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U.S. and Israeli Militaries Strike Targets in Iran; Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Claims Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei Likely Killed by Israeli Strike; President Trump Calls on Iranian People to Overthrow Islamic Republic Regime after U.S. and Israeli Air Strikes End; Iran Launches Drones Attacks at Israel and at American Bases across Middle East; Rep. Mike Lawler Interviewed on His Support for President Trump's Orders to Strike Iran; Former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett Also Calls on Iranian People to Overthrow Islamic Republic Regime; FBI on High Alert for Potential Domestic Terrorist Attacks in Wake of U.S. Strikes on Iran. Aired 2-3p ET

Aired February 28, 2026 - 14:00   ET

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

[14:00:00]

BETH SANNER, FORMER DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE: -- and it's actually quite smart of them, because during negotiations with us, they kind of knew that the regime wouldn't crack down on the really hard. But whether that can spread or not, we don't know. And I don't think there's a lot of planning there.

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Yes. Beth Sanner, it's always excellent to have your expertise. Thank you for joining us on this.

And obviously we are monitoring all of the breaking developments coming out of Iran following these U.S. and Israeli strikes there. Stay with CNN for our continued coverage of the breaking news in the Middle East. There's more ahead.

JESSICA DEAN, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to a special breaking news edition of CNN Newsroom. I'm Jessica Dean here in New York. We are following this breaking news out of the Middle East, where the United States and Israel have launched a massive military campaign against Iran. An Israeli military official telling CNN several senior Iranian figures were killed in the strikes. Now, at this moment, it's unclear which senior leaders were killed. But CNN has previously reported one of the targets included Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. President Donald Trump issuing this message overnight.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

DONALD TRUMP, (R) U.S. PRESIDENT: Our objective is to defend the American people by eliminating imminent threats from the Iranian regime, a vicious group of very hard, terrible people. It's menacing activities directly endanger the United States, our troops, our bases overseas, and our allies throughout the world. For 47 years, the Iranian regime has chanted "Death to America" and waged an unending campaign of bloodshed and mass murder, targeting the United States, our troops, and the innocent people in many, many countries. (END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: Tehran responding with an unprecedented wave of attacks across the region. You're looking there at some dramatic footage of a drone strike near a U.S. Navy base in Bahrain.

We have live team coverage from the U.S. and around the world on this, CNN national security correspondent Natasha Bertrand, CNN senior White House correspondent Kristen Holmes both joining us from Washington, D.C., and we have CNN's Jerusalem correspondent Jeremy Diamond on the ground in Tel Aviv, where it is now 9:01 p.m.

Jeremy, let's start with you so you can set the scene with what's happening there right now. We know Iran has struck Israel and fired missiles towards Israel in response to all of this. What's happening now?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right. Over the course of the last several hours, we have seen, as air raid sirens have gone off, you know at a pretty frequent pace tonight. In fact, the last hour or so has been the only real break that Israelis have gotten throughout the day of respite from these incoming ballistic missiles.

So far, however, they don't seem to have made much of an impact here in Israel. We haven't gotten any reports of any major damage from these missiles or any serious casualties. A couple of individuals were moderately wounded. We've gotten reports of about 89 individuals who were lightly wounded. Some of that may be people who have fallen while rushing to bomb shelters, for example.

But we did just hear from the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, telling Israelis to brace for a campaign that will continue for as long as is necessary in order to achieve Israel and America's objectives here. The Israeli prime minister also speaking about the fate of Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei, saying that there are more and more signs that Khamenei was indeed killed in these Israeli strikes, although he did not, I should note, give a definitive assessment of whether or not Iran's supreme leader has indeed been killed.

Earlier today, we reported that, according to an Israeli military official, that several senior Iranian leaders were killed, according to an Israeli military assessment, in the initial round of Israeli strikes. Three simultaneous strikes on different locations where Israel says that Iran's senior leaders were meeting this morning, and that is what prompted the timing of these strikes. It was about 8:15 this morning when we learned that Israel had carried out strikes in Iran. The United States soon announced as well that it had also participated in these strikes.

