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CNN International: Biden: U.S. in "Active Discussion" on Israeli Response to Iran; Tuesday's Attack Intended as a Warning to Israel; Walz and Vance Face Off in Civil, Policy-Focused VP Debate; Iran's Revolutionary Guard: 200 Missiles Fired at Israel; Hard-Hit Asheville Works to Bounce Back from Devastation; History of Israeli Invasions into Lebanon. Aired 9- 10a ET
Aired October 02, 2024 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[09:00:00]
BECKY ANDERSON, CNN HOST, CONNECT THE WORLD: Well, the view in Beirut and in Tel Aviv at 04:00 p.m. those cities on edge as Israel moves more troops
to its northern border and Israeli soldiers clash with Hezbollah fighters inside Lebanon. I'm Becky Anderson, you are watching "Connect the World".
Let's get straight to the very latest developments for you. Fighting raging today in Lebanon as this region and the world nervously await Israel's
promised response to Tuesday's missile attack by Iran. Let's get you up to speed on what we know.
Israel now confirming the first death of one of its soldiers during the latest fighting with Hezbollah forces. The IDF saying its army clashed with
Hezbollah fighters at close range in several areas today. A photo g-located by CNN shows Israeli troops in a Lebanese town not far from the border.
Well, this coming as Israel uses air power to hit more targets in and around Lebanon's capital Beirut and its military issued yet more evacuation
orders, this time for dozens of villages in Southwestern Lebanon. Jeremy Diamond is with me here in Tel Aviv.
And I want to focus on the battlefield that is Lebanon at present, notwithstanding that it was only just less than 24 hours ago that Iran
launched its largest ever aerial attack on Israel, and we saw it from here. But let's focus on Lebanon. What do we understand be happening as we speak?
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, it was just a couple of days ago that the Israeli military said they were conducting
localized, targeted raids along the Israel Lebanon border inside of Lebanese territory was significant in and of itself, because it was the
first time that Israeli -- the Israeli military is actually announced that Israeli troops were going into Lebanon in nearly two decades since the 2006
war.
But they were definitely underplaying it when they used that kind of language about limited targeted raids. And we're now seeing the evidence of
that as the Israeli military calls up an additional division to go to Gaza division, typically somewhere around 10,000 troops, already adding to the
thousands of troops who are already either along the border or now already inside of Lebanon.
The Israeli military has now ordered the evacuation of some two dozen Lebanese villages as far as 18 miles into Lebanese territory, some 30
kilometers. So clearly, this is a significant military operation. The question now is how deep they will actually go? And we're also seeing that
it is not going to be necessarily an easy fight.
The Israeli military, Israeli officials that I've talked to over the course of the last year, as they've contemplated the possibility of some kind of a
ground campaign inside of Lebanon, they knew that the fight with Hezbollah would not be the same. But there certainly has been a certain sense of
hubris in the last couple of weeks, as the Israeli military has accomplished quite stunning successes in taking out Hezbollah senior
leadership, in dismantling a lot of Hezbollah's capabilities through a lot of these airstrikes that we have seen.
But clearly, they are still going to face quite a fight with Hezbollah, as is clearly evidenced by this first Israeli casualty that has now been
acknowledged. I'm already hearing reports of potentially additional casualties from the same incident as well, and that is very notable in
particular, because just yesterday, I had a briefing with a senior Israeli military source who was talking about some of these special operations
they've been conducting since last November.
Zero casualties, zero firefights with Hezbollah during any of those operations. And yet now, as they are going in with a much stronger force,
they are starting to face the fight from Hezbollah. And so clearly that's going to be a challenge for them.
ANDERSON: Meantime, the prime minister here vowing to retaliate on Iran for the huge barrage of ballistic missiles that raged through the sky above Tel
Aviv and across the country. And I know you were some distance away from Tel Aviv last night. We all saw what looked like this enormous firework
display as most of those, as we understand it, were intercepted.
That's certainly what we are being told by both the Americans and the Israelis. Iran, saying that some 90 percent of the targets that it was
going for actually were hit. What do we know as the assessment becomes clear?
DIAMOND: Well, it certainly seems like there were more hits from these missiles. This barrage of missiles from Iran, then there were back in
April, when Iran first attacked Israel with that barrage of some 300 missiles as well as drones. Those drones gave Israel a lot of time to
prepare, because it was a 12-hour flight time for them to reach Israel.
It was clear that this attack was underway. Israel was able to coordinate with regional allies to take down the overwhelming majority of those
missiles. But last night, we saw some stunning videos, including from very this location, you saw rockets actually raining down, hitting either their
targets or hitting civilian areas inside of Israel.
