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U.S. Official Says, Israel Strikes Inside Iran; Blinken Speaks After U.S. Official Says Israel Struck Iran. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired April 19, 2024 - 07:00   ET

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

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C.J. FARLEY, CULTURAL COMMENTATOR: There are a lot of songs to like here, So Long London, But Daddy I Love Him. There's a song called the smallest man that ever lived that has some of the most dramatic lyrics she's end (ph), where she says, were you sent by someone who wanted me dead, did you sleep with a gun underneath our bed? Were you writing a book, were you a sleeper cell spy and 50 years old this be declined.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN ANCHOR: Yes.

FARLEY: I would hate to be the person to be the person who that's about but there are a lot of strong words like that that's going to be addressed at singular people. But I think they're more universal than they sound on the surface.

ACOSTA: Great. C.J. Farley, we're all going to be listening this weekend. Thanks so much.

Thanks to our panel, and thank you for joining us this morning. I'm Jim Acosta.

CNN News Central starts right now. Have a great day, Swifties.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: Our breaking news, Israel strikes Iran hours after a stark warning from Iran that it will respond with maximum effect. But this morning, we're seeing what appears to be the first signs of relief around the world as a source in the region declares direct strikes between the two enemies are now over and both nations so far seem to be downplaying it all.

We are standing by right now to hear from U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken. He is in Italy right now and will deliver his first remarks since Israel's strike.

Here's what's happened. U.S. officials confirm Israel carried out an attack overnight at a military base near the city of Isfahan. Iran says air defenses intercepted three drones.

Israel has vowed retaliation for the barrage of missiles that Iran launched last weekend into Israel. So, what message did Israel intend to send? And where does the risk for wider conflict stand at this hour?

We have live team coverage in Israel and Washington. CNN's Jeremy Diamond is in Tel Aviv. Kylie Atwood is at the State Department.

Jeremy, what are you hearing in Israel right now?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, look, over the course of the last nearly week since Iran carried out that attack on Israel, we have been hearing this talk of threading the needle, of trying to find a way for Israel to respond militarily to what they viewed as a crossing of a red line by Iran, by carrying out an attack from Iranian soil targeting Israel directly, using its own forces rather than its proxy forces in the region.

And it appears that this response that we saw last night done very quietly without any public comment so far from the Israeli government, appears to have been that attempt to thread the needle, to carry out an attack on Iranian soil without doing so publicly and without, it seems, causing significant casualties.

What we understand from a regional intelligence source is that Iran is not expected to retaliate any further, basically this source saying that the tit-for-tat between these two countries, at least directly, again, I'm not talking about the battles between their proxy forces, but at least directly, that this exchange of fire appears to be over for the moment.

And that is quite notable because it was only yesterday that we heard the Iranian foreign minister warning directly that if Israel struck Iran directly, that Iran's response would be immediate and it would be overwhelming.

And so it appears that this kind of quiet attack that Israel appears to have carried out overnight in terms of public messaging, that that may have been enough to avoid that kind of retaliation and to avoid all-out war between these two countries.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: And, Kylie, we're standing by. We're showing a live picture now of the lectern in Italy where Tony Blinken is going to be speaking. What do you expect? What are you already hearing from state right now?

KYLIE ATWOOD, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, listen, all eyes are really on what the Secretary of State is going to say. I think it's important to note that we heard from him. The latest on this was Monday. He said that he had spent the last 36 hours up until that point coordinating with diplomatic partners in the region trying to prevent escalation.

Of course, we know that after the attack was initially carried out by Iran on Israel, the Biden administration was very swift to say that they believed that Israel should take it as a win. There weren't any of those drones or those missiles that broke through the defenses of Israel alongside the U.S., and many of Israel's allies were able to really defend Israel in a very strong way. They thought that Israel should take it as a win. So, it presumably would mean that the U.S. didn't want there to be any response by Israel.

But we'll have to watch and see how they respond to this type of attack, which appears, as Jeremy was saying, to have threaded that needle that folks were looking for Israel to potentially do.

I think it's important to note that the secretary of state is in Italy because he's there for a meeting with his G7 partners. All of the foreign ministers in the G7 have been meeting this week. One of the things, of course, that they have been talking about is the tension in the Middle East.

