Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

IDF: Over 200 Iranian Drones And Missiles Fired At Israel; IDF: Israel "Intercepted A Vast Majority" Of Iran's Strikes; New Details From Phone Call Between President Biden, PM Netanyahu. Aired 10-11p ET

Aired April 13, 2024 - 22:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[22:00:52]

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back. I'm Wolf Blitzer. in Washington. We're following breaking news over the skies of Israel, a wide scale aerial assault is going on right now with waves of drones and missiles streaming into Israel from Iran, directly from Iran. Our teams on the ground in Jerusalem and northern Israel, they've been hearing explosions above, as U.S. and Israeli forces have reported intercepting multiple, multiple Iranian attacks.

But we still do not know what the ultimate impact of this Iranian barrage will be not the immediate damage inside Israel, nor the response that it might bring, next. I want to go back to Jeremy Diamond, our correspondent, is in northern Israel right now. I take it you've heard the explosions. You've seen the fighter jets. All of a sudden these rockets these missiles are coming in to Northern Israel, from Hezbollah territory in South Lebanon, Hezbollah being an Iranian proxy. What can you tell us to update our viewers, Jeremy?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right, Wolf. I was in Jerusalem earlier tonight, when this Iranian Response began, I heard multiple interceptions, saw those interceptions happening in the sky as Iran fired more than 200 projectiles, drones and missiles towards Israel. And just as my team and I were arriving here in northern Israel, we heard multiple interceptions overhead.

And when we were speaking on air moments ago, I also saw and then subsequently heard a few moments later, more interceptions happening in northern Israel about six miles away from here. We know that this latest a barrage of rockets or drones, we're not quite sure at this point, we'll just call them projectiles for now, were fired from Lebanon, likely by Hezbollah, towards the Golan Heights as well as northern Israel.

And so that's significant for a couple of reasons because it raises the question, first of all, of coordination between what is -- one of Iran's biggest proxies in the region Hezbollah and Iran itself, or the possibility that this latest barrage is simply part of this cadence that happens here in northern Israel, as we have watched over the course of the last six months, as Hezbollah and Israel have traded fire back and forth over the Israel-Lebanon border since the beginning of this war.

Now, interestingly, before this latest barrage happened, before the sirens sounded in the Golan Heights, the Israeli military actually changed its guidance to civilians, who earlier tonight had been told to stay near shelters if they are living in this part of the country. But then were subsequently told that that guidance was no longer in effect that they could return to life as normal. And it was only very shortly after that, that that first barrage came across the border from Lebanon, towards the Golan Heights.

And so this obviously gives you a sense that even as Iran indicates that its military response to the Israeli strike on that consular building in Damascus, they have indicated that that response is over. But still, this cross border exchange that has happened for months between Israel and Hezbollah is likely to continue. Wolf?

BLITZER: And Jeremy a few months ago is, as you and I will know, the Hezbollah was sending rockets into northern Israel and the Israeli government decided to evacuate tens of thousands of Israelis who live in northern Israel, northern Galilee and Qiryat Shemona, that town along the border, not too far away from Lebanon, and they've gone south, and they're living basically in hotels at various parts of Tel Aviv or Jerusalem or elsewhere.

Is it still pretty empty up in the north of Israelis, who are there have almost all of the Israelis left that area as a result of the Hezbollah rockets and missiles coming into Israel?

DIAMOND: Yes, Wolf, there are still some roughly 80,000 Israeli residents who live in northern Israel, who have been evacuated from their homes within a buffer zone effectively in northern Israel, evacuated from their homes, most of them have not returned in the six months since this war began, a similar number of Lebanese civilians in southern Lebanon have also been forced to flee their homes and head north in Lebanon.

[22:05:11]

And so even as this has been kind of a quietly simmering conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, it hasn't quite escalated to the levels of a full blown war, that some have predicted that some have expected and some have hoped would not come. Nonetheless, the impacts are very real on both the civilian population in northern Israel as well as in southern Lebanon. And it's also Wolf, resulting in enormous pressure on the Israeli government's to conclude this conflict with Hezbollah one way or another, either through a diplomatic path, or through a military solution that would see Hezbollah forces pushed further north in Lebanon, out of reach of Israeli towns in northern Israel.

