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The Lead with Jake Tapper

Iran Retaliates Against Israel With Missile Barrage; IDF: Iran Launched Waves Of Missiles Towards Israel; Iran: Strikes On Israel Are "Beginning" Of "Crushing Response"; Iran Activates Air Defenses Over Tehran To Intercept More Israeli Strikes; Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI) Is Interviewed About Israel, Iran, Missile Barrage, Missile Defense; U.S. Officials: U.S. Forces Helping Israel Intercept Attacks. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired June 13, 2025 - 17:00   ET

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

DAVID SANGER, CNN POLITICAL & NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYT: Of throwing at Israel moves a lot faster and moves through the atmosphere in a very different way and the Iron Dome is not really set up to fully do those interceptions. So there's some vulnerability I think you're going to see in the next 24 to 48 hours a real focus by the Israelis on taking out every one of the missile launchers they can find.

KASIE HUNT, CNN HOST: All right. Joel Rubin, David Sanger, thank you both very much for your time and your expertise today. Thanks to all of you for joining us throughout this hour. Don't go anywhere. CNN's breaking news coverage continue right now with "The Lead" with Jake Tapper.

[17:00:38]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN Breaking News.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Welcome to this special edition of The Lead. I'm Jake Tapper. We're going to begin with the breaking news in our world lead with this live look at the skies above Tel Aviv, Israel. Iran this evening has begun retaliating for Israel's unprecedented strikes on its military leadership and its nuclear weapons program. Iran saying that Israel is now, quote, "Facing a dark night ahead."

Last night and today, Israel strikes hit Iran's nuclear facilities and killed the commander in chief of Iran's Revolutionary Guard, plus other top military brass. And now Iran has launched a barrage of missiles toward Israel. This was the moment that the first wave of Iranian missiles hit Tel Aviv. Some missiles being intercepted, but at least one striking a building, sending a huge plume of smoke into the air, lighting parts of this building on fire. A second wave of missiles arrived a short time later, raining down over the population center of Tel Aviv.

Two sources in Israel tell CNN that the United States and other countries helped Israel intercept some of the Iranian missiles tonight. Iran says dozens have been injured in these strikes and warns Iran will pay a heavy price for striking population centers they say crosses a red line. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivered a new warning to Iran. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAEL PRIME MINISTER: More is on the way. The regime doesn't know what hit them. They don't know what will hit them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Let's go straight to CNN Jerusalem Bureau Chief Oren Liebermann.

And Oren, you just spent a significant amount of time in a bomb shelter like almost everyone else in Israel. You're out now. The government said it's fair to -- safe to come out, at least for now. What is the latest you're learning on Iran's strike at Israel and the extent of the injuries of Israelis?

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN JERUSALEM BUREAU CHIEF: Safe to come out of the bomb shelters, which we left about an hour and a half ago. But home front command warning the citizens of the country to stay near bomb shelters in the anticipation that could -- there could be more waves of Iranian ballistic missiles coming, as Iran has promised throughout the evening and perhaps over the coming days here.

We just got an update a few moments ago from Magen David Adom, that Israel's Red Cross, on the number of injuries, they say there have been a total of 34 injured in rocket strikes in the Gush Dan area, that's pretty much central Tel Aviv -- central Israel, Tel Aviv and the surrounding metropolis.

In terms of the injuries themselves, a woman approximately 60 years old in critical condition was taken to Beilinson Hospital. A man around 65, a woman around 50, a man around 50, these are in moderate and serious conditions. And -- and then about 30 individuals from blast impacts, concussions, shrapnel, were lightly injured as a result of the waves of ballistic missiles we saw.

And as you showed in the video at the start of the show, Israel's interceptors were very active. The U.S. participated in that interception, likely with THAAD batteries here in Israel and potentially in other places across the Middle East. Nevertheless, it looks like from the pictures we're seeing, from the damage we're seeing to buildings, cars and shrapnel, at least several missiles got through. A short while ago, the IDF spokesperson, Brigadier General Effie Defrin, said there were approximately 100 missiles fired. Many were intercepted.

There were a few hits, which seems to mean a few got through Israel's layered air defense system and made impact and there were interceptions as a result of that. And the warning, as I mentioned at the top here, there could be more barrages coming.

