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Iran Vows "Heaviest Offensive" Yet After Supreme Leader's Death. Aired 10-11p ET

Aired February 28, 2026 - 22:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[22:01:00]

SARA SIDNER, CNN HOST: I'm Sara Sidner. We are in the midst of earth- shattering breaking news. The United States and Israel are, in the President's own words, at war with Iran. And Iran has just threatened moments ago that, quote, "the most ferocious offensive operation in the Islamic Republic's history will begin any moment now."

The threat from the country's elite revolution guard comes in response to the death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. After 37 years of absolute control, Khamenei was killed following a barrage of joint U.S.-Israeli strikes. You're looking at the aftermath of the strikes that targeted his personal compound.

On the left there, you see it is pristine. On the right, you see it is bombed out. But the fierce fighting continues tonight because just a short time ago, Israel launched new strikes on military targets in Iran. As one former U.S. official told me, there is no historic parallel to what we're currently witnessing.

I want to bring in CNN's Nick Paton Walsh, who is on the ground for us. Where are you located? What are you seeing? And what do you make of all this? This is a huge, huge change to that region.

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes, certainly, Sara. Look, I mean, nothing much behind me here. I'm in the desert of about 4 o'clock in the morning. But we are seeing reports of a new series of strikes against Iranian targets, presumably by the U.S. and Israeli forces as well. And, of course, Israel braced for another potential round of Iranian retaliation here.

They've seen one dead so far and over 100 injured, as some of the rockets or possibly drones have penetrated defenses here. Also, too, startling across the region here, we've seen Gulf States who have essentially tried to slow the possibility of U.S. military action, ask their territory not to be involved in it at all.

They found themselves on the receiving end of an unprecedented barrage from Iran, lashing out very quickly, very ferociously, indeed, and essentially removing any doubt in the region as to exactly where the allegiances of countries like Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates that were receiving end of over 200 drones and over 130 missiles, most of which were taken out. But Dubai hotels, airports there in the commercially peaceful area on the receiving end of extraordinary amounts of Iranian firepower. So a region really, I think, in turmoil here. But the confirmation of what President Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu here in Israel said hours ago, that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is indeed dead after an Israeli airstrike, that leaves two very urgent questions to be answered.

First is, who is indeed his successor? He had clearly made significant plans for his succession in the event of his killing. And we don't know at this point who is indeed in charge. President Trump has hinted in a media interview that he like -- he knows who he would like to be in charge and who would be a good idea.

Is this essentially a repetition of the Venezuela playbook, where Nicolas Maduro, the President back then, was captured by U.S. forces and Delcy Rodriguez, his deputy, was essentially pointed towards by President Trump as somebody he felt he could do business with? Well, Iran is a way more complicated task than that.

And the second question, too, of course, is does the Iranian people have the capacity to take up what President Trump suggested they might do, which is turn on their government? It's way more complicated in Iran. The security force is way more brutal and entrenched in society.

And so I think that's an enormous question going forwards. Together of two, what strength Iran still has to retaliate across the region? Sara?

SIDNER: Yes, I mean, as a testament to you, Nick Paton Walsh, because I know you're operating -- you're live on your own there, it seems, and giving us all of the really important information from where your vantage point is. And there is the threat of a barrage.

We don't know what it's going to look like and when exactly it's going to happen, but Iran is threatening there is going to be a huge response coming shortly. We will check back in with you. But please stay safe with your crew.

[22:05:15]

Joining me now is CNN White House Correspondent Julia Benbrook, who is near Mar-a-Lago, where the President has been monitoring these attacks. But this morning, what more -- or sorry, this evening, what more is President Trump saying about this operation tonight, knowing that he has also been taking part in a fundraiser this evening?

JULIA BENBROOK, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Sara, we do know that a lid has been called, and that means that reporters, journalists traveling with the President do not expect to see him again tonight. That does not mean, though, that we won't hear from him again, because, of course, he makes a lot of these big announcements on social media, on his Truth Social page.

