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What We Know with Max Foster

Trump Says Iran Strikes Caused "Total Obliteration," But Also Acknowledges Intel Report Is Inconclusive; Trump: U.S. And Iran Will Hold Talks Next Week; NATO Leaders Formally Commit To Five Percent Defense Spending Mark; Israel's Offensive In Gaza Shows No Sign Of Abating; Kenyan Protesters Call For Accountability For Police Brutality; S&P 500 Close To All-Time High; New Trump Administration Plan Could End Asylum Claims, Speed Deportations; RFK's New Vaccine Advisers To Study Established Guidelines. Aired 3-4p ET

Aired June 25, 2025 - 15:00   ET

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

[15:00:23]

MAX FOSTER, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST: Totally obliterated, that's how Donald Trump describes Iran's nuclear facilities.

But this is WHAT WE KNOW.

The U.S. president is doubling down, then, on his insistence that Iran's key nuclear sites have been destroyed at a NATO summit in The Hague today.

He disputed an early report from his own intelligence community that said Iran's nuclear program was only set back by months, not years. Mr. Trump

calls that report inconclusive, and he said, quote, we've spoken to people who've seen the site.

Israel's atomic energy commission now says the U.S. strike on Fordow destroyed the sites critical infrastructure and Iran's foreign ministry

acknowledges its nuclear sites were badly damaged.

And then just a few moments ago, the U.S. director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, said new intel confirms what Mr. Trump has

stated, Iran's nuclear facilities have been destroyed and would take years to rebuild. Gabbard told Congress earlier this year that Iran was not

trying to build a bomb.

Now, there's been a lot of speculation that Iran may have moved its highly enriched uranium stockpiles before the U.S. strikes.

Listen to what Mr. Trump had to say about that today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I think we hit him so hard and so fast. They didn't get to move. And if you knew about that material,

it's very hard and very dangerous to move. It's called -- it's called, in many people, they call it dust, but it's very, very heavy. It's very, very

hard to move. And they were way down. You know, they're 30 stories down.

They're literally 30, 35 stories down underground. Oh yeah. We think we got we think it's covered with granite, concrete and steel.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Jeff Zeleny in Washington, D.C. for us.

Yesterday, Jeff, we were talking about this initial intelligence report. We now seem to have another one from Gabbard. You know, can you bring it

together for us? What do we know?

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF U.S. NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's one thing is clear. Obviously, the White House and the administration is

doing everything they can looking at their own intelligence assessments as well as looking to Israel's to confirm what the president said on Saturday

evening, long before he knew if the sites were obliterated. I think it will take quite some time and perhaps we shall never know, at least in the short

term, what the actual extent of the damage was. But it's clear the president is trying to make the -- make the argument that the nuclear

facilities were destroyed and move on.

Again, it's very unclear if that is true, but he's become obsessed with the finding information and finding details to confirm his strike and confirm

the obliteration. And also at the same time, sort of confounding and mixing everything together, saying that anyone who would raise a question about

the intelligence is criticizing the American military, the pilots and whatnot who flew the mission, which of course is absurd.

It was actually quite an extraordinary mission in terms of the secrecy and the deception involved with the flying one set of planes around the Pacific

and the others under the dark of night around the Atlantic and the Mediterranean.

But going forward here, I think one thing is clear. The president is trying to chalk this up as a victory. As he left the NATO summit, now he's flying

back to Washington as we speak, he clearly was doing a bit of a victory lap.

The question, is it premature? We don't know the answer to that. But he does say that the U.S. and Iran will have some level of talks next week on

the nuclear program. No details about that, at what level those talks will be. But interestingly, for a president who has long said that the biggest

danger is Iran getting a nuclear weapon, he said now there's no agreement that would need to be signed, basically a gentleman's agreement would be

enough that they would not complete their long-standing goal for nearly a half century of building a nuclear program.

So, look, a lot of bluster there. But I think at the end of the day, the president simply wants to move on and chalk this up as a victory.

FOSTER: Yeah. And a lot of people are happy for him to move on, aren't they? So, what is the basis of these talks, do you think if it's not going

to be a deal, what are we talking about here?

ZELENY: It is a great question. I mean, what is there to talk about if there is no specific deal on the agenda of not enriching uranium or not

rebuilding these programs? I mean, even Tulsi Gabbard said it would take years to rebuild. Well, years isn't that long, but the president's point of

view is generally just through his time in office, not a longer term view that.

