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Trump to Nominate U.S. Atty, Ex-Sec CHMN Jay Clayton as Natl Intl Dir; Trump Cancels U.S. Strikes in Iran, Suggests Deal is Close; Trump Says He'll Nominate Jay Clayton to Top Intelligence Post; Inside the Preparations for Trump's UFC Fight Sunday 3-3:30p ET

Aired June 11, 2026 - 15:00   ET

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

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[15:00:39]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Will the third time be the charm? President Trump chooses a new director of National Intelligence, Jay Clayton, but will the U.S. Attorney pass muster on Capitol Hill where the previous pick was panned by many lawmakers?

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Plus pausing the war, President Trump cancelling planned strikes on Iran saying, quote, "final points of an agreement between Tehran and Washington have been approved."

And are you ready for some football as the rest of the world calls it soccer here in the United States? The 2026 FIFA World Cup kicking off today to the delight of millions of soccer fans. We're following these major developing stories and many more all coming in right here to CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

KEILAR: We do begin with our breaking news, President Trump just a short time ago announcing his pick to be his next director of National Intelligence. The President has named Jay Clayton who right now is the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York in this post.

In this post -- in his post, I should say, Trump writing: "Few people anywhere in the Legal Community are respected at the level of Jay." And we have CNN's Kara Scannell who's leading us off on this.

Kara, what more can you share?

KARA SCANNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Brianna, that's right. The President is now announcing that he's going to nominate Jay Clayton to serve as the head Intelligence officer in the U.S. And Clayton is currently the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York one of the most prominent U.S. Attorney's Offices in the country.

He's been in this position for a year. He was not Senate confirmed, but the judges did vote him in. But Clayton has gone through the confirmation process before. During Trump's first term he served as the chairman of the SEC and -- but during Clayton's time running the U.S. Attorney's Office this past year, he has really walked a fine line. He has advanced the administration's priorities on violent crime terrorism as well as drug-related offenses but he has also not gotten full support from everyone around him because the -- some of the issues that have arisen is that the one of the most prominent prosecutors in that office Maurene Comey was fired by Washington. And the staff within the office had hoped that he would have done more to support her in that case to maybe even have prevented her firing. But he has also avoided some of the political issues that have plagued some of these other U.S. Attorney's Offices.

The former Attorney General Pam Bondi had ordered him to investigate Donald Trump's -- advancing what Trump wanted which was an investigation into prominent Democrats and their ties to Jeffrey Epstein. Clayton seems to have sidestepped that issue. He let it kind of quietly die away and when asked about it once, he had said that you know if anyone had any new information that he would look into it, but he did not take on that political football and advance something that very much the administration wanted the U.S. Attorney's Office to do.

So, he has been able to straddle the line of keeping the integrity of the office and the prosecutions there not taking on some of these very political cases and investigations that might not lack a legal merit. So, he has been able to walk that fine line.

Before he went into the administration with Trump, he's been a banking lawyer for years, advisor to bank CEOs to corporate boards. He certainly is not someone who is going to be easily swayed. He can hold his own. And he does have a relationship with Trump. They have golfed together numerous times, so that is something that he has that could perhaps aid him in Washington in this kind of high-stakes arena that he will enter into.

He had never been a prosecutor before he took over -- leading the U.S. Attorney's Office. He does have, in general, the support of the prosecutors in that office. He has let them do their jobs. But he had -- he -- he has also never worked in intelligence and that kind of area, but it seems that Clayton will look to rely on his ability to communicate with people, his ability to access Trump. His ability as he has in the past to be able to persuade people to take certain positions as advising corporate boards and banks in -- offering advice to keep them out of trouble and abiding by the law.

[15:05:06]

So, that will be the task for Clayton as he moves toward both the Senate confirmation and then if he ultimately does get the job, Brianna.

KEILAR: All right, Kara Scannell, thank you. Boris.

