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U.S. Confirms Retaliatory Strikes on 85 Targets in Iraq and Syria after Deaths of Three U.S. Service Members; White House Official Said U.S. Will Not Strike inside Iran; U.S. Military Said Weather Played a Role in Timing of Airstrikes; Federal Judge Delays Most Serious Trial Facing Trump; Apple Vision Pro Mixed Reality Headset Hits U.S. Aired 12-1a ET

Aired February 03, 2024 - 00:00   ET

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

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): This is CNN breaking news.

LYNDA KINKADE, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Hello and welcome, I'm Lynda Kinkade.

The U.S. strikes several targets in Iraq and Syria. The impact is being assessed right now.

The U.S. President is making it clear that this is just the start of retaliation after the deaths of three Americans in Jordan.

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KINKADE (voice-over): This is video from what appears to be one of those strikes early Saturday morning local time. The mayor of this town says the strikes hit houses used for weapons storage.

The Pentagon says U.S. bombers hit 85 individual targets in Iraq and Syria. The U.S. says the locations were used by Iran's Revolutionary Guards and by Iranian backed militia. The Pentagon says each was used by Iran backed groups. The video you saw comes from Al-Qaim, Iraq, on the border with Syria.

An Iraqi military spokesperson said the attacks violated Iraq sovereignty. The White House says Iraq was notified before it unleashed its military might. President Joe Biden released this statement.

"The United States does not seek conflict in the Middle East or anywhere else in the world. But let all those who might seek to do us harm know this: if you harm an American, we will respond."

Let's get to CNN senior international correspondent Ben Wedeman.

Good to have you. Seven strikes in Syria and Iraq. Iraq is hosting some 2,500 U.S. forces who faced dozens of attacks since the October 7 Hamas attack in Israel. Just explain for us, how Iraq is responding to these strikes.

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: An Iraqi spokesman, Lynda, has come out and said that the attacks are unacceptable and a violation of Iraqi security. That's not the first time the Iraqis have said that after American strikes on militias in Iraq.

And as you noted, Iraq's in a rather odd position whereby it's hosting 2,500 U.S. forces in the country, extensively there for the war against ISIS. But nonetheless there is a lot of unhappiness about not just the U.S. military presence there.

But Iraq, like so many countries across the Middle East, including where I am, Jordan, the people are very upset about the war in Gaza, which is now well into its fourth month, approaching its fifth month, the beginning of its fifth month.

And the death toll is constantly rising. Many people across the Middle East applaud these militias, the Houthis, Hezbollah because they believe, unlike their governments, they are doing something to inflict pain on the United States, on the Israelis.

So it puts these regimes in a dilemma which is very difficult for them to deal with because many of them are not friends with the Iranians. In fact, they don't like the Iranian government.

But they're also very sensitive to the fact that public opinion is squarely against Israel and its war in Gaza and also very clearly against the United States because of its very generous diplomatic and military support for Israel's war in Gaza, Lynda.

KINKADE: The U.S. has said it does not want to go to war with Iran. Iran has said the same although it has said it will respond to what it calls bullies.

What could the Iranian response look like?

WEDEMAN: Well, diplomats I've spoken with have said that they believe the Iranians don't want to go into a direct war with the United States.

And they will probably continue, perhaps to a lesser extent after these strikes, to target American forces and, for instance in the case of Hezbollah, to target Israeli military positions in communities in northern Israel.

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WEDEMAN: But if there were to be a full scale war with -- between the United States and Iran, it would be a catastrophe. Keep in mind, the Iranians, with the help of their allies across the Middle East, are in a very good position to target American forces.

There are 45,000 U.S. troops spread between Turkiye and the United Arab Emirates and many are like sitting ducks out in Syria, basically in the desert, surrounded by hostile forces and busy protecting themselves more than doing anything else.

So a war between the United States and Iran would be catastrophic for the world economy, given all the oil resources in the Arabian Peninsula and the Gulf. That would be greatly affected.

Clearly both sides don't want a war but there's a very real danger with the strikes on U.S. forces and the U.S. strikes back on Iran. Many diplomats across the region will tell you the best way to reduce tensions would be for the United States to use its considerable influence with Israel to stop the war in Gaza. Lynda.

