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What We Know with Max Foster

White House: Trump To Decide On Action In Iran Within Two Weeks; What Is Israel's Timetable In Iran Conflict?; Presidents Xi And Putin Urge De-escalation; Palestinian Health Ministry: Scores Killed In Gaza Thursday; ICE Agents Denied Access To Dodger Stadium; Mexico Hit By Dangerous Category 3 Storm. Aired 3-4p ET

Aired June 19, 2025 - 15:00   ET

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

[15:00:31]

MAX FOSTER, CNN HOST: Donald Trump sets a two-week deadline. Then, he'll decide whether to strike Iran.

This is WHAT WE KNOW.

The U.S. president has a big decision then in the next fortnight, whether to launch a U.S. strike on Iran. That came in a briefing a short time ago,

delivered by his press secretary.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAROLINE LEAVITT, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Based on the fact that there's a substantial chance of negotiations that may or may not take place

with Iran in the near future, I will make my decision whether or not to go within the next two weeks.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: President Trump met again with his top national security aides in the Situation Room just a short while ago. We've also been hearing from

defense officials. They tell CNN the U.S. military has moved some assets, including planes and ships in the Middle East, and is also making sure

there's an extra blood supply amid threats from Iran.

CNN's Jeff Zeleny joins us now from Washington.

So, this is a considered process, as you'd expect. What are they weighing up, do you think, Jeff?

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF U.S. NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Max, it is significant that President Trump clearly is trying to slow this really what

had looked like a march to U.S. military involvement, not necessarily stopping it, but certainly slowing it. There had been a sense all week long

that members of his administration and many of his supporters, like Republican Senator Lindsey Graham and others, were urging the president to

act swiftly here and to effectively follow the lead of the Israeli military and go in for a final push, if you will, on the nuclear program.

But that clearly is not what the president is deciding, at least for the moment. But it's interesting that the White House had decided to say two

weeks. We have heard President Trump talk about two weeks on so many different occasions. Vladimir Putin, for example, just a couple of weeks

ago, he said he will give him two weeks to see how he behaves in Ukraine. And then we often don't hear anything about it.

So, we shall see if this two-week period is actual two weeks, or if it's a way to just sort of move this down the road even further. However, the

diplomacy is one thing the White House clearly wants to try one more time, but that's very much an open question how that would even work in terms of

having meetings with Iran. Of course, there have been five or six meetings at different levels before these strikes began about trying to negotiate a

way out of the nuclear program. But of course, everything has changed.

So as of now, the White House clearly wants to us to send the signal that the president, who's been long opposed to deepening engagement,

particularly in the Middle East, clearly is doing his due diligence here. But, Max, a very different feeling, this Thursday afternoon in Washington

than there was this morning, when it often seemed even the president's own words, that he was on the cusp of sending U.S. military strikes into Iran.

FOSTER: It does feel as if he's moving away from the idea of regime change and working with this regime to get what he wants. So just remind us what

Trump does want out of this.

ZELENY: Well, look what he's saying, what he wants out of it is an end to the Iran nuclear program. He said that there has to be some concrete

uranium enrichment changes that Iran cannot keep manufacturing nuclear materials. And he said Iran cannot obtain a nuclear weapon. But beyond

that, it's unclear exactly why there should be optimism to think that a deal could be struck here.

So, it is a bit of a pause button, if you will. But what's interesting, and well certainly learn more about this in the coming hours, is the president

acting sort of on his own here? He was clearly being advised by military advisers what the attack plan would look like.

But Steve Bannon, who is a longtime adviser to the president, was seen walking into the White House this morning. Steve Bannon, of course, kind of

a leader of the Make America Great Again movement, if you will, has been urging the president to not go forward with the war strike.

So, a deep divide in the president's own political coalition, if you will, here, of course, spilling out into a foreign affairs as well. But the

president clearly making the decision here after really saying, "I may do it, I may not do" it yesterday now saying he wants more time to think about

doing anything at all.

FOSTER: Okay, Jeff, thank you so much.

As the conflict rages on, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu isn't ruling out targeting Iran's supreme leader.

[15:05:03]

Mr. Netanyahu says no one in Iran should have immunity, adding that he believes actions speak louder than words. He's also vowing to strike all of

Iran's nuclear facilities, adding that Israel has broken the Iranian axis.

Meanwhile, Israel's health minister says dozens of people were hurt in an Iranian missile attack on a hospital. Iran claims the building was not its

intended target.

