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CNN Headlines: Trump And Iranian President Sign Hard Copies Of Agreement; Russia: Ukraine Launches Largest Attack On Moscow In Two Years; U.S. Defense Secretary In Brussels For NATO Summit; Harry Kane Leads England Past Croatia, 4-2; Tropical Storm Arthur Downgraded, Still Threatens Gulf Coast. Aired 5-5:30a ET

Aired June 18, 2026 - 05:00   ET

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

[05:00:47]

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN HOST: Hello, and welcome to all of our viewers watching in the United States and around the world. I'm Salma Abdelaziz in London.

Let's get into the headlines.

President Trump says he has signed a document that could lead to peace with Iran. We have a live report for you from the region.

And a stunning change of tune from Luigi Mangione's lawyers. What we know about the new claim they've submitted to the court.

Plus, fans are already gathering to celebrate the Knicks' big win. We'll hear from --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I love my Knicks. And I'm with them through the good, the bad, and the ugly.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ABDELAZIZ: We'll hear from a super fan who's joining thousands expected at a parade in New York City.

ANNOUNCER: Live from London, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Salma Abdelaziz.

ABDELAZIZ: Let's start with questions about the U.S.-Iran agreement to end the war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

President Donald Trump is now back in the U.S. This is from the G7 summit in France, where he signed a hard copy of the agreement in Versailles. Iran's president has also signed a hard copy of the plan.

Now, the 14-point memorandum of understanding aims to end the war on all fronts, including in Lebanon, where Israel has continued to carry out strikes. It will also get the traffic flowing through the Strait of Hormuz, but only for 60 days. And it lifts the U.S. naval blockade of Iranian ports.

But it leaves a lot of details to be addressed during that next 60-day period of negotiations, including, of course, the future of Iran's nuclear program.

Here's what Iranian officials and President Trump are saying about the plan.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon. They can't develop it, buy it. They can never have a nuclear weapon.

ESMAIL BAGHAEI, SPOKESPERSON, IRANIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY (through translator): Iran-U.S. memorandum of understanding is now officially complete and finalized. In 60 days, the other party should not increase military presence in region or issue new sanctions.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ABDELAZIZ: To break all of this down for us, CNN's Paula Hancocks is live from Abu Dhabi with the latest.

This is, of course, a major development, but a lot of critics of this plan are looking through it and saying, look, this looks like a president who just wanted an off-ramp. What do we know about what the U.S. is getting and not getting out of this deal?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Salma, we're certainly hearing some criticism from within the Republican Party, even in the United States, so Trump's party. We've also, though, heard praise from Canada's prime minister, for example, from the secretary general of NATO. So we're seeing reactions across the board.

But what this basically does at this point, and we had heard in advance U.S. officials saying it was going to be a vague wording of this text. But what we do see is that there will be financial benefits for Iran, the fact that there will be immediate exemptions of sanctions. Certain sanctions means that Iran will be able to pump oil and send oil out to the world immediately.

And we know also that the sanctions will be looked at, and also that those frozen Iranian funds are going to be looked at over the next 60 days or so. And then, of course, there is this $300 billion reconstruction fund that will be funded in part by Gulf nations as well for Iran.

So certainly, the feeling is that Tehran does stand to financially benefit from this deal as it stands with the text of this memorandum. Now, we have heard from the speaker of the parliament in Iran. I want to read you a couple of his quotes, Mohammad Ghalibaf. He said, quote, "Payment of service fees for passage through the Strait of Hormuz has been formalized in the memorandum of understanding."

Now, what it says in this memorandum is that for 60 days only, the Strait of Hormuz will be open with no fees.

[05:05:05]

It then says there will be discussions between Iran and Oman, the two sides of this Strait of Hormuz. And they will decide what will happen going forward effectively. They will define future administration and maritime services. If they do end up being able to push through service fees for vessels going through this very crucial waterway, it will be a major concession from the United States. And it certainly won't be welcomed here in the Gulf nations. as they are trying to pump their oil out to the wider world.

