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Trump to Decide on Iran Strikes Within Two Weeks; White House Says, Iran Has Never Been Closer to Nuclear Weapon; Israel Says It Struck Dozens of Targets, Nuke Facility in Iran. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired June 20, 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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[06:30:00]

AUDIE CORNISH, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning everyone. I'm Audie Cornish, and thank you for joining me on CNN This Morning. It's half past the hour and here's what's happening right now.

Israel's Iron Dome working to repel a new missal barrage from Iran. In Southern Israel, fires broke out at a technology park that houses Microsoft offices after Israel said it intercepted a missile. At least six people were injured.

President Trump can maintain control over the National Guard in L.A., at least for now. Last night, an appeals court granted another extension. This comes after California's governor sued the president for what he calls an overstep in power. Today, the two sides will be back in court for a hearing.

And one person is dead after Hurricane Erick slammed into Mexico's Pacific Coast as a Category 3 storm on Thursday. Powerful winds and heavy rain battered the region. Erick is expected to break down today.

And from suggesting the U.S. wouldn't be getting involved in Iran to floating a possible deal, then demanding Iran's unconditional surrender, it's been a dizzying shift of positions from President Trump on Iran. Now, the White House has set a two-week timeline before potentially taking action alongside Israel.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: I have ideas as to what to do, but I haven't made a final. I like to make the final decision one second before it's due, you know, because things change. I mean, especially with war. Things change with war. It can go from one extreme to the other.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: This is the president contradicts his own national intelligence director.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Tulsi Gabbard testified in March that the intelligence community said Iran wasn't building a nuclear weapon.

TRUMP: I don't care what she said. I think they were very close to having one.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: So, the president seems to be relying less on some of that data and some of his instincts, which are shaped by a wave of pressure from many directions.

Here to talk about that is Mark Mazzetti, Washington investigative correspondent at The New York Times. You guys have got a report out now about this, what you're calling an Iran shift. To help us understand this, what did you come to understand about the relationship between Trump and Netanyahu?

MARK MAZZETTI, WASHINGTON INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT, THE NEW YORK TIMES: Well, they certainly project this great political alliance and they are on more on the same page than previous American presidents in Netanyahu. However, there is this deep mistrust between the two sides. I mean, President Trump's still angry that Netanyahu acknowledged Joe Biden's election win in 2020.

And more recently, President Trump has said that he is worried that Netanyahu's going to drag him into another war in the Middle East. He's told his allies that.

CORNISH: Yes, that Israel's initial military success became evident, that, again, was one of the many things that was sort of pushing the president.

MAZZETTI: Yes. And by late May, the U.S. intelligence was pretty stark that Netanyahu was going to do this strike, these strikes in Iran with or without the United States, which is a big change from the years of pushing. Netanyahu has done on several American presidents who basically knew that Netanyahu probably wasn't going to do it alone because there were all these factors. Hezbollah was in Southern Lebanon who could retaliate against Iran Israel if they strike Iran, Iran's missile capabilities, Syrian regime. All these things, a lot of these things changed last fall, shaping the contours of what Netanyahu then believed the risks were lower to him.

And so then if Netanyahu was going to start the war he may have believed that he could bring Trump into finishing.

CORNISH: I want to understand our national security intelligence apparatus in this scenario. We played that cut of the president sounding dismissive of comments from Tulsi Gabbard earlier. In your writing, you don't describe her being a key part of this conversation. What are we looking at? Who is he listening to? And what's your sense about the president's confidence in the intelligence he's getting?

MAZZETTI: Well, first of all, with Tulsi Gabbard, I mean, we know her general philosophy on American inter intervention overseas. She's skeptical. But she's just up there echoing the intelligence, which is pretty stable for years and years. There's the belief that Iran has this pile of highly rich uranium that they could use if they made a choice to weaponize a nuclear bomb.

[06:35:04]

But the intelligence community doesn't believe they've done that yet. The hawks say, well, it doesn't matter, because once they make the decision, it's going to be too late. So, that's where the sort of debate over the intel is.

Trump, as you played in that clip, echoed this idea that, well, it doesn't matter if they've made a decision. I think they're very close. Clearly, it shows he's not listening very much to the director of National Intelligence. He seems to be listening to John Ratcliffe, the CIA director. He has, as you know, a number of different conflicting voices in his head on this debate, and he's just asked for more time. So, we'll see where that plays out.

