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New Strikes as Israel-Iran Conflict Enters Second Week; Iran Files Complaint against IAEA Chief; Haifa Residents Respond to Missile Strikes; Trump Says "Very Hard" to Ask Israel to Stop Hitting Iran; Israeli Attacks Continue on Civilians Trying to Access Aid; Thousands Gather in Iran to Protest Israel; OPEC+ Is Increasing Oil Output Gradually; CNN Investigates Deadly Dominican Republic Nightclub Roof Collapse; Heat Dome Causes High Temps across U.S.; Second Annual AI Conference Held in Rome. Aired 3-4a ET
Aired June 21, 2025 - 03:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): This is CNN breaking news.
BRIAN ABEL, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Hello to our viewers joining us here in the U.S. and all around the world, I'm Brian Abel in Atlanta.
Israel and Iran have been exchanging new strikes as their conflict enters its second week. Israel says its air force has started attacking Iran's missile storage and launch infrastructure.
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ABEL (voice-over): There's this video here showing the Iranian city of Qom. 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 Holon, Israel, just outside Tel Aviv, a building catching fire. Israel says it was hit by shrapnel from an intercepted missile. Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he won't back down in the fight against Iran.
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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.
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ABEL: Meanwhile, U.S. president Donald Trump says he's concerned that Iran could retaliate against U.S. strikes with terror attacks.
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TRUMP: We're always concerned about that and we have to take them out and be very strong. You're even in danger talking to me right now.
Do you know that?
You are in danger talking to me right now.
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ABEL: President Trump says his decision on whether or not the U.S. will strike Iran could come in less than two weeks. CNN senior White House correspondent Kristen Holmes has more on that.
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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) ABEL: And as you heard Kristen mention, president Trump says his Director of National Intelligence is wrong about Iran's nuclear capabilities. And she's now agreeing with him that Iran could have a nuclear weapon in weeks.
Tulsi Gabbard, she posted this on social media on Friday saying, quote, "America has intelligence that Iran is at the point that it can produce a nuclear weapon within weeks to months. President Trump has been clear that can't happen. And I agree."
However, in March, Gabbard told members of Congress that Iran is, quote, "not building a nuclear weapon."
But the U.N. nuclear watchdog had reached similar conclusions as Gabbard before she changed her tune. The agency's director general spoke Friday about whether Iran has an active nuclear weapons program.
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RAFAEL MARIANO GROSSI, DIRECTOR GENERAL, IAEA: We have confirmed that Iran does have, even now, enough material for several warheads but this should not be equated with a nuclear weapon.
We do not have, at this point, if you ask me, at this point, any tangible proof that there is a program or a plan to fabricate to manufacture a nuclear weapon. There are different scattered activities here and there.
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ABEL: Iran filed a complaint at the U.N. against Grossi.
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We just heard from him on Friday, accusing him of failing to condemn Israel's military action, according to an Iranian news outlet. The complaint also took issue with his approach to what Tehran calls its, quote, peaceful nuclear activities.
European diplomats held talks with Iran in Geneva on Friday, hoping to get Tehran back to the negotiating table with the U.S. Their nuclear negotiations were deadlocked when Israel began its aerial campaign against Iran last week. As Matthew Chance reports from Geneva, getting them back on track will be a tall order.
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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.
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.
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ABEL: Matthew Chance there.
While diplomatic efforts continue, there have been no tangible results so far as Israel and Iran continue to trade missile strikes. CNN's Nic Robertson was in Haifa in northern Israel as an air raid warning sounded. Take a look at what he saw.
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NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: And we're going underground now.
LEONID REZNICK, HEAD OF EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS, HAIFA MUNICIPALITY: We're going underground.
ROBERTSON: Into this bunker.
REZNICK: Exactly. It's a bomb shelter bunker.
ROBERTSON (voice-over): It's Haifa's war room.
ROBERTSON: It's very quiet in here right now.
ROBERTSON (voice-over): Almost 24 hours since the last missile strike.
REZNICK: We are trying to let the people at least to go to their houses to buy something and to be a little with the families.
