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Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees

White House: Trump Leaving G7 Due To Developments In The Middle East; Trump: "Evacuate Tehran", Minutes Later, Local News Agency Reports Explosions Heard In Iran's Capital; Interview With Rep. Jim Himes (D-CT); Accused Minnesota Assassin Appears In Court To Face Charges; WH: Trump Leaving G7 Early Due To Developments In The Middle East; CNN Speaks To Former Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz. Aired 8-9p ET

Aired June 16, 2025 - 20:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: And I can only say, I know, we all hope that you will get what you need and you will get what you should have for your whole family to get answers here and hopefully to see Austin again. Thank you so much, Marc, I appreciate it and please my best to Debra as well.

MARC TICE, FATHER OF AUSTIN TICE, AMERICAN JOURNALIST HELD IN SYRIAN SINCE 2013: I will. Thank you, Erin, very much.

BURNETT: All right, thank you, sir.

And thanks so much, and thanks so much to all of you for joining us. AC360 begins now.

[20:00:28]

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: Tonight on 360, President Trump gives a dire warning to people in Tehran. Leave the city immediately, as he ends the visit to Canada early to fly back to Washington.

Israel widens the air campaign and Iranian state T.V. feels the impact.

And Minnesota with the suspect in court, two people dead and two more wounded. Authorities detail how much worse the alleged plot to kill Democratic lawmakers might have been.

Good evening. We are getting new reports of explosions and heavy air defense activity in Tehran right now. This is new video. You will see a brief burst of what appears to be anti-aircraft artillery at the beginning, what exactly it is or may signal is not yet known. It caps a day that saw a ninth wave of Iranian airstrikes on targets in Israel and Israel expanding the scope of its airstrikes, including that strike on a T.V. studio in Tehran.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(NEWS ANCHOR speaking in foreign language.)

(EXPLOSION) (END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: The Israeli military confirmed it hit the studio, saying, but not offering evidence that it contained a communications center being used for military purposes. This is what it looked like from the outside. That's the outside of the building. Iran says one person was killed.

Late today, two semiofficial Iranian news outlets reported that Tehran had warned Israelis to evacuate from the headquarters of two of their own T.V. channels. That warning, though, pales next to what came from President Trump just before seven tonight. This posting on social media reads: Iran should have signed the deal I told them to sign. What a shame and waste of human life. Simply stated, Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon. I said it over and over again. Everyone should immediately evacuate Tehran.

About 45 minutes later, CNN's Kaitlan Collins, who is in Canada with the President, got word that he's cutting his trip short there from the G7 and returning to Washington tonight, further amplifying the notion that the U.S. may be getting involved in the fight. We don't know for sure yet. In addition to all of that, there was this today from Israel's Prime Minister saying he would not rule out a strike on Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JONATHAN KARL, ABC NEWS: So are you going to target the Supreme Leader?

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, PRIME MINISTER OF ISRAEL: Look, we're doing what we need to do. I'm not going to get into the details, but we've targeted their top nuclear scientists. It's basically Hitler's nuclear team.

KARL: But U.S. officials tell us that the President flatly rejected a plan, an opportunity that that you, that the Israelis had to take out the Supreme Leader. Do you understand his concern? My understanding is his concern is that this would escalate the conflict beyond where it is already.

NETANYAHU: It's not going to escalate the conflict. It's going to end the conflict.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: That conflict so far has taken at least 24 lives in Israel, 224in Iran, according to authorities in each country. But it's that evacuation warning from the President tonight and what it could mean, which starts us off. CNN chief White House correspondent Kaitlan Collins is in Canada, has some new reporting on it. She joins us from Calgary, Alberta.

What is the White House saying about President Trump's declaration that everyone should immediately evacuate Tehran and then the word that he's coming back to the White House? KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes,

Anderson, it's hard to see how those are not tied together because the White House specifically cited what is happening in the Middle East for why President Trump is cutting his trip here in Canada short.

I flew with President Trump on Air Force One yesterday. He arrived late last night in Calgary to head to the summit with world leaders. He had an entire day of meetings scheduled for tomorrow, including a meeting, I should note, with the Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy as well, on that list of everything that these leaders were going to talk about. But the White House has decided to cut this trip short so the President can return to Washington tonight, citing exactly what is happening inside the Middle East.

