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Israeli Military Intercepts Incoming Ballistic Missiles From Iran; Iran Warns Of Response; Israel Preparing Response. Aired 4-5p ET

Aired June 07, 2026 - 16:00   ET

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

[16:00:04]

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Sirens going off as the Israeli military says it has intercepted a wave of incoming ballistic missiles from Iran. Sources tell CNN that Israel is preparing a, quote, "powerful response" to the attack.

CNN's Jeremy Diamond is in Tel Aviv for us.

Jeremy, tell us more.

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right, Fredricka. The two Israeli sources are now telling us that the Israeli military intends to deliver a, quote, "powerful response" to Iran's ballistic missile attack on Israel tonight. This was the first Iranian ballistic missile attack that we have seen in Israel since the ceasefire took place in April. And this marks a real potential turning point in this war.

If it is not very quickly contained, we could very quickly see this region once again tilt towards the kind of all-out war that took place for two months before that April ceasefire. So far, the Israeli military, we're told, has detected 10 missiles that were fired towards Israel and has intercepted all of them. All of those missiles were also fired towards northern Israel, as Iran seems to have made good on a threat to carry out strikes against Israel if Israel carried out a strike on the Lebanese capital of Beirut.

And that is indeed what took place earlier today. Hours before this Iranian barrage of ballistic missiles, we saw Israeli strikes hitting the southern suburbs of Beirut known as the Dahia, which is a Hezbollah stronghold. And Hezbollah, of course, is Iran's most powerful proxy in this region. This appears to be Iran again, following through on that threat. And now we will see what comes next.

What is happening in Israel, though, is certainly that there are preparations for that kind of return to conflict with Iran, as we are seeing the Israeli prime minister currently sitting with his top security officials, consulting, looking at next moves, again, as we anticipate the likelihood of Israeli strikes inside of Iran. In addition to that, civilians in Israel are being prepared again for a wartime scenario.

Schools in Israel have been closed across the country for tomorrow, on Monday. And again, we're seeing people in northern Israel where that missile fire has been directed so far, being instructed to remain near their shelters as they have now faced at least three waves of Iranian ballistic missiles. Again, so far, no impacts from those missiles, all of them having been intercepted, according to the Israeli military. But again, a country and a region indeed that is bracing for what could come next -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: And Jeremy, I know it's early, but what are you hearing from people who are either already taking shelter or preparing to do so, and what their mindset is with what appears to be one retaliatory strike after another, and then this promise from Israel that its response will be powerful?

DIAMOND: Yes. Well, again, it's important to know that most of the Israeli public basically since this ceasefire went into effect in April has been kind of waiting for the ceasefire to be broken, waiting to, you know, anticipating that it would be very likely that at some point the ceasefire would collapse. There have been several moments where people thought that those negotiations between the United States and Iran would collapse and would lead to a return to all-out war.

So people have kind of lived with this cloud of uncertainty since that ceasefire took effect in April. And in particular over the last week, you know, we kind of saw this slowly building up as initially Israel backed off of planned attacks against Beirut. Then there was this agreement with the Lebanese government that if Israel -- if Hezbollah didn't strike northern Israel, Israel wouldn't strike the Lebanese capital. But then Hezbollah did carry out rocket fire towards northern Israel. And Israel did not hesitate to strike the Lebanese capital.

And so in many ways, all of this was kind of foreseen and foretold. It just required the sequence of events to go exactly as it has to land us back in this scenario tonight, where Israelis are heading to bomb shelters and where I assume inside of Iran, people are now prepared and perhaps living in fear of a renewal of Israeli bombardment of that country.

WHITFIELD: All right. Jeremy Diamond, in Tel Aviv, thank you so much. We're going to get back to you in a moment and let you do your further reporting.

Meantime, Frida Ghitis is here with me now. She is a CNN contributor and senior columnist for "World Politics Review."

All right. So, Frida, I mean, how do you assess what is happening here? What will a, quote-unquote, "powerful response," which is what the Israeli military and leadership is saying to Iran mean for the region?

