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Iran Warns Missile Attack Is "Only Portion" Of Its "Power"; Iran Vows "Consequences" For Iran: "We Have Plans"; W.H.: Iran Launched Nearly 200 Ballistic Missiles At Israel; U.N. Chief Calls For Ceasefire; Israel Vows Response To Iran; Walz, Vance Arrive At Debate Site For First & Only Showdown; Gov. Josh Shapiro (D-PA), Is Interviewed About Iran Launches Largest Attack Ever Against Israel. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired October 01, 2024 - 17:00   ET

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

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002 for his work protecting democracy and combating diseases. Nine years ago, Carter announced that he had brain cancer. He had this to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIMMY CARTER, 39TH U.S. PRESIDENT: You know, I've had a wonderful life, so I'm ready for anything and looking forward to a new adventure.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Happy birthday, Mr. President.

I'll see you back here in two hours for CNN coverage of the vice presidential debate. The news continues on CNN next.

[17:00:38]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN breaking news.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: We're following major breaking news right now, Israel vowing to retaliate after Iran launches a major strike, firing about 200 ballistic missiles at Israel. A strike Iran insist was only a, quote, "portion of their power." Good evening. I'm Wolf Blitzer, along with Kasie Hunt. Welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world, this is a special edition of the Situation Room.

KASIE HUNT, CNN ANCHOR: It is a sharp escalation between the two sides, one that could tip the region further into an all-out war. Air raid sirens sounding across Israel as flashes of light lit up the sky. Israel's air defense system successfully knocking down most of Iran's missiles, but there were some hits. This one is one crater in central Israel.

BLITZER: The massive strike coming a day after Israeli forces launched a rear ground operation into southern Lebanon, a mission aimed at taking out the Iranian backed militia, Hezbollah. And tonight, Iran is threatening what it calls a crushing, quote, "crushing response," if Israel carries through with its promise to strike back. Our Jim Sciutto is joining us live from Tel Aviv right now. Kayla Tausche is over at the White House with tonight's response from the White House, and it is dramatic. I want to go first to Jim, who's live in Tel Aviv.

That's where you were when Iran started launching its attack, Jim. What's the situation on the ground right now? Few hours ago, when you were seeing the skies over Tel Aviv being lit up, it was very different.

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, now those air raid sirens, they have finished. We're sensing Tel Aviv coming back to life, but Israel right now is doing a damage assessment. And what is clear is that some missiles, either after being intercepted or not intercepted at all, struck ground. We certainly saw some impacts here in Tel Aviv. Our Jeremy Diamond visited the crater impact site from another one and others have been visible around the country.

Thankfully, no deaths inside Israel. One death reported in the West Bank could have been much worse, no question. But it does appear that some may have hit, if not their target, but they hit Israeli territory. Right now, our understanding is that the cabinet is making a decision as to how Israel is going to respond. They made quite clear they will respond.

They call this a serious attack, and they say it will have serious consequences, and that response is likely to include an attack on Iran. So the question becomes, what in Iran? Is it oil facilities? Could it be nuclear facilities? It's quite clear that those options are at least on the table. It is not clear if Israel chooses to strike those targets, but we have been told that a decision could made and could be made, and perhaps even the action could take place, Wolf, as soon as tonight.

BLITZER: And Jim, as I mentioned a few minutes ago, you watched all this attack unfold in real time in Tel Aviv as the sky lit up with projectiles and intercept missiles. I want to play a brief moment of what you saw and heard. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: Oh, Jesus. Oh God. OK, guys, we got to get off the roof. These are coming down right next to us here.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Please do, Jim. Please do.

SCIUTTO: They're coming down one just about -- we got to go inside.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Jim, please take cover.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: So Jim, take us through that moment. We were all worried and scared --

SCIUTTO: Yes. BLITZER: -- what you were going through.

SCIUTTO: Listen, there was an aerial dance above our heads of intercept missiles rising and meeting their targets, which were some, some of the 180 ballistic missiles fired by Iran and Israel, including at Tel Aviv. And as those intercepts as remarkable as they are hitting their targets, as they were hitting their targets, things were falling to the ground, pieces of missiles, sometimes at quite high velocity, and we saw them slam into the ground just about a half mile north of our hotel, here on the other side of the hotel. And as we were watching at that moment, you just played, Wolf, my colleagues here, David (ph) and John (ph) and Florence (ph) and others, we were looking up at the sky and seeing the intercepts above our head and making a calculation as to where those pieces of missiles and interceptors might fall to the ground. It was a moment, we were safe. Thankfully, the people of Tel Aviv were safe.

