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Iranian Strikes Hit Israel's High-Rise Buildings in Tel Aviv; Israel Pushes the U.S. to Use GBU-57 Bunker Bomb in Destroying Iran's Fordow Fuel Plant; Hurricane Erick Traverses Pacific Ocean, to Make Landfall in Mexico's Acapulco State Aired 3-4a ET

Aired June 19, 2025 - 03:00   ET

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

[03:00:00]

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UNKNOWN (voice-over): This is CNN Breaking News

JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers here in the United States and all around the world. I'm John Vause. 3 a.m. here in Atlanta, 10 a.m. in Tel Aviv, where the latest round of Iranian missile and drone strikes has caused major damage.

Emergency crews are at a high rise building, which was hit by a ballistic missile. At least 10 people were wounded in the strike, most with minor injuries. Also a hospital in the southern Israeli city of Be'er Sheva was also extensively damaged and a 60-year-old woman wounded.

The conflict between Israel and Iran now into its seventh day, and U.S. President Donald Trump refusing to say if American forces will become directly involved supporting Israel. A source tells CNN the President has reviewed attack plans for Iran, but is holding off, waiting to see if Tehran steps back from its nuclear program.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: Iran's got a lot of trouble and they want to negotiate. And I said, why didn't you negotiate with me before all this death and destruction?

REPORTER: Have the Iranians reached out to you?

TRUMP: Yes.

REPORTER: And what did they say?

TRUMP: I said it's very late. You know, I said it's very late to be talking.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: The Israelis say more than 20 military targets in Tehran were hit in the past day, as well as a heavy water reactor southwest of the Iranian capital. State media there reporting several people were injured at the National Police Headquarters and another strike hit near a Red Crescent facility in the capital Tehran.

Right now to Tel Aviv, CNN's Jeremy Diamond on the scene of that ballistic missile strike close to a high-rise building. So Jeremy, you're looking at the aftermath of this strike. How extensive has this building been damaged and how many people have been hurt? We've had 10 people at least taken to hospital.

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I mean, we are standing inside the building that was struck by that ballistic missile. And if you look behind me, I mean, these pictures speak far more than I could possibly describe this destruction.

Everything here has been really torn to shreds by the enormous power of this ballistic missile. You know, these missiles carry hundreds of pounds of explosives, and you can see the kind of damage that they can bring.

The fact that there were only minor injuries as a result of this strike is only really a credit to the bomb shelters that exist here, to people following the instructions to go into those shelters once those air raid sirens sound.

Because in fact, we're right here at the site, at the very point where that ballistic missile struck. You can see the hole that has been ripped through the concrete here, the steel bars that have been broken through as this missile struck right here. This is a partially residential and a commercial building as well.

And the power of the blast extends not just to this building and the building across the street as well, but really in the entire, you know, two block radius or so of here, you can see broken windows all around the area. And that's been similar to what we've seen at other scenes of ballistic missile strikes here in Israel over the course of the last week.

The shockwave from the blast is so powerful that even buildings that are not directly impacted by shrapnel from the missile or from debris in the area, ultimately the shockwave of that blast can be felt.

We've talked to people who've been inside of bomb shelters and have felt the power of that blast. And of course, the result is also broken windows for several blocks sometimes from the impact site itself. But once again, only minor injuries as a result of this very strike.

And we are monitoring other strikes that have happened across the country as well, including a strike to Soroka Hospital in Be'er Sheva in southern Israel.

VAUSE: So Jeremy, just to be clear, the building, it wasn't a direct hit by this missile on the building, but it was really close to it. And this looks like a fairly new modern building. Not far from you are some older buildings, which also seem to be taking some of that damage as well. And this is something that the Israelis are not used to, especially

given the missiles which have been fired from Gaza by Hamas. How is it that these missiles from Iran are actually getting through the Israeli defense protection right now?

DIAMOND: Well, first, I do want to be clear. It does seem like this missile actually struck the side of this building. And I just want to show you that impact crater once again, because this is what rescue crews are telling us. They're telling us this is where the missile actually hit.

[03:05:03]

We are inside the building right now. And this is just the side of it. Below it would be the entrance to the below ground parking lot here. And you can see in this entire surrounding area the kind of damage that has been wrought.