FRIDA GHITIS, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, what we're seeing right now is all about Lebanon. And it's all about Iran's control of its proxy in Lebanon, Hezbollah, and Iran's effort to continue to have these strong links and to negotiate a deal with the United States that allows it to keep this control of Hezbollah.

[16:05:17] Lebanon has been trying to -- the government, the legitimate government of Lebanon has been trying to sever that link. And so has President Trump. And so has Israel. But Iran doesn't want to let that happen. Israel negotiated a ceasefire with the Lebanese government, and Hezbollah rejected it. Iran rejected it. And now Hezbollah has -- Hezbollah attacked Israel and Israel attacked Beirut, which is the reason why Iran is attacking Israel.

Iran wants to present itself as the defender of Lebanon. And that's what this attack was. Now, the magnitude of the impact of what we're seeing now will depend in large part on what kind of damage these barrages that Iran is launching at Israel, what kind of damage they cause. If Iran causes serious damage in Israel, this is going to really open up the war much more powerful than that.

WHITFIELD: And do you mean literal damage? You mean symbolic? Because, as we just heard from Jeremy, all of those missiles from Iran into Israel so far have been intercepted, according to the military. Or are you also talking about the damage of this ceasefire that had started early April while these peace negotiations are going on between the U.S., Israel and Iran? I mean, tie all of that together.

GHITIS: Well, I'm referring to literal damage. If, you know, so far we hear that the missiles have been intercepted.

WHITFIELD: Intercepted.

GHITIS: But we don't know how many missiles may be still on the way if Iran is going to continue firing. And the way the air defenses of Israel work, if there's a really massive barrage, it can overwhelm the system. If there are a lot of casualties in Israel, if there's a lot of physical damage, Israel is going to be -- is going to feel pressure to hit Iran much, much harder, especially because we are in a political season in Israel. This is -- Israel is about to have elections, and no politician can allow major casualties to go unresponded to.

WHITFIELD: So then, do you see this as a, you know, calculation from the Israeli government or Benjamin Netanyahu's leadership that this is almost dismissing what the United States president had said in a recent conversation which was reported, which was essentially knock it off, you know, I'm trying to get this peace talks, a peace deal going, so I don't need you, Israel, to now be continuing to fire into Lebanon? And so that it has happened. And now Iran is retaliating as a result.

Do you see this as a -- more of a political move for Netanyahu government? What does that do in terms of potentially fracturing or further fracturing relations between Israel and the U.S. by potentially interfering now with these peace talks?

GHITIS: These peace talks that are about to give us a peace deal like yesterday.

WHITFIELD: That is close. GHITIS: Yes, there is tension. Obviously, it's very thoroughly

reported, tension between Netanyahu and Trump, and Netanyahu had had given an order for Israeli troops to go to target Beirut and Trump told him in no uncertain terms, as we heard, to stop that. And Netanyahu listened to Trump, reversed that order. But since then, there was an agreement that Israel would hold its fire against Beirut as long as Hezbollah held its fire against Israel. And I'm not talking about against Israeli forces who, you know, Israeli forces have been dying in southern Lebanon.

I'm talking about Hezbollah attacking civilian populations in northern Israel. Hezbollah attacked civilian populations in northern Israel today, and that is when Israel went at Beirut. So it complicates the dilemma for President Trump. It complicates the whole negotiation. But this is such a complicated deal that Mr. Trump is trying to forge with Iran. You know, Iran is feeling very emboldened. It's feeling very strong. It is watching the political. The turn --

WHITFIELD: Very keenly watching.

GHITIS: The turn against the war in the United States. And that is making the Iranians feel very, very strong right now.

WHITFIELD: So then I wonder, do you evaluate Iran's, you know, calculus here as listening to the president who was on NBC News today for an interview that was taped, you know, previous to today, but saying, yes, peace plan, you know, talks, it's close, and Iran has agreed to, you know, no nuclear weapons? Is this a -- I mean, do you see some correlation between the timing here with Iran launching this missiles in response, you know, even to what the president is saying or how he's portraying talks?

