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Interview With Gov. Andy Beshear (D-KY); U.S. Warns Israel of Iran Missile Attack; Aired 11-11:30a ET

Aired October 01, 2024 - 11:00   ET

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

[11:00:44]

JIM ACOSTA, CNN HOST: It has been a very busy morning.

I need to hand it off to Pamela Brown now, but, Pam, no shortage of news this week.

PAMELA BROWN, CNN HOST: Absolutely not, Jim.

ACOSTA: Yes.

BROWN: And we just want to remind our viewers that we're going to continue to cover the devastation from Helene.

Jim, often, the media will cover stories, and there are complaints we don't stay on it. We're going to stay on it because there are a lot of people suffering right now, as you have been reporting on in your show. And that suffering, sadly, it's going to continue for weeks, for months, as these small communities continue to rebuild after all of that devastation.

ACOSTA: It's just unreal, absolutely.

BROWN: Yes.

ACOSTA: And it's going to take a lot of time and a lot of resources from the federal government, state government. They have got to get on it, no question about it. Yes.

BROWN: Yes, they do. I'm actually -- I have Governor Beshear of my home state of Kentucky on later in the show.

We're going to ask him about it, because, as you know, in Kentucky, in my home state, there's been devastating storm events that have caused a lot of damage and wreaked over the last several years. So we're going to hear his perspective and what his advice is to these states.

And, of course, we're talking about what's going on the Middle East with this warning from the White House, Jim, with a potential imminent attack from Iran on Israel. A lot to get to. Thanks so much, Jim.

ACOSTA: You bet.

BROWN: I will take it from here. Good morning, everyone. You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Pamela

Brown in Washington.

And we begin this hour with breaking news out of the Middle East. The U.S. believes Iran is preparing a ballistic missile attack on Israel, and that attack could be imminent.

Joining us now, Jim Sciutto and Tel Aviv, Barak Ravid, a CNN political and global affairs analyst, and retired Air Force Colonel Cedric Leighton.

Jim, this is a rapidly developing story. What is Israel saying in response to this public warning from the U.S.?

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: So, this warning emanated, as you say, from the U.S. just in the last hour or so, although we believe it was communicated to the Israelis prior to that.

We have learned since that the U.S. believes that this attack will be on the scale of what we saw in April. That's significant because that was a significant attack,dozens of missiles and drones launched from Iran towards Israel, though the vast majority of them were intercepted, not just by Israeli air defenses, but also U.S. assets in the region and other allies in the region, including Jordan.

You have a -- we should be aware you have a network of air defenses that comprise not only fixed positions on the ground, but aircraft in the sky, ships in the Mediterranean, the Red Sea, and positions inside Jordan and elsewhere in the region.

So far, Israeli officials are saying they have not detected that threat in the air yet, in other words, the missiles, the drones not flying yet, but they do believe that this attack may take place within the next several hours. So it's imminent.

Just to give you a sense of the warning times, Pamela, it would take about 12 minutes for a ballistic missile to get from Iran to here in Israel. They're faster. They're supersonic. It takes a few hours for a cruise missile. It would take several hours for a drone. They move much more slowly.

But for those missiles, there's not a lot of warning time. And given where we are right now, with Israel fighting in effect on multiple fronts in Gaza, there are now Israeli boots on the ground in Southern Lebanon, just within the last 48 hours, Israel launched its longest airstrikes or its farther -- farthest distance airstrikes to Yemen, 1,500 miles away, airstrikes there.

So you have Israel fighting on multiple fronts. And if Iran were to fire again, that would be yet one more front. And just a final thing, does raise the specter of the U.S. somehow getting in the middle of it, because the U.S. would certainly act to defend Iran in terms of shooting down these missiles. But you would expect Israel to fire back. They have already said there would be consequences. If that escalates,

and that's always the danger here, the escalation ladder, if that escalates, it at least raises the danger of U.S. involvement.

BROWN: And I want to go to you on that, Barak, because, as we just heard from Jim, this is expected to be along the same scale and scope as we saw in April, where there were more than 300 projectiles from Iran launched into Israel. Most were intercepted.

