If you struggle with sleeping too hot, you've got to meet the new climate-cooled smartbed from sleep number. It actively cools up to 15 degrees on either side for deeper, more comfortable sleep. Finally, no more sweaty, sleepless nights. Like all sleep number smartbeds, you can adjust each side, firmer or softer, making it the perfect bed for couples. Experience it for yourself only at a sleep number store. Introducing the new sleep number climate-cooled smartbed, the only smartbed in the world that actively cools and effortlessly adjust for both of you. Find sleep number smartbeds at every price point, only at a sleep number store or sleep number dot com. If you struggle with sleeping too hot, you've got to meet the new climate-cooled smartbed from sleep number. It actively cools up to 15 degrees on either side for deeper, more comfortable sleep. Finally, no more sweaty sleepless nights. Like all sleep number smartbeds, you can adjust each side, firmer or softer, making it the perfect bed for couples. Experience it for yourself only at a sleep number store. Introducing the new sleep number climate-cooled smartbed, the only smartbed in the world that actively cools and effortlessly adjust for both of you. Find sleep number smartbeds at every price point, only at a sleep number store or sleep number dot com. We're following major breaking news right now, Israel vowing to retaliate after Iran launches a major strike firing about 200 ballistic missiles at Israel. A strike Iran insists was only a "portion" of their power. Good evening. I'm Wolf Blitzer, along with Casey Hunt. Welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. This is a special edition of the Situation Room. It is a sharp escalation between the two sides, one that could tip the region further into an all-out war. Air raid sirens sounding across Israel as flashes of light lit up the sky. Israel's air defense system successfully knocking down most of Iran's missiles, but there were some hits. This one is one crater in central Israel. The massive strike coming a day after Israeli forces launched a rare ground operation into southern Lebanon. A mission aimed at taking out the Iranian-backed militia Hezbollah. And tonight, Iran is threatening what it calls a "crushing," quote, "crushing" response if Israel carries through with its promise, promise to strike back. Our Jim Schudo is joining us live from Tel Aviv right now. Kayla Taushi is over at the White House with tonight's response from the White House and it is dramatic. I want to go first to Jim who's live in Tel Aviv. That's where you were when Iran started launching its attack, Jim. What's the situation on the ground right now? A few hours ago when you were seeing the skies over Tel Aviv being lit up, it was very different. Well, Wolf, now those air raid sirens, they have finished, we're sensing Tel Aviv coming back to life, but Israel right now is doing a damage assessment. And what is clear is that some missiles, either after being intercepted or not intercepted at all, struck ground. We certainly saw some impacts here in Tel Aviv. Our Jeremy Diamond visited the crater impact site from another one, and others have been visible around the country. Thankfully, no deaths inside Israel. One death reported in the West Bank could have been much worse, no question, but it does appear that some may have hit, if not their target, that they hit Israeli territory. Right now, our understanding is that the cabinet is making a decision as to how Israel is going to respond. They've made quite clear that they will respond. They call this a serious attack, and they say it will have serious consequences. And that response is likely to include an attack on Iran. So the question becomes, what in Iran? Is it oil facilities? Could it be nuclear facilities? It's quite clear that those options are at least on the table. It is not clear if Israel chooses to strike those targets, but we have been told that a decision could be made and perhaps even the action could take place, Wolf, as soon as tonight. And Jim, as I mentioned a few minutes ago, you watched all this attack unfold in real time in Tel Aviv as the sky lit up with projectiles and intercept missiles. I want to play a brief moment of what you saw and heard. Listen to this. Oh, God. Okay, guys, we've got to get off the roof. Listen, there was an aerial dance above our heads of intercept missiles rising and meeting their targets, which were some of the 180 ballistic missiles fired by Iran and Israel, including at Tel Aviv. And as those intercepts, as remarkable as they are hitting their targets, as they were hitting their targets, things were falling to the ground, pieces of missiles, sometimes at quite high velocity. And we saw them slam into the ground just about a half mile north of our hotel here on the other side of the hotel. And as we were watching at that moment, you just played, Wolf, my colleagues here, David and John and Florence and others, we were looking up at the sky and seeing the intercepts above our head and making a calculation as to where those pieces of missiles and interceptors might fall to the ground. It was a moment. We were safe. Thankfully, the people of Tel Aviv were safe. The question now is, does this lead this country and the region into a wider war? Casey, that's what we're watching right now. Jim, very glad you and your team are, in fact, safe and, of course, hoping as well that so many people in the region remain safe as well. Now, let's go to Kayla Toushey at the White House. Kayla, we've learned that Biden and Harris monitored this attack from the Situation Room. What is the Biden administration anticipating here in the hours to come? Well, the U.S. is still in close consultation with their Israeli counterparts, Casey. And earlier today, President Biden was asked about both what he saw as the appropriate response by Israel and the appropriate consequences for Iran. He suggested that both of those were currently live discussions with no decisions made. But when he was sitting there in the Roosevelt Room with his cabinet for a meeting that was preplanned to discuss the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, I asked him if he had had a chance to speak to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and he said, "I'll be talking to him and my message will depend on what we finally conclude is needed." Now, the White House has been swift to describe this attack as defeated and ineffective, thanks in no small part to the coordination between Israel and the U.S. and other partners in the region. But the question is what happens from here, because the Biden administration has been working feverishly for the better part of a year behind the scenes to try to reach a diplomatic solution, all while assuring Israel that it would assist in its defense, but urging it not to escalate the situation into a wider war. The administration has appeared more frustrated and conflicted in recent weeks as some of this escalation has taken place and Israel has ramped up its operations on Hamas and Hezbollah targets. So it is unclear exactly how the U.S. will come down on this and whether their suggestions to the Israelis will eventually be heated, Wolf. All right, Kayla, thank you very, very much. I want to bring in right now some experts. Al Ulatah is joining us. He's a former Israeli national security advisor, retired U.S. Army Lieutenant General Mark Hurtlings with us, and Seth Jones, national security expert, and senior vice president over at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. And, Al, let me start with you. Israel now saying there will be a, quote, "significant" response to what Iran has done after it fired about 200 ballistic missiles at Israel. What do you think that response potentially could look like? Well, Wolf, you know, this is the second time that Iran has fired such a massive attack on Israel. I happen to be on your shore after the April 13th attack as well, which was unprecedented. This is the second time they do this. Israel has responded very minorly, I would say, symbolically, after the attack of April 13th. This was a part of the consultation between the U.S. and Israel to do something that was meaningful, that would prove to Iran that we can penetrate their defense systems, but would not drag the region into a full escalation of war. Iran just did this, and I think important to have everyone understand, unprovokedly. Israel did not attack Iran. Israel has conducted its attacks in Lebanon very surgically, only on the top leaders in the operatives. And Iran decided to fire some 200 ballistic missiles on Israel. Israel has a very good defense system and a good collaboration with the U.S., so the outcome is very minor. But Iran intended to do something very substantial and major, and to inflict not only a lot of damage and infrastructure, but potentially to kill many civilians. So of course Israel has to respond. What exactly that response will be, and I will leave to the cabinet to decide, I'm sure that all of the security establishment are putting all the options in front of the cabinet to make their decision. But Wolf, if I may, I think the question about the response needs also to come to the United States of America, not only to Israel. We heard Jake Sullivan, my dear friend and former colleague say that there will be severe consequences to Iran. I think he may have meant not only severe consequences on behalf of Israel, but also on behalf of the United States. Iran has violated all of the norms. Iran has violated all of its obligations. President of the United States said, don't so many times and needs to do this time and again. So there must be a response and Iran must be pulled back or pushed back to their place where they cannot do this again and think they can and get unpunished and not harmed. General Hurtling, let me get your response because the Iranian president is now saying this Iranian ballistic missile strike against Israel was in the Iranian president's words, only a portion of our power. What else might Iran or its proxies for that matter do in addition to this ballistic missile attack? Well, first what I'd say is the proxies of Iran have been hurt tremendously over the last several months and especially Hezbollah over the last several weeks. The proxies are Iran's forward presence. They are the ones that do the fighting. Iran attacked today because they thought they needed to. First of all, the support