And then about two hours later, we saw Iran's retaliation beginning, a retaliation that has included not only ballistic missiles and drones fired here at Israel, but also across seven different countries in the Middle East, with Iranian strikes impacting not only U.S. military bases in the region, but also populated cities, civilian sites in areas such as Dubai, such as Doha, Qatar, as well.

[14:05:04]

All of this raising the potential that this conflict, which is already at a very, very high and serious level, could escalate even further. Jessica?

DEAN: Yes, those strikes in Doha and Dubai, as you note, really, really asking a lot of questions about how this might escalate. Jeremy, stand by. We will check back in with you.

I do want to go to Kristen now to talk about President Trump and the administration in all of this. She's standing by at the White House. Kristen, what do we know about how the president is thinking here and how we got to this particular point? Obviously, he'd been offered many choices and options by the military. How did we get here?

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I'm going to answer that in one second, Jessica. But I do just want to bring you a little bit of breaking news here, because you were just talking about those strikes across the region. We just learned from the White House seconds ago that President Trump has spoken with the leaders of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, UAE, and then, as well as the NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte. Obviously, all that happening, as we have seen these retaliation strikes. So I want to put that out there. We know that he's down in Mar-a-Lago. He's surrounded by his national security team, and he is monitoring the situation very closely.

Now in terms of how we got here, that, of course, is the big question. What we had been watching for the last several weeks was this huge military buildup outside of Iran. That seemed to be, from the U.S. officials that we were speaking to, a way to force Iran to the negotiating table, essentially a threat. But obviously, that threat turned into a reality last night. President Trump had said before he left for Texas for an event earlier before the strikes that he wasn't happy with the progress of those talks, indicating that there might be some kind of military action.

Now, just in terms of what the president is laying out as the agenda here, why we have committed this attack, in that eight-minute video he posted in the middle of the night, he laid out three main reasons for this attack. He said it is to crush Iran's military, that it is to bring about change in the government, and it is to eliminate its nuclear program. In fact, in that video, he also goes on to say that the Iranians, as soon as the strikes are over should try to overthrow their government. But I also want to play to you what he said about potential U.S. casualties.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, (R) U.S. PRESIDENT: My administration has taken every possible step to minimize the risks 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.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Jessica, that's pretty stark term there. He is clearly warning the American people that, one, this could go on for some time, and that there could be these U.S. casualties. Of course, again, as we know they are monitoring this. The White House has been working on setting up full briefings for Senate and the House next week. I spoke to two lawmakers who said they've been told there will be something on the books next week in terms of getting briefed.

DEAN: All right, and we are scheduled to talk to one of those lawmakers, another lawmaker here in just a second. Kristen Holmes with the latest from the White House, thank you so much for that. We really appreciate it.

I believe we have Natasha Bertrand with us, or we do not? Yes, we do. OK, great. Natasha, I'm so glad you're here. Let's talk about the military piece of this. Sources telling CNN the U.S. has been planning for several days of attacks, as Kristen was just talking about. This is not a very pinpoint strike, as we've seen with other military operations, or even what we saw last year. What do you know about the Pentagons strategy going forward?

NATASHA BERTRAND, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, what we're told from sources, Jessica, is that this operation is expected to go, as you said, for several days at least. There are offramps built into this operation, at least on the U.S. side, pauses to assess battle damage.

But what we know about what has happened so far actually was just released by U.S. Central Command this morning in a statement, in which they said that these strikes began around 1:15 a.m. early this morning, and they were largely targeted at Iran's security apparatus. They said, quote, they're "prioritizing locations that posed an imminent threat. And targets included Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps command and control facilities, Iranian air defense capabilities, missile and drone launch sites, and military airfields."

So making clear there that the targets that they selected were very much high-level military targets, kind of in contrast to what we have seen from the Israeli side of this operation, which was primarily aimed at senior Iranian leaders. Again, we don't know the status of those leaders that the Iranians -- that the Israelis targeted.

But the U.S. explanation for what they have carried out so far is that they targeted things that the Iranian military has that could pose a threat to U.S. and Israeli forces, particularly, of course, those ballistic missile sites, nuclear sites, et cetera.

