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Sources: Iran Has New Plan To Assassinate Trump, Israel Tells U.S. Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired July 10, 2026 - 04:00   ET

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

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[04:00:19]

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Good evening. We start off tonight with breaking news. Iran has recently devised a new plan to assassinate President Trump that according to Israeli intelligence shared with the United States. Two sources who spoke to CNN provided the details. One said the warning came this week.

Another source said the U.S. had picked up a steady drumbeat of intelligence in recent weeks about possible plans to assassinate the president. But the warning from Israel was new and concerned a specific plot. The details of that plot were not immediately clear, nor was it clear if the U.S. had detected it separately from the Israeli warning, President Trump alluded to a threat from Iran when asked yesterday why he was leaving NATO on the old Air Force One after arriving on the new Air Force One.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'd like you to address speculation that you're leaving Ankara, not in the new Air Force One, because of security concerns involving Iran. You've spoke -- spoken today twice about them possibly assassinating you and possibly being successful. Did that concern have something to do with --

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, I speak about it a lot because, you know, the life of a president is very dangerous. I'm number one on the kill list for Iran. They're lovely people. I'm number one.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why aren't you flying on the new Air Force One?

TRUMP: It's flying to Europe to one of the big bases, two or three of the big bases where we can show it to the people and we'll be going home by normal methods.

(END VIDEO CLIP) COOPER: Well, we now know the switch from the new Air Force One to the old Air Force One was driven at least in part by security concerns around the escalating conflict with Iran. That's according to four U.S. officials, although there is no indication it was specifically tied to this plot to assassinate the president.

Now all of this is happening, of course, with the renewed military strikes between the U.S. and Iran. This was the scene on the Iranian coast earlier today. These are fighter jets taking off tonight from the USS Abraham Lincoln, an aircraft carrier in the Arabian Sea carrying out a routine mission over the Strait of Hormuz. The U.S. is pausing strikes for now to give diplomacy a chance, according to a U.S. official. We start with CNN's Pamela Brown who joins us live aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln.

So what more have you learned about this apparent assassination plot?

PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR & CHIEF INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Anderson, my colleague, Kevin Liptak, and me have been talking to sources tonight, and we're told that as recently as this past week, Israel shared new intelligence with the U.S. that it was devising, that Iran was devising a new plot to assassinate President Trump. Now, I'm told from talking to a source that in recent weeks there has been an increase of intelligence coming in indicating that Iran was devising new ways to go after the president. We know ever since his first term it has looked at President Trump as a target ever since the administration took out Commander Soleimani of Iran. But these -- this is a new plot apparently coming from Israeli intelligence that I should note has not been verified by the U.S. we're told.

And one source we spoke to did express some skepticism that this particular intelligence about a specific plot coming from Israel, they do question that, given the fact that they believe that Israel may be trying to influence President Trump. But nonetheless, this is something the intelligence community is looking at and trying to figure out more. We don't have details yet of that specific plot, but as you point out, Anderson, the change of Air Force One planes this past week certainly raised a lot of questions.

COOPER: Is there any indication this plot or just the security concern, is it connected to the renewed U.S. strikes in the past few days, or it's something that's been in the works for a longer time? Do we know?

BROWN: I think that's a fair question. The sources I'm speaking to say that it's not related to these retaliatory strikes that we've seen the last couple of days. I'm told that that is directly in response to the Iran strikes on those three vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, and that this is all part of a military tactic to strike Iran and then pause to try to get diplomacy back on the table, which is what you're seeing right now. I'm told by a U.S. official that they really want to get diplomacy going, that that is taking the lead and that right now there is diplomacy happening behind the scenes to try to ease tensions. Because as we've been talking about, Anderson, this week, we have seen those tensions escalate with strikes back and forth between the U.S. and Iran. But it's very touch and go, I can tell you. And talking to folks here on this ship, there's a feeling that things can change at any second and strikes could resume any minute, and they're trying to make preparations for that.

COOPER: Yes. Have you seen any more activity on the -- on the USS Abraham in the overnight hours there?

BROWN: Absolutely. And by the way, you can hear behind me a drill of some sort. They're doing maintenance here on aircraft. So that's that sound. I mean, this ship is going 24/7.

