Return to Transcripts main page

CNN News Central

Rep. Mike Turner (R-OH) is Interviewed about the Iran Strikes; Sarah Krissoff is Interviewed about the Combs Trial; Millions Under Heat Alerts Today. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired June 26, 2025 - 09:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:31:22]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking news this morning, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs offering, just this morning, a forceful defense of the U.S. strikes on the Iranian nuclear sites. And also, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs offering new detail on exactly how some of the mission went down.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEN. DAN CAINE, JOINT CHIEFS CHAIRMAN: In the days preceding the attack against Fordow, the Iranians attempted to cover the shafts with concrete to try to prevent an attack.

The cap was forcibly removed by the first weapon, and the main shaft was uncovered. Weapons two, three, four, five were tasked to enter the main shaft, move down into the complex at greater than 1,000 feet per second, and explode in the mission space.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: New details for sure on an operational plan that's been developed over many years, we've been learning. Some of this, though, overshadowed by Secretary Hegseth's decision during the briefing to spend much of his time attacking the media over coverage of the operation, though at the same time confirming much of what CNN and others have reported on a preliminary assessment of the strikes done by the Pentagon's own intelligence arm.

A lot of focus now turns to Capitol Hill, and important briefings that are happening today and tomorrow on this operation.

Joining us right now is Republican Congressman Mike Turner from Ohio. He sits on House Armed Services Committee, of course, and just until quite recently was the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee.

It's good to see you. Thanks so much for being here.

REP. MIKE TURNER (R-OH): Hey, Kate.

BOLDUAN: So, we just learned that new detail that we heard from General Caine on the strikes. And as it was described from some, you know, much smarter military minds than I could ever pretend to be, that is exactly as it was intended to play out what General Caine was describing. What's your reaction to that detail we just learned?

TURNER: Well, I think what's important, Kate, and I think it's important for -- for CNN in -- in its -- in its reporting, is that this has been a mission that has been planned out really for a substantial period of time, over a decade. You know, I've been chairman also of the Strategic Forces Subcommittee on the Armed Services Committee, where we have the oversight of nuclear weapons, but also the issue of -- of other regimes like Iran, issues of the threats of nuclear regimes. And, you know, this is something that the Department of Defense has uniquely planned for. This is not something that was, you know, just a midnight event that occurred.

The Department of Defense knew what they were doing here. The people who executed it knew what they were doing. This was a precision execution and, obviously, I was incredibly effective.

This was important. This diminished significantly Iran's capabilities.

And what I think is also important is, as we look to what's going to happen in the Middle East, the ayatollah is still in hiding as we -- as, you know, as we, you know, see this unfold. Now we have to go to the next phase, and that is hopefully a peace between Israel, Iran and the United States.

BOLDUAN: Yes, I want to talk about that next step in just a second, and maybe that's part of what you're -- you're curious in because the House is getting its classified briefing tomorrow. What level of detail are you hoping to get? Is there a -- is there one specific question that you are hoping to get detail on at this moment?

[09:34:58]

TURNER: Well, certainly, the -- you know, this has been going on for some time between Israel and Iran as -- as Israel has been so incredibly effective in diminishing Iran's terrorist proxy network, because, you know, Iran is a terrorist state, what they have done with Hamas, Hezbollah, what the United States has done also with the Houthis, has, you know, permitted, in part, Israel's efforts where they've been able to diminish Iran's ability to defend itself, permitting then their military exercises, their -- their entrance into Iran and then, of course, the United States entering into this attack on the -- these nuclear uranium enrichment facilities.

Now we need to -- to do an assessment, what is Iran's capabilities? Where do we go from here? What do we expect is the -- is the longevity of this regime? What is the stability of the regime? How do we think that we might be able to establish the, you know, security for peace for Israel, and hopefully, you know, relationships between, you know, Iran, Israel and the United States?

BOLDUAN: Yes, there were -- and there's also new reporting today coming from the White House that after the leak of the preliminary DIA assessment that the White House, the Trump administration, is going to limit the amount of classified detail and information that they will be sharing with Congress, again, even in classified settings. Do you want -- do you find that acceptable? Do you want the administration to limit what they are sharing with you in a classified setting?

TURNER: I don't believe rumors like that. I believe, of course, that the information is going to continue to flow and be shared with Congress. You know, and I certainly believe that, you know, this is a period of time in which, you know, all of the integration, both with the Armed Services Committee, that I serve on, the Intelligence Committee, you know, the House, the Senate is going to continue to be exchanged as we look to, you know, what do we do next and how do we continue to support Israel, our ally, and ensure that, you know, the Middle East transitions in a way that, you know, we have stability and the opportunity for, you know, a real opportunity for peace? What the president has done gives a real opportunity to ensure that we do not have a nuclear regime with Iran.

