Return to Transcripts main page
The Situation Room
Why Is Housing So Expensive?; Former Eric Adams Adviser Arrested; Zohran Mamdani's Influence Growing?; President Trump Blocks Bipartisan Housing Bill. Aired 11-11:30a ET
Aired June 24, 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)
[11:01:22]
ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: Welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer. Pamela Brown is off today. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.
We're following breaking news. Just minutes ago, President Trump canceled, yes, canceled, his signing of a sweeping bill to lower housing costs for Americans. He's trying to rein in Republican defections over the voting reforms he is demanding.
And I'm quoting now. This is the president: "Today's housing news conference and signing is hereby canceled until such time as we pass the desperately needed SAVE America Act, which I consider to be a national emergency" -- end quote.
That signing was scheduled for the top of the hour. The president is still due to sit down with Senate Republicans as the party faces growing divisions right now over his priorities and his war with Iran. Some GOP lawmakers say it's time for the president to face a harsh reality, that the party needs to unite before the midterm elections in November.
CNN congressional correspondent Lauren Fox is up on Capitol Hill. Kevin Liptak is over at the White House for us.
Lauren, what's the reaction, first of all, among lawmakers to this decision by the president to cancel the signing ceremony that was supposed to be taking place?
LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Wolf, I just actually spoke to one Republican senator, Jon Husted, who is up for reelection in the state of Ohio in just a couple of months.
And he said, look, he does believe the president's eventually going to sign this. He says he understands that the president feels strongly about the SAVE America Act. He said it's an important priority for him as well, but he also pointed out that the housing bill should be a big priority for Republicans, as it has been for him, given the fact that that is dealing with the issue of affordability that is so important to voters, that polling is showing is important to voters going into this midterm election.
Look, this could have been a huge moment for Republican unity today. It could have been a moment for Donald Trump to boast about what they are doing in Congress with a House, a Senate, a White House that is all controlled by Republicans for Americans and affordability.
It also, Wolf, was a big bipartisan win. It was a bill that got more than 80 votes in the United States Senate. That is virtually unheard of these days. And, obviously, there's some frustration about the fact that now this looks like it may not happen.
You can expect that this Republican lunch in just a couple of hours is going to be an opportunity for Senate Republicans to register some of their discomfort, some of their frustration with what the president has been prioritizing. The huge question, of course, is, will Republicans take that opportunity in a closed-door session?
Will they make clear to the president that they don't necessarily agree with what he's prioritizing right now? I think that that all remains to be seen.
Meanwhile, Speaker Mike Johnson did just respond to this announcement from Donald Trump. He said he was aware of it, and he had just spoken to the president. Here he is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA): My reaction is, truth of the matter, I spoke to the president for 20 minutes before I went in and gave that rousing speech to the House Republicans this morning. He and I have talked about this a lot.
He has expressed his -- the priority and the preference of the SAVE America Act. We share that. We passed it three times in the House. The latest version was passed a few months ago, and it has proof of citizenship to register to vote and the proof of showing a photo I.D. when you show up to vote, basic issues that 90 percent of Americans agree; 70 percent of Democrats think you ought to have a photo I.D. to vote.
And citizenship to vote in an American election is already in the law. But we have to enforce it because you have got a few blue states that don't do that. The president believes in election integrity. He talks about it all the time, and we do as well. In act and deed, we have stood for that. We passed the SAVE America Act again.
[11:05:03]
Here's the -- let me finish this. It's very important. That is the top priority, because if you do not have safe elections in this grand experiment in self-governance that we have in a constitutional republic, you don't have anything. And we have got to ensure it. We have to press for election integrity
measures. That's why we have made it a top priority.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOX: And this bill, we should just point out, Wolf, doesn't have 60 votes in the Senate. It doesn't even have all of the Republican senators supporting it. That is why the majority leader, John Thune, has repeatedly told the president it's just not possible right now in his chamber -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Yes, proof of citizenship includes a passport, for example, or citizenship papers if you're a naturalized U.S. citizenship.
Let me go over to Kevin at the White House.
What are you hearing from the Trump administration about the president's decision forcing all this leverage to unfold?
KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Right.
