Iran launches drone attacks toward Israel, U.S. official confirms | full coverage

to be meeting with among others uh

secretary Anthony blinkin secretary

Lloyd Austin chairman of the Joint

Chiefs of Staff and uh and others as

well all right Natalie stay with us

appreciate you joining us as we're

continuing to monitor this situation

from all different angles I want to

bring in now CBS News foreign

correspondent MTS tab he's there in Tel

Aviv MTS first of all talk to us about

what you're seeing what you're hearing

there now that we understand that uh

that Dr have been launched from Iran and

are headed over to

Israel yeah hey Lana good to be with you

well you're absolutely right we have

confirmation from the Israeli military

that those drones have been launched we

understand that they are currently in

Iraqi airspace but we also understand

that these drones could likely take up

to 9 hours to even get anywhere near

Israel 9 hours that's a very long time

so the question then becomes is what at

what point does Israel which has one of

the most sophisticated uh aerial defense

systems in the world will intercept

those drones and if these are well they

are the Iranian drones but if they are

the variety that we've seen Iran use in

other Arenas uh and this notably when it

comes to Russia Russia purchases Iranian

drones which are called Shahed drones

and they use them in Ukraine and Ukraine

very successfully shoots those out of

the sky so one would imagine that that

is something that Israel will be able to

do whatever the case we have a of course

been hearing from the Israeli military

who say that they are monitoring the

situation uh we heard from as you were

saying uh from hagari who was saying

that uh not only is the aerial defense

array system on high alert but so too is

the Israeli Air Force the Israeli Navy

uh but more importantly that they are

also working in concert with uh the us

as well so there's a lot of moving Parts

here right now this is of course

concerning but again when we look at the

timeline of how long these drones could

potentially reach Israeli airspace if

they ever do the question is is what is

Iran trying to achieve and more

importantly is this all they're going to

do or is this the beginning of what

they're going to do and again what

they're going to do because of what this

is in retaliation for that strike in

Damascus at the Iranian Embassy there in

which 12 people were killed including a

senior uh military commander from Iran

since then Iran has been vowing that it

would avenge that attack and now it's

started but again we have many many more

questions than answers but all we can

say or what we do know for sure is that

this has begun uh

MTS as we have heard that that so many

of the different principal actors in

This want to bring down the temperature

uh on the situation and and given that

you mentioned that Israeli Defense

Forces are positioned through the Iron

Dome there to potentially take down all

of these drones before they ever make it

uh into uh to make a strike in Israel

will that be sufficient do we have any

sense of how much uh retribution uh Iran

feels like they need in order to add a

minimum save face following the killing

of those military

leaders yeah you know you bring up a

really fascinating Point Lana which is

you know that's really what this is

about Iran feeling like it has to

respond and it has to show this show of

force and that is what's kind of fueling

this and so you know when you talk about

uh there are obviously other actors

involved the US is a very key player in

this calling for restraint we understand

that over the past several days that the

US has been communicating with Iran

through the Swiss Embassy inside tan

Switzerland has an embassy in tan and so

the US sends messages to the Swiss

Embassy which then goes to the Iranian

lead ership who then communicate again

through the Su Embassy back to the us

and we know that there has been a lot of

this communication been going on and

what we understand from that

communication is that both the Iranians

and the US have said that they do not

want a major escalation that they do not

want to trigger a wider War across the

Middle East which many people say would

be catastrophic in saying that as you so

rightly point out Iran feels a lot of

pressure to do something the question is

is will they do something beyond what

we're seeing now which is the launch of

these drones from its airspace now

traveling here to Israel again it's

going to take 9 hours for those drones

to get here if they ever do and you know

you again raise a very important point

is that enough for destroying an embassy

which Iranians have said was an attack

on their sovereignty because as we know

embassies are effectively uh Sovereign

soil for that specific Nation uh and if

there's going to be anything more

they're going to do in response to that

but again because we know that Iran has

been saying that it doesn't want to see

a wider escalation and yet its proxies

are very active in the region it's

really hard to see just where this goes

beyond this point that said it is still

very alarming the idea that Iran could

potentially Target inside Israel this is

one state attacking another state that

would be very serious indeed and is

something that has not happened in a

very long time at least in this context

and so it'd be very very worrying indeed

uh MTS for our viewers you are there in

Tel Aviv it's about 10:30 I think at

night there at this point so late in the

evening uh it's going to be several

hours before those uh weapons actually

make their way to Israel what are you

hearing there given that especially they

may land in early morning

yeah the mood is really interesting you

know we obviously have been here all day

and you sort of walk around Tel Aviv and

things seemed pretty normal people were

out and about people were going to

restaurants at the beach going up about

the day it's the day off today it was

Shabbat uh for the daytime hours so you

