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Now that we've all seen the agreement President Trump signed with Iran, you have to ask, was it worth going to war over?
This will go down as a tremendous foreign policy blunder.
And Vice President Vance better look out. The bus could be coming around the corner.
This way if it works out I'm gonna take the credit. If it doesn't work out, I'm blaming JD. You better be careful, JD.
And the world champion New York Knicks get an invite to the White House. But will any of the players boycott? In the meantime, World Cup fans are booing water breaks as a vibe killer that makes the games too, I don't know, American. So is FIFA all wet?
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Let's go.
So, signed on the dotted line, the US and Iran have both signed an agreement to end the war on all fronts, for better or worse, at least for the US. Good morning everybody. I'm Audie Cornish. We're gonna start with the details of that agreement, but also the Republican response.
Conservative voices online not pleased about what's in the text of this agreement, some calling it an American surrender, saying it's even worse than the Obama deal of 2015. Now, Nikki Haley called it a quote, huge mistake. To pay to rebuild the threat we just destroyed. Senator Ted Cruz told the Daily Wire he felt like Trump was getting very poor advice and called it ill-advised. In the meantime, Senator Bill Cassidy took it one step further.
This will go down as a tremendous foreign policy blunder. Iran ends up stronger, our allies in the region are weaker, and Iran has learned that if they're willing to grab that straight of Armuz and choke it off, they can get the Western world to dance to their tune. I think it's a deep mistake.
Today in the group chat, Nicholas Wu, Congressional Reporter at Semaphore. Sina Azadi, Director of Middle East Studies Programs. at George Washington University, Mike Dudkey, former Trump White House Communications Director, and Megan Hayes, former Biden White House Director of Message Planning. So I want to start with you, Cena, because you've been watching this very closely.
And one point interested me. In the Obama deal, basically the plan was you ship out all your enriched uranium, right? Iran had about it says twenty percent enriched and they would send that somewhere, it ended up being Russia. But in this deal, in this deal it's a little different. Basically, um the stockpile, which at this point is at 60%.
Uh is kept inside Iran and then will be down blended locally. But it means they keep it on their soil. Is this one of the aspects of the deal that has people really upset?
Well the what the JCPOA stipulated was that Iran would ship out ninety eight percent of its uh uh enriched uranium to Russia
It leaves the country.
Leaves the country. In this case, I think for whatever reason it's distrust, the possibility of the US leaving the deal again. Iranians have insisted that it has to stay on their soil, but to, let's say, mitigate the concerns uh for uh proliferation, they're gonna downblend it to 3.67%, which is low-in rich uranium, and you use that for uh a nuclear power plant.
Yeah.
doesn't have any weaponization concern.
Yeah. But different from one leaves, one stays, basically. And the administration is saying, look, this this is a good solution because it's gonna get us to zero. But it leads to my other point, it's not It's non-zero. Not zero. And I know Israel said, look, there should be zero no enrichment whatsoever, nothing enriched anywhere, but that is not what this deal does.
No, and the problem and we've been dealing with this issue of the principle of enrichment in Iran for more than twenty years now. Iran's interpretation or the legal interpretation of the MPT, the Article four of the MPT, their interpretation is that. That right to use peaceful energy includes enrichment. The US side says no, absolutely not. The text of the MPT doesn't say enrichment. So they've been fighting over this on this the
And that fight hasn't changed.
It hasn't ch changed. What President Obama did was that he said the enrichment in Iran is fact on the ground. We can't change it. President Trump said, No, it's a bad deal. Withdrew and we're back.
Yeah. So the reason why I wanted to set the table with all that is like why would all these conservative voices be squawking about this, right? Why would the Lindsey Grahams of the world who were all too happy to be a part of these strikes and have these demands on Iran be so frustrated with what was signed. Nicholas, what's your sense in Congress about A, why they feel comfortable saying it out loud and why they're saying what they're saying?
Well for Republicans on Capitol Hill that I've talked to, I mean this strikes at the very heart of the issue for them. Like the issue of Iran's nuclear program, uh the the reasons they went to war, uh this all kind of comes to a head now because this
deal and what's emerging uh by all accounts, in the view of these Republicans, didn't accomplish that goal. And so for these Republicans who, you know, see this as a deeply held principle for them and know that they will outlast President Trump, they're willing to speak up about it now.
