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One World with Zain Asher
Trump Meets with G7 Leaders, Touts U.S.-Iran Agreement; Trump: I Told Israel to Let Syria "Take Care" of Hezbollah; Military Probes Fatal Crash Near Edwards Air Force Base; France, Iraq, Argentina and More in Action Today; Lebanese State Media: Four People Killed in Israeli Strikes; Lebanese State Media: New Israeli Strikes in Lebanon. Aired 11a-12p ET
Aired June 16, 2026 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[11:00:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ZAIN ASHER, CNN HOST, ONE WORLD: And President Trump is vowing to reveal the full text of the U.S. agreement with Iran soon. "One World" starts
right now. World Leaders are meeting at the G7 Summit as questions swirl around the agreement to end the war. We are live for you at the Summit in
Evian, France.
Plus, an investigation is underway after eight crew members were killed in a B-52 bomber crash in California. And the football fans who followed their
team to the World Cup by cycling get this nearly 11,000 miles from Argentina. One of them actually is going to be joining us later on this
hour.
All right, coming to you live from New York. I'm Zain Asher. You are watching "One World". On the second day of the G7 Summit in France World
Leaders are scrambling to put the war in Ukraine front and center on the U.S. president's agenda, while at the same time pushing for answers on
another war now dominating global attention.
Earlier, Donald Trump met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on the sidelines of the summit, and later urged Russia to make a peace deal.
Focus then turned, of course, to the conflict in the Middle East after meeting with the Qatari Emir and the UAE President Trump attended a working
lunch. It all comes as regional leaders and U.S. allies try to get clarity on exactly what is in the agreement U.S. signed with Iran, aimed at ending
the war there.
But two days after that agreement was announced, answers are still in short supply, and the text has not yet been released. A short time ago, U.S.
President downplayed talks of all the secrecy and promised to release the so-called Memorandum of Understanding soon, even suggesting that he might
read it on camera word for word.
Donald Trump also claimed the next phase of negotiations with Iran would be easier, and insisted the U.S. would prevail on two key issues.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: We appreciate the relationship we've had over the short period of time with Iran. The primary
thing is we can talk about Iran deal all day long. We're not investing any money. We have the right to what we want, but we're not investing any
money.
We didn't pay for it like Obama did. He paid billions of dollars, he paid 1.7 billion from an airplane, all green cash. It was crazy. I watched that,
I couldn't believe it. But the one thing that's happening that's of note, frankly, the only thing that really matters to me is Iran will never have a
nuclear weapon.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: Meantime, Trump made his frustration with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu clear, saying Israel needs to be more responsible with respect to
Lebanon. Iran is demanding that Israel withdraw from Lebanon as part of the agreement. CNN's Nic Robertson in London. But first, let's go to Melissa
Bell, who joins us live now at the G7 Summit in France.
Of course, there's so much talk, Melissa, about the lack of transparency here, notably because in terms of eventually getting to a permanent
ceasefire, there are several key hurdles that still remain, including, of course, the nuclear issue and also what's Israel's position going to be
long term in Southern Lebanon.
Obviously, Netanyahu is doing in his heels, sort of implying that this deal, this tentative agreement, this memorandum of understanding doesn't
really apply to him, and that has caused a bit of an issue between the relationship -- with the relationship as regards to Donald Trump and, of
course, Netanyahu.
Just walk us through what the European view is on all of this, especially because they have largely been on the sidelines as this war has taken
place, Melissa?
MELISSA BELL, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: They have, and of course, that is the important background, Zain, to the organization of this
G7 Summit here in Evian, that the French were concerned about the fact not only that President Trump had walked out of the last one in Canada, but had
also been so angry these last few months about his, the perceived failings from his point of view of Europeans.
They had simply not lined up to help him as he would have liked to force the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. And he'd made that anger plain, so
had his Secretary of State, so had the Vice President over the course of last few weeks. And it is in that context that everyone was arriving here
that great pains were taken to fix an agenda that was palatable to him to ensure that he stayed the length with this dinner at Versailles.
I think in the end the fact that he arrived with this memorandum of understanding in his hand slightly changed his mood, certainly, and
therefore the potential for constructive discussions, and I think beyond the wildest hopes of the French President, that appears to be what has
happened today.
[11:05:00]
Not only on Ukraine, that conversation that the G7 Leaders had with President Zelenskyy, after which the Ukrainian President said that they had
agreed that they would be looking at ways to put pressure on Russia. And that does signal a shift for Washington, which had, on the contrary, been
waiving its sanctions on Russian oil in the context of the blockage of the Strait of Hormuz.
