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Sources Say, Trump Considering U.S. Military Strikes on Iran; GOP Hawks Clash With MAGA Isolationists on Next Steps in Iran; We Didn't See Daylight, Migrant Families Describe Prolonged Detention in Border Facilities. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired June 18, 2025 - 09:00   ET

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

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SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: Lots of moving parts here, breaking news for you now. Israel says that it is easing restrictions on its citizen, opening up its economy, claiming the move as a sign of victory over Iran. All this as President Trump is reportedly warming up to the idea of U.S. involvement in the conflict using the military to strike Iran's nuclear assets.

And this morning, Iran's supreme leader is warning Trump to stay out of it and criticizing Israel for launching attacks while Iran and the U.S. were in the middle of nuclear talk.

Plus, using more A.I. tools and reducing the human workforce, that's the picture that Amazon is painting in a new memo to employees. Just how many people could lose their jobs to artificial intelligence?

I'm Sara Sidner with John Berman. Kate Bolduan is out today. This CNN News Central.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: And the breaking news, just a short time ago, we heard from Iran's supreme leader rejecting President Trump's call for unconditional surrender. And it comes as President Trump is weighing one of the biggest decisions of his presidency, whether to use U.S. military assets to strike Iran. Two officials tell CNN that he is increasingly warming up to the idea.

Now, if that happens, if the U.S. gets involved, Iran's supreme leader warns, again, just a short time ago that it would cause, quote, irreparable damage. Those words came after President Trump threatened him personally, saying that the supreme leader is an easy target, but that the U.S. won't take him out, at least for now.

We are seeing a surge of forces to the Middle East from the U.S. The Pentagon has sent another aircraft carrier to the region. And sources tell CNN the U.S. is also deploying more than 30 aerial refueling tankers.

Also new this morning, and this is interesting, Israel has approved recommendations from its military to ease defensive restrictions on the home front inside Israel, that means reopening the economy and granting more freedom to residents, many of whom have been rushing to bomb shelters when the sirens blare. Israel's defense minister calls the shift, a quote, message of victory over Iran.

Let's get right to the White House. CNN's Kevin Liptak is there, CNN's Paula Hancocks is in Abu Dhabi. First, Kevin, to you, what are you learning about where the president is this morning?

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes. And there's no question that the decision that now faces President Trump is an enormous one. Potentially, the biggest one of his entire presidency has ramifications geopolitically for global stability, but also for his own politics.

And what we're learning is that the president does appear to be warming to this option of joining Israel in these strikes against Iran. He's moved away from this idea of trying to arrange some sort of diplomatic resolution to this crisis that had been his stance for so long. And even as recently as this weekend, the president was considering dispatching his top invoice, Steve Witkoff, and potentially the vice president, J.D. Vance, to the region to try and broker some sort of diplomatic arrangement that would cause this conflict to end.

The president, and we heard this from him directly as he was flying back from Canada, is now no longer in the mood to negotiate. Those were his words. And now the decision is whether to use American military assets to go after some of Iran's nuclear facilities joining Israel in this fight.

And this is certainly a decision that will weigh in the president. We saw him yesterday in the Situation Room here at the White House for more than an hour consulting with top members of his national security team, including several generals. But so far we haven't heard yet whether the president has made this decision.

And it is true that there are a number of his allies, political allies, foreign allies who are in his ear to discuss this decision. And you do see this divide among the president's political base. On the one hand, you have folks, like Lindsey Graham, who had a direct phone call with the president this week, who is advocating for the United States to go, quote, all-in on this conflict.

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But there are other members of the president's political coalition, including, for example, Marjorie Taylor Greene, the Georgia congresswomen, who are urging exactly the opposite, saying that this is not a war for the United States, saying that there are no direct American interests on the line here. And we know that Marjorie Taylor Greene has been texting with the president on all of this.

And so you can see a man now in the Oval Office, the commander-in- chief, receiving all of these inputs, a as he nears what I think could safely be said is a decision that could affect the entire world for many, many years to come. John?

