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Trump: Iranian Nuclear Sites "Obliterated"; Defense Secretary Hegseth Speaks On Iran Strikes. U.S. Strikes Iran in "Operation Midnight Hammer". Aired 8-9a ET
Aired June 22, 2025 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: -- on Iranian nuclear facilities.
[08:00:02]
Now, just moments ago, we did hear from Russia. The foreign minister there said, quote, "The irresponsible decision to subject the territory of a sovereign state to missile and bomb strikes flagrantly violates international law, the U.N. charter and U.N. Security Council resolutions."
It goes on to say, "It is particularly alarming that the strikes were carried out by a country that is a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council." Again, that statement from Russia, which has been carrying out strikes on Ukraine for years.
In the United States, law enforcement and federal authorities say they are increasing security measures and monitoring for any potential threats after the U.S. bombed the Iranian sites. This morning, Iran's foreign minister said his country has the right to defend itself.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ABBAS ARAGHCHI, IRANIAN FOREIGN MINISTER: The Islamic Republic of Iran condemns in the strongest terms the United States' brutal military aggression against Iran's peaceful nuclear facilities. It is an outrageous grave and unprecedented violation of the fundamental principles of the charter of the United Nations and international law.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: The United States attacked Iranian nuclear facilities at Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan. You can see where they are on that map.
President Trump says he's not afraid to strike again if Iran does not get the message.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This cannot continue. There will be either peace or there will be tragedy for Iran, far greater than we have witnessed over the last eight days. Remember, there are many targets left. Tonight's was the most difficult of them all by far, and perhaps the most lethal. But if peace does not come quickly, we will go after those other
targets with precision, speed and skill. Most of them can be taken out in a matter of minutes. There is no military in the world that could have done what we did tonight. Not even close.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: The Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu thanked the president for his actions. The prime minister said strength comes first, then peace.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: America has been truly unsurpassed. It has done what no other country on earth could do. History will record that President Trump acted to deny the world's most dangerous regime the world's most dangerous weapons. His leadership today has created a pivot of history that can help lead the Middle East and beyond to a future of prosperity and peace.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: Now, not long after the U.S. strikes on Iran, Iran launched its own strikes toward Israel, a new round. Israeli emergency crews said they were called out to at least ten different spots. Almost 90 people were hurt.
Again, we're standing by at the Pentagon to hear from the defense secretary. In the meantime, let's get to Jeff Zeleny at the White House for the latest from there.
Jeff, good to see you. What are you hearing?
JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: John, we are about to learn more details from this military operation that was called Operation Midnight Hammer. We are learning more this morning, and we certainly will learn more from the defense secretary as he delivers the briefing momentarily. We can see them walking into the briefing room here, but we are expecting to hear from --
BERMAN: Jeff, let's listen.
ZELENY: -- the details. Let's listen.
PETE HEGSETH, DEFENSE SECRETARY: Last night, on President Trump's orders, U.S. Central Command conducted a precision strike in the middle of the night against three nuclear facilities in Iran, Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan, in order to destroy or severely degrade Iran's nuclear program. And as the chairman of the Joint Chiefs will demonstrate, it was an incredible and overwhelming success.
The order we received from our commander in chief was focused. It was powerful, and it was clear. We devastated the Iranian nuclear program. But it's worth noting the operation did not target Iranian troops or the Iranian people. For the entirety of his time in office, President Trump has consistently stated for over ten years that Iran must not get a nuclear weapon. Full stop.
Thanks to President Trump's bold and visionary leadership and his commitment to peace through strength, Iran's nuclear ambitions have been obliterated many presidents have dreamed of delivering the final blow to Iran's nuclear program, and none could until President Trump.
The operation President Trump planned was bold, and it was brilliant, showing the world that American deterrence is back. When this president speaks, the world should listen.
And the U.S. military, we can back it up, the most powerful military the world has ever known. No other country on Planet Earth could have conducted the operation that the chairman is going to outline this morning. Not even close.
Just like Soleimani found out in the first term, Iran found out when POTUS says 60 days that he seeks peace and negotiation, he means 60 days of peace and negotiation. Otherwise, that nuclear program, that nuclear capability will not exist. He meant it. This is not the previous administration.
The President Trump said no nukes. He seeks peace. And Iran should take that path. He sent out a truth last night saying this, "Any retaliation by Iran against the United States of America will be met with force far greater than what was witnessed tonight", signed by the president of the United States, Donald J. Trump.
Iran would be smart to heed those words. He said it before, and he means it.
I want to give recognition to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Joint Staff, General Eric Kurilla, at CENTCOM, who did a phenomenal job. He and his staff, all of CENTCOM, policy across the board. This was a joint effort, and across the Pentagon effort.
