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Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees

Iran Laying Mines In Strait Of Hormuz In Major Escalation; CENTCOM: U.S. Has Destroyed 16 Iranian Mine-Laying Ships; Interview With Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT); New Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei Yet To Appear Publicly; Fareed Zakaria: An Iranian Civil War Is Not In America's Interest; U.S. Destroys 16 Iranian Minelayers Near Strait Of Hormuz; U.S. Intelligence Community Ramps Up Warnings Of Possible Retaliatory Attacks By Iran. Aired 8-9p ET

Aired March 10, 2026 - 20:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: And the breaking news. We can now show you a photo of the intercepts that just happened here in Tel Aviv.

As you can see in the photo, those are the trails of at least two intercepts. If you are watching the show, you heard it. We just started the show at the top of the hour. Sirens started going off here in Tel Aviv.

Jeremy Diamond and I then started moving, making our way to what we've been using as a shelter, these reinforced stairwells. We went in there and while we were broadcasting from the shelter, we could hear, you could hear. We could also feel because it does feel, it just thuds through your body, at least two very loud blasts overhead.

Thank you so much for joining us. We'll see you tomorrow. AC360 starts now.

[20:00:51]

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST, "ANDERSON COOPER: 360": Good evening, welcome to the CNN global report, "War with Iran."

We begin tonight with breaking news in this new video of what the Pentagon says are strikes on multiple Iranian naval vessels, including 16 minelayers, near the Strait of Hormuz. CNN is reporting that Iran has begun laying mines in the Strait, that's according to two people familiar with U.S. intelligence reporting on the issue.

The video, released a few hours after President Trump posted on social media, "If for any reason mines were placed and they are not removed forthwith, the military consequences to Iran will be at a level never seen before." The chokehold that Iran continues to have over the Strait of Hormuz sent the average price of gas here in the U.S. to $3.54 a gallon. That's up $0.56 from before the war.

Now, earlier today, the Pentagon announced this would be the most intense day of strikes inside Iran. Those were their words that seemed to stand in contrast with President Trump's pronouncement last night that the war, or as he called it excursion would be over, "very soon."

Our own Fred Pleitgen reporting from inside Tehran, felt that intensity firsthand.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Okay, we're hearing jets overhead. There's anti-aircraft fire going on. They told me to get out of here as fast as possible.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: Fred and his team are okay. We'll hear from him in a moment. This all happening as Democrats on the Senate Armed Services Committee emerge from a classified briefing today, sounding alarm bells about the administrations potential plan for sending in U.S. troops on the ground in Iran. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt was pressed on that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAROLINE LEAVITT, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: The President has talked about this repeatedly. Wisely, he does not rule options out as commander-in-chief. So again, I would hesitate to confirm anything that a Democrat on Capitol Hill says right now about the President's thinking.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: Well, it's not just democrats. Many Americans of all political stripes have taken some issue with the mixed messaging from this White House. It's many stated goals for ending this war, and the justification for starting it in the first place.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: We warned them never to resume their malicious pursuit of nuclear weapons, and we sought repeatedly to make a deal. They rejected every opportunity to renounce their nuclear ambitions, and we can't take it anymore.

MARCO RUBIO, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: There absolutely was an imminent threat. And the imminent threat was that we knew that if Iran was attacked and we believed they would be attacked, that they would immediately come after U.S.

If we waited for them to hit us first after they were attacked and by someone else, Israel attacked them. They hit us first and we waited for them to hit us. We would suffer more casualties and more deaths.

REPORTER: Mr. President, did Israel forced your hand to launch these strikes against Iran did the United States into this war?

TRUMP: No.

REPORTER: Did Netanyahu pull the United States into this war?

TRUMP: No, I might have forced their hand. You see, we were having negotiations with these lunatics and it was my opinion that they were going to attack first. They were going to attack. If we didn't do it, they were going to attack first.

If we did not hit them, they were going to take over the Middle East. They had thousands and thousands since their last hit. They had thousands and thousands of missiles and everything else. Most are now destroyed, but they were going to take over the Middle East. Those weapons were aimed at Middle Eastern countries that had nothing to do with this. They were going to take over the Middle East, and they were going to try and destroy Israel. So, we stopped it with good timing.

