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United States, Iran Reached an Agreement, Strait of Hormuz to Reopen and Extend Ceasefire; President Trump Witnessed UFC Freedom 250 on His Birthday. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired June 15, 2026 - 03:00   ET

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

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POLO SANDOVAL, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: Hey everybody, thank you so much for starting your week with us. I'm Polo Sandoval, live in New York, and here's what's coming your way here on "CNN Newsroom."

The U.S. and Iran, they say that they will soon sign an agreement to extend the ceasefire and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, but both sides, they're already setting conditions. We'll tell you what some of those are.

And Russia unleashes another deadly barrage on Kyiv, taking out a thousand-year-old historic monastery.

And smack down on the South Lawn, President Trump bringing a spectacle to the White House with his UFC Freedom 250 event. We discuss how that plays into his perceived legacy.

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

SANDOVAL: And at this hour, we are following the very latest out of the Middle East, the U.S. and Iran, announcing that they finally have an agreement after months of negotiations and stalemates.

A formal signing of this memorandum of understanding is expected to take place in Geneva, Switzerland on Friday. Once signed, the Strait of Hormuz is supposed to be reopened and the U.S. will lift its naval blockade of Iranian ports.

President Donald Trump is saying that the agreement with Iran would ensure that the vital waterway will be, quote, "permanently toll- free." But we should point out, since Iran had not imposed tolls before the start of this conflict, this would essentially restore conditions that existed before the war.

President Trump, taken to social media, touting this 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," wrote the President. Let's bring in CNN's Oren Liebermann, who's live from Jerusalem now.

Oren, it's good to see you. I'm wondering if you could just lay out two things here.

What President Trump is touting about this deal, but also what the Iranians are saying about this. I mean, time and time again, we've heard two very different perspectives.

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN JERUSALEM BUREAU CHIEF: And fundamentally, we still don't know what's in the deal itself because nobody has released the text of the deal. We hope we see that on Friday, when there is expected to be the signing of the actual agreement, the opening of the Strait of Hormuz, the lifting of the U.S. Navy blockade, and then we might have a sense of what's really in here.

So far, all we know, or at least from what we know, all this does is really reset the Strait of Hormuz, an international waterway, a critical waterway, to what it was before the war began, before the U.S. and Israel began the war some three months ago. Other than that, we don't really have a sense of what's in here.

And what it's supposed to do is trigger 60 days of negotiations on the far more difficult issues, on the nuclear topic, on the highly enriched uranium. We have already seen the Trump administration claiming that this ends Iranian support for its proxies, that this limits its ballistic missile program. Iran has rejected that.

On the other hand, Iran has claimed that this agreement leads to the unfreezing of billions in Iranian assets. The U.S. has rejected that. So we don't really have a sense of what's in here.

Meanwhile, as to President Donald Trump's claim that the leaders of the region support this and have finally found someone to bring peace to the region, well, we just got a statement from Israel's defense minister, Israel Katz, saying that Israel has no intention of withdrawing from Lebanon, even under existing and expected pressure.

Now, what Iran has demanded as part of this agreement is a regional ceasefire, including Lebanon. But Israel had tried to separate the Lebanon conflict from the Iran conflict unsuccessfully, Iran was able to get that in there, and Trump had, so far as we can tell, no objection to it.

So one of the key questions here is what does this require from Israel, which is not a signatory to the deal, and in fact would much prefer to have continued the war with Iran. So Israel already signaling that it's not going to withdraw, even if the ceasefire requires that.

Of course, Polo, the key question here is what's in the deal? And we still don't know.

SANDOVAL: So much riding on that, and yet so much that still hasn't been released by either side. Oren Liebermann, thank you so much for bringing us up to speed on what we do know. I want to go now to Ali Vaez, he's Iran project director at the International Crisis Group. He's joining us from Geneva, Switzerland, where we are expecting that critical signing ceremony to take place by the end of the week. It's great to see you again, Ali.

