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Iran Launches Drone Attack Against Israel; U.S. Official Confirms Iran Has Launched Dozens Of Drones Toward Israel; Israel Media: Cruise Missiles Launched By Iran In Addition To Drones. Aired 4-5p ET
Aired April 13, 2024 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[16:00:00]
OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN ANCHOR: That is going to be covered over the evening and beyond. So make sure you stay with CNN. We're going to bring you perspectives from all across the world and of course here in the United States as well.
If you stuck with me for the last four hours, thank you. If you stuck with me for the last five minutes, thank you. I really appreciate you all being here. I will be back tomorrow from 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. Eastern but for now, though, CNN NEWSROOM with Jessica Dean starts now. Stay with us.
JESSICA DEAN, CNN ANCHOR: You're in the CNN NEWSROOM. Hi, everyone. I am Jessica Dean in Washington.
And we begin this hour at the White House. President Biden unexpectedly on his way back to the White House right now, returning from Delaware to meet with his National Security Council over rising tensions in the Middle East. U.S. officials including Biden himself had warned an Iranian attack on Israeli territory could be coming within the next few days, leaving both the U.S. and Israeli forces on high alert.
And we've already seen some aggression this morning as Iranian forces seized a container ship with ties to an Israeli businessman. It was intercepted in the Strait of Hormuz, the only shipping route that connects the Persian Gulf to the open ocean.
And joining us now, senior White House reporter Kevin Liptak and senior international correspondent Ben Wedeman. Let's talk to Kevin first.
We know the president is on the way back to the White House. How is it responding to this moment as Israel awaits a potential attack from Iran?
KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, President Biden departing Delaware a few moments ago. He will be back here at the White House to consult with his National Security Team as it appears this Iranian attack is imminent, and certainly you get the sense from the conversations that American officials are having with their Israeli counterparts that they do view this happening in the near term.
The Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke with his counterpart in Israel about urgent regional threats according to the Pentagon and the American National Security adviser, Jake Sullivan speaking to his counterpart to reiterate ironclad U.S. support for Israel. And certainly the fact that President Biden decided to cut his weekend in Delaware does give you a sense that American officials view the timeline for these reprisals as within hours, not days.
How this unfolds remains to be seen. It is an open question where these attacks are launched, what types of weapons are used, and where they are launched from. But certainly simmering tensions between Iran and Israel now reaching one of their most dangerous moments in this conflict.
Certainly President Biden has reiterated American support for Israel, but at the same time, he is hopeful not to drag the U.S. more directly into conflict with Iran. And it is very notable that American officials over the last several days have been careful to reiterate that they do not believe Iran is planning to attack U.S. forces in the region.
But certainly this is a very precarious moment between President Biden and Netanyahu, who have had their differences over the war in Gaza. At this moment, however, President Biden, certainly eager to reiterate his ironclad support for Israel at this very, very uncertain moment -- Jessica.
DEAN: Right. And more to come in the next hours.
Kevin, we will keep in close contact with you. Thanks so much.
Let's go now to Ben Wedeman.
Ben, what are you hearing about a potential attack on Israeli soil?
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, certainly everyone in the region is bracing for what looks like the very real possibility of an Iranian strike on Israel in response to the 1st of April Israeli strike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus. Now we know, for instance, that the Jordanians have closed airspace, the Jordanian airspace, and planes that were heading for Jordan have turned around.
Keep in mind that Jordan is to the east of Israel and if anything is coming from Iran, it would very likely fly through Jordanian airspace. We know that in Israel the government is on high alert. The prime minister is in a fortified location, that all universities and schools which are due to go into sessions tomorrow, Sundays, the beginning of the week in Israel, have been canceled in anticipation for this possible Iranian strike.
And I think the real worry is not necessarily what's going to happen with an Iranian strike. Keep in mind, it's a long way from Iran. Israel has the technical capabilities to track anything coming from that direction, and also probably to shoot it down. The worry is, what will Israel's response to that be? And that has gotten many people in this part of the world very worried.
Now Lebanon is sort of the place where people's attitude is keep calm and carry on. But we know from people on the border with Israel, the Lebanese border, Israeli border, is that at this moment there is heavy exchanges of fire mostly coming from Israel onto Lebanon, which would indicate that --
DEAN: Ben --
WEDEMAN: -- if tensions are going to increase, there'll be increasing here in Lebanon as well -- Jessica.
DEAN: Ben, I want to just interrupt you for one moment. We do have reporting from one of our colleagues, Barak Ravid, who says that Iran has launched drone strikes at Israel. That is coming from four sources. What are you hearing on the ground?
WEDEMAN: Well, we've seen his tweet citing four Israeli and American officials, and he's a fairly reliable source. That's why he works for CNN. We're also seeing on social media reports of people in western Iran and in Iraq, seeing something flying overhead, so certainly we should give serious credence to these reports that perhaps the Iranian attack has already begun. But as I said, it's a long way from Iran to Israel. And it's very likely the Israelis are tracking whatever is coming their way and will be able to shoot it down -- Jessica.
DEAN: OK. All right. That's Ben Wedeman there in Beirut. And Ben, just stay with us for one second, just to reiterate what we know right now, breaking news again coming from our colleague Barak Ravid is that Iran has launched attacks against Israel using dozens of drones. That is according to four U.S. and Israeli officials.
