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Poll Shows Disapproval of U.S. Attack on Iran; Iran Attack Briefings to Congress Postponed; Trump Lashes Out at Israel and Iran. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired June 24, 2025 - 13:00   ET

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

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ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Happening now: President Trump is about to arrive in the Netherlands for a consequential summit of NATO leaders. He will be coming face-to-face with European allies just hours after he announced a cease-fire between Israel and Iran and said he -- quote -- "stopped the war."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

QUESTION: Sir, how are you confident that this might not happen again, say, in a couple of weeks?

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Tired of it. I think they don't want it to happen again. And Iran's not going to have a nuclear weapon, by the way. I think it's the last thing on their mind right now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Trump had a much different tone before takeoff, a White House source telling CNN that the president called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu this morning, as both Israel and Iran accused one another of breaking the truce and Trump expressed his frustration.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: We have -- we basically have two countries that have been fighting so long and so hard that they don't know what the (EXPLETIVE DELETED) they're doing. Do you understand that?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Let's go live to the Middle East now with CNN's Erin Burnett.

Erin, a whirlwind few days since the U.S. struck Iran's nuclear sites, and now seemingly a whirlwind few hours.

ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: Yes, and the expletives there dropped by the president of the United States, President Trump I think expressing just the -- he did use the right word, right, the exhaustion, right?

And that exhaustion in the moment is where we are, a very wobbly start to the cease-fire. The sun rose. We were here. Was the cease-fire going to happen? And within 40 minutes of it, you had missiles heading towards Israel from Iran. Two of them, Israel immediately saying they were going to be responding with massive force. Planes go in the air.

It has now tamped down. It has held. The president of Iran right now having a call with the leader here of the United Arab Emirates, saying that, well, they continue to have their rights for nuclear power. Iran did say it struck an Iranian radar system earlier today, that just north of Tehran, Boris and Brianna.

But they did then say they stopped further strikes in that immediate post cease-fire escalation that threatened to derail the whole thing when President Trump made a phone call to Prime Minister Netanyahu that you just mentioned there. But in those final strikes, for now, at least nine people were killed overnight by Israeli strikes in Tehran, deaths in Israel as well.

Iran denies accusations that it broke the truce. And, of course, in situations like this, it's unclear exactly what happened. Israel says, though, that several people were killed after an Iranian missile struck a residential building just before the cease-fire took effect.

So it's a tense moment here, but fair to say in a region that was completely disrupted and felt that it was on the cusp of war, massive airspace disruptions, people running in shelter to a mall in Doha as missiles came into Qatar and the U.S. base there, that there is a palpable feeling of, thank God, at least not now, a true exhaustion.

Let's go to Kaitlan Collins, because she's near that crucial NATO Summit where the president arrives any minute now.

And, Kaitlan, the president taking a victory lap certainly during the flight to NATO, getting on, dropping expletives with incredible frustration, the situation changing while he was in the air. What more are you learning?

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN HOST: Yes, Erin, you didn't need our reporting to tell you the president was frustrated this morning. I mean, his anger was on full display as he was coming out and speaking with reporters, as there were real questions about whether or not this cease-fire that he had announced just hours before was actually going to hold.

And what I had been told, Erin, is throughout the night the president had been watching the coverage of what was happening in Israel and Iran. He was increasingly frustrated and obviously let that out, as you saw, when he was speaking with reporters as he left the White House and dropped the F-bomb about not just Iran, but also saying he was particularly upset with Israel after it retaliated for what it had said was Iran breaking that cease-fire agreement.

Now, obviously, they have different narratives here, but now both sides say they are holding to this cease-fire that the president announced. And so if that holds, you have seen that reflected in his TRUTH Social posts, as he's been making his way here to the Netherlands, where he's expected to land this hour ahead of that NATO Summit.

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The president is now taking credit for that cease-fire and for the fact that it's holding. He is saying that both Israel and Iran want peace in this situation. And, Erin, just to give you a sense of what a far cry that is from what we have just experienced over the last 24 and 48 hours, it wasn't that long ago that the president had been suggesting potential regime change in Iran.

And it's something that a reporter asked him about as he was on his way here to The Hague. And this is what he told reporters.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

QUESTION: Do you want to see regime change in Iran?

TRUMP: No. If there was, there was, but, no, I don't want to. I'd like to see everything calm down as quickly as possible.

Regime change takes chaos. And, ideally, we don't want to see so much chaos.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: The president saying it takes chaos, seeming to tamp down that notion.

