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One World with Zain Asher

High-Stakes Diplomacy In Geneva As U.S. Weighs Strikes On Iran; Israel: Haifa Among Several places Hit By Missiles Friday; Travelers Scramble To Get Home With Airports Closed; How Do Americans Feel About Trump Administration's Immigration Policies?; No Sign Of De-Escalation As Iran And Israel Trade New Strikes; Pope Leo Offers Vision For AI Ethics To Tech Executives; Aired 12-1p ET

Aired June 20, 2025 - 12:00   ET

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

[12:00:37]

ZAIN ASHER, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Coming to you live from New York, I'm Zain Asher. My colleague, Bianna, is off today. You are watching the second

hour of "One World."

With all eyes on Geneva as European foreign ministers and the Iranian foreign minister discussed efforts to ease the conflict between Iran and

Israel, thousands of Iranians took to the streets to protest against Israel and the United States. Many were waving flags and chanting angrily.

CNN's Fred Pleitgen is in Tehran for us. He filed this report a short time ago.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Massive crowds have turned out here in central Tehran to protest against Israel's strikes

against Iran, but also against the policies of the Trump administration as well.

Many of them were chanting death to America, were chanting death to Israel. We saw them burn American flags and burn Israeli flags.

Punch the United States in Israel in the mouth, he says. Trump, you are threatening my leader, this woman says. Don't you know my nation believes

death is sweeter than honey?

What do you have, Israel? He says, you have nothing. You are occupiers, unreligious. You're killing people, killing women. You kill everyone,

you're terrorists.

So you can see that anger here being voiced by many of the folks who are walking here in this protest, whereas the Iranian government has said that

as long as the Israelis continue their bombing campaign of sites here in Iran, there will be Iranian missiles flying towards Israeli territory.

They're calling on President Trump to try and end this direct confrontation, otherwise they say, there could be a direct military

confrontation between Iran and the United States. The Iranian say it's not something they want, but they also say it's something that they're ready

for.

Fred Pleitgen CNN, Tehran.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ASHER: All right. Right now, a high stakes meeting between European foreign ministers and the Iranian counterpart is taking a break but are expected to

resume at any moment aimed to reducing intentions.

No representative from the United States is at that meeting, but we are in a two-week window in which President Donald Trump has said he'd make a

decision on whether or not the U.S. will enter the conflict.

Alayna Treene is that the White House for us. We've also got Kylie Atwood joining us from the State Department.

Alayna, let me start with you at the White House, because obviously the big sort of news we're all talking about is this two-week window that President

Trump has offered the Iranians in order to sort of reach a diplomatic solution instead of the U.S. entering this war militarily.

You also have the Iranians at the same time saying that zero enrichment is not an option for them, and that for them to enter into diplomatic

negotiations, they would need Israel to stop this war completely, which is of course unlikely to happen.

So, what are the U.S.'s options based on that?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes, it's interesting because what's very -- what's been very clear over the last couple of days, Zain,

is one that the President does still believe that there is a diplomatic option on the table.

Now, if the Iranians will actually take them up on that, it's the question that I keep hearing in my conversations with White House officials, because

this entire week when I've been asking them about this, really that decision that the President said that he's weighing of whether or not to

use the U.S. military and aiding Israel in striking Iranian nuclear facilities is, you know, if the -- if the Iranians want to make some sort

of deal, they need to be more forthcoming and they need to agree to serious concessions in order to have the President come around to it.

And I continue to hear that in my talks today. I also think, of course, the context around all of this is so important, because what's really weighing

on the President right now is a couple of things. One is he has been asking his advisors specifically in some of these meetings he's having here in the

Situation Room with his national security team is, is there a way to go in and strike these nuclear facilities without having this be drawn out into a

much larger, full-scale war?

That is something that is on his mind because you see many of his supporters and really the American public in general, a lot of them are

split on this decision of, you know, some people don't want the U.S. entering another foreign war. And then you also have another side that

believes that the United States must stand strong with their ally in Israel and really ensure that Iran never has the chance to build a nuclear weapon.

And so that's what, you know, is I'm told really kind of playing behind the scenes in all of these conversations.

[12:05:12]

And to get to your point about that two-week deadline, I do think, you know, one, I would say that's the president, you know, he often loves to

use that term. I'll decide in two weeks. We saw him do that when he was talking about potential sanctions on Russia. That two-week deadline came.

Nothing happened. You know, his first administration, he said two weeks a lot as well.

It's kind of nebulous, but it is different here because he really is, I'm told, struggling behind the scenes with this decision, knowing that many

Americans may not be happy if the U.S. ultimately goes in and does strike Iranian nuclear facilities.

