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Trump Administration Informed in Advance of Attack on Iran?; Israel Strikes Iran. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired June 13, 2025 - 13:00   ET

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

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ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: We begin with the breaking news unfolding right now in the Middle East, Iranian state media confirming a new round of Israeli strikes are hitting Tehran right now, just hours after Israel's punishing and unprecedented attacks on Iran began.

The opening salvo of sweeping strikes targeted key nuclear facilities, including Iran's main uranium enrichment facility in Natanz. Those attacks also killed the commander in chief of Iran's Revolutionary Guard, as well as Iran's highest-ranking military officer. This morning, Iran retaliated, launching more than 100 drones at Israel, according to Israel's military

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says his country's military operation against Iran will continue for many days. The escalating conflict is threatening to derail nuclear negotiations between the U.S. and Iran that are set for this weekend.

Enraged Iranian officials say the U.S. must be held accountable for being complicit in Israel's attacks. President Trump is expected to speak with Israel's prime minister today.

Let's go straight now to CNN's Kaitlan Collins, who is at the White House.

Kaitlan, what are you hearing?

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN HOST: Yes, and President Trump has already been on the phone with other world leaders today in essentially nonstop calls since this attack was carried out last night. He's been meeting with his national security team inside the Situation Room. That was a meeting that started about 11:00.

The last we heard, Brianna, that meeting was still under way. So we're waiting to see, once it ends, what the president has to say publicly, if anything, beyond what he's already weighed in on so far on TRUTH Social and in phone calls with reporters and whether or not it results in any changes to U.S. military posturing, because obviously a concern here would be how Iran is going to retaliate if they do in response to this and if they target U.S. personnel or U.S. interests.

That's something that Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned against last night in that first initial reaction that we got out of the United States as Israel was striking Iran. And there was clearly some indication here at the White House that this strike was coming, that this was going to happen.

President Trump suggested as much yesterday when he was speaking publicly about intelligence that they had seen, conversations that he had had with the Israeli prime minister, where he was saying publicly, Brianna, that he did not believe Israel should strike Iran or was warning against it out of a concern that he said it could potentially blow up those diplomatic talks that have been ongoing and that are still or were scheduled to happen on Sunday.

It's a big question whether or not that remains to still be on. The president certainly seems to hope so. His message to Iran today in response to this devastating attack by Israel that has killed Iranian nuclear scientists and top military commanders in Iran has essentially been continue to try to make a deal with the United States on a nuclear deal or these attacks are going to potentially get worse.

That is something we have seen Israeli officials have been echoing, that they are going to continue with these attacks, that this is not the end of this. So that remains to be seen right now, Brianna, as we're still waiting to see if President Trump will appear on camera publicly today to address what happened in Iran last night.

KEILAR: All right, Kaitlan, thank you so much for that.

Let's turn now to see in a national security correspondent Kylie Atwood.

Kylie, this obviously could endanger these talks between the U.S. and Iran. Where do they stand right now?

KYLIE ATWOOD, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, President Trump today has been trying to make the case that the Israeli strikes on Iran overnight should compel Iran to continue those talks, to come back to the table, saying effectively that they have a second chance now, their first chance being the first 60 days because he set out a 60-day deadline for Iran to reach a nuclear deal with the United States.

But that deadline passed yesterday. President Trump saying that they must make a deal before they have nothing less, effectively saying that there will be further strikes on Iran if they don't come to the table. U.S. officials are still saying, as of this hour, that they intend for those talks that were scheduled to take place in Oman over the weekend to still happen.

But when you talk to sources who are familiar with the planning for those talks, they are highly skeptical that that will indeed happen. But this remains an open point of discussion, Brianna. [13:05:08]

KEILAR: All right, Kylie, we know you will continue to track this. Thank you so much -- Boris.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Let's get more from the Israeli perspective of these strikes.

With us now is international spokesperson for the IDF Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani.

Colonel, thank you so much for being with us.

How would you describe the level of coordination between the IDF and the United States on these strikes? Was there approval from the White House for them?

LT. COL. NADAV SHOSHANI, IDF INTERNATIONAL SPOKESPERSON: Well, I don't want to speak on behalf of the White House. I can speak on behalf of the IDF and the Israeli military.

Since the beginning of the war, we have had great coordination and cooperation with our American counterparts, mostly CENTCOM and General Kurilla, amazing leadership. It wouldn't be an overstatement to say that the cooperation between Israel and the U.S. has saved lives, has contributed to the stability of the Middle East.

And, obviously, in this case, like in any other significant case, we communicated with our partners in advance. We communicated in real time in making sure that we are conducting this in a way that is beneficial for us, but also in a way that doesn't harm our counterparts. But this is an Israeli operation, as we call it, a blue and white operation, of our aircrafts targeting those nuclear targets of the Iranian regime.

