War Spirals In Middle East After US And Israel Strike Iran

24:07And if we had waited to respond before acting first, then those losses would have been far greater than if we had done what we did. That was their decision. I can guarantee you this, if we had not acted, if the president, the commander-in-chief, had not acted as he did, those same officials would have been hauled in here by members of Congress and asked them why in the world they waited if they had exquisite intelligence, knowing that that would happen, that we would suffer such staggering losses, why did they not act to prevent it? So I am convinced that they did the right thing. There's another critical point.

24:41What were the objectives? The objectives for our operation, Operation Epic Fury, I am convinced because I've now been to multiple briefings and I've understood the point of this. The objective was not regime change. The objective was to take out those missiles, the short and mid-range missiles, and their ability to produce them. We did that. That was objective number one. Objective number two was to eliminate their naval capabilities, destroy those and the missiles. and we are well on our way to accomplishing that mission. That is why I think the President has said, in his own words, the Commander-in-Chief has said this is going to be an operation that's short in duration.

25:23We certainly hope that's true. We pray for our troops and all those in harm's way, our allies as well. I am encouraged that our NATO allies are standing with us. The Arab states are largely standing with us publicly, certainly privately. Iran was a great threat to everybody in the region and everybody in the world because it was an evil regime. The Ayatollah is no more. That was not the mission of the U.S. to go in and take out the regime, but that happened, and in my estimation, that is a great development for freedom-loving people around the world. Do you guys want to make any comments or take questions?

26:01Go ahead, right here. Yes. Do you guys discuss the need for supplemental to get some munitions and other things that our military might need? It was brought up in discussion. There are more details to be determined, of course. It depends upon how long the operation goes and what the need is. But our appropriators certainly asked that question, but I think there'll be some time before we can put a final number up. Okay, that was House Speaker Mike Johnson reacting after his classified briefing from the Trump administration on its war with Iran. Let's turn to our national lead. The FBI says it is looking into a, quote, potential nexus to terrorism, unquote, in Sunday's mass shooting in Austin, Texas.

26:42Two innocent people were killed, 14 others wounded in the shooting by a man wearing a, quote, property of Allah hoodie and underneath a shirt bearing the image of the Iranian flag. CNN's Ed Lavender is in Austin where we're learning more about the gunman and a witness who captured the aftermath.

27:02Jake Tapper:sirens and blasts of gunfire cut through the early Sunday morning hours on 6th street near the University of Texas in Austin. It was just before closing time in this popular entertainment district. Thousands of people were headed home for the night. Oh my God. What is going on? Nathan Como was standing across the street. He and his friends had just left one of the bars when the shots exploded. I was sitting down eating on a picnic table when all of a sudden we heard 15, 20 loud bangs. And it wasn't clearly a shooting at first. No one around me realized what was happening. The cops showed up a few minutes later at around 2.02.

27:45Jake Tapper:And at that point, people started running towards us saying there was a shooting. and the police got out of their vehicles and started running down the street. Como said he took cover once gunfire erupted again, realizing the suspect was still shooting. On the far left of the screen, you see the shooter. He is walking towards me. He's walking towards Bifords where hundreds of college students are holed up. He pulls his gun out, points it at the police, and then right here, there he lifts it, fires. The cops are between these two cars. They fire back at him, and then within about one second, two seconds, he goes down.

28:19Jake Tapper:The gunman was shot and killed by police. According to law enforcement, the suspect is 53-year-old Njaga Diagne. Investigators say he rolled down the window of his car while driving down the street and unleashed a volley of gunshots on bar patrons, then got out of his SUV and shot people walking by. His clothing, one factor, prompting law enforcement officials to say they are investigating the incident as a potential act of terrorism. We're looking at the totality of this, and we see those indicators. We see the second shirt with the Iran and the picture of the shawl on that T-shirt as well. We're thinking about events and what's occurring.

28:58We're calling in those federal partners to take a look at that as well.

29:01Jake Tapper:The suspected gunman, originally from Senegal, entered the U.S. on a tourist visa, according to the Department of Homeland Security. He married a U.S. citizen and became a lawful permanent resident in 2006 and was naturalized as a U.S. citizen in 2013. Law enforcement officials say the guns used by the suspect were purchased legally and they are pouring through thousands of hours of video and other evidence to determine his motive in the targeted shooting. Sixteen people were shot by the gunman. Two have died. I cannot imagine the grief, pain and loss these families are feeling today. and my heart is with them.

29:41Savitha Sean and Ryder Harrington.

29:45Jake Tapper:At least a dozen are still hospitalized. I believe one patient will be taking off life support sometime today, and then two other patients are still critical. Flowers sit under the heart-shaped entrance to one of the bars, bar walls riddled with bullet holes, crime scene tape and a single black high-heeled shoe left behind during the rampage, the snapshots of the shooting's aftermath on 6th Street.

30:14Jake Tapper:And Jake, both the FBI and the Austin Police Department say that this gunman, this suspect, was not on their radar before early Sunday morning's shooting. And they say they're continuing to pour over thousands of hours of video, as well as digital evidence that has been collected in the last 24 hours to try to figure out the motive here. Jake? All right, Ed Lemondera, thank you so much. Let's bring in Frank Figlusi. He served as an assistant director for the FBI's counterintelligence division. So, Frank, law enforcement officials are looking to see if the gunman's motives was tied to the strikes in Iran.

30:45They caution it's too early to draw any conclusions, although obviously we see some of the reasons why they would suspect it would be tied to the Iran attack. How worried do you think the American people should be about attacks here in the U.S. tied to the U.S. attacking Iran? Right.

31:02Jake Tapper:Notwithstanding however this comes down. and we need to wait for the investigation. Clearly, I do believe that Iran will attempt something. Now, that could simply be in the form of lone wolf attacks. It could more likely, Jake, be a cyber attack. But I think we all need to be more vigilant. That's why you saw the FBI immediately respond to the Sixth Street shooting. And people who say, look, why does it matter now to determine whether this was or was not international terrorism? It matters because for the question you brought up, we need to know whether there's a radicalization process occurring, whether there are acts being planned because of the Iran attack.

