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Hezbollah Confirms Hassan Nasrallah Killed In Israel Strike; Some U.S. Officials Celebrate News Of Hassan Nasrallah's Death; Austin: Casualties In Israel-Hezbollah War Could Exceed Those In Gaza; Lebanon's Health Minister: Up To Half A Million People Displaced; Dozens Dead As Helene Unleashes Life-Threatening Flooding. Dozens Dead As Helene Unleashes Life-Threatening Flooding; Hezbollah Confirms Hassan Nasrallah Killed In Israeli Strike; Today: Trump To Campaign In Battleground Wisconsin. Aired 12-1p ET

Aired September 28, 2024 - 12:00   ET

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

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[12:00:42]

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington in for Fredricka Whitfield. We're standing by for major breaking news right now. Significant developments unfolding in the Middle East right now. Another huge explosion rocking Beirut just a little while ago in the last hour or so as Israel continues its punishing airstrikes on Hezbollah forces in the Lebanese capital.

This as we learn the leader of one of the most powerful paramilitary forces in the Middle East was killed in one of those strikes. Iran- backed militant group Hezbollah, confirming its Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli bombing in Beirut on Friday. Iran state media says a senior Iranian commander was also among those killed in that blast.

Nasrallah was one of Hezbollah's founders, playing a key role in its formation and the targeting of Israel for over four decades. His death igniting fears of a wider conflict in the region. Those fears are very, very serious right now. Iran's supreme leader saying today that all regional resistant forces, those words, all regional resistant forces are standing with Hezbollah.

Meantime, the Israeli military says they just intercepted a missile launched from Yemen, where the Iran-backed Houthi rebels are based. U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is vowing U.S. protection and support for Israel as these tensions heat up dramatically.

CNN Correspondent Jomana Karadsheh is joining us live from Beirut right now. Jomana, I know that there was another huge explosion where you are just a little while ago. Jomana, what are you seeing on the ground right now?

JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Apologies, Wolf. We're having some issues with the audio. I think I could hear your question about what we have witnessed here in the last hour. I can tell you that this part of Beirut was rocked by a massive blast, and we could see a thick plume of smoke rising in the distance coming from the area of Beirut's southern suburbs.

And we have heard from the Israeli military saying they conducted what they described as a precise strike on the southern suburbs, known as Dahiya. It is unclear at this point what was targeted and what the damage or if there are casualties in that strike, but this really, Wolf, has been the scene here right now in Beirut for about 24 hours now.

When it all started yesterday with that huge blast that we now know, killed the leader of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, and unclear how many more people were killed in those massive strikes that hit the southern suburbs. And since then, Wolf, the Israeli military has been constantly pounding.

The different locations in the southern suburbs of Beirut since last night and throughout today, we heard from the Israeli military last night issuing evacuation orders. And just a short time after issuing these evacuation orders for certain neighborhoods in the southern suburbs telling people to get out of these areas because they are going to start striking what they said are weapons storage facilities and manufacturing facilities in these areas, they began striking.

But today, from what we are seeing here, Wolf, it would seem that some of these strikes that we have seen are also outside of these evacuation orders. And I can tell you from what we witnessed within hours of the Israeli military issuing, those orders to the civilians in one of the most heavily populated areas of this country, what we witnessed on the streets is just a scene so hard to describe, Wolf.

We were driving around at 3:00 in the morning, and you had thousands of people on Beirut's seafront sleeping on the ground, on benches, families, women carrying and cradling their little children, people walking with whatever they could carry when they were in this rush to get out and try and seek safety.

[12:05:04]

We don't have numbers right now officially from the Lebanese government of how many people have fled. But from what we saw last night, and this is continuing today, thousands of people have been displaced in the last 24 hours in the Lebanese capital. That is on top of what the Lebanese government estimates to be nearly half a million people who have been driven out of their homes in the past 10 days or so in the southern part of the country and in the east.

And right now, the mood here, I mean, this is a country on edge. You have so many of Nasrallah's supporters who are absolutely devastated by the news. A man who is considered a terrorist by most Western countries, a hero for so many of his loyal base in this country and beyond.

And everyone here is bracing, well, for what might come next. This may only just be the beginning. BLITZER: I suspect that's -- you're right about that. Jomana, stay safe over there. We will stay in close touch with you and your team. Appreciate it very much.

