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Zohran Mamdani Wins New York City Mayoral Primary; Iran Nuclear Program Still Intact?. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired June 25, 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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BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Deal or no deal? President Trump says he doesn't think a nuke agreement with Iran is -- quote -- "necessary" because the U.S. destroyed the country's capabilities. The latest intel that we have from the region after the U.S. strikes.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Plus: Cuomo's comeback crushed, Democrats in the Big Apple delivering their mayoral nomination to a 33-year-old self-avowed socialist. But could Zohran Mamdani's win serve as a blueprint for the party nationally? We will discuss.

And HHS secretary RFK Jr.'s new vaccine advisers are meeting for the first time since he gutted the committee, installing a new panel, including some vaccine skeptics.

We're following these major developing stories and many more all coming in right here to CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

KEILAR: President Trump standing firm, pushing back against a leaked intelligence report that suggests Iran's nuclear sites may not be as obliterated as the president says they are.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: They said it could be limited or it could be very severe. They really didn't know, other than to say it could be limited or it could be very, very severe. And you didn't choose to put that, because it was very early after.

Since then, we have collected additional intelligence. We have also spoken to people have seen the site. And the site is obliterated.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: The president first used that word obliterated Saturday night, just hours after the strikes.

The next day, his chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said it was -- quote -- "way too early" to say whether Iran still had nuclear capabilities. An Israeli intel official on Sunday also said too early. Let's go live now to the Netherlands, where the president just left

the NATO Summit.

Kevin Liptak is covering this for us.

Kevin, what more did the president say?

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes.

And it's clear that the president is quite upset that this information is now out there that puts these strikes at anything less than total obliteration of those Iranian nuclear sites. He raised it himself at every public appearance that he had today.

His quibbles are not with the existence of the report or even with the content, but it seems to be the emphasis, the president trying to make the point that this report was non-conclusive, that it was low- confidence, and saying that they have now gotten more information that provides a much more devastating picture of the impact of these strikes.

And, in fact, the White House took the highly unusual step earlier today of distributing information from Israel's Atomic Defense Agency, saying that these strikes had put back Iran's nuclear ambitions by years.

And so you really see the president and his top officials, including the secretary of state, Marco Rubio, the defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, really putting on the push to describe these strikes as totally obliterating. The president himself, in fact, twice today drew a comparison to the strikes he ordered to the nuclear bombs that the U.S. dropped on Japan during World War II, saying both had the effect of ending wars.

And so you do see how the president is responding there. I think all of that in some ways obscured the real news from the president's press conference earlier today, which is when he was talking sort of about the endgame of all of this, about where he sees things going with Iran going forward. Listen to what the president said on that front.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: We're going to talk to them next week with Iran. We may sign an agreement, I don't know. To me, I don't think it's that necessary. I mean, they had a war they fought. Now they're going back to their world. I don't care if I have an agreement or not.

We -- the only thing we'd be asking for is what we were asking for before about we want no nuclear, but we destroyed the nuclear.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIPTAK: So two things in that little sound bite, the president saying that the U.S. plans to meet with Iran next week. It's not clear what the format of that will be, whether it will be direct, whether it will be indirect, but certainly very significant that now the president says a meeting is on the books.

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And the president also downplaying the idea that he would need to put a deal with Iran into writing. You know, there are not many officials who are involved in this who think that sort of a handshake agreement will do it in this sort of larger conflagration, but certainly the president there making clear that he's very eager to get a deal done with Tehran.

KEILAR: Yes.

And, Kevin, the president also made news when it came to Vladimir Putin.

LIPTAK: Yes.

And we're in Europe. We're at a NATO summit. So, of course, Putin and Russia and the war in Ukraine are front of mind for a lot of the leaders here, if not necessarily Donald Trump. He was asked in this press conference whether he agreed with his Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman, Dan Caine, that Putin -- ambitions in Europe, that his territorial aspirations go beyond Ukraine.

And the president said that it was possible, so a significant comment there from the president. Obviously, his relationship with Putin has always been a subject of fascination, somewhat of an ambiguous relationship between those two men. But it was evident listening to the president here that he believes Putin still wants a way out of his war in Ukraine, but he doesn't necessarily see how to get there yet.

