Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Smoke Rising from Iran's Fordow Nuclear Site; U.S. Strikes on Iran a "Spectacular Military Success"; Iran Says U.S. Strikes Will Have "Everlasting Consequences"; Saudi Arabia Condemns U.S. Strikes on Iran; U.S. Politicians Split on Trump's Strikes on Iran. Aired 4-5a ET

Aired June 22, 2025 - 04:00   ET

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

[04:00:00]

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN HOST: -- nuclear facility, that is where American B-2 bombers dropped bunker buster bombs overnight. Well, the U.S. struck a total of three Iranian nuclear sites. Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the International Atomic Energy Agency all say there has been no increase in offsite radiation. But Iran's foreign minister says, U.S. strikes will have, quote, "everlasting consequences."

Well, an Israel new video shows damage in Tel Aviv after Iran targeted the country with a wave of missiles. This happened after the U.S. strikes. Israeli Emergency Services say there is large-scale destruction in parts of the country. And the White House released these photos showing President Donald Trump and his staff in the Situation Room. Later he addressed the U.S. nation saying that these U.S. strikes were designed to end the nuclear threat from Iran.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: This cannot continue. There will be either peace or there will be tragedy for Iran far greater than we have witnessed over the last eight days. Remember, there are many targets left. Tonight was the most difficult of them all by far, and perhaps the most lethal. But if peace does not come quickly, we will go after those other targets with precision, speed, and skill.

Most of them can be taken out in a matter of minutes. There's no military in the world that could have done what we did tonight, not even close.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Well, Israeli prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he spoke with Trump over the phone after the U.S. carried out it strikes on Iran. He is praising the Trump administration's actions. Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: President Trump and I often say peace through strength. First comes strength, then comes peace. And tonight, President Trump and the United States acted with a lot of strength. President Trump. I thank you. The people of Israel, thank you. The forces of civilization, thank you. God bless America. God bless Israel. And may God bless our unshakeable alliance, our unbreakable faith.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Well, let's get you to Tel Aviv and Israel, our CNN International Diplomatic Editor Nic Robertson is there at what appears to be damage from an Iranian missile. Nic, you speaking -- you've been speaking to emergency services and authorities there. What have they been telling you about what happened and the casualties?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDTIRO: Yes, we just heard from the spokesman for the fire service here, he said at 11:45 a.m. this morning, fire service got a call, got multiple calls of an incident at this location that he said they rushed here, put out fires. He said that they've evacuated everyone from the buildings.

A police spokesman that we spoke to earlier talked of about 20 casualties here, that this was a direct impact from an Iranian ballistic missile. He said -- as I'm standing here, Becky, I've got an apartment building quite a new sort of six story apartment building right next to me here. What's very hard to see through the trees there is the old four-story apartment building that has been very heavily damaged in this.

But I'm also watching here, police in the army helping the people from this building that from this angle looks intact, but I know from the side of it there, the windows are blasted open, the contents of people's apartments are blasted onto the trees, and the police here are helping residents get them, get what property they can salvage from their apartments and take it out and take it elsewhere.

There's a school near here that's being used as a collection center for people to go to, just sort of a temporary way point until they figure out their next move. So, the building that was under the direct impact is very heavily and extensively damaged. Anyone who wasn't in the safety shelter there would've been an extreme danger. But as we understand, it was only light injuries and perhaps one or two moderate injuries at this location.

It seems that the, what the fire service spokesman was describing that they've been through the property here. They've made sure there's no more explosives. They've made sure that nobody has left inside the building trapped, and they're helping the residents in the neighboring buildings evacuate. That seems to be well underway here at the moment. They're -- sort of some of the recovery teams, if you will, that do the repair work on the street that clean up the street, they're already coming in here as well.

And I wouldn't be surprised, Becky, this being Tel Aviv, we may well see a politician or two arrive here in the next few hours, Becky.

ANDERSON: It's just after 11:00 a.m. there in Tel Aviv. For those who may just be joining us, can you just explain when this happened, what you experienced? Because of course you are there too. What did you hear, Nic? And what do we understand to be the scope of the impact of these Iranian missiles that came in overnight? This is one impact area, but there are others as we understand it.

