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Trump, Netanyahu Speak After Iran Launches Missiles At Israel; Iran Says Israel Crossed Red Line After Attacking Beirut; Trump Claims, Without Evidence, Rigged California Primary; Israel Closes Gaza Crossings After Iran's Missile Attack; Interview With Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ); Pelley: People Are "Desperate For An Explanation" After CBS Firings. Aired 7-8p Et

Aired June 07, 2026 - 19:00   ET

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

[19:00:22]

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.

JESSICA DEAN, CNN HOST: You're in the CNN NEWSROOM. Hi, everyone. I'm Jessica Dean here in New York.

We do have breaking news as missiles could be seen over the horizon of northern Israel tonight as Iran launched a wave of attacks against Israel.

Those are sirens sounding in Haifa, Israel. The Israeli military saying it intercepted missiles from at least three barrages. Iran had warned Israel against striking Beirut. Israel did that earlier today, responding to Hezbollah, an Iranian proxy firing into Israeli territory. The Israeli military saying it will not back down and will intensify actions against Hezbollah in Lebanon despite the attack. Sources telling CNN Israel is vowing to deliver a, quote, "powerful response" to Iran's actions tonight.

But President Donald Trump told CNN analyst and Axios correspondent Barak Ravid he would urge Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to retaliate. And in a fresh interview with the "Financial Times," President Trump saying Netanyahu would have to accept any deal the U.S. reaches with Iran because, in the president's words, the Israeli prime minister does not call the shots.

CNN is covering this story from all angles. Joining us now from Tel Aviv is CNN's Jeremy Diamond. We're also joined by CNN's Julia Benbrook, who is traveling with the president this weekend in New Jersey.

I want to go to Jeremy first, who again is live in Tel Aviv tonight.

And Jeremy, this is a very interesting time. We're going to have to see exactly where things go from here. But a lot hangs in the balance. What's the latest from Israel?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Yes, absolutely, Jessica. Like so many times in the past, this region is once again on a knife's edge, waiting to see how Israel will respond to this ballistic missile fire from Iran. Multiple waves of ballistic missiles heading towards Israel tonight, setting off air raid sirens across northern Israel. At least 11 missiles total were fired, according to an Israeli military official.

It appears that the overwhelming majority of these missiles were intercepted, but Iran has claimed that it struck Israel's Ramat David Air Base in northern Israel. Israeli military officials wouldn't confirm or deny that at this stage. But the question now is what Israel will do in response. As you mentioned, two Israeli sources have told me and my colleague Tal Shalev that Israel intends to deliver a, quote, "powerful response" to Iran.

But that was before President Trump got on the phone with the Israeli prime minister, with the intention of telling him not to retaliate against Iran, because it seems President Trump still believes that a deal is possible with Iran, that it may be close at hand, and he doesn't want to jeopardize the possibility of reaching that agreement but with Israel carrying out these retaliatory strikes that could drag the entire region back into war.

But for now, at least, as we await to see how Israel will respond, what the Israeli prime minister will decide, we are right now in a country, in Israel, where the country is preparing for that wartime scenario. Schools have been closed for Monday. People across the country are readying their bomb shelters, and the Israeli military's chief of staff tonight saying that the IDF will strike the enemy with determination as soon as the order is given.

He is also vowing to continue to escalate Israeli attacks against the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, that Iranian proxy in Lebanon. And, of course, remember, the chain of events today, Hezbollah fired rockets on northern Israel. This morning, Israel struck the Lebanese capital of Beirut, and after having warned earlier this week that if Israel did so, Iran would fire missiles towards Israeli territory. That's exactly what has now taken place -- Jessica.

DEAN: All right, Jeremy, with the latest from Israel, thank you.

Let's turn now to Julia, again, traveling with the president this weekend. We mentioned at the top of our show that the president had spoken with the "Financial Times" and was quite direct, quite clear about how he felt about the situation with Benjamin Netanyahu.