CNN's international diplomatic editor Nic Robertson, is at that hospital with a look at the devastation caused by that attack.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: The Soroka medical center, that's where were at. Just look around me, Sanjeev's (ph) got a

wide angle lens on here. You can just see, looking here, the damage to this building. And, Sanjeev, if you can just pan up there to the higher floors,

the medical center director here told me it was a fifth floor direct impact on the cancer and urology ward. He said very fortunately, the 25 patients,

bedbound patients that had there until yesterday had been taken to the basement for their safety. That had been a precautionary measure.

This direct impact on the hospital, he said, has caused extensive damage, 40 casualties here, most of them with light injuries from broken glass.

Most people taking shelter inside the hospital. But to give you a sense of this place, the children's ward is over in that direction. There is a

maternity ward in this hospital. Ive seen pregnant ladies outside the hospital having to leave with other patients already today.

This is the biggest medical facility in the south of Israel. It serves a million people.

I can hear water raining down. It looks like the fire crews are still up there above us. So just dousing. They're dousing the building. We know that

the fire crews. I just saw them going back inside the building there. The recovery mission, the search mission for people who might be injured or

trapped inside the hospital. That is over.

But now, there's a complete mechanical, structural assessment going on here. And as I was saying, 1,200 beds in this hospital, the community, it

serves both Arab and Jewish, there are a million people in the community here that use this hospital on a regular basis. The fire guys up here are

telling us, we've just got to move back a bit, so were going to stay. Keep talking to you.

We're just going to move back a bit here. You get a sense of the destruction. Look at all this twisted debris around here. Fire trucks

backed up as far as you can see, this has really raised the temperature on this conflict. The politicians have been coming here, have been talking

very clearly. This was an intentional strike on the hospital by Iran and the prime minister very clearly calling for an uptick in strikes on Iran.

Nic Robertson, CNN, Beer Sheva, Israel.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Iran's foreign minister is now calling on Israelis to avoid being near, quote, military and intelligence sites. He says Iran's military

eliminated an Israeli command, control and intelligence headquarters. The location hasn't been identified.

Iran's top diplomat also claims a blast wave damaged the Soroka military hospital, which he claims was treating Israeli soldiers injured in Gaza.

Near total Internet blackout. Iran is facing a major connectivity issue, plummeting from 78 percent to just 3 percent. That's according to data from

Netblocks, which monitors internet governance.

While some families flee Tehran for safety, others are determined to stay. CNN is told a man from south central Iran had to hitchhike for three days

to reach his grandparents due to a lack of fuel in the country.

Well, earlier this week, a strike hit the studios of the state-run television network whilst on air.

Our Fred Pleitgen takes us inside that destroyed building.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We're inside the Iranian state broadcasting company IRIB, which was hit by an Israeli

airstrike a couple of days ago. And you can see the damage is absolutely massive. I'm standing in the atrium right now, but if you look around this

whole area has been completely destroyed. All of the offices, all of the technology that they have inside here, the broadcast technology, everything

has been rendered pretty much useless.

All right. So we're going to go inside the building. Now, they have told us that we need to be very careful because obviously there might still be

unexploded parts of bombs in here or something like that. What we see here is the actual studio where an Iranian state TV anchor was sitting and

reading the news when the strike hit. You can see here that is an anchor desk right there.

And of course, when it happened, the anchor was reading the news. And then all of a sudden there was a thud. The studio went black at the beginning.

She got up and left, but then later apparently came back and finished the newscast and is now being hailed as a champion of Iranian media.

[15:10:08]

Some of the main bulk of the explosion must have been here because this place is absolutely charred. And if we look back over there, that's

actually seems to be the main part of what was the newsroom with a lot of the desks, computers, printers, phones. You can see how much heat must have

been emitted by the impact and by the explosion.

The phones that they had here are molten here. Also, the keys molten. The screen. And there's actually someone's lunch still at their desk standing

here, which probably they would have been wanting to eat until they had to evacuate the building. You can see there's a spoon here that's also been

melted away by this explosion.

All of this is playing very big here in Iran. Theres a lot of public anger that the Israelis attacked this this site, and certainly, the Iranians are

saying that they condemn this and that there is going to be revenge for this.

Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Tehran.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: With President Trump saying he'll make a decision about U.S. military action in Iran within two weeks. Where does that leave Israel?

Well, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will -- won't confirm whether there's any timetable for Israel's operation.