[04:05:00]

ROBERTSON: There are others. The -- what we understand from the IDF so far is that the initial Iranian missile barrage that was fired -- or rather was incoming to Israel about quarter to 8:00 local time, and speaking in local time, about 3:00 a.m. in the morning. So, just a bit less than five hours after the U.S. strikes impacted in Iran. Iran responded with a barrage of about 30 missiles into Israel. There was a second barrage, second wave that came in behind that, according to the IDF.

And as far as we know so far, of those 30 missiles, about four impacted. This is the site of one of them in Tel Aviv. A couple of others impacted in the center of Israel and another impacted in the northern port city of Haifa. Actually, I spoke to the Rescue and Recovery Service team there, and they told me that the impact in Haifa was very close to the impact that we witnessed there on Friday, which was sort of right at -- right in the center of the town there.

Again, the damage is there quite light because it was early in the morning, most people had heeded the warnings and were in their basements and shelters. There does seem to have been a hiccup in the warnings in Haifa, and that's being looked into, according to officials there, that the initial siren didn't go off there. Nevertheless, the casualties low.

We were in the -- our hotel not far from here. And of course, when the sirens go off, the warning messages come, you go to seek shelter, you go to the basement. And from that basement we could actually hear what I believe was the impact here, because it's only a few miles away from where we were sheltering. So, even when you were in the shelter underground, you can hear the impacts. And there was, you know, collectively the people in the shelter where we were, who were staying in the hotel, there was a collective gasp, because they realized that was an impact that wasn't too far away, two miles away. And what we can see that impact that we heard has demolished a four-story residential apartment block here in this very leafy suburb of Tel Aviv.

ANDERSON: And, Nic, I just want to get finally the mood, if you will, from those that you've been speaking to. These U.S. strikes were overnight in Iran, local time. The U.S. president addressed the nation at 10:00 p.m. U.S. time, Eastern time. That would've been 5:00 a.m. in the morning. And the Israeli prime minister has already thanked Donald Trump for the support in this effort to degrade Iran's nuclear capabilities, as he described it, praising Donald Trump for getting involved in this fight.

What are people telling you about how they feel at this point? What's the perception from those locally?

ROBERTSON: I think there's maybe three emotions. One that the United States has stepped up to stand beside Israel, because that was an open question for about 10 days after Israel began to strike Iran, and that's very important to people here because they recognize the United States is their biggest partner, biggest supporter. And although the missiles, weapon systems, planes, repairs, so much of the military material that Israel relies on, not just in this conflict with Iran, but the material that they're using in Gaza there, where they're -- they say they're targeting Hamas where about 54,000 people, many of them women and children have now been killed, all that comes from the United States, or a lot of it comes from the United States.

So, the fact that the United States wasn't aligned or seemed to be as closely aligned with Israel on the Iran strikes was a worry because it raised that question, has the Prime Minister set the country -- Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, set the country on a path that peels Israel away from the United States, which is really seen as a big security umbrella. So, I think there was relief at that level.

There was a certain amount of relief as well that the United States had come aboard at a sort of a short-term tactical level, if you will, because that implies that the fight with Iran will be shorter and people are worried about the duration of it. And of course, the third emotion is, you know, people still worry about what's going to happen and they worry specifically about Iran's response. Its response on Israel. Its response on the region because the United States has come to Israel's side in striking Iran, and therefore that raises the prospect of a greater threat in the region, the prospect of a wider war in the region of this sort of dragging out, inflaming and getting bigger.

[04:10:00]

So, I think those are the three emotions, you kind of go through them. The relief the U.S. is at Israel's side, the feeling that this may not last too long, and then, the concern that it might last longer and might get bigger, Becky.

ANDERSON: Nic Robertson is in Tel Aviv. Nic, thank you. Well, Iranian officials and media are contradicting Mr. Trump's claim that their nuclear science were, quote" obliterated" by the U.S. strikes. An Iranian lawmaker claims the attack on the Fordow nuclear facility was, and I quote him here, "quite superficial." But while a state news outlet says that only the entrance and exit tunnels were damaged.