I want to recognize the pilots who flew those bombers, who flew those fighters, who flew those refuelers, warriors. I want to recognize the sailors on those destroyers, in those subs, on those carriers, warriors, all of them. I want to recognize our soldiers doing air defense, base defense, QRF, warriors, all of them.
Every American involved in this operation performed flawlessly, and I want to give recognition to our allies in Israel as well. This is a plan that took months and weeks of positioning and preparation so that we could be ready when the president of the United States called. It took a great deal of precision. It involved misdirection and the highest of operational security. Our B-2s went in and out of downtown Tehran -- not Tehran, excuse me -- of these nuclear sites, in and out and back, without the world knowing at all. In that way, it was historic.
A strike that included the longest B-2 Spirit Bomber mission since 2001, and the first operational employment of the MOP, a massive ordnance penetrator. The mission demonstrated to the world the level of joint and allied integration that speak to the strength of our alliance and our joint forces.
As President Trump has stated, the United States does not seek war. But let me be clear. We will act swiftly and decisively when our people, our partners or our interests are threatened. Iran should listen to the president, United States and know that he means it. Every word.
I want to give congratulations to our commander in chief. It was an honor to watch him lead last night and throughout, and to our great American warriors on this successful operation.
God bless our troops. God bless America, and we give glory to God for his providence and continue to ask for his protection.
I turn it over now to the chairman for specifics.
GEN. DAN CAINE, CHAIRMAN, JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF: Thank you, Mr. Secretary.
Thanks for recognizing all of our folks out there doing our nation's work.
And nice to see everybody on this early Sunday morning.
Last night on the president's orders, U.S. Central Command, under the command of General Eric Kurilla executed Operation Midnight Hammer, a deliberate and precise strike against three Iranian nuclear facilities.
This was a complex and high-risk mission carried out with exceptional skill and discipline by our joint force. I want to thank every service member, planner, operator that made this mission possible. Their actions reflect the highest standards of the United States Armed Forces.
This operation was designed to severely degrade Iran's nuclear weapons infrastructure. It was planned and executed across multiple domains and theaters, with coordination that reflects our ability to project power globally with speed and precision at the time and place of our nation's choosing.
This was a highly classified mission with very few people in Washington knowing the timing or nature of this plan. I'll refer you to the graphic on the side as I walk you through some of the operational details.
At midnight, Friday into Saturday morning, a large B-2 strike package comprised of bombers launched from the Continental United States. As part of the plan to maintain tactical surprise, part of the package proceeded to the West and into the Pacific as a decoy. A deception effort known only to an extremely small number of planners and key leaders here in Washington and in Tampa.
The main strike package, comprised of seven B-2 Spirit Bombers, each with two crew members, proceeded quietly to the east with minimal communications. Throughout the 18-hour flight into the target area, the aircraft completed multiple in-flight refuelings. Once over land, the B-2s linked up with escort and support aircraft in a complex tightly timed maneuver requiring exact synchronization across multiple platforms in a narrow piece of airspace. All done with minimal communications.
This type of integration is exactly what our joint force does better than anyone else in the world.
At approximately 5:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time last night, and just prior to the strike package entering Iran, a U.S. submarine in the Central Command area of responsibility launched more than two dozen tomahawk land attack cruise missiles against key surface infrastructure targets at Isfahan. As the Operation Midnight Hammer strike package entered Iranian airspace, the U.S. employed several deception tactics, including decoys as the fourth and fifth generation aircraft pushed out in front of the strike package at high altitude and high speed, sweeping in front of the package for enemy fighters and surface to air missile threats.
The strike package was supported by U.S. Strategic Command, U.S. Transportation Command, U.S. Cyber Command, U.S. Space Command, U.S. Space Force, and U.S. European Command.
As the strike package approached, Fordow and Natanz, the U.S. protection package employed high speed suppression weapons to ensure safe passage of the strike package with fighter assets employing preemptive suppressing fires against any potential Iranian surface to air threats. We are currently unaware of any shots fired at the U.S. strike package on the way in.
At approximately 6:40 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, 2:10 a.m. Iran time, the lead B-2 dropped two GBU-57 massive ordnance penetrator weapons on the first of several aim points at Fordow. As the president stated last night, the remaining bombers then hit their targets as well, with a total of 14 MOPs dropped against two nuclear target areas. All three Iranian nuclear infrastructure targets were struck between 6:40 p.m. and 7:05 p.m. Eastern Time. Again, that's about 2:10 in the morning local time in Iran with the tomahawk missiles being the last to strike at Isfahan to ensure we retain the element of surprise throughout the operation.
