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Vance Says, Laid a Good Foundation for Deal With Iran; British Prime Minister Keir Starmer Announces Resignation; Three Dead, Tens of Thousands Without Power as Tornadoes Hit Midwest. Aired 10-10:30a ET

Aired June 22, 2026 - 10:00   ET

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

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PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now, breaking news, quote, great progress. Vice President J.D. Vance says President Trump's threats did not derail the peace talks with Iran as he lays out the next steps in negotiations.

Plus, deadly tornadoes, multiple twisters tear through Illinois and Indiana, killing at least three. How supercell thunderstorms fueled more than three dozen reported tornadoes.

And hotel inferno, a massive fire engulfs a beach resort, killing one person and forcing the evacuation of 1,700 people. Tourists are now stranded after their passports go up in flames.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: And more breaking news. Keir Starmer steps down. The British prime minister announces his resignation. Who will take his place leading America's closest ally?

Plus, blame game. President Trump says vandals are the reason the Reflecting Pool here in Washington will need to be drained, as algae plagues Trump's renovation of the century-old landmark.

And later, World Cup star power. Messi, Mbappe, Haaland all playing today in the World Cup, and history could be made.

Welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer with Pamela Brown, and you're in The Situation Room.

We begin with the breaking news. Soon, Vice President Vance will leave Switzerland after calling weekend negotiations there with Iran, and I'm quoting him now, a very, very good day of talks. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

J.D. VANCE, U.S. VICE PRESIDENT: We laid a very good foundation for a successful final deal. The final deal is the house. We, we set the foundation. We haven't built the house, but we've laid a successful foundation to get to a good place for the American people.

(END VIDEO CLIP) BLITZER: Vice President Vance said Iran has agreed to let international nuclear inspectors back into the country. The talks now go to technical negotiators as they try to hammer out a deal to formally end the war.

It's been a tumultuous few days. We saw Iran claim the Strait of Hormuz was closed, and President Trump threatened Iranian delegates, saying in an interview, and I'm quoting, the president of the United States now, he said, quote, you close the strait and you won't have a country. You won't even make it back to your f-ing country, end quote.

We have full coverage for you. CNN's Kevin Liptak is over at the White House, CNN Diplomatic Editor Nic Robertson is in Switzerland.

Kevin, the vice president dismissed the comments made by President Trump about the Iranians, saying they didn't disrupt the negotiations. What else did we hear from the vice president? His words were significant earlier today. Tell us about that.

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes. And the vice president really making these talks out to be successful, unveiling, I think, the headline of what was agreed to, which was Iran allowing these U.N. nuclear inspectors into the country. We have not gotten confirmation of that from Iran itself, and the vice president didn't specify what kind of access they would have, what sites they would be able to visit. You know, Iran has not allowed U.N. inspectors to visit the enrichment sites that were destroyed by the U.S. almost exactly a year ago, since that happened.

So, this would be a significant development, but still one, I think, that has a lot of questions. Vance says that potentially those inspectors could be allowed in as early as today.

He also detailed this new scheme that he said was devised by Jared Kushner that would require unfrozen Iranian assets to be spent towards American agricultural products, like wheat or soy, essentially trying to allay some concerns among Iran hawks that if the U.S. unfroze those assets, that they would be put towards things like supporting Iranian terrorist proxies or the missile program.

I'm not sure that the vice president's explanation will completely allay those concerns. You know, if Iran does get money for humanitarian purposes, it would, in theory, free up other Iranian money that's already inside of Iran for more maligned motives.

Now, I just want to point out something that has happened just in the last few minutes or so, which is the U.S. Treasury putting in place those sanctions waivers on Iranian oil sales.

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This was included in paragraph ten of the memorandum of understanding, allowing Iran to sell its oil immediately after the signing. That is now in effect. All, I think, a sign that this memorandum is now in place, is now taking full effect as the vice president prepares to depart Switzerland. BLITZER: All right. Kevin, thank you. We'll get back to you.