Essentially right as Israel began carrying out a massive wave of strikes on Iran, some 21 hours ago or so, the warning came out that retaliation was expected. We have tracked the breadth of the strikes in Iran, frankly, throughout the day from the Natanz nuclear enrichment facility locations across Tehran -- locations across Iran. Israel saying 200 fighter jets used 100 targets struck. That number likely to go up. Ballistic missiles decapitating -- ballistic missiles struck as well. Israel decapitating the top of Iran's military and nuclear leadership.

And you just heard Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warn that more is coming. But that goes both ways. If Israel is prepared to carry out more strikes, Iran, it seems, is very much prepared to continue its retaliation.

TAPPER: All right, Oren Liebermann, stand by, we're going to come back to you. I want to bring in Scott Jennings, CNN Senior Political Analyst, who happens to be in northern Israel right now.

[17:05:06]

And Scott, you saw missiles earlier, let's show our viewers part of the video you sent us.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SCOTT JENNINGS, SENIOR CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I'm out here at the hotel. Wow. Wow.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: So tell us, what was it like to see that?

JENNINGS: Well, it's pretty jarring. I've seen two rounds of missiles tonight. That was the first round when we heard the first barrage was on the way. So, I went out to the back of my hotel to look out to the east. I'm on the shores of the Sea of Galilee.

So if you look due east, you'd be looking effectively towards Iran. And, you know, about two seconds after I walked outside, I saw disappear in the sky. And then, Jake, a little while later, another barrage came and we saw another number of missiles. We saw a number of intercepts take place as well. And at that time, we heard an air raid siren.

So it was much closer, really, right overhead. And at that point, we were shuffled down into a bomb shelter at the bottom of the hotel. So, twice tonight we've seen missiles overhead and we've also seen the very, very real missile defense capability of Israel.

TAPPER: And Scott, Prime Minister Netanyahu says he gave Trump a heads up about the strikes. But initially, the Trump administration made it pretty clear that this Israel's operation, not the United States. And President Trump said he was opposed to the strikes. What are your sources telling you about President Trump's true feelings on this operation? Was he part of a deception campaign? Or is he just being supportive of Israel even though he was not supportive of the strikes?

JENNINGS: Well, what I've been made to believe is that, yes, this was part of an elaborate ruse to really trick Iran. I mean, the amount of planning that went into this, when you look at what Israel did on the ground in Iran, when you look at the massive planning that they had to undergo over a long period of time to get ready to pull this off, and then everything that happened on the world stage, I do think President Trump was part of a ruse here.

But you go back 60 days in time, Jake, you know, about 60 days ago, Donald Trump said, yes, they've got about 60 days to make a deal. So, you know, they didn't do that and now they're paying the price for not dealing with the west when it comes to their development of a nuclear weapon.

I mean, when you're here on the ground, this is my first trip to Israel, I've talked to a lot of people, I've been to the Gaza border, I've been to the Lebanon border, I've been all over this place, living with a nuclear armed Iran is not a possibility for these people, it's an existential threat to them.

Living with Hamas and other Iranian terror proxies, that's not really acceptable to them either after what happened on October 7th. So, everyone here in Israel has a lot of resolve right now, I think, for what's going on and not letting Iran, which is the head of this octopus over here, get away with developing missiles and weapons that if they got them, they have no doubt would immediately fire them into Israel.

TAPPER: Conservative media personality Tucker Carlson, who is supportive of Trump generally spoke at the Republican convention, he published his newsletter this morning in which he -- he advocates specifically for the United States and -- and President Trump to, quote, "drop Israel." He says, quote, "It is not America's fight. Engaging in it would be a middle finger in the faces of the millions of voters who cast their ballots in hopes of creating a government that would finally put the United States first," unquote.

There's a big part of the MAGA movement that agrees with Tucker Carlson, Candace Owens and others.

JENNINGS: Yes, I just disagree. Look, I think the fight for the future of Western civilization is happening right here, and I think Israel is leading that fight. I mean, they're the ones who were standing up to the big destabilizing force in the Middle East. They're the ones who were standing up to these terror proxies. Make no mistake that if they had the chance, what happened here in Israel on October 7, they would do the same thing to us in the United States and do it in other countries in the West.