We even heard from the American President himself that one of those waivers, of course, comes up on Wednesday. Well, that position might
change, and they might no longer waive those sanctions, because the oil, he said, is now flowing freely as a result of this memorandum of
understanding.
So we understand also there will be another meeting between the Ukrainian President and the American President, and that, of course, is a big shift
and a big win for the French Presidency, who was very keen, President Macron, to get this back onto the agenda, and President Zelenskyy to get
the Americans back involved in this process of looking for the beginning of peace negotiations and extra pressure on Moscow.
Then of course there is Iran, and on that there was this conversation -- there was this conversation, this working lunch with regional leaders,
several conversations as well over the memorandum of understanding and what happens next? And you are quite right for Europeans as well; this is a
moment of hope and a possibility of getting back into something they have been excluded from.
We heard from President Macron speaking next to President Trump yesterday, saying we are poised and ready with this Anglo-British initiative, which
has the backing of many other countries, to try and ensure that navigation on the Strait of Hormuz remains open. Our assets, he said, are just a
couple of days away.
President Trump suggested it might not be necessary, but still, the tenure of the conversations, the mood, the fact that so much was achieved, and in
such a positive way and a constructive way, certainly a big difference from what the French had feared on the memorandum of understanding.
Of course, now everyone just wants to see that text with the very latest that we've been hearing from the president, that he's willing to read it to
the cameras himself. What he wants is a formal setting. He's everyone had assumed that might be Friday when the actual signature takes place.
We think in Geneva, but he suggested a couple of days, so who knows, it may happen before, but clearly it is the text that paid enough that everyone is
waiting desperately to see Zain.
ASHER: Absolutely. Melissa Bell live for us there. Thank you so much. All right, let's bring in CNN's International Diplomatic Editor Nic Robertson.
So, obviously, as Melissa Bell was just talking about, a lot of people are very eager to see the text of this memorandum of understanding.
There is a lot of skepticism, Nic, that in the long term Iran will readily give up its pursuit of a nuclear weapon, but Donald Trump also saying that
the U.S. is not going to be putting any money into Iran, apparently referring to this report of a $300 billion investment fund that apparently
Iran would have access to if they keep their side of the bargain Donald Trump saying that is categorically false. Walk us through that, Nic.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yeah, and the narrative has been that this 300 billion could be found from Gulf nations that would
be willing to sort of invest in the future reconstruction of Iran. And I think they're sort of brushing that off.
The detail of where the money comes from, I think that all gets hashed out in the phase two of the talks, which is just one of the very, very
difficult and thorny issues there. But it might actually be one of the more straightforward. Iran definitely wants money and has said they wanted at
least 12 billion of frozen assets up front before they can sort of get into this phase two.
Obviously, that's problematic for President Trump, and he's making it very clear that's not coming from the United States, not coming from U.S.
taxpayers. Look, I think what has happened here, if we think about the process over the past couple of months, the ceasefire, the sort of phase
one talks to try to get to phase two, there were sweeteners put in the pot.
I mean, go back to that April the 11th and 12th overnight meeting, where J.D. Vance is in Islamabad, and the Iranians are rumoring to Iranian state
media on the margins that they've asked for money, and the White House is knocking that, knocking that notion down.
That money issue has been there, you know, almost sort of from the get-go, but there have been sweeteners put in the pot to get Iran to get to the
table to have these detailed discussions, so some expectations have been set. How those expectations are managed in this next round? How they're
achieved to get Iran to sort of move to the to the nuclear issue/
You know, this is going to be down to the negotiations, and this is why, frankly, a lot of people are saying the 60 days just isn't long enough to
do the complex number of things that need to be done. What Iran is looking for is, you know, some kind of payback for being bombed, some kind of
economic, you know, sort of liberation of their funds that are been frozen.
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And to be able to have sanctions lifted, all sanctions for them to be able to sell their oil products, gas products on the international market. How
that's achieved? I think J.D. Vance was very sort of succinct just yesterday when he said if Iran behaves like a normal country, will be
treated like a normal country.
He very much sort of follow through on that idea. If Iran agrees and goes along and does what it's supposed to be, then this money from wherever it
comes, however it's sort of given a banner of what it is and what it's supposed to do, that will be provided.
Iran does right, Iran gets money. It's a very simple equation, but the notion of this is how it would work was is basically enshrined in how they,
the two sides, are going to get to the table to sign phase one, get to the table to talk about phase two.