And so what we're witnessing here is really the crux of this intersection between the conflict between Israel and Iran, as well as Israel and one of Iran's biggest proxies in the region, which, indeed is Hezbollah. And while we've expected that, if this conflict were to blow up into a much broader regional conflict, it would come because of those constant exchanges between Israel and Hezbollah. We've seen tonight that that the risk has indeed come directly from Iran with this massive attack that it carried out on Israel, more than 200 projectiles fired in the direction of Israeli territory.

The question now, of course, Wolf, will be how will Israel respond, and whether or not this will escalate into that broader regional conflict, that full blown war between Israel and Iran that many have feared?

BLITZER: And just to be precise, I'm going to let you go in a second. But Jeremy, just remind our viewers, Hezbollah in South Lebanon has a stockpile, an arsenal of what thousands of rockets and missiles ready to be fired at Israel. Is that right?

DIAMOND: That's right, Wolf. And Israeli military and political leaders are well aware that as they talk about the prospects of war with Hezbollah, they understand that it will be a very different kinds of war than the one that they are currently fighting in Gaza with Hamas. Hezbollah's arsenal of rockets is not only larger, but it is far more sophisticated has a much larger reach bigger payloads than Hamas's rocket Arsenal in Gaza.

And so as Israeli leaders have talked about the possibility of war with some Israeli officials in recent months, putting that chance at more than 50 percent in conversations that I've had with them, they are also well aware that it would likely result in significant damage inside of Israel, far more significant than the kind of damage that Hamas has been able to deal to Israel, certainly in terms of infrastructure within Israel.

BLITZER: Yes, a lot of those rockets and missiles that Hezbollah has in South Lebanon, they have enormous range. They not only could reach Haifa, in northern Israel, but even Tel Aviv and maybe even as far south as Eilat, the southernmost town in Israel right now. So the Israelis are really, really focusing in on that. We'll see how they respond to this latest threat, not only a direct threat from Iran, but from the Iranian proxy Hezbollah in South Lebanon. We'll watch that very closely. Stay safe over there. Jeremy Diamond, appreciate it very much from Northern Israel.

I want to go to Jerusalem. Nic Robertson is there for us. Remind our viewers what has been going on in Jerusalem over these past few hours, Nic?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes, Wolf, it was a very intense period when the missiles started coming over Jerusalem. I don't think anyone expected to see so many dangerous munitions over such a densely populated area. And it was really the first place in the country outside of the north, right along the border there where Jeremy is, the Israeli citizens were getting to experience the first taste of what Iran's response was going to be, the leading edge of those 200 killer drones, cruise missiles, and ballistic missiles.

And the interceptions that we saw here, were coming from multiple directions, we can take a look at that again now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: These rockets and missiles, you're getting some new information. What else are you learning? What else are you seeing right now?

ROBERTSON: Yes, I'm hearing fighter jets off in this direction. I was just telling you a few minutes ago about fighter jets that were circling above us. But what we saw about a minute ago, was a bright red light shooting off in that direction. And then you could hear the sound of a fighter jet sort of turning on its afterburners, it appeared and zooming off towards the distant horizon. It gave the impression that the fighter jet had just got instructions.

There's something out in that direction get out and meet it fast and I'm hearing the sound of the jet again so it could be that the jets that we're seeing here are moving off to another area to where they're seeing another wave of drones coming in. But there are several jets I'm hearing circling here at the moment.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[22:10:21]

ROBERTSON: So, some of those intercepts, obviously, the IDF has been telling us they wanted to intercept a lot of the missiles outside of Israel's territory, they say that they were able to intercept at least 10 cruise missiles, dozens of other those slow moving drones were intercepted outside of Israel's airspace. And one of the logical places between Iran and Israel to the east of here is Jordan and residents of the Capitol there Amman, did report seeing flashes in the sky indicative perhaps of what we were seeing here as well in Jerusalem, that there were intercepts there.

And I think this gets to how dangerous potentially what has happened tonight can be for the region, certainly if Israel response and Iran response again, because this is a very fragile mix of emotions in the region at the moment. And for many Jordanians, they really do not like the way that Israel is treating the Palestinians inside of Gaza.

