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U.S. and Israel Launch Attack on Iran; Israel Sends First Warnings about Incoming Missiles. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired February 28, 2026 - 03:00   ET

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

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): This is CNN breaking news.

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN HOST (voice-over): I'm Becky Anderson in Abu Dhabi. Let's get you straight to our breaking news out of the Middle East.

The U.S. and Israel are carrying out military strikes against Iran. Explosions have been reported in multiple Iranian cities, including the capital, Tehran, after Israel and the United States launched strikes early on Saturday morning.

Video from Tehran shows plumes of smoke billowing over the city. Let me get you to our White House correspondent, Alayna Treene, who is standing by in Florida at Mar-a-Lago, where the U.S. president is at present.

Donald Trump has just posted to his Truth Social account -- we're going to bring that up for our viewers -- suggesting or describing this as a massive and ongoing campaign, intended to prevent the country from putting U.S. lives at risk.

Alayna, what do we know at this point?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I think that was a remarkable statement, Becky, from the president in what is going to be, as you said and what he said really, a massive and ongoing military operation.

I think those words are so important. And it does come as my colleague, Zach Cohen, and I, are hearing from our sources that the U.S. is prepared to or really planning to see these attacks go on, potentially for several days.

This is a huge moment. And it comes, of course as, up until these strikes, we heard many people close to the president and the president himself saying that he still wanted diplomacy. But clearly they believe that was no longer an option.

And so what I think is going to happen now, to that your question, Becky, is there is this massive military buildup, U.S. military buildup in the Middle East, in the region. The United States has been preparing for an attack just like this one. And now they are preparing to see how Iran is going to retaliate.

So we're waiting to hear more from my sources, who are with the president right now at Mar-a-Lago, about what next steps are. But this is a major moment. And I think the important thing to keep in mind is how this is actually something that a lot of Americans have been concerned about.

And I know this is something that has come up in the internal conversations ongoing about whether or not to actually move forward with strikes like this, about this idea of foreign intervention of this magnitude.

But essentially what we heard from the president -- and I think his words were incredibly striking in that very lengthy video statement that he shared in this announcement this morning, saying to the Iranians, lay down your arms and you will be treated with immunity.

He essentially was encouraging people in Iran to go against the regime, you know, raising this question of whether regime change is really a key part of these strikes. And a lot of this comes -- and I think a lot of the questions I've heard from people ask is, you know, why now?

Why would they move forward with this now and repeatedly?

What I've been told, Becky, from my sources, has been because of the weakened state that Iran and the regime is at in this moment, with proxies weakened over the past year or so, making this an opportunity for them to do this.

But, of course, we have to learn more information about really what is next and the magnitude of what not only this strike but potential more strikes to come is going to look like.

ANDERSON: Alayna, stand by. I want to get our viewers some of the sound from president Trump in announcing this massive military campaign. It was announced on his Truth Social channel just moments ago. Let's have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: 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 and 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.

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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. To the members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard, the armed forces

and all of the police. I say tonight that you must lay down your weapons and have complete immunity or in the alternative face certain death. So lay down your arms. You will be treated fairly with total immunity or you will face certain death.

Finally, to the great, proud people of Iran, I say tonight that the hour of your freedom is at hand. Stay sheltered. Don't leave your home. It's very dangerous outside. Bombs will be dropping everywhere.

When we are finished, take over your government. It will be yours to take. This will be probably your only chance for generations. For many years you have asked for America's help. But you never got it. No president was willing to do what I am willing to do tonight

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Alayna, this is a U.S. president encouraging the people of Iran to take down its own government. This is a call for regime change. Let's just get our viewers a sense of what we understand to have happened to date over the past 1.5 hours or so.

A U.S. official says the U.S. strikes are focused on military targets. It comes against a backdrop of the largest U.S. military buildup in the Middle East since the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

Israel has declared a state of emergency across the country as the strikes were launched in anticipation of Iranian retaliation. And these strikes, of course, come after president Trump has spent weeks threatening to strike Iran over its nuclear program, as well as Iran's domestic crackdown that has killed thousands of protesters.

