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CNN International: Massive Port Strike Underway Across East, Gulf Coasts; Iran Launches Its Largest Attack Ever Against Israel; Israel Vows to Retaliate Against Iran; Israeli Military Issues New Evacuation Orders in Lebanon; Tim Walz and J.D. Vance Square Off in VP Debate; Hurricane Helene's Death Toll Rises to at Least 166 in the U.S.; Russia Captures Key Donetsk Town of Vuhledar; 90 Killed in Multiple Israeli Strikes on Gaza Overnight. Aired 8-9a ET

Aired October 02, 2024 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:15]

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWSROOM": Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from around the world. I'm Becky Anderson in Tel Aviv in Israel. It is 3 p.m. here on Wednesday, October 2. This hour, I'll bring you the very latest on Israel's incursion into Lebanon.

MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWSROOM": And I'm Max Foster in London. Just ahead, I'll take a close look at the U.S. vice presidential debate which focused on policy rather than personal attacks. But we begin with that breaking news.

ANDERSON: Well, Iran says it is absolutely not interested in a broader war as Israel vows retaliation for Tehran's largest missile attack ever. We begin with what is a very real escalation in this region of the Middle East. Sirens blared across Israel on Tuesday evening as Iran launched some 200 ballistic missiles at Israeli military and security targets. Iran blames Israel for fueling the regional escalation.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says that Iran made a big mistake and they will pay for it. Well, they says (ph) Israeli airstrikes hit Hezbollah targets in Beirut overnight in Lebanon. The military issued yet more evacuation orders for dozens of villages in southern Lebanon. Israel is also sending more troops to take part in the ground war in the south there, which it describes as limited, targeted and localized.

Well, President Joe Biden says the United States remains fully supportive of Israel. He says the U.S. is in active discussions with Israel right now, on an appropriate response to Iran's attack on Tuesday. Mr. Biden says he plans to speak to Benjamin Netanyahu at some point, though the two men have not spoken since August. He also addressed how Tuesday's attack by Iran was thwarted.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, (D) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The attack appears to have been defeated and ineffective, and this is testament to Israeli military capability and U.S. military. I am also -- it is also a testament to intensive planning between the United States and Israel to anticipate and defend against the brazen attack we expected. Make no mistake, the United States is fully, fully, fully supportive of Israel.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Well, that's Joe Biden. Earlier, I spoke with the IDF international spokesperson, Lieutenant Colonel Peter Lerner in Tel Aviv, and I started by asking him whether Iran's missile barrage here Tuesday resulted in any serious or significant damage? Have a listen.

LT. COL. PETER LERNER, IDF INTERNATIONAL SPOKESPERSON: I am not going to specific -- talk about specific locations, Becky, precisely because I don't want to tip off Iran. But, what I can say is that the operational capability, the ability to continue as we have been throughout the course of this morning, conducting precision strikes against Hezbollah targets, continues. The aerial defense system was effective on its multi-layers different capabilities from the Iron Dome and David's Sling and beyond. And I think what is important, of course, 180 ballistic missiles fired at Israel with the intent to kill and cause death and destruction failed.

ANDERSON: What can you tell us about planning for an Israeli response? The prime minister here has said that he vows a response, very specifically on Iran. I also want to talk about what is going on with regard Hezbollah, the Iran-backed group in Lebanon. But, what can you tell us about what that response on Iran might look like and when it will take place?

[08:05:00]

LERNER: Very, very specific questions as always, Becky. I think we need to understand that our primary focus currently is destroying Hezbollah's capabilities on the border with Israel, to restore safety and security and bring home the 60,000 Israelis that have been living out of home. If you want to ask what we can do, Nic Robertson was on a flight to Yemen when we conducted the strikes against the Houthis just the two days ago. And I think that illustrates our ability to go long distances, to exert destruction on our enemies that are all operating under the umbrella of Iran.

So it does make sense. I think that there is no distance we won't go in order to make sure that Iran has -- pays the consequences for its actions against us. I think the prime minister, the defense minister, chief of staff, the IDF chief of staff have all spoken very, very clearly. Iran can't be allowed to get away with what they did; there needs to be a very, very strong message that if you decide to launch an attack on Israel, then there is a price. But it is not only against Israel because Iran is involved in disruption everywhere.

They are focused on Israel for sure with empowering and engaging and funding and training Hezbollah, and funding and training and equipping Hamas in the south, or the Houthis which have -- would not have any firepower without Iran. But -- so with them operating as this puppet master, there is a huge shift and we will have to deal with that. ANDERSON: Well, that was Peter Lerner. CNN's Nick Paton Walsh, our Chief International Security Editor, tracking developments, joining us now from London. Nick, first on the Iran missile attack Tuesday, what is the latest that you are hearing? Who knew what and when?