Within a week, they were going to attack us, 100 percent, they were ready. They had all these missiles, far more than anyone thought, and they were going to attack U.S.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: Well, that last claim was contradicted in Pentagon briefings to Capitol Hill lawmakers that stated Iran was not planning to attack unless the U.S. struck first. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt was also pressed on that today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NANCY CORDES, CBS NEWS: There are no U.S. leaders or Israeli leaders who are making those same claims. So, is he making this up to justify his decision to go to war now?

LEAVITT: The President is not making anything up, Nancy. He is looking at this every single day based on intelligence based on facts.

Iran wanted to attack the United States of America, and the President was not going to sit back and allow that to happen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[20:05:10]

COOPER: We'll starting off our CNN global war coverage tonight with CNN Fred Pleitgen in Northern Iran, and we should mention he and his movements are monitored by the Iranian government.

So, Fred, we showed video earlier of you in Tehran running, jets were, sounded like they were overhead. What happened and what more have you been seeing and hearing inside?

PLEITGEN: Hi there, Anderson, well, I would say about the last hour or so we heard jets once again here overhead over our position or close to our position. And we did hear some pretty big thuds. So, it certainly seems as though that aerial attack or those aerial attacks are definitely continuing also, in the hours overnight here, not exactly sure what was hit, but it certainly sounds like some pretty big thuds that weren't actually too far away.

And earlier today, you're absolutely right we were in a position in a place that had gotten hit, a facility that had gotten hit about 18 hours before we got there, and so we were on the ground, we were filming on the ground when all of a sudden, we heard those jets overhead, that anti-aircraft fire going out. And then as we were running away from that scene, we heard those thuds, which certainly to us, seemed as though the area around there was getting hit once again. And to put all that in context, we've been speaking about the acceleration of the aerial campaign here against Iran and that's certainly something that we have been feeling over the past couple of days.

For instance, after we ran away from that scene today, after that place was struck, we drove almost to the other side of town, to the place where we were staying. And as we got there, that area was also under attack we heard some very heavy thuds there as well and some explosions there that really rattled the walls of the place that were staying in.

So right now, places like Tehran seem very frequent aerial attacks, especially in the overnight hours it's obviously something that has the people who work, who live there very concerned. At the same time, of course the officials, the Iranian officials, the Iranian leadership is saying they're not looking for a negotiated settlement with the United States. They say they're in it for the long run, Anderson.

COOPER: All right Fred Pleitgen, appreciate it. Joining me now is CNN National Security correspondent Natasha Bertrand, who has new reporting tonight on the U.S. Military, saying it has destroyed some of those Iranian mine laying ships in the Strait of Hormuz.

Natasha, what more are you learning about the apparent destruction of those ships?

NATASHA BERTRAND, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. Anderson. So, U.S. Central Command along with the President and the Secretary of Defense, they began saying earlier today that the U.S. has begun taking aggressive steps to try to sink these Iranian vessels that are believed to be minelayers in the Strait of Hormuz. And that reaction started coming out in response to reports, including ours, that Iran has, in fact, begun laying some mines in the Strait.

And we should note that, according to our sources, this is not extensive mine laying at this point, a couple dozen in the last several days at most, according to one of the sources but Iran still retains roughly 80 to 90 percent of those small boats and minelayers that it uses to lay these mines according to one of the sources.

And therefore, it could feasibly continue to do so and lay hundreds of mines in the coming days. Now, President Trump has said that there are going to be serious military consequences for Iran writ large if they don't take steps to actually remove these mines. But the U.S. Military also said today that they have destroyed about 16 of these mine laying vessels.

Of course, these are very small vessels operated by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. They can go undetected, it is very difficult right now for ships to transit the Strait of Hormuz including the U.S. Military, because not only of these mines, but also because Iran is attacking ships that transit there with drones. So, it's a very fraught situation that of course, has led to a ton of uncertainty in the global oil markets given that this is such a key passageway for global oil production -- Anderson.