Now, to your question, there's no doubt that Israelis have seen pictures of this kind of destruction. They have seen the fact that at least 24 people have been killed in Israel as a result of these missiles.

And they very much understand that this is a different game entirely to the kinds of rockets and missiles that were being fired by Hamas and even by Hezbollah, which was firing more powerful missiles than those from Hamas. These are ballistic missiles, that means that they are going straight up, sometimes out of the atmosphere and then coming straight down with enormous speed, enormous power, and also packing these very highly explosive warheads that did this damage that you can see all around me.

VAUSE: Jeremy Diamond in Tel Aviv with the very latest on that ballistic missile strike on that high-rise building in Tel Aviv. Thank you, Jeremy, we appreciate the reporting.

For the last week or so, it's been difficult to get independent information out of Iran, but now CNN senior international correspondent Fred Pleitgen and photojournalist Chloe Otto are the first Western journalists to enter the country since this conflict began. Here's their report, which was filed just a short time ago.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Last night, we did see and hear a lot of anti-aircraft fire in the skies over Tehran. We also heard some thuds and impacts, although it's unclear whether or not those are potential Israeli airstrikes or whether or not that was Iranian air defenses at work, maybe air defense missiles being fired off by the Iranians. A lot of that happened towards the west of Tehran over there.

Were in the skies, you could see that anti-aircraft gunfire bursting in the skies above the Iranian capital. But it did also appear as though some of the thuds came from the north of the Iranian capital, right up there near the mountains. And that, of course, is an area where there have been a couple of airstrikes since the Israelis began their aerial campaign a couple of days ago.

In general, on the ground here in Tehran, one thing that you notice is that the city is pretty empty. There's not many people who are on the streets, there are some people who are on the streets. Also, a lot of the shops do remain closed, but basic services are still very much working.

On the whole, we drove through a substantial part of the country to get here to the Iranian capital. And it appeared as though in most parts of the country, it is still business as usual. There was traffic on the streets, but not too much traffic.

There were factories that still appeared to be working. There were trucks delivering goods. So it certainly didn't appear as though there was any sort of panic here on the ground and that this society is being destabilized by that aerial campaign that is going on.

Of course, the Iranians have vowed to continue the fight. Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei saying that the Iranian nation would never surrender. And of course, what we have been seeing over the past couple of days as well is the Iranians firing back, shooting missiles towards Israel.

Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Tehran.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told CNN that U.S. involvement in this conflict with Iran would create a better future for the world and the United States had a responsibility to take part.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

YOAV GALLANT, FORMER ISRAELI DEFENSE MINISTER: I believe that the United States of America and the president of the United States have an obligation to make sure that the region is going to a positive way and that the world is free from Iran that possess nuclear weapons in the middle of the richest place in oil and gas in the world. This could be a disaster for the world.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Meantime, a third U.S. aircraft carrier group is heading closer to the region. Sources tell CNN the USS Ford Carrier Strike Group is expected to head to Europe next week to be closer to the conflict between Israel and Iran. Another aircraft carrier already en route to the USS Carl Vinson.

Gershon Baskin is the Middle East Director for the International Communities Organization. He's also a former hostage negotiator. He joins us this hour from Jerusalem. Gershon, thanks for taking the time to speak with us, we appreciate it.

GERSHON BASKIN, MIDDLE EAST DIRECTOR, INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITIES ORGANIZATION, AND FORMER HOSTAGE NEGOTIATOR: Thank you. VAUSE: Here's part of an open letter you signed, it's from Israelis

and Iranians. It's on social media, it's calling for an end to this conflict. Here's what you wrote.

"We call on both sides and the international community to take immediate steps towards ending the violence. They must find a way to bring all parties on the path of diplomacy. An immediate ceasefire should be the first step towards a broader diplomatic solution."

The problem seems to be right now the Israeli Prime Minister has unified political support. His military seems to have the upper hand over Iran, and U.S. support for this conflict only seems to be getting stronger. Many in Iran are rallying around the flag as well.

At this point, it seems a ceasefire is not really on the table when it comes to Israel and Iran, and that's where it needs to start.

[03:10:07]

BASKIN: Well, it certainly does. And I think that we have to understand that might does not make right. And the people of Iran, the people of Israel, the people of this region are at risk by this continuation of the war.