[17:05:24]

The question now is, does this lead this country and the region into a wider war? Kasie, that's what we're watching right now.

HUNT: Jim, very glad you and your team are, in fact, safe, and of course, hoping as well that so many people in the region remain safe as well.

Now let's go to Kayla Tausche at the White House.

Kayla, we've learned that Biden and Harris monitor this attack from the Situation Room. What is the Biden administration anticipating here in the hours to come?

KAYLA TAUSCHE, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, the U.S. is still in close consultation with their Israeli counterparts, Kasie. And earlier today, President Biden was asked about both what he saw as the appropriate response by Israel and the appropriate consequences for Iran, and he suggested that both of those were currently live discussions with no decisions made. But when he was sitting there in the Roosevelt Room with his cabinet for a meeting that was preplanned to discuss the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, I asked him if he had a chance to speak to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and he said, I'll be talking to him, and my message will depend on what we finally conclude is needed. Now, the White House has been swift to describe this attack as defeated and ineffective, thanks in no small part, to the coordination between Israel and the U.S. and other partners in the region.

But the question is, what happens from here? Because the Biden administration has been working feverishly for the better part of a year behind the scenes to try to reach a diplomatic solution, all while assuring Israel that it would assist in its defense, but urging it not to escalate the situation into a wider war. The administration has appeared more frustrated and conflicted in recent weeks as some of this escalation has taken place and Israel has ramped up its operations on Hamas and Hezbollah targets. So, it is unclear exactly how the U.S. will come down on this, and whether their suggestions to the Israelis will eventually be heated, Wolf.

BLITZER: All right, Kayla, thank you very, very much.

I want to bring in right now some experts. Eyal Hulata is joining us. He's a former Israeli National Security Adviser, retired U.S. Army, Lieutenant General, Mark Hertling is with us, and Seth Jones, National Security Expert and Senior Vice President over at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

And Eyal, let me start with you. Israel now saying there will be a, quote, "significant response" to what Iran has done after it fired about 200 ballistic missiles at Israel. What do you think that response potentially could look like?

EYAL HULATA, FMR. ISRAELI NATL. SECURITY ADVISER, SERVED IN MOSSAD INTEL AGENCY: Well, Wolf, you know, this is the second time that Iran has fired such a massive attack on Israel. I happen to be on your show after the April 13 attack as well, which was unprecedented. This is the second time they do this. Israel has responded very minorly, I would say symbolically, after the attack of April 13, this was a part of the consultation between the U.S. and Israel to do something that was meaningful, that would prove to Iran that we can penetrate their defense systems, but would not drag the region into a full escalation of war.

Iran just did this, and I think important to have everyone understand, unprovokedly, Israel did not attack Iran. Israel has conducted its attacks in Lebanon very surgically, only on the leaders in the operatives and Iran decided to fire some 200 ballistic missiles in Israel. Israel has a very good defense systems and a good collaboration with the U.S., so the outcome is very minor. But Iran intended to do something very substantial and major, and to inflict not only a lot of damage on infrastructure, but potentially to kill many civilians. So of course, Israel has to respond.

What exactly that response will be, and I will leave to the cabinet to decide. I'm sure that all of these security establishments are putting all the options in front of the cabinet to make their decision. But Wolf, if I may, I think the question about the response needs also to come to the United States of America, not only to Israel. We heard Jake Sullivan, my dear friend and former colleague, say that there will be severe consequences to Iran. I think he may have meant not only severe consequences on behalf of Israel, but also on behalf of the United States.

Iran has violated all of the norms. Iran has violated all of its obligations. President, United States said don't so many times, and yet they do this time and again. So there must be a response, and Iran must be pulled back or pushed back to their place where they cannot do this again and think they can and get unpunished and unharmed.

BLITZER: General Hertling, let me get your response, because the Iranian president is now saying this Iranian ballistic missile strike against Israel was, in the Iranian president's words, "only a portion of our power," end quote. What else might Iran or its proxies, for that matter, do in addition to this ballistic missile attack? [17:10:00]

LT. GENERAL MARK HERTLING (RET.), FMR. ARMY COMMANDING GENERAL, EUROPE AND SEVENTH ARMY: Well, Wolf, first, what I'd say is the proxies of Iran have been hurt tremendously over the last several months, and especially Hezbollah over the last several weeks. The proxies are in Iran's forward presence. They are the ones that do the fighting. Iran attacked today because they thought they needed to, first of all, to support their proxies, but also to get domestic support for the Shah within Iraq, I'm sorry for the Khamenei within Iran.

