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IDF Claims Iran Broke Ceasefire; Iran Could Retaliate through Asymmetric Measures; New Polls Says Most Americans Disapprove of Iran Strikes; David Albright is Interviewed about Iran; New York City Votes Today. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired June 24, 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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[06:33:48]

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

AUDIE CORNISH, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to CNN THIS MORNING's breaking news coverage of the ceasefire between Israel and Iran.

Good morning, everybody. I'm Audie Cornish. I want to thank you for joining me on CNN THIS MORNING. It's now half past the hour here on the East Coast.

The Israeli defense minister says they will, quote, "respond with force" following claims that Iran violated the ceasefire declared by President Trump. So, the IDF says they intercepted two missiles after the ceasefire went into effect. Iran denies those claims.

What we do know is that Iran and Israel continued deadly strikes just moments before the ceasefire deadline.

And joining me now to discuss, CNN correspondent Paula Hancocks.

Paula, good morning.

And I just want to start with where things stand now. What do you know?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Audie, we know that Israel claims there were missiles. We know that Iran is claiming it did not fire those missiles. So, the next few hours are really going to be key to see whether this ceasefire can hold or not.

But what we saw in just the hours before that ceasefire came into effect was significant strikes from both sides.

[06:35:02]

This often happens just before a ceasefire. The U.S. president gave both sides approximately six hours, he said, before it came into effect. We know that Israel carried out a number of strikes on Tehran. Our team in the capital there said that they were seeing those air defense systems kicking into action. And we also saw at least half a dozen barrages of missiles hitting in Israel. Both sides say they had loss of life in Israel. They had five people killed when a residential building was hit in the southern part of Israel. In Tehran officials say some nine were killed in the western part of the country. So, this is what we expect as the final hours tick down towards a ceasefire, that the activity does pick up.

We're hearing from the Israeli side, though, that they believe they have achieved what they needed to believe -- to achieve. They say that they have -- there was an existential threat to them. They have managed to surpass that. They have managed to rectify that. Not just with the nuclear program, but also when it comes to the ballistic missile program. They say that they have weakened the military leadership. They say they've weakened the nuclear program. And so as far as they are concerned, they have achieved what they set out to achieve.

Now, the latest we have heard from the Israeli defense minister is that, quote, "we will respond with force." And this is after they say that they had to intercept two missiles after the ceasefire.

This has happened in the past with ceasefires. It happened, for example, with Hezbollah and Israel after their ceasefire. There were flurries of violence on both sides. So, the hope is that this ceasefire, though, will still hold.

Audie.

CORNISH: OK. Paula Hancocks, CNN correspondent.

Now, Iran has agreed to a ceasefire. It's not entirely clear that it's done striking back, as we just heard. And missiles aren't the only ammo in their arsenal. The Department of Homeland Security warns of potential low level cyberattacks against U.S. networks by pro-Iranian hackers.

And while federal officials have warned of potential lone wolf attacks, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has even raised concerns over Iranian sleeper cells being activated. They're part of what military analysts are calling asymmetric measures Iran could use to retaliate against the U.S.

Joining me now to discuss this is CNN global affairs analyst Kim Dozier.

Good morning, Kim.

KIM DOZIER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Good morning.

CORNISH: I want to just start with what we just heard Paula kind of refer to as flurries, this kind of thing that can happen at the edge of a ceasefire. Is there any chance, however, that we're witnessing any kind of strategic deception? Is there any chance that this is an indication Iran is not committed to the ceasefire?

DOZIER: Well, of course, Iran is denying that it fired missiles. The problem with ceasefires in the beginning, especially in situations like this, is, you know, there's no trust on either side and they don't exactly have a red phone hotline to check with each other to see what's going on. Is that a rogue unit that fired something? Did you intend to fire that? They're going through intermediaries. So, with slow reaction time, that can lead to this kind of back and forth.

