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U.S. And Israel Launch Attack On Iran; Sources: Israeli Strikes Targeted Iran's Supreme Leader, President; Smoke Seen Billowing Above Compound Of Iran's Supreme Leader. Aired 8-9p ET

Aired February 28, 2026 - 08:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:01:02]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN Breaking News.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: And thank you for joining us. We have viewers with us from around the world. I'm Victor Blackwell. My colleague Wolf Blitzer is standing by. We'll get to him in just a moment.

We are covering major breaking news across the Middle East. Here's what we know right now.

The U.S. and Israel carried out multiple strikes in Iran early this morning, including in Tehran. This video shows what's left of a building fire. We're told this is the square where former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is known to live. And satellite images captured smoke over Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's compound. Israeli strikes targeted several senior Iranian officials, but Iranian state media says they are all safe.

Now not long after the strikes, President Donald Trump posted a video message on social media telling the Islamic Revolutionary Guard to surrender and for Iran's citizens to rise up against their government.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DONAL TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: 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.

(END VIDEOTAPE) BLACKWELL: President Trump has threatened strikes for weeks, and he

said the U.S. would hit Iran if they used lethal force against antigovernment protesters. And these strikes are expected to last for several days. Planning hits over a one-to-two-day period with pauses. Iran is already retaliating.

The sirens have been going off in Israel this morning warning people to get to shelter. And just minutes ago the Iranian army said it launched a large-scale drone attack at the country. And missiles are flying over other Middle East countries where U.S. Military bases are located.

A warning for you now. The video we're about to show you is disturbing. Witnesses caught this video of the moment part of the missile -- part of the missile fell there and exploded on a street. This is in Doha. Let's bring in now Wolf Blitzer.

Wolf, a busy morning and the supreme leader promised an expanded, and we're now seeing it.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, it looks like this is going to escalate big time in the coming hours and days for that matter. Victor, thanks very much.

Our team has been up and gathering information since the attack started several hours ago. I want to get to CNN's Alayna Treene and Zach Cohen in just a minute. But right now, I want to go to CNN's Jeremy Diamond. He's on the scene for us in Tel Aviv.

Set the scene over there in Tel Aviv. We know the sirens have been going off not just in Tel Aviv, but in Haifa and Jerusalem, elsewhere in Israel as well.

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Wolf. Over the course of the last seven hours, we witnessed initially Israeli and U.S. strikes in Iran, which as we understand it, are very much still ongoing. And that was quickly followed by Iranian retaliation. Within two hours of Israel announcing that it was carrying out strikes in Iran, Iran fired its first volley of ballistic missiles towards Israel, sending millions of people in this country rushing to bomb shelters, both here in Tel Aviv, but also in Jerusalem, in northern Israel as well as in the southern part of the country as well.

[08:05:09]

As of yet, I'm told by an Israeli military official that dozens of ballistic missiles have been targeting Israel, but there have been no significant hits according to that military official. And indeed, we haven't witnessed any hits here in Tel Aviv. It appears that most of the missiles are indeed being intercepted. What we understand in terms of the strikes that the United States and Israel are carrying out in Iran. They are extraordinarily significant, and every source I've been talking to has been warning that this military operation is and will be far more severe in scope and in scale than the 12-day war between Iran and Israel during which the United States also struck nuclear sites. And that's because here there's not just military targets being hit,

Iran's ballistic missile program, but two Israeli sources familiar with the matter tell -- are telling me that Israel also carried out strikes targeting Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, as well as several other senior Iranian figures. And so it's quite clear, and you can hear it as well in listening to the words of President Trump, that this military operation isn't just aimed at diminishing Iran's military and nuclear capabilities. It is very much aimed at creating the conditions for regime change in Iran.

And that is very much what appears to be underway as U.S. and Israeli officials have warned us that this operation is going to continue for at least several days. Wolf?

BLITZER: Jeremy, I take it that airspace over Israel has been shut down and that commercial flights in and out of Ben Gurion Airport outside of Tel Aviv have now been closed as well. Israel's so-called Iron Dome anti-missile system. How's that holding up right now as these Iranian rockets and missiles are approaching Israel?