31:39Jake Tapper:That's why it matters. I would think that the FBI is probably more worried about the self-motivated lone wolves who just are self-radicalized by what they see online, but they haven't necessarily been given instructions by the Iranians or Hamas or Hezbollah or whatever than they are about sleeper cells. But you tell me, I mean, is one more of a threat than the other? So there's no question that it's far more difficult to identify and to neutralize a lone wolf who's not part of a larger group. They don't appear on the radar screen. But in terms of their ability to conduct an iconic, highly damaging attack, you're looking then at a more organized effort.

32:19Jake Tapper:Yes, it's all hands on deck right now to try and determine whether there's a threat. And look, as the FBI pours over the forensic exam of this guy's devices, they do hundreds of interviews of friends, family, neighbors. They will figure out whether there's a radicalization process that points toward other potential attacks. And this is precisely why there were so many former FBI officials that were so appalled when they saw the FBI director chugging beers with the U.S. hockey team after their victory in Milan because people suspected an attack was coming and that everybody in the FBI needed to be on high alert.

32:57What exactly is the FBI doing to prevent retaliation attacks from happening here?

33:03Jake Tapper:So, look, I share concerns here. And what I'm concerned about is that initially the JTTF agents were being diverted. Those counterterror agents were being diverted to rounding up migrants with ICE. Now I hear that all agents must must work a percentage of their time against violent crime and not their specialty areas. And we're the FBI is bleeding seasoned veterans who are being walked out the door because of their ties to Mar-a-Lago surge or their ties to the insurrection case. So the question remains, what is the FBI doing now? And that is, look, I think they've stopped diversion of resources.

33:39Jake Tapper:It appears that they are going live on technical coverage, court-authorized coverage of known or suspected terrorists. And that's going to continue, even surveillances and what we call knock-and-talks, where they knock on the door and say, we know who you are. Don't think about it. All right, Frank, thank you so much. Appreciate your insights. It's the breaking news this hour. The State Department urging Americans in 14 different countries in the Middle East region to leave those countries immediately because of the escalating war with Iran. We're going to have much more ahead.

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34:46Jake Tapper:This episode is brought to you by Venmo. With the Venmo debit card, a taco in one hand, and ordering a ride in the other means you're stacking your rewards. Nice. Get up to 5 % cash back with Venmo Stash on your favorite brands when you pay with your Venmo debit card. Pick a bundle with your go-tos and start earning cash back. Do more stash. Get more cash. Visit Venmo.com to learn more. Venmo Stash Bundle terms and exclusions apply. See terms at Venmo.me slash stash terms. Max$100 cash back per month. This hour's breaking news. The State Department is now urging Americans in 14 different countries throughout the Middle East to leave now due to safety risks.

35:26They're telling them to fly commercially. The country's listed Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, including the West Bank and Gaza. Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, the UAE, and Yemen. The State Department says Americans can use available commercial travel to leave. I'm not sure how many of those countries have available commercial travel right now. Here to discuss with us CNN National Security Analyst Beth Sanner and CNN Political and National Security Analyst David Sanger. So it's Sanner and Sanger. We're the duo. Let's see if I can get through it without botching.

35:58Let me just, first of all, just take a step back, because we are now starting to hear, we just heard it from Speaker Johnson, and I think Marco Rubio said something similar, that the actual preemptive strike was because Israel was about to attack Iran to destroy its missiles. And because, and we had learned, the U.S. had learned that if Israel did that, that Iran was then going to attack U.S. bases in the region. Is that right? Do I have that right? Is that what they're saying? That's what they said this time. Does that count as? That's not the definition of preemptive. If you are taking an action that creates someone doing something, then you're preempting a theoretical.

36:47Right. And it also, I feel like it's very interesting that this is all based on the idea that, number one, we can't control Israel, and number two, our entire war with Iran is because of what Israel is doing. In other words, Israel is the tail wagging the dog. It's just an odd thing to say. So I don't get that. It's not also what we had been told by lots of other people, including President Trump, starting Saturday, but then also today, and on and on. Do you make sense of this for us? So, Jake, it is confusing. I've been confused several times along the way. The more I listen to them, the more confused I get.

37:28But let's start from two principles. First, this was a war of choice, not a war of necessity. A war of choices is one that you do when you are not about to be attacked preemptively. They're trying to generate that thought. But you could have made that argument perhaps in June when the president took out those three nuclear sites, because at that point the Iranians were far closer to a nuclear weapon. How closer? How much closer? Well, they had access to all of the fuel that they had enriched in near bomb-grade quantities. And so it would have taken them a few weeks at the most to turn it into bomb-grade, and maybe a few months to a year to turn that into a usable weapon.

38:11Okay, but now all that fuel is buried. Okay, see the nuclear thing was kind of off the table, which is why the president had to then say, well, they're working on intercontinental missiles that could reach the United States. Except his own defense intelligence agency said they wouldn't have that until 10 years from now. And so that's number one. And number two is, let's just listen to what the president said the morning that this all began. He urged the Iranian people to wait for the bombing to be over and then rise up and overthrow their government. That sounds like regime change. But all of a sudden they don't want to talk about regime change.

38:51Yeah, it is confusing for sure. The war is expanding across the Middle East because Iran, okay, so Israel and the United States attacked Iran. Iran has attacked Israel, but also the UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Hezbollah, which is a proxy of Iran, is attacking the British Royal Air Force in Cyprus. So President Trump told me this operation, he wants it to last about four weeks. Pete Hegseth said, you know, we're going to end it when we want to end it. It seems to me that Hegseth and others are forgetting that the enemy gets a vote, as they say in the military. Yeah, I mean, this is, I think that one of the main things I worry about is, you know, what is our aim?

39:37And again, today, we're more confused about our aim. So when you have the clear goal, then you know when you've achieved that goal. If you do not have a clear goal or it keeps moving, then you do not know when you're done. And, you know, just a few days ago, we were talking about, well, if it's regime change, are we going to be protecting the protesters when they come out on the streets? because you've called for them to come out on the streets. Well, he told me today that they should stay inside because the big one's coming. But afterwards, he said they should come out onto the streets. But like, again, so what's our role here?