Now, we also heard from Ghalibaf saying that he had pointed out to the mediator the issue of Lebanon and the blocked frozen funds were among the main axes of the negotiations. We've heard from the U.S. president that he has sent this memorandum, the text, to the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, highlighting, of course, the fact that he was not part of ending this war.

He was not part of the final memorandum. And it also shows that even though these two countries were in lockstep at the beginning of the war, it certainly doesn't seem that way at the end -- Salma.

ABDELAZIZ: Paula Hancocks, thank you so much for breaking that down for us.

Russian state media is reporting that Ukraine launched its largest drone attack on Moscow in two years. This video shows a huge explosion and black smoke rising in the air after a key oil refinery was hit. Now, Moscow's mayor says Russian forces shot down nearly 200 drones, but the attack still managed to damage infrastructure, start fires, and send debris raining down on parts of the capital. The Ukrainian Air Force says Russia fired back overnight, launching a missile and drone attack.

Now, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is in Brussels for the NATO defense ministers meeting. He addressed the summit a short time ago alongside the NATO secretary-general. He said the U.S. understands the, quote, "threats of this moment and is ready to do something about it."

The U.S. Defense Department says Hegseth will push for NATO allies to increase defense spending to 5 percent of GDP, among other issues.

To break all of this down for us, we have Sebastian Shukla. He is standing by for us in Berlin.

Good morning, Seb, to you. Lovely to have you on.

What are we hearing from the secretary of war today?

SEBASTIAN SHUKLA, CNN PRODUCER: Yeah, Salma, what we've heard from Pete Hegseth is the same messaging that's been coming from the White House for a considerable time now, since the president returned to the White House in the second administration, which is that they want NATO and the other NATO alliance members to step up more vociferously for their own defense, while America looks to prioritize security and defense issues in other parts of the world, namely in the Indo-Pacific and monitoring China and the South China Sea.

And we've heard that message to be delivered again by the Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth. As you said, he spoke on the arrival in Brussels at this summit with Mark Rutte, and he delivered that message again very, very strongly. Take a listen to what exactly he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETE HEGSETH, U.S. DEFENSE SECRETARY: Our allies must step up. President Trump has been very clear on this point for many years and over two administrations. And for too long, NATO has been a paper tiger and a one-way street. No more.

And that's what the Hague Summit is all about. That's what defense spending commitments are all about, transforming NATO back into a real military alliance that's focused on hard power and real deterrence, a NATO 3.0.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SHUKLA: NATO 3.0, Salma. That, I think, is really important here.

This is a new messaging that's coming from the Pentagon, which is looking at ways that NATO will reform itself, and with the support of the United States. We've seen over the last weeks that the U.S. drawdown in troops and weaponry across the continent is going to continue, and the secretary has already said that again today.

But continuing with the rhetoric about applying pressure and the way that the administration is unhappy, happy with how the alliance works. I want to just read to you a little bit more about what the secretary had to say with regards to where the alliance supported the U.S. with the strikes on Iran. He actually called it shameful that the allies didn't allow -- and put sons and daughters of Americans at risk by not allowing U.S. aircraft to refuel and fly over their airbases and airspaces in order to launch those attacks.

So we're seeing a continuing rhetoric here, Salma, of the way that the administration wants NATO to reform, and the way that the secretary is supposed to be delivering that message is -- continues to be extremely forceful -- Salma.

[05:10:13]

Thank you so much there, Sebastian Shukla, on the message that Pete Hegseth is delivering to NATO allies.

Let's get to the latest World Cup highlights. England fans are cheering for Harry Kane, who scored twice in the team's 2026 debut. They beat Croatia 4-2. Kane is now tied for the most World Cup goals of all time by an England player.

The Democratic Republic of Congo scored the equalizer in stoppage time for a one-to-one draw with Portugal. This is the Congo's first World Cup appearance since 1974.

And Ghana have notched their first win of the tournament, another stoppage time goal made the difference in this match, versus Panama, Ghana, winning 1-0.

