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B-52 Bomber Crash Kills 8 in California; U.S. Intel Assesses Iran Can Weaponize Hormuz Strait at Will; Trump Touts Agreement at G7 as Iran Demands Israel Leave Lebanon; J.D. Vance Grilled on the View as He Promotes New Book; FIFA Drops Full World Cup Schedule. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired June 16, 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]

JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: ... We know this happened as the aircraft was taking off there as part of this routine flight mission. As you mentioned, a mixture of crew, you have military personnel, you have civilians as well as defense contractors, including two employees for the company Boeing that manufactured that aircraft. Take a listen here to senior defense officials speaking yesterday.

They gave an update from the scene.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COL. JAMES HAYES, U.S. AIR FORCE: It took off and immediately after takeoff crashed and burst into flames. This was a mixed crew of military, government civilians, and government contractors. After reviewing the footage of the crash, it was deemed that this was an unrecoverable crash and unsurvivable.

At this point, we don't have any indication as to what the cause was of this. We won't be able to release that information and we don't have an ability to get that anytime soon.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMPBELL: Now we're waiting for additional information on the names of those who were on board. The Defense Department's policy is to not release the names of casualty victims until 24 hours after next of kin notification. But a lot of big questions here.

This is one of the Defense Department's Air Force's workhorse airplanes that's been in service for decades and decades. Major questions about how this tragedy occurred, guys.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Josh Campbell, thank you so much for the latest on that.

Still ahead, we have new CNN reporting on an intelligence assessment that finds Iran has acquired a powerful new ability to hurt the global economy as a result of the war. We'll explain right after this.

[15:35:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: As we await more details regarding the U.S. agreement with Iran, we're learning this war has given Tehran powerful new leverage in any future potential conflict. U.S. intelligence agencies now believe the Iranians can shut down the Strait of Hormuz at will, obviously, potentially crippling the global economy as a result.

CNN's Zachary Cohen has some new reporting on all of this. So Zach, what are you hearing from sources?

ZACHARY COHEN, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: Yes, Boris, we're learning that recent U.S. intelligence assessments really underscore the lasting impact of President Donald Trump's decision to launch these combat operations against Iran without fully accounting for Iran's willingness to shut down the Strait of Hormuz. And now, weeks later, the fact that they have proven they are capable of shutting down that key waterway with relatively little military capabilities, how that has fundamentally changed the dynamic, even if an agreement is reached to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. And that's primarily because U.S. agencies believe that Iran maintains significant numbers of missiles, drones and even mine-laying water vessels that they've used to threaten shippers in the Strait of Hormuz to date and can use that going forward as well.

And so one source put it this way, quote, "We have now handed Iran de facto control over the Strait, a weapon more powerful than any nuke." Really underscoring how Iran could use this leverage, this lever, essentially to blackmail other countries in the future in order to seek out terms that it prefers or to help end a conflict or bring it to a resolution. Now, while U.S. agencies have had to reassess what they believe is now the threshold for Iran to once again close the Strait going forward, we're told that it's likely less than some sort of an existential threat to the regime. And that was primarily, we're told, why they closed the Strait in the first place.

And so now coupled with lessons they've learned about their ability to strike energy infrastructure in the Middle East, particularly that belonging to Gulf countries, as well as the unused card of the Houthi rebels in Yemen, a proxy force of the Iranians as well, that could have been called upon to close another key waterway that connects the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean. The Iranians have made their way through this conflict while degraded heavily in their military capabilities, still with a significant power as far as a negotiated settlement goes.

SANCHEZ: Zach Cohen, thank you so much for that -- Brianna.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Let's talk more now about all of these developments with CNN political and national security analyst David Sanger. He's the author of the book "New Cold Wars". David, thank you so much for being with us.

DAVID SANGER, CNN POLITICAL AND NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Great to be back with you. KEILAR: Great to have you, especially as we don't know too much about this. But the president did call you on Sunday with some details about this agreement, these four nuclear pillars as it was about to be electronically signed, and yet the text still has not been released. So what are you hearing about why not?

SANGER: Well, we can only guess about why not. It's conceivable that pieces of it are still moving, although I doubt that. It's going to be hard for both sides when the text comes out, right?

Because the Americans are going to be pressed on the question of when does Iran begin to get rewards for all of this, including unfreezing some of their assets and including lifting some of the sanctions? What exactly are the performance details? And the Iranians are going to be able to read that their government has basically agreed that they will take out, downgrade, and maybe hand over to the United States the fuel that is closest to bomb grade.

So these are hard to explain at both ends. Now the fact of the matter is that starting Friday, when they do this ceremonial signing with Vice President Vance, they're then starting the 60-day clock into a negotiation for the real agreement. And only from that will we know whether they've got something better than what President Obama negotiated 11 years ago.

