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Early Start with Rahel Solomon

G7 Leaders Urge Trump To Ease Off Trade War; Israel And Iran Trade Strikes On Fifth Day Of Conflict; Trump Sons Announce Wireless Service Called Trump Mobile; Meta To Put Ads On WhatsApp, Offer Paid Subscriptions; Doctor Agrees To Plead Guilty In Matthew Perry's Overdose Death. Aired 4:30-5a ET

Aired June 17, 2025 - 04:30   ET

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

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[04:30:36]

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Welcome back. I'm Polo Sandoval. New York and here are some of the stories that we are closely watching today.

President Donald Trump sending an ominous message to the people of Tehran warning them to immediately evacuate. The meantime, Israel is now recovering from a new round of Iranian missile strikes.

The military says that there was some damage, but no injuries have been reported. And it's now safe for people to leave bomb shelters.

In a new wave of Russian drones and missiles targeting the Ukrainian capital overnight. A 62-year-old U.S. citizen was among the 14 people who were killed in the strikes on Kyiv. And that's according to the city's mayor. At least 55 people been injured across several districts.

And Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass is cutting back the curfew she ordered a week ago in part of downtown, just after days of protests over federal immigration raids. The curfew hours will now start at 10:00 p.m. and end at 6:00 a.m. instead of running from 8 to 6. Bass is also calling for the federalized National Guard and U.S. Marines to stand down.

Before President Trump announced his early and sudden departure from the G7 summit in Canada, the main focus was to try and convince him to walk back his aggressive trade war. Trump did sign a trade deal with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Monday. However, the U.K. still faces a minimum 10 percent tariff on most of its exports. Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney also agreeing to pursue economic and security negotiations within the next month.

But the president says that he's still partial to tariffs.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: I think we have different concepts. I have a tariff concept. Mark has a different concept, which is something that some people like. But we're going to see if we can get to the bottom of it today. I'm a tariff person. I've always been a tariff. It's simple, it's easy, it's precise and it just goes very quickly.

And I think Mark has a more complex idea, but also very Good. So we're going to look at both and we're going to see what, we're going to come out with something.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: Of course, a big topic at the G7, President Trump joined many of those leaders in a joint statement calling for a resolution to the Israel-Iran crisis. U.S. officials say that Trump was initially reluctant to support it, but eventually signed the statement after changes were to the language were made.

The final version calling for the protection of all civilians in the conflict. It also refers to Iran as, quote, the principal source of regional instability and terror and says Iran can never have a nuclear weapon. Now, Donald Trump will continue monitoring the conflict from Washington. That's where CNN's Kristen Holmes reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: President Donald Trump leaving the G7 early. He was supposed to spend Tuesday with several meetings as well as holding a press conference. But Monday, the press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, posted that after the day that Donald Trump had a series of good engagements that he needed to get back, given what was going on in the Middle East.

Now, I talked to a number of White House officials who said throughout the day Donald Trump kept asking to be briefed on what exactly was happening in the Middle East, where things stood between Iran and Israel. And it became clear as things began escalating in the Middle East that it would better for him, at least they believe so, to be in Washington with all of his officials nearby. They are likely going to continue convene in the Situation Room.

Do you want to note one thing that I was told by a White House official is that their posture has not changed. We've seen a lot of speculation swirling about why he left early. Was this a change in posture from the United States? We are told pretty definitively that at this time, of course, anything can change.

At this time the U.S. is still maintaining a defensive posture, meaning they are helping Israel with deflecting, with interfering with those missiles. They have used the argument that there are U.S. military assets in Israel, they need to protect their U.S. citizens in Israel, they need to protect, but they are not at this point going on the offensive.

Now, part of that reasoning, we are told, is that Donald Trump is still really hoping to get Iran to the table in terms of a nuclear deal. They are hoping to have their top intermediaries meet, their top officials meet to try and work something through. And throughout the last several days, Donald Trump has been urging these officials, these U.S. officials to maintain contact with their Iranian counterparts.

[04:35:03]

But if not them, with the intermediate -- the intermediaries around the globe to try and ensure that this still happens, that Iran comes to the table. We've obviously seen him calling for that publicly as well.

