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Vance Abruptly Postpones Trip to Switzerland for Iran Talks; Source Says, New Acting Intel Chief Eyes Firing Hundreds of DNI Workers; Tropical Remnants Fuel Flooding, Tornadoes in Gulf Coast. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired June 19, 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 overnight, the vice president is staying home and talks with Iran have been called off for now, a rocky start to the U.S.-Iran agreement.

New this morning, the president's pick to be temporary intelligence chief, controversial among Democrats and Republicans, shows up to work early, already looking to cut hundreds of jobs.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: And breaking overnight, water rescues in Mississippi as deadly widespread flooding wreaks havoc along the Gulf Coast. There are still huge threats to safety for millions of people in the storm zone.

Kate is out today. I'm Sara Sidner, here reporting to you from Chicago. John Berman, of course, is in New York for us this morning. This is CNN News Central.

BERMAN: So, this morning, what was supposed to be day one of this new 60-day negotiating period between the United States and Iran has turned into day nothing. Vice President J.D. Vance was supposed to be in Switzerland meeting today, but that trip has now been postponed, is what they're saying, with little explanation.

A diplomat tells CNN that Iran is seeking guarantees that hostilities in Lebanon will end before it resumes talks with the U.S., and there was new violence overnight. Israel says four soldiers were killed in Lebanon when a Hezbollah explosive device struck a tank. Israel hit back, launching airstrikes that killed at least 18 people. That's according to Lebanon's Health Ministry.

The US-Iran agreement was already the subject of scathing criticism from some Republicans, who called it an American surrender. The president chafed at that in an interview with Axios, and he suggested it's all a big display of his power.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What have you learned about not just the exercise of power, but the limits on your power as a result of the conflict?

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: There are no limits.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No limit?

TRUMP: No, not -- I haven't learned that lesson yet. I know there are, but, you know, there are no limits.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: I want to get right to CNN's Nic Robertson on the shores of lovely Lake Lucerne in Switzerland. Nic, it's a nice picture there, but not nice results, at least in terms of what the U.S. and Iran were hoping.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes, John. Look, if you wanted a venue that speaks peace and tranquility where two sides, the United States and Iran, can get away from the sort of domestic pressures of, is this a good MOU, is it a bad MOU, and just sit down and try to talk through and find the details and commonality that's going to bring a final result, if it's achievable, this would be the location.

That hotel on the top of the mountain there behind me was the venue. James Bond movies have been done around here. Goldfinger, I believe, was one of them. But right now, the thing that is missing here are the two sides.

And as you say there, the Iranians are pointing to Lebanon and saying that that is part of the deal, that the first part of the memorandum of understanding is a ceasefire in all areas, including Lebanon, and part of that first line -- first paragraph in the memorandum of understanding is that all sides should respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Lebanon.

But at the same time, Hezbollah is attacking Israeli troops who are inside of Lebanon. The Israeli prime minister says that is an abrogation of the ceasefire agreement. The Iranians are saying they're not coming until it's sorted out.

So, where do we realistically stand right now? These talks have been beset and fraught by the issue of Lebanon from the get-go two months ago. Was it or was it not included? It's definitively in the agreement, but that is the trickiest and hardest thing to pin down for President Trump.

And this is going to be the question, I think, where the pressure lands from President Trump towards the Israeli prime minister. Can he bring down the temperature of the hostilities there enough to bring the Iranians to the table, the talks table up here?

We've seen this before, the ups and downs, over the past few months of these talks. Diplomats are working behind the scenes here to try to get the two sides to the table. And until they are, that MOU is just words on a piece of paper.

[07:05:05] It's not a reality, and that's the difficulty where we stand today.

As far as we know, Nic, Iran still gets its boosted oil revenue even with the delay here, so it's unclear what incentive they have to rush to the table. We'll have to see what happens next.

Nic Robertson for us in Lucerne, thank you very much. Sara?

SIDNER: All right. Thank you, John Berman. Breaking this morning, a source now telling CNN that Acting Director of National Intelligence Bill Pulte is looking to cut hundreds of jobs within the department, and he wants to do it fast. Pulte arrived at his new job yesterday, one day early, reportedly asking for a list of every employee in the office so he could assess whether to fire them.

Sources say he is looking to cut hundreds of jobs. Democrats and some Republicans have raised concerns that he's simply unfit for the job.

