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Laura Coates Live

Iran Responds At Israel Hitting Tel Aviv; Iran Warns Countries Helping Israel; Backlash Towards Trump From MAGA Base; Netanyahu Urging Iranians to Revolt; President Trump to Host Military Parade in the Midst of "No King's" Protest. Aired 11p-12a ET

Aired June 13, 2025 - 23:00   ET

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

[22:59:59]

LAURA COATES, CNN HOST: Good evening. I'm Laura Coates. The sun is now rising over Israel after multiple waves of missile counter strikes from Iran. Just moments ago, explosions were heard over Jerusalem, and this was the sky above Tel Aviv overnight.

Israel's air defense system intercepted many of the missiles, fired in retaliation for yesterday's attack on Iran, but some got through. This next video shows a dramatic moment when a missile hit after interceptors launched from the ground.

(VIDEO PLAYING)

Tonight, we're learning about the first death in Israel related to the strikes. A woman was killed when a weapon fragment fell to the ground. New attacks have also rocked Iran, and we're getting a better idea of just how much damage Israel inflicted in the initial attack. The IDF says it struck two nuclear facilities, and among them, the country's main enrichment facility in Natanz. You can see it here. Black smoke is rising from it.

The U.N.'s nuclear watchdog says the above ground enrichment plant at the site was destroyed. Iran says Israel also killed at least six high level nuclear scientists and wiped out much of the country's top military leadership. Three of the most powerful men in Iran were killed, including the highest ranking military officer. An Iranian official says at least 78 people have died in the attacks.

Tonight, Iran is issuing a new threat, saying it will target regional bases of any country that defends Israel. United States is doing just that. Multiple sources tell CNN the U.S. is helping intercept incoming Iranian missiles. President Trump is calling the strikes on Iran a, quote, "very successful attack." And he's urging Iran to agree to a deal before, quote, "there is nothing left."

Joining me now, CNN's Jeremy Diamond and Reuters senior correspondent, Alexander Cornwell live in Tel Aviv. Alexander, let me go with you please, because Iran launched a new missile barrage just within the last hour or so. What more do we know about the locations that have now been targeted?

ALEXANDER CORNWELL, REUTERS SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: That's right. Around 45 minutes ago, we started hearing air raid sirens in Tel Aviv and shortly later, we heard explosions and booms, in the sky. The Israeli ambulance service has reported that there were 10 injured, light to moderate. We haven't got any more information on that. We -- as the footage that you're showing to your viewers, it's quite clear that there has been some hits on Israel, including in one residential neighborhood in Ramat Gan, which is just outside Tel Aviv.

COATES: Jeremy, Israel has repeatedly said this is not hours or even today. This could actually last for days. It could last for even weeks. How will the Israeli government respond?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Well, I'm told that the Israeli prime minister huddled with, top members of his cabinet this evening in Tel Aviv in an underground bunker where they were talking about exactly what would come next. And the feeling in the room, as I understand it, was that Israel should act in an escalatory manner, meaning that rather than acting in a proportional manner in terms of a tit-for-tat with Iranian attacks and Israeli attacks against Iran, that Israel would seek to continue to climb up that escalatory ladder.

And it seems that that is what we have witnessed earlier this evening as we saw that there were reports of explosions near Tehran's international airport suggesting a widening of the target set here, not just going after military facilities, nuclear facilities in Iran, as well as those senior Iranian officials, but also potentially widening it to strategic civilian sites, in Iran as well.

And what's important to note here is that while Israel did deal a pretty devastating blow in its initial round of strikes, there's a lot that they have still left relatively untouched in Iran, which suggests that there are many other targets that Israel can still go after in Iran that it likely intends to go after.

And a lot of that will also depend on whether or not there is a role for diplomacy here as President Trump urges the Iranians to come back to the negotiating table and strike a deal, albeit clearly from a much, much weaker position.

And then, of course, there's also what Israel is leaving on the table from a military perspective as it waits to see, you know, how much further Iran will go in terms of its retaliatory strikes in Israel as well.

[23:05:04]

COATES: I mean, Alexander, with the death of those three very powerful men in Iran and, of course, the idea of diplomacy seeming to be at this moment in time fleeting at best. Is there a prospect that this could be resolved diplomatically at all?