Jomana Karadsheh in Beirut for us.

Some senior American officials are privately celebrating news of the death of the Hezbollah leader, Hassan Nasrallah, even as they fear of a much wider Mideast conflict growing, escalating and doing so very soon.

CNN Senior White House Reporter Kevin Liptak is joining us. He's here in Washington. He's got the latest. Kevin, what are you hearing, first of all, from the Biden administration?

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, officially, Wolf, we're hearing nothing, and I think that is fairly telling. It gives you a sense of just how fraught this moment is for President Biden, how precarious the White House views the situation right now in the Middle East.

That's not to say that the White House isn't welcoming Nasrallah's death, at least, unofficially. Behind the scenes, officials do say no one in the Biden administration is mourning him. They acknowledge he has American blood on his hands. He was the leader of a terrorist organization after all.

But this does come as President Biden within -- trying to get Israel to deescalate the situation in the Middle East. So you do have these dueling dynamics that I think the administration is trying to figure out how exactly to respond at this moment. Because, remember, President Biden had spent the early part of this week trying to negotiate a 21-day ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah along the northern border.

The White House was furious when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu essentially rejected that effort on Thursday morning, and now you see the situation certainly deteriorating much further. Now we did hear from President Biden yesterday who said that the U.S. was not involved in this strike in Beirut.

He said that the U.S. had no heads up. And what we heard from American officials was essentially that their Israeli counterparts notified them as this operation was getting underway, essentially, when the planes were in the air was the first time that they heard that this was happening.

Now, the fears inside the White House and inside the Biden administration is that a wider war would be devastating and you heard that directly from Lloyd Austin yesterday in your interview when he said that casualties in a war between Israel and Lebanon would exceed those of the war in Gaza.

And so I think the Biden administration finds itself now at a very fraught moment. We do know that Lloyd Austin spoke twice yesterday to his counterpart in Israel, Yoav Gallant. American officials have been on the phone with their counterparts in Israel as well, trying to get more information about what exactly is happening.

Two men who have not spoken are President Biden and Prime Minister Netanyahu. They, in fact, haven't spoken at least according to White House readouts since August. And I think it gives you a sense of just how much influence President Biden thinks he has right now on Netanyahu, which is not very much.

BLITZER: All right, Kevin Liptak reporting for us. And I know he's going to be getting more information from the Biden administration on the reaction to what's going on in the Middle East right now.

Kevin Liptak, thanks very much for that update. Appreciate it very much.

Spider Marks is joining us, U.S. military analyst. Retired Army Major General Spider, thanks so much for joining us. What's your analysis right now, the impact of Nasrallah's death, the leader of Hezbollah? What's going to be the impact of this on the entire military structure of Hezbollah?

MAJ. GEN. JAMES "SPIDER" MARKS, U.S. ARMY (RET.): Well, let's start with, excuse me, let's start with this, the world's a better and safer place With Nasrallah dead. I think we need to just put that out there. I think the United States needs to be very strong in terms of its support to Israel at this point. There can't be any qualifications to that support, but also we need to understand nobody's looking for a broader or a more expansive fight in the Mideast.

[12:10:01]

And so what I think is going to happen primarily is we all understand that the IDF has a capability to operate along multiple lines of effort. They're demonstrating this. In fact, the center of gravity has shifted for the idea from Gaza to Hezbollah. This is where the primary effort will be going forward.

This is where the mass of Israeli intelligence and operational capacity will be focused. They'll want to hold in Gaza, but they are focusing primarily in on Hezbollah. The challenge with Hezbollah is many of the -- if you were to look at the hit list, many of their senior leaders have been taken off the board.

Nasrallah now, the senior leader has been taken off the board. Now, that doesn't mean there's no irreplaceable man. That individual will step forward. Hezbollah has not been completely neutered, but they are at a pause. They've lacked communications as a result of the pager and walkie talkie attack.

They're concerned about any time they try to move or gather that there will be a strike. And it also demonstrates an incredible, the very deep penetration on the part of the Israelis into Hezbollah's command and control structure. It's quite phenomenal. It's tradecraft. It's unprecedented.

