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Trump To Decide On Iran Strike Within Two Weeks; Iranian Missile Lands In Beersheba Causing Damage; CNN Team Gets Rare Access In Iran's Capital; Pro-Israel Hackers Target Iranian Bank, Crypto Exchange; Putin, Xi Criticize Israel's Attacks On Iran, Urge Deescalation; Israel on Edge Amid New Missile Lunches from Iran; Trump Decide on Iran Strikes within Next Two Weeks; Trump Draws MAGA Backlash Over Potential U.S. Strikes on Iran; L.A. Dodgers & Trump Administration at Odds; FIFA Club World Cup Continues amid Concerns about ICE. Aired 1-2a ET

Aired June 20, 2025 - 01:00   ET

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

(COMMEERCIAL BREAK)

[01:00:24]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN Breaking News.

ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm Erica Hill. You're watching CNN Newsroom.

We begin this hour in southern Israel, where an Iranian missile has sparked a fire in the city of Beersheba. Video posted on social media shows flames and billowing smoke, black smoke and what authorities described as a technology park.

Israeli police report property damage and six minor injuries. No casualties at this point. All of this comes as Iran's foreign minister is preparing to meet in Geneva today with representatives from the U.K., France, Germany and the European Union.

U.S. President Donald Trump, for his part, says he wants to give diplomacy a chance, saying he will now decide whether to launch a strike on Iran in two weeks. Meantime, Israel's prime minister is refusing to rule out targeting Iran's supreme leader.

Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel will strike all of Iran's nuclear facilities and also thanked the United States for, quote, helping a lot in the conflict with Iran.

A powerful Shiite militia group in Iraq is vowing to attack U.S. military bases should President Trump decide to get involved in the conflict. The group has also threatened to shut down the Strait of Hormuz, which, of course, is a vital waterway for shipping oil out of the Persian Gulf.

Well, Iran's atomic Energy organization is threatening to take legal action now against the chief of the UN's nuclear watchdog, accusing the International Atomic Energy Agency of what it calls, quote, inaction during Israel's attack on Iranian nuclear facilities.

And Iran's foreign ministry has also accused the IAEA chief of peddling a misleading narrative about Iran's nuclear program and becoming complicit in Israel's military campaign, an idea the IAEA chief has denied.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RAFAEL GROSSI, DIRECTOR GENERAL, INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY: One thing is to have the material to put in a warhead, and a very different one is to have everything else that, as you can imagine, goes inside a warhead to make it work. And we do not have any evidence that this is ongoing in Iran.

It is true that in the past, in the early 2000s, there had been some activities which were assessed at that time as related to nuclear weapon design and nuclear weapon development. So that has happened in the past. We are not seeing this now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: Well, despite that lack of nuclear verification, the Trump White House continues to insist Iran is just weeks away from making a nuclear weapon.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAROLINE LEAVITT, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Iran has all that it needs to achieve a nuclear weapon. All they need is a decision from the Supreme Leader to do that. And it would take a couple of weeks to complete the production of that weapon, which would of course pose an existential threat, not just to Israel, but to the United States and to the entire world.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: Hossein Mousavian is a visiting research collaborator with Princeton University and former spokesperson for Iran's nuclear file. He's joining us from Frankfurt today. Good to have you with us, sir.

So when we look at where things stand in this moment, let's first talk about the nuclear program in Iran. There's been so much focus on the facility in Fordow. Right. And of course, this was the decision that President Trump was mulling in terms of whether to get involved. That has been pushed off for two weeks of potentially attacking that.

Realistically, even if that were nuclear facility were to be taken out, does that effectively put an end to Iran's nuclear program?

HOSSEIN MOUSAVIAN, FORMER SPOKESPERSON, IRANIAN NUCLEAR FILE: Definitely not, because you cannot kill and destroy know how and technology. And Israelis and Americans also, they have frequently said even an attack may be postponed, but this will not destroy forever, first of all.

Second, the fact is that Iran is member of Non-Proliferation Treaty. Israel is not. Iran does not have nuclear weapon. Israel does have 100 to 400 nuclear weapons. Iran has given the most access to International Atomic Energy Agency during the history of non- proliferation. So that over 50 percent of the IAEA inspections during last 20 years just was about Iran inspection.

