'This Week' Transcript 6-15-25: Sen. Amy Klobuchar, Israeli Ambassador to the United States Yechiel Leiter & Retired Gen. Joseph Votel

A rush transcript of "This Week with George Stephanopoulos" airing on Sunday, June 15, 2025 on ABC News is below. This copy may not be in its final form, may be updated and may contain minor transcription errors. For previous show transcripts, visit the "This Week" transcript archive.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANNOUNCER: THIS WEEK WITH GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS starts right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARTHA RADDATZ, ABC "THIS WEEK" CO-ANCHOR: Brazen attack.

GOV. TIM WALZ (D-MN): An unspeakable tragedy has unfolded in Minnesota.

RADDATZ: Breaking this weekend, two Minnesota Democratic state lawmakers and their spouses shot in their homes. Officials say more were targeted. The urgent manhunt still underway for the suspect. This morning, we're live on the scene, and Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar joins us.

Plus, ABC's Pierre Thomas and Brad Garrett on the heightened threat environment.

And overseas, Israel's massive attack on Iran.

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: This operation will continue for as many days as it takes to remove this threat.

RADDATZ: As Iran hits back, we'll speak with Israel's ambassador to the U.S., plus reaction from former CENTCOM Commander General Joseph Votel.

And, military march.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Every other country celebrates their victories. It's about time America did, too.

RADDATZ: Thousands of soldiers parade through Washington to mark the Army's 250th birthday, as tens of thousands protest across the country. Selina Wang reports on the nationwide split screen and political analysis from our powerhouse roundtable.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: From ABC News, it's THIS WEEK. Here now, Martha Raddatz.

RADDATZ: Good morning and welcome to THIS WEEK.

Unspeakable, that is how Minnesota’s "Star Tribune" is reporting the shootings that rocked not only Minnesota but the nation this weekend. Two state lawmakers and their spouses shot in their own homes in the middle of the night. The suspect this morning still at large.

The horrific shootings come amidst a week of tumult and terror. Overseas, the battle between Israel and Iran is intensifying. Overnight, Iranian missiles breaking through Israel's air defenses, killing at least ten and wounding hundreds more.

And back in the U.S., organizers say that millions participated in the so-called no kings protests across the country, calling it the largest coordinated protest since President Trump returned to office.

This as the president celebrated the U.S. Army's 250th birthday with a parade in the streets of Washington. And in Los Angeles, the scene turning tense after hours of peaceful protests with crowds in downtown L.A. cleared from the streets after pushing up against police lines.

But we begin today with the urgent manhunt for the suspect wanted in those brazen shootings in Minnesota. Governor Tim Walz calling them “an act of targeted political violence.”

ABC's Faith Abubey is on the ground in Minnesota with the very latest.

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FAITH ABUBEY, ABC NEWS CORRESPONDENT (voice over): This morning, the urgent manhunt continues in the Minnesota twin cities region for 57-year-old Vance Boelter, the suspect police say killed a beloved Minnesota lawmaker and her husband and wounded another legislator and his spouse.

GOV. TIM WALZ (D-MN): This was an act of targeted political violence.

ABUBEY (voice over): The FBI putting out these images they say are of Boelter not long after the attack in a cowboy hat, offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to his arrest. Boelter, a Minnesota resident, ran a private security company with his wife.

DREW EVANS, BUREAU OF CRIMINAL APPREHENSION: Do not approach him. You should consider him armed and dangerous.

ABUBEY (voice over): Around 2:00 a.m. Saturday, police in Champlin, north west of Minneapolis, responded to reports of a shooting at the home of State Senator John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette.

DISPATCH: Suspect posing as police officers, shot two victims.

ABUBEY (voice over): Eight miles away in Brooklyn Park, a fast-thinking sergeant proactively checking on the home of former House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, finding them fatally shot.

MARK BRULEY, BROOKLYN PARK POLICE CHIEF: They noticed that there was a police vehicle in the driveway with the lights -- emergency lights on, and what appeared to be a police officer at the door coming out of the house. When our officers confronted him, the individual immediately fired upon the officers, who exchanged gunfire, and the suspect retreated back into the home.

ABUBEY (voice over): They say the suspect fled on foot, was dressed as a police officer, complete with a badge, vest and taser, and a realistic-looking latex mask covering his hair. Allegedly seen here in doorbell camera images obtained by ABC News.

Investigators say they recovered several firearms from Boelter’s vehicle, along with a list of 70 potential targets, including other Democratic lawmakers and abortion providers in the state. Sources telling ABC News, law enforcement is looking into whether he may have been motivated by extreme views on abortion.

DAVID CARLSON, FRIEND OF SUSPECT: Through the '90s he was -- he really hated abortion, but we hardly ever talked -- I haven't talked really about abortion with him for -- ever -- for years.

