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Israeli Strikes Killed Two Iranian Soldiers; Israel Says Retaliatory Strike against Iran Is Complete; Harris Focuses on Reproductive Rights in Houston; Federal Judge Orders 1,600 Virginia Voters Reinstated, Halts Program; Conservative Voters in Pennsylvania. Aired 5-6a ET

Aired October 26, 2024 - 05:00   ET

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

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): This is CNN breaking news.

BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Welcome to our viewers here in the United States and from around the world. I'm Bianna Golodryga in New York.

We'll bring you breaking news in the Middle East. Iran now says that Saturday's Israeli airstrikes killed two Iranian soldiers. Israel says those strikes are now over.

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GOLODRYGA (voice-over): This is what Tehran looked and sounded like just a short time ago. You could see and hear what appeared we anti- aircraft fire. Israel says it struck military targets, including missile manufacturing facilities and surface to air missile arrays.

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GOLODRYGA: Earlier this month, U.S. President Joe Biden spoke by phone with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu. A senior U.S. official says, Biden asked Israel to design a response that would deter further attacks against Israel and reduce the risk of escalation.

Meanwhile, the Israeli military says it will carry out more strikes if necessary.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REAR ADMIRAL DANIEL HAGARI, IDF SPOKESPERSON: Our message is clear: all those who threaten the State of Israel and seek to drag the region into wider escalation will pay a heavy price.

We demonstrated today that we have both the capability and the resolve to act decisively and we are prepared, on offense and defense, to defend the State of Israel and the people of Israel.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GOLODRYGA: CNN's Ivan Watson joins us now live from Hong Kong with more.

Ivan, the IDF says the strikes have now finished. They've concluded. But Israel says that it does reserve the right to respond, again, if we see a retaliatory response from Iran. Walk us through what happened in the course of about 4.5 hours.

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Right.

Well, the Israeli military carried out airstrikes against a number of locations inside Iran before dawn on Saturday. And in conclusion, it says that all of its planes made it back safely to Israel and that this mission has been completed. It was now done.

Then we've gotten confirmation from the Iranian side in just the last hour or so that at least two Iranian soldiers were killed in these airstrikes and that the targets were what Iranian state media described as military centers in three main provinces.

That's Tehran province, Khuzestan and Ilam, which are kind of in the south and the southwest, on the borders really with Iraq and the Gulf there. But this gives you a sense at how far the Israeli warplanes had to travel to try to carry out these airstrikes.

We are now hearing from residents in Tehran that traffic is flowing normally, that shops are open. There were people who were woken up overnight to scenes that almost looked like fireworks tracer fire from anti-aircraft defenses, firing up into the night sky.

And explosions in the night sky, which was certainly frightening and unsettling for people. But now it's after noon on the ground in Iran in Tehran.

And we have not seen any imagery that's at all similar to the kind of scenes of massive, massive devastation from Israeli airstrikes in densely populated parts of Gaza or in southern Beirut or southern Lebanon, which suggests, at this point at least, that civilian infrastructure was not targeted.

Now we do know that the Biden administration was vocal about not wanting Israel to bomb these types of locations, didn't want nuclear facilities bombed.

There was concern about Iran's oil refineries and oil infrastructure being bombed, the effect that could have on global oil prices just days before a U.S. national election. We haven't gotten any indication whatsoever that that has taken place at this point.

And we're already starting to hear voices of criticism now. Yair Lapid, leader of Israel's opposition, coming out in a tweet, basically saying that it was wrong, that Israel did not target economic and strategic targets with these bombing attacks.

[05:05:00] He is arguing that Israel should have exacted more of a cost from Iran for the scores of rockets and drones that it fired at predominantly Israeli military bases on October 1st.

And that is the whole argument for why Israel carried out this wave of airstrikes. It framed this as retaliation for those rocket attacks from Iran on October 1st, which as far as we know, killed one Palestinian man in the West Bank -- Bianna.

GOLODRYGA: All right.

Ivan Watson. Thank you so much.

Let's go live now to Tel Aviv and Miri Eisin, senior fellow at the International Institute for Counter-Terrorism and retired colonel with the Israeli military.