Yeah, it's interesting. As we are speaking, Mike Dubke, your favorite person just posted to Truth Social. President Trump says, look. These fools who think I haven't been tough enough on or on when the stock market just hit a record high and oil prices are tumbling down, are they jealous?
Bad people.
Or stupid. So let's talk messaging.
First of all, this is just a framework. This isn't the total deal. So we need to keep that in mind. I mean we keep ev all the rhetoric I keep hearing is, you know, this deal, this deal, that. It's a framework to get to a deal. So we can argue whether or not that's great or not, and I appreciate the laughter on my left.
The other thing is when you're in a hole, what's the first rule? Stop digging. And I think that's where we are with this particular framework, this particular MOU, is that we are at a point. The military in Iran has been degraded. Whether or not it's been blasted to the Stone Age, again we can debate that. The ballistic missile stockpile has been degraded. Their ability to fund Hamas Hezbollah, the Houtis. Oh, yeah.
uh Mark Rut was speaking earlier. I don't know if that was uh sound, but um they're not saying, oh God, this is really bad, right? We heard Carney yesterday say, I like what I saw.
Well what are they supposed to do? They're standing with him. They're not gonna say anything in front of him. First of all, we spent a billion dollars a day fighting a war that no one wanted to go to. So we spent over a hundred billion dollars there. We spent three hundred billion dollars in this deal. So now we're four hundred billion dollars when Americans don't have the help.
Spend three hundred billion dollars in this deal. I just can't lay that I just can't let you just get away with that.
Let me give the fact check. There will be a$300 billion investment fund. But a lot of people say, why should Iran have almost immediate access to investments in the world economy if it's still sitting on its enriched uranium and so much of this has not worked out yet?
I would say that a a possibility of instability in Iran is a danger to everybody, the entire region.
Mm.
re civilize the country and I think that it uh you know, just looking at President Trump's approach investment, it could work for the Americans too, a lot of jobs. think of it, in twenty uh fifteen Iran signed an agreement with Boeing to buy passenger planes, which never happened because President Trump decided
Exactly my point. So now Americans are using the American taxpayers are paying for something that we never a war we didn't want to go to. Gas prices shot up and caught a huge mess to our global economy, not to mention our own economy here. And Trump doesn't seem to care. He just is like, Oh, if you're stupid, you don't like this. Well, they still haven't they still have the capability for nuclear power or nuclear war
This is a an agreement to chew a deal, which this is the thirty ninth time he said that we almost have a deal. So at least we're one step closer there. But I just don't understand how we are in this position that in a war that no one wants to go to and the American people are the ones suffering.
Let me give Zina l the last word because he's here and this was signed at Versailles. Lots of things have been signed at Versailles. But usually when you call something a Versailles treaty, it's uh in foreign language uh policy land. Kind of an insult, right? It's a self-defeating agreement. What's your response to the critics out there who are making those analogies?
Look, I mean absolutely what Megan said. I mean this was the President Trump didn't have to sign that peace deal at Versailles today. he could have had an agreement in February before he decided to go to war. He was dragged into a war of choice that he didn't have to. Thirteen Americans died, billions of dollars spent,
He could have taken the deal that the Iranians had offered and it was a pretty good deal compared to the JCPOA. And I know that President Trump is very sensitive to the war JCPOA and Obama. But that was a very good deal that he had on February 26th in Geneva.
Well the hope is uh from the White House that sixty days from now whatever they have will be much better than happened in twenty fifteen. Thank you so much for your expertise. I hope you can come back. Uh coming up on CNN this morning, there's a new release date for Sean Diddy Combs, what this means for his time behind bars. And Swifties, did New York's mayor just let a big secret slip?
Taylor
Swift wedding confirmed by Mamdani, you guys.
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It's now 14 minutes past the hour this is your morning roundup. A tornado threat looming over the Midwest today. This morning more than sixty five thousand people are actually still without power in the region after severe storms last night. The National Weather Service reported several tornadoes and issued some of its highest level And Luigi Mangioni's team will present a psychiatric defense in his state murder trial. They're expected to admit he killed the United Healthcare CEO.
but under an extreme emotional disturbance. Magioni's sentence can be reduced from murder to manslaughter if this defense succeeds. That's the difference between life in prison and 25 years. The state trial is set to begin this fall. And Sean Diddy Combs federal release date changed again.
