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One World with Zain Asher
Trump Defends Strikes on Iran, Says Nuclear Sites Destroyed; Trump: U.S. Strikes on Iran "So Bad That They Ended the War"; Trump and Zelenskyy Meet on Sidelines of NATO Summit; Aftermath of Israeli Strikes in Tehran; This Weekend on CNN: Searching for Super Coral; Zohran Mamdani with Commanding Lead in Democratic Primary. Aired 11a-12p ET
Aired June 25, 2025 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[11:00:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN HOST, ONE WORLD: President Trump says the war between Iran and Israel is over. "One World" starts right now. President Trump
maintains Iran's nuclear capability is obliterated as a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Iran appears to be holding.
NATO leaders confirm they'll boost defense spending as Ukraine's President holds what he calls a long and substantive meeting with President Trump.
We'll have the latest from The Hague. Plus, thousands take to the streets in Kenya clashing with police a year on from an anti-government
demonstration, we'll be live in Nairobi.
Hello, everyone. Live from New York. I'm Bianna Golodryga. Zain is off today. You are watching "One World". U.S. President Donald Trump is getting
ready to head back to Washington at any moment, following a NATO Summit in The Hague that was meant to be focused on European defense.
But it is the fragile ceasefire between Israel and Iran and the American strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities that dominated much of the
conversation. Earlier, the NATO Chief referred to Trump as, quote, daddy and praised him for helping to resolve the Middle East crisis. And at the
Summit, Trump doubled down once again, claiming that U.S. strikes on Iran caused, quote, total obliteration.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: They dealt with both and they're both tired, exhausted. They fought very, very hard and
very viciously, very violently, and they were both satisfied to go home and get out and can it start again? I guess some day it can.
It could maybe start soon. They have fought a hell of a war. They fought very hard. I think the war ended, actually, when we hit the various nuclear
sites with the planes. No, I think they're very much finished. I think Israel is going to get back to doing what they do.
And I think that Iran is going to get back. You know, Iran has a huge advantage of great oil, and they can do things. I don't see them getting
back involved in the nuclear business anymore. I think they've had it. They've been at it for 20 years, and I don't see that happening either.
Now, if it does, we're always there. It won't be me, it will be somebody else, but we're there. We'll have to do something about it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: NATO Leaders agreed on a massive increase in defense spending, and they also expressed their ironclad commitment to each other, to come to
each other's aid if attacked. Now it comes after Trump initially questioned Article Five, the alliance's core principle of collective defense.
CNN's Alayna Treene joins me now live from Washington, D.C. And Alayna, some 12 hours later, still continued pushback from this administration on
the reports from the DIA assessment, the Defense Intelligence Agencies' assessment. Early on of low confidence that the initial attacks from their
assessment set Iran's nuclear program back by just a few months.
The president really taking issue with that, inciting other intelligence agencies, notably Israel's nuclear intelligence agency, saying that no, in
fact, this was set back significantly, many, many years. Also notable to hear the president say that the U.S. will be speaking with Iran next week.
What more do we know about that?
ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yeah, let's start with that, Bianna, because it is notable, and I've been hearing this in my
conversations with people at the White House as well that despite the U.S. strikes on those Iranian nuclear facilities. They do still want to work out
some sort of negotiation, some sort of diplomatic deal.
We heard the president say that a couple things. Well, one, he said that any of those talks, he said they're going to be meeting next week, but
those talks would be focused on the same commitments that they were looking for prior to the war really breaking out and the escalating conflict
between Israel and Iran.
He said they would be looking for the same type of commitments that the United States was looking for before, of course, in those conversations and
negotiations that were led by the President's Middle East Envoy, Steve Witkoff. But he also said, and I found this very notable, he said that he
doesn't believe it's actually that necessary.
He has said that multiple times. He said, you know, as he was coming up to the stage, he referenced his Secretary of State and National Security
Adviser, Marco Rubio. He said, I asked Rubio, as we were coming up here, do you want to do that? Can you draw up an agreement?
And he said, again, I don't think it's necessary. Because, as he continues to claim, really disputing some of the initial intelligence reports we
reported on. He continues to say that their nuclear sites are obliterated. So, he doesn't believe it's necessary.
But I can say I do know, again, in my conversations with people at the White House, in the Trump Administration, more broadly, they do, of course,
still want to work out some sort of a deal similar to what they were negotiating before.
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To make sure that, you know, there's a diplomatic solution to making sure that Iran never has a nuclear weapon. Because despite the attacks we saw,
and again, we are still trying to get really the assessment of what the actual damage was on the ground.
