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U.S. Moves To Protect Assets In Middle East As Conflict Escalates; No Sign Of De-Escalation As Iran And Israel Trade New Strikes Overnight; Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-MI) On Trump's Decision On Potential U.S. Strikes On Iran "In Two Weeks." Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired June 20, 2025 - 07:30   ET

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

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[07:30:10]

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: The president may be weighing his options on Iran for the next two weeks but U.S. forces in the Middle East are taking immediate precautions, including relocating aircraft, moving Navy ships, and even prepositioning blood supplies.

CNN's Zach Cohen joining me now. Give us some sense of what these preparations tell us and what they actually are.

ZACHARY COHEN, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: Yeah, Sara, these changes really do show how the U.S. military is making sure that it's not only ready to carry out military strikes against Iran if Donald Trump ultimately does decide to give that order but preparing for the possibility of what would come after that should those strikes come to fruition.

And we're told that military assets in the Middle East and across the region and -- have been moved in anticipation of potential Iranian retaliation should Donald Trump ultimately give that go order. Obviously, we know that Donald Trump has said that he's going to make a decision on that move in the next two weeks, but the military is not waiting on the decision. They're making sure that it protects and takes steps to protect its assets across the Middle East.

That includes moving airplanes that it can't protect in a shelter at its military base in Qatar. They've moved those planes to a different location. They've also moved naval assets from its base in Bahrain, which is also obviously in the relative proximity of certain Iranian proxy forces that we know have the ability of launching drones and ballistic missiles at U.S. forces.

You may remember in January 2024 an Iranian proxy group killed three U.S. servicemembers at a U.S. base on the border of Syria and Iraq. So that threat is very real, and these changes reflect how seriously the Pentagon is taking Iran's threat to target U.S. forces if Donald Trump does strike Iranian nuclear sites.

SIDNER: Yeah. Great reporting from you, Zach Cohen -- thank you so much -- on the preparations being made right now by the military -- John.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Overnight the Israeli military says more than 60 of its fighter jets attacked Iranian missile production sites and a nuclear research facility in Tehran. Israeli officials say at least six people were hurt when an Iranian missile struck office buildings and a technology park housing multiple companies, including Microsoft.

And the U.N.'s International Atomic Energy Agency confirms that key buildings at Iraq's -- Iran's Iraq nuclear facility were damaged in an Israeli strike. That facility's reactor is not operational and does not contain nuclear material.

Let's go to Israel now -- the northern port city of Haifa. Our Nic Robertson is standing by there. And Nic, Haifa has been targeted since this conflict began. What are you seeing on the ground there this morning?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yeah, very interesting last night, John. It was first night in the space of a week that the people of Haifa actually had a whole night's sleep and that is because the sirens didn't go off. There were no strikes here. There were strikes in the day yesterday.

The place where there were strikes back in the south in Be'er Sheva very close to that hospital. As you were saying, a technology park and residential apartments buildings around there as well. Fifty-four people were hospitalized, many of them for light injuries following that strike.

But by and large across Israel last night a quieter night.

And I've been talking to people here in Haifa today about their expectations now President Trump has said he's sort of on a two-week pause to make his decision about whether or not to militarily support Israel in its strikes against Iran's nuclear infrastructure. So the question people are asking me is whether is that going to be two weeks of peace and sleepful nights or is it going to be two weeks of continued counterstrikes between the two countries.

And the concern, of course, underlying all this is that whenever Israel has been in a tight spot in the past in whatever conflict with Hezbollah or whatever it is, the United States has been 100 percent at its side.

So that question sort of rises up today with people: Is the United States still at our side as it has been previously or is it drifting away? But they say regardless, they're resilient and they'll continue -- community strong -- and do what it -- do what they're capable of doing militarily in Iran.

BERMAN: Nic Robertson for us in Haifa this morning. A quiet night -- a rare quiet night over the last week in Haifa. Thank you so much for being there.

Inside Iran overnight a CNN team -- the CNN team there the first Western journalists inside Iran witnessed a jump in anti-aircraft fire over Tehran's skies.

CNN senior international correspondent Fred Pleitgen and his team -- they are there.