CORNWELL: I think to be absolutely frank, it's unclear. In the past hours coming out of Iranian media, coming out of the Iranian foreign ministry, we've heard Iran say that talks with the U.S., would be meaningless after Israel's attack. Now, President Trump has said that a meeting he believes is still on with the Iranians, that was organized before the attack on Sunday, but it's unclear if that will take place.

COATES: Jeremy Diamond, Alexander Cornwell, thank you both so much. Retired Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Conricus is in Tel Aviv tonight. He is a former IDF spokesperson and senior fellow at FDD. Lieutenant colonel Israel's defense minister says that Iran has crossed, quote, "red lines" by attacking civilian centers. How do you expect Israel to now escalate its response if at all? Will it go beyond military targets?

JONATHAN CONRICUS, FORMER IDF SPOKESPERSON: Yeah. Good night to you. Good morning from Israel. I think Jeremy said it very succinctly. Israel has a very substantial target base of national infrastructure, regime targets, economic infrastructure, and many others that it has, by decision, not yet exploited, not yet targeted. And, I think, you know, the bottom line is phone calls between Washington and Jerusalem, whether or not Israel will escalate and expand that.

I think Israel wants to. My guess is that, currently, Israel is waiting for green light and approval from the U.S. in order to do exactly that. And as many times in the Middle East, the number of casualties in Israel will be the deciding factor of how Israel evolves its campaign against Iran.

COATES: Well, speaking of The United States and the president of The United States, President Trump, he says that the U.S. was aware of Israel's plans to attack and the U.S. did help Israel shoot down Iranian missiles. Does Israel need America's assistance in order to keep its attacks on Iran going and also to defend itself?

CONRICUS: I'd say, yes on both answers. Specifically, most importantly, the provision of munitions and interceptors. Those are two resources that are critical for Israel. And, yes, I think it's widely known that Israel relies on the supply of them from the United States. So therefore, coordination and seeing things eye to eye and having the approval of the American administration is very important for defending Israelis in these attacks that we see on the screen.

Most of them civilian. I know of also of military targets that have been hit, but most of the casualties in Israel today are civilian. And, I think coordination here is key.

COATES: You know, we are hearing from Israeli sources that say that they took part in a deception operation to trick Iran into believing there would not be a strike. Did that play a big role in the ability of Israel to even pull this off?

CORNICUS: Judging by the results, I think, obviously, the Iranians were deceived or were tricked into believing that they're safe and that there was no imminent Israeli strike. There was lots of talks here on CNN and many other places, Israeli media, about what Israel was doing. But I think, in general, that the Iranians thought that as long as negotiations are ongoing, they're safe, and they can continue to waste time, and they can continue to use negotiations as a shield from an Israeli attack.

I wouldn't say that the Americans deceived. Israel probably did so, and deception is part of warfare. That's one of the basic principles. If you can cause your enemy to believe other than reality, then that's a good thing. Sadly, our enemies do it, and they do it well. And the bottom line, I think, the opening salvo, you mentioned three important Iranian officials.

We're talking about, as far as I know, more than 20 senior officers, three and four star generals, and very important nuclear scientists that were eliminated in that first salvo, more than -- almost 24 hours ago now.

COATES: Jonathan Conricus, thank you so much for joining us. With me now --

CORNICUS: Thank you.

COATES: -- retired U.S. Army Brigadier General Steve Anderson and also Jamil Jaffer, former counsel to the assistant AG for national security.

[23:09:58]

Jamil, I want to go to you and get your assessment of Iran's counter strikes on Israel. I mean, were they weakened at all by Israel's attacks? Is it fundamentally evident?

JAMIL JAFFER, FORMER ASSOCIATE WHITE HOUSE COUNSEL TO GEORGE W. BUSH: Well, look, you know, the last time we saw Iran go after Israel after the set of attacks, they launched hundreds of drones, hundreds of ballistic missiles. This time, we had 100 drones last night, few dozen missiles this time. They did -- they were able to impact Israel. They were able to land some missiles on target. The vast majority, like every time, shot down by Iron -- the combination of Iron Dome, David Sling, the Arrow 2, and, of course, now American THAAD and Patriot missiles as well.

