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Isa Soares Tonight
White House: President Trump to Decide on Action in Iran Within 2 Weeks; Iran Faces Near-Total Internet Blackout; U.K. Foreign Secretary Heads to Washington to Meet with Rubio. Trump to Decide on Action in Iran Within Two Weeks; Israel and Iran Intensify Attacks; Scores Killed in Gaza Thursday; U.S. Military Might and The Middle East; Demands from U.S. Congress; SpaceX Starship Rocket Explodes. Aired 2-3p ET
Aired June 19, 2025 - 14:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[14:00:00]
ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News!
ISA SOARES, HOST, ISA SOARES TONIGHT: Hello, and a very warm welcome everyone, I'm Isa Soares. We begin this hour with breaking news in the
Israel-Iran conflict, now, of course, in its seventh day. The White House just in the last few moments, that President Trump will make a decision on
whether the U.S. will get involved militarily in Iran within the next two weeks. Here's what Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters just
minutes ago. Let's listen.
(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)
SOARES: Iran, for its part, has called talks with the U.S. meaningless after Israel's attack last week. And it comes as President Trump holds
another meeting with his national security team in the Situation Room today. Meantime, we're hearing from Pentagon officials that the U.S.
military is taking protective measures by moving some planes and ships in the Middle East.
One official described the moves as prudent and precautionary. Meantime, Israel said dozens of people were injured in Iranian airstrikes, which
included a strike on one of the country's top medical facilities. Iran denies Israel's claims that it targeted the hospital, saying it had
accurately eliminated an Israeli command, control and Intelligence headquarters.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says we are committed to destroying the nuclear threat, and is thankful for the support being
provided by the United States.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, PRIME MINISTER, ISRAEL: But 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, and with their pilots that are
fighting alongside our pilots to knock out drones, I think it's a remarkable cooperation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOARES: Let's get more from our Kevin Liptak, who joins us now from the White House. So, Kevin, I just want to pick up with what we heard in the
breaking news we brought our viewers in the last two minutes. Those comments by the White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, that
President Trump is going to make a decision on any possible attack within two weeks. Why two weeks? Where -- why that time frame?
KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, I mean, this is a time frame that the President has used repeatedly over the course of his
presidency. Now, when he's not quite ready to make a decision yet, we've heard him use two weeks when it comes to the Ukraine conflict. Now, he's
using that particular timeframe, a fortnight to make this decision on whether to join Israel in its strikes in Iran.
Essentially putting more time on the clock as he believes that diplomacy could prove fruitful in getting Iran to back away from a nuclear weapon.
The White House didn't specify exactly what that diplomacy would look like. As of right now, there are no known talks scheduled between the U.S. and
Iran to discuss any of this.
Although, Karoline Leavitt did say that correspondence continues -- those were her words, between the U.S. and Iran and the way we understand it, is
that the President's foreign envoy, Steve Witkoff remains in communication with Iranian counterparts throughout these last very tense several days.
And so, I think it remains to be seen whether those diplomatic efforts turn into actual meetings, and whether those meetings turn in to an actual
agreement from Iran to back away from its nuclear program. But I think it is very clear that the President is looking for an alternative to a strike,
an alternative to bringing the U.S. into direct conflict with Iran, which has been behind the scenes.
One of the big questions that he has had for his officials, as this is all being discussed, how do you go about this without dragging the U.S. into
conflict with Iran, without bogging the U.S. into a prolonged conflict? And I think the answers to that have been somewhat unsatisfactory for the
President. You know, there was a very high likelihood that Iran would retaliate for any U.S. strikes that potentially American facilities or
service members in the region could become potential targets for Iran in any reprisal.
And I think it's clear that the President now wants to see if there's a way to go about this that doesn't involve a U.S. strike. And so, now, I think
you will start to see these diplomatic efforts really ramp up. In fact, I think they're going to start today. The Secretary of State Marco Rubio will
be meeting with the British Prime Minister David Lammy here in Washington before Lammy heads to Geneva tomorrow to meet with the Iranian Foreign
Minister.
[14:05:00]
So, you can start to see all of these diplomatic efforts start to ramp up presumably, eventually, involving the United States. Although such a
meeting is not yet on the books as of now. And so, I think this is significant. The President now providing this two-week window before he
makes a decision on what he'll ultimately do.