DIAMOND: Well, you're right, Wolf. Israel's airspace has indeed been shut down, the entire country is at a state of emergency with people basically being told except for essential activities. They should stay home. Schools are also being closed for the coming days.

As it relates to Israel's air defense system, as I said, there haven't been any significant hits that we've been able to detect so far of those ballistic missiles. This is a multilayered defense system, not only the Iron Dome system which is designed for those smaller range missiles, but also you have the aero defense system. You have David Sling. And the United States has also put significant air defense capabilities in the region over the course of the last month or so. THAAD Air defense systems, as well as Patriot missile defense systems, have been deployed throughout the Middle East. And the United States also has an aircraft carrier.

The USS Gerald R. Ford and its strike group, which includes naval destroyers as well, just off the coast of northern Israel, which can also assist in that air defense effort.

WOLF: Yes, that aircraft carrier strike force is in the Mediterranean and potentially there to help Israel. The whole nature of what's going on right now, how are Israelis reacting based on what you've seen and heard so far?

DIAMOND: Well, listen, it's important to understand that pretty much across the political spectrum, Israelis largely, you know, agree with the prime minister's assessment that Iran represents an existential threat to the country. We have seen polling before indicating that a majority of Israelis would support military action against Iran. Today to bomb shelters, they have been anticipating this possibility for weeks now. But now that it is finally here, I can tell you that Tel Aviv is extraordinarily quiet compared to what would normally be happening here on a Saturday.

You know, I have the beach and the boardwalk right here. Only a few people are out. This is certainly a country that is finding itself once again on a wartime footing. Again, so far, the actual impacts have been very limited in Israel.

You know, most of the damage so far seems to have happened at U.S. Military bases in the Gulf as Iran is carrying out strikes across a variety of targets, not just Israel, but also those U.S. Air bases in the Middle East. But that doesn't mean that this is where this is going to stay. And Israeli officials had warned me in the weeks before this operation that should war break out between Israel and Iran, they expected the possibility of casualties in Israel.

And of course, we heard President Trump also talking (inaudible) among U.S. Military personnel. That just tells you a lot about the scope of this and how volatile this situation really is.

BLITZER: And I know the Israelis are also worried about Iran's drone capability. So we'll see how that unfolds. Jeremy Diamond in Tel Aviv. Stay safe over there. We'll stay in very close touch with you.

We're following all these important developments as President Trump is monitoring the strikes from his home down in Palm Beach, Florida. Mar- a-Lago, saying the United States has taken every step possible to protect American forces in the region.

[08:10:06]

We also know a U.S. Navy base in Bahrain, which is the home of the Navy's Fifth Fleet, was targeted in Iran's retaliatory attacks. Officials have not said if there were any injuries or casualties. The U.S. State Department is urging all Americans across the Middle East to shelter in place. And U.S. embassies throughout the region have issued alerts.

Airlines around the world are also canceling flights into the Middle East. And Europe's aviation agency is warning carriers to avoid the Middle East and Persian Gulf airspace altogether, at least through Monday. I want to bring in CNN's Alayna Treene, who's reporting from West Palm beach down in Florida, near Mar-a-Lago. That's where the president is.

Alayna, update our viewers. What are you hearing?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, look, this is something Wolf, of the president has really been wrestling with, not just for days now, but for months, really toying with this idea of whether or not he wanted to continue pushing for diplomacy, pushing for negotiations with the Iranians. I'd remind you that it was just two days ago that the president's top adviser, Steve Wyckoff, and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner were in Geneva meeting with the Iranians. Having the Omanis mediate that and, you know, still pushing in a way that I was told was sincere for a diplomatic option.

But clearly, what we heard from the president yesterday, him saying that he was frustrated. He believed that the Iranians were not meeting the United States where he wanted them to be. And then we saw these strikes be carried out this morning. Now, I do want to go back to that statement. It was in a video announcement that the president shared on social media. Pretty remarkable words coming from him. And there's a few points that I want to really drive home to you, Wolf. One is that he said that this is a massive and ongoing operation. That means that there is, you know, this is not the end, these strikes. And our sources, my colleague Zach Cohen and I reported that they are the United States is planning for several days of attack. So this is likely to be much longer than just what we've seen unfold this morning.