So Hezbollah right now, I would think, will probably look for Tehran to very boisterously create a narrative that says we will not let this stand. We will support and we will follow. But bear in mind, Tehran doesn't want to have what I would call an unintended success against Israel, because if they did, it would not turn out well for Tehran.

Israel again has a tremendous capacity. So look for the hoodies to continue to be very provocative. Israel has a capable Arrow as well as Iron Dome system, but that can be penetrated. So I think Hezbollah right now is going to be in a pause before they can do anything else because they've got to figure out what their next steps look like that can be coordinated. And, frankly, with no communications and with a hesitance to move, you're not going to get much coordination.

BLITZER: I assume you know that I spoke with the U.S. Defense Secretary, Lloyd Austin, yesterday before Nasrallah's death was confirmed. Here's what he said about the potential of all-out war escalating dramatically soon. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

LLOYD AUSTIN, DEFENSE SECRETARY: Wolf, an all-out war between Lebanese Hezbollah and Israel would be devastating for both Lebanon and Israel. And again, we anticipate that we'd see a number of people displaced, casualties that, you know, equal or exceed what we've seen in Gaza. And so, again, the best way forward, in our view, is a diplomatic effort, a diplomatic solution.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

BLITZER: So, Spider, does an all-out war include ground fighting, or do you think it mostly would be airstrikes from both sides? And let's not forget, Hezbollah has what's been described as thousands of rockets and missiles stockpiled, mostly in southern Lebanon, which is an easy hit towards Israel.

MARKS: Yes, I think the Israelis are hoping that as a result of the strikes that they've achieved over the course of the last number of days will prevent the necessity for a ground invasion. If we go back to 2006, I mean, the Israelis as well as Hezbollah were significantly bloodied during that invasion.

So a ground incursion into Lebanon would be immensely difficult. The Israelis clearly want to push Hezbollah north of the Litani River that gives them a little more space. The Israelis also want to relocate those displaced civilians that they have back to northern Israel, but that's going to take some time.

So I think a ground campaign, I think Israel is assuming that their efforts right now will be sufficient to avoid a ground campaign. And I guarantee you that Hezbollah doesn't have the capacity to conduct that right now. And I would hope also that the strikes that the Israelis have been taking on over the course of the last few days have really attrited and depleted the inventory of Hezbollah missile capabilities.

But, look, an all-out war is not what anybody wants, but we have to look at, you know, what's the cost, what's the root cause of this. And the Israelis clearly have demonstrated that they are not going to be in a position to have to live with another October 7th, whether it's from a Gaza -- Hamas type of an attack in the Gaza region or from Hezbollah.

BLITZER: Yes, good point. All right, Spider Marks, Major General Spider Marks, thanks very much for your analysis.

Still to come, thousands of people are fleeing Lebanon right now as airstrikes continue across the country. We'll take a closer look at the humanitarian impact of the conflict right after a very quick break.

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[12:19:43]

BLITZER: Right now, Israel continues to strike various Hezbollah targets in Lebanon with the Beirut area again, specifically being targeted. People living in the southern suburbs of Beirut are taking shelter in parks and on sidewalks.

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[12:20:01]

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translation): We fled from our homes and God only knows if we will go back to our homes. God only knows. May God protect the people who were displaced from their homes and those who fled Baalbek and the south and all the areas affected by the war. May God protect them.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

BLITZER: Lebanon's health minister says there are likely up to half a million people displaced in Lebanon right now. CNN's International Reporter Nada Bashir explains what the situation is like for those people.

NADA BASHIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: For months now, we have seen civilians forced from their homes in southern Lebanon because of the ongoing crossfire and targeting of southern Lebanon by the Israeli military. Around 100,000 believed to have been forced to flee their homes already prior to this escalation that we are seeing now.

But as you mentioned, this has -- the situation has worsened. We're seeing these strikes and bombings deepening around the capital in Beirut. And it's important to underscore that these areas that we are seeing being struck by the Israeli military are densely populated areas. They are filled with civilians.

We saw a series of strikes targeting the southern Beirut suburb of Dahiya. This is an area crammed with tall apartment buildings filled with civilians, with families and children. So you can imagine the catastrophic impact this has had on the civilians living in this area, living in the city, but also, of course, for a country that has already been through so much.

