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Agreement Reached With Conditions; Smackdown On The South Lawn. Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired June 15, 2026 - 04:00   ET

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

[04:00:26]

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, everybody. It's great to start the week with you. I'm Polo Sandoval in New York, and this is 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. The both sides are already setting some conditions. We'll tell you what they are.

Russia unleashes another deadly barrage on Kyiv in a historic monastery which goes up in flames. And smackdown on the South Lawn, President Trump brings a spectacle to the White House with his UFC Freedom 250 event. We discuss how that plays into his perceived legacy.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Live from New York, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Polo Sandoval.

SANDOVAL: Let's begin with what is expected to be a significant development out of the Middle East. The U.S. and Iran announcing that they finally have an agreement after months of negotiations and multiple stalemates. A formal signing of said memorandum is expected to take place in Geneva, Switzerland, on Friday.

Once signed, the Strait of Hormuz will reopen and the U.S. will lift its naval blockade of Iranian ports. At least that's the plan as of this moment. President Donald Trump saying that the agreement with Iran would ensure that the vital waterway will be permanently toll free. But since Iran has not imposed any tolls before the conflict, this would effectively restore conditions that existed before the war.

President Trump taking to social media to tout this memorandum. Writing in part, the leaders of the region have for the first time found a president who can help them achieve real peace. Again, words from the President himself.

Let's bring in CNN's Oren Liebermann now who's live from Jerusalem. Oren, what do we know about what's in this agreement? What, you know, what little has actually been released thus far and also the potential for this to end this conflict.

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Polo, we know very little about what's in this actual agreement because nobody has released the text of it. All we've seen so far from both the U.S. and Iran are claims about what's in this agreement. So the only thing they seem to agree on is that, it will lead to the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and an end to the U.S. naval blockade on Iranian ports.

In other words, all it really does so far that we know of is reset the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world's most critical waterways, to what it was before the U.S. and Israel began this war some three months ago. President Donald Trump has also said it will permanently prevent Iran from imposing a toll on the Strait of Hormuz. Well, Iran had never done that before this war, so all it seems to do there once again is reset the strait to the condition it was before the war began.

As for what the U.S. and Iran claim is in this, well, the U.S. had previously said, according to a Trump administration official, that it will limit Iran's ballistic missile program and end Iran's support for proxies. Well, Iran has said it doesn't do that at all.

On the flip side, Iran has said that it'll lead to the unfreezing of billions in Iranian assets, which the U.S. has said it won't do. So there are still a lot of questions about what's in the agreement itself.

Notably, Trump had initially said that the U.S. will immediately lift the blockade on Iranian ports, only to later say that will only happen once the agreement is signed in Geneva, Switzerland, on Friday. So we're still waiting to find out the details, the timeline where this goes from here. It's supposed to trigger 60 days of negotiations on the far harder agreements of the highly-enriched uranium Iran still possesses and the future of its nuclear program, but that still all has to be decided in what is effectively phase two here.

Meanwhile, Iran has demanded that a ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran lead to a ceasefire in Lebanon. Israel's defense minister came out a short time ago rejecting that, saying that Israel will not withdraw its military from the territory it occupies in Southern Lebanon. So there are still a lot of difficult negotiations ahead. And it also shows you that despite Trump's claim that all of the regional leaders are on board here, Israel is very clearly not on board, even if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hasn't himself come out and said anything against it.

In fact, Polo, the only thing he said yesterday on social media was happy birthday to Trump.

SANDOVAL: And we know that he wants to meet with President Trump as soon as possible, potentially after the G7. Oren Liebermann, thank you so much for that full update. Appreciate it.

[04:05:03]

Let's get some analysis now and head over to London. Jasmine El-Gamal is the founder and CEO of Averos Strategies and also host of the "View From Here" podcast. She was also a former Middle East adviser at the U.S. Department of Defense. Jasmine, it's always great to see you. Thank you so much for coming back.

JASMINE EL-GAMAL, FOUNDER/CEO, AVEROS STRATEGIES: You as well, Polo. Good morning.

SANDOVAL: Good morning to you. So in your view, how promising a development is Sunday's announcement of this deal that's expected to be signed in a few days?

EL-GAMAL: Well, I would be very cautious, first of all, about calling it a deal. I mean, this is essentially an extension of a ceasefire, right? This is a bit of breathing room that resets the dynamic to where it was before the U.S. and Israel began this war on Iran, and gives the negotiators a bit more breathing room away from the day to day headlines in order to talk about issues that are much more contentious like Iran's nuclear program, and potentially other issues as well that haven't been in the media, like Iran's ballistic missile program or support for proxies.