COOPER: Yes, Natasha, appreciate it, Natasha Bertrand.

Joining me now is CNN national security analyst and former deputy director of national intelligence, Beth Sanner. Also, CNN global affairs analyst Brett McGurk, who served in senior National Security posts under the last four Presidents, including during President Trump's first term.

Beth, we were showing some of that video that CENTCOM posted. How critical is it to hit those smaller vessels which can lay mines, and how many of them are there? I mean, it seems like an uphill battle.

BETH SANNER, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: I think it's a really uphill battle. It's not quite as uphill as drones, probably, but it is a lot. And they have like 5,000 mines, you know, some estimates. It's really hard to tell.

But, you know, any kind of boat can lay a mine. It's just that they can't do it as efficiently as these kinds of mine laying boats. So, a dhow, a fishing boat can shove a mine off the back of that and all you hear is a splash, right?

And so, it's very difficult to do this. And I also want to say and Brett and I have talked about this offline, it's something that we actually didn't expect Iran to necessarily do.

COOPER: Why was that?

SANNER: Because it means that they can't move their own goods through the Strait. Everything now that Iran wants to export oil or bring in. Now, if they go forward with this and it's only a small amount we hear right now. But these are very narrow channels where the ships can move. So, they're basically saying to us we voted, we're the enemy we voted, we voted twice. We voted when we picked Mojtaba hard liner and we voted when we started to do these, lay the mines. This is a desperate kind of move.

[20:10:33]

COOPER: Yes. I mean, Brett if you have a regime which doesn't care about building bomb shelters for its people or doesn't really care about all its people, you can decide to take huge economic hits to your country. It's a different calculus isn't it for Iran?

BRETT MCGURK, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Mining the Strait, so, 90 percent of all of Iran's oil exports go through the Strait of Hormuz and their economy, about 86 percent of their entire government revenues are based on those exports. So, they're kind of blockading themselves with the with the mines. But they have other threats, they have missiles, they have drones. If they want to keep the Strait closed.

But it suggests perhaps, perhaps a kind of sense of desperation on the Iranian side that, you know, what they've tried to do. They're looking for asymmetrical terrorist threats. I'm sure they're trying that. They really tried to get the Gulf states to pressure Washington to stop that hasn't worked. They're still getting off some missiles and drones, but in smaller numbers.

But they know the one thing they have is this Strait of Hormuz and the global economy. And I think they think they might have Trump by the jugular there. And I mean, I'm kind of watching two clocks here, Anderson, kind of separating signal from noise.

CENTCOM is clearly executing its Iran war plan. The White House said in the beginning its a four-to-six-week campaign. That's about right. If carried through to fruition, the U.S. military will hit and take apart every aspect of Iran's defense industrial base. Their drone production capabilities, missile production capabilities, command and control, navy, air force and probably what's left of the nuke.

That has a period of weeks to go, Anderson. And the big question here is whether the campaign can go to that fruition. I think if you cut it short and I know there's concern in the region that if its cut too short, you actually leave behind a potentially worse situation.

You have an Iran that has consolidated around the hardline elements of the regime and still is able to reconstitute those missile drone programs. So, we're really in kind of precarious waters here. But I'm kind of watching two clocks. Can the campaign be brought to fruition? And eventually the CENTCOM commander will probably report to the Secretary of Defense. We've completed the targeting but that has, I think, a couple weeks to go at least or can Iran really kind of with this economic tool they have just you know, wreck the global economy that puts tremendous pressure on Washington and our partners.

That's basically where we are and this will unfold over the over the coming week. Getting a handle on that Strait of Hormuz is so critical. I know from my own experience, just finally, in the Bab al-Mandeb passage in the Red Sea and Iranian supported proxy group with missiles and drones shut it down we formed a naval coalition. We did a lot to try to get it open. It's hard, hard work, it takes weeks and I don't know if we have that kind of time.

