Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
Trump Again Insists Iran Nuclear Sites "Obliterated"; U.S. Congressional Briefing On Iran Thursday & Friday; Trump: U.S. And Iran To Meet Next Week On Nuclear Deal; Renewed Hope For Gaza Ceasefire, Hostage Releases; Trump Says He Is With NATO "All The Way" Following Summit; New CDC Vaccine Advisory CMTE. Holds First Meeting; New CDC Vaccine Advisory Committee Holds First Meeting; CNN Views Damage from Israeli Airstrike on Tehran; Ecuador's Top Fugitive Re-Arrested; Trump Judicial Nominee Emil Bove Denies Allegations in Whistleblower Report; U.S. Homeland Security to Close Many Asylum Cases; Anti-ICE Protests in California and Illinois Wednesday. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired June 26, 2025 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:00:28]
JESSICA DEAN, CNN HOST: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world. I'm Jessica Dean in New York. In the head on CNN Newsroom, President Trump is sticking to his assertion Iran's nuclear program was likely obliterated. And Israeli intelligence says Iran's program is so damaged it has been set back years. The president also taking a victory lap after getting NATO members to agree to increase their defense spending.
And the American Academy of Pediatrics has strong words for the new CDC vaccine advisory panel.
We begin in Washington where the Trump administration is going all out to defend the success of its strikes on Iran's nuclear sites. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth will hold a news conference in the day ahead. President Trump just back from a NATO meeting in the Netherlands, continuing to insist more forcefully than ever the strikes completely obliterated Iran's nuclear program. New assessments from Israel conclude Iranian sites suffered systemic damage and the program has been set back several years.
Even Iran's foreign ministry is weighing in. A spokesperson saying that nuclear installations were badly damaged after repeated attacks by the U.S. and Israel. President Trump in the Netherlands lashing out at the media for its reporting on the early intelligence assessments.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Earlier you said U.S. intelligence was inconclusive. Are you relying on Israeli intelligence for your assessment of --
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: No. COLLINS: -- the impact of the strikes?
TRUMP: No. Now this is also Iran made the statement. And it's also, if you read the document that was given that Pete can talk about if you'd like, the document said it could be very severe damage, but they didn't take that. They said it could be limited or it could be very severe. They really didn't know other than to say it could be limited or it could be very, very severe. And you didn't choose to put that because it was very early after.
Since then, we've collected additional intelligence. We've also spoken to people have seen the site and the site. And the site is -- the site is obliterated and we think everything nuclear is down there. They didn't take it out.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DEAN: It is a busy rest of the week for President Trump as he looks to capitalize on his foreign policy successes and shore up his domestic agenda. CNN Chief National Affairs Correspondent Jeff Zeleny reports on that.
JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: President Trump returned to the White House on Wednesday evening after a whirlwind trip to the NATO summit in the Netherlands. The president taking something of a victory lap after a fragile ceasefire was still holding throughout his trip in the Middle East. Now, there are many questions about the intelligence assessments of the Iranian nuclear program, but the president spoke very forcefully how he believes Iran will stand down.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: If you look at the before and the after picture, everything above is burned black. The trees, everything. There's one building, but that's a building that sunk substantially into the granite so that, you know, the fire goes right over it. It was -- I believe it was total obliteration. I believe they didn't have a chance to get anything out because we acted fast.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ZELENY: The president and the White House and the entire administration, however, very defensive about early intelligence reports that suggest that the word obliterated may have been overstated by the president as he said the nuclear program was effectively wiped out.
Now Congress is demanding classified briefings. Those are scheduled to take place on Thursday. So certainly more to learn on that.
But overall, the president taking a much more congenial tone toward his NATO allies, speaking in positive terms about the defense spending agreements reached by every country except Spain. The president also meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy behind closed doors, clearly not wanting that image to remain and perhaps not to agitate Russian President Vladimir Putin. That remains, of course, one of the central challenges facing his administration. But the White House is working to make a major pivot on Thursday back to the domestic policy agenda. The president's spending and tax bill is having some issues in the Senate.
So the president inviting Republican lawmakers to the White House to try and get that jump started. He still would like that passed by the July 4th holiday. All of this is new questions and of course, all eyes are on the Middle East hoping that ceasefire holds.
Jeff Zeleny, CNN, the White House.
DEAN: Jeff, thank you.
And Michael Genovese, is the president of the Global Policy Institute at Loyola Marymount University and author of the Modern Six Debates that Define the Institution. He joins us now from Los Angeles. Thanks so much for being here with us.
