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Israel Bracing for Potential Attacks by Iran and Hezbollah; Kyiv Sends Forces Across Border into Kursk Region; Taylor Swift Cancels Austria Show Over Alleged Terror Plot; Anti-Racism Counter- Protests Foil Far-Right Rallies; Harris and Walz Campaign in Wisconsin and Michigan; OIC Holds Israel Responsible for Assassination of Haniyeh; Foreign Ministers of Islamic Nations Condemn 'Israel's Actions'; U.S.: 'Escalation' Risks Stages of Ceasefire Deal; Tim Walz Leans Into History as an Educator. Aired 12-12:45a ET
Aired August 08, 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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GARRETT REISMAN, FORMER NASA ASTRONAUT: That's a different thing. Now what Sunny and Butch have going for them is they've both been Space Station crew members before. So they've been trained on what we call expeditionary behavior, how to get along, how to play nice. It's like all the things you learn in kindergarten but maybe at a higher, a bit more advanced level.
And they're good at it. And so I think that they're going to be fine if this does end up happening. And again, that has not yet been decided. But if they do end up being up there for that long duration, I think they'll be fine.
LAURA COATES, CNN ANCHOR: Share that lesson with Congress, will you?
Garrett Reisman, thank you so much for joining me.
REISMAN: My pleasure, Laura. Anytime.
COATES: And thank you all for watching. "ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT" is next.
JOHN VAUSE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hello, I'm John Vause in Atlanta. Ahead here on CNN NEWSROOM.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MATHEW MILLER, U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESPERSON: Look, this is obviously a very delicate time for the region.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: With a ceasefire in Gaza closer to agreement than it ever has been, Iran and its proxy Hezbollah inching closer than ever to a major strike on Israel.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) ELIZABETH WAGMEISTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: Three Taylor Swift concerts in Vienna have been canceled in connection with a planned terror attack.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: It could have been the softness of soft targets. Almost 200,000 Taylor Swift fans all in the crosshairs of two alleged terrorists with ISIS-K.
And Britain's solid majority made their voices heard, bringing a pause to more than a week of violent protests by far-right extremists and thugs.
ANNOUNCER: Live from Atlanta, this is CNN NEWSROOM with John Vause.
VAUSE: It's just gone 7:30 Thursday morning in Tehran, an advisory to the Egyptian Air traffic to avoid Iranian airspace has just ended. The warning had been in place about three hours and with tensions at breaking point across the region, there was concerned that could have been the window for Iran to launch a major strike on Israel, a retaliation for Israel's assassination of a senior Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh while he was visiting Tehran last week.
So for now, the waiting continues with Israel bracing for an attack, not just by Iran, but also by the Iranian backed militant group Hezbollah based in Lebanon. A senior leader with Hezbollah was also assassinated last week by Israel and the latest U.S. intelligence believes an attack by Hezbollah, which has more than 100,000 rockets and missiles, just across Israel's northern border could come at any time, independently of any action by Iran.
And an urgent meeting Wednesday by the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, Saudi Arabia described the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh as a blatant violation of Iraqi sovereignty. Diplomatic efforts have also been underway now for days by the United States and others to prevent a wider war.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MILLER: We would hope that at that OIC meeting the same thing happens that we have been hoped -- that we have been trying to effectuate throughout the last week, which is that all parties that have a relationship with Iran impress upon Iran, the same way that we've been impressing upon the government of Israel, that they shouldn't take any steps to escalate the conflict.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: CNN's Jeremy Diamond begins our coverage reporting in now from Haifa in northern Israel.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: One week after the assassination of Hamas' political leader Ismail Haniyeh, those Iranian threats of retaliation have yet to materialize. And there are a number of reasons why that may be the case. It could be because Iran is still making its preparations, still getting its proxies in line to carry out some kind of attack on Israel, could be preparing for the possibility that this could quickly spiral into a very dangerous regional conflict, but it could also be because of what we've seen over the course of the last week.
And that is a flurry of diplomatic activity trying to desperately find an off-ramp here to avoid that worst-case scenario of an all-out regional war. We know that earlier on Wednesday, Iran as well as a number of Muslim countries met in Jeddah in Saudi Arabia, where the discussion was focused on the war in Gaza and on trying to find a ceasefire. And in those meetings, as well as in a conversation that the Iranian president had with the French president, there was the possibility, there was this notion being raised of a ceasefire pressure being brought to bear on Israel to agree to a ceasefire as that potential diplomatic off-ramp.