Following weapons release, the Midnight Hammer strike package exited Iranian airspace and the package began its return home. We are unaware of any shots fired at the package on the way out. Iran's fighters did not fly, and it appears that Iran's surface to air missile systems did not see us. Throughout the mission, we retained the element of surprise.
In total, U.S. forces employed approximately 75 precision guided weapons during this operation. This included, as the president stated last night, 14 30,000-pound GBU 57 massive ordnance penetrators, marking the first ever operational use of this weapon.
I know that battle damage is of great interest. Final battle damage will take some time, but initial battle damage assessments indicate that all three sites sustained extremely severe damage and destruction. More than 125 U.S. aircraft participated in this mission, including B-2 stealth bombers, multiple flights of fourth and fifth generation fighters, dozens and dozens of air refueling tankers, a guided missile submarine, and a full array of intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance aircraft, as well as hundreds of maintenance and operational professionals.
[08:15:27]
As the secretary said, this was the largest B-2 operational strike in U.S. history, and the second longest b-2 mission ever flown, exceeded only by those in the days following 9/11. Well, prior to the strike, General Kurilla elevated force protection measures across the region, especially in Iraq, Syria, and the Gulf.
Our forces remain on high alert and are fully postured to respond to any Iranian retaliation or proxy attacks, which would be an incredibly poor choice. We will defend ourselves. The safety of our service members and civilians remains our highest priority. This mission demonstrates the unmatched reach, coordination and capability of the United States military.
In just a matter of weeks, this went from strategic planning to global execution. This operation underscores the unmatched capabilities and global reach of the United States military. As the president clearly said last night, no other in the military -- no other military in the world could have done this.
I joined the president and the secretary in being incredibly proud of the air crews, naval forces, cyber operators, planners and support teams and commanders who made this mission possible. It is their skill, discipline and teamwork that makes this operation possible.
I am particularly proud of our discipline related to operational security, something that was of great concern to the president, the secretary, General Kurilla, and me. And we will continue to focus on this.
As we stand here this morning, many assets are still airborne and we have hundreds deployed. I ask that we keep our warfighters on their way home and our deployed service member in our thoughts. Our joint force remains ready to defend the United States, our troops and our interests in the region.
Thank you very much.
HEGSETH : We will take a few questions.
Phil?
REPORTER: Me?
HEGSETH: Yeah.
REPORTER: So, is regime change off the table, Mr. Secretary? And to the chairman, you know, you said the battle damage assessment is still ongoing, but do you believe that some nuclear capability in Iran remains?
HEGSETH: This mission was not and has not been about regime change. The president authorized a precision operation to neutralize the threats to our national interests posed by the Iranian nuclear program and the collective self-defense of our troops and our ally Israel.
CAINE: Thanks for your question. I think BDA is still pending and it would be way too early for me to comment on what may or may not still be there, but thanks for the question.
HEGSETH: Green. Green. No. Behind you.
REPORTER: Excuse me, Mr. Secretary, can you tell me it? Was there a particular moment when the president decided to pull the trigger on this operation where he said now, rather than being, you know, something in the holster now we're going to pull the trigger on it.
HEGSETH: I would just say having the opportunity to witness his leadership, he was fully committed to the peace process. Wanted, wanted a negotiated outcome, gave Iran every single opportunity and unfortunately, was met by stonewalling, which is why he gave them plenty of time to continue to come to the table and give up enrichment, give up the nuclear program.
But there was a -- I won't say the particular moment. There was certainly a moment in time where he realized that it had to be a certain action taken in order to minimize the threat to us and our troops.
Yeah?
REPORTER: General, you say that General Kurilla increased force protection in Iraq, Syria, and Gulf in those areas. Were they given any advance warning that the attacks were coming?
And also, Mr. Secretary, when were congressional leaders notified? How long before the attacks took place?
CAINE: Sir, to your -- to your first question, you know, the risk is clearly been rising over the last few weeks in the region. Based on that and not a particular awareness of this operation. Weve made smart decisions to minimize the risk to U.S. forces in the region.
REPORTER: No advance warning?
CAINE: No, sir.
REPORTER: And the congressional --
[08:20:00]
HEGSETH: They were -- they were notified after the planes were safely out. But we complied with the notification requirements of the War Powers Act. REPORTER: They were notified.
HEGSETH: They were, immediately thereafter.
Yes?
REPORTER: Thank you, Mr. Secretary.
REPORTER: Two-tiered questions. Do you believe you completely destroyed. Iranian nuclear program? And how about Iranian ballistic missiles? Your allies, Israel always saying that is the biggest threat.
