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U.S. Strikes Iran After the Apache Helicopter Downed, Iran Retaliates; Scandal-hit Graham Platner Wins Maine Democrat Senatorial Primary, Faces Incumbent GOP Susan Collins; Security Heightens for NBA Finals Game 4 Following an Attack on a Spurs Fan during Game 3. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired June 10, 2026 - 03:00   ET

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

[03:00:00]

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POLO SANDOVAL, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: Hey everybody, thank you so much for joining me for "CNN Newsroom." I'm Polo Sandoval, live in New York.

The U.S. and Iran, they trade retaliatory strikes after a U.S. Army helicopter is down near the Strait of Hormuz. We'll be discussing what this could mean for the ceasefire negotiations.

And a candidate surrounded by controversy wins the Democratic Senate primary in the U.S. state of Maine. What Graham Platner is now saying about his Republican opponent.

And Iran's soccer team will be allowed into the U.S. We'll be speaking with an expert on the sport about what effect U.S. immigration policies are having on travel for the World Cup.

UNKNOWN (voice-over): Live from New York, this is "CNN Newsroom" with Polo Sandoval.

SANDOVAL: So first this hour, strikes and counter-strikes in the Middle East.

Iran says that it launched attacks on U.S. targets in the region following U.S. strikes on Iran in response to the downing of an Army Apache helicopter. Iranian state media is releasing this footage you're looking at right now, showing what it claims are missiles launched during the strikes.

Well, there's another video we want to show you that's coming into CNN. It appears to show a bright flash coming from the direction of the U.S. 5th Fleet Naval Facility in Bahrain. You may be able to make it out there and it's highlighted for you.

While the cause of those flashes is not immediately clear, Iran did say earlier that it launched a drone attack on the 5th Fleet headquarters in the area. Meanwhile, the Jordanian military is saying that it intercepted five

missiles from Iran after Iran said that it had targeted a U.S. base in the area. And all of this after the U.S. military launched what officials are calling self-defense strikes against Iran. U.S. Central Command says that those strikes are complete at this hour.

Let's go now to CNN's Paula Hancocks, joining me from Abu Dhabi. Paula, what's the U.S. military saying about this latest wave of strikes?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Polo, what we've heard is from U.S. Central Command, and they have said that they believe this was a proportional response to the downing of the Apache helicopter. Now, that happened and was blamed on an Iranian drone.

We heard from one official, though they weren't sure whether or not it was intentional by Iran. But the fact is, the helicopter was down, two pilots were retrieved safely.

So the U.S. Central Command say that the targets that they had were air defense, ground control stations, surveillance radar sites at three different locations near the Strait of Hormuz, Qeshm Island, Bandar Abbas and Jask County. So all along that crucial waterway, the Strait of Hormuz.

Now, what we have seen from Iran, as you say, is these retaliatory strikes on three different countries, Jordan, Kuwait and Bahrain. We have not heard at this point of any reports of damage or casualties, but certainly it would suggest from some of those images that at least debris may have had some impact. We're waiting to hear confirmation of that.

We heard from Iran's foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, posting a statement on social media saying that it was a violation of the Iranian sovereignty, they believe. These U.S. retaliatory strikes also saying that our powerful armed forces will leave no attack or threat unanswered.

So at this point, we see that it has been relatively quiet for the hours after these retaliatory strikes, the tit-for-tat strikes potentially on hold at this point, but we really have to wait and see what happens in the hours to come as to whether or not this was a flare up of an escalation or whether it signifies something more serious.

We have been hearing though from the U.S. side that they are trying to not necessarily downplay what their response has been, but we did hear from one U.S. official that they wanted it to be seen as a warning shot to Iran and they were hoping that it wouldn't impede on any talks at this point that are ongoing, the Trump administration says, between the U.S. and Iran.

[03:05:09]

We've heard from the U.S. President Donald Trump consistently that a deal is just around the corner. Just yesterday he said that he believes it could happen in the next few days.

Now of course we're not hearing that optimism from the Iranian side or from the Israeli side, but as far as the U.S. is concerned and what we're hearing from officials, they're hoping that this is a brief escalation in hostilities and that they can return to the talks. Polo.

