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Iran launches Hundreds Of Missiles At Israel; U.S. Prepared To Help Israel And Defend U.S. Personnel As Iran Launches Major Missile Attack On Israel; 8 Killed, 8 Wounded In Tel Aviv Gun Attack; Aired 2- 2:30p ET

Aired October 01, 2024 - 14:00   ET

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

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[14:01:06]

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: For those of you just joining, we are following breaking news. Iran launching a barrage of missiles into Israel. A major escalation in the conflict in the Middle East. I'm Anderson Cooper alongside my colleague Wolf Blitzer.

We've witnessed missiles intercepted across Israel a short time ago as air raid sirens went off on the ground below. The Israeli military now confirms some of those missiles made a direct impact in central and southern Israel. It's estimated Iran launched nearly 200 projectiles. Iran says, this attack was in response for the killing of Hezbollah's leader Hassan Nasrallah, and other assassinations.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: A source says, the Israeli security cabinet is in their emergency bunker right now. And the Israeli military says, "Iran's attack," and I'm quoting now, "will have consequences." The White House says both President Biden and Vice President Harris are in the White House situation room monitoring the situation.

We're standing by to get an immediate update from White House officials and from the U.S. State Department. We also expect to hear from the Pentagon. I want to show you the moment CNN crews saw the Iranian missiles entering Tel Aviv's airspace earlier this afternoon. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DANA BASH, CNN'S CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: This is a major attack -- Jim Sciutto, this is obviously --

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN'S CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: It's a major attack. There's no question.

BASH: what you are seeing -- what we are all seeing with our own eyes is a major attack from Iran.

SCIUTTO: It's a major attack, Dana. And it's an escalation of this war. Beyond what we saw -- I think potentially beyond what we saw in April when Iran launched dozens of missiles and drones, this attack, according to U.S. intelligence, principally or perhaps entirely ballistic missiles, which are the fastest by far and the most dangerous.

And now, what we're seeing in addition to those intercepts is we're seeing fragments falling to the ground. It's like a deadly fireworks display over Tel Aviv. And there was an impact just to the left of us here.

BASH: And you're talking about Tel Aviv, Jim, we are looking at pictures right now. We are looking at pictures of Tel Aviv, what you're describing.

SCIUTTO: Oh, Jesus. Oh, God. Okay, guys, we got to get off the roof. These are coming down right next to us here.

BASH: Please do, Jim. Please do.

SCIUTTO: They're coming down. One just about -- we got to go inside.

WOMAN #1: We're going to go inside. Come on inside now.

BASH: Jim, please take cover. We are listening and we are watching.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: So that was roughly half an hour and a half ago. I want to go back to Jim Sciutto, who is still in Tel Aviv, back on the roof. He sought cover at a certain point about an hour or so ago.

Jim, just talk about what -- first of all, how are things right now? And talk a little bit about the video that we just saw, what we were looking at.

SCIUTTO: So right now, I should be clear. The air raid sirens have ended. And there was an announcement, in fact, a short time ago, saying it's okay to return safely. And as I understand it, even Iran, Iranian officials have said that this attack from their perspective is over. But let me describe as this was happening and to be clear. It's our whole team here. And you know well, Anderson, that there's a lot of folks that go into -- getting images like that on the air.

[14:05:02]

What we were seeing was not just the incoming missiles, but the whole array of Israeli air defenses firing to intercept those missiles. And it's multilayered around the city, both in terms of the altitudes they strike, but also just layers of defenses.

And as it struck me, as I was watching it, is that they were coming to a meeting point in the sky just above us, just to the east of us here, but also increasingly above our heads, so that we saw -- we could see the missile fragments as you're seeing there coming down, or perhaps the intercepted missiles once they've completed their mission, perhaps, struck a target coming down.

And the one you just saw right there on the screen, because I believe that's the top of our hotel there with the blue light came just to the right of us. And once it was clear to me, Anderson and Wolf, that these intercepts were taking place above our heads, gravity works, we decided to go inside until that particular barrage was over. Then there was a pause in between. We came out again and then there was a second barrage of about the same duration. So at least dozens of missiles, it seems.

