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Fragile Ceasefire Between Israel And Iran Remains In Place; Trump Heads To NATO Summit After Helping Broker Israel-Iran Deal; Trump Claims Iran Will "Never Rebuild" Its Nuclear Program. Aired 12- 12:30p ET

Aired June 24, 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: Welcome to Inside Politics. I'm Dana Bash in Washington. We're following a fragile cease fire between Israel and Iran brokered by President Trump. The commander in chief is about to land in the Netherlands for a summit with America's NATO allies. He's already taking a victory lap after a turbulent and potentially transformative 48 hours from fear of world war to a stunning diplomatic announcement to a barrage of fire and apparently back to a truce.

On board, Air Force One, the president was asked about the possibility of another cease fire break. Here's what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sir, how are you confident that this might not happen again, say in a couple of weeks?

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: They're tired of it. I think they don't want it to happen again. And Iran is not going to have a nuclear weapon, by the way. I think it's the last thing in their mind right now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: At this hour, the skies above Israel and Iran appear to be calm. But of course, there are crucial question -- questions about what happens next in the middle east, and of course, what the U.S. is going to do with regard to involvement moving forward.

I want to bring in CNN's Erin Burnett, who is in Ras Al-Khaimah, and she joins me now. Erin, you are in the U.A.E. You arrived in the region, what 24 hours ago? What an eventful 24 hours. What are you seeing and hearing right now on the ground from your sources in the region?

ERIN BURNETT, CNN ANCHOR, ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT: Look, Dana, you know, it's been -- it's been a lot of whiplash. And what, you know, you can see in the Gulf, with the U.S. base being attacked in Qatar. The diplomacy that came out, will there be a ceasefire? Won't there be a ceasefire? Violation of the ceasefire on both sides, the response from President Trump, it has been whiplash. There has been deep concern.

But throughout it sources, you know, in the region have expressed confidence, Dana, that this ceasefire would hold, and in part, that's because they see Iran not making any shift in its ultimate goals. But facing a reality in terms of its current military situation that it simply could not deny that it was unable to continue fighting the way that it was an emerge victorious.

So that, for the situation that they're in right now, while not changing an ultimate strategy at this point, they have it in their interest to stick with this and the pressure that was exerted across this region, Dana, is significant.

It's not just the U.A.E, the base is, the 40,000 U.S. troops that are stationed near where we are tonight, but it's also that countries like the United Arab Emirates, are countries that have not just forged strong relationships with the United States and here in the U.A.E. with Israel in recent years, but also are countries that have built themselves on economics and on business, and that has taken an incredible hit over the past week.

People running for safety and diving for safety in a mall in Qatar, putting them in a war zone, airspace disrupted. The world's largest airport where we are was still in complete chaos today. So, all of that exerting this pressure that has put us in a moment where there is confidence that this ceasefire will hold.

BASH: So, I want to ask about the economics because that is so interesting in a moment. But first I want you to listen to something else that the president said, and this is about regime change. You talk about whiplash, the whole question of what the U.S. policy is vis-a-vis the regime in Iran, whether or not it is the policy for it to change. Now we're hearing the president sing a different tune that we just heard about a day ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you want to see regime change in Iran?

TRUMP: If there was, there was, but no, I don't want to. I'd like to see everything calm down as quickly as possible. Regime change takes chaos, and ideally, we don't want to see someone's chaos.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: So, Erin, obviously, the whole MO coming out of the White House and from President Trump in particular, is everybody needs to calm down. We want calm. And if you even suggest regime change, that is quite literally the opposite of calm. But the question is whether or not, the calm can remain when the regime is -- that is still there who wants death to America, death to Israel stays in place, and that is a part of the discussion, right?