Indications that if a ceasefire materialized perhaps Iran would not retaliate or at least would scale down the kind of response that they are preparing against Israel. But as that is happening, we're also now getting indications that Hezbollah, a key Iranian proxy in Lebanon that still has a significant degree of autonomy, could choose to actually carry out its retaliatory strike against Israel first, and perhaps even independently of any Iranian considerations.
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Hezbollah of course far closer to Israel being in neighboring Lebanon, could carry out that attack much more quickly. And of course it has a devastating arsenal of rockets and missiles, some of which it has yet to actually deploy in these conflicts since it's been firing missiles against Israel since October 8th. So this is certainly a very tense moment. What is clear, though, if a ceasefire materialized, it could certainly bring a region that appears to be on the verge of boiling over. It could certainly bring the temperature way, way down.
Jeremy Diamond, CNN, Haifa, Israel.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Joining us now from Washington is Trita Parsi, the executive vice president of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft. He's also author of "Losing an Enemy."
And it's good to see you. It's been a while so thank you for taking the time.
TRITA PARSI, EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, THE QUINCY INSTITUTE FOR RESPONSIBLE STATECRAFT: Good to see you, John.
VAUSE: OK. So here's a spokesperson from the U.S. State Department talking about the ongoing diplomatic efforts to defuse tensions across the region.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) MILLER: We have heard from those countries really a broad consensus in every conversation that we have had that they share our opinion that escalation would only exacerbate the problems facing the region and so certainly we would hope that countries at that meeting would impress that upon Iran.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Right now there are a lot of questions. When will the strike on Israel happen? Will be a joint military operation by Iran and Hezbollah? Will Hezbollah go it alone? What will be the target? Will Israel's air defenses hold up?
No one seems to be asking the question, when will diplomatic efforts by the United States and this immediate crisis and convince both Israel and around to stand down. It seems no one may want an escalation, but it's escalation they're going to get one way or the other.
PARSI: Well, I think you've put your finger on something very important. The United States does have the capacity of pressing the Israelis for a ceasefire. For the last 10 months, however, we have not seen the Biden ministration actually use the leverage that it has in order to be able to secure a ceasefire. It's been doing a lot of other things except for actually using its leverage. And this is part of the reason why on the one hand it could be so that a ceasefire could end this escalation and the Iranians will back down and not retaliate.
But for that to happen, it necessitates that Biden for the first time actually uses his leverage. Short of that, I don't see any other diplomatic exit out of this escalatory spiral right now. And if Biden had been pressing the Israelis much more forthcoming earlier on, there wouldn't have been a strike against Lebanon and Iran by the Israelis in the first place. So I think the onus is actually more on the Biden ministration to put pressure and make sure that the Israelis agree to a ceasefire and then use that to see whether that can lead to a de- escalation from the Iranians.
Last time the Israeli struck the Iranian embassy in Syria they actually demanded a ceasefire as a way for them to not retaliate. This time around, we haven't heard him say that, and I suspect that it's partly because they have very little confidence that Biden actually will use the leverage that he has.
VAUSE: Well, there does seem to be a very remote chance of an off- ramp. It has nothing to do with U.S. diplomacy. We're being told that Haniyeh was killed not by an Israeli air strike, but rather by a bomb smuggled into his room. And "The Times of Israel" reports this understanding that it wasn't Israeli missile but rather a smuggled-in bomb which was detonated remotely could lead Tehran to step down from its threat to attack Israel, this is according to officials, adding that Iran itself has carried out similar attacks in foreign countries in the past.
How credible does that sound to you? PARSI: It does not sound very credible to me at all. I have great
doubts about the story that this was a bomb. I think it's actually designed to create a narrative in order to either get the Iranians to back off or to use Iran's retaliation and say that that is wildly disproportionate in comparison to a bomb and use that to actually escalate further. So we haven't seen any clear evidence for that narrative, but I think we should also keep in mind, bomb or missile, whatever it was, this was deeply embarrassing to the Iranians.
It was humiliating because it really showed that huge gaps that they have in their security. And I think after first having said so strongly that they will take action, the only way to prevent that is that they have to secure a win elsewhere such as a ceasefire in order to get them to back down. Additional threats of what will be done to the Iranians, I don't think we'll be able to get them to back down. They have to have an exit that provides them with a win.
