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Trump: U.S. Strikes on Iran "So Bad That They Ended the War"; Democratic Socialist Poised to Win NYC's Democratic Mayoral Primary; U.S. Stocks Near an All-Time Record. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired June 25, 2025 - 15:30   ET

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

[15:30:00]

ERIN BURNETT, CNN ANCHOR: President Trump rebuking early claims from his Pentagon about the damage that U.S. strikes inflicted on Iran's nuclear capabilities. The leaked assessment first obtained by CNN found the attacks on Saturday may have only set back Iran's nuclear program by a few months. But speaking today at the NATO summit, President Trump blasted that report, calling it inconclusive and preliminary.

Both of those things actually are true, but it is also a real report from his non-partisan, non-political defense department. He says the sites were obliterated by American airstrikes, using a non-military term. And Trump is so confident in his belief that he says that the United States will meet with Iran next week to sign a nuclear agreement, even though he says a deal isn't necessary given the level of destruction.

So joining us now is the former defense secretary and director of the CIA, Leon Panetta. And Secretary, let me just ask you, you know, these talks, so we thought we'd be in talks right now, Boris and Brianna and I were just saying, because Trump had given them a two-week window, right? But then that attack came by surprise.

So now the talks apparently are going to happen again. The context, though, of all this discussion of how bad the damage was, the truth is at this point, probably nobody knows the answer to that. But anybody who does is in Iran.

And Iran is characterizing it, a spokesperson in a television interview today, that the damage was bad, that it was badly damaged. And I'm just curious what you think their strategy is here, because if they're coming to talks on the nuclear program, wouldn't it be in their interest to act as if it was a lot worse than it really was in order to improve their hand? Or what's going on here?

LEON PANETTA, DEFENSE SECRETARY UNDER PRESIDENT OBAMA: Well, that's the question of the moment, because it's a very pivotal moment, and it can take us in one or two directions. There's a hopeful direction, which is that the ceasefire holds, that Israel can turn to Gaza and resolve that and get the hostages back, and that Iran will negotiate in good faith in order to establish inspection and verification, get the IAEA back into it, and really develop a path to make sure that they don't do this again. [15:35:00]

The problem is it could also result in a much more dangerous situation. If the ceasefire doesn't hold, if Israel continues the war in Gaza, but more importantly, if Iran doesn't engage in any kind of negotiation, but simply repairs the damage that's been done and continues the path to building a nuclear weapon, then we could be right back in another war.

BURNETT: That's the big fear. And at this moment, of course, Secretary, there's a palpable sigh of relief. You know, anyone you talk to here in the Gulf, they were exhausted, they were afraid.

The number of basic things, the number of tourists coming to places like Dubai, immediately plunged when those missiles started flying. And there's a real palpable sense of exhaustion in Iran and Tel Aviv that everyone wanted a break. But it's very quick to go from that to saying, OK, it's over here, 12-day war, let's move on.

But when you say things could get much worse, what could happen to derail this?

PANETTA: Well, you know, we're dealing with an area that has a history of war after war after war. And regardless of what happens in a particular war, it's only a few years and then we're back in war again. And so the real question is whether we're going to repeat that same scenario that we've seen for the last more than 70 years.

And the way that could happen is if everybody kind of you know, takes a deep breath, backs off, doesn't really make any use of the opportunity that's here now, lets everybody go back to business as usual. And Iran, I mean, if the president doesn't negotiate with Iran and is willing to just give them a pass, make no mistake about it. Iran certainly has enriched fuel.

I don't know how badly they're damaged, but the reality is they've got enough fuel to be able to work again towards development. And if they continue to do that, nobody pays attention, nobody picks up on the opportunity that's been provided here, then mark my words, we will have another war.

BURNETT: Somber words, but of course, the reality in the moment where everybody wants to hope that it's over, that reality is also staring us in the face. Secretary Panetta, thank you so much for your time.

So much more news with Boris and Brianna and myself when we come back.

[15:40:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: New York City may be on the cusp of electing a Democratic Socialist as its next mayor. 33-year-old Zohran Mamdani declared victory in the city's Democratic mayoral primary last night, dealing a major blow to former Governor Andrew Cuomo's hopes for a political comeback. Cuomo has conceded but left the door open to running on his own ballot line in November when Mamdani could also face incumbent Mayor Eric Adams on his own ballot line.