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We just heard from the Italian foreign minister speaking with reporters just here before the secretary of state is expected to do so. And he confirmed that the U.S. had been informed that Israel was going to go ahead with this attack overnight. He said the U.S. was not at all involved, but this was just information that was provided to the United States.

I also think it's important to note that the secretary of state said earlier this week in what appeared to be trying to get Israel to go for a de-escalatory response, saying, quote, that strength and wisdom need to be different sides of the same coins. We'll watch to see what he says now that Israel has actually carried this out.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Jeremy, what is known about what was hit with what from where?

DIAMOND: Well, we don't have enormous details about the specificities of these attacks, but one of the targets appears to have been Isfahan, where the Iranian military has a base there. There is also historic symbolism as it relates to that target. There also appear to have been air defense targets in Syria that the Israeli military has struck.

But, again, the details are coming through kind of in drips and drabs, especially because we don't have anything official from the Israeli government or from the Israeli military acknowledging this attack.

But I do want to kind of focus back on what the Iranian foreign minister said yesterday just hours before Israel carried out this strike. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HOSSEIN AMIR-ABDOLLAHIAN, IRAN MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS: In case of a repeated adventure-seeking and adventurism of the Israeli regime, what will our maximum response be? I can only say that it will be carried out at a maximum level and it will be regretful for them. The details have been planned by the armed forces of my country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DIAMOND: And so, as we were talking about, that was a pretty grave warning from the Iranian foreign minister just hours before it appears that Israel carried out these strikes, and yet we didn't see that response from Iran.

We didn't see that immediate and overwhelming response, and part of that appears to be because of the way in which Israel carried out this strike, by doing so without any kind of public fanfare, without any kind of public acknowledgment, allowing Iran to effectively save face in the process, to avoid the embarrassment or needing a sense that they would need to retaliate once again. So, again, for now, at least, things appear to be quiet.

I also think that one more point to make is the fact that the Israeli prime minister, as he has been deliberating over the course of the last week, he has been facing enormous pressure from the United States and from other countries that helped Israel carry out that enormous and very successful air defense operation in the early hours of Sunday morning when Iran carried out its attack with more than 300 drones and ballistic missiles.

And in those days, we have seen the United States, the United Kingdom and other countries beginning to level more diplomatic pressure, more sanctions on Iran once again, and if you know anything about Benjamin Netanyahu, that kind of anti-Iran coalition has always been something that he has sought to strengthen.

And in this, he certainly saw an opportunity to do so, and there's no question that if he had carried out a strike that had escalated things further, that he could have risked that coalition crumbling once again.

BERMAN: All right, Jeremy Diamond in Tel Aviv, Kylie Atwood at the State Department.

Again, we are standing by to hear from U.S. Secretary of State, Antony Blinken. These will be -- hang on one second. I believe the secretary is walking, and let's put this up on the screen. There we go.

Antony Blinken is walking toward the microphone right now. His first comment, since what appears to be some kind of a de-escalatory strike.

ANTONY BLINKEN, SECRETARY OF STATE: Well, good afternoon, everyone. It is a great pleasure to be here in Capri, in Italy, and I want to begin by thanking our hosts, Prime Minister Meloni, my friend and colleague, Foreign Minister Tajani, for not only their wonderful hospitality, but also their remarkable leadership.

The G7 is in many ways a steering committee for the world's most advanced democracies. And we emerge from this meeting of foreign ministers more united than ever, more united in facing critical challenges that lie before the international community, including Russia's aggression against Ukraine, the conflict in the Middle East, and as well the importance of sustaining, supporting a free and open Indo-Pacific.

These and many other subjects were the focus of our conversations over the last two days, which I found to be extremely productive. And, again, what strikes me the most, and you can really see this over the last three years, is the extraordinary convergence in our approaches to these challenges, convergence between the United States, Europe and major partners in Asia.

[07:10:08] Let me touch on some of the most important things that we discussed and concluded over these past couple of days. And, of course, I commend to you the statement that we've put out or will soon be out on the part of the entire G7.

First, the G7 condemned the unprecedented Iranian attack on Israel, unprecedented in scope and scale, scope because it was a direct attack on Israel from Iran, scale because it involved more than 300 munitions, including ballistic missiles.

We're committed to Israel's security. We're also committed to de- escalating, to trying to bring this tension to a close. You saw as well, or you'll see soon in the G7 statement, a commitment to hold Iran to account, to account for its destabilizing activities, holding it to account by degrading its missile and drone capabilities.

