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Pro-Palestinian Activist Mahmoud Khalil Released from ICE Detention; Israel Claims It Killed Two Iranian Commanders of Elite Branch of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in Overnight Strikes; President Trump Criticizes Intelligence Assessment Provided by Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard on Iran's Work towards Producing Nuclear Weapons; ICE Raids in California Leading to Decrease in Business; U.S. has Option to Deploy Bunker Busting Bombs to Destroy Iranian Underground Nuclear Facility; Explosion of SpaceX Rocket Prompts Criticism from Residents Living Near Starbase; American Biker Briefly Trapped in Iran after Commencement of Israeli Strikes. Aired 2-3p ET.

Aired June 21, 2025 - 14:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:01:29]

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

We begin with breaking news following the release of pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil. After spending three months in ICE detention in Louisiana, just moments ago he arrived at the Newark airport where he spoke to a crowd of supporters.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAHMOUD KHALIL, FREED PRO-PALESTINIAN ACTIVIST: Well, first, friends, thank you so much for everything. Not only for today, it's just for every day. Like. just your words, your words of support, your messages have kept me going. Still the fight is far from over. The genocide is still happening in Gaza. Israel is still waging a full war against Palestinian across Palestine. The U.S. government is funding this genocide, and Columbia University is investing in this genocide.

Not only if they threaten me with detention, even if they would kill me, I would still speak up for Palestine. The fact that I am here, it's a message. The fact that all these attempts to suppress pro- Palestine voices has, have failed now. Being in existence is a message to this administration.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How does it feel to be free? How does it feel to be free?

KHALIL: To be honest, I'm still trying to comprehend that. Of course, it feels great. I continued to advocate for Palestinians, for the immigrants who are left behind in that facility, that 1,200 men who all of them are incredible men, who the Trump administration are trying to portray as, whether criminals -- as I said yesterday, whether you are a citizen, an immigrant, anyone on this land, you're not illegal. That doesn't make you less of a human. And this is what the administration is trying to do, to dehumanize me, to dehumanize the immigrants.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: You might remember it was back in March when Khalil was detained by plainclothes agents in front of his then pregnant wife right outside where they live. Khalil's arrest was connected to his role in the protests against Israel on Columbia University's campus.

Let's get straight to CNN's Gloria Pazmino, who was there in Newark where Khalil just finished making those remarks. Gloria, tell us more about what you're learning.

GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fred, it was a moment, 104 days in the making, right? That's how long it's been since Mahmoud Khalil was taken into custody inside of the building where he lived by federal immigration officers, who, as you said, arrested him while he was coming home with his then pregnant wife, Dr. Noor Abdalla. Today, the two finally were reunited, and he was reunited with his son, who was born while he was held in custody. He arrived here at Newark Airport to a crowd of supporters that has been waiting for him since early this morning. Khalil was supposed to arrive much earlier, but the flight was delayed, and they were waiting here. They made signs. They sang songs, and they waited for him to arrive.

[14:05:00]

It was a very, very, just sort of joyful celebration and reunion between his friends, his family members, and of course, between Khalil, his legal team, his wife, and their newborn baby.

Now, as you heard Khalil speak there, he is continuing to center the very topic that essentially got him detained. Remember, his attorneys have argued that the Trump administration targeted him because of his activism on behalf of the Palestinian cause, because he was helping to lead protests on the campus of Columbia University. And you saw that now, when he's here finally at home and he had an opportunity to speak with reporters and the public, he continued to center that very cause. He continued to highlight the plight of the Palestinian people, his people, that he has been trying to advocate for.

Khalil's case is very much far from over. There's still an immigration charge that his attorneys are fighting against, as well as a deportation order. But the most important thing that the attorneys told me here today is that today, Khalil gets to go home with his wife and his newborn son. He's only met him once before for a brief encounter that he was allowed to have with him while he was inside of detention in Louisiana where he was held in custody. So this is essentially the second time that he's met his son. He gets to go home now and enjoy that.

But you heard it there. Not only was he centering the issue of Palestine, but also bringing attention to immigration. And he talked about the men that were left behind in the facility where he was being detained. This is an immigration detention center. And you could hear him there talking about them as well.

