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Iran Launches New Barrage of Missiles at Israel; Now, Iran's Foreign Meets With European Counterparts; Appeals Court Rules That Trump Can Maintain Control of Thousands of California National Guardsmen. Aired 10-10:30a ET

Aired June 20, 2025 - 10:00   ET

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

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PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now, breaking news. No signs of deescalation. Just now, a new strike in Northern Israel as Iran launches a barrage of missiles.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Plus, crucial talks right now, officials from Iran and European countries are meeting in Geneva. Will any progress be made to end the conflict?

Welcome to 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.

And we begin this morning with the breaking news, Iran releases a new barrage of missiles at Israel.

This is the Israeli port city of Haifa, where explosions fill the air and sirens echo through the streets. This morning, Israel says Iranian missiles have been fired towards the northern, central and southern parts of the country. We have just learned that at least 17 people have been wounded and they include a 16-year-old boy wounded by shrapnel.

It comes as Iran's foreign ministers meeting with counterparts from Europe and the United Kingdom after President Trump paused his decision on whether to attack Iran. This morning, Tehran says it will not discuss its nuclear program while it's under attack.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ABBAS ARAGHCHI, IRANIAN FOREIGN MINISTER: Let me make the position clear. Under the current circumstances and as the Zionist regimes attacks continue, we are not seeking negotiations with anyone, especially not with the United States on this matter.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Meanwhile, Israel and Iran exchanged more blows. An Iranian missile slams into a technology park in Southern Israel, less than a mile from the Soroka Hospital that was struck in Be'er Sheva yesterday.

And this morning, we're seeing new images, Israel releasing this nighttime video of its Air Force intercepting Iranian drones. Israel also says 60 of its jets struck dozens of military targets overnight in Iran.

In Tehran now this morning, protesters are filling the streets, burning symbols of Israel and the United States, and waving Iranian flags. Thousands have demonstrated in cities across the country.

CNN's Chief Global Affairs Correspondent Matthew Chance is in Geneva for today's crucial talks. Matthew, what are the expectations hanging over this gathering?

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CHIEF GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Wolf. Well, I think the expectations, to be fair, are pretty low. I mean, look there's ideas that are being discussed between the various foreign ministers from Britain, France and Germany that have gathered in this hotel along with the E.U.'s top diplomat meeting with the Iranian foreign minister. Those meetings are taking place right now. But the crux of the issue, I'm told by diplomats is the uranium enrichment capabilities of Iran. That's a red line of course, for President Trump and the Trump administration, for others as well. But it's something that, over decades, Iran has categorically resisted, you know, kind of abandoning it, says it's going to continue to do that needs it for peaceful purposes.

I think the only sort of possibility of, you know, any kind of hope or any kind of expectation here is whether or not Iran is ready to compromise on that issue. That's the crux of the issue. There are ideas, according to diplomats, being floated and presented to the Iranians about how they could compromise on that, how the two sides could come together.

One hope that the diplomats I've spoken to have said is that, look, with such a lot of military pressure being put on Iran like that right now with its nuclear facilities being attacked, so kind of uniformly by the Israelis and with the possibility of the United States joining in the future as well, not into two weeks, of course, according to President Trump at the very least, when that decision is made, that might, you know, get the Iranians to change their sort of calculations and to perhaps make concessions on that issue.

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That's not the position we've been hearing from the Iranians so far. But it's a new day. These talks, these nuclear talks have just begun until, we'll see what comes out of them in the hours to come when they're over, Wolf.

BLITZER: All right. Matthew Chance in Geneva at these crucial talks, thank you very much. Pamela?

BROWN: Joining us now is CNN Analyst and Axios Global Affairs Correspondent Barak Ravid. Hey, Barak. Thanks for being here. So, you know, we've heard Iran say that it won't discuss its nuclear program while it's under attack from Israel. Do you expect any significant diplomacy to take place during President Trump's two-week window here?

BARAK RAVID, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Good morning. Well, definitely President Trump has given another chance for diplomacy. That's clear. But it's not clear if he did that because he thinks there's a chance to get something or whether this is just a way for him to say, I gave the last chance, the Iranians said no. Therefore, I have international legitimacy to go ahead and join this war.