So unclear what the next steps are going to be. But right now what we do know is that Donald Trump is not staying the full time at the G7. He had a set of meetings on Monday and then is heading back to Washington. Kristen Holmes, CNN, Calgary.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL: A new wave of Iranian strikes on Israel has actually caused some damage but no injuries. But residents of Tel Aviv, they are still reeling from Iranian attacks on Monday that hit parts of the City. CNN's Jeremy Diamond has those details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is what surviving an Iranian ballistic missile attack looks like. Amid wrecked cars and scattered debris, this central Tel Aviv neighborhood engulfed in flames as rescuers arrived on the scene.

For the third night in a row, Iranian ballistic missiles struck the Tel Aviv area. We arrived minutes later as people emerged shaken but alive from their bomb shelters. This man arrived distraught to inspect the damage to his shop. We came here and everything was destroyed, he tells me. After an hour long wait, a boyfriend's anxious wait turns into a loving embrace.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. You can feel it. It goes through you.

DIAMOND (voice-over): Even inside their shelters, people here felt the power of the blast.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Like smoke. Like really a lot strong. I had to cover my nose with a T-shirt.

DIAMOND (voice-over): And were overwhelmed by the smoke filled air as they emerged. The shock wave broke windows and damaged homes blocks away from the impact. But at the epicenter where rescue crews continue to pour in and out of the scene, it is another level of destruction altogether.

DIAMOND: This is the devastation caused by an Iranian ballistic missile that struck this Tel Aviv neighborhood in the early hours of this morning. And you can see all around me what that looks like. These buildings that have been torn to shreds, vehicles wrecked from the missile. DIAMOND (voice-over): At least five Iranian missiles penetrated Israeli air defenses according to Israeli rescue services, killing 10 people on Sunday night. In Iran, a widening Israeli bombardment campaign driving people to flee the capital city as jets strike not only military and nuclear facilities, but also economic targets in residential neighborhoods.

More than 200 people have been killed in the Israeli strikes according to the Iranian Health Ministry, which says a majority of the victims are civilians. I'm scared, says this woman whose home was damaged in a strike. My heart is pounding. I felt like my heart stopped.

Iranian state TV became the latest target on Monday as an airstrike hit the station during a live broadcast, smoke filling the studio. The latest sign this conflict is showing no signs of deescalating.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL: Jeremy Diamond reporting there. And as this conflict intensifies, a U.S. official telling CNN that the USS Nimitz carrier strike group, it's now moving to the Middle east without delay, as they put it. The official also telling CNN that naval assets capable of defending against ballistic missiles are expected to move into place in the eastern Mediterranean in the coming days.

And retired Brigadier General Steve Anderson breaking down, really those assets that the U.S. has available in the Middle East.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRIG. GEN. STEVE ANDERSON (RET.), U.S. ARMY: Right now we've got a couple of carrier battle groups that are inbound to the Mediterranean. We've got the Nimitz and then we've got the Carl Vinson that's on site as well. There are two destroyers, my understanding, within range to be able to support Israel. Right now, of course, we also got 46,000 troops scattered on nine different installations all over the Middle East. The Al Udid Air base is probably the most significant. There's quite a number of F16s, F35s that can fly out of there, and there's also aerial refuel.

We've been talking about using B2 bombers out of Diego Garcia to perhaps deliver this GBU-57. It's probably so far away, 3,500 miles, that it would need some aerial refueling assets. So we've got those assets available in theater. Well, this is probably the most capable conventional munition in the world, the GBU-57.

It can penetrate up to 200 feet of hardened facilities. The problem in Fordow is that some of the facilities I understand, and some of the centrifuges may be as deep as 300 feet. But nevertheless, this is a massive bomb. It delivers about 5,000 pounds of explosives of 30,000 pound. And there's only one asset really in the world, the B2 bomber that can deliver this.

And as I mentioned, it's about 3,500 miles away. But this is an incredible munition. I had them in Afghanistan. We used it a couple of times. It's very, very effective. But the question is, can it penetrate deep enough to really get at all the centrifuges?

[04:40:04]

I submit that you would probably have to have at least a half dozen of these things that we'd have to put on site at Fordow to really have the effect that we want. Israel's got the upper hand, without a doubt. They've got total air superiority over Tehran right now, over all of Iran. They've demonstrated that. They also have intelligence dominance, which is absolutely critical in this fight.

So, I mean, there's no way that the Iranian military can match the Israeli military. In fact, they do have some assets, some F14s, MIG 29s and whatnot. But the only thing they're really able to use right now is the Shahab-3 and the guided missiles. They've got perhaps 2,000 or so guided munitions, ballistic missiles that they could fire at Israel.