But on his public schedule, we do know that there is this Republican fundraiser at his Mar-a-Lago estate here in Florida for MAGA, Inc. And White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt says that he does still plan to attend that this evening, at least to make an appearance.

And this comes after yesterday we saw a post that circulated -- it was obtained by the Daily Mail, and it has circulated online of him attending another fundraising night. He was dancing. He was wearing that white USA hat that we later see in photos of him monitoring this situation. But he said to someone there at the party, "I've got to get to work. We've got to get to work."

And then later, you do see that post of him monitoring the situation from Florida with some of his top national security officials. In one photo, at least, we see Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Chief of Staff Susie Wiles sitting there with him.

SIDNER: Julia, thank you so much for your reporting there from West Palm Beach, and we'll be checking in with you throughout the hour.

I want to bring in CNN Anchor and Chief National Security Analyst Jim Sciutto and David Sanger, White House and National Security Correspondent at The New York Times.

Look, first to you, Jim. President Trump declared the goal here was ultimately regime change. Yes, he's going to attack the Navy. Yes, he's going to attack the country's ability to create a nuclear weapon. But how difficult is it to achieve that mission with just military air power, and without American boots on the ground, and expecting the Iranian people who have been slaughtered by this regime every time they try and change things there?

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: Well, he's declared the aspiration, right, for regime change driven, it seems, by the Iranian people, calling on the Iranian people now to rise up --

SIDNER: Yes.

SCIUTTO: -- against a weakened regime. He has not declared or demonstrated a strategy, right, for following through -- creating that, other than strikes that weaken the regime in conjunction with Israel. And that's been still an unanswered question for some time, right, Sara, is that, what are the U.S. strategic objectives in these strikes?

Is it principally to set back its nuclear program once again? Is it principally to destroy or set back its ballistic missiles program? Does it lead up to and include regime change? I mean, the first two, it does seem that the U.S. and Israel have certainly struck blows to both the ballistic missile program and the nuclear program, but at least the U.S. has not articulated a strategy for bringing about regime change there.

Now, let's be clear, Israel taking out the supreme leader is quite a significant step in terms of weakening that regime, but we don't know second, third, fourth, fifth steps to bring about a regime that might be, or a leadership that might be friendlier or more willing to negotiate with the U.S. And we don't even know if that was an explicit goal of these operations, or just a hope at this point, right, Sara? And again, we may get those answers over the coming days, in part by how long the U.S. portion of these strikes continue, and that's one of many open questions at this point.

SIDNER: Yes, I mean, look, the question as to what next is on everyone's mind. Look, David, you wrote this really strong piece in The Times, and I just want to quote a little bit of it. You said, "President Trump has embarked on the ultimate war of choice. He was not driven by an immediate threat. There was no race for a bomb."

And you're saying that because the President himself said that they had, you know, annihilated the possibility of Iran creating a bomb, at least imminently. So why now? Do you have any sense from your sources as to why this occurred now?

DAVID SANGER, CNN POLITICAL & NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Well, I think Jim sort of hinted at this, that the Iranians have been going through a remarkable period of weakness. Military weakness after the June war with Israel and then the attacks by the U.S. Economic weakness that has only worsened, thanks to the corruption of the -- of Khamenei's regime and the sanctions that were put on the country. And political weakness that was evident by how quickly those protests spread around the country.

[22:10:14]

So now the question is, could the -- did the -- did President Trump make the right move by attacking Iran because it was weak and the U.S. and Israel were strong? He may have. We won't know for a long time until we understand how this turns out.

But in international law, it's one thing to conduct a war when you see a threat massing against you. That's called preemption. But it's a very different thing when you simply attack because you think you're strong and your enemy's weak. That's what Putin did against Ukraine.

SIDNER: That is a very stark comparison, because that is what Putin did against Ukraine.

Jim, when you look at the military hardware that's out there, that's held by Iran and the range of their options to retaliate, they're saying it's going to be the biggest response that they have yet had. But we know they are diminished. We know that part of the reason why they're diminished is because of the strikes for the so-called 12-day war that Israel and the United States conducted before this. So, what will you be watching for in the hours and days ahead?

