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New Rocket Attack Hits City Of Haifa; Minnesota Shootings Suspect's Vehicle Found, Residents Warned To Be Vigilant; Trump To Depart For G7 Economic And Security Summit In Canada. Aired 3-4p ET

Aired June 15, 2025 - 15:00   ET

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

[15:00:47]

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: Hello, again. Thank you so much for joining me this Sunday. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

We begin with this breaking news. New video into CNN appears to show missiles over Israel, including one hitting the ground in Haifa a short time ago. Video from the aftermath of the strike appears to show buildings on fire in that northern coastal city. The death toll from earlier Iranian strikes on Israel has now risen to 14. Israel says Iran launched more than 200 rockets in that barrage.

Earlier today, Israel's military says it struck an airport deep in Iran's northeast. A refueling plane was hit, sending flames high up into the air, Israel's Foreign Minister told CNN earlier today that the attacks on Iran will continue.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GIDEON SA'AR, ISRAEL'S FOREIGN MINISTER: We hadn't finished our job. We still have objectives, which is connected to the missile program, strategic weapons, nuclear program, and we will continue to work there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: CNN's Jeremy Diamond is in Tel Aviv, and Betsy Klein is at the White House.

Jeremy, you first.

What have you been hearing and seeing?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the latest barrage of missiles from Iran came in here just over an hour ago. We saw rocket sirens sounding in Central and in Northern Israel, and there was at least one direct hit in the city of Haifa, where four people were injured, according to the country's emergency services.

Three of those are in mild condition, one is in moderate condition and this came after a deadly wave of attacks from Iran overnight very close to the city of Tel Aviv in Bat Yam, for example. We saw that overnight, altogether ten people were killed, bringing the death toll in Israel now, over just the last few days to 14 people. And certainly that is a sea change from the experience of most Israelis have had over the course of the war since October 7th. I mean, really especially in Tel Aviv, this country has not seen this level of death and destruction in Israel since the 1991 Gulf War, when scud missiles hit the city of Tel Aviv, damaging apartment buildings in this area.

Israel is also not letting up in its strikes in Iran, as Israel's military spokesman General Defrin, saying that Israel is not letting up for one moment its attacks in Iran. We know that the Israeli Air Force has now established total air superiority in Iran, giving them pretty much free reign to strike at whatever targets they want to, and today, we saw that they intensified their strikes in the Iranian capital of Tehran, not only going after military and nuclear sites, but also increasingly striking residential areas, as well as a building belonging to the Iranian Foreign Ministry.

Scores of people have been killed inside Iran just over the last few days. But amid this back and forth of attacks between Israel and Iran, that certainly is intensifying, there are still questions about what Israel's end game here is ultimately.

You know, just this weekend, we heard Israel's National Security adviser, Tzachi Hanegbi, acknowledging quite bluntly that Israel cannot, through kinetic means alone, eradicate Iran's nuclear program, which ostensibly has been the goal, the aim, the public aim, at least of this military operation that Israel is carrying out.

And so really, we don't know what the off ramp is here yet and whether or not one will be presented, as we've heard President Trump talk about a variety of different scenarios here, but Israeli officials, for their part, making clear that these attacks will continue, and the Iranians as well, also showing no signs of letting up in their missile attacks on Israel -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right, Jeremy Diamond in Tel Aviv, thanks so much.

To the White House now, Betsy Klein.

Betsy, U.S. officials are telling CNN that President Trump actually rejected an Israeli plan to kill Iran's Supreme Leader. What more are you hearing about that?

BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE PRODUCER: Well, the U.S. has been watching this back and forth of missile barrages between Iran and Israel so closely over the weekend, and President Trump has made clear both behind the scenes and publicly, that he does not want the U.S. to get deeper into the fray.

[15:05:06]

Now, the U.S. has been providing some defensive support to Israel, helping to intercept some of those missiles, but we've learned that the President rejected a plan by the Israelis to kill Iran's Supreme Leader, according to a U.S. official. Now, a second senior U.S. official told me that Israel told the U.S. that they had an opportunity over the weekend to kill the Ayatollah and President Trump communicated that he did not want them to go forward with that. It was not executed. Of course, a senior Israeli official, we should also note, said that those reports are false.