[01:05:00]

Even over 50 percent of the IAEA budget was allocated and spent for Iran's inspection. And the U.S. intelligence assessment since 2007 and the IAEA official report since 2003 frequently has said and repeated and confirmed there is no evidence of diversion towards weaponization in Iranian nuclear program. Therefore the war on Iran because of the nuclear was really illegitimate, illegal because Iran didn't have nuclear weapon.

And now what President Trump or Prime Minister Netanyahu are saying that Iran has one week or two to break out. It is because of the U.S. because we had the nuclear deal in 2015. The deal was working. The Iranian nuclear breakout was one year, not one week. Iran accepted the highest level of transparency measures during the history of non- proliferation.

The U.S. withdrew, imposed maximum pressure, the most comprehensive sanctions and in return Iran increased the level and the capacity of its enrichment. Therefore, if we are today in a situation that Iran has one or two breakout, this is because of the U.S. violation of the nuclear deal. That's why I think the best is to go back to diplomacy again rather than war.

HILL: And President Trump has said he would like to see that diplomacy play out. Of course there is that meeting coming up in Geneva today. One more question though that I do want to ask you specifically about that site at Fordow. You had told CNN that a strike on that facility would be, and I'm quoting you here, both fruitless. And you also went on to say it would likely push Iran to seek a nuclear bomb.

So you're saying any effort there would push Iran to move into making a nuclear weapon. How close do you think the country may be at this point given what else we're seeing in terms of attacks?

MOUSAVIAN: It is not important whether that would be one week or one month or two months. But what the U.S. is telling Iran that if you accept a deal, if you had the best cooperation, if all technical issues were resolved with the International Atomic Energy Agency, which was resolved, if all possible military dimension issues was resolved, it doesn't matter.

This narrative and now war by Israelis nonsense war. This narrative is telling Iranians, you know what, even if there is transparency, even there is all nuclear ambiguities are resolved. The U.S. and Israel would attack to bring regime change. That's why you Iranians, you need nuclear deterrence, which is nuclear bomb.

I think this is what Americans and Israelis are practically telling Iranians get the bomb as the best deterrence. And I believe if this policy continues, Iran would go for nuclear bomb. HILL: We have about 30 seconds left, but these meetings are set to

take place in Geneva today. So you have Iran's foreign minister meeting his British, French, German, European counterparts. What do you think could potentially come of those talks that did not come from some of the indirect talks with the United States over the last couple of months?

MOUSAVIAN: I think they will need a short term agreement and a long term agreement. The shorter term agreement should be and could be what Steve Witkoff and Abbas Araghchi they agreed during the first three round of talks. One, which Iran would accept the highest level of transparency to remove all nuclear questions and ambiguities. Second, Iran would export or dilute the stockpile of 60 percent to remove the concern about 10 nuclear bombs. And third, Iran would go to enrich below 5 percent which is civilian enrichment. Iran would stop enrichment at level of 20 percent and 60 percent.

This is what already Steve Witkoff and Araghchi agreed, but because of Israeli pressures, President Trump backed down. Then you would need a midterm and long term agreement which would be creating a regional nuclear consortium, multilateral enrichment in the Persian Gulf, which Iran, Saudi Arabia and the other Arab countries in the Persian Gulf, the U.S. allies would have a joint multilateral nuclear and enrichment program which would be the best confidence building in the long term.

HILL: We will see how it all plays out. Hossein Mousavian appreciate you joining us through your perspective. Thank you.

MOUSAVIAN: Thank you.

[01:10:07]

HILL: I want to bring in my colleague Paula Hancocks, who is live in Abu Dhabi. So, Paula, you've been following some of the developments that we have seen overnight in the region. The IDF talking about some strikes. We've also seen the aftermath of some Iranian strikes in Beersheba. Bring us up to speed on what else has happened.

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Erica, we can start with those Iranian strikes that happened in Beersheba. This is the city in the southern part of Israel. It's the same city that was targeted yesterday. When we saw that hospital that had extensive damage to it this time we understand the missile landed close to a --

HILL: We may have just lost Paula's shot there. We will try to get her back up. She mentioned that major hospital in southern Israel in Beersheba. So we saw, of course, we've seen some damage in just the last couple of hours. Big black clouds of smoke on what appears to be a technology park in that same city.

