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Trump on Negotiations, Iran Keeps Playing Us for Suckers; Iran Official Says, War to Continue Unless U.S. Respects Iran's Interests; Trump Admin Hit With Ten-Plus Lawsuits Over D.C. Construction Projects. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired June 11, 2026 - 07:00   ET

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

[07:00:00]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right. The breaking news coming in, the U.S. launching new strikes overnight, Iran responding by attacking American allies in the region. We have new images coming in this morning as Iran now warns it could turn the region, quote, into hell.

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN ANCHOR: And disturbing new allegations this morning against Sean Diddy Combs. A former child actor claims he was sexually assaulted by the disgraced music mogul. We'll have the latest on that.

And then at the Garden, the Knicks pull off the greatest comeback in NBA Finals history, rallying from a 29-point deficit to take down the Spurs in game four. The big question now, can they clinch the title Saturday in San Antonio?

Sara and John are off today. I'm Omar Jimenez with Kate Bolduan. This is CNN News Central.

BOLDUAN: All right. So, let's get to the breaking news, and there is a lot of back and forth. We'll run through it for you all. President Trump is, it seems, trying to bomb his way to a deal with Iran. For the second straight night, the U.S. and Iran have traded new strikes, and President Trump is warning that if Iran does not agree to a deal by today, the U.S. will, quote, bomb the expletive out of them.

U.S. Central Command now says it completed the second wave of strikes on Iran, hitting surveillance capabilities, communication systems, and air defense sites. Iran calls that a blatant violation of the ceasefire and hit back, targeting U.S. bases in the region. U.S. allies, like Bahrain and Kuwait, activated their air defenses. Jordan says it intercepted 20 missiles launched by Iran.

Iran is also claiming this morning the Strait of Hormuz is now closed to all vessels, quote, until further notice. CENTCOM is disputing that, saying that commercial ships are still moving through, though we know that the strait has been largely paralyzed.

Despite all of this, a diplomatic source tells CNN that talks between Washington and Tehran are still on track. Here's what the president said about it in the Oval Office. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: We were really close to a deal, but they keep tapping us along. They keep playing us for suckers.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: We have a team in Tehran covering this. Let's start with CNN's Alayna Treene live this morning at the White House for us. Where do things stand right now, Alayna?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Look, Kate, I think it's clear that we have entered a new phase of this war, and the president really shifting strategy this week and resuming its bombing campaign on Tehran. Now, if you listen to what the president said yesterday, as well as the defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, both of them almost arguing that this is a way to negotiate and that the U.S. will negotiate through bombs if that means that the pressure will force them to finally relent and agree to a deal.

I want you to listen to what Hegseth said about all of this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETE HEGSETH, DEFENSE SECRETARY: You can see when someone's trying to tap, tap, tap on a deal. Instead, they're going to have tap, tap, tap, bombs dropping on key facilities in Iran from the United States of America.

If we need to negotiate with bombs, we'll negotiate with bombs, and we're very good at it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TREENE: This is quite different, Kate, from what we had been hearing, I'd remind you, from top Trump officials and the president himself for weeks now throughout this ceasefire, continuing to pressing pause to try and allow these diplomatic talks to breathe. Now, they are essentially trying to use these bombs as leverage.

Now, if you listen to what the president said yesterday, I'd remind you that earlier in the day, he had posted that Iran had, quote, taken too long to negotiate a deal. That would have been great for them. Now they will pay the price. He had previewed in the Oval Office that they were going to be issuing more strikes on Tehran.

I think this is notable. We saw him do it the day before as well, this idea that he is warning Iran that strikes are coming. I think that continues to add to this idea that he is trying to pressure them and force them to the table.

Now, what was also interesting is the president kind of echoed this sentiment when he spoke with Fox News yesterday. A Fox News reporter said that he actually called him from the Situation Room, just remarkable in and of itself.

[07:05:00]

But then he went on to say that the Iranians had called him and asked him to stop the bombing, but that they would continue unless Iran agreed to a deal.

So, this is where we are right now. I will say, from the conversations I've had, they still want a deal. The ultimate goal here is still diplomacy, but the president has clearly gotten impatient and is now trying to use these strikes as a way to force this deal sooner rather than later. Kate?

BOLDUAN: Yes. And count this as another day of stretching the bounds and definition of a ceasefire over there right now.

