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U.S. and Iran Reach Agreement; Trump Heading to G7 Summit; Oil Prices Fall On News Of U.S.-Iran Peace Agreement; Israeli Strikes In Lebanon Set Off Rush To Preserve Agreement; U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell Hospitalized, His Office Says; New York Knicks Return Home After Winning It All. Aired 2-3a ET

Aired June 15, 2026 - 02:00   ET

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

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UNKNOWN: This is "CNN Breaking News."

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us here in the United States and all around the world. I'm Rosemary Church. I want to get right to our breaking news. We are following the latest out of the Middle East. The U.S. and Iran announced they finally have an agreement after months of negotiations and stalemates. A formal signing of the memorandum is expected to take place in Switzerland on Friday. Once signed, the Strait of Hormuz will reopen and the U.S. will lift its naval blockade of Iranian ports.

President Donald Trump says the agreement with Iran would ensure that the vital waterway will be permanently toll-free. But since Iran had not imposed tolls before the conflict, this would effectively restore conditions that existed before the war. President Trump took to social media to tout the memorandum, saying in part -- quote -- "The leaders of the region have for the first time found a president who can help them achieve real peace."

Well, news of this agreement had an immediate effect on global oil prices. And if the Strait of Hormuz is indeed reopened, those prices could drop even further. So, here's a look at where they stand this hour. We'll bring up those numbers. You can see Brent crude oil. It's at 83.55. That went down more than four percent. WTI crude oil down nearly five percent at 80.85. Now, these are among the lowest oil prices we've seen since March. Markets in the Asia Pacific region are reacting to the news as well. The Nikkei, Seoul KOSPI, and Hang Seng have all been trading higher in recent hours.

So, let's bring in CNN's Oren Liebermann live from Jerusalem. Good to see you again, Oren. So, what do we know about what's in this agreement reached between the U.S. and Iran to end the war and what's still to be worked out?

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN JERUSALEM BUREAU CHIEF: Well, frankly, we know very little about what's in the agreement because nobody has released the text, even though both sides have now said they'll sign on Friday and that will reopen the Strait of Hormuz and lift the U.S. naval blockade. That's really all we know at this point as we see conflicting claims from the U.S. and from Iran about the rest of what's in here and what else it affects in the region.

Iran has wanted a broader ceasefire that includes Lebanon. We don't know for sure if that's in there again because we haven't seen the text. Iran has also claimed that it involves the unfreezing of billions of dollars of Iranian assets. The U.S. has said that's not in there while claiming that Iran will stop supporting its proxies and limit its ballistic missiles. Iran has said that's not in there.

The key to all of these questions is simply to release the text of the deal. So far, the U.S. hasn't done that as it has celebrated effectively resetting the Strait of Hormuz to what it was before the war. And you're right to point that out, Rosemary. President Donald Trump said there will be permanently no tolls around the Strait of Hormuz. Well, there weren't before the war and the strait was open to international traffic without an issue. The issues only began once the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran.

That's all this memorandum of understanding really does as far as we can tell right now, simply opens one of the world's most critical waterways. And then after that begins the difficult part, 60 days of negotiations towards a more permanent, broader ceasefire agreement, and that will have its own questions, of course. But first, we need to see what's in the text of this -- of this beginning MOU, which is supposed to be signed on Friday.

CHURCH: So, Oren, what is the view from Israel on this agreement given strikes on Lebanon had been, of course, a key sticking point in those talks?

LIEBERMANN: Well, one of the key questions here is what does the agreement between the U.S. and Iran demand of Israel and demand of Lebanon and the ceasefire there. That, again, we'll wait to find out. Iran has already made clear that they want Lebanon as part of broader ceasefire, not just between the U.S. and Iran. Israel, meanwhile, has made clear it wants to separate these two. There's a Lebanon front and an Iran front. Israel doesn't view them as the same, but Iran has successfully, in negotiations, made them one issue before Trump.

So, now, it remains to be seen where this will lead. Trump demanded yesterday on his Truth Social that Israel stop attacking Lebanon and that Hezbollah stop attacking Israel. He has made that demand before in mid-April.

