Return to Transcripts main page

CNN News Central

Trump's Big, Beautiful Bill Hits Major Setback; DOJ Sues Every Federal Judge in Maryland; Senators Receive Classified Briefing on Iran Conflict; White House Says No Indication Enriched Uranium Moved From Iran Nuclear Sites; GOP Hits Procedural Roadblock on Bill Ahead of July 4 Goal; Closing Arguments in Sean "Diddy" Combs Case; Fireball Seen Falling Over Southern States. Aired 2-2:30p ET

Aired June 26, 2025 - 14:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:00:31]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL: The White House says U.S. strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities were an overwhelming success as it moves to limit the classified information it shares with Congress over suspected leaks. Plus --

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": The president's Big, Beautiful Bill facing a big not so beautiful setback, the legislation's controversial Medicaid cuts creating a new problem for Republicans. And later, the battle between the White House and the judiciary heating up after the DOJ sues every single federal judge in the state of Maryland. We're following these major developing stories and many more all coming in right here to "CNN News Central."

KEILAR: Any moment now, there is going to be this highly anticipated classified briefing on the Hill. Top national security officials will be meeting with Senators for the first time since those U.S. strikes on Iran's nuclear sites over the weekend. And this briefing has the potential to become contentious because it was revealed that the White House plans to begin limiting classified information that it will share with Congress, which follows, of course, CNN reporting on an early U.S. intelligence assessment suggesting that strikes on Iran's facilities did not destroy those Iranian nuclear sites. We're told the Trump Administration believes that information was leaked on a system used for sharing classified intelligence with Congress.

SANCHEZ: Let's take you now live to the White House where CNN's Jeff Zeleny is standing by. Jeff, President Trump posted earlier today that "Nothing was taken out of Iran's nuclear facilities before being hit with U.S. strikes." That comes amid questions about whether or not Iran was able to move its stockpile of highly enriched uranium. How is the White House now defending that claim?

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Boris, of all the questions and there are many that certainly will be front and center in that Congressional briefing coming up this hour, the White House is once again defending the president's assertion that there was no enriched uranium that was removed from the Fordow facility in the days before the military strikes. Now, that's despite satellite imagery showing that there were essentially a convoy of trucks doing something on the facility.

But at the White House press briefing just a few moments ago, the Press Secretary of Karoline Leavitt explained it like this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAROLINE LEAVITT, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: What I can assure you is that the United States and our intelligence agencies, and Director Ratcliffe and the president's entire national security team were obviously watching these sites very closely in the weeks and the days leading up to the attack on Saturday. So, we were watching closely and there was no indication to the United States that any of that enriched uranium was moved prior to the strike.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: From any of the sites?

LEAVITT: Correct.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZELENY: So of course, we will see if that is the full picture, not only from the U.S. Intelligence assessment, but also from the Israeli intelligence assessment, also a European -- now, there are some European reports that say that there was -- the uranium was moved. We shall see. But again, this is part of the defensive posture of the White House and the Administration effectively not letting the successful strikes by the military stand by themselves, but in fact, clouding them by saying that there was a complete obliteration there.

So the White House, again, trying to move on beyond the strike and effectively saying the Iran crisis is over. That's very much an open question, but again, many questions on Capitol Hill this afternoon at that classified briefing, which is several days delayed actually and many members have many questions, including about the uranium, Boris and Brianna.

KEILAR: All right. Jeff Zeleny, thank you so much for that. We are joined now by former Senior Director for the Gulf with the White House National Security Council, Kirsten Fontenrose and also CNN Military Analyst, retired Air Force Colonel Cedric Leighton. Kirsten to you, CNN has this new reporting on incentives that are being considered to get Iran back to the negotiating table. Is the Ayatollah, do you think, going to potentially look at that and actually be incentivized?

KIRSTEN FONTENROSE, FORMER SENIOR DIRECTOR FOR THE GULF, WHITE HOUSE NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL: He will definitely look at it. No one follows news out of Washington more closely than the supreme leader, truly. But the incentives will be based on whether or not it aligns with what he's already thinking. He has a legacy to think about protecting. He's in his older years and he is one of only roughly two Arab leaders that have stuck by their guns in terms of not negotiating with Israel, I'm talking about Hafez al-Assad who was the prior. So to him, it depends on what he wants to leave behind.

