Inside Secret Mission to Strike Iran's Top Nuclear Facilities, Diddy Trial Nears End: AM Update 6/23
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And America's comeback depends on American energy. President Trump, keep what works. Don't repeal energy tax credits. Learn more at BuiltForAmerica.us. Paid for by Built for America. Good morning, everyone. I'm Megyn Kelly, and I'm back. What a week. It's Monday, June 23rd, 2025, and this is your AM Update. Tonight, I can report to the world...

that the strikes were a spectacular military success. Iran's key nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated. The U.S. military successfully pulling off a secret mission targeting three Iranian nuclear facilities following a months-long attempt to reach a new deal ending Iran's nuclear program. I certainly empathize

with Americans who are exhausted after 25 years of foreign entanglements in the Middle East. This is not going to be some long, drawn-out thing. As many Democrats and some Republicans condemn the strikes, fearing wider conflict, Trump administration officials say the Iranian regime still has a viable path to peace if it chooses to abandon its nuclear dreams.

and the latest on the Sean Diddy Combs trial, including testimony from an alleged drug mule. All that and more coming up in just a moment on your AM Update.

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A massively consequential military operation happening under immense secrecy this weekend. The U.S. military successfully targeting three key Iranian nuclear facilities. President Trump ordering the strikes following years of insisting, as did Presidents Clinton, Bush, Obama and Biden, that Iran must never be allowed to obtain a nuclear weapon.

The Trump administration attempting to reach a deal for months. In mid-April, the president issuing a 60-day deadline to the regime, make a deal or else. On the 61st day with no deal reached, the Israeli military beginning waves of attacks, incapacitating Iranian air defense systems and carrying out assassinations of several top nuclear scientists and other high-ranking military officials.

Late Saturday night, well after American military assets safely exited Iranian airspace, President Trump announcing the surprise mission first on Truth Social, then delivering remarks from the White House. Our objective was the destruction of Iran's nuclear enrichment capacity and a stop to the nuclear threat posed by the world's number one state sponsor of terror. Tonight I can report to the world that the strikes were a spectacular success.

Military success. Iran's key nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated. Iran, the bully of the Middle East, must now make peace. If they do not, future attacks will be far greater and a lot easier. Remember, there are many targets left. Tonight's was the most difficult of them all by far, and perhaps the most lethal.

But if peace does not come quickly, we will go after those other targets with precision, speed and skill. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Dan Raisin-Kane on Sunday describing the highly complex operation employing bunker busters to take out the nuclear facilities. A large B-2 strike package comprised of bombers launched from the continental United States.

As part of a plan to maintain tactical surprise, part of the package proceeded to the west and into the Pacific as a decoy. The main strike package comprised of seven B-2 Spirit bombers, each with two crew members, proceeded quietly to the east with minimal communications. Throughout the 18-hour flight into the target area, the aircraft completed multiple in-flight refuelings.

Once over land, the B-2s linked up with escort and support aircraft in a complex, tightly timed maneuver requiring exact synchronization across multiple platforms in a narrow piece of airspace.

all done with minimal communications. And just prior to the strike package entering Iran, a U.S. submarine in the Central Command Area of Responsibility launched more than two dozen Tomahawk land attack cruise missiles against key surface infrastructure targets at Esfahan. At approximately 6.40 p.m. Eastern Standard Time,

2:10 a.m. Iran time, the lead B-2 dropped two GBU-57 massive ordnance penetrator weapons on the first of several aim points at Fordow, with a total of 14 MOPS dropped against two nuclear target areas.

All three Iranian nuclear infrastructure targets were struck between 6.40 p.m. and 7.05 p.m. Eastern Time. Again, that's about 2.10 in the morning local time in Iran. With the Tomahawk missiles being the last to strike at Esfahan to ensure we retain the element of surprise throughout the operation.

In total, U.S. forces employed approximately 75 precision-guided weapons during this operation. This included 14 30,000-pound GBU-57 massive ordnance penetrators, marking the first-ever operational use of this weapon.

General Kane saying the operation involved more than 125 U.S. aircraft, calling it the largest B-2 strike in history, and noting U.S. forces in the region remain on high alert, ready to react to any retaliation by Iran or its proxies. The general saying plans for the mission were limited to a very small circle, with very few people informed of the timing or nature of the mission.

