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What We Know with Max Foster
Trump Says Iran Deal "All Signed," But Obstacles Remain; Trump Calls Israeli PM Netanyahu "Very Difficult Guy"; Trump Joins Leaders In France After Iran Agreement Announced; Cape Verde Stuns Spain With Goalless Draw; California Governor Says He's Being Investigated By Trump Justice Department Because He's Mulling Presidential Bid; U.S. Air Force B-52 Bomber Crashes In California. Aired 3-4p ET
Aired June 15, 2026 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[15:00:25]
MAX FOSTER, CNN HOST: A diplomatic breakthrough between the U.S. and Iran.
This is WHAT WE KNOW.
U.S. officials say details of this tentative deal between the U.S. and Iran may become public in the next couple of days. U.S. President Donald Trump
hailed the agreement as he arrived for the start of the G7 summit there in France, but it's clear major differences between Washington and Tehran
remain on issues such as the Strait of Hormuz.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The deal's all signed, and the strait is already partially opened. As you know, they're 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'll be
completely opened. We got along very well with Iran. It's a different set of leaders.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOSTER: Well, in contrast to President Trump's remarks, Iran's foreign minister says his country plans to collect maritime fees once the critical
waterway opens.
To Washington now, CNN's Betsy Klein.
This is the problem, isn't it, Betsy? We haven't actually seen this memorandum.
BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Right, Max. There's so much conflicting information coming from both sides, and the reality is that we
just don't know what has been agreed to in this memorandum of understanding between the U.S. and Iran.
Let me lay out what we do know at this hour. Our understanding is that this agreement has been signed digitally by both sides. There's going to be a
formal signing ceremony on Friday in Geneva, Switzerland. The U.S. has said it will lift its blockade on Iranian ports, and Iran, meanwhile, has said
it will reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
Now, there's a lot of unclear information on how long exactly it's going to take to get that critical oil thoroughfare reopened, as well as how they're
going to clear the large amount of mines that are in place.
Now, one senior U.S. official indicated that the U.S. knows exactly where those mines are and suggested that it could be a matter of two to four
weeks before things are fully open again.
Now, the president traveling in France where he's meeting with G7 leaders, clearly trying to take a victory lap here and declare this conflict is
over. But there is so much work ahead and that is because this agreement is really just the starting point for much more intensive technical
negotiations that are going to take place over a 60-day period.
And here is what we still don't know. There have been conflicting accounts regarding the Strait of Hormuz. The president says it'll be fully reopened,
whereas Iran says that they do intend to collect certain fees or tolls.
Separately, the U.S. says that Iran has made certain reassurances that it will never obtain a nuclear weapon. What is going to happen to Iran's
nuclear material?
And then the issue of money. Now, Iran says that those 60 days of negotiations will not begin until the U.S. has released billions of dollars
in frozen funds. The U.S., meanwhile, says that no money is going to be released without any clear commitments from Iran. Now, the U.S. says that
there might be some, quote, "small gestures," according to senior officials. We'll have to see what exactly that is.
Now, the president says that the text of this agreement in full will be released sometime after it is signed in person on Friday. Other officials
say that we could get some more details in the next 24 to 48 hours. So obviously, we're watching very, very closely for all of that.
One other notable thing is that Vice President J.D. Vance has been very involved in this stage of negotiations. He is expected to take an expanded
role and really lead the U.S. side in these deep discussions going forward. So we'll be watching how he handles that also very closely -- Max.
FOSTER: It's going to be a fascinating week.
Betsy, appreciate it. Thank you so much.
Well, the Israeli military says despite the U.S.-Iran agreement, its operation against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon will keep moving forward.
Those plans are putting President Trump's relationship with the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the test. The president described
Netanyahu as a "very difficult guy" in a "New York Times" interview.
Our Jeremy Diamond is in Tel Aviv with more on the view from Israel.
I mean, people talking about Netanyahu being sidelined. He was told this deal was coming and wasn't involved in it, and it is difficult, isn't it,
for him politically.
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, without a doubt. I mean, the Israeli prime minister today has been pilloried by all sides of
the political spectrum, from further to the right of him to further to the left of him.
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Every single politician and potential prime ministerial contender in the upcoming elections some three months away from now is basically criticizing
the prime minister for failing to achieve Israel's strategic objectives in the war with Iran and also for effectively, you know, having no influence
over President Trump as he was crafting this deal with Iran.
The prime minister tried to offer a rebuttal to all of that tonight, as he said that he criticized people for belittling Israel's accomplishments in
the two-and-a-half years since October 7th. He said that he had removed the, quote, "immediate threat of annihilation from Israel", adding to a
long time claim from the prime minister that Iran was only weeks away from achieving a nuclear weapon. And he also claimed that Iran's, quote, "axis
of evil has now been weakened".