What I'd suggest is 180 missiles today, ballistic missiles that are very difficult to push down Israel probably fired a whole lot more than 180 arrow or David's Slings weapons to knock them out of the sky. So this was certainly an overwhelming force by Iran, much more than we've seen before. Iran has close to estimates of 3,000 of these ballistic missiles. This was an element of that, and they could certainly do more. I think incumbent upon Israel to respond to all of this.

They will do so in a time and matter of their choosing, but Iran has an over mad capability in ballistic missiles. They don't have much else in their military, and their proxies have been hurt over the last couple of months, so we're going to see a very dangerous situation right now as Israel responds, I believe, in not a proportional manner, it is going to be a much greater than proportional manner. They are going to have the assistance of the United States in defending is the territory of Israel with some of the Navy ships that are in the region that have great air defense capability. But there was a significant effort today by Iran to breach the Israeli defense systems, and it was borderline whether or not they did that today. They could certainly do worse, and I'm hoping that we can continue to tamp this down so there isn't a full scale regional war in the area.

BLITZER: Seth Jones is with us as well. Seth, the Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken, saying the Iranian attack was, quote, "effectively defeated," his words, effectively defeated by Israel. So was this a failure by Iran?

SETH JONES, SR. VICE PRESIDENT, CENTER FOR STRATEGIC & INTL. STUDIES: Well, I think it was a failure by Iran to hit any targets. I suspect part of what the Iranians were also doing is signaling that they have the capability, in this case, ballistic missiles, to conduct strikes. As we've seen over the last few weeks, Hezbollah's command and control capabilities have been severely degraded. Hezbollah also has ballistic missiles, both guided and unguided.

The fact that we haven't seen Hezbollah fire back, I think does say something about what Hezbollah is capable of doing or actually incapable of doing at this point. So Iran is the response. It has failed to hit any meaningful targets in Israel. But I think we're likely to see more of this over the next several days and weeks, Wolf. And really, there's going to be a lot of work that the U.S. Navy is going to have to do with its Arleigh Burke-class destroyers and a range of air defense that the U.S. is going to provide in the region.

BLITZER: Yes, the U.S. already beefing up its military presence troops and equipment in the region.

All right, guys, thank you very, very much.

There's much more we're following on the breaking news. Up next, I'll speak with former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett. How does he think Israel will respond to Iran's ballistic missile attack?

Plus, it's also debate night here in America, and we're just now a few hours from what will be a truly historic vice presidential debate. Governor Tim Walz and Senator J.D. Vance about to square off for the first time. And we have New details tonight about how they're preparing in these final hours.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:17:47]

BLITZER: Breaking news, Israel right now is on very high alert at this hour, Iran's major attack on Israel, its biggest ever. Iran firing nearly 200 ballistic missiles that, according to U.S. officials the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu just moments ago, saying Iran made a big mistake, and Iran, quote, "will pay." The situation across Israel and the region right now extremely tense as Iran's supreme leader, the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, is warning that the blows against Israel will become and I'm quoting him now, "stronger and more painful."

Joining us now the former Israeli Prime Minister, Naftali Bennett.

Prime Minister, thanks so much for joining us. I know you served in an elite unit of the Israel Defense Forces as well. Let's discuss what's going on. The White House tonight, saying Iran's attack on Israel was defeated and ineffective. How do you think Israel will and should respond?

NAFTALI BENNETT, FORMER ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: Well, the past year has been a horrible year for Israel in the Middle East. Iran, through its proxies, through the arms of its octopus of terror, they murdered families, burnt our boys, raped our girls, ransacked towns, shot rockets to our ships, and the Israeli people for the whole year have been fighting, and we're determined now to fight back. This is a once in a 50-year opportunity. What Israel needs to do immediately, we need to take out Iran's nuclear program, we need to attack Iran's energy facilities, and we need to attack the regime itself right away, because Iran made a fatal mistake of shooting 200 ballistic missiles at the state of Israel. Enough is enough.