But it is a little bit of a moment-to-moment thing about which side is ascendant in this debate with the president.

CORNISH: Never mind the outside voices. I mean, what are you going to be listening for as we step into this window he's given himself to make some kind of decision?

MAZZETTI: Well, I think the one big question here is how much they think that they could restart the diplomacy, right? Is do, they buy time to give Steve Witkoff and others a chance to see whether Iran is weakened enough to want to accept terms that they weren't willing to accept a week ago, right? So, that's I think, the biggest question.

And if they suss that out and they think that there's a path, they might try it. Otherwise, I think that he's clearly keeping his military options open because there's a tremendous amount of military force now around the Persian Gulf and in the Middle East, and he could still make that decision to hit some of these nuclear sites.

CORNISH: And it sounds like from your reporting, though, that this opening, this off-ramp, on-ramp when it comes to diplomacy is real, that there's sincere in trying to make this happen.

MAZZETTI: It seems right.

CORNISH: Okay.

MAZZETTI: It seems that, like he certainly says, he says, I could take as long as two weeks. There could be some action tonight or tomorrow or the next day, right? The idea is to leave everyone guessing, including us.

CORNISH: All right. Mark Mazzetti, thank you so much. You can read his reporting in The New York Times.

So, new overnight, Israel says it has hit dozens of targets in Iran, including a missile production site and a nuclear research facility in Tehran. And a new video obtained by Reuters shows some of the damage done by Iran in Southern Israel. So, there's residential buildings that you can see there are mangled after that missile strike.

CNN's Nic Robertson is in Haifa, Israel. He joins us now. Nic, what more are you learning about these attacks?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes. The attacks coming in Be'er Shiva very close to the hospital that was hit yesterday, technology park, residential area. Actually, residential buildings were damaged in that Iranian strike, 54 people taken to hospital following that, but most of them with moderate injuries.

I think the picture across the country is one that sort of exemplified, if you will, here in Haifa. Last night, for the first time in a week, the sirens didn't go off in this town and people were able to sleep through the whole night. And one of the questions I've been asking people here today is about President Trump's decision to wait two weeks before he makes a decision whether to weigh in and support and help Israel on those strikes in Iran against its nuclear facilities.

And, you know, the picture from here is, you know, local officials talk about resilience. They talk about how the community's ready to handle this, that people are ready to sort of go the distance, the country is strong and could go it alone, which is very much the sort of political narrative here, but I'm also finding that echoed by other people that we're speaking to. They're also telling us, look one important thing to them, is it going to be two weeks of peace before President Trump makes his mind up, or two weeks of continued strikes.

But nights, like last night, helped reset people, and here they had a whole night's sleep. They're hoping for more of that. That's what makes the difference at the moment here.

CORNISH: Nic Robertson, CNN's international diplomatic editor.

Okay. We are going to go to reports now of the toll of this conflict because we're learning that several hospitals in Iran have been damaged by Israeli strikes and the humanitarian group, Red Crescent, says at least five hospitals were impacted by the blast. It claims the hospitals were not a direct target of the attacks. But this is just one day after an Israeli hospital was damaged by an Iranian missile. Iran claims that hospital was not intentionally targeted.

Meanwhile, this morning, Iran is giving nuclear talks a chance with their foreign minister set to meet with European leaders soon in Geneva.

CNN's Nada Bashir has the latest from London. And, Nada, can you first just talk, set us up for this meeting, it's Iran's foreign minister, correct? Who will he be meeting with?

NADA BASHIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. And we are expecting to see the foreign ministers of France, Germany, the E.U.'s high representative for foreign affairs gathering in Geneva, Switzerland, to meet with Iran's foreign minister. And, clearly, we are seeing some movement on the part of European leaders to push for some sort of diplomatic off-ramp.

[06:40:04]

And this comes after, of course, U.S. President Donald Trump said he would for a two week window for diplomatic efforts before making any sort of final decision on whether the U.S. would engage in direct strikes within Iran.

But, of course, while we are seeing the foreign minister taking part in these talks in Geneva, we have been hearing from the deputy foreign minister as well as other Iranian officials speaking this morning, according to state media saying, that there can be no hope for diplomacy while Israel's attacks on Iran continue.