In response to that, Israel had a very limited response, right, in retaliation. You have to wonder, given these warnings and given the dynamic going on the Middle East right now, if a potential retaliatory strike, if this imminent attack happens, if it would be the same as we saw in April or if the dynamic has changed so much since then.

[11:05:14]

BARAK RAVID, CNN POLITICAL AND GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Thank you, Pamela.

What I hear from Israeli officials is that it is not going to be the same, meaning, as you said last time, the Israeli response to this unprecedented first time in history that Iran attacked Israel directly, the response was one missile fired at one anti-aircraft missile battery in an airport in a military air base in Isfahan, Iran.

This time, what I hear from Israeli officials is that the response is going to be much more significant and it will hurt much more to the Iranians.

BROWN: Well, given that, what we just heard from Barak, how close is the U.S. to becoming -- to being in direct conflict with Iran right now?

COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: This is going to be the big balancing act of at least this year, if not this decade, Pamela.

And I think one of the things that the U.S. has to be careful of is that, as the Israelis move forward, as Barak was reporting, you're going to have a call to limit the Israeli strike or the Israeli strikes, whatever they may be.

So, when you look at the map of the Middle East, you see we are prepositioned in all of these different areas, in the Red Sea, in the Gulf of Oman and the Persian Gulf. We will use assets to protect Israel. But the policy so far is not to aid the Israelis as they go engage in offensive operations.

We have a history of trying to prevent Israel from attacking Iran over the last few decades, and that I think will continue as part of U.S. policy. But it's going to get really difficult if, as the Iranians respond potentially to an Israeli strike on their territory, then, of course, that becomes an issue where we have to make a choice, but we will definitely not let Israel suffer major consequences from an Iranian attack if we can help it. BROWN: Right. I mean, the U.S. has said there will be severe

consequences, we will defend Israel. But the bottom line here is, Jim, Israel has repeatedly defied the U.S. in recent months.

The U.S. has been calling for a cease-fire. Israel has only been ramping up its attacks now against Hezbollah and Lebanon. And as Cedric said, look, the U.S. is going to call for restraint, but it's unlikely Israel would heed those warnings from the U.S.

SCIUTTO: And on that, one thought regarding that Israeli response to the April attack.

When they were -- when they fired that missile at that surface-to-air missile battery outside Isfahan, it was more than about that one missile. It was a message to Iran that it could take out the defenses around Iran's nuclear facilities.

And that is, of course, a broader message about Israel telegraphing to some degree its capabilities if it were to decide to take that enormous step of attempting to strike or take out some of Iran's nuclear facilities, which, of course, would be an enormous escalation in this conflict here.

And I should note, given what you asked, Pamela, that in terms of this daylight that we're increasingly seeing between President Biden, the U.S. and the Israeli prime minister, repeatedly trying to pull Israel and the region back from a broader war, attempting cease-fire negotiations in Gaza, cease-fire negotiations in Lebanon, attempting to keep all sides, right, from escalating, the U.S. does not want a war with Iran today over its nuclear facilities.

There's been some back-and-forth on this through years, particularly with the Israeli prime minister. You can envision a circumstance, right -- and we're not there yet -- but this is all about escalation and how each side views the other's escalatory step and how do they then respond to established deterrence, whatever language you use.

That's the scenario that U.S. officials have long worried about, that you escalate and that escalation gets out of control.

BROWN: And, as you pointed out, we're in a very different period than we were back in April, when we saw Iran attack Israel and we saw the limited response from Israel.

A lot has happened since then. This is a different moment in this war.

Jim Sciutto, Colonel Cedric Leighton, and Barak Ravid, thank you.

Let's continue this conversation with CNN chief national security correspondent Alex Marquardt, also with us, Brett Bruen, a former U.S. diplomat who has spent time in the Middle East and served with the National Security Council and State Department.

Alex, to bring you in first, just how serious is this moment in terms of potential escalation? ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Oh, it's

enormous, particularly when you hear what Barak Ravid was saying there about the potential for Israel to respond to this looming strike in a much more significant way than they did a couple months ago.

It's clear that the U.S. is watching this very, very carefully. They were the ones who gave the Israelis the warnings early today. And I think that there's another question. It's not just about what we're going to expect from Iran now and how Israel could respond after that. It's also about the defense of Israel that's about to come.