BLITZER: Well, do you think, Prime Minister, that an attack on Iran's nuclear facilities right now is on the table?

BENNETT: That's exactly what we need to do. I'm not privy to the current cabinet discussion, but what happened is, for the past 20 years, Iran has built a circle of fire, a ring of fire around us and across the entire Middle East, and it's zooming forward towards a nuclear weapon. So now is the moment. You know, sometimes history knocks on your door, and you got to seize the moment. If we don't do it now, I don't see it ever happening.

[17:20:21]

And now is the moment. I also want to explain why. Because Iran's strategy, it had two arms that were sort of defending it or they were its insurance policy against an Israeli strike, and that's Hezbollah and Hamas. But those two arms are temporarily paralyzed, so it's like a boxer out in the ring without arms for the next few minutes. Now is the time that we can attack because Iran is fully vulnerable, the Islamic Republic of Iran.

It's time to hit, destroy the nuclear program and finally, allow the Iranian people to rise up, the amazing Iranian people who have the worst regime, one of the worst regimes on Earth, this is the time, this would be the gift of the Israeli people, the Jewish people to the Iranian people.

BLITZER: I just want to be precise, Prime Minister, you want Israeli airstrikes to blow up Iran's nuclear facilities and its energy facilities, all the oil wells and the oil related industry that is the main part of the Iranian economy.

BENNETT: That's correct. A few hours ago, let's understand the largest ballistic attack in the history of the world, 200 ballistic missiles in one attack were shot from one country to our country, from the Islamic Republic of Iran to Israel. The fact that we have brilliant engineers, amazing technology and very clever people should not protect Iran from our wrath, and what they've been doing to us during the past year is unbearable, and we contained it and contained it. You know, I coined the term that the Israeli people have shown to be a nation of lions. Well, the lion is now waking up in its den, and we're roaring and it's about to hit back.

Enough is enough. You can't mess with us and get away with it anymore.

BLITZER: The United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres today posted this comment. Let me read it for you. This is what he said. "I condemn the broadening of the Middle East conflict with escalation after escalation. This must stop. We absolutely need a cease fire."

Prime Minister, what's your response to him?

BENNETT: Shame on him. This guy is a clown. He's a clown because he cannot even bring himself to utter the words, I condemn the Islamic Republic of Iran for shooting 200 ballistic missiles on the Jewish state. He's condemning the broadening. What is the broadening?

Have you ever met the broadening? I've never seen a broadening walk on the street. He's a coward. It's time for him to quit. The U.N. is a farce. If the United Nations cannot stand up and do what's necessary when one country is attacked by another. We did nothing to Iran, and for the past year, they've been making our lives miserable, not only ours, the entire Middle East.

And instead of standing up for what's right, this coward cannot even bring himself to condemn Iran. Well, it's time for him to quit. BLITZER: The former Israeli Prime Minister, Naftali Bennet, thanks so much for joining us.

BENNETT: Thank you, Wolf.

BLITZER: Our breaking news coverage will continue in just a moment. Up next, Tim Walz and J.D. Vance, how just -- we're just hours away now from their historic debate tonight. We'll speak to the Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro about what he's hoping to hear from Walz later tonight, as the two campaigns are battling out in the key battleground state of Pennsylvania. Plus, how will the growing conflict in the Middle East affect the upcoming U.S. election? We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:28:17]

HUNT: All right. Welcome back to a special edition of the Situation Room. I'm Kasie Hunt.

In the spin room of the CBS vice presidential debate, it's going to be kicking off in just a few hours, Tim Walz and JD Vance will face off for their first and only debate, a debate that you can watch right here. Both candidates have now visited the debate site to get their first look at the debate stage. MJ Lee is there, and she joins us now.

MJ, I know you've been talking to the Walz team. How are they preparing to answer questions? Obviously, we're going to be talking tonight about what we're seeing unfold between Israel and Iran.

MJ LEE, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Kasie, there's no question that given the events of the past 24 hours, Governor Walz is going to be prepared to address the situation in the Middle East in whatever form it might come up. But it's interesting, you know, the Walz team, for the most part, even just in the final hours leading up to tonight's debate, has continued to try to lower expectations. As one campaign official put it to me, Governor Walz wasn't picked because he was a great debater, they said. J.D. Vance will probably have a good night.

