Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

U.S. And Israel Attack Iran; Tehran Retaliates Across Middle East; Iran Launches Strikes Against Seven Countries With U.S. Military Bases; Numerous Lawmakers Object To Strike Without Congressional Approval. Aired 12-1p ET

Aired February 28, 2026 - 12:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:00:45]

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN HOST: And the breaking news this hour is a major attack is underway in Iran right now as the United States and Israel are carrying out strikes across the country. Iran is in turn retaliating in a way that we haven't seen before. As the President is calling for the overthrow of the government there and telling the Iranian people, quote, "When we are finished, take over your government. It will be yours to take."

In just the last hour, the Israeli military says it has launched another set of strikes targeting Iran's missile launchers. And right now, Iran is hitting back, launching a wave of strikes toward Israel and across the Middle East.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh my God!

(BOMB EXPLOSION)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Explosions have been seen and heard in the UAE, Bahrain, Qatar and in Dubai, where all flights to and from airports have been suspended so far. In Doha, which is the capital of Qatar, there's been video of a missile fragment falling to the ground and exploding. Iran says that it's targeting U.S. military facilities in several countries in the Persian Gulf, while also firing missiles toward Israel.

In Iran's capital of Tehran, satellite imagery shows black smoke billowing from the compound of Iran's supreme leader, the Ayatollah Khamenei. An Israeli military official says several senior Iranian figures have been killed in these strikes. But right now, based on what we know, we're still trying to learn more. Iran's foreign minister is telling NBC that Khamenei is still alive as far as he knows.

Iranian state media is reporting that one of the strikes hit a girls' school in a southern part of Iran. And according to a regional governor there, at least 63 students were killed, 92 have been injured and more are still trapped under the rubble. CNN has not been able to independently verify those reports, I should note, but we are working to do so.

As for why all of this is happening and what you've been seeing play out on your screens this morning, that is still a major question for the Trump administration. In a video that was posted to his own social media website around 2:30 a.m. this morning, President Trump laid out his argument in about eight minutes, arguing the goal is not only to eliminate Iran's nuclear capability, but also to destroy its navy and bring about regime change.

He was wearing a white hat and standing in front of the presidential seal as he called on Iranians to topple their leader while also bluntly acknowledging that United States forces could die as a result of this effort.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This regime will soon learn that no one should challenge the strength and might of the United States Armed Forces. I built and rebuilt our military in my first administration and there is no military on earth even close to its power, strength or sophistication.

My administration has taken every possible step to minimize the risk to U.S. personnel in the region. Even so, and I do not make this statement lightly, the Iranian regime seeks to kill. The lives of courageous American heroes may be lost and we may have casualties that often happens in war, but we're doing this not for now. We're doing this for the future. And it is a noble mission.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: We start our coverage in the Middle East this hour. CNN's Jeremy Diamond is in Tel Aviv. And Jeremy, obviously, I've been watching as sirens have been going off there in Tel Aviv as Iran has been retaliating for this attack. What's the latest on the ground so far?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kaitlan, Iran's retaliation for those U.S. and Israeli strikes began about two hours after Israel announced that those strikes had begun inside of Iran. That is a much shorter window than what we saw the last time when this conflict escalated back in June. It took Iran about 18 hours to fire its first ballistic missile barrage towards Israel, so a much shorter timeline.

But it took some time until this evening when we really began to see the cadence and the number of ballistic missiles that Iran was firing towards Israel begin to pick up pace in quite a significant way. Over the course of the last couple of hours, you know, every 15 minutes or so, we and millions of other people across Israel have been going to bomb shelters to take cover from anticipated Iranian ballistic missiles coming in.

[12:05:13] But so far, the damage in Israel seems to be relatively muted. We've seen some impacts as a result of falling shrapnel interceptions. A couple of people have suffered moderate injuries. But it really has been quite muted as it relates to what we could potentially anticipate from the damage that these ballistic missiles can and have caused in the past.