COATES: Let me ask you about this, what is perceived as a threat, frankly, around the world heard from Iran. They're warning that countries that defend Israel could face attacks on their military bases and also, of course, in the region. Is that a direct threat that you would interpret to United States? Is the military going to be -- are they thinking already about a response?

STEVE ANDERSON, RETIRED U.S. ARMY: Absolutely, Laura. I have no doubt they're on high alert. I mean, we've got 47,000 Americans in uniform in nine different countries in the Middle East, Al Udeid Air Base, Bahrain Naval Base, you know, a lot of troops at risk over there. No doubt that they are preparing for something to happen. And if they were to happen, that would definitely be a trigger.

I mean, you'd see the United States, I think, get involved. But until then, I think that they're going to stay on the sidelines and let the Israelis handle this right now, but it's going to be a very big problem.

COATES: You know, when you think about this, Jamil, and, you know, we've already learned, of course, several top Iranian military leaders were killed. We know that their nuclear facilities, they've also been hit. But there's still this question of whether Israel can destroy the nuclear facilities that are actually deep underground. Does Israel have that capability?

JAFFER: Well, look, Israel only has a certain amount of bunker busters that can go to a certain depth. They've got the Spice 2000, which is a 2,000 pound bomb. What they don't have is the U.S. massive ordnance penetrator delivered on the B2 Spirit. That's the thing you need to get those really deep facilities and getting Natanz, the deeply buried, the new facilities after 2022 at Natanz and Fordo, which is a key enrichment facility. The Iranians are buried deep enough that it's very hard to get those.

So if Israel's going to go after those, they have to do with forces on the ground. We've already heard about Mossad operations in Iran over the course of this last set of strikes. We'll see if they pull it off, but it's going to be very hard without U.S. weapons and U.S. delivery vehicles, the B2 Spirit.

COATES: General, it sounds like they need to have the United States buy in and support.

ANDERSON: Absolutely. I mean, we used to call it the mother of all bombs when we were in Iraq. We had three of them over there. They're incredibly capable. They can penetrate much, much deeper. As Jamil says, you know, we got to get those -- if you're going to take out those nuclear facilities in Fordo that are dug in and deep, you're going to need the United States to be participating in this attack.

COATES: Well, that begs the question. I mean, the U.S. is saying, President Trump's on borders, that we knew everything about the strikes. Knowing about the strikes and knowing that they might have to be called upon in order to participate somehow to get those underground sites puts the United States military and the United States in a pretty compromised position then.

ANDERSON: I absolutely agree with that. It would be a problem for us to get involved in this too early. So we probably need some kind of a trigger, something -- some attack that would give us, I think, the excuse to really to take sides. Right now, Israel is being able to handle this. They executed an incredible attack, brazen attack, that was incredibly successful. They do not need the United States to get involved at this point.

But if the Iranians expand this war, somehow escalate this, and they attack any American soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines that are exposed or any American facilities, we definitely need to take -- get on onboard with the Israelis, and we need to take down the nuclear capability of Iran immediately.

COATES: We're looking at live pictures right now of central Israel, fresh damage from an Iranian strike that has happened just moments ago. We're seeing the result of that right now. And, Jamil, I want to go to you on this because Netanyahu has said that the strike was carried out now because they suspected that Iran was close to being able to actually build these nuclear bombs. That seems to be at odds though with the U.S. intelligence assessments that we are aware of. So are there other reasons that might be at play for why now?

JAFFER: Well, a couple of things. One, in order to use a nuclear weapon, you need three things. You need the enriched uranium, you need a valid weapon design, you need a ballistic missile delivery system. What Netanyahu said was he believed they're moving towards weaponization. That's a new statement. We'll see if that's true.

Beyond that, we've seen the Trump administration go in a couple different directions. We saw early on Steve Witkoff say it's fine if they enrich. The president walked it back, then the president gave a little bit. Witkoff walked it back. Rubio's been consistent in saying no enrichment.

[23:14:57]

That might have scared these Israelis to say, if the Trump administration might get into a deal with Iran that allows enrichment, that's unacceptable. That's probably what drove it ultimately say, we're going to take these strikes. You want us to do it or not? We're doing it.