And, clearly, that is what we are still seeing overnight, yet more strikes within Iran by the Israeli military. They say around 60 Air force fighter jets engaged in those strikes overnight, claiming to be targeting military assets, including manufacturing sites. And we heard yesterday from the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, saying that Israel will continue to target all of Iran's nuclear sites until their military objectives are met. So, that has ramped up concern, of course.

And it's important to underscore that we have been hearing once again from the U.N.'s International Atomic Energy Agency, speaking to CNN, the head of the IAEA yesterday, Rafael Grossi, once again reiterating that there was, according to this agency, no indication of a systematic program for nuclear weapons, reiterating that call once again for diplomacy. Audie?

CORNISH: Nada Bashir, CNN correspondent in London, thank you for the update.

Now, I want to come back to the States for a minute and talk about the world champion L.A. Dodgers saying that they refuse to play ball when it comes to the Trump administration's immigration crackdown. Federal agents gathered outside Dodgers Stadium hours before last night's game against San Diego.

You can see the response. Protesters quickly rushed to the area, began chanting anti-ICE slogans. And at that point the Dodgers posted on X that ICE had come to the stadium and requested access to the grounds or requests the team says it denied. Then that sparks this like back and forth online, ICE officials tweeting back, false, we were never there. It turns out it may have been Customs and Border Patrol with car problems.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RAUL CLAROS, DIRECTOR, CALIFORNIA RISING: Our people are under attack. The largest economic engine in this area is silent. Wake up, do better.

(END VIDEO CLIP) CORNISH: So, I think that even though DHS, and we can show you this, sent out a tweet saying, look, this has nothing to do with the Dodgers, these vehicles here for this reason, or that reason. It is clear they are not trusted, okay? It is very clear when you see this response. So, I don't who wants to take this on first.

ROB BLUEY, PRESIDENT AND EXECUTIVE EDITOR, THE DAILY SIGNAL: Well, the Dodgers also aren't trusted Audie because --

CORNISH: Oh, what do you mean?

BLUEY: Because, well, the Latino community there is frustrated that the Dodgers have not been more vocal in support of their efforts. And so you have a situation where I think this sports franchise is trying to balance what its fan base ultimately wants. You have those who wanted to take a political position and then you have those who would prefer that it probably just stay sticks to sports.

LULU GARCIA-NAVARRO, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: I mean, this is the real problem of this era. There was a lot of lessons learned during 2020 and the protests against the George Floyd murder. And some took the message that, hey, we went too far and we want to pull back. And some took the message that actually, we need to stand by our values. And it looks like the Dodgers hasn't decided which team they're on yet, and that is where the Latino community is trying to pressure them.

You know, at the end of the day, what the Dodgers do, what they don't do, you know, they are a homegrown team and there is a big Latino community there, and those Latinos are not happy.

CORNISH: In the meantime, Dodgers star Kike Hernandez posted this on Instagram, I am saddened and infuriated by what's happening in our country. This is my second home, and I cannot stand to see our community being violated, profiled, abused and ripped apart. Do you think more people might speak out?

SABRINA SINGH, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS COMMENTATOR: I think it is a good thing that people are speaking up, because at the end of the day, what you're seeing happen in L.A. and cities across the country are people are protesting these, you know, ICE raids, which are tearing apart communities.

I mean, going into restaurants, daycare centers, schools, tearing people out of their jobs, that is not the way to enforce the laws. And I think what's also, especially in L.A., you're seeing such heightened tensions with the National Guard being there. And, you know, the governor of the state didn't even request the National Guard to come in.

So, tensions are so high that I think people are also frustrated when an institution like the Dodgers is staying silent.

CORNISH: Yes. It was interesting to hear them talking about their, it being an economic engine, et cetera, really laying into them in the way Lulu's talking about.

You guys, I want you to stay with us. We're going to talk more this hour.

Ahead on CNN This Morning, President Trump delays his decision on attacking Iran for another two weeks.

[06:45:00]

How wise is that if Iran is weeks away from developing a nuclear weapon?

Plus, the Indiana Pacers force a game seven against the thunder in the NBA Finals. We're going to tell you who dominated on the court.

And, of course, more for my friends here at the group chat after this.

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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: They should have done the deal. I told them do the deal. So, I don't know, I'm not too much in a mood to negotiate.