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. Certainly at this stage, it appears that there has not, from what we can see from public reports, been a significant casualty count or damage to Israel as a result of this nearly 200 missiles being fired, ballistic missiles. It seems a more significant bid than in April by Iran to inflict damage against Israel. The one, that is Israel's air defenses was -- it seemed you heard there from Peter -- pretty successful in stopping.

Now, according to some assessments, there were three real targets here, two major air bases and also the Mossad HQ base in the Glilot area of Tel Aviv. The air base is Nevatim and Tel Nof. Now, that is based around some of the crater damage seen on public footage. But I think it is fair to say today, Israel still going through an assessment of exactly what occurred. Was there some warning? There's been speculation around this. A lot of this clearly denied and I think it is fair to say that owing to the intensity of this bombardment, that I think we are looking at a different type of Iranian response here. One that was significantly less telegraphed, I think it is fair to say, than what we saw in April.

But still, it puts Tehran in a very complex moment because they appear to have tried to play some cards here and found that Israel's air defenses have essentially, from what we can see at this point, rendered them ineffective. And that definitely puts Ayatollah Khamenei in something of a bind here in their bid, again, to projecting strength has at this point, from what we can see, not really impeded or deterred Israel at all, Becky.

ANDERSON: Meantime, to Lebanon, certainly in the past few hours, we have got a reporting that Israel's army says it has clashed with Hezbollah forces at close range in Lebanon on the border. And we know that there have been casualties amongst the Israeli military. At the same time, we know overnight, Israel has continued to strike targets in Beirut and in other parts of the country. What is your assessment of what is happening in southern Lebanon and across the country at this point?

PATON WALSH: Yeah, I think we are in a day where what appears to be rolling continuous incursions or raids by the Israeli military into southern Lebanon begins to become something more like a permanent presence there or an invasion. And so, we are hearing today certainly, from the Israeli defense forces that their 98th Division and Israeli Air Force hit about 150 targets, they say, or terror infrastructure is the phrasing they used in southern Lebanon. In fact, the Lebanese military themselves has suggested the Israeli military crossed over for about 400 meters past the blue line that demarcates part of the border there and then withdrew.

It is quite clear there have been a series of raids over the past 24, 48 hours. Indeed, going back months in the past as well, quite when that becomes a lengthier, more sustained Israeli presence, we'll see in the hours and days ahead. But this is the ultimate quandary really here for Israel. Look, Hezbollah may retain some strength in that part of southern Lebanon.

[08:10:00]

It is clear that their command and control, their supply chains have been shattered intensely by the surprise Israeli pager attack and all the things that followed since, and the intensity of the airstrikes we've seen as well. But quite whether they've retain the ability to make Israeli ground maneuvers very complex in southern Lebanon, we'll see in the days ahead. And whether too Israel takes the bait of essentially walking into a trap that Lebanon -- Lebanese militant group Hezbollah has pledged to be preparing for well over a decade, we'll have to see as well.

But the scope of Israel's ambition here, the remarkable impact it appears to be happy with having on civilian life inside of Lebanon shown by their commands to all Lebanese civilians to move north of the al- Awali River, that's just north of Sidon or Saida south of Beirut, approximately -- well over a quarter of the country, they're telling civilians to get out of. And indeed further south, suggesting nobody should be caught driving south in a vehicle. This suggests an operation of significant scope, but it may also suggest more intense airstrikes ahead.

And so, I think the key question in the hours ahead, Becky, as to exactly what intensity of Israeli presence we see on the ground inside southern Lebanon and what kind of resistance they meet as they move in. Becky?

ANDERSON: And Nick, as you and I have been talking, we are just getting word from the IDF, confirming the first Israeli soldier killed in Lebanon. I'll just give our viewers a little bit more of what we understand. The Israeli military confirmed Wednesday the death of the first soldier during the fighting in Lebanon, a 22-year-old squad commander in the Israel Defense Forces, commando brigade, they say fell during combat. Hezbollah has said, as you and I have been discussing, that it clashed with Israeli forces inside Lebanon earlier today. The IDF did not say where in Lebanon that soldier had been killed.

Thank you, Nick.

Pentagon Chief Lloyd Austin is reaffirming U.S. support for Israel. Te defense secretary also saying the U.S. will never hesitate to protect U.S. forces in the Middle East. He has praised U.S. troops for helping intercept Iranian missiles during Tuesday's attack on Israel. I want to take you live to the Pentagon and to CNN's U.S. National Security Correspondent, Natasha Bertrand.