We know that the Israeli officials have said that they targeted senior Iranian military figures. And now an Israeli military official told me that Israel believes that it has killed several of those senior Iranian figures, although they have not yet named them. They said that the strikes against some of these senior figures came with three separate strikes simultaneously conducted where Iranian leaders were believed to be gathering.

And so far, Israeli officials that I and my colleagues have been speaking to have been sounding quite optimistic about the results of those strikes. But those strikes have certainly continued. And the bulk of Iran's retaliation, while it has certainly picked up here in Israel, it really has been directed a lot at U.S. bases in the Gulf, but also hitting populated areas. Cities such as Dubai and Doha in Qatar have borne the brunt of some of this Iranian retaliation so far.

We know that here in Israel, there is certainly a huge kind of air defense effort that is underway. Not only Israel's own air defense assets, but also U.S. assets that have been placed in the region in anticipation of this very scenario. Both Patriot and THAAD missile defense systems, but also a U.S. aircraft carrier strike group that's just off the coast of northern Israel and can also assist in that air defense effort.

COLLINS: Yes, I think you make a good point, Jeremy, about where this retaliation is happening. It's not just on military bases. I mean, we just saw an Iranian drone hitting near the Fairmont in Dubai, a very heavily populated area.

And I saw earlier this photo that Prime Minister Netanyahu posted. He's on the phone with President Trump. Do we know anything else about that phone conversation so far, Jeremy?

DIAMOND: We don't have a lot of information, but I can tell you from speaking to Israeli officials that they have been talking about very close coordination between the U.S. and Israel up until right now. But also in, you know, the weeks leading up to this.

The Israeli -- an Israeli military official I spoke to told me that there were thousands of hours of planning between U.S. and Israeli military officials to develop the target bank that Israel and the United States have used today to carry out these strikes.

One interesting point that I would note on the kind of division of labor, as it were, between the U.S. and Israel on these strikes. The United States seems to have focused largely on military targets only, you know, as it relates to Iranian military sites and locations, the ballistic missile program, nuclear sites. Israel has done that, but they have also been clearly -- clear in taking responsibility for the strikes on senior Iranian leaders. We have not heard the United States take any part of responsibility or credit in that effort. We'll see whether or not that changes should an announcement be made that, for example, the Iranian supreme leader has been killed, which we do not yet know at this stage.

We do know that he has been targeted, and so far it's been described to us as purely the Israeli part of these strikes, not the United States, which has stressed so far our focus on military structures inside of Iran.

COLLINS: OK. Keep us updated, Jeremy, on what you're learning about that. And also, please stay safe. As you need to go inside, please do. We'll check back in with Jeremy on the ground in Tel Aviv as we're monitoring all of this.

And as I noted, the President's case for why this is happening was made in an eight-minute video that he posted on Truth Social overnight. And a short time ago, we also heard from the press secretary at the White House when it comes to why this is happening and what exactly this looks like.

I want to go to CNN's Kristen Holmes, who is monitoring all of this for us. And, Kristen, I want to note we did hear from the Senate minority leader, Chuck Schumer. He said in a statement that he wants the administration to brief Congress.

He wants an immediate all-senators classified briefing. He wants public testimony. He wants the Senate to get back to Washington to reassert its constitutional duty by passing our resolution to enforce the War Powers Act. Have we heard anything from the White House on that front so far?

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: No, we haven't. We don't expect to see the President at least make public remarks later today. Right now, they're pointing to that eight-minute video statement, saying that's the only time that you're going to see him talking about this. Again, publicly, he could always call in.

Remember, he's not just monitoring the situation on the ground there. He's also monitoring the coverage. And, as we know, President Trump, if he doesn't like the messaging out there, could change his mind and decide to get out there and try to publicly control the narrative.

[12:10:04]

But, as of now, White House officials aren't planning that. And, of course, as you mentioned, the biggest question here is why and why now. And President Trump sought to sort of talk about this in that eight-minute video.

