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Sources: Israel And Hezbollah Renew Their Ceasefire; Mangione's Lawyers Reverse Course On Psychiatric Defense; Newly-Renovated Reflecting Pool Water Turns Green. Aired 11-11:30a ET

Aired June 19, 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]

FOLARIN BALOGUN, SOCCER PLAYER: And making decisions for the team that count, you know, and it's what you practice and it's what you're ready for and, you know, the rewards for scoring in a competition, you know, like the World Cup are going to be huge. So, yes, something to be excited about.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Yes, how about two more goals from Balogun today Pam? That would certainly be nice. But it's going to be beautiful here in Seattle, 75 and sunny. And, hey, Pam, the U.S. has never lost here in Seattle, a perfect 6-0. Here's hoping we keep that streak going.

PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Let's keep it going. That is a huge stadium, by the way, just side note. All right, Andy Scholes. Thank you so much. We'll be watching. The next hour of The Situation Room starts right now.

And happening now ditching their defense, why lawyers for Luigi Mangione, the man accused of killing a healthcare CEO are backtracking on their plan for his upcoming murder trial defense.

And going green, the iconic reflecting pool in the nation's capital is already dealing with issues both new and old fresh off a multi-million dollar renovation touted by President Trump.

Welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm Pamela Brown, Wolf Blitzer is off and you're in The Situation Room.

Let's get to that breaking news. Multiple sources tell CNN that Israel and Iran backed militant group Hezbollah have agreed to a new ceasefire beginning about two hours ago. Now that is a major development because overnight the two sides traded deadly attacks in Lebanon. Israel says an explosive hit a tank and killed four Israeli soldiers. Lebanon says Israeli strikes have killed at least 47 people.

Late last night Vice President J.D. Vance abruptly canceled his trip to Switzerland. That meeting was intended to begin the next stage of negotiations with Iran. CNN's Oren Liebermann is in Jerusalem. So Oren, Iran had asked for guarantees that hostilities in Lebanon will end before it resumes talks with the U.S. on the 60-day negotiations period. What more can you tell us about this alleged ceasefire?

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: So now we're waiting to see and we are just as you pointed out in the first hours here whether this really holds and whether that's enough for Vice President J.D. Vance to attend or if it's some other member of the delegation and whether that's enough for Iran to get back to the table. The first point of the 14-point memorandum of understanding is a complete ceasefire across all the fronts including in Lebanon. Now, that's something Israel had tried to keep out of there to keep the fighting in Lebanon separate from the U.S. Iran talks.

But Iran had managed to get that in there and it was President Donald Trump himself who said that there will be a ceasefire in Lebanon as well and accusing Israel of going too far. Now, we saw intense firing early this morning into the later hours of the morning. According to the Israeli military shortly after midnight, a Hezbollah explosive device either an explosive drone or an anti-tank missile hit an Israeli tank in southern Lebanon killing four soldiers inside.

After that we saw Israel unleash a wave of strikes not only in southern Lebanon but also in the Beqaa Valley. According to Lebanese Ministry of Public Health, those Israeli strikes killed at least 47 people, wounded many others and note, that's a number that may still rise here. But it was mediators from the U.S., Iran and Pakistan that stepped in to try to put a ceasefire back in place. And it was two hours ago that multiple sources familiar with the matter tell CNN that ceasefire was supposed to begin.

Now, according to Lebanese reports there has been some reports of Israeli strikes in Lebanon in the half an hour after that or so. So we're waiting to see how this develops and whether this holds. Now a briefing from the Israeli military spokesperson a short time ago says they will follow the political directives they're given. But an Israeli source does tell CNN that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has decided that Israel's strikes following the killing of four soldiers have wrapped up here.

Pam, this is still a very delicate situation and one that could still very much derail the ongoing efforts to get those negotiations between the U.S. and Iran going.

BROWN: Yes, very tenuous. Oren Liebermann, thank you so much. Let's go to CNN's Betsy Klein at the White House. What are you hearing from administration officials, Betsy?

BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE PRODUCER: Well, Pamela, this next round of negotiations was always going to be the hard part. This was kicking off a 60-day window to negotiate the thorniest remaining nuclear issues. Now Vice President J.D. Vance's planned Thursday night departure scrapped last night. But a White House official tells CNN that the delegation is prepared to depart at the first available opportunity. So we'll have to see and watching very closely what happens with the Vice President's planned trip to Switzerland to begin those talks. But the issue here as Oren just laid out is this continued violence in Lebanon. Iran asking for guarantees that the hostilities would end before it agreed to meet for that next round of talks. And I asked if the U.S. was willing to provide those guarantees, a source familiar with the matter telling me, "Hezbollah violated the ceasefire. Israel has agreed to let it be, which was related to the Iranians, and it's up to Hezbollah to stop.