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It fell apart within less than a matter of days. So, we need to see where this one goes. But look, we've seen a ceasefire earlier this month, a ceasefire in April, a ceasefire back in November in 2024 when it comes to Israel and Hezbollah, and none of them have held, and yet that has the ability to derail larger negotiations. So, we'll see where all these leads. It is worth noting, Rosemary, and we'll have more on this in the coming hours, that some right-wing media in Israel have already come out attacking the deal and what's supposedly in it. CHURCH: Oren Liebermann in Jerusalem, many thanks for that live report. Appreciate it. Joining me now is Gregg Carlstrom, Middle East correspondent for "The Economist." He is also the author of "How Long Will Israel Survive? The Threat from Within." Appreciate you joining us.

GREGG CARLSTROM, MIDDLE EAST CORRESPONDENT FOR THE ECONOMIST, AUTHOR: Thanks for having me.

CHURCH: Of course. So, what is your overall assessment of the memorandum of understanding reached between the U.S. and Iran that's yet to be formally signed on Friday in Switzerland?

CARLSTROM: Well, I mean, similar to what Oren said, I think we should reserve too much judgment on it until we know what's actually in it. We're going to hear a lot of spin over the next few days. I think from both the Americans and the Iranians, they will want to present this deal in the most favorable light for them. But until we see the text, we don't know what of those claims are true and which ones are nonsense.

But I do think in speaking to diplomats this morning who have been involved in mediating this agreement, it sounds very similar to what has been reported in previous weeks. I'm told many of those reports are accurate. And so, it seems as if we got to this deal by deferring the really difficult issues for the future What happens to Iran's stockpile of highly-enriched uranium? What sort of long-term sanctions relief does it receive from the United States? All of those things still have to be worked out in what are meant to be 60 days of talks.

I think it's very unlikely that the U.S. and Iran are going to get to a comprehensive agreement within 60 days. It will probably take longer than that. And so, there's a possibility that even though this is meant to be an interim deal, it actually becomes something of a more permanent status quo in the region. It's ceasefire, yes, it's an end to the fighting, but it's not the sort of comprehensive deal that ends all of the outstanding issues between the United States and Iran.

CHURCH: Yes. I mean, this is the challenge, isn't it? As you mentioned, this agreement, it has 60 days of nuclear talks, to start once the U.S. unfreezes Iranian funds. But it is the difficult part, isn't it? Settling issues related to Iran's nuclear program, including the enrichment of uranium. What will likely be decided, do you think?

CARLSTROM: Well, so one of the main disputes in the past two months of negotiations has been around this stockpile of highly-enriched uranium. The Americans insisted that Iran would have to export that uranium to the United States. Iran refused to do that. It said it would down blend it to a lower level of purity inside of Iran.

It seems as if the Americans have conceded the point there where they might now be willing to let Iran diluted at home rather than exported abroad. But you still need to work out the details of that. When will that happen? Where will the downblending happen? Who is going to monitor it? You know, will it be the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog or will it be American inspectors? Who will do that? And that's only the first question. Then you have the rest of Iran's nuclear program. Will it be allowed to enrich uranium at all? What happens to its existing nuclear facilities?

These are the sorts of issues that when the Obama administration negotiated the deal a decade ago, it took them two years to work out. So, the idea that this is going to be resolved in two months, it just seems very far-fetched.

CHURCH: And how will any possible violations of this memorandum of understanding likely be policed and dealt with, do you think?

CARLSTROM: And again, we don't know the answer to that until we see the text. Maybe the text doesn't even address those issues. I think for both the Americans and the Iranians, there probably is, at least for the next few months, a willingness to abide by the terms of the ceasefire. It's clear that Donald Trump really doesn't want to fight another round with Iran. And I think Iran, despite the tough talk that we've heard, is in a very bad situation economically and is desperate for sanctions relief. So, in general, they might stick to the agreement.

I think there's a big question, though, as it relates to the Israeli war in Lebanon. If this agreement does, as it's described, call for an end to that war, does that also include Israeli withdrawal from the territory that it occupies in southern Lebanon? If it doesn't, if you have Israeli troops remaining on the ground there occupying Lebanese territory, it's hard to see how you get to a lasting ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.