VAUSE: This is the closest the Middle East has come to a major escalation since the war in Gaza began last October. It's also the closest Israel and Hamas apparently are coming to a ceasefire deal in Gaza as you mentioned this.
I want you to listen to the National Security spokesperson for the United States, John Kirby. Here he is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN KIRBY, WHITE HOUSE NATIONAL SECURITY COMMUNICATIONS ADVISER: There is a good proposal before both sides and they need to both accept that proposal so we can get this in place.
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We are as close as we think we have ever been. And that's why we've talked about it in these terms.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: You know, there's no second place in ceasefire negotiations, either you have a deal or you don't. But assuming the worst outcome here and there is a major escalation, what does that mean for the 100 or so hostages being held in Gaza and also for the Palestinians in Gaza?
PARSI: Well, if we have this escalation, let's say the Iranian strike together with Hezbollah and the Israelis choose to retaliate against that by further escalating, we will rather quickly risk being in an all-out war in the region that could also drag the United States into it. And those circumstances obviously getting the hostages out, securing a ceasefire in Gaza will be far, far more difficult than it currently is and it's already hard enough to achieve that.
This is part of the reason why inside of Israel there has been a tremendous amount of criticism against Netanyahu for these strikes, not because there's any love lost for any of these figures, but because it further complicates the efforts to get the hostages out and this is something that, you know, by now, quite a few senior folks in the Israeli government or a former officials have criticized Netanyahu for not prioritizing the release of the hostages.
VAUSE: The timing of Haniyeh's assassination was indeed curious.
Trita Parsi, thank you so much, sir. It's good to see you. Appreciate it.
PARSI: Thank you so much for having me.
VAUSE: Well, Ukrainian forces have apparently launched a successful amphibious raid on an occupied Black Sea Island. A statement from Ukraine says special forces used speedboats to attack Tendra Spit, destroying Russian troops and equipment. Moscow, though, says the raid was repelled.
Ukraine's announcement came a day after it launched a major ground incursion into Russian territory, pushing the front line near the town of Sudzha. Its mayor says the town is under Russian control but the situation remains tense.
CNN's Nick Paton Walsh has our report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY EDITOR: What we've been seeing perhaps for two days now is one of the most significant incursions into Russia since the start of the war. And total silence from Ukraine on the record about whether their troops are genuinely behind it. In the past we've seen Russian citizens volunteering to fight for Ukraine, making those short incursions into Russian territory.
But this, if you believe the Russian narrative, is potentially the Ukrainian regular military striding five kilometers, three miles deep into Russian territory, possibly further. The targets of much of the assault appears to be a town called Sudzha. Russia calling this a major provocation. That's the words of President Vladimir Putin suggesting that the Ukrainians have been firing on residential areas, but rich after Moscow has been doing that in Ukraine for over two years.
But he was assured by his chief of staff that the advance had been halted. A very different picture, though, seen on social media videos, some suggesting without -- what we can confirm ourselves that even Russian servicemen were surrendering to Ukrainians, according to some Ukrainian accounts, showing damage inside the town of Sudzha and potentially a multi-pronged Ukrainian move inside of Russia.
Why? Well, some analysts are pointing towards a gas terminal near Sudzha, which controls Russian gas that moves through Ukraine to Europe. Still now in the third year of the war, that may now be under Ukrainian control, that may have been the objective. Kyiv often looking to get control or inflict damage or influence on Russian infrastructure. But it's also a rare moment of good headlines for Ukraine in a war where they've seen the Donbass front line find Russian forces moving forwards incrementally, deliberately, but very steadily towards Ukrainian military hubs.
It's been simply bad news for Kyiv for quite some time about manpower and frankly in public, too, disputes about the effectiveness of so much of their military strategy. Those same disputes were around this day in reference to the incursion into Russia. Questions about whether this is the best use of Ukraine's skinned military resources. That question I think will persist in the days ahead as we learn exactly what the objectives of this incursion has been, but it has certainly caught the Kremlin off guard, scrambling to try and bring reinforcements to this area and having to deal with a totally unexpected after so many months of Ukrainian probing around those border areas.
Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Well, three Taylor Swift concerts scheduled for this weekend in Vienna have been canceled after police say they uncovered alleged terrorist plot targeting the stadium, where Swift was scheduled to perform.
CNN's Kristie Lu Stout following developments live for us from Hong Kong.
A lot of unhappy people are there, a lot of very unhappy Taylor Swift fans, but it seems like the details of this plot, ISIS-K, possibly behind all of this, you know, obviously, are concerning enough that they decided to go ahead and cancel it all.