[14:05:00]

So since they are sticking to the no enrichment idea, the U.S. is going to try to make it really attractive to him in terms of rebuilding the economy, attracting foreign direct investment, bringing in waivers for sanctions relief, rebuilding their civilian nuclear program perhaps in coordination with the U.S., port infrastructure, all kinds of things that would really be a boon to the economy. But what does he consider more important, his legacy of revolution or the post-oil economy and Iran's ability to survive as a nation state once the oil economy surge is over? Right now, he's got to be thinking about what's the next phase here.

SANCHEZ: Yeah. The question of what Iran is going to do next is largely contingent on what they currently have, partly right. Colonel, and there's the question of this close to 900 pounds of enriched uranium. The debate between did they move it, did they not move it? Talk to us about the process of ascertaining what they have.

COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Yeah, that's -- this is going to be very interesting, Boris, because one of the things that they have to do is they kind of have to go back in time from an intelligence perspective and see what kind of traffic was actually at Fordow and other places as well. But, those 900 or so pounds of enriched uranium, they could be anywhere at this particular point in time. One possibility, it's underground and destroyed, just as the president has basically said, or it was moved.

And then the question is where? Iran has about 30 sites that are somehow affiliated with the nuclear program, some of which are rumored to be underground in addition to Fordow and Natanz, both of those two sites, of course, were struck. There was significant damage to those sites based on what we can see right now. But, the question remains, where is that remaining 900 pounds? And it really depends on, in essence, the analysis of traffic in and out of these locations, where that traffic went. And then ascertaining is there something there, some material that could corroborate the idea that that uranium is at another location.

KEILAR: Cedric, talk to us about the Intel and the different data points that we have, and also that we don't have at this point, telling us where the damage has been done and how much has been done to the Iranian sites. We're getting a lot of information and there's also the politicization of the information.

LEIGHTON: Yeah, absolutely, Brianna. So what we know so far, we have basically points of impact. So when you look at the satellite images of any of the sites that were struck, let's say Fordow in particular, there are two different clusters of three impact points each. So, six impact points that correspond to the six impact points of the GBU-57. There were six GBU 57s that were dropped on Fordow. That fits with the description that we got this morning from the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, where there's basically a very small opening where the GBU-57 goes through and then it explodes at the bottom.

So, here's where the mystery starts coming up. We know that it impacted, we know that it went down. What we don't know is exactly what the damage was down below. But one can surmise, that there was considerable damage based on the types of explosions that they believe happened, as a result of these impacts, as a result of deploying these bombs. We also know that there was a lot of destruction in Isfahan from the Tomahawk cruise missiles that were launched against -- KEILAR: Above ground.

LEIGHTON: They're above ground, so that's an above ground situation. But there was a lot of activity above ground. And we know, for example, that the Iranians had a weaponeering type of facility, basically where they built the weapons for -- potential weapons for a nuclear device. And they had metallurgy shops and things like that, that would have to be used for the production of an atomic weapon, at least they could be used for that. That site appears to have been destroyed.

If that's the case, then that certainly puts things back. So we know that there was an impact there, there was an impact in Natanz as well. So we have Fordow, Isfahan and Natanz, and the basic idea there, in Natanz, we also had two GBU-57s that went in at that particular point. So they destroyed, or at least impacted upon another underground facility that is not as deeply buried as Fordow. So Brianna, what that means is they probably did set the Iranian nuclear program back at least a few months, but probably several years unless the Iranians were able to build mirror sites somewhere else.

And that's now the question that we have to answer. Are there mirror sites, something that mirrored Fordow or mirrored Isfahan or something else? If they have those sites, which are pretty expensive to put together, then it's a different question. But now, at this particular point in time, we believe that most of the program has at least been impacted, if nothing else.

SANCHEZ: What is the likelihood, Kirsten, that Iran had these secret sites?

[14:10:00]

I mean, you would think that the International Atomic Energy Agency would have some idea of it, but the Iranian parliament just voted to suspend cooperation with them, right?

FONTENROSE: Which frankly is a signal that it's even more likely. But just based on IAEA reporting, it's very likely. They reported quite a time ago that Iran had been engaged in the last few years in program disbursement, meaning that they were seeking to distribute the production cycle around the country to make it less easy to target. They were preparing for exactly this kind of contingency. And then, we had IAEA reporting just this week about the potential storage of maybe that 900 missing pounds or maybe other material in another mountain that is twice the size of Fordow, which means deeper, easier to conceal with multiple entrance points, so harder to surveil as well.

SANCHEZ: As we look towards these negotiations, and you've heard some of the comments coming from the president, he's saying he just doesn't think Iran's going to want to be in the nuclear game anymore. And I suspect for someone like you, you're looking at that with a lot of skepticism. They have gone through so much to stay in it, and you're talking about legacy when it comes to the Ayatollah. How do you think they're viewing that in Iran and what do you think are the things they will definitely not give up on in negotiations?

