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Early Start with Rahel Solomon

Sirens Blare In Parts Of Israel After New Wave Of Missiles; Trump Leaves G7 Early To Monitor Middle East Tensions; Minnesota Residents Hold Vigil To Honor Victims. Aired 5-5:30a ET

Aired June 17, 2025 - 05:00   ET

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

[05:00:51]

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning and welcome to all of our viewers, joining us in the United States and all around the world. I'm Polo Sandoval. It's Tuesday, June 17th, 5:00 a.m. here in New York. And it is noon in Israel, where we begin our breaking news coverage today.

Sirens there have been going off in parts of the country after Iran fired fresh waves of missiles. New images that you're looking at here, showing some of the missiles actually passing north of Jerusalem, some of them going past the defense system known as the iron dome. Explosions were heard in Tel Aviv, where smoke could be seen hanging over the horizon.

We're also hearing that while there was some damage in parts of the country, nobody has been hurt thus far in this latest wave, at least the Israel Defense Forces say it intercepted 30 drones overnight, and that it is now safe for people to come out of bomb shelters.

Israel says overnight strikes killed Iran's wartime chief of staff just days after he was appointed, Iranian state media says that air defense -- the system was actually activated over Tehran where explosions rang out earlier. Israel says that it hit dozens of missile storage and launch sites, as well as drone storage sites.

And earlier, the U.S. president abruptly left the G7 summit for what he called obvious reasons, and he told his national security staff to convene at the White House in the Situation Room.

Now, before his departure, Donald Trump offered this explanation to his Canadian counterpart.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, I have to be back. Very important. I want to just thank our great hosts. Did a fantastic job. Thank you. And Canada, but you probably see what I see. And I have to be back as soon as I can.

(END VIDEO CLIP) SANDOVAL: And then there's this, some would describe it as an ominous post from President Trump in which he writes, Iran should have signed the deal. I told them to sign. What a shame and waste of human life. Simply stated, Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon. I said it over and over again. Everyone should immediately evacuate Tehran.

Now, it seems that many are heeding that advice. You see some of these images showing long lines of cars trying to leave the Iranian capital, and also, the Israeli prime minister says that the strikes have set back Iran's nuclear program, quote, by a very, very long time, but also made it clear that additional targets remain. During an interview with ABC news, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu refused to rule out assassinating Iran's supreme leader.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JON KARL, ABC NEWS ANCHOR: So, are you going to target the supreme leader?

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: Look, we're doing what we need to do. I'm not going to get into the details, but we've targeted their top nuclear scientists. It's basically Hitler's nuclear team.

KARL: But U.S. officials tell us that the president flatly rejected a plan, an opportunity that that that you, the Israelis, had to take out the supreme leader. Do you understand his concern? My understanding is his concern is that this would escalate the conflict beyond where it is already.

NETANYAHU: It's not going to escalate the conflict. It's going to end the conflict.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: And a U.S. House Democrat says that eliminating Iran's leadership has long been Israel's goal.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JIM HIMES (D-CT): This is about regime change. Why do the Israelis bomb national television? You know, why do they start taking on economic targets again? My own opinion is that Netanyahu went into this hoping and maybe intending for regime change. That's a -- that's a very tough bet to make.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: CNN's Paula Hancocks following all of this live from Abu Dhabi.

Paula, what do we know about this latest round of airstrikes?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Polo, we know that in recent hours, there were further Iranian missiles that were sent over to Israeli territory. The official line at this point from Israel is that there was some damage, but no injuries. Now, we did hear a little earlier as well from one of the spokespeople

of the Israeli military saying that there had been a lessened impact. In fact, the least impact of Iran and Iranian attacks since this conflict began.

[05:05:06]

So, overnight and in the early hours of this Tuesday.

Now, it certainly was very different to what we saw Monday morning when hundreds of missiles were launched and a certain number of Israelis were killed in those launches as well.

Now, the Israeli military line is that they believe this is because the fact they have been focusing on targeting missile production facilities, targeting missile launchers is starting to have an effect. And also, the fact that they have aerial superiority in parts of Tehran and, and western Iran now as well.

Now from the Iranian side, they claim that they have downed an Israeli drone near Natanz, the main nuclear site in Iran, something which the Israeli military has cast doubt on. But certainly, we are seeing very little that -- certainly, very little sign that that either side is, is pulling back from this. At this point, we have been seeing some residents in Tehran trying to leave the city. Certainly, we've been seeing long lines of cars leaving.

