You are in the, cnn newsroom. Hi, everyone. I am jessica dean in washington and we begin this hour at the white house President Biden unexpectedly on his way back to the white house right now, were turning from delaware to meet with his National Security council over rising tensions in the middle east. Us officials including biden himself warned and iranian attack on israeli territory could be coming within the next few days leaving both the us and Israeli Forces on high alert. And weve already seen some aggression this morning as ronnie and forces seized a Container Ship with ties to an israeli businessman. It was intercepted in the strait of hormuz. The only Shipping Routes that connects the persian gulf to the open ocean and joining us now senior White House House reporter kevin liptak and Senior International correspondent been wedeman. Lets talk to kevin first. We know the president is on the way back to the white house. How is it responding to this moment . As israel awaits of Potential Attack from iran yeah, President Biden departing delaware a few moments ago, he will be back here at the white house to consult with his National Security team as it appears this iranian attack is imminent. And certainly you get the sense from the conversations that american officials are having with their israeli counterparts that they do view this happening in the near term, the defense secretary lloyd austin, spoke with his counterpart in israel about urgent regional threats according to the pentagon and the american National Security adviser, Jake Sullivan speaking to his counterpart to reiterate ironclad us support for israel and certainly the fact that President Biden decided to cut his weekend in delaware does give you a sense that american officials, you the timeline for these reprisals as within hours, not days, how this unfolds remains to be seen. It is an open question. Who aware these attacks are launched . What types of weapons are used and where they are launched from. But certainly hes simmering tensions between iran and israel now reaching one of their most dangerous moments in this conflict, certainly President Biden has reiterated american support for israel, but at the same time, he is hopeful not to drag the us more directly into conflict with iran. And it is very notable that american officials over the last several days have been careful to reiterate that they do not believe iran is planning to attack us forces in the region. But certainly this is a very precarious moment between President Biden and netanyahu, who have had their differences over the war in gaza at this moment, however, President Biden, certainly eager to reiterate his Ironclad Support for israel at this very, very uncertain moment. Jessica right. And more to come in the next hour is kevin. We will keep in close contact with you. Thanks so much. Lets go now to ben wedeman bent. What are you hearing . About a Potential Attack on israeli soil well, certainly everyone in the region is bracing for what looks like the very real possibility of an iranian in strike on israel in response to 1 april, israeli strike on the iranian consulate in damascus. Now we know, for instance that the jordanians have closed airspace. The jordanian airspace, and planes that were heading for jordan have turned around. Keep in mind that jordan is to the east of israel. And if any anything is coming from iran, it would very likely fly through jordanian airspace. We know that in israel the government is on higher alert and the Prime Minister is in a florida Fight Location that all universities and schools which are due to go into sessions tomorrow, sundays the beginning of the weekend. Israel have been canceled in anticipation of for this possible iranian strike i think the real worry is not necessarily whats going to happen within iranian strike. Keep in mind, its a long way from iran. Israel has the technical capabilities but to track anything coming from that direction. And also probably to shoot it down. The worry is, what will israels response to that be . That has gotten many people in this part of the world very worried now, lebanon is sort of the place where peoples attitude is keep calm and carry on. But we know from people on the border with israel, the lebanese border, israeli border. Is that at this moment there is heavy exchanges of fire mostly coming from israel onto lebanon, which would indicate that if tensions are going to increase, therell be increasing here in lebanon as well. Jessica and i wanted to just interrupt you for one moment. We do have reporting from one of our colleagues, baraka vdd, who says that iran has launched Drone Strikes at israel that is coming from four sources. What are you hearing on the ground . Well, weve seen his tweet citing four israeli and american officials and hes a fairly reliable source thats why he works for cnn were also seen on social media reports of people in western iran and in iraq, seen something flying over head. So certainly we should give serious credence to these reports that perhaps the iranian attack has already begun. But as i said, its a long way from iran to israel and its very likely the israelis are tracking whatever is coming their way. And well be able to shoot it down jessica. Okay. All right. But thats been wedeman there in beirut and then just stay with us for one second, just to reiterate what we know right now, Breaking News again, coming from our colleague barak ravid is that iran has launched attacks against israel using dozens of drones that because according to for us and israeli officials again, this is in response to the strike that israel took credit four in syria that killed iranian generals and so that is what we are seeing play out. Now this is something that President Biden and the white house and his administration had warned of. We know that the us has been on high alert, that israel has been on high alert as they prepare for this retaliatory strike. And now it appears again, according to this Breaking News from our colleague barak ravid, that iran has begun its attack against israel using dozens of drones again, that is according to for us and israeli officials, i want to bring in the cn and Global Affairs analyst mark esper, who served as the Secretary Of Defense in the Trump Administration. He is joining us now in washington first of all, thanks for being here. We are getting this Breaking News. We see the president who is cutting his trip short. Hes coming back back to convene a meeting with all of his staff and with the pertinent security personnel, the nsc, the dod, everyone is gathering there at the white house and we also are hearing this news that iran has launched these drones. How do you expect this to play out over the