ROBERTSON (voice-over): We don't know it then but they'll soon be running back here. Haifa's missile response and resiliency in their hands. Back out on the streets, people enjoying the lull until the sirens go off.
ROBERTSON: People are running for the shelters. The sirens have just gone off. It's the middle of the afternoon here and everyone's going to try and take shelter.
ROBERTSON (voice-over): Iranian missiles have killed three people here in the last week.
ROBERTSON: We're just going to follow the people where they're going to a shelter.
ROBERTSON (voice-over): It's a desperate rush.
ROBERTSON: So we've followed everyone and this is where we've come to. It seems like it's an underground car park underneath a shopping mall.
ROBERTSON (voice-over): Life on hold. People with babies and pets waiting, scouring their phones for news of what's happening above ground. A week of missile strikes taking its toll.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My first time here.
ROBERTSON: Really. Why now?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just couldn't stay at home anymore. I was too scared.
ROBERTSON (voice-over): And with good reason, while were underground, a missile struck about a mile away.
ROBERTSON: Just arriving on the site less than an hour after the blast. You can see here water pouring out, the damaged cars here as well. This is a scene of the aftermath of a strike here. And it's -- looking at the damage, it's big. Just turning the camera over here, you can see here the building has been blasted, rubble everywhere.
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ROBERTSON (voice-over): Already, the rescue teams coordinated by the war room on site. Sniffer dogs to locate those trapped in the rubble. Drones to scour the debris. Then the rescue teams looking for unexploded missiles. The city's mayor, who runs the war room, one of the first officials to arrive. Where is diplomacy not working fast enough? ROBERTSON: President Trump waiting two weeks to make a decision, what do you think about that?
MAYOR YONA YAHAV, HAFIA, ISRAEL: It's too much.
ROBERTSON: Why?
YAHAV: Because we have no time. You see what's going in the middle time?
ROBERTSON: Well, there's more destruction.
YAHAV: They have to sit now and negotiate and design a treaty. It's not a big deal and do it.
ROBERTSON (voice-over): Israel's foreign minister next on the scene. For him, a deal with Iran nowhere near in sight.
ROBERTSON: And what's your understanding of the diplomatic talks between the Iranian foreign minister and the European foreign ministers in Geneva?
Are they making progress?
What is your assessment of what's happening there?
SA'AR: Well, frankly, I was always skeptical with regard to diplomatic talks with the Iranians because they are misleading. And even until now, we hadn't heard anything from them which hints they want to change direction.
ROBERTSON (voice-over): By morning, the roads here will be open again, the path to lasting peace still blocked -- Nic Robertson, CNN, Haifa, Israel.
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ABEL: Steven Erlanger is chief diplomatic correspondent for "The New York Times." He joins us live from Berlin.
And you heard Nic Robertson say there basically the road to diplomacy remains blocked.
What will it take at this current moment in the conflict for that blockage to ease?
Is the only hope what Iran says, the easy way for negotiations to start is by president Trump calling prime minister Netanyahu and ordering him to stop striking the country?
Would Israel even comply with that request?
STEVEN ERLANGER, "THE NEW YORK TIMES": Well, I'm not sure that it would nor do I think it probably should.
The Iranians see diplomacy as the best way to extricate themselves from this war because, when talks are going on, it's unlikely the war would actually continue.
But to ask for a ceasefire before talks begin, I think the Iranians are a little bit misreading the situation. There is a lot of diplomacy going on, by the way. I mean, the White House is talking to the Iranians, to Araghchi, even through the Omanis.
The Europeans are talking to them. The Egyptians are talking to them. There's a lot of talking going on. The problem is, neither side is shifting right now. And by neither side here, I mean U.S. and Israel.
ABEL: Steven, there is so much focus on the United States and the U.S. having this power to bring Israel to the table, along with what many analysts and Trump, for that matter, say is the only capability to completely sever Iran's nuclear program with bunker busting bombs.
So if the U.S. has that strength on both the diplomatic and the military might fronts, what room is there for European leaders to have a role in brokering an end to this conflict?
ERLANGER: Well, it's always good to have channels going. I think the Europeans need to be careful not to set up a separate channel.
