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The Lead with Jake Tapper

Trump: Iran's Supreme Leader Is Dead; U.S. & Israel Attack Iran; Iran Launches Retaliatory Strikes; FBI Counterterrorism Teams On High Alert After Iran Strikes; Trump: Iran's Supreme Leader Is Dead; Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) Discusses About War Powers Of President Trump; Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) Talks About Justification Of U.S. And Israel Strikes Of Iran. Aired 6-7p ET

Aired February 28, 2026 - 18:00   ET

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

[18:00:51]

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST, "THE LEAD": Welcome to this Special Edition of THE LEAD. I am Jake Tapper, and we are following major breaking news: President Trump confirming a short while ago that the Iranian Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has been killed, killed in that massive overnight strike by the U.S. and Israel.

The President writing: "Khamenei, one of the most evil people in history is dead. This is not only justice for the people of Iran, but for all great Americans and those people from many countries throughout the world that have been killed or mutilated by Khamenei and his gang of bloodthirsty thugs."

Cheers and celebrations of Khamenei's death could be heard in parts of Tehran following reports of his death. President Trump says the U.S. will continue with heavy bombing in Iran throughout the week.

The President has also called for regime change in Tehran following the joint strikes, which prompted an unprecedented wave of retaliatory strikes by Iran attacking U.S. military bases and Israeli civilian population centers and other targets across the Middle East.

The Pentagon reports, as of now, no combat related U.S. casualties, but U.S. State Department is continuing to advise Americans around the world to exercise increased caution.

Our reporters are covering all angles of this breaking, quite consequential story.

CNN's Kristen Holmes is at The White House. But I want to start with CNN's Jeremy Diamond, who is joining us from Tel Aviv.

Jeremy when we last saw you, you were standing right near the site of an Iranian missile strike in Tel Aviv. Tell us more.

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right, Jake, and we've managed to get a little bit closer to the impact site of this ballistic missile that struck just a couple of hours ago. You can see the extent of the destruction that's been wrought by this ballistic missile. You know the whole side of this building, you know, there isn't a window in sight, a part of this building on the right side of it has effectively collapsed and that damage is all along this entire block.

You can see on this side of the street as well, where there were several metal structures, they have been completely crumpled and you can see military officials, police officials all milling about.

We've been watching as paramedics have really been going door-to-door here to make sure that there is no one still trapped in their apartments. But if you look even here on the floor, I mean there are debris from the trees here, from the wood, from various vehicles and cement that was also in the area. These vehicles have been completely damaged by the power of this blast.

We also have now just learned that one woman, a 40-year-old woman was killed in this strike. That marks the first death that we have learned of as a result of Iranian ballistic missile attacks today. Another individual was taken to the hospital in severe condition, two others in moderate condition in what appears to have been the most severe incident of an Iranian missile attack that we have seen so far today.

And we could start to see a lot more of this in Tel Aviv and in other parts of Israel, as well as the United States and Israel are vowing to continue this very intense, widespread military campaign that they are waging against Iran, and as Iran has vowed in return to continue to retaliate not only against Israel, but also, as we've seen against U.S. military bases in the Gulf, and also as we've seen multiple impacts in several populated cities such as Dubai and Doha, also in the Middle East -- Jake.

TAPPER: And Kristen, you've been learning more from The White House about what specifically led up to these strikes earlier today. What are your sources telling you?

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Jake, we had a background call with these administration officials who kind of outlined the steps that led to the actual attack. One of the things they said that these negotiations had really devolved into games and stall tactics, but we also heard from these U.S. officials, they said that Iran, they had indications that Iran was going to somehow launch a preemptive attack on Americans before they actually strike.

I do want to note that that is not what we had been hearing.

Natasha Bertrand had heard from her sources inside the Intelligence community that they did not have intelligence, that there was going to be some kind of preemptive strike from Iran before all of this happened.

[18:05:10]

And that anything would have been in retaliation. That is one thing that we know that these officials are going to have to answer for when they actually do have their briefing.

They've been setting up these briefings with both the full Senate and the House. The other thing to note here is we have just learned that Secretary of State Marco Rubio is not going to be traveling to Israel. His office had previously announced that.

Unclear if this trip was ever actually going to take place, or if this was just another head fake. Right now, of course, though, because of the current situation, they have said that trip is off.

TAPPER: Yes, you know, I wondered about that, Kristen, because he wasn't going to bring reporters along, which was a huge change in how he has always conducted himself and how the Secretary of State generally conducts business. They always bring some reporters.