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FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: So what we've been hearing tonight is really an increase in aerial activity over the skies of Tehran. There's been a lot of outgoing anti-aircraft fire seemingly coming from Iranian anti-aircraft guns. We've seen in the skies these sort of bursts of those munitions exploding in the skies. It's unclear what the air defense forces here are firing at -- whether or not there's drones or planes or something else that they're trying to intercept.

[07:35:10]

We're also hearing quite a few thuds that seem to be coming from the ground or could also be from that outgoing anti-aircraft fire, or even from outgoing anti-aircraft missiles. But it is definitely something that we're noticing.

There's a lot of noise tonight over Tehran. It's unclear whether or not that means that there's a big attack going on. But if we listen, we can hear the fire coming out.

So you can see those are the things that we've been hearing and those are the things that we've been seeing as this evening has been progressing. There certainly is a lot going on in the skies over Tehran.

Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Tehran.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN: With us now, CNN senior military analyst, Admiral James Stavridis, former NATO supreme allied commander and partner of the The Carlyle Group. Admiral, great to see you.

Obviously, Fred down here in Iran right now. But the future of the conflict in that country may be being decided here in Switzerland, in Geneva, where these diplomatic meetings are taking place.

We heard President Trump say he's going to give up to two weeks to decide whether the United States will get involved. In this, though, you see the possibility of maybe trying to lull Iran into complacency. What do you mean?

ADM. JAMES STAVRIDIS (RET.), CNN SENIOR MILITARY ANALYST, FORMER NATO SUPREME ALLIED COMMANDER, PARTNER, THE CARLYLE GROUP (via Webex by Cisco): As an operator and as someone who has been a combatant commander in the United States, the first thing I think is hmm, could this possibly be a ruse of some kind to kind of, as you say John, lull the Iranians into a false sense of security.

I, for one, noted the president didn't say I'll make a decision after two weeks. He said within two weeks. To me that's keeping open the possibility.

So point one, could this be a way to sort of sooth the Iranians and make them feel not as jumpy. Although what we just saw from Fred Pleitgen shows those gunners are quite concerned about incoming.

Secondly, as an operator, John, I kind of think two weeks -- it's an operational pause if you will. But believe me, the Pentagon is not pausing. They're using it, as you heard a few moments ago, to put in place the defensive mechanisms because if we do strike, we can be I think assured of Iranian response.

And third and most hopefully, it does open a window for diplomacy. Let's hope that something that comes out of Geneva, for example, could take advantage of these two weeks.

So there's several different ways you can look at this operational pause.

BERMAN: And, of course, as we just heard from Nic Robertson in Haifa and we heard from Fred Pleitgen in Tehran, the conflict between Iran and Israel isn't letting up in these two weeks if it is, in fact, two weeks. Obviously, we've seen all the activity over Tehran -- the bombs, the missiles falling here.

What can Israel do in this time without U.S. involvement if it wants to try to end this altogether?

STAVRIDIS: If they go after their stated principle objective of taking out the nuclear program of Iran completely as we've all talked about endlessly for a week -- without that big bunker-busting bomb they really have far less of a chance of doing that.

Could they put a battalion of commandos on the ground and take it out? Perhaps. Could they hit it with multiple, repeated 4,000-pound bombs, which they have? They could. But they don't really have the option to cleanly take out that massive centrifuge haul.

What they are doing, and I think it's a smart move if you're Israeli -- what's really hurting them right now John, it's those ballistic missiles. So the Israelis are taking out as many of the ballistic missiles on the ground as they can. And more importantly, I think taking out the production facilities -- sort of shooting the archer before the archer can let fly with that ballistic missile.

BERMAN: Again, this is a picture -- a still photo of Fordow, which is that nuclear enrichment facility you were talking about there. Believed that only U.S. -- the so-called bunker buster bombs -- the only thing that can penetrate the 200-300 feet into this area and under this mountain where the centrifuges might be.

You did talk about what the Iranians are doing inside Israel right now. And there have been continued strikes, and we just saw Haifa and we saw down in Be'er Sheva down in the south where there have been strikes there.

If the Iranians -- do the Iranians in these next two weeks have the capacity to replenish their missile supply or maybe get missiles externally, whether it be, I don't know, from Russia, from China?