SCIUTTO: Well, listen, I think that U.S. forces in the region, other states in the region should take this threat quite seriously, because Iran has shown an ability and a willingness to strike out just in the last 24 hours, but also in recent months. So they maintain capabilities.

That said, those capabilities are certainly diminished, not only by attacks in the last 24 hours, but going back to Israel's strikes over more than a year that have greatly weakened Iran's air defenses, its missile capabilities, et cetera. And just in the last few hours, right, we've seen why you have to take Iranian statements with something of a grain of salt, because even as we were hearing indications the Supreme Leader was dead, you had Iranian officials going public saying, oh, he's perfectly fine.

You know, it was almost a Baghdad Bob moment, right? So, you know, we should take a little bit of that with a grain of salt. But also, as we're showing those pictures earlier over Tel Aviv, Iran has shown its willingness and capability to strike at Israel. And one of those missiles got through the air defenses, and we're seeing the consequences of that.

So, again, we should not dismiss those threats. It's just that they have fewer capabilities than they had in the past. And we'll get a sense of two things, how much Israel and the U.S. have further diminished those capabilities, but also how formidable the additional air defenses that the U.S. has amassed in the region with this retaliation very much in mind. That's why you have those Aegis destroyers there and a whole host of military hardware to help defend those U.S. bases and other nations in the region from this response.

SIDNER: Yes. David, look, the White House says President Trump spoke with Gulf leaders. He spoke with the NATO Secretary General, Mike Rutte, today. But how significant is it, and what kind of a difference is this, that Israel and the U.S. are going on this offensive pretty much alone? They don't have necessarily the support of anyone else in this at this moment.

SANGER: That's right. And, you know, the most notable dissenter were the British, who forbid the U.S. from using the air base at Diego Garcia and a bomber base that the U.S. usually uses right in Great Britain because they didn't believe that this was either wise or legal. And so I think you're going to see here an even greater split than you saw, say, over the Iraq War, where we did have a number of European powers in and fighting alongside the U.S. and other allies. You're not going to see that here.

At the same time, they're perfectly happy to see the supreme leader gone, I'm sure, because the Iranian attacks across Europe were notable, as well as those against the U.S. and against Israel. So, I think there is a sort of double-edged sword to this. And on the one hand, the supreme leader was reviled both by many inside Iran and by many out in the rest of the world.

And at the same time, there is this huge sense of fear that the President and the Israelis have uncorked a period of instability in the region, both inside Iran and outside.

SIDNER: Yes. Look, Jim, we have seen Israel decimate some of Iran's most formidable hierarchies. We're talking about Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas in Gaza. But they are still operating. How much does that factor in into what's happening tonight?

[22:15:07]

SCIUTTO: Well, to your point, Sara, think of that last year or more for Israel's proxies around the region, right? They lost their friend in Assad in Syria. Hezbollah in Lebanon, greatly diminished. Hamas devastated by years of war there. And the Houthis, though still alive and kicking, but diminished as well. And their own capability is reduced.

So it's been a bad year or more for Iran, for Iranian leaders and Iranian ability to project power in the region. And that, I think, you know, to David's point, is part of a calculus here for Israel and the U.S. striking now. And, you know, it seems that they -- that those strikes will certainly, on Iranian leadership, have drawn blood. Next steps remain to be seen very much. Can this regime survive this? It's an open question.

SIDNER: It is. There are a lot of questions that are unanswered. We are at the beginning of this, certainly not the end.

David Sanger, Jim Sciutto, it is so good to have you gentlemen who know this region like the back of your hands so well.

Up next, could the U.S. and Israel's joint military operation against Iran lead to extraordinary power shifts in the region? A former Navy commander in the Middle East joins me to discuss what happens next.

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[22:20:06]

SIDNER: We are keeping a very close eye on the skies over Israel after Iran just promised to unleash a new major counterattack. Iran's supreme leader was killed in U.S. and Israeli strikes, the Iranian government said tonight in a statement that this great crime will never remain unanswered and will turn a new page in the history of the Islamic world. There are certainly more U.S. forces in the Middle East than at any time since the Iraq War.

