Return to Transcripts main page

CNN News Central

Rep. Robin Kelly (D-IL) is Interveiwed about the Obama Presidential Center; Political Cost of Iran Agreement; Power Struggle Between A.I. Companies. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired June 18, 2026 - 09:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:31:58]

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: All right, we are live here. That is Jennifer Hudson, a Chicago native. She will be here. She is practicing now, but it doesn't sound like it. She's incredible.

We are here, of course, for the celebration of the opening of the Barack Obama Presidential Center. And it really is a center. I mean you're seeing that huge building there, which encases many different things, art and some of the library. But this is a center. There is much more to this. It is a huge bit of land, really, where there is a park, there is -- there are all sorts of things. And it really is along the lines of what President Barack Obama ran on, which was hope and change. And he's still talking about change. He's like, don't always look backwards. Look forward. We still got work to do is what the mantra is here.

And, of course, First Lady Michelle Obama had a lot to do with this as well. She is well featured inside of this center as well. And some of her work, especially her work with trying to keep people healthy, children in particular. There is a whole garden here that you can actually go in, pick fruits and vegetables and learn how to cook them. They will have programs for kids and adults alike with that.

But joining me now, we've got Representative Robin Kelly here, who goes way back with the Obamas.

Give us some sense of what it feels like today to be here, to be in the south side and see this enormous complex, which is quite beautiful, sort of rise up, surrounded by a little water to your left, because it is Chicago, and all this greenery to your right.

REP. ROBIN KELLY (D-IL): Well, it gives me great pride because I'm the congresswoman of the Second Congressional District. And this is in my district. And we have the Museum of Science and Industry. We have this. We have Pullman. I mean, it really, you know, tops off the culture of the south side that people may not really realize. But I am so proud. And like you said, I've known him since he was a state senator and I was a state rep, which was 20 something years ago, I hate to admit.

SIDNER: I think we have a picture of this. If we can pull up the picture of the representative and Barack Obama back in the day before he was President Obama.

KELLY: When we both had brown hair.

SIDNER: And when we all had brown hair, because I've got plenty of my grays in here too.

But this is -- have you -- have you gotten a chance to sort of go through and see what is now a part of your district?

KELLY: You know, I haven't seen everything. But I was here with the hard hat and the steel boots from the beginning. So, I saw it being built. I was at -- when they opened up the basketball court, the home court, I was there. So, I've seen a lot of it. But not the very finishing touch. I was waiting until now.

SIDNER: They're taking us to church right now behind us. So, it's going to get -- it's going to get quite loud. But Jennifer Hudson is on stage. Stevie Wonder is here. Bruce Springsteen is here.

KELLY: Yes.

SIDNER: Christina Aguilera is here. Bono is here. What does it say about the Obamas that all of these people have shown up to be a part of this historic moment here, not just for Chicago, but for the country and even the world. This is open to the public today.

KELLY: I can tell you, the country and the world -- I just came back from London and I was in France.

[09:35:04]

The country and the world miss Barack and Michelle Obama. I mean they were so well respected, even if you didn't agree with every single thing, but so well respected. And they gave so much respect to others. And, you know, like you said, hope and opportunity, they just make you feel better.

SIDNER: Speaking of respect or disrespect, we've been hearing from President Trump --

KELLY: Who?

SIDNER: Who has been working through trying to put together a plan to end the war with Iran. He has signed an MOU with the Iranians, which allows the Strait of Hormuz to open, which a lot of people are saying, good, we're glad to see that.

But the details are just very vague as to what happens next. There was the JCPOA that was in place. That was brokered -- two years it took the Obama administration to broker that deal to try to keep Iran from having a nuclear weapon.

I want you to listen to what President Trump said about Obama and about how Iran responded to that JCPOA, what he thought the Iranians thought about that particular deal.

Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I have pictures of it. Like, oh my God, look at this money he's giving us. He tried to bribe his way out. I didn't do that. Nobody mentions that. $1.7 billion and hundreds of millions of dollars. They tried to bribe their way out of it. And you know what the Iranians did? They laughed at Obama and they said he's a stupid son of a (EXPLETIVE DELETED).

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: Is that how you recall it, that they laughed at Obama and called him a stupid SOB? That is the language that a president is using against another president, who, by the way, he knows is having this opening today.

