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The Situation Room

Israel Launches Strikes on Iran; Kilmar Abrego Garcia Pleads Not Guilty; Interview With Former Israeli Ambassador to the United States Michael Oren. Aired 11:30a-12p ET

Aired June 13, 2025 - 11:30   ET

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

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WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: We're back.

We're following the unprecedented attack on Iran's nuclear military programs and some of its most powerful men. The highest-ranking military officer, head of the country's elite Revolutionary Guard, and a former national security chief in Iran have all been killed by the Israelis.

President Trump's warning to Iran is clear: Make a nuclear deal and, do it quickly, and he says before there is nothing left, his words.

Joining us now for more analysis on this truly pivotal moment in the Middle East and the world, for that matter, is the former Israeli Ambassador to the United States Michael Oren.

Ambassador, thanks so much for joining us.

President Trump suggested that Israel's next attacks on Iran could be -- and I'm quoting him now -- "even more brutal." What do you expect that we will see in the hours and days ahead?

MICHAEL OREN, FORMER ISRAELI AMBASSADOR TO THE UNITED STATES: Good to be with you, Wolf. Good morning to everyone.

Today's actions, starting last night, by the IDF and other Israeli security branches in Iran were designed to do several things, not just take out the leadership of both the IRGC and the Iranian military, Iranian scientists, those who had the knowledge of the Iranian nuclear program. They have been eliminated.

People in charge of the missile defense and missile offensive capabilities of Iran have been eliminated and strikes against the nuclear facility in Natanz. But if you look at the map, and I have looked at the map, of where these activities have taken them, mostly in the Western segment of Iraq, sort of clearing a path for future attacks by the Israeli air force, clearing all defense mech -- all defense systems out of that sort of alleyway into Iran. And so right now, at this point, the Israeli air force can operate

pretty much within impunity and strike targets far more deeply inside Iran, including targets -- the other nuclear sites such as Bushehr and Fordow.

BLITZER: And, as you say, the Iranians killed the top leader in the IRGC, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, a very, very significant development.

As you know, the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and President Trump, they're expected to speak later today. CNN has just learned that the two leaders spoke several times yesterday prior to the strikes beginning.

What's your assessment of how closely the U.S. and Israel have been in touch over these past few days?

OREN: I'm sure they -- I assume they have been in touch. And I'm sure that President Trump, when he said he was informed, he was informed. I don't know what detail he was informed.

Keep in mind that Secretary of State Marco Rubio put out an initial statement saying the United States was not involved in any way and simply warned Iran not to harm American military and civilian assets in the Middle East, without mentioning really Israel and whether the United States would come to the aid of Israel.

So there are some different messages coming out (AUDIO GAP) now. And I think you indicated earlier in the broadcast is that President Trump is saying (AUDIO GAP) if you want us to hold the Israelis back, you're going to have to come -- you're going to have to return to the negotiating table and make some very painful concessions. That is on the route to dismantlement.

I wouldn't be surprised if the Iranians would indicate at some point to the United States, OK, we're crying uncle, hold the Israelis off, we will come back to the negotiating table and of some nuclear facilities that have already been dismantled. And that's going to create a difference on the United States to Israel to hold back.

And those of us old enough to remember, say, 1973 of Golda Meir resisting Nixon and Kissinger's attempts to sort of hold Israel back in the Yom Kippur War, you're going to have a sense of deja vu. Israel is going to want to pursue this military activity for as long as possible to not just neutralize Iran's nuclear capabilities, but its abilities to threaten Israel and all of our neighbors, as it has really for the last 46 years.

BLITZER: You know, I have been told, I was told just a little while ago that Israel is now calling up, activating tens of thousands of Israeli reservists, IDF soldiers, for active duty right now.

What does this say to you about the kind of response Israel is expecting from Iran?

OREN: Well, I think it's -- some of the members of my own staff have been called up this afternoon, so that's actually true.

It could be a renewed offensive in Gaza, with the hope that Hamas now realizes it's completely alone. It doesn't have its Hezbollah backers, doesn't have his grand masters in Tehran, and that now perhaps a situation can be created in Gaza where Hezbollah also will cry uncle and will agree to demilitarization, will agree to the eviction of Hamas leaders from Gaza to points outside of the Gaza Strip, and the reconstruction of the strip and the return of the Israeli hostages can be effected.

[11:35:16]

That's one possibility. It is beefing up the northern border for possibility of renewed strife with Hezbollah, I think that's a minor consideration, the Syrian border, and the possibility of violence directed by Iran through cells in the West Bank. I think that's all here.

The possibility of some rocket fire from pro-Iranian militias in Syria and Iraq as well. So, remember, we're facing a multifront war with Iran. It's not just in Iran. I'm surprised we haven't had a missile from the Houthis all day.

