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Fragile Israel-Iran Ceasefire Now Appears On Hold; Trump Attends NATO Summit in The Netherlands. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired June 25, 2025 - 03:00   ET

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

[03:00:00]

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UNKNOWN (voice-over): This is CNN Breaking News.

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT AND ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers watching in the United States and all around the world. I'm Polo Sandoval, in New York.

And we begin with new questions about the impact of the U.S. military strikes on Iran nuclear facilities this past weekend. In particular, President Trump's assertion that they totally obliterated, in his words, Iran's nuclear program.

Now CNN was first to report on a preliminary intelligence assessment produced by the Defense Intelligence Agency. It found that U.S. strikes may have set Iran's nuclear program back by not years, but possibly just a few months, and that it did not destroy its core components deep underground.

Now, this is early intelligence, it's an important caveat, and it could change as more analysis comes in. An Israeli assessment finding less damage at the Fordow facility than expected. They say U.S. and Israeli strikes have set back the nuclear program by two years, but President Trump and the White House are pushing back on this claim.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: They hit the target perfectly, wiped it out, and the press is very disrespectful. It was perfect. They said maybe it did destroy it, we agree it did destroy it, but maybe it could have destroyed it more.

No, it couldn't have destroyed it more. Everyone hit, and it's very disrespectful to those great geniuses and patriots that flew those planes through tremendous danger.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: And point of point out, this assessment does not specifically discuss the actions of those pilots, but more, again, the effectiveness of that operation. Meanwhile, the fragile ceasefire between Israel and Iran appears to be holding, as you see here, some signs of normalcy returning to some of those communities. People across Israel are heading back to work, and schools, as air raid sirens have finally fallen silent.

CNN's Salma Abdelaziz, live in London with the latest. Tell us more about this initial assessment that could, again, an important caveat, could change.

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, so now that this fragile truce is in place and it does appear to be holding on the ground, the question is how do you maintain that peace and avoid further conflict, and also how, of course, do you assess the relative success of these military operations by the United States and Israel.

For President Trump, there is absolutely no question here. He is describing this as a victory, he says that the military has achieved the objectives he set out for it, which was the destruction of Iran's nuclear program. And his administration has pushed back against any question of that when it comes to those assessments.

The White House Press Secretary, when asked about them, described them as essentially an insult to President Trump in a way of deriding the U.S. military. Another U.S. official, Steve Witkoff, said that the sources behind this assessment could be considered treasonous.

And, of course, Prime Minister Netanyahu of Israel is echoing that absolute sense of victory. Take a listen to what he said in an address to his nation yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): We have thwarted Iran's nuclear project. If anyone in Iran attempts to revive this project, we will act with the same determination, with the same strength to cut off any such attempt. I say again, Iran will not have nuclear weapons.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ABDELAZIZ: Now, important to remember here, of course, that Israel had been carrying out strikes against Iran's nuclear facilities for several days, but it had insisted that it needed the United States' bunker-busting bombs in order to finish its mission. And that's exactly what occurred. The U.S., of course, stepping in over the weekend, dropping over a dozen of these 30,000-pound bombs, which were supposed to destroy Iran's nuclear programs, hidden deep underground.

But, again, multiple sources now behind this assessment, briefing CNN, two of them, two of these sources saying at least that Iran's stockpile of enriched uranium was not destroyed. Another source saying that the centrifuges are largely intact. And one intelligence official saying that enriched uranium and other assets were moved out of the sites before the U.S. strikes.

The assessment is here that the U.S. strikes only set back Iran perhaps by a few months. Israel also has carried out an assessment. And, again, as you have been pointing out, these are early assessments, so we must take them, of course, with that caveat.

Israel's assessment saying the damage, particularly to the Fordow nuclear plant, was less than expected in that it set back Iran by two years in its nuclear program.

[03:05:06]

Iran, for its part, is pushing aside any claims of victory from both the United States and Israel, saying that it has been able to keep its nuclear program intact. But, look, experts will tell you, Polo, that it is extremely difficult to just bomb a nuclear program out of existence. So that begs the question, will diplomacy take place?

You'll remember, of course, that President Trump was engaged in diplomatic efforts to reach a nuclear deal with Iran right up until the 11th hour of this conflict. So does that resume?

Iran's President seems to indicate that he's willing and open to talks with the United States again. So there does seem to be a door there.