And I find it remarkable, frankly, that there were no casualties, as Admiral Hagari just said a short time ago. Because in addition to those impacts that you're seeing there on the air, there was quite a large one just to the north of us with flames and smoke rising off in the distance. So I think that folks were listening to those air raid signals. Thankfully, they were going into shelters. They have a lot of experience with that here. And there was probably some good fortune involved that prevented there being casualties.

I should note, though, we mentioned this earlier, there were casualties tonight in Tel Aviv. Eight people killed at a light rail station, a shooting at a light rail station just before those missiles started falling. And Israeli authorities say, they're investigating that as a potential terrorist attack.

COOPER: Right. And that took part -- it took place in Jaffa, which is in a suburb in Tel Aviv. Can you talk a little bit about what is going on right now in terms of Israel trying to decide when, if, how to respond?

SCIUTTO: Yeah. They're meeting the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, his defense minister and other security officials are meeting right now to discuss.

You did hear those public, that public pronouncement from Daniel Hagari saying that this was a serious attack, his words on Tel Aviv, and there will be serious consequences. And then I found it notable that Michael Oren, when he was speaking with Wolf just a short time ago, Michael Oren, of course, former Israeli ambassador to the U.S., that he said that Iran's nuclear facilities are not immune to such a response. He's not in those meetings right now. He's not making those decisions. But that question is an open one. And it's not a new one because there is a cohort in this country that has, for some time, wanted to strike Iranian nuclear facilities.

Not clear that they've made the decision to do that, but that is at least a possibility. And that, it's hard to see how that would not lead to a broader, more open war between Israel and Iran. And the carry on effect of that is that the U.S. might find itself involved as well, whether it wants to be or not, because there are capabilities that the U.S. has, that are greater than Israel's in terms of defending Israeli territory, in terms of shooting down incoming missiles. I was told just prior to this attack that the U.S. would participate in Israel's defense and would shoot down missiles. If it had those targets, I'd be surprised that they did not participate, did not shoot down some of these. But if there was an open war between Israel and Iran on that scale, the risks of the U.S. being involved are quite high.

BLITZER: All right. Jim Sciutto, I want you to stay safe over there. Be careful over there because this situation clearly is not over by any means right now. Very dangerous situation in the Middle East. We're standing by for briefings. We expect officials of the Pentagon, the State Department, and the White House to be briefing us on what the U.S. response to this situation is. We'll have live coverage of that coming up, so stick around. You'll hear what the Biden administration officials, top defense officials, State Department officials and White House officials are saying about this. And as I mentioned, the President and the Vice President, they've been meeting with top national security officials in the White House Situation Room, gearing up for a U.S. response. We don't know what that response will be, but we'll monitor what's going on. A very dangerous moment.

Anderson, right now, you and I have covered this region for a long time. And I got to tell you, having been there three times since October 7th now, this potentially could explode.

COOPER: We've already seen unprecedented successful attacks by Israel against Hezbollah.

[14:10:04]

We both covered the war back in 2006, which we've seen a lot of rocket attacks over the years and even a ground operation during 2006. But the assassination of Hassan Nasrallah has really been for Israel, an extraordinary move, an extraordinary sea change in the balance of power, the potential for Hezbollah operations.

BLITZER: Yeah. I want to bring in CNN Political and Global Affairs Analyst Barak Ravid right now.

Barak, what do you anticipate? Because as you know, and as I know and as Anderson knows, the Israelis have always suggested that the greatest potential threat to Israel from all over the area would be an Iranian nuclear strike against Israel. Iran has been working on a nuclear bomb, as we all know, and they're getting closer and closer. How worried should the world be right now about that type of Iranian attack against Israel?

BARAK RAVID, CNN POLITICAL AND GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Hi, Wolf. Well, the Israeli Security Cabinet is sitting right now in underground bunker in the mountains near Jerusalem to discuss exactly that, whether there could be another attack from Iran and what's going to be the Israeli response to the attack we just saw.

