Marathon Iran Negotiations, Reflecting Pool Algae Battle, Trump: Starmer Will Resign: AM Update 6/22

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0:32Good morning, everyone. I'm Megan Kelly. It's Monday, June 22nd, 2026, and this is your AM Update. We see a future where everybody can work together to promote peace and prosperity for everyone. Vice President J.D. Vance kicking off negotiations with Iran as fighting between Israel and Hezbollah tests the fragile ceasefire. If you damage, vandalize and do anything to impact something like the reflective pool, you can be prosecuted. The newly renovated D.C. reflecting pool becomes the latest bizarre media fight with celebrations of algae blooms and vandalism allegations. President Trump announcing U.K.

1:12Prime Minister Keir Starmer will resign with an official announcement expected soon. And sad news, according to a California news affiliate. Oakland auto glass repair shops are suffering as car break-ins go down. All that and more coming up in just a moment on your AM Update.

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3:04I think it's important for the American people, but people all over the world do appreciate that what's brought us to this moment is the president's leadership and the president's willingness to see a Middle East that is much different 10 years from now than it was 10 years ago. And what we're trying to accomplish here is something very simple. Through diplomacy, through working together to transform the Middle East, where Iran and the Gulf have been at war with each other, or at least have had very unfriendly relations, where Iran has been a driver of regional instability. Now we see a future where everybody can work together to promote peace and prosperity for everyone.

3:45The negotiations getting off to a rocky start despite the warm greetings. Iran's military command announcing Saturday that it was closing the Strait of Hormuz in response to Israeli strikes against Hezbollah in Lebanon, immediately straining the fragile ceasefire. Energy Secretary Chris Wright, however, telling Fox News the waterway did not actually close, saying 67 ships passed through during the previous 24 hours. President Trump posting on Truth Social early yesterday morning, quote, Iran must immediately stop their highly paid proxies in Lebanon from causing trouble. If they don't, we'll hit Iran very hard again, just like we did last week, only harder.

4:25The president ratcheting up the pressure hours later during an interview with Fox News, telling the outlet he warned Iranian officials, quote, you close the strait and you won't have a country. Mr. Trump emphasizing that the current memorandum of understanding is only a temporary extension of the ceasefire, not the final agreement. The president also floating the possibility that the U.S. could become what he called the, quote, guardian angel of the Strait of Hormuz, protecting oil shipments and collecting tolls from ships traveling through the critical route. The president responding to Iranian President Masoud Pujeshkian, who declared yesterday that Tehran would not surrender its right to enrich uranium.

5:07We will not give up our right to enrichment. And they, too, will be forced to accept it. You all know what the so-called president of the United States was saying. He had made a complete 100-degree turn. He was saying that Iran must surrender unconditionally. Iran has no right to do this. It has no right to do that. President Trump telling Fox News Pujeskian had better watch his mouth and shape up, quote, or we'll take over the rest of the country. Iranian officials reportedly taking offense to these statements. Lead Iranian negotiator Mohammed Ghalibov writing on X, quote, the U.S. had better watch their words carefully.

5:47Our armed forces are ready to give them a response in a different way. Early reports revealing the Iranian delegation left the meeting temporarily stalling negotiations. An official familiar with the talks, however, later telling the Associated Press that Iran remained engaged without any indication that they intended to leave. Even with Iran still at the table, the continued fighting between Israel and Hezbollah remaining one of the greatest immediate threats to the broader agreement. The New York Times reporting negotiations were initially set to begin Friday but were delayed after Iran refused to attend while the fighting in Lebanon continued.

6:24The interim agreement calling for an end to those hostilities, though Israel and Hezbollah continued attacking one another over the weekend, with each accusing the other of violating the ceasefire. VP Vance insisting the ceasefire remains on the right track despite the latest flare-up. We've seen great progress over the last just couple of days in ensuring that the ceasefire holds in Lebanon. These things are always a little bit messy. If you go back to how much was happening three months ago and compare it to three weeks ago, great progress has been made. If you go back to three weeks ago to three days ago, additional progress has been made.

6:59The president has committed us to see a full regional ceasefire. We found great partners in working with the Qataris, the Pakistanis, our friends in Israel. We're all working towards regional peace. There, of course, are going to be sometimes disagreements about precisely how to get there. But I actually feel great about where we are in Lebanon. There's still some additional wood to chop, but we're going to keep on working at it. Axios reporting Sunday's negotiations covered every major component of a potential nuclear agreement, along with Iran's threat to close the Strait of Hormuz, with the high-level talks expected to conclude on Monday as technical teams remain in Switzerland to continue working through the details.