KINKADE: Ben Wedeman in Jordan. We'll come back to you soon. Thanks so much.

The strikes happened just after the dignified transfer of three American soldiers killed in Jordan. The remains of Sgt. William Rivers, Kennedy Sanders and Breonna Moffett were carried off a military plane in Delaware. President Biden and first lady Jill Biden spoke to the family. This is Biden's second as commander in chief.

CNN senior White House correspondent MJ Lee has more details on strikes and the preparations ahead of them in Washington.

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MJ LEE, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Five days after a drone strike in Jordan killed three U.S. service members, the United States taking the first set of actions, striking seven facilities in Iraq and Syria in response to the deaths of those three Americans.

A senior administration official making clear tonight that these strikes are going to be focused outside of Iran and not inside Iran.

In some ways, not surprising, given that U.S. officials have been very clear in recent days, that striking facilities and assets inside Iran would be akin to starting a war with Iran, something that the U.S. very much doesn't want, according to White House officials.

And President Biden we're told has known for several days that tonight would be the night that the strikes would begin.

He said tonight, "Our response began today. It will continue at times and places of our choosing.

"The United States does not seek conflict in the Middle East or anywhere else in the world. But let all those who might seek to do us harm know this: if you harm an American, we will respond."

So, of course, the president making very clear that these strikes that we saw tonight have everything to do with those three fallen U.S. soldiers and wanting to send a message that, if you come after an American, you will pay a price.

But no indications at this moment in time from U.S. officials on exactly when and where we will see the next set of strikes from the U.S. -- MJ Lee, CNN, at the White House. (END VIDEOTAPE)

KINKADE: Retired U.S. Army General Wesley Clark joins us for more.

Great to have you with us. The U.S. sent bombers from America to carry out these strikes.

Can you explain why they would do that?

What are these bombers capable of compared to aircraft already in the region?

GEN. WESLEY CLARK, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: These bombers can carry a number of bombs that can be precision dropped. And so what you have is you had seven target areas with some 85 different aim points within those seven target areas.

So the most efficient way to go after this is, first of all, you have to make sure the Syrian air defense is shut down. Presumably we did that. And then these B-1 bombers can come in and they can drop precision ordnance exactly on these various targets in a single pass.

If you had fighter planes in there, they would be swooping and diving. They wouldn't be able to do it as efficiently as these bombers do.

KINKADE: The U.S. did not strike any targets in Iran but rather Iranian backed militia in Iraq and Syria.

Why was that important?

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CLARK: I think the administration, the president certainly didn't want to start a war with Iran. And he believed that, if he went over the line there and struck into Iran, they would be forced to come back at us in some way. So this was pretty much what we expected.

A lot of Republicans and a lot of military analysts were saying, if you really want to get Iran's attention, you have to strike inside Iran. But the administration is moving step by step up this ladder of escalation. And at every step they're going assess it very carefully.

Iran has been in a 40-year struggle against the United States. They make no bones about it. Maybe it's not really a war but it's certainly a struggle. People have been killed. The United States has tried many different ways to resolve this.

Now it's up to the Iranians. They see what the U.S. forces can do. They know we didn't strike inside Iran. They know, inside Iran, they have millions of Iranians who would like to see their government overthrown. So they're being very cautious at this point.

KINKADE: They also know the U.S. gave warning before carrying out these strikes.

Why would the U.S. do that? CLARK: I think this is in keeping with the way the administration has worked this. So, yes, 85 aim points but maybe we can avoid excessive casualties among these groups. Let them know we're coming. If they evacuate, they're not going to get all of their equipment out.

We saw earlier the video of the ammunition dump that was hit with rockets flying everywhere. So they can't quickly do that. But you can move out people and families that have been there.

And that you might be able to reduce the losses on the other side and, at the same time, send a strong warning. And I think that was the intent of the administration.

KINKADE: General Clark, there was some criticism about how long it took to retaliate after the three Americans were killed. Weather, of course, plays some sort of impact on these strikes.

What do you know about what was taken into consideration in terms of the timing of this first set of strikes?

CLARK: Obviously you had to collect the intelligence.

Where did the drone come from?

