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One World with Zain Asher
Iranian State TV Targeted In Israeli Attack; Trump: Iran and Israel Should Make A Deal, And Will Make A Deal; FBI Files Federal Charges Against Minnesota Shooting Suspect; G7 Summit Begins Under Cloud Of Israel-Iran Conflict; Gallant: We Won't Allow Iran To Control The Middle East; Israel And Iran Launch New Attacks As Conflict Intensifies. Aired 12-1p ET
Aired June 16, 2025 - 12:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[12:00:39]
ZAIN ASHER, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Live from New York, I'm Zain Asher.
BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Bianna Golodryga. You're watching the second hour of "One World."
At this hour, the G7 Summit is officially underway in Canada and U.S. President Donald Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney are now
taking part in a bilateral meeting on the sidelines.
Now, before that conversation started, Trump criticized the G7 for ejecting Russia 11 years earlier after Moscow annexed Crimea.
The leaders of the G7 countries, which also include France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the U.K., have a lot to discuss over the next few days. High on
the agenda, global trade and security.
However, looming over the summit, the Israel-Iran conflict, which is now in its fourth day and intensifying. Iran's state news agency says that it has
been targeted by Israeli strikes.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(EXPLOSION)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: And as you just saw there, the attack happened while a live newscast was underway. You saw the news anchor essentially evacuate the studio very
quickly.
Earlier, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged Iranians to evacuate the capital as the death toll on both sides continues to grow.
Iranian officials say that at least 224 people, most of them civilians, have been killed since Israel launched a wave of airstrikes on Iranian
nuclear and military targets.
Israel says at least 24 people have been killed by Iranian missiles that penetrated its Iron Dome defense shield.
Alayna Treene is in Washington. But first, let's go to Nick Paton Walsh, who joins us from London.
And, Nick, walk our viewers through what we just saw happening on Iranian state television there, as these two sides have increased the salvos
against each other.
Some reports suggesting that Iran is desperately looking for an off-ramp. Where do things stand?
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes. I mean, it's extraordinary to see the state broadcaster hit like that,
Iranian officials suggesting this indeed was what it appears to be, which is an Israeli strike on that particular building, interrupting it or
interrupting certainly as journalists during that particular broadcast.
We understand that this building may indeed be in District 3 in Tehran. And the Israeli Defense Force putting out a statement in Farsi, the Iranian
language, telling people to evacuate that particular area hours prior to these images emerging.
Now, we don't know the consequences of that particular attack, whether they're injured or dead as a result of it, but there have been increasing
images emerging of strikes around Tehran.
And indeed, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying they control the skies over Western Iran and Tehran indeed.
And in fact, Israel's Defense Minister, Israel Katz, clear a matter of hours prior to those explosions that you saw there.
And I'm paraphrasing here that the regime's mouthpiece would indeed be silenced, not entirely clear if he was referring specifically to that state
broadcaster, but certainly a coincidence that those words emerged just after the evacuation orders and prior to that particular explosion.
But increasing air reporting now and information we're getting about the sheer toll inside the capital and across Iran, does it make it more likely,
potentially, that Iran seeks a diplomatic solution where they appear to have told regional mediators that they need that Israel's strikes to stop
before they can contemplate diplomacy.
And indeed, they also might be suggesting they want to have their own counter-attacks get to a point where they feel they've taken adequate
revenge or response or restored some kind of deterrent for Israel's extraordinary wave of strikes across Iran in military and other facilities
over the past days.
But here is some of the information we're gleaning about the human toll of what we've seen in the past four days inside Iran.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WALSH (voice-over): Screams echo across the ordinary streets of Tehran.
(SCREAMS)
The horrors in Iran are harder to find video of, but it's hard to watch when you do.
A deputy foreign minister posting this damage to his ministry, several civilians injured, he said. Israel's defense minister clarified Monday he
meant no harm to Tehran's residents when he said earlier the city would burn unless Iran's missiles stop.
But many have seen flames already and are fleeing the capital, nothing like this before in their lifetimes.
[12:05:06]
In the western city of Kermanshah, state media posted images of the intensive care unit of a hospital damaged. The IDF told CNN they were,
quote, not aware of any attack that happened on a hospital in Iran, end quote, and it's unclear if anyone was hurt.
But numbers Iran's health ministry have given speak of just how wide scale the Israeli onslaught has been. Over 200 dead, 90 percent civilians since
Friday, they said.
But each number, its own story, many from the youth, that the West sees as the hope for Iran's post-Ayatollah future.
This is Tara Hajmiri dancing at the dentist, killed alongside her family, said state media.
Also, Nilufar Gallivant, begin gyms and social media, aged 31, killed alongside her parents.
And Parnia Abbasi, a poet, aged 23, killed with her parents and brother. Her poem, "The Extinguish Star," reads, "You and I will come to an end
somewhere. The most beautiful poem in the world falls quiet."