We always know where wars begin. We never know where they end or how they end. And what we need to see is an end to this war with a diplomatic agreement that will ensure that Iran will not have a nuclear bomb, and that we can move forward toward resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the other conflicts in this region.

This is what international diplomacy should be about, not in supporting violent solutions to problems that have political answers. We now have the people of Israel rallying around the government in the face of military successes.

There's no doubt that Israel is showing its superiority in the air and its ability to wage a war. But this is not an answer for Israel. This is not an answer for the Israeli people.

I don't want to live in a country where I'm going to be hated around the world and feared around the world. I'd rather live in a country that's going to be accepted in this world of a country that's seeking to make peace with all of its neighbors, not going to war.

VAUSE: Israel and Iran have been fighting a proxy war for more than four decades. Is this the war they had to have before any kind of peace agreement could be possible?

BASKIN: I don't think so. I think there has to be a recognition that Iran has had a nuclear program for more than 30 years.

Iran is a very sophisticated military, technological, scientific giant. If the Iranians really wanted a nuclear bomb, they would have had it by now. I mean, look at Pakistan and North Korea, who are much less sophisticated countries than Iran. I think that Iran is very clear wanted to be a nuclear breakout

country. They want to be at the point where if they decided to make a bomb, they could do it in a short period of time. And of course, Israel didn't want Iran to be there.

But we have to understand that there is no real conflict between the people of Israel and the people of Iran. We have regimes that are enemies of each other. And we all need to do a lot of work inside our countries to change the regimes that we have that I believe threaten our security much more than our neighbors.

VAUSE: I want you to listen to the Israeli Prime Minister. He did a nationally televised address. Here he is talking about international support for Israel.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): We're targeting nuclear facilities, missiles, command centers and symbols of the regime. I must tell you that I speak with world leaders and there is tremendous admiration for our determination for the achievement of our forces and also great admiration for you, the citizens of Israel, for your resilience and your strength.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: There are not a lot of voices out there complaining about Iran not having a nuclear weapons program. But it seems to me what you're saying is there's a much better way of going about doing that than just these aerial strikes, which Israel has been engaged in now for the last seven days.

BASKIN: Yes, let's not forget that there was a nuclear agreement with Iran that would have kept Iran in a much limited place in terms of nuclear enrichment. But it was Netanyahu that convinced President Trump in his first time to withdraw from an agreement. Netanyahu was directly responsible in doing that and bringing Iran to a point closer to having a nuclear bomb than ever before.

In the face of that, Israel decided to go and bomb Iranian nuclear facilities and missile sites and other things. There's no doubt Iran has used proxies against Israel, and those proxies have been decimated by Israel, both Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza.

Those wars need to come to an end. We really need to have a region that's ready to accept each other and live in peace. The majority of people in this region no longer want to see this war.

I just came back from a weekend in Paris for a conference that I helped to organize. I brought together 300 Israelis and Palestinians, civil society leaders who called for peace, who called for mutual recognition, who called for an end to these conflicts.

This is what we need to encourage and see more of, not the kind of chest-beating power that Mr. Netanyahu is portraying to the world. This is not the solution for Israel. VAUSE: Gershon Baskin, as always, sir, it is good to have you with us.

It is good to hear your insights and your point of view. We appreciate it.

BASKIN: Thank you.

VAUSE: With that, we'll take a short break. When we come back here on CNN, we'll have the very latest on the escalating conflict between Israel and Iran. We'll also have some insight from a military expert on where all this is heading.

Also, more details on the bunker buster bombs, which might be the only weapon in the U.S. arsenal capable of reaching a key Iranian nuclear facility buried deep beneath the mountain. More about the GBU-57 in a moment.

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VAUSE: Damage assessments underway in southern Israel after a new wave of Iranian attacks. Missile and drone strikes caused major damage in and around Tel Aviv.

Israeli emergency services say at least 65 people were wounded. Three are in a serious condition. Several high-rise buildings were hit.

Emergency crews remain on the scene at this hour. Also, a hospital in the southern Israeli city of Be'er Sheva was also hit. Spokesperson for the Soroka Medical Center says damage is significant in some areas of the facility.

Israel says it attacked Iran's Arak heavy water reactor, a nuclear facility about 155 miles, nearly 250 kilometers southwest of Tehran. Wednesday, the Israeli military said it hit more than 20 military sites across the capital, including sites associated with the nuclear program there.