They do still want to make sure that there is a diplomatic pathway and an agreement to ensuring that they don't rebuild, or that if they were able to
salvage some of those nuclear materials, that those -- you know this is such an agreement would prevent them from trying, and, you know,
ultimately, potentially being able to make a nuclear weapon.
But some other things that were notable during that I do want to bring up what you said, because our own CNN's Kaitlan Collins asked the president
about, you know, do you not trust the United States' Assessment? He said, you know that he had been looking at both Israel, Israeli intelligence, but
also Iranian.
He said that the document that he was referencing, he was referencing that statement from -- a statement from Iran, and before pointing to the
assessment from the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency. He said that the document said it could be very severe damage. But they didn't take that.
They said it could be limited or it could be very severe. I mean, that was the rhetoric we continue to hear from the president in discussing this. He
did acknowledge, though the CNN reporting that the initial -- you know intelligence assessment from an agency beneath the Pentagon had -- you know
acknowledged that perhaps the damage wasn't as severe as the president was saying, that perhaps it wasn't actually, these sites weren't obliterated.
So, this is going to continue to be a thing that I know we will continue to kind of watch the president be defensive about. And also, something I know
that people on Capitol Hill as the president is -- you know or has, his team has been delaying some of these intelligence briefings for House and
Senate members, something that they're looking for too.
We've now heard from many lawmakers saying they want to get a fuller picture of what this administration knows, of what the intelligence
community is gathering, in light of those U.S. strikes on these Iranian nuclear facilities. So, all of that kind of playing in the background as
the president makes these remarks Bianna.
GOLODRYGA: Yeah, and a reminder the president, in the hours after the strikes came out and said that Iran's nuclear facilities had been
obliterated. I think it's that obliterated term that people are following up on right now. It's also worth noting that the DIA assessment is just one
of several, more than a dozen intelligence agencies that gather and study the fallout from strikes like this.
So, more information will be coming in in the days to come, for sure, but it did stand out that the president was citing Israeli intelligence, and
we'll get to that with our guest in just a moment. Alayna Treene, thank you so much.
Well, an Iranian foreign ministry spokesman says the country's nuclear installations were badly damaged in U.S. and Israeli attacks. Meanwhile,
neither the U.S. nor Israel has produced a final assessment. But Israel's Atomic Energy Commission says the U.S. strikes on Fordow destroyed the
site's critical infrastructure and rendered the enrichment facility inoperable.
Earlier, a spokesman for the IDF said U.S. and Israeli strikes have set Iran's nuclear program back by years. But he also acknowledged that it's
still too early to know for sure. CNN's Nic Robertson joins me now live from Tel Aviv.
And in terms of what we heard from the IDF Spokesperson, Nic "AXIOS", also reporting that Israeli sources were a bit surprised that the DIA assessment
came in as quickly as it did, because even the IDF, it's saying that they need more time to further assess the damage from these strikes. What else
are they saying?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yeah, I'm also hearing the same thing from the finance minister here, Betzalel Smotrich, obviously
a key ally in Prime Minister Netanyahu's government, has said the same thing.
Everyone here, whether it's the atomic agent -- the Atomic Energy Commission, or the -- or the finance minister or the IDF spokesperson, that
this is putting back Iran by years. But there also seems to be an agreement that Israel needs to examine the evidence and before it can really draw
deep conclusions.
And I think we got a sense of that from one of the lawmakers in the Knesset earlier today, when he spoke about the fact that Iran, rather, Israel has
not yet had visibility on these sites, specifically meaning Fordow. And I think that gives you the understanding there that while Israel may have
these assets in country and may normally be engaged in -- you know close up on site, analysis of the situation.
The sense being created by politicians here is that that hasn't happened yet with the specificity and detail that they need to make their
assessment. And I think it's worth pondering on the fact that even going into this weekend before the United States hit Fordow and other facilities.
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That what we were hearing from the prime minister was that Iran's nuclear program had been set back by years. So that was a narrative already. And I
think if you examine and we shouldn't overpass what we're hearing from Israel's Atomic Energy Commission, but they're saying that it was the
damage to critical infrastructure that rendered the enrichment facility inoperable.
And if we think about what happened at Isfahan, that site there, the Israeli Air Force was able to hit the electricity substation, the local
one, the specific one for that site and the larger external power system, linking to -- linking that nuclear facility, to the national power grid.
And by therefore cutting off all options on electricity it had rendered it inoperable Isfahan.