So I just disagree with that viewpoint. I think most Republicans believe that Israel is our ally, Israel is our friend, and Israel and the United States share a special relationship and similar values and standing up to these terrorists and these mullahs and these people that would destroy the West. I mean, remember, they don't just chant death to Israel, they chant death to America. We need to pay attention when they say that and also thank our friends Israel for standing up to these bullies.

TAPPER: Scott Jennings in northern Israel, thank you so much. Appreciate it. Stay safe, my friend. This just in, Iranian state media says that Iran has activated air defenses over the city of Tehran to intercept another round of Israeli attacks. We will continue to monitor that. Let's bring in retired U.S. Army Major Mike Lyons, Rebeccah Heinrichs, Senior Fellow at the Hudson Institute, who specializes in defense policy, and also with us, Tom Nichols of the Atlantic magazine.

Major Lyons, how big of a response do you think we're about to see from Israel? We heard an Israeli spokesperson, Israeli military spokesperson, say that Iran crossed red lines by targeting civilian population centers in Tel Aviv.

[17:10:04]

MAJOR MIKE LYONS, U.S. ARMY (RET.): Well, Jake, for an operation that took months to plan, they likely have a target list that's in the hundreds of targets that they could go after. So secondary third -- every one of those ballistic missiles they fired has a return -- to look at those areas as well, look at satellite imagery and find out where other targets can be. They're going to -- systems and weapons they get from the United States. They usually hit with -- I - I wouldn't be surprised if they continue to go after --

TAPPER: Yes. Major, we're having some trouble with your audio. Let's fix that. And in the meantime, let me bring in Tom Nichols.

Tom, what did you make of the scope of Iran's strike back at Israel, which obviously did hit population centers such as Tel Aviv?

TOM NICHOLS, STAFF WRITER, THE ATLANTIC: Well, there was going to have to be a response against a population center because the Iranians simply weren't going to, you know, stand by and take a strike of that size. I'm still curious about how many missiles they fired. It seemed like this was a significant barrage, but I -- I doubt that they're done. I think we're back to this -- to this missile duel because the Israeli attack is pretty -- pretty sweeping. This is not just hitting some specific military targets.

This is I think, a strike aimed at the regime. And I suspect that the Iranians are aiming at Tel Aviv as a kind of answer to that that they're going to hit these -- these -- these urban centers in Israel.

TAPPER: Rebeccah, Iran must have had some sort of idea that -- that an attack was coming giving -- given Friday's public reports. I mean, I had heard that it was likely going to be within 24 hours that Israel hit Iran. And if I heard it, I got to believe that Iran had heard it. And yet Israel pulled off a lot here. I mean, it was a months long plan, but they -- they smuggled -- they had previously smuggled drones into Iran.

They struck nuclear targets. They took out top members of Iran's military who were all gathered in one place. Is Iran just bad at this?

REBECCAH HEINRICHS, SENIOR FELLOW, HUDSON INSTITUTE: Well, and the Israelis are exceptionally good at this. The other thing, Jake, that I think is remarkable is clearly the United States understood what was happening and President Trump issued the evacuation, Secretary of Defense Hegseth issued the evacuation of non-essential military personnel in the region, civilians that were in the region to -- to leave.

That's always a big signal that something dangerous is potentially about to happen. There was some chatter on social media that maybe this was just a head fake in order to compel the Iranians to negotiate. But that's a very expensive head fake if that's what it was going to be. And so I found that really hard to believe. It really did seem like something was coming.

But this was not just months planning. I mean, this was years I've been hearing that Israel has been -- has been planning this, picking out the targets, that Mossad has been going inside Iran and creating drone facilities in order for these drones to come out and take out radar and missile facilities and launchers. So it was a very elaborate scheme on the part of Israel, and clearly the United States knew about it, and -- and there was no leak --

TAPPER: Yes.

HEINRICHS -- which is incredible, I think.

TAPPER: Major Lyons, Iran has been in a weakened state for some time, more so after this attack. But obviously their proxies, Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis militias in Syria and Iraq are much weaker. What level of response do you think Iran is capable of making here?