And I think it just underscores just how fraught a situation that the president is walking into on Capitol Hill. Even before he very abruptly canceled the signing, this was already going to be a fairly tense meeting. He wasn't even invited to the Hill by John Thune, the majority leader.
He was invited by Rick Scott, who is a conservative, and is more aligned in a lot of ways with President Trump than Thune has been. Just yesterday, the White House was touting this housing bill by the president as a major accomplishment. The press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, said that Trump had promised to lower housing costs and he is delivering.
She called today's historic bill signing another promise made, promise kept. But it doesn't appear as if it has been kept just yet, as the president puts this off.
I think, as the president heads into this meeting, and we do still expect him to attend this luncheon with Republican senators, one of the objectives that Thune has said is to try and reinforce to the president why this voting bill just doesn't have the support necessary to pass, because Thune has been telling the president over and over again that the support just doesn't exist to do away with the Senate filibuster.
But the message doesn't seem to have broken through to the president yet. I think his hope had been that other Republicans in this meeting might try and reinforce this message to sort of relay to the president that it is not worth blowing off all of the other priorities that the Republicans have for this governing period to try and get this bill passed.
But, clearly, the president hasn't heard that message just yet. This is not the only area that the president has put off to try and get this bill across the finish line. You remember he has also put off the nomination of Jay Clayton to be the permanent director of national intelligence until the SAVE America Act is passed.
And so there are all of these other priorities that are being held up in a way that, at least in John Thune's mind, is never going to happen. And so I think the hope has been that that message will be delivered sort of loud and clear to the president as he sits in this lunch.
But, clearly, the president, I think, already making this session up on Capitol Hill later today to be a very, very tense one, at a moment where when the two sides of Pennsylvania Avenue already seem at odds on a whole range of issues, Wolf.
BLITZER: Yes, Kevin Liptak at the White House, Lauren Fox up on Capitol Hill, thanks to both of you.
And coming up, our David Goldman will explain why houses are so expensive right now. He will make it make sense. That's coming up later this hour.
And still ahead: Mamdani's influence. All three candidates the New York City mayor endorsed won last night. What could it all mean for the Democratic Party? We just heard from the mayor. We're going to bring you some of his comments.
And, later, "No Scotland, no party," that's the Tartan Army's slogan as they descend on American cities for the World Cup.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We love to party, any sport event. We love to drink. We love to party.
QUESTION: Is the stadium going to run out of beer tonight?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, absolutely.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A hundred percent.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We need to call up Scotland and say, can you send more beer, because we're going to drink it all tonight.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: The Scottish visitors are even learning about our national pastime. That's still ahead as well.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:14:12]
BLITZER: Happening now: a progressive insurgency.
A slate of candidates backed by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani have swept a trio of House races across the city, marking a significant rebuke of incumbent Democrats. Community organizer Darializa Avila Chevalier -- Chevalier, I should say, who got Mamdani's backing, took down longtime Congressman Adriano Espaillat.
Former Trump impeachment lawyer Dan Goldman lost his primary to one of Mamdani's top allies, Brad Lander. And Democratic socialist state Assemblyman Claire Valdez won the nomination for the seat of retiring Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez, beating her preferred successor, Antonio Reynoso.
[11:15:05]
Moments ago, Mamdani said he would speak today with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. Listen to how the mayor responded when CNN asked what the results mean for Democrats. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ZOHRAN MAMDANI (D), MAYOR OF NEW YORK CITY: New Yorkers are hungry for a new kind of politics. They are hungry for a politics that understands working people should be at the heart of it. And they're hungry for a politics that looks at the wealthiest city in the wealthiest country in the history of the world and understands that it's unacceptable that one in four are living in poverty.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: And we're following more breaking news this hour as well.
A man who was a top adviser to former New York City Mayor Eric Adams is now under arrest, reportedly charged in a corruption investigation. The source tells CNN that Frank Carone was taken into custody this morning. Carone is well-known in New York City political circles as a high-powered government enforcer and ally of Adams.
Our Gloria Pazmino is in New York for us.
What more do we know about this arrest, Gloria?
GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Wolf, it is really a remarkable day here in New York City. Not only are we watching the current mayor, Zohran Mamdani, celebrate the wins of last night, but we're also hearing him condemn that these alleged public corruption investigations and the arrests that took place this morning, members of the last administration.