We do understand that they were involved in the interception of some of these 200 ballistic missiles. Do we understand how many were intercepted by the U.S. and importantly, its allies, as described by Jake Sullivan last night? Natasha Bertrand, CNN U.S. National Security Correspondent: Well, we know that Jordan also helped to intercept some of the missiles that went through its airspace. And that is something that Jordan has done before. Now, as far as the U.S., the Pentagon has said that Navy Destroyers in the eastern Mediterranean fired about a dozen interceptors at incoming missiles headed towards Israel, but it is not clear at this point, just how many they actually hit or took down. The U.S. says that they're still conducting an assessment of just whether they actually successfully intercepted any of those missiles.

But, the bottom line here is that the U.S. was really prepared all around the region to try to intercept a lot of this stuff. Not everything as we saw was intercepted, some did go through. But the U.S. did help the Israelis in terms of trying to take down some of what was coming in and that likely did have somewhat of an impact. But, the U.S. has assets really all over the region to prepare for a possible escalation, if this does go even further with Israel, potentially responding though it is unclear just how they're going to respond. According to our sources, they are still weighing just what that response is going to look like.

But look, the U.S. has warships in the Red Sea, in the Arabian Sea. They have a Carrier Strike Group in the Arabian Sea, right, close to Iran. And they have a huge presence in the eastern Mediterranean, really designed exactly for scenarios like we saw yesterday, allowing them to respond at a moment's notice, just given how the U.S. really had about hours and so did Israel, preparation for this massive barrage of Iranian missiles that we saw.

Now, the U.S. has also increased its force posture in the Middle East. It is prepared to deploy. Orders for troops have decreased, meaning that they are prepared to deploy even quicker than they were, if necessary. And of course, one of the key roles of the Department of Defense, if this were to escalate even further, is that evacuation operation, something that the U.S. has thousands of marines currently in the eastern Mediterranean preparing for if one becomes necessary, Becky.

ANDERSON: Natasha Bertrand is at the Pentagon. Thank you.

Well, in Tehran, scenes of jubilation in the streets following those missile strikes on Israel. The chief of Iran's armed forces says the operation was limited to military targets and was in retaliation for the assassination of the Hezbollah leader and others.

[08:15:00]

But he warned there would be broader strikes to come if Israel and its allies respond.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAJOR GENERAL MOHAMMAD BAGHERI, IRANIAN ARMED FORCES CHIEF OF STAFF: If the Zionist regime that has gone crazy is not controlled by America and Europe, and wants to continue these crimes, or wants to do anything against our sovereignty and territorial integrity, tonight's operation will be repeated several times stronger and all their infrastructure will be targeted.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Well, a short time ago, I spoke to Sanam Vakil, who is the Director of the Middle East North Africa Programme at Chatham House. She joined me from London. And I started by asking you whether Iran looks stronger or weaker in this region, after carrying out that major attack against Israel?

SANAM VAKIL, DIRECTOR, MIDDLE EAST NORTH AFRICA PROGRAMME, CHATHAM HOUSE: I think that Iran is trying to restore the reputational damage that it has experienced over the past few months by directly striking Israel without any warning unlike the attack in April, Iran is trying to project strength. But, you know, as an analyst, I don't think Iran is in a strong position in the region. It has always been defensive and its activities across the region have not bought Iran support or goodwill across the Middle East. Iran is seen to be a destabilizing regional actor and its neighbors and the countries in the Gulf are very nervous.

ANDERSON: I mean, there was a huge effort led by the Saudis behind the scenes to get some sort of viable path towards a Palestinian State established at this point. And that is exactly what the foreign minister was speaking to on Friday at the United Nations when he stepped in, in a very frustrated way, to speak to reporters in the room about what happens next. The issue is that on the same day, we did not hear Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli president, in his speech to the UNGA mention the term Palestinian State at all. Did we?

VAKIL: Exactly, you're quite right. And so, the issue of Palestine is completely neglected and instead, what we are seeing is an enabling of, and a broadening of the conflict to address Israel's security concerns, which are legitimate, but only through military terms. And in fact, there are other options on the table and that option also requires us to think of the other challenge and that's the Iran challenge.

There is no nuclear agreement. Iran has sent ballistic missiles to Russia. Obviously, Iran's role across the region is on full display. And so effectively, we have an open war between Israel and Iran breaking out and it requires international mediation and solution, not just the sort of quiet complicit support of the international community or what it appears to be the quiet complicit support of the international community.