SANDOVAL: That is certainly the hope. Paula Hancocks with that live reporting from Abu Dhabi. Thank you Paula.

Police in Northern Ireland are calling for calm after protesters set fire to vehicles and homes in Belfast. The unrest actually broke out after police charged a Sudanese man with attempted murder in connection with a knife attack on Monday which left another man seriously injured.

The video you're looking at shows bystanders rushing in to try to stop said attack. Anti-immigration sentiment is spread to other cities in the U.K. sparking smaller protests in cities like Glasgow and London.

Police say that the suspect had a legal right to reside in Northern Ireland. Authorities are now saying that their investigation into the stabbing is still in its early stages and that officials across the U.K. are condemning the unrest.

Voters in four states, they are making their voices heard in the lead up to the U.S. midterm elections come November. The latest round of primaries is once again testing the strength of President Trump's grip on the Republican Party.

And it also is showing voters' tolerance for some of the political scandals. Among the most closely watched races is this one right here.

It's in Maine's Democratic Senate primary where CNN is now projecting that Graham Platner will be securing that nomination. And his win comes despite several scandals that are looming over his campaign. Let's go to CNN's Arlette Saenz who's reporting from Maine.

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ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The matchup in one of the country's marquee Senate races this year is now officially set. Democratic candidate Graham Platner will face off against Republican Senator Susan Collins in a race that could very well determine control of the Senate majority next year.

Now Platner in his speech to supporters at his primary night event really went on the attack against Senator Susan Collins trying to lay out some of the contrast that he plans to pursue in this general election battle. Take a listen.

GRAHAM PLATNER (D), MAINE SENATORIAL CANDIDATE: Susan Collins may have started her career decades ago in Washington with good intentions but she has become just as spineless and corrupt as the establishment she now serves.

SAENZ: Now Platner will still need to contend with some of the voter angst about the controversies that have surrounded his campaign. Republicans have made clear that they want to put those scandals front and center in their messaging against Platner. Senator Collins told our colleagues Manu Raju that she believes that some of the allegations about the way that Platner treated past girlfriends are very serious and troubling and that Platner has more explaining to do to Maine voters.

Now in his remarks Platner said that he's not perfect that he has made mistakes but that he is trying to grow from them and wants to earn the trust of Maine voters. But there are some Democrats on the national level who worry that these controversies could complicate their ability to flip this seat blue come November. Arlette Saenz, CNN, Blue Hill, Maine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL: To South Carolina now where CNN is projecting that longtime senator and staunch Trump ally Lindsey Graham will once again secure the Republican nomination and also as you see here he's doing so by a landslide. He'll be facing Democrat Annie Andrews who is a pediatrician.

In the Republican governor's race Lieutenant Governor Pamela Evette and State Attorney General Alan Wilson, they are headed to a runoff election. President Trump backing Evette but Wilson now claiming that he's the strongest supporter of the administration. And the winner will be facing state rep Jeremaine Johnson who is projected to win the Democratic primary there.

And one week after California's primary CNN can now project -- finally project that Republican Steve Hilton will be the one to advance to the governor's race in November. The former Fox News commentator endorsed by President Trump will be facing Democrat Xavier Becerra, the former Health and Human Services Secretary and also California Attorney General. The state has not elected a Republican governor in 20 years.

So let's look ahead to that election now, joining me is CNN political commentator and Democratic strategist Maria Cardona. Maria, thank you so much for either being up late with me or getting up early for me.

MARIA CARDONA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR, AND DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Thanks Polo, great to be here.

SANDOVAL: Great to have you.

So Maria let's start with your overall take on Maine's Graham Platner and the movement that apparently stayed by his side in Tuesday's primary. What do you make of it?

[03:10:05]

CARDONA: Yes you know, I think what we saw last night in Maine is the anger and the frustration towards Trump's policies and Republicans including of course Susan Collins. I think really reigned supreme and voters Democratic Maine voters are willing right now at least to overlook the controversies that have thus far arisen from Graham Platner's past.

Now I think that going into the general election it's going to be really difficult for Graham Platner to sustain what I believe is going to be the barrage of attacks from the Susan Collins campaign from all of the dark super PAC money that is going to be thrown against him especially using these controversies, but I think he hit the right tone last night, Polo, in terms of talking about his past, how difficult it has been.