[01:05:05]
Look, we are seeing -- just staying on Iran for a second and there's been so much politicization over the assessment of what exactly happened this weekend with the bombing. Does it surprise you that we've ended up at this place where it's he said, she said, who said what and that we're -- the president is really tripling down on all of this.
MICHAEL GENOVESE, POLITICAL ANALYST: Now, it's not surprising because Donald Trump needs to claim victory psychologically. He sees the world as a zero sum game where there are winners and losers and he wants to be the winner. He has reason to be pleased and reason to boast a bit, I mean, he got the 5 percent commitment from NATO to spend defense on their defenses. That's been a big thing for him for a long time.
And in Iran, we did seriously degrade the nuclear capacity. So that's a good thing. The problem is that he keeps on acting like he's a salesman selling us a product. Oh, we obliterated it, oh, everything's great, I did everything. You don't know because he's trying so hard to sell us this product, whether he's selling us a miracle cure or whether he's selling us some kind of a -- of a -- of snake oil.
And so, you know, Donald Trump is a great salesman. He needs to sell less and explain more.
DEAN: And we do know that after a delay that members of Congress are going to be briefed coming up tomorrow here in -- on the East Coast, Thursday. What do you expect to come out of that?
GENOVESE: It's about time and it's long overdue. This president, like all presidents in the modern era, have run afoul of the War Powers Act. Democrats and Republicans have done it. It knows no partisanship. And Donald Trump did not, as the law requires, consult with Congress before taking military action.
Now, the question was, should the War Powers Act be invoked? Is it a war? Well, Donald Trump kept saying it's a war. He said several times this morning, this is the 12-day war. And he kept on referring to it as a war.
And so, you know, like other modern presidents, this president has been constitutionally overstepping and he needs to get Congress involved.
DEAN: And so what do you think? So that's going to happen. We'll see how that unfolds. In the meantime, we do know that the president has announced these meetings with Iran in the next week. What do you expect out of those talks?
GENOVESE: You know, the president keeps saying he will meet with them, but he doesn't need a deal. He does need a deal. We need a deal. Because while Iran has been seriously degraded and their capacity is now very limited, we don't know how limited, we don't know how much of their nuclear capacity has been destroyed. And so what we need to do now, and we can do it from a position of strength and from a position of resolve, we can negotiate out of this position of strength so that we can get some kind of a deal that says, you will limit nuclear production, you will have inspectors X, Y and Z. Donald Trump says he does not need a deal.
We need a deal.
DEAN: And what might this mean? I mean, I do think this is a broader question for what's going on in Gaza for the -- for more broadly the Middle East as it is reshaping before our very eyes.
GENOVESE: Well, you know, those issues are connected because Israel is connected to all of those and our support for Israel is connected to that. And so what we need to do is have a policy towards the Middle East where we are an honest broker, where we are making a deal that helps everyone that's a win situation. Again, as I mentioned, Donald Trump doesn't like those kinds of deals. He likes a winner and a loser and he has to be the winner. This is the kind of situation that we've been involved in for decades and we get mired in this quagmire, president after president.
This is a chance for us to be an honest broker and have a deal that is a win-win situation for all.
DEAN: And I guess time will just tell how, if that can actually come to be. We're going to talk about NATO here in just a second, but before I let you go, I do want to get your thoughts on the president coming back from NATO and he said that he really had his mind changed, that, you know, we've heard from him in the past several years and during the campaign season that perhaps he wanted to get out of NATO. He didn't know if he believed in it or not, that he was very critical of these other countries not paying what he believed was enough. And yet he came out of this with them a lot, most of them agreeing to pay more. And he said that he really has had his mind changed about NATO and its importance.
What did you think? GENOVESE: I would be suspicious if that's what it took for him to have a dramatic change of heart. He has been a critic of NATO since he's been in the public arena before he even ran for president. And he said that they make suckers out of us, et cetera, et cetera. He's very critical, and overnight, you don't change your stripes on that. So I'd be very suspicious of Donald Trump's now very recent embrace of NATO.
[01:10:12]
I would hope he does support NATO. I hope he would strengthen those ties. But I wouldn't take that one to the bank.
DEAN: All right, Michael Genovese, thank you so much. We really appreciate your time tonight.
GENOVESE: Thank you, Jessica.