[09:05:00]
I visited several of those impact sites in Gedera, just South of Tel Aviv, where a missile we actually had our shrapnel analyzed by military experts
that this does indeed appear to be an Iranian missile that struck the school grounds of an elementary school, damaging that building where second
and third grade classrooms were.
I then went to -- just north of Tel Aviv, where Israel has several intelligence bases, the headquarters of the Mossad multiple impact craters
in the area of those bases, although doesn't appear to have actually struck there. And then we saw these videos of hits to Israel's Nevatim Airbase in
Southern Israel.
And I actually just spoke with an Israeli military source who is acknowledging, now for the first time that multiple Israeli bases were
indeed hit by several Iranian missiles. They are insisting that the damage was not to any essential infrastructure that it hasn't impacted the
functioning of the Israeli Air Force. But this is a significant moment.
And I think the power of those videos, the fact that some of these missiles were able to get through Israel's very solid air defense system, is going
to ratchet up the ante here. And clearly the Israeli Prime Minister, the Israeli military, are telegraphing, as they are sitting in consultations
right now that there will be a response. How quickly that response will come? How significant it will be, is what is being decided right now?
ANDERSON: We are seeing a real escalation in the conflict around this region. Jeremy Diamond with me here invaluable reporting. Thank you. Well,
the U.S. is blasting Iran for that missile attack on Israel. And U.S. President Joe Biden says his administration remains, quote, fully
supportive of Israel.
Mr. Biden also says, U.S. is in active discussions with the Netanyahu government about an appropriate response to Tuesday's attack.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: The attack appears to have been defeated and ineffective, and this is testament to Israeli
military capability and U.S. military. I'm also -- a testament to intensive planning between the United States and Israel to anticipate and defend
against the brazen attack we expected. Make no mistake, the United States is fully, fully, fully supportive of Israel.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Well, CNN's Kylie Atwood live for us from the U.S. State Department in Washington. Kylie President Joe Biden says, U.S. fully
supportive of Israel, but his administration is also discussing Israel's response to Iran's attack. What are your sources telling you at this point?
KYLIE ATWOOD, CNN U.S. SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well listen, what they're saying is that they are in extremely regular dialog with the Israelis right
now. We heard that just hours after the attack yesterday, from National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, talking about the necessity for ongoing
conversations with the Israelis before there's any sort of response that is planned by the Israelis.
But we should also note that distinctly different at this moment in time is that U.S. officials are not coming out and immediately encouraging the
Israelis to exercise restraint. They are very clearly saying that they will green light a response by Israel. They haven't gotten into the specifics of
what that response would look like, pointing to those ongoing discussions with the Israelis.
But they're also not specifically counting anything out right now, Becky. And that is incredibly noteworthy. There -- you know letting these
conversations occur, letting the Israelis take the lead in terms of coming up with these ideas. I asked yesterday the state department spokesperson if
it would be appropriate if the U.S. would support Israel retaliating by going after Iran's nuclear program.
The spokesperson would only say that the U.S. wants to have negotiated -- not negotiations. Excuse me, conversations with the Israelis, and he said
he's not counting that out. He's not counting that in. That is to give you a sense of where they are right now.
They do believe that Israel has every right to respond to what was the incredible attack that they saw yesterday, and that is a very different
tone than we have heard from U.S. officials even though they have always said that U.S. support of Israel's ironclad they have simultaneously called
for restraint, and they aren't doing that specifically at this moment time.
ANDERSON: Is it clear why? I mean, we know where -- what a month away from an election, and the Biden Administration only has 3.5 months left before a
new U.S. President takes over. Have they -- have they ultimate dropped any sense of influence over Israel at this point, or is it something deeper
than that?
[09:10:00]
ATWOOD: I think the question of their influence over Israel can be debated and can, frankly, be questioned legitimately. But I do think that that is a
different reason in terms of what we're seeing right now. I think the reality right now is that U.S. officials see what happened yesterday as
distinctly different from the attacks from Iranian proxies that Israel has been seeing -- you know from Hezbollah and from Hamas.
They believe that the unprecedented attack -- you know 180, 200 missiles coming in from Iran yesterday is a very different situation than what
Israel has been dealing with. And so, they are viewing that through a different lens. President Biden and Prime Minister Netanyahu have not been
having regular discussions.
As you know, the back and forth between Israel and Hezbollah has been going on after, of course, Israel went in so aggressively into Gaza, we haven't
seen that regular dialog. But right after we saw the attack carried out yesterday by Iran U.S. officials were very eager to say that they are in
direct dialog with the Israelis, constant consultation with them.
And they view this moment as distinctly different than what we've seen over the last almost a year or so now, because Iran, a state actor, is now
directly involved here.
