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U.S. Assessing Damage to Iran's Nuclear Sites after Strikes; Israel and Iran Trade Strikes Overnight. Aired 6-6:30a ET

Aired June 23, 2025 - 06:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

[06:00:38]

AUDIE CORNISH, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning and welcome to CNN, this morning's breaking news coverage of the situation in the Middle East.

I'm Audie Cornish. I want to thank you for waking up with me.

We're going to talk about the aftermath of the U.S. strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities. A big question remains: Did they accomplish the goal of dismantling Iran's nuclear program?

Before and after satellite images at the three sites hit by American bombs show craters and burned-out buildings like you're seeing here at the nuclear facilities in Isfahan, which has been heavily damaged, according to a new assessment.

In the mountain fortress of Fordow, a handful of craters marked the spot where the U.S. bunker busters hit facilities buried hundreds of feet underground.

Now, this was the first time these massive bombs have been used in combat.

President Trump and his allies declaring they've achieved the goal of destroying Iran's nuclear weapons program. They're now warning Iran not to attack U.S. forces.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

J.D. VANCE, U.S. VICE PRESIDENT: If they leave American troops out of it, and they decide to give up their nuclear weapons program once and for all, then I think the president has been very clear. We can have a good relationship with the Iranians. We can have a peaceful situation in that region of the world.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: But Iran is now telling the U.N. that they have the right to respond to the U.S. strikes. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AMIR-SAEID IRAVANI, IRANIAN AMBASSADOR TO THE U.N.: The timing, nature, and the scale of Iran's proportionate response will be decided by its armed forces.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: Joining me now to discuss, CNN chief international security correspondent Nick Paton Walsh.

Good morning. Nick, I want to start by talking about just the state of Iran's nuclear program after these attacks. What is known so far?

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Honestly, I think we know from some of those satellite images there clearly has been damage to the sites, which were considered the most impregnable, like Fordow, buried deep in the mountains there.

Indeed, the U.N. nuclear watchdog today said that, given the explosive payload utilized and the extreme vibration-sensitive nature of centrifuges, very significant damage is expected to have occurred. That's the director general of the IAEA.

Now, we know that 12 of these bunker-buster bombs, only possessed by the United States, were dropped by these six B-2 bombers during this particular mission.

But ultimately, the question here, Audie, is not so much the damage that we have seen done to the public sites. That is quantifiable. Those are places which potentially were involved in the full extent of Iran's nuclear program.

It's perhaps the things that we have not been talking about over the past days that will be causing America and Israeli intelligence agencies the largest amounts of concern here.

What are the things that they did not know about? What elements to the nuclear program were moved ahead of these long-telegraphed strikes? Remember, we didn't know the U.S. was going to do this, but they floated the possibility for days, possibly even years. Would you, if you were Iran, store your most secretive elements within places that were publicly, at times, accessed by U.N. inspectors? Unclear.

And so, Israel in something of a bind here. It's maintained that this is a secretive weapons program that was racing ahead towards a nuclear weapon, while at the same time, too, that affords the possibility that there were elements of this program simply that Israel was unaware about and may now be involved in Iran's next steps, if indeed, Iran retains or even had, as they deny, nuclear weapon ambitions -- Audie.

CORNISH: It also sounds like that has implications for any argument about whether there is a need for follow-up strikes.

WALSH: Yes. I mean, we're hearing this morning from Iranian state media that, indeed, Fordow has been hit again. Now, if that is indeed the case, that could be a sign that whoever is behind these strikes, potentially Israel, or indeed the United States, sees the possibility for a need for further damage to be done, or that the damage currently done can indeed be compounded to potentially collapse structures inside there.

You just have to ask yourself more broadly, Audie: if you were the Iranians and you had this secret ambition, would you be sure that you left everything that pertained to that in places that were on publicly available lists?

So that's a question that's going to be very desperately sought an answer to over the coming days, Audie.

CORNISH: That's CNN chief international security correspondent Nick Paton Walsh. Thank you.