7:39A renovation of the reflecting pool in Washington, D.C., becoming the latest front in a bizarre political battle, with critics celebrating the growth of algae and President Trump alleging deliberate sabotage as multiple people are now under arrest. The controversy beginning with the president's effort to repair and beautify the 103-year-old pool between the Lincoln Memorial and Washington Monument. The National Park Service closing the site in April to allow a third-party contractor hired by the administration to clean the basin, repair its joints and install a new lining material intended to prevent leaks.

8:16The nearly$15 million project resurfacing the bottom in what President Trump described as American flag blue, with paint that was meant to create a clearer, mirror-like reflection of the monuments at either end. The project was completed and the pool refilled on June 6th. Within days, however, algae beginning to spread across portions of the pool again, a recurring problem that has plagued the shallow Basin for years and one of the items on the to-do list of fixes when the reno took place, with the green muck obscuring the newly installed blue coating and providing the establishment media with its latest metaphor for the perceived failures of the Trump administration.

8:57Here, MS Now, CNN, ABC, and CBS. The most visually arresting metaphor for the entire Trump era is getting worse by the day. We might call it the president's green water gate. CNN's Tom Foreman joins us now live from the Reflecting Pool, our chief algae correspondent for the day. Take a look at the water here. I mean, it's still as green as can be and just plain filthy. It is, instead of American flag blue, algae green. The algae becoming something of a liberal folk hero, with videos posted online over the weekend showing critics gathering around the pool openly celebrating the blooms. Some protesters even chanting, quote, let's go, algae, let's go, waving a banner, reading, quote, team algae.

9:44People have too much time on their hands. The administration, meantime, deploying hydrogen peroxide treatments and swimming pool style vacuums to kill and remove the algae. President Trump also accusing vandals of using chemicals to try to destroy the newly installed lining, connecting the incident to earlier damage on the National Mall, where a large 86-47 message turned up, believed to have been chemically burned into the grass near the pool. In gang slang, 86 means to get rid of or kill someone. In restaurant slang, it refers to canceling an order or being out of something, or to refuse someone's service or kick them out of the restaurant.

10:2247, an obvious reference to President Trump, the 47th president. The president writing on Truth Social over the weekend that vandals had, quote, done everything possible to hurt the inside surface of the reflecting pool, alleging they used a substance similar to the chemicals previously used on the grass. Mr. Trump noting roughly 75 percent of the algae had already been removed and that the vandalized section represented only a small area of damage expected to be repaired within days. In a Saturday evening post, the president offering new details on the extent of the alleged destruction, claiming vandals used a knife or blade to carve a roughly 250-foot gash into the newly installed surface in addition to pouring corrosive chemicals into the pool.

11:07The president adding contractors may now have to drain much of the water again to complete the repairs while vowing to restore the reflecting pool as quickly as possible. He wanted it to look nice in time for the 250th anniversary on the 4th. In a separate post on Saturday, President Trump announcing that U.S. Park police had arrested multiple people in connection with the alleged vandalism. The Washington Post identifying at least one person arrested as 67-year-old David Hearn, a three-time Olympic canoeist charged with misdemeanor destruction of government property. Hearn denying that he vandalized the pool, telling the AP he merely reached into the water to examine a loose section of the liner after completing a bike ride.

11:53He is set to appear in D.C. Superior Court on July 9th. National Guard troops and U.S. Park Police now patrolling the area. U.S. Attorney for D.C. Janine Pirro yesterday on Fox News issuing a warning to anyone thinking about damaging federal property. Anyone who is in a position of vandalizing or attempting to vandalize the reflecting pool will face the criminal justice system in D.C. Look, the president has made it a priority to make D.C. not only safe but beautiful. And there are several citations that have been handed out to individuals, and these are cases that will be prosecuted to the full extent.

12:32If there are more serious products that are put into the reflecting pool to create more algae or a bigger problem, then we'll consider more serious charges. But make no mistake, making D.C. beautiful is a priority, And if you damage, vandalize or do anything to impact something like the reflective pool, you can be prosecuted. Coming up, President Trump announces U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer is set to resign as the PM reportedly considers his options. And as car related crimes drop in Oakland, a local outlet identifies a new class of victims.