But I do agree. I think a key question, of course, now is what his conversations with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are going to

continue to be. Will he potentially try to get him to stop striking Iran so that they can have these talks continue? That is still very much unclear.

And I do know as well that there isn't a massive sense of optimism that some, you know, grander deal that they had been working on already for

months is going to be struck within this two-week time frame. So everyone's kind of -- kind of watching and waiting to see what ultimately he will do.

ASHER: And -- and, Kylie, let me bring you -- let me bring you in. As -- as Alayna points to that, everyone is watching and waiting to see what the

president is doing.

Meantime, you have these diplomatic meetings taking place. You've got the Europeans obviously meeting with the Iranian Foreign Minister, the U.S. and

Israel are not part of those meetings.

But you also have Marco Rubio having phone calls and discussions with various foreign ministers around the world. We know that he has been

speaking to David Lammy, the U.K. foreign secretary.

Just walk us through what can really happen next just in terms of what can actually come out of those meetings. Because ultimately, regardless of what

is said around those tables, the ball is in the U.S. is caught here.

KYLIE ATWOOD, CNN U.S. SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right. I mean, I think as Alayna said, there isn't necessarily a large amount of optimism

among U.S. officials that the talks that are taking place today in Geneva with European leaders and the Iranian Foreign Minister are going to present

an opportunity for a major diplomatic breakthrough.

However, they are the only talks that are happening right now. And so, when you talk about the possibility for a diplomatic pathway to be developed

here, we do have to watch and see what happens here.

And it was just yesterday that the foreign secretary of the U.K. was here in Washington at the White House, meeting with the Secretary of State,

meeting with Steve Witkoff, the President's special advisor who had been sitting down with the Iranians for months leading up until this time.

And we know that he briefed them on the approach that the Europeans were going to take in the meeting today.

And then we should also note that a White House official said that Trump does support these diplomatic efforts from the allies if they're able to

bring Iran closer to taking his deal.

So it's very clear that the administration is not budging right now in terms of what they have to offer to Iran. They have to take a deal that

would include no enrichment inside of Iran. But for now, as far as we've seen, despite this ongoing -- excuse me, Israeli operation against Iran's

nuclear and missile facilities, the Iranians have not budged in saying, OK, we're going to stop -- excuse me, all of our uranium enrichment. They still

believe that they have a right to enrichment.

So that challenge between the two of them exists. And so what we have to watch and see today is if those Europeans get a sense that the Iranians are

shifting their tone on that question, on that deadlock question, and are more open potentially in the coming weeks, as President Trump has cited an

openness to diplomacy to actually work here.

ASHER: All right. Kylie Atwood and Alayna Treene, thank you both so much.

Let's bring in CNN's Nic Robertson, who is in Haifa, Israel for us.

So, Nic, just in terms of -- I mean, obviously, you are really outside where a recent attack has happened in Haifa. But just walk us through -- as

I understand, you've been speaking to Israeli officials, walk us through what they're saying about this sort of two-week window that President Trump

has offered Iran here.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes. I spoke to the mayor about that, and he actually said that he thought two weeks was too

long. He was worried about it because he thinks that -- he said peace is the most important thing, and that two weeks is just waiting too long.

There will be more damage like you see him behind me here. This is a -- a recovery rescue -- recovery crew that's specialized, by the way, going into

buildings, looking for people who are trapped in the rubble.

They've cleared the building, but there's a lot else going on here right now as well. You see other crews coming in. They're already clearing up

this site, and they're actually moving us off to the side of the road.

That's one of the important things here for city officials is to clear it up and to get life back to normal, because they think that helps the

resiliency of the population. That holds people cope with what's going on, but that gets to the mayor's point that two weeks waiting for President

Trump to make up his mind leaves a lot of concern, a lot of room for more missile strikes, more things to go wrong.

[12:10:19]

The foreign minister here came down here as well. Again, an indication of the relevance and importance of the strikes that are continuing to hit

Israel. And I was asking him about the diplomacy that's going on in Geneva right now with his Iranian counterpart, British, German, French

counterparts meeting there and asked him what hope he had about the diplomacy that's on the way there. This is what he told me.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GIDEON SA'AR, ISRAELI FOREIGN MINISTER: Frankly, I was always skeptical with regard to diplomatic talks with the Iranians because they are

misleading. And even until now, we hadn't heard anything from them which hints they want to change direction. And they are even close to the

American demands. So as I said, I'm skeptical about it and our operation will continue.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTSON: So what you're hearing perhaps on the loud halo there, instructions to everyone here who's on the street about they're clearing

the street, they're clearing it up rubble. So obviously we're going to have to move away from here in a second.