What more can you tell us?

JULIA BENBROOK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. President Donald Trump, he's spending his weekend here in New Jersey at one of his properties nearby. We know that he has spoken with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu following the update from the Israeli military that they had intercepted ballistic missiles from Iran for what appears to be the first time since early April.

[19:05:11]

In that interview with the "Financial Times" that you mentioned, Trump said that he calls the shots and that ultimately Netanyahu would have no choice but to accept a deal that the U.S. negotiates with Iran.

This was one of many brief interviews that he appeared to do. He takes these phone calls, and we know that he also spoke with a FOX News reporter who is stationed there in Tel Aviv and said to them, it's certainly not going to help negotiations, these recent developments, adding, "What I would suggest to Iran, you shot your missiles, that's enough. Get back to the table and make a deal."

He went on to express an optimistic view of where these negotiations stood before this, saying, "We're very close. I would say an agreement would be signed on Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday of this coming week. And now this takes place," he added.

Now we're 100 days since those first joint U.S.-Israel strikes against Iran took place. And since then, Trump has offered a variety of predictions for how long this might last. He has said a couple of days, several weeks. Now he is pushing back against anyone who has criticized how long this conflict has gone on, saying that these things, these types of deals take time, sometimes even years to resolve.

And the most recent major update that we had heard from the White House side on negotiations was officials had told us over a week ago now that Trump had sent back changes to a proposed deal with Iran, changes that focused in on Iran's nuclear commitments, as well as its pledge to reopen the Strait of Hormuz -- Jessica.

DEAN: All right. Julia Benbrook in New Jersey, Jeremy Diamond in Tel Aviv. Our thanks to both of you.

CNN also getting new reaction from Iran about today's missile attack. Our senior international correspondent Frederik Pleitgen is in Tehran. We do want to tell you CNN operates in Iran only with the permission of the government, but maintains full editorial control of its reports.

Here's Fred.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The Iranians say their ballistic missile attacks against targets in Israel are a direct result of what they say is Israel crossing all red lines by attacking Lebanon's capital Beirut. The Iranians saying that a military base in the north of Israel was the main target of these Iranian ballistic missiles.

In a statement that was shown on Iranian state media, the Iranians were saying that this was a warning to the Israeli side. And one of the things that we've been seeing over the past couple of days is the Iranians warning the Israelis not to escalate their military operations in the south of Lebanon, but specifically warning that attacking Beirut would be crossing a red line that would lead to a direct Iranian response.

Now, the Iranians are saying that that response has come, and they warn the Israelis not to retaliate against Iran. Otherwise, things could escalate and get a lot worse than they already are. The adviser to the supreme leader for military affairs, General Mohsen Rezaei, he came out this evening with a statement and he said, quote, "Tonight the aggressors received their response. This response is a warning to them to cease their villainy. Every new action will be met with a more crushing response and heavier costs."

And of course, all of this comes not just as tensions between Iran and Israel have been flaring, but also as the United States and Iran are working to try and reach a memorandum of understanding to try and end the conflict between the two nations. That could then lead to broader peace talks between the United States and Iran. Both sides have acknowledged that those talks have been in a difficult state.

The Iranians also saying that the situation in the Strait of Hormuz and the Persian Gulf is also right now in a very dangerous situation. The two sides have been trading blows there. The United States hitting some targets on some islands in the Persian Gulf. The Iranians retaliating against U.S. military installations in Gulf nations. Nevertheless, both sides have been saying that they are trying to work towards an agreement to end the conflict between Iran and the United States. Nevertheless, of course, as this night unfolds, it is easy to see that all of this could escalate again.

Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Tehran.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DEAN: Fred, thank you so much.

And let's bring in CNN military analyst, retired Air Force Colonel Cedric Leighton.

Colonel Leighton, thanks for being here with us. How do you see things as they stand right now?

COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Yes. Jessica. Great question. Well, I think what we're seeing is the possibility that everything could unravel in terms of the peace process, you know, regarding Iran and the United States.