COATES: I want to go right now because we have some video that's playing of what the damage has been from this new strike in central Israel. We're obviously seeing damage to buildings and different structures as we see different first responders who are arriving on the scene walking over various debris with identifiable jackets. We are looking to see the assessment of whether civilians have been harmed.

Obviously, we are seeing cars that appear to be severely damaged and buildings or structures of some kind that clearly are compromised in these early morning hours. Dawn really just breaking in Israel. You know, general, when you're looking at this and, of course, United States military is obviously watching this, so are other military bases and allies perhaps around the world as well.

When you see this damage and the knowledge of the White House is saying that they had about the strikes, is Iran looking at this as everyone being complicit, and therefore, they feel as though they have been attacked and we are risking a potential war with ourselves as well?

ANDERSON: That's probably the case. So, I mean, they probably feel that they have been -- the noose has been tightened. I mean, if you look at what the Israelis have done over the last 18 months, they've taken down Hamas. They've taken down Hezbollah. The Palestinians have been laid down quite a bit. Syria has collapsed. I mean, the world -- the Houthis have been hit hard by the Americans down south in Yemen.

I mean, the world -- the proxies that supported Iran over the last, you know, couple of decades, they have been decimated, really. And so the noose is closing on Iran. So, they are getting desperate. And that's why I think you're seeing these attacks on civilian targets is because that's really the only thing they can hit right now. They don't have the capability. They mask their missile attacks to try to get a few through. And when they do, they're hitting civilian targets. And it's very much the similar playbook that the Russians are using against the Ukrainians, by the way. They're trying to just essentially wreak havoc among the civilian population and take the hurt to the people.

COATES: Really quickly, does that desperation lead to diplomacy or rash decisions?

ANDERSON: Well, I'd like -- I hope it's the former, not the latter. You know? Hopefully, that they are going to realize, hey, listen, we cannot win this war with Israel. They are better than us. They're smarter than us. They have complete intelligence dominance. They have air dominance, as you saw by a thousand mile strike into -- deep into the heart of Tehran in which you were able to hit targets.

So they realized they're they are not going to win this in a tit-for- tat exchange. They've got to achieve some kind of a diplomatic solution. They're not going to win any other way.

COATES: Gentlemen, thank you so much, General Steve Anderson, Jamil Jaffer. We have much more ahead on this breaking news. Benjamin Netanyahu delivering a message directly to the Iranian people, raising questions about his endgame here.

Plus, how is President Trump handling all this tonight, and how will he respond to the blowback from some of his supporters? Next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[23:20:00]

COATES: Now as we continue to monitor the situation in the Middle East, one of the big questions is how President Trump is going to handle having a conflict spill out on his watch. Today, he reaffirmed the United States' support for Israel, telling our own Dana Bash the strikes on Iran were, quote, "a very successful attack." He also told Reuters he saw this coming, saying, quote, "we knew everything, and I tried to save Iran humiliation and death."

I want to bring in White House correspondent for Reuters, Jeff Mason, and Josh Rogan's also here, the lead global security analyst for Washington Post intelligence. Jeff, just weeks ago, Trump urged Netanyahu to hold off on these attacks to avoid jeopardizing negotiations and diplomacy with Iran. He seemed to strike a very different tone today, though. What more can you tell us about the administration's response to all of this tonight?

JEFF MASON, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, REUTERS: Well, I think, the focus, if you're looking at the administration's response, is to focus on President Trump as you rightly started with, Laura. And, yes, he is supporting the strikes and said that they were successful, but it is a contrast to what he's been telling reporters, including myself, for weeks that the talks with Iran were going well.

And there's a lot on the line for him politically as a result. He is has portrayed himself as a president of peace. And despite that, portrayal and despite legitimate attempts by the administration to reach a deal with Iran, that did not stop Israel from this attack.

COATES: Well taken as a point, Josh, because it sounded like Trump wanted diplomacy to run its course, but Netanyahu went ahead with the strikes. And so why do you think Trump was unable to prevent Netanyahu from doing this? Even though he says he was aware of it, that's not the same thing as being approving of it.