ALI VAEZ, IRAN PROJECT DIRECTOR, INTERNATIONAL CRISIS GROUP: Good to see you, Polo.

SANDOVAL: So I wonder if maybe we could start on just your take on where we are right now. I mean, this is far from the first time that President Trump expresses optimism.

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Last week there were some 37 times that CNN counted that we've heard that there was a deal on the horizon or soon to be finalized. Do you see this moment different? Do you see this agreement helping pave the way to a final end in this conflict?

VAEZ: I do, I think this time is different. I do believe that we have a deal, even though maybe the announcement was rushed because the President wanted to have a win on his birthday, or maybe he wanted to just finalize this before he departs for the G7 summit in France. But the reality is that most of the gaps in the text have been bridged, and the Iranians also have not denied the fact that we are now very close to the finish line.

Probably there are some additional wording or sequencing issues that remain, but between now and Friday, hopefully those would be ironed out and the deal would be signed on Friday.

SANDOVAL: As you were speaking, we're showing that post from President Trump, and he closes with, ships of the world, start your engines. It's actually a very optimistic view, especially when it comes to hundreds of ships that have essentially been just on pause.

Now in terms of the agreement itself, it apparently would also mark the start of a 60-day period for negotiations, including nuclear talks. Do you think that two months will be enough to work out that issue that, it's important to remind our viewers, was the issue that started this conflict in the first place?

VAEZ: It's an extremely ambitious timeline. And remember that in 2025, in fact, the two sides used a 60-day period to negotiate the deal, and when they didn't, on day 61, Israel launched a 12-day war exactly a year ago.

And then again, they had two rounds of negotiations in early 2026 before this recent round of conflict. So there have been time and opportunity in the past, but they've never been able to resolve the more substantive issues. This is why they prioritize addressing the most essential issues, which is the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, which had turned into an issue of basically mutually hurting a situation for both sides.

So they are resolving that, and that is a good thing. But let's be honest, this is one-page memorandum, it's not a comment.

SANDOVAL: Forgive the interruption. As you're speaking, actually, I just want to tell viewers what they're seeing right now. Some live pictures out of Joint Base Andrews, where it's currently 3:00 a.m., seeing President Trump boarding Air Force One as he prepares to head to the G7 Summit in France, Ali.

So didn't mean to interrupt you there, but it really just underscores how the wheels are moving right now. And there's still some question as to whether or not he may actually want to be present where you are in just a few days' time there in Switzerland to sign this.

And just before I could end, you were mentioning the Strait of Hormuz. What is your expectation of what the Iranians are willing to give up?

VAEZ: So what is going to happen is that there is going to be a few weeks of minesweeping operations that are necessary to make sure that the international waterways in the Strait of Hormuz are safe and secure. That means that in this period, so in the next 30 days, the traffic would have to go through Iranian territorial waters, and therefore it has to be coordinated and controlled by the Iranians.

Whether they would charge a service fee in this period or not, it's still unclear, because we have not seen the details of the agreement. But at least we would see a gradual return to higher number of vessels passing through.

Then you would need some sort of maybe additional assurance or a longer-term deal or a series of mini-deals in order to reassure the maritime traffic that the waterways are going to remain safe. And as you know, the Europeans are putting forward a maritime coalition in order to provide escort after the ceasefire and the deal is fully in place. And this is one of the issues that will be debated at the G7 summit.

SANDOVAL: I wonder, before we let you go, Ali, maybe you can also share your thoughts on the Israeli element of all this. Do you think that Prime Minister Netanyahu will eventually commit to this agreement? And do you see him committing long-term, that he will not launch any future strikes against targets in Lebanon?

VAEZ: Look, he will do everything in his power to derail this agreement, because this is the last thing he wants. He wants regime change in Iran, he doesn't want to deal with this regime. So he will try to undermine it one way or another. It's a question of time, maybe he will do it in a matter of days or weeks.

[03:10:03]

The real question here is what President Trump is willing to do, because so far he has limited himself to rhetorical slap on the wrist. But the U.S. has tremendous leverage with Israel. And if the President decides to deploy it in order to keep his deal with Iran, then we would see a difference in Israeli policy.