ASHER: All right, Nic Robertson live for us there. Thank you so much. Let's bring in CNN Political and National Security Analyst David Sanger. He's a
White House and National Security Correspondent for "The New York Times", and he's also the author of the book "New Cold Wars: China's Rise, Russia's
invasion, and America's struggle to defend the West".
David, always good to see you, my friend. So, I just want to jump off of what Nic Robertson was saying there.
DAVID SANGER, CNN POLITICAL AND NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Great to see you too.
ASHER: Great to see you too. That -- just in terms of what Nic Robertson was saying, this idea that there would likely have been sort of sweeteners
put in the pot, a way to sort of lure Iran to the negotiation table financially, be it reconstruction funds, while people are talking about
this alleged sort of $300 billion investment fund that Iran would apparently have access to, Donald Trump obviously denying that.
But Iran has, of course, talked about, you know, receiving access to frozen assets as well, in terms of oil revenues. What have you? What sort of
sweeteners do you think? I mean, there's been a complete lack of transparency in terms of what's in this memorandum about understanding?
But what sort of sweeteners do you think have been put into the pot here, especially if we're talking about getting Iran not to pursue a nuclear
weapon, which is many people will say unlikely?
SANGER: Right. So, the sweeteners are the ones that you've heard. There's $24 $25 billion sitting around in potential unfrozen or frozen assets now
that could be made available to them. There's this $300 billion fund, which we're told will largely be investments from the neighboring Gulf States, so
those would be basically Sunni nations by and large investing in a Shia country.
We'll look to see whether or not that works, given their relationships and the absence of sort of an institutional way in Iran to go deal with foreign
direct investment. And then there's a third possibility, which is, of course, the sanctions relief, although at this point a 90 percent of Iran's
oil is being purchased by the Chinese, no reason to think that wouldn't continue.
So, once they can move their oil out of the Strait and pass what has been the blockade, they'll have a lot of money flowing in from China as well.
But there's a fundamental issue here that I think you know underlies each of these, which is an administration that believes that Iran is going to
sign this deal because it's in their economic self-interest.
And I've had this conversation with some of President Trump's aides, and when President Trump called on Sunday evening to discuss the MOU, I raised
it with him. They believe that Iran is driven by money, and in the past, we found that the IRGC and others may be driven by other motivations,
including maintaining complete control.
ASHER: One of the problems for Israel, just in terms of what you're saying about whether or not Iran is driven by money, and this idea of what Nic
Robertson was saying, having to have some sweetness in the pot. The Israelis look at that and they will say, well, if you allow Iran to have
access to billions of dollars in unfrozen assets, they're going to use that, of course, to fund Hezbollah and also advance their nuclear program.
How do you assuage? How does the U.S. or President Trump assuage sort of the Israeli concerns with that? Because I think a lot of us can understand
why the Israelis would feel that way.
SANGER: Sure. Well, when you think about the president's critique of the 2015 deal, two of the critiques was there was nothing in the deal to stop
Iran from funding the proxies, and there was nothing on their missile program, which is the area where I think they could invest the money the
fastest and get the fastest return. And do so without violating the nuclear nonproliferation treaty.
[11:15:00]
So, if I was the Israelis, those would be the two biggest concerns, and I would say to the president, you know, this is exactly what your critique
was of 2015 you've got to make sure that that's in the deal that is to be negotiated next. I'm just not sure they're going to get that.
ASHER: What do you make of the president's recent comments? I'm just going to read it to you. I suggested to Israel that Syria should take care of
Hezbollah, because to be honest with you, I think that they would do a better job. I mean, obviously, Syria does have a complicated relationship
with Lebanon. So, just your thoughts on those comments by U.S. President suggesting that Syria should take care of Hezbollah.
SANGER: Yeah, the president has said that a few times. He said it to me on Sunday, I think he said it again in France. I'm not sure the Syrians think
that they are, you know, they've got enough problem right now dealing with what's going on within their own borders.
I think the president's quite taken with the new president of Syria. But I have my doubts that Syria has an interest in doing an outside of its own
border's operation against Hezbollah, frankly. And you know, this is one of those ideas that sometimes comes to President Trump the way he suggested
just a few weeks ago that every Arab State that signs on to this new agreement should also join the Abraham Accords.
And when that didn't sell terribly well, it kind of went away, and I wouldn't be surprised if the same thing happens here.
ASHER: All right. David Sanger have to leave it there. Thank you so much, appreciate it.
SANGER: Great.
ASHER: All right, recent focus on the Iran war has drawn attention away from efforts to end the war in Ukraine. At the G7 Summit in France earlier
today, President Trump said that Russia should make a deal that will end the war. It comes just after, just hours, rather, after Russia struck a
nearly 1000-year-old cathedral.