JOSH ROGIN, LEAD GLOBAL SECURITY ANALYST, WASHINGTON POST INTELLIGENCE: Right. Well, if to take Trump at face value, he seems to be saying that he thinks the strikes will encourage Iran to come back to the negotiating table. And if that's true, then that seems like incredibly naive for the simple reason that Israel just killed the negotiators and killing the negotiators tends to dampen the negotiations. And anyone who's left alive in the Iranian system is very busy right now with things more important to them than meeting Steve Witkoff in Oman.

[23:25:03]

So, if that was Trump's thinking and that's what he says, that he green lighted the strikes, get Iran to rethink its negotiating strategy to be more amenable to negotiation. Well, I don't think that's going to work out the way that Trump wants. And if Trump is not being honest, which is totally possible, then I don't really see how his claim that Iran will come back to the table makes any sense or is useful in any way.

So, it seems like Trump was convinced to approve to green light the strikes. They didn't -- the Israelis didn't defy Trump. They convinced him somehow, but I don't think it's going to work out the way he says it's going to work out.

COATES: We'll have to see what the ultimate conversation really was. But, Jeff, some prominent figures in the MAGA camp, they're not happy. Tucker Carlson said that Trump is, quote, "complicit in the act of war." It's a quote. And that America should drop Israel, let them fight their own wars. Is there a divide in the party of the White House is now worried about particularly having figures like Carlson and others voice these concerns?

MASON: Well, there certainly a divide and it's fascinating to see MAGA Inc., you know, the very core of MAGA coming out and criticizing the president and separating themselves from him. It takes a lot for that to happen, Laura. There have been a few cracks in that armor over the last several months. There was some disappointment by MAGA world over not seeing more in the Jeffrey Epstein files, for example. But you certainly haven't seen any kind of major criticism from that world.

So seeing that now, yeah, I'm sure that is concerning to the White House and to the president. The question is what does he do about it? Because it puts him in a bind. He has certainly been very, very, supportive, robustly supportive of Israel, and to change that position would be a massive, massive shift for him. But to compare, which isn't obviously, there aren't many opportunities to compare him with President Biden. President Biden also had problems with his base because of his support

for Israel, and never really recovered from the left's disappointment in that support because of Israel's -- because of Israel's -- what it was doing in Gaza.

COATES: Josh, what do you make of the critique that Trump is ignoring his whole America principle?

ROGIN: Right. Well, I think it just reinforces the idea, which I'm sympathetic to that President Trump has no core principles, that he's liable to change his opinions and his views on any issue on any day based on whoever he talks to that day or whatever he thinks his calculation or interests are that day. And so what the MAGA people have been doing is they've been trying to purge the pro-Israel people inside the administration, starting with Mike Waltz, but all the way down the line.

And their theory was if less people talk to Trump about helping Israel, then maybe Trump won't be convinced to help Israel attack Iran. But it doesn't seem to have worked out that way because Trump will do what Trump will do.

So I just think this endless battle inside the administration, the fracture side, the purges, all of this sort of attacks back and forth are going to go on forever, but nobody ever really wins because, Trump gets a phone call the next day and then he just does something completely different. Because in his own soul, there's probably not a lot of strategery going on. It's just sort of, what do I do today?

COATES: Well, we'll see what phone call comes up next, what The diplomacy is on the other end of the call. Jeff Mason, Josh Rogin, thank you both so much.

Israel's attack on Iran, years in the making, but why now? And how exactly does Benjamin Netanyahu plan to see this out? That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[23:30:00]

COATES: Just in out of Southern Israel, CNN's Nic Robertson found a smoldering projectile while driving to Tel Aviv. Here's his report.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Look at this rocket behind me here. This just came down. We were watching intercepts in the sky above me, the early morning sky, and there was a lot of loud explosions and impacts. And you can see here, this missile here, right behind me lying in the road here, it's still smoking. This came down. This was from the latest salvo of Iranian missiles intercept. It's not clear if this is an intercept missile or one of the Iranian missiles still smoking in the road here. Only just came down.

(END VIDEO CLIP) COATES: Unbelievable. Again, that was Nic Robertson on its way to Tel Aviv coming across that. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the Iranian people directly today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, PRIME MINISTER OF ISRAEL: The objective of Israel's military operation is to remove this threat, both the nuclear threat and the ballistic missile threat to Israel. And as we achieve our objectives, we're also clearing the path for you to achieve your objective, which is freedom.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COATES: Joining me now is Aaron David Miller, former State Department Middle East negotiator, and senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, and Bobby Ghosh. He's a geopolitics analyst and the former editor of Hindustan Times. Thank you both.