So following the initial wave of the U.S. strikes, Cent Com also says that they defended against a very large number of Iranian retaliatory attacks which, of course, we saw across the entire Middle East earlier today, including against a naval base in Bahrain.

[14:10:09]

Thankfully, the U.S. now says that there were no U.S. casualties and only minimal damage to U.S. facilities in the region. But of course, this these operations are continuing and could continue for the next several days, Jessica.

DEAN: Certainly. All right, Natasha Bertrand with the latest there. Thank you so much for that.

I want to bring in CNN military analyst admiral James Stavridis, the former NATO supreme allied commander. Thank you so much for being here with us. I know that you have been on our air with our viewers throughout the day, but I do want to start first with what we were getting at there with Kristen and a little bit with Natasha, which is this idea that the president was presented with a number of options, a number of military options. There were some that were likely much more limited in what they were doing. This one seems to be pretty large. How would you assess the choice that he's made, and what are your thoughts around the size and scale of these attacks?

ADM. JAMES STAVRIDIS (RET), CNN SENIOR MILITARY ANALYST: He is clearly chosen to go big or go home, and his options included, as you and I have talked about on air, continuing a purely diplomatic path, using a kind of a limited, very limited, articulating, hey, this is just a couple of quick strikes to focus our minds on the negotiation, or what appears to have happened, which is a big campaign. And I'd emphasize we're at the beginning of the beginning.

And two points to be made. One, this is a lot of U.S. troops in combat, in harm's way, 50,000 plus. Whatever your tradition is, say a prayer, raise a glass, wherever you are in the political spectrum, please support our troops in this, in this moment.

And I think the second point to be made here, Jessica, is that as this unfolds things are going to change constantly. And it's uncertain where they go. One of the World War Two generals said once, you know, when you start a war, it's like opening a door into a dark room. You don't know what is lying in wait inside. So unfortunately, this is the beginning. We'll learn more in the days ahead. This appears to be a significant campaign.

DEAN: Yes, the beginning of the beginning, as you say. It is worth noting, and we need to underscore the fact that we have seen these strikes on major Gulf cities like Dubai in a heavily populated area, the Fairmont Hotel there in Doha, that we saw that rather quickly as this all began.

And to your point, there isn't -- we don't know what we don't know in terms of where this goes from here. What does it tell you that we saw those strikes in places like that and not just in those cities, but in those particular areas in those cities?

STAVRIDIS: The Iranian regime clearly feels that they are on their death ground. They are going to fight to the bitter end at this point. And I think, unfortunately, that means not only what we've seen here in the first 12 to 24 hours. I think at risk is the Strait of Hormuz, 20 percent of the world's oil goes through there. I suspect you'll see U.S. strikes against Iranian naval facilities, ships, minelayers, in order to obviate their ability to close the strait. But that could come on a personal level. Terrorism attacks against American citizens, American diplomats, softer targets, if you will, than the hardened bases that were attacked.

And then finally, you can't discount to the north of Israel, Hezbollah still has a significant number of surface to surface missiles. Those could be placed in play. That's largely, I believe, why the carrier strike group centered around USS Ford, is operating in those waters off of Tel Aviv and Lebanon right now. So more to come.

DEAN: And you just laid out what could potentially be coming. Based on what we've seen so far and your experience, do you think this can be this can be won by air power alone from the air?

STAVRIDIS: I do not. And we have tried to win in other scenarios strictly with air power. The two closest scenarios worth looking at, both of them, 1999 in the Balkans and 2011, the Libyan war. I led NATO forces in the Libyan war. NATO only had air and sea forces much like this. But crucial difference. The Libyan rebels were well-armed, relatively capable, somewhat trained. We had a force on the ground. It wasn't NATO forces.

[14:15:03]

Here you're going to have to rely on the people of Iran who are untrained. I think they're brave and passionate. They may step up, but they don't have the weapons, don't have the training. We need to, if we are going to rely on the people of Iran to overthrow this government, we need to get them weapons, some kind of guidance, Starlink capability, communications, all of that they will need. They're not going to be able to simply walk out with empty hands and overthrow this regime.