ANDERSIN: Good to have you. Kylie, thank you. Well, as you heard a moment ago, Iran says that Tuesday's attack was intended as a warning to Israel,
and any Israeli response or counter response to that barrage will be met with, quote, stronger and more painful blows. And a short time ago, Iran's
Foreign Minister said any countries that helped block its missiles targeting Israel will be held responsible.
Well, let's stay on this. Firas Maksad is the Director of Strategic Outreach and a Senior Fellow at the Middle East Institute Iran. Until now,
Firas exercising restraint despite sending nearly 200 ballistic missiles towards Israel yesterday. They did have specific military and security
targets they wanted to hit. What happens next?
FIRAS MAKSAD, DIRECTOR OF STRATEGIC OUTREACH, MIDDLE EAST INSTITUTE: That is -- that is correct Becky. I mean, it's been abundantly clear over the
better part of the last year, since the Hamas October 7th attack against Israel. That in fact, Iran is not interested in escalation very much just
wants to maintain deterrence and allow its proxies in the region that ring a fire that it's established in the region around Israel.
In Lebanon, with Hezbollah, the Houthis in Yemen, the various militias in Syria and Iraq, much rather have to fight that fight that way, via proxy,
via their Arab allies, than fight directly, not for any reason other than that, Iran understands that it's vulnerable. That is -- it is inferior to
Israel in a direct match between their two militaries.
But so, what we saw yesterday is an attempt to restore much lost deterrence. And there's a very active debate within that access that
Iranian axis in the region, those of us who, who watch their TV channels and read their newspapers can pick up on that, those that are arguing that
let's not get baited into a war which Israel seems to want, and others who say, well, we're going to get there anyway, if we don't restore that lost
deterrence.
And so, what we saw is an attempt to restore some of that lost deterrence, and very quickly pivot and hope that the United States would help keep
Israel at bay and keep things where they are.
ANDERSON: I think it's important to just pursue this. The perception is that for many around the region and around the world, is that Iran is
weakened, especially after the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, the Head of Hamas and then Hassan Nasrallah, the Chief of Hezbollah. But
take a listen to what the IRGC Commander said yesterday, after Iran launched its attack.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAJOR GENERAL MOHAMMAD BAGHERI, IRANIAN ARMED FORCES CHIEF OF STAFF: If the Zionist regime that has gone crazy is not controlled by America and Europe
and wants to continue these crimes or wants to do anything against our sovereignty and territorial integrity, tonight's operation will be repeated
several times stronger, and all their infrastructure will be targeted.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: And there really is no reason to dispute that. The fact of the matter is, Iran does have the capabilities, doesn't it? And this can get a
whole lot worse?
MAKSAD: Yeah, and thank you for playing that clip. Because to my point, Iran is very much betting it this points that the U.S., but also the
European. But let's not, let's face it.
[09:15:00]
The U.S. primarily here will intervene to be a circuit breaker, and it's very significant. It's very telling that there haven't been many attacks on
American bases and facilities in Iraq and Syria by the Iranian proxies as of late. Iran does not want to draw the U.S. into this fight on behalf of
Israel.
It very much understands that President Biden, in a tightly contested election, does not want to see oil spike to some 200 barrels per gallon at
this point as a result of a significant escalation. So, you hear that in the statement of this Iranian official, essentially saying it's on the U.S.
right now to keep Israel at bay. And that's the Iranian play at this point.
ANDERSON: The fear is that this cycle of tit for tat, and I think we can call it that, although it's -- you know it's pretty scary stuff at this
point is going to continue. So, while some, at least in Israel, where I am, may think, look, it's over, this is the end. You know, we have re-
established our security and deterrence. Is this actually, could you argue just the beginning at this point?
MAKSAD: I think so. I mean, yeah, I don't -- I don't think that the Iranian wager of the administration stepping into to prohibit Iran, sorry, Israel,
from responding significantly. I don't think that's a winning wager. And I think that's being also reflected by the early statements that we're
hearing from Jake Sullivan, the National Security Advisor in the U.S. and others.
The administration understands that Israel will have to respond. This Iranian attack is materially different than the one that we saw back in
April. What I think we have to consider is both the timing and the scope of the Israeli response. I think there's a preference certainly here in
Washington, not to see, for example, Israel goes after Iran's oil facilities or ports that allow for the export of energy and oil out of the
region.
I also think that going for the nuclear facilities would be something that would be very dramatic, and this administration would not like to see. So,
in considering that targeting, perhaps an equitable response would be limited to IRGC targets, military targets within Iran to weaken its
capabilities to fire such barrages and missiles in the future, and maybe even expose its air defenses to Israeli future attacks.
