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The Situation Room

Trump Targets Democratic Cities With ICE Raids; Interview With Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL); Will Trump Administration Join Attack on Iran?. Aired 11-11:30a ET

Aired June 17, 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]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: A complete give-up. That's possible, yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAMELA BROWN, CNN HOST: 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.

CNN international diplomatic editor Nic Robertson is in Tel Aviv.

Nic, I know for a time there you had to take shelter. It's been a very tumultuous situation there. How is Israel responding to President Trump's comments?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes, nothing publicly.

And I think that speaks to the delicacy of the moment. Speaking to Israeli politicians yesterday, when I was asking them, does Israel want United States' support in taking down the remainder of Iran's nuclear facilities, the answer clearly yes.

But the answer about wanting the United States engagement or wanting to know what President Trump was going to say, the answer was very, very diplomatic one, which was, President Trump will make an assessment and a decision that's based on U.S. national security interests.

So I don't think anyone here wants to try to prejudge what the president -- what the president does. We are getting more details about the strike that hit that bus depot this morning. The Iranian military are saying that they successfully targeted military intelligence headquarters outside of Tel Aviv.

That's not something that the IDF is speaking about. But what we do know, in that same area where the bus depot was hit, on social media, we saw a missile intercept launcher launch missiles out and then four impacts come in, in that same vicinity. And in that same facility are Israeli military facilities. So there were four impacts there. And what the IDF is saying is that,

since this round of conflict began late last week, civilian and military targets have been hit. So Iran is claiming to have hit a military intelligence base outside of Tel Aviv. The strikes have been lower.

The tempo is perhaps lower. It's significant, perhaps interesting, of course, that Iran was able to get missiles through the defensive system here. It said that it was trying out new technologies. The IDF say that they had been effective in taking out and defeating many of the launch systems, launch equipment and the missiles themselves and at their production facilities.

But it is a very intense diplomatic moment, and probably more intense behind the scenes than Israeli politicians allowing their thoughts to become public. They don't -- do not want to prejudice what President Trump is thinking and do want him to come and support Israel in taking out Iran's nuclear facilities.

BROWN: Very important reporting. Nic, thank you so much -- Wolf.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: Pamela, a senior Iranian official tells CNN that the targeting of civilians is a red line -- quote -- "a red line" for Iran's armed forces.

CNN's Frederik Pleitgen has new images coming out of Iran.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): Iranian fire trucks racing to the scene of yet another strike in Central Tehran. CNN exclusively attained this video authorities say shows the aftermath of a hit on a residential building leading to a partial collapse, people on the ground trying to evacuate the area.

As Israel continues its aerial blitz, hitting military targets, but also infrastructure, in Tehran, many shops remain closed, the streets nearly empty.

"They're truly afraid. When they hear the sound of bombings, they get scared," this shopkeeper says. "Just now, we had a customer who was really frightened. She cried and quickly left the store in a hurry."

But Iran says, after initial setbacks, with many top generals killed, the Revolutionary Guard has now regrouped, the assassinated IRGC commander, Hossein Salami, replaced by Mohammad Pakpour, a veteran of the Iran-Iraq War in the 1980s.

Iran now launching waves of missile strikes against Israel, a senior Iranian official telling CNN that Iran will make Israel pay if it hits Iranian civilians, and a military spokesman even giving evacuation orders to Israelis.

"We currently possess a complete database of all your sensitive and critical locations and vital points," he says. "Therefore, we emphasize do not allow the criminal regime to use you as human shields."

While President Trump says, despite the aerial bombardments, he still wants a nuke deal with Iran, Tehran pouring cold water on that idea, at least for now.

[11:05:00]

"We cannot imagine that such an action by the Zionist regime could have taken place without coordination, cooperation and support from the United States," he says. "This has, in effect, stripped the diplomatic process and negotiations of their meaning and substance."

And, so, many Tehran residents are bracing for more strikes on the capital, as Iran says it will continue to hit back.

Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Berlin.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: All right, let's continue our coverage right now.

Joining us is David Sanger. He's a CNN political and national security analyst and is the White House and national security correspondent for "The New York Times." He's also the author of an important book entitled "New Cold Wars."