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And so, there's the risk of not more of what we saw a week ago with Israeli strikes in Beirut that then led to Iranian missile strikes on Iran -- on Israel.

CHURCH: And how do you think has the Iran war changed the Middle East and transformed Iran?

CARLSTROM: Too early to say in any definitive way. I think for Iran, clearly, it has put a more assertive, aggressive group of leaders in power. Iran for a long time was very cautious about using military force directly. And Ali Khamenei, the previous supreme leader, the people around him, they saw their priority as keeping conflict away from the borders of Iran. They were shaped by I think the experience of the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s. We've seen now the new leadership much more willing to carry out the sorts of strikes we've seen them do against Israel over the past few months, attacking Gulf states. So, it is a much more aggressive Iran.

At the same time, the internal issues there that led to the protests that we saw in January, those issues haven't been resolved. They've actually gotten worse. The population is exhausted with war, exhausted with many years of economic crisis. I'm not sure that the new regime has an answer for those issues, has an answer for the economic grievances of Iranians. So, we don't know quite what Iran is going to look like going forward. I think we also don't know what Gulf states are going to do, what sort of relationship they're going to have with Iran. I think everyone is trying to figure that out right now.

CHURCH: Gregg Carlstrom in Dubai, many thanks for joining us and sharing your analysis. Appreciate it. A deadly overnight attack by Russia sparked a massive fire at a historic Ukrainian monastery in central Kyiv. Video shows flames raging in the monastery as crews battle the fire. The monastery is almost a thousand years old and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Firefighters are still working to put out the flames. Ukrainian officials say at least four people were killed and more than 20 wounded during the Russian attack. At least five others were killed in a separate attack in the northeastern city of Kharkiv.

Riding high after reaching an agreement with Iran and hosting the first ever UFC match at the White House on his 80th birthday, President Trump will soon head to France for the G7 Summit. A look at the welcome he might get when "CNN Newsroom" returns.

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CHURCH: Hours after announcing an agreement with Iran, Donald Trump joined thousands of people to watch UFC fighters' brawl inside a massive cage just steps away from the White House. The event ended last hour. And the president had a ringside seat to watch all the action. He had long promised to bring the mixed martial arts event to the White House as part of the country's 250th anniversary celebration. But it also fell on Trump's 80th birthday. The UFC paid $60 million in production costs, but U.S. taxpayers will be footing part of the bill.

With the UFC event now over, President Trump will soon be headed to France for the G7 Summit where he will undoubtedly hear from western leaders about their thoughts on the agreement reached between the U.S. and Iran, but he could face some friction when talk turns to issues of trade and the war in Ukraine.

Joining me now is Natasha Lindstaedt, a professor of government at the University of Essex in Colchester, England. Good to have you with us.

NATASHA LINDSTAEDT, PROFESSOR OF GOVERNMENT, UNIVERSITY OF ESSEX: Thanks for having me.

CHURCH: Of course. So, this agreement reached between the U.S. and Iran to end the war came just before President Trump hosted the ultimate fighting championship on the White House lawn as part of America's 250th anniversary celebrations and his 80th birthday. What are the likely political benefits for the president of the optics of all of these?

LINDSTAEDT: Well, it's pretty good timing for Trump that he was able to come to some kind of what we think is a conclusion or at least a 60-day pause to fighting, that the Strait of Hormuz will open, of course, and that there's going to be no longer the blockade on Iran by the U.S. So, all this looks good as he goes into the G7 Summit where there has been a lot of criticism of the way the war has completely upended the global economy and energy prices and so forth.

But it never really -- it didn't really resolve some of the biggest issues between Iran and the U.S., which is Iran's nuclear program and then the sanctions on Iran or the issue of Israel's conflict with Lebanon. So, some of the thorniest issues have not been dealt with. And if you were really critical about the situation, you would say, well, how much better off is the U.S. before this conflict started?

Now, Iran knows it has a huge ability to completely disrupt oil gas prices through attacking the Strait of Hormuz, which it didn't really have before. And there hasn't really been any huge gains made. And I think there'll be a lot of leaders on the European side that were incredibly frustrated with the fact that Trump engaged in this conflict without really consulting them, and then lashed out against them when they refused to cooperate.