HOLMES: I mean, it is a huge break in precedent particularly at a time when there was this enormous tension in that region and he would theoretically be going to deal with some of that, which you would think he would take reporters with him.

But again, they are saying its off. It was scheduled and now it is off.

TAPPER: All right, interesting. We will probably never know.

Kristen and Jeremy, thanks so much. Appreciate it.

I want to bring in Tom Nides, the former U.S. Ambassador to Israel. We should disclose he is married to a CNN executive.

Ambassador Nides, it is good to see you.

What is your reaction to President Trump announcing that the Supreme Leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has been killed in these joint U.S.- Israeli strikes?

TOM NIDES, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO ISRAEL: Well, first of all, Jake, thanks for having me. I am not going to have any -- shed any tears over the death of the Supreme Leader, obviously. This individual and the leadership of Iran has killed tens of thousands of their own people.

Look what happened today. They shot ballistic missiles into Israel, to the UAE, to Saudi Arabia, to Kuwait. This is a regime that has been out of control for many, many, many years.

So the question for us, to all of us to ask is then what comes next? And I think you've had a lot of guests on today who talk about this idea of regime change. You know sadly, I've been involved in having worked in several administrations, we don't have a great track record here you know, I remind you, you covered it -- Iraq Afghanistan, Libya -- regime change has to come from the bottom up, not from the top down.

So this is the beginning and the American people need to understand this is a beginning of a very, very long process and we have yet to see how this all plays out.

TAPPER: What allies do the Iranians have that might be able to help them figure out a way to bring their country into the 21st Century with some human rights, some representative democracy? And I specifically asked that because they are not allied with the Arab countries, with the Sunni Arab countries. First of all, they're not Arabs, they're Persians. Second of all they're Shia, not Sunni.

Other than Russia and China, who are the Iranian leaders' allies?

NIDES: And that's why I think it surprised many of us today when they decided to attack Saudi Arabia. As you know there has been somewhat of a change of the communications between Saudi Arabia and the Iranian regime over the last year or, so attacking Iran, Iran attacking Saudi Arabia and going after the Emiratis was really a miscalculation on my part.

So listen, the only friends they have in really in the world are the really the Russians and the Chinese and I am not sure either one of those countries want to get involved in this. So right now, the Iranians are going to have to figure out, the people of Iran are going to have to figure out, is this the opportunity to have a new leadership? But it has to come from the ground up and it is not going to come from the top down because as you know, look what we've done?

I was certainly involved in what happened in Libya and certainly we spent, you know many, many, many years in Iraq and many soldiers, a lot of people died and a lot of money was spent and that didn't turn out particularly well.

So, we have a lot of work to do here.

TAPPER: There is some new sound I want to play for you. This is from U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Mike Waltz. He was defending the strikes at the U.N. Security Council. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL WALTZ, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO THE UNITED NATIONS: The international community has long affirmed a simple and necessary principle. Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon.

That principle is not a matter of politics, it is a matter of global security, and to that end the United States is taking lawful actions.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: This is the first U.S. official we've heard responding to these strikes besides President Trump. What do you think about what he just said?

NIDES: Listen, this has been the policy of Joe Biden and Barack Obama that the Iranians cannot have a nuclear weapon, that is not -- that is not news to us. I mean, we should all recall that, as we know, six months ago, we were told that these nuclear facilities were obliterated, I mean clearly there wasn't, and that does not mean that the Iranians do not have desire as to cause enormous havoc in the region and to America's own situation on the ground.

[18:10:15]

Look what they did today. I mean I was just watching the film that Jeremy Diamond was doing, you know, the building that they hit in Tel Aviv, I've been on that street, all of my friends that I am talking to are sitting in their bunkers, have been in there all day.

These ballistic missiles, forget the nuclear capacity, but just the ballistic missiles, the damage that these can do to the people in Israel and to our allies in the region, so there is no question, the Iranians need to be stopped. The real question now is what happens next?

And I think obviously, the administration is going to -- will need to explain to people and the members of Congress will need to have a role in how these conversations continue.

TAPPER: There is a question about the politics of this all because obviously, President Trump ran especially in 2024, but also in 2020, also in 2016 as somebody that would bring an end to foreign wars and bring an end to regime change operations. I remember interviewing him in 2015-2016, and he was telling me that the world would be better off, I forget if it was Saddam Hussein or Moammar Gaddafi but whoever it was I mean, it was people that were gone because of the U.S. and he thought the world would be better if they were still in power.

