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U.S. Official: Israel Strikes Iran, Target Not Clear; House Votes To Advance Foreign Aid Bills For Final Passage; Day 4 Of Jury Selection In Trump Hush Money Trial. Aired 11-11:30a ET

Aired April 19, 2024 - 11:00   ET

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

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WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Overnight, a U.S. official told CNN Israel carried out a military strike deep inside Iran. Could this escalate the already tense situation in the Middle East? Jury selection in Donald Trump's hush money trial could wrap up today. Opening statements in this historic case are on track to begin Monday. Plus, on the House floor, a critical test for a long stalled foreign aid bill for Israel and Ukraine.

Hello, I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington. And you're in the CNN Newsroom.

Happening now, a decades long shadow war between Israel and Iran spills out in the open. U.S. officials now say Israel launched an overnight strike on Iran, appearing to target a military facility some 200 miles from the capital, Tehran. In the hours since the attack, there has been a nearly unified global response.

Iran's allies like China and Russia echoing calls from Israel's western supporters to show restraint and avoid a wider regional conflict. CNN is covering the story from around the globe. Our chief international security correspondent Nick Paton Walsh is tracking developments from London. Our national security correspondent Natasha Bertrand is over at the Pentagon. And Natasha, let me start with you. What's the Biden administration saying about the strike inside Iran?

NATASHA BERTRAND, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: Well, Wolf, they're being very tight lipped so far this morning about this strike. Secretary of State Antony Blinken would not even acknowledge that it was in fact an Israeli strike inside Iran, saying only that the U.S. had nothing to do with this offensive operation, but reiterating that the U.S. does not want to see the conflict in the region escalate and essentially calling for peace and for calm as we move forward with this.

But look, the administration was warned by the Israelis prior to them carrying out this strike, according to U.S. official, it may not have been days beforehand, it was fairly soon before the Israelis conducted this strike. But still they heeded the U.S. calls to give them a heads up before they moved forward with this strike. And the U.S. made very clear to them as well that they did not endorse this attack. Again, they have been trying to deescalate tensions in the region. And while they are not outright condemning it, they are still reiterating here that a full on war between Israel and Iran is obviously not something that anyone wants to see at this point. Now, U.S. officials were in conversations repeatedly this week with their Israeli counterparts, including here at the Pentagon. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, he spoke to Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant just yesterday and they discussed Iran's regional escalation.

It's unclear if Gallant previewed the Israeli military action to Secretary Austin, but the message has been consistent here. They don't want to see this escalate any further and they importantly do not want Iran or anyone else in the international community, of course, to think that the U.S. had anything to do with this. Wolf?

BLITZER: All right, Natasha standby. I want to bring in Nick Paton Walsh right now. Nick, you're monitoring the reaction from Iran. What are you hearing?

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY EDITOR: Yes, look, it's been comparatively muted this morning from Iranian officials, a lack of transparency, frankly, on the damage done. Some military officials suggesting we're talking about three drones potentially intercepted. Another suggesting that the noise is heard over Isfahan, a city that has some key military and nuclear facilities around it but that was essentially related to air defenses targeting a suspicious object.

So we don't really know exactly whether the Iranians are going to admit what was hit here and that may play very well into their hands. Look, Wolf, one of the key advantages of being an autocracy is you get to control the information within your own society. And so Iran looks like for now is essentially trying to say that Israel didn't really manage to hit anything and that what happened in the skies over Isfahan last night was a bit of a nothing burger. But still, that is a marked difference from just hours before this strike.

What we heard from their foreign minister in terms of the ferocity of Iran's response where it attacked.

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HOSSEIN AMIR-ABDOLLAHIAN, IRANIAN FOREIGN MINISTER (through translator): In case the Israeli regime embarks on adventurism again and takes action against the interests of Iran, the next response from us will be immediate and at a maximum level.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALSH: Now, obviously from Israel so far we've heard very little, no official comment. And I think they're perhaps reverting to type here during what you referred to as the shadow war where they would do things inside Iran that were clearly Israel but not publicly admit it. I'm referring to the assassinations of nuclear scientists and various targeted covert ops that we've seen over the past decade. So we have here clearly a calibrated Israeli response designed to perhaps show Iran that they can at will penetrate their air defenses. Nothing so severe that Iran is perhaps forced to publicly declare their rage and make good on those threats, the retaliation you saw there.