Again, this is in response to the strike that Israel took credit for in Syria that killed Iranian generals and so that is what we are seeing play out. Now this is something that President Biden and the White House and his administration had warned of. We know that the U.S. has been on high alert, that Israel has been on high alert as they prepare for this retaliatory strike. And now it appears, again according to this breaking news from our colleague Barak Ravid, that Iran has begun its attack against Israel using dozens of drones. Again, that is according to four U.S. and Israeli officials.
I want to bring in the CNN global affairs analyst Mark Esper, who served as the secretary of Defense in the Trump administration. He is joining us now in Washington.
First of all, thanks for being here. We are getting this breaking news. We see the president who is cutting his trip short. He's coming back to convene a meeting with all of his staff and with the pertinent security personnel, the NSC, the DOD, everyone is gathering there at the White House. And we also are hearing this news that Iran has launched these drones.
How do you expect this to play out over the next hours to come?
MARK ESPER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Well, first of all, good afternoon, Jessica. Good to be with you. Look, it's breaking news. It has to be confirmed I think further. You know, as Ben rightly pointed out, it's a long distance from Iran to Israel, easily over 1,000 miles. The Iranians I suspect are less inclined to fly over Saudi, Jordanian, and other airspace. And so the path in would be via cruise missiles which can make turns. And they would come in through Iraq and in Syria and into Israel.
But honestly, I'm surprised that they would attack Israel proper. You know, Israel did not attack Iran. It was -- they attacked the consulate in Syria, but an attack by Iran on Israel proper really is going to be a prelude to a regional war. Israel is not going to stand for that at all and so this would be very interesting to see if this report is accurate.
I'm a little surprised. I thought they might go as far as, you know, the type of attacks they used in the past going back since '90s were attacks on embassies abroad, whether it was in South America, Asia, Europe, you name it. To me I think that's still a viable possibility that they attacked an Israeli embassy, an official or something like that abroad. But this will be significant if they actually are launching cruise missiles or long-range drones against Israel proper.
We'll see what happens.
DEAN: And so we have a president and an administration that has tried very hard to keep this conflict from widening out. From the moments that October 7th unfurled they have tried very hard to keep this conflict from becoming bigger. As you're alluding to there, this really raises the risk of the conflict spilling over and getting much larger.
What can President Biden and his team do right now as they both signify that they will be standing by Israel as an ally and doing -- and as Jake Sullivan said ironclad support for Israel, but also trying to keep this from widening out?
ESPER: Sure. Well, it looks like they have done all the right things last few days with regard to talking to the Israelis. I assume sharing intelligence, talking to Arab partners as well in the region. We got to keep in mind, they had vested interests here. But they're doing all the same things that I did, that my colleagues did when the Trump administration faced off against Iran in late 2019 and early 2020.
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I think it was very prudent to move destroyers into the vicinity. They have very great anti-missile and other anti-drug capabilities that would help Israel shoot down any incoming attacks. And again, if it's cruise missiles or drones and ballistic missiles, it's such a far distance. We can see those and track those. And it will make them easier to shoot those down.
So I think a big part of it now is if this is real is to shoot down as many if not all that you can. That of course, you know, if there's little damage that gives Israel and the United States more options on how to respond and when to respond. So I think those are all prudence steps that they're taking. I'm sure they've already hardened U.S. facilities in the region, dispersed U.S. forces.
But I've never believed since last week that the U.S. would be the target because we do know that the attack was conducted by Israel. And the last thing that Iran wants to do is to take on both Israel and the United States.
DEAN: Right. And the United States has been unequivocal that they were not involved in that attack at all, that Israel acted independent of the U.S., and we have been told in our reporting that the U.S. doesn't expect that U.S. forces will be targeted.
But, again, if you're just joining us to bring you in on the breaking news here, our colleague Barak Ravid reporting that Iran has launched an attack against Israel using dozens of drones. And we have here the former secretary of defense, Mark Esper, walking us through what this could all mean.
And it would seem to me, and you kind of alluded to this just a moment ago that now that this has started, and we will wait to see exactly how it plays out, to your point, and see exactly how this kind of plays out over the next several hours and days, but that the next step would be for Israel to decide how they would like to respond to this. And that the U.S. will be in quite close contact as they navigate through that, I would imagine.
ESPER: Yes, absolutely. Again, we have to see where the missiles or drones hit. It could be that they're not going to Israel proper, but maybe they're going to some contested space like the Golan Heights, which many would say is not Israeli territory. But maybe they're going after some Israeli facilities there, a command post or something like that.
And I think with regard to the larger perspective of the United States, again, I think what they're going to rely on is President Biden being the calm, rational actor here trying to help Israel think through how and whether to respond frankly, because, again, he does not want a regional war. I don't think it's in anybody's interest right now to have a regional war.
But at the end of the day, Jessica, keep in mind, everything that's happened since October 7th, beginning I argue with Hamas attacking Israel on that tragic date, all goes back to Israel. Israel funds and supplies and inspires and in many ways directs, whether it's Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen, the Islamic militias in Syria and Iraq. It all goes back to Iran. So inevitably this is where this war is going to end up, whether it's today, tomorrow, a month from now, a year from now, five years from now. This is what will happen.
And look, this is big because in the 40 some years since the Israeli and Iranian relationship soured after the 1979 Iranian Revolution, I don't recall Iran and Israel ever going to direct blows. So this would be a major game change here in 40 some years of conflict, marked in the last 10 or 15 or so by a proxy conflict between these two countries. So this will be big if indeed Iran strikes Israel proper.
DEAN: Right. All right, stay with us and just stand by, Mark.