What do you think about that?

NIDES: Well, listen, Jake, I am going to let your political commentaries comment about the politics of this. I mean, there is no question that this is a very complicated mission that we are on and a path that needs to be discussed.

Listen, the American people are going to have to be explained why we are doing it and how we are doing it. The administration is going to have to do that, members of Congress, both Democrats and Republicans, are going to need to be fully brought into what is going on in Iran. And again, Democrats and Republicans alike have talked about making sure that Iran does not have the capacity for nuclear weapon.

Now we all have to step back, and hopefully this will come to an end quickly, but the hope and my desire would be, I would certainly be supportive of the people of Iran coming up, rising up and having a new government. I mean, that would be a great day for all of us, and certainly, it would be a situation to make the region much safer than it currently is.

TAPPER: Is there anything that the U.S. can do to help that happen? You talk about the regime change needs to come from the bottom up, not the top down. But you know, obviously it is in nobody's interest for Iran to dissolve into the kind of chaos we've seen in Iraq and Libya and Syria and on and on. Is there anything that either the U.S. or Arab countries can do to help those who want to rise up and bring Iran to a decent government? NIDES: That is my hope, Jake. And listen, only time will tell. My hope is that the Saudis and the Emiratis and the Kuwaitis and the Qataris and maybe the Iranians will come to the table now in an attempt to try to sue for peace.

I don't know. I mean, I think this is a really unknown. We are in the beginning stages, the beginning innings of this. This is very complicated. I've sat in that Situation Room and understand clearly, like other people how complicated this is and I think ultimately, will the Iranian people see this as an opportunity? My hope is, it would be great if for all of us for that to happen.

It is unclear what the next few days are going to bring upon all of us, but my hope is that people are safe, our American troops are safe, and that we get through this with a region that is safer for all of us.

TAPPER: Tom Nides, former U.S. Ambassador to Israel, thank you so much, sir. Appreciate your time, as always.

Coming up, more on our breaking news: President Trump announcing that Iran's Supreme Leader is dead.

Ahead, what it could mean for the protesters pushing for change in the Islamic Republic.

Plus, Fareed Zakaria is going to join me with his thoughts on this historic day and what's next for a changed Middle East.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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TAPPER: Back with the breaking news: Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has been killed according to President Trump and Israeli sources. That news sparking cheers and celebrations in some parts of Tehran as the news spread, as well as chants of "Death to the Islamic Republic" and "Long Live the Shah!" This comes just weeks after thousands in Iran were killed by the Iranian government back in January, as the regime used deadly force to crack down on nationwide demonstrations.

Joining us now to discuss is Nazanin Boniadi, an actor and an activist born in Tehran, raised in London. We have her on the show quite often because we want to get the perspective of an Iranian about what you think.

So, what do you think?

NAZANIN BONIADI, ACTOR AND ACTIVIST BORN IN TEHRAN, RAISED IN LONDON: Thanks for having me back on, Jake.

Look, I was 10 years old, and I remember very vividly when I heard the news of the founder of the Islamic Republic, Ayatollah Khomeini dying. And I will never forget today. This is absolutely a moment of, I would say, celebration for the vast majority of Iranians. This is a man, Ali Khamenei, the successor to Ayatollah Khomeini, who has now been killed, who has the blood of countless Iranians and non-Iranians on his hands, people in the region, people who have died at the hands of the proxies, who he has trained and funded.

[18:20:02]

This is a man who has been at the top of a system that has violated the human rights of Iranians en masse for 30 years.

So, yes, the videos we are seeing on the ground in Iran say it all. People feel like justice has been served, and finally this long -- the arc of the moral universe is long, but it seems to have bent towards some kind of justice in a world that just doesn't seem to have dished out justice for the Iranian people.

TAPPER: Well, my worry and I am sure yours, too is what next? What comes next? I mean, Ayatollah Khomeini was awful, he was replaced by Ayatollah Khamenei, I don't know that he was any worse or better. He was just also awful.

The Israeli Army spokesperson just listed a bunch of people that he says have been killed in this operation, the Defense Minister of Iran and lots of others. Is there someone that can run the government that is not a murderous lunatic?