Khalil was accompanied by Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who was here to greet him at Newark airport as well. And we understand that there will be a large rally and a sort of welcome demonstration that will be held for him tomorrow in Manhattan. Fred?

WHITFIELD: All right, Gloria Pazmino, thank you so much.

All right, we're also following breaking news out of the Middle East, where Israel and Iran are exchanging a fresh round of strikes today as the conflict enters its second week. Overnight, Israel says it killed two Iranian commanders of an elite branch of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The Israeli military also says two Iranian drones managed to penetrate Israels air defenses, which they rarely do. Officials say one struck this northern town near the Jordanian border, but so far no casualties reported. They say the other landed in an open area in the south.

And it comes as "The New York Times" is reporting today that Iran's supreme leader, the ayatollah, has named three senior clerics to -- as candidates, rather, to succeed him should he be killed. President Trump says he will wait a maximum of two weeks for a possible diplomatic solution before deciding on U.S. involvement in this conflict.

We've got a team of correspondents covering the developments. Betsy Klein is with the president there in New Jersey, Nic Robertson in Haifa. Israel. Nic, let's begin with you. Walk us through the latest developments.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes. It's been a relatively quiet day apart from those two drones penetrating the air defenses here. The IDF said about 50 Iranian drones were fired overnight. They managed to intercept most of them. One of those that came down today, that impacted in a residential neighborhood. Everyone in the building was in the shelter. No one injured there. The other landed in open ground.

But despite the fact that it's been a relatively quiet day, if you just look around me here, you would normally expect on a Saturday evening for these streets to be bustling for a lot more people to be out in this part of Haifa. And I think that just reflects that while, you know, a day seems quiet, everyone here still responds to what the government says, which is stay close to your shelters. Don't go too far away from them so you don't put yourselves in danger, you can take cover if you need to. And I think as you go into an evening like this here, everyone anticipates that the sirens would go off again and they're ready.

But the IDF saying overnight last night, 50 aircraft involved in those, in those sorties into Iranian airspace targeting the Isfahan nuclear facility, and the International Atomic Energy Agency, the U.N.'s sort of nuclear overwatch body, if you will, said that at the Isfahan site, the IDF appears to have damaged part of a facility that builds and repairs the centrifuges on the site, a workshop at the site there. So that targeting appeared to have been accurate. The IDF also saying that they targeted a military base in the west of Iran close to the border with Iraq.

[14:10:00]

But as you mentioned, the biggest sort of hit of the night as far as the IDF was concerned were a couple of senior Iranian military commanders in the Quds force, an elite part of the IRGC, itself an elite military unit. Saeed Izadi was the prime target who was killed. And the IDF is saying the reason that he was targeted was because he was very close to Hamas and that he played a leading role in in the October 7th attacks, helping build Iranian support for Hamas. That's what the IDF has been saying.

WHITFIELD: All right, Nic Robertson, thank you so much.

Let's bring in Betsy Klein now, who is in New Jersey where the president is spending this Saturday. So update us on what the president is now saying about any possibilities of U.S. involvement.

BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE PRODUCER: Well, Fredricka, what we are learning is that President Trump has made clear that that self- imposed two-week deadline is something that could actually is a maximum of time, and the president could make up his mind sooner. The president, of course, weighing the possibility of using those unique U.S. military bunker busting bomb capabilities still, as he pursues a diplomatic resolution.

Now, we also have learned, according to open source reporting and flight tracking information, Fredricka, that what appear to be B-2 bomber planes that could be carrying those types of bombs appear to have departed Whiteman Air Force Base and are crossing the Pacific Ocean. That move could get them in place should President Trump decide to move forward with U.S. military involvement.

However, I want to be clear, this does not mean that the president has made a decision. Sources tell us that this just simply presents the president with that option.

Now that two-week reprieve the president announced earlier this week gives him some opportunity and time to really consider his options as he's hearing from a wide range of allies and advisers, including on the MAGA side of his party, who are really advocating against U.S. military intervention in this conflict, and the more conservative Republican side of his party that say this is an opportunity to eliminate the Iranian nuclear threat.