Zelenskyy calls this deadly attack in the heart of Kyiv quote one of Russia's most serious crimes against Christian culture to date. Nick Paton
Walsh has details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Russia's savagery against Ukraine always seems to find new depths to sink
to. Last night, one of Ukraine's oldest churches, the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, founded nearly 1000 years ago, rocketed.
Almost certainly the target here, it sits quiet and alone on Kyiv's woody river bank. Ukraine's plight getting less attention during the U.S. war
with Iran, but raging still. Nightly attacks across Ukraine, as fierce as Moscow can manage, but not massively more effective, instead becoming more
grotesque against the people and culture their invasion falsely claimed it wanted to save.
VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT: Now to G7 meeting first topic, you see what is the priority. The priority is air defense.
WALSH (voice-over): Russian officials have claimed U.S. President Donald Trump told Russian President Vladimir Putin during a congratulatory 80th
birthday call, in which Putin called him such a bright, remarkable person that he will pressure Ukraine and Europe at the G7 to agree to Russian
terms for a deal.
But European officials see Russian desperation and weakness amid their outrage at these strikes and an opening as Russia stalls on the front line.
JEAN-NOEL BARROT, FRENCH FOREIGN MINISTER: For us French, this would be the equivalent of bombing Notre Dame or Saint-Denis, something that is
obviously unacceptable.
FRIEDRICH MERZ, GERMAN CHANCELLOR: Ukraine today finds itself in a new position of strength. Russia cannot win militarily, and moreover, its
economy is in dire straits.
WALSH (voice-over): Ukraine's deep strikes into Russia, like those we witness here, have caused huge damage and embarrassment. Some Kremlin
allies have suggested Putin may now realize the war is going badly, or at least slowly, with a Western estimate of half a million Russian dead. Even
Putin, whose hometown was hit in early June by drones during a key meeting briefly admitted to economic damage last week.
VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT: As for the economy, yes, we suffer some damage, but everything is recovering quickly. They will not be able to
create serious problems for us, but keeping in mind what they are doing, we should retaliate appropriately.
WALSH (voice-over): And so, the strikes across Ukraine keep coming, even as Ukraine's defenses improve against drones, but struggle with the ballistic
missiles Moscow is throwing at them to make the desperate point it is not losing. Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ASHER: Breaking news out of Poland: a Russian artist known for his unflattering caricatures of President Putin has been killed.
[11:20:00]
Prosecutors say that Semyon Skrbatsky was shot dead near Poland's border with Belarus. Two Belarusian men have been arrested in connection with the
killing. The artist's real name was Robert Kuznetskov. He had been living in Poland for five years, this after escaping Russia in fear that he might
be arrested for his activism.
Right, still to come, the deadly crash of a B-52 bomber in California. How a routine test mission went so terribly wrong just ahead? Plus, Gavin
Newsom's angry message to President Trump, while the California Governor says that he and his family are being targeted in a politically motivated
investigation.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ASHER: An investigation is underway into a deadly crash involving one of the U.S. military's oldest aircraft. Eight crew members were killed when a
B-52 bomber crashed shortly after taking off from Edwards Air Force Base in California. Officials say the plane was on a routine test mission when it
went down on Monday. It is the deadliest crash involving a B-52 in 44 years.
CNN's Tom Foreman joins us live now with more. Certainly, obviously, we just saw pictures of the crash with the massive sort of black plumes of
smoke billowing in the air. Tom, just walk us through what happened here? What went wrong?
TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's the big question what went wrong? This plane crashed almost immediately upon takeoff, according to
authorities. They're actually hitting the runway itself, where it did so much damage to the runway, they closed down all flights of the air for a
while, just saying can't even use the runway until they get that repaired.
And these pictures almost don't do it justice, because it's hard to look at that picture and realize how enormous a B-52 is. This is an aircraft that
has eight different jet engines. It has been in service for a very long time. It can carry every kind of munition the U.S. has.
Look at that, about 650 miles an hour, 1000 kilometers per hour, a range of nearly 9000 miles without refueling, so 14,000 kilometers, and can carry up
to 70,000 pounds, 3100 kilograms of bombs, mines, and missiles. This is a cornerstone of the U.S. military's nuclear options out there.
And for many years, the B-52 has been relied on. In fact, interestingly enough, the B-52 has been such a reliable aircraft, it has not only been
flying since 1955 but it is possible that there will be B-52s flying on the 100th anniversary of this aircraft being put into service.