Hopefully, this is just what happens when ceasefires are implemented. They can be rough at the start. And the Qataris will step in, speak to each side and smooth this out. We'll probably know in about 24 hours if this is going to hold.

The Israelis have shot most of the things that they say they wanted to shoot. But they've also promised to respond to whatever aggression they perceive, which also raises a question for me, you know, Iranian officials today have sworn to rebuild their nuclear program. What happens when Israel watches equipment start moving back into some of the locations that have been hit, or sees a new location being set up? Now that they've sort of crossed the Rubicon of attacking Iran, will they just pepper the country with airstrikes in future when they feel threatened?

CORNISH: You know, you had Iran's foreign minister meeting with Russian President Putin, but it did sort of underscore whether or not Iran really has any allies at this point that would come to its support in any way. What's your read of sort of the response, either by Russia or China or just in the region?

DOZIER: I think that Russia will provide, at the very least, moral support, support at the U.N. Russia, of course, is fighting its own resource intensive war against Ukraine, war of aggression. So, while Iran has asked for some weaponry in the past to refill stocks that Israel attacked, Russia was unable to help at that point.

[06:40:04]

But I think they'll continue to back them up in the court of world opinion and at bodies like the U.N.

I think China will quietly start helping reindustrialize, and North Korea has apparently always been willing to sell some technology to Iran of nuclear flavors. So, Iran does have this combination of the axis of, well, upheaval, as some people call it, that's willing to step in and help it rebuild and help it economically as well.

CORNISH: That's Kimberly Dozier, CNN global affairs analyst. Thank you.

And we've also got some new polling out just an hour ago. It shows how Americans feel about the president's decision to attack those nuclear sites in Iran.

So, here's what we know. Fifty-six percent of Americans surveyed here disapprove of the military action in Iran, while 44 percent approve it.

When asked if they think the strikes will make Iran more of a threat to the U.S., or less, more than half said more. Now, President Trump has announced a ceasefire between Israel and

Iran, of course, but some Americans are skeptical about the president's motivations.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ELIAS HAKIM, ORGANIZER, PALESTINIAN YOUTH MOVEMENT OF CENTRAL TEXAS: Well, I think it's important to remember that there has been a repeated pattern of using diplomacy and negotiations to try to catch Iran off guard and launch sneak attacks on Iran.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: Isaac Dovere, Chuck Rocha and Ashley Davis are joining me again.

I'm kind of cautiously reading these numbers because things have just moved so quickly since the initial strikes, but I always look at the number of independents. And I was surprised there to see that number be 60 percent over 40. You're nodding.

CHUCK ROCHA, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Yes, because that's the most important piece. We expect Democrats and Republicans to run to their corner, no matter almost what the issue is. Overall, in all the polling I've ever done, most folks are against war, against sending troops to war. But what's the independent number? Because as we move into the midterms, there's only a small group of people -- it's not a presidential election -- and it's those most engaged, and it's those independents in swing districts that will have the biggest impact.

CORNISH: What do you see in this?

EDWARD-ISAAC DOVERE, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: And you see that there is not an appetite for foreign engagements. And that includes, I think, yes, look at the independents. But even among Republicans, there is a split that's there. We don't know over -- given how quickly things are moving and also given how, for so many issues, the Republican base and Republican officials just snap back into whatever Donald Trump is saying to do. And with no opposition in Congress coming, whether that -- that will hold. But it does show that there is an issue here of people not wanting this to happen, even as a lot of people who are thinking seriously about what's going on in Iran think that stopping Iran from having a nuclear weapon is a good thing.

CORNISH: Yes. And what happens next is obviously going to color this view.

DOVERE: Yes.

CORNISH: You know, when we -- looking at the numbers, do you trust Trump to make the right decisions on use of force in Iran? Again, 55 percent, no. That's very different from just, are these strikes OK or not? Ashley, what do you hear in that doubt?