It's now moved up from April twenty twenty eight to February twenty twenty eight. The reason's unclear. Combs is currently convicted on charges related to prostitution. He still faces dozens of lawsuits nationwide. His attorneys are appealing his formal conviction. Now, did New York City's mayor, Zoran Mandani, just spill the beans on Taylor Swift and Travis Kelsey's wedding? He appeared to confirm that the two would be getting married in the city this summer.
We are used to big events and we are incredibly excited for this one. We know it coincides with the next finals run. We know it coincides with July 4th, America 250, Taylor Swift's wedding all happening at the same time.
Have you been invited? Are you going? Do you like is there anything we need to know?
Like no
No and no. Um I I I wish them a lovely wedding.
TMZ reported the two are getting married at Madison Square Garden on July 4th weekend, but that has not been confirmed. Um Megan, I'm sure you have thoughts.
Well, I I don't understand why Mam Dami would know about it if he's not been invited. So I just I mean maybe
for the small intimate affair at Madison Square Garden.
I thought that's why they were getting married there, because there's a lot of security.
Very recent example of what it's like to secure the area. Not ideal.
Maybe it's all part of the ruse that they're not actually getting married there and he's throwing everyone off and like part of it. Maybe that's it.
I mean I guess the Bezos wedding in Venice.
God.
Was a small affair compared to Madison Square Garden. Is she giving a concert?
Just gonna we're gonna wait for the puzzle pieces to be dropped. Instagram the way most wedding invites happen these days. Now after the break on CNN this morning, the Obama Presidential Center opens today. Will his star-studded grand opening dwarf President Trump's 250th celebrations? Plus The World Cup's most controversial timeout are hydration breaks helping the players or the networks. And good morning to our viewers in Chicago. We're taking a live look at the sunrise there over the skyline.
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So we're gonna ask whether Washington DC is taking a page out of New York City's political playbook after the win of Zoran Mamdani. Now ballots are still being counted here, but in the Democratic mayoral primary holding a commanding lead is Democratic Socialist Janice Lewis George. And here's how she described what democratic socialism means to her.
I think this moment calls for that level. Moral clarity and courage. It calls for this level of ingenuity and it calls for a leader who is uh focused on putting people first and delivering on the small things, right? Uh sewer socialism is talking about just making sure your 911 system works, your 311 311 works. Um, your trash gets pick picked up, your snow gets plowed, those basic things that make a difference in everyone's lives.
Okay, group chat is back. I wanted to talk about this because this follows so many other cities where you have seen someone who identifies as a democratic socialist advance. Now, unlike Mamdani, she's not promising government run supermarkets, right, which I don't think anyone's holding their breath for that, but she wants to build 72,000 new housing units.
expand rent control, and promise a universal child care subsidy. And Megan, I wanted to ask you, does any of this kind of language, does it redefine for people that term?
What socialism? Well socialists are not Democrats, so I'm confused why Democrats are still thinking that the DSA members are Democrats because they are not. Um I think that the problem I have with this is she's against a lot of the public safety issues that that we face in DC. And doesn't want to have curfews for ta teens and that there's a huge public safety problem.
She's a former prosecutor, right?
She does not believe in the curfew. There's a lot of things going on here. So I don't necessarily know that it defines it. I think that Just like people in New York and p if you live in Cincinnati or Sacramento, you want your mayor to do the very basic things. We want the rats gone, you want public safety, you want three one one to work.
Something two things on her plank, while they may fall under democratic socialism, they actually sound very much like things the modern Democratic Party is talking about.
Housing.
The abundance Democrats, all they talk about is housing and zoning. All right. When you talk about um what you're saying is lenient crime policies, to me this threads back to very kind of common language from 2020 and beyond around how to fight crime without leaning on violence from police. Like they're saying things that are not disconnected from what average Democrats think.
Shu sure. I d I mean I don't disag I don't agree with the abolish ice and all the things that some of the the rhetoric she has said. But also when you there are a ton of places to live here that are not affordable. I don't I don't know enough about her housing poly policy to comment.
I just am not I am not a fan of the Democratic Party sliding so far to the left and it is going to impact these cities. It's going to impact places it's already impacting places like New York and it's going to impact places like D C. We need actual governance and I need people to pick up trash, remove snow, which we clearly didn't do this year. But this is a lot about anti incumbents.