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WALSH: Now, there appear to be images now emerging of the aftermath of what seems to have been a strike on that Iranian state broadcast. I wonder if we
can show them to you now, but I think in the hours ahead, potentially, given the -- the scale of that evacuation order from District 3, maybe
we'll see more images as it appears this tit-for-tat, the back and forth between Iran and Israel, now heading to its fifth day.
ASHER: All right. Nick Paton Walsh, live for us there. Thank you so much.
Alayna, let me bring you in, because we saw at the top of the bilateral meeting between President Trump and, of course, Canadian Prime Minister
Justin -- Mark Carney, excuse me, where they literally just sort of touched on what was happening with Iran and Israel right now.
One of the things that President Trump said towards the end is that Iran wants to talk because they know that they're not winning this. But he would
not answer a question. This is, I think, is key.
He would not answer a question about what it would take for the U.S. to become more involved in this war. Just give us your take on that.
ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes. I mean, these are actually questions, I should note from our colleague Kit Maher here at CNN,
excellent line of questioning from her, really, pressing the president on this.
I think the most notable things are exactly what you said. One is that he admitted, we've seen some of this reporting, that Iranian intermediaries
had reached out to the U.S. and an attempt and saying that they wanted de- escalation. He said, yes, they do. He said they should have tried to come to the table and talk to us sooner.
He brought up that 60-day deadline that he had sent, you know, a couple months ago in a letter to the Iranian, saying that they had 60 days to
negotiate with the United States, a potential nuclear deal.
He said they should have talked before that deadline was up. We had reported that that deadline was last Thursday when we started to see the
strikes from Israel, start -- excuse me, targeting Iran.
But then he also was pressed by our colleague about what would it take for the United States to offer more than just defensive and intelligence aid to
the Israelis. And he said he didn't want to talk about it.
He didn't want to talk about military aid. Very notable from a president who often answers every single question and likes to be honest and
transparent with the media. It was clear that he did not want to go there.
Now, all of this comes, Zain and Bianna, after we had reported that over the weekend, Israel had told the Trump administration that they had a
window of opportunity where they believed that they could target and take out Iran's Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, the Ayatollah.
And essentially, what we had learned in our conversations with our sources at the White House and the broader Trump administration was that the
president had directed his team to tell the Israelis that he opposed that, that he rejected that plan.
And that is a big deal as well, because we have been told now repeatedly in our conversations that the president does not want to take U.S. aid and
U.S. involvement in this conflict further. And the reason that he was so rejecting, or he was rejecting that plan for a potential regime change was
that, you know, that to him would really bring this from a conflict to a potential full-out war.
And that is exactly what the president is trying to avoid. Now, something he also said at the end of that bilateral media meeting in Canada with the
Prime Minister Carney is that he said that he's still open to having these talks with Iran.
And we had heard this now. He said this yesterday when he was departing for Canada, and we've been hearing this in our private conversations. He does
believe that there is a way to still salvage negotiations with the Iranians.
And now he also believes that there is a way to try to have some sort of broader peace deal to really be an off-ramp to this war.
Now, Nick smartly talked about this, but we've been hearing this as well in our conversations. It's very unclear whether there's actually an appetite
for that, just given how much this has escalated in the region now between these two countries with these tit-for-tat strikes on the other countries.
[12:10:01]
And so it's in a very precarious situation right now. I think what's really clear is that the president does not want the U.S. to be directly involved
in anything more than trying to help the Israelis intercept some of these missiles coming from Iran and helping with intelligence, because he
believes once they do that, this all changes. We could have see Iranians try to target U.S. bases.
These are all conversations that are going on behind closed doors. But again, it's very early on right now. And we haven't had any indication that
any of those talks that the president says he's open to have actually begun.
ASHER: All right. Alayna Treene live for us there. Thank you so much. Appreciate it.
All right. It looks as though there is an FBI conference -- news conference, rather, in Hennepin County, Minneapolis. Let's listen in.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE THOMPSON, ACTING U.S. ATTORNEY: An affidavit that says forth what happened in this case. I'd like to share some of that information with you
now.
In the early morning hours of June 14th, Boelter went to the homes of four Minnesota state politicians with the intent to kill them.
Boelter first traveled to the home of Minnesota state Senator John Hoffman in Champlin, Minnesota. Boelter arrived at the senator's home disguised as
a police officer. He arrived in a black SUV with emergency lights turned on and with a license plate that read "police."
Boelter wore a black tactical vest and body armor. He carried a flashlight and a Beretta 9 millimeter handgun. He also wore a hyper realistic silicon
mask.
Senator Hoffman had a security camera. I've seen the footage from that camera and it is chilling. Boelter knocked on Senator Hoffman's front door
and repeatedly shouted, this is the police open the door.
Senator Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, came to the door. When they opened the door, Boelter shined the flashlight in their faces and said there had
been a shooting reported in the house.
Boelter asked if they had any weapons. When Boelter lowered his flashlight, which he had shined in their face, they realized that he was not a police
officer. They shouted out, you're not a cop. You're not a police officer. Boelter then announced this is a robbery and forced himself into their
home.