Look, that is, of course, part spin that you expect ahead of any debate. But the Walz's team and the Harris campaign overall, generally does believe that J.D. Vance is a skilled debater, that he's had a lot of practice, particularly going on offense, doing a lot of interviews as senator, and that he is going to come tonight prepared to be polished, prepared with his answers and prepared particularly to throw a lot of punches at Governor Walz.

Sources do say, though, that they see a scenario where Governor Walz walks away from tonight having told a good story. For one, they believe that authenticity does remain his political strength. And as a part of the debate prep, I'm told he did practice weaving in parts of his biography into his debate question answers, and then the second of course is whether he can successfully draw a contrast between what he and Vice President Harris are presenting as a vision versus what Trump and Vance are. Campaign officials have said that if he can successfully draw that contrast, they will think that he will have had a pretty good night, Kasie.

[17:30:23]

HUNT: For sure. All right. MJ Lee at for us at the debate site, MJ, thank you very much.

I want to go now to our, Kristen Holmes who has been talking to the Trump campaign. I mean Kristen, what have you been hearing about how Vance and the Trump team are planning on, using, referring to what's happening in the Middle East to try to criticize the -- the Walz- Harris -- the Harris-Walz ticket tonight.

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: And Kasie we expect to hear from Vance, what we've been hearing from former President Donald Trump on the campaign trail, he says that none of this would have ever happened if he was still in office. Obviously, we have no evidence of that. And they also were trying to paint the administration of which Kamala Harris is a big part of as chaotic. This is something that they have been trying to do without really offering any sort of solutions but using world events including what is happening right now overseas as part of that.

Now one thing I want to touch on here is something we heard little bit of MJ saying on the other side. But Vance's team also has been really trying to level set here. We have heard here over and over again this managing of expectations in which they say that Tim Walz has the advantage. That he has debated more, that he has more of a public persona and we know that actually J.D. Vance has been preparing with House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, someone who's also from Minnesota, someone who has known Walz for 10 years.

But on top of that, actually studied all of Walz's past debate performances as well as public appearances, trying to get down his mannerisms, the way he pivots particularly I'm told by these advisors trying to make sure that they present a person or a person for J.D. Vance to practice against who would not dissuade or move Vance away with his kind of, quote unquote, folksy charm. That is something they believe that could be disarming for J.D. Vance.

But all in all with all these level of setting, with all these expectation management, I am told that they feel like they're in a really good place. But one thing to just keep in mind here, Vance is going into this with an increased level of unpopularity across the country. He could really use a win here. One person who's going to be watching closely to see how Vance performs is president or former President Donald Trump.

HUNT: Yes. For sure. Often an audience for one for these kinds of things. And of course a classic expectation setting game going here as we approach debate time. Kristen Holmes thanks very much for that. Wolf?

BLITZER: All right. Kasie, thank you.

Joining us now, the Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro. Governor, thanks so much for joining us. What do you think your friend, your colleague, Governor Walz, needs to accomplish on the debate stage tonight? What does a successful night look like?

GOV. JOSH SHAPIRO (D-PA): Look, I -- I think Tim just needs to be himself, just to go out there and talk about his love for this country. Talk about his record of accomplishment. And most importantly talk about Kamala Harris's vision for this nation. I trust he'll do a great job. And on the other side, I mean you got J.D. Vance, a guy who frankly, Wolf, isn't being honest with himself every day. And so it's real hard to be honest with the American people, real hard to be authentic and genuine when you're struggling internally as J.D. Vance clearly is. So I -- I expect Tim Walz to do quite well tonight. He's going to be an outstanding vice president.

BLITZER: People who have spoken to Governor Walz have told CNN, he's nervous about facing Senator Vance. How high is the pressure on Governor Walz to perform well tonight?

SHAPIRO: I think all these moments are high pressure. I mean you're running to be vice president of the United States. These are -- these are big deals. But I expect that Tim Walz will meet the moment as he does throughout, as he has throughout his career.

BLITZER: Let me while I have you Governor quickly discuss Iran's missile barrage on Israel today after two weeks of major Israeli attacks on Hezbollah targets as you know in Lebanon. Listen to how Trump went after the Biden-Harris Administration on this just a little while ago. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: The world right now is spiraling out of control. I've been talking about World War III for a long time. And I don't want to make predictions because the predictions always come true. We're not going 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. She was in a fundraiser in San Francisco.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: So Senator Vance is likely to repeat that Trump attack later tonight. How should Governor Walz respond?