[15:05:05]

So we shall see what these talks actually can consist of. The White House has not added any detail of that. My guess is it's an envoy level, perhaps

Steve Witkoff, who's the president's envoy, and some other mid-level folks. We certainly don't think this is at the presidential level.

But again, there are still questions about the intelligence, and many are being asked by both Democratic and Republican members of Congress, who

still have not been fully briefed on this entire -- this entire episode.

FOSTER: Okay. Jeff, thank you for that.

NATO allies then delivering U.S. Donald Trump that win by agreeing to boost their defense spending targets during that summit in the Netherlands, which

Jeff was just talking about. The new commitment will raise their spending on defense to 5 percent of GDP over a decade. That's up from the current

target of 2 percent. Some members, including Spain and Belgium, didn't commit to the increase and say they will aim to spend less since the

agreement leaves room for some flexibility.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte offered strong praise for Donald Trump's involvement in spending negotiations during their talks earlier today.

Rutte defended his effusive tone towards Trump to reporters.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARK RUTTE, NATO SECRETARY GENERAL: I think it's a bit of a question of taste, but I think he's a good friend and when he is doing stuff, which is

forcing us to, for example, when it comes to making more investments -- I mean, would you ever think that this would be the result of this summit if

he would not have been reelected president? Do you really think that a 7 or 8 countries who said yes, somewhere in the 2030s, we might meet the 2

percent we have now all decided in the last 4 or 5 months to get to 2 percent. So, doesn't he deserve some praise?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: So, what we want to know, does Mr. Trump deserve all of this credit?

Joining me now, Rose Gottemoeller, the former deputy secretary general of NATO.

Thank you for joining us.

I mean, actually, many presidents have tried to get Europe to pay more. They haven't done it. Under this president, they are agreeing to do it to

some extent at least. So, the credit probably does lie with him, doesn't it?

ROSE GOTTEMOELLER, LECTURER, STANFORD UNIVERSITY: Well, frankly, I agree with Mark Rutte on this one. You know, every single U.S. president since

John F. Kennedy in the early 1960s has complained about freeriding NATO allies and have not been able to accomplish, Republicans or Democrats, to

get our allies across the line, to spend more on their own defense.

This move now is the culmination of what he started in his first term, when he really lit a fire under the allies and, frankly, scared them by saying

he wouldn't live up to the Article V pledge to defend them unless they paid up. So now we are seeing the results of that. Frankly, it was two -- I

would say really firm pushes one from Trump, but also one from Vladimir Putin for invading Ukraine back in 2022. So, we have a real sense of threat

now to that is also driving this.

FOSTER: What do we understand about the U.S. contributions going forward? Do we get any more insight on that? Because a suggestion that Donald Trump

feels he shouldn't have to pay the 5 percent, which some people see as hypocritical, but he's arguing, isn't he, that, you know, he's been paying

more than everyone for a long time?

GOTTEMOELLER: Well, that is one argument. But also it's 2 percent of what, it's 2 percent of gross domestic product. And the U.S. gross domestic

product is gigantic. So, if you're thinking about 5 percent defense expenditure, its already I believe it's like 3.1 at this time. And our

budget is approaching over $1 trillion for defense on an annual basis.

So, this is far and away beyond what other countries in the NATO alliance are spending. And indeed, nations worldwide, the United States exceeds

defense expenditures by a large margin.

So, I don't think it's necessary for the U.S. to push to 5 percent of GDP for us to be making a very significant investment and continuing to do so

in national defense and the defense of our allies.

FOSTER: I wonder if you could help with another debate that came out today, which was Article V, obviously something that, you know very well. This

idea that an attack on one member of NATO is an attack on all and other members of NATO would be expected to defend that member.

You know, the general understanding was that, you know, they would offer military support. But I think the Trump team are questioning that now,

aren't they? They don't necessarily have to offer military support. They can offer diplomatic support instead.

GOTTEMOELLER: Well, that kind of support goes across the board from efforts at diplomacy and political pressure, sanctions, as we've seen in the period

since Russia invaded Ukraine for the second time. Indeed, the first time in 2014, sanctions started, but now, certainly in 2022, after that second

invasion.

