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WH: Trump to Decide on Action in Iran Within Two Weeks; WH Says Deal with Iran Must Include "No Enrichment of Uranium"; Rubio Meeting with U.K. Foreign Secretary of Mideast Conflict; WH Official: All Options on the Table for Strikes on Iran. Aired 3-3:30p ET

Aired June 19, 2025 - 15:00   ET

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

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[15:02:05]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: We have breaking news. President Trump giving himself a new window to decide whether to intervene militarily in the conflict between Israel and Iran. Here's how White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt read a statement from the President a short while ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAROLINE LEAVITT, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: "Based on the fact that there's a substantial chance of negotiations that may or may not take place with Iran in the near future, I will make my decision whether or not to go within the next two weeks."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: As the President gives his new timeline for negotiations, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is vowing to intensify strikes inside of Iran, saying that Israel will quote strike all of Iran's nuclear facilities. Let's get to CNN's Kevin Liptak, who is at the White House.

Kevin, what are you hearing from officials there about Trump's two- week timeline for Iran? Well, they're really describing this as essentially allowing for some breathing room to allow diplomacy to take place here, to put some more time on the clock to find an alternative to a U.S. strike on Iran. But I think it's unclear exactly what the contours of that diplomacy will look like.

We do understand that Steve Witkoff, the President's foreign envoy, has been in communication with the Iranians, but it's not clear at this point that any in-person meeting, either direct or indirect, is scheduled between the U.S. and the Iranian side. We do know that European foreign ministers will be meeting with their Iranian counterpart in Geneva tomorrow, but I think the real question is whether, now that Iran is under this sort of constant bombardment from Israel, as they've seen their nuclear - I'm sorry, their missile arsenal really diminished, whether they see the deal that had been on the table before all of this is now more attractive, whether President Trump's parameters that Iran stop nuclear enrichment, that it does not seek a nuclear weapon, whether they will now agree to those parameters as these strikes continue and as President Trump sort of holds out the option of using his own strike against them. And so, now we will see this urgent diplomacy really begin in earnest.

The other backdrop to all of this has been the questions that the President has been asking, but also that a number have been - his allies have been asking in public, which is whether a U.S. strike on Iran would drag the U.S. into direct conflict, whether it would now enter a prolonged battle with Iran. That's exactly what President Trump said he would not do as a candidate. It's been something he's been quizzing his advisers about behind the scenes, and I'm not sure that there was necessarily a satisfactory answer. You know, Iran would almost certainly retaliate to a U.S. strike.

[15:05:01]

And so, I think the President very much wants to avoid that, now giving this two-week window to see if diplomacy can be successful.

KEILAR: All right. Kevin Liptak, live for us at the White House. Thank you. Boris?

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Let's take you now live to Tel Aviv with CNN's Jeremy Diamond. Jeremy, what has been the reaction there where you are to this two-week sort of ultimatum that President Trump has presented?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Boris, no official reaction from here yet, but I can tell you that in recent days before the White House laid out this new timeline, the Israelis had been fairly optimistic and eager about the possibility of President Trump authorizing U.S. strikes on that Fordo nuclear facility buried deep beneath a mountain in Iran.

They - but we do know that the Israeli prime minister has taken this kind of cautious approach with President Trump. Sources have been telling me here that Netanyahu has not been directly urging or asking President Trump to authorize such a strike, instead kind of laying out the case for him, presenting Israeli accomplishments in its military campaign in Iran right now, and hoping that President Trump would ultimately, of his own volition, make the final decision to deliver the final blow here out of a sense of U.S. strategic interest, rather (INAUDIBLE) Prime Minister earlier today said that he's been in constant contact with President Trump and that he believed that ultimately President Trump would make the right decision for the United States.

But he also made clear that Israel will pursue its own options if the U.S. doesn't get involved in order to terminate Iran's nuclear program. We know that those options, though, are far riskier and far less certain in terms of their outcome.