[12:05:00]

BURNETT: Yes, absolutely, part of the discussion. And you know, I remember, Dana, at one point being in Tehran years ago, and they're chanting death to America all around me, even as I say, oh, I'm an American reporting for CNN. And they were happy to speak to me. So, those two sort of jarring realities of the chant and yet the friendliness have existed together. But I am hearing from some in Iran that I have not heard this from before, a sense of deep uncertainty about the future and of what happens next, and also of what the role is of the Supreme Leader.

Now we've heard that he's 86. We know his health has been ailing, but that in this moment where everything that he has stood for and put Iran on the line for, which is giving up economic future, giving up so many bright stars who have left the country, all in the pursuit of a nuclear program designed to counter Israel, right?

That all of that being put on the table has for the first time from some, I have heard what was all of this for? What was all of this for when the leaders, the religious leaders of this country have focused on things like women's hair and what they wore.

So, you know, it's unclear how far things like that will go. How much of that is emotion in a moment that is exhausting and stressful and has meant a lot of failure for Iran, or how much of this is something bigger. But in the context of regime change, the Ayatollah, the supreme leader being in a bunker underneath Tehran because he was at fear of his life, when this deal was done.

And perhaps being out of contact with the people who like to make the deal is something that, as we look back on this moment, may end up being a very significant reality, that as the timeline plays out and we see where this goes. We look back and say, OK, that was something very important.

BASH: Such an important point. Before I let you go, you mentioned the economy. I promise to get back to it. You are on the Strait of Hormuz. It is a key location when it comes to the global economy.

BURNETT: It is, Dana. And you know, 24 hours ago we were standing here, the parliament of Iran had approved closing the Strait, and we are right by the Strait now on the western tip. That would have been an unprecedented moment and truly been a moment of global crisis and a globally expanding war. Iran was talking about intensifying its retaliation, and part of that was closing the Strait of Hormuz.

Now it needed National Security Council approval in Iran. And obviously, during that time, there were some negotiations, again, unclear by whom, but at that time towards this ceasefire. But you would be talking about mining and disrupting shipping for a quarter of the world's oil every day.

It cannot be overstated how significant this location is, how important it is, and even on as Iran is behind where I'm standing tonight, Dana, disputed islands, full of Iranian military and a navy that had not been disrupted as so much of Iran's military was in recent days.

But it is incredible, just in this one location where we are, as you're talking to think about how different things were 24 hours ago, and how quickly you can go to the precipice of utter disaster, how quickly you can come back. And perhaps there's a lesson on how quickly we could return the other way for all of us in that.

BASH: Yeah, such a good point. Erin, we are so lucky to have you there. Thank you for, you know, going through so many of these critical topics in your reporting. Appreciate it. And I'm joined by a terrific group of reporters and analysts today here at the table. CNN national security analyst Peter Bergen, Colonel Cedric Leighton, CNN military analyst and CNN national security correspondent, Kylie Atwood.

Well, Erin really set the table well for the state of play right now, in between Iran and Israel and, of course, the U.S., but also in the broader region. What else are you looking for, Colonel, right now?

COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Well, Dana, I think one of the things is one that I actually mentioned, what is the Iranian navy going to do? And it's absolutely, you know, a perfect way for the Iranians to exert some power and some influence over what's happening, not only in the Gulf, but in the world economy.

They are known to use basically the equivalent of speed boats, these small rubber boats that go and attack much larger vessels, and they can cause a lot of havoc. They can close the Strait of Hormuz if they wanted to. They would probably not last long in terms of a closure, but it would be something that would be extremely significant.

The other thing that I'm looking at is potential cyber activity. I think that they might very well try something in that regard. The Department of Homeland Security has talked a bit about that as a possible threat. But these are the kinds of things that, you know, we really have to be prepared for. And as far as the nuclear program goes, I think we have to be prepared for there to be some remnant of it that survives.

Now, intelligence people like me who look at this and they want a worst-case scenario, these kinds of things, but that's the kind of thing that you have to do in order to be prepared for what comes next.