SANDOVAL: And now the President heading to Europe, where he will face European allies. I'm sure they will have questions of their own about this conflict.

Ali Vaez, as always, thank you so much for coming on board and sharing your perspective. I appreciate your time.

VAEZ: My pleasure. Thank you.

SANDOVAL: Let's go to Switzerland now, which has projected a far-right proposal that would have capped its population size at 10 million as a means to limit immigration. Early results right now, they're showing that nearly 55 percent of Swiss voters opposed that 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 their country.

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THOMAS AESCHI, SWISS PEOPLE'S PARTY PRESIDENT: 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 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.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: Currently foreigners make up about 28 percent of the 9 million people in Switzerland. Opponents of the plan are saying that it would hurt the economy by ending the free movement of labor between Switzerland and the European Union.

Russia launches a massive strike hitting Ukraine's capital. Still to come here on "CNN Newsroom," the very latest on the aftermath there as Ukraine begins initial discussions to gain membership in the European Union, what that means.

Plus, President Trump capping off a busy Sunday with a series of UFC fights on the White House South Lawn. And all of this is happening on his 80th birthday. We're going to have the very latest on that front in a moment.

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SANDOVAL: Hours after announcing an agreement with Iran, President Donald Trump joining thousands of people to watch UFC fighters brawl inside a massive cage that was built just steps away from the White House. A temporary setup.

And the President had a ringside seat to watch all of that 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 also fell on Trump's 80th birthday. Now the UFC picking up the tab, paying the production $60 million

costs, but U.S. taxpayers will be footing part of the bill, including the cost of securing the event.

Joining us now is Presidential historian Douglas Brinkley, who is a professor of history at Rice University. Douglas, thank you so much for taking the time to join us.

DOUGLAS BRINKLEY, PROF. OF HISTORY, RICE UNIVERSITY, AND PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: Thank you for having me.

SANDOVAL: So I'm curious from your perspective how you would define this moment in U.S. Presidential history with this massive UFC arena set up on the South Lawn. I mean, it seems that we've gone a very long way since the days that Teddy Roosevelt would host a couple of boxing matches.

BRINKLEY: Very long way indeed.

Look, history will look at this first off as Donald Trump triumphalism. He's our 80th year old President. It's his birthday, this is the way he wanted to celebrate it.

It's strange to have this all happening, what you would think of more as a sports arena or some sort of, you know, extreme sport event happening in the White House lawn and in the mall. But alas, eyeballs are watching, it'll be remembered.

And President Trump announced also the potential end of the four month war in Iran, which would be great news to the world community and American national security and all, you know, many other things. So it's been quite a day, we'll see how all this plays out. But we they dodged a Washington, D.C. lightning, a little bit of misstarts, and now it's quite a grand theatrical moment occurring as we speak.

SANDOVAL: Yes, I mean, timing really is there something to be said about the timing of this event and multiple stories that are breaking.

And in terms of what history shows us, how do you think that perhaps the American public will perceive an event of this scale with so much going on? And as you point out a little while ago, it's such significant developments happening in the war in the Middle East.

BRINKLEY: Well, for the event on the White House of their most Americans aren't really keen on it. There's a lot of bitterness and animosity about the way the East Wing was torn down at the White House for this Trump ballroom.

And people are getting, I think, a little tired of Trump doing his name all over the nation's capital. Hence, just a day ago about the Kennedy Center, not allowing to have Trump's name on it. But make no mistake about it.

There are a lot of particularly the so-called manosphere, young men that love what's going on right now with wrestling and the dad's and the, you know, all the bells ringing and the smoke mirrors of the event. So it may be a net win for President Trump, for his base or what he feels he needs, put some wind in his sail. But it's not by accident that it's a birthday event, the beginning of America 250, it will be remembered that this was the opening salvo.

But I think most significantly, let's hope that this was only a four day war, a four month war, not something that's going to go on. But peace in the Middle East is always very difficult and right when you think something's been negotiation, missile gets fired and it's back again.