[19:10:03]

But this is the reason that President Trump got involved because he doesn't want that to happen. And he knows that the stakes are really high with this and the pressure that he is exerting, reportedly exerting on Prime Minister Netanyahu of Israel is going to be very significant, because what that will mean is it's probably going to limit Israel's response. It's either going to stop it outright or it's going to steer the Israelis into a place where they only conduct a limited response to the Iranian attack on targets in Israel.

So if that happens, then the Israelis are going to basically have to live with the consequences of U.S. pressure being exerted on them like that. And it could mean that the talks for that MOU that Fred was talking about could come back on track. But it's, you know, it's certainly a touch and go situation right now.

DEAN: Yes. One of our national security analysts, Alex Plitsas, told me last hour that Netanyahu was meeting with senior Israeli military leadership to decide the next steps. As we've noted, this comes after this phone call with President Trump.

How might they be looking at these military options?

LEIGHTON: Well, they probably have three or four options that they are -- that they're going to discuss. You know, and those options could include something like a major attack against Iran. You know, with the United States support, something like that, because the Israelis can do quite a bit on their own. But it's only going to last a couple of days or so before they need refueling support, intelligence support, other logistical support that only the United States can really provide them.

So they're going to check that option. And if President Trump, as being reported, put a lot of pressure on Netanyahu not to respond or to respond maybe in a limited way, that is going to color the choices that they make. So they have that maximum choice. Then you have more medium choices. And then, of course, the last choice would be no response at all. So that is something that I don't think will happen.

I think there will be some kind of Israeli response, but they may choose to do that response, to conduct that response at a later date. So it won't necessarily be directly tied to what has happened today if, in fact, they get a lot of pressure from President Trump not to conduct these operations that they're planning and that they would certainly like to conduct.

DEAN: Israel has also said that it would like to intensify strikes on Hezbollah in Lebanon. Hezbollah, of course, an Iranian proxy.

What might that look like? And how does that piece of it factor into this bigger picture?

LEIGHTON: Well, the Israelis already struck Hezbollah multiple times. And of course, today were going after the suburb of Dahieh in Beirut. That is a major area because that's basically, in essence, headquarters territory for Hezbollah. And, you know, over the past months and really years, we've seen the Israelis tighten the noose on Hezbollah itself, kill their senior leadership, like Hassan Nasrallah and other members of that senior leadership.

And of course, we can't forget the Patriot attack that they conducted, which really decimated the middle and senior levels of the Hezbollah organization. But Iran sees Hezbollah as a very, very important force. And without Hezbollah, Iran has no influence in Lebanon and by extension, no influence over Israel, or at least very little influence over Israel. So as a result of that, the Iranians are going to look at the way the Israelis conduct this.

The Israelis see Hezbollah as an existential threat. The Iranians want to preserve Hezbollah. So these two sides, the Iranians and the Israelis, are never going to see eye to eye about this. On the one hand, Israel wants to eliminate the threat posed by Hezbollah. On the other hand, the Iranians want to keep Hezbollah as a viable organization, both for intelligence purposes and for military operational purposes.

So that's, I think, the dilemma that they face. And there's no real solution in sight until one side gives up. And we're not seeing that happening any time soon.

DEAN: All right. Colonel Leighton, great to have you. Thanks for being with us.

LEIGHTON: You bet, Jessica. Thank you.

DEAN: And we will continue to follow that breaking news. Still ahead, also California facing an election fraud probe following President Trump's claims that do not have any evidence of cheating in the primaries.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:19:04]

DEAN: President Trump is questioning the legitimacy of California's electoral process. In a new interview with NBC News, the president calling the Golden State's midterm primary elections rigged, specifically going after the length of time it takes California to count the ballots. That is, without evidence. All of those claims. This is the exchange.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The election was rigged. It was a dirty election. And it's happening again right now in California.