DEAN: Yes. And probably questions, too, about Israeli forces, special forces or intelligence, are they on the ground there? Might they play a role? We will find out. Admiral James Stavridis thank you so much. We really appreciate it.

STAVRIDIS: Thanks, Jess.

DEAN: Stay with CNN. President Trump says they are planning to brief lawmakers on these strikes. We're going to speak with Congressman Mike Lawler about that next. Our breaking news coverage continues after this short break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:20:42]

DEAN: Back to our breaking news now. The U.S. and Israel launching these massive and coordinated attacks against Iran, and Iran's swift retaliation to that. Just moments ago, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying, quote, there are many signs Iran's supreme leader is, in his words, "no longer with us." But he did stop short of saying definitively that he had been killed. A White House official telling CNN the Trump administration is also working in the meantime to arrange full Senate and House briefings sometime this week on all of this.

Joining us now, Republican Congressman Mike Lawler from New York. He also sits on the House Foreign Affairs Committee. Congressman, thank you so much for being here with us. We appreciate it. I just want to start first with how you would define success from these strikes and this operation.

REP. MIKE LAWLER, (R-NY): Well, number one, obviously is eliminating the threat posed by Iran when it comes to their ballistic missile program, their nuclear weapons program, and their funding of terrorism. And if, in fact, the ayatollah is deceased, that is a positive step forward for the entire world, but especially when it comes to the safety and security and long-term peace and stability in the region.

For 47 years, this regime has chanted "Death to America." They have sought to undermine and destabilize the U.S., Israel, Europe, and the free world. They have worked in cahoots with China and Russia. The illicit oil trade with China is what has funded Hamas and Hezbollah and the Houthis and other terror proxies in the region. And it is what has funded their nuclear ambitions.

The president gave them 60 days last summer to negotiate. They refused. He took action. He again gave them time to negotiate, to end their ambitions, to end their ballistic missile program, to stop funding terrorism, and to stop slaughtering their own people in the streets. And ultimately, they chose not to. And so action was taken.

The president was fully justified and legally justified. And any effort by my Democratic colleagues to say otherwise is a lie. It is false. And so, you know, we will get a briefing this week, as required per the War Powers Act. The president did notify Congress. Congressional leaders were briefed. They were given advance notice. And so the president is fully in compliance with both Article Two and the War Powers Act as Democratic administrations have exercised that authority prior.

DEAN: Yes. And I know some of your Democratic colleagues will push back on that, but to your point, we have confirmed that they have reached out -- they reached out to the Gang of Eight, consulted with them, also with House Armed Services Committee in the lead up to all of this.

I want to go back to what you were talking about when it comes to regime change. Once that that Pandora's Box is open, if that is successful, and again, we are waiting to learn about the fate of Iran's supreme leader. We don't know yet if he is alive or dead, are you concerned about what happens next? Because there is no straight line forward. We don't know what the outcome would be as to who would take over.

LAWLER: Yes, look, ultimately, this is a long process. If in fact, he has been removed, and in fact is deceased, it will be up to the Iranian people to take action and take control of their country. After 47 years of tyranny and oppression that they have suffered under the yoke of the ayatollah. We saw in Venezuela an effort by the Venezuelan people to take their country back. That was thwarted in a democratic election by Nicolas Maduro. He has since been removed. We are pushing for a democratic election in Venezuela.

Here in Iran, it's a different situation. And the Iranian people obviously are going to have a little bit harder of a struggle, I think, to seize control.

[14:25:5]

But this will be the greatest opportunity that they will ever have to do it. In 47 years, they have suffered, and we want a free and prosperous Iran. But moreover, this is how you get long term peace and stability in the Middle East. We have seen Hamas and Hezbollah largely decimated. Assad's regime in Syria has fallen. Iran is at its weakest state, and you may, in fact, see the ayatollah no longer here.

If that is the case, our Arab partners working with the United States, working with Israel, there is a chance for long term peace. And I think John Fetterman said it best. Many Republicans and Democrats have said Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon. They have said, we want peace in the Middle East. Sometimes you have to take action to effectuate that outcome.

