as unfinished business, is it ever going to be truly possible for them to actually finish the job against Hezbollah for various

reasons?

One thing that I find quite interesting is that this war ultimately is going to come down to politics. You've got American politics involved with

the midterms happening later on this year. What's happening with gas prices in the U.S. is obviously a massive political issue for the Americans.

You've got Israeli politics involved with this being an election year for Israel. And also, pressure on Netanyahu from the sort of more right-wing

members of his coalition. And also, Lebanese politics I think that's also important, because one of the biggest questions is whether or not the

Lebanese state can really gain authority over the South? That is a big issue here.'

Just talk to us about how politics, and the fact that all of these different sorts of political motivations, especially the fact that the

Lebanese people are just exhausted by, I mean, they are tired of this. All of these different sorts of political motivations, they intersect, but they

don't overlap, because every country has different motivations for either staying in the war or ending it.

YAHYA: That's an incredibly important, frankly, question. And you're absolutely right. I mean, what's pushing, in part, American interests and

the interest of President Trump in ending the conflict with Iran and reopening of the Straits of Hormuz is, yes, the midterm elections. It's the

basically the 3M's it's markets, munitions, and midterm elections, which for him are very important.

I think also, I mean, President Trump feels that they got pulled into a war or convinced to go to war, thinking that it would be another Venezuela,

despite all the analysis saying this is not Venezuela, and here is -- here we are. So, Israeli politics is operating differently.

Israeli politics, particularly given the elections, the upcoming elections, and the political survival of the Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin

Netanyahu. He's interested in continuing the conflict. He's interested in continuing the war. We're seeing what he's doing in Gaza. We're seeing what

he's doing in Syria.

There is no interest whatsoever in any kind of political outcome. That's why I was saying earlier, it's war for the sake of war, and people are

exhausted. For Lebanon people are not just exhausted. I think the Lebanese haven't even begun to understand, quite honestly, the effects of what the

post-conflict Lebanon will look like?

The damage that has been -- that has taken place in South Lebanon is mind boggling. We're talking about 63 villages and towns that have been

practically destroyed. At least 300,000 maybe 400,000 people have no homes to go back to. This is going to change demography in different areas. It's

impoverished people tremendously.

The ripple effects are huge. And from there the political effects of this. Politically also the way this ceasefire has happened is literally also

pushing Hezbollah further and further into Iran's orbit. Now the question is, what will happen next, rather than how -- you know the opportunity was

there to give -- to demonstrate that diplomacy works.

Over the past almost two years, now Israel had the opportunity to demonstrate that diplomacy works, that through diplomatic means Hezbollah

can be disarmed, its security concerns can be addressed, and Lebanon's territorial integrity and sovereignty can be respected. It has refused to

do so. It's doing the same. It's the same game we're seeing in Syria. I mean, unfortunately for all of us.

ASHER: And of course, the Lebanese army is caught in the middle of all of this. I mean, they can't go to war with Israel because that would be a

catastrophe, but at the same time they don't have as much authority or power really over Hezbollah either, so they're stuck in the middle in all

of this. Maha Yahya, thank you so much for that. We appreciate it.

[11:45:00]

All right still to come, a Trump-backed far-right candidate is narrowly leading in Colombia's presidential runoff election. But it's just the

preliminary count. What the numbers tell us next?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ASHER: All right, in Colombia's presidential runoff election, Far-Right Lawyer Abelardo de la Espriella has won the preliminary vote count. It was

a razor-thin margin over left-wing candidate Ivan Cepeda. The preliminary tally indicates that just 250,000 ballots separate the two.

De La Espriella is a defense attorney who's never held political office. He is backed by Donald Trump. Cepeda says that his team is challenging results

from tens of thousands of polling stations. The official numbers may still be days away. Let's go to CNN's Stefano Pozzebon, who's standing by for us

in Colombia.

I mean, that's an interesting trend, Stefano, that we've seen across Latin America, where you're seeing these sort of far-right presidential

candidates who are backed by Donald Trump sweep to power at the expense of left-wing candidates. Just walk us through this particular trend, and why?

What is the back story here?