[11:10:17]

Remember, on April 13, when Iran launched that attack, the U.S. put together this coalition of countries to defend Israel that included Britain, France, Saudi Arabia and Jordan. Is that coalition going to be in place this time? There's a lot more frustration now in the Arab world with the Israelis.

There's a lot more frustration here in the United States with the Israelis. The U.S. has been quite angry about a number of things they have done, including viewing the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, the Hamas leader and lead negotiator for the cease-fire in Iran, seeing that as unnecessary.

We heard the president just yesterday talking about how these raids and these growing operations in Lebanon should not be happening. And yet the U.S. continues to support Israel and it continues to defend Israel. And there is an argument that is being made here in Washington that as -- that the U.S. has a vested interest in defending Israel because, if there is huge destruction, lots of people killed in Israel, then Israel will be forced to respond in an even bigger way.

So the effort now by the United States is going to be to defend Israel as much as it can to make sure that destruction is as low as possible and then try to step up the pressure to make sure that Israeli response is not as significant as Barak was warning there.

BROWN: Right.

And as we heard from Colonel Leighton, look, they're going to -- the U.S. is going to ask for restraint of these attacks that happen from Iran. But we keep seeing Israel not caring what the U.S. as to say, even as the U.S. vows to defend Israel and warns Israel about an imminent potential attack like this.

Help us understand this dynamic and the failure at play here by the U.S.

BRETT BRUEN, FORMER WHITE HOUSE DIRECTOR OF GLOBAL ENGAGEMENT: Well, Israel and Iran know that we are in the midst of both the presidential, as well as congressional elections.

And so what's happening in the Middle East is also playing out on the campaign trail. And I think Netanyahu is counting on at this decisive moment in our domestic political context, Biden cannot be seen to have distance between him and Netanyahu.

The U.S. is going to have to be robust. But at the same time, we have heard mixed messages coming out of the White House, on the one hand, publicly saying that Israel needs to practice more restraint, publicly saying that they're pushing for a cease-fire, and, as reporting in the last day has suggested tacitly, if not directly saying to the Israelis, we're OK if you go after Hezbollah in Southern Lebanon.

So I think we need to see a much more proactive posture from the U.S., trying to take control of this situation in as much as it can. As Alex said, the alliances within the Middle East are strained, if not in some cases actually ruptured. So the U.S. needs to work on the Jordanians and the Saudis to bring them along in the face of this Iranian threat.

BROWN: Yes, because, in April, the Jordanians helped intercept some of the missiles, right? And so you have to wonder, would they step in again to do the same if there's this attack that we're expecting from Iran, according to the U.S.?

And just to follow up on what you said, as a former diplomat who spent time in the Middle East, would you consider this a diplomatic failure so far in the part of the U.S., given what we're seeing play out?

BRUEN: I think we are at a dangerous, decisive moment that will decide the next decade. And this is a moment, a lot of it has happened behind closed doors.

A lot of the diplomacy that we have heard about from Secretary Blinken, from President Biden, has only, I think, been a part of what the U.S. can bring to bear in terms of our diplomatic muscle. We have to stop with the statements, we have to stop with some of the superficial steps, and we have to start getting more serious.

We have to bring to bear the pressure we can, both on Israel, but also on regional partners, also on others around the world to say, this is the moment to put up your diplomatic, your defensive, and the weight that you can bring to bear on this crisis, because if this thing slides into an all-out war, the repercussions, the consequences are going to reverberate throughout not only the region, but the globe.

BROWN: What are you hearing from your sources on that front, having just been at the U.N. and the concerns about an all-out regional war, and the U.S. being dragged into direct conflict with Iran, something neither wants?

MARQUARDT: Well, I think there are a lot of critics of Israel and of Prime Minister Netanyahu who say that they want the U.S. to be dragged into this conflict.