COOPER: Yes, Beth, I mean, the White House is still not ruling out ground troops. It's hard to know how real that is and not. There was some talk about, you know special forces trying to you know, locate take or neutralize nuclear material. That seems like it would be a long operation or a very intensive operation and involve larger ground troops just for perimeter security, at the very least.

SANNER: So, here's -- building off what Brett just said, they are at the point now, and I think that Americans, you know, it's like we're in this. Do we want this refrain to be like it was after the first Gulf War. You, didn't finish the job. That's what they're worried. That's their nightmare in the administration and not finishing the job is not necessarily good for Americans if this threat still remains.

So, the nuclear threat is the reason in my mind, we're all speculating here, right? We don't know. But that they would need to do ground forces. And we have 400 kilograms plus of 60 percent enriched uranium, which could be turned into a rudimentary bomb just there, 60 percent. You don't even need 90 percent for that or dirty bomb. But later down the road, you know you have this latent threat of a nuclear power and so, I think that this is why they won't rule this out.

COOPER: So, Brett, was the attack which was sold as obliterating the nuclear capabilities of Iran months ago, was that not completely obliterating the as it was sold, or was it pretty cataclysmic? And now it's just a question of getting through the rubble and the material is still there?

[20:15:10]

MCGURK: I think, from most assessments, it really set back Iran's centrifuge capacity, their ability to enrich. It did set it back significantly, maybe a period of a couple of years, hard to say, but it was a successful strike. However, the highly enriched uranium which is underneath this site in Isfahan, we believe in the IAEA has also suggested is still buried there, I think we've been watching it overhead, but that's about 1,000 pounds, Anderson of uranium enriched to 60 percent grade.

If that material is still there, we can watch it overhead forever and try to make sure nobody is approaching it but it's best to have it resolved. But that's really tough. I mean Isfahan probably for good reason, they put it there it's in the middle of Iran. It's about a 300-mile distance from the Western Border or the Southern Border. So, I'm just trying to picture, we have units that can do almost anything, but that is a high, high-risk operation, it's extremely difficult.

COOPER: But the President of United States could just decide to say, look, we have a victory. I mean, he said enough goalposts and different explanations. He could very easily say, look, we've achieved our aims. This is a victory and then the U.S. would just, you know, that awful phrase of mowing the grass every few years would look to, to continue to bomb any advancements they've made?

SANNER: Yes, and, you know, that is definitely a potential. It is not a potential that the Gulf states want. It's not a potential that Israel wants. But it is something that may happen and I think that this is, you know very much up to President Trump. Wars are battles of will and the ability to sustain pain. And what the Iranians are trying to do. And now with, you know, a few mines in the Straits are to prolong the pain to increase the pain for now. And also, because they want to deter us if this war ends without it being with them still in charge, they want to make it really so painful for us that we wouldn't dare to go back again.

So, we are in a battle of wills, and the Iranians think they're in a better position to win.

COOPER: Beth Sanner, Brett McGurk, thank you both, appreciate it.

More, coming up next on what the White House said about the possibility of U.S. boots on the ground in Iran. I'll talk that over with Democratic Senator Chris Murphy who attended a classified briefing on Capitol Hill today. Also tonight, AXIOS reporting that the U.S. has asked Israel to stop

targeting Iran's energy infrastructure. We'll have more when our global war coverage continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:21:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAROLINE LEAVITT, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: As for boots on the ground, the President has talked about this repeatedly. Wisely, he does not rule options out as commander-in-chief.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: That's from the White House today, again, refusing to rule out sending U.S. troops into Iran. This coming, as the Pentagon confirmed today, that approximately 140 U.S. service members have been wounded so far in Operation Epic Fury and seven U.S. soldiers as you know, have been killed, most in a strike in Kuwait, and one died after an attack on an air base in Saudi Arabia.

Democratic Senator Chris Murphy attended a classified briefing today. He joins us now, Senator Murphy, appreciate you being with us. How likely do you think it is or unlikely that the President would send ground troops into Iran, either to secure stockpiles of enriched uranium or for some other reason?