So they don't want to see missile intercepts over or above their heads intercepting missiles, that Iran is firing towards Israel, because they don't support Israel. Of course, the leadership in Jordan has a relationship with Israel, an established relationship that has its ups and downs. And they have some common security interests.

But that's not necessarily how the majority of the population feel. So if there are repeated waves of what we're witnessed tonight, with not just interceptions in the skies above us here, but interceptions in the skies above neighboring countries like Jordan. This is going to make the dynamic and the pulse and the fragility of security in the region, even weaker.

So when you look at how and when President Biden and Prime Minister Netanyahu speak about how or if Israel should respond to this disproportionate response, the White House says has come from Iran tonight. There are more factors than just Israel and Iran in the dynamic of the equation, as Jeremy was explaining, Hezbollah in the north in Lebanon. But there are countries that are not in the fight, where tensions can rise. And that would lead to a broader instability, Wolf. BLITZER: Yes, that would be Jordan as well. And it was very significant then. And Nic, Jim Sciutto is with me as well, I want to bring him into this conversation. Jim, I know you have a question for Nic as well. But in Jordan, for example, if rockets or missiles are coming in from Iran, towards Israel, and going over Jordan, it's not the Israelis who are intercepting those rockets and missiles over Jordan, it's the U.S. that is doing so from various bases that the U.S. has in the region.

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR & CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: That's right. And I think Wolf, to your point, and I was going to ask Nic about this as well, that you have partners like Jordan, Saudi Arabia, both with an Iranian attack like tonight, but also the Houthi attacks, for instance, in the Red Sea, that, Nic, as you know, they oppose those attacks, and sometimes take part in defending against them without advertising that participation, because they're concerned about being, seen publicly supporting U.S. military action in the region or being perceived to help defend Israel.

I wonder, have you seen any reaction so far in the region from countries such as that to Iran attack on Israel?

ROBERTSON: You know, I think the language that we've heard the Saudis use this evening is, again, a cautious language. And it's symptomatic of the language that they've been trying to use around the conflict in Gaza at the moment, and it's language that tries to recognize that they have a role to play in peace and stability in the future in the region.

And their population perhaps doesn't support Israel strongly at this time and so that their language is cautious around that. But I think when it comes to Jordan, if we go back just a few months, when there was that strike on the U.S. base, right in the very eastern corner of Jordan, right up close to the Syrian border. There was a short period there where the Jordanian government, sort of we're trying to say this actually happened inside Syria. And that gets to the sensitivities of the U.S. presence and role inside of Jordan even though these countries are strong allies, even though the United States supports financially, the Jordanian government.

[22:15:15]

And when you consider Jordan's interest in their stability in Gaza, it's an extreme one, because they don't want to see waves of Palestinians coming out of Israel or coming out of the West Bank and moving into Jordan, because it'd be very destabilizing in Jordan.

We know that the security services in Jordan play a role with the Palestinian Authority and play a role with the Israeli government. One that's not talked about, but one that happens quietly behind the scenes to try to keep on top of Hamas, for example, in the West Bank, so these are delicate sensitivities. But when the peace and stability dynamic changes as significantly as it could, through the momentous events of Iran, for the first time ever striking Israel and how things play out from there, that balance, that delicate balance can get out of kilter. And that means that means much harder for the U.S. to see its interest further in the region.

BLITZER: Nic Robertson in Jerusalem for us. Nic, stay safe over there. We'll be in close touch with you. Appreciate all your excellent, excellent reporting.

I want to go to Fred Pleitgen right now he's our expert on what's going on inside Iran. Fred, set the scene for us. It looks like the Iranians have launched hundreds of these drones and rockets and missiles towards Israel. Many of them have been intercepted either by the Israelis over Israeli airspace or by the United States in some of these rockets and missiles coming in from Iran directly from Iran flying over Iraq, or Syria or Jordan, towards Israel.

What's your understanding right now? And you're well sourced on what's happening inside Iran several hours after this latest conflict erupted the way it did today.