We also understand there was other damage as well. But in the language that the Energy Commission is using here, there's the scope for it to be
potentially talking about a similar scenario. We don't know, and it does seem clear from an Israeli perspective, despite this several years setback
they're describing.
They're also saying that they haven't really closed eyes on to make that hard assessment yet, and that's where their position seems to lie.
GOLODRYGA: Nic Robertson, thank you so much. And for more on this, let's bring in Israeli Journalist and Commentator Nadav Eyal. Nadav, so on the
one hand, you have a highly unusual move where you have the President of the United States releasing or reading from the Israel Atomic Energy
Commission in their statement that critical infrastructure at Fordow was destroyed.
And then you also have your own separate reporting from Israeli defense officials and intelligence officials seemingly confirming just as much.
What are they telling you?
NADAV EYAL, ISRAELI JOURNALIST, YEDIOT: They're telling me that there is a severe and substantial damage to Iran's nuclear program, including
specifically in Fordow. And what they're adding in the last 24 hours and if you read the last sentence of the Israeli Atomic Commission, which is a
highly professional and not politicized body.
You see that they're hinting as to that, that the enriched uranium that Iran was stockpiling, about 400 kilograms, is actually trapped underneath
the surface, probably mostly in Isfahan, maybe also in Fordow. And that there is some tracking and monitoring as to these sites, so that the
Iranians won't be able to get it out.
The overall picture here Bianna is that the Israelis are saying the damage is substantial, and with this program, it took the program more than a
decade, you know, pushing it more than a decade behind, as far as the Israelis are concerned, and they credit the U.S. strikes and of course, the
Israeli strikes.
GOLODRYGA: Right. This last sentence from the Atomic Energy Commission is this achievement can continue indefinitely, meaning the achievement of
setting back Iran's nuclear program by many years. It can continue indefinitely if Iran does not get access to nuclear material, and that is
the nuclear material itself.
That's at question, the 400 kilograms of highly enriched uranium, which at least Israeli officials and those sources of yours believe with a decent
amount of confidence, is buried deep beneath both Fordow and Isfahan, as opposed to another narrative that's being floated that perhaps Iran had
time to move these 400 kilograms of enriched uranium to an unknown third site.
EYAL: Yes. I should say about this. Let me put it this way, I asked a defense official in Israel, would Israel have authorized this kind of
strike, not knowing how to make sure that these 400 kilograms don't disappear somewhere in a country so vast, so big as Iran, it's 75 times
bigger than Israel.
And that defense official told me we wouldn't have done it if we thought that there was a chance of that material completely disappearing. I think
Bianna that there is -- that this conversation somewhat in the U.S. has become extremely politicized. I'm not talking with the Netanyahu political
people when I'm saying that sources are telling me that the damage to Iran's nuclear program is substantial.
Now, can the Iranians rebuild? Absolutely, they can. Can they, for instance, import North Korean nuclear weapons? We saw Dmitry Medvedev
saying something about that. About countries supplying them with nuclear weapons they can. Is this something that needs to be maintained? Yes,
absolutely, as far as the U.S. and Israel is concerned.
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But is the damage substantial and damage in terms of years? It is, according to these professional Israeli sources.
GOLODRYGA: Yeah. And to the point that you made earlier, and I don't think we've stressed this enough to our viewers, about the amount of time, the
number of years, the unlimited resources that Israel has put in to penetrate Iran's nuclear program, to study it, to have access among Mossad
agents, perhaps anyone else, to really have an in-depth knowledge of what is happening on the ground.
I'm not talking about over the last few months or even years, but several years. Mistakes clearly happen, the biggest of which most recently was
October 7th in Israel, not even imagining the scale of the attacks that Hamas could commit. But when it comes to what Israel had long viewed as an
existential threat, and that being Iran, explain to our viewers the amount of resources in years devoted to making sure that once Israel did go in,
they with near certainty, would get it right?
EYAL: Look, I can throw numbers at you and talk about the many, many billions of dollars that Israel invested in its secret war against Iran.
But here's the bottom line, Israel opened with a preemptive strike against the Iranians. It killed about two dozen of brigadier generals, and -- you
know -- and more senior than that, commanders.
It killed about two dozen of senior nuclear scientists in Iran that were working on this secret plan. And it did so with a targeted strikes against
a specific not only a specific apartment in a specific building, but a specific room. This is the type of intelligence that Israel has had as to
this program.
We saw these reports about the Mossad operating within Iran. And Israel has a good grasp of where the Iranian nuclear program is, and always had a good
grasp as to that is very much connected to other Western intelligence services around the world, primarily, of course, the United States.