At the moment, the Iranians are not really moving. They refuse to hold a direct meeting with the Trump administration. Secretary of State Rubio told numerous foreign ministers who we spoke with over the last 24 hours that they can convey the message to Iran that the U.S. wants to meet. Special Envoy Witkoff is talking or is texting with the Iranian foreign minister. But the Iranian response until now is the U.S. is part of this war, therefore we are not going to meet to hold a direct meeting with the U.S. as long as Israel continues its attacks. And I don't see, by the way, Israel stopping its attacks at the moment. So, I think there's a very, very narrow chance of getting something done diplomatically.

BLITZER: You know, Barak, Prime Minister Netanyahu is continuing to claim that Israel has the power on its own to achieve its objectives against Iran's Fordow nuclear facility. How likely is that Israel will go at it alone and try to destroy this facility that's enriching uranium?

RAVID: Well, first, Israel will definitely go after the facility in Fordow if the U.S. doesn't. I think the Israelis can damage this facility or even significantly damage it, but it doesn't mean that they can destroy it from the air. And then there are other options that might be possible. For example, a special forces raid on this compound.

I think a week ago, if I told you that this is an option, you'd say and I would say, and I think almost anybody would say that this would be a high risk operation, even crazy operation. But a week after this war started, I think this is seen as a far less extreme possibility. And therefore I think when the Israelis say that they will take out the Fordow facility no matter what, it doesn't necessarily mean that they will do it from the air.

BLITZER: Yes. Israel has experiences in going after underground facilities a few years ago, as you remember, Barak, in Syria. They did that with a commando group. They went in, blew it up, and that was that.

Barak Ravid, thank you very, very much. Pamela?

BROWN: All right, Wolf. Happening now, no sign of deescalation as Iran fires a fresh barrage of missiles towards Israel just moments ago with a strike reported in Haifa, CNN is on the ground in both Israel and Iran. BLITZER: Let's go first to CNN International Diplomatic Editor Nic Robertson. He's a Haifa Israel along the Mediterranean, Israel's third largest city. What can you tell us about this latest attack, Nic?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes, Wolf. As far as we know so far, missile hitting the building behind me in Central Haifa. It has caused, as far as we know, according to medical officials here, 2 serious casualties, 2 moderate casualties and 18 other people with minor injuries. Several of those have already been taken to the main hospital here, which is, by the way, working underground.

This missile came in here just a little over an hour ago. What you're seeing behind me here, Wolf, is a situation of destruction. And, actually, Wolf, I'm being joined by the mayor of this city. You've been mayor here for almost 20 years. Tell me what has just happened. What are you seeing? What are you learning?

MAYOR YONA YAHAV, HAIFA, ISRAEL: The Iranians have decided to make Haifa a target. And as they see, they succeed. They succeed to choose very important targets. This is a down -- this is the center of the downtown.

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I revived the downtown and turned it to be a commercial site.

ROBERTSON: And how, how many casualties here?

YAHAV: 11, 11 casualties, were moved to the hospital to Rambam. And thank God nobody got killed.

ROBERTSON: And you are normally in the war room. You're normally sitting at the head of the table working on getting all the different teams in here. Tell me what we're looking at, because I see police, I see medics, I see rescue recovery. Explain to me what we're looking at here right now.

YAHAV: You see everybody who has to do his job in the area he's in charge of. And thanks God, they're immediately turning down and coming here. And this is Israel.

ROBERTSON: And the priority is get the search teams in. I've seen the search and rescue dogs, the drones.

YAHAV: they go place to see if somebody's not there got stuck. The people who died in former places like this, they got stuck.

ROBERTSON: You want to make sure there's no one trapped? Was there anyone stuck in there now?

YAHAV: No. Up to now, no.

ROBERTSON: You just told me here, you revived this part of the city. You've been mayor for 20 years. How do you feel personally when you see it being your work for the city, this happening? YAHAV: Look, I don't like wars. I've been personally in ten wars. This is not the name of the game. The name of the game is peace. And we have a lot to help others and we should do it. You know, the most important universities are situated in Haifa.

ROBERTSON: It is a mixed city and it gets on, for the most part.

YAHAV: It's the only mixed city in the world, which is exercising for more than a hundred years full peace between Jews and Arabs.