We've talked to officials about the President's post on Truth Social earlier, that everyone who lives in Tehran should evacuate. Obviously, that is millions of people, Anderson. And a quite urgent warning from the President of the United States. One official said it just reflected the reality of the situation of trying to get Iran to the table, as they are trying to sort this out. With the President still voicing confidence that some kind of deal with Iran could be made after obviously those talks kind of fell apart or entirely fell apart after Israel first struck Iran late last week.

And so, Anderson, were still talking to people and trying to figure out what this means and why there is this newfound sense of urgency to the President returning to Washington to go and meet with his team.

We did see several of his National Security members who were there in Washington earlier. That includes the Vice President, the Joint Chiefs Chairman, who were meeting at the White House. In addition to announcements from the Defense Secretary, Pete Hegseth, about some aircraft carrier movement, as they're basically posturing to make sure they're protecting the U.S. forces who are in the region right now. I will note one person who's here on the trip with President Trump is the Secretary of State, Marco Rubio.

[20:05:30]

I'm told he's been briefing him throughout the day on the latest and the updates that we've been seeing and the President has also had several conversations with the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. And so, everyone is watching, obviously, what is happening in the Middle East and also why the President is cutting his trip short -- his trip here early short is making such a difference. And what that means about what's next.

COOPER: Kaitlan, we'll see you at the top of the hour on "The Source." Coming up next, right now, CNN chief international correspondent Clarissa Ward in Israel. She's at Tel Aviv's largest hospital. Clarissa, how are Israelis defenses, first of all, holding up against the latest Iranian retaliation?

CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, there have been the expectation that tonight was going to see some heavy activity because we had heard from Iranian state media that there were waves and waves of drones and missiles heading this way. Earlier, the alert did go off. The sirens went off very shortly afterwards. Everyone here at this hospital where we are gathered in a secured shelter area inside.

But those missiles did not really seem to materialize. There were reports of potentially a couple of intercepts, but no impacts that we have heard of so far, and it has actually been pretty quiet up until this point. I will say though, just based on the patterns that we've been observing over the last couple of nights, that the majority of the heavy strikes seem to happen around 4:00 - 4:30 in the morning, that's still a couple of hours away, but obviously right now a huge question mark over what is happening in Tehran, what may be happening shortly in Tehran based on President Trump's somewhat ominous post?

We are hearing reports of thousands and thousands of people in that city of 10 million taking to the streets and trying to go in their cars and get out of the city. Reports of heavy traffic jams clogging up the streets, but very little clarity as to what exactly is going on, and all of that also being fueled, as you mentioned earlier in the show, by these comments from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, where he really would not rule out the possibility that regime change is, if not the stated objective, certainly the desired outcome of these attacks against Iran -- Anderson.

COOPER: That is the thing, the situation that Israel finds itself in and if there is not regime change, the knowledge of how to manufacture a nuclear device or the nuclear material that they're working with, that remains. And unless the U.S. is involved, it's a real question of whether or not they can actually take out both of these Iranian nuclear facilities.

WARD: And its interesting, Anderson, you know, when you talk to people here about the possibility of, okay, look, it looks like Iran has made some signals that maybe they're ready to talk, that maybe they're ready to go back to the negotiating table. The attitude here is that there's no interest in that. There's no time for talking now, the objectives of this operation have to be achieved, but there's still a lot of ambiguity as to what exactly those objectives are.

Is the objective simply to dismantle or at least delay Iran's nuclear process? Again, earlier on, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu seemed to indicate that significant process progress has already been made in that endeavor. But if the objective is to completely dismantle it, to ensure that it can never be resurrected, that seems to indicate that regime change is really the desired outcome here. Not clear how that would transpire or what that would look like, but certainly that is raising a lot of anxiety, Anderson, across this entire region.

COOPER: Yes, Clarissa Ward, thanks very much. We're going to check back in with you later on in this hour. I want to get perspective now from CNN global affairs analyst Brett McGurk, former Middle East and North Africa coordinator for the National Security council, also retired U.S. Army Colonel Peter Mansoor, senior fellow at the Mershon Center for International Security Studies at Ohio State University.

Colonel, first of all, what's your read on the President's social media post calling for the evacuation of Tehran? Do you think that is an indication that the United States is going to get directly involved in this?

COL. PETER MANSOOR (RET), SENIOR FELLOW AT THE MERSHON CENTER FOR INTERNATIONAL SECURITY STUDIES AT OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY: It certainly seems that way. You know, I didn't really think the United States would get involved unless it was attacked in the region by Iran. But with the President returning a day early from the G7, there's really no reason for him to do that. If he's just monitoring the situation, he can do that up in Calgary.