[11:25:00]
So, they've been very reliable. What happened? We don't know. It happened very quickly. Eight people lost in this, some military people, some
civilian contractors as well. Boeing has come out and said two people of theirs passed away. In that, we don't know the names of these folks yet,
because they're being their families are still being notified.
As noted there, Edwards Air Force Base is out in the middle of the Mojave Desert here, a noted test flight facility, it is by land mass it is the
largest U.S. Air Force base in the world. And as you noted, the deadliest crash since 1982 when nine people died in a crash. There are just so many
questions here, and with that utter destruction, there, Zain, it is going to take quite some time for investigators to figure out what happened.
They often piece together what's left of an airplane to figure out what happened. There's just very little here to piece back together. It is
instantly turned into a complete ruin, so it could be certainly weeks, maybe months before we have a real clue as to what went wrong.
ASHER: Tom Foreman, thank you for that.
FOREMAN: You're welcome.
ASHER: California Governor Gavin Newsom is accusing the Trump Administration of using the Justice Department to target him and his family
in a new investigation, take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. GAVIN NEWSOM (D-CA): Today my family and I can personally confirm that justice is for sale to Donald Trump, who I know is watching, because he
watches everything. I have a message for you. You can subpoena my records, you can investigate me, you can harass me, put my name on every and any
enemies list you have, but leave my wife and family out of your personal vendetta.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: A source tells CNN that federal investigators are looking into possible tax-related crimes involving several people connected to Newsom,
including his wife, that the probe does not extend to the governor himself. CNN Chief Legal Correspondent Paula Reid has more.
PAULA REID, CNN CHIEF LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: The real challenge here, when it comes to criminal cases, usually no one wants to admit that this is
a real thing, but the challenge here is there's an incentive for everyone to make this happen.
It benefits Newsom politically if he is being investigated, and of course, any Trump official who could bring a case against Newsom or his wife would
get big brownie points from the boss. So, here is what we know. We know that Newsom's wife, she is being investigated for past possible tax-related
crimes, but as for the governor himself, he is not being directly investigated.
They are looking at other people associated with the couple, Now, further complicating this is that Newsom's Former Chief of Staff was indicted last
year in connection with a scheme to steal campaign money totally unrelated to Newsom. She pleaded guilty to three counts last month.
So, there have been these investigations sort of swirling around Newsom's associates, and we're told by his office they said that there has been a
recent flurry of activity around his associates, seeing outreach from investigators that he's active, and it's ongoing, but it's not exactly
clear where this is going to wind up.
ASHER: Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche says is saying nothing about whether the Justice Department is investigating Governor Newsom, during an
appearance Monday on Capitol Hill with Senator Chuck Grassley. Blanche was pressed on the subject by Manu Raju. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Justice Department investigating Gavin Newsom, can you explain that?
TODD BLANCHE, ACTING U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: I'm not here to make any comments.
SEN. CHUCK GRASSLEY (R-IA): This is not a news conference.
RAJU: The Governor is accusing you of political retribution, and the president.
TODD: I will say that --
GRASSLEY: Am I right, Claire?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: Again, we want to note that a source tells us Gavin Newsom is actually not part of the DOJ investigation. Still to come here on "One
World", Argentine fans bring energy and excitement ahead of their team's opening World Cup match later today. Details ahead.
And speaking of die-hard fans, we are speaking to one of three friends who get this cycled almost 11,000 miles, 11,000 miles across 17 countries to
get to Kansas City, where he's watching the match today. That story next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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ASHER: Welcome to "One World". I'm Zain Asher in New York. Here are some of the headlines we are watching for you today. World Leaders meeting at the
G7 Summit in France are discussing Iran, as well as the war in Ukraine. Volodymyr Zelenskyy is sharing images of himself with the U.S. President
and Secretary of State on the sidelines of the summit. Donald Trump later urged Moscow to make a deal with Kyiv.
The U.S. President is also telling world leaders the next phase of talks with Iran meant to resolve disagreements around Tehran's nuclear program
will be easier than the negotiations up to this point. G7 Leaders are looking for more clarity about what's being called the memorandum of
understanding. The U.S. President says that he'll release the text of the Iran agreement soon.
And Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says that his forces hit a Russian oil refinery 500 kilometers away in the Moscow region. He said the
strike demonstrates his country's capabilities in long-range warfare. Moscow's Mayor confirmed that the refinery had been damaged.
U.S. military officials are investigating the deadliest B-52 bomber crash in more than 40 years. All eight crew members were killed, and the plane
crashed shortly after takeoff Monday at Edwards Air Force Base in California. The plane was on a routine test flight.