SOARES: Indeed, it is significant, and I wonder, you know, with the President saying that based on substantial chance of negotiations, there
may or may not take place. I wonder what conversations -- if you know this, Kevin, I'm not sure whether that you've heard where what conversations that
have taken place so far with the Iranians on the possibility of that, and what the message is to Prime Minister Netanyahu.
LIPTAK: Yes, and I think that second part of your question is actually a big unknown here. To the question of whether or not there are these
discussions underway with the Iranians, we do understand that there are still communications between the U.S. side and the Iranian side. What
exactly is being said, I think is unclear.
We know that Steve Witkoff is involved in those talks. And in fact, as recently as this weekend, there was a discussion inside the White House
about potentially dispatching Witkoff and the Vice President J.D. Vance to the region to try and arrange a meeting with the Iranians that had been
seen as something of -- put on the back-burner over the last several days.
But now, I think this statement from President Trump lends a great deal of urgency to trying and getting that meeting on the books. And so, we'll let
you know once we have heard --
SOARES: Yes --
LIPTAK: Whether such a meeting is scheduled at this point, it's not. So, the question about Netanyahu, I think this is -- I think will be a
disappointment, clearly to the Israelis. And I think it raises the question of whether Netanyahu and whether the Israeli military now try and go in
against the nuclear sites that potentially would have been targeted by Trump, namely the Fordo bunker far beneath the ground.
Whether Israel will attempt to go after that on their own. President Trump has said that only the U.S. has the air power, has the artillery to do
that. But I don't think that Netanyahu has ruled out doing it himself without assistance from the United States. We haven't heard a direct
message of whether or not Trump would discourage that, but it now becomes a very open question as this two-week window has been opened.
SOARES: Kevin Liptak, appreciate it, thank you very much indeed. If you are just joining us, let me bring you up to date with the breaking news
that we've been following here in the last what? Ten, fifteen minutes or so, we heard from the White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt speaking
at a press conference at the White House.
She said that the President Trump will decide whether to launch a U.S. strike on Iran within the next two weeks as she said. And she quoted him
saying, "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."
So, that is the breaking news that we've had in the last ten minutes. We've heard the reaction just now from our correspondent. The White House will
take you, of course, to Tel Aviv for the reaction, of course, from Prime Minister Netanyahu. Let's give you a sense of what has been going on in
Iran just in the last 24 hours, because near total internet blackout, Iran is facing a major in connectivity issue, plummeting from 78 percent to just
3 percent.
That is according to data from NetBlocks which monitors internet governance. While some families flee Tehran for safety, others are
determined to stay. CNN told a man from south-central Iran had to hitch- hike for three days to reach his grandparents due to a lack of fuel. Earlier this week, a strike hit the studios, if you remember, of the state-
run television network while on the air.
Our Fred Pleitgen takes us inside that destroyed building.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): 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.
[14:10:00]
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. 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 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. There's a lot of public anger that the Israelis attacked 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)
SOARES: Well, my next guest is Trita Parsi; executive Vice President of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, he's also the author of
"Losing An Enemy". Trita, great to have you back on the show. Let me just pick --
TRITA PARSI, EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, QUINCY INSTITUTE FOR RESPONSIBLE STATECRAFT: Thank you --
SOARES: Up with the breaking news that we've just brought our viewers in the last ten minutes or so from the White House Press Secretary, quoting
President Trump, saying that he's going to give two weeks to make a decision or whether or not to go in, of course, and to strike Iran.
What do you make of that decision? Just, you know, first of all, I don't understand why two weeks. But what do you make of the decision that perhaps
he's giving more time for diplomacy?
PARSI: I mean, on the face of it, it obviously is positive, because there is a diplomatic solution to this. In fact, we were on a path towards a
diplomatic solution to this before the Israelis blew up the negotiating table. I think the Iranians will be very suspicious, because last time
Trump said that he still is dedicated to diplomacy, the Israelis bombed Iran, and the Iranians do not believe that, that was done in an
uncoordinated way with Trump administration.
So, they will remain very suspicious about this. But nevertheless, there's been a lot of activity in the background in the last 48 hours. I think the
Trump administration is increasingly coming to the realization that an insistence on the Israeli red line, meaning zero enrichment and
dismantlement of the Iranian nuclear program in totality, will lead to war.
Whereas a shift back to the American red line, which Trump initially insisted on, which is no weaponization, meaning the Iranians can have a
nuclear program, but it will have to be a peaceful one, and no path for them to be able to build the bomb. If he shifts back to the American red
line, there is a path towards a deal.