My next guest, used to command troops in those same waters, Retired Vice Admiral Kevin Donegan. Thank you so much for being here.

I just want to get your read on this. When you look at how Iran has responded to the U.S.-Israel attack by hitting not only Israel and U.S. bases in the Middle East, but striking UAE residential infrastructure, striking Bahrain residential infrastructure, what do you make of that? What does that tell you about Iran's capabilities and willingness to use it against some of its neighbors?

VICE ADMIRAL KEVIN DONEGAN (RET.), U.S. NAVY: Well, first, we knew about their capabilities and that they have these missiles and it's why the military plan here is designed the way it is, where, you know, initially leadership were taken out, but the rest of the focus, as you heard from the CENTCOM commander, is to get at anything really that can reach out and touch our forces, right?

So what do we make of it? The fact that the Iranians have not done what they did last time and have a more expanded approach, including residential neighborhoods. It's clear that the Iranians had a script and they're following the script. And the script was that if they did this, they'd be able to drive the Gulf nations into potentially pressuring the United States to stop because they are now under attack.

So, obviously, the U.S. bases would get attacked and obviously if Israel was involved, they'd get attacked. That's what they said. But they also said very clearly before they started that they'll make this a wider conflict.

So I see it as two miscalculations that the Iranians made. One is they were playing not in good faith in the negotiations, so much so that the U.S. decided that they had to execute this option. And second, that they thought that this would drive a wedge potentially between the Gulf nations that are absorbing some of these attacks and have them pressure the United States and I don't see that happening.

SIDNER: I mean, excuse my French, but it appears that they just pissed off the UAE and Bahrain and some of their neighbors instead of the opposite trying to get them on their side. I do want to ask you about what the risk is now after you're hearing from Iran saying they're going to launch the most ferocious offensive that they are -- ferocious response that they have yet done because of the death of -- at the hands of the U.S. and Israel of Khamenei.

What do you think that would look like? Who would they be going after? What do you think the response would look like?

DONEGAN: Well, it's going to be more the same when it comes to the missiles and drones and such that you're attacking. Clearly, they're sending those in waves and they've learned from the last time they attacked Israel in the previous attack. They've learned that, you know, there are ways and techniques they can use that can potentially better get through the defenses. But as you can see, they're not.

And then there's a couple other pieces to this. As you can imagine, we have forces there to defend both Israel in pretty good numbers. And we also have forces to help defend our allies significantly bolstered from where we were before. And the idea is they continue to blunt while the U.S. and the Israel's continue to attack any missiles or systems that can range, you know, these bases. So we're going to see that continue to happen.

And the last thing I'll say is, you know, this is not the kind of war the Iranians are good at. This is force on force. You know, in the past, their, you know, their ace in the hole was their proxy forces. But with Hezbollah decimated and Syria not an ally, they're left with the remnants of their militia and some power in the Houthis.

So really what they have is what you're seeing go on now and potentially some sleeper cells they have in places where they can have, you know, attacks made against, you know, you can call those, you know, what would be more traditional terrorist type attacks that are unleashed if they could make that happen.

SIDNER: I mean, would you be expecting things also like cyberattacks as well, not just, you know, the sort of physical attacks? DONEGAN: Absolutely. That's what they'll try to do. But as you can see, what the U.S. and Israel has done has been very proactive in that by going after the Israelis command and control and the places and ways in which they can conduct those cyberattacks.

If you know how the Iranians can unleash that, you can imagine the United States would also have ways that they can blunt those that you're not hearing talked about because we wouldn't.

SIDNER: Yes, I mean, we did --

DONEGAN: But, yes, if we just stand and wait it, that could happen.

[22:25:15]

SIDNER: Yes, you mentioned that -- I wanted to mention that because we did hear the President tell us about what happened in Venezuela, where they were able to literally, you know, turn the lights off in much of the city as they were going after the leadership there and as well as the Internet. And so we will have to see what happens, what the response is and how big it is considering that Iran has been struck very devastatingly when it comes to its capabilities.