[11:05:14]

And now a U.S. official saying that Israel and Hezbollah have agreed to extend this ceasefire in a deal that was mediated in part by the U.S. and Qatar. Now, this situation really underscores how President Trump has been able to apply some Israel. He addressed that relationship with Prime Minister Netanyahu in a new Axios interview. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: If it weren't for Donald Trump, Israel would have been eviscerated.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Your relationship with Netanyahu is --

TRUMP: It's good, but we have to keep him a little bit sane.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you going to be able to control Israel from attacking Lebanon?

TRUMP: Yeah, I will be.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How?

TRUMP: They have a lot of respect for me and they do as I say.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KLEIN: It's really unclear, Pamela, at this stage if this is going to be enough for Iran to get those talks back on track.

BROWN: We will see. Betsy Klein, thank you so much. Live for us from the White House.

And happening now, lawyers for Luigi Mangione, the man accused of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO on a New York street, are reversing course. Mangione's attorneys have alerted the judge in the state case that they no longer plan to make a psychiatric defense just a day after indicating they would. So let's go live now to CNN's Kara Scannell. Kara, do we know why Mangione's lawyers made this decision reversing course?

KARA SCANNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Pamela, the decision came yesterday. It was a one sentence decision saying that they were withdrawing their decision to move forward with this psychiatric defense. That is all that they have said and that is all that they are required to say at this point. It really is not clear what happened in the last 24 hours to have changed their mind from agreeing at this hearing on Wednesday that they were moving forward with this defense.

The defense would have been that Mangione did murder the UnitedHealthcare CEO, but did it while he was in a state of extreme emotional disturbance. So, so it comes with an admission, but it would allow the jury, if they agreed to convict him of manslaughter and not murder, which would be less time in prison. The entire issue has been under seal for nine months as the lawyers were trying to decide whether or not they were going to move forward with it.

They ultimately said that they would on Wednesday and the judge gave them until Thursday to turn over information to the prosecution, including who their witnesses, the theory of what was this extreme emotional disturbance, what caused it, as well as medical records. So it is not clear if they turned over that material or if they made this decision just before they needed to reversing course there.

One reason the judge had said why everything was under seal, he said because if they were to move -- if they were to announce publicly that they were considering this defense and didn't move forward, it could prejudice the jury. And in court, Mangione's lawyer said that one reason why they wanted it under seal is because this defense that they could have offered and that they were tending it for one moment is only available in state cases, but it's not available to defend against the federal charges that he is facing.

And in that instance, the prosecution would be able to use his admission and the material that came out in the state case at that trial. So it's not really clear, though, what happened in those 24 hours to have them change their mind. You know, I've talked to some former prosecutors who say it is just a stunning reversal, and they speculate that maybe it was Mangione himself who could have decided he no longer wanted to go forward with that. But right now, Pam, that's where it stands. We'll see if there's any additional developments in the days ahead.

BROWN: All right, Kara Scannell, thanks so much.

And now let's turn to CNN legal analyst and criminal defense attorney Joey Jackson to discuss this more. I mean, I wonder how you're viewing this, how unusual it is to reverse course so quickly.

JOEY JACKSON, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Yes, Pamela, it's unusual. Good to be with you. But I think they had to do it. And what do I mean, let's remember what the extreme emotional disturbance is. It has a couple of flaws. Why? Number one, what you're doing is, right, as Kara Scannell just pointed out, is that you're admitting that you did it. You're simply giving a justification. So there's that admission.

Number two, it does not exonerate you at all. It simply mitigates, lessens the sentence that you will have. Now, that's problematic, Pamela, because what happens is, is that this is the state murder trial. And even if it were successful at the state murder trial, it would not have been successful in the federal trial. How dare me say that? I say that because extreme emotional disturbance is not a defense federal. And so that's a problem. It's a problem because if you make the admission that I did it in state court, which is a defense, because you had a reasonable justification and excuse, if the jury would buy that. Now, when you go across the street to federal court, you can't use that. And if you can't use it and the federal prosecutors have the admission that you did it and they have psychiatric records where you're giving admissions and explaining, yes, I did it and here's why, and they parade that before the jury, you're guilty. And what a guilty finding in the federal case, you're facing life in prison without parole.