ASHLEY DAVIS, FORMER HOMELAND SECURITY OFFICIAL: Well, first I want to say, and I should have said this at the beginning, that we should be thanking our United States military for what they did. What we -- what was accomplished with no lives lost was an amazing feat. In my lifetime, Iran and the nuclear weapons have always been a horrible threat to this country. And they support terrorists more than any other country in the world. So, I think we can't lose sight of that.

I do think that people are tired of war, obviously, and the same people on the Democrat side that are saying we shouldn't do Iran, then we probably shouldn't do Ukraine either. I mean, it's the same argument. And so, I -- there is a -- if this ends, like you say, and there's not -- we're not in this for another year or two years or even six months, what was accomplished by most likely destroying at least most of their nuclear capability is a win.

DOVERE: And what happens if there's some sort of retaliation. That would change all this.

DAVIS: Absolutely. Absolutely.

DOVERE: And hopefully nothing like that will happen. Yes.

CORNISH: Yes.

DAVIS: And if we have to send troops and all of that is a whole different story.

CORNISH: OK, you guys, stay with me. We've got more to talk about and we've got some updates here. We're going to continue to monitor what we're just talking about is a kind of shaky ceasefire agreement between Israel and Iran.

There's still, of course, some unanswered questions about the U.S.' attack on Iran. So, did the U.S. really wipe out their nuclear program?

Plus, President Trump will make his first appearance at NATO since returning to office. We're going to tell you how his actions on Iran could impact the meeting.

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[06:48:43]

CORNISH: So, at the heart of Iran's nuclear capabilities is enriched uranium. But when asked to pinpoint where that uranium could be, Vice President J.D. Vance deflected.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRET BAIER, FOX NEWS: Do you know for sure where all the highly enriched uranium is?

J.D. VANCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, Bret, I think that's actually not the question before us. The question before us is, can Iran enrich the uranium to weapons grade level, and can they convert that fuel to a nuclear weapon? Our goal was to bury the uranium. And I do think the uranium is

buried. But our goal was to eliminate the enrichment and eliminate their ability to convert that enriched fuel into a nuclear weapon.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: Without a full accounting of where that uranium is, the threat of a nuclear Iran does remain. An expert suggests that a full assessment of damage to uranium enrichment halls could take some time.

We're going to talk to former U.N. nuclear weapons inspector David Albright.

Good morning. Thank you for being with us.

DAVID ALBRIGHT, FORMER U.N. NUCLEAR WEAPONS INSPECTOR: Good morning.

CORNISH: We just heard the vice president say, look, you're all asking the wrong question. Our goal was to bury this. You have actually been doing some assessments, I understand, in -- in the last day or two. What are you looking for?

ALBRIGHT: Yes, I know we've been looking -- poring over satellite imagery and talking to our sources since this started.

[06:50:01]

And -- and what -- what we see is, Iran's centrifuge program is destroyed. I mean it -- it -- it's amazing how much damage has been done to that program. And -- and -- and so I think that part of the mission has been accomplished.

But there -- there's things I would call residuals. And -- and these stocks of enriched uranium are one of them. I mean, I wish those stocks were buried, but our understanding is that some of them were taken away by Iran, and we don't know where they are. And there's remaining centrifuges that -- that are unaccounted for. So -- so, this -- this problem isn't over yet, but it -- but it is -- it is a manageable problem. Partly because the -- turning that enriched uranium into weapon grade uranium is not going to be a slow -- a fast process. They have to turn that weapon grade uranium into a bomb. And -- and the bombing campaign has done serious damage to Iran's capability to build a nuclear weapon itself. And you can see that in the sites attacked. Fortunately, from our point of view, the scientists killed. And so you -- you -- Iran, if it moved to try to reconstitute and build a nuclear weapon, it's going to take a good year or two I -- I think it's our current assessment.