And yesterday, the United States announced additional sanctions on Iran, targeting UAV programs, the steel industry, companies that are associated with the IRGC, the Ministry of Defense and its armed forces logistics. The G7 statement makes clear that G7 countries will adopt additional sanctions or other measures in the days ahead.

Even as we've been dealing with the conflict in the Middle East and, again, the unprecedented attack by Iran on Israel, we've remained intensely focused on Gaza. We urge the rapid implementation of Israel's humanitarian assistance commitments, more aid, more crossings, better de-confliction, better distribution of the assistance to all who need it.

We've seen important steps over the last couple of weeks, with more crossings opening, more aid getting in, more aid getting around. But we need to see sustained results and we need in particular to make sure that there is distribution throughout Gaza.

We also focused on the imperative of getting to a ceasefire with the release of hostages. Such a ceasefire would facilitate the dramatic expansion in humanitarian assistance. It would also let Gazans return to the north, those who have been displaced from the north.

The only thing, the only thing standing between the Gazan people and a ceasefire is Hamas. It's rejected generous proposals from Israel. It seems more interested in a regional conflict than it is in a ceasefire that would immediately improve the lives of the Palestinian people. It continues to move the goalposts. And the world needs to know and needs to understand, again, that the only thing standing between a ceasefire and the Gazan people is Hamas.

The G7 is also very clear in its unwavering support for Ukraine, faced with aggression from Russia. Putin thinks that he can outwait Ukraine, and outwait Ukraine's supporters. The message coming out of Capri is he can't. Every G7 member is making extraordinary contributions to Ukraine's defense.

And as I've said before, this is the best burden sharing that I've ever seen across the Atlantic in more than 30 years of being engaged in these issues, with Europe, as well as Asian partners, picking up more than their share of the load.

I want to particularly recognize Prime Minister Meloni for her leadership, her decisive leadership. We can see two things right now. Together, we are helping to put Ukraine on a long-term path where it will stand strongly on its own two feet, militarily, economically, democratically.

More than now 30 countries are engaged in negotiating, and some have concluded negotiations with Ukraine on security packs. And together with what I'm convinced will emerge from the NATO summit, you can see Ukraine effectively building a force for the future, one that can deter aggression and defeat it as necessary.

We're working to drive private sector investment into Ukraine, and also help it develop its own defense industrial base in ways that will provide for a strong, enduring economy. And, of course, now that the accession path to the E.U. is open, that will help Ukraine de-proof its democracy.

But even as we're doing all of that, we heard clearly from Foreign Minister Kuleba that it's imperative that in this moment, Ukraine get more resources that it needs to deal with the ongoing Russian aggression. It needs more air defenses.

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It needs more munitions. It needs more artillery. Allies and partners, including the G7 countries, are committed to delivering on that.

We discussed steps to provide more assistance more immediately to Ukraine. We also discussed ways to protect and help restore its energy grid, which Russia has sought to decimate. And here, again, I think we can see important steps that were already taken, but more to overcome in making sure that Ukraine has sustainable energy for its people.

We're also working to strengthen efforts to disrupt the transfer of weapons and also inputs for Russia's defense industrial base. When it comes to weapons, what we've seen, of course, is North Korea and Iran primarily providing things to Russia.

But when it comes to Russia's defense industrial base, the primary contributor in this moment to that is China. We see China sharing machine tools, semiconductors, other dual-use items that have helped Russia rebuild the defense industrial base that sanctions and export controls had done so much to degrade.

Now, if China purports, on the one hand, to want good relations with Europe and other countries, it can't, on the other hand, be fueling what is the biggest threat to European security since the end of the Cold War. And you don't have to just take that from me. This is what I heard around the table at the G7.

Progress on solutions also to use Russia's sovereign assets for Ukraine was on the agenda. And here, I think we're working on getting to an agreement on that consistent with international law, consistent with different countries' laws. The Kremlin has called this theft. The real theft is in Ukrainians' lives taken, in so much of Ukraine's infrastructure destroyed, in so much of its land seized. Being able to use these Russian sovereign assets to help rebuild Ukraine is critical, and it's also something that one way or another, one day or another, is going to happen.

It's also a complement to, but not a substitute for, the assistance that we all need to be providing in the moment to Ukraine, and in particular, the supplementary budget request that President Biden has made and that it appears will be before the House this weekend.