SHAPIRO: Well first off, Wolf, let's speak truth. Iran is a terror nation, terrorist nation and the largest exporter of terrorism in the world. And they've been using Hezbollah, one of their proxies to attack Israel for the better part of the last year. The unprecedented attack on Israel today than nearly or about 200 missiles or so according to the Department of Defense is absolutely unacceptable and I -- I trust it will be met with a swift and appropriate response.

[17:35:17]

These are serious times, Wolf. Serious times that call for serious plans, serious people and serious strategies. Donald Trump is none of those things. He's not a serious person. He has no serious plan and just going on and on about how, you know, this wouldn't happen if he was there. That's not a plan. And it's just far more bluster from the former President.

Remember when Donald Trump was president, we had more chaos at home and abroad. And he has no plans to bring stability either to the Middle East or throughout the nation when we're facing serious challenges here. So, I think what I would do if I was Tim Walz is simply what he's always done, speak truth, layout the plans that Vice President Harris has to bring more stability to the Middle East to try to end this war, end this threat against Israel and to just do his best to go out there and push back against the bloviating and the bluster that comes from the Trump-Vance ticket instead just talk about the serious policies, the serious proposal they have to address this very serious situation.

BLITZER: The IDF says Iran's attack will have, quote, consequences. How likely do you think a full scale regional war is in your view and what would be the level of U.S. involvement?

SHAPIRO: Well, look, Wolf, as Governor of Pennsylvania I don't know that I'm at the best position to comment on that. I trust that President Biden, Vice President Harris, 13 of the Department of Defense, Secretary of State Lincoln, they're doing everything they can to make sure that Israel's able to defend itself from this really unprecedented, unprovoked attack from Iran. And also do whatever they can diplomatically to try and stay off a broader war.

I know they're working diligently on that. And hopefully there will be a cessation of these missiles coming from Iran. Israel absolutely has right to defend itself against that aggression. And -- and I trust that will happen in an appropriate manner.

BLITZER: Yes. We've been hearing that same -- that same line from senior White House officials, State Department officials, Pentagon officials all day today. Governor Shapiro, thanks very much for joining us.

SHAPIRO: Thank you Wolf. Good to be with you.

BLITZER: Thank you. And stay with our breaking news coverage. We're just hours away from the vice presidential debate tonight. And we're learning about a new line of attack that Senator J.D. Vance could use against Governor Tim Walz.

And we'll also take you back to the Middle East where Israel is now vow -- vowing a significant response against Iran's missile attack.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:41:46]

BLITZER: There is more breaking news we're following. We're only a few hours away from the start of the first and only vice presidential debate. Right now, it's the last scheduled debate of this presidential election. Senator J.D. Vance and Governor Tim Walz will face off right here in New York City. This debate coming in the wake of Iran's major ballistic attack earlier today on Israel. Vice President Kamala Harris addressing that issue only a few moments ago. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: My commitment to the security of Israel is unwavering. And let us be clear, Iran is not only a threat to Israel. Iran is also a threat to American personnel in the region, American interests and innocent civilians across the region who suffer at the hands of Iran-based and backed terrorist proxies. We will never hesitate to take whatever action is necessary to defend U.S. forces and interest against Iran and Iran-backed terrorist. And we will continue to work with our allies and partners to disrupt Iran's aggressive behavior and hold them accountable.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: All right. Let's discuss with my excellent panel. And Jamal Simmons, I'll start with you. Iran's ballistic attack on Israel, huge news, potentially creating an even more dangerous situation in the Middle East. Both of the vice presidential candidates, they have military backgrounds but no real foreign policy experience. So who do you think have the upper hand tonight?

JAMAL SIMMONS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well the person who has the upper hand is Vice President Kamala Harris, right?

BLITZER: She's not in the debate tonight.

SIMMONS: She's not in the debate but she's on the ballot, right? She's the one who's going to be in the room. And I think that the -- both of these candidates, these vice presidential candidates, will be going after the top of their tickets. And so when you have that conversation, the question for the American people will become, do you want to have Donald Trump who's in charge here, who's somebody who's kind of an erratic president, who -- who doesn't tend to take care of Americans allies? Or do you want somebody who can kind of bring a coalition together, stand resolutely, say what she means and stick by it? I think that is the fundamental question for both of these candidates and I think Tim Walz has -- has an easier case to make.

BLITZER: Let me get Shermichael Singleton onto this. How do you see it?