next hours to come . Well, first of all, good afternoon, jessica. Good to be with you. Look, its Breaking News. It has to be confirmed. I think further has been rightly pointed out. Its a Long Distance from iran to israel easily over 1,000 miles the iranian says suspect are less inclined to fly over saudi jordanian, and other airspace. And so the path in would be via Cruise Missiles which can, which can make turns. And they would come in through iraq and in syria and into israel. But honestly, im surprised that they would tack israel proper israel did not attack iran. It was they attack the consulate in syria, but an attack by iran on israel proper really is going to be a prelude to a regional war. Israels not going to stand for that at all and so this would be very interesting to see if this report is accurate. Im a little surprised. I thought they might go as far as you know. The type of attacks are used in the past going back since 90s were attacks on embers embassies abroad, whether it was in south america, asia, europe. You name it to me. I think thats still a viable possibility that they attack a Israeli Embassy and official or Something Like that abroad . But this will be significant if they actually are launching a Cruise Missiles or longrange drones against israel, proper. Well see what happens. And so we have a president and an administration that hes tried very hard to keep this conflict from widening out from the moments that october 7 unfurled they have tried very hard to keep this conflict from becoming bigger. As youre alluding to there this really raises the risk of the Conflict Spilling over and getting much larger. What can President Biden and his team do right now as they both signify that they will be standing by israel as an ally and doing and his Jake Sullivan said, Ironclad Support for israel, but also trying to keep this from widening out sure well look at it. It looks like they havent done all the right things last few days with regard to talking to the israelis, i assume sharing intelligence, talking to arab partners as well in the region we got to keep in mind, de had vested interests here, but theyre doing all the same things that i did that my colleagues did when the Trump Administration faced off against iran and late 2019 and early 2020, i think it was very prudent to move destroyers into that facility. They have very great antimissile and other antidrug capabilities that would help israel shoot down any incoming attacks. And again, if its Cruise Missiles or drones and Ballistic Missiles, its such a far distance. We can see those and track those and it will make them easier to shoot those down. So i think a big part of it now is if this is real, is to shoot down as many, if not all as you can. That of course, if theres if theres little damage that gives israel the United States more options on how to respond and when to respond. So i think those are all prudence steps that are taking. Im sure theyve 40 hardened us facilities in the region disbursed us forces, but ive never believed since last week that the us would be the target because we do know that the attack was conducted by israel. And the last thing that iran wants to do is to take on both israel and the United States. All right. And the United States has been unequivocal that they were not involved in that attack at all, that israel acted independent of the us and weve been told in our reporting that the us doesnt expect that um, that us forces will be targeted. But again, if youre just joining us to bring you in on the Breaking News here, our colleague brock ravid reporting that iran has launched an attack against israel using dozens of drones. And we have here the former Secretary Of Defense, mark esper walking us through what this could all mean. And it would seem to me, and you kind of alluded to this just a moment ago that now that this has started and we will wait to see exactly how it plays out to your point and see exactly how this kind of plays out over the next several hours and days but the next step would be for israel to decide how they would like to respond to this. And that the us will be in quite close contact as they navigate through that, i would imagine yeah, absolutely. Again, we have to see where the where the missiles or drones hit. It could be that theyre not going to israel proper, but maybe theyre going to some content just like the golan heights, which many would say is not israeli territory. But maybe theyre going after some israeli facilities. There, a command post or Something Like that . I think with regard to the larger perspective of the United States, again, i think what theyre going to rely on his President Biden being the calm, rational actor here trying to help israel think through how and whether to respond. Frankly, because again, he does not want a regional war. I dont think its anybodys interest right now to have original regional war. But at the end of the day, jessica, keep in mind everything thats happened since october 7, beginning, i argue with hamas attacking israel on that tragic date. All goes back to israel. Israel funds and supplies and inspires and in many ways directs whether its hamas in gaza, hezbollah in lebanon, the houthis yemen, the islamic militias in syria and iraq, it all goes back to iran. So inevitably this is where this war is going to end up, whether its today, tomorrow, or a month from now, a year from now, five years from now this is what will happen. And look, this is big because in the, in the 40 some years since the israeli and iranian relationship soured after the 1979 and running revolution. I dont recall iran and israel ever going to direct blows. So this would be a major a major game change here. In 40 some years of conflict, marked in the last ten or 15 or so, i buy a Proxy Conflict between these two countries. So this will be big if indeed iran strikes israel proper right . All right, stan will stay with us and just stand by mark. I want to go to Jeremy Diamond, who is there in jerusalem with more jeremy, what are you . Learning right now well, the Israeli Military has just confirm that iran has indeed launched multiple drones from its territory in the direction of israel well, we understand that it will take these drones several hours to actually reach israeli territory. Their targets are unknown at this hour or at least they havent been publicly identified by israel i hug daniel hagari, the spokesman for the Israeli Military who made this announcement, didnt specify the exact number of drones, but im told separately by an israeli official that the number of drones is indeed in the dozens, dozens of iranian drones being fired from im iranian territory headed in the direction of israel. We dont know what