The other thing he said was he effectively called for regime change in Iran, which is also remarkable because up until really the last week or so, all of the top people in the White House were doing their best to avoid talking about regime change. But the president said that essentially, he believes that these strikes have created an even more weaker Iran, a weaker Iranian regime. And now that it is up to the people in Iran to go and change the way that the government is there, essentially push for regime change on their own.

So that was again, pretty stunning comments from the president. He also noted that there is a potential for U.S. casualties, saying that is essentially what happens in war, something I think a lot of his supporters are not necessarily going to like. And I'd remind you as well that part of the reason this has been such a tough decision for a lot of people in the top echelons at the White House is because a lot of people, not just Americans, but a lot of people in the president's own base, are very wary of getting involved not only in another foreign conflict, but in particularly a protracted one. And that is kind of what we're seeing be laid out in our conversations with our sources.

So there's a lot more that we are still monitoring. I'm told the president is continuing to monitor everything from his Palm Beach estate. And we'll bring more to you, Wolf, when we get it.

BLITZER: Alayna Treene on the scene for us down in West Palm Beach, Florida, with the President of the United States. All right, thanks very much.

I want to go to CNN Senior National Security Reporter Zach Cohen. Zach, the president, warned at the start of this operation that there could be American casualties. What can you tell us about how the United States may have prepared their bases in the region along the Persian Gulf, for example, for Iran's response, which so far has been very widespread?

ZACHARY COHEN, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: Yes, well, just the risk of U.S. casualties is something that Donald Trump was well aware of when he gave the order to initiate this joint operation with the U.S. and Israeli forces carrying out what is happening right now. And he did so anyway. And this is something that was raised to him before the operation started by his top general, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Dan Caine. And this was one of the concerns Caine voiced based on our previous reporting that this, kind of an operation could result in significant U.S. casualties in a way that goes beyond the risk of previous operations. We've seen President Trump order over the course of his now two times

in office. And so, we know that the U.S. military was taking specific steps to prepare those U.S. forces in the region for what they did expect to be a significant Iranian response, especially given the scale of the U.S.-Israeli operation that remains ongoing.

We know that U.S. officials were prepared for Iranian proxy forces to potentially target U.S. forces and facilities around the Middle East, including in Qatar and in countries that we've seen them target in the aftermath of these initial strikes. And as we've been reporting, we do expect the U.S. military and the Israeli forces to continue to carry out strikes over the next several days.

[08:15:14]

The Iranians are vowing that they will continue to broaden this conflict into a region-wide conflict. So, this is something that we will have to continue to monitor as Donald Trump has already sort of kicked the ball off, and this process is already now out of his hands in some ways, as the Iranians do dictate in some in a large regard what they do in response, and if they choose to escalate beyond what we've seen so far.

BLITZER: All right. Zach Cohen reporting for us. Zach, thanks very much.

We're monitoring all these developments across the Middle East. Right now, we're learning that lawmakers were not necessarily informed of these strikes before they began. Senator Andy Kim is standing by to join us live. That's next.

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BLACKWELL: All right, we're following breaking news. Major breaking news coming from the Middle East. The U.S. and Israel have launched airstrikes against Iran. We're getting a look at some of the damage in Tehran, Iran's capital.

CNN is told that this is the area where the former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad apparently lives. President Trump had an ominous warning for the Iranian military and law enforcement,

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TRUMP: 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.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWELL: Let me bring in my colleague, Wolf Blitzer. Wolf, the President also said that the U.S. is going to destroy their missiles, raise their missile industry, and annihilate their navy, potentially at the very beginning of a multi-day strike here from the U.S. and Israel.

BLITZER: Very ambitious objectives to be sure, Victor. President Trump did not seek specific congressional authority for these strikes. Sources telling CNN that the Secretary of State Marco Rubio did notify at least some members of what's called the Gang of Eight.

The congressional leadership on armed services and intelligence before the operation began. They were not given a complete account of the legal justification for this U.S. launch attack.

