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The Situation Room

RFK Jr. Grilled on Capitol Hill; Trump Vents Anger at Israel and Iran; U.S. Braces For Iranian Cyberattacks. Aired 11:30a-12:p ET

Aired June 24, 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 following the latest developments out of the Middle East right now, the newly brokered cease-fire between Israel and Iran appearing to grow more fragile after both sides launched attacks that threaten to sink the deal just hours into it.

Those moves leading to a furious rebuke by President Trump. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We have -- we basically have two countries that have been fighting so long and so hard that they don't know what the fuck they're doing. Do you understand that?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: All right, joining us now, retired U.S. Army General David Petraeus. He was also director of the CIA and commander of the U.S. military's Central Command, which oversees the Middle East region.

General, thanks so much for joining us.

Let me get your immediate reaction to what we heard from the president this morning.

GEN. DAVID PETRAEUS (RET.), FORMER CIA DIRECTOR: Well, President Trump is obviously trying to reinforce the cease-fire that he essentially declared.

I'm not sure that either of the countries completely agreed with it when it was made, but Iran seemingly accepting this. They, of course, were engaged through (AUDIO GAP) and then we engaged directly with the Israelis. And Prime Minister Netanyahu, who had previously said that Israel was very close to achieving its objectives, appears to have accepted as well.

Yes, there was that exchange. The Iranians in particular launched five volleys of rockets, which killed at least four Israelis. They responded to that. But I think that now that this is a bit more solid, and we will see how it goes during the course of today, where you could see perhaps some further attacks on U.S. bases by Shia militias supported by Iran there, as we saw over the course of the last 24 hours, but with no American casualties.

BLITZER: General Petraeus, how long do you think this cease-fire can actually last?

PETRAEUS: Well, I think that the Iranians probably would be happy to be able to catch their breath to see what they have left.

One of the big questions out of this, in fact, priority intelligence requirement number one, or at least after are there any further threats to U.S. facilities, personnel and so forth in the region, clearly has to be, is there any highly enriched uranium left, and are there any of the centrifuges left as well? That's a big question.

[11:35:00]

Did we really penetrate down into those spaces? I think the Massive Ordnance Penetrator is an incredible weapon system. We reportedly dropped 12 on them -- of them on the Fordow site alone, the deeply buried site. But we really need to figure out, does Iran have anything left?

That would be very, very important, especially if they were able to cart it away clandestinely and might be able to reestablish some enrichment capacity and take what was already highly enriched uranium, 60 percent, the next turn of the enrichment process to over 90 percent for weapons-grade.

BLITZER: General Petraeus, I want to play what the president said this morning when he was asked about Iran's nuclear facilities. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Iran will never rebuild its nuclear -- from there? Absolutely not. That place is under rock. That place is demolished. The B-2 pilots did their job. They did it better than anybody could even imagine.

They hit late in the evening. It was dark with no moon, and they hit that target with every one of those things, and that place is gone.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Can we definitively say, General Petraeus, that these facilities have been completely destroyed, completely gone?

PETRAEUS: Well, first of all, it was a very, very impressive U.S. operation following on very impressive Israeli operations. Of course, by the end, the Israelis were flying free. They had destroyed all the strategic air and ballistic missile defenses that Iran had.

That said, I think the president probably is correct that the damage to Fordow means that what they would do if they need to rebuild the program is do it somewhere else. And there have actually been rumors at various times that there is another deeply buried site somewhere out there.

And, again, I'm sure that intelligence officials are working very, very hard to confirm or deny that. So, again, Fordow, I'm sure the damage is so very substantial that it would be unwise to rebuild that particular facility, and also probably structurally unsound. But if there is HEU somewhere else, highly enriched uranium, and if some centrifuges were moved before these strikes on the different facilities, that's another matter.

And that, again, will be a very key intelligence question that has to be determined in the days and weeks that come.

BLITZER: In an official statement, Israel says it has accomplished its goals in Iran ahead of this cease-fire deal. How does this square with the possibility that Iran could still have enriched uranium?