SEN. CHRIS MURPHY (D-CT): When the President was running for office on a promise to get us out of all the wars we were in in a matter of days, and to never again get us in another major war, I would have told you that it was unlikely we would be at war with Iran a year into his presidency, so I can't really make any predictions about Donald Trump and his team. They are incompetent, they are quixotic. They seem to make decisions based upon how they feel when they get up in the morning. It should worry every American that they refuse to take off the table the insertion of ground troops.

If you thought the Iraq war and Afghanistan war were bad, wait until the United States sends ground troops into Iran to try to achieve regime change. That is trillion-dollar war that comes with thousands upon thousands of American casualties, that lights the entire region on fire.

It's pretty chilling that the President continues to leave on the table, doubling down on a war that already makes no sense by sending in ground forces.

COOPER: Would the idea of not about regime change, but of trying to secure or eliminate nuclear material? Would that justify it in your mind?

MURPHY: Well, we do know that you can't take out their nuclear program with an overhead bombing campaign, just like you can't change the regime into a Democracy through overhead bombing. Yes, you would probably have to insert ground forces. But again, that becomes a permanent mission, that sucks the United States into a decade long war because if you just take the material they have and remove it, but you don't change the regime then they'll just restart the program.

Here's the problem, you can't bomb knowledge out of existence. And so, no matter how far we setback that program, if we have just left behind an Iranian regime that is even more antithetical to U.S. interests, even more dangerous, even more committed to provocation in the region, then were just making more trouble for us in the long run. That's why we hadn't gone in like this in the past, because we knew it would cost lives, it would cost money, and it would only set back their military programs, likely by a matter of months.

[20:25:03]

COOPER: The White House still doesn't seem to be calling this a war, despite wanting to rename the Department of Defense the Department of War and Secretary Hegseth calling himself the Secretary of War. They're not using that term for this. The President said as recently as yesterday this was a, "short-term excursion" that he thinks could be over, in his words, "very soon."

Does that track with what you are hearing from Pentagon or the State Department?

MURPHY: I mean, if this isn't war, what is war? I mean, it just shows the utter disdain that this President has for democracy, for the constitution, and for the people of this country. The founding fathers were really specific about this they really worried about an out-of- control megalomaniacal executive sending America into wars overseas without consultation with the people.

People don't want this war especially as gas prices and grocery prices go through the roof, especially as more Americans die. This is a President over and over and over again who just does not care about what the people of this country thinks. If it's good for the billionaire class, it's good for him.

And listen, let's be honest, there are a lot of billionaires that are making money off of this war. There are a lot of defense contractors who are going to make mint. As energy prices spike, there are going to be a bunch of energy companies who are going to make money off of those high prices and that scarcity. So, this is again about Trump having disdain for democracy and caring very little about what regular people out there think.

COOPER: Senator Murphy, I appreciate your time tonight, thank you.

Perspective on this moment for Iran and its new Supreme Leader as the U.S. vows the most intense strikes of the war, when our global report continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:30:58]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC): There's no way you can say you won this war with an Ayatollah in charge. No way you can say that. If anybody like him is in charge, we've degraded their capability, but we have not gone to the source of evil. The source of evil is the ideology itself that will reemerge. It will come back.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: Republican Senator Lindsey Graham there, a close ally of the president today, suggesting regime change is needed in Iran after Mojtaba Khamenei was chosen to succeed his father, the last Ayatollah, and serve as the new supreme leader.

Perspective now on Iran from Jason Rezaian. He was unjustly imprisoned there for 544 days while he was the Washington Post correspondent in Tehran. He was released finally in January 2016. He's now the post director of Press Freedom Initiatives. Jason, thanks for being here.

You heard Senator Graham there. Do you agree that the U.S. hasn't won the war if a hardline cleric is supreme leader?

JASON REZAIAN, DIRECTOR, PRESS FREEDOM INITIATIVES: I think that's certainly true, and I don't know that there is a clear path to victory in this war for the United States nor for Israel if the regime remains intact. So I think it's a tough spot that the U.S. has put itself in.

COOPER: Are you surprised that this new leader hasn't been seen or heard from? Obviously there would be huge concerns about his security. I understand he was wounded as well. And were you surprised by his election?