[15:40:00]

KEILAR: Yes, a very good point there. Israel, of course, would like to see what this text is. And a source tells CNN that Israel asked the U.S. to see it and was told no. A U.S. official called that report not accurate. They say they're in coordination with Israel. But at the same time, I mean, why would the U.S. want to let Israel see the text of this right now when they're not even out with it publicly, if they're afraid that Israel might do something to try to scuttle this?

SANGER: Well, first of all, you have to assume that Israeli intelligence led by the Mossad and all their electronic capabilities, they're pretty focused on getting a copy. And I'd be shocked if they haven't already seen something. Even on the Internet, you can see things that are versions that are close to the actual text, if not the final text.

Second, the Israelis are concerned about one piece of this, which is the president is negotiating a ceasefire that is across the board, including Lebanon and the battle with Hezbollah, although Israel's not a signatory. So the Israeli position is, why should we abide by an agreement that we're not a signatory to? And the White House's answer is because President Trump told you to.

And that gets to the essential conflict between Prime Minister Netanyahu and the president, who went into this war together and are leaving it deeply split.

KEILAR: You asked the president about the possibility that Iran, you know, sort of, they have the clocks, right?

SANGER: Right.

KEILAR: They have the time, we have the clocks, right? You asked him about the possibility of Iran dragging out these nuclear negotiations, even until the end of his term. How real of a possibility is that? And how does the president see that?

SANGER: Well, first of all, on the real possibility part, I covered the 2015 negotiation. It actually began in early 2024. So it was about 18 to 20 months to get that done, and then another four or five months to begin implementing it.

At which point, by the way, the Iranians did most of what almost everything that they promised that they would go do. The second is, I think that there's a possibility that the president will simply declare, I've got my 14 point agreement here. We're done with this.

It's time to move on. Look at this in the rearview mirror, as he said, today in Europe, and lose interest in the details, because the fact of the matter is, a lot of that nuclear material is buried under the rubble.

KEILAR: But then isn't he holding the bag on the consequences of that?

SANGER: He certainly would seem to be. Certainly seemed to be to me. You know, in 2018, when he pulled out of the Obama era agreement, he gave a very detailed speech from the White House about what was wrong with that agreement.

When you go back and you read that speech today, it's almost the agenda of what he's got to get done with the Iranians now.

KEILAR: Yes, that really puts it into perspective. David Sanger, thank you so much for being with us, we appreciate it.

SANGER: Thank you. Great to be here.

KEILAR: The VP going on The View, he talked inflation, immigration, racism, and his now infamous cat lady comment.

[15:45:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: Vice President J.D. Vance going on the defense a bit today during his debut on The View, the vice president promoting his new memoir, "Communion," which recounts his journey finding his Roman Catholic faith. But instead of pushing his book, Vance spent most of the time pushing back on the current issues that were brought up by the show's hosts, who are known critics of President Trump.

One detail from his book that did come up his regrets on his infamous 2021 remark critiquing, quote, childless cat ladies.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

J.D. VANCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Did that comment actually shed light on something and start a discussion or did it just close people down? And when I make a comment that just closes people down instead of trying to appreciate the point that I make, that's a mistake. Right.

And that's on me to do better. I do think in a very subtle, sometimes in a more profound way, I think our country has become more anti- family and more anti-child.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: CNN's Steve Contorno is covering the vice president and his new book. All right, Steve, what parts of this interview stood out to you?

STEVE CONTORNO, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Well, Brianna, it is exceedingly rare for a sitting vice president to write one of these political memoirs. And so watching him on The View both try to sell a book and try to sell the Trump administration to a skeptical audience was itself very compelling. And it speaks to the unique and remarkable situation he is in, trying to both be the vice president to a controversial president and also trying to clear the field of the Republican Party going into 2028 and make his case to succeed Trump as the 48th president.

And you saw this in this interview time and again, where he is both trying to make himself and step out independently, but also have to defend the president. Take a listen, for example, in how he spoke about this economy and the struggles that many Americans are facing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VANCE: We inherited an affordability problem. We're doing a lot to make it better. It's going to take a little bit of time.

There's a lot more work to do, but the president knows that a lot of Americans are struggling. In fact, he ran on that.

[15:50:00]

He talked about it and we've done some things and made some good progress on that point.

ANA NAVARRO, CO-HOST THE VIEW: He just said he loves the inflation.

VANCE: What he said, Ana, what he said is that he loves the fact that the inflation is going to come down when this war is over.

WHOOPI GOLDBERG, CO-HOST THE VIEW: That's not what he said.

JOY BEHAR, CO-HOST THE VIEW: Are you going to toughen up, are going just Vice President?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CONTORNO: Now, one of the reasons that President Trump picked Vance to be his running mate is because him and his staff believed he actually was a good interpreter and was more adept as than the other running mate candidates and stepping into these kinds of spaces and defending the president. And he did it as well when he was pressed by one of the hosts about the administration's approach to Black history and removing Black artifacts and Black figures throughout the administration. We've seen it at the Pentagon.