ANDERSON: Sanam Vakil there, more still to come. The last match-up before the U.S. presidential election, and one that was largely civil, did it move the needle for American voters? We will take a look at that. Coming up, U.S. President Joe Biden prepares to visit most areas most affected by Hurricane Helene. A report on how the federal government is responding. T hat is up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:20:50] FOSTER: With the U.S. election fast approaching, the vice presidential nominees faced off on Tuesday night. Going into that debate, a majority of registered voters who planned to watch said they expected Democrat Tim Walz would win against Republican J.D. Vance. But afterwards, voters were much more evenly split about which candidate came out on top. The VP nominees sparred over the economy, over housing, immigration, reproductive rights, and other top issues as they made their pitch to voters just five weeks now until Election Day.

The first question of the night was about the conflict in the Middle East and whether the nominees would support or oppose a pre-emptive strike on Iran by Israel following Tuesday's missile barrage.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. J.D. VANCE, (R-OH) VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Iran, which launched this attack, has received over $100 billion in unfrozen assets, thanks to the Kamala Harris Administration. What do they use that money for? They use it to buy weapons that they're now launching against our allies and, God forbid, potentially launching against the United States as well. Donald Trump recognized that for people to fear the United States, you needed peace through strength. They needed to recognize that if they got out of line, the United States' global leadership would put stability and peace back in the world.

Now, you asked about a pre-emptive strike, Margaret, and I want to answer the question. Look, it is up to Israel what they think they need to do to keep their country safe. And we should support our allies wherever they are when they're fighting the bad guys. I think that's the right approach to take with the Israel question.

MARGARET BRENNAN, DEBATE MODERATOR, CBS NEWS: Thank you, Senator. Governor Walz, do you care to respond to any of the allegations?

GOV. TIM WALZ, (D-MN) VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Well, look, Donald Trump was in office. We'll sometimes hear a revisionist history, but when Donald Trump was in office, it was Donald Trump who -- we had a coalition of nations that had boxed Iran's nuclear program in, the inability to advance it. Donald Trump pulled that program and put nothing else in its place. So, Iran is closer to a nuclear weapon than they were before because of Donald Trump's fickle leadership. And when Iran shot down an American aircraft in international airspace, Donald Trump tweeted, because that's the standard diplomacy of Donald Trump.

And when Iranian missiles did fall near U.S. troops and they received traumatic brain injuries, Donald Trump wrote it off as headaches. Look, our allies understand that Donald Trump is fickle. He will go to whoever has the most flattery or where it makes sense to him. Steady leadership like you witness today, like you witnessed in April -- both Iranian attacks were repelled. Our coalition is strong, and we need the steady leadership that Kamala Harris is providing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: CNN's JEFF ZELENY joins me now live in New York with more on that debate. And the Middle East actually played in another way, didn't it? Because there was breaking news during that debate, a lot of Americans will be tuned -- would have been tuned into that rather than the debate. I'm just wondering how much impact do you think it might have on the political debate.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Max, look, I mean foreign policy was certainly front and center in this debate, much more than it would have been just a few hours or a few days before the debate. But, it's unlikely that this vice presidential debate is inclined to move the needle in this stubbornly-close presidential election. J.D. Vance definitely had a strong evening, there is no question about it. Our survey showed that.

But, Tim Walz, after warming up throughout the evening, certainly got some (inaudible) of his own. But, what J.D. Vance was able to try and do at least was prosecute the case against Kamala Harris -- again and again, he called her -- and he called what the Harris Administration. You'll remember from a month ago, during the Trump-Harris debate, Donald Trump was so fixated on Joe Biden, essentially hoping he was still running against him, but J.D. Vance was going squarely after Vice President Harris.

But it was in the final moments of the debate, the final minutes of the debate, where January 6th and democracy was the topic of discussion. Watch this exchange between Tim Walz and J.D. Vance.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WALZ: I would just ask that. Did he lose the 2020 election?

VANCE: Tim, I'm focused on the future. Did Kamala Harris censor Americans from speaking their mind in the wake of the 2020 COVID situation?

WALZ: That is a damning -- that is a damning non-answer.

[08:25:00]

VANCE: Has she -- it's a damning non-answer for you to not talk about censorship. Obviously, Donald Trump and I think that there were problems in 2020. We've talked about it. I'm happy to talk about it further.

WALZ: I'm pretty shocked by this. He lost the election. This is not a debate.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZELENY: And as we get closer to the election here now, less than five weeks away, this is something that is actually on the minds of American voters, will the election results be accepted by either side?

So it was that moment there, J.D. Vance clearly did not want to say that Donald Trump lost the election because he largely knew that Donald Trump was watching the debate and of course, that could irritate and agitate him. But Max, already this morning, the Harris campaign, the Harris-Walz campaign is out with a television commercial. I was just watching it a few moments ago, about that moment exactly. It is a sort of a featuring some images from January 6th, the attack on the Capitol, infusing the -- those moments with the answer.

