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The Situation Room

Bills Open New Stadium; Tourists Stranded After Fire in Dominican Republic; Danger of A.I. Cyberattacks?; Marco Rubio Heads to Middle East. Aired 10:30a-11a ET

Aired June 23, 2026 - 10:30   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 HOST: Happening now: Montreal left in shock after a brazen daytime shooting that left two people dead. A five-year veteran of the Montreal Police Department and an Israeli citizen were killed. The suspect was ultimately killed in a shoot-out with officers, and law enforcement believe that this was a targeted attack on police.

The Justice Department says two more men have been charged in the alleged plot to attack the UFC White House fight this month. A new photo from the criminal complaint of one of the men shows the tactical gear that was found packed in his kitchen when a search warrant was issued on June 13.

Both men made their initial appearances in federal court yesterday, and CNN has reached out to their attorneys for comment.

A federal investigation has now found that columns at the towers in Surfside, Florida, were failing weeks before that condo tower collapsed. You may recall 98 people were killed when the pool deck gave way and fell into the underground parking garage. Federal investigators say decades of corrosion and modifications added extra weight to that pool deck, leaving it compromised -- Wolf

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: Yes, I remember that horrible story in North Miami Beach as well.

We have more breaking news we're following right now. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is expected to arrive in the Middle East just a short time from now. It's his first visit since the U.S. and Iran signed their so-called framework agreement. He will make stops in Kuwait, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, three countries that were repeatedly targeted by Iran during the war.

We have full coverage with us. David Sanger is joining us. He's a CNN political and national security analyst and author of the important new book entitled "New Cold Wars." Also with us, CNN military analyst and retired U.S. Air Force Colonel Cedric Leighton.

David Sanger, let me start with you. Is Secretary Rubio going to be focusing on selling a potential Iran

deal to these countries where he's about to visit?

DAVID SANGER, CNN POLITICAL AND NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: That's exactly what he's doing, Wolf.

And what's interesting about his itinerary is what's not on it, Israel, the country with which the United States started this war in -- on February 28, went in fully connected and is now exiting deeply separated, right?

And the Israelis have been, made no secret of their opposition to the 14 preliminary agreement and their suspicion that the agreement that is now being negotiated, which is more focused on the nuclear program, will not be sufficient to go solve the problem.

But it's Secretary Rubio's task initially to go try to get these Arab states to sign on and also to try to talk to them about ponying up the money for the $300 billion reconstruction fund that is envisioned in that program, which President Trump says will be created, but not with U.S. money.

BLITZER: Interesting.

Colonel Leighton, the vice president, J.D. Vance, said Iran has agreed now to allow nuclear monitors into the country, something Iran's president appeared to refute. But a short time ago, President Trump posted on social media saying this -- and I'm quoting him now -- "Iran has fully and completely agreed to highest-level nuclear inspections long into the future."

What do you make of this back-and-forth that's going on?

COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Well, Wolf, it looks like there are certainly two different stories here, with the Iranians looking at this in one way and possibly saying things that will help their domestic audience, and the U.S, of course, very much intent on reestablishing what amounts to an inspection regime that would be critical for the monitoring of any nuclear weapons development or any other nuclear program aspect that the Iranians might be involved in.

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So what it tells me is that there are divergent views within -- between the Iranians and the U.S., and those divergent views could spell some trouble for further negotiations. They can still be ironed out, but there's still a big risk here that this will not develop further and could create some problems in that...

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BLITZER: But, potentially, it's a lot of money for Iran.

LEIGHTON: Absolutely, a lot of money for Iran, and it could also mean that the nuclear weapons program might still be in existence, even though they might try for an inspection regime.

BLITZER: Good point.

David, the U.S. has, as we've noted, temporarily lifted oil sanctions on Iran as part of this so called memorandum of understanding. Tell us a little bit more why this is so important to Iran.

SANGER: Well, it's critical to Iran because this is what's really going to bring a lot of money into them. They're now able to go out on the global market in a way they couldn't even before the war.

They're able to settle these in U.S. dollars, which means they're not going to have to offer the oil at discounts and try to do this in swaps of services or other currencies. So this is what's really going to bring significant money in.

And the question is, will that then reduce the pressure on the Iranians to get a final deal? That's a question of whether or not that really lasts for only 60 days.