40:10So we don't know. And I think that that lack of clarity is a huge problem. When do you declare success? So Trump said that the regime already had missiles capable of hitting Europe and our bases, both local and overseas, and would soon have had missiles capable of reaching our beautiful America. So quickly, if you can, because we're running out of time. How soon is it actually estimated that Iran could have built ballistic missiles that could have reached as far as the United States? A decade. Ten years. Yeah. So you'd have plenty of time to go see that coming. And that's according to the president's own defense intelligence agency.

40:51That would be the time it would take to get about 50 or 60 missiles. But the critical question now is the one that Beth raised, which is if you don't know what your military objectives are and you're not certain what your political objectives are and overthrow the government or instead working with a government that you set up or keep, like in Venezuela, then you don't know when this is supposed to be over, when you've achieved your objectives. Maybe the president thinks he can just at some moment declare victory and leave, but we don't know that yet. Oh, boy. All right. As airstrikes hit Iran, voices from inside the country reveal a conflicted mix of hope and fear.

41:28Some are quietly celebrating the regime's weakening, or the death of the Supreme Leader. Others are worried about civilian casualties and daily life ahead. CNN's Jemana Karajah has the latest on voices inside Iran.

41:44If I die, I'm okay with it. If that leads to the destruction of this regime. As U.S. and Israeli bombs started raining down on Iran, a woman who says she's in the southeastern city of Kerman shared this rare audio recording from inside the country. The U.S. strikes have begun, and I felt like I should record a video to say thank you, Mr. Trump. First of all, thank you, Benjamin Netanyahu and the people of Israel. The responsibility of this war is on the Islamic Republic. While this voice by no means is a representative of a country of more than 90 million people, over the past six weeks we have been speaking with Iranians inside the country who oppose the regime.

42:33Many told us they wanted President Donald Trump's help. They were desperate, they said, after the bloody crackdown on protesters in January that killed thousands. But with a massive bombing campaign, reports of rising civilian casualties, including scores of schoolgirls killed and hospitals hit, the mood is shifting, even for some of those who want nothing more than this regime gone.

43:02Jake Tapper:People are not happy. Many police stations are located next to homes. Last night they struck one and nearby homes were damaged. The regime's repression and disruption to communication make it difficult for us to speak freely with people inside Iran. But we managed to get some text and audio messages. We were happy that those who had shot at the people, at the youth, and killed them were being punished. The situation now is a mix. There's happiness, but also concern. And above all, we all hope that in the end they leave and that the Islamic Republic is no longer there. Video this weekend showed celebrations on the streets as news broke that the man who depressed them for more than 40 years, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, is gone.

43:54The killing of Khamenei does not mean the end of this regime for now. It's lashing out and striking back hard. And inside the country, it seems it fears another uprising. In Iran's Kurdish region, some people received this message. The enemy's plan, it said, will be, quote, street riots next. Any movement that disrupts security will be considered a direct cooperation with the enemy and will be faced with the strong fist of the IRGC intelligence organization. So many Iranians want to believe that freedom is within reach, that this is the beginning of the end of a four-decade nightmare. You always think the Islamic Republic is finished, and suddenly, from a place you wouldn't expect, everything becomes okay for them again.

44:46That scares me. After the initial euphoria of this weekend, as the help Iranians were promised finally arrived, now, for many, the reality that this may be a long and costly war is starting to sink in. Jumana Kadachou, CNN, London.

45:06Jake Tapper:This is CNN Breaking News. And welcome to The Lead. I'm Jake Tapper. We start tonight with breaking news. Worldwide shockwaves from the U.S. and Israel's expanding war with Iran. The U.S. State Department issuing an urgent warning to Americans moments ago. Depart now from 14 countries across the Middle East as the barrage of strikes continue to rattle the region. Six. Six U.S. service members have now been killed in action, according to U.S. Central Command. A source tells CNN that the first U.S. service members to die in the war were killed by a direct Iranian strike on a makeshift operation center at a civilian point in Kuwait on Sunday morning local time.

45:40The attack came quickly with no warning sirens for troops to evacuate or shelter, according to CNN's source. But President Trump says the big wave of weapon attacks on Iran is yet to come. He told me this in a phone interview earlier today, and in the wake of the death of the Ayatollah, the president said he's not sure who is going to be next to lead Iran after Saturday's strikes took out 49 Iranian leaders. He says he doesn't want to see the war go on too long and commented on the timeline again later at the White House.

46:13Jake Tapper:We're already substantially ahead of our time projections, but whatever the time is, it's okay. whatever it takes, we will always, and we have right from the beginning, we projected four to five weeks, but we have capability to go far longer than that. CNN's Caitlin Collins is standing by at the White House, but let's first get to CNN's Aaron Burnett, who's on the ground for us in Tel Aviv. And Aaron, let's start with you. What are you learning about the latest strikes exchanged today between Israel and the Iranian proxy terrorist group Hezbollah? All right, so Jake, Jake, there's that. There's a new front in the war.

46:51Jake Tapper:And we've heard the back and forth from that. Israel striking around the Beirut suburbs and indicating a willingness to perhaps put in ground troops there. So that is happening as we speak. Just a few moments ago, Jake, I wasn't sure if I was actually going to make this, you know, coming on with you, because we had some obviously incoming missiles here in Tel Aviv. And this was quite a few. And they appeared to be using, in some cases, Jake, from what we could see as we were taking shelter and then looking at our cameras immediately afterwards, a sort of a cluster munition, Jake, that would come in, obviously, from Iran and then sort of breaks up in the sky here.

47:28Jake Tapper:That can cause more damage, obviously, as it comes down, even when hit with interceptors in the missile defense. So that's the latest we can tell you on that as to whether there was any damage, et cetera. is still trying to figure that out because it comes, Jake, in the middle of what we're witnessing right now, which is what appears to be the most intense series of strikes so far in this war, including the beginning of this war when there were strikes from the U.S. and Israel on Iran as we speak. And obviously, understanding exactly where they're striking there, when they're striking, seeing those visuals, that is very opaque.

