Transcripts For FOXNEWS America Reports 20241002

Breaking news. We are getting official word from the White House what youve been seeing play out live in israel. As Israelis On right now sheltering in place and sirens are blaring across the country after iran begins launching missiles into that country. Hello and welcome, everyone. Im Sandra Smith in new york. John im John Roberts in washington. Good to be with you. This is america reports. The situation unfolding before your eyes. Getting word of the shooting in the southern part of Tel Aviv, the area called jaffa. Light rail train car. Multiple casualties. Being investigated as a terror attack. Sandra lets get to Trey Yingst in the middle of everything. Jaffa, israel. What is the latest you are hearing and seeing . Theres a massive ballistic Missile Attack on 14 right now against israel. The iranians are Launching Waves of missiles toward israel. We have seen interceptions here or over the city of haifa that sits about 17 miles from the border with lebanon. As we speak, i can see the alerts coming in on my phone all over this country. Right now. They are coming in so quickly you can even scroll through them. All over at the same time. Tel aviv, jerusalem, iran is launching an unprecedented attack against israel in realtime. Weve seen israels most advanced Air Defense System coming off of the skyline of the eastern part of this country. It israel as a country of just over 9 Million people. The vast majority of israelis right now or in Bomb Shelters, it is missiles rain down. It comes as the country is not only at war with hamas and Islamic Jihad inside gaza, they are now fighting a Ground War in Southern Lebanon against irans largest proxy of hezbollah. I can feel the alerts going off in my pocket. This country has not seen in the attack at this level since april. At least, according to the information we have now, this appears to be of a much larger caliber. Ill tell you why. Back in april, israel and the united states and coalition partners had a Heads Up. Iran is making it very clear they were going to respond to an israeli strike against an Irg See official at their embassy in damascus,syria. In the attack that they launched in april, we saw a wave of drones. Those take about two hours to get here from iranian territory. It gave this country not only time to get jets in the sky to the east over jordan and shoot down some of those incoming drones in missiles but also those Coalition Jets to get in the sky. Ballistic missiles take 12 minutes to get from iran to israel. Over the past 30 minutes we have just seen these waves of missiles striking different areas of israel. We dont know exact how many of them have actually landed at home many have been intercepted because the attack is still ongoing in realtime. Im reading the list. Its hard to describe just how many areas of israel are under attack. Its fair to say the entire country is taking Missile Fire at this moment. When we talk about the interceptions taking place, the Arrow System is capable of shooting down incoming Ballistic Missiles but they dont have an unlimited supply of interceptors. Iran is clearly, by sending waves of missiles trying to overwhelm israels missile Defense System likely in response not only to the response the killing of us on this relic of the leader of hezbollah. Also an Open Tab for the iranians. The death of the leader of hamas killed in an explosion in the iranian capital of tehran over the summer. The nine Duration Ceremony for the new iranian president. To recap, what we know at this moment, there is a ballistic Missile Attack unfolding as we speak against israel. Its been launched from iranian territory. Im just going to grab these notes here for my producer. Irans revolutionary guard saying the Missile Launches are in retaliation, as we just talked about, for the killing of haniah. Hassan nasrallah, Secretary General of hezbollah killed an israeli strike in beirut over the weekend. Also for another top iranian official, this is the Deputy Commander alongside nasrallah when he was killed in the lebanese capital over the weekend. Im going to read these notes, as we are talking. There are multiple stories unfolding at the same time. Were also getting an update about the Shooting Attack that occurred earlier just south of Tel Aviv just before this Missile Attack began in jaffa, to the south of Tel Aviv, a newly built Light Rail station. Saw those images and reports according to first responders of two gunmen on the scene. Now local medics are saying four people were killed in that Shooting Attack. Seven wounded. Two shooters neutralize. That is according to first responders and that is confirmed by local police in Tel Aviv. So again, as we follow these two developing stories here out of the region, a significant developments on the ground. The iranians launching ballistic Missile Attack against israel and waves, trying to overwhelm israels missile Defense System. Currently the arrow Defense System, their highest Tier System is intercepting some of this incoming fire. Its a system thats been used since the beginning of the conflict that started nearly a year ago with the October 7th massacre. It has now unraveled into a broader regional war. At this point the real fear for the israelis and for the americans is that this will unravel further. As part of the reason you have Coalition Forces around. I as we are speaking here, i want to open the message feet i have with a top israeli Defense Official who likely responded to two questions i asked over the past several minutes. According to an israeli Defense Official, the israelis are speaking with their counterparts. Just for this ballistic Missile Attack began, this top israeli officials have the israelis were coordinating with cincom, an indication that americans have some level of knowledge this was going to take place. The israelis and the americans were observing iranian activity beforehand. Thats why theres a level of alert issued to the israeli people through israels communication, Homefront Command that warns people to go to shelters and stay close to protected areas. This source goes on to say they are bracing for a Widescale Attack that is currently unfolding including the