the targets are. We also dont know if these drones could just be one part of this iranian attack. Could there also be missiles which have a much shorter flight time that could also be fired and hit later on in a simultaneous attack. So a lot of questions, but this very significant news that we are now hearing officially from the Israeli Military that iran has indeed launched a dozen dozens of drones fired them in the direction of israel. And we understand that it will take hours before those drones actually reach here. In the meantime, the Israeli Military is telling, israeli civilians to be digital into listen to the instructions of the home front command, which earlier tonight updated its guidance to israeli civilians limiting public gatherings in north israel, as well as the israeli communities surrounding the gaza strip also closing schools for the coming days, but it does now appear, or as weve been anticipating, this potential iranian response that we at least now know. The first chapter of that response. And the form that it is beginning to take. We also know so that is really government officials in recent days have been warning that an iranian attack from iranian soil onto israeli soil would result in a commensurate israeli response, meaning an Israeli Attack on iranian soil. So we will have to see how this all plays out. To what extent israeli is able to intercept those drones using its air defense capabilities a lot of questions, but we are starting to get the beginning of the answers in terms of what exactly this iranian attack, what shape it is beginning to take. Yeah, what it might look like. Okay. Jeremy, stay with us. I want to go back to mark esper for a second because mark were digesting what jeremy is just telling us now and i want to get your take on a couple of things. First of all, this, the fact that its going to take several hours for these drones to get there. What does that mean in terms of being able to shoot these down to prepare for them, what does that look like . Shorts. Its not difficult to shoot the drones down. They launched dozens because some will malfunction and routes, some will get lost. You want some to make their way through. But if this is really an iranian fullthroated attack, they would face it in so all missiles so everything hits their targets around the same time so at some point they would march, launch Ballistic Missiles. Its worth noting that iran has the largest and most diverse Ballistic Missile force in the region. And its probably their singularly the best capable conventional capability. But they would launch Ballistic Missiles at some point to time with the landing of the cruise missile, with the Cruise Missiles and drones. And that would only take a matter of minutes for Ballistic Missiles to get there, probably under 30. And then look if they can really get the proxies on board, youd see hezbollah in Southern Lebanon Launch Thousands of the 150,000 rocket and missile inventory they have and sutherland and on, youd launch all that the same time and the purpose would be to overwhelm israeli air defenses so that some of the either rockets or missiles or drones or Ballistic Missiles will make their way through and hit their targets. But again, if that happens, i cant help but think youre looking at the beginnings of a major regional war and we, have to just take a beat and youve said this and well see how it plays out. But i think the other the other thing that jeremy mentioned was that israel had said it will respond in kind to whatever orawn ultimately does and you cant help. But realize that were teetering right on an edge here. Mark, and we are at this very precarious moment where President Biden and his team are facing what could not just become an expanding conflict, but an incredibly serious one that youre kind of laying out before us right now. Yeah, look, its not unusual that again, it may just be limited tack of Cruise Missiles or drones that again, an israeli outpost or command post in the golan heights. Whether they hit or miss the iranians will privately claim victory to the iranian people and theyll privately conveyed messages to israel and the United States that theyre done, theyre throw their made there point. And thatll be the end of it to some degree. So there are a wide range of things that could happen here and as i said earlier, this could just be one aspect of it too. They could go after israeli embassies abroad as another main to inflict the punishment they want. This is a country that goes eye for an eye. Theyre going to want to attack. I like target with so like outcome. What happened is through a week ago, but again, they want to do enough to satisfy the hardliners in iran, enough to establish their street cred with their proxy groups got the middle east, but not enough to start a middle east war that they will lose if it comes to that. So itll be very interesting to see how theyre walking this tight rope appear as the following hours unfold yeah, lets go back to been wedeman, who is there in beirut. Ben is we talk about the potential for this conflict to widen out. I know youve spent a lot of time there in the last six months as the israelhamas war has played out. And also, weve ive seen a lot of action there at that border. What do you know about about the potential for this to widen out and whats happening around where you are well theres real potential for this happening. Now. What do we heard from closest from sources very close to hizballah, which of course is allied with iran, is that this is a iranian response to the israeli strike on the iranian consulate in damascus was going to be now you see is strictly iranian that iran is allies and proxies in the region werent going to participate in this. It was going to be an iranian strike however, the same source told us that if these rarely response escalates and the situation deteriorates, that hezbollah and other allies and proxies of iran across the region will come into support to head on. So really as i was saying before, it this strike much anticipated, the iranian response much anticipated. And as were hearing from Israeli Military spokesman, its its going to take hours for these drones to actually reach israeli territory in the chances of them inflicting any serious damage are relatively please small. The question is, how will israel respond . Weve heard israeli Officials Say that if the attacker comes from iranian soil israel will respond on iranian soil. So theres a real danger of escalation now, as your previous guests was talking about this is the first time iran and israel, rather iran strikes directly at israel a threshold has been crossed. Now its up to the United States and others perhaps to try to reign in the situation. Now, one