David, thanks very much for coming in.

President Trump is meeting with his advisers over at the White House Situation Room. What do you think is going on right now in those discussions?

DAVID SANGER, CNN POLITICAL AND NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: So, Wolf, we're in a really critical decision point.

I know we use that phrase a lot in Washington. I think today is one that it really fits. The president is clearly trying to decide, as we reported in "The Times" last night, whether or not to go use this 30,000-pound bomb.

BLITZER: Bunker-busting bomb.

SANGER: Bunker-busting bomb, it's the largest conventional weapon in the U.S. arsenal -- to go after the deepest of Iran's enrichment sites. It's called Fordow. It's deep under a mountain.

It was built there secretly by the Iranians after the U.S. and Israel together did cyberattacks on the main other enrichment site and after they saw what happened with Saddam Hussein, and they wanted a site that basically nobody could get at. Its existence was discovered, revealed during the Obama administration.

And ever since then, there's been a lot of debate about whether or not you can get at it. The Israelis can't get at it themselves, so the United States would have to do this. The problem is, that's an act of war. You are coming in and bombing a site in a foreign country. Congress hasn't gotten together and declared war on Iran. The president cited on Air Force One last night as he was coming back from Canada,he said he thought Iran was quite close to a bomb.

He didn't define what that meant. We have reported six months to a year. He does have time to go deal with this diplomatically. It sounds, from what he said, Wolf, like he's not interested in the diplomacy anymore. And it sounds like from what you just saw in the report the Iranians may not be either.

BLITZER: The Israelis don't have those B-2 bombers, those heavy bombers, to carry a bunker-busting bomb, which is thousands of pounds right now.

SANGER: Thirty thousand.

BLITZER: Yes. So, could -- are the Israelis asking the U.S. for that kind of assistance, B-2 bombers, and these bombs so they could do the operation themselves?

SANGER: That's right.

You know, I suspect, the way the U.S. operates, only U.S. pilots can operate in a B-2 bomber that belongs to the United States and dropping U.S. ordnance. So it would bring the U.S. fully into it.

BLITZER: So what I hear you saying is that the only way those enrichment facilities, nuclear enrichment facilities, deep underground that mountain could be destroyed is if the U.S. got directly involved with Israel.

SANGER: That's right. And, of course, it's a small difference if you hand them the plane and the bomb, although this is something that American pilots have trained on in the past two years, really during the end of the Biden administration, pretty much at White House direction.

They have worked a lot on this operation because they thought they could get into a situation with Iran where they'd go -- need to go do it. I think one, it raises a couple of interesting questions, Wolf. First is, does the president think this is a one-off thing, you can go in, bomb this, leave, you're done?

There are other sites that are of importance in the Iranian nuclear complex. And then there's a question of, does the president think you can do this by just notifying Congress, which, of course, most presidents, Democrats and Republicans, have done with military action like this?

BLITZER: Instead of formally seeking congressional authorization.

SANGER: That's right.

BLITZER: This would be potentially an act of war.

SANGER: It would be. I mean, imagine -- reverse the situation, Iran came and bombed a big, deep underground facility that we had. We'd probably view that as an act of war.

BLITZER: How much damage potentially could the Israelis do by themselves without direct U.S. involvement or U.S. support?

SANGER: So, to that particular site, not a whole lot from the air. Now, there are always other ways you can go do this. If you can get at the electrical system that feeds that system, you can take these centrifuges, which spin at supersonic speeds to enrich uranium -- they're literally spinning along.

[11:10:09]

You can put a wave into that and send them out of kilter. That's essentially what happened with the cyberattack that the U.S. and Israel did 15 years ago on Iran. They were sending those out of kilter. I guess you could try to send commandos in. This mountain is in the middle of an IRGC base.

It would be quite a commando operation in order to go do this. So, I think most people think the way you do it is from the air. But it's not their only facility. And what was interesting, Wolf, is that, when they opened up the attacks on Friday, they got everything that was above ground at the other enrichment facility called Natanz, but they didn't actually go down deep to where these centrifuges spin.