CHURCH: Yes. Yeah, President Trump chose to go to war with Iran over their nuclear program? And now, of course, the big issue to be solved is the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, which was not an issue before this war. But how likely is it that the lowering of gas prices will be enough for voters to change Trump's fortunes come the November midterms or will voters remember all of the other instances, all of the other problems?

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LINDSTAEDT: I mean, that's a good question to see how long the memory is of U.S. voters. We see this war was really unpopular. He really only had the support of his base that was willing to stick with him and believe this idea that Iran is now much weaker than before. Now, you have on average gas prices around $4 a gallon, a little bit more than that. So, that's still quite high.

He campaigned on the promise that he was going to tackle inflation, that gas prices would be low, and this really hasn't happened. Instead of his own making, he has made things much more difficult for Americans in terms of the cost of living crisis.

So, I think he's going to retain the support of his base. They're going to be really happy with the outcome, no matter what he does. But he has definitely hemorrhaged support amongst independent voters and really hardened the way Democrats feel about him, that he promised no more wars and said he had been incredibly aggressive with Iran, which had huge negative impacts on the U.S. economy.

CHURCH: And, as you mentioned, President Trump is about to leave for the G7 Summit in France in the wake of this announcement of an agreement between the U.S. and Iran to end the war. How will he likely be received given the overriding view is that this war should never have happened in the first place?

LINDSTAEDT: Right. I mean, there's a lot of tension because of the conflict, certainly because of the fact that Trump is no longer interested really in supporting Ukraine, because of all of his tariffs that he has levied that have really impacted the U.S. relationship with his allies, the way Trump has really denigrated NATO and threatened to attack Greenland. I mean, all these things have led to a lot of tension between Trump and U.S.-European allies which -- I mean, there is really nothing that has ever happened in the past.

Even when there has been tension about different issues, whether it be back in 2003 with George Bush and the war in Iraq, there was always the veneer of unity, that at the end of the day, Europe and the U.S. were really on the same page and really had the same strategic goals. Now, European leaders no longer feel like they have to kiss up to Trump all the time. That's what they were doing mostly in the first term. They really feel that he is a huge threat to European security.

We see public opinion about Trump incredibly low in countries like Italy, in Germany, in the U.K., in France where somewhere between 10 to 14 percent approve of Trump or like Trump. So, he's very, very unpopular. He does have a fairly good personal relationship with Macron who has been trying to court him. And they're just trying to get him to stay for the entire time. He has left abruptly before in 2018 and 2025, but they're no longer trying to kiss up to him the entire time because they know it doesn't always lead to positive outcomes for them.

CHURCH: Natasha Lindstaedt, thank you so much for joining us. Appreciate it.

LINDSTAEDT: Thanks for having me.

CHURCH: Of course. Switzerland has rejected a far-right proposal that would have capped its population size at 10 million as a means to limit immigration. Early results show nearly 55 percent of Swiss voters opposed the idea while 45 percent were in favor. The referendum was put forward by the right-wing Swiss People's Party, which says uncontrolled immigration is hurting the country.

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THOMAS AESCHI, VICE PRESIDENT, SWISS PEOPLE'S PARTY: Forty-five percent of the Swiss population said yes to limit immigration, to do something against those big problems that we have with illegal and criminal asylum seekers. So, a very strong sign to our government to change its policies, a very strong sign to the other parties as well, and a very strong sign to the large lobby organizations.

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CHURCH: Foreigners make up 28 percent of the nine million people in Switzerland. Opponents of the plan said it would hurt the economy by ending the free movement of labor between Switzerland and the European Union.

More on our breaking news coverage when we come back and the expectations from both the U.S. and Iran after the agreement is signed. Back with that and more in just a moment.

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CHURCH: Back to our breaking news. Three and a half months after the U.S. and Israel launched a war with Iran, Washington and Tehran say they've reached a deal to end the conflict. The agreement is to take effect on Friday. At that time, the Strait of Hormuz will reopen to shipping. Iran says 60 days of nuclear negotiations will begin once the U.S. meets three commitments, ending the naval blockade, ending military operations against Iran, and releasing billions of dollars in frozen Iranian funds. Iran's deputy foreign minister says the deal doesn't mean his country's view of the U.S. has changed.