He asked voters for their forgiveness, said that he wanted to earn their trust, talked about redemption and then went straight toward the jugular in terms of attacking Susan Collins on the high costs of living on supporting Republican and Trump policies on being, you know, really to blame for overturning Roe v. Wade because she was one of the deciding votes on putting Kavanaugh on the Supreme Court.

And so I think all of those things are going to go toward the big question which is are Maine voters really that fed up with the high cost of living the chaos the corruption the cruelty that has come from Trump and Republican policies that they are willing to overlook all of these controversies that have come out about Graham Platner?

My sense is that if nothing else comes out Polo he might be able to pull this off in the general.

SANDOVAL: Yes I remember being in Portland, Maine when Susan Collins made that vote and the level of disappointment among so many voters there. This is certainly something that can come back and haunt her and bite her. And he's also said that he is an open book that anything remotely damaging is already out there but the reality is though as you know Maria anything could happen bad polls any bad revelation.

So do you think that if Platner backfires, do you think that Democrats in Maine have a plan B?

CARDONA: That's going to be the big question Polo and you know there is a mechanism, as I understand, it that there could still be a switch but I think that would be incredibly difficult and messy and I think at that point it might be too late to include Maine in one of the seats that Democrats could win.

But obviously the Graham Platner campaign is focused on moving forward and the big test for him is going to be is this all, right, like I said before if this is it Polo I do think he might be able to survive this it's not going to be easy because the barrage of attacks that are going to go up against him literally starting this morning I believe.

It is going to be brutal ,and so it's going to be that up against the frustration, the bad feelings that voters have in Maine against what they have sustained thus far because Susan Collins has done everything that she has done to support Trump, to support Republicans to go back on her promise, right, of protecting Roe v. Wade. I think all of that is going to be front and center for her and for the Graham Platner campaign.

You know my suggestion would be if they know that there is anything else that is going to come out, they should come out with it now. They should be the ones to put this out publicly on their own in on their own terms deal with it now up front as opposed to it be something that comes out in August, September, or October as we all know right, the October prize.

Deal with this now I think this has been where the Graham Platner campaign has really been a huge mistake in the drip of all of these scandals coming out one after another. This is it I think this is where you know the Graham Platner campaign it is they have kind of used up all of their permission slips, if you will, now is when the truth should all be out there and if this is it then, I think, that he might be able to pull this off.

SANDOVAL: We saw the damaging potential I mean with Eric Swalwell's campaign on the other side of the country and how quickly it could just chip away at a campaign.

[03:15:00]

Very quickly Maria on the issue of California, can I get your closing thoughts on the race for governor. Former Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra will be the Democrat on the ballot in a state where he already has that overwhelming advantage, what else does he need to do to really lock in any support from any skeptics especially among his own party?

CARDONA: Well I think one of the things that really helped him recently is when Tom Steyer conceded, and he said that he would do everything to help elect Xavier Becerra that we could not risk by any means. Steve Hilton getting ahead and perhaps winning the gubernatorial race there which I don't think will happen. Let's remember that California is still a very deep blue state.

And Steve Hilton is a Trump-supported, Trump-endorsed Republican. And that is really bad news especially in such a deep blue state like California. Having said that I do think that Secretary Becerra has a challenge which is to demonstrate to all California voters that he will be a forceful fighter, a fierce backer of all of the frustrations and the fight that California voters want him to have.

And I think he will be that because I think one of the things that people forgot during this campaign and you know, I was a huge supporter of Becerra he's a good friend of mine and I've always thought that he was the one that has the experience the resume, and the ability to really be a terrific governor. He's going to have to demonstrate the charisma, the fight, the fierceness that he has when he was Attorney General of California and he went up against Trump and won so many times.

That is the fight that people want to see in him and I think if he does that he's going to have a very good November.

SANDOVAL: Well he's got a few months to plead his case. Maria Cardona, as always, thank you so much for your time and your perspective. Great talking.

CARDONAl Thank you so much Polo, good to see you.