So they still -- the Israelis, who could reach that one, still have not done so.

BLITZER: Interesting. All right, lots going on, David. Thank you very much for your expertise. We really appreciate it.

SANGER: Thank you.

BLITZER: Pamela.

BROWN: All right, Wolf, still ahead: last-minute diplomacy or a bunker-busting bomb? The critical decisions President Trump is weighing in on with the Israel-Iran conflict.

And the Homeland Security Department reversing course. It's allowing immigration raids on certain places to resume.

You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:16:05]

BLITZER: Iran and Israel exchange more aerial assaults on this, the fifth day of violence. And Iran is warning Israel against expanding this into a regional conflict.

Let's discuss this more with Democratic Congressman Jared Moskowitz of Florida.

Congressman, thanks so much for joining us. I know you're a vocal supporter of Israel's strikes on Iran and its nuclear program. Why was it the right decision, in your opinion, Congressman, for Israel to strike now, even as the U.S. and Iran were actually engaged in some diplomatic talks over Tehran's nuclear program?

REP. JARED MOSKOWITZ (D-FL): Thanks, Wolf. Thanks for having me under these difficult circumstances.

Listen, Democratic and Republican presidents for the last several decades have been saying Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon, and we have done what we can diplomatically through deals and conversations to delay that as long as possible.

But the general of CENTCOM said just last week that Iran was -- now had enough material and the capabilities to build a bomb in seven days if they chose, and they could have built 10 of them, 10 nuclear weapons, in three weeks. And so we had reached that point now where delay was no longer working.

President Trump gave the Iranians 60 days, and they did not want to dismantle the nuclear program. Listen, I would have much preferred the Iranians to dismantle their nuclear program. But this is all a consequence of the Iranians supporting Hamas and Hezbollah and terrorism around the world, chanting "Death to America."

And this is a result of October 7. This is Sinwar's legacy. He started a war with Israel on October 7, and the Israelis decided they're no longer going to live with a hornets nest in Hamas, in Hezbollah and in Iran, who financed the entire operation.

BLITZER: As you know, Congressman, a key Iranian nuclear facility can only be reached by so-called bunker-busting bombs, which the U.S. has. Israel doesn't have those bombs.

Given this, do you think the U.S. should strike Iran to completely remove its nuclear threat?

MOSKOWITZ: Well, look, there's a number of ways this could end. One could be the United States giving Israel the ability to do that. That's something that's been discussed for years. The United States was hesitant to give them the weapons, because the United States wanted to have this leverage to be in this moment.

Another is getting the Iranians to surrender. The ayatollah can get on a plane and flee to Russia, just like Assad did. That also could be an option here. But, obviously, now that we're three-quarters of the way there, the Fordow facility either has to -- has to go, and it has to either go militarily or it has to go in a surrender.

And so, look, the United States is not going to war, is not starting a regional war. We do operations all the time. We take out facilities all the time. We take out people. Let's not forget that we took out Soleimani many years ago. And so this happens. We have taken out sites with the Houthis.

This obviously is a big site in Fordow, a nuclear facility buried in the mountains. But Israel has a right to defend itself. This is a country that chants "Death to America." Almost every country is aligned that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon. And so, look, if Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon, then this is the time to make sure that that doesn't happen.

BLITZER: Because I'm old enough to remember, and I was covering it at the time, when Saddam Hussein and Iraq were potentially threatening to build a nuclear bomb, the U.S. went in to Osirak, their nuclear reactor facility, and blew it up at that time. I'm sure you remember that as well.

Should the U.S. now do the same thing to Iran's potential nuclear capabilities?

MOSKOWITZ: Yes, listen, if necessary, I don't know that we're there yet. But, if necessary, the United States could assist.

[11:20:00]

Now, obviously, you have got to work that out with the regional partners in the region. You got to make sure that you're talking to other players. You got to talk to the Russians. You got to talk to the Chinese. Everyone needs to understand where this is headed.

And, again, this is unfortunate. The Iranians are the one who chose this path, of course. They could have chosen to make a deal to dismantle the nuclear program. But this has been the United States' policy, Wolf, for several decades now.