Politics loomed large over Monday's World Cup encounter in Los Angeles. The game ended in a 2-2 draw between Iran and New Zealand, but Iran's
tournament debut on U.S. soil will go down in history as the first time a country has competed in a World Cup while at war with the host nation.
After the game, Iran's players and staff were told to immediately fly back to their tournament base in Mexico. They're having to commute across the
border for each match after the U.S. refused to play host to the team.
Eight more teams get their World Cup campaigns underway in the next few hours. It's France versus Senegal at the Met Life Stadium in New Jersey at
03:00 p.m. Eastern this afternoon. Then Iraq face Norway in Boston. Argentina takes on Algeria in Kansas City tonight, and on the West Coast as
Austria against Jordan in San Francisco.
Let's get straight to Don Riddell in Atlanta. Obviously, as you know, Don, I'm Nigerian, and Nigeria is not playing, but I am supporting the other
African teams, namely Senegal. I'm supporting Cape Verde as well, which is amazing just the fact that they got a draw against one of the sorts of more
prominent teams in the World Cup.
[11:35:00]
And then you and I have England tomorrow, which is so exciting. Walk us through this.
DON RIDDELL, CNN WORLD SPORTS ANCHOR: Yeah, it feels like England are a bit late to the party. I mean, we've got this massively expanded tournament now
with 48 teams, so at this stage in the previous World Cup we'd already be into the second round of group stage games.
But it's remarkable that we haven't yet seen England, France, who've made the last two finals, and of course with the champions two World Cups ago,
and the defending champions, Argentina and Lionel Messi, they haven't played yet. So, much excitement still to come.
But we have already seen some incredible games and some brilliant stories, and I was really lucky to be at this Cape Verde game yesterday against
Spain in Atlanta. And you know, I will admit going into it thinking that Spain were probably going to roll them over fairly easily, especially since
we'd seen what Germany did to Curacao the day before.
But Cape Verde are a really, really good team, making their World Cup debut. This is a country of just what, barely 500,000 people, and they
turned up. They were not overawed in any way by the occasion, playing against the European champions and a Spain team that many people think
could go all the way in this tournament, they weren't rattled at all.
They were solid, they were organized, of course, they were defensive. This guy in particular, the Goalkeeper Vozinha, had an absolute blinder at the
age of 40, making his World Cup debut. He plays in the Portuguese second division, he considered retiring from the game not that long ago, and here
he was at the center of the action, making seven saves, keeping his side in it, and pulling off just an incredible result.
I was speaking to some people from Cape Verde before the game, and they were saying, look, just being here is the trophy, obviously we want to
compete, but just being here, being on the biggest stage, it's just amazing for a country like Cape Verde. And then look what they went and did. They
absolutely frustrated the European champions.
What's remarkable, given that they were kind of on the back foot, they played defensively because they had to. They only committed one foul or
game, and that tells you that they knew what they were doing. They were never rattled. They were never really under pressure.
Man of the match, of course, Vozinha, I've explained why. Listen to what he had to say,
because, of course, it was the best, best day of his life professionally, but it was one with somewhat mixed emotions.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VOZINHA, CAPE VERDE GOALKEEPER: My mom, she didn't manage to be here because of the visa. How to say the -- I forget now. It's because of the
money we have to pay for the visa. We didn't manage on time, and I would like she to be here, but I'm very happy also, and I'm very happy for all
the Cape Verde people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RIDDELL: Hopefully, Vozinha's mum can get to the next couple of games in the World Cup. Just look at his Instagram page: 8 million followers. I can
tell you, but before the game, just 24 hours ago, he had something like 40,000 followers. That is what one incredible game in the World Cup can do
for your following on social media, Zain.
ASHER: That's amazing. What a massive jump, 40,000 to 8 million, that's incredible. But don't you just love a World Cup that is full of surprises,
makes it so much more exciting to watch.
RIDDELL: Yeah, absolutely.
ASHER: I have to agree with that.
RIDDELL: Yeah, absolutely.
ASHER: All right, Don Riddell, we will be watching tomorrow, we've got England and we've got the Black Stars with Ghana playing as well, so two
exciting games. Thanks, Don. All right, it's taken a big effort for foreign fans to get the U.S. to follow their teams. But for three friends from
Argentina, it has been immense.
That's because Vicente Conculini, Miguel Silio, and Yamanda Martinez came all the way from Argentina to the United States by bike. They literally
cycled. We're talking about 11,000 miles from Argentina to the United States.