And -- and also I should add that, we've looked very carefully at the Fordow plant. And -- and -- and we have designs of the plant from other work we do. And -- and these bunker busters went through -- went -- hit parts of the mountain that are vulnerable. One was a ventilation shaft that's absolutely critical to the operation and goes all the way down to the enrich -- to the enrichment facility. Another is positioned over the CAS (ph), the -- where the centrifuges are. And -- and -- and basically what they designed was two explosive forces to go down, hit the enrichment floor and then basically cover the entire floor space or area of this enrichment plant. And so --

CORNISH: Yes.

ALBRIGHT: So it -- it looks like it was destroyed. But again, you want to know for sure. You want -- in a sense you want in -- insider information to tell you that. But it was a well-designed, very precise strike. It's (INAUDIBLE). And so -- and I think overall the -- this program has really been -- has really been -- major parts of it have been destroyed. But these residuals have to be dealt with.

CORNISH: Yes.

David, we've talked so much kind of about, as you said, the residuals, the material itself. There have been so many Iranian scientists, people involved with the nuclear program, who were assassinated. Can you talk about that destruction in terms of manpower, the brains literally behind their operations, how much has that setback Iran so to speak?

ALBRIGHT: Well, it's -- it's set them back. I mean these were top -- top flight scientists, many linked to the nuclear weapons program, which -- which we see as a kind of a preparatory program, not a -- not a program to actually build. But they're so close that it's becoming a -- that itself is becoming a problem.

But they -- but not all of them were killed. In the long term they can be replaced. But in the short term, it's incredibly disruptive. And they -- and they killed another one last night from reporting I've seen, who was a high explosive expert, sort of an initiation high -- initiating high explosives, which is a critical aspect of starting a -- the nuclear -- nuclear weapons. So, I think the loss of personnel has -- has been very important in terms of degrading the program, although I find that not a very nice strategy or acceptable strategy. But Israel's tough as we -- as we all know.

CORNISH: David Albright, former U.N. nuclear weapons inspector, thank you. Hope to see you again soon.

ALBRIGHT: Thank you.

CORNISH: It's now 53 minutes past the hour. Want to give you your morning roundup.

The Supreme Court grants President Trump permission to deport undocumented immigrants to countries other than their homeland. The ruling clears the way for the Trump administration to send those people to places like South Sudan and Panama and Costa Rica with little notice.

And Sean "Diddy" Combs will not testify in his criminal trial. That's according to a source who tells CNN that decision was made recently. It's not likely Combs would change his mind. The case could go to the jury as soon as this Friday.

And polls opened up just about 50 minutes ago this morning in the final day of voting in New York City's mayoral primary. Former Governor Chris (ph) Cuomo and socialist Zohran Mamdani are the top contenders for the Democratic ballot. This primary will be determined by ranked choice voting. The winner will run against independent nominee and current Mayor Eric Adams and Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa.

And, Isaac, I know you've actually been following this, and it's kind of a wild primary. And even if you get past it, will probably be a wild general.

DOVERE: Yes.

CORNISH: Is there someone people are talking about as being in the lead, or is this quite close?

DOVERE: Well, look, we are heading into primary day today with Andrew Cuomo, the former governor, looking like he continues to be strong but a lot less strong than people thought he would be.

[06:55:04]

And Zohran Mamdani, a 33-year-old assemblyman, Democratic socialist, he's been in office for three years, surging in a way that has surprised everybody in New York.

We don't know how this is going to go. When I talk to people in New York about it, involved with both campaigns, they agree this is jump ball today.

But I think what is really striking about this race is that, you know, most campaigns are about, who do you believe in? Who do you support? This is really being decided by -- for a lot of people like who -- who is completely unacceptable to you, right?

CORNISH: It's a negative choice. Yes.

DOVERE: To Cuomo people, Mamdani is completely unacceptable. To a lot of Mamdani and other candidate supporters, Cuomo is completely unacceptable. But it goes to ranked choice voting. We're going to have some numbers tonight, and we won't then hear anything else until that starts to get tabulated and reallocated July 1st. So, a whole week.