And on the inspection point that Cedric was making before, let's remember that Iran is a member or a signatory of the Nuclear Non- Proliferation Treaty. So it's required to allow in U.N. inspectors.

Now, we don't know what this at the highest level means, but certainly one of the concerns has been that the inspectors weren't given the kind of free rein that they need. It'll be interesting to see whether they've actually agreed to something broader than the minimum requirements.

BLITZER: Colonel Leighton, the -- just this morning, the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said Israel must have -- and I'm quoting him now -- "arms independence from the U.S." as the U.S. military aid is set to expire in two years.

Netanyahu also says Israel won't fully withdraw from Southern Lebanon. Does this have the potential to derail a final peace deal with Iran?

LEIGHTON: Well, certainly, the Lebanon aspect of this does have the potential to derail a peace deal with Iran, because the Iranians are looking at anything that happens in Lebanon as being part of the overall settlement that they need, that they want really between the United States and themselves, as well as, frankly, Israel and themselves.

But Israel has not been a party to these negotiations, and Israel is looking at this as, we need to secure the northern border. And they will keep their forces in Lebanon. From a security standpoint, they will need to keep those forces there for quite some time.

When it comes to other aspects, such as the arms sales, potential U.S. arms sales to Israel, that may mark a divergence in interests between the U.S. and Israel. And it could result in far less joint weapons. Development, you know, things like the F-15, the F-35, all of those have been developed jointly between the Israelis and the U.S., especially the Israeli version of those aircraft. And then, when it comes to the Iron Dome system or all the air and

missile defense systems that Israel has, those were also in large part developed in conjunction with U.S. technical capabilities. So this would mark a significant departure from previous practice when it comes to Israeli and U.S. arms relationships.

And that could mark a significant change in the Israeli posture toward the U.S.

BLITZER: And let's see if Secretary of State Rubio stops off in Israel after his meetings with these Arab Gulf states and briefs the Israeli prime minister on what's going on. That would be significant if that happens.

LEIGHTON: Sure would be, absolutely.

BLITZER: We will see happens on that front.

Colonel Leighton, thank you very much. And, David, thanks to you as well -- Pamela.

BROWN: All right, Wolf, new this morning, a rare call to action from an international alliance of intelligence agencies against A.I. cyberattacks.

The U.S. and its intelligence partners known as the Five Eyes are warning governments and corporate leaders to act now to improve defenses against sophisticated cyber threats. The group says the timeline is not years, it is months before this technology can breach government and business defenses.

So let's go live now to CNN A.I. correspondent Hadas Gold in New York for all of the details.

This is quite the warning, Hadas. What more did this group say?

HADAS GOLD, CNN A.I. CORRESPONDENT: Yes, this is a really rare joint statement from the Five Eyes.

This is the group of English-speaking countries who share intelligence confidentially with one another. You have got the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada who all do this together.

And this statement was released warning about what governments and A.I. companies and tech companies and businesses and banks have been warning about for some time, that these new A.I. models, especially the ones that have been released in the last couple months or so, are so adept at cybersecurity that everybody, every single thing from a national government, to your local city council Web site, to your public infrastructure, to banks and businesses, all need to be prepared for what is coming.

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And what is coming is that these A.I. models are so good at cybersecurity that it's like having a million hackers working for you 24/7 who are able to find every single possible tiny little hole and vulnerability in your system, in your Web site, in your security system.

So part of what the Five Eyes said -- and I will quote here -- is: "Frontier A.I. models are anticipated to exceed current industry expectations, fundamentally transforming both offensive and defensive cyber capability. The timeline is not years. It is months. The evolving landscape of artificial intelligence is rapidly transforming cyber risk, and we must act swiftly to remain ahead."

So, if you think about how a normal hacker, a single person sitting there at a computer, goes through, they just try to find holes one by one. But, again, these systems are so advanced that they are able to do so at rapid speed.

And so the Five Eyes is warning everybody, don't think that you're immune to it just because you're a small business. You have to be prepared. And they're actually advising, use these A.I. models, these same advanced ones, Mythos and Fable and the like, to help you find your own vulnerabilities, so you can patch them before these systems get into the wrong hands -- Pam.

BROWN: It is interesting to use A.I. to protect yourself against A.I. attacks.

Hadas Gold, thank you so much -- Wolf.