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KRISTI LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, very concerning and more details likely to surface today. You know, Taylor Swift's three concerts in Austria have been abruptly canceled. This after police in Austria arrested two people on suspicion of plotting a terror attack.
Now she was scheduled to perform three shows in Vienna. Of course, as part of her Eras Tour today, August 8th, 9th and 10th, and police were expecting around 65,000 people attending each show. On social media, we heard the news from Barracuda Music, this is the promoter for Swift's concerts in Austria. They issued the following statement on social, let's bring it up for you, saying this, quote, "With confirmation from government officials of a planned terrorist attack at Ernst Happel Stadium, we have no choice but to cancel the three scheduled shows for everyone's safety," unquote.
Now the concerts are also listed as canceled on TaylorSwift.com, her official Web site. This site also says that all tickets for the shows will be automatically refunded. Now, it was on early on Wednesday morning that was when police in Austria made their arrest. They first arrested a 19-year-old Austrian citizen who is described as being a sympathizer of Islamic State. Now the arrest took place, let's bring up the map for you, in Ternitz.
This is a place located south of Vienna and there in Ternitz chemicals were found. These chemical substances were found by officials in that suspect's home. And then later on Wednesday, the police detained another person in Vienna. Police say that the two suspects were radicalized on the internet and they were taking, quote, "concrete measures" for a terror attack. And the assumed target were events in the Vienna region. Again, this coming from the police.
We also heard from the chancellor of Austria, who says, with these arrests tragedy has been averted. Let's bring up his post on the social media platform X. This is from Karl Nehammer, the Austrian chancellor, who said, "Thanks to the intensive cooperation of our police and the newly established DSN," that refers to Austria's director for security intelligence, "with foreign services, the threat was identified early on, combated and a tragedy prevented," unquote.
Now, we are awaiting to hear from Taylor Swift herself. She has yet to comment on the cancellations to her millions of fans. She has 283 million fans on her official Instagram account. No word from her just yet.
Back to you.
VAUSE: Kristie, thank you. Kristi Lu Stout there in Hong Kong with the very latest on the Swiftie fans. Thank you.
We'll trade racists for refugees. Reclaiming Britain's streets from far-right extremists. How anti-racism protesters ended a week of violence. More on that in a moment. Also ahead, Kamala Harris and her vice presidential running mate hit the campaign trail, inside their rallies in two crucial battleground states is coming up in just a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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VAUSE: Police across Britain will brace for another day of clashes and violent protests Wednesday by far-right extremists. But the thugs, bigots were a no show. And that's after far-right groups on social media had called for demonstrators to target immigration and visa processing centers.
In their place came thousands of counter-protesters gathered at those sites instead in more than a dozen cities.
CNN's Clare Sebastian picks up the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We're here in East London, there were rumors that far-right groups would target an immigration lawyer's office. You can see that it was boarded up already before this even started. But what we got instead was a very large counter-protest, anti-racism groups, members of the local community coming out and really trying to shift the narrative of the past week.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's a lot of community cohesion here. Walthamstow has always been like that for the EDL or the far-right to target this kind of area, the reason they're doing it is because they know that they're going to create disharmony or they're going to try to create the disharmony and stuff here, but this just showed everybody is very strong here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. There's no space of fascist. And that's who they are.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: As a Muslim woman as well, (INAUDIBLE) in my head, am I safe? Am I able to walk on the streets without being attacked? And to come here and to see that, yes, I am safe because the people within my community are against this and are showing that they're against this is also a sign of relief.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Black and white, unite and fight!
CROWD: Together we are dynamite!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Black and white, unite and fight!
SEBASTIAN: The British Prime Minister Keir Starmer did promise that those involved in violent protests would feel the full force of the law. That has already started to play out. We got the first sentences handed down on Wednesday to those involved in the violence. They ranged from 20 months to three years. They were fast-tracked through the courts.
And here in London, there was a heavy police presence. The Met police have made an extra 1300 officers available, but in East London, a sense of relief, a sense of community spirit, and no sign of the violence that we've seen over the past week.
Clare Sebastian, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: The road to the White House runs through seven key battleground states and Democrat Kamala Harris is campaigning in five of them this week alone. She introduced her running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, to huge crowds in Wisconsin and Michigan. They head to Arizona and Nevada later this week and CNN's Jeff Zeleny is following the U.S. presidential race.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We cannot go back. Ours has to be a fight for the future and a fight for freedom.
JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The new Democratic ticket on the road tonight as Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz barnstorm battleground states 90 days before the November election.
GOV. TIM WALZ (D), VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I couldn't be prouder to be on this ticket to help make Kamala Harris the next president of the United States. ZELENY: One day after making a Philadelphia debut, Harris and Walz
visiting Wisconsin and Michigan as a bitter battle with the Republican rivals take shape.
SEN. JD VANCE (R), VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: What Kamala Harris is telling all of us by selecting Tim Walz is that she bends the knee to the far left of the Democrat Party.
ZELENY: Senator J.D. Vance, taking the lead in the furious scramble to define Walz, attacking his record as governor and his service in the Army National Guard.
VANCE: He has not spent a day in a combat zone. What bothers me about Tim Walz is the stolen valor garbage. Do not pretend to be something that you're not.
ZELENY: Vance accused his rival of ducking his service to Iraq when Walz left the National Guard and ran for Congress in 2005. But Walz actually retired two months before his unit received alert orders for deployment.
WALZ: At 17, I joined the Army National Guard.
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WALZ: For 24 years, I proudly wear the uniform of this nation.
ZELENY: The 2024 race is now fully joined with Harris and Walz crisscrossing the country together this week, an itinerary Vance is closely shadowing. Tropical Storm Debby interrupting plans for the candidates to visit North Carolina and Georgia. Their paths or planes at least crossed today on the tarmac in Wisconsin.
VANCE: I just wanted to check out my future plane, but I also wanted to go say hello to the vice president.
ZELENY: Former president Donald Trump spent the day away from the campaign trail, calling into a FOX News program to try and diminish Harris and Walz.
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Nobody knew how radical left she was, but he's a smarter version of her.
ZELENY: A full look at the Minnesota governor complicates the liberal brush Trump and Vance are seeking to paint him with. A social studies teacher and football coach, elected to a Republican-leaning congressional district, and now in a second term as governor, where he's defending his progressive agenda.
WALZ: Mind your own damn business. I don't need you telling me about our health care, I don't need you telling us who we love, and I sure the hell don't need you telling us what books we're going to read.
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ZELENY: The spotlight on vice presidential hopefuls will soon give way to the top of the ticket and back to a debate over debates. Trump signaled a new willingness to meet Harris on a network other than FOX.
TRUMP: We'll be debating her I guess in the pretty near future.
ZELENY (on-camera): A new ingredient in the Democratic ticket, enthusiasm from rallies like this here in Detroit. Vice President Harris, Governor Walz, arriving here after being in Wisconsin, of course, on Tuesday night in Philadelphia. Those three states of course are critical cornerstones of their electoral strategy. That blue wall they need to defeat Donald Trump.
This race now feels fully joined with former president Trump, Senator J.D. Vance aggressively trying to really brand their opponents as too liberal for office. But the Democratic ticket trying to keep this momentum alive, the Democratic convention less than two weeks in Chicago.
Jeff Zeleny, CNN, Detroit.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: The flurry of diplomacy as the Middle East spirals towards crisis. In a moment, how Iran is rallying its allies and working out a response to Israel after the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh last week.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: Welcome back, everyone. I'm John Vause. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM.
Right now Israel is bracing for a possible unprecedented joint attack by Hezbollah and Iran, a retaliation for assassinations of two militant leaders last week. But two sources are now telling CNN Hezbollah may go it alone. Striking Israel first before Iran. The Lebanon based militant group, Iran's most powerful proxy, just across Israel's northern border apparently is moving faster and plans to attack Israel in the coming days, according to those sources.
On Wednesday, an emergency meeting in Saudi Arabia by the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, which held Israel responsible for the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, as well as a top Hezbollah commander last week.
CNN's Nic Robertson has more now from that foreign ministers' meeting in Jeddah.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: The narrative that's emerging is if Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agrees or moves towards a ceasefire in Gaza, then Iran perhaps won't retaliate against Israel and lead to that escalation for the killing of Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran about a week ago.
Now, the Iranian acting foreign minister was here meeting with all the other 40 foreign ministers, he didn't get any kind of commitments like that. He did get a strong support from the group here condemning the violation of Iran's sovereignty and territorial integrity, condemning the killing of Palestinians by Israel inside of Gaza.
[00:30:06]
What we are beginning to see, though, is the potential for an off- ramp.
