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CNN Headlines: Eight Crew Members Dead After B-52 Bomber Crashes In California; Source: DOJ Investigating Wife, Others Close To Newsom; Trump Holds Meeting With Emir Of Qatar. Aired 5:30-6a ET

Aired June 16, 2026 - 05:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL)

[05:31:15]

BRAD SMITH, CNN ANCHOR: It is half past the hour. Let's hit the refresh button on our top stories.

An investigation is underway after a B-52 bomber crashed moments after it took off from Edwards Air Force Base in California on Monday. Eight crew members were killed. Military officials say that the bomber was on a routine mission at the time of the accident.

Also, G7 leaders are in Europe this morning awaiting more details on the U.S.-Iran agreement announced by President Trump Sunday. The president and vice president both virtually signed the agreement a senior U.S. official said, but the text is still under wraps until Friday, which is when the president says it will be made public.

And a teen accused of killing his stepsister has been ordered into federal custody while he waits for his trial. Anna Kepner was found dead on a Carnival cruise ship last year and 16-year-old Timothy Hudson was previously allowed to be out of jail with electronic monitoring. Hudson was taken into custody by federal marshals in Tampa, Florida. He's pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Turning back to that fatal crash involving a B-52 bomber in California. Eight crew members were killed making it the deadliest crash involving a B-52 bomber in over 40 years. The crash left a plume of black smoke in the air and black scars on the runway.

CNN's Reed Benyon has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COL. JAMES HAYES, DEPUTY COMMANDER, EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE: Edwards Air Force Base experienced a horrible tragedy, and we lost eight great Americans.

REED BENYON, CNN REPORTER (voiceover): Military officials laying out the tragic details of a horrific crash on Monday morning. An Air Force B-52 bomber went down shortly after taking off from Edwards Air Force Base in California, roughly 100 miles northeast of Los Angeles. HAYES: It was a B-52 that was on initial takeoff supporting the radar

modernization program. It took off and immediately after takeoff crashed and burst into flames.

BENYON (voiceover): Emergency crews responded immediately to the crash, which sent a towering plume of black smoke up into the sky. The smoke trail visible across the horizon for miles. The base's runway left with a massive, blackened scar.

HAYES: After reviewing the footage of the crash it was deemed that this was an unrecoverable crash and unsurvivable.

BENYON (voiceover): The impact and fire so extreme that in video of the aftermath it's difficult to make out any distinct parts of the wreckage remaining.

HAYES: At that point we went into the notification process.

BENYON: All eight crew members were killed.

HAYES: This was a mixed crew. This was a mixed crew of military, government civilians, and government contractors supporting this test mission.

BENYON: I'm Reed Benyon reporting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SMITH: All right. Thank you, Reed.

Well, today is President Trump's first full day at the G7 summit in the French Alps. Details remain light on the memorandum of understanding between the U.S. and Iran. And here is what he told reporters Monday though.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The deal is all signed and the strait is already partially opened. As you know, they are doing a little hunting for a couple of mines that they've already found, but it's essentially -- ships are starting to go out now. On Friday it will be completely open.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SMITH: He also said that the agreement prevents Tehran from having a nuclear weapon. Others in his administration suggest it could take more time for the vital oil shipping routes to return to normal.

And there are far more skeptical responses of a nuclear commitment from Iran at least, especially as the sides paint surprisingly different pictures of what's in the already signed agreement.

Now, some of President Trump's closest allies are expressing their concern. A noted Iran hawk, Sen. Lindsey Graham, told reporters Monday, "The way Iran describes it is awful. The way we describe it makes sense to me. Let's look at it and see what it is." Conservative radio host Erick Erickson was more direct, saying, "Trump has surrendered to Iran. Those who kill Americans love this deal."

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also weighed in on Monday, saying that he and President Trump "do not always see eye-to-eye, while adding this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): With or without an agreement Iran will not have nuclear weapons. Not today and not tomorrow. As long as I am prime minister of Israel it will not happen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SMITH: Netanyahu went on to say that Israel does not intend to withdraw from southern Lebanon, which contradicts what a Pakistani intermediary said soon after the agreement was announced.

Well, California Gov. Gavin Newsom is blasting a new investigation by the Justice Department, saying it's politically motivated. Newsom and President Trump have sparred for years but now the governor is accusing Trump of using his Justice Department to specifically him and his family. Sources tell CNN that his wife and others connected to the couple are at the center of a probe into tax-related crimes.

