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What We Know with Max Foster

Israel And Iran Widen Their Targets In New Wave Of Attacks; Israel- Iran Conflicts Looms As World Leaders Gather In Canada; Minnesota Shooter Charged With Two Counts Of Murder; President Donald Trump Calls For Expanded Deportation Efforts; Trump Family Launches New Phone Service: Trump Mobile. Aired 3-4p ET

Aired June 16, 2025 - 15:00   ET

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

[15:00:20]

MAX FOSTER, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST: Expanding and intensifying, Israel and Iran are ramping up their attacks on each other as the conflict escalates.

This is WHAT WE KNOW.

This was the scene earlier in Tel Aviv, where Israel's air defenses scrambled to intercept a new Iranian attack. Israeli officials say at least

24 people have been killed by Iranian missiles that penetrated the Iron Dome defense shield.

Iran's health ministry says at least 224 people, most of them civilians, have been killed since Israel launched a wave of strikes on Friday. Iran's

state media was hit in an Israeli attack while this television anchor was broadcasting live. It happened after Israel issued an evacuation warning

for Tehran.

Our Nick Paton Walsh joins us now.

And this is a, you know, difficult part in the day, isn't it, because it's when things start happening.

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. I mean, potentially, we could see a resumption of an Iranian barrage against

Israel. They're certainly threatened. A significant response after some of the images you saw there in Tehran. That was interesting -- the strike on

the state broadcaster, Israel, saying that it was actually a cover for some kind of Iranian military activity. No evidence provided to support that

statement.

But clearly, those images will have huge shock wave of fear across the Iranian capital. That district three, where the building is under an

evacuation order from the Israeli military, reminiscent to what we saw in southern Beirut in the campaign against Hezbollah and Lebanon last summer.

But increasingly, images now emerging of the toll inside Iran, some of it against civilians. Here's what we know.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WALSH (voice-over): Screams echo across the ordinary streets of Tehran. The horrors in Iran are harder to find video of, but it's hard to watch when

you do.

A deputy foreign minister posting this damage to his ministry. Several civilians injured, he said.

Israel's defense minister clarified Monday he meant no harm to Tehran's residents when he said earlier the city would burn unless Iran's missiles

stop. But many have seen flames already and are fleeing the capital. Nothing like this before in their lifetimes.

In the western city of Kermanshah, state media posted images of the intensive care unit of a hospital damaged. The IDF told CNN they were,

quote, not aware of any attack that happened on a hospital in Iran, end quote. And it's unclear if anyone was hurt.

But numbers Iran's health ministry have given speak of just how wide scale the Israeli onslaught has been. Over 200 dead, 90 percent civilians since

Friday, they said. But each number is its own story, many from the youth that the West sees as the hope for Iran's post-ayatollah future.

This is Tara Kashmiri (ph) dancing at the dentist killed alongside her family, said state media.

Also, Nelufar Galavant (ph), big in gyms and social media age 31, killed alongside her parents.

And Parnia Abbasi, a poet aged 23, killed with her parents and brother. Her poem, "The Extinguished Star reads, "You and I will come to an end

somewhere. The most beautiful poem in the world falls quiet."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Such a difficult time, isn't it, for ordinary Iranians watching all this unfold? I mean, what hope is there that there might be some talks to

resolve this?

WALSH: I mean, certainly what President Trump keeps repeatedly referring back to suggesting that maybe some kind of diplomacy could get this

conflict to stop and that the Iranians simply need to sign on to kind of some kind of worse deal.

But you have to bear in mind here, were seeing Israel finally with air superiority over western Iran and Tehran with a long list, I'm sure, of

military infrastructure. It would like to degrade as the euphemistic word, but basically take out in the coming days. Are they really going to agree

to a diplomatic off ramp when they still potentially see Iran being a threat in the decades ahead? Or are they, as we've seen them do in the

past, going to continue to prosecute their military goals and then turn to diplomacy when they've essentially done what they always wanted to?

FOSTER: Nick, thank you so much.

Let's go straight to Jeremy Diamond. He's live in Tel Aviv.

What's the atmosphere like as we head into the evening, Jeremy?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Well, Max, I'm certainly coming to you from a city on edge, a city that is anxious to see what more

tonight will bring. As we have seen over the past three nights, barrages of Iranian ballistic missiles fired at cities in central and northern Israel.