So, I think this may be tipping the hand that the United States might weigh in with, in a military sense, to complete the job that the Israelis have started.

COOPER: Brett, do you agree with that, that this seems to be an indication of something?

[20:10:26]

BRETT MCGURK, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: I think there's two things going on here, Anderson, and both are linked. I think we are moving our military assets into place to be able to do a strike into Iran, particularly to take out that Fordow facility deeply underground, something really only the U.S. can do. But secondly, there's still an off ramp on diplomacy. This is coercive diplomacy, what you're seeing.

Basically, the White House believes they put a deal down to the Iranians about six weeks ago. That's a good, fair deal. The Iranians really never responded to that. In fact, they escalated their program in response to that. And basically, I think the view is, if Abbas Araghchi, the Foreign Minister of Iran called Steve Witkoff, who is President Trump's envoy, and says, you know what, I relooked at the deal you put down, I'm ready to take it. That's the off ramp.

If Iran does not do that, I think we are actually, it seems like the U.S. is putting everything in place to get directly involved militarily.

One way or the other, it's very clear here. I think Iran cannot be left at the end of this with that enrichment program in place at Fordow. Natanz is the other one. The Israelis have hit that and then you have the conversion facility. This is part of the fuel cycle at Esfahan, which has also been hit.

But Fordow, Fordow, Fordow -- that is the key and if you don't dismantle Fordow at the end of this, as you said, Anderson, not only does Iran have the know-how, they have an underground facility with about ten cascades, of very advanced centrifuges, and then you're kind of in an even worse position. So this is really coming to a head fast. Its unprecedented. If anybody says they know where this is going, they don't know what they're talking about. But I see putting the military pieces in place that's smart as you have a diplomatic off ramp.

So, you know, let's hope Iran decides to take that off ramp. Otherwise I think we're possibly looking for looking to an American strike at Fordow.

COOPER: Colonel, do you have a sense of how long it takes to get U.S. assets in place? I mean, we're talking about, you know, battleships and other assets.

MANSOOR: Well, we're really talking B-2 bombers and other aircraft like the B-1 that can carry the kind of weapons that could penetrate the mountain at Fordow and destroy it. You know, some of those systems are already in place there at Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean. They're gutter and they can fly from Whiteman Air Force base in Missouri, for that matter.

So, we have the capability now to strike Fordow. It's just a matter of giving the word.

COOPER: Brett, as we said, Tehran is home to more than nine million people. Obviously, a complete evacuation of a city of nine million people is a difficult thing, particularly if there's incoming fire. And at the same time, we heard from Israel, from Netanyahu, the idea of Iranians rising up and overthrowing this regime, that seems a difficult -- I mean, obviously, we've seen demonstrations before. There's clearly a lot of animus toward the regime, a lot of dissatisfaction. There's a lot of different ethnic groups as well. But rising up while under bombardment, that seems a contradictory thing.

MCGURK: No, if I were the President, if I were advising the President, I would say you got to keep the Israelis, avoid mission creep here. The declared objectives of the Israelis are the nuclear program and the missile program. If by taking those out, you wind up with a regime change scenario, that's one thing. But trying to militarily impose regime change.

I'm looking at Pete on the screen, we have a lot of experience in this. I would not try to go down that road. Keep the mission focused, align your ends and means it's the nuclear program and the missile program. If you really start to get into mission creep scenario and you get into massive unintended consequences, don't know where that's going. I think you want to have an end point.

Again, align the military resources, have a diplomatic off ramp. I can see that's what the White House here is trying to do. But it's very unclear where this is heading tonight.

COOPER: Colonel, you would agree with that given experiences in Iraq and other places, regime change should not be, in your estimation, part of the calculus?

MANSOOR: Regime change is going to take a long time. It's clear to me that Prime Minister Netanyahu wants the Iranian people to rise up, but they're leaving the one city that matters. If they're going to rise up, it's going to take months or years before that happens. If there's to be regime change in Iran today, it's going to have to come from within in some sort of coup. And I don't think the Iranian Revolutionary Guards are going to assassinate the Ayatollah.

So, I agree with Ambassador McGurk, you know, stay on target, destroy the nuclear program and the missile program, and then you've defanged Iran and you've already defanged its proxies around the region and then the region is in a much better position going forward.