GOLODRYGA: And quickly, before you go, what is the reaction that you heard upon news of this initial DIA assessment among your Israeli sources?
EYAL: They were pointing out to the low confidence issue, which I think wasn't maybe underlined enough by some in the media. The low confidence
issue is really important. In order to get a real damage assessment, you need not only to look at recent so looking visually at the creators created
in Fordow.
You need other means. We saw the president today talking about Israel sending people. I don't know that if that's true, but I do know that
intelligence services around the world are employing many, many tools in order to get to a real damage assessment and anything that comes out, even
if the Israelis would have said immediately afterwards, we know -- you know exactly how it went down, I wouldn't believe it.
It takes some time. But as time matures, and my sources are getting more and more information, they're saying that this nuclear program is
devastated. But it's not only about this devastation, here's the bottom line. It's also about deterrence. Israel ruined the Iraq nuclear facility,
the Syria nuclear facility.
The question is, do the Iranians understand that Israel and United States are going to do it again if they try to become a threshold nuclear weapon
state. And that question we have no answer to, it lies in the future. It's up to the leaders to decide, the current leaders, but also the future
leaders of two countries.
GOLODRYGA: Right. And we heard the president double down again today saying that Iran will never gain access to a nuclear weapon one way or the other.
Nadav Eyal, good to see you. Thank you so much.
EYAL: Thanks.
GOLODRYGA: Well, Qatar is weighing into the Israel Iran ceasefire, telling CNN the truce is creating a momentum that could help restart the stalled
Gaza talks. This closely follows comments by U.S. President Donald Trump about a possible breakthrough in Israel's war against Hamas, even as the
violence in Gaza goes on. CNN's Salma Abdelaziz brings us the big picture.
SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Could a ceasefire deal be reached in Gaza after a truce was brokered to end a 12-day conflict between Israel and
Iran. There are now hopes and calls that diplomacy could win out in Gaza as well.
But Israel's offensive there shows no signs of slowing down. Just in the last couple of weeks, while headlines were focused on Iran, more than 860
Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire inside the Enclave, dozens of them were killed trying to get food in a place where starvation is spreading and
where the U.N. warns more than 2 million people living there are on the brink of a man-made famine.
[11:20:00]
Now, President Trump has expressed optimism that the deal in Iran could open up channels for Gaza as well.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I think great progress is being made on Gaza. I think the -- because of this attack that we made, I think we're going to have some very good
news. I think that it helped a little bit. It showed a lot of power. Yeah, I think it helped. But we're going to get separately even before this. We
were very close to making a deal on Gaza.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ABDELAZIZ: But in an address to his nation, Prime Minister Netanyahu said he is going to now return his focus to his battle against Hamas. He says
that Israel will not let its foot off the gas when it comes to its offensive on the Enclave. But there is, of course, signs of just how much
pressure this is putting on the Israeli military.
The call for reservists to join duty has been extended into July. And at least seven Israeli soldiers were killed in southern Gaza in Khan Yunis
when a bomb attached to their armored vehicle detonated. Now on those mediation efforts, Qatar, which is of course, one of the mediators, says
that it does hope indirect talks could resume in the next couple of days.
It says that there are ongoing diplomatic efforts to find middle ground when it comes to the U.S. proposal currently on the table, which proposes
that a certain number of Israeli hostages would be released in exchange for a 60-day ceasefire. Now, Hamas has said it is open to negotiations, but it
is unwilling to lay down arms, of course, but for the families inside Gaza still suffering in that enclave, this deal needed to be reached yesterday,
Salma Abdelaziz, CNN London.
GOLODRYGA: Still to come for us, Volodymyr Zelenskyy couldn't have been nicer. Those are the remarks by Donald Trump after he meets the Ukrainian
President on the sidelines of the NATO Summit. We'll have a live report from The Hague ahead. And Barack Obama's Defense Secretary, Leon Panetta,
says the U.S. had no alternative but to attack Iran's nuclear facilities. So, what's next we'll ask him about the end game coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GOLODRYGA: Donald Trump met with the Ukrainian President on the sidelines of the NATO Summit at The Hague. Volodymyr Zelenskyy called the meeting
quote long and substantive, but reporters and cameras were kept out of the session.
[11:25:00]
The U.S. President calls the conversation nice and says he'll speak soon to the Russian President.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I wanted to know how he's doing. It was very nice actually; we had little rough times. He was couldn't have been nicer. I think he'd like to
see an end to this. I do. I think what I took from the meeting couldn't have been nicer, actually, but I took from the meeting that he'd like to
see it end.