SOARES: Trita, do stay with us because of course, we are following this breaking news. I want to get the perspective, but don't go anywhere -- from
our correspondent in Tel Aviv, Clarissa Ward joining me now. Clarissa, just give me your reaction of what -- the sense you're getting following on from
this response that we've heard from the White House, from President Trump saying he will make a decision on whether or not to go within the next two
weeks. A disappointment, perhaps, from Netanyahu. What are you hearing?
CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: So, officially, Isa, we haven't heard any response yet, and I don't know when we will get one.
But unofficially, I think it's safe to speculate that there will be disappointment here. Two weeks is nothing like the timeline that Israeli
officials were looking at privately.
They were expressing optimism. They were talking more in the region of 24 to 48 hours. And I think there is a concern that by kind of kicking the can
down the road a little bit and opening up that space for diplomacy, which I should add is music to the ears of many in the region and around the world,
that you are risking losing the momentum that Israel has already been able to establish through its strikes on the ground.
You're also, of course, Isa, raising the prospect that Israel needs to be able to continue this intensity of strikes for another two weeks, and that
is still something of an open question. I mean, Israeli officials had always prepared people for the possibility that this would go on for weeks.
But still, it is absolutely having an impact on society.
Over the last couple of days, it had been much quieter than today. We saw a real uptick again, a large barrage this morning, a number of light
casualties, but still, the Soroka Hospital in southern Israel, the largest hospital took a hit. And so, there is a kind of question mark around what
this really means.
Does Trump, by allowing this space for diplomacy to play out, is that basically a way of sort of indicating that he's unlikely to intervene
militarily? What then does that mean for Israel in terms of achieving its strategic objectives? And I should add, we don't really know exactly what
the bar is or what the metric is for Israel vis-a-vis what constitutes mission accomplished here?
[14:15:00]
SOARES: Yes --
WARD: Is it the complete dismantlement of Iran's nuclear facilities? Is it a -- is it a drastic diminishment of those facilities? Is it full-blown
regime change? They've been a little coy about particularly or specifically articulating that. So, I think you're likely to see very kind of diplomatic
official responses. But privately, certainly, there will be some disappointment here, that this means the air is going out of the balloon a
little bit, so-to-speak --
SOARES: Yes --
WARD: Isa --
SOARES: It will be interesting to see, Clarissa, how Prime Minister Netanyahu will respond, because he did say earlier today that Israel has
the power to, those are his words, Clarissa, and will strike all the nuclear facilities in Iran. It will be interesting to see how he, of
course, balances this, continue that objective, whatever that objective is, while not infuriating President Biden -- President Trump, pardon me, or
getting in the way of any sort of negotiations. How do you think he will proceed?
WARD: I think it's an interesting question, Isa, because the Israelis have been very flat-out and categorical in their dismissal of any negotiations.
They see this as an existential issue. They've made up their mind that they're doing it, they're hell bent on doing it, and nothing is going to
stop them from carrying out what they have started.
So, they believe that negotiations -- and usually, I should add, negotiations are predicated on some kind of a ceasefire, right? The bomb
stop for a second, people get around the negotiating table and they try to hammer out a deal. That will not fly with the Israelis. So, it will be
interesting to see how he sort of threads the needle by continuing to be grateful and gracious vis-a-vis President Trump's help so far, while not
trying sort of publicly to strong-arm him into getting involved more militarily.
SOARES: Clarissa Ward there for us in Tel Aviv, thanks very much, Clarissa, appreciate it. And I wanted to return to my conversation that I
was having with Trita Parsi, who is the executive Vice President of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, and also the author of losing
an enemy. Trita, apologies, we're just covering this breaking news at a moment to get reaction, really from our correspondent in Tel Aviv.
We'd heard from the White House. But just let me pick up with what, you know, I was asking Clarissa there, that -- this idea that President Trump
is potentially giving time and space for diplomacy, that won't be music, I assume, to Prime Minister Netanyahu's ears. How do you think he will
proceed, given, of course, what he said, Israel has the power to and will strike all the nuclear facilities? How do you think he's going to thread
that needle as Clarissa was making the point there?
PARSI: So, I think Clarissa is absolutely right. Obviously, this is going to be very disappointing to the Israelis. And she's also absolutely right
that this will be music to the ears of almost everyone else in the region. No one else but the Israelis want this war. The Arab side of the Persian
gulf is terrified of what this is going to mean for them.