When Senator Hoffman attempted to push Boelter out and stop him from entering his home, Boelter shot him repeatedly. Boelter then shot Miss
Hoffman repeatedly. Boelter fled the scene and the Hoffman's daughter called 911. And, fortunately, the Hoffman survived, although they remained
hospitalized.
After shooting Senator Hoffman and his wife, Boelter traveled to the home of another Minnesota state representative in Maple Grove, Minnesota.
Video surveillance showed that Boelter rang the doorbell at the state representative's house at approximately 2:24 A.M. on Friday night.
Again, he was dressed as a law enforcement officer wearing a tactical vest and body armor, carrying a handgun and a flashlight and wearing that same
hyper realistic silicone mask.
Again, the images, as you can see on the screen, are haunting. Unfortunately, the state representative was not home. She and her family
were gone on vacation. And so Boelter left.
Boelter then traveled to the home of a Minnesota state senator who lived in New Hope, Minnesota. He parked in the street in that same black SUV with
the police license plate.
At about 2:36 A.M. on Friday night, after learning of the shooting of Senator Hoffman, New Hope police dispatched an officer to conduct a
wellness check on the state senator who lived in New Hope.
When the New Hope officer arrived at the scene, she saw Boelter's black SUV parked down the block with the lights on. The New Hope police officer
believed that Boelter was a police officer who had been dispatched to the scene to check on the status of the state senator.
The New Hope police officer pulled up next to Boelter in his car, rolled down her window, and attempted to speak with him. Boelter did not respond.
According to the officer, he just sat there and stared straight ahead. So the New Hope police officer who had been dispatched to the scene proceeded
to the state senator's home. And she waited for other law enforcement to arrive. When they did, by the time they did, Boelter had left the scene.
[12:15:07]
Boelter then traveled to Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, and the home of Minnesota State Representative Melissa Hortman. At approximately 3:30 A.M.,
Boelter arrived at Representative Hortman's house in his black SUV with the police license plates.
He parked in the driveway and left the emergency lights on his SUV flashing, as if he was a police officer. Boelter approached Representative
Hortman's home, again dressed as a police officer, wearing the tactical vest and body armor, and wearing that hyper realistic mask.
He was armed and carrying a flashlight. Before he entered the home, two Brooklyn Park police officers arrived at the scene. They too had been
dispatched to check on Senator and Representative Hortman after learning of the shooting of Senator Hoffman. When they are armed and carrying a
flashlight.
Before he entered the home, two Brooklyn Park police officers arrived at the scene. They too had dis -- been dispatched to check on Senator and
Representative Hortman after learning of the shooting of Senator Hoffman.
When they arrived at the scene, they saw Boelter's black SUV parked in the driveway with the emergency lights flashing and they saw Boelter standing
in front of the house several feet from the door.
When Boelter saw the officers get out of the car, 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.
The Brooklyn Park police officers fired at Boelter as he rushed into the home, but he escaped into the home and out the back. Officers recovered
Boelter's nine millimeter Beretta, along with the body armor and the mask behind the home along his path of flight when he fled on foot.
They later searched Boelter's car where they found five more firearms, including assault-style rifles and a large quantity of ammunition.
Boelter also had in his car notebooks containing the list of more than 45 Minnesota state and federal elected officials, including Representative
Hortman.
Now, Boelter planned his attack carefully. He researched his victims and their families. He used the internet and other tools to find their
addresses and names, the names of the family members. He conducted surveillance of their homes and took notes about the location of their
homes.
He also prepared in other ways. He concealed himself as a police officer outfitting his black SUV with police lights and a police license plate,
wearing a black tactical vest and body armor, carrying a police flashlight and a handgun. And, of course, he wore that hyper realistic silicone mask
that's seen on those surveillance videos.
The video of his arrival and shooting of Senator Hoffman is truly chilling. Again, it's no exaggeration to say this is the stuff of nightmares.
There's a photo of the firearms found in Boelter's abandoned SUV.
Based on these crimes, we brought a federal complaint charging Boelter with an array of federal charges. Counts one and two charging with stalking.
Count one charges him with stalking representative Melissa Hortman using interstate facilities. And that's title 18, United States Code 2261. The
statutory penalties there are life in prison.
Count two similarly is charged. He says when was stalking state Senator John Hoffman using interstate facilities, the statutory -- the maximum
penalty of that count is 20 years in prison.
Counts three and four charge Boelter with the murder of Melissa and of the Hortmans using a firearm in violation 18 USC 924J. Count -- and these are
punishable by term of life imprisonment or even death.
[12:20:03]
And counts five and six charge him with shooting the Hortmans and the Hoffmans using a firearm. And both of those counts also carry a maximum
sense of life in prison.
Now before I finish my remarks, I want to say a little bit about law enforcement and the manhunt that we've heard about the last two days.
