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Trump Vows More Strikes on Iran Today But Says Peace Deal is Close; GOP and Dems to Face Off in Congressional Baseball Game. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired June 10, 2026 - 15:30   ET

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

[15:30:00]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: CNN is inside Iran as President Trump warns the U.S. will soon resume attacks on the country. He cited the slow progress on negotiations for a deal to end the war and Monday's downing of a U.S. Army helicopter by an Iranian drone. Meantime, a source telling CNN that a Qatari delegation is meeting Iranian negotiators in Tehran in an effort to bridge remaining gaps.

We must also note CNN operates in Iran only with the permission of the government but maintains full editorial control of its reporting. CNN senior international correspondent Fred Pleitgen is in Tehran.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

[15:35:00]

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's not often that we're able to attend events put on by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the one that we're at today commemorates IRGC commanders who were killed when Israel attacked Iran in June of last year. Now as you can imagine senior IRGC brass is not necessarily very keen to speak to media from the United States but we were able to speak to a senior IRGC commander as well as a cleric of Iran's armed forces, both of them telling me that they're not particularly impressed with President Trump's threats that Iran will pay a price for not making a deal with the U.S. so far.

President Trump says that Iran will pay a heavy price for not making a deal with the United States yet. What's your response?

BRIG. GEN. HOSSEIN MAROUFI, ISLAMIC REVOLUTIONARY GUARD CORPS (through translator): Trump is delusional. He must understand the power of this great nation and he must recognize the strength of our armed forces. He should have become aware of the great movement of our armed forces in these recent operations and fully comprehend the readiness of our armed forces with the support of the Iranian people.

ABDUL ALI DERGAHI, MILITARY CLERIC (through translator): If until yesterday it was only the Islamic Republic that was sanctioned, today it is the U.S. that is sanctioned in the Strait of Hormuz. And that harm affects the whole world. The Islamic Republic has not been, is not, and will never be a war seeker. PLEITGEN: Now of course all of this comes right on the heels of the United States and Iran trading blows with the United States attacking sites in the Persian Gulf including islands and also the port of Bandar Abbas while the Iranians fired missiles at U.S. bases in Jordan, in Bahrain, and in Kuwait. Now the Iranians have said that there will always be a tough response from their sides to any attacks from the United States, but of course both sides are still working to try and put together a Memorandum of Understanding that would then pave the way for negotiations between the U.S. and Iran to reach a broader peace agreement.

All of that, of course, right now in a very difficult state. A lot of people that we speak to here say they don't really have much faith that it could happen. At the same time the Iranians are saying that they aren't ready for any new attacks and will strike back hard.

Fred Pleitgen, CNN Tehran.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Our thanks to Fred for that report. Let's discuss with retired U.S. Navy Admiral James Stavridis. He's a former NATO Supreme Allied Commander, now the Vice Chairman of Carlyle, a global investment firm.

Admiral, thanks for being with us. Do you think the threat from Trump of further military action will bring Iran back to the negotiating table?

ADM. JAMES STAVRIDIS (RET.), SENIOR MILITARY ANALYST: It has not thus far, and I don't know who's exactly counting at this point, but I think on our network this morning we pointed out President Trump has said a peace deal is closed more than 30 times in the last month or two. So you have to be a little bit skeptical. Having said that, I think that if he does launch another round of strikes it may be helpful at this point if, and it's a big if, if they are targeted at the economic viability of Iran.

That's really their Achilles heel at this point. So think Kharg Island, the big oil depot up north. Think their electric plants, not ones tied to civilians, but one tied to production of drones, production of armaments.

Go after economic targets and you may help nudge them back to the battlefield. But I'll close with this, and you saw it from that excellent reporting by Fred. These seem to me to be very determined leaders in Tehran.

I don't think it's going to be an easy push to get them across the finish line. Let's hope we can do so.

SANCHEZ: Well, to that point, President Trump has said that the U.S. might resume striking critical Iranian infrastructure, including bridges and power plants. I think it's fair to assumed that Iran would escalate with its own retaliation, no? STAVRIDIS: It would. And certainly, for example, if we went after an economic target like Kharg Island, a big oil gas storage facility processing, they, the Iranians, could choose to go after the counterpart installations in the Gulf Arab states. So that's certainly a downside of going after those kind of targets.

And then a second downside is just how expensive this is for the United States. We're burning through hundreds of millions of dollars in operational costs. These kind of precision munitions are very expensive.

So there's a lot of downside to going back to active war. I think that's weighing on the President as well. Look, he wants to get to a deal.

The question is, will the Iranians meet him?

[15:40:19]

SANCHEZ: There's also the question of Iran's remaining military capacity, right? Because the shootdown of this Apache helicopter by an unmanned drone gives us an indication that perhaps the way that the Pentagon has described the airspace around certainly the Iranian mainland, but also the Strait of Hormuz, it may not be as easy for the U.S. to navigate in those areas.