know it was relatively quiet to begin

with but I would say that you know

things have changed very quickly this

evening we had an announcement from the

Israeli government saying that they were

basically canceling school tomorrow that

people were not supposed to gather uh in

very large groups and that sort of

started trickling out more and more and

then we heard that Israel's security

cabinet was joining and now of course we

have the announcement that this uh these

drones have been launched from Iran um

so it will be interesting to see just

sort of in the next day or so or in the

next hours or so to see what happens and

how people are going to react act but

the reality is is that people have been

told be prepared something is

potentially happening and that is why

those um uh uh rulings if you will or or

those requests for people to again as we

say don't send your kids to school uh

don't Gather in very large groups uh

we're put out and it's hope that people

will follow those rules uh but we have

to understand that for 6 months now

since October 7th Israel has been on for

lack of a better phrase War footing this

is a country which is in the grips of a

of a conflict which is dealing with what

many people here say is a national

trauma which they are still living

because of the hostages still inside

Gaza uh and of course the fact that

there is still fighting going on in Gaza

and as we know inside Gaza the situation

there the humanitarian situation there

is pretty catastrophic as well and so

yes I think the the idea that Iran would

try to launch some sort of attack on

isra is definitely alarming to people

but again people we've been speaking to

have a lot of faith in as you say the

Iron Dome they have a lot of faith in

Israel's defense systems they have a lot

of faith in the Israeli military even

though part of that was shaken after

October 7th and there's a lot of

criticisms of the Israeli military for

not responding more quickly to that

still I think again because we're at

this point seeing drones being launched

from Iran it's going to take many hours

for there to get them I don't get the

sense of any sort of national Panic or

Hy area but again it's obviously very

concerning for the president it's very

concerning for the Israeli leadership

and that is why at this moment so many

high-profile and so many highlevel um

interactions are happening at this stage

to figure out not only what's happening

but what could potentially happen next

all right MTS we will continue to check

in with you for now please be safe I

want to bring in now CBS News

intelligence and National Security

reporter Olivia gazes from our

Washington Bureau Olivia we have been on

stand by for this we knew that it might

be happening even President Biden you're

looking at live images right now has

determined that he needed to come back

to the White House this is his

helicopter at joint uh Base Andrews the

president is on his way to the security

room to meet with his National Security

team and try and assess the situation as

we now know that there are several

drones making their way from Iran to

Israel and will be making their way

there in the next couple of hours so

Olivia talk to us about how us and

Israeli officials have been preparing

for this

attack Orana well as you've been

discussing this was a very telegraphed

uh response we have effectively known

since April 1st that Damascus strike

that this was coming and uh that's why

you've seen this torrent of public

messaging and diplomatic efforts Visa

Iran the US has been remarkably

transparent about what it's been seeing

what it's been hearing and the kinds of

messages that it's been delivered Ing

and receiving uh from Iran in the runup

to this action the Israelis similarly

have been telegraphing their level of

preparedness and what prepar Preparatory

steps they're taking in order to respond

when they need to respond likewise

you've seen dozens of Western

governments pick up the phone and call

the foreign minister in ton to urge

restraint to urge caution uh and to to

prevent this uh conflict from escalating

regionally you've seen by the way the

Iranians take those calls they feel feel

like they're a player and they have been

effectively telegraphing and calibrating

their response all of this has been

designed of course in order to uh shape

Iranian behavior and I think that you

are seeing that it is very early as

we've been saying we do not know what

else is to come but this does not

initially appear to be a worst case

scenario as we've been discussing drones

have a very long lead time they are easy

to intercept Israel and the US have

excellent air defenses and they are very

much prepared for and anticipating an

attack of this sort we always expected

that the Iranians would do something

visible uh that they would Target

something with uh an Israeli government

Nexus we do not know yet what the

targets are and I'm not sure that we

know that these drones are coming from

inside Iran I am waiting for

confirmation on that detail because as

we know Iran had a spectrum of potential

behaviors to reach for here they could

have uh uh launched things from inside

of Iran they could have enlisted its

proxies they could be reaching for

targets inside Israel

they could be reaching for targets

outside of Israel in in the region uh

they could be uh targeting things that

are designed to incur casualties or not

right now and again early stages it

appears to be at the lower end of the

escalatory spectrum we have to see if

this is followed or accompanied by uh

ballistic or cruise missiles which we

know from our Pentagon team Iran was

also preparing um and uh and I thought I

would say Olivia um if you will uh on

that question that you raised according

to the IDF the the drones that were

launched Came From Within uh Iran Iran's

own territory but as you mentioned this

may not be the end of action there may

there may be additional action that

could come from proxies we certainly

know that Iran has supported many other