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, first of all, I think it's a variety inside Iran. I certainly know from speaking to people on the ground in Iran over the past couple of days that many of them were concerned that the situation between Iran and Israel could really spiral out of control or get out of control. And the United States become very much involved in it as well. There were many Iranians who were fearing that this could become a much larger confrontation that, of course, could end militarily.

And that's certainly something where I did feel from a lot of Iranians that it's definitely not something at that this point in time would have been in their interest. It's been quite interesting to see the response from the Iranians, Wolf, where they believe that this was actually a fairly measured one by them. The foreign ministry came out with a statement just a couple of hours ago is saying that they believe that this was self-defense and also saying, as they put it, they believe that this could be the end of the matter now. But of course, all of that depends on Israel.

But if you look at some of the things that have been going on tonight, and the hours leading up to this, it is quite interesting inside Iran. First of all, the Iranian currency, to Amman, took a nosedive over the past, I would say about 36 hours ago, which obviously goes to show that these tensions between Iran and Israel and Iran and the United States were definitely something that were weighing on the Iranian economy, even as it of course has been buckling from those sanctions, the economy that's been in a lot of trouble anyway. But this is certainly something that has been weighing on it even more.

At the same time, you do have a show of force from the Iranian government from the leadership, and from those supporting it as well. In fact, tonight, as those strikes were being launched, there were pro-Iranian, pro-Palestinian demonstrations that took place in Tehran, and then also in the city of calm, which is, of course, one of those really strong points for the religious leadership of the country.

So the Iranians feel that they've demonstrated today that they are in a fairly powerful position, but at the same time, they do want to stop this from escalating any further is certainly the messaging that that we are receiving from this. But I think one of the things that really stands out for the Iranians as well was the size of the attacks that happens tonight, the fact that you did have hundreds of drones and missiles, ballistic missiles and cruise missiles that were involved in all this, obviously showing this is something that would have been planned for very meticulously and for an extended period of time.

And then also that a lot of these weapons did manage to penetrate deep inside Israeli airspace, deep inside the territory of Israel, I think a lot of people wouldn't have believed that the Iranians would have been able to pull that off, especially in light of the fact that we knew that it wasn't just the Israelis who were going to help shoot these missiles down but also that the U.S. and maybe some other nations would be involved as well. And so I think by and large the Iranians believe that for their purposes that they achieved what they wanted to achieve, at least so far, but of course, they do still understand that it's a very, very precarious situation right now in the greater Middle East and that all of this could still go in a very bad direction. It could be very violent, Wolf.

[22:20:23]

BLITZER: All right, Fred Pleitgen with the latest on what's going on inside Iran in the aftermath of their decision to launch this retaliatory strike against Israel watching all that very, very closely. Everybody standby we're going to speak to the former U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper. When we come back our special live breaking news coverage of what's going on in this latest conflict between Israel and Iran. It will con -- our coverage continues in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Speaking in Foreign Language)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Speaking in Foreign Language)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Speaking in Foreign Language)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Speaking in Foreign Language)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Speaking in Foreign Language)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Speaking in Foreign Language)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Speaking in Foreign Language) = (END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: All right, these are little pictures from a little while ago in the Negev in Israel, Iranian rockets and missiles coming in being intercepted by various air defense missile systems that Israel has but you can see some of the debris going down and it could be very, very dangerous indeed. We're watching all of this unfold in this latest escalation of this conflict between Israel and Iran. [22:25:07]

I want to bring in CNN Global Affairs Analyst Mark Esper, who served as Defense Secretary under former President Trump. He also works with some aerospace and defense technology companies. But Mr. Secretary, thanks so much for joining us, give us your immediate reaction to this direct attack from Iran, against Israel launching all of these drones, rockets, missiles, going after various targets in Israel.

MARK ESPER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Sure, Wolf, it's good to be with you, first of all. Look, I'm a little surprised by the scale and scope of the Iranian attack. It's clearly disproportionate. I expected to see something much smaller, and maybe something that did not hit Israel proper. And so this is a really significant escalation.

And when you step back and look, you know, over the decades, you can see, you know, since the Iranian revolution in 1979, when Iran and Israel broke off relations, this is the first time that I can recall the direct confrontation between these two countries. And a major change, of course, in the proxy wars the last 20 years between the two. So I think we're seeing a major historical point in the Middle East, certainly between these two countries.