[16:10:08]

GHITIS: Yes, I don't think these attacks against Israel are part of that even though this is all happening in the same context.

WHITFIELD: You don't see a correlation.

GHITIS: But remember that Iran attacked Kuwait. Actually killed someone there. Major damage to the main Kuwaiti Airport, injuries to about 60 people. Iran is putting a lot of pressure on the president because they perceive that the United States is on the losing end of the timing here, that the longer this goes on, the harsher the pressure on President Trump to make a deal that will be favorable to Iran.

They may or may not be right about that. President Trump seems to want the deal, but he's showing some signs of being willing to give this thing some time. Iran is also hurting. This blockade that the United States imposed on Iranian ships, on ships going to Iranian ports, this blockade is really, really hurting the Iranian economy.

And, you know, another thing that we always need to remember in this conflict is that we're looking at the politics in the United States. We can look at the politics inside Israel. Inside Iran, there's a great advantage in these situations to being a dictatorship. The people in Iran do not like their government. That is not putting that much pressure on the Iranian government right now. That's -- they have a longer lead time in that sense because if it's not a democracy, you can ignore public opinion for a longer time, even though you can't ignore it forever.

WHITFIELD: All right. Frida Ghitis, thank you so much. Really fascinating.

All right. We'll have much more straight ahead. Stay with CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:16:23]

WHITFIELD: All right. Welcome back. We continue to follow breaking news just into CNN.

The Israeli military has said it intercepted incoming ballistic missiles from Iran for what appears to be the first time since early April.

With us now is CNN military analyst, retired Air Force Colonel Cedric Leighton, also the founder and former president of the National Iranian American Council, Trita Parsi.

Great to see both of you.

Trita, I want to begin with you. In your view, ultimately, what precipitated Iran to fire these missiles into Israel for the first time since this peace agreement or ceasefire went into effect early April?

TRITA PARSI, EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, THE QUINCY INSTITUTE FOR RESPONSIBLE STATECRAFT: The U.S. and Iran have been negotiating, and the Iranian position has been that any ceasefire has to be regionwide, meaning that it cannot just be between the U.S. and Iran, but Israel also needs to stop its bombardment of Lebanon. And I think the Trump administration took that very seriously. That's part of the reason why there was that phone call that Trump had with Netanyahu, and rather colorful phone call.

And there was a push by the U.S. to push back the Israelis. But yesterday, the Israelis struck at, or actually just a couple of hours ago, they struck at Beirut, the specific area in Beirut that is also very sensitive to the Iranians. And the Iranians had warned that they would respond if that took place, and now it appears that they have. At least four waves of missiles have been shot at Israel. And now Trump is stepping in and saying that he does not want to see Netanyahu strike back.

WHITFIELD: Now, we haven't confirmed that the president has stepped in. But you are hearing through your sources that the president has reached out to the Israeli leadership and in response to Israeli leadership saying it will have a powerful, quote-unquote, "powerful response" to Iran? PARSI: It has been reported by other outlets that Trump has at least

said that he will do this. And I think this has always been the question mark. If the Israeli-Iranian rivalry flares up again, will the U.S. reenter that war or will it stay out? And I think if it is true that Trump is going to tell the Israelis to back off, do not continue this, that is the right call because he cannot allow the Israelis or the Iranians to ensure that their rivalry takes the U.S. hostage and forces the U.S. back into war, that it does not want to be part of any longer.

WHITFIELD: Trita, is this a setback or is this more of the same?

PARSI: No, this is absolutely a setback. We shouldn't be in this situation at all. If diplomacy had been done somewhat differently, I think we could have avoided this scenario altogether. But it may also be a turning point in the sense that now it becomes very clear what happens if there isn't a deal, and that may sharpen the focus of every side to make sure that they actually get across the goal line. But there are a lot of challenges in the talks, and almost all of them go back to the deep, deep mistrust that exists between the two sides.

WHITFIELD: And can I ask you, what do you mean by that? It may be a turning point if no deal.