And I should note that as this followed from where he was out there speaking with reporters this morning to when he was on Air Force One, he did have a call with the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. We were told that call was firm and direct. That is diplomatic-speak for it being a quite a blunt phone call. And then you, of course, saw the statement coming from the Israeli prime minister after that.

And so obviously the president wanted to come here, Erin, to the summit having brokered that cease-fire, which he believes would be a major development here if it holds. And obviously it certainly would. And so that's the question as we keep an eye on what these next few hours look like and what the White House is touting as a big success after coming down from the strikes just on Saturday night.

BURNETT: Right, certainly. And, of course, there's the moment that we're in and the bigger picture beyond that with so many question marks.

But, in this moment, Kaitlan, he is being lauded as a great success by some world leaders who would be very loath to use those sorts of words, former Netherlands prime minister among them. So, in this context, how is he being received coming in? I mean, there are a lot of issues on the table. There's the Ukraine-Russia war.

There's the trade wars, which involve all of the countries who are going to be at NATO. And yet overshadowing at all is this moment. How much does this moment change how world leaders are talking to him, perceiving him and sort of the clout with which he walks into this meeting?

COLLINS: Well, I mean, this NATO summit is already going to be quite short, Erin, I mean, probably one of the shortest ones that I have ever attended with a president of the United States.

The president will land here shortly. He's on the ground for just over 24 hours or so, and then a whole depress conference before returning to Washington. But the world leaders that are hosting him, and especially the NATO secretary-general, want to make sure that the president, one, comes and that he stays here for the totality of the summit.

Obviously, he cut his G7 trip short to deal with everything that was happening inside the Middle East, he said. And you saw the president on the way here posted a text that he got from the NATO secretary- general saying essentially what he brokered in Iran and Israel was a big success and welcoming him here to the world leaders that are awaiting him.

One key topic, obviously, is going to be Russia. Defense spending is going to be something huge. It has been a conversation we have had at every NATO Summit the President Trump has ever attended. And, also, he's going to get that meeting with the Ukrainian President Zelenskyy. He had canceled that when he left the Canadian trip early.

And so we will see the two of them come face-to-face. And, obviously, that's a key development here because Russia had been offering a bit to help mediate with Israel and Iran. And when I asked the president about that, he essentially said that he wanted to make sure that he's also still focusing on what's happening with Russia and Ukraine and dealing with that as well.

BURNETT: All right, Kaitlan Collins, thank you so much on the ground in the Netherlands ahead of that NATO summit.

Now let's go to Israel, Clarissa Ward, live in Tel Aviv.

And, Clarissa, fair to say the feeling of exhaustion is pervasive across this region and where you are and in Tehran. And there was just -- there was an exhaustion. And that is the moment that we are in right now, a cease-fire that is being greeted with great relief.

The question is, of course, then what then? What more are you learning this hour about the state of the cease-fire, which -- we both were here this morning as the sun rose here and then where you were -- was -- basically had fallen apart in its first hour until it was brought back from the brink.

CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it definitely got off to a very precarious start, air alerts repeatedly, four times, before it was launched officially at 7:00 a.m.

And I should say, because there wasn't really an official statement about the cease-fire and when it would start, I think there was broad confusion across the region as to when the official start was and what it was supposed to look like. Then, of course, you had, as you mentioned before, these two missiles, Iranian missiles that were intercepted over Northern Israel.

Then you saw Israel's defense secretary vowing a very fiery response. And then it appears that President Trump, after those choice words and some tough, but direct phone calls, sort of exercised his authority. And what we saw in terms of a retaliation from Israel was actually pretty modest. It was an attack on a radar system to the north of Tehran.

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And now we have been many hours with relative calm. And it's worth noting that the Home Front Command has just announced that it is removing all restrictions. Schools will open tomorrow, Erin, return to normal, reopening the economy.

So there is a sense that they are sort of drawing a line under this chapter, Israeli officials painting it as a success, saying that they achieved their objectives. That's kind of interesting because as recently as yesterday they were implying that there were still more targets that they wanted to strike.

And perhaps, most tellingly, we heard from the IDF chief of staff saying that the IDF will now go back to focusing its forces on Gaza, on securing the release of the hostages and on toppling Hamas.

BURNETT: Yes.

WARD: But certainly there are many people across the region, but also here in Israel, Erin, who are really hoping that off the back of what Israel is seeing as a win that there may now be some space to maneuver for some kind of a cease-fire in Gaza, Erin.

BURNETT: All right, Clarissa, thank you so much live in Tel Aviv.

