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CNN This Morning

Israel, Iran Trade Missile Attacks After Iran Targets Israeli Ramat David Airbase; Iran Threatens to Block Critical Bab al-Mandab Strait; Deadly 7.8 Magnitude Earthquake Hits Southern Philippines. Aired 5-5:30a ET

Aired June 08, 2026 - 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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ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News!

AUDIE CORNISH, ANCHOR, CNN THIS MORNING: We are following this breaking news out of the Middle East. Israel and Iran trading missile attacks, and the fragile ceasefire survive this test. Good morning, everybody, I'm Audie Cornish.

We're going to start with the strikes that have happened in the last few hours. Israel says it has identified a wave of missiles launched from Iran. New video into CNN overnight showing damage inside a home in the West Bank.

Now, this follows Israeli strikes on an Iranian petrochemical plant. The IDF saying that it hit several targets at that complex. Now, those retaliatory strikes appear to be in defiance of President Trump, who called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and had told him to hold off on striking back.

As tensions rise in the Middle East, so do oil prices. Both Brent Crude and WTI Crude up this morning. We've got live team coverage throughout the region. And we're going to start in Jerusalem with CNN's Oren Liebermann. Oren, first, can you just give us the latest on the strikes, what you've witnessed today?

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN JERUSALEM BUREAU CHIEF: We have seen and heard several waves of incoming Iranian ballistic missiles since about 10:00 or 11 O'clock at night here local time. So, this has been going on for several hours. There were approximately three barrages in that first wave.

And then we have seen a few subsequent waves of incoming Iranian ballistic missiles. According to Israel's military, most of those have been intercepted. At first, they said all of those -- but when we followed up after what appeared to be some Iranian video of missiles getting through, they said it only applied to an earlier wave.

So, we're waiting to see if there is an update there. Meanwhile, Iran's military said they targeted the Ramat David Air Force Base in northern Israel. Israel has responded with its own attacks, and we have seen those progressively escalate from what Israel's ambassador to the U.S. described as attacks on surface-to-surface missiles and non-energy infrastructure to the strike.

You mentioned on the petrochemical facility in western Iran. And then just an hour-and-a-half ago or so, the Israeli military said they carried out strikes against what they called strategic defense systems that would open up the skies to the Israeli Air Force if it moves in that direction.

We saw at the beginning of this war a few months ago that one of the first targets was Iran's surface-to-air missiles, and the idea there is that, if you take those out, then Israel's Air Force has to a large extent, freedom of the skies over Iran.

And that would also include the U.S. Air Force should this turn into a joint operation. Obviously, that's something we're watching very closely. Crucially, this very much looks like it's heating up, and on the escalation ladder, it's also worth noting, Audie, that the Houthis in Yemen; an Iranian proxy there, fired at least, one missile towards Israel several hours ago that was intercepted here.

We have heard interceptions behind us over Jerusalem. We have seen warnings of incoming missiles in several other areas across the country. Here, as both Israel and Iran have indicated and publicly stated that they are prepared for at least days of this to continue.

CORNISH: You talked about that escalation ladder, and we have been hearing for weeks about Israel's sort of move into southern Lebanon as it goes after Hezbollah. We have the President of Lebanon here -- I want to play this clip so you can help us understand how these things intersect. Here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOSEPH AOUN, PRESIDENT, LEBANON: Our people being killed, our people being -- our houses being destroyed. They are using Lebanon as a chip -- bargaining chip in their negotiation with the United States. It's unacceptable.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: So, he was speaking there about Tehran. Can you talk about their most recent strike in southern Lebanon, why it triggered this escalation?

LIEBERMANN: Well, Iran said last week that if Israel were to carry out an attack, the capital of Beirut, then Iran would directly attack Israel. And that's what we saw happen over what was a very volatile weekend between Israel and Hezbollah.

We saw -- we saw the number of people killed in Israeli strikes in Lebanon, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health, rise above 3,600 since this war began some three months ago. And then, even since the latest U.S.-brokered ceasefire which was just several days ago, we saw Hezbollah carry out an attack on northern Israel.

[05:05:00] That crossed Israel's red line, and Israel then carried out a strike

on the Dahiya neighborhood in Beirut, which is considered a Hezbollah stronghold. Iran then carried out its threat or carried out on its threat launching those ballistic missiles on Sunday night directly at Israel.

And that has led us to where we are right now. President Joseph Aoun, who was interviewed by our Christiane Amanpour, he made clear that he is trying to exercise Lebanese sovereignty, and that includes getting some sort of control over Iran's proxy, Hezbollah, and trying to find some sort of agreement that will lead to a withdrawal of Israeli forces from southern Lebanon and make Lebanon more whole.

