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New Strikes In Israel, Iran As Conflict Enters Second Week; Trump: Two Weeks Is "Maximum" For Decision On Iran Strike; Iran, Europeans Make Little Progress At Geneva Talks; Palestinian Activist Mahmoud Khalil Released From Detention; Vance Defends Trump's Decision To Deploy National Guard. Aired 12-1a ET

Aired June 21, 2025 - 00:00   ET

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

[00:00:06]

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome, everyone. I'm Omar Jimenez in New York. Let's get straight to our breaking news.

Israel and Iran have been exchanging new strikes as their conflict enters its second week.

Now, Israel says its Air Force has started attacks against Iran's missile storage and launch infrastructure. This video shows the Iranian city of Qom, where Iranian state media says a strike on a residential building here killed two people and injured four others. The city is close to Iran's Fordow fuel enrichment plant.

In Israel, people have taken shelter from the latest Iranian missile launches in Holon, just outside Tel Aviv, a building caught fire. You can see some of the video here. Israel says it was hit by shrapnel from an intercepted missile.

And this all comes as President Donald Trump says his decision on whether or not the U.S. will strike Iran could come in less than two weeks.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Giving them a period of time. We're going to see what that period of time is, but I'm giving them a period of time. And I would say two weeks would be the maximum.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JIMENEZ: CNN senior White House correspondent Kristen Holmes has more on the president's position.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: President Donald Trump stopping to talk to reporters about the conflict between Israel and Iran on the way to his New Jersey golf club in Bedminster, saying this about calling Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and asking him to stop the fighting for at least a brief period to bring Iran to the table.

TRUMP: Well, I think it's very hard to make that request right now if somebody is winning. It's a little bit harder to do than if somebody is losing. But we're ready, willing and able, and we've been speaking to Iran and well see what happens.

HOLMES: And now this, of course, again, was in response to the Iranians saying that they would talk to the U.S. directly about diplomatic conversations about a possible nuclear deal, but only if the U.S. got Israel to stop its attacks on Iran. So it doesn't sound like that's going to happen.

Now, President Trump was also asked about this two-week period. He said it was enough time to get people to come to their senses, but also said that was the maximum amount of time indicating that something could happen in terms of U.S. involvement before the two weeks was over.

And one more interesting thing to point out that happened is he once again went against his director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, who back in March said that Iran was not developing a nuclear weapon, saying she's wrong emphatically she is wrong. Of course, we have been reporting that there has been somewhat of a rift, at least from President Trump, when it comes to his DNI, because he believes that she is, quote, off message.

Kristen Holmes, CNN, the White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JIMENEZ: Now, meanwhile, Iran says a U.S. strike against it would violate the United Nations charter. Iran's ambassador to the United Nations addressed the U.N. Security Council on Friday. He said Iran would continue to exercise its right to self-defense.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AMIR SAEID IRAVANI, IRANIAN AMBASSADOR TO THE UNITED NATIONS: Madam President, Iran has exercised its inherent right to self-defense under Article 51 of the U.N. charter. Our response has complied fully with international law, including humanitarian law. We have taken all necessary precautions to protect civilians. Iran will continue to exercise this right as long as the Security Council failed to discharge its primary responsibility under the charter and until the Israeli aggression is fully and unequivocally terminated.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JIMENEZ: Now, in a sign of the heightened tensions, Israel's ambassador lashed out at his Iranian counterpart as he took the floor after him. He accused Iran of pursuing what he called a genocidal agenda, and he added that the Iranian ambassador is not a diplomat, but a wolf pretending to be one. The Israeli representative also said his country is doing everybody's bidding by striking Iran.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DANNY DANON, ISRAELI AMBASSADOR TO U.N.: We are doing what this council should have done long ago. We are acting with international community, hesitated. We are stopping a threat that endangered the entire world. Though our homes, our families and our children are under threat, we will not stop. Not until Iran's nuclear threat is dismantled.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JIMENEZ: Now elsewhere, European diplomats held talks with Iran in Geneva on Friday, hoping to get Tehran back to the negotiating table with the United States. Their nuclear negotiations were deadlocked when Israel began its aerial campaign against Iran last week.