BOLDUAN: If and, again, this is an if, just to gauge what your appetite, though, is at this moment of supporting more U.S. military action, if it is -- if you see it as needed. If there's -- if now after these strikes it shows that there is -- Iran still has nuclear capability and still has a -- to develop a nuclear weapon, has -- still has a desire to develop a nuclear weapon, do you want to see more U.S. military action? I heard Ryan Zinke say this morning, there's going to be more holes in the ground if they see kind of enriched uranium in other locations.

TURNER: Well, I think no one wants to see additional military action. But even the president himself, President Trump, when he addressed the nation from the White House, after the military action occurred, warned Iran that if peace doesn't occur and if they continued down this path of seeking a nuclear weapon or even continued to -- to threaten, you know, Israel's existence, that there would be the threat of additional attacks. The -- the president has been very clear, every administration has been very clear, the United States will not permit Iran to be a nuclear state.

BOLDUAN: Real quick, the ayatollah did issue his first statement since the Iran-Israel ceasefire went into effect and said quite a bit -- said quite a bit, saying that "victory over a fake Zionist regime in Israel," but also said as part of this, "the Americans did not gain anything in this war." What do you make of a statement like that from the ayatollah?

TURNER: Well, I think that's what's really unfortunate about the last couple days of reporting where the -- the, you know, the -- the leaked report was given weight that is just not, you know, valid for the speculation that was coming from it because the -- where it was promoted as if it was even accurate or, you know, a -- a -- a true assessment of Iranian capabilities and a failure on the -- on the part of this military action because it really bolsters the ayatollah. He's still in hiding. This was not just a political debate that was happening in the United States. This is a -- an actual, you know, military confrontation and a -- a, you know, a military issue that is occurring where the ayatollah is in hiding. This was bolstering the ayatollah while he's in hiding. He's using this, as he's doing, you know, this statement of the United

States has not had anything, you know, from this. He wants the world to believe that. It is not true.

[09:40:01]

You know, clearly he has been diminished. His regime has been diminished significantly. It is time now for Iran to move forward as a diminished regime, where the opportunity for peace is here. And he should take that opportunity. His regime should take that opportunity. The Iranian people should take that opportunity.

BOLDUAN: We -- we've got to go, but we're -- and we'll move -- and we are going to move past this because I'm going to reiterate one more time, as we -- as I did throughout the last hour, Congressman, what we heard from Hegseth and what I -- you're -- what you are implying about CNN's coverage of the DIA assessment, what we heard and the outrage over it is confirming what CNN reported from the beginning, though it might not be reporting that you enjoy or that the administration enjoys. I listed it out specifically, reading from parts of CNN's reporting. What the outrage is over is -- confirms what CNN put as part of its reporting throughout, which is that it is preliminary, which is that as part of the DIA analysis we reported that sources said the judgments were of low confidence, that it was not coordinated with the wider intelligence community. I could go on and read it, but I already did that once in the last hour.

But with that --

TURNER: Well, Kate, you -- you can -- you can characterize it that way. Now, I watched as it was occurring.

BOLDUAN: I'm not characterizing it.

TURNER: You -- you reported it as -- as --

BOLDUAN: I'm not characterizing it. I'm literally reading it.

TURNER: You -- you -- you character --

BOLDUAN: Congressman.

TURNER: It was -- it was reported as -- as accurate. It is not accurate. It was not accurate then.

BOLDUAN: I am reporting exactly what our reporting was online and on air throughout with this reporting. You can hear part of it and not like it, but you do need to listen to all of it to understand the full breadth of the reporting.

Congressman, thank you for coming on.

Sara.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: All right, ahead this morning, the prosecution is set to begin closing arguments in the criminal sex trafficking trial against Sean Combs. What jurors are expected to hear after this seven-week trial, when we return.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:46:20]

SIDNER: We are standing by for closing arguments this morning in Sean Combs federal racketeering and sex trafficking trial. Those are set to start in just moments from now, after the prosecution and defense finished meeting with the judge. Now, yesterday, prosecutors informed the judge that they were dropping some attempted kidnaping and racketeering theories, including claims that Combs was involved in attempted arson and attempted kidnaping. They say the move is in order to help streamline instructions for the jury.

Joining me now to discuss, former assistant U.S. attorney in the Southern District of New York, Sarah Krissoff.

Sarah, thank you so much for -- for being here.

Give us some sense of what this means that the prosecution says that it is dropping attempted arson and attempted kidnaping theories in this case.

SARAH KRISSOFF, FORMER U.S. PROSECUTOR, SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NY: Yes, they're trying to streamline their case here. This is part of the broad racketeering charge, which covered a whole bunch of what are called predicate acts. Acts that the government says were taken to support the racketeering enterprise here. So, the government realized that some of these acts weren't proven or weren't, frankly, proven very strongly, and they decided not to pursue those. They are -- they are really doing what is called thin it to win it here, trying to streamline the evidence and the charges so the jury has less to weed through when it starts deliberating.