How did that happen?

That was a day or so. Then you had to say, OK, what will we do on response?

So the Central Command commander would have proposed some targets. He would be using his best intelligence coming from the region but also from Washington. And there would be a back and forth between the joint staff in Washington and the Central Command commander and the appropriations of options.

There would be a heavy option, a light option and an median option. My guess is we went with a median option here on it. And normally it takes a day to brief it and then it comes back to the commander -- some changes, some things he wants emphasized and so forth. And that's another 24 hours. So that is where the time went, I think.

KINKADE: General Clark, give us your perspective of how you see this playing out in the days and weeks to come because the U.S. has said this is just the start of the response. And we have heard from Iran, who said it will respond to bullies although it doesn't want a war.

What do you expect comes next?

CLARK: Iran has many different ways to respond. It can provide more assistance to the Houthis. It can reconstitute these militias. It can provide terrorist support against American embassies around the world.

It probably has hit teams in the United States. It might attack U.S. infrastructure. There's a lot of things. And, of course, there's the whole cyber realm. Iran is -- they're very sly, very careful. They don't want to stir up a ruckus such that they would lose their

nuclear capacity, which is what Israelis have been trying to stimulate. an attack on that for 15 years. And it hasn't happened. We tried to control it with diplomacy and that didn't work.

So the Iranians are going to come back and do something. My guess is it will take a few days, several weeks before they can reconstitute these forces. And then, depending on what happens in Gaza, they'll be back.

So we didn't really deter Iran's hostility to the United States. We took a middle of the road approach to this. We showed U.S. power. You can be sure that, on the terrorist websites and in their communication, they're sort of laughing.

Yes, they gave us a lot of warning and we got all the people out and some of the bombs missed and blah, blah, blah, because that's the kind of the bravado you expect from these people.

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What we are going to do is collect hard intelligence, see whether we have to go back in and restrike.

KINKADE: Retired Gen. Wesley Clark, always to get your perspective. Thank you so much.

CLARK: Thanks very much.

KINKADE: We're going to take a short break. We'll have much more on this breaking news story. We're going to look at the regional implications of the U.S. strikes on Iranian backed militia in Iraq and Syria.

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KINKADE: Welcome back.

The U.S. has launched strikes on 85 targets in Syria and Iraq. U.S. President Joe Biden says this is just the start of retaliation for an attack in Jordan that killed three U.S. soldiers. The U.S. B-1 bombers struck early Saturday morning. The Pentagon says each target was used by Iranian backed groups.

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KINKADE (voice-over): The mayor of the Iraqi town where this video was shot says the strikes hit three houses used for weapon storage.

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KINKADE: The big question right now, how will Iran and its proxies react?

CNN international diplomatic editor Nic Robertson has the regional state of play.

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NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Of course, one of the big concerns for the United States going into these strikes is that it didn't trigger a further escalation in the region.

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The tensions already clearly very high. The northern border of Israel with Hezbollah has exchange of fire every day. The IDF is engaged with Hamas inside of Gaza.

The question is, could these strikes then trigger a misinterpretation of another move?

Could it trigger one of Iran's proxies in Iraq and Syria to strike back aggressively and therefore escalate the situation?

Well the first we've heard is from the Iraqi government. A spokesman for the army there is saying it is a violation of their sovereignty. Now we've heard them say this before, so that in itself not necessary an escalation.

The biggest and strongest of the Iran backed militias, Kataib Hezbollah, just before the strikes, minutes before the strikes on their Telegram channel, they said they were waiting for orders about what to do next.

An indication that they're waiting for Tehran, their main sponsor, to tell them how to respond to the events of the night. It's not clear yet how much damage has been done, how many of the IRGC members and how much of their weapons have been damaged and destroyed overnight.

But I think perhaps, looking toward the president of Iran, who said, he said, we're not looking to get into a direct fight with the United States. But he is clearly hinting very strongly that there will be a response. He said, we will deal with bullies authoritatively.

I think in the language of this region, that means United States strikes, though there will be more, they certainly won't be the last word from Iran's proxies in the region -- Nic Robertson, CNN, Tel Aviv, Israel.