DEAN: Going back to what you were saying about the Iranian people, that it is now on them. It's what the president has said as well, that it is on them to move this forward. What does that look like, do you think, in terms of American support? I was just talking to James Stavridis, the former NATO allied commander, and he was he was saying in Libya, for example, the Libyan rebels were armed. They were trained. That the Iranian people, this is a different situation. So what then, does America owe them in terms of support do you think?

LAWLER: No question. And that is some of the challenges that will in fact be present as we move forward and why I said I think it's going to be a little bit harder here in Iran. But this is something that the administration and Congress are going to have to sit down and discuss as we move forward. And I think it would be premature to speculate as to exactly what support would be there.

But I think the fundamental point here is that this is a moment for the Iranian people to rise up, to seize control of their country. And it is imperative that the free world support them in that effort. To your question, what that looks like, that is something that is going to have to be determined in the days ahead. And that's why it will be important for the administration to brief Congress this week when we are back in Washington. And I expect those briefings will take place.

DEAN: And lastly, before I let you go, your former Republican colleague and now a critic of the president, Marjorie Taylor Greene, called these strikes on Iran, America last. She had a longer statement, but the kind of paraphrasing, as she said, it's always America last here. There is not a small group of people who would consider themselves MAGA who don't want this. What do you say to them?

LAWLER: Look, this is the same woman who speculated about Jewish space lasers. I don't take anything she has to say about foreign policy seriously. And frankly, I think she's one of the dumbest people to have ever served in Congress. So I really could care less what thoughts she offers on this situation.

The fact is President Trump made what is one of the most courageous decisions any commander in chief has made, both last summer in striking Iran's nuclear facilities and today, taking action to end the 47-year reign of terror that has resulted from the ayatollah and his regime.

DEAN: But there are parts of your own party, constituents who really don't want this. I mean I do think that's a fair statement to make.

LAWLER: Sure, there are people across the broad spectrum of politics in both parties that have different perspectives. From my vantage point, if you want peace and stability, not just in the Middle East but around the globe, you need to take action. And the fact is Iran, China, and Russia have been engaged in an unholy alliance that has sought to undermine and destabilize the U.S., Israel, Europe, and the free world.

These things don't happen in silos. When you look at the fact that, you know the oil tanker seized off the coast of Iceland a few weeks ago originated in Iran, came to Venezuela, and was going to Russia, people have to understand all of these things are interconnected. Iran has been sending drones to Russia to support them in their war in Ukraine. China purchasing Iranian petroleum, funding terrorism around the globe. All of this is interconnected. If you want it to stop, if you want peace and stability, you need to show strength. Sometimes that requires action. President Trump took action, and I support him in it.

DEAN: All right Congressman Mike Lawler, we appreciate your time. Thank you.

LAWLER: Thank you.

DEAN: And stay with CNN. Our breaking news coverage continues after a break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:4:18]

DEAN: And welcome back into our breaking news coverage as the U.S. and Israel launch a major military attack against Iran. Moments ago, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying, in his words, there are many signs Iran's supreme leader is no longer with us. An Israeli military official also saying several senior figures were killed during the attacks. Another source saying the strikes were carried out during the day because Israel believed the ayatollah felt less vulnerable during daylight hours, again, waiting for official confirmation on any outcome.

But I do want to bring in former Israeli prime minister Naftali Bennett, who joins us now. Thank you so much for being here with us. We really appreciate it. I want to start first with your explanation of how Israel would define success in this operation.

[14:35:06]

NAFTALI BENNETT, FORMER ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: Success would be the end of the nuclear, ballistic, and terror program of Iran they -- and we have to dismantle the whole thing for Iran to become a peaceful country dealing with its own business. That would be success.

DEAN: And how committed, I mean, would you say Israel is to that. Are they willing to do this for months, weeks? How long do you think this could go on?

BENNETT: As long as we need. Look, we are the ones paying a huge price here. It's my family and my friends and all of Israel who are now in shelters and under these missiles and rockets. But we understand that sometimes in life it's important to act when it's unpleasant but early, instead of procrastinating, and then you have a problem which is unsolvable.

If we had waited and they go nuclear and they have thousands of ballistic missiles, it would be too late to act. So we had to act before they achieve this immunity.