Not only its history, of course, of wars brought on Lebanon, but also, of course, just in the last few years, we've seen a severe economic crisis, which has really pushed many to the brink of desperation in Lebanon. Then, of course, in August 2020, we saw the Beirut port blast.

Again, a huge amount of trauma surrounding that for the Lebanese capital and those living there. And now, of course, we are seeing a full-fledged war taking place in Lebanon, forcing so many to flee their homes for their own safety and protection.

Our teams on the ground, our correspondent, Jomana Karadsheh, was in Beirut last night, saw firsthand the huge number of civilians, families and children, essentially sleeping on the streets in central parts of Beirut for their safety and protection, fearing that their apartment buildings could be struck.

As you mentioned, the health ministry now saying they believe around 500,000 people have been internally displaced. So this is a hugely desperate situation for a city that has already been through, or a country that has already been through so much.

BLITZER: All right, Nada Bashir reporting. Nada, thank you very, very much.

Coming up, we're staying on top of all the major developments in the Middle East right now. Meanwhile, we're also following the aftermath of Hurricane Helene in the United States. A flash flood warning has just been extended in Tennessee as life threatening conditions continue to loom over several communities in the Southeast.

We're live in one of the hardest hit areas from the storm. We'll have details, that's next.

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[12:27:14]

BLITZER: Welcome back. We're watching major developments unfolding in the Middle East. Much more on that coming up. Significant fears of a much wider war developing. We'll have a lot on that, but there's other major news right here in the United States.

Cleanup is underway, as you know, after Hurricane Helene unleashed life-threatening flooding across major parts of the southeast this week. A flash flood emergency has been issued for parts of eastern Tennessee right now, after officials feared a critical, very, very critical part of the state was in trouble.

They now say the structure remains intact. One structure they were watching very closely. And the water, they say, is receding after reaching 8 feet of record levels. The storm made landfall in Florida, as you know. We're watching all of that as well, the impact of what's going on in Florida.

And it came across as a Category 4 hurricane with winds more than 130 miles an hour. At least 50 storm related deaths are reported across five states. Right now, nearly four million people are without power throughout the region. CNN's Isabel Rosales is joining us right now. She's in Asheville, North Carolina. Isabel, what are you seeing there?

ISABEL ROSALES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Wolf. Yes, I am in historic Biltmore Village. This is a place that so many tourists know, love and come to visit yesterday. I would have below water standing right here. And, in fact, let me show you, you can see it.

See that dark spot right there? That is the water line showing the overflow of the Swannanoa river reaching deep over here. A couple of blocks away was the -- is the river reaching deep into here, sending rushing water into this area where so many businesses are and leaving all sorts of crazy debris from furniture, doors.

And then right over here in front, you see that, that metal thing, that is a power pole, extremely heavy, just showing you how powerful, how strong these raging floodwaters were to be able to carry that all the way over here.

Now, we've clearly seen the floodwaters recede, which is great news for this community, but there's more rain on the way up to an additional inch of rainfall expected into areas of Western North Carolina, including Asheville here this weekend after already experiencing record rainfall three days in a row.

a big problem here for the community is they're attempting to dig out. Honestly, it's not just the cleanup effort, trying to get homes and businesses back together, trying to clear out all of this extremely thick mud all over the place, but also issues of communication. There's no cell service here.

We have a satellite truck. That's how I'm able to go to you live right now. But people are stranded, tourists who don't know how to get around, unable to access maps, folks unable to call loved ones, check in on them. No cell service, no internet.

People also in the dark, Wolf. Over 722,000 people without power here in the state. Also water, a significant water line break. So we're seeing folks here outside of the hotels, essentially stranded, unable to access the roadways, over 400 of them shut down across the state and having no means of communication, no means of getting power, no means of getting water.

So clearly, this is going to take a long time for Asheville, for other parts of western North Carolina to turn the page here, Wolf. And that's not even the worst of it. There's others who live higher up in elevation across the Blue Ridge Mountains, who are honestly trapped. They have no bridge access, roadways where -- there have been mudslides, landslides or heavy trees falling down and they are cut off in need of help. Wolf?

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: They certainly are. Isabel Rosales in Asheville, North Carolina, thank you very, very much. A horrible situation in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene.