President Trump, for his part, he does not want a prolonged conflict in the Middle East. He is very wary of the U.S. getting involved in more war in the region, and he is also quite attuned to the changing politics within his own party on this issue, but sources familiar with the matter do tell CNN that Israel has spoken with the U.S. about potentially getting more involved here, and there are some in the administration who recognize that U.S. support here could help Israel achieve its objectives more quickly.

President Trump, for his part, leaving the door open to U.S. involvement in a new interview with ABC News' Rachel Scott earlier this morning, he said: "We're not involved in it. It is possible we could get involved, but we are not at this moment involved."

Now, in that same interview, he told Scott that he is open to the idea of having Russian President Vladimir Putin serve as a sort of mediator here. But for now, the President is calling on both parties to make a deal. Here is what he said in a post this morning: "Iran and Israel should make a deal and will make a deal, just like I got India and Pakistan to make. In that case, by using trade with the United States to bring reason, cohesion and sanity into the talks with two excellent leaders who were able to quickly make a decision and stop."

He went on to say, "We will have peace soon between Israel and Iran" -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: And then reportedly, President Trump is under a lot of pressure from MAGA supporters. To what extent?

KLEIN: That's right. I mean, there are two factions within the Republican Party. The traditional, more hawkish Republican conservatives, as well as this MAGA wing of the President's party that is really an isolationist and America First.

President Trump juggling pressure on both sides here. He wants a diplomatic solution, but he has also made clear that there will be direct U.S. involvement if facilities or personnel in the region belonging to the U.S. are targeted -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right, Betsy Klein, keep us posted there from the White House. Thanks so much.

All right, we are also following breaking news out of Minnesota, where the urgent manhunt for a suspected -- a suspect, rather, accused of shooting two state lawmakers and their spouses has suddenly intensified.

At this moment, a large law enforcement presence has descended on a rural area about an hour southwest of Minneapolis. They converged on this location after police found a vehicle they believe belongs to the suspected gunman. CNN affiliate, KARE is reporting that police also found items that possibly belonged to the suspect, including a distinctive cowboy hat that he was seen wearing after the shootings.

We've got a team of correspondents covering these developments. CNN's Danny Freeman is at the scene of the search.

Danny, are you hearing anything more about this vehicle that has also been connected to this suspect in that area?

DANNY FREEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We haven't heard a ton more, Fred, but we have seen a little bit more and some things perhaps in the good news area. Remember, there were a ton of law enforcement vehicles and personnel who came to this, like you noted, small rural area of Sibley County, Minnesota. It is about 45 miles southwest of Minneapolis.

There were a ton that descended on this little area right here, including large armored vehicles, ATVs. We saw a bomb squad unit as well, and they came here all because they were centered on, like you said, the suspect's vehicle, or I should say one of the suspect's vehicles that's related to this case.

The update, I can tell you is that the bomb squad has left. So that seems to be a good sign that no explosives were detected in that vehicle. But I will just step out of the way for a moment. There is still a really heavy police presence down there right now.

And just to illustrate some of what we've been seeing out here, remember, we are talking about 57-year-old Vance Boelter. He is the suspect in this case, accused of shooting those two Minnesota state lawmakers and their spouses.

According to police and officials here, they found this suspect's car sometime early in the morning. Some residents tell us it was almost as early as 6:00 A.M., and then they told the entire county and all of the residents, we found the suspect's car. We have not found the suspect yet, but out of an abundance of caution, you should lock your doors. You should secure your cars because we are going to be here searching and knocking door-to-door.

There were some folks who went out to go to church in the morning. Then when they arrived back here, their homes were all of a sudden part of a massive search for this suspect. So that's really the feeling out here.

[15:10:03]

And again, just to illustrate really what this area is, this is massive farmland right here. There really aren't that many properties even. There's just land and land and land, some woods in the area as well, corn fields, soybean fields. That's part of the challenge here for law enforcement officials. That's why we saw vehicles like ATVs and four wheelers coming in here for officers to try and traverse some of this terrain. There are also abandoned properties here as well, a lot to search right here. This investigation really has come to this particular spot, this manhunt right here. It has been the epicenter largely for the bulk of Sunday -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right, Danny Freeman, keep us abreast as you learn more information. Thanks so much.

Let's now go to CNN's Whitney Wild at the scene of one of those shootings. What more are you learning?