But as of this point, we hear from the Israeli side that they believe the missile impact from Iran has lessened. Of course, it may be premature to say at this point, but that's certainly what we're hearing from the Israeli military -- Polo.

SANDOVAL: And, Paula, stay with us. We want to show our viewers some live pictures that are coming to us right now out of Andrews Air Force Base, where were told that Air Force One has just landed after President Trump's abrupt departure from the G-7. You see Air Force One there just taxiing, coming to a stop.

President Trump aboard Air Force One at this hour, where it remains yet to be seen exactly what his next move will be. So, as we wait for the president to emerge here shortly after an overnight flight from Canada, Paula, I want to go back to you here. Trump has denied Macron's claim that the -- that he is actually making an offer for a ceasefire.

From what you're hearing, what you're learning, do we know if the U.S. is, in fact brokering a deal?

HANCOCKS: Well, what we've heard from U.S. officials familiar with the situation is that Trump has asked some of those close to him to make an immediate outreach to Iranian officials, to see if there is a deal that can be done, to see if there can be talks.

So certainly, from the U.S. point of view, we're hearing suggestions of diplomacy. It is not something we are hearing from the Israeli side at all. Israel is focusing on what they see as their military successes, and diplomacy really doesn't seem to be coming into it at this point.

But when it comes to the U.S. president, there have been suggestions that that he could be working towards trying to sit down with Iran again, or at least some of his officials sitting down with Iranian officials. But at the same time, he's also saying on social media that that Tehran and residents there should immediately evacuate. So there's certainly been some element of mixed messaging when it comes to the U.S. president -- Polo.

SANDOVAL: And speaking of the U.S. president, we expect him to emerge any moment now from Air Force One. He often does share some make some remarks to reporters, to the to the press pool that's usually waiting at the base of those stairs. So we'll see if he says anything.

In the meantime, Paula, I'm wondering if you could also tell us a little bit more about just the dynamic in what's happening in the Middle East right now? Israel appears to have free reign in the skies politically, though.

Do you believe, based on your reporting, that the prime minister in Israel actually believes that he may have free reign politically as well?

HANCOCKS: Well, something is important to note, though, and that is the fact that the Israeli prime minister has wanted to target Iranians, the Iranian nuclear program, for years, if not decades. This is something that Benjamin Netanyahu has been talking about for years. The -- as he sees it, the existential threat from Iran to Israel.

And so, certainly, he felt at this point that it was necessary. He said publicly to carry out these strikes and to spark this conflict, because he believed that that Iran was getting close to the point of no return.

Now, it's interesting that at the same time, as Israel is saying that that is the case, were hearing from U.S. intelligence assessments from four separate people that that the U.S. does not have that same assessment. Now we see the U.S. president, Donald Trump, walking down the stairs there from Air Force One.

[05:10:04]

It will be interesting to see if he does address this topic. This is obviously the reason that he is landing there early. He left the G7 meeting in Canada early so that he could come and deal with the Middle East crisis. Doesn't appear as though he's ready to talk at this point, though. You see him getting into his car there.

But he did give the impression that he was rushing back for a certain reason. He said it was for the Middle East, and he said it was a very obvious reason that he was coming back. But as you mentioned there, he did negate what the French leader had said, that it could be working on a ceasefire, saying that it's something bigger.

SANDOVAL: CNN's Paula Hancocks, thank you so much for sticking with us during this -- during this part of the coverage. We'll let you go so you can continue newsgathering while we go -- now to Tel Aviv and Alon Pinkas, he's a former Israeli consul general in New York.

It is good to have you, Mr. Pinkas, as always.

Mr. Ambassador, we're seeing these live pictures right now from Andrews Air Force Base as we see the president stepping out of Air Force One and straight into his car. No remarks, which is fairly rare at this point, do you? That could potentially speak to a sense of urgency that the president is feeling as he heads back to the White House to meet with his advisors?

What is your general sense of the situation right now? The president back in Washington, after cutting his trip short at the G7 and after issuing this -- some would describe it as a fairly ominous warning via social media for people in Tehran to get out.

ALON PINKAS, FORMER ISRAELI CONSUL GENERAL IN NEW YORK: Yeah. Good morning, Polo.

Look, you know, Mr. Trump, President Trump has been has been making contradictory remarks in the last four days more than once a day. You know, he would contradict himself and that's fine. I mean, there's no coherent American policy. And we'll get to that in a moment.