ROBERTSON: So, let me ask you this question then. There's diplomacy going on in Geneva right now with the Iranian foreign minister, some European foreign ministers. President Trump right now has said he's going to wait two weeks before he makes a decision what to happen next. What are you hoping for from these different diplomatic pieces?

YAHAV: Peace, that a peace treaty will come out of it.

ROBERTSON: And President Trump waiting two weeks to make a decision. What do you think about that?

YAHAV: It's too much.

ROBERTSON: Why?

YAHAV: Because we have no time. You see what's going in the middle time.

ROBERTSON: Well, there's more destruction.

YAHAV: They have to sit now and negotiate and design a treaty. It's not a big deal, and do it.

ROBERTSON: In your understanding, President Trump's analysis of what's going on. It's giving time for diplomacy, it appears. Are you happy with what you hear from him? Because one day it seems to be his leaning towards the military action, another day seems to be leaning towards diplomacy. What's your sense?

YAHAV: A fixed answer I can get from Trump, and this bothers me.

ROBERTSON: Why?

YAHAV: Because I like stability. And I think that he has to give me this, such stability.

ROBERTSON: Your leaders here don't want to push him one way or another in the country.

YAHAV: Talk to them. Why you interview me?

ROBERTSON: When you walk away from this now, what's next? How do you keep the city working and functioning? Because I hear from your teams, you have a very clear directive in 24 hours, I want the city looking normal again. But why is that? YAHAV: Because you can't live in the middle of a war. People don't like it. People are worried about their kids, the income, no income in war.

ROBERTSON: I've seen photographs where there's been a bomb one night and repairs by the morning. It's about resilience. Speak to me about the resilience.

YAHAV: Yes. There was a bomb which destroyed the whole area, and I stood there and I stood five hours. And after five hours, it was totally repaired. And people who came there, got up in the morning and took the car and moved over there, didn't believe that there was a war there.

ROBERTSON: But just so we understand, this is so that you can -- so that the population doesn't get psychologically beaten down, so that they can put up with this over a period of time.

YAHAV: This is the most important thing in the war.

ROBERTSON: Which?

YAHAV: Keep them normal people. Otherwise, they will run away from here. And if they will run away from here, there will be a lot of disorder all over.

ROBERTSON: And how is the city, how are the people of this city handling this?

YAHAV: Look, I'm telling you, nobody's leaving the city. Ask me, how do I know it? And I'll answer you --

ROBERTSON: How do you know it?

YAHAV: I am running the water system.

ROBERTSON: And the same amount of water's getting used.

You can't feel good in a situation like this but do you feel that you are -- I mean, what do you feel that the city could do better?

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What do you want to do better? What is it?

YAHAV: The city does well, the people are very obedient. They behave fabulous. I love them.

ROBERTSON: Sir, thank you very much. You go back to helping them. Thank you for speaking with us.

YAHAV: It's your first time you're in Haifa?

ROBERTSON: No, I've been here before in better days.

YAHAV: It's a special city. ROBERTSON: Yes. It's a special city. You have all the different communities, they live together, work together. Yes, that's special.

YAHAV: And it shows it's possible.

ROBERTSON: Thank you very much.

Wolf, that, I think, speaking to the mayor here, a man of huge experience in this city, the city's difficulties, its darker days and this is one of them, and of its better days. But I think you don't get a better analysis of how this city tries to cope than that.

BROWN: Yes, that was so ripping.

BLITZER: I just want to ask Nic, Nic, if the mayor is still there, Mayor Yona Yahav, I wonder if you could ask him. He pointed out correctly that Haifa is a mixed city. It's got a huge Jewish population, but also a large number of Israeli Arabs and Muslims live in Haifa as well. In previous confrontations with Arab countries, whether Jordan or Syria or Egypt, Haifa was usually avoided because of the large Arab population in the city. I wonder if you could ask him why he thinks Iran is directing missiles and rockets at Haifa with its significant Arab population there.

ROBERTSON: Wolf. I'm going to ask him. Mayor, I have another question, because my colleague, Wolf Blitzer, is speaking to me in my ear. I'm talking with Wolf Blitzer. You know, he raises a very good question. This is a city with a big Arab population, both Muslim and Christian. And we were in the church earlier today where there's an underground car park, the church, the priest has opened it for everyone.

YAHAV: If I had told you that this is the case, you wouldn't believe it.