So it sounds like this messaging you're excited about this messaging. Megan's gonna be in the ads.
First of all, I feel like we're in California'cause they're still counting the votes. Secondly
Wait, it's been a day.
They're still counting the votes?
Yeah.
Secondly, we we don't even have to talk about rank choice voting. Secondly, I uh I I listened to that clip and she sounds like a small town establishment Republican in and the answers we need to do the small things right. I mean she really was That answer was just better.
Are they not making progress? These these people who have won, right? Not in this case, but like Mamdanny, they have said the things. That people want to hear, and it hasn't been giant social safety net, let's turn it into Sweden. They talk about the small thing.
Uh it sounds when I listen to Megan.
Sounds concerned.
uh attention to this than I probably have in terms of this because I don't live in DC. I live in Virginia. Yeah, they say the small things, but it again, I think that's a lot of rhetoric rather than what they are going to do on the ground. He came after her and now she is leading the Totally right.
One last thing, Nicholas. I also notice she's pushing a tax that would potentially tax the people more who live outside of the district but own businesses in the district. What's the name of your business?
Okay.
Um so but the point is more taxing is a huge part of these planks in these cities. Billionaire taxes and Mamdani with his Pieditaire tax Um is that something that you think over time we're gonna see more of? Is that messaging that makes Democrats vulnerable?
Something that I heard across the board from most elected Democrats over the last year when they've looked at you know Mamdani's election and other Democrats who've won primaries is that like having some sort of like concrete plan
Yeah, regardless of how it comes to into being, like, is something that they can learn from and and and something that they think other Democrats should run on. Now the question for someone like uh you know the perhaps incoming mayor of DC is the fact that Congress has veto power over whatever they do.
Trump has already threatened, like, hey, maybe we need to take more action somehow.
Exactly. And you know, Hill Republicans, you know, ha ha we've seen in the past have have you know taken their power to overturn what DC does. And so uh if she does overstep, there is a risk of that.
Yeah, and there's and that's a good layer to remind people that the fight here is not just regular city politics, it's city versus federal. Now, straight ahead on CNN this morning, we're gonna talk about JD Vance, why the vice president has become the face of the Iran deal for this White House. Plus, is it all about the money or do players really need a break? We're gonna talk about this controversy over water breaks during the World Cup game.
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Okay, here's an odd one. World Cup fans saying give me a break when it comes to FIFA's new three-minute hydration breaks in each half of every game. Now they were introduced to help players deal with the extreme heat. Critics feel that they're ruining the flow of the game.
It's completely needless in a stadium that has a roof over it and I know that this is something that we're going to have to get used to'cause it's going to happen in a hundred and four games of this World Cup, but I have to be honest, it's ridiculous when it happens.
Those breaks have conveniently created more commercial time during live soccer. Let's get into it, but first.
Ah gonna hydrate.
All right, when it comes to capitalizing on the Capitol, the two networks airing the World Cup, Fox and Telemundo are taking different approaches during these breaks. Fox is airing full-screen commercial commercials and Telemundo is not.
Nosotros no nos vamos a la pausa, el mundial es nuestro y disfrutamos cada instante para que ustedes no se pierdan nada de lo que pasa.
En este caso me hace.
Crowd not sounding happy there. Telemundo says they want to create an authentic World Cup experience without cutting away from the action. So joining me now to discuss a retired professional soccer player. Thank you so much for being here. Um, so first I wanna talk about this being a new rule. Um, and I gather it was to help deal with the heat. But I was listening to an after game press conference and um I think it was the coach for the English national team.
He said, look, this completely flattened our tempo and it gives the opposition a free tactical timeout to completely neutralize our press. Do water breaks kill momentum?
I don't think so. I mean, to be honest with you, yes, they are different and I think they were implemented, like you said, for player safety. I'd imagine for FIFA's from FIFA's purview, they established this to to put in some consistency because there are gonna be some games that will have it just because of the temperature and some that wouldn't.
So this was something that evens the playing field when it's involved in every game. And as long as every team knows that they're gonna have that benefit, I think it evens it.
So fans are booing, I assume players adapt, but I'm also thinking of some of those European tennis players, right, who were faced with the heat and people thought, why are they out there doing all this in the heat? Um is there something the fans maybe aren't acknowledging about this experience?