BLITZER: We shall see what happens.

Ambassador Michael Oren, the former Israeli ambassador to the United States, former U.S. ambassador -- excuse me -- the former Israeli ambassador to the United States, as I said, thanks very much for joining us.

OREN: You got it.

BLITZER: Just ahead, there's more news we're following right now. Iran's supreme leader says Israel should anticipate what he's calling a severe punishment after Israel's attack on Iran.

But a weakened Iran has few options right now for striking back. We have new reporting just coming in to THE SITUATION ROOM. We will share it with you right after the break.

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BLITZER: I want to get back to the breaking news we're following, the Iranian foreign minister now warning that Israel will regret its -- quote -- and I'm quoting him now -- "reckless aggression" after Israel launched a massive strike on Iran's nuclear and military programs overnight.

But several of Tehran's top military leaders were killed in the latest Israeli attack, leaving the regime noticeably weaker just as it threatens retaliation.

I want to follow all of these developments right now. We're watching it very, very closely. And retired Colonel Cedric Leighton is joining us at the Magic Wall right now.

Walk us through, Colonel, what's going on with these various targets you got on that map over there.

COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Yes, Wolf, absolutely.

Well, one of the key elements here is the site at Natanz. This is the area where the Iranians are producing -- are actually setting up part of their nuclear program. And this is one of the enrichment sites that the Israelis clearly targeted during this operation.

Now, what they ended up doing was, they ended up flying their aircraft from Israel all the way over in this direction into Iran. And they hit targets not only at Natanz, but also in Tehran and throughout the entire western area right here, where the air defenses of the Iranians are actually located, the ones that were really important for them to take out.

So when they did this, when the Iranians -- when the Israelis did this to the Iranians, that effectively blinded them. That prevented them from actually seeing what the Israelis were doing. So they were able to bring their swarm of 200 planes into this area, hitting over 100 targets. And when they did this, they were able to do this with not only the F-16 and the F-15, but also F-35s.

Now, what the Iranians can potentially do is, they can possibly send a drone swarm in this direction back over to Israel. And this is what the Israelis are really concerned about. They think that the Iranians may do this. There's also, of course, the threat of ballistic missiles that could come and attack Israel, just like they did back in October and before that during the summer of last year.

If all of that happens, then the Israeli air defense and missile defense systems are going to be taxed considerably. And that's going to, of course, create a real problem for the Israelis. But the Israelis are hopeful that they have eliminated a lot of those kinds of weapon systems on the Iranian side.

BLITZER: What seems to be very impressive, Colonel Leighton -- and you're a retired U.S. Air Force colonel -- the fact that the Israeli warplanes, the F-15s and F-16s, F-35s, could get deep into Iran without their air defense missile system undermining that Israeli assault.

That seems to be pretty impressive, how significantly deep inside Iran the Israeli Air Force got.

LEIGHTON: Yes, absolutely, Wolf.

And one of the key elements here is really how this works, because, when the Israelis do this, they go over this area. It's kind of like, if you go in this way on a normal air route, you are basically going into all of this area. A lot of this is populated. A lot of this is also an area where the Iranians maintain a large military presence. They have military bases basically all along their border with Iraq.

So what the Israelis had to do is, they had to make sure that they took everything out and that they were able then to go in. And when you look at all of these sites right here, you can see that it's a very target-rich environment, both civilian nuclear power, as well as the kind of power that they require in order to create a nuclear weapons program.

That nuclear weapons program is now very much in question.

BLITZER: The Israelis managed to destroy a lot of the Iranian air defense system to begin with months and months ago during earlier confrontations, right?

LEIGHTON: That is correct, Wolf.

And one of the key elements here is when they destroyed that -- those systems, what they were able to do is basically make it possible for them to hit every single one of these areas. That includes all these facilities, plus the capital of Tehran. And when they did that, they were able to, in essence, go in there without being attacked.

And that means less loss of life, less possibility of their aircraft being downed. And, as far as we know, the Israelis have not lost a single aircraft in this entire operation.

BLITZER: And very quickly, before I let you go, to completely destroy Iran's nuclear weapons enrichment program, the Israelis couldn't do it themselves because so much of that program is deep underground in these mountains. The U.S. would have to do that, right?

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LEIGHTON: That is generally correct, as far as we know.

However, Wolf, one of the key things to look at is the site right here at Fordow. This is the one that is actually a very, very important area, because it is deeply buried underground. The fact that it is deeply buried underground makes it much more difficult. The weapons systems that would be used for that are in the U.S. inventory. They are not, as far as we know, in the Israeli inventory.

BLITZER: Thanks very much for that, Colonel Leighton. Appreciate your expertise, as always.