their proxies but also to get domestic support for the Shah within Iran. I'm sorry for the committee within Iran. What I'd suggest is 180 missiles today, ballistic missiles that are very difficult to push down Israel probably fired a whole lot more than 180 aero or David Slings weapons to knock them out of the sky. So this was certainly an overwhelming force by Iran, much more than we've seen before. Iran has close to estimates of 3,000 of these ballistic missiles. This was an element of that and they could certainly do more. I think it's incumbent upon Israel to respond to all of this. They will do so in a time and matter of their choosing. But Iran has an overmat of capability in ballistic missiles. They don't have much else in their military and their proxies have been hurt over the last couple of months. So we're going to see a very dangerous situation right now as Israel responds, I believe, in not a proportional manner. It is going to be a much greater than proportional manner. They are going to have the assistance of the United States in defending the territorial of Israel with some of the Navy ships that are in the region that have great air defense capability. But there was a significant effort today by Iran to breach the Israeli defense systems and it was borderline whether or not they did that today. They could certainly do worse and I'm hoping that we can continue to tamp this down so there isn't a full-scale regional war in the area. Seth Jones is with us as well. Seth, the Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken, saying the Iranian attack was, quote, "effectively defeated" his words, "effectively defeated by Israel." So was this a failure by Iran? Well I think it was a failure by Iran to hit any targets. I suspect part of what the Iranians were also doing is signaling that they had the capability in this case ballistic missiles to conduct strikes as we've seen over the last few weeks. Hezbollah's command and control capabilities have been severely degraded. Hezbollah also has ballistic missiles both guided and unguided. The fact that we haven't seen Hezbollah fire back I think does say something about what Hezbollah is capable of doing or actually incapable of doing at this point. So Iran is the response, it has failed to hit any meaningful targets in Israel. But I think we're likely to see more of this over the next several days and weeks wolf. And really there's going to be a lot of work that the U.S. Navy is going to have to do with its Arleigh Burke class destroyers and a range of air defense that the U.S. is going to provide in the region. The U.S. already beefing up its military presence, troops and equipment in the region. All right guys, thank you very, very much. There's much more we're following on the breaking news up next I'll speak with former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett. How does he think Israel will respond to Iran's ballistic missile attack plus? It's also debate night here in America and we're just now a few hours from what will be a truly historic vice presidential debate. Senator Tim Walz and Senator JD Vance about to square off for the first time. And we have new details tonight about how they're preparing in these final hours. Breaking news Israel right now is on very high alert at this hour. Iran's major attack on Israel, its biggest ever. Iran firing nearly 200 ballistic missiles that according to U.S. officials. The Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu just moments ago saying Iran made a big mistake and Iran quote "will pay". The situation across Israel and the region right now extremely tense as Iran's supreme leader the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is warning that the blows against Israel will become and I'm quoting him now stronger and more painful. Joining us now the former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, Prime Minister, thanks so much for joining us. We are served in an elite unit of the Israel Defense Forces as well. Let's discuss what's going on. The White House tonight saying Iran's attack on Israel was defeated and ineffective. How do you think Israel will and should respond? Well the past year has been a horrible year for Israel in the Middle East. Iran threw its proxies through the arms of its octopus of terror. They murdered families, burnt our boys, raped our girls, ransacked towns, shot rockets at our ships and the Israeli people for the whole year have been fighting and we're determined now to fight back. This is a once in a 50 year opportunity. What Israel needs to do immediately, we need to take out Iran's nuclear program, we need to attack Iran's energy facilities and we need to attack the regime itself right away because Iran made a fatal mistake of shooting 200 ballistic missiles at the state of Israel. Enough is enough. What do you think Prime Minister that an attack on Iran's nuclear facilities right now is on the table? That's exactly what we need to do. I'm not privy to the current cabinet discussion but what happened is for the past 20 years Iran has built a circle of fire, a ring of fire around us and across the entire Middle East and it's zooming forward towards a nuclear weapon so now is the moment. Sometimes history knocks on your door and you've got to seize the moment. If we don't do it now, I don't see it ever happening and now is the moment I also want to explain why because Iran's strategy, it had two arms that were sort of defending it or it's insurance policy against an Israeli strike and that's Hezbollah and Hamas. But those two arms are temporarily paralyzed so it's like a boxer out in the ring without arms for the next few minutes. Now is the time that we can attack because Iran is fully vulnerable, the Islamic Republic of Iran, it's time to hit, destroy the nuclear program and finally allow the Iranian people to rise up, the amazing Iranian people who have the worst regime, one of the worst regimes on earth, this is the time this would be the gift of the Israeli people, the Jewish people to the Iranian people. I just want to be precise Prime Minister, you want Israeli airstrikes to blow up Iran's nuclear facilities and its energy facilities, all the oil wells and the oil related industry that is the main part of the Iranian economy. That's correct. A few hours ago, let's understand the largest ballistic attack in the history of the world. Two hundred ballistic missiles in one attack were shot from one country to our country, from the Islamic Republic of Iran to Israel. The fact that we have brilliant engineers, amazing technology and very clever people should not protect Iran from our wrath and what they've been doing to us during the past year is unbearable and we contained it and contained it. You know, I coined a term that the Israeli people have shown to be a nation of lions. Well, the lion is now waking up in its den and we're roaring and it's about to hit back. Enough is enough. You can't mess with us and get away with it anymore. The United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres today posted this comment. Let me read it for you. This is what he said, "I condemn the broadening of the Middle East conflict with escalation after escalation. This must stop. We absolutely, absolutely need a ceasefire." I minister, what's your response to him? Shame on him. This guy is a clown. He's a clown because he cannot even bring himself to utter the words. I condemn the Islamic Republic of Iran for shooting 200 ballistic missiles on the Jewish state. He's condemning the broadening. What is the broadening? Have you ever met the broadening? I've never seen a broadening walk on the street. He's a coward. It's time for him to quit. The UN is a farce. If the United Nations cannot stand up and do what's necessary, when one country is attacked by another, we did nothing to Iran. And for the past year, they've been making our lives miserable, not only ours, the entire Middle East, and instead of standing up for what's right, this coward cannot even bring himself to condemn Iran, well, it's time for him to quit. The former Israeli Prime Minister, Naftali Bennett, thanks so much for joining us. Thank you, Wolf. Our breaking news coverage will continue in just a moment. Up next, Tim Walz and JD Vance, we're just hours away now from their historic debate tonight. We'll speak to the Pennsylvania Governor, Joshua Piero, about what he's hoping to hear from Walz later tonight as the two campaigns are battling out in the key battleground state of Pennsylvania. Plus, how will the growing conflict in the Middle East affect the upcoming U.S. election? We'll be right back. This podcast is supported by sleep number. If you struggle with sleeping too hot, you've got to meet the new climate-cooled smartbed from sleep number. It actively cools up to 15 degrees on either side for deeper, more comfortable sleep. Finally, no more sweaty sleepless nights. Like all sleep number smartbeds, you can adjust each side firmer or softer, making it the perfect bed for couples. Experience it for yourself, only at a sleep number store. Maybe the climate-cooled smartbed has cooling programs designed to promote recovery and minimize sleep disruptions. For couples looking to sleep better together, only sleep number smartbeds let you choose your ideal comfort and support, your sleep number setting. Sleep number smartbeds learn how you sleep and provide personalized insights to help you sleep even better. The future of cool, comfortable sleep is here. Introducing the new sleep number climate-cooled smartbed, the only smartbed in the world that actively cools and effortlessly adjust to both of you. Find sleep number smartbeds at every price point, only at a sleep number store or sleep number dot com. This podcast is supported by sleep number. If you struggle with sleeping too hot, you've got to meet the new climate-cooled smartbed from sleep number. It actively cools up to 15 degrees on either side for deeper, more comfortable sleep. Finally, no more sweaty sleepless nights. Like all sleep number smartbeds, you can adjust each side firmer or softer, making it the perfect bed for couples. Experience it for yourself, only at a sleep number store. Only the climate-cooled smartbed has cooling programs designed to promote recovery and minimize sleep disruptions. For couples looking to sleep better together, only sleep number smartbeds let you choose your ideal comfort and support, your sleep number