center of this country and as we have seen this attack is not just charting the Cen Center of isral but the integrity of the jewish state. To give you a chance to catch your breath, i had the graphic made up of the alert system. Lets put it up. This is an app we get on our phones here. Folks in the Middle East and those of us who have been. Literally the entire country as far south as the southern tip of the dead sea and all the way up almost to the border with lebanon is bright red with all of these alerts. Dozens and dozens and dozens of alerts as these missiles have been coming in. So far, trey, the good news seems to be based on what we are seeing from your video there in the live video that we have of Tel Aviv, we are not seeing anything that looks like missiles that have impacted in any significant way on the ground. No fires in the downtown area. It looks like the missile Defense Systems have been operating as they should. Dont forget as well that back on April 13th when the iranians last tried this, theres a large collision that involve the israeli War Planes as well as the united states, the u. K. , france and jordan. Who all worked in a coordinated fashion to take down a lot of these projectiles before they got anywhere near israeli airspace. As you pointed out, a lot of those were drones in the early waves of the attack. Ballistic missiles, they are a different thing because some of those traveling the upper atmosphere if not out of the atmosphere itself and you cant get an aircraft high enough to intercept those. That would have to rely on the arrow 2 and 3 systems. But the initial observation at least from looking at our live pictures, we dont know how many more how much more of this is yet to come. In the response for the killing of haniyeh. Arianne sat on this for a long time because that was two months ago. We dont know if theres more waves of missiles going but there doesnt seem to be a lot of damage in israel which is a good thing. Your thoughts. Absolutely. Israels Air Defense is significant and they have these arrow Defense Systems spread throughout the country in a way that if the Worstcase Scenario of an attack would take place that they would be able to at least try to intercept it and as we are speaking there are sirens sounding along the israel lebanon border. This is an indication and i can confirm its not coming from iran, that hezbollah is Firing Rockets into northern israel. Again, the israelis are taking fire right now as we speak not only from iranian territory but from their largest proxy, hezbollah, and Southern Lebanon. I want to read you update here on my other phone. According to the israeli airport, authority, israeli airspace is close. Takeoff and landings at the international airport outside Tel Aviv have been stopped. Its a indication that the israelis want to ensure that Civilian Aircraft is safe in this area. Also that the airspace could be compromised in the hours ahead. As we look forward to the threats on the ground, the iranians when they launched this attack didnt launch it all at the same time. As you saw life here, they were Firing Missiles in waves. Two things to consider. The first thing has to do with the on the Ground Military Activity of irans largest proxy that sits about 17 miles to the north of here. Hezbollah. Hezbollah has an arsenal of missiles and rockets that they have used to rain down on israeli cities over the past year. And they are still firing on cities like Tel Aviv earlier today. Hezbollah fired on Tel Aviv. The thing you have to consider, the question at hand as we covered the developing story is how the israelis will respond to this massive Missile Attack from iranian territory. We have heard from israels prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israels Defense Minister over the past weekend they have said things like if iran decides to respond to the killing of hassan nasrallah, they will pay a heavy price. We should look at april and what the israelis targeted when they responded to the April Attack against israel. When the ballistic and Cruise Missiles were launched from iranian territory that in april, the israelis responded by striking the Air Defense Systems outside of one of irans largest nuclear facilities. I spoke with israeli officials after that in Tel Aviv and asking them why. Beyond the obvious reasons. They said they wanted to send a message. They wanted to send a message the iranian regime that israeli jets and missiles have the capability to hit iranian targets including their nuclear facilities. This is the x factor. As we talk about the development on the ground with his unfolding ballistic Missile Attack, what appears to be in the low hundres of Ballistic Missiles fired toward israel. According to irans irg c, response to the killing of hezbollah leader and the hamas leader. Israeli officials, some of the belief that this is an opportunity for israel. They have watched iran not only develop their Missile Program thats now being used to target israel, as israeli officials warned of the past several years but their real concern is their nuclear program. According to top nuclear watchdogs, the iranians are striven to enrich uranium very close to weapons grade material. This means their Breakout Period for a nuclear bomb has been reduced to weeks. If they have the ability to create a nuclear weapon and attached to a ballistic Missile Theyve just shown tonight can reach israel, it is a catastrophic situation for this country. The coming hours and days will be significant to watch what the Israelis Response will be. As we continue to follow the development on the ground here we are also watching the developing story and we will see if you can get the map Back Up of jaffa, just south of Tel Aviv where officials have updated that eight people were killed in that Shooting Attack that began before the Missile Attack from iran started. John so much happening all at once. Trey, youre going to let you stand by. I wanted to take a look at this statement from iranian State Media that you read. Irg see, islamic revolutionary Guard Corps in response to the martyrdom of haniyeh. Hassan the swallow and a third, we targeted the heart of the occupied territories. If the Zionist Regime