As President Trump weighs U.S. involvement in strikes on Iran, experts say a massive bunker buster bomb is likely the only weapon capable of destroying a key Iranian nuclear facility.

[03:20:03]

But as CNN's Brian Todd reports, even this massive bomb may not be able to penetrate Iran's Fordow fuel enrichment plant, which is carved into a mountain and extends deep underground.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's a sophisticated, frightening piece of weaponry designed to hit targets like some of Iran's key nuclear enrichment facilities deep underground.

JOHN PIKE, GLOBALSECURITY.ORG: They're buried so deep, and no other bomb would be able to certainly destroy them.

TODD (voice-over): The GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator, also known as the bunker buster, the largest non-nuclear bomb in the U.S. military's arsenal. Designed, the Air Force says, to reach and destroy weapons of mass destruction in well-protected facilities.

The bunker buster is roughly 20 feet long, weighs 30,000 pounds, with 6000 pounds of high explosives. The Israelis don't have them, nor the means to deliver them. Only the U.S. does, and there is no public record that they've ever been used in combat.

JOSEPH CIRINCIONE, BOARD VICE CHAIRMAN, CENTER FOR INTERNATIONAL POLICY: The United States has never encountered a target that required a bomb of this size. We have other very large bombs, such as the MOAB, which is the mother of all bombs, as they say.

TODD (voice-over): That mother of all bombs, weighing more than 21,000 pounds, was dropped by U.S. forces on ISIS targets in Afghanistan in 2017. But the bunker buster? Even heavier.

Experts say the bunker buster has a thick, hard shell, designed to withstand the impacts of the ground and plunge to the depths it needs to reach, with explosives in a fuse that also needs to be robust enough to penetrate the ground. The bunker buster doesn't have the biggest blast area, experts say, because it's designed to burrow into the ground before exploding.

The only plane that can carry the bunker buster? The B-2 Spirit stealth bomber, flown by a two-pilot crew, capable of flying about 6000 nautical miles without refueling and eluding an enemy's most sophisticated defenses.

The likely target of the bunker buster if the U.S. were to get involved in this conflict? Fordow, an Iranian nuclear enrichment site, buried deep under a mountain, beneath possibly 300 feet of rock. A key question, could the bunker buster really damage Fordow significantly? Experts say the bunker buster can penetrate about 200 feet into the ground, maybe more.

But if the key targets at Fordow are about 300 feet under?

CIRINCIONE: One bomb isn't going to penetrate that. You're going to have to have multiple hits at the same spot. Drop a bomb, another B-2 comes in, drops another bomb in the crater of the first.

TODD: Another key question is, would a strike on the Fordow nuclear facility cause a large radiation leak? Three experts who spoke to CNN say a radiation leak would probably be limited to the immediate area and a strike would probably not pose the same kind of catastrophic consequences that bombing a nuclear reactor would.

Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Earlier, I spoke with Jennifer Kavanagh, a senior fellow and director of military analysis at the foreign policy think tank Defense Priorities. I asked her what U.S. involvement in this conflict could actually mean.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JENNIFER KAVANAGH, SR. FELLOW AND DIRECTOR OF MILITARY ANALYSIS, DEFENSE PRIORITIES: So I think it's probable that Netanyahu was hoping that if he started this war and was successful initially tactically against regime targets and other nuclear facilities, that the United States would see this as an opportunity to join in and to accomplish what has been a longtime U.S. goal of ending the Iranian nuclear program.

I think it's important to note, however, that there's no guarantee that even if the United States does use these bunker buster bombs, it would finally eliminate Iran's enrichment capabilities or forever end its pathway to a nuclear bomb. That can only be accomplished by political means, not military means.

VAUSE: It's interesting you say that because Joe Cirincione, who is an expert on nuclear nonproliferation and all things Iran and all things nuclear program in Iran, he explained how these bunker busters actually work in any kind of attack on the Fordow nuclear site there in Iran. Here he is. Listen to this.

CIRINCIONE: The first aircraft, a B-52 -- a B-2 rather, is the only aircraft that can carry this munition, has to drop one in a precise location, followed by another B-2 who would drop another in the crater. And that might not be enough. So you might have to do it a third or a fourth time.

VAUSE: So, you know, in the words of the U.S. intelligence CIA boss from back in the Iraq days, it's not a slam dunk that U.S. involvement here would actually destroy the Fordow nuclear site completely.