setting. Sleep number smartbeds learn how you sleep and provide personalized insights to help you sleep even better. The future of cool, comfortable sleep is here. Introducing the new sleep number climate-cooled smartbed, the only smartbed in the world that actively cools and effortlessly adjusts to both of you. Find sleep number smartbeds at every price point, only at a sleep number store or sleep number dot com. All right, welcome back to a special edition of the situation room. I'm Casey Hunt in the spin room of the CBS vice presidential debate. It's going to be kicking off in just a few hours. Tim Walls and JD Vance will face off for their first and only debate, a debate that you can watch right here. Both candidates have now visited the debate site to get their first look at the debate stage. MJ Lee is there and she joins us now. MJ, I know you've been talking to the Walls team. How are they preparing to answer questions? Obviously we're going to be talking tonight about what we're seeing unfold between Israel and Iran. Yeah, Casey, there's no question that given the events of the past 24 hours, Governor Walls is going to be prepared to address the situation in the Middle East in whatever forum it might come up. But it's interesting, you know, the Walls team for the most part, even just in the final hours leading up to tonight's debate, has continued to try to lower expectations. As one campaign official put it to me, Governor Walls wasn't picked because he was a great debater. They said JD Vance will probably have a good night. Look, that is, of course, part spin that you expect ahead of any debate. But the Walls team and the Harris campaign overall generally does believe that JD Vance is a skilled debater, that he's had a lot of practice, particularly going on offense, doing a lot of interviews as Senator, and that he is going to come tonight, prepared to be polished, prepared with his answers, and prepared, particularly to throw a lot of punches at Governor Walls. Sources do say, though, that they see a scenario where Governor Walls walks away from tonight, having told a good story, for one, they believe that authenticity does remain his political strength. And as a part of the debate prep by him told, he did practice weaving in parts of his biography into his debate question and answers. And then the second, of course, is whether he can successfully draw a contrast between what he and Vice President Harris are presenting as a vision versus what Trump and Vance are. Campaign officials have said that if he can successfully draw that contrast, they will think that he will have had a pretty good night, Casey. For sure. All right. MJ Lee for us here at the debate site. MJ, thank you very much. And I want to go now to our Kristin Holmes, who has been talking to the Trump campaign. I mean, Kristin, what are you even hearing about how Vance and the Trump team are planning on using, referring to what's happening in the Middle East as they try to criticize the Harris Walls ticket tonight? Casey, we expect to hear from Vance what we've been hearing from former President Donald Trump on the campaign trail. He says that none of this would have ever happened if he was still in office. Obviously, we have no evidence of that. And they also are trying to paint the current administration of which Kamala Harris is a big part of as chaotic. This is something that they've been trying to do without really offering any sort of solutions, but using world events, including what is happening right now, overseas as part of that. Now, one thing I want to touch on here is something that we heard a little bit of MJ saying on the other side, but Vance's team also has been really trying to level set here. We have heard over and over again, this managing of expectations in which they say that Tim Walls has the advantage, that he is debated more, that he is more of a public persona. And we know that actually JD Vance has been preparing with House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, someone who's also from Minnesota, someone who has known Walls for 10 years. But on top of that, actually studied all of Walls' past debate performances, as well as public appearances, trying to get down his mannerisms, the way he pivots, particularly I'm told by these advisors, trying to make sure that they present a person or a person for JD Vance to practice against, who would not dissuade or move Vance away with his kind of quote unquote "folksy charm." That is something they believe that could be disarming for JD Vance. But all in all, with all this level of setting, with all this expectation management, I am told that they feel like they're in a really good place. But one thing just to keep in mind here, Vance is going into this with an increased level of unpopularity across the country. He could really use a win here, one person is going to be watching closely to see how Vance performs as president or former president Donald Trump. For sure, often an audience of one for these kinds of things, and of course, a classic expectation setting game going on here as we approach debates. I'm Kristen Holmes. Thanks very much for that. Well, all right, Casey, thank you, joining us now, the Pennsylvania Governor, Josh Shapiro. Governor, thanks so much for joining us. What do you think your friend, your colleague, Governor Walls, needs to accomplish on the debate stage tonight? What does a successful night look like? Look, I think Tim just seems to be himself just to go out there and talk about his love for this country, talk about his record of accomplishment, and most importantly, talk about Kamala Harris' vision for this nation. I trust he'll do a great job. On the other side, I mean, he got JD Vance, a guy who, frankly, Wolf, isn't being honest with himself every day, and so it's real hard to be honest with the American people. Real hard to be authentic and genuine when you're struggling internally as JD Vance clearly is. I expect Tim Walls to do quite well tonight, and he's going to be an outstanding vice president. People who have spoken to Governor Walls have told CNN he's nervous about facing Senator Vance. How high is the pressure on Governor Walls to perform well tonight? Look, I think all these moments are high pressure. I mean, you're running to be vice president of the United States. These are big deals. But I expect that Tim Walls will meet the moment as he does throughout, as he has throughout his career. Let me, while I have you, Governor, quickly discuss Iran's missile barrage on Israel today. After two weeks of major Israeli attacks on Hezbollah targets, as you know, in Lebanon, listen to how Trump went after the Biden-Harris administration on this just a little while ago. Listen to this. The world right now is spiraling out of control. I've been talking about World War III for a long time, and I don't want to make predictions because the predictions always come true. We're not going to make, but they are very close to global catastrophe. We have a non-existent president and a non-existent vice president who should be in charge, but nobody knows what's going on. She was at a fundraiser in San Francisco. So Senator Vance is likely to repeat that Trump attack later tonight. How should Governor Walls respond? Well, first off, Wolf, let's speak truth. Iran is a terror nation, terrorist nation. And the largest exporter of terrorism in the world, and they've been using Hezbollah, one of their proxies to attack Israel for the better part of the last year. The unprecedented attack on Israel today, the nearly, or about 200 missiles or so, according to Department of Defense, is absolutely unacceptable. And I trust it will be met with a swift and appropriate response. These are serious times, Wolf. Serious times that call for serious plans, serious people, and serious strategies. Donald Trump is none of those things. He's not a serious person. He has some serious plan, and just going on and on about how this wouldn't happen if he was there. That's not a plan, and it's just far more bluster from the former president. Remember, when Donald Trump was president, we had more chaos at home and abroad. And he has no plans to bring stability either to the Middle East or throughout the nation when we're facing serious challenges here. So I think what I would do if I was Tim Walz is simply what he's always done, speak truth, lay out the plans that Vice President Harris has to bring more stability to the Middle East, to try and end this war and this threat against Israel, and to just do his best to go out there and push back against the bloviating and the bluster that comes from the Trump Vance ticket, instead just talk about the serious policies, the serious proposals they have to address this very serious situation. The IDF says Iran's attack will have, quote, "consequences." How likely do you think a full-scale regional war is in your view? And what would be the level of U.S. involvement? Well, if, as Governor of Pennsylvania, I don't know that I'm in the best position to comment on that. I trust that President Biden, Vice President Harris, their team at the Department of Defense, Secretary of State Blinken, they're doing everything they can to make sure that Israel is able to defend itself from this really unprecedented, unprovoked attack from Iran, and also do whatever they can diplomatically to try and stave off a broader war. I know they're working diligently on that, and hopefully there will be a cessation of these missiles coming from Iran, Israel absolutely has a right to defend itself against that aggression, and I trust that that will happen in an appropriate manner. Yeah, and we've been hearing that same line from senior White House officials, State Department officials, Pentagon officials all day today. Governor Shapiro, thanks very much for joining us. Thank you, Wolf. Good to be with you. Thank you. And stay with our breaking news coverage. We're just hours away from the vice presidential debate tonight, and we're learning about a new line of attack that Senator JD Vance could use against Governor Tim Walz, and will also take you back to the Middle East, where Israel is now vowing a significant response against Iran's missile attack. There's more breaking news we're following, we're only a few hours away from the start of the first and only vice presidential debate right now. It's the last scheduled debate of this presidential election. Senator JD Vance and Governor Tim