BONIADI: In this system, I don't think that that that's feasible or realistic. But the key is, I think for the middle section, not the top tier of this regime, but the middle section, to understand that their time is limited and to shift their allegiance to the people, put down their arms. The IRGC really needs to understand that these are the final days of this regime and choose the people and not continue to kill innocent civilians.

So as much as we are urging adherence to international law, targeted attacks that avoid civilian casualties because we understand that we need the Iranian people to be able to self-determine, to take to the streets, to be able to say who they want. Of course, the only name that we've heard so far has been Reza Pahlavi, the son of the former monarch, the late monarch in Iran.

It is a slap in the face in a way, to this regime that toppled the monarchy, that chant, "Long live the King" has really been, I think, the final straw for them. This is something that really resonates, I think within society or something where people just don't want this regime anymore.

TAPPER: What are the biggest challenges for the people of Iran over the coming weeks?

BONIADI: Staying safe, staying away from -- out of harms' way, but also communication is key. I mean, it has been 15 hours now since the regime has cut off the internet. I am having problems reaching people, not only loved ones, but dissidents that I have been speaking to on the ground.

We have to ensure -- the international community has to ensure that that that line of communication opens up because without being able to communicate with the people and seeing you know, how they can organize and how they can move forward in demanding their own rights and what they want, it is impossible to know.

But really, we need defections at the mid-level range of the government, the current regime to join the ranks of the people and ensure that the people and the nation comes out of this in one piece peacefully and as quickly as possible and transition to hopefully democracy.

TAPPER: Yes, from your mouth to God's ears, Naz, it is always good to have you on. Thank you so much.

Coming up, more from the Middle East as Iran retaliates following the death of the country's Supreme Leader amid a massive wave of U.S. and Israeli airstrikes.

Fareed Zakaria is going to be here. Stick with CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:27:50]

TAPPER: Welcome back to our breaking news coverage.

President Trump says that Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has been killed. This announcement, coming hours after the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran.

I want to bring in CNN's Fareed Zakaria, host of "Fareed Zakaria: GPS."

Fareed, what does this death mean for the Middle East region considering Tehran already is firing retaliatory strikes not just on Israel, but on Jordan Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the UAE? What does it mean?

FAREED ZAKARIA, CNN HOST, "FAREED ZAKARIA GPS": Well, it is a watershed moment if you think about it, this is the longest serving dictator in the world. He has managed to stay in power for decades, was able to rule Iran with a pretty iron grip.

But Iran is a fairly institutionalized dictatorship. It is a strange hybrid regime, part clerical, part military. I wouldn't be surprised if there is some kind of succession process. There is a Council that's meant to get together and name the next Supreme Leader. That's possibly what will happen.

But I doubt very much that it results in the collapse of the regime. As I say, this is not a personalized dictatorship. This was a regime where there is a clerical establishment, there was a military establishment, there is a relationship between them, so I suspect that battered and beaten as they are, the regime is not going to collapse just because of this one assassination.

TAPPER: So Jordan, Kuwait Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, all countries targeted by Iranian strikes are part of President Trump's so-called Board of Peace.

The only two not included in the strikes that are in the Board of Peace are Israel and Iraq. This coalition is tasked with overseeing a transitional administration in Gaza, but the Board of Peace is also allowed to expand to address conflicts in which it determines that stability or lawful governance are at risk in the region.

Do the Iranian strikes on those countries make Trump's Board of Peace inherently anti-Iran or was it already kind of that way?

ZAKARIA: It really was already that way. If you think about it, all the countries you mentioned are you know, so-called moderate Arab States, Sunni majority states. Iran is Shia, they are Arab; Iran is Persian.

But most importantly, Iran has badly misplayed its hand, being the -- it was attacked in essentially an unprovoked way by the United States and Israel. President Trump claimed there was an imminent danger. There is no factual evidence for that.

So the Iranians could have played this differently. Instead, they've lashed out. They've, as you point out, they've attacked all these countries in kind of militarily meaningless pinprick strikes. But politically, it means all these countries are now much more comfortable with the American-Israeli operation.

[18:30:50]

Countries like Saudi Arabia and the UAE, Jake, had counseled President Trump not to do these attacks. They didn't allow their bases to be used for them. And yet, the Iranians struck them.

So, the Iranians have, rather than driving a wedge between America and its moderate Arab states, they've sort of brought everyone together. So, to an extent, what is happening in the region is the region is now united in opposition to these Iranian attacks. They're attacking Dubai, which has no American base, you know?

