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Rare Look at Damage in Iran's Capital; Trump to Decide on Iran Strikes Within Next Two Weeks; Iranian Strike Severely Damaged Hospital in Southern Israel; Presidents Xi and Putin Urge De- Escalation; Israeli Rescue Team Responds to Iranian Strike; Trump Draws MAGA Backlash Over Potential U.S. Strikes on Iran; L.A. Dodgers Says It Denied ICE Agents Access to Stadium; Starship Explodes on Launch Pad in Texas. Aired 12-1a ET
Aired June 20, 2025 - 00:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.
[00:00:32]
ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers here in the United States and all around the world. I'm Erica Hill in New York. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM.
We are keeping a very close eye on the skies over Israel, where the country's air defenses are working to repel a new missile barrage from Iran.
New video posted on social media shows fires burning in a technology park in the Southern city of Beersheba. Israeli police say there are reports of property damage but no casualties at this time. Rescue workers say they are searching a damaged building and apartments to make sure there aren't any people who have been left inside, and certainly anyone who had been injured.
This conflict, of course, now in its eighth day. Diplomatic efforts are set to resume in the coming hours but in Geneva, where Iran's foreign minister is set to meet with representatives from the U.K., France, Germany and the European Union.
As for the U.S., President Donald Trump buying some time before making a decision on any U.S. military involvement, saying he wants to give diplomacy a chance.
Here's what White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in that statement from the president.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAROLINE LEAVITT, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: "Based on the fact that there's a substantial chance of negotiations that may or may not take place with Iran in the near future, I will make my decision whether or not to go within the next two weeks."
(END VIDEO CLIP) HILL: Well, in the region, dozens of people were injured when missiles
hit a Tel Aviv suburb and a hospital in Southern Israel on Thursday, strikes prompting condemnation and warnings from Israel's prime minister, who would not rule out targeting Iran's supreme leader.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): I instructed that no one in Iran will have immunity. I said we will achieve all our goals: all their nuclear facilities.
But the decision to join is President Trump's. If he wants to join or not, it's his decision. He'll do what's best for the United States, and I'll do what's best for Israel.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HILL: Iran, meantime, assessing the damage there after an Israeli missile hit the Arak heavy water production plant, an inactive nuclear facility Southwest of Tehran. That happened early Thursday.
With Iran's airspace closed, a number of residents are fleeing but doing so, of course, by land. Some video here from the border with Armenia shows streams of Iranians with their suitcases and other belongings.
In Tehran, meantime, the aftermath of Israeli strikes captured by CNN journalists who were able to gain rare access. CNN international correspondent Fred Pleitgen toured Iran's capital and also a TV station that was hit by an Israeli missile earlier this week.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FRED PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As Iran and Israel continue to trade salvos of bombs and missiles, in Tehran, the cleanup is in full swing in residential areas that were struck.
We went to several impact sites: buildings partially collapsed in some, completely destroyed in others.
PLEITGEN: The authorities here say this building was flattened in the first wave of strikes against targets in Tehran. But in other parts of Iran, as well. And they say in this site alone, six people were killed, and two bodies are still buried under the rubble.
PLEITGEN (voice-over): As tensions between Iran and Israel continue to escalate, many residents have left Tehran. The streets empty, some shops closed.
But defiance remains. Billboards across Tehran showing those killed by the Israeli aerial attack and vowing revenge. This one addressing Israel directly, saying, "You have started it. We will finish it," as Tehran's leadership says it won't back down.
"If the Zionist regime's hostile actions persist, our answers will be even more decisive and severe," the president says.
And Iran saying the Israelis are also targeting civilian installations, taking us to the state TV channel IRIB, recently bombed by two Israeli airstrikes.
An anchor had been reading the news as the building was hit. This is that studio now, burned out with only a skeleton of the charred anchor desk left.
Authorities say three state TV employees were killed here.
PLEITGEN: You can see how much heat must have been emitted by the impact and by the explosion. The phones that they had here are molten. Here also, the keys molten, this screen. And there's actually someone's lunch still at their desk standing here, which probably they would have been wanting to eat until they had to evacuate the building. You can see there's a spoon here that's also been melted away by this explosion.
And the devastation here is massive at the Iranian state broadcaster.
[00:05:05]
PLEITGEN (voice-over): Iran's leadership vows to persevere, saying it will continue to target Israel if the Israeli aerial campaign doesn't stop.
Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Tehran.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HILL: Mehran Kamrava is a professor of government at Georgetown University in Qatar and is joining me now from Doha.
It's good to have you here with us.
When we look at where things stand in this moment, I was struck by a question, frankly, from my colleague Kristen Holmes at the White House briefing earlier today as to why the president, Donald Trump, had gotten to this point now, with this two-week window and what had changed. I want to play that exchange for you.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LEAVITT: Iran is in a very weak and vulnerable position because of the strikes and the attacks from Israel. And with respect to the president's statement, I shared that with all of you.
And he has been very direct and clear. Iran can and should make a deal. We sent a deal to them that was practical, that was realistic, or they will face grave consequences.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why --
(END VIDEO CLIP) HILL: So, the -- the foreign secretary for the U.K., David Lammy, actually saying that now there is a diplomatic window that now exists with this sort of a two-week pause on a decision from the United States.
But the reality, of course, in Iran is that there was this 60-day period. Then there were the strikes a week ago. Now here we are. Do you see what has changed in these moments?
MEHRAN KAMRAVA, PROFESSOR OF GOVERNMENT, UNIVERSITY OF GEORGETOWN, QATAR: Well, I think from the very beginning, the Iranians were counting on a prolonged series of discussions with the Americans. As you remember, they were engaged in indirect talks.
And I think President Trump, true to his nature, was rather impatient, or at least they were talking past each other, the Iranians and the Americans. And that's what has gotten us to this point.
It does appear, finally, that the diplomatic initiatives have picked up, with the Iranian foreign minister now meeting with his counterparts in Geneva.
HILL: Those meetings set for today. So, it will be his -- his British, French, German, and a representative of the European Union counterparts.
What do you expect that those talks could potentially achieve that these indirect talks with the United States were not able to do?
KAMRAVA: Quite frankly, I'm not sure if they might -- if they would achieve anything, because ultimately, at this point, the decision rests with President Trump whether or not he wants to directly enter the war and to hit Iranian targets.
And I think that what the Iranians are hoping is that continued discussions would at least convince President Trump not to join and to have some sort of -- to go back to the negotiation table in a way that is palatable to the Iranians.
HILL: What do you see in terms of leverage that Iran has in this moment?
KAMRAVA: I think what the Iranian military command is counting on is a war of attrition. They're counting on a prolonged war that would cost the Israelis and the Americans heavily in terms of defense of Israel. The -- the -- defending against relatively inexpensive Iranian missiles and drones. That's not an inexpensive proposition.
So, I think what the Iranians are counting on is a question of their size, their strength, their -- the scope of the country's area, and their ability to withstand consistent and continued Israeli bombardment.
HILL: There are a lot of questions about the timing here and have been, frankly, since -- since the -- the strikes began and -- and the messages that we are getting. So, Prime minister Netanyahu earlier saying, I decided we would
achieve all of our goals, all of their nuclear facilities. We have the power to do so, noting if the United States wanted to join, that's fine.
But -- but raising questions then about whether the U.S. is really needed or not for Israel to achieve these goals. Or is it more that Israel would like to have the support of the United States in those efforts?
How do you see it playing out?
KAMRAVA: Well, from the very beginning, whether it was Israel's attacks on Gaza or in on Iran, it was to Prime Minister Netanyahu's advantage to escalate the war and to involve the United States in a variety of ways.
And so, it's only natural for Prime Minister Netanyahu to want the United States to get involved.
Also, let's remember that Iran's nuclear facilities tend to be underground. And -- and it's only with American bombardment that they're able to be destroyed.
[00:10:14]
So, you know, this could cause heavy damage to a -- to much of Iran's nuclear infrastructure, but it will not destroy it unless the Americans get involved. And that's what Netanyahu is hoping.
HILL: Right. Questions, too, about the -- whether, if Israel does control the skies now, could they actually go in without those bunker- buster bombs? That, of course, is what we'll be watching in the coming days and weeks.
Mehran Kamrata, great to have you with us. Appreciate it. Thank you.
KAMRAVA: Thank you for having me.
HILL: The hospital in Southern Israel that was severely damaged by Iranian strikes on Thursday has been closed now to new admissions. A hospital spokesperson says about half of the 80 people who were injured in that attack are hospital staff.
CNN's Nic Robertson has more from the scene in Beersheba.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: We're walking in here to right underneath where the impact happened. The ground is strewn with broken rubble, concrete off the buildings, the side of the building up here.