Meantime, when it comes to the hospital that was hit on Thursday, it was severely damaged by Iranian strikes on Thursday. We know now it's been close to new admissions. A hospital spokesperson says about half of the 80 people who were injured in that Thursday attack are actually hospital staff.

I want to bring you some more from my colleague Nic Robertson in just a moment, but I think we have Paula back up. Paula, can you hear me?

HANCOCKS: Hello.

HILL: The technology gremlins are after us on this Friday, apparently. So I'm sorry, you were recounting a little bit more of what we have seen and what has happened overnight.

HANCOCKS: Well, that's right, you were just mentioning there, Erica, the Iranian missiles that had targeted Israel. As of this points, there are no reports of any casualties or any injuries. But as I was saying in Beersheba, for instance, there are search and rescue teams still on the ground.

We also have an update from the Israeli military as to what they have in their words, achieved overnight. They say that they have had some 60 fighter jets that have been targeting military sites in Tehran and around Iran throughout the overnight hours and in the early hours of Friday. They say that they targeted the industrial center of gravity of the Iranian Ministry of Defense.

Now, they go on to point out that this is missile development that they're focusing as well to try and lessen the impact of any retaliation that Iran is able to carry out against Israeli territory. They also say that they targeted a research and development sites of the nuclear program. So really, those two focuses are very much in play as they have been for the past week.

Now, one potential thing we're looking out for later in Tehran as well is there has been a call for mass protests across Iran to show anger against the Israeli strikes on the country. Now, in the past, this would happen after Friday prayers. We have seen this being used as a chance by the supreme leader, for example, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, to be able to speak to his people, to be able to rally those supporters.

And of course, not everybody in his country supports him, but it would be a risky move for him at this point. As we have heard just on Thursday, another threat from Israel as to his potential assassination. The defense minister, Israel Katz, saying that Khamenei cannot continue to exist. Remarkable words there from the defense minister to the leader of Iran.

But it will be interesting to see whether or not there are many people that do come out onto the streets. Obviously, the regime loyalists we would expect to be out there. But there are many in Iran that do not support this Iranian government, but they are also extremely angry and fearful of the Israeli strikes against them. Erica.

HILL: Paula, appreciate it. Thank you. Just ahead here in the CNN Newsroom, our team in Tehran getting rare access to a TV station hit by an Israeli missile. A look at that aftermath. Plus, Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping discuss the conflict between Israel and Iran. And they are now sending a message about what they believe should happen next.

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[01:18:57] HILL: In Tehran the aftermath of Israeli strikes captured by CNN journalists who were able to gain rare access. CNN senior International correspondent Frederik Pleitgen toured Iran's capital at a TV station that was hit by an Israeli missile earlier this week.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FREDERIK 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.

[01:20:00]

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.

PLEITGEN: Here 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 the 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.

PLEITGEN (voiceover): 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: 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 used by members of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Iranian media reported the cyberattack disrupted services ATMs around the country.

Iran is thought to have some of the best hackers in the region. Cybersecurity organizations are advising U.S. businesses to be on high alert. Meantime, a powerful 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 Kata'ib Hezbollah 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, which of course is a key and also key oil points in region.

Meantime, Moscow says forcing regime change in Iran would be a red line for Russia. In an interview with Sky News, the Kremlin also said assassinating Iran's supreme leader would open Pandora's box and unleash more extremism in Iran.

Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping discussed the crisis on Thursday and sent thinly veiled messages to Washington as CNN Clare Sebastian reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This was a previously unscheduled call between presidents Xi and Putin. And on the one hand, it shows the global geopolitical 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 deescalate 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 the share 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, 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. efforts to bring an end to Russia's war in Ukraine. Clare Sebastian, CNN, London. (END VIDEOTAPE)

HILL: President Trump taking some heat over possible U.S. strikes on Iran. But this is not from political opponents. It's coming from some of the most powerful voices in the world of conservative media. That's just ahead.

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[01:29:11]

HILL: Welcome back. You're watching CNN Newsroom. I'm Erica Hill. The Israeli military says its defensive systems have been working to intercept a new wave of missiles launched by Iran. Police say fallen munitions sparked fires near a tech park in Beersheba that houses Microsoft. Israeli police report property damage and six minor injuries at this hour.