Yeah, player health and safety, I would say. Um it's hot out there for sure. Definitely in some of the uh cities that the World Cup is taking place. It could definitely wear on you. So I think player safety is at the at the forefront of this. And yeah, I I don't think a a sixty second break is really going to change tactics or or player physicality that much that's gonna have any impact on the outcome of the game.
What top two games are you watching next?
Ooh, I'm going to be going out to LA for Belgium, Iran, and USA Turkey. So I'm looking forward to watching those games in person. But to be honest with you, the tournament's been f full of upsets, so every game is my.
Okay, that's Aleko Escadarian. Thank you so much for being here.
Thanks for having me.
And in the meantime, this Sunday you can get an inside look at Team USA. Do they have what it takes to win the game's ultimate prize? We've got a Flashdog chasing Soccer Glory, America's Long Game, that's airing Sunday night at 8 p.m. on CNN. You can also watch it on the CNN app.
Thank you.
In Chicago today, the Obama Presidential Center is opening. It's been an emotional week leading up to it. Former First Lady Michelle Obama surprised her husband at the reception ahead of the grand opening because she brought the former president to tears and this custom skirt, which bears the image honoring her late mother.
She was so proud of her son in law, um and the man that he is and has been to our family.
I am a little shaken up by this because uh I love my mother in law.
Now Obama has always been ingrained in pop culture. The event today is going to reflect that. The lineup of performers includes Stevie Wonder, U2's Bono, The Edge, Bruce Springsteen, Jennifer Hudson, The Roots, among others. And former presidents Biden, Bush, and Clinton, were changing up their usual meeting spot, funerals, to be there for Obama. So the group chat is back. I wanted to talk about this because all week
Uh President Trump has been referencing Obama. He can't seem to stop, no matter where this Iran deal is. And it occurred to me between it being Juneteenth and this library opening. It is a week for people to be reminded of both Obama and his legacy.
That's for sure. And I mean I think the what this library is doing is it it it you know, this is a president's own telling of his legacy. And Obama is very much putting that out there. You know, we can debate as much as we want on h how exactly what the legacy of the G C P O A was and many other
Yeah, but his broader legacy, whether it be art that they're presenting there, basketball courts, community centers, this is Obama telling his story.
Exactly. And to me, the the most interesting thing with this library is um you know what do you do when all these records are not necessarily paper in the like a traditional library.
Oh right.
How do you immortalize you know, when Obama was the cool president with a Blackberry and sending tweets, you know, how do you how do you do something like that? And so I'm curious to see what they do with that.
Um, I also wanna mention this um event. It's very Obama era in terms of all the celebrities being there, and we made a list of like who's gonna be. Who's gonna be at this Obama event and their global record sales? And then what's going on with the Trump-backed Freedom 250, which pretty much kicked off a few weeks ago uh in terms of who was leaving.
And in the end, it's Lee Greenwood, a president the president's uh favorite, and a handful of other artists. Is this a reminder of like kind of where Hollywood's heart lies or the complication that Trump has, his relationship with pop culture?
Is this to me?
Either one of you.
I don't know that it's a fair comparison to the I look I love because here's the thing.
Massive events.
I love presidential libraries. I think they are an uh especially to the point that they tell the story of the president in their own words. So I've been to a few. I've been to Bill Clinton's down in Little Rock. I've been to Ronald Reagan's out in California. I think it's incredibly interesting to walk through each of these libraries. And I I if I'm in Chicago, I I will probably go to Obama's presidential library because I think they're fantastic things.
You would Trump is not invited.
Well, no, no, that's fine. But I don't I will take a a little issue on this pop culture thing because I I don't know that comparing America's 250 and all the politics that are surrounding this with what should be a celebration.
Well Megan, I'm
We're not supposed to celebrate America's two fifty.
We should be celebrating America's 250. But look, this is this is a celebration for Obama and the folks that really enjoyed his presidency. And and you know, good on them for having.
No, no, can I have another bit of context that's related to two fifty? Sure. In an era where DEI has been completely Not just DEI, when black American history has been carved out of the halls of the federal government with a br with like a butcher knife. Them doing this library on Juneteenth week is on purpose and is significant. Because maybe for black Americans, that is a historic moment.