ABUBEY: His longtime friend, David Carlson, saying the suspect had been staying with him. Carlson's home raided Saturday.

Melissa Hortman was a mother of two who served as state House speaker for six years, with more than two decades in public office. News of her murder stunning lawmakers in her home state and nationwide. Minnesota's governor, Tim Walz, heartbroken.

GOV. TIM WALZ (D-MN): Speaker Hortman was someone who served the people of Minnesota with grace, compassion, humor and a sense of service. She was a formidable public servant, a fixture and a giant in Minnesota.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ABUBEY (on camera): And, Martha, the shootings here in Minnesota are just the latest in a series of attacks on political figures that have shaken U.S. politics. President Trump himself the target of two assassination attempts last year, releasing a statement yesterday that such horrific violence will not be tolerated here in the United States of America.

Martha.

RADDATZ: Joining us now is Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar.

Condolences to you, Senator Klobuchar, all your colleagues, everyone there in Minnesota.

SEN. AMY KLOBUCHAR, (D) MINNESOTA: Thanks, Martha.

RADDATZ: I know both legislators were -- were close friends of yours and especially Speaker Hortman.

Tell us about her.

KLOBUCHAR: You know, Melissa Hortman was a woman that I wish everyone around the country knew. When you think about a true public servant who goes into it for the right reasons, it’s Melissa.

You know, she started out as a mom with little kids. She was working at her dad's used auto parts company. And I got to know her then. And I saw how she door knocked and knew practically every person in her district. She was able to juggle being a Sunday schoolteacher, being a Girl Scout leader, training service dogs for veterans. And she and Mark, and I think of their kids today on Father's Day, they lost their mom and their dad, they were able to juggle it all.

And maybe that's what helped her be this incredible legislator who worked her way up to speaker of the House, who helped lead the efforts to pass this incredible work on paid family leave where Minnesota is on the map in such a big way to help people, or preschool lunch, or the work she just did this last year with the governor where we had a literally tied legislature and she and her Republican counterpart, another woman, were able to negotiate a budget and get that done so we didn't go into government shutdown in a very difficult time.

She was a true leader, and loved her work, but was always so grounded and such a decent person. I think that's probably the best word to describe her. You look at her pictures and you know what she was about.

So, we miss her greatly. And so when you hear about statistics, about political violence and threats, I just want people to know who we're talking about, or Senator Hoffman, who is equally respected, got into politics because his daughter has spine bifida and she couldn't get insurance and he wanted to advocate for her. Decent people who didn't deserve this to happen to them at 2:00 in the morning in the middle of the night, when all they're doing is trying to represent the people that they were elected to represent.

RADDATZ: And, Senator, the suspect still at large. What more can you tell us about the investigation and whether or not they believe they are zeroing in on this man? And tell us more about him.

KLOBUCHAR: Sure, Martha. I hope you show his picture because the FBI and law enforcement is asking the public if they see this guy, do not approach him. He's evil. He is smart. He has killed without a second's thought. And there's a $50,000 reward.

One of the most chilling pictures for me is the one that was taken right before he killed my friends right at the -- with a simple doorbell camera.

RADDATZ: The Ring camera.

KLOBUCHAR: Right. And it shows he’s wearing a mask in that, but they wanted people to see that. There's another picture of him in a cowboy hat afterward. And he's someone that was able to soup up a police car, talk his way into making them think he was in law enforcement, dressed like law enforcement. And so, what I know is that for a while they had -- they thought they had him pinned down in a certain area near the murders. Now they are just following every lead, asking for the public's help. We couldn't be getting more help from law enforcement.

And the one thing that I've noted is that when they got -- came onto the local cops, came onto the crime scene of Senator Hoffman, they didn't just stay there. They went and they thought, wow, we better check on the speaker.

She -- they had already been shot but then they were able to get information about who this person was because they had the foresight to go to the scene of her home, having no idea if anything had happened there. That has allowed them to do better at knowing who he was and asking for the public's help.

So those local police officers at that moment not only appear to have saved Senator Hoffman and his wife's life, but also, have given us major leads to who he was and why he was doing this.

RADDATZ: And give us a sense of the political motivation that people have talked about. Governor Walz, you have, too. What is the motivation there? As far as you can tell from writings from the suspect, if, in fact, he is captured, what about that list?

KLOBUCHAR: Uh-huh. So, I obviously haven't seen any of this and can't confirm exactly what's in it. But there are some signs he had included on the list and this has been reported -- but the list isn't out -- were Planned Parenthood and a number of other places and leaders who have advocated in favor of women's rights. They were on there.

I believe that there are some things in the manifesto that would lead you down that trail to believe that this was one of his motivating forces.

Now, we're not certain if that was the only thing. Maybe he had somehow known these two legislators. Maybe there were other reasons, but that is clearly one of them, but it may not be the only one.