[23:34:59]

Bobby, let me begin with you because he called for Iranians to stand up for their freedom. What did you make of that appeal from Netanyahu?

BOBBY GHOSH, FORMER EDITOR, HIDUSTAN TIMES: Well, he's done this before. On several occasions, he's spoken directly to Iranian people. It's got no traction within Iran as far as I can tell. Nobody I've spoken to there takes it very seriously. Regardless of what they think about their regime, Iranians do not appreciate Netanyahu's attempts to stop essentially a conflict with Iran. He's a very, very unpopular figure. He's a figure, of fun and occasionally, a figure, a kind of hoodoo figure.

So, it's a little hard to tell what he thinks he's going to achieve by addressing Iran in that way. Perhaps it's his idea of showing to a larger western audience or international audience that he's a reasonable man and that he has the Iranian people's best interest at heart. But I don't think anybody in Tehran or across the Iranian population is buying that for a minute.

COATES: Let's talk about regime change, Erin, because there is some speculation, of course, that Netanyahu's end game is to bring about regime change. You've seen very -- very skeptical about this that it's possible. Why?

AARON DAVID MILLER, FORMER STATE DEPARTMENT MIDDLE EAST NEGOTIATOR: I mean, in many respects, it's the -- the prime minister's default position, Laura. If you look at Gaza, Gaza 18 months in right now, and the prime minister has pledged total victory. Total victory in Gaza means not only the decimation of Hamas as a military organization, but the end of his political influence in Gaza.

And I fear trying to get out of this is going to be extremely difficult for the Israelis because I don't think they'll be able to demonstrate that they've either destroyed Iran's nuclear weapon -- nuclear program on one hand. And if they're interested in regime change, which I think is reflected in the prime minister's address to the Iranian people, it is a call basically to overthrow the government. Repressive, authoritarian government, understandable.

But I think what Netanyahu is doing, and if Gaza is a precedent, this is going to go on for quite some time because total victory, the end of Iran's weapon nuclear program and possible weaponization, and the overthrow of the regime, I think both of those are frankly, unachievable goals by the Israelis.

COATES: Bobby, President Trump is still telling Iran to make a deal. Do you think any of this pressures them in any way to come to the negotiating table to engage, dare I say, reengage in diplomacy?

GHOSH: No. Not anytime soon. If anything, it has pushed things back several steps. Right now, while the country is at war with Iran, I cannot see any Iranian leader, current or immediate future Iranian leader, making that kind of a call and agreeing to a negotiated peace with Israel or a negotiated end to its nuclear program.

On the contrary, if anything, there will be a lot of hard line voices in Iran who make the contrary argument saying that this is proof that we need a nuclear weapons program and that we need to ramp up our efforts to get our hands on the bomb to prevent this kind of attack from Israel or from our enemies from taking place.

So, no, I don't -- certainly not in the short to medium term, I can't see this, working out in the way that Trump has been describing.

COATES: You know, Aaron, President Trump is trying to manage multiple international crises and is trying to negotiate peace deals, it would seem, but he's been coming up short, shall we say. And I wonder what you think the flaw in his strategy has been. Has he overestimated the willingness of the different entities to actually negotiate or has he, underestimated the tension or the long standing history in the areas?

MILLER: Yeah. It's a real -- it's a fascinating question, Laura. Look, you can invite two of the best negotiators I know, one of whom I work for, James Baker. The other is Henry Kissinger. You can invite them back to do this thing, and they would have a difficult time. These are very heavy lift. But an answer to your question, I think, number one, Donald Trump is discovering some very hard truths. His own vaunted negotiating skills are open to considerable argument. And you need a strategy.

You need a strategy on Russia and Ukraine. You need a strategy on Israel and Hamas. You need a strategy on the U.S. and Iran, and that strategy involves serious diplomacy and leverage using American leverage and power, although it has limits, to move both parties in these three conflicts forward. And frankly, the president talks a big game, but in terms of discipline, leverage, applying it effectively, I think he's fallen short.

