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Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees

House, Senate Briefings On Israel-Iran Conflict Postponed; Interview With Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ); Sources Tell CNN An Early U.S. Intel Assessment Suggests Strikes Only Set Back Iran Nuclear Program By Months; U.S. Security Officials Watching For Potential Iran-Related Threats, Despite Ceasefire; Qatari PM Hopes Indirect Hamas-Israel Talks Can Take Place "In The Next Two Days"; Parents Of Israeli- American Hostage Killed In Gaza On The Renewed Push For An Israel- Hamas Ceasefire. Aired 8-9p ET

Aired June 24, 2025 - 20:00   ET

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

SETH JONES, PRESIDENT, DEFENSE AND SECURITY DEPARTMENT FOR STRATEGIC AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES: So there will be an element that continues to thrive in Palestinian areas, both in Gaza and the West Bank to resist Israeli activity in their area. And I think the IDF is very aware of that challenge. And this is why it's the challenge the Israelis face moving from the military side of this to the political process which is where Netanyahu has not succeeded.

ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: All right, Seth Jones, thank you so very much and thanks to all of you for joining us here from the Middle East. AC360 begins now.

[20:00:40]

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: Good evening from Tel Aviv. We begin tonight with new reporting on how much damage American airstrikes did or did not do to Iran's nuclear program.

Now, CNN has learned that a preliminary assessment by the Defense Intelligence Agency suggests it may be far less than the President and others said it was immediately after the attack.

Now, that's according to seven people briefed on the early Defense Intelligence Agency assessment, with two of those people saying that Iran's stockpiled enriched uranium was not destroyed. One said the centrifuges used to make such material are largely intact. The same person said that Iran's nuclear program had only been set back by, "maybe a few months, tops."

Now, the White House says the assessment, which spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt today called an alleged assessment, is, "flat out wrong." She said the leaking of it is a "clear attempt to demean President Trump and discredit the brave fighter pilots who conducted a perfectly executed mission to obliterate Iran's nuclear program."

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth also put out a statement about this early assessment, saying, based on everything we have seen and I've seen it all, our bombing campaign obliterated Iran's ability to create nuclear weapons. Now, obliterated is the term President Trump used immediately after

the bombs were dropped, when he announced the attack had taken place. Before leaving for the NATO Summit this morning and before this report was leaked, the President used the word again.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Those targets were obliterated. Iran will never rebuild its nuclear arsenal. From there, absolutely not. That place is under rocks. That place is demolished.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: Well, later, after CNN's reporting came out, the President weighed in aboard Air Force One.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: They hit the target perfectly, wiped it out and the press is very disrespectful. It was perfect. They said maybe it did destroy it. We agree. It did destroy it, but maybe it could have destroyed it more. No, no, it couldn't have destroyed it more. Everyone hit and it's very disrespectful to those great geniuses and patriots that flew those planes through tremendous danger.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: Well, it should be noted that nothing in this reporting on the early assessment by the DIA, the Defense Intelligence Agency, in any way impugns the skill, patriotism or risk taken by flight crews and pilots, whatever the results of this attack, it was no doubt a remarkable military achievement, flying halfway around the world, hitting targets with apparent precision then returning home safely. No one would say or has said otherwise.

The only question is what was the result of the well-executed operation? And its only because an become an issue, because the President has made it so with the immediate and unequivocal statements he made himself immediately after the strike, before any serious and deep Battle Damage Assessments might be made.

Now, to be clear, that DIA assessment is only the earliest and first word that we know of on the matter, the first of many from other parts of the intelligence community who will issue their own assessments as well, which may have different findings and new information, is no doubt still being gathered and will be gathered for some time, because battle damage assessment, even preliminary assessment, takes time. As the joint chiefs chairman, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Dan Caine reminded all of us on Sunday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEN. DAN CAINE, U.S. CHAIRMAN OF THE JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF: I think BDA is still pending and it would be way too early for me to comment on what may or may not still be there. (END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: The President, though, began commenting the night he announced the strikes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Our objective was the destruction of Iran's nuclear enrichment capacity and a stop to the nuclear threat posed by the world's number one state sponsor of terror.

Tonight, I can report to the world that the strikes were a spectacular military success. Iran's key nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: Again, hard to understand how he would know that so early on, when really, it seems no one could because no real complete Battlefield Damage Assessment had been made.