And second question is very important. What will be your next step if Iran or militias under Iranian influence in the region attack us interests or allies in the region?
HEGSETH: And you can chime in on this too, Mr. Chairman. The battle damage assessment is ongoing, but our initial assessment is the chairman said, is that all of our precision munitions struck where we wanted them to strike and had the desired effect, which means especially in Fordow, which was the primary target here, we believe we achieved destruction of capabilities there.
Ultimately, wherever it may be, whether it's in Iraq or Syria or bases in the Gulf, as the president said it would be, or excuse me, as the chairman said, it would be a very bad idea for Iran or its proxies to attempt to attack American forces.
Yes?
REPORTER: Thank you, Mr. Secretary.
Regarding retaliation, Iran and North Korea are cooperating on nuclear and missile development. Do you think there is a possibility that Iran, North Korea and the other forces such as China will join forces to retaliate against the United States?
HEGSETH: Well, unfortunately, because of the policies under the previous administration, we drove those countries together. And ultimately, that creates a challenging environment.
For this particular operation, the focus is on Iran and Iranian nuclear capabilities. That's our focus here is to not just say that they can't have, but President Trump has said from over 20 years, frankly, Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon. And ultimately, he decided this is the moment, given their stonewalling, when direct military action had to be taken to prevent that from happening.
Yes?
REPORTER: Thank you very much.
General Kaine, I understand OpSec, I respect OpSec. Can you say at all what. Security procedures are being taken to protect U.S. troops in Iraq and elsewhere in the Middle East? And, Secretary Hegseth, as a global war on terrorism veteran, what do
you say to veterans who may be concerned the U.S. is getting into another open-ended war in the Middle East over weapons of mass destruction?
CAINE: Thanks, sir, for the question. I won't comment on what force protection measures are being taken in the region. What I will say is we're being proactive and not reactive. And being very thoughtful about ensuring that we do all that we can to protect our forces out there.
HEGSETH: And I would just say, as the president has directed, made clear, this is most certainly not open ended. It doesn't mean it limits our ability to respond. We will respond if necessary. The most powerful military in the world is postured and prepared to defend our people.
But what the president gave us, as I said, was a focused, powerful, and clear mission on the destruction of Iranian nuclear capabilities. Those were the targets. That's what was struck. That what was overwhelming, that's what was overwhelming.
That's what the Iranian regime needs to understand as the president put it out, put out last night. He wants peace. There needs to be a negotiated settlement here. We ultimately demonstrated that Iran cannot have a nuclear capability. That is a very clear mission set on this operation.
Yes. Hold on. Yes. Right there.
REPORTER: Thank you, Mr. Secretary.
Question for the secretary and the chairman. How was this strike coordinated with the Israelis on a strategic level, militarily? And on a tactical level, was there any direct. Israeli military participation in this operation?
HEGSETH: Well, I would say certainly Israel had an incredible military success, especially at the beginning and ongoing in degrading Iranian capabilities and degrading Iranian launchers, MRBMs. It's been incredible to watch what our ally Israel has been able to do.
And there certainly have been conversations. I mean, General Kurilla at CENTCOM has worked closely in the defense of Israel for many years, and part of this operation was the defense of Israel and the ongoing defense of Israel.
[08:25:01]
But as it pertains to this strike, this was U.S.-operated and U.S.- led.
CAINE: We took advantage of some of the preparatory work that's been done over the past week and a half in terms of access of approach. I won't get into the particulars, but as the secretary said, it was a -- it was a U.S. strike. We made sure we were not in the same piece of airspace and sky. Aside from that, that was the extent of it.
HEGSETH: We'll take a couple more. Yeah, right there.
REPORTER: Question, the secretary first. Are you concerned whatsoever now about the reaction from U.S. allies given the strike, particularly those in the Gulf?
And to the chairman, if I may, I understand you don't want to speak to specific assets force protection measures, but do you anticipate at least having to bring in any further assets from other theaters to aid in force protection over the coming days?
HEGSETH: We certainly understand the challenges of allies in the region, and we have been respectful and in working in collaboration with them as it pertains to basing and sensitivities there.
Ultimately, they've got a lot of assets and people in those locations also where American troops are co-located. So that's a consideration of ours. Weve been in close consultation with them, and we appreciate the support that we have gotten.
CAINE: Thanks for the question. On sort of the global picture, and as you know, that's one of my jobs is to look globally at the entire range of challenges. We are always carefully considering our force posture around the world. And then offering options to the secretary and to the president.
I won't comment on any future things, but the American people should know that we carefully consider those moves around the world and try to modulate as needed, our force structure in the region.
HEGSETH: Absolutely. Yeah, right here.
REPORTER: Thank you.