cannot help but think thats similar to the aftermath of the american assassination of qassem soleimani, the head of the quds force of the Islamic Revolutionary guardcore in january 2020, the iranian response to that, the iranians warned the americans it was going to come and it would appear that in this case, good all of these sort of indications were getting President Biden returning urgently to the white house. Is that perhaps messages were passed from the rock finance to the americans that this was coming. So there are channels of communication open between washington and tap headon, and those will be critical to void some sort of escalation that ends up being a regional war involving israel iran the process season allies if iran and perhaps even the United States, jessica. And on that note, lets go out to the white house where kevin liptak is standing. By and kevin, i know you just report what did that us officials have officially confirmed that iran has launched those dry those drones toward israel. We know that the president has ended his weekend and delaware is on his way back to the white house. He is meeting with his National Security team there. What more can you tell us about what theyre going to be . Doing there . Whos meeting with him in that Situation Room and also that hes now staring down the very thing hes been trying to avoid, which is this conflict. Just absolutely widening out in a way that encapsulates that entire region. Yeah, anyway, this is exactly the type of scenario that President Biden had been trying to avoid since the start of this conflict. And certainly you can bet that President Biden and the National Security apparatus that surrounds him, well be watching this very closely, both for what happens when these drones reach israel or reach their intended target . But, also what happens after that, how israel response and certainly this has been a topic of discussion between american and israeli officials all throughout the course of last week, thats part of the reason why the commander of central command, erik kurilla was in israel to talk about the Country Contingencies should this happen. Now you mentioned President Biden is on his way back here to the white house. He should arrive within the hour. He will go into the Situation Room for a meeting with all of the principal moles in the american National Security establishment secretary of state antony blinken, lloyd, austin, Jake Sullivan, all of these officials are arriving at the white house soon this very highstakes meeting, as these drones make their way towards their target. Now we did know from american officials ahead of this occurring that they had detected around moving Military Equipment within its territory, including drones and Cruise Missiles. It wasnt clear at that point whether that was a deterrent posturing, or whether they actually intended to launch them from their own soil into israel or towards israeli targets that is now becoming clearer. We also knew that the American Military was repositioning its own assets in the region, in part to help israel shooting down anything that was fired its way. And so as the us watches in real time, as these drones head towards their targets, they will certainly be hoping to intercept them and help israel in that way that has been President Bidens key message over the last week, as he talked about this significant attack in the offing, was that american support for israel would be ironclad despite his current differences with the Prime Minister benjamin netanyahu, hes essentially said that that wouldnt get in the way. Love american support for israel in the case of Uranian Reprisals so certainly the us watching this very closely, but also watching very closely what israel will do next. Yeah, theres no doubt about that mark. I want to go back to you because youve been in that room, youve been in the situation in rome as a former Secretary Of Defense during the Trump Administration what is what is that like . What are they, where are they considering right now . And what are they watching . Four yeah, i think when they meet with the president , of course, theyll be giving the best estimates of what the iranian attack line looks like, what they may be going for anticipated Battle Damage assessment, things like that. Of course, lloyd austin will be speaking his counterparts, not just an israel, but again, arab partners are really big here. They matter their views matter, theyre gonna be concerned about not just the israeli response, but what the United States will do. So youve got to be speaking to your arab partners also. But then i think at some point once theres more clarity on what happens, the outcome on the ground talking with the israelis, what will the us do . What will the us will the United States . Put, more forces into the region to support israel or to backstop us forces. So were not at that point yet, i think right now what they have to see is what is the extent of the attack . What, whats the likely damaged the outcome . Because those two things will have a big impact on how israel thinks through a response, if any to this what looks to be an unprecedented iranian attack. And just to bring everyone in again on our Breaking News, or ron has launched an attack against israel using dozens of drones. We told they have launched those drones from iranian territory. It could take several hours for them to arrive at their destination. I want to go now to clerk for this award, who is live in tel aviv. Clover said, is all of this is unfolding. What are you learning well, obviously this is unprecedented and navigated territory. There are very high concerns about the number of different scenarios that could plausibly play out here we have hours until we expect those drones to the entry during israeli airspace. The question becomes, will they potentially be accompanied by some kind of missile fire from iranian proxies. Obviously, the idf and Israeli Government taking this very seriously, schools have been closed gatherings of more than 1,000 people have been forbidden at least until monday hey, everybody here is grappling with what exactly to expect on the one hand, iran very clearly telegraphing. Its and so in that sense, it seems to be positive. Theyre looking for potentially sort of goldilocks approach. If you like, trying to retaliate without escalating leading into a fullon regional conflagration at the heather moment though, of course, there are high tensions, high fears because we are entering and navigated territory because there are so many different possibilities as to how this could potentially shake and so a sense of high alert. I would also say calm, but definitely everybody watching very closely to see what will be