WHITNEY WILD, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CORRESPONDENT: Fredricka, we are here at Representative Melissa Hortman's home. She was the Speaker for the Minnesota House for six years. She was married. Her husband also died of his injuries. They had two children.

And when you come out here, what you see is this -- a small, but growing memorial. I spoke with a woman who had dropped off some of these flowers. Most of these have come in the last hour or so, Fred, and see, there is one sign that says, "We will love you always."

And I spoke with one woman earlier about this, a woman who later dropped off flowers. And she said, it just breaks your heart. It is so shocking.

This scene still looks like a crime scene. I mean, what you see behind me is police tape. As you look around the house, what you see is the garage door has been ripped off. It is mangled in the driveway.

The front windows are boarded up, the front door is boarded up. There are still visible bullet holes, Fredricka.

It is such a jarring sight because as you pull into this otherwise quiet, idyllic, calm suburban neighborhood and then you see this, it is just so shocking.

Our CNN investigative team is also learning quite a bit about the suspect in this case and there are a couple major things that are really helping bring more texture to this story, and the first is that Vance Boelter worked at a private security company. He was high up at a private security company that offered armed patrol services to its clients, and so that suggests that could be one of the ways that he was able to obtain all of this gear that made him look like a legitimate police officer.

The other is that he was an evangelical Christian who had preached all around the world, and some of the social media posts that we've reviewed and some of the videos that we've reviewed suggest that in some of those sermons, he was highly critical of how the U.S. approaches LGBTQ+ rights.

The man that police are describing, as you know, behind these absolute atrocities here in the Minneapolis area is so different from the man that his friends thought they knew. Our affiliate, KARE 11 spoke with a man who knew him very well, and he read the last text message Vance Boelter sent to him. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID CARLSON, SUSPECT'S FRIEND: "He's dead shortly. So I just want to let you know that I love you guys, both. And I wish it hadn't gone this way. I don't want to say anything more and implicate you in any way, because you guys don't know anything about this. But I love you guys, and I am sorry for all the trouble this has caused."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WILD: You can hear that deep emotion in his voice, and then he later told reporters that Vance Boelter was an otherwise normal guy. He had a lot of friends. He was very caring. And so what law enforcement is trying to figure out is what happened between the man that his friends thought they knew, and the man capable of committing these absolutely atrocious acts, Fredricka, and what law enforcement is going to do now is do basically what they call a pattern of life.

So they're going to look through everything he said, everything he touched, everywhere he went and try to figure out what happened. Again between the man that his friends thought they knew and the man who has come to light in the last 48 hours or so -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right, Whitney Wild, thank you so much.

We are continuing to follow breaking news as well: A building and cars are burning in Haifa, Israel, after an apparent missile strike launched from Iran just a short time ago. We are going in depth on the intensifying conflict there, straight ahead.

And we will look at who will take the stand next in the Sean "Diddy" Combs' sex trafficking trial in New York, after another explosive week of testimony.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:1 8:53]

WHITFIELD: All right, let's go back to one of our breaking stories. Israel and Iran continuing to exchange missile attacks. New video into CNN appears to show missiles over Israel, including one that actually hit the ground in Haifa a short time ago.

Video from the aftermath of the strike shows a building on fire after a direct hit. Israel says its missiles targeted Tehran as it continues its assault overnight and into today.

Let's bring in now CNN global affairs analyst, Kim Dozier.

Kim, great to see you.

So Israel says it will keep up its strikes for as long as it needs to. How effectively can it do that and maintain its target, which is crippling Iran's nuclear program?

KIMBERLY DOZIER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Well, we can see from Israel's continued strikes that the majority of them seem to be intelligence led. They are hitting military and energy targets or from the briefings we are getting, scientists and other members that support the regime within civilian areas, though more than a hundred of Iranian civilians have been reported killed.

[15:20:07]

Now, Iran, for its part, you know, the last time they reacted to an Israeli strike, it was in April 2024. They telegraphed what they were going to hit and had indicated that they would be striking military targets, and for the most part, that is what they tried to hit, even though most of those strikes were intercepted.

This time around, with much of their military leadership decapitated, they seem to be going for civilian targets, civilian cities like Haifa, inside Israel, and just trying to cause maximum destruction, at least that's what it looks like to the outside observer. They haven't been announcing military targets at the center of the strikes that have been hit.