For all the people who are not going to be able to do that. Right will no longer celebrate under the Trump administration. They're not interested in talking about the history of slavery. So it feels like the Obamas are doing something very purposeful. They're creating an alternative historical celebration for people who feel like part of their history is forgotten.
I heard uh an interview with Valerie Garrett last night where she said that this is a place for hope to live on. And I think that that sentiment rings true probably not only to black Americans, but all Americans who believe that we are living in chaos. and just don't agree with the way that Trump goes about with the d the flashing of DEI and just the complete disregard for the majority of American people who are not in his billionaire class. So I do
historically. So I think it's more than just the pop culture aspect. I do think that we are in a place where a lot of people do not want to celebrate where we are at in our country's history. And I think that that's unfortunate and I am glad that a lot of people can go celebrate the Obamas which is well deserved. He was a president for eight years. Everyone should go celebrate that and they have it's a m I'm I works in the Obama administration. They have a
Also a weird week'cause we're coming off that UFC fight on Sunday where that fighter um made essentially No, no, a cool remark about Michelle Obama, our first lady. So for her to be able to stand up on stage undiminished. I think is also a significant
Look, I would love for us to be celebrating both the opening of the Obama Library and the historic 250th anniversary of our democracy. I would I I think that would be wonderful and I would love for the artists that canceled on the America 250 not to have done that and to see beyond whatever.
I think they would have done that if it was the America two fifty bipartisan organization that had been approved by Congress versus Freedom two fifty, the Trump administration's secondary organization that people have accused of politicizing the two fifty event.
I I'm not exactly sure people know the difference in the nuance of the art. But I feel that's like a very like D C bubble nuanced conversation. But I do think that people don't want to be up on stage with Donald Trump who you never know what he's gonna say, you don't know what his cabinet's gonna say, you don't know what the people who support him are going to say and they run the risk.
Tina McBride said, this is more political than we thought it would.
A hundred percent. And they don't believe in what he's saying, and I just like with most of the country doesn't believe in what he has to say, so they don't wanna be there supporting it.
Okay. Well in the meantime, for the people who might want to watch the opening of this library CNN is doing uh massive special live coverage of the event. It's gonna start at 11 a.m. Eastern. You can watch that here, uh 11.30 Eastern, and you can watch that here or on the CNN app. Next on CNN this morning, Vice President Vance has become the face of the Iran deal. So is Vance becoming the closer or the fall guy? Plus
I've known him for thirty for thirty years and I'm very proud to bring the team to the White House.
So Knicks owner James Donlin says he is going to the White House. The question is whether the team will follow.
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If it works out I'm gonna take the credit. If it doesn't work out I'm blaming J D. You better be careful, J D. He's gonna turn his plane around and get the hell out of here. Yeah, I like that idea.
Okay, that is President Trump saying essentially that J.D. Vance is the one to blame for whatever comes next after the proposed Iran deal. And conservative voices online agree. Eric Erickson writing this, quote, I see some people screaming about impeachment of the president over this deal. All that would do would be to put the architect of the deal into the Oval Office.
Now Vance, as we said, has become the face of at least selling this deal to the American people. He's been everywhere this week, countless shows, podcasts. He's talking about his new book, Communion, but also talking a lot about the proposal with Iran. Now the person we haven't heard from quite as much, Marco Rubio. But he's been by the president's side in France for the G7 summit.
He even handed Trump the document to sign. So how does this factor into, you know, a race for a potential MAGA successor? Group chat is back. Um I wanted to talk about this because there was so much made of Um J.D. Vance's role representing the voice. of the isolationist wing of the party. And so I guess the White House solution has been to make him not. To to make him the face of something else. Here is JD Vance with Megan Kelly.
Go into the belly of the beast, right? To have a conversation about this. And she really put to him a lot of questions. But here's an example of something he he talked about with her.
I just don't think that that people who are criticizing this one They're not actually dealing with the reality of what's in it. And number two, they don't have an alternative. The benefits of the bargain only accrue again if Iran actually complies. We're we're not talking about rewarding words.
We're talking about changing the way that we deal with Iran based on their actions. We've cut what is fundamentally a good deal for the American people, assuming the Iranians follow through. And if they don't follow through, There's no skin off our back, nothing changes from where we are right now.
