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Iran attacks Israel with a missile barrage as Israel vows retaliation. That is a pretty major assault by the Iranians that fortunately have not done a lot of damage, but will now call into question the Biden administration's strategy, Iran's own strategy, and what Israel may do in retaliation. And U.S. stock markets fall in oil prices rise after missile attack. Plus, why making the intern the CEO might be good business.
It's Tuesday, October 1st. I'm Tracy Hunt for The Wall Street Journal. This is the p.m. edition of What's News, the top headlines and business stories that move the world today. Iran today launched a barrage of missiles at Israel, an escalation that could lead to a wider war in the Middle East. The attack comes days after Israel sent troops into Lebanon and killed Iran-backed Hezbollah's leader.
Joining us now is Wall Street Journal national security reporter Alex Ward. Alex, just to start off, what do we know about the Iranian missile attack today? It was significant and pretty major. This attack involved around 200 or so missiles launched directly from Iran into Israel for only the second time since the regime has been in power since 1979.
As far as the moment we're recording, what we know is that only one person has been killed in Jericho, in the West Bank, in the Palestinian territories, and so far no reported Israeli deaths. That could change. But so far, at least the Biden administration is basically calling this attack defeated and ineffective. So that is good news for the people of Israel. But what it does leave us is a lot of questions about what comes next.
What were the missiles targeting? Mostly military sites, nothing civilian. As far as we know, again, it is still very early in the assessment of what this has done, but it was mostly three military bases or so and military infrastructure. The Iranian response didn't surprise, but was it what we expected? There was a lot of talk that Iran was going to retaliate at some point. I mean, a lot of things have been going on. I
against Iran at this point. I mean, Israel had killed the head of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, had killed a lot of other Hezbollah leaders, had just recently sent troops into Lebanon. In fact, the Israeli military also announced that it had been doing raids into Lebanon for roughly 11 months. Also, lest we forget the dramatic attack involving pagers, explosive pagers and other devices. So Iran had to respond in a major way. Now, the question was, was this going to be, you know,
As big as the April attack? Were they going to telegraph it?
As of right now, you have the Biden administration denying that it had any forewarning of this attack, Iran denying that it had any, that it telegraphed this attack. And as of right now, it looks like Iran's attack was bigger than April. So a significant escalation by Tehran. So what's next? Are we expecting an Israeli response? Absolutely. It's hard to imagine Israel holding back here. I mean, last time,
President Biden told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, take the win. Iran attacked. It was, you know, most of these weapons were shot down. Minimal damage. Take the win. It's hard to imagine after an even bigger assault.
that Israel is going to take the win. And that's including at a time when Israel is really acting, you know, aggressively in the region. And you have Netanyahu, who just last Friday, the United Nations said very clearly, Iran, if you strike us, we will strike you. The first part of that sentence has now been completed. It's hard to imagine Netanyahu will allow that second part not to be. So everyone's on the lookout for the Israeli response. Now, it's still very early, but I don't think anyone thinks that this is the end of this round.
This situation is something the U.S. had been trying to avoid. Where does this latest development leave the region? I mean, a greater risk of a wider war, right? We can't say it's going to be all-out war, but we do know that the risk of a much larger fight is there. There's no question about it. And if you're the Biden administration—
Basically, your number one goal outside of finding some sort of ceasefire between Hamas and Israel was to ensure that that war in Gaza did not expand beyond the region. That goal has not been met. So this is a pretty massive failure by the Biden administration. And the one thing they didn't want to see is something that we are seeing. And there's a risk that it could get worse. Alex Ward is a national security reporter for The Wall Street Journal.
Meanwhile, President Joe Biden said the U.S. supported the Israeli military and said the United States is fully supportive of Israel. At my direction, the United States military actively supported the defense of Israel, and we're still assessing the impact. But based on what we know now, the attack appears to have been defeated and ineffective. And this is testament to Israeli military capability and U.S. military capability.
It's also a testament to intensive planning between the United States and Israel to anticipate and defend against the brazen attack we expected. Make no mistake, the United States is fully, fully, fully supportive of Israel. And you can follow this developing story in our live blog on WSJ.com.
The prospect of a widening war in the Middle East dragged major U.S. stock indexes back from records today, while driving oil prices higher. The S&P 500 slipped 0.9% after being down as much as 1.4%, while the Dow Jones closed 0.4% lower.
The Nasdaq Composite was the day's worst performer, shedding 1.5%. And Brent Crude Oil, the international benchmark, was up 2.6%, to $73.56 a barrel. Coming up, from intern to CEO? Sounds impossible, but Nike's new chief just did it. That's after the break.