STAVRIDIS: Indeed, the term of art here is air superiority. I think we've achieved that. But that's different than air dominance.

And it is still we are seeing drones in the air. We're not seeing squadrons of Iranian fighter jets coming after our warships. But we are seeing small aerial assaults, largely using drones.

And that's going to be hard to eradicate, Boris. The Iranians have built a defense industrial base, if you will, that's highly distributed across the country. Again, that might present a good set of targets, Boris, to go after.

But the bottom line here is there are going to continue to be capabilities the Iranians have. I'd say bottom line, we've degraded their overall military capacity by somewhere between 60 and 70 percent. But that's still a lot of military capacity and drones, some level of ballistic missiles, small craft, some mining capability.

They still have cards to play, unfortunately.

SANCHEZ: And as you pointed out, it is far more expensive for the U.S. to defend against them than it is for Iran to produce those kinds of drones. Admiral James Stavridis, we have to leave the conversation there. Thanks for being with us.

STAVRIDIS: Thanks, Boris.

SANCHEZ: Of course.

Ahead, after years and years of losing, can congressional Democrats start winning again at baseball? The congressional baseball game is tonight. We've got what to expect when we come back.

[15:45:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: Tonight is the big game. And no, not the one between the Knicks and the Spurs, although that one's pretty big, too. I'm talking about the annual congressional baseball game here in D.C. between Democrats and Republicans. It's a bipartisan tradition that raises millions of dollars for local D.C. charities. And I'm joined by reps from both teams suited up for the occasion. We have Republican Congressman Greg Murphy of North Carolina and Democratic Congresswoman Linda Sanchez of California. She is the team coach for the Democrats.

All right, Congressman Murphy, you're going to be at second base. I understand from my producers that the trash talk has already commenced in the commercial break here. It's never ending.

It's always going on. How much heat are the Republicans going to bring?

REP. GREG MURPHY (R-NC): Look, it's going to be unadulterated shock and awe. This is what Republicans are going to do. We've been practicing since March the 1st.

Coach Williams has us doing all the basics, sitting in front, moving in front and doing all the wonderful things. But the real center is we're going to have a lot of fun tonight and raise a lot of money for pediatric charities around the D.C. area.

KEILAR: All right. That's a lot of practice, Congresswoman Sanchez. That's months and months.

You're coaching for the Dems. They are looking to break a bit of a losing streak here and go for their first victory since 2019. How are you planning to do this, even as the congressman is shaking his head right next to you there?

REP. LINDA SANCHEZ (D-CA): Well, we've lacked a little bit of depth to our bullpen, but this year we have some of that depth. So I think our pitching is going to be on point. And I also think the guys have been putting in a lot of extra time outside of our regular practices.

They're looking really good at the plate. So I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a slugfest and a lot of runs and a really competitive game this year.

KEILAR: OK. Who are your pitchers there, Congresswoman?

L. SANCHEZ: So we've got Chris Deluzio will be starting for us. We also have Pete Aguilar, Alex Padilla and John Mannion. So we do have --

MURPHY: We're going to beat them all.

L. SANCHEZ: -- like I said, a little bit of depth to our bullpen. KEILAR: I love it. You guys are just game on here already. So listen, this is fun.

You raise a lot of money for youth and community charities, but this game, I mean, this also just brings up some tough memories, right? Nearly a decade ago, Congressman Murphy, it was Congressman Steve Scalise who was shot at a practice before this very game in 2017. And we've seen this spate of political violence.

It's not gotten better. It's gotten worse. You've seen the killing last summer of Minnesota State Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband. There've been multiple attempts on the president's life.

What kind of example do you think that this bipartisan gathering for just a friendly, I mean, friendly kind of competitive game should set for Americans who are living in this increasingly politically divided country?

MURPHY: You know, Brianna, to be honest with you, I think if people knew what Congress worked about, I think that 80 percent of us can agree on 80 or 90 percent of things. I know that's not always seen in the media because it's not flashy. It's not sexy.

But I think the majority of us are here for the right reasons. We do things together, really, for the most part, there are some partisan divides. But this is, you know, this is just a good game for a lot of fun and for a good causes.

L. SANCHEZ: I would just add that there are few things that really bring people together. Sports and music happen to be two of those things.

[15:50:00]

And I think the game is like the perfect showcase that, you know, despite the trash talk, and despite the fact that we rib each other, it really is a bipartisan effort. And it raises -- this year will raise just over $3.1 million for charities in the greater D.C. region. That's incredible. And that does a lot of really good.

It's transformative for the charities that receive that funding. And, you know, this is America's 250th anniversary. And I think it's a really good time to celebrate it playing the national pastime.

KEILAR: Yes, it really is incredible and what that means for those charities. You know, I play in the congressional game, because it's one team's the press, and then it's for the for the women, it's the Democrats and Republicans play together on the other team. And I'll tell you, as a member of the press, we're always looking, when there are incoming members of Congress who have baseball skills, we're always wondering if that's going to change the balance of power or maybe cement a winning streak.