reacts will face questioning attacks. The fact they use the word targeted in the past tense might be an indication this is over. Theyre also saying its not just for haniyeh but for nasrallah and another as well. Basically saying to israel, saying dont respond, we will hit back again if you do. I dont know your thoughts about whether this is over or not. Theres also the Question Of, does israel just let this go . Does israel respond as well, noting that after the Takeout Of Nasrallah, iran moved the Ayatollah Khamenei to a safe undisclosed location. Trey. Israeli officials are not likely to let this go. They dont want the dynamic to change. Despite the fact that we are clearly stepping upon regional escalation ladder. If we can zoom out here for the second. We look at the 30,000foot view of the situation on the ground, israel over the past year has been directly battling iranian proxies, not just on the ground In Gaza with hamas and Islamic Jihad, thats one front. Also with hezbollah in Southern Lebanon which overnight we saw as the israelis went into Southern Lebanon on the ground, we were actually embedded overnight with an israeli Commando Unit as they went to a Hezbollah Position near to the israel lebanon border. Then you have the iranbacked houthi rebels in yemen, a third front that this week was active as they fired a Ballistic Missile at Tel Aviv. Then you have iran itself tonight firing Ballistic Missiles toward israel. And they you have the west bank, the iranians have been pushing weapons and support toward hamas and Islamic Jihad cells there and then you have iran backed iraqi and syrian shia militias. Its a seven front conflict. The israelis feel they have to come according to officials, escalate to deescalate. Thats the current policy of the israeli defense in Tel Aviv. We dont anticipate that will change. John thats what we are seeing in lebanon as well. Weve got to get some information from stateside. Standby. Sandra, back to you. Sandra waiting on update reminding Viewers Response from the White House, there is a roofing that was originally scheduled for 1 30 p. M. Eastern time. That would be about 14 minutes from now. We will see if thats happening. If so, what the response is from the biden White House. State Department Briefing is expected top of the hour, 2 00 eastern time. We are starting to get some Brandnew Reaction from congress. Senator Lindsey Graham is calling for an attack. He says its a breaking point. Hes urging the biden administration a target iranian oil refineries, says Hes Oil refineries need to be hit and hit hard because that is the source of cash for the regime to perpetrate their terror. Youre watching obviously the Night Sky in israel. Okay. This is what was to happen late in the last hour. When the Missile Attacks began. Youre going to watch the Night Sky light up. Lets watch together. [sirens wailing] [explosions] sandra Israeli Army confirms nearly 200 missiles were launched from iran. Irans revolutionary guard is saying the Missile Launches are in retaliation for the recent killings of leadership of hezbollah. Lets bring in chief national Security Correspondent jennifer griffin. What shes hearing right now for the pentagon. Hi, jennifer. Hi, sandra paid President Biden called a meeting of the national Security Advisors of the Vice President harris to live the White House. That was earlier today. We learned Defense Secretary Lloyd austin spoke with his counterpart in israel earlier today. It was a second time they had spoken in the past 24 hours. Obviously u. S. Military assets are on high alert. We have just learned the airspace over israel, jordan, and iraq has been enclosed. That suggests there could be more activity in the air. Of course, u. S. Warships in the eastern mediterranean, uss cole, uss arleigh burke, and the us Uss Bulkley among others. They have onboard Missile Interceptors so crucial back in the april time frame. Give a host of u. S. Warships In The Red Sea as well as the Uss Abraham Lincoln that is closer to iran in the arabian sea. So that is a lot of firepower that the u. S. Military has in the region, in addition to 40,000 u. S. Troops as well as squadrons of f22s, f15s, among other aircraft that will be utilized in the event that there are more waves of attacks on israel. The question now, as trey has pointed out, how will israel respond, theres been a warning from the Irg See from the leaders of iran saying do not respond. It is unlikely that israel will heed that warning, we have heard the Supreme Leader plans to lead Friday Prayers in tehran on friday of this week. Thats a very unusual move by the Supreme Leader, he does not do that frequently. The last time i can remember him doing that was after the killing of the Irg See general qassem soleimani. Tensions absolutely high. There are multiple fronts and the pentagon is watching clo closely. Sharing information in realtime. Counterparts, u. S. Central command coordinating all with Israel And Jordan and iraq and others involved in frankly protecting israel tonight. John its joan. Last time this happened, there was a large coalition involved in intercepting the drones and Cruise Missiles and other projectiles that were shot at israel. At this point we dont know if this involved Cruise Missiles and or drones or just Ballistic Missiles. You know what extent the u. S. Military might have been involved in trying to take down some of these projectiles . Its not clear at this point, john. From what it seems in terms of the length of time as we have been reporting it takes about 1c missiles to come from tehran. We had expected this attack to start in the 12 00 hour. The first impacts i think were around 12 30 seven. Sometime in that hour the missiles were fired. If they have been Cruise Missiles it wouldve taken several hours. Drones take several hours. My guess is this first round involved mostly Ballistic Missiles. Thats what we are hearing from the idf. Whether the u. S. Warships were involved, we will have to hear from the pentagon. We expect of briefing here around 2 30 p. M. Certainly the coalition is really . The coalition is really a question mark. The last time in april when iran fired more than 300 missiles into israel. Its not clear, theres a lot