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Trump Urges Expansion of Deportations in Democratic-Run Cities; At Home Chain files for Bankruptcy, Citing Tariffs; Netanyahu: Israel Military Controls the Skies Over Tehran; Judge Dismisses Juror, Raises Concerns About Another. Aired 2:30-3p ET

Aired June 16, 2025 - 14:30   ET

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

[14:30:00]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: President Trump is now explicitly targeting large Democratic-run cities in his immigration crackdown, urging ICE agents to, quote, do all in their power to deliver on his mass deportation program. Specifically, he wants immigration officers to focus on places that he calls the Democratic Power Center, cities like Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York. The president actually spoke about it at the G7 summit in Canada earlier today.

Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Of that vast numbers of those people were murderers, killers, people from gangs, people from jails. They emptied their jails out into the U.S. Most of those people are in the cities, all blue cities, all Democrat-run cities. And they think they're going to use them to vote.

It's not going to happen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Let's turn to CNN correspondent Priscilla Alvarez. And let's zero in, Priscilla, on that last statement from the president, the idea that Democrats are using these migrants to help them win elections. That's shades of the Great Replacement theory.

PRISILLA ALVAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, and it is illegal for anyone to vote that is not a U.S. citizen in federal and state elections. So that has been clear. It is in the books.

But the president today has been noting that he wants Immigration Customs Enforcement and the administration as a whole to expand their enforcement operations in these Democratic-led cities. And sources that I've spoken with have said that there has already been an operation underway to target nearly two dozen or around two dozen Democratic-led cities. And so what the president is teasing here is to see more of that.

Now, this shouldn't come as a surprise. The president and senior Trump officials have repeatedly blasted these cities, some of which limit their cooperation with federal immigration enforcement authorities. We sometimes call those sanctuary cities, so there's no clear definition of what they are.

But they have been criticized by Trump officials. So the fact that they want to double down on this is not entirely surprising. And White House border czar Tom Homan has repeatedly said he is willing to go into these communities to arrest people.

So certainly it seems to be trending more and more in that direction, according to what the president has said. But certainly this becomes complicated for the officers doing the work, because typically they'll try to create a target list and they'll have a whole team as they go after public safety and national security threats. But when you start to take these tactics, it starts to become an anyone and everyone, especially as they're trying to meet these White House-imposed quotas.

And it can be complicated in some states where there are large undocumented populations. California, Texas, Florida, New York, New Jersey, and Illinois, those are the top five here on the map, states with the highest undocumented population. Two of those are Republican- led.

So the politics of this can also get quite tricky. But this is really in the beginning phases of this new chapter by which they are just trying to arrest as many people as possible as part of this mass deportation pledge of the president.

SANCHEZ: Which then also could lead to problems with racial profiling, etc. I do want to ask you about another thing the president mentioned there, what he calls the criminal element of immigration. You have some new reporting that indicates that of the people that have been detained, very few of them actually have criminal records.

ALVAREZ: So we obtained internal data that gives us a better breakdown of what convictions and charges we're talking about here when we hear the administration talk about those who they are arresting. So 75 percent had no criminal conviction other than an immigration or traffic-related offense. Less than 10 percent were convicted of serious crimes like murder, assault, robbery, or rape.

So the administration will cast everyone as having a criminal record. And perhaps there are a large amount, as this data shows, that have a record or charges, but the charges themselves are minor offenses.

[14:35:04]

So when you start to look at the data, you can start to piece together how -- who exactly they are booking into Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody. Now, when we asked the Department of Homeland Security about this, they said that in Trump's first 100 days, 75 percent of ICE arrests were criminal, illegal aliens with convictions or pending charges. But again, that leaves open what are those convictions or charges, and as we were looking at the data, we saw that many of those were immigration or traffic-related offenses.

All of this to save worse, that it can get so complicated and so nuanced, and sometimes that is often lost in the debate. And every source that I've talked to up until this point says that it could get even more muddied moving forward, especially when they're trying to arrest as many people as possible.

SANCHEZ: But it is so important to keep that nuance in mind, and we appreciate you bringing it to us. Priscilla Alvarez, thank you so much -- Brianna.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Tariff troubles hitting one American retailer hard. The At Home chain, which provides housewares and other products for the home, is filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, pinning the blame on higher tariffs.