[04:05:04]

And in terms of aircraft, there were operations going on throughout the day with these fighter jets and throughout the night. I believe we have some new exclusive video we can show you from our time here on the Lincoln today. These are operations from these fighter jets that are defensive in nature. And so they've been doing these types of operations throughout their time here. But it, of course, took on new meeting today given this posture of heightened alert.

The captain of the ship said that things are heating up. And I can tell you, Anderson, here on the ship, it was a lot busier today with putting armaments on these fighter jets in preparation for potential strikes. Pilots were doing drills, they were getting ready in case they were called on to do a third night of strike. So far that hasn't happened. Things are delicate, diplomacy is underway.

But as we've seen throughout this war, Anderson, things can rapidly change.

COOPER: Yes. Pamela Brown, thanks so much. Appreciate it.

Joining us now, two of our law enforcement analysts, former Secret Service agent Jonathan Wackrow and former FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe.

Jonathan, what do you first of all make of this assassination plot? Does it now make more sense that the president flew out of Turkey on the old Air Force One instead of the new one? I mean, his explanation yesterday didn't really seem to make much sense about it being going to a base in order so people could tour it.

JONATHAN WACKROW, FORMER SECRET SERVICE AGENT: Yes. Good evening, Anderson. You know, this new reporting really confirms what this appeared to be from the very beginning, which was it was a risk based operational decision that was driven by the changing threat picture in the region. I think this new intelligence just adds to that.

And with that threat environment escalating, the focus really shifts to capabilities. And when it comes to the aircraft, which aircraft can best support the president's security, communications and command requirements while he's overseas. And when you think about like what the White House military office, the Secret Service and the National Security staff had to do, this decision to revert to a known aircraft where its full capabilities have been tested in these real world conditions was pretty easy and straightforward, you know, to make that call to, you know, depart on the legacy aircraft.

COOPER: Andrew, I don't know why the president wouldn't just, you know, tell the American people the truth, given that it's obviously it would come out anyway and the explanation was -- wasn't very plausible that he gave yesterday. I'm wondering what light this assassination plot led, you know, plot sheds in your view on the changes from the -- of the planes yesterday.

ANDREW MCCABE, FORMER FBI DEPUTY DIRECTOR: Yes. You know, well, I think I have the same questions you do, Anderson. Excuse me, I -- and foremost in my mind is the fact that no president ever has been put out of his own plane or has been forced to switch planes so that the plane he departed the country in could go tour unnamed air bases that other people could look at it. That seems like really a far reach. Now, we know that there is this kind of groundswell of intelligence, possibly collected by our own intelligence community, possibly given to us by the Israelis, that indicate that there is a significant threat picture that the president is facing.

We know this president faces a significant threat picture all the time, an elevated threat picture. We've seen numerous attempts at his life. And let's not forget the fact that he has now traveled into a country, Turkey, that shares a border with the country we are currently at war with, current diplomatic efforts aside. So all, you know, all indicators point in the same direction that this was an incredibly high risk trip, maybe one that the president decided was worth it, but nevertheless a high risk trip and one in which you absolutely cannot, under any circumstances, allow the president of the United States to suffer in any way at the hands of a foreign adversary ever. That is some -- that is an act that could catapult this, you know, us into World War III.

So changing planes midstream, I agree with Jonathan. That was a necessity because clearly the old plane has capabilities that the new one doesn't have just yet.

COOPER: Jonathan. I mean, the risk to the president on an overseas trip like this and to Andrew's point one that borders Iran, I mean, it's -- the risks are endless. I mean, drones, missiles, you know, something taking off, landing while he's on the ground there. Were you surprised that this trip even took place?

WACKROW: Well, I'm not surprised that the trip took place. I was actually shocked when I saw that the new bridge aircraft was actually utilized with the imagery of him taking off from Andrews and landing in Turkey. And the reason being is when, you know, the president is overseas, that aircraft literally becomes part of the national security infrastructure. It's effectively the flying White House, this mobile command and control post that really is the center of, you know, continuity of operations for the U.S. government. So that aircraft matters the most when the president is operating in these heightened, you know, threat environments.

