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Trump: My Objective Is "A Real End, Not A Ceasefire"; Trump: "We Now Have Complete And Total Control" Over Iran Skies; Israeli Strikes On Iran Divide Trump's MAGA Movement; Vance: Trump has "Earned Some Trust" In Decision On Iran; Trump: Supreme leader Is "Easy Target" But "Safe". Aired 12-12:30p ET

Aired June 17, 2025 - 12:00   ET

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

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DANA BASH, CNN HOST, INSIDE POLITICS: Today on Inside Politics, in Oval Office reckoning. President Trump is on the cusp of the most important decision he's made to date as commander in chief. Will the U.S. join Israel in seeking to destroy Iran's nuclear capabilities? The vice president just issued a remarkable new statement, clearly aimed at MAGA opponents to American assistance in Iran.

Plus, CNN has new reporting on what the U.S. intelligence community is saying about Israel's justification for striking Iran in the first place. I'll discuss that with the Israeli ambassador to the United States. And a shocking reaction to brutal crimes. Democrats in Minnesota say, Republican Senator Mike Lee has made a horrific situation even worse with his social media posts about the state lawmakers gunned down in their homes.

I'm Dana Bash. Let's go behind the headlines at Inside Politics.

First up, we are waiting on a world defining decision, as Israel and Iran exchange a barrage of fire. President Trump is expected to meet with his top advisers about the United States' response to the escalating crisis in the middle east. The president ominously warned Tehran to evacuate immediately, before abruptly leaving the G7 summit in Canada to return to Washington early this morning. Here's part of what he told reporters during that trip home.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What specifically is better than a ceasefire? What are you looking for here?

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: An end, a real end, not a cease fire, an end.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, something that would be permanent?

TRUMP: Yeah, or giving up entirely, that's OK too.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you closer, is that even possible? Is that possibility

TRUMP: Why not? Certainly possible. A complete, give up. That's possible, yeah.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: And moments ago, this post on Truth Social, perhaps the key line is the first sentence. We, we now have complete and total control of the skies over Iran. And he seems to say, American equipment is overcoming Iranian defenses.

CNN's Jeff Zeleny is at the White House. First and foremost, what do we make of that post? And just before we came on the air, the president put it up there about, we having control of the skies over Iran.

Jeff Zeleny: Dana, that word is the central point there. We, of course, joining the longtime ally of the U.S., Israel. But using that construction, we certainly implies that the United States is working in a partnership in cooperation with Israel. And now this is the most declarative thing that the president has said yet about the question that is hanging over this entire debate here at the White House.

The president, of course, flying back overnight to Washington from the meeting of the G7 leaders in Canada. He believed that this was an urgent moment that he needed to be back here for. Just a few moments ago, Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrived here at the White House. So, we do believe that there will be that meeting convening at some point in the Situation Room.

But again, the central question, how directly will the U.S. be involved in ferreting out and perhaps destroying Iran's nuclear capabilities. That is really a central question, not only for the Trump foreign policy, but certainly for the world.

And this is something that the president, when he was being sworn into office on inauguration day, he talked about being a peacemaker. He talked about ending long wars, of course, that has been the anthem of his really, last 10 years in American political life here, but by saying we, that clearly is implicit there.

But he's also responding to the Vice President, to J.D. Vance, who offered some commentary just a short time ago as well. Pushing back against this growing divide inside the MAGA movement, some supporters of the president believe the U.S. should not be involved at all. And a very interesting window into part of the administration's thinking coming from Vice President Vance.

Let's read a part of it together. He says this, speaking of the president. He may decide he needs to take further action to end Iranian enrichment. That decision ultimately belongs to the president. The vice president goes on to say. And of course, people are right to be worried about foreign entanglement after the last 25 years of idiotic foreign policy. But I believe the president has earned some trust on this issue.

Well, boy, Dana, there is a lot packed into that, of course, 25 years would include the Bush administration and beyond. And this is the central question facing this president now. Is he going to engage and get the United States engaged in a wider war, or is he going to essentially watch from the sidelines with perhaps a bit of help? But we do believe that those decisions will be made in the coming hours, beginning with a meeting in the Situation Room at some point this afternoon.

[12:05:00]

BASH: Before I let you go, Jeff, I just want to underscore because a lot has happened like in the last 10 minutes, but I want to underscore that last point that you made. And that is that the vice president of the United States is not only speaking for the White House here.

But he's clearly speaking to the president MAGA supporters who are really pushing him not to get involved, because they're saying, remember, you're an America First guy. And it is Vance, who has historically been one of the leading voices opposed to the U.S. getting involved in foreign conflicts. It really was a remarkable, lengthy post that he put out for many reasons, but especially the internal GOP politics.