BERMAN: Yes, Kevin, stand by for a minute. I want to bring in Paula Hancocks into this discussion. Because, Paula, we just got this new information from Israel that the defense minister is suggesting easing restrictions within the country, taking it off its most defensive posture, calling it a message of victory over Iran. It's interesting. As the U.S. is considering getting involved right there, Israel sending a message that it feels like a large part of the job is already done. What's your take on this?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it does, John. I mean, it feels almost like a victory lap for Israel at this point. I mean, the defense minister, Israel Katz, saying that those restrictions are going to be loosened at this point. As soon as an air raid siren sounds, then everybody has to go straight to the shelter.

Now, what we're hearing at this point from Katz is that this is a message of victory to show that they have managed to have some military success against Iran. This is really a movement towards opening up the economy a bit more, about getting back to some semblance of normality. Obviously, it won't be a complete sense of normality, but those restrictions will be eased.

And this is really the message we have been hearing over the past 24, 48 hours. If you look at Monday morning, the early hours of Monday morning, there were hundreds of missiles and drones being fired from Iran to Israeli territory. But when you look at the early hours of Tuesday and also of today, that was something like 30 missiles. So, clearly, there are far fewer missiles that are being fired towards Israel.

Now, we don't know for sure whether that is Tehran wanting to preserve some of its missiles. We don't know whether that is, as Israel says, the fact that it has damaged Tehran's ability to retaliate. The Israeli military has been focusing, they say, on taking out missile launches, the missile production sites, as well as the nuclear program itself. But they've really been focusing on the missile element to prevent such a retaliation. John?

BERMAN: All right, Paula Hancocks in Abu Dhabi, our thanks to Kevin Liptak at the White House as well. Just interesting to hear this message of victory from inside Israel at this time when the president's considering new military action. Sara?

SIDNER: Yes, it really is. And I want to talk about that more with Global Affairs Analyst Barak Ravid. Thank you so much for being here.

You just heard the new information. I know you know it that Israel is saying, look, it's easing restrictions domestically, opening up the economy a bit and calling it a victory against Iran. This is, of course, happening at the same time that Israel is asking the U.S. to enter the conflict militarily. How do you square these two?

BARAK RAVID, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Good morning, Sara. I think the Israelis are continuing to implement their war plan against Iran. And to be honest, they're pretty close to finishing all the -- finishing to target all the targets that they laid out as part of this plan. I think they need another two or three days tops before they exhaust all the targets that they had. Obviously, there are new targets coming in all the time, but I think that the major things have already been done.

President Trump spoke to Prime Minister Netanyahu yesterday after his Situation Room meeting with his national security team, and now I think everyone are waiting to see, not if but when President Trump will order a military strike, that's at least what I hear from Israeli officials. They are certain that Trump is going to join this war.

SIDNER: Yes. That's a big headline there that your officials in Israel are saying they are certain that President Donald Trump is going to enter this war militarily.

What exactly are you learning about what Israel is asking of the United States, asking them to do militarily in this conflict?

RAVID: I think that the number one thing is for the U.S. to take out the nuclear facility, the enrichment -- uranium enrichment facility in Fordow.

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It's a heavily fortified facility deep inside a mountain that Israel just does not have the bombs to penetrate it.

There are other ways for Israel to try and take it out. Israel could cause significant damage. But in order to destroy it, it needs the 30,000-pound bombs that the U.S. has and the B-2 bombers that the U.S. has in order to drop those bombs in Iran.

And I think this is the number one thing Israel would love, would like to see the U.S. doing. Everything else, I think, they prove -- they've proven that they can manage on their own. I think that's the number one thing Israel wants from the U.S., to take out this nuclear facility in Fordow.

SIDNER: Is there any chance that you are hearing from the Israelis or other sources in the U.S. government, any chance that diplomacy will enter the ring before potentially the United States gets involved militarily?

RAVID: Look, everything is possible. And things are changing in a very, very fast pace, but at least U.S. officials I spoke to this morning said that there's no plan at the moment for any diplomatic engagement between the U.S. and Iran. And therefore it doesn't seem that diplomatic solution is very likely. Obviously, this could change in five minutes.

But I think that for now, most of the attention is to see whether the U.S. is going to go forward with military strike. Diplomacy doesn't seem to have a very good chance at the moment.

And we also saw, by the way, when the president of the United States says that he demands unconditional surrender from Iran and Iran's supreme leader says, we'll never surrender. I don't see how you can bridge this gap.

