--:-- Michelle Martin: New intelligence says U.S. airstrikes caused only limited damage to nuclear facilities in Iran.
--:-- A Martinez: So what happened to Iran's supply of highly enriched uranium? And was the nuclear program, as the president said, obliterated or just set back by months?
--:-- Michelle Martin: I'm Michelle Martin with A. Martinez, and this is Up First from NPR News.
--:-- President Trump: [audio clip] I believe it was total obliteration. I believe they didn't have a chance to get anything out because we acted fast.
--:-- A Martinez: President Trump is meeting today with NATO members ready to enact one of his chief priorities, a pledge to increase how much they spend on their own defense.
--:-- Eleanor Beardsley: Well, President Trump arrived last night. He attended the lavish dinner with NATO allies and the King and Queen of the Netherlands. And he just spoke to the media.
--:-- President Trump: [audio clip] No, we'll discuss the obvious. We'll discuss his difficulties. He's got a little difficulty. Zelensky, the nice guy.
--:-- Eleanor Beardsley: President Trump will join the summit and they will talk about Russia and the possible threat it poses to NATO countries in the future.
--:-- NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte: I believe this will be a transformational summit. Given the threat from the Russians, given the international security situation, there is no alternative.
--:-- Eleanor Beardsley: NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has been getting ready for the summit for months, trying to avoid disagreements and mishaps with President Trump.
--:-- Greg Myrie: A U.S. official speaking on condition of anonymity tells our NPR colleague Tom Bowman that the Defense Intelligence Agency believes the damage was limited at Iran's most important nuclear site, Fordow.
--:-- President Trump: [audio clip] I believe it was total obliteration. I believe they didn't have a chance to get anything out because we acted fast.
--:-- Greg Myrie: The Defense Intelligence Agency is part of the Pentagon. This is a preliminary assessment. It's considered low confidence at this point.
--:-- Greg Myrie: The DIA doesn't speak for the entire intelligence community. Other intelligence agencies like the CIA are not commenting, but they're also gathering information.
--:-- Greg Myrie: There will be multiple assessments that could change and evolve over time.
--:-- Greg Myrie: All right. So what's the White House saying?
--:-- White House Press Secretary Caroline Levitt: [audio clip] This alleged assessment is flat out wrong.
--:-- Greg Myrie: But she then went on to say that the report was leaked by someone in the intelligence community. So she seems to be confirming the existence of the report.
--:-- Greg Myrie: Now, Trump repeated his position today at the NATO summit in the Netherlands.
--:-- Greg Myrie: If we can get clarity on these key nuclear sites bombed by the U.S. that would settle all questions about the state of Iran's nuclear program. Well, not entirely.
--:-- Greg Myrie: You know, these are the three most important sites: Fordo, Natanz, Isfahan. They're about 100 to 300 miles south of the capital Tehran.
--:-- Greg Myrie: But Iran's nuclear network has many parts. Israel bombed many of them before the U.S. struck over the weekend.
--:-- Greg Myrie: There's no doubt that every piece of Iran's known nuclear program was targeted and apparently suffered at least some damage.
--:-- Greg Myrie: But there are still questions.
--:-- Greg Myrie: For example, the UN's nuclear watchdog agency, the International Atomic Energy Agency, recently said Iran has about 900 pounds of highly enriched uranium.
--:-- Greg Myrie: Now, this would need to be enriched a little bit more, but it could be used to make multiple bombs.
--:-- Greg Myrie: This material could be moved fairly easily, and the Iranians may have hidden it before the U.S. and Israeli attacks.
--:-- Virginia Senator Mark Warner: You could literally move that in about 10 car loads.
--:-- Greg Myrie: I have not seen any indication that we know where all of that is at this moment in time.
--:-- Greg Myrie: All right, so what are Iran and Israel saying about the nuclear program?
--:-- Greg Myrie: Iran has not made any pledges to shut down the nuclear program and reports in the Iranian media cite officials saying the country will press ahead.
--:-- Greg Myrie: Iran will have to make its own damage assessments and figure out the costs and risk of restarting the program.
--:-- Greg Myrie: And Israel has not publicly offered a detailed assessment, but Iran's nuclear program was target number one.
--:-- Greg Myrie: I'll add the U.S. and Israel share a lot of intelligence when it comes to Iran.