HEGSETH: What communications are being sent to the Iranians right now? And is there any possibility of diplomacy now or in the coming days?
HEGSETH: I can -- I can only confirm that there are both public and private messages being directly delivered to the Iranians in multiple channels, giving them every opportunity to come to the table. They understand precisely what the American position is, precisely what steps they can take to allow for peace. And we hope they do so.
Yes?
REPORTER: The president may not want an open-ended conflict. The Iranians may disagree. Are you prepared for a protracted war?
HEGSETH: Well, anything can happen in conflict. We acknowledge that. But the scope of this was intentionally limited. That's the message that we're sending, with the capabilities of the American military nearly unlimited.
So, Iran, in that sense, has a choice. But we've made it very clear to them, this is nuclear sites, this is nuclear capabilities. This is the line that the president set. And we set that back. Now is the time to come forward for peace.
But we and I think one of the takeaways from this as well, is the unprecedented level of ongoing cooperation. I can't speak highly enough of the chairman and his staff and General Kurilla in CENTCOM. What they've done to look around the corner to pre-position, to understand how an operation like this comes together.
The scope and scale of what occurred last night would take the breath away of almost any American. If you had an opportunity to watch it in real time. And I think Tehran is certainly calculating the reality that planes flew from the middle of America in Missouri overnight, completely undetected, over three of their most highly sensitive sites.
And we were able to destroy nuclear capabilities. And our boys in those bombers are on their way home right now. We believe that will have a clear psychological impact on how they view the future, and we certainly hope they take the path of negotiated peace.
But I could not be more proud of how this building operated, of the precision, the sensitivity and the professionalism of the troops involved in this effort. I will take one more -- we'll take one more question. Yes, right there.
REPORTER: Okay. Thank you.
Mr. Secretary, concerning the justification for the strikes -- in March, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence released their threat assessment, concluding quote, "Iran is not building a nuclear weapon, and Khamenei has not authorized the nuclear programs he suspended in 2003," unquote.
So, what new intelligence does the U.S. have since then that the Iranians have changed their position on nuclear weapons? And does this new intelligence come from U.S. sources and methods, or are we getting this information from other countries?
HEGSETH: Well, I would just simply say that the president has made it very clear he's looked at all of this, all of the intelligence, all of the information, and come to the conclusion that the Iranian nuclear program is a threat and was willing to take this precision operation to neutralize that threat in order to advance American national interests and reduce the Iranian nuclear program. And obviously, collective self-defense of ourself and our allies.
So he looked at all of it, understood the nature of the threat, and took bold action I think the American people would expect in a commander in chief.
That's all we've got. Thank you very much. Appreciate it.
Mr. Chairman.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. Chairman, do you have --
[END OF LIVE EVENT]
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: You've been listening to U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and the chair of the Joint Chiefs Dan Caine -- General Dan Caine, laying out some new information about the unprecedented U.S. military strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities.
125 aircraft over Iran, 25 minutes from the time the first bomb fell, at 6:40 p.m. Eastern time. The last bomb fell 7:05 p.m. Eastern time.
We learned key information about battle damage assessment. The general said that their initial assessment is that the Iranian nuclear capability is severely damaged, but they do not yet know if it has been destroyed. That will take some time.
From Secretary Hegseth, a very deliberate messaging plan right there, making it clear that regime change was not the goal of this attack. Making clear, according to the secretary, the only target was Iran's nuclear facilities and capability, not troops or people.
He said, he repeatedly emphasized the limited nature of this strike and said it is not open-ended.
There was also some political messaging there from Secretary Hegseth. A lot of mentioning of President Trump and the role that he played. And General Dan Caine talked about the extraordinary operational security that was part of this attack, notable as he was standing next to the Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who had some issues with his Signal use and operational security before.
Let's discuss what we just learned. With us now. CNN's Jeff Zeleny, General Wesley Clark, national security analyst Peter Bergen, General James Spider Marks, Jeremy Diamond in Tel Aviv.
Jeff Zeleny, first to you there, the big takeaways from we just from what we just heard. What do you think?
JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: It's a bit of a difference in the language used. And this will be important in the coming hours and days.
President Trump described the nuclear facilities as obliterated. His chairman of the Joint Chiefs did not go that far at all. He said, severely damaged. But it will take a while to determine if the nuclear capabilities have been erased. And that, of course, is the central question of all of this.
Also, no regime change. That is something that the Defense Secretary made clear, as well as not an open-ended conflict, as you said.
But we learned an extraordinary amount of detail about the timeline of this operation beginning on midnight Friday. And then the extraordinary moments between 6:40 p.m. Eastern time and 7:05 p.m. Eastern time.