[07:40:08]

STAVRIDIS: Um-hum. The current answer is they still have production facilities. Some of those are underground. And yes, there is a slim possibility although I think it quite unlikely that Russia or -- particularly, Russia might step in to provide at least some components to construct further ballistic missiles. But I think their inventory of those weapons are dwindling.

One thing to remember. As Americans, we read a headline -- so far, 25 Israelis have been tragically killed by these ballistic missiles. Kind of do the math, John.

BERMAN: Um-hum.

STAVRIDIS: Proportionately, Israel is only one thirty-fifth the size of the United States, so 25 killed is like a 1,000 Americans killed so far. Pretty sobering for our Israeli friends.

BERMAN: And as these talks continue, Admiral, in Geneva, in your mind what is it that Iran could offer? What could they put on the table not necessarily that the United States would accept but that Israel would accept?

STAVRIDIS: Yes. You're on to a very important point, which is this. We tend to think of this scenario as being a triangle, right? It's Israel, it's Iran, and it's the United States. There are many, many other actors who are watching this closely who have big equities. I'd say we need to think of it less as a triangle and maybe more as a pentagon. And I don't mean that building where I spent way too much of my life.

What I mean by a pentagon is, yes, U.S., Israel, Iran. Another point of that pentagon is the European Union. They have enormous economic equities. Iranian missiles can strike members of the EU. So EU has a big vote on this ultimately.

And I think the fifth point -- you alluded to it a moment ago -- is Russia and China both of whom regard Iran as a strong partner. Economic partner in the case of China, military partner in the case of Russia.

It's really a pentagon. If we're going to avoid a war, it's going to take more than just the U.S. here. I think we'll see a bit of that start to emerge from these talks in Geneva.

BERMAN: Yeah. We have Matthew Chance standing by right outside the residence where these talks will take place. We're looking for any sign of activity there, obviously charting all the developments.

Admiral James Stavridis, great to have you on this morning. Thank you very much -- Sara.

SIDNER: All right, joining me now, Democratic Congresswoman of Michigan, Debbie Dingell. Thank you so much for being here with us this morning.

First, when it comes to Iran and Israel, are you glad that the president is taking a step back and giving up to a two-week period to decide whether or not to strike Iran?

REP. DEBBIE DINGELL (D-MI) (via Webex by Cisco): I certainly was relieved to hear that news. I believe that we should be using, first, all diplomatic efforts. I do not want to see the United States engaged in another war if we can avoid it, though I understand the seriousness of Iran having nuclear capability.

But beyond that I do believe -- and we established this during the Vietnam War -- that Congress has a responsibility. We are the ones that should authorize war. And I think when we return next week that we -- you will see legislation on that. That people will try to move forward and that this administration must brief Congress on what is happening.

SIDNER: You're talking about the administration briefing Congress. We've spoken to several congresspeople who said they have not been briefed as they would have been in the past.

Would you sign onto or vote for a bill that's being worked on by two of your colleagues, a Republican and a Democrat, that would force the president to come to Congress in order to go ahead and take part in this war between Israel and Iran?

DINGELL: I would likely -- I think the bill is broader. I have not read it. I have asked my staff -- yesterday was a holiday -- to read it this morning and will likely sign onto it today. I think it is a broader bill that says Congress is the one that should authorize war.

So --

SIDNER: What did --

DINGELL: -- I do believe that the president has to talk to the Congress.

SIDNER: What is your gravest concern about entering this war -- about the U.S. using its military here -- when you have Israel saying look, their initial stated goal was to take out Iran's nuclear facilities? But then you heard also from the prime minister and the defense minister that they are thinking of taking out the supreme leader of Iran and that they're talking about trying to create regime change there as well.

[07:45:05]

What's your concern?

DINGELL: I have a lot of questions that don't have answers. I think that all of us, Republicans and Democrats as Americans, should -- we don't go into war in a partisan way. I would like to remind you of a Republican senator from Michigan decades ago who said the partisan politics should stop at the ocean's edge. We need to see what our intelligence is.

But quite frankly, this country does not need another extended war to be engaged or part of something in the Mid East, but we do need to keep ourselves and others safe.

So they need to be evaluating the data. They need to be talking to us. And I do believe it is Congress that actually should be declaring wars. That was passed after -- during the Vietnam War, actually, I believe. And I think that you're going to see serious discussions of that as we return next week.