SHERMICHAEL SINGLETON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I mean Wolf, I -- I think J.D. Vance is going to remind the American people during the former President's first term, we did not have the foreign policy conflicts that we currently have today. We have seen J.D. Vance answer very tough questions on this particular issue. On the issues as it retains on Russia and its invasion of Ukraine as it also pertains to Chinese aggression in the South Chinese Sea including with anchors on our very network.

We have not seen our Governor Walz have to answer those tough question. And I'm a bit skeptical if the Governor even has the experience to answer those questions thoroughly enough to convince the American people that if Vice President Harris were to become president, and God forbid, something occurred or happened to her and Walz had to step in, can this guy actually do the job? I don't think he can and I think J.D. Vance is going to execute that argument.

BLITZER: We shall see in the next few hours. Kate Bedingfield, you're with us as well. Trump is clearly already trying to make a big deal, a big political issue out of all of this today. Listen to what he said just a little while ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: The whole world is laughing at us. That's why Israel was under attack just a little while ago because they don't respect our country anymore. The -- the so called enemy doesn't respect our country any longer.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[17:45:08]

BLITZER: What do you think? How is this going to impact voters?

KATE BEDINGFIELD, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I think it's interesting that he's using the phrase the world is laughing at us since when he was president he went to the United Nations and the world quite literally laughed at him when he was president. So, you know, I think the debate tonight will be an opportunity for Governor Walz to really draw these contrast between the kind of chaos, the erratic nature of a Trump-Vance administration.

And I think against the backdrop of the kind of -- of actions we're seeing in the Middle East tonight is a reminder to people that they want steady leadership. They want somebody who is not going to be throwing out inflammatory rhetoric in a moment when, you know, these things can turn on a -- on -- on a dime. So, you know, I actually think the backdrop of -- of what's going will give Governor Walz an opportunity to really showcase the contrast.

I mean remember when Donald Trump was President, you know, he was kowtowing to Kim Jong-un. He was standing next to Vladimir Putin and saying he trusted Putin over our own intelligence agencies. There's really an opportunity here tonight for Governor Walz to remind our country what a Donald Trump presidency was like when it comes to national security.

BLITZER: Brad Todd is with us as well. He's a GOP media consultant and a strategist, what do you think?

BRAD TODD, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Well, I think debates are won by the discipline participant. And Tim Walz has got a real problem and J.D. Vance with some discipline needs to remind viewers that in 2015 Tim Walz voted to approve the Iran deal. That had freed up $10 billion to go to Iran which we've seen what they've done with it. They've -- they destabilized the entire Middle East, funded the enemies of Israel.

J.D. Vance needs to every five minutes try to get back to Tim Walz voted to give Iran $10 billion. That -- that's the -- that's the trick tonight. It's not to insight your own base on Twitter, it's to drive home a point that matters that swings voters and that's the task. SIMMONS: You know, Wolf, I will say the one thing about a night like tonight, a day like today is it kind of wipes away from the table some of the silly arguments we've been having in this campaign. These made up arguments about immigrants are doing in Ohio or all the silly things they're saying about Tim Walz's masculinity. It really puts all that stuff into context because now we're talking the American people. We're talking about the Israeli people.

We're talking about kind of America's role in the world. And when you have that conversation, now you're talking about real things that people care about and strength is always on the ballot. People want to know that the people in charge have the values to lead this country.

BLITZER: You know it's interesting both of these debaters tonight, the two vice presidential candidates, as I said, they have military backgrounds but not a whole lot of foreign policy experience. Is that going to be a detriment assuming that this Middle East issue, the ballistic missile attack on Israel is going to be a big issue?

BEDINGFIELD: Well, I -- look, Governor Walz has been in Congress and in the Governor's Mansion for almost twenty years now so he has experience on the -- on the foreign policy stage. You know, he's served on some relevant committees in Congress particularly as it pertains to China.

So, you know he certainly has a background here. I think, again though I think the task for him tonight is really going to be about drawing this contrast on a erraticism, irresponsibility, who can keep you safe and I think that there is a lot to -- to work with in terms of Trump and Vance's history on these issues, you know.

I think on China for example I think he has -- Governor Walz has an opportunity to remind people about what Trump and Vance have said they would do in terms of tariffs, in terms of raising prices on American consumers. There's a lot of -- of fertile ground for Governor Walz here tonight.