CORNISH: OK. So, any moment now -- I want to turn to the tarmac here. President Trump about to leave for the Netherlands for that annual meeting of NATO leaders. It's a summit which was originally going to be all about defense spending levels by NATO members. Instead, Trump is arriving on the heels of a head-spinning weekend where, in just a matter of days, the U.S. launched airstrikes on Iranian nuclear facilities. It also repelled an Iranian attack on a U.S. air base in Qatar.

Now that we have this tentative ceasefire and put all the fighting between Israel and Iran at least on hold for the moment, a result that NATO allies, like, let's say, Germany's chancellor, now seem to be OK with.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) FRIEDRICH MERZ, GERMAN CHANCELLOR (through translator): There is no reason for us, nor for me personally, to criticize what Israel started a week ago, nor is there any reason to criticize what America did last weekend. It is not without risk, but leaving things as they were was not an option either.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: My guests are back.

I feel like you can't say something more direct than that --

DAVIS: Yes.

CORNISH: What the chancellor said, where everyone's kind of like, welp, if it worked.

DOVERE: He did say something more direct. He said Israel is doing the world's dirty work. That was his initial response to the Israel strike. So --

CORNISH: Using that phrase.

DOVERE: Yes.

CORNISH: Yes.

DOVERE: The -- so, the imperative to stop the Iranian nuclear program is one that is shared by a lot of people around the world, even those who don't agree with Donald Trump on a lot of things.

DAVIS: Yes, even if they're not saying it publicly because they can't, a lot of countries are happy that Iran does not have a nuclear -- potentially does not have a nuclear weapon anymore.

CORNISH: Yes.

DAVIS: I mean, so -- except (ph) for maybe (ph).

CORNISH: And does this effectively shut down those voices, especially on the further right, who said, look, what's happening? This shouldn't be happening at all.

I want you guys to listen to Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, who's been very vocal about her disapproval of those attacks, because at the time when we were kind of asking her about this, we were seeing wide support, right, in the numbers of average people. And then this very visceral reaction by MAGA voices online.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE (R-GA): I think what you're seeing is a very big divide in the MAGA base. And I think that's also something important to talk about. And I think it's generational.

We've been lied to too many times, and I think its right to be skeptical. But I think you're seeing a major divide in Republican voters.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: We don't know the answer to that yet. Look at your face. As soon as you heard generational divide, I'm sure you're like, I've seen this movie before.

ROCHA: If this goes away, and this stops at the water's edge right here, and this thing simmers down, then they can all survive this. But if anything goes on beyond this, the midterm elections are coming up in about a year and four months, and only folks who really are engaged will show up. And I think this could cause folks staying home who are frustrated, who gave him a chance to be that person. I mean, it's just a political imperative.

CORNISH: I mean, it's interesting. Sometimes I think -- hold on. Right now -- right now we've got some information. Here's President Trump moments ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REPORTER: Because of the ceasefire, you (INAUDIBLE) --

REPORTER: Mr. President, Israel says --

REPORTER: Is the ceasefire breaking? Is it intact?

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I don't think so, but I'm not happy that Israel is going out now. There was one rocket that I guess was fired overboard. It was after the time limit and it missed its target. And now Israel's going out. These guys got to calm down. It's ridiculous.

(CROSS TALK)

REPORTER: How will you respond if the ceasefire is violated?

TRUMP: I didn't like plenty of things I saw yesterday. I didn't like the fact that Israel unloaded right after we made the deal. They didn't have to unload. And I didn't like the fact that the retaliation was very strong. But in all fairness, Israel unloaded a lot. And now I hear Israel just went out because they felt it was violated by one rocket that didn't land anywhere. That's not what we want, I'll tell you. And I'm telling you, I'm not happy about that, Israel, either.

(CROSS TALK)

TRUMP: All I do is play both sides. I'm going now, as you know, to NATO.

[07:00:01]

Some of you are going with me. And I think it's going to be successful. We'll see. I'll let you know.

REPORTER: Are you going to be --