TAPPER: Yes. U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer stressed today that Britain played no role in these strikes. But he did add that his country's forces were active in the region. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEIR STARMER, PRIME MINISTER, ENGLAND: British planes are in the sky today as part of coordinated regional defensive operations to protect our people, our interests and our allies.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: How many U.S. US allies do you expect might get pulled into this operation one way or another? ZAKARIA: Not as many as you might think, and certainly not as many as

the Bush administration was able to bring to the Iraq war or the Obama administration was able to bring to Libya. Now, it's interesting that you brought this -- this issue up, Jake, because it's a striking contrast.

The United States, when it has done these operations in the past, has always tried to first work through the U.N., get allies involved, make an argument to the world and to the American people and to Congress, most crucially, about the necessity of this war. The Trump administration has done none of that. It's essentially got one ally, Israel. It has not bothered to consult Congress. It has not bothered to consult the U.N.

So, I doubt very much you'll see the kind of, you know, kind of spirit of allied solidarity that you saw even in the Iraq war, where you had, I think it was 40 nations join the United States. If you listen to the statements being made by other countries, longtime allies of the United States, they're cautious, some of them slightly supportive, some of them slightly distancing themselves, but not a lot of vocal support for the American action.

TAPPER: Fareed Zakaria, thank you so much, appreciate it.

Democratic Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia sits on the Armed Services and Foreign Relations Committees in the U.S. Senate. He calls these strikes a colossal mistake. He joins us next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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TAPPER: We're continuing to monitor the situation in the Middle East after the U.S. and Israel conducted joint strikes throughout Iran. But for a moment, let's return here to the United States where the FBI's counterterrorism and counterintelligence teams have been placed on elevated alert. CNN Chief Law Enforcement and Intelligence Analyst John Miller has more.

John, what does an elevated alert look like?

JOHN MILLER, CNN CHIEF LAW ENFORCEMENT AND INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: Well, according to the FBI Director, Kash Patel, he instructed FBI personnel, counterterrorism, and intelligence team to be on high alert as of last night and to basically use all the security assets of the joint terrorism task forces to be within that Iranian threat stream with all eyes on any movement.

According to another source, what that means is the FBI would increase surveillance on priority targets within the Iranian threat as well as task -- local sources, human informants and other sources to provide information as well as scrub technical assets. And that means everything from going over the NSA's collection of any discussions from terrorist targets overseas about a domestic attack in the United States to its own U.S. based court authorized surveillances. So, basically in the joint terrorism task forces and the FBI field

offices, it's all hands-on deck looking at anything that might pop up that needs to be addressed in terms of investigation, intelligence, surveillance and so on. From the big city standpoint, in New York City, that means long guns on the street. That means the CRC teams from the Counterterrorism Bureau at critical infrastructure locations at symbolic targets. It means every precinct has a house of worship car that will be going to local synagogues and other places to say, anything you see is suspicious, we'll be patrolling around.

And you'll see similar programs in cities like L.A., Chicago, Washington, D.C., anybody where they have a police department that has an independent counterterrorism posture.

[18:40:01]

TAPPER: I would imagine that the death of Iran's supreme leader makes this potential terrorist threat worse?

MILLER: By -- by scale, Jake. And what does that mean is, when I was in the NYPD and the FBI, we put a lot of effort to finding out what was the Iranian footprint on U.S. soil in terms of teams that could be capable of carrying out a terrorist attack. And what did we learn from those investigations that they targeted U.S. officials like John Bolton, candidate Donald Trump before the recent election, that they targeted Iranian dissidents on the ground?

What did we not see?

What we didn't see was Iranian plots on U.S. soil, we saw this in other places in the world, but on U.S. soil, we didn't see them targeting an attack for mass casualties. This could be a game changer. When the supreme leader is killed, when the regime is threatened, when the U.S. is involved in something that by any measure could be considered war with Iran, they could up the ante, which is why this posture in places like the FBI and the NYPD has been so much leaned forward in the last 24 hours.

TAPPER: John Miller, thanks so much for your expertise.

Democrats are complaining that the surprise attacks on Iran were carried out without any congressional approval. Some are demanding a war powers vote in Congress as early as next week.

Democratic Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia joins us now. He serves in the Senate Armed Services and Foreign Relations Committee.

Senator, you and I have been talking about this issue for more than a decade now, whether the President is a Democrat or a Republican. Democrats have been trying to get a vote to limit the president's war powers. Will the killing of Ayatollah Khamenei impact the urgency of such a vote in one way or another?