I want to go live right now to London and CNN's chief international security correspondent, Nick Paton Walsh.

Nick, you're monitoring all these developments very closely. Israel has already shattered Hezbollah's power, greatly reduced Hamas' capability. Now Iran has lost some of its own top military leaders. Realistically, what are Iran's options right now for some sort of large retaliation against Israel?

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I think it's important to view what comes next in the framing of Iran being a significantly diminished regional power over the past year or so.

As of 24, 48 hours ago, it was in its weakest state it's been, frankly, in -- for decades. And the overnight attacks have simply compounded that, with now Iranian senior military hierarchy, most likely waking up to try and assess who of them is still alive.

It seems, from some of the images we're seeing, that a lot of the strikes were pinpoint, hitting residential areas, possibly specific apartments, killing some of these leaders most likely while they slept, and that will leave people deeply concerned about using their cell phones that may have been used to track them and probably inject significant anxiety into an Iranian senior command, who will have spent most of this morning finding out who is replacing the now recently vacated seats of those who've been killed.

Remember, it's the chief of staff of the armed forces, the head of the IRGC, the head of the IRGC's air force, the air force for the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, many of their commanders killed in a strike on a command center, so deeply detailed intelligence behind this Israeli operation that I think fair to say we're still learning in the hours here how extensive the damage has been to Iran's personnel.

That will inhibit how fast they can make decisions and actually go through the job of actually prosecuting some kind of response. And then add to that as well the damage done to Iran's missile infrastructure, its air defenses during this strike, but also during the strikes of October last year, which did significant damage as well.

And so I think it's important now, we also have to bear in mind that Hezbollah that would have been the sort of second strike capability for Iran after a hit like this, they have been neutralized in Lebanon, more or less, since the pager attacks and what followed in last summer, so a very different region that Iran is now operating in and a very different set of choices it now has, this morning, in particular, as it tries to pull itself together after a devastating night of unprecedented assault.

BLITZER: You write an excellent article on CNN.com that Israel's overnight operation has the hallmarks of months or perhaps even years of preparation.

So, why now? Why do you think?

WALSH: Yes, I mean, I think it's hard to tell. It could have been indeed the air force or the Revolutionary Guard Corps that met in that headquarters, that meeting may have presented a target of opportunity that Israel wanted to seize upon.

But I think it's more likely they may have been seeing the possibility of diplomacy between Washington and Tehran perhaps picking up in the weekend talks that were scheduled and now look highly unlikely in Oman, and maybe thinking that this plan and the capabilities behind it, which, look, Wolf, this must have taken months, if not years of meticulous intelligence planning, of having to realize that they needed to take Hezbollah out first before they could potentially move on to something like this, being able to in exactly the same night hit so many key figures across Iran's key security apparatus here.

Killing indeed the key presidential supreme leader adviser advising the nuclear talks as well, Ali Shamkhani, I mean, so much of Iran's security hierarchy here now dead and being rapidly replaced. I think really Israel may have realized that their position was better with these people out of the picture, with this damage done and were, frankly, willing to incur the wrath of President Donald Trump, if indeed that's what they're facing now, and the possibility of a weakened Iran trying to respond.

But the region, I think, has significantly changed overnight, Wolf.

BLITZER: Significant developments, indeed.

Nick Paton Walsh, thank you very, very much. Good work.

And we will be right back.

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BLITZER: News this morning, Indian officials are telling CNN that a flight recorder from the Boeing 787 passenger jet that crashed Thursday in India has been recovered.

It could offer vital clues into what went wrong with Air India Flight 171. It was in the air for just a moment before it crashed into a medical college hostel. At least 290 people in the plane and on the ground were killed.

Journalist Vedika Sud is in the Western Indian city of Ahmedabad, where the crash actually happened.

Vedika, how is the community responding, first of all, after this catastrophe?

I think we have actually lost our connection with Vedika. We will stay in touch with her and update our viewers. We will take a quick break. We will be right back.

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BLITZER: More breaking news we're following.

Kilmar Abrego Garcia has just pleaded not guilty to federal charges in Nashville. The Salvadoran national who lived in Maryland gained national attention three months ago after he was mistakenly deported. The charges relate to a 2022 traffic stop when Abrego Garcia drove a suburban with nine Hispanic male passengers through Tennessee.

Prosecutors alleges he transported undocumented people in the United States on more than 100 trips between Texas, Maryland, and other states. He faced his counts of conspiracy to unlawfully transport illegal aliens for financial gain and unlawful transportation of illegal aliens for financial gain. He pleads not guilty.

And, to our viewers, thanks very much for joining me this morning. I will see you back here Monday morning, every weekday morning, 10:00 a.m. Eastern.

"INSIDE POLITICS WITH DANA BASH" begins right now.