But with none of the candidates reaching 50 percent in this, the primary will now go to a ranked choice voting, which means we won't know the final results until at least July 1st. Joining us now is one of the candidates for mayor who's hoping to help Mamdani win the race, Brad Lander. He also serves as the New York City comptroller.

Thank you so much for being with us and just give us a sense of how you are viewing this. You have an embattled current mayor. You had here a former governor who resigned amid allegations of sexual harassment in that COVID nursing home scandal.

There are some really unique local factors in this race. So what, if anything, do you think can be extrapolated nationally from it?

BRAD LANDER, (D) RAN AGAINST MAMDANI, CUOMO FOR NYC MAYOR: Yesterday was really remarkable. You're right. There has been in New York in some ways ever since the pandemic and certainly since Trump's election a real -- it's kind of a dark time.

You got Trump in office. You have Eric Adams corruption. You have Andrew Cuomo running this campaign like the city's in crisis.

And meanwhile, Zohran Mamdani runs this very hopeful campaign. He and I then cross endorsed in an unusual way that ranked choice voting makes possible. And people said we love the idea of politics as more of a team sport for the future of our city than as selfish politics that Andrew Cuomo and Eric Adams have played.

And yesterday, voters all over came out in this really hopeful spirit that said we want a New York City that everyone can afford and where everyone belongs. And I hope Democrats around the country are inspired by it.

KEILAR: There are certainly Democrats who will be looking at this and wondering what it could mean for them. I wonder if you think that should be Democratic Party leaders like New York senator and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, what do you think he should be thinking about today?

LANDER: Well, look, I mean, Zohran Mamdani has won the Democratic primary. You're right, we have to see the ranked choice tabulations. But Andrew Cuomo conceded. Everybody knows it. Democrats now should come together behind the Democratic nominee and will help him win in November.

KEILAR: OK, and also, you're aware conservatives are seeing opportunity here. Actually, President Trump just posted about the race.

And he said it's in part, It's finally happened. The Democrats have crossed the line. Zohran Mamdani, a 100 percent communist lunatic, has just won the Dem primary and is on his way to becoming mayor.

[15:45:04]

As you know, of course, and we're noting here, there are more steps ahead of us here. But what is your response to that?

LANDER: Well first, I love that Zohran Mamdani is in Donald Trump's head. In that same tweet, Trump calls Senator Schumer a Palestinian, like they're going to lie, whatever we do. What I think this election shows, what last night's election shows is people are hungry for a hopeful vision and they're hungry fighters. I'll be honest, I don't don't think the line for the party right now is between progressives and moderates. I think it's between fighters and folders.

People want someone who's going to go to bat for working people, paint a real vision of a city people could afford, fight for it, and get on the field. And that's what I think Zohran did. I was proud to be a part of that with our cross-endorsement, and that's what I think Democrats need to do in New York City and really all across the country.

KEILAR: He has proposed rent freezes in rent-stabilized units, free buses, city-run subsidized grocery stores, free childcare for five and under, and to pay for it by raising billions of dollars by increasing corporate taxes and income taxes on people who make more than a million dollars, of which of course there are many in New York City.

Governor Kathy Hochul has warned about his policies pushing people out of New York City -- or to Palm Beach, she said. People of course could also go to New Jersey, they could go outside the city. Do you see that happening?

LANDER: I mean, let's talk about childcare, which you mentioned last. When New York City expanded universal childcare to every four-year-old in the city, it made it much more possible for people to stay in New York City. And rather than have a $25,000 expense, that's something the city now covers.

We're on the way to doing that for three-year-olds. We should go down and do it for two-year-olds. That is good politics for Democrats.

KEILAR: But could you push out the people who are ultimately going to be paying for it, as the governor is raising as a possibility?

LANDER: Look, obviously there's got to be a balance, but I think providing childcare, again, when we moved to provide pre-K to every four-year-old, nobody moved out because of that. The opposite, young families have stayed here because they have it.

KEILAR: There of course was a huge focus, right, during the race, during the campaign about support for Israel. Mamdani says he supports Israel's right to exist, refused to say that he supports Israel's right to exist as a Jewish state or to condemn the phrase, globalize the intifada. Why should Jewish voters be OK with that?

