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Inflation Measure Tops Four Percent for First Time in Three Years; 12 Accused of Running Prison Drone Operation in Eight States; Team USA Preps for Final Group Play Showdown Against Turkey; Scotland Loses 3-0 to Brazil; Air Canada Flight Diverted After Captain Suffers Medical Emergency. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired June 25, 2026 - 13:30   ET

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

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[13:31:51]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": There's new federal data that shows annual inflation topping more than four percent in May, which is twice as hot as the Federal Reserve's preferred target for inflation and the highest in more than three years. The jump in oil and gas prices, well, that is what's driving why you are paying more overall just to live your life.

CNN's David Goldman is with us now to dig into the data here. David, what are the numbers saying?

DAVID GOLDMAN, CNN BUSINESS SENIOR REPORTER: Yeah, 4.1 percent, that is not what we want to see. That's the annual rate. And this, as you mentioned, is double what the Federal Reserve wants to see, at two percent. We had 0.4 percent last month alone. And the problem is this is the highest since October of 2023. So we are now into three-year- high territory.

This is a concern, Brianna, because this is real data. This is what people are actually paying. And when they don't have any money left in their wallet, then, you know, that becomes an issue, certainly for the economy.

KEILAR: Yeah. You're going to have to cut back other places. And at the same time, we are now seeing gas prices fall at their fastest level since the U.S. and Iran reached a deal. Tell us about that.

GOLDMAN: That's a great point. OK, so now I want you to forget everything that I just told you, because that was May. Now let's look at June. Gas prices, oil prices are way down, 18 percent, and that will have an effect on inflation this month which will be reported next month.

So this is already stale data. The other thing that I want you to keep in mind, though, is let's just strip all of that out of the report, food prices, energy prices, all of those volatile prices. We are still at three point four percent, and that was another three-year high. And that's a concern because the Fed wants this number to be at two percent as well. And so, now they've got a tricky choice to make. Are they going to raise rates in the next month? That is not what President Trump hired Kevin Warsh to do at the Fed. So there are some other factors too, A.I., housing, all of that factors into this number. Certainly people are paying a lot more.

I will leave you on a positive note, though. Spending, irrespective of inflation was up 0.3 percent in May. That is good news because the economy is powered by consumer spending. About 70 percent of the economy is consumer spending. That means people, despite all of that concern that we had, they are still finding ways to spend, Brianna.

KEILAR: Yeah. And maybe hoping this is temporary. We'll have to see if this agreement holds, if it leads to a sort of long-term deal. And maybe that is optimism that is warranted. David Goldman, thank you so much.

GOLDMAN: Thank you so much.

KEILAR: Yeah, we hope so. Still ahead, the Justice Department announcing a wave of arrests in what it calls a sophisticated crime network aimed at smuggling dangerous contraband into American prisons. We're talking drugs, weapons and escape tools. Stunning details that we have next.

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[13:39:21]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": Now to the contraband crackdown in the sky. The Justice Department announcing the arrest of 12 people accused of running a sophisticated multi-state drone operation that made deliveries to prisons. Federal prosecutors say they tracked the drones like this one displayed here, making nighttime drops of knives, drugs and other items to inmates. CNN's Ryan Young joins us now with the details.

And Ryan, the U.S. attorney said the base of operations to make this even more bizarre was a former daycare.

RYAN YOUNG, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, a former daycare that they kind of called the lab, which is very interesting here. And one of the reasons why you call it the lab is these drones were sophisticated and they were outfitted so they could drop large payloads.

[13:40:00]

Sometimes they were trash bags full of contraband. You're talking about cell phones, the saws that you talked about before, other weapons, and of course, food sometimes, because who doesn't want to get a meal when you're inside jail, apparently.

This is all a part of this. We even heard someone getting a crab dropped into a facility. So this just shows you the length that they'll go to, to get this done. And this was done during nighttime. But you have to give the Feds credit. They were able to track some of these drones and use the technology to find the people all involved in this.

You're talking about 12 different people indicted. You're talking about that former daycare where they were outfitting this. But this didn't happen just in Georgia. This happened in Kentucky. This happened as far north as West Virginia. So this plan was in place to have these incursions at these federal facilities over 30 different times.

And then you look at the list of weapons and things they were able to confiscate, you could understand why this would make this unsafe for the staff there at the facilities. This is not just a federal problem, by the way. We've been told by state officials as well, we've covered it, that this is an ongoing issue.