Let's go right now to Democratic New Jersey Senator Andy Kim. He's a member of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, previously served at both the Pentagon and the White House National Security Council.

Senator, thanks so much for joining us. First of all, what's your reaction to this dramatic development of what we've seen overnight and early this morning, that the United States and Israel have jointly bombed Iran, and in particular his statement that American lives, God forbid, could be lost?

SEN. ANDY KIM: I mean, this is an appalling action by this president. How many times do the American people need to wake up in the morning and see this president dragging us into another conflict, into another war? He literally called this a war and said that American lives could very well be lost. And to be able to do this with no justification, no congressional authorization, and most importantly, it's just very clear the American people don't want this.

I held a town hall last week. I asked the participants, if you think we should be engaged in a military strike against Iran, raise your hand. Not a single hand went up.

When I said, do you think the American people need to have a say in this if we were to engage in military action? Every hand went up. This is going directly against the will of the American people.

BLITZER: Do you have confidence in what the President said in a statement that he released overnight that Iran has been building missiles that potentially could soon reach the U.S. Homeland?

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

I think we should be having Congress immediately in session to review this. And if the administration wants to give us the information about why they think that there is some imminent attack, that they have given us no information about so far. They need to make the case to the American people. But the fact that they have moved forward in this way put American lives at risk for something that is so clearly not a limited strike. Having worked in the Situation Room before, I know what goes into planning of this magnitude. For them to do this so clearly violates every authority that they have.

BLITZER: Do you agree with the President, Senator, that Iran is the world's number one state sponsor of terrorism?

KIM: I have no -- I have no question that Iran is -- has terror organizations. I have worked for years to combat them. I know that they have struck and attacked American soldiers, especially in Iraq and Afghanistan, in the past. But that being said, that does not justify this type of action without the coordination.

When we have our service members go into harm's way. There are two conditions that I often think through. One is this the -- the action of last resort? And that is not the case in this circumstance. We did not go through the diplomatic efforts in the way that we needed to.

[08:25:08]

You know, you cannot have Wyckoff and Kushner engage in diplomacy here where they're all -- when they're also in charge of diplomacy with Russia and Ukraine as well as Israel and Palestine in the Middle East region. You know, this was not a thought-through effort.

And the number two condition is, are our service members going out with every resource they have and need to be successful? And when this White House has not come to Congress for any authorities when it comes to additional funds needed to be able to sustain actions of this magnitude. We are not setting up our service members for success here. And that should be the number one priority for a commander-in-chief.

BLITZER: I know you believe, Senator, that President Trump shouldn't have attacked Iran without formal official approval from Congress under the War Powers Act. Is there any talk at all that you've heard from Senate leaders about Congress returning to take a vote on the War Powers Resolution?

KIM: Well, we should have been able to do this before, and we should go back immediately to the Capitol to vote on this. I've been talking to a number of my colleagues this morning, many expressing the same sentiment. So I hope that there can be unanimity that when it comes to strikes of this magnitude, when American service members' lives are at risk, what greater responsibility do we have in Congress than to look out for our service members and the national security of our country? This is to be something that we should be able to take up immediately.

BLITZER: Senator Andy Kim of New Jersey, thanks so much for joining us.

KIM: Thank you.

BLITZER: All right, we're going to take another quick break. We're following all the breaking news out of the Middle East right now, the United States, and Israel. They have launched what President Trump describes as a massive, massive military operation against Iran. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:30:56]

BLITZER: More now on the major breaking news. The United States and Israel conducting a coordinated attack against Iran. The Israeli military said they closely planned the operation with the United States for months.

Israeli sources say their strikes targeted senior Iranian figures. This is a satellite image from Erebus that shows black smoke rising above the compound of Iran's supreme leader in the capital of Tehran. The damage from the strikes appears to stretch across several buildings in the compound. It's unclear if the Iranian supreme leader was in the compound at the time of the U.S. strike.

I want to bring in Victor Blackwell. Victor, you got more on what's going on right now. And I just want to note to our viewers that in retaliation, the Iranians have already targeted U.S. military facilities and bases and troops in the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar, Jordan, Kuwait, in addition, of course, to Israel. This seems to be exploding right now.