[15:05:01]

And it has been a quite deadly period, especially when you think in terms of the casualties that Israelis are accustomed to from rocket attacks. This

has certainly surpassed anything that Israelis have seen since the 1991 Gulf War, when here in Tel Aviv, Scud missiles tore through apartment

buildings, and we are indeed starting to see very similar scenes over the past three days. You know, early in the early hours of this morning, we

rushed to the site of a ballistic missile attack in Tel Aviv, where ten people were injured. They only survived because of those bomb shelters that

they rushed into. As those air raid sirens sounded.

But in Petah Tikva, just northeast of Tel Aviv, several people were not so lucky as there were several confirmed fatalities. Altogether, ten people in

Israel lost their lives last night amid this barrage of ballistic missiles from Iran, and it is unclear at this stage what will come tonight. But

certainly, Israelis are bracing for more ballistic missiles.

Already tonight, there was an instruction to remain near shelters. That instruction was later cleared about 45 minutes or so later, and we should

note that as all of this is happening, the Israeli military is certainly continuing to conduct a range of airstrikes inside of Iran.

And the real question now is what will the end game actually be? The Israeli prime minister earlier today, you know, he refused to take off the

table entirely. The notion of trying to kill the Iranian supreme leader, something that we understand President Trump was privately opposed to. But

there are broader questions about what Israel is actually trying to accomplish and what it can accomplish, critically, from a military

standpoint.

Already, it seems that dismantling Iran's nuclear program entirely is not something that the Israeli military can accomplish on its own, not without

the help of the U.S. military, not without perhaps a diplomatic agreement with Iran from a weakened position. Neither of those right now seem clear

that they are in the offing, nor does any kind of off ramp at this stage -- Max.

FOSTER: Jeremy in Tel Aviv, thank you.

The battle between Israel and Iran escalating as the G7 summit gets underway in Canada. Leaders there are looking to President Trump to stop

the missiles flying but he told reporters today in Canada that Iran needs to make a deal, quote, before it's too late. This comes after Trump

suggested that the U.S. could possibly get involved in the conflict.

So, what we want to know is, will the U.S. join Israel in attacking Iran?

Joining me now, Aaron David Miller, a former U.S. State Department Middle East negotiator. He's also a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for

International Peace.

Thank you for joining us.

What do we know about Americas involvement at the moment? Because there are those that will say they're already involved because they're helping defend

Israel, but also that Israel is using American weapons.

AARON DAVID MILLER, FORMER U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT MIDDLE EAST NEGOTIATOR: Well, both clearly are true. I mean, F-35s -- RF-35s being flown by. U.S.

pilots are supporting Israel, in drone and ballistic missile attacks as our Aegis cruisers, THAAD, the terminal high altitude defense, Patriot

missiles.

So, yeah, I mean, I think there's a robust sort of commitment on the part of the Trump administration following along the lines of Joe Biden, maybe

the coordination isn't as intimate or as integrated as it was, given the fact that the Biden administration had a year-plus of interaction with the

Israelis on several fronts.

And there's political cover. I mean, let's be clear, when the tick-tock is done and investigative journal pieces, journalist pieces together exactly

what Benjamin Netanyahu asked Donald Trump to do on that fateful Thursday, it seems to me, based on the timeline, that Donald Trump simply played a

part in the very important Israeli ruse to persuade Iran that the attack would not come at the earliest. When yesterday's meeting that was supposed

to take place between Witkoff and Foreign Minister Araghchi, now canceled, was due to take place in Oman.

And I think the Iranians were caught unprepared. And this was critically important for the Israeli decapitation strategy, which was the first phase

of this operation. I see no sense, no headline, no trend line where there's going to be a lot of pressure from the United States on Benjamin Netanyahu

to stop what the Israelis are doing. They have air supremacy. And frankly, right now, since the Europeans aren't standing up either, and --

FOSTER: Okay, sorry about that. We've obviously lost Aaron's audio there. We'll try to go back to him a bit later on.

But coming up, world leaders convene in Canada.

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As I say, as tensions flare between Iran and Israel, what we can expect from the G7 Summit, just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FOSTER: We were discussing the U.S.'s role in the Middle East conflict. Let's bring in Aaron David Miller, who got cut off earlier.

But the question I wanted to ask, Aaron, was the -- you know, there's a difference, obviously, between helping defend Israel and joining Israel's

attack on Iran. Are we anywhere near that?