DEAN: And this is a joint operation between the U.S. and Israel, working simultaneously side by side. How would you describe that dynamic?

BENNETT: I think it's a remarkable partnership. Israel has been focused on taking out much of the terror leadership of the regime. America has been focused over the past day on the nuclear sites. And jointly, we've all worked on the ballistic missile factories and military sites. It's also a very rare, probably once in a lifetime opportunity that we are jointly presenting the Iranian people. So we've weakened the chains of oppression on the Iranian people, but they have to remove those chains. Freedom is never given easily as a present. They now have to take freedom. They have to step up and act and seize the day.

DEAN: And I was just asking an American congressman the question, the same question I'll pose to you, which is if it is up to the Iranian people, they don't have formal training, they're not well-armed. What kind of support does Israel feel they need to give them on the ground? And what does that look like?

BENNETT: Well, we're already giving massive support by taking out the Basij leadership, the secret police leadership, the regime and apparatus of oppression. So we're hitting those targets precisely to allow the Iranian people to rise.

But ultimately, neither Israel or America can change the regime. It's up to the Iranian people to free themselves. That's their decision to make. And we're doing everything in our power to help our Iranian friends.

DEAN: And when you say it's up to them to rise, what does that look like practically? BENNETT: Take -- it means take to the streets like they did a few

weeks ago, only this time they have the massive support of America and Israel. And beyond what I'm saying on the air support, there have been many, many actions taken to empower the Iranian people. But if they do what they did just a month ago or so, this time with us pounding the apparatus of terror, I think that joint effort brings a much better chance of success than back then.

DEAN: Do you -- are you concerned at all, though, that the outcome of this is unknown, that in it being up to the Iranian people, if it doesn't go that way, that we don't know who would take over if regime change is successful?

BENNETT: Look, always there's uncertainty. There is one thing that's certain. For the past 47 years, this terror regime has murdered, killed tens of thousands of people around the world -- Americans in Beirut, in Iraq, Israelis all across the world. Its own citizens were butchered just over the past month or two, 30,000 protestors that were out there were just killed.

And what we also know is that if we didn't act now, then a short time from now they would be immune from any attack. I don't know if you know, but they were moving their centrifuge factory under a mountain called Pickaxe mountain, and that mountain is way deeper than anything that can be hit by any bomb in the world.

[14:40:00]

So if we sort of delayed any action, we'd be meeting at this point where they have thousands of missiles. We can't hit their nuclear facilities, and then be held hostage. So you're right. This is, you know, there is risk in this, but the risk of inaction was much, much bigger than taking action.

DEAN: All right, Naftali Bennett, thank you so much for joining us. We appreciate it.

And stay with CNN. Our breaking news coverage continues after this short break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:45:00]

DEAN: We do have our breaking news continuing. Major military operations underway in the Middle East as the U.S. and Israel launch a full scale attack on Iran. According to Iranian state media, more than 200 people have been killed since those strikes began. Tehran saying it is prepared for a long war as new video shows the aftermath of a drone strike in the capital city.

Meanwhile, Israel saying it launched a new wave of attacks targeting Iran's missile launchers, and that comes as officials there say they're optimistic about this morning's attack targeting top Iranian leaders, including the country's supreme leader. Now, none of those deaths have been confirmed. But just a short time

ago, Israel's prime minister said there are signs that the ayatollah is, quote, "no longer with us." The Iranian government spokesperson, however, just saying the supreme leader and president are, quote, "safe and sound." So again, we wait for official confirmation on that from the U.S. We have not heard anything from U.S. sources on that.

Let's bring in CNN global affairs analyst Kim Dozier. Kim, good to have you. Let's just start with that right there, because there is a lot going on online. And we obviously are getting two very different versions of what has happened. Benjamin Netanyahu saying there are all these signs that the ayatollah is not with us anymore. Iran saying he's safe and sound. What do you what's your take on that right now?

KIMBERLY DOZIER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: In the early hours of an attack like this, if he has been killed, what government officials in Iran would most likely do is to deny it so that they don't have a complete collapse of power before they're able to get some sort of successor in place. At this point, we haven't seen at least visible in terms of watching what they're firing, we haven't seen a breakdown in command and control. Iranian forces have still been targeting both navy and air targets, U.S. bases throughout the Gulf.