I mean, they're trying to get Iran to talk to the United States. That's really where the issue is and where a solution will be. The Europeans are being helpful. I think the mistake would be is if they think they can do this on their own.
ABEL: What do you make of president Trump's two-week window?
And I ask this with the recent memory of Trump and the U.S. providing similar timeframes for negotiations with Russia over Ukraine, just to see that goalpost move further down the road or evaporate, evaporate altogether, along with that pressure on Putin.
So is that possibility here, too, or is this truly a ticking clock?
ERLANGER: Well, I'm not sure I would take, as you yourself said, the two weeks per se as a particular deadline but it is clear that Donald Trump does not want to act militarily in Iran. I think that's obvious.
Donald Trump wants a deal. Donald Trump is using the threat of military engagement to try to drive Iran to concede what it so far has not wanted to concede, which is a phased end to its enrichment program.
And that's where things are actually stuck. All the rest of it is just spinning around. At the same time, Israel is not incapable of dealing with Fordow. There are lots of ways to do it. It's not clear. It's not easy. It's not even clear that the U.S. bunker buster bombers could do it very well, either.
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We don't know what Fordow looks like inside. Not really. And I just feel that Trump understands -- and certainly his MAGA people understand -- that engagement directly in Iran -- Iran's a big country. It's 90 million people.
It has in the past attacked Jewish synagogues in Argentina. It has missiles that can attack U.S. troops. It could attack U.S. embassies all over, all over the Middle East and beyond. That is a button, I really think, Donald Trump at the moment does not want to push.
ABEL: And we'll see if he does or does not here eventually. Steven Erlanger in Berlin. Steven, thank you.
ERLANGER: Thank you.
ABEL: CNN is also on the ground in Tehran, where massive crowds are protesting Israeli strikes and the Trump administration. That's just ahead.
Plus, 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. Those stories are coming up after the break.
And U.S. president Trump is saying negotiations with Harvard University could soon result in a deal. We have the latest on the dispute between the United States' oldest university and the Trump administration. Next.
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ABEL: U.S. vice president JD Vance was in Los Angeles Friday, defending the administrations use of the National Guard in response to protests against immigration raids by ICE.
This after the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals allowed a pause on a lower court ruling that president Trump should give up control of the thousands of troops that have been federalized in L.A. The vice president tried to say state and local officials weren't doing their jobs.
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J.D. VANCE (R-OH), VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: If you enforce your own laws and if you protect federal law enforcement, we're not going to send in the National Guard because it's 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) ABEL: And Vance also seemed to take a swipe at California Democratic senator Alex Padilla, who you see right here. He was removed from a news conference held by Homeland Security secretary Kristi Noem last week.
Vance called Padilla "Jose" instead of Alex, although he served alongside him in the U.S. Senate. The vice president's spokesperson responded with what appeared to be a bit of sarcasm, saying he must have mixed up two people who have broken the law.
U.S. president Donald Trump says negotiations with Harvard University could soon result in a deal. In a post on social media. Mr. Trump said the school had, quote, "acted extremely appropriately," unquote after a round of talks with the university.
However, sources say there is no final agreement yet. This comes as a federal judge blocked the Trump administration from revoking Harvard's ability to host international students while legal challenges continue. The administration targeted the school earlier this year over antisemitism allegations on campus.
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. Here's what Khalil had to say after his release.
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MAHMOUD KHALIL, PALESTINIAN ACTIVIST: Although justice prevailed but it's long, very long overdue. And this shouldn't have taken three months. There's no right person who should be detained for actually protesting a genocide, for protesting their university.
Columbia University, that is investing in the genocide of the Palestinian people.
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ABEL: A judge ordered Mahmoud Khalil's release on bail after finding he is not a flight risk or a danger to public safety.
He was, however, required to surrender his passport and is prohibited from traveling overseas. Khalil was one of the first migrants arrested in the Trump administration's immigration crackdown, targeting student activists.
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ABEL: The U.N. 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 there is a warning. Her report includes material that may be distressing to some viewers.
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PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Mohamed al-Darbi is 12 years old. He has a message for the world.