We want to go live to Jeremy Diamond in Tel Aviv because from the language coming from Netanyahu and what he was suggesting about the supreme leader

and talks, it seems like a different narrative from what we're starting to see from Washington, where they are talking about talks with that very

regime.

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, you're exactly right, Max, because as President Trump is now considering a diplomatic option that

would remove Iran's nuclear program altogether. It is quite clear that the Israeli government is seeking something far greater than that at this

stage.

We have heard the Israeli prime minister, of course, make clear that the primary goal of this Israeli military operation, at least ostensibly, is to

eradicate the threat of Iran ever getting a nuclear weapon to eliminate their nuclear program altogether. But what we have also seen in recent days

have been efforts aimed at facilitating, at least or creating the conditions on the ground for regime change in Iran.

We have seen Israel go after beyond military and nuclear targets. Also going after the kind of arms of the state, including, for example, Iran's

state media with attacks on that studio. As you just saw that footage from Fred just then, and Israeli officials as well, including the Israeli

defense minister today, making quite clear that they want to see the Iranian regime pushed out of power.

That doesn't mean that Israeli military might is going to deliver that alone. But the way it's been framed to me by Israeli officials is about

creating the conditions on the ground through these various Israeli strikes that would weaken the Iranian regime. And ultimately, perhaps allow for

people in Iran to take matters into their own hands.

FOSTER: Netanyahu also saying he has the ability to hit all of Iran's nuclear locations. Is that right? Is that a different assessment from what

we've had before?

DIAMOND: Well, let's just be clear that, first of all, the Israelis, number one desire is to see the United States carry out that strike on that

Fordow nuclear facility in Iran. Those bunker busters that only the United States B-2 bombers can deliver on that site are the surest way of

destroying the Fordow facility. And even then, it would likely require multiple bombing runs using these 30,000-pound munitions. That being said,

the Israelis do have other options that they have considered in previous years for trying to destroy Fordow.

One option that has been brought up would be a daring commando raid, sending helicopters full of commandos into Fordow to take over that

facility and destroy it from the inside. Others have suggested that perhaps Israel could be provided with those 30,000-pound bombs, and now that they

have air superiority over western Iran, perhaps dropping it from a transport plane rather than those B-2 bombers.

Some -- many of these are kind of theories. Some of them are further fetched than others, but all of them carry far more risk and far less

guarantee of a certain outcome than the United States carrying out those strikes themselves.

But ultimately, the message that the Israeli prime minister is trying to deliver is that one way or the other, Israel is going to get rid of Iran's

nuclear program, whether or not they can actually be accomplished without the United States' help and support is another question altogether. And

clearly, President Trump wants more time for diplomacy at the moment -- Max.

FOSTER: Okay, Jeremy, I appreciate that. Thank you so much.

While President Trump weighs his next steps, then a key ally is in Washington today for face-to-face talks. British Foreign Secretary David

Lammy is expected to meet with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Joining them, U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff.

CNN is told talks between Iran, the U.K., Germany, France and the E.U. are set to take place on Friday in Switzerland. This is reportedly happening in

consultation with the Trump administration.

CNN's Kylie Atwood joins us now from Washington.

What are we seeing here, then? Parallel tracks of talks.

KYLIE ATWOOD, CNN U.S. SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: That's what it looks like, but there will be coordination. And that's why today's meeting for the

British foreign secretary here in Washington at the White House, with the secretary of state, with special envoy, Steve Witkoff, is so critical

because it gives Trump administration officials a real understanding of how the Europeans plan to approach this meeting with the Iranian foreign

minister tomorrow and also potentially to influence how the Europeans are going to actually go at that meeting tomorrow.

We have not heard from administration officials that they are particularly in favor of this meeting taking place, but they also haven't said that they

are opposed to it. So, giving some tacit approval, there.

However, U.S. officials are not exactly confident that it is going to be the meeting that presents a breakthrough on the diplomatic path. When you

have no U.S. officials in the room and Steve Witkoff who had been at the table with the Iranians for two months trying to negotiate something and

wasn't able to get there, they're not necessarily hopeful that a meeting with European leaders is going to deliver what would need to be a grand

diplomatic breakthrough to influence things here.

However, with President Trump saying today effectively that he wants to give a little bit more time to diplomacy, saying that he would make a

decision. According to the White House press secretary, over whether or not the U.S. would go forth with that strike against Iran's nuclear program in

two weeks, it's clear that the administration is still considering what that diplomatic option should look like.