KAROLINE LEAVITT, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: I have a message directly from the president, and I quote, based on the fact that there's a substantial chance of negotiations that may or may not take place with Iran in the near future, I will make my decision whether or not to go within the next two weeks.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: That was White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt there. So, is the president buying himself time? That appears to be the case because this war of words between Trump and Iran's supreme leader that basically set off a diplomatic scramble to tone down the language and get both sides back to a negotiating table, at least for one more time.

[06:50:03]

Foreign ministers from several European countries head to Geneva today for talks with Iranian officials to try and mend things over, and this after Iran actually rejected terms of the deal that Middle East Envoy Steve Witkoff had offered before Israel strikes on Iran began. So, how far might any potential talks go this time around?

Joining me now is to discuss is David Sanger. He's a New York Times and White House national security correspondent and CNN political and national security analyst. You know a lot of the players here. So, first I just want to start with something you write in your article where you're saying some experts told you that Trump's president -- that Trump's announcement might have been an effort not just to buy time but potentially deceive Iranians. Can you expand on that?

DAVID SANGER, CNN POLITICAL AND NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Well, he said within two weeks. Now, setting aside the fact that two weeks is always Donald Trump's favorite time period for anything, new healthcare plans, you know, whatever you have, it does leave the possibility that there's some strategic deception here, and he could just be trying to muddy up the question of when they would take this action and he could act within the two weeks.

Do I think that's likely at the beginning here, while the Europeans are talking and while he's headed to NATO, which is early next week? Probably not, but certainly one of the possibilities, but there are many others.

CORNISH: There are many others, especially as you mentioned with this meeting in Geneva. I know you know some of the players here as you followed this before. Who's going to be at this meeting? What's significant about it?

SANGER: Well, you're going to have all the European players who were involved in their -- by country, at least, the negotiations that took place probably between 2013 and 2015 that resulted in the Obama era deal. And that deal, we should remember, was the most successful two or three years the United States has ever had in containing the program. The Iranians shipped 97 percent of their fuel out of the country. They weren't installing new centrifuges. They were enriching a small amount at low levels. Of course, President Trump scrapped that deal later on, and now he's dealing with the backwash.

The other person at the table though, from the Iranian side is going to be Foreign Minister Araghchi, who was known to all of us who covered those negotiations, because he was sort of the deputy negotiator at the time and the one who frequently briefed us, talked to us. He knows every inch of the Iranian program. He's extremely savvy, good diplomat. The question is does he have any negotiating authority here? Because the only one who's going to make the decision about whether or not Iran looks like it's giving up is the supreme leader.

CORNISH: So, it's not a signal that he was sent in particular, we don't know.

SANGER: He's the one who's been negotiating with Steve Witkoff. He's the best interlocutor they have. The question is, how do you get a country that's got bombs falling on it to make a political decision to basically close down the project?

CORNISH: Okay. David Sanger, thank you so much. I appreciate you sharing your reporting with us.

All right, it's now 52 minutes past the hour. I want to give you your morning roundup.

The Department of Homeland Security has a new rule for members of Congress. Give 72 hours of notice before visiting detention centers. The new guidance comes after a series of tense encounters between Democratic politicians and ICE agents.

The top Democrat on the Homeland Security Committee calls the move an affront to the Constitution and federal law.

The National Institutes of Health will fund longer term health studies for people in East Palestine, Ohio, following the 2023 train derailment. More than a million pounds of hazardous chemicals were released sparking a rise in respiratory complaints. The new grants will award up to $10 million over the next five years.

And the Indiana Pacers forcing a game seven in the NBA finals, they dominated the Thunder 108-91 last night. The winner take all game seven takes place Sunday night in Oklahoma City. And I understand that you, Rob Bluey, are going to be watching.

BLUEY: Absolutely. I mean, what's better than a game seven showdown, and particularly these two teams, the Indiana Pacers have been underdogs all season from how they started the year, even last night they were down --

CORNISH: I love it. You're into the story. You're into the story. Okay. I want to talk more about celebrations, because Americans did just come together to celebrate Juneteenth, okay? Federal holiday, marks the end of slavery. Some cities scaled back, frankly, canceled celebrations this year with an eye on the Trump administration's DEI rollbacks, and notably, of course, the president did not sign a proclamation this year observing the holiday.

