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- [00:05]
Gideon Resnick
Good morning. Vice President J.D. vance touts major developments in Iran talks. The Wall Street Journal tells us how it could shape his political future.
- [00:13]
Natalie Andrews
He stands to be the face of it and it could be very successful. It will also depend on how the White House really sells it.
- [00:19]
Gideon Resnick
New York City's Mayor Zoran Mamdani gets unusually involved in a set of primaries today. And the student loan change is on the way that you should know about. It's Tuesday, June 23rd. I'm Gideon Resnick in for shmit to best. This is Apple News today. Vice President Vance left Switzerland Monday after two days of high level talks with Iranian negotiators. The visit delivered two major developments. First, that the Trump administration would temporarily allow Iran to sell its oil on the international market for the first time in decades. A major policy reversal spanning multiple administrations. And Vance said that Tehran had agreed to allow nuclear inspectors into the country, again restoring a similar commitment from the Obama deal that is a major milestone for the American people and the first step in permanently denuclearizing or permanently ending a nuclear weapons program in Iran. Iranian officials cited progress but denied making any new commitments. Their response was another reminder of the challenge in securing public agreement and building trust in the talks. The stakes for both countries and the global economy is huge. And for Vance personally, being front and center in the negotiations has its share of risks and opportunities.
- [01:38]
Natalie Andrews
This deal could just completely blow up in their faces. It gives a very short deadline to come up with a really solid plan.
- [01:49]
Gideon Resnick
Natalie Andrews is a White House correspondent for the Wall Street Journal.
- [01:52]
Natalie Andrews
Conversely, if the deal goes well, JD Vance is the face he'll be praised and lauded for coming up with a that brings the United States peace.
- [02:02]
Gideon Resnick
Before he left for Switzerland, some Republicans were critical of the initial terms of the deal and they were quick to grant Vance ownership of it, despite the fact that it was President Trump's signature on the memorandum. Senator Lindsey Graham called Vance the, quote, architect of the deal. And Trump himself seemed to set his partner up as a potential fall guy with a joke he made alongside cabinet members at the G7 summit this week.
- [02:25]
J.D. Vance
This way, if it works out, I'm going to take the credit. If it doesn't work out, I'm blaming J.D. you better be careful, J.D.
- [02:31]
Gideon Resnick
vance's centrality to a major foreign war marks a change for a politician and former Marine who shaped his identity on being skeptical of American entanglements.
- [02:40]
Natalie Andrews
He has been outspoken about not wanting forever wars. He's been outspoken about not wanting to engage in conflicts that result in US Service members dying, which unfortunately did happen in this engagement with Iran, this conflict.
- [02:58]
Gideon Resnick
We're going to stop sending our young people to faraway lands. We are not the policemen of the world. We need to use our young people here at home.
- [03:07]
Natalie Andrews
And so he is more of a skeptic in the White House and he has said he advocated for diplomacy. He let his position be known to the president about the conflict, about his worries, and then he got on board.
- [03:20]
Gideon Resnick
It's a gamble that could make an impact if and when Vance does seek to run for president in 2028, especially if he's up against his colleague, Secretary of state Marco Rubio.
- [03:29]
Natalie Andrews
JD Vance has compared the 2028 gossip to the Apprentice and Donald Trump running out his own Apprentice game live for all of us to watch. Trump himself likes to talk about it, likes to talk about, oh, who could be my successor? Do you like Vance? Do you like JD do you like Rubio? And so we're going to see kind of what Vance can do here, right?
- [03:52]
Gideon Resnick
For now at least. The vice president was feeling optimistic about the talks, saying that they had laid a good foundation going forward. New York City Mayor Zoran Mamdani will put his popularity and influence to the test today as he positions himself against the Democratic establishment in a set of primaries. In a high stakes move, he's opted to back a set of lesser known challengers against congressional incumbents at campaign rallies. He's made no secret of his desire to influence the party's direction because the
- [04:27]
J.D. Vance
party of the past will not be what leads us into the future. For we need a Democratic party with backbone, a Democratic Party that offers an affirmative agenda without apology.
- [04:44]
Gideon Resnick
Madison Fernandez is a reporter at Politico who's been following the races.
- [04:49]
Madison Fernandez
He sort of rode this wave of wanting change like he's advocating for now. I mean, he defeated the former governor of the state. He defeated the incumbent mayor at the time. So I think he's really trying to utilize that energy that propelled him to office to help get allies in Congress.