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KINKADE: Robin Wright is a contributing writer for "The New Yorker" and a fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and she joins us now.

Thanks for your time. ROBIN WRIGHT, CONTRIBUTING WRITER, "THE NEW YORKER": Good to be with you.

KINKADE: Three U.S. soldiers were killed just a matter of days ago by Iran-backed militants. The U.S. has responded, hitting 85 targets.

What message does this send?

WRIGHT: The Pentagon likes to say this is a message to stop the attacks on Americans, which had been playing out for decades now. But particularly since the war in Gaza erupted in October.

There's been over 160 attacks on American forces in both Iraq and Syria, more than 90 in Syria, more than 60 in Iraq. And the United States is trying to send a strong message by hitting seven facilities.

They're not just the militias' but actually Revolutionary Guards of Iran positions inside Iraq and Syria. So they're trying to send a message to Tehran without actually hitting in Iran.

KINKADE: Of course as you mentioned those seven locations hit, four in Syria, three in Iraq, all within 13 minutes.

What more can you tell us about those locations and the targets and damage done?

WRIGHT: The positions of the Iraqis and the Iranian backed militias in Iraq and Syria are in an area sharing a border in Ukraine's river valley. This is an area where the Iranians have managed to tap into discontent, managed to fill the ideological value vacuum which really is across the Middle East.

Iran is mainly a Shiite country but has tapped in to some allies from Sunni militias, such as Hamas in Gaza. So for 40 years, which is what's so striking about this, Iran has been able to tap into the dissent, the disgruntled communities in Lebanon, Iraq, Syria and Yemen and build a network of allies that can target the mightiest military in the world.

It's really astonishing.

KINKADE: It really is. And we have heard from Iran's president, saying Iran will not start a war but will respond to what it calls a bully. We know that Iran is a country that jails people that oppose it.

What could the response be from Iran?

WRIGHT: It can unleash its own militias or use missiles and attack American forces like it did after the United States assassinated General Suleimani, the leader of the elite Revolutionary Guard force that was responsible for foreign operations.

So Iran has some options. The irony or tragedy perhaps here is that I think neither the United States nor Iran wants a war. Both sides have said, publicly, that they want to avoid a conflict. The problem is there is such momentum in the 10 different conflicts that have flared across the Middle East in recent years, how they've converged into one.

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It's very hard to see how either U.S. military force or American diplomacy can end them all anytime soon.

KINKADE: We've seen in the past few years, Iran, a country that has faced some pretty massive protests. People in the country protesting against the regime. The country continues to crack down on those people.

Just a few weeks ago, a 23-year-old man who used to work in a barber shop was executed for taking part in those anti-government protests.

What's Iran's end game in terms of how we're seeing these strikes and possible response by Iran?

What does Iran hope to achieve by potentially drawing the U.S. further into the region, into further conflict?

WRIGHT: First of all, Iran celebrates the 45th anniversary of its revolution this month. Its goal domestically is just to survive. The majority of the Iranians, according to my own experience as well as some public opinion polls, are not happy with the government.

In the region, Iran's goal is to push the United States out. Its game plan that worked in Lebanon, forcing the Marines out, bombing two American embassies, it worked against Israel and after an 18 Iraqi patient in Lebanon, Israel laterally withdrew without a peace deal.

Who was following the Houthis in Yemen except people like me?

Before the Houthis began to open fire on naval and commercial vessels in the Red Sea. So we've seen kind of a depth and scope of Iran's presence in the region. And seeing how far it is willing to go to achieve its goal of getting the United States and its allies to leave.

KINKADE: Robin Wright, we appreciate your perspective and analysis as always. Thanks so much for joining us.

WRIGHT: Thank you.

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KINKADE: Still to come, how the weather in the Middle East was a factor on when the U.S. launched the airstrikes. That story along with a look at the forecast in the region.

Plus a revered military commander in Ukraine now reportedly out of his job. We'll explain how he got on the bad side of President Zelenskyy.

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KINKADE: Welcome back.

The United States is promising even more action against Iranian backed militia after hitting dozens of targets in Iraq and Syria overnight. The U.S. did not confirm exact locations inside those countries.