REZAIAN: I wasn't super surprised by his election. There's been a lot of talk that he might succeed his father when his father died. This speculation has been around for more than a decade. I also wonder if the fact that we haven't seen him indicates that he might not be alive.

I don't think that there's a clear indication that anyone has spoken to him. The president of Iran Masoud Pezeshkian said today that neither he nor anyone else in his government had spoken with the younger Khamenei since he was appointed supreme leader on Sunday. So there's still so much confusion around this.

And if you look back to just 10 days ago or so, it took quite some time for them to announce that his father had been killed as well. So it's really unclear what's going on behind the scenes. There's obviously lots of jockeying within the system.

And I think that they felt as though they had to make some sort of announcement to project some semblance of stability.

COOPER: Do you see him essentially as a mouthpiece for the, you know, the Revolutionary Guard Corps? Because my understanding is this guy is not a cleric who is the most learned scholar in the country. And I mean, the whole overthrowing the Shah, part of the attack on the Shah was the idea of against hereditary rule.

REZAIAN: Of course.

COOPER: Seems like this guy's biggest qualifications are he's the son of the former leader.

REZAIAN: And his father, by the way, didn't have those clerical qualifications either when he was appointed supreme leader when Ayatollah Khomeini died in 1989.

No, Anderson, we don't know that much about him. He's never given any public speeches. He's never held an official office until right now. There's literally nothing for us to go on except innuendo over the fact that people say he's probably more hardline than his father. And, of course, there might be a lot of desire for vengeance after the killing of the old man.

COOPER: Obviously, the U.S. and Israeli airstrikes have destroyed or done major damage to regime targets. Have you seen anything that signals a government that has really in any way lost its grip on the country?

REZAIAN: Unfortunately, I think the grip that it holds over the streets in Iran is still very tight. They are sending out messages via SMS and on their state propaganda channels that anybody that might come out into the street to protest the government could be subjected to arrest or even live fire.

[20:35:02]

And, obviously, back in January, tens of thousands of Iranians potentially were killed, massacred in protests that the government put out very ruthlessly. So. I think that the Islamic Republic, for better or worst, and I would say worst, is very much in control of the interior of that county.

COOPER: How does the Revolutionary Guard factor into all of this? I mean, Iran doesn't really change unless that force, if that force remains at the center of power, doesn't it?

REZAIAN: No, that's right. And they're still very much the main center of power in the country. The attacks that we've seen from Iran on to its neighboring Arab countries, those are all inspired or carried out by the Revolutionary Guard.

Revolutionary Guard has their hands in literally every aspect of the Iranian economy, the Iranian security apparatus, the Iranian state media, it is the force running that country at this point.

COOPER: Jason Rezaian. Thank you so much. I appreciate it, Jason.

Coming up, as the U.S. says they have struck mine laying boats near the Strait of Hormuz, I'll get perspective from Fareed Zakaria, who sees the Trump administration's war strategy so far as regime change by jazz improvisation. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:40:27]

COOPER: Welcome back. Perspective now on our breaking news from Fareed Zakaria and his latest piece in the Washington Post. He writes that the U.S. and Israel have separate goals in the war with Iran. Israel, he says, wants to destroy the Islamic Republic, but the U.S. wants to prevent a civil war.

He's the host of Fareed Zakaria GPS. He joins us now. Why wouldn't the U.S. want a civil war in Iran?

FAREED ZAKARIA, HOST, FAREED ZAKARIA GPS: Look, it's still for Israel. It's very clear what they want is to destroy the Islamic Republic in every sense. And you can watch their bombing campaign. They're going after the leadership, leadership compounds, military headquarters, but even police.

You know, they want an Iranian state that can't function much in the way that what happened to Syria for 10 years, Syria mired in civil war, actually helped Israel. One more enemy taken off the board, one more adversary you don't have to worry about.

But the United States has huge interests in the Middle East for peace and stability and, you know, the coexistence to a certain extent among the Sunni and the Shia. The idea of an Iran that collapses into civil war with Shia militias running around --

COOPER: With nuclear material.