SANCHEZ: And, Jeremy, you were able to gain access to a building that was damaged by an Iranian ballistic missile earlier today, just east of where you are now. Tell us about what you saw. DIAMOND: Yes, that's right. In the city of Ramat Gan, just east of Tel Aviv, we walked inside of this building that had been partially destroyed by this Iranian ballistic missile. And to see it up close, I mean, the smell of fuel was still in the air. You could see part of a building's facade that was completely torn off by the power of this ballistic missile. The building opposite it partially crushed a much older building where the concrete was kind of falling apart. All around, debris of concrete and metal bars laying all around.

And the only reason that there were no fatalities in this attack, only 10 people who were lightly injured by the blast, is because of those bomb shelters that people were able to get into in time, thanks to Israel's advanced early warning system. But, you know, to see it up close, it was clear that if people had not been in bomb shelters, this would have been a far deadlier scenario. And we know that it was one of four Iranian ballistic missile strikes today that made it through Israel's air defense system, including that Soroka Medical Center in the southern part of Israel, which was also damaged, again, there as well, thankfully no fatalities resulting from that strike. Boris?

SANCHEZ: Jeremy Diamond live for us in Tel Aviv. Thank you so much, Jeremy. Brianna?

KEILAR: This afternoon, Secretary of State Marco Rubio is meeting with British Foreign Secretary David Lammy at the White House. And the timing of this meeting is significant. After Lammy leaves Washington, he'll be heading to Geneva for talks with Iran and other European leaders. CNN's Kylie Atwood is here with us on this story.

Kylie, tell us what you're learning.

KYLIE ATWOOD, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, listen, this is an opportunity for the Trump administration, for the Secretary of State and Steve Witkoff, the special envoy who will also be in that meeting set to take place at the White House, to learn exactly how these Europeans are going to approach the meeting with the Iranian foreign minister set to take place tomorrow in Geneva and potentially influence how they approach that meeting, right?

It's important to note that U.S. officials have not been particularly positive about tomorrow's meeting being the one that could deliver a diplomatic breakthrough that would really be needed here, particularly because the U.S. isn't in the room. But we are eyeing the meeting because there is an openness to diplomacy at this moment, particularly as President Trump has now said it will be two weeks, the amount of time for which he would make a decision about that potential U.S. strike in Iran or not.

KEILAR: And Kylie, there's some conflicting information coming out about assistance for U.S. citizens who are looking to evacuate Israel. Has there been any clarification? What's the latest there?

ATWOOD: Well, the latest right now is that there are efforts underway to get evacuation flights for Americans who are in Israel to leave the country. The question is, when is that going to happen? We don't know the answer to that. It was yesterday morning that the ambassador to Israel, Huckabee, tweeted out a message saying it was an urgent notice to all Americans who are in Jerusalem, who are in Israel, that evacuation flights are being worked on and cruise ship departures as well.

[15:10:04]

But then it was just hours later that the State Department put out an updated notice saying that they have no announced on assisting private U.S. citizens to depart at this time. So, it's not clear when that's going to happen, but it's very clear, Brianna, that there are efforts underway to make sure that those Americans who are still in Israel will have an opportunity to leave sometime in the near future.

KEILAR: All right. Kylie Atwood, thank you so much for that report. Boris?

SANCHEZ: We have breaking news to CNN. A source says that ICE agents attempted to enter Dodgers Stadium but apparently were denied entry. This is happening on the same day that the Dodgers were expected to make an announcement about plans to help the immigrant community in Los Angeles. CNN's Natasha Chen is following this story.

Natasha, what do we know about this ICE visit to the stadium?

NATASHA CHEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Well, a source familiar with the circumstances told me that ICE was denied entry when they tried to come into the stadium today. And what we're seeing is currently video on the ground of protesters standing at that gate where the federal agents were parked earlier this morning. Our affiliate video had shown that there were many vehicles parked along that road there at about 9 A.M. local time with a bunch of agents in tactical gear, in bandana-style masks. And then it whittled down to about four vehicles. That's what you're seeing there on the screen right now. So, a lot of those vehicles and agents left.

And then, just in the last 20 minutes or so, in watching our live footage from our affiliate camera, it seems that those remaining four vehicles were escorted out of that area by Los Angeles police. Now, LAPD did tell CNN that they got a radio call for a gathering of a protest at that location, one of the entrances to Dodgers Stadium. That's Gate E. It's on the east side of the property. And that's why they are there. That call came in at 10.30 A.M. local time.