SANCHEZ: This was the most extensive strike on Iran in decades. And, obviously, it's made clear by Israeli officials that this is just the start of what is expected to be a multiday, possibly multiweek campaign.

Is Israel's goal to trigger regime change in Iran?

SHOSHANI: No, I think our goal is very clear and very simple.

We see an existential threat posed on us by a regime, an extreme regime that has swear -- has sworn to destroy us, to annihilate us. They have a clock in their capital in Tehran counting back to the destruction of Israel, and they are secretly advancing into having a nuclear weapon.

And that is just something we cannot expect -- accept. We are in the 11th hour. We had to operate before it's too late, before they have weapons of mass destruction, and that's exactly what we did. We operate in a preventive way to prevent them from having weapons of mass destruction. And this is not just something we think of. This is something they act

upon. In the last 20 months, thousands of Israelis have been killed by Iran and their proxies. They have been fighting us for years through their proxies and directly recently, intensifying their attacks against us and secretly advancing their nuclear program in a way that is a danger for Israel, but, honestly, quite frankly, for the whole region.

SANCHEZ: I wonder if the IDF or perhaps the Israeli government is preparing to share that evidence you say you have that Iran was at the 11th hour of manufacturing a nuclear bomb. What evidence is there?

SHOSHANI: Well, we -- that's obviously very sensitive intelligence that we have shared with our counterparts, not something that I can share on air, but intelligence that we shared with our counterparts.

You can also see the statement made by the committee that's in charge of overlooking the nuclear program in Iran just a day-and-a-half ago, where they stated that Iran is doing things they are not supposed to -- that are not according to the agreements.

And we know, according to our intelligence, Iran is advancing towards a nuclear weapon. They're taking steps that can only be -- understand in one way, that they are advancing to this weapon of mass destruction, trying to build this dangerous weapon that we cannot allow them to have.

SANCHEZ: If the broader goal of Israel is to prevent Iran from enriching uranium to the point that they can use it to arm a nuclear weapon, our latest reporting indicates that, in order to completely dismantle that program, you would need to access bunkers that are very deep underground inside Iranian territory.

Can Israel do that without U.S. assistance?

SHOSHANI: Well, I think we have said our goal very clearly. Our goal is to make sure that they don't have a nuclear bomb. I think you're speaking about saying there is zero elements.

Iran, for decades, has been building their weapons and their nuclear program in a spread-out way throughout Iran underground. It is something that is going to take time to combat, but our mission is right now just to find that ticking time bomb and deal with it and make sure they don't have a nuclear plan.

And that is exactly what we're doing. And we believe that we are in the right direction, achieving great achievements in this, in at times and in different sites where Iran is trying to create a nuclear bomb.

SANCHEZ: If that goal ultimately, though, is delayed because there isn't regime change, as you have said that Israel does not necessarily want in Iran, and they maintain some level of uranium enrichment, then is the only solution some kind of diplomatic effort?

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And do these strikes not derail that diplomatic effort that President Trump says he wants with Tehran?

SHOSHANI: Well, for us, the outcome is the only thing that matters. We need to make sure that Iran doesn't have a nuclear weapon held up against us when they vow to use it to destruct us, whether it's through an agreement or military action.

And what we have seen recently is, even though they're holding those conversations, they are advancing. They are days away from having nuclear weapons. They have enriched material enough for 15 nuclear bombs. So we understand we have to act. It's not a question of a theoretical question. It is a clicking time bomb on the table right now that we have to deal with.

We have the responsibility to make sure that the people of -- Israel's security. We have the responsibility to make sure that this existential threat is not posed against our people without acting against it. And for years, we have called upon the world to act against it -- against this. We have called upon the international community to prevent Iran from reaching their goal.

And their goal is to have the means to destruct Israel. And they are getting there and we have to stop them.

SANCHEZ: The IDF is calling up tens of thousands of soldiers to prepare for the Iranian response, which up to this point, in comparison, for example, to what we saw last October, has been relatively limited. What kind of retaliation are you anticipating?

SHOSHANI: Well, as we're speaking now, my phone is buzzing because warnings are given out throughout Israel to civilians to be near safe rooms because of an imminent Iranian attack, a possible Iranian attack.

We have seen throughout the day over 100 UAVs fired towards Israel. We have been able to intercept most of them, all of them. But we have seen in the past they have fired hundreds of ballistic missiles towards Israel. These are missiles that can carry tons of explosives.

One missile can explode an entire building, and they have fired hundreds of them towards Israel. They can do that again, and we have to be prepared to defend ourselves against that threat. And that's exactly what we plan on doing so. And we're ready. We're ready to fight this regime that wants to annihilate us, that is working towards that, and we're ready to defend ourselves when they attack us.