SANDOVAL: So Iran, they will be allowed into the U.S. for the World Cup but the squad is facing some major setbacks. We'll talk about all of that along with much much more for the football expert in a moment.

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SANDOVAL: Hey everybody, thank you so much for staying with me.

On the eve of the World Cup, there are questions about how Iran is being treated. The Iranian players are training in Mexico at this hour and apparently they won't be allowed to arrive in the U.S. until the day before their matches. It's unclear if that will be enough time for them to acclimate their delegations they will be smaller than planned you see several key staff members were not given any visas.

Iranian state media also says that Iran's ticket allocation was withdrawn just a week before the squad's opening match. Typically FIFA rules dictate about eight percent of match tickets go to each competing team so they can sell them to their fans.

So what can we expect in the coming weeks? My next guest is the author of "More Than a Shirt - How Football Shirts Explain Global Politics, Money and Power."

Joey D'Urso is also a journalist and also coming to us from Birmingham, England. Not sure we actually have Joey, do you have Joey?

All right, unfortunately seems that we lost him. We're going to try to get him back on though to get his perspective again on the situation right now with the World Cup and some of the challenges that the Iranian team faces this time around.

Still to come here on "CNN Newsroom," Iran's foreign ministry is calling the most recent U.S. strikes a violation of Iranian sovereignty we'll go to Tehran for the latest on these retaliatory attacks

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[03:25:00]

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SANDOVAL: Welcome back. I'm Polo Sandoval in New York and these are today's top stories.

CNN is projecting Democrat Graham Platner will be winning his party's nomination in Maine Senate primary. His upcoming race against incumbent Senator Susan Collins will be key in Democrats' efforts to flip control of the U.S. Senate come the November midterms. China and North Korea, they have agreed to strengthen their

relationship after meeting between their respective leaders. Xi Jinping and Kim Jong-un, they met in Pyongyang this week to discuss ways to reinvigorate their countries' partnership. The Chinese leader said that working together will, quote, "open up a brighter prospect for both nations."

Iran says that it launched attacks on U.S. targets in the region following U.S. strikes against Iran. The U.S. military launched what officials are calling self-defense strikes in response to the downing of a U.S. Army Apache helicopter. U.S. Central Command says those strikes are now complete.

Our Fred Pleitgen is in Tehran with Iran's response to the latest U.S. strikes. CNN operates in Iran only with permission from the government, but does maintain full editorial control of what we report.

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FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: After U.S. Central Command announced that it was conducting retaliatory strikes, as it put it, for the downing of a U.S. helicopter near the Strait of Hormuz, there were reports coming in of explosions in coastal areas along the Iranian coast, specifically in that region around the Strait of Hormuz, some islands near the Strait of Hormuz, but then also the port town of Bandar Abbas, which is also an important military facility for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Now, the Iranians have essentially said that if indeed a U.S. helicopter was struck by an Iranian drone causing it to crash, as the U.S. said, then that must have been an accident.

[03:29:51]

Iran's foreign minister, Abbas Aragchi, coming out in a post on X saying that if foreign aircraft, as he put it, fly around the territory of Iran, that they are potentially subject to, as he put it, their own human error, also getting caught in the crossfire, or simply accidents.

So the Iranians are saying that this, by all accounts, appears to have been an accident. At the same time, the Iranians are also saying that any sort of attacks on their territory could potentially be met with an extremely strong response. Abbas Aragchi, the Iranian foreign minister, saying that Iranians prefer dialogue but also speak another language, as he put it.

That statement also echoed by Iran's chief negotiator in the talks with the United States, Mohammad Bager Ghalibaf, who said essentially exactly the same thing. Now, the Iranians over the past couple of days have repeatedly made clear that if their territory is attacked, that there will be a strong response coming from the Iranian side. They believed that they showed that in the recent tit-for-tat with the Israelis. But the Iranians are also saying that they are still on that

diplomatic path and hope that a memorandum of understanding with the United States can still be reached to end the fighting and end the war with the U.S.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL: All right. Thanks to Fred Pleitgen for reporting from Iran.

The Taliban is accusing Pakistan's military of killing at least 13 people, including 11 children, in eastern Afghanistan. A Taliban official claiming that Pakistani airstrikes hit civilian homes across three Afghan provinces on Tuesday night. More than a dozen women and children were also injured.