[20:15:22]

COOPER: Peter Mansoor, Colonel, thank you very much. Brett McGurk as well. More now on the kind of day this has been. Here's CNN's Nick Paton Walsh with that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Mid-broadcast, the conflict came to the studio. Israel said without evidence, this state broadcaster building was being used by Iran's Armed Forces. A shockwave of a different kind, too, fueling panic in Tehran. The blast in district three, an area the IDF told Iranians on social media to flee hours earlier.

And these blasts hitting the hills to the capital's west, showing the firepower now in use. Israel says it controls the skies over Tehran and this is what that feels like, screams on ordinary streets.

Sunday night, many fled the capital. The roads out apparently hit on Monday too, nothing like this in recent memory.

In the western city of Kermanshah, state media posted images of the intensive care unit of a hospital damaged. The IDF told CNN they were "not aware of any attack that happened on a hospital in Iran," and it's unclear if anyone was hurt. Over 200 dead, though 90 percent civilians since Friday, Iran's Health Ministry said.

But each number its own story, many from the youth that the West sees as the hope for Iran's post-Ayatollah future. This is Tara Kashmiri dancing at the dentist killed alongside her family said state media.

Also, Niloofar Ghalevand, big in gyms and social media, age 31 killed alongside her parents, and Parnia Abbasi, a poet, aged 23, killed with her parents and brother. Her poem, "The Extinguished Star" reads: You and I will come to an end somewhere. The most beautiful poem in the world falls quiet.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PATON WALSH (on camera): Anderson, I think the concerns possibly are now that Israel says it has air superiority over the capital, that it may have a substantial list of military and other infrastructure it wants to hit in the days ahead, increasing horror and anxiety in Tehran -- Anderson.

COOPER: Nick Paton Walsh, thanks very much more. We're going to have more on this throughout the hour. A moment ago, we learned that President Trump has directed his National Security staff in Washington to convene in the Situation Room. We're just getting this in. We'll have more on that after a short break.

We're joined next by Connecticut Congressman Jim Himes, who's the Ranking Member of the House Intelligence Committee. Also, the alleged Minnesota political assassin's first court appearance and charges against him and how authorities say it could all have been so much worse.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:22:44]

COOPER: Just before the break, we learned that the President has directed his National Security staff in Washington to convene in the Situation Room. He is heading home early, a day early right now from the G7 Summit in Western Canada.

Also, Iran's Air Defenses have been activated over the capital, Tehran, according to the state affiliated Fars News Agency. This comes after President Trump posted on his Truth Social platform, "Everyone should immediately evacuate Tehran."

Here with me now, Democratic Congressman Jim Himes of Connecticut, ranking member on the House Intelligence Committee. First of all, what do you make of just the drumbeat in the last hour or so of the President returning early, posting, everybody should evacuate?

REP. JIM HIMES (D-CT): I think two things are going on. Number one, I think Donald Trump in these last 72 hours has been struggling to get ahead of where he was 72 hours ago. Seventy-two hours ago, it is not clear to me that he knew with any particular warning that the Israelis were going to go. It's not clear to me that he gave permission and so, now that he sees the Israelis, at least in these initial days, doing pretty well, he wants to get ahead of it and ultimately claim credit.

The other thing going on is, is and this is, by the way, my opinion, not necessarily the view of the American intelligence community, this is about regime change. You know, Netanyahu --

COOPER: Do you think that's the bottom line for Israel?

HIMES: Yes, and so why does the President put up clear Tehran? Why do the Israelis bomb national television? Why do they start taking on economic targets? Again, my own opinion is that Netanyahu went into this hoping and maybe intending for regime change. That's a very tough bet to make. But I think Donald Trump's post today is partly about that.

COOPER: The argument for those who support regime change in Iran is, look, you can first of all, the U.S. doesn't get involved. Israel is not going to be able to destroy the Fordow facility. You know, Natanz, they can damage perhaps, but not wipe it out entirely and therefore you have a regime which still has the desire to -- if what Israel and the West is saying to get a nuclear weapon, you still have that in place.

HIMES: Yes, that's exactly right. I mean, you know, the reality is I heard you CNN quoted somebody saying that the program has been set back significantly. I don't think that's true. You know, the enriched uranium is unreachable under Fordow right now and some tunnels associated with the Natanz facility. No reason to believe that that uranium has actually been has been, you know, in any way destroyed.