The Israeli prime minister, interestingly, didn't actually bring up the deal with -- between the United States and Iran at all in his prepared
remarks, nor did he bring up President Trump until he was asked by a reporter, and to that he answered that he is responsible for America's
interests and that the prime minister himself is responsible for Israel's interests. He also referred to the recent feuds that they have engaged in,
with President Trump publicly dropping F-bombs and calls with reporters when referring to what the Israeli prime minister has done, including just
yesterday bombing the Lebanese capital of Beirut. The prime minister referred to it effectively as a family feud between the two men.
But the real question now is what's actually going to change, if anything, about Israel's behavior and the behavior of Israel's military in Lebanon.
We've already seen today a report of an Israeli drone strike in southern, and just now, we're getting a report from Hezbollah saying that they
attacked an Israeli bulldozer and tanks in southern Lebanon as well. Earlier in the day, they had vowed to continue their, quote, "resistance"
so long as Israeli troops remained in southern Lebanon.
U.S. officials have indicated that Israel doesn't need to withdraw from southern Lebanon as part of this agreement, but they do need to cease-fire.
And that's still very much an open question, particularly if Hezbollah keeps up its attacks, very hard to see the Israelis, you know, refraining
from carrying out additional strikes. We'll see from the Iranian perspective between now and the formal official ceremonial signing of this
agreement whether or not that changes the dynamic -- Max.
FOSTER: Yeah, and as we understand it, in this proposal, if I can call it that, the Americans have committed to ending hostilities in Lebanon. So how
does that play out?
DIAMOND: That's right. And a senior administration official who was on a call with reporters earlier today, you know, said that that is indeed what
the ceasefire agreement says, but they caveated it in a number of ways. One of the ways in which they're caveating it is that Israeli troops don't
actually have to leave southern Lebanon.
Keep in mind, you still have Israeli troops occupying, you know, the first 10 kilometers effectively of Lebanon from the south up. Israeli troops
there are carrying out demolitions of homes and buildings in very widespread manner. And then the second caveat that this official offered is
that Israel is going to cease-fire, but that also depends on Hezbollah ceasing fire and that Israel still maintains the right to defend itself.
We know that this is the kind of dynamic that has existed in the past and that has put previous ceasefires in jeopardy, where Israel responds to any
kind of potential violation by Hezbollah of a ceasefire, including just yesterday when a couple rockets were intercepted by Israel, but still the
Israelis decided to bomb the Lebanese capital of Beirut. Again, it's going to come down to how the Iranians respond to that and what their tolerance
for any Israeli action in Lebanon will be going forward -- Max.
FOSTER: Jeremy in Israel, really appreciate it. Thank you so much.
Well, leaders of the G7 expected to congratulate President Trump on a tentative agreement with Iran. Mr. Trump has arrived ahead of a three-day
summit in France. He's already met with the French president, Emmanuel Macron.
Alayna Treene is joining us from Geneva. It's interesting that they're congratulating him when they haven't seen the deal. As I understand it,
lots of European diplomats are relying on the media reporting on this deal to get all their information.
But the other thing that interests me is that Trump isn't expected at this signing on Friday. Is that right?
ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right, we heard him essentially suggest during that bilateral meeting with the French
president, Emmanuel Macron, Max, that he doesn't think he'll be here. He's not going to extend his trip essentially in order to stay and participate
in that signing here in Geneva on Friday. Instead, he argued that the vice president, J.D. Vance, would be making the trip.
[15:10:01]
And I'd know, you know, I've been talking with some of my sources, with people at the White House, that Vance is expected to go. And it's also
typical that they don't like having both the president and the vice president not only in the same place at the same time, particularly though
abroad and in an international setting at the same time.
And so, if Vance does end up, you know, it's clear that he is going to go. It's unlikely the president would want to stay for it. And that's at least
what Trump said himself earlier today, Max.
Another interesting thing, though, you mentioned this text. I think there are so many questions about what is specifically in this memorandum of
understanding, which Trump said that they did sign digitally yesterday. I note the president, the vice president, J.D. Vance, as well as Iran's
speaker of the parliament, Mohammad Ghalibaf, one of Iran's hardliners, also signed this agreement yesterday digitally. I think that was news to
some people.
But because of the conflicting accounts of what we are hearing is actually in it is why so many people are eager to actually see the text. I note that
Trump said himself he doesn't think the text is going to be released until after the signing ceremony on Friday. I'm sure that's to the chagrin of
many of these European leaders who are meeting with him this week who want a better understanding of what's in it.
But then we also heard from Trump administration officials today that perhaps we could see the text within 24 to 48 hours. So, some confusion
there. But I think the big confusion, again, is on what we are hearing in the differences from the U.S. side versus the Iranian side. For one, you
know, I think there's a huge question about monetary compensation.