Now, the president also met on the sidelines of the NATO summit here with the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Press was not allowed in to see that meeting, so we didn't get a sense of sort of the tenor. Obviously, the two men had that Oval Office blowup earlier this year, but the president emerged to say it was a good meeting, but they did not talk about a cease-fire in Ukraine.

KEILAR: Yes. That was pretty amazing. He said they didn't talk about a cease-fire. Thank you so much, Kevin, for that reporting.

Let's bring in now CNN's Nic Robertson. He is live for us in Tel Aviv.

And, Nic, the president, really leaned heavily on some Israeli intel today to make his point. What more do we know about what Israel is saying that they have discovered and how they got their intel?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes, very few details on that, but what has been interesting in the last hour or so is, the head of Mossad here, the Israeli intelligence service, is the one that had images showing operatives in the very early days of the war.

They would be expected, or their agents would be expected to be the ones on the ground who might get access to Fordow or get eyes on it. We don't have confirmation that that's happened. In fact, a lawmaker spoke earlier in the day and said Israel hasn't had that level of access.

But what was really interesting, David Barnea, the Mossad's chief this evening, publicly congratulating his agents, congratulating the way they worked with the IDF, with the internal security services here, Shin Bet, congratulating them for the work that they did with the CIA, not just in the context of this 12 days of war, but in the months he said, even years leading up prior, that this was part of Mossad's history, what they'd done and what they'd achieved here.

So I think, when you get the intelligence chief stepping in front of the cameras there, telling his operatives that they have done a good job, this, I think, is a sort of picture and image that strengthens what President Trump would like the understanding to be that Israel has an assessment on the ground, David Barnea talking about the success of what his operatives have done.

The analysis coming from politicians here is very clearly that Israel has done years worth of damage to Fordow. That's a very, very clear narrative. But when you dig below that, it's clear that they don't have the granular detail, that they're still working on forming their overall intelligence assessment.

So what President Trump may be leaning on there, if it's knowledge here within the intelligence services, it is not being made explicitly public. The quality of their work, however, is being praised.

KEILAR: Yes, it is early yet on that intel.

Nic Robertson, thank you so much for the report from Tel Aviv -- Boris.

SANCHEZ: Joining us now to discuss is retired U.S. Army Colonel Peter Mansoor.

Colonel Mansoor, thanks so much for being with us.

How do you read these early intelligence assessments, some that show that the damage to Iran's nuclear facilities only set their program back by several months, and then, by comparison, what you're hearing from the Israelis, that it was much more significant than that?

COL. PETER MANSOOR (RET.), U.S. ARMY: Well, the problem with the DIA assessment is that it only used imagery from above and whatever signals intelligence they were able to garner. And that's why they classified it as low confidence.

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In other words, from what we can see, the damage wasn't as severe as we first thought, but we don't -- we can't see underground, we can't see inside, so we don't know. So I would agree with the president on this, not that it's totally obliterated, but that it's too early to tell.

This was a low-confidence report, and we need to wait until someone gets inside the facility to actually see what the damage was done, at least to Fordow.

SANCHEZ: What is the likelihood of that happening if Iran is closing its doors to the IAEA, the U.N. nuclear watchdog?

MANSOOR: Well, presumably, the Iranians will get inside, and once they start to chatter about it, then we might be able to intercept something, and Israeli human intelligence as well might be able to garner something.

But I don't think the -- even the Iranians know the extent to the damage underground. Presumably, they had evacuated the facility before the strike.

SANCHEZ: On the president's view that this 12-days war, as he calls it, ended when the United States struck these facilities, I mean, is that likely the case? Do you see further escalation moving forward?

If in fact the Iranians maintain that they have a right to enrich uranium, and the West challenges them on that, doesn't it seem like we're headed for more conflict, more hostilities?

MANSOOR: Well, you're precisely right. Comparing this to a Hiroshima moment is just totally inapt, because, in that case, the Japanese agreed to unconditional surrender as soon as the bomb was dropped, or at least the second bomb.

And, in this case, all they have agreed to is a cease-fire, and the beginning of negotiations. And we will only see if this conflict is ended once there's a negotiated settlement to the future of Iran's nuclear program. Otherwise, the cease-fire could go away, and there could be further strikes by Israel or even by the United States.