SEN. TIM KAINE (D-VA): I think it will, Jake, but the question is bigger than just the vote. Has the U.S. learned nothing from 25 years of war in the Middle East, thousands of U.S. lives lost, troops and private contractors, trillions of dollars expended, hundreds of thousands of civilian deaths across the region, destabilizing the region, which we did when we foolishly invaded Iraq on fake pretenses? We've seen this before, an invasion on fake pretenses.

At least President Bush put together a coalition of global nations in the war against Iraq. At least he came to Congress and sought the constitutionally approved vote in Congress. President Trump is doing this on his own. Nigeria, Venezuela, boat strikes in open waters, two attacks now on Iraq, threatening military action against Colombia, Mexico, Cuba, maybe Greenland.

It's time for Congress to stand up and represent our constituents who are saying we are tired of forever wars, especially in the Middle East. That's the vote that I'll ask my colleagues. And frankly, I'm insisting that my colleagues vote on. It's a bipartisan resolution. It will come up early this week.

TAPPER: You and I have talked about this before, and I think I'm a little less polite about it than you are, but isn't the problem that exactly what you talked about when you talked about the George W. Bush going to war in Iraq, there was a vote on that. And that vote haunted a lot of Democratic senators in particular who later regretted voting to go to war. Some of them, I mean, I don't know that Joe Biden or Chris Dodd or Hillary Clinton or anyone else specifically blamed that vote for why they didn't get the presidential nomination in 2008.

But your colleagues, a lot of them, they don't want skin in the game. They don't want to be -- they want to be able to criticize it if it goes poorly and praise it if it goes well.

KAINE: Yes, so Jake, they want to put our sons' and daughters' skin in the game, and they want to hide from a vote of consequence. Let people be haunted by a bad vote. Let them look in the mirror and ask themselves the question going in, is this war worth it? President Trump has advocated all kinds of reasons for this unnecessary war with Iran. It's because of their nuclear program.

Wait a minute, six months ago, he said he'd obliterated the program. Years ago, he tore up a diplomatic deal that was controlling Iran's nuclear program. He suggested last night the war was justified because Iran interfered in the 2020 election that he refuses to concede that he lost. It's -- it's to protect protesters. Wait a minute, President Trump is sending Iranian refugees back into Iran to face persecution. If he cared about Iranian citizens being oppressed by their government, he wouldn't be doing that at the same time. This was a war without, I can say this, I'm on two committees that give me access to a lot of classified information. There was no imminent threat from Iran to the United States that warrants sending our sons and daughters into yet another war in the Middle East, and I'm going to do everything I can to stop it.

[15:45:05]

TAPPER: So, the argument from President Trump, were he here, might be, we have learned something from 25 years of disastrous Middle East wars. We're not going to have boots on the ground. Everything is being done with -- with the Air Force or with the Navy Flyers, and -- and so that's what we've learned. What would your response to that be?

KAINE: So, we've learned that lesson, so it's okay to kill school children when their schools are hit by U.S. weapons. I don't think that's the message. I don't think that's the message. The President himself said, this is a war of a length that could well lead to soldiers, and airmen, and sailors and marines' deaths. Is it worth it? I mean, is it worth our sons and daughters going into harm's way and risking their lives and risking injury and killing civilians when the President has not expressed a valid rationale for a war like this?

I care deeply about the -- the law, that we should not wage war without a vote of Congress, because I think the Framers of the Constitution decided war was so consequential in the damage to our troops that we shouldn't ask them to risk their lives if we don't have the guts to have a debate and vote that a war is in the national interest. If we do, folks who volunteered for military service were aware this might be the consequence.

But to let a President end-run Congress, end-run the public, not have to advance a rationale and use our troops like a palace guard, moving them here and there at his whim to do whatever he happens to think is a good idea when he wakes up that day, horrible mistake. That's why war was designed in our Constitution to only be something done after careful deliberation. We'll have that deliberation this week, and we'll see whether members of the Senate think we should just hand over war powers to an increasingly, I would say, kind of dissolute and deranged president.

TAPPER: Virginia Democratic Senator, Tim Kaine, I know it was your birthday a few days ago, happy 68th. Thanks for being with us today.

KAINE: You bet, Jake.