The Iranians obviously still do not have a nuclear weapon. Israeli intelligence services think that it will take them at least another -- between one to two years to build a nuclear device that you can put on a missile and launch. So in that sense, there's no such threat at the moment.

But I think what we're going to see in the next few hours is a very, very severe response from Israel to this Iranian attack that will not look in any way like the Israeli response to the Iranian attack in April that was just launching one missile at one anti-aircraft battery in an air base near Isfahan. I think we're going to see a very, very serious response. BLITZER: I think you're absolutely right. And I asked the question

about the nuclear potential there, Barak, because as you well know, and as I know, over the years, the Israelis have always said that they would love an opportunity to preempt and destroy Iran's potential nuclear capability. There have been many top Israeli military officials and others who have said, you know, that the Israelis should do so before Iran actually has a nuclear bomb. What are the prospects do you think that even though Iran is not yet capable of launching a nuclear strike at Israel, Israel would use this moment to try to undermine Iran's nuclear capability? We know over the past few years, Israel has attacked various Iranian nuclear scientists among others.

RAVID: I think the Iranian attack today gave all the justification to the Israeli government to go ahead with what you just described.

And for many years, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was thinking about such a move. And the conditions right now, I think, are maybe more mature than any time before for an Israeli attack against the Iranian nuclear program, especially that one of the problems Netanyahu had over the years was that the IDF was very hesitant from taking such a step.

The current IDF leadership is in a different place right now. And it is, I think, very much willing to consider such a move and to even recommend such a move to the Israeli cabinet.

BLITZER: Barak, you have excellent Israeli sources and excellent U.S. sources. How serious is the tension? How serious is the disagreement over what's going on right now between the U.S. and Israel?

RAVID: Honestly, I don't think there's a disagreement. I think that in the last few days or in the last two weeks since the pager attacks, I think the U.S. and Israel has been actually getting closer when it comes to their thinking about what's going on in the region.

The U.S. was definitely unhappy by the fact that the pager attacks, and the walkie-talkie attacks, and the Nasrallah assassination, all happened without a prior notice and without consultation. But at the same time, I haven't heard even one senior U.S. official who is involved in the decision-making, who does not think that those Israeli attacks were, at the end of the day, the right thing to do. And even when it comes to the ground operation Israel started in southern Lebanon yesterday, I haven't heard from any significant U.S. official who is in the decision-making.

[14:15:10]

Any criticism about this ground operation, quite the contrary. So I think that in many ways in the last two weeks, the Israeli government and the White House, regardless of the fact that there are, you know, personal issues between Biden and Netanyahu.

But overall, I do not think that there are major tensions or crisis right now. I think actually the opposite.

BLITZER: Interesting. Let's see what happens. Barak Ravid, always important to hear your analysis. Thank you very, very much. Anderson, this is a tense moment indeed. And who the hell knows what is about to happen?

COOPER: It's extraordinary to hear from Barak Ravid, who's obviously very well-sourced, as are you, about the potential for an escalation of this magnitude. I mean, if Israel believes that this is an opportunity now to do what many in certainly the Israeli government have wanted to do, certainly, Netanyahu has wanted to do, which is strike and weaken the development of the nuclear program, that would be an extraordinary ratcheting up.

BLITZER: Yeah, it would be extraordinary. We see how Iran would respond to that.

COOPER: We have much more ahead. We're waiting to hear from the white House about this dangerous escalation in the conflict. We'll go to the White House for a live report next. Stay with us.

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[14:21:00]

COOPER: We're following breaking news, the strikes on Israel by Iran. An Israeli official now vowing a, quote, "significant response to that attack." We want to go to the White House with Kayla Tausche.

So I understand President Biden was in briefings this morning?

KAYLA TAUSCHE, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: He was in briefings this morning with his national security team and with Vice President Harris. And we've learned, Anderson, that the vice president and the president together were in the situation monitoring these attacks as they were carried out by Iran and plotting how the U.S. would continue coming to Israel's defense. A National Security Spokesperson saying that President Biden directed the U.S. to continue assisting Israel in shooting down the missiles that Iran was firing and to continue to provide those defenses to Israel.