I will also say that it wasn't just the governor and I. We joined with the Republican members of Congress in our delegation, our entire congressional delegation in Minnesota. Congressman Emmer and myself and others, Senator Smith, Representative McCollum and the rest of our delegation actually joined in a statement and said we speak with one voice to condemn this political violence. There's no place for this politically motivated violence in our democracy.

And when you look at all the threats and the increase in threats against elected officials, something like 1,700 back in 2016 and now we're up to 9,000, this is a rampant problem that the public and all of us have to deal with, and also against judges.

RADDATZ: And all of us should condemn all of that violence.

We thank you for joining us this morning, and again condolences to all.

KLOBUCHAR: Thank you, Martha.

RADDATZ: And for more on the manhunt and the heightened threat environment across the country, let's bring in our chief justice correspondent Pierre Thomas, and former FBI agent and ABC News contributor, Brad Garrett.

Good morning, Gentlemen.

Pierre, I want to start with you. How much more difficult is it to catch the suspect at this point?

PIERRE THOMAS, ABC NEWS CHIEF JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: The longer this goes, Martha, the more complicated it gets. This is a person who has military training, some training in law enforcement as well based on how he operated yesterday. So, law enforcement now has to really focus in on narrowing the net and trying to pin this person down because he's got the wherewithal to make this a long manhunt.

RADDATZ: And, Brad, you were an FBI profiler. We talk a lot about lone wolves. Both of you talk a lot about lone wolves.

This suspect seems very different. This is not a guy living in his mother's basement who's, you know, 18 years old loner.

BRAD GARRETT, FORMER FBI AGENT & ABC NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: No, he's in his mid to late 50s. And if you look at his life quickly, you know, he's apparently had a lot of failures, and apparently was in financial -- had financial problems before the shooting, and that these things build up in people, and they just -- you know, they go basically from anger, sadness, envy, and typically then to rage.

And once they get to rage, it just flips a switch about inhumanity and their ability to justify going and killing people.

RADDATZ: And, Pierre, we talk about the threat environment. It's extraordinarily high this year and this really brings that home in such a terrible, terrible way. We've had assassination attempts on the president. We've had Josh Shapiro's house set on fire. It's a pretty high threat environment out there.

THOMAS: Martha, I've been doing this for 25-plus years, and I cannot think of a more dangerous season than we're currently in.

You mentioned the assassination plots. We just a few weeks ago had that beautiful couple gunned down in front of a museum here who were tied to the Israeli embassy. We also had the New Orleans New Year's Day terror attack, a fertility clinic bombing where the person used an ANFO bomb similar to Oklahoma City.

So, we’re in a season where people with various ideologies are going and taking specific violent action against the American public. And also, we see a situation where these mass shootings continue and authorities are worried about what's going on between Israel and Iran right now, the threat of cyber-attacks. So, law enforcement is being pressed to the max.

RADDATZ: And -- and, Brad, just -- just your thoughts on that as well and this threat environment. You were an FBI agent for a very long time. You've seen a lot of things. Social media playing a part.

GARRETT: Sure.

RADDATZ: All of that.

GARRETT: And typically what happens with people is that they get to a point where they feel powerless and they feel like the only thing they can do is go out and commit some mass shooting or blow something up or whatever it might be. And it's like for a brief moment they now have power. And if, for example, he went after these two politicians because of their beliefs about pro-choice, that may be enough for him, if that’s even accurate, for him to hang on that and use that as a justification to take them out.

RADDATZ: Just -- just quickly, the suspect had a list, say police.

GARRETT: Yes.

RADDATZ: Is that something he would go back to now or is he just thinking, you would think, about escape?

GARRETT: No, I think he was going to keep chipping away on that list as a (INAUDIBLE).

RADDATZ: But now -- but now that they’re after him?

GARRETT: Well, now that they’re after -- no, I don't think so. I mean now it's -- it’s a matter of survival. And he made a comment apparently to a roommate that, you know, he might be dead soon, so that's another possibility here.

THOMAS: And, Martha, if I could quickly say one thing. It's the concentration that's different. Day after day, week after week, we're seeing these things sporadically happen on a routine basis.

RADDATZ: We certainly are, and we hope it stops.

Thank you both for joining us this morning.

THOMAS: Up next, could the U.S. be drawn into another Middle East conflict? We head overseas where intense fighting between Israel and Iran is raising concerns about the prospect of all-out war.

We're back in two minutes.

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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, PRIME MINISTER OF ISRAEL: We've taken out their senior military leadership. We've taken out their senior technologists who are leading the race to build atomic weapons that would threaten us, but not only us. We've done all that, and many other things, but we are also aware of the fact that there's more to be done.

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RADDATZ: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaking Saturday as Israel and Iran intensify their attacks following the stunning and sweeping strikes Israel launched against Iran's nuclear program, killing top military leaders and nuclear scientists.

The long-simmering conflict between the two nations now at risk of spiraling into a wider regional war, one that could draw in the United States.