The problem is, you have an Israeli government that isn't in a position and doesn't want to withdraw from southern Lebanon now. You have an Iranian government that sees Hezbollah as its foothold in Lebanon, Hezbollah rejected the latest iteration of the -- of the ceasefire there.

And that puts the President Joseph Aoun in a very difficult situation. His Lebanese Armed Forces don't have the power and perhaps don't have the will to carry out any serious action against Hezbollah, even as he has tried to outlaw and ban Hezbollah's military activity.

What's crucial here, Audie, is that what happens in Lebanon affects the U.S.-Iran ceasefire. Iran knows that. They know that President Donald Trump wants to get to a deal, and they're able to try to use Hezbollah and to some extent, use Lebanon as a bargaining chip to pressure Trump to try to rein in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when it comes to Lebanon.

CORNISH: Is there any chance of doing that? I think a lot of people are looking at these actions and thinking about how the President has spoken to Netanyahu, talked about taking down the temperature. What's the view in Israel about how Trump has been talking?

LIEBERMANN: Trump made a number of public statements, or rather, gave a number of interviews to reporters in which he said it is Trump who calls the shots, not Netanyahu, saying he would -- he would urge Israel not to retaliate or delay Israel's retaliation.

That's at least, the public part of the messaging. What we don't really know, and this is the key question for us to have a much better sense of what's happening here is, what was the phone call like between Trump and Netanyahu?

It is possible that Trump essentially gave this the green light and said, yes, Israel has to respond in some fashion, but keep that response limited. It's also possible that Trump told Israel not to respond, and Netanyahu is acting on his own here, though I think that's unlikely, given how much Netanyahu needs Trump to be on his side, and has never sort of publicly criticized him.

So, there's a spectrum here of what Trump is allowing of Netanyahu. It's worth remembering here that Trump has forced Netanyahu to end wars in Gaza, Lebanon, and previously in Iran. And I think right now, it's still the expectation that Trump will do that once again.

The question is when and how. For that, Trump needs to essentially get the day started in D.C., so, we can learn more about what's happening behind the scenes. Audie.

CORNISH: That's right, we're waking up here in Washington, Oren Liebermann talking to us from Jerusalem. Our breaking news coverage continues after the break on CNN THIS MORNING. We're going to talk about under what circumstance would Trump consider bringing U.S. troops home? His answer next. Plus, a deadly quake hits in the Philippines. The urgent search for survivors.

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CORNISH: Breaking news this morning. Israel and Iran trading strikes in the worst escalation since the ceasefire agreement in April. We just heard from our CNN's Oren Liebermann in Jerusalem, where there are sounds of sirens and explosions after the interception of missiles.

A U.S. official told CNN that President Trump urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to hold off on retaliating against Iran. So, joining us to talk more about the military strategy here is retired Air Force Colonel and CNN military analyst Cedric Leighton. Good morning.

So, first, I want to talk about this escalation because people may be hearing about the back-and-forth between Israel and Hezbollah for many weeks. Why did this particular round of strikes kick off?

CEDRIC LEIGHTON, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Yes, good morning, Audie. The reason this particular round of strikes kicked off was because the Israelis hit the suburb of Beirut, suburb of Dahiya. That's where Hezbollah has its main headquarters. And there are a lot of Hezbollah personnel for lack of a better term, in the Dahiya neighborhood.

So, the reason the Iranians basically came to the defense of the Hezbollah entities there was because Hezbollah is basically Iran's main proxy in the region, and they need Hezbollah in order not only to keep an eye on Israel, but also to potentially mount attacks on Israel.

So, every time that there is destruction to Hezbollah, Iran sees this as not only destruction of Hezbollah, but also of their own forces, even though they are absolutely separate. So, this is, in essence, what's going on.

They decided -- the Iranians decided that it was time to respond to the Israeli attacks, and especially one as blatant as the one on Dahiya, in their view. And the reason they did that is because they want the ceasefire to cover not just Iran, but also the Lebanese territory, where the Israelis have conducted repeated actions against Hezbollah.

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CORNISH: You talked about proxies, and then this also brings me to the Houthis in Yemen, because there's some reporting there that they were saying they wanted to prevent shipping through the Red Sea, which sounds very familiar to those of us who have been hearing about Iran preventing shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. Does this threaten broader conflict? Are we seeing hints of that?

LEIGHTON: Yes, there's definitely the possibility that this could widen into a bigger regional conflict, at least. So, on the eastern side of the Arabian Peninsula, you have the Strait of Hormuz, which is the area that we've been talking about for quite some time.

And then on the western side, you have what's known as the Bab al- Mandab, and that is that very narrow point between the Red Sea as it empties out into the Indian Ocean. So, this is an area where these are so-called choke points.

And every time those are cut off, that impacts global shipping, global trade. And it means that prices go up, oil becomes scarcer. And that creates the economic issues that we're seeing in a lot of the world right now.