But for President Trump, who wants a quick exit to this conflict, these assessments make it very difficult to imagine that the off-ramp is going to be that simple.

SANDOVAL: We heard from a retired army general in the last hour saying diplomacy is the only way. This is a former general saying it's diplomacy and not military action. Salma Abdelaziz in London, thank you so much for that full report.

Well right now, President Donald Trump is in the Netherlands for the NATO Leaders Summit, getting underway at this hour. As he left Washington on Tuesday, he shared private messages that he received from NATO Secretary General.

In them, he's praising President Trump's decision to launch those U.S. strikes on Iran. In the messages, Mark Rutte writes, "Congratulations and thank you for your decisive action on Iran. That was truly extraordinary," according to those texts, adding that makes us all safer.

Now he also says all member nations will commit to spending at least 5 percent of their GDP on defense, up from two percent, a longtime demand of President Trump's. The NATO chief commended Trump again, saying the spending commitment, quote, "will be your win."

Live now to The Hague, where this is happening at this hour, CNN's Clare Sebastian. We heard a little while ago also from the Secretary General saying that it was quote, "totally fine" that the U.S. President shared those one-on-one text messages. And now, as you report, NATO seems to be really pulling out all the stops to keep Trump engaged.

Does it seem to work where you are? CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, look, this is clearly a NATO

summit for the Trump era. It has been shaped by the U.S. President even before he arrived. He has determined, I think, to some degree, the schedule and certainly the banner deliverable that this summit hopes to sort of bring to a close today, with the 32 members signing on to the final communique.

Is that 5 percent of GDP defense spending target? That is a number that Trump himself named.

All of this has been designed to hand President Trump that foreign policy win. And this is something that the NATO Secretary General has worked extremely hard to do, I think evidenced by those text messages which a NATO official told us on Tuesday were real.

He was asked about them multiple times on arrival this morning. And he said, look, you know, I don't mind that they were made public, it was a statement of fact. But I think it is critical to note, even though you won't find anyone here who thinks that spending more on defense, certainly for NATO's European members, is a bad idea, that they have had to spend the bulk of their time essentially responding to controversial remarks from President Trump.

For example, on the plane on the way over, he sort of refused to fully endorse NATO's Article 5, saying there are multiple definitions. The Dutch Prime Minister, when asked about that this morning, said Article 5 is very clear.

He called Spain a problem. Spain, of course, has objected to that five percent target, has negotiated some flexibility in the language with NATO so that it perhaps doesn't have to get there in order to meet NATO's capability targets, as they're known, essentially the kind of kit and equipment that they collectively need to produce and have in their stockpiles to have that kind of readiness that they need.

That also came up this morning as the leaders have been arriving here at NATO.

So, look, it is designed to deliver that win for Trump. I think for NATO, a win will be a sign, any sign, of the U.S.' enduring commitment to the alliance. Polo?

SANDOVAL: Clearly, the conflict between Israel and Iran is going to dominate many of these conversations. Keeping that in mind, Clare, do you see NATO keeping Ukraine on the agenda with the president, expected to meet with the Ukrainian President on the sidelines?

SEBASTIAN: Yes, look, I think for President Zelenskyy, who is here, but has been given a slightly lesser role than he has in previous wartime NATO summits, for example, there's no NATO-Ukraine council meeting happening on the sidelines of this one. I think the key deliverable for him will, of course, be that bilateral meeting that we expect to happen with President Trump.

We don't know yet exactly when that's going to happen, but we know, of course, that he missed the meeting that he was scheduled to have with Trump at the G7 last week, so this would be a make-good of that.

And we know from the Secretary General as well that they are trying very hard to keep Ukraine sort of front and center. He said that it's very safe to assume yesterday that there will be, and I quote, "important language on Ukraine" in the final statement, but of course the whole object of NATO, as I said, is consensus, and that will be delicate given that we see the U.S. priorities pretty much elsewhere right now.

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So that is the situation, and I think with President Trump here, really the key thing for all the leaders here is to watch the tone that he strikes on NATO and what that says about the U.S.'s position within this alliance, because I think if those text messages show us anything from Mark Rutte, it's that they really can't afford to do without the U.S. Polo?

SANDOVAL: CNN's Clare Sebastian reporting live from The Hague. Thank you for that.