[15:10:08]

So, there's a range of ways in which the Article V commitment can and is being implemented over time. I think the most important question for the

allies now is will the Trump administration make good on their promise to move? A lot of U.S. troops and military capabilities to Asia, leaving them

to fend for themselves in terms of conventional defense? And what will that mean? Will the United States withdraw the so-called critical enablers like

large tankers that are used to refuel aircraft and intelligence support these types of things?

If the United States does remove all those enablers, it will have to be an even bigger investment from the NATO allies. So, these are questions that

are still outstanding.

FOSTER: Okay. Rose Gottemoeller, thank you very much indeed for your insights on that one.

Well, the U.S. president and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met behind closed doors at the summit. Mr. Zelenskyy called the meeting long

and substantive, while Mr. Trump said they didn't specifically discuss a ceasefire with Russia.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I wanted to know how he's doing. He was very nice, actually. You know, we had a little rough times for some time. He was -- couldn't have

been nicer. I think he'd like to see an end to this. I do, I think what I took from the meeting -- couldn't have been nicer, actually, but I took for

the meeting that he'd like to see it end. I think it's a great time to end it. I'm going to speak to Vladimir Putin and see if we can get it ended.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Joining me now, CNN senior White House reporter Kevin Liptak.

Thanks for joining us.

Presumably, Mr. Trump feels quite empowered by what he's managed in the Middle East. And maybe he could push Russia as well on this one.

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: I think that's his hope. And I think, you know, as he has proceeded between meetings here at the NATO

Summit, he had hoped it would be kind of a victory lap among leaders who have been openly skeptical of his approach to global affairs, having just

secured that ceasefire between Israel and Iran. I think he had really seen that as something of vindication for how he was approaching all of these

matters.

But clearly, the war in Ukraine is still an outstanding issue. And obviously, you know, we're at the NATO summit and it's front of mind for

many of the leaders who are gathering here.

In some ways, it had been pushed to the back burner for this year's summit. You know, I've covered NATO summits going back the last several years, and

Ukraine has always been really at the center of the talks. I think the secretary general, Mark Rutte, intentionally didn't emphasize Ukraine as a

topic of discussion, because he knew that that would be a point of difference between the European leaders here and President Trump.

But, of course, it was still something of a topic. And obviously, the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, was here to talk to President

Trump and to other leaders about sustaining NATOs support for Ukraine. He was at the leaders' dinner last night, although he was not around the NATO

table.

Ukraine, obviously not a member of NATO, which has been an enormous sticking point. President Trump says that that can't happen, that that

would essentially scuttle any attempts at ending the war there. Zelenskyy says that, yes, Ukraine does need to join NATO in order to prevent any

aggression once this war ends.

And so, obviously, those differences weren't resolved at the summit. But I do think in listening to President Trump and his concluding press

conference, he does offer something of a more conciliatory tone towards Zelenskyy, towards Kyiv. He answered a question from a Ukrainian reporter

and something of a touching moment. The Ukrainian reporter described how she had left Ukraine to move to Poland, that her husband remained behind in

Ukraine. And in that answer, the president affirmed that he would be sending new anti-missile systems to Ukraine, which he has stopped short of

doing thus far in his presidency.

And so, I think some of the discussions that the president had here at the summit clearly penetrated. But at the end of the day, it doesn't appear as

if he's any closer to ending the war. He was asked about Putin. He says that Putin does want to end it, but he doesn't necessarily know how.

And so, as he returns to Washington from this summit, clearly the president confident, very bullish on his efforts in the Middle East. But aware and

acknowledging that so far, his efforts to bring peace in Ukraine have fallen well, short, Max.

FOSTER: Okay, Kevin Liptak, thanks for joining us then, from the Netherlands.

The Israeli military says it's downed an unmanned aerial vehicle that was likely launched from Yemen. The IDF says the object didn't cross into

Israeli territory. This comes amid warnings that Iran's allies, like the Houthis in Yemen, may retaliate after U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran.

Well, while the Israel-Iran conflict has dominated headlines, of course, Palestinians and hostage families caught up in Gaza and the war there have

slipped from the front pages.

[15:15:04]

More than 860 people in Gaza have been killed by Israeli fire since Israel began its bombardment of Iran on June the 13th. That is, according to CNN's

calculations of daily death tolls released by the Palestinian health ministry.

CNN's Salma Abdelaziz has this report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Could a ceasefire deal be reached in Gaza? After a truce was brokered to end a 12-day conflict between Israel

and Iran, there are now hopes and calls that diplomacy could win out in Gaza as well. But Israel's offensive there shows no signs of slowing down.