BLACKWELL: And there are dozens of drones en route to Israel and missiles as well, according to both Israeli and Iranian sources. Joining me now is CNN national security analyst Alex Plitsas. Alex, let's start right where Wolf left off. Explosions over Bahrain. The Iranians hit the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet Service Center. Explosions over UA, both Dubai and Abu Dhabi, over Jordan, Kuwait, other states there in the region.

Just put into context the scope of the response from the Iranians and what you glean from how they've responded and how quickly.

ALEX PLITSAS, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: So it's clear that they were prepared for counterstrikes to a certain extent, given that they reacted fairly quickly in the middle of the night to the strikes because in the 12-day war, they took a little bit of time to respond as they regained command and control and determined what assets that they had left and they took five days to respond after Qasem Soleimani was assassinated. So, this is clear that there had been some pre planning that was done.

And as you mentioned, the countries that were attacked here specifically are where we have specific bases. So in Kuwait, we have Ali Al Salem Air Force base. In the UAE, we have Al Dhafra Air Base about 20 miles south of Abu Dhabi. In Bahrain, we have the 5th Fleet that's based out of there. In Doha, we happen to have nearby Al Udid Air Force Base is not the Air Force base, but also the forward headquarters for U.S. Central Command. So all of those locations are strategic U.S. military bases in the region.

BLACKWELL: The Omani foreign minister had been mediating these talks between the U.S. and Iran in Geneva. And he posted on social media this morning to the U.S. quote, this is not your war, and said that these attacks have undermined active and serious negotiations. What's your view of that?

I mean, that these were talks that could have led to some end of, as the U.S. demanded of that nuclear enrichment program. Put that piece of the puzzle into it.

PLITSAS: Sure. I've been speaking to mediators for the last several weeks, and I was in the region two weeks ago speaking to folks in person. I got similar sentiment from the mediators in the middle of the night last night who were incredulous that this had taken place. They sort of felt betrayed.

And the sentiment expressed by the foreign minister is genuine from him and from the mediators. But the problem is the position that was being espoused, it really went against the lines that President Trump had sent.

So the highly enriched uranium at which they had enriched over 60 percent was not going to leave the country. They were offering to dilute it. And then also their ability to continue to enrich uranium would have left them with the enrichment technology to go into more advanced centrifuges should they choose to break out. And the president was clear at that point that was not going to be acceptable.

And so there was an impasse. And I'm told the president and the team determined that the Iranians had dug in their heels. They weren't going to budge. And that is what was the trigger for military operation we're seeing now.

BLACKWELL: There's this striking passage in the president's remarks this morning. He says to the Iranian people, when we are finished, take over your government. It will be yours to take. Now is the time to seize control of your destiny and to unleash the prosperous and glorious future.

[08:35:08]

There have obviously been these ongoing protests in Iran. Thousands at the latest reporting killed. How do you think that resonates in Iran, especially after the President said several weeks ago to continue protesting, help is on the way.

PLITSAS: So I think there was disappointment that there was no help in the previous time. And as he stated, there were, you know, 32,000 casualties From the U.S. perspective, to give everybody some context, the United States lost 8,000 soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan combined over 25 years in a period of 48 hours. The U.S. at least is saying that there were 32,000 dead. That's an industrial sized killing when you think about it.

So at this point, if you're an Iranian, you know, you don't want to be out on the street while there's missiles and bombs flying. And in the President's statement, he made it clear that you need to hunker down for now and we'll let you know when it's safe.

This is also reflective of the U.S. military posture in the region. We don't have any ground forces that are deployed. There's 250 strike aircraft in multiple bases and two aircraft carriers. This was only going to be a sea and air launched operation. But you can't do regime change like that from the air alone. And so the people will have to take to the streets to sort of take over. And that's what he's speaking to.

And so at this point it's, you know, I would call it irreversible momentum in terms of the military activities that we're seeing that are going to last for several days. And make no mistake, based on that statement, this is regime change. This is the most extreme of the options that were on the table. It's also what the red line was for actors in the region getting involved like Hezbollah.