Alayna, thanks so much. Let's see what happens, because it sure seems like a lot is happening as we speak.

JIMENEZ: Yes. And, you know, we're getting a look at actually what this is looking like on the ground in Iran as those negotiations, not negotiations continue, that dynamic moves forward.

We want to go straight to Tehran, where CNN's Fred Pleitgen is standing by live. We should note, CNN operates in Iran only with the permission of the government, but does maintain full editorial control of its reports.

Fred, what is the latest there on the ground?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Omar. Well, first of all, the Iranians are completely denying that they called President Trump last night and demanded an end to these strikes. Several Iranian news agencies and official channels also saying that simply is not true. And then as far as negotiating through bombing is concerned, that's also something where Iranian officials are saying that bombing is going to achieve exactly the opposite of what the president wants it to achieve.

I actually spoke to a senior Iranian official just a couple of hours ago, and he told me that, from the Iranian perspective, they believe that the Trump administration needs to respect the resilience of the Iranians, also needs to respect the military capability of the Iranians as well, specifically looking at the Strait of Hormuz.

And I asked that official whether or not there was a chance that the two countries would go back to war, and he said it all depends on the Trump administration right now. If they want to make a deal, if they stop firing, then there can be a deal. However, if they continue to bomb Iran, then a full-on war and a return to full-on war is certainly something that is fairly possible.

So, right now, certainly, these negotiations still at a very difficult state. Iranians from their perspective have said that this was a serious breach of the ceasefire what happened last night and the night before. At the same time, both sides are still saying that they want to move towards that memorandum of understanding, which we have to say is just the next step in these negotiations that would end the hostilities between the two countries, and then lead to a period of larger negotiations for a possible full peace agreement.

But, again, right now, especially after what happened last night, it seems a little bit more difficult. But, certainly, from what was also going on here overnight, we certainly had a busy night here in Tehran. It certainly seems as that diplomatic process is still on.

One of the things that happened was that during these overnight hours, even as the bombing was going on, Omar, there was a team of Qatari negotiators here on the ground in Tehran trying to move that process forward. Those negotiators have now left. Going to wait and see whether or not much progress was made on that.

Certainly, again, the Iranians are saying they're up for a deal. At the same time, if the U.S. keeps pressing and especially dropping bombs, it will have exactly the opposite effect. Omar?

JIMENEZ: Fred Pleitgen on the ground for us in Tehran, thank you for the reporting.

All right, coming up for us, will the UFC fight at the White House actually happen this weekend? We'll tell you about the legal battle that is going down to the wire.

Plus, we are monitoring a critical inflation indicator dropping this morning. But now President Trump is facing blowback for saying this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: You know what I really love? I love the inflation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JIMENEZ: We'll have more on that coming up.

And then it's finally here, folks. The World Cup kicks off in just a few hours. We'll bring you inside the growing excitement as the biggest sporting event in the world returns to U.S. soil for the first time in 30 years.

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[07:10:00]

BOLDUAN: So, happening right now on the South Lawn of the White House, a preview of fight night, the White House hosting a media tour of the octagon, also known as the Claw, giving the first up close look of the ring where the president is set to host a UFC fight on Sunday.

The administration is urging a federal judge now to throw out a lawsuit against that big fight. The president arguing, and his legal team, of course, that it's too late to justify a court intervening.

Now, in addition to this legal battle, President Trump has been working on making his mark on Washington and reshaping iconic spots around the nation's capital. So far, there are at least ten lawsuits that have challenged the president's projects, from the new renovation of the White House ballroom to a massive arch that he wants to build in Washington as well.

Let's talk about it. Joining us is CNN Senior Legal Analyst Elie Honig. Elie, let's focus on UFC and this fight scheduled for this weekend. Where are we there with this legal battle? What do you expect to happen?

ELIE HONIG, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Well, this is going to happen really quick, Kate, because the fights are set to start Sunday. But the pre-festivities start as early as today and into tomorrow.

So, currently, there's this group of plaintiffs, private individuals, asking a federal court to block this whole thing. They're arguing that it's unconstitutional, that you can't build something on the lawn without permission.

There's two big problems though, and you just mentioned one of these, that I think the Trump administration is going to ultimately win on. One, they waited too long. People have known about this UFC fight. It's been public for months. They didn't file their lawsuit until six days ago. So, there's a doctrine in the law that you can't wait until the last-minute and try to surprise your opponent.