Nic Robertson is on the scene for us in Switzerland right now after hearing directly from the vice president. So, where do we go from here, Nic? What's the latest?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes, the deal sort of back on track, if you will. The vice president as, as Kevin was laying out there really sort of giving the strong sell for the U.S. audience. The Iranians have also been doing it for their own audience. The foreign minister's been talking about the unfreezing of assets, and that's a positive, so trying to sell it to their own audiences.

He also spoke about how everything is focused on Lebanon and the ceasefire there, and that a key part of what was agreed over the weekend, a de-confliction sell for Lebanon to try to find a way to stop escalating violence between Hezbollah and Israel. And also lines of what's called lines of communication for the same thing in the Strait of Hormuz to make sure that there is no escalation in the Strait of Hormuz.

It does seem though, you know, when you look at the big arc of trying to get the memorandum of understanding hammered out and put into practice that these issues over the Strait of Hormuz, over a ceasefire in Lebanon, what's being put in place is sort of a band-aid. It deals with the symptoms rather than the cause underneath.

And, of course, in Lebanon, the real desire is to have a Lebanese army strong enough to disarm Hezbollah and push them away from the border so that Israel, and north of Israel in particular, can feel safe and not be threatened by Hezbollah.

We're a long way from that situation. Iran still wants to have tolls on the Strait of Hormuz. So, there's an underlying tension there that's yet to be dealt with.

Now, some of this can be hammered out in the sort of 60 days, more, more or less, 57 I think now, that remain for the talks, but, or extensions of time. But the reality is we are very likely to see more bumps in the road similarly, possibly over Lebanon, possibly over the Strait of Hormuz, possibly over the exact type and detail of access that these International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors get, which was in the memorandum of understanding. That is the road ahead.

Where we stand today, it's back on track and the tracks have been set, or the foundation's laid, as the vice president said.

BLITZER: Yes. And I think it's significant that these International Atomic Energy inspectors will be allowed back in to take a look at Iran's nuclear program, its enrichment program. They were there during Obama's nuclear deal with Iran, the JCPOA, but they were kicked out obviously when President Trump eliminated that JCPO as soon as he took office.

All right, Nic Robertson in Switzerland, Kevin Liptak over at the White House, a lot going on indeed.

BROWN: That's true. We're also covering some breaking news, Wolf, from one of America's closest allies. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer announces he will resign after months of criticism and calls from his own party to step down.

His resignation leaves Great Britain facing more uncertainty, and his soon-to-be decided replacement will become the sixth prime minister in just seven years there. Here's what Starmer had to say this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEIR STARMER, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: The question my party is asking now is whether I am best placed to lead us into the next general election. I have heard the answer of my parliamentary party to that question, and I accept that answer with good grace.

Every decision I've taken has been about putting the country I love first. That is why I will resign as leader of the Labor Party.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: Now, Andy Burnham is considered the frontrunner to replace Starmer as Britain's prime minister. This morning, he was sworn in as a member of Parliament days after he won a crucial election.

So, let's go live now to CNN's Clare Sebastian right outside the prime minister's residence. Clare, why did Starmer decide to resign now? Tell us more about that.

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Pamela. This had been building for a while. He had faced declining popularity ever since he was ushered, swept into power with that landslide victory just under two years ago.

Some of his domestic policies he was accused of sort of flip-flopping on various things. His decision to appoint Peter Mandelson as British ambassador to Washington has been proven to be a major sticking point among his party. Obviously, Peter Mandelson was then shown in the DOJ documents to have had a much closer relationship to Jeffrey Epstein than anyone had realized, and was later sacked.

But all of it boiled down, essentially, to local elections that happened some six or so weeks ago, where Labor were roundly defeated in many, many seats.

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They lost more than 1,400 local council seats. And that was the point at which the pressure started to mount.

But a huge turnaround for this prime minister after that massive victory nearly two years ago. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) SEBASTIAN (voice over): Keir Starmer promised to restore integrity to British politics.

STARMER: The fight for trust is the battle that defines our age.

SEBASTIAN: And yet the moment he swept into Downing Street with one of the biggest mandates in modern British history would mark the peak of his popularity.

STARMER: But we have to take the tough decision to stabilize our economy.