KELLY: Oh, I'm sure this is all part of his strategy and plan to take away from President Obama and Mrs. Obama's legacy. And I watched the news this morning before I came here. Even Republicans don't agree with what he's doing. And he does everything under the cloak of night, the cloak of dark. And the billions of dollars, absolute ridiculous. We don't have billions of dollars for health care, for food, for everyone, for housing, but we have billions of dollars for this? Absolutely ridiculous. But even the Republicans are -- Ted Cruz, Thune, are not happy with this.

SIDNER: Ultimately, we are being sung out by a child of Chicago.

KELLY: Right.

SIDNER: Give me a sense of what it feels like to be here for those who cannot join you.

KELLY: Say that again.

SIDNER: A sense of what it feels like to be here for those who can't join right now.

KELLY: I mean, for me, it's just so much pride and it's just beautiful. And again, a spirit of hope, a spirit of love. Some things we've been missing, quite frankly, because of what's going on in this country. And the unity, the collaboration of people of all, you know, races, religion, geographic location have come in for them. That says a lot.

SIDNER: Well, Jennifer Hudson is asking us to dream the impossible dream. The Obamas did that and ended up in the White House. And that's what this is all about.

Back to you, John. I know it's getting hard to hear, but, boy, is that some good sound.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Special coverage with Sara Sidner of the opening of the Obama Presidential Center begins at 11:30 a.m. Eastern on CNN and the CNN app. And we promise that music follows Sara wherever she goes.

All right, I want to show you a live picture right now. This is the Reflecting Pool in front of the Lincoln Memorial. And I count one, two, three, four people in the water now. In the water, trying to clean it out. We've got people on the scene. The Department of Interior says they are battling the algae in this pool like it's the Iranian navy. That's the thing they actually said. So, we'll get an update from there shortly.

All right, is this the most effective way to respond to a string of bear attacks? A guy in a -- I don't even know. A guy in a bear hat. Will he make a nation safe?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:43:47]

BERMAN: All right, this morning, the president waking up to criticism largely from Republicans about the agreement he has signed with Iran. There are Republicans who say this was a surrender. But the president clearly thinks it's important to put, as he put it, Iran in the rear view mirror. He says it will help the economy. Will all of this be enough to improve his political position?

With us now, CNN chief data analyst Harry Enten.

I mean, clearly, the president thinks this is a good decision, at least politically, whether or not for national security is a different matter here.

HARRY ENTEN, CNN CHIEF DATA ANALYST: Yes.

BERMAN: But politically speaking, what do we know? Where is he now?

ENTEN: Yes, I think the American people are going, what was the point of all of that? What was the point of all that because the American people hate it.

And the way you can know that they hate it, just take a look, Trump's net approval rating hits lows for Fox polls, and these are Fox polls. In May, he hit his lowest ever rating at minus 22 points. You come into the poll that was released last night, the second lowest ever, one point better at minus 21 points. Way underwater. And with independents, I know you love when I point out the independents, Johnny B., 55 points underwater. I mean, my goodness gracious.

[09:45:00]

This was a political disaster. No wonder the president wants to move on from it.

BERMAN: He said he didn't want to be Herbert Hoover.

ENTEN: Yes.

BERMAN: It may be that voters were already looking at him like that, in a manner of speaking.

What about on inflation, which may be driving some of these numbers and directly related to the war with Iran?

ENTEN: Yes, you know, you mentioned Herbert Hoover, the economy, right? That sunk his presidency. Inflation is what is sinking Donald Trump's presidency to all-time lows, at least according to Fox, because just take a look here. Look at Ipsos polling. Trump's net approval rating on inflation pre-Iran War it was bad, right? It was 33 points underwater. But then look in the past month, the average, according to the Ipsos polling, look at that, 51 points underwater. There was no president ever before that had any poll in which he was 50 points underwater on inflation or worse. And the average of the Ipsos polling over the last month was 51 points underwater on inflation. The Iran War absolutely drove Trump to new lows on the issue that got him re-elected in the first place, inflation.

BERMAN: Which is why he was seeing Herbert Hoover there.

ENTEN: Yes.

BERMAN: What does history tell us about an event like this, a conflict like this, what it might do to your approval long term?

ENTEN: Yes, if people don't like essentially getting out of the war, right. I mean, just take a look at this. Biden, right. The Afghanistan withdrawal. Days Biden had a negative net approval rating post- Afghanistan withdrawal, all of them. His presidency was, simply put, sunk by it.

