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Trump's Iran Agreement Draws Fierce Backlash from Conservatives; Soon, Grand Opening Ceremony for Obama Presidential Center in Chicago; Tornado Outbreak Rakes Midwest Amid Unusually Strong June Storm. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired June 18, 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]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking news, some quotes here, the worst foreign policy blunder in decades, American surrender, and those comments from Republicans on the U.S. agreement with Iran. This morning, the president, in an early morning social media tirade, lashing out at those critics.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: And we are live here in Chicago, where the President Barack Obama Library is about to open to great ceremony. We will see past presidents and some very famous stars.

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN ANCHOR: And we are live in New York City, where Knicks fans are already lining up to celebrate their hometown champs, the Ticker-tape parade, more than 50 years in the making.

Kate is off today. I'm Omar Jimenez, alongside John Berman and Sara Sidner. This is CNN News Central.

BERMAN: And the breaking news, withering criticism of the agreement the president signed with Iran, and a lot of it is coming from members of his own party. And this morning, before dawn, the president indicated he does not like these comments one bit.

Now, the concerns raised include the pause in sanctions allowing Iran to sell oil immediately, the lack of specifics on curbing Iran's nuclear program, the opening for Iran to ultimately charge fees for ships to transit the Strait of Hormuz, and beyond the text of the plan, criticisms of the new comments that the president himself made suggesting Iran should be allowed to have missiles, even though one of the stated goals of the whole war was to destroy their missiles.

Listen now to the critics.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BILL CASSIDY (R-LA): This will go down as a tremendous foreign policy blunder. Iran ends up stronger.

SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX): Now, I don't want to see theocratic Islamists who want to kill us made stronger. So, if this deal is giving them $300 billion, that's a mistake. TREY GOWDY, FOX NEWS HOST: They're better off than they were before the hostilities began, and that should not be the consequence of war.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: How do you know the president doesn't like these comments? Around 4:30 A.M. this morning, he wrote, quote, these fools who think I haven't been tough enough on Iran are either jealous, bad people, or stupid.

Let's get to CNN's Betsy Klein live at the White House this morning. It might not be a happy morning there for the president as he is now back from the G7.

BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE PRODUCER: Yes, John. When the president was in France yesterday holding this press conference, he had one very specific goal, and that was to convince a skeptical public, including Republicans, that this deal that he had reached with Iran was both different from the Obama-era Iran deal and a good deal for the United States.

Now, he says that it's going to prevent Iran from procuring or producing a nuclear weapon, and that it will reopen the Strait of Hormuz. The president's seeking to defend the waivers that allow Iran to export oil and the provision that commits the U.S. and regional partners to developing a $300 billion reconstruction and economic development fund that he says the U.S. will not provide any money to.

But he also said very revealing comments that he is, in part, signing this agreement to avoid economic catastrophe by ending this conflict. He said, if it had gone on any longer, it could have led to that, and also said that he didn't want to be Herbert Hoover, of course, referring to the U.S. president who presided over the Great Depression.

But the president signing a hard copy of this agreement last night during a dinner at the Palace of Versailles before returning to Washington overnight. What's unclear now is whether this deal has actually started that 60-day clock for the more technical discussions on Iran's nuclear material. The president has suggested himself that that deadline is flexible.

Meanwhile, the White House fielding new criticism about this deal, including in Iran, where one newspaper says that the U.S. has suffered, quote, a glorious defeat, and from lawmakers, including Senator Ted Cruz, who warned it could be a mistake, as well as Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, who has sparred with the White House recently.

[07:05:09]

He said in a post to social media that it could be the worst foreign policy blunder in decades.

Now, Vice President J.D. Vance is expected to travel to Switzerland, where he is going to meet with Iran, as well as mediators Pakistan and Qatar. They are going to have initial talks about implementation of this deal according to the Swiss. John?

BERMAN: His comments about Herbert Hoover seem to be a tacit admission that Iran's economic strategy might have been working.

Betsy Klein at the White House this morning, we will see what more the president has to say if he gets back on social media. Thank you.

Sarah Sidner in Chicago.

SIDNER: John, the music is already starting here literally on cue right as we began. We are here live in Chicago. We're just hours away from a huge celebration more than a decade in the making, the opening of the Obama Presidential Center.

This sprawling campus behind me, you can see just parts of it here is -- has all sorts of things in it. It is meant not to be just a standing memorial or a standing symbol of the Obamas but something that the entire community can actually come and see and use, something that grows with time, a place for educating people, a place of art, even a garden that the first lady, Michelle Obama, put in place so that people can go and try and learn how to really care for themselves and keep themselves healthy, the youth of this town.

And you see that huge tower. You cannot miss it as you are driving in the South Side of Chicago, which has the words of one of President Obama's speeches on it.