[11:05:29]

And so we may be entering a quieter chapter here. But bear no mistake here, Wolf, taboo of these two countries directly attacking each other is now broken. It's been a proxy war for many, many, many years. But I also think it's fair to say right now Israel with Gaza ongoing, doesn't need a massive confrontation with an Iranian proxy to its north, Hezbollah in Lebanon, potentially Iran has seen itself military prowess begin to ebb and so may not want that direct confrontation either.

And above all, the United States key Israeli ally does not need to be dragged into the Middle East in yet another war as election season for President Joe Biden gets closer and closer, Wolf.

BLITZER: All right, Nick Paton Walsh reporting for us. Nick, thank you very much. I want to go to Jeremy Diamond. He's joining us live from Tel Aviv right now. Jeremy, give us a little bit more on the reaction from Israel.

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, it has been absolute silence both from the Israeli government and its military. No word from the Mossad either, which we know in the past has conducted some similar clandestine operations inside of Iran before. And that is all very intentional. The Israeli government, in choosing to carry out this limited response, also wanted to do so in a way that did it with very limited public fanfare, in a way that sent a message to Iran directly, that -- the kind of attack that Iran carried out on Israel over the weekend would not go unanswered, but while also allowing Iran effectively to save face.

And what Nick was just reporting on in terms of the Iranian reaction and the way in which they are kind of spinning this to avoid having to retaliate further is exactly the reason why we are seeing the kind of silence that we are hearing from Israeli government officials. It's also important to keep in mind, of course, that this response came after days of pressure from the United States and other Israeli allies to carry out a limited response, to carry out a response that would thread that needle of both sending the message but also avoiding spiraling this conflict further into an all-out war between Iran and Israel. And for now at least, it appears that kind of delicate balance has indeed been achieved.

And I also think it's important to note that the Israeli public, over the course of this week in public polling, has made clear that they didn't want to see military action in Iran that would risk undermining the Israel's alliance with the United States and with the other partners who helped carry out that very successful air defense operation over the weekend. And so clearly, that is ultimately the direction that the Israeli government chose here, Wolf.

BLITZER: All right, Jeremy Diamond and Tel Aviv for us. Jeremy, thank you very much. We'll continue to monitor what's going on. We'll get back to you.

There's breaking news here in Washington unfolding right now. The House of Representatives has just voted to advance foreign aid bills that have just been passed. Manu Raju is up on Capitol Hill. I take it this rule vote, this procedural vote, Manu, passed.

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Can you describe your level of frustration, councilwoman? OK. I haven't hear it Wolf. We're trying to get a question to Marjorie Taylor Greene here because she, of course, is a key player at this moment because she has threatened to actually try to move forward on a motion to oust the sitting House Speaker. And that could happen at any moment. And she could call for a vote that could happen within two legislative days. And the question will be how Democrats will vote, because at the moment, there are at least two Republicans who plan to vote to essentially push him out from the speakership because of his handling of this major aid package, $95 billion, that includes aid to Ukraine in particular, which has caused this revolt on the right flank.

And Marjorie Taylor Greene, I just tried to ask her, is today the day? Is today the day she's going to actually move forward and push ahead with this vote? She would not answer. She said, I'm not going to answer any questions. It's actually kind of unusual, Wolf. She has been answering lots of questions all along, but this time she didn't want to do it. And I asked her why she's not answering the questions. She would not say. So we'll see what that actually means here.

But, Wolf, this key procedural vote just passed in the House. I'm pulling up the vote right now. It looks like it was 316 to 94. That was the vote to actually move ahead on this aid package. Now, this is why this is such a significant and interesting breakdown. This is a bipartisan vote.

Typically, these procedural votes are done along straight party lines. The majority party votes for it, the minority party votes against it. That's the way it's all been done in the House for years and years and years. This time different, because of deep Republican divisions over this foreign aid package. Number Republicans simply don't want this to come forward. And in this vote, there were Republicans who voted against it. There were 55 Republicans who voted against it. That is a significant number of Republicans.

[11:10:14]

There were 151 Republicans who voted for it. But Democrats, because of their desire to move ahead on this aid package for Ukraine in particular, 165 of them ultimately supported this rule to going forward, meaning that this bill, the overall aid package, will get a vote on the House floor tomorrow and it can be approved along by a majority vote in the United States House, which is what we expect.