President Trump arrived back at the White House here around 6:15 p.m. He was in Bedminster at his New Jersey golf course. So that's where the order went through. But he was in the Situation Room as this was happening.
But certainly there was a lot of praise there from the Defense Secretary for the president. There was no doubt about that.
But also going forward in the coming hours and days, the force protection. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs was very, very clear that the -- some 40,000 American troops would be protected, but would not go into any greater detail on that. But an extraordinary moment.
And yesterday, John, if you'll remember, there was a lot of reporting about how the B-2s were flying toward Guam. We learned for the first time that was a decoy in Operation Midnight Hammer, the first major military mission of this administration and perhaps one of the biggest gambles of President Trump's tenure, John.
BERMAN: General James "Spider" Marks, you and I have been talking about battle damage assessment, BDA, all morning long, and we just got some concrete information from the chair of the Joint Chiefs Dan Caine, who said severely damaged -- severely damaged, but doesn't know yet if it has been destroyed. What did you take from that Spider?
MAJ. GEN. JAMES "SPIDER" MARKS, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: This will take place, BDA will take place over time, certainly within a couple of days we'll know more.
But there's always in engagements, there will always be damage of some sort. More specifically what we want to look at is try to define was it destroyed or was it defeated?
[08:34:52]
MARKS: If it's destroyed, it goes away. It's vapor. If it's defeated, they can replenish, they can rebuild. It's going to take some time.
So I think what the chairman was saying so very objectively -- I think he did an extremely commendable, wonderful job walking through these details.
But he acknowledged, look, the ordnance did what it was intended to do, but it's a stretch to say that it achieved a certain effect. That remains to be determined.
BERMAN: And of course, that is so crucial.
General Wesley Clark, thank you for joining us this morning. What was your takeaway from the new details about the operation itself? From the level of deception that we had confirmed for the first time, they sent B-2s toward Guam at the same time they were sending B-2s east directly toward Iraq. Why is that so important?
GEN. WESLEY CLARK, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Really smart, really well thought out, take no chances. The Iranian military obviously is active. They're looking at Israeli aircraft coming in. Maybe they're powerless to do much about it, but to take no chances.
This is America's crown jewel, really these B-2 bombers right now. The massive ordnance penetrator is a weapon that's never been used before in an actual operation.
Let's have a flawless operation. It always has to start with good planning and deception. And that's a hallmark of good planning.
And, you know, I agree with what Spider Marks just said. The chairman did a brilliant job of explaining this. We got far more detail than we expected to have on this operation.
And I think the other thing to note is at the strategic level, the president and the secretary were both clear, this is a one-off operation. It's not part of an ongoing campaign. It's to eliminate, if possible, the nuclear capacity. And then let's get on with the piece and get this thing resolved and settle the region down.
BERMAN: On the secrecy front there, they both made sure to point out that no Iranian aircraft took flight in response to the U.S. action, and they're unaware of a single shot being fired against the U.S. air mission.
They had apparently complete secrecy. The Iranians did not know, they suggest, it was going on.
Peter Bergen, I want to bring up that point about the message, the very deliberate messaging from Secretary Hegseth that this was not about regime change. He said it was not regime change. The targets were not troops or people. The target were just the facilities there.
That messaging, I think there is a domestic political target for that messaging. Some of the president's own base that hasn't wanted to see greater U.S. military involvement there. But what do you think the messaging is there to the Iranian leadership?
PETER BERGEN, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Well, I think, you know, the United States has had -- has had, you know, we've changed the regime in Iran before, 75 years ago, when the CIA led a coup, basically installing the shah.
So, I mean, it's not just a message to the regime. It's also to the Iranian people that the United States is not going to force a regime change.
I think also American sort of record on regime change has not been particularly great. If you look at Libya, where the United States essentially greenlighted a NATO mission against Gadhafi. Libya is still in a civil war, you know, many, many years later.
So, you know, you don't you don't really want to have a regime change and get somebody even worse. And I think that's part of the messaging here. BERMAN: Also, that Defense Secretary Hegseth said there is both public
and private messaging to Iran about possible off ramps here. What those might be for Iran, I think that remains to be seen.
Jeremy Diamond to you in Tel Aviv, one of the things that the military leaders here said was that they were grateful to Israel laying the groundwork for the success here.
But other than making sure that U.S. and Israeli planes weren't in the air in the same place at the same time, this was a U.S. operation. What did you hear there?
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's exactly right. And it's important to note, John, that from the very beginning of this Israeli operation in Iran that we saw over the course of a week before the United States carried out these strikes, the entire operation, I was told by multiple Israeli officials, was effectively premised on the notion that the United States would hopefully eventually join in and deliver what Israeli officials have described to me as the final blow to Iran's nuclear program.