WHITFIELD: Iran has threatened to strike assets of any country that helps Israel with its attacks. Right now, the focus and the hit have been simply on Israel. Do you see that it will extend beyond Israel?

DOZIER: You know, I can see why they would say that. They've tried to put pressure on Iraq, for instance, to close its airspace to Israeli jets. But most of the countries in the region, their position is, don't get us caught in the middle.

Iraq doesn't have the air power to stop the Israelis, and will surely be facing pressure from U.S. officials to just sit tight, look the other way and let this happen in the skies overhead. So you've also heard from Gulf leaders, they have asked Israel to stop its attacks. They've made these kind of official statements.

So while behind closed doors, they probably don't mind that there will be less initially of an Iranian nuclear threat to any of them, this is destabilizing the region and one wrong missile hitting something that kills hundreds of people at once, especially inside Israel, for instance, you just don't know where this is going to escalate to.

WHITFIELD: And we also heard our Betsy Klein at the White House talk about President Trump earlier. You know, how he is walking a fine line with the crisis. How is his approach to all of this potentially being viewed in the Middle East?

DOZIER: Well, there has been some reporting by AXIOS and others saying that Trump was part of this in that he was trying to get Iran to agree to denuclearize, but also was aware well in advance, well in advance enough to pull U.S. dependence out of the line of fire.

So within the region, the U.S. is being seen as part and parcel of this attack. If Israel is hitting Iran, but the U.S. is protecting Israel from getting struck back, in the eyes of the Arab public, that is being part of this mission.

WHITFIELD: So Gulf leaders are publicly condemning Israel's attack. Is that the sentiment behind closed doors? Or is it in any way shaping their potential response?

DOZIER: Well, in the first Trump administration, Saudi Arabia and others, I heard from Trump administration officials at the time were eager to sign on to the Abraham Accords and saw themselves as being in league with Israel, threatened by Iranian nuclear weaponization.

But in the interim, China helped Saudi Arabia mend fences with Iran. So this is putting Saudi Arabia in a very awkward position because it has diplomatic relations and it can't back a strike by Israel on Iran.

The other thing is, Saudi Arabia is being asked by the White House to help expand the Abraham Accords. Saudi Arabia has previously said not until the Palestinians have their own state, which Israel seems to be against this. These attacks and exchanges are going to make it even harder any time in this Trump 2.0 to go back to Abraham Accord negotiations.

WHITFIELD: All right. Kim Dozier, great to see you. Thanks so much.

All right, still to come, the latest on the manhunt for the suspect in the killing of a Minnesota state representative and her husband.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:29:00]

WHITFIELD: All right, we are following this breaking news out of Israel. New video into CNN appears to show missiles launched from Iran over Israel, including one hitting the ground in Haifa a short time ago. Video from the aftermath of the strike shows a building and cars on fire after a direct hit. We will have a live report from Israel at the top of the hour.

All right, another breaking story that we are watching, the manhunt for a suspect accused of shooting two Democratic Minnesota state lawmakers and their spouses. Right now, a massive search is underway in a rural area about an hour southwest of Minneapolis.

A large number of law enforcement vehicles descended on a part of that state this morning after a car connected to the suspected assassin, 57-year-old Vance Boelter, was found abandoned on a country road.

CNN affiliate, KARE also reporting that police found items possibly belonging to the suspect, including that cowboy hat that he was seen wearing after the shooting.

[15:30:01]

CNN law enforcement and intelligence analyst, John Miller is back with me now.

John, good to see you again.

So what do you make of the suspect possibly leaving his cowboy hat near where that car was found, a car that is also connected to him? JOHN MILLER, CNN CHIEF LAW ENFORCEMENT AND INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: Well, the cowboy hat was very valuable to him because when he was wearing it, he didn't really look like him. Of course, once they put that picture out, it became pretty much useless because then everybody was looking for a guy in a cowboy hat. So discarding it makes sense.

When you look at, you know, the pictures we have, though, from his driver's license, from his website there and then right in between those, you see the one where he appears to have a bald head, which we now know it appears he was wearing a latex rubber mask, which he pulled over to actually change his appearance, that's him during the actual commission of the crime, as picked up by one of the RING doorbell cameras at that residence where he was attempting to impersonate a police officer.