CNN's Fred Pleitgen was the first Western journalist to enter Iran after the conflict with Israel began. He is still there, and he filed this report from Tehran several hours ago. Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Iran is deeply condemning the strikes on its nuclear facilities by the Trump administration. Iran's Atomic Energy organization has come out and called these savage attacks on these nuclear facilities. They also say that they're against international law and have accused the International Atomic Energy Agency of being complicit in all of this.

But one of the key things is that the Iranians are saying that this will not deter their nuclear program. And there is a senior Iranian parliamentarian who came out in the very early morning hours on social media and said that the United States, as he put it, can bomb facilities but cannot bomb knowledge, obviously also saying. That Iran's nuclear program and Iranian enrichment will continue.

One of the things that we've been hearing from Iranian officials over the past couple of days is they say that they will continue enrichment in any case. It's a red line for them, they say. At the same time, of course, they are in the standoff right now with the Israelis.

We've been seeing over the past couple of hours the skies here right now are fairly quiet, but in the overnight hours, there was a lot of activity by air defense systems here over Tehran. Also, some thuds, which could have come from airstrikes, but could have been the air defenses being active as well.

The Iranians are saying that they have various means of hitting back at the United States. It's not clear how they're going to do that. They do, of course, say that there are militias that are on their side in the Middle Eastern regions, in countries where the United States has bases. But in general, the Iranians are saying there are many methods at their disposal.

Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Tehran.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON: Well, CNN Correspondent Paula Hancocks joins me now here in Abu Dhabi. This is our Middle East programming headquarters in the Gulf of course. And there all is, yes, a heightened sense of anxiety that this conflict could widen, of course, and that U.S. involvement might affect that. What are we hearing from this region about what's going on?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Becky, we're getting the first reactions from the region. Saudi Arabia has issued a statement and they say that they condemn the violation of Iran's sovereignty. They have urged restraint, and they're also calling on de-escalation, which obviously goes to your point that this region is on edge, that this could expand.

Now, of course, Saudi Arabia and Iran have had their moments. They only just reestablished diplomatic ties a couple of years ago. So, we have seen an outreach from the Gulf towards Iran over certainly recent months trying to have some kind of diplomatic interaction with Iran. And certainly, we have seen the Gulf Nations, the leaders speaking to the U.S. president, Donald Trump, as well, urging him not to do exactly what he has done just a matter of hours ago. So, there is a concern.

We did hear from Saudi quite early on as well saying that they hadn't seen any indication of radiation leaks in the region. That's obviously one of the great concerns here, that with these nuclear plants, these nuclear facilities being hit, that there could be some kind of environmental contamination given the geographical proximity, and of course the water ways in between the Gulf nations and Iran, which the Gulf Nations rely on heavily for drinking, for everything.

So, what we've heard from Saudi is they didn't see any radiation impact. We've heard the same from the IAEA, the U.N. nuclear watchdog. I'll read their statement for you. They say, quote, "Following attacks on three nuclear sites in Iran, including Fordow, the IAEA can confirm that no increase in offsite radiation levels has been reported as of this time." Saying also that they will be giving further assessments through throughout the day. That was a fairly swift response from the IAEA, appreciating the concern in the region that this could have some kind of environmental damage.

[04:15:00]

ANDERSON: Yes. And you were talking about the relationship between Iran and Saudi Arabia. There's been a warming of relations between the UAE, where we are, and Iran of course as well. Look, there is -- and I think it's very clear, there is no love loss for this regime's policy on its nuclear program. And there are concerns about whether or not they have an intention to build a bomb. There are also concerns about their supply of ballistic missiles and of course, the army of these proxy militia around the region, which has somewhat degraded and defanged over the past sort of nine months or so.