BLTIZER: Let's see how they both do in a few hours. Guys, thank you very, very much.

[17:48:28]

Up next, both the Trump and Harris campaigns looking to tee up a winning night for their running mates. We're going to tell you who has the upper hand. Stay with us. You're in the Situation Room.

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HUNT: All right. Welcome back to a special edition of The Situation Room. I'm Kasie Hunt in the spin room of the CBS vice presidential debate. In just a few hours Tim Walz and J.D. Vance will go be going head-to-head for their only debate. A showdown that could not be more important of course with Election Day, can you believe it, just five weeks away.

Polls of course -- of course showing this could be the closest race in modern history. David Chalian and Audie Cornish, both wish us now. David, high stakes for both of the men on -- on this stage. How is the -- the Harris campaign and the Trump campaign, how are they feeling about the horses that they've got in this race tonight?

DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: I mean, I think each side feels pretty that they're doing their typical routine of expectation setting and raising the expectations on the opponent in lowering the, yes, the expectations.

HUNT: There's a lot of like textbook campaign, expectation setting going on.

CHALIAN: Yes. Exactly. But I -- I think, you know, the first true rule of do no harm to yourself but really to the folks at the top of the ticket and that -- and that's their mission tonight. And that's why I think, you know, in talking to some folks in the Harris side, you're going to see Tim Walz try to bring, no matter what the topic is, bring it back to a Harris-Trump contrast. And -- and what you get in a second Trump administration versus what you get in a Harris administration.

I'm not sure J.D. Vance is going to do that as much, it seems that if you take and listen to what he's been saying on the campaign trail about Walz, I would imagine we're going to get a more aggressive posture from Vance trying to take it to Walz on his biography and -- and issues that have come up about him on the campaign trail.

AUDIE CORNISH, ANCHOR & HOST, THE ASSIGNMENT WITH AUDIE CORNISH PODCAST: These are also two figures who if you think about it have been incredibly effective, for better or worse, messengers for their campaign. Vance has been out there doing dozens of interviews, left and right, representing the Trump ticket. And Walz is the person who's the roots of the weird talking point that Democrats started to use and mask.

And so it will be interesting when they come together face to face, how much time they will spend, as you said, talking about the people they're supposed to talk about versus going at each other.

HUNT: Well, its clear obviously, David, that J.D. Vance is going to have in some ways an audience of one in Donald Trump, right? I mean that's kind of how it -- how it goes when you're -- when you're in Trump's orbit this way.

CHALIAN: And he's apparently live truthing the debate so that -- that audience of one will reacting in real time.

[17:54:56]

HUNT: Which of course J.D. Vance will not know what is said until he steps off that stage. But I think my question for you David is I mean, J.D. Vance is relatively unknown right? But his unfavorables are actually pretty high. And if people seem to know, people who are not like us who do not pay attention to this granularly the way we do, know something about him it's this childless cat lady's remark. Do you think this debate is a legitimate opportunity for him to teach Americans about something else or not?

CHALIAN: Yes. So, I do think it is -- it's an open question and we should watch for it tonight. Is he more interested in rehabilitating his own image and bringing up his positives in some way tonight or is he more interested in bringing up Tim Walz's negatives? I think what J.D. Vance's been trying in the campaign trail, he kind of wants Tim Walz's negatives to join him in this unpopular territory more than he's going to have an opportunity for him tonight to really rehabilitate himself. I don't think that's the mission.

HUNT: Well, and Audie if you listen to the attacks that they're making, that his -- that Trump's campaigns spokesman was out there calling him effeminate, calling Tim Walz effeminate. I mean they're telegraphing what David is talking about.

CORNISH: Right I mean there's been this ongoing conversation also about both tickets representing kind of masculinity in some way or if you can use another term, strength. So what does that mean? How do you project strength as a man, as a male ally, right, in progressive terms versus the vision that J.D. Vance is I -- I think sort of reiterated in public.

The one other thing I wanted to add because you sort of eluded to it, is that people have talked about this being a race between people that someone like they don't like versus someone they don't know. And I think that because people know Trump, right? You already have your opinions about him. Walz is also a question mark for a lot of people.

HUNT: Yes. Very interesting point. David, Audie thank you very much. They'll be back with us next hour.

All right. Coming up next here, we're going to have brand new video of that moment an Israeli air base was hit by Iranian missiles. We're going to take you back to the ground.

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