To remind our viewers, indirect negotiations had been ongoing between Washington and Tehran over Iran's nuclear program and these had been extended into next week in Vienna. The mediator, the Omani foreign minister, had been in Washington just yesterday, as we understand it, talking to at least JD Vance.

Conducted an interview with a domestic U.S. TV network just yesterday, released, only parts of which have just been released in the last few hours, suggesting that these talks were going well, at least according to the Omani mediator, the foreign minister.

Donald Trump, as we understand it, is at Mar-a-Lago as we speak, correct, Alayna?

TREENE: Yes, that is correct. And I'm told, per one White House official I spoke with, that he is still awake and monitoring. of course, the situation that is happening in Iran.

And I remind you, it is a little bit unusual, although not necessarily for this president, that he -- that these strikes had taken place when he was in Florida at his, you know, private residence rather than in Washington.

We saw this similar when, you know, he ordered the capture of Maduro when he was at his Mar-a-Lago resort just last month.

But, Becky, I think everything you walk through, you know, hearing that statement from the president that you just played there, that part of that is just so remarkable to hear him telling the Iranian people to go against the regime there.

And actually, this is something, you know, people have asked the president time and time again over the past year or so that he's been in office, whether or not he supports regime change in Iran.

And for the most part, the White House had been eager to not try to go there. But actually in recent days, we did hear the president, about a week or so ago, say that actually, he believes that that is the best thing that could happen in Iran.

I was out there when the president had said that, when he was departing for a different event. And look, there's a lot that's going to happen here. We have to see exactly, you know, the extent of this strike.

As I said to you earlier, Becky, from the sources that me (sic) and my colleague, Zach Cohen, what they are hearing is that this -- the U.S. is preparing for several days of strikes.

And that is in line, you know, kind of nodding to, one of my sources said, what the president said in that video statement, of this being massive and ongoing.

And there is, you know, now what we are from our understanding, it does seem like Iran is more prepared or was more prepared for this strike than perhaps they were for the one last year in June when the United States went in and struck Iran's nuclear facilities. So that's kind of the key question now.

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Is I know a lot of people are high on alert for what retaliation could actually look like. But, yes, to get back to your initial question, the president is at Mar-a-Lago and I am told he is awake and monitoring the situation that is happening in Iran right now.

ANDERSON: Thank you. Alayna, I'm going to leave it there for the time being. Let you get back to your sources and we'll get back to you for our rolling coverage as and when you have more for us.

It is not clear at this point the extent of the casualties, the targets necessarily, of these strikes on Iran. It is not clear as of yet whether, after the initial series of attacks by the U.S. and by Israel, we have seen any further attacks.

We do know that the area of Tehran where these strikes were targeted is an area around the residence of the supreme leader. Let's get you to Jeremy Diamond, who is standing by in Tel Aviv.

We also have Fred Pleitgen, as I understand it, standing by for us. But let's start with you in Tel Aviv. What are you hearing there, Jeremy, as we continue to report on what

is a coordinated U.S.-Israeli operation on Iran?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Well, Becky, I have major breaking news in the form of Iran's retaliation against Israel appears to have begun just a couple of minutes ago.

Israelis got siren alerts on their phones, warning them that Iran has launched ballistic missiles toward Israel and directing Israelis to head toward protected spaces, bomb shelters in Israel.

This is the kind of early warning system that we saw Israel employ back in June, meaning that Israelis get an initial alert telling them that Israel has detected launches of missiles by Iran and to begin to make their way toward those bomb shelters.

Once we actually get the air raid siren that goes off, then Israelis, in places like Tel Aviv, for example, have about 1.5 minutes before potential impact of those ballistic missiles. And currently we are in that window between the initial alert that Israelis receive on their phones and the actual air raid sirens going off.