KAVANAGH: Certainly not with airstrikes. There would have to be a ground component, some kind of ground raid to ensure that that facility was fully eliminated and that Iran's stockpiles of highly enriched uranium were either rendered unusable or inaccessible.

And right now no one is talking seriously about sending ground forces. So if we're relying only on air power, the chances are quite high that even with U.S. involvement, it would be impossible to achieve what Israel has set out as its strategic objective of eliminating finally this nuclear capability.

[03:25:06]

And even if it was successful, if they were able to take out the facility and other facilities completely, there's still the matter of Iran's intellectual property. They figured this out once, they can figure it out again.

The program might be delayed several years, even a decade. But it's only through political means and diplomacy that the challenge of Iran's nuclear weapons can be dealt with in a final and lasting way. (END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Jennifer Kavanaugh there, we thank her for her time.

We'll take a short break. And when we come back, the U.S. President has the message for Israel, keep on going. More on Donald Trump's comments as he weighs whether or not to intervene in the Israel-Iran conflict.

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[03:30:00]

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VAUSE: Welcome back everyone, you're watching "CNN Newsroom." 30 minutes past the hour, I'm John Vause. Let's check today's top stories.

Israel's emergency services say at least 65 people have been wounded in the latest Iranian strikes. A hospital in the southern city of Be'er Sheva sustained heavy damage. Israel's deputy foreign minister called it a deliberate attack on a civilian target, he urged the world to speak out.

U.S. President Donald Trump is not saying yet if American forces will get involved directly with strikes on Iran. A source tells CNN the President has reviewed attack plans but is holding off to see if Tehran steps back from its nuclear program.

Iran's deputy foreign minister says Tehran has not reached out to the U.S. to try and resume nuclear talks since the conflict with Israel began. He told CNN, quote, "we're not begging for anything, we're just defending ourselves;" he went on to say as long as the aggression continues. Iran cannot think of any diplomatic engagement.

Iranian state media reports Israel has attacked a heavy water reactor southwest of Tehran. CNN's Paula Hancocks is following developments from us from Abu Dhabi. So what more do we know about these Israeli strikes over the past few hours?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, yes, let's start on what the targets have been according to the Israeli military in Iran. We have heard from an Israeli military official that they have in fact attacked the Iraq heavy water reactor. It's about 150 miles southwest of Tehran.

Now this is part of the nuclear program that back in 2015 when that nuclear deal was being done between Iran and the U.S. and the E.U., it was focusing partly on this. It was supposed to be put out of use according to the Israelis. And they say that they wanted to make sure that it was unable to be reused in plutonium production, not acknowledging, though, that it was being used at this point.

We also heard from Iranian officials that this happened about 6 a.m. local time. We understand there were evacuation orders to residents nearby by the military in Israel saying that this was going to take place.

So it's another part of the Israeli military strategy at this point to be targeting the nuclear program. But we do hear that there are great concerns on the ground in Tehran as some residential buildings have been hit. And certainly we're seeing many residents trying to get out of the city itself. Now, what we have also heard is that there was a strike yesterday overnight close to the Red Crescent headquarters in Tehran as well.

Now, since we have seen just in the past few hours the missile attacks on Israel and in particular one that did hit a hospital complex just in the south of the country, we're hearing now from the Israeli Defense Minister as well, Israel Katz, saying that Israel is going to intensify its efforts in Iran, saying that they are going to intensify strikes against strategic targets.

The Defense Minister saying that he and the Prime Minister have instructed the Israeli military to do that. John?

VAUSE: This is what we heard yesterday from the IDF, that they were in fact looking for these missile launches and taking them out, which is why the number of missiles fired by Iran had sort of decreased a day earlier, only to surge again in the last 24 hours. So this missile strike on Tel Aviv, which Jeremy Diamond has been reporting on, as well as on Be'er Sheva, that comes despite what appeared to be a very successful attempt by the IDF to take out that infrastructure in Iran.

So I guess this begs the question, are they better equipped than the Israelis thought? Or was this one of those moments that they managed just to get through the Israeli air defenses?