The U.S. and many Trump officials have told me and others that they do not expect Iran to get any sort -- they do not want Iran to get any sort of
financial compensation, any unfreezing of assets or funds until after they show that they are in compliance with some of the main items that are laid
out in this broader framework.
The Iranians, however, are saying they are not going to commit to this 60- day, you know, highly technical negotiations that comes on the triggering of the signing of this memorandum of understanding, essentially, you know,
the highly technical talks about the specifics of how to implement these different things and also to ensure Iran -- you know, the enforcement that
comes to ensure Iran holds up their end of the bargain. They're saying they won't move forward with that until they do see some money. So that's a huge
question.
Now, just for what we have been told from officials, you've heard kind of the vice president reference some of this in a series of interviews today
as well about what's in it is, one, the dismantling of Iran's nuclear program. There is a provision, we are told, that is in this agreement that
would allow the United States to go and retrieve that highly enriched uranium still in Iran's possession and destroy it on site. Also the
reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. Some questions about when that could happen.
You hear President Trump argue, you know, it's going to be permanently reopened and toll free. You're hearing the Iranians argue, well, we might
charge some fees for the use of that critical waterway. And then the other thing is, of course, the lifting of the blockade. on Iranian ports.
All to say, I think I walked you through. There are still some major differences we are hearing in the messaging of this agreement. But as of
now, the next step is really going to see this signing ceremony on Friday. I'm also told that when they all abroad here in Geneva, you are likely to
see some in-person talks as well, beginning that process of looking ahead to the highly technical portion of these negotiations.
So a lot to still happen, and I think we're going to see a lot of different things kind of leak out over the next couple here in Europe for the G7 --
Max.
FOSTER: Yeah, it's a long time until Friday. Alayna, thank you so much.
Now, authorities in Kyiv say a major Russian attack overnight has killed at least five people and wounded more than two dozen. A CNN journalist
reported hearing several explosions during the attack overnight, which Ukraine's air force said included more than 600 long-range strike drones
and 70 missiles. Firefighters are also battling flames that have consumed 1,000-year-old monastery, this one a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Now, we might have just seen the biggest shock of the World Cup. I mean, one of the biggest in history, arguably, Cape Verde, the tiny island
playing in its first World Cup, has held Spain to a goalless draw in Atlanta, thanks to some heroic defending and some pretty brilliant saves
from their 40-year-old goalkeeper. Cape Verde held on for a point against the reigning European champion, sparking joyous scenes, as you can imagine,
inside the Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
Patrick Snell joins us now from the World Cup fan zone in Atlanta.
I mean, it became more extraordinary as it went on, very humbling for Spain.
PATRICK SNELL, CNN WORLD SPORT: Yeah. Hi there, Max.
Yeah, you're absolutely right and you make a really good point about history as well. The 2022 World Cup, I recall Argentina being shocked by
Saudi Arabia in their tournament opener. The others going on to win that year. And then back in 2002, then reigning world champions France losing to
Senegal in their tournament opener.
[15:15:05]
But this result I think just nobody saw coming and a little earlier, there were literally a couple of thousand, 3,000 fans or so in total out here in
the fan park here in Atlanta, the Centennial Olympic Park, a small contingent of Cape Verde fans making their noise and celebrating when the
final whistle went.
It was just a huge release of joy, absolutely ecstatic, Max, because this was absolutely, when you think about it, this is their World Cup final,
population of only half a million people. No one was expecting them to make an impact to tell you. This is their first ever World Cup. It's their first
ever point and they were up against the mighty La Roja, the reigning European champion Spain currently third ranked in the world. Cape Verde now
64, according to the latest FIFA rankings.
So it was just a case of David versus Goliath, but what a statement of intent by Cape Verde, who were coached by Bubista. Bubista actually came
into CNN ahead of the tournament. I had a chat with him, and he made the point to me. He said, don't underestimate us.
We're not here to make up the numbers, but I tell you what, Max. This is a huge statement of intent. You mentioned the 40-year-old goalkeeper Vozinha.
Want to give him a shout-out. He paces club football in the second tier of Portuguese football. He made seven saves in total, including two or three
vital ones just at the end of the first half when Spain had real momentum. Ferran Torres was one to be denied that he really should have put Spain
ahead. He hit the woodwork from just about six or seven yards out just before the break.
But Cape Verde were well worthy of this point, Max. No doubt about it. Their players absolutely gave everything they left no stern un -- no stone
unturned on the pitch and their players absolutely emotion, Max, etched all over their faces at the full-time whistle. Vozinha fighting back tears as
well this is the day that the 40-year-old will remember for a very, very long time to come.
And I tell you what? It sends them off to Miami for their next game Cape Verde's next game in the Sunshine State to Florida, they take on Uruguay.
And I tell you what, if they can get something from that game, then with a real shout of advancing into the round of 32, it would be an extraordinary
story.
Max, back to you.