Over the fast 48 hours, federal, state, and local law enforcement from throughout the state of Minnesota have worked together to carry out the
largest manhunt in Minnesota history.
Now, a lot has been said about law enforcement in recent weeks, but make no mistake, the men and women of our federal, state, and local law enforcement
put their lives at risk and on the line, on the line to keep Minnesota safe.
They worked tirelessly day and night to make sure that the tragic events of Friday night end it without further violence or bloodshed.
We owe them all a debt of gratitude and they will forever have my respect and admiration.
I'm going to turn it over to Special Agent Alvin Winston from the FBI.
ALVIN WINSTON, FBI SPECIAL AGENT: Thanks, Joe. Good morning. My name is Alvin Winston, and I serve as the Special Agent in charge of the FBI
Minneapolis Field Office, which covers the states of Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota.
I want to begin by extending my deepest condolences to the families of the victims and to the community that has been shaken by this devastating act
of violence.
Our thoughts remain with those who are grieving and all who have been impacted by this tragedy.
Over the weekend, the people of Minnesota and the nation have been watching closely as this case has unfolded. The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal
Apprehension provided a detailed update yesterday, so I won't repeat those specifics.
This was a targeted attack against individuals who answered the call to public service. The FBI's role in moments like this is clear. To stand
alongside our partners, bring federal resources, intelligence capabilities, and reach to the effort, not just to apprehend the individual responsible,
but to understand the full scope of the threat. That work continues.
This case became the largest coordinated manhunt in Minnesota's history. We are proud to stand shoulder to shoulder with our law enforcement partners
across the state.
No single agency could have done this alone. And because of that unified effort, a dangerous individual was taken into custody.
Let me say this clearly. Political violence has no place in this country. The FBI, alongside our partners, will remain focused on the work ahead and
on ensuring justice is served.
And with that, I'll hand it over to, Drew.
DREW EVANS, MINNESOTA BUREAU OF CRIMINAL APPREHENSION: Thank you with those comments. And we're thankful today to see these charges filed. Early on
with our partners from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and other federal partners from the ATF, United States Marshals Service, and others,
they provided assistance to the team of local investigators in the Brooklyn Park Police Department, Henry County Sheriff's Office, and the BCA that
we're working on this right to begin with, along with all the other hundreds of people that stepped up with the Champlin Police Department as
well in this to pursue this justice.
You might be asking, because we see a lot of times these cases, you know, go in various orders when they are, but this is an indication that the
United States Attorney's Office stands along with us in the state of Minnesota that when somebody and an evil individual decides to move this
and create fear in our communities and commit evil acts that we will pursue every possible charge that we can from the state charges that you've
learned about today to these federal charges that were discussed early on.
And I'm grateful for the leadership of the United States Attorney's Office and the FBI for helping us move that forward so quickly in a coordinated
approach.
We do that because, as SAC Winston said, in situations like this, we have individuals that step up to serve their communities. They are elected
officials across our state. And when an individual chooses to target them for their role in representing all of us, it's an incumbent upon all of us
to put all the resources forward to hold that individual accountable to seek justice and to make sure that we are working together to show the
community across Minnesota and the United States that political violence is never OK.
[12:25:27]
We as a country are formed on the basis that we have political discourse and that we have debates ongoing on what we do and that we elect people day
in day out to represent us.
And when somebody tries to undermine that, it's important for all of us to hold that person accountable so that we can move forward as a country and
have a system in place that a representative government and that we provide the protections for those individuals and their families moving forward.
And so I'm thankful for these charges today to move this forward and the -- the great work the United States Attorney's Office partnering with us to
move forward on this.
And with that, they'll take some questions.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why there isn't terrorism charge?
THOMPSON: Why is it not a terrorism charge is the question? You know, we brought the charges that we think are appropriate right now. Obviously,
these crimes are about 48 hours old, so we have an ongoing investigation. I can't comment as to what other charges may have been brought.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Will you seek the death penalty? Will you seek the death penalty?
THOMPSON: Lou, thank you for the question. Will we see the death penalty is too early to tell. That is one of the options for several of the charges
though.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Does Mr. Boelter have any assistance? Are you looking into whether he may have had assistance? And if he did, what are the
potential consequences for anybody who may have assisted him either before or after he's (INAUDIBLE)
THOMPSON: Our investigation remains ongoing in several areas including whether or not he had anyone helping him, assisting him in either carrying
out these attacks or fleeing from them. I can't comment on that.
At this time, there's nothing in the complaint suggesting that someone did, but the investigation is ongoing, in fact, it's just in its infancy, it's
been 48 hours, most of which we are primarily focused on finding him.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) in Minneapolis shortly after his (INAUDIBLE) do we know how we got (INAUDIBLE)?
THOMPSON: I -- I don't know the answer to that.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can you have a clarity about the state charges concurrent with the federal charges? How does that all work? Does this, you
know, make no the state charges or take president's over the state charges?