But the speed of the operation, the cleanup, the rescue recovery at the beginning, I think that sort of speaks to the dynamic that exists across

all the cities in Israel that they're ready for the potential of more missile strikes.

And everything comes together. The experience, the skill crews, the right people get -- get in place very, very quickly. And that's what we're

witnessing here.

But the reality is absent that diplomacy and absent positions that are not shifting on either side Iran or Israel, this sort of thing's going to

continue.

ASHER: All right. Nic Robertson live for us. Thank you.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(CHANTING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ASHER: This was a scene as some 1,500 Americans fled Israel earlier this week. Israeli airports have been closed since the conflict with Iran began.

The Israeli government arranged for a cruise ship to pick up these travelers as well and bring them to Cyprus. The ship then turned around and

brought close to 2,000 Israelis back home just hours ago.

Israel says it's the first of several planned sea voyages to repatriate Israelis who have been unable to fly home since the fight with Iran began.

Two American airlines have paused passenger flights to the Middle East.

With more now on the travel chaos caused by the fighting in the Middle East, here's CNN's Pete Muntean.

So, Pete, it certainly is chaos because you have a situation whereby Israel's airspace is closed for now. And then you have obviously the two

countries exchanging missiles. And that does complicate things for passengers.

Just walk us through what evacuations are taking place, how are Americans being evacuated and repatriated.

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: Well, Zain, you know, airlines tell me they're not really doing this right now because they have some sort

of special window into what's going on in the Middle East. But really because of the unpredictability of the missile fire there, you've probably

seen the dramatic video that shows missiles being launched from Iran from on board a passenger jet.

Here is the latest. United Airlines is pausing flights between its major Newark hub and Dubai indefinitely. American Airlines suspending flights

between Philadelphia and Doha in Qatar through June 22nd, it says. And Delta airline says, it has suspended flights between New York's JFK and Tel

Aviv until the end of August.

But you kind of have to consider these expiration dates as something of a suggestion because President Donald Trump said on Thursday that he would

decide on a strike on Iran in two weeks' time.

So these timeframes set by airlines are really a bit of a moving target. Airlines are getting pretty used to this right now. They pulled down

flights to Tel Aviv from the U.S. during the October 7th attack on Israel. And service between the U.S. and Israel has been spotty in the 20 months

since last month.

Both American and United Airlines canceled flights between the U.S. and Delhi in India when clashes broke out with Pakistan. It's really a good

example of the bind that airlines are in right now. Flights from the U.S. to the Middle East are pretty long. The United to Dubai flights about 14

hours long. So if that flight could not land, it would need to carry extra fuel. But that means the plane could only fly about half full of

passengers. So it doesn't really make great business sense here for airlines.

Remember, Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv closed right now due to the conflict in Iran and no U.S. airline operates flights in and out of

Iran. Zain.

[12:15:59]

ASHER: All right. Aviation correspondent Pete Muntean, thank you so much.

All right. Let's turn back to the diplomatic scramble taking place as this conflict enters its second week.

David Sanger is a political and national security analyst for CNN. David, always gets to be with you.

So just on this two-week window, I mean, you ended up having a situation whereby the president sort of telegraphed this idea that the U.S. could

assassinate the Ayatollah also publicly. I mean, it's very sort of bizarre behavior because he's sort of publicly discussing what options are on the

table for the U.S. in terms of attacking the Fordow nuclear site. And then walks it back by saying, listen, I'm actually going to give you guys a two-

week window in which you can come to the table or else, essentially. I mean, just walk us through what you make of that strategy, I guess, if it

is one.

DAVID SANGER, CNN POLITICAL AND NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Well, thanks for having me on. It's a confusing strategy a little bit from the U.S. side.

But I just sort of back off for a moment and say, what did we know about negotiating with Iran prior to this outbreak of the conflict with Israel?

It's that it takes a huge length of time. It took nearly two years to negotiate the 2015 agreement. The United States during the Biden

administration went 15 months and got nowhere in the negotiation with Iran when they first came to office.

And in part, that's because the decision-making system in Iran is so opaque that you're negotiating with people at the table or doing it indirectly.

And then it goes back for a decision, and everything you've worked on for a year might get undone.

So now what we're trying to do is translate that forward to what could you accomplish in two weeks? I think the first answer is probably not much.

Second answer might be, it's imaginable. You could get a temporary agreement that froze enrichment activity and so forth, but not probably the

full surrender that the president has been talking about.