Jordan is in a very dire position because its population is getting increasingly angry over how Jordan is shooting down Iranian drones and
missiles. This is an untenable situation, and the last thing the region wants is a major war. However, I think there's one thing that I am not
fully in agreement with. There isn't really a momentum in terms of some sort of opening to attack the nuclear facilities.
The momentum has been to push the United States as close as possible towards entering the war. If there was such an opening to destroy the
nuclear program, the Israelis should do it themselves. There isn't. They need the United States to do so. They were very close to getting Trump to
agree to it last minute, it appears that because of background diplomacy, there's been some changes in his mind.
So, they're losing the momentum of dragging the U.S. into the war. They're not losing the momentum for destroying the nuclear program, because that
momentum actually never really existed. Yes, they can bomb a lot of the different facilities. Yes, the United States can bomb Fordo whether it can
succeed, whether it actually would destroy the nuclear program entirely, even if it succeeded, is a completely different story.
SOARES: So, then let's focus on, Trita, on Iran. Tehran will look at this message today from the White House, from President Trump, and probably glad
to hear it. They're giving it a chance. But how do you think they will react? How do you proceed, of course, without looking like you are
surrendering? Of course, because diplomacy -- giving diplomacy a chance is not a surrender. So, how do you think? What do you think they'll be
thinking here, Trita?
PARSI: Neither side is surrendering.
SOARES: Yes.
PARSI: And as I said earlier on, I think the Iranians are probably going to be a bit happy, but extremely suspicious. They are not trusting Trump at
this moment. He said that he wanted to talk last Sunday, but then in their view, he gave the Israelis a green light to attack Iran on Friday, having
lulled them into a false belief of security.
[14:20:00]
Whether that is true or not is different. You know, I'm just saying that this is their perception, and as a result, I think they will be very
suspicious of this statement, but they will pursue it. I think they will do everything they can to see if a diplomatic solution can be found that
retains what they believe is their red lines that they're not going to compromise on, because at the end of the day, they don't want an all-out
war with the United States.
That's not what they're looking for, but they're also absolutely not looking for surrender or capitulation.
SOARES: Yes, and there have been so much mixed messaging over the last few weeks, of course, even before this whole started six days ago, that it was
very confusing to get a sense of where this administration stood. But this message now from President Trump perhaps gives a bit more clarity and more
space and room for that diplomacy I'm sure all hoping for that. Trita Parsi, really appreciate you coming on the show and giving us --
PARSI: Thank you --
SOARES: Your insight. Thank you, Trita. Well, as the Israel and Iran conflict rages on, uncertainty looms over Trump's next steps. Details ahead
on what has -- who has a seat at the table for global discussions this week. Plus, if the U.S. gets involved in the Iran-Israel conflict, what
action could Iran take? We'll talk to an expert on Tehran after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SOARES: If you are just joining us, let me bring you up to date with the breaking news we've been following here in the last 23 minutes or so in the
show. The White House says President Donald Trump will make a decision on further U.S. involvement in Iran in two weeks time. Mr. Trump has
reportedly reviewed attack plans for Iran, and CNN is told, he is holding off for now, waiting to see if Tehran will step back from its nuclear
program.
If Trump chooses to strike Iranian nuclear facilities, then Tehran has threatened to retaliate directly against the United States. And for
precaution, two U.S. defense officials now say America's military has moved some planes and ships in the Middle East, while President Trump weighs his
next steps. A key ally is in Washington today for face-to-face talks.
Britain's Foreign Secretary David Lammy is expected to meet with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and joining them, U.S. special envoy Steve
Witkoff. Meantime, CNN is in -- is told talks between Iran, the U.K., Germany, France and the EU are set to take place on Friday in Switzerland.
This is all happening in consultation, we've been told, with the Trump administration.
I want to discuss this further with Sir Richard Dalton; a former British ambassador to Iran. Ambassador, welcome to the show.
[14:25:00]
So important to have you here today of all days, of course, given, of course, the breaking news that we have just been told, our viewers from the
White House that President Trump has decided to give -- to give it two weeks before he makes a decision. What do you make of the two-week time
frame that he's given us?