TAPPER: Coming up next, the perspective from a Republican Senator who says, quote, "the days of the evil Iranian regime chanting death to America are over." Senator Rick Scott of Florida joins me.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:51:38]

TAPPER: We are continuing to monitor the breaking news in the Middle East following the U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran, and Iran's retaliation late this afternoon. President Trump confirmed that the attacks killed Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Here in the U.S., top Democrats on Capitol Hill, as well as some Republicans, seem angry with the Trump administration's decision to launch the assault without any direct, express approval from Congress. Let's bring in Republican Senator Rick Scott from Florida.

Senator, Secretary of State Marco Rubio notified seven of the Gang of Eight congressional leaders ahead of the strikes, but sources say those lawmakers were not given a full legal justification for the strikes. What do you think the full legal justification is, and should that not have been shared? SEN. RICK SCOTT (R-FL): Well, number one, I -- I've -- I want to

appreciate the President, and I want to appreciate our military. We cut the head off the snake. The -- Iran has been killing American citizens for decades. So, finally, we have a president who's willing to do it. And the objective of this was to stop their missile, their adding more of short and long-range missiles, their add -- their missile launchers. They were threatening our ally, Israel. They were threatening American troops.

They've been negotiating with Iran, and Iran has been arrogant. They said they have the right to rebuild their nuclear weapons and enrich. They wouldn't stop the missile production. So, the President didn't have any option. If you want to defend this country, which this president wants to defend this country, he actually didn't have any option, because, you know, what they've said, and Iran has said for decades, is they want to destroy us and our ally, Israel. So, I'm very appreciative of what the president did. And he has every right to do it.

Every president since Truman has said they have the right for military action without a declaration -- formal declaration of war. So, he's not doing anything different than other presidents.

TAPPER: What would you say to a member of the MAGA coalition who comes to you and says, Senator, this is not what I voted for. President Trump said he was going to end regime change wars. He was going to end military entanglements abroad. And this is the exact opposite of what he said he was going to do. What would you tell that person?

SCOTT: Well, what this president wants to do is, he want -- he doesn't want forever wars. He's against forever wars. If you look at what he's trying to do, he's trying to make the world a safer place. What -- like, this -- what he did by destroying their nuclear weapons last year, what he's doing with this with destroying their ability to produce missiles, he's making the world a better place. What he did in Venezuela, he's making the world a better place.

So, if you look at this, Trump, he wants peace. But we've had presidents appease, appease, coddle and power ran for decades, and that's got to stop.

TAPPER: We just talked to your Democratic colleague, Senator Tim Kaine. He wants the Senate to return to vote on his war powers resolution, which would block further use of U.S. forces without congressional approval. What -- what do you think of that?

SCOTT: I oppose it. I mean, I -- I -- I want this president to have the power to defend this country. I was -- I was disappointed. I was -- I -- I can't imagine how -- how crazy it was that Democrats wouldn't stand up to say their primary purpose was to defend the freedom, defend the American citizens. So, I want a president has the power, which he has, to defend the freedom of this country.

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I want him to defend us. That's exactly what he's doing. So, I -- I will oppose it.

TAPPER: So, the President said that there could be potential loss of American life in these operations because that's what happens in war. Don't you think that if there is the potential loss of American life that Congress should at least exercise and have some skin in the game to authorize the president to do what he's doing?

SCOTT: Well, clearly we -- we're going to get briefings and we should get briefings and we should know exactly what's going on. They gave us a great briefing after Operation Midnight Hammer. They gave us a great briefing after what happened with -- with -- down in Venezuela with -- so -- with Maduro. So, they're going to give us a briefing and we ought to get a briefing. But the president has ...

TAPPER: But I mean a vote, I mean like a vote.

SCOTT: ... the right and I'm glad he took the right to use military action.

TAPPER: I mean, a vote, though, just up or down. Obviously, you would approve of it. But don't you think Congress should be on record either supporting continued military action or not?

SCOTT: The President -- every president since Truman said he's got the right to use military force without a formal declaration of war. So, this president is -- is using the same authority other presidents have used. I agree with him. I'm glad he did it. It's going to make this world a safer place. I mean, this -- I mean, the -- Iran has been a -- a unbelievable, despicable, horrific regime for decades.

TAPPER: Senator Rick Scott of Florida, thank you, sir. Appreciate your time.

SCOTT: Thanks, Jake.

TAPPER: Ahead on CNN, a historic day reshaping the Middle East as President Trump announces that the Supreme Leader of Iran has been killed. The President of the United States calling on the Iranian people to overthrow what's left of their government. We're live on the ground in the region after this quick break.

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