PETRAEUS: Well, I'm sure that the Israelis are ready to go after that, if that is the case.

I think -- I'm not sure all of us get quite how significant 10/7 was and this change in the strategic mind-set of the Israelis, that they will not allow a threat to be established, not just in their neighbors, in their neighborhood with Hezbollah in Lebanon or Hamas or the others, but they will not allow a threat to be established in the region if it is one that can actually threaten their security, as Iran's capabilities clearly had done.

BLITZER: I want to get your reaction, General Petraeus, to something the former U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said about how the Biden administration war-gamed a potential military conflict with Iran.

I'm quoting now. "In that scenario, the Iranian regime could hide its near-weapons-grade material, green-light weaponization, and sprint toward a bomb. Thus, Mr. Trump's strike has risked precipitating what we want to prevent."

How big of a risk is that? What do you think, General Petraeus?

PETRAEUS: Well, I don't think you can dismiss the risk, as I have obviously described. And, again, that's why the intelligence authorities have to pursue this.

But the damage overall to the entire nuclear enterprise, two dozen or so nuclear scientists, the facilities in which they did their work, all of the different enrichment sites and storage sites, again, the damage done by the combination of Israeli and U.S. strikes is very, very substantial. And I think it will be very difficult, unless there is some other site out there, and that's never been confirmed, to which they took some of the highly enriched uranium and some of the centrifuges.

That would be the worst-case. And that clearly, again, is the question of the day. BLITZER: In another important development today, General Petraeus,

the president is on his way right now to the NATO summit in the Netherlands. He says he'd like to see a deal with Russia ahead of that summit, and we're now learning he plans to meet with the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, on the sidelines of the NATO summit.

Could the momentum from this recent cease-fire help facilitate a deal?

PETRAEUS: Only if the U.S. and all the other European countries that are members of NATO would do so much more for Ukraine that they could change the dynamic on the battlefield and finally convince President Putin that he cannot achieve further objectives at acceptable costs.

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And he's been willing to take enormous costs, as you know, assessing about a million wounded and killed over the course of this latest war, and 500,000 of those unable to return to the front lines because they were killed or so seriously wounded.

BLITZER: General David Petraeus, as usual, thank you so much for joining us.

PETRAEUS: Thanks, Wolf.

BLITZER: Right now, across the United States, hospitals, dams, and power plants are on high alert for potential cyberattacks from Iran. They could all be targets after the U.S. airstrikes on the Iranian nuclear facilities.

CNN cybersecurity reporter Sean Lyngaas is joining us right now. He's here with me in THE SITUATION ROOM.

Sean, what more can you tell us about these potential threats on U.S. soil?

SEAN LYNGAAS, CNN CYBERSECURITY REPORTER: Right, Wolf.

Well, the Iranians are pretty capable in cyberspace. They're not quite as advanced as Russia or China or the U.S., but that doesn't mean they can't do damage. In the past, we have seen opportunistic cyberattacks by the Iranians against hospitals, against water facilities.

After the October 7 Hamas attacks on Israel, Iran scanned the Internet for vulnerable equipment, and they found some in a small town outside of Pittsburgh, and they disrupted a water dam, a water facility briefly there.

So they're capable. They're also a little less predictable than Russia and China in cyberspace. I mean, and these guys really want attention. Part of the play is psychological. They want people to write about their cyberattacks. They want to instill some sort of fear in their victims. And so, when I talk to critical infrastructure executives across the country and U.S. government officials, they are trying to preach vigilance and say, OK, let's not let them win in this game of trying to psych us out. It's a very real threat, but it's one that has to be put in the proper

context, Wolf.

BLITZER: And, as you know, Sean, the Department of Homeland Security here in Washington is also warning of threats against U.S. officials on U.S. soil. What are you learning about that?

LYNGAAS: Yes, we obtained a bulletin, intelligence bulletin, from the Department of Homeland Security on Sunday that said basically the Iranians have not given up their quest to avenge the killing of Qasem Soleimani in 2020 by the U.S. military.