Here's what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SUNNY HOSTIN, CO-HOST THE VIEW: Black history, it's being erased from public --

VANCE: Black history is not erased.

HOSTIN: That is true.

(CROSSTALK)

VANCE: Yes, I'm telling you, we celebrate black history. We celebrate all American history in this administration.

ALYSSA FARAH GRIFFIN, CO-HOST THE VIEW: We'll probably get to Iran when we get back.

VANCE: I'm telling we celebrate Black history. We Celebrate all American history. And this administration ...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CONTORNO: Now, talking to some of Vance's allies, they were quite pleased with his performance. And the president was apparently supportive of him going on this book tour and promoting this book. But it does continue to present this interesting dynamic where he is both trying to be a spokesperson for the administration as he is making this decision on whether he is going to run in 2028 -- Brianna.

KEILAR: Yes, very interesting. Steve Contorno, thank you so much for the report.

Another wild ending at a World Cup match, this time featuring Team Iran. We'll have that next.

[15:55:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: Another wild ending at the World Cup, Iran pulling off a 2-2 draw with a late goal in its tournament opener against New Zealand Monday.

SANCHEZ: It is the first time in World Cup history that a host nation is at war with one other participant. Right after the match, Iran's coach said the team was immediately ordered back to their training base in Mexico. CNN Sports anchor Don Riddell is here with more. Don, it was always

understood that Iran would leave California after its match. The question here is the timing of their return to Mexico.

DON RIDDELL, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Yes, I think that's an interesting way of phrasing it when we say it was always understood because the Iranians would say, well, it was always understood that our base was going to be in Arizona until the Americans said, no, you can't stay here at all. So kind of at the last minute, they had to relocate and set up camp just over the border into Tijuana, Mexico. They got themselves into California to play this game against New Zealand and twice coming from behind to force a thrilling draw.

It was a great game. But afterwards, the Iranian coach not happy at all with the fact that they had to get straight on the plane and get back to Mexico, which is certainly kind of ridiculous when you think that the next game is going to be back in Los Angeles against Belgium on Sunday. But that is the situation they now have to deal with.

It's not ideal, but they are pointing out that they feel as though they're being very unfairly treated. The action continues today, day six of the tournament, and we've got some megastars in action, Kylian Mbappe, the front star in action for Les Bleus against Senegal. Not the best first half, it must be said. That game is currently goalless.

We've also got Argentina in action, Lionel Messi playing in his sixth World Cup, which is just extraordinary, a World Cup career spanning two decades. They are going to be playing Algeria later on.

And we've also got Norway returning to the World Cup for the first time in 28 years. Their Premier League megastar Erling Haaland will be leading the line. And we've just got to show you some wonderful footage from Boston, because often the stars of these World Cup tournaments are the fans.

And this is the Vikings arriving for the game against Iraq, not in a longboat, although perhaps they're pretending that's how they were arriving. The fans wisely getting up before they got to the top, because I think if any of those flags or capes got caught in the mechanism of that escalator, it wouldn't have been a great scene.

SANCHEZ: Escalators are kind of scary.

KEILAR: You've got to know where that safety button is. It's right there at the top in the little case. It's essential.

It's essential for everyone, but I think it's especially essential if you're a Viking football fan. That's when it becomes super essential.

SANCHEZ: Don Riddell, thank you so much for the update from the World Cup.

So you've heard the old saying that something is as American as apple pie. How do you make an apple pie even more American?

How about frying it, sticking it in cooking oil? That's exactly what McDonald's is doing for America's 250th birthday. The fast food giant bringing back its fried apple pies for a limited time only for the first time in more than three decades.

KEILAR: Yes, back in the early '90s, McDonald's replaced its fried apple pie with a baked version here in the U.S. And the White House is even posting about the fried pies return on social media. They posted a picture of President Trump with McDonald's bags. He does love McDonald's.

And they put a caption there, "Making America Great Again for real."

The thing about the apple pie, Boris, that makes it different, although the baked version, I've got to be honest, it's kind of lovely. You look at it in the fried version. It's kind of like it's unmistakable. It's a blistered --

Do you see it? There it is. It's a blistered dough. And I think what we've learned as we do covering fairs and the like that you fry anything kind of gets better.

SANCHEZ: Oh, it's amazing. Yes. Yes.

KEILAR: Oreos.

[16:00:00]

SANCHEZ: Shout out to the caramel apple empanada that they sell at Taco Bell. I'm pretty sure that's fried.

KEILAR: Wow.

SANCHEZ: So when this goes away, you can just go to Taco Bell and kind of get the same thing. Why did it ever go away?

KEILAR: THE ARENA with Kasie Hunt starts right now. You know, probably health.

END