SEBASTIAN: Progress on domestic reforms widely seen as slow and fraught with U-turns.

STARMER: And we're driving down the cost of living for parents and their children.

SEBASTIAN: Inflation, a banner issue for voters, now higher than when Starmer took office.

On the global stage, he seemed on steadier ground, securing three major trade deals, including with the U.S., playing a leading role in rallying support for Ukraine and recently standing his ground over the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran.

STARMER: I will never let this country be dragged into a war that is not in our interests, never.

SEBASTIAN: But one decision would come to haunt him, the appointment of Peter Mandelson as ambassador to Washington, a veteran yet controversial Labor figure that Starmer hoped would build bridges with the Trump administration.

There were existing warnings about his ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, though it was not known then how deep that relationship ran.

In September 2025, emails surfaced in the press showing Mandelson supported Epstein even after his conviction for soliciting prostitution from a minor. Starmer fired him. Then in January 2026, new files dropped from the U.S. Justice Department revealing alleged payments from Epstein, which Mandelson denied, allegations of leaked sensitive government economic policy information and continued contact Mandelson denied during vetting.

In February, Mandelson was arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office, a charge he denies, though he has said publicly he regrets his friendship with Epstein and apologized to Epstein's victims. And he wasn't the only one apologizing.

STARMER: I am sorry, sorry for what was done to you, sorry that so many people with power failed you, sorry for having believed Mandelson's lies and appointed him. I'm sorry that even now you're forced to watch this story unfold in public once again. SEBASTIAN: Again and again, the scandal resurfacing. In April, Starmer firing a top foreign ministry official claiming he was never told Mandelson had failed his official security vetting.

STARMER: A deliberate decision was taken to withhold that material.

SEBASTIAN: That official rejecting the premise.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What I am saying to you is that whilst there was an atmosphere of pressure, the department rigorously followed the process.

SEBASTIAN: Just weeks later, local and regional elections revealing the extent of Starmer's fall from that 2024 landslide and the fragility of the trust he had promised to restore.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SEBASTIAN (on camera): So, what happens next will depend if anyone else throws their hat into a leadership race next to Andy Burnham, who has said that he will be part of this process. If no one does, this could all happen very quickly, and we could have a new prime minister in 10 Downing Street, the seventh occupant of that residence in the last ten years. Pamela?

BROWN: All right. Clare Sebastian, thanks so much.

And still ahead here in The Situation Room, twisters on a tear. At least three people are dead after tornadoes rip through the Midwest. We have some new video of the storms.

BLITZER: And firefighters dodging fireworks as a stand goes up in flames in Oklahoma.

Stay with us. You're in The Situation Room.

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BROWN: Happening now, tens of thousands of people across the Midwest are without power this morning after a deadly tornado outbreak tore through the area on the first day of summer. You see it in this video right here showing several funnel clouds forming and then moving in Illinois, where at least two people were killed. Police in Southern Indiana say several homes were obliterated by tornadoes late last night.

So, let's go live now to CNN Meteorologist Allison Chinchar. What's the latest, Allison?

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, we still have ongoing storms, even at this hour, and it's likely going to continue throughout the day. We're hoping we don't end up seeing similar scenarios to this. Here you can see that large wedge tornado there. This is in Southern Illinois from yesterday, and it was one of three dozen tornado reports just in the last 24 hours. It also wasn't just tornadoes. We had a lot of hail reports, some of which were even bigger than tennis ball size. In addition to that, you also had damaging wind reports.

All of these dots that you see here on the map represented some type of severe storm report that we had in just the last 24 hours. We've got two clusters we're keeping an eye on right now. The first that's moving into areas of the northeast, the second is farther down to the south. This is where we still have a lot of lightning, and we've had warnings off and on throughout much of the morning too. We got one right now just around the Memphis area, as that line continues to slide off to the south and east.

For the remainder of the day, there is still the potential for more strong to severe thunderstorms. It's basically going to be in this U shape here from Montana down to Texas, and then back over and up through areas of the Mid-Atlantic and into the northeast.

Damaging winds is going to be the biggest threat that we have for today, but we could also still see some large hail, same thing with some isolated tornadoes as a possibility.