For more on the enormous cleanup efforts underway right now, I'm joined by former FEMA Administrator, Pete Gaynor. Pete, thanks so much for joining us. FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, with a storm of this magnitude, Pete, affecting so many states in the southeast, what are FEMA's priorities right now? Where do they begin?

PETE GAYNOR, FORMER FEMA ADMINISTRATOR: Yes, well, they -- they began days ago. So the President did a pre-landfall declaration that allowed states like Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, to take action before the impact of disasters. And FEMA and our federal partners, everyone from Health and Human Services to HUD Coast Guard, Army Corps of Engineers, they are down there working through the problem set right now.

BLITZER: What -- what can these areas that have been devastated specifically expect in the days and weeks ahead?

GAYNOR: Yes. So -- so the first thing I would do is heed the direction from your local emergency managers and local elected officials. They -- they know best about your specific area, but heed their directions. And this part of the storm, the storm has already passed. It's a -- a -- it's a tropical depression at this point. But this is where many injuries happen post storm, things like generators inside of garages or inside of houses, carbon monoxide poisoning, people trying to do cleanup and not aware that there's wires entangled with -- with trees and branches on the road on -- on the street.

All these kinds of things make injuries more prone and prevalent, so be careful out there. Don't take any risk. Your local first responders, police, fire, are already stretched to the limit. Don't create more work for them by not thinking through the problem set and just being a little bit more patient.

BLITZER: In your view, Pete, how long will recovery take for major areas that were demonstrated, like Florida's Big Bend region, where the peninsula meets the panhandle, that was pretty ser -- seriously hit by this hurricane, and in Asheville, North Carolina, where we just had a reporter.

GAYNOR: Yes. You know, I think as a nation, whether you're local, tribe, territory state, we're really good at response, and we'll work our way through that. The hard part is yet to come, unfortunately, and that is recovery. There are recoveries today that have been going on for 20 years. Katrina recovery still going on today.

So the best advice I can give those local -- local communities that have been impacted by this storm and flooding and everything else is look for opportunities and get involved to help solve your local problems, because that's where the solutions lie. Is at the local level, and again, supported by the state and federal government with disaster relief, disaster grants, technical support. But if you want your recovery to go faster, get involved early on.

BLITZER: In July, Pete, you wrote a truly excellent opinion piece for cnn.com about the fatigue our emergency responders are dealing with. And you wrote this, and let me quote from your article, our unsung American heroes are worn out, and some are even leaving the disaster response workforce, end quote. Those disasters are not going away clearly. What does the agency need to do to address this burnout that we're seeing?

GAYNOR: Yes. And so, and -- and thank you for that, Wolf. It was -- it was actually a good opportunity to kind of relay this problem that we have across the country at every level. So again, local, state, federal, you know, burnout by emergency managers is -- is a real thing. I -- I -- and I'll just pick FEMA for -- for a minute, because I was the administrator.

[12:34:58]

You know, FEMA is really only 5,000 full time employees. We have another, you know, 15,000 reservists and cadre members that are part time. But there's really only 5,000 full time FEMA employees across the country. So you can imagine on days like this, where there's one or two regional impacts from a disaster, we're stretched. But imagine all the other things that happen simultaneously, wildfires, flooding in other parts of the country, and these non-traditional mission assignments that we've had, like COVID-19 and handling refugee resettlement of Afghanis. All these things stack up.

And as soon as you think you're done with one disaster, there's another one right around the corner. And I think one of the solutions is Congress really needs to take note of this and -- and better fund FEMA when it comes to adding more FEMA SMEs to the payroll, more funding so they could do a wide range of operations. And that -- that's true all the way down to local level. So whether you're a mayor or a governor or the president, you need to fully fund your emergency management team.

BLITZER: And we're grateful to all those workers at FEMA and the other agencies are involved in this. Thank you very much, Pete, for that analysis. Pete Gaynor --

GAYNOR: Thanks Wolf.

BLITZER: -- helping us. And for more information about how you, our viewers, can help Hurricane Helene victims, go to cnn.com/impact, you can do so. We'll be right back.

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[12:41:14]

BLITZER: I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington. We're continuing to follow major breaking news out of the Middle East. I want to go straight to CNN senior White House reporter Kevin Liptak, who has just received new reaction from the President of the United States. Kevin, what are you learning?

