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Minnesota Shooting Suspect in Custody; Iran Launches Missiles into Israel; At least Eight Killed in Iranian Strikes; Trump Orders Change for Deportations; Scott Duffey is Interviewed about the Minnesota Shootings; Trump Attends G-7 Summitt. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired June 16, 2025 - 06:30   ET

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

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[06:30:06]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We really want to deescalate, then enable. Enable to -- enable -- enable us and work with us to get the nukes out of Iran.

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AUDIE CORNISH, CNN ANCHOR: Israel has a message for world leaders who are calling for diplomacy between Israel and Iran.

Good morning, everybody. I'm Audie Cornish. Thank you for joining me on CNN THIS MORNING. It is 6:30 a.m. here on the East Coast. And here's what's happening right now.

At least eight people are dead, dozens more injured after the latest round of strikes into Israel from Iran. Explosions heard throughout Tel Aviv. A power grid in central Israel was damaged and an oil refinery was hit. In Iran, the death toll is also rising. Since Friday, at least 224 people have been killed.

Today, some of the world's biggest economic powers are in Canada for the G-7 summit. President Trump arriving there last night. While the meeting may be overshadowed by the Israeli conflict with Iran, President Trump is eager to use the summit to make progress on those trade deals.

And 57-year-old Vance Boelter has been captured. The suspect in the shooting of two Minnesota lawmakers and their spouses was arrested last night. Police saying he crawled to them after being surrounded in Green Isle, Minnesota. That's the city where he lived.

He's now facing two counts of second-degree murder and two counts of attempted second-degree murder for the killing of State Representative Melissa Hortman and the wounding of State Senator John Hoffman. Both were shot in their homes early Saturday morning, along with their spouses.

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MARK BURLEY, BROOKLYN PARK POLICE CHIEF: There's no question that this is the largest manhunt in the state's history. Just down at the scene where he was taken into custody, there was 20 different SWAT teams over an extremely large area, hunting this individual down to take him into custody.

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CORNISH: We go now to CNN's Ivan Rodriguez outside Minneapolis City Hall, where Boelter is being held.

Can you tell us a little bit more about how that manhunt ended?

IVAN RODRIGUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Audie, good morning.

As you mentioned, we're right in the middle of downtown Minneapolis. City Hall to my right. The jail here, right behind me. We know that Vance Boelter will be scheduled for his first court appearance later this afternoon here in the courthouse right in front of me.

And as you mentioned, we're learning more about those moments leading up to Vance Boelter's capture and arrest.

We know that law enforcement had set up a very large-scale perimeter in that rural area of Sibley County. And really one of the first reasons they were first there to begin with was the fact that they found an abandoned car on the side of the road they associated to be Boelter's vehicle. And they also were initially out there because of a trail camera of one of the residents captured an image that really fitted the description of Boelter. So, that alerted SWAT teams to go to that area of rural Sibley County and continue that search.

And as you mentioned earlier, he was found in a wooded area. As this manhunt continued into that nighttime hour, they used, law enforcement, all sorts of technology, including infrared, helicopters, drones. When they were finally able to capture him and see where he was hiding out, they called out to him and he crawled toward law enforcement, really ending what is being called the largest state manhunt in Minnesota history.

CORNISH: That's CNN's Ivan Rodriguez. We're going to hear more of his reporting throughout the day.

Thank you.

Turning back now to the ongoing conflict between Israel and Iran. With Israel showing no sign of backing down, what's their end game? Some say regime change. For others, they say it's about eliminating Iran's nuclear capabilities completely.

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MICHAEL LEITER, ISRAELI AMBASSADOR: Weve set them back dramatically, but not enough. And that's why this series of strikes is not going to end today or tomorrow, but only at a period of time, which may take weeks, when we are absolutely certain that the nuclear infrastructure, with the intention of weaponizing and threatening Israel, is terminated.

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CORNISH: What's clear here is that this is a conflict that has the potential to lead to a broader regional war, with the risk of pulling in major powers, including the U.S. The Trump administration is already walking a major diplomatic tightrope.

Joining me now is CNN global affairs analyst Kim Dozier.

Kim, as always, welcome back.

I want to start with -- with the sort of physical battle. At first it was the military, military leaders, nuclear facilities. How has this changed over the last even 48 hours?

KIMBERLY DOZIER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: They also took out some of the Iranian scientists in civilian areas, which meant civilian casualties.

We're seeing them expand a bit to energy facilities.

[06:35:04]

CORNISH: The Israelis?

DOZIER: The -- the Israelis.