And as Matthew Chance reports from Geneva, getting them back on track will be a tall order.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CHIEF GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: One of the thrusts of these -- these talks in Geneva, here in Switzerland, has been to communicate what the latest U.S. position is European political figures, the foreign ministers from Britain, France and Germany who were here in Geneva, sort made a point, according to diplomats who were inside the talks, talks, to communicate, you know, messages directly from Washington to the Iranians.

[00:05:16]

David Lammy, who's the U.K. foreign secretary, flew directly from Washington to Geneva to do precisely that. It was a dual message. One message was if there's going to be a deal with the United States, it's not going to involve uranium enrichment of any kind. That's obviously a big red line for the Iranians. They've expressed that publicly. They expressed it privately to me as well.

And when I tried to speak to the Iranian foreign minister after the talks, he refused to be drawn on it. But, you know, look, this is something that is still something that the Iranians are not prepared to go to at the moment.

The second issue that was communicated to the Iranians from Washington via David Lammy and the other European figures that were there, is the issue of direct talks. I was told by a diplomat familiar with what took place inside the negotiating room that Washington wants direct talks with Iran. Iran has rejected that categorically. While Israel remains is still bombarding Iranian nuclear targets and other targets inside the country.

If there's any positive that came out of these nuclear negotiations or talks with the Europeans here in Geneva, it's that both sides agreed to go away and to speak to their respective, you know, kind of allies that the Europeans are going to speak to Washington about this if they're not already. The Iranians are going to speak to their senior leadership back in Tehran. And if they can both agree, a pause, and obviously, that's a very big

if, then it's possible that the two sides, the Americans and the Iranians could meet directly. But that does feel, I have to say, a long way off from where we are right now.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JIMENEZ: Matthew Chance, thank you for the reporting. Now, in Iran, thousands of people have taken to the streets of Tehran and other Iranian cities angry with Israel's attacks on their homeland. Many waved flags and chanted anti-western slogans. CNN's Fred Pleitgen is the first Western journalist to enter Iran since this latest conflict began.

He reports from Tehran.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Massive crowds have turned out here in central Tehran to protest against Israel's strikes against Iran, but also against the policies of the Trump administration as well. Many of them were chanting "death to America", were chanting "death to Israel". We saw them burn American flags and burn Israeli flags.

"We will punch the United States and Israel in the mouth," he says.

"Trump, you are threatening my leader," this woman says. "Don't you know my nation believes death is sweeter than honey?"

"What do you have, Israel?" he says. "You have nothing. You are occupiers, unreligious. You're killing people, killing women. You kill everyone. You're terrorists."

(CHANTING)

PLEITGEN: So, you can see that anger here being voiced by many of the folks who are walking here in this protest.

Whereas the Iranian government has said that as long as the Israelis continue their bombing campaign of sites here in Iran, there will be Iranian missiles flying towards Israeli territory. They're calling on President Trump to try and end this direct confrontation. Otherwise, they say, there could be a direct military confrontation between Iran and the United States.

The Iranians say it's not something they want, but they also say it's something that they're ready for.

Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Tehran.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JIMENEZ: I want to bring in Afshon Ostovar. He's an associate professor of national security affairs at the naval postgraduate school. He joins us live now from Monterey, California. Thank you for being here.

So as Iran and Israel continue to trade strikes, I mean, the question is where are there opportunities for diplomacy? Weve heard from this official with the Iranian presidency who said all it would take is a phone call to Israel by Trump to stop its strikes on Iran. As Trump is indicating, that would be a difficult thing to do.

But do you see that as the necessary move here? I just wonder what you see. The path forward here being.

AFSHON OSTOVAR, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF NATIONAL SECURITY AFFAIRS, THE NAVAL POSTGRADUATE SCHOOL: Yeah. I mean, from Iran's perspective, they've lost this conflict. They've lost this conflict with Israel. But the one thing that they can do is hold on and make this conflict much more costly for Israel. Right?

So, the longer that Israel keeps bombing Iran, Iran can continue bombing Israel. So, from Iran's perspective, it has nothing really to lose its nuclear program is already in ashes. Its proxies are already degraded across the region.

[00:10:00]

All it really has left is essentially pride and leverage, and the only leverage it can have left is by is by stringing out the war.