So let's all pray that this Friday it sticks. And we have to thank our Pakistani allies, negotiators for being part of this process.

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SANDOVAL: Yes, Friday will certainly be key in terms of what could happen next in this conflict. And just finally, if you sort of take a step back and look at the broader look of all of these Trump initiated construction and renovation projects that we've seen in recent months.

Of course, there's the reflecting pool, the arch that he plans to eventually construct. But when you look at all of these different projects, Douglas, how much of them seem to be the President looking to cement his legacy versus making what he claims are much needed improvements in the nation's capital?

BRINKLEY: I mean, everybody knows this all about Donald Trump and his legacy. I mean, he is the kingpin of reality T.V., which is going on in a way with World Federation Wrestling. And also, you know, there's "The Apprentice," you know, taking another episode tonight.

And look, there may be an upside to it, but Donald Trump tattoos his name on things, whether it's, you know, Trump Tower in New York or the Trump building in Chicago or his golf courses. That's what he does. And he's doing it to Washington, D.C. His first term, he had the Trump Hotel, the International Hotel, which was a bit controversial.

Second term, he is seeing America 250 as this golden opportunity to try to be remembered in history with the greats. He wants to be seen in the same breath as George Washington or Theodore Roosevelt. The public's not buying it, not enough of a percentage.

But Donald Trump believes he's one of the greats in his own mind. And he's put up plaques in the White House that tells us how great he is all the time. It's become a shtick.

American people are either tired of it or feel that it's fun. I guess it depends how we vote. But this July 4th, our country seems to be divided between a Freedom 250 event and America 250.

We're having almost two different, you know, America 250 celebrations going on.

SANDOVAL: And, of course, that UFC event that's taking place on the South Lawn, it really is a sight to see, quite the spectacle. BRINKLEY: It's weird and strange.

SANDOVAL: Yes, it really is fascinating to watch. Douglas Brinkley, as always, pleasure. And thank you so much for your perspective.

BRINKLEY: Thank you.

SANDOVAL: Some breaking news to share with you now, the stepson of Norway's crown prince has been found guilty of two counts of rape, domestic violence and other crimes. Marius Hoiby was sentenced to four years in prison by an Oslo court on Monday.

Prosecutors asked that he be sentenced to seven years and seven months. The 29 year old joined the royal family when his mother married the crown prince. With a seven week trial, it outlined Hoiby's drug use and detailed videos that he made of his sexual encounters.

The trial came as his mother apologized for her friendship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

The group stage of the World Cup, it is starting to heat up as teams look to gain an early edge in Houston, for example, four time World Cup winner Germany, making the biggest statement of the day, dominating Curacao seven goals to one. And this was the island nation's first World Cup game. And it's the smallest country ever to appear in this nearly 100 year old tournament.

Ivory Coast grabbing a dramatic 90th minute winner to beat Ecuador 1-0 in Philadelphia, and Japan facing off against the Netherlands in Dallas, Texas, and one of the most entertaining matches of the day, scoring a late equalizer to secure a 2-2 draw. And in Vancouver, Australia joining the United States at the top of the group D after a 2-2 victory over Turkey in that team's first World Cup match in 24 years.

And in Sweden -- actually trouncing Tunisia, winning 5-1 in their opener. This is Sweden's 13th World Cup appearance. But actually, I should say this is their 13th World Cup, but their first appearance since 2018. What a day.

The Carolina Hurricanes, they are now the Stanley Cup champions for the second time in the franchise history, the Hurricanes shutting out the Las Vegas Golden Knights, 3-0, capturing their first NHL title since 2006. They won the series four games to two.

Hurricanes rookie goaltender Brandon Bussey, I should say Bussi, blocking 22 shots by the Knights. Carolina captain Jordan Staal made the most valuable player of that game.

A deadly overnight attack by Russia sparking a massive fire at a historic Ukrainian monastery in central Kyiv.