But there has also been this concern, and this is the reason for the calls for de-escalation and calm, and I think the Saudi's repeating what they have been saying now for a week. There is real concern, I think, around this region, about the collapse of a regime at this point, and the chaos, confusion, potential civil war that that could result in and the sort of cascade effect that that might have around this region.

There is also a real, you know, push for de-escalation, economic integration around this region as these countries of course are on this economic sort of missions to improve their economies and prosperity. And of course, they've been pushing Iran to get more involved regionally, as it were offering opportunities for economic integration?

HANCOCKS: Well, I mean, you point out the economic part of it, Donald Trump, the U.S. president, was only here last month. He was here and he was talking about the heralding of the birth of a new Middle East. I mean, he had the idea of this becoming what it is, an economic powerhouse. He had tapped into that part of it. He had made billions of dollars of deals whilst he was in the region. And this was really his focus when it came to these Gulf Nations, which, of course, was music to the ears of Saudi Arabia, of Qatar, of the UAE, this is what they want to be focusing on. They don't want to be focusing on the potential of -- you know, of radiation leak just across the water in Iran.

And so, we have been seeing an outreach by the UAE, by Saudi towards Iran and sort of trying to encourage them to come to the diplomatic table because they don't want them to have a nuclear program. They don't want them to have nuclear weapons. And they also want them to stop arming their proxies around the region. They see this as highly destabilizing. They have proxies in Iraq, in Syria, of course, Hezbollah and Hamas have been degraded, but they still exist.

And so, this is what these nations here have really been pushing for. And of course, now, that's all on hold.

ANDERSON: Yes. Oman, of course, one of the GCC states, the host for most of the talks to date with the U.S. and Iran, not all of them, but most of the men were due to host the last series of those talks, which was on Sunday next week. Donald Trump has, of course, left the door open to further negotiation. He has pointed out that this is ostensibly a one-off strike on these facilities, hoping that that will encourage the pathway to peace. Let's see what happens. Paula Hancocks with me, thank you.

We are following breaking news out of Israel and out of Iran this hour. When we return, the latest on those U.S. strikes on Iran and what it could mean for the U.S. going forward. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:20:00]

ANDERSON: -- foreign ministry has accused the U.S., quote, "of betraying democracy and starting a dangerous war." One which will have, quote, "everlasting consequences," they say. Well, this comes hours after the United States launched strikes against three of Iran's top nuclear facilities. Sources familiar with the operation tells CNN that the U.S. used bunker buster bombs and cruise missiles in the attack.

Well, this video broadcast by Iranian state media shows smoke rising from the direction of the Fordow facility that you see here on the map. A U.S. official tells CNN that the U.S. dropped a dozen bunker buster bombs on Fordow alone. However, a lawmaker representing the city of Qom says the damage there was quite superficial.

Well, I'm broadcasting from Abu Dhabi, CNN's Middle East broadcasting headquarters, a region that has been concerned about the escalation that we are seeing, even before these U.S. strikes. We are now getting regional reaction to the U.S. move. Saudi Arabia has condemned the U.S. strikes as, and I quote here, "a violation of the sovereignty of the Islamic Republic of Iran." The Kingdom statement calls on all parties to exercise restraint and de-escalation.

Well, there doesn't seem to be any sign of de-escalation based on the fact that we've seen missile strikes from Iran hit multiple sites in Israel just in the last few hours. Then Israel exchanging missile strikes on facilities in Western Iran.

Well, it's worth remembering that earlier in the week, the foreign ministers of 20 Arab and Muslim countries, including those here in the Gulf, the UAE, Saudi, for example, and Egypt in the wider Middle East, releasing a joint statement, presenting a real unified front, asserting, and I quote, "The need to respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of states and the principles of good neighborliness." Well, joining me now to discuss what's going on is Sanam Vakil. She's the director of the Middle East North Africa program at Chatham House. You and I have been speaking on a regular basis over the past a week or so. And let me start with this Gulf reaction. Gulf and wider Middle East reaction. Strong words from Saudi Arabia of the latest U.S. move, which is striking, given the close working relationship between Mohammed bin Salman and President Trump, what do you make of that?