Sorry about that. That was him on a bunch of different shows. But what's interesting is usually the interviewers saying, This person is responding badly, this person is responding badly, and they're talking about Republicans. I'm not seeing Vance spending a lot of time beating back Democratic criticism.
So timing is everything in politics. And the vice president had the unfortunate uh timing issue of releasing a book and booking pre-booking all of these shows. Prior to the memorandum of understanding that got signed or didn't get signed on Sunday. I can't remember where we are with that one right now. So that's part of the problem for him. He was set up for a
I didn't hear about that.
Could have been, except that he's probably responding to the questions that he's getting from responsible reporters who have the Vice President of the United States on their stage pre-booked for his book uh tour.
Because the administration has said he helped make the deal.
It was very interesting yesterday, and I watched the full press conference with the president. Is Peter Ducey was the one that asked that question about J.D. Vance? That was his second question. And I felt like there was a little bit of a setup there. Like, why did the president go back to Peter at the very end of the press conference to get that question?
You're not beating the allegations here saying that the White House is setting them up. Megan, am I hearing something in this message?
I mean is anyone really gonna think that JD Vance was really in charge of this?
Well by the time this week is done.
That's the maybe the point.
Are we just trying to hide that Jared Kushner was actually the one negotiating this deal who does not work for the United States government? But I mean, I just think that maybe Marco Rubio l will end up better when he's trying to run for president, but I don't I don't think that Donald Trump Cares who gets blamed as long as it's not him, but I don't think the American people are that stupid to realize their gas prices went up because we went into a war of choice by Donald Trump.
Um does that make a difference? As she said, we didn't see anyone correct to connected to Trump the people he really trusts. I'm just saying that in the way that like Rubio is not the one going out defending this over and over again. Jared Kushner, as you mentioned. Not a paid government employee, happily sent all over the world to negotiate on behalf of the US, also not out talking about this. Is it just happenstance because Jamie Vance has a book?
Yeah, it it is kind of remarkable. I mean the the vice president in in many ways it would be deputies to carry out the president's message. Like this is, you know, the the president's agenda.
You're saying this is the gig.
This is the gig. Yeah. This is the you know the the the job you can hand it, whether you want it or not. We see this with vice presidents all the time. And for Vance, it's extremely.
Right.
Exactly. Like she got you know, she f famously talked about how she didn't really want that and yet, you know, she got that anyway. And so with Vance, it's very high risk, high reward here. If they manage to actually pull this off, you know, he can settle a lot of the critics on the right. who, you know, see him as maybe not uh as much in Trump's mold and and if i if he fails, you know, that that could also uh very much harm his chances in the future.
Okay. Um I want to uh talk about something else now. Um because basically the Knicks were invited To be at the White House ticker-tate parade today. We're going to be talking about all the fans jamming the city streets. But after that, that trip to the White House, it's kind of a question mark. Now Nick's owner, James Dolan, he's a longtime Trump supporter. He's confirmed that the president has issued a a formal invitation.
We just did receive a i an invitation from the from the White House which we accepted. We still have to figure out the the details, et cetera. But you know, yes, of course. I mean, you know, look I invited the president to come to come down for the game. Right. He is a friend. I've known him for thirty for thirty years and I'm very proud to bring the team to the work with him.
Now it's not clear whether all the Knicks players are gonna be there, and it's not unusual for NBA players to boycott the White House. The Golden State Warriors did it following their 2017 and 2018 NBA championship. The group chat is back. This is such a week for politics and sports. You know what I mean? We started with this like octagon on the front lawn. World Cup. Where and now so here's the thing. You can do this kind of thing. Um it depends on where your fans are.
Right. It's not Kansas City. more red base, NFL. It's not NHL, players from other countries, cool to go to the White House. It's the NDA, which basically Trump has had an at antagonistic relationship with black athletes for a long time. So do you think the Knicks are going to show to this?
I hope so. I mean this for me this goes back to what I was saying about the presidential libraries. I think they're a great celebration for all Americans. I think going to the White House as a champion of your league is a great tradition that we have in this country. And so I'm hopeful that everyone looks beyond whatever their partisan politics may be at the time and they go to the White House for that celebration.
Megan, I want you to jump in, but Mike, can you just answer one extra question I have to ask, just because you've worked in this White House? No, you've worked in this White House. Is any Trump event a non political event? That has not proven to be
You're asking this question of a Bills fan who protested the Patriots coming to the White House when I was there. I took as many tickets as I could so that there were empty seats for the celebration of that.