And still to come here on "CNN Newsroom," the Senate's top Democrat and other lawmakers, they want answers after the Trump administration postponed classified briefings on the strikes in Iran. The explanation from the White House, just ahead.

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SANDOVAL: Welcome back to our breaking news coverage.

U.S. lawmakers, they are pushing the Trump administration for more details on the weekend strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities, but on Tuesday, the White House postponed all congressional briefings on the strikes until later this week.

CNN's chief congressional correspondent, Manu Raju, reporting now from Capitol Hill.

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MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: There are still a lot of questions on Capitol Hill about the impact of the strikes, the unprecedented strikes launched by the U.S. against those three Iranian nuclear facilities over the weekend and whether or not Iran can in fact still build a nuclear weapon, how fast it could do so, or whether it totally and completely obliterated key nuclear enrichment sites, as Donald Trump said on Saturday night.

Now, I put that question to John Thune, the Senate Majority Leader, whether or not he in fact agrees with Donald Trump's assessment, but he did not go that far.

SEN. JOHN THUNE (R-SD), U.S. SENATE MAJORITY LEADER: Now, I don't, I'm not sure I have, you might want to hear from Senator Cotton, who chairs the Intelligence Committee, an answer on the full extent, but we know for sure that their nuclear program was set back considerably, and that is a victory not only for that region, but for our country's national security interests.

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY), U.S. SENATE MINORITY LEADER: If the press reporting about the impact of last weekend's strikes in Iran is true, and I cannot confirm them, then that might be the reason why the administration postponed our classified briefing today at the very last minute and deprived senators of their right to know what's happening. So I ask again, what is the administration hiding? It's time for answers.

RAJU: That last comment coming from Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, referring to the fact that the Trump administration scrapped scheduled briefings on Tuesday for senators and House members. They have delayed those until Thursday for senators, Friday for House members.

They contended, the White House did, that it was because of an ongoing and evolving situation in the Middle East. They wanted to get all the right briefers in line to talk to House members and senators, but Democrats said that there was something to hide. That was their accusation.

And one of the things they're pointing to is new reporting from our colleagues at CNN showing that initial intelligence assessments don't line up with Donald Trump's claim that Iran's nuclear capabilities were completely and totally obliterated, suggesting that it was set back, but not as far as what Donald Trump had said. That is one question that senators and House members will have for these key briefers later this week.

The White House pushes back against that initial intelligence assessment, but what do the facts actually say? That's what members on both sides of the aisle and in both chambers want to know when they hear from those key briefers in a classified setting later this week.

Manu Raju, CNN, Capitol Hill.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL: And keeping everything you just heard just now, let's get some analysis now from Leslie Vinjamuri. She's head of the U.S. and Americas program at Chatham House at the Royal Institute of International Affairs. Welcome, Leslie.

LESLIE VINJAMURI, HEAD OF U.S. AND AMERICAS PROGRAM, CHATHAM HOUSE: Thank you.

SANDOVAL: I've really been looking forward to this. You just heard Manu's reporting right now. What do you make of the Trump administration postponing this congressional briefing on Iran?

Could it be, as we heard from some Democrats, that the administration is just trying to essentially postpone having to face some criticism from both sides of the aisle? Or could there be a legitimate reason there since this assessment is initial, is preliminary, and could it be the Trump administration just waiting to learn more?

VINJAMURI: Well, it's very difficult to assess intentions. I think that the key issue here is that if we listen to the experts that have been considering this for a very long time, there is a consensus view that you cannot eliminate these nuclear capabilities of enriching uranium simply by bombing. Even if the bombing, as highly suspected, has set back Iran's capabilities significantly, there was never going to be, as the President claimed, any evidence that there would be complete obliteration of the program. Highly unlikely.

So there's clearly a domestic political question, how the President wants this to be portrayed, what the debate will be internally, what the intelligence says. It's absolutely vital that the intelligence is communicated to the people that need to know clearly and that there is a rigorous and serious public debate.

But the equally and more critical conversation at this point in time is how to develop a policy that takes advantage of this particular moment to really move forward with negotiations, which are absolutely critical now. There is a ceasefire, we don't know how long that will hold.

But pushing down on that willingness now at a moment of weakness for Iran to really take forward negotiations so that there can be some assurance that that nuclear program is stalled, is stopped.