CORNISH: Yes.

DOZIER: On the Iranian side, last time they volleyed missiles at Israel in April 2024, they stuck to military sites. This time they're using a lot less care. And according to the IDF, the Israeli defense forces, they are using dumb missiles, ones that can't be guided.

But Iran only had 2,000 some odd ballistic missiles to begin with. We don't quite know how many drones. And they have to preserve them because much of their leadership has been taken out, much of their air defenses have been taken out, and now, every time they move a launch platform to try to hide from the Israelis, the Israelis are watching and taking those out.

CORNISH: Now, this means a lot of people are saying that this is the right time to go for regime change. The reporting over the weekend, we have it at CNN as well, that the White House decided not to go for supreme -- to -- to kill Iran's supreme leader, be part of that.

What would regime change mean in this moment? Is Iran just that vulnerable? What is the question the White House is facing?

DOZIER: Well, the Israelis would like regime change. Netanyahu has said as much. But from the Trump administration perspective, the only reason to say no to the Israelis to taking out the Supreme Leader is to preserve the opportunity to go back to those talks, to use this good cop, bad cop, that Israel is taking out all of Iran's military, but also economic might. What it needs to survive. And then saying, OK, you've got to negotiate with us to keep your people fed. And keeping the supreme leader alive preserves that possibility. But I think it underestimates the pride of the Iranian regime having been taken out like this. I don't think they'll be back to peace talks anytime soon.

CORNISH: Yes. We've heard so much from -- about Israel and the idea of the operation "roaring lion," but I actually was thinking about something else, which is this idea of like the octopus doctrine, that Iran was at the center of something with many tentacles that was always threatening to Israel.

What do you see now with this latest proactive attack on Iran? How far has Israel gone in doing what it hoped to do?

DOZIER: Well, one of the reasons Israel couldn't do this before is there were hundreds of missiles in Lebanon pointed at major Israeli cities. It would have been much worse than the volley that we've seen hit Haifa and some of the suburbs of Tel Aviv so far this time around. But by taking Hezbollah out in Lebanon, and by taking other proxies out, Yemen still has capability, but they're far away.

CORNISH: Yes.

DOZIER: They have really allowed this kind of attack to go forward. And this was one of the reasons pushing them into this attack. Never again would be -- would Iran be so undefended. So, from the Israeli perspective, they have made their country safer, even if they're going to be facing this volley of missiles in the coming weeks.

CORNISH: And even now it's not clear where Iran would turn to, correct, for any kind of support?

DOZIER: Arab leaders are speaking in favor of Iran, even Saudi Arabia, calling them brothers, because, in the Arab and Islamic street, people are furious over this. And even though the White House is trying to say we didn't take part in this attack, they're still being seen as part and parcel and backing this violence against Iran, especially because they're protecting Israel.

CORNISH: You know, Kim, thank you so much.

DOZIER: Thanks.

CORNISH: Always a lot of context when I speak with you. I appreciate it.

DOZIER: Thanks.

CORNISH: Now, this morning, Iran's president defending its nuclear program, insisting that they have every right to benefit from and pursue nuclear energy. And new satellite images show the damage to several Iranian military facilities and one nuclear site. Israel was able to destroy an enrichment plant and electrical infrastructure. Iran striking back, sending missiles to Israel, hitting an oil refinery overnight. Reuters is reporting that Iran claims to be using a, quote, "new method," which is causing Israel's defense systems to target each other.

I'm going to bring in CNN's senior international correspondent, Fred Pleitgen.

And, Fred, can you just start with how Iran is kind of reorganizing here after, frankly, devastating losses they've taken among their leadership, as well as these kind of physical structures.

FRED PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it was certainly in the first couple of hours after the Israelis launched that aerial blitz across so many targets in Iran that the Iranians really seem to be caught on the back foot with large parts of the senior leadership of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps getting wiped out. Of course, the head of the IRGC was killed. Also, the head of their aerospace forces, which, of course, is responsible for the ballistic missiles, but also for the air defenses as well.

It seems since then, though, that the Iranians indeed have managed to reorganize their ranks somewhat, replace some of those senior leaders who were killed.

[06:40:04]

It was quite interesting because the supreme leader actually replaced the head of the Revolutionary Guard Corps on the same day after he'd been killed and also replaced the chief of staff as well. So, the Iranians right now feel that they've sort of found their footing a little bit again. And we've seen that over the past two days, especially over the weekend, when the amount of missiles that the Iranians fired towards Israel certainly seemed to increase by a lot. I think at this point in time the Israelis are saying that more than 370 Iranian missiles have been fired towards Israeli territory. Of course, you guys have talked about some of the places that have been hit. Some residential areas have been hit. But then also that oil and gas facility or that -- that -- that oil facility in -- in Israel also seeming to have taken a hit as well.