And I think what really was highlighted last week was what we have been discussing, which is time and time again the Israelis have shown that they are willing to publicly defy the United States. And, frankly, last week was quite embarrassing for the Biden administration, because they put forward this cease-fire deal on Wednesday night that they'd been working on for several days. [11:15:02]

We're told that the Israelis were familiar with the language. They knew what was coming, and yet the Israelis turned around and essentially rejected it and went and killed Hassan Nasrallah, and here we are in this extraordinary escalation, where Iran, which has really not wanted to broaden this conflict -- they're more than happy to let their proxies go after American and Israeli interests.

We have seen that for the past 12 months, but they themselves by and large have not gotten involved, except for April 13 and except for today. So this is a very worrying moment. And it's raising a lot of questions about why the United States is unable or unwilling to restrain Israel in the way that they would like to see, why President Biden is not willing to use the very significant leverage and the various levers that he has to get Israel to dial it back.

And, instead, what we're what we're facing today is the possibility of real escalation and increased American involvement.

BROWN: You do have to wonder, if there wasn't an election in five weeks, potentially how different it would be, the U.S. response. And then I'm going to get to Jim Sciutto.

What do you have to say to that?

BRUEN: I think, to Alex's point, Biden and his team have been practicing old-school tactics, and we are facing a brave new world, one in which Netanyahu is no longer going to defer to Washington on a lot of these points.

So we have got to get more creative, we have got to get in some cases more aggressive in how we are trying not just to work around the edges, but really allowing the United States to play a more proactive, a more strategic role in this process, because I think what we saw last week in New York was that the Israelis are not going to heed even agreements that they are behind close doors saying that they're agreeing to.

We have to put more public pressure on them.

BROWN: And yet, as you pointed out, that Israel is banking on the fact that the U.S. will continue to support it, and it has been, right, as we saw today.

I want to bring you in, Jim Sciutto. You have some thoughts on this.

SCIUTTO: Well, just as we raise the prospect of one side or the other exercising restraint or delivering a proportional response, we just have to be aware of the danger that one person's or one side's restraint is another side's escalation, right?

I mean, in the last 24 hours, you have Israeli boots on the ground in Southern Lebanon, something they haven't done in numbers in 18 years. You have Israeli officials describing that as a limited ground incursion, saying they don't intend a longer occupation there or at least a long-term occupation there.

But the fact is, based on this Iranian threat, they viewed that move as an escalation. By the way, U.S. officials viewed it as an escalation as well, which is one reason why they were trying to find other paths forward to give Israel the security it's seeking in Northern Israel.

So, it's -- one side has its own interpretation of the other side's steps and intentions, and they also have their own red lines. And we're in a zone right now where you can have misinterpretation in both directions, which makes for, well, just a highly volatile mix.

BROWN: Jim Sciutto, Brett Bruen, and Alex Marquardt, thank you for helping us better understand the seriousness of this moment. We appreciate it. Thank you.

And we're going to continue to follow this breaking news, U.S. intel officials say they believe Iran could strike Israel imminently. I will speak with Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:23:16]

BROWN: And let's get back to our breaking news.

A senior White House official says the U.S. has intel that Iran is preparing to -- quote -- "imminently launch" a ballistile missile attack against Israel -- ballistic, I should say.

This has been a fear among peace negotiators for months now.

Here with us now to discuss, Democratic Governor Andy Beshear from my home state of Kentucky.

Governor, thanks for your time. You're here to discuss tonight's vice presidential debate, but I must ask you first about this breaking news and the political implications it carries in the United States just five weeks from the presidential election.

GOV. ANDY BESHEAR (D-KY): Well, I think, when you look at an international conflict like this, the most important thing is that we do it right as one country, not Democrats, not Republicans.

And when we try to put politics into our foreign policy, I think it only harms our standing in the world and our effectiveness. I still remember when Tower 22 was attacked in Jordan, the Kentucky National Guard was leading that mission. It was very personal to me, and we lost those service members from Georgia.

And I saw a certain senator go on the news that night, and instead of saying our country was attacked, we need to come together, instead of saying we pray for the lives that were lost and their families, they used it as an opportunity to attack someone from the other party.

Now, this is one of the challenges we have in America right now. We need to be one America, and Americans first and Democrats and Republicans second or third, when we're dealing with foreign policy, especially in such an unstable world.