And then I think the third question is, there have been so many of the Iranian leaders who have been killed, nuclear scientists, military officers

and so forth, that you've got to wonder whether or not the leadership itself is capable of coming together and making a decision.

ASHER: Yes. I mean, you have to wonder, I mean, thank you for laying out what the U.S.'s possible strategy might be there. But you have to wonder

what the Iranians game plan is here too, because essentially, once their sort of missile supply runs out, it really would be checkmate for them.

You know, Israel --

SANGER: Absolutely.

ASHER: -- is a much stronger, much more formidable foe, not to mention you have a situation whereby Iran has open skies right now. I mean, their air

defenses have been destroyed. Israel fortunately has the Iron Dome to rely on.

And then they're sort of talking about this idea that they're not going to cave into some of the presidents or the Israelis demands in terms of zero

enrichment. They want the Israelis to completely stop bombarding -- bombarding them. They know that that's not going to be agreed to.

So when you play out the game of chess on that side, what is their strategy here?

SANGER: Well, they've got a pretty weak hand, and you've described it very clearly, because every missile they shoot off is a missile they're not

going to have back again.

One of the things the Israelis did in October was get rid of a lot of the bomb, a lot of the equipment used to make the fuel for their missiles, just

their conventional missiles.

And so they're looking at a depleting stockpile. And once they have run out of missiles, they have kind of run out of negotiating leverage here as

well.

So the big question is, do they see this as a survival question for them now? And one way to think about it is, you can cut through all of that

Iranian bureaucracy and difficulty making decisions if this is a survival issue for the regime.

The other way to look at it is, it's very hard to get a country to make concessions when their back is to the wall.

ASHER: Yes. And this is why they sort of need the Israelis to stop attacking them during this sort of two-week window, because as you point

out, their missile supply is -- is -- is running out. And once it does run out, I mean, it is sort of game over for them, just in terms of having any

kind of leverage whatsoever.

I'm curious about what the Israeli strategy and what their game plan is going to be, because obviously their goal is to get the U.S. to assist

them. They know that they can't really complete this mission without America's help.

And so this two-week window that President Trump has sort of thrown out there, it does complicate things for the Israelis, because if the Americans

end up saying, no, then what is their game plan? They can't really -- I mean, they don't have the bunker buster bombs to sort of destroy Fordow

without the -- without the Americans helping them. And without destroying Fordow, this mission would not be a success.

SANGER: That's right. If Fordow still exists at the end of this, then some remnant, a major remnant of the Iranian nuclear program exists.

[12:20:08]

So I think they're quite intent on seeing it go. The question is, do they use these two weeks to try some other ways of getting at Fordow, which they

have planned out, practiced over the years, getting at the electrical supply and trying to put a pulse through the system that would basically

destroy the centrifuges that spin at supersonic speeds?

We learn, particularly during the joint U.S.-Israel Stuxnet attack, that those are very delicate machines. And if you can send them instructions or

destroy them through electrical interruption, then you may have accomplished a good deal, not permanently, but you've set them back.

They may try to go bomb the entrances to Natanz so that nothing can get in and nobody can get out. And you may think that there's a commando raid they

could do risky as that -- that sounds.

I wouldn't be surprised if you see them attempt these, because if they're successful, then they can turn to President Trump and say, well, we don't

really need you anymore. The assumption has always been the most efficient way to do this is with the American bunker busters.

ASHER: And finally, David, obviously the Europeans are meeting with the Iranian Foreign Minister. And I was speaking to our Kylie Atwood about what

could really come of these meetings, especially when you don't have the Israelis or the Americans around the table.

And Marco Rubio is sort of holding his own separate meetings. The -- I imagine sort of the game plan for the Europeans and all this is to try

somehow to persuade the Iranians to go for zero enrichment.

I mean, and even if --

SANGER: That's right.

ASHER: Even if they -- that that is their focus, that's still going to be a tall order, no?

SANGER: Very tall order. Look, the Europeans were the central players, or some -- among the central players, in the 2015 negotiation during the Obama

administration. And they have been pretty well frozen out of the talks between Steve Witkoff and Iran.

So if, in fact, the Europeans can sit them down and say, look, you're losing the war, you're standing up for a principle that doesn't mean a

whole lot anymore because you're not going to have a lot of enrichment capability left in a week or two, so why don't we find a face-saving way

where you can say you stole the right to enrich, but you're not actually enriching?

And if they could do that, it might speed the negotiations with -- when the United States finally does sit down with them.

I think this is a testing element to see whether or not five, seven days of war now has changed their willingness to give up enrichment on their soil.

