Return to Transcripts main page

CNN News Central

Trump To Meet Today With National Security Team In Situation Room; U.S. Attorney: Minnesota Shooter "Stalked His Victims Like Prey"; Soon: Jurors Reconvene For Deliberations In Karen Read Retrial. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired June 17, 2025 - 07:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:30:20]

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: All right. This morning sirens have been sounding across Israel warning of new waves of incoming missiles as Iran warns its attacks will intensify in the coming hours.

Also just this morning after warning citizens of Tehran to evacuate immediately, President Trump said he is not negotiating a ceasefire but wants an end -- a complete end to the conflict, insisting it all could have been avoided if Iran had just done the deal.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I don't know. I've been negotiating. I told them to do the deal. They should have the deal. Their cities have been blown to pieces, and they've lost a lot of people. They should have done the deal. I told them do the deal. So I don't know. I'm not too much in a mood to negotiate.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: Much of the back-and-forth between Israel and Iran unfolding before all of our eyes live on television. This is the moment Iranian state TV was hit by an Israeli strike while it was on the air.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

IRANIAN STATE TV IN-AIR ANCHOR: (Speaking foreign language).

Israeli strike hits television station building.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: CNN's Nic Robertson is on the ground in Tel Aviv. You're listening there, Nic, to the sounds of an anchor that was on the air when the television station was attacked.

I'm curious there in Israel what you are experiencing this morning.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yeah. What we've been able to see and hear over the last night is really less Iranian missiles incoming into Israel. There were sort of three, in central Israel, times where the sirens went off where people were forced to go and take shelter.

But the number of missiles incoming that we were seeing seemed lower than on previous evenings and it's not clear why, and that's the conclusion that's being drawn by the IDF as well. The IDF is saying that they saw less rockets, less ballistic missiles being fired by Iran into Israel overnight.

Now, they're saying that could be in part because they are managing to take out some of the missile launchers as they're about to launch. That they've been able to take out some of the missile production and storage facilities. But the IDF spokesperson -- military spokesperson also indicated that there could be other reasons.

I think it's notable, in fact, if you compare it to the previous couple of nights, Tel Aviv really escaped any launch or any significant bombardment. And as far as we know so far there have been -- there were no casualties overnight. And this could indicate Iran -- I say could because we don't know for sure -- it could indicate Iran is either running out of the ability to fight or is pausing -- or is choosing to have a slight pause in their attack efforts to send perhaps a signal for diplomacy isn't clear.

But the IDF military spokespeople giving an assessment now of the impact of the last few days of war, and it's not just the human impact -- 24 dead, 647 people injured. There's the economic impact as well. More than 15,000 buildings have been registered as damaged. More than 1,200 vehicles have been registered as damaged.

And we're also hearing from these military officials for the first time -- for the first time indicating that military bases have been hit as well, as well as all of the civilian infrastructure we've seen.

But the conclusion from last night, the tempo down a bit. Not clear it's going to sustain that way.

SIDNER: All right. Thank you so much to you and your crew for all of your reporting this morning there in Tel Aviv -- John.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, with us now is CNN global affairs analyst Brett McGurk. He's former White House coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa who has been deeply involved in discussions in and around Iran for many, many years.

And Brett, what I want to focus on is President Trump headed to the Situation Room this morning and much of the discussion might be focused around one site in particular -- one nuclear site. I just want to put it on the map here so people can see. It's the Fordow nuclear enrichment site. We can push in a little bit to get people a sense of what it looks like -- the area looks like.

Why is this site so important?

BRETT MCGURK, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST, FORMER WHITE HOUSE COORDINATOR FOR THE MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA, NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL: Well John, I think the president should be in the Situation Room today. It's the Situation Room actually created by JFK after the Bay of Pigs fiasco for a situation like this to provide full spectrum awareness for a president as he makes -- has to make critical decisions.

And there are three immediate priorities, and one of them is what you just mentioned.

[07:35:00]

But number one, the protection of Americans in the region and the protection Israel. We have to surge the missile interceptors into Israel. We're doing that. As Nic just said, a very small number of missiles yesterday. It looks like about 10. We can't draw a conclusion yet, but the Israelis are taking out not only the missiles but the launchers -- very important.

Second, you want to contain this conflict to Israel and Iran and not have regional spread. So far, that objective is being met and I think the signals that the administration is putting out are very good.

Third, and this gets to your point, you want to keep, particularly the Israelis, focused on the stated objectives of this military campaign. The stated objectives are dismantling the nuclear program and the missile program. That's it. You want to avoid mission creep.