When they reached Kansas City on Monday, it was the end of more than nine months on the road, covering, as I said, 11,000 miles and crossing 17
countries. They still hadn't been able to buy tickets for Argentina's game tonight, but the officials of Johnson County, Kansas, kindly came up with
the tickets that they needed.
Let's go to Vicente Conculini in Kansas. What an incredible story. Nine months of dedication, traveling from your home country of Argentina, 11,000
miles by bike, coming all the way to Kansas to watch. Obviously, I mean, soccer is not just a sport in Argentina, it's of course an identity.
I mean, there's so much passion for the sport, but just talk to us about why, why did you embark on this journey, said Vicente?
[11:40:00]
VICENTE CONCULINI, WORLD CUP SUPER FAN FROM ARGENTINA: Hi guys, how are you? Thank you for the contact. Why not is a question. And now I'm keen,
like we love travel, we love the bicycle, and we love soccer team in Argentina. We love Messi. And we did this. We have a mix. We tried for all
America, 17 countries in nine months and half, and we arrived here to Kansas City the last two of June. Nothing we share with the people here in
Kansas City, so nice. And we are so happy for that.
ASHER: You know, I've got so many questions for you. But I think my next question is that I think on the surface the idea of cycling through 17
countries would seem like an adventure, and of course it is something that you are going to remember for the rest of your life, and you're going to
talk to your grandchildren about, of course.
However, day by day, choosing to get on the bike to cycle for that length of time, we're talking about nine months, you know, you're exhausted, I
imagine. I mean, your legs are sore, you're pedaling minute after minute, hour after hour. We're talking about, you know, being alone with your
thoughts for 6, 7, 8, hours a day. There's sort of no pre-planning about where you're going to sleep.
I mean, there's a lot of stress to the entire process. Just explain to us what it was like, the highlights, and also, you know, the sorts of things
that you had to deal with. I imagine difficult terrain. We're in the heat of the summer right now. Just, just talk to us about that.
CONCULINI: Of course, it's a challenge, physical, mentally challenged. Like we cycling in the road for the maximum is two weeks, like 14 days, and we
did cover 1300 kilometers close to Mexico City. And you know, like you wake up in the next day and you are OK, you don't have pain in your leg.
You don't have pain in your body. Of course, you need to have a good mentality, like I think it's the best part here. But nothing we have the
motivation for the World Cup, of course, for we love the landscape, the people, the food, and we love travel. And I don't know, like, it's you need
to do like a lot of things in your mind.
But I think all the people can, of course, more kilometers or more miles, less, but all the people can, and only need time and healthy a bike.
ASHER: Yeah, and it's also just the discipline and the dedication of sort of choosing to get back on the bike every single day. Because I mean, at
least for me, I would imagine that there would be so many moments, month after month, where it would be tempting just to give up, right?
Just, you know, but the fact that you chose to get back on the bike every single day, and as you point out, all the people that you would have met on
the way, I almost imagine that the World Cup would almost become secondary by now, because you would have so many stories to tell, of you know, the
kindness of strangers and the communities that you met.
And seeing the beautiful landscape as you travel through Latin America and the U.S. Just talk to us about that. I mean, how are you going to feel when
you watch Argentina play, given everything that went into getting to this moment?
CONCULINI: I can try to write a book when I come back home. But now I don't have too much time. Yeah, but we did this trip in 293 days, and we have
everything. I wrote everything day by day. And I don't know, we have the opportunity to enter to the hotel in the three of June, we knew the coach
staff and the president, and nothing like.
I think this thing is so important for us, it's like a huge for us. Nothing, I think we are -- we have anxiety, and so exciting for tonight,
Argentina play at 8 o'clock time to Kansas City, and nothing is my first time in the World Cup. And I saw Argentina before, but not like this. You
can enjoy with the Argentinian people. We can sing really good in the match, and nothing like enjoy too much.
ASHER: I really hope Messi gets to read about what you guys went through to get to see him play. I mean, that would be incredible. If he could just --
if he could just get this to him somehow. If he could just watch, I mean, I'm sure he'd be so touched by it. Vicente Conculini. Thank you so much.
What a great story. You should be proud of yourself. We'll be right back with more after this short break.
CONCULINI: Thank you so much.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:45:00]
ASHER: All right, just into CNN, Lebanese state media says there have been fresh Israeli drone strikes in Southern Lebanon. They say that four people
have been injured. These new strikes come just hours after President Donald Trump criticized the Israeli Prime Minister, saying that Benjamin Netanyahu
needs to be more responsible with respect to Lebanon.