Miri, it's good to see you. Israeli sources I spoke with say they consider this a pretty significant and expansive strike, focusing on military targets. Their initial assessment thus far is there was significant damage done to Iran's weapons manufacturing, missile storage and air defense capabilities.

Just from your perspective, early indications suggesting to you what about the extent of this strike?

COL. MIRI EISIN, SENIOR FELLOW, INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR COUNTER- TERRORISM: When we talk about what Iran is going to put out, what Ivan was talking about before.

Bianna, just think about the fact that I don't even think CNN has somebody on the ground into Tehran to be able to give a different perspective on what's happening there.

What Israel has said and what it looks like is that what we attacked -- we, Israel -- are the manufacturing sites themselves, both of drones and missiles. Exactly what was attacked against Israel, both on October 1st and, just to remind everybody, also in April.

They did two different attacks directly against Israel. In this case, it's going after the sites of the manufacturing. Those aren't sites that you're going to have civilians in. And I'll just add that Iran as a country -- and that's different from Hezbollah as a non-state entity -- Iran as a country has bases and military sites.

Hezbollah holds all of their capabilities in the heart of civilian arenas on purpose. And that's why there's that big difference when you attack military sites and when you attack the terrorist sites that are hidden under civilian sites.

GOLODRYGA: What message did the Israelis send to Iran, aside from the kinetic strikes themselves, in terms of being able to take out their air defense system in space and the fact that really Iran was crippled in those hours in terms of any sort of retaliatory response?

EISEN: Yesterday, the Iranian regime and, in that, Khamenei himself said, we are prepared, we are ready if Israel attacks, we know how to respond.

And in that sense, what we've shown is that we have the capability to get through all of those defenses and to be very pinpointed against those that attack us, against, as I said, the installations themselves, if it's the missiles or the UAVs.

But it's not just that. Think about it, 1,600 kilometers away from Israel. If you put a map up and you showed the distance itself, Israel had to get there. And we said that we did it with airplanes.

We announced when we left, as an Israeli here, I have to say I was sitting here and just waiting for the announcement that you mentioned before, that all of our planes have returned back, meaning we actually said, when we went, we said, when we returned.

This shows a lot of capabilities that are vastly different, both from anything Iran has ever shown or, for that matter, any of the proxies. It's sending a very strong message about capabilities, about intelligence, about our capability to defend.

It doesn't make everything perfect. This isn't a war and everything is not perfect. But in this specific attack, it's putting that Islamic regime with its rhetoric, its horrific ideology in the place of defense to show exactly what they are.

GOLODRYGA: Israel in this case does appear to have chosen the least escalatory response possible, given that the array of options that had been laid out publicly by Israelis and those in the opposition and even around the world, in terms of following the unprecedented 200 ballistic missiles that Iran sent to Israel.

That Israel should take the opportunity to then strike nuclear facilities, oil facilities, given that Israel did not do that.

What is your response to some of the criticism like we heard Friday (ph), even from Yair Lapid, that this strike was not as strong as it could have been?

EISEN: Bianna, everybody's going to always criticize all the time. I live in a country that, for the last year and month that we have been under this horrific war. And yet we're being criticized and we have our local criticism.

So I'm going to say, A, it's aw democracy. You can make different choices. B, they made a choice here, which, in its own way, though, was not the smallest one.

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Because it was done overtly, meaning the IDF spokesperson announced when it started, he announced when it ended. That is -- that is actually making a very strong point because you could have done something completely covert.

Gone in and out, not announced it and let everybody, you know, think about what is Israel doing. So I absolutely understand that there are lots of different opinions

in this case. I'm glad that we took what I am going to consider the high road, taking into account the capabilities, taking into account your allies, your partners.

That's a good thing, not a bad thing. I'm not going to criticize that at all right now.

GOLODRYGA: Yes.

And it seems that this was highly coordinated with the United States in terms of the U.S. constantly or the Israeli as constantly keeping their U.S. counterparts abreast of developments there, the White House expressing support for Israel's operation, calling it targeted and proportionate.

Miri Eisen, always good to see you. Thank you so much.