But when you consider where he is now, he has put 50 miles between himself and the manhunt that was centered in the Minneapolis area now to an area that is total rural farmland.

Now, the idea of the car being abandoned there and you see in that area there really is nothing but farms, so that gives them a wide area to search. But they have a key question, did he abandon that car because he got some associate to meet him there? Pick him up and dump the car that was associated with him and is he still making miles, or did he go off into this farmland after he left that car?

Now, when you're searching that kind of land and residents who are trying to get back in today after church and were met by roadblocks that didn't allow them to get to their own homes, you know, you have to consider did he make it into one of those houses? Is he with people or for each one of those farms, there is a number of outbuildings, right?

There's a garages. There are barns. There are equipment sheds. All of those are going to have to be searched. And all of that land as well, because one of the things he had in the first car he used in the actual crime was survival and camping gear. So that tells us that somewhere in this plot, one of his intentions was to probably go into the woods or somewhere and hide out, or at least be prepared to do so.

Right now, it is still a bit of a wild card, because you've got this giant set of open land and open road, and you don't know if he is there somewhere, and that's a lot of ground to cover or if he is moving in a switch car.

WHITFIELD: And what do you assess about this suspect to when at first yesterday we were discussing and zeroing in on how he may be on foot after leaving his vehicle. That's, you know, a huge piece of evidence right there for investigators. And then only to find out now potentially he is connected to another vehicle that he may have had access to, this vehicle now found some 50 miles away.

It also speaks to the agility and perhaps even a Plan B that this suspect may have had?

MILLER: Really interesting, Fred, because it appears yesterday when he went on the run from police, he covered a lot of ground fairly quickly. So that suggests a couple of possibilities, likely possibilities.

One, he reached out to somebody and said, you've got to pick me up and that somebody brought him somewhere that allowed him to get into that position, to get into Minneapolis, maybe brought him to Minneapolis.

We know that the home where he used to live with a roommate was raided by a SWAT team. We interviewed that individual yesterday who told us he had gotten a text message from the suspect saying, you know, I am really sorry that this happened and you know, that it is going to bring heat and so on.

So it seems that he has been very much thinking on his feet since he had an unexpectedly early run in with police, as it appears he was going to be taking down his hit list, one location at a time.

WHITFIELD: John Miller, thanks so much.

MILLER: Thanks, Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right, we are also continuing to follow breaking news out of the Middle East. Israel and Iran exchanging fire just moments ago as the IDF says it will intensify its operation.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:39:15]

WHITFIELD: All right soon, President Trump will board Air Force One and head to Canada for his first trip there since declaring he wanted to make that country of Canada the 51st U.S. state.

Trump is heading to the Canadian Rockies where he will meet with other leaders from the world's seven largest economies at the G7 Economic and Security Summit. Global conflicts such as the escalating missile strikes between Israel and Iran and Russia's war on Ukraine will likely dominate these high level talks.

But Trump's trade war is also expected to be at the center of many discussions, both at the table and behind-the-scenes.

CNN's Paula Newton is joining us now from Alberta, near where the G7 will actually be held this week.

Paula, pretty jam packed couple of days. How are they going to prioritize things?

[15:40:05]

PAULA NEWTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST AND CORRESPONDENT: Well, you have to think that look, the conflict at this hour between Israel and Iran will be top of mind. Now look, in some ways, this was an ambitious plan on the part of Prime Minister Mark Carney.

He had a stacked agenda, but again, it was going to be a talk shop. They decided not even to have a joint communique, but on targeted issues, to be able to get some consensus, including President Donald Trump. What is happening now is they will discuss, obviously, the situation in the Middle East, but I think it is important to state two things here, Fred.

One is, even up to a few weeks ago, the White House did not confirm that the President was even coming. He then committed to coming to this meeting, and he is coming for the full extent of the Summit. That certainly gives a lot of leaders at this Summit a chance to press their case, not just on their own domestic issues like trade, but also to press their case on the conflict in the Middle East and on Ukraine.