A major hospital, meantime, in that same southern Israeli city suffered extensive damage from an Iranian attack a day earlier. The spokesperson says 80 people were injured, about half of them hospital staff.

An Iranian ballistic missile also struck Ramat Gan near Tel Aviv on Thursday, causing significant damage. As Israeli's prime minister said Thursday his country has the power to strike all of Iran's nuclear sites and he intends to do just that. These images which you see here show smoke rising after a recent hit on Iran's Iraq nuclear facility.

[01:29:50]

Benjamin Netanyahu also refused to 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: As for President Trump, he says he'll decide whether to launch a strike against Iran within the next two weeks.

Here's CNN's Kristen Holmes with those details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: President Trump in a statement saying that because of a substantial chance of negotiations, that he would not be making a decision on whether or not the U.S. was going to get involved in the conflict between Israel and Iran for two weeks.

Now there are still a lot of questions about what exactly that means. This was announced by Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt in a White House briefing. And we tried to get to the bottom of what does -- what happens at the end of two weeks if there is no deal, if Iran does not come to the table? And we still aren't entirely clear.

Does that mean that the U.S. will automatically get involved? What does U.S. involvement look like? Are we talking about strikes? Are we talking about something larger than that?

But specifically, the other part of this is why two weeks, why this extension. And that was something that I posed to the Press Secretary today.

We have heard from a number of U.S. officials who say that Iran doesn't want to make a deal, that they are just stringing the United States along.

What is to say that they are not going to continue to do so if we don't -- if we continue to give them extensions now, two weeks before 60 days.

KAROLINE LEAVITT, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Look, 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.

HOLMES: So you hear they're saying, they believe that because Iran has been weakened by these missile strikes, that perhaps they are more likely to come to the table.

There's another part of this as well, which is that the Middle Eastern envoy, Steve Witkoff, met today with his counterpart for the United Kingdom. That's important because that same counterpart is going to Geneva for talks with the Iranian counterpart to that job.

Now, Witkoff is not intended to go at this point to that meeting, but the question is whether or not this is going to open up some more diplomatic avenues.

Right now, it does appear that Donald Trump -- President Trump and his advisers are looking for an off ramp or looking for anything other than U.S. involvement.

We know he's been wary about that. Now his language had gotten more aggressive. He started taking a more aggressive tone with Iran in recent days, but clearly with this two-week time frame, they are taking a step back to try and get it to the table where there's not actual U.S. involvement, not actual U.S. strikes in the region.

Kristen Holmes, CNN -- the White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HILL: 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, 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 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, that 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.

[01:34:44]

LEIGHTON: 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 to 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. 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 -- 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 happened in the heart of Tehran, attacking dozens of targets, including military industrial sites for missile production, as well as headquarters for some research and development at the (INAUDIBLE) 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, you know, 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 still means that about 60 percent of those missiles are around and can be used.

And 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 to move their missile launch facilities around in order to avoid detection by the Israelis.

[01:39:52]

LEIGHTON: 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 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: President Trump's decision to keep his options open about possible strikes on Iran isn't going over well with some of his most loyal supporters. Donald Trump, of course, ran as a peacemaker, promising to keep the United States out of foreign wars.

As Donie O'Sullivan reports, some of the backlash now is coming from one of Mr. Trump's biggest supporters in conservative media circles.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) TUCKER CARLSON, TV HOST: This isn't 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 O'SULLIVAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: 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 (INAUDIBLE), 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: Back then, Carlson was a strong supporter of America's war in Iraq.

PAUL BEGALA, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: 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: And first of all --

(CROSSTALKING)

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: It was a position Carlson would come to regret.

DAVE SMITH, PODCAST HOST: When the war drums were beating for Iraq. There was just nothing like what we have today.

I mean, like the biggest shows in cable news, they were all for it. They were all --

CARLSON: I was for it.

SMITH: Yes. Well -- CARLSON: I was for it until I went to Iraq in 2003. I immediately

apologized, I would say in my defense --

SMITH: Can I ask you --

CARLSON: -- 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 in just a month, $3 trillion. And the cost on so many levels to the United States was just so profound.