But security officials in Iraq reported damage near the Syrian border. The strikes mark the first military response to the attack on a U.S. base in Jordan that killed three American soldiers.

The U.S. Defense Secretary said, quote, "This is the start of our response. These will unfold at times and places of our choosing. We do not seek conflict in the Middle East or anywhere else. But the president and I will not tolerate attacks on American forces. We will take all necessary actions to defend the United States, our forces and our interests."

CNN Pentagon correspondent Oren Liebermann has the details.

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: The U.S. carrying out strikes at seven locations across Iraq and Syria, four in Syria, three in Iraq, targeting 85 different targets and using over 125 precision guided weapons.

That is an order of magnitude more powerful that the strikes we've seen the U.S. carry out in Iraq and Syria over the course of the last several months. It's also worth noting this is the first time we have seen the U.S. strike Iraq and Syria simultaneously.

Meantime in a briefing following these strikes, the White House and DOD say, from what they initially know of the strikes, they were successful at hitting the targets they were going for. That included a long list of facilities used by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Quds Force and associated militias here.

Command and control operations centers, intelligence centers, weapons storage facilities, you can really see the targets, the U.S. going after the types of weapons used to target U.S. forces in the region and all of the logistics and command and control needed to carry out those sorts of attacks.

The U.S. had made it clear it wasn't trying to start a war with Iran here and very much trying to avoid that possibility. No strikes in Iran. But very much going after Iran's proxies in the region and the ability of the proxies to carry out attacks on U.S. forces.

These strikes come five days after a drone attack in the region killed three U.S. service members in Jordan and wounded scores more.

But it's not just that. There have been more than 160 attacks on U.S. forces in the region and this was effectively a more powerful response to all of that. And yet there's no expectation that this is the end of it. President Joe Biden saying there could very well be more to come. And Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin being more blunt on this in a statement after, saying this is the start of our response.

The key question here, of course, what does the rest of that response look like? And where does it play out? -- Oren Liebermann, CNN, in the Pentagon.

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KINKADE: The weather in the Middle East played a role in the timing of the strikes. A military official said Friday was the best opportunity to ensure the U.S. was hitting the correct targets and avoiding any, quote "unnecessary casualties."

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KINKADE: The leaders of Hamas and Islamic Jihad reiterated their demands for a potential hostage deal on Friday. They're calling for a, quote, "complete end to the aggression and full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza" as part of any deal.

It comes after a negotiator in Paris last weekend reportedly reached a broad framework for the hostages to be released and a potential cease- fire in the war.

However, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said as recently as this week that he would not agree to a full withdrawal from Gaza until Israel has completed its goal of eliminating Hamas.

A new report from UNICEF says the war has left at least 17,000 children in Gaza unaccompanied or separated from their parents. The U.N. agency estimates that nearly all children in Gaza, more than 1 million of them, need mental health and psychological support.

UNICEF says children are suffering from high levels of anxiety, panic, inability to sleep, loss of appetite, emotional outbursts whenever they hear bombings and airstrikes. They add that relatives who have taken in children whose parents have been killed are already struggling to care for their own families because of the humanitarian crisis.

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KINKADE: Ukraine's military chief is still attending top level meetings despite reports that he is about to be fired. On Friday, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with General Valerii Zaluzhnyi and other officials to discuss military matters.

Mr. Zelenskyy later referred to him as the commander in chief in a social media post. Sources have told CNN the general is expected to be out of a job by the end of the week. His dismissal would be the biggest military shakeup in Ukraine since the start of Russia's invasion. Many Ukrainians see Zaluzhnyi as the right man for the job and someone

who was key in holding back Russia's onslaught in the early days of the war. Fred Pleitgen explains how the popular general fell out of favor with the president.

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FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): Since Moscow's forces invaded Ukraine almost two years ago, General Valerii Zaluzhnyi has been the man behind the military effort to push the Russians back, a successful effort but one requiring great sacrifices in Ukrainian blood.

Zaluzhnyi, a respected commander close to his troops.

"The path to our victory is very hard," he said at a military funeral, "and the price for this victory is the lives of our warriors, the best citizens of Ukraine, who have stood in the defense of the country with weapons and their hands."