Right now what we're seeing is a very, very modest exchange of promises between Iran and the US. That Iran would de mine the straits, that it wouldn't try to impose a toll or a fee on ships passing through, that it wouldn't do anything to undermine the spirit of the deal. On the other hand, you have the U.S. promising similarly to lift the blockade on Iran, allow Iran a waiver to sell oil during that 60 day period while negotiations are ongoing, and then continuing to do the hard work from there.

So that's the first step of the agreement, I would say. The big elephant in the room, of course, is something that Oren just mentioned, is that Israel is not on board with this. Iran wants the deal to include Lebanon or it wants the agreement, the ceasefire extension to include Lebanon. And Israel does not want to do that, nor does it want to withdraw from Lebanese territory.

So the real question is here, as you know and as we've talked about before, a lot can happen in these upcoming five days. Will President Trump be able to get Prime Minister Netanyahu in line or will Israel play a spoiler in this coming week?

SANDOVAL: So it's -- would it be fair to assess this is almost as an agreement for further negotiations, at least part of this agreement that you just laid it out?

EL-GAMAL: Yes, exactly. And, you know, it's not smooth sailing, you know, no pun intended yet, of course, because the possibility of an escalation of Israel doing something in Lebanon, of Iran responding in kind, of Hezbollah doing something against Israel, all of that still exists. And so if you're an insurer, if you are someone who is looking at using the strait, even if it's open in principle, you are going to have to think about the risk that is now much higher than as -- just as a baseline risk than it used to be before this entire war started.

SANDOVAL: Yes. So then, you know, obviously we know that the President right now is in the area, just departed Washington D.C. headed to the G7 to meet with allies there. Just what kind of pressure can President Trump apply perhaps to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, especially come this 60 day timeframe?

Obviously Netanyahu has a lot of interest in that the nuclear issue being resolved, so could Trump perhaps use that as some leverage to pressure Benjamin Netanyahu to scale back some of those assaults on Lebanese territory, you think, if it means striking some sort of a nuclear deal?

EL-GAMAL: Well, interestingly, the nuclear issue isn't the most complicated issue here when it comes to the US-Israel-Iran dynamic. The Iranians have proven that they are willing to negotiate around their nuclear program before, this happened under the JCPOA with President Obama. And recently they have -- right before this war started, had indicated, according to the Omani foreign minister, that they had been willing to look at like down blending enriched uranium and allowing IAEA inspectors in, and vowing not to seek a nuclear weapon.

So to me that's not really the real sticking point. When it comes to the Israel factor, Lebanon is really a huge factor here because the, obviously, as you know, Israeli elections are around the corner. Prime Minister Netanyahu is under incredible domestic pressure from his coalition and from his opponents alike not to be seen as conceding to Iran and Hezbollah in Lebanon.

[04:10:01]

As you know the Northern Israel communities who have been so deeply affected by the conflict with Hezbollah, many of them still haven't been able to come back to their homes and live normal lives. And that is something that's been hanging over Prime Minister Netanyahu's head going into these elections, not having been able to declare the Lebanon front a victory. And so to me, that's really going to be the more complicated sticking point.

And that will probably lead Israel to potentially play a spoiler role more than the issue of Iran's nuclear weapons, which is President Trump's priority.

SANDOVAL: Right. It's such an important reminder to the political dynamic at play here, not just in Israel, here in the United States as well, with upcoming midterms as well. So that's something that we should keep in mind.

Finally, perhaps just remind U.S. what, if any, sort of concessions we've seen from Iran and perhaps what you could -- what we could potentially see when we finally see that the sort of the inner workings of this agreement that's to be signed on Friday.

SANDOVAL: Well, look, I mean, this is the really interesting part is that if you really look closely at this, and as Oren mentioned, we haven't seen any text, so we're all kind of speculating in terms of what we know and what we've seen reported. But one can't really say that Iran has made much in the way of concessions.

In fact, Iran comes out of this looking fairly strong, you know, relatively speaking, to its position before the war started, because the concessions that we think it has agreed to make are all issues that they have been willing to concede on before. Down blending, no stockpiling, etcetera. But on issues that they feel are red lines to them, like support for proxies or ballistic missiles, they haven't really moved.

In fact, if anything, they feel emboldened to add more demands to the table, such as including Lebanon in the deal and so on. And they come out of this getting a waiver for 60 days to sell oil again and to potentially on the horizon, have an unfreezing of their assets gradually depending on progress made in these nuclear talks.

And out of all of this, it comes out with the knowledge that if it wants to again, it can always hold the Strait of Hormuz hostage. So that's really probably the most significant thing that's come out of this war is not what things will look like the day after on the surface. But geopolitically speaking, in terms of balance of power, what has shifted?