MILLER: I don't think so. I think Donald Trump will go to great lengths to stay out of this. The problem is the longer it goes on, the greater the

chances of some event that would push the U.S. in.

Either the Iranians make it a decision which would be a strategically disastrous for them to attack American forces in Iraq or Syria or in the

Gulf, or you end up with a mass casualty event in Israel caused by a barrage of ballistic missiles. I mean, a real mass casualty event when

large numbers of Israelis are killed and wounded and the pressure mounts on Donald Trump again to come to Israel's defense.

But right now, as it stands, the longer this goes on, and the Israelis seem to me to be in no mood, with no motive and no constraints on them. Air

supremacy, political supremacy, support from Donald Trump to continue to do what they're doing. And that raises the question of what are -- what is

victory? What is Benjamin Netanyahu's conception of victory? Is it crippling, delaying the Iranian nuclear program, or is it something more

than that?

And total victory in Gaza -- he laid out and we're 18 months into this war and still no resolution. So, this is a critically important question. At a

minimum, the Americans should be -- Trump should be pressing Netanyahu, certainly by the first week in this war.

[15:15:00]

What exactly are your objectives? And what is your plan for extricating yourself from this? And us?

FOSTER: Yeah. Well, we'll see what happens tonight. We'll wait to hear what we hear from President Trump as well after the G7.

Aaron, thank you so much for that.

The conflict in the Middle East expected to dominate those discussions at the G7. They're meeting in Canada. The Israel-Iran conflict now in its

fourth day and intensifying.

We're learning that leaders are working on a joint statement calling for de-escalation. A senior Canadian official pushed back on any sort of rumors

that it wouldn't be signed by everyone.

For more on this, let's go to Paula Newton. I mean, there's a suggestion, isn't there, Paula, that President Trump isn't going to sign? Do we know

what was in it and what issue he has with that document?

PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I think he's definitely leaning -- I think he's definitely leaning towards not signing that. Having said that,

Canadian officials are saying, look, we haven't even had this discussion yet. That's not happening for several hours until this evening.

The European leaders in particular want him to sign into something to suggest that de-escalation here is the route. Now, Donald Trump himself

said that he had given Iran 60 days in order to negotiate. I want you to listen to him now in terms of where he sees things standing. He said this

during his bilateral meeting with prime minister mark carney. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: They have to make a deal, and it's painful for both parties. But I'd say Iran is not winning this war.

And they should talk, and they should talk immediately before it's too late.

REPORTER: And what would you say, in your opinion, what would it take for the U.S. to get involved in this conflict militarily?

TRUMP: I don't want to talk about that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: You know, very clear there. I'm not saying I don't want to talk about that, because that would clearly be an escalation. It's clear that

President Trump still favors de-escalation.

I think the question is, though, how long he would allow this to go on? And that is the crux of the statement that the Europeans want to get on the

table, right? The fact that this should end immediately or as soon as possible. I'm not sure that the president is at this hour willing to sign

on to that. And there is the other issue of whether or not Russia could really be a party to de-escalation here, or any kind of negotiated

settlement.

The United States is the only power on the around the table actually saying that that is even a possibility. Having said that, it is clear that Donald

Trump is open to listening. If he wasn't opening, to listen to listening. Max, he didn't even confirm his attendance at this summit until the last

few weeks. And not only is he attending the summit, he's attending the summit from beginning to end.

I can tell you at this hour, right now, eight leaders around the table, because it is the seven leaders plus the E.U. This is an intimate setting

without a lot of interruptions right now, and they can speak openly and frankly and decide whether or not a statement is necessary and whether it

will be a G6 or G7 signing on to that statement.

FOSTER: We were hearing earlier from Aaron David Miller that the Europeans aren't standing up to this conflict. They're not effectively, part of the

conversation. Is that the sense you're getting from there? You know, they're not trying to get involved in it at this point. That is true. And

yet they understand what is at risk.

And remember, Max, it's not just what is at risk in the Middle East, which all of those European leaders are aware, especially given the military

assets that all of them have across the Middle East. It is also the issue of the global economy. That is what the discussion is supposed to be about

right now.

You don't have to look any further than oil prices. I mean, Max, yes, the oil price is down a little bit now, but you have to think it was $9 lower

just this time last week.