SIDNER: Can you give me some sense and give our audience some sense of what position this has all put Israel in with its ability to strike inside the country, from inside the country, using Mossad, its ability to strike, and as an Netanyahu put it, that Israel now has control of the skies over Iran, what position does this put Israel in the Middle East?

RAVID: I think that, you know, Israel got hit very hard on October 7th, and its deterrence in the region deteriorated significantly. Many countries in the region, both friends and foes, looked at Israel and said maybe they're not as strong as we thought. And since October 7th, every day that passed, Israel managed to restore this deterrence, and not only restore it but significantly increase it.

When any country in the region, friend or foe, any country in the world, friend or foe, is looking at what Israel is doing in Iran, this is -- we're talking about a thousand miles away. It's not, you know, 200 feet away as in Gaza. This is a thousand miles away. And Israel is basically reinventing modern warfare a thousand miles away from its borders.

And everybody who looks at it, you know, takes note, and I think there is a very high chance that if this continues, as it is right now, it would really reshape the region and would push a lot of countries in the region that we're thinking, should we move closer to Israel, should we go move further from Israel. I think a lot of those countries, especially Saudi Arabia, see what happened in Iran and say, it's a good time to move closer to Israel.

SIDNER: Yes, really interesting analysis. It is always a pleasure to have you on, Barak Ravid, with all of your sources. The headline you're giving here is that Israel is convinced that President Trump will enter this conflict militarily. We will see what happens. There's a lot still to happen in the next few hours, weeks and days. Thank you. I appreciate it. John?

BERMAN: All right. The breaking news, again, as the United States and President Trump said to be warming to the idea of a military strike on Iran, new infighting among some staunch allies of the president. We just had one Republican congressman called members of his own party war pimps.

And let's take a look at market futures right now just minutes before the opening bells, up very slightly. We are waiting for the Fed to weigh in today, a big decision on interest rates.

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BERMAN: All right. Just a few minutes ago we learned that Israel is easing restrictions inside its own country, saying in its message that this can be seen as a message of victory over Iran. Now, this as President Trump is still said to be weighing military action against Iran, a move which is opposed by some members of his own party, including right here a few minutes ago, Congressman Tim Burch of Tennessee called Republican supporters of military action war pimps.

Also, we saw it in this confrontation between Tucker Carlson and Senator Ted Cruz.

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TUCKER CARLSON, HOST, THE TUCKER CARLSON SHOW: How many people live in, around, by the way?

SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX): I don't know the population.

CARLSON: At all?

CRUZ: No, I don't know the population.

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CARLSON: You don't know the population of the country you seek to topple?

What's the ethnic mix of Iran?

CRUZ: They are Persians and predominantly Shia. Okay, this is --

CARLSON: No, it's not even -- you don't know anything about Iran. So, actually the country --

CRUZ: Okay. I am not the Tucker Carlson expert on Iran.

CARLSON: You're a senator who's calling the overthrow of the government. You don't know anything about the country.

CRUZ: No. You don't know anything about the country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Let's get right to CNN's Lauren Fox on Capitol Hill, tracking what is genuine division inside the Republican Party, including in Congress over the direction the U.S. may take.

LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. I think it's fair to say, John, given what we have seen demonstrated over the course of the last decade, that many Republicans are likely to follow Donald Trump wherever he decides to go in terms of his decision on whether or not the U.S. should directly intervene in Iran.

But one thing is really clear. This is dividing the MAGA wing of the party, specifically several conservatives who have been very close to Donald Trump over the course of the his presidency, are speaking out against any potential U.S. direct military intervention in Iran. Marjorie Taylor Greene tweeting, quote, we have all been very vocal for days now urging. Let's be America first. Let's stay out.

You also, though, are hearing from people within Trump's orbit who are making clear that this is an opportunity for the president to assert what has been a U.S. goal for a long time, which is to ensure that Iran cannot create a nuclear bomb. And here is Senator Lindsey Graham basically saying that this is up to Donald Trump and he believes he has an opportunity to do what past presidents have not been able to do.