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Videos showing flames raging in the monastery as crews rushed to battle the fire. The historic monastery is a UNESCO World Heritage sites, and the complex traces its roots back almost a thousand years.

Let's get the very latest on this and head over to CNN's Sebastian Shukla, who's following the story out of Berlin. Sebastian, what do we know about these latest strikes? And also maybe some of the conversations that President Trump has had with the leaders from Ukraine and from Russia?

SEBASTIAN SHUKLA, CNN PRODUCER: Yes, good morning, Polo. Another very deadly, a very brutal night of attacks on Ukraine and in particular targeting the capital city. This time, those attacks as a result of those overnight attacks, a fire appears to have broken out at the Pechersk Lavra Church there in the center of the city.

The cathedral, as you said, it's a thousand years old monastery that traces its roots back to medieval times, given its age, but has also had a very chequered history with other previous occupations. This church was also severely damaged by the Nazi regime when it occupied the city during the Second World War. It has subsequently been rebuilt and reestablished.

But there are still elements of that cathedral that still existed. We don't know exactly what caused the fire here.

We're assuming that there was some sort of spread as a result of one of those drone attacks of which we were looking at 611 unmanned aerial vehicles launched by Moscow last night, accompanied by 70 crews and ballistic missiles, two that have been targeting Ukrainian's capital and other and other cities across the country almost relentlessly for several weeks now, and lots of them leaving lots and lots of damage.

What we heard just before you came to me as well, Polo, is that that number has increased now from four people dead to five. That last latest victim dying as a result of their injuries in hospital, as you can imagine, another very serious night of attacks for the Ukrainian people enduring this onslaught from the Kremlin, Polo.

SANDOVAL: It's awful that the death toll is still on the rise. And as you know, Sebastian, the E.U. is also considering membership for Ukraine. I mean, what can you tell us about the likelihood of that happening and how it could potentially reshape the war moving on?

SHUKLA: Yes, so this is actually a very significant step for the Ukrainians. The E.U. have agreed now, all the E.U. ambassadors have agreed that the first stage should be begun for Ukraine and Moldova's ascension to the E.U.

Significant, well, largely because of both of those nations. Czech and history with Russia, Ukraine's obviously, as we have known about now for the last four or five years, but also both former Soviet states, too. What I want to temper, though, is that this does not mean that at the European Council meeting that's happening later this week after the G7 summit, that Ukraine has suddenly become a member of the European Union.

Not at all. There is many hurdles to go here. But the fact that the E.U. member states have agreed and that was the initial problem blocking this, that Hungary under the premiership of Viktor Orban, Kremlin ally largely seen in the heart of Europe, has now been moved aside and that these talks have been able to progress.

It means that substantive talks can now begin about frameworks, about opening up E.U. markets and essentially letting the Ukrainians inside the bloc without having formal voting rights and procedures, but sort of easing them in and all the other member states talking about, you know, what that ascension and what a timeline could be.

Quite difficult to predict how long that could be. But we're probably looking at several years at least and obviously, that would be one of the major things that the Ukrainians have been looking for. They wanted to join NATO, they've been told that seems very unlikely.

The next step for them has been being able to join the E.U. This appears to be the first step on what will be a very long road. Polo.

SANDOVAL: Yes, the mere consideration. Certainly a significant development in that. Sebastian Shukla with the latest from Berlin, thank you, Sebastian.

Still ahead here on "CNN Newsroom," we're going to take you back to our top story and what we know about the agreement between the U.S. and Iran and when we could potentially see ships moving again through that critical Strait of Hormuz. Stay with us.

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

Brazilian investigators are currently working to determine what caused two helicopters to collide mid-air over Rio de Janeiro on Sunday. One of them crashed into a parking lot of a car dealership. All six people on board were killed, American singer and comedian Oliver Tree was listed among those passengers.

The Ultimate Fighting Championship event just outside the White House is wrapped up. President Trump watched the matches ringside and thousands of mixed martial arts fans in attendance. But it also drew protests from critics who argued that the event was unlawful and also self-serving since it fell on the President's 80th birthday.

