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The Situation Room

Trump Defends Order To Expand Deportations; Israel Expanding Regional Conflict; Critical Meeting In The Situation Room. Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired June 17, 2025 - 10:30   ET

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


[10:30:00]

PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Well, this morning, President Trump is railing against Democrat-run cities and defending his order for ICE to expand its deportations there. This is what he said aboard. Air Force One just hours ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: They let prisoners in, they let gang members, in drug dealers in, mentally insane into our country. Now, we're going to get them out. There's more -- there are far more of the inner cities, Democrat-run cities, and sadly. I'm just giving you a fact.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: Joining us now is the Democratic mayor of Chicago, Brandon Johnson. Mayor, thank you so much for your time today. So, as you just heard there, the president is openly targeting democratic led cities like Chicago with these orders. What is your response?

MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON (D-CHICAGO): Well, he clearly cannot defend his economic record. He has done nothing for working people across America. The things that we are concerned about in the City of Chicago and around America, ensuring that we have affordable homes as well as well-funded schools and good paying jobs.

He's done nothing to address those core economic issues. What we've seen in Chicago and really across America, you've seen working people rise up in opposition in disappointment of this administration and they will continue to exercise their First Amendment right.

And in Chicago, in the long tradition of resistance in this city, we fully expect people to peacefully gather, have their First Amendment right protected and their voices heard to ensure that all of the needs that working people have in this city and across the country, that those needs are actually met.

BROWN: And the White House argues that it is fulfilling a campaign promise that, you know, this was something that he said on the campaign trail he was going to do, and he's following through on that. What would you say to the president who claims that criminals are flooding your city and that he's got to get them out? JOHNSON: Well, first of all, in the City of Chicago, my focus on safety has been my top priority. Violent crime is down in Chicago. Homicides are down 27 percent. Robbery -- robberies are down 38 percent. Shootings and shooting victims are down. As we continue to invest in our neighborhoods across the city, building more affordable homes, creating opportunities for young people, we're seeing a precipitous decline in violence.

Look, we all know that we have challenges across America, dealing with systemic racism and disinvestment. If this president was serious about addressing the needs of working people he would work with cities and he would work with leaders like myself to ensure that we are actually showing up for working people.

BROWN: And you know, the administration and Republicans and those who are against sanctuary cities though argue that, look, you know, Chicago for one, it's a sanctuary city, and they argue that it endangers public safety because it could allow someone who is here illegally with a criminal record to reenter the community after leaving jail. What do you say to that criticism?

JOHNSON: Well, it's wrong. We are a welcoming city, which just simply states that our local police department that we don't have them dubbed as federal agents. Our police officers have enough to do. In the event there's a criminal in the City of Chicago and there's a criminal warrant, there is cooperation there.

We have never stood in the way of any administration for exercising its federal authority. What we can have is the seed of division constantly planted. It's not going to take root here in Chicago because we're focused on building the safest, most affordable big city in America.

[10:35:00]

And if this president had any ounce of genuineness, he would work with mayors across this country to deal with the housing crisis, to deal with homelessness, to deal with public education. That's what I'm doing here in the City of Chicago, investing hundreds of millions of dollars to ensure that we build more affordable homes, that our young people can find their purpose with summer jobs, that we are addressing mental and behavioral healthcare by expanding mental and healthcare services. That's what working people in this country want.

And until this president actually takes the interest of working people seriously, he's going to continue to be an abject failure.

BROWN: As you well know, the city is facing significant budget deficit and spending hundreds of millions of dollars on migrant support. How do you justify these expenditures of taxpayer concerned about other pressing needs that you just listed right there about the concerns?

JOHNSON: Well, we are addressing those pressing needs and the reason why we responded to this global crisis of the migrant mission was because the federal government failed to do its part. You know, Governor Abbott spent over $220 million to ship people across America. Instead of working with Congress to actually pass substantive immigration reform policy, they wanted to create division. But we're not going to allow that to happen in the City of Chicago.

Much like we fought for civil rights 60 years ago, we're going to continue to make sure that whether you are black, brown, Asian, white, young, old, working people deserve to be prioritized. And this misnomer that there's division, you know, in consternation within communities solely based on this issue is just wrong.

He's working to eliminate black history. He is trying to eliminate black existence from this country, but he is also attacking LGBTQ plus.

BROWN: Well, I wouldn't say he's trying to eliminate black existence.