Now, on the -- on the nuclear program there are three main sites -- two enrichment sites. One at Natanz, much of which is above ground; some below ground. The Israelis appear to have very effectively targeted that site.

The second enrichment facility is an underground facility called Fordow, which you just mentioned. Deep underground, dug into a mountain. It was an undisclosed facility until 2009 when it was discovered by intelligence and announced. Iran has very advanced centrifuges in that facility. Just last week before this started, they threatened to spin fuel through those advanced centrifuges enriching just below weapons grade.

Now, to take out that Fordow facility it really takes a U.S. military operation with a B2 bomber, and you can see our military actually positioning for that possibility.

But there's an off-ramp and the president has made very clear there's a deal on the table. Steve Witkoff, his envoy, put a deal on the table about six weeks ago. Iran did not answer that. They actually escalated their program in response. And what the president is saying and the White House is saying is to Iran, hey, go back and take a -- take another look at that and tell us you're ready to take the deal and this will be over.

So that's where we stand right now. At the end of the day, John, this has to end with Iran's nuclear program dismantled and Fordow really is the key. It can a deal, and we can all hope for a deal, or it can be a military operation. BERMAN: Again, this is another look at Fordow right here. You can see this area right here is where the centrifuges are believed to be buried deep inside the mountain here.

And what Brett was just talking about is it's believed that the only way to destroy this is through a U.S. weapon -- the B2 bombers dropping what's called this bunker-buster bomb -- the GBU-57 here.

How -- what do you think that discussion is like, Brett, about whether or not the U.S. should get involved here? Benjamin Netanyahu has all but explicitly said hey, come on, drop this bomb.

MCGURK: Yeah. I have to say that the U.S. military has trained on this for over a decade. This munition was kind of designed for this purpose. Now look, there have been massive risks about such an operation like this.

The number one risk used to be Hezbollah. Hezbollah had 150,000 to 200,000 missiles and rockets aiming at Israel. Hezbollah has been knocked on its back. Number two has been Iranian air defenses. They had Russian air defense systems. A very high risk of taking down airplanes. Those are no longer there. So those risks have basically been eliminated.

Iran can certainly respond. I would never downplay the risk of any military operation. But I would just say this is a very feasible option. Iran knows it. It's important they know it for the purpose of trying to get a diplomatic resolution to this problem and the problem of Fordow. I think that, right now, is the main objective but it takes the military pressure to get Iran to the table and to do that deal.

This is really going to unfold here over the next three to four days. I think it's a -- it's a very critical period. I'm watching today. Can Iran again muster another missile barrage or are they really now --

BERMAN: Yeah.

MCGURK: -- deleted?

BERMAN: And Brett, you use the term "coercive diplomacy." That's what's happening here. What is that exactly?

MCGURK: Well, coercive diplomacy is what this administration and past administrations have used fairly effectively with the Iranians. Number one, economic sanctions, economic pressure; and number two, the threat of military force if Iran does not demonstrate to the world this program is peaceful.

And I just have to say last week, John, the IAEA issued a report -- a very comprehensive report. It was asked for last year. And they found Iran to be an egregious failure to live up to its nonproliferation commitments. And 19 countries then voted in the Board of Governors in Vienna in the IAEA, the International Atomic Energy Agency, that Iran was in violation of its obligations. The first time in 20 years.

What did Iran do? It announced escalations of its program, including in that Fordow site.

BERMAN: Yeah.

MCGURK: So Iran has made terrible choices here and now the onus is on them to try to come to the table and take the deal that's been offered.

BERMAN: Yeah. The next 24 hours, next 48 hours so crucial.

[07:40:00]

Brett McGurk, thank you so much for helping us understand what's happening probably in the Situation Room as we speak this morning -- Sara.

SIDNER: All right, thank you so much, John.

New details this morning on the Minnesota man charged with shooting two state lawmakers and their spouses, killing at state lawmaker and her husband. We learned he also targeted others. Officials say Vance Boelter stopped at the homes of two other lawmakers on the night of the shooting. Investigators also say Boelter meticulously planned his attacks, stalked his victims, and used police-style disguises to trick them.

Authorities found multiple notebooks with the names of dozens of lawmakers and public officials in Minnesota and other states, most of them Democrats.

Inside his abandoned SUV investigators found firearms, including semiautomatic assault-style rifles with a large quantity of ammunition.

Joining us now is CNN legal analyst and criminal defense attorney Joey Jackson.

All right, he is facing a murder and attempted murder charge by the state, but the federal government has a plethora of charges against him. Go through a little bit of what those are and why there's a difference here between the number of charges in one versus the other.

JOEY JACKSON, CNN LEGAL ANALYST, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY, FORMER PROSECUTOR: Yeah, sure, Sara. Good morning to you.