So, the Iranians, right now, seem to feel that they are firing back. But at the same time, of course, they also make no secret of the fact that the Israeli airstrikes that they're facing certainly devastating for a lot of people on the ground. The Iranians admitting that the intelligence chief of the Revolutionary Guard Corps was killed, the deputy of the intelligence chief was also killed. But one of the things that the Iranians have certainly showed a propensity for is to be able to replace the people that get taken out very quickly on the ground in Tehran. Certainly a very difficult situation. Folks that we've been speaking to speak of a lot of airstrikes that are going on by the Israelis. The Iranians are saying more than 200 people have been killed on the ground so far. Thousands have already been wounded as these airstrikes have unfolded, many of them hitting places in central Tehran. The Israelis, of course, are saying, all of these are facilities that are linked either to the Revolutionary Guard or in some way, shape or form to the nuclear program. But certainly for the people on the ground, they say a very difficult situation, Audie. CORNISH: That's Fred Pleitgen, CNN's senior -- CNN's senior

international correspondent.

Now, the Trump administration is now scaling back aggressive immigrant -- migrant raids at places like farms, restaurants and hotels. The shift in policy, first reported by "The New York Times," comes after massive protests against the raids in places like Los Angeles and concerns raised by farmers who rely on migrant workers to help with the upcoming summer harvest season, something the president talked about last week.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Our farmers are being hurt badly by, you know, they have very good workers. They've worked for them for 20 years. They -- they're not citizens, but they've turned out to be, you know, great. And we're going to have to do something about that.

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CORNISH: Now, the president is focusing his promise of mass deportations on a new target, America's largest cities. In a new social media post last night, the president ordered federal agencies to, quote, "expand efforts to detain and deport illegal aliens in cities such as Los Angeles, Chicago and New York, where millions upon millions of illegal aliens reside." He went on to say law enforcement should "focus on our crime ridden and deadly inner cities."

Group chat is back.

First, I just want to show a graphic of top farming states because California is on that list, but so are a number of red states, so to speak. Iowa, Texas, which has a huge number, Nebraska, Minnesota. Basically, you have the White House saying, we won't be going into these areas, but we have to go into cities. Someone help me understand this as policy.

STEPHEN COLLINSON, CNN POLITICS SENIOR REPORTER: Well, if they push through, as the president is promising with this crackdown in cities, that is going to maximize the political attention to this. The backlash, you could have potentially in Democratic cities, reactions like you saw in Los Angeles, which created this big political crisis last week.

I think it's another sign that the president is deeply conscious of his own coalition. We saw in his first term how he shielded farmers in Iowa from the impacts of his trade war with China.

CORNISH: Tariffs, yes.

COLLINSON: And a lot of this is politicized. And it shows, once again, how a well-positioned leader of an industry who can get to Trump can actually make big changes in policy.

CORNISH: Yes, agribusiness is no small thing. It's interesting you're saying that because I was thinking that some of this has to do with, you've got to make those numbers. If you're go -- if you're Stephen Miller, whoever, you're going to I.C.E. and say, you got to make x amount of numbers, and now you're no longer going to go to farms where I think upwards of 40 percent of the workforce could fall in this category. You got to get it from somewhere.

Here's Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass talking about the raids in her city and what kind of impact they're having overall.

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MAYOR KAREN BASS (D), LOS ANGELES: Construction industry cannot function without immigrant labor. Our fashion industry, where there's over 4,000 businesses, looks like a ghost town now. You hear people talking in restaurants all over about how they don't want to go out anymore. You have people that won't come out of their house because they don't want to buy groceries. You have churches that are on hybrid because people are afraid to go to churches. Why? Because there was an arrest outside a church.

[06:45:00]

So, all of this has created a -- a feeling of fear and terror.

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CORNISH: Decide -- what are you guys thinking as you hear this? I don't know the difference between a construction worker in California and a farm worker in Nebraska, but someone help me.

KAREN ATTIAH, COLUMNIST, "THE WASHINGTON POST": I mean, I think there's a lot of -- a lot of history about coded words when we talk about -- even talking about inner cities, even talking about Democratic strongholds. I mean, this is really, you know, something to think about is -- is using migrants as a reason or a pretext to wage war against what is perceived to be this creeping, radical, Democratic, you know, sort of threat.