[04:10:15] So the choice to use that aircraft initially, I kind of scratched my head at it was the right decision to go back to the legacy aircraft. And the reason being is because that aircraft is tested within real world conditions, that legacy aircraft has gone into war zones. It has the capabilities to operate in an environment like that. So seeing him depart yesterday on that legacy aircraft was a bit of a relief for me.

COOPER: Andrew, just from a security standpoint, I mean, you alluded to this, what kind of intelligence would the Secret Service have about a plot like this? And how much would they be relying on the Israelis?

MCCABE: So the service, as Jonathan well knows, is the benefactor, the recipient of all of the United States intelligence community's best collection on any issue that impacts the safety and security of the president of the United States. So it's not what the service collects on its own, it's the best of what NSA is hearing in their vast intercept capability around the world. It's the best of what NSA is collecting on the cyber front around the globe. It's the best of what the FBI is getting from their surveillance of and monitoring of Iran connected people here in the United States. It's, of course, the best of what the CIA collects from their sources all over the globe and some of whom are in the -- on, you know, obviously in touch with and maybe in Iran.

So they have an incredibly expansive and detailed and nuanced view of what the United States knows. Now, put on top of that, they're the beneficiaries of receiving any sort of intel that's passed along to us from our allies. Of course, in this case, Israel has extensive collection in that area and of course our European allies as well, particularly Five Eyes nations that have a very open sharing capacity with us. So if the threat is out there, if there's a legitimate credible threat out there, it's highly likely that we're going to see indications of that either in our own collection or in the collection of our partners.

COOPER: Andrew McCabe, appreciate it. Jonathan Wackrow as well.

Coming up with more on the reported Iranian plot to assassinate President Trump and how it could impact future negotiations to end the war. And later, FBI Director Kash Patel is now at the center of a congressional investigation into his alleged abuse of FBI airplanes and other perks of the office. More details on that ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:17:12]

COOPER: Back with our breaking news tonight. CNN has learned that Israel shared details of a fresh Iranian plot to assassinate President Trump. While the details of the plot were not clear, the Israelis told the U.S. that their intelligence indicated it was a new and specific plot to kill the president. We're learning of this after CNN reported today that the president's decision to switch planes for his flight out of Turkey was driven in part by security concerns. Two U.S. officials told CNN that security personnel felt more comfortable with the president flying on the older plane, which was built from scratch to ensure the safety of the commander in chief, rather than the newly retrofitted plane gifted to the U.S by Qatar.

Joining me now with more on this, former U.S. ambassador to NATO Ivo Daalder and retired U.S. Air Force Colonel Cedric Leighton, who's CNN military analyst.

Ambassador, what could the impact of this assassination plot on the war be and the efforts to end it?

IVO DAALDER, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO NATO: Well, frankly, I don't think very much. It's not surprising that the Iranians would continue to want to target the president of the United States. After all, we started this war by assassinating and killing the supreme leader of Iran. I would have assumed that from day one we would assume that the Iranians are going to target the president of the United States. Indeed, they have been trying to do so for a very long time.

Way back in the 1980s, Iranians were targeting U.S. officials. So it isn't surprising that this is happening and it shouldn't make in many ways any difference to how one conducts the war. When it comes to war with another adversary, almost all things, particularly with Iran, almost all things are off the table. And that I would have assumed would be part of the conversation the president had with his senior advisers on how to conduct this war.

COOPER: Colonel, from the perspective of the U.S. Air Force, what is a plot like this mean, you think, for transporting the president safely moving forward?

COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Well, Anderson, one of the key things, of course, as the ambassador mentioned, is the safety of the president. And when you plan a mission like a presidential transport to another part of the world, they take a look at all of the intelligence pictures. And in your previous segment when Andrew McCabe was talking about it, he's right. There is basically an all source intelligence picture that is brought to the Air Force as well as the Secret Service.

And when the Air Force gets these pictures, what they do is they develop flight plans to make sure that the president's plane is as safe as possible. Sometimes that involves things like when you go into a denied area like Baghdad during the Iraq war, the plane would come in a kind of a corkscrew fashion to avoid surface to air missile engagements if at all possible, at least minimize the risk of those engagements. So those, you know, it's basically a series of tactics, flight paths that are developed in order to protect the aircraft itself and make sure that the president and the traveling party is as safe as possible.