Newsom had this to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. GAVIN NEWSOM, (D) CALIFORNIA: 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)

SMITH: A source tells CNN that the Justice Department is investigating several people connected to Newsom, including his wife, but that the probe does not extend to the governor himself.

CNN chief legal correspondent Paula Reid has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAULA REID, CNN CHIEF LEGAL CORRESPONDENT: A 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 but 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. Now 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 they're has been a recent flurry of activity around his associates, seeing outreach from investigators.

So this is active and it's ongoing, but it's not exactly clear where this is going to wind up.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SMITH: Thanks to Paula Reid for that report.

Meanwhile, Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche is saying nothing about whether the Justice Department is investigating Gov. Newsom.

CNN asked for a comment several times yesterday and Blanche later met with Sen. Chuck Grassley, who quickly shut down any questions about the alleged probe.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Is the Justice Department investigating Gavin Newsom? Can you explain that?

TODD BLANCHE, ACTING ATTORNEY GENERAL: I'm not --

SEN. CHUCK GRASSLEY (R-IA): This is not a news conference. This is --

RAJU: The governor is accusing you of political retribution, and the president.

BLANCHE: I will say that --

GRASSLEY: Am I right, Claire that this is --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All right, guys -- that's enough.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SMITH: A source tells CNN that the DOJ's political leadership was not involved in launching the investigation. They say that the probe was prompted by whistleblower reports last year.

We now move to a developing story in Mississippi. A 1-year-old boy is dead after police say that an officer fired shots at a vehicle outside a Walmart. Police in Senatobia say that this started with a shoplifting call Sunday. Officers got there. They say that two adults and a child took off in a car. Investigators say an officer fired when the driver came toward police. The child later died at the hospital and a woman in the car was critically hurt.

And now the boy's family wants answers.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't know anything right now. My grandson gone. I just want justice.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Justice will be served. If it has anything to do with me, it will be served.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SMITH: Senatobia police -- they say that they've directly said whether the shots were fired from one of their officers, adding that they're committed to full transparency as they investigate.

[05:40:05]

We are going to cut in right now and go to a bilateral at the G7 summit. We've been listening in and monitoring as President Trump speaks. Let's listen in.

SHEIKH TAMIM BIN HAMAD AL THANI, EMIR OF QATAR: So it's going to be very important for the region and very important also for Iran as well. So we are here to help. Whenever, you know, friends ask us to help we're always here to help.

Of course, also our bilateral relationship, Mr. President. Since your historic visit in Doha last year our trade partnership is going to reach $1.2 trillion.

TRUMP: Great, great.

AL THANI: This is huge. And we have a lot of great investments that we are very proud of as well in the U.S., and also American companies investing in Qatar.

So overall, you know, we are very, very proud and very happy about this relationship. And, you know, once again, thank you very much for your leadership. I think it was a very critical time, but I think you did -- you took the right decision. Thank you.

TRUMP: Thank you, too.

And Qatar is going to be investing much more than a trillion dollars in the United States. We have over 18. It's going to be 19.4 or so when it figures out. But, you know, we set a record. There's never been anything like it. No country in history has had that kind of investment. We'll be having almost $19.1-$19.2 trillion invested in the United States. The record was three 10 years ago from another country when it was hot. But we have the hottest country in the world right now.

But Qatar has been a great investor. We really rekindled ourselves when I met you last year -- a year ago -- probably 13-14 months. That was a good trip. And --

AL THANI: It was May -- last week, I think.

TRUMP: That was -- that was a great trip and we had -- we established -- we've been friends for a long time. We've known each other for a long time. But Qatar is investing tremendous amounts of money in our country and we appreciate that.

Our country is doing -- we're building more factories, AI. We're leading AI by a lot. We're building automobile factories. We're building more than we've ever built in the history of our country. Never -- no country is ever doing -- what we're doing right now, no country has ever been able to do. And those factories will be opening over the next year, year and a half. Some are already open very soon.

The pharmaceutical companies are coming back. The car companies are coming back from Germany, from Japan, and form so many other places. Mexico and Canada -- they're all coming back. We lost them foolishly years ago because we had presidents that didn't really know what they were doing. They should have never lost them. But they're all coming back in beautiful, brand new, gleaming factories.