Take a look. Literally ripped apart. Debris everywhere on the ground here. The medical center director here told me it was a fifth-floor direct
impact on the cancer and urology ward. He said, very fortunately, the 25 patients, bedbound patients that they'd had there had been taken to the basement for their safety.
This direct impact on the hospital, he said, has caused extensive damage. Forty casualties here, most of them with light injuries from broken glass. Most people taking shelter inside the hospital.
DR. SHLOMI KODESH, SOROKA MEDICAL CENTER DIRECTOR: This is not anything that has any rational explanation. I'll admit that I'm currently in operational mode. Feelings will come probably a bit later, but it is totally shocking.
ROBERTSON: I can hear water raining down. It looks like the fire crews are still up there above us, so just dousing. They're dousing the building.
We know that the fire crews -- I just saw them going back inside the building there. The recovery mission, the search mission for people who might be injured or trapped inside the hospital.
The fire guys up here are telling us we've just got to move back a bit, so we're going to stay, keep talking to you. We're just going to move back a bit here.
You get a sense of the destruction. Look at all this twisted debris around here. Fire trucks backed up as far as you can see.
This has really raised the temperature on this conflict. The politicians have been coming here, have been talking very clearly. This was an intentional strike on the hospital by Iran.
ROBERTSON (voice-over): Among them, Israel's foreign minister, who rebutted claims by his Iranian counterpart, who posted on X, claiming the hospital was near a military target and was only lightly damaged.
GORDON SA'AR, ISRAELI FOREIGN MINISTER: You know very well that all the casualties we have until this minute, all of them without an exception, are civilians.
ROBERTSON (voice-over): Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, weighing in on what the U.S. may do.
ROBERTSON: Iranian officials say they were targeting a military facility near here. But what do you say to President Trump as he tries to make up his mind about whether to come in support of Israel?
NETANYAHU: He gave them the chance to do it through negotiations. They strung him along, and you don't string along Donald Trump. He knows. He knows the game. And I think that we're both committed to making sure that Iran will not have a nuclear weapon.
ROBERTSON: This is one of those days where it's the political language that ratchets up. The damage is done. Diplomacy seems to be pushed over the horizons, and we're just about to enter a second week of this deadly conflict between Iran and Israel.
Nic Robertson, CNN, Beersheba, Israel.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HILL: Amid the conflict with Iran, Israel is conducting new strikes in Gaza. Scores of Palestinians reported killed in the past 24 hours. That story just ahead.
Plus, Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping discussing the conflict between Israel and Iran. What they believe should happen next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[00:18:55]
HILL: The conflict between Israel and Iran is also playing out in cyberspace.
Pro-Israeli hackers are taking credit for stealing $90 million from Iran's largest crypto exchange on Wednesday.
The hackers claim Iran used the crypto exchange to skirt international sanctions.
In a separate attack, the hackers say they destroyed data at Iran's state-owned bank on Tuesday, claiming it was being used by members of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Iranian media reported the cyberattack disrupted services at ATMs around the country.
Meantime, Iran has its own teams of hackers, and cybersecurity organizations are advising U.S. businesses to be on high alert.
A powerful Iran-banked [SIC] -- Iran-backed militia in Iraq is vowing to attack U.S. military bases in the Middle East if the U.S. Enters the conflict between Israel and Iran.
The security leader of the group Kataib Hezbollah has warned that American bases in the region will, quote, "become akin to duck hunting grounds."
The group also threatened to shut down the Strait of Hormuz and key oil ports in the region.
Meantime, China's President Xi and Russia's President Putin are urging de-escalation in the Iran-Israel conflict. They spoke about the crisis on Thursday and also used the occasion to send some thinly veiled messages to Washington.
[00:20:08]
Clare Sebastian has those details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This was a previously unscheduled call between Presidents Xi and Putin, and on the one hand, it shows the global geopolitical divide hardening around the Iran-Israel conflict.
Russia and China, of course, two allies of Iran, both according to a Kremlin aide who briefed on the call, roundly condemning Israel.
China calling on, quote, "major powers" to de-escalate the situation, according to a readout from the Chinese foreign ministry.
Clearly, a thinly veiled reference there to the United States.
Well, both countries have not only a shared desire to counter U.S. influence globally, but they have economic skin in the game. China is by far the biggest buyer of Iranian oil, and Russia built Iran's only nuclear power plant at Bushehr and is currently building new reactors there.