[06:05:02]

And new this morning, a CNN crew in Iran witnessing a major aerial bombing. This is new video showing heavy black smoke over the Northwestern part of the city.

Now, our crew says they heard several jets pass overhead before a series of explosions. Israel's defense ministry says the country's air force targeted the heart of Tehran with the strikes.

Now, they did claim to target airports and missile storage facilities. Earlier this morning, at least 15 fighter jets and helicopters were destroyed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): There is no doubt this is a regime that wants to destroy us, wants to eliminate our very existence. That's why we launched this operation to remove the two concrete threats to our existence: the nuclear threat and the threat of ballistic missiles. We are progressing step by step towards achieving these goals. We are very, very close to completing them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: Israel says their air defenses are working to shoot down a number of missiles launched from Iran. Just hours ago, Israeli officials briefly ordered people to enter shelters after a wave of strikes.

We've got CNN international diplomatic editor Nic Robertson joining me now from Israel.

Nic, can you help me understand, as these strikes progress, what you're seeing on the ground in Israel?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes, I think what we're seeing, Audie, or it's rather what we are seeing is a change in tactics by both Israel and Iran. Iran, rather than sending large barrages of missiles where the strike

is over quickly, today have sent smaller barrages, 5 to 10 missiles total, in four waves, which have kept Israelis from the North, to the center, to the South of the country in these separate waves, kept them in their underground shelters for longer. It's disruptive. Flights that were inbound here were turned around.

We've also heard from the electricity company in Israel, saying that a strategic facility, an impact near there, has led to electricity being cut off to some communities.

It appears that Iran is -- rather than using a lot of missiles, is using a few to be as disruptive to people's lives: during the day having these strikes, as well as in the middle of the night, extended periods.

And from the Israeli side on Iran, again, as you were mentioning there, officials here in Israel saying that they're striking military targets.

But we've just heard the defense minister in Israel, Israel Katz, laying out what they're doing. And he's calling it right now, the IDF is using unprecedented force in Tehran. And our own Fred Pleitgen has been witness to some of that.

But what is really interesting and speaks to the change of tactics is what Israel's defense minister said: that they have targeted Evin Prison, which is the feared -- most feared prison in Iran, where the high-value political prisoners, the foreign prisoners, are held.

So, we've seen images that appear to show the doors being blown off of that jail.

Also, the defense minister here in Israel saying that they have targeted the Basij forces, the headquarters of the Basij forces inside of Tehran. This is a volunteer paramilitary force that is feared on the streets of Tehran. They're the people that come out and put down the popular anti-regime protests.

This hints, and the -- the defense minister didn't say it, but when you hit the prison, you hit these paramilitary forces. This is not massive strategic military facilities or nuclear facilities you're hitting. You are hitting elements that can contribute towards the potential for regime change.

And that's why I say that we are seeing this shift in tactics from both sides.

CORNISH: Nic Robertson, CNN international diplomatic editor.

Now, our breaking news coverage of these U.S. strikes in Iran continues next. President Trump had said he was giving diplomacy a shot. So how did two weeks turn into two days? Or was that all part of the plan?

Plus, what's Iran's next move? And is there still a path to peace? (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't know why the U.S. should drag themselves in the war between two other countries, and spend the taxpayers' money over there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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[06:13:38]

CORNISH: After giving Iran a two-week deadline to come to the table, President Trump struck its nuclear facilities just two days after. Sources say he gave that timeline to throw Iran off his scent.

Last week, the White House painted a picture that the president hadn't come to a decision yet. Come Saturday, those around Trump believed he'd made up his mind for days. Now, he's signaling this may not be the end of the plan.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: Remember, there are many targets left. Tonight's was the most difficult of them all, by far, and perhaps the most lethal. But if peace does not come quickly, we will go after those other targets with precision, speed, and skill. Most of them can be taken out in a matter of minutes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: Joining me now, Stephen Collinson, CNN politics and senior reporter; Sabrina Singh, deputy Pentagon press secretary under President Biden; and Joel Rubin, former deputy assistant secretary of state for the Obama administration.