FONTENROSE: The Ayatollah has been one of the voices saying, we will not develop a nuclear weapon. So, what the policymaker, skeptic always thinks about is what if he is eliminated, whether it's by opposition groups that are seeking a more Western leaning government, or what if it's by members of his own inner circle? Not necessarily some sort of coup, but there are those in the inner circle who think we should have already had a bomb. And that he and his proclamations are the reason we don't, and this makes us less strong as a nation. We have less power on the international stage.

So, we're thinking about both possibilities, where are his vulnerabilities and what will he -- what will he prioritize?

SANCHEZ: Kirsten, Colonel, a fascinating conversation. We very much appreciate it. Thanks so much.

FONTENROSE: Thanks.

LEIGHTON: Thank you.

SANCHEZ: So we are tracking a lot of news on Capitol Hill today as well. We have some new reporting where this classified briefing for Senators has just gotten underway. CNN's Lauren Fox is there now. Lauren, what are Senators sharing with you about specifically what they want to hear during this briefing?

LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, this briefing just getting underway on Capitol Hill, a lot of lawmakers still making their way there after Senate lunches this afternoon. But, it really depends on whether or not you're a Republican Senator or a Democratic Senator in this moment as to how you are thinking about and approaching this briefing. Obviously, they were supposed to get another briefing on Tuesday that got postponed to today because they wanted to ensure that Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, as well as Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth could be in attendance behind closed doors.

But for a lot of Democratic Senators, that means that they have been asking to hear details of these strikes in Iran, what damage was actually done to these nuclear facilities? What was the rationale for doing this in the first place? And they've waited at this point now, five days. You can just get a sense of that frustration from Senator Richard Blumenthal here.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. RICHARD BLUMENTHAL, (D-CT): The Administration has done a tremendous disservice to itself and to our military men and women by claiming that the job is all done, that the Iranian nuclear capability is obliterated when we know some of that enriched uranium was dispersed, scientists in Iran can still rebuild some of its facilities, and unless they have committed that they are not going to pursue a nuclear weapon, it's still a threat.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOX: Richard Blumenthal said specifically, he wants to know what is the plan now? What do they know? How much more is America going to need to be involved in this? And the other question he had was, what don't officials know at this moment as to what the destruction was that these nuclear facilities, his argument obviously, is that there are the things you know for sure, the things you think you know, and things that you do not know. And he said he wants the administration briefers to be extremely clear and transparent about all of those details.

I also talked to Senator Dick Durbin a little bit about what his expectations were. He said he's hoping that Democrats can put behind them the fact that this briefing had been postponed for earlier in this week. And he said at this point, he just wants everyone to be as transparent as possible because he said it's in America's best interest to all be on the same page coming out of this briefing. We'll see, obviously, if that's the case and if lawmakers are satisfied at the end of this.

SANCHEZ: Lauren Fox live on Capitol Hill, thank you so much. A lot happening on Capitol Hill this week. President Trump's sweeping tax reform and budget bill hitting a major setback over cuts to Medicaid, we'll take you back live to Capitol Hill with the latest.

[14:15:00]

Plus, closing arguments underway right now in the trial of Sean "Diddy" Combs, have prosecutors made their case?

KEILAR: And later, the stars are arriving en masse in Venice, so are the protesters. We are in Italy for the wedding of Amazon's Jeff Bezos. We'll have that and much more coming up on "CNN News Central."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:20:00]

KEILAR: Republicans on Capitol Hill have hit a major speed bump as they are racing to pass. President Trump's Big, Beautiful Bill. Lawmakers had hoped to have the legislation on President Trump's desk by July 4th. But the Senate parliamentarian just struck down a key Medicaid provision that would've reduced -- it would've reduced the amount of taxes that states can collect from hospitals for Medicaid. That means that states would be required to shoulder a larger share of their Medicaid costs.

Opponents say such a move would devastate rural hospitals, while others argue it would free up roughly $200 billion in federal money that could then cover some of the sweeping bill's costs. The Senate now has two options, they can make changes to meet Senate rules and satisfy GOP holdouts, but that takes time, or they could simply overrule the Senate parliamentarian. This is something that is rare. It is not though completely unheard of. Senate Majority Leader, John Thune has already said that he is not willing to go there though. He said he's worried about the precedent that it could set. Last hour, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt was asked about these controversial Medicaid cuts.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LEAVITT: I think our friends in both the Senate and the House know exactly where the president stands on Medicaid. He wants to get rid of the waste, fraud, and abuse, and they're working to do that in the Senate right now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: The parliamentarian's decision is throwing a wrench into Republicans' plans. Some have even called for her to be fired. CNN's Manu Raju has been speaking with lawmakers on Capitol Hill. So Manu, how are they weighing their options here?