I think it's a great time to end it. I'm going to speak to Vladimir Putin see if we can get it ended. But look, these are brave people. They're
fighting these wars all over the place. You know, last week they had, I guess close. I told you seven, close to 7000 young soldiers, Russian and
Ukrainian soldiers were killed, 7000 in one week. It's crazy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: This as NATO, Secretary General Mark Rutte, says that Ukraine is on an irreversible path to membership in the alliance. But his pledge is
being met with resistance from some hardline members of the group, among them Hungarian President Viktor Orban, who says, NATO has no business in
Ukraine.
Let's bring in CNN Clare Sebastian, who joins us now from The Hague. Quite effusive praise Clare from the president, directed towards President
Zelenskyy, and also notable the exchange that President Trump had with a Ukrainian journalist that got quite emotional when she explained that she
was living in Poland while her husband was on the front lines fighting in Ukraine. Talk more about what the president had to say about the war.
CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, I think that was really striking that episode Bianna. He seemed to display, I think, what we've seen in some
guises before, but that he is genuinely offended by the level of death and destruction. He said to this Ukrainian journalist, well, it must be really
tough to have your husband on the front lines.
And over the course of that exchange, we did get a sense of something concrete in the sense that he did say that he would look to see if they
could provide more patriot air defense systems to Ukraine, which, of course, are critical as we see this exponential increase in Russia's air
war.
So that was notable in terms of other concrete statements on Ukraine, I think for the first time, he opened the door to the possibility that he
thinks Putin might have ambitions beyond Ukraine. That was striking. But aside from that, I think the key to liberal President Zelenskyy was that he
actually got that meeting.
You remember, he was supposed to meet with Trump on the sidelines of the G7 that didn't happen. Trump has spoken to Putin in recent days and weeks, and
that is always a moment of great risk for Ukraine, because the worry is that President Putin will try to convince Trump that it's Ukraine standing
in the way of peace.
So, this was a good sort of deliverable for President Zelenskyy in a Summit that he's otherwise been relatively sidelined in. There was no mention
Bianna of Ukraine in the communique. Now in the fourth year of this full- scale war in the middle of Europe.
GOLODRYGA: Right. But the President Trump did call Putin misguided and expressed an antidote -- anecdote that we'd heard earlier this week as
well, that in conversation with him when Putin offered to help mediate the war between Israel and Iran, he said, no, thanks. We're trying to end the
war that you are fighting. All right. Clare Sebastian, thank you so much.
Well, damage assessment of this weekend's attacks in Iran is currently underway. However, reports differ on whether this was a knockout blow or
just a setback to the country's nuclear ambitions. Report from Tehran coming up. Plus, fresh protests in Kenya, one year after a deadly crackdown
on massive anti-government demonstrations.
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GOLODRYGA: Welcome back to "One World". I'm Bianna Golodryga in New York. Here's some international headlines we're watching today. U.S. President
Donald Trump is on his way back to Washington after attending a NATO summit in The Hague, but European security was a major focus, with NATO leaders
agreeing to a massive increase in defense spending 5 percent of their GDP.
Hopes are building that the Israel-Iran truce could spur a breakthrough in the stalled Gaza talks. Qatar and U.S. President Donald Trump both
expressing optimism for an end to the Israel-Hamas war. Even as the violence in Gaza goes on, seven Israeli soldiers were killed Tuesday by a
bomb in Khan Yunis.
And CNN calculations show more than 860 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire in Gaza in the past 12 days. Well, Venezuelan influencer who
criticized gangs and police was shot dead while live streaming on TikTok Monday. Venezuela's Ministry of Public Safety says Gabriel Jesus Sarmiento
died in the City of Maracay.
Sarmiento often criticized criminal groups and alleged corruption in law enforcement through his online content. The ministry says his death came
shortly after he reported threats made against him. Donald Trump says he believes in NATO's guiding principle that an attack on one is an attack on
all.
This comes a day after he stopped short of backing a measure to reaffirm that. He's been touting his attacks on Iran during his trip to The Hague
for the NATO summit. Donald Trump is also disputing a U.S. intelligence report that says those strikes over the weekend only set Iran's nuclear
program back by months, not years as he has said.
Iran's Foreign Ministry says that its nuclear installations were, quote, badly damaged in U.S. and Israeli attacks. And Israel's Atomic Energy
Commission says the attacks on the Fordow plant destroyed its critical infrastructure. Meanwhile, on the streets of Tehran, Iranians say the
military retaliation and ceasefire are a show of strength by their country. Our Fred Pleitgen is there.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Here in the Iranian capital, one thing that we noticed in the run up to the ceasefire
is that there was an increase in air strikes. And the Iranians are saying some of them happened in residential areas, and they took us to some of the
sites in those residential areas that were hit.