HANCOCKS: Well, I think if we look at what happened at the beginning of the week where you saw hundreds of drones and missiles being fired by Iran onto Israeli territory, and then you look at what we've been seeing the last few mornings where there are dozens, in some cases there are less than that, but it is the fact that some of them are not being intercepted by the air defense systems in Israel, and some of them are managing to get through.

Now, we also heard, interestingly, just yesterday, just on Wednesday from the Defense Minister, that they were actually going to ease restrictions on Israeli civilians.

[03:35:01]

So they said that this was a message of victory, that they had managed to take out so many missile launchers, so many missile production centers, that they felt that they could lessen the restrictions on movement, the restrictions on what is closed and what is not able to be functioning at this point in Israeli society.

Whether or not that is now going to be looked at again by officials, certainly as we hear from the same defense minister, saying they're going to intensify their strikes going the other way into Iran.

But we did hear over the past couple of days a message almost of military success from the Israeli military, that they believed that they had managed to degrade Iran's ability to strike Israeli territory. Now, we see when those missiles are not intercepted, when they get through, they are still able to do significant damage.

VAUSE: Absolutely. Paula, thank you.

Paula Hancocks live for us in Abu Dhabi, I appreciate it. Good to see you.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is thanking Donald Trump for standing by Israel's side. The U.S. President says he encouraged Netanyahu to continue Israel's military offensive, even as he himself weighs U.S. involvement. A source says the president has reviewed attack plans, but is holding off to see if Tehran is willing to step back from its illicit nuclear program.

CNN's Jeff Zeleny reports now from Washington.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF U.S. NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: After one more meeting with his National Security Council, President Trump retired to the residence of the White House on Wednesday evening. We are told still not resolved what his plans will be in terms of the U.S. lending a hand to Israel's attack on Iran.

Will the United States lend the firepower to decapitate and destabilize the Iran nuclear program? That's very much an open question. Of course, President Trump began the day saying, I may do it, I may not do it, no one knows what I'm thinking. But he also, in the Oval Office on Wednesday, offered a window into his mindset heading into this major decision.

TRUMP: I have ideas as to what to do, but I haven't made a final. I like to make the final decision one second before it's due, you know, because things change.

I mean, especially with war. Things change with war. It can go from one extreme to the other.

ZELENY: Going from one extreme to another, that certainly is an understatement. But the weight of this decision clearly weighing on this President, who has long campaigned against American engagement, particularly in the Middle East. His whole American First agenda, of course, was about, you know, not intervening in other countries' affairs.

Of course, the President says keeping Iran from developing a nuclear bomb is very much in America's interests. But going forward here, I am told some key questions are, can the U.S. authorize a strike? Can the president authorize a strike without entangling the U.S. government into a long, drawn-out war?

That is very much an open question. Many advisors to the president believe he can indeed do that. But history is also on the other side of this. I'm also told that the aftermath of a strike is part of the president's decision-making as well. What would go into that in terms of fortifying U.S. forces in the region, some 40,000 forces in the region?

So the question here is, the president weighs this big decision. Will he listen to supporters of his who are urging him to strike at this opportunity? Or will he listen to some of his MAGA supporters who say, do not do this? Or will he follow his own guidance?

There's no doubt it's the biggest decision facing President Trump.

Jeff Zeleny, CNN, the White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: And there's mixed reaction from lawmakers in Washington as they weigh in on increased direct U.S. support for Israel's military offensive on Iran.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. RICK SCOTT (R-FL): I believe this president's doing the right thing. I believe Israel's doing the right thing. They don't have a choice.

You've got the leadership of Iran saying death to America and death to Israel, so they're doing the right things.

SEN. JOHN NEELY KENNEDY (R-LA): We certainly don't have time in the midst of what we all see going on for Congress to sit and cogitate for six or eight months.

SEN. JOSH HAWLEY (R-MO): You can come to the negotiating table with us and give up your nuclear program and we'll facilitate that. That's great. It's a very different thing, though, for us to then say, but we are going to offensively, affirmatively go strike Iran.

SEN. RICHARD BLUEMENTHAL (D-CT): I think we are extremely vulnerable, severely and seriously vulnerable to grown attacks on our civilians as well as our military in the Mideast.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Senior Senate Democrats released a statement Wednesday emphasizing the role Congress has in any potential conflict with Iran and pushing for a diplomatic approach to all of this.