And I think it's unclear where this goes from now, I suspect I'm fairly confident Israel or will respond, but how each side moves back and forth up the escalation ladder from there, can really open up into a much wider regional war.

BLITZER: Jim Sciutto and I spoke a little while ago with John Bolton, the former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, former national security adviser to then President Trump. He said that what Israel and maybe the United States should think about doing is at least in the short run, is trying to destroy whatever nuclear capabilities the Iranians might have, because he's concerned, if Iran were to build a bomb, and put it on one of those rockets or missiles. It could be devastating that Israel -- at least Israel should think about going in launching an airstrike and destroying Iran's remaining nuclear capability. What do you say to that?

ESPER: Yes. I'd say first, when I was in office in late 2019, early 2020, when we looked at options, of course, we you always present the President a number of options, and some of them can be quite tactical, and some of them can be very strategic. Now, in this case, clearly the ball is in the hands of the Israelis. I'm sure Prime Minister Netanyahu is now looking, working with his war cabinet trying to figure out what to do next and looking at a similar set of options. I suspect that they will be discussed with the United States. And he has to ask himself, what does he want to do next?

Clearly, the Iranian nuclear program would be a strategic target of great value. But it's a very difficult one, it's an interior of a country, it's well defended, a little bit hard to get to. The Israelis may look at something operationally more, more easy and could open up the door to other things. So for example, taking out Iranian air defense systems on the eastern side of the Persian Gulf, which would open up a door so to speak, to attack other targets within a country. Or Israel may say, look, I want to go at some of their defense industrial base, for example, it's fairly well known where they produce their drones and items like that cruise missiles, maybe they want to take out a major factory.

So it depends on what you want to accomplish with this next strike, because you don't know whether it will be your last one or whether it will be one of many to come. And so I think those considerations get weighed out. Now, a part of this problem too, though, Wolf, is, you know, Israel has a very capable Air Force. And the challenge will be is will they get over flight rights, for example, to fly across Iraq and Jordan and Saudi Arabia, wherever the case may be to attack Israel, if they want to do through airstrikes as compared to missile strikes?

I suspect the Arab countries will say no, because they don't want to get involved in this as well and be complicit in what will look like will clearly be an Israeli counter attack. So there are all these different issues, you have to figure out what do you want to strike? How do you want to go about doing it? What forces can you commit? Will the United States support what type of support for the United States do you need? I think all those things are now being discussed in a lot more detail.

BLITZER: Standby for a moment. Jim Sciutto is with me, Mr. Secretary. He's got a follow up question for you.

SCIUTTO: Mr. Secretary, if Israel were to make that strategic decision to strike Iranian nuclear assets, would that by definition involve the U.S. for instance, there's been discussion that Israel could not penetrate Iranian air defenses, you would require U.S. help there. But even separating that out, would the U.S. effectively become involved because Iran would hold the U.S. responsible and strike back? I mean, the question is, if Israel where to make that decision, would it be making the decision for the U.S. as well?

ESPER: You know, Jim, it's a great question. I don't want to get too much into it. It's fair to say in many of the options that will probably be presented to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Some U.S. resistance will be required, some more than others in different scenarios and situations. In all case, of course, when Israel responds, the United States want to make sure its defenses are up, it's well dispersed and prepared for a strike by Iran against the United States.

[22:30:19]

Because I think clearly at that time, Iran will begin blaming the United States as well for any complicity in an Israeli counter attack.

BLITZER: What do you think, Mr. Secretary, if you had to guess, what do you think the Israeli response is going to be?

ESPER: Yes. Look, I think they have, again, a very capable Air Force. That would be an option out there. But I think missile strikes into the interior of Iran looking at strategic targets, possibly parts of the Iranian nuclear complex, again, may be part of their missile complex as well to knock out some strategic sites to knock them back a while. There may be some other targets where they see that are useful to is -- to Iran as a support proxy forces like Hezbollah and the Houthi.