I'm Micheline Sharp, Head of Insurance and Retirement at Janus Henderson Investors. For 90 years, we've worked to help clients achieve superior financial outcomes and to fulfill our purpose of investing in a brighter future together. To learn more, go to JanusHenderson.com.
It is getting too easy to score a pair of limited edition Jordan sneakers, and that's a big problem for Nike. The sneaker giant said today its revenue fell 10% in the latest quarter and its profits fell 28% from a year ago. Nike chief executive John Donahoe is stepping down on October 14th, and the company is starting the fourth quarter of the year with a new chief executive officer who's coming straight from its ranks.
Elliott Hill started in 1988 as an intern, spending his entire career at Nike, only to be lured a few years back after his retirement for one last job, CEO.
My colleague, Pierre Bien-Aimé, spoke to Ben Cohen, who writes the Science of Success column for The Wall Street Journal, and asked him what an intern CEO, one who started at the bottom of the company and climbed to the very top, brings to the job. The advantage is that the company is led by someone who truly understands the company, like the heart and soul of the place. They have been in just about every job across the company. They can empathize in a lot of roles. They have institutional knowledge of the company.
And why is it that many corporations prefer to hire outside CEOs, as is the case with Hill's predecessor, John Donahoe, who had never worked for Nike?
That's right. John Donahoe, before he worked at Nike, he worked at ServiceNow and eBay as the CEOs. And before that, he was a consultant at Bain & Company for about 20 years. So, you know, while Elliot Hill was driving around Texas and Oklahoma selling Nike apparel, John Donahoe was climbing the ranks at Bain. And so there's two very different career paths.
Generally, you bring in a consultant CEO when you want a pair of fresh eyes and when you want an outsider's vision and when you want someone who has perspective that is outside the company, who knows how a bunch of other places work, has a network outside, and, you know, might have the expertise if you feel like you are in a period of profound change and you need some kind of transformation. Ben Cohen writes the Science of Success column for The Wall Street Journal, and he joined The Journal as an intern, worth noting. Thanks, Ben.
Thank you. Americans are having fewer babies and it's become a campaign issue. What questions do you have about what our failing birth rate means for the way we live, how our economy grows, and for America's standing in the world? Send a voicemail to WNPOD at WSJ.com or leave a voicemail with your name and location at 212-416-4328. We might use it on the show.
The vice presidential candidates meet tonight in New York for what will likely be the last debate of this election campaign. Democratic Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and Republican Ohio Senator J.D. Vance will try to convince Americans that their presidential nominees, Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, are the best bet for America and that they themselves are credible replacements for the job.
Joining us now to discuss what to expect is WSJ national political reporter John McCormick. John, how much could this debate move the needle one way or the other? I think it'd be surprising if it moved the polling numbers by much. That said, you know, if there were a major gaffe or a major error or somebody really came across as looking like, hey, I can't envision this person moving the needle,
being a president should something happen to the top of the ticket. There is sort of a vice presidential credibility threshold that both of these guys will want to meet. And I think they probably will. I mean, they both have, you know, significant experience in public life. What should we expect from Tim Walz's performance tonight? Like, what is he trying to convey?
I've watched some of his past debates, and he's very folksy and happy warrior type in these debates, but he can also turn tough and critical, and I'm sure we will see that tonight. And he's really going to be trying to speak to especially white working class voters in those northern tier battleground states of Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania. I mean, Harris picked him in large part because she thought a
a white man might be able to help her among white working class voters in those states. And those, you know, three states which Democrats refer to as the blue wall really are going to be very critical to her if she wants to win the presidency. And what about Vance? Vance is going to be trying to maybe be a little bit more likable and let people get to know him a little bit better. He's going to be very much a Trump messenger.
He understands sort of the Make America Great movement thinking and in some ways is more articulate about it than Donald Trump himself. He'll be making the case, I think, for less government, for more aggressive immigration restrictions. He may be making the case for more tariffs. And he, like Walz, will be trying to appeal to white working class voters in those northern tier states.
That was WSJ national political reporter John McCormick. And you can watch the debate starting at 9 p.m. Eastern Time on WSJ.com. And that's what's news for this Tuesday afternoon. Today's show was produced by Anthony Bansi and Pierre Bien-Aimé with supervising producer Michael Cosmitas. I'm Tracy Hunt for The Wall Street Journal. Additional sound in this episode courtesy of Reuters.
We'll be back with a new show tomorrow morning. Thanks for listening.
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