And so to that end, Congressman, you know, to both of you, you know, what I'm going to ask about, which is that former MLB player, Mark Teixeira is running for Congress as a Republican in Texas. He won a World Series, right? I mean, with his with the Yankees, right?

MURPHY: Good for him.

KEILAR: So what are you hoping that's going to bring as you're trying to really cement Republican dominance even further in this?

MURPHY: Well, you know, we want him to come in and be a good member of Congress. I've already heard the whining and the crying from the Democrats about Mark Teixeira, you know, look, make him hit left handed. Oh, that's right.

He has the major league record in both left handed and right handed home runs.

L. SANCHEZ: I would just say, we're expecting such a big blue wave in November, they might not even have enough players to field a Republican team next year. So one player isn't going to make a difference because he can't play every position on the team.

MURPHY: You know, we're just we're just thinking about tonight. And you know, hopefully the only bird we're going to see tonight is going to be the Aflac bird. What do you think about that, Linda?

L. SANCHEZ: Hey, well, as long as there are fans in the audience that are hecklers, you know, I don't take trash from my brothers. I don't take trash from the fans.

MURPHY: You sound like you're a little thin skinned, Linda. What's wrong with you? I thought you were supposed to be a coach.

SANCHEZ: No, I'm a tough broad.

MURPHY: I think she's already trying to play the victim tonight. We haven't even had the first pitch.

L. SANCHEZ: No, well, we'll settle our score on the baseball field tonight.

KEILAR: She's standing up for her team there. It has been a pleasure --

L. SANCHEZ: Absolutely.

KEILAR: -- chatting with you. I can't I can't wait to see what happens. Congressman, Congresswoman, thank you so much for being with us.

L. SANCHEZ: You're welcome. Thanks for having us.

MURPHY: Take care.

KEILAR: Good luck to both of you and to your teams and stay with CNN.

[15:55:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) SANCHEZ: Now to some of the other headlines we're watching this hour. Southern Baptist took a resounding stand today against women leading any of its churches by a three to one margin. Thousands of them voted to advance a formal ban on churches with female pastors, solidifying their church's statement that only men can preach to its congregations.

The vote must reach a similar two thirds majority next year for the ban to become part of the religion's constitution. The Southern Baptist Convention is the largest Protestant denomination in the United States.

KEILAR: Also, the FBI is searching the Southern California plant where a chemical tank overheated last month, forcing 50,000 residents to evacuate because of fears that it could explode. The FBI wants to know more about how GKN Aerospace stores, uses and cools the chemicals that were in the tank, which it uses to make cockpit windows, canopies and windshields. Local leaders and residents have been pushing for the chemical to be moved far away from where they live and work.

And Taylor Swift surprised fans last night at the Toy Story 5 premiere. After performing her new song for the film, "I Knew It, I Knew You," she brought out Randy Newman and joined him for a fun duet of the iconic song, "You've Got a Friend in Me," from the first film.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(TAYLOR SWIFT AND RANDY NEWMAN PERFORM DUET)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Swift called Toy Story 5 a masterpiece and her favorite of them all. The film opens in theaters June 19th.

Comedian Craig Ferguson is no stranger to debates over free speech.

SANCHEZ: Yes, but this week he's diving deeper into the myths and realities of free speech in America with cartoonists, comedians and founding father historians. Here's a preview.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

[Speaker 7] So it's important protections about ideas. So religion, speech, press, assembly and petition to petition the government.

CRAIG FERGUSON, AMERICAN ON PURPOSE: So that allows you to have the argument.

[Speaker 7] All those things.

FERGUSON: That creates the environment in which discourse is possible, right?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Correct. FERGUSON: But you have to build in safeguards and that's what the First Amendment is, right? It's a safeguard to allow you to have civil discourse.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, because of course it was not self-evident at all.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Because they have different views on how do you even put together some sort of possible union of colonies of states? Can Congress tax? Can it not tax?

Should there be two houses in a legislature? Should there even be a legislature?

FERGUSON: They don't agree. They don't.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Shut up, Ben. I'm so tired of your voice. Go fly your stupid kite or something.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: None of our constitution rhymes. It's like you're actively trying to sabotage my future Broadway rap musical.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All of you be quiet or none of you are going to Chuck E. Cheese.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KEILAR: That's exactly how they sounded back then, right? Be sure to tune in.

[16:00:00]

A new episode of "CRAIG FERGUSON, AMERICAN ON PURPOSE" premieres Saturday night at nine on CNN and Sunday on the CNN app, which is always fun.

SANCHEZ: Yes. Chuck E. Cheese, you know, been around since the founding.

KEILAR: Totally.

SANCHEZ: An American institution premieres.

KEILAR: "THE ARENA" with Kasie Hunt starts right now.

END