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BASH: So, let's stay on that last point because the president had some things to say about the notion that Iran might still have some nuclear remnants of its nuclear capability.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You don't believe that Iran is going to rebuild its nuclear program?

TRUMP: Iran will never rebuild its nuclear from there, absolutely not. That place is under rock. That place is demolished. The B-2 pilots did their job. They did it better than anybody could even imagine.

(END VIDEO CLIP) BASH: Peter?

PETER BERGEN, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Do you think Putin would have invaded Ukraine, if Ukraine had nuclear weapons? The short answer is no. And you know, Ukraine gave up its nuclear weapons, you know, as the Cold War sort of ended. So, look, if I'm any country in the world, the lesson I take away from this is United States won't attack you if you have nuclear weapons. And that is kind of -- so I think it is improbable.

Let's say -- let's say there's regime change tomorrow in Iran. There's no guarantee that the next regime would say, oh, by the way, we're going to give up on nuclear weapons because we're either more democratic or whatever the flavor is. I mean, Iran, I think if most Iranians, I think, will take away the lesson. We should continue with our program, if we can get away with it, is my view.

BASH: And what about the idea that there could be remnants there?

BERGEN: Well, I mean, Fareed Zakaria was told by the head of the International Atomic agency -- Energy Agency, that the 400 kilograms are missing. That's more than enough. It's 60 percent highly enriched, which is close to 90 percent which is what you need. You know, one thing that we haven't discussed, or I haven't heard much of, is, you know, we wouldn't be having this conversation at all, Dana, if we were still in the nuclear agreement with the Iranians.

I mean, they were only enriching to three and a half percent in 2015, and obviously, Trump pulled out in 2018, none of this would have happened because if that agreement, you know, the agreement was being stuck to. And you know, one of the many reasons that Dan Coats didn't survive as head of Director of National Intelligence in the Trump administration, as he publicly testified that the Iranians were keeping to the agreement.

BASH: Right. The agreement that President Obama put in place, and that as soon as President Trump got in office, the first time, he pulled out.

KYLIE ATWOOD, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: But even though we don't know what the actual assessment of these U.S. strikes against Iran over Iran's nuclear program over the weekend is, the administration has been quick to declare victory here. Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, on Sunday, in the early hours after these strikes occurred, said that they had achieved their objectives.

So, it's very clear that the administration is trying to change the page very quickly here to try and get diplomacy back into action. We don't know if that's going to be the case, but the fact that President Trump was so visibly frustrated this morning that the ceasefire had some interruptions overnight and is trying to get that back in action demonstrates that they're trying to get there so that they can get back to diplomacy with Iran. We'll have to watch and see. You know if that actually happens.

BASH: Yeah. I mean the objective from the beginning when Israel started to -- started this, what -- however, many days ago, 12, 13, days ago. They said, at least the ambassador was here at the table last week. I said, what is your strategic goal? And he said, making sure that Iran doesn't have a nuclear weapon. So, if that's how they define victory, which you know, far better than I, is really important when you're looking at a military operation. If you believe President Trump, they're there. The question is all of the other ripple effects that you were worried about.

LEIGHTON: Well, there's always a lot of unintended consequences, right, Dana. And the thing that is really interesting about this is that the goal posts, both in Israel and here in the United States, have actually shifted when it comes to declaring victory. I -- because at first, it's get rid of the nuclear program. OK, that's one thing. That's one goal, that's a fairly, you know, interesting aspect.

But the problem is from a technical standpoint, how do you know that you've achieved that goal? And it requires what's known as a battle damage assessment, and that assessment can change over time because we don't always know exactly how effective our bombs were. It's very clear that they hit exactly -- the exact, what we call aim points that they were supposed to hit. It was extremely accurate, no question about it.

The question is, because we can't see, because it's an underground facility, we can't see down below exactly, you know, what was destroyed, were the centrifuges that Fordo destroyed? You know what happened at Isfahan, which, oh, by the way, is a major center for the Iranian nuclear program. So those are the kinds of things that have to be assessed, and that is going to be the key indicator whether or not this was really successful.