And that is the reason we're seeing the strikes we're seeing now for my final comment on that part is that the Iranians said that they felt that this was day 13 of the day of the 12-day war because it hadn't really ended. And if they felt that this was regime change or existential threat, that they would strike, you know, and lash out much more than we've seen in the past, which is why we're witnessing these widespread counterattacks across the region.

BLACKWELL: Alex Plitsas, thanks so much. Breaking news coverage continues after a short break. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:41:30]

BLITZER: We're tracking the breaking news out of the Middle East. The United States and Israel launching a massive coordinated attack against Iran. And the Iranians are retaliating big time. Here's what we know right now.

President Trump announced the mission in a video posted on social media. Explosions are being reported in several Iranian cities, including the capital, Tehran. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: 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.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: The President also warning that there could be American casualties. Iran is responding with drone and missile attacks against Israel and several U.S. military targets across the region.

Joining us now, CNN military analyst, retired U.S. air Force Colonel Cedric Leighton and CNN global affairs analyst, Kim Dozier.

Kim, the stated goal, clearly the President was very blunt, talking about regime change, getting rid of the leadership, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, the Ayatollah, and having a new regime come to power in Iran. KIMBERLY DOZIER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Yes, he has decided

instead of doing a short, sharp series of strikes and then trying to go back to the negotiating table, that he wants to change the people at the top. And that is the hardest thing to do, especially if you don't have boots on the ground or some sort of allied force on the ground that is ready to take advantage of the air cover that the Americans are providing right now.

So we have to watch, you know, if people flood into the streets in protest. Well, they can't do that right now with the bombing going on, will they -- who will it coalesce around? Who would take power? If somebody like Prince Pahlavi, the shah's son, tries to go back to Iran, the country is going to say the leadership gets taken out.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, I think, will very quickly switch if it can't maintain statewide power, to some sort of insurgent force, that makes it hard for anyone else who comes after to govern or to have any sort of stability.

BLITZER: Can the U.S. engage in regime change and you're a former U.S. Air Force -- retired US Air Force colonel, strictly with air power, or do you need boots on the ground?

COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: You really do need boots on the ground, Wolf, and Kim is exactly right. These are the kinds of things that require a real coordinated campaign plan. And I don't see that really being part of the mix here when it comes to this particular military operation, because what you have is air power going in, which is great to soften up a target, but what is not there, at least not evident right now, is some kind of a force that can say, OK, now that the air power has taken care of these particular targets, we can come in and we can in essence have what amount to mop up operations. And that's the kind of thing that you need.

You need some kind of a force on the ground, whether it's a military force like the U.S. army or an indigenous force of some type that is willing and able to exert power and perhaps result in regime change.

BLITZER: I noticed, Kim, that the Iranians quickly started targeting U.S. military positions in several Persian Gulf countries.

[08:45:02]

And I had a list before the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar and then Jordan. They hit some targets U.S. troops in Jordan and in Kuwait.

DOZIER: Yes.

BLITZER: What's missing is Saudi Arabia. Why? Because the U.S. has troops in Saudi Arabia?

DOZIER: Well, there had been a recent rapprochement between Saudi Arabia and Iran diplomatically over the past couple of years, so they might be saving that or perhaps they've used the ballistic missiles that they had available before various ballistic missile sites got targeted. We don't know what the battle damage assessment is.

You know, among the many things we don't know also is the Israelis generally have intelligence on the ground for an operation like this. They could be the handshake working with armed groups. Like the Iranian government reported during all of the recent protests that there were armed Kurdish separatist groups.

So perhaps the Israelis are working through that. They also might have a better assessment of how brittle this regime is. In past confrontations like this, where we've suddenly seen a government collapse, you don't -- they look strong until suddenly everyone heads for the hills.

When the Shah gave up the first time, there were 13 months of revolutionary demonstrations before the air went out of that balloon. But that was partly triggered by the fact that the Shah also had cancer, needed to leave the country for treatment, and there wasn't anyone around which to coalesce power.

BLITZER: You think this is dramatically in the next few days and maybe next few weeks going to dramatically escalate this war?