SANCHEZ: Now to the war with Iran, President Trump just a short time ago posting he, quote, "canceled the scheduled strikes and bombings against Iran this evening." Adding, "Discussions and final points have been in both concept and great detail, approved by all parties involved." Let's go straight to the White House with CNN's Kristen Holmes. Kristen, I mean really a stunning turn of events given that only a few hours earlier the President was talking about launching the most powerful and widespread attacks to this point in the conflict.

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, he was also talking about taking Kharg Island which many U.S. officials believed was an endgame strategy, something that would completely disable Iran and would only be used really in a crisis. But, of course, here we are backing away from that, President Trump saying that this Agreement is on the precipice that all sides have agreed.

But there is one interesting point about that because he lists a bunch of countries that have been negotiators, who have helped with this peace agreement. And one of them is Israel and we are now learning from our sources that Israel was unaware and high-level officials, including Netanyahu, about this agreement that President Trump's social media post on this imminent agreement came as a surprise to Netanyahu who was in the middle of a security discussion about Iran, that Netanyahu had not been briefed or Israel had not been briefed on any kind of impending agreement despite the fact that as you see there on that Truth Social, Israel is listed as one of the countries that has signed off on this agreement.

Of course, we will note that President Trump has often walked up to this line said that something was imminent and then not had it come to fruition. However, we are learning from sources who tell Jeremy Diamond in Israel that there are mediators who are feeling cautiously optimistic That there have been breakthroughs in the last several days. They're specifically talking about the Qataris who have been in Iran, in Tehran meeting with officials on Tuesday and Wednesday as part of this breakthrough as a part of leading to this breakthrough.

Again, they're still using the term cautiously optimistic which implies that nothing is set in stone, but is close enough, President Trump as we know has not wanted to increase military operation, instead had wanted some kind of diplomatic off-ramp. And it appears, again, that something has given him the indication that this could be it.

SANCHEZ: Yes, we shall see if it is. Kristen Holmes, thank you so much for that reporting. Still to come, more on President Trump's announcement that he's nominating U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton to be his next director of National Intelligence.

Plus, House Speaker Mike Johnson blasting Democrats after lawmakers rejected a short-term extension of a key surveillance tool.

And later El Nino is officially here and it is rapidly strengthening. We'll tell you what it means for the weather when we come back on CNN NEWS CENTRAL. Don't go anywhere.

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[15:12:31]

KEILAR: We have breaking news, President Trump saying he'll nominate U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton for director of National Intelligence. If confirmed, Clayton would replace outgoing director Tulsi Gabbard who's stepping down to care for her husband, following his cancer diagnosis.

SANCHEZ: The nomination comes amid pushback on Capitol Hill over his earlier pick, top housing official Bill Pulte as the acting director of National Intelligence, even though Pulte has no background in National Security. So, will Jay Clayton fare any better with lawmakers? Let's discuss with Karen Gibson a former deputy director of National Intelligence.

Karen, thanks so much for being with us. What is your reaction to this pick?

KAREN GIBSON, FORMER DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE: Well, I think it's interesting and probably no coincidence that it follows the move that you just briefed on the House blocking an extension of an important surveillance measure that both law enforcement in the intelligence community rely on. That was probably a more compelling move than the pushback and vocal misgivings frankly on both sides of the aisle to the Pulte nomination. And that's, I Imagine, what may have been a deciding factor in nominating Jay Clayton.

He has probably had access to classified information. It's certainly possible as a federal prosecutor, particularly if he works national security matters. Unlike previous DNIs, however, he does not have real experience within the intelligence community, past DNIs have either been leaders of national agencies Sometimes multiple agencies or they've had key roles in the national security establishment on the National Security Council or in the case of director Coats or Ratcliffe in the first Trump administration, they performed intelligence community oversight roles in the Senate or the House.

And so, while Mr. Clayton certainly seems to be a more appropriate pick than Mr. Pulte it is a thinner resume on the intelligence community side than what we've seen in the past.