In fact, there are a couple of big, old plants and I said, "Are you going to use that plant?" And they said, "No, we're building brand new." They're knocking it down. Everything is built brand new and beautiful. It's jobs.

And the auto business -- we're going to bring back probably -- you know, we lost 57 percent of our automobile business. I think we're going to bring it mostly back.

And for chips, uh, we were the king of chips and then it got stolen from us. We were -- we went from being the king to having basically no chips business. The CHIPS act that was done by Biden was a disaster. Just a stupid thing to do. You handed billions and billions of dollars to people and then they didn't build a factory.

But we have a different system. We have a system that if they don't build, they get paid tariffs. They have to pay tariffs upwards of 200 percent. They don't have to pay anything for a little while, but if they don't get their plant built, then we're going to -- we would have, I think, 50 percent of the chip industry by the time I leave office. So maybe more.

Uh, they're building mostly coming out of Taiwan. But they're building and a lot of them, for whatever reason, in Arizona -- Arizona and Texas. But we'll have 50 percent and maybe more than that of the chip industry.

We're going to have -- you know, we'll be making almost all of our pharmaceuticals and likewise that. If they don't build, they'll have 150 to 200 percent tariffs to pay. If they do build, they have no tariffs to pay. So our country has never done anything like this.

And just -- I want to mention Iran. We appreciate the relationship we've had over the short period of time with Iran. And the primary thing -- you know, we can talk about the Iran deal all day long. But we're not investing any money. We have the right to if we want, but we're not investing any money.

[05:45:00]

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 for me is Iran will never have a nuclear weapon. And it says it loud and clear. They're not going to develop it. They're not going to buy it. They're not going to do anything with it. And if they do, they suffer unbelievable consequences not just a little bit, like -- uh, I won't even tell you the consequences. But the consequences are the ultimate consequences.

And with that being said I hope we have a very good relationship. But the biggest thing is they will not have a nuclear weapon. And that's the reason they got in and that's the reason I agreed to sign. And we originally had -- Marco was with me and they originally wrote that we will not develop a nuclear weapon. I said, "No, no. You're not going to develop it. You're not going to buy either."

So we have -- that took another couple of days of time. Everything was -- it's ridiculous. But -- so we have -- they will not develop, purchase, buy or any other thing. They're not going to acquire a nuclear weapon. If they do, all hell will rain down on them. And they're not going to do that, you know.

Now, you talk about regime change. I never cared about regime change. It was never a part. But I guess you have regime change because you know better than anybody the first group -- they're all dead. The second group, they're dead. A part of the third group is gone.

And we're dealing with people that I think are very rational people and they were nice to deal with. They were strong people, smart people. I think actually, they're smarter than the first and second group. But they're not radicalized and they're, you know, looking to help their country.

So again, I don't believe the regime changed and I've watched regime changes for years and they never work. It has to just happen.

I can tell you this is a country here the emir is so respected, and the prime minister is so respected by the people, and that's the way a country should run. It should run out of respect, not out of fear.

Uh, as you know, at least 42,000 protesters were killed in Iran -- killed. They were protesting the wrestler. And the big event at the White House the other day -- the UFC -- and they were all talking about he was a great fighter. And he was hung with his two friends because he spoke something about their regime. Uh, it's tough stuff.

So we're very happy that we're involved. We are very, very impressed with Qatar and the way they've handled things because they were really on the line. They were on the front line. They were being shot at just about as much as anybody, but you were a lot closer. You were right there. Literally, I could walk in a -- every other place I have to take a plane, but I can walk. So they were really on the line.

And I just want to comment, and I just want to really congratulate you on bravery. I don't know if you get congratulated for bravery because bravery is something you either have or you don't and you never know until you test it. But you were tested --

AL THANI: Yeah.

TRUMP: And you had great bravery. Thank you very much.

AL THANI: Thank you. I really appreciate it.

REPORTER: Are you going to have a separate meeting with President Zelenskyy, and what would --

TRUMP: I had one.

REPORTER: What would a Ukraine deal look like?

TRUMP: Well, we have one -- but we had a good meeting. I'm meeting him later on today. We had a very good meeting.

Look, Russia should make a deal. Russia has lost tremendous amounts of people and so has Ukraine. Last month they lost 35,000 soldiers between the two of them. Think of that. This is on a monthly basis they average 25,000 people, mostly soldiers -- young, beautiful people. And it's crazy what's going on there.