CNN's Matt Egan is here with details on this, and Matt, what's going to happen to At Home locations?

MATT EGAN, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Well, Brianna, At Home stresses that it is not going out of business. The company says that most of its 260 stores across 40 states will remain open. Emphasis, though, on most, because the Wall Street Journal does report that the company could end up shuttering about 20 of its stores. Unclear at this point which stores specifically are on the chopping block.

But look, the goal here is to try to clean up what was an overleveraged balance sheet. The company says that this bankruptcy is going to allow it to eliminate substantially all of its $2 billion in debt.

It reached an agreement with lenders to get a $200 million cash infusion to keep the company alive as it navigates the bankruptcy filing. Now, as far as why At Home is going bankrupt, yes, the CEO did point the finger at the trade war.

Saying in a statement, We are operating against the backdrop of an increasingly dynamic and rapidly evolving trade environment as we navigate the impact of tariffs.

And we know that At Home does sell a variety of products exposed to tariffs, especially those very high and fluctuating tariffs out of China.

Some of those products include furniture, rugs, lighting, and various accessories around the home. And we also know the tariff revenue being taken in by the federal government has been skyrocketing. The federal government reported taking in $23 billion in tariff revenue in May alone.

Some context, that's almost quadruple the tariff revenue that was taken in in May of last year. And we know that companies that are importing goods from overseas, they're often the ones paying those tariffs. Now, analysts say there were probably some other issues at play here beyond tariffs, right?

At Home obviously had this mountain of debt on its balance sheet. Company faces a lot of competition. It also is exposed to shifts in consumer spending caused by low consumer confidence and the sluggish housing market.

But look, no matter the cause, this company joins a growing list of retailers going bankrupt. And economists and industry analysts, they say the longer that this trade war goes on, the more companies that are on the brink that could end up going bankrupt -- Brianna.

KEILAR: Matt Egan, thank you so much for that.

And still ahead, the Israeli military says it has downed two Iranian fighter jets. We'll have details next.

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(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: We're following breaking news out of the Middle East. Israel says it's downed two Iranian F-14 jets at an airport in Tehran. The IDF says the two aircraft were intending to intercept Israeli aircraft.

And Israel says that it's also destroyed 120 of Iran's missile launchers. That's more than a third of its missile capability, according to Israel.

Meantime, Iran targeting an Israeli oil refinery and damaging the power grid overnight. Israel's Iron Dome defense system scrambled to intercept the Iranian missiles. At least 24 people in Israel have been killed in the latest wave of these airstrikes. And some residential areas have been heavily damaged.

Something like 224 Iranians have reportedly died.

Joining us more to talk about all of these developments is retired Air Force Colonel Cedric Leighton, a CNN military analyst. Colonel Leighton, we just got an update that now Israel is targeting some surface-to-surface missiles in Iran.

Help us understand what that means.

COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: So basically what you're talking about is missiles like this. This happens to be the Haj Qasem missile, which is a new missile that the Iranians have, a relatively new missile. And it's designed to basically travel not only faster than most of the Iranian missiles, but it could potentially be a hypersonic missile.

So if that's the case, missiles like this are the ones that you want to get rid of. They look very similar to some Chinese designs, so it tells you something about the technology transfer that is helping the Iranians achieve these kinds of weapons production goals.

SANCHEZ: That's a significant point. When Israel says that it's achieved supremacy in the skies over Iran, what exactly does that mean?

LEIGHTON: Basically, Boris, what it means is they can attack everything that you see here. And what they're really telling you is that Israeli jets can fly basically unchallenged throughout any part of Iran. Any of these areas right here, these include major bases like Shiraz, for example, Kermanshah, Isfahan.

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All of these are major bases that the Iranians have. So every city include major bases like Shiraz, for example, Kermanshah, Isfahan. All of these are major bases that the Iranians have.

So every single air defense system that they have in Iran is at risk, and you mentioned earlier that about one third of them had been hit. That does not mean that they're necessarily completely destroyed, but their effectiveness has been reduced so that it's almost ineffective.

SANCHEZ: Iran has also had some success in penetrating the Iron Dome and Israel's defense systems. What does that look like?

LEIGHTON: So let's take a look. Well, let's take a look at the Iron Dome. This is what the Iron Dome actually looks like.