JOHNSON: What we're going to do is we're going to bring people together in this country to make sure we build the safest, most affordable, big city in America. Chicago is the place to be. And I'm looking forward to the work that we will continue to do to build the safest, most affordable big city.

BROWN: Let me follow up with you though, because, you know, his policies could directly impact Chicago. They already have. This morning, a source, tell CNN that the Department of Homemade Security has reverse guidance and will allow ICE to resume raids at farms, hotels, and restaurants. Of course, we saw what happened in L.A. This is another example of whiplash from the president's policies. How are you and your immigrant community responding to this and preparing for this potential, you know, raid on your city?

JOHNSON: Well, first of all, I mean, again, you know, clearly, this president has demonstrated a great deal of animus as well as hostility towards working people. Look, immigrants have played an incredible role in our overall economy. And just like my family migrated from the south during the great migration, as black folks found refuge here in Chicago, immigrants find refuge across the world. We actually contribute so much to the overall national economy.

If the City of Chicago or the State of Illinois were to remove its investments or its dollars, its tax dollars towards the federal government, many red states, quite frankly, would crumble. Look, we're not like that. We're not, you know, going to govern in that type of isolation. Here's what we're going to do. We're going to stand up to tyranny. We cannot allow this president to cause us to --

BROWN: But what does that look like? What are you going to do specifically?

JOHNSON: Well, it looks like what we're doing. We're making critical investments. We're not waiting on the federal government to invest in affordable housing. It also means we're going to --

BROWN: No, no. But to my question --

JOHNSON: -- people know their rights. BROWN: To my question about, you know, what the administration is trying to do with stepping up enforcement in workplaces to try to arrest and deport those who are here illegally, what specifically are you doing as mayor of Chicago to prepare for the potential of that happening?

JOHNSON: Well, we have an entire apparatus in the City of Chicago where people know their rights as a welcoming city, whether it's our sister agencies, you know, whether it's our city departments to ensure that any type of violation against our local ordinance, we're not going to work in collaboration and coordination with the federal government.

If the president is actually serious about addressing critical issues in this city and across America, he would respond as I have responded, building more affordable homes, making sure that we're driving violence down the City of Chicago. You know, he clearly has demonstrated a great deal of hostility towards the interest of working people.

So, we're going to continue to do what's necessary. We're going to bring policy. We're going to make sure we take it to the courts, as we've already have sued this administration and his effort to fire federal employees, which are overwhelmingly women and particularly black and brown women. We're also going to make sure that people can rightfully, peacefully protest and assemble to raise their voice.

It's not just one thing in particular, it's going to take all of us to push back against this federal administration because it's a threat to our democracy.

BROWN: All right. Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, thank you for coming on and sharing your perspective. We really do appreciate it. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:40:00]

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: We're continuing to follow all the latest developments out of the Middle East where Iran and Israel are trading deadly attacks for the fifth straight day. And amid conflicting reports over whether or not Iran was nearing development of a nuclear weapon. We're getting new details right now about one of that country's most heavily fortified and rather mysterious enrichment facility and what it could take to breach it.

For all the latest developments on all of this, CNN military analyst and retired U.S. Air Force Colonel Cedric Leighton, he's joining us over at the magic wall. Colonel, walk us through what we know right now.

COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: All right, Wolf. Well, first of all, what we're seeing here are the different target sets that Iran has actually hit here. So, basically what we're looking at is the area around Tel Aviv. All cities like Tel Aviv, Jaffa, Bat Yam, all of these areas have been hit.

[10:45:00]

Also, they're striking in the northern area, and this is kind of what it looks like right now when you see these kinds of attacks coming in to Israel. This is what an Israeli citizen would be seeing as the as the missiles come in and the Iron Dome and other systems go after these particular missiles. The idea is to get as many as possible. They get about 90 percent, about 10 percent are coming through, and of course, the destruction is huge when that happens.

BLITZER: You know, Colonel Leighton, what more do we know about this rather secretive Iranian nuclear facility over at Fordow? Because that seems to be the heart of what Iran has been trying to do to enrich enough uranium to build a nuclear bomb, that potentially could be launched against Israel.

LEIGHTON: That's right, Wolf. And here's one of the key things about this. The centrifuges within Fordow are buried deep inside this mountain. The tunnel entrances are here. So, when you're doing targeting operations, let's say you're working in the U.S. Air Force and you're trying to figure out if any of these areas are going to be hit, the Israelis do the same kind of thing. They look for things like tunnel entrances and other vulnerabilities.