So to the French President Emmanuel Macron, pushing for a diplomatic end to the Israeli-Iran conflict. After meeting with France's defense and national security councils Wednesday, Macron called for a return to negotiations over Iran's nuclear program. According to the Elysee Palace, the French Foreign Minister now working with European partners on a negotiated proposal to end the current fighting.

[03:40:02] With that, live to London and Fawaz Gerges, professor of international relations at the London School of Economics and author of "The Great Betrayal: The Struggle for Freedom and Democracy in the Middle East." It is good to see you, welcome back.

FAWAZ GERGES, PROF. OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS, LONDON SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS: Good morning.

VAUSE: So some foreign leaders like France's Macron are now pushing for this diplomatic solution. Is that essentially a non-starter without U.S. support, which right now seems obvious by its absence?

GERGES: Well I think if you ask me what the big picture is, there is a race against time between strategic escalation and a diplomatic solution. It's not just what the French President Macron has said.

On Friday, tomorrow, Iranian diplomats, probably the Iranian foreign minister, will be sitting in Brussels with German, French and British diplomats discussing a pathway, a diplomatic pathway. And the European foreign ministers have made it very clear, in coordination with the American administration.

So what Europe is trying to do is to really find a diplomatic pathway, a way out of this deadlock. And the next 48 hours will be very decisive, John, because we will see whether President Trump decides to join the Israel war on Iran or whether a diplomatic solution is found to this really unfolding and devastating conflict in the Middle East.

VAUSE: And if history is prologue, what we've seen from Israel in the past is that when it does have the upper hand from a military point of view, it very rarely is willing to engage in any kind of negotiations for a ceasefire. So is that the case now?

GERGES: Absolutely. And this is why I think if you ask me if there is any man in the world who can really put an end to this war, it's Donald Trump. Donald Trump is the only leader in the world who can basically impress on Benjamin Netanyahu the need to end this war, because Israel will never end this war.

I mean, the question many American diplomats are asking, what's the end game for Israel in Iran? Is it to basically destroy the Iranian nuclear program? Is it to divert attention from the catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza? Is it regime change?

In fact, just two days ago, you mentioned the French president, Macron. President Macron came publicly out and saying what Israel is doing, Israel does not just attack the Iranian nuclear program and ballistic missiles.

It's attacking industrial bases. It's attacking oil and gas facilities. It's attacking police stations, railways.

And sadly and tragically, what we've seen in the past 24 hours, the attack on the Israeli hospital with some 46 injured. The "New York Times" today has a major piece in which highlighted the plight of Iranian civilians. According to Human Rights, 600 Iranian civilians have been killed as a

result of targeting high-rising buildings and complex buildings in Iran. So there is a war for the cities now, Tehran and Tel Aviv, and civilians will most likely pay a high price. But at the end of the day, unless President Trump intervenes actively, the war will go on for weeks and probably for months.

VAUSE: Turkey's President is one of the few world leaders who is publicly supporting Iran, it seems, and also being highly critical of Israel. Here's Recep Tayyip Erdogan, listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RECEP TAYYIP ERDOGAN, TURKISH PRESIDENT (through translator): Furthermore, these attacks were conducted when Iran's nuclear negotiations were ongoing. Israel, which itself has nuclear weapons and which furthermore does not recognize any international laws in its work on nuclear, has certainly carried out an act of terrorism without waiting for the negotiations to end for the result.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: So, with an eye on Friday, is Recep Tayyip Erdogan right here? Did Israel deny the world a possible diplomatic and peaceful resolution with regard to Iran's nuclear weapons program?

GERGES: Well, let me be direct here. A nuclear-armed state, Israel, attacked a sovereign state that does not have nuclear weapons while that sovereign state, Iran, was engaged in talks with the United States in order to resolve its problems, not only with the United States but even with Israel and the Gulf state.

This was a preemptive war, a war of choice, illegal, attacking a sovereign nation. And by the way, it's not just President Erdogan who is vocally critical of Israel.

[03:45:00]

It was really quite surprising to hear even the Emirati president calling his Iranian counterpart, President Mohammed bin Zayed, and Mohammed bin Zayed normalized with Israel, telling the Iranian president, we are with you, our hearts are with you, we feel your pain. The same thing with the Qataris, the Omanis. Even King Abdullah II in Jordan two days ago, he made a very strong statement by saying Israel's aggression changes the battlefield, changes the battleground, endangers all civilians.