JIMENEZ: And you know, you recently wrote in "Foreign Affairs Magazine", this article, "How Iran Lost". And I'll let you explain the thesis. But a lot of it largely stems from what you describe as Iran overplaying their hand after October 7th. Can you just explain what you mean by that and how that translates to the current state of the country?

OSTOVAR: Sure. If you go back to October 7th. Iran controlled much of Syria. Much of Lebanon, much of Yemen, and, you know, had finally, through October 7th, through Hamas, had struck Israel directly. Whether Iran facilitated that attack or just supported Hamas indirectly Iran took that attack as its own victory, right?

So, and if you look at after October 7th, all of Iran's proxies in Lebanon and Iraq and Yemen all attacked Israel with missiles or rockets. This was a real regional display of unity led by Iran against Israel. You fast forward till now, Hamas is destroyed. Hezbollah is severely degraded. Syria has been erased as a geography that Iran has any influence over. And now Iran is embattled in its own country, right?

So, Iran was very close in some ways to -- to achieving some sort of regional hegemonic status, but it pushed a little too hard, a little too far. And now, all of its gains have been reversed.

JIMENEZ: And, you know, to this, it brings us sort of to this moment here where President Trump has set this two week or so negotiating window before deciding on potentially participating in strikes on Iran. And even if, let's just say, American bunker buster bombs crippled the underground nuclear facility at Fordow, to levels acceptable by Israel and the United States -- is there any scenario in which the U.S. could lead or assist in an attack and not be dragged into anything further?

OSTOVAR: I don't think so. I mean, once the U.S. drops bombs, it's going to -- it's going to put the onus on Iran to respond. Of course, Iran might not respond. It might say, okay, we give up. You win.

But my guess would be that Iran would respond. That means it would launch missiles at U.S. forces in the region, perhaps in Bahrain, perhaps in Iraq, perhaps elsewhere. Or it could do things in the gulf with its ships, or try to attack U.S. naval vessels in the Gulf of Oman.

Either way, it would start a cycle of escalation with the United States. And that is a dangerous cycle that could drag the U.S. into a longer conflict than maybe it would like.

JIMENEZ: And, you know, when Israel launched its series of strikes against Iran last week, it suggested Iran was fast approaching a point of no return and obtaining nuclear weapons, and that the strikes were necessary to stop that outcome. And U.S. intelligence assessments reached a different conclusion, including that it would be years before they'd be able to produce and deliver a nuclear weapon to a target of its choosing, at least according to our reporting here.

All of that said, do you worry about Iran's nuclear enrichment program? I guess let's just start there.

OSTOVAR: To my mind, nuclear, Iran's nuclear enrichment program served a twofold purpose. One, it put Iran on the pathway to a nuclear weapon. And I think that's pretty clear, whether they're three weeks away or three years away, they're certainly on the pathway to that.

But the other thing, Iran's nuclear enrichment program provided Iran was a sense of deterrence. It was a lightning rod. Whenever Iran escalated its enrichment cycle, it would make western publics nervous. Those western publics would respond with sanctions, but also respond with efforts at diplomacy. This is what led to the first nuclear deal, and this is what was leading to the round of talks that the U.S. and Iran were engaged in before Israel struck Iran.

So, in that sense, Iran's nuclear enrichment program also kept Iran a little more cautious in the way that it behaved, because Iran did not want to lose that deterrent effect, that deterrent effect is gone. Iran has no effective deterrence anymore. So, whenever the dust settles, depending on how peace or ceasefire is achieved, you can have an Iran that is more peaceful and more willing to engage with the West or the United States in diplomatic efforts, or you can have a more erratic Iran, an Iran that is less secure and more insecure, and therefore behaves more rashly.

[00:15:00]

JIMENEZ: Afshon Ostovar, really appreciate you being here. Thanks for your time and insight.

OSTOVAR: Thanks for having me.

JIMENEZ: Of course.

Meanwhile, the U.N. is again warning of an impending famine in Gaza, with aid supplies limited by Israel. Some Palestinian families say the deep hunger is driving people to turn on each other. Their stories coming up after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JIMENEZ: Welcome back.

U.S. President Donald Trump is suggesting Israel cannot take out all of Iran's nuclear sites alone. On Friday, he said that Israel has limited capacity that can cause damage, but not what would be needed.