ATWOOD: And also, where was Iran storing its secret capabilities? Because we know well that that these were the established nuclear sites of Iran, but we also know that they have very often in the past, developed these secret sites. We don't know exactly, you know, where those are right now. But that's a critical question, even as they potentially head back to the diplomatic table, because, you know, does Steve Witkoff acknowledge that include that in these conversations about reeling in their nuclear capabilities?

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BASH: And real quick, we can't lose sight of the fact that the president is about to land in the Netherlands for a NATO summit, which will no doubt be a lot of time will be taken up at that summit with what is happening in the middle east.

BERGEN: Yeah. And I mean -- I think most European leaders seem to have been somewhat supportive of what happened, right? And he's going to go there, and I think it's going to be a fairly triumphal performance, when he gets there. And also, you know, he's got the other thing, which is, they've agreed, at least nominally to 5 percent of GDP on defense spending, which is a very large sum of money.

When you get into details, it's really 3.5 percent on defense spending and 1.5 percent on infrastructure related spending. But there's going to be a big victory lap both of this, and also the fact that he can go and say, these guys are really stepping up to the plate in terms of something I've been demanding for the past decade.

BASH: Right, which is going to be a bit of a an olive branch to the part of the MAGA wing that is not happy with what he's doing in Iran. And on that, the question is, does the ceasefire in the middle east mean a ceasefire within that MAGA coalition that has been fractured over Donald Trump foreign policy. We'll talk about that next.

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BASH: President Trump left for Europe, angry at both Israel and Iran, using some strong language against the two parties.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Israel, as soon as we made the deal, they came out and they dropped a load of bombs, the likes of which I'd never seen before. The biggest load that we've seen. I'm not happy with Israel. You know, when I say, OK, now you have 12 hours. You don't go out in the first hour. Just drop everything you have on them.

So, I'm not happy with them. I'm not happy with Iran either. But I'm really unhappy if Israel is going out this morning because of one rocket that didn't land, that was shot, perhaps by mistake that didn't land. I'm not happy about that.

(CROSSTALK)

TRUMP: We basically have two countries that have been fighting so long and so hard that they don't know what the fuck they're doing. Do you understand that?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Well, there's been a lot of political and diplomatic back and forth since then, and that was just early this morning. I want to bring back my political panel to discuss, now we have at the table. CNN's Jeff Zeleny, Tia Mitchell of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and CNN's Alayna Treene. You were there watching the F bomb fly on the North Lawn there. What did you -- or the South Lawn, I should say. What did you take away from how the president was acting and reacting as he left?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: I mean, and I've been with the president a lot. I've seen him a lot. He used profanity a lot in many of his speeches, particularly on the campaign trail. He was one of -- this was one of the most times I've seen him, the most visibly angry and frustrated. It was palpable. You could see how mad he was really at kind of what he thought in the moment was the deterioration of potentially the ceasefire deal. I mean, he told reporters that he didn't believe that it was, you know, unsalvageable. He wasn't sure if it wasn't holding. But then he also said he believed both countries had potentially violated it. And a lot of that ire was actually, I'd argue, more of it was reserved for Israel, rather than it was for Iran. In that moment, he was very unhappy with what he saw, you know, the defense minister say about, Israel planning to retaliate on Iran with the full force that it has. He was very mad about that.

What was notable as well, though, is that he said, as soon as I'm done talking to you guys, to the press, he was going to go make some calls, and he did. He ultimately got on Marine One and had a phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. And really, you saw this unfold in real time, because he was posting simultaneously. And that's something you know about this president as well.