of frustration in the region that israel has gone into Southern Lebanon with Ground Force as well as carrying out those assassinations Inside Lebanon. Its not clear at this point but it is notable that jordan enclosed its airspace. That shows a degree of cooperation right now in terms of trying to protect israel. John real quick, just reflecting on something that you said here about the idea, we knew this was going to happen probably in the 12 00 Noon Hour. When iraq responded for the takedown of soleimani, the united states, President Trump has talked about this, they got a Heads Up Iran was going to do something. Do you think the Heads Up came from . No. That would not have been the case this time nor in april. We have talked to senior leaders who were involved and well aware of the intelligence back in april. There was not a warning. What the u. S. Has that is part of its exquisite Intelligence Network and system of being able to see you, thats why we have an nsa, you can see movements through Satellite Imagery and other methods. They had seen we were told theyve seen since midaugust when haniyeh was killed in Downtown Coat during the inauguration of the iranian president. Theyd been putting missile alerts with a 12 our alert system. There is intense diplomacy by the united states and the pentagon to try and encourage iran not to respond to the haniyeh killing with the goal of having a ceasefire In Gaza and the release of hostages. Thats why you heard such frustration from the State Department and from the White House but every time they get close and present a Ceasefire Deal to israel and the palestinians that israel has taken some actions that has put the ceasefire on hold. The fact that iran did not respond in the august time frame suggests they were hoping for a ceasefire but now after what happened in the last week and the killing of nasrallah last friday, iran felt it had to respond, it has responded. The question is, where does it go from here . Its a very, very dangerous situation. The u. S. Military, very concerned. Office of the u. S. Military will protect israel but how does this escalate and how does the u. S. Military get further drawn into this potential conflict . John jennifer griffin, thank you. Sandra. Sandra an update from the white House Or President biden and Vice President harris we are told are monitoring the attack against israel from the white House Situation Room and receiving regular updates. President biden directed the u. S. Military to aid Israels Defense against iranian attacks and shoot down missiles that are targeting israel. Lets bring in lieutenant general keith kellogg, Fox News Contributor and former national Security Advisor to President Trump and Vp Pence hear your reaction to what we have been seeing. Sandra, thanks for having me. This is really starting to spin out of control. Youre starting to see a lot of missiles from iran. They have got to the largest Missile Arsenal in the Middle East and youre looking at the Defense System and they are trying to overwhelm the system. Looking at the Aero 3 system. Also the system below that called davids sling. Thats what is defending israel right now. Heres what i would the reason i say its spinning out of control, remember what i said earlier, the israeli general policy. Disproportionate response to an attack and this is one of those i think this thing is going to go further now and i think if youre looking at the supreme Leader Connie Ali Hyman A. Hes a risk. I think the israelis are going to come back hard at him and they should and this is going to escalate more and more. This is not for slowing down. When i set about spinning out of control, i could get a buddy better buckle up. Were going to see more of this. Israelis have shown what they have done in the last couple weeks, they are not afraid of disproportionate responses. I think youre going to see that. They did that with thomas. Theyve done it with hezbollah. I think now when you look at what you hear, the rhetoric coming out of netanyahu, i think the next step is iran and we should be, honestly we should be full square behind them. We should give them every asset they need. They are fighting our fight in the Middle East and we should acknowledge that and know that and be on their side 100 . John general, John Roberts here. I dont know if im reading this correctly or not but it looks like this might be over. Remember the attack. What i was talking to Jen Griffin about. Against Alassad Air Base in response to the takedown of soleimani. It was a onetime thing. Iran felt i had to respond in it responded what you and the former president believed was a somewhat limited way. There were a few injuries. Is this it . Would there be another wave coming . Its could be another wave. Once the response going to be. When they hit us at Alassad Air Base, in a situation with President Trump and we knew the attack was coming. It basically sat there for five or 6 minutes and said okay we are done. It we walk out. He didnt kill anybody. The israelis do not respond like that. You have to look at the way the israelis respond. They look at the threat much differently than we looked at the threat because we were separated and so far away. They look at it as a regional threat. Thats reason why this whole policy what they called the disproportionate respond will come into play. They have proven they can go after the nuclear sites. This will be one of those times where i think they are saying okay, enough is enough, we are going to try to finish this. Thats where you see the escalation. The iranians should be nervous about it because the israelis the iranians. The israelis have proved they can get downtown and when you look at the senior Military Commander in israel, he has said repeatedly that we can reach out and touch anybody. When they went down and hit the houthis, those distances they for those f15s, further than the targets they would have to go into iran. The question is about what we call suppression of enemy Air Defense, thats going to be the big question. Can they do it. I think they can. This is not going to end. They are not going to say game over. They shout 200 missiles. Were going to take our ball and go home. This is the start of