ZELENY: It certainly was. I mean, in one hand, it's sending a message to the dissenters out there. Tucker Carlson and others who have been critical of the president and just the idea that the United States would deepen its engagement. So, the vice president basically told them to pipe down and they should follow and trust the president.

But Dana, also speaking potentially to divisions inside this own administration. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, of course, has been much less of a disciple of the American first agenda, at least by brand. So, it's very interesting that the vice president decided to put out that very lengthy statement before there is really a meeting or before there is a decision. But certainly, I'm told it's a design to quiet the outside dissenters. But even more, he, of course, has a seat at the table here, it's to perhaps push the president in one direction as well. Dana?

BASH: Yeah, yeah. Really, really fascinating turn of events in the last few minutes. Jeff, thank you so much for reporting it and making sense of it for us. And we have a terrific group of reporters here at the table to continue doing just that. CNN's Steven Collinson, CNN's MJ Lee, Tyler Pager of The New York Times, and CNN's Lauren Fox.

I just want to pick up where I just left off, Steven, with Jeff. And I would even, you know, perhaps go a step further, which is that not only is Vance sending a message to MAGA world, to Tucker Carlson and Steve Bannon. We'll hear some of what they were -- have been saying in the last 24 hours in a second, but also maybe laying the groundwork for what's to come. He knows what's to come, and that's why he's sending that message now.

STEPHEN COLLINSON, CNN SENIOR POLITICS REPORTER: Certainly. And I think Jeff is right. This is a message to the MAGA world, but it's also a message to Trump and his political conscience. He's saying, effectively, you can go ahead and still be compatible with everything you stood for. Remember, in 2016 campaign, the moment that the president took down Jeb Bush, it was over the Iraq War. He said it was a big fat mistake. You got to suck into a war that was a forever war that didn't end.

It's hard to say how, you know, it's so endemic to Trump's appeal. When you talk to people at Trump rallies, the idea that those days are gone, yet Trump. If he goes ahead, we don't know how it's going to end up. It could start with chuck and all, it will have all sorts of reverberations. He becomes the interventionist that he always decried, and that's why there's so many splits right now in the Republican Party and the MAGA movement.

MJ LEE, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL ENTERPRISE CORRESPONDENT: And one of the most interesting sentences from that long statement we saw from the vice president, I thought, was where he said he is only interested in using the American military to accomplish the American people's goals. I mean, Dana, that is not an outright rejection of the use of the American military. It actually sure sounds like he is priming the American public for the possibility of the U.S. getting directly involved.

We're not saying that we know for sure this is going to happen, but all of the body language that we are seeing from this lengthy statement certainly suggests that this possibility is very much out there. I mean, you couple that with President Trump suddenly deciding to cut short a foreign trip, and a lot of signs are headed in that direction.

I will just say one reason that I think this just is so remarkable, the possibility, the potential of this kind of intervention, is that President Trump, as a candidate, and right before he was sworn in, was so determined to not have wars on his plate as he was getting sworn in. He didn't want the war in Ukraine. He certainly didn't want the conflict in Gaza. He didn't want this war to be fully blown out between Israel and Iran.

And now here he is, a couple days in with the, you know, the fires being exchanged seriously, apparently, contemplating the possibility of the U.S. Yeah, as Steven said, becoming an interventionist country.

[12:10:00]

BASH: And Tyler, as I bring you in, because you cover the White House on a daily, minute by minute basis. I do want to bring back what we started with at the top of the hour, which is a brand new post from the president himself, where he said, we now have complete and total control of the skies over Iran. Iran had good sky trackers and other defensive equipment and plenty of it, but it doesn't compare to American made, conceived and manufactured stuff. Nobody does it better than the good old U.S.A.

TYLER PAGER, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, THE NEW YORK TIMES: Yeah. And I think this is part of this effort. We've seen the president and his allies laying, about how this fits into the America First policy. He's under fire from some critics, Tucker Carlson, chief among them. And here we see him fashioning about how this is America First.

I mean, the two things, MJ, just to add on to, to what you were saying. Not only did he not want these wars. His inaugural address was all about being a peacemaker, peace through strength. We've talked to sources who said he's very obsessed with winning the Nobel Peace Prize. So, it's not only remarkable that he doesn't want more conflict, it's that he's inserting the U.S. potentially into a greater conflict there.

And I also think one of the things that's interesting, MJ, from the point that you just read of the vice president's statement, is that, sounds a lot like former presidents justifying previous military actions, that actions overseas are in part to protect American interests, not just at home, but all around the world. And so, it's so interesting to see that language being used by two politicians who have made their name promising no forever wearers -- no forever war and promising not to engage in additional military conflicts.