And -- and particularly going after cities where there's high media concentration, right? Particularly a city like Los Angeles, which is one of the media capitals of the world. It only helps to amplify this notion of -- an -- or -- or this false, really, image of these cities are being taken over by liberals, and liberals are destroying the country, not the immigrants. When it suits Trump, immigrants are hardworking, good people when they're in farms and red states, but all of a sudden these immigrants are criminals when they're in blue states?

CORNISH: OK, both of you have focused on kind of language and where this goes.

Mike, I don't want to put you on the spot.

MIKE DUBKE, FORMER COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR, TRUMP ADMINISTRATION: I -- I -- no, listen, I'm going to go -- I'm just going to go totally -- you're either in this country legally or not. And I think during the last election, where the president scored most of his political points, is -- it was talking about focusing on illegal immigrants in this country who had committed crimes. They got away from that when Stephen Miller went to Homeland Security and said, we've got to get these numbers up. And what you saw was an increased crackdown in areas that had higher concentrations of immigrants.

The problem with that for the administration is that it's also in areas, economic areas of this country, that are vitally important. Agriculture, meatpacking, construction, other areas where you take a large portion of the labor force away, you're going to have some economic disruption with that.

So, I think what the administration is doing is getting back to focusing on criminal activities and focusing on immigrants. The rhetoric that they had during the campaign. I don't view this as a red state, blue state thing. I think they're going back to the cities, because that is a place, a, where they can focus on more of the criminality, but, b, to -- to the point I made earlier, that's also a setup for a political confrontation and rhetoric that is more advantageous to the administration than the central valley of California.

CORNISH: Yes, Karen, I see you wanting to jump in. Quickly.

ATTIAH: You know, talk about criminals. These are children very often being ripped from parents. Raids on graduations, right? And I think there's -- again, we do focus on language, but we're also looking at what is actually happening. And getting those numbers up at any cost means ripping families apart. And this is where the anger -- this is where the anger is coming from, obviously.

CORNISH: Yes.

ATTIAH: So, you know, it's just numbers over --

CORNISH: And to your point, I see a fair amount of this on social media. People surreptitiously videoing I.C.E. at -- at schools or wherever. So, I think that element of it, people getting to the news themselves is having an effect.

Group chat, I want you to stick around. We've got a lot more to discuss in the time that we have.

Still to come on CNN THIS MORNING, we've got those world leaders gathering in Canada. The Middle East plunges into yet another crisis. What we can expect from the G-7 summit in just a matter of hours.

Plus, that massive manhunt for a suspect -- a suspected assassin in Minnesota is over. What police found in his car as they brought him into custody.

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[06:53:19]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) BOB JACOBSON, MINNESOTA COMMISSIONER OF PUBLIC SAFETY: Boelter exploited the trust our uniforms are meant to represent. That betrayal is deeply disturbing to those of us who wear the badge with honor and responsibility.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: That was Minnesota's commissioner of public safety on the arrest of Vance Boelter, the man accused of shooting two state lawmakers and their spouses on Saturday morning. Officials say he did it while disguised as a law enforcement officer. He fled the scene, triggering a manhunt which lasted 43 hours and quickly became the largest search in Minnesota history.

Boelter now faces two counts of second-degree murder and two counts of attempted murder. He faces decades in prison for each charge.

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GOV. TIM WALZ (D-MN): Multiple agencies were there as FBI laid hands on it, and Minnesota State Patrol put the handcuffs on. One man's unthinkable actions have altered the state of Minnesota.

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CORNISH: Joining me now to discuss this operation, Scott Duffey. He's a retired supervisory special agent with the FBI.

Good morning, Scott. Thanks for being here.

SCOTT DUFFEY, SUPERVISORY FBI SPECIAL AGENT (RET.): Good morning, Audie. Thank you for having me.

CORNISH: Now, we heard from the director of public safety talking about how the suspect disguised himself as law enforcement. Also wearing that mask. Can you talk about what you kind of -- your analysis of this criminal complaint that talked about him in this ballistic vest, the mask, the -- the gold police style badge.

DUFFEY: Yes. So, he spent quite a bit of time in planning the execution of the shootings and subsequent homicides of these lawmakers and their spouses.

[06:55:06]

As -- as well as getting what we believe is a police vehicle. So, this is a lot of time and money and effort spent to be able to go in, into these houses, or at least approach a neighborhood, using the disguise of law enforcement. It is a shame and absolutely agree that law enforcement is -- is disparaged here and -- and to be able to do this.