happening in the coming hours as we anticipate the arrival of those drones from iranian airspace. Again, it could be hours before they enter is really airspace. The anticipation of course, is that they will be the intercepted are shot down. But the real question becomes whether there will be some sort of Supplementary Force as they get closer to israel. Jessica right . Clarissa before i let you go, youve covered this region for for many, many years, and youre talking and were our other guests are also alluding to this as well. This unprecedented moment can you give us some context about what it means that iran is launching these drones toward israel from iranian territory. Just kinda give us some context. Next around that well, the context of iran launching an attack directly on israel from a rainy and territory ore is something that we havent seen in decades. And that is why you are seeing a lot of concern, a heightened State Of Alert while you were seeing President Biden coming back to the white house . Because everybody is aware now keenly that this could develop into something dramatically more serious at the same time, i do think its important to understand for that iran has been very clear and has telegraph that it will meet out a retaliation for that attack on the compound the diplomatic Embassy Compound in damascus on april 1. And so some are extrapolating from that that via telegraphing. Its so clearly iran is trying to find that precise point. And this is where it gets dangerous and difficult when youre trying to find that sweet spot between escalating and retaliating and avoiding creating a scenario that you cant pull back from the brink of there is always the capacity for things to go wrong. And that is why there is so much tension thats why theres a high degree of anticipation, even though this moment has been affected since april 1, just write it is a razors edge. All right. Clarissa standby. I want to go to general mark hertling, whos joined us as well, and general, we just just heard clarissa really lay it all out there as we await these drones in their travel time, we see how israel might respond as it does take hours for them to get to their final destination. But also broadening it out a little bit more israel has promised to respond in kind to whatever iran ultimately does. However, this unfolds over the next hours or days, or however long this might go on. What does that say to you . And what do you think that could potentially look like . Heres a combination of a bunch of things. First of all, the drone strike the drone swarm if we want to call it that even though we dont know how many aircraft are in the er, is slow moving and its developing. But id suggest that thats just the first of many actions. There could be the potential for synchronized, not only slow moving drones, jessica, these things move about the speed of a piper cub or assess nine aircraft, theyre just very slow, 150 miles an hour at best so theyre going to be supplemented from i think from attacks from other directions has blood is going to step up their actions, although even, even while we hadnt been wide matching, whats been going on in the northern part of israel as much Israeli Defense forces have been reporting multiple attacks on a daily basis from hezbollah in Southern Lebanon. You also have the potential for a synchronized attack between hezbollah in lebanon the slow moving drones, which will take about four to five hours to get to the boundaries of israel with other actions by pmf and some faster moving missiles, Cruise Missiles potentially, or even a larger range. Mischels. So those are quick, those move about the size of the jet. If iran is able to synchronize the slow moving actions with the faster moving actions. You could see a very big synchronized attack. Israel is not going to wait for all of this. I would suggest that in their command and control headquarters right now, theyre theyve got a lot of patients. Theyre going to see whats going to happen next. Whats going to be launched next . And from what . Correction and what type all of these things play a part in countering the activity with not only their iron dome, which everyone tends to immediately say, first, thats what theyre going to use. But also their arrow weapons system, their Shoulder Fire a Weapon Systems against these kind of drones, all kinds of defenses. Remember, israel so heres Mobilized Hundreds Of Thousands of their soldiers with air defense capabilities because they, theyve always anticipated around launching this kind of attack. And they have plans for that. I also think you see general kurilla in the area he probably has a significant portion of the centcom staff with him synchronized with Liaison Officers inside the israeli command and control headquarters. So theres going to be assistance more than likely from American Forces in defending using jets from carriers and jets from landbased operations. So were at the very early start of this. And i think the Israeli Defense forces probably are generating a lot of patients to see whats going to come next, just to wait and say, all right, stand by it. Lets go to kevin liptak, whos at the white house. Kevin, we now have a statement from the white house since weve learned that these iranian drones have been launched toward israel right . And this is official american confirmation that these drones have been launched. And i just want to read this statement in full just because this is such an important moment, this is from the the National Security council spokesperson, adrian watson, and she says, iran has begun an airborne attack against israel, President Biden is being regularly updated on the situation by his National Security team, will meet with them this afternoon at the white house. She goes on to say his team is in constant communication with israeli officials, as well as other partners and allies. This attack is likely to unfold over a number of hours President Biden has been clear, our support for israels security is ironclad. The United States will stand with the people of israel and support their defense against these threats from iran. So i think thats an important statement there that the us does expect this attack to unfold over a number of hours in a way, this has been im building up for so long over the last several days in some sense, this feels like a conclusion, but i think in reality this is just the beginning. This is the start of something of a new phase of this conflict. And they think reading between the lines of this statement, the white house is making clear that it will use every asset that it has in the region that has been repositioned, whether its jets, whether its ships to try and help Israel Intercept some of these