But we had a meeting and we'll see how -- I spoke with President Putin on Sunday and it's sort of the same thing. I mean, they just keep going -- fighting, losing soldiers. They lose so many soldiers.

This is -- not since World War II has anything like this happened. I settled eight wars, but this was the one I thought was going to be the easiest to settle. They're just -- there's a lot of dislike between the two leaders.

But yeah, I'm meeting with him again later on today.

REPORTER: And are you going to have a special focus on Ukraine?

TRUMP: Well, we're going to look. Now we focused on -- we were focused on Iran. That's going to be in the back -- in the rearview mirror.

But we'll be -- I just -- we have nothing to do with it. We sell weapons to them. We don't even give them. Obama gave them $350 billion worth of -- gave, which was crazy.

[05:50:07]

The European Union pays us full price for weapons. But it's not that. It's that this has no impact on us other than we sell weapons. We're thousands of miles away. But the only reason I'm in -- I don't like to see 25,000 young people

die every month. Every month 25,000 people die -- young people. They're just starting to live. They go to this front and they get blown up. And Ukraine is losing a lot of people too.

I mean, the whole thing is ridiculous. So yeah, I want to do whatever I can.

REPORTER: Mr. President, if the Iranian regime continues to kill their own people, will you still move ahead with this deal.

TRUMP: If they refuse to what with their people?

REPORTER: If they continue to kill their own people -- the Iranian regime.

TRUMP: Well, we're talking -- we talked to them about it and we'll see. I will say the majority of that took place during the first and second regimes much more so than now. It was -- it was -- it was much -- it was much more severe. But it's a terrible thing.

Yeah, do you have a question?

REPORTER: Yes, Mr. President. What are the -- this is for both you and the emir. What are the economic opportunities for Iran if there's, you know, continued cooperation with the United States moving forward?

TRUMP: Well, I think they'd be good. I mean, I can tell you from our standpoint we have a lot of opportunities all over the world. But the emir lives right next door, and I think, you know, they have a lot of oil. I think they'll be good. First, they're going to have to prove themselves I think before any of us go in there.

But I could -- I hope they do well. I hope they do well. Look, one thing. Whether they do well or poorly they can't have a nuclear weapon. That's a big thing. If they had a nuclear weapon, they would have blown up Israel, they would have blown up the Middle East, and they probably would have taken a shot at us. We would have gotten them first, I think. But they would have done tremendous damage.

Had we not canceled the Obama nuclear deal -- the JCPOA -- you would have had them having a nuclear weapon five years ago. You know, that expired. That was a road to a nuclear weapon. It was the dumbest deal I've ever seen other than NAFTA. NAFTA maybe was even dumber just in terms of a bad deal for us.

They paid them billions and billions of dollars. We pay nothing. They paid them billions of dollars, and it was -- it was a disaster.

I terminated it in my first term. Had I not terminated -- and we hit them hard. We terminated it. In my second term we sent in the B-2 bombers and we terminated their -- I call it the nuclear dust -- their enriched material -- and totally effectively.

And I remember when CNN, which is fake news. I don't know. It probably is. But CNN said, "Well maybe it wasn't that effective." So the atomic energy just reported that it was one of the most devastating bombings that's ever seen.

The whole mountain collapsed on top of them. And frankly, to go get it -- we're going to go get it -- but to go get it it's a big deal because they say only China and us have the equipment where you can even get. The whole mountain is collapsed on top. We have cameras on it.

You could make the case why are you even bothering because it's not really valuable. But, you know, it's probably half a million dollars' worth. It's not very valuable stuff, but I think psychologically we want to get it.

AL THANI: Can I just -- can I just answer? You asked, I think, the last couple of months or weeks. I think that wasn't our -- we were not interested in, you know, what are the opportunities -- economic opportunities in Iran. Our interest, both of us, was to first of all, to find a deal to stop this war. This is our main target. But looking at the economy and the opportunity, I'm sure there are going to be huge opportunities.

And, you know, as long -- as I said, this is a very important momentum to keep working like that to reach, let's say, the final deal. After that Iran will be, you know, of course, open for any kind of investments. And I'm sure they are going to be huge opportunities.