And Uzbekistan scored once in its World Cup debut, but they were no match for Colombia, who came out on top 3-1.

A full slate of World Cup matches are scheduled for today, including co-hosts Canada and Mexico. The Czech Republic will take on South Africa in Atlanta, and Switzerland will face Bosnia and Herzegovina in Los Angeles. Canada and Qatar are looking for their first win in Vancouver, and Mexico will take on South Korea in Guadalajara.

The first-named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season has weakened as it moves north of the Gulf Coast. But across the Midwest, intense tornadoes are snapping trees and leaving widespread damage in several states.

We have more details for you after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:16:26]

ABDELAZIZ: A tornado struck a village east of Springfield, Illinois, ripping off part of the roof of an elementary school and scattering parts of a classroom and snapping trees. It's part of a tornado outbreak underway across the Midwest, and more are expected. Several destructive tornadoes have torn through parts of at least five states in the region. But tornadoes are not the only severe weather threat facing parts of the country.

Meteorologist Melissa Nord has more on Arthur, the weekend storm that is still bringing the risk of major flooding to the Gulf Coast.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MELISSA NORD, METEOROLOGIST: The remnants of Arthur moved further inland on Thursday. That's going to send a lot of deep tropical moisture further northward, leading to a flood threat across the southeast.

Look at this plume of moisture in those red and purple colors. That's deep tropical moisture that leads to heavy rainfall rates, and that can mean more flash flood warnings issued throughout the day on Thursday, we already saw over 100 flash flood warnings the last three days combined issued. There could be more here across these Gulf states and through the Southeast.

So you can see forecast radar Thursday morning moving through Mississippi, Alabama. A lot of areas of heavy rainfall that rain spreads eastward, so that threat for flooding pushes into places like Metro Atlanta and Central Georgia by the afternoon. We're not done with Arthur's moisture on Friday. More that moisture gets hung up across the Southeast, so repeated rounds of heavy rainfall are likely. That little area across southern Mississippi, Alabama -- still, we could see additional rainfall amounts four to eight inches locally over 10 inches of rain possible. Remember, turn around. Do not drown.

Now on the northern side of this front where Arthur's moisture is getting hung up. We got some storms again on the way for the mid- Atlantic into the Northeast. Some of these areas are under a level 2 threat of severe weather and that could mean damaging winds are in the cards later on Thursday.

High temperatures in the 80s, not quite as hot in the Southeast with that rain coming in from Arthur, but to the north where we saw some severe storms in the Midwest on Wednesday. We'll see a little cool down with highs in Chicago in the 70s.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ABDELAZIZ: Polling stations are now open in Northwest England, where a very critical by-election is underway. An electorate of just about 60,000 people in the Greater Manchester area of Makerfield are now casting their votes for a new member of parliament. Now, the outcome of this election could affect the direction of the Labour Party and the fate of the country's prime minister.

Lawmakers on Capitol Hill say they have no idea when they might hear from President Trump's pick to be the next director of national intelligence. The president abruptly canceled a hearing for Jay Clayton on Wednesday. He's also insisting he won't sign a must-pass national security bill unless Congress passes his voter ID bill, the Save America Act.

In the meantime, Bill Pulte will take over as acting DNI on Friday. His appointment has been mired in controversy over his lack of intelligence experience and his steadfast support for President Trump.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REPORTER: How long do you expect Bill Pulte to be acting DNI?

TRUMP: Well, as long as it takes to get everybody else approved. I mean, they were doing a rush act, and we didn't get anything for it. Look, he's a very legitimate guy. He's very smart. He's a brilliant guy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ADELAZIZ: Pulte has served as a federal housing official in the Trump administration since last year.

Stocks, short-term bonds, and gold all fell after the Federal Reserve announced it was holding interest rates steady. The Dow fell 507 points. That's nearly one percent.