KRISTEN WELKER, NBC NEWS "MEET THE PRESS": Mr. President, you've never presented evidence that the 2020 election was rigged.

TRUMP: Right now in California, right now it's looking. Look at what's happening in California?

WELKER: Where's the evidence to that?

TRUMP: It's four days.

WELKER: The Republicans are doing well in California.

TRUMP: In California -- no, they're not. They're dropping fast because it's a rigged election. Let me tell you. It's four days and they aren't even close to coming up.

WELKER: That's how they count the votes in California.

TRUMP: You know why they're doing that? Because they're cheating on the election.

WELKER: There's -- what -- do you have evidence to support that?

TRUMP: All I have to do is look. All I have to do is look.

WELKER: But that's not evidence.

TRUMP: And I listen. And I listen to people and let's see what happens.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[19:20:01]

DEAN: CNN anchor and correspondent Elex Michaelson is joining us now from Los Angeles.

Elex, you've covered California politics and California elections for many cycles now. California does count its ballots, it's known for being slow. That is kind of its reputation. But help people understand why it takes so long and what's a little bit different about California.

ELEX MICHAELSON, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: Well, first off, let's just point out that President Trump walked out of that interview with Kristen Welker and never provided the evidence and still hasn't provided the evidence of fraud. So basically, the reason that it takes so long to count ballots in California is a choice that policy makers had made the decision to send vote by mail ballots to every single registered voter, whether they ask for them or not.

About 80 percent of voters return vote by mail ballots. They have to sign them, and they go through a process of signature verification for all of those ballots. Many people, especially many Democrats who are concerned about a close governor's race, held on to their ballot until the very, very last minute. So in the last day or two, there were millions of ballots turned in by mail. A lot of them at ballot drop off locations. And there's a big backlog of going through the vote, voter signature verification process to get them counted.

That's what's happening. That's why it's so slow. Maybe we should change the rules in terms of that, but there is no evidence that there's fraud or people simply showing up with a bunch of Nithya Raman ballots and dropping them, you know, at the registrar's office. That's not what's happening.

DEAN: Right. And that is important to remember as we hear these claims, again, as you point out, without any evidence from the president of the United States.

You mentioned Nithya Raman, that's in the L.A. mayor's race. That's certainly one that we've been keeping an eye on. We know that the current mayor, Karen Bass, who is a Democrat, will advance to the general election in the fall. The question is, who will take that number two slot? Is it Nithya Raman who's a city council member, or is it Spencer Pratt?

Tell us who -- what this dynamic is looking like. And what I think is really interesting about this is depending on who she gets to run against in the fall, running against Spencer Pratt and running against Nithya Raman, those are very different races. And Karen Bass may need to position herself in very different ways.

MICHAELSON: So let's start with the results. Every day between 4:00 and 5:00 Pacific, which is this window right now, the L.A. County registrar releases a whole thing of new votes. So any moment now, we could see that number start to change. We don't know when it's going to happen, but any moment now. Based off of the projections and based off of the trends of what we've been seeing day after day, it is very possible that today Nithya Raman moves into second place.

Remember, the top two people advance. So second place really matters. And it'll be interesting to see if she moves into that place. She had a very good day yesterday. A very good day the day before. She was trailing Spencer Pratt by about 40,000 votes on election day. Now she trails by about 7,000 votes.

But, yes, Jessica, to your question, totally different election if you're running against Nithya Raman versus Spencer Pratt. First off, it's a nonpartisan election. So it doesn't say Democrat or Republican, but most voters know which party you come from. And L.A. is like 66 percent Democratic. It's about 13 percent Republicans. So the chance for winning as a Republican is very difficult.

And if you looked at the polling before the race, it showed that Nithya Raman was competitive or maybe beating Karen Bass in a head-to- head matchup and Karen Bass beating Spencer Pratt by like 20 points. So again, Spencer Pratt, she could make it all about partisanship, all about Trump, against Nithya Raman that's a much more complicated thing. So people that are saying that this election is rigged by Karen Bass because she wants to run against the Democrat, sort of goes against the dynamics of the race. Karen Bass, most political experts believe, would much rather run against Spencer Pratt.