EISEN: Thank you so much. Bianna.

GOLODRYGA: Well, U.S. secretary of state Antony Blinken held talks with Arab leaders in London on Friday. This comes after his tour of the Middle East this week. Jordan's foreign minister told Blinken that ethnic cleansing is taking place in northern Gaza.

He also called for a permanent ceasefire in Lebanon as cross-border attacks between Israel and Hezbollah continue to ramp up.

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AYMAN SAFADI, JORDAN FOREIGN MINISTER: As we mentioned, the humanitarian situation is really difficult. We look at Northern Gaza and where we do see ethnic cleansing taking place and that has got to stop.

In Lebanon, I think the Lebanese government is clear now it wants to implement Resolution 1701, so that should be implemented and save, again, hundreds, thousands of lives that are being killed.

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GOLODRYGA: Blinken says there's a, quote, "sense of real urgency" in getting to a diplomatic resolution in Lebanon.

Meantime, Kamala Harris pulls out the celebrity big guns as the campaign winds down with no clear leader in sight. What Beyonce says she wants most for the country and why she feels Harris its the one to deliver it.

And Donald Trump gives what he calls the longest interview of his life in an effort to appeal to young men who might not otherwise vote. We'll have details ahead.

Plus more on Israel's strike against Iran. Our breaking news coverage continues next.

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GOLODRYGA: More now on the breaking news in the Middle East. Iran says that Saturday's Israeli airstrikes killed two Iranian soldiers.

The news comes as Iran is taking stock of the damage after a series of Israeli airstrikes early Saturday. Israel says it struck military targets. The long expected strikes were retaliation for the missile barrage Iran launched at Israel on October 1st.

In the last hour, journalist Abas Aslani in Tehran told CNN that this could be the end of the strikes between Iran and Israel, at least for now.

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ABAS ASLANI, JOURNALIST AND SENIOR RESEARCH FELLOW, CENTER FOR MIDDLE EAST STRATEGIC STUDIES: the reaction seen from the Ukrainian side have been downplaying this attack as well as mocking, get on the social media as well as the state media.

But on the other side, the narrative we are hearing from the Israeli side, they want portray it as a success. And this could in some ways indicate that maybe we should be or we can be moving toward a deescalation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GOLODRYGA: Well, music superstar Beyonce headlined a campaign rally for Kamala Harris in Texas on Friday. The singer came out onto the stage with former Destiny's Child bandmate, Kelly Rowland. She didn't perform at the rally but she did introduce Harris. CNN's Rosa Flores was there in Houston and has this report.

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ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The energy here in Houston is electrifying because of star power. It's Texas sized. I'm talking about Beyonce, Queen Bey in her hometown of H Town.

Now as I look around this stadium, the venue is also Texas-sized. I can see that pretty much every seat here has been taken. And this stadium seats about 21,000 people.

Now, in addition to that, the organizers deployed a floor that meets up to the stage, what you would expect during a concert.

And I can tell you that there are multiple pens of spectators. And they're standing shoulder to shoulder, standing room only. Now, if you're wondering why Harris is in Texas when Texas is not a battleground state, you're probably thinking what most people in the United States are thinking.

Why?

Well, as Kamala Harris continues to create a contrast between what an America under a Harris administration would look like and an America under a Trump administration would look like, when it comes to abortion rights, Texas is center stage.

Texas is the biggest stage because Texas is one of the states with the strictest abortion bans. There is -- there are no exceptions for rape or incest in this state. And there's a very narrow exception for life of the mother.

Now it's not just the star power that Harris has brought to Texas. It's also the stories of real women who have been impacted by the lack of abortion care in several states in the United States. Take a listen.

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KAMALA HARRIS (D), VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES AND 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The reality is, for every story we hear about the suffering because of a Trump abortion ban, there are so many stories we've never heard.

An untold number of women and the people who love them who are silently suffering, women who are being made to feel as though they did something wrong, as though they are criminals, as though they are alone.

And to those women I say -- and I think I speak on behalf of all of us -- we see you and we are here with you.

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FLORES: And after Texas, you guessed it, Harris is returning to the battleground state of Michigan -- Rosa Flores, CNN, Houston.