BLITZER: And coming up in THE SITUATION ROOM: A massive fire tears through a resort in the Dominican Republic. We will speak to a woman who saw it all happen.

That's next.

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BLITZER: Happening now: Cleanup continues this morning in parts of the mid-Atlantic after severe weather hit the East Coast. This is new video from Burke, Virginia, near Washington, D.C., of the damage to a truck and homes just in one neighborhood.

And, in Northern Alabama, strong storms also downed trees and power lines. A tree tore through this mobile home in Jackson County. So far, there are no reports of any injuries.

CNN meteorologist Allison Chinchar is joining us right now.

So, Allison, what's the severe weather risk looking like today?

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: We have got two separate areas, Wolf.

The first is going to be those additional storms that we expect across portions of the mid-Atlantic, but the secondary is a much wider swathe of severe weather. That's really going to be focused across portions of the Rocky Mountains and the High Plains, with the target point really kind of being that area around Cheyenne and Denver.

But you will see it does stretch farther south, so areas like Oklahoma City, Dallas, even Wichita also looking at the potential for some damaging winds, large hail that could be golf-ball-size or even bigger, and also the potential for some isolated tornadoes.

A lot of it is really kind of focused along this elongated front here that's really bringing that focal point for those strong to severe thunderstorms. But another concern is also flooding, because several of these areas, especially the Southeast, have had days upon days of heavy rain.

So that ground is already saturated. That's why you have got these flash flood warnings here in the Ark-La-Tex region, because they really don't need any more rain, and that's what they're getting. Those storms are just training over the same locations over and over again.

We also have this line of storms here stretching from the Dakotas down into Oklahoma. That's where we had severe thunderstorm warnings off and on throughout the morning. They will likely continue through the remainder of the afternoon and especially into the evening hours.

You will notice, as we go late afternoon, evening, and even into the overnight, say around midnight, 2:00 a.m., a lot more activity across the Rockies and the High Plains.

BLITZER: Allison Chinchar with the latest, thank you very, very much -- Pamela.

BROWN: All right, Wolf, happening now: Tourists are struggling to return home after a deadly fire broke out at a hotel resort in the Dominican Republic.

Local authorities say an Italian woman was killed, and at least nine others were injured in this massive fire at Viva Wyndham Dominicus Beach Hotel on Friday; 1,700 tourists were forced to evacuate, leaving behind passports and other crucial belongings.

And one of those guests is Lori Cedano. She joins us now.

Lori, thank you so much for sharing your story with us. I'm sure you're still processing everything that happened. Can you just walk us through what you experienced?

LORI CEDANO, WITNESS: Yes. Thank you so much for having me.

Yes, so we're staying actually at Viva Palace, the sister hotel of Viva Beach on the same resort. And that morning, so our balcony faces the beach and faces Viva Beach. And we can see straight across, but there's still some trees in the way.

And that morning, after a late breakfast, we came back around 11:00 and went on the balcony. And through the trees, we saw a big what I thought was a black cloud at first, but then it was actually -- we realized it was black smoke.

And as we were videoing with our phones, we could see that it was the local restaurant at the far end was on fire, and it was very, very large. And it was, like, so terrible to see.

BROWN: Yes, I imagine.

And tell us more about what you saw. Did you see the other guests running?

CEDANO: Well, so when -- because the trees are in the way, we left our room and went downstairs to the beachfront to see across the beach. And we just saw all the big buildings on fire, the restaurant, the buffet, the bar at the front beach.

We saw guests. We didn't -- I don't know how long it was. It felt like hours. I think it's only one hour maybe. I don't know. But we saw guests slowly making their way, being evacuated from the Viva Beach side to our side. We didn't see running, because that's, I think, a bit too far away from us.

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But we saw them all eventually starting to make their way to our side of the beach.

BROWN: Have you been able to speak to any of those guests? Have they been able to get what they need? Because we have reporting that a lot of them lost their passports in this fire.

CEDANO: So, I don't know any of the guests personally, but, that day, Friday, they were all evacuated to the -- our side, Viva Palace lobby.

And my husband, who speaks Spanish and a little bit of Italian, was saying he heard that a lot of the guests were saying they didn't have anything with them because they just had to evacuate and leave with whatever they had, if they were on the beach and couldn't get back to their rooms, because a lot of the little bungalow rooms, they were all burned on fire as well.