The U.S. and Iran say that they have reached an agreement and will sign a memorandum of understanding come Friday. U.S. President Donald Trump says that the U.S. will lift its blockade on Iranian ports and the Strait of Hormuz will reopen once that agreement is signed later this week. Meanwhile, Iran says that one of its top priorities during the 60-day negotiations that follow will be the lifting of all the sanctions.

Paula Hancocks is joining me now from Abu Dhabi with more on what we know and also perhaps what we don't know, Paula, since we really haven't gotten a whole lot of information, a lot of details from both sides.

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's key, Polo, the fact that we haven't seen this document, we haven't seen the memorandum of understanding. And what that means is that over the next few days before this official signing on Friday, you will see both sides trying to put their spin on it. And we have already seen that, that there is some difference of opinion as to what exactly is within this text.

Now, I'll talk you through exactly what we have heard from the Iranian and the U.S. side in the absence of that document.

[03:34:56]

We heard from Iran's deputy foreign minister effectively saying that the 60-day discussions and ceasefire is effectively conditional on the United States meeting certain criteria. This is obviously not what we've heard from the Trump administration. But what we heard from Kazem Gharibabadi is that there will be a lifting of the naval blockade, which President Trump has said will happen, the ending of the state of war and military operations and also, and this one's key, the releasing of Iran's frozen funds.

Now, we know there are billions of dollars of Iranian finances that have been frozen. We have not heard from the U.S. side that that will be unfrozen in any small part or large part before the conditions, before the discussions start for this 60 days. But Iranian officials making it clear that that has to happen before they decide that the clock starts ticking.

Now, what we're hearing from the American side, we heard from the U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance speaking to Fox News heralding this agreement, saying it is a major step. And he sets out three core elements, the immediate reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, an assurance that Iran will never have or pursue a nuclear weapon, and then the third one, that there is compliance.

Now, unsurprisingly, from Tehran, we're not hearing anything about their nuclear program. They have long favored pushing that issue to a later date when these very difficult talks do begin. For the most part, countries are hailing this agreement and the announcement of the agreement by both sides as a positive step.

We're not hearing that inside Israel, though, really across the board from different parties, different political leanings. They are not celebrating this deal in large part because Lebanon has become part of this deal. Iran has insisted that any peace deal between the U.S. and Iran has to end the war on all fronts, including Lebanon.

That is something that we know that Benjamin Netanyahu, the Prime Minister, has not wanted. In fact, in the hours surrounding these announcements and just before these announcements, Israel carried out a strike on Hezbollah strongholds, it says, in the southern suburbs of Beirut. There was great concern, according to U.S. officials among the Trump

administration, that this could derail the whole process. In fact, President Trump said to "New York Times" in a phone interview that Israel stands to benefit from this deal, talking of Netanyahu, quote, he is a very difficult guy. Polo.

SANDOVAL: Yes, it's safe to assume that Israel's commitment to this deal would certainly be crucial in order to make this work. Paula Hancocks, as always, I really appreciate all your reporting.

Let's discuss more of this and go to Sanam Vakil, is the director of the Middle East and North Africa program at Chatham House in London. Sanam, thank you so much for taking the time to join us, I appreciate it.

SANAM VAKIL, DIRECTOR, MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA PROGRAM, CHATHAM HOUSE: Nice to be with you.

SANDOVAL: My colleague, Paula, said it best. We should all be ready for a spin from both sides as we hopefully will learn a little bit more about the specifics of this agreement. What are the questions that you have on your mind about how this deal is supposed to work come the end of the week? If we see that moment, we're inside.

VAKIL: Well, a lot of questions, obviously, we all want to see what is actually on the piece of paper. But, you know, more specifically, I'm concerned about the mechanism for implementation, because there's lots that can go wrong. Iran is reportedly going to be demining the Strait of Hormuz, and that's when maritime traffic will be able to flow outwards.