But this is coming now about just nearly two hours after Israelis were informed that Israel had begun to carry out strikes against Iran. Nearly two hours later, Iran appears to be retaliating. We don't yet know the size and scale of this barrage of Iranian ballistic missiles.

But keep in mind that, back in June, you know, that first barrage of missiles that we saw from Iran was about 100 ballistic missiles that were fired toward Israeli military and civilian targets.

And so we will see whether or not this is on the same scale or perhaps even larger, as Israel and the United States have indicated that the scope of their operation in Iran is indeed massive, much larger in scale to what we saw back in June.

And so it is very possible that the Iranian retaliation will also be much larger in scale to what we saw in June.

But at this very moment, millions of people in Israel are currently rushing to bomb shelters in anticipation of Iranian ballistic missiles now in the skies and headed toward Israel. We'll keep you posted as we await that actual air raid siren to go off.

ANDERSON: Please do. And please stay safe, of course, yourself. If you need to go then, you know, clearly we understand that.

While I've got you, though, let's talk about two things.

Firstly, is it clear what the targets of these strikes are?

Is anybody -- do you have any sources telling you what this operation's targets are at this point from an Israeli perspective?

And secondly, just for the purposes of our viewers who may be asking themselves whether this coordinated strike with Israel and the U.S., a massive military operation as described by Donald Trump, is -- has unilateral support across not just lawmakers but the residents of Israel.

What's the -- what's the sense?

DIAMOND: Well, certainly Israelis have been anticipating for weeks now the possibility of this conflict erupting. And with the understanding that it likely would be much larger in scale to what Israelis experienced back in June.

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You know, certainly it is, across the political spectrum in Israel, that Israelis view Iran as representing an existential threat to the State of Israel, not only because of its nuclear program but also because of its ballistic missile program, which puts Israel within the range of those ballistic missiles.

You know, we will see, you know, what kind of appetite the Israeli public has for a sustained campaign, particularly with the possibility -- in fact, the likelihood, I should say -- of casualties taking place.

Back in June during the 12-day war, 28 people were killed by Iran's attacks. Most of those individuals were civilians. You also saw many hundreds more who were injured in those strikes.

Israel obviously has a very powerful air defense system, multi-layered system. And the United States has also come into place to bolster that system with THAAD and Patriot air defense systems that have been positioned in the Middle East to take down these ballistic missiles.

And there is also a U.S. aircraft Carrier Strike Group just off the northern coast of Israel. That is the USS Gerald Ford and its assembled missile destroyers that are capable of shooting down ballistic missiles as well. So there is a very large amount of air defense assets positioned to protect Israel.

But that air defense is not hermetic. It is not 100 percent certain that it will prevent all of these missiles from getting through, particularly should the Iranians fire large barrages of missiles.

At the same time, there is a higher likelihood of some of those missiles slamming into Israel. And we did indeed see, back in June, missiles that struck right here in Tel Aviv, in the outskirts of Tel Aviv, at Israeli military bases in various points of the country, particularly in the south.

And so you can expect that a similar scenario is going to take place this time but, again, with the expectation that this is going to be a much more significant, much wider, much less restrained military conflict.

Not only between Israel and Iran but also, of course, between Iran and the United States, which, of course, joined Israel in carrying out these strikes together in the morning hours today. ANDERSON: Jeremy, thank you for the time being.

And just a reminder, a short while ago, sirens sounded in several areas across the country following the identification of missiles launched from Israel -- from Iran toward the state of Israel.

This is from the IDF, the public requested to follow the instructions of the Home Front Command. At this time, the Israeli air force is operating to intercept and strike threats where necessary to remove that threat.

Jeremy, just reporting that in the last couple of minutes. And we will get back to Israel as and when we see evidence of that.

We are trying to make contact, of course, with people on the ground, source what's going on inside Iran, very difficult to get any comms at present.

We continue to effort that, of course, as we continue with what is rolling news here as Donald Trump, just in the past couple of hours on his Truth Social channel, announced a massive military operation.