THOMPSON: It does not nullify the state charges. They remain in place. Today, he's brought into federal custody. He'll make his initial appoint --
initial court appearance and federal court over in St. Paul at 1:30 Central time this afternoon.
And my expectation based on prior cases is the federal case -- the federal charges will be litigated first, but the state charges won't necessarily go
anywhere.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can you (INAUDIBLE) why investigators believe he carried out this attack and for how long he may have been planning these attacks
THOMPSON: Well, it's pretty clear from the evidence that he's been planning these attacks for quite some time.
There's voluminous writings as you've seen in the reporting that were found both in his car and his house about his planning, lists of names and
individuals.
In terms of the why, it's unclear.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This interaction with the New Hope police, what did law enforcement been told at that point? Were they aware to be on the lookout
for a dark SUV, that that was a police vehicle?
THOMPSON: I don't know. I can turn that -- I don't know if one of my colleagues here know. I know that they had heard about the shooting of
Senator Hoffman. And -- and being the diligent law enforcement they were knowing that they had elected officials living in their communities they
went out to do a wellness check. I don't know more than that. Drew?
EVANS: You know, what I -- what I can say and as you can, I don't know the specifics of the question this and what -- on that whether it is.
What I will tell you is that head of the county law enforcement working together at that time knew of that. And so as the different jurisdictions
around duty some of them did proactive.
You know, as we've heard you've heard from Chief Bruley on this in Maple Grove, for example, or -- in Brooklyn Park I'm sorry for example, they went
out proactively to check on the status and the well-being and that's how we encountered this and prevented additional attacks which we believe
certainly could have occurred from occurring.
So we don't know the specifics on the New Hope as to what they were doing but they were tracking the shooting that happened. And so several of them
were being proactive and checking on various people that they knew resided in their city.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So did you assume that the officers in Brooklyn or the Brooklyn Park officers that were on the issue that them are was shooting
into the house and then kind of like chased them into the house?
THOMPSON: My understanding is it's unclear at the moment whether or not he shot at them. It's possible that he did. It's not clear. Obviously, it was
a chaotic scene.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Was he wearing the mask when the New Hope officer interacted with him?
THOMPSON: I believe he was. Although I can't say for certain.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is there a reason to believe that there was plans to make additional violence and say the protests that were going on that day?
THOMPSON: I've not seen evidence of that. It's hard to say what his plan was. Obviously, he went to the homes of no less than four elected
officials. He had a list of other elected officials, their home addresses, so.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: To make sure that we connected that's properly, could you name the other two officials?
THOMPSON: You know, I -- we can't at this time. I -- I -- it wouldn't surprise me if they publicly identify themselves, but it's not really my
place to do that if they want to protect their own privacy.
[12:30:09]
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Message to Minnesotans who may get a late-night knock on the door from police or something's going on in their communities. I
mean, can you just speak on that?
THOMPSON: I'm going to let law enforcement handle that one. I don't know if someone --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sure, please.
MARK BRULEY, BROOKLYN PARK POLICE CHIEF: Good morning. Police Chief Mark Bruley Brooklyn and Park Police Department. Great question.
Like we send out a message to our community when this first occurred is, you always can call 911 and verify if the person at your door is a police
officer. If they are a working police officer, they will be connected to a dispatch center that can validate that.
So the first thing I would do is if you're concerned about it is call 911.
Obviously, there's a lot of different uniforms and it's never wrong to do that.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can you clarify the --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: All right. You've just been listening to a live news conference regarding the killing and the attempted killing of Minnesota state
lawmakers.
I mean, really chilling detail we got there as to how the suspect traveled to the homes of four different state lawmakers. He killed, obviously,
Melissa Hortman and her husband. He attempted to kill and severely injured another state lawmaker and his wife.
But, of course, two state lawmakers ended up getting really lucky because the police actually ended up arriving roughly around the same time that the
suspect actually traveled to their homes.
But we did get a little bit more detail as to the notebook he had where the names of 45 state officials. He really did extensive research about them
and their families. He talked about the fact that they -- he had been planning this attack for quite some time.
Again, really chilling -- really chilling details there.
GOLODRYGA: Yes. And motive still unknown at this point, but this investigation is just getting underway. You're absolutely right, very, very
chilling. These details that we are hearing from officials. We'll continue to stay on top of the story.
We'll be right back with more.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ASHER: All right. We're going to return now to our top story. The G7 Summit is underway as we speak in Canada.
GOLODRYGA: Yes. The seven heads of state in attendance had hoped to mostly focus on trade issues, but the Israeli-Iran conflict loomed large over the
summit.
[12:35:09]
According to a person familiar with the matter, U.S. President Donald Trump does not intend to sign a joint statement calling for de-escalation between
Israel and Iran that was drafted by G7 leaders.