[04:25:00]

SANAM VAKIL, DIRECTOR, MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA PROGRAM, CHATHAM HOUSE: Well, for the Gulf States, but I think for the broader region this is a real dangerous moment. They're very worried that Iran will make good on its threats and respond to the U.S. strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities by not just attacking U.S. military bases, but perhaps also striking Gulf infrastructure, and they're seeking to avoid that wider escalation. And here the condemnations, the very direct condemnations are trying to signal to Iran that the Gulf states are not playing a role in what's happening. They're not supportive of these strikes and are really looking to find an off-ramp back to the negotiating table.

ANDERSON: What do you make of what happened overnight?

VAKIL: I think that the U.S. strikes were somewhat inevitable. President Trump gave this arbitrary decision to decide in two weeks, but I think the decision was already made as U.S. assets were moving to the region and it became very clear that European-led diplomacy wasn't going to arrive at a quick solution.

President Trump is impulsive, he is impatient, and he wanted to show that the United States would take steps to defend Israel, but ultimately, to set back a principle security challenge for the U.S. and U.S. partners in the region. And that is Iran's nuclear program.

But he was careful, he telegraphed the strikes. He sent messages of warning to Iran in advance. I think he wants this to end with a negotiation, with a deal, and one that he can show is a victory at setting back Iran's nuclear program and one where he personally is responsible for rewriting stability in and across the Middle East.

ANDERSON: He was keen to highlight his responsibility for the targeted killing of Qasem Soleimani in -- towards the backend of his last term, pointing out that that was a one-off strike. There was nothing further. And that at the time he felt that was sufficient and that the message was very clear about where the U.S. stood with this Iranian regime.

He has been very clear about saying that effectively this is a one-off operation. He wants to see the Iranians back at the negotiating table, which just does not seem to be a realistic wish at this point. What's your sense?

VAKIL: I think you're quite right in this projection of this as a one-off. But it's hard to see the Iranians immediately returning to the negotiating table. Really, because Iran's supreme leader, who is in hiding effectively. We have to wait and see what he says. His statements will be really indicative of what Iran does next. He will inevitably need a deal. Ali Khamenei is cautious and has always put regime survival ahead of everything.

But at the same time, I think the likely scenario is Iran responding also perhaps in a careful way, striking maybe a U.S. base that has been emptied, giving advanced warning, similar to Iran's response in 2020 after Qasem Soleimani was killed. They hit a U.S. base in Iraq and gave advanced warning. So, that is a scenario that could lead to careful de-escalation and maybe direct diplomacy between Tehran and Washington.

But what worries me, two things. First of all, the president is impatient and doesn't have the bandwidth for protracted negotiation. And the Iranians do want to extract concessions. They want sanctions relief. They're looking for some security guarantees. And I'm not convinced that President Trump can bear a longer negotiation. Two, can the Iranians trust him? And three. will the U.S. president be able to restrain Israel and secure Prime Minister Netanyahu's buy-in should a deal be reached?

ANDERSON: On the flip side, and you are talking, you know, clearly about what -- you know, what is very obvious here, which is a deficit of trust, massive deficit of trust between the U.S. and Iran at this point.

[04:30:00]

On the flip side, we've been talking to one commentator from our Amouage (ph) Media this morning who have been, you know, working their sources. It does appear at least to them they are reporting that the Trump team gave advance notice of the bombing of these nuclear sites to Iran itself. Does that surprise you? If that -- if indeed that is the case.

VAKIL: It doesn't surprise me, particularly if president Trump wants this to be a one and done operation. He didn't pumpelly p (ph) run, of course, he wanted to showcase that the United States could put its money where its mouth is, that the United States and he himself took the final blows to, quote/unquote, "eliminate" Iran's nuclear program. But I think he's looking for a climb down.