We will have to see what they are capable of. But there is certainly fear in the region as to what that's going to look like.

Vice Admiral Kevin Donegan, thank you for your expertise. We really do appreciate you taking the time with us tonight.

All right, also tonight, the U.S.-based human rights activist news agency says at least 133 civilians have been killed in Iran during the joint U.S.-Israeli strikes on the country. Now, those numbers so far not independently verified yet.

Iranian state media says one of those strikes killed students at a girls' elementary school. The city's prosecutor says the death toll has now risen to at least 118. A warning, these images are hard to watch. This is video posted by Iranian state media showing body bags on the floor of a building in the aftermath of a strike on a school.

CNN so far unable to independently verify the reports and our teams have reached out to the U.S. and Israeli militaries for comment. The Pentagon said it has nothing to share at this time.

Coming up, CNN has combed through geolocated videos showing the shockwaves of the strikes and look at how the attack unfolded. That's next.

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[22:30:37]

SIDNER: Back with our breaking news, all of our teams on the ground in the region are waiting and watching to see what Iran has promised will be a ferocious response after its supreme leader was killed in U.S.- Israeli strikes. Now, CNN's open source intelligence team has been analyzing videos of the strikes Iran has already committed and Iran's immediate retaliation.

Here's a closer look of how all of this unfolded.

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KATIE POLGLASE, CNN INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER: Strikes over Iran launched by the U.S. and Israel, the fact they happened in daylight makes it easier for us to analyze the impact. Here's what we know so far from open source analysis. We geolocated this video to near where Iran's intelligence complex is located in Tehran.

Next, there are these videos, all from different perspectives, showing smoke rising from a building in the center, and that building is Iran's leadership house in the capital, also known as the office of the supreme leader of Iran, Ayatollah Khamenei. You can see the damage shown here in satellite imagery.

In fact, this is just 2 miles away from where the then head of Iran's nuclear engineering was killed in a strike by Israel last June. Then there's this. It's the square where the house of the former Iranian President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, is known to be located. A U.S. official has said they're striking military targets, but it's worth noting that a lot of these U.S. and Israeli strikes are hitting in densely populated residential areas.

A civilian toll is already emerging. This school was hit in southern Iran, resulting in dozens of deaths, according to Iranian state media. It's close to an IRGC facility, a possible target, and already Iran is retaliating.

This video shows the moment a strike hits near a U.S. naval facility in Bahrain. There are now more reports of Iranian backlash emerging, including Iranian strikes on Israel, Bahrain, the UAE and Kuwait, as well as missiles intercepted over Jordan and Qatar.

Katie Polglase, CNN, London.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: All right. I want to bring in Alex Plitsas, a former Pentagon Counterterrorism Official and CNN National Security Analyst. Thank you for being here.

Before Iran confirmed the death of the supreme leader, sources told CNN the FBI's counterterrorism and counterintelligence teams are on elevated alert nationwide. What is your concern about what Iran's capabilities are now, as they are promising a ferocious response after the killing of the supreme leader?

ALEX PLITSAS, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Sure, I appreciate it. Thanks for having me. My concerns are kind of twofold. So they've had a very measured response to date. And first of all, now that we know the supreme leader was killed, the actions that Iran has taken since the opening strikes have been the result of somebody else in the country, because he was dead, because that was one of the first strikes that took place. So the missile launches we've seen against U.S. bases in the region, as you just noted, in the previous segment, you know, some of the foolish attacks against civilian infrastructure in neighboring Arab countries was ordered by somebody else, seemingly. And now there's going to be a different group of people who take over so we can see a different set of actions.

In the region itself, the biggest concern would be, you know, overwhelming ballistic missile attacks that are attempt to overwhelm the air defense systems that can result in U.S. casualties we haven't seen to date, which could definitely escalate the situation.