But after Ukraine's large-scale counteroffensive failed last year, Kyiv's forces making little headway while suffering major losses, relations between Zaluzhnyi and Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, appeared to fray.

Zelenskyy seemingly critical of his top general strategy.

"I have working relations with Zaluzhnyi. He has to answer for results on the battlefield as commander in chief, together with the general staff," Zelenskyy said. "There are many questions."

Zaluzhnyi remains extremely popular. A December Ukrainian poll finding nearly 90 percent supported him compared to around 60 percent for Zelenskyy.

Another point of contention between the two, further mobilization of soldiers to beef up the armed forces but also to give troops, fighting on the front lines for months, a breather.

Zaluzhnyi saying, "It's going too slow. As for the local mobilization offices as of now, frankly speaking, I am not satisfied with the work of the mobilization offices. If I were satisfied with their work, we would not discuss this bill right now."

But Zelenskyy is critical of further mobilization, an unpopular measure for many Ukrainians.

"And what, everyone, take everyone away because they don't have money?" this man asks. "That really smells like slavery."

"As harsh as it may sound, in my opinion, it's necessary," this man says, "because it's really a matter where it seems to me there is no choice."

Outmanned and outgunned, Ukraine's army is struggling to hold the Russians up while the president's relations with his top general seem damaged, possibly beyond repair -- Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Kyiv.

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KINKADE: Still to come, an unusual trial in the U.S. state of Michigan. A jury will decide whether the mother of a teenage school shooter should go to prison for playing a role in her son's crimes. Details coming up after the break.

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KINKADE: Welcome back, good to have you with us.

I want to give you a quick update now on the latest U.S. strikes in Iraq and Syria. A U.S. general says Washington feels confident about the accuracy of Saturday's attack. He says all initial signs indicate the U.S. hit exactly what it intended.

Earlier the U.S. said it struck over 85 targets in Syria and Iraq, all associated with Iran's Revolutionary Guard and affiliated militia. The U.S. blames that militia for Sunday's drone attack on its military outpost in Jordan, which killed three Americans and wounded dozens more.

It's unclear who launched the attack. An activist group posted this video in the wake of the U.S. strikes.

The most serious case involving Donald Trump has now been delayed. A federal judge has postponed the trial date for his election interference case in Washington, D.C.

The trial was set to begin March 4. The U.S. district judge, Tanya Chutkan, delayed the trial while the courts hear a case on Trump's claims of presidential immunity. This is a win for former president Trump's team, which has been working to push the trial past his November presidential election.

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It's not clear when the case will be heard.

Jennifer Crumbley, the mother of a high school shooter, finished her testimony in her manslaughter trial in Michigan on Friday. On Monday, the jury is expected to start deliberating whether she should go to prison for her role in her son's actions. Jean Casarez reports.

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KAREN MCDONALD, OAKLAND COUNTY PROSECUTOR: We actually saw the last day he was practicing to kill four of his classmates. And there was only one person with him that day, ladies and gentlemen. Her name is Jennifer Crumbley.

SHANNON SMITH, CRUMBLEY DEFENSE ATTORNEY: It was unforeseeable. No one expected this. No one could have expected this, including Ms. Crumbley.

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Attorneys making their final pitches to persuade the jury in this historic trial of the mother of the Oxford, Michigan, school shooter.

MCDONALD: He walked out of that school with the smallest of things. Could have stayed, could have helped Hannah and Tate and Madison and Justin. Just the smallest of things. And not only did she not do it, she doesn't even regret it.

SMITH: The Crumbley son was a skilled manipulator and they didn't realize it. He's not sick, he doesn't have a mental illness. No parent would purchase a weapon if they believed their child had mental illnesses.

CASAREZ (voice-over): Before closing arguments began, Crumbley faced cross- examination, testifying she knew her son was acting depressed after his only friend moved away just one month before the shooting.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You knew it to be true in November of 2021 that he had no peer support.

JENNIFER CRUMBLEY, ETHAN'S MOTHER: I don't know what he had in school. He told me he had friends in school he talks to.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. You never met them.

CRUMBLEY: No.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. And he didn't have any clubs at school he was a part of.

CRUMBLEY: No.