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GOLODRYGA: Our thanks to Rosa for that report.

Meantime, Donald Trump criticized Harris for that high-profile rally during his own campaign stop in Texas. Speaking in Austin, he accused his rival of not caring about border security, saying the U.S. has become a, quote, "garbage can into which the rest of the world dumps its unwanted people."

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TRUMP: But today Kamala is here in Texas to rub shoulders with woke celebrities, isn't that exciting? But she's not going to meet with any of the victims of migrant crime while she's here, we have many of them right here, the families with many of them, and they're incredible people, what they've gone through, the hell that they've gone through and will continue to go through unfortunately.

She'll not speak to the grieving mothers from whom she has stolen the brightest light in their lives -- she was in charge of this border and she doesn't like being called border czar anymore. She didn't mind it almost four years ago but now she doesn't like it.

But you don't need that term. She was in charge of the borders. She never came here and she never made one call to these people behind me or anybody in the group, not one call.

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GOLODRYGA: Trump showed up three hours late to a rally in Michigan because he was getting what he called the longest interview of his life to podcaster Joe Rogan. The former president told the crowd he figured they wouldn't mind because he's trying to win.

Well, in a major break from recent tradition, "The Washington Post" says it will not endorse a candidate in this year's U.S. presidential election or any in the future, for that matter.

Its publisher says the decision is consistent with its values and a return to the newspaper's roots. It has made an endorsement in every election since the 1980s. A person with knowledge of the matter told CNN "The Post's" editorial page staffers had already drafted an endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris.

But "The Post" said owner Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, made the decision not to endorse. Robert Kagan, an opinion editor at large at the newspaper, says he resigned over the move.

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ROBERT KAGAN, FORMER EDITOR-AT-LARGE, "THE WASHINGTON POST": It was a pretty easy decision. This is obviously an effort by Jeff Bezos to curry favor with Donald Trump in anticipation of his possible victory. Trump has threatened to go after Bezos' business.

Bezos runs one of the largest companies in America. They have tremendously intricate relations with the federal government. They depend on the federal government and Trump has made it clear that he will oppose it, will attack media organizations that are critical of him.

"The Post" has had no trouble endorsing presidential candidates up until now. And by the way, this argument that they're making that somehow, they want to become above it all on this thing, they've endorsed all kinds of candidates in this election season.

They endorsed a Democratic nominee in Maryland. They endorsed other Democratic nominees. So is it just only in the race that Donald Trump happens to be running in that they've decided not to endorse. It's absurd.

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GOLODRYGA: Earlier this week, the owner of "Los Angeles Times" spiked the paper's planned endorsement of Kamala Harris. Several editorial board members quit in protest.

Legendary "The Washington Post" journalists Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein slammed the newspaper for not endorsing a candidate.

They issued a joint statement on Friday, calling the decision "surprising and disappointing."

Adding, quote, "We respect the traditional independence of the editorial page. But this decision, 11 days out from the 2024 presidential election, ignores 'The Washington Post's' own overwhelming reportorial evidence on the threat Donald Trump poses to democracy."

Well, more of our coverage, continuing coverage of Israel strikes on Iran continues, including reaction from the White House. That and more coming up after a quick break, stay with us.

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GOLODRYGA: I'm Bianna Golodryga and this is CNN NEWSROOM.

Back to our top story this hour. Israel carried out retaliatory strikes on Iran overnight. Israelis say the attack is now over. Tracer fire and explosions rang out in the skies above the capital, Tehran, in the predawn hours early Saturday morning.

Israel's military says it targeted Iran's air defense systems and missile production sites in several locations. Iran said the attack on military centers in the provinces of Tehran, Khuzestan and Ilam caused limited damage.

The strikes come in response to an Iranian missile barrage launched against Israel on October 1st. CNN's Alex Marquardt has more on the strikes and their targets.

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ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Israel announced in the early hours of Saturday morning that their military operation against Iran was over after striking military targets in different parts of the country.

The targets, according to Israel's military, included missile manufacturing facilities as well as surface to air missile systems. Sources told CNN that there were three waves of Israeli airstrikes. And Iranian media said that military sites in three different provinces were hit but they claimed limited damage.