I want to go to Jeremy Diamond who is there in Jerusalem with more.
Jeremy, what are you learning right now?
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the Israeli military has just confirmed that Iran has indeed launched multiple drones from its territory in the direction of Israel. We understand that it will take these drones several hours to actually reach Israeli territory. Their targets are unknown at this hour or at least they haven't been publicly identified by Israel.
Daniel Hagari, the spokesman for the Israeli military who made this announcement, didn't specify the exact number of drones, but I'm told separately by an Israeli official that the number of drones is indeed in the dozens, so dozens of Iranian drones being fired from Iranian territory headed in the direction of Israel. We don't know what the targets are. We also don't know if these drones could just be one part of this Iranian attack.
Could there also be missiles which have a much shorter flight time that could also be fired and hit later on in a simultaneous attack?
[16:15:00]
So a lot of questions, but this very significant news that we are now hearing officially from the Israeli military that Iran has indeed launched dozens of drones fired them in the direction of Israel. And we understand that it will take hours before those drones actually reach here. In the meantime, the Israeli military is telling Israeli civilians to be vigilant, to listen the instructions of the Home Front Command, which earlier tonight updated its guidance to Israeli civilians limiting public gatherings in northern Israel, as well as the Israeli communities surrounding the Gaza Strip.
Also closing schools for the coming days, but it does now appear, or as we've been anticipating, this potential Iranian response that we at least now know the first chapter of that response and the form that it is beginning to take. We also know that Israeli government officials in recent days have been warning that an Iranian attack from Iranian soil onto Israeli soil would result in a commensurate Israeli response, meaning an Israeli attack on Iranian soil.
So we will have to see how this all plays out, to what extent Israeli is able to intercept those drones using its air defense capabilities. A lot of questions, but we are starting to get the beginning of the answers in terms of what exactly this Iranian attack, what shape it is beginning to take.
DEAN: Yes, what it might look like. OK. Jeremy, stay with us. I want to go back to Mark Esper for a second because, Mark, we're kind of digesting what Jeremy is just telling us now and I want to get your take on a couple of things.
First of all, the fact that it's going to take several hours for these drones to get there. What does that mean in terms of being able to shoot these down, to prepare for them? What does that look like?
ESPER: Sure. It's not difficult to shoot the drones down. You know, they launched dozens because some will malfunction in routes, some will get lost. You want some to make their way through. But if this is really an Iranian full-throated attack, they would face it in so all missiles -- so everything hits their targets around the same time. So at some point they would launch ballistic missiles.
It's worth noting that Iran has the largest and most diverse ballistic missile force in the region. And it's probably their singularly best conventional capability. But they would launch ballistic missiles at some point to time with the landing of the cruise -- with the cruise missiles and drones. And that would only take a matter of minutes for ballistic missiles to get there, probably under 30.
And then, look, if they can really get the proxies on board, we'd see Hezbollah in southern Lebanon launch thousands of the, what, 150,000 rocket and missile inventory they have in southern Lebanon. You'd launch all that at the same time and the purpose would be to overwhelm Israeli air defenses so that some of the either rockets or missiles or drones or ballistic missiles will make their way through and hit their targets.
But again, if that happens, I can't help but think you're looking at the beginnings of a major regional war.
DEAN: And we have to just take a beat and you've said this and we'll see how it plays out. But I think the other thing that Jeremy mentioned was that Israel had said it will respond in kind to whatever Iran ultimately does. And you can't help but realize that we're teetering right on an edge here, Mark, and that we are at this very precarious moment where President Biden and his team are facing what could not just become an expanding conflict, but an incredibly serious one that you're kind of laying out before us right now.
ESPER: Yes, look, it's not unusual that, again, it may just be limited tack of cruise missiles or drones that, again, an Israeli outpost or command post in the Golan Heights. Whether they hit or miss the Iranians will privately claim victory to the Iranian people and they'll privately conveyed messages to Israel and the United States that they're done, they're threw, they made their point. And that'll be the end of it to some degree.
So, you know, there are a wide range of things that could happen here and as I said earlier, this could just be one aspect of it, too. They could go after Israeli embassies abroad, you know, as another mean to kind of inflict the punishment they want. This is a country that goes eye for an eye. They're going to want to attack a light target with a light outcome. What happened in Syria a week ago.
But again, they want to do enough to satisfy the hardliners in Iran, enough to establish their street cred with their proxy groups throughout the Middle East, but not enough to start a Middle East war that they will lose if it comes to that. So it'll be very interesting to see how they're walking this tight rope here as the following hours unfold. DEAN: Yes, and let's go back to Ben Wedeman, who is there in Beirut.
Ben, as we talk about the potential for this conflict to widen out, I know you've spent a lot of time there in the last six months as the Israel-Hamas war has played out. And also, we've seen a lot of action there at that border. What do you know about the potential for this to widen out and what's happening around where you are?
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WEDEMAN: Well, there's real potential for this happening. Now what we've heard from closest -- from sources very close to Hezbollah, which of course is allied with Iran, is that this is a Iranian response to the Israeli strike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus was going to be, and now we see is strictly Iranian, that Iran's allies and proxies in the region weren't going to participate in this. It was going to be an Iranian strike.
However, the same source told us that if these rarely response escalates and the situation deteriorates that Hezbollah and other allies and proxies of Iran across the region will come into support to Tehran. So really, I mean, as I was saying before, this strike much anticipated, the Iranian response much anticipated. And as we're hearing from Israeli military spokesman, it's going to take hours for these drones to actually reach Israeli territory and the chances of them inflicting any serious damage are relatively small.