PARSI: Well, in the sense that if this causes the collapse of the negotiations altogether, then there is, of course, a risk that the war begins anew, but not just between Israel and Iran, but a broader war and that would suck the U.S. back into it. That would obviously be a terrible, terrible situation. And I think seeing how close we are to such a deterioration that may be helping to muster the type of political will that is needed on all sides to get over the finishing line when it comes to the memorandum of understanding.

[16:20:01]

WHITFIELD: Colonel Leighton, if I could bring you into this, I mean, you know, militarily, is this a setback that you see in this ongoing conflict, that is a regional conflict? But do you see this as a setback?

COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: I do, Fredricka. I think, you know, any time there are missiles that are lobbed between Iran and Israel that is clearly not good for the regional peace efforts. And it's also, you know, really indicative of how fragile this ceasefire is. So when you look at these kinds of actions, I think what you're seeing here is a great risk, as Trita pointed out because really the preeminent U.S. interest right now is not only to stop this, but to make sure that things like the Strait of Hormuz are reopened and any type of effort that prevents that from happening is going to really not only negatively impact the United States, but the global economy.

And if that, you know, were to pass, that there would be no resolution to this. And I think there would be significant economic consequences, and that would be a significant blow to any efforts that the Trump administration is conducting right now. WHITFIELD: So these missile launches, you know, are usually or have

been precipitated by its retaliation, right? Israel, you know, launching its strikes against Lebanon. And now, you know, in this context, Iran saying this is a retaliatory strike, you know, for doing so. But then when Israel now is saying through our reporting by Jeremy Diamond that its response will be powerful, targeting Iran, still unclear whether indeed, you know, the White House has reached out to Israeli leadership by saying, don't do that.

But for now, if we could just analyze, what does that mean when Israel says its response will be powerful, what could be anticipated if it does follow through on that?

LEIGHTON: Well, at a minimum, Fredricka, I would see that -- I would say that the Israelis are going to try to attack some of the same types of targets that they attacked in the past. So that would mean leadership centers in Tehran and in places that, you know, have other military significance, you know, potentially Isfahan, Bushehr, Bandar Abbas, potentially. All of those areas would be subject to Israeli attack. And the closer to Israel, the more likely that would be to happen.

Now, one of the key factors, and one of the key unknowns here, is whether or not the United States would provide any logistical support to an Israeli attack. If President Trump is going to step in and say that this is not going to happen, then chances are that the U.S. might not provide logistical support, and that could limit the scope of the Israeli actions against Iranian targets. But the Israeli desire would certainly be to go after as many command and control communications links, any intelligence sites.

All of those kinds of things they would definitely strike at, and they would try to do so with not only precision, but they try to do so perhaps even in several waves, if they can muster the logistical capability to do that.

WHITFIELD: All right. Colonel Cedric Leighton, Trita Parsi, thanks to both of you, gentlemen.

We're going to take a short break for now. We'll be right back with more on this breaking news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:27:53]

WHITFIELD: All right. More now on our breaking news out of Israel.

The Israeli military says it has intercepted several waves of incoming ballistic missiles from Iran. Sources tell CNN that Israel is preparing a, quote, "powerful response" to the attack.

CNN's Jeremy Diamond is in Tel Aviv for us.

Jeremy, where do things stand and what are you learning? DIAMOND: Yes, that's right. Two Israeli sources telling me and my

colleague Tal Shalev that Israel intends to deliver a, quote, "powerful response" to these multiple waves of Iranian ballistic missiles that have been fired towards northern Israel. At least 10 missiles have been fired towards Israel so far. Earlier in the night, we were told that all missiles had been intercepted. That was before we saw all three waves. So we're still trying to get confirmation on whether or not any of those missiles actually made it through.

But we do not have, at this stage, any reports of casualties or of a direct impact, certainly not to civilian residential areas. But here is what we are now seeing from Axios' Barak Ravid, a CNN contributor. He says that he spoke with President Trump tonight and that President Trump intends to call the Israeli prime minister right now, and, quote, "tell him not to retaliate." This is -- would be a remarkable intervention from President Trump, certainly not the first intervention.