Last Thursday, President Trump announcing he would decide what to do within the next two weeks. The Washington Post reporting a senior administration official now says that was part of an attempt to throw the Iranians off guard. The Iranian Foreign Ministry releasing a lengthy statement in response to the bombing, condemning the action, calling it, quote, a grave and unprecedented violation of the fundamental principles of the Charter of the U.N. and international law.

Iranian President Massoud Pazeshkian saying, quote, the Americans must receive a response to their aggression. And an advisor to the Supreme Leader of Iran, all but giving up the ruse of wanting enriched uranium for energy purposes, posting on X, quote, even if the sites were completely destroyed, the game is far from over. Enriched materials, domestic expertise, and political will are still intact.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio pushing back on Iranian claims that enriched nuclear materials were moved prior to the strike.

No one will know for sure for days, but I doubt they moved it because you really can't move anything right now. And they can't move anything right now inside of Iran. I mean, the minute a truck starts driving somewhere, the Israelis have seen it and they've targeted it and taken it out. So our assessment is we have to assume that that's a lot of 60% enriched uranium buried deep under the ground there in Isfahan. They should bring it out of the ground and turn it over.

The New York Times reporting that Israeli officials do believe, based on satellite imagery from the days prior to the strikes, that the Iranians did move some uranium and equipment from the Fordow facility.

The Times reporting satellite images from Maxar Technologies from around this time show 16 cargo trucks positioned near an entrance to the facility, though it is unclear what exactly, if anything, was removed. A U.S. official telling the Times it would have been unrealistic to completely move all of the equipment out of Fordow in the days since Israel began its strikes.

The Iranian parliament approving the closure of the Strait of Hormuz in response to the bombings, but leaving the final decision on whether to actually close the strait to Iran's Supreme National Security Council. According to the New York Post, about 20% of the world's oil flows through the narrow shipping channel. Vice President J.D. Vance warning the move would be economic suicide for the Iranians. President Trump under fire from some on the political left and right for his bold move.

Democrat Congresswoman from Texas, Jasmine Crockett, and U.S. Senator from Vermont, Bernie Sanders, calling it an unconstitutional act of war. The mofo that resides in the White House has unilaterally, in my estimation, declared war. We have a constitution that seemingly does not matter. Not only...

Is this news that I've just heard the second alarming that all of you have just heard? But it is so grossly unconstitutional. All of you know that the only entity that can take this country to war is the U.S. Congress. The president does not have the right. Congresswoman AOC calling the move grounds for impeachment.

National Review's Andy McCarthy concluding President Trump had all the authorization he needed for these bombings thanks to the post-9-11 Authorization for Use of Military Force, or AUMF, which has been used by many presidents to justify strikes against our enemies.

A small number of Democrats supporting the action publicly. Democratic Senator from Pennsylvania John Fetterman posting to X, quote, as I have long maintained, this was the correct move by POTUS. Democrat Congressman from New York, Richie Torres, saying in a statement, quote, no one truly committed to nuclear nonproliferation should mourn the fall of Fordow.

Some in the MAGA world also skeptical of the strike, fearing wider conflict with Iran. Republican Congresswoman from Georgia Marjorie Taylor Greene posting, quote, I can also support President Trump and his great administration on many of the great things they are doing while disagreeing on bombing Iran and getting involved in a hot war that Israel started. Israel, of course, was actually attacked by the Iranian-backed Hamas on 10-7-23.

Vice President J.D. Vance addressing some of these concerns on NBC on Sunday, laying out a path for peace.

No, Kristen, we're not at war with Iran. We're at war with Iran's nuclear program. And if they leave American troops out of it and they decide to give up their nuclear weapons program once and for all, then I think the president has been very clear. We can have a good relationship with the Iranians. It was only when the president decided that the Iranians were not negotiating in good faith that he took this action. But I actually think it provides an opportunity to reset this relationship, reset these negotiations,

and get us in a place where Iran can decide not to be a threat to its neighbors, not to be a threat to the United States. I certainly empathize with Americans who are exhausted after 25 years of foreign entanglements in the Middle East. This is not going to be some long, drawn-out thing. We've got in. We've done the job of setting their nuclear program back. We're going to now work to permanently dismantle that nuclear program over the coming years, and that is what the president has set out to do.

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth saying in a Pentagon press briefing, the U.S. does not intend to conduct regime change in Iran. Secretary of State Marco Rubio echoing those comments Sunday on CBS. This mission was not and has not been about regime change. The president authorized a precision operation

to neutralize the threats to our national interests posed by the Iranian nuclear program. In this particular case, what we are focused on is not the changing of the regime. Okay, that's up to the Iranian people if they want to do that, but that's not what we're focused on. President Trump, however, posting to Truth Social late Sunday, quote, it's not politically correct to use the term regime change, but if the current Iranian regime is unable to make Iran great again, why wouldn't there be a regime change?