SANCHEZ: And, Colonel, if you do need to go at any moment, please don't let us stop you.

I do want to ask you more broadly about the argument that, as a sovereign state, Iran should have the right to enrich uranium, not for a weapon, but for civilian use, to produce nuclear energy for its power plants. If other countries have that right, why not Iran?

SHOSHANI: Well, I think there's two things we need to look at in that sense. One is, Iran, which is different from most of the countries in the

world, has spoken publicly about their will to destroy us and annihilate us. They have acted upon it. They have created this plan to -- the destruction of Israel plan that they have been trying to carry out that we have been fighting for the last 20 months.

And the second thing is, what we have seen in recent months, and I spoke about it, is -- and people who have studied how nuclear bomb works -- what they are doing now is using this enriched uranium for purposes that are -- can't be explained in any other way than a nuclear bomb, not civilian purposes. That is part of the intelligence we have found, that they are advancing towards a nuclear bomb.

What they are doing cannot be explained as a civilian purpose, and they are making steps forward to a nuclear bomb specifically, not just enriching uranium.

SANCHEZ: Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani, we have to leave the conversation there. We very much appreciate your time and your sharing your point of view.

SHOSHANI: Thank you very much.

SANCHEZ: We're going to have much more on Israel's strikes inside Iran, including the economic fallout, as President Trump tells "The Wall Street Journal" the attacks ultimately would be -- quote -- "great" for markets. And, at first blush, it seems investors don't agree.

Plus, we're hearing from the survivor of that Air India plane crash, nothing short of a miracle. He talks about the terrifying last moments on board the aircraft, and how, in his words, everything happened in front of his eyes.

Stay with CNN NEWS CENTRAL. We're back in just a few minutes.

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KEILAR: Israel releasing remarkable behind the scenes images from Mossad, its spy agency.

It says the video shows operatives smuggling weapons into Iran, setting up drone bases in the country ahead of the strikes. An Israeli security official says Mossad also smuggled precision weapons into central Iran and positioned them near surface-to-air missile systems, which were targeted for strikes. The official says video also shows Mossad operatives deploying strikes on vehicles inside Iran.

CNN's Matthew Chance is with us now.

Matthew, what are you learning? What are you hearing from Iran?

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CHIEF GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, I mean, look, Iran has been suffering some painful attacks over the course of the past, what, 15, 18 hours also from now.

There is a lot of expectation in Israel that there is going to be retaliation. There has already been some retaliation, of course, in the form of about 100 drones intercepted by Israel en route -- or -- and other countries, in fact, en route across the airspace towards Israel.

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But Iran has a large ballistic missile capability. And so Israel is kind of bracing itself for a much more concerted response by Iran. At the same time, it's also saying that this operation is not at an end, that there are more strikes that will take place over the coming days before they realize their objective of removing the threat of the Iranian nuclear sort of ambition and their ballistic missile program.

I think the big question is, is, to what extent are Iran -- or is Iran able to respond effectively? It does have these ballistic missiles, but the target of the attacks by Israel were its missile defense systems, its ballistic missile systems, the leadership of military forces that would give the order potentially to carry out attacks like this.

So I think, to some extent, it's been shocked and paralyzed by the extent and the range and the impact of the Israeli strikes. You also have to remember that Israel's sort of first line of defense, if you like, against -- sorry -- Iran's first line of defense against Israel was always its proxies in the region, particularly Hezbollah, but also Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

There were factors inside Syria as well that played a role in sort of striking Israel on behalf of Iran. And those players have all been taken out over the course of the past 12 months. There is no more sort of effective Hezbollah. Hamas has been, obviously, severely degraded and there's been a change of regime inside Syria.

And so while there are a few sort of proxies in the region, Iran doesn't have anything like the capability to strike back at Israel that it had, say, 12 months ago. And that's, I think, a significant factor in all of this.

KEILAR: Yes, that's such a good point, Matthew.

Matthew Chance, thank you so much.

And this just in: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel coordinated with the U.S. in advance of the attack on Iran and the Trump administration knew about the strike. Moments ago, we learned that the president's meeting with national security officials has just ended.

SANCHEZ: Let's get some point of view from CNN political and national security analyst David Sanger. He's a White House and national security correspondent for "The New York Times."

David, I guess we're all anticipating a response from Iran after these attacks. What do you think it looks like? And what's the likelihood that, given that its proxies in the region have been decimated and that a lot of its military capability has been hampered, it resorts to terrorism?

DAVID SANGER, CNN POLITICAL AND NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Well, Boris, as you just heard from Matthew, their choices are much more limited now.

Their strategy had been one of using Hamas and Hezbollah to do close- in attacks on Israel if this day ever came, and they're not in shape to do that. Their second plan, of course, is to use their missile capability, which was widely intercepted in the last attacks on Israel in the fall.