48:02Jake Tapper:But we do believe that right now we are in the midst of the most intense series of strikes in this war so far. And that fits exactly with what the president told you, which is that the big part is still to come. So whether we're going to continue to see it ramp up or not, that's the big unknown. But we are in the midst of that. And it comes in the context of that State Department warning that you just mentioned, which, Jake, is very important, but also very sobering. Because when you look at the 14 countries that they mentioned there, including this one, in so many of them, when they say American citizens need to get out, use all available commercial travel.

48:37Jake Tapper:There is no commercial travel. There is no known way to get out of some of those countries right now, as you continue to have what some have called a black hole in the sky with the world's busiest airport shut down and back and forth missile strikes and drone attacks with some of those Shahid drones coming from Iran on the outbound. One more thing I'll say to you, Jake, as I pass it back to you, talking to CEOs, tanker CEOs who are dealing with what's going on in the Strait of Hormuz, they are sort of left speechless right now. One of them, in terms of what a member of the IRGC said on Iranian state television about setting fire to any ships that go into the Strait of Hormuz, they've got three massive Suez tankers sitting there.

49:19Jake Tapper:And they literally, at this point, Jake, don't know what to do. And for the first time, I've heard them say, I am worried. I am very worried. And that is what we're hearing tonight about that, the huge, massive oil, gas and economic impact of this burgeoning conflict. Back to you. Kaitlin, this appearance today from President Trump was the first time he talked about Iran in person, although we did get some details on his goals for these strikes. Yeah, Jake, he's done a series of phone interviews with you, with other reporters since launching this war against Iran. But we hadn't yet heard from the president in person, on camera until earlier today when he was speaking at this Medal of Honor ceremony here at the White House, and he began his remarks by talking about what his objectives are in Iran.

50:03And I think when you listen to what the president lays out here, Jake, it's obviously incredibly important, given what we've heard from his other top officials in the last 36 hours or so, on what exactly they are trying to achieve in Iran and how long that could take. As for the president and what his goals are here, of course, the person the administration officials, including the defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, have repeatedly deferred to, this is what he laid out earlier.

50:29Jake Tapper:Our objectives are clear. First, we're destroying Iran's missile capabilities, and you see that happening on an hourly basis, and their capacity to produce brand new ones, and pretty good ones they make. Second, we're annihilating their navy. We've knocked out already 10 ships. They're at the bottom of the sea. Third, we're ensuring that the world's number one sponsor of terror can never obtain a nuclear weapon. You heard the president say there, Jake, that the objectives here are clear, but critics have said that that is anything but the case here. As we heard before the strike was carried out, before the president authorized it on Friday afternoon, that really the concern with Iran and those diplomatic talks that were taking place were their efforts to restore their nuclear capabilities following those strikes last summer.

51:21We heard from top advisors to the president like Steve Witkoff saying that they are a week away from having a nuclear weapon to the secretary of state saying that they were not enriching uranium at the time. And now, after these attacks have happened, and the president is suggesting that this could go on for at least four to five more weeks, which is the most extensive timeline we've heard yet, Jake, he's now talking about their ballistic missiles and the capabilities that they have there and what they were developing and making sure that they eliminate that threat as well. So the question imminent, what was imminent here has been thrown around a lot, Jake, but then also emerging on Capitol Hill today, we heard Secretary Rubio and the House Speaker Mike Johnson talking about this notion that if Israel attacked Iran without the United States joining in on that, that then Iran would retaliate by going after U.S.

52:04assets in the region. So basically saying that was also a compelling reason for the United States to carry out this attack. So there have been a multitude of reasons here, Jake, obviously, that have raised questions. And I do want to note, as the president was speaking there earlier today, he was in the East Room at the White House. He was talking about the deaths of U.S. service members, something that he himself has said is a number that could only go higher than what we are at right now, Jake, six members of the armed forces that have been killed. The president then shifted into this talk about the construction that is happening here with the White House ballroom, talking about how it has been keeping the First Lady Melania up.

52:38She's been complaining about the noise happening early in the morning and late at night. It was a bit of a jarring shift there, Jake, for the president to go from talking about this to then talking about the ballroom construction. And it reminded me of what he did last night when he got back to the White House here, where when he was being asked questions about Iran, he instead was highlighting the new statues that have been installed in the White House Rose Garden. Two of the best journalists and anchors in the business, Caitlin Collins at the White House and Erin Burnett in Tel Aviv. And we're covering this conflict in a way only CNN can.

53:08So do not miss more of Erin's reporting live from Tel Aviv. It comes up in the next hour on Erin Burnett at front right after this show. And then at eight o 'clock Eastern, this programming note, a special report hosted by Anderson Cooper. And then an hour after that, you can catch Caitlin Collins on her show at 9 p.m. Eastern, The Source with Caitlin Collins. She's going to speak with Democratic Senator Chris Murphy. That's tonight at nine. All this on CNN, and you can watch it on the CNN streaming app. Let's bring in Senator Jean Shaheen, Democrat from New Hampshire, just in a briefing with Trump administration officials.

53:40She's a top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, also serving on the Senate Armed Services Committee. Senator, I know the briefing was classified, but what can you tell us about what you heard? Well, as you point out, it was classified. What we heard is what we heard earlier in the press conference that the men and women in our military have performed brilliantly. I know that everyone shares in condolences for those people who have been lost. But we heard, as we've heard, as both Erin and Caitlin said, mixed messages about what the strategy is here, what the end game is here, and how we're going to get out of Iran.

54:23No one in the free world misses the Ayatollah. He repressed his people, killed thousands just in the last few months, sponsored terrorism across the whole region, from the Houthis in Yemen to Hezbollah in Lebanon. But what is not clear is how long this is going to go on, the extent to which it's escalating. We've, as you pointed out, 14 countries who are saying Americans need to get out of those countries, and just what the end game is. One of the questions I have after hearing from Secretary Rubio and from Speaker Mike Johnson, who spoke after the Gang of Eight briefing, is how much did the United States strike Iran because Israel was going to strike Iran on its own, and the U.S.

