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The Situation Room

U.S. Emergency Oil Reserves Shrinking; Maine Holds Senate Primary; Trump Promises End to Iran War. Aired 11-11:30a ET

Aired June 09, 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]

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: The Ontario premier will be here with us in THE SITUATION ROOM for his first interview since landing here in Washington, D.C., and why he's leading a major push right now to try to review the key economic agreement between the U.S., Canada, and Mexico.

Welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer with Pamela Brown, and you're in THE SITUATION ROOM.

We begin this hour with a very dramatic rescue at sea of two Apache helicopter pilots off the coast of Oman. President Trump was asked about the incident. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

QUESTION: There's a report that an Army helicopter went down in the strait. Can you give us an update on that? Are the soldiers OK?

(CROSSTALK)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The pilots are fine, Yes, nobody injured.

(CROSSTALK)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: A Navy surface drone found and safely rescued the pair within two hours, that according to the U.S. military.

PAMELA BROWN, CNN HOST: And the incident comes as President Trump declares the war with Iran could be over within days, as the two sides come closer to an agreement. But President Trump has also made similar declarations about the war at least 37 times before.

So let's go live now to CNN senior White House correspondent Kristen Holmes.

So is this time any different, Kristen? I think that's the bottom line question here.

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, and I'm really glad somebody finally took the time to count out how many times, because it felt like we were saying it every single day.

(CROSSTALK)

HOLMES: Now I know it was at least 37 times in the last two months since the cease-fire began.

It is unclear right now. We know what we saw yesterday, the White House and President Trump breathing a sigh of relief after we saw this escalation between Iran and Israel. The temperature began to turn down and then you had these fresh attacks by the Israeli military on the southern part of Lebanon, something that President Trump and the Iranians have warned against.

This is what President Trump said on the state of everything last night when he was leaving that Knicks game.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: They were going back and forth. And now they both agreed through me to stop. And we're in the final throes of what will be a very, very good deal that will not allow in any way, shape, or form nuclear weapons, et cetera.

And the strait will open up right away. It will open up immediately upon signing, which could be in two or three days.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: So, until there's a deal, President Trump also said that that U.S. blockade in the Strait of Hormuz would stay in the same, . It would not lift in any way. They want to see some kind of deal in writing.

But we don't really know where the Iranians stand on this. They have not commented on President Trump's remarks. And it has been -- again, we have been through this a number of times, in which we're seeing an escalation, then President Trump says negotiations are happening behind the scenes, it could happen any moment now.

And then it seems to completely fall apart or at least drag out. And that's how we ended up here. Now, one key component of all this, again, is Lebanon and what Israel decides to do, because that could really be a turning point here in a bad way against a deal, if they continue to have these strikes against Hezbollah targets in Southern Lebanon.

That is something, again, that President Trump has said that they would not do. He has talked to Benjamin Netanyahu about it. And Iran has warned that that could blow the entire thing up in terms of any kind of deal. So we will see how and what happens between President Trump and Netanyahu later today, specifically when it comes to that issue.

BLITZER: Important point.

Kristen Holmes, thank you very, very much -- Pamela. BROWN: And with us here, Wolf-, is CNN military analyst and retired

Air Force Colonel Cedric Leighton and CNN global affairs analyst Barak Ravid.

Colonel, let's start with you.

Given your experience, what do you think is the most likely explanation for why this helicopter went down?

COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Well, there are several different possibilities, Pamela.

But one of the ones that could happen is that there was electronic jamming to the helicopter. So, the helicopter might have been subjected to what we would call the electronic warfare that was done potentially by the Iranians. There's also the possibility of atmospheric interference that could have jammed GPS signals, the radio frequencies, things like that.

Or it could have been shot down or there was a mechanical failure. So those are three main possibilities that could have downed this particular Apache helicopter. And anything is, quite frankly, likely in a scenario like this, because there are so many moving parts when it comes to deploying in a region like the Middle East.

There are atmospheric issues. There are weather issues. There are terrain issues. And, of course, there is a force, an adversary force, like the Iranians. So all of those could have an impact.

BROWN: And, fortunately, the Navy says it was able to locate and rescue the two pilots on board. But it was certainly a harrowing dramatic rescue.

Tell us more about how valuable these tools are and how they're typically deployed.

LEIGHTON: So, when you're talking about rescue tools, one of the things that was used here, Pamela, was the -- basically an unmanned boat that's a drone system that the Navy has-, a surface drone system.