The United States had pressured Israel to not strike Iran's nuclear or oil facilities, fearing greater escalation in the region and an impact on the global economy. Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu appears to have complied.

Following Israel's operation, a senior U.S. administration official told reporters that, quote, "This should be the end of this direct exchange of fire between Israel and Iran."

The official also said that the strikes were carefully prepared as well as being extensive, targeted and precise. Israel's strikes were in response to the October 1 Iranian barrage of some 180 ballistic missiles, directly fired at Israel.

For the past three weeks, Israel has been preparing its response in coordination with the United States though Washington made clear it did not participate in Israel's operation.

What comes next remains very much to be seen, what the damage in Iran looks like, whether the Iranian regime retaliates in some way and what impact this may have on the other fronts in the region, in Lebanon and in Gaza -- Alex Marquardt, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GOLODRYGA: A quick reminder of what got us to this point.

Back in January, Iran blamed Israel for the assassination of several of its military advisers and a missile strike in Damascus, Syria. That led Iran to launch an unprecedented large-scale drone and missile attack at Israel in April.

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July saw Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh killed in an overnight strike in the heart of Tehran. That was followed by Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah being killed in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut, Lebanon, last month.

Now in October, Iran launched dozens of missiles toward Israel in what it said was a response to those and other assassinations.

And, of course, overnight, Israel responded to that, saying it's targeted Iran's air defense systems and missile production facilities.

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GOLODRYGA: Malcolm Davis is a senior analyst for defense strategy and capability at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute. And he joins us from Canberra.

Thank you so much, Malcolm, for joining us today. Here we have a response from Israel that had been long anticipated. There could have been more escalatory measures that Israel could have taken, specifically going after nuclear and oil facilities. They did not; they chose to go specifically after military sites only.

Do you view this as an opportunity for deescalation and perhaps more restraint on Iran not to respond significantly?

MALCOLM DAVIS, SENIOR ANALYST, AUSTRALIAN STRATEGIC POLICY INSTITUTE: Well, thank you.

It's ultimately up to Iran to decide whether it's going to take that opportunity or not. This was a very limited high-precision damage limitation strike, designed to defeat Iranian air defenses initially and then attack their missile production capability to reduce Iran's ability to launch missiles at Israel.

Now Israel, in doing this very limited strike, sent a message to the leadership in Iran, saying, look, this is a very limited strike. You now have the off-ramp. You have the opportunity to deescalate by not retaliating.

If you choose to retaliate, then the next strike will be much more large-scale and could potentially include target sets such as the nuclear facilities, the oil facilities and even around the political leadership.

So really it is now up to Iran to decide do they want to escalate this conflict?

Or do they want to step back and deescalate?

GOLODRYGA: And Israel, of course, has threatened that it reserves the right to respond more aggressively if Iran does indeed respond to these strikes overnight. We know that they were done in coordination, according to Israeli officials and U.S. officials, with the U.S., the United States.

The president and vice president were kept up to speed. I'm told that the minister of defense spoke with his counterpart, the defense minister -- Defense Secretary, here in the United States, as these attacks were underway.

What does that tell us about the coordination perhaps and the timing of these attacks over the past few weeks?

We do know that U.S. officials had been in close coordination with their Israeli counterparts in crafting what this response would look like.

DAVIS: Well, certainly it looks like there is a two-way communication process going there. On the one hand, the Americans are saying to the Israelis, do not unnecessarily escalate this conflict. Don't drive it up in intensity by launching a massive attack on the nuclear facilities or the leadership or the oil facilities.

And I think that what the Israelis are doing is saying, look. We're cognizant of your concerns. We're taking those into consideration in terms of operational planning.

So that coordination between Tel Aviv and Washington, D.C., I think, is a clear evidence of the professionalism on the part of the Israeli Defense Force and a recognition of the importance of making sure that Israel works with the United States in any actions that it does.

GOLODRYGA: We don't know the specifics of the strike but I'm told that, from senior Israeli officials, that they consider it pretty significant and an expansive strike in terms of the military facilities that were struck, specifically damage to their weapons, manufacturing, missile storage and air defense capabilities.