But I don't think we go all the way to the nuclear option, so to speak. I think there will be a response. The timing will be interesting, because
Israel, as their officials keep saying, is currently engaged in a seven- front war. And so there might be some strategic thinking in Israel that this might be the time to prioritize Lebanon Hezbollah, which is a
formidable enemy in and of itself, before perhaps going to the top possible or the most escalatory reaction against Iran at this point.
ANDERSON: Firas, it's always good to have you. Thank you very much indeed. And folks do keep an eye on that oil price, as we were just discussing.
Well still to come on CNN, we will break down the key takeaways from the first and only scheduled U.S. Vice-Presidential Debate, including the issue
of foreign policy, which was key last night. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:20:00]
ANDERSON: Well, the turmoil has been building in this region four months is quickly spreading its tentacles and tightening its grip around this region,
from Iran's attack on Israel to new IDF strikes in Lebanon and on Gaza on Tuesday. U.S. Republican Presidential Candidate Donald Trump blamed the
dramatic escalation of tensions in the Middle East on, quote, incompetent leadership from President Joe Biden and Trump's rival for the presidency,
Vice President Kamala Harris.
Harris, meantime, making very clear her stance on America's relationship with Israel and interactions with Iran. Have a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE U.S., (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: My commitment to the security of Israel is unwavering, and let us be clear, we
will never hesitate to take whatever action is necessary to defend U.S. forces and interests against Iran and Iran backed terrorists. And we will
continue to work with our allies and partners to disrupt Iran's aggressive behavior and hold them accountable.
DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT AND 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: As you know, the world right now is spiraling out of control. I've been
talking about World War Three for a long time, and I don't want to make predictions, because the predictions always come true. We're not going to
make but they are very close to global catastrophe.
We have a non-existent president and a non-existent vice president who should be in charge, but nobody knows what's going on.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Well, the escalating conflict here in the Middle East was the first question that Tuesday's U.S. Vice Presidential debate in New York,
Republican J. D. Vance and Democrat Tim Walz were specifically asked if they would support Israel conducting a preemptive strike against Iran if
they were part of a White House Administration.
Here's how they responded to that critical foreign policy question and to Iran's missile attack against Tuesday, against Israel on Tuesday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. TIM WALZ (D), 2024 VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: -- Iran is closer to a nuclear weapon than they were before because of Donald Trump's fickle
leadership. And when Iranian missiles did fall near U.S. troops and they received traumatic brain injuries, Donald Trump wrote it off as headaches.
Look, our allies understand that Donald Trump is fickle. He will go to whoever has the most flattery or where it makes sense to him.
SEN. J.D. VANCE (R-OH), 2024 VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think that's something that Governor Walz just said is quite extraordinary. You yourself
just said, Iran is as close to a nuclear weapon today as they have ever been. And Governor Walz, you blame Donald Trump, who has been the vice
president for the last 3.5 years. And the answer is, your running mate, not mine. Donald Trump consistently made the world more secure.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Well, that was foreign policy. There was an awful lot more in that debate. My colleague Eleni Giokos is standing by with more on the
politics, Eleni.
ELENI GIOKOS, CNN ANCHOR: Yeah, hey, Becky, well, a majority of voters polled said they expected Democrat Tim Walz would win against Republican J.
D. Vance in Tuesday's vice-presidential debate. But as you can see, after the debate was over, verses were much more evenly split about which
candidate came out on top.
Now both men were cordial during the face off, but each attacked his opponent's running mate. And they clashed over a number of topics,
including the January 6 insurrection and Donald Trump's claims that he won the 2020 election. Here's a portion of that exchange.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WALZ: Donald Trump refused to acknowledge this. He lost this election, and he said he didn't. 140 police officers were beaten at the capitol that day,
some with the American flag. Several later died.
VANCE: It's really rich for Democratic leaders to say that Donald Trump is a unique threat to democracy when he peacefully gave over power on January
the 20th, as we have done for 250 years in this country.
WALZ: Did he lose the 2020, election?
VANCE: Tim, I'm focused on the future --
WALZ: That is a damning -- that is a damning non answer.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GIOKOS: Well, CNN's Senior White House Correspondent MJ Lee joins us now from New York. MJ, good to see you. Look the VP debate putting a spotlight
on contrasting policies, both candidates trying to speak to the swing voters. What did the polls tell us on how they actually performed?
[09:25:00]
MJ LEE, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, you know, even though what we had was the two vice presidential nominees on the debate stage for
90 plus minutes last night. Of course, the overwhelming focus of the night was really on the two people at the top of the tickets, Donald Trump and
Kamala Harris.