So a lot of moving parts here, Wolf, but the two main things we're watching here, what ultimately happens in the final vote on this bill, which is expected to pass the House tomorrow, they don't have to go over to the Senate. The Senate will have to give final approval to send back to the -- send to the President to sign into law after months and months and months of battling to get this across the finish line.

And then what happens to the future of the speaker of the House? Can he ward off this revolt on the far right? And will Democrats come to his defense? All key questions here. But as you saw right now, as Marjorie Taylor Greene was leaving this vote, she did not want to comment about whether today was the day she would actually call for that vote or what her thinking was in trying to kick out the Speaker. Wolf?

BLITZER: And I just want to clarify, Manu, will the vote tomorrow on the floor of the House of Representatives combine all of the foreign aid for Israel, Ukraine, Taiwan and other programs into one vote, or will there be separate votes on these individual packages?

RAJU: So it's actually going to be separate votes initially. So this is how it's going to happen. Each of those votes are going to be four bills. Those are the three, eight or those three countries that you mentioned. There's a fourth bill as well that includes some other measures, including to try to force the sale of TikTok from the Chinese company ByteDance, if not threatening to ban it in App Stores in the United States. All that's going to be after it's voted on individually in the House, it will be all wrapped together in one package and then sent over to the Senate, which will give it final approval and sent to the President's desk.

And that process also is what's causing that revolt on the right. There are a lot of Republicans who did not want to spend any more money for Ukraine and said that they absolutely should not be tied to aid to Israel in particular. But the Speaker of the House recognizing he had to get the votes. And also the Speaker changing his own view on Ukraine aid after getting briefed in sensitive classified briefings about the nature of that war within -- against Russia, has been become a staunch advocate of getting more money to Ukraine and recognizing the votes simply were not there to separate these and send individual pieces of these larger package over to the Senate.

So he needed Democratic votes, so he decided to use this process to tie them all together. Now, because of those moves, this bill is on its way to become law. And the Speaker of the House potentially could stay as Speaker of the House with the support of Democrats if they decide to do that. Wolf?

BLITZER: Yes, it looks like it will pass the Senate to be sure. Manu Raju up on Capitol Hill, thanks very much. Right now I want to bring in Mark Esper. He served as defense secretary during the Trump administration. He's also now a CNN global affairs analyst. Mr. Secretary, thanks so much for joining us. So what's your reaction to what Manu Raju is just reporting that the House will now vote on these aid packages and then eventually lump them all together as it sends the package to the Senate for approval?

MARK ESPER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Well, good morning now, Wolf. Look, I think it's very good news. It's the right decision. And frankly, it's a courageous decision by Speaker Johnson. He obviously is taking on a number of members of his coalition, the far right, the Freedom Caucus numbers, you know, two dozen, three dozen or so. And the vote shows that. But I'm encouraged by it. I was also encouraged to hear, if I heard Manu's numbers correctly, that three quarters of Republicans voted for this package.

So it tells you that an easy majority of Republicans still believe that America's leadership in the world matters and that we need to help Ukraine and of course, Israel and support Taiwan as well. So I think this is a very good day. Hopefully he's right in terms of the timeline, things moving quickly tomorrow through the Senate and then on the President's desk. And this will be very good news for Ukraine. And I'm sure Vladimir Putin is not happy sitting in Moscow right now.

BLITZER: Yes, the Ukrainians desperately need this U.S. military assistance and now looks like it's going to be going forward relatively quickly. Secretary Esper, I also want to get your thoughts on this Israeli airstrike deep inside Iran right now. Satellite images we've just obtained show no extensive damage to that Iranian Isfahan air base. What do you make of that?

ESPER: Yes. Look, I think it was a very restrained action which probably accomplished what they wanted to achieve. This wasn't about destroying Iranian infrastructure or killing Iranians. It was really about sending a message, Wolf. And the message being that we can touch you, we can reach deep into Iran, and we can hit very sensitive sites, because Isfahan, as your reporters noted earlier, is where there's a significant part of Iran's nuclear complex. There's an air base there that contains both jet fighters and air defense batteries. And of course, there's a missile production factory there as well. So they pretty much told the Iranians, look, we can reach out and touch you.

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And, you know, this has been a good week from Israel's perspective at this point now, because, you know, last Saturday they beat back a 350 or so missile drone attack against them, which showed how extraordinary Iran -- Israel's defenses were. But defense is not deterrence, and what they need to do is reset deterrence. And you do that through two things. One, demonstrating will and capability. And by attacking Iran, despite Iran's warnings up to the last minute and then being able to reach deep into Iran, they've demonstrated that capability. Now the key thing will be, is deterrence restored?