[05:20:01]

And according to Fed watchers, traders are now pricing in a 45 percent chance of a rate hike in October. The announcement from the Fed came after Kevin Warsh's first meeting

as chair. We have our Matt Egan, who's going to break this down for us.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATT EGAN, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Kevin Warsh has long called for regime change at the Fed. Today, he made clear that he is serious about that. He's not calling for subtle, incremental changes. He's calling for sweeping changes. And Warsh said that he's promising a, quote, new chapter and fresh thinking. And he launched five different task force that could change how the Fed does everything from communicate to the public to manage its massive balance sheet, to even how he's measuring the health of the economy?

And the change here was immediate. This Fed statement was almost unrecognizable with the last one. It removed the forward guidance that investors have long used as a guide for what the Fed might do next, and the statement was incredibly succinct. It was less than half as long as the last Fed statement, and one analyst said it might have been the shortest Fed statement on record.

Now the other thing that really stood out to me is something that was actually the last line in the Fed statement where the committee said that they will, quote, deliver price stability and worse. He repeatedly mentioned this during the press conference, noting that for five years now, the Fed has missed its 2 percent inflation target, and he vowed to fix that.

Take a listen.

KEVIN WARSH, U.S. FEDERAL RESERVE CHAIRMAN: Inflation has been running well ahead of the Fed's long stated inflation goal of 2 percent. That's been going on for more than five years. Persistently high prices are a burden for the American people. But the recent past need not be prologue. I am pleased to report that members of the FOMC are unambiguous and unanimous. This committee will deliver price stability.

EGAN: And yet, despite that emphatic statement, the Federal Reserve is not moving to fight inflation, at least not yet. Even though inflation is at a three-year high, the Fed kept interest rates unchanged, as was widely expected on Wall Street.

So the Fed is not delivering those interest rate cuts that the White House wants, but they're also not delivering the rate hikes to some of the inflation hawks want. However, the Fed did signal that an interest rate hike could be on the way. Nine Fed officials are penciling in at least one interest rate hike by the end of the year, and that would be designed to try to get inflation back down.

Now this is a big change from March when the Fed was penciling in at least one interest rate cut.

Bottom line here, Kevin Warsh, he made clear that he wants to make significant changes to the Fed and that he is serious about fighting inflation. Now we'll wait and see whether or not all those changes work to get inflation back down.

Matt Egan, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ABDELAZIZ: President Trump has officially signed the U.S. Iran agreement. He says it was not easy what we know about the memorandum and how it will be implemented. That's coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ABDELAZIZ: I want to go back to our top story this hour. President Donald Trump and his Iranian counterpart have now signed hard copies of that 14-point agreement. It aims to end the war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, but it leaves the future of Iran's nuclear program for discussion later. Pakistan was a key mediator, and its prime minister says the agreement is already in effect, but we're also hearing conflicting reports from the White House and Tehran.

Our Kristen Holmes has the details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

There already seems to be some confusion around the signing of this document and whether or not that 60-day negotiating period has officially kicked off. I was just told by sources that President Trump, while at this dinner in the Palace of Versailles, signed a hard copy of the agreement. He then sent a photo, or that photo was sent to the Iranians.

Now, what we are being told by a U.S. official, and I want to say this very specifically, they said on Sunday, the memorandum of understanding was signed digitally by Vice President J.D. Vance and Speaker Ghalibaf and witnessed by President Trump. Now it has been signed by both president -- the president of Iran and President Trump.

We had originally been told by a U.S. official pretty explicitly that President Trump had also digitally signed a copy. Now, what we're hearing is that this was the first time that he had actually signed a copy, and it was a hard copy. Now, on the Iranian side, we are hearing something slightly different, which was that they had agreed to a digital signature, sounds like the president of Iran has signed off on this, according to Iranian spokesperson, but their understanding seems to be that now this 60-day negotiating period has begun.

We have reached out to White House officials, U.S. officials trying to get an answer if that is the general understanding. And yet we have still not heard back.

The other part of this is what exactly Vice President J.D. Vance is doing in Switzerland on Friday if everything has already been signed and this negotiating period has already begun. I was told that the vice president is still expected to travel to Switzerland and sign the document on Friday.