Walz will face off right here in New York City. News debate coming in the wake of Iran's major ballistic missile attack earlier today on Israel. Vice President Kamala Harris addressing that issue only a few moments ago. My commitment to the security of Israel is unwavering. And let us be clear, Iran is not only a threat to Israel, Iran is also a threat to American personnel in the region, American interests, and innocent civilians across the region who suffer at the hands of Iran based and back terrorist proxies. We will never hesitate to take whatever action is necessary to defend U.S. forces and interests against Iran and Iran-backed terrorists, and we will continue to work with our allies and partners to disrupt Iran's aggressive behavior and hold them accountable. All right, let's discuss with my excellent panel and Jamal Simmons. I'll start with you, Iran's ballistic missile attack on Israel. Huge news, potentially creating an even more dangerous situation in the Middle East. Both of the vice presidential candidates, they have military backgrounds, but no real foreign policy experience. So who do you think has the upper hand tonight? Well, the person who has the upper hand is Vice President Kamala Harris, right? She's not in the debate tonight. She's not in the debate, but she's on the ballot, right? She's the one who's going to be in the room, and I think both of these candidates, these vice presidential candidates, will be going after the tops of their tickets. And so when you have that conversation, the question hopefully American people become, do you want to have Donald Trump, who's in charge here, who's somebody who's kind of an erratic presence, who doesn't tend to take care of Americans' allies? Or do you want somebody who can kind of bring a coalition together, stand resolutely, say what she means, and stick by it? I think that is the fundamental question on the stage for both of these candidates. And I think Tim Walz has an easier case to make. Let me guess your Michael Singleton into this. How do you see it? I think J.D. Vance is going to remind the American people that during the former president's first term, we do not have the foreign policy conflicts that we currently have today. We have seen J.D. Vance answer very tough questions on this particular issue, on issues as it pertains to Russia and its invasion of Ukraine, as it also pertains to Chinese aggression in the South Chinese Sea, including with anchors on our very network. We have not seen Governor Walz have to answer those tough questions, and I'm a bit skeptical if the governor even has the experience to answer those questions thoroughly enough to convince the American people that if Vice President Harris were to become president and God forbid something occurred or happened to her and Walz had to step in, can this guy actually do the job? I don't think he can, and I think J.D. Vance is going to execute that argument. We shall see in the next few hours, you know, Kate Benningfield, you're with us as well. Trump is clearly already trying to make a big deal, a big political issue out of all of this today. Listen to what he said just a little while ago. The whole world is laughing at us. That's why Israel was under attack just a little while ago, because they don't respect our country anymore. The so-called enemy doesn't respect our country any longer. What do you think? How is this going to impact voters? Well, I think it's interesting that he uses the phrase, "The world is laughing at us" since when he was president, he went to the United Nations, and the world quite literally laughed at him when he was president. So, you know, I think the debate tonight will be an opportunity for Governor Walz to really draw this contrast between the kind of chaos, the erratic nature of a Trump-Vance administration. And I think against the backdrop of the kind of actions we're seeing in the Middle East tonight, it's a reminder to people that they want steady leadership. They want somebody who is not going to be throwing out inflammatory rhetoric in a moment when, you know, these things can turn on a dime. So, you know, I actually think the backdrop of what's going on will give Governor Walz an opportunity to really showcase that contrast. I mean, remember when Donald Trump was president, you know, he was cowtowing to Kim Jong-un, he was standing next to Vladimir Putin and saying he trusted Putin over our own intelligence agencies. There's really an opportunity here tonight for Governor Walz to remind the country what a Donald Trump presidency was like when it comes to national security. Brad Todd, as with us as well, he's a GOP media consultant and strategist. What do you think? Debates are won by the discipline participant. And Tim Walz tonight has got a real problem. And JD Vance with some discipline needs to remind viewers that in 2015, Tim Walz voted to approve the Iran deal that it freed up $10 billion to go to Iran, which we've seen what they've done with it. They've destabilized the entire Middle East, funded the enemies of Israel. JD Vance needs to, every five minutes, try to get back to Tim Walz voted to give Iran $10 billion. That's the trick tonight. It's not to incite your own base on Twitter, it's to drive home a point that matters to swing voters. And that's a task. No, I will say one thing about a night like tonight and a day like today is it kind of wipes away from the table some of the silly arguments we've been having in this campaign. These made up arguments about what immigrants are doing in Ohio or all the silly things they're saying about Tim Walz and his masculinity, it really puts all that stuff in the context. Because now we're talking about the American people, we're talking about the Israeli people, we're talking about kind of America's role in the world. And when you have that conversation, now you're talking about real things that people care about and strength is always on the ballot. People want to know that the people in charge have the values to lead this country. You know, it's interesting. Both of these debaters tonight, the two vice presidential candidates, as I said, they have military backgrounds, but not a whole lot of foreign policy experience. And is that going to be a detriment, assuming that this Middle East issue, the ballistic missile attack on Israel is going to be a big issue? Well, look, Governor Walz has been in Congress and in the governor's mansion for almost 20 years now. So he has experience on the foreign policy stage and we served on some relevant committees in Congress, particularly as it pertains to China. So he certainly has a background here. I think, again, though, I think the task for him tonight is really going to be about drawing this contrast on erraticism, irresponsibility, who can keep you safe. And I think that there's a lot to work with in terms of Trump and Vance's history on these issues. On China, for example, I think he has -- Governor Walz has an opportunity to remind people about what Trump and Vance have said they would do in terms of tariffs, in terms of raising prices on American consumers. There's a lot of -- a fertile ground for Governor Walz here tonight. See how they both do in a few hours, guys. Thank you very, very much. Up next, both the Trump and Harris campaigns looking to tee up a winning night for their running mates. We're going to tell you who has the upper hand. Stay with us. You're in this situation. All right, welcome back to a special edition of The Situation Room. I'm Casey Hunt in the spin room of the CBS vice presidential debate. In just a few hours, Tim Walz and JD Vance will be going head to head for their only debate, a showdown. They could not be more important, of course, with Election Day. And you believe it just five weeks away, polls of course showing this could be the closest race in modern history. David Chalion and Adi Cornish, both with us now. David, high stakes for both of the men on this stage. How is the Harris campaign and the Trump campaign, how are they feeling about the horses that they've got in this race tonight? I mean, I think each side feels pretty good and they're doing their typical routine of expectation setting and raising the expectation on the opponent is lowering. The textbook campaign, expectations setting going on. I think that first true rule of do no harm to yourself, but really to the folks at the top of the ticket. And that's their mission tonight. And that's why I think, you know, in talking to some folks in the Harris side, you're going to see Tim Walz try to bring, no matter what the topic is, bring it back to a Harris Trump contrast and what you get in a second Trump administration versus what you get in a Harris administration. I'm not sure J.D. Vance is going to do that as much because it seems that if you take and listen to what he's been saying on the campaign trail about Walz, I would imagine we're going to get a more aggressive posture from Vance trying to take it to Walz on his biography and issues that have come about him on the campaign trail. These are also two figures who, if you think about it, have been incredibly effective, for better or worse, messengers for their campaign. Vance has been out there doing dozens of interviews left and right representing the Trump ticket. And Walz is the person who is the root of the weird talking point that Democrats started to use and mass. And so it'll be interesting to see when they come together face to face how much time they will spend, as you said, talking about the people they're supposed to talk about versus going at each other. Well, it's clear, obviously, David, that J.D. Vance is going to have, in some ways, an audience of one in Donald Trump, right? I mean, that's kind of how it goes when you're in Trump's orbit this way. And he's apparently live-truthing the debate. So that audience of one will be reacting in real time. Which, of course, J.D. Vance will not know what is said until he steps off that stage. But I think the question for you, David, is, I mean, J.D. Vance is relatively unknown, right? But his unfavourables are actually pretty high. And if people seem to know, people who are not like us who do not pay attention to this granularly, the way we do, know something about him, it's this childless cat ladies remark. Do you think this debate is a legitimate opportunity for him to teach Americans about something else or not? Yeah, so I do think it is, it's an open question, and