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14:35That's promo code MK at takelean.com. President Trump announcing the imminent resignation of British Prime Minister Keir Starmer as reports grow that the embattled labor leader could announce his departure as soon as today. The president writing Sunday on Truth Social, quote, Keir Starmer will resign as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. He failed badly on two very important subjects, immigration and energy. I wish him well. It is unclear whether the president has been told that Starmer is leaving or is reacting to the growing expectation across the UK that the PM's tenure is nearing its end.

15:13The two leaders meeting at the G7 summit in France last week, though the Associated Press reporting Sunday that the two had not spoken over the weekend. Starmer's office offering no new response on Sunday, instead referring CNN back to comments he made on Friday, insisting he remains focused on the work he was elected to do. UK newspaper The Observer reporting Starmer spent the weekend at the Prime Minister's official country residence discussing his future with his wife before making a final decision. Starmer carrying his center-left Labour Party to a commanding election victory in July 2024, only to see the party's support collapse during his first two years in office.

15:52The AP pointing to Starmer's failure to deliver the economic growth he promised as British families continue feeling squeezed by the cost of living and frustration persists over the country's public services. More recently, Starmer facing backlash over the UK's grooming gang scandal after an independent inquiry accused authorities of allowing predominantly Pakistani Muslim networks to systematically abuse vulnerable girls across the country. The issue especially damaging for Starmer, who once led British Crown's prosecution service, the agency tasked with bringing criminal cases in England and Wales.

16:29A recent survey from UK market research agency Opinium finding the prime minister underwater by 42 points, with just 19 % approving of his job performance compared to 61 % who disapprove. Starmer's collapse now dragging the rest of his party down with him. Nigel Farage's populist Reform UK party leads the field with 27 % support, followed by Starmer's Labor Party at 20, the center-right conservatives at 18, the left-wing Greens at 14, and the centrist Liberal Democrats at 12 percent. Starmer's weekend of reflection now widely expected to end with an announcement later today about his future. Senior labor figures reportedly preparing for the PM to either resign outright or at least set a timetable for his departure.

17:19Bad news for Oakland. Carjackings are way down. Why is that bad, you ask? Well, the local Fox affiliate tells us it's because local auto glass repair shops are now losing business. That is the rather extraordinary framing from local Fox affiliate KTVU, whose headline reads, auto glass repair businesses suffer as Oakland break-ins decline. end quote. The outlet speaking to the owners of several Oakland area auto glass repair shops. There is a door glass repair. You know, if there is any breakings, vandalism, that segment of my business has been down about 30 percent. About 35 percent. 35 to 40.

18:02Yeah, it's a lot. It's we've taken quite a hit. It's a surprise. But I would say, you know, from community point of view, it's a good surprise. One business owner reportedly cutting his staff down from seven glass installers to four amid the decline in demand for repairs. Oakland police data showing vehicle burglaries down 37 percent compared with the same point last year, the decline extending well beyond shattered windows. Carjackings falling 49 percent. Car thefts down 39 percent in 2025 compared with the year before, according to the local outlet The Oakland Side, an independent nonprofit news organization.

18:39A dramatic turnaround from the pandemic-era crime spike that left Oakland nationally notorious for robberies, vehicle theft, and brazen daylight attacks. Shop owners also telling KTVU they first noticed business slowing down about a year ago, around the same time calls involving stolen catalytic converters began drying up. The devices attached to a vehicle's exhaust system contain valuable metals that can be stripped and resold. Thefts of the valuable parts surging during the pandemic before dropping sharply in recent years as prices for the precious metals inside of them fell and states began cracking down on the resale market.

19:18California putting a slate of new laws into effect in January of 24, designed to make stolen converters harder to resell. State Farm reporting just over 2 ,000 catalytic converter theft claims in California during the first half of 2024, down from roughly 5 ,400 during the same period one year earlier. Thoughts and prayers with the replacement catalytic converter companies as they too presumably must navigate the loss in business caused by all that pesky police work. And that'll do it for your AM update. I'm Megan Kelly. Join me back here for the MK Show, live on SiriusXM's The Megan Kelly Channel, 111 at New East, on youtube.com slash megankelly, and on all podcast platforms.

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