So, we shouldn't discount the fact that this meeting is happening tomorrow after the U.K. foreign secretary was just here at the White House.

FOSTER: Kylie, thank you so much for that.

Chinese President Xi and Russia's President Putin urging de-escalation in the Iran-Israel conflict. In a phone call between the two, they called on

major powers to help achieve this goal, although they didn't specifically name the U.S. in this plea.

Here's CNN's Clare Sebastian on that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, this was a previously unscheduled call between President Xi and Putin. And on the one hand, it

shows the global geopolitical divide hardening around the Iran-Israel conflict. Russia and China, of course, two allies of Iran, both according

to a Kremlin aide who briefed on the call, roundly condemning Israel. China calling on, quote, major powers to de-escalate the situation, according to

a readout from the Chinese foreign ministry. Clearly, a thinly veiled reference there to the United States, where both countries have not only a

shared desire to counter U.S. influence globally, but they have economic skin in the game.

China is by far the biggest buyer of Iranian oil, and Russia built Iran's only nuclear power plant at Bushehr and is currently building new reactors

there, Putin saying on Wednesday Israel had agreed to ensure the safety of the Russian staff at the plant.

But both Russia and China have also offered to mediate in this conflict. And for Russia especially, which still maintains open lines of

communication with Israel, this is a crucial opportunity to appear as an indispensable regional power broker and, of course, to keep the door open

to resetting relations with the United States, Israel's biggest backer.

Well, President Trump, though, who had signaled openness to the idea of Russia mediating, toughened his stance on that on Wednesday, saying that he

told Putin, quote, let's mediate Russia first, a reference, of course, to the faltering U.S. efforts to bring an end to Russia's war in Ukraine.

Clare Sebastian, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Coming up, the road to calming the tension between Israel and Iran may begin tomorrow in Switzerland. After the break, we'll look at Iran's

talks with European leaders in a bit more detail.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:22:11]

FOSTER: If Iran wants to keep the U.S. out of its fight with Israel, that effort probably starts on Friday in Switzerland. That's where Iran's

foreign minister will meet with diplomats from the U.K., France, Germany and the E.U. European officials tell CNN that the U.S. will be consulted

about those talks throughout.

And one reason the U.S. cares about Europe's role in all of this is the tiny island of Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean. There's an air base there

that's used by both the U.S. and the U.K. If the U.S. were to get permission from Britain to launch B-2 bombers from that base, they could

reach Iran without flying over the airspace of other countries in the region who are pretty sensitive to it.

So, what we want to know is, can Trump do a last minute deal with Iran?

Joining me now, Alex Vatanka, senior fellow at the Middle East Institute.

Thank you so much for joining us.

Just on, you know, that news we've had in the last couple of hours that essentially Donald Trump is giving two weeks before those military assets

appear to be going in? I mean, how did you react to that? How do you read it and how much progress do you think he can make?

ALEX VATANKA, SENIOR FELLOW, MIDDLE EAST INSTITUTE: Max, I kind of look at it in terms of the balancing act that President Trump is doing. Obviously,

as you know, here in the United States, there's a big fight, probably the biggest of political fights this Trump administration has faced since

returning to the White House.

You know, they're the ones who are who are basically people like Steve Bannon who are saying, if you take us to war, you've betrayed your promises

to the MAGA movement, and then you've got the traditional Republicans who are saying basically to president, this is a wonderful opportunity. Iran is

on the defensive. Take the regime out. So that's one factor.

The other one is the regional actors. I mean, everyone pretty much in the broader Middle East is putting pressure on President Trump from Turkey to

the Gulf states, saying, you know, if this thing goes south, if the Iranian state collapses, we are going to sit back and deal with the consequences.

What is your plan B?

And then, so you've got these two pressure points, and then again, you've got Prime Minister Netanyahu is saying to President Trump, I need you. I

need you to finish the job.

So that's why he came to the conclusion that he needs two weeks, two weeks window here. Clearly, I don't think President Trump is ready to make that

decision quickly. But he's also very hopeful that the Iranians now can run to him with a much better offer or counteroffer in terms of what they're

willing to concede on the nuclear front. And hopefully, from Trump's point of view, that will be the end of the story.

FOSTER: But then we've got two other sides to this. We've got the Europeans meeting with Iran, which will follow its own narrative, wont it?

And they may decide that, I don't know, it should be longer or they shouldn't be talks.