But to be honest, you know, we never thought of, you know, we -- our target, you know, is to try to find a deal.

TRUMP: Well, they're going to need something because we blew them up. And, you know, you could make the case -- I used to make the case that -- like a week ago I said it. Now it's different. We have an agreement. But if you -- and we left. We did a great job. And we just left. We did a great job because it will take them 15-20 years maybe to rebuild.

And we were going to do a much bigger job if the agreement wasn't signed. We would have taken it to a level. But the -- and if we did that they would never ever, I believe, be able to rebuild -- too much.

[05:55:00]

REPORTER: Mr. President, what are the expectations for Israel? Can this deal survive if Israel attacks Lebanon?

TRUMP: It can and, you know, I consider that the minor war. Iran is the big one. But we had that little pinprick out there that constantly rears its head, and that's Hezbollah.

And, you know, I was very responsible for Syria and the man that's running Syria now is a person that I put there along with President Erdogan and some others. And he's done an amazing job of pulling it together. He's not a Boy Scout. But he's done an amazing job of pulling it together.

And he is very good with Hezbollah. He does not like them. And I'll tell you what, Israel is fighting Hezbollah too long and too many people are being killed. And you don't have to knock down an apartment house every time you're looking for somebody because there are a lot of people in those apartment houses and they're not all Hezbollah -- that I can tell you.

And I suggested to Israel to let Syria take care of Hezbollah because to be honest with you I think they'd do a better job of doing it.

REPORTER: Is that --

TRUMP: And I didn't like Syria. I didn't like where two hours before we're signing the agreement that there was an attack in Lebanon -- in Beirut. It wasn't like it wasn't like in the southern side and, you know -- it was in Beirut. I did not like that. I let them know that I didn't like it -- not at all.

But I think that Syria -- and he's pulled that country together amazingly quickly. He's very capable. And he's been very good for me. He's protected -- everything that I've asked for he's done.

And if Israel can't do the job without killing everyone else, he'll do the job. Syria will do the job.

REPORTER: Are you frustrated with Netanyahu, sir?

TRUMP: No. We have a great relationship.

We're talking about some end details. I didn't like that he did an attack based on a -- you know, there's a very minor little thing with some drones that were released and he ends up doing a very -- I saw that attack. I saw where that bomb went. Did you see what happened? That was not -- that was a vicious -- that was too much. You know, you can do too much also.

But we've had a very effective relationship. Without us -- without the United States there would be no Israel. Without me, there would be no Israel because no other president was willing to do what I did. I've had a great relationship with Bibi, but now Bibi has to be more responsible with respect to Lebanon.

Lebanon used to be a great country. It was a country where you had professors, doctors, lawyers. The great intellect was in Lebanon. Now it's just -- it's terrible. I would say of all countries they have been treated the worst. And they can't defend themselves. And they have Hezbollah, which is a problem for them.

So no, I'm not happy with the way Israel has handled themselves with Lebanon and with Hezbollah. They should have been able to do the job faster. It just goes on forever. And when that happens it throws a negative light on the big deal, and that's the deal with Iran. So when you asked me about Bibi, an unbelievable relationship.

But Israel would have been blown up a long time ago had I not gotten involved. Two things I did. I terminated the Iran nuclear deal.

Barack Hussein Obama sold out Israel for Iran. He went to Iran and sold them out. How anybody can vote for this guy or the party -- the "Dumbocrats" I call them because they're dumb. They're dumb people. That's number one -- how anybody can vote for them.

And the second was the B-2 bombers just totally destroyed.

So they had the right there, the JCPOA. I watched these politicians. I watched the senator read that nobody ever heard of the other day. Well, this deal is the same as the deal Barack Obama -- no. This deal is a wall to a nuclear weapon. His deal was a road to a nuclear weapon.

My deal -- they can't have a nuclear. They get blown up. If they have a nuclear weapon they get blown up. In his deal they were allowed to have a nuclear weapon.

If -- in all fairness to Bibi -- Bibi -- I remember very well, Bibi came to Washington and begged -- he begged Obama not to make that deal. And Obama was on the side of Iran, not Israel, and he made the deal. That deal was a disaster.

I terminated that deal, and if I didn't terminate -- and it was very tough after the termination. And if I didn't do that -- Howard know better than anybody, if I didn't terminate that deal, I believe that they would have -- Israel wouldn't be here right now.