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes. And this is the first official word from the Biden administration following the death of the Hezbollah leader, Hassan Nasrallah, and President Biden in the statement, it's a carefully worded one. It's a balanced statement. And he says that Hassan Nasrallah and the terrorist group he led, Hezbollah, were responsible for killing hundreds of Americans over a four decade reign of terror. His death from an Israeli airstrike is a measure of justice for his many victims, including thousands of Americans, Israelis and Lebanese civilians.

The President goes on to acknowledge that this took place in the broader context of the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah that began on October 7th. He says that the U.S. does fully support Israel's right to defend itself against Hezbollah, but other Iranian backed groups in the region. And the President concludes by saying, ultimately, our aim is to de-escalate the ongoing conflicts in both Gaza and Lebanon through diplomatic means.

He says, in Gaza, we have been pursuing a deal backed by the U.N. Security Council for a cease fire and the release of hostages. In Lebanon, we have been negotiating a deal that would return people safely to their homes in Israel and southern Lebanon. And the President says, it is time for those deals to close, for the threats to Israel to be removed and for the broader Middle East region to gain greater stability.

And so you hear the president there welcoming the death of Hassan Nasrallah, certainly because he was a terrorist and because he had the blood of Americans on his hands, but also calling very explicitly for the situation in the Middle East to deescalate. And he says that he's been working on the ceasefire deal. That is the deal that American officials thought that they had Israeli backing for when they announced it on Wednesday evening.

The next day, Prime Minister Netanyahu essentially rejected the deal, to the fury of American officials. President Biden, in this statement, is saying that now the parties should resume talks about that ceasefire across the border. Of course, American officials today have been watching very closely to see how Hezbollah will respond, to see how Iran will respond to the killing of -- of Nasrallah, and certainly President Biden, very much, hoping that the temperatures can be lowered.

BLITZER: All right. Kevin Liptak with a statement from President Biden, thank you very, very much for that. Hezbollah's leader, Hassan Nasrallah led the Iran-backed militant group for more than 30 years before being killed in an Israeli air strike in the Southern air -- part of Beirut on Friday. His death marks a major setback for the group and creates a leadership opening and lots of uncertainty right now. Let's go to CNN's Nic Robertson, he's joining us from Tel Aviv. Nic, what do we know first of all about who may eventually take over as the group's new leader?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Well, it's somebody who was going to be in the close orbit of Hassan Nasrallah, somebody he feel -- he feels, or felt that he trusted, somebody that those around him and who survived the onslaught against the Hezbollah leadership will recognize that had the trust of Hassan Nasrallah. So in a way, somebody that was sort of, per -- perhaps not anointed by him, but was in that in a inner circle of trust.

And I -- I think the two names, or the two people that are sort of emerging from -- from this are the effective number two that -- that many people are aware of, who was there giving a speech at the funeral of some Hezbollah commanders just less than a week ago in Beirut, who is viewed as being more hard line than Hassan Nasrallah himself. And I had a conversation earlier this week with some officials here about what happens if Hassan Nasrallah is removed or -- or -- or would he even be on a -- on a target list.

[12:45:18]

Back then, I was given the indication that, you know, you have to analyze carefully if you remove him, who does he get replaced by? Well, here we are, a few days later, trying to analyze, who does he get replaced by? One of them, his number two is understood to be a relative hardliner, and another one a relative of Hassan Nasrallahs, his cousin, in fact, Hashem Safieddine is believed to sort of have perhaps been the one that Nasrallah was sort of bringing along, in his own image, if you will, as sort of bringing along as an understudy. He was the chief of the executive committee of -- of -- of Hezbollah.

But I think perhaps more pertinent to our understanding of him and our audience's understanding of him, this is somebody who was the son, son-in-law, rather of Qasem Soleimani, who was killed in a U.S. drone strike back in 2020. Qasem Soleimani was the Iranian commander of overseas operations, the Quds Force of the elite IRGC in Iran.

So this -- this sort of intermarriage connection and birth connection, to -- to -- to both Hassan Nasrallah and this huge figure, this iconic figure of Iranian military leadership, Qasem Soleimani, the sort of intermarriage there into his family that perhaps plays into -- in -- into Hashem Safieddine's hands, if you will. But it's not clear who the party is going to pick, how much influence Iran will have over that pick, and even what sort of leader Safieddine may be, if he is the one.