Now, the president has been relying on a few key aides during this conflict. That includes CIA Director John Ratcliffe, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Dan Caine, as well as special envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff, who, of course, had been holding those negotiations with Iranian officials on the possibility of a nuclear deal.

Now, there's one official in particular who has been sidelined during all of this, that is Tulsi Gabbard. Listen to how the president talked about her last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What intelligence do you have that Iran is building a nuclear weapon? Your intelligence community has said they have no evidence that they are at this point.

DONALD TRUMP, (R) U.S. PRESIDENT: Well, then my intelligence community is wrong. Who in the intelligence community said that?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Your Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard.

TRUMP: She's wrong.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KLEIN: Now, the president is set to depart his New Jersey golf club a little bit later today at 6:00 p.m. He will hold an Oval Office meeting with top national security officials on the path forward here.

WHITFIELD: All right, Betsy Klein, keep us posted, and Nic Robertson to you as well. Thank you.

All right, coming up, two weeks after immigration raids sparked major protests in Los Angeles, local business owners are speaking out about the impacts.

Also, jury deliberations could begin as early as next week in the Sean "Diddy" Combs trial. A complete wrap on the case straight ahead.

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[14:18:26]

WHITFIELD: All right some reaction today from remarks made by Vice President J.D. Vance during his visit to Los Angeles yesterday. Vance addressed an incident last week where Senator Alex Padilla was forcefully removed from a press conference with the Homeland Security secretary and ordered to the ground by law enforcement and placed in handcuffs.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

J.D. VANCE, (R) VICE PRESIDENT: I was hoping Jose Padilla would be here to ask a question, but unfortunately, I guess he decided not to show up because there wasn't the theater. And that's all it is. You know, I think everybody realizes that's what this is. It's pure political theater. These guys show up, they want to be captured on camera doing something.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: So here is Senator Alex Padilla's response to being called Jose by Vance.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SEN. ALEX PADILLA, (D-CA): He knows my name. He knows my name. Look, sadly, it's just an indicator of how petty and unserious this administration is. He's the vice president of the United States. You'd think he'd take the situation in Los Angeles more seriously.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: I want to discuss now the impact that the raids overall have been having on the Los Angeles area. Andrew Selee is with us. He is the president of the immigration policy institute, a nonpartisan think tank whose goal is to improve immigration policies. Also here, "Reuters" correspondent Kristina Cooke. Kristina, you wrote extensively on all that's transpired. Let's begin with you.

[14:20:00]

It's been more than a week since the immigration raids in Los Angeles and heated protests. You wrote that public places from fresh produce markets and city centers that are usually bustling with business are quiet and are ghost town like. Describe the contrast.

KRISTINA COOKE, "REUTERS" CORRESPONDENT: So we spoke with several small businesses who said that it's almost, it's worse than COVID to some degree. They're saying that they -- their customers are too scared to leave the house for unnecessary reasons. We spoke with a man who sells produce at a local market to restaurants and street vendors, who told us that he had to throw away rotting fruit because people weren't showing up in order to pick up their orders.

And this is pretty much what we're hearing from the immigrant community directly as well. I spoke with a Guatemalan hot dog vendor who said that, yes, he has to leave the house in order to do enough work to be able to survive. But the rest of the time, he's staying indoors for fear of being arrested by ICE.

WHITFIELD: So, Andrew, these many examples of people being very fearful, they don't want to go about their regular businesses. So what are restaurants and some of the other businesses experiencing when some of their own personnel are saying we're a little too nervous about even leaving our homes?

ANDREW SELEE, PRESIDENT, MIGRATION POLICY INSTITUTE: Yes, at the beginning Of this administration, there really was attention, priority attention on people who had criminal records or deportation orders. And they were very targeted who they were going after. And occasionally they'd get other people along the way. But there really was an attempt to do some prioritization on people who either already had been told to leave the country or people who had a criminal record.

What we're seeing now are these workplace raids around the country, not only in Los Angeles, but in Omaha and parts of Florida and parts of New Jersey, upstate New York. And, you know, when these happen, what we're seeing is that people don't show up for work, not just at that, the establishment where they went, but in other establishments. And probably what's more worrying is that kids don't show up for school sometimes. And there's some research now from Stanford University on this that shows that, that a large number of children in some immigrant heavy districts don't show up for school for the days after a raid because their families are afraid. The kids are probably U.S. citizens, but someone in the household may not have papers, and they're afraid to take their kids.