[15:25:00]

And then you've got the Israeli point of view, which, you know, the latest reflections we've got that from Netanyahu is that, you know, no one is

exempt from being attacked in Iran. And also just the idea that, you know, the military option is still very much there, you know, and not talks.

VATANKA: So, Max, I mean, from what I understood, President Trump say he didn't say he expects a ceasefire. I mean, obviously that's the decision of

Israel and Iran. They -- the two, you know, belligerent parties into this.

United States is supplying the military needs of Israel. I don't think that's going to stop. In fact, I mentioned Stephen Bannon earlier, the

people who are telling Trump don't go into a war in the Middle East, but they're not saying don't supply weapons to Israel. They're just saying keep

American boys and girls away from that war. So that's a decision for the Israelis and the Iranians in terms of how long they can keep hitting one

another, because there are limits.

Again, we should all remember, Iran and Israel have never fought a war like this. Their engagement against each other has been sort of proxy conflict

going back decades now. This is a whole different ball game. So, you have to question how many missiles the Iranians have and how many missile

interceptors the Israelis have.

So, to your point about the Europeans and all respect to the Europeans, they're not the key actors here. And if I was Iran right now, what I would

do is talk to Trump, President Trump and his team directly as soon as possible, stop the mediation. You need to talk to them, and you need to try

and convince them that what you are about to offer him, in terms of a diplomatic solution, is something that he can live with.

I mean, he's pretty much made that clear. Iran has to stop enrichment. And again, that's a hard one for the Iranian leadership to swallow. They've

spent years, billions of dollars defending that right. But right now, they have a question defending that right versus risking losing their country.

And so much in terms of infrastructure that that this war is already bringing upon Iran.

FOSTER: Alex, thank you so much, senior fellow at the Middle East, really appreciate your analysis today.

Since Israel began its strikes on Iran, calls for regime change of only grown louder amongst Israeli officials and some in the U.S. Congress as

well. But that isn't the case inside Iran, where many believe the Israeli attacks aren't the correct path to political change.

CNN's Nick Paton Walsh has more on that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Iran has a dense history of protest which brought to power the Islamic

Revolution and repression of it that's tightened slowly under the Ayatollahs.

The young face of Neda Agha-Soltan, killed by security forces in 2009 lit years of anger.

2012 saw a crackdown and the expansion of the death penalty.

And so, by 2019, protests against fuel prices, repression and the economy sprawled for six months and killed hundreds, violence the norm. None of it

dislodged the theocracy.

And none of it has yet reignited by the past week of Israeli airstrikes. Instead, anger at Israel, already loathed by many for civilian deaths, the

chaos and panic it has caused.

HAMID DABASHI, PROFESSOR OF IRANIAN STUDIES, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY: No country will ever receive democracy through bombing. Political prisoners

inside the Islamic Republic are publicly writing against this military invasion.

So, this military invasion will do precisely the opposite, it will unite people.

WALSH: The U.S. has backed regime change before helping the British in 1953 oust a democratically elected government. Bashar, who followed was

remarkable for his brutality, and opposition to him ushered in the ayatollahs, who sold themselves as purist Islamist reform.

DR. SANAM VAKIL, CHATHAM HOUSE: Frankly, Benjamin Netanyahu's call for regime change and sort of appeal to the Iranian people to come out and

overthrow their government reeks of -- of condescension and smacks of a misunderstanding of Iranians.

WALSH: And President Donald Trump's half failed threat to kill Iran's supreme leader is unprecedented.

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: It's not going to escalate the conflict, it's going to end the conflict.

WALSH: But killing Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, whose rhetoric was defiant but not at its most fiery when he emerged Wednesday does not decapitate the

theocracy of which he's just the latest face.

DABASHI: If he is assassinated, in fact, it will exacerbate the critical situation that we have. The ruling regime is fully capable of replacing him

with another major figure, whether his son or another cleric. It will not have an effect on the military dimensions.

WALSH: Any successor might be more hard line and reverse Khamenei's fatwa against building nuclear weapons.

[15:30:06]

And so after him, the flood, perhaps a hardliner with the bomb, or even the collapse of Iran into warring ethnic factions, another nightmare for the

region.

As with regime change in the Middle East before, remember Iraq, where it was the unknown unknowns that won out.

DONALD RUMSFELD, FORMER UNITED STATES SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: But there are also unknown unknowns, the ones we don't know, we don't know.