So given the sense of what's at stake, given the fact you're already dealing, European leaders are dealing with a war on their doorstep with

Ukraine and Russia. You were dealing with the situation in Gaza, where Canada, the U.K., France and even Germany coming out quite strongly against

Israel in terms of what was going on in Gaza. And now you add this discussion, what would be in it for European leaders to have this escalate

in any way? They just don't see a path, a path forward in that sense.

I will say, though, that in terms of actually getting any words, any rhetoric, any statement, what would that be worth in the first place?

Remember that Canadian officials, Mark Carney specifically pulled away from having any joint communique on any issue they wanted clear, focused

statements on things leading to national security issues for all the countries and the economy. Not this.

So, look, this this is in the leaders' laps right now. They couldn't have predicted this even a week ago. And here they are trying to grapple with

yet another issue that is nuanced and incredibly complicated, even for the American president, who is himself trying to understand how much of the

United States leverage he wants to use or capital he wants to expend on this conflict.

FOSTER: Paula Newton, we'll see what comes out of it. Thank you.

Now, prosecutors and police are revealing more about what they -- what appears to have been a pair of politically motivated attacks in Minnesota

over the weekend.

[15:20:06]

Two Minnesota Democratic legislators and their spouses were shot on Saturday. Police arrested Vance Boelter late on Sunday and found a long

list of additional targets, as well as multiple assault rifles and other weapons.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE THOMPSON, ACTING U.S. ATTORNEY: It is no exaggeration to say that his crimes are the stuff of nightmares. Boelter stalked his victims like prey.

He went to their homes, held them out as a police officer, and shot them in cold blood.

Officers recovered Boelter's nine millimeter beretta, along with the body armor and the mask behind the home along his path of flight when he fled on

foot. They later searched Boelter's car, where they found five more firearms, including assault style rifles and a large quantity of

ammunition. Boelter also had in his car notebooks containing a list of more than 45 Minnesota state and federal elected officials.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Danny Freeman is tracking this story for us from Minnesota. I saw you earlier speaking to people on the ground, living on the ground, having

their lives disrupted. Everyone was so keen to find this guy and thankfully they did.

But what's the process now? How do we find out what this was all about?

DANNY FREEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Max, to be perfectly honest, we just had a press conference not too long ago with the acting U.S. attorney here in

Minneapolis, and we learned quite a lot of new details about what Mr. Boelter here was actually planning when he was allegedly committing these

acts on the morning of Saturday, just a few days ago. The most shocking thing that we learned was that this man not only went to, allegedly,

Senator John -- State Senator John Hoffman's house and shot him and his wife, and he not only went to state Representative Melissa Portman's home

and shot her and her husband.

But, Max, officials here revealed that he also went to two other state lawmakers in this area and tried to allegedly do the same thing to those

people as well. That was new information that we had not learned about.

So, it was not just that he had this list in his car of many, many names, mostly Democratic lawmakers and other organizations in the state. But also,

he actually went to those homes. And perhaps this would have been even more destructive had it not been for the second lawmaker he visited appeared to

not be home. And by the time he got to the third lawmaker's home, there was so much police activity in the area that it seems like he may have

hesitated and gone on to that final victim's home.

So that was new that we just learned. He also just made his first court appearance in federal court, not far from where we are in Saint Paul,

Minnesota. And during that court appearance, he was in an orange jumpsuit. He was wearing slippers, but he had no shackles on.

And it was a pretty short hearing. All in all, he said that he cannot afford a private attorney because he has just a part time job at this

point, making $540 a week. He owns his own home, and he also noted that he has seven cars in his name, Max, though he noted that a few of his kids'

cars might be in his name.

But ultimately, another court date has been set for the later part of this month. That was what we learned from the federal court appearance. But to

your point, there's been so much fear, not just for those residents in that rural part of Minnesota that we were in yesterday as this manhunt was

ongoing. But there's been so much fear from state lawmakers and just this larger Minnesota community about the horrific nature of these shootings.

I want you to take a listen to how the acting U.S. attorney really was processing this moment and the severity of the crimes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

THOMPSON: I mean, this was a political assassination, which is not a word we use very often in the United States, let alone here in Minnesota. It's a

-- it's a chilling attack on our democracy, on our way of life. It's only the most recent example of violent political extremism in this country. And

that's a trend that's been increasing in recent years. And it's unfortunate, and I hope it's a wake-up call to everyone that people can

disagree with you without being evil or needing to be killed or hurt.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FREEMAN: Now, Max, during that press conference, I asked the acting U.S. attorney if they were any closer to understanding a motivation why this man

allegedly committed these crimes, and he said they still don't really know. All they know is that it was clear that this had been planned for likely

many, many months and that he clearly wanted to murder people -- Max.