With me now is CNN Senior National Security Analyst Juliette Kayyem. Juliette, he is the acting director. What is going on here, and why would you cut staff? You have to ask the question as to whether didn't DOGE do that already?

JULIETTE KAYYEM, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: It did. Look, Bill Pulte is there for one reason and that is to satisfy the president's agenda of politicizing the intelligence community. So, we'll look at sort of, you know, his notions, the president's notions of election fraud in various elections.

I want to say just it's not a personal opinion. By statute, Bill Pulte is not qualified for this position. The director of National Intelligence is supposed to come from the intelligence community. Bill Pulte is a businessman with strong ties to MAGA and to Trump. He now leads a housing authority of which he's used that position to go after the president's political critics and perceived political enemies, and that is why he is at the ODNI. There's just no other explanation for it.

So, his desire to fire a lot of people is just a way of putting fear into our intelligence agencies as the threats continue against the United States, as we end a war that we clearly did not win, however you spin it. And that is Pulte's job. There's just no other explanation for it, and Republican senators agree with me.

SIDNER: What are the national security implications for America of cutting these positions?

KAYYEM: Well, I mean, I'm glad you asked that because we tend to look at this through the lens of how Donald Trump wants us to look at this, which is essentially, you know, is he a friend or not a friend to what Trump wants to do, which is to use the intelligence agencies, all of them, because that's what the ODNI oversees, to go after political critics, and then obviously to go after anyone who might oppose an election threat against the president.

So, it does a couple things to the intelligence communities. It politicizes them in a way that we have never seen before. Look I'll -- you know, everyone gets to choose their CIA or ODNI director, but none have only, whose none have been like Pulte, whose only qualifications is politics, right?

The second is it keeps their eyes off of the emerging and real threats against the United States, which include not just Iran and other elements, but of course terrorism and Russia and Ukraine, and I can go through the list. So, Bill Pulte is solely there to satisfy a political agenda, and the only hope one has is that the Senate Republicans get the real nominee, Jay Clayton in.

Donald Trump pulled that nomination -- or not pulled the nomination, pulled the hearing this week, I think, because he wants Pulte in to get rid of people that are -- you know, we don't even know who these people are. It's just to scare everyone within the intelligence communities.

SIDNER: It is sort of, you know, fascinating to watch all of this happen from a president who talked so much about the deep state that was against him, and now to many, it seems, like he's trying to create the deep state himself.

Juliette Kayyem, thank you so much for walking us through that. I appreciate it. John?

BERMAN: All right. This morning, from reflecting pool to reflecting peel? A new look this morning after chunks were seen coming off the floor of the still partly green pool that was supposed to be blue after $14 million.

And breaking overnight, high water rescues underway after a supercharged storm system triggers deadly floods all across the south. Look at that.

And then just incredible scenes out of Russia as Ukraine launches an all-out drone assault. Look at that.

[07:10:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SIDNER: Breaking overnight, high-water rescues and flashflood emergencies across much of the south as severe weather supercharged by a tropical storm swept across the southeast. Now, heavy rains and strong winds ripped through some buildings. It turned roads into rivers, and there was flooding of homes. More than 10 million people are under flood watches today.

Meteorologist Derek Van Dam is tracking all this.

[07:15:00]

Wow, what a mess. We are in it now. We are in those summer storms.

DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, Sara, it is just a supercharged atmosphere across the Deep South. This is all the remnants of what was Tropical Storm Arthur. We'll call it the ghost of Arthur. It's leaving back its moisture, its energy, and that is what the atmosphere needs in order to fuel these rain-producing storms that have dumped over 25 inches in some locations.

I just want you to see the incredible pictures coming out of Southern Mississippi. Look at the homes that have been inundated. There have been four -- at least four flashflood emergencies. Look at these pigs in Louisiana trying to get to safety navigating through the flooded waters. And there's also been several homes that obviously have been completely inundated by this amount of water.

This is since the beginning of the week, okay? So, this is a multi-day event that has been unfolding across the Deep South. This is a look at the kind of a visual representation of where the hardest hit areas are in terms of the rainfall totals. You can see Southern Mississippi into Alabama, Southwestern Georgia. So, again, this is since the beginning of the week. Now we're going to look at another graphic. Zoom into the area. This is since yesterday at this time.