But a lot of the launching sites have been taken out by the Israelis, again due to their air superiority. So it's really not a fair fight at this point. Israel's got the upper hand.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: So what are the possible diplomatic routes for the United States? Well, former U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta says that the U.S. basically has a few different options in terms of getting involved in the conflict here.

They can either lean on other countries to influence Iran. They can also potentially, they say, they have several options, including -- well, they really say that none of them is perfect. But I want you to hear directly from the former Secretary of Defense as he tries to lay out again what those possible options could be for the United States as it faces this crisis that continues to worsen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LEON PANETTA, FORMER DEFENSE SECRETARY UNDER PRESIDENT OBAMA: The United States and President Trump have three choices to make. One is to try to get a diplomatic solution. Qatar, Oman. Others are trying to see if they can at least get Iran back to the negotiating table. And it's not going to be easy to do. They would -- it would require Israel to stop the attacking. And that's something they probably don't want to do right now.

And so it is -- it's difficult to do, but at the same time, it's something that I think the world and parties that are unrelated to the actual attacks going on would support in order to try to reach some kind of agreement.

The second choice is to join this war, to have the United States join the war and be able to go after their nuclear capability and literally try to destroy Iran. But the problem with that is that it would result in retaliation against the United States.

And in the end, the reality is that kind of full scale war against Iran results in the United States being part of a Middle East war, that's something that Trump didn't want for the United States.

The third option is to stay out of it. That's pretty much what Trump is doing right now. But it's an approach that basically says let the players kill each other, let them exhaust themselves, and hopefully ultimately there'll be an opportunity down the road. But that means continuing warfare between Iran and Israel.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: Still to come on your early start, the Trump Organization now getting into the cell phone business. We'll have details on what to expect from Trump Mobile.

Plus, new details in the overdose death of Friends star Matthew Perry. Coming up, what we know about what one of the doctors accused of providing ketamine to the doc --to the actor.

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[04:48:09]

SANDOVAL: The conflict in the Middle East is raising some serious concerns about energy costs and also the impact on the world economy. President Trump's trade negotiations at the G7 summit are also set to shape stock prices in the hours ahead.

Let's take a look now at how some of the markets are currently reacting after that G7. And also amid that ongoing conflict in the US. You could see their stock futures appear to be dropping. Meanwhile, oil, quite the opposite as it continues to rise there amid those concerns and hopes also, I should say, for a possible cease fire. Certainly investors keeping a very close eye on the conflict overseas.

Meanwhile, the Trump Media and Technology Group is attempting to launch an exchange trade fund that will eventually invest entirely in cryptocurrency if approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Their Truth Social Bitcoin and also Ethereum ETF would also give investors exposure to the world's two largest digital currencies. And this is coming after Trump media raised $2.5 billion to create a Bitcoin treasury for the company.

The new filings are expected to raise more concerns about conflicts of interest surrounding the president's business empire. And President Trump's sons meanwhile, they have announced another new business venture. It's called Trump Mobile. They've actually licensed a family name for a new wireless service that's offering monthly cell phone plans. CNN's Hadas Gold with more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TRUMP: My new Trump watches.

HADAS GOLD, CNN MEDIA CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Trump fans can already wear a Trump branded watch and sneakers. Soon they'll also be able to have a Trump phone in their pocket. Eric and Donald Trump Jr. announcing Trump Mobile, cell phone plans that will use other wireless carriers networks and eventually sell their own gold colored phones.

Plans are set a symbolic monthly price of 47.45, a nod to Trump's presidencies. But they'll also bundle in telemedicine and roadside assistance.

[04:50:08]

DONALD TRUMP JR., EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, TRUMP ORGANIZATION: A big part of what we've done right now in the world has been focused on technology for people who have been underserved, whether that's been in crypto or anything else. But one of the places where we felt there was lackluster performance was in the mobile industry.

GOLD (voice-over): The Trump sons claim their mobile phone will be entirely made in America, taking on device giants like Apple and Samsung, which President Trump has threatened with high tariffs in if they don't start building their phones in America.

TRUMP: If they're going to sell it in America, I want it to be built in the United States.

GOLD (voice-over): But manufacturing high quality phones in the U.S. would be logistically impractical and much more expensive. Trump Mobile says their phones will be $499, which experts say means it probably won't be like an iPhone.