What damage do you think Israel could have inflicted upon specifically Iran's long-range missile program, which enabled, as we noted, the unprecedented now two strikes that Iran has launched against Israel over the course of the last few months?

DAVIS: Well, I think there's probably two target sets there that they could have attacked or they probably did attack. The first would be missile storage locations. And that was where the Iranians do have their ballistic missiles ready to use.

They would have probably, the Israeli intelligence would have understood where those were and struck them with penetrating munitions. It seems the thing to note that, from what I understand, the airstrikes are used air launched ballistic missiles fired from aircraft.

They would have had a high penetrative capability to attack targets that were deeply buried. So it's quite possible that, in attacking these targets, they took out a significant number of Iran's ballistic missiles that could have been used against Israel.

The second set of targets would be around missile production combat capabilities.

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The ability for Iran to rapidly produce missiles is a challenge for Israel. And so therefore, the Israelis would have wanted to destroy that as much as possible, to deny the Iranians the ability to reconstitute their force.

GOLODRYGA: All right, Malcolm Davis, have to leave it there. Thank you so much for taking the time to join us.

DAVIS: Thank you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GOLODRYGA: A hospital are reportedly comes under fire. We will look at the latest crisis inside Gaza after the break.

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GOLODRYGA: An update to this hour's breaking news. Israel has carried out a long awaited series of strikes against Iran.

And Iran says those strikes killed two Iranian soldiers.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOLODRYGA (voice-over): This is what the skies over Tehran looked and sounded like a few hours ago. You could see and hear what appear to be anti-aircraft fire. The Israeli strikes are retaliation for Iran's missile barrage against Israel on October 1st.

After three waves of strikes over a number of hours, the Israeli military says the operation is now over. There's no definitive word yet on possible damage. But Iran called the damage "limited."

Israel says that it struck military targets, including missile manufacturing facilities and surface to air missile arrays.

Let's bring in Sanam Vakil, the director of the Middle East and North Africa Programme at Chatham House.

Thank you so much for joining us. Just that line itself from Iran describing these strikes as limited, we know that there were roughly 20 sites that were hit over the course of 4.5 hours by Israeli military jets.

So I'm not sure how limited those strikes indeed were but that characterization by Iran at least publicly tells you what?

SANAM VAKIL, DIRECTOR, MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA PROGRAMME, CHATHAM HOUSE: I think, of course, this is unprecedented moment. Many lines have been crossed and this is the most serious strike that Iran has incurred on its soil since the 1980s Iran-Iraq War.

[05:40:04]

But for Iran today in 2024, it's important that it calibrates its response. It's in a strategic bind. It doesn't seek a broader war and it needs to play down the impact of these strikes so that it can develop a strategy and prevent further escalation.

GOLODRYGA: We know that Israel obviously was able to successfully penetrate Iran's air defense system, flying military planes to conduct these operations into Iranian airspace.

All those planes then successfully returned back home to Israel.

Just symbolically, what message does that send?

VAKIL: It clearly shows us that Israel has and has always had military dominance in the region.

And Iran has an inferior military capability. The fact that Israel got to Iran and got back without any damage or loss of life and that Iran was vulnerable in such a way shows the asymmetries in the relationship. And of course, this factors into Iran's calculations. It is bound by its military limitations.

It knows that further escalation could invite further Israeli counterattack. And we are going into the U.S. election cycle. There are a lot of unknowns out there. Iran wants to keep its options open, prevent that broader regional war.

But it is thinking a bit more strategically about the future. The country is heavily sanctioned and, at the same time, it has an advancing nuclear program. There are a lot of moving parts that Iran is trying to coordinate and manage.

GOLODRYGA: Axios is reporting that Israel sent a message to Iran on Friday ahead of these retaliatory airstrikes, warning Iran not to respond and that the Israelis made it clear to Iranians in advance what they are going to attack in general.

Do you think that lowers the risk of a significant counterresponse now from Iran, given that Israel has already publicly stated that they will respond to that in an even greater force?