Now, separately, CNN has learned that the Israeli assessment also found less damage on Iran's Fordow site than expected. However, Israeli officials believe the combination of U.S. and Israeli military action on multiple nuclear sites set back the Iranian nuclear program by two years we're told.

[20:05:09]

Also today, classified briefings for lawmakers on the situation, which had been set for today, were canceled. Now, we don't know why or even whether it has -- we don't know if it has anything to do with the leaking of this DIA report or the contents of the DIA report. House Speaker Johnson says the House briefing will happen on Friday.

"The New York times," has reporting that bills on all of this, including that the DIA report estimates that Iran's nuclear program was delayed by less than six months.

Joining us now is the times White House correspondent and CNN political analyst Maggie Haberman, who's on the byline of the paper's report. So, Maggie, the White House is obviously pushing back on this early assessment, calling an alleged assessment. They acknowledge it's a top secret assessment. They questioned why the people -- the people who leaked it, which is understandable that they would do that. What is your sense of their approach and the Presidents approach on this?

MAGGIE HABERMAN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: I think you're going to continue to see them digging in, as you have seen, Anderson, and as you said, President Trump went out on Saturday night, said totally obliterated. He has continued to push that line since he has complained publicly and privately about people and news outlets who question that.

As you say, there are two separate issues. One is, you know, a spectacularly carried out military mission where, as you say, nobody is questioning, you know, the brave acts by the military or what they did in deploying these bunker buster bombs that had not been used before in combat. But there is a question about what the government tells its citizens about how it makes decisions, and that is what people are looking at it.

This is preliminary. You are right. We don't know exactly what tools the DIA used to come to this assessment. We don't know what other intelligence will be, collected and what a fuller picture might show. But that is what the question is. You know, what exactly took place here and how much of Iran's nuclear program was actually taken out?

COOPER: Yes, I mean, it's been interesting to see the amount of times the President and also the White House have invoked the pilots of this and the military personnel as if somehow this reporting in any way is criticism of them.

I understand from a public relations standpoint why they would try to do that. It gives them, I guess, some cover, but it's just flat out -- it's just not -- there's nothing in this report that, that impugns them in any way. That being said, what stood out to you about this intelligence assessment? And obviously, these things can change. This is a one intelligence assessment by the Defense Intelligence Agency, There are others as well. The CIA, others, and more information will be gathered through signals intelligence, through human intelligence.

HABERMAN: Right, look, Anderson, the question has been all along, why is it that that President Trump was being supportive of this Israeli move, that Bibi Netanyahu, the Israeli Prime Minister had been pushing for many, many months. He has been trying to push the President of the United States to join him in an effort against Iran. You know, going back to February, possibly earlier. But that is what we know of when he when Netanyahu visited the President at the White House.

So, you know, senior officials say there was no new intelligence. Senior U.S. officials say there was no new intelligence that suggested Iran was racing toward constructing a bomb. And this is where it gets sort of fungible. You know, this preliminary assessment, as we understand it, does comport pre-bombing with what this time frame, this sort of elastic time frame has been coming from the administration about, you know, how quickly Iran could assemble a nuclear weapon.

The question is, what happens after? And that also, is said to be within months, that they could still build a weapon now. It would be crude. It would be pretty hasty. It would be smaller than what they might have been able to accomplish otherwise. But it doesn't appear to be as much of a setback. Again, based on this preliminary assessment than some folks had suggested, and certainly not a total obliteration.

Also, Anderson, I just want to stress again. Can I just make one more point, though? People are not saying this to demean President Trump, as he keeps saying. I mean, maybe some of his critics may be, but the news media is actually just trying to figure out what actually happened here. This is a country, the United States, that went through a war, a war that that Trump often points out, he criticized in 2016, a war that began, you know, based on flawed intelligence. And so, of course, there are going to be questions here.

COOPER: Yes, again, this is nothing about the President the United States. This is about what actually happened and trying to figure out, and that's the only thing that really matters. The President also had strong words for Israel and Iran today for violating the cease fire. And I just want to play that for our viewers.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Israel, as soon as we made the deal, they came out and they dropped a load of bombs, the likes of which I've never seen before. The biggest load that we've seen.