DEAN: Well, President Trump says he is with NATO, quote, "all the way" after the alliance agreed to increase its defense spending during its summit in the Netherlands. Trump saying this was very big news that some -- that NATO members, with some exceptions, as we noted, pledged to raise their spending goals to 5 percent of GDP, up for 2 percent. It's been a long time demand of Trump's.
He also reaffirmed his support for NATO's collective defense pact known as Article 5. President Trump said he would not have attended the summit if he didn't believe in Article 5. A day earlier, he hedged on his answer about that, saying, it depends on your situation. But as he departed the summit, the president suggested he's leaving with a more positive impression of NATO.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I came here because it was something I'm supposed to be doing, but I left here a little bit different -- differently. I said, I watched the heads of these countries get up and the love and the passion that they showed for their country was unbelievable. I've never seen quite anything like it. They want to protect their country and they need the United States. And without the United States, it's not going to be the same.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DEAN: We're going to have more now from the NATO summit from CNN's Clare Sebastian in The Hague.
CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, this was a summit that in many ways did everything that NATO had worked so hard to deliver. President Trump came, there was no real drama. And all 32 allies signed on to a final statement committing to spend 5 percent of GDP on defense, a number that, of course, President Trump himself had called for, albeit with some countries suggesting they may not get there. But this required a mammoth charm offensive from Secretary General Mark Ritter, including some comments that were so extreme in their level of flattery that he was forced to explain himself.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: They're not going to be fighting each other. They've had it. They've had a big fight, like two kids in a schoolyard, you know, they fight like hell. You can't stop them. Let them fight for about two, three minutes and then it's easy to stop.
MARK RUTTE, NATO SECRETARY GENERAL: And then daddy has to sometimes do strong language.
I think it's a bit of a question of taste, but I think he's a good friend.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SEBASTIAN: Now for an alliance formed in part to counter the threat from Russia, the fact that Ukraine, now in its fourth year of a full scale war against Russia was not mentioned in that final statement was striking. And I caught up with Finland's president, Alexander Stubb, shortly after the statement came out and got his reaction.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALEXANDER STUBB, FINNISH PRESIDENT: What we're trying to do with Ukraine is basically to work towards a ceasefire and then peace negotiations. And the fact that it is not mentioned doesn't mean that it wasn't touched. I mean, in virtually every intervention in the room, we somehow mention Ukraine. For me, if you look at NATO and its basic function, Ukraine is the litmus test. If Ukraine doesn't win, NATO loses.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SEBASTIAN: Well, it wasn't all bad news for President Zelenskyy of Ukraine, he got what he described as a long and substantial substantive meeting with President Trump. And coming out of that meeting, President Trump even criticized Vladimir Putin, calling him misguided and admitting that his ambitions may extend beyond Ukraine.
So NATO is now thrust into a new era. Can it ramp up defense spending enough to deter Russia? And what will the U.S. do if it doesn't?
Clare Sebastian, CNN in The Hague, the Netherlands.
DEAN: And last hour I spoke with Iulia Joja, a former NATO adviser, now senior fellow at the Middle East Institute. And I asked her about what she sees the biggest takeaway from the NATO summit. Here's what she said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
IULIA-SABINA JOJA, FORMER NATO ADVISER: Well, the meeting was designed entirely to please the American president, given the past of how Trump sees NATO or has been seeing NATO in 2018 at a previous summit, he was threatening to leave the alliance because allies wouldn't pay enough for their defense budgets. So now it was entirely designed towards the pledge that he had mentioned even in his campaign last year, of 5 percent of the total budget towards defense. So it was a bit of an exchange or a bit of a deal, President Trump would call it. The other allies, Europeans and Canadians alike, are pledging to spend 5 percent off their GDP on defense in exchange for the United States pledging once again that it would respect Article 5 of the NATO treaty and consider an attack against one of the countries as an attack against itself and act accordingly.
DEAN: Yes. How significant would you say this increase in spending is from these other nations?
[01:15:02]
JOJA: Well, there's a lot of asterisks. It's an important change. Just to give a comparison, after Russia's first invasion of Ukraine over 10 years ago, countries have pledged to spend 2 percent. So now we have 5 percent. But it's not exactly 5 percent because it's 3.5 on hardware only and then 1.5 on things like critical infrastructure.