The U.S. and Israel striking Iran in various locations, including Tehran but in various locations across the country. Just getting news there were reports of -- that the Iranian president may have been a target.

We have just, though, got a confirmation, certainly from Iranian state media, that Iran's president, Masoud Pezeshkian, is alive. That is citing a source close to the presidency. Pezeshkian is in good health, the state media organization said in a short post on Telegram.

Keeping you bang up to date with what we know as it comes in to CNN. Joining me now live from Berlin is CNN's Fred Pleitgen.

And, Fred your immediate response to what we have seen, these massive strikes on Iran, after all, you've been following diplomatic efforts all week.

Is it clear how we got from those talks, which had been extended, of course, into next week, to where we are now, this massive military action?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it certainly seems as though, Becky, those talks that actually happened two days ago in Geneva, that those apparently were much more of a last-ditch effort by Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner.

The two negotiators for president Trump to try and get some deal going than many people would have thought.

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Of course, there were supposed to be continued talks in Vienna on a technical level, starting on Monday, and then possibly another higher level of talks later this week. There were, of course, some who were quite optimistic, like you mentioned earlier, the foreign minister of Oman.

But president Trump, of course, over the past hours or over the hours after his negotiating team got back and especially yesterday, after he received an intelligence briefing, certainly seemed to be pretty down on the prospects of a diplomatic solution.

He kept talking about Iran, not saying, as he put it, the "magic words" of never wanting to have a nuclear weapon or never possessing a nuclear weapon, even though, of course, that was exactly what the Iranians were saying.

But president Trump saying that, as long as Iran would want to keep enrichment, that that was not good enough for him. And certainly it seems as though that is where we are right now.

I've actually, Becky, been in touch with some folks on the ground in Tehran. And they tell me that, as of right now -- I was in touch with them a couple of minutes ago -- it is quiet. There are no strikes at this moment.

But they do believe that strikes are going to continue throughout certainly the entire day, possibly beyond that.

One of the things that we have to look at is that these strikes apparently began around 10 am local time, a little bit after 10 am local time. And there were some further ones around 10:30 local time.

That would have been right after the morning rush hour. Of course, the weekend in Iran is Thursday and Friday. And so Saturday is an absolutely normal business day. There would have been a lot of commuters out there.

But also, of course, any government officials who would still be going into their office would obviously by then be in place. They might have had their first morning meeting.

But certainly it's a time that any government official or any top government official who would actually be going to their office in these hours, in these days of tension, would probably have been in a very vulnerable position.

Now what we've heard from the sources on the ground is what you've been stating, is that apparently the area around the compound of the supreme leader was struck apparently several times, that there was damage around that area, that that area has now been widely cordoned off.

Also that apparently the judiciary has been targeted as well. Of course, that was one of the things that president Trump had been stating, that he would not accept any death sentences, as he put it, against the people who had been part of the protests.

That's also one of the areas that the U.S. had been pointing to. We're also hearing that the area around the intelligence ministry and possibly the intelligence ministry itself has been struck. So there was apparently a wave of strikes right after the early

morning commuter hours of this morning. As of right now, it appears as though it's fairly quiet. But, of course, people there on the ground believe that things could kick off at any point in time.

Once again, we have heard from some Iranian politicians, one of them, the head of the intelligence committee of Iran's parliament, coming out and saying that the Iranians had warned Israel and the United States and that now things would be, as they put it, out of their control. Becky.

ANDERSON: And Fred, the threat of revenge, a crushing revenge, has been announced. Good to have you. For the time being, I'm going to let you go as we continue our rolling coverage of U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran.

Those continue what president Trump is calling a massive and ongoing attack. And let me just remind you what president Trump has said in the past few minutes. He has encouraged Iranians to seize control of their government when U.S. military operations conclude.

Quote, "When we are finished, take over your government. It will be yours to take. This will be probably your only chance for generations," the president said.