Earlier, we spoke with former Israeli military spokesperson, Jonathan Conricus, about what the IDF can and cannot do by itself.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JONATHAN CONRICUS, FORMER IDF SPOKESPERSON: Enrichment equals bombardment. If the Iranians insist on continuing to enrich on Iranian soil, then Israeli bombs will continue until all of the military goals will be achieved and there is no -- absolutely no option for the Iranian regime to sprint for a nuclear bomb. That I think is basic and has to be understood by everybody in Geneva and around the world.

[00:20:05]

And regarding capabilities, at the risk of contradicting what the president says, I'll say that there's more than one way to skin that cat. Fordow is definitely a heavily defended and protected facility. But there's more than one way to get at it. The most elegant and effortless way to do would be to drop massive bombs at it, and just blow the cover away, but there's different, different ways to do it.

Of course, those options would entail different use of force and different Israeli capabilities that would be have to put in place. Some of them would put troops at risk and they would be complex.

But at the end of the day, I think what Israel has proven quite clearly over this conflict is a lot of military creativity. And I wouldn't count out that the that Israel has a contingency for a situation where the U.S. decides for its own reasons and calculations, which are very respectable and clear, that if the U.S. decides not to get in on it quickly, then Israel has a contingency and it will put that into motion.

It's always good to keep open channels of communication, and to understand where parties to a conflict or a debate where they have their red lines, that's always good, even as there's fighting going on.

But I think reality on the ground, you know, after about 20 years of negotiations and, you know, the Iranians, to their credit, have been very cunning and have used negotiations as a disguise for their nuclear weapons program and basically protected themselves with negotiations while they have stalled full time.

And finally, the state of Israel said, well, were not going to have that anymore. Theres absolutely no justification for Iranians to be enriching on Iranian soil if they want a nuclear civilian program, they have it at Bushehr and they can import enriched material from the Russians as they do, and that's it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JIMENEZ: Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he won't back down in the conflict with Iran. On Friday, he visited a location where an Iranian missile struck earlier in the week.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: As long as it takes, that's the answer. As long as it takes, because we face an existential danger, a dual existential danger, one from 20,000 such rockets, 20,000, not one. This is one rocket, one missile, and the other is, of course, atomic bombs in the hands of these. This mad regime.

Iran is the preeminent terrorist regime in the world. It must not -- cannot have nuclear weapons. That is the purpose of Israel's action to save itself from the Iranian threat of annihilation. But by doing so, we're saving many, many others.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JIMENEZ: Russian President Vladimir Putin says the group of oil producers known as OPEC+ is increasing their output due to the conflict between Israel and Iran, but doing it gradually. Iran is the third largest oil producer in OPEC, and analysts fear that hostilities could disrupt supply and increase prices. Putin told the Saint Petersburg Economic Forum on Friday that the conflict has driven up oil prices, but not enough for OPEC to intervene.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT: We see that the current situation in the Middle East related to the conflict between Iran and Israel has led to a certain increase in prices. While this growth, in the opinion of our experts, is not significant, well, what it is now $75 per barrel, and it was $65. It rose by $10 and is stabilized at this level.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JIMENEZ: Now, some prisoners of war from Russia and Ukraine are headed home after a second prisoner swap between the countries in two days. Now, neither side said how many troops were involved in Friday's exchange. But Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says some of the released Ukrainians were held for more than two years. The two countries have conducted a series of similar swaps since starting their direct talks in Istanbul last month. Meanwhile, the United Nations is again sounding the alarm about the

pervasive hunger and dire humanitarian crisis in Gaza as Israel's war with Hamas drags on. The U.N. says the enclave is on the brink of famine and civilians continue to come under attack while they attempt to access the scarce food supplies that Israel allows in.

CNN's Paula Hancocks has more. And a warning, her report includes material that may be distressing to some viewers.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Mohamed al Darbi is 12 years old. He has a message for the world.

[00:25:00]

MOHAMED AL-DARBI, GAZA RESIDENT: We in Gaza have no flour, every day, 24 hours. They tell us there are trucks coming and we come and find nothing. We eat this sand, we have no food, we have no food. We have no flour, we have no food. Have mercy on us. We have no food. Have mercy on us, mercy, we are eating sand instead of bread. A loaf of bread costs 20 shekels ($5.70), a loaf this little.