So for all the substance that the debate and it was a very substantive, policy-oriented debate, it is that January 6th moment there that perhaps is one of the biggest takeaways. But look, vice presidential debates seldom move the needle here. And I think this one will be included in that category for history.

FOSTER: OK. Jeff, thank you so much for your context around that. We are going to turn now to the ongoing devastation in the southeastern U.S. Six days after Hurricane Helene, the death toll from the storm and its aftermath has now risen to at least 166 people across six states. That makes Helene the second deadliest hurricane to hit the mainland in the last 50 years. In the coming hours, U.S. President Joe Biden will take an aerial tour of the damage in North Carolina and will meet with first responders there and in South Carolina. He predicts the recovery will cost in the billions and is urging Congress to provide more funding for disaster relief.

CNN's Kevin Liptak joins me now live from the White House. This could be an issue for Harris as the incumbent vice president, part of this administration. And many people say the national government was very late on the uptake of the urgent need of help here.

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yeah. And hurricanes always sort of intersect with presidential elections in the United States. It occurs right around hurricane season. And certainly, this won't be the first time that the politics of natural disasters are injected into the campaign. And certainly for Kamala Harris, who I should mention, will be visiting Georgia today to tour some damage there, this is a moment to demonstrate executive leadership, to try and show that she has her focus on the needs of the people on the ground in these states.

And you do hear from people in places like North Carolina, particularly western North Carolina, who worry that there wasn't enough aid pre-positioned in those parts of the country. There was plenty of aid positioned in Florida which is where the hurricane came ashore. But, you know, when you talk to administration officials, they acknowledge, you can't necessarily predict exactly where a storm will go after that. And they do say that they are now trying to urgently surge aid to those parts of the country and that is exactly where President Biden will be today, in western North Carolina.

He will take an aerial tour of the area around the city of Asheville, which has been so hard hit by this storm. And it was interesting, CNN spoke to the mayor of Asheville earlier this week, who said that three out of the four highways into her city has been shut down. They didn't want to close down the remaining highway for a motorcade and that is the reason President Biden will view the destruction from the air. And the destruction is widespread, people still trying to dig out from knee-high mud. Their phones are out, their water is out, the electricity is out, and part of what President Biden will wants to do is to see where the needs are at this moment.

The federal government says it has sent 4,500 federal employees to the disaster area. They say they've provided more than 7 million meals, more than 6 million liters of water, but certainly, the needs are still growing. And when you talk to people on the ground, they do want to hear more from the federal government and see more from the federal government in terms of a response. President Biden will also receive a briefing in the city of Raleigh.

At the end of the day, that is sort of the advantage of this kind of presidential trip. Of course, President Biden can get the governor of North Carolina phone anytime he wants. He can talk to the Director of FEMA anytime he wants. But in order to get voices on the ground, people who are actually experiencing what's happening there, he does need to travel to the state and talk to them directly. And that's what he'll be doing today. He and Vice President Harris will continue to make these trips over the course of this week. As the president said yesterday, people are scared to death. This is urgent. So, really looking to demonstrate some leadership here at a sad and tense moment for a lot of people in these states.

[08:30:00]

FOSTER: OK. Thank you so much, Kevin, for that. Now, CBS says Donald Trump has backed out of an interview with "60 Minutes", the most watched news magazine show in the U.S. The former U.S. president last sat down with the program in October 2020. He abruptly ended the interview with Correspondent Lesley Stahl after objecting to her questions. The network says both Trump and Kamala Harris had agreed to interviews this year, but Trump's campaign denies he accepted the invite. At a rally in Wisconsin, Trump said he wouldn't do the interview without an apology from CBS.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, (R) FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES AND PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: If you remember, Lesley Stahl, we got into a little bit of an argument on the camera, talking about that and other things and, you know, they really owed me an apology. I'd like to get an apology, so I've asked them for an apology. Let's see if they do it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: The Harris campaign slammed Trump for the decision saying, "Afraid of the debate stage. Afraid of 60 Minutes. And his campaign team -- after the last three days of increasingly unhinged and unstable ranting at his rallies is clearly afraid of exposing him beyond comfortable confines."

Now, ahead on "CNN Newsroom", how will Israel respond to Iran's missile attack? Robin Wright, Contributing Writer at The New Yorker, gives us her insight and the very latest from the Middle East with Becky Anderson live in Tel Aviv. She'll bring you a discussion about the situation in Lebanon with Ronnie Chatah, Host of "The Beirut Banyan" podcast. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANDERSON: Well, more now on our top story, the Israeli military says one of its soldiers has been killed in Lebanon. The announcement said a 22-year-old squad commander died in combat, the first death Israel has acknowledged since IDF troops moved into the country this week. Well, Israel and Hezbollah both saying their forces are engaging each other in southern Lebanon. And the IDF says it is sending more troops to join its ground incursion.