And, again, I just want to emphasize two things. First, this money and everything it will provide is urgently needed by Ukraine, by its people who are so bravely defending their country and defending their democracy.

Second, as I said, we have European and other partners, including in Asia, who are doing so much themselves to help provide for Ukraine. And finally, virtually all of the supplemental will be invested in the United States, in defense production, in our own defense industrial base, and that means good jobs in the United States.

Finally, we focused intensely over these last couple of days on reaching out to new partners, and this includes in the Indo-Pacific, where we're working to promote a free and open Indo-Pacific. Here, I think it's very instructive that the support that Russia has received from China, from North Korea, from Iran, demonstrates that security in Europe, security in Asia, and other parts of the world are indivisible. They're deeply connected. And this is something, again, that we heard around the table over these last couple of days.

But the G7 is united on the need for peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, the South China Sea, the Korean Peninsula, and also united in standing up to China's unfair and non-market practices, especially when it comes to overcapacity, that is flooding the markets of our own countries with new products and technologies that are heavily subsidized and so underpriced, driving our own businesses out of the market and seeking to dominate these markets themselves. Again, this is a very clear common concern among all of our countries.

Finally, the other piece of this is that the G7 continues to work to deepen engagement with global partners to help deliver results everywhere. We had the chair of the African Union with us yesterday for very good conversations. And what we're really looking at is working in practical ways with countries in Africa and beyond to make clear, tangible, deliverable improvements in the lives of their people and as a result, the lives of our own people.

We have the A.U. that's now a member of the G20.

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We're particularly focused on how Africa can play its rightful role in meeting both regional and global challenges. There is growing collaboration on infrastructure and technology to improve connectivity, to build resilience. We reaffirmed our commitment to sustainable development and especially to the sustainable development goals. Also to reforming the international financial institutions, multilateral development banks to make them both more representative and more effective and responsive to meeting the needs of countries around the world, addressing issues like climate change, debt, food security.

So, in all of these areas, I found the conversations and the work over the last couple of days reflected in the statement that you'll see.

BOLDUAN: All right. We're listening in to Tony Blinken speaking in Italy right now. This is his first remarks, really, from the United States, the top U.S. official after the Israeli strike in Iran.

Let's bring back in Kylie Atwood, Jeremy Diamond, back with us. They've been listening. Also with us, retired U.S. Army Major General James Spider Marks and also James Clapper, the former director of National Intelligence.

All stand by. Let's head back in because Tony Blinken's taking questions.

REPORTER: Mr. Secretary, there is a lot to ask you about today, so with your indulgence. First on Israel's strikes in Iran, was the U.S. indeed alerted in advance how far ahead of time, and did it raise any objections when it was?

BLINKEN: Are the strikes now over, and do you have any indication at this early stage via direct or indirect messaging that Iran will respond? And have there been any changes in Iran's nuclear program?

On Israel, there are reports that your department has made recommendations to cut military aid to certain Israeli units for possible human rights violations in the West Bank before October 7th. Will you take action on those recommendations?

And finally, on the recent U.S. assessments you mentioned that China may be growing its support for Russia for its war effort in Ukraine, do you believe that President Xi is sensing an opportunity amid flagging U.S. support to the Ukrainians? Thank you, sir.

BLINKEN: Thanks, Olivia (ph). On the first question, the reports that you've seen, I'm not going to speak to that except to say that the United States has not been involved in any offensive operations. What we're focused on, what the G7 is focused on, and, again, it's reflected in our statement and in our conversation, is our work to de- escalate tensions, to de-escalate from any potential conflict.

You saw Israel on the receiving end of an unprecedented attack, but our focus has been on, of course, making sure that Israel can effectively defend itself, but also de-escalating tensions, avoiding conflict, and that remains our focus.

Again, I'm not going to speak to anything other than to say we were not involved in any offensive operations.

With regard to the other questions, first, on China and Russia, look, I think that what we're seeing is a product of the relationship between those two countries. You've heard them speak to it, including just before Russia's aggression against Ukraine. We've made it very clear to China, and many other countries have as well, that they should not be supplying Russia with weapons for use in its aggression against Ukraine.

We've not seen the direct supply of weapons, but as I said, what we have seen is not only the direct supply, but the critical supply of inputs, of components for Russia's defense industrial base, which is allowing two things. It's allowing Russia to continue the aggression against Ukraine. It's also helping Russia overall rebuild its defense forces and defense capacity that so much damage has been done to by the Ukrainians, but also by our sanctions and export controls.