[06:55:04]

Instead, he took to social media posting, too many non-working holidays in America. It's costing our country billions of dollars to keep all of these businesses closed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Has White House had their Juneteenth celebration? Did it happen? Is it going to happen?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have 11 federal holidays. And, by the way, the workers are fine. They're getting paid time-and-a-half. You don't want the holiday, this holiday specifically.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have way too many holidays. We got President's Day. That can go, but maybe that's what he's talking about. Let's just see.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: Okay.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Twitter is not having it. Black social media is like --

CORNISH: No. As it said, heavy negro spiritual side, what do we make of America's short-lived awokening and reckoning so short that already Juneteenth?

BLUEY: Well, President Trump signed this into law in 2020. Let's remember that to begin with.

CORNISH: Oh, does he remember that? This is what we're talking about. BLUEY: I don't know. And it's definitely an occasion worth celebrating. The Heritage Foundation's president, Kevin Roberts, articulated this. I mean, it's a great moment in American history when word reached, you know, those in Galveston, Texas, that President Lincoln had signed the Emancipation Proclamation. I think we should celebrate our history.

CORNISH: No one believes that Trump -- Trump is not saying that, Rob.

BLUE: Yes. I -- well --

CORNISH: You can't answer for him.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: But, actually, the real question is why not? Why not? And why are you equating black history, American history with DEI? Why are those two things being conflated? And that is a very important question because everything is getting sucked into this moniker that the Trump administration wants to kind of, you know, push on us. And this is, as you rightly mentioned, important American history.

CORNISH: But, Lulu, you mentioned earlier the idea that when we were talking about the Dodgers, of the corporations and public institutions that felt like, oh no, maybe there was too much, maybe things pushed into --

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Oh, what? So, Juneteenth is too much as opposed to never having like marked the formal end of slavery in this country? That is somehow like not too much?

CORNISH: Yes, because I'm trying to make sense of the cities that are pulling back.

SINGH: I think Lulu made a good point though. It's like this administration is trying to equate the history and DEI together. And there's clearly has to be a moment at some point where we recognize our history. And I think, you know, a day like Juneteenth, like yesterday, it is a moment to like learn about it. And I think actually CNN did a great story. I think it was Victor Blackwell did a great story about, you know, connecting these families or ties together, and I learned something.

CORNISH: Yes.

SINGH: I think that's really interesting. So, that's like a day like that is a good time to learn.

CORNISH: Yes. But it's certainly a culmination of politics that we have heard for the last two years going into the election about diversity, equity, inclusion, as you said.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: But this is the, but this is the thing that worries me, is that, you know, we are losing so much of what makes America America with the fear of speaking out with the fear that you're going to be punished. Because these companies or these cities or these states are not taking these actions because they might want to, they're taking these actions because they're afraid of what the federal government will do.

CORNISH: But, Lulu, can I raise something? So, here is the metro section of The Washington Post. This is a crowd celebrating Juneteenth and it's mostly black. And what made that moment what it was, why we ended up with a holiday, was multiracial crowds forcing this kind of cultural conversation. Where are the white people? I mean, this is part of the conversation, as you said, of standing up. These people are in the street. Why not everyone else?

GARCIA-NAVARRO: I mean, yes, cosign. I mean, I don't know what -- I mean, I agree with you. I think that it is important for all of us to support a holiday like this. And it shouldn't just be about black people celebrating this moment.

CORNISH: Yes. There's been a -- it shouldn't be so political, but there is a conversation about solidarity politics, so to speak, like multiracial coalitions coming together. And when you look at what was going on in L.A., like is that still happening?

GARCIA-NAVARRO: I don't think it's still happening. I think among the Latino community, that certainly everyone -- I mean, one of the things that happens when there's a lot of pressure is that people fragment. And so I think you're seeing that. I think every community is sort of fighting for its own survival.

BLUEY: I do think we have a moment here as over the next year we celebrate America's 250th birthday to maybe come together and find those moments throughout our history where we can have these conversations and educate the next generation about things that have happened in our past. And the White House this week unveiled the Founders' Museum. They're doing other things over the course of the next year.

And so my hope is, Lulu, that they'll look for opportunities to do that.

CORNISH: Considering how they've been scrubbing some historical figures from websites and even naval ships, I don't know, but I have hopes, just like you, Rob, if only for my own kids.

[07:00:08]

I want to thank you to the group chat. I want to thank you for waking up with us. I'm Audie Cornish.

We are following that breaking news out of the Middle East, of course, and CNN News Central has those headlines right now.