Well, overnight Israeli airstrikes hit what the IDF said were Hezbollah targets in Beirut. We are live at the White House with CNN's Arlette Saenz. Stepping back and listening to what we heard from the White House, the Pentagon, and Jake Sullivan in the wake of Tuesday's attacks, the rhetoric from the Biden Administration is unequivocal. Iran will face serious consequences, and Arlette, that is very different language from back in April when Israel hit Iran with a counter-retaliatory attack, if you want to call it that.

[08:35:00]

At the time, the White House effectively said to Israel, take the win. What has changed?

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Becky, U.S. officials have made clear that they really view this latest attack by Iran against Israel as a major escalation in the conflict and the way that this is being conducted. Now, U.S. officials note that what's different from what happened back in April when Iran had launched about 300 missiles and drones that were mostly intercepted, towards Israel. What's different now, U.S. officials say is the type of weapons, the scale of weaponry that was sent over, also the fact that this it was done with very little notice and also that their intent to target intelligence and other military facilities belonging to the Israelis.

So, all of this adds into some of the greater concern that the U.S. has in this moment. Now, you heard Jake Sullivan has very unequivocally said that there will be severe consequences for Iran following this attack. The big question now -- or two big questions is, how Israel decides to respond and whether the U.S. will have direct involvement in that response. President Biden yesterday said that they are supportive of Israel, that they really viewed this attack by Iran as defeated and ineffective, but they are still working, trying to assess what the next steps should be.

A senior U.S. official telling CNN that they don't believe Israel has made that final call about how to proceed with a possible response against Iran. But, officials stress that they are in constant communication with their Israeli counterparts, talking about these possible next steps forward. President Biden himself said he does plan to speak with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at some point. We don't know how soon that call may be.

But another challenge for the administration in this moment is exactly how much influence they actually will have in this decision-making process. As you noted, back in April, Biden essentially told Netanyahu to take the win after they thwarted the drone and missile attacks at that time. Israel at the time pursued a more limited response to Tehran. So, we will see whether the administration is really able to exert their influence in this moment as well.

We have obviously seen many tension points arise between President Biden and Netanyahu. Just last week, Biden and his team and other allies thought that they had come together around a plan to have a 21- day ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah. Netanyahu very quickly poured cold water on that situation. So, we will see exactly how much influence America will be able to exert in this moment as they have been trying to prevent all-out war from really exploding across the Middle East.

ANDERSON: Arlette, thank you. And the Biden Administration has also said that Israel has the right to defend itself against terrorists, speaking at the outset of Israel's ground incursion announced just very early on Tuesday into Lebanon, although it has said that that incursion risks "mission creep".

Well, earlier, I spoke to Ronnie Chatah, host of "The Beirut Banyan" podcast, and I asked him if Lebanon could turn into the epicenter of a full-fledged war in the Middle East?

RONNIE CHATAH, HOST, "THE BEIRUT BANYAN" PODCAST: I think Lebanon has been the region's preferred battlefield for the better part of over five decades. And unfortunately, in 2024, 34 years after the civil war ended and 24 years after the Israelis left Lebanon, once more in Beirut, it's a terrifying night, the sounds of bombs and echoes thundering throughout the city. Of course, watching the news as everyone is around the world, seeing ballistic missiles being flown from Iran to Israel, but in Lebanon, the strikes continue.

The southern suburbs were hit again and this is days after Hassan Nasrallah was killed in southern Beirut, the war continues. And I sense unfortunately, none of this is in Lebanon's hands. And when I say that, what I mean is there is no Lebanese voice at the table. Unlike July and August 2006, when the Lebanese State tried to insist on Lebanese interests, trying to bring Hezbollah from the brink and trying to negotiate a ceasefire deal, which is 1701, which we talk about day in, day out. Unfortunately, this time, Lebanese are in Beirut, Lebanese are in Lebanon, and the diaspora at large around the world are simply watching and waiting and unfortunately, expecting more escalation to come.

[08:40:00]

ANDERSON: Well, that was Ronnie Chatah. My next guest is an expert on Iran and its proxies. She wrote in the wake of Hassan Nasrallah's assassination, Nasrallah's death will weaken but not eliminate the movement or the threat it poses to Israel. The death of Nasrallah allows Israel to claim a short-term tactical success. Yet, as in the war in Gaza, Israel has not defined a long-term strategy. It has provided no sense of an end game or what it seeks after the Hezbollah campaign is over. Joining me now is Robin Wright. She is Contributing Writer at "The New Yorker" and a fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. And just expand, Robin, and it's great to have you. Just expand on that for me, if you will.