But more specifically at home, which you were mentioning, you know, Iran, you know, has proxy forces across the world, and it is, you know, pretty widely known and speculated that they've got sleeper cells in different areas across the world, and that the death of the supreme leader could serve as a trigger point to activate some of those asymmetric threats. And so I think the FBI and counterintelligence services are looking into the potential for that and trying to get in front of it, obviously, to prevent any attacks.

SIDNER: Look, Hezbollah, you know, is one of their proxies. Hamas, one of their proxies. They're still operating, but they are greatly weakened after the first strikes from the United States and Israel. What are some of the threats? I mean, are the sleeper cells in the United States?

PLITSAS: The current footprint of what those look like between, you know, the U.S. or Europe or other places is not widely known in terms of what those numbers look like. If they're there, you know, comments have been made from officials that there's fear that they could be there.

So we don't want to cause panic and make it sound like there's a widespread threat, but there is definitely suspicion that that type of activity is possible. The FBI has been on top of that for quite some time. So then it becomes a question under these conditions, if these cells are activated, do they even act or do they just ignore it, given the fact that the regime is, you know, potentially on its last legs? So that part's unknown at this time.

[22:35:09]

SIDNER: Look, I'm running at source with knowledge of the country's military strategy says their retaliation would continue until, as they put it, the aggressor is punished. How long might this go on? Because the President Trump had said this could go on for a bit. I mean, how long do you see this lasting, this conflict?

PLITSAS: So at least initially, what I'm hearing from U.S. and Israeli officials I've been speaking to is the initial plan was four days worth of strikes. We've heard about President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu, because, by the way, this keeps getting characterized as a U.S.-Iranian negotiation that failed.

The main actor that was most likely to strike is actually -- was actually Israel to start with, and it was the ballistic missile threat. So, you know, Prime Minister Netanyahu wants to see the ballistic missile threat destroyed. President Trump has the nuclear program in mind. And so this is likely to go on for a few days.

I think where things start to get a little bizarre is probably, you know, after the next couple of days, when you run through the list of the infrastructure targets, the fixed infrastructure, after you already took out the, you know, the -- any of the threat actors, you took out the leadership that were intelligence-driven, that could have been, you know, hiding somewhere.

Mountains don't move. Buildings don't move. You can hit those afterwards. And then President Trump said at the end of his video yesterday, his statement, you know, to the Iranian people, this is your once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to take over the government. But for right now, it's not safe.

You know, stay hunkered down. We'll let you know when that's done. And then at some point, seemingly, he would come back and say, OK, now is the time. And then what happens afterwards? It depends on who's left in government.

Is there somebody to work with, or are the people really going to take over? Do we start providing tactical air support to protesters on the ground if they're taking on Iranian security forces? The picture is really unclear for what happens for a couple of days from now.

And it's really not clear, you know, what the response is going to look like, because we have new people taking over, you know, literally within the last few hours since the supreme leader was confirmed to be dead.

SIDNER: Alex, you make a really good point that some of these strikes by Iran were not done under the auspices of the supreme leader, because as you point out, he was already killed by the U.S. and Israeli strikes. That is a really, really good point to understand what is happening now in this power vacuum. And what we might see going forward may be complicated, because there is a power vacuum happening there in the country.

Alex Plitsas --

PLITSAS: Thank you.

SIDNER: -- thank you so much for your analysis.

Stay with us. President Trump has appealed to Iranians to topple their government, as you just heard Alex say. But without a clear plan to help the country rebuild, David Axelrod will be joining me now with his take in just a bit.

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[22:41:20]

SIDNER: Breaking tonight, the threat of major retaliation after Iranian state media confirmed Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has been killed by U.S.-Israeli strikes. In the wake of the massive operation, President Trump has called for regime change in Iran.

The news has prompted a powerful response from Congresswoman Yassamin Ansari, the first Iranian-American Democrat elected to Congress. Quote, "Khamenei was the epitome of evil. No one should mourn him, and his death is a relief. But removing one man does not dismantle a brutal regime. Military force alone will not secure a democratic future for the Iranian people. That requires more than force. It requires seriousness, accountability, and a real plan to support the Iranian people in determining their own future."