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Here's a look as we go through the evening hours. Again, you've got the line here that's still stretching across portions of the southeast, up through the Mid-Atlantic, and even into the northeast. You've got not one, but two World Cup games tonight, one in Philadelphia and one in New Jersey, both of which could be looking at strong to even possibly severe thunderstorms during those games.

BROWN: All right. Let's hope it's not too bad for all those fans going to the games.

Allison Chinchar, thank you so much. Wolf?

BLITZER: Key word for me, Mid-Atlantic. That would be Washington, D.C., where we are.

BROWN: I know.

BLITZER: We're not looking forward to that.

All right, coming up, a Tesla crashes into a Texas home killing a grandmother inside. What the driver is saying about the feature he says he was using at the time that's now under investigation.

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BLITZER: Some sad news this morning. Alan Greenspan, the former head of the Federal Reserve, has died. His 18.5-year tenure at the Fed is the second longest in the nation's central bank history. His death was announced by a statement from Andrea Mitchell, a correspondent for NBC News, and his wife for 29 years. And the statement reads in part, Alan passed away at our home this morning at the age of 100 from complications of Parkinson's disease. He was a giant of a man who helped shape the U.S. economy for decades under presidents of both parties, but was always honest in acknowledging his mistakes. Being his life partner was the joy of my life, end quote.

CNN's Erin Burnett has more on Greenspan's life and legacy.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ERIN BURNETT, CNN ANCHOR (voice over): When he left the Federal Reserve in 2006, after 18 and a half years at the helm, Alan Greenspan was a legend.

GEORGE W. BUSH, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: He has dominated his age like no central banker in history.

BURNETT: First appointed Fed chairman by President Reagan, Greenspan oversaw some of the market's most tumultuous times. Just two months into the job, on October 19th, 1987, the U.S. stock market crashed, plunging 22 percent in one day, Black Friday. Greenspan was credited with reassuring investors, and later helped steer the U.S economy through an Asian financial crisis, the dotcom bubble implosion, and the September 11th terror attacks.

But after he left the Federal Reserve and the subprime mortgage meltdown threatened to collapse the world economy, some praise turned to blame. Critics said Greenspan's policy of low interest rates fueled the housing bubble and argued that he failed to rein in risky mortgage lending.

ALAN GREENSPAN, FORMER FEDERAL RESERVE CHAIR: Do I like people making unkind remarks about me or my colleagues or things? Of course, I dislike it, but that doesn't make it true. And the fact that other people have misunderstandings of how the world works, I'm not going to fret about that. It's not my job.

BURNETT: Called before Congress in 2008, Greenspan didn't admit fault, but acknowledged the free market let him down.

GREENSPAN: I made a mistake in presuming that the self-interest of organizations, specifically banks and others, were such as that they were best capable of protecting their own shareholders. That, as I said, shocked me. I still do not fully understand why it happened.

BURNETT: Born in 1926 in New York, Greenspan first pursued a career in music, touring with a swing band before giving it up to study economics.

GREENSPAN: Looking back in retrospect, I kept taking the right path all the time and ending up where I never expected to be.

BURNETT: He became a consultant on Wall Street, later advising Presidents Nixon, Ford, and Reagan. Greenspan also found time for love, marrying NBC correspondent Andrea Mitchell in 1997.

As Fed chief, his words were carefully chosen and often sphinx-like, but he always moved markets. In 1996, wondering if stocks were overvalued, Greenspan posed this question during a speech in Washington.

GREENSPAN: How do we know when irrational exuberance has unduly escalated asset values?

BURNETT: Within hours, stocks around the world sold off, cementing his reputation as a global economic force.

In 2010, Greenspan himself offered this assessment of his career in public service.

GREENSPAN: I was right 70 percent of the time, but I was wrong 30 percent of the time, and there are an awful lot of mistakes in 21 years.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Our special thanks to Erin Burnett for that report. Alan Greenspan, as I got to know, was truly a great man. My deepest condolences to my good friend, Andrea Mitchell, the love of his life. May he rest in peace, and may his memory be a blessing.

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