LEIGTHON: I think it has the potential of doing so, Wolf. And you know, what you're seeing is a very large Iranian response. And I think, you know, it's going to be interesting to get the military assessment from places like CENTCOM to see if they had anticipated this kind of a reaction from the Iranians.

They clearly anticipated some of that by evacuating some troops from some of these bases that you've mentioned in the Persian Gulf region. But I don't know if they've really anticipated the magnitude of this because it looks like, you know, we're looking at, you know, several hundred, if not a series of a thousand drones heading toward Israel and potentially other targets as well.

Because if you add that, couple that with missiles that the Iranians still have, it could be a fairly substantial response. The question then would be, though, what kind of follow up will the Iranians have?

BLITZER: How effective is that Iron Dome anti-missile system that Israel has over the whole country in dealing with a lot of drones coming in from Iran?

LEIGHTON: This is what the Iranians are trying to do, Wolf. The Iron Dome system was not built for drones. It does have some modifications that have been made to it to work on the drone problem. But the problem is, is that with a swarm of drones, it's going to overwhelm most radars that are associated with the Iron Dome. And that's why not only do they have the Iron Dome, but the other elements of the Israeli air defense, air and missile defense systems like the Arrow system and David Sling, but also the Aegis systems that the U.S. Navy brings in and those are sitting off the coast of Israel right now and they are supposed to help with this. Let's see how effective they are this time. They were highly effective in June. Let's see how effective they are now.

BLITZER: Do you want to add, Kim?

DOZIER: I think that's why you saw Israel carry out attacks in Lebanon as this overall operation commenced. Because Hezbollah, backed by Iran, still has some missiles that it could launch south, you know, taking advantage of Israel's distraction. So they took proactive strikes to defang some of those Hezbollah positions so they weren't facing missiles from all sides.

BLITZER: All right. Kim, thanks very, very much. Cedric Leighton thanks to you as well. We're staying on top of all of these developments. We'll be right back.

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[08:53:05]

BLACKWELL: More now on the breaking news. We're told by a senior U.S. Official that the military has laid out a step by step plan for possible follow up strikes. On the phone now is CNN's chief national security analyst Jim Sciutto. Jim, tell us what you've learned.

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Victor, what's clear here is that this is not a limited strike, a one off. There had been some discussion of that prior to this that the president was considering something that would be quite short. My understanding is that the military has laid out a multi-wave plan of strikes, a series of strikes over one or two days with pauses in between. Pauses to in large part to assess battle damage, to assess how many targets have been hit and destroyed and then they have the forces deployed and the planning in place to then launch another wave of strikes and perhaps another wave after that.

So that speaks to an operation that might last several days or perhaps even longer as opposed to something much more limited.

My understanding is that the early waves -- the early wave of this strike has been a large portion of it has been sea launched Tomahawk cruise missiles as well as some air launched missiles. But remember they have in the region an enormous force of aircraft as well, bombers, fighter bombers, F22 Raptors that also have a role in just disabling an adversary's early warning systems, et cetera, to allow for further strikes.

So the both the array of assets in place but the planning speak to something that is quite extensive and perhaps carrying out over multiple waves and multiple days.

BLACKWELL: Yes, the Abraham Lincoln and Gerald Ford, those carrier strike groups in the Mediterranean.

[08:55:02]

Jim, as these escalate over the several days, just confirm from your reporting that no part of this plan includes U.S. ground forces. This is an air campaign, correct? SCIUTTO: That's right. We have no understanding as to the president

ordering U.S. forces on the ground inside Iran, air, sea as well, of course, because as you mentioned, you have two carrier strike groups there.

But keep in mind that whether or not you put forces on the ground, you have U.S. forces in the region. Right. At a number of bases around Iran and within striking distance of Iran, which puts those troops in the fight in effect. Right. Because they're at risk of retaliatory strikes.

And that, to be clear, also was a focus of planning prior to these strikes to put defensive measures in place to prevent those retaliatory strikes from hitting those forces or at least reduce the risk of those retaliatory strikes hitting those forces.

BLACKWELL: All right. Jim Sciutto with the latest reporting. Jim, thank you and stay with us. Our breaking news coverage of this major military operation playing out across the Middle East continues with Wolf Blitzer after a break.

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