ZAKARIA: With nuclear material, exactly, dirty bombs that could be made. You know, it's bad for Saudi Arabia and the other Gulf allies of the United States who want free flow of oil. You know, the United States' objectives are peace, stability, economic integration, free flow of oil, things like that.

COOPER: Well, it does go along with Axios' reporting, which is that the U.S. has asked Israel to stop targeting the Iranian energy infrastructure.

ZAKARIA: Exactly. The U.S. and every time somebody has pointed out that there have been these attacks that have the danger of collapsing the Iranian state and resulting in chaos and civil war, U.S. officials say privately and sometimes publicly, that's Israel, that's Israel doing that went on, which is kind of bizarre to have entered this war with all this apparently joint planning and not to have, you know, done some planning about what are our goals, what are our objectives, when will we know we can stop that?

That fundamental question of what is the goal of this of this operation seems very unclear. It keeps shifting.

COOPER: Which makes the timeline for the potential operation unclear as well.

ZAKARIA: Yes. And it also is, you know, you can see what it's doing to markets. You have, you know, President Trump saying the war is almost over, the markets go up. Then he says, no, it's going to be longer. The markets go down. Chris Wright, the secretary of energy, puts a tweet out saying we're escorting ships through the Persian Gulf. You know, oil prices plummet.

Then he deletes that tweet. Oil prices go up. I mean, this is, you know, it's beginning to seem not like imperialism by jazz improvisation, but imperialism by a band that doesn't know how to play music.

COOPER: Is it a sign to you that Iran may be willing to mine the Strait of Hormuz, which would make Iran itself suffer because all of their goods come through there as well? Is that a sign to you of the -- the position that the Iranian regime is now the way they view themselves, the way they view their position in this war?

ZAKARIA: It's a very important sign. They've never done it before. And what it tells you is, you know, if you wage an existential war against a nation, they're going to pull out all the stops. They're going to you know, they're going their response is also going to be existential. Yes, they damage themselves, but they want to inflict harm on you.

The mining of the harbors is very dangerous because, first of all, it you know, the key to this whole area of the Straits of Hormuz and the passage of oil is you want you don't need to completely shut down all traffic. You need to raise enough doubt in the minds of insurance companies that they won't insure anyone so people don't go through. And once you start putting mines in, nobody knows how many mines are there. Nobody knows whether they're going to hit a stray mine.

And so insurance companies will say, we're not going to insure you. So -- and then it takes years to de-mine, particularly in the sea. So this is a big, big move. And if if they were successful, I suspect it creates a very big problem for traffic through that straight.

COOPER: Fareed Zakaria, thanks so much. Appreciate it. As we reported tonight, U.S. Central Command has released video showing U.S. airstrikes destroying multiple Iranian naval ships, including 16 mine layers near the Strait of Hormuz, the world's most important waterway for the shipment of oil.

Now, the development comes after sources say Iran has begun laying mines in the Strait, which the war has effectively shut down.

[20:45:03]

Brian Kilmeade of Fox News says this is what the president told him in a phone interview.

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BRIAN KILMEADE, FOX NEWS HOST: Tell these tankers to get themselves, get to it. We've wiped out most of their launchers. Here's exactly what he said. These ships should go through the Strait of Hormuz and show some guts. There's nothing to be afraid of. They have no Navy. We sunk all their ships. He went on to say, he said, look, yeah, there's risk in the region.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: Lots to discuss with Captain Jim Staples, a cargo ship captain, maritime safety consultant who's sailed the Strait of Hormuz more than 100 times. Captain, appreciate you being with us. So you've had to navigate sea mines in your career.

Can you just walk people through what that is like and how those mines work and the kind of damage one mine can do?

JIM STAPLES, MARITIME SAFETY CONSULTANT: Yes, after the Persian Gulf War, we still had quite a few mines and there were some minefields heading up towards Kuwait and then it swept the lanes so we would go off the lanes. It'd be one way traffic, minefields on either side and then we'd go in the port.