Horrific -- just unthinkable what occurred. In terms of what happens you have the federal government who certainly has jurisdiction to prosecute, and then you have the state that has jurisdiction to prosecute.

I would analogize this, right -- Luigi Mangione not making the conduct similar -- both resulting in murder -- but making in terms of the jurisdictions. You see a federal prosecution in that case.

SIDNER: Yes.

JACKSON: You see a state prosecution in that case and so too here because any state is permitted to do that.

First, starting with the state. When the state -- I think a lot of people were perplexed when the state only charged second-degree murder. Why isn't it first? Well, first-degree murder certainly requires premeditation. You just laid out Sara what the premeditation was. But there's a procedural mechanism in Minnesota which would suggest that you would -- which would demand that you go to a grand jury.

SIDNER: Right.

JACKSON: A grand jury doesn't determine guilt or innocence. A grand jury determines whether there is reasonable cause to believe a crime was committed and that he committed it. But before you charge first degree you have to go through that. And, of course, what state prosecutors did was just provide a criminal complaint. So I think we'll see that moving forward.

As to the charges federally, of course, the federal government has an interest here and the federal government can charge here, and the federal government did charge here. So with respect to what they did -- and, of course, we know in the state they charged attempted murder for his conduct as well.

SIDNER: Right.

JACKSON: But I think what you see with the federal government is they are saying listen, if you're committing an act like this and you're using the internet and you're using interstate commerce, as they say, we're going to hold you accountable. And that's why we see two charges relating to stalking, we see two charges relating to murder, and two charges relating to the firearms.

Now, one critical point here, Sara, and that's this. From the state prosecution you cannot get the death penalty inasmuch as Minnesota does not have it. But with the federal prosecution you can get the death penalty.

And interesting enough -- last point -- the substantial planning and premeditation --

SIDNER: Yeah.

JACKSON: -- is something that's going to factor into the decision to apply that in this specific case.

SIDNER: Indicating premeditated --

JACKSON: Yes.

SIDNER: -- clearly, premeditated murder.

I do want to talk about some of the things that authorities found. Chilling security camera footage showing the suspect had tactical gear, body armor, and a hyper realistic silicone mask. They also have images of that arsenal that you saw. But there is also this text message that stood out to me to I think a

group text with family where he, at the end, sort of says I don't want to tell you more -- I don't want to implicate you.

Could anyone else be charged in this case knowing how methodical he was? How much stuff he had amassed in all of these different notebooks.

JACKSON: Yeah. So interestingly enough, Sara, you mentioned the methodical nature of that, and this is what prosecutors are going to use to establish that he certainly planned this with respect to the notebooks, with regard to surveillance on homes. With regard to who specifically was doing what --

SIDNER: Yeah.

JACKSON: -- because he was lying in wait, really looking to see their activities. With respect to methodically going through and ringing doorbells. With respect to getting the guns and all the rest of it. The SUV with the lights and the police license plate, and all of that.

And so I think that's going to be a significant factor as we move forward, right, relating to what he did and how he did it.

Now, in terms of other people being charged, Sara, it always depends upon the facts.

SIDNER: Right.

JACKSON: And, of course, initially, we may not know all the facts and we don't know all the facts. But I think investigators are going to want to know. Inquiring minds are going to want to know to what extent, if any, did you have any additional assistance? Did that come from family members? Did that come from friends? Did that come from associates?

I'm not suggesting he did.

SIDNER: Right.

JACKSON: What I'm suggesting is the investigation will reveal who, if anyone, helped him and in the event it leads to that person you better believe they will be held accountable.

SIDNER: Joey Jackson, it is always a pleasure to have --

JACKSON: Thanks, Sara.

SIDNER: -- on, counselor. I appreciate it.

JACKSON: Thank you.

SIDNER: John.

[07:45:00] BERMAN: We are standing by for a possible verdict in the murder retrial of Karen Read, the woman accused of killing her police officer boyfriend. Her fate could be decided any moment as new day of jury deliberations gets underway.

And happening now, dangerous heat, powerful storms. Millions of Americans under severe weather threats this morning.

(COMMERCIAL)

BERMAN: So this morning, could they return a verdict? Karen Read's fate is in the hands of a jury as she stands trial for a second time. Very shortly, the jury comprised of seven women and five men will reconvene for deliberations. They're weighing whether Read hit her Boston police officer boyfriend with her SUV, leaving him to die in the snow.

[07:50:05]

CNN's Jean Casarez outside the courthouse this morning. A new day of deliberation. Where do things stand, Jean?