Now, the Israelis, of course, can close tunnel entrances and stuff, but, you know, you can you can fix that quickly. The Iranian nuclear scientists who have been killed, you know, the reality is that you can replace that knowhow, you know, Pakistan and India who -- Pakistan in particular, are not known for their nuclear scientists. You know, they can right now, Iran, if they were left alone, could reconstitute their program very quickly.

[20:25:30]

COOPER: Do you think the United States will ultimately enter this conflict?

HIMES: Well, remember, we are in this conflict, right? You know, our naval assets and other assets are knocking down Iranian missiles right now.

COOPER: I mean, in an offensive way and it's directly striking.

HIMES: In an offensive way, so, I mean, that's an interesting question. It's sort of a Donald Trump question and MAGA question, right? Because, you know, Donald Trump and MAGA, the sort of article of faith is that you don't get involved in foreign wars, much less regime change wars in the Middle East, which I think we all understand are problematic. But, you know, Bibi Netanyahu is a very, very smart and strategic guy.

So, you know, at some point, does the Prime Minister convince the President to give him the bunker busting bombs and the aircraft that are necessary to deliver? I could certainly see that, because, again, I don't think the infrastructure has been all that damaged so far.

On the other extreme, do I think American troops are on the ground in Iran? No, I do not. I think that is probably ten steps too far for President Trump.

COOPER: In terms of I mean, Netanyahu has talked about regime change. He refused to rule out targeting Iran's Supreme Leader. There's reporting and we've been told that that the President several days ago rejected the idea of actually targeting the Supreme Leader. What kind of an impact do you think that would have?

Because, I mean, Iran is in a uniquely vulnerable position compared to where they have been over the last ten years, at the very least, Hezbollah has been badly weakened by Israel. We also have those pager explosions. Obviously, the Houthis still have capabilities. Syria, the regime has changed. It's a lot different situation for Iran.

HIMES: Yes, no doubt about that. Look, from a military standpoint, they are not nearly what we feared they would. And you know, the Prime Minister, the actions he took against Hezbollah and, you know, no question, no question. However, regime change is a totally different thing for two reasons.

Number one, and again, you know, it's really hard to know how the Iranian people are feeling right now. But, you know, history shows that when you bomb people, it tends think to think of the British, you know, in the 1940s or any other examples.

COOPER: It rattles people.

HIMES: It both rattles people, but it tends to rally people around their country. So, whether the Iranian regime can make that happen is unclear. But then of course, you have a whole other question, which is, let's just imagine best case scenario for Bibi Netanyahu is that the regime falls tomorrow morning. Then, of course, in the Middle East, the question is, and what replaces it?

COOPER: We don't have a great track record on regime change.

HIMES: No, no, I mean, let's not use euphemisms here. You know, attempting regime change in the Middle East almost always ends brutally and tragically.

COOPER: Congressman Himes, thank you very much. Appreciate it.

HIMES: Thanks, Anderson.

COOPER: We're going to continue to follow the latest on the Middle East and coming up next, our other breaking news tonight, the suspected Minnesota assassin in court for the first time as prosecutors reveal how his alleged plot could have been far worse. I'll also talk with senator Mark Kelly, the husband of former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords, who herself was nearly killed by a would be assassin.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:33:05]

COOPER: We are going to go back to Israel and Iran shortly as President Trump gets ready to fly back to Washington, D.C. We're also following developments out of Minnesota, where the suspect in the shootings of two Democratic state lawmakers over the weekend appeared in court today. He's facing first-degree murder charges over what officials have referred to as a political assassination, the type of violence that once seemed unthinkable in this country but tragically seems to be happening all too frequently.

Details are chilling. The suspect arrived outside the homes of multiple state lawmakers early Saturday morning, looking like this, dressed as a police officer in a mask. State Representative Melissa Hortman and her husband were killed. State Senator John Hoffman and his wife were critically wounded at their home.

CNN's Whitney Wild has details.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

JOE THOMPSON, ACTING U.S. ATTORNEY: This is the stuff of nightmares.

WHITNEY WILD, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The photo captures the end of the largest manhunt in Minnesota history. Police say 57-year-old Vance Boelter started his rampage around 2:00 a.m. Saturday.

THOMPSON: Boelter went to the homes of four Minnesota state politicians with the intent to kill them. He had a list of other elected officials, their home addresses. Boelter stalked his victims like prey.

WILD (voice-over): The U.S. attorney says the terrifying plot began much earlier, detailing the planning, surveillance and Internet searches Boelter allegedly made to organize his attacks. He says the key to Boelter's plan was dressing in uniform to imitate a police officer.