LANDER: Yes, I mean, look, I'm a proud Jewish New Yorker, raising two Jewish kids here. It's the joy of my life. I'm the highest-ranking Jew in New York City government.

I believe in the vision of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state. I don't like the phrase, globalize the intifada, but I was proud to cross-endorse Zohran. And there's something powerful about a Jewish New Yorker and a Muslim New Yorker saying, we're going to keep all New Yorkers safe.

Of course we disagree on some foreign policy matters, but we agree in shared humanity here that every Jewish New Yorker deserves to be safe when they pray, when they work, when they ride the subway, when they walk in their neighborhood. And so does every Muslim New Yorker. And there's no contradiction there.

He spoke last night about his commitment to really listen and understand and make sure New Yorkers who didn't vote for him and don't necessarily agree with him know he'll be a mayor who protects them. I think it's really inspiring, you know, Jews and Muslims aren't going to be separated from each other by Donald Trump calling Chuck Schumer a Palestinian, quite the opposite. It's a time to reject the weaponization of hate or anti-Semitism and to show we can govern this diverse city in a way that really brings people together.

And I think it can be a hopeful moment, not an easy one, but one that really does carry us forward.

KEILAR: Comptroller Brad Lander, thank you so much for being with us. We appreciate it.

LANDER: Thank you.

KEILAR: Ahead, the S&P 500 was on the brink of a bear market just two months ago, but now it is near record highs. What caused this remarkable turnaround? We'll have that next.

[15:50:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: We're just minutes away from the closing bell on Wall Street and the S&P 500 closed yesterday on the cusp of a record high. Right now, kind of flat lining down, just a teensy weensy bit.

CNN's Vanessa Yurkevich joins us now with more. Vanessa, this is really impressive given where the market was not that long ago.

VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS AND POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, really a remarkable story on Wall Street. We've been watching the S&P very closely all day as it has been flirting with a new record, the last one set back in February. But it is remarkable because at the low of the S&P, it had shed $9.8 trillion in April, almost entering bear market territory, and it's nearly now recovered all of its losses. And just look at the markets. You see the Dow, the S&P and the Nasdaq on your screen. That dramatic V-shaped drop and then recovery.

I was talking to a chief investment strategist, Sam Stovall of CFRA, who told me that usually it takes about four months for markets to enter the low and then another four months for a recovery to get back to even. That happened in half the time. So it really is remarkable.

[15:55:00]

And essentially, investors, what they have seen is that after the 90- day pause on reciprocal tariffs and after the tariff rates on China were reduced from 145 percent to 30 percent, they really believe that the fear of a recession was taken off the table and that maybe some of these tariffs had more bark than bite.

And also, Boris, just recently, the conflict in the Middle East between Iran and Israel. Well, what happened over the weekend was that the U.S. took out nuclear sites in Iran. And so Wall Street woke up Monday morning and they were relieved. Investors were relieved. So you saw a little bit of a relief rally happening today. But we're watching down to the last minute to see if the S&P will hit a new record today -- Boris.

SANCHEZ: We will be watching closely. Vanessa Yurkevich thanks so much for the reporting.

Coming up, the FAA is investigating after a commercial jet returned to Vegas after reporting smoke coming from an engine. We've got details for you just minutes away.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: This just in, an American Airlines jet returned to Las Vegas after reporting an engine issue. And there's video from the ground showing smoke billowing from the plane that had just taken off with 159 people on board. No injuries reported here. Air traffic control audio capturing the moment the pilot discussed an engine issue.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

[16:00:00]

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER: American 1665, uh (INAUDIBLE) got flames coming out of the engine.

PILOT: Yeah, we're going to have to return.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER: OK, would you just like to make left close traffic?

PILOT: Yeah, left close will work.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER: OK, left close traffic for runway one left, sir.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ: American Airlines says the maintenance team found no evidence of a fire in the engine. The aircraft now is being taken out of service and evaluated. The FAA is investigating.

CNN Aviation correspondent Pete Muntean assures me that flying is safe, even though it feels like we're getting a lot of these stories that may make you a little bit nervous. KEILAR: Very good to know. "THE ARENA" with Kasie Hunt starts now.

END