FOSTER: It's funny, isn't it? These smaller teams, when they do well, everyone ends up being on their side. Patrick, thank you so much.
Now, coming up, different shades of right-wing politics feuding off a divided public. Details ahead on the U.K.'s changing political climate and
how it connects to this MAGA movement.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:20:46]
FOSTER: Well, once fringe voices now moving into the mainstream, with some rallies drawing tens of thousands of people.
Jomana Karadsheh takes a closer look now at how far-right movements are gaining momentum here in the U.K.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CROWD: Leftie scume off our streets!
HARRY HILDEN, ANTI-IMMIGRATION ACTIVIST: Let's take our country back!
JOE MULHALL, DIRECTOR OF RESEARCH, HOPE NOT HATE: There is a magma chamber of anger sat underneath British society right now.
JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Britain's been shifting to the right. I've spent the past few months trying to understand what's
happening in this country.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No one speak to the media here.
KARADSHEH (voice-over): Attending far-right protests, including United Kingdom, one of the biggest far-right rallies ever on the streets of the
U.K., where tens of thousands responded to the call of this man, anti-Islam activist Tommy Robinson, a convicted criminal turned anti-establishment
figure.
TOMMY ROBINSON, ANTI-ISLAM ACTIVIST: Are you ready for the battle of Britain?
KARADSHEH (voice-over): But it's not just on the streets, and it's not just the extreme right that's on the up. populist right-wing party, Reform
UK, led by longtime Trump ally Nigel Farage, made massive gains in local elections in May.
This rightward shift isn't one single movement. The different groups represent different shades of right-wing politics. But they all seem to be
feeding off of a divided Britain. At the heart of those divisions is the issue of migration.
Just last week, a horrific attack by a Sudanese man on the streets of Belfast almost immediately turned into the latest "I told you so" moment
for the far right, transforming a local tragedy into a national rallying cry, powerful allies amplifying the message and fanning the flames of hate.
MULHALL: People in Britain are angry.
KARADSHEH (voice-over): Joe Mulhall infiltrated far-right groups undercover here in the U.K. and in the U.S. He's one of the U.K.'s top
experts on these movements.
MULHALL: You know, if you look at the way that people's lives have been, you know, lack of jobs, houses, schools, hospitals, stagnated wages, living
standards going down or stagnating for years and years, and they feel that mainstream political parties have not met their material needs. What the
far-right are really good at is going to those people, and they turn up and they say, you're right to be angry, and they give them a scapegoat, and
they say, it's because someone has come to this country and taken it from you. They're really good at redirecting people's anger from where it should
be directed.
KARADSHEH (voice-over): I've seen exactly what Joe's talking about. There have been hundreds of protests across the country over the past year,
according to activists tracking far-right movements. It's mostly been about migration and how consecutive governments have dealt with this issue. And
with the center-left Labor Party back in power for the first time in two decades, the far right senses conditions are ripe for a resurgence.
It's in tight-knit communities like this one in the sleepy market town of Faversham outside London, where we saw it all play out late last year.
Walking through town with a protest organized by a far-right activist, you see those divisions and feel the anger.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, hey, hey.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Don't touch me.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Shame on you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Shame on me.
KARADSHEH: Right now, they're marching towards this facility where unaccompanied minors, asylum seekers, have been housed in this town.
CROWD: Our streets! Our streets!
KARADSHEH (voice-over): They're a loud crowd, but it's clear there are more noise than numbers. And you do see locals coming out to confront them.
CROWD: Hey, look here. Refugees are welcome here.
KARADSHEH (voice-over): The main event kicks off with a rambling mix of racist rhetoric, fear-mongering, and white supremacist conspiracy theories.
HILDEN: They're teaching about Mohammed and Allah. We will not tolerate our children to be told about LBGTQ and what pronouns or beliefs, what they
can identify as.
[15:25:00]
We will not tolerate that round here.
PAUL GOLDING, LEADER, BRITAIN FIRST: Keep up the pressure and one day, you will be victorious.
KARADSHEH (voice-over): At this one tiny town's protest, we find one of the leaders of the UK's extreme right.
GOLDING: Our country's been taken over by mass immigration. We're fed up. This is not the future that our grandparents and great-grandparents fought
before in two world wars. They didn't fight for this to be done to our country.
KARADSHEH: So you want a white Britain?
GOLDING: We want our country to be like it was before this immigration invasion was foisted on us. Yes.
You mentioned far-right, neo-Nazi, all that a minute ago, as if that kind of stuff, that doesn't hold any power anymore. You must have learned this
from Trump's victory. No one cares if they're called a racist anymore. Those terms are just used to silence people.
KARADSHEH (voice-over): The re-election of Donald Trump is not only an inspiration for this one extreme right figure. At every far-right event
I've been to, it is a constant theme. Trump's Make America Great Again has come to the U.K.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is MEGA. Make England great again.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have so much respect for President Trump. He is saving not just America, he is saving the West and he's saving the world.