VAKIL: It certainly gives Iran room to climb down.

And I think that is the Israeli intent as well. It's important to remember that Iran launched its strike on October 1st and today is October 26th.

So in the past 3.5 weeks, there has been a lot of behind the scenes planning but also an effort, both on the Iranian side, American side and perhaps even the Israeli side, to telegraph a response that would lead to a deescalation.

And we are now in this moment; Iran's nuclear facilities were not struck, Iran's oil infrastructure was not struck. Israel's strike has very much fit into its pattern right now in trying to degrade the axis of resistance.

Hezbollah, Hamas, other groups across the region in a military way. And so Iran has in the space today, start to late to Iranians were killed and we have to wait to see what other damage was incurred across the country.

But Iran does have the space by trying to play everything down to cool the temperature for now. It doesn't mean that the conflict goes away but everyone can step back from the brink and reconsider their positions.

GOLODRYGA: We know the U.S. has increased its force posture in the region in addition to the THAAD missile defense system that was sent earlier in anticipation of Israel's strike.

Now we know that CENTCOM announced the U.S. Air Force F-16s and the 480-F fighter squadron based in Germany arrived in CENTCOM's area of responsibility there as well. That alone, the U.S. presence, do you think that is sending Iran a message in terms of what they are thinking, regarding any sort of response as well?

VAKIL: Certainly the projection of American power that continued, very clear U.S. support for Israel over the past 12 months but certainly over the past few weeks, really does send a message that the U.S. stands behind Israel.

And also the U.S. administration has made it clear that the U.S. does not support a broader escalation between the two adversaries.

So Iran is very constrained. It's boxed in. It knows that further provocation could bring that broader war and that could damage not just the country and, of course, bring higher loss of life to civilians in Iran but, more broadly, also damage the legitimacy and security of the leadership of Iran.

[05:45:04]

And I think that is a big issue that the leadership is contending. This is a country that has seen protests over the past number of years. This is a country that is heavily sanctioned by the U.S. and the international community. So there is not a huge amount of room for maneuver for the Islamic Republic today.

GOLODRYGA: And it comes at a time when their proxies have been severely degraded as well. Sanam Vakil, thank you so much for your analysis. We appreciate it.

VAKIL: Thank you for having me.

GOLODRYGA: To Gaza now, where emergency response officials say at least 26 Palestinians were killed in strikes early Friday in the southern part of the enclave. In northern Gaza, health authorities claim Israeli forces opened fire in a hospital compound after days of laying siege to the facility.

The hospital director described the situation as, quote, "truly terrifying" as sources say the facility is in desperate need of aid.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HUSSAM ABU SAFIYA, DIRECTOR, KAMAL ADWAN HOSPITAL (through translator): We will be facing a humanitarian catastrophe if there is no solution to the situation in the next few coming hours. The hospital will turn into a mass grave.

There is a huge number of wounded people and, approximately every hour, we lose one of them as a martyr.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GOLODRYGA: And we'll be right back after the break with more.

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GOLODRYGA: On Friday, a federal judge halted a Virginia program that purged the state's voter rolls based on indications that a person might be a noncitizen. The judge ruled that the program violated a federal law forbidding systematic voter removal within 90 days of a federal election.

The ruling ordered state officials to restore the registrations of roughly 1,600 people removed from the rolls. State officials have appealed the decision and asked for an emergency order pausing the judge's ruling.

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump slammed the decision and falsely claimed that it allowed non-citizens to vote.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I want to address the unconstitutional decision issued today by a radical judge appointed by Biden and just came down in Virginia illegally allowing non-citizens to vote in our elections.

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GOLODRYGA: Again, the ruling does not allow non-citizens to vote. State officials have asked the appeals court to make a decision by Monday.

Well, thanks so much for watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Bianna Golodryga. Before we leave you, it's clear that Pennsylvania could decide who wins the White House.

So let's go to the suburbs of Philadelphia, where CNN's John King returned recently and talked to some of the people who had earlier supported Nikki Haley to see how they plan on voting next.

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JOHN KING, CNN ANCHOR & CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Michael Pesce is methodical. A stickler for detail and preparation. Pennsylvania's archery deer season is now open. This range, a place to shoot targets and adjust your gear.