We saw J. D. Vance and Tim Walz both trying to defend the records of their running mates, and also whenever they could take jabs at the other
presidential nominee. And so, what we saw in the end was the two candidates really sparring on a number of really important issues.
Particularly as you point out, trying to speak to any of those voters that are sort of undecided right now and could be swayed before the election,
starting off with the issue of foreign policy at the very top of the event. Particularly the unfolding events in the Middle East, talking about some
very politically salient issues here in the U.S., like immigration, like reproductive rights, and then, of course, the all-important issue of the
economy.
But in terms of just the tone and the tenor of the evening. You know, we didn't see a lot of yelling on the debate stage. We didn't see a lot of a
name calling. We didn't see sort of those sparks fly like we did between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump in the first presidential debate.
But that moment that you just played where J. D. Vance wouldn't answer the question of whether Donald Trump believes he lost in the 2020 election.
That ended up being a standout moment where the two really did sort of go back and forth, as you just showed and it was such a moment that the Harris
campaign is clearly now trying to politically capitalize on.
They've already used that exchange to cut a political ad that they're going to be showing in the days to come. But just on the question of whether
there was a clear winner coming out of last night's debate, CNN polling shows that it was very much evenly split, as you showed 51 percent for
Vance and 49 for Walz.
And interestingly, the polling also shows that in terms of people's perceptions of each of the vice-presidential candidates, for both of them,
their favorable numbers went up, and then their unfavorable numbers ended up going down. So, it's really hard to say. I think it's safe to say that
both campaigns would say that last night ended up being some game changing, race changing moment.
But of course, they do recognize that this was probably one of their very last moments to be able to speak to a really large audience that was tuning
in last night with just a couple of weeks now to go until Election Day, Eleni.
GIOKOS: Right, MJ Lee, good to have your analysis. Thank you so much for that. Well, next on "Connect the World", we'll go back to Becky Anderson,
who's in Tel Aviv for us as a Middle East and the world watch nervously upon Israel. We'll get you up to speed on the military action it's taking
today as it prepares a response to Iran. We'll be right back. Stay with CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:30:00]
ANDERSON: Well, welcome back. I'm Becky Anderson in Tel Aviv. You're watching "Connect the World". At this time yesterday, we brought you the
breaking news that Iran was planning an imminent ballistic missile attack on Israel. Well, it happened, and today we stand in the aftermath, both
countries now threatening even more retaliation.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, saying that Iran made a big mistake and that it will pay. Meantime, Iran saying it is absolutely not
interested in a broader war, but vowing that any Israeli response to Tuesday's attack will be met with stronger blows. CNN's Nick Paton Walsh is
our Chief International Security Editor.
Nick, you wrote a strong analysis saying, and I quote you here, this is emblematic of the extraordinary jeopardy Israel now finds itself in. With a
maximalist leader who had appeared to have shunned all diplomacy, it must now set a limited scope on an operation that it also hopes can permanently
redefine the security threat to its north.
It must find a way of inflicting significant damage on an adversary that has never been so weak, but also avoid getting caught in a trap. Nick, what
potential trap are you referencing there?
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: I mean, I think essentially, we're talking about the potential for a lengthy ground
war in Southern Lebanon, where we've seen Hezbollah in the past have a significant home advantage. But remember, this is a different Hezbollah
than fought a war in 2006 and a different Hezbollah, frankly, that's been extolled by its proponents around the region.
They have been shown in the last three weeks to have been significantly limited, and those limitations may come to the fore as Israel potentially
pushes further into Southern Lebanon. The reference there to an enemy that never seems so weak was to Hezbollah, and that piece was written before we
saw the other major adversary, the backer of Hezbollah, Iran launched 200 ballistic missiles against Israel too.
But frankly, that episode just accentuates how many of Israel's enemies in the area seem to lack the ability to land a significant blow at this point
against frankly, a regional military power at the moment, those ballistic missiles clearly intended to try and inflict some damage, regardless of how
some may have felt.
There were warnings given against it didn't it seems, caused that much harm to Israeli civilians, certainly, but also to Israel's infrastructure. And
so, you have to ask yourself, what is left necessarily, for Iran to potentially do here? What is left for Hezbollah to potentially do?
And Becky, when we talk about the idea of this spreading into a regional war, it's important to remember what those words meant just three months
ago. The big fear and what have been behind so much American diplomacy would be that essentially, you'd see Hezbollah fully enter the battle, that
the kind of war of attrition and limited strikes between Israel and its northern neighbor would turn into all out-rocket warfare?
Well, we've had Hezbollah decapitated to some degree, potentially limited in what they can do going forward with their rocket's munitions. It seems
significantly depleted by Israeli airstrikes. And so far, we have not seen Hezbollah launch a significant rocket salvo that's caused, from what we
know, significant damage to Israeli targets like have been warned could be the case for years, frankly, prior to this moment.