And we don't know exactly which type they used, but there's a task force called Task Force 59 under the U.S. Fifth Fleet in Bahrain. They were established back in 2021. And their purpose was to really develop unmanned systems that could be used on surface waters like in the Persian Gulf.

[11:05:18]

And they developed a lot of drone systems, as well as using artificial intelligence to actually create systems, unmanned systems, that could be used in search-and-rescue, as well as combat operations.

BLITZER: Let's go to Barak Ravid. He's been doing a lot of reporting on this.

Barak, we heard President Trump declare that a peace agreement was likely just days away. He keeps saying that. In fact, we have heard that dozens of times over these past few months. What are you learning about the state of the talks right now?

BARAK RAVID, CNN POLITICAL AND GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: So, Wolf, I think that, over the weekend, the Iranians were supposed to give their answer to the latest amendments that President Trump asked for.

He asked for two amendments something like 10 days ago. And from what I hear from my sources, including sources that are involved in the mediation between the U.S. and Iran, is that, on Saturday night, the supreme leader, the Iranian supreme leader, received basically the recommendation from the Iranian negotiation team on how to move forward.

And he was supposed to either approve it or give more comments or request for more amendments. And, from what I hear, this response hasn't been given. The latest escalation sort of got things even slower than usual.

And so I think that both the mediators and the Trump administration are all waiting to hear from the Iranians.

BROWN: Colonel Leighton, I want to go back to you. This -- thinking about big picture, this Apache helicopter that went down, the U.S. has lost dozens of aircraft in this war so far. How big of a deal is that?

LEIGHTON: It's a huge deal. And it shows there are certain issues that the U.S. has to deal with. Some of them include base protection issues, like the incidents related to the destroyed AWACS and the damaged KC-135 Stratotankers. That was basically a force protection issue at Prince Sultan Air Base in those particular cases.

Then you also have situations where there are going to be accidents. And then, of course, you had the loss of the KC-135 tankers in -- over Iraq, where we lost six airmen in that particular situation.

So those kinds of issues really point to several different things, maintenance issues, readiness issues, and, of course, the ability to protect our forces, whether they're actually in the air and flying or on the ground and stationary.

So these are issues where, do we have adequate missile defense systems? Are they being replenished at the proper rate? That goes back to questions about the defense industrial base and whether or not we have a sufficient way of basically replenishing all of our stockpiles.

We -- the answer is, we don't really have a sufficient way of doing it. We need a lot of help producing these weapons. And we need to do that. We need to really ramp that up. And there are things that are going on within the Defense Department to do just that, but they might be a little bit too late to need at this particular point in time.

BLITZER: Let me get back to Barak.

Barak, I know you reported that the U.S. was nearly pulled back into a full-scale war by the fighting between Israel and Iran over the past few days. How close did that actually get?

RAVID: I think it got pretty close, because the Israelis on Monday were planning a massive strike on Iran, a strike that -- a wave of strikes that included more than 50 fighter jets that were supposed to fly to Iran and drop and launch airborne ballistic missiles towards many, many targets, including very sensitive ones that have to do with Iran's infrastructure.

And I think that, if that strike would have happened, the risk of escalating back into an all-out war was really great. And I think this is -- that was the point that President Trump basically shut it down by telling Netanyahu, that's it, you can't do that.

And Netanyahu had to accept and told his generals that they have to abort mission. And one of the things President Trump told me yesterday that he told Netanyahu during their conversations over those 24 -- dramatic 24 hours was that he needs to be careful, because, if he goes too far, he might find himself fighting Iran on his own.

BROWN: All right, quite the message to send.

Colonel Cedric Leighton and Barak Ravid, thank you so much.

BLITZER: Good discussion.

[11:10:00]

And still ahead: a key test in Maine right now. It's primary day for embattled Democratic candidate Graham Platner. Do voters have a tolerance for scandal-plagued candidates?

BROWN: And, later, a new Artemis crew. Soon, NASA is going to announce the astronauts who will be on the next test mission getting ready for a lunar landing. That's ahead.

Stay with us. We will be right back.

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[11:15:01]

BLITZER: Happening now: Polls are open, and voters in Maine, South Carolina, Nevada, and North Dakota are casting votes in several different areas of the country. These elections potentially could reveal how much tolerance voters have for candidates embroiled in controversy and test President Trump's influence in a very crowded Republican field.

BROWN: And, in Maine, Democrat Graham Platner is vying for the chance to take on Republican Senator Susan Collins in November, but he's facing a slew of controversies.

CNN correspondent Arlette Saenz is in Portland, Maine.