HANCOCKS: Mohamed walked eight hours with his father to a flour distribution point in Gaza city. He finally collected two kilos of flour, but thieves attacked him and stole it.

He says, I saw the journalist filming and I asked him to pass on my message to the world that I was robbed and I ate sand because I had no flour, and I was so depressed.

Mohamed's mother says she uses old dried bread used for animal feed, soaks it with water, and bakes it over and over to feed her children.

His father says people are killing each other over a bag of flour, 5 or 6 individuals attack each other because people want to eat, and they have become monsters. Due to the lack of food.

Mohamed and his family only two of tens of thousands of starved Palestinians risking their lives to feed their families.

Dozens have been killed by Israeli fire this week as they waited for aid. Hundreds since Israel lifted an 11-week blockade on Gaza in late May, allowing a trickle of aid in, according to the Palestinian ministry of health. The Israeli military says it operates to minimize harm to those seeking aid while maintaining the safety of its troops.

The United Nations warns the entire population of Gaza, more than 2 million people face impending famine without a drastic increase in aid.

Paula Hancocks, CNN, Abu Dhabi.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JIMENEZ: And I'm Omar Jimenez in New York. For our international viewers, "CONNECTING AFRICA" is next. And for our viewers in North America, there's more CNN NEWSROOM just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:30:20]

JIMENEZ: Welcome back, everyone. I'm Omar Jimenez.

Let's take a look at today's top stories.

Israel says its Air Force has started attacking Iran's missile storage and launch infrastructure. This video shows the Iranian city of Qom, where Iranian state media says a strike on a residential building here killed two people and injured four others. The city is close to Iran's Fordow fuel enrichment plant.

Meanwhile, Russia and Ukraine have carried out their second prisoner exchange in two days. Now, officials didn't say how many prisoners of war were involved on Fridays swap. But Ukraine's president says some of the released troops on his side were held by Russia for more than two years.

And the United Nations is again sounding the alarm about the dire humanitarian crisis in Gaza as Israel's war with Hamas drags on. The U.N. says the enclave is on the brink of famine and civilians continue to come under attack while they attempt to access the scarce food supplies Israel allows in.

Now, hospitals are overstretched and 55,000 pregnant women are facing growing health risks.

Now back to our top story, Iran's state media reports explosions were heard in the central Iranian city of Isfahan. Now, after Israel's military said it had begun a new wave of attacks overnight.

Now the city is home -- is the home of Iran's largest nuclear research complex. It has been the target of Israeli strikes before.

Meanwhile, new video out of Israel shows a building on fire in Holon, near Tel Aviv. Officials say it was hit by falling shrapnel after a missile there was intercepted. No injuries were reported, though.

On Friday, both Iran and Israel's United Nations ambassador said that their countries will continue to fight. Israel strikes have not only taken out top Iranian leaders, they have also caused civilian deaths.

As CNN's Katie Polglase breaks down the human toll at the locations where top Iranian officials were targeted.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KATIE POLGLASE, CNN INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Hitting the heart of Tehran, Israel's campaign expands every day. CNN has been analyzing these Israeli strikes using satellite imagery, video and publicly available data. We found somewhat extraordinarily precise, taking out key regime members in their own apartments, while others destroyed whole buildings, killing and injuring civilians. This video shows an apartment building hit by missiles in Tehran on

June 13th. We geolocated it to this residential street in the center of the city. We then cross-referenced the location with a list of addresses of key political and military figures, from a public database leaked by activists. The address matched that of a nuclear scientist, Ahmad Reza Zolfaghari. Iran confirms the scientist's death. But aftermath footage shows the human toll could be far greater than one person (AUDIO GAP) rubble.

That same night, this residential building collapsed after a strike, though it's unclear if it was Israel's intended target or collateral damage. The building is here in Chamran, an upmarket Tehran neighborhood and just 1,000 feet away, is a military complex. Multiple buildings, all belonging to Iran's ministry of defense and still standing.

Once again, aftermath footage indicates the likelihood of a heavy civilian toll. Medical staff reported at least 40 people died in this attack, including as many as 15 children.