Now, I'm not saying that's necessarily what's going to happen with Donald Trump, but it is an ominous potential signal for him when, in fact, you have -- getting out of a situation the American people don't like here.

BERMAN: And it may not have been the only reason, but it was a notable date there to be sure.

All right, but the president sees all this. He can see this. He can read the polls here.

ENTEN: Yes. He knows it.

BERMAN: Gas prices are now below $4 a gallon here.

ENTEN: Yes.

BERMAN: What are the prediction markets saying they will be in the future?

ENTEN: Yes, if he's not going to be the next Joe Biden, this is the helpful sign for him, right? Chance gas prices this year rise above $5 a gallon. You know, you go back about a month ago it was a 74 percent chance according to the Kalshi prediction markets. Now it's just a 22 percent chance. This is the type of stuff that Donald Trump needs to avoid being a new Joe Biden. BERMAN: Harry Enten, thank you very much.

We have a lot of news this morning. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:51:50]

BERMAN: All right, an 18-year-old tourist has died after being thrown from a horse drawn carriage in Central Park here in New York. A representative from the Carriage Drivers Union says the horse bolted after the driver climbed down to take a picture of the passengers. The victim was tossed when the horse clipped another carriage and crashed.

Qantas Airways preparing to break a record in commercial aviation. A 22-hour nonstop flight between London and Sydney. This would break the record for the longest direct flight in the world, currently held by Singapore Airlines, which flies between Singapore and New York. A flight I have actually taken, which was really long. So, Qantas says that there aren't going to be as many seats on this plane to provide for more space. They're going to have more wellness options for the 10,573-mile journey. Tickets go on sale in February. I suggest avoiding the middle seat.

All right, this morning, the unusual approach from the Japanese government to address the string of bear attacks there. These are emergency response drills. And you can see they include a human with a bear suit crawling around acting like he's getting shot. The drills are in response to a string of bear sightings and attacks there. Now, we've been trying to figure out what exactly is going on here. Apparently, there they use the person in costume there to help understand, I guess, positioning and what to do. It's sort of role playing. So, I know it looks odd, but here at CNN NEWS CENTRAL we are pro-role playing.

All right, there's a power struggle shaping up right now between some of the top leaders in A.I. and the U.S. government. Anthropic was forced to suspend access to two of its most powerful A.I. models to comply with a directive from the Trump administration. Anthropic said the government cited national security issues but did not provide specific details about what the actual worry is. And this raised a number of questions about who should have leverage and control when it comes to these concerns.

With us now, Madison Mills, our friend from "Axios," who is the senior A.I. reporter there.

So, Madison, explain what these controls mean for the A.I. industry.

MADISON MILLS, SENIOR A.I. REPORTER, "AXIOS": What it means for now is that Anthropic's most powerful models, also the most expensive ones for them to train and build, the most expensive ones for their potential customers, are no longer accessible for anyone. These export controls were focused on foreign nationals, for example, but by last Friday evening, Anthropic had just determined that the export rules were worded in such a way that it was just better to turn off access to them entirely.

And that's a major problem from a business perspective because, obviously, Anthropic is working to turn back on this access. But they have been teasing this for months. You may have heard of this model, Mythos, for those listening, that was supposed to be this most powerful, most scary but exciting model ever. And then within a couple of days, that model is no longer accessible or sellable. So, that's a big problem from a business perspective for Anthropic.

[09:55:00]

BERMAN: And these companies, these American A.I. companies, there's the suggestion that some of these controls hamper their ability to spread around the world. And in doing so, give other countries an edge in A.I. Explain where that stands.

MILLS: Yes. I mean, it absolutely does hinder their ability, right, because I'm already talking to companies that have been -- sort of had the rug pulled out from under them with this dialing back of Anthropic's model availability, and some of them have switched to open source models coming out of China in response. So, that's a leg up for Chinese A.I. labs.

BERMAN: Madison, thank you very much. I didn't realize you stopped talking there. There's so many ways the wild west of computer science at this point, and everyone figuring out the rules as they go along, and in some cases making new rules as they go along. Thank you so much for sharing your reporting on this.

All right, a big morning of news. Sara Sidner at the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago. We'll be covering that opening live beginning at 11:30. The Knicks parade kicks off any minute. J.D. Vance with a news conference at the White House. All be at the gym. "THE SITUATION ROOM" is up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)