At one point, he ticked through a list of Iranian-led assaults on Americans in different areas. He also said that his job as President and the military's job was to defend American people from the -- by eliminating the imminent threat by the Iranian regime. But no details there on exactly what made it so imminent.

And just to reiterate one of your other points as well, he laid out three reasons here for why they were doing this and what the objective was. It was to crush Iran's military. It was to eliminate the nuclear program. And, of course, this idea of regime change, saying, as you noted, that the Iranian people should rise up, they should overthrow the government as soon as the strikes are over.

So you might be wondering, Kaitlan, how exactly that message is going to get to the Iranians, given that there's almost entirely an Internet blackout there. So we did hear from the U.S. agency of global media saying they were boosting through this message to Iranians using satellite. This is through the Voice of America Persian program, trying to get that message from President Trump to the Iranians on the ground. No real clear indication on if that's working.

And, of course, there are still questions here about the timing, which does probably, if you are watching from home, seem somewhat surprising, given the fact that we had been reporting on these diplomatic talks and probably not just the fact that we were reporting on them and talking about how U.S. officials were saying there was progress.

We actually heard from Oman's foreign minister yesterday saying that a peace deal was within reach. He had been mediating those negotiations. So it certainly seemed like that.

Now, President Trump had a different message yesterday as he left for Texas before going down to Florida and before, of course, launching this joint strike, saying that he wasn't happy with the progress of those talks. But that they would be moving -- that they would be talking again later in the day. Obviously, we know how that evening ended.

COLLINS: Yes, clearly signaling that last night those strikes were about to happen. Kristen Holmes, thank you so much for that. We'll check back in if we are expecting to hear from President Trump any further explanation for these attacks.

Joining us now is CNN Military Analyst Colonel Cedric Leighton. And Colonel Leighton, first off, can we just talk about where these strikes have been happening in Iran and also where the counterstrikes, the response from Iran, which is, as Jeremy Diamond was noting, happening way faster than it did when we last saw this action between the United States, between Israel and Iran. What are we looking at right now?

COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Yes, Kaitlan. Well, let's look at first these strikes that have hit Iran. So what you're seeing, of course, is Tehran, the capital, and that's the largest city by far. We've got about 10 million people in that particular metropolitan area.

You've got the holy city of Qom. You've got Isfahan, which has an airbase and other installations that are of a critical targeting nature right there. You have Kermanshah and Tabriz. All of these areas are central to the regime's control, their ability to actually control the population.

Most of the people live in this area of Iran. And these cities are among the key areas, both economically as well as militarily. And this is the center, basically, especially Qom, the center of the regime's power base.

Now, as far as the Israeli situation is concerned and what the Iranians are doing there, when they're firing their counterstrikes against Israel, what the Iranians are doing is they're hitting over here in this area right here. And what the Israelis are doing with their systems, the Iron Dome system, which is the short-range system. Then you've got David's Sling and you've got the Arrow system.

All of those systems, the Arrow system being the one that takes care of the longer-range missiles, that's the one that intercepts the missiles that come in, the long-range missiles that come in from Iran. And when you look at all of these ranges right here, this is what -- these are some of the missiles that the Iranians have. Each one of these has a range anywhere from 1,300 to 2,000 kilometers.

2,000 kilometers is about 1,200 miles. And that can take you not just from Iran, but it covers the entire Middle East and parts of Eastern Europe. So what this means is these are the types of weapons that the Iranians actually have, and they are the ones that can really impact what happens.

The close-range missiles, they are the ones that actually could cover and damage the bases that we have in the region right here. So everything from Al Udeid Air Base to the U.S. 5th Fleet, which is headquartered in Bahrain, Al Dhafra Air Base in the United Arab Emirates, and, of course, Al Salem Air Base in Kuwait. All of these have been struck, apparently, or at least targeted by the Iranians.