A reminder that on day two, on Tuesday, Volodymyr Zelenskyy will also be here. Look, despite even what you mentioned, right, the fact that Canada and Prime Minister Mark Carney have really discussed the 51st state comment and been quite offended by it, Mark Carney, the Prime Minister has managed to have a good working relationship with Donald Trump, he wants to extend that, and so do people like British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

Now, Mark Carney and Keir Starmer met again just this morning on their own bilateral relationship, but no doubt, and they say in their readouts, they were discussing the situation in the Middle East and again, Ukraine.

I want to point out, it is Mark Carney, Keir Starmer, Giorgia Meloni from Italy, Emmanuel Macron from France and the new chancellor in Germany as well -- all of them have forged very good working relationships with Donald Trump and on the agenda will be if they can really persuade him on a couple of issues.

One is the fact that in Israel and Iran, he is again leaning on Russia. He believes that somehow they can play a role in de- escalation. I would think that those leaders would say, look, try and dissuade him from that and say, what can you do? What leverage can the United States bring to play at the table here to try and get these two powers to deescalate?

And beyond that, on Ukraine, certainly, Keir Starmer and Mark Carney have made it clear what they wanted was for the President to understand that Russia was the aggressor here and that he and his policy towards Ukraine should progress that way.

As you said in the first place, Fred, a stacked agenda that changes by the hour depending on the conditions, especially in the Middle East.

WHITFIELD: All right, Paula Newton in Alberta, thanks so much.

All right, as Israel and Iran continue to trade strikes, the civilian toll of the ongoing conflict is coming into view.

At least 14 people have been killed in Israel so far, including at least seven in a strike on Bat Yam.

CNN's Nic Robertson visited the devastated city, where rescuers are racing against time to find survivors. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR (voice over): An Iranian missile, this fireball, its deadly impact. It is 2:55 A.M. Minutes later, rescue crews scrambling to save lives, dozens injured, some trapped under the rubble, others dead.

Daybreak revealing destruction beyond recent memory. A civilian apartment building sheared off, homes opened like tin cans, lives disgorged. Atop a mountain of crushed concrete and twisted rebar, rescuers crowding forward, listening for any signs of life.

ROBERTSON (on camera): Just listen. Everything has gone quiet and that's because those rescuers, they are there shouting into the rubble. They are shouting to people they believe are still trapped.

If you're there, send us a sign. That's what they are saying.

Its eight hours after this Iranian missile strike on this civilian building and there is a huge effort now to find the people that are unaccounted for that they believe are trapped. This is a race against time. If they are injured, the clock is ticking, and this is a desperate move here right now.

ROBERTSON (voice over): Hours later, heavy lift equipment brought in, officials saying three people known to be trapped, four missing, 12 hours now, since the strikes, lives potentially still to be saved, almost 100 injured. The death toll likely to climb, but according to the police, it could have been worse.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Its honestly a miracle, but its due to the fact that the public is listening to the instructions to find protective shelter, to stay there and we all pray for a peaceful and quick end to this.

ROBERTSON (voice over): Israel's Prime Minister, President and Defense Minister who all came to see the vast scale of destruction, gave no hint an end is in sight. The reverse, even ramping up their rhetoric.

ISRAEL KATZ, ISRAELI DEFENSE MINISTER (through translator): No one will bring us down on our knees. We will hurt the snake's head and will peel off the snake's skin and will target the nuclear facilities. We will target the aerial defense systems, we will target the missiles. We will target the regime.

ROBERTSON (voice over): Destruction here, ripping through an entire city block. Hundreds forced from homes, not all of them as forward leaning as their leaders.

This man salvaging what he could.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it is the government and the people that are in power that really want the war to continue. We have hostages. We don't want this war. We didn't start this war. We want it to end. But, Israel has been in war since the beginning. So we are going to be all right. ROBERTSON (voice over): This neighborhood unlikely to be the last ripped up according to Israeli officials and the Prime Minister's office, more than one in 10 Iranian missiles getting through Israel's defenses.

Nic Robertson, CNN, Central Israel.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:50:42]

WHITFIELD: All right, welcome back.

Testimony is set to resume tomorrow in the Sean "Diddy" Combs sex trafficking trial. Prosecutors are expected to call their final witnesses, which means they could wrap up the case next week.

The music mogul faces charges including racketeering and sex trafficking. He has pleaded not guilty to all of them.

Court T.V. legal correspondent Julia Jenae is here with us now.