But notice something very interesting. Last Thursday, he publicly implored Israel not to attack Iran, saying, give, give another round of talks scheduled for Oman on Sunday, two days ago. Give it a chance. Once the Israeli attack began and once it emerged that there have been operational and technological and intelligence successes, Trump, as Trump is always is, is trying to co-opt this. He's trying to own this.

So, now, he's warning the Iranians basically, you know, the urgency with which he left the G7, we'll have to wait and see why it was that urgent, because, you know, it could have waited a day.

But the U.S., basically, Polo, has three options now. The -- let's enjoy this, wait and see, it's none of our business. Let the Israelis kick Iranian butts and see what happens.

The second would be to de-escalate this by making Iran an offer that they cannot refuse. So, so to speak, an off ramp or a golden bridge, meaning some kind of a face-saving formula that would -- that would de-escalate everything but allow the Iranians to leave with some dignity and respectability.

The third option is what Mr. Netanyahu and what Paula Hancocks indeed referred to has been saying, and that is that the U.S. will actively get involved in the war, not because you need the U.S. to bomb some military target in Tehran, but because if you do want to inflict -- to deliver a final, maybe not final, but a severe, severe blow to the Iranian nuclear program, you need the kind of munitions and delivery systems, specifically the B-2 bomber, in order to do that. Israel cannot do that.

So, all these, all these three options are at the president's disposal. What he will do, I don't know. SANDOVAL: So, again, that's a wait and see. De-escalate with an offer

or U.S. involvement is your analysis. Those are the three options that the president has in front of him as he heads back to the white house at this hour.

Could -- bearing that in mind, Mr. Ambassador, how much influence do you think that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would have with the White House, given its actions from Friday when it launched those strikes, despite the president saying, hold off.

PINKAS: A week ago, a week ago, I would have told you that Mr. Netanyahu has diminishing sway and diminishing influence on the White House because the president was irritated and agitated and impatient with Mr. Netanyahu's constant talks about attacking Iran.

Once Israel launched the attack. And I'm not sure it was done with American coordination. It was done certainly with American knowledge, several hours, maybe 24 hours before that.

[05:15:00]

If you look carefully at the tone of Trump's statements the night before, all of a sudden, he changed his emphasis from let's talks, give talks a chance to, well, Iran should have taken this deal. I told them to take the deal. Now, they're going to have to face the consequences.

So this was -- this was an indication that he knew, but he did not. He was not complicit in it. Now, he's trying to own it.

The question is, Polo, I know we probably don't have time for this, but the real question right now is, okay, what next? If the U.S. stays out, that's option one. Or if the U.S. joins this militarily, that's option three of those three that we talked about, then that could bring about what we call common, what we commonly refer to as regime change.

That's great. That sounds terrific. But it's not like Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson are waiting on the sidelines in Tehran to take over from the ayatollahs.

So, this could be -- this could be a can of worms that, that who knows how (INAUDIBLE). You know, I don't need to remind the American viewers or indeed the international viewers, what happened the last time the U.S. went about and tried to change a regime in Iraq. That did not work out very effectively or positively.

So honestly, I don't know. If this -- if the -- if we go to option one that that Trump says, well, you know, he goes back to Marco Rubio, Secretary of State Marco Rubio statement Friday -- early Friday morning. Well, it's not our war. We have nothing to do with it. And then Trump two days later, say sometimes two nations have to fight it out, quote/unquote.

If that happens, the question is, what, you know, does this escalate, as you indicated earlier in your show? SANDOVAL: And I'd be remiss. You're joining us from Tel Aviv. I'd be

remiss if I didn't ask how you're doing. You're in a city that has seen days already of air, of sirens and people seeking shelter. How are you doing?

PINKAS: Okay, I'll tell you two things. First, I was supposed to be on your show. Maybe it was John Vause. I don't know. And then sirens came all over, and in fact, one of the Iranian missiles landed not far from where I am, where, you know, you reported on the north Tel Aviv- Herzliya area. Okay, that's where I am.

So here I am with you to tell you how -- you know, it's very anxious. It's very frightening because, look, these are not the rockets and missiles that people think they know from the -- from the Gaza war. These are very heavy, relatively, very precise munitions lobbed from a thousand miles away.

You know, you wake up three times during the night. Luckily, I can watch baseball, but the Yankees are doing so bad. So, you know, what can I say.

SANDOVAL: Mr. Ambassador, it is good to keep your spirits up. And thank you so much. And we're so grateful that you're okay, that you're safe and extremely grateful as well for your insight. As always, we always learn something every time we have you on. Appreciate it.