The problem whichever leader picks up is, what is his circle of trust? Is it penetrated by intelligence operatives as soon as he is anointed? Does that make him the next target? And can he reconstitute Hezbollah, and how can he land a punch on Israel? Those are going to be the -- the sort of immediate concerns of whoever picks up the rains, Wolf.

BLITZER: And it's interesting, Soleimani was killed during the Trump administration, and Trump often bragged about ordering the assassination of Soleimani, right?

ROBERTSON: He did. And it was seen as one of those moments that there was a watershed where there was an uptick in Iranian militia strikes against U.S. interests in Iraq. In fact, there were -- there was a direct response to one of the bases where -- where there were U.S. troops operating in the north of Iraq at the time, I think there were at least two strikes. And in one of those strikes, troops were -- were sheltering in place and -- and, you know, because there was a large volley of missiles fired from Iran at the base.

Many of those troops suffered concussion injuries as a result of that. Now, Iran backed down from escalating after that moment. But Qasem Soleimani was a very, very important figure, so maybe the sort of inter family marriage there of -- of this Lebanese figure may anoint him in Iranian eyes. We -- we don't know Wolf. I mean, this is at the moment, this is -- this is conjecture. It's not guesswork. It's informed understanding. But we don't know which way Hezbollah is going to go or which way Iran is going to guide them to go.

The -- the real question is, do you get somebody who's a calculating, careful pragmatist like Hassan Nasrallah, or do you get somebody who's got much hotter blood, much more fiery attitudes and will -- and -- and will engage much more forcefully and in a less calculated way with Israel? Probably that's not what Iran wants, but to a degree, some of this is going to be in the hands of Hezbollah to decide.

[12:49:18]

BLITZER: Yes. It's a very, very dangerous moment in the Middle East right now. Nic Robertson, thanks very much for that report. We're going to continue our breaking news coverage on the death of Hassan Nasrallah, and we'll do so right after a quick break.

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OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN HOST: I'm Omar Jimenez. We'll get back to Wolf Blitzer in a moment, but we want to update you on other stories going on, including the race to the White House headed to the battleground state of Wisconsin today, where the escalating situation in the Middle East could become a hot topic.

Now this afternoon, former President Trump will hold a rally in Wisconsin where he's expected to focus much of his speech on immigration, but he could also address the death of Hezbollah's leader who was killed in a targeted strike by Israel and Lebanon's capital city of Beirut.

CNN's Steve Contorno is covering the Trump campaign for us. Now Steve, I mean, has Trump commented yet on the death of the Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah?

STEVE CONTORNO, CNN REPORTER: He has not yet, Omar. And we've been watching his Truth Social to see if that's where he decides to weigh in. He has generally said that the turmoil in the Middle East would not have happened if he was reelected four years ago, but we'll see if, when he gets on this stage later today, he more directly addresses the latest developments in Beirut.

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However, we do expect this to this speech, to focus on immigration. Obviously, it's an issue that has been central to his campaign so far, and if -- it's interesting, the backdrop today is a small city called Prairie du Chien. It's about 6,000 people live here, one of the smaller venues I've attended for a Trump event. However, that is certainly the point. He wants to make the case that the issues with crime that have been tied to our immigration policies can hit any community in America, including small towns like this one.

There is a recent incident here that local police have identified as linked to a potentially undocumented individual, and Republicans have seized on it as an -- as an example that the issues at the border can happen in your community as well. And obviously this event is coming just a day after Vice President Harris made her trip to the border, Donald Trump commenting on that in the last couple hours saying in Truth Social, why didn't she make this speech four years ago? It's too late.

Now, this visit to Wisconsin comes as polls continue to show a very tight race. Here, take a look at our CNN poll of polls in Wisconsin. It's well within the margin of error, a slight edge to -- to Vice President Harris. However, that could change with any coming poll. Omar?

JIMENEZ: Yes. We've seen those polls essentially show no clear leader for quite some time now. Steve Contorno, thank you so much.

Still ahead for us, the world awaits Hezbollah's next move after their leader was targeted and killed in an Israeli air strike, our breaking news coverage continues in just a moment. Stay with us.

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