BROWN: Then are you worried about tonight with the vice presidential debate, that will happen, that it will be politicized?

BESHEAR: Well, listen, I can't control what certain people will say and do, but it's about whether you put your country first over your personal ambition.

[11:25:06]

That's certainly something I see with Tim Walz, who his whole life has been about service. You go into teaching. You serve as a lunchroom monitor. You spend your extra time as an assistant coach. You then serve in the roles in Congress and as governor.

I know that -- where his heart is, and where he will always put policy is the interests of our country above party and above personal ambition.

BROWN: The polls show that he is more popular than J.D. Vance, but many voters say they still have no opinion of him, roughly three in 10. So what are you hoping to hear tonight from him?

What do you think he needs to do for those voters to better understand?

BESHEAR: Well, the first thing Tim needs to do is just be Tim. This is a great friend. He has been an outstanding governor and he's going to be a great vice president of the United States of America.

He cares about everyone. Both his and Vice President Harris' plans are about lifting everyone up. Look at their middle-class tax cut. That's going to help Democrats, Republicans and independents. Look at their plan on affordable housing, the first time I have seen that in a presidential ticket.

Again, that's going to help on affordability and on the number of homes that are out there for all Americans that are looking for their forever home.

On the other side, you're going to see someone who is condescending, who attacks whole groups of people, attacks adults without children. George Washington didn't have biological children, and he is the father of our country. They're going to see just a real contrast in between someone who cares and someone who judges absolutely everyone around them.

They're also going to see a major contrast on policy. I look forward to Tim Walz talking about leading Minnesota to the lowest unemployment rate ever, as well as expanding health care, while J.D. Vance is going to have to defend Donald Trump's Project 2025, his attempts to repeal the Affordable Care Act that, just in our home state of Kentucky, we expanded Medicaid under it; 600,000 people got coverage for the first time. They and 10 million -- tens of millions of Americans would lose it.

The 1.6 million Kentuckians that have a preexisting condition that used to be kicked off their health care would be at risk again, along with so many different Americans.

This is an opportunity both to show which ticket is truly there for the American people and which ticket are out for themselves.

BROWN: As you know, Trump and his allies have attacked Walz, saying he's a radical liberal. Trump continues to attack the governor.

Let's listen to what he has said lately.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES (R) AND CURRENT U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: They're so rigged and so stacked. You will see tomorrow with J.D. It'll be stacked. He's going up against a moron, a total moron. How she picked him is unbelievable. And I think it's a big factor.

There's something wrong with that guy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: Do you think that he should address those attacks against him? And do you think he should focus more on Vance tonight or Trump?

BESHEAR: I think what you just saw is a former president that shows he is not presidential.

I mean, think about that. That's somebody running for president calling out names like he's in middle school. I mean, we need a president that is at least mature enough to be able to work with people on both sides of the aisle and not resort to just calling somebody a name.

It ought to be clear to all Americans that Donald Trump has embraced the meanness. And is that what we want to see in a president? Think about how dangerous that could be. No, Tim doesn't need to respond to people calling names.

Listen, he's been a lunchroom monitor. He's dealt with people who do that. He just needs to push forward with who he is, what he stands for, and what this ticket stands for. I mean, he needs to highlight the fact that Donald Trump's handpicked Supreme Court ripped a constitutional right to reproductive freedom away from every woman in America.

And then just look at their other policies and statements. I'm -- Pamela, I'm wearing a purple tie because this is Domestic Violence Awareness Month, making sure that everyone is safe in their relationships and no one is subjected to violence.

But J.D. Vance, who's going to debate tonight, actually said that women should stay in violent relationships. This choice could not be clearer, both for the people that are running and what they're running for.

When Vice President Harris wins, she's going to bring us to a better place, one that lifts up all Americans and brings us back together. Donald Trump just wants to win to continue to divide us, to attack his opponents. And, again, that's not where any of us want to be. We're all so tired of the constant back-and-forth.

[11:30:05]

BROWN: Let me just follow up with you, Governor.

BESHEAR: Sure.

BROWN: Let me just follow up with you.

And J.D. Vance, for his part, those were comments he made years ago talking about seeing his grandparents fight and so forth.