ASHER: I'll see. All right, David Sanger, live for us there. Thank you so much. Enjoy your weekend.

SANGER: Great to be with you.

ASHER: As always.

Still to come.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Forty percent of their fan base is Latino. I am a Dodger fan, you know, and this is -- you know, I do struggle with this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ASHER: Los Angeles Dodgers fans weigh in over the U.S. government's immigration crackdown and the team's response. We'll run all the numbers

for you just ahead.

And later, the new Pope had an urgent message for AI executives. We'll tell you all about it a little bit later on this hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:25:03]

ASHER: A U.S. federal judge will hear arguments today over California's request for a court order limiting how President Trump can use the American

military in Los Angeles. It comes after a federal appeals court ruled on Thursday that Trump can maintain control of about 4,000 National Guard

troops from California, reversing a lower court decision. The President had to give up control of those troops.

All of this after Trump federalized troops and sent them to Los Angeles amid growing protests against his immigration crackdown.

Conflicting accounts over whether U.S. federal agents were at the parking lot of the L.A. Dodgers Stadium Thursday, just ahead of a game. The Dodgers

say that they blocked ICE agents from entering their stadium but Homeland Security insists that they were not from ICE but from Customs and Border

Protection and that their presence had nothing to do with operations or enforcement.

The incident triggered impromptu protests from fans who have felt abandoned by their team.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RAUL CLAROS, CALIFORNIA RISING: Our people are under attack and the largest economic engine in this area is silent. Wake up. Do better.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ASHER: So, how do Americans feel about all of this back and forth over the Trump administration's immigration policies?

Let's bring in CNN's chief data analyst Harry Enten. Always good to see my friend to run the numbers for us.

So, you know, there are so many different aspects of all of this because it's the idea of ICE going into, or potentially rather going into people's

workplaces and then arresting them. It's ICE unresting -- arresting sort of overall undocumented immigrants. It's Trump's strategy as well.

Just walk us through how Americans feel about all of this, Harry.

HARRY ENTEN, CNN CHIEF DATA ANALYST: Yes. We'll be serious here at first and then maybe at the end they might throw something to you.

ASHER: Yes. We've got to be -- we've got to be serious.

ENTEN: We got to be serious.

ASHER: I'm not actually very good at that, but I'm going to try today.

ENTEN: You'll try. Look, I -- I think the clear thing going on here is that Donald Trump has lost the political battle over the Los Angeles protests.

And what am I talking about here?

Well, why don't we just start off very broadly? Trump's net approval rating on the Los Angeles protests, way underwater. You can see it right here. Its

net approval rating as minus 15 points. Among independents, look at that, minus 24 points.

And I think it's so notable that Donald Trump ran on immigration, being hawkish on immigration has been one of, if not his best issue throughout

his entire second term as president.

And yet, when it comes to Los Angeles protests, he's 15 points underwater. That is a clear sign from the American people that they don't like the way

that Donald Trump has been handling those protests out in Los Angeles.

Of course, let's make it a little bit broader, right? Of course, those folks in L.A. were protesting why they were so upset about the immigrant

arrests that have been occurring in our country, right? So let's take a look here.

Trump and immigrant arrests. And again, this polling is post to Los Angeles protests, so it takes that into account. Trump and the immigrant arrests.

Look at that. He's gone too far, 49 percent.

The plurality of Americans say he's gone too far compared to 40 percent who say he's not gone too far. You don't have to be a mathematical genius. You

know, 49 percent is larger than 40 percent.

And I will note that 51 percent of independents, again, those in the center of the electorate, say that Donald Trump has gone too far when it comes to

immigrant arrests or immigrant arrests.

And I will again point out immigration has been one of Trump's strongest issues. And yet, he is struggling here. And that's part of the reason why

his overall net approval rating has been fallen.

Now, let's talk about ICE in particular, right? Traditionally speaking, they've actually been viewed fairly favorably. But here, let's -- let's go

here. More ICE raids at workplaces where immigrants here illegally may be working. You can see it. Only 45 percent of Americans approve the clear

majority, 54 percent of Americans disapprove and ICE's overall net favorable rating, Zain, has been falling. It has been falling.

[12:30:59]

So this, an issue in which Donald Trump has traditionally been at his strongest, at least during his second term, at this particular point is in

fact becoming an anchor that is weighing him down. And that is why, over the last few weeks, we have seen that his overall net approval rating has

also been falling, Zain.

ASHER: All right. Harry Enten live for us there. Thank you so much.

ENTEN: Thank you.