And the pledge has also been negotiated to be finalized or true for these countries to reach only in about 10 years from now. So it's sort of a soft deal, if you'd like, for the Europeans, it's doable given that they have a lot of economic problems at home. And it's legitimate because the Americans, Republicans have been -- have been arguing more harshly than Democrats, but the argument remains the same that the Europeans are prosperous and that they should be spending more on their own defense.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DEAN: Still ahead this hour, a controversial U.S. panel needs to make recommendations about vaccinations for children. We're going to talk with an expert about what parents should be watching for. That's when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:20:07]
DEAN: The American Academy of Pediatrics says the new advisors to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are quote, "embarrassment." Those comments coming after the seven person committee met for the first time Wednesday. And CNN's Meg Tirrell has more on what they discussed and why the group is now so controversial.
MEG TIRRELL, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: So this is a committee of outside advisors to the CDC who has advised on vaccine policy in the United States since the 1966, and this has traditionally been a very influential panel, not only do their recommendations guide what doctors do, but they also hold sway for how insurers cover vaccines as well as state policy toward vaccination policies. And so when this entire panel was wiped out by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. earlier this month, he dismissed all 17 members, that alarmed the public health community. The secretary then replaced those members with a smaller panel of handpicked members, many of whom the public health community has expressed concerns about for their approaches toward vaccines. So day one of this began with an acknowledgment by the new chair that there had been this pushback from the public health world and an insistence from him that they are not anti-vaccine. Then he said that they are going to establish some new working groups focused on established vaccine guidelines that really set off some red flags among the vaccine expert community. One is that they said they are going to reexamine the childhood immunization schedule looking at the cumulative safety effects of giving vaccines together. That is something that public health experts say is continuously monitored for safety. And they point out the vaccine schedule is responsible for protecting children against a lot of really dangerous diseases.
They also announced plans to reexamine giving a dose at birth of the hepatitis B vaccine to protect against that virus, something that the American Academy of Pediatrics says is a lifesaving intervention.
On day one, there also was a protest of former CDC employees outside and supporters of the CDC, one of whom had this to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, I'm concerned because many of them have very little experience with vaccines or immunization programs or technical advisory groups like this that they're going to continue to promulgate the sorts of anti-vaccine messaging that many of them have done over the past decade or two.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TIRRELL: An HHS spokesperson said in response that Secretary Kennedy, quote, "has appointed some of the most highly qualified individuals to serve on the ACIP committee. Now day two will include a vote on immunization for babies for respiratory syncytial virus, which will give one of the first views really about how this new committee is expected to vote on these kinds of issues.
They also are expected to discuss some of the more controversial topics that were added recently to the agenda. One is a preservative that was largely removed from vaccines about 25 years ago called thimerosal. It was removed as a precautionary measure. No evidence of harm had been seen around it. But nonetheless, there have been some focus on whether that preservative could be linked to things like autism.
Dozens of studies since then have shown no link. But there is expected to be a presentation about that on the second day as well. There also will be a discussion of the measles, mumps, rubella and chicken pox vaccine. So experts are watching this very closely, but already you have groups like the American Academy of Pediatrics and others saying that they are no longer going to participate with this panel in the same way because they don't believe that it is based on science in the way it usually had been.
DEAN: Meg Tirrell, thank you.
Joining us now, Dr. Omer Awan, a physician and senior public health contributor with -- for Forbes.
Thanks so much, Doctor for being here with us. Meg just laid out what's at stake here, what some of the controversy is all about. What are your thoughts on this current situation?
DR. OMER AWAN, PHYSICIAN: I think it's deeply troubling, Jessica, and particularly because of the panel that exists. You know, Secretary Kennedy has selected and hand pick certain individuals, many of whom have spoken out against vaccines, many of whom who share the same anti-vaccine ideologies as himself. And this is going to have major and profound influences for the American people because these individuals help approve new vaccines and they have the opportunity and the power to change childhood vaccination schedules as well. And they have the opportunity to decrease the amount of childhood vaccines that our kids get. And if that happens, that can open the door for very serious pediatric infectious diseases to spread, things like measles, for example, the flu, whooping cough, which is already a problem, as we all know here in America.
DEAN: And ostensibly the reason they're looking into this is because they want to make sure that this is safe and necessary. Robert F. Kennedy and others have falsely tried to link autism to vaccines. There is no evidence that supports that. But what is the risk of kind of shaking people's faith in this vaccine schedule?
[01:25:15]
AWAN: This is precisely the heart of the problem, Jessica, because what they're investigating, things like thimerosal, which Meg alluded to earlier, these have already been proven to be safe and effective. I mean, decades of research has already shown that the amount of thimerosal that are in, you know, a small amount of flu vaccines that currently exist here in America are completely safe. The FDA has also said that these are safe. So, you know, investigating these type of things that we already know are safe just casts doubts in vaccines.