Joel, I want to start with you, because last week when we were talking about this window of time for diplomacy, you said, well, is it clear that they want diplomacy, or is this a cover for something else? So, how are you feeling reading this news over the weekend?

JOEL RUBIN, FORMER DEPUTY ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE IN THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION: Well, Audie, it's quite a moment when I realized that my inner Donald Trump prediction meter is working. Because, you know, I think right now we are in a moment of uncertainty and a new precipice.

[06:15:08]

President Trump is changing his message every day. He's now talking about regime change. And, you know, one of the things I'm watching, just even in the reporting that you had a moment ago, is that the Israelis seem to have taken that signal.

And now maybe they're trying to find a way to get a jailbreak, a way to stir up the -- the passions inside of Tehran against the regime. He did this when he talked about Gaza and the Riviera, and then the

Israelis, the IDF decided to go for it in much of its actions in Gaza.

And so, I think we're going to see the president continue to push forward rather than look backward, because we don't quite know -- I'll just close with this. We don't quite know what the bombing damage assessment is.

CORNISH: Exactly.

RUBIN: And that's a big, big --

CORNISH: We're going to be talking about that in the show today.

RUBIN: --- substance point. And so, he'll go forward.

CORNISH: It was interesting you were saying that this is, like, the capstone military strike of the post-October 7th era. And Sabrina, you were pointing out 25-minute operation for 75 strikes.

SABRINA SINGH, DEPUTY PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY UNDER PRESIDENT BIDEN: Yes.

CORNISH: So, it was designed for impact. Unfortunately, we don't know what that impact is. What are you looking for, going forward?

SINGH: It was an incredibly complex operation. I mean, you cannot deny the professionalism of our military when it came to this operation.

I think there's a lot to be determined. And the battle damage assessment is ongoing on how effective these strikes were. Essentially, what's going to happen over the next few days is different intelligence agencies across the administration are going to be looking for chatter to see what people are talking about, how damaged things are.

And then, of course, there's the human -- human sources, either on the ground or all around the world, that they'll be getting collection from.

I think it's still too early to tell, but to say that some of these facilities have been severely damaged, I think that is accurate. And that's what you heard from the chairman yesterday.

CORNISH: Yes. Stephen, you were writing about this being a gamble for this president, right? That if he kind of failed to destroy the program to the extent he's talking about, there are other kinds of ramifications to deal with.

Can you talk about the -- that gamble? What else do you think is on the table?

STEPHEN COLLINSON, CNN POLITICS SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I think there's a couple of really interesting unknowns here.

The first one is: did the Iranians move some of this material out of these facilities? Do they have some covert facilities that are not known to the International Atomic Energy -- Energy Agency? Could they, therefore, push towards some kind of rudimentary device, reasoning that this is the only way that they save the regime?

And I don't think it's clear from talking to people that know about this that we don't know, and we may never know. And there's always going to be this uncertainty, even though this raid and the Israeli operation was to try and create certainty and to lift the threat, an existential threat, from Israel.

The other thing is getting into the president's comments about regime change. Another gamble is what is he unleashing here? It's unlikely, given the political situation in Iran, that it's suddenly going to produce some kind of --

CORNISH: Right.

COLLINSON: -- pro-Western, democratic, pro-Israel government. You could end up with a hardline government coming out of the guard if the -- if the clerical regime is toppled or weakened.

So, history shows us we don't need any new examples of how assumptions and shock-and-awe beginnings of American wars in the Middle East can unravel over time.

CORNISH: All right. I want you guys to stay with me, because we're going to talk about a couple angles of this today.

CNN's ongoing breaking news coverage out of the Middle East continues. We're going to talk about the potential for Iranian retaliation, the dire warning about the threat of sleeper cells in the U.S.

Plus, how successful was the U.S.'s attempt to knock out Iran's nuclear program after all?

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[06:22:53]

CORNISH: We're monitoring breaking developments out of Iran after the U.S. hit three major nuclear sites. And the question now: how will Iran respond?