And that's why there was this advanced warning, and it would be interesting to note if that warning came with additional messages to suggest that the United States wants this to end between a meeting perhaps between Iran's foreign minister and Steve Witkoff or Vice President Vance? Is this going to be what the United States wants? It's going to have to continue to telegraph that to build confidence across the Iranian system because Ali Khamenei's impulse, of course, is trust -- mistrust. This is a president that he blames obviously for the U.S. withdrawal from the JCPOA in 2018. The U.S. didn't meet Iran at the negotiating table in musket on June 15th. Instead, they supported Israeli strikes.

So, can Khamenei support another round of negotiations? That's what we have to wait and see and hear from his tone and his messages. ANDERSON: Good to have you, Sanam. Thank you. Sanam Vakil in the house. Our breaking news coverage continues ahead as we learn who knew what about the U.S. strikes on Iran and when? More than that after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:35:00]

ANDERSON: Welcome back. You're watching CNN Newsroom. I'm Becky Anderson from our Middle East programming headquarters here in Abu Dhabi.

Let me get you back to the breaking news and what we know at this hour. And in Israel, rescue workers are operating in several locations across the country after a fresh wave of Iranian missiles. Drone video geolocated by CNN shows extensive damage to buildings in Tel Aviv. These are the first attacks launched by Iran since the U.S. struck three of the country's nuclear sites Saturday night into Sunday morning.

Well, a U.S. official tell CNN that American B-2 bombers and navy submarines hit facilities in Fordow, in Natanz, and in Isfahan. Video broadcast by Iranian state media shows smoke rising from the direction of the Fordow nuclear site following those strikes. Iran's foreign ministry says the U.S. has begun a quote, "dangerous war" against Iran.

Well, President Trump addressed Americans on Saturday night praising the operation. He called it a quote, "spectacular military success."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I want to congratulate the great American patriots who flew those magnificent machines tonight and all of the United States military on an operation, the likes of which the world has not seen in many, many decades. Hopefully, we will no longer need their services in this capacity. I hope that so.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Well, some U.S. lawmakers reportedly got word in advance about the strikes, but the notification went strictly along party lines. Sources say the top House and Senate Republicans were given advanced notice. The same applies to their fellow party chairman of the House and the Senate Intelligence Committees, but their Democratic counterparts were informed after the fact, even though they all are usually briefed about major military engagements.

Well, following the U.S. strikes on Iran, then there's some division among Republicans over President Trump's actions. How Speaker Mike Johnson praised Trump saying the strikes will, quote, "the America First policy in action." He said this attack sends a clear message concerning that a nuclear armed Iran will not be tolerated. Well, the GOP support was not universal. Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, for example, posting that, this is not the United States' fight, while emphasizing Israel's role in escalating tensions.

And House Republican Thomas Massie echoed green saying, quote, "This is not our war." Massie said he is introducing a resolution to prohibit the United States from further involvement.

Well, this divide among the GOP has been brewing since Israel launched its attacks such as less than two weeks ago on Iran. Trump has been criticized by many vocal supporters, including former Fox News host, Tucker Carlson, former White House adviser Steve Bannon. It's not yet clear if MAGA will coalesce around Trump now that the strikes have actually occurred.

Well, for more we're joined by Natasha Lindstaedt. She's a professor of government at the University of Essex. She's speaking to us from Southampton in England today. We saw images of Donald Trump surrounded by his team in the Situation Room. His Secretary of State Marco Rubio, a more traditional Republican hawk, Vice President J.D. Vance there. He's much more of a sort of a voice that leans towards the MAGA isolationist side of the party, warning against getting the U.S. military involved in an open-ended war.

I just wonder what your sort of reading of this is. We don't know whether this is an open-ended war or not. Certainly, Donald Trump is suggesting this was a one-off operation at this point. So, from your sort of reading of this, which side of the sort of divide, the Republican divide is sort of whispering more loudly in his ear at this point?

NATASHA LINDSTAEDT, PROFESSOR OF GOVERNMENT, UNIVERSITY OF ESSEX: So, so far what we're seeing is that Republicans are getting in line behind Trump. Steve Bannon, who, as you mentioned, is more part of that MAGA isolationist group, has even said this, that Republicans, that MAGA is going to support Trump and his decision to get involved in this conflict. And the way Trump is selling this is this is just an attack on Iran's nuclear sites, that this is not going to involve U.S. troops being directly involved in Iran, that, of course, would be very unpopular just with the American public.