something more. Its going to be a little bit larger and i think you have to expect that the israelis will respond in a very forceful manner. Sandra apparently a source that iran is confirming that the iran Supreme Leader remains in a secure location after tehran fired these missiles at israel. This is a senior iranian official speaking to reuters, reading that off the wire, we are left with a lot of questions right now. Over what the next move will be and who will make it. General. Well, i think the next decision is going to be with benjamin netanyahu. Hes got a great war cabinet. Look at his generals in charge. You look at his minister of defense, its a very tough net tightknit circle. They are all very aggressive and how they approach the world. Netanyahu has basically said to the world, we have given you repeated opportunities to bring this thing to a conclusion, to shut this down. The world has turned another eyes and said no. I think hes going for the killing. Hes going to respond quite forcefully. I think if i was iran i would say i think hes going to make a key shot, nuclear facilities, going after the Supreme Leader. Its going to set everything in motion for a much wider war in the Middle East but i think they just have the israelis have said we are done with this, enough. Something theyve done with hezbollah. Same thing made with thomas. To be candid, its probably about time. Needs to be brought to some type of conclusion. If we are not going to help them concluded they are going to have to do it on their own. Thats probably what they are trying to do. Sandra okay. General, if you could standby with us. Got our Reporter Standing by from israel to the pentagon. We are awaiting a white House Briefing. State Department Top of the hour. Lots of reaction coming in from congress. First, i want to throw to this video from just the last few minutes. Sandra hard to believe this was just moments ago. As we knew the idf was able to intercept those hundreds of missiles launched from iran, raining down all over israel. John, you referenced the graphing. North, south, east, west, all over israel just in the last 15 minutes or so. John the northern part of the central part of israel literally just a sea of red with all of those alerts, the only place there wasnt alerts was in the south. A couple of towns in between. Lets go to Mike Tobin in haifa. I want to point out one thing weve been seeing from this vantage point. Its different than the flurry of incoming rockets, missiles and interceptors. We look out overobey. Haifa bay. Repeated flares going up just to the north of haifa bay. When the military sends up a flare, theres something on the ground they want to see. Its unclear whats going on but we have seen the flares go up repeatedly and heading in the sky, couple flashes on the ground. To give you an idea of where we are, we are in the north of the country. As the barrages of missiles were coming in from iran, some sympathetic rockets coming in from hezbollah in the north, just to the north of this location, the flurry of interceptors went up. Too many to count. They went up behind the clouds. Sometimes we would see and hear the impacts of the interception. Sometimes we didnt. This is the response to repeated humiliations at the hands of the idf. To the iranian proxies. We have been wondering particularly since the assassination of h haniyeh. What we are saying right now doesnt appear many of the rockets came through. We will see how everything is when the smoke has cleared. Israel is incredible he tends. You have this Mass Shooting in Tel Aviv. There appears to be another attack on the town just north of that. Incredible amounts of tension. The people in israel have been given the where they can come out of the Bomb Shelters but stay close because no one knows whats going to happen in the coming minutes. Sandra the airspace has been enclosed over israel. Jordan and iraq. As we have been noting, reaction pouring in from congress. Marco rubio saying largescale not symbolic Missile Attacks. Largescale israeli retaliatory response inside the iran is certain to follow. Also the u. N. Condemning the broadening of the middle East Conflict he says with escalation after escalation. He says this must stop. We need a ceasefire. Also israeli Military Spokesperson saying not aware of any injuries from the iran Missile Attack. This is some of whats coming in at this hour. Right. The one thing you can think as far as what israel has done in the coming weeks. Israels enemies have been angered by these repeated attacks but israel is firing at will. The israeli aircraft are unchallenged in the sky. They flew as far as human, refueling along the way. A less than subtle hint they could travel that distance. What that means is they could travel the distance to iran. That was a less than subtle hint to the leadership of iran but thus far what we have seen from the leaders of the regime, threats, talk about retaliation. When we see retaliation, it is a barrage of missiles. Looks like with the redundant layers of Missile Interceptors like the arrow missiles, david slaying, the Iron Dome systems, the missiles arent getting through. They are successful in raising the tension level. They are successful in inspiring sympathetic attacks which appear to be what we are dealing with here in israel but afar is impacting on the ground, making a real impact, being destructive, not being successful. The israeli forces are unchallenged in the sky and free to go in the south of lebanon. Really at will. The israeli special forces, i went to a Press Briefing earlier today, they have been going into lebanon since november. They have done 70 operations, spent more than 200 nights on the ground and they would not contacted by the enemies of the israelis are able to do whatever they want and we havent seen much of a response other than these missile barrages. John Mike Tobin for us. Standing by in haifa. Thank you for lets bring in a retired colonel from the israeli defense forces. She is the director at the international institute for counterterrorism. We dont know if theres more to come. There may be. We will continue to watch very, very closely. Your assessment of where we are at this moment in time and what will