WHITFIELD: Kristina, you made reference to the comparisons being made of COVID-19 like days. But is this seemingly worse?

COOKE: Well, that's what some of the business owners in the immigrant neighborhoods are saying. There was one restaurant owner who said he had to close up at 5:00 p.m. instead of 9:00 p.m. on a Friday night because his restaurant was completely empty.

I think you know what Andrew was saying, the difference here is that everybody is a potential target for an arrest because, with the higher enforcement quotas, targets that the ICE agents are being told that they need to hit, that's really not that easy without really going to a Home Depot, going to a 7-Eleven in order to try and just pick up anyone without a criminal record. And we're really seeing that in the detention numbers as well. The biggest growth in the number of people detained is actually in the non-criminal space, so people who don't have any criminal convictions or criminal charges.

WHITFIELD: Andrew, I mean, this doesn't sound sustainable, does it? I mean, what are businesses and neighborhoods preparing for?

SELEE: I mean, I can tell you, having talked to some business leaders, that there's a lot of concern in different sectors about how this could impact them. I mean, this is even true in in businesses that have tried to do their due diligence and make sure they hire people who have papers and right to work in the country. But just the fear is, even with people who may be legally present, that they could be targeted inadvertently, and they're starting to see this in places they have operations.

And I think we're going to see this impact the economy. We'll see it impact certain sectors, probably agriculture and restaurants and tourism and some areas which tend to have large proportion construction, large proportion of immigrants. You saw the president, you saw President Trump actually briefly turn around and say, we shouldn't go after farms, we shouldn't go after hotels and restaurants. It remains to be seen if -- he then reversed himself on that. But it remains to be seen if maybe they're going to pull back from enforcement in some of those locations. But I don't think we know the answer.

But if they don't, if they continue to go do heavy worksite enforcement, I think what you're going to see is that some of these sectors are going to suffer.

[14:25:06]

And I think you will start to see some backlash, both in the business community, but also we're seeing it in the polls. We're seeing that Americans are concerned about this. They're OK with the government going after people who have been told to leave and going after people who have a criminal record, certainly. But there are a lot more ambivalent when it comes to going after folks that are deeply integrated in American society and working hard.

WHITFIELD: All right, we'll leave it there for now. Andrew Selee, Kristina Cooke, thanks to both of you. Appreciate it.

Coming up, I will take a closer look at how close Iran could be to building a nuclear weapon and the military options on the table that could potentially be used to stop any threats.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:30:14]

WHITFIELD: All right, new CNN reporting, multiple B-2 bombers are on their way to Guam as President Trump weighs military action against Iran. Experts say these are the only aircrafts capable of carrying the type of bomb capable of destroying Iran's underground nuclear facilities. A U.S. defense official says that there has been no order given to move forward with any kind of operation against Iran using B- 2s. Brian Todd explains the bunker busters.

(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 6,000 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, 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 6,000 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)

WHITFIELD: And this just in, a CNN team on the ground has heard loud booms east of Tehran, Iran, moments after Iranian air defenses were activated in the capital. CNN footage shows bright flashes piercing the night skies over the city at around just about 30 minutes ago. The loud sound of anti-aircraft fire also being heard overhead.

All right, this as President Trump considers the possibility of the U.S. joining Israel's conflict with Iran. He and his director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, appear to be at odds over Iran's nuclear program. Back in March, Gabbard told Congress that Iran was not actively pursuing a nuclear weapon. an assessment Trump disagrees with.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What intelligence do you have that Iran is building a nuclear weapon? Your intelligence community has said they have no evidence that they are at this point.

DONALD TRUMP, (R) U.S. PRESIDENT: Well, then my intelligence community is wrong. Who in the intelligence community said that?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Your Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard.

TRUMP: She's wrong.

(END VIDEO CLIP) WHITFIELD: Gabbard now says her congressional testimony on Iran's capabilities has been taken out of context to sow division with Trump and insists she and the president are on the same page.

I'm joined now by Jim Walsh, an international security analyst. Jim, great to see you. So we've heard --

JIM WALSH, INTERNATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Good to see you.