[04:40:00]

We had a poll from two days ago by YouGov that showed that 60 percent of Americans didn't want the U.S. to get involved at all. That broke down to 65 percent Democrats, 61 percent independents, and some 53 percent Republicans. But this may be more similar to when George Bush Sr. attacked Iraq the first time, and that ended up leading to sort of a rally around the flag situation where his approval rating went up to 90 percent. I don't see that happening with Trump's case. But what I do see happening is Republicans rallying around this decision and it will be framed as he's getting rid of or eliminating Iran's nuclear program, and that was something that he had promised to do.

ANDERSON: President Trump's certainly counting this as a spectacular military success. It does come only days after he said he would make the decision within two weeks as to whether he was going to get involved in this fight. I wonder from your standpoint what changed? LINDSTAEDT: I mean, that's a really good question because I didn't think he was going to do it. I thought he was using his usual comment that it's going to take two weeks, and that he wasn't going to go ahead with this because he was concerned about the backlash from the MAGA movement. But what we're seeing is he is a risk taker. He tends to operate out of his gut what he thinks is going to happen, but also, political was reporting that Netanyahu had been applying a huge pressure campaign on Trump to get involved that the U.S. was needed, because it's the only country that has these bunker buster bombs of 30,000 pounds that are capable of attacking a nuclear site that is far underground, like the nuclear site in Fordow.

So, my read on this is that he received a lot of pressure from Netanyahu, that this was going to be successful and that if he did so, this was going to ensure that Iran's nuclear program was eliminated once and for all. Now, the one thing that I do think is that Trump's view of his involvement in the conflict is to get rid of the nuclear site, whereas Israel, under Netanyahu wants to completely annihilate Iran and wants regime change. And so, I don't think they're on the same page in terms of the long-term plans.

ANDERSON: We saw those images last week of Steve Bannon heading into the White House, have lunch with Donald Trump. Many read that as a sign that Trump was actually, you know, listening more to that MAGA perspective, arguing against strikes. I just want to -- I'm going to leave it here with you, whether Trump, or just how much Trump will be considering political fallout or the potential political fallout of this decision. How robust is that base, I think, is frankly what I'm asking?

LINDSTAEDT: Right. I mean, I thought that he was going to be listening to MAGA a little bit more, but he has tended, particularly in this second administration, his second term, to just do what he wants to do, and he assumes that MAGA will follow. And thus far, he's been correct on this, that Republicans have gotten in line behind him.

I mean, it's not all Republicans. Of course, there are some that disagree with him. But they have mostly gotten behind him on key decisions. So, we look at the case of Tucker Carlson who was interviewing Ted Cruz, and it was sort of this embarrassing interview where he was pressing him on Iran and that he didn't know much about Iran. And he was one of the harshest critics of the U.S. getting involved in Iran. And thus, far he's been very silent on X. And so, hasn't really tweeted anything to his 16 million followers.

And so, some of Trump's harshest critics haven't been as vocal as you think that they might be. And I think Trump believes that when he makes a decision, his following is so loyal and so behind him that they are going to get in line. Now, whether that's true of independents who voted for him, probably not. But he seems to have a stronghold over his base.

ANDERSON: And the coalition now remains intact for the time being at least. Natasha, thank you. Natasha Lindstaedt with her perspective this morning. For more breaking news coverage from the Middle East for you ahead, the latest on the aftermath of the U.S. strikes on three nuclear facilities in Iran and Iran's follow-on strikes that have damaged parts of Israel. More on that coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:45:00]

ANDERSON: Well, an update now on the breaking news in the Middle East. Iran's officials state news agency published this video a short time ago. It says, this is smoke rising from the Fordow nuclear facility. That's where American B-2 bombers dropped bunker buster bombs overnight local time. Well, the U.S. struck a total of three Iranian nuclear sites. Iran's foreign minister says the U.S. strikes will have, quote, "everlasting consequences."