we should watch for tonight. Is he more interested in rehabilitating his own image and bringing up his positives in some way tonight? Or is he more interested in bringing up Tim Walz's negatives? I think what J.D. Vance has been showing on the campaign trail, he kind of wants Tim Walz's negatives to join him in this unpopular territory more than he's going to have an opportunity tonight to really rehabilitate himself. I don't think that's the mission. Well, and, Audie, if you listen to the attacks that Trump's campaign spokesman was out there calling him effeminate, calling Tim Walz effeminate, I mean, they're kind of telegraphing what David is talking about. Right, I mean, there's been this ongoing conversation also about both tickets representing kind of masculinity in some way, or if you can use another term strength. So what does that mean? How do you project strength as a man, as a male ally, right, in progressive terms versus the vision that J.D. Vance is, I think, sort of reiterated in public. The one other thing I wanted to add because you sort of alluded to it is that people have talked about this being a race between people that someone like they don't like versus someone they don't know. And I think that because people know Trump, right, you already have your opinions about him. Walz is also a question mark for a lot of people. Yeah. Very interesting point. David, Audie, thank you very much. We'll be back with us next hour. All right, coming up next year, we're going to have brand new video of that moment, an Israeli airbase was hit by Iranian missiles, we're going to take you back to the ground. Five times a day, CNN brings you five stories that'll get you up to speed on your day. New episodes drop Monday through Friday at 6 a.m., 9 a.m., noon, 3 p.m., and 6 p.m. Hello from CNN, I'm Joe Beck. From CNN, I'm Pez Jamil. I'm Krista Bowe with The Five Things You Need To Know. From CNN, I'm a FOMA DK. Follow CNN 5 Things on iHeartPodcasts. This is CNN Breaking News. And we're following breaking news. A growing war in the Middle East as Israel vows new strikes after Iran launches the largest attack on Israel ever. Welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. This is a special edition of The Situation Room, I'm Wolf Blitzer. And I'm Casey Hunt in the New York spin room for tonight's vice presidential debate. And Wolf, most of the missiles were intercepted, but there were, of course, a few hits in central and southern Israel. This is new video of an Iranian missile striking an Israeli airbase. This is a base that Iran tried to hit back in April. And only moments ago, Casey, I spoke to former Israeli prime minister Naftali Bennett and he told me this is the moment Israel needs to take out Iran's nuclear facilities. All this is coming as Israel is continuing to target his Bala targets in Lebanon just moments ago, the Israeli military issuing new evacuation orders for southern Beirut. This is a very densely populated area where his Bala holds a lot of sway. Jeremy Diamond is standing by, he's joining us from Gudera in Israel. Jeremy, what have you learned so far about the damage on the ground caused by these Iranian ballistic missile strikes? Well, Wolf, it was a terrifying night in Israel as we saw some 180 ballistic missiles fired by Iran towards central and southern Israel. I'm on the grounds of an elementary school here in central Israel and you can see behind me the damage that was wrought as a missile struck this area right beside the school. Those are second and third grade classrooms that you can see there where the walls have been broken down, the windows shattered as well. The Israeli military says they cannot yet confirm whether this was indeed an Iranian missile. But we saw officials here putting together the pieces of the shrapnel to see if they can identify the specific type of missile that was used here. But it did indeed come as Iran fired 180 ballistic missiles at Israel. We saw a video of the impacts happening not only on areas, civilian areas like this, but also some of the air bases in Israel. The Nevatim air base, for example, CNN has geo-located several videos now showing multiple explosions, multiple impacts by those ballistic missiles at that air base. We've also seen impacts closer to Tel Aviv near an intelligence base that the Israeli military has just north of that city. And so now, Wolf, this is certainly a very tense moment in the region, as the Israeli military vows that there will be consequences for this attack when Israel carries out that retaliation is not clear yet. But certainly, Wolf, this is the latest escalatory step in a region that is already very close to boiling over. Certainly is, as we mentioned, Jeremy, the Israeli military has issued due evacuation orders in Lebanon tonight. How can you tell us about that? That's right. Well, nearly every night over the last week or so, we have seen the Israeli military issuing new evacuation orders for parts of southern Beirut. And these are areas where the Israeli military says they are going to strike Hezbollah targets. The Israeli military very much trying to take advantage of this moment where they feel like Hezbollah is in disarray. Their operational capabilities have been significantly dismantled over the course of the last couple of weeks. And so they are striking target there. Of course, the impact on civilians in Beirut and in Lebanon has been vast. As we've seen, about a million Lebanese civilians have been displaced. The Israeli military also appears to be expanding its ground operation in southern Lebanon. Yes, last night, we were very close to the border, as we saw Israeli troops crossing into southern Lebanon. Tonight, the Israeli military issuing a new order declaring a zone close to the Lebanese border, a closed military zone. That was the exact step they took yesterday before going in to Lebanon. Well, Jeremy Diamond and Gudera Israel for us. Jeremy, thank you very much. Stay safe over there. I want to check in right now with Oren Lieberman. He's over at the Pentagon for us. Oren, what do we know, first of all, about when the United States learned this attack was coming? And was there any advance warning from the Iranian side? Well, if the U.S. was issuing warnings fairly early this morning around 9 o'clock local time here, so early afternoon in Israel that an attack from Iran could be imminent. Now, the U.S. has been watching for this attack for weeks ever since the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Hani'a in Tehran. Iran was poised and postured to respond. They essentially had the forces in place that they needed to to carry out that response. And Iran's leaders very much promised to retaliate against Israel for that killing in Tehran. And yet they waited yet after the killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and several others in Beirut, Iran decided to act. The U.S. warning coming earlier this morning and the U.S. also making clear that they would do what they could do assist Israel in its defense. We saw that play out as well with U.S. Navy destroyers in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea firing about a dozen interceptors to shoot down Iranian ballistic missiles. The U.S. and Israel working very much in coordination here. The Israeli Air Force also working with U.S. Air Force Central Command in the Middle East there. So this was a coordinated response as Israel and the U.S. were hoping to create here. Now, some Iranian officials have claimed there was a heads-up given to the U.S. The U.S. has flatly rejected that saying no advance warning was given. And it's worth pointing out why that's so significant because in the April 13th barrage that we saw, there was quite a bit of heads-up given by Iran as a sort of message that they weren't trying to carry out a massive response. It was more just a message that they were standing up for themselves. This the U.S. says the number of ballistic missiles fired, the targets. This shows Iran was very much trying to do damage. Yeah. All right. Orin Lieberman at the Pentagon. Thank you very much. Let's discuss what's going on. Joining me now. The former Israeli ambassador to the United States, Michael Orin ambassador, and thanks very much for joining us. I want to play for you a little bit of my conversation I had in the last hour with the former Israeli prime minister, a man you know, Naftali Bennett. Listen to this. This is a once-in-a-fifty-year opportunity. What Israel needs to do immediately, we need to take out Iran's nuclear program, we need to attack Iran's energy facilities, and we need to attack the regime itself right away because Iran made a fatal mistake of shooting 200 ballistic missiles at the state of Israel. Ambassador, aren't you agree with that, assistant? He's right. He's right. Israel has no choice but to respond. This goes the attack by Iran tonight goes to the very heart of why Israel exists. The Israel exists to defend the land of the people of Israel, created three years after the Holocaust so that that wouldn't happen again. The Holocaust wouldn't happen again, Israel cannot afford it, and it would really, it would deeply impact our identity as that Jewish state, not to react, and to react in the way that Naftali Bennett has said, striking at the nuclear facilities, and those nuclear facilities threaten our national existence, their existential threats to the state of Israel. If they didn't have a nuclear bomb. Well, there are a decision away from doing that right now. They violated all their international agreements, they now have enough enriched uranium for four or five bombs, and they have a delivery system that's ready to go. It's the same system they use to send satellites into space, and this is a regime in Tehran that has declared its raison d'etre, its DNA is to destroy us. So we have every right and obligation to defend ourselves against Iran and against the Iranian nuclear project. In addition to other targets, as Naftali Bennett mentioned, Iran's energy cycles, its oil facilities on the Persian Gulf, and Iranian leaders. And we've shown that we have been able to reach enemy leaders wherever they're hiding, even if they're hiding very much underground. So just to be precise, Ambassador, what you're saying is Israel should retaliate by a knocking on completely destroying with air power, I assume, Iran's nuclear facilities, which are used potentially to develop a bomb, all of the energy facilities, the main