CNN’s Anderson Cooper was discussing the ongoing Israel-Iran conflict, which has intensified after the US struck Iran’s nuclear facilities, alongside chief international correspondent Clarissa Ward and Jerusalem correspondent Jeremy Diamond, when air raid sirens suddenly went off during the live broadcast. Speaking from a hotel setup, the team quickly cut the broadcast and informed viewers they had just 10 minutes to seek shelter in a bunker, as Iran had reportedly launched a missile or similar threat towards their location.
“CNN’s Anderson Cooper, Clarissa Ward and Jeremy Diamond evacuate after receiving a 10-minute warning of an incoming missile in Tel Aviv, Israel,” Anderson Cooper wrote while sharing the video on his X (Twitter) account.
CNN’s Anderson Cooper, Clarissa Ward and Jeremy Diamond evacuate after receiving a 10-minute warning of an incoming missile in Tel Aviv, Israel. pic.twitter.com/h0MfOjwcXj
— Anderson Cooper 360° (@AC360) June 23, 2025
The video opens to show CNN’s chief international correspondent, Clarissa Ward, saying, “We know that obviously Hamas and Hezbollah have been severely degraded.”
She then says, “I should just say that we’re now hearing an alert,” as the alarms blared in the background.
“So these are the alerts that go out on all of our phones when you’re in Israel. It’s a ten-minute warning of incoming missiles or something incoming from Iran,” Cooper said.
He added that they all have about a ten-minute window to get down into a bomb shelter. “And, we’ll continue to try to broadcast from that, that bomb shelter. And even if we can, on the way down.”
Cooper also asks his crew if it would be possible to continue their broadcast as they evacuated from the sets to the bomb shelter. He added that people in the country are used to it. “There was one alarm shortly after or several hours after the first strike, the strikes on Iran by the United States,” said Cooper while walking down the lobby.
He then turns to his team and says it is the first one today. “But what we’ve noticed, I think, is fewer barrages but quite high intensity, particularly this morning,” added Ward.
Diamond also joined the conversation, “I mean, there have also been reports that the Iranians have been using different types of ballistic missiles, some reports of cluster munition use as well, and we’ve seen the kind of impact that can have on the scene.”
He then revealed the destruction he saw in the north of Tel Aviv. “I saw a residential block that was almost completely obliterated by the power of that blast. The damage is enormous,” Diamond added, before revealing, “Most of the ballistic missiles are indeed getting through those air defence systems.”
He also shared that they haven’t seen any fatalities in a week now and credited the country’s aerial defence systems.
The broadcast was then cut short, and CNN’s Kristen Holmes, White House correspondent, took over. However, moments later, the connection with Cooper was established, and he continued with the broadcast.
“It’s a luxury to have a 10-minute warning, obviously, in a situation like this. In many cases, obviously, you know, rockets from Gaza, generally there isn’t that 10-minute window.”
The IDF released a statement on X informing citizens that the sirens went off “across central Israel due to a missile launch from Iran”.
Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said that the “punishment continues” after he declared that the “battle has begun”.