[23:40:03]

COATES: I mean, Bobby, how much sway does the U.S. even have over Israel at the moment? I mean, can Israel proceed without the United States' support?

GHOSH: Well, Israel has plenty of leverage with the -- ironically, to Aaron's point -- the U.S. does not have a lot of leverage over Iran. It has a lot of leverage over Israel, but it's completely uninterested in using that leverage. And this is not just Trump. This also applied to the Biden administration and administrations going back several, several decades even. That the United States seems highly, highly, reluctant to use the leverage it does have with Israel, and it doesn't have any leverage with Israel's enemies, particularly with Iran.

I think the point that Aaron was making earlier is worth repeating it, that Trump doesn't really have a strategy. He has, at best, some tactics, and these are highly fluid and they change from moment to moment. He's nothing if not mercurial. A great deal depends on what he's seen in the latest position papers or what the latest person who's spoken to him has said to him, and he changes his mind all too often.

He has not shown any inclination and, by the way, nor have the people around him to do the long hard graft of diplomacy. It's not enough to say that you want to be a man of peace nor is it enough to threaten to use the big stick that previous presidents have deployed. Luster is not a strategy, but that is all that Trump is deploying.

COATES: Aaron David Miller, Bobby Ghosh, thank you both so much. Still ahead tonight, how far will Iran go in retaliating? And might they have plans to go beyond Israel? That conversation is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[23:45:00]

COATES: As we see images of crowds in Iran celebrating their military retaliation, security analysts are warning Iran's response might not be limited to just Israel. Iran has a long history of directing terror operations abroad with the use of Hezbollah and other proxies. Remember just last year, the DOJ unveiled the Iranian murder for hire plot to kill Donald Trump here in the United States.

In that indictment, the DOJ warned the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran is actively targeting nationals of the United States and its allies living in countries around the world for attacks. Joining me now is Donell Harvin. He is the former chief of Homeland Security and Intelligence for Washington, D.C. Danelle, I mean, Iran's proxies have certainly been weakened in recent months. Do you think that Iran still has the capability to inspire or even direct plots here or abroad?

DONELL HARVIN, FORMER CHIEF OF HOMELAND SECURITY & INTELLIGENCE, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA: Absolutely. They have the ability to do both. The weakening of their proxies is really in the region that they're in, but has nothing to do with what we call the KSTs, the known and suspected terrorists, that reside not only in this country, unfortunately, but in other countries.

So they have the potential and the intent, I might add, to attack if we cross a red line, and we're not quite sure what that red line is, with sleeper cells that have been implanted over the course of decades. And so that's clearly a concern. That's something that we thought about. We went through this process five years ago, Laura, with the assassination of General Soleimani.

COATES: Well, I wonder how the intelligence community and homeland security would be adjusting to the possibility of, as you say, sleeper cells or the KSTs given what's happening between Israel and Iran.

HARVIN: Well, the threat environment, unfortunately, is really ripe for something like this. Remember with the assassination that I just mentioned, that really didn't cross a red line. If Iran feels, if the regime feels that there's an existential threat, they will pull the trigger. They practice what we call strategic patience. They have a contingency plan, and these sleeper cells will be awakened, and they will launch attacks.

The problem is on the domestic side, we have so many things going on right now, as you know. Protest, individuals can be radicalized online, that aren't part of these networks, these sleeper cells. And so there is an opportunity. We haven't even mentioned their ability to launch a cyber-attack, which they do have significant capabilities in that area.

COATES: That's foreboding, say the least. I mean, we've talked about the recent anti-Semitic attacks here in the United States. How much more acute do you think the threat is now for more violence?

HARVIN: Yeah. So if you take the Iranian proxies just off the table, there are people that are just really angry. There's a lot of hate. There's a lot of fear. There's a lot of frustrations. And as you mentioned over the last few years, we've seen a huge uptick. Almost 400 percent in anti-Semitic attacks. A lot of that spurred by violence and the conflict of the Middle East.

Those same individuals could be further radicalized, but what they're seeing right now, attacks by Israel and Iran, and continue to what we go, go up that escalation ladder towards violence. And so this is a huge concern. I might also mention that, two years ago, the Department of Homeland Security also interdicted those KSTs, almost 170 known and suspected terrorists that are on the terrorist watch list crossing our borders.