WALSH: It's that unpredictability that surely must be weighing into the calculations of the Trump White House. This is a country run by an

authoritarian government where the society has been deeply repressed and the possibility of unpicking that quickly may be attractive to some Western

powers, but could potentially yield consequences that could yet destabilize a region that's seen extraordinary turmoil over the previous decades.

Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Still to come, Iran's nuclear plants are in Israel's crosshairs. But what about the long-term fallout? We'll take a look at that.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FOSTER: Iran is issuing a new statement that appears to be directed at the United States. According to officials, any third party that gets involved

in its conflict with Israel will be, quote, confronted immediately. This statement comes as Israel vows to intensify strikes against strategic

targets in Iran. U.S. President Donald Trump has met again with his national security team. While he considers potential U.S. involvement.

However, the prime minister of Israel is already praising the U.S. for its help.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NETANYAHU: They're already helping a lot because they're participating in the protection of the skies over Israel and its cities, with THAAD missile

batteries that are in Israel, with Aegis ships that are on the shore of Israel, with their pilots that are fighting alongside our pilots to knock

out drones.

[15:35:15]

I think it's a remarkable cooperation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Israel says it's ordering its military to intensify strikes against Iran. That's coming from Israel's defense minister, Israel Katz.

Earlier today, the IDF announced it had struck dozens of military targets in Iran, including the Arak nuclear facility.

Israel is also eyeing another key facility buried deep underground. The fuel enrichment plant in Fordow. It's carved into the side of a mountain

there.

Officials in Russia are warning about the potential catastrophe from any attack on nuclear power plants. The CEO of Russia's state owned nuclear

energy company issuing the dire warning, saying a strike on Iran's nuclear power plant could have the same damage as the Chernobyl disaster. Russia

helped build Iran's nuclear power plant. Some current staff members are Russian.

What we don't know is what are the risks of contamination, then if Israel hits Iran's nuclear sites?

Joining me now is James Acton, codirector, nuclear policy program, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

Thank you so much.

I mean, it is something that's worrying so many people, particularly this idea of Chernobyl. Is it comparable to what we might see in terms of

strikes in Iran, James?

JAMES ACTON, CO-DIRECTOR, NUCLEAR POLICY PROGRAM, CARNEGIE ENDOWMENT FOR INTERNATIONAL PEACE: If Israel were to strike the Bushehr nuclear power

plant, which is the Russian built reactor that you were just talking about, then there could be a radiological catastrophe. For technical reasons,

Fukushima is actually a better analogy there than Chernobyl is. But, you know, either way, you're in a situation of radiological catastrophe.

Now, you know, I should be very clear. I don't think Israel is going to strike Bushehr. An Israeli spokesperson said this morning they had that was

a mistake. It was walked back very quickly. Israel has told the Russians they're not going to strike Bushehr.

I think this war is a catastrophe. I absolutely oppose it. But I think it's very unlikely that Israel is going to attack Bushehr.

FOSTER: Is that because of, you know, the fallout that would come with it? And perhaps that's part of the conversations Netanyahu's having with Trump

as well.

ACTON: Well, I mean, there's multiple reasons for not striking Bushehr. It's not important to the development of nuclear weapons. That kind of

power reactor just is not very useful as part of a nuclear weapons program. It's a Russian built facility with Russians working there. It would

severely undermine Israeli-Russian relations. And the radiological contamination.

So, I think for all of those reasons, you know, I think Israel, by launching this war, has made a huge mistake, but I don't expect it to make

the mistake of attacking Bushehr.

FOSTER: Well, what concerns have you got about the other nuclear sites?

ACTON: Well, and they're actually not very many, people are often quite surprised by this. Like the danger of contamination from other kinds of

sites in Iran is pretty much zero.

Now, again, there are other reasons why I think those strikes that Israel has done is a very bad idea. But, you know, Israel has already attacked an

enrichment facility at Natanz. The IAEA has said there was no measurable off-site contamination.

And people may be surprised at this, but uranium is actually barely radioactive. And the chemical form it's in enrichment plants means it

actually doesn't spread very far.

The same thing would be true if the United States attacked Fordow, this underground enrichment plant you were just talking about. Now, there's

other very good reasons for not attacking Fordow, but contamination is not one of them.

FOSTER: In terms of what's needed to cause the damage that Israel wants, we don't think, do we, that they've got all of the, you know, military

might to take out, you know, a deep bunker, for example, that would have to come from the U.S. or because there's been a bit of conflict about that,

hasn't there? Because in Israel there is a sense in some quarters that they could do it.