Well, in Israel, new video shows damage in Tel Aviv after Iran targeted the country with a wave of missiles. Israel's Ministry of Health says 86 people were admitted to hospital with injuries. These strikes happened after the U.S. decided to get involved in the fight overnight with its strikes on the Iranian nuclear facilities. Israeli Emergency Services says there is large-scale destruction in parts of the country.

Well, U.S. officials came to believe that Iran wouldn't unconditionally sit down to seal a nuclear deal, according to sources familiar with the situation. That determination came after European leaders gathered in Switzerland, in Geneva at back end of the week to try to bring about a diplomatic solution, but with no tangible results.

They met with Iran's foreign minister who insisted any talks with the U.S. could only follow if Israel stopped bombing Iran. Well, President Trump was unwilling to press for that. As a result, it appears he was determined that time consuming negotiations were not worth repeating.

Sorry. Larry Madowo is monitoring response to U.S. strikes and he joins me now live from London. Larry.

LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Becky, we're hearing from around the world reactions to these U.S. strikes. A short while ago, the International Atomic Energy Agency calling for an emergency meeting of the Board of Governors tomorrow. They have been criticized by Iran, which claimed that they supervised these U.S. strikes. They maintain that they're a neutral watchdog, but in calling for an emergency session of the U.S. Security Council, Iran directly blamed them for not doing enough to stop this, essentially.

Well, we've also heard from the British prime minister, Keir Starmer, who said that Iran should go back to the negotiating table and saying that Iran's nuclear program is a grave threat to international security. Iran can never be allowed to have a nuclear weapon, and the U.S. has taken action to alleviate that threat. So, that's one reaction.

[04:50:00]

On the other hand, Saudi Arabia condemning these strikes and saying it was a violation of Iranian sovereignty, and saying the parties need to de-escalate and go back to these diplomatic talks. But we're hearing from Iranian state media who are downplaying the effect of these strikes, saying they didn't have any major damage. They were probably just affecting Fordow, for instance, just the entrances and exits. And this pundit had a strong warning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MEHDI KHANALIZADEH, POLITICS AND HOST OF "FOREIGN POLICY" PROGRAMME (through translator): From this point on, Iran recognizes no red lines. The Islamic Republic of Iran now considers all U.S. military bases in the region, and all 40,000 to 50,000 American military personnel stationed there as legitimate targets for military strikes and the killing of U.S. soldiers. It was the United States that started this game and entered a war that had nothing to do with it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MADOWO: And that's something that the U.N. secretary general warned against the potential for an escalation here. He called it the grave -- the potential for grave -- escalation in the war. And this is a region already on edge, Becky, saying there's no military solution. The only solution is peace and diplomacy.

ANDERSON: Yes, and an understandable sense of anxiety around the wider region where I am here, in the Gulf region. And calls from countries here. We've just got Qatar's call for de-escalation, for calm, you know, real concern about this widening a conflict which is already extremely destabilizing for the region. Larry, thank you.

Well, Israel and Iran resume attacking each other hours after the U.S. hit Iranian nuclear sites. Still ahead, a residential building destroyed after an Iranian missile hits the Tel Aviv area. More on that after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:55:00]

ANDERSON: Israeli Emergency Services officials say an Iranian missile has caused a large-scale destruction in Tel Aviv. Drone video here shows extensive damage to these buildings and rescue crews working to sift through the rubble. Israel's Ministry of Health says 86 people were admitted to hospital with injuries. Iran and Israel have resumed airstrikes against each other, hours after the U.S. launched its own strikes on Iran.

Donald Trump says the U.S. airstrikes have, quote, "obliterated" three of Iran's largest nuclear facilities. But Iranian officials are downplaying the damage. Iran's Atomic Agency insists it will continue its nuclear program and is demanding the International Community condemn the United States. Well, thanks for joining us. I'm Becky Anderson at our Middle East programming headquarters in Abu Dhabi. It is the top of the hour here. So, we will be taking a very short break. But we would be back with our breaking news coverage after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:00:00]