But take a listen to the FBI talk about this latest round of arrests.

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MARLO GRAHAM, SPECIAL AGENT IN CHARGE, FBI ATLANTA: We are talking about supplies of drugs, cell phones, cigarettes, but even blades that could be used as escape tools and weapons. These items are going into the hands of murderers, violent gang members, con men, and others, enabling them to commit additional crimes from behind bars.

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YOUNG: Yeah, Boris, look, one of my favorite movies is "Shawshank Redemption." I can never forget Andy Dufresne had that poster on the wall when he moved it. That's how he was able to escape. This is way more sophisticated than that sort of layout, if you think about it, where you're able to drop these large drops, especially bags, and have them fall in certain locations, and then people recover them before they're ever knowing this.

On top of all that, they're adding new systems to give drone alerts to some of these jails.

SANCHEZ: So, that was my next question. How do prisons handle this? What happened to the drones? Were they able to stop any of them mid- act?

YOUNG: Yeah, absolutely. And on top of all this, you got to think about it. The World Cup kind of plays a role in this, and I will say this. We've seen the FBI around the larger cities of the World Cup be able to down some of these drones and find people who are using them. That same technology that they now have is going to be used at some of these federal installations, and local and state jails as well, because they need to track these drones on a consistent basis.

They're not just pulling up outside of the prison and flying a drone over. Sometimes they're flying them from more than a mile away, high altitude, and making those drops. So you have to have this sophisticated technology to be able to track it down. Super interesting, but it's a problem that obviously won't go away anytime soon.

SANCHEZ: You wonder what could be achieved if that ingenuity was put toward not doing crimes, right? Ryan Young, thank you so much. Appreciate it.

YOUNG: Absolutely.

(LAUGH)

SANCHEZ: Still ahead, USA Soccer is set to make some changes ahead of their showdown with Turkey, and while they're guaranteed a spot in the knockout round, they are not expected to turn down the intensity tonight. We'll discuss next.

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[13:48:02]

KEILAR: The third time could be the history-making charm for Team USA at the World Cup. The men's national team is looking to snag its first-ever hat trick in group play tonight against Turkey. And on paper, the match doesn't mean much since the U.S. has already won Group D and Turkey is headed home.

But the Americans still hope to keep their momentum going. And a win could make them the first U.S. squad ever to win three games in the group phase. They're already the first U.S. team since 1930 to win two matches in group play. Kickoff is tonight at 10 p.m. Eastern at SoFi Stadium near Los Angeles.

We have Felipe Cardenas with us. He's a Senior Writer for "The Athletic." And tell us about Team USA not really needing to win tonight's match, but it really -- it is still important.

FELIPE CARDENAS, SENIOR WRITER, THE ATHLETIC: Yeah, I mean, you set up the stakes. Like, perhaps, you know, they've won the group. They know they're into the knockout rounds. But they can still make history. You know, I know Mauricio Pochettino, the Head Coach, told reporters yesterday that he wants players today to eat the field. Go out there and eat it up, and really show the intensity that the starting 11 has showed in the first two games.

And so while the game may seem meaningless on paper, like you mentioned, there's still a lot to play for. Momentum is everything at the World Cup. And certainly for the host country, it means a lot more as well.

KEILAR: Yeah, they need to project this strength. And we're all watching them, right? This is what we want. So what changes are going to be in the making for Team USA for this showdown? Is Christian Pulisic going to be playing?

CARDENAS: I mean, that's the big question. That's been the biggest question all week. He's rejoined the team. He's training with the team. So he's not training on his own, which is very typical of a player that is trying to get over an injury. And he spoke to reporters yesterday, Christian Pulisic saying that he's hopeful to play. So I think that tells you that he's probably not going to start, but he's feeling better.

[13:50:00]

He even told Jenny Taft from Fox that he feels 100 percent. So I'm not sure how many minutes he gets. I think Christian Pulisic getting time today is important for the flow of the game, for the flow of the player in general at a World Cup. You don't want to sit out too much. You want to be in that moment. You want to get your body ready.

So I think Mauricio Pochettino, as I mentioned, the Head Coach, is going to want to get him on there. But additional changes are going to be seen throughout the starting lineup. There are five players, very important starters that are on a yellow card. And at this World Cup, if you pick up two yellow cards in the group stage, you are suspended for that first knockout round.