THOMPSON: He arrived in a black SUV with emergency lights turned on and with a license plate that read police. He carried a flashlight and a Beretta 9 millimeter handgun. He also wore a hyper-realistic silicone mask.

WILD (voice-over): Authorities say Boelter began his shooting spree at the home of State Senator John Hoffman, banging on the door and shouting, this is the police, then opened fire. The two survived and are still hospitalized. After the attack, police went to perform a wellness check on several lawmakers.

According to a federal complaint, Boelter headed to the home of an elected official in nearby Maple Grove, but the family was away. He left and then traveled to the home of a state senator where a local law enforcement officer was on the way to perform a wellness check and found Boelter sitting in a black SUV nearby.

[20:35:13]

The officer says she thought Boelter was law enforcement, but when she stopped to speak with him, he continued staring straight ahead and didn't respond. That officer then headed to the senator's home to do a wellness check and Boelter left the area. Officers went to the home of State Representative Melissa Hortman to check on her as well.

When they arrived, they say Boelter was standing outside.

THOMPSON: He drew his weapon and began firing. He rushed into the house through the front door, firing into it. He repeatedly fired into the house. And when he entered, he murdered Representative Hortman and her husband, Mark.

WILD (voice-over): Police officers say they began shooting at the gunman, but he escaped. He left behind his car where police say they found multiple weapons, including semi-automatic weapons and ammunition, passports and about $10,000 in cash. He was captured Sunday night in the woods after a massive manhunt. A resident saw him on a trail camera and contacted police.

THOMPSON: This was a political assassination, which is not a word we use very often. It's a chilling attack on our democracy, on our way of life. WILD (voice-over): Boelter allegedly texted his family shortly after the shootings, according to a federal complaint, saying, "Dad went to war last night. I don't want to say more because I don't want to implicate anybody." Officials say there is still no clear motive for the attacks.

THOMPSON: I've seen nothing like a Unabomber style manifesto in his writings. Obviously, his primary motive was to go out and murder people. They were all elected officials. They were all Democrats.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

WILD (on-camera): Anderson, the major question here is why? And our CNN investigative team has done a deep dive into his background. And this is what is so strange. We reviewed his social media posts. They do not express particularly strong political views.

We reviewed his sermons, and there's just one anti-LGBTQ comment in there, Anderson. And then finally, a friend says that he was not known to be particularly political. Anderson?

COOPER: All right. Whitney Wild, thanks very much.

My next guest knows all too well the dangers of political violence. His wife, former Democratic Congresswoman Gabby Giffords, was targeted, shot in the head back in 2011 in an Arizona supermarket parking lot. Giffords survived the assassination attempt, became an advocate for the end of gun violence. Tragically, she knew one of the victims of the attack in Minnesota, posting this photo of herself with State Representative Melissa Hortman on social media.

Giffords wrote, "Melissa was a true public servant who dedicated her life building a better, safer Minnesota." Her husband, Senator Mark Kelly of Arizona, joins us now.

Senator, you knew Melissa Hortman as well. What was she like? And what does this incident tell you about where we are?

SEN. MARK KELLY (D), ARIZONA: Well, yes, Gabby knew her well. Anderson, I'm not sure I've met her. I may have when I was in Minnesota. But Gabby made multiple trips to Minnesota, you know, trying to do something on this issue that makes our country stand out in absolutely the worst of ways.

And the gun violence in our nation today is not like any other developed nation. And now it's political. I mean, Gabby was assassinated -- or there was an attempt of an assassination on her life because she was a member of Congress. With Melissa Hortman and her husband and John Hoffman, you know, though, and his spouse, those were attempts too, because they were serving in the legislature in Minnesota.

And this kind of violence has to stop. And there are things that we can do about it as legislators, both at the federal and state level. It's a horrific, horrific act. COOPER: We're learning more about the shooter's apparent hit list. We mentioned it included other potential targets at the national level from neighboring states. Does the scope of this plot surprise you?

KELLY: Yes, it does. The sophistication of it as well. What we've, you know, previously seen -- well, certainly in Gabby's case, the guy planned it for about a year. This was an extensive plan. I mean, he has a fake police car, and he's got, you know, the uniform. And I think we're really fortunate.

And I think we need to be really thankful to the law enforcement, the guys that had the cops, that had the presence of mind to try to get ahead of this, to try to go to the next place that they assume might be a target. I think they saved a lot of lives.