The other thing is a thing called standing, meaning not just anyone can sue to stop anything that they find offensive or wrong or even corrupt. You have to be a person with a direct injury. And the argument here is these are private citizens who claim they will suffer, quote, aesthetic injury, they don't like how it looks, or they will suffer something called, quote, procedural injury. That's in their lawsuit, whatever that is.

[07:15:00]

I don't think that's going to be enough. I think this lawsuit's ultimately going to fail, and I think the UFC fight will proceed.

BOLDUAN: Because that's what I was going to ask. Even if you think it will ultimately prevail, you do have, I mean, events happening today, tomorrow, and the fight on Sunday. Sorry, I keep thinking today's Friday, Friday, Saturday, and the fight on Sunday. Do you think the chances -- what do you think the chances are this actually goes on as scheduled?

HONIG: Yes, it is Thursday.

BOLDUAN: Thank you so much.

HONIG: I do think I think, again, the lateness really plays into it, and this is part of the reason why. Because you can't have a lawsuit pending while the event, writ large, is starting. I think that's a real complication, a problem for the plaintiffs here.

BOLDUAN: Let's also talk about the Kennedy Center, because a court has already ruled against the president and renaming it to include his name. The website has been updated. People are essentially waiting to see the actual letters be brought off the building, possibly even today. Why did Trump lose this one? HONIG: Because in this case, the law is about as clear as it gets. A lot of times the law is unclear. You could argue it both ways. There is actually a law passed in 1964 that created the Kennedy Center. And part of that law says, This is the name of the thing, the Kennedy Center, and you cannot change it unless Congress specifically says so. So, that was a no-brainer. Trump was always going to lose that one, spot on. And they've abandoned the appeal. So, it's only a matter of time before those letters come down.

I mentioned the ballroom. This has been -- this legal fight over the ballroom and can they start, must they stop construction, has really been going on for quite some time. Where are we on this?

HONIG: This is a tricky one, too. So, this is now sitting with the Court of Appeals, and it sounds like the Court of Appeals is going to agree with the lower court judge that this construction has to stop because this is a permanent structure, the ballroom. And so you need some statute passed by Congress allowing it.

Now, the administration has pointed to a statute that says, well, the president can make alterations or improvements to the White House. But the courts so far have found, yes, but this is not an alteration or improvement. This is a whole big, new, permanent building.

So, if the Court of Appeals rules against the administration, construction stops, and the next step is the administration goes to the U.S. Supreme Court. But, gosh, I mean, what are we going to do here? There's already a hole in the ground.

BOLDUAN: That's the thing. That's why this is complicated. So, you have -- so I'm going to very much generalize this and sum up.

HONIG: Please.

BOLDUAN: UFC, you say it's a win for Trump. Kennedy Center, it's a loss for Trump. The White House ballroom, a loss-ish, we don't know, TBD. Definitely TBD on that. Three different -- three cases, three different cases. Why three different results when it seems that it kind of comes from the same premise of like, is the president overstepping?

HONIG: Because each of these depends on the specific facts, what are they building, what are they trying to do, and what law applies. Now, if you want to understand it, you can either read the briefs or we can promise our viewers that we will continue to explain them one by one.

BOLDUAN: You know that everyone's going to choose option A. They're going to all go to read the briefs.

HONIG: They're going to read, yes, sure, hundreds of pages.

BOLDUAN: Exactly.

HONIG: Or watch us for three minutes.

BOLDUAN: Great to see you. HONIG: Thanks, Kate.

BOLDUAN: Thank you so much.

Ahead for us, keeping an eye on some dangerous storms packing one final punch today. Forecast as millions of Americans are bracing for tornadoes, dangerous winds, hail, potential flooding in big parts of the country.

And the Knicks pulling it off and pulling off the greatest comeback of NBA Finals history. They are now one win away from the big title.

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[07:20:00]

JIMENEZ: The Knicks, what can you say? The Knicks, they pull off the greatest comeback in NBA finals history, coming from 29 points behind. May or may not have been there. I took this video inside MSG where the vibes were immaculate. Take a look.

CNN's Andy Scholes has more on the last second heroics. Man, I'm still like -- I'm still speechless. I can't believe what we all just witnessed.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: I know. Omar, I am jealous that you were in the building for that game because, I mean, that was one of the most incredible things I've ever watched. I mean, it was absolutely nuts. And making the drama even more amazing, just all the A-list celebrities that were courtside going crazy through it all.