groups including Hamas operating inside

of Gaza but I want I as you're talking

about um Iran actually heating some of

the messages that are coming from the

United States and given that there are

no direct diplomatic ties between the

two what is the potential that something

could go wrong given how how highly

sensitive all of this is at this very

moment absolutely and and Lana on that

point I would say if if it is indeed the

case that these drones were launched

from inside Iran that is significant

Iran and Israel despite all of their

animosity over the years have never as

far as I'm aware and I spoke with

officials about this today directly

exchange strikes from inside their

territory so that is a significant

development if it is uh in fact

confirmed that and that's from the IDF

spokesperson but CBS has not

independently confirmed that

additionally understood but right to I

mean Iran has often reached for its

proxies in order to maintain that veneer

of deniability that it wasn't directly

involved if it's decided to drop that

veneer uh then that I think U is notable

even if it if we don't know again uh

what else is to come and whether this is

the extent of it uh I think that uh us

involvement here has been telegraphed

the Iranians know that the US is

prepared to respond defensively and

therefore uh are unlikely to sort of

respond to defensive responses uh but of

course as you mentioned there's a lot of

room for miscalculation there's a lot of

room for emotions to intervene there's a

lot of room for political calculus there

have of course a lot of questions about

who has an interest in this war

spreading uh and who doesn't the us has

very clearly uh made its case that it is

in nobody's interest uh for this uh to

expand into a regional configration I

think the Iranians have long made the

calculus I spoke to uh lots of senior

foreign intelligence uh officials who

have handled Iranian portfolios who've

said that the supreme leader in Iran uh

is known to be risk averse right now at

a moment where Iran sort of feels

confident feels like things are in the

region are going in its fa favor that uh

Israel is sort of becoming more of a

prior at least more isolated why would

they uh sort of alter their risk

calculus to be more risk-prone rather

than risk averse um again and that's

based on uh you know the analysts who

have looked at the supreme leader

Behavior over the years uh so it would

be an an interesting choice it would be

a notable choice if this became

meaningfully escalatory but again we do

not know whether this is the extent of

it and what uh the response the nature

of the response from Israel is going to

be very interesting points Olivia

especially we do know that uh that

Iran's supreme leader has pledged that

retribution um remind our viewers about

the attack in Syria about the military

leaders who were killed in that and why

Iran is taking it so seriously and and

why they believe that Israel was

responsible though Israel has not

claimed

responsibility sure Israel hasn't

claimed responsibility and the US has as

far as I'm aware not yet confirmed that

it was in fact a diplomatic facility

that was targeted although indications

are that it that it was uh this was a

high value Target according to the

Israelis a top General within the irgc

arguably somebody they saw as more

effective on the battlefield than for

example the ks Force Commander they saw

an opportunity and they sought it out I

am told that generally speaking the mad

is is tasked with sort of doing a risk

calculus before such strikes you have a

window of several hours before you have

to go in order to determine what the uh

response might be and its intelligence

Services would have said okay we think

that uh this is worth taking a shot the

value of removing this person from the

battlefield uh is going to exceed what

we expect Iran will do in in response um

that's based on conversations with

intelligence officials who understand

how this process works not based on

anything specific about this situation

um but you also know that Israel wants

Iran to think that nobody who has uh its

interests or who works against his

interest is safe anywhere uh there are

questions about whether the timing of

this attack was particularly prudent uh

the US of course has said that it had no

heads up that it was going to happen uh

I am not aware whether the Israelis have

uh in the aftermath sort of offer

justification or their internal risk

calculus for taking the strike but the

fact is that it has set in motion uh

these kinds of unpredictable uh tit for

tats and we'll see whether uh that

escalatory ladder goes up or down from

this point uh and Olivia appreciate all

of the information and the context that

you're giving our viewers in this moment

I will say I was just handed a piece of

paper that says that CBS News can

confirm through a Us official that the

drones were launched from within Iranian

territory which as you point out and

help us to understand is a very big

difference

in how Iran has previously interacted

with Israel I know you're going to

continue working the phones and speaking

with your sources and we will check back

in with you Olivia thank

you I want to bring in now CBS News

National Security contributor Sam

vinegrad she is the former acting

assistant secretary for

counterterrorism so Sam we were talking

just yesterday about the heightened

alert that These Warnings were coming

out now it seems that we at least have

some measure of how Iran is responding

in their retaliatory action what is your

very first impressions given that they

are drones that we're hearing that were

launched from within Iranian territory

and that they're going to take several

hours before they make it to

Israel well let's just take a step back

for a moment we anybody that knows

anything about the region about security

is going to acknowledge that this is

simply an initial stage of an attack we

don't know what else may

and I imagine Lana that that is exactly