SIDNER: I'm now going to move to some domestic issues. You were on the list of potential targets by the suspect who murdered a Minnesota legislator Hortman and her husband and shot and badly injured a Minnesota senator and his wife.

First, what does this do to your sense of safety, and are you experiencing more threats in general by the public?

DINGELL: You know, my last few years, I live in a college town, but I also have a very significant Arab-American-Muslim population, a very significant Jewish population, and the University of Michigan campus.

So the last couple of years I've -- I have been in tents, and I meet with all of the groups. I have -- I don't know when someone is going to come up and start screaming or there might be a protest. And I have approached those trying to be common sense and don't run away from them. I'm concerned that nobody get hurt.

I think that what happened this past weekend was different from what we have even seen there. But quite frankly, terrorists, whether they be domestic or foreign, are trying to terrorize us. So we all need to use common sense.

I quite frankly don't think we have enough information yet even though we know how horrific it was -- what was in that car. What it meant. Are other people involved? You worry about copycats.

I am very, very lucky that I have wonderful, supportive law enforcement in my community. I know every one of my police chiefs. I know my sheriff. The guys are -- and women have been incredible.

So I did two town hall meetings this week. I've done multiple roundtables. I was at a major event with thousands of people downtown in my home city. And I am able to go on. But there are a lot of people that don't have that kind of support. They're worried.

And I want to say this to all of us. We have got to -- it's not one party's responsibility; it is all of our parties. It is all of us -- each one of us, and the media, and people in the community, and the kids in schools to lower the tone. Dial down the rhetoric. Dial down the vitriol in this.

This division in our country, this politics of hate, this normalizing of violence is unacceptable, and one person is not going to change it. We all have to change it. Representative government is representative of the people. What you're

seeing in this violence, crime is happening in too many communities, and we've got to dial it down.

SIDNER: Congresswoman Debbie Dingell, we're going to leave it there. Thank you so much for being here and talking us through all of that -- appreciate you.

All right, high prices, high interest rates, and now a new hurdle for first-time home buyers. Homeowners who say they will never sell.

And tomatoes, wine, and an A-list celebrity, John, sitting down with Eva Longoria ahead of a brand new episode of CNN's "SEARCHING FOR SPAIN."

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[07:53:35]

BERMAN: All right. This morning new data that might smell ugly -- spell ugly news for the housing market -- not so OK boomer there. This is on top of news this week that homebuilding fell to the lowest level since COVID.

CNN's Matt Egan is here with us. So what did the baby boomers do to us this time?

MATT EGAN, CNN REPORTER: Well John, look, a lot of them are staying put and you can't really blame them given how expensive it is right now to buy and to borrow.

But this new survey from Redfin really puts an exclamation point on this. It finds that one in three baby boomer homeowners say they will never sell -- never. Another 30 percent say they will sell but not for at least a decade. So that's almost two-thirds of baby boomers whose homes are unlikely to hit the market anytime soon. When you think about it that is a significant amount of supply that is essentially frozen in place.

And as far as why this is happening -- well, a lot of them -- 55 percent who say they're not going to sell anytime soon -- they say it's because they like their home. They have got no reason to move. Another 30 percent say it's because their home is completely or almost paid off. And that makes a lot of sense, right? I mean, if you've already paid off your mortgage why would you go out in a market where the mortgage rates are now almost seven percent?

But no matter the reason here this is frustrating obviously to a lot of younger people who feel like the American dream of homeownership is just out of reach. It's also an issue for people who own a home, but they want to upgrade but they can't because there's not enough inventory.

[07:55:08]

And so this does speak to this broader imbalance between supply and demand.

And we did get those new numbers that you mentioned earlier this week. Homebuilding in the U.S. plunging in May to a five-year low. So the lowest level since COVID-19 in May of 2020. You look -- listen, obviously, there was this crash during COVID because of the health crisis. There was a rebound but it's so much lower.

Some of this is a broader, long-term issue, right? A lot of homebuilders say there's just too much red tape. There's also more recent issues, right, in interest rates. They're really high. There's a lot of uncertainty right now. There's also tariffs that are making it more expensive to borrow. And the immigration crackdown can make it harder to get labor.

But look, it is a Friday so let me give you -- leave with one positive point here, at least for homebuyers. It's the fact that Redfin finds that home sellers right now outnumber buyers by about 500,000. And so that is encouraging if you're out there trying to look --

BERMAN: Right.