drones that are being fired in its direction. And certainly that is a statement that president ben to make over the last sevel g days, including ju yesterday at the white hse before he departed for Delaware Sayi that t us would israel and help provideor its said was an attackhat would he happen sooner rather than later. So the white house the statemt officially confirming that these dron e have been launched, that they came from iran, a tt the president will standy. Israel dpite somof the dierences that weveeen between him and Prime Minister netanyahu over the course of the war in gaza. This isf course is occurring at a moment of tension betweenhose t men. But i thinksident biden d his National Securit team trying to reitet this moment, at th watershed moment at that there wont be any daylight between the us d israel when it comes to its own defense, when comes to irann attacks, right . The Nional Security Advisosaying earlier today, ironclad and supportive israel. All right. Kevin liptak, standby for us. Lets go now to Jeremy Diamond, who is on the ground in jerusalem and jeremy, it bears repeating that at this what we know is that iran has launched dozens of drones at israel. That is what we know. We dont know exactly what the scale of this will be. We dont know how it will unfold we dont know if there is more, but what we do know is that these drones have been launched from iranian territory toward israel what else are you learning yeah, thats right. And i think its also worth looking back at the last several days because it was really on yesterday on friday, that this notion that iran was going to carry out this attack itself and that it was going to carry out this attack directly on israeli soil. Oil thats when that notion really began to crystallize with us and Israeli Intelligence, i was told yesterday by an israeli official that israel was preparing for the possibility of an iranian attack on israeli facilities on israeli soil. And we have watched over the last 24 hours as that view has begun to harden earlier today, we saw as israel began to issue new guidelines for citizens, for civilians here in israel to begin to brace themselves for the possibility of this attack. Ultimately culminating in the Israeli Military going on the record with its spokesman going on camera and confirming that indeed iran has launched drones directed at israeli soil. Now separately, ive been told by an israeli official that the number of those drones is indeed in the dozens at a minimum here. And so that then poses the question as israel will have hours were told to prepare for those drones to actually arrive here on israeli soil. How many of the those drones can it indeed intercept . How much assistance will also get from the United States, which we know has positioned air defense assets in the region in preparation for this how much can these two countries cooperate to take down a maximum number of drones . Can they perhaps take them all out . Can they take the majority out those are some of the questions that we are now asking. And of course, were also asking whether or not there will be other elements to this iranian attack and whether this will be directed at Hard Military targets in israel, or perhaps softer civilian targets within, within israel. I do think it is interesting to see that the beginning phase of this attack from iran is not a surprise attack, is not an attack that is from launch to target a matter of minutes, but rather something that is going to stretch out over a period of hours that indicates that iran wanted israel to know that this attack was coming. And perhaps also sending a message about what kind of risk sponsor it hopes to see from israel, perhaps sending a message that look, israel has time to prepare for this. It has time to perhaps intercept the majority of these drones could that potentially deescalate the kind of israeli retaliation that we would see as a result of an iranian attack on israeli soil. That is the question. Again, we dont know the full extent of this attack, just yet, but based on what we know so far, those are the kinds of things that im starting to think about right and quickly before i let you go just in terms of the israeli how are they preparing for this . What are they being told to do . Are they being told to shelter . What is it like . Theyre in the country right now you know, its interesting about a week ago, just days after israel carried out that strike on an iranian consular facility in damascus, Killing A Senior level iranian commander days after that, israelis really began to get concerns about the prospects of war. There was a rush to the supermarkets to grab essential goods, to grab am fm radios in recent days hey, is panic has somewhat subsided, but today, of course, is when this all came front of mind. Once again, with those warnings yesterday, as this intelligence since grew about the potential for an iranian attack on israeli soil, and certainly over the course of the last several hours, Israeli Media has been blanketed with these warnings from the Israeli Military about this Potential Attack, about these new warnings. In terms of the Homefront Guidance that is being issued to civilians. So certainly there is a sense of tension, a sense of anticipation. Here in israel, and also of course, a sense of fear of uncertainty, of what exactly this iranian attack well look like. And to what extent civilians here will be at risk. I think most people are asking those questions at this moment. Yeah, a lot of uncertainty right now because we just dont know a lot of answers answers to these questions. Okay. Jeremy diamond, standby. We have Oren Liebermann at the pentagon and oren, you have new reporting that the us is going to attempt to intercept any weapons launched it, israel tell us more about this new reporting you have so this is actually what we had heard heading into the weekend with the expectation that iran could carry out its attack. The us has forces throughout the middle east and we have seen over the course of the past six months excuse me, they have repeatedly intercepted launches either from iranian proxies or from the houthis in yemen. For example, the us navy has an aircraft carrier, the uss dwight d. Eisenhower, and two destroyers In The Red Sea. There are two destroyers in the eastern met as well as two destroyers and the gulf of aden now, those have, especially In The Red Sea and the gulf of aden, repeatedly intercepted launches from the houthis. So we have seen the us essentially followed on this commitment to shoot down anything launch towards israel from there. But of course thats not it. The us is forces in iraq, syria, and jordan that have repeatedly intercepted launches, not an israel, but at the