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN REPORTER: Well, this will be the second full day of deliberations. All day yesterday absolutely no questions at all, which is a unique situation. Normally there are questions. But the judge told them go slow. Don't take a straw poll vote originally. Just look at the evidence and go through it.

The crowd here yesterday massive -- hundreds of people. In fact, they are already starting to come here. They want to secure their seat. All in pink, and we're talking about pink t-shirts, pink pants, pink shoes, pink nail polish, pink lipstick. And there's whole families there.

But there is another side. There are many people that support the commonwealth that do believe that John O'Keefe was clipped by her car and died as a result of that. But they're not here because it is so massive -- the support -- the believers so strongly with so much passion that she was framed that they stay away.

But they do look at the evidence and that's why they believe this happened. A debris field so close to where his body lay. And that was where the broken tail lights were, and his shoe, and his cap, and the broken cocktail glass. And the health data showing that his phone never moved again minutes after she allegedly hit him.

But there was another issue yesterday and it had to do with the verdict form because there are serious charges here. Second-degree murder, voluntary manslaughter, under the influence of alcohol. And then there is leaving the scene of an accident causing death.

But on that verdict form there are also lesser included, involuntary manslaughter and operating under the influence. Those two lesser includes only have guilty but there's not a not guilty that you can check.

That became an issue in court with the defense. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID YANNETTI, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: We're concerned that this is too confusing for the jury.

JUDGE BEVERLY CANNONE, NORFOLK SUPERIOR COURT: Do you suggest that doesn't accurately reflect the law?

YANNETTI: It does -- it does reflect the law. I'm not saying that. I'm saying that it makes things very confusing and that's why we believe that it cries out for some not guilty option given the amount of options for convictions on this verdict.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CASAREZ: Now the judge concluded by saying this is in conformity with Massachusetts state law. This verdict form can stay as it is.

But this originated back after the first trial because jurors came forward to the defense afterwards saying we had found her not guilty of second-degree murder and leaving the scene. Manslaughter -- we were hung on. But we didn't know we were supposed to come and say anything or do anything and we weren't asked. That's what this stems from.

BERMAN: Wow, all right. Again, what a scene there in Dedham, Massachusetts.

Jean Casarez, thank you so much. Great to have you there -- Sara.

SIDNER: OK. Right now millions of people across the United States are facing a double threat: dangerous heat and strong storms.

Let's go right to CNN meteorologist Allison Chinchar for the very latest on this. What are you learning this morning?

ALLISON CHINCHAR, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes. We've got over 40 million people under the threat for severe thunderstorms today. That is a massive amount of people, especially across the central U.S.

And we're looking at a moderate risk. That's a level four out of five for the potential for some severe storms. The main threat here is going to be damaging winds, but that's not the only threat. You could see some hail. We could see some tornadoes.

So let's take a live look at where those storms are right now. We've got three different severe thunderstorm warnings in effect. You can see the timelines here of when they expire. Some very shortly from now; others, it's going to be several hours.

Now, this line of storms that's moving through Wichita right now and now sliding into Oklahoma -- as it was passing through Wichita brought winds of 80 to 100 miles an hour. Winds of that strength could still be possible as the line continues to stretch into Oklahoma. We've had several severe thunderstorm warnings and even a couple of tornado warnings off and on throughout the morning. Here is a look as we go through the rest of the day. You can see the real focus is still going to be across portions of the central U.S., but we could also have a few isolated showers and thunderstorms developing across the mid-Atlantic as we go into the afternoon and evening hours.

Now, out to west the big concern is going to be the heat. A lot of heat alerts in effect for several southwestern states here.

Take a look at this. Yes, we understand these are very hot places -- I get that. But Las Vegas -- the normal high this time of year is 100. They're going to be at least 10 degrees above that. Same thing for Phoenix looking at temperatures about 10 degrees above where they normally would be this year.

Now, even a little bit farther off to the east along the Gulf Coast we're looking at the heat index. So here, the combination of now just the air temperature but the fact that it's going to be very humid out as well. You've got several areas here looking at triple-digit heat index levels over the next several days.

[07:55:05]

But that heat is going to move off to the east in the coming days, so even though it's pretty cool in New York right now take a look at this. That big upswing could be getting awfully close to triple digits next week in New York City.

SIDNER: No, thank you, but thank you, Allison Chinchar. I really appreciate it -- John.

BERMAN: All right. Breaking overnight Russia launched the deadliest attack on Ukraine's capital in almost a year. New video shows the moment a Russian drone struck a multistory apartment building early this morning Kyiv -- terrible. At least 14 people confirmed dead with local officials saying the number could rise as they sift through the rubble.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that more than 440 drones and 32 missiles were launched at Ukraine overnight.