ROBERTSON (voice-over): But this really, it appears, is something that's going to be either the gift (ph) of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. No indication that's going to happen.
Or under pressure from the United States. That's certainly the narrative that emerged from this meeting.
And I spoke to the Palestinian permanent representative to the U.N. --
ROBERTSON: -- who was a Palestinian representative sitting at the table here during the four hours of meetings. And he told me that the region here needs peace.
RIYAD MANSOUR, PERMANENT OBSERVER OF PALESTINE TO THE UNITED NATIONS: The region does not need escalation. What the region needs is a ceasefire. What the region needs to address and legitimate (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
I have a feeling that President -- Prime Minister Netanyahu wants to drag President Biden into a war with Iran. And I think that we all should learn the lessons of being dragged into war in Iraq in the past under false, you know, assumptions.
What we need is peace. With regard to what Iran wanted about, you know, the respecting its territorial integrity and the sovereignty. There was a strong support for this sentiment, because it is a cardinal principle reflected in the charter of the United Nations.
ROBERTSON (voice-over): So, the real question after this OIC emergency meeting now is the Iranian foreign minister going to go back to Tehran and be able to convince hardliners there to pause or not escalate and not retaliate at the moment.
ROBERTSON: And that really is unclear. And this region still with a very high level of uncertainty about what comes next.
Nic Robertson, CNN, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN VAUSE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Joining us now is Michael Eisenstadt, director of the Washington Institute's military and security studies program.
Thank you for being with us.
MICHAEL EISENSTADT, DIRECTOR, WASHINGTON INSTITUTE'S MILITARY AND SECURITY STUDIES PROGRAM: Sure. VAUSE: So, according to U.S. officials, a Gaza ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas is well within reach. They say the two sides have never been this close before.
So, here's a spokesperson for the U.S. State Department. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MATTHEW MILLER, U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESPERSON: Look, this is obviously a very delicate time for the region. Tensions are high. We are in the final stages, hopefully, of a ceasefire deal. And escalation has the potential to make every problem the region faces worse.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: At the same time, Iranian diplomats at the U.N. have told CNN, "We have pursued two priorities simultaneously. First, establishing a durable ceasefire in Gaza. Second, punishing the aggressor for the assassination of Martyr Haniyeh."
They would seem to be very competing goals. So, if a ceasefire hostage release agreement is likely, how does that play into this possibility that Iran may stand down or scale down any kind of strike on Israel?
EISENSTADT: First of all, we've been talking -- we've been hearing people talk for months now about a possible ceasefire deal so well see if, if, if this is just another fault stone or whether this is actually something which is, you know, real and will become tangible in the coming days.
That's it. I don't think he's really thought through carefully about how fraught such a ceasefire will be, because there will be many opportunities for a breakdown of a ceasefire.
Just once it's -- even if one is concluded, I think it's very likely that Hamas will try to reconstitute this capabilities. And Israel will feel compelled to strike.
That said, I think also Iran's desire to strike back at Israel for the targeted killing of Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran stands on its own.
This, for reasons of honor, an interest I think Iran will want to do. Now, whether they act in a big way now or whether they act down the road is another thing.
I'll just -- I'll just note that after the U.S. killed Qasem Soleimani in 2020, Iran responded within about five days with a missile attack on a base in Iraq where there are U.S. soldiers.
But until this day, there are still Iranian-inspired plots to kill U.S. officials who were involved in that operation.
So, I think, you know, they might defer an initial action, although that leaves open the question of whether Hezbollah will respond. But I think Iran will consider the file open, and they will act in the future in order to avenge this attack on their territory. Even though I think -- I don't think Haniyeh was really the big issue for them.
But, you know, the violation of their sovereignty at a time that they had established red lines in April saying any further attacks on Iranian interests, on Iranian territory, on Iranian personnel will result in an attack from their territory.
[00:35:08]
They want to -- they want to preserve that red line.
VAUSE: There's an issue of credibility here for Iran and how they respond, to see how they are seen in the region.
In terms of logistics for any kind of possible strike on Israel, a U.S. official told CNN, "Iran has made some, but not all of the preparations that the U.S. would expect to see in advance of a major attack on Israel. But given Lebanon's proximity to Israel, Hezbollah could act with little to no notice, the second source familiar with the intelligence also told us."
There's been speculation that a joint Hezbollah-Iran strike could actually overwhelm Israeli air defenses. So, given that and given how effective it could be, are separate independent strikes here even likely?