So you're going to see a number of changes in the starting lineup across the position groups. And you'll see some players sitting out that are important to this team, like Tyler Adams in the field, Antonee Robinson on the left side, and Folarin Balogun, you know, the goal scorer has two goals for the U.S., unlikely to play. That was the one thing that Mauricio Pochettino said. That one's easy. We're not going to risk those players.

KEILAR: Yeah. How consequential is the yellow card situation potentially here?

CARDENAS: I mean, it is, like if you don't want to take a risk knowing that your next game is a knockout game and knockout, meaning like you lose and you go home. And so the most important game at this World Cup is still to come for the U.S. And Mauricio Pochettino knows that, you know, that's where he's going to be judged. This has been an excellent start.

The vibes could not be better for the U.S. But tonight is a vibe check. You know, how intense are they? How intense is that SoFi crowd going to be knowing that the stakes aren't as high, but knowing that you have players on a yellow that are very important to you from a tactical perspective, from a leadership perspective, you want them on the field in that next round. So I don't expect any of the players on the yellow to play tonight.

KEILAR: Felipe, who could the U.S. play next in the knockout round?

CARDENAS: OK, well, it's virtually guaranteed. It's not guaranteed because some games still have to take place today. A number of teams are fighting for those final eight third place spots. But right now, for the United States, it looks like almost a lock that they will be playing Bosnia and Herzegovina in Santa Clara on July 1st. It's a tricky game. You know, Bosnia was a headache in Canada's group.

They drew Canada, lost, and then won yesterday to get into the next round. And they're a very hungry team, a team that I believe and they believe that can play against anybody at this World Cup. They probably see an opportunity to knock out the hosts.

And so that raises the stakes in that Round of 32 games. So Bosnia- Herzegovina looking like the potential opponent for the U.S.

KEILAR: So one of our correspondents, Randi Kaye, had the best assignment. She got to embed with the Tartan Army. She's had the best time with them. But we're sad -- I know I see it on your face. You're like you, your shoulders slumped.

CARDENAS: I know.

KEILAR: The Tartan Army is crestfallen because Scotland lost to Brazil. But I mean, what a mark they've made on America, right?

CARDENAS: Yeah, I was watching like I'm addicted to all the Tartan Army content, like they're at baseball games. They're making the baseball games feel like a world championship. And it's just like a regular random game at Marlin Stadium.

They've gone to Boston. They've been invited back to Boston. And so, you know, when they were qualifying, everyone wanted them to be here. The Scots always make the World Cup a real party. They're one of the best fan bases in the world. And they lost to Brazil. But they're hanging on to hope that some of the results today keep them in those isolated third place spots. It's unlikely, though. I think they might be out. And that means that the Tartan Army is going to head out with them.

But it'll be great if they can manage to be in. But they left their mark. They do that at every major tournament. The Scots are one of the best in world football. And they've certainly loved America. America has loved them back. And, you know, we hope that they stay in. But I think it's unlikely today. We may be saying farewell to Scotland.

KEILAR: What are we going to obsess about now if we don't have all that Tartan Army content that's so good? Felipe, great to speak with you. Thank you so much.

CARDENAS: Take care.

KEILAR: Up next, a harrowing rescue caught on camera. We're going to take you through dramatic video of a woman saved from her burning home.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ma'am, come on. You need to put that walker down. I will carry you. Come on. You're going to die in here. Come on.

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[13:59:01]

KEILAR: Now to some of the other headlines that we're watching this hour. A flu outbreak at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas is getting worse. At least 275 recruits at basic training have fallen ill since it started. A source telling CNN that weeks ago, the Air Force asked the Pentagon to bring back mandatory flu shots. Defense Secretary, Pete Hegseth ordered the Air Force to drop the requirement in April.

60 percent of recruits who had not been vaccinated at Lackland opted out of the flu shot The source said the Air Force did bring back the mandate, but by then the outbreak was already well underway.

A mid-air scare on board an Air Canada flight forcing an emergency landing in Boston. This was a plane that was heading from Newark to Halifax when the captain suffered a medical issue and was removed from the cockpit. The first officer diverted the flight and landed the plane alone. Moments later, video from the scene shows the captain being helped down the stairs before getting into an ambulance. No word yet on his condition. There were 61 passengers on board at the time.

And an incredible rescue caught on camera. A police officer --