ROBERTSON: So, previously, when there have been conflicts in the region, the aggressors against Israel avoid Haifa because it has a mixed population. It has a Muslim population. It has a Christian population. Wolf's question is, why do you think Iran is doing this now, is targeting Haifa?

YAHAV: They want to destroy the relation.

ROBERTSON: The relation between Arab and Jew and Christian?

YAHAV: To show that it's impossible, according to their conception. But we proved it a hundred years. It's possible. And nobody will break it. As long as I'm mayor here or play around.

ROBERTSON: And why do you have that success? Why is that success in keeping the communities together?

YAHAV: When I decided at the age of 12 to become mayor of Haifa.

ROBERTSON: You were an early starter.

YAHAV: Yes. I drew out ten jobs, which I have to go through. The first of it was to work with Teddy Kollek. You remember Teddy Kollek?

ROBERTSON: Yes.

YAHAV: The mayor of Jerusalem. And I succeeded to be the head of his office. So, he asked me, why did you come? So, I told him, I said, I'll give you the first idea. There is no fiscal system, which is putting taxes on honor, honor the people unlimited and especially the minorities. And this is what I'm doing 40 years. And in these elections, I won among the Arabs 92 percent. Have you ever had --

ROBERTSON: Is there another mayor in Israel who can have that same claim?

YAHAV: No, no.

ROBERTSON: So, what's your message to the other mayors in Israel to get this coexistence?

YAHAV: Behave nicely.

ROBERTSON: Do you think they're not behaving nicely?

YAHAV: No. They will return the apps (ph) and return it.

ROBERTSON: If you look after them, if you treat them well. But what does that mean? Because I was speaking to a young Arab last night and he was saying to me, look, I would -- I don't feel that this is my place, my country. He said, I feel -- and he lives in this city. What's your message to them?

YAHAV: I don't know if he was born here. If he was born here. This is not his answer. If he's a newcomer from --

ROBERTSON: No, he was born here.

YAHAV: He was born here? Yes. I'm very sad that he said. But I would like to meet him.

ROBERTSON: And sort it out. Thank you, Mayor.

Wolf, I think the search goes on. And, clearly, at the moment, I think we're going to expect the details on what has precisely happened to change, and we'll get them back to as soon as we do.

BLITZER: Nic Robertson in Haifa for us. I should point out that Haifa also has a very significant Israeli Jews population living there as well. Nic Robertson, thank you very, very much.

We'll take a quick break. We'll be right back.

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BROWN: A federal appeals court has ruled in President Trump's favor regarding control over thousands of members of California's National Guard.

So, for the very latest on this, we're joined by CNN Senior Legal Analyst Elie Honig. Elie, how big of a win is this for President Trump?

ELIE HONIG, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Well, it's huge, Pam, because it goes to presidential powers and the extent of them.

So, the core ruling here from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals is, yes, the federal courts do have some role in reviewing the president's decision to deploy the National Guard. However, the courts can't just second guess the president and overturn him if they disagree. The Court of Appeals says we, all of us here in the federal judiciary, we have to give very broad deference to the president.

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So, unless his decision is patently absurd or based on bad faith, then we have to step back and let the president exercise this power.

So, it's a big win for President Trump, as we know. He has sought at all turns to expand his executive authority, and this is a win for him.

BROWN: And there is a hearing today on the matter. What can we expect there?

HONIG: So, today they're going back into the district court, which is the federal trial court, to argue over the scope of exactly what the National Guard and other military forces can and cannot do.

Now, it's an ironclad principle of our legal system that the military cannot perform police law enforcement functions. They can't do arrests. They can't do interrogation, searches, and seizures.

Now, clearly, the National Guard can protect federal buildings. Both sides seem to agree on that. The question is, how about that in between? How about if federal law enforcement agents from ICE or the FBI is out making an arrest, can the National Guard then go with them and not do the arrest themselves, but form a protective perimeter around the arrest as it's happening?

So, today, they're going to get into the details of what the National Guard and perhaps other military forces can and cannot do on the streets.

BROWN: All right. Elie Honig, great to see you. Thank you so much.

HONIG: Thank you.

BLITZER: And coming up Iran is meeting with European powers in Geneva right now. Should the U.S. expect anything to come at this meeting if American officials aren't even at the table? That's next.

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