CASAREZ (voice-over): Jennifer Crumbley is charged with four courts of involuntary manslaughter. She has pleaded not guilty. The prosecution pressing Crumbley on her actions the day of the shooting. That morning the school called in Jennifer Crumbley and her husband after discovering a violent drawing their son made on his math worksheet.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What about the (INAUDIBLE) help me?

Did that ring out to you?

CRUMBLEY: Yes, that was concerning to me.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Blood everywhere, there's a bullet. And actually you were the one who bought the bullets on November 27th.

CRUMBLEY: Correct.

You later came to know those bullets were used in the shooting. CRUMBLEY: I did.

CASAREZ (voice-over): In the meeting at school, Crumbley did not mention the gun purchased four days earlier for their 15 year-old son. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You didn't tell them that you had gotten him that Christmas gift.

CRUMBLEY: I didn't think it was relevant, no.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You acknowledge that you didn't go home to look for that firearm after the shooting at the school.

CRUMBLEY: We would have no reason to.

CASAREZ (voice-over): Her son used that gun to kill four of his classmates after that meeting on November 30, 2021. The prosecution asking Crumbley whether she neglected her son, talking about how often she spent time with her horses.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Your son could have been with you those three, four, five times a week when you were at the barn.

CRUMBLEY: He could have, yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And on November 30, 2021, at 12:51 pm, you could have been with him.

CRUMBLEY: I could have, yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And you didn't.

CRUMBLEY: No.

CASAREZ (voice-over): In closings, Crumbley's lawyers dismisses that argument.

SMITH: Just because she spends money and time on horses doesn't mean she doesn't love her son.

CASAREZ: Closing arguments concluded late Friday afternoon. The jury will return on Monday, when they will hear instructions from the judge. Then they will begin their deliberations -- Jean Casarez, CNN, New York.

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KINKADE: We're going to take a quick break. Stay with us, you're watching CNN.

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(MUSIC PLAYING) KINKADE: We are following airstrikes in Iraq and Syria, where the U.S.

said it hit 85 targets linked to Iranian backed militia. The attack launched at midnight local time Saturday in response to a drone strike in Jordan, that killed three American soldiers on Sunday.

U.S. President Joe Biden warned that this is just the beginning of the U.S. response, adding, quote, "it will continue at times and places of our choosing."

We are still waiting for more details on the damage but a Pentagon official says casualties are expected. We will have more on this story as it unfolds.

Dozens of French farmers say they will continue to protest because the government has not addressed their concerns about climate change. More than 100 farmers blocked a supermarket in Western France Friday.

Also in the country, many others started lifting blockades after the government announced concessions. To the north, Dutch and Belgian farmers have joined together in a broader blockade on the same day, complaining in part about E.U. regulations.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): My message to Europe is that they should think very carefully. We have very nice products here in the E.U. And we want to continue to make those products.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): People are fed up. We can see it clearly. Given the scale of the mobilization, we know that the level of being fed up has reached its maximum.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Why are we carrying on?

Because lots of us farmers think we have not been heard on keeping sustainability matters.

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KINKADE: Farmers have been protesting for weeks in many European countries about competition from Ukraine and other issues.

[00:55:00]

Apple is just introducing its Vision Pro, this is the company's first new product in seven years.

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KINKADE (voice-over): There is the CEO, Tim Cook, celebrating the launch at the Apple store in New York City with about 200 people from all around the world. The wearable device is a mixed reality headset blending virtual reality with the real world.

It can navigate its apps with your eyes, hands and voice. It promises the ultimate personal theater experience for about $3,500. It is available in the U.S. But Apple has not said when it will be sold internationally.

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KINKADE: We want to take a look at outer space as you have never seen it before. The Webb telescope has captured, incredible images of 19 spiral galaxies in unprecedented detail. They showcase the stars, gas and dust within the intricate structure of each galaxy.

The galaxy center features clusters of old stars or supermassive black holes. Astronomers say they are excited to study the newest, most massive stars in the galaxies. They say they hope to learn about how galaxies nurture and cease the formation of stars.

Thanks so much for watching. I'm Lynda Kinkade, I will be back with more of our coverage in just a moment. We have much more on the U.S. retaliatory strikes in Iraq and Syria.