unfold in the days ahead. We have all been waiting to see what iran will do, what hezbollah will do. I feel in that sense not only has israel been on the initiative on the last two weeks but when iran attacks israel, israel defends itself. I call for the last halfhour, waiting and listening to the program, in the Safe Room for the Israel Defense forces told us what to do. We were responsible. We understand that iran attacked israel with such a horrific type of barrage and i was in my Safe Room as i listened to Fox News with one of my kids. I say that because right now there will be an israeli response. I dont know how it will be but there will be an israeli response. That is as far as im concerned part of the initiative we are on. We are not allowing not hezbollah, not iran, not the proxies to define the rules of the game. Its been way too long that they are the ones that lead it and im very happy as an israeli that we are on the initiative, having said that the last 45 minutes were not fun at all. Sandra thank you very much for joining us on our breaking coverage. As we continue to learn Air Spaces are close, but we are getting some word the israeli militaries decided to let permits him to leave protected spaces. You have to remember people been sheltering all across the country because of the range of the Missile Attacks. Colonel, at this point you think about these people when theyve been through and how long this is going on for them. Speak with the last 361 days, putting it in days because its almost a year, hezbollah started to attack israel with rockets on october 8. There have been attacking us with over 8,000 rockets, missiles from october 8. This is the second direct iranian attack against israel and in all of these i want to say right now both the support of the united states, the backing sin, and the other forces and the capabilities are kind of what keep us strong. For us the sirens went off. They just let us out of the Safe Rooms a few minutes ago, we were in it until a few minutes ago. I was sitting with my phone. I have come to my study. We feel on the one hand the idea for texas but we feel should not just be about israel alone. The united states has definitely stepped up and Sent Comp has a great relationship with the israeli military but i like everybody is they do your show to talk about iran, the islamic regime, what hezbollah is and what they do everything the day to israel. John mary, as we look at pictures of the old city in jerusalem and the Dome Of The Rock. We wonder what comes after this attack. This is the second time. The last time on april 13, that iran has directly fired on israel. Up until april was always done through proxies but now iran has done this twice. We know after the Takeout Of Nasrallah last friday that the Ayatollah Khamenei was moved to a safe location. Do you expect israel is going to have to respond to what happened today, and how do you expect that will happen . We are still in the Middle East. You dont have to do anything. You make choices. Its about restoring deterrence. I think israel in the last two weeks has shown a lot of the capabilities that we kind of felt were missing, certainly in the colossal failure of October 7 and that we did seat when israel intercepted the iranian incoming missiles on april 13, 14. As i look at it now, this isnt about titfortat and revenge. Its about a sovereign country, iran, for whatever reasons they choose, firing of an enormous arsenal against israel. This should not be just about israel. When you ask, what next . How about listening to the western world, the free world. Step up not just in its rhetoric but in the way the approach this islamic regime in iran and the weight uses all the proxies. The way that the Houthis Closing main Shipping Route for the world. We attacked in yemen yesterday. Weve been attacking against hezbollah in the manon and the other proxies and i dont think we should be doing this alone. Sandra colonel, if you could, we have brandnew video. Reporting that hundreds of missiles have been launched all over israel. This was the scene Over Jerusalem moments ago. Just incredible. You think about the terror, the fear. That this put into the people there and all over the street. All of whom were told to she shelter. And that sheltering is part of the Defense System we have active defense. The interceptors that were eloquently shown and described before, aero, davids sling, Iron Dome. We also have passive defense, then i went into my safe place with the other kid at home, my husband was in a car, stop at the side of the road. For 45 and its was laying next to his car. You know how to act. Its passive defense, if the reason we managed to defend ourselves, to stay strong and resilient, and we will respond. Dont think that we wont respond. We are doing so every day. Right now i really do feel that our initiative both against hezbollah Inside Lebanon but whatever response we have to iran is not just about israel. Its about the horrific islamic regime, the instability. And in the end, im a person. Its not been a very nice time the last two hours and here i am sitting strong inside my house and thats what we continue to do. John the resilience of the israeli people really is something to behold. Thank you for coming on, really appreciate it. Lets bring in eric cohen, former member of the israel Special Operations counter terrorism unit. As we bring you in, news to report. No casualties in this ballistic Missile Attack. The airspace has been reopened. People have been let out of their shelters. They took refuge in. Your assessment of where we are on this night in israel. John, what you are seeing right now is the direct result of one of the finest special counterterror operations in the world directed at hezbollah. Israel after 11 or 12 days complete lead dismantled the senior leadership of that organization and in the Middle East theres a lot of big egos, big posturing. Israel has a multilayered Defense System, as of the Reserve Colonel said. The Iron Dome, davids sling, incredible infrastructure of Bomb Shelters throughout the country. Its mandatory as part of zoning. But israel is actively engaged in operations in Southern Lebanon right now. Iran is doing exact same