I'm not happy with Israel. I'm not happy with Iran either, but I'm really unhappy if Israel is going out this morning because the one rocket that didn't land that was shot, perhaps, by mistake and I'm not happy about that. We basically have two countries that have been fighting so long and so hard that they don't know what f**k they're doing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[20:10:34]

COOPER: I'm wondering, were you surprised by the very public frustration there. And it is or just a sign, you know, of how much President Trump has been driving events here. Look, he did what a lot of Presidents talked about or thought about. He actually took a very bold action and clearly his frustration seems to have impressed Netanyahu. Certainly we saw Israel, you know, this ceasefire has held all day.

HABERMAN: Look, it does seem to be the case. It's one day, Anderson but you are correct. It does seem as if his frustrations have had an impact on Netanyahu. I think initially President Trump was being pushed by events, and those events were what Netanyahu planned to do. This was, you know, a few weeks back.

Now, I think that President Trump, having authorized this strike against Iran's nuclear sites, realizes that he doesn't want to be further involved here, that he did do a lot and that Israel is going to need Americas help if it wants to continue any kind of military action against Iran. So, I think you're seeing the President feel like he has some strength here in this relationship.

He's clearly frustrated. I think he also knows that venting those frustrations publicly could impact Netanyahu and the administration believes it did.

COOPER: Yes. Maggie Haberman, thanks very much.

The Iranian President today reportedly said that his country is ready to resolve issues with the United States. Joining us now is CNN global affairs analyst Brett McGurk, former Middle East and North Africa coordinator for the National Security Council. He served in four administrations, both Republican and Democratic. Brett, the President not happy about this early DIA assessment. What

is your reaction to the reporting on the assessment? And just can you just talk about how these assessments are made? And again, this is from one agency. I assume there will be others and the consensus will build over time.

BRETT MCGURK, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Yes, that's right, Anderson, I really think we got to be patient here, this is one report. Let me say a few things. A BDA, Battle Damage Assessment, and there's multiple phases. There's phase one, after the initial 24 hours you'll get some imagery. There's phase two, probably where we are now. You'll have CENTCOM assessing the imagery. Do the munitions hit the spots we wanted? That's probably where we are about now. And I think that DIA report seems to be based on that. But then you get to phase three, which is a much more comprehensive report.

And let me say a few things, you will be receiving, if you're in the U.S. government and in these circles, of all the clearances, assessments from the CIA, from the NSA, collecting signals intelligence and assessing the signals intelligence better than any other department and agency from the National Nuclear Security Agency in the Department of Energy, from Mossad and other intelligence agencies. That will then be kind of fused through the Director of National Intelligence Office and then ultimately, you will have a product from the National Intelligence Council called the NIC, which will be a comprehensive assessment of where we are.

And that's going to take time and I think we have to allow that to play out. I'd say one more thing. You know, after the false intelligence of WMD in Iraq before the Iraq war, the intelligence community issued some formalized new guidance. So every report like this, I'd be very curious to read the CIA report, because every report has to say this is a low confidence assessment, a medium confidence assessment, or high confidence assessment.

It's unclear what this is. I suspect, because it's so early. It's more in the low confidence side. So, let's see as this goes, we have to be a little patient.

One final thing, multiple things can be right. First of all the intelligence community is very careful with words. Obliterate is not a term of art that is used in the intelligence community. So, you'll never see NIC reports saying obliterate.

I think the key question here is -- is the Fordow facility accessible and can it be rendered usable again for the Iranian enrichment program? Are those centrifuges hundreds of feet underground still there and still usable? Or is Fordow maybe the underground facility was not caved in, but it's basically entombed and is going to be extremely difficult for the Iranians ever to access it again?

I think we'll learn more here as the days and even weeks go by. But that's basically where we are. So this is one report. But as this goes on, you'll have a much more comprehensive assessment within the U.S. government and within the Intelligence Departments.

[20:15:13]

COOPER: And it seems like one of the issues here that needs to be figured out is, was, you know, were stockpiles of highly enriched uranium moved prior to this attack, and if they were, where were they moved to? Are there facilities the U.S., Israel is unaware of? And if so, you know, how do you find them? How do you access them? What happens next? What are your thoughts on that?

MCGURK: Yes, there are multiple components of Iran's nuclear program, and all of this will go into the assessment. There's the highly enriched uranium, there's the centrifuges, which are really key because that's how you spin it up to weapons grade. There's conversion, which was done at Isfahan. The IAEA pretty soon, I suspect, will ask Iran for access to where is all this stuff?