And did we block -- did they block Iran from establishing a new normal whereby anytime something happens against Iran's interests, they strike Israel with ballistic missiles? Only time will tell.

BLITZER: The Israeli strike, as you know, triggered Iran's air defense systems. What do you think the U.S. has learned about Iran's capabilities from this Israeli strike?

ESPER: Well, much like Iran's ballistic missile capabilities, some of which never left the launcher, some of which probably didn't make it across the Persian Gulf, their capabilities, while they have an extensive missile inventory numbering in the thousands, the largest and most diverse in the Middle East, they are not as capable as maybe we believed. And I think maybe the same is true for their air defenses. They have S-300 Russian air defenses, which are very good systems. But it's more than just equipment. It's about training, it's about maintenance, it's about many other things.

And look, the other part of this, Wolf, it's important to keep in mind, part of this trade off that's happening right now between Russia and Iran, which involves the Ukraine war, as Iran provides Shaheen drones and ballistic missiles to Russia to use against Ukraine. In exchange, Iran has been asking for advanced jet fighters, an S-400 air defense systems. If they were able to acquire both, that would make penetrating Iranian airspace far more difficult for both the Israelis and the United States.

So this is part of that growing alliance between Russia and Iran and China as well that we need to be very careful about and mindful of.

BLITZER: Yes, it's a sense of the very delicate situation unfolding right now. Just before the Israeli airstrike overnight, the Iranian foreign minister, in an exclusive interview with our Erin Burnett, I don't know if you saw it, but it was an important interview, said that if Israel were to attack a target in Iran, he said the Iranian response would be immediate and at the highest level. So far, I don't think there's been any Iranian response, certainly not immediate, not at the highest level. What do you think the Iranians are going to do?

ESPER: Well, that's typical Iranian bluff and bluster when you see in these situations. You know, last week, when 99 plus percent of their missiles and drones were defeated on state media, they were out there proclaiming success and that their missiles made it through. And this morning, the silence from both sides, frankly, is deafening, that nobody's talking about what happened, there's, you know, et cetera. So I think this appears to be the end of it right now, but we'll see.

BLITZER: All right, I stand by for a minute. This -- the House Speaker is now talking to reporters. I want to hear what he's saying.

REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA), HOUSE SPEAKER: -- on Russia and China and Iran, which I believe is the new axis of evil, and many of us do, and they are the ones who are the aggressors in this situation. The reality here is that if the House did not do this better policy and process, allowing for amendments on the floor in the process tomorrow, we would have had to eat the Senate supplemental bill.

And that is because were very close, given the timeline in both Israel and Ukraine to a discharge petition being brought. And a discharge petition in layman's terms, is that when a number of members or a majority of members get together, they can override the speaker and bring something straight to the floor. That would have happened imminently on the Senate supplemental.

So by doing this, even though it's not the perfect legislation, it's not the legislation that we would write if Republicans were in charge of both the House, the Senate, and the White House. This is the best possible product that we can get under these circumstances to take care of these really important obligations. And so we look forward to the vote tomorrow. We look forward to every member voting their conscience and their desire.

And that is exactly how this process is supposed to work and how the House is supposed to operate. So we're happy to provide that and we'll give you more comment tomorrow.

BLITZER: All right. Clearly pleased, House Speaker Johnson clearly pleased by this initial procedural House vote. Let me get reaction from what we just heard from the former Defense Secretary Esper. What did you think Secretary?

ESPER: Yes, look, I think he's spot on about the axis of evil and the importance of us providing this aid to Ukraine. You know, as we've talked about before, Wolf, if this aid didn't go through, it was only a matter of time, where Ukraine was trading territory for time. And my concern would be by the end of the year, their ability to defend against Russia would collapse. And of course, our support to Ukraine also signals that we would support Taiwan against China.

[11:20:10]

So it's no surprise that when Prime Minister Kashida of Japan was here last week, he spoke before Congress and said the same things about the importance of supporting Ukraine. We've heard the same out of Taiwan and other Indo Pacific partners. So, look, I think it's very important. But as you noted, before the drama is going to happen here, what happens to his speakership? What plays out after that? But I think he made a very courageous decision, the right decision, putting his job on the line for American leadership, frankly.