--:-- Greg Myrie: They'll develop a strong sense of where the program is headed, but that's likely to take time.
--:-- Greg Myrie: All right. That's NPR's Greg Myrie. Greg, thanks.
--:-- Greg Myrie: Sure thing.
--:-- Michelle Martin: President Trump will meet with NATO allies today at the summit in The Hague in the Netherlands.
--:-- Eleanor Beardsley: The leaders are expected to announce a large increase in spending to counter possible future threats from Russia and China.
--:-- Eleanor Beardsley: New NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, who's hosting his first summit, is doing his best to make it controversy-free.
--:-- Eleanor Beardsley: But President Trump made waves before he even got there.
--:-- Eleanor Beardsley: Let's go to NPR's Eleanor Beardsley, who's in The Hague.
--:-- Eleanor Beardsley: Well, President Trump arrived last night. He attended the lavish dinner with NATO allies and the King and Queen of the Netherlands.
--:-- Eleanor Beardsley: And he just spoke to the media.
--:-- President Trump: [audio clip] No, we'll discuss the obvious. We'll discuss his difficulties. He's got a little difficulty. Zelensky, the nice guy.
--:-- Eleanor Beardsley: President Trump will join the summit and they will talk about Russia and the possible threat it poses to NATO countries in the future.
--:-- Eleanor Beardsley: NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has been getting ready for the summit for months, trying to avoid disagreements and mishaps with President Trump.
--:-- Eleanor Beardsley: He even visited President Trump in Mar-a-Lago.
--:-- Eleanor Beardsley: He's been criticized for being too accommodating to him.
--:-- Eleanor Beardsley: And then yesterday he sent Trump a personal message that Trump received when he was in his plane and promptly republished on social media.
--:-- Eleanor Beardsley: And it went something like this. He said, you're flying into another big success. You've done what no American president has.
--:-- Eleanor Beardsley: He also said, congratulations and thank you for your decisive action in Iran. He called it extraordinary.
--:-- Eleanor Beardsley: That was seen as a bit embarrassing for Rutte.
--:-- Alexander de Hoopche: The role of the NATO secretary general is a balancing role. It's to balance U.S. and European strategic interests and priorities.
--:-- Eleanor Beardsley: You know, she says that Rutte is keeping the U.S. engaged in Europe and with European security and defense.
--:-- Eleanor Beardsley: And that's what's important.
--:-- Eleanor Beardsley: Speaking of defense, President Trump also brought up whether the U.S. would respect Article 5.
--:-- Eleanor Beardsley: Well, that's the core principle of mutual defense, you know, coming to each other's aid in case of attack.
--:-- Eleanor Beardsley: And it's actually only been used once, and that was after 9-11, when everyone came to the U.S.'s aid after the terrorist attack.
--:-- Eleanor Beardsley: You know, on the plane, over, a reporter asked him if he would commit to this.
--:-- President Trump: [audio clip] Well, it depends. Article 5 can mean a lot of things.
--:-- Eleanor Beardsley: But Rutte just brushed that off this morning and said, of course, the U.S. committed. It's here.
--:-- Eleanor Beardsley: Rutte was chosen because he's someone who has a relationship with Trump.
--:-- Eleanor Beardsley: He knows him well.
--:-- Eleanor Beardsley: And I would say there is so far a sense of solidarity here and also a sense among European leaders that they do have to take responsibility for their defense.
--:-- Eleanor Beardsley: And this is partly due to the pressure that President Trump has put on NATO.
--:-- Michelle Martin: A top official at the Justice Department will be making his way to Capitol Hill today for a confirmation hearing.
--:-- Kerry Johnson: His name is Emil Bove. He spent years as a federal prosecutor in Manhattan, but he came to national attention when he helped defend Donald Trump in four different criminal cases over the past few years.
--:-- Kerry Johnson: Since January, Bove has been in charge of day-to-day operations inside the Justice Department.
--:-- Kerry Johnson: And what kind of things has Bove done at the Department of Justice?
--:-- Kerry Johnson: A lot. President Trump promised to overhaul the Justice Department.
--:-- Kerry Johnson: Bove has been one of the people spearheading that campaign.
--:-- Kerry Johnson: This year, he ordered up a list of FBI agents and analysts who worked on January 6th Capitol riot cases.