My understanding is that one of the things that's kept Israel in the past from carrying out an attack such as this one is their fears of what Hezbollah would be capable of doing in retaliation given Iran's role in -- in -- in funding and propping up Hezbollah, and that's not as much of a concern, how much further do you think Israel is willing to take it beyond what we're seeing right now?

LYONS: No, right, Jake, the gray zone conflict is over, and it's now mano a mano Israel on Iran. I'm not sure what more they can do. They don't have brigades in Syria that could launch any kind of ground attack party perspective. This war exists totally in the air right now, and their only capability -- which again, have very large circular, probable error mistakes to them. They're not very accurate, but they have -- they have a lot of them, and so that's what all they could really do right now.

So the question is, what -- what does Israel want from Iran? Will they surrender? Will they completely capitulate? You know, we've got good cop, bad cop going on right now with the United States trying to be the good cop, saying, hey, look, maybe we could still negotiate something. I don't think Israel's negotiating anything until they get this regime to surrender completely about giving up their nuclear capability.

TAPPER: And, Tom, you wrote something interesting because -- about the fact that the Israelis were calling their strike against Iran's nuclear facilities and -- and military leadership a preemptive strike. You say that those strikes were technically not preemptive, explain what you mean.

[17:15:13]

NICHOLS: Well, preemption means that you're attacking as a kind of spoiling attack, that there's an imminent attack and you're just getting the jump on the bad guy. It's -- it's like being in a bar and somebody pulls their fist back and you hit them first. You were going to be hit. You had evidence of it, you knew it was coming, and so you jumped ahead of that attack.

What the Israelis are trying to stretch preemption to mean is at some point is the Iranians were going to get a nuclear weapon, and as Netanyahu said, could be months, it could be a year, it could be longer, that's not really what preemption means. In fact, these the Israelis in 1967, that's the classic case of a preemptive war, where they were about to be attacked, Arab coalition broadcasting their intention to invade, and the Israelis struck first.

So I -- but in -- in international law and international tradition, you always want to say that you're preempting because that's the much more acceptable word to use, rather than simply to admit that you are engaging and embarking on a war of choice because you simply feel that you're facing an intolerable and existential threat.

TAPPER: Rebeccah, where do you think Iran's nuclear program will stand after the dust clears, after these strikes? And what happens to the nuclear deal that President Trump was trying to engage with them?

HEINRICHS: Well, it's significantly degraded. I mean, obviously the big problem with the first Iran deal, the Obama negotiated Iran deal, the JCPOA, there were several things that Republicans had a problem with that President Trump had a problem with. One was there was not -- they still had the ability to do domestic enrichment. They still had a nation missile program that could be an ICBM program eventually. They still had nuclear scientists that -- that they were not allowing for inspectors to have access to.

And in this sweep, a sweeping attack on the part of the Israelis, they took out -- the nuclear scientists have been killed. They took out the head of the IRGC (ph). They took out, obviously, significant components of the nuclear program. We're going to learn more about specifically what those were. So the whole program is dramatically set back, including just the brains behind the operation.

But I think it is interesting that President Trump still says, listen, we can talk though, because there's going to be more attacks coming, so you should -- you should say you're done and let's have a conversation. Obviously, it does not look like that's going to happen anytime soon until the Iranians feel like they've done a sufficient retaliatory strike against Israel to the extent that they can at this point.

TAPPER: All right, everyone, stand by. We're going to have much more from the Middle East, including how Israel managed to smuggle those drones into Iran, the ones that Rebeccah was talking about, and pull off last night's attack. We're also monitoring officials from Iran and Israel speaking right now at the United Nations Security Council. A lot going on. Back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:21:59]

TAPPER: And we're back with the breaking news in our world lead. The latest just moments ago, Iranian state media is reporting that Iran is activating its air defenses over the city of Tehran, preparing to intercept another round of Israeli attacks. Last night, Israel launched what its leaders call Operation Rising Lion.

They killed key military commanders in Iran, including Iranian Major general Hossein Salami, who is commander in chief of Iran's Revolutionary Guard and one of the country's most powerful figures. Also killed Iran's Major General Mohammad Bagheri, Iran's highest ranking military officer, and Amir Ali Hajizadeh, commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps Air Force who headed the country's missile program.