Islamabad says that it targeted, quote, "military installations and terrorist support infrastructure in that attack." CNN has reached out to the Pakistani armed forces and Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The two countries have been embroiled in months of cross-border attacks that have already killed hundreds of people this year alone.

Canadian police say that their investigation into an Air Canada pilot is like something out of a movie. They arrested a man named Geoffrey Wall, who flew thousands of passengers on both domestic and international flights for nearly 17 years with a fake pilot's license.

He actually met the requirement to fly commercial planes, but he lacked the credentials to be the captain. A police comparing it to a doctor licensed to practice family medicine, but doing brain surgery instead.

Air Canada says its safety was never compromised, since its pilots do get reoccurring mandatory training. Incredible story.

Back to our guests on the World Cup travel issues. Joey D'Ursso is the author of "More Than a Shirt, How Football Shirts Explain Global Politics, Money, and Power." He's also a journalist and is coming to us from Birmingham, England.

Joey, thank you so much. I really appreciate you helping us troubleshoot some of those issues. Good to see you.

JOEY D'URSO, JOURNALIST, AND AUTHOR, "MORE THAN A SHIRT": Hi. Sorry about that. Thanks for having me.

SANDOVAL: Yes, technology. It works when it wants to.

Listen, as a football writer, you know very well the sport, you know the event very well. To you, does this World Cup feel different?

D'URSO: Yes, I think what's different is the host doesn't clearly want to welcome the world. If you look back to Russia and Qatar, for the many problems with those two World Cups, they wanted to have people from all over the world and show them a great time, show them how wonderful their country is. It's far from clear that the U.S. has the same approach to this. SANDOVAL: Yes. Joey, this is an event, obviously, as you know, that's

supposed to bring nations together, yet we're seeing President Trump's hardline immigration policies and, of course, the ongoing war with Iran really seem to worsen tensions and the dynamic here at play. For example, Iran, we talked about them earlier in this hour. How does their team potentially overcome this shadow that is looming over their games?

D'URSO: Well, they're a sporting disadvantage because they're having to fly in and out from Mexico, and it's not ideal training. You know, the night before a big game, you want to have lots of rest. You don't want to be on a plane that morning, so that's not great.

But it's very possible the USA will play Iran if they both get through their groups, which will be just this massive geopolitical event. And it's also a fixture we saw in 1998 in France, where Iran beat the U.S., but with so much more tension given the recent war.

SANDOVAL: Of course, you mentioned a little while ago to Iran, very critical of the Trump administration's decision to limit the time that the Iranian team is in the U.S. You touched on that just now. How unusual is it for a country to be actively at war with a nation that it hosts, even if it's just for a few days in the case of Iran?

D'URSO: Oh, it's completely unusual. I mean, it's never happened before. But it's not the first time the world has been political.

You know, we saw Qatar and Russia, but Mussolini's fascist Italy hosted the World Cup in 1934. Argentina, under dictatorship, hosted the World Cup in 1978. So this idea of the World Cup being this political football is nothing new at all.

SANDOVAL: You're right, and I'm glad you mentioned some of the previous tensions in other games.

[03:35:01]

Overall, though, do you think that the game's nearly 100 years history now, do you think that this may go down as perhaps one of the most politicized, given what's happening around the world, even before the first strikes were launched with the war with Iran? I mean, we had seen certainly the Greenland comments from President Trump complicating the situation between him and European allies.

D'URSO: Yes, I do. It's extremely political, and a couple of reasons specific to Trump.

One is this thing of not welcoming the world. You know, it's not just Iran. It's also Senegal, Haiti have strict visa restrictions. But also this idea of Trump himself wanting to be kind of front and center of everything.

And there's also this big clash between, sort of, liberal left-wing America that tends to be the people who support and play for the football soccer team, and the President himself who clashes. And also most of the games are in blue cities. So there's a lot of tensions there between Trump and Mamdani, Trump and other mayors, which will be really interesting to see how they play out.