And so, look, there's not going to be a regional war. The United States is not going to war. This is very different than what happened with Afghanistan and Iraq. There's not going to be boots on the ground. But the Iranian regime, as it currently consists, cannot have a nuclear weapon. And so either the ayatollah surrenders and he can flee to Russia, or the nuclear program has to be completely dismantled.

BLITZER: As you know, the U.S. concern is that if the U.S. were to get directly involved in this operation against Iran, with or without Israeli direct involvement, that some 40,000 U.S. troops in the Middle East potentially could be endangered by Iran.

Iran has been threatening to go after U.S. troops in the region along the Persian Gulf, elsewhere in the Middle East for a long time. Are you concerned that Iran would strike U.S. forces in the region?

MOSKOWITZ: Well, of course, you have got to be concerned, which is why we take all precautions and we have done voluntary evacuations.

At the same time, all of the pronouncements of the Iranian regime's military capabilities have been incorrect, Wolf. I mean, I think many people have been surprised that the Israelis now control the skies over Tehran and over the entire country.

And so a lot of these pronouncements about war with Iran have all been wrong. The Israelis seem to have dismantled them pretty quickly. It seems the Iranians have a bigger presence on social media than they do -- they have a social media army, and not a real army.

And so -- but you -- obviously, you want to make sure that we're protecting American assets in the region. And that's what we saw the secretary of state do when putting out that statement about voluntary evacuations.

And so, look, you got to make sure you're talking to all of the regional partners and make sure you open up lines of communication, again, around the world to make sure that this doesn't expand. But, so far, it hasn't. And you have seen everybody staying out of it so far. And so, again, the United States is not going to war with Iran, but we do operations all the time.

We take out people., We take out facilities. This is not anything new. It happened in the Biden administration, happened in the Trump administration, happened in the Obama administration, happened in the Clinton administration. And so this, of course, would be a very large target. But, as you said, Wolf, we did it in Iraq before.

BLITZER: Congressman Jared Moskowitz of Florida, thanks, as usual, for joining us.

MOSKOWITZ: Thanks, Wolf.

BLITZER: Pamela.

BROWN: All right, Wolf, coming up, big changes coming to some familiar foods like Jell-O.

That's next in THE SITUATION ROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:27:44]

BROWN: And this just into CNN.

We are learning Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has mobilized up to 700 troops last week to provide support to ICE in Louisiana, Texas and Florida. That includes active-duty, Reserve and National Guard troops. And this comes as President Trump defends his order for ICE to expand deportations in cities led by Democrats.

This morning, he ripped that party's leadership.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: They let prisoners in. They let gang members in, drug dealers in, mentally insane into our country. No, we're going to get them out.

There are more -- there are far more in the inner cities, Democrat-run cities, sadly. And I'm just giving you fact.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: Joining us now is retired U.S. District Court Judge Shira Scheindlin. She was appointed by President Clinton.

Judge, thank you so much for coming on.

From a legal perspective, what do you think about the president openly targeting Democratic-led cities?

SHIRA SCHEINDLIN, FORMER U.S. DISTRICT COURT JUDGE: Well, he has the right to do it. He has the right to do it. Immigration is particularly in the domain of the executive branch.

But, that said, there are some constraints. The Constitution is a constraint. He can't do anything unconstitutional. And Congress can be a constraint.

When Congress authorizes something like temporary protected status, TPS, he ended it, and that wasn't his right because Congress had authorized it. So it's a mixed story here. He's talking about Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, clearly blue states, blue cities, Democratic- controlled cities.

And there's an argument, there's an argument, I don't know that it's a winner, that what he -- that, by targeting them, he is violating Constitution because of the 10th Amendment, which we heard about recently in the decision out in California. The 10th Amendment limits the police -- or grants the police powers to the states.

And in a certain sense, he's violating that because witnesses and victims are not going to be coming forward. So it affects public safety in those cities to have the targeting, the raids that he's talking about.

BROWN: You're a former judge. If that case came before you, like the one out in California, how would you rule on it, you think?

SCHEINDLIN: Well, that's -- as I said, it's a creative argument. It's a close call. It depends a lot about the raids themselves.