I doubt the Iranians will grant that access right away. But as the diplomacy kicks in here, and I think the diplomacy will start to kick in here over the coming week or so with the deadline around Labor Day that we've discussed Anderson, because of that snapback deadline that the Europeans have. So I think you'll see a lot of diplomatic activity. But look, we'll see if the Iranians grant access to the IAEA or not.

But this is a complicated situation, complicated picture. But I'm looking at not only the HEU, Highly Enriched Uranium. Where is it? Where did it go? Did they get it out of Fordow. And about the centrifuges, you had about 20,000 centrifuges cascades at Natanz and Fordow, have those been destroyed? And I think the Israelis probably did a pretty good job at the centrifuge manufacturing plants. All of this will be collected in a comprehensive intelligence assessment, probably over the coming weeks.

COOPER: Brett McGurk, I appreciate your experience and expertise. Thank you again.

Before the damage assessment story broke, the main story was the ceasefire and the President's frustration at both sides getting in their final shots. Iran's strike hit the city of Beersheva with casualties. More on that from CNN's Jeremy Diamond.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The final countdown to a ceasefire is often the deadliest. It certainly was in Israel's southern city of Beersheva, as the last volleys of Iranian missiles came raining down. What's left is this picture of utterly avoidable tragedy. The final Israeli victims of this 12-day conflict, a graduating high school senior, her 18-year-old boyfriend and his mother. One more victim has yet to be identified.

An even deadlier picture emerges in Iran, where a punishing wave of Israeli airstrikes killed 107 people in the conflict's final hours, according to the Iranian Health Ministry.

DIAMOND (on camera): In the last hour before that ceasefire went into effect, an Iranian ballistic missile slammed directly into this residential building, killing four people. And now, as you can see, the cleanup crews behind me are clearing the debris. The hope is that it will be the last time they'll have to do that.

DIAMOND (voice over): As Israel rushes back to normalcy amid a tenuous calm, the residents and rescue crews here are still taking stock of this final deadly strike.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You see there, the big block.

DIAMOND (voice over): This rescue worker arrived minutes after the missile struck. He is clearly still processing what he saw.

DIAMOND (on camera): What did you find in the shelter on the top floor?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I found a woman that were not recognizable. We could not tell if it's a woman or a man or anything.

DIAMOND (voice over): Paramedics said at least three of the victims were on the top floor, which took a direct hit where no bomb shelter could save them.

DIAMOND (on camera): This is where you were when it when it hit.

DIAMOND (voice over): But in the neighboring building, do you think about what if you didn't have that safety room?

RESCUE WORKER: I wouldn't be here today.

DIAMOND (voice over): Zaur and his wife only just moved to Israel nine months ago. Their new apartment, now wrecked. Come back to gather what they can and start over.

ZAUR MIKHEYLOV, BEERSHEVA RESIDENT: A few minutes later, we walked out and we just followed this destruction.

DIAMOND (on camera): What went through your mind in that moment?

MIKHEYLOV: God, not him, not for the safety room. We -- none -- my wife and kids -- none of us be here today, that's the reality of our life here but we are going to rebuild.

DIAMOND (voice over): But if it were up to him that rebuilding would not come without first avenging his neighbors deaths.

MIKHEYLOV: I want to see a response, because we just lost four innocent lives over there behind that building for no reason, children and elderly family. So, I want to see response from our Prime Minister.

DIAMOND (voice over): But after so much death and destruction in Israel and Iran, quiet prevails, at least for now.

Jeremy Diamond, CNN, Beersheva, Israel.

(END VIDEOTAPE) [20:20:15]

COOPER: Imagine whether you live in Israel or Iran. You know, there's a ceasefire that's been called. There's minutes or hours or seconds before the ceasefire takes effect and your loved one gets killed.

More ahead tonight, including Senator Mark Kelly, who sits on the Intelligence and Armed Services Committees. His take on tonight's new reporting about the DIA assessment and the postponement of Congressional hearings as well, when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: Before the break, we played a clip of the President aboard Air Force One criticizing reporting, including our reporting on how much damage U.S. airstrikes on Iran did. We should make it clear, although he was critical of the reporting on board Air Force One, he was not yet specifically weighing in on the leak of the new Defense Intelligence Assessment. I'm sorry for that mistake.