Yeah.
I also have been playing partisan politics with T
Terrifying. Um and I will have the Boston fans let's just zoom in on Mike's face for a second there. Let's just be absolutely
Absolutely.
Okay, the other thing, Donald Trump and James Dolan, who's the owner of Madison Square Garden, they're collaborating on an eight billion dollar redevelopment deal of Penn Station.
As always.
There's a financial relationship. So yes, Dolan says they are friends. Uh and I'm not saying Penn Station doesn't need the overhaul, but this design, of course, includes a presidential seal and Trump's name etched on an interior wall.
Yeah, of course. I mean this is always gonna there's always some sort of side hustle going on with the Trumps. But I also think what the Knicks players are going to do is look at what happened with the Giants when the quarterback came and introduced Trump.
and the backlash that he got and the the controversy it caused within the team. And I think they're gonna look long and hard whether or not they wanna be placed in that situation because of whatever Donald Trump could or could not say at their celebration and think if they want to be made the puppets. I don't know that I don't know what their political views are. I have no idea.
But I do think that we just saw this with the Giants in New York and the Knicks are gonna look long and hard if they want to be a part of it.
Yeah, and it's also complicated by Trump showing up at that game and sensing the entire Knicks nation all at once. So it's almost not a typical conversation. You have a president who has a deep relationship with New York. who has actually legitimately pissed off the entire city. And so the Knicks, I don't know if they'll would really pay a price for not showing up.
Probably not. I mean the you know look look at the celebrations that were going on.
We should let me show. Even the New York Post has managed to say something nice. It's the Nick York Post. I see what you did there. Um, it feels like people are loving them too much. Can they do no wrong though?
Yeah. I mean I think you know, your average sports fan probably doesn't pay that much attention to exactly which player shows up at the White House and, you know, uh how how that all goes down. So
Yeah, look at how many people are showing up for the parade. I mean, they're they're into it. Well one thing I want to say before we get to group chats is thanks to the players union, they are not required, nor can they be compelled to go to events. that are political in nature. So they do have a choice and Dolan cannot force them. Um, Nick, since you are new here, you wanna tell me what's in your group chat, what's in your phone?
My group chats this week were very concerned about what's going on with all the flight delays here with America two fifty. Like my friends were trying to move around what they're going to do.
to do. And apparently July 3rd and 4th, there may be a shutdown of some airspace. Is that correct?
DCA is going to be closed for part of July fourth because of all the flyovers. And uh you know, many other DCA announced that many other days over the next few months will be affected.
At least they gave us a warning this time. So that's that's at least nice.
Okay. What about you guys?
Uh my group chat is obviously Summerhouse. We are we got to the aftermath. Because Summer House uh the episode on Tuesday and they released that West is not coming back to the to the Summerhouse for film.
I don't know, this is the man at the heart of a love triangle that you don't want to know about, but do.
It's I mean it's incredible, but it's now over so we can move on to another Bravo show next week.
Yeah.
So there used to be a winter house where they go. There was a winter house and they like combined some of the different shows.
That was called The Shining.
No, I think so. Look, I was trying to and and Megan says I've already talked about this before, but I live events seem to be where people are coming back together. Yes. From the New York Knicks celebration to I will give the the Carolina Hurricanes their kudos for winning the Stanley Cup. I mean and the World Cup and this massive the world is now looking at America because of the World Cup and these and these live events and from concerts to everything else. This seems to be
What is finally bringing people together? Now it may be the ubiquitousness of cameras everywhere, but even news. Everything is live and we're reacting to everything in real time. But now we're in that goal kind of golden age of that. And I'm I I think it's I think it's somehow bringing America closer together, regardless of what we've just talked about.
I thought the same thing about the Knicks. After a very divisive mayor's race, seeing New Yorkers instead of talking about who was leaving, who was left out, they actually really are, as we can see from the images, lining up. together and that was really amazing and a nice thing to say on a week like All right, you guys. Thank you so much for being here. Nick, thank you for joining the chat.
We're still following all the news about the signing of the Iran deal, what's in the proposal, and how the White House is talking about it. So stay with us for these headlines. I'm Audi Cornish. You've got more news next.
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