You can tell here that this building was badly damaged by an air strike. The Iranians are saying that a bakery was damaged, a beauty salon and two
residential units. They say several people were killed here. They're not saying who the people were who were killed, but they also say that one
person is still in hospital, and many people were also injured here as well.
We spoke to some of the residents who live in the adjacent buildings, and they told us how terrifying that situation was.
PLEITGEN (voice-over): Suddenly, I heard an impact, he says, then an explosion. Before that, I heard a plane in the air. All the windows were
shattered over me, but the curtain stopped, part of the glass. I was thrown to the corner of the kitchen.
PLEITGEN: You can tell the blast must have been pretty powerful. We're actually in the building next door now, and you can see there's significant
damage here as well. In fact, someone's chocolates are still here on this coffee table.
[11:35:00]
And if we go over here into the room next door, this seems to be some sort of office and maybe bedroom, there's still someone sleeping area here. It's
unclear whether anybody was laying there, but if someone was laying there, it must have been a terrifying experience.
We're inside the bakery in the building that was hit, and you can see the damage here is also significant, the folks here say that they were actually
lucky, because they closed the bakery down three days prior to the strike, simply because of the ongoing security situation with that Israeli aerial
campaign going on.
At the same time, there are a bunch of places here in Tehran now where people are cleaning up and picking up the pieces, trying to move on and
getting their business back in order. Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Tehran.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GOLODRYGA: Well, Leon Panetta joins us now. He has served as past as U.S. Defense Secretary, White House Chief of Staff and CIA Director, wore many,
many hats in several administrations. Director Panetta, thank you so much for joining the program.
So let me get your take on what has turned into a conflict here between the reports from the DIA, Defense Intelligence Agency and what is viewed as low
confidence assessment that these attacks set Iran's nuclear program back by a few months and not several years or obliterated, as President Trump
declared just hours after these attacks unfolded.
You have the IAEA saying that these facilities were severely damaged. You have Israel's Atomic Energy Commission stating that the critical
infrastructure of Fordow was destroyed. And you have Israeli intelligence suggesting similar findings, albeit early on. So, is the DIA an outlier
here? How do you view it?
LEON PANETTA, FORMER U.S. DEFENSE SECRETARY: I think the lesson is, don't jump to any quick conclusions here, when you have a military strike. And
there are still ongoing damage assessments as to exactly what happened. I think it's going to take some time before we have a full picture of just
exactly what took place.
There's no question that some significant damage was done. It may not have has been as extensive as the United States wanted, but that remains to be
seen. I think we still have to have the patience to wait for actual assessments of the damage before we come to any conclusions.
GOLODRYGA: And walk our viewers through the number of security reports and assessments that are conducted after a strike like this to be presented to
the president, because we know it's over a dozen, and they all focus on different aspects of intelligence. So, the DIA is just one of many,
correct?
PANETTA: That's correct. The DIA is obviously the Defense Intelligence Agency, which is at the Pentagon. They are one of the intelligence sources.
There are 18 intelligence agencies. So, there are going to be other assessments, some from space, some from the ground, some will be done
technologically to try to determine what has taken place.
There will be a number of sources that will try to determine the extent of the damage involved. Most important, I think, is to be able to have,
frankly, feet on the ground and people who are actually able to go through the facility and determine just exactly how much damage has been done.
But that may take quite a while. Bottom line is that the strike took place. There is, without question, some significant damage to the nuclear ability
of Iran. It may not be as extensive as the president indicated in talking about obliteration, but it may well have caused damage and may have set
them back in terms of their ability to develop a nuclear weapon.
GOLODRYGA: So, as the source explained to me, even going back to the Osirak operation back in 1981 taking out Iraq's nuclear facility, the intelligence
suggested that took them back just two years, and yet they never rebuilt. And the question then becomes what happens now?
Now that these strikes were conducted, now that Israel unleashed this devastating blow to Iran, what does the policy suggest going forward? And
it appears that from both the United States and President Trump and Israel, that the policy of not allowing Iran to ever have nuclear program or to
redevelop theirs. Could, in fact, mean more kinetic attacks as well?
PANETTA: Well, that's without question. That's a possibility here, because, you know, I think first and foremost both the United States and Israel
basically indicated that the objective here would be to totally wipe out Iran's nuclear capability, their enrichment capability, and basically
destroy any chance for a weapon.