O'SULLIVAN: 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, obviously, over the kind of slowly unfolding tragedy of what's happening to our country.

O'SULLIVAN: 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: 92 million.

CRUZ: Ok.

CARLSON: Yes. 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: Donie, thank you.

The L.A. Dodgers claim ICE agents showed up at their stadium and tried to get in on game day. The federal government, however, says that's not what happened. So what did happen? Those details are next.

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HILL: The Palestinian health ministry says Israeli strikes in Gaza on Thursday killed more than 70 people, including children.

And a warning 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.

In the U.S., the Los Angeles Dodgers say they blocked U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents from entering Dodger Stadium Thursday morning.

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HILL: 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".

Well, the dispute comes as the city has seen an influx of federal agents and protests against President Trump's aggressive immigration agenda.

Here's Natasha Chen with more.

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NATASHA CHEN, CNN U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Protesters gathered outside of Dodger Stadium ahead of Thursday night's game. This has been a build-up 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.

Now these feelings really bubbled up and reached a fever pitch Thursday morning when federal agents were spotted at Dodger Stadium in tactical gear and 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 because of a car malfunction. 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.

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HILL: Turning our attention to the FIFA Club World Cup and some concerns that people may not attend if they fear ICE agents could show up.

CNN's Gustavo Valdez reports now from Atlanta which has been hosting some of the matches.

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GUSTAVO VALDES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Just under 32,000 fans witnessed a surprise victory of Miami over favorite Porto from Portugal on this international competition that has attracted people from all over the world, although perhaps not as many as some might expect.

Yes, this is an afternoon game, it's early in the tournament. Perhaps we'll see more people attending these matches.

FIFA has said that just over half a million people attended the first 16 matches. But there seems to be a shadow over the tournament, especially the question if the current immigration environment in the United States is affecting attendance.

There are people who were afraid that either migrants in the states would not come or participate, or people simply don't want to come to the country.

The foreigners that we have spoken with over this past week, they tell us they were not worried.

Your name please.

RAFAEL: My name is Rafael.

VALDES: Rafael. You come from Brazil. Did you have any concerns about coming into the United States right now?

RAFAEL: Everybody has a little concern with all the immigration going on, coming to America and afraid of going back.

But we're here to enjoy the beautiful game, and we want to have the best time. And right now, we're not worried about immigration. We're just worried about having a great time with the events.

VALDES: Do you have any problems getting into the country?

RAFAEL: Not at all. Everything was a breeze.

VALDES: Thank you very much. And that's basically what we've heard from most of the people we've talked to Monday during the Manchester United.

I did talk to some British fans who told me that they were here for business. They took advantage of the opportunity, but they recognized that if they wanted to take some personal time off, maybe the United States would not be their preferred destination.

Gustavo Valdes, CNN -- Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HILL: Hurricane Erick weakening to a tropical storm after slamming into Mexico's southern pacific coast as a category three storm, but leaving behind flooded streets and serious damage in the state of Oaxaca.

No deaths have been reported. Erick made landfall over coastal towns happening around breakfast time on Wednesday.

In Puerto Escondido, it knocked down a historic statue of a sailfish being rescued by fishermen. The winds slowed to about 50 miles per hour as the storm moved inland.

Weather officials, though, do warn that intense rain still threatens three Mexican states with serious flooding and possible mudslides.

Dozens of artifacts looted from Nigeria have been returned to the nation's national museum. Known as the Benin bronzes, the items include human and animal figures and royal regalia.

The treasures were looted in 1897, when colonial British forces invaded the kingdom of Benin. The artifacts were returned by the Dutch government, where many have been stored.

This is 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.

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HILL: Well, the past is coming back to life in pretty vivid color in London, archeologists found fragments of shattered plaster walls belonging to a Roman villa built 1,800 years ago.

After painstaking work, they've managed to reassemble the broken pieces. One official described the effort as putting together the most -- the world's most difficult jigsaw puzzle.

Well, now an illustrator is rebuilding them to reveal their full glory. The frescoes show graffiti as well as painted fruits, flowers, (INAUDIBLE) and birds. Thanks so much for joining me this hour on CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Erica

Hill.

Stay tuned. Our coverage continues after a short break.

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