Putin saying on Wednesday Israel had agreed to ensure the safety of the Russian staff at the plant.
But both Russia and China have also offered to mediate in this conflict. And for Russia especially, which still maintains open lines of communication with Israel, this is a crucial opportunity to appear as an indispensable regional power broker and, of course, to keep the door open to resetting relations with the United States, Israel's biggest backer.
Well, President Trump, though, who had signaled openness to the idea of Russia mediating, toughened his stance on that on Wednesday, saying that he told Putin, quote, "Let's mediate Russia first," a reference, of course, to the faltering U.S. effort to bring an end to Russia's war in Ukraine.
Clare Sebastian, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HILL: The Palestinian Health Ministry says Israeli strikes in Gaza Thursday killed more than 70 people, including children. I do want to warn you, the video you're about to see is graphic. It shows first responders trying to rescue victims from destroyed buildings.
Palestinian health officials say at least two children were killed when several homes came under Israeli fire in Northern Gaza.
Three other children were killed by Israeli bombardment while they were sheltering in a tent at the al-Shati refugee camp near Gaza City.
When asked for comment, the Israel Defense Forces said it was, quote, "not familiar" with any strike in al-Shati.
The U.N. warns the humanitarian crisis in Gaza is deteriorating rapidly, with famine increasingly likely.
Still to come here, we follow an elite Israeli search-and-rescue team as they respond to an Iranian missile strike.
Plus, President Donald Trump takes heat over possible U.S. Strikes on Iran, not from political opponents but from some of his loudest backers in the world of conservative media.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[00:27:23]
HILL: Welcome back. I'm Erica Hill. Here's a look at today's top stories.
Diplomatic efforts to ease tensions between Israel and Iran will get underway on Friday in Geneva. Iran's foreign minister is scheduled to meet with envoys from the U.K., France, Germany and the European Union in the coming hours.
One diplomat describing the talks as exploratory, to, quote, "feel the room."
U.S. President Donald Trump says he will decide within the next two weeks whether to launch a military strike on Iran, saying he wants to give diplomacy a chance before making a final decision.
The White House going on to say Iran, in its view, is very weak and vulnerable after a week of Israeli strikes.
And when it comes to those strikes in Israel and Iran, the latest Iranian missile strike on Israel sparking a fire in a technology park in the Southern city of Beersheba. Israeli police report property damage but no casualties.
Dozens of people were injured when an Iranian missile hit near a hospital in the same city on Thursday. Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited that hospital after the strike, where he told reporters on the scene he is grateful to President Trump for, quote, "helping a lot" in the conflict with Iran.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NETANYAHU: President Trump will do what's best for America. I trust his judgment. He's a tremendous friend, a tremendous world leader, a tremendous friend of Israel and the Jewish people.
And we will do what we have to do, and we are doing it. We are committed to destroying the nuclear threat, the threat of nuclear annihilation against Israel.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HILL: Israeli authorities say the missile that hit the hospital in Beersheba left dozens of people injured and caused extensive destruction.
During such emergencies, Israel often deploys a specialized military search-and-rescue unit. CNN's Jeremy Diamond shows us how they responded to a recent missile strike in a suburb of Tel Aviv on Thursday.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(AIR RAID SIRENS)
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Air raid sirens in Tel Aviv these days can mean only one thing: another barrage of Iranian ballistic missiles.
For these soldiers, it also means being ready for what comes next.
DIAMOND: So, like millions of others in Israel right now, we are in a bomb shelter. But we're with the elite rescue unit of the Israeli military.
These are the people who are going to be going out and trying to rescue people. Should any of those ballistic missiles, which are now flying overhead, actually make impact.
DIAMOND (voice-over): Minutes later, the team leaders head straight into the command center. Reports of strikes, interceptions and falling debris are pouring in all at once.
Lieutenant Colonel Golan Landsberg needs to make sense of it all and determine whether and where to deploy his team of specialists.
[00:30:06]
LT. COL. GOLAN LANDSBERG, IDF SEARCH AND RESCUE: It looks like either falls in open areas or -- or interception.
DIAMOND: So, right now, you're trying to assess whether those two potential impact sites are worth your team going to and providing your expertise.
LANDSBERG: By this time, we should have seen all of the pictures, movies from scenes. or reports on casualties.
DIAMOND: So, even that open-source information from social media is being fed into your systems?
LANDSBERG: Oh yes.
Look, look like.
DIAMOND: So, that's it.