COOPER: Your Republican colleague, Senator Mike Lee of Utah, posted a photo on social media after the murder, showing a masked gunman outside one of lawmakers' homes. Senator Lee captioned it, "Nightmare on Walt Street," in reference to the fact that Minnesota Governor Tim Walz had, back in 2019, appointed the gunman to an unpaid position on an external business advisory board.

Other far-right figures have spread conspiracy theories. What does that say about, again, just kind of where we are in our body politics?

[20:40:02]

KELLY: Well, I think it says a lot about Mike Lee. You know, he assumes this is something to make light of to -- I mean, he should realize there is a dead representative and her husband in Minnesota, John Hoffman and his wife, seriously injured. There are orphans. And Mike Lee thinks this is some kind of a joke. It's incredibly irresponsible, especially for a United States senator.

COOPER: I want to turn to what is happening in the Middle East. What's your reaction to the breaking news of President Trump's leaving the G7 summit early to return to the White House shortly after he posted online everyone should immediately evacuate Tehran?

KELLY: Well, this is a dangerous time. I mean, it's -- I think it's important that we think about how did we get here? President Obama passed the JCPOA. It stopped the development of nuclear weapons in Iran. President Trump, in his first term, canceled that nuclear weapon plan, the JCPOA, to stop them enriching Uranium-235, got them much closer.

I mean, they were really close. And Israel has a right to defend itself and has always said, and I agree with this, that the Iranians cannot possess a nuclear weapon. So they took actions here to stop that.

I would have hoped that we could have continued to have a discussion with them, maybe get them back to something like the nuclear deal that we previously had before the current president canceled it. That didn't happen. You know, where we are today is rather -- it's incredibly dangerous. And, you know, I would caution, you know, the Iranians should not try to draw us into this. We -- and we will, and we should protect our people on bases across the Middle East and our military assets.

COOPER: Would you support if the U.S. decided to strike Iran directly, even if U.S. forces have not been attacked, in order to try to actually eliminate the planted Fordow and Natanz?

KELLY: I mean, you know, I would like to see Iran's nuclear capability to be completely disarmed. It is a tough problem. You would have to hit those facilities, the underground facilities with GBU-57s, you know, the massive ordnance penetrator. It's a 5,000 pound weapon.

The Israelis, not only do they not have the weapon, they don't have the ability to deliver it, even if they did have it, you know, at this point. So Anderson, this is a complicated problem. I think it's going to be hard.

Even once you try to strike something that's underground, they can rebuild it. You know, my view on this is ultimately, if you wanted to completely eliminate the ability for them to get to, someday down the line, get to a nuclear weapon, you'd have to remove the Uranium-235, the uranium hexafluoride gas, which is what you first put into the centrifuges. You'd have to destroy all the centrifuges.

That would take a capability that, in my view, the Israelis currently do not have. I don't want to see this escalate. I think maybe there's a scenario, you know, here in the next couple of days, or maybe in a week or so, that the Iranians would agree to come to some sort of negotiated settlement to get us back to a point where they are not going to continue to develop a nuclear weapon, and we can do it in a way that's verifiable.

COOPER: Senator Mark Kelly, I appreciate your time tonight. Thank you.

KELLY: Thank you, Anderson.

COOPER: Coming up next, new strikes by Israel and Iran tonight. Also, President Trump, as we said, leaving the G7 summit early, heading back to the White House, where he'll meet with his national security team. My conversation with Benny Gantz, the chairman of Israel's National Unity Party, and a former defense minister coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:48:42]

COOPER: More in the breaking news. A new exchange of strikes between Israel and Iran tonight. And President Trump is leaving the G7 summit in Canada a day early. The White House says it is due to what's going on in the Middle East. This comes just after the president said on social media that residents of Tehran should evacuate.

There are a lot of questions about if the U.S. is going to get involved in the fighting between Israel and Iran. Earlier, I spoke with Benny Gantz, chairman of Israel's National Unity Party and a former defense minister.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

COOPER: Minister Gantz, to actually eliminate the nuclear threat posed by Iran, to actually destroy the Natanz facility, the Fordow facility, can Israel do that alone, or does it need the United States firepower, bunker-busting bombs to actually destroy the Fordow facility in particular?