SANCHEZ: There's also concern about Iran's reach into terrorist groups in the region. The IDF actually says that they intercepted a drone likely launched from Yemen on Monday, Yemen's Houthi rebels obviously an Iranian proxy.

Are you anticipating more action from proxies in the region in the wake of the cease-fire? Or, in your assessment, is it that Iran has been so weakened that it's going to be difficult for them to provide some of these groups you see them now on your screen with the resources and capacity they need to disrupt peace?

MANSOOR: Well, certainly, it's going to be more difficult for Iran to provide the wherewithal for these groups to function. Hezbollah has been decimated, Hamas nearly destroyed. The Houthis still have some capability but it's limited.

And the militias in Iraq have not yet really entered the fray and I think are loathe to do so. I think Iran is going to tell its proxies to lay low for the time being while the negotiations play out. I think everyone is looking now to the diplomatic realm to see what can be negotiated and whether there's any shared negotiating space between Iran and Israel and the United States regarding its nuclear program.

SANCHEZ: Colonel Peter Mansoor, thank you so much for joining us. Appreciate your point of view.

MANSOOR: Thanks, Boris.

SANCHEZ: Still ahead: a major political upset in New York, Zohran Mamdani projected to win the city's Democratic primary for mayor -- up next, how the victory is sending shockwaves through Democrats across the country.

Plus, prosecutors in the Sean "Diddy" Combs trial making an 11th-hour move just a day before closing arguments. We're live from court.

And HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s new vaccine advisory committee meeting for the first time -- what their decisions could mean for you still ahead.

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ZOHRAN MAMDANI (D), NEW YORK CITY MAYORAL CANDIDATE: Eight months after launching this campaign, with the vision of a city that every New Yorker could afford, we have won.

(CHEERING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: A fresh face in politics, 33-year-old Democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani declaring victory in New York City's mayoral primary. The final outcome doesn't come until at least July 1, when the city releases the initial results of its ranked-choice voting.

But this does mark a major blow to the political comeback of former Governor Andrew Cuomo, who conceded overnight.

KEILAR: And right now members of the party are wrestling with how to best connect with voters following Mamdani's bold, progressive, and go-anywhere style of campaigning.

With us now is senior Democratic strategist and president of Solidarity Strategies Chuck Rocha and political anchor for Spectrum News, Errol Louis. He's also the host of "The Big Deal With Errol Louis."

So, Errol, tell us, to jump off on that, what was the big deal here that propelled Mamdani and did not for Cuomo?

ERROL LOUIS, SPECTRUM NEWS: Well, look, this was two candidates who just could not be more different. If Cuomo had been elected, he would have been the oldest mayor in the history of New York City. By contrast, we haven't had a mayor this young -- if he should succeed, Mamdani would be the youngest mayor in 100 years.

You have somebody who had a ton of experience. Cuomo had won seven statewide campaigns, three for his father, four for himself. Mamdani, by contrast, had only been in the Assembly, the lower chamber of the state Assembly, of the state legislature for two terms, about four years.

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So you had new and fresh and somebody who was just bursting with energy, as opposed to somebody who really literally physically represented the Democratic establishment.

SANCHEZ: Chuck, you, since before the last election, have been longing for some change to the Democratic Party. I wonder how you read this. Is it a playbook for future elections?

CHUCK ROCHA, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: There's a lot of lessons to be learned from this election, not just that the establishment may be on their way out, but lots of different things.

Some other numbers that wasn't talked about yet was the money. Normally, in politics -- and you all have covered this -- whoever spends the most money normally wins. Well, Cuomo and his Super PAC spent over $36 million, and Mamdani only spent $9 million. That's a huge difference.

So the way that the campaigns were run are really different. Will this New York race fit in every race around America? No. But the energy and the change and the need for change, I think that's why people were really drawn to him.

KEILAR: The watercooler or I guess maybe the pre-Zoom meeting moment discussion today among Democrats, Democratic voters, it's going to be, Chuck, what can be read into this and what does this portend for other races?

Do you see this as a sea change moment, or no?

ROCHA: There's some things that happen underneath that folks should know for political operatives like me.

I started looking at the precincts that Donald Trump won in New York. You all have reported that Donald Trump overperformed in New York City in mainly the heaviest Latino precincts that he had ever done before. Guess who won those precincts last night? Mamdani won those precincts.