So, this is still all evolving right now. We have a CNN camera on the ground there. A producer there is telling me that there are about 15 or so LAPD officers in a row trying to stop protesters from entering further up the road into the stadium. It's not confrontational at all at this moment, he says. And they're also not in riot gear. They're just standing there in their usual - excuse me in their usual uniforms.

So, this is all unfolding as we speak. Obviously, there have been a lot of sightings of federal agents like this throughout the Los Angeles area. And the last two weeks has a lot of the community on edge. And you see those protesters out there right now with signs making sure that ICE does not enter. Natasha, it's been a sensitive time on the issue of immigration, not only for Los Angeles, but also specifically for the Dodgers. They recently removed at least one fan, I read, who was holding up an anti- ICE sign during a game. There was also this incident where a singer sang the national anthem in Spanish, and she was also received controversy and criticism over that.

What do we know about this announcement that the Dodgers were expected to make later today related to helping the immigrant community in L.A.?

CHEN: Right, Boris. The fan community has been asking about the Dodgers' team silence on this issue up until this point. Today is the first time we're hearing that there will be a public statement of any kind, and we're expecting that later this afternoon, it's something to the effect of helping the immigrant community, the Latino community in Los Angeles, affected by these immigration raids and also such a large part of the Dodgers' audience.

We are estimating about 40 percent of Dodger fans, roughly, are of Latino heritage, and you know that this is a large part of not only the L.A. community, but of this baseball fan base. And that they give a lot of loyalty and support to the team.

The only person who has said anything thus far, as far as the Dodgers, publicly, is Kike Hernandez, the player who, you know, posted to social media earlier - previously, that he was saddened and infuriated by what's happening in our country and our city. He said the Los Angeles and Dodgers fans have welcomed me, supported me, and shown me nothing but kindness and love, that he considers this his second home and cannot stand to see our community being violated like this, Boris.

SANCHEZ: Natasha Chen, please keep an eye on the story for us. Let us know when there is an update

Still to come, as President Trump gives himself two weeks to decide what to do about Iran, we're going to take an in-depth look at the complicated history between Washington and Tehran.

[15:15:00]

Plus, President Trump now said to be growing disillusioned with his top intelligence official. Why sources tell CNN that Tulsi Gabbard is falling out of favor in the White House.

And later, a study linking - finding a link between addictive screen use and suicidal behavior in kids. We'll break down the numbers and the research in just moments. Don't go anywhere.

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[15:19:42]

SANCHEZ: Since Israel began its concerted attack on Iran almost a week ago, calls for regime change have grown louder. President Trump raised the possibility of targeting Tehran's all-powerful leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. And after damage to an Israeli hospital during strikes today, Israel's defense minister said this.

[15:20:04]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ISRAEL KATZ, ISRAELI DEFENSE MINISTER (through interpreter): I want to say that a dictator like Khamenei, who leads a country like Iran, and has engraved on his flag the annihilation of the state of Israel, this terrible goal of destroying Israel cannot continue to exist.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: And critics of U.S. foreign policy argue that American efforts at changing Iran's leadership are one of the principal reasons that relations between the two countries are where they are today. Let's explore that by going back some seven decades to 1953, when the U.S. helped stage a coup against Mohammad Mosaddegh. He was the democratically elected prime minister at the time, and he pledged to nationalize the country's oil fields, a message that was popular among his people because it promised to keep more of the profits generated by Iranian oil for Iranians.

That idea, as you might imagine, was not very popular in Great Britain, which had a huge stake in Iranian oil at the time, and also for the United States, which actively sought to prevent the spread of communism during the Cold War. Back then, the West's ultimate goal was to consolidate the power of a monarch, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, and as well to appoint a new prime minister, General Fazlollah Zahedi. Part of what became known as Operation Ajax involved the CIA with help from the U.K. stoking fervor with propaganda and large-scale protests against Mosaddegh's populist coalition. Protesters were soon bolstered by support from the Iranian army, and the then-democratically elected leader was forced into house arrest.