We have known there have been assassination plots against current and former U.S. officials, to include the president of the United States. And so that threat is still there. But what DHS analysts say is that it's kind of contingent on how Iran perceives their threat to them. And so it's something that we're going to be watching very closely, Wolf.

BLITZER: Clearly, the U.S. is on alert for threats like that.

Thanks very much, Sean Lyngaas, for that update.

We're joined now by CNN national security analyst, former Deputy Director of National Intelligence Beth Sanner.

Beth, thanks very much for coming in.

How concerning is this Department of Homeland Security bulletin that has been released warning of potential attacks by Iran on U.S. soil?

BETH SANNER, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Well, I think it was really very, very important on Sunday. And it's still important, but it's a little bit less, I think, tense now, given that we are in this area of a cease-fire, right?

And that can change. But certainly I don't think it's in Iran's interest to conduct an attack that can be attributed back to them during this period of time, because they want to make sure the United States doesn't go back to war.

BLITZER: How big of a threat does there have to be for the Department of Homeland Security to issue a bulletin warning of this kind of potential attack?

SANNER: Well, I mean, look, there have been active threats by Iranians, by Iranian proxies using U.S. criminal groups like the Hells Angels to conduct these kinds of attacks in the United States.

We have caught them before, and we know that they are actively trying to do these things. So I think it's pretty serious when they issue these sorts of things, and it's important for Americans to be aware. But, look, we have a lot of things in our country right now that would cause people to go and want to conduct terrorist attack.

And so I think, just across the board, it's probably a good idea for people just to remain alert.

BLITZER: Very good idea, indeed.

And at the same time all of this is happening, the FBI, we're now, told is scaling back the number of agents it assigned originally to help with immigration enforcement to ensure that there are enough people out there to focus on potential threats coming from Iran. Is it normal to see a shift in resources in situations like this?

SANNER: I think it is.

But that's also an expression of the fact that there was already a shift, a really big shift, to focus on immigration at the expense of other things. And this is what we do in government sometimes is, the pendulum swings and it swings too far and then we have to bring it back again. And you hope that, when it swings, we have time to bring it back again.

And at the same time, Wolf, because of all of the things happening, we are seeing just a mass exodus of expertise in our U.S. government in the national security sphere. If I was at CIA today, I could go to a retirement ceremony every day all day long.

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So we are seeing a hemorrhaging of senior executives, of people who really know what they're doing in all of these agencies, and I do worry about the hollowing out of our capabilities in some areas.

BLITZER: That is so, so concerning when I hear about this hollowing out that's going on, people simply leaving with the expertise that is needed to deal with these kinds of threats.

SANNER: Yes.

BLITZER: That's really worrisome.

According to a new CNN poll, by the way, 58 percent, let me just get that number right, 58 percent of Americans say these strikes by the U.S. against Iran will make Iran more of a threat to the United States. What do you think of that?

SANNER: I think that poll was probably taken before the cease-fire, and so we will have to see how people react and shift. A lot of this is about messaging from leaders.

But as you were just talking with General Petraeus, there is this risk that Iran over time and over a long period of time, I'm not talking about tomorrow, I'm talking years, could reconstitute their program. But enough damage has been done.

But I think the key thing here is that this administration now focuses on getting Iran to the negotiating table, so we can actually move to the next phase in the Middle East of having a more peaceful and stable region. But there are more steps to come.

BLITZER: A lot more steps to come. We will see what happens.

Beth Sanner, thank you very much for coming in.

SANNER: Thanks.

BLITZER: And, right now, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is testifying up on Capitol Hill. The heated moments between him and lawmakers, that's coming up.

And next: President Trump pushes back on Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's calls for his impeachment.

We will be right back.

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BLITZER: New this morning, President Trump is lashing out at Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. The New York Democrat has called for his impeachment after the weekend airstrikes on Iran's nuclear sites.