DIAMOND (voice-over): This night, it's back to bed. But the next morning isn't nearly as quiet. Four ballistic missiles have broken through Israel's air defenses.
Lieutenant Colonel Landsberg decides to deploy to a strike on the outskirts of Tel Aviv.
DIAMOND: So, we've just arrived on the scene of this ballistic missile strike. DIAMOND (voice-over): The scale of the damage is stark. A single
missile has shaved off the side of this building, partially crushed another, wrecking cars and shattering windows for blocks.
Colonel Landsberg and his team immediately push into the building, going floor by floor, apartment by apartment, searching for casualties and evacuating survivors.
Inside the building that was struck, it's easy to see how deadly this attack could have been.
DIAMOND: The destruction here is just enormous. I mean, it's hard to describe if you weren't to see these pictures. Everything is covered in dust and soot. And this right here is the building's gym. Or what once was the gym.
DIAMOND (voice-over): But while the people evacuating this building are shaken, they are alive.
LANSBERG: Five minutes ago, we finished up scanning the entire building from -- from bottom to top. And take everyone.
DIAMOND: The safe rooms seem to be making your job a lot easier.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, yes? Well, they save life, so it's very easy to see that.
DIAMOND (voice-over): OK.
LANDSBERG: Safe life. You get in, 99 percent that you are out -- that you are safe.
DIAMOND (voice-over): But as one war spills into another, danger still lies ahead.
Jeremy Diamond, CNN, Tel Aviv.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HILL: The heightened tensions have the U.S. military repositioning its assets in the Middle East. We're going to show you a map.
So, you see the red dots there? Those mark U.S. bases. Defense officials say non-sheltered planes are being evacuated from the American airbase in Qatar.
Navy ships stationed in Bahrain have left port. And U.S. Central Command is also pre-positioned, rather, blood supplies in the region, which is standard procedure anytime there's a chance of an attack on U.S. forces.
CNN military analyst, retired Air Force Colonel Cedric Leighton joins us now from Washington.
So, Colonel Leighton, in terms of those moves that we're seeing, that is, as I noted in many ways, standard operating procedure when there are heightened tensions in an area.
Is there anything that stands out to you, however, in terms of what we're seeing with this movement that draws concern for you or makes you think that something else could be on the horizon?
COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Well, Erica, yes, as you mentioned, a lot of this is what we normally see in a case where there are certain things that we think might happen or could possibly happen.
Now, in the case of, you know, things like blood supplies, that is a very key element when it comes to taking care of our casualties. And we, you know, in the U.S. military, take great pride in basically achieving the kind of medical care that they need.
When it comes to the other movements, you know, the carrier movements and the air movements, there are a lot of elements to this that are very critically important for the operational success of whatever might come next.
The pre-positioning of the aircraft carriers in the Eastern Mediterranean, and potentially in other parts of the Middle East, is going to be, I think, a very important part of this.
And whether or not the U.S. gets directly involved with the Iran attacks, it is also going to be a pretty clear signal to Israel that there is support for a lot of what they're doing from a military standpoint. But it may not be direct involvement in the Iranian situation, at least not yet. So that's one element.
The other thing is that we're not seeing massive movements of ground forces anywhere in the Middle East. So, this is not like the run-up to the Iraq war in that particular sense.
So, there are a lot of differences with some of the things we've done in the past, but we're still getting ready to get our forces into place in case they need to pack a lethal punch for whatever might happen.
HILL: In terms of those considerations that are now happening. So President Trump announcing essentially a two -- a two-week pause for his decision as to whether there will be U.S. strikes on Iran.
In that two weeks, I would imagine much of what is already happening would be continuing, right? Looking at what can and should be done, but also the aftermath.
And that is where some of the movement that we're seeing, and also these bases really come into play as there is heightened concern about retaliation.
[00:35:12]
How much could this two-week period tamp down some of those tensions? LEIGHTON: Well, it depends on what the other side does, right? And so,
in this case, the other side, Erica, is the Iranian side. And they might pre-position some of their assets.
You had mentioned earlier in the newscast that we were talking about one of the militias in Iraq that was potentially getting ready to attack American interests. So, that's the kind of thing that we have to be prepared for.
So, what I'd expect on the American side is increased alert postures, heightened -- heightened -- potentially heightened force protection conditions.
That would mean that they're basically getting ready to protect the assets: the American military bases, the American installations in that area. Plus, the host nations would also be getting ready to support any efforts to protect those bases. So, there is a lot going on in that sense.