ASHER: All right. Still to come, our correspondent inside Iran talks to a spokesperson for the Iranian president about what it will take to end this

conflict.

Plus, I'll have a conversation with a journalist once held captive by Iran's regime. His story, just ahead.

And later this hour.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARK ANDERSEN, IAN ANDERSEN'S FATHER: It's just really lovely when people reach out and help -- help our son.

POLLY ANDERSEN, IAN ANDERSEN'S MOTHER: And it seems to just really bring up, you know, the chance of success, the chance that he makes it back in

one piece.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ASHER: Coming up, how an American peddled his way into the middle of the Iran-Israel conflict. That story, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ASHER: All right. Welcome back to "One World." I'm Zain Asher.

While the world wants to see if diplomacy can actually end the Middle East conflict, CNN is hearing directly from the Iranian government, our Fred

Pleitgen is in Tehran where he met with a spokesperson for the Iranian presidency.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MAJID FARAHANI, IRANIAN PRESIDENTIAL SPOKESMAN: I think that Israelis thought that they can be win, for example, in two or three days. But now

you see that the control is with Iran. And in every attack to Iran will be there with some missiles to Israel against.

And as I know, Iran announced that. Until these attacks has continued, the missiles will continue.

PLEITGEN: What about President Trump? President Trump says he wants to give diplomacy a chance. What's diplomacy do you think can happen now?

FARAHANI: The United States and President Trump can easily stop the war by only one telephone to Israel. But I don't know why he -- he didn't do that.

[12:35:13]

We believe to all parts of diplomacy. So, I think if Mr. Trump ordered to Netanyahu to stop the attack, the diplomacy can be started again easily.

PLEITGEN: Do you think Iran is willing to speak directly to the Trump administration now?

FARAHANI: Directly or un-directly is not important. The important is that Iran is believed to civilian dialogue.

PLEITGEN: The U.S. has talked about using a gigantic bomb called a bunker buster against the installation in Fordow. What would happen if America

bombed Iranian nuclear sites?

FARAHANI: If America involved to the war, Iran predicted all choices and we are not hand backed. And there are so many options. And as I know, all

these options are on the tables.

PLEITGEN: So you think that American military bases, for instance, would be under threat? That Iran would use its militias?

FARAHANI: There are so many -- there are so many options. Not only this -- it is only one option. There are so many options. And all options has been

planned very carefully.

PLEITGEN: Do you think that Iran would be willing to give up enrichment? And for instance, join a consortium or something?

FARAHANI: No, no, no. Iran announced that so many times, the enrichment, we will do the enrichment. And we don't accept the stop-ment (ph) of

enrichment. Maybe the enrichment can be lower, but we don't stop it anymore.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ASHER: CNN's Fred Pleitgen speaking earlier to the spokesperson for the Iranian presidency.

We'll have much more news after this short break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ASHER: All right. Let's return now to our top story. I want to bring someone familiar with Iran's regime, "The Washington Post" Jason Rezaian.

He was imprisoned by Iranian authorities for a year and a half until his release in 2016.

Jason, thank you so much for being with us. And, obviously, it's really, really important to have your perspective. We're very lucky to have you on

the program.

So just in terms of this sort of window, we're at a crossroads right now in this conflict. It's barely seven days old, but President Trump has offered

the sort of two weeks of diplomatic -- diplomatic solutions, a potential diplomatic solution for the Iranians.

[12:40:12]

Walk us through what sort of options the Iranians have at this point in time, because obviously they don't want to be seen caving into the

Americans' demands. They don't want to be seen to be weak. So, where do they go from here?

JASON REZAIAN, OPINION COLUMNIST, THE WASHINGTON POST: Well, Zain, I think the truth is that President Trump feels as though he put a good offer in

front of the Iranians in the first rounds of negotiations that they had going back to April and -- and last month.

And in the last round, the Iranians came back with a kind of a non-starter set of -- of -- of responses. And I think the Iranians need to sort of take

a step back and think to themselves, is it worth pursuing or continue to pursue enrichment on our own soil when our system is under threat?

So, I -- I think that this buys President Trump some time. It buys the Iranians a little bit of time, but it also buys the Israelis some time to

continue missile strikes on Iran, continue to sow destruction in that country.

And -- and I think the -- the intention is to get the Iranian leadership to think long and hard is at times to maybe abandon some of their ideological

commitments of the last 46 years and try and survive. But I think in the long run, as always, it's the people of Iran that -- that suffer.

ASHER: And -- and speaking of which, when you think about what's happening in Iran right now, I mean, they don't have an Iron Dome like Israel does. I

mean, they're not -- they don't have sort of bomb shelters.