source of the Iranian economy right now, all the oil facilities, for example, and go ahead and assassinate Iranian leaders. All of that is on the table. All that has to be on the table. You know, Iran is responsible for 99.9 percent of all the violence that's sweeping over the Middle East. And not just now. It's responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people, including in Syria. To this date, Iran has not paid a single price for any of this. No one has exacted any price for Israel from Iran, and this will never stop until someone proves to the Iranians that this type of attack that occurred tonight and texts throughout the Middle East will cost them prohibitively. The Iranian president said late today that this latest attack by Iran against Israel in his words is only a portion of Iranian power. How seriously do you take that? And what happens if Israel does retaliate by launching those strikes that you support? We have to prepare ourselves for any possibility. It's not just Iran. It's the pro-Iranian militias in Syria and Iraq. It's Hezbollah. The Hezbollah has been dealt a very serious blow by Israel, but Hezbollah had between 150 and 170,000 rockets, and some of those rocks are still raining on northern Israel as we're speaking right now. It's the hoodie rebels in the south. Israel is fighting an existential war while fighting for our lives. Is it diplomatic solution? Now, off the table, I ask you, as a former diplomat. But diplomatic solution is always on the table, but I'm strongly of the belief that the chances of successful diplomacy will be dependent on Iran understanding that firing rockets at Israel is not an option. Hezbollah firing rockets on northern Israel is not an option. There cannot be de-escalation, and I'm strongly of this belief. There cannot be de-escalation unless there is first escalation, unless the Iranians have internalized that firing rockets at Israel, firing rockets many, many times in American bases, in Iraq, Syria, and Jordan, wounding and killing American service people, that will not go unanswered, will not go unpunished, and punished in a very painful way. Ambassador Michael Oren, the former Israeli Ambassador to the United States, thanks very much for joining us this situation, clearly developing our breaking discoveries of Iran's attacking Israel. We'll continue in just a moment. Israel vowing to retaliate and to retaliate big time, but will those plans to hit back involve the United States? Tonight's vice presidential debate, a source now telling CNN, J.D. Vance is feeling good and quote, "pretty unflappable." Should Tim Walz be concerned, we'll be right back. Welcome back to a special edition of the Situation Room. I'm Casey Hunt in the spin room of the vice presidential debate. That's going to start just a few hours from now, but we're continuing to follow this attack by Iran against Israel, firing around 200 ballistic missiles. In what U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan called, quote, "a significant escalation." Joining us now, CNN military analyst, retired Air Force Colonel Cedric Layton, and CNN chief international anchor Christian Amampour. Thank you both very much for being here. Christian, how much does Israel's recent successes in killing the leadership of Iran's proxy group Hezbollah play into their decision to launch this attack today? Well, according to the Iranians, exclusively, they issued a statement as, in fact, the missiles were still flying, saying that they had taken this action in retaliation for the attack that killed Hassan D'Astrada, the head of Hezbollah, their proxy in Lebanon, but also, by the way, a delayed retaliation for the killing, the assassination, on Iranian territory in the summer of Ismail Hanir, who was the political leader of Hamas, and along with those attacks and assassinations, came the deaths of Iranian Revolutionary Guard members as well. So they said that they're taking revenge for their own people as well. But interestingly, just before the attacks, last week in New York, I spoke to the Iranian vice president, who said that, you know, we have exercised a huge amount of restraint, that we believe we are being dragged into a war, that we are being entrapped into a war, and we do not want a war. But if they continue, there's going to be, you know, we're going to have to do something. And that's the dilemma here that clearly has explained, has, has manifest itself tonight. So Colonel Layton, Israel hasn't said what their response is going to be, only that they will respond, quote, "at the place and time that we decide." I mean, what do you think the likely options are in terms of a response? Have you been listening to this program? Naftali Bennett, former prime minister, had some pretty tough words for Wolff in what he says they should do in taking the opportunity to strike Iranian nuclear sites, and the former Israeli ambassador to the U.S. agreed with him? Yeah, that was very concerning to hear that, Casey. I think that the Israelis certainly have that as an option, but I think it would be unwise for them to go that far. A more realistic and sensible option in this particular case would be to do something more on the economic side, or at a scaled-down level on the military side. And this would be, you know, for example, attacking an airfield or several airfields in Iran, or doing something like that. The best option, of course, is to do none of the above. But that is, I think, where the Israelis are going, they're going to try to do something that sends a message to Iran. If cooler heads prevail, they're going to go into a mode where they go after, you know, perhaps a discrete set of targets to send a message that this is to their mind unacceptable behavior and then go from there. But the Israelis do have the capability to conduct long-distance aerial operations against Iran, not necessarily completely on the nuclear side going after a nuclear facility. But they certainly have the capability to attack, say, an airfield or government installation if they chose to. So Christian, according to the video that we geolocated here at CNN, at least one Iranian missile appears to have hit less than a kilometer from Assad headquarters. What does it say to you that Iran appears to be targeting Israeli intelligence facilities despite how close they are to Tel Aviv? Well, it says that actually Israeli intelligence and American intelligence was correct. They had identified potentially three Israeli air bases around Tel Aviv and an intelligence headquarters. Clearly, you're saying the Mossad headquarters. Iran itself confirmed in its statement later on that it had targeted what it called three military bases that it said was responsible for, in its words, the genocide against Gaza and indeed against them and in Lebanon. That's how they turned it. That this is now ended according to them. And if the Israelis decide to respond, then they will respond even more tough. So I think that you're in this situation right now that certainly it really begs the question as to what the United States is going to do and whether the United States is going to get persuaded or dragged in by Israel to do what Israel says it wants to do, whether it's Naftali Bennett or whether it's Benjamin Netanyahu. They want regime change and they want to attack the nuclear installations and they say that this is a once in a 50 year opportunity to do that and to change the environment. You know, Prime Minister Netanyahu last week went on recently, went on television and told the Iranian people that we're with you and gave a full, you know, a full treaty on regime change. And just one other thing, I spoke to the Lebanese Prime Minister, Foreign Minister, who as you know, the latest was caused by the incursion into Lebanon. And he said that on Friday when the US was trying to calm all this down and had said publicly that they had achieved an agreement on a 21 day ceasefire, the Lebanese Foreign Minister told me that he had persuaded Hezbollah to agree, which apparently they did agree. And then only, you know, 24 hours later, Hassan Nasrallah was killed. Now allies of Israel, who support Israel's right to self defense, like, you know, Dennis Ross has said, the big issue here is you can bomb your way to wherever you want to go. But what is the political strategy, what is the political end game and that Israel has revealed. Yeah. Colonel, what is your sense of what the Biden administration will do in the way that Christian is talking about the potential options on the table for the American leadership, especially as, you know, Netanyahu was seeming to allude to this regime change. He used the phrase sooner rather than later. What do you make of all of it? Yeah, it's very interesting. You know, I think as Christian mentioned, the Dennis Ross idea, which is basically what are you, the big question, what are you doing politically after this? What is your end goal? And the Israelis will have to answer that questions. The Biden administration needs to ask the Israelis exactly that question and they need to say in this particular case, you know, yes, we understand you want to do these things. You are upset that this has happened and it was a very dangerous escalation, but it is one of those areas where they need to really get concrete answers from the Israelis before the Israelis go ahead and do something like this. And of course, we've seen that that's a very difficult thing to get. Indeed. All right. Colonel Leighton Christian, I'm in poor. Thank you both very much. I really appreciate it. All right. Up next, live pictures from the spinroom of tonight's high stakes vice presidential debate here in New York as Trump has this to say about the man that JD Vance is facing. He's going up against a moron, a total moron. For move plus the optics of tonight, there is a 20 year age gap between Tim Walls and JD Vance. Who might that benefit? Welcome back to a special edition of the situation. Remind Wolf Blitzer in New York. You're looking at live pictures right now. The vice president here in New York where supporters of both campaigns are now gathering. JD Vance and Tim Walls will meet for the first and probably only debate before election day. Jeff Zell and he's joining us now from inside the debate spin room here in New York. Jeff, the Iranian missile attack on Israel is sure to be a major topic tonight. What can you tell us on that front? Well, if there is no question that foreign