And so, the balance is certainly changing. It seems in that border area, things could change its early days, sure, but we haven't seen Hezbollah
respond meaningfully to the most significant damage that's been done to it, possibly in its history. Likewise, too, we're also seeing Iran launching
the significant ballistic missile salvo against Israel, potentially the one key thing in its arsenal that could cause damage.
They've been mostly intercepted for the second time. You can argue whether April was so telegraphed that that was inevitable. And so, I think the
question now, as we enter a widening conflict is really exactly when Benjamin Netanyahu feels he wants to stop this, when does he feel U.S.
pressure means he has to.
What is the end game he has here? Israel shown some remarkable technological wizardry, albeit disregard for civilian casualties in the
past weeks, but strategically, we simply don't know where they headed, Becky.
ANDERSON: I want to just stick on this Iran line here and its next move, potentially in that same article that I quoted earlier. You write quote,
the arc of retaliation is long, and Iran may exact retribution in ways not imminent yet still horrifically destabilizing such as its very advanced
nuclear program.
[09:35:00]
But immediately they don't seem to be able to deter Israel in any way. Are you saying that, depending on what Israel does, it could face an increased
nuclear risk in the not-too-distant future? I guess my point here is that around this region, there does seem to be a sense of hubris to a certain
extent, or enthusiasm about what is going on.
Because there is a sense that Israel is sort of changing the architecture as far as power is concerned. But there is also a distinct fear that things
could get a whole lot worse before they were potentially to get any better.
WALSH: Yeah, look, I mean, you do where you are, Becky, surely here a lot of thoughts, possibly ambitions, aspirations than what's happening now
because of fair enough the not the collapse, but the failure to perform of so many of the so-called access of resistance allies around the region,
namely Hezbollah, that Israel is on a front foot and may be able to alter things for the longer term in its benefit, but that is potentially a
shorter term analysis.
And the larger question here that many analysts, I think, are reluctant to speak about because it is potentially such a horrific future is Iran's
nuclear program. Now, Pentagon officials in the last months have suggested that Iran is potentially 10 to 12 days away from having enough fissile
material for a bomb were its leadership to choose that path.
And you know, the calculus has always been that Iran's leadership does not think that is a good idea, but given the failure of its ballistic missiles
and missiles in April, drones back then to exact damage on Israel, given the stride of moves we're seeing by Israel at the moment, potentially in
the days ahead, against retaliatory moves against Iran, and given the apparent failure to perform or even collapse.
We'll see in the days and weeks ahead of Hezbollah, the ultimate proxy that Iran was going to use to try and keep a deterrence in place against Israel.
Given all those changes, are we seeing the calculus in Iran changing on the nuclear question? No sign of that right now. Hints about it in the past
weeks, but you know, Iran has always spoken of its nuclear program in kind of cryptic or guarded term, then even suggesting at times that it's
entirely peaceful.
But we have to look here at what the future moves for Iran are. It doesn't seem like its conventional arms are getting through. It doesn't have a
border to fight a land war against Israel, necessarily over without using proxies. And so it is that question all that remains for it to return to if
it wants to have a deterrence in the region, again, they'll have to say, just a basic human level.
The last thing anybody on earth wants right now is some kind of nuclear competition in a region like that, where Israel is currently the only
nuclear superpower. So, a thought to bear in mind, as we see Israel so stridently, it seems to try and redefine its security threats around it, a
remarkable pace, exactly when does the Israeli government feel it needs to stop. What's it hearing from Washington in that regard, Becky?
ANDERSON: Yeah, absolutely. A real fear in Washington here in region, and not least in the Gulf part of this region where we are normally based.
Thank you. Well, you are watching, "Connect the World". There is a lot more news ahead. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:40:00]
GIOKOS: Well, welcome you back to "Connect the World". I'm Eleni Giokos in Abu Dhabi. We'll be catching up with Becky Anderson, who is in Tel Aviv in
just a bit. But I want to give you an update on what is going on with the oil price. As you can see, they are rising.
The turmoil continues in the Middle East, and this, of course, affecting what we're seeing overall in Brent Crude as well as WTI Crude. As you can
see, Brent crude is currently up almost 3 percent $75 a barrel, and you've got WTI also up just over 3 percent and that's building on a similar rise
that we saw on Tuesday.
Now global markets are reacting, and could react even further if Israel disrupts Iranian oil production. We're starting to see geopolitical
disruption starting to be priced in the oil price. Iran is a big producer of oil and exports mainly to China due to international sanctions.