But what's interesting, Anderson and Wolf, is that this comes after nearly a year of ambivalence and hand-wringing by the administration fears that there would be escalation that would lead to a wider war. And their diplomatic efforts have really had the primary goal of trying to thwart that from happening. And in recent weeks, they've been bracing for that potential, starting with the targeted strike that killed the political leader of Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, in late July, then followed by several other attacks that were carried out, the pager and walkie-talkie attack against several Hezbollah leaders in Lebanon, and then some of these raids in Lebanon, and then the killing of the leader of Hezbollah. Obviously, this has all reached a fever pitch at a time when the Biden administration has been working feverishly behind the scenes to advance these fire proposals, both for war in Gaza, as well as the escalating situation in Lebanon. And those efforts have continued to remain elusive.

So now as we await concurrent briefings from the Pentagon, the State Department, and the White House, there is still a very large question of how the administration can move forward with its diplomatic efforts at a time when it appears that its potency with the Israeli government and the advice that it's been trying to give behind the scenes has fallen on deaf ears. Anderson, Wolf?

COOPER: Kayla Tausche at the White House. Wolf, we know that the U.S. has prepositioned more assets in the region, destroyer in the eastern Mediterranean, carrier strike group in the Arabian Sea, as well as fighter jet squadron.

BLITZER: Clearly that the desire of the U.S., the intention, the objective of that major deployment of troops and equipment by the United States in the eastern Mediterranean and elsewhere in the region is designed to help Israel if necessary, but also designed to try to deter either Iran or its proxies from using this moment to try to escalate this situation. We'll see how that unfolds. It didn't deter the Iranians from launching all those ballistic missiles towards Israel over the past few hours.

Kayla Tausche, thank you very, very much.

We're also hearing now that the Israeli military has just announced that citizens in the Tel Aviv area can leave their shelters. Nic Robertson is joining us from Haifa in northern Israel right now.

So Nic, give us a sense of what's happening in Haifa where you are.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Well, Wolf, still hearing fast fighter jets overhead, clearly engaged in operations in Lebanon just to the north of us here. But I just want to draw us perhaps closer to the events of tonight. One of the air bases in southern Israel that was targeted by Iran tonight, one of their stated targets, I was at that air base over the weekend. I was at that air base because I was invited to go on a combat mission that was targeting the Houthis in Yemen. I was on a refuel aircraft refueling F-35s that carried out that targeted mission on the Houthis in Hudaydah.

The reason for that targeting was that one of the reasons was to send a message to Iran not to get involved in the fight right now. So I find it significant that the Iranians have targeted that base. They have tried to target it before. And I won't give away operational details of the nature of that base and everything that's at that base.

[14:25:02]

But I can tell you it is an important and a very significant base for the Israeli air force. And I think when we consider, as well what triggered Iran to launch this attack. Now, we don't know. But it is less than 24 hours ago that Israel changed its tactics against Hezbollah and decided to go on a ground offensive into Lebanon.

One of the reasons I say this is because the impression that Iran has created by not backing up Hezbollah more forcefully until now, while their leadership has been decimated, their command and control has been decimated, their military arsenal has been decimated, is that Iran has appeared to stand on the sidelines. And as Hezbollah was Iran's major ally to attack Israel if Israel tried to attack Iran, the fact that they were being so decimated was beginning to open the same realization in Iran as was being realized here, that this may have been becoming an opportune moment to hit targets inside of Iran.

And I think when you try -- when Israeli officials try to figure out what their next move is, they are going to know as they turn to strike back Iran, as they absolutely will, their threat from Hezbollah is diminished. It's not where it was two weeks ago. Hezbollah is credibly, critically weakened. And that may give Israel stronger and better possibility as it forces and enforces its deterrence in this region by responding to Iran.

COOPER: A lot of decisions to be made right now by Israeli government officials. We have much more ahead. Our special coverage of the Iranian attack on Israel continues.

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