WHITFIELD: Wonderful.

So we've heard, you know, both Israeli and U.S. representatives say Iran is weeks away or maybe even days away, or now even maybe months away from building a nuclear warhead. What do you believe?

WALSH: Well, I think it hasn't changed.

[14:35:00]

Back in, I think it was 2007, the U.S. intelligence community assessed back then that Iran had the technical capability to build a nuclear weapon. What was lacking was the political decision, the decision by the supreme leader to say, yes, we're going to cross that threshold, build the bomb. and become a nuclear weapon state. But they've had the capability for over 15 years. And that's an assessment not only by every director of national intelligence for every president, Republican and Democratic, since then. It's also true of the other big governments' intel agencies, the Europeans and others. All have made the same assessment. And of course, until the Iran agreement broke down, we had a lot of inspectors on the ground to see what was going on.

So they have the capability. I mean, they've built tens of thousands of centrifuges. They have thousands of kilograms of nuclear material of various enrichment levels. It's a big, mature program. And yes, you can bomb things, but they're going to be able to reconstitute. They'll be able -- you can't bomb the knowledge out of their heads. You can't bomb away the experience. So they have the capability. And I think everyone who studies this seriously agrees with that.

WHITFIELD: So you are stressing they have the capability, but has there been the execution of putting all these components together of a readiness of having a nuclear warhead? Because wouldn't that be the premise of such a bombing or a military action?

WALSH: Exactly. That's exactly right, Fredricka. And to answer your question directly, no, no. That's what Gabbard was saying when she was put in that awkward position. They have not made the decision. They did not make a decision. Nothing has changed in the threat environment last week, last month, last year, the year before.

What changed was an Israeli calculation that this was an opportunity to go in and attack their nuclear facilities, that the political environment provided an opportunity, that Iran was on its heels with Hezbollah, Syria, and its allies having taken losses, and they were going to grab this opportunity while they had one. It was not about Iran has made some decision, is threatening to go nuclear so we're forced to act. They weren't forced to act. This was an attack of choice, not of necessity.

WHITFIELD: So just to be clear, am I hearing you saying that taking action right now against Fordow, that Fordow location in Iran, about two hours outside of Tehran, it's believed to be about 295 feet below ground, taking action on that right now, within the next few days, or even within the next two weeks, would be premature?

WALSH: Well, at this point, here's what I would say. If your goal is to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapons capability, you're too late. That horse left the barn 15 years ago. So, yes, you can destroy Fordow, but then they're going to -- I'm sure they have centrifuge parts buried places, and they have some centrifuges elsewhere, and they'll have nuclear material. And, you know, it'll take them five years. It will take them whatever it is. But again, you cannot bomb the knowledge or experience out of their heads. They've done this for a long time. If they put their mind to it, they can rebuild it. And if they rebuild it, they're going to be ticked and more inclined to want to cross that line.

So having -- there's no magical military solution to the problem of Iran's nuclear capability. It's only one that can be managed through agreement and negotiation, something we had in place and that was working back in 2015 that we don't have now. We need to be able to get back to that because there is no military solution to this problem. Iran knows how to build a bomb. If North Korea can build it, then a country like Iran, more sophisticated, 90 million people, bigger economy, they'll be able to do it if they want to.

WHITFIELD: So the Trump administration keeps talking about something that they are entertaining, possibly averting any kind of bombing or consideration if Iran agrees to a deal. So how would any deal differ from the Iran nuclear deal that you just referenced, the JCPOA, that the U.S. and five other countries helped shape during the Obama administration in 2015? Trump dismantled it in 2018. How would a today deal be different?

WALSH: Well, I mean, some certain principles are going to be the same, right? I mean, there's no avoiding the physics. There's no avoiding the basic politics here. If Iran gives something up, it's going to have to get something in return. That's probably going to be sanctions relief. And it's probably going to be a gradual, phased thing. No one trusts each other, especially now that everyone is fighting. So it's not going to happen overnight.