[03:20:01]

And that is a very important, very critical thing at this point in time. And while, again, the domestic debate is critical, the real lines need to be on the prize of delivering stability in the Middle East and dealing with that nuclear program is absolutely top of mind for Israel.

I'm sure it is. It should be for President Trump, who, of course, is currently at the NATO summit. And there are multiple crises, but this is absolutely critical to deal with right now.

SANDOVAL: No, and I'm so glad that you punctuate what is that critical question. It's not necessarily what the Iranian regime is doing, but what they will do. And that's certainly something that is still yet to be answered.

Now, the Trump administration, as you know, they floated this idea of returning to the negotiating table after everything that all these nations have been through and the people from these nations. Do you see Iran, Leslie, do you see them wanting to join negotiations again?

VINJAMURI: Yes, I think Iran, at many points, has been willing to be part of negotiations much more than the United States. As we know, it was President Trump in his first term who pulled out of the JCPOA, the Iran deal that Iran was, according to the inspectors, the U.N. was complying with.

And Iran has indicated, even in recent months, and been very willing to negotiate. So I think that there is, of course, Iran has nuclear ambitions. We shouldn't be surprised.

That doesn't mean we should be glad. We certainly don't wish, nobody wishes Iran to have a nuclear weapon. The prospects for that are very real.

And so these negotiations become absolutely critical. And being able to get to a position that we were in many years ago, where you can have inspectors, right now there's no oversight of what Iran is actually doing, which is why we're having this debate about the intelligence, because we don't have inspectors in.

And so using this moment again, and to get Israel on board this very important moment as well, so that there isn't an immediate or even medium-term return to a war between Israel and Iran.

SANDOVAL: And finally, in the last few moments I have with you, Leslie, I'm curious if I can get your thoughts on a story that I'm sure you've been following here, which is the race for the mayor of America's largest city here in New York, former Governor Andrew Cuomo, conceding in Tuesday's mayoral primary.

From your opinion here, what do Tuesday's results that Zoran Mamdani seems to be the leader at this point, ahead of the count next month? What do those results tell you about New York politics? And I think most importantly, about the Democratic Party in general, that they turn to this relatively young, self-described socialist, looking for some change within their party.

VINJAMURI: Well, I think the change is the big thing. It's very hard to read off of one election what's happening across an entire party. And the story of the Democrats has been for some time now that there are many different elements of that party, some much more progressive, some much more moderate.

And it's a party that is really digging deep and trying to kind of recalibrate itself. So one doesn't want to, certainly not of all cities in the United States, the one I absolutely love, one doesn't want to read an entire party off of what happens in one race. It's a critical race.

People clearly want change. There's a lot of specificity to these particular candidates, as we all know. But it's certainly quite something.

As you know, I will be returning to the United States as of next week and can say a lot more about that. But the consequences will be read by many people for what does it mean about the Democratic Party. But look at local.

Politics are always very deeply local.

SANDOVAL: Yes, absolutely. Certainly important not to dismiss all those local politics. Leslie Vinjamuri, so glad that we have your analysis, not just on the local politics, but certainly that crisis that continues to rage in the Middle East.

Thank you for your time. Safe travels.

VINJAMURI: Thank you.

SANDOVAL: So meanwhile, Kenya is marking a grim anniversary. It's been now one year since protests against a controversial finance bill turned deadly on the streets. And protests, they are now taking place on the streets of Nairobi to mark the anniversary.

CNN's Larry Madowo is there, joining us with the very latest. Larry, I remember all of your incredible reporting a year ago, and now there seems to be yet again a wave of protests. What's the situation there?

LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Polo, many people are back on the streets to mark the first anniversary of those killings outside Parliament and to raise their voices against police brutality in general. You might ask, if these are peaceful protests, why are we wearing a flak jacket like a war zone?

[03:25:01]

The reason is because Kenyan police shoot even unarmed civilians. And on this very street a week ago, a street vendor selling masks was shot by police.

He was not a threat to them. And that's part of the reason why people are out here protesting the repeated instances of police brutality in the country and President Ruto's government's inability to act on it. These latest waves of protests were instigated by the death of a teacher in police custody.

The deputy Kenyan police chief had complained that he had tarnished his name on social media. He was arrested, and a day later he was found dead in a police cell. Police initially claimed he had died by suicide by banging his head on the wall.