Democratic lawmakers are slamming the decision to abruptly cancel a pair of classified briefings set to take place on Capitol Hill today. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer went one step further tonight, suggesting they were canceled. In light of that early intelligence assessment that the U.S. did not actually destroy or obliterate Iran's nuclear capabilities.

[20:25:35]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY): If the press reporting about the impact of last weekend's strikes in Iran is true, and I cannot confirm them, then that might be the reason why the administration postponed our classified briefing today at the very last minute, and deprived senators of their right to know what's happening.

So, I ask again, what is the administration hiding? It's time for answers.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: Well, my next guest would have been in one of those classified briefings had they gone forward. Senator Mark Kelly of Arizona joins me now. He serves on the Senate Intelligence and Armed Services Committees, in addition to flying missions as a naval aviator during the Gulf War. Senator, I appreciate you being with us. First of all, I'm wondering what your reaction is to this reporting about this early intelligence assessment. And again, it's just one intelligence assessment from the DIA?

SEN. MARK KELLY (D-AZ): Well, Anderson, thank you for having me on. You know, when this strike was authorized and then conducted, we weren't told about it ahead of time and the President, the White House, didn't come to Congress to get authorization for this. And I think that was a big mistake. You know, usually, traditionally, at least the war I fought in the

first Gulf War, there was a discussion with Congress. There was a clear goal and a plan and where these pilots did a very good job getting halfway across the planet, hitting a target. There were 125 aircraft involved. The United States Navy was involved as well. It was a joint operation but, you know, the outcome is always somewhat unpredictable.

And when the President immediately said that these targets were obliterated, the Secretary of Defense said that the next day, I think the American people should understand that, you know, there's a lot of very questionable assumptions that are going into that with not a lot of real analysis.

I didn't expect that this attack could be as successful as they were trying to sell it. And now they don't have a plan going forward. And our troops in the Middle East are at further risk. I think Americans in general are as well. There's a ceasefire right now. I think that's a positive thing. But the report from the Defense Intelligence Agency, you know, gives you an indication that the President and his Secretary of Defense is, you know, not actually looking at real information and analysis. And I think it's fair to say that that is somewhat reckless.

COOPER: We should point out on Sunday, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs said very plainly, you know, this is too soon to really give a full assessment of what occurred and, you know, that will come with time. That's a sensible and factual answer. It seems like members of the top leadership are now trying to kind of -- because the President used that term completely obliterated, they're echoing that term and trying to kind of fit that everything into that -- under that phrase, when the reality may be different and it's understandable that it may be different because all the information wasn't in.

Do you agree with Minority Leader Schumer suggestion that those classified briefings scheduled for Congress today may have been postponed because of this intelligence assessment or the leaking of it?

KELLY: I think that's possible. I think they're also just trying to avoid being transparent and accountability. And that has been a pattern with this administration, you know, from January, they, you know, don't want to work with Congress, especially across the aisle with Democrats in Congress.

You know, this stuff is -- we could have more lasting solutions to problems if were willing to collaborate. That's true in the Senate. We try to do that, Democrats and Republicans working together. We've had a tough time working with this administration, especially on these kind of issues. And as you point out, you know, the people around him are just going to echo what he says and jumping to conclusions like he did the other day.

It is not what we should, not what any of us should, should expect in a commander-in-chief.

COOPER: It's interesting to me, though, the administration, I mean, whether it's the spokesperson, the President are trying to imply any questioning or any desire to actually know what the results of the bombings were and what are the next steps, is somehow a criticism of the very pilots and all the Navy and Air Force personnel and others who were involved in this operation, which is just completely not the case.

KELLY: It is not, we have the best pilots in the world, Air Force, Navy, Marine Core pilots, fighter pilots, bomber pilots. I mean it's remarkable what these guys did. Seven B-2s, multiple tanking, you know, along the way having the tank multiple times and get gas, fly all the way into Iran undetected, release fourteen 30,000 pound bombs, make it all the way home safely. It's a remarkable accomplishment.

[20:30:44]

But from my experience, Anderson, the -- it's hard to destroy, you know, basically any target.

When the targets are buried deep underground, it is very difficult to do. And then the assessment of what the damage is, it's going to take some time. There's a DIA report. It's an initial assessment. I will say this about it. It does not say that the target was obliterated, like the president or the sect have said.