Let us go to our fantastic correspondent who has been here taking a tour of this facility and meeting all the people who are coming in and who will be here, which include past presidents and their wives, as well as folks, like Stevie Wonder, Christina Aguilera. It is going to be a party. Jeff Zeleny is sitting just beside me here.

You got to take a look at the inside of this, which is a hard ticket to get, hard to get in before the opening. Give us some sense of what it feels like in there, what you see.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Sarah, this is a rite of American passage. It's the first time a presidential center has been opened in 13 years. The last one was the George W. Bush Presidential Library in Dallas in 2013 during the Obama administration. So, now, President Bush and Mrs. Bush will be on hand here for this.

And it is an extraordinary center, like you were saying, and the museum is just one small part of it. But we did take a walk through the museum. And it's more than just his campaign and his presidency. It really is a bit of a history lesson for how he arrived as the first African American president and who came before him.

But there are also so many moments inside parts of his legacy that were completed, that were not completed. But also we had a chance to walk through this replica Oval Office. Let's look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) ZELENY: Here is the replica Oval Office. When you walk inside here, it's reminiscent of most every presidential library and museum. Everyone has them, right down to the replica Resolute Desk. Of course, Donald Trump is not mentioned at all in this presidential center, but when you look around this room, perhaps this is the most striking example of how very different things are.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZELENY: So, certainly, it talks about the trajectory from the South Side of Chicago here, where Barack Obama arrived more than four decades ago as a community organizer, long before he met Michelle Robinson, who of course was born and raised here. And this museum is also about Mrs. Obama. There are many moments and pieces of her legacy as well.

So, I am told that only President Obama and the former first lady, Michelle Obama, will be speaking today. But as you said, the rest of the lineup is a star-studded cast of entertainers. And we have a new poll out this morning showing that 57 percent of Americans hold President Obama in a favorable light. That, of course, puts him in a higher rank than any other former living president.

SIDNER: Yes. It tells you a lot about the legacy that he wants to build, and he wants it to be a living legacy, something that people can enjoy for decades and decades to come.

Jeff Zeleny, I'm so glad to be here with you.

ZELENY: Great to be here with you too.

SIDNER: We made it without all the crazy weather. It is a beautiful day. Boy, they are getting the best weather here in Chicago. And that's hard to do in the summertime.

Over to you, John.

BERMAN: All right. It is so great that you are there. It looks fabulous, Sara, and I have to say, from now on, everywhere you go you will be followed by smooth jazz. Excellent.

[07:10:00]

All right, we do have other news. Breaking overnight, Ukraine launches the biggest assault on Moscow since the start of the war. Hundreds and hundreds of drones hit around the Russian capital. We're getting new reports in of the damage there.

Then dangerous storms overnight, and now a level four out of four risk for flooding with severe rain all over the map.

And then is this the most effective way to respond to a string of bear attacks, a man-sized bear costume? What could possibly go wrong?

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[07:15:00]

BERMAN: All right. Breaking overnight, a tornado outbreak tore through the Midwest, hitting at least five states. The roof of an elementary school was partially ripped off, exposing the classrooms inside. You can see them there as that drone just flies over.

The threat is not over yet. Texas and parts of the South are bracing for even more rain, and a rare high-risk flood warning has been issued for the Gulf Coast.

Meteorologist Melissa Nord tracking the latest for us this morning. What are you seeing?

MELISSA NORD, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, we're seeing a lot of damage left over from last night's storms out there. Let me show you some video coming in from last night. This is from Effingham, Illinois, and you can clearly see in the midst of those agricultural fields, we've got that tornado that was on the ground. Some damage reported from the tornadoes overnight.

What's left of that storm system, though, pushing through the Ohio Valley, racing across the Appalachians into the Mid-Atlantic. And we are also going to be watching a couple of showers, hit or miss, around New York City for the Knicks parade later on this morning. But the better storm chance there across the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic ramps up this afternoon as daytime heating gets underway. So, that'll be for damaging winds, a level two threat of severe weather.

Also, tornadoes in the south yesterday, thanks to Tropical Storm Arthur. This is video from Enterprise, Alabama, in Southern Alabama yesterday that did cause some very minor damage there. We've also been dealing with some tornado warnings this morning near the New Orleans area. That's a live look right now from our camera down there. You can see some flashes of lightning in the distance.

Earlier, we did have some radar-confirmed tornadoes on the ground, but right now, very heavy rain with a severe thunderstorm, warned storm that's on the northern side of New Orleans right now, and that's moving north. But the big flood threat today is the flooding, the big weather threat from the remnants of Arthur.

Look at all this heavy rainfall that's training and going over the same areas over and over again. That is moving off the Gulf, just really inundating some areas with rainfall rates that are going to be in excess of two to three inches per hour, and that flood threat expands eastward today.