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.
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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.
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ABEL: When we return, I'll speak with an Iranian journalist and researcher in Tehran as both sides continue to launch airstrikes.
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ABEL: Welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Brian Abel in Atlanta. Let's take a look at today's top stories.
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ABEL (voice-over): Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil has been released from an immigration detention center in Louisiana. Khalil was required to surrender his passport and he's not allowed to travel overseas.
He was arrested on Columbia University's campus more than three months ago in the Trump administrations immigration crackdown.
President Trump says his decision on whether or not the U.S. will strike Iran could come in less than two weeks. Mr. Trump told reporters Friday that he's allowing time for a diplomatic solution to the conflict between Israel and Iran.
Meanwhile, Mr. Trump says it would be hard to ask Israel to end its strikes on Iran. He said it would be a difficult request, quote, "if somebody is winning," end quote. The president also said European diplomatic efforts have not helped the situation. He says Iran wants to speak with the U.S. not Europe.
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Thousands of people in Tehran and other Iranian cities are venting their anger over Israel's attacks on their homeland. CNN's Fred Pleitgen is the first Western journalist to enter Iran since this latest conflict began. He reports from Tehran.
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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."
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 toward 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.
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ABEL: And joining us now from Tehran is Abbas Aslani, an Iranian journalist and senior research fellow at the Center for Middle East Strategic Studies in Abbas.
Thank you for being with us and providing your perspective. It really is an important one here. I first want to get your characterization of what's happening on the ground there in Tehran.
How are people thinking, feeling and acting after a week of exchanging missiles with Israel?
ABBAS ASLANI, SENIOR RESEARCH FELLOW, CENTER FOR MIDDLE EAST STRATEGIC STUDIES: Brian, you know, after a week of conflict between the two sides, you know, prior to that, some people left the capital city because they were afraid that this might escalate to a more, let's say, serious and dangerous war.
But today is the first day of the, I mean, the week in Iran. They are beginning to go to offices. And we were seeing that cars are being back, I mean, driving back to the capital city. Some people are returning because they think that they might, you know, last longer. So they are coming back.
Yesterday we had Friday prayers here in the capital city. Some people, even those who normally do not attend the prayers, were there to condemn the Israeli aggression. And, you know, it's a mixture of, you know, some people who had some -- took some cautionary measures but they are being back to normal life.
And I'm seeing that people are going to office to work. However, they are avoiding unnecessary commutes in the city in order to make sure that they stay safe.
But as it is gradually proceeding, we're seeing that people are getting used to this condition.
ABEL: Well, Abbas, we are hearing both the leaders of Israel and the United States openly discussing the idea of assassinating your country's supreme leader.
What does that do to the psyche of the population?
And what would -- what would you see happening if that were to happen?
ASLANI: Brian, you know, this could be a very big escalatory measure. You know, Iranian side has been trying to take measures in order to protect against such kind of measure. But this could end up in a full- scale war, a regional war, which could have serious repercussions, not just for Iran and Israel and the U.S. but for other regional actors. And I was hearing that some regional actors or some other countries,
they are afraid of such kind of repercussions. They want to stop this process, not just assassination but they want to stop this escalating to a further, you know, conflict and much more severe one.
And some other countries might be engaging in helping Iran in this conflict because they think that a deterrence --
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ABEL: It looks like we are having some technical difficulties there. As you can imagine, Tehran has only about a 3 percent internet connection rate at this moment. So we will thank Abbas Aslani in Tehran.
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.
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But doing it gradually. Iran is the third largest oil producer in OPEC and analysts fear that hostilities could disrupt supply and increase prices. Mr. Putin told the St. Petersburg Economic Forum on Friday that his conflict has driven up oil prices but not enough for OPEC to intervene.
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VLADIMIR PUTIN, PRESIDENT OF RUSSIA (through translator): 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.
Well, 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 has stabilized at this level.
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ABEL: President Trump says the United States should not have to pay 5 percent of its GDP to support NATO. He has repeatedly said all NATO countries must meet that defense spending threshold.