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KAZEM GHARIBABADI, DEPUTY FOREIGN MINISTER OF IRAN (through translator): This memorandum of understanding was reached despite our complete distrust of our enemies. We have no trust in the enemy. Our trust lies in our military strength, our diplomatic capabilities, and the support and unity of our own people. That is why the implementation of this memorandum of understanding is extremely important. We have specific plans in place to monitor the implementation of U.S. commitments under this memorandum.

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CHURCH: A U.S. official says no funds will be released before the Iranians implement their commitments. CNN's Nic Robertson has details on how the memorandum of understanding came together.

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NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes, I think everyone was expecting some kind of signature this weekend to sign the deal into actuality, into reality, but it was going to be virtual. That didn't materialize. What we got instead was Pakistan's prime minister, the sort of leader of the mediators here, saying that the agreement had been reached to end immediately all military hostilities on all fronts, including Lebanon. Lebanon being very significant to this.

And one of the prime reasons to try to get this locked in, if not by electronic signature, then to get all parties to publicly state that they'd agreed to the language, that they'd agreed to move forward to get to the proper signing that we now know is going to be later in the week, on Friday, in Switzerland. And this will be a formal signing. But the commitment, so important this evening because Israel had struck at Hezbollah targets close to Beirut. That was because Hezbollah had struck into Israel.

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Iran had said previously that it would strike back if Israel did that. Iran appeared to be preparing for just such a military operation. So to get this agreement to forestall the sort of derailing of

everything that had been achieved so far, that was a significant part of getting this agreement. Now the Iranians have come to the table as well and said that they do agree for the signing in Switzerland on Friday who say that this agreement has been reached, but they're also laying out a couple of other things. They're saying getting into the next phase of talks, and that really means their agreement to this first round.

Getting into that requires the United States making good on its commitments to end hostilities, to lift the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. But also, and this is significant, the Iranians are saying something they've said before, that they want to see their frozen assets unfrozen. Here we're talking about potentially $12 billion. That's a figure that the Iranians have used before.

And this, of course, is a very sensitive issue for President Trump and the White House negotiating team, not something they want to be seen to be doing. But the Iranians here, this is always going to be one of the difficulties in sort of bringing this agreement to the table to signatures in a sort of slightly drawn-out fashion that both sides say we've agreed and then we begin to hear slight changes in position, slight caveats.

Of course, that's what the mediators have been hoping to do, to get everyone to agree. So the signature on Friday some preparatory talks will take place at a lower level during the week.

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ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Earlier, I spoke with Amena Bakr, the head of Middle East Energy and OPEC+ Insights for Kpler.

She says that even though a deal may be signed in just a few days, there are still quite a few issues that need to be resolved before fuel prices return to normal. Here's part of our conversation.

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AMENA BAKR, HEAD OF MIDDLE EAST ENERGY & OPEC+ INSIGHTS, KPLER: Underneath it all, we still have a supply shortage. And as you said, that it is going to take months to return back to normality. We still need to see the restart of production in the Middle East. We still have vessels that are trapped in the Persian Gulf that they need to get out of the strait, unload, and then come back again.

So it's not an immediate process. And again, we're yet to see if Iran will hold control over the strait. What we're potentially celebrating here is returning to the status quo. We didn't have the situation before the war, and so, we're just looking at a recovery or returning to pre-war levels, which isn't going to be an instant process.

CHURCH: And I wanted to ask you about that. I mean, pre-war levels were around $70 a barrel. How long do you think? I mean, are you willing to go out on a limb and guess how long it might take to get to that point? BAKR: I don't think we are going to get to that point. The lowest that we're trading, we might go down to $80, perhaps, if on Friday, indeed, we do have a deal signed. But quickly, I expect prices to react to the fundamentals or the reality of the situation that we're not going to get this instant production. It's not a tap.

But to be honest, I have been surprised at the level at which markets were just reacting on sentiment rather than fundamentals. Throughout this conflict, there were lots of predictions around, you know, oil hitting $120, $150, but we didn't see that because of just, you know, traders reacting to sentiments rather than reality.