This is effectively a call for regime change by the U.S. president. As we continue our rolling coverage. Stay with us.

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ANDERSON: Well, in the past couple of hours, two hours to be precise, we have seen evidence of the start of a massive military operation, as described by president Donald Trump, a U.S. and Israeli coordinated action on Iran.

And this is the U.S. president himself on Truth Social in the past hour or so, calling for the people of Iran to take down their regime. This is, as I say, a U.S.-Israeli coordinated operation, hitting numerous targets across Iran, not least in the city of Tehran.

We have also had alerts, sirens and alerts in Israel in the anticipation of incoming fire from Iran. Let's get you straight to CNN's Jeremy Diamond in Tel Aviv -- Jeremy.

DIAMOND: That's right, Becky. In just the last minute, air raid sirens have gone off across Tel Aviv and central Israel, indicating that Iranian ballistic missiles are indeed incoming.

About 15 minutes before that, Israelis got notifications on their phones to prepare for that barrage of missiles, part of an early warning system that exists here in Israel. I should note that I am currently in a bomb shelter. My studio is in a bomb shelter right now.

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So that's why I'm able to continue reporting live with you. Israelis across the country right now are in bomb shelters, anticipating that Iranian ballistic missiles are incoming.

We know that the Home Front Command alerted Israelis about two hours ago to this new state of emergency, telling Israelis that Israel -- telling Israelis that Israel had conducted airstrikes against Iran and to anticipate Iranian retaliation.

And we should note that this Iranian retaliation is coming much more, much more quickly than it did when Israel launched strikes against Iran in June. Back in June, it took about 18 hours before Iran fired the first barrage of ballistic missiles against Israel following Israeli strikes in Iran.

This time, we are looking at about two hours of time from when Israel announced that it was carrying out strikes in Iran to the launch.

And now the incoming nature of these Iranian ballistic missiles, I haven't yet heard any of those booms in the air indicating interceptions. It's important to note, of course, that these ballistic missiles are often intercepted outside of the atmosphere, because that is the trajectory of these ballistic missiles.

They go out of the atmosphere and then come straight down at a very high velocity. And so they are intercepted oftentimes, if they are able to be intercepted outside of the atmosphere.

We know, however that when Iran fires large barrages of ballistic missiles, some of those missiles tend to go through. The larger the barrage, the higher the probability that some of those missiles come through.

Despite the fact that, of course, Israel has a very strong air defense network covering its population and its military bases. And the United States, of course, has also deployed additional air defense assets to the region in order to help defend Israel against Iranian ballistic missiles.

But that Iranian retaliation now, two hours after Israel and the United States began striking Iran, that Iranian retaliation is now indeed underway, with millions of Israelis now taking cover in bomb shelters with those Iranian ballistic missiles incoming.

ANDERSON: Jeremy, I want to talk about where these strikes, this operation is targeted. For the time being, I'm going to let you go. Back with you as you have more.

Joining me now is Col. Cedric Leighton, our military analyst, retired U.S. Air Force colonel.

Of course Cedric, good to have you. The U.S. says it is targeting military assets. And what do you believe those assets are at this point?

COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Well, one of the things, Becky, -- and it's great to be with you again -- is the Navy. I notice that president Trump, in his statements on Truth Social, mentioned the Navy very specifically. So we're talking about assets in the Persian Gulf.

So this could be an interesting combination of aviation assets from the United States going after those targets, as well as surface vessels going after those targets. This could mean the Strait of Hormuz being an area of potential combat.

Could mean the port of Bushehr, that's further north up the coastline, it could be a potential target area. So that's one area of major interest.

I also think that even though the president didn't mention this directly, I think one of the other areas that they would be looking at would be the air force assets that Iran has. Iran has an air force nowadays. It has some very old U.S. equipment that is associated with it. But it's really not that operational for the most part.

It, also in terms of aviation assets, has Russian equipment and that would be a major target area of -- at least what's left of that would be a target area for the U.S. to go after.