He was involved in carrying out attacks overseas. Iran also says six of its top nuclear scientists were killed in Israel strikes, including Fereydoon Abbasi, who led Iran's Atomic Energy Organization. Also killed Mohammad Mehdi Tehranchi, another top Iranian nuclear scientist.

Let's bring in CNN's Fred Pleitgen in Berlin.

And Fred, you've begin taking a closer look at exactly how Israel pulled off its attack on Iran last night.

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Jake, and it was in the early morning hours of this morning -- in the overnight hours that people in Iran started telling us that they were hearing loud explosions in Tehran. It really seems as though in the first wave of these attacks that the Israelis carried out, most of them were actually apparently carried out by F35 jets with obviously stealth capabilities, making it almost impossible for the Iranian air defenses to defend -- to detect those jets.

But another thing that we've also since learned from the Israelis is that they apparently had Mossad operatives on the ground clandestinely acting there and essentially putting together an entire drone base or drone bases, with which they then attacked some of these Iranian air defense systems before they could then target Israeli jets that were conducting these air raids.

The Israelis later came out and they showed some footage allegedly showing these operatives on the ground operating somewhere south of Tehran near an Iranian base and allegedly taking out an Iranian missile system, but also taking out an air defense system of the Iranians as well. At least that's the word from the Israelis.

Obviously Iranians haven't confirmed that yet, but definitely the Israelis are saying that that was extremely effective and important to their operation. The Iranians certainly confirming that all this was a big blow to them. You were just showing some of the senior Iranian military brass, especially from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps who had been killed. Almost all of them were pretty much killed in the first wave, it seems, of these attacks. It was very early on that, for instance, the death of Hossein Salami was confirmed by the Iranians, Mohammad Bagheri as well.

And it seems as though for the Iranians, it took a while for them to gather themselves together and come up with the response. Of course, we know that tonight that response from the Iranians has been going on. And just a couple of minutes ago, Jake, an Iranian brigadier general went on Iranian state T.V. and said that the targets for that Iranian response so far have been three Israeli military bases, as he put it in various parts of that country, Jake.

[17:25:06]

TAPPER: All right, Fred Pleitgen, stand by. We'll come back to you.

I want to bring in Democratic Senator Jack Reed of Rhode Island. He is the ranking Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee. He has called Israel strikes a reckless escalation.

Senator, thanks so much for joining us. So you warn that these strikes threaten stability in the Middle East and they risk the lives of Americans in the region. Prime Minister Netanyahu might argue that Iran having a nuclear missile would threaten that stability even more. How would you respond to that argument?

SEN. JACK REED (D-RI), RANKING MEMBER, ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE: Well, I would respond by simply saying that this was a very sophisticated and successful attack. But we were in the process under President Trump of negotiating with the Iranians so that they would not get a missile. The question is, particularly in the Middle East, and I've been in and out of there for 20 years, is not today, but the day after. And I think the day after is going to see a continued violence throughout the Middle East. The Iranians have struck Tel Aviv, I believe, at least seven times.

They'll continue to do that. I think they'll also begin to invigorate and direct their proxies to start taking attacks. I think there's vulnerabilities in Iraq. So this terminates really the negotiating process. The Iraqis -- excuse me, the Iranians have refused to attend the session scheduled for this weekend in (inaudible). And so now we're back into potentially a regional conflict of war, which is going to be very difficult to end.

TAPPER: Well, you said that President Trump was pushing this -- this negotiation, this process to stop Iran's nuclear weapons program. Axios reports that a couple Israeli officials told them that Israel had a clear U.S. green light to attack Iran and that Trump's statements expressing concern about a potential strike was basically part of a deception campaign to lull the Iranians into a false sense of security. Do you not believe that?

REED: Well, I think there's a great deal of confusion about what the president was up to, but he was publicly saying that there should be time for further negotiations. We scheduled another meeting with our special envoy Sunday in Oman. We were still prepared to go. So, I don't think this was part of a deception activity. I think this was generally on the part of the United States, an attempt to see if there was a way forward diplomatically.

At this point now, I think they might be revising the story, suggesting that, oh, we were with you all the time. This is a great victory. Not unusual for the president to seize on someone else's victory and claiming it as his own.