RICHARD DALTON, ASSOCIATE FELLOW, CHATHAM HOUSE'S MIDDLE EAST & NORTH AFRICA PROGRAM & FORMER BRITISH AMBASSADOR TO IRAN: Well, it's not the
full period which it would take to come up with a new nuclear deal, but it does put pressure on the negotiators. And there is a now a need for this
first step in Geneva, followed by wider coordination with those countries that are of key concern to this question.
The gulf neighbors of Iran and permanent members of the Security Council, such as Russia and China, both of whom played a helpful role in ensuring
through the 2015 nuclear deal, that there was a high level of assurance that Iranian nuclear materials would not be diverted for military purposes.
SOARES: What do you think, ambassador, that two weeks can achieve in negotiations that 60 days, although that was somewhat arbitrary, that
timeline anyway, to achieve with Iran. How do you think -- if you're in Tehran now, what will they be considering this moment as they hear this
news?
DALTON: Well, I am not privy to the Iranian negotiating position, but it's clear to me, as somebody who's followed these negotiations, that a great
many elements need to go into making up a new package that will provide Israel and the United States with the assurances that they need, in the
light of the destruction that has taken place on Iran, particularly its nuclear program.
And if you'll excuse me, I'm going to list some of these because they really are convincing to me that if we got imaginative and firm leadership
and widespread involvement in pushing a program like this forwards, we could resolve this matter diplomatically. Clearly, there needs to be a
suspension of Iranian enrichment activities to facilitate negotiations.
There need to be technical steps like the supply of all Iranian low enriched and 60 percent high enriched uranium for conversion into reactor
fuel by a commercial partner such as China and Russia. We need the opening up of Iranian Atomic Energy Organization enrichment operations to one or
more joint venture partners to give them a stake and an insight into what is going on, or that could be done as part of an enrichment consortium of
regional partners.
We could have a trilateral safeguarding agency with the UAE and the kingdom of Saudi Arabia. We could have a gulf nuclear weapon free zone. We could
have --
SOARES: Yes --
DALTON: Parliamentary legislation in Iran incorporating the supreme leader's fatwa against weapons of mass destruction into law. We could have
a gulf regional security dialogue --
SOARES: Yes --
DALTON: Wrapping around these measures, and we could have, of course -- and this is the key point, a resumption of gold standard IAEA verification
of all the measures needed to put in place a convincing package.
SOARES: So, you've outlined there what we could be seeing in terms of negotiations. Of course, as an important moment hearing this from President
Trump, clearly, giving time, two weeks in space for the diplomacy. We have not heard, ambassador, from the Iranians as of yet, but we have heard, not
in response to the two weeks, but prior to the breaking news from Prime Minister Netanyahu.
He said Israel has the power, his words, and will strike all the nuclear facilities in Iran. He said -- he also added that Israel did not wait for a
green light from the United States, but said the Trump administration was helping Israel with defense. How do you -- how do you think then, Prime
Minister Netanyahu will respond to this two-week time frame and giving diplomacy a chance here?
DALTON: Well, he started this war to prevent diplomacy having a chance. So, he will not be contented. But since when did Israel have a veto over
the interests of countries across the world and in Iran's region? In the outcome of this matter, Iran's nuclear program's future, which has bugged
the whole region and the international community for at least, two decades.
So, it will need firm diplomacy with Israel. It might need -- if the Americans buy into it, an eventual package, it might need the kind of
pressure on Israel, which here the two United States has been reluctant to go in for.
But you say we haven't heard from Iran. Of course, we've been hearing from Iran for five days that --
ISA SOARES, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST: Oh, yes. But I was referring to this comment. Ambassador. I was referring to the comment --
DALTON: This was an illegal aggression.
SOARES: Ambassador, I was referring --
DALTON: And in consequence, they're willing to come to the negotiating table to resume diplomacy.
SOARES: Yes, but I was referring to the breaking news we had in the last 20 minutes. We hadn't had reaction to the two-week timeframe. You are
absolutely spot on about the rest. We have heard very clearly what Iran's position is on this. Sir Richard Dalton, really appreciate you taking the
time to speak to us. Thank you, Ambassador.
DALTON: Thank you.
SOARES: Now, in Gaza, Israel continues its military campaign in the besieged enclave amid the escalating conflict with Iran. Israeli strikes
have killed more than 70 people today, and that is according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. The latest strikes come as the humanitarian
situation in Gaza continues to deteriorate. The U.N. is repeating warnings, the famine is growing more likely.