And we'll see these reports will be updated over time. What we should do is analyze this and then kind of fit this into a bigger plan of what do we do next. My -- you know, the big question I think we have out there is what do the Iranians do? Do they now race to the development of a bomb or maybe, you know, they willing to come back in and talk to us and we could get back to something like the agreement we had in 2018, the Iran agreement on --

COOPER: Yes.

KELLY: -- them enriching nuclear fuel for a weapon. And, you know, that was working. And this president chucked it out the window. And that's the reason we're in the situation we are today.

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

Coming up next, a live report from Iran and how the regime is now trying to frame this -- the conflict and the ceasefire, which for now appears to be holding.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:36:27]

COOPER: Welcome back. Earlier this evening, Israel's prime minister thanked President Trump for U.S. involvement in the Iran-Israel conflict. Now, for more on the reaction inside Israel, I want to bring in Chief International Correspondent Clarissa Ward. What have you been hearing throughout the day today?

CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I mean, perhaps unsurprisingly, we're not hearing any official reaction to this leaked report. It actually was leaked just minutes after we heard this victory speech from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Very bombastic. We have laid waste to Iran's nuclear facilities and also saying we reserve the rights if they attempt to rebuild or reconstitute to hit back again with similar force, but not addressing the sort of elephant in the room, which is were the strategic objectives that Israel set out from the get-go actually achieved.

And then we've heard from the IDF chief of staff saying, OK, new plan. Now we're pivoting and we're going to focus again on Gaza. We're going to focus on getting the hostages back. We're going to focus on toppling Hamas. And you can feel, right, the difference, Anderson --

COOPER: Yes.

WARD: -- is definitely like everyone is just feeling more relaxed.

COOPER: I mean, the airport is open, their flights.

WARD: The airport is open. The schools are opening. The home front command has dropped the state of emergency orders. So there definitely is a sense of like palpable relief and no sirens after a very wobbly start. But the question becomes now, given that the IDF chief of staff is talking about getting the focus back on Gaza and given that we saw hostage families today calling on Israel's leadership to extend this ceasefire, not just Israel and Iran, but to extend it to Gaza as well.

And given that while this 12-day conflict has been playing out, more than 860 Gazans have been killed, 50 hostages, 20 of whom are believed to live still inside Gaza. The question now becomes, could there be a moment? Could this create the space necessary, both politically for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and for others involved in it, to potentially negotiate a desperately needed ceasefire inside Gaza with the U.N. still warning of a looming famine at this humanitarian disaster, Anderson?

COOPER: Yes. Clarissa Ward, thank you very much. Appreciate it.

I want to go to CNN's Fred Pleitgen, who is one of the few Western journalists in Tehran. Fred, what have you been seeing? What have you been hearing over the last few hours?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Anderson. Well, the president of Iran, Masoud Pezeshkian, he came out earlier today. He had a bunch of phone calls with leaders here in the Gulf region, and he is portraying the ceasefire as a historic victory, as he puts it, for Iran. It was interesting because he also used the term 12-day war, similar to President Trump. He also said that this war was imposed, as he put it, on the Iranians, and that the Iranians would be willing to resolve their differences with the United States.

Now, the foreign minister of Iran, he's also come out, Abbas Araghchi, and he said that Iran is not willing to come back to the negotiating table with the United States, as he puts it, as long as aggression continues. So, clearly, the Iranians are not there yet, but the president is certainly not ruling out that there could be negotiations between the U.S. and Iran in the future. We've also heard from several other officials, as far as those strikes on the Iranian nuclear facilities are concerned. There was an adviser to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, of course, the elite wing of Iran's military, saying that they don't believe that a place like Fordow, that nuclear facility, that that could be destroyed completely in one single strike, certainly not by the U.S. military. It's unclear how far the Iranians actually are with their battlefield assessment.

And the head of Iran's Atomic Energy --

COOPER: Yes.

PLEITGEN: -- agency came out, Anderson, and said that the Iranians had anticipated strikes on their nuclear facility and actually moved a lot of the sensitive material out of those facilities before those strikes took place.

[20:40:17]

Of course, impossible to independently verify that from here, but that's the official line that Iran's Atomic --

COOPER: Yes.

PLEITGEN: -- Energy Organization is taking.