55:16believed that after that happened, Iran was going to strike U.S. military bases in the region, and that is the notion of preemption at hand here. Is that really the main reason that these strikes happen now? Well, again, we've been given a lot of reasons why these strikes happen now. That's been one of them. I would hope that if we disagreed with Israel's assessment, that we would have made that clear to Prime Minister Netanyahu. And we would have pointed out that, given our support for Israel for not only their defense of their country, but the weapons that they use, that they would be willing to listen to what the president of the United States had to say.

56:04So I think that's not at all clear. It's one of the reasons that's been given. And again, just as what happened in Venezuela, we have a lot of mixed messages about what the goal is, what the strategy is, and no transparency to the American people in advance. Earlier today, President Trump laid out objectives for striking Iran. They were to destroy Iran's missile capabilities to annihilate the Iranian Navy, to end its nuclear weapons ambitions, and to prevent Iran from arming terrorists. Do you think that President Trump has effectively made the case to the American people about why Iran needed to be attacked, why they needed to be attacked now, why U.S.

56:46service members are dying for this mission? Well, I think he needs to do a much better job of sharing with the American people what the rationale is. What we have heard from negotiations that were going on is that they were very close to reaching an agreement to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon. So we're not sure what actually happened there. We know that anything that we can do to prevent Iran's support for terrorism across the Middle East region and here in the United States, for that matter, is important to do. But again, the president hasn't laid out a clear strategy. He's not shared that with the American people.

57:31He's not shared that with Congress. He's decided to go to war without authorization from Congress, and the threat of escalation continues. Democratic Senator Gene Sheehan of New Hampshire, thank you so much. We're going to have much more on our breaking news in moments, including the friendly fire incident that led to three U.S. fighter jets being shot down today. What we're learning about the pilots' conditions at this hour. Plus, we're getting some breaking news out of the U.S. Supreme Court on two major cases. Our team is reading through the details right now, and we'll have that update in moments.

58:05We're getting some breaking news out of the U.S. Supreme Court. Let's get right to CNN's Joan Biskupik. Joan, we're talking about two cases here. Let's start with the first one involving transgender students. That's right, Jake. And these have just come in and both were decided by the conservative supermajority prevailing over the dissents of the court's three liberals. The first involves a California education policy that prevents teachers from informing parents about a student's gender expression. If a middle schooler, for example, and there were middle schoolers at issue in this case, want to transition and use different gender pronouns, the school policy therein in California was that parents could not be told.

58:47Today, the Supreme Court temporarily blocked that policy from being in effect as it goes to parents who had challenged it, saying that no, parents, the state had said it was intended to protect trans minors from rejection and abuse at home. The Supreme Court didn't buy it at this point. And as I say, it's over the dissent of three liberals. The second case, Jake, both of them just decided just this moment, both on very hot button issues, that one obviously on transgender, involving children. This one involves redistricting ahead of the upcoming midterms. And in this case, the court approved an emergency appeal from a Republican congresswoman in New York, Nicole Maliotitkakis, a Republican, saying that she and state election officials had tried to get the Supreme Court to block a state court ruling that would have required a different map that would have essentially changed the boundary lines for her Staten Island district.

59:52In this case, again, the three liberals dissenting, saying here's the Supreme Court coming in essentially at the 11th hour, trying to change district lines when its usual policy is to leave in place state court determinations. So two important rulings right now. They come up through the court's emergency docket, so they're not final decisions on the merits, but they will affect students in California for now and also the New York district, the Staten Island area. All right, John Buscubic, thanks so much. Let's get back to our world lead video today showing a U.S. military aircraft crashing in Kuwait.

1:00:33And now U.S. military says it's investigating what they're calling a, quote, friendly fire incident. that down three American fighter jets. All six crew members ejected safely before the crash. CNN's Nick Robertson is live for us in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Nick, what are you learning about the incident?

1:00:49Jake Tapper:Yeah, these are images you don't often see, Jake. An F-15E fighting Eagle literally just falling flat, belly first towards the ground. The pilots of all ejecting, six of them total from these three aircraft. They are being treated. They are recovering. And an investigation underway into precisely what happened. But look, the circumstance of the morning when this occurred in Kuwait City, there were fires could be seen on social media, smoke billowing from areas right around the U.S. embassy. That's because very close to the base where these aircraft took off from, there were incoming Iranian drones, incoming Iranian missiles.

1:01:32Jake Tapper:And these aircraft were going up and being put up in the air to try to interdict these incoming attacks from Iran. Now, what appears to have happened is Kuwaiti air defense systems weren't synced or just weren't aware, weren't seeing the U.S. fighter aircraft for what they were and targeted them, mistaken targeting, blue on blue, if you like, bringing these aircraft down. Look, the big picture in the Gulf at the moment is a lot of incoming Iranian missiles are being brought down by defense systems, by fighter aircraft. It is succeeding and saving a lot of lives on the ground. But the hard reality is you have in urban environments an unusual circumstance here where you have intense activity joining allies together.

1:02:21Jake Tapper:The Kuwaitis with the U.S. and other areas. You know, it's the Saudis, it's the Emiratis, it's the Omanis, it's the Qataris, all in this situation in the Gulf together. Intense incoming fire, U.S. assisting where it can in some of these cases, and with tragic results for the aircraft. But fortunately, these service members are being treated. They're not in life-threatening conditions, but it really does highlight what's going on here at the moment, Jake, and the dangers inherent in all of this. All right, Nick Robertson in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Thank you so much. So what comes next for the people of Iran?

1:02:57Who will lead that country? And what does the path to a new government even look like? I'm going to ask a top advisor for one man who hopes to be the transitional leader next.

1:03:13In our world, extensive military strikes over the weekend by the U.S. and Israel on Iran. and Iran launching retaliatory strikes, leaves the country at a critical crossroads. With the death of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, some Iranians, many Iranians, are expressing hope that leadership change could ease the ongoing economic and human rights crisis, although some analysts warn the current regime could potentially become even more dangerous, and meaningful political or economic change might not be an outcome. Joining us to discuss is Cameron Kansarini. He is the chief of staff to Reza Pahlavi, the oldest son of the deposed Shah of Iran.