And coming up, if Donald Trump decides to involve the U.S. in the Israeli- Iran conflict, then what? After the break, we'll look at how Iran might retaliate and how effective it could be. That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.
SOARES: If you're just joining us, a very good evening. We have more breaking news to bring up to date. You're up in the breaking news that
we've had in the last 34 minutes or so. U.S. President Donald Trump will make a decision on possible American military involvement in Iran within
the next two weeks, we've been told. The White House says the president wants to allow diplomatic efforts to move forward before making a final
decision on the conflict.
[14:35:00]
U.S. officials say any deal with Iran must include no enrichment of uranium. Mr. Trump meeting again today, meantime, with his national
security advisers. He's scheduled to receive more intelligence briefings will be told on the matter over the next few days.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, meantime, is not ruling out targeting Iran's supreme leader. He says no one in Iran should have
immunity, adding that he believes actions speak louder than words.
Meantime, Israel's health minister says Iran crossed a red line following a missile attack on a hospital that injured dozens of people. The Israeli
defense minister responded by saying, Iran's supreme leader cannot continue to exist. Iran claims the medical facility was not its intended target.
Our Jeremy Diamond joins us now from Tel Aviv and Jeremy, let me start, first of all, this breaking news that, you know, we brought our viewers in
the last 35 minutes or so. President Trump giving two weeks' timeframe before a decision -- he makes a decision on Iran. How is that being
received or how would that be received, do you think, from Prime Minister Netanyahu? Because from what I can see, he has not responded to this.
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: No, we have yet to get any kind of official Israeli reaction to this new diplomatic timeline from the
White House in which we are seeing that President Trump wants to give at most two weeks for the potential for diplomacy with Iran. Making clear that
there has already been contact between Steve Witkoff and Iranian officials, that they are continuing to have conversations, and that President Trump is
ultimately laying out quite a stark end goal here for Iran to enrich no uranium whatsoever.
The Israelis, I can tell you for the last couple of days, had certainly been optimistic that President Trump would authorize a U.S. strike on that
Fordow nuclear facility in Iran. And they certainly had hoped that he would do so on a much shorter timeline than sometime within the next two weeks.
You know, we did hear from Prime Minister Netanyahu earlier today and he made clear that he believes President Trump will do what's best for
America. And he said that he trusted the president's judgment, calling him a tremendous friend and a tremendous world leader. And that is very much in
line with how I've been told that the Israeli prime minister has approached this issue of encouraging the United States to join in on the action in
Iran, meaning that he's not explicitly urging President Trump to carry out this strike, he doesn't want to try and put him in a corner on this issue,
but rather he's hoping that President Trump reaches this decision of his own accord based on U.S. strategic interests.
And we are now seeing that that path is now leading President Trump to put a halt, it seems, on any immediate U.S. military intervention and instead,
consider his diplomatic options here for at least another few days and perhaps up to two weeks.
And now, all of this is happening, Isa, as we are seeing Iran's destructive capabilities on display once again in Israel today with at least four
different ballistic missile impact sites across Central and Southern Israel, including that Soroka medical facility, more than 200 people were
injured in those strikes. Mostly light injuries, no fatalities.
But nonetheless, when you look at the kind of destruction that was wrought by those ballistic missiles after several days during which Iran seemed to
have lost the ability to fire significant barrages that would do real damage inside of Israel, Iran very much showing that they are still a
threat. And of course, that a lot of volatility and uncertainty still lies ahead for people in Iran and people here in Israel.
SOARES: Indeed. Jeremy Diamond for us there in Tel Aviv. Thank you, Jeremy. Well, President Donald Trump says he'll decide whether to launch a
U.S. strike or Iran, as we were saying, within the next two weeks, in a statement delivered by his press secretary, Karoline Leavitt.
Mr. Trump says he wants to allow diplomatic efforts to proceed before making a final decision on U.S. military action. And this comes as Trump --
President Trump met again with his top national security aids in the Situation Room, as we said just a short time ago. We've also been hearing
from defense officials who 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.
John Erath is the senior policy director from the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation. He oversees the center's work on issues including
Iran. John, really appreciate you coming on the show.
I want to start off -- and you would've seen the breaking news that we had that President Trump is giving clearly diplomacy a chance with this two-
week timeframe that he's come up with. But I wonder, you know, whether you can just take us in a bit more into this conversation that we had over the
Fordow fuel enrichment plan. There's been a lot of focus, a lot of graphics, a lot of talk about this nuclear enrichment -- the fuel
enrichment plant. Why this plant in particular?