Remember, the average American is not Peter Hotez. You know, the average American may not understand the subtle nuances of what makes a vaccine safe and effective. So, when the average American starts to hear that these things are being investigated in vaccines, it naturally casts doubt. And what will happen is that this undermines public confidence in vaccines, and this will fuel vaccine hesitancy, and many less people, and many less Americans will continue to not vaccinate themselves and their children.
DEAN: Well, and as we all know and certainly learned during COVID but vaccines really work best when everyone's using them. When you have a high vaccination rate is when they really can be the most effective. So, you also run the risk of maybe people are still vaccinating their kids, but a higher number of people have stopped vaccinating their kids, and that can also make a difference.
AWAN: It can absolutely make a difference. And, you know, what you're alluding to also is herd immunity. You know, when you vaccinate yourself, you're protecting not only yourself, but also those around you who may not be able to protect themselves. And this has precisely been the problem with measles, you know? Now, you know, herd immunity rates have decreased below 95 percent, which is a threshold to keep people safe.
And what has happened? Now we have over 1200 cases of measles here in America. Two kids have died. And these are entirely preventable. You know, these children didn't need to die. You know, we've had 250 pediatric deaths from the flu this year because, you know, less and less parents are deciding to vaccinate their children.
And I fear, and I'm very scared that this is going to be amplified given what we're seeing at the ACIP, given what Secretary Kennedy is saying and given what his panel is promoting in the future.
DEAN: And I'm thinking about parents out there, and look, it's 1:27 here on the East Coast, maybe somebody's up for a midnight feeding. Maybe they're up on the west coast and they just put their kids to bed. We don't know. But there are a lot of parents out there that just want to do the right thing for their kid and they want to make sure that child is safe. And what would you tell them if that's what they really are trying to get at? If they want to make sure that child is as safe as possible, what's your advice to them as we kind of navigate all of this?
AWAN: I would say a couple of things, Jessica. One is to get vaccinated. Vaccines save lives. I mean, these childhood vaccinations have saved more than 154 million lives. This is what research has shown. This is not just numbers that I'm making up.
You know, many peer reviewed papers have discussed this. The other is listen to your pediatrician. I think your pediatrician and your personal doctor has your child's best interest at stake. So, you know, do the research yourself and listen to your physician and go with their recommendations, you know? I think, you know, if parents do that, I think, you know, their kids will be much more safe and it'll safeguard the health of them and many Americans.
DEAN: And so what is your biggest -- I think that's great advice and hopefully everyone's able to navigate this safely and everyone stays healthy, what is your biggest concern as we -- as we look ahead and this is all kind of being set up with this panel. Again, there's at least two people on the panel that have testified against vaccines during trials. So there is some concern that perhaps, you know, they're not the most unbiased group of people. What are you most concerned about?
AWAN: I'm most concerned that this sets up a perfect storm for misinformation to spread rapidly in America. I think it's very easy when you have panelists like this that are promoting these anti- vaccine ideologies and ideas. It's very easy for misinformation to travel very rapidly and people start to believe these things because people don't know any better. They're fed all of these ideas about vaccines. You know, it's been highly politicized.
It's a very polarizing topic, of course, now in America. And when people don't have, you know, that level of health literacy, and it's OK not to have that, but it's also important just to do research and just to, you know, find out for yourself, talk to experts, you know, really assess the situation from both sides. But this misinformation has the potential to cost lives. And that's exactly what's happening now. People are dying, kids are dying because they're not getting vaccinated.
And I think there's -- the proof is in the numbers. I mean, the data doesn't lie.
[01:29:39]
So very important for us to fight this epidemic of misinformation that currently exists.
JESSICA DEAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Dr. Omer Awan, thank you so much for your time. We really appreciate it.
DR. AWAN: My pleasure. Thanks.
DEAN: An American airlines jet was forced to return to Las Vegas after reporting an engine issue. Video shows smoke billowing from that plane had just taken off. It had 159 people on board. Now, thankfully, no injuries were reported.
Air traffic control audio captured, though what the pilot was saying.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: American 1665 (INAUDIBLE) got flames coming out of the engine.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, we're going to have to return.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. Would you like to make left close traffic.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. Left close will work.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. Left close traffic for runway one left, sir.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DEAN: American airlines says the maintenance team found no evidence of a fire. But the plane is being taken out of service for inspection. Federal aviation officials are also investigating.