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SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC): Iran with a nuclear weapon is a threat not only to Israel, but to us. And four presidents have promised to make sure that Iran never had a nuclear weapon. I think it will be Donald Trump who delivers on that promise.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOX: And, of course, it's not clear what decision ultimately President Trump will make, but you can see right here in the halls of Congress that this debate is really playing out among some of Donald Trump's strongest supporters on Capitol Hill.

Meanwhile, there is action underway in order to ensure that Congress has a say in whatever Donald Trump does. You have Senator Tim Kaine, a Democrat, as well as Thomas Massie, a Republican who are pushing forward with resolutions that would essentially require a vote so that Congress would have an opportunity to weigh in on any potential decision.

Of course, those are unlikely to pass, but it does just speak to the fact that there's a lot of division right now on Capitol Hill with what direction Donald Trump should go.

BERMAN: A lot of division is very vocal in some cases. Lauren Fox, great reporting, thank you very much. Sarah?

SIDNER: All right. Jail-like conditions, no access to outdoors, just a few of the claims laid out in new court filings detailing the conditions some migrant families say they and their children faced in Customs and Border Protection facilities. The court filings are part of a decades-old legal agreement governing conditions for migrant children in U.S. government custody.

CNN's Priscilla Alvarez is joining us now. What more are you learning as you dig through some of these filings?

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Sara, this was a tranche of court filings, nearly two dozen declarations from families who were held in border facilities. This gives us more details as to what their experience has been. And what has been interesting in reading them, but also talking to the attorneys is that these are families who crossed into the United States this year.

And there haven't been a high number of border crossings. In fact, they have been remarkably low. But even so, what they have found is that families are staying in detention for extended periods of time and specifically in Customs and Border Protection detention.

Now, their facilities are not meant to hold people for long periods of time. In fact, they're more like jail-like conditions and they're intended for 72 hours really at most. But in the past, we have seen that families have stayed longer because there have been surges and strain and resources. But with the absence of that, there's been a huge question mark here as to why some of these families are staying in these facilities, which are not meant for them, and we're learning about their experiences. And one of those court declarations, there was a family, a mother, and her toddler who were held in a CBP facility for 42 days.

I'm going to quote here from the declaration, it says, it was so crowded that we couldn't even step forwards or backwards. We spent all 42 days in that same place. We didn't see the daylight. We only went outside when we went to the different place where the showers are. It also talks about cold rooms, the lights being on for overnight.

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They were fed occasionally normal times during the day. But this is all telling of the fact that these facilities are just not meant to hold children for extended periods of time, and especially families.

Now, there are some data points here. In February, for example, 301 children were detained in CBP custody for more than three. Of those, the majority were there for more than seven days. In April, 213 children were held more than three days, and 14 children were held more than 20 days. And that data is from reports from CBP that are provided to the attorneys in this case.

But all of this, Sara, really paints a picture of families being held in CBP facilities, facilities that are not equipped to care for people for more than a short period of time and languishing in custody for extended periods without knowing why that's the case. And there were multiple scenarios here where there were toddlers and infants who were held in these conditions, again, without any clarity as to what was going to happen next.

SIDNER: So, what does happen next? You know, you're looking through this and this is going through the courts. What is the next move here?

ALVAREZ: So, this filing is called a motion to enforce. Essentially, as you mentioned earlier, this is a decades-old settlement agreement that governs the conditions that kids need to be held in when they are held in government custody. So what a motion to enforce does is essentially tell -- provide these details to the judge, and then also ask that CBP stop holding families for extended periods of time.

So, this will continue to work its way through, but this was sort of a check by the attorneys to say to the judge this is happening and to require the judge to tell CBP to stop this practice.

SIDNER: Priscilla Alvarez, thank you so much for digging through all of that, keeping up with all of the details, twists, and turns of the immigration story. I appreciate it.

All right, we are minutes away from the opening bell, as happens every morning. Right now, we are seeing the futures up just slightly here. We are waiting to see what happens when the bell actually rings. The Federal Reserve expected to make a decision on interest rates today, which should interest a lot of people. Will it ease pressure on your wallet or wait it out?

All right, plus Israel to ease domestic restrictions in a message of victory over Iran, that just happened this morning. Sources say President Trump is increasingly considering a potential strike using U.S. military on Iran.

Those stories ahead.

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