I mean, Israel is set up for this kind of thing. Iran is obviously not. The people are extremely vulnerable. We've seen images earlier this week of

just thousands of people trying to flee.

The U.S., President Trump actually told Tehran's 10 million residents to -- to flee, which is obviously virtually impossible, especially when you're

thinking about the sick and elderly and people who just can't go anywhere else. They don't have relatives in other parts of the country.

Just walk us through. I understand that you have either friends or still family members there. I mean, are you able to speak to them? Are you able

to communicate with them? What are they telling you?

REZAIAN: You know, I have both. I have -- I have friends and -- and many relatives that -- that live in Tehran. I -- I know some people who have

fled the city and tried to go to what seem to be safer parts of the countries and -- and -- and have found themselves sleeping in their cars.

So the choice of a lot of older folks and -- and people without options has been to stay in Tehran. This is a -- a -- a population that had the

experience of eight years of -- of war with Saddam Hussein's Iraq in the 1980s.

The -- the bomb sirens existed back then and people knew when they should flee. It's -- it's shocking that the Islamic Republic has not updated the

ability to communicate with its populace at this time.

So there's -- there's confusion, there's fear, but there's also not a -- a clear place for people to go. And, you know, at one point that I've tried

to make consistently in recent days is, there's a lot of U.S. citizens, a lot of permanent U.S. residents that live in Tehran, thousands of them.

They don't know where to go. They don't have a safe way out of this situation.

They're like anybody else in that society and -- and my heart goes out to everybody who is -- is stuck in Iran, in Tehran right now. The fear and the

anxiety, but also the -- the lack of hope on how and when this will end and what will follow this -- this -- this period of attacks on -- on their

city.

It's not at all clear that there is a -- a plan either by the Islamic Republic to tend to the needs of -- of the injured and the displaced and

clearly not on the part of Israel and the United States.

ASHER: Time is really running out as well for Iran. I mean, we don't necessarily know how many missiles they have in their supply, but we do

know that it's not that many and with each passing day, it gets lower and lower.

And once it does run out, that is -- there is a massive problem for the Iranians in terms of what to do next. And so what is their sort of game

plan over the long term?

REZAIAN: I mean, I think that the -- the short-term plan is to just survive and this has been their plan over the last several years. The -- the regime

has been weakened dramatically and obviously with their air defenses, the sky is being controlled by Israel at this point.

[12:45:10]

I don't think that they have a great, credible plan. And the reality is that they've bluffed their way to this point. I think with the -- the ease

with which Israel has been able to attack Iran from within Iran to assassinate top leadership of the state is an indication that maybe this --

this feared security apparatus that claims to have been protecting the borders of Iran and keeping the country safe and secure in spite of its

repression. Maybe it's been a paper tiger all along.

ASHER: And just in terms of, you know, the -- the fear about regime change. I mean, you had this bizarre moment where President Trump telegraphing, you

know, the possibility that the U.S. could assassinate, you -- it's just -- I mean, either you assassinate someone or you don't, you don't talk about

it. And --

REZAIAN: Right.

ASHER: -- you had this strange moment where President Trump was saying, you know, we could assassinate the Ayatollah if we wanted to.

I mean, just walk us through how that would have been interpreted by top Iranian officials and how great the fear is about regime change.

REZAIAN: Well, since October 7th, the number of Iranian generals, officials, nuclear scientists that have been assassinated by -- by Israel,

it is -- has to be very astounding to Supreme Leader of Iran, Ali Khamenei.

And I think at this point, he has to be thinking to himself, the only reason I'm still alive is because they haven't chosen to kill me yet.

And so I think that wherever he is, he-- he must be dealing with, you know, fear of survival, but also plans for succession in the event that -- that

he is killed. So I think the -- the -- the situation has to be very chaotic within the upper realms of -- of the Iranian system right now.

They're not in a great position to -- to bargain for anything at this point other than their own survival. And even that, I think, is probably a long

shot.

ASHER: All right, Jason Rezaian, really good to see you and -- and thank you for sharing your perspective. It's an important one. We're grateful.

All right. Still to come here on "One World." Pope Leo is talking tech and ethics as Silicon Valley comes to the Vatican. We'll explain after the

break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:50:21]

ASHER: Pope Leo is warning that artificial intelligence must respect human dignity and not enflame conflict or aggression.

The new pontiff is setting out his vision for AI ethics at a gathering of Silicon Valley tech executives at the Vatican. Some of the biggest tech

companies are represented -- represented at the Pope's table, including Google, OpenAI, Meta, and IBM.