KARADSHEH: You are wearing this because?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Because I'm a Donald fan.
KARADSHEH: What is it that's going on? How much of this is really influence from the U.S.?
MULHALL: There's no question there's a huge influence. When the far right is small little fringe political parties, that sounds fanciful. When you've
got Donald Trump in the White House, the most powerful man in the world, they can then point someone and say, look, it's happened there. If it can
happen there, it can happen here.
KARADSHEH: Are we headed into a direction where the far right is turning into a significant political force in Britain?
MULHALL: I think there's no doubt about it, right? The far right is no longer something that sits on the very margins of our politics in Britain,
an annoyance to the right. It is increasingly something that actually has the real chance of taking power in Britain.
KARADSHEH (voice-over): The once fringe voices seem to be moving into the mainstream. It's a small but vocal minority that's threatening to change
the face of Britain. Now they believe their moment has arrived.
Jomana Karadsheh, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOSTER: Now, we're going to track some breaking news for you, because California's governor is accusing the Trump Justice Department of launching
a baseless investigation against him. Gavin Newsom posted about it a short while ago saying, quote, "They have not found a crime. They are simply
trying to find one." Newsom says he's being targeted because he's considering running for president.
CNN has reached out to the FBI for comment.
Our chief legal affairs correspondent, Paula Reid, joins us now.
Are we just relying on what he said so far, Paula?
PAULA REID, CNN CHIEF LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: We're absolutely not relying just on what the governor said. That's why it's taken us a little
bit of time to get on air with this reporting. Now here, California's governor alleging that the Justice Department is investigating him,
claiming that President Trump is targeting him as a, quote, "political enemy".
Now, a source tells us there is no investigation directly into Newsom, but we are told that there are several investigations into people associated
with the California governor. These are being run by a U.S. attorney in California, including one investigation into Newsom's wife for potential
tax-related crimes. And I also want to note, Newsom's former chief of staff pleaded guilty to three charges in a scheme to steal campaign money from a
former secretary of health and human services.
Now we are also cautioned here that -- that's -- look, that's a lot of ongoing federal investigative activity. But again, we were told there is no
investigation directly into Newsom and we were also told that the Justice Department's political leadership. So those are the folks tapped by
President Trump to run this department. Todd Blanche, Stan Woodward, Harmeet Dhillon that they were not involved in the investigations origin.
Instead, this was prompted by a whistleblower report back in 2025.
Now for his part, Newsom's office says that federal agents have contacted people and organizations connected with the governor and his wife and that
they have issued subpoenas for records and conducted interviews related to years of personal and professional activity. Now they say in recent weeks,
the federal probe expanded to focus on his family and his professional network.
And so far, the Justice Department and the FBI have declined to comment. But what we're doing right now in our reporting is we are not letting just
the governor set the narrative and frame this story. We're also trying to get more specifics from sources, but what appears to be the story here is
that there are federal investigations in and around the governor and his associates, including, again, his wife. We knew about the one into his
former chief of staff.
That has set off interviews, the traditional investigative steps. We're not clear on is the timeline, whether this is new or if he is referencing
previous activity. That's something we're still trying to nail down.
[15:30:01]
So again, this is a significant charge alleging that the Justice Department is targeting him as a political enemy. But this Justice Department, the
Trump Justice Department, has repeatedly targeted President Trump's political foes. So this is certainly something we're going to look at very
carefully and continue to report out this developing story.
FOSTER: I appreciate the developments there and bringing that to us.
Paula, thank you so much.
All right, still to come, it is the moment that shocked the world of artificial intelligence. The U.S. government shuts the door for foreigners
on Anthropic's newest models.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
FOSTER: Some news just into CNN for you. There's an ongoing emergency at a U.S. Air Force Base in California after a B-52 Stratofortress crashed
shortly after takeoff. These are those huge planes used to carry ordnance. The massive bomb is likely like this one.
The crash happened at Edwards Air Force Base north of Los Angeles and this is what we've been seeing in the last hour. So, obviously, some distance
away, but a huge amount of smoke. Video showing a thick plume of smoke rising above Southern California. The base says the plane came down around
11.20 a.m. Pacific Time, so around an hour ago. It's not immediately clear if there are any injuries. We have reached out to the base for more
information.
Also following developments and a possible breakthrough in talks between the U.S. and Iran for you. Trump administration officials are heralding a
tentative agreement that's being reached, which includes the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. The deal was reached hours before President Trump
landed in Europe for the G7 summit, which runs through Wednesday.
[15:35:03]
Global oil prices have fallen, but it's too soon to talk about economic recovery. And Iran's account of where the talks stand is a bit different
from America's.
Our international diplomatic editor Nic Robertson joins me with more.