When he's really feeling something deeply, this frustration included that's when he posts. You can see his emotions out on playing out on Truth Social, and so we saw those series of posts after that ultimately ended with him saying that Israel was not going to ultimately attack Iran after that.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: And beyond the anger, there was a diplomatic point to his rage as well. I mean, he was sending a direct message before he picked up the phone to the prime minister that knock it off. I mean, he's like, I am -- this is my deal. This is my ceasefire deal. My reputation legacy is on the line here. I'm flying to NATO. I want to have the ceasefire deal in my back pocket.

Let's not let anything jeopardize that. So, he can speak like that to a Netanyahu. And it really, you know, history will show the interesting nature of their relationship. But I think he was also trying to send a signal to Iran that he's going to be somewhat of an even broker in this, to the extent that that's possible here. But the president wants a deal.

There's no doubt about it. He wants a ceasefire, the small print, the fine print, he's not as interested in. But that's, I think, his anger. It was clear. I mean, you were there, you could see it, but he was sending a message.

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TIA MITCHELL, WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF, ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION: And I get the sense that President Trump, yes, he wants the credit for the bombing of the sites in Iran, and he wants to be credited with stopping Iran from proliferating nuclear weapons, but he also wants to get credit for not pulling the U.S. into a war, for not pulling the U.S. into something that's going to put our troops at risk and perhaps get us entangled in a conflict that doesn't have any quick resolution.

And so, I think that's why he's putting so much pressure on Israel and Iran to have a ceasefire, because he wants to say, hey, this is not what I want. That's not what we signed up for. This is not what I want you guys to do right now.

BASH: So, you mentioned, Alayna, how much the president uses social media, especially when he's on a many hour flight, as he is as we speak, and he obviously still has the capability to put things on social media. Well, so do people who are trying to influence him, and that is happening within the Republican movement. And it was really fascinating this morning.

On the one side you have, you know, maybe the biggest hawk in his corner, and that's Lindsey Graham, who after he heard the president because it was at 7:34 am. He put on social media a simple question for the Iranian regime. Is it still your policy to destroy the state of Israel and refuse to acknowledge its right to exist?

A ceasefire that leads to peace is wonderful. A ceasefire that allows Iran to regroup and rearm is a step backwards. So, he's trying to influence the conversation, the president's thoughts as he's on a plane, we probably see this.

The other side of the MAGA divide on this issue. Marjorie Taylor Greene. This is one of the reasons I've always supported him because he courageously seeks peace. This has the neocons seething and raging as Trump elusively slipped from their murderous clause.

TREENE: I mean, it's funny that you're seeing these two do this, because they have been constantly the ones who have been on opposite sides of this entire fight throughout the weekend about the decision to go ahead and actually strike these Israeli -- or excuse me, Iranian nuclear facilities.

Look, of course, they're trying to influence the president here. And this is what -- he actually got really mad at me last week, the president, when I asked him about this split. Because, you know, there are two different wings of his base, his supporters, who want to approach this very differently.

And despite this ceasefire, I will say, we have seen more of the president's kind of detractors and those who were skeptical of what he was doing, kind of come around and celebrate this, you know, ceasefire as tenuous as it is. But he doesn't want to acknowledge that, and they're still continuing to try and influence him, mainly because they are worried a lot of people that Iran is going to now internalize this and, you know, not want to actually do a deal and be more secretive with their nuclear materials.

BASH: Yeah, real quick. Jeff, the Lindsey Graham question about. Is it you're still your policy to destroy the state of Israel? I mean, that is a core question that has not been answered, and presumably, because there's no answer. The answer is, heck yeah.

ZELENY: For sure, that's essential a question here. The president's defensiveness also is on the answer to the other question we don't have is, how successful actually were those strikes in debilitating the nuclear program? But there's no doubt. One thing we do know for certain, the president wants to close the book on this so quickly. The question is, is that possible, given all the history, and the nature and the realities of the region.

BASH: All right, coming up. Big stakes in the Big Apple. Its primary day and Democrats in New York City could reveal a whole lot, not only about who will be its next mayor, but the future of the Democratic Party nationally.

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