PINKAS: Thank you, Polo. My pleasure.

SANDOVAL: All right, so the suspect in the Minnesota lawmaker shootings faces federal and state murder charges. The U.S. attorney says that the shooter stalked his victims like prey. More on that when we come back.

Plus, G7 leaders are trying to steer President Trump away from his massive trade war. The other massive topic of conversation at the G7 this week. We'll look at whether they made any progress.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:23:07]

SANDOVAL: Welcome back.

Residents of Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, they held a vigil to honor the lives of murdered lawmaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, and also to wish shooting victims Senator John Hoffman and his wife a successful recovery. People at the gathering, calling for reason and for tolerance to prevail against extremism.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL BRANDT, BROOKLYN PARK RESIDENT: We just can't allow the violence to permeate and skew our political process. We need democracy. We need public participation. We need to be able to talk freely about the issues without fear of retribution.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: An important message.

Meanwhile, Sophie and Colin Hortman, they're the children of the murdered couple. They released a statement on Monday and it reads in part, "We are devastated and heartbroken at the loss of our parents, Melissa and Mark. They were the bright lights at the center of our lives, and we can't believe that they are gone."

They said that they are safe with loved ones and also thank law enforcement for trying to save their parents' lives. Again, this coming from Sophie and Colin Hortman.

Meanwhile, the suspect in these shootings, Vance Boelter, he has appeared in court. Police say that he had many targets in mind beyond just the four people that he shot.

Here's CNN's Whitney Wild with more on the investigation.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOE THOMPSON, ACTING U.S. ATTORNEY: This is the stuff of nightmares.

WHITNEY WILD, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The photo captures the end of the largest manhunt in Minnesota history. Police say 57-year-old Vance Boelter started his rampage around 2:00 a.m. Saturday.

THOMPSON: Boelter went to the homes of four Minnesota state politicians with the intent to kill them. He had a list of other elected officials, their home addresses. Boelter stalked his victims like prey.

WILD: The U.S. attorney says the terrifying plot began much earlier, detailing the planning, surveillance and Internet searches Boelter allegedly made to organize his attacks. He says the key to Boelter's plan was dressing in uniform to imitate a police officer.

THOMPSON: He arrived in a black SUV with emergency lights turned on and with a license plate that read police. He carried a flashlight and a Beretta 9 millimeter handgun. He also wore a hyper realistic silicone mask.

WILD: Authorities say Boelter began his shooting spree at the home of State Senator John Hoffman, banging on the door and shouting, this is the police. Then opened fire.

The two survived and are still hospitalized.

After the attack, police went to perform a wellness check on several lawmakers. According to a federal complaint, Boelter headed to the home of an elected official in nearby Maple Grove, but the family was away. He left and then traveled to the home of a state senator, where a local law enforcement officer was on the way to perform a wellness check and found Boelter sitting in a black SUV nearby. The officer says she thought Boelter was law enforcement, but when she stopped to speak with him, he continued staring straight ahead and didn't respond. That officer then headed to the senator's home to do a wellness check. And Boelter left the area.

Officers went to the home of State Representative Melissa Hortman to check on her as well. When they arrived, they say Boelter was standing outside.

THOMPSON: He drew his weapon and began firing. He rushed into the house through the front door, firing into it. He repeatedly fired into the house. And when he entered, he murdered Representative Hortman and her husband, Mark.

WILD: Police officers say they began shooting at the gunman, but he escaped. He left behind his car, where police say they found multiple weapons, including semiautomatic weapons and ammunition, passports and about $10,000 in cash.

He was captured Sunday night in the woods after a massive manhunt. A resident saw him on a trail camera and contacted police.

THOMPSON: This was a political assassination, which is not a word we use very often. It's a chilling attack on our democracy, on our way of life.

WILD: Boelter allegedly texted his family shortly after the shootings, according to a federal complaint, saying, "Dad went to war last night. I don't want to say more because I don't want to implicate anybody."

WILD: Officials say there is still no clear motive for the attacks.

THOMPSON: I've seen nothing like a Unabomber-style manifesto in his writings. Obviously, his primary motive was to go out and murder people. Now, they were all elected officials. They were all Democrats.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL: That was CNN's Whitney Wild reporting. As for Boelter, he remains in federal custody.

Well, still ahead on EARLY START, we'll be looking at how Donald Trump's trade war is now having an impact on China's industrial output.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)