Just in the last couple of weeks, while headlines were focused on Iran, more than 860 Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire inside the enclave,

dozens of them were killed trying to get food in a place where starvation is spreading and where the U.N. warns more than 2 million people living

there are on the brink of a man-made famine.

Now, President Trump has expressed optimism that the deal in Iran could open up channels for Gaza as well.

TRUMP: I think great progress is being made on Gaza. I think that because of this attack that we made, I think we're going to have some very good

news. I think that it helped a little bit. It showed a lot of power.

Yeah, I think it helped. But we're going to get separately, even before this, we were very close to making a deal on Gaza.

ABDELAZIZ: But in an address to his nation, Prime Minister Netanyahu said he is going to now return his focus to his battle against Hamas. He says

that Israel will not let its foot off the gas when it comes to its offensive on the enclave. But there is, of course, signs of just how much

pressure this is putting on the Israeli military. The call for reservists to join duty has been extended into July, and at least seven Israeli

soldiers were killed in southern Gaza, in Khan Younis when a bomb attached to their armored vehicle detonated.

Now, on those mediation efforts, Qatar, which is of course one of the mediators, says that it does hope indirect talks could resume in the next

couple of days. It says that there are ongoing diplomatic efforts to find middle ground when it comes to the U.S. proposal currently on the table,

which proposes that a certain number of Israeli hostages would be released in exchange for a 60-day ceasefire.

Now, Hamas has said it is open to negotiations, but it is unwilling to lay down arms, of course. But for the families inside Gaza, still suffering in

that enclave, this deal needed to be reached yesterday.

Salma Abdelaziz, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Coming up, a year after deadly anti-government protests in Kenya, more unrest has the country on edge. We'll show you why.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:21:01]

FOSTER: At least eight people have reportedly lost their lives in Nairobi during anti-government protests earlier. The new unrest was meant to mark a

year since demonstrators stormed the Kenyan parliament demanding action on corruption, high taxes and police brutality.

Protesters tell our Larry Madowo nothing has changed since then.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is what happens when the police come. People scatter and disappear. There are tear gas all around us, tear gas

all around us.

Fabs, they're going to come that way. They're going to come that way.

People are not seeing this in real time because the Kenyan government has banned local radio and TV stations from broadcasting this live. But it's a

scene unlike any ever seen here. A year ago, many protesters were killed here, and many of them have come back to honor their memories and to call

out the government for not dealing with police brutality and also for not paying attention to their needs.

PROTESTER: I'm here today to remember my fellow comrades who lost their lives at these streets. But the police who killed the Gen Zs last year, the

day like today, they haven't done anything about those police officers.

MADOWO: This is a major highway that's completely blocked out. There's stones everywhere. This road is important for another reason. It leads

directly to President William Ruto's house, the state house. And some protesters had threatened to go there and to depose him, to remove him from

office. And the police are determined to make sure that does not happen.

PROTESTER: We don't need Ruto as our president. Ruto is a corrupt leader, and we don't need him in Kenya. As you say, Ruto must go.

PROTESTERS: Ruto must go.

POLICE OFFICER: Officers, advance.

PROTESTER: We all have our phones. We are peaceful. Our hands are up. But we have been -- but we have been cornered and we are afraid for our lives.

MADOWO: This should be a busy street in Nairobi. It's in the heart of the city. Instead, it looks like this. With those explosions, those bangs that

have been ringing out for hours. A year after the deadliest day of protests in Kenya, these people are back to say their demands have not changed and

the government has not changed. The two sides not speaking to each other.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Larry Madowo there.

Now in New York, this could be a record setting day on Wall Street, with about half an hour left in the trading day, the S&P 500 is very close to

its all-time high of 6,147. U.S. stocks posted big gains on Monday and Tuesday on hopes that things are coming down in the Middle East.

Vanessa Yurkevich is in New York.

Extraordinary, really, how this week has gone for you and generally. The markets are up over this presidency, right?

VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS AND POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Well, they are certainly up in the beginning of the presidency and right now. But just

remember what happened during the turmoil around the initial tariffs and the trade war. We have been watching the S&P, as you mentioned, very

closely, because it has been flirting with record territory for all of today. The last record was set back in February, but since then the S&P saw

a low in April, shedding $9.8 trillion in market value, nearly entering a bear market.