SIDNER: That may explain why this is happening so late in the -- in the trial.

We are now into the seventh week of this trial. Were -- were you surprised about how short the defenses case was? We know that it is the government's responsibility and duty to prove this beyond a reasonable doubt, but the defense has their -- their day in court, if you will. And it was quite a bit shorter than what we saw from the six plus weeks of testimony brought on by prosecutors.

KRISSOFF: I wasn't surprised, actually, that they ended up not calling any witnesses. Most of the work of the defense is really done in cross-examination, in the advocacy to the court, in the sort of disputes they engage with, with the government. And it really is the government's burden here. They have to prove these elements beyond a reasonable doubt. And the defense thought, listen, we've done what we need to do in our cross-examination and everything else we've done in this case, and we're not going to take the risk of putting on any witnesses on Combs' behalf.

SIDNER: We -- yes. And -- and you've -- you've -- you've done this and seen this before, that it is not unusual for the defense not to put witnesses on the stand. And the jury shouldn't take any of that into account. They have to look at the evidence that is before them. And as you mentioned, cross-examination was the way of them putting on their case.

I do want to mention, we are just learning, this is just coming in now, that we will be hearing closing arguments in about ten minutes. Court has resumed.

I am curious from your look at this, from a 35,000 feet view, as a -- as a prosecutor, did the prosecution prove their case from what you could glean?

KRISSOFF: Listen, I think there are some really key things the jury is going to have to grapple with, and the defense is going to hone in on, right? I think the defense is certainly going to argue, this was not racketeering. There's no elements of racketeering. This -- this just doesn't add up. These were disparate acts that don't form any basis of a racketeering enterprise. I think they are certainly going to argue that. Then they are going to argue that these -- that the sex trafficking, as alleged by the government, just didn't happen.

[09:50:06]

These were violent, toxic, you know, horrific in many cases, relationships. But this wasn't sex trafficking. The defense is going to say, the government has sort of tried to fit a, you know, the -- the peg in the wrong hole here and -- and characterize this as federal crimes, which they are not. So, I'm -- they certainly have arguments to make. You know, what the jury does at the end of the day is certainly completely up for grabs. But the defense has some real arguments to make here that I'm certain they are going to advance in their closing.

SIDNER: Well, there is seven weeks basically of -- or six and a half weeks of testimony that this jury has to go through, and mountains of evidence the prosecution has brought forward that they will have to go through. So, it'll be interesting to see what the result of this case is, certainly.

Sarah Krissoff, it is a pleasure. Thank you so much for joining us this morning.

All right, ahead, millions of people remaining under heat alerts across the Midwest after record setting temperatures baked major East Coast cities this week.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:55:38]

BOLDUAN: Possibly, quite possibly, a good news alert here, folks. Some relief may be on the way for people in the northeast who have just been melting under record breaking and dangerous heat this week. That heat wave, though, impacting tens of millions of people still in the Ohio Valley and the Mid-Atlantic.

CNN's Allison Chinchar has the forecast for all of us.

What are you seeing?

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, so, again, it's going to be another very hot day across much of the eastern half of the country yet again today, even though some spots will finally start to get a little bit of a break. Behind me you can see a live look at Philadelphia. Not too bad. It's temperatures in the mid-80s right now, but it's certainly going to warm back up as we head through the afternoon. And again, it's not just Philadelphia, but a lot of these areas are going to be looking at temperatures that could be very close to record breaking.

Now, here's a look right now, 86 in Raleigh, 78 in Atlanta. So, not too bad. But all of these numbers you see here, those numbers are going to go up. And in some cases, maybe another 15 or even 20 degrees from where they are now. So, you've got all of these heat alerts, heat advisories in effect through the day today. And in some cases, it's not just the temperature itself, but it's also factoring in the heat, the humidity. So that heat index, or the feels like temperature, is going to be brutal in some of these areas.

Take a look at Atlanta. That temperature is expected to be in the low 90s today before finally maybe dropping a little bit over the weekend. New York, not too bad today, but you've got a lot of extra cloud cover. That's what's helping to keep those temperatures a little bit on the cool side. But Washington, D.C., still up around 95. Saint Louis, still looking at 97 for the high temperature today. So, still very warm. And even the brief reprieve, say, in Philadelphia tomorrow, those temperatures go right back up for the weekend.

BOLDUAN: Allison, thank you so much for that. A little relief maybe.

SIDNER: Darling, I like to see it because I can't stand the heat.

BOLDUAN: I love the heat.

SIDNER: You do?

BOLDUAN: I do.

SIDNER: All right, well, you get into the frying pan, I'm jumping out.

BOLDUAN: I love it.

SIDNER: Thank you for joining us. This has been a frying pan with all the news today.

BOLDUAN: I was like so apropos today.

SIDNER: "SIT ROOM," up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)