policy is hanging over this debate much more so than it would have been even a few hours ago. I am told that both governor Walls and senator Vance are likely to join us officials in condemning this attack, but their agreement is likely to end there. But look, this is not an entire foreign policy debate. It certainly will likely lead the questioning, but there are so many other issues on the economy, on immigration and just on the top of the ticket as well. I mean, even though this is a vice presidential debate between Tim Walls and between JD Vance, it is also about the top of the ticket, Donald Trump and Kamala Harris. So look for both of these running mates to try and defend and promote the candidacies for the people they are running with, but also it is the biggest moment and the biggest opportunity for both Vance and Walls to make their case as well. For Vance's side, he is trying to improve his likability, of course, he's been criticized for some of his comments that some critics have viewed as a sexist for Walls. He potentially has some exaggerations of his own record to clean up. So those are the stakes here tonight, but if we are five weeks before election day, this is likely the biggest televised moment, at least, of this campaign, since there is not a scheduled debate between Harris and Trump after this, that's why this debate matters tonight. All right, Jeff Zeleny. Thank you very, very much. We'll check back with you later. Let's bring back our panel and sure, Michael, let me start with you, Vance versus Walls. Who do you think has the advantage tonight? I think J.D. Vance is going to have that vanish tonight. He has far more experience answering very tough, difficult questions on a plethora of issues. I will acknowledge to Kate's earlier point that Governor Walls has experienced being a congressman, being a governor, but this is a very disparate stage tonight, Wolf, and some of the international crises that the country is currently facing, including some of the domestic crises as well. I'm not exactly certain that Governor Walls will be best positioned when compared to Senator Vance to put forth a proper answer to potentially resolve some of those problems. Although Vance has only been in office for a couple of years, so I'm not sure if there's a point. I would push back, though, Kate, I would say based upon the interviews I've watched over the past two years, he does seem to have a greater command of the issues from what I've seen from Governor Walls, which is one interview with our Dana Bash. I wouldn't agree with that, but maybe we'll agree to disagree on that. As you know, sources close to Vance of Tulsi, and then we all feel very good, direct quote. Vance is pretty unflappable, the sources also said. Should Walls be concerned? Well, I think this is definitely a format that I think does benefit Vance. I think he's somebody who's shown that he likes to score points, he likes the back and forth. He's a Yale educated lawyer. I think this back and forth format is probably, it probably does benefit J.D. Vance. But I think, remember, Tim Walls has also been in elected office for 20 years. He's successfully run for Congress, successfully run for governor. I don't think anybody should feel like Tim Walls is worried or nervous tonight. I think we're going to have a pretty aggressive exchange between these two guys and a pretty clear contrast on vision for the future of this country. It's clear that they're both pretty smart guys, too, at the same time, which is important. Brad, let me get your thoughts, because earlier today, Trump campaign senior adviser Jason Miller, a man you probably know. Told Casey this about the debate tonight. I want you to listen. Tim Walls will be an absolute killer. He's not going to be this goofy caricature of himself, as we normally see when he's on stage and doing the weird pointing thing to Kamala Harris. Tim Walls is good. I would say the advantage definitely goes to him. On the other hand, here's how Trump described all of this last night, the debate. Listen to this. You'll see it tomorrow with J.D. It'll be stacked. He's going up against a moron, a total moron. He's either going up against a total moron or going up a guy who's very good. Well, you know, his role has been very limited in this campaign so far. Last we saw him in that interview with Dana Bash. He was just basically the emotional support animal. That's really all he's done. And so I think the pressure is on Tim Walls, but you know, we don't really have vice presidential debates. That's not what this is. The debate between the presidential candidates themselves, and it's their surrogates, and the job of the nominee for vice president is to lay the lumber to the nominee of the other party. J.D. Vance has been doing that around the country. The Harris campaign has kept Tim Walls under wraps. I don't know if he can or not. Jamal, this is with us as well. I know, Jamal, you actually interviewed Walls late last year. I want to play something he said to you, let's do this. I'm an eternal optimist. Before I got in this job in Congress, I was a high school teacher. I supervise the lunchroom for 20 years. I am honest to God. I am the most optimistic person in the world, but I'm a realist. You don't go in there just hoping the day is going to go well because it does not. You know, I'll tell you something about that day, that interview. He was very forceful. He knew all the points about his state. He was very clear about who he was fighting for. I think that's one of the things in these debates that people want to know. Who are you fighting for? The Democrats talk a lot about homeowners and helping them get, you know, $25,000 to get their first home or first-time homebuyers. They talk about seniors and making sure they had affordable prescription drugs. The Republicans talk about Donald Trump, right? So Democrats are here fighting for the American people. The Republicans are trying to keep Donald Trump out of jail because he's been indicted so many times and convicted. The Republicans are trying to keep Donald Trump from having to and be embarrassed because he's going to lose another election and who knows what he'll do when it's time to have that election certified because the last time he enabled people to fight against the capital in January 6th. So the Republicans talk about Trump. The Democrats are talking about the Americans. It's about the future and that's what the Democrats really want. Do that term I go away? Well, you know, let's say I take that premise that Democrats are talking about what's in the best interest of the American people, then I think Senator Vance has a great opportunity tonight, Wolf, to say the world is on fire. And so if we're talking about the future of securing America's interest and interest for your children and your grandchildren, do you want what you have seen over three and a half years? Do you want to move into another direction that you believe is more secure? Do you want a more secure country in terms of our borders? Do you want a more stable and economic, a secure future in terms of cost of living? I think Republicans do have a case and argument to make their nipples suggest that the American people trust Trump and Vance more on those issues than Harrison walls. Yeah, but how can you charge Vance who stood up in the country before and said that he thought Donald Trump will be America's Hitler, right? The Lincoln Project right now has an ad that just put up with all of Vance's statements about Donald Trump and why he'd be horrible for the country and now we're supposed to believe him when he goes out front and says that he's going to be the best thing for the country. Look, how do we buy that? I'll take that point that the Senator has changed his mind, Jamal, but I'm not certain how many people are going to vote based upon that just position. It's a threat. He needs to talk about the Iran deal tonight. That's it. All right, guys. Everybody stand by. We're going to discuss. We'll take a quick break. We'll be right back. All right, welcome back to a special edition of the situation room. I'm Casey Hunt in the spin room of the CBS vice presidential debate where in the final hours, advisors are busy trying to lower expectations for Tim walls, warning they expect a JD Vance who is prepared, polished and eager to throw punches at walls. David Chalen and Audie Cornish are back with me. So as this is, of course, unfolding behind us, we've seen surrogates like Elise Stefanik came through here, but David, the chatter is all about the 60 minutes interview that would have have been conducted right in this complex. I think across the street or exactly we're in the CBS long time CBS news headquarters, but now Donald Trump says he's not going to participate. And that may leave tonight is the only really big moment left on the calendar. Why do you think he pulled out of this interview? You know, his campaign put out a statement, Stephen Chung, a spokesperson did, referring to that CBS news, according to the Trump campaign, wanted to interspersed the interview with some fact-checking and like come out of the interview and do some fact-checking and what have you. There seems to be a dispute in the CBS news statement. I know this will surprise you, and what the Trump campaign is saying about like what actually happened here. But CBS news says that Donald Trump actually agreed to this interview and has pulled out of it. The Trump campaign version of events is there were discussions, but nothing was ever locked in stone. So we haven't heard from the former president yet. I'd be eager to hear his thinking because we know Donald Trump, he really likes 60 minutes. He likes the cache that brings. He has done it many, many times. He talked about being stablemates with Vladimir Putin when they appeared together eight years ago on the same night. They didn't have it again. It's a status marker, like being on the cover of Time Act. Exactly. Right. And so this feeds into Donald Trump's whole sense of the media ecosystem. And he likes to be able to control that. And this is interesting to me that given that this is the last scheduled event, this vice presidential debate, that he's giving up this opportunity for a big. The last scheduled event, but there's still time for there to be any number of other kinds of events should they choose to do it. And this has been an election where both campaigns have really challenged the role of the mainstream