And then, of course, there are the army installations throughout the country. And president Trump alluded to the army as well as to the Revolutionary Guard Corps and, of course, the Basij, the police. That would be an area where there would be some targeting that that could be done.

But what is really interesting to me is -- I think the biggest question that we have is, how is all of this going to be accomplished without some presence on the ground?

And it seems that what president Trump is looking for is the kind of action that would, in essence, precipitate a kind of ground event. But instead of having ground forces in there, having the people of Iran rise up.

And so the hope seems to be that there is some kind of -- will be some kind of a popular uprising. And it really remains to be seen if the groundwork for something like that was actually accomplished before this operation.

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Back in 2003, when we saw the invasion of Iraq during the second Gulf War, the Iranians had forces that were basically in place. They were clandestine forces that were part of their militias, the militia network, their proxy network.

And those forces rose up very quickly once the U.S. invaded those areas and once those air actions took place. It would be interesting to see if something in reverse is going to take place in this situation. And I haven't seen that yet.

I think it's too early to say that, that is going to be coming but that would be the kind of thing that I'll be looking for when it comes to, you know, which areas are going to be impacted by this and whether or not the people rise up, as president Trump seems to be suggesting.

ANDERSON: So -- and Cedric, I do just want our viewers to hear a short sound bite from Donald Trump, who released a video just after this massive military operation had become. This video was posted to his Truth Social account. Let's just have a listen to very specifically what the U.S. president said they are targeting.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: We are going to destroy their missiles and raze their missile industry to the ground. It will be totally again obliterated. We are going to annihilate their navy. We are going to ensure that the region's terrorist proxies can no longer destabilize the region or the world.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: And I do want to note his point there about the region's proxies. We have already seen some activity in Lebanon, of course, where Hezbollah is based. There is Hamas in Gaza. There are the Houthis, of course, in Yemen; there is Iran itself.

I mean Israel has been saying for some time it's already fighting a war on, you know, with seven -- in seven different theaters. These regional proxies, they are weakened right now.

How do you see those factoring in, Cedric?

LEIGHTON: Well, Becky, I think that it's going to be difficult for some of them to get organized. I -- you know, clearly Hamas is very much on the back foot after the years now of warfare in Gaza. So they are not going to be as much of a factor as they once were.

Hezbollah also severely impacted, especially by the attack that happened where the leadership of to a large extent was eliminated, using the Patriot attack that Israel did in that very deft operation that they conducted there.

So Hezbollah, though, will have access to missiles. They will have access to the remnants of -- Hezbollah will have access to fighter -- a fighting force. So there could be some action in that way.

The other thing to look for is what happens in Iraq because there are a lot of proxies. You know, some of the groups that are aligned with Muqtada al-Sadr, for example, could potentially be working in this realm as well.

So it really depends on what the Shiite clerics in Iraq do in response to this. That could then determine how much of those proxies actually become active. But then switching south to Yemen, the Houthis, as you mentioned, are

going to be probably very significant in this. I would expect them to try to launch missiles against Israel and possibly try to close the Bab-El-Mandeb area. That is the strait there from the Red Sea into the Arabian Sea.

So those would be the areas where I would see proxy forces engaged and that would be an area where the U.S. would have to try to neutralize those forces, along, of course, with Israel, depending on which particular territory we're talking about.

But I think in those particular situations, the proxies will have to be watched very carefully. And the intelligence agencies, the intelligence elements of the military, are going to have to look for that activity and be able to counter it as soon as it -- as soon as it occurs.

ANDERSON: Well -- and the U.S. president's remarks this morning were offensive remarks against those proxies. I mean, you know, going after them as part of what is this military operation.

Thank you. Cedric.

And folks, you've seen that map. You've seen the extent of the theater here.

[03:40:00]

And much of that land is here where I am in the Gulf region. And a sense here, when I talk to people around this region over the past couple of weeks but certainly this morning, as we got word that these -- this massive military operation by the U.S. and Israel had started on Iran.