The question is, how will Israel respond? We've heard Israeli officials say that if the attack comes from Iranian soil Israel will respond on Iranian soil. So there's a real danger of escalation now. As your previous guest was talking about, this is the first time Iran and Israel, or rather Iran strikes directly at Israel. A threshold has been crossed. Now it's up to the United States and others perhaps to try to reign in the situation.
Now one cannot help but think that similar to the aftermath of the American assassination of Qassem Soleimani, the head of the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in January 2020, the Iranian response to that -- the Iranians warned the Americans it was going to come and it would appear that in this case, given all of these sort of indications we're getting, President Biden returning urgently to the White House, is that perhaps messages were passed from the Iranians to the Americans that this was coming.
So there are channels of communication open between Washington and Tehran, and those will be critical to avoid some sort of escalation that ends up being a regional war involving Israel, Iran, the proxies and allies of Iran and perhaps even the United States -- Jessica.
DEAN: And on that note, let's go out to the White House where Kevin Liptak is standing by.
And Kevin, I know you just reported that U.S. officials have officially confirmed that Iran has launched those drones toward Israel. We know that the president has ended his weekend in Delaware, is on his way back to the White House. He is meeting with his National Security Team there.
What more can you tell us about what they're going to be? Who's meeting with him in that situation room and also that he's now staring down the very thing he's been trying to avoid, which is this conflict just absolutely widening out in a way that encapsulates that entire region?
LIPTAK: Yes, anyway, this is exactly the type of scenario that President Biden had been trying to avoid since the start of this conflict. And certainly you can bet that President Biden and the National Security apparatus that surrounds him will be watching this very closely, both for what happens when these drones reach Israel or reach their intended target but also what happens after that, how Israel responds.
And certainly this has been a topic of discussion between American and Israeli officials all throughout the course of last week. That's part of the reason why the commander of Central Command, Erik Kurilla, was in Israel to talk about the contingencies should this happen.
Now you mentioned President Biden is on his way back here to the White House. He should arrive within the hour. He will go into the situation room for a meeting with all of the principals in the American national security establishment. You know, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Lloyd Austin, Jake Sullivan, all of these officials arriving at the White House soon for this very high-stakes meeting, as these drones make their way towards their target.
Now we did know from American officials ahead of this occurring that they had detected Iran moving military equipment within its territory, including drones and cruise missiles. It wasn't clear at that point whether that was a deterrent posturing, or whether they actually intended to launch them from their own soil into Israel or towards Israeli targets. That is now becoming clearer.
We also knew that the American military was repositioning its own assets in the region in part to help Israel shoot down anything that was fired its way.
[16:25:04]
And so as the U.S. watches in real time, as these drones head towards their targets, they will certainly be hoping to intercept them and help Israel in that way. That has been President Biden's key message over the last week, as he talked about this significant attack in the offing, was that American support for Israel would be ironclad. Despite his current differences with the Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu he's essentially said that that wouldn't get in the way of American support for Israel in the case of Iranian reprisals.
So certainly the U.S. watching this very closely, but also watching very closely what Israel will do next.
DEAN: Yes, there's no doubt about that.
Mark, I want to go back to you because you've been in that room, you've been in the situation room as a former secretary of defense during the Trump administration. What is that like? What are they considering right now? And what are they watching for?
ESPER: Yes, I think when they meet with the president, of course, they'll be giving the best estimates of what the Iranian attack line looks like, what they may be going for, anticipated battle damage assessment, things like that. Of course, Lloyd Austin will be speaking his counterparts, not just in Israel, but again Arab partners are really big here. They matter, their views matter, they're going to be concerned about not just the Israeli response, but what the United States will do. So you've got to be speaking to your Arab partners also.
But then I think at some point, you know, once there's more clarity on what happens, the outcome on the ground, talking with the Israelis, what will the U.S. do? What will the U.S. support? Will the United States put more forces into the region to support Israel or to, you know, backstop U.S. forces? So we're not at that point yet. I think right now what they have to see is what is the extent of the attack, what's the likely damage, the outcome? Because those two things will have a big impact on how Israel thinks through a response, if any, to this -- what looks to be an unprecedented Iranian attack.
DEAN: And just to bring everyone in again on our breaking news, Iran has launched an attack against Israel using dozens of drones. We are told they have launched those drones from Iranian territory. It could take several hours for them to arrive at their destination.
I want to go now to Clarissa Ward, who is live in Tel Aviv.
Clarissa, as all of this is unfolding, what are you learning?
CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, obviously this is unprecedented and unnavigated territory. There are very high concerns about the number of different scenarios that could plausibly play out here. We have hours until we expect those drones to be entering Israeli airspace. The question becomes, will they potentially be accompanied by some kind of missile fire from Iranian proxies?
Obviously, the IDF and Israeli government taking this very seriously. Schools have been closed gatherings of more than 1,000 people have been forbidden at least until Monday. And so everybody here is sort of grappling with what exactly to expect. On the one hand, Iran very clearly telegraphing its actions, and so in that sense, it seems to be positive.
They're looking for potentially sort of Goldilocks approach if you like, trying to retaliate without escalating leading into a full-on regional conflagration. At the heather moment, though, of course, there are high tensions, high fears because we are entering sort of unnavigated territory because there are so many different possibilities as to how this could potentially shake out. And so a sense of high alert.