MIGA, M-I-G-A, a play obviously on MAGA. Mr. Trump leaving it unclear whether he meant the Iranian people should want regime change or whether the USA might help it happen. Coming up, the latest details on the Sean Diddy Combs trial.

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Ground News is independent and supported by subscribers, not corporate interests. Check them out at groundnews.com slash Megan. That's G-R-O-U-N-D news.com slash Megan to take back control of the news you consume. Week seven of the Sean Diddy Combs criminal trial beginning today in New York. Prosecutors originally set to rest the case on Friday, but facing a delay after a juror called in sick one day last week, now likely to rest their case today.

So far, about three dozen witnesses called to testify in the sex trafficking and racketeering case against the mogul, following six days of harrowing testimony from alleged Combs victim Jane, who testified under a pseudonym, a Homeland Security expert testifying on June 13th to seizing 900 bottles of Astroglide lubricant and 200 bottles of baby oil from Combs' L.A. residence in March 2024.

Star witness Cassie Ventura and Jane previously testifying to using copious amounts of both products while engaging in prolonged graphic sex acts with male escorts at the behest of Combs. These events known as freak-offs, hotel nights, or debauchery. A former personal assistant to Combs, Jonathan Perez, testifying on June 13th to carrying large amounts of money and drugs for the mogul. Perez also saying he believed Jane was a willing participant in the hotel nights.

Last week, prosecutors showing the jury clips of the so-called freak-offs between Combs and Ventura, cutting together clips from 2012 to 2014. The jury viewing the graphic footage from screens facing away from other members inside the courtroom, including wearing headphones. Journalists in the courtroom reporting some members of the jury stoically viewing the tapes, others showing visible signs of disgust on their faces. The judge ruling the videos must remain under seal due to their explicit nature.

Cassie Ventura previously testifying that Combs once threatened to release the videos, saying, quote, I feared for my career. I feared for my family. It's horrible and disgusting. No one should do that to anyone. On Friday, former assistant and alleged drug mule for Combs, Brendan Paul, taking the stand, testifying after having been given criminal immunity.

Paul testifying to working for Combs from 2022 to March 25th, 2024, when he was arrested at a Miami airport for possession of cocaine. Paul testifying to removing the cocaine from Combs' room, placing it in his own bag, then forgetting to remove it before heading to the airport.

The witness saying he often worked long hours for Combs, typically 80 to 100 hours per week. As an assistant, Paul saying he would frequently travel ahead of Combs in order to set up his boss's hotel rooms. Paul testifying Combs expected his assistants to operate like SEAL Team 6 and also saying he had been fired two or three times by Combs during his tenure.

Paul testifying to purchasing drugs for Combs on several occasions, including large quantities of marijuana every two months and sometimes other drugs. In February 2024, Combs messaged Paul asking him to get Xanax. Paul responding he was not able to because Combs did not have a prescription.

Paul testifying to cleaning up after a few of Combs' hotel nights, which he says former Combs chief of staff Christina Corum called, quote, wild king nights. The witness saying he understood wild king nights to involve partying, alcohol, sex and drugs. This is all part of the government's attempt to show that Combs was operating a criminal enterprise involving multiple members of his staff.

Paul attesting to wearing gloves while cleaning up after those nights, quote, for sanitary reasons. On cross-examination, Paul saying he absolutely was not a drug mule for Combs. Paul saying he spoke to Jane after almost every hotel night, saying he never saw anything that made him believe she was not a willing participant. Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent Joseph Circello will continue testifying later today after first taking the stand on Friday.

Prosecutors calling on him to link together various records of evidence compiled by the prosecution, connecting the dots between locations, transportation records, text messages, financial records, and more. Once the prosecution rests, defense attorney Mark Agnifilo says the defense expects to present a short case resting on either Tuesday or Wednesday. They have not yet indicated whether Combs will take the stand, but most legal experts do not expect that at all.

And that'll do it for today's AM Update. I'm Megyn Kelly. Join me back here for a big Megyn Kelly show today, live on SiriusXM Triumph Channel, 111 at Moon East, on YouTube.com slash Megyn Kelly, and on all podcast platforms.

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