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RADDATZ (voice over): Overnight, Israel and Iran exchanging missile attacks for a third day. First responders in Israel searching for survivors after Iran launched dozens of ballistic missiles Saturday into Sunday killing at least 10 and wounding hundreds more across the country. Israel now targeting Iran's energy industry and this fuel depot.

Israel's Operation Rising Lion began well before dawn on Friday. The massive Israeli missile attack targeting Iranian nuclear and military sites, surprising the world with its scale, sophistication and speed. An astonishing number of Israeli fighter jets, 200 of them, led by the F-35s hitting targets across Iran including Iran's main nuclear enrichment facility in Natanz.

The attack reminiscent of Ukraine's recent daring drone attack deep inside Russia. Mossad, Israel's clandestine intelligence agency had managed to smuggle drones into the country and launched them at targets within.

COL. STEVE GANYARD (RET.), ABC NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: The intelligence capabilities of the Mossad on the ground to be able to launch attacks from within Iran to have the kind of precise intelligence that allows them to attack and take down all of the senior leadership within the first minutes of the attack is absolutely extraordinary.

RADDATZ: But it wasn't just structures that were hit. More than half a dozen top generals and nuclear scientists were killed in a remarkable operation that a source tells ABC News targeted individual homes with drones and pre-planted explosives.

GANYARD: Because they own the skies over Iran, Israel now has the ability to take down all of the oil and gas infrastructure within Iran, which would bring the Iranian economy to a standstill.

RADDATZ: Iran's supreme leader vowing revenge, and within hours the Iranian military launching hundreds of drones and missiles in response. Israeli defenses with the help of U.S. anti-missile systems stopping many in flight, but watch as part of an Iranian missile hit by interceptors, plunges right into downtown Tel Aviv, leaving a massive plume of smoke.

In central Israel, the damage was worse, homes leveled, but Israel is not stopping, saying its attacks have inflicted significant damage to Iran's nuclear facilities and that they are just getting started.

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, PRIME MINISTER OF ISRAEL: We've paved the way to Tehran and our pilots over the skies of Tehran will deal blows to the Ayatollah regime that they cannot even imagine.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Whoa.

RADDATZ: And while the U.S. says it did not take part in the military action against Iran, the Trump administration says it will continue to help defend Israel, and President Trump warning in a post overnight that any attack on U.S. targets will bring the full strength and might of the U.S. Armed Forces on Iran. At the same time, calling for renewed nuclear talk.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

RADDATZ: And we are joined now in studio by the Israeli ambassador to the United States, Yechiel Leiter.

Good morning, Ambassador. Give us the latest on last night's attacks. Missiles seem to be getting through. The Iranians claim they have a maneuverable missile that's harder to detect.

YECHIEL LEITER, ISRAELI AMBASSADOR TO THE UNITED STATES: The Iranians have a large arsenal of ballistic missiles. We have some good defense systems, anti-missile defense systems, but they're not hermetically sealing the skies. So there's about 10 to 15 percent of these ballistic missiles that get through. We sustained significant attacks last night. We have over 10 fatalities and hundreds wounded.

RADDATZ: And Prime Minister Netanyahu said what they have done to Iran so far is nothing compared to what is coming. Tell us what you can about that. And is Iran's supreme leader off the target list?

LEITER: I think it's fair to say that nobody who's threatening the destruction of Israel should be off the target list. But we're not going to discuss specific individuals, you know, online. The idea is to neutralize and terminate the Iranian intention of destroying Israel through nuclear weapons and through ballistic missiles. And anybody who gets in the way of that or is actually advancing that cause of destroying Israel is obviously somebody we're going to have to deal with.

RADDATZ: That's a very big lift. Obviously, you hit some generals, you hit nuclear scientists.

LEITER: Well, we hit the top of the line in terms of the generals, the IRGC, and the army. They're in a bit of chaos now. There is a breakdown in the chain of command, but we have more coming.

RADDATZ: And do you believe these strikes have significantly set back the nuclear program? That was the reason you went after Iran. Has the nuclear program been set back? There are those who are skeptical that it has not, including former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak. He said Israel cannot delay Iran's nuclear program by a significant time period.

LEITER: Well, he was prime minister many years ago for a short time. I don’t think he’s privy today to the intel that we have.

Yes, we’ve set them back dramatically, but not enough. And that’s why this series of strikes is not going to end today or tomorrow, but only at a period of time, which may take weeks, when we are absolutely certain that the nuclear infrastructure, with the intention of weaponizing and threatening Israel, is terminated.

RADDATZ: Well, let’s talk about Fordow. It’s deep in a mountainside. There are those who do not believe you can destroy Fordow without U.S. help and those bunker-busting bombs. Is it possible without U.S. help?