[23:50:03]

And so not only the decades past that these sleeper cells have been here, but potentially newly implanted operatives that are coming across the border. So a lot of things for Homeland Security and the U.S. government to be worried about right now.

COATES: Donell Harvin, thank you for your insight.

HARVIN: Thank you.

COATES: We have much more on the breaking news out of Israel ahead. Plus, the military parade set for tomorrow, just as thousands hold those no kings protests around the country. Lieutenant General Russell Honore standing by on all of that next.

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[23:55:00]

COATES: New video tonight shows a U.S. Marine detaining a man outside a federal building in Los Angeles while carrying a rifle. Right now, about 200 active duty Marines have begun protecting federal property there. The commander overseeing the troops in L.A. says the National Guard will soon transition to protecting federal agents. Now all of this is unfolding on the eve of a massive military parade right here in Washington, D.C. to honor the Army's 250th birthday.

That's set to include Abrams tanks, World War II bombers, Army paratroopers, horses, fighter jet flyovers, and approximately 6,700 soldiers. There will be a pretty stark split screen because tomorrow, millions of protesters are expected to partake in "No King's" rallies across the country. Organizers predicting that it could be the largest display of opposition to Trump since he took office.

Joining me now, retired Lieutenant General Russell Honore. Lieutenant General Honore, welcome back. Many have accused the president this week of using the military for his own political and personal purposes which being deploy troops to L.A. and his speech at Fort Bragg. Is it appropriate to host a military parade in the nation's capital right now?

RUSSEL HONORE, RETIRED U.S. ARMY: Well, I think, President Eisenhower said it best, Laura. He said we don't do military parade like Russia. It's a sign of weakness. We're the most preeminent military power in the world. We don't do that. Although in 1991, we did have a parade in Washington, D.C. to celebrate the victory from Desert Storm. But that was a modest parade of troops just marching and over 200,000 people in Washington, D.C. came out to celebrate our troops victory.

We don't do that. That's not normal. I think what we see happen, Laura, was a normal Army 250th birthday that involved about 600 to 700 troops with a few pieces of equipment on the mall, turned into a birthday parade for the president.

COATES: By displaying this, it sounds like you think is a performative aspect of it. Does that signal to either our allies or our enemies that we are weakened somehow? Why?

HONORE: I don't think -- I think what it does, it leads to what dictators like in North Korea and Russia do to show off the armament. They show off the tactical nuclear weapons, the number of troops they can put goosestepping in pristine uniforms and their tanks. We don't do that in America. That's not normal.

COATES: Sounds as though no one ought to question the lethality of our troops is your point. But let me ask you, we mentioned in response to the parade that more than 2,000 "No Kings" -- "No Kings" rallies will take place across the country. What kind of message do you think those will send? HONORE: I hope it sends a very strong message to Washington and to the

president and his cabinet that what they're doing is not normal. You know, the president has done two things in one week, Laura, that generally, if I may use that language, piss soldiers off. Soldiers don't like going through civil disturbance. It's not a popular mission. Does that mean they have to face off against American citizen?

The other thing soldiers don't like disdain, is the idea of marching in a parade, with multiple rehearsals, pristine uniforms, painted tanks. Soldiers don't like that mission. The president hit both of them out of the park this week, pissing off a lot of soldiers around the Army and making them do things, missions they don't like to do. Soldiers like go and do disaster response in America, not civil disturbance. And they (inaudible) don't like marching in a parade, Laura.

COATES: So what's your reaction to this new video showing a Marine detaining a man in Los Angeles? Should Marines even be in this position?

HONORE: That's a violation of the Posse Comitatus Act. If the person had shown some threat to the Marines, the mission they have to protect that building, that would be legitimate. And as you been reported in the press, that's actually a veteran they detained trying to go to the VA office. That's a crime damn shame.

Posse Comitatus Act General Russell Honore, thank you as always for your time and service.

HONORE: Happy Birthday, Army. God bless America.

[23:59:57]

COATES: Indeed. Thank you all for watching. CNN's live breaking news coverage of the air strikes between Israel and Iran continues right now.