Because all of the -- all of those buildings and the little rooms, the bungalows, have thatched roofs, and that's what was all on fire and spreading very quickly.

BROWN: Yes.

I wonder, for you, you're there on vacation, right? How is this impacting your plans?

CEDANO: Yes, correct.

Well, I mean, I think we're back to normal. The Viva Palace side, they made some changes to open up some of the a la carte buffets to accommodate some of the tourists on the other side who are still available -- their rooms are still OK. But our plans didn't change. At one point that day, though, we were rather scared. I mean, it was really horrifying to see and heartbreaking. But we started packing up, because we weren't sure whether it would spread over to this side and we would have to be evacuated.

But the -- housekeeping told us, they said, it's fine. We're OK. So we're staying. We really love the resort. We have been here many, many times. I was even married at Viva Beach back in 2009.

BROWN: Aw.

CEDANO: So it's really heartbreaking for me, because we have been to all those buildings that are now burned down and decimated.

BROWN: Yes, very, very sad, but glad you're OK.

And we appreciate you coming on to share that story. Enjoy the rest of your time, as much as you can, while you're on vacation, Lori.

CEDANO: Thank you so much.

BLITZER: And here's what's coming up all new right at the top of the hour.

Quote: "Jellyfish swarm of Iranian drones," that's what the rescued U.S. rescued jet pilot says he saw right before he ejected over Iran in April. We're going to bring you that exclusive reporting ahead.

Plus: testing Mayor Mamdani's influence, how today's primaries in New York could prove a bellwether for the future of the Democratic Party in the Big Apple and beyond.

And, later, inside the conservative women's movement. CNN went to the Turning Point Women's Leadership Summit. Hear their message ahead.

That's all new in the next hour.

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BLITZER: New this morning, it's a very exciting day for my Bills Mafia, as the team cuts the ribbon on a new stadium that was Billt, Billt, B-I-L-L, Billt to last.

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BLITZER: The turf might be fresh, but the cold weather home field advantage remains the same. Officials just opened the $2 billion Highmark Stadium only moments ago with cutting-edge features that will set a new sporting standard. Here's a look inside.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Does this stay? UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hold the beer.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, this is another drink round.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's what I'm wondering.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's a bar right there.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You sure there's a bar? And this thing right here that goes up in the air, does that take you to a bar? I'm just making sure there's enough bars. I'm from here, buddy. I know what I'm talking about.

This is a house built for a team that's worthy of it. The history of the Buffalo Bills since 1960.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Emotions that I felt walking onto that field is the way that people are going to feel when they walk into that. I mean, it is -- that place is special. And I'm just glad to be a part of it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, almost cursed there. Wow.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's not a bad seat in this stadium.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I can tell. Kind of speechless, to be honest with you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everyone takes what they do seriously. And there's a lot of pride here that's showing in every aspect of it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You remind yourself to just appreciate and be grateful for being part of this project.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I describe to the less experienced staff, you are going to have a feeling unlike no other accomplishment in life, and you're going to cry.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Really just can't wait for our fans to get in here, cheer the team on and take it all in and have fun.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: And moments ago, officials in New York just cut the ribbon on the new crown jewel of Buffalo. Governor Kathy Hochul spoke at the ceremony with a prediction. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. KATHY HOCHUL (D-NY): Where would you rather be than right here, right now? This is a stadium where memories will be made. History will be shaped, and championships will be won. And the banner will be raised here, my prediction, Polymarket, Kalshi, or wherever you're playing, right here at the end of this season.

OK, we're going to make it happen. (END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Let's see if the Bills go all the way. I say that every year.

BROWN: Every single year, and you always keep the hope alive, even when they don't.

BLITZER: I love my Buffalo Bills.

BROWN: You do. Anyone who watches the show knows that, every single day you find a way to get the Bills in, one way or another, into the convo.

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BLITZER: Well, this is a really exciting moment...

BROWN: This is. This is a legitimate one.

BLITZER: ... for those of us who are Buffalonians, you know?

(LAUGHTER)

BROWN: That's right.

BLITZER: I grew up in Buffalo. Did I ever mention that I'm a Bills fan?

BROWN: You have mentioned it, Wolf, yes.

BLITZER: Yes, OK.

BROWN: And now I am because of you. I have to be.