New this morning a doctor accused of providing ketamine to "FRIENDS" star Matthew Perry has agreed to plead guilty. Dr. Salvador Plasencia faces up to 40 years in prison and millions of dollars in fines. He's the fourth defendant to plead guilty in the case. Prosecutors say an underground network of drug sellers and suppliers were responsible for distributing the ketamine that killed Perry in 2023.

Kraft Heinz plans to remove all artificial colors from its foods within two years. The maker of Kraft Mac & Cheese, Heinz ketchup, JELL-O, and Lunchables also says it will not release any new foods in the U.S. that contain artificial dyes. Several states have banned these dyes and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. has pushed companies to get rid of them.

So this morning one of the most famous museums in the world remains shut. The Louvre is always closed on Tuesdays but what's unusual was that it was closed this week on Monday as well. It was a sudden move. Workers walked out over what they say are unsafe conditions and overwhelming crowds. Thousands of visitors were left stuck outside. Earlier this year, President Macron announced a decadelong plan to fix these issues.

So a California woman got a pretty wild wakeup call -- a black bear in her living room. Look at that. Security footage shows the bear breaking into her home and coming nose-to-nose -- you just saw it there -- with the dog whose name is Doodle, which is very threatening to bears. The bear was not fazed despite the threatening name of the dog and Doodle barking. The bear finally did leave.

Neighbors say that same bear visited their houses as well, raiding refrigerators and even taking a swim in a backyard pool. Oh, my.

Sara, you know what I like to say about bears. I don't have to be faster than the bear, I just have to be faster than you.

SIDNER: I know that saying and I'm working on my running.

BERMAN: Yes.

SIDNER: I'm going to try to catch up with you.

BERMAN: But that bear is -

SIDNER: But you know? As long we have Doodle in our lives --

BERMAN: Doodle is there to protect us. Look at Doodle.

SIDNER: It's fine.

BERMAN: Oh, wow.

SIDNER: Doodle said listen, I'm not afraid of you. You're 16 times heavier than me and 40 times bigger than me but you know what, get out. And eventually the bear did.

BERMAN: Yeah.

SIDNER: It also looks like the bear is tagged there, so they probably know the name of the bear as well.

All right. Thank you, John.

All right, another business venture by the Trump Organization brings another question about ethics. This time Trump's sons getting into the telecommunication business with what they're calling Trump Mobile, a new wireless service.

The Trump name is already selling cryptocurrency, watched, sneakers, even a bible. And those moneymaking ventures during the Trump presidencies have long raised ethical concerns.

CNN's Hada Gold has the story. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

D. TRUMP: My new Trump watches --

HADAS GOLD, CNN MEDIA CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): Trump fans can already wear a Trump-branded watch and sneakers. Soon they'll also be able to have a Trump phone in their pocket. Eric and Donald Trump Jr. announcing Trump Mobile -- cell phone plans that will use other wireless carriers' networks and eventually sell their own gold-colored phones.

Plans are set at a symbolic monthly price of $47.45, a nod to Trump's presidencies, but they'll also bundle in telemedicine and roadside assistance.

DONALD TRUMP JR., EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, TRUMP ORGANIZATION: A big part of what we've done right now in the world has been focused on technology for people who have been underserved, whether that's been in crypto or anything else. But one of the places where we felt there was lackluster performance was in the mobile industry.

GOLD (voiceover): The Trump sons claim their mobile phone will be entirely made in America, taking on device giants like Apple and Samsung, which President Trump has threatened with high tariffs if they don't start building their phones in America.

D. TRUMP: If they're going to sell it in America, I want it to be built in the United States.

GOLD (voiceover): But manufacturing high-quality phones in the U.S. would be logistically impractical and much more expensive. Trump Mobile says their phones will be $499, which experts say means it probably won't be like an iPhone.

DIPANJAN CHATTERJEE, VICE PRESIDENT AND PRINCIPAL ANALYST, FORRESTER: There is a version of a phone that will be good enough for many people and particularly for people who are already bought into the Trump value proposition. As long as you make a phone that's good enough for them, and if it comes in at a reasonable price point -- hey, maybe that is the magic solution.

GOLD (voiceover): Trump Mobile is just the latest moneymaking venture for President Trump's family as they capitalize on his presidency in unprecedented ways. Many of those businesses have benefited the president himself who made more than $600 million last year, according to the financial disclosure forms and Reuters. Much of that is from recent ventures like Trump Media and his Trump crypto coin. He's also made money last year from Trump watches, Trump sneakers, Trump fragrances, Trump guitars, and even Trump bibles.