ROBIN WRIGHT, CONTRIBUTING WRITER, "THE NEW YORKER": Thanks, Becky. It's great to be with you. The reality is that Israel is now facing war to the north in Lebanon, to the south in Gaza. It's taking potshots at the Houthis in Yemen and now, it's engaged in kind of direct conflict with Iran. This is a huge escalation and yet, none of us understand what the end game is. How far is it going in Lebanon? How much does want to take on Iran directly? Is it willing to engage in a conflict with the Houthis? And how is it ever going to end Gaza, which is really the core issue.

Hezbollah had said it would stop its attacks across northern Israel as soon as Gaza was resolved. And meanwhile, the United States is saying diplomacy is still the way out, but what's happened over the last two weeks really makes a mockery of U.S. diplomacy.

ANDERSON: Yeah. In your piece, she went on to say that the Israeli operation that killed Nasrallah made a mockery of U.S. diplomacy and now, we see Iran who throughout this conflict has exercised restraint -- it has to be said -- choosing to attack Israel, which of course, Israel says it will respond to, and the U.S. supporting that contention, saying that there will be serious consequences for Tehran. To your mind, what does that response look like?

WRIGHT: Israel clearly is going to make a much bigger statement that it did last time where its strikes near Natanz, where Iran has some of its nuclear facilities, was symbolic. It was a message that Israel was capable of taking out Iran's nuclear facilities. Now the question is, is it going to attack them directly, to try to limit or destroy some of Iran's facilities? Some of them are very deep in the ground, very hard in any single campaign to take out. But, does it try to send a stronger message?

Remember, this is quite a contrast between Israel the size of New Jersey, and Iran 2.5 times the size of Texas.

(CROSSTALK)

ANDERSON: Apologies. I think I cut into you there. I understand where you're going here. And Italy says it's hosting a G7 leaders call today to discuss the crisis in the Middle East and we also know, perhaps more importantly, the GCC ministers are meeting in Doha and that may coincide with the president's trip to Doha. There is an awful lot going on around the region behind the scenes here, and indeed elsewhere. Is there any chance that diplomatic pressure can prevent the situation from worsening at this point?

WRIGHT: Well, wars always end with some kind of diplomacy. And so, there's a hope that there are plans on the table for Gaza. There's a U.S. plan that is -- the U.S. claims is 90 percent of the way there between Lebanon, meaning Hezbollah, and Israel. The question is, can you again get back to Gaza? But it doesn't appear that any of the parties in Israel or in Iran are yet ready for that kind of diplomacy.

And the question is, if the United States has limited influence on Israel, who is going to influence Iran? Who is going to -- how do you broker something between two countries that see each other as the ultimate nemesis? There are all these other little bits of diplomacy between Israel and others. But the problem is how do you diffuse this crisis? And I think that's not clear to anybody right now, including in Washington.

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ANDERSON: Well, that is one of the reasons I brought up that GCC meeting because, in fact, one has to wonder whether, for example, it was the Chinese who brokered the coming together of Saudi Arabia and Iran some 18 months ago. The UAE now has relations with Iran as well. There some other mediators out there these days who didn't exist in the past. That's not to suggest that they will play a role in mediating any solution at this point, as we move forward.

It's good to have you, Robin. Thank you very much indeed for joining us.

WRIGHT: Thank you.

ANDERSON: Well, still to come, Russia reportedly takes control of a key town after two years of Ukrainian resistance. More on that is just ahead.

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FOSTER: A town in eastern Ukraine that Kyiv defended for more than two years has finally fallen to Russian forces according to media reports from Russia. Vuhledar, a coal mining town in the Donetsk region, had been under assault since 2022. Reports say the last Ukrainian army units pulled out on Tuesday. Moscow sees taking control of Vuhledar as a major stepping stone to controlling the entire Donetsk region. Most of the town's pre-war population had already fled. CNN's Clare Sebastian joins us now with more. When we talk about strategically important areas, it is important.

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah.

FOSTER: It's not overwhelmingly important.

SEBASTIAN: Yeah.

FOSTER: But psychologically important.

SEBASTIAN: Well, symbolically and there is some strategic value as well. It's not a logistics or transport hub in the same way that Pokrovsk, which up until now, that was the main nexus of Russia's attacks in the east is. But it is sort of, if you think of them map of Ukraine where the frontline is, it's sort of the intersection of where the eastern and southern fronts meet. Russian blogger has been talking about how it was sort of putting pressure on the troops defending the roads going down to Mariupol in the south and it does, of course, now open up a small section of Ukraine's defense on the eastern front.