DEAN: Yes, and an old adage remains true. Too much time online where you see all of these crazy theories, it's good to get some facts.

Elex Michaelson, thank you so much. It's good to see you. We appreciate it.

And when we come back, we continue to follow our breaking news out of Israel, where the Israeli military says it has intercepted Iranian ballistic missiles tonight. We'll have the latest from that region. That's next

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:28:50]

DEAN: Back now with more on the breaking news out of the Middle East. Tonight, Axios reporting President Trump urging Israel not to retaliate after Iran launched a series of ballistic missiles into the country. This latest attack, coming on the 100th day of the conflict between the U.S. and Iran and Israel and Iran. And as President, Trump still hopes to reach a ceasefire deal with Iran. But tonight, Tehran is warning there will be more crushing attacks if

Israel does not end its military strikes against its proxy. Hezbollah, located in Lebanon.

Let's check in now with CNN's Oren Liebermann, who is live in Jerusalem.

Oren, the big question now, how might the prime minister and the Israeli government respond to President Trump's call tonight? What more are you learning?

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN JERUSALEM BUREAU CHIEF: Well, I think Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and others in the Israeli government have made quite clear what they would like the response to be. Two Israeli sources told CNN shortly after the first Iranian ballistic missiles were detected that they would deliver a, quote, "powerful response." Meanwhile, Israel's military chief has said that Israel is ready to carry out the strikes when the order is given.

And that's a key question here. It's not only what the response will look like and how powerful it will be or not, but also when that response is carried out.

[19:30:04]

And that depends not only on Netanyahu, but also, crucially, on President Donald Trump, who has also who has already indicated in a series of phone calls with reporters, not only Barak Ravid from AXIOS, but also others, that he believes it's up to him in terms of how and what Israel does in response.

It's also worth noting that in the middle of what is appears to be a severe escalation in the Middle East between Israel and Iran, Trump is on the phone with reporters even as this escalation risks the U.S.- Iran ceasefire and negotiations there, as well as the Israel-Lebanon ceasefire and those ongoing negotiations after the U.S. brokered a new version of that ceasefire just days ago.

But in an interview with "The Financial Times" Trump said he calls the shots. There are a couple of quotes from this interview that are worth pointing out. Trump says "... Netanyahu won't have any choice but to accept an Iran deal." Netanyahu has long been skeptical of Iran's intentions in those negotiations, accusing them of just dragging them out without any intention of living up to the negotiation itself, but Trump making clear that he wants a deal and he will effectively force Netanyahu to accept it.

He also told "The Financial Times," "I call the shots, I call the shots. He ..." that is, Netanyahu "... doesn't call the shots." Trump, making quite clear that in his mind he will decide how this goes and that puts Netanyahu in a very difficult situation politically.

There is a domestic and a political demand here for a response as well as, you know, a country would respond to incoming ballistic missiles. But Trump has made clear he does not want to see that happen. So, what will Israel do? What will Netanyahu choose to do? That is a difficult position he puts himself in, even as both leaders have touted their relationship repeatedly and even recently.

DEAN: Yes, and as we await to see what comes out of that phone call, what decision is ultimately made, were also hearing Israel's closing the crossings into Gaza due to the Iranian strikes. Tell us about that.

LIEBERMANN: This was announced just a short time ago from Israel's Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, or COGAT for short. They said, because of what they called necessary security measures, they have closed some of the crucial crossings into Gaza. The Kerem Shalom crossing, through which much of the humanitarian aid flows, as well as the Rafah Border Crossing that has allowed a limited number of very limited number of Palestinians out to seek medical treatment, often emergency medical treatment that too will be closed.