But as you mentioned, sort of this this amazing recovery that we've seen on Wall Street has really been fueled by the fact that investors have kind of

let the trade war and the tariffs sink in. They believe that the tariffs had more bark than bite, and they also believe that a recession largely was

taken off the table.

[15:25:00]

And so, the trade war is -- yes, it's still going on. But they are sort of looking forward. And now we just obviously had this conflict in the Middle

East between Iran and Israel. And one investment strategist, I spoke to, Sam Stovall, told me that if the markets were open on the weekend, that

this would have been a different story because they would have reacted much more negatively to the news.

But essentially what they saw was that Iran's nuclear power was presumably taken out by the United States. And then you have seen in the past few days

a relief rally. And the question is sort of, where do we go from here? Do markets investors proceed as normal, like not much is happening?

Well, there will be likely less volatility because the trade war has very much been ingrained into the U.S. economy in the sense that investors have

been sort of looking at the trade war for a while, but they're also looking ahead, Max, to that July 9th date. That is when that 90-day pause on the

reciprocal tariffs is up.

So they'll be waiting to see what the president decides to do there. Of course, any ratcheting up of tariffs is concerning for investors because

that could put pressure on U.S. GDP and potentially reignite fears of a recession.

But right now, markets looking in really, really good shape. We are just moments away from the closing bell. We'll see if the S&P hits another

record for the second time this year.

FOSTER: Vanessa, thank you. It's going to be fascinating.

Still to come, the evolving assessment of just how much damage the U.S. strikes did to Iran's nuclear program. We'll have a live report from CNN's

Jeremy Diamond, who's in Tel Aviv.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:30:03]

FOSTER: Updating you on our top story, then U.S. President Donald Trump maintains that Iran's nuclear sites have been obliterated. This despite

initial U.S. intelligence showing the strikes did not destroy Iran's nuclear program and only set back its development by a few months. Trump

insists that nuclear material was hit before Iran managed to move it.

Earlier, the White House distributed a statement from the Israel Atomic Energy Commission saying the U.S. strike on Fordow, quote, destroyed the

site's critical infrastructure and rendered the enrichment facility in operable.

During the closing press conference at today's summit, in the NATO summit, CNN's Kaitlan Collins pressed President Trump on why he was leaning on

Israeli intelligence.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: You just cited Israeli intelligence on these attacks. Earlier, you said U.S. intelligence

was inconclusive. Are you relying on Israeli intelligence for your assessment of the impact of the strikes?

TRUMP: No, no, no. This is also -- Iran made the statement, and it's also, if you read the document that was given that he can talk about, if you'd

like. The document said it could be very severe damage, but they didn't take that. They said it could be limited or it could be very severe. They

really didn't know other than to say it could be limited or it could be very, very severe. And you didn't choose to put that because it was very

early after.

Since then, we've collected additional intelligence. We've also spoken to people who have seen the site and the site -- the site is obliterated, and

we think everything nuclear is down there. They didn't take it out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Jeremy Diamond joins us live from Tel Aviv.

Obviously, a lot of intelligence sharing between the U.S. and Israel. What do we know about the current state of the intel?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Well, we don't know exactly what this Israeli Atomic Energy Commission report is based on, but we

certainly do know that they are in close coordination with the Israeli government and that their assessment is very similar to the one released by

the Israeli military.

We heard tonight from Eyal Zamir, the Israeli military's chief of staff, the top general of its armed forces. And he said that the damage that the

United States and Israel have done to Iran's nuclear program is not that of a pinpoint strike, but rather a, quote/unquote, systemic blow.

He also said that the program overall has suffered, quote, severe, broad and deep damage, setting it back by years.

Now, we don't know exactly what that assessment is based on. It was interesting to hear President Trump earlier today suggesting that Israel

has actually had people on the ground in Iran to go in and verify the extent of the damage. We haven't heard anything on that from Israeli

officials, but presumably this would also be based off of satellite imagery and other signals intelligence that the Israelis may be able to gather.

It's -- there's not a lot of specificity to it, however. You know, we don't know what years actually means here. And if you listen to President Trump,

you know, he is talking about many, many years. I think he even said decades at one point. That does not seem to be the case.

And so ultimately, this will come down to whether or not and how quickly the Iranians decide to try and rebuild this nuclear program. But the

Israeli prime minister has already warned that should Iran try and do so, that Israel will take action once again -- Max.