However, reduction in these exports would hit the entire market. We could see a massive domino effect on the oil price overall. We're keeping a close
eye on these numbers, they are pivotal. I want to get you up to speed now on some other stories that are on our radar right now.
In Thailand, police have arrested the driver of a bus carrying students and teachers that caught fire and killed 23 in suburban Bangkok. It's not clear
yet how the fire started. Officials say the driver is charged with reckless driving, failing to stop to help others, and failing to report the
accidents.
The driver told police he panicked when he couldn't put out the fire and he ran away. Elon Musk's purchase of X, formerly known as Twitter, has become
a money losing proposition. X is now worth nearly 80 percent less than when he bought it. According to investment firm Fidelity.
Musk paid $44 billion for the social media platform in 2022. Fidelity suggests its current value is just $9.4 billion. The death toll from
Hurricane Helene has started to -- has risen to at least 166 across 6 U.S. states. The storm is now the second deadliest hurricane to hit the United
States mainland in 50 years.
Today, President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris are scheduled to tour affected areas and meet with people impacted by the storm. And for
more on the ongoing recovery efforts after the storm. CNN's Miguel Marquez joins us now from North Carolina. Miguel, good to see you.
I mean seeing some of these images, seeing entire communities basically being wiped out, clearly so much is needed on the ground. We know the power
grids have also succumbed to the storm. Give us a sense of what is needed. And of course, what President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris is
saying?
MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN SENIOR U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, it is. The need is massive. The immediate need is massive. They still haven't
accounted for everybody. There are hundreds, if not thousands across hundreds of miles at this storm just dumped massive amounts of water, and
there was so much water, it just scrubbed communities away in some cases.
We were in Asheville, North Carolina that got hit very hard, the River Arts District, which is well known around the world. It's right next to the
French Broad River that rose, look, they're used to floods in this area. It rose. Usually, they go maybe a foot or two feet into some of the buildings.
This went two, three feet into the second floor of the buildings along the French Broad River. Here's what a couple of the business owners and artists
told us about whether they think they'll ever come back from this.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARQUEZ: This is it. This is your first time seeing this?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yeah, this is my first time.
MARQUEZ (voice-over): Denise Mark Wright (ph) peers into her print shop studio.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't think I can recover from this.
MARQUEZ (voice-over): Her sales table, it's enormous, hangs from the rafters.
MARQUEZ: How hard is it to look at this stuff?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It looks like a war happened.
MARQUEZ (voice-over): Asheville's River Arts District devastated. The water line two feet or more above the second floor of many buildings near the
French Broad River.
MARQUEZ: Will you and your business survive this one?
PATTIY TORNO, FOUNDING MEMBER OF ASHEVILLE ARTS DISTRICT: I'm choosing to not survive this one. I will not continue here. I do not think it is right,
ethical for me as a landlady to rent these spaces.
[09:45:00]
I will not put myself or anyone else through this kind of trauma again.
MARQUEZ (voice-over): Pattiy Torno, a founding member of Asheville's world- renowned Arts District, has seen floods before. Nothing like this.
TORNO: In terms of putting water inside the studios here. The only other one that had happened was 20 years ago in 2004 Hurricane Frances.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MARQUEZ (on camera): So, the president will be in Greenville, South Carolina. He will tour the area by helicopter. It is such a massive area,
the needs are beyond what the even the flood brought anything from water, electricity, gas, food, diapers. It is just tens of thousands, if not
millions of people across this very broad swath that this rain just came down in amounts.
And it is going to the immediate needs are now, but it is going to be years and years and years before they can get roads open, bridges rebuilt, and
these areas redone. So, the president will be in Greenville. He'll fly around the area there, view that, and then come here to Raleigh, and be
brief for several hours.
It is going to take a massive effort when we're on the freeways. We drove from Charlotte, North Carolina to Asheville. We drove from Asheville to
Raleigh, they are choked with vehicles, emergency vehicles, everything from electric providers to emergency shelters moving into that area, but those
are the immediate needs. It is going to be years and years before a very broad swath of the country recovers. Back to you.
GIOKOS: And we're truly astonishing to see the aftermath of the storm, Miguel, thank you so much for this update. Of course, it's a story. We'll
be keeping a very close watch on. All right ahead on "Connect the World". We return to Becky in Tel Aviv with latest on Israel, Lebanon and Iran.
We'll see you after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: Well as tensions grow between Israel and Lebanon, the IDF has confirmed the first soldier has been killed in Lebanon. There has been no
information on how the 22-year-old squad commander died or where. The IDF has said that it has clashed in close range with Hezbollah forces inside
Southern Lebanon.