ACTON: Yeah. So this plant at Fordow is kind of the at the center of U.S.- Israeli discussions at the moment. It's built underneath a mountain around literally just tunneled underneath a mountain to put this facility

underneath there. And Israel almost certainly doesn't have any kind of air dropped munition capable of destroying that facility.

There has been some discussion of the possibility of Israeli special forces attacking Fordow. You know, I don't want to get an egg on my face because

Israel's military operations in many ways have been very successful in this war. But I think a special forces operation at Fordow would be

exceptionally risky.

The United States developed a bunker busting weapon, the GBU-57 is what it's called, that was specifically designed to go after this exact

facility.

[15:40:09]

And so, you know, Israel wants the U.S. to attack Fordow with that weapon. And the president has said he's going to decide whether or not to do that

within the next two weeks. I very much hope that he does not do that.

FOSTER: James Acton, really interesting to hear all of that because it is a massive talking point around the world. This idea that there could be

contamination. Thank you.

Now they call bunker busters and experts say they can hit nuclear sites buried deep underground, as James was saying. After the break, we'll take a

look at this massive and powerful weapon.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FOSTER: Now back to our top story then. Israel's military says it hit dozens of military targets in Iran today, including the inactive Arak

nuclear facility, in an attempt to prevent its potential use for future nuclear weapons development.

Israel is also eyeing another key facility buried deep underground. The fuel enrichment plant in Fordow is carved into the side of a mountain,

experts say only the U.S. has a bomb capable of penetrating that facility. It's a frightening piece of weaponry known as the bunker buster, which has

been used. Well, it's never been used, actually, in conflict, I don't think. Has it, Brian?

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Max. Yes, as you mentioned, this is a frightening piece of weaponry. It's very ominous. Well talk about the

dimensions here. It's called officially the GBU-57 massive ordnance penetrator, otherwise known as Max mentioned, as the bunker buster. It is

the largest non-nuclear bomb in the U.S. military arsenal. There is no public record of this ever being used in combat.

The Israelis do not have any kind of bombs like this, or the means to deliver them, only the U.S. does.

The dimensions, this bomb weighs 30,000 pounds. It has 6,000 pounds of high explosives and it is about 20 feet long.

[15:45:02]

Now, the only plane that can carry the bunker buster is the B-2 Spirit Stealth Bomber. This is a bomber that's capable of flying about 6,000

nautical miles without refueling. Experts say the bunker buster, as you see in that graphic there, can penetrate about 200 feet into the ground, one

expert said. Possibly a little more. It is designed to hit deeply buried and fortified targets.

Now, as far as the targets that could come into question, and we have to say this is predicated on two very important things. Number one, if the

U.S. decides to get involved in this conflict and they have not, of course, decided that yet. And number two, if they decide to use this bomb and we

don't know if U.S. officials have actually decided to use this bomb.

But if those two things come to pass, one very important and likely target is the Fordow nuclear enrichment facility south of Tehran, buried deep in

the mountain, you see a satellite photo imagery of it there. The experts we spoke to say, this is -- these centrifuges and halls and tunnels are buried

possibly beneath about 300 feet of rock.

Now, given those dimensions and the capabilities of this bomb, it is not clear. According to experts, if the bunker buster could actually reach

those centrifuges and other capabilities at Fordo because, as we mentioned, those are about 300 feet underground. And the bunker buster, as far as we

know, can go about 200 feet underground.

Now, what experts have told us is that in that event, if they do use this bomb, they would have to probably drop more than one of them on the same

target. They would have to hit it once, create a crater, then come in with another bomb, or maybe another bomb after that and hit it again to get

deeper into the Earth.

So, whether this bomb could actually work to the effective to -- to the effect that U.S. officials would want is kind of an open question right

now, Max.

FOSTER: And also, I was hearing about, you know, obviously testing these bombs is -- it's got to be limited because they do so much damage.

So, there must be a lot of interest in military circles to see how they actually work in active combat.

TODD: That's right. There is -- there is an interest there. And we have to say that what we're told about the blast area of this bomb, it doesn't have

a huge blast area like other bombs do. It's designed to penetrate into the ground and then detonate underground once it reaches its target. So as far

as you know, how much damage it can do to the wider area, we're told by experts that it -- that it would not necessarily do a lot of damage to the

wider area.

And we're also told by nuclear experts that the radiation leak from any hitting of a target in Fordow by this bomb would be probably pretty

limited, maybe limited to just the immediate area. They say this would not cause the kind of catastrophic consequences that bombing a nuclear reactor

would cause.