We know that during the 12-day war in June between Israel and Iran, Israel had another wave of strikes prepared against Iran and President Trump told the Israeli prime minister to call it off. And the Israeli prime minister actually had those fighter jets turn around mid-air and return to Israel, not carrying out the bombing run that they were expected to carry out. We will see whether or not this time the situation is the same.

But clearly President Trump is expressing concern that should Israel retaliate against Iran, this whole thing could spiral out of control once again, plunging this region into the kind of all-out war that we saw before the April ceasefire took effect. We do know, though, that underlying all of this have been tensions between President Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

[16:30:11]

Netanyahu has been extremely skeptical of these negotiating efforts, that President Trump has been undertaking with Iran. Has been urging him to go back to war with Iran, telling him that it was a mistake when he called off about a week and a half ago, a planned series of U.S. strikes against Iran.

And so, now, we stand on the cusp of either a fierce Israeli retaliation, Israeli strikes inside of Iran, or, once again, another turning the planes around moment from the Israeli prime minister, who again, very much wants to see this war resume. But it seems that President Trump doesn't want that at all. He wants the negotiated deal that he believes is close to move forward.

WHITFIELD: And then, I wonder, Jeremy, I know it's, you know, reading the tea leaves or, you know, looking through a crystal ball. But is there a way of people trying to assess how receptive the Israeli prime minister would be if that, indeed, is the request, following a phone call from the President of the United States?

DIAMOND: Look, ultimately, President Trump has enormous leverage over the Israeli prime minister. We know that, you know, during the war with Iran, you know, at the beginning of this year, the overwhelming majority of strikes that were carried out in Iran were carried out by the United States.

And the Israeli strikes that were carried out were often carried out with the support of the United States. Meaning these refueling tankers, for example, which Israel does not have in large numbers in its own arsenal. Israel has relied on the U.S.'s refueling power, which is why dozens of those refueling planes are currently sitting at Israel's Ben Gurion International Airport.

And that's before we even get to the military aid that the United States provides to Israel. And the diplomatic support and cover internationally at a time when Israel is facing fierce criticism, allegations of war crimes and violations of international law.

The United States is the power that is defending Israel in that -- you know, in that international forum. And so, if President Trump says, do not carry out this strike, that is going to be something that the Israeli prime minister cannot simply brush off.

But, at the same time, the prime minister is heading towards an election. He has been criticized over the last week for having agreed to President Trump's demand not to strike Beirut, earlier in the week, before the strikes that took place today.

And so, the prime minister is going to face a real crossroads here, as will the rest of the region, as a result.

WHITFIELD: All right. Jeremy Diamond, thank you so much.

I want to bring in, now, Julia Benbrook, who is in New Jersey, where the president is staying nearby this weekend. So, Julia, what news is coming out of the White House or the President on this matter?

JULIA BENBROOK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, President Donald Trump is spending his weekend at one of his properties here in New Jersey. And we have reached out to the White House for an official response to what is taking place and how they believe that it will affect negotiations going forward.

What we do know, as Jeremy outlined there, he's done a few brief interviews. One with Axios, where he told Barak Ravid he was going to have that conversation with Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.

There was also a conversation with a Fox News reporter who was stationed in Tel Aviv, who actually saw some of these strikes taking place. And said he was asking Trump about how this could impact things, and said it's certainly not going to help negotiations. He went on to say, we're very close. I would say an agreement would be signed on Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday of this coming week.

And now, this takes place. So, he was projecting a lot of optimism toward a deal there, which we have heard repeatedly throughout this. This is the 100th day of this conflict in Iran. And ever since those first joint U.S.-Israel strikes against Iran on February 28th, Trump has promised that this conflict was going to end soon, very soon. He threw out a number of different predictions, a couple of days, a couple of weeks.

Recently, he has been pushing back on criticism for how long this conflict is going on, saying that these things take time, sometimes even years, to resolve. No doubt, everything we're seeing play out right now has the potential to cause more issues going forward.