thing that happened a couple months ago which they are firing up He Firing of garage. Israel is doing over the weekend to decide whether they want to attack the iranian nuclear facility. Theres other operational plans that israel is eyeing closely. Were all the oil gets refined. That titfortat, israel is deciding whether or not at this point now that everything is going to start getting quiet, whether they are going to launch another counterstrike or if this is just irans spitting out last bark. Or is it time for israel to escalate. I iran is looking for an out. The embarrassment of what happened with hezbollah. A highly secure police estate. Its a lot of egg on irans face. Egos have been hit. Now its a Question Of whether the conversations are happening between iran and u. S. Intelligence and are we going to continue to push back and escalate or is it going to quiet down . I think were going to see some potential quiet Special Operations retaliatory activity but really the focus is going to be on hezbollah. They are the immediate threat, although missiles are landing in israel, no deaths reported, israel has got the Security Abilities to cover and protect the israeli people. I think this is iran looking for their out if i had to guess. Trying to keep the posture and look tough. Sandra we are getting updates, thank you. I will ask you where you see this going based on what i can tell you is happening, Lebanons Minister of transport says airspace will temporarily be close to air traffic. Thats going to be another two hours. Israel has reopened its airspace. Takeoffs and landings to resume the coming hour. Reports according to the airport authority. The jordan armies issuing a statement saying its forces in a state of readiness at this hour to confront any attempts that threaten the kingdom security. This is also a statement from israeli Military Spokesperson saying very few injuries. There are very few injuries after the surrounding Missile Strike and that the public can exit their Bomb Shelters. It appears we are getting a statement from the israeli military that the Missile Attack from iran was over and people could leave the area shelters in that statement it reads following a situational assessment it was decided it was permitted to leave protected spaces. Based on all of that what do you see in the coming hours as we look at the 9 00 hour there in jerusalem. Heres what i think. I think the fact that the idf and israeli security authorities have decided to open up the airspace in the coming hours, residents are allowed to leave their causes they are about to get on with business, tells me this was a limited strike, tells me this was a posturing attack, similar to what iran did a couple months ago. I think the real operational focus is going to continue to be hezbollah, strategically aligned along the southern border in lebanon which poses an imminent threat to israel. What i mean by that is hezbollah has fired up to 10,000 rockets over the last 11 months at israel. And you israeli Special Operations forces have entered Southern Lebanon and i think the continued dismantling of the Hezbollah Infrastructure along with limited operations that continue in are going to be the focus. Israel did find out about imminent plans through their Intelligence Apparatus that hezbollah was planning to infiltrate the northern portion of israel into the Galilee Region for the purpose of creating another October 7th style attack. Those are very, very real. Israel is focused on the imminent threat. I believe this was limited. Israelis allowed to leave their house right now, it tells me that this wave of Missile Attacks is over and this tells me there are conversations happening with iranian intelligence officials, u. S. Intelligence officials and with israeli intelligence officials. This is the bark of the Middle East, iran trying to look tough but hezbollah now that nasrallah has been killed and the rockets fired into israel, thats the focus of the Israel Defense Apparatus And Israel will continue to dismantle that Infrastructure And Iran i believe is smart enough to understand that anything past what we just saw in the last couple of hours here will result in very aggressive, let me say this. Preemptive strike operations targeted and iran. Irans military infrastructure, their oil refinery system, israel, the sole of her operational, ability lies in that aggression and i believe iran launched those missiles because they are prepared to lay down. They do not want to be unaligned, just like the entire leadership of hezbollah and hamas systematically nobody is better at killing terrorists than Israel And Iran knows that. John certainly what they have done in lebanon, thats one for the textbook i guess. Sandra thank you very much for joining us. John we are awaiting the white House Briefing top of the hour it is supposed to be. We have a State Department Briefing coming up as well. Gillian turner is there and shes at the State Department and jillian, if indeed as Aaron Cohen was saying, this is it. People are being told they can go about their business, this would be twice the iran has fully taken on israel and proven really to be a toothless tiger. It would be. We are waiting a State Department Briefing. Secretary of state Tony Blinken has been closely monitoring the situation since well before the Missile Attack started. Its interesting to note a couple of things. First of all, the first thing anTony Blinken did this morning in response to this news was reiterate that israel has the united states full support as it pursues selfdefense against Neighboring Militia groups including iran, hezbollah, the second important thing to note, john, is that this is something the fact that this happened today, the way that they did is not great news for the biden administration. Secretary blinken himself has said probably dozens of times over the last couple of months that iran does not perceive in its own interests to expand, widen, deepen or strengthen an assault against israel. Its something weve heard from multiple administration officials. Secretary blinken is been the rally leader. He likes to talk about how the u. S. Is in alignment with iran in the sense that neither country wants to see a