FOSTER: What about this idea that the U.S. and Iran will start talking soon? Will Israel be involved in that? And what's their view?

DIAMOND: You know, the Israelis have never been huge fans of the diplomatic process on the nuclear front with Iran, and they're certainly no appetite

at this moment for that process to begin from the Israeli point of view.

You know, the Israeli government and the prime minister himself are very much basking in an image of a success following this 12-day military

campaign in Iran, which has no question about it, degraded Iran's ballistic missile capabilities, severely degraded Iran's nuclear program as well.

But it's also important to note that, you know, Israel set out to entirely destroy this nuclear program, entirely destroy this ballistic missile

program. That does not seem to have been achieved at this stage. And now, the question is, what does Prime Minister Netanyahu do with the momentum

that he now has in terms of a positive political moment in Israel, one that he has really not had to this extent since October 7th?

A lot of calls right now, including from the families of hostages here for the prime minister to convert those achievements in Iran into a ceasefire

in Gaza, a deal that would get all the remaining 50 hostages home -- Max.

FOSTER: All right. Jeremy, thank you.

Iranian state media reporting that more than 600 people have been killed during the conflict with Israel this month.

[15:35:02]

In the hours before a ceasefire went into effect on Tuesday morning, residents saying that Tehran was pounded by sustained Israeli airstrikes.

Since Fred Pleitgen is there at a building that was badly damaged just before the ceasefire was agreed.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Here in the Iranian capital, one thing that we noticed in the run up to the ceasefire

is that there was an increase in airstrikes, and the Iranians are saying some of them happened in residential areas, and they took us to some of the

sites in those residential areas that were hit. You can tell here that this building was badly damaged by an airstrike.

The Iranians are saying that a bakery was damaged, a beauty salon and two residential units. They say several people were killed here. They're not

saying who the people were who were killed, but they also say that one person is still in hospital and many people were also injured here as well.

We spoke to some of the residents who live in the adjacent buildings, and they told us how terrifying that situation was.

(voice-over): "Suddenly, I heard an impact," he says. "Then, an explosion. Before that, I heard a plane in the air. All the windows were shattered

over me, but the curtains stopped part of the glass. I was thrown to the corner of the kitchen."

You can tell the blast must have been pretty powerful. We're actually in the building next door now, and you can see there's significant damage here

as well. In fact, someone's chocolates are still here on this coffee table.

And if we go over here into the room next door, this seems to be some sort of office. And maybe bedroom. Theres still someone sleeping area here. It's

unclear whether anybody was laying there, but if someone was laying there, it must have been a terrifying experience.

We're inside the bakery in the building that was hit, and you could see the damage here is also significant. The folks here say that they were actually

lucky because they closed the bakery down three days prior to the strike, simply because of the ongoing security situation with that Israeli aerial

campaign going on.

At the same time, there are a bunch of places here in Tehran now where people are cleaning up and picking up the pieces, trying to move on and

getting their business back in order.

Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Tehran.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: CNN has new exclusive reporting that potentially hundreds of thousands of migrants in the U.S. could face the dismissal of their asylum

claims. The Trump administration plan would then make migrants who filed them face immediate deportation.

Priscilla Alvarez reported this CNN exclusive and joins us now.

And this is going to leave a lot of people in a very difficult position, isn't it?

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, that's exactly right, Max. This really boils down to stripping the opportunity for many migrants in the

United States of seeking refuge in the country and then essentially putting them on track to be deported.

Now, this is a plan that would target people who cross the U.S.-Mexico border unlawfully and have since applied for asylum. Now, we should note

that according to U.S. law, anyone that is seeking -- fleeing violence or persecution in their home country can apply for asylum, regardless of how

they entered the country.

But here, the administration wants to strip those people who arrived illegally from that opportunity of asylum and then potentially put them in

fast-track deportation proceedings.

And on that latter point, there is movement here to delegate U.S. citizenship and immigration services, the authority to order those fast-

track deportation proceedings, otherwise known as expedited removal. Really, that is essentially not allowing them anyone who is in that process

to have a hearing before an immigration judge. So, it happens quite quickly.

But what this ultimately does is put the federal agency that manages federal immigration benefits at the center of the president's deportation

agenda, and that is alarming attorneys and advocates who say all of this is unprecedented, particularly if USCIS already accepted an application for

asylum and then is suddenly throwing that application out without deciding whether or not that person does have a credible claim.