So, the bulk of the rain fell in a 24-hour period across Southern Louisiana and Mississippi. That's why we saw the flashflood emergencies, the state of emergencies declared by some of the governors there, and here are the ongoing flood watches.

Unfortunately, we're not done with this just yet. Even though Arthur, the remnants of Arthur, are now moving off the southeastern coastline, again, there's still a lot of energy in the -- for the atmosphere to tap into here across the Deep South.

So, Weather Prediction Center has this level three of four. Remember, yesterday, it was at its highest level of threat for flash flooding for this location. Now, we have a level three of four. We don't want to diminish the threat here because it is significant. The water levels are still running very high at some of the rivers. In fact, they're forecast to reach major flood stage at five different locations across this area.

So, that I-10 corridor, this is going to be a very difficult day to navigate through the afternoon. Look at the thunderstorms popping up through the day, extending into the early morning hours of Saturday, and that is going to add more misery to an area that's already been dealing with a very difficult, difficult situation.

So, the potential here for an additional six to ten inches of rain. That is tough to swallow. Sara, really tough flooding situation across the Deep South.

SIDNER: It is a mess. Yes. I know you'll be watching all of it, and people need to really pay attention to any of those warnings that come through. They usually show up on your phone.

Derek Van Dam, it really is a pleasure. Thank you so much. I do appreciate it.

All right, ahead, President Trump's $14 million reflecting pool renovation, a whole mess. The blue color the president insisted on now green with algae, and now the pool is peeling? What's going on here?

Also, I had a chance to talk with the legendary Dave Chappelle, one of the funniest men on the planet. What he says about politics today, something he is very clear he does not like talking about.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:20:00]

BERMAN: So, this morning, a brand new update from what might be the greenest $14 million blue pool in the country. Chunks of blue material are now peeling up from the bottom of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, that $14 million project, floating up in pieces.

Now, it's unclear if the chunks are the American flag blue paint the president personally touted or sealant. Plus, the algae is still there too, despite new devices installed to remove it and gallons of hydrogen peroxide poured in.

I want to get right to CNN's Betsy Klein from the White House. You have been reporting on this from the beginning, and there just keep being new twists and turns here.

BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes, John. Another issue coming to the surface of President Trump's $14 million project to repair and repaint the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, that American flag blue.

Some blue material at the bottom of the pool is peeling off. We sent our CNN summer intern, Abigail Roedersheimer, to the Reflecting Pool yesterday, where she observed that a flap of blue material that was partially attached to the bottom of the pool was floating to the surface.

Now, what's not clear right now is whether that is paint or sealant. It's also not clear why exactly it's coming up. The Department of Interior has not responded to our request for comment.

But we did speak with a pool infrastructure expert, who is president of the Aquatic Council. He told CNN there are plenty of reasons why this sealant or paint could be failing, but what's not clear right now is whether this is a localized issue or if they have a more systemic, bigger problem on their hands.

Now, all of this comes as the Trump administration has spent days dealing with a major algae bloom at the Reflecting Pool. They have deployed crews in waders to try to vacuum up some of that algae. They've deployed this nano-bubbler to put ozone into the pool. They have also been pouring hydrogen peroxide in plastic jugs into the pool.

But as of now, there's been some improvement. The Interior Department claims that it's crystal clear. It is still far from that. It's very green.

Algae has been a major issue plaguing administrations at this Reflecting Pool for many, many years, including during the Obama administration right after a $34 million renovation that actually ended up leaving 80 ducks dead around that time.

But it's a shallow pool. It's filled with water from the Potomac. It's very hot right now, so the conditions are perfect for algae. But this is clearly not the scene that President Trump wanted heading into the country's 250th anniversary celebration in just a couple of weeks, John.

BERMAN: As Betsy Klein says, a new problem coming to the surface, quite literally there in the Reflecting Pool.

[07:25:00]

We'll see what else surfaces over the next few hours.

Betsy Klein, thank you for sharing your reporting on this morning.

All right, truly stunning images, just a roof blown off a refinery in Moscow. Ukraine strikes deep into the heart of Russia, and the moment an officer rescues a two-year-old boy from a hot car.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, Jesus.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, buddy, can you hear me?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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[07:30:00]

BERMAN: All right, breaking overnight, watching oil prices. You can see Brent crude down again. West Texas up a little bit.