[04:20:17]

COOPER: Ambassador, you know, the president has said that the new -- the new leaders of Iran or the people that the U.S. is dealing with are less radicalized than the previous two iterations of the regime, many of whom have been killed. A, do you believe that is the case? And if there is an assassination plot, does that -- is that any commentary on how serious Iran is or is not about actually making a deal?

DAALDER: Yes, I don't think this is a particularly moderate regime, and the Iranian regime doesn't have moderates. But one thing that resulted from this war is that the hardliners within this regime have taken control. Clearly, the supreme leader's son, who is now the new supreme leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, was closely tied to hardliners within the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the IRGC. Those are the people who are clearly in charge now and they believe they are winning this war. They believe that they have a strategic leverage by holding hostage the Strait of Hormuz and the traffic that goes through it, and they're not willing to give it up.

The memorandum of understanding as they negotiated didn't say that they were have to give it up. And the president will have to decide is he willing to live with an Iran that in some ways is able to control access to and from the Strait of Hormuz, or is he willing to escalate militarily to the point that the Iranians are preventing from doing so. But that would be a major, major military escalation, probably involving ground forces in a very significant fashion.

And the president has up to this point ruled that -- those options out. But this leadership, as far as I can see, and certainly a leadership that is bent on revenge for the killing of its own supreme leader, is unlikely to be looking for a deal, let alone begging for the deal that the president keeps on telling they are.

COOPER: Yes. And, Colonel, I mean, if there's -- if there is not a deal or a deal, you know, reasonable deal in the works or in sight, and, you know, a civilizational annihilation wipeout strike is not in the cards, as certainly it would be illegal to do. And you know, even though the president has at times kind of threatened something like that, militarily, what happens? Is it just kind of a low grade tit for tat just moving forward?

MCCABE: It could very well turn out to be that, Anderson. And you know, one of the things that we're very reluctant to do, as the ambassador mentioned is commit ground forces to something like this. Now, there is one thing that is interesting about the target set that was picked for yesterday's strikes, and that is that in the city of Chabahar, there was a maritime conviction tower that was actually struck by the U.S. forces. So there seems to be an effort on the part of the U.S. to try to reach, you know, some degree of destruction with those kinds of targets.

So if you take out the maritime patrol tower, the theory is that you're going to limit Iran's ability to control the flow of traffic into and out of the Strait of Hormuz. Whether or not that's successful is another question. But the effort seems to be there to go after certain strategic targets, and that is one of them. And that, of course, is a key leverage point for the Iranians, the controlling of the Strait of Hormuz. That's something they want to do.

They want to continue to do that. And they will only be dissuaded from doing that if they don't have the means to do that.

COOPER: Colonel Leighton, appreciate. Ambassador Daalder, thank you very much.

Up next, Democrats on Capitol Hill investigating claims that FBI Director Kash Patel had misused funds and government jets for personal perks. And what the bureau is saying about those claims.

[04:24:16]

And later, a defiant Graham Platner still has not officially dropped out of the Maine Democratic Senate race after announcing he was suspending his campaign as the party scrambles to pick a replacement. The question is, when will he drop out? The latest ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: Breaking news on FBI Director Kash Patel in a congressional investigation into alleged, quote, abuse of FBI jets and tax dollars. You know, the investigation was launched today by the ranking members of both the Senate and House Judiciary Committees, Senator Dick Durbin and Congressman Jamie Raskin, who joins us in a moment. Quoting now from the announcement of the congressional probe into, quote, "Director Kash Patel's misuse of taxpayer funded resources," which was launched in part after, quote, "receiving new details from sources about Patel's excessive travel, luxury expenditures and personal activities disguised as official business."

One example cited Director Patel's now quite well known trip to the Olympics in Milan.

Well, for some, the beer chugging belied the bureau's stated purpose for the trip, long planned official business which just happened to coincide with the Olympic hockey finals of Team USA versus Canada. Kash Patel is a big fan of hockey.

In a letter addressed to Director Patel, Senator Durbin and Congressman Raskin point out that when he first announced he'd be attending Olympic hockey, there was no mention of FBI business, Patel wrote in a social media post nearly eight months before the games, "NHL agreed to let the boys play in the next Olympics this coming winter, first time in over a decade. Team USA, I'll see you there."

Director Patel was asked about the Olympic trip at a congressional hearing in May.