So I think all those different options are on the table. But clearly, they're going to strike back. They're going to strike into the heart of Iran. They may go after a -- the leadership as well, who knows. And so this is where it gets really tricky, because it's hard for me to see Iran not striking back at that point in time, it would be the first time again that I can recall that another nation aside from the Iran-Iraq war that Israel leads to struck into the interior of Iran. And to me, I think the Iranians would be compelled to strike back again.

So here you go back and forth up the escalation ladder. So this is where it gets really dangerous. And again, the potential the wider war really becomes far more likely.

BLITZER: I got one final question before I let you go, Mr. Secretary. Our Oren Liebermann at the Pentagon is reporting that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has asked his Israeli counterpart, Yoav Gallant, the Israeli Ministry of Defense, to at least give the U.S. advance word on when the Israelis are going to respond. You think that's realistic?

ESPER: Yes, I do. We always had close communication between us and Israelis, me and my counterpart, who at the time was Benny Gantz, who is now a member of the war cabinet. And of course, our militaries work very closely together. We definitely want to know what they're doing, what they're planning, for any number of reasons, again, to make sure that not just our troops, but Americans in the area are safeguarded, if that's necessary. We'd want to make sure that we, our forces are properly positioned to respond or at least be in a defensive posture.

And look, there may be ways we can help them. I'm sure right now we're sharing intelligence, about various things. And so I do think it's very realistic, I think you'll see a lot of coordination. And not just with them, I think the United States will also at least should be talking to our Arab partners in the region as well. They have a lot of interests here. Nearly every Arab country in the region houses some type of American troops in the thousands in many cases. And so there's the very close cooperation between these two.

It'll be very interesting to see how Arab capitals and Arab leaders play this out in the coming days because, look, there are no fans of Iran. And this is part of the reason why going back to October 7th, why believed October 7th happened because we're beginning to see the potential for normalization between Saudi Arabia and Israel against Iran that could eventually bring in other Arab Gulf states. So the bigger strategic picture and the historic picture is very important here.

[22:33:39]

BLITZER: All right, Mr. Secretary, thanks very much for your analysis. We appreciate it. And our special live coverage will continue right after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Welcome back to the breaking news coverage, the latest developments between Israel and Iran. Iran has been launching hundreds of rockets and missiles, drone strikes against Israel. Oren Liebermann is over at the Pentagon for us getting new information. I take it the wave of Iranian strikes coming into Israel. It seems to be slowing down a bit. Is that right Oren?

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Very much so. We're hearing that according to two U.S. officials who have been monitoring this from the very beginning. And they say that appears the wave of Iranian attacks that has included drones and missiles has subsided, it stopped lasted approximately five hours from the reports of the first Iranian drones that were launched until the U.S. and Israel which have been monitoring this, saw effectively the number of launches, dip and begin to ebb.

Now of course the officials I spoke with also caution that it is a very volatile, dynamic situation. So it doesn't mean this is over right now. And the U.S. is still very carefully watching what's going on. There is at least an indication that Israel believes the immediate threat has passed as well. And that's because the IDF home front command lifted the request for citizens to remain near bomb shelters. That's a request that's only lifted when the IDF believes the imminent threat has passed.

So an indication from the Israeli side and two U.S. officials from the -- from here, effectively saying that from what they're seeing, and they have been monitoring these attacks from the very beginning, it looks like these waves of attacks of drones and missiles have at the moment subsided. That being said, U.S. forces which have helped intercept many of these drones as they were on their way to Israel. They're still looking out for any possible launches coming from Iran.

And of course, this doesn't mean that everyone has stopped attacking because after we saw the Iranian attacks subside, we saw Hezbollah and Iranian proxy in Lebanon launching missiles -- launching weapons, I should say rather, at Northern Israel. So not to say in any way the situation has ended or is calm here, but at least from the U.S. perspective, officials who we've spoken with have said they have seen the specifically the direct Iranian attacks subside, at least as of right now, Wolf.

BLITZER: Very interesting. The U.S. as we know has intercepted a lot of these incoming Iranian rockets and missiles and drones outside of Israeli airspace as they're approaching Israel from Iran going over Syria or Iraq or Jordan or whatever. Has the Pentagon officially confirmed that the U.S. is engaged together with Israel in intercepting incoming Iranian missiles and rockets?