When will the nuclear discussions begin? Who is going to be in the room? How is that process going to unfold? What sort of incentive will the U.S. be granting Iran in this space?

It's not so much about accessing its own reserves or money being released, but all of this process needs to be laid out in quite detail.

Who are going to be the negotiators? There are just so many questions.

And will President Trump continue to referee between Iran and Israel? Because Prime Minister Netanyahu continues to try and disrupt this deal and assert his own interests in Lebanon.

SANDOVAL: And Sanam, you touched on this just a moment ago, the question of what does Iran stand to gain? That draft of the agreement, as you heard, it reportedly releases billions in Iranian assets. What would that mean for Iran's economy and what would it mean for Iran's regime?

[03:40:04]

VAKIL: Well, I think we have to remember that this war, while it has enabled the Iranian system to survive, it has come at a huge cost economically inside. It weathered 13,000 strikes by the U.S.'s account. And so the reconstruction of the country will be considerable, estimated to be $250 billion worth of damage.

And this so-called development fund that is a point in this memorandum of understanding will be important for that. But Iran has a long way to go in rebuilding, reconstructing and rehabilitating with its own people.

We shouldn't forget that in January there were very significant protests in the country that were brutally suppressed in an unprecedented way. And so there needs to be a reckoning or an acknowledgement of the massive gap and disenchantment within Iranian society.

This is not a regime change in Iran, but new leadership that might be looking to craft its own way or a different way. And we'll have to see how all of that plays out.

SANDOVAL: And then, of course, there's the nuclear issue. Paula was just reporting on that as well and how the Iranians really not elaborating, really not offering any detail on that. The signing of this agreement, it would supposedly kick off the 60-day period to settle the nuclear issue that started this conflict in the first place.

What kind of concessions do you see the Iranians offering when it comes to that nuclear program?

VAKIL: Well, it's worthwhile reminding everyone that there have been rounds of nuclear negotiations between Iran and the United States even two days before the war began on February 28th. And the issues are quite simple and haven't really changed too much. Iran is going to allow inspectors back inside the country.

That, I think, is the most important principle to be obtained or for them to compromise on so that the IAEA can see the damage, see what the status of Iran's nuclear facilities. And that should be for a prolonged period of time. President Trump is focused on no nuclear weapons, no enrichment inside the country.

But they will be battling it out over Iran's highly enriched uranium that supposedly was buried last summer during the 12-day war. And Iran doesn't want to surrender that enriched uranium. It sees it as insurance to keep the U.S. its own commitments, to hold up its own side of the bargain.

So I think that is going to be a big sticking point there. The Iranians are going to be, again, looking for sanctions relief and a permanent end to hostilities.

And all of this is going to be very hard to achieve in a two-month window. They've been negotiating over this MOU in over two months. So let's see how long this is going to last.

SANDOVAL: A big sticking issue. Do you think it's too big to settle in just two months?

VAKIL: I do think it's not too big to settle because they have been going round and round on this. So it's a question of having a structure, a mechanism, enforcement and guarantees. If those can be arranged, this could be resolved quite quickly.

But we have to remember that there is zero trust between Tehran and Washington, particularly after these wars. Secondly, if they're not going to meet face-to-face or even indirectly, if they're going to continue these negotiations through messengers and negotiators, it's going to take quite a long period of time.

And then thirdly, there's toxicity both in Tehran and Washington. There are opponents on the Democratic and Republican side and there are hardliners in Tehran that see this deal as a capitulation.

So it will be hard to deliver. And both President Trump and the Iranian leadership need to drown out the noise.

SANDOVAL: Yes, I mean, it's a signature on an important agreement. It certainly can't reverse decades of distrust between these two sides. Sanam Vakil, we are so grateful for your time and for your perspective, thank you.

VAKIL: Thank you.

SANDOVAL: When Gaza City mourners held a funeral for four Palestinians killed in an Israeli strike, medics said that the victims were killed near a hospital in the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza. The Israeli military has not yet confirmed or at least have not commented on this incident.