We know that in Bahrain, there's been at least one strike there. So those are the kinds of targets that they're going after, and this is, of course, critical for the U.S. presence in the region.

[12:15:00]

COLLINS: Yes. And the President noting in that video that U.S. forces could die as a result of this, and obviously we're thinking of all of them.

Colonel Cedric Leighton, we'll keep watching all of this closely. Thank you for that update.

And our breaking news is going to continue. Following these strikes, why these strikes are happening and what could happen next, we've got the President's Former National Security Adviser, John Bolton, here to weigh in right after this quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:20:02]

COLLINS: In announcing the U.S. attacks on Iran, President Trump called for regime change as he laid out why these strikes are happening. And his former national security adviser from his first term, John Bolton, said "Launching military strikes to affect regime change in Tehran is the most consequential decision of Donald Trump's presidency."

And Ambassador John Bolton joins me now. And, Ambassador, I know you support these strikes, but obviously there's going to be a lot of the President's supporters and people in the United States who listen to what he said on the campaign trail and certainly what he said in his first term and say, you know, this is the President who said he was against regime change in the Middle East, that he was against starting new wars. What do you make of -- what would you say to them tonight?

JOHN BOLTON, FORMER TRUMP NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: Well, I think they made the mistake of believing that Donald Trump had a consistent philosophy, national security strategy, and policy, which he doesn't. My only regret is that I wasn't persuasive enough in the first term to get to this point.

COLLINS: In terms of the regime change that the President is calling for -- I mean, we have no idea right now what is the status of Iran's supreme leader, but I think a key question is what would happen next if he is ultimately killed in this attack?

BOLTON: Well, I think at this point, really, the Revolutionary Guard is the governing force in Iran, and that's the element of state power that needs to be destroyed. I think that the division of labor between Israel and the United States makes a lot of sense, but I think the real unknown question at this point is how much we and the Israelis have coordinated with the opposition.

What we need for the Iranians themselves to be doing is looking for weak links in the leadership, looking for the tensions and the fractures and the divisions that can pull the regime apart at the top and bring significant elements over to the side of the opposition, so that at some point the military refused to fire on civilians. Even the Revolutionary Guard rank and file could break and come over.

This is the kind of work behind the scenes that doesn't require us to tell the opposition what we're doing militarily, but requires us to be working with them. I'm not sure that's happening, and that's worrying.

COLLINS: Well, that's a question of what this could look like. I know you were pointing to the comments the President made in his video speaking to the Iranian people. When it comes to how long this could go on for, obviously, there were considerations about this in the first term.

Based on what you've seen so far in what the United States is attacking but also how Tehran is responding, what do you think the American people should be in for? How long could this last?

BOLTON: Well, I think it could last for a while, and I think another problem for Trump, and it's his problem, is that he hasn't prepared the country for what's going on now, hasn't fully explained. He had the eight-minute speech early this morning, but I think more work could have been done in advance. We could have done more work with allies.

But to be sure, there are no significant numbers of American boots on the ground at this point. There may be some special operators and Israelis, but this is not a combat arms operation. It's not infantry, armor, and artillery, and I doubt that it would be.

So once we have eliminated air defenses to the extent that that's possible, and I think it's very possible the Israelis were at -- work at it, once we've eliminated Iran's ballistic missile capability, which you're seeing in the -- deployed in the region now, then it becomes very hard for them in a military sense to pose much difficulty for us. And we can take all the time that we need systematically to turn the Revolutionary Guard bases and headquarters into ash heaps.

Iran has other threats, certainly. International terrorism is a very real threat, and I think we all need to be more on guard about that. But in terms of how we convince what's left of the leadership in Iran that the regime's days are numbered, that's what you need to instill, the feeling that if they stick with the regime, they're going to be on the wrong side at the end, and that helps further defections.