LEITER: The help that we've asked from the United States is confined to defensive posture. We’re very, very thankful to President Trump and the administration for the THAAD missile, anti-missile defense system, for the Aegis missile defense system, but it’s only in a defensive posture.

We have a number of contingencies, will -- which will enable us to deal with Fordo. Not everything is a matter of, you know, taking to the skies and bombing from afar.

RADDATZ: But you’re certain you can wipe out Fordow?

LEITER: We’re certain -- we’re certain that we can set back the nuclear weapons system development within Iran for a very, very long time.

RADDATZ: How do you avoid this war escalating? The president saying overnight that if Iran hits the U.S. assets, they will feel the full force of the U.S. military. How do you contain this war?

LEITER: Martha, the objective is not to contain the war. The objective is to win the war.

Look, 80 years ago, we had a little man with a mustache running around Europe that nobody believed him when he said he was going to destroy the Jewish people. We lost 6 million.

Now we’ve got a crazed new Hitler running around the Middle East saying he’s going to destroy us. We have to take him at face value. That’s his intention. He says it every day. He’s got a concrete plan to destroy us.

This isn’t a joke. This is very serious for us. It’s existential.

RADDATZ: The U.S. was in the middle of negotiations. President Trump talked about that. He did not want you to take action while these negotiations were going on. He said overnight, we can still easily get a deal done between Iran and Israel and end this bloody conflict.

Is that true? Do you want a deal?

LEITER: Well, actually, Friday morning, the president was actually quite gratulatory over our initial strikes, and he did write clearly that he knew about our intentions. So, look, if the president can --

RADDATZ: But what does that mean, because he said he didn’t want you to strike?

LEITER: That -- well, no, actually, he was congratulatory about our strike.

RADDATZ: After the strike.

LEITER: He wants -- he wants the nuclear program in Iran to be halted in its entirety. He said it very clearly, dismantle the centrifuges, dismantle the infrastructure, and stop in total the enrichment of uranium. So, if that can be achieved through negotiation, so be it. We’ll be very happy. But it hasn’t been.

And it was actually on the 61st day, after the president gave him 60 days, that we struck.

RADDATZ: If you don’t reach a deal, what is the exit strategy here? What is the end game? It will not stop until the nuclear program is completely destroyed?

LEITER: The nuclear program and the ballistic missile program. The missiles that they’re firing -- firing into Israel now are ballistic missiles with a tremendous payload. They create tremendous damage.

And, as a matter of fact, the supreme leader of Iran has said repeatedly that if he fires thousands of ballistic missiles into Israel, we’re a small county and there’s nothing we can do other than die. Well, we’re not going to die. We’re not going to allow these ballistic missiles to continue to hit Israel. And we’re going to do what we have to do to defend our country.

RADDATZ: OK, thanks for joining us this morning, Mr. Ambassador. We appreciate your time.

LEITER: Good to be with you, Martha. Thank you.

RADDATZ: And let's get more now from former CENTCOM commander, General Joseph Votel, who oversaw U.S. military planning in the Middle East.

It's good to see you this morning.

General, you're obviously very familiar with Iran's capabilities. Has any of this surprised you? And do they have some sort of maneuverable missile that is creating these problems?

GEN. JOSEPH VOTEL (RET.), FORMER CENTCOM COMMANDER: Thanks, Martha. It's great to be with you.

I mean, certainly, Iran has been on a path for a long time to develop capabilities that could hold the region -- in particular, to hold Israel at risk. So, I think we have to take this seriously.

I don't know the full dimensions of everything that they have in their own capability right now, but I think we're pretty confident in the fact that they've continued to enrich uranium and that they have developed sophisticated ballistic missiles. And the mating of those two things I think poses a significant threat to Israel and, of course, to the remainder of the region. It has to be taken seriously.

RADDATZ: And, General, the ambassador told me a short time ago that 15 percent of the missiles are breaking through air defenses in Israel and also the U.S. is helping, as you know. That seems like a very high number and could create real problems.

VOTEL: Yes, I think this is what Iran is counting on, is that they're -- the Iron Dome system, as good as it is, is not completely failsafe. And so when you launch a lot of missiles, a lot of drones, inevitably some of those are going to get through. And they're -- as we've seen, just in the last 24 hours, they're going to hit populated areas, they're going to cause casualties. And Iran is counting on that and hoping that that will put pressure on the Israeli administration to stop doing what they're doing.

RADDATZ: And in terms of taking out Iran's nuclear facilities, the ambassador seems quite confident that they can significantly delay the nuclear program. Do you agree with that? And especially Fordow, if they don't take out Fordow, where are they?

VOTEL: Yes. I think -- as I've been watching the targeting effort over the last couple days, I mean, I think Israel has a very sophisticated approach to this. I think they've -- they're executing, and I think they've got a long list of things that they're going to go after, and they're going to get to all of them. They've focused very deliberately on removing the ability for the Iranians to see or to protect themselves.