SANDOVAL: So dozens of nations, they have worked tirelessly to get to this point, to qualify. You know, for those such as myself, who really enjoy rooting on the teams, watching these matches, you know, how do we not ignore all of this nuance and context, but at the same time, are able to actually focus on all the hard work that these players have put on into their careers, and now are putting on display for the world to see?

D'URSO: Yes, well, I mean, I do both in my daily life, in my day job, I report on the sort of dirty, grubby side of the game, while also being a huge fan. I think you can do both things at the same time. You know, you can love the sport, you can admire the players, while also being aware of all the politics.

I think people can. Because the World Cup is the best thing in the world to me. It's the kind of pinnacle of human civilization.

SANDOVAL: Yes, and as you're speaking, we're looking at a live picture of one of the stadiums, a particular one out of Mexico City, which I could attend a match there. What will you be looking at the closest in the coming weeks as we see these games begin?

D'URSO: So an interesting thing is that this tournament is bigger, 48 teams, three countries, so much traveling and flying, but also an extra round. There's more games, and the top of the European club season now is so long, players are so tired.

So the rotation is going to be so important, you know, Lionel Messi, these players cannot play 90 minutes times eight. So the good managers are going to work out how to sort of protect their stars and make sure they're at their very best for the later games, which are more consequential and more difficult.

SANDOVAL: Well, let the matches begin, Joey D'Urso. Thank you so much. We're so glad that we can get your perspective.

D'URSO: Thank you for having me.

SANDOVAL: Of course.

One more story about the World Cup this hour, as millions of fans begin traveling for the games, as you just heard. CNN's David Goldman takes a closer look at the tournament's economic impact here in the United States.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID GOLDMAN, CNN BUSINESS SR. REPORTER: The World Cup is coming to the United States, and it could have a pretty meaningful impact on the U.S. economy. Let's take a look at how.

First of all, this is a really big event. Look at this. Six million fans are expected to be there, about a million foreign fans, so there's going to be a big influx of people. There's 78 matches here across 11 U.S. cities. Let's take a look at

where this is happening in the United States. I mean, certainly there are matches happening in Mexico, and there's a few in Canada, don't forget.

But there are 11 U.S. cities, and these cities in the U.S., they constitute a third of U.S. GDP, so this is a really serious event. So, what does this look like for jobs?

And so, we're looking at about 50,000 new jobs created over the course of the next two months, according to Goldman Sachs. It just put out a report on this, but the problem is, these are temporary jobs. These are not new, permanent jobs.

And so, come August, then you lose about 15,000 in that month alone, and then you start to see those jobs trail off. Now, 50,000 is a lot of jobs. Remember, we added just over 170,000 jobs in the last month alone, that's a big boost.

Where are these jobs coming from? Well, a lot of them are in the hospitality area. Lots of people staying in hotels, you need more workers there.

Retail is a big one. All of those kits that people are going to buy, and their soccer balls, and all kinds of memorabilia, that's a big one, too.

And then people have got to get around. They're going to take Ubers, they're going to take Lyfts, they're going to take taxis, and that's where a lot of these jobs are coming from.

So, what does this look like overall for the U.S. economy? Well, we're talking about tenths of percentage points here.

It might not sound a lot, but the United States is a $31 trillion economy -- T trillion dollar economy, and so you're talking about quite a bit of money here.

[03:40:04]

And so with 0.4 percentage points of retail sales gains, by the way, that's almost equal to what we just had in the last month alone. That's a pretty big boost.

For GDP, if you're talking about just over a tenth of a percentage point, that's close to 50 billion dollars of added revenue to the United States, added economic benefit. Yes, there's going to be a little inflation, too, right, with those hotel prices going up, restaurant prices going up, too.

But overall, this paints a pretty decent but temporary picture for the United States economy because of the World Cup. Back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL: David Goldman, thank you so much for that look. For our international viewers, "World Sport" is next. And for those of

you watching in the U.S., I'll be right back with you in a moment with more of your headlines.

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[03:45:00]

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SANDOVAL: Large crowds greeted Pope Leo at Barcelona's 14th Central Cathedral on the second leg of his visit to Spain. The pontiff presided over a midday prayer service on Tuesday.