Nic, we're hearing from our correspondent in Geneva that we don't even expect to see the text of this, possibly even until after the signing on
Friday. I mean, we're happy to read a lot into it.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: We are. And the fact that both sides say that it is done and that they've agreed to it and
they're going to sign it on Friday really leaves that big window for speculation. That's what President Trump said today when he was asked
when's the text going to be released, probably after Friday. He said, and the Iranians for their part have always told their public that they would
release it once the deal is signed.
So in this period in between, both sides are trying to sell it at home as a success. The politicians in Iran trying to sell it to a country that's
divided over, you know, sort of the military hardliners and the political leaders who've really been at the sharp end of negotiating it, saying it's
a good deal for national unity.
But all sorts of issues are coming up here, Max. I mean, one of them is pretty significant. One of them, at least actually, that is the Iranians
implying that they will want tolls. They say they're not going to ask for tolls. President Trump says they're not going to get tolls for traffic,
marine traffic to go through the Strait of Hormuz.
And the Iranians saying, well, this is, you know, this would be for sort of environmental management, management of the waterways. So this is a point
of contention already, and that's because there is a definitive text. But many of these things partly because there isn't a definitive text that
we've been able to see publicly. These are the things that are to be negotiated out, the details, but therein lies another conundrum.
The Iranians are saying, look, we're only going to negotiate the really tough issue. They call it article 13, but we haven't seen the documents. We
don't know what it is. The nuclear issue, what happens to highly enriched Iranian, their aspirations that they say they don't have for a nuclear
weapon.
What President Trump is speaking about, a strong policing capability, not quite clear what that means yet either. And the Iranians are saying, look,
we'll only get onto that tough issue once you've paid up part of the frozen Iranian assets, $12 billion. They want that paid up front. They want
guarantees that the Strait will remain open, the Strait of Hormuz. They want guarantees there won't be any more sanctions on stopping them selling
their oil on international markets.
Because we don't have that document, we don't know specifically what's written down, it was always supposed to be a document that managed to get
both sides of the table. And that's where we're at, at the moment. But I think there's a positive being taken that it is going to be signed, that
there is an agreement that will at least help the Strait of Hormuz begin to open. We're not there yet.
FOSTER: No. OK, Nic, thank you so much for joining us from London.
Off the back of that, in the final moments of trade on Wall Street, stocks are hitting new records. The Dow has already set an intraday high, could be
set for record close as well.
This is our Business Breakout.
Iran's foreign ministry saying the country plans to collect certain fees from ships traveling through the Strait of Hormuz, as Nic was suggesting. A
spokesperson insisted to Iranian state media that these would not be classified as tolls, which U.S. President Trump has said would not be
imposed.
Fox is buying Roku, the TV streaming platform, in a deal worth $22 billion. The deal gives Fox a bigger foothold in the world of streaming, where 100
million people use Roku services and devices. Roku will continue to carry Fox's competitors, though, on its platform, according to Fox CEO Lachlan
Murdoch.
And SpaceX has enjoyed another bumper day on the Nasdaq. Shares are up more than 11 percent, would you believe? That's after they finished 19 percent
higher on its first day on Friday, taking the company's valuation past $2 trillion and making its founder, Elon Musk, the world's first trillionaire
and beyond.
Now, hanging over this week's G7 summit we've been talking about is the weekend bombshell from the Trump administration over Anthropic. The U.S.
government is banning foreign nationals from using Anthropic's latest model, citing national security issues. That's led to the company disabling
all customer access to its new Mythos model.
Our A.I. correspondent Hadas Gold is in New York.
And I have to say, here in London at least, Hadas, this is causing huge amounts of concern, not just amongst businesses who want to use this model,
but also amongst government. And then the realization of how reliant we are on U.S. companies for the cloud, for example, and all of these
technologies.
HADAS GOLD, CNN A.I. CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, I mean, Mythos was Anthropic's latest A.I. system, the one that was so advanced it was seen, especially on
cybersecurity. It's like having a million hackers or cyber defenders working for you 24/7. It was so advanced, in fact that Anthropic did not
release it publicly, first only giving it to a small group of trusted partners who could use it to try and fund vulnerabilities in their own
systems, because the fear is that if this gets into the wrong hands, it's like giving a nuclear weapon of cybersecurity to the bad people.
But last week, Anthropic released what they said was a version of Mythos, but with safety guardrails in place that made it available to anybody to
use. But Fable, as it's called, only lasted a few days before the U.S. government called Anthropic on Friday, said that partners, which we've now
learned is Amazon, actually found a jailbreak, which is a way to get around an A.I. system, safety guardrails, and gave them about 90 minutes,
according to my sources, to pull these models. And then they instituted an export control ban.
What that means is that no foreign national, no non-American, can touch Mythos or Fable, including Anthropic's own employees. So Anthropic had to,
they said, pull the plug for all customers to be able to use Mythos or Fable while they work this out.