BASH: Right, especially again from J.D. Vance, who is effectively the ambassador because he has such credibility with that part of the Republican Party. The newer part of the Republican Party, as opposed to what used to be the most of the Republican Party, which is more hawkish.

And I just want to play a little bit. We've sort of talked about it, but I want people to hear specifically what Tucker Carlson and Steve Bannon, who joined together to send a message to the White House. What they are saying about their opposition to U.S. involvement with Iran.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TUCKER CARLSON, HOST, THE TUCKER CARLSON SHOW: My interest is really simple. I don't want the United States enmeshed in another middle eastern war that doesn't serve our interests. I saw that last time.

STEVE BANNON, HOST, WAR ROOM: If we get sucked into this war, which inexorably looks like it's going to happen on the combat side, it's going to not just blow up the coalition. It's also going to thwart what we're doing with the most important thing, which is the deportation of the illegal alien invaders that are here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: And I will say, in response to that, the president posted last night, somebody please explain to cookie Tucker Carlson that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon, all caps.

LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's going to be fascinating to see, because this debate is already starting to play out a little bit on Capitol Hill. And you're seeing resolutions basically making the case that if the U.S. is going to get involved in some kind of foreign entanglement, that Congress needs to have a vote.

And you're seeing that widespread on the Democratic side. But it's really interesting to see some of the Republican coalition coming together. Obviously, Thomas Massie leading that resolution. He's not someone who has been supporting the president every step of the way. Obviously, he voted against his big agenda bill a couple of weeks ago.

But I think it does get into this question of there are clearly two camps that are starting to divide, and lawmakers on Capitol Hill are going to have to start to make a decision. Now my impulse, given what I've seen in the past, is that they're going to follow Donald Trump --

BASH: No.

FOX: -- and whatever he decides. But that doesn't mean that the pressure isn't out there, and that doesn't mean your base may be conflicted about whatever decision the president makes.

BASH: No question.

COLLINSON: And just add on to that, I think it's -- this is not the only issue we're seeing this play out where there's a divide among the base. Immigration is another one where we saw Republican lawmakers say to the president, you need to give relief to farmers and to hospitality industries. He did it, and now he's sort of pivoting back and forth. So, it's interesting to see these divides within the Republican Party play out across multiple issues.

BASH: Real quick.

PAGER: This is different than everything Trump has faced across two presidents is it's a hard edge, binary decision. You try and end the war, or you get in the war. It's not like a trade war, which you can escalate on Tuesday and then deescalate on Wednesday. He's getting into something that he doesn't know how it will end, and it's a different kind of decision for Trump.

BASH: Yeah, well said. Everybody stand by. Up next on Inside Politics. The Israeli ambassador to the United States will be here in studio as the president weighs a very fateful decision, the one we've been discussing. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:15:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BASH: President Trump made his clearest statement yet just moments ago on where the U.S. stands in Israel and Iran's escalating conflict. Here's what he posted. He posted. We now have complete and total control of the skies over Iran.

Joining me now is the Israeli ambassador to the United States, Yechiel Leiter. Thank you so much for being here. Can you help me parse that word, we, was the president referring to anything about the U.S. military now actually there helping Israel.

YECHIEL LEITER, ISRAELI AMBASSADOR TO THE U.S.: Good to be with you. Dana, thank you. Far be it from me to serve a spokesman for the president United States. So, I'm not even going to try to unpack that. What I will say or what the facts are, we've asked the United States for a defensive posture, and we are full of gratitude and thanks for the defensive systems that the United States has put in play, the THAAD, missile defense systems, the Aegis missile defense systems. [12:20:00]

And I can say with authority that they have saved hundreds, perhaps thousands of lives over the past four days since Iran has been firing these ballistic missiles into our population centers. So that's our ask, and that's what the United States has been providing. Perhaps the president was talking about, you know, American equipment, like Lockheed Martin F-35 that we've been flying quite extensively. Our pilots do a good job in American made material.

BASH: OK, so that's defensive. What about offensive? The idea that what the prime minister and you and others have said is that Iran cannot have nuclear capabilities. And the decision on the table right now that the president has to make, it seems, is whether or not to provide U.S. military personnel to fly planes, to drop U.S. made bombs, particularly a bunker busting bomb, to really get rid of Iran's nuclear capabilities once and for all. Is that something that Israel is asking for?

LEITER: No. I've been very specific. We've asked for defensive posture. We've put out all that we know about Iranian positions on the ground. And the administration, President Trump, is going to make a decision as to which way he's going to go on this.

Certainly, I think it's important to remind the American people that this is a regime that tried to take out the president's life twice. This is a regime that tried to assassinate the former Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo. This is a regime where the supreme leader stands in the middle of the Tehran e-square with hundreds of thousands of people and leads chance death to America, along with death to Israel.