But, at the same time, this person did not have an exit plan. And that's why law enforcement was able to get on him pretty quick.

CORNISH: Yes. Can you talk a little bit more about that as this manhunt unfolded? How did you see agencies working together? As you said, if he had no exit plan, he still was able to elude authorities for some time.

DUFFEY: Yes. So, here I believe it was classic playbook for law enforcement. Having been on a fugitive task force and then subsequent violent crime task force, its federal, state and local partners. And so, I imagine the same way here in Minnesota, you have the initial shooting and law enforcement being able to, however they did it, but be able to get enough information to say this is something that's ongoing and then be able to get to the second address.

And -- and then it turned into a firefight. But he was able to elude law enforcement. And then, in the cover of darkness, be able to escape.

But law enforcement applied a lot of pressure. And this is what I call the short-term game. And it is massive amount of manpower and being able to pull out everything, whether it be digital, whether media attention, and getting everybody to participate. And ultimately coming across this vehicle and being able to set the dragnet and a perimeter and ensure that, if he was in that perimeter, he wasn't going to escape.

CORNISH: Scott Duffey is a retired supervisory special agent with the FBI.

Thank you.

Now, before we go, I want to talk about that G-7 summit in Canada where President Trump is going to gather with the leaders of the world's wealthiest nations to discuss a wide range of global issues. High up on the agenda, the Israel-Iran conflict and more potential trade deals the Trump administration hopes to secure.

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DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: All we have to do is send a letter. This is what you're going to have to pay. But I think we'll have a few -- a few new trade deals. Yes.

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CORNISH: Group chat is back.

Just reminding people that the Trump administration had set like a 90 day goal to make a bunch of trade deals by I think this was land (ph) in early July. Haven't been a long list that have been announced of confirmed deals, but this is also the G-7 is where I think last time around when Trump was there you have that very famous photo of Angela Merkel and everyone standing around him. Very different vibe this time, I assume.

COLLINSON: Yes, but if they can get out of this summit without a major diplomatic conflagration, I think it will be a success.

CORNISH: You're setting a bar low for a diplomatic event.

COLLINSON: Yes. Right. CORNISH: OK.

DUBKE: I really like that word.

CORNISH: Yes, conflagration.

COLLINSON: Yes.

CORNISH: You mean tweeting from the plane, which is, I think, what happened last time.

COLLINSON: Well -- yes, showdowns.

CORNISH: Yes.

COLLINSON: People walking out. We'll see. But I don't expect much out of this summit just because the president doesn't really agree on very much with the other leaders that are there. We've seen a complete disconnect. So, maybe some progress on trade deals, but I think there's still a question of what exactly the president wants on a lot of these separate deals. What he really wants is tariffs.

CORNISH: Yes.

COLLINSON: And we'll see how that plays out.

CORNISH: We just have a short time left. I was actually hoping you two could tell me what you're keeping an eye on this week because it's Monday. People kind of want to know what to watch because there's so much going on.

Karen, let me start with you.

ATTIAH: Yes. In general, on this topic of protests and everything, I mean, of course, you know, protests in the street get a lot of attention. But I've just been very much following economic boycotts and protests. Of course, this week is Juneteenth coming up. And we know that --

CORNISH: Oh, yes.

ATTIAH: Right. No, yes.

CORNISH: We'll talk about it later this week, but, yes.

ATTIAH: Yes. But it's definitely, you know, watching how the boycott of Target over its pulling back from DEI has been one of the most effective boycotts in history. So, Juneteenth coming up. This, of course, is pride month. Having a large swaths of the population angry at Target.

CORNISH: Yes.

ATTIAH: I'm just watching --

CORNISH: Let's see how -- if there's more. ATTIAH: If there's more.

CORNISH: Mike, last few to you.

DUBKE: Yes. Today I'm watching to see -- this is going to be like the lunchroom scene in "Mean Girls," who sits with who at the G-7 summit. But that's not -- for the week what I'm looking at is what central banks are going to be doing. We've got oil going ten bucks a gallon more or, I'm sorry, a barrel more because of the conflict.

[07:00:07]

And we've got the U.S., the U.K., Japan and other countries, their central banks, inflation hasn't been where it's supposed to be.

CORNISH: We'll be making an announcement this week. Yes.

DUBKE: But big announcements this week and we'll see how that all plays out.

CORNISH: I like you both looking out for some kind of economic fallout in one way or another.

Stephen, thank you for being here, as always.

And thank you for waking up with us. I'm Audie Cornish. And CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts now.