Now, it was not a party at MSG early on, because the Spurs had the largest halftime lead by a road team in NBA history. They then led by 29 points in the third quarter. But this Knicks team, they've proven they are never out of a game no matter what.

O.G. Anunoby, he was just incredible last night. This three cut the Spurs' lead to four. Taylor Swift, the Haim sisters, and Mariska Hargitay just jumping up and down, going crazy. Then under 2.5 to go, Jalen Brunson hits a three in Wemby's face. Swifter's buddy at the bottom of the screen, you can see him jumping up and down again, along with everyone else.

Knicks were then down one, under 30 seconds to go. Brunson drives, his shot doesn't go. The ball gets tipped out. This is a play that's going to haunt Spurs fans forever. Instead of dribbling it out, De'Aaron Fox goes for a layup, blocked by Anunoby. Then after a timeout, five seconds left, Brunson's three here no good, but Anunoby, the hero, flies in, tips it in with a second left to give the Knicks the lead.

MSG at this point going absolutely bonkers. Look, Jerry Seinfeld can't believe it. David Zaslov, Larry David were in shock. I mean, the Knicks, an incredible, incredible comeback. They hold on to win, completing the largest comeback in NBA finals history, take a 3-1 lead in this series.

So, Anunoby was going nuts too after this game, right? He was a little more laid back. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

O.G. ANUNOBY, NEW YORK KNICKS FORWARD: It feels cool. I mean, everyone's pretty excited. I'm excited too.

KARL-ANTHONY TOWNS, NEW YORK KNICKS CENTER: From the mud, found a way to get it done in the second half.

[07:25:01]

And everyone who lives in New York knows if you want to make it in the city, you got to be okay getting it out the mud, and we did that tonight.

VICTOR WEMBANYAMA, SAN ANTONIO SPURS FORWARD: What's going through my mind right now, I think it's going to go one of two ways. One of two ways, and a bad one and a good one, and I know the bad one would be giving up. The good one would be getting stronger through this, getting more together, and I know this is what we're going to do.

SCHOLES: All right, and the party just kept going at MSG. Look at Swift jumping up and down even more with some fans that she was leaving there with the Haim sisters. And Timothee Chalamet, of course, was there. Look at him, him and Ben Stiller going nuts again. I mean, just what a scene.

Teams that go up 3-1 in the finals, they're 37-1 all time. The Knicks, they can win their first title in 53 years in game five in San Antonio on Saturday.

All right, the U.S. Men's National Team, they were also celebrating the win. Tyler Adams, he's a huge Knicks fan. You can see the team, they were all going crazy watching the comeback win. Now, the team is set to kick off their World Cup journey tomorrow against Paraguay and they are relishing the fact that they get to host the World Cup.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE SCALLY, TEAM USA DEFENDER: We all played when we were younger acting like we're in a World Cup in our backyard, so to actually be living that dream I think is -- yes, it's special. You know, it hasn't sunk in yet.

WESTON MCKENNIE, TEAM USA MIDFIELDER: On the biggest stage, on home soil and the opportunity just to be able to grow the game here in America based on the performances and what we do here, I think it's, yes, a dream come true.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: Yes. So, the U.S. game tomorrow is at 9:00 Eastern. Omar, the World Cup kicks off today, Mexico and South Africa, 3:00 Eastern from Mexico City. You see the stadium right there. It looks like it is ready to go. And, Omar, what a time, right, for sports? World Cup starts. I mean, this NBA Finals has been just incredible with all the drama. I can't wait for Saturday with game five going on at the same time as a bunch of World Cup games.

JIMENEZ: Whoo, sports fans, you are spoiled right now. If you don't have weekend plans these are your weekend plans.

SCHOLES: Yes.

JIMENEZ: Andy Scholes, good to see you, as always.

All right, with all the sports going on, there's also a lot of news going on that we're following, including this morning we're awaiting a critical inflation indicator that's dropping next hour. Already inflation is showing a sharp rise in prices across the board. So, why is President Trump saying he loves the inflation?

And we'll also tell you why the godfather of shock rock, Alice Cooper, is giving a big thanks to a Good Samaritan. Stay tuned.

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