TAPPER: So I know you don't approve, obviously, of the Israeli strikes against Iran last night. There are voices out there both on the left and right that say that the United States should not be participating in the defense of Israel. As you know, the U.S. Military has confirmed that they are helping Israel's missile defense. Not the offensive strikes against Iran, but -- but trying to stop the Iranian missiles before they hit Israel. Do you think that the U.S. should -- should stop helping Israel when it comes to missile defense?

REED: Absolutely not. I think the integration of the U.S. Forces, we have a destroyer now off the coast in the Mediterranean to integrate our Aegis fires with their fires, is that I think we have a solvent obligation to defend the people of Israel. I think at the same time, we have an obligation to speak, as they say, truth to power. If we object to some of their approaches and tactics, we have to make that clear. That's what I've tried to do. But no, we have to defend the state of Israel.

TAPPER: Well, let me just ask you a hypothetical, if Mexico had said that its goal was to rid the world of the United States and they had a nuclear weapons program and the CIA believed that it was within a year of weaponizing enriched uranium and putting it on a ballistic missile capable of killing Americans, do you think the United States would hesitate to do what Israel just did?

REED: I don't think any would, but I think the hypothetical is -- would be contrary to any of the history and facts of our involvement with Mexico.

TAPPER: Yes, but you take my point, though.

REED: Well, your point is, if we were threatened -- and frankly, let's go back, we were in that situation during the Cold War, where the Soviet Union was capable of striking the United States, and we did not precipitate an attack against the Soviet Union. In fact, what we did was negotiate arms limitations.

[17:30:18]

We negotiated to a point where, finally, we did not have a nuclear conflict, and the Soviet Union collapsed for many other reasons. So I think if we're talking about --

TAPPER: Well, we lost his signal. All right, well, Senator Reid, wherever you are, thanks so much for joining us. That's my fault. I went a little long with that interview. Moments ago, Israel released video of its forces intercepting an Iranian aircraft earlier today. What's the Trump administration's response to all this? We're going to go live to the White House. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:35:00]

TAPPER: And we're back with the breaking news. New images from Tel Aviv show medical teams responding to people in Israel who were injured in Iran's strikes today. Israel confirming that Iran did hit some population centers and that Iran fired fewer than 100 missiles. Let's go to CNN's Kristen Holmes at the White House.

Kristen, we heard from President Trump earlier today talking about Israel's strikes, applauding their success. Have they had anything to say about Iran's retaliatory strikes?

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, they haven't come out and said anything, but I did hear from a U.S. official saying that the United States was assisting Israel in defending themselves from these missile strikes. Additionally, they pointed to the fact that there are tens of thousands of American citizens that are in Israel as well as U.S. military assets as part of the reason that they are assisting in this process.

And, of course, this comes after we've reported that Donald Trump spoke to Benjamin Netanyahu on the phone earlier today. We have not gotten a readout of that call or a lot of details. But, you know, this is all part of the story that is unfolding of the U.S. involvement in these missile strikes that Israel launched into Iran last night.

You saw this statement from the administration saying that Israel had acted unilaterally and that they had informed the U.S. that they were going to do this in self-defense, but really backing away from what was actually occurring last night. Today, Donald Trump has really stepped into it, saying that not only did they let him know, but that he had spoken to Benjamin Netanyahu. We learned that they had had multiple conversations and that he, quote-unquote, knew everything.

I think he told a reporter that in one conversation that he had today. So quite a difference a day makes. Now, of course, the big question is where do they go from here and how involved is the United States going to get? They still maintain that this is Israel's situation, that they launched the -- the missiles into Iran, but clearly here we are linked to Israel and they are assisting. So where this goes from here, that's the big question.

TAPPER: Does -- where does the administration think that these Iran talks are going to go from here?

HOLMES: Well, it really depends on who you talk to in the administration. People that are close to Donald Trump, Donald Trump himself, believe that these talks could still happen as early as Sunday. Just remember the sixth round of talks were scheduled to happen on Sunday in Oman.

Middle Eastern envoy Steve Witkoff was going to be there with the Iranians. Now, a lot of outside U.S. officials that I have talked to outside of the administration, directly outside of the White House, they're casting a lot of doubt that this could happen.

