Anderson Cooper Returns to Air After Evacuation to Missile Shelter on Live TV

Published: June 23, 2025

Anderson Cooper and his CNN team are back to work after a harrowing experience on Monday, June 23, when they were forced to take shelter due to warnings of a possible missile strike while broadcasting live from Tel Aviv, Israel.

During the segment, which aired around 3 a.m. local time, chief international correspondent Clarissa Ward informed viewers of the alert, and Cooper, 58, noted that they received notifications on their phones, followed by a "verbal alert." The team had a 10-minute window to get down into a bomb shelter.

The team attempted to keep broadcasting as they moved to safety, but the cameras eventually lost signal and the feed switched over to White House correspondent Kristen Holmes. However, they were ultimately able to return and finish their morning broadcast after receiving the all-clear.

Later in the day, the team pivoted in response to breaking news, with correspondents joining CNN broadcasts to report on Iran's first retaliatory action for the United States' bombing of three Iranian nuclear sites on June 21.

In related news, Iran claimed credit for a "powerful and destructive missile strike" on the United States' Al-Udeid military base in Qatar, according to NBC News. Explosions were reported near Doha, the capital city of Qatar, where the base is located, and the U.S. Embassy issued a "shelter in place" warning to all citizens.

Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman Dr. Majed Al Ansari condemned the attack, saying it was a "flagrant violation of the sovereignty of the State of Qatar, its airspace, international law, and the United Nations Charter."

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Anderson Cooper, Clarissa Ward, and Jeremy Diamond were evacuated to a shelter and briefly taken offline, but they were ultimately able to return and finish their morning broadcast.

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