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, they just came out of a closed-door Senate GOP meeting, and it is not clear how Republicans plan to proceed. In fact, it is still an open question about how they're going to deal with this major blow that their bill took in dealing with deeper cuts into Medicaid. Remember, that was one of the major sticking points in this bill. Some of the Republican Senators had called for changes to that, particularly Senators who are up for re-election, people in difficult races worried about the impacts that this could have on their constituents, on people who are receiving Medicaid benefits. They wanted that reversed.

Well, now that the moral parliamentarian has said that that must come out of the bill, then the hardliners in the Republican Conference want to figure out other ways to cut federal spending, perhaps even other cuts into Medicaid. There are discussions that are ongoing about new Medicaid provisions that could satisfy concerns on both sides, but it's still uncertain whether they can do that and also meet the strict rules under the United States Senate that are needed to be complied with in order to pass this bill along straight party lines.

Now, the president has insisted that this bill come to his desk by July 4th. It is uncertain whether they can get there, but the Speaker of the House and Senate Majority Leader John Thune are both indicating that they still plan to press ahead to meet the president's self- imposed deadline.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN THUNE, (R-SD) MAJORITY LEADER: We're plowing forward and when we actually get on it still is an open question, but rest assured we will.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you think this will make it harder to get this passed by July 4th?

REP. MIKE JOHNSON, (R-LA) HOUSE SPEAKER: Well, it doesn't make it easier, but you know me, hope springs eternal. We're going to work around the clock and try to meet that deadline.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you rolling (ph)?

JOHNSON: I think that's the way we should do it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: But there are just so many questions, not just about how they can get this done, but what is actually in this bill. They've been making a number of changes in this massive proposal that deals with deep spending cuts, new work requirements for social safety net programs, hundreds of billions of dollars in funding for defense and border security provisions, as well as a multi-trillion dollar overhaul of the United States tax code that could affect the individuals and businesses alike.

What is actually in this ultimate plan? That is uncertain because of all the negotiations and horse trading and negotiations with the parliamentarian that are happening behind the scenes still, despite all that, they believe they could potentially get this out of the Senate and then jam it through the United States House in a manner of days. But so much will have to go well, not just getting -- jumping through all those hoops, getting the votes, when only three Republicans, that's all needed, three Republican defections, that's all they can afford in the House GOP side and Senate GOP side to get this over the finish line, even as there are major concerns among the Republican right flank and the more centrist wing of the GOP over some of these key sticking points, guys.

SANCHEZ: Yeah, it's going to be a high-wire act, no doubt. Manu, there are some important deadlines on the horizon, right? There's the debt ceiling, the tax rates that you mentioned, the expiration of those Trump passed tax rates. But why is Trump imposing this 4th of July deadline? It seems arbitrary.

RAJU: It is self-imposed. The president simply wants to have a bill to sign into law by Independence Day. There's nothing that's actually forcing them to do it by then. You're absolutely right. The tax cut from 2017 would expire at the end of this year.

[14:25:00]

So, they have until the end of the year to figure out the tax situation. The debt limit needs to be increased by either the middle of the summer or early fall. Otherwise, the U.S. could experience the first-ever debt default. This Bill would include a $5 trillion increase of the national debt limit. So, they have several weeks after July 4th to try to get their ducks in a row, negotiate all the changes, present this bill to the public, properly vet it and get it over the finish line. But that is not what they intend to do.

They're trying to meet Donald Trump's self-imposed deadline. And the Republican leadership is banking that Republicans who are holdouts, will ultimately fold because of the pressure campaign from Donald Trump and his demand to get this on his desk by July 4th. The big question is, can that happen? Can they get the votes? Can they get the policy right? And can they all do it in a matter of days? All huge question on a bill that could affect millions of Americans if this were to become law, guys.

SANCHEZ: Manu Raju roaming the hallways of Capitol Hill. Thank you so much, Manu.

Still to come, 12 jurors in Manhattan are going to have an important question to answer very soon. Did prosecutors prove their case against Sean "Diddy" Combs beyond a reasonable doubt? We're going to take you live to New York City for closing arguments in his trial. Plus, what just fell out of the sky over Georgia? Somebody should call pit bull. It looks like a fireball.

(LAUGH)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)