Now, there is a bit of a narrative dispute going on between Anthropic and the government, especially over how serious this jailbreak is, but also
over how Anthropic handled the initial interactions from the U.S. government. Anthropic says that they had worked with the government before
releasing Fable -- and before releasing Fable, saying that they'd gotten approval to do so. And they said that the jailbreak that was found by
Amazon, they claim it's relatively simple, could be achieved with any other model, any other model would be susceptible to the same sort of jailbreak,
and that it did not demonstrate a flaw in their safety system.
They went on to say, we disagree that the finding of a narrow potential jailbreak could be cause for recalling a commercial model deployed to
hundreds of millions of people. And they say that if this standard was applied across the industry, we believe it would essentially halt all new
model deployments for all frontier model providers. But the government says they have to do this, that they need to protect important systems, and they
have to have some hand in being able to stop really advanced A.I. systems from getting into the wrong hands. But we do know, according to my sources,
in D.C. as we speak, trying to work with the government to get through this and bring Fable and Mythos back online -- Max.
FOSTER: Yes, big story. Hadas, thank you so much.
I want to take you back to the breaking news, though. This ongoing emergency, it's at a U.S. Air Force base in California. These are the
pictures we've just got in. A B-52 Stratofortress crashed shortly after takeoff. These are the huge planes that can carry a huge amount of
ordinance. We don't know what was on board. We don't know the state of the crew because this is all coming into us, but these are live images.
But you can see it's a big crash site and it's pretty devastating. It happened at Edwards Air Force Base north of Los Angeles. The base says the
plane came down around 11:20 a.m. Pacific time. That was about an hour ago. The emergency service is obviously there trying to treat the smoldering
wreckage.
We did also get some images of the smoke rising up shortly after the crash, which was high into the air, visible from some distance. We just don't know
if there are any injuries because they're still dealing with the scene. We've, of course, reached out to the base for more information, more as we
get it.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:46:50]
FOSTER: The British government says it's marking a line in the sand to set a new normal for future generations. Today, the British Prime Minister Keir
Starmer announced a sweeping new proposal to ban social media for children under 16. That includes Snapchat, TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, X and
Facebook. The government also wants to restrict gaming and livestreaming sites that allow strangers to contact children, messaging services like
WhatsApp wouldn't be affected. Mr. Starmer says the measures are intended to protect children from online harm and give them their childhood back.
Now the proposal could take effect next spring if it wins approval by Parliament. Some British school children aren't impressed at the prospect
of a blanket ban.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STUDENT: I don't think it should be banned but I think it should be like limited. I think you should just have a certain amount of time and then you
should be like, should go outside possibly and just maybe talk to your family because I think that's the best thing to do.
REPORTER: What was your screen time over the weekend?
STUDENT: Nine hours.
REPORTER: Nine hours. So suddenly you're going to have a lot more time to fill and what will you do?
STUDENT: Stare at a wall.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOSTER: What we want to know is, will the U.K. social media ban even work? Joining me now is Kate Edwards, head of education and support at the Molly
Rose Foundation, an organization named in the memory of Molly Russell, a 14-year-old girl who died by suicide after being exposed to harmful content
online.
Kate, thank you so much for joining us.
We have had a ban, a similar one at least, in Australia, haven't we? But from what I'm seeing, it hasn't worked because most kids who had social
media before the ban still have it.
KATE EDWARDS, HEAD OF EDUCATION & SUPPORT, MOLLY ROSE FOUNDATION: Yeah, absolutely. I mean, we've carried out polling in Australia to talk to the
teens that had accounts before the ban came in and whether they still have them now. And the truth is that 61 percent of those teens still have access
to the very accounts that they are supposed to be banned from. And what's really concerning is in the vast majority of cases, that is purely because
their accounts haven't been checked, full stop.
So the platforms are doing nothing to enforce these kind of restrictions out there in Australia, but we're also seeing, as could be very easily
predicted, some workarounds from young people, some clever, some far too easy for them to be able to kind of fool the age verification systems into
thinking that they are older than they say they are, and therefore they're remaining on those platforms.
So, our own polling as well found that 50 percent of those teens have said that it's made absolutely no difference in terms of their safety out there
and one in seven has actually said that they feel less safe now as a direct result of the social media ban in Australia.
So it's really concerning to see the news today here that we're not taking that learning.
FOSTER: Yeah, so there are obviously lots of parents I'm seeing. I know there are other children's groups who take your view, but also the opposite
view. But there are lots of parents out there, and we heard from the kids. I think that's a pretty generalized view that we've got from those kids.
But the parents seem to be really excited about this.
[15:50:01]
It speaks to perhaps what some of the things the prime minister was saying, that children are losing their childhood. So I'm sure you agree with a lot
of the negatives about social media. But what do you think the solution is if it isn't a ban?