KEILAR: So, talk to us a little bit about that because what this comes down to is the DNI General Gibson needs to be coordinating all of these Intel -- all of these Intel agencies, needs to be keeping us safe. That is what this comes down to. Why is it so important then that the DNI has this background in national security and oftentimes intelligence that helps them do that paramount objective?

GIBSON: That's a great question, Brianna. So, I would say, you know, the DNI and I worked there, I was a deputy director of National Intelligence, has a tremendous breadth of responsibility.

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You know first it's 18 different intelligence agencies now, that's more than the Department of Homeland Security overseas and they are working everything from very complex, highly technical collection in space, you know, determining new satellite architectures to very important dangerous clandestine collection missions in hostile territory and even at places like the National Security Agency Working on future post quantum cryptography that will keep our financial system secure for decades to come.

So, it's a lot to absorb and understand regardless of who the DNI is and his or her experience. They have a steep learning curve. He's really going to have to roll up his sleeves and learn a lot and be willing to listen to and trust technical experts across the community, because it is a very large expansive and dynamic job.

SANCHEZ: General, we've been discussing earlier that part of the reporting that infuriated some lawmakers when it came to Bill Pulte's appointment as acting director was that the President was eager to have him thin the ODNI, in other words to fire a lot of people which Pulte did as a housing official in the Trump administration. And further that he wanted him to look into claims of election fraud that have been debunked over the 2020 election that the President frequently raises.

I wonder if you think that is going to be what Jay Clayton is going to have to pursue now as he's being nominated by the President.

GIBSON: I think that's possible and I would anticipate those would be among the kinds of questions will be asked by the Senate in his confirmation appointment hearing and -- and interviews. I -- I think it's fair to say that the office of the director of National Intelligence has not, perhaps, fully lived up to the vision of it as created after 9/11 and it's worth some thoughtful and careful analysis of what it ought to look like and how it ought to be functioning now that we are so far past that significant terrorism event for which it was originally designed.

I would also point out, you know, we haven't had another attack like that since 9/11, who's to say that it isn't really doing its job? Well, so thoughtful analysis, yes, but some kind of indiscriminate DOGE-like cutting I think would be very dangerous. And I think the third point I'd make in terms of election interference is that -- that our intelligence community has always focused on overseas foreign intelligence, not things that happen -- that it's the law -- role of law enforcement to look at things that Americans may be doing.

And so, getting involved in directly in election security, I think is a very dangerous avenue to start going down for the DNI.

KEILAR: Let's listen to something that a lot of people have been kind of zeroing in on which is Jay Clayton something that he said on CNBC on Monday weighing into the fray on election denialism when he was talking about the recent, California election. Someplace, of course, where the President has claimed fraud. Here's what he said.

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JAY CLAYTON, U.S. ATTORNEY FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK: Why can't you count them like they do in other jurisdictions on the same day as Election Day or within a very reasonable (INAUDIBLE) ...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, if you mail them in on Election Day, they're not going to be there on Election Day.

CLAYTON: Well --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I mean, I -- I got stuff returned to me that I sent out for Christmas by like two months later, that's coming back, you know?

CLAYTON: That -- why we -- why we wait until Election Day for mail-in ballots, I -- I don't understand.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: For those ...

ANDREW ROSS SORKIN, HOST, CNBC: Do you think that it helps, given where you sit in the world, to speculate about a fraud or potential fraud without any direct evidence of said fraud because typically, if you were to bring a case you ...

CLAYTON: (INAUDIBLE) ...

SORKIN: ... historically wouldn't want to speculate about the case.

CLAYTON: I'm not speculating about fraud. I'm not saying there is fraud, okay? I am saying that the opportunity for fraud makes no sense to me when we can have ...

SORKIN: Right.

CLAYTON: ... run a much better system. Let me also say this, Andrew, there are a lot of people who look at this and say there is no fraud, okay? I -- I don't think that they're right either.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: I just -- I wonder how you see that. He is currently the U.S. Attorney, but heading now into this position and weighing into something that's just so politically fraught.