And joining us now to discuss is retired U.S. Navy Admiral James Stavridis, who served as NATO's supreme allied commander and partner at the Carlyle Group now, serves on the board and advises defense- related firms as well in that capacity.

And, Admiral, I so much appreciate your time here, of course, ahead of this crucial NATO summit. We are just learning about a call between the Iranian president and the ruler of the United Arab Emirates, where I'm standing right now. What we're hearing from the Iranian state media about this call is -- the quote is this.

"Iran is not Gaza or Lebanon that cannot respond to the military attacks of the Zionist regime." And they -- some bluster there, but clearly they desperately needed the cease-fire. I am curious how you see it. Is this cease-fire -- is this cease-fire it for the long haul or is something different going on here?

ADM. JAMES STAVRIDIS (RET.), FORMER NATO SUPREME ALLIED COMMANDER: I think there is a two in three chance that the cease-fire really takes hold.

Takes hold being defined as a return to the negotiating table between the United States and Iran about a kind of a permanent Iran can never have a nuclear weapon deal. I think we all know the outlines of that. It's become crystal clear in the last few days.

So, Erin, I think there's a two in three chance, call it 65, 70 percent chance, things will settle down. That's good news for markets. It's good news for oil prices. It's good news for civilians who get caught in a crossfire so often, so tragically. Let's hope it trends in that direction.

BURNETT: Yes. And, of course, though, I will say, just for context, talking to you over recent days, that to say on the flip side of that there's a 25 to 30 percent chance that things fall apart, again, two weeks ago would have been something that we would have been stunned to have the conversation. So, I know that context is so important, Admiral.

But in this context of how long this holds is what Iran really wants to do. And I know there's real questions about the government there, the command-and-control. I understand all of that. But amidst all of that is a question about what was really accomplished in those most recent strikes and where Iran has its supply of highly enriched uranium. How much does it have? Where is it in all of this?

Do you think we're going to get the answers to that? Because the answers to that determine, of course, whether this cease-fire holds, whether all of this is long term or simply a pause.

STAVRIDIS: I believe we will get some answers, at least initially on battle damage assessment on the strikes. We will be able to use a variety of different intelligence collection means over the next two to three weeks, as the chairman of the Joint Chiefs outlined at the news conference immediately after the strike.

So, two to three weeks, we will get a better sense of battle damage assessment. In terms of the location of the 900 pounds of enriched uranium, I think that is job one for the negotiators. If we can keep the cease-fire, then that becomes a very salient point. And how hard the Trump administration wants to push on that, we will see in the days ahead.

But you're right to put your finger on it. And then, third and finally, the other known unknown, as Don Rumsfeld used to say, would be how much of the infrastructure got out of Fordow before presumably it got slammed, how many centrifuges?

BURNETT: Yes.

STAVRIDIS: How much did they already have stashed away in perhaps another site? So, there are plenty of known unknowns out there that we are going to have to contend with.

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Final thought. Because NATO is opening for business, boy, I would like to see the Trump administration, which has been dealing with this in a very unilateral way, I'd like to see our administration kind of expand this conversation. Ultimately, if we're going to negotiate with the Iranians, having the Europeans at the table with us, I think could be very powerful. I hope that comes up at the NATO conference.

BURNETT: Quickly, before you go, Admiral, as we speak, Iranian state media is reporting that there are gatherings, mass crowds. Can't verify if that's true, but they're saying that they're there to support the armed forces, to support the supreme leader, that there's pictures of him amongst the crowd.

It could be completely organized by the regime if it's happening. But I ask it to you in this context. The supreme leader, how much of a supreme leader is he right now for Iran? He, of course, has not been present in these past 24 hours.

STAVRIDIS: I believe he is increasingly out of the loop. And he's 85 years old. He's gravely ill. All of his top leadership, both religious and military, many of them have been terminated with extreme prejudice by the Israelis.

So I don't think he's got his hands firmly on the wheel here. In terms of crowds in Tehran, part of that is going to be rent-a-crowd activity, ginned up by the Iranians. But also, Erin, and you know this, history shows, when bombs are falling, civilian populations often tend to rally around the flag. Look at the Ukrainians who are being bombed horribly by the Russians.

BURNETT: Yes.

STAVRIDIS: They're not collapsing. They're coming together. So hard to say at this point, but I don't think you can rule out a lot of internal turmoil and ultimately some form of regime change. That would solve a lot of problems in the region.