Meanwhile, Israel's president spoke to CNN just a short time ago about the conflict with Iran now on its fourth day.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ISAAC HERZOG, ISRAELI PRESIDENT: We are very resilient and strong nation, but it ain't easy. It's not simple. It's quite painful, of course, that we
are losing their sisters and brothers of ours.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: Israel's Prime Minister says, its air force controls the skies now over Tehran as the country's conflict with Iran intensifies. Both sides are
reporting fresh strikes and a growing death toll as well.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(EXPLOSION)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: Iranian state television channel, IRINN, says that it was attacked by Israel Monday. As you just saw it happen when a news anchor was
live on air, loud explosions were heard. The building sits at the heart of a sprawling campus in Tehran.
ASHER: Iranian officials now say at least 224 people, a lot of them civilians, have been killed since Israel launched a wave of airstrikes on
Iranian nuclear and military targets on Friday.
GOLODRYGA: Israel says at least 24 people have been killed by Iranian missiles that penetrated its Iron Dome defense shield.
Earlier, I spoke to Israel's former Defense Minister, Yoav Gallant. It is his first interview since leaving his post as Defense Minister with foreign
media. And he gave me his reaction to the intensifying conflict between the two sides.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GOLODRYGA: General Gallant, thank you so much for taking the time to speak with us. This plan to strike Iran has been in the works for years, and we
know a good portion of that has been with your involvement as well.
The opening strike was no doubt a massive blow to the Iranian regime. But can you be certain that the nuclear program itself has been set back
significantly from what we've seen thus far?
YOAV GALLANT, FORMER ISRAEL MINISTER OF DEFENSE: Iran is in its weakest point. And they -- they are very close to possessed nuclear weapon. And
they already enrich uranium to 60 percent. It's a question of, I would say, few weeks to enrich uranium for eight bombs to the level of 90 percent.
This is very dangerous, not only to Israel, but also to the region and the world. Imagine that one of these ballistic missiles that hundreds of them
were shoot against Israel recently would have been equipped with a nuclear warhead.
And let me remind you that they can reach not only Israel, but also Egypt and Turkey and the Greece and some of Eastern Europe and definitely the
other side, Pakistan and other places, and they have shown it already.
So a nuclear weapon in the hands of irresponsible regime is a very dangerous thing. This is a danger to the world. And the -- the -- the
conditions that we achieved recently are good enough to start.
And I think that we already were taking the Iranians years backward by -- by what we did recently in the last few days.
GOLODRYGA: Do you think just the actions that Israel has taken in striking some of these nuclear sites and facilities like Natanz, you think that has
set back Iran's nuclear program for years?
GALLANT: For a few years, yes. I think that Natanz by itself is a major site. Although I had the privilege to present the American president 22
years ago what's going on, on the ground when they started to establish these sites in -- in Natanz.
I was the military secretary for the late Prime Minister, Sharon. And in his presence and under his order, I presented to President Bush, President
-- and Vice President Cheney, Condoleezza Rice, Colin Powell.
And eventually the president said, it was 2013. He said, we will -- we will not allow Iran to possess nuclear weapon ever. And it was reiterated by all
the American president up -- up -- up to President Trump.
And I think that it's time to act. Time for action is now.
GOLODRYGA: So you mentioned Natanz. Isfahan is another site that we know Israel has attacked. But one concern is the facility that remains very
impenetrable per intelligence and that is Fordow.
[12:40:08]
And the concern is that without it actually being eliminated, that Iran could in turn accelerate its nuclear program. It appears the Iranian
parliament just today voted to withdraw from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.
How much does that concern you if after all of this is said and done, Fordow remains intact?
GALLANT: I believe that the United States of America and the -- the President of the United States have an obligation to make sure that the
region is going to a -- a positive way and that the world is free from Iran that possessed nuclear weapon in the middle of the richest place in all and
gas in the world. This could be a disaster for the world.
And I believe that the -- the -- the termination of the American president that have been shown recently will pave the way to America to enter into
this very important operation.
The President of the United States have the option to change the Middle East and influence the world, and influence the world, not only the world,
in order to do something that will create a better future for all of us.
GOLODRYGA: You have said as much on Israeli television recently, you said that Israel needs the U.S. on its side to completely eliminate the nuclear
program.
Given that, do you think that Prime Minister Netanyahu would have given the go ahead on this operation if he didn't have the explicit commitment from
President Trump that at the end of the day, if need be, the United States would join in on this operation in this war to go after nuclear sites that
only the United States has a capability to, and I'm specifically referencing Fordow.
GALLANT: Well, you know, we needed four different conditions in order to launch the attack. The first three have been achieved in my term in
September and October. The first one was to eliminate Hezbollah.
The second one was to eliminate the air defense in Iran, and especially around Tehran, and start to create a corridor that allowed Israel to go
directly to Tehran and hit them.
The third one was to cut the chain of supply by destroying the manufacturer capability of ballistic missiles in Iran. All this was achieved in
September, October 24. But we stayed with the last condition, and the last condition was the approval of the United States to Israel at the right
time. And I'm sure that all these issues were discussed between the Prime Minister and the President.