fullscale regional War Tumble out of the ongoing conflict In Gaza. This, as you said, remains to be seen what kind of impact it has going for but this certainly a step not in the right direction. Give thing to note is that at the same time that blinken expressed support for israel selfdefense, white House Administration officials told us to expect a kinetic iranian attack on israel today, the State Department announced a series of new sanctions targeting israeli settlers in the west bank. Something that doesnt seem to jive with the current state of affairs. Difficult to make the case that you are fully behind israel while you are continuing to sanction folks in the Palestinian Territories on a near daily basis. The important thing to note in terms of Diplomacy And Geostrategy in the bigger picture is that a lot of folks in the united states, and trey touched on this, view the current iteration of this conflict stemming back from October 7, when israel came under direct assault by hamas on its own territory, that the israelis, the israeli government officials, the idf do not view it this way. They view it as part of an ongoing multiyear, multifront war that is being waged against its sovereignty, against its territorial integrity, against its jewish citizens. A war they are fighting on multiple fronts from about seven different countries. Statesponsored militias as well as terrorist organizations. In terms of looking forward i will kind of Response Israel of my issue to todays attacks, whether they end up causing fatalities or not, is that this is viewed as an existential attack on israel by the israelis no matter what comes out of it. Sandra gillian joining us live from the State Department. If you could stay with us. We get the update that secretary of State Blinken says we are committed to Israels Defense, we are awaiting a State Department Briefing expected moments from now as well as a briefing from the White House. We will see what reaction is there. Vice president harris and President Biden are in the Situation Room being briefed on what we have seen. Joy lin, this just in from germany. German Foreign Minister condemning the iranian Missile Attack in the strongest possible terms saying we have urgently warned iran about this dangerous escalation. Iran must stop attacking immediately. We are going to see likely reaction pouring in from All Over The World in the coming hours. Thats right. A lot of countries are likely to align with the united states, the Western European allies here and stand behind israel here. We also know those same western powers are going to be in israels air, as they have been since October 7, encouraging them not to respond in such a way that ups the ante, to not respond in such a way that provokes our regional war but the Central Point is israel already sees itself and made an ongoing regional war waged several years back. Disinterest elitist front beginning October 7. How long the israelis continue to heed that advice, we dont know obviously at this time here we can expect to hear more calls from dod, the State Department, probably from the White House urging Calm And Restraint from the israelis. Thats a familiar refrain to all of us. John all right, gillian, thank you. Keep your ear to the ground at the State Department. The briefing is coming up soon. We look at Downtown Jerusalem and the beautiful Dome Of The Rock in the middle of the old city. Sandra, who knows about the way forward. Mary ison was saying not too long ago its the Middle East. You dont have to respond. You can take your time doing things. Aaron was saying, does israel escalate . If youre israel and youre already heavily engaged In Gaza and youre fending off threats, it dont want to Add War with iran to the menu . Im not sure that there something that something they want to do. Theres no question what they have been doing to hezbollah in the last couple weeks has rattled the very highest levels of the regime in iran. Sandra thankfully no casualties have been reported. Well see what happens when we hear from the White House but with the tone is that we set here after this attack . We are getting the statement from a u. S. Defense official to Fox News. It reads in accordance with our ironclad commitment to israels security, u. S. Forces in the region are currently defending against iranian launched missile targeting intro. Our forces remain postured to provide additional defensive support and to protect u. S. Forces operating in the region. It is expected to be karine jeanpierre at 2 00 in the white House Briefing room, originally scheduled with secretary mae arcus. That was pushed back. Were told President Biden was on the phone with a group of rabbis ahead of the high jewish holidays. Then we obviously got the update that he and Vice President harris were holed up in the Situation Room getting briefed on the situation in israel. We dont expect there will be an update from the White House with the briefing moments from now. John to add to the Information Weve been getting on the ground, the Idf Spokesman put out some information but says that during the defense of israel against the iranian attack we carried out quite a few receptions. There are some impacts in the center in areas of the south of the country. We saw one of those in Trey Yingsts shot. This was back in the Noon Hour during outnumbered. It appeared one of the missiles hit the ground. There were flames off the distance. As far as we know at this point, the idf is unaware of any significant casualties. There might be some injuries. We are not sure. So far there doesnt seem to be any deaths as a result of this. Makes you wonder about Israels Calculation here. If iran can throw, i dont want to see everything but the Kitchen Sink but if iran can throw significant attacks in israel with airbnb Ballistic Missiles, groans, christmas. And not to sandra lets not forget as trainings has been reporting over the past hour breaking in the last hour gunmen shooting a people dead at the Tel Aviv Train Station and the terror attack. It was wrong was bombing. It was situation we are watching there as well. He will be joining us at the top of the hour. We are going to reset what just happened a little over an hour ago in israel