Meantime, the CIA covertly provided the new government with financial stability, as many as $5 million. Iran spent decades with a Western- backed PM and Shah in place, though many resented the foreign influence and their alleged corruption and oppressive tactics against dissidents, which stoked anti-American sentiment for decades.

In the late 1970s, all of that resentment boiled over into what is now known as the Islamic Revolution. Millions of Iranians organized against the regime and took to the streets. Secular protesters opposed the Shah's authoritarianism, while Islamist protesters opposed his agenda to modernize Iran. By 1979, the Shah was forced to flee into exile, and the Islamic Revolution ushered in the start of clerical rule, the same one that's in place today. In its wake, Iranian students seized the U.S. embassy and detained more than 50 Americans as hostages, some of which were held for some 444 days.

The current Iranian regime, we should note, became arguably even more repressive than its predecessor, especially against dissidents and women. We should also point out that some of these details remained completely secret until 2013, when the CIA declassified records confirming that the U.S. was involved instrumental in this coup. It's been argued that what happened in Iran is a textbook case of the boomerang effect in international relations, where one state's attempt to influence another can backfire. In this case, dramatically.

Let's get some perspective from someone who is no stranger to U.S. foreign relations, former Defense Secretary and CIA Director under President Obama Leon Panetta joins us now live.

Secretary, thanks so much for being with us.

When you hear Israel's Defense Minister say that the Ayatollah should not exist, and we had President Trump saying that he knows where the Supreme Leader is and that all options are on the table, do you see the U.S. drifting closer towards supporting regime change? And if so, what's at risk?

LEON PANETTA, DEFENSE SECRETARY UNDER OBAMA: Well, I think that's the fundamental issue right now, because I think it's very important for the United States and Israel to decide what exactly is the endgame here. And while the United States has talked about obviously ending Iran's nuclear capability and getting them to give up their enrichment and efforts at a bomb, and Israel initially supported that, I think that Israel is leaning a lot more towards regime change as its goal.

And that means that they're really looking at kind of a fundamental reshaping of the regional alignment in the Middle East, something that is much larger and would reshape the Middle East for a number of years in the future. I'm not sure that's where the United States is, but I think they need to resolve just exactly what is the endgame in this effort against Iran. \ SANCHEZ: To that point, it's clear that at least for President Trump, he is putting a lot of stake into diplomacy, giving at least two more weeks for that to take its course, even though he previously said that the United States gave Iran two months and it didn't go anywhere.

[15:25:12]

What do you make of this sort of two-week somewhat ultimatum from the President?

PANETTA: Look, Boris, I think the President is facing the most critical decision in his administration, whether to go to war or not. He's got two fundamental choices. One is to have the United States basically direct our forces to go in and attack Fordo and basically go to war with Israel. Obviously face retaliation from Iran and from its proxies and be involved in a regional war. That's one choice.

The other choice is for the United States to step back and let Israel basically continue to conduct its attacks, hoping that that puts pressure on Iran to essentially give up on its nuclear capability. I think what the President did by extending his decision for two weeks is he essentially went with the second option, which is to step back, see what Israel can do to continue the war against Iran and hope that that ultimately brings Iran to the table.

SANCHEZ: And if Iran does come to the table, what would you say is the likelihood that they would give up any kind of uranium enrichment, which the President and obviously his allies are calling for? PANETTA: I don't think Iran has any choice here. I think Iran does face the possibility of regime change and an end to their rule in Iran. And if that's the case, it seems to me that it would make sense for them to essentially give up their enrichment capability and involvement with nuclear capability, give that up altogether. I think that's what the President is hoping for.

I think the real issue I see is whether or not if Iran does that, will Israel accept that as a way to ultimately end this war, or will it continue the war until it brings down the regime, that's the big issue right now that I don't think either the United States or Israel have really come together to decide what the endgame is here.

SANCHEZ: Former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, thanks so much for sharing your point of view.

PANETTA: Good to be with you.

SANCHEZ: When we come back, we have new CNN reporting on how President Trump is growing increasingly frustrated with his Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard. Stay with us.

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