[11:40:00]
The reality is that, that hasn't happened. They've had a lot of damage. They've been set back, but the fact is that they still have enrichment
material. We don't know where it's at, how much they have, where it's located? And they still have the knowledge you can't destroy, the knowledge
of how you put together a nuclear weapon.
So, I think the concern is that the regime continues to exist. And if they in fact have retained some enriched material, which I believe they have, I
think there still remains a chance in the future that they will continue to work towards a nuclear weapon unless there is some kind of negotiated
settlement that would resolve this issue.
We don't know if that will happen. There's a possibility there may be continued negotiations, but the bottom line is that Iran still remains a
threat.
GOLODRYGA: So, when you say the highly enriched uranium may still be retained there in the country, are you specifically talking about what
could be one scenario where it's very difficult to get to because it's buried deep under some of these facilities, whether it's Isfahan or Fordow
or the possibility of it being moved to another unknown location, because it appears, at least from Israeli intelligence and sources that they aren't
too concerned about it being the latter.
PANETTA: I don't know I'd be worried about that. I think that, you know, Iran saw this attack coming. They knew what could happen. They aren't just
going to sit on their hands. I think they did move the enriched material to other locations, whether they are other secret locations, or whether
they're locations that we're aware of.
I don't know the answer to that, but the bottom line is that they continue to possess high quantities of enriched fuel. And if that's the case, and
they're able to kind of put together again, their effort, their nuclear team, to work on the possibility of a nuclear weapon, they could very well,
within the next few years, be back in the same situation that we were just in.
So that's the threat, that's the reality. You have to be aware of that. And ultimately, the United States and Israel are going to have to decide
whether or not they're going to try to negotiate some kind of resolution here with Iran, or whether or not they're going to in the future, have to
take military action again. There is now a huge question mark on the future of what will happen in the Middle East.
GOLODRYGA: Right, and as the president said today, which caught a lot of our attention, he said the U.S. will be speaking with Iran next week,
though, we did go on to say maybe we'll sign an agreement. We don't know if we need it. Not sure how much to read into that last part of the statement,
but if there is indeed some sort of meeting next week, that will be notable as well.
You can't see it Director Panetta, but we're watching the president as he is about to depart from the Netherlands, getting on board Air Force One to
fly back to the United States. Director Panetta, always good to see you. Thank you so much for your expertise. We appreciate it.
PANETTA: Good. Nice to be with you.
GOLODRYGA: And still to come on "One World", the search for the world's toughest coral and how it may help revitalize the threatened Great Barrier
Reef.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:45:00]
GOLODRYGA: All this week on "Call to Earth", we will be heading to the outer reaches of the Great Barrier Reef with Marine Biologist Emma Camp. As
part of the Rolex Perpetual Planet Initiative, her Coral Nurture Program aims to find the world's toughest coral and use it to help revitalize the
threatened reef.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Today, Marine Biologist Emma Camp and her team are in Northeast Australia preparing for an important expedition to
the Great Barrier Reef. Their mission to find what's known as super coral, or heat tolerant species that could be key to restoring parts of this reef.
A pioneer in this space, Emma has dedicated her career to finding and researching these super species.
DR. EMMA CAMP, MARINE BIOLOGIST AT UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY SYDNEY: We know that corals globally are having to contend with lots of stresses, such as
higher temperatures. So why are some corals able to contend with these conditions better than others? Where are they found? How can we identify
them? But also, how can we learn from them?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Emma is traveled the globe in search of the world's toughest core, like here at Woody Isles, a remote mangrove bay
about a 30-minute boat ride from shore.
CAMP: I just love the mangroves. I just find it such a special place. This lagoon has really harsh conditions. They're not conditions that typically
we would expect to find corals. The temperature gets warm, it gets acidic, and then we get lost in conditions. So, the corals that are here have to be
really tough to survive all of those conditions.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): These sheltered waters are home to everything from deadly box jellyfish to the odd salt water crocodile. So,
the team must keep their bodies completely covered and eyes peeled when jumping in. As the tide lowers, the corals are revealed.
CAMP: You can see all along the roots here, there are corals. You can see a couple of Porites corals here. Got some Goniastrea, so all of the yellows
and they scattered all the way under the roots there as well. Any corals that are found in this lagoon we can think of as being really tolerant to
stress, because we know through the sensors that we've deployed and through the water chemistry measurements that we take, how extreme these conditions
are. Yeah, we'll go back in a bit with --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Emma and her team have found up to 40 resilient coral species across the globe. They use them as a blueprint for
the team's reef restoration projects.