[03:45:06]

Palestinian health officials say that more than 950 people have been killed by Israeli strikes since the October 2025 ceasefire was put into place. Family members say that their loved ones were struck down for no reason.

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AHMED ABU SWELIAM, 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 seven in Jabalia camp.

Why is this happening with us?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: And do stay with us. We're back in a moment.

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SANDOVAL: You're up to speed on markets, here are the rest of your business headlines. Global oil prices, they have been dropping after news of an agreement

between the U.S. and Iran to work toward ending the war. Both Brent crude and the U.S. benchmark, they fell to their lowest level since March, and if the Strait of Hormuz is indeed reopened as part of that agreement, then those prices could fall even further.

Elon Musk recently becoming the world's first trillionaire, but a new CNN analysis is now showing that American taxpayers, they played a critical role in building his fortune. The report is finding that Tesla and SpaceX received billions of dollars in loans, grants, contracts and also regulatory support that helped the company survive during their earlier years.

The European Union says it is currently looking at the practical implications of a U.S. decision forcing Anthropic to suspend all use of its most advanced A.I. models for foreign nationals.

[03:50:00]

The Trump administration cited national security concerns with Anthropic's Mythos and Fable models for that decision. The E.U. now says that the development shows why Europe needs to strengthen its own technological sovereignty.

Rain is likely to soak some World Cup venues in the United States this week. Just ahead, we've got your weather forecast so that you can be better prepared to stay dry.

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SANDOVAL: Storms have cleared much of the United States, but there is still some rain coming this week. Thanks to a tropical system, it's expected to soak some of the World Cup venues. Meteorologist Melissa Nord has your forecast.

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MELISSA NORD, METEOROLOGIST: Storms move out of the northeast for Monday, but we're watching a new area along the Gulf Coast for a lot of showers and thunderstorms to set up shop over the next several days this workweek.

And it's all from the remnants of a tropical system. Tropical Storm Christina from the Eastern Pacific now over northeastern Mexico has a low chance of development as it moves back over the Gulf by mid to late week this week. But look at all the moisture moving northward.

It'll first start over Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi through the first part of the week. And then move its way eastward by the end of the week.

[03:55:01]

So when things are said and done, we're going to see a lot of areas that end up with three to five inches of rainfall. But there could be locally isolated spots that could hit double digit rainfall totals all the way through the end of the workweek. So watching there this week, the potential for flash flooding.

Now, meanwhile, no flash flooding, but a lot of heat building and continuing to start the week along the West Coast. We saw several records that were tied or broken on Sunday and Monday. Again, we could see some more areas close to some records you could see here on the map.

These are all of the heat advisories and extreme heat warnings in effect for Monday. High temperature in Seattle, 89 degrees, 96 in Portland, Medford, 102; and even in Reno, 96 degrees there.

And this is going to impact some World Cup fans that are out there spectating. We're actually at some of these matches on Monday.

For example, Seattle, 12 o'clock. This is an open air stadium, local time there, 3 o'clock Eastern time. We're expecting temperatures to be in the 80s for that humidity, though not too incredibly high.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL: All right. Thank you for that.

Finally this, the Dogs of New York, they actually helped celebrate the Knicks NBA championship. The Knicks, they beat the San Antonio Spurs in game five on Saturday. This was a scene the very next day at Madison Square Park.

Basketball fans decking out their dogs in orange and blue, along with New Yorkers across the globe. Most of the humans showing up in Knicks clothing, as well. Saturday's win, they saw the Knicks secure their first NBA title in 53 years.

The dogs are excited, and a feline stealing the show during a production of Romeo and Juliet in Turkey last week as Romeo dies, a curious cat deciding to check things out and play with the star- crossed lovers.

Juliet, though, remaining in character, mourning the loss of her love. But people in the audience, they could not hold in their laughter. The ballet dancers, they soldiered on and the cat later made itself a home on top of a prop.

Thank you so much for joining me. I'm Polo Sandoval in New York. I'll join you again in just a few moments with more of your headlines here on "CNN Newsroom."

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