And that means that not only is Russia a current threat to Ukraine, it will remain an enduring threat to other European countries. And that's why I said China can't have it both ways. It can't purport to want to have positive, friendly relations with countries in Europe, and at the same time be fueling the biggest threat to European security since the end of the Cold War.

That was very clear from our conversations around the table. I believe Europeans have expressed that, and will continue to express that clearly to China in the days and weeks ahead.

Oh, I'm sorry. So, on that, I think you're referring to the so-called Leahy law and our work under that. So, this is a very important law, and it's one that we apply across the board. And when we're doing these investigations, these inquiries, it's something that takes time.

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That has to be done very carefully both in collecting the facts and analyzing them.

And that's exactly what we've done. And I think it's fair to say that you'll see results very soon. I've made determinations. You can expect to see them in the days ahead.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For the next question, Oliviero Bergamini with Rai Tg5.

REPORTER: Good afternoon, two quick questions. First, do you have the feeling that today's strike was limited so that Iran was not compelled to react? In that sense, are you optimistic about not a big war breaking out?

And there is an Iran issue. Do you think that in the future, other countries like Italy that has historical ties with Iran could play a role in the de-escalation and stabilization that you mentioned?

BLINKEN: Thank you.

Well, two things. Again, I'm not going to speak to these reported events. All I can say is that, for our part, and for the entire G7, our focus has been on de-escalation, on avoiding a larger conflict. And actually, that's been true since day one after the horrific events of October 7th. A big part of our approach has been to prevent the conflict from spreading, to avoid escalation everywhere. And that's a common policy across the G7. And it's very much our approach now. So we've been engaged in efforts to avoid escalation. Those efforts will continue.

Italy plays a critical role in this. As a leading country, as a country that's engaged around the world with many other countries that have their own relationships with countries involved in the Middle East, Italy has its own direct engagements.

And I think what we've seen over the past ten days or so, a couple of weeks, is that those engagements have been and remain very important to keeping things calm, to avoiding escalation, to preventing a larger conflict. Italy is an important player in this.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nadia Bilbassy with Al Arabiya.

REPORTER: Thank you, Mr. Secretary. I want to pursue again on the Iran question. It seems that both the Iranian and the Israeli responses were measured and calculated. Would you say that now we are averting a major confrontation and a possible war?

And what messages would the U.S. play in sending to both sides for restraint? And are we back to the proxy war?

And if you allow me on Rafah, the U.S. position is very clear. You are opposed to a military operation in Rafah as long as there is no plan to evacuate 1.5 million Palestinian civilians. The Israeli government is adamant to go ahead. What is your understanding of the plan now and what is acceptable for the U.S.?

And finally, on the U.N. Security Council, the United States locks isolated yesterday. Your allies, close allies, France, Japan, and South Korea, both voted for admitting Palestine as a member. The Israelis, including Netanyahu, on the record, saying they opposed the two-state solution. So what is the path forward and what message do you give to Palestinians and to moderates in the region if you truly want to isolate extremists? Thank you.

BLINKEN: Thanks very much for the questions. Let me simply, first of all, repeat what our focus has been and what it remains, de- escalation, avoiding conflict, and so, yes, calling on all concerned to exercise restraint.

That's what we've been doing over the last couple of weeks. And as necessary, that's what we'll continue to do. And, again, that's reflected in the statement that you'll see coming from all of the G7 countries.

On Rafah, we have been very clear about this, President Biden has been very clear about this. We cannot support a major military operation in Rafah. First, there are currently somewhere around 1.4 million people in Rafah, many of them displaced from other parts of Gaza. In the first instance, it's imperative that people are able to get out of the way of any conflict. And doing that, getting people out of harm's way, is a monumental task for which we've yet to see a plan. And not only getting them out of harm's way, making sure that they can be supported with humanitarian assistance if they're out of harm's way.

But, second, even if people are largely out of harm's way, inevitably there's going to remain a pretty significant civilian population in Rafah. And we believe that a major military operation with a large presence of a civilian population would have terrible consequences for that population.

We are committed, as Israel is, to ensuring that Gaza cannot be controlled by Hamas.

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We've seen the devastation and destruction that have resulted from --