COLLINS: Yes. Did you -- most Americans might be used to watching a president in the Oval Office or, you know, in a speech like the State of the Union on Tuesday night where there's a huge audience watching, lay out the case for what we are seeing play out right now. Did you find that video that was posted at 2:30 this morning where the President's wearing a hat and it's only about eight minutes long, did you find that unusual?

BOLTON: Well, I found it very Trumpian, so I guess by definition it's unusual. I mean, I have grown up in the period when the serious President behind the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office was the way you explain to the American people we were in for a crisis. And I don't know why recent presidents have abandoned it. I think it's the way to go, but that's just my personal preference.

COLLINS: Ambassador John Bolton, thank you for joining us and hopping on during this breaking news. I really appreciate it.

BOLTON: Thank you.

[12:25:03]

COLLINS: And our breaking news coverage of these airstrikes in Iran will continue. Up next, I'm going to speak to a member of the House Armed Services Committee as Congress is asking, what is the legal justification for what's playing out right now?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: And on our breaking news, there are air raid sirens ringing out in Tel Aviv as Israel has intercepted a wave of missiles and drones that have been launched their direction by Iran. Retaliation after the United States and Israel both conducted major strikes across Iran in the early hours this morning.

[12:30:02]

The Israeli military says it's carried out another set of strikes targeting Iran's missile launchers. As we're seeing explosions play out across the region, including in the United Arab Emirates, along with Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Qatar and also Bahrain.

That is a missile hitting near a United States Navy base in Bahrain, which reportedly struck the service center for the Navy's Fifth Fleet. As we're monitoring all of this, I'm joined tonight and or this afternoon, I should note by Congressman Jason Crow, who is a former paratrooper and Army Ranger and serves on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and the Armed Services Committee.

Congressman, were just talking a little over 12 hours ago about the potential for this happening. What's your reaction to what you've seen play out so far?

REP. JASON CROW (D-CO): Well, here we go again, Caitlin. You know, this president apparently has learned nothing from the 20-plus years of war. The trillions of dollars that Americans, mainly the working class, spent, the thousands of working class kids' lives and the fact that, you know, we are spending billions of dollars on this operation and it's not putting groceries on your table. It's not helping you buy a home. It's not helping you send a kid to school.

This is not what Americans want. You know, don't get me wrong, I am for American strength in the wise use of American power. And I wouldn't hesitate to use the American military to protect Americans and our interests. But I just don't see at all how this is what Americans want. And of course, as a member of Congress, I'm going to stand up and say enough is enough.

COLLINS: One thing you said last night before this happened was someone who was served talking about the decisions that are made in Washington. But the people who actually have to carry out those decisions, the men and women in the armed forces. There was something that President Trump said in his video explaining these strikes overnight that I want you to listen to.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: The administration has taken every possible step to minimize the risk to U.S. personnel in the region. Even so, and I do not make this statement lightly, the Iranian regime seeks to kill. The lives of courageous American heroes may be lost and we may have casualties. That often happens in war. But we're doing this not for now, we're doing this for the future. And it is a noble mission.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Do you fear that could happen as a result of this?

CROW: Well, listen, I'm just damn furious. You know, the man's a five time draft dodger. He's an elite. And you know, I went to war, I fought with working class kids, they're the ones that do the fighting and dying. And how amazing of Donald Trump to say, you know, that often happens in war, and that's a cost he's willing to take. Great for him. It's not his kids, it's not his family, it's not his billionaire donors who are having to go off and do it.

It's kids in towns across the country that have to pick up the guns, jump into the planes and helicopters and get it done. And it's kids that are sitting there at military bases in Bahrain, like your videos showing now, who are sitting in bunkers right now because Donald Trump is willing to take a chance with their lives.

This is everything that's wrong with our national security infrastructure and our policies, right? Elites make decisions, they talk tough, they pound their chests, and then everybody else is left holding the bag. Enough is enough, right? Let's actually have a conversation about what is in our interests, what we're willing to do with American lives, what we're willing to do with American taxpayer dollars. And it's Congress that is supposed to have that responsibility, right?

