‘Flat-out wrong’: White House pushes back against intel assessment that Iran’s nuclear program damaged, not destroyed in bombing

The 11th Hour with Stephanie Ruhle

NBC News

Politics, Washington, News, President, Policy, Government, Senate, Congress, Msnbc

4.5 • 3.6K Ratings

🗓️ 25 June 2025

⏱️ 43 minutes

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Summary

Israel-Iran ceasefire holds into second day, but early U.S. intelligence finds air strikes did little to set back Iran’s nuclear program. Then, a whistleblower says a top Department of Justice official suggested ignoring court orders in order to follow Trump’s deportation campaign. Plus, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell testifies in Congress, defending higher interest rates. Jeff Mason, Carol Leonnig, Lieutenant General Mark Hertling, David Jolly, Barry Ritholtz, Brendan Greeley and Yaakov Katz join The 11th Hour this Tuesday.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Tonight, the Iran-Israel ceasefire holds into a second day.
0:05.0	But U.S. Intel suggests those bunker buster bombs did not destroy Iran's nuclear program.
0:11.0	Then a stunning accusation.
0:13.0	A whistleblower alleges a top DOJ officials suggested ignoring court orders
0:19.0	to carry out Trump's immigration agenda.
0:21.6	And Fed Chair J Powell tells Congress why he is in no rush to cut interest rates as the 11th
0:28.0	hours gets underway on this Tuesday night.
0:36.1	Good evening once again. I am Stephanie Ruhl, and it is day 156 of the second Trump administration.
0:42.6	Tonight, NBC News is reporting.
0:44.8	An initial assessment by U.S. intelligence concluded that President Trump's strikes on Iran only set back the country's nuclear program by months, as opposed to Trump's
0:55.8	claims that it was obliterated. The White House is already pushing back, calling the assessment
1:00.5	flat out wrong. My colleague Kelly O'Donnell has all these details. Watch this.
1:06.1	Tonight, President Trump in the Netherlands for the NATO summit, wielding a diplomatic win on the
1:11.5	world stage, with the tenuous ceasefire between Israel and Iran still holding.
1:16.6	The ceasefire is very much in effect, and I think we're going to keep it there for a long time.
1:21.5	The president projected more confidence that the U.S. airstrikes on three Iranian nuclear sites,
1:26.8	which included B-2 bombers, 14 bunker-buster bombs, delivered a fateful blow.
1:33.4	Photos before and after appear to show significant destruction at the sites.
1:37.9	However, in a new development tonight, a preliminary assessment by the Defense Intelligence Agency estimates that the Iranian nuclear program has been
1:46.3	delayed by three to six months, according to three people with knowledge of the report. The White
1:52.4	House disputes that initial assessment, calling it flat out wrong. Iran will never rebuild
1:57.1	this nuclear. From there, absolutely not. That place is under rock. That place is demolished.
	...

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