CHURCH: And as the US and Iran prepare to sign that deal to make it official on Friday in Switzerland and open up the Strait of Hormuz, what impact has this war already had on energy and oil prices and supplies across the globe? Has it been a permanent mark, a scar perhaps?

BAKR: It has been. I mean, it's a great reminder of how fragile energy security is and how important Middle East production is to the world. And I think this is a lesson where a lot of countries are going to be looking to refill their strategic stock, looking to diversify their energy sources. And I mean, just again, holding importance that we can't have tolls on waterways that benefit the entire globe and ensure energy security.

So, these are all kind of lessons learned, and I hope that a lot of politicians don't have a short memory when it comes to this.

CHURCH: Yeah, indeed. And we talked about price, but how long do you think it will take to return the flow of crude to normal levels, and of course, for trade to fully resume, because all of this takes time, doesn't it?

BAKR: Yeah, of course. I mean, currently right now we have around 530 vessels that are trapped. Around 60 of them are crude vessels.

[02:35:02]

So that's potentially around 120 million barrels. And just putting these numbers into context, that's just five days of normal crude flows through her moves because initially we had around 20 million barrels flowing through there. So these vessels need to go unload and then come back again and then we need to restart of the production and that's going to take three to four months and I think we're just going to see the impact of this going into next year, Q1 or Q2 next year.

So I do expect prices to remain at elevated levels, we're talking maybe $90 a barrel going into 2027.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: In an interview with Fox News, U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance said Israel's Sunday attack on Lebanon had officials worried the prospective agreement with Iran may collapse. Israel says its airstrikes on the southern suburbs of Beirut and southern Lebanon were in response to Iran-backed Hezbollah fighters firing toward northern Israel. Trump administration officials feared Iran was getting ready to launch retaliatory strikes against Israel and move quickly to preserve the agreement.

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J.D. VANCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES (via telephone): After the Israelis struck Beirut, we were very worried and we saw a lot of evidence that the Iranians were going to launch a large number of missiles at the Israelis. With our communication with them over the course of getting to this -- to the signed peace deal, they assured us that they were not going to respond to the Israelis and they were going to sign this agreement and get to peace.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: In Gaza City, mourners held a funeral for four Palestinians killed in an Israeli strike. Medics said the victims were killed near a hospital in the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza. The Israeli military has not yet commented on the incident, Palestinian health officials say more than 950 people have been killed by Israeli strikes since the October 2025 ceasefire. Family members say their loved ones were struck down for no reason.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AHMED ABU SWEILAM, FAMILY MEMBERS KILLED IN ISRAELI STRIKE (through translator): My father is gone, my uncle is gone, and my neighbor is gone. Three of my neighbors are gone. They have no business in fighting, and there is nothing in the entire area. We are only a few families living in the entire area. Block 7 and Jabalia camp. Why is this happening with us?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Senator Mitch McConnell is in the hospital. His spokesperson says he is receiving excellent care. We'll have more details for you after the break.

Stay with us.

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[02:40:45]

CHURCH: U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell has been taken to the hospital. His office says the former majority leader was admitted for care on Sunday morning. The 84-year-old has faced numerous health issues in recent years, including suffering a concussion and broken ribs after falling in 2023.

CNN's Camila DeChalus has more.

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CAMILA DECHALUS, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: While details remain limited at this hour, but here's what we know so far. We know that the senator was hospitalized earlier this morning, and that is according to his spokesperson. Now, his office says he's receiving excellent care at the hospital, but they have not disclosed the reason behind the hospitalization or provided any additional details about his condition.

Now, McConnell is 84 years old and has been dealing with a number of health issues in the recent years, and this hospitalization is just a part of that. Just earlier this year, McConnell spent several days at the hospital after experiencing flu like symptoms and his health has really become a topic of concern on Capitol Hill following a -- following a fall that he had back in 2023 that resulted in him having concussion as well as suffering other falls in the years since.

Now this news is also coming during a major transition in the senator's political career just after decades of serving in the Senate and becoming the Senate majority leader back in 2015 and serving in very prominent roles he announced just last year that he would not seek reelection in 2026. It's also worth noting that McConnell back in 2015 really did play a critical role in advancing the President Trump's agenda during his first term in office.