GIBSON: Sure, and you know, it is very important to keep the intelligence community free from political interference. It's why we don't have political appointees within the intelligence agencies. They need to be able to provide a political objective assessments and analysis of -- of what is happening regarding foreign adversaries and getting involved in how states and localities actually conduct elections.

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That is an inappropriate role for the intelligence community and it is not something that we would, I think, as Americans want them to embark in.

KEILAR: Lieutenant General Karen Gibson, thank you so much for being with us for the conversation. We appreciate it.

GIBSON: Thank you.

KEILAR: And ahead, we're going to get a close-up look at that UFC octagon on the White House lawn. We'll have the latest on all the preps for fight night right after a quick break.

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KEILAR: Today, the White House gave a preview of the sports spectacular coming to the South Lawn in three days, UFC Freedom 250 will feature seven MMA fights as part of America's 250th birthday celebrations. Sunday is also the President's 80th birthday. Earlier, Boris spoke with UFC legend Georges St-Pierre who will be attending the Sunday night fight and he marveled at how far mixed martial arts has come.

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GEORGES ST-PIERRE, FORMER UFC WELTERWEIGHT & MIDDLEWEIGHT CHAMPION: I remember in 2008, I fought in Montreal, UFC came in Montreal for the first time. I had lined the card. The next day, I saw in the newspaper that we're saying, oh, it was a barbaric event and everything. And now 20 years later almost -- less than 20 years, but almost 20 years we're fighting at the White House. So, it's -- it's just unbelievable. I leave American politics to the American. I'm -- I'm Canadian and I'm thrilled and very excited to be part of this.

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KEILAR: Construction for the UFC event began in late May and the UFC is spending $60 million to bring Sunday's matches to the White House complex. Today, CNN's Betsy Klein was able to get up close to the newly built fighting arena. That's known as the Octagon. She's with us now from the White House.

All right, Betsy. Tell us what you saw there.

BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, yes, Brianna earlier today we finally got a close-up look at what they have been constructing behind this building behind me for weeks now and that is the UFC brand signature octagon along with stadium seating and views of both the White House and the Washington Monument.

And just setting aside politics for a second, the idea that they built this claw lighting structure and this entire arena where there was a patch of grass just a few weeks ago is pretty remarkable. This cost the UFC 60 million dollars according to court documents and it's 900 subcontractors. It took close coordination between the UFC and the very highest levels of the U.S. government.

And when the President first announced this back in Iowa last July, he indicated there could be maybe 20,000, 25,000 people. Now, according to those documents, they are expecting a hundred and twenty-five thousand audience members spread out between the White House South Lawn and the Ellipse.

Now, these documents more broadly reveal that this has been a major undertaking by the UFC, which is responsible for production, labor, construction, as well as promotion. The federal government meanwhile is supporting things like security, law enforcement and first aid.

This load-in and build process began on May 20th. And every day since then, there have been 20 to 30 trucks filled with UFC equipment that have been screened by U.S. Secret Service brought here to White House grounds for construction. And that has required 700 to 900 subcontractors with very specialized sets of skills.

Now, this setup has required extensive security features like anti- scale fencing and barricades and the Secret Service is also going to have screening facilities. There's also food and beverage needs as well as the requirement that there be at least one porta potty for every 300 guests. And just as quickly as this structure came up, it's going to be torn down. According to those court documents, the breakdown is going to begin on Monday when this is all over.

KEILAR: One porta potty for 300 guests. That's -- that's an interesting ratio And I would think that there would be more porta potties quite frankly, but that's for, perhaps, another investigative report. Betsy Klein, big MMA fan, live for us from the White House, thank you so much.

Ahead, President Trump calling off strikes on Iran tonight saying discussions and final points on a deal have been approved by Iranian leaders. We're going to discuss with Democratic Congressman Seth Moulton after a quick break.

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