And when that did not work, the people didn't believe it, they did finally admit that he had been murdered in police custody, and that's still an ongoing investigation. So many of these people are here to once again raise their voices against the state of the country that they're unhappy with.

It's very early in the morning, but the streets of Nairobi are deserted, many of them carrying Kenyan flags. And they're back here also because we were reporting on this last year outside Parliament, and we saw police shoot unarmed civilians and kill them.

When I report on this, I don't use the word allegedly because we were there and we saw it. Some of them were dancing, some of them were far from Parliament, but they were shot dead because they were complaining about a finance bill that they didn't like.

And today, many of the people in this city, in the capital, but also other parts of the country want to mark that and to say that the sacrifice was not in vain. So the day is still developing. We expect to see a lot more people in the streets, and police have cordoned off Kenya's national parliament to try and make sure people don't get there, as has been threatened by some of the protesters, Polo.

SANDOVAL: A reminder that a year later, that call for changes within the government still remained there in Kenya. Grateful to you and your team for continuing to follow the story a year later. Take care.

Still to come here on "CNN Newsroom," we will show you the aftermath of one of the last strikes before the Israel-Iran ceasefire took effect.

And also chaos at food distribution sites in Gaza, as so many remain desperate for aid. The details when we come back. You're watching "CNN Newsroom."

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SANDOVAL: You're watching "CNN Newsroom." I'm Polo Sandoval, in New York. Let's check in now on today's top stories.

The ceasefire between Israel and Iran appears to be holding for now. People across Israel are now heading back to work and school, resuming some normalcy in their day-to-day lives as air raid alerts have now fallen silent. Iran's President says he won't violate the truce unless Israel does.

And CNN has learned that the U.S. strikes last weekend did not destroy the core component of Iran's nuclear program. Sources say that a U.S. intelligence assessment now suggests that the program was likely set back by a few months. One source also says that enriched uranium was moved before the strikes.

And NATO's Secretary General says that he has absolute clarity that the U.S. is totally committed to the alliance and the mutual defense clause known as Article 5. Mark Rutte praising President Trump for calling for NATO members to spend at least 5 percent of their GDP on defense. And this ahead of gathering, President Trump said that his support for Article 5, quote, "depends on your definition."

And a ceasefire between Iran and Israel that felt so tenuous at this time yesterday appearing to be holding today. In the hours before it took effect, the two sides kept up attacks, inflicting more tragedy during this conflict. CNN's Jeremy Diamond followed this report from the site of one of those deadly Iranian missile blasts.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The final countdown to a ceasefire is often the deadliest. It certainly was in Israel's southern city of Be'er Sheva as the last volleys of Iranian missiles came raining down.

What's left is this picture of utterly avoidable tragedy. The final Israeli victims of this 12-day conflict, a graduating high school senior, her 18-year-old boyfriend and his mother. One more victim has yet to be identified.

An even deadlier picture emerges in Iran, where a punishing wave of Israeli airstrikes killed 107 people in the conflict's final hours, according to the Iranian health ministry.

DIAMOND: In the last hour before that ceasefire went into effect, an Iranian ballistic missile slammed directly into this residential building, killing four people. And now, as you can see, the cleanup crews behind me are clearing the debris. The hope is that it will be the last time they'll have to do that.

DIAMOND (voice-over): As Israel rushes back to normalcy amid a tenuous calm, the residents and rescue crews here are still taking stock of this final deadly strike.

YONATAN HONIG, RESCUE WORKER: You see the big block?

DIAMOND (voice-over): This rescue worker arrived minutes after the missile struck. He is clearly still processing what he saw.

DIAMOND: What did you find in the shelter on the top floor?

HONIG: I found a woman that was not recognizable. He could not tell if it was a woman or a man or anything.

DIAMOND (voice-over): Paramedics said at least three of the victims were on the top floor, which took a direct hit, where no bomb shelter could save them.

DIAMOND: This is where you were when it hit.

DIAMOND (voice-over): But in the neighboring building --

DIAMOND: Do you think about what if you didn't have that safety room?

ZAUR MIKHAYLOV, BE'ER SHEVA, ISRAEL RESIDENT: I wouldn't be here today.

DIAMOND (voice-over): Zaur and his wife only just moved to Israel nine months ago. Their new apartment now wrecked. They have come back to gather what they can and start over.