And I would argue that for now, it seems to have shifted in Iran's favor.

SANDOVAL: Wow, that's. That's so important to keep in mind in the coming days, as we hopefully will learn a little bit more about what will be in this agreement to continue negotiations, essentially, as you and I just discussed.

Jasmine El-Gamal, always a pleasure. Thank you so much for your insight.

EL-GAMAL: So much for having me.

SANDOVAL: We'll still to come here on CNN NEWSROOM, President Trump capping off a busy Sunday with a series of UFC fights at the White House, all happening on his 80th birthday and the same day that this potential deal is announced. What the very latest on that event in a moment.

Plus, a plane crash in Missouri kills a group of three people on a skydiving trip. Ahead, the very latest on the investigation into this deadly accident.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:17:21]

SANDOVAL: And hours after announcing an agreement with Iran, U.S. President Donald Trump joining thousands of people to watch UFC fighters brawl inside of a massive temporary cage that was set up just a few feet away from the White House. And the President had a front row seat to watch all the action. He had long promised to bring this mixed martial arts event to the White House as part of the country's 250th anniversary celebration.

But it also happened to have fallen on Trump's 80th birthday. The UFC paying $60 million in production costs, but the U.S. taxpayers will be footing part of the bill for securing that event. And earlier, I did have a chance to speak to presidential historian Douglas Brinkley. I asked him about exactly how he would this UFC moment into some historical perspective. Here's what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DOUGLAS BRINKLEY, PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: 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 all happening what you would think of more as a sports arena or some sort of, you know, extreme sport event happening in the at the White House lawn and the Mall. But alas, eyeballs are watching. It'll be remembered. And President Trump announced the 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 many other things.

So it's been quite a day. We'll see how all this plays out. But they dodged in Washington DC lightning, a little bit of miss darts 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, with such significant developments happening in the war in the Middle East.

BRINKLEY: Well, for the event on the White House, 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 tap doing his name all over the nation's capitol. Hence just a day ago about the Kennedy center not allowing to have Trump's name on it.

[04:20:00]

But make no mistake about it, there are a lot of particularly this so- called manosphere, young men that love what's going on right now with wrestling and the bedazz (ph), and all the bells ringing and the smoke and 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 a 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 -- 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.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL: A plane carrying 11 skydivers and a pilot crashed just moments after takeoff from an airport in the U.S. State of Missouri on Sunday, killing everybody on board. You see what's left of the aircraft? The cause of the crash, that is still under investigation, but officials do believe that it was an accident.

CNN's Rafael Romo with the latest on the investigation.

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 11:30am local time, was unable to get visual altitude, made a sharp left turn and crashed about 300 yards from the runway.

Jacobs added that the single engine turboprop is operated by Skydive Kansas City. The company declined to comment 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 AP 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.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MARK ALFORD (R-MO): 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.

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. 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 they can.

ROMO: In a statement, the National Transportation Safety Board said the plane that crashed was a Pacific Aerospace 750XL 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 to two years to be completed. Rafael Romo, CNN, Atlanta. SANDOVAL: And investigators in Brazil are trying to figure out what caused two helicopters to collide in midair over Rio de Janeiro. Authorities saying that all six people on board those helicopters were killed in the crash on Sunday morning. One of the helicopters had went down in this car dealership parking lot, setting electric vehicles on fire.

American singer Oliver Tree is believed to be one of the passengers who was actually killed, though police are still working to identify the rest of the victims. Tree, he had just performed in Argentina earlier this month. He was on tour.

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. The seven week trial outlined his drug use and detailed videos he allegedly made of his sexual encounters. The trial came as his mother apologized for her friendship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

[04:25:05]

So on the way here on CNN NEWSROOM, we'll take you back to our top story and look at what we know about the agreement between the U.S. and Iran, and when we could see ships moving again through the Strait of Hormuz.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANDOVAL: Welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Polo Sandoval live in New York. And we want to get you 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 that they have reached a deal to end the conflict.

Now, the agreement, it is set to take effect on Friday. And at that time when it's signed, the Strait of Hormuz is supposed reopen to shipping. Iran says that 60 days of nuclear negotiations will then 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.

Now, Iran's deputy foreign minister said to the deal does not mean that his country's view of the U.S. has changed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAZEM GHARIBABADI, IRANIAN DEPUTY FOREIGN MINISTER (through translation): 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.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: As for U.S. officials, they say that no funds will be released before the Iranians implement their commitments. Let's get more now from CNN's Julia Benbrook in Washington.

JULIA BENBROOK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: President Donald Trump says an agreement with Iran has been reached. His announcement came shortly after Pakistan, a key mediator in all of this, took to social media.

[04:30:00]