I'm not interested in process arguments, but what I am interested in is accountability. And the Constitution put that accountability on Congress to take the votes, be held responsible for it, and to go home and sit in high school gymnasiums and Rotary clubs and forums around the country and to be held accountable for those decisions.

COLLINS: So you want to see a congressional vote on this?

CROW: Heck, yes, I do. I think we should go back to D.C. right now. I'm willing to jump on a plane in an hour and go home and take up a vote on this. Because that is what the American people deserve, right? They deserve accountability. They deserve to know who is willing to take chances with their national security, their kids' lives, their taxpayer dollars. Let's take the vote. I want names.

COLLINS: Do you believe the United States is at war with Iran? Would you classify this as that right now?

CROW: I do think this was an act of war, and I think it was unconstitutional. Right? And again, you can talk about the Constitution, we can talk about process, all well and good, but for me, it's about accountability.

[12:35:00]

The reason why we need to take the vote and my Congress needs to be held responsible is because we need to tally it up, take the votes. People need to know where folks stand, right? For 20 years went to war in Iraq and Afghanistan and there were very few votes, if any, for years. We financed it with debt that's now sitting on our debt rolls. Trillions of dollars and look how they turned out. Right.

Nobody's ever going to tell me sitting here today that if Congress had to take yearly votes and to spend money, not debt money, but taxpayer dollar money every year, that those wars wouldn't have ended sooner or differently. Right. Americans deserve better than that. And that's what I'm going to fight for. COLLINS: Congressman Jason Crow, thank you for joining us today.

CROW: Thank you.

COLLINS: And we have more coverage of our breaking news and similar demands from Republicans in Congress who also want to vote on what's playing out in Iran now. That's ahead in just a moment.

And also, what are the diplomatic ripple effects around the region on the heels of these strikes that are very much affecting U.S. allies?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:40:46]

COLLINS: And welcome back to our breaking news coverage as right now Democratic leaders in the House and the Senate are calling for the administration to immediately brief Congress after the United States and Israel launched an attack on Iran. You heard Jason Crow there saying he actually wants a vote in Congress on what's taking place right now.

The president has described it as a massive and ongoing military campaign, making clear he did not choose limited strikes here, as we know had been presented to him as options. We heard from the House minority leader, Hakeem Jeffries. He weighed in on social media and said Donald Trump promised to keep America out of costly and endless foreign wars. He is now doing the exact opposite in the Middle East. Hakeem Jeffries says Congress must vote on a war powers resolution immediately.

Echoing those statements we heard from Homeland Security member Senator Andy Kim, who told Wolf Blitzer earlier today he wants lawmakers back in Washington.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. ANDY KIM (D-NJ): Right now I have zero confidence in this president who has so flagrantly violated our Constitution. That is why we should have Congress immediately go back into session for the war powers vote to reassert the American people's will, which again, they don't want to be at war. So I'm ready to go right back to the Senate today. I think we should be having Congress immediately in session to review this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Our senior political and global affairs commentator and also the former White House chief of staff under President Obama, Rahm Emanuel joins me now. And it's great to have you here because obviously, what do you make of what we're hearing from Congress? I mean, you've been inside the West Wing when members of Congress are not happy with steps that the president is taking unilaterally.

Do you think that what we heard from Senator Andy Kim and Congressman Jason Crow is justified? RAHM EMANUEL, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL AND GLOBAL AFFAIRS COMMENTATOR:

Yes. I mean, you have a situation. The president called for regime change. So it's not a military action. It's a war that is a maximalist approach. And Congress has to stop acting like a second tier subservient branch of government is a co-equal branch of government. And it's very clear what the Constitution says.

So I -- don't describe it as a military action when it's a change of government and overthrowing the government, which I want to get to on a later point.