I would also say calm, but definitely everybody watching very closely to see what will be happening in the coming hours as we anticipate the arrival of those drones from Iranian airspace. Again, it could be hours before they enter Israeli airspace. The anticipation, of course, is that they will be the intercepted or shot down. But the real question becomes whether there will be some sort of supplementary force as they get closer to Israel -- Jessica.
DEAN: Right. And Clarissa, before I let you go, you've covered this region for many, many years, and you're talking and our other guests are also alluding to this as well. Kind of this unprecedented moment.
Can you give us some context about what it means that Iran is launching these drones toward Israel from Iranian territory? Just kind of give us some context around that.
WARD: Well, the context of Iran launching an attack directly on Israel from Iranian territory is something that we haven't seen in decades. And that is why you are seeing a lot of concern, a heightened state of alert, why you're seeing President Biden coming back to the White House. Because everybody is aware now keenly that this could develop into something dramatically more serious.
[16:30:00]
At the same time, I do think it's important to underscore that Iran has been very clear and has telegraphed that it will meet out a retaliation for that attack on the compound, the diplomatic embassy compound in Damascus on April 1st.
And so some are extrapolating from that by via telegraphing it so clearly, that Iran is trying to find that precise point. And this is where it gets dangerous and difficult.
When you're trying to find that sweet spot between escalating and retaliating and avoiding creating a scenario that you can't pull back from the brink of. There is always the capacity for things to go wrong.
And that is why there is so much tension, that's why there's a high degree of anticipation, even though this moment has been expected since April 1st -- Jessica?
JESSICA DEAN, CNN HOST: It is a razor's edge.
All right. Clarissa standby.
I want to go to General Mark Hertling, who's joined us as well.
And, General, we just heard Clarissa really lay it all out there. As we await these drones in their travel time, we see how Israel might respond as it does take hours for them to get to their final destination.
But also broadening it out a little bit more, Israel has promised to respond in kind to whatever Iran ultimately does. However, this unfolds over the next hours or days, or however long this might go on.
What does that say to you? And what do you think that could potentially look like?
GEN. MARK HERTLING, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Here's a combination of a bunch of things. First of all, the drone strike, the drone swarm, if we want to call it that, even though we don't know how many aircraft are in the air, is slow moving and it's developing.
But I'd suggest that that's just the first of many actions. There could be the potential for synchronized, not only slow-moving drones, Jessica -- these things move about the speed of a piper cub or Cessna aircraft. They're just very slow, 150 miles an hour at best.
So they're going to be supplemented from -- I think, from attacks from other directions. Hezbollah is going to step up their actions, although even -- even while we hadn't been watching what's been going on in the northern part of Israel as much, the Israeli Defense Forces have been reporting multiple attacks on a daily basis from Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.
You also have the potential for a synchronized attack between Hezbollah and Lebanon, the slow-moving drones, which will take about four to five hours to get to the boundaries of Israel, with other actions by PMF and some faster moving missiles, cruise missiles potentially, or even a larger range missile.
So those are quick. Those move about the size of a jet. If Iran is able to synchronize the slow-moving actions with the faster-moving actions, you could see a very big, synchronized attack.
Israel is not going to wait for all of this. I would suggest that, in their command-and-control headquarters right now, they're -- they've got a lot of patients. They're going to see what's going to happen next. What's going to be launched next? And from what direction? And from what type.
All of these things play a part in countering the activity with not only their Iron Dome, which everyone tends to immediately say, first, that's what they're going to use. But also their Arrow weapons system, their shoulder fired weapons systems against these kinds of drones, all kinds of defenses.
Remember, Israel has mobilized hundreds of thousands of their soldiers with air defense capabilities because they have -- they've always anticipated Iran launching this kind of attack. And they have plans for that.
I also think you see General Kurilla in the area. He probably has a significant portion of the CENTCOM staff with him, synchronized with liaison officers inside the Israeli command-and-control headquarters.
So there's going to be assistance, more than likely, from American forces in defending, using jets from carriers and jets from land-based operations.
So we're at the very early start of this. And I think the Israeli Defense Forces probably are generating a lot of patience to see what's going to come next. DEAN: Just have to wait and see.
All right, stand by.
Let's go to Kevin Liptak, who's at the White House.
Kevin, we now have a statement from the White House since we've learned that these Iranian drones have been launched toward Israel.
KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Right. And this is official American confirmation that these drones have been launched.
And I just want to read this statement in full just because this is such an important moment. This is from the National Security Council spokesperson, Adrienne Watson.
And she says, "Iran has begun an airborne attack against Israel. President Biden is being regularly updated on the situation by his national security team, will meet with them this afternoon at the White House."
She goes on to say, "His team is in constant communication with Israeli officials, as we'll as other partners and allies. This attack is likely to unfold over a number of hours."
[16:35:00]
"President Biden has been clear, our support for Israel's security is ironclad. The United States will stand with the people of Israel and support their defense against these threats from Iran."
So I think that's an important statement there that the U.S. does expect this attack to unfold over a number of hours.
And in a way, this has been building up for so long over the last several days, in some sense, this feels like a conclusion, but I think in reality this is just the beginning.
This is the start of something of a new phase of this conflict. And I think reading between the lines of this statement, the White House is making clear that it will use every asset that it has in the region that has been repositioned, whether it's jets, whether it's ships, to try and help Israel intercept some of these drones that are being fired in its direction.
And certainly that is a statement that President Biden has very intently been trying to make over the last several days, including just yesterday at the White House before he departed for Delaware, saying that the U.S. would backup Israel and help provide for its defense in the event of what he said was an attack that would happen sooner rather than later.