GOLODRYGA: So again, given the high level of meetings that you've had with U.S. officials in your time as Minister of Defense and given the amount of
time that you participated in planning for this operation, it is -- is it your belief then that this would not have happened, that Israel would not
have launched this war without the commitment that the United States, if need be, would join as well.
Is the ultimate goal here to eliminate Iran's nuclear program with the United States assisting Israel?
GALLANT: Well, we are after the beginning of the war. The resolution have been made, and there is only one option now to go forward and to accomplish
the job. The job have to be done by Israel, by the United States, by the free world.
We don't see why Iran need a civilian nuclear energy. They possess 11 percent of the oil and gas reserves in the world. Why do they need any kind
of nuclear energy?
And the reason is different. They want to possess nuclear weapons in order to create hard money in the Middle East to threaten everybody around them,
including Israel, but not only Israel, it's Europe, it's the Gulf state. They want to create something different and they want to control the Middle
East as they control their own people as a brutal regime. We are not going to allow that to happen.
GOLODRYGA: President Trump just today said that the U.S. could get involved. That is not a clear commitment. He also said that Israel's
attacks, in his view, should bring and could bring Iran back to the negotiating table in earnest.
[12:45:08]
In your view, and given your time as Defense Minister, is it -- is it your assessment that the Israeli government views an opportunity for
negotiations to be closed? Or does that remain an option?
GALLANT: I think that there is only one way to end this war and this is without any kind of capability to enrich uranium or to possess nuclear
weapons in Iran. Whether we will find a different solution rather than the military one, this is another question, but they cannot possess this
capability in their hands once -- once it's over.
This is a unique opportunity. This is a pivotal point in the future of the Middle East and the world. And I believe that the president will use this
opportunity to bring them to the right decision.
GOLODRYGA: What happens if he doesn't? What happens if President Trump ultimately tells Prime Minister Netanyahu that it's time to end this war
without completely eliminating Iran's nuclear program?
GALLANT: Well, you know, Bianna, in the Middle East, if you put only one if in a sentence, you can go everywhere. Let's concentrate on what's going on
and not what the if questions which are hypothetical can lead to.
We need to destroy Iran's capabilities. We achieve tremendous achievement by eliminating their scientists that possess most of the knowledge. We hit
most of the facilities and we need to accomplish it this way or another.
GOLODRYGA: General Gallant, thank you so much for your time today. We really appreciate it.
GALLANT: Thank you very much.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GOLODRYGA: So a lot of news there from Yoav Gallant, the former defense minister of Israel. And given his time in the Israeli government and in the
military, he took part in a lot of the decision making that ultimately led to this new war between Israel and Iran and going after its nuclear
facilities.
And he wasn't holding back. I mean, he specifically said it needs to be accomplished. They need to -- they need to finish Iran's nuclear program
and eliminate it. And in his view, that requires the United States assistance.
It was a lengthy interview. We'll air more of it throughout the day. I also asked him about whether or not the Supreme Leader was a target and he said
all options should be on the table. So we will play some of that later as well.
We also got his assessment on the war in Gaza right now and his view. He thinks the sooner that Israel can achieve success in Iran, the sooner the
war in Gaza can come to an end.
ASHER: Yes. The level of determination by Israel does feel different this time. And obviously both countries have exchanged voice in the past, but
this time it does feel different.
I want to bring in CNN political and national security analyst David Sanger, who joins us live now from Washington.
David, I know that you were able to listen to at least some of Bianna's lengthy excellent interview. I do want to touch on a question that Bianna
asked General Gallant. And that is, of course, about Fordow.
I mean, that's one thing for Israel to bomb and destroy targets, nuclear targets that are above ground. But if you think about Fordow, I mean, it
was built to last. It was built to withstand attacks. We're talking about 80 to 90 meters below ground.
If Israel is not able to destroy, I mean, they don't have the sort of bunker busting bombs that the U.S. has. If they're not able to destroy
Fordow, even if they are able to destroy Natanz, will this mission have been a success in the end?
DAVID SANGER, CNN POLITICAL AND NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Well, it certainly would not be complete. And if you think about what you just heard
from Bianna's superb interview there with Minister Gallant, one of the things that we are learning from this is that the Israeli view, no
surprise, is you've got to get Fordow. You've got to get everything that's -- at Natanz. You have to get the stored fuel that is down in Isfahan.
So far, on Friday night, they took out the surface area of the Natanz's nuclear enrichment site. The IAEA said today, they don't believe they got
any place close to the enrichment hall, which is underground. They haven't touched Fordow and they haven't touched that fuel.
So while they have made a dent in the nuclear program, they certainly have not achieved their objectives yet. And it sounds like those will take a
while.
And it was interesting that Minister Gallant said that this had to be a task at Fordow for both Israel and the United States. So it was pretty
clear his view was it needed to be done in -- in concert with a country that has the bunker busting bombs to make -- make it through that mountain.