Joining me now, David Axelrod, former senior adviser to President Obama. First, what did you make of what you heard there or saw there from Congresswoman Ansari, that a real plan for Iran's people has to be part of Trump's consideration? Is it?

DAVID AXELROD, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes. Yes, no, look, I thought her statement was strong. And the question that arises from how this has rolled out and the sort of hodgepodge of rationales that we heard this morning, followed by a justification later that may or may not be true about imminent actions against American targets, you know, it creates this real concern about whether there is in fact a plan.

And, you know, look, I agree with her, the death of the Ayatollah is one that no one should grieve for all of the damage that he's inflicted and all of the pain and the loss that he's inflicted over these decades. But the question is, to just say to the Iranian people, now it's up to you, without the provisions necessary to fight the regime or the regime that has survived, the weaponry and the organization to do it is a big, big ask.

And so, you know, what really is going to tell the story is what happens in the coming days and weeks, and perhaps months? And is there, in fact, a capacity among the people to overcome the advantages that the regime has? And what will that look like? And so I agree with her completely.

This didn't feel as if it was well thought through, and it felt like the rationales were shifting all the time. And so it creates concern.

SIDNER: Yes, I mean, look, we -- none of us, no one can predict what is going to happen in the future, especially in this complex region. But we can predict some things politically, what the political consequences this -- that may arise because of this, whether it be Republican or Democrat.

This is a President who has said time and again, especially on the campaign trail, no more wars, right? And here we are. He used the word war when talking about this current strike that they have been meting out on Iran. So what is the long and short term sort of look at this? Because the MAGA base always says America first, and that does not, for many of them, include war.

AXELROD: Yes. Well, one thing we've learned is that consistency is not an encumbrance that the President has to deal with or feels he has to deal with. But, yes, he was very explicit as a candidate, and I think it was something that attracted him. And you can see some of the people who were very enthusiastic about his candidacy speaking out today.

[22:45:15]

I think most Republicans will fall in line, at least in the short term. I think there's a -- so that's one risk. I think there's a bigger risk, Sara, and that is, Americans really elected Donald Trump to do two things. One is to fix the border, and he has made great progress on that.

It has been complicated by what followed in terms of his immigration enforcement, which I think is quite controversial. But the second thing was to lower costs for people and to focus like a laser on that, and he promised quick results that haven't happened, and those still remain the focus of the American people.

And so, you know, this is a gravely important mission that we're embarked on now that the President has set us on. And as you say, we don't know how it's going to turn out, and it could be miraculous and it could be disastrous, and so we'll wait and see.

But what it isn't is a focus on the home front. What it isn't is a focus on the economy, and that's really what's been plaguing him throughout this notion that, and you saw it in poll after poll, that he doesn't have the right priorities. I don't think this was on the list of the -- of priorities for most Americans who voted for him.

So, there is risk associated with this -- with him beyond the particular mission and the risks that are inherent in it. There are political risks, because once again, he seems focused on something other than the thing people want him to be focused on.

SIDNER: Look, I think what you said about how this all ends will have a big -- that will be the deciding factor as to politically if this hurts or helps, because if it ends --

AXELROD: Yes.

SIDNER: -- very poorly, then there will be a reaction, but, yes --

AXELROD: And listen, I'm sure I speak for you as well and everyone who's listening. No one should root for that. No one should root for that. The Iranian people are valiant, and they've been fighting for decades for their freedom, and we should all root for that, and we should all root for a quick end to this and a positive result from this.

And if that happens, we should all cheer. There'll be questions about how we got into it. There'll be questions about whether Congress should have played a bigger role in it. But we should all root for that, but we sure don't know at this juncture as we sit here tonight if that's going to be the result. SIDNER: Normally, I let no one speak for me but me, but David, that is true. Yes, we should want to see an end to this and a peaceful one and want it to go as well as possible. Thank you so much. I do appreciate it.

