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CNN’s Erin Burnett: There’s a ‘Friendliness’ to Iranians Who Chant ‘Death to America’
Near the start of Tuesday’s Inside Politics, CNN’s OutFront host Erin Burnett tried to downplay the long-standing practice Iranians chanting “death to America” (and “death to Israel”) because, from her experience reporting from Tehran, those same people often display a “friendliness” and genuine interest in America. Yes, dear readers, Burnett declared those calling for mass killings of innocent Americans have a real “friendliness” about themselves.
Inside Politics host Dana Bash had set the table with the topic of regime change given President Trump’s Sunday night Truth Social post and the rabid Islamic regime in tatters following Israel’s nearly-two-week war and Saturday’s U.S. airstrikes.
Bash correctly wondered if there can be true peace considering Iranians having a penchant for gathering in groups to chant about killing Americans and Jews:
So Erin, obviously the whole M.O. coming out of the White House and from President Trump, in particular, is everybody needs to calm down. We want calm. And if you even suggest regime change, that is quite literally the opposite of calm. But the question is whether or not the calm can remain when the regime is still — that is still there who wants death to America, death to Israel stays in place, and that is part of the discussion, right?
Burnett dismissed this reality because of her personal experience:
She then went onto say she’s been “hearing from some in Iran that I have not heard this from before, a sense of deep uncertainty” given his age (86) and “this moment where everything that he has stood for and put Iran on the line for which is giving up economic future, giving up so many bright stars who have left the country, all in the pursuit of a nuclear program designed to counter Israel “
“[F]or the first time from some I have heard, what was all of this for? What was all of this for when the — the leaders, the religious leaders of this country have focused on things like women’s hair and what they wore? So, you know, it’s unclear how far things like that will go. How much of that is emotion in a moment that is exhausting and stressful and has meant a lot of failure for Iran or how much of this is something bigger,” she added.
Before closing with questions about the economic impact (e.g. if Iran were to close the Strait of Hormuz), Burnett questioned whether the Ayatollah even gave his approval to the ceasefire:
BURNETT: [T]he Ayatollah, the supreme leader, being in a bunker underneath Tehran because he was at fear of his life when this deal was done and perhaps being out of contact with the people who had to make the deal is — is something that, as we look back on this moment, may end up being a very significant reality, that as the timeline plays out and we see where this goes, we look back and say, okay, that was something very important.
BASH: Such an important point.
To see the relevant CNN transcript from June 24, click “expand.”
CNN’s Inside Politics with Dana Bash
June 24, 2025
12:03 p.m. Eastern
DANA BASH: I want you to listen to something else that the President said and this is about regime change. You talk about whiplash. The whole question of what the U.S. policy is vis-a-vis the regime in Iran, whether or not it is policy for it to change. Now, we’re hearing the President saying a different tune than we just heard about a day ago.
JEFF MASON [TO TRUMP]: Do you want to see regime change in Iran?
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: No. If there was, there was, but no, I don’t want to. I’d like to see everything calm down as quickly as possible. Regime change takes chaos. And ideally, we don’t want to see so much chaos.
BASH: So Erin, obviously the whole M.O. coming out of the White House and from President Trump, in particular, is everybody needs to calm down. We want calm. And if you even suggest regime change, that is quite literally the opposite of calm. But the question is whether or not the calm can remain when the regime is still — that is still there who wants death to America, death to Israel stays in place, and that is part of the discussion, right?
ERIN BURNETT: Yes, absolutely part of the discussion. And, you know, I — I remember, Dana, at one point being in Tehran years ago and they’re chanting death to America all around me, even as I say, “oh, I’m an American, reporting for CNN.” And they were happy to speak to me, so — so those two sort of jarring realities of the chant and yet, the — the friendliness have existed together. But I — I am hearing from some in Iran that I have not heard this from before, a sense of deep uncertainty about the future and of what happens next, and also —
BASH: Hmm.
BURNETT: — of what the role is of the supreme leader. Now, we’ve heard that he’s 86. We know his health has been ailing, but that, in this moment where everything that he has stood for and put Iran on the line for which is giving up economic future, giving up so many bright stars who have left the country, all in the pursuit of a nuclear program designed to counter Israel — right — that all of that being put on the table has, for the first time from some I have heard, what was all of this for? What was all of this for when the — the leaders, the religious leaders of this country have focused on things like women’s hair and what they wore? So, you know, it’s unclear how far things like that will go. How much of that is emotion in a moment that is exhausting and stressful and has meant a lot of failure for Iran or how much of this is something bigger? But in the context of Iranian regime change, the ayatollah, the supreme leader, being in a bunker underneath Tehran because he was at fear of his life when this deal was done and perhaps being out of contact with the people who had to make the deal is — is something that, as we look back on this moment, may end up being a very significant reality, that as the timeline plays out and we see where this goes, we look back and say, okay, that was something very important.
BASH: Such an important point.
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