It's worth noting that Israel took this same step at the beginning of the war. Back on February 28th, and it was reversed very quickly within just a couple of days. We'll see if that happens here -- Jessica.

DEAN: All right, Oren Liebermann, for us live in Jerusalem. Thank you so much for that reporting. And up next, I'm going to talk to a member of the house intelligence committee about the latest out of the Middle East and what could be coming next. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:37:31]

DEAN: More now on our breaking news tonight. As President Trump has told "The Financial Times" tonight's strikes by Iran on Israel will not change the negotiating to end the U.S. war with Iran. Iran has tied the strikes to Israels military offensive against Iranian proxy group Hezbollah, which is located out of Lebanon. Iran vowing further strikes if Israel keeps up its attacks.

We're joined now by Democratic Representative Josh Gottheimer of New Jersey. He serves on the House Intelligence Committee. Congressman, thanks so much for being here with us tonight. We really appreciate it.

REP. JOSH GOTTHEIMER (D-NJ): Thanks for having me.

DEAN: Yes, it's good to see you. I just first want to get your response to the breaking news that we've been covering all this evening of these strikes and the President's now pressure on Benjamin Netanyahu to not retaliate.

GOTTHEIMER: Well, first off, Iran clearly broke the April 8th truce today by firing missiles at Israel. As you know, there was a truce. Hezbollah is as a terrorist organization that has been firing missiles and drones at Israel now for months, they've killed Israelis. And so, suddenly for Iran, after all this time to decide that they were going to attack Israel for Hezbollah's actions make no sense, especially after all this time, we've worked incredibly hard to preserve the truce.

And obviously, the administration has, Iran is obviously, come and gone by the day on what they're willing to do and trying to keep this truce. But tonight they decided to break it.

DEAN: And so, do you believe President Trump, when he says Netanyahu is going to have to accept any deal that he makes with Iran?

GOTTHEIMER: Well, listen, I don't begin to pretend that I know what went on in the conversations between Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Trump. I'll say that overall, it's really up to Israel. It's their decision to decide if they're going to respond. But if this were the United States being attacked by Canada, I'm sure that we wouldn't just sit on our hands. We would probably respond.

But again, I'll leave the conversations of what happened to them, but I'll just say that, you know, to, to turn this on Israel, it would be a bit of a joke. Iran is the one that decided to break the truce by tying it randomly, tying their decision randomly to Hezbollah. And by the way, Lebanon, they've been saying for months that they were going to keep Hezbollah under control and get Hezbollah under control and terrorist organization that's in Lebanon, but they've failed to do that.

So really, you've got a terrorist organization firing missiles at a key ally of ours. Obviously, Israel responding to being fired on by Hezbollah and then suddenly Iran jumping in and saying, we're going to tie this together and attack Israel.

So, I think it's dangerous, it's reckless, and it's unacceptable.

[19:40:27]

DEAN: And the President has said he wants to push forward, obviously, with a deal that that is still his main priority. I'm curious what you think is an acceptable deal at this point.

GOTTHEIMER: Well, as you know, Jessica, this this deal has been all over the place. And this has been it's a little hard to track, except for the fact that if you're an American paying $5.00 at the tank, right, for you to fill up your gas tank and realize how much it's hitting our economy and the global economy, you've got 20 percent of the world's oil flowing through the Strait of Hormuz, which is still a place of where there's not enough -- there's, you know, because of this conflict, the Strait has been, a real problem. And it wasn't one in the beginning of the conflict, right.

This wasn't an issue. We were very focused and the administration was on stopping Iran's nuclear program, their ballistic missile program, and of course, their drone, their aggressive drone program, not to mention all their terrorist funding, like to terrorist organizations, including Hezbollah.

So, here we are months later. They've gotten -- the President has not come to Congress for a formal declaration. You saw last week the Congress actually say to the President in a war powers resolution, you know, you after this period of time, after this many days per the War Powers Act, you're supposed to come to us and get a formal declaration of war or an authorization of force. The administration hasn't done that. So, you know, the goals have been unclear. The progress is unclear. The Strait of Hormuz is still a problem that's causing a lot of pain for people here in the United States.