MIKHAYLOV: A few minutes later we walked out and we just followed this destruction.

DIAMOND: What went through your mind in that moment?

MIKHAYLOV: God. Not him, not for the safety room. My wife, kids, none of us be here today.

That's the reality of our life here. But we're going to rebuild.

DIAMOND (voice-over): But if it were up to him, that rebuilding would not come without first avenging his neighbor's deaths.

MIKHAYLOV: I want to see a response. Because we just lost four innocent lives over there, behind that building, for no reason. Children and elderly families.

So I want to see a response from our Prime Minister.

DIAMOND (voice-over): But after so much death and destruction in Israel and Iran, quiet prevails. At least for now.

Jeremy Diamond, CNN, Be'er Sheva, Israel.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[03:35:09]

SANDOVAL: Let's stay on the topic and get more analysis now from Mairav Zonszein. She is a former senior, she's a senior, I should say -- she's a senior analyst for Israel at the International Crisis Group and joins me now live from Tel Aviv.

Mairav, it's good to see you. Thank you for joining us.

MAIRAV ZONSZEIN, SR. ANALYST FOR ISRAEL, INTERNATIONAL CRISIS GROUP: Thanks for having me.

SANDOVAL: First, I wonder if you could take us to where you are right now. You just heard our correspondent visiting with some of those civilians that have been deeply affected, even moments before that ceasefire kicked in, Jeremy also reporting that there seems to be this precious calm that is setting in. Is that the sense that you're getting from where you are?

ZONSZEIN: I mean, we went from yesterday, you know, morning in the shelters. Everybody in the country had to be in the shelters on and off for about two hours. There were absolutely all of the restraints that the Home Front Command puts on people in terms of being alert and being close to shelters.

And this morning we woke up to the opposite. Everybody's back to school. Everybody's back to work. The airport, the airspace is open as if nothing happened.

So it's extremely manic to go from one, you know, one set of restraints to complete freedom. It's also a huge relief.

But this morning we're waking up to a very precarious situation. We still don't know exactly what Israel achieved.

Seven soldiers were killed in Gaza. Dozens of Palestinians are being killed in Gaza. There's just, you know, there's a moment of respite, but there's still so much death and unknown that's to go forward now.

SANDOVAL: Without a doubt. And on that point that you just mentioned, I wonder, where does Israel go next, given the initial assessment that CNN reported on Tuesday? Its Prime Minister has insisted that Israeli forces, that they would not rest until Iran is without nuclear capabilities.

So bearing that in mind, if this assessment is accurate, Iran may still have the centrifuges and the uranium it needs. So what will Iran do next?

ZONSZEIN: Well, I don't know exactly what Iran's going to do, but I can tell you that the big talk by Trump and the victory narrative being pushed by Netanyahu that Iran's nuclear program is done is clearly not accurate. It's a little bit early to tell exactly what has happened.

But to be fair, Israel's outlook for months, talking about taking out Iran's nuclear facilities, was that it would be able to set it back by several months. On its own, with U.S. help, maybe a little bit longer.

There was never really, when I speak to Israeli officials, there was never really talk about completely destroying Iran's nuclear capacity. And I think it's pretty clear to anybody who follows the topic, and certainly experts on nuclear proliferation, that this was not an objective. So Israel, I think, is pretty confident that it has set it back by several months.

The question here, I think, going forward is, is there going to be diplomacy? Is there going to be a real deal? And Iran obviously doesn't trust the U.S. at this point.

But if Israel actually wants to really have an achievement, and if the region wants to be a safer place, then there should be some kind of agreement, similar to what we had with the JCPOA, obviously different now, that would put inspection and transparency on Iran's nuclear program.

SANDOVAL: Yes, and what you've heard, we've also heard it echoed by some Republican members of Congress here about the original intention here, which was not to destroy, but at least inflict a certain level of damage on the systems. Now, the ceasefire does appear to be holding. In your view, how likely is it that Israel will actually adhere to this ceasefire, given the previous violations in Lebanon and also in Gaza?

ZONSZEIN: Right. So, I mean, Israel's kind of M.O. since October 7th has been to unilaterally dictate the terms and with a lot of impunity. And obviously each front is different.

In Lebanon, Israel, I think, has probably had the most strategic success. And the ceasefire that it has with Hezbollah is one in which Israel bombs Lebanon whenever it sees it fit or necessary.