1:03:53Cameron, your boss, the exiled former crown prince of Iran, made his pitch to lead Iran himself on CBS on Sunday. Take a listen.

1:04:03Jake Tapper:They trust me as a transitional leader, not as the future king or future president or future whatever. I'm totally focused on my mission in life, which is let me bring the country to a point that they can make that free choice. That would be enough for me having said mission accomplished. Are there specific plans that you and the crown prince have for him to take over temporarily in Iran? Jake, it's very good to be with you. Yes, at the call of millions of his compatriots, I think you saw that on the 8th and 9th of January, that at his call millions took to the streets. The prince is stepping forward to lead the transition to democracy in Iran.

1:04:42Jake Tapper:Those plans are outlined in a very, very transparent fashion in the Iran Prosperity Project, which is publicly available. The second version of that transition plan, over 180 pages of 13 different areas of managing the country's affairs, was just put out last week. So it's all very publicly outlined. his role, the length of that transitional period as we see it, the multiple elections and referenda that would allow the Iranian people to express their views on the leadership, the future form of government. It's all outlined there. And the reason that we put that together is we knew this day would come and we knew that the crown prince would be the leader that the people of Iran would trust to guide them through that process.

1:05:25What needs to happen for the Iranian people to, quote, seize control, as President Trump puts it, of their destiny. Obviously, the crown prince couldn't go to Iran right now and just take over. How is this going to work?

1:05:42Jake Tapper:Well, first of all, Jake, the operations that we've seen over the past two days need to continue. The regime's leadership and its repressive apparatus in particular need to be continuously decimated. This is a repressive apparatus that has held the people of Iran hostage for 47 years with murders, chain murders, assassination, rapes. It's done to the people of Iran and the people of the United States at the same time. That's why President Trump's leadership and decisive intervention was so important to level the playing field for the people of Iran so that they do have a more even playing field to take over their institutions.

1:06:21Jake Tapper:And when the regime is no longer able to hold on to power through sheer violence and sheer brutality, as it did in January, killing 40 ,000 people fighting for their liberation. And the people of Iran will be able to take over their institutions. We're working, as we speak, on the plans for the crown prince to return to Iran. He said repeatedly, indeed, just this morning, again, publicly, that he's prepared to return to Iran, even before the ultimate collapse of this regime, in order to lead the final battle to reclaim Iran and to return Iran to the community of nations. But what needs to happen?

1:06:58You said you refer to the people taking over the government. What needs to happen? What more help do the Iranian people need from the U.S., for example, beyond the military strikes? Because, you know, you can't get just from military strikes to democracy in Iran. There's a lot in between there. What help do the Iranian people need specifically to take control of their government?

1:07:22Jake Tapper:So I'll answer that, but let's not discount the significance of this military operation in limiting the regime's repressive capacity in removing these illegitimate rulers from power so the people of Iran have that fair chance. In addition to this enormous health, this truly brave and courageous decision taken by the president. There are other means of support. Some of those are ongoing access to free internet. It's outrageous. In the 21st century, the Islamic Republic has shut off the internet. The people of Iran live in an information blackout when it comes to social media, to information coming from the outside world, unable to share in many instances what's happening to them with the outside world.

1:08:05Jake Tapper:So internet access is a huge, huge component to this, so the people of Iran can communicate freely. So the combination of those two, plus the organization that the Crown Prince and our team have built on the ground in Iran, the eternal guard cells that exist across the country that our team have been working on over the past several months, giving people instructions on civil disobedience, how to form small groups of resistance against this regime in all of Iran's 31 provinces. So the decimation of the regime, the empowerment of the Iranian people to communicate freely and training them and mobilizing them across the country will allow us to get to the point where the crown prince can return and oversee this peaceful and stable transition from this regime.

1:08:52Cameron Kansarini, I thank you so much. Appreciate your time.

1:08:55Jake Tapper:Thank you, Jake. The head of NATO saying today that the alliance has no plans on getting involved in the war with Iran, But can America's allies really stay out of this growing global conflict? I mean, the Brits were just attacked. That's next.

1:09:14And our world lead, NATO Secretary General Mark Ruta is weighing in for the first time on the U.S. and Israel's expanding war with Iran. Ruta praised the actions that the two nations are taking on lockstep. But he also said, quote, quote, there are absolutely no plans, whatever, for NATO to get dragged into this or being part of it, other than individual allies doing what they can to enable what the Americans are doing together with Israel, unquote. Joining us now is General Wesley Clark. He's a former NATO Supreme Allied Commander General. Good to see you. So your reaction to Secretary General Ruta's decision to publicly stress that NATO would not be getting involved in this conflict?

1:09:52Yeah, it's the right decision. NATO is an organization. It's not going to get involved against Iran, but individual NATO member countries can get involved and can help the United States and are doing so now. We're seeing this war expand rapidly across the Middle East. Iran has not only launched attacks, missiles, drones at Israel, which attacked them, but against the UAE and Bahrain and Kuwait and Qatar, Saudi Arabia. How much further could this conflict expand? I think you could see some more terrorist strikes, maybe against bases in Europe and elsewhere. But what you've got is Iran understands a strategy that is cause as much chaos as possible, put the heat on the American administration, cause its allies to call into the Americans and say, oh my goodness, you're wrecking our economy.

1:10:49Please stop bombing Iran. I mean, that's the strategy. And so it's really a function of how effective the air campaign is at eliminating the drones and the ballistic missiles and cruise missile strikes that Iran could deploy against its allies. That's the Iranian first wave of defense. They haven't mobilized their terrorists yet. They know when they do that, it's a use it and then lose it because that's not sustainable. So that could be a last of blast. There are there are obviously there are reports, though, just to interject, I'm sorry, but there are reports that Hezbollah, which is obviously an Iranian proxy, a group considered terrorist, has launched drones at UK naval forces in Cyprus.