So they will probably attempt that again, betting that the U.S. may not be as well-positioned to help Israel intercept those these time -- this time. But you're right. Terrorism could be an obvious answer, and the other could be cyber. Iran developed an extraordinarily skillful cyber capability after the U.S.-Israeli cyberattacks on the Natanz plant, the same plant that was attacked last night from the air.

And they have an ability to cause a lot of trouble in a highly wired society like Israel, and I wouldn't be surprised if you see them unleash that.

KEILAR: And what are you looking for out of the conversation between Trump and Netanyahu?

SANGER: Well, this is a delicate one for President Trump, because he had asked Netanyahu in previous weeks to delay doing this so as not to get in the way of the diplomacy.

And, as recently as yesterday, Brianna, we heard him say the same thing at the White House, where he said that this could really mess up his negotiations that were under way. By that time, he knew the attack was coming, and at one point he mused, well, who knows, maybe it'll help it.

Today, he made the argument that, well, Iran had gone one day beyond the two-month deadline that he had set when he wrote his first letter to the supreme leader of Iran, Ayatollah Khamenei, saying there needed to be a quick negotiation to solve this problem. And he basically wrote in a post, you guys had this coming and you better get to a deal now.

I'm not sure that's possible at this moment.

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SANCHEZ: So, given your reporting, is it likely that Netanyahu went ahead without at least tacit approval from the administration?

SANGER: I don't think he asked for approval, Boris. I'd be surprised if he did. Most national leaders don't. You will remember that, when George W. Bush made the decision to go ahead and attack Iraq, he didn't wait around for the approval of the United Nations Security Council, which he knew wouldn't be forthcoming, or the U.N. more fully, or even many of the allies other than Britain, which joined in it.

So countries, and when they come to defending their sovereignty, tend to say, we will inform you, but we're not going to go seek a permission slip.

KEILAR: So, when Trump is saying, we knew everything, what is he saying and what do you think he did not know?

SANGER: Well, I think he certainly knew the timing. He probably knew the outlines of the plan. He needed to know those because there's every possibility that Iran's retaliation would include retaliation against American bases in the region.

And if that's the case, the U.S. needs a heads-up to put together the kind of defenses that you have just seen in the past 24 hours, including sending a lot of American troops to at least drill, getting rapidly into bunkers and things like that, putting anti-missile defenses in place.

Whether he knew what the exact targets were, whether he knew that Israel would seek to decapitate the military and the nuclear leadership, I don't know if he understood the details of that. And it's possible that Netanyahu didn't want to go share. It'll take a while for us to learn, but, given the amount that both sides are talking about this, I think we will learn this pretty quickly.

SANCHEZ: And, David, to the point you made a moment ago about Trump musing that these attacks might actually help negotiations, we have gotten confirmation from Axios that President Trump, in their reporting, has told Axios that he believes that this will actually move negotiations seriously.

He says -- quote -- "Maybe now they will negotiate more seriously."

I mean, that seems unlikely.

SANGER: Seems highly unlikely to me. I mean, here, they are talking in the facilities they were debating about, whether or not they would turn them down from making near weapons grade material to making commercial reactor grade, whether they would give up enrichment.

They're looking at the smoking ruins of parts of those. And I think the natural reaction politically in Iran would be, we're going to rebuild, but down deeper, where the Israelis can't get us next time.

And I think that's the big risk here for us, Boris, which is that, in past attacks, including the Stuxnet cyberattack on the Iranian facilities that the U.S. and Israel did together, the reaction to it was that, after a short-term setback, the Iranians built bigger and better and more centrifuges than ever before. And I wouldn't be surprised if they're going to try the same now.

KEILAR: David, how is the U.S. viewing how Iran reacted militarily to Israel's attack? SANGER: I think people were somewhat stunned that their defenses were

so low. I mean, look, this was pretty well-telegraphed, right? All you had to do was tune in to CNN, read "The New York Times," "The Washington Post," "The Wall Street Journal" or any wire service, and you had a pretty good idea that an attack might be coming.

And yet many of the commanders appear to have been asleep in their apartments. The entire air -- if you believe the Israeli account of events, and we haven't confirmed this yet, the Iranian air force leaders were gathered in a conference room. The Israelis had excellent intelligence about where they were, and struck it and killed many, if not all of them.

So I would say that the Iranians walked into this pretty terribly defended, in part because the Israelis took out a lot of their air defenses on October 26 in that last missile exchange.

KEILAR: David Sanger, great to talk with you at this critical moment. Thank you so much.

SANGER: Good to be with you.

KEILAR: And still ahead: A flight recorder has been recovered from that Air India plane that crashed moments after takeoff -- ahead, what that means for investigators and what more we're learning about the lone survivor of the crash.

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