But as John mentioned, a very rare level four out of four high risk of excessive rainfall today. That's only issued on 4 percent of days, but it accounts for one-third of flood-related fatalities and four-fifths of flood-related damages. So, this means you got to take this forecast for heavy rainfall seriously as the remnants of Arthur move on shore.

We can see some additional rainfall amounts, five to ten inches, but, locally, some of those could push one foot or higher through tomorrow. You can see a lot of that rain clustered over Southern Mississippi and Alabama this morning, but then by the end of the day, we're seeing that flood threat moving eastward into places like Georgia, like Atlanta, and we will see more rain left over as we lead through the day tomorrow. John?

BERMAN: Just to reiterate, a foot of rain possible in some places, which is a lot of rain.

Melissa Nord, thank you so much for that update.

All right, breaking overnight, gas prices dipping under $4 a gallon for the first time since March.

And breaking overnight, the Department of Interior says the once very green water in the Reflecting Pool that was supposed to be blue, they say it's now crystal clear. We are checking for evidence of that this morning.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:20:00]

BERMAN: All right. These pictures are from just a few moments ago. The streets of Manhattan this morning, it's not even 7:30 yet, and you can see people just lining up there. I saw them when I came in this morning. They were there overnight. More than a million people expected, I would say well over a million, maybe millions, in downtown Manhattan to celebrate the NBA champion New York Knicks.

10,000 NYPD officers will be on scene. This is the largest deployment for a single event ever. As I said, there were fans lining up all night long, coming into the trains all night long. The parade officially begins at 10:00 A.M. The team will receive the key to the city from Mayor Mamdani at noon at City Hall.

That is where we have CNN's Omar Jimenez, a fan of one of the last teams to actually beat the Knicks, like three months ago. Great to have you down there, Omar.

JIMENEZ: Yes. Technically, the team that put up the largest fight against the Knicks, perhaps credited with waking up the Knicks, so in a rare form of alliance between Atlanta fans and New York fans. But today is all about the Knicks here in New York City.

You were talking about the excitement. It was hard for me to even get here to City Hall. I was taking the subway, like I typically do, and yes, the subway was crowded, but I had never been in a situation where I couldn't actually get out of the station because there were so many people packed out, combined with the people that were packing the streets as well.

And then when you look from the air as well, I mean, you talked about it, the NYPD is expecting millions of people to show up as part of what Mayor Zohran Mamdani has described as what he expects to be the largest parade in the city's -- in history for this city.

And just to give you an idea of the security footprint here, over 10,000 police officers are deployed to help with this event. That's almost the entire size of the Chicago Police Department that is out here trying to make sure this happens safely.

And for those watching who aren't from New York might be wondering, why is this such a big deal? One, this hasn't happened in more than 50 years. But I also want you to listen to how the mayor described why this feels different.

[07:25:02]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIMENEZ: How would you explain why this feels different?

MAYOR ZOHRAN MAMDANI (D-NEW YORK CITY, NY): I think one is the wait. We're talking about 53 years since we last won a championship, 26 years since we were last in the finals. Then I think it's also a story about the full circle moment of this. In '99, we were up against the Spurs. Rick Brunson was on that team. We lost 4-1. Now, in 2026, his son, Jalen Brunson, is the captain of the team. We beat that same team 4-1.

It feels like a fulfillment of all those hopes. And I think also for the city, it feels as if the entire city has rallied around this team. And some of it is the wait. Some of it also, though, is that people are so excited to be outside with one another, are so excited to be a part of something bigger than themselves.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JIMENEZ: So, one of the things that the mayor was talking about, look, New York has a lot of sports teams, Yankees, Mets in the MLB, Jets, Giants, NFL. Even though the Nets are here, and no shade to the Nets, this is really a Knicks city. And so when the Knicks win, the city really unites in a way that you don't typically see.

I mean, this was the shirt that was out at game four, that historic comeback in the NBA Finals. This was on all the seats. I've seen a lot of these shirts out and about. And so people who were at the game games ago also getting out here early.

I should mention, this doesn't start for hours, and so many people are already out getting ready to celebrate this historic day.

BERMAN: It really has been amazing. I mean, like 100-mile radius of the city the last few weeks while the series was still going on, people completely out of context, like in the supermarket, at the top of their voice would yell, Knicks in five, like buying broccoli. I mean, it was -- that's the way it's been around here for a while.

Great to have you there, Omar. We'll check back with you shortly.

All right, we're getting new information about one of the more stunning pictures we've seen, people pulling survivors from a plane crash on a highway. Now, we've learned what happened just minutes before this plane went down. Also, a wild rescue after a Tesla ends up in a public pool. I do not think that's an authorized parking space.

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