BURNETT: Which is so amazing that you would say that, some form of regime change. And the context of that, of course, the president of the United States would put that on the table, now saying, oh, no, he's not looking for that. But perhaps it is because of the space for that to happen that you have just referred to.

Admiral, thank you so much for your time. Admiral James Stavridis, thanks.

As our breaking coverage continues of this ongoing start to a cease- fire here in the Middle East as the NATO Summit begins. We will be right back.

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[13:21:58] KEILAR: President Trump is meeting with other NATO leaders in the Netherlands today, but back home in Washington, he is facing big questions about his decision to strike Iranian nuclear facilities.

Lawmakers in the House and Senate were supposed to receive classified briefings today, but sources now tell CNN those briefings from the White House have been postponed.

CNN's Lauren Fox is on the Hill for us.

Lauren, what are you learning about why these have been put off?

LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, we actually heard from Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat who was livid at the fact that this had been postponed.

He actually made the unusual step of coming to cameras before lunches on a Tuesday and talking to reporters about the fact that he believes that the administration is really shirking their duties here. Here's what he told us earlier.

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SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY): This last-minute postponement of our briefing is outrageous. It's evasive. It's derelict. They're bobbing and weaving and ducking. senators deserve full transparency. There is a legal obligation for the administration to inform Congress about precisely what is happening. What are they afraid of?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOX: Now, there have been questions about whether or not it might be better to have these briefings when Pete Hegseth could brief lawmakers, as well as Marco Rubio. They're currently at NATO.

But we should just point out that last week, when we got the list of briefers, it was clear that they were already planning for them not to be part of this briefing because they were already scheduled to be at NATO. So that is one of the questions that Democrats have. Why can't we just have the briefing we were supposed to have today?

If there are further developments that Rubio and Hegseth want to speak to, then we will have another briefing on Thursday. Lawmakers on Capitol Hill do typically prefer more information, Brianna, not less. Obviously, a lot of Democrats deeply frustrated. Republicans not quite as upset, as you're seeing there from Chuck Schumer, though -- Brianna.

KEILAR: Everyone wants more information.

Lauren Fox, thank you so much for that report -- Boris.

SANCHEZ: So how are Americans feeling about all of this? A new CNN poll is giving us a much clearer picture about where many voters stand on this issue.

CNN's David Chalian is here to break down the numbers.

So, David, what do the numbers say?

DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Well, we did this poll really quickly right after the strikes commenced, Boris. And this was done before the announcement of this cease-fire, a potential cease-fire, we should note.

But it's broadly unpopular the move that the president took here; 56 percent of Americans in our brand-new poll by SSRS disapprove of the strikes, 44 percent approve. And, of course, as with everything in American politics these days, Boris, partisanship tells us so much.

As you would expect, 82 percent of Republicans approve, 88 percent of Democrats. But this is the crucial number to look at here, in the middle, that critical middle of the electorate independents; 60 percent disapprove, only 40 percent of independents approve.

SANCHEZ: And how do voters feel about Trump's handling of all of this? Do they trust the commander in chief?

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CHALIAN: So we asked that question specifically, do you trust Trump to make the right decisions on use of force with Iran?

Fifty-five percent, a majority, say no; 45 percent say yes. That kind of looks like his overall approval rating. And, again, if you look at this by party, 87 percent of Republicans trust, 12 percent of Democrats have trust, but only 38 percent less than four in 10 independents.

Donald Trump has a has a political problem with independents right now that he is looking to solve.

SANCHEZ: As you noted, the poll was done before we got the cease- fire. We saw some level of retaliation from Tehran.

Is there a concern, widespread concern among voters about how Iran may retaliate, what the blowback might be of U.S. involvement there?

CHALIAN: Yes.

Yes, I mean, we asked does Iran become more of a threat to the U.S. or less of a threat after these strikes? Nearly six in 10 Americans think Iran becomes more of a threat; 58 percent say so.

And, Boris, one of the most interesting findings in the poll to me when you look at this by party, 30 percent of Republicans think that Iran becomes more of a threat after these strikes than not. So, yes, a majority of Republicans, 53 percent, say less of a threat. But still that means that people who are approving of the strike still feel that Iran may be more of a threat after the fact now.

SANCHEZ: Fascinating numbers.

David Chalian, thank you so much for that.

CHALIAN: Yes.

SANCHEZ: Still to come when we come back: oil prices falling again, as President Trump demands Israel and Iran stick to the cease-fire.

We're going to take you live back to the region and take you to that critical strait that Iran could use to upend shipping and markets.

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