He is an infamous gang leader who's been on the run for well over a year. But now Ecuador's public enemy number one is back in prison. We've got that story for you ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DEAN: The ceasefire between Israel and Iran is holding. But after nearly two weeks of strikes on both sides, the full extent of the damage is just now coming to light.
CNN's Fred Pleitgen is in Tehran, where he visited one building badly damaged by an Israeli airstrike. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Here in the Iranian capital, one thing that we noticed in the run up to the ceasefire is that there was an increase in airstrikes.
[01:34:52]
PLEITGEN: And the Iranians are saying some of them happened in residential areas, and they took us to some of the sites in those residential areas that were hit.
You can tell here that this building was badly damaged by an air strike. The Iranians are saying that a bakery was damaged, a beauty salon and two residential units.
They say several people were killed here. They're not saying who the people were who were killed, but they also say that one person is still in hospital, and many people were also injured here as well.
We spoke to some of the residents who live in the adjacent buildings, and they told us how terrifying that situation was.
"Suddenly, I heard an impact," he says, "then an explosion. Before that, I heard a plane in the air. All the windows were shattered over me, but the curtain stopped part of the glass. I was thrown to the corner of the kitchen."
You can tell the blast must have been pretty powerful. We're actually in the building next door now, and you can see there's significant damage here as well. In fact, someone's chocolates are still here on this coffee table.
And if we go over here into the room next door, this seems to be some sort of office and maybe bedroom, there's still someone's sleeping area here. It's unclear whether anybody was laying there, but if someone was laying there, it must have been a terrifying experience.
We're inside the bakery in the building that was hit, and you can see the damage here is also significant, the folks here say that they were actually lucky, because they closed the bakery down three days prior to the strike, simply because of the ongoing security situation with that Israeli aerial campaign going on.
At the same time, there are a bunch of places here in Tehran now where people are cleaning up and picking up the pieces, trying to move on and getting their business back in order.
Fred Pleitgen, CNN -- Tehran.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
DEAN: Fred, thank you.
A notorious drug lord, a high-profile fugitive and his country's most wanted man, now the leader of an infamous gang in Ecuador is back behind bars after being on the run since January of last year. He's led a wave of gang violence that's still gripping the country as CNN's Patrick Oppmann reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Once known as an oasis of peace, Ecuador, the small Andean nation of around 17 million people, has been convulsed by record levels of gang-driven violence in the past few years.
Spearheading the violence, this man, Jose Adolfo Macias, also known simply as Fito, Ecuador's most wanted man, leader of Los Choneros, a gang believed to be allied with Mexican drug cartels in a war for dominance over Ecuador's drug trade.
The gang, along with Fito and rival gang Los Lobos, were hit with sanctions by the U.S. Department of Treasury for drug trafficking activity and violence.
Fito, the leader of the Los Choneros gang since 2020, escaped from a medium security prison while serving a 34-year sentence for drug trafficking and homicide.
This wasn't the first time. In 2013, Fito escaped prison but was recaptured a little over three months later.
Fresh into the presidency, Daniel Noboa declared a state of emergency. A day later in a show of force, gangs unleashed an unprecedented wave of violence. Gangs set off bombs in several cities, attacked police stations and took prison guards hostage.
A TV studio was raided by gunmen while on air for millions to see.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Moments of panic, of terror.
OPPMANN: President Noboa declared an internal armed conflict, ordering security forces to neutralize members of what his government calls narco terrorist groups.
As Ecuador reeled from the violence, Fito remained on the loose. Little is known about the 44-year-old gang leader's life, other than his criminal exploits.
Fito lived large while in prison. His cell, equipped with a four-piece bathroom set, a queen size bed and a mini fridge.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you look at Fito's cell, four outlets. It looks like a Marriott. He has more outlets than a room at the Marriott.
OPPMANN: While in prison, Fito even managed to shoot a music video.
Ecuador's security forces are zeroing in on Fito's inner circle. Argentina detained and deported the gang leader's wife and children and returned them to Ecuador.
Fito is Daniel Noboa's main target, but the president has said eliminating the country's gang violence is the ultimate goal.
Patrick Oppmann, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
DEAN: Patrick, thank you.
And there is much more to come on CNN, including an exclusive report on a planned policy change by the Trump administration that could impact hundreds of thousands of asylum seekers.
[01:39:40
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DEAN: President Donald Trump's judicial nominee, Emil Bove, was pushed to deny accusations of corruption during his confirmation hearing Wednesday before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
And CNN's Paula Reid has that story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
EMIL BOVE, FEDERAL APPEALS COURT JUDICIAL NOMINEE: I am not anybody's henchman. I'm not an enforcer. I'm a lawyer.