[14:40:05]

I mean, you'll remember that the last nuclear agreement took years, I think it was two years -- a year to get the first one and another year to get the final one. These things take time. So it's going to be some, something of people stop what they're doing. Iran blends down some of the material it has enriched to 60 percent. They allow inspectors back in. But they don't tear up all their giant infrastructure for nothing with nothing up front. If you're going to get something that works, it's going to be something that has to happen in phases.

And it will be different in this respect, Fredricka, right. Things have changed since 2015. Iran is in a different place. Other countries are in a different place. So a lot of the provisions just sort of phased out because things changed over time. Those will have to be renegotiated, and those will be different.

But some of the core elements, I mean, there's just no getting away from the fact that a deal is a trade. And this is a trade that has -- that you can work out if you want to. But it has to happen steadily over time. It's not everything, all or nothing overnight. That's just not going to work.

WHITFIELD: All right. We always learn so much with you. Jim Walsh, thank you so much. It's been a while. Glad you're back in the mix. Thank you for saying yes to our invitation.

WALSH: Happy to be here. Happy to be with you.

WHITFIELD: All right, thank you.

All right, coming up, a massive explosion of a SpaceX rocket stirs up talk of setbacks and the future of Musk's space program.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:46:16]

WHITFIELD: A new setback for SpaceX. Its rocket was undergoing a ground test this week when it burst into flames. CNN's Ed Lavandera has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The shockwave 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, LIVES NEAR STARBASE: It felt like a bomb went off, like a big bomb went off.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): What do you call this place?

MEDRANO: Am (ph) Ranch (ph).

LAVANDERA (voice-over): In April, Medrano showed us around his home, which sits about 10 miles from the SpaceX Starbase facility.

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, SENIOR WRITER, CNN SPACE & SCIENCE: SpaceX has always kind of taken this approach 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, SPACEX CEO: 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)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:53:36]

WHITFIELD: An American cyclist is finally making his way back to the U.S. after his cross-continent tour from Europe to Asia took a harrowing turn when Israel and Iran began exchanging missile strikes. Our CNN affiliate, WCCO, has more details on his tense escape from Tehran.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

IAN ANDERSEN, AMERICAN CYCLIST: The situation is quite dire at this point. All the land borders are closed. flights have all been canceled.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In a TikTok post viewed over a million times, Ian Andersen put on his gophers hoodie and confirmed the worst.

IAN ANDERSEN: Now people see the U.S. as the enemy. So I'm in quite a bit of danger here. No longer safe to bike, in my opinion. It's a matter of just escape and survival.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: On the other side of the world in Wayzata.

MARK ANDERSEN, SON WAS TRAPPED IN IRAN: I don't think there's ever been a situation where there's been bombs flying or borders have been closed entirely.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mom and dad could only watch their adventurer son four months into a bike trip from Portugal to Japan stuck in Iran, all part of his attempt to cross his sixth continent.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's the first reaction was to throw myself down and beg him not to go. I was all on strike about it. You know, I just begged him and pleaded with him to not do this.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But thanks to a follower.

IAN ANDERSEN: I just got an email that says the Azerbaijani government approved my request to enter in through the border.

[14:55:00]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ian is now safe. His parents tracking along.

MARK ANDERSEN: Baku, Azerbaijan. So that's where he is.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Grateful for guardian angels they'll never meet.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are just so thankful that there's people out there watching him. And it seems to just really bring up, you know, the chance of success, the chance that he makes it back in one piece.

MARK ANDERSEN: It's just really lovely when people reach out and help, help our son. It's kind of like, yes. He's really benefited from that.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

WHITFIELD: What a story.

And tune in tomorrow at 9:00 p.m. for the final two episodes of "Searching for Spain," where Eva Longoria takes viewers to Marbella.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EVA LONGORIA, ACTRESS: I feel like everybody in Marbella knows you as a restauranteur, but you are a football player.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was, yes.

LONGORIA: When he moved to Marbella 10 years ago, Zazo (ph) swapped his passion for football for food, and his rise has been meteoric.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I started with one restaurant, and now I have four.

LONGORIA: No, you started washing dishes. You didn't start with a restaurant.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Of course, of course. Yes. It's true, it's true. I didn't know you knew that.

LONGORIA: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. I came here. And this knife, I washed 1,000 knives like this. I learned a lot. And I love my work. I love my work.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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