[12:50:08]
GOLODRYGA: Yes, David, I mean, that's what really stood out to me as well because this wasn't a conversation about potentially getting serious about
negotiations with Iran. Those days seem to be over for Israel. It seems to be a one-track mission, and that is eliminating Iran's nuclear threat.
And as you heard from Defense Minister Gallant, that would require the United States to assist as well. And the question remains, will President
Trump ultimately decide to do just that if it comes down to it?
SANGER: There's a lot of division within his own party on that, Bianna. And you and I have talked about this, you know, in previous shows. And,
obviously, you've got, you know, Tucker Carlson and JD Vance and others who have made the argument that we've been in too many wars in the Middle East.
And Tucker Carlson said, essentially, this has got to be Israel's war and, you know, we shouldn't be out there helping them along with their sovereign
decisions.
Then you've got the Lindsey Grahams of the world. He used to be joined by Secretary of State Marco Rubio in the view that the United States needed to
do whatever it needed to do to cut off Iran's pathway to a bomb. And you heard Senator Graham say yesterday that -- that weapon -- that all of those
weapons facilities had to be wiped out if it couldn't be done diplomatically.
So, the division here is not really a Democratic and Republican one. It's actually a fight within the Republican Party. And so far, you've seen the
president try to sort of straddle both sides of that.
ASHER: And just in terms of some of the latest lines we're getting right now, Israel says it has identified incoming missiles from Iran that is
taking place right now. I mean, obviously, it is imperative at some point that Iran, you know, tries to have some kind of off-ramp here.
Just walk us through how long as Iran continues to retaliate, how long can they keep this going in terms of launching retaliatory strikes against
Israel?
SANGER: Well, we don't know exactly what the size of their missile stockpile is. But we do think that in October, the Israelis did a pretty
thorough job of wiping out the equipment that mixes the solid fuel for those -- for those missiles. And it's not clear that any of that's been
replaced yet.
So every missile that Iran shoots off is one that it may have a hard time being able to replenish, unless they get some kind of outside help, North
Korea, Russia, China. And so far, we've seen no evidence of that.
So the Iranians must be feeling a little bit like the -- the combatant who's worried that their planes running out of ammo.
Whereas the -- the Israelis, I think, feel like they can probably turn to the United States for additional stores of ammunition, even if the U.S.
doesn't directly enter the conflict itself.
GOLODRYGA: Right. And what was so interesting and important to hear from Minister Gallant and his role as defense minister was his participation,
his oversight of that attack really against not only Hezbollah, that precipitated Israel's decision now to go after Iran because Hezbollah has
been so crippled that they have opted not to join in, but to go after last year as they did in Iran, those missile launchers themselves.
It's not just the ballistic missiles that they're trying to take out, but the launching pads and the Israeli military spokesperson said today that
they've destroyed about one-third of those surface-to-surface missile launchers.
And that is rather significant, even though we continue to see the onslaught of missiles sent over to Israel by Iran, David.
SANGER: I think that's right. And I think clearly, the Israeli strategy right now is focus on the missiles, on the launchers, on the Iranian air
defenses.
Once those are taken care of, then Israel probably thinks it has all the time in the world to figure out how to go after the nuclear sites, which
are dug down deeper and more complicated.
The question is, does the war last that long?
ASHER: And just in terms of Iran being caught off guard by this, I mean, obviously they knew that a strike by Israel was certainly possible, at
least, you know, maybe they thought it would -- it would happen after the sort of negotiations and the diplomatic route had been exhausted, but they
knew that it was possible.
Give us your sense of how prepared Iran was this, and especially just given how easily or how quickly rather has limited and destroyed their air
defense systems.
[12:55:08]
SANGER: Well, my colleague, Farnaz Fassihi had a remarkable piece in "The Times" over the weekend that I would commend you to send all of our viewers
back to go read.
The Iranians did not think that this was a serious threat, at least until after the planned last weekend negotiations, which of course never
happened, between President Trump's envoy, Steve Witkoff, and Foreign Minister Araghchi of Iran.
So many of the leadership of the Iranian military were caught asleep in their beds when missiles started coming right through the walls of their
apartments.
And the Iranian -- I'm sorry, the Israelis wiped out a lot of the Iranian military establishment just in the opening hours of the war and continued
that over the weekend.
So it's been a pretty remarkable display by the Israelis of, you know, a very paced, organized way of doing this, building on the lessons of how
they went after Hezbollah and Hamas.
GOLODRYGA: Well, we'll have to leave it there for this hour. Obviously, we'll continue to be covering this story and getting out more of that
interview, that exclusive interview with General Yoav Gallant, the former Defense Minister of Israel.
David Sanger, thank you so much for joining us.
ASHER: Thank you.
SANGER: Thank you.
ASHER: All right. That does it. I'm Zain Asher. Appreciate you being with us.
GOLODRYGA: And I'm Bianna Golodryga. Thanks so much for watching. Don't go anywhere. I'll be right back with "Amanpour."
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[13:00:00]
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