PAULA REID, CNN CHIEF LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Emil Bove, President Trump's former personal attorney and current high ranking Justice Department official, faced tough questions from lawmakers as they weighed whether to confirm him for a seat on the Third Circuit Court of Appeals.
SEN. ADAM SCHIFF (D-NY): Did you suggest telling the courts (EXPLETIVE DELETED) you in any manner?
BOVE: I don't recall.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So what's your red line? What could the president ask you to do that you wouldn't do?
REID: President Trump has appointed several personal attorneys to top legal positions in his administration, but this is the first time that he has tapped one of his lawyers to serve on the federal bench.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: They fought. They weren't afraid, and they were brilliant.
REID: The hearing comes as Bove faces fresh allegations from a whistleblower that claims he suggested ignoring court orders on deportations, an allegation Bove denied.
BOVE: No, I have never advised a Department of Justice attorney to violate a court order.
REID: For the past six months, Bove has served as a high-ranking official in the Justice Department, where he has been involved in a series of controversies, including dropping federal charges against New York Mayor Eric Adams.
SEN. DICK DURBIN (D-IL): In order To get Mayor Adams to cooperate with President Trump's immigration policy, were you prepared to drop the charges against him?
BOVE: That's completely false.
REID: Some federal prosecutors, including the interim U.S. attorney, quit in protest over the move.
SEN. RICHARD BLUMENTHAL (D-CT): I am Absolutely flabbergasted that you would come before this committee and refuse to tell us basic facts about a case that is at the core of the challenges to the appearance of impropriety that should disqualify you.
REID: The dismissal was ultimately approved by a judge in April.
[01:44:47]
REID: Bove also drew controversy over moves seen as an attempt to politicize the department. He issued a memo threatening to prosecute state and local officials who resist the administrations federal immigration crackdown.
He also ordered the firing of eight senior officials and sent a memo demanding information about all current and former employees who had any involvement in the January 6th investigations.
BOVE: I did. And continue to condemn unlawful behavior, particularly violence against Law enforcement. At the same time, I condemn heavy- handed and unnecessary tactics by prosecutors and agents.
REID: The hearing was mostly focused on Bove's controversies, but he did get a few questions about how he would conduct himself as a judge.
BOVE: I think I would be tough, but fair.
REID: If confirmed, Bove would be one of roughly a dozen judges responsible for reviewing federal case appeals from Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware and the Virgin Islands.
In the past few days, I've spoken with several of his current colleagues, and I'm told that he is exactly who they would like to see on the federal bench because of his experience as a federal prosecutor, as someone who has defended against federal crimes and been at the top of the Justice Department.
Several sources tell me they believe that is what makes him perfect for this job. But now his future is in the hands of lawmakers.
Paula Reid, CNN -- Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
DEAN: Thank you, Paula. A migrant who was unlawfully deported to El Salvador will remain in
U.S. federal custody for a few more days amid questions over what happens when Kilmar Abrego Garcia is released. A U.S. magistrate judge is seeking answers and has asked Abrego Garcia's defense team for more information.
He was returned to the U.S. earlier this month and promptly arrested on human smuggling charges. The judge says she will file an order that he should not be detained by immigration authorities while he awaits trial on those charges, and that order could come as early as Friday.
CNN has new exclusive reporting that U.S. Homeland Security may be preparing to close hundreds of thousands of asylum cases, putting all of those people at risk of immediate deportation.
We have details now from CNN's Priscilla Alvarez.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The Trump administration is planning to dismiss asylum claims for potentially hundreds of thousands of migrants in the United States. This latest effort, targeting asylum seekers who crossed the U.S.-Mexico border unlawfully and have since applied for asylum.
Now, according to U.S. law, people who are seeking protection from violence and persecution in their home country can claim asylum in the United States, regardless of how they arrive to the country.
But the administration is trying to strip them of that process, essentially taking away the opportunity for them to seek asylum in the United States and instead making them eligible for deportation.
On that latter point, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has been delegated the authority to order what is known as expedited removal. In other words, fast track deportation proceedings.
That is an unprecedented move, according to experts, who say that typically falls under U.S. Customs and Border Protection, as well as immigration and customs enforcement. Essentially instead placing, the federal agency that manages federal immigration benefits at the center of the president's deportation campaign, something that is likely to have a chilling effect for the many immigrants who are trying to obtain relief in the United States, and also a cause of concern for attorneys who say that those who may have their asylum applications dismissed shouldn't have been in that position to begin with.