- [05:11]
Gideon Resnick
Mamdani is backing Democratic Socialist Darielisa Avila Chevalier over Representative Adriano Espaillat, who is a close ally to House Minority Leader Hakeem. He's the chair of the Hispanic Caucus in Congress and someone who sits on the left of the party. Mandani's also gotten behind the former New York City Comptroller Brad Lander in a race against two term Representative Dan Goldman.
- [05:34]
Madison Fernandez
There aren't really a lot of significant differences, which just makes this all even more interesting to me. And I think that watching some of the debates like the candidates will even say, like, we agree on all of this. So it has led to a few debates that have been not super telling because there aren't many differences.
- [05:51]
Gideon Resnick
But there is one area where there is a key difference central to Mamdani's own political image.
- [05:57]
Madison Fernandez
I think the real dividing factor here is going to be over Israel and aipac, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.
- [06:05]
Gideon Resnick
In both primaries, AIPAC is backing the incumbents, not Mamdani's chosen candidates. One, Dan Goldman has expressed frustration with how the issue has played out in the campaign.
- [06:15]
Madison Fernandez
The reality is in these Democratic primaries, that's what's going to motivate the base. When you have that sort of distinction here of someone who's endorsed by a group like AIPAC and someone who's very clearly saying, I'm never going to take
- [06:29]
Gideon Resnick
that money in another primary, things have gotten a little more personal. Representative Nydia Velasquez was an early mainstream Democrat who backed Mamdani's mayoral campaign. But when she announced her retirement, Mamdani refused to back her chosen successor. Velasquez has since publicly said that she's lost trust in the mayor.
- [06:48]
Madison Fernandez
So you have a bit of a proxy war in a way going on on a few levels here. There are some in the political establishment who have expressed frustration with the mayor for going against incumbents, for going against the retiring incumbents picks.
- [07:01]
Gideon Resnick
It's not that common for mayors to inject themselves into these races in the way that Mamdani has. He was personally involved in candidate recruitment, raising money and contributing to strategy in a city that also produced Representative Alexandria Ocasio Cortez. It could be an opportunity to grow the nationwide influence of the Democratic Socialists of America. But on the flip side, Mamdani's name isn't on the ballot and his popularity might not be enough to get his candidates over the line. One DSA member told the New York Times that in that scenario, opponents might claim Mamdani's moment is more man than movement. Big changes are coming to student loans. Starting on July 1, new borrowing rules could affect millions of students across the country. As part of President Trump's so called one big beautiful bill, the amount of money that certain students and parents can borrow will be capped. Some borrowers will be forced to pick new, potentially more expensive repayment plans. And those seeking loan forgiveness will see rules tightened up. To better understand these changes, we spoke to Meredith Kolodner. She's a senior investigative reporter for the Heckinger Report. She told us the rise in borrowing rates among students in recent years was becoming a concern.
- [08:19]
Meredith Kolodner
The question is whether or not the solution is causing more problems. But I think both the administration and I would say others across the political spectrum agree that too many students were ending up in debt that they couldn't pay off.
- [08:33]
Gideon Resnick
One big change on the way is the end of the Biden era SAVE program. This was a broad based debt relief plan that lowered or canceled repayments altogether at an estimated cost of around $400 billion over three decades. The Supreme Court's conservative majority ruled that Biden had overstepped his authority by committing to the measure without congressional approval.
- [08:53]
Meredith Kolodner
Students who were in the SAVE program who have been waiting to start their payments completely are being removed from it and put into a different loan repayment program, which is less generous. Let's just say it will take you much longer to pay off those loans.
- [09:14]
Gideon Resnick
Borrowers have until September to pick a new plan or they will be automatically enrolled in the standard repayment system, which is the least flexible. There will still be income based repayment options, but the terms offer far fewer advantages for borrowers. Grad students, meanwhile, are seeing the amount of money they can borrow capped specifically for those in graduate professional programs.
- [09:36]
Meredith Kolodner
So you can only borrow $50,000 a year or $200,000 over a lifetime. The idea is that if you can't borrow more than that, you can't get into more debt or at least you won't do it on the federal government's dime.
- [09:47]
Gideon Resnick
Kolodner says that could present problems for certain fields, like nursing, for example, which will be capped at $100,000 total. Nursing is a well worn path for people with lower incomes to enter a career with better wage growth potential and the genuine possibility of paying off large parts of their student loans. That prospect may get a lot more complicated now.
- [10:08]
Meredith Kolodner
If you can't borrow, you can't go and therefore you can't get to the degree that would then allow you to move up in terms of social mobility.