[11:10:26]

And so it was not a viable play, right, overall, when you consider his state case and his federal case, and I think that's why they reversed.

BROWN: They would have, you know, thought about all of this before they put it out there that they were contemplating at least this psychiatric defense, which, as you said, would convey justification for the killing. And I wonder how that could complicate things now that has already been out there, even though they're now reversing course.

JACKSON: So, Pamela, that's fair. And I think it was a strategic flaw, right? I think that in rethinking it, they perhaps said, you know what, this is not going to fly because even again, if we're successful here, we're going to have problems there, meaning here, state, there, federal. And yes, it should have been contemplated and thought out and gamed and decided before that.

But when the judge essentially said, hey, I'm releasing all these records, I think they got skittish. That is the defense team. Why? You talk about complications. You have to ultimately pick a jury. Jurors watch T.V., jurors are on social media, jurors are generally tuned in. Now, yes, it's true that if you're a juror, the objective, right, in paneling you is not that you haven't seen anything, haven't heard anything, don't know anything. It's can you put those aside to evaluate what you're hearing in court?

Having said that, if you have jurors that hear in the federal trial, didn't the guy admit to doing it but say he had a mental lapse that was profound and that's why he did it. OK, he's guilty. And so I think the complication is it really confuses. And not only confuses, but can contaminate a potential jury pool that you pick. And at the end of the day, Pamela, it's about having a fair trial. If you can't have a fair trial because you can't have fair jurors, you're in trouble.

BROWN: All right, Joey Jackson, thanks so much. Appreciate it.

Still ahead here in The Situation Room, relentless flooding, turning deadly across the south and millions of people are still facing a massive threat.

Plus, mounting problems at the reflecting pool on the National Mall. Our Tom Foreman is there. TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Pam, you are looking right now at what is rapidly turning into a $16 million headache for the White House. We'll tell you why in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:17:11]

BROWN: Well, there is something in the water. The Reflecting Pool water that is. Less than two weeks after a nearly $15 million renovation wrapped up, the water in front of Washington's Lincoln Memorial is green again. Parts of the historic pool's new paint job have even been peeling away. But the Trump administration, which granted the no bid renovation, by the way, says all that green you're seeing just isn't true.

In a post on social media, the Interior Department, which oversees the reflecting pool, claims the water is, "crystal clear." But CNN went out ourselves yesterday to see it. And our Sunlen Serfaty, as you see, dipped a bottle into the pool, filling it with, as you can see, water that has a clear green tint. Just earlier this month, President Trump said this renovation would last up to a century after it was completed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: And you can have something you're going to be very proud of and it'll last for 50 to 100 years before you have to do anything with it. Very strong, powerful substance that we use. And we picked a color called American flag blue. We had color choices, and before it was just gray, it was the color of concrete and stone. So it's going to be really special.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: All right, CNN Tom Foreman joins us now live from the Reflecting Pool, our chief algae correspondent for the day. Tell us what you're seeing out there, Tom.

FOREMAN: Well, the White House really wanted this to be a centerpiece of the attraction for tourists as the Fourth of July holiday came up. But take a look at this. This is the most recent trouble spot people have been focusing on because literally tourists were over here a short while ago tearing up parts of the lining and walking off with them. Whether this hole was created by them or if they just saw it and exploited it, well, we don't really know.

But you can see right there, that absolutely appears to be the lining all over there, peeling up from the bottom and flaking. And here we have bare concrete. And I don't really know what the brighter blue is down here. That seems sort of isolated, but that's just part of it.

As you mentioned, the algae, they're still dealing with that out there. If you compare it to what this looked like beforehand, this was not really the issue. Although in all fairness, algae blooms on the Potomac River and in the Reflecting Pool have been very common over the years. The issue isn't that algae appeared, but that the promise was made that this was not going to be a problem.

Now they have dozens of people out here working just around the, you know, all throughout the day, as far as I can tell, using these sort of water vacuums to try to clean it off the floor here. They have nano bubblers down there. That's a device that puts a lot of extra oxygen into the water to try to stop more algae from forming. But remember, Pam, algae is a microscopic spore to begin with. So there's just no way of telling if it's all in the water here and reforming right behind the cleanup. Pam?

[11:20:10]

BROWN: Wow, that's. That's pretty gross, Tom. I'm wondering what people are saying that are visiting the Reflecting Pool. What have you heard from them?