[14:40:00]
JOHN ERATH, SENIOR POLICY DIRECTOR, CENTER FOR ARMS CONTROL AND NON- PROLIFERATION: Fordow is Iran's most advanced technologically enrichment facility. It's also best protected. It's very deep, deep underground, and
was specifically designed to withstand military action. To be survivable in the event of an attack, specifically from Israel, in effect what's going on
right now. It's designed to survive that. It's designed to be able to continue its activity, and it also holds Iran's most advanced enrichment
facilities. The technology that's available there is a generation ahead of Iran's other enrichment facilities.
SOARES: So, then that begs the question, John, you know, would the plan by the Israelis and potentially by the United States, if they get involved,
how successful could it be? How achievable and at what cost?
ERATH: The Fordow plant was designed specifically to survive military action. So, it will be a difficult job to destroy it through those means.
That doesn't mean it's impossible, it just means that it's difficult. It's probably possible that there could be some significant damage that would be
done, but that's sort of beside the point. The point is that Iran built the Fordow plant. It took some time, took some expense. And it can be rebuilt
if it is damaged or destroyed.
So, if the decision is made to go with a military solution to this problem, the problem of enrichment, then it is a solution that will need to be
repeated at intervals for the foreseeable future. Iran can rebuild and rebuild and rebuild, and then it would've to be redestroyed and redestroyed
and redestroyed.
SOARES: Yes, exactly. Just going after Fordow doesn't make the nuclear threat, I assume, go away. But a chunk of what we do know, and I know
you've been speaking to our teams here at CNN, we know five tunnels under a group of mountains. It's got main halls estimated in 80 to 90 meters deep.
Much of this information regarding Fordow, much of it comes from a trove, from what I understand, John, a trove of Iranian documents that was stoning
years ago by Israeli officials. How confident should we be about this intelligence?
ERATH: I can't comment on the intelligence or its reliability. That's for the Intelligence Community to work out and decide. It's my understanding
that the intelligence officials who have seen these documents and evaluated them felt that they were fairly accurate and that they can have a degree of
confidence in the reliability of those plans at the time at which they were obtained. That was several years ago. And so, things may have changed in
the interim.
SOARES: Can I ask you, finally, we're running out of time, much discussion of course over Iran's nuclear capabilities. We've heard from the IAEA. What
is your sense of, you know, what -- at what point they are in getting to a nuclear bomb here?
ERATH: It is not likely that Iran actually has developed nuclear weapons. It's been very clear, however, that their policy over the last several
decades has been to develop the capability to be able to put together a nuclear weapon on short notice should they make a decision to do so. That
is to walk right up to the brink, but not cross over. That's what makes everybody very nervous. That they would've the capability on short notice
to cross that threshold, develop a nuclear weapon, and then be able to use it against one of their neighbors or Israel in a very short amount of time.
SOARES: John, really appreciate you taking the time to speak to us. Thank you very much indeed. Thank you. Still to come tonight, as U.S. President
Donald Trump decides whether or not to attack Iran, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are trying to reassert their constitutional authority. We'll
tell you what they're demanding, just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[14:45:00]
SOARES: Hurricane Erick slammed into Mexico as a dangerous category 3 storm. Erick is the strongest hurricane ever to make landfall in Mexico
this early in the season. The dangerous storm is expected to unleash flashfloods as well as devastating winds. Though it should weaken as it
hits the mountains and dissipate tonight or indeed early Friday. Hundreds of temporary shelters were opened and people were urged to take
precautions. We'll take -- stay across that story for you, of course.
In a small corner of London, the past has come back to life in vivid colors. Archeologists found fragments of shattered plastered walls
belonging to a Roman villa built 1800 years ago. After painstaking work, they assembled the broken images, as you can see there, and described their
effort as putting together world's most difficult jigsaw puzzle. The Fresco shows painted fruits, flowers, and birds, which is beautiful.
Well, an explosion happened at SpaceX's Starbase facility Wednesday night in South Texas. A Starship rocket was preparing for its 10th test flight
when they experienced what SpaceX is calling a major anomaly, exploding into a fireball on a test stand. The cause of the blast and the extent of
damage are unclear. The company says no one was injured, and all employees have been accounted for.