In Iran, that's a different situation, because Iran is proven to be more able to cause serious damage, as your reporter just showed. Iran's ballistic missiles, even if they've been hurt, are not completely destroyed. Iran knows how to target strategic assets.

And so there's a level of deterrence between Israel and Iran, where Israel can't, I think, 2000 kilometers away, do the same things that it does in Lebanon or in Gaza. So it's a big question how Israel intends to move forward with this.

And as I said, you know, minus without some kind of deal, I think the ceasefire is going to be very precarious, and it could very easily, you know, escalate quickly once again. And so we also need very much political capital by the Trump administration to stay on the course. And I don't know if that's where he's at.

[03:40:07]

SANDOVAL: And on that point, Mairav Zonszein, we want to thank you for taking some time, and certainly glad to hear that there is a relative calm. But nonetheless, as you underscore, there is still that precarious feeling among so many people there. So thank you very much, and do wish you the best.

ZONSZEIN: Thank you.

SANDOVAL: Well, aid distribution sites in Gaza, they are turning into scenes of deadly chaos. Palestinian health officials saying that dozens were killed by Israeli fire over the course of a day.

CNN's Nada Bashir has more. But first, a warning to our viewers. This story does contain some images that are graphic.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NADA BASHIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): At least 49 people have been killed near aid distribution sites while waiting for aid trucks across Gaza over just 24 hours, according to Palestinian health officials.

On Monday, Gaza's health ministry said at least 21 people had been killed by Israeli fire while waiting for aid just south of the Netzerim Corridor, near a distribution site managed by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. The controversial aid organization, backed by the U.S. and Israel, has been mired in tragedy and deadly chaos, with multiple instances of civilians being killed trying to obtain life- saving aid.

Though on Monday, the organization claimed that aid operations had proceeded smoothly. The Israeli military has said it is reviewing reports of injuries sustained as a result of IDF fire in the area.

Meanwhile in Khan Younis, distressing video obtained by CNN shows civilians being rushed to hospital, wounded while attempting to secure aid elsewhere, according to health officials.

Those who do survive the desperate search for aid still face crippling hunger. The U.N. has repeatedly voiced serious concern and cited that one in five people in Gaza now face starvation.

UNKNOWN (translated): I have lost my children, I have lost my family, I have been displaced. I wait for the food, I'm a human who needs to eat. I want to eat but I have no food or water, everyone is exhausted.

We wait and surrender ourselves to death, we came here to die.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL: And that was CNN's Nada Bashir reporting. Still on the way here on "CNN Newsroom," Americans, they are speaking out about the U.S. military strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities this weekend. What a new CNN poll is revealing about the mission, about sentiment about it, and President Trump's leadership.

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[03:45:00]

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SANDOVAL: There's a new CNN poll that's showing that President Donald Trump's decision to order strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities is broadly unpopular. CNN's Washington Bureau Chief David Chalian breaks down the numbers.

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DAVID CHALIAN, CNN SR. VICE PRESIDENT AND WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF: A brand new CNN poll found out how Americans are responding and feeling about President Trump's decision to launch U.S. military strikes against those nuclear facilities in Iran. And the findings show that it's a broadly unpopular move in the immediate aftermath of the strikes.

Now this poll was taken before any announcement of a ceasefire being in place, but it is instructive. 56 percent of Americans disapprove of Donald Trump's military strikes, 44 percent of Americans approve of Donald Trump's strikes.

And partisan trip drives so much of this. Take a look here.

Obviously, overwhelmingly, Republicans favor the president's action, Democrats oppose it. But look here in the middle, Independents.

That is a crucial political threshold for presidents, to win over independent voters in the middle. 60 percent disapprove, only 40 percent approve.

Now we also ask people, do you think the attacks makes Iran more of a threat to the United States after those attacks or less of a threat?

Nearly 6 in 10 Americans, 58 percent as you see here, say that Iran is more of a threat. And in fact, if you look at the partisan breakdown here, 30 percent of Republicans actually believe Iran is more of a threat after the attacks. So that means some people who approve of the attacks themselves still think those attacks made Iran more of a threat to the United States.

I would also just note that our poll shows a big age divide. The youngest voters, 18 to 34 years old, they are the ones most likely to oppose the president's actions.