- [10:19]
Gideon Resnick
And Kolodner notes that's a problem for people looking at careers across medicine.
- [10:23]
Meredith Kolodner
There was a study that looked at what percentage of these students are borrowing over the current cap and 80% of dentists, 72% of physicians assistants, 20% of registered nurses, almost 60% of medical students are borrowing over the cap. So the new loan limits won't go backwards, they won't be retroactive. But for new students who are coming up, those students are going to have to figure out a way to close that gap.
- [10:52]
Gideon Resnick
Kolodner told us that students may end up having to turn to the private loan system as a solution there, they'll face stricter terms and interest rates depending on their credit history. As for colleges, some admissions offices are worried that stricter borrowing rules could hurt enrollment. Meanwhile, a study released in late 2025 showed that millions of students are headed towards default on their student loans after Covid era relief expired. It's unclear if President Trump's goal to address the student debt crisis can be achieved anytime soon.
- [11:22]
Meredith Kolodner
I think the administration is hoping that private colleges will bring down tuition and that somehow these loan limits will trickle into making college more affordable. Researchers are skeptical about that, but we'll have to see what happens.
- [11:45]
Gideon Resnick
Here are a few other stories we're following today. The UK lost its sixth leader in 10 years yesterday as Keir Starmer formally announced his resignation. He teared up as he confirmed the end of his premiership just two years after a landslide victory.
- [12:00]
Keir Starmer
The question my party is asking now is whether I am best placed to lead us into the next general election. I have heard the answer of my parliamentary party to that question, and when I leave the biggest job in the country, I shall spend more time on the most important job being the best husband I can to my fantastic wife Vic, who has been a rock by my side through good times and bad, and being the best dad I can to my beautiful children.
- [12:39]
Gideon Resnick
Pressure had been building on Starmer for months. He wrestled with his own party over welfare reforms, controversial tax rises and a set of mishandled scandals, including one involving his former US Ambassador and their connections with Jeffrey Epstein, a former top lawyer. Starmer's technocratic style ultimately failed to resonate with the public. He looks set to be replaced by Andy Burnham, the now former mayor of Manchester. Sky News helicopters tracked his train journey all the way from the north of England to London as he was greeted by a mob of photographers nicknamed King of the north. His supporters refer to him simply as Andy. But while he may bring more of a personal touch, the Wall Street Journal notes that he faces an uphill battle against Trump ally Nigel Farage, whose populist pitch has helped upend the country's traditional left, right split and draw from labor's working class base in the U.S. alan Greenspan, the chairman of the U.S. federal Reserve for nearly two decades, died on Monday at the age of 100. A giant in American economics, he oversaw the central bank through parts of four presidencies and kept rates down and stable through the economic boom of the 1990s. His guiding principles, including a skepticism toward regulation, defined American monetary policy from the end of the Cold War until just before the 2008 Wall street crash, which some critics attribute to part of his tenure. Greenspan addressed that in the 2008 Senate hearing.
- [14:02]
Keir Starmer
Where do you think you made a mistake then?
- [14:04]
J.D. Vance
I made a mistake in presuming that the self interest of organizations, specifically banks and others, was such as that they were best capable of protecting their own shareholders and their equity in the firms.
- [14:21]
Gideon Resnick
In a statement, the Federal Reserve said that Greenspan helped establish the credibility that remains one of the Federal Reserve's most important assets. And finally, Lionel Messi made another claim to be soccer's goat yesterday after becoming the all time top scorer in the Men's World cup, scoring both goals in the two nil win against Austria.
- [14:41]
J.D. Vance
Attack. Here's Almada on the move for the world champions Now Medina pulled back here lets it run Messi history in Dallas 40 years to the day since Diego Maradona scored the hand of God, Lionel Messi scores the goal to make him the World Cup's all time leading scorer. Wonderful moment.
- [15:04]
Gideon Resnick
Messi's first tournament goal came all the way back in 2006, a demonstration of his extraordinary longevity. Last night brought his total to 18. For those wondering, Cristiano Ronaldo has eight. But then again, who's counting? You can find all these stories and more in the Apple News app. And if you're already listening to the News app right now, we've got a narrated article coming up next. Popular Mechanics reports on the Mount Everest of shipwrecks, the sinking of the Andrea Doria and why it still fascinates divers after 70 years. If you're listening in the podcast app, you can follow Apple News Narrated to find that story. And I'll be back with the news tomorrow.