And yes, the United States Congress should take a vote that did not happen in the past. And when you especially given the history of the United States in Libya, it failed in regime change. In Iraq, it failed as a regime change. And in Lebanon in the early 80s when the United States tried to kind of change the government or in some effort or we're over three. If you're going to take this fourth action, you better have an explanation, not only the American people, but also to the United States Congress. Congress needs to put actually the money there.

I will say the United States Congress traditionally is a day late and a dollar short. You had an aircraft carrier there for a month. This should have happened weeks ago. That said, it should happen now.

But I do want to say one other thing if I could, Kaitlan. Everybody talks about regime change. And two points I would say on this in this effort. One is for 47 years the Iranians were a theocracy where the IRGC, the military wing, supported theocracy. You now have theocracy in support of the IRGC. You actually symbolically, if not literally have had a regime change in Iran.

Second, you should approach the Iranian people. You can continue economic impoverishment and isolation or your choice is economic improvement and integration. And if the only way you're going to get regimen, the way that the President's talking about it is with the Iranian people. And they have not been addressed because they own that future. You cannot do it from 25,000 miles up in the air.

COLLINS: So just to clarify, you do what you're seeing play out right now, you believe this is a war?

EMANUEL: Well, when you call for regime change, it is not a military action, it is a war. Congress should be on record, every member, all 435 members of the House, all 100 members of the Senate, make a decision. Put your name on there, yes or no.

Because this is not a limited military action and any capacity, Kaitlan. This is something -- because the President --

COLLINS: Yes.

EMANUEL: -- has given you six explanations. Nukes, ballistic missiles, Navy proxy war capacity to do that. And then regime change.

[12:45:02] It is all of the above and more. It's maximum. So therefore, because of the President's claim, he's the commander-in-chief, the Congress funds the military, it must actually be part of the declaring war. They need to take a vote.

COLLINS: Yes. Well, and a lot of people might be looking at this and all the reasons you just listed there, that's what the president said in his video at 2:30 in the morning and saying, OK, but were told last summer by the White House seven months ago that Iran's nuclear program had been obliterated. So why is this happening now?

And I will note amid the congressional response, we have just learned the White House is working to arrange full Senate and House briefings this week. We'll see if those satisfy members of Congress. But on regime change itself, what happens? We don't know yet. We haven't heard. But if the supreme leader has been killed in this attack, what happens next in Iran?

EMANUEL: Well, nobody, I mean, that's the point. Nobody knows. There's not a real opposition, internal opposition, the Iranian people. One thing that's also weird about this, everybody else is jaundice, if not reluctant about what we're doing. And that's also in the region and around the world.

The people cheering military action are the youth of Iran in the campuses. So it's a little backwards from what you have seen historically on other actions in this effort. And so that is much different in this capacity.

And I do think you don't know about kind of a regime change. This is, as I said, the President's given six to seven. I've counted different objectives of this effort, but the biggest one, which is the change of government, only the Iranian people, both the students and those in the marketplace, they can make that happen.

And you need to address them to say impoverishment, isolation versus improvement and integration. Your choice, your action, this is your window. And that has not happened.

The second thing I think that I will believe that will be after tremors for years. Nowhere ever historically in the Middle East has Israel and the United States as co-pilot, overtly taken military action. In the Gulf War, the first one, Israel stood down. There have been covert cyber attacks. But the idea that the United States and Israel overtly acting in coordination militarily has never happened in the history of the state of Israel. And the United States has never joined itself at the hip or Israel at the hip overtly.

The tremors of that decision will be felt for generations, or at least for the next 30 years in that region because we're taking a step militarily, let alone politically and strategically. We have never done before.

Israel's always said they're going to do military decisions on their own and never ask anybody to spill blood on their behalf. Today you have a pilot and co-pilot American in Israel. Take a -- take a situation on the Gulf War, the first one, Operation Desert Storm. Israel stood down. Now we're overtly doing things.

So my view is we've just seen day one of what could happen for the next 30 years which will change America's position in the Gulf and in that region. And it will be -- we don't know where this ball is going to bounce.