1:11:41So I don't know if you consider that a terrorist attack or not. It's by Hezbollah. Yeah, sure. I mean, that's part of what they're doing. Israel is going after Hezbollah. And this is Israel's chance to finish Hezbollah off, which is apparently what they intend to do by having mobilized their reserves and so forth. The real question, Jake, is how quickly can we get the Straits of Hormuz open And how quickly can we shut down the chaos that Iran is trying to create in the Gulf and let the business go back to normal there? And then it's a matter of can you find the targets that you need when you continue the air campaign to put pressure on the regime to make it cry uncle, to make it want to talk, to make it come apart so the people of Iran have a chance to have their own government in place.

1:12:39The secretary general's comments come as individual NATO members are trying to figure out their own response to the escalating situation. The British say that they're not part of the offensive, but they agreed that its military bases can be used for defensive strikes on Iranian missile stocks. How do you see this shaping up in terms of what our allies in NATO are going to do? I think they're going to allow us to use bases there. They're going to allow us to take weapons and ammunition stocks that have been placed inside NATO countries and use them if necessary. And they're going to provide all kinds of logistics assistance.

1:13:20Most of them don't have the capacity to intervene successfully and do much to help us. They don't have the same level of precision weaponry. and what they have they need to strengthen because we can't forget, Jake, that the real scene of the action is not Iran. It is Ukraine and it is Vladimir Putin. And he does pose an imminent threat to Europe. Ukraine has to hold strong. So it's very understandable these allies may not be contributing a lot except some logistics and some basing support for the United States. All right, General Wesley Clark, thank you so much. Really appreciate it. Since Saturday strikes on Iran, more than 600 people have been killed.

1:14:04Iran state media reported the most 168 killed at a girls elementary school. Ten Israelis have been killed in Iran's retaliatory strikes. That includes nine lives lost when a missile hit a bomb shelter near Jerusalem. Ronit Elimelech and her mother, Sarah, were two of those killed. Ronit was a single mom. She was a volunteer EMT worker with United Hatsala. The organization shared this video from 2024 when she started volunteering at the medical group at the urging of her 11-year-old autistic son. This was her then. I'm a volunteer at United Hatsala because I fulfilled my son's dream. The assistant in his class did an activity and she is a volunteer at the organization.

1:14:51Ronit was running to the bomb shelter with her three sons when she realized that her mother had been left behind. So Ronit turned back to get her. The three boys survived. Ronit and her mother did not. May their memories be a blessing. Big news in our money lead today. The price of U.S. oil closed today above$71 a barrel, a level not seen in more than eight months from gas prices to Wall Street. We're going to discuss the direct impact of this war on your pocketbook.

1:15:22In our politics lead, cue the music, the election music, please. All right, the election jam. We're just hours away from primary day in Texas. Closely watched Senate primaries have garnered natural attention. CNN's Jeff Zelenis in Houston, where Democrats James Tallarico and Jasmine Crockett, the congresswoman, are campaigning today. Jeff, what are their closing messages in these final hours?

1:15:46Jake Tapper:Well, Jake, Democrats are beginning their midterm election quest to try and reclaim power in both the House and the Senate. That starts tomorrow here in the first big primary of the year in Texas. And there is a barn burner of a Democratic Senate primary, as you said, with Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett and State Representative James Tallarico. Now, Crockett is saying that Democrats need a fighter. She is going after the Democratic base, trying to energize it. Of course, she has become somewhat famous in her retorts against the president, how she claps back against Republicans as well. So she is basically trying to fire up all types of Democrats.

1:16:24Jake Tapper:Her opponent, James Tallarico, is taking a different approach entirely. He is trying to expand the Democratic bench, if you will. He's trying to find out moderate voters, some disillusioned Republican voters. But if you look at the early voting numbers that ended on Friday, more than 1.4 million Democrats have already voted in the Democratic primary. About 1.2 million have voted in the Republican primary. So there is a sign of Democratic enthusiasm. There is no doubt. But at a stop earlier today here in Houston, Tallarico said, yes, it's time for a fighter, but a different brand of fighter. Take a listen.

1:16:59Jake Tapper:We're not going to beat the politics of division with more division. we're not going to win this race by shaming or alienating or ridiculing our neighbors. In my experience, when you extend an open hand rather than a closed fist, you'll be surprised by who takes that hand. So Tallarica will be coming here for his final rally of the campaign in just a few moments. And Jake, it has been an extraordinary one. There is no doubt all eyes of Democrats are on Texas, which could offer perhaps a bit of a roadmap for the party going forward as they look to, again, try and retake the House and Senate. What type of Democrat exactly do they want?

1:17:43Jake Tapper:They have basic similarities in policies, but their styles could not be more different. Fascinating race. Jeff Zeleny in Houston. Thanks so much. My panel joins me now. Now, Kate, the theory of the case for Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett is she's going to really get people to the polls. And also she's expanding the base by bringing people who don't normally vote. Presumably a lot of African-American people, maybe a lot of young people. The Tallarico theory of the case is he is more moderate and could bring in a lot of middle of the road, even lean Republican voters, especially if Dan Paxton, the attorney general, who's very, who's, you know, radioactive if he wins the Republican nomination.

1:18:23Who do you think actually has a better chance of winning? Well, look, I think the demographics in Texas would tell you that somebody who can appeal to a slice of Republican voters is the person who has a better chance of winning the race. It is just a fact that whichever Democrat emerges is going to have to win some Republican votes if they're going to win statewide. That said, we've seen more Democratic turnout so far in early vote, I think than in any other race prior to 2008, obviously also a year of great enthusiasm and ultimately a very big Democratic year. So I think let's look at the early vote.

1:18:56Let's see ultimately where Crockett is able to if she's actually able to generate some of these folks who have not come out and been reliable voters previously. And let's see if that that theory holds up. But there is a tremendous amount of energy, I think, regardless of which whoever emerges, the fact that Democrats are going to be able to force Republicans to spend money on this race and to be concerned about this race, particularly if, as you said, Paxton emerges as the Republican nominee. That's a good thing for the Democrats across the board nationally. It looks based on polling that the incumbent Republican John Cornyn.