Now, at this hour, pro-regime crowds are gathering in Tehran to mourn supreme leader after he was killed by U.S. and Israeli strikes. We'll go there. We'll be right back.

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[22:52:01]

SIDNER: Iran's Supreme Leader is dead. Nic Robertson has more.

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NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR (voice-over): He was once the most powerful cleric in the world. Iran's Supreme Leader is head of state and commander-in-chief Ayatollah Ali Hosseini Khamenei, the country's undisputed religious and political authority for nearly 40 years, rarely compromising with Iran's archenemy, the U.S., but also a master tactician who empowered hardline supporters inside Iran to the detriment of moderates and reformers.

KARIM SADJADPOUR, CARNEGIE ENDOWMENT FOR INTERNATIONAL PEACE: Ali Khamenei was really an accident of history. He's someone who, when he was named supreme leader in 1989, people had very low expectations of him.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): Khamenei was an activist before the Islamic Revolution, helping organize protests against the Shah and serving time in prison for it. He was a student and close associate of Ayatollah Khomeini, the charismatic figure who led Iran after the Shah was toppled. He was also a target for the regime's opponents and escaped an assassination attempt in 1981 that left his right arm paralyzed.

Not long afterwards, he was elected president on a platform deeply hostile to the West and its comparatively liberal ideology, especially to the United States, threatening a hard fight should there ever be a war between the two rival nations.

AYATOLLAH ALI KHAMENEI, SUPREME LEADER OF IRAN (through translation): We in no way are willing to start an all-out war with the United States. But if it so happens, we will inevitably put up a very strong defense.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): When Khomeini died in 1989, Khamenei became his successor.

SADJADPOUR: He had enormous shoes to fill, the shoes of the late Ayatollah Khomeini, the father of the revolution. But he died one of the most powerful men in Iran the last two centuries. He was someone who had amassed tremendous power. He is not only one of the most powerful men in Iran, but I would argue one of the most powerful men in the Middle East.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): 2009 brought about the first real challenge to his rule. Demonstrations claiming elections had been rigged. Khamenei met it with force, widespread arrests and calls for unity.

KHAMENEI (through translation): Armed wrestling in the streets is not the right thing to do after the elections. I want everyone to put an end to this. If they don't stop this, then the consequences, the rioting and everything, they will be held accountable for all.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): Again and again, his regime faced calls for moderation. In 2022, the 22-year-old Mahsa Amini died after being arrested by the so-called morality police, and the woman life freedom movement swept the country.

[22:55:10]

His support for Iran's nuclear energy program and missile programs defied much of his country's relations with the West, whose governments feared Iran would develop nuclear weapons. Under Khamenei, Iran's influence extended into Iraq after Saddam Hussein's ouster. Tehran also became a major player in the civil wars in Syria and Yemen.

And yet, in the wake of Hamas' October 7 attack on Israel and the ensuing war in Gaza, he saw Iran's regional influences collapse. Israel's devastating attacks in Lebanon neutered Iran's most powerful proxy force, Hezbollah. And a lightning offensive by Syria's rebels saw another steadfast ally, dictator Bashar al-Assad, flee for the safety of Moscow.

It presaged perhaps the most devastating blow yet. In June 2025, Iran and Israel launched what would become a 12-day war, Tehran attacking Tel Aviv with long-range missiles, and the U.S. joining Israel in bombing Iran's nuclear facilities.

In just a few short years, Khamenei's entire security strategy seemingly collapsed. Billions spent on proxy forces, missile and nuclear development vanished. Khamenei tried to put a brave face on it.

KHAMENEI (through translation): They are desperate. In the 12-day war, they received such slaps that they couldn't believe it. They hadn't anticipated it. They became desperate. This person, Trump, went to boost their morale. He went to pull them out of despair.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): Khamenei's legacy is yet to be written, overreach, burying the aspirations of the Iranian people in a region whose geopolitics were being upended, and a theocratic government trying to stick to old ideals, failing to adapt to the 21st century.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SIDNER: CNN's coverage continues next with our Jim Sciutto.

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