Now, I asked USCIS about this, and in a statement, they told me that the agency is -- their focused rather on screening and vetting who wants to

live and work in the United States and that they have nothing else to announce at this time. But certainly, this would be a devastating blow to

migrants in the United States, who, again, are trying to seek asylum here, but then may suddenly have that application tossed -- Max.

FOSTER: Priscilla, thank you. Fascinating.

There has been a surprise winner in the New York city mayoral race. That's the primary, at least. We'll look at the impact that Zohran Mamdani's win

could have on the Democratic Party. And how Donald Trump has weighed in as well.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:43:05]

FOSTER: Zohran Mamdani is the unofficial winner in New York City's Democratic mayoral primary race. It was a crowded field with 11 candidates.

No one got more than 50 percent of the vote outright. That means the race will formally be decided by ranked choice votes, and that will be announced

starting on July the 1st.

But his chief rival, former Governor Andrew Cuomo, has conceded the race and congratulated Mamdani. Once results are confirmed, he'll advance to the

general election. That'll be in November. This could have implications on the future of the Democratic Party across the U.S.

Mamdani is a self-proclaimed Democratic socialist. The 33-year-old ran on a platform of freezing New York City rent prices, free public transit as

well, and increasing taxes on the wealthy in New York City.

So, what we want to know is, who is Zohran Mamdani and will he shake up the Democratic Party?

Joining me now is Joe Calazzo, a Democratic strategist who worked on Bernie Sanders' presidential campaigns.

Thank you so much for joining us, because there are some comparisons here, aren't there, with Sanders.

JOE CALAZZO, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Well, first, let me start here. Thanks so much for having me. I'm very much appreciate you, you know, taking the

time to have me on your show to discuss this.

Look, I think there are some parallels, but I also think that a message. But I also think that there should be a message of caution for Democrats

not to read too much into this. This is a Democratic primary and a liberal state in the Northeast. I think, you know, Democrats pathway to victory

directly runs through battleground states. I'm not exactly sure that the same type of politics that are incredibly popular in a place like New York

City will go and resonate in battleground states like Pennsylvania and Michigan, which are required to win back the Senate and the White House.

FOSTER: But Cuomo was such a, you know, a heavyweight. He had all that support from President Clinton, for example.

[15:45:04]

And he seemed, in many ways, the obvious choice. It does feel as though they've gone for someone not just to the left of him, but quite far to the

left by American standards.

CALAZZO: I think there's an absolute yearning for a changing of the guard. You know, I'm 38 years old, and we've been told for nearly my entire adult

life that were simply one election away from going and creating incredible change. I think there's a lot of people who, at the end of the month, sit

down to go and balance their checkbooks, and they recognize that, you know, groceries cost more. The rent keeps on going up, and your take home pay

just isn't getting there. We've had a litany of politicians who've gotten promised us the world over the last decade, and the public is yearning for

new leadership.

FOSTER: And what's he like? Because outside the U.S., we don't know much about him at all.

CALAZZO: I mean, in fairness, I have never met either of the candidates. I have been an observer from a distance, just as all of us have.

I think that one of the things that he did incredibly well in his campaign was really meet people where they are. The ability to use short form videos

to meet people where they are on social media, to go on podcasts, to use these mechanisms that really touch people outside of traditional formats.

Now, look, I do think it's all really important, right? In order to run a successful campaign, you've got to meet people across the board, not just

on their phones.

FOSTER: Yeah. And looking at all the cameras there, this is going to be, you know, one of the most high-profile jobs in American politics. Many

people will see it as him, as a counterweight, potentially for Donald Trump, won't they?

And Trump has just weighed in on this race just in the last few minutes. He calls Mamdani a communist lunatic who looks terrible. His voice is grating

and he's not very smart. He says Democrats have crossed the line by voting for him in the primary.

I guess the fact he's being mentioned by Donald Trump does say something in itself.

CALAZZO: The American people are incredibly strong in their resolve and in their hope for a better tomorrow. Donald Trump has done everything possible

to divide us as a country. This race in New York has shown us the best of what we can possibly be by thinking big and thinking bold.

Donald Trump detests that notion because it plays against his direct narrative of division and fear.

FOSTER: Mamdani could be a threat to him, though, couldn't he? A very different political views, as you say.

There's lots of economic issues at home. People are worried about what they can afford. He's offering a solution to that which Donald Trump isn't

currently, is he? Because prices certainly aren't coming down at the moment.