Jeremy Diamond is in Tel Aviv. And the fear, Jeremy, on the U.S.'s side is that if these strikes continue, it could end up derailing any future
agreement between the U.S. and Iran. Walk us through that, Jeremy.
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, absolutely. And you know this is the -- you know one indication of many data points, I guess, about
what direction Israel is going to go in as it relates to the fight against Hezbollah in Lebanon, and the ways in which that could potentially
undermine this broader tentative agreement between the United States and Iran.
Lebanon's national news agency now reporting that at least four people were killed in Israeli strikes in Southern Lebanon. We saw multiple Israeli
strikes in Southern Lebanon today, including in the Town of Maifadun (ph), where there were strikes on the Town Square. There was also an attack on a
vehicle in a neighboring village, according to again Lebanon's national news agency.
And this comes as Iran's foreign minister has warned that should Israel continue its attacks in Lebanon, that that would constitute a violation of
this memorandum of understanding between Iran and the United States. He also said that the war, the broader war, will not end unless Israel
withdraws its troops from Lebanon.
And keep in mind Israel still has thousands of troops in Southern Lebanon. The United States, though, has indicated via senior administration official
that Israeli withdrawal from Southern Lebanon is not a part of this broader memorandum of understanding.
Some of this broader uncertainty about what actually is or isn't in the agreement will hopefully be settled once we actually see the text of this
agreement, but what will not be settled is the different understandings between the United States and Iran of what constitutes self-defense
strikes?
What constitutes acts of aggression? And what Iran's tolerance is for Israeli strikes in Southern Lebanon? What could potentially prompt the kind
of violation of this agreement that Iran would consider carrying out attacks on Israel itself or breaking this broader memorandum of
understanding altogether?
But once again, as we have seen so many other times in this process, we are once again at a point where what Israel does in Lebanon?
[11:50:00]
And also, we should say what Hezbollah does to Israel as it relates to Lebanon, will have major ramifications for this broader agreement, the
broader ceasefire between the United States and Iran, and whether or not this region is ultimately sucked back into war, Zain.
ASHER: Jeremy Diamond, thank you so much. We'll be right back with more after the short break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ASHER: Supply chain disruption has been a well-documented effect of the war in Iran, while much of the focus has been on supplies of oil and LNG.
There's another less talked about, but hugely critical, gas has also been hit thanks to the world's reliance on Qatar. In today's Marketplace Middle
East, we find out what's being done to overcome the shortages.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): When you think of helium, you probably think of party balloons, but helium is far more than that, and in some
situation, it can mean the difference between life and death. It's also critical in making semiconductor chips, powering rocket launches,
supporting data centers, and even cooling nuclear facilities. The war with Iran has put the entire helium supply chain at risk.
PHIL KORNBLUTH, PRESIDENT, KORNBLUTH HELIUM CONSULTING: Helium production from Qatar is still 100 percent shut down. There are three helium plants at
Ras Laffan, two of them process the waste gas from LNG plants. They can't really do a whole lot while until the Strait of Hormuz is reopened, and the
LNG can flow to market.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): The world relies on Qatar for around 30 percent of its helium supply. Much of its produced here at the Ras Laffan
LNG facility. Reports say Iran strikes have caused extensive damage, wiping out 17 percent of Qatar's LNG supply, and at the same time destroying 14
percent of its helium production.
And then there's the Strait of Hormuz, a critical maritime choke point now effectively shut down with around 200 tankers stranded in its waters.
KORNBLUTH: The impact that individual company is going to feel depends quite a bit on who your supplier is, because all of the helium majors are
impacted somewhat by the loss of supply from cutter.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): Scientists say there is no other gas in the world that can replace it, and it cannot be synthesized in a lab. With
pending shortages on the horizon, the industry is turning to familiar measures.
[11:55:00]
KORNBLUTH: The industry has had lots of practice in how to deal with these shortages, and what the industry typically does when there is a shortage,
it allocates supply. The chip manufacturing industry and MRI and aerospace and nuclear power, they're kind of at the front of the line when it comes
to helium supply.
You know I'd be hopeful that the helium suppliers, for the most part, will be able to maintain continuity of supply to the critical applications. Now
everybody's going to pay more for helium, you know, that continuity of supply, it doesn't come for free.0
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): Helium rarely makes the headlines, but its absence will be felt in hospital wards, laboratories, and production
lines worldwide. If supply stays offline, the industries that depend on it the most will be the first to notice.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ASHER: All right, there is more CNN after this short break with my colleague Bianna Golodryga, who will be joining us for another hour of "One
World". Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