So you could have had voters last night who had voted for Donald Trump and voted for him, because this is a populist moment more so than a left or right thing. Folks are just sick and tired of the establishment.

SANCHEZ: And, Errol, Mamdani will face off against current Mayor Eric Adams, who has since gone independent. What is your pulse of how that contest is going to go?

LOUIS: Well, the early read, Boris, is that the sitting mayor, Eric Adams, is going to try and do once again what Andrew Cuomo tried and failed to do, sort of push off to the side this youthful left-leaning political movement and say, it's impractical, it can't work, it's not going to carry, it's going to sort of drag down the Democratic Party, we have to be more realistic, all of these kind of things that Democratic voters have clearly signaled they just don't want to hear.

A recent poll, one of the ones just from a few days ago, showed that 77 percent of Democratic voters in New York City think the city is going in the wrong direction. If you are the incumbent and you're Eric Adams, you are what they are talking about. They are looking for change on a lot of different levels, and they're clearly, it looks like the Democratic base, at least, is going to go with somebody who can deliver that change.

KEILAR: I wonder, Errol, what you think of this, that we're hearing a lot on social media from conservatives who are saying -- they're not saying this is about populism winning out over someone who is so well- known. They're saying that this is -- a lot of them, this is about the influence of immigrants on the electorate.

They're not talking about necessarily illegal immigrants. They're talking about legal immigrants, and they're saying that this has actually affected the outcome of the election. What do you make of that sort of line that we're hearing from so many conservatives?

LOUIS: Well, as you know, Brianna, here in New York City, where 40 percent of the population is foreign-born, immigrant is not a dirty word.

This is a city where there are 190 countries represented in our public schools. Nobody even thinks twice about it. So now, if Republicans want to run around and tell some fairy tale about New York City and act as if immigrants have -- quote, unquote -- "taken over" the city or somehow ruined it, I would only just remind them that there are more billionaires living in New York City than any other city on the globe. And there's a reason for that.

This is the capital of capitalism. This is the place where everybody is striving and trying to get ahead. And we glance over and nod at the lady in the harbor of the Statue of Liberty, and we all go to work every day. And that's life in New York City.

SANCHEZ: To that point, Chuck, and the one that you made previously about this sort of playbook not necessarily playing everywhere, what do you think Democrats in more purple areas, not New York City, that generally is more progressive, but in areas where they may be able to learn some lessons, but there are certain things they should avoid,what should they avoid?

ROCHA: They should talk about things that are popular and avoid things that are controversial. That seems very elementary, but he won last night saying, rent is too high and the buses should be free.

That's something. If we have got enough money to give all these millionaires a tax break, we should be able to afford those things. And when you're in places that are purple, talk about things that are grounded around family and work. Mamdani also did something that was very different, which was his big presence on social media, three million views of a single ad, while other folks were buying lots of evening news, which still works for old folks.

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Because the one thing that's not talked about the most in this particular race is, they opened up the primary where you could vote early more days. Back in the day, when we were all younger, you only had one day to vote in New York City. Now you can vote over a week or two, which added a lot more people to the rolls being able to vote.

KEILAR: Talk a little bit more about that social media impact and the advantage that can give a candidate, because that is something that is significantly cheaper. But then you find yourself relying on voters that may not be as dependable.

ROCHA: The most infrequent voters. This is exactly a great point.

KEILAR: That's right.

ROCHA: This is how Donald Trump won. Nobody likes to talk about it. I'm one of the few Democrats that give them credit. There's a lot of new voters that showed up last night, and they saw him on their social media.

Remember where I started, $36 million spent on TV? Mamdani only spent $9 million. Most of that was not on TV because he was paying to put and boost his ads on Facebook and Twitter and on other places, where folks, young folks, are consuming. And guess who are the biggest participants who had the biggest growth margins were young people.

Now, the ceiling is low because they normally don't vote. They showed up en masse last night and that was the biggest difference.

KEILAR: Yes, really fascinating and a lot of tea leaves to read today.

Chuck, Errol, thank you so much to both of you. Really appreciate it.

And still ahead: President Trump leaving the NATO summit with a big win, as its leaders agree to spend significantly more for their defense. The president now says he has a more positive view of the alliance. So what this all means for NATO's future, we will have that next.

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