what President Biden is likely

discussing with his principles

principles uh in his cabinet key

National Security officials when they

meet momentarily in the situation room

having been in many of those meetings

typically they kick off with an

intelligence briefing in this case it

would likely be the latest and greatest

Intelligence on operational updates as

it pertains to Iran's retaliatory attack

number two it would be about Iran's

intentions uh intelligence about whether

Iran intends to escalate further and

then finally Intelligence on whether

there are any specific threat streams

that could impact us interests in the

region whether that be military

facilities Embassy and consulates or

just Americans in general after that

intelligence briefing I would imagine in

light of the fact that we now know that

drones have been launched from Iran

itself the Department of Defense would

likely brief the president and the rest

of the National Security officials in

the room on what assets both we and

Israel have available from an aerial

defense perspective to mitigate these

drones and any missiles that may also be

strike keep in mind that these drones

are flying over other countries where

the United States has military assets

and where the United States does have

capabilities to mitigate projectiles uh

overhead so the president is undoubtedly

being griefed on what we can do to help

mitigate anything in the airspace on the

way from Iran to Israel and then finally

I would imagine the president is getting

operational security updates on

enhancements that have been made to

protect Americans in the region to

include uh Force protection measures to

protect military facilities whether

that's vessels or military bases and

then whether any additional assets are

needed to Surge to embassies and

consulates in the region primarily

Israel Lebanon and then I would also put

in there Iraq and probably Egypt uh

whether any additional security assets

are needed to protect embassies and

consulates in the region if this does

escalate further so that uh National

Security meeting that is about to kick

off is going to be critical in terms of

figuring out what assets may be deployed

to keep Israel safe Lana but also to

keep Americans safe and Sam on that

point what are the risks to American

Personnel we know that that President

Biden has been telegraphing uh and as

you as we've been discussing there is no

direct diplomatic ties between the

United States and Iran but we know that

he has been telegraphing that if

Americans are injured in these

retaliatory attacks that that would

further bring the United States into the

conflict something as a warning for Iran

to try to avoid that but how how has

that message been received and How

likely is it that that American

Personnel could potentially be at risk

well there's really three ways that the

president can and has been messaging to

the Iranians not to mess with the United

States first he said so publicly second

the United States does have private

channels uh through both the Swiss and

was reported on in the press as well

through the omanis to pass messages to

the Iranians and there have been reports

that both of those channels have been

used to send a message to Iran not to

involve the United States in whatever it

is planning from a retaliatory

perspective um and then uh in addition

to that the United States has also been

working the phones to encourage

countries who have leverage over Iran to

include China to tell on not to escalate

further and to calibrate its response so

it's a public messages it's a messages

through uh third parties like the Swiss

and the omanis and then it's asking

others with leverage on Iran like the

Chinese who have a strong trading

relationship with Iran to tell Iran to

calibrate its response we don't know how

Iran has reacted to those messages but

what we do know is that regardless of

whether Iran intends to strike Americans

these missiles these projectiles are not

always totally accurate um despite uh

many of them being Precision guided so

Americans are at risk immediately in the

region based upon um the aerial uh

activities underway and further more

strategically Lana this could Inspire

Iranians proxies to launch attacks

against Americans and places like Iraq

and Syria where they've done that in the

past as well as individuals here in the

United States um homegrown violent

extremists to be inspired by what

they're seeing to act so it is a High um

intensity moment um based on my

discussions with officials in in the

administration and my work in the

administration before leaving in

December 2023 there are extensive

contingency plans in place and an

extensive intelligence gathering

apparatus that is trying to follow any

specific or credible threats to

Americans whether overseas or here in

the Homeland and Sam very quickly before

uh we let you go talk to us about the

defensive capabilities as you mentioned

the United States has assets between in

the uh geography between Iran and uh and

Israel in addition to Israel's um world

famous Iron Dome How likely is it that

any of these drones will be able to

actually permeate into uh into Israeli

airspace in a way that leads to any

casualties well first on the Israeli

side Israel actually has a multilayered

aerial defense system it's not just Iron

Dome they also have assets called David

sling and arrow one and two to that

really Lana mitigate drones excuse me

mitigate uh incoming um projectiles at

various altitudes and various speeds

whether that be ballistic missiles

cruise missiles drones or Rockets So

they have a multi-layered aerial defense

system an aerial defense array as IDF

calls it the United States has various

assets throughout the region including

in the likely flight path of the drones

from Iran to Israel um that could

mitigate uh those drones as well whether

it's fighter jets or other air defense

systems if Iran does launch a cruise

missile from Iran the United States also

has capabilities to mitigate cruise