Julia, great to see you.

So last week, lots of interesting testimony, lots of revealing testimony. That's what prosecutors want, right? To reveal things to the jurors. So this former employee testified that he helped ready the hotel rooms for what is being called King Night, which is in preparation for what people have learned, the freak offs that Sean "Diddy" Combs kind of commandeered.

So how powerful a testimony was this?

JULIA JENAE, COURT T.V. LEGAL CORRESPONDENT: So powerful in in terms of testimony, especially because of what we know that the prosecution in this case has to prove. They have to prove that this was a criminal organization. So it is not just Sean Combs himself, it is that he is using his business. You know, the CO in RICO is corrupt organization, that he is using his employees to carry out these criminal acts.

So, Jonathan Perez, he mentioned on the stand the King Nights. That's the first time we've heard it referenced that way. But the freak offs, the hotel nights, all the same thing. These acts that the prosecution says he forced these women to do. And Perez testified first under cross, that he did these as a personal favor to Sean Combs, that this wasn't about something that was part of his job.

But ultimately, the more that he testified, especially on redirect, it did seem that all the employees took part in setting up the hotel, getting I.V.s to be there, so these women could recuperate. And they knew about these days, sometimes long acts that were happening.

WHITFIELD: So then what does the willingness -- I mean, you know, if we can call it that, what does the willingness kind of reveal about the business or how does it undermine prosecutors case by saying, you know, this wasn't forcibly, you know, forcible involvement, but possible willing involvement.

JENAE: Right. That is what the prosecution needs it to be, that this was forcible, that they didn't have a choice, that they felt compelled, that it was forced, coercion, and the defense says, no, these were strong and independent women.

The prosecution says they are alleged victims, but they say that these women only did this because they wanted to be in Sean "Diddy" combs circle. His aura, you know, he is someone who they said was just so famous, had so much money that they wanted to be around him, and they knew, hey, if I do these freak offs these hotel nights, then he will keep me in his life, in his loop.

And so it becomes a question for the jury. That's why we have juries to make the distinction as to whether or not the facts in this case point to coercion, or if it is going to point to someone who was willing and just a participant in this.

WHITFIELD: So, speaking of juries then, how about this juror number six? The judge has to make a decision. What happened and what is, you know, the potential outcome here?

JENAE: We've got a juror who seems like he was talking too much. Apparently, when he was inside the jury room, so not in the courtroom, he was talking to jury services, and he mentioned that he may live in a different place. And where you live is really important to your jury service, because that's how they determine your county, right?

WHITFIELD: You identify yourself.

JENAE: Right. That's how you get called. That's how you get in the letter in the mail. And so if he no longer is a resident of the same county that he claimed, I believe it is the Bronx that he put on the paper that he lived. If it is different, then that could show some dishonesty. And you don't want a juror who lied in jury selection.

So the judge did say that he is leaning towards dismissing that juror. The defense doesn't want that to happen. They say that this is something the prosecution is doing to single out this juror. They're arguing that it is because he is a Black male and that the prosecution doesn't want him on the jury, perhaps because he might be favorable to Combs.

So the judge is going to sleep on it this weekend, come back on Monday and make a final decision on what happens with that juror.

WHITFIELD: Interesting. So what is potentially around the corner? If prosecution wraps up its case this week, what might the defense attorneys be planning to close out this case before closing arguments?

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JENAE: You know, it is interesting because I think they're going to have similar witnesses to what we have seen in the prosecution's case, but with a twist. So when they do take over, I don't expect their case is going to be as long as the prosecution's case, these five weeks of witnesses.

But I expect that they are going to call some former employees, people who were in Diddy's inner circle, people who understood how things work, maybe witnessed his interaction with the alleged victims, maybe witness them being very much loving to the defendant in this case, and they might call in people who can talk about the money.

I was there for the R Kelly trial, which has a lot of similarities to this one, and they only called five witnesses in 2021, and one of those was an accountant to talk about all the money that was being spent and how it was spent on these Jane Does and alleged victims, so that might be what we see from the defense once they start.

WHITFIELD: Wow. Still fascinating.

Julie, thank you so much, of Court T.V. Appreciate it.

All right, still to come, new details in the manhunt after a Minnesota state representative and her husband were shot dead in their home.

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