But on Friday, the president said the U.S. shouldn't have to pay anything now since it has been supporting the military alliance for so long. Mr. Trump has repeatedly made the false statement that the U.S. was paying nearly 100 percent of the NATO budget. He is expected to attend a NATO summit next week.
Still to come, what a CNN investigation revealed about a deadly nightclub tragedy after a roof collapsed. We'll have the latest.
Plus, Sean Diddy Combs' criminal trial could be close to wrapping up. We'll have the latest on Friday's testimony in just a few moments.
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ABEL: Now to a CNN investigation into the cause of a nightclub tragedy in the Dominican Republic two months ago. More than 230 people were killed when the roof of the Jet Set nightclub collapsed onto concertgoers.
The nightclub owners have now been arrested amid allegations of negligence. CNN's Stefano Pozzebon has the latest.
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But first, a warning that the following report may be disturbing to some viewers.
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STEFANO POZZEBON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On April 8th, what started as a normal merengue night in the Dominican Republic ended in a catastrophe.
Desperate screams punctured the silence as first responders surveyed the rubble and removed debris from the shattered dance floor. The Jet Set nightclub, an institution in the capital, Santo Domingo, reduced to rubble.
The club's collapse among the deadliest building collapses this century left at least 235 people dead, including 17 U.S. citizens, dozens injured and hundreds of families seeking answers.
We set out to uncover how this tragedy unfolded. A CNN analysis of open source material reveals that Jet Set had major structural flaws and early warning signs went unaddressed for years. A preliminary statement from Dominican authorities matches CNN's findings.
The roof was severely overweight and visibly damaged. Structural experts contacted by CNN analyzed the composition of the roof. They found it's made up of multiple layers, one on top of the other. This may have been the result of an ill-fated attempt to prevent water leaks.
But adding more and more layers of heavy concrete meant the roof weight many times more than it should have, according to one analysis. On top of that, drone footage unearthed by local media, Somos Pueblo, shows seven enclosed sheds, some of which housed air conditioning units and duct work.
A military satellite image taken in 1975 shows the roof initially had similar structures but only at the north and south ends of the building. Additional imagery shows that in the years since, more structures along with air conditioning units and water tanks were added, piling even more weight on the roof around its center and the south end. That, along with the removal of these load bearing columns during renovations in 2015, emerged as key factors that contributed to the collapse, according to the Dominican attorney general.
Pub owner Antonio Espaillat has now been arrested and charged with manslaughter and negligence. He admitted the building suffered from constant water leaks and that he replaced the ceiling tiles on a regular basis.
ANTONIO ESPAILLAT, OWNER, JET SET NIGHTCLUB: We had to buy new tiles all the time. Even on the very day of the concert.
POZZEBON: Despite these, Espaillat said he never had the roof properly assessed. Dominican authorities visited the building at least four times over the past three years.
Fire inspectors after flames damaged the generator room in 2023, an environment ministry officials, because of noise complaints from the club's neighbors. And yet, the fragility of the roof was never flagged as a potential risk.
Dominican authorities have accused Espaillat of putting his profit ahead of the safety of the workers and customers at the club. And the case is going to trial. We repeatedly requested an interview with him before his arrest but he wouldn't reply.
The Dominican minister of housing has announced a review of the country's construction laws to prevent a similar tragedy from ever happening again -- for CNN, this is Stefano Pozzebon.
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ABEL: Some prisoners of war from Russia and Ukraine are headed home after a second prisoner swap between the countries in two days. 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.
A heat dome over much of the United States will be sending temperatures soaring into the triple digits this coming week. Just ahead, what Americans can expect and why it's so important to find ways to cool off.
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(MUSIC PLAYING) ABEL: Global air traffic continues to be disrupted because of the
ongoing conflict between Iran and Israel. Now three commercial airliners are pausing some flights from the U.S. to the Middle East. CNN's Pete Muntean has more.
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PETE MUNTEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Airlines tell me they're doing this not because they have some special window into what's happening in the Middle East but because of the unpredictability of missile fire there.
You've probably seen the dramatic video that shows missiles being launched from Iran from on board a passenger jet.