And just a short time ago, the president fired back on social media, invoking a famous line from Clint Eastwood. I'm quoting the president right now: "She and her Democrat friends have just hit the lowest poll numbers in congressional history. So go ahead and try impeaching me. Again, make my day" -- end quote.

Happening now, the health and human services secretary is testifying up on Capitol Hill, and things are getting very heated, as lawmakers confront RFK Jr. over his controversial leadership at the department. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. FRANK PALLONE (D-NJ): The bottom line is here we have no transparency. We have no response -- you feel no responsibility to Congress whatsoever. And you just continue this ideology that's anti- science, anti-vaccine. That's all I see. I see nothing else, and I don't think I'm ever going to get a response. And so I'm going to have to have to ask...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Will the gentleman yield?

PALLONE: My time is up.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, I know -- this is Mr. Chairman, this is the committee of jurisdiction.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The gentleman has yielded. The chair now recognizes the vice chair of the committee, of the subcommittee, for five minutes of questioning.

Dr. Dunn. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.

REP. NEAL DUNN (R-FL): And thank you, Secretary Kennedy, for being with us today.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: All right, joining us now, CNN medical correspondent Meg Tirrell.

Meg, what are we also hearing from Secretary Kennedy this morning?

MEG TIRRELL, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Wolf, a lot of questions.

Even though this is a budget hearing presumably about next year's budget for the Department of Health and Human Services, we're getting a lot of questions about what's already happened in the few months' tenure of RFK Jr. as health secretary already, a lot of questions about vaccine policy, including changes to COVID vaccine recommendations that got a lot of consternation for not going through normal processes and consulting normal advisers within health agencies, also, of course, budget cuts and cuts to personnel.

Here is an exchange from the top of the hearing around what's going on with vaccines even this week. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PALLONE: I expressed deep concerns with your nomination, Secretary Kennedy, and somehow, unfortunately, you have exceeded my expectations in the worst possible ways.

You're actively undermining vaccines, the greatest public health achievement in modern history. It's clear that you do not intend to uphold the commitments you made to the Senate during your confirmation process to not take away people's access to vaccines. Instead, I believe you intend to use your position to advance your dangerous pseudoscience agenda and put the lives of Americans and especially children at risk.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TIRRELL: And, of course, this comes after Secretary Kennedy dismissed the entire panel of outside vaccine advisers to the CDC, 17 experts who were serving on that panel, and appointed eight new members, many of whom public health experts have called out for concerning approaches toward vaccines.

And even this week, Senator Bill Cassidy, who was an instrumental vote in approving Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as health secretary, called for this meeting of outside advisers to the CDC to be postponed because of concerns that he had over the membership. This meeting is supposed to take place tomorrow and Thursday.

We will see how the secretary potentially responds to those calls, but even just now, a really fiery exchange with Representative Kim Schrier, a physician, who said that vaccines for measles, meningitis and pertussis, she was worried kids wouldn't be getting anymore. And she was saying any deaths from those diseases, she was going to lay at the secretary's feet -- Wolf.

BLITZER: So this vaccine panel that he's appointed, supposed to be tomorrow, do most of these new members of this so-called vaccine panel oppose vaccines?

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TIRRELL: Well, they don't say that they oppose vaccines full stop, but some of the positions that they have put out there, particularly about the COVID vaccines, go against the evidence.

Some have called for them to be removed from the market, suggesting, against the evidence, that they contributed to the deaths of young people, for example. So there are a lot of concerning views that folks have pointed out about these panel members, as well as some of the people who are presenting at the meeting, Wolf.

We learned yesterday one of the people presenting is a former leader of Children's Health Defense, which was the anti-vaccine organization that Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. formerly led before he became health secretary.

BLITZER: All right, we will watch what happens tomorrow.

Meg Tirrell, as always, thank you very, very much.

And, to our viewers, thanks very much for joining us this morning. You can always keep up with us on social media @WolfBlitzer and @PamelaBrownCNN. We will see you back here tomorrow, every weekday morning 10:00 a.m. Eastern.

"INSIDE POLITICS WITH DANA BASH" today is coming up next right after a short break.