And as you say, Russia's -- one of Russia's main goals is to take the whole of the Donetsk region, which it has sort of claims to have annexed, but doesn't fully occupy. So that is one thing, but I think most significantly, about Vuhledar is what it reveals about where we are in the war. Don't forget, this comes less than two months after Ukraine launched its offensive in the Kursk region in Russia. One of its key aims was to ease the pressure sure on the fronts, including the eastern front at home. That doesn't seem to have happened. It comes just a week after Zelenskyy's sort of diplomatic blitz in the U.S. where he didn't get the key demands that he wanted, which was sort of NATO-style security guarantees and permission to use Western weapons in Russia.

And he was there telling him his Western allies we are closer to peace than we think he said. I think this really reveals what sort of underscores that, which is the fragility of this frontline peace (ph) at this point when Ukraine is now having to defend these frontlines and is nowhere close to taking back territory.

[08:50:00]

It is something that appears pretty remote despite those diplomatic overtures.

FOSTER: This decision to go into Kursk will be questioned, wouldn't it? Because the Russians didn't respond in the way the Ukrainians hoped, as in sending troops away from the frontline --

SEBASTIAN: Yeah.

FOSTER: -- towards the Russian territory. They pretty much left the Ukrainians to it. They're not making any more progress there. Meanwhile, they're making progress within Ukraine. So, it could have been a huge wasted energy and set of resources going into this Kursk region.

SEBASTIAN: So I think, certainly off the back of this loss of Vuhledar, I think that is one of the questions that Ukraine is going to face, as you say -- as we've said, that was one of the main aims, is to try to stretch Russia. It's too early really to know for sure what the outcome is. But at this point, certainly there are questions around whether Ukraine, in trying to stretch Russia, has actually overstretched itself. It was already at a disadvantage when it comes to --

(CROSSTALK)

FOSTER: Just ended up with land it doesn't really want.

SEBASTIAN: Right.

(LAUGH)

SEBASTIAN: And Russia is not looking like it's going to come --

FOSTER: Yeah.

SEBASTIAN: -- to the negotiating table to try and get that land back. It appears to be prioritizing the eastern front over its own territory.

FOSTER: OK. Clare, thank you so much. I have more news, particularly on the Middle East, of course, after the break.

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FOSTER: Israel is vowing to retaliate for Iran's deadly missile attack on Tuesday, as the Middle East appears to be edging closer to a full-blown regional war. Iran says it fired 200 missiles, its largest ever attack on Israel. Tehran insisted it was absolutely not interested in starting a broader war, but also had a warning for countries that helped intercept rockets fired at Israel.

Overnight, Israeli warplanes continued airstrikes against Hezbollah targets in Beirut and the IDF is urging people in dozens of villages in southwestern Lebanon to evacuate the area. The Israeli military also sending more troops to fight on the ground in Lebanon, despite saying Tuesday that it was only staging a limited operation. Earlier Wednesday, the IDF announced the death of the first Israeli soldier to be killed in Lebanon in this campaign.

Now, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris condemned the Iranian attacks on Israel. She publicly supportive President Joe Biden's order for the U.S. military to shoot down missiles headed for Israel. She also said Iran must be held accountable for its aggressive behavior. The U.S. presidential campaign is getting down to the wire and Harris made very clear her stance on America's relationship with Israel and interactions with Iran.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAMALA HARRIS, (D) VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES AND PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We are still assessing the impact, but initial indications are that Israel, with our assistance, was able to defeat this attack. Our joint defenses have been effective, and this operation and successful cooperation saved many innocent lives. And let us be clear, Iran is not only a threat to Israel, Iran is also a threat to American personnel in the region, American interests, and innocent civilians across the region who suffer at the hands of Iran- based and backed terrorist proxies. We will never hesitate to take whatever action is necessary to defend U.S. forces and interests against Iran and Iran-backed terrorists.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: While Israel has sharpened its focused on its northern front, the war in Gaza is still raging and showing no signs of ending. Palestinian officials say at least 90 people were killed and dozens injured in Israeli strikes overnight, whilst more are still trapped in the rubble from fallen buildings.

[08:55:00] One official says, some of the Israeli attacks happened in an area where hundreds of people displaced were taking shelter, including many children. Israel says it carried out precise strikes on Hamas targets.

Well, thank you for joining me here on "CNN Newsroom." I'm Max Foster. "Connect the World" with Becky, who is live in the Middle East of course, up next.

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