And in the wake of his visit to Spain, he unveiled the newest tower of the Monas Basilica that has now become the world's tallest church. And still under construction after 144 years. Here's CNN's Pau Mosquera with the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAU MOSQUERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): One massive cross crowns Barcelona's skyline. Weighing close to 100 tons, it now tops the tallest Catholic church in the world, the Sagrada Familia.

UNKNOWN (translated): Impressive. Just thinking about it gives me goosebumps.

UNKNOWN: Taking pictures feels almost like a waste because it's so spectacular.

MOSQUERA (voice-over): The tower, dedicated to Jesus Christ, was recently completed after soaring to over 560 feet, a major milestone for Antonio Gaudi's masterpiece.

Architect Mauricio Cortes is overseeing the Jesus Tower project.

MAURICIO CORTES, ARCHITECT: Gaudi imagined a monumental complex of 18 towers with hierarchies, starting with 12 towers on the facades dedicated to the disciples of Christ. So Jesus occupies the exact center of the Latin cross.

MOSQUERA (voice-over): Parts of the tower and the cross itself were assembled in this workshop, located nearly 200 feet above the ground.

CORTES: The tower, the design process was very intense and complex. The whole tower is a mixture of modern technology with handcrafted labor.

MOSQUERA (voice-over): Since part of Gaudi's plans and mock-ups were lost during the Spanish Civil War, people like lead architect Jordi Fauli were left to comb through the literature and try to interpret his larger-than-life vision.

JORDI FAULI, ARCHITECT (translated): There are ten years after his death, and the fire that destroyed his studio. During those ten years, his collaborators, architects, and disciples published articles and books, including the Sagrada Familia itself, containing information about his project and the explanations they had received from Antonio Gaudi.

MOSQUERA (voice-over): And so, more than 140 years after construction began, the Basilica is now projected to be less than a decade away from completion. As a Barcelona native, the idea of seeing it finished is almost unfathomable.

MOSQUERA (translated): I remember when I was little, my parents, my grandparents would tell me "Oh, will never see Sagrada Familia finished." How much longer until we see the whole basilica completed?

FAULI (translated): We don't know. We can say that our wish, which could likely happen, is that we finish in the next 10 years, the remaining towers of this facade.

MOSQUERA (voice-over): But there is one major stumbling block, the glory facade, which Gaudi envisioned as the building's main entrance. But carrying out the project could require demolitions and the relocation of residents living directly in front of it, like Alicia Busquets.

ALICIA BUSQUETS, BARCELONA RESIDENT (translated): I've lived it here for thirty-something years. My parents lived here, and other members of the family too. What worries neighbors now is this brighter section that we can already see rising because we know the next step is for the construction to move towards us.

MOSQUERA (voice-over): The number of potentially affected residents remains unclear, ranging from a few hundred to thousands, many of whom want to stay put.

Since the project has not yet been approved, neighbors are demanding a seat at the table in negotiations over the Basilica's completion. Salvador Barroso is leading that effort.

SALVADOR BARROSO, CHAIRMAN, ASSOCIATION OF PEOPLE AFFECTED BY THE SAGRADA FAMILIA (translated): This has to be a three-way agreement: the administration, the foundation, and the neighbors. If two sides meet without the third, it is very difficult to reach an agreement that benefits everyone.

[03:50:05]

MOSQUERA (voice-over): The construction board says that they are first finalizing a deal with the city council and that only after that will they negotiate with the residents. In the end, only an agreement will restore the community's ability to admire Gaudi's work with the same serenity as visitors. Pau Mosquera, CNN, Barcelona, Spain.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL: A sight to see.

NASA is revealing the crew of the Artemis III mission. It's the next mission in its program to put humans back on the moon. The astronauts, three of them from NASA and one of them from the European Space Agency, they could launch possibly late next year.

Three of them are spaceflight veterans, but this journey will be Mission Specialist Andre Douglas' first trip outside the Earth's atmosphere. He spoke with CNN's Jake Tapper about his expectations.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDRE DOUGLAS, ARTEMIS III MISSION SPECIALIST: Man, that is going to blow my mind. I've seen the beautiful pictures that these guys have taken from space. And then I heard about how, you know, there's a 3D aspect because you're going around the Earth so fast, you can see it from one angle, then another angle.