BLITZER: And very quickly, before I let you go, Secretary Esper, the billions and billions of dollars in proposed aid for Ukraine in this new legislation, according to the speaker, will be in the form of a loan, as opposed to what used to happen, an outright grant from the United States. What's your reaction to that?

ESPER: Look, if that's what it takes to get the aid, the arms and material munitions to them, that's fine. You know, I thought it was, the grant was more on the economic side, not the military side. But I didn't see obviously the final draft of the legislation. But look, I think that's fine. The important thing is get the arms and munitions to them. We can sort out later whether they repay the full loan, half the loan, whatever the case may be. But look, I think it's a fair trade off. The key thing is to keep things moving and get the Ukrainians what they need.

BLITZER: Secretary Esper, thanks so much for joining us.

ESPER: Thank you, Wolf.

BLITZER: And still to come, Donald Trump is back in court for day four of historic criminal trial. The jury has been seated. Will things stay on track for opening statements to start on Monday? Our team is over at the courthouse tracking it all for us. Stay with us. You're in the CNN Newsroom.

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BLITZER: Donald Trump is back in court this morning for day four of jury selection in his criminal hush money trial. Let's get right to Laura Coates. She's in New York for us. Laura, so where do things stand now?

LAURA COATES, CNN CHIEF LEGAL ANALYST: Well, we've got twelve jurors, one alternate already seated. We still need five additional alternates to complete that toll number of 18. We know, of course, that three of the 22 prospective jurors work excuse this morning so far, and two of the initial seven were dismissed yesterday. And so we've got a lot going on this morning. It's a very busy day.

There is the prospect that we will actually have a complete jury panel, even by the end of the day, if not sooner. And onto a potential what's known as a Sandoval hearing. This is a fancy way of saying, listen, it gives the defendant notice of what might be raised if he were to choose to defend himself by taking the stand as bringing Kristen Holmes here. What a very busy day. This is moving pretty quickly. And unlike yesterday, we're not seeing members who have already been seated pulled off.

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Exactly. And so what we have seen so far, right now court is in a break. We got through the first part of this morning, 22 jurors who had already been sworn in yesterday. They're part of that 96 juror panel. They were brought back in to go over the question. Three of those jurors who were brought in were dismissed. They said they could not be impartial. They originally thought they could be. They slept on it. They could not.

Now, we have seen them go systematically through, they talked about what they do, what kind of news they consume. Could they be fair and impartial? Do they have any interaction with various political groups?

Now they're taking a break, and we're going to get to the part where both sides, the prosecution and the defense, start to ask questions, really of the group as a whole talking to them. And there are some specifics there. We've seen some social media questions, some kind of pointed questions at various jurors.

Now, one thing to note here is that in the past, last two times we've done this, the last time we did this, they only got 25 minutes to question them. They're getting an extra five minutes now because this pool selection is bigger. Last time it was 18 people. Even though it has gone down from 22, they are still getting that extra five minutes. You'll see about 30 minutes on each side to go over the various questions that they think are important, whether or not these people, particularly what we've seen with the defense questions about how do you feel about Donald Trump?

COATES: Even more importantly in the numbers, too, Kristen, we know that the initial peremptory strikes, the 10 that each side had, that's not the same factor any longer now. We're on the alternates part of it here, where, interestingly enough, normally in a court proceeding, you wouldn't want your jurors to know their alternates. It might create an incentive not to pay as close attention. But in this context, the alternates might not only be necessary, they might have to assume the role of actual jurors during deliberations if one were excused. So now the parties have additional strikes, I'm learning? HOLMES: That's right. So it's actually very interesting. They had 10 strikes before just to fill the box. Now they have two strikes per seat. So remember, just the way that they do this, every alternate is essentially given a number through here, these -- as they go through to seat, alternate two, alternate three, alternate four in those seats, each side will have two additional strikes to get rid of someone.

Again, and this is not necessarily for cause in the terms of what they've said, just because they don't want to no questions asked. They don't believe that they would beneficial to them in some way, or they think that they would be biased. So it is really interesting to see how they're actually going to use these strikes.

And as we've gone through, I have noticed that this group seems to be a little bit less into the news. At least they're saying they are than we saw before. This is a wider swath of people. There's lots of various jobs. There's people who have relationships with people who have been accused of crimes, people themselves, this group who have been accused of crimes.