The Israelis know very well that they don't have B-2 bombers. They don't have those 30,000-pound bunker busting bombs to destroy that Fordow facility.
[08:39:54]
DIAMOND: They had considered other options, looked at other scenarios, all far riskier, all less assured of success than this kind of a bombing campaign from those stealth bombers that the United States carried out last night.
And so we heard the Israeli prime minister early -- in the early hours of this morning, following President Trump's announcement to the nation last night thanking the United States for taking this step and also noting that he and President Trump spoke immediately after the operation concluded with President Trump thanking the Israeli prime minister for what the Israeli military accomplished in the lead up to these strikes. And once again spotlighting that close coordination between allies.
It's also important to note that the Israelis were -- the Israeli security cabinet, I'm told, was in a bunker together watching this operation unfold, getting developments, updates on the progress of that operation and ultimately being informed by the United States once it had actually been concluded.
What we have seen here today so far early this morning, the latest round of Iranian ballistic missiles, the first since those U.S. strikes. And you can see behind me some of the damage that has actually been wrought here.
This is actually not the worst of it at all. Just in front of me here, there's another building that we don't have access to at this moment. The whole front of that building has been shaved off entirely. But here you can see the debris to all of these windows that have been
broken. The paneling, that is, you know, just precariously hanging off the building. We've been hearing falling glass all day.
And the question that so many Israelis now have, and indeed, the world at large is, will there be more retaliation from Iran, and will it be aimed primarily at Israel? Will it be aimed at U.S. forces in the Middle East who are much closer to Iran than we are right now in Israel?
And you can hear some of the debris still falling behind me.
And so Israelis are certainly prepared for a range of scenarios. The home front command guidelines here have been tightened once again.
No one's going to work. No one's going to school today as Israelis stand by to see what more Iran could deliver in terms of retaliation, John.
BERMAN: All right. Jeremy, thank you. Everyone, stand by for a moment, if you will.
Our special live coverage, the U.S. strikes on Iran, this briefing from the Pentagon, everything we just learned. More ahead.
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BERMAN: All right. Welcome back to our viewers in the United States and all around the world.
This is CNN's special live coverage.
We just heard from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and the chair of the Joint Chiefs Dan Caine, about the U.S. strike on Iranian nuclear facilities.
CNN's Natasha Bertrand was in the room for that briefing. Natasha, what did you hear there? What was the new information you took away?
NATASHA BERTRAND, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well John, this was a remarkably planned operation, and it involved the use of decoys, including B-2 bombers, that actually went over the Pacific at around the same time that the B-2 bombers being used to attack sites in Iran were actually conducting that operation. So a lot of deception at play here as well.
And according to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Dan Caine, there were approximately seven B-2 bombers that took part in this mission altogether. These B-2 bombers dropped approximately over a dozen massive ordnance penetrator bombs, which are those huge bunker-busting bombs, on both Fordow nuclear facility as well as Natanz.
And there were also tomahawk missiles that were fired from U.S. submarines in the region that hit Isfahan nuclear facility in Iran.
Now, we're also told that this was actually the longest B-2 mission in decades. The B-2 bombers took off from Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri, and they traveled approximately 18 hours to their target in Iran, beginning at around 12:01 on Saturday morning.
And then they flew 18 hours back. And there were approximately 125 different aircraft that were involved in this operation all told, including reconnaissance planes, fighter jets.
There were, of course, dozens of refueling tankers that were in the air. And those fighter jets, actually, that were deployed as part of this operation, they went ahead of those B-2 bombers over Iran to kind of create confusion among the Iranian military.
And according to General Caine, the Iranian military did not scramble jets to respond. There was no indication that the Iranians even knew that the U.S. military was carrying out this operation.
So that's a very significant detail there as well, because according to the military, there was no -- there were no shots fired by the Iranian military. There was no significant resistance or opposition to U.S. fighters that were in the air at that time.
Now, importantly, they still do not have a detailed battle damage assessment of just how much damage these strikes actually caused on the facilities. But they appear confident at this early hour that they did cause a significant impact to these nuclear facilities, and that they did set them back quite a bit.
But of course, as the day goes on, as they carry out more of this battle damage assessment using the assets they have in the air, they're going to get a better picture of just how much they were able to set back Iran's nuclear enrichment process.
And of course, Secretary of Defense Hegseth also noted during his remarks there that the U.S. has been communicating both publicly and privately with the Iranians.