Here is the latest. United Airlines is pausing flights between its major Newark hub and Dubai indefinitely. American Airlines is suspending flights between Philadelphia and Doha in Qatar through June 22nd, it says. And Delta Air Lines says, it has suspended flights between New York's JFK and Tel Aviv until the end of August.
But you kind of have to consider these expiration dates as something of a suggestion because President Donald Trump said on Thursday that he would decide on a strike on Iran in two weeks' time.
So these timeframes set by airlines are really a bit of a moving target. Airlines are getting pretty used to this right now. They pulled down flights to Tel Aviv from the U.S. during the October 7th attack on Israel and service between the U.S. and Israel has been spotty in the 20 months since.
Last month, both American and United Airlines canceled flights between the U.S. and Delhi in India when clashes broke out with Pakistan. It's a good example of the bind that airlines are in right now.
Flights from the U.S. to the Middle East are pretty long. The United to Dubai flights about 14 hours long. So if that flight could not land, it would need to carry extra fuel. But that means the plane could only fly about half-full of passengers. So it doesn't make great business sense for airlines.
Remember Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv is closed right now due to the conflict with Iran and no U.S. airline operates flights in and out of Iran.
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ABEL: The jury in the Sean Diddy Combs racketeering and sex trafficking trial could begin deliberations sometime next week.
[03:50:04]
Prosecutors and defense attorneys are expected to wrap up their cases by Wednesday in closing arguments that 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.
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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' 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 5-10 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.
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ABEL: A second luxury superyacht was lifted off the seabed near Sicily on Friday. The top of the Bayesian's hull is now visible and the salvage crew plans to lift the boat fully out of the water later today.
That $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 that superyacht. Investigators will examine the wreck and try to determine what caused that vessel to sink.
One of Hawaii's most active volcanoes putting on a spectacular show on Friday. Take a look for yourself.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) ABEL (voice-over): A close-up video of the latest eruption from Kilauea on the Big Island of Hawaii. At its peak, the hellish display sent lava about 1,000 feet high and plumes of volcanic smoke 20,000 feet high, close to that air flight level.
Occasional fountains of lava had been erupting since late December but, so far, nearby populated areas have not been threatened.
Later on Friday, the eruption paused as white smoke billows from the summit crater. Tremors in the region have also decreased.
In the United States, nearly 100 million people are under heat alerts. The first dangerous heat wave of the season has started in the Great Plains states but is expected to spread eastward, all thanks to what's called a heat dome. Meteorologist Tyler Mauldin explains what's ahead.
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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.
[03:50:00]
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?
Yes, 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.
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) ABEL: Tyler, thank you.
The second annual conference on artificial intelligence was held in Rome this week and, during the event, Pope Leo urged tech leaders to create an ethical framework when developing AI.
[03:55:04]
CNN's Clare Duffy has more.
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CLARE DUFFY, CNN BUSINESS WRITER: Yes. So this was the second annual Rome conference on AI, which brought together academics, Vatican officials and executives from companies like Meta, Google, IBM, OpenAI to the Vatican to discuss the social and ethical implications of artificial intelligence.
I don't think we need to remind anyone that this is a fraught moment for AI development. Of course, the technology has lots of promise but there's also risks that range from taking people's jobs to developing even more powerful weaponry at this time of intense global conflict.
And Pope Leo would like to see these tech companies develop an ethical framework or criteria by which they would abide when developing and deploying AI technology that, he says, would respect human dignity, human work and protect children.
I want to read you just a portion of his statement that really stood out to me as an admonishment of the way that some of these tech leaders have talked about artificial intelligence systems potentially becoming smarter than humans.
He says, "No generation has ever had such quick access to the amount of information now available through AI. But again, access to data, however extensive, must not be confused with intelligence."
And I think this really is a sign that Pope Leo plans to follow in the footsteps of his predecessor, Pope Francis, in getting pushing the Vatican to take an active role in shaping AI policy, especially at a time when the U.S. government is pulling back on many regulatory efforts of these big tech companies -- back to you.
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ABEL: Clare Duffy there.
That wraps this hour of CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Brian Abel. Lynda Kinkade picks up our coverage after a quick break.