I spoke to a number of people here who continued to say that there is a big push, a big push. They continue to tell the U.S. and tell Israel that they want to see de-escalation and in Iran, by the way. And there's an enormous amount of communication and mediation going on around this region.

As we've seen this series of diplomatic talks over the past few weeks, de-escalation, take this down. You know, if this has to happen, make it limited. That's the sense from around this region.

And there will be people watching this coverage and other coverage around this region, who will be concerned this morning about what the fallout will be, not just for Iranians. And we've got to think of Iranians on the ground today, not just for Israelis on the ground today but around this region, as we see a massive uptick in this conflict.

A massive military operation as described by the U.S. president, starting about two hours ago, targeting Iran. Our rolling coverage of U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran continues just ahead. what president Trump is calling a massive and ongoing attack. Stay with us.

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ANDERSON: We are following breaking news out of the Middle East. The first warning of incoming missiles in Israel sounded a short time ago after the U.S. and Israel began launching attacks against Iran.

Israel declared a state of emergency across the country as the strikes were launched. And we're getting reports of explosions in multiple Iranian cities, including the capital, Tehran. Iranian media says the country's airspace has closed.

U.S. president Donald Trump described the military campaign, which started about two hours and 15 minutes ago, as massive and ongoing. He said Iran had begun working to rebuild its nuclear program.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: A short time ago, the United States military began major combat operations in Iran. Our objective is to defend the American people by eliminating imminent threats from the Iranian regime. A vicious group of very hard, terrible people.

Its 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, mass terror. And we're not going to put up with it any longer.

It has always been the policy of the United States, in particular my administration, that this terrorist regime can never have a nuclear weapon.

The United States military is undertaking a massive and ongoing operation to prevent this very wicked, radical dictatorship from threatening America and our core national security interests. We're going to destroy their missiles and raze their missile industry to the ground. It will be totally again obliterated.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Let's get you to my colleague, CNN's Ivan Watson, standing by.

Iranian media reporting dozens of ballistic missiles now launched toward Israel. And we are standing by with our correspondents there to report on exactly what is happening. But we've heard the sirens there in Israel.

Is this just the start of Iran's retaliation?

Realistically, Ivan, do we know how much Iran is capable of right now and the extent of its missile arsenal today?

IVAN WATSON, CNN ANCHOR AND SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: No, we don't know. We do know that Iran has been preparing and it is vowing revenge and retaliation.

I'm looking at a statement from the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, saying that the first wave of large scale missile and drone attacks by the Islamic Republic of Iran toward the Occupied Territories -- that's what Iran's government calls Israel -- that has begun, indicating the first wave.

We are also hearing that internet connectivity and telecommunications is shutting down across much of Iran. Not knowing why but it does seem that we're going to get much less information coming out of there.

We have heard firsthand from a resident on the ground in Tehran describing how terrifying the explosions were in the morning there on Saturday. To be a resident there, as this bombing campaign began. But I also think we really need to take a step back to look at what president Trump just said.

[03:50:03]

In conjunction with the statement from the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, where they both effectively declared war on the Islamic Republic of Iran, that president Trump says it's going to go beyond Iran's nuclear program and missile capability.

But he is also saying that the navy will be destroyed and that all the police and armed forces and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps should put down their weapons. They will receive immunity.

And one step further, he and the Israeli prime minister are calling for the people of Iran to rise up and overthrow their government. I have not heard a U.S. president launch a military operation and call for regime change since president George W. Bush did that in 2003 with a massive U.S. invasion, ground invasion of Iraq.

Iran, considerably larger population wise, territorially than Iraq. Many of us started our careers covering the troubled U.S. occupation of Iraq. We saw the armed forces in large numbers throw off their uniforms and disappear.

I have no idea what could happen here with what, at the outset, looks like an aerial bombardment of Iran, with indications and reports coming from Iranian state news of at least a half dozen cities from the northwest of the country, from the city of Tabriz, near the border with Azerbaijan, to central Iran, Isfahan, the Iranian holy city of Qom.