STEFANO POZZEBON, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: There's a thing Zain, that it's fair to say that this region, South America at least, is decisively turning to the

right in the last couple of years. We have Javier Milei, which we used to be calling the Trump of Argentina, down in Argentina. We had, of course,

Bolsonaro with the vast Bolsonaro experience in Brazil, the original Trump of the tropics.

Well, here Colombia seems to be on the verge of electing the Trump of the tiger, as Abelardo de la Espriella calls himself, Tiger candidate. I think

that we're going to hear more from him as he is really poised to become the next President of Colombia. We're just days away from learning from the

electoral authorities whether the advantage that he has on the government Candidate Ivan Cepeda will remain.

I think it was interesting yesterday being at Abelardo's rally, that he immediately tried to pivot away, perhaps to stem some of the rhetoric, the

vitriolic rhetoric that he -- that made him famous in the campaign, and now that he is -- he thinks that he's about to assume office, he tried to send

a message to all Colombians.

[11:50:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ABELARDO DE LA ESPRIELLA, WINNER OF PRELIMINARY COUNT IN COLOMBIA RUNOFF: There won't be retaliation, there won't be persecution, because in

democracy there are no enemies to the death, there are only fellow countrymen who think differently.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

POZZEBON: And I think that in a way speaks to the challenges that all of these speakers find once they do end up in power and assume office, just

like Javier Milei in Argentina. Abelardo de la Espriella also has never had political office. He's a former lawyer. He used - he was a very mediatic

lawyer, by the way.

And been linked to some of scandals, or almost like show biz cases here in Colombia. And now he seems to be poised to be holding the reins of the

state. So, one thing is to campaign, of course, and when he campaigned, he was very polarizing, very vitriolic. He said he was going to smash all of

his opponents.

He uses the image of the tiger, like we said, as a way of portraying the ferocity with which he wants to address the problems of the state. But now

that he is in office, the real work begins. And even speaking with members of his campaign early today, we're trying to get hold of him and maybe try

to speak with him here in Barranquilla.

But speaking with members of his campaign, they are sharing some caution and saying that they really want to take the next steps very, very

carefully. One thing, of course, is to run as a Trump-like candidate, and one thing is to rule as a Trump-like head of state. I mean, just look at

Giorgia Meloni, which was very close to Trump up until she assumed office, and now that she's in power, those relationships are a little bit fraught.

Here in Colombia De La Espriella seems poised to be the next president- elect, of course. We can't call him that way, because we're yet to hear from the electoral authorities about a final and official vote count. We

will hear it, I think, in about a couple of days. In the first round, which was contested at the end of May, we heard it on the Wednesday following the

election.

So today here is Monday, hopefully in the next 48 hours to 72 hours, we will hear more from the electoral authorities. And for now, the state, the

country remains calm. And in a state of tense waiting, tense expectation to understand whether really this leader populist leader that we really know

very little about will be the next President of Colombia?

ASHER: Right.

POZZEBON: As soon as we hear either from him, from members of his campaign, or from the electoral authorities, Zain, of course we will bring it to you.

ASHER: Yes.

POZZEBON: But Colombia poised to make a decisive turn to the right, just like you said, Zain.

ASHER: We are out of time. Stefano Pozzebon in Columbia. Thank you so much. We'll be right back with more after this short break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:55:00]

ASHER: All right, let's take a look at the matches for Monday of course, we're talking about World Cup. Argentina goes up against Austria at Dallas

Stadium, France will take on Iraq in Philadelphia, Norway and Senegal will face off in New Jersey, and Jordan goes up against Algeria in San

Francisco.

Teams are beginning to finalize their standings in the group stages of this year's World Cup. In Group H, Spain is actually able to beat Saudi Arabia

at Atlanta Stadium 4-0. Japan dominated Tunisia, 4-0 as well, making it one step closer to breaking out of the group stages. Meantime, at the Los

Angeles stadium, Iran battled it out with Belgium, producing a draw. So far, Iran has yet to win a match in this tournament.

World Cup underdog, this is one of my favorite stories of the World Cup, so far, by the way, Cape Verde stunned the world again by staving off a defeat

from two-time world champion Uruguay in Florida. The match ended in a draw 2-2. The final match of the day saw Egypt come out on top against New

Zealand. That score was 3-1.

All right, stay with CNN. There is much more "One World" with my colleague Bianna Golodryga and Isa Soares from London's Downing Street after this

short break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

END