WHTIFIELD: All right. Julia Benbrook in New Jersey, traveling with the president. Thank you so much. We'll be right back with more news after this.

[16:34:43]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. We continue to follow breaking news into CNN. The Israeli military has said it intercepted incoming ballistic missiles from Iran and is now planning a powerful response. That's according to two sources. This is the first major escalation directly between Iran and Israel since early April.

I want to bring in, now, Jerusalem Bureau Chief Oren Liebermann. Oren, we understand the Israeli military official just spoke. What was said?

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN JERUSALEM BUREAU CHIEF AND CORRESPONDENT: Fredricka, how much has changed since I spoke to you about an hour and a half, two hours ago. Brigadier General Effie Defrin, the spokesperson with the Israeli military, gave a short statement just a while ago in which he addressed Iran and Lebanon.

[16:40:02]

LIEBERMANN: Regarding Iran, he said they made a grave mistake by, once again, choosing terrorism, in his words. In other words, in firing ballistic missiles against the state of Israel. At least as of right now, the Israeli military says those missiles have been intercepted. And yet, as you pointed out, two Israeli sources tell CNN they expect a powerful response.

In terms of Israels continued efforts and strikes against southern Lebanon and targeting Hezbollah there. As well as the strike earlier today in the Dahiya suburb of Beirut, considered a Hezbollah stronghold. Defrin said, we struck in Dahiya following Hezbollah's unceasing attacks against communities in northern Israel. The IDF will continue to operate throughout Lebanon and will intensify its actions against the Hezbollah terrorist organization, in his words.

Intensify is the key word there. Because, according to Iran's state media, if Israel continues and expands its operations in southern Lebanon, and in Beirut in particular, then Iran will continue to attack and fire ballistic missiles towards Israel. Which means, at least from where we sit right now, from the statements we have seen from both Iran and Israel, we are clearly on the path toward escalation. Toward a renewed fighting between Israel and Iran, for the first time since early April.

But, of course, that's not the end of it. As Jeremy Diamond reported just a short bit ago, in reporting that comes from Barak Ravid from Axios. He says he spoke with President Donald Trump, who said he will call Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and tell him not to respond. Not to attack Iran.

There are a couple of points to make about this. First, that would be incredibly damaging to Netanyahu domestically, politically here. Trump is trying to find some sort of off-ramp, in the midst of the very beginnings of what is a clear escalation.

If Israel doesn't respond, that would be incredibly damaging, politically, to Netanyahu. And then, although it might try to de- escalate the entire situation, it also doesn't address Lebanon. So that the open threat from Iran to continue to strike Israel if Israels operations in Lebanon continue, still very much appears to be on the table.

It was just last week that Iran threatened to attack Israel, if Israel attacked Beirut. A threat that we very much saw them carry out, just about an hour or so ago. The beginning of that in what has been at least three barrages of Iranian missiles targeted towards Israel.

So, now we sit at this critical moment between the U.S., Israel, Lebanon, Iran, as we wait to see in which direction this goes. Trump has made his preference clear. He wants to push for the continuation of negotiations, not only with the U.S. and Iran. But also, in all likelihood, between Israel and Lebanon.

It was just days ago that the U.S. brokered another cease fire between Israel and Lebanon, but Hezbollah rejected that. And we saw a continuation, an escalation of fighting, on that front. And now, Trump is trying to continue to push for negotiations in the middle of what has been an incredibly volatile weekend. Not only between Israel and Hezbollah, but also between the U.S. and Iran.

And it very much looks like the cease fire that that looks like it's falling apart, both on Israel's northern border and in the Gulf, is at a critical moment where it could go either way.

WHITFIELD: Oh, my gosh. All right. I mean, all of this is so important. Because you're really underscoring, you know, the thoughts, the consequences of how will Netanyahu weigh the political versus the military ramifications of how to move forward, if, indeed, being urged by the President of the United States to hold off on any kind of retaliation? I mean, is this something that stews for Netanyahu over a matter of hours or days, before we see how he renders a decision, given this kind of crossroad?