By the second day of its assault, Israel claimed it killed over 20 members of Iran's security apparatus, including senior commanders. Over the following days, they hit more key institutions like this oil depot on the outskirts of town. An Iranian state broadcaster under fire while live on air.

(AUDIO GAP) civilian toll grows, these strikes, which we geolocated here (AUDIO GAP) neighborhood in central Tehran, killed a young Iranian poet along with her entire family.

The strike was likely targeting Abdul Hamid Manouchehr, the head of nuclear engineering at a university, who, according to Iranian media, lived in the building.

As rescue workers dug through the rubble of his home, his university confirmed he had been killed.

Israel's recent strikes on Iran follow their operations in Lebanon and Gaza. That also took out key military and political leaders.

[00:35:02]

Yahya Sinwar, the leader of Hamas, pictured here in Gaza in this now infamous drone video seconds before his assassination.

But the civilian toll once again prompts questions around Israel's proportionality and decision making on striking targets in such densely populated areas.

Katie Polglase, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JIMENEZ: Thank you, Katie Polglase.

Let's bring in retired Major General Mick Ryan, who served in the Australian Army. He joins us now from Brisbane.

Thank you for being here.

So, President Trump has set this two week maximum window for now. But in the meantime, we're still seeing military strikes back and forth between Iran and Israel. So, of course, the question is are there opportunities to break through diplomatically? But also, what do you see as the options being considered here?

MAJ. GEN. MICK RYAN (RET.), AUSTRALIAN ARMY: Well, I think for the next two weeks, you're going to see Israel do as much damage as it possibly can to Iran's nuclear program, as well as its ballistic missile infrastructure. At the same time, it's going to have to continue defending against Iran's missile attacks, which I think are with interceptors probably running low. It's going to have to rely more and more on the U.S. Navy and U.S. forces to defend Israel.

JIMENEZ: And that was going to be my question is, you know, I think when people think of United States military involvement here, the question seems to be around whether it will be part of offensive operations in Iran towards potential Iranian nuclear facilities. But do you see any other military options for the U.S. that don't explicitly involve, let's say, dropping these bunker buster bombs on a facility?

RYAN: Well, certainly, the U.S. Navy in the Strait of Hormuz will be wanting to prevent the Iranians from mining or otherwise seeking to close down that very important waterway. The defensive operations at the U.S. military forces are conducting, as we speak, are saving lives in Israel. And that's very important. That gives Israel both political and military space to continue its offensive operations.

And finally, we might see us to provide a top up of munitions for Israel, both for defensive and offensive requirements, as we've seen happen in the last 20 or 30 years.

JIMENEZ: And then, of course, comes the big question, which is the is there any scenario in which the United States could lead or assist in an attack on Iranian nuclear capabilities, for example, and not be dragged into anything further?

RYAN: Well, it's a bit hard to see how this war might end up, but I think as the U.S. president has telegraphed, even if the U.S. does participate in military operations against Iran and he hasn't made that decision yet. But if it does, that will be just one of a couple of tracks in dealing with Iran. The diplomatic track is still open with the United States as well as the Europeans.

So, I think that the U.S. will seek to calibrate its military objectives around forcing Iran to the negotiating table as soon as possible. It does not want a drawn-out war here, and neither does Israel at this point in time.

JIMENEZ: And prior to this latest flare up of the conflict between Israel and Iran, of course, the United States seemed to be -- at least from observers close to, to some sort of deal with the Iranians. Now, again, how close they were. We may never know, except for those in the room, but there's some school of thought now that believes that in this moment, President Trump may have at least a little more leverage than he did just a few weeks ago at the stage of those talks.

Is that something you agree with? I wonder how you see the progress that that could be made for any long-term agreement post -- let's just say a ceasefire, I guess in the near term?

RYAN: Well, I think President Trump does have more leverage now. I mean, we can never be sure of these things. I mean, there was no really strong green light for the Israeli strikes, even though the U.S. was aware of them. But the overwhelming success of Israel and the first week of its campaign, Iran has, I think, given both the U.S. and Israel leverage against Iran for a better diplomatic solution, that might have been -- then might have been possible just a week ago.

JIMENEZ: And, you know, when Israel launched its series of strikes against Iran last week, it suggested Iran was fast approaching a point of no return and obtaining nuclear weapons, and that the strikes were necessary to stop that outcome. U.S. intelligence assessments reached a slightly different conclusion, including that it would be years before they would be able to produce and deliver a nuclear weapon to a target of its choosing, at least according to our reporting here.