But those two weeks would allow us to do several things. It would allow us to get ready from a protective standpoint, from a defensive posture standpoint, but also to bring more offensive assets into the region that could potentially be used as leverage against Iran.
HILL: And, of course, you know, as you alluded to, this -- that two weeks also gives other actors a chance to plan, potentially.
When we look at where things stand, I just want to note the IDF just noting a short time ago that they completed a series of overnight strikes, saying that it happened in the heart of Tehran, attacking dozens of targets, including military industrial sites for missile production, as well as headquarters of -- for some research and development at the SPND (ph) headquarters of the nuclear weapons project.
There's been so much talk, as well, about -- from Israeli officials about what they have taken out. In terms of ballistic missile launchers in Iran, how they have crippled a good portion of that within the country.
Also, the incoming missiles into Israel, Israel noting how much that could be depleting, frankly, the arsenal that Iran has.
There are also questions about the interceptors that Israel has been using and how much Israel has in its arsenal, because both will, of course, need to be replenished, ultimately.
Where do you think things stand from that perspective in terms of how long this can continue for both countries?
LEIGHTON: Yes, basically, Erica, you've got -- both sides have different clocks at this point. And these clocks really are dependent upon the kinds of resources that they have available at the moment. Plus, what they've lost in terms of use in -- you know, in their military campaigns. So, as far as Israel is concerned, they're going to be dependent on
American resupply efforts, plus their own indigenous efforts. They're probably in a pretty good position to stock up with interceptors and with the things that they need in order to continue their mission and also their offensive operations.
So, both the protective mission of protecting Israel, although the Iron Dome and their other systems that they have for missile and air defense. But on the offensive side, they also need to make sure that they continue to maintain the weapons that they have, plus that they resupply all the missiles that they have on their on their aircraft, especially the F-35s and F-16s and F-15s.
Now, when it comes to the Iranians, they have lost -- probably the Israeli estimates are pretty accurate, around 40 percent of their missile supply, their offensive missile supply.
Now, some of that would not be able to hit Israel from Iran. But there is certainly a key element here, and that is that that still means that about 60 percent of those missiles are around and can be used, as we see, like with the attacks on the technical park there in -- in Southern Israel, in Beersheba and the hospital, as well.
So, Iran still packs a potent punch, but they have clearly lost air dominance, air supremacy over a large portion of their airspace. And they also have -- have to move their missile launch facilities around in order to avoid detection by the Israelis.
So, they have a lot of challenges, and they may run out a bit sooner than the Israelis when it comes to their offensive weapons. So, that could -- could be a problem.
But the other side of that is that Russia and China are probably looking at how they can possibly resupply the Iranians, at least clandestinely.
HILL: Yes. And that is an important point, as well. Colonel Cedric Leighton, always appreciate it. Thank you.
LEIGHTON: You bet, Erica.
HILL: The U.S. president's decision to keep his options open about possible strikes on Iran isn't going over well with some of his loyal supporters. Donald Trump ran as a peacemaker. He promised to keep the United States out of foreign wars.
[00:40:03]
As Donie O'Sullivan reports, some of the backlash comes from one of Mr. Trump's biggest supporters in conservative media circles.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TUCKER CARLSON, HOST, "THE TUCKER CARLSON SHOW": This is a regime change effort. And why not just say that? And -- but oh, you're a Holocaust denier for saying that. Well, stop. Let's have a rational conversation about what our aims are here.
DONIE SULLIVAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): That's Tucker Carlson, the war skeptic today.
CARLSON: We learned today for certain that Iraq has weapons of mass destruction. It has chemical and biological weapons. And the question remains, what do we do about it? And neither you nor any other Democrat I know has an answer to that question.
O'SULLIVAN: This was Tucker Carlson back when he co-hosted CNN's "CROSSFIRE" in 2003.
CARLSON: Senator Worthy (ph), the president last night summed up, I thought, well the rationale for going into Iraq later this week. Here's what he said.
GEORGE W. BUSH, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The danger is clear. Using chemical, biological, or one-day nuclear weapons, obtained with the help of Iraq, the terrorists could fulfill their stated ambitions and kill thousands or hundreds of thousands of innocent people in our country or any other.
The United States and other nations did nothing to deserve or invite this threat, but we will do everything to defeat it.
O'SULLIVAN (voice-over): Back then, Carlson was a strong supporter of America's war in Iraq.