EGAN: -- for a home. It does suggest that perhaps home prices could dip a little bit or at least put a lid on home prices. But look, it is still a really tough market.

BERMAN: There might be more of buying opportunity right now than there's been, but who knows how long --

EGAN: Yeah.

BERMAN: -- it'll last.

Matt Egan, great to see you.

EGAN: Thanks, John.

BERMAN: Thank you very much -- Sara.

SIDNER: All right. On our radar for you this morning singer Chris Brown pleads not guilty in a London court to attacking a music producer two years ago. The victim told The Sun that Brown beat him so badly he was hospitalized. He says the attack was unprovoked.

This isn't the first time Brown has been in court on assault charges. In 2009, he was sentenced to probation and community service for assaulting fellow singer Rihanna, his girlfriend at the time.

Now, this morning Hurricane Erick has now weakened to a tropical storm after slamming into Mexico's southern Pacific coast as a category 3 hurricane. It has unleashed heavy rain and flooding, landslides. You see some of the downed trees and the widespread damage there. The authorities are still assessing whether or not anyone has been injured or killed from this storm.

And a very brave 9-year-old girl speaking out after a shark bit her while she was snorkeling in Florida. Her hand was almost bitten completely off.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LEAH LENDEL, BITTEN BY SHARK: I didn't see anything. I was just snorkeling, then I went up to breathe, and then something hard bit me.

NADIA LENDEL, LEAH'S MOTHER: I heard, like, this yell or scream and I saw, like, the fling of the arm.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So it was a big shark -- like eight feet. I would say like eight feet.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: Now you heard that construction worker there. He was working inside a nearby house. He jumped into action and rushed to help rescue Leah in the water. She was airlifted to a Tampa hospital where surgeons were able to save her hand. You see the bite there -- my God -- but they were able to reattach it. Doctors say they expect Leah to regain full use of her hand.

And when asked if she would go back into the water, Leah didn't hesitate. She said, "Yes."

John, that's bravery because for me, just hearing the story makes me think twice about wanting to go into the ocean. I don't --

BERMAN: Yeah, so brave. Good for her. I have to say that x-ray -- it really freaked me out.

SIDNER: I know -- awful.

BERMAN: Seeing that x-ray, man.

All right. This Sunday Eva Longoria is back with a brand new episode of the CNN original series "SEARCHING FOR SPAIN." Now I'm not sure you knew this, but I did sit down with her and had a nice meal to talk with her about Spain's rise on the world's culinary stage and the place she considers one of the most beautiful on Earth.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

EVA LONGORIA, HOST, "SEARCHING FOR SPAIN": The interesting thing about this show in general was the history of ingredients and how they arrived in Spain, or how they're endemic to Spain, or how they left Spain -- the tomato being one of them. You know, for gazpacho being so famous and pan tomate being so famous in Spain, the tomato is not endemic to Spain. It came from Mexico.

So to see the tomato have such a life, you know, in a country that it wasn't native to, but they ended up cultivating it.

Same thing with the potato. The potato came from Peru and Incas used to cultivate it. Somebody took the potato back and it's a huge part of Spanish cuisine. The thing that did not make it back was the chili. So Spain has no

spicy food. They do not like spice. They like flavor; they don't like the burn.

BERMAN: You know, flavor doesn't have to be painful. That's the --

LONGORIA: Yeah.

BERMAN: That's the lesson there.

LONGORIA: Yeah.

BERMAN: It doesn't have to hurt.

LONGORIA: I disagree -- but no, no, no. But I love spicy food. I love spicy food. So when I'm in Spain I'm like this is so interesting. They use very minimal spices.

BERMAN: But they have -- the flavors are distinct --

LONGORIA: But the --

BERMAN: -- and powerful.

LONGORIA: They're amazing.

And, you know, I live in Marbella and there's a whole episode about episode about Marbella. It is one of the most beautiful places on Earth but the cuisine there is so amazing. You talk about Mar y montana -- you know, surf and turf --

BERMAN: Yeah.

LONGORIA: -- as you -- if you will. They have amazing cuisine from the mountains. They have an eros with goat. That is a specific species of goat that is only found in the south of Spain.