And yet you see Iran breaking what had been a very fragile truce that we thought was holding, unclear what's going to happen tomorrow. But, you know, to try to guess what's going to happen, Jessica, what this agreement is going to look like is really anyone's guess because you just don't know. All I know right now is tonight, Iran has decided to break the truce, throwing potential -- ongoing peace negotiations up in the air and by their very aggressive actions tonight.

DEAN: Yes, and some of the experts I've spoken with, some of the National Security experts that, that have been on the show this evening have talked about how Iran feels like it has the upper hand right now, that it can play for time and that a lot of this is about these billions of dollars in frozen assets that they want, they need money. Are you comfortable with the deal that would release billions of dollars to Iran?

GOTTHEIMER: Well, I think it's first of all, it's right to say that I believe Iran is also feeling pressure, right. Financially, their economy is in dire straits. They also have a problem, where they have a lot of excess oil, they're producing that has nowhere to go, right. Which is, you know, that's a problem as you've talked about for their oil fields. And actually, if you don't, if you start, that starts to back up that causes a problem to their, if they have to shut down their fields and their pumps, that's a huge problem for them.

But I think you're right to say that Iran also recognizes, I believe that we have elections coming up and that President Trump is very eager to find a negotiated settlement. So, you know, whenever you're negotiating from that position, that's not exactly a position of strength that also causes problems in any negotiation.

So, what you know, I don't know what that ultimate you know, if you told me tomorrow, here's what a settlement looked like, an agreement looked like. And it included addressing their terror program, their nuclear program, and their missile and drone programs and opening up the Straits. Sure, I think we could have a deal done, but it can't just be promises. It can't be just words. It's actually has to be deeds. And I want to see that. I know many of us who are focused and been very focused on the region will want to see concrete action and concrete steps.

All I know is that tonight, Iran feels so empowered and so emboldened that they just blew up the truce to attack our key ally and decide to just do it because they felt like it.

DEAN: All right. Congressman Josh Gottheimer, thanks so much for your time. We appreciate it.

GOTTHEIMER: Thanks for having me -- Jessica.

DEAN: Yes, we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:49:21]

DEAN: Former "60 Minutes" correspondent, Scott Pelley saying in his words, CBS is on fire. In an interview with "The New York Times," his first, since being fired from the network last week.

Pelley's exit comes after a series of events created intense turmoil inside "60 Minutes," including the firing of several top executives and correspondents, which Pelley says led him to confront CBS' new leadership.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SCOTT PELLEY, FORMER "60 MINUTES" CORRESPONDENT: We travel together, we dine together, we go into literal combat together. My former boss and former producer, Bill Owens saved my life in a firefight in Iraq. So, Lulu, these bonds are pretty tight, and when somebody wipes out murders a large number of your family members, people are hurt and shocked in disbelief and just desperate for some explanation. And as you and I sit here today, there still has been none.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[19:50:48]

DEAN: CNN chief media analyst Brian Stelter joins us now.

Brian, this was quite an interview. What did you take away from it?

BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA ANALYST: Well, number one, Pelley says there's been no explanation. And that's partially true. We have not heard on the record from CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss, about what has gone down at "60 Minutes" for the past ten days. And that's when this all started.

It was ten days ago when a wave of firings at "60 Minutes" led Pelley to speak up to the new executive producer. He confronted Nick Bilton in that infamous meeting and then Pelley, too, was fired.

On one level, this is sort of a fantasy that employees might have about speaking truth to power, standing up to the boss, telling the boss, what's up. Well, in this case, Pelley was then fired as a result, and ever since then we have not heard on the record from Weiss about why she's trying to renovate and revamp "60 Minutes".