EDWARDS: Yeah, absolutely. We absolutely agree that there is a problem here and I can fully understand why anybody would see a social media ban as
a solution and it being something that they would call for. I think that's really understandable.
The issue is that it's far too easy to get around. It is something that will only work across a certain amount of apps and platforms that children
use. It doesn't work across everything.
So what we want to see is actually more of a focus that we are seeing them bring in things like gaming where they're blocking more of the risky
features. So rather than saying, we're going to block just 10 apps when in reality there are hundreds of social media apps out there, instead we look
at the really risky design features. So we look at things like infinite scroll, we look at the really harmful algorithms that are what cost Molly
her life over eight years ago and still exist online today and that's still very much what's causing children harm.
So we wanted to see a ban on those risky features. We know that there was a lot more information to come, but it is just really concerning to see these
kind of blanket decisions which are going to create this real false sense of safety and actually do nothing to address the harm itself. It's going to
do nothing to stop the harmful algorithms, the harmful content that exists on those platforms. So when children get around the ban, which they
inevitably will, that harm will still be there for them to experience.
FOSTER: It's a fascinating perspective.
Kate Edwards, really appreciate you spending your time with us this evening.
We do want to go back to that breaking news, though, because there is this ongoing emergency at a U.S. Air Force base in California after a B-52
bomber crashed shortly after takeoff. The crash happened at Edwards Air Force Base. It's just north of Los Angeles.
We also saw some video earlier, huge plumes of smoke rising above Southern California. But that's the picture that we see right now.
Josh Campbell, limited information, but just tell us about these planes because they are enormous and they do carry a lot of ordnance. That's what
they're designed for, right?
JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: That's absolutely right. And you know, we saw those images of that smoke billowing, obviously signaling
some type of concern. The Air Force now confirming that a B-52 Stratofortress did indeed crash here north of Los Angeles in the Mojave
Desert at Edwards Airfield that was around 11:20 a.m. local time. They said that emergency crews immediately responded. Unclear right now any
information on the fate of that crew or any injuries, but Max, I mean, the images there that we're seeing now pretty much speak for themselves.
There's always a question whenever you have an incident involving an aircraft, were the pilots attempting to make some type of emergency
landing? What was the actual nature of the crash? Was this something that perhaps there's still some kind of remnants of that plane left? You look at
those images, we just clearly don't see it. This looks like a very catastrophic incident that occurred there at the airfield.
And again, on takeoff, this would be an aircraft that would presumably be really heavily loaded with a lot of fuel as well, which may be an
ingredient there that we're seeing why this remnants are just so devastating. This type of aircraft, according to the U.S. Air Force, the
Stratofortress, it's a heavy bomber. They say it can be used for a variety of worldwide missions, capable of flying altitudes up to 50,000 feet,
carrying all kinds of ordnance, including nuclear weapons, precision-guided ordinance that they've taken part for decades in missions around the world.
And here in California, they have numerous military bases where some of these aircraft are indeed based. But again, we're just waiting additional
information about how this actually happened, what may have occurred. And quite frankly, it may take some time for the Air Force as part of their
investigation to determine that as well. There will be a question, was there some type of distress call from the aircrew before this happened?
Were they attempting to possibly return to the airfield?
But again, you just look at the devastation there, it appears that this wasn't something that appeared to be a landing that went wrong. There
doesn't appear to be much left of that aircraft at all. So, again, very, very devastating. But we're waiting for additional information on the
actual fate of the crew and then trying to get information on what actually occurred here.
FOSTER: We really are getting a sense of the scale of this site as well. You know, just watching these firefighters with their vehicles and how
small the hoses are in relation to. of that site there. And obviously, I guess one of the questions you're going to ask Josh is what, you know,
operationally, what was this plane doing? Because that would dictate how many people would be on board.
CAMPBELL: That's right. And this is a crew, according to the military, a type of airplane that typically has a crew of about five people.
[15:55:02]
We don't know exactly what the mission was. The U.S. military flies planes around the U.S., indeed around the world on training missions all the time,
constantly trying to keep up the performance and the abilities of the air crews. So again, we don't know. There's no indication that this was
launching to any type of combat situation, certainly, but nevertheless very, very devastating images that we're seeing.
And again, we don't know what the home base of this aircraft actually was. Was it based at Edwards Air Force Base? Was it an aircraft that had been
ferried here to California as part of some type of possible training mission from another airfield? All those questions we're attempting to get
answers to.
We have posed these questions to law enforcement and to the U.S. military, but obviously they're focused now on this emergency response that is
underway, but we know that there will be an investigation, and we hope to get some of these answers.
FOSTER: Okay. Josh, really appreciate your update. We don't have much information. We will bring it to you on CNN, though, as soon as we can.
But for now, that's WHAT WE KNOW.
END
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