media in terms of, is this necessary for me to get my message to the voters? And Trump has done a ton of interviews with podcasters and all other kinds of venues. And it's not totally clear that they, Harris, as well as Trump, see these stages the same way. Well, certainly, I think that's a really interesting point. I mean, you had the influencer section at the Democratic National Committee that was really front and center. You had better access than traditional reporters might have, or at least you had to throw a couple elbows if you wanted to get us close. But David, I am curious because when you think about, I mean, in some ways going to those audiences are a play to your base, right? And trying to turn out people in those spaces who wouldn't otherwise turn out, there's still a lot of undecided voters who likely watch 60 minutes, right? So why give up the opportunity to talk to them? Yeah, first of all, part of it may just be, to Adi's point, that the campaign doesn't see their pocket of voters that they need in that audience, right? We know that the Trump campaign theory of the case is sort of dig deeper into what you have in this very loyal base of support and get new versions of them to come out and support you. I do think, though, this raises a question of one of the things I'm watching tonight in this vice president to debate. Does JD Vance come and really try to make an appeal to the middle, to the undecided? Or is he coming to find new base voters? Does walls take a different approach? Does he actually come and try to appeal to the middle? I think we are going to see tonight which audiences these guys are talking to. Adi, which voter do you think each is looking for tonight? I mean, that's a very good question. Both have incentive to turn out specifically the people who are most engaged and when they are going to try and find the people who are still persuadable, I think you'll see some more micro-targeting, which is not something you get from a big mass media interview. Yeah. Well, and again, it's all about in many ways, I think, I mean, David, you know better than I, but the low propensity voter could really turn out to be the story of this election. David, Adi, thank you both very much for being here. All right, coming up next, our breaking news coverage continues. We'll speak to Congressman Jim Clyburn, a close ally of the White House ahead of tonight's debate. Is he confident Tim Walz can make his case to the country? And we're on the ground in Battleground, Michigan, in the county that could tip the scales, undecided voters there. We're catching closely and welcome back to our special edition of the situation. Remind Wolf Blitzer in New York. We're counting down to the one and only vice presidential debate tonight here in New York between Democratic Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and Republican Ohio Senator JD Vance. With me now, Congressman Jim Clyburn of South Carolina, he's a national co-chair of the Harris Walz campaign. Congressman, thanks so much for joining us. I want to ask you about the debate in just a moment, but first, let me get your reaction to Iran's major ballistic missile attack on Israel today, Israel promising now a significant response. I know you've been briefed. What are you learning? Yes, I have been, and I'm particularly concerned about any widening of this conflict. I know that the president, as most of us in the country, are devoted to defense of Israel, but none of us want to see a wide end of this conflict, so I would hope that this administration will work closely with our allies to do what we can to keep this from getting into a regional wall. Well, let me just press you on that, Congressman. If the United States were attacked by a foreign enemy with 200 ballistic missiles, would the United States just ignore that and try to do something else, or would the U.S. respond militarily? No, we would not ignore that, and we are not ignoring this. I think the president came out with a statement that I thought was pretty firm. The vice president reaffirmed her support of that statement, but no matter what we do, we should always work in concert with our allies in the region, because in the final analysis, whatever you do, cannot be sustained unless you have our allies with us. Congressman, let's turn to the big debate, the vice presidential debate, later tonight's coming up very soon. What specifically are you going to be watching for tonight? I am going to be watching for two different visions of the country, I think, that the country we're going to see, the authenticity in Governor Walsh, that all of us have worked with him, as I did for several years in the Congress. I've campaigned with him, I've consulted with him, doing his governess here. He is one of the best people I've ever dealt with in my life. I think the people are going to see that in this performance tonight, and I think we'll all, at least those of us on the outside of the aisle, would be pleased. Congressman, there have been some newly unearthed reports that they were emerging tonight contradicting some previous claims made by Governor Walsh about his travels to China, specifically that Walsh was at Hong Kong back in 1989 during the Tiananmen Square Pro-Democracy protests. House Republicans now starting an investigation into all of this. Do you think this is a potential problem for the campaign? Well, I have not seen any of those reports, but I'm going to pay a whole lot of attention to what the Republicans do in investigating, to be able to investigate in it and everything, and that's what they're doing. In fact, it's the same because the reporting that you all do on these kinds of issues should suffice for us to be using the levels of government to investigate every accusation or everything that may be revealed is just not the way government ought to work. We ought to be about moving an agenda for the people forward and not be using the government to investigate every rumor or everything that may pop up in the media. Congressman Clyburn, thanks so much for joining us, we really appreciate it. Thank you very much for having me. Our special coverage of tonight's vice presidential debate will continue in just a moment. We'll take you to one of the most sought-after counties that potentially could determine if a swing state goes for Trump or Harris. Stay with us. You're in the Situation Room. And welcome back to our special edition of the Situation Room. We are just hours away right now, only a few hours from the first and only vice presidential debate. It's also the last scheduled debate before the presidential election. Our Phil Mattingly is in the key battleground state of Michigan, where undecided voters will be watching what happens tonight very, very closely. Phil, you'll be with some of those voters during the course of tonight's debate. How will you be gauging their reaction to the candidates tonight? You know, Wolf, over the course of the next hour, the chairs behind me will fill in with the people who have told us that they are from this area. They are currently undecided, and they're trying to figure out based on what they see tonight which way they may go come November. Now, some of them have voted for Republicans in the past. Some have voted for Democrats, but what we're going to be watching and what we're going to be able to watch throughout the course of this debate is how they're feeling about specific moments. Each of the undecided voters will have a dial. If they turn it to the right, it will show that they feel positive about whatever they're watching and listening to on the screen. To the left, they feel negative. You're going to track that throughout the course of the evening, really identify the key moments of the debate in those voters' eyes, what they thought was a good thing and what they thought they learned something from, or maybe what they had a negative reaction to. That's what we'll be watching throughout the night, and then after the debate, Wolf will have a conversation with them to get a sense of not just their broad big picture takeaways from what they saw during the 90 minutes, but those specific moments, what stood out to them, what caused their reaction, and what that may mean for the decision come November Wolf. Well, you're in Grand Rapids, Michigan tonight, that's in Kent County. Why is that county so important to both campaigns? You know, Wolf, I'm about a half mile away from Gerald R. Ford's Presidential Museum. This was a Republican bastion of strength in this state for decades. No Democrat had won this state since 1964 until President Barack Obama did in 2008. Donald Trump won this statement. Romney won this state. George W. Bush had 59% of the vote here. Joe Biden won this county in 2020, a pretty big swing from Donald Trump in 2016. In the makeup, the demographic makeup of this county, it is a Grand Rapids large city, second largest city in the state of Michigan. But as you push out, you get into the suburban battlegrounds that have been so key over the course of the last several cycles, Democrats have had a good run here. Governor Gretchen Whitmer, both in 2018 and in her reelection in 2022, won this county in 2022, won it rather handily. But how Democrats fare going into 2024 in this critical battleground state, this cornerstone of that blue wall, the state of Michigan, is absolutely essential for their path to victory in this state. Keep in mind, Wolf, if you want to know what states matter, what areas matter to candidates, well, look where they're traveling. JD Vance will be back in Michigan tomorrow. Donald Trump will be back later this week. That will be his 12th campaign event over the course of his campaign by President Kamala Harris. She'll be in Michigan on Friday. They know this state is absolutely critical, and this county, Wolf, is absolutely critical for both campaigns. Yeah, Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, key states, and you're there in Michigan. We'll be watching very closely, Phil Mattingly. Thank you very much, Phil, and Grand Rapids. Michigan, to our viewers, thanks very much for watching. Our breaking news coverage continues right now with a special edition of Aaron Burnett out front. If you struggle with sleeping too hot, you've got to meet the new climate-cool smart bed from sleep number. It actively cools up to 15 degrees on either side for deeper, more comfortable sleep. 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