FOSTER: Yeah, we were hearing earlier about, you know, its most of these sites wouldn't cause too much contamination, but some of them would. But

that's not one of them, thankfully.

Brian, thank you so much.

Now, even as Israel carries out another day of airstrikes in Iran, its campaign in Gaza shows no sign of ending. The Palestinian health ministry

says Israeli attacks killed more than 70 people today, including multiple children. Some of the victims were killed as they sheltered in tents. The

latest strikes come as the U.N. says the risk of famine in Gaza is growing more likely.

We'll be back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:50:52]

FOSTER: A developing story out of L.A. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents have been denied access to Dodger Stadium. Images have been

circulating on social media showing ICE vehicles and personnel at the stadium. Fans have since been threatening to boycott the team if they did

not speak out against the immigration raids.

Here's CNN's Natasha Chen with more.

NATASHA CHEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. Well, a source familiar with the circumstances told me that ICE was denied entry when they tried to

come into the stadium today. And what we're seeing is currently video on the ground of protesters standing at that gate where the federal agents

were parked earlier this morning, our affiliate video had shown that there were many vehicles parked along that road there at about 9:00 a.m. local

time, with a bunch of agents in tactical gear, in bandana style masks. And then it whittled down to about four vehicles. That's what you're seeing

there on the screen right now.

So, a lot of those vehicles and agents left, and then just in the last 20 minutes or so and watching our live footage from our affiliate camera, it

seems that those remaining four vehicles were escorted out of that area by Los Angeles police.

Now, LAPD did tell CNN that they got a radio call for a gathering of a protest at that location. One of the entrances to Dodger Stadium. That's

gate E, it's on the east side of the property. And that's why they are there.

That call came in at 10:30 a.m. local time. So, this is still all evolving right now. We have a CNN camera on the ground there, a producer there is

telling me that there are about 15 or so LAPD officers in a row trying to stop protesters from entering further up the road into the stadium. It's

not confrontational at all at this moment, he says. And they're also not in riot gear. They're just standing there in their usual excuse me, in their

usual uniforms.

So, this is all unfolding as we speak. Obviously, there have been a lot of sightings of federal agents like this throughout the Los Angeles area, and

the last two weeks has a lot of the community on edge. And you see those protesters out there right now with signs making sure that ICE does not

enter.

FOSTER: Yeah. We'll be following that for you.

Hurricane Erick slammed into Mexico as a dangerous category three storm. Erick is the strongest major hurricane on record to ever make landfall in

Mexico this early in the season. It hit the west coast in the state of Oaxaca. That was Thursday morning.

The National Hurricane Center says powerful winds over 200-kilometer-per- hour, along with heavy rains, struck the region. Erick should weaken as it hits the steep mountains and dissipates early on Friday.

CNN meteorologist Allison Chinchar has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: As you can see, there's not much left to Erick, and that's what you like to see on this map, because the less

convection you have, the less potential there is for additional flooding with this storm. Now still possible for some of these areas to get an

additional 50 to 100 millimeters of rain. Now that's going to be on top of likely the 100 to 150 millimeters that they've already had the last 24 to

36 hours. So, there is still some concern for some isolated flooding and perhaps some mudslides with this particular system.

Here's a look at the history of the storm. You can see all these bright colors here, basically creating a rainbow. And this shows the intensity of

the storm as it continued to rapidly intensify over the last 24 to 36 hours. And it did so because of these very warm waters right here near the

southern coast.

More importantly, you can see the rapid intensification undergone here through these bars, showing the increase in the wind speed. Now, in order

to have rapid intensification, you have to have an increase of 55 kilometer per hour winds in 24 hours or less. And we certainly hit that point with

Erick.

Now, also noting, too, that we are already at the fifth named storm so far this season, and it even made it up to a major hurricane.

[15:55:04]

We wouldn't normally get to a major hurricane in the eastern Pacific until the middle of July.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Now, in a small corner of London, the past has come back to life in pretty vivid color as well.

Archeologists found fragments of shattered plaster walls belonging to a Roman villa built 1,800 years ago. After painstaking work, look at that,

thousands of pieces. They assembled the broken images and described their effort as putting together the world's most difficult jigsaw puzzle. The

frescoes show painted fruits, flowers and birds.

I'm Max Foster. That's WHAT WE KNOW.

Richard knows what's happening next. Here he comes.

END

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