FOSTER: I mean, the reference there to the divisiveness in American politics right now, presumably they're looking at any links he had as well

to see if there are other people with similar thoughts.

FREEMAN: Yeah, I think that's a fair statement.

[15:25:01]

And listen, the acting U.S. attorney acknowledged that these were all elected officials, that these were largely Democratic elected officials,

specifically the lawmakers that were immediately targeted early on Saturday morning. But you can tell there's a hyper vigilance right now, certainly

across Minnesota, and certainly for elected officials, because of the intense nature of this list.

And it was very interesting. We're starting to get trickles of other lawmakers who have publicly acknowledged that they were the ones who were

targeted early that morning, and the U.S. attorney, notably, was not willing himself to give up that information only because he said, these

people, despite being public figures, they still want to try and keep private the fact that they were on this essential hit list, essentially a

hit list from over the weekend.

So, it's incredibly troubling, and I think everyone is clear minded that this was a political assassination and assassination attempt. And they're

behaving in accordance by ramping up security again across the state, Max.

FOSTER: Okay. Danny, thank you.

Still to come, the deadly conflict between Israel and Iran intensifying with new attacks. More casualties reported. We'll assess if Tehran has the

means to keep fighting Israel's powerful military. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FOSTER: The deadly conflict between Israel and Iran continues to escalate as it nears its fifth day now. More casualties being reported on both

sides. Iran launched a new wave of missiles at Israel overnight, striking residential buildings, an Israeli oil refinery and power grid were also

hit.

Meanwhile, Israel has targeted several nuclear facilities inside Iran since Friday.

[15:30:03]

The IDF says it's also destroyed more than 120 Iranian missile launchers. What we don't know is how long Iran can sustain fighting with Israel.

Joining me now is Cedric Leighton. Of course, he's a military analyst for CNN and a retired U.S. Air Force.

Colonel, thank you so much for joining us, Colonel.

Obviously, Israel has done a lot of damage to the Iranian military ability, but clearly Iran still has a lot of power.

COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Yeah, that's so true, Max. And it's great to be with you again.

The key thing to think about here is that although the Israelis have done a significant amount of damage, as you mentioned, to the Iranian military

structure, not only physically destroying missile launch sites, some of them, as the missiles were about to be launched, but they've also

decapitated a large portion of the Iranian leadership, the senior leadership, both on the military side as well as on the intelligence side.

So that would include the Iranian revolutionary guards as well as the regular Iranian army.

So, the Israelis have done a significant job throughout all of Iran. However, 3,000 missiles is what the Iranian inventory was before this

conflict started. And now what you're seeing is the ability of the Iranians to not only store these missiles, but to hide some of them before the

Israelis can get at them and destroy them.

So, the Iranians have the capability to launch a lot of basically a lot of salvos against Israeli targets. And what you're seeing is, although the

Iron Dome and similar systems related systems are very, very good, there's basically about a 10 percent rate of penetration where the Iranian missiles

and drones can get through, 10 percent of them can get through, 90 percent are shot down or eliminated, but 10 percent is enough to cause a lot of

damage in Israel. And that's basically what we're seeing right now.

FOSTER: And traditionally, Iran would be able to rely on its proxies, but they've all been destabilized, haven't they, by Israel already. So, they

can't get that support. So, it's a real test of Iran itself.

LEIGHTON: It is. Yes. Well, one of the key things about this is, yes, most of the proxies have been destabilized in one way or the other. The area,

though, that we have to look at is Iraq and the so-called popular militias in Iraq that work for the Iranians in some cases, they are ones to watch,

and there's a possibility that they could be called upon to do some damage within Iraq or in neighboring countries.

So far, they have not. But that's definitely something to watch out for.

FOSTER: What a lot of people are asking is, will this turn into a wider war? Obviously, America is involved to some extent because its arming

Israel. It's defending Israel.

Iran's, you know, allies in the world tend to be North Korea, don't they? Russia, China. Is there any chance those countries will get involved in

this, which would be an escalation which would worry everyone, of course?