So it has basically -- these are all missile launchers right here. So when you're looking at each one of these areas, this is basically what's happening.

Iran has been able to hit about Israeli targets with about 10 percent of the missiles that they have available to them. The rest of them, about 90 percent or so, are actually being shot down, not only by the Iron Dome, but you also have systems like the Arrow system, which is their high-level system. Then you have David Sling.

Those are the kinds of missile systems that really take out a lot of what the Iranians are flying into Israel, but 10 percent is still enough to cause considerable damage in places like Tel Aviv and Haifa, two of Israel's major cities.

SANCHEZ: Especially when the way that they're launching these missiles, the way that they're spacing it out, that pace is set to go on for at least several more days. How much longer do you think Iran could keep this up?

LEIGHTON: So Iran is purported to have somewhere around 3,000 missiles. Now this was before all of this started, so obviously their inventory is much less than what it was at the beginning of this conflict. However, what the Iranians can do is they probably have somewhere around anywhere from 1,000 to 2,000 missiles still left that they can potentially use, but all the launch sites are being targeted, and in some cases, the Israelis have been able to get at the Iranian launch sites as the Iranians are trying to launch those missiles.

So basically, they're targeting them in real time, and the way they're doing that is actually quite significant. It shows that there's a very quick turnaround time between the intelligence that they receive and their ability to strike those targets.

SANCHEZ: Colonel Leighton, thanks so much for the analysis. LEIGHTON: You bet, Boris.

SANCHEZ: Still plenty more news to come this afternoon.

The latest on the criminal trial of Sean Diddy Combs, a juror has been dismissed, and the judge now says there is an issue with another. We have the latest from the courtroom when we come back.

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(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Some new developments to share with you in the Sean Diddy Combs criminal trial as week six of testimony resumed this morning. The judge dismissing a 41-year-old male juror over what he says are inconsistencies in his disclosures about where he lives and with whom.

KEILAR: And there's an apparent unrelated issue with a second juror that will be addressed once court ends for the day.

CNN entertainment correspondent Elizabeth Wagmeister is outside of the federal courthouse there for us. Elizabeth, tell us more about this situation, about both these jurors and what the judge is saying.

ELIZABETH WAGMEISTER, ENTERTAINMENT CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is a major development to have a juror thrown off of the case six weeks into an eight to ten week trial is obviously very significant. And as you said, the reason why the judge reached this decision is because he said that this particular juror, juror number six, was inconsistent with what the judge called basic facts about himself. Those basic facts being where he lives and with whom.

During jury selection, this juror said that he had lived in the Bronx. Well, it turns out that he actually lives in New Jersey.

Now Combs' team had been fighting hard to keep this juror on the case. In fact, last night they had filed an opposition to dismissing this juror and they have said that it would be racially motivated to eject this juror off the case. Why? Well, this juror is a black man and the alternate juror who was now put into his place is a white man.

Now, the judge did not agree with this. In fact, I want to read you exactly what the judge said this morning on that matter.

The judge said, quote, It would be improper to let the race of the juror and the alternate juror factor into the proper course here.

Now Combs' team in that opposition that they filed last night, they had said that Mr. Combs would be, quote, severely prejudiced if the juror was removed. And they also had said that this juror was the most similar to Mr. Combs. Now, final point, as you brought up, there could be another issue with yet another juror.

Sorry about that ambulance. We are in the middle of New York City at the courthouse. But if there is an issue with another juror that arises, the judge has said it is completely unrelated to juror number six.

SANCHEZ: Elizabeth Wagmeister, thanks so much for the reporting.

Up next, we have new details on the first court hearing for the man charged with shooting two Minnesota state lawmakers and their spouses. One lawmaker and her husband were killed. The other two remain in the hospital.

Stay with CNN NEWS CENTRAL. We're back in moments.

[14:55:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Back on the world stage, President Trump meeting with G7 leaders, not only amid ongoing trade tensions, but also as the military conflict between Israel and Iran escalates.

Plus, the man charged with murder in the fatal shootings of a Minnesota lawmaker and her husband making his first appearance in front of a judge. We have the latest from the courtroom.

KEILAR: And easing scrutiny of the oil industry. Some staffers at the Environmental Protection Agency are told to stop enforcing violations against fossil fuel companies. We're following these major developing stories and many more all coming in right here to CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

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