But of course, all of this is part of the president's sweeping immigration crackdown, which has included trying to reach new historic numbers of arrests on a daily basis and also stripping protections from those already in the United States.
Priscilla Alvarez, CNN -- Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE) DEAN: The ongoing immigration crackdown in the U.S. sparked more protests Wednesday, this time in Illinois and California. Activists, federal workers and union members came together to condemn the activities of immigration authorities across the country.
Sherrell Hubbard has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SHERRELL HUBBARD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Federal workers and labor union members joined immigrant justice advocates for picketing in Chicago Wednesday, demanding an end to Immigration And Customs Enforcement raids and detainment inside public buildings.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They are afraid to show up to federal workplaces for fear of being arrested or disappeared in an ICE operation.
HUBBARD: Union president Collin Smalley says their mission is being compromised.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And that I will well and faithfully.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I will well and faithfully --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: -- discharge
HUBBARD: They took time out of the rally to take their oaths again publicly.
In Pasadena, California protesters waved signs that said, quote, "ICE out of Home Depot" and "protect our communities". One man likening the current ICE raids to the actions of Nazi Germany.
[01:49:47]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In Germany back in the 30s with the Jews being rounded up like this. And this is exactly what is happening to this country.
HUBBARD: The Trump administration's crackdown on illegal immigration aligns with campaign promises the president made to secure the borders and, quote, "make America safe again".
TRUMP: We will begin the largest deportation operation.
HUBBARD: But opponents to the administration's tactics continue to speak out. In Tennessee, supporters of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland man accused of being linked to the MS-13 gang by the Trump administration and mistakenly deported to an El Salvador prison due to an administrative error, accused ICE of depriving detainees of their rights.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This administration continues to negate and ignore the rule of law.
HUBBARD: I'm Sherrell Hubbard reporting. (END VIDEOTAPE)
DEAN: Recycling workers in Columbia made a big mess to show the importance of their jobs.
They left empty bottles all over a city square in Bogota on Tuesday, as part of a demand for better working conditions and compensation. Their union leader says the prices of recycling materials have plunged.
Now, among other things, they want authorities to reassess those prices. The workers say they wanted to show the city what it would look like if they didn't do their jobs.
A huge chocolate cow sculpture stealing the spotlight at a festival in Chile. Still to come, all the sweet details on a life-sized piece of art.
[01:51:05]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DEAN: Billionaire Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and his fiance, former reporter Lauren Sanchez, were seen leaving their luxury hotel in Venice Wednesday evening days before their lavish multimillion dollar wedding.
They are expected to tie the knot Saturday despite protests in a city some locals say is too stuffed with tourists. They're celebrating with a number of people from show business, politics and finance who have been flying in on some 90 private jets.
Protesters include a self-described anonymous anti-capitalist who sent a mannequin of Bezos floating through Venice's grand canal Tuesday. It was clutching an Amazon box and fistfuls of fake cash. Another group called for a canal blockade near the reported wedding venue.
Britain's King Charles crossed paths with Hollywood royalty on Wednesday at a charity event in Buckingham Palace for disadvantaged youth. The monarch met with George Clooney and his wife Amal, a lawyer and activist, at a star-studded reception for the winners of the King's Trust awards.
The Clooneys are supporters of the trust, which says it aims to give young people the confidence and skills to live, learn and earn. The king spoke with this year's winners and greeted other celebrities, including actor Joseph Fiennes.
Confectioners unveiled a massive creation over the weekend at a chocolate festival in Chile, a life size cow made with pure chocolate. It weighed more than 1,100 pounds. Master chocolate artists, professional sculptors and local culinary students putting this all together.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CARLO VON MUHLENBROCK, CHEF (through translator): This is the world's largest chocolate cow.
It is a way of giving the city an identity and also paying tribute to livestock farming in this area.
This was an Angus cow. We are very happy that this has happened, that the world of milk, the world of meat and chocolate is being embraced giving Osorno an identity.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DEAN: Wow, it's just really looking at you there.
After the event was over, the bovine creation was broken up and auctioned off to people there at the festival. Wow.
All right. Well, we can't all get chocolate cow, I guess.
Thanks so much for watching. I'm Jessica Dean.
CNN NEWSROOM continues with Polo Sandoval after a short break. Have a great night.
[01:56:58]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