They've made it very difficult for the Iranians to respond effectively by removing a lot of their leadership and going after their missile capabilities. And they're focusing on the object of the primary concern which is the nuclear weapons program. And going after something like Fordow, the underground -- major underground facilities is going to be difficult. But, of course, a facility like Fordow underground is dependent on a lot of infrastructure.

So there's a lot of damage. There are a lot of things that Iran can go after that can have a direct and indirect impact on the centrifuges in Fordow and could certainly delay the program without necessarily have to go in and destroy everything underground.

RADDATZ: But you say delay, so you're confident they couldn't destroy it without the help of the U.S.?

VOTEL: Well, I don't know the full range of all capabilities that the Israelis have, their very sophisticated, savvy military. There are lots of tools that are available to them. I think the conventional wisdom is that the bunker busters, the penetrating munitions that are needed to go after something like this are largely still within the inventory of the United States.

So, yes, I think probably would have some difficulty at doing that and again, the Iranians are demonstrating some level of resolve here. And we can't dismiss the fact that they will continue to pursue this program or even try to make a dash to take what they have now and try to create some kind of weapon.

RADDATZ: And, General, of course, we have 40,000 troops in the region. President Trump overnight said, basically, look out, don't hit those troops or you're in big trouble. You'll feel the full force of the U.S. Military. How concerned are you about that and what kind of response would you expect if they do?

VOTEL: Yes. I -- obviously, I think everyone should be concerned about that. I take some confidence in the fact that we have a very skillful commander. General Kurilla has been in place for over three years, and he's one of our finest war fighters and a very experienced commander, knows exactly what he's doing, has great relationships and really understands the region.

I think if U.S. assets, U.S. Military or embassies or other things are attacked, I would expect that there would a very swift response to that by the United States as there should be. That -- I think we have to send a very, very clear message. I think the administration has been doing that. I think our military has been doing that. But I would expect that if there is any fallout that has an impact on U.S. interest, that that will be met with a very swift and capable response.

RADDATZ: And how likely do you think it is that this war spreads, that this becomes a regional war involving the U.S.?

VOTEL: Yes. I think this largely depends on the directions that the leaders of both of these countries go. It's not particularly in Iran's interest to try to spread this. They don't need to earn the anger of others in the region. They ultimately have to live there. So it doesn't necessarily make a lot of sense for them to widen that.

But again, as this progresses as the Iranians run out of options, and they don't have a lot of great options right now, frankly. They're fighting a little bit blind in terms of what they're doing. They don't have great options.And as they run out of the things that are available to them right now and they begin to reach out and look for other ways to have an impact, that's when I think the concern for regionalization of the conflict becomes greatest.

RADDATZ: Okay. Thanks so much for joining us this morning. General, it's always good to see you.

Coming up, America's military might was on full display along the National Mall last night as protesters voiced their opposition to President Trump across the country. Selina Wang has the story, next.

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RADDATZ: That was the scene in Washington Saturday. Thousands of uniformed soldiers, dozens of tanks and military vehicles parading on the National Mall to mark the 250th birthday of the U.S. Army. While across the country, millions of citizens took to the streets for the so-called no kings protests against the Trump administration.

Our senior White House correspondent Selina Wang was tracking it all.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SELINA WANG, ABC NEWS SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice over): It was a striking split screen of American military might. An Army parade in the nation's capital, and a show of force in Los Angeles. Here in Washington, it was a celebration, officially to mark the Army's 250th anniversary. But June 14th also happens to be President Trump's 79th birthday. But his speech was uncharacteristically non-political.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Over the past two and a half centuries, our warriors have shown unrivaled valor on fields, a battle around the globe.

WANG (voice over): This was the first military parade held in the capital since the 1991 Gulf War victory celebration. This one featuring 6,700 soldiers, 28 Abrams tanks, 28 Bradley fighter vehicles, and 50 military aircraft. And an added bonus for the president, the golden knights jumping into hand Trump a folded flag.

TRUMP: Every other country celebrates their victories. It's about time America did, too. That's what we're doing tonight.

WANG (voice over): But as the celebration unfolded, organizers say millions protested in cities across the country, against Trump administration policies and what they say is its overreach. After mostly peaceful demonstrations throughout the day, police and protesters clashing in Los Angeles.

ABC's Matt Gutman was on the scene.

MATT GUTMAN, ABC NEWS REPORTER: Many hundreds of people flocking right here to the federal building, and guarding the lobby are active duty U.S. Marines and you can hear the crowd chant, "Shame on you".

WANG: Law enforcement clearing crowds using gas and other means after protesters confronted police lines.

GUTMAN: So, people are now sprinting away. You can see the LAPD is pouring over here. They've actually encircled us.

WANG: The protests responding to Trump's controversial deployment of troops in California. The president sending more than 4,000 National Guard troops and 700 Marines to the nation's second largest city.