So, this is clearly a enemy of western civilization, of the United States, of the Judeo-Christian civilization. And I think will be a blessing, not only to Israel. We are threatened directly with extinction, but it is a blessing to humankind if this regime would be removed from its ability to build ballistic missiles and nuclear weapons.

BASH: We have a brand new statement that I'm going to read for the first time, and you're going to hear it for the first time. So, I'm sure that by now you're used to --

LEITER: Surprises?

BASH: Just surprises in the Trump administration and being an ambassador to the U.S. during these times. Here's what he said. We know exactly where the so called supreme leader is hiding. He is an easy target but is safe there. We are not going to take him out kill, at least not for now, but we don't want missiles shot at civilians or American soldiers. Our patience is wearing thin. Thank you for your attention to this matter. So, what do you make of that? No regime change right now.

LEITER: Well, the -- I think the Iranian people have to make a decision about regime change. It's their country. It's their government. They have to make the decision. What our goal is, very clear, is that they cannot have a nuclear weapon and they cannot have ballistic missiles that can be shot into our population centers.

You know, their plan, in the context of destroying Israel, which they talk about all the time, is to have a nuclear weapon and to have tens of thousands of ballistic missiles. You know, ballistic missiles like, you know, if you take a semi-trailer or a school bus and fill it up with TNT and then send it flying through the sky to kill thousands of people. That's what they want to achieve.

So, we have to prevent them from both, and that's our goal. And if the Iranian people rise up and say, we've had enough of this tyranny, we've had enough of this totalitarian, theocratic, kleptocratic government. Then if we help facilitate that, we'll have done something good for history.

BASH: Help facilitate that, but short of killing.

LEITER: Well, look, you know, the supreme leader right now is looking to his left. He's looking for his nuclear scientist. There's none left. He's looking to his right for his military leadership, there's none left. They replaced the chief of staff on Friday. He's no longer with us. This is what happened in Lebanon, where Nasrallah was taken out, and then they replaced Nasrallah, and he was taken out.

And now Hezbollah is sitting on the side, and we have a great government in Lebanon under General Aoun, who's implementing a ceasefire agreement in which he's disarming Hezbollah. And we're going to reach a point where in Iran, there will not be a threat of extinction to the state of Israel. That's what we're fighting for.

This is a war, Dana. It's very important to emphasize. This Dana, this is a war to end wars, not to begin wars. This is a war to end all wars in the middle east, because if we take out the threat from Iran, countries are going to line up to the Abraham Accords and expand what President Trump did in his first administration.

[12:25:00]

BASH: So, you just laid out something that is, you know, the ultimate goal, which is what I think everybody in the western world wants, which is peace in your region, which has been a desire for decades, decades, and decades.

LEITER: It's peaceful strength.

BASH: OK.

LEITER: We have to take out this malevolent force.

BASH: OK. But in the short term, given the fact that Israel and Iran, you're engaged in a very active conflict right now. In the short term, how do you declare victory? What is -- or define victory? What is your definition of victory right now?

LEITER: The ability to destroy Israel through nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles is eliminated. That's out victory. That's our victory. And if the people in Iran, then choose a different government, it's going to be great for the entire middle east and really for the world, because the people of the middle east want normalization with Israel, and Israel wants nothing more than normalization with its neighbors.

BASH: Can I go back to the fundamental question of Iran's nuclear capability? Because you're talking about the fact that they're close. We heard that from the prime minister and other Israeli officials. Our reporting is that U.S. intelligence assesses that Iran was up to three years away from that nuclear -- from nuclear weapons, which is right.

LEITER: It's interesting because the president of the United States sent a letter to the supreme leader of Iran, and he gave him 60 days. I assume that if the president believed that they were years away from a nuclear weapon, he wouldn't have given him 60 days, maybe six years. Look, we are defined by our intel. Our intel was very clear. It was vindicated by the way -- by the IAEA report.

BASH: What did the intel say -- Israeli intel?

LEITER: They're in a sprint to the nuclear weapon. And the IAEA report, which is hardly an Israeli report, it's an international oversight agency, came out the report on the 60th day. Actually, it was a damaging report and vindicated everything that our prime minister has been saying for 15 years. They're racing for a nuclear bomb, and they have to be stopped.

BASH: Ambassador, thank you so much for being here. Sorry to --

LEITER: For the surprises.

BASH: -- get you off guard, but again, that's what it means to be in the diplomatic corps during the Trump era.

LEITER: That's OK. Good to be with you, Dana. Thank you.

BASH: Thank you.

LEITER: Thank you.

BASH: Thank you. Thank you for being here. Coming up. Back to U.S. politics, a big endorsement in the Big Apple. We have new details on the progressive push to stop Andrew Cuomo's political comeback.

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