But when I'm talking to these officials, they think it's still possible that Iran could come to the table. And Donald Trump is certainly acting as though he believes that. We've seen post after post for the last several hours where he says that he gave Iran a chance, they didn't listen to him, and this is what happens, but now they can make a deal.

At one point he said that it might be too late if they don't make a deal soon. He's clearly giving a loose threat here about them not coming to the table on Sunday. And just one reminder, you know, there was a time earlier this week where U.S. officials started to believe that Iran might not come in good faith on Sunday.

They might not come to the table with anything new or agree to a proposal laid out by the U.S. So here you're seeing a little bit of the turn of the tables with -- with Donald Trump giving them these kind of threats to show up.

TAPPER: All right, Kristen Holmes at the White House, stand by.

[17:38:18]

The live images in Tel Aviv, Israel this hour showing the damage from Iranian strikes within just the last few hours. What other nations in the region, what -- what did they make of this escalation? We'll get to that story next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TAPPER: And we are back with the breaking news. Israel confirming that Iran did hit some targets in its retaliation strikes today and that Iran fired fewer than 100 missiles. Let's welcome back retired U.S. Army Major Mike Lyons along with Rebeccah Heinrichs, senior fellow at the Hudson Institute who specializes in defense policy.

And also with us, Tom Nichols of The Atlantic. Tom, how do you think other countries in the Middle East region are viewing Israel's initial attack on Iran? And I -- I'm top of mind, of course, is Saudi Arabia, which is now saying that they're horrified by these attacks and any sort of normalization with Israel's off the table. But I don't know if that's what they really think. What -- what do you think, Tom?

TOM NICHOLS, STAFF WRITER, THE ATLANTIC: Hard to say. I don't know -- I suspect that the other Middle Eastern powers are thinking about two things. First, this was Israel's broadest attack against Iran. This was not part of being backed the -- the -- kind of missile dueling on the same scale as earlier. And so they're probably thinking that this means an attempt to destabilize the regime.

But it's not just about or even only about nuclear weapons. And that -- that does change calculations in the Middle East. But I think the second thing they're thinking is, where is the United States? You know, are -- is there any relationship here or leverage between the United States and Israel? And I think the answer to that after today is probably no.

They're probably looking more at Washington and wondering exactly, you know, what influence Washington -- the Trump administration and the Americans have left in the Middle East. Because this, again, new reporting from "The Atlantic" suggests that Trump actually was not in favor of this, didn't know about it until it just launched. It was not part of some grand deception.

And if that's the case, then that really, I think, forces, the governments in the Middle East to think twice about who to -- who -- where the power is in -- in this situation.

[17:45:01]

TAPPER: Rebeccah, what do you think?

REBECCAH HEINRICHS, SENIOR FELLOW, HUDSON INSTITUTE: No, I think that the Saudis are quietly very pleased with this. The Saudis do not want the Iranians to have a nuclear capability. The Emiratis don't want the Iranians to have a nuclear capability.

The Iranians have been the greatest source of instability, funding terrorist proxies throughout the region. Neither of those Gulf countries want to deal with that. They certainly don't want hegemonic power with a nuclear weapon coercing the Middle East.

And so I think that they've got domestic constituencies where they have to, say, condemn it publicly. But I think privately they're very relieved. We just had a very successful summit where the United States was making big investments in economic deals with those Gulf partners.

And so I think privately they're -- they're very pleased with this. And obviously they don't want further destabilization, so they probably are hoping for a peaceful end to this sooner rather than later. But I think it is a good thing for both of those countries.

And the Saudis would almost certainly acquire a nuclear weapon if the Iranians were permitted to have one. And so this was really a successful nonproliferation effort. I'm glad that we don't have to deal with the proliferation cascade that could certainly happen if the Iranians were allowed to weaponize that capability.

TAPPER: Major Lyons, your thoughts?

MAJOR MIKE LYONS, U.S. ARMY (RET.): Yes, I think the same as Rebeccah. I think the Saudis are ecstatic. I think this is a generational change right now, frankly, taking place in the Middle East, and it requires American presence.