LEIGHTON: Yeah, it certainly would. I don't see Russian ground troops coming in and helping the Iranians at this particular point in time, but

we're not at that phase of the war.

I also don't see that happening with the North Koreans, although they have proven that they can bring troops into Russia to fight against Ukraine. So,

there's certainly that possibility. But at the moment I see that as being fairly remote. But it is something that the unexpected can always happen in

situations like this.

But even without them actually physically being present in Iran for combat operations, it's still possible for this war to get much wider and

potentially affect countries on the other side of the Persian Gulf, especially the Arabian Gulf States. So that could be an area where there

could be a spread of the hostilities.

And of course, you know, with Israel being where it is, the eastern mediterranean is, you know, an area where other things could happen in

spite of the demise of Hamas's capabilities as well as Hezbollah's capabilities in recent months.

FOSTER: If Iran decides to take out U.S. or even European military bases in the region, how would America respond, do you think?

LEIGHTON: I think America would have to respond forcefully to something like that. Max, I think if the Iranians did something like, let's say, go

after the American base in Qatar or the American bases in Kuwait or Bahrain, that would necessitate a major response from the U.S. itself.

So, it would be very dangerous for the Iranians to do that if it were a European base of some type in the Middle East, like, let's say, an RAF

facility or something like that. I think the response would be fairly strong from Great Britain as well. Britain would be the probably the

strongest responder in a case like this, but they could probably they would probably be backed up by the United States and members of the European

Union.

[15:35:05]

FOSTER: And can I ask you about Israel's strategy here? It does seem very targeted. Sadly, there have been many civilian lives lost in Iran from what

we get from state TV. But there's been a very precise effort, hasn't it? Those particular commanders, they've gone for particular sites. Do you? You

know, away from whether or not you think its a good idea for them to attack? Do you think they've attacked in an effective way?

LEIGHTON: Yes. I mean, from a purely technical standpoint, you'd have to say that they have been very effective. When you look at the fact that they

have decimated the senior operational ranks of both the military and the Iranian revolutionary guard corps, as well as nuclear scientists and

intelligence operatives and the key elements of their intelligence agencies.

That is clearly a targeted operation. Part of the problem that the Israelis often run into, whether it's in Iran or in Gaza or in Lebanon, is that a

lot of the facilities that they are going after are in populated areas. So, the fact that they are in populated areas makes it difficult for them to

avoid civilian casualties. But they can clearly, in my opinion, at least, do more to avoid those civilian casualties. And that, of course, is a

tragedy of this, of this war.

FOSTER: Colonel Leighton, always appreciate your expertise and sparing your time for this program. Thank you for joining us.

LEIGHTON: You bet, Max, any time.

FOSTER: Now, as the world turns its attention to Israel's conflict with Iran, the war rages on in Gaza. Of course, the Palestinian health ministry

says at least 20 people were killed whilst lining up for food aid today, or aid at least. It happened near an aid distribution site in Rafah in

southern Gaza. Around 200 people were killed. Israel has contested the death toll, accusing Hamas of causing much of the mayhem.

Still to come, Israel says recent attacks are aimed at destroying Iran's nuclear program, but it's also targeting regime change. Or is it? We'll

examine that straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:40:11]

FOSTER: The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, says he wouldn't rule out targeting Iran's supreme leader. In an interview with ABC News,

Netanyahu said potentially eliminating the supreme leader would end the conflict, not escalate it. He told Fox News his country's military

operation could certainly lead to regime change in Iran. But how likely is that?

While some Israeli officials and members of the U.S. congress say the time is right to overthrow the ruling clerical establishment, some experts say

the Israeli attacks may have the opposite effect, helping to galvanize Iranian anger towards Israel.

Earlier, Israel's president spoke to CNN. He was asked why Israel attacked Iran now when Tehran and Washington were engaged in talks on Iran's nuclear

program.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ISAAC HERZOG, ISRAELI PRESIDENT: The question is, what do you mean by peaceful, diplomatic? Because you can speak peaceful, diplomatic, and on

the other hand, underneath you move forward to the bomb. And that was exactly the situation. And let's -- let's not delude ourselves. For

decades, Iran has been spreading havoc, terror, hate, building a massive missile program and a massive nuclear program.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: My colleague Bianna Golodryga spoke to Israel's former defense minister as well, Yoav Gallant. He told her the U.S. has a vital role to

play in the Middle East, as Iran refuses to curb its nuclear ambitions.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

YOAV GALLANT, FORMER ISRAELI DEFENSE MINISTER: The United States of America and the president of the United States have an obligation to make sure that

the region is going to a positive way, and that the world is free from Iran that possessed nuclear weapon in the middle of the richest place in oil and

gas in the world. This could be a disaster for the world.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Joining us is Fawaz Gerges, professor of international relations at the London School of Economics.