PAUL BEGALA, FORMER CO-HOST, "CROSSFIRE": The question here is the president's credibility. He wants to lead us into war, and the majority of his countrymen and women are worried that he's lying to us, and for good reason.
CARLSON: That is not the question. The question is there's a lunatic with weapons that could kill the civilized world. What do we do about it? And I await an answer.
O'SULLIVAN (voice-over): It was a position Carlson would come to regret.
DAVE SMITH, COMEDIAN AND PODCAST HOST: When the war drums were beating for Iraq, there was just nothing like what we have today. I mean, like, the -- the biggest shows in cable news, the big -- they were all for it. They were all for it.
CARLSON: I was for it.
SMITH: Yes. Well --
CARLSON: I was for it until I went to Iraq in 20 -- in 2003. I immediately apologized, I would say in my defense.
And I feel very stung by what happened in Iraq, if I'm being honest, possibly because unlike you, I guess, I supported it. And I saw us get drawn into it in a way that nobody anticipated. And I saw the cost: just $3 trillion. And the cost on so many levels to the United States was just so profound.
O'SULLIVAN (voice-over): Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is warning Iran could have a nuclear weapon within months. U.S. intelligence, however, suggests Iran is years away from having a nuclear bomb.
CARLSON: Can you feel the frustration of people, including your voters, you know, every American, at the emphasis on foreign countries and the threat we supposedly face, a lot of which is fake and obviously, over, over the kind of slowly unfolding tragedy of what's happening to our country?
O'SULLIVAN (voice-over): Carlson is a frequent supporter of Israel, but Senator Ted Cruz did not appreciate Carlson's questioning of the Netanyahu government's policies toward Iran.
CARLSON: How many people live in Iran, by the way?
SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX): I don't know the population.
CARLSON: At all?
CRUZ: No, I don't know the population.
CARLSON: You don't know the population of the country you seek to topple?
CRUZ: How many people live in Iran?
CARLSON: Ninety-two million.
CRUZ: OK. Yes.
CARLSON: How could you not know that?
O'SULLIVAN: And you could see now how much of this debate is really playing out in the world of podcasts and online video streams. The MAGA-verse, as it is called, all these pro-Trump MAGA media influencers really growing in influence.
Back to you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HILL: Appreciate it. Donie O'Sullivan there with the latest for us on that brewing controversy.
The L.A. Dodgers, meantime, are claiming that ICE agents showed up at their stadium and tried to get in on game day. The federal government, though, says that's not what happened. So, what did happen? Those details are next.
Plus, a huge fireball lighting up the sky Wednesday night when SpaceX's Starship exploded. Why the company does not view this as a setback. That's next.
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HILL: A federal appeals court is allowing U.S. President Donald Trump to keep control of thousands of members of California's National Guard.
The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals granting the president's request to temporarily lift a lower court ruling that had required him to relinquish that control.
The president reacting on Truth Social in just the last hour or so, calling the decision a, quote, "big win."
Thursday's ruling extends a pause the court put in place while that legal battle was playing out.
The National Guard, of course, was called in to beef up security in Los Angeles amid unrest over President Trump's immigration enforcement.
The Los Angeles Dodgers say they blocked U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents from entering Dodger Stadium on Thursday morning.
The Department of Homeland Security, however, says those agents were not from ICE and that their presence had, quote, "nothing to do with the Dodgers."
The dispute comes as the city has seen an influx of federal agents and also protests against President Trump's aggressive immigration agenda.
Here's CNN's Natasha Chen with more.
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NATASHA CHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Protesters gathered outside of Dodger Stadium ahead of Thursday night's game.
This has been a buildup of two weeks of anxiety and, for some, resentment against the Dodgers for having stayed silent, in their opinion, about the immigration raids happening throughout Los Angeles, affecting a lot of the immigrant community that make up such a big part of the Dodgers fan base.
CHEN (voice-over): Now, these feelings really bubbled up and reached a fever pitch Thursday morning when federal agents were spotted at Dodger Stadium in tactical gear, in unmarked vans, wearing masks.
The Dodgers organization said that agents showed up, asking for permission to enter their parking lots and were. Denied entry.
Now, we also heard from the Department of Homeland Security after that, saying that that was not ICE at all, claiming that it was Customs and Border Protection; that it was not related to any operation or enforcement; and that it had nothing to do with the Dodgers. In fact, DHS said that CBP was here briefly on the grounds of --
because of a car malfunction.