FOREMAN: Well, it is very clear that a lot of tourists are coming by here and locals as well, just to look at it. And one couple passed me a while ago, and the guy shook his head and he said, you know, it's worse in person than it is on T.V. And another folks that I were talking to said they had the same sensation. They thought it might be a little bit cleaner. But listen to what they said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It looks bad. I just see green, green slime.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Pouring all that peroxide into it clearly didn't help. I feel for the ducks.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOREMAN: Make no mistake about it, Pam, these crews out here are working very hard to try to solve this problem. But all of the experts we're talking to are saying this will be an ongoing maintenance problem just as it has always been. This is not some hundred year fix that will just sit that way. It's going to have to be worked on and worked on and worked on. And the company that did the work, CNN talked to them and they said they're going to come back and have a look and see if there are things that they need to correct as well.

BROWN: Yes, and just before we went to that sound, there were tourists behind you taking pictures. You know, it's becoming a tourist attraction for the wrong reasons. And it's fascinating because just one week ago, a little over a week, Wolf and I were out there and it was a dark color.

FOREMAN: Yes.

BROWN: You did not see this kind of green. So that happened really, really quickly. Wow. Tom Foreman, thanks so much.

Still ahead, robo taxi recall. Waymo taking thousands of vehicles off the road. The new concern about cars speeding through active construction zones.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:26:19]

BROWN: Happening now, the Trump administration is backtracking on plans to dismantle a crucial ocean monitoring system. Hundreds of deep sea instruments measure data about the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. And last month, the National Science Foundation, that's the agency that runs the system, said it would reduce the number of sensors. The decision immediately raised concerns from experts and drew bipartisan backlash. They were worried about no longer getting a vital source of climate data during a time when the health of the world's oceans is at stake. So now the agency is halting those plans and working to replace the instruments it already removed.

And those ocean changes, especially warming temperatures or threatening species found in polar regions. Two iconic species, the emperor penguin and the Antarctic fur seal, are among those being pushed to extinction due to climate change. That's according to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. Well, now an emerging biotech and genetic engineering company wants to do something about it. It's called de extinction. And I recently spoke with Ben Lamm, the founder and CEO of Colossal Biosciences. Here's part of that conversation.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: Good morning to you, Ben. So your company has this goal of resurrecting once extinct species Colossals behind the revival of the dire wolf and the woolly mouse. How do you choose an animal to de extinct? And what is the de extinction process? What does that look like?

BEN LAMM, CEO, COLOSSAL BIOSCIENCES: Yes, as you mentioned. First of all, thanks for having me. As you mentioned, you know, right now we are at a major crossroads when it comes to extinction. And we're going to lose up to half of biodiversity in the next 25 years. So we need new tools and new technologies in order to not just bring back extinct species, or like the woolly mammoth and the dodo and others, but also preserve existing species. And that's exactly our mission, right.

So we look at what are these big, iconic megafauna species like the woolly mammoth, the Tasmanian tiger. Most recently, we announced the blue buck that we can work to bring back. And along that way, we can educate the public on the power of these technologies to save species, as well as open sourcing all of those technologies for our conservation partners around the world to save those critically endangered species, some of which you just mentioned.

BROWN: So what does that process look like?

LAMM: Yeah, so we actually have to go and take ancient DNA, which is massively fragmented, and we have to use A.I. and all these different compute models to reassemble ancient DNA, compare it to its closest living relative, and then from there, it actually gives us the targets of what genes and biodiversity has been lost over time. We then engineer that with tools like CRISPR and others into the genetic donor or the closest living relatives. And then once we know all of those edits are in, we put them into a egg cell through a process called cloning, and then we put it into a surrogate. And if everything goes well, at the end of that process, you have animals that haven't been on this earth for thousands of years.

BROWN: So Ben, what about those animals that perhaps went extinct due to natural causes like habitat loss? Would their experience be threatened by modern wildlife and modern environment that we live in now?

LAMM: Yes, that's a great question. So we only focus on species that we know can thrive today and that mankind had some role in their demise, right? And so we really try to focus on iconic species that can serve in the existing ecosystem and where their return can only help the ecosystem and they can thrive. But there are technologies that are used to bring them back to can actually be applied to existing critically endangered species and help them.

[11:29:54]

We did that last year with the dire wolves and red wolves. And most people don't know this, but the red wolf is an icona of, you know, Americana itself. You know, it's the most endangered wolf in the entire world. There's only about 13 left in the wild. And so we have --