Thank you for joining us, Fawaz.

I'm interested in this idea of -- the idea of regime change in Iran. That's clearly what Netanyahu suggested, wasn't it, in his speech? He was calling

out for an uprising effectively, wasn't he, amongst the Iranian people?

I just wanted to understand from you how much how popular the regime is, Iran, if you like. Is there a possibility there could be some sort of

uprising?

FAWAZ GERGES, PROFESSOR, INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS, LONDON SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS: Thanks for having me on the show, Max.

There is no doubt in my mind that there is so much opposition, political opposition inside Iran, in particular among young men and women. We have

seen hundreds of thousands of Iranians challenge the regime over the past two years. But there's a huge difference, huge distinction between

opposition to domestic policies by the clerics in Tehran and basically Iranians listening to the calls by Netanyahu and his extremist coalition to

instigate a civil war.

I just want to say a word, Max, to you, about Iran for your own viewers. Iran is not a colonially constructed state like Israel and Lebanon and

Syria. Iran is a civilisational state, thousands of years old. The Iranian people, 90 million people are very nationalistic, very proud of their

nation.

And they realize what Benjamin Netanyahu attacked is not just against their nuclear program. Benjamin Netanyahu war is against Iran as a state, as a

nation, against sovereignty. And everything we know about the Iranians, in fact, they're going to rally around the flag because their country, their

nation is under attack.

But of course, Benjamin Netanyahu and the hardliners in the United States are delusional. Have they defeated Hamas, a tiny little organization in the

past 19 months? Have they defeated Hezbollah? Hezbollah still now recovering.

Iran is a pivotal state. It could -- I mean, think of what Saddam Hussein did to Iran between 1980 and 1988, with the support of the West, thousands

of ballistic missiles on Tehran using chemical weapons. Yet Iran kept standing.

Iran will never surrender. Of course, the Israelis will do a great deal of damage. But at the end of the day, the question on the table, who's going

to absorb the pain more in the war of the cities, Israel or Iran? I can tell you for sure that Israel cannot absorb an attrition war in the long

term.

FOSTER: With all the other conflicts as well going on.

[15:45:01]

This talk about the Israelis taking out the supreme leader, do you think there's some truth to that? And what impact would it have if they were

successful?

GERGES: Well, I mean, why are we surprised? Israel has mastered the art of assassinating political leaders throughout the Middle East, the

Palestinians, the Lebanese. I mean, think about it. This is a strategic doctrine in Israel. In fact, they have already killed quite a few top

advisers, senior advisers to Ali Khamenei, and assassinated top nuclear scientists.

And I would not be surprised if they don't really assassinate Ali Khamenei. But this will not change the matrix. That's the reality.

Look at the end of the day, Max. I mean, we're talking about really a very direct, very simple thing. Israel is a nuclear armed state according to

American intelligence. Israel is the only state in the Middle East that has between 75 and 200 nuclear devices.

It has unilaterally attacked Iran, a country that's developing a nuclear program that was engaged in talks with the United States. Why? Because they

want to sabotage the talks in order to reach a diplomatic solution. They want to divert attention from the catastrophic situation in Gaza.

And of course, ultimately, Iran is the big prize for Netanyahu. They want to basically do a regime change, and Netanyahu could celebrate basically

changing the Middle East in his own name and his own image.

FOSTER: Professor Gerges, I appreciate your analysis and giving that point of view. Someone who knows Iran very well. Thank you so much.

Still to come tonight, a new smartphone, a mobile service with Trump. His name was all over it. Anyway, I will have a live report on the latest

business move from the U.S. president's family.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FOSTER: U.S. President Donald Trump is calling for an expansion of deportation efforts. On social media, President Trump called on Immigration

and Customs Enforcement to, quote, enforce the single largest mass deportation program in history.

The president said this should take place in cities such as Los Angeles, Chicago, New York. All those cities are run by Democrat mayors.

Joining us is CNN's Priscilla Alvarez.

Hi, Priscilla.