CORNISH: We hear President Trump framing the U.S. involvement more as precaution, not escalation. I want to play for you something that happened on "NBC's" "Meet the Press". This was before all of this news about this escalation. But here it is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If you're not specifically calling it a war, would you consider sending some of the troops who are stationed there, who were sent because of Operation Epic Fury --

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You mean boots on the ground --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There at home? No --

TRUMP: Are you talking --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Would you consider sending them home if it's not technically a war?

TRUMP: We don't need as many troops. I think you just -- like it's on the -- to err on the side of caution.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: What are we looking at? Is it a kind of carrot and stick? Meaning the U.S. is doing the negotiating, but Israel is leaning hard on the military pressure?

LEIGHTON: Well, potentially so. You know, it's interesting when you look at President Trump's remarks, they -- you know, on the one hand, he's kind of hedging his bets here. He does, you know, admit to the possibility of withdrawing some of the troops that are in the Middle East.

And I think what he's referring to, are the troops that came in, in addition to the ones that were already stationed in the Middle East. So, what he doesn't want to do is withdraw completely from the region, which is actually Iran's goal.

So, if he withdrew completely from the region, that would satisfy Iran. But it wouldn't protect the Arab Gulf states like Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the UAE, Kuwait and Bahrain. So, that becomes a critical point right here.

He, in essence, really can't withdraw if he -- if he doesn't want to show weakness. And that becomes, I think, the critical point right here.

CORNISH: One more thing. We know that these strikes started back earlier in the year. They were U.S.-Israeli joint strikes, the U.S. gives a lot of military support, Intelligence support to Israel. So, could what we're seeing right now even happen without U.S. support.

LEIGHTON: It could. And the reason I think we see limited strikes in the western and central parts of Iran, at least so far, is because the Israelis do have a capability to conduct those strikes on their own. They have their own refueling capability, although it's somewhat limited compared to what the U.S. can offer.

Generally-speaking, if the strikes were much more extensive or repeated over a series of days, then that would probably indicate a greater U.S. involvement. There may be some U.S. involvement, but it is absolutely possible that these strikes are occurring without direct U.S. involvement at the moment.

CORNISH: OK, that's Colonel Cedric Leighton, thank you for your insight. Appreciate you. After the break on CNN THIS MORNING, our breaking news coverage continues.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: To turn this on Israel, it would be a bit of a joke. Iran is the one that decided to break the truce.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: President Trump urged Israel not to retaliate. We're going to talk about that more. Plus, Trump's cage fight just days away. Could it get knocked out before round one? There's a new lawsuit looking to stop it.

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CORNISH: It's now 23 minutes past the hour. Here are five things making the news this morning. Democratic Senate primary candidate Graham Platner held an event in Maine in front of an enthusiastic and cheering crowd just two days before the primary. He declared he is very much just some random guy from Sullivan, Maine.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GRAHAM PLATNER, SENATE PRIMARY CANDIDATE: In a moment like this in history, if we can show that a regular person from the regular world who simply comes out with a message saying that we all have to work together to push back against all of the structures of power that have been exploiting and oppressing us for generations.

If we show that, that works, we get to show this country the way forward.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: Platner is still favored to win Tuesday's primary, despite the "New York Times" publishing a report from three of Platner's ex- girlfriends describing, quote, "volatile and toxic relationships". And in one account, physical intimidation. Platner has denied that.

As New York is set to host the NBA finals and President Trump tonight, security concerns have been heightened after six people were hurt in a stabbing at Penn station. Officials say one of the victims suffered serious injuries, the others suffered non-life-threatening injuries.

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The suspect is in custody. And there was a deadly 7.8 magnitude earthquake in the Philippines. Video from the area is showing you here, massive damage, crumbling buildings and several people were killed. Rescues are currently underway.

And then in just a few hours, the U.S. special forces soldier charged with betting on the raid to capture Nicolas Maduro will appear in court. Gannon Ken Van Dyke is due for a status hearing in Manhattan federal court.

Prosecutors are alleging that he made more than $400,000 on prediction markets by making trades related to Venezuela before that January raid to capture Maduro. In a cage fight on President Trump's birthday this weekend is in danger of being knocked out.

Two Virginia residents have filed a lawsuit to stop the UFC fight at the White House. The suit argues that the claw, built on the White House grounds was not approved by Congress or an environmental review.

It also cited that UFC is selling VIP packages of more than a million dollars. And they argue that due to Trump's stock in UFC, he would profit off the fight. The fight is scheduled for this Saturday. And our breaking news coverage continues next.

CNN is on the ground in Tehran with their new warning to Israel this morning as more missiles fly. Plus, six days after the elections, the reality TV villain hoping to be the hero for L.A., could Spencer Pratt's bid for mayor be crumbling?

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