But now, it's pretty notable that during Trump's second term in office, McConnell has been a bit critical of the president. The two have increasingly found themselves at odds, particularly when it comes to foreign policy issues.

But at this point in time, Senate leadership and the Trump administration hasn't really made any public comments about McConnell's health. So at this point in time, we're just waiting for additional details from his office that would provide more of an insight on the senator's condition.

Camila DeChalus, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: A plane carrying 11 skydivers and a pilot crashed moments after taking off from a Missouri airport on Sunday, killing everyone on board. The cause of the crash is under investigation, but officials say it appears to be an accident.

CNN's Rafael Romo has the latest.

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RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The Missouri State Highway Patrol says that the plane went down near the Butler Memorial Airport. Sergeant Justin Ewing with the Highway Patrol said that 12 people died, including 11 skydivers and the pilot of the airplane.

Dennis Jacobs, acting airport manager and Bates County Emergency Management director, told CNN the plane had just taken off around 11:30 a.m. local time, wasn't able to get visual altitude, made sharp left turn and crashed about 300 yards from the runway. Jacobs added that the single engine turbo prop is operated by Skydive Kansas City. The company declined to come in when contacted by CNN.

Aerial footage from CNN affiliate KMBC shows the debris field of the plane crash in a grassy area right next to a rural road only hundreds of yards away from buildings and structures belonging to the Butler Memorial Airport. The city of Butler, population 4,600 is located about 65 miles south of Kansas City, Missouri.

A sergeant with the Missouri State Highway Patrol told the Associated Press that the plane was taking people up to skydive when emergency responders got a call that a plane was down and engulfed in fire. The sergeant also told "The A.P." that the plane went down in a field adjacent to the airport.

This is what Congressman Mark Alford, who represents the area where this happened, had to say about the tragic crash.

MARK ALFORD, U.S. HOUSE REPUBLICAN: I think some of these were first- time skydivers preparing to skydive in a tandem formation. Not a lot of them, my understanding, were experienced, but just getting to enjoy God's green earth and then have something like this turn so tragic while potentially other family members were watching.

SHERIFF CHAD ANDERSON, BATES COUNTY SHERIFFS DEPARTMENT: There were witnesses that were family members. Yes, our hearts go out to them. There's nothing we really can say to make it better.

[02:45:00]

We just pray for them and their loved ones and their friends and their family and hope that they can recover to some sense of normalcy if we can.

ROMO: In a statement, the National Transportation Safety Board said the plane that crash was a Pacific Aerospace 750 XL operated for skydiving purposes. The NTSB also said its investigators will arrive to the scene on Monday. A preliminary report on the crash is expected within 30 days, but the full investigation may take up two years to be completed.

Rafael Romo, CNN, Atlanta.

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CHURCH: And investigators in Brazil are trying to figure out what caused two helicopters to collide in mid-air over Rio de Janeiro. Authorities say all six people on board were killed in the crash Sunday morning. One of the helicopters went down in a car dealership's parking lot, setting several electric vehicles on fire.

American singer Oliver Tree is believed to be one of the passengers killed, though police are still working to identify everyone. Tree had just performed in Argentina earlier this month.

After the break, we will take a look at Sunday's World Cup matches as the group stage of the tournament begins to heat up.

Back with that in just a moment.

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[02:50:08]

CHURCH: The New York Knicks basketball team got home from San Antonio after shutting down the Spurs in five games. The team landed in Westchester County, north of the city on Sunday. Team members hand carried the championship trophy, which they hadn't won in 53 years. New Yorkers hit the streets to celebrate.

More than 60 people were arrested as the celebrations got more violent and several vehicles were set on fire.

Gloria Pazmino has more, including details on the official celebrations the city has planned for the days ahead.

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GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Watching the images from last night of, you know, just thousands of people spilling out onto the streets, people watching from their balconies, their windows, their fire escapes. I think that's going to be an iconic image that we're going to remember for many more years. This was a victory. 53 years in the making. It was such a big moment for New Yorkers, for Knicks fans. A city that, you know, came together last night in a way that it rarely ever does. It was an energy that, you know, was unique.