MICHAEL PESCE, PENNSYLVANIA VOTER: There we go.

KING (voice-over): Rifle season is a month away. And at this stop, Pesce is no nonsense. Just a few shots to help him adjust the sight. Two more to let a visitor get a feel for the 30-06 deer (ph) rifle.

Conservative in every way. No wasted shots or time. Everything by the book. Not a fan of surprises. Yet, Pesce is voting for Kamala Harris because he is even less of a fan of Donald Trump.

KING: You're going to vote for her but do you know what you're getting? PESCE: No, I don't. And that's the scary part is, you know, I'm not voting for a candidate. I'm not voting for a policy. I'm voting against a candidate and policies. And not even all the policies, just, you know, the unstableness of some of the things he says are truly scary.

KING (voice-over): Pesce is a Reagan Republican, supported Nikki Haley in this year's GOP primaries. A Never Trumper in a place where that really matters. Bucks County, one of the suburban Philadelphia counties crucial to the math in battleground Pennsylvania. He wants his party back and sees a second Trump loss as essential.

PESCE: Then I think that the Republicans will start coming back to what they were, because they don't have that radical right side. They don't have the craziness and the instability.

KING (voice-over): Berks County is a bit more away from the city, more rural and more Republican, yet not as deep and reliably read as just a few years ago.

JOAN LONDON, PENNSYLVANIA VOTER: This neighborhood is becoming a lot like the Philadelphia suburbs. This is a primarily Republican leaning borough. Always has been. But when it comes to national elections, I do see more and more support for Democratic candidates.

KING (voice-over): Attorney Joan London switched her registration to independent after voting for Haley in the GOP primary. London was asked to join this local political program not long after our first visit five months ago. Back then, she told us she would write in a conservative because she viewed President Biden as too old.

And later, she told us she viewed Vice President Harris as too liberal and untested. But then she watched the Harris-Trump debate.

LONDON: The last straw was what he said about the Ukraine, where he said that we have to have a negotiated settlement. For someone who claims to be a conservative to say that was, in my opinion, outrageous. It's appeasement.

KING (voice-over): So London is now voting Harris, voting Democrat for president for the first time. Because she believes Trump must lose because she gets the battleground state math.

LONDON: I needed to vote against allowing him to become president again. I don't want it on my conscience that I contributed in some way to that. Sometimes you have to say, American first, conservative second, Republican third.

KING (voice-over): Media is in Delaware County, just outside Philly, reliably blue now. But still, a test of whether Harris can match or exceed Biden's 2020 math.

[05:55:00]

It's also a big test for Trump. He lost the Philly suburbs in 2016 but narrowly won statewide. But he lost these suburbs by a bit more in 2020. And he narrowly lost Pennsylvania.

KING: We're getting to the end here. Have you made up your mind?

CYNTHIA SABATINI, PENNSYLVANIA VOTER: No.

KING (voice-over): Cynthia Sabatini is another Never Trumper, another Haley primary voter, another Republican who won't vote for him but isn't sure about her.

KING: Finish the sentence. Madam Vice President, if you want my vote here in the very important Philadelphia suburbs, you need to do --

SABATINI: You need to answer questions on point. You need to provide more details about your economic plan. You need to provide more details about your vision also for this country. I'm, you know, a bottom line person. I want details.

KING (voice-over): Sabatini is mad at local Democrats she sees as tax and spend happy.

KING: Is she going to pay the price for that?

SABATINI: She may. She may.

KING (voice-over): But she does see an upside for Harris over Trump.

SABATINI: I believe she's a person of character. I have no qualms about that. I really do. I think she's an upstanding individual. It's just that I really don't know what to expect from her if she is indeed elected.

KING (voice-over): Sabatini meditates frequently to clear her mind and reduce stress.

SABATINI: Deep inhalations and long exhalations.

KING (voice-over): She predicts a final day decision to either vote for Harris or to write in Haley, a vote to help score the suburbs and settle the biggest of the battlegrounds -- John King, CNN, Media (ph), Pennsylvania.

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