So I'm just-- I'm looking forward to it. It's going to be very awesome. So, man, it's also going to be really big.

I think there's this thing called the overview effect that I've heard so much about. I feel like I got a little bit of overview effect just from the launch that we did together, just taking our minds and realizing there's something bigger than us out there, right?

And when you see it physically, that's just going to be crazy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: Artemis III will not be traveling to the actual moon. They'll be staying closer to home in low Earth orbit. And it says they test out vital technologies on board, including how the Orion spacecraft will dock with the lunar lander eventually.

So anyone with loans in the U.S., they will soon see some big changes on how they can actually pay those loans back. The overhaul was part of President Trump's so-called Big Beautiful Bill that was passed last year. CNN's Brian Abel tells us more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN ABEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On July 1st, changes are coming to the Federal Student Loan Program.

STACEY MACPHETRES, SR. DIRECTOR OF EDUCATION FINANCE, BRIGHT HORIZONS: Over the last number of years, this has been the most significant amount of change we've seen almost ever, but definitely since 1994.

ABEL (voice-over): And just about everyone will be impacted. For new borrowers, it means fewer types of repayment options will be available to you. Only two, actually.

All current income-driven plans will be gone, replaced with a single option of its kind, the Repayment Assistance Plan, or RAP. Also, the only plan offering loan forgiveness moving forward, with the Standard Repayment Plan as the other option. If you currently have a federal student loan, this is where you may

need to act sooner than later, as some types will be phased out. So, experts say, visit studentaid.gov to start.

MACPHETRES: First and foremost, find out what you have for student loans. If you're in repayment, take a look at what your repayment plan is. Kind of look at your overall strategy and identify what you have done or have been doing.

ABEL (voice-over): More than 7 million borrowers were part of the SAVE Plan, the ill-fated repayment plan created by the Biden administration. If you are one of them, the clock will soon be ticking to make a decision or be automatically placed in what's very likely a more expensive plan.

MACPHETRES: If they choose not to take action, their loans will be put into what is called a standard repayment, which for most people would be 120 equal payments. Your payment amount could be significantly higher and for most people, perhaps not attainable.

ABEL (voice-over): In Washington, Brian Abel reporting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL: Brian Abel, thank you so much for that report on student loans.

New York police, they are stepping up security for Game 4 of the NBA Finals. They're searching currently for a group that attacked a San Antonio Spurs fan in downtown Manhattan just after the Knicks loss on Monday night. That man ended up in the hospital in stable condition, 21 people were arrested and five officers injured when a watch party turned violent.

A spokesperson for Madison Square Garden is also blasting Wednesday's security restrictions, saying that the mayor and NYPD commissioner don't want to see celebrations happen.

And it's a great week to be a Serena Williams fan. The 23-time Grand Slam singles champ returning to the tennis court for the first time in nearly four years on Tuesday. Williams partnered up with up-and-coming Canadian star Victoria Mboko at Queen's Club in London.

Here's what the pair had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VICTORIA MBOKO, CANADIAN TENNIS PLAYER: Well, we had a lot of fun.

SERENA WILLIAMS, 23-TIME GRANDSLAM SINGLES CHAMPION: We did have a lot of fun.

MBOKO: I feel like there's room for improvement.

WILLIAMS: I need to make some returns next match, which I will. I didn't miss one in practice, but Yes, that was a little embarrassing out there.

But, you know, the good news is we can do better-- I can do better. I don't know about you.

MBOKO: There's always room for improvement, you know.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: The pair now advances to the quarterfinals. But what's next for the 44-year-old Williams? That is one of the biggest questions in professional sports.

[03:55:08]

When asked about playing doubles at this year's Wimbledon, Serena said, quote, "It's a day at a time."

Donald Trump's sons are using his face and his presidency to sell silver and gold coins priced as high as $12,000 as a collaboration between the UFC and the Trump Organization that's run by Eric and Don Jr. And this comes just days before an ultimate fighting championship event is set to take place on the White House lawn. Timing is everything.

Thank you so much for joining me this hour, I'm Polo Sandoval in New York. I'll be right back with you with more "CNN Newsroom" in a moment.

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