[22:40:06]

LIEBERMANN: They have not yet said missiles. As of right now the intercepts, the engagements have been focused on drones, but they have confirmed that here. Defense official as well as two other U.S. officials, saying that U.S. forces in the region and there are forces throughout the region, Iraq, Syria, Jordan and beyond, have indeed engaged and intercepted Iranian drones that were launched towards Israel.

We don't yet have a number on that. There were dozens if not more than 100 launched at Israel. So that number could be anywhere in there. That's information we're still looking for. And we don't yet know how they were intercepted. Was it U.S. fighter jets that were likely up throughout the course of these five hours or so? Was it ground based aerial defense systems? Both are very much a possibility.

And then of course, as you point out, Wolf, this was a defensive essentially array that was coordinated with Israel. Israel has its own very capable aerial defense systems from long-range, mid-range and short-range, but they relied as well in the U.S. to try to intercept as many of the incoming launches as possible.

BLITZER: Yes, the Israeli air defense missile system, rather than the Iron Dome, or any of the others that they really work well once these rockets and missiles are over Israeli airspace, but outside of Israeli airspace, they're relying on the United States to get the job done. And clearly the U.S. is doing so in coordination with the Israelis. Oren Liebermann at the Pentagon, thanks again for your excellent, excellent reporting. And we'll take another quick break. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[22:45:22]

BLITZER: It could be the start of a full scale war between Israel and Iran. This is what happened in the Negev, just a little while ago, rockets coming in Israeli air defense systems going up, like the Iron Dome, intercepting and causing those explosions, the sirens going off even in Jerusalem for several hours earlier tonight, as well. Jim Sciutto, this is clearly a delicate, very delicate moment in the Middle East right now. It could come down, on the other hand, it could escalate into a full scale war.

SCIUTTO: We are in the midst of what they call an escalation ladder, right. Just as Mark Esper was saying a short time ago, you had the Israeli presumed Israeli strike on an Iranian target in Damascus just a couple of weeks ago, which Iran said it was going to retaliate. For now we have the retaliation, which the U.S. as, MJ was describing earlier, says is disproportionate, right, but to have this massive attack on Israeli territory itself is a step up.

So then the question is, how does Israel respond? You know, the whole thing about escalation ladder is that each step can be bigger than the last one, right? And when you have, for instance, folks like John Bolton, calling now for strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities, that's not to say that Israel will choose to do so. But you do have that option. And that's the difficulty and the danger of escalation ladders is that they expand, they can expand by nature as they go on, and sometimes beyond the limits of what either side wants, right, because we were discussing this earlier, that from the early days of this conflict, going back to October 7th, of course, a horrific attack and escalation of its own, there had been some assessments that Iran did not want a direct conflict with Israel, and certainly not a direct conflict with the U.S.

But since then, actions have taken on a life of their own. And they're at least setting up the circumstances for exactly that. And that is the danger of this that whatever your intentions are limitations that one side might want to place going in as they consider their range of options, you can easily lose control of that. And that's where we find ourselves right now.

BLITZER: Yes, this delicate, very sensitive moment. I want to bring in former director of communications for the U.S. National Intelligence Service Shawn Turner is joining us. Shawn, thanks very much. What's your immediate reaction to this direct attack from Iran against Israel involving more than 200 drones and missiles that according to the Israel Defense Forces?

SHAWN TURNER, FORMER DIR. OF COMMUNICATIONS FOR U.S. NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE: Yes, Wolf, thanks for having me. You know, like a lot of people have said tonight, I think that when we look at this, we look at what happened prior to this, and the proportionality of this attack. I think a lot of us are a little taken aback. But, you know, Wolf, a lot of folks have been on tonight, and they've been talking about the idea that this is the time to deal with Iran, sort of once and for all.

And I think a lot of people are sort of feeling the heat of the moment. I think we can't lose sight of the fact that as we talk about escalation, as Jim was just talking about, as Mark Esper talked about, we've got to remember that, you know, a couple of weeks ago, we were talking about Israel and Hamas, and that war that fight, to the degree that this escalates, is Israel could find itself in a situation where it's really fighting a two, perhaps even a three front war as Hezbollah loves to get into this.