CAMP: The locations where we find super corals, and also the corals themselves, are transforming our understanding of coral tolerance. They're
another tool that we have to understand how corals may adapt to climate change.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GOLODRYGA: And be sure to watch the full documentary searching for super coral this weekend only on CNN. And we'll have much more after the break.
Stick with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:50:00]
GOLODRYGA: Protests in Kenya are marking one year since a brutal crackdown on massive antigovernment demonstrations. Thousands gathered in central
Nairobi today for what began as a peaceful anniversary March, but things turned violent as protesters and police clashed on the streets.
The Kenyan government ordered TV and radio stations to immediately stop broadcasting the protests. Now it comes a year after the peak of
demonstrations over the economy that saw at least 60 people killed by security forces and Parliament stormed by the crowd. CNN's Larry Madowo is
in Nairobi for us right now. And Larry, what are you seeing there?
LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's been a violent day in Nairobi, especially with police largely violently confronting peaceful protesters.
There should be a busy street, one of the worst for traffic. It's all empty. We see some of what's left of this bonfire that was lit on the
street there, but all of it is largely gone.
The Kenyan government ordered local radiant TV stations to cease broadcasting these protests live, in violation of the constitution, and
then they shut down at least one local TV station, and TV the broadcasters think it's illegal. It's against the constitution by the police and the
communications authority, that's the regulator, forcefully shut down the transmitters for one station that speaks to the environment that these
people are back on the streets.
About a year ago, the protests were about taxation and the government of President Ruto. Right now, the grievance is about police brutality. A young
teacher died in police custody because he criticized the government official, a street vendor was shot at point blank range last week police
brutality, during protest about police brutality.
I want to speak to one of the people here who is on the street, Patrick (ph), you're back here protesting today. Why were you protesting?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, good morning. My name is Patrick Nyoro (ph). Why was I protesting? I protesting for the death of Albert Ojwang. I was protecting
for the I wish I can -- for the job that we don't have, for everything that we don't have. We are having economic rise up. Men, we are youth -- for the
youth, man, I'm talking about for the youth, man.
I'm youth. I'm talking about jobless. We are jobless man, we're here in street demonstrating for what for we lack of jobs. You don't have enough
income in ours, everything else --
MADOWO: Patrick (ph), thank you. He's very emotional, he says, but you see the disappointment and disillusionment among these young people that they
risk coming out here on the streets, even though sometimes police shoot at unarmed protesters. That's why we wear this.
We wear the flak jacket because we have seen Kenyan security forces shooting an armed peaceful protester, and sometimes they die, like we saw
last year after the Kenyan parliament. That's why they were back on the street today to mark that anniversary. More -- dozens of people were killed
by security forces during the protest last year, and there's been no accountability.
GOLODRYGA: So, Larry, how are government officials responding to this now? And how concerned are they that things could once again escalate and get
out of hand?
MADOWO: The government has a habit of branding these protesters violent, that their agitators have taken them over and goons have taken them over.
Yes, we have seen some looting, but these protesters say those people looting shops are not part of them. Sometimes, and some local media have
reported that politicians have hired goons to infiltrate the protests and smash property and trash things, to give a bad narrative to all the
protesters.
The government largely dismisses these grievances from the young people, and that's part of the frustration that even though they keep complaining
about police brutality, about unemployment, about corruption, that the government of President William Ruto is simply not paying attention to
them, and that's the anger we see reflected on the streets again.
GOLODRYGA: All right. Larry Madowo reporting for us live. Thank you so much. And in a stunning political upset, a relative unknown progressive is
on the brink of winning the Democratic nomination for New York City Mayor.
[11:55:00]
33-year-old State Assemblyman, Zohran Mamdani had a commanding lead after the first round of voting in the Democratic primary. His Chief Rival,
Former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, has conceded the race. Mamdani surged by appealing to young progressives who have soured on the Democratic
establishment.
And finally, tonight, what may be Venice, Italy's most guarded secret. I don't think it's a secret anymore. The upcoming wedding of Amazon Founder
Jeff Bezos and Former News Anchor Lauren Sanchez. The two are expected to tie the knot in the floating city of love sometime this week.
Details are very hush hush due to the threat of disruptive protests, with one guest telling CNN they signed a non-disclosure agreement. The event is
expected to be a lavish, multi-million-dollar affair with hundreds of a list guests in attendance. All right, stay with CNN. I'll have more "One
World" after the break.
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END