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Max.

Look, I have been talking to sources over the course of the day, and what they tell me is that there has already been an operation underway targeting

around two dozen Democratic-led cities.

Now, senior Trump officials have made no secret that they plan to target these cities, in part because some of them do limit cooperation with

federal immigration enforcement authorities. And that has angered and frustrated this administration, as it also frustrated other administrations

in the past. Now, White House border czar Tom Homan has said that he is willing to go into these communities to arrest migrants and what the

president seemed to be teasing there is an expansion of these efforts that are already underway.

Now, of course, this has sparked concern among some advocates and attorneys because as the administration and these officers target or rather try to

meet White House-imposed quotas, that means that they're really not targeting only public safety and national security threats, so much as

arresting as many people as they can. And that is a concern for many.

And what we have obtained is internal data that shows some of these, some of these charges and convictions that the administration often talks about

but doesn't fully detail, which is to say that in fiscal year 2025, which includes a few of the Biden administration months, but it was also

reflective of who's going into ICE custody, 75 percent had no criminal conviction, other than an immigration or traffic related offense. Less than

10 percent were convicted of serious crimes like murder, assault, rape or robbery.

So, what you can see here in the data is that the majority are still minor offenses. They're not serious convictions that the administration often

talks about. That's not to say its not happening. Of course, the administration has said that and provided examples of people with serious

criminal records who they have detained and in some cases, deported.

But it also goes to show that there are many that are coming into ICE custody that do not fit the description that the Department of Homeland

Security is often trying to project in its press releases. So, the administration clearly doubling down on its efforts both now and moving

forward and focusing on Democratic led cities. But it's also going to raise questions, as they do so as to who exactly is being subject to detention,

and after that, deportation -- Max.

FOSTER: Priscilla, thank you so much for that update. Finally, a new chapter in the U.S. president's financial empire.

Donald Trump's family has launched Trump Mobile, a new mobile service and $499 smartphone branded with the Trump name. Donald Trump Jr. says it's

part of a broader product rollout with service on major carrier networks and features like telemedicine and international texting. While the

president says he's handed business operations to his children to avoid conflicts of interest, the family continues to earn hundreds of millions

from tech, crypto and media ventures.

CNN tech editor Lisa Eadicicco joins us live from New York.

Is it a good product? I know about the brand.

LISA EADICICCO, CNN TECH EDITOR: So, we don't know yet. There's a lot of unanswered questions, but this really seems like an alternative to other

services from other carriers like Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile. It seems like what the Trump organizations product is trying to do here is provide an

alternative that it thinks will be cheaper and provide more value.

But I think the big thing that I noticed that kind of jumped out to me is the made in America branding, which is very central, of course, to the

Trump administration. But really here what we have is a big push to kind of cater to Trump's supporters with this made in America branding. And also,

again, it lines up with this pressure that President Trump has been putting on tech companies to move more of the tech industry to the United States.

So, we don't have a lot of answers just yet. But the press release does say that this new phone will be built and designed in the United States, and

that's a very challenging thing to do. A lot of experts I've spoken with on the subject in general of building phones in the United States say that its

difficult because a lot of the parts aren't produced here, and we just don't have the kind of labor that you have in other markets, like China and

India and elsewhere.

FOSTER: In terms of the conflict of interest. I mean, investors have an issue with this, or they actually probably look at it as a, you know,

you're going to get a good service because no one's going to mess with the president.

EADICICCO: It certainly raises a lot of questions. And you have to also remember that the telecom's industry is one that is pretty closely tied to

government regulation in the United States. The FCC does have a big say in things like how much spectrum is needed and how infrastructure is built and

maintained, and how 5G networks and next generation networks are going to be deployed and what resources go towards that. So, it definitely,

certainly raises some questions.

FOSTER: Okay. Lisa Eadicicco, really appreciate that. Thank you so much.

EADICICCO: Thank you.

FOSTER: This just in Iranian state media reporting a new wave of missiles and drones has been launched towards Israel. You're looking at the live

images right now. This is Tel Aviv you're looking at.

Iran threatening earlier it would launch the largest strike in history today. But Israel saying it knocked out more than a third of Tehran's

missile launchers. So, it certainly has a weakened position. But we're keeping an eye on the sky there.

And Richard will have more in "QUEST MEANS BUSINESS", which is up next.

That was WHAT WE KNOW.

END

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