BENNY GANTZ, CHAIRMAN, ISRAEL'S NATIONAL UNITY PARTY: Yes. Well, obviously, we are very strong and we are very sophisticated. And I think we have surprised many people around the world, and specifically in Iran, with our capabilities that we have built over the last, I would say, two decades probably, that we are following this issue.

And obviously, I cannot dispose here all our operational capabilities or plans. So I think we have achieved a lot and we can achieve more.

[20:50:07]

Having said that, I do remember that the United States is much stronger than us and it has capabilities that we don't possess, but I'm not in a position to recommend to the president of the United States what to do. I think President of the United States, President Trump, not just a great friend of the state of Israel, but he's a world leader and he understands the interest of the United States.

He understands the interest of the region. He understands the interest of the global community, whether those are in this region or in Western Europe, or you see those UAVs exploding in Kyiv. So I'm sure that the United States, if it decides to act, it will do it for its own interest and not for our interest only.

COOPER: President Trump posted on social media on Sunday saying, and I quote, "Iran and Israel should make a deal and we'll make a deal, just like I got India and Pakistan to make." Can this end with diplomacy or is there no way to end this except militarily at this point?

GANTZ: Well, obviously there are two tracks. There is the military track that we are now seeing inactive, and I think we must continue with it because once we are there, the more we distract, it's very important. But let me say this, Anderson. We have nothing, nothing against the Iranian people.

It's all about the regime. It's all about its strategic capabilities, and it is all against its intent, whether those are against us or what we have seen two years before in Saudi or what we have seen in Ukraine and other places. So we are focusing on the capabilities. That's what's important for us.

And I'm telling you, as a man of peace, I would like to have peace with the Iranian people as we had before. Just between them and us. There is this fundamentalistic regime that we cannot take the risk of letting them possess those capabilities. And I hope that we can achieve it. COOPER: You've talked in the past, saying that Prime Minister Netanyahu in the past has put his own political calculations ahead of sound decision-making in regards to Israel's war against Hamas. There are some who believe maybe domestic politics may be behind some of this. What do you think?

GANTZ: Anderson, this is a very serious issue to fight against the Iranians. This is something that Israel have not done anything like that before in those kind of long distances all around us. On the Iranian issue, there's no right or left. There is right or wrong, and we are right.

COOPER: And just finally, what is your message to President Trump in terms of U.S. support?

GANTZ: First, I want to thank President Trump -- yes, yes, I want to thank President Trump. I want to thank the American people and the American administration for many, many years of partnership. And it's definitely the same values, but also the very, very same interest.

It's true that for us, Iranian issue, it's an issue with existential potential threat for us. But for the United States, for the American people in the region, in the Middle East, in Saudi, in the Arab countries around the Gulf, everywhere you look at, it's a major interest. And if you ask the people of Kyiv, it's a major interest for them as well.

So I'm sure President Trump, understanding the importance of him being a global leader and probably the most important person in the world in terms of political leadership, I'm sure that he will direct the right thing for him, for the world, and for the region. And of course, I'm sure he cares about Israel very much, but it's their decisions.

We are always here for the United States, and the United States is always here for us. And I'm sure that this will be in the future as well.

COOPER: Minister Gantz, I appreciate your time. Thank you.

GANTZ: Thank you very much.

COOPER: Next, more on our breaking news out of the Middle East. We head to Tel Aviv and Clarissa Ward for a live report on the ground there.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:59:05]

COOPER: More on our breaking news in the Middle East. Let's go to Clarissa Ward, who is in Tel Aviv.

CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Anderson, you know, shortly after we were on air with you last time, the sirens started wailing again. Interestingly, there was no pre-alert, which is very unusual. Usually you have about 15 minutes or so to try to get to a shelter. This time siren started. That means you've got 90 seconds.

We went down to the operations center where the hospital prepares to receive any possible injuries or casualties that may be coming in. And for the second time tonight, Anderson, interestingly enough, there were no actual reports of missile strikes despite that siren going off. This is an unusual situation.

In the past, any time we hear those sirens, almost within minutes afterwards, we hear intercepts from the Iron Dome, but also we hear impacts, landfalls.

Tonight, so far, none of those. And all of this, I think, really adding to this sense of anxiety and slight confusion. Things feeling a little bit different this evening from what we've seen previously. But for the doctors here in this hospital, they are still prepared. They are waiting. They understand that it could still be a long night ahead, Anderson.

COOPER: Clarissa Ward, thanks very much from Tel Aviv.

The news continues. "The Source with Kaitlan Collins" starts now.