--:-- Kerry Johnson: He also directed prosecutors in New York to drop the corruption case against New York Mayor Eric Adams.
--:-- Kerry Johnson: But those prosecutors refused, in part because it looked to them like an unlawful quid pro quo, where the mayor would help President Trump with immigration, and in exchange, the criminal case against the mayor would go into hibernation.
--:-- Kerry Johnson: That case was eventually dropped. Adams has denied the charges.
--:-- Kerry Johnson: Several former prosecutors say Bove is more about loyalty to Trump than to the facts and the law.
--:-- Greg Nunziata: He's been the president's lead enforcer and has been deeply involved in the politicization and corruption of the Justice Department.
--:-- Kerry Johnson: And that kind of background makes him very ill-suited for a lifetime federal judgeship.
--:-- Kerry Johnson: Who is supporting Bove's nomination?
--:-- Kerry Johnson: Well, the White House says Bove is a talented legal mind and a staunch defender of the Constitution.
--:-- Kerry Johnson: They say Bove should be a quote shoo for this job as a federal judge.
--:-- Mike Fragoso: I think he's been doing important work during the current administration to try to move a number of controversial but conservative policies over the finish line.
--:-- Kerry Johnson: So I think he's, everything I've seen makes me think he's going to be a really good judge.
--:-- Kerry Johnson: So he mentions controversial but conservative policies, which probably makes some people wonder about the president's immigration agenda.
--:-- Kerry Johnson: So how might that come up at the hearing today?
--:-- Kerry Johnson: The president's been pushing for more deportations and for them to happen more quickly.
--:-- Kerry Johnson: Just yesterday, a former DOJ lawyer came forward with a whistleblower complaint.
--:-- Kerry Johnson: That lawyer was fired after he told a judge that a migrant had been deported in error this year.
--:-- Kerry Johnson: The whistleblower says shortly before Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act to speed up deportations, Emil Bove said those planes carrying migrants needed to take off no matter what.
--:-- Kerry Johnson: The whistleblower then described Bove saying they may need to consider telling judges, bleep you and ignore possible court orders.
--:-- Kerry Johnson: The Justice Department has said no one told people to ignore court orders, but Senate Democrats plan to bring up the issue today and argue it disqualifies Bove from serving as a judge.
--:-- Michelle Martin: And finally today, an update on the mayor's race in the country's largest city.
--:-- A Martinez: Former New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo conceded to 33-year-old State Assemblymember Zoran Mamdani in the Democratic primary.
--:-- Zoran Mamdani: A life of dignity should not be reserved for a fortunate few. It should be one that city government guarantees for each and every New Yorker.
--:-- A Martinez: Mamdani is a Democratic socialist, and he ran a largely grassroots campaign focused on reducing the cost of living for New Yorkers.
--:-- A Martinez: He'll face current New York City Mayor Eric Adams, who's running as an independent, and Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa in November's election.
--:-- A Martinez: Now, Cuomo hasn't ruled out running in the general election either as an independent.
--:-- A Martinez: If Mamdani is elected, he will be New York City's first Muslim and first Indian American mayor.
--:-- Michelle Martin: And that's Up First for Wednesday, June 25th.
--:-- A Martinez: And I'm Michelle Martin.
--:-- Michelle Martin: You can listen to this podcast sponsor-free while financially supporting public media with Up First Plus.
--:-- A Martinez: Learn more at plus.npr.org.
--:-- Michelle Martin: That's P-L-U-S dot N-P-R dot org.
--:-- A Martinez: Today's episode of Up First was edited by Kevin Drew, Andrew Sussman, Anna Yukhananov, Janaya Williams, and Alice Woelfle.
--:-- Michelle Martin: It was produced by Ziad Buchh, Nia Dumas, and Christopher Thomas.
--:-- A Martinez: We get engineering support from Zac Coleman, and our technical director is Carleigh Strange.
--:-- Michelle Martin: Join us again tomorrow.
--:-- A Martinez: This message comes from Progressive Insurance and the Name Your Price tool.
--:-- Michelle Martin: It helps you find car insurance options in your budget.
--:-- A Martinez: Try it today at Progressive.com.
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--:-- Michelle Martin: This message comes from the Nature Conservancy.
--:-- A Martinez: Nature is common ground for everyone, and uniting to protect nature can help solve today's challenges and create a thriving tomorrow for future generations.
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