And, Arlette, I know you have been talking to voters there. What have they been telling you about Platner? ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, Pam, this Democratic primary

really will serve as an early test of whether Democratic candidate Graham Platner is able to consolidate support within the Democratic Party, despite those controversies surrounding his campaign.

Now, Platner had really been a relatively unknown figure in Democratic politics here in the state, but he rose to prominence in this Democratic primary with a very populist pitch. But he has also been dealing with a number of controversies in his campaign.

That includes a tattoo that resembles Nazi imagery. He had said that he was unaware of the symbolism of that tattoo when he got it and has since covered it up. And most recently, there was that reporting in "The New York Times" where several ex-girlfriends of Platner's detailed unsettling behavior and, in one instance, an allegation of physical intimidation.

That is something that Platner has very strongly pushed back on and denied, saying that anyone arguing that he had conducted himself in such a manner or that he knew of this Nazi tattoo ahead of time, that that was simply politically motivated attacks.

But we have really spoken to a mix of Democratic primary voters today about their sentiments of about the scandals surrounding Platner. There are some who have said they're willing to look past it, while others worry they could be problematic for a general election matchup in November. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SAENZ: What have you thought about some of the controversy that's come up around the Graham Platner's campaign?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I certainly wish it hadn't happened. I -- but I don't know, what is he going to do, corrupt the Senate, do you think? I don't know. It's an unfortunate event.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And when you got Susan Collins on the one hand and him on the other, I mean, her actions have affected all of us. His private life affects him in his private life.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAENZ: Now, the real test for Platner will come in November as he prepares to likely face off against Senator Susan Collins. Republicans have made clear they plan to make Platner's past a big focus of their attacks against him in that November election matchup.

But this is one of those states that will be incredibly closely watched as it comes to control of the Senate, as Democrats are hoping they can flip this state blue come November.

BLITZER: All right, Arlette Saenz reporting for us from the scene, thank you very, very much -- Pamela.

BROWN: Thanks, Arlette. And up next: draining oil reserves. The war in Iran is shrinking America's emergency stockpiles. How that could impact your wallet just ahead.

We will be right back.

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[11:22:49]

BLITZER: Happening now: A potential deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz has oil prices falling. President Trump told reporters a deal with Iran would be finalized in -- quote -- "two to three days."

While he has made that claim many times before, the markets seem to be taking his word for it, at least this time. There are also some new concerns about America's shrinking emergency oil reserve. It is nearing the record low levels set under former President Biden, which Trump severely criticized.

Let's go live right now to CNN business senior reporter David Goldman.

He's got some more insight on what's going on.

How low, David, are these critical reserves? And how concerning is this?

DAVID GOLDMAN, CNN BUSINESS SENIOR REPORTER: It is a big concern, Wolf, and it's not just the emergency stockpiles. It's actually the commercial stockpiles as well.

Take a look at this. This is in Cushing, Oklahoma. It's where the central pipes are for all U.S. oil. There's 75 million barrels of capacity there. That's quite a bit. But look how much is actually there in the inventory, only 22.4 million right now.

There's been a huge drawdown since the Iran war started because the whole world wants U.S. oil right now, because they can't get it out of the Middle East. Now, why is this a concern? It sounds like a lot of oil. It's because 20 million, that is where you start to get into big trouble, because 20 million barrels is effectively operational minimums, right?

You can't push the oil through the pipes, there's not enough pressure when you have less than that. And this is how much we're drawing down every single week, 1.1 million barrels every week. So we're about to hit that operational floor, which is very concerning.

And that's why a lot of oil analysts think that we could hit $130 of oil again. That's $40 more than where we are right now. And that leads to $5 gas. And that is why we are so concerned and why Americans are feeling that pain as well.

[11:25:02]

Only 22.9 percent of Americans in the latest weekly survey that the Federal Reserve conducts said that they feel better off now than they did a year ago financially. That's the lowest since October of 2022. Certainly, there's a lot of concern happening.

It's not just in their wallets. They're also worried about their jobs. Only 15 percent -- 15 percent expect that they could lose their job. And that is a six-month high. And, those folks, they feel like they won't be able to get another job in three months.

There's a lot of economic pain going on, and oil is a big reason why, Wolf.

BLITZER: Yes, excellent explanation. David Goldman, thanks, as usual. Appreciate it very, very much -- Pamela.

BROWN: All right, just ahead, Wolf: You have probably heard of lassoing horses or cattle, but what about lassoing a gator?

The story behind this video right here just ahead.

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