A very senior aid to the former Mayor Eric Adams, Frank Carone, arrested at his home in Brooklyn this morning after a raid by federal law enforcement officials. Now, we know from the indictment that Carone's case stems from the city's legal requirement to provide shelter to migrants who you remember were arriving here in massive numbers about two years ago.
And the indictment alleges that Carone essentially took bribes from hotel operators, who then were awarded contracts by the city to house these migrants. That's what the indictment against Carone alleges. We asked the mayor about this investigation just a short while ago. Here's what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAMDANI: Government should serve the public with integrity. Any corruption would amount to a serious violation of the responsibility within the NYPD and a breach in public trust. As Commissioner Tisch said earlier today, this is an investigation that the NYPD is conducting with the FBI and the U.S. attorney's office for the Southern District of New York.
Commissioner Tisch has already shown a real commitment to cracking down on corruption and ensuring that the public servants in the NYPD are held to the highest standards. I'm confident that she will lead us through this process.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PAZMINO: Now, we also heard from the New York police commissioner, Jessica Tisch, earlier this morning. She took to social media to confirm a separate investigation into current and former members of the NYPD, including two high-ranking officials.
That is part of an alleged bribery investigation, as I said, a separate investigation being carried out by the Eastern -- by the Southern District, I should say, in addition to this arrest that we are seeing this morning by -- of the former mayor's former senior aide -- Wolf.
BLITZER: All right, Gloria, thank you very, very much. Lots going on in New York.
Up next: a key part of the American dream out of reach right now for so many Americans. Why is it so hard to afford a home? We will make it make sense. That's ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:23:19]
BLITZER: There's breaking news we're following. President Trump has just canceled a signing ceremony for a bipartisan bill aimed at America's affordable housing crisis. The president says he will not sign it into law until Congress first passes his very controversial election overhaul legislation.
Also new this morning, newly built home sales have dropped for the second month in a row, as higher mortgage rates kept prospective buyers out of the market. New home sales fell more than 7 percent in May from April.
And here to help -- help us all make it make sense is CNN's senior business reporter, David Goldman.
David, the question is, why is it getting so hard to afford a home here in the United States?
DAVID GOLDMAN, CNN BUSINESS SENIOR REPORTER: It's impossible to buy a home here, and I think one of the reasons why is that they are really, really expensive, Wolf.
I mean, 242 U.S. cities have a starter home at $1 million. That tells you, I think, everything you need to know. Why is this happening, though? Why are houses so expensive? Well, it's supply and demand.
And, in 2008, after the housing crisis, we stopped building homes in this country. As you mentioned, new home sales just keep falling like a rock. We had only 580,000 new homes built last month. That is down 46,000 from the month of April.
We need more homes so that people can afford to live in them. If there aren't enough homes, then, because of supply and demand, those prices keep going up, and that has happened. Now, certainly, this isn't helping either, the fact that mortgage rates are well above 6 percent.
[11:25:07]
This has been happening since inflation became a new problem again during the Iran war. Maybe this starts to fall a little bit. We will see. But, remember, this was below 3 percent during the pandemic. Certainly, this is adding a lot of cost, hundreds of dollars for just 1 percentage point. That's a problem as well.
Now, we talked about inventory. This number, you want to see around six months. We're at 4.4 months of supply right now, which means it is a seller's market. That means that people who have homes, they are able to unload them, but there just aren't enough homes for buyers to be able to make competitive bids.
That number needs to get back, and we need more homes to do it. Now, you mentioned that housing bill. That may be could have helped, although it is controversial, I will note. But the reform aspect of this maybe changes some of the regulations that were making it difficult to build a home, including permits and zoning.
And it also kicks private equity, Wall Street, out of the single- family housing market, saying no more. Now only people can buy homes. But this isn't going to happen today, as we thought it was, the president, as you mentioned, saying, you know what, I need the SAVE America Act. We're going to do that before we get to any of this, Wolf.
BLITZER: All right, David Goldman, appreciate it very, very much.
And, to our viewers, if you need David to make it make sense, e-mail or send a selfie video of your question to MakeItMakeSense@CNN.com.
And just ahead: surreal images out of Utah, as wildfires rage in the state.
Lots going on. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