So the White House, in this statement, officially confirming that these drones are -- have been launched, that they came from Iran, and that the president will stand by Israel, despite some of the differences that we've seen between him and Prime Minister Netanyahu over the course of the war in Gaza.
This is -- of course, is occurring at a moment of tension between those two men. But I think President Biden and his national security team trying to reiterate at this moment, at this watershed moment, that there won't be any daylight between the U.S. and Israel when it comes to its own defense, when it comes to Iranian attacks.
DEAN: Right. And the national security advisor saying earlier today, ironclad supportive Israel.
All right. Kevin Liptak, standby for us.
Let's go now to Jeremy Diamond, who is on the ground in Jerusalem.
And, Jeremy, it bears repeating that, at this moment, what we know is that Iran has launched dozens of drones at Israel. That is what we know. We don't know exactly what the scale of this will be. We don't know how it will unfold. We don't know if there is more.
But what we do know is that these drones have been launched from Iranian territory toward Israel. What else are you learning?
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right. And I think it's also worth looking back at the last several days because it was really on yesterday, on Friday, that this notion that Iran was going to carry out this attack itself, and that it was going to carry out this attack directly on Israeli soil.
That's when that notion really began to crystallize with us and Israeli intelligence.
I was told yesterday by an Israeli official that Israel was preparing for the possibility of an Iranian attack on Israeli facilities on Israeli soil. And we have watched over the last 24 hours as that view has begun to harden.
Earlier today, we saw as Israel began to issue new guidelines for citizens, for civilians here in Israel to begin to brace themselves for the possibility of this attack.
Ultimately, culminating in the Israeli military going on the record with its spokesman going on camera and confirming that, indeed, Iran has launched drones directed at Israeli soil.
Now separately, I've been told by an Israeli official that the number of those drones is, indeed, in the dozens at a minimum here. And so that then poses the question as Israel will have hours, we're told, to prepare for those drones to actually arrive here on Israeli soil.
How many of those drones can it, indeed, intercept? How much assistance will it also get from the United States, which we know has positioned air defense assets in the region in preparation for this.
How much can these two countries cooperate to take down a maximum number of drones? Can they perhaps take them all out? Can they take the majority out? Those are some of the questions that we are now asking.
And of course, we're also asking whether or not there will be other elements to this Iranian attack. And whether this will be directed at hard military targets in Israel, or perhaps softer civilian targets within -- within Israel.
I do think it is interesting to see that the beginning phase of this attack from Iran is not a surprise attack, is not an attack that is from launch to target a matter of minutes, but rather something that is going to stretch out over a period of hours.
That indicates that Iran wanted Israel to know that this attack was coming. And perhaps also sending a message about what kind of response it hopes to see from Israel.
Perhaps sending a message that, look, Israel has time to prepare for this. It has time to perhaps intercept the majority of these drones. Could that potentially de-escalate the kind of Israeli retaliation that we would see as a result of an Iranian attack on Israeli soil? That is the question.
[16:40:00]
Again, we don't know the full extent of this attack just yet. But based on what we know so far, those are the kinds of things that I'm starting to think about right.
DEAN: Right. And quickly, before I let you go, just in terms of the Israelis, how are they preparing for this? What are they being told to do? Are they being told to shelter? What is it like there in the country right now?
DIAMOND: You know, it's interesting. About a week ago, just days after Israel carried out that strike on an Iranian consular facility in Damascus, killing a senior-level Iranian commander, days after that, Israelis really began to get concerned about the prospects of war.
There was a rush to the supermarkets to grab essential goods, to grab A.M./F.M. radios. In recent days that panic has somewhat subsided.
But today, of course, is when this all came front of mind once again, with those warnings yesterday, as this intelligence grew about the potential for an Iranian attack on Israeli soil and certainly over the course of the last several hours.
Israeli media has been blanketed with these warnings from the Israeli military about this potential attack, about these new warnings in terms of the home-front guidance that is being issued to civilians.
So certainly, there is a sense of tension, a sense of anticipation here in Israel. And also, of course, a sense of fear, of uncertainty, of what exactly this Iranian attack will look like, and to what extent civilians here will be at risk.
I think most people are asking those questions at this moment.
DEAN: Yes, a lot of uncertainty right now. Because we just don't know a lot of answers to these questions.
OK. Jeremy Diamond, standby.
We have Oren Liebermann at the Pentagon.
And, Oren, you have new reporting that the U.S. is going to attempt to intercept any weapons launched at Israel. Tell us more about this new reporting you have.
OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: So this is actually what we had heard heading into the weekend with the expectation that Iran could carry out its attack.
The U.S. has forces throughout the Middle East and we have seen over the course of the past six months -- excuse me -- they have repeatedly intercepted launches either from Iranian proxies or from the Houthis in Yemen.
For example, the U.S. Navy has an aircraft carrier, the "USS Dwight D. Eisenhower," and two destroyers in the Red Sea. There are two destroyers in the eastern Med as well as two destroyers and the Gulf of Aden.
Now, those have, especially in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, repeatedly intercepted launches from the Houthis. So we have seen the U.S. essentially followed through on this commitment to shoot down anything launched towards Israel from there.
But of course, that's not it. There's U.S. forces in Iraq, Syria and Jordan that have repeatedly intercepted launches, not at Israel, but at the targets and at the U.S. forces in Iraq, Syria and Jordan.