Now, unfortunately somewhat parties that got a little bit out of control. The police department has said 63 people were arrested. Some police officers unfortunately sustained some injuries and there was a shooting in Times Square. A 17 year old was injured.

But other than that, for the most part, the city came together in this really electric, joyful way. You know, we saw many neighbors pulling their television sets out, bringing together watch parties spontaneously so that people could join in this moment.

Now, here outside of Madison Square Garden, fans have actually continued to show up. They want to go inside the official merchandise store and get their finals merchandise and I can't bring you in there, but I did go in there myself. There's a long line and shirts, hats and everything else is flying off the shelves. People just can't get enough.

And everyone is going to get another chance to celebrate once again. On Thursday, there will be a New York City ticker tape parade. New York City mayors around Zohran Mamdani will be hosting the New York Knicks, who I think we have images of arriving in Westchester on Sunday, making it back to New York. They will be downtown in Manhattan for a ceremony, the ticker tape parade, and they will be handed the keys to the city.

I think a moment, as I said, 53 years in the making that a lot of New Yorkers going to remember for a long time. Gloria Pazmino, CNN, New York.

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CHURCH: The Carolina Hurricanes are Stanley Cup champions for the second time in their franchise history. The Hurricanes shut out the Las Vegas Golden Knights three to nothing to capture their first NHL title since 2006. They won the series four games to two.

Hurricanes rookie goaltender Brandon Bussi blocked 22 shots. Carolina captain Jordan Staal was named most valuable player.

Well, the group stage of the World Cup is starting to heat up as teams look to gain an early edge. In Houston, four-time World Cup winner Germany made the biggest statement of the day, dominating Curacao, seven goals to one. This was the island nation's first World Cup game, and it's the smallest country ever to appear in the tournament.

Ivory Coast grabbed a dramatic 90th minute winner to beat Ecuador 1-0 in Philadelphia. Japan faced off against the Netherlands in Dallas in one of the most entertaining matches of the day, scoring a late equalizer to secure a 2-2 draw.

In Vancouver, Australia joined the United States at the top of the Group D after a 2-0 victory over Turkey in that team's first World Cup match in 24 years.

And Sweden trounced Tunisia, winning 5-1 in their opener. This is Sweden's 13th World Cup, but their first appearance since 2018.

World Cup host cities are working to make sure visitors have a great experience. One example is Miami, a city with a rich history and culture.

As CNN's Carolina Peguero reports, getting around the Florida metropolis is worth the effort.

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CAROLINA PEGUERO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The city of Miami is ready to receive thousands of fans from all over for the World Cup, and I have a few recommendations for those first timers that want to get the full Miami experience.

[02:55:06]

Let's make the first stop.

First things first, once you get to the city of Miami, transportation is key. There will be options such as Uber bus shuttles that will take you to and from the Miami Stadium and trains that will take you all across the county for free.

LISA COLEMENARES, CHIEF PLANNING OFFICER, MIAMI DADE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION & PUBLIC WORKS: You just have to show your ticket to the match and then you could board one of the dozens of buses that we're going to have at these hubs. There's going to be traffic and there's going to be a lot of people coming to downtown, but if you take the Metrorail and transfer to our Metro mover, it will be only a few minutes and trains are constantly running and they will be operating until midnight.

PEGUERO: Next, Little Havana, where people from all over the world come here to visit and get a feel of the Cuban culture. You'll get to feel the music and you may run into a couple roosters that just casually are walking around the town.

If you want to get the true feel of the Cuban culture, you must make a stop here at this iconic place of Versailles and get the famous Cortadito.

Having your coffee is so important and how is it going to keep you up through all the games?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So important. Believe me, I have it every single morning here and I don't miss it, not even one day important to everybody in Latin America even here in Miami well we have a plenty of culture.

PEGUERO: And one thing you can't forget at home or at your hotel is your patience. You'll have to have lots of that but also bring water comfy shoes and of course, your favorite team's jersey.

Carolina Peguero, CNN, Miami.

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CHURCH: It's a great city. Thanks so much for your company this hour. I'm Rosemary Church.

CNN NEWSROOM with Polo Sandoval is next after a quick break. Stay with us.

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