COOPER: Fred Pleitgen from Tehran. Thank you, Fred.

If the nuclear sites and material targeted in Iran were not destroyed, as sources say the initial U.S. intelligence assessment shows, and as Fred pointed, Iranian officials are claiming they moved the enriched uranium. What should the U.S. and Israel do now? I'll talk with Ambassador John Bolton next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: And welcome back to our continuing coverage from Tel Aviv. I want to bring in our next guest, John Bolton, former National Security Adviser under President Trump. In his first term, he also served as U.S. ambassador to the U.N. under President George W. Bush.

[20:45:06]

Ambassador, thanks for being here. You know, this DIA intelligence early assessment was leaked. Whether it's accurate or not, it's certainly a lot of caveats apply. It is early. There's going to be other assessments.

If what the general tone of it is accurate that this not -- the damage was not as widespread as obliterated, as the president said, what should the U.S. do? Would you see a world where there's more strikes?

JOHN BOLTON, FORMER TRUMP NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: Yes. I don't know anybody who listened to the president or the secretary of defense and the vice president and the language they used who thought it could even remotely be a justifiable at this point. It might be at some point. It might be that the analysis is closer to this leak DIA report, which I hate commenting on because I haven't seen it. I don't have any basis on which to judge it or comment on it.

I think what we're seeing here is a president driven by not U.S. national security interests, but his fascination with getting a Nobel Peace Prize. And he thought he had a mission that went flawlessly, the mission itself. I don't think anybody can find any defects in that, at least that I'm aware of. And he jumped on it and said, this is great.

Then he tried to get the ceasefire, which he created and pulled through and got upset on when it looked like that was about to fall through to muddy up his victory. This is his story to get the Nobel Peace Prize. And he doesn't want to hear any contradiction.

I think it was a mistake to call a halt to the bombing. Certainly might want to pause to get the assessment. How much damage did we do? How much more do we need to do? And I think it was a mistake to go for a ceasefire. If you want to destroy the Iranian nuclear weapons program, which I think is the right objective, it's going to take some time.

And by the way, we essentially, we and the Israelis, appear to have all the time we need because Iran's air defenses, its capability to interfere with aerial bombardment have essentially been eliminated. There was no rush here.

COOPER: The president did rush in saying completely obliterated, if you were in his national security staff, would you be expected then to parrot that language? Because it seems like from the secretary of defense, we've heard that language and others, when in fact, you know, obviously, it takes time. And it's understandable that it takes time to gather bomb damage assessment.

Well, you know, when you're a subordinate, you're supposed to support the president in public. So what I tried to do in circumstances like that would be to say, the president believes that the targets were obliterated. That is a true statement. That's what he believes.

COOPER: In terms of the, you know, diplomacy, I know you -- I mean, you have talked about you believe there should be regime change in Iran. I assume that has not changed. What do you see on the -- I mean, do you have any hope on a diplomatic front, getting Iran at a table, whether it's direct talks with U.S. or through others?

BOLTON: I think that's fruitless. I think it's a total waste of oxygen. The Iranians remain determined to get nuclear weapons. The 2015 deal that Obama struck was a huge mistake. The Iranians never should have been allowed to enrich uranium. People don't understand that enriching uranium to reactor grade levels is 70 percent of the work to enriching it to weapons grade levels.

And just being able to use the technology, the knowledge, gaining the familiarity with handling this incredibly toxic, corrosive, radioactive material strengthens their nuclear infrastructure and gives them a lot of potential for the future. We do not license nuclear technology to our best allies unless they pledge not to have uranium enrichment. And let -- yet we allowed it for the Iranians. There is no deal that I can imagine with this regime in Iran that the United States should accept.

COOPER: Yes. Ambassador John Bolton, I really appreciate your time tonight. Thank you.

Coming up next, the work toward a ceasefire and hostage deal between Israel and Hamas. We'll be right back.

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[20:53:38]

COOPER: Well, tonight, the Israel-Iran ceasefire brokered by the U.S. appears to be holding and many concerned about the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza for Palestinians and the health and safety of hostages being held by Hamas, and others are hoping attention will return to negotiations for a deal on a ceasefire and a hostage return.

According to the Israeli government, 50 hostages remain in captivity there, and of those, 20 are believed to still be alive. Among those also calling for a ceasefire and return of the hostages are my next two guests, Rachel Goldberg and Jon Polin. You likely remember their son, Hersh, was abducted by gunmen on October 7th, 2023, during the Hamas terror attack at the Novo Music Festival.