For some reason, they haven't so far, at least it hasn't been reported that they have targeted any U.S. Army positions in places like Iraq or Syria, where they could do a lot of damage. So they seem to be very carefully choosing their targets. There's also word that ships passing through that 21 milewide bottleneck, the Strait of Hormuz, are getting VHF radio messages from the Iranians to stop traversing that strait.

So if Iran is able to follow through with its prior threats, close that straight through which something like 20 percent of the worlds daily oil seaborne supply goes, then there's somebody still very much in power in Tehran.

DEAN: Yes. And then the Strait of Hormuz is going to be important, to your point, to watch in the coming hours and days as to how that goes. When it comes to this idea of regime change, if it's ultimately successful, and again, we just walked through, you know, the ifs around that right now, we're waiting to learn about that, there are no guarantees about who takes over. There's obviously, I just had the former prime minister of Israel on, they are hoping, the U.S. is hoping, President Trump is saying it's in the hands of the Iranian people. They need to rise up. But there's no guarantees that's how this goes. How difficult does this become to manage?

DOZIER: Yes intelligence analysts in various capitals have said that the most likely scenario is that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the crack troops and the most organized, well-funded forces within Iran are the most likely to step in and take power in some authoritarian way, and put some sort of puppet ayatollah regime in power as the face, and to fight onward.

If the Iranian people do rise up, and I've spoken to Iranians here who they want this strike to lead to some sort of revolution, but whoever takes power is going to have to fight the remnants of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and any of the supporters of the previous ayatollah.

And let's remember, you know, Ayatollah Khamenei isn't just a figurehead. He's also a religious leader of the Shiite faith. And there you might not have a whole bunch of fans in Iran right now, but if the Americans and Israelis together are blamed for killing him, that could change things.

DEAN: Interesting. All right, Kim Dozier, good to see you. Thank you again. We appreciate it.

DOZIER: Thanks.

DEAN: And we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:54:12]

DEAN: A source telling CNN the FBI's counterterrorism and counterintelligence teams are now on elevated alert nationwide following the United States and Israeli attacks, or strikes, rather, on Iran.

Joining us now, retired FBI supervisory special agent Richard Kolko. Richard, thank you so much for being here with us. Walk us through what you take away from these alerts being in place.

RICHARD KOLKO, RETIRED FBI SUPERVISORY SPECIAL AGENT: Well, the FBI knows how to do these alerts, as do many major police departments. What happens is they understand that this is going on. They're going to check all the traps, OK. They check their sources, they check their technical collection. They get their JTTFs to locate their sources, see if anything is going on, any rumors. They're concerned about force protection.

We talk about the military out front. They're doing the operational issues. But the military also has a huge force protection mission, and that's taking care of the troops that are out there.

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But the FBI leads the force protection within the United States. So it is certainly a high alert time where the potential for an attack exists. So the FBI working with local police departments, and they're going to be at all the logical places that we would expect them to, different soft targets. And what they like to do is they mix it up so that if somebody is observing one of these sites, then they may see law enforcement there one day. They may not see them there later in the day. They may see them back again later that night. So got to mix it up and cover all the bases.

DEAN: And just quickly, what kind of threats do we usually see after a massive military operation like this one?

KOLKO: Well, this is this is tricky times. There's been a lot of people in support of Iranian-based terrorist groups such as Hamas. So there's a new group of people here that certainly law enforcement intelligence in the United States is concerned about. But any of the members from the host nation, in this case Iran, that live here in the United States, you have to make sure that they're not planning an attack, that they weren't placed here to be in place to do something.

So, but, you know, this is what the FBI, DHS, NYPD, LAPD, and many other major police departments do on a very regular basis. And what it is is just being on high alert, being seen, talking to people, spreading out the resources, and covering those targets.

DEAN: All right, Richard Kolko, thank you very much. We appreciate it.

KOLKO: Of course.

DEAN: And stay with CNN. Our breaking news coverage continues after this short break.

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