targets and at the us forces in iraq, syria, and jordan and to officials familiar with the plans here, say it is part of the plan to try to intercept if possible. Now if you look at this map for a second, youll see there are essentially a number of different ways these drones could approach any of them take hours here, they could try to come through iraq and syria that would give the greatest possible chance for us forces to intercept them. Of course, depending on their route, or they could try to come over saudi arabia and through jordan to try to minimize the possibility of us intercepts there though even that route with Us Naval Forces In The Red Sea opens up the possibility of intercepts. So it depends how these drones approach. We know the commander of Us Central Command general erik kurilla spent a couple of days in israel, essentially looking at the Security Situation in the region and coordinating how this might look so well see how this plays out. Its also worth noting and essentially ill pick up on on what my colleague Jeremy Diamond was talking about here. Israel itself has a layered Aerial Defense system. Its longrange Aerial Defense would be the arrow three interceptor that what intercept Ballistic Missiles and can work out of the atmosphere. We have seen that used if im not mistaken over the course of the past six months, the intercept, certain launches coming from are coming down the red sea from the houthis in yemen. Thats the longrange interceptor arrow three the medium range Interception System is davids sling that is very similar to the us thad system that is also stationed at different points in the country. And then the short range Interception System that weve seen used so many times, not only over the course of the past six months but in the past as well is iron dome. And that intercepts within a few dozen miles here. Certainly that would be able to intercept these drones. The real question is, and this is what weve been speculating in wondering about. These drones will take hours to get there. Cruise missiles could arrive much faster within a couple of hours perhaps. And then Ballistic Missiles or within a few minutes. So its still remains an open question. Is this . It or is there more coming in could orawn try to coordinate a number of different types of weapons to hit at the same time. That of course, is what were waiting to see here as these drones make their way over, what will be an hourslong process to reach their targets we know the beginning, the first chapters of this story so far, lets go to Alex Marquardt right now, and alex, youre getting some new inrmation on the teframe here. How long this might take to unfold inresting statement from the white house. Jessica the white house puing. Essentially a expectation onow this is goto unfold in terms of the duraon. Theyre saying that gng to be a number of hours thats coming from a spokesrson f theional theyre not saying that t is going t over very quickly. Theyre not saying that ts is something thats going to last for days, but there is an expectation that we have been talking about because of the weaponry that the iranians are choosing, that this is going to take several hours. Its almost midnight and israel, that means that this could stretch into the predawn hours. It will be very interesting to see whether it lasts longer than that. Of course, there is a very distinct possibility that israel then decides to retaliate for this retaliation. And then we could really be off to the races in terms of an expanded conflict, but we arent there yet. Jessica, we have been talking about this iranian retaliation patient for almost two weeks now since israel struck that alleged consulate, the iranian building in damascus and killed Seven Members of the revolutionary guard, including one of their senior most commanders who was in charge of the syria and lebanon theaters and so we knew this retaliation was coming in. There was all kinds of speculation about what that would look like. Now we are starting to tick away at the different elements of the various possibilities we now know. And this is the most dramatic element i think that this retaliation is coming from iranian soil proper. There had been some Spec Relation that iran might not want to escalate like that and just use proxies who are neighboring countries and keep it at a lower level. But attacking israel from a Ronnie Ron Proper is very significant and invites the possibility that israel will then retaliate against iran itself. Now, this could have also been predicted because because the attack that israel carried out against that building in damascus was carried out from israeli soil. So what were seeing here, i think is a very calculated very calibrated, but very significant retaliation by iran and iran has been doing, i think a pretty good job at telegraphing what its intentions are the United States, a variety of european countries, arab countries, turkey, in the days leading up to today, they had all been telling iran, do not escalate this conflict, but at the same time, there was a recognition that iran would have to respond to that attack last week, they would have to save face. But despite what were seeing right now, jessica, there is no real sense that iran wants to widen this conflict. And so its going to be very interesting in the coming hours as the white house has just said, to see what kind of weaponry they act add to this if its just the drones, if they add ballistic and Cruise Missiles if they add proxy groups and neighboring countries to israel joining the fight, what the targets they go after our and then whether there are other israeli targets in other countries, like embassies. So we are starting to get a lot more of the answers that weve been looking for. But so many questions remain, jessica, so many questions and it will take some time to see exactly where this all lands. But what we do know, again, just to underscore to everyone is that iran has launched these drones toward israel from iranian territory. So kim dozer, lets go to you and lets talk about these drones for a second. We now have alex is reporting there that this could unfold from coming from the nsc over a matter of hours, a number of hours, it takes hours for these drones to arrive to their destination. What more are you gathering from all of this information . Well, im just hearing from a senior us official that the drones are aimed in quote, unquote, multiple directions. So theyre worried its going to hit multiple parts of israel. And the official says is oren was reporting that yes. The us military is trying to track them to help israel knock them out. Out of the sky. The worry is that there will be so many headed to do so many different parts that israels