[08:49:48]
BERTRAND: And that from right now, the U.S. is hoping that diplomacy can take over because there are no immediate plans to launch any additional strikes. But of course, there could be retaliation if the Iranians decide to hit U.S. bases and troops in the region, John.
BERMAN: He said the operation is not open-ended. He said that verbatim. He also said that the goal was not regime change and the targets, not troops or people.
And Jeff Zeleny, to that end, yes, as we've been discussing, I think there is an international and an Iranian audience for that message. But I also think there's a domestic audience for that message as well among the president's own base, particularly when it comes from Pete Hegseth, the Defense Secretary, who before he took this post was a -- was a fox news acolyte of President Trump. It did feel like that was a message, particularly on top of the
frankly, some of the fawning that we got from the Defense Secretary over the president and what he called the president's boldness and brilliance in this operation. What are you hearing now?
ZELENY: John, there is no question that that was certainly part of the message, even before we learned some of the operational details. As Natasha was just saying, they're really an extraordinary fashion of Operation Midnight Hammer.
The Defense Secretary, in his first briefing from the Pentagon, talking about the brilliance of the commander in chief, but also specifically talking about the question that has been hanging over this entire debate for weeks, if not months.
The specter of the Iraq war, more than two decades on, of course. This has been the essentially the anthem of the president's last ten years in public life. He has campaigned against forever wars. He's been very, very critical of the Bush administration, of course.
But that was certainly a message that was sent, not open-ended and no regime change. But the question here is, and we do not have an answer to it, we will potentially know in the coming days or weeks or months. What is the aftermath of this? What is the fallout? Are U.S. forces at risk? Is the nuclear program destroyed?
The president, of course, used the word obliterated. His chairman of the Joint Chiefs did not go that far at all. So, many questions hanging over this, but one in terms of explaining it. We saw the president do that last evening, and I would expect him to do more of that in the coming hours and days as well, explain to the American people, at least in his view, that this is not an open-ended conflict. But at the same time delivering a threat to Iran that the U.S. will not stand by and be attacked either.
BERMAN: You know, General Marks -- thank you, Jeff -- General James "Spider" Marks, one of the key questions here is what does Iran have left? And I know that's a question that Israel is asking. That's a question the U.S. is asking this morning. And no doubt Iran is asking the question of what does Israel have left in terms of what its willing to do and how much further it's willing to press in this conflict.
MARKS: Yes. The question really is, you know, we need to talk about deterrence. Deterrence matters. And it's how does Israel assess Iran's ability to respond and to continue their portion of this campaign.
The same time, you got to look at Iran's assessment of Israel's ability to keep going. So when we look at that from those terms, you have to look at Iran in particular. It's all about missiles, launchers and IRGC asymmetric attacks.
And in the case of Israel, it's all about interceptors and their ability to continue to resist and then to do additional strikes going forward. Those are the -- those are the key elements involved in the discussion
going forward at this point. And it's all about what does the other side think its opponent -- its opponent's capacity looks like from these steps going forward.
BERMAN: General Wesley Clark, we did learn that right now, General Caine says he's unaware if a single shot was fired by the Iranians at the U.S. assets when they were above Iranian airspace, no Iranian jets scrambled.
What does that tell you? And does it lend any insight as to what Iran's response might be going forward?
CLARK: Well, it says that the Israelis did establish air superiority effectively. We took advantage of that. We did not hear about any electronic support that U.S. Forces brought with them. Obviously, we did that.
So we were very successful in suppressing any resistance by air defense forces of the U.S. package that went in.
As Spider said, they still have short range missiles. They have the ability with boats and mines to interrupt shipping in the -- in the Persian Gulf.
And there were disturbing reports in public media that in the days before the strike on Fordow, there were trucks there and stuff may have been moved out.
[08:54:51]
CLARK: And we've said all along that that although everybody's focused on Fordow, there are probably other sites. The Iranians must have suspected something like this was going to happen.
They're very smart. They've been in this business a long time. There are probably numerous sites distributed, concealed further east in Iran. Maybe we know of these, maybe we don't.
But this should be a real indicator to the Iranian regime that they need to come to the table and they need to stop repeating that they want enrichment, because President Trump has said they're not going to get enrichment.
So let's not fight about enrichment. Let's find a different way for the world and the region to move forward diplomatically.
BERMAN: One of the things you were looking at there just a moment ago, new satellite imagery, we believe to be from above Fordow. You can see right there just at the top of the screen there would seem to be three distinct craters there and some other pockmarks there, indicating the damage there.
Again, right now, their assessment is severely damaged, but they do not know if the nuclear capabilities are destroyed.
Thanks to everyone for helping us understand what we heard at that military briefing.
Stay with CNN. Our breaking news coverage continues right after this.
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