[09:50:00]
Israel has also kept up the airstrikes on the country. According to the IDF, they were able to destroy 150 terror infrastructures, including
Hezbollah headquarters, weapons storage facilities and rocket launchers. CNN's Chief International Anchor, Christiane Amanpour joins us now from
London.
And first, I want to get your assessment of the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah. Where do you think things stand at this point?
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Well, clearly, the Israeli government and the Israeli IDF believe that they're winning this
war against Iran's proxies and those militias backed by Iran that surround whether it's Hamas, Hezbollah, and we'll see what they think they can do to
defang Iran.
Clearly, they do believe that. And now this so-called wider war is actually here, given the escalation in the last 24 hours and the anticipated
response by Israel to the volley of ballistic missiles that Iran sent overnight. And but officials who I speak to in the region. For instance,
the Lebanese Foreign Minister, before the Iranian missile attack was kind of trying to figure out what is the end game for his country for instance.
He remains in the United States, or at least he was there yesterday. He wasn't moving from Washington, where he's trying to have conversations with
the United States and others, because they are really trying to hope that the U.S. has some kind of influence to try to bring some kind of ceasefire
to Lebanon, because that is a benighted country.
And clearly the government is, sort of has been held hostage for years by Hezbollah and its military dominance there. But they want a ceasefire, and
they hoping the U.S. can, so far, the U.S. has not demonstrated that it's able to rein in the current wave of Israeli military action.
So, I asked him what was going on in Lebanon, and I asked him how he termed what was happening there. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AMANPOUR: Israel now says its incursion into your country is a limited offensive. Do you -- is that what you call it? How do you term what Israel
is doing right now?
ABDALLAH BOU HABIB, LEBANESE FOREIGN MINISTER: When Israel invades Lebanon, whether it is limited or not limited, it is against a sovereign country.
It's an independent country. It's a United Nation's country as Israel is, and therefore we should respect each other.
Hezbollah did not go into Israel. Yes, they fired. I'm not disagreeing with you that they started the war on October 8th, and they were firing, and the
-- is firing back. But now there is an incursion, and this is something dangerous.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AMANPOUR: So, you see he's responding to me, having said, but you know, Hezbollah on your territory did sort of start this latest round on October
8th, but you see the different perspective in which they see it. So, this is what the situation is there on the northern border.
And you're in a better place to know what's actually happening between Israel and Hezbollah right now, you've mentioned that they've announced one
Israeli soldier killed. In the meantime, more of that interview will be on my program later. And on the Iranian side, you've seen people really quite
panicky in Iran.
They have closed their airspace, or at least they had for a while. And people are lining up at gas stations and the other hearing the
possibilities that a response by Israel could include targeting energy infrastructure and a whole lot more. To the aspect of potentially hitting
regime targets in Iran, U.S. sources basically have told me that regime change is not something that's supported by the United States, but we'll
see what happens, Becky.
ANDERSON: Yeah, Christiane, it's good to have you. And you started this discussion by saying we are in a fully-fledged war situation. We've been
discussing for months, the risk of escalation around this region for those who live here, and very specifically, those who are living in Lebanon, that
feels like the battlefield at this point, and this does feel like a fully- fledged war.
Well as we move through this, let's just take a closer look at some of the history here. In 1978, Israel first sent troops across the border into
Lebanon. They were looking for members of the Palestinian Liberation Organization after they attacked a civilian bus in Israel, killing dozens.
Israel occupied most of the southern part of the country, although Lebanon's government, then embroiled in a civil war, had nothing to do with
the bus attack after protests from the United Nations, the IDF withdrew but created a narrow quote, security zone and backed a local Christian militia.
[09:55:00]
Now this eventually led to the creation of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon or UNIFIL. Israel began its longest invasion into Lebanon in
June of 1982. They took almost half of Lebanese territory, including West Beirut. The operation is believed to have resulted in more than 17,000
deaths.
Much like this week's declaration, Israel said the incursion would be brief and limited. That is not what happened. Israeli troops occupied Southern
Lebanon for 18 years, the last of their soldiers pulling out in the year 2000. Well, this video filmed in March of that year shows the forces
withdrawing, crossing the border at Fatima gate back into Israel.
The gate has been closed ever since. The most recent incursion happened in 2006. Hezbollah militants infiltrated Israel in a surprise attack, killing
eight Israeli soldiers. Israel retaliated with a massive air operation and a sweeping ground offensive that lasted until mid-August. I was on the
ground covering that devastation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's gone. It's gone. It's gone. It's gone. My brother lives there. My relatives live here. It's their houses are all gone.
ANDERSON: So where is everybody?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, I think -- can live in this horrible and miserable situation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Was 20 years ago, in 2006. That's it for this hour of "Connect the World". I'll be back with a lot more, right after this. So please do
stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