EISENSTADT: You know, it's -- I mean, on the one hand, it would make sense that you would want to have attacks from different directions that are timed to occur simultaneously.
From Iran's point of view, the attack that they launched in April was, in some ways, a big fail, because they launched over 350 munitions and, actually, if you count the hundred rockets that Hezbollah launched at the Golan, 450 munitions.
And only seven or nine or so landed in Israel. I mean, and caused no damage except they injured, you know, a poor Bedouin girl.
So, they can't afford to have something that -- that happened again this time. So, I think they'll want the time to plan this properly. And that might take a couple of weeks.
You know, the last time they responded in April, it was nearly two weeks after what was perceived as the Israeli provocation. So, it may take another week or a couple of more weeks for them to get the planning down so they feel that they have a good chance of overwhelming Israeli defenses and doing something substantial this time, that -- that really hurts the Israelis.
VAUSE: It's a good point to finish on there. Michael Eisenstadt, thank you, sir. Thank you very much for your time. I appreciate it.
VAUSE: We'll take a short break. When we come back time to meet the Walz. The Democratic vice-presidential nominee talks teaching, family, and that Midwestern dad vibe thing he's got going on.
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VAUSES: Democratic nominee Kamala Harris's running mate seems to be a walking, talking dad joke, in a good way.
Two-term Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and his backstory as a teacher, football coach, National Guardsman, congressman, appears to be a hit with Democrats, especially with the young people at those rallies in swing states like Michigan and Wisconsin.
More now from CNN's Brian Todd.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Governor Tim Walz.
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Tim Walz sharing his background as an educator with the world.
GOV. TIM WALZ (D-MN), VICE-PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I had the privilege of teaching public school social studies and coaching football for 20 years. And for all you Packer and Badgers fans, yes, we did when a state championship.
[00:40:07]
TODD (voice-over): A role he's shared with his wife.
BRIANA BIERSCHBACH, MINNESOTA POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT REPORTER, "STAR TRIBUNE": He also met his wife, Gwen Walz, while he was teaching. and she's a native Minnesotan, so she eventually brought him back home to the state of Minnesota. They moved to Mankato.
TODD (voice-over): The school system in rural Mankato, Minnesota is where Gwen Walz, Tim's wife of 30 years, served as an administrator and coordinator. She's also taught in public and alternative schools and taught in migrant schools and in prisons.
MARGARET TALEV, MANAGING EDITOR, AXIOS: Gwen Walz's background suggests that she not only believes education is important to all Americans, but that education is a wave to break patterns that can keep you down economically and sociologically.
FOREMAN: The daughter of two teachers, Gwen Walz hasn't hesitated to step into the political arena.
GWEN WALZ, TIM WALZ'S WIFE: We are the state leading for children, leading for families.
TODD (voice-over): The couple also sharing their personal struggle with starting a family and in vitro fertilization treatments.
T. WALZ: And I remember each night praying that the call was going to come, and there's going to be good news. The phone would ring. Tenseness in my stomach, and then the agony when you heard the treatments hadn't worked.
So it wasn't by chance that when we welcome our first child, our beautiful daughter, we named her Hope.
TODD (voice-over): Hope Walz is now 23 years old. They have a son, Gus, who's 17.
Last year, Tim and Hope posted this video from their trip to the state fair as they headed for a ride called the Slingshot.
T. WALZ: Which I don't know what it is, and they're keeping it from me. But then we're going to go get some food. Corn dog?
HOPE WALZ, DAUGHTER OF TIM WALZ: I'm vegetarian.
T. WALZ: Turkey then. And --
H. WALZ: Turkey is meat.
T. WALZ: Not in Minnesota. Turkey is special. And we will go do some of those things and report back.
BIERSCHBACH: He kind of has this Midwestern dad vibe. He really knows how to kind of jump into a conversation with a stranger and then make them feel like he's listening to them.
TODD: Analysts say it's that folksy relatability that Tim Walz has with working-class voters that could help the Harris campaign compete with Donald trump in the crucial swing states of Michigan and Wisconsin.
But one analyst also says Gwen Walz's work teaching migrants and inmates could open them up to attack lines from the Trump campaign.
Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.
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VAUSE: I'm John Vause, back at the top of the hour with more CNN NEWSROOM. Please stay with us. After a short break, WORLD SPORT is next. See you back here in 18 minutes or so.
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