LIEBERMANN: It's an incredibly important question. And one of the most fascinating in this particular moment.

Israel has the ability to respond within hours. They've had plans, and Netanyahu has made clear that he wants to continue the war against Iran. So, it's likely, very quickly, that Israel could launch a wave of strikes against Iran (?) and against Iran. They've done so successfully throughout the first two or three months of this war and they can do so again.

Netanyahu has repeatedly touted his relationship with Trump. Trump, in fact, said, just a couple of hours ago to NBC News, that he has some disagreements on a couple of issues with Netanyahu, but they're generally on the same page here.

So, it would be an incredible and very open break, if Trump suddenly tells Netanyahu not to respond after Israeli officials have made clear that that that's what they're demanding. And, frankly, in all likelihood, there's a good portion of the Israeli public that would demand a response to incoming Iranian ballistic missiles.

So, it puts Netanyahu in a very difficult spot. Either to buck Trump, to ignore him if he really -- if Trump really does tell Netanyahu not to respond.

[16:45:03]

LIEBERMANN: Or to hope that Trump offers something else in return for not carrying out strikes. That's the dilemma and the difficulty that faces Netanyahu right now.

And, by the way, there's an election looming in mid-to-late September or mid-to-late October. And that very much weighs on Netanyahu's calculations as well.

WHITFIELD: Right, and then there's that. All right. Oren Liebermann, thank you so much. We'll check back with you.

Also joining us now to round out this conversation even further, CNN Global Affairs Commentator Sabrina Singh. She's also former deputy Pentagon press secretary under President Biden. Great to see you.

I mean, how do you see this? This is an incredible juncture that has just been described by Oren and also Jeremy's reporting. How do you see all of this happening, you know, and what the calculus is on all sides involved?

SABRINA SINGH, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS COMMENTATOR: There's no question that the cease fire right now is being tested and probably tested to its absolute limits. I mean, we haven't seen Iran and Israel strike each other, since that the cease fire went into effect in early April.

So, I think if Israel chooses to respond back to these Iranian ballistic missile attacks -- and, frankly, I think it would be unusual for them not to. I don't see how Netanyahu, honestly, cannot respond, just given the domestic concerns that Oren laid out there. I think the Israeli people would want to see a response back.

So, it's highly likely that Israel would respond. And they said, you know, in a -- in a very large and massive manner. What that looks like still is to be determined. But I think what you're seeing right now is this cease fire slowly breaking apart.

Now, can the U.S., can Donald Trump bring everyone back to the table and try and, you know, piece it together with bandages? I mean, that's also a potential.

But I think also what we should be looking at here is where does Pakistan's role fall in all of this? Can they also bring both sides, or at least Iran to the table and to try and get them to stop any response?

But, of course, as we know, Iran is responding because of Israel's ongoing operations in the southern part of -- in Lebanon. In response to Hezbollah. They wanted to see a cease fire in Lebanon, coupled with the cease fire between the U.S., Israel and Iran. And they -- and, you know, very much so, Israel is trying to decouple that from any cease fire negotiation.

WHITFIELD: And you're bringing up, you know, Pakistan, just a reminder to everybody, because it was in Islamabad where parties were there. I guess Pakistan kind of playing as a mediator in these peace negotiations. But, oh my gosh, that seems like that was such a long time ago. So much has happened since then.

SINGH: Right.

WHITFIELD: So, you see Pakistan as, potentially, still relevant in helping to further or encourage some sort of peace dialog? Even though things are awfully fragile right now or continue to be fragile.

SINGH: It's very fragile. I think Pakistan has played a role in these negotiations. And we know that the Gulf countries, some of which still, you know, have played a role in the negotiations, do not want to see a resumption to this war.

I mean, their oil facilities, oil refineries have been so badly damaged that we are going to feel the catastrophic effects from this war, as we're already seeing it with the oil prices.