Starbase facility near Bronxville, Texas is SpaceX's primary site for developing and testing the Starship Rocket Program, which SpaceX sees
essential to deep space exploration, including missions to the moon and Mars. We'll have more to more news after this short break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[14:50:00]
SOARES: Welcome back, everyone. As U.S. President Donald Trump considers U.S. involvement in the Iran and Israel conflict, Congress wants to be
consulted about any potential actions. According to Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, all Senators will get a private briefing next week on
Iran. Schumer and other Democrats have also sent a letter to the White House reminding Trump that Congress needs to play a role in any actions.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. TIM KAINE (D-VA): Why have congresses of both parties, frankly, abdicated this? It's because they're afraid of war votes. These are very
tough votes. They're very consequential. And so, over many, many years, under presidents and congresses of both parties, Congress has decided to
kind of hide in the tall grass, let the president make the call, and then we'll criticize him if it works out badly, or say something good about him
or her if it works out well. But that's not what the Constitution says. The Constitution says we declare war.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOARES: And Annie Grayer joins me now. And, Annie, we'll talk about the Constitution and Congress in just a moment. I just want to pick up with the
breaking news that we've been bringing our viewers for the last 52 minutes in this decision by the president to give it two weeks, right, to decide on
whether or not to get involved with Iran.
You and I spoke, I think it was two days or so ago, and you were telling us, and you even had clips from various voices, of, you know, the MAGA how
divided -- even the Republican Party is from the MAGA to the Iran hawks. How do you think, or how are they receiving this two-week timeframe that we
had from the president?
ANNIE GRAYER, CNN REPORTER: Well, I think members are still digesting it, and I should note that Congress is not in session today, so it's a little
harder to get that immediate reaction in the hallways as we normally do. But this, again, is just showing how divided Republicans are on this issue,
because there are some who want the president to take immediate action.
We've heard repeatedly from Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, who's been talking with Trump almost daily throughout this process, that he wants to
see Trump take action and get involved in this conflict immediately. And then, you have others like Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene,
Tucker Carlson, who are being very public that Trump needs to pull back.
Now, the president is trying to downplay these divisions here. So, let's take a listen to what he had to say about it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: My supporters are America first. They make America great again. My supporters don't want to see Iran have a nuclear weapon.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRAYER: So, this up to two-week delay that the president has instituted here is just going to drag out and further expose these divisions. We'll
see if the president's right, that the party will ultimately unite behind him, depending on what he decides.
SOARES: And then the other question is that, you know, many of us have on this side of the pond, if he does decide after two weeks that he will join
Israel and strike Iran, does he need to get approval, seek approval from Congress? Just talk us through that.
GRAYER: So, that is the big debate in Congress right now. And this is something that I've been reporting, we've been discussing again and again,
which is Congress is trying to figure out what their authority is in -- during this Trump administration. We've seen time and time again lawmakers
abdicate their responsibility and allow Trump to -- and his administration to act unilaterally.
But conflict with Iran is potentially going to be that moment where a lot of lawmakers stand up and say, no, actually, you do need to come to
Congress to get approval for any sort of war action. So, we now have seen both in the House and the Senate -- war power resolutions, which would
mandate Trump to come to Congress before any war activity.
[14:55:00]
But the timing of this is what's going to be really important here. So, we know that Trump has up to two weeks to make this decision. If these war
power resolutions come to the floor before that, this becomes a very politically tricky vote, because we'll have to see if Republican -- how
Republicans vote on this when they don't know ultimately what side the president's going to come down on.
So, both parties have a lot at stake with these votes, but we're expecting them to come to the floors of both the House and Senate in pretty short
order.
SOARES: Annie Grayer, thank you very much indeed. Appreciate, Annie. And this just into CNN, Customs and Immigration officials, and I'm being told
these are live images you're looking there from Los Angeles. And these officials are better known, as we've reporting here, as ICE. They try to
enter Dodger Stadium, that's in Los Angeles today, but they were denied entry by the team. That's according to a source familiar with a situation.
Let's get a close up there of agents that you can see by those trucks. It's not clear why those ICE agents were trying to get into the stadium. We
don't have the clarity on that. But the L.A. team was expected to announce a program today to help immigrants in the area caught up in recent ICE
raid. We are going to keep our eye on this. Of course, my colleague, Max Foster, will have much more on this, I'm sure in the next hour.
In the meantime, thank you very much for your company. "What We Know with Max Foster" is up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:00:00]
END