So my immediate reaction to this is, yes, this was an unprecedent attack to see Iran attacking Israel from Iranian soil, directly into Israel, unprecedented and when we look at the number of rockets and missiles and drones, but we've got to remember that for Israel, Israel has to respond to this. We have to take a step back and look at the type of targets they might respond to, and what those targets look like, because Israel has a fight that it has to deal with in Gaza and Hamas.

BLITZER: Given the scale of this Iranian attack, retaliatory attack against Israel, over these past few hours, what kind of response, Shawn, would you expect to see from Israel?

TURNER: Yes, there are a couple of different factors, I think, impact that Wolf. You know, I want to, you know, earlier tonight, Jim asked Secretary Esper about whether or not that strategic responsive attacking nuclear facilities in Iran is the kind of thing the United States would be drawn into. I want to answer that question very directly and say, absolutely, yes, it would be. And that's why I think that it's important for Israel to look at some of the other potential targets in Iran that do a couple of things one deal directly with it. Iran's capability with their military capability now there are lots of targets there that could deal with the as Secretary Esper said, drones, their ability to manufacture missiles and rockets, and I think all of those things are fair game.

[22:50:12]

But it's also the case that we have to remember that the global sort of reaction to Israel's actions in Gaza, as it relates to the Palestinians, has shifted. And so when we look at targets in Iran that might impact the Iranian people, that has to be something that's considered. So I think that the response needs to be, one, that sends a clear message to Iran, that Israel is not going to allow it to have the capability to launch the kind of attack we saw tonight.

But it also has to be the kind of attack where the United States steps in and says, look, we can't continue to escalate this. Everyone knows that no one has better intelligence on Iran's nuclear capability and those facilities than the United States. So if Israel decides to attack those capabilities, the United States is definitely going to be drawn in and we've got to avoid that.

BLITZER: All right, Shawn, standby, we're going to get back to you. We're going to continue our special coverage just ahead. We're now getting word there's new reporting coming out of the White House. We'll share that with you right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[22:55:07]

BLITZER: All right, we're just getting a statement in front of the White House right now. MJ Lee, our senior White House correspondent is joining us from the White House. What is the President saying MJ?

MJ LEE, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, we've been waiting for this readout of the President's phone call with the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. And let me just read for you a part of the statement that discusses that phone call. It says I've just spoken with Prime Minister Netanyahu to reaffirm America's ironclad commitment to the security of Israel. I told him that Israel demonstrated a remarkable capacity to defend against and defeat even unprecedented attacks, sending a clear message to its foes that they cannot effectively threaten the security of Israel.

So, Wolf, we're getting the first sort of clear indication of how the U.S. is discussing with Israel, these Iran attacks against Israel. I'm also learning from a senior administration official, Wolf, that in this phone call with the Prime Minister, the President made clear to his counterpart that the U.S. will not participate in any offensive operations against Iran. So that is really significant drawing a line on what the U.S. is not willing to do, given what we've seen tonight with the U.S. is involvement here in helping to knock down some of these weapons that Iran had launched. And in fact, according to the same senior administration official, Wolf, the U.S. assessment earlier this evening, was that almost all of the drones and missiles, I'm told, including more than 100 ballistic missiles launched by Iran had been knocked out of the sky, and that no cruise missile made impact in Israel, according to this official and that nothing of value was hit.

You know, we were talking about earlier in the evening, how the process is still unfolding of getting a full assessment of Iran attacks against Israel. And this is the assessment that we are getting right now that the President, in fact, told the Prime Minister that the assessment is that, you know, he should take this as a win, because the U.S.'s assessment is that, largely speaking, Iran's attacks and attempts to hurt Israel had been largely unsuccessful.

So this is a pretty critical piece of reporting. Our first piece of reporting sort of getting a really clear sense of what the U.S.'s assessment is of Iran attacks and also how the President is viewing all of this on how he spoke about this with the Israeli Prime Minister, Wolf.

BLITZER: A very, very strong statement of support for Israel from the President United States following his phone conversation tonight with the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. We're, of course going to stay on top of this. MJ, thank you very much for your reporting.

And to our viewers, thanks very much for joining me. Our special live coverage will continue with Jim Sciutto right after this quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[23:00:00]