But, frankly, for these Gulf nations to rebuild some of these structures, it's going to take years. And so, they don't want to see a resumption to this war.

I think every single party, including the United States. I mean, this president is seemingly does not want to restart kinetic action, but obviously reserves that right to do so if he chooses.

But everyone is seeing the economic global impact that this war is having. And so, bringing all the parties involved to the negotiating table, I think is where President Trump is, where the Gulf countries are.

And I -- you know, Iran, frankly, has more time to run down the clock. I think they're more willing to accept the consequences and pain.

But this president has a political calculation to make, and I don't think that's in the United States interests. WHITFIELD: All right. Sabrina Singh, thank you so much. Really

appreciate and value your point of view here. Appreciate it. We'll be right back.

[16:49:15]

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WHITFIELD: All right, welcome back. We continue to follow breaking news into CNN. The Israeli military has intercepted incoming ballistic missiles from Iran and is now planning a powerful response. That's according to two sources. This is the first major escalation directly between Iran and Israel since early April.

With us now is CNN Political and Global Affairs Analyst Barak Ravid. And, Barak, you actually spoke with the president of the United States following this barrage of incoming missiles. And what is he saying?

BARAK RAVID, CNN POLITICAL AND GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Yes, I spoke to the president around 30 minutes ago about this latest escalation. And what the president told me is that he's going to call Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and ask him to stand down and not retaliate to this -- to this barrage of ballistic missiles from Iran.

The president told me the Iranian strikes did not hurt anybody. Hopefully, Israel is not going to retaliate. If Bibi strikes them back, it's just going to keep on going, like the last 47 years or the last 3,000 years, the president told me.

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RAVID: Trump added, in our conversation, we are very close to a final deal with Iran. It's going to be a good deal. I don't want it to blow up because of what is happening now.

Trump continued on, saying, I'm going to call Bibi right now and tell him not to retaliate. Each of -- each of them had their fun. Israel had its strike and Iran had its strike. We don't need another one.

Actually, the president is talking right now to Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The call started just a few minutes ago. And I think this is going to be a very dramatic phone call, because this escalation can stop or it can even escalate even further.

And I think that if President Trump indeed will tell Benjamin Netanyahu to stand down, Benjamin Netanyahu will be in a very big problem. Because, on the one hand, domestically, he cannot stand down. He cannot not retaliate to such an Iranian attack. On the other hand, Israel needs the U.S., in order to strike Iran, especially if this is going to continue for a while.

Israel needs air refueling. Israel needs operational coordination with U.S. forces. Israel needs help in search and rescue missions. Israel can go at it alone if it's a one off, if it's two strikes. But if it's something that is going on now for a while, Israel needs U.S. assistance. And if President Trump will not give Netanyahu a green light, it will be very hard for Israel to go forward.

WHITFIELD: Well, then, this is very complicated. Because it's difficult to know or even assess how will Netanyahu, you know, receive this phone call or this discussion from the president? Would he put himself in a position of negotiating with the United States president to try to convince him, or tell President Trump the many reasons why it needs to follow through with its powerful response to Iran?

RAVID: Yes. And I think -- I think Benjamin Netanyahu finds himself in unchartered waters. He was -- I think he was never in such a position. The last time he was in something that was a bit similar was in April 2024, after Iran conducted a missile attack on Israel.

The U.S., then the Biden Administration, and Israel defeated this massive missile attack from Iran. And then, President Biden spoke to Netanyahu and told him, take the win. Don't -- even if you retaliate, do something that is proportionate. Don't escalate.

And, eventually, Netanyahu decided to retaliate but a very, very, very limited retaliation with one missile fired at one Iranian air defense battery. And he sort of took the win.

Now, it's a -- it's an even more complicated situation, because President Trump is telling him, don't retaliate at all. So, I think Benjamin Netanyahu is in a very, very, very difficult situation right now.

WHITFIELD: Yes, very. All right, we're going to continue this conversation into the next hour. Barak Ravid, thank you so much for joining me.

Our coverage of this breaking news continues right now with Jessica Dean. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Have a great evening.

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