I think hopefully we'll step up and look at places in Lebanon, for example, Syria, work in other areas. You know, this attack was inevitable. Let's -- let's face it, the -- the Israelis have been fighting against this nuclear capability that they've had since the Stuxnet, the cyberattack that took place in 2010 or so.

They destroyed the Iraqi capability in Osirak in 1981 and the Syrian capability in 2007. So this was going to happen. They were not going to allow the Iranians to have a nuclear capability full stop, and this was the answer that they were going to do.

This was just an inevitable attack. And now that Iran's been defanged, it's now a chance to reset everything in the Middle East.

TAPPER: Our thanks to all.

This just in, an Israeli official tells CNN that the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and the defense minister, Israel Katz, are inside a bunker currently assessing their next move after Iran's retaliatory strikes just hours ago. My next guest also rushed into a bunker when Iran's strikes started. I'm going to speak to her about this terrifying ordeal, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:51:30]

TAPPER: Breaking news just in to CNN. An Israeli official says that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Katz are inside a bunker assessing their next move after Iran's retaliatory strikes just hours ago.

Let's bring in Lilach. We're not going to give her last name. She was at her home in Israel near the Lebanon border when all of this happened. We want to talk to her about what it's like just to be a regular citizen in Israel going through this. Lilac, are you safe? How are you? How is your family?

LILACH, WITNESS IN ISRAEL: Hi. Right now I am safe. I don't feel safe, but I am. My family is scattered around the country. My dad and mom here and my sister. But other family members are, you know, all around. We're near the shelters. It's scary, I'm not going to lie.

TAPPER: What did you -- what did --

LILACH: We're kind of anxious.

TAPPER: Yes. What did you see and hear when the missiles began?

LILACH: Well, I -- you can see the light from afar and you know that it's getting closer. You can hear the bombings, but you can hear them kind of like all the time. So you never know when it's Iran, when it's Lebanon. You never really know. So yesterday night it started with like sirens that they just wanted to inform us that something is about to happen.

And we -- we really didn't get much sleep yesterday. I didn't sleep all night. And then it started. The bombings, the sirens, the alarms on the phone, the anxiety, all over again, we can say that.

TAPPER: You -- Israel has conscription, required military service for almost every citizen, and you have therefore served as a member of the Israel Defense Forces. You've lost friends in this conflict. What's going through your mind to continue to watch it escalate, and to endanger more people? It really feels like it's -- it's worse than ever right now between October 7th and now this conflict with Iran, not to mention Hezbollah and the Houthis, et cetera.

LILACH: Yes.

TAPPER: Does it feel worse than ever?

LILACH: So I will be honest. I've lost -- well, not lost, 32 of my friends were killed in battle since October 7th. I've been in countless funerals, countless shivas. It's like when you come to a house after the funeral. I've been in countless hospitals to my friends to visit them and just to do whatever I can to help.

And whenever a siren is going off, whenever I get a ring on my phone, it's every time I think it's another call to tell me that another friend of mine was killed in battle. I am telling you right now, I'm shaking. Every -- we've lost countless of great men, and it's not even men, they're -- they're kids, my age. I'm 23, and they're even younger than me. It's from 18 to 22, 23, maybe 25, people that could have been, you know, having their own families, living their best life, but instead they're killed in a battle in Gaza, in Lebanon.

[17:55:35]

And I can't even describe how -- how it feels to live like that every day. My phone is 24/7 on silence because I can't -- I can't.

TAPPER: We're having some audio problems with Lilach's phone there, not unexpected given that she's in a war zone in the middle of a war. Lilach, wherever you are, thank you so much for talking to us. Please stay safe.

We have some new video just in of search-and-rescue operations in a residential area in Israel after today's Iranian strikes. This is in the Tel Aviv area. Much more of the breaking news ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TAPPER: Welcome to The Lead. I'm Jake Tapper and we are following breaking news this evening. We're looking live over Tel Aviv where Iranian missiles lit up the skies earlier this evening with missiles just last hour. Iranian state media said it has activated its air defense system over Tehran in an attempt to intercept another round of Israeli strikes. Iran says Israel strikes have killed at least 78 people and injured more than 300.

[17:59:58]

Israel confirms that some Iranian missiles did hit civilian centers and other parts of Israel, saying at least 34 people have been injured in the area around Tel Aviv.