David Chalian, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE) SANDOVAL: And we are closely following developments out of The Hague where any moment now U.S. President Donald Trump expected to arrive as he's expected as well to speak alongside NATO's chief. Many questions right now being asked, exactly what will be the United States position on multiple crises and multiple turmoil around the world.

We're going to bring you the very latest after this break. Don't go anywhere.

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[03:50:00]

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SANDOVAL: Welcome back.

U.S. transportation officials, they are putting the blame for last year's door plug blowout on an Alaska Airlines flight on the plane's manufacturer, Boeing. Its supplier, Spirit Aerosystems and the Federal Aviation Administration. At a hearing on Tuesday, they said that the FAA should be the last barrier of defense, but that it showed inadequate oversight in this incident.

Here's CNN's Pete Muntean.

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PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The final cause of the terrifying in-flight blowout on a Boeing 737 MAX has now been determined by the National Transportation Safety Board after a 17- month investigation that put Boeing quality control under the microscope. NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy says it is a miracle that none of the 177 people on board Alaska Airlines flight 1282 were killed.

JENNIFER HOMENDY, CHAIRWOMAN, NATIONAL TRANSPORTATION SAFETY BOARD: The crew shouldn't have had to be heroes because this accident never should have happened.

MUNTEAN (voice-over): For the first time, the NTSB revealed the passengers included three infants without their own seats as well as four children flying alone.

UNKNOWN: The potential for serious injury have been greater?

UNKNOWN: Yes.

MUNTEAN (voice-over): Investigators previously focused on the door plug, an optional emergency exit removed at the Boeing factory in Renton, Washington and reinstalled without the four bolts meant to hold it in place. But now investigators say definitively that Boeing workers were inexperienced, calling their work unstructured and undocumented.

MUNTEAN: Is this fundamentally a Boeing problem or is there something else that is symptomatic here? HOMENDY: I mean, this is a problem within Boeing on procedures that

really relied on a single point of failure.

MUNTEAN (voice-over): Investigators say the plane was then a ticking time bomb, the door plug making invisible movements over 154 flights until at 16,000 feet, the forceful bang between rows 25 and 26, enough to bust open the cockpit door, making it nearly impossible for the crew to communicate.

UNKNOWN: -- Alaska, 12-8-2, we've just depressurized, and we're declaring an emergency, we need to descend down to 10,000.

MUNTEAN (voice-over): The NTSB is now laying out 19 new safety recommendations, calling on the Federal Aviation Administration to step up its oversight of Boeing manufacturing, which the NTSB called deficient. The NTSB also wants Boeing to redesign how the door plug attaches to the airplane so the same failure cannot happen again.

HOMENDY: This could have been catastrophic. There was a lot that went right in a very terrible circumstance.

MUNTEAN: The FAA says in a new statement that it's taking the NTSB's new safety recommendations seriously. Even Trump Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy weighed in, saying that the federal government's limit on 737 max production will remain in place even after these new findings.

Boeing says in a new statement that it regrets this incident, that it's made safety improvements already, and that work is not fully done yet.

[03:55:09]

Pete Muntean, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL: An absolutely brutal heat dome over the eastern United States, shattering temperature records. Nearly 150 record highs have been broken in the past three days. Millions of people in the grip of this extreme heat.

In fact, on Tuesday, several cities hit or surpassed 100 degrees Fahrenheit, that's 37 degrees Celsius. A lot of people finding any way to stay cool in cities like Boston, New York, Philadelphia; I know I did here in New York.

The staff at the Philadelphia Zoo even using ice cubes to try to help keep the animals beat the heat. Also, this heat dome, by the way, it's caused by a high pressure system that actually traps the hot air as it stalls over the region, while it also prevents cooler air from moving in.

Also, Axiom Mission 4, now on its way to the International Space Station at this hour.

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Some pretty amazing pictures coming out of Florida, where the crew launched aboard the SpaceX Dragon from Kennedy Space Center. This is the fourth private astronaut mission to the ISS, and three spaceflight novices are actually on board. They will become the first from their respective countries, India, Poland, and Hungary, to visit the space station.

Sorry, I'm lost in these cool pictures. Alright, thank you for watching the last hour. I'm Polo Sandoval, in New York.

"CNN Newsroom" continues next with Becky Anderson in Abu Dhabi. Don't go anywhere.

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