And two officials familiar with the plans here say it is part of the plan to try to intercept if possible.
Now if you look at this map for a second, you'll see there are essentially a number of different ways these drones could approach. Any of them take hours here.
They could try to come through Iraq and Syria. That would give the greatest possible chance for U.S. forces to intercept them, of course, depending on their route. Or they could try to come over Saudi Arabia and through Jordan to try to minimize the possibility of U.S. intercepts there.
Though even that route, with U.S. naval forces in the Red Sea, opens up the possibility of intercepts.
So it depends on how these drones approach. We know the commander of U.S. Central Command, General Erik Kurilla, spent a couple of days in Israel, essentially looking at the security situation in the region and coordinating how this might look. So we'll see how this plays out.
It's also worth noting, and essentially I'll pick up on -- on what my colleague, Jeremy Diamond, was talking about here. Israel itself has a layered aerial defense system. Its long-range aerial defense would be the Arrow Three interceptor. That would intercept ballistic missiles and can work out of the atmosphere.
We have seen that used, if I'm not mistaken, over the course of the past six months, the intercept of certain launches coming from -- are coming down the Red Sea from the Houthis in Yemen. That's the long- range interceptor Arrow Three.
The medium-range interception system is David's Sling. That is very similar to the U.S. THAD system. That is also stationed at different points in the country.
And then the short-range interception system that we've seen used so many times, not only over the course of the past six months, but in the past as well is Iron Dome. And that intercepts within a few dozen miles here. Certainly, that would be able to intercept these drones.
The real question is, and this is what we've been speculating and wondering about. These drones will take hours to get there. Cruise missiles could arrive much faster, within a couple of hours perhaps. And then ballistic missiles or within a few minutes.
So it still remains an open question, is this it or is there more coming in? Or could Iran try to coordinate a number of different types of weapons to hit at the same time?
That of course, is what we're waiting to see here as these drones make their way over in what will be an hours-long process to reach their targets.
DEAN: All right, we know the beginning, the first chapters of this story so far.
Let's go to Alex Marquardt right now.
And, Alex, you're getting some new information on the timeframe here. How long this might take to unfold?
ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes, this is a really interesting statement from the White House, Jessica. The White House putting essentially an expectation on how this is going to unfold in terms of the duration.
[16:45:09]
They're saying that is going to be a number of hours. That's coming from a spokesperson for the National Security Council. So they're not saying that this is going to be over very quickly. They're not saying that this is something that's going to last for days.
But there is an expectation that we have been talking about, because of the weaponry that the Iranians are choosing, that this is going to take several hours.
It's almost midnight in Israel. That means that this could stretch into the pre-dawn hours. It will be very interesting to see whether it lasts longer than that. Of course, there is a very distinct possibility that Israel then
decides to retaliate for this retaliation. And then we could really be off to the races in terms of an expanded conflict, but we aren't there yet.
Jessica, we have been talking about this Iranian retaliation for almost two weeks now, since Israel struck that alleged consulate, the Iranian building in Damascus ,and killed seven members of the Revolutionary Guard, including one of their senior-most commanders, who was in charge of the Syria and the Lebanon theaters.
And so we knew this retaliation was coming in. There was all kinds of speculation about what that would look like.
Now we are starting to tick away at the different elements of the various possibilities. We now know -- and this is the most dramatic element I think -- that this retaliation is coming from Iranian soil proper.
There had been some spec relation that Iran might not want to escalate like that and just use proxies, who are in neighboring countries and keep it at a lower level.
But attacking Israel from Iran proper is very significant and invites the possibility that Israel will then retaliate against Iran itself.
Now, this could have also been predicted because the attack that Israel carried out against that building in Damascus was carried out from Israeli soil.
So what we're seeing here, I think, is a very calculated, very calibrated, but very significant retaliation by Iran. And Iran has been doing, I think, a pretty good job at telegraphing what its intentions are.
The United States, a variety of European countries, Arab countries, Turkey, in the days leading up to today, they had all been telling Iran, do not escalate this conflict.
But at the same time, there was a recognition that Iran would have to respond to that attack last week. They would have to save face.
But despite what we're seeing right now, Jessica, there is no real sense that Iran wants to widen this conflict.
And so it's going to be very interesting in the coming hours, as the White House has just said, to see what kind of weaponry they add to this.
If it's just the drones, if they add ballistic and cruise missiles, if they add proxy groups in neighboring countries to Israel joining the fight, what the targets they go after are, and then whether there are other Israeli targets in other countries, like embassies.
So we are starting to get a lot more of the answers that we've been looking for. But so many questions remain -- Jessica? DEAN: So many questions, and it will take some time to see exactly
where this all lands. But what we do know, again, just to underscore to everyone, is that Iran has launched these drones toward Israel from Iranian territory.
So, Kim Dozier, let's go to you and let's talk about these drones for a second.
We know have Alex's reporting there that this could unfold from -- coming from the NSC over a matter of hours, a number of hours. It takes hours for these drones to arrive to their destination.
What more are you gathering from all of this information?
KIMBERLY DOZIER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Well, I'm just hearing from a senior U.S. official that the drones are aimed in, quote, unquote, "multiple directions." So they're worried it's going to hit multiple parts of Israel.
And the official says, as Oren was reporting, that, yes, the U.S. military is trying to track them to help Israel knock them out of the sky. The worry is that there will be so many headed to do so many different parts that Israels air defenses will be overwhelmed.