TRUMP: We will liberate Los Angeles and make it free, clean and safe again.

WANG: The troops intended to help quell protests against Trump's immigration raids some troops seen supporting ICE agents as they carry out those raids.

GOV. GAVIN NEWSOM (D), CALIFORNIA: Donald Trump without consulting California law enforcement leaders commandeered 2,000 of our state's National Guard members to deploy on our streets illegally and for no reason.

WANG: Newsom, who's seen as a 2028 presidential contender, slamming Trump.

NEWSOM: What Donald Trump wants most is your fealty, your silence to be complicit in this moment. Do not give in to him.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WANG (on camera): And, Martha, the Department of Homeland Security has confirmed new guidance from the Trump administration to pause most immigration raids on farms, hotels and restaurants. This comes after President Trump this week publicly acknowledged that his, quote, “very aggressive immigration policy is causing harm to those industries,” saying they're losing, quote, “very good longtime workers” -- Martha.

RADDATZ: Thanks, Selina.

The roundtable's up next. We're back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. ALEX PADILLA (D-CA): I'm Senator Alex Padilla. I have questions for the secretary, because the fact of the matter is a half a dozen --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RADDATZ: That was California Senator Alex Padilla being wrestled to the ground and handcuffed by federal agents at a press conference with Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. We'll discuss the unrest in Los Angeles and much more with the roundtable right after a short break.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

RADDATZ: And we are back with the round table. Our political correspondent Rachel Scott, former DNC chair Donna Brazile, editor of SCOTUS Blog and former Trump Justice Department spokesperson Sarah Isgur, and "Wall Street Journal" national security correspondent Nancy Youssef.

Welcome to you all.

Donna, such a sad day. I just want your thoughts on the Minnesota assassination.

BRAZILE: You know, I reached out to the governor, Tim Walz, the attorney general of the state, Keith Ellison, who is a dear friend, and I said to him, and I said, Keith, how can I convey how we all feel? And he said, Donna, she was one of the best lawmakers. I mean, she, as Amy Klobuchar mentioned today, just a great woman. But I talked to Ken Martin, the former chair of the Minnesota Democratic Party, and he was heartbroken. He said, Donna, I never thought this could happen to such a dedicated public servant.

So I think what comes out of this, we have to start making people aware of the political violence that is unacceptable. We have to be able to talk, to disagree, and still respect other individuals including our public servants.

RADDATZ: Exactly, Donna. And I know, Rachel, you had a phone call with President Trump this morning. You asked him about the shooting and his reaction.

SCOTT: Yes, I spoke to the president this morning briefly on the phone, and I did ask him about the shooting, his reaction, and whether he had any plans to call the Democratic Minnesota governor. We know that Vice President JD Vance did speak to him. And the president said, quote, "It's a terrible thing. I think he's a terrible governor. I think he is a grossly incompetent person."

He says, I may call him. I may call other people, too.

So that was the reaction from the president this morning. Obviously calling what happened there horrific and terrible, but, at the same time, in that same breath --

RADDATZ: Couldn't resist.

SCOTT: Also attacking the Democratic governor.

RADDATZ: And Rachel, I know you asked him as well about Iran and Israel, and the possible U.S. role there. We heard on Truth Social him posting that don't go after any U.S. assets. What else did he tell you?

SCOTT: Yes, the president made it clear that the United States is not involved. He wanted to make it very clear but at the same time, I also asked him about some of these reports that Israel had pressured and asked the United States to get more involved. The president told me, we're not involved in it. It's possible that we could get involved, but we're not involved at this moment.

I also asked him about these nuclear talks that were called off. We know that they were set to happen. They are no longer happening. Iran calling those unjustifiable. The president saying to me that he's not setting any deadline here. He insists that he believes that this is going to force Iran to the table to actually make a deal but, again, we do know at this point those talks are not happening.

One last thing, Martha. I asked him about that call with President Putin, and Putin maybe suggesting for him to serve as a mediator in this conflict and in these conversations. The president told me he is open to that.

RADDATZ: OK. Nancy, I want your thoughts on Iran and Israel. Did Netanyahu defy Trump with these strikes? I mean, we know the president came out and said, terrific job, basically, successful strikes, but we know what led up to that.

YOUSSEF: That's right. What led up to it was the president urging Israel to not go forward with these strikes. It was only after that they happened that the president celebrated them.

I think if you look at just the military posture and the run-up to it, it didn't suggest that the U.S. was sort of prepared to provide the kind of defenses that one would expect. In October, the last time these two countries confronted one another, we had about 20 ships in the region. We now only have about 10.

Having said all that, I think you're seeing now the United States that is trying to use this, to Rachel's point, to help the talks. The challenge is because you have two actors going back and forth over potentially a period of weeks, there's the increased risk of miscalculation and the U.S. finding itself closer to a conflict that it didn't, at least initially, want to start.