1:19:30And just so people know, like you have to win 50 plus 50 percent plus one to win the primary. And if not, there's a runoff. It looks like there will likely be a runoff. Yep. That Ken Paxton, the very controversial attorney general, might come in first, but he's not anywhere close to 50 percent plus one. And it will probably be a runoff between Cornyn and Paxton. And every Republican I know thinks Paxton's going to win.

1:19:54Jake Tapper:Yeah, I am in agreement with that, unfortunately. Look, my biggest worry here is exactly what Kate just articulated. I don't want to see my party spending$200 to$300 million in one singular race when I know it's important for us to support other Republican senators and also Republicans who would like to keep their seats in the House. Now, the good news for us, fortunately, there are less seats for us to sort of protect compared to previous midterms. Eight districts the president lost a larger number of districts where he won around four points. And so while Democrats will win, I'm not expecting them to win like they did in 2018, where you saw this huge Democratic wave.

1:20:33Jake Tapper:So that is good news a little bit. But nevertheless, those are dollars that could be spent protecting those vulnerable R's versus going after and protecting the candidate who, quite frankly, isn't the most ideal candidate. Jake, you have Cornyn, who is a little controversial. I certainly don't agree with him on everything. But he is a better person for the Republicans, particularly those down ballot races. as Kate and I were talking about this during the break, you want a strong candidate at the top to bring along all of the other candidates because you want those voters to turn out. I am a little worried that you might end up suppressing some of that.

1:21:07Speaking of Republicans spending money in ways that it might be hard to defend, the House Oversight Committee hauled Secretary of State Hillary Clinton before their committee to give testimony about Jeffrey Epstein. And that video testimony of last week has just been released. The first part I'm going to play for you is the moment she founded Congresswoman Lauren Boebert, Republican of Colorado, took a photo of her that was then posted on the Internet against the rules of the testimony. Particularly given that we have asked for a public hearing, if there are photos that are being released of the secretary as she is testifying, can you please explain how that can occur?

1:21:44I'm done with this. If you guys are doing that, I am done. You can hold me in contempt from now until the cows come home. This is just typical behavior. We will go off the record. Oh, for heaven's sake. So I would like to understand how that permissible. It was before the hearing was. It doesn't matter. We all are abiding by the same rules. I will take that down. Yeah, well. I would like to take a break at this moment. I'd like to have a conversation for now. OK. Yeah. Look, it was a circus. And I think her reaction underscored how much of a circus it was. You know, she and Bill Clinton asked for the proceedings if they were going to happen to happen on camera.

1:22:20It was the Republicans who said, no, we're not going to do this on camera. So, you know, to have Congresswoman Boebert furtively take a picture and put it out, she was absolutely right to be angry. And I think anybody who was following the story would agree that her reaction made total sense. Sure, Michael, here's another moment. This time is when Hillary Clinton was asked about the insane, deranged conspiracy theory called Pizzagate. Your question is about whether or not she has reviewed any emails in the Epstein release files about Pizzagate. Correct. Pizzagate was totally made up. It was an outrageous allegation that ended up hurting a number of people that caused a deranged young man to show up with his assault rifle and shoot up a local pizzeria.

1:23:10I can't believe you're even referencing it.

1:23:14Jake Tapper:sure michael you know these are serious moments there were over a thousand young girls who had their lives destroyed and there's not enough counseling in the world that's going to make things better for those young women who i would imagine still deal with this to this day many of them probably have their own children and there are many men that we know from many of the images that have circulated across social media who have not been held accountable and so if we're going to have anyone testifying. I want to know who those men are. Let's put some of them in jail like they're doing over in the UK.

1:23:46And let's have some serious questions for the people who are actually involved in this horrific, horrific act. Thank you so much for bringing it back to the victims. Appreciate it. Thanks to you as well, Kate. Oil prices are surging as the conflict in the Middle East expands. How soon could you see a serious impact on the prices you pay for gasoline? That's next.

1:24:10Our money lead now. New high resolution satellite images show heavy damage to a Saudi oil facility after Iranian drone strikes. Global oil prices surge today, rising to a level not seen in more than eight months. The spike is expected to push U.S. gasoline prices higher, with analysts saying they could top$3 a gallon this week. Let's bring in CNN's Vanessa Yurkiewicz with the latest. Vanessa? Jake, U.S. markets bounced back off their lows this morning with the Dow closing down about 73 points while the S &P and the Nasdaq closed in the green. But airline stocks suffered over concerns of jet fuel prices and cruise line stocks tumbled as travel was impacted in the Middle East region.

1:24:49Yes, at sea, but also commercial airports in the region, bringing passengers to and from cruises, remained closed. Oil prices were up by as much as 8 percent on Monday. West Texas Intermediate climbed past$70 a barrel, while Brent crude flirted with$80 a barrel. Those are the highest levels since U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities in June. Prices are spiking because oil tanker traffic has stalled in the Strait of Hormuz, which is off the coast of Iran, a critical passageway where 20 percent of the world's oil travels through. This, as tensions continue to escalate, and then damage and closures of oil refineries in Saudi Arabia and Qatar are increasing nerves about supply and further infrastructure impacts there.

1:25:35Now, as oil prices rise, gas prices follow. Gas prices have been low, below$3 a gallon, but they've risen roughly five cents in the last week, according to AAA, and will cross that$3 threshold for the first time since December. The national average is currently sitting at$2.99 a gallon. But in the coming week, gas prices could increase 10 to 30 cents and upwards of 85 cents at some lower priced gas stations, according to GasBuddy. But, Jake, it's worth noting that gas prices would have been starting to rise this time of year anyways, because the change to the summer fuel blend is more expensive and more drivers are hitting the road, thus more demand.

1:26:15But the war with Iran has just accelerated all of that. Jake? Vanessa Rokavich, thank you so much. You can follow me on Facebook, Instagram, threads, Blue Sky X and on the TikTok at Jiktap, where you can follow the show on X and Instagram at The Lead CNN. If you ever miss an episode of The Lead, you can watch the show on the CNN app on your phone. If you haven't downloaded it yet, you should download it now. CNN's breaking news coverage of the war in Iran continues all night. We're going to start now with my colleague Aaron Burnett, who is out front in Tel Aviv, Israel. Take it away, Aaron.

1:26:50you