But my question to you is, do you worry about Iran's nuclear enrichment program, and if so, what aspects specifically?

RYAN: Well, the Iranians have been after a nuclear weapon for some time. I mean, they've had a nuclear program for decades.

[00:40:02]

And even this level of destruction probably isn't going to dissuade them to get rid of all their nuclear capacity, even if it's just nuclear power. So, I think the destruction cause will be important. But ultimately, to dissuade Iran from having a nuclear weapon will take diplomacy, sanctions and strong sticks and carrots to ensure that no Iranian nuclear weapon ever eventuates.

JIMENEZ: Mick Ryan, really appreciate the time and perspective. Thanks for being here.

RYAN: Thank you.

JIMENEZ: All right. Meanwhile, back in the United States, after months in custody over an immigration fight, pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil was finally freed from an ICE detention center. You see him pumping his fist in the air in those opening moments. We'll have the details just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JIMENEZ: The Palestinian activist, who has been at the center of a long running deportation fight, is now free. Mahmoud Khalil was released from an immigration detention center in Louisiana on Friday. More than three months after he was arrested on Columbia University's campus.

CNN's Mark Morales has the latest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARK MORALES, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT REPORTER: Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil was released from ICE custody. This now ends an over 100-day saga for Khalil, who was taken into ICE custody outside of his apartment near Columbia university. Now, lawyers representing both Khalil and the federal government had to come to an agreement for his release.

Part of that agreement includes Khalil giving up his passport. He is getting a certified copy of that, that passport back. He's also getting a copy of his green card.

He's limited to travel to only a handful of states that include New York, New Jersey, Louisiana. He's not allowed to travel internationally, and this all stems from a judge ruling that Khalil was both not a danger to anybody in the community, and also not a flight risk.

[00:45:07]

The judge was also commenting about the duration of time that Khalil was in ICE custody, mentioning that it was highly unusual to continue to detain Khalil because he was no -- he was not considered a danger or a flight risk.

The federal government tried to push back in with their lawyers, arguing that this could open the door to what they call the usage of magic words, where if anybody wanted to get out of any sort of situation, they could use the First Amendment as a shield in order to protect themselves from any sort of enforcement action.

But the judge pushed back, saying that Khalil has made it very clear that he protested before he was taken into custody. He plans on protesting now. After he's released, and at least in Khalil's case, it's not magic words.

Mark Morales, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JIMENEZ: All right. Thank you, Mark.

Meanwhile, Vice President J.D. Vance seemed to be talking about California Democratic Senator Alex Padilla, who was forcefully removed from a news conference held by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem last week.

Speaking to reporters in Los Angeles, the vice president called Padilla "Jose" instead of Alex. Now, Vance's spokesperson responded by saying he must have mixed up two people who have broken the law.

Vance was in Los Angeles defending President Trump's decision to deploy National Guard troops, which has been upheld now by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VANCE: The president has a very simple proposal to everybody and every city, every community, every town, whether big or small. If you enforce your own laws and if you protect federal law enforcement, we're not going to send in the national guard because its unnecessary. But if you let violent rioters burn great American cities to the ground, then of course we're going to send federal law enforcement in to protect the people. The president was elected to protect.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JIMENEZ: Now, the jury in Sean "Diddy" Combs racketeering and sex trafficking trial could begin. Deliberations sometime next week. Prosecutors and defense attorneys are expected to wrap up their cases by Wednesday, and closing arguments could take place as soon as Thursday.

The jury heard testimony from two witnesses on Friday, as CNN's Kara Scannell reports from New York.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KARA SCANNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Sean "Diddy" Combs sex trafficking and racketeering trial is nearing a close, after six weeks of testimony and nearly three dozen witnesses, prosecutors could rest their case as soon as Monday.

On Friday, prosecutors called their final witnesses, including Brendan Paul, who was one of Combs's former assistants. Paul was arrested for cocaine possession the same time that Combs was searched by federal authorities last year.