RADDATZ: And, Sarah, Donald Trump said he would be the peacemaker when he became president, and things are not good right now in -- between Israel and Iran, in Gaza, and in Ukraine.

ISGUR: And even in the United States, of course, as we just talked about with Minnesota. You know, the international tensions and wars that we're seeing really caused fractures within Trump's base right now. You have those within the MAGA base who believe that we should have this more isolationist stance. They were very against Israel doing anything.

They believe that Donald Trump was leading the way in preventing Israel from escalating tensions there and, of course, they don't want to be involved in Russia and Ukraine. On the other hand, you still have that Reagan part of the Republican Party that absolutely believes that we need to protect democracies.

The only democracy in the Middle East in this case with Israeli and as well with Ukraine. Those tensions are only going to get exacerbated as the tensions worldwide get exacerbated as well.

RADDATZ: And, Rachel, we look around the world, but yesterday we had the military celebrating the U.S. Army's 250th anniversary and President Trump's birthday. It went well. He was in control. He gave probably the shortest speech of his presidency ever, 10 minutes, and stayed on script.

SCOTT: Yes. I will tell you after attending mostly every single Trump rally in the campaign cycle, this was a remarkably short President Trump in front of there, and also on message. There was concern about the rain, whether that was going to rain on the parade, for lack of --

RADDATZ: Started early.

SCOTT: Yes. For better word. It did start a little early. This did go as the president wanted. But of course the administration has to contend with these remarkable split screens that we saw. The president having this event here in Washington, D.C., honoring the military and, of course, it falling on his birthday and, also people taking to the streets across the country.

RADDATZ: And what's happening across the country? There were 2,000 different sites, Donna.

BRAZILE: Look, I can tell you my social media post yesterday was all about the signs and all of the other things that you do to prepare for a march. This was a largely peaceful protest, millions of ordinary Americans. It wasn't organized by a political party. It was people coming together because they're fed up, they're tired. They know exactly what happened last November. They believe this president has overreached, and they wanted to demonstrate that across the country yesterday.

RADDATZ: And yet there was some action in L.A. We know the military is at the center of these things right now trying to get -- the president deploying the National Guard. Marines aren't really trained for this in an extensive way.

YOUSSEF: That's right. This parade happened against the backdrop. You have tanks going down Washington's streets when just a few days earlier you had federalized National Guard forces and now Marines on Los Angeles streets.

And so, you're right. Marines don't normally train for this. They do it sort of for embassy safety and security at times, but this is not what they sign up for. This is not what they train for.

And this week, we saw for the first time Marines detaining American citizens.

RADDATZ: Very briefly.

YOUSSEF: Very briefly. It's allowed. But I think it's the message that Americans are getting that they're increasingly seeing a U.S. military presence on American streets.

ISGUR: I don’t want to be --

(CROSSTALK)

RADDATZ: At the heart of this thing -- yes, I was going to go to you. I know you don't want to be what?

ISGUR: The constitutional nerd here. But we have a problem with executive power in this country, and nobody is willing to actually tackle what that means. We need a Congress to actually be the legislature.

BRAZILE: Thank you.

ISGUR: Donald Trump is still not enforcing a law passed by Congress, signed by the last president, to ban TikTok in the United States. They've stopped even giving us reasons why they're not enforcing this law. You see him using emergency executive powers from immigration to Los Angeles to tariffs.

You know, we saw this with Obama. We saw it with Trump first. We saw it with Biden next (ph), eviction moratorium, student loan debt forgiveness, all things that need to be done through Congress, and yet, presidents are doing them on their own.

So, I'm all for a No Kings rally as long as people will agree, this is an executive power problem, not a Trump problem, and not a Republican problem. It's a constitutional problem.

RADDATZ: And, Rachel, we have about one minute left, but I want to go to you about immigration. And the president's popularity is falling a bit according to the latest polls on immigration and deportation. But one of the things he did this week is -- I imagine he saw that video of them chasing farmworkers. He said no more picking up farmworkers, hotel workers, restaurant workers.

SCOTT: A change in tone from the president, and it follows reporting that we had that Stephen Miller, his deputy chief of staff, was pushing ICE to increase the number of daily arrests to triple that number, up to 3,000.

I asked the president about this on the phone this morning as well. He says, no, we have to get people out, but we're going to take it easy on the farmers that have had people for a long time. We're focused on criminals, he says.

So, this is a sort of change in tone, maybe a concession in this very tough, hardline immigration policy that we've seen from the administration so far.

RADDATZ: But still, raids will go on elsewhere.

Thanks, all of you. Happy Father's Day to everybody and their fathers. Thanks very much.

We'll be right back.

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RADDATZ: And that's all for us today. Thanks for sharing part of your Sunday with us. Check out “World News Tonight”.

And, again, to all the dads out there and stepdads, happy Father's Day.