This here is a support building that could also be important because in one of these areas, it could basically be something that could be a major component to the actual facility. So, what we know right now is it started construction in the early 2000s. It's about a little less than 300 feet deep, which means it takes a huge bomb to get after.

It has about 2,700 centrifuges according to the IAEA. And a recent report from the IAEA, the International Atomic Energy Association, said that they ramped up uranium enrichment to 60 percent. That's important because it doesn't take much to get from 60 percent to the 90 plus percent that you need for a weaponized bomb.

BLITZER: So, they're moving closer and closer. All right. We'll see what happens from the U.S. and the Israeli perspectives. Thank you very, very much, Colonel Leighton.

LEIGHTON: You bet, Wolf.

BLITZER: Pamela.

BROWN: All right, Wolf. Coming up, removing synthetic food dyes from all their products. How Kraft Heinz plans to do that by 2027. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:50:00]

BROWN: Well, the conflict in the Middle East is raising serious concerns about energy costs and the impact on the world economy. CNN's Vanessa Yurkevich has more on what's ahead for the cost of oil and the potential effect on consumers.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS AND POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Anytime there's a geopolitical conflict, especially in the Middle East, we look to oil prices and then to gas prices to see what the domestic impact may be. Now, after spiking by 7 percent last week and crossing $70 a barrel, Brent Crude, the global benchmark for oil and U.S. oil fell by about 2 percent on Monday. Oil prices inform gas prices for consumers. And if things between Iran and Israel continue to escalate, some economists suggest prices could surge to a hundred dollars a barrel for oil, and then we're talking about inflation.

But right now, gas prices are sitting relatively low at 3.11 a gallon and that's compared to about 3.12 a month ago and 3.60 a year ago. So, coming down substantially in the last year. But according to GasBuddy, prices are expected to rise nationally about 10 to 20 cents in the coming days following this spike in oil prices.

Now, the reason that we're watching this so closely is because Iran is part of OPEC, the largest oil producing countries in the world. And the most critical choke point of all oil flow on the planet happens in the Strait of Hormuz, which is -- which Iran is a bordering country, and about 21 million barrels flow through that Strait every single day.

Now, there are fears that Iran could decide to block the flow of oil, which would have serious implications for the price of oil, and thus gas prices. And oil supply shocks often lead to recessions. But there has been some signal or signs that Iran is trying to cool down the war instead of escalating, and that along with oil prices cooling off had investors on Wall Street doing an about face with the Dow closing up more than 300 points compared to Friday where the Dow dropped 760 points. Back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: All right. Vanessa Yurkevich, thank you very, very much. False election fraud claims costing the founder of My Pillow, Mike Lindell, more than $2 million. Coming up what Lindell has to say after the jury just found his statements defamatory.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:55:00]

BROWN: Happening now, breaking news, a critical meeting in this Situation Room. Today, President Trump is gathering his national security team on the Iran-Israel conflict as air raid sirens ring out in Tel Aviv.

BLITZER: And we want to welcome our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer with Pamela Brown, and you're in the Situation Room.

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News. BLITZER: And we begin with breaking news. The Director of National Intelligence, Tulsa Gabbard, is now speaking out saying she and President Trump are on the same page on whether Iran's nuclear capability or where it's concerned right now. This comes after these comments from the president earlier this morning. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How close do you personally think that they were to getting one? Because Tulsi Gabbard --

TRUMP: Very close.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: -- testified in March that the Intelligence Community said Iran wasn't building a nuclear weapon.

TRUMP: I don't care what she said. I think they were very close to having one.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: Well, President Trump is back in Washington. He left the G7 Summit in Canada early to focus on this crisis between Iran and Israel. That conflict is now in its fifth day. And the president says he did not leave to work in a ceasefire saying he wants to go beyond that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What specifically is better than a ceasefire? What are you looking for here?

TRUMP: An end. A real end, not a ceasefire. An end.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, something that would be permanent?

TRUMP: Yes, or giving up entirely, that's OK too?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you closer? Is that even possible? Is that a possibility?

TRUMP: Why not? Certainly possible. A complete give up. That's possible, yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: And we're also seeing a new wave of attacks between Israel and Iran, with one Iranian missile hitting a bus right near Tel Aviv.

[11:00:00]