DIPANJAN CHATTERJEE, VICE PRESIDENT AND PRINCIPAL ANALYST, FORRESTER There is a version of a phone that will be good enough for many people and particularly for people who are already bought into the Trump value proposition. As long as you make a phone that's good enough for them and if it comes in at a reasonable price point, hey, maybe that is the magic solution.

GOLD (voice-over): Trump Mobile is just the latest money making venture for President Trump's family as they capitalize on his presidency in unprecedented ways. Many of those businesses have benefited the President himself, who made more than $600 million last year, according to financial disclosure forms and Reuters. Much of that is from recent ventures like Trump Media and his Trump crypto coin. He's also made money last year from Trump watches, Trump sneakers, Trump fragrances, Trump guitars and even Trump Bibles.

Though Trump has ceded control of the Trump Organization to his children, experts have called out the many conflicts of interest as the federal government regulates many of the industries he's making money from, including wireless phones.

GOLD: Experts I've been speaking to who manufacture cell phones, who understand the market, they say that this made in America phone is almost completely unlikely to actually fully made in America. Only one company is known as of now to domestically produce a cell phone. And even some of their parts have to by necessity come from abroad and those phones go for nearly $2,000.

So we'll see when this phone actually comes out whether and how much of it is actually made in America compared to what the Trump Organization claims. Hadas Gold, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL: And Facebook's parent company Meta has changed its mind. WhatsApp will no longer be ad free. The app will now feature promos in the update section. Right now, roughly one and a half billion people use this feature in the app every day.

Officials say that WhatsApp will instead gather user data to help determine those targeted ads. The company says, however, that it has no plans to put ads in personal messages or on chats. You'll recall Meta actually bought WhatsApp in 2014 for $19 billion and also at the time said that it wouldn't have any games, gimmicks or ads on the service.

And also one of the doctors charged in the overdose death of Matthew Perry has agreed to plead guilty, according to court filings, Dr. Salvador Blasencia will plead guilty to four counts of distribution of ketamine.

He's one of five people charged in connection with Perry's death. According to an autopsy, Perry died from the acute effects of ketamine and subsequently drowning in a hot tub.

Stay in your feet over tourism it is having some ugly consequences at the world's most famous art museum. Staff at the Louvre actually refused to take up their posts on Monday in Paris and protests over unimaginable crowd sizes, chronic understaffing and the work conditions, they claim.

The spontaneous walkout leaving tourists waiting in line and really not moving beneath that glass pyramid. It's an iconic figure. 8.7 million people visited the home of the Mona Lisa last year. That's more than double what the museum's infrastructure was actually designed to accommodate.

President Emmanuel Macron unveiled a sweeping plan to renovate the museum, but staff says that those changes cannot come soon enough, especially when you look at this next story. Visitors at an Italian museum damaged a piece of art when they tried to sit on it.

The Palazzo Maffei in Verona released this video after a tourist broke a crystal covered chair in April. You can see the surveillance video in it. I think he was trying to float on top of it but then maybe buckled under the pressure for some reason.

Once the man sits down you see the chair collapses the pair then hurry away. Unfortunately, the artwork was restored. It was inspired by one of Vincent Van Gogh's most famous paintings.

The identities of these two people involved still unknown and the investigation in this case is still ongoing.

And a familiar face returning to the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest this Fourth of July and he is hungry people champion eater Joey Chestnut. He is preparing for the annual hot dog eating contest in just over two weeks time after being banned last year due to corporate partnerships.

[04:55:08]

Chestnut says that the event means that the world or the event means the world to him and is also a huge part of his life. He's won the yellow mustard belt, a highly coveted prize for Nathan's contest, 16 times already. Chestnut set a world record for eating 76 hot dogs and buns in 10 minutes back in 2021, which I think was the last time I got to be there and to see that wonder of the world.

And finally this hour, a dog rescue squad on a beach in Spain has welcomed its newest recruit. A poodle named Nilo has joined the team of four Labradors to help lifeguards tow people back to shore. Nilo was once scared of loud noises and crowds.

His handler says that the two year old has actually made good progress in his training and still keeps that hair too. Rescue dogs on Spain's beaches typically are Labradors and Newfoundlands. But Nilo's handler says that poodles were historically used for water rescue with the name poodle actually coming from a German verb meaning to splash.

You learned something and it's not even 5:00 a.m. yet on the East Coast. Thank you for joining us here on Early Start. I'm Polo Sandoval in New York. I'll be back with more of your headlines after this break.

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