One concern could be sleeper cells inside the U.S. Here's former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE POMPEO, FORMER U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: It's a real concern. I'm confident that President Trump took this into consideration as one of the risks when he decided to be so decisive, to get Iran away from its nuclear program in the deep way that he did.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: Joining me now to discuss: Juliette Kayyem, former assistant secretary of the Department of Homeland Security.

Juliette, first, let's just start with this sleeper cell concept. What do you know?

JULIETTE KAYYEM, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Yes. There's always been a concern about Hezbollah-backed, Iranian-backed, Hezbollah sleeper cells in the United States. But Hezbollah has never had a successful attack here in the United States. And I think it's a concern, sort of background noise, so to speak, and evergreen.

But I think it's -- it's probably the least likely, because Iran also knows that the impact of launching a terror attack in the United States would have grave consequences for them.

CORNISH: You also have the Department of Homeland Security issuing a warning --

KAYYEM: Yes.

CORNISH: -- of, quote, "possible low-level cyberattacks and lone-wolf attacks."

Can you talk about the potential threat there? I mean, we're also hearing that Iran, like, has intermittent Internet, right? So, what are the concerns?

KAYYEM: Yes. So, I think that's -- that's probably the greater likelihood. If you -- if you're looking at Iran's potential to impact the homeland, because obviously, they're going to have a lot greater strength doing something against our bases or abroad.

It is going to be either an asymmetric attack, like cyberattacks, which we've -- which have happened in the past. They have -- they are sophisticated, probably one of the top four adversary -- adversary nations that could do something. But as you noted, even their capacity is degraded.

The -- the worrisome aspect of any military conflict, any conflict is -- is also just radicalization of what we would traditionally call the lone wolf: someone who has allegiances to Iran, doesn't like what the United States did, and then becomes radicalized.

[06:25:02]

We also worry about hate crimes against Iranian populations. It's that individual radicalization that's very hard to monitor and very hard to stop.

We are also looking at a Department of Homeland Security that has eviscerated both its cybersecurity capacity and protections, as well as its counterterrorism. It is a department that has been focused on immigration. They don't hide it. It's the way that -- it's the -- it's the philosophy of the department now.

So, it's going to have to nurture those elements again that have been neglected for the last couple of months because of the focus on ICE raids.

CORNISH: Juliette, can I follow up on this idea for one second? So, you're talking about the potential to pivot. Are you saying that cuts to staff across the border --

KAYYEM: Yes.

CORNISH: -- are concerns, or is it the actual agenda and focus of the head of the department?

KAYYEM: It's -- it's both.

So, the department was created, as people remember, after September 11th. It had a singular focus: counterterrorism. Twenty years go by, and it -- it -- it achieved what we call an all-hazards focus: border, cyber, climate change, all of the challenges that the homeland faces.

You then have a pivot with the new administration, where because of the DOGE cuts, because of a focus in terms of priorities, it begins to move money, resources, and personnel towards ICE enforcement.

The cyber, the CISA -- it's called the Cyber Infrastructure Security Agency, as well as counterterrorism capabilities, are understaffed. And I will be honest with you, are often staffed with people who don't have a background in this.

So, when you have an agency that -- that's singularly focused, you are going to miss other threats.

And so, Secretary Noem of the Department of Homeland Security has been tweeting out about that focus. But when you actually drill down in terms of -- of the budget, in terms of the people, and in terms of the quality of the people, you're going to have a challenge in these other threats that we -- we know still exist against the homeland and that are increased because of the actions on Friday.

I don't know what their plan is.

CORNISH: Yes.

KAYYEM: And they should probably be transparent about it. But the ICE raids have had an impact, not just to the outside world, but internally at the department, that -- that we are now noting, because we are looking at -- at other potential threats.

CORNISH: That's Juliette Kayyem. She was a former assistant secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. Thank you.

KAYYEM: Thank you.

CORNISH: And we're continuing this breaking news coverage out of the Middle East. President Trump now floating the idea of regime change. Why people in Iran say Trump's plans are bringing them together.

Plus, how the U.S. pulled off Operation Midnight Hammer in a surprise attack. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)