COLLINS: Yes, that's a really good point, especially as we're seeing the UAE condemn these strikes and the strikes, you know, hitting heavily populated places and Dubai. Rahm Emanuel, thank you for joining us on this breaking news.

EMANUEL: Thanks. Thank you.

COLLINS: Really appreciate your perspective. And our live coverage is going to continue. Straight ahead. We have more on what he mentioned there, the ambassador, Israel's role in this major new military campaign that is starting to engulf the Middle East in this war as it is being described by many people now. We have new reporting right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:53:25]

COLLINS: Welcome back to our breaking news coverage of the United States strikes on Iran's and Iran's retaliation. As Iran's foreign minister is saying that as far as he knows, their supreme leader is still alive and their political and military leadership is largely intact. That's obviously still a major question this hour. Joining me now is Barak Ravid, our political affairs analyst, who is also one of the best reporters in this region, one of the best source reporters.

And Barak, what's the latest you're hearing on what's playing out now that we're almost 12 hours into these strikes?

BARAK RAVID, CNN POLITICAL AND GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Hi, Kaitlan. I think the main question at the moment is what are the results of the first round of strikes, first round of Israeli strikes, first round of U.S. strikes, and mainly the fate of Iran's supreme leader, Ali Khamenei and senior people in both his government and his military.

The Israelis conducted strikes on three gatherings of Iranian officials. Those gatherings included the top echelons of Iran's political and military leaders, including Khamenei, including his sons, including the commanders of the IRGC.

The Israelis feel, I want to say carefully, Israeli officials feel optimistic about the results of those strikes, but stressed that they do not have confirmation on whether Khamenei is indeed dead or alive. And I think that's the main question because if Khamenei has been eliminated in this opening strike, I think it changes a lot.

[12:55:06]

And it would take this campaign to a whole different place and maybe, by the way, maybe will allow to end it sooner than planned. COLLINS: When you say it takes it to a whole other place. What are you

hearing from sources about what could be in store?

RAVID: So the plan at the moment, as far as I hear from U.S. officials, is something around five days of strikes in the first segment of this operation, but killing Khamenei and killing the entire leadership of the IRGC, if indeed this was successful, it could lead the regime to either a capitulation or collapse.

And if that's the case, then obviously we're in a very different place, because I think that the original plan said that this could happen, or, you know, we could just have five days of strikes and then decide how to continue, because nobody knew if those opening strikes will be successful or not.

So I think that's the main thing to look at -- to look at. You know, Khamenei was in almost total control of Iran. The IRGC were totally loyal to him. He controlled decision making. He was the longest serving dictator in the world. And

I think if he's gone, it's still a big if. But if he's gone, then Iran obviously is not the same country and this war obviously will not be the same if indeed he's been eliminated.

COLLINS: Yes. And it could have just obviously massive implications for the region. You know, Barak, the President had been briefed. He had a bunch of options ahead of him. He was insisting they were pursuing these diplomatic talks that yesterday he made pretty clear we're not going the direction that he wanted.

What have you been hearing about what exactly went into the President's decision making here?

RAVID: I think that what was, you know, the last big thing was the talk were talks in Geneva on Thursday. I think the U.S. negotiators, Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff came back from those talks very disappointed that the Iranian proposal wasn't even close to the Iranian maximum, did not really get close to the U.S. minimum.

And therefore, I think they reported back that they don't see any real chance to get a deal anytime soon. And I think that led the President a day later to basically say, all right, you know, with the diplomatic track stuck, I'm going for a military operation.

COLLINS: Yes. Barak Ravid will obviously be watching this, and you're reporting extremely closely. You've been breaking a ton of news here. Thank you, Barak, for joining us.

RAVID: Thank you.

COLLINS: And our breaking news coverage of the military strikes in Iran and what we are learning and whether or not we're going to hear from President Trump will continue in the next hour. We'll also hear from the region directly from our reporters who are on the ground about the aftermath of what's playing out.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)