CALAZZO: Look, Donald Trump has done nothing but offer us a litany of excuses and reasons why things aren't getting better. And he tries to blame

others for this.

Donald Trump is the president of the United States and has the ability to address every one of the problems that he outlined in the presidential

campaign. He is -- he's the opposite of what the Democratic Party has to offer.

The Democratic Party has a pretty strong view that tomorrow can be better than yesterday, and government can, in fact, be a force of good. Donald

Trump also does everything possible to try to distract instead of, you know, coming to the realization that there is a changing of the guard and

that people in across this country want a new generation to take the lead. He goes on, he goes on the offensive here.

FOSTER: Okay, Joe, I really appreciate your time today. Thank you for joining us with your insights on Mamdani.

Still to come, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s newly formed vaccine advisory committee meets for the very first time. We'll tell you why it's already

mired in controversy.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:51:24]

FOSTER: Public health experts in the U.S. are warning of future vaccine chaos, as a new panel of government vaccine advisers meets today. The ACIP

is a group of experts typically specializing in public health, vaccines, infectious diseases, who make recommendations to the CDC.

But earlier this month, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, a known vaccine skeptic, dismissed all 17 members of the group and

added eight new members one withdrew today.

Meg Tirrell is in Atlanta, where the CDC is headquartered.

I mean, what have you managed to find out about this new board there, Meg?

MEG TIRRELL, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Max. The meeting has been going on since this morning, and there have been some contentious parts and

some parts that are a lot more normal. Some CDC staffers are presenting data on the COVID-19 vaccine, for example, showing that it has been widely

studied and shown overall to be safe and effective in preventing the worst outcomes of COVID-19.

But there also have been some very controversial moments from this new group, as you mentioned. The old group had been dismissed all at once, 17

experts who were on this committee earlier this month and just two days later, this new group put into place and a lot of groups have called into

question the backgrounds and the stances of some of the members on this panel, not all of them.

And we are starting to see some of those, sort of approaches come to fruition today. So, some of the things that we've already heard from this

panel that are alarming public health experts include a plan to study in a different way, the childhood immunization schedule that's been put out by

the CDC that pediatricians and other public health experts note has been proven to be safe and effective at preventing the worst diseases for

children. Also, reexamining the birth dose of the hepatitis B vaccine, looking at the measles, mumps, rubella vaccine in a different way.

So, there are concerns about this, to the degree that the American Academy of Pediatrics put out a statement this morning saying that it will no

longer participate in this process with this committee. They wrote, quote, "Today's ACIP meeting is usually a time where experts come together to

inform the future of vaccines. That is not what today will be."

And they emphasize that they are going to be putting out their own vaccine schedule as they have been doing that they said will be based in science.

So, what we're seeing really here is kind of a splintering in the vaccine fabric of the U.S. as this panel gets underway -- Max.

FOSTER: Okay, Meg, thank you so much. A really significant meeting that potentially.

Now scary scenes in the skies over Las Vegas. This is an American Airlines plane that reported smoke coming from its left engine. As you can see,

shortly after takeoff, the flight was an Airbus plane heading to North Carolina with 165 passengers on board, but had to return to Vegas with the

smoke visible to people on the ground there.

No injuries reported and the plane returned to the gate under its own power. The FAA is investigating the incident.

Finally, the rich, the famous from showbiz, politics and finance gathering in Venice, Italy, for the wedding of Jeff Bezos and his wife, next wife,

anyway. The tech billionaire and Amazon founder is expected to marry former news anchor Lauren Sanchez in the coming days. Threats of protests and

blockades have forced the wedding party to relocate to a remote part of the lagoon city.

The move comes after some groups complained the event will turn the already crowded tourist spot into a private amusement park for the rich.

And we are keeping a close eye on the stock markets as well as we approach the end of trade on Wall Street with about half an hour left in the trading

day, the S&P 500 very close to its all-time high of 6,147.

[15:55:08]

U.S. stocks posted big gains on Monday and Tuesday on hopes that things are calming down in the Middle East and the enthusiasm continues. Richard will

have the latest on that, but that is WHAT WE KNOW.

"QUEST MEANS BUSINESS" up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

RICHARD QUEST, CNN HOST: Closing bell ringing on Wall Street. They're about to hit the gavel to bring trading to a close. The market has been down

throughout the whole of the session. There's the bell ringing.

END

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