But sources close to Weiss say, it is very clear. She believes the show needs to be dragged into the digital age. She believes it's outdated and archaic. She believes the staff has been resistant to change and stubborn. I think she'd probably say if she was speaking candidly, that she thinks Pelley is sanctimonious. But again, on the record, we've not heard from CBS any of that. So, there's a little bit of information vacuum, and I can see why that's been frustrating for Pelley that the company is not out there explaining why it's making these changes. And in that information, vacuum has led to all of these concerns and all these theories that this has been politically motivated.

That's what Pelley drove at in this remarkable "New York Times" interview. He says Weiss has been putting a thumb on the scale, trying to assist the Trump administration. We have heard from CBS on the record about that. CBS denies that and says there's been no political interference.

Basically, Weiss allies, they say this is about culture change. But Pelley and his colleagues and his allies, they say this is political malfeasance, something going on behind the scenes, an attempt to tip the scales in favor of Trump. And that is why we're seeing this extraordinary rupture inside CBS.

DEAN: And, Brian, just in terms of the damage done to the brand, the damage done to "60 Minutes," to CBS News, how would you evaluate that at this point?

STELTER: Considerable, I would say it's really considerable, but I would also say it's June and the new season, "60 Minutes," doesn't start until September. If we know one thing about the news cycles in this world, they move really rapidly. So, will some viewers forget about all this by September? Probably. But this is still a major challenge and a major test for CBS having to prove that "60 Minutes" can live up to its legacy, even though it's lost now, the majority of its correspondents.

And this is bigger than just "60 Minutes". You know, this entire era at CBS News, I would describe it as the Bari Weiss Experiment. Paramount CEO David Ellison installed her last October with a mandate for change. He said, I want you Bari Weiss, to restore trust in media, to improve CBS' ratings, but also its reputation.

Ever since then, there have been a series of controversies. And when I say there's a Bari Weiss Experiment, people can't even agree on what the experiment is about. Many critics, many observers think it's political in nature that she's bringing an ideology to CBS, trying to move it to the right, trying to appease President Trump while Trump has to, well, the Trump administration has to review and approve Paramount's merger to buy Warner Bros Discovery, including CNN.

So, you have a lot of people thinking this experiment is about politics. But Weiss and her allies, and she has many who she has installed inside CBS. They say this is about culture change, that she believes CBS is archaic and out of date, and she wants to shake up the culture.

So, you have this experiment going on and nobody can even agree what it's all about.

DEAN: Yes, and there's also this question too, about experience and what kind of experience Weiss and Nick Bilton and others bring to this. Scott Pelley talked a lot about the fact that they they've never been involved in television news, and that seems to really disturb people at CBS News.

While on the other hand, some people say, oh, that's good, they're shaking it up.

STELTER: Yes, listen, I used to work in "The New York Times," just like Barry Weiss, just like Nick Bilton. So, I came into CNN one day not knowing about T.V. news. It is a is a big uphill climb. There's a lot to learn and the criticism of Weiss and Bilton is mostly that they haven't tried to learn about it.

But listen, Bari Weiss believes outside energy and opinions are needed. That's what she's trying to do to make change. And she has said to the staff, if you don't disrupt yourself, if you don't try to evolve, you're going to get disrupted. So that is the challenge in a nutshell here.

But, you know, all of this has political clouds hovering over it because of that Paramount attempt to buy CNN and the rest of WBD and ultimately, Jessica, viewers are the judges. Viewers should tune in, judge the content for themselves, see if it's balanced.

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DEAN: That's right, all right. Brian Stelter, thanks so much. good to see you.

STELTER: Thanks.

DEAN: And stay with CNN for the very latest on our breaking news tonight. That ballistic, missile attack launched by Iran on Israel. Also, thanks so much for joining me this evening. I'm Jessica Dean. Up next here on CNN, it's a brand new, "The Whole Story" with Anderson Cooper. Sara Sidner, will take you inside UFC fighting as the sport gets ready to make its debut on the White House lawn next weekend. Have a great night, everyone.

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