Hersh survived a long time as a hostage but was executed 330 days after being taken in a tunnel in Gaza, along with five other hostages. Hersh Goldberg-Polin was just 23 years old.

We met Hersh's parents in the difficult days after October 7th, and they have worked tirelessly to bring all the hostages home since then, and they continue to fight for those still in captivity. Just days ago, as they took cover in Israel as missiles were fired from Iran, their safe room in their home, they posted this picture.

Their safe room is their son Hersh's bedroom, and they posted this photo on social media, taken while sheltering there. The sign they're holding says, our hostages have no safe rooms. I spoke with Rachel Goldberg and Jon Polin earlier.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

[20:55:03]

COOPER: Rachel and Jon, first of all, how have you been doing during all of these?

RACHEL GOLDBERG, MOTHER OF HERSH GOLDBERG-POLIN: I will say that this has been a surreal, sort of confusing and scary time for all Israelis, we included. There's a cosmic irony that our safe room is actually Hersh's bedroom, that I know you've been in before. And for that to be the place where we're safest, where we feel Hersh the most, was this sort of paradoxical sensation during all of these missile barrages that the country was trying to deal with during these past almost two weeks. COOPER: Rachel, there are still 50 hostages being held by Hamas in Gaza. Now that there is this ceasefire in place, as fragile as it is, what is your hope? What is your message to the Israeli government, to all the parties involved?

GOLDBERG: There can be no end to this situation without those remaining 50 hostages coming home. We need to remember that the original sin, as Amos Harel pointed out, the journalist, is October 7th. This all began back 627 days ago, when all of these terrorists, sponsored by Iran, through Hamas, crossed the border, went into the kibbutzim and into a music festival, and dragged people from ages nine months to 87 years old back into Gaza.

Created all sorts of horrible situations for innocent Gazan people, as you well know, and also for innocent people who were dragged there, including Hersh, who managed to survive with five other beautiful young people for 328 days, in horrific conditions, missing one of his arms, and yet ultimately Hamas executed Hersh and these other beautiful five. And there has been no way for this country to move forward, because we are still trapped in so many ways in the trauma of what happened that morning of October 7th.

COOPER: Do you hope now that there may be a chance here, with Hamas so weakened, with Iran agreeing so far to this ceasefire, that there may be a chance to actually come up with a comprehensive solution here?

JON POLIN, FATHER OF HERSH GOLDBERG-POLIN: I think that there is such a chance. Every excuse that we've heard for 627 days of why a deal could not be done, additional threats on other borders, and there was always something, Israel has systematically removed every one of those obstacles. So I would go so far as to say that if we don't have a deal in the coming day or two that includes bringing back home all 50 hostages, this will be a wasted opportunity.

COOPER: We've seen the direct involvement of President Trump in what has occurred here over the last, you know, 12-13 days. Do you have a specific message to the Trump administration?

GOLDBERG: Well, I think that the Trump administration has proven itself from January when they started to facilitate with Mr. Witkoff as President Trump's spokesperson for the Middle East, you know, topic, that they're very serious about wanting to get these hostages home. And I will remind you that we still have two Americans being held. There are 50 human beings, and it doesn't really matter where they're from.

But we still have Itay Chen and Omer Neutra, who are American citizens, waiting to be brought home. And I know that that's important to President Trump. And there are still Christians, Jews, Buddhists, Muslims, and Hindus being held. This is not a specific type -- you know, you can't put a brand on who is in that hostage cohort. They really represent the world.

POLIN: And I want to add a message, not necessarily to the Trump administration, but to the American people, which is a reminder. On October 7th, 2023, in the horrific Hamas attack, 48 American citizens were killed that day. And since then, another almost 40 have been killed during the ongoing hostilities.

So, for the Americans who are questioning what America is doing in this region, I just want to remind Americans that 85 Americans have been killed by the Iranian proxy terror groups in the last 627 days in this conflict. America has reason to be involved here.

COOPER: Yes. Rachel and Jon, thank you so much for your time.

GOLDBERG: Thank you.

POLIN: Thank you.

COOPER: Well, that's it for us. The news continues. "The Source" with Kaitlan Collins starts now.