CHEN: So, a couple of different messages going on here.
Overall, it's clear that the community is extremely rattled by the presence of federal agents and also at odds, in some ways, with the team about what they are saying or not saying about the current climate in Los Angeles.
Natasha Chen, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HILL: Hurricane Erick now weakened to a tropical storm after slamming into Mexico's Southern Pacific coast as a Category 3 storm, leaving behind flooded streets and serious damage in the state of Oaxaca. No deaths have been reported.
Erick did make landfall over coastal towns, though, around breakfast time on Wednesday. In Puerto Escondido, it knocked down a historic statue of a sailfish being rescued by fishermen.
Winds slowed to about 50 miles per hour as that storm moved inland. Weather officials, though, warned that intense rain still threatens three Mexican states with serious flooding and mudslides.
Erick is the first major hurricane to hit Mexico before July.
The SpaceX Starship exploded on the launch pad Wednesday night, and it's still not clear what caused that explosion. SpaceX, though, says that blast is just part of the process.
Still, when it comes to the people who live in nearby, they're not happy, as CNN's Ed Lavandera explains.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The shock wave from this explosion registered as a small earthquake. The blinding glow of the massive fireball lit up the night sky.
It wasn't a rocket launch but the unexpected eruption of SpaceX Starship. Elon Musk dismissed the catastrophic scene as, quote, "just a scratch."
Rene Medrano described it as Armageddon.
RENE MEDRANO, NEIGHBOR: It felt like a bomb went off, like a big bomb went off.
LAVANDERA: What do you call this place?
MEDRANO: Amaranth.
LAVANDERA (voice-over): In April, Medrano showed us around his home, which sits about ten miles from the SpaceX Starbase facility.
LAVANDERA: And from here, you can see the rocket launches?
MEDRANO: We can. If you get right over here.
LAVANDERA (voice-over): Medrano and other South. Texas residents have become increasingly critical of SpaceX. He says Wednesday night's explosion rattled his home.
MEDRANO: It really is disturbing. It's messing up our backyard, is what it is. And then for this to happen, I mean, how can that -- how can someone not be frustrated?
LAVANDERA (voice-over): The explosion looked like a storm captured on weather radar. That plume you see emerging is smoke and debris emanating from the test site.
SpaceX says a pressurized tank on the spacecraft experienced a, quote, "sudden energetic event," igniting several fires. The company said there were no injuries and no hazards to nearby residents.
CNN senior space and science reporter Jackie Wattles says Musk and SpaceX do not see this as a major setback.
JACKIE WATTLES, CNN SENIOR SPACE AND SCIENCE CORRESPONDENT: SpaceX has always kind of taken this approach of -- of setbacks come. Engineers work around it, identify the issue.
And then they get a new rocket on the pad and keep working towards that goal.
LAVANDERA (voice-over): In fact, Musk recently highlighted SpaceX's ability to quickly build Starship rockets and continue testing.
ELON MUSK, FOUNDER, SPACEX: We can produce a ship roughly every two or three weeks. We're aiming for the ability to produce 1,000 ships a year, so three ships a day.
LAVANDERA (voice-over): The last three Starship rocket test launches have ended in explosive failures. A few broke apart just minutes after launching.
In January, a Starship rocket broke apart over the Caribbean sea. Musk often jokes that success is uncertain, but entertainment is guaranteed.
WATTLES: Starship is the vehicle that's supposed to carry the astronauts down to the lunar surface in 2027. So, I do think at this point, there is a lot of gut-checking going on behind the scenes about whether or not you can reach, you know, that timeline.
LAVANDERA (voice-over): The mishaps do raise questions, though, about when the Starship rocket will be able to move cargo and astronauts into space safely.
Ed Lavandera, CNN, Dallas. (END VIDEOTAPE)
HILL: Dozens of artifacts looted from Nigeria have now been returned to the nation's national museums.
Known as the Benin Bronzes, the items include human and animal figures in royal regalia. The treasures were looted in 1897 when British colonial forces invaded the kingdom of Benin.
[00:55:05]
The artifacts were returned by the Dutch government, where many have been stored, all part of a growing trend to repatriate Africa's looted art.
The official handover will happen on Saturday at Nigeria's national museum in Lagos.
Thanks so much for joining me for this hour of CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Erica Hill. Stay tuned. Much more to come right here on CNN at the top of the hour.
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