Now, the question is, has Iran waited these two weeks to telegraph to Israel, so perhaps it is hitting -- planning to hit military targets, naval ships in Haifa and south in Iraq, army bases across the country?
Any of this could be seen as, you know, Israel hit it's -- a military target in Syria. Iran is striking back.
But this is still extraordinary. Any attacks that have been blamed on Israel that happened inside Iran have been covert. This is an overt operation. And it's going to trigger an international response, no matter what gets hit.
One Israeli former intelligence official I was speaking to said she was going to sleep because she was expecting many long days to come.
[16:50:03]
DEAN: Yes, many long days to come.
All right, Kim, standby.
I want to go to Ben Wedeman, who is in Lebanon right now.
And, Ben, all of our experts and correspondents keep coming back to the fact that this is a kind of-- it is an exceptional moment to see Iran attacking Israel like this.
We don't know exactly what this means going forward. We're all watching this unfold together. What are you seeing where you are?
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, what we're seeing is that tensions have skyrocketed, certainly since the 1st of April when Israel attacked that Iranian consulate in Damascus.
But tonight, they really are skyrocketing. We're seeing the airspace over Jordan, for instance, since being completely closed. And southern Lebanon, of course, which has been the scene of daily and often deadly exchanges of fire between Israel and Hezbollah.
We've seen that this evening just before news of these -- the Iranian launch took place, that there we're some fairly intense Israeli air raids along the southern Lebanon, southern border.
We're hearing now from residents down there that there is an intense Israeli presence of warplanes in the sky. I think probably the scenario the Israelis are worried about is that there could be more done by Iran allies and proxies around the region.
Even though we've heard from officials and -- or rather sources very close to Hezbollah that the initial strike would be Iranian, and exclusively Iranian.
The worry is what -- how will Israel respond to the Iranian response to the strike on the consulate in Damascus? And that's really where the danger lies.
And certainly in terms of danger, Lebanon is high on the list of those who are very exposed to the possibility of far worse to come -- Jessica?
DEAN: All right. Ben Wedeman, for us there in Beirut, standby.
Let's go back to General Mark Hertling, who is still with us.
And, General, we had that reporting from the Pentagon that the U.S. is going to try and intercept as many of these drones as possible. What might that look like?
And then going back to what Kim was saying, that there is some concern that, what if there is too many, what if it overwhelms the airspace? Help us understand what that could potentially look like and what they're going through right now in this time when --
HERTLING: Yes --
DEAN: -- drones have been launched and when they hit?
HERTLING: Yes, what Kim said is exactly right. And that would have been the plan from the very beginning to try and hit multiple targets from multiple directions.
Here's the thing, though, Jessica. Where the U.S. will help -- we've been talking about the shooters for the last couple of minutes, the Patriot Missiles, the Arrows, the Iron Domes, all those other kinds of things.
For these kinds of targets, you also have to have the sensors. And that's what the U.S. is going to provide along with the Israeli intelligence community. I'm sure that my colleague, Cedric Leighton, will have a lot to say
about that being an Air Force guy.
But you can bet there's early warning radars up right now that are tracking these drone systems and where they're coming from.
This is not Ukraine. They have multiple sensors and shooters, not just from the large platforms that have the radars, but even from the F-35s that Israel has, that the U.S. has in the area, from some of the other electronic warfare platforms.
And when you're talking about drones, there are multiple ways to shoot those down. Those are not going to -- I don't believe they're going to get into Israeli aerospace. They will be shot down long before they get to Israel airspace.
What I'm very concerned about is what will complement these drones. You know, when these drones get 50 to 100 miles away from the border, will suddenly we see hundreds or even thousands of rockets coming out of Hezbollah? Will we see more cruise missiles coming out of Iran proper or from Yemen?
These are the kind of things that I think is Iran could potentially do, not that they will. But they could potentially attack not only multiple targets, but from multiple directions, with multiple types of systems.
So, yes, is the U.S. helping? I can -- I would bet a 99.9 percent probability we definitely have sensors and intel platforms, which Cedric could talk about, in the air right now.
But the Israeli forces have that as well. And as Oren Liebermann said earlier, the Israeli systems of the multilayered and integrated air defense systems will counter the attacks into the country.
What I'm concerned about right now is not just the attacks from Iran and other places, but what will Israel do and when in response?
[16:55:03]
DEAN: All right, General Mark Hertling, thanks so much.
I want to go now to Alex Marquardt, who's also getting some new reporting as more information comes in -- Alex?
MARQUARDT: Yes, Jessica, it does appear that Iran is ratcheting this up. This is not just the dozens of drones that had been launched that we've been reporting. We're now hearing from Israeli media saying that Iran has also launched cruise missiles in addition to these drones.
We don't have an exact number. But that is certainly an escalation. It's exactly what I was just mentioning in terms of the questions that are still out there.
Certainly, Iran was telegraphing what it was about to do in sending those slow-moving drones all the way from Iran towards Israel. Cruise missiles can move an awful lot faster. I defer to our experts on the exact speeds.
But it certainly raises questions about how you're going to how Israel is going to be handling this now multifaceted attack from Iran, not just missiles but drones as we'll. And there could be more to come -- Jessica?
DEAN: All right. So we're getting more information there.
Alex Marquardt, thanks so much.
We are continuing to follow this breaking news as Iran officially launches this attack against Israel. It is something we have been tracking for weeks now, for days now. And we're going to continue to gather as much information as possible and bring it all to you as quickly and as accurately as we can.
We're going to take a quick break. We'll be right back.
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