air defenses will be overwhelmed now, the question is has iran weighted these two weeks to telegraph to israel . So perhaps it is Hitting Planning to hit Military Targets it will ships in haifa and south and a lot army bases across the country any of this could be seen as israel hit. Its a Military Target in syria. Iran is striking back. But this is still extraordinary. Any attacks that have been blamed on israel that it happened inside iran have been covert. This is an overt operation and its going to trigger an international response. No matter whats hit. One is really former intelligence official. I was speaking to said she was going to sleep because she was expecting many long days to come we have many long de is to come all right. Chem standby. I want to go to ben wedeman, who is in lebanon right now and ben all of our experts and correspondence keep coming back to the fact that this is a kind of it is an exceptional moment to see iran attacking israel like this. We dont know exactly what this means going forward. Were all watching this unfold together. What are you seeing where you are well what. Were saying is that tensions have skyrocketed certainly e the 1st april when iael attacked that iranian consulate in mask. But tonight, they really a skyrocketing. Were seeing the airspace over jordan for instance, since being a completely clod end in Southern Lebanon, of course, which has been the scene of daily and often deadly exchanges of fire between israel and hezbollah. Weve seen that this evening just before news of these iranian launch took place, that there were some fairly intense israeli air raids along the Southern Lebanon southern border, were hearing now from residents down there that there is an intense is presence of warplanes in the sky. I think probably the scenario the israelis are worried about is that there could be more done by iran, allies, and proxies around the region, even though weve heard from officials very qarrah sources, very close his that the initial strike would be iranian and exclusively iranian. The worry is what, how will israel respond to the iranian response to the strike on the consulate in damascus . And thats really where the danger lies. And certainly in terms of Danger Lebanon is high on the list of those who are very exposed to the possibility of far are worse to come jessica. All right. Then wedeman forest there in beirut standby. Lets go back to general mark hertling, who is still with us and general, we had that reporting from the pentagon that the us is going to try and intercept as many of these drones as possible. What might that look like . And then going back to what kim was saying that there is some concern that what if there is too many, what if it overwhelms the airspace . Help us understand what that could potentially look like and what theyre going through right now in this time. And but drones had been launched and when they hit yeah, what kim said is exactly right, and that would have been the plan from the very beginning to try and hit multiple targets from multiple directions. Heres the thing though jessica where the us will help. Weve been talking about the shooters for the last couple of minutes, the patriot missiles, the arrows the iron gomes, all those other kinds of things for these kind of targets. You also have to have the sensors. And thats what the us is going to provide along with the Israeli Intelligence community. Im sure that my colleague Cedric Leighton will have a lot to say about that being an air force guy. But you can bet theres Early Warning radars up right now that are tracking these drone systems. And where theyre coming from. This is not ukraine they have multiple sensors and shooters not just from the large plaza that forms that have the radars, but even from the f35 that israel has, that the us has in the area from some of the other Electronic Warfare platforms. When youre talking about drones, there are multiple ways to shoot those down those are not going to, i dont believe theyre going to get into israeli aerospace. They will be shot down long before they get to israel airspace. What im very concerned about is what will complement these drones when these drones get 50 to 100 miles away from the border, will suddenly we see hundreds or even thousands of rockets coming out of hezbollah. Will we see more Cruise Missiles coming out of iran proper or from yemen . These are the kind of things that i think is iran could potentially do. Not that they will, but they could potentially attack not only multiple targets, but from multiple directions with multiple types of systems so yes, is the us helping . I can i would bet a 99. 9 probability. We definitely have sensors, and Intel Platforms which cedric could talk about in the air right now. But the Israeli Forces have that as well. And as Oren Liebermann said earlier, the israeli systems of the multilayered and interest degraded air Defense Systems will counter the attacks into the country. What im concerned about right now is not just the attacks from iran and other places, but what will israel do . And when in response . All right, general mark hertling. Thanks so much. I want to go now to Alex Marquardt, whos also getting some new reporting as more information comes in, alex. Yeah, jessica, it does appear that iran is ratcheting this up. This is not just the dozens of drones that had been launched that weve been reporting. Were now hearing from Israeli Media saying that iran has also long launched Cruise Missiles in addition to these drones, we dont have an exact number. But that is certainly an escalation. Its exactly what i was just mentioning in terms of the questions that are still out there. Certainly iran was telegraphing what it was about to do in sending those slow moving drones all the way from iran towards israel. Cruise missiles can move an awful lot faster. I defer to our experts on the exact speeds. But its certainly raises questions about how youre going to how israel is going to be handling this now multifaceted attack from iran, not just missiles but drones as well. And there could be more to come, jessica all right. So were getting more information there. Alex marquardt. Thanks so much. We are continuing to follow this Breaking News as iran officially launched a launches this attack against israel, it is something we have been tracking for week its now are for days now, and were going to continue to gather as much information as possible and bring it all to you as quickly and as accurately as we can. Were gonna take a quick break. Well be right back the future is not just going to happen you have to make it and if you want a successful business all it takes is an idea. 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