There's a widespread sentiment in the region, John, that Israel basically is really endangering, risking regional stability and human lives and what has been happening in Gaza. I mean, think, you and I were talking about the war in Iraq. You have 55,000 civilians who have been killed in Gaza, 16,000 children.

So do we need another war? So the sentiment in the region is really basically anti-war, anti-Israelis, because what Israel, they see Israel as a state that's really threatening regional stability and the political economy in the region and their own, and their own stability and their own regimes.

VAUSE: Fawaz Gerges, as always, sir, thank you for being with us. Your insights are incredibly valuable, very much appreciated. It's good to see you.

GERGES: Thanks.

VAUSE: With that, we'll take a short break. We'll pause here. You're watching CNN.

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[03:50:00]

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VAUSE: Coming up to nine minutes before the top of the hour, we're continuing to monitor developments in the deepening conflict between Israel and Iran.

Israel emergency services say at least 65 people have been wounded in the latest wave of strikes from Iran. The missile and drone attacks have also caused extensive damage to buildings in and around Tel Aviv and at a hospital in the southern Israeli city of Be'er Sheva.

All that has prompted top Israeli officials to instruct the military to intensify strikes against strategic targets in Iran. Earlier, Iranian state media reported attacks on the Iraq Heavy Water Reactor, a nuclear facility to the southwest of the capital, Tehran.

A look at other top stories right now.

The Federal Reserve held rates steady again Wednesday. The central bank left its benchmark lending rate unchanged at a range of 4.25 percent to 4.5 percent, that's where it's been since January.

Beneficials are waiting for more data on President Trump's sweeping tariffs and trade policy changes and tensions in the Middle East are now adding another level of uncertainty. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell says the economy is in a solid position, but the Fed needs more clarity before rates will be lowered. Fed officials are also keeping tabs on the president's tax and spending bill, the great big beautiful bill currently being reviewed by the U.S. Senate.

The U.S. Supreme Court has dealt a major blow to the transgender community. A 6-3 decision by the conservative majority upheld Tennessee's ban on gender-affirming care for trans youth, CNN's Paula Reid explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAULA REID, CNN CHIEF LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: This is one of the biggest Supreme Court cases this term and the reason it's so significant is because roughly half of the states have passed bans on transgender care for minors and the courts haven't been able to really agree if these are constitutional. So now that this was at the Supreme Court, all eyes were on where the

justices would land because this case focuses on access to medication that helps facilitate a transition.

The state of Tennessee banned the use of this medicine for transgender youths, but some families of transgender minors sued, saying, wait a second, other teens do have access to this medicine as long as they're not using it for this purpose, therefore they argued this was a violation of the equal protection clause.

But in a 6-3 opinion fell along partisan lines, the court disagreed. Writing for the majority, Chief Justice John Roberts wrote, "This case carries with it the weight of fierce scientific and policy debates about the safety, efficacy, and propriety of medical treatments in an evolving field."

Now the three liberal justices dissented. Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote, quote, "This opinion abandons transgender children and their families to political whims," writing, quote, "In sadness, I dissent."

Now what we're looking for is the impact this decision could have on other state lawmakers who may be looking to pass laws that target transgender individuals, especially minors is something we've seen over the past several years. And as for the high court, they still have over a dozen outstanding opinions. They tend to save the biggest cases for the end of the term.

So there's still some outstanding, in particular, that decision related to President Trump's effort to limit birthright citizenship, which is really more about the power of a single judge to block a policy implemented by the President for the whole country. President Trump's lawyers tell me that is the one that they are watching the most closely because the impact that will have on his ability to implement his agenda through executive action.

Paula Reid, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Hurricane Erick now considered an extremely dangerous category four as it churns its way in the Pacific Ocean, expected to make landfall around Acapulco, Mexico in the coming hours. This potentially deadly storm has winds of 145 miles per hour, could bring rainfall up to 16 inches that could trigger flash floods and mudslides across Mexico's southern coast.

[03:55:05]

Besides hurricane warnings, tropical storm warnings are in effect in other coastal areas as well.

Well, thank you for watching "CNN Newsroom." I'm John Vause, our coverage continues with Becky Anderson and Abu Dhabi and M.J. Lee in Washington at the top of the hour. See you right back here tomorrow.

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