CNN's Clare Duffy joins us live now. So, Clare, just walk us through specifically what the Pope had to say on this.

CLARE DUFFY, CNN BUSINESS WRITER: Yes. Zain, so this was the second annual Rome conference on AI, which brought together academics, Vatican officials

and executives from those major tech companies at the Vatican to discuss the social and ethical implications of artificial intelligence.

I don't think we need to remind anyone that this is a sort of fraught time for AI development. Of course, there is lots of promise, but there's also

risks that range from taking people's jobs to creating even more powerful weaponry. And Pope Leo really wants to see these tech companies develop an

ethical framework for deploying and developing AI.

I want to read you just a portion of his statement that really stood out to me as sort of an admonishment of the way that some of these tech leaders

have talked about AI potentially becoming smarter than humans.

He says, "No generation has ever had such quick access to the amount of information now available through AI. But again, access to data, however

extensive, must not be confused with intelligence."

And I think this really is a sign that Pope Leo plans to follow in the footsteps of his predecessor, Pope Francis, in getting pushing the Vatican

to be an active voice in shaping AI policy, especially at a time when the U.S. is really pulling back on regulation of these big tech companies.

Zain?

ASHER: All right. Clare Duffy, thank you so much. Appreciate it.

The conflict between Iran and Israel is hitting close to home for one American family. Their son is on a cycling trip from Portugal to Japan and

unintentionally found himself in the middle of it all.

Adam Duxter has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

IAN ANDERSEN, MINNESOTA MAN CYCLING THROUGH IRAN: The situation is quite dire at this point. All the land borders are closed, flights have all been

canceled.

ADAM DUXTER, CBS NEWS MINNESOTA REPORTER (voice-over): In a TikTok post viewed over a million times, Ian Andersen put on his Gophers hoodie and

confirmed the worst.

ANDERSEN: Now people see U.S. as the enemy. So I'm -- I'm quite a bit of danger here. No longer safe to bike, in my opinion. It's a matter of just

escape and survival.

DUXTER (voice-over): On the other side of the world in Wayzata.

M. ANDERSEN: I don't think there's ever been a situation where there's been bombs flying or borders have been closed entirely.

DUXTER (voice-over): Mom and dad could only watch their adventurer son four months into a bike trip from Portugal to Japan stuck in Iran. All part of

his attempt to cross his sixth continent.

POLLY ANDERSEN, IAN'S MOTHER: The first reaction was to throw myself down and beg him. I was all on strike about it, you know. I just begged him and

pleaded with him to not do this.

DUXTER (voice-over): But thanks to a follower.

I. ANDERSEN: Just got email. It says the Azerbaijani government approved my request to enter through the border.

DUXTER (voice-over): Ian is now safe. His parents tracking along.

M. ANDERSEN: Baku Azerbaijan. So that's where he is.

DUXTER (voice-over): Grateful for guardian angels they'll never meet.

P. ANDERSEN: We are just so thankful that there's people out there watching him. And it seems to just really bring up, you know, the chance of success,

the chance that he makes it back in one piece.

M. ANDERSEN: It's just really lovely when people reach out and help -- help our son. It's kind of like, yes. He's really benefited from that.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ASHER: Quite a remarkable story there. Just a reminder that this war, this conflict between Iran and Israel is now in its seventh day.

And just in terms of the latest lines from the White House, the president, the U.S. president is opening up a two-week window, two-week window for a

solution to be reached diplomatically. The Iranians are on one hand have said that they are not going to go down to zero enrichment. And in order

for them to reach a diplomatic solution, Israel would have to completely stop or miss our strikes on the country. We'll be following this story,

obviously very closely all day on CNN.

And that does it for this hour of "One World." I am Zain Asher. Appreciate you watching. "Amanpour" is up next. You're watching CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN ANCHOR: Hello everyone and welcome to "Amanpour." Here's what's coming up.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE MULLEN, FORMER CHAIR OF THE JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF: There's risk associated with every single action or inaction that the leadership in the

United States and Israel takes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

AMANPOUR: The United States on the edge of war with Iran, I asked former chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mike Mullen, what are the calculations

and the end game?

Then.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(TEXT ON SCREEN)

NARGES MOHAMMADI, IRANIAN HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST: Tehran is not a city where you can prevent killing of people who have nowhere to shelter with one

evacuation order.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

AMANPOUR: A call from peace from Iran, Nobel laureate, Narges Mohammadi.

Plus.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AMANPOUR: It was at this precise moment in this room, 21 years ago --

END

END