The scale of apparent targets is quite large across this large country and the ambitions, apparently, from the stated statements coming from president Trump himself, are enormous, calling for the end effectively of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Some 47 years since the revolution swept the shah of Iran from power, who had been a close ally of the U.S. and, I might add, the son of the shah, Reza Pahlavi, has also come out with a statement. I can't tell if it was coordinated with the U.S. president or he's just jumping on the bandwagon.

And he's been a prominent figure in the deadly protests that were crushed at the beginning of January in Iran. And he is also calling on Iranians to rise up and overthrow their government.

So there is a coordinated message coming from enemies of the Islamic Republic of Iran. And it's anybody's guess where this war will lead next with shelter in place orders being sent out from U.S. embassies in Doha, in Abu Dhabi, with a statement from the prime minister of Lebanon urging the people of Lebanon not to get involved with this.

Because everybody well knows that the militia, Hezbollah, is closely aligned with Iran and a concern that it could get sucked into what appears to be the beginning of a much larger regional conflict, ignited by a bombing campaign carried out in conjunction between the U.S. and Israel against Iran -- Becky.

ANDERSON: Ivan Watson, on the ground for us in Hong Kong today, has extensive experience around this region.

It's good to get your analysis. Ivan. Stand by. I want to bring in Jasmine el-Gamal now.

You are a former Pentagon Middle East adviser, host today of "The View from Here." It's good to have you with us. We've been following, of course, the diplomatic talks for days and weeks.

Just yesterday, the Omani foreign minister, the mediator in these talks was in Washington and had this pointed message for the Trump administration about those talks. Let's have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BADR BIN HAMAD AL BUSAIDI, OMANI FOREIGN MINISTER: Really, I can see that the peace deal is within our reach.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A peace deal?

AL BUSAIDI: Yes, is within our reach if we just allow diplomacy the space it needs to get there. Because I don't think any alternative to diplomacy is going to solve this problem.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: That message appears to have been ignored.

What do you make of what we have seen and indeed heard from the U.S. president this morning?

JASMINE EL-GAMAL, MIDDLE EAST ANALYST AND FORMER PENTAGON MIDDLE EAST ADVISER: Well, good morning, Becky. It's good to be with you.

I mean, I mean, just extraordinary really, listening to president Trump talking about the Iranian people rising up, telling them the U.S. is behind you, telling a U.S. audience that they should be prepared for U.S. casualties, that the Iranian regime seeks to kill and that American service members and casualties in American lives are expected.

[03:55:00]

This is certainly something that I think we haven't seen before. Ivan was just referring to the Iraq war. In the Iraq war, the U.S. went in with boots on the ground to take out the regime itself.

In Venezuela, the U.S. took out the head of the government, Nicolas Maduro, but left the rest of the apparatus in place.

So what we're seeing right now is really, really uncharted territory. And as you said, coming just after one of the key mediators -- or the key mediator, Oman -- from the foreign minister himself on "Face the Nation," saying that he believes that Iran had come to the table and agreed to stop enrichment.

That had agreed to zero stockpiling, full and comprehensive verification by the IAEA, downblending -- he described it using that word -- the nuclear material to a neutral level, converting it to fuel, which he described as an irreversible step.

So all of that framework was presented yesterday by the mediator, Oman. And now we're seeing these strikes which, by all intents and purposes now, according to the U.S. president, are meant to topple the regime and get the Iranian people to take over, in his words.

ANDERSON: And real concern around the region. There has been messaging from Iran, of course, that, if it were attacked, it would go after U.S. assets around the region where we are.

I am, of course, in Abu Dhabi, in the UAE. Lots of concern in this region and beyond.

I'm Becky Anderson in Abu Dhabi.

Thank you. Jasmine,

I'm going to be back with a lot more of CNN's breaking news after this.