Now, Paul said that he didn't tell law enforcement that the drugs belonged to Combs out of loyalty. He testified on Friday that he had bought drugs for combs between 5 and 10 times. That included ketamine, cocaine, ecstasy and marijuana. He also said that he was reimbursed by Combs security guards. This all goes to the prosecutions charge of racketeering conspiracy.

Now, Paul also testified that he helped set up for the hotel nights where the alleged sex trafficking took place and cleaned them up. But on cross-examination, he said he never saw anything inappropriate taking place.

Now, on Friday, the jury also heard from a law enforcement agent who served as a summary witness for the prosecution, all relating to the alleged sex trafficking of combs former girlfriend, who testified under the pseudonym Jane. The jury saw text messages from combs where he was arranging for male escorts. They also saw some cash payments by the escorts.

Now that agent is back on the witness stand on Monday. The defense team said that they expect a call. Just a handful of witnesses and that they could rest their case Tuesday or Wednesday. The judge said closing arguments could begin as soon as Thursday.

Kara Scannell, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JIMENEZ: All right. Thank you, Kara.

Meanwhile, Londoners are doing whatever they can to beat the heat this week. Just ahead, as medical officials declare a health warning, people head outside looking for a breeze and a heat wave. Well explain, coming up.

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[00:53:10]

JIMENEZ: The U.K. is sweltering under its first official heat wave of the summer. Highs are expected to reach 34 degrees Celsius, or 93 degrees Fahrenheit. And health officials issued an Amber Alert across the country.

Now the heat wave is especially dangerous because Britain doesn't typically get this hot and air conditioning is rare in homes. The scorching temperatures come as two major events draw people outside, including the Royal Ascot races wrap up today and Wimbledon championships are just around the corner.

Meanwhile, here in the United States, nearly 100 million people are under heat alerts. The first dangerous heat wave of the season started in the Great Plains states, but is expected to spread east, all thanks to what's called a heat dome.

Meteorologist Tyler Mauldin explains what's ahead.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TYLER MAULDIN, CNN METEOROLOGIST: The summer's first heat wave is upon us, thanks to this massive heat dome that is expanding across the eastern two thirds of the country. This big blue H puts a lid on the atmosphere, the air underneath it sinks, it compresses, and it heats up to temperatures like this.

When you combine the air temperature with the humidity, you're looking at temperatures that will feel like they're well above the century mark. Case in point, Washington, D.C. by the time we get to Monday and Tuesday of next week, it will feel like 108 degrees.

Records? Yeah, we're going to see records be broken later this weekend and early next week, probably extending into mid to late next week too.

Now, when you do take the heat and the humidity, that's going to stress your body out. It's going to put a lot of stress on you, especially when we don't see the temperatures cool down all too much during the morning hours. So, make sure if you don't have to go outside over the next seven

days, don't do that. If you do have to go outside, play it safe. Find plenty of shade and make sure you drink plenty of water.

[00:55:00]

What's riding the northern edge of this heat dome? It is a lot of thunderstorms. We are looking at strong to severe thunderstorms potentially over the weekend across the Great Lakes on into the Northeast.

Main threats here, strong winds, large hail, and yes, the potential for some isolated tornadoes.

Back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JIMENEZ: All right, Tyler, thank you so much.

Meanwhile, one of Hawaii's most active volcanoes put on a pretty spectacular show on Friday. This is close up video of the latest eruption from Kilauea on the big island of Hawaii. At its peak, this hellish display sent lava about 1,000 feet high and plumes of volcanic smoke 20,000 feet high.

Occasional fountains of lava had been erupting since late December. So far. Nearby populated areas have not been threatened, and I believe we have some live pictures here to where, as of late Friday, the eruption paused and we've got some smoke. White smoke now billows from the summit crater, tremors in the region have also decreased as well. But what a display from there to now.

Meanwhile, a sunken luxury superyacht was lifted off the seabed near Sicily on Friday. The top of the hull is now visible and the salvage crew plans to lift the boat fully out of the water later today. Now, the $40 million superyacht sank in less than a minute last August amid hurricane force winds. Seven of 22 passengers died, including British tech tycoon Mike Lynch, whose company owned the superyacht.

Investigators will examine the wreck to determine what caused the vessel to sink.

I'm Omar Jimenez in New York. I'm going to be right back with more CNN NEWSROOM after the break.

Stay with us.