But stray mines can always drift into the lanes. You never know. So it's always treacherous. It's dangerous. It's never 100 percent. But the key is to get those lanes swept and they do -- they do lay around for a long time, a long period of time. They're still finding mines popping up from World War II.

So, mines are a scary thing to be dealing with as a mariner, as a ship's captain when you're sailing ships up there, especially when you're with ammunition. So it's something we don't want to fool around with, but it can be handled and with the proper escorts and the mine sweep is up there. They can make the lanes probably pretty safe.

COOPER: You heard the Fox who's saying that the president told him the tankers in the region need to quote show some guts. If that's an accurate characterization. What do you say to that?

STAPLES: Well, it isn't guts that get you through the minefields. It's minesweepers that get you through the minefields. So, you know, taking a ship up into a known minefield would be probably a very, very eventful situation. You know, you're looking at pollution, you're looking at an environmental problem up in that area. It wouldn't be a good decision for a captain to take a ship through a minefield that hasn't been swept. But again, if we get them swept, it's just another day at sea.

COOPER: You know, lot of people are pointing to kind of the insurance companies saying it's the insurers who won't insure vessels that go through. Is that -- is that at the root of the problem? Or is it just the inherent vulnerability of any ship that goes through whether it's insured or not?

STAPLES: Oh, that's a big problem is the insurance. A lot of the owners don't want to their ships unless they have the insurance to cover the any kind of damage or death of the crew. So yes, that's a -- that's one of the biggest problems. I think if they had the insurance on those ships, it'd be a lot more ships moving.

COOPER: And in terms of vulnerability -- ships vulnerability to drones, how big of a concern would that be for you as a captain? STAPLES: Well, very similar to mines, you know, the drones, as we saw in the Red Sea, that seems to be one of the big problems is the drones and the missiles that they can get out to you. It's not just the mines that you'd be concerned within the Strait because the Strait is so narrow. It could be any kind of launch, the missile that they could, you know, shoulder fire rockets, things like that -- that they can launch from small boats. You know, the small boats are a threat.

You know, let's not forget what happened to the call with one small boat that was loaded with ammunition.

COOPER: Yes.

STAPLES: You know, that was a combatant vessel that was taken down and you know, they're built for that type of damage. They have great damage control. The military trains for that all the time. Merchant marine ships, not the case. We have very little damage control type equipment on board the merchant ships. MSC will carry a lot more, but we don't have that type of a sustainment to keep a ship afloat the way they do. So that's the big problem with big open holes on a ship.

You're looking at a flooding situation that could happen very rapidly. So, you know, from a drone, from uh a mine, a small handheld missile, those are the threats that we'd be looking at now going up through that area. The small boats are definitely a challenge. They're like a swarm of bees that when they come after you, you know, so there's quite a few of them.

But if they have escorts up there, also with air support, I believe they can maneuver the ships pretty easily. We'll go back to the old convoy systems that we used to use.

COOPER: Yes.

STAPLES: I understand the French are now sending 10 ships up that way to help with the escort, so if we can get an international fleet up there, that's going to make a big difference. But I think you'll start seeing the ships move probably within a week.

[20:50:02]

COOPER: Captain, I really appreciate your expertise. It's really a pleasure to talk to you, Captain Jim Staples. Thank you.

Just ahead, what we are learning tonight about two men accused of tossing makeshift bombs, IEDs, near the home of New York City's mayor.

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COOPER: Warnings tonight that Iran may launch retaliatory strikes on U.S. targets in response to the war and the killing of its supreme leader. Sources say that U.S. intelligence has urged American companies and government agencies to be on alert, including for possible cyber attacks.

Well, no specific threats have been revealed. Shots were fired this morning at the U.S. consulate in Toronto, which could be linked to the war.

CNN's chief law enforcement and intelligence analyst John Miller is here with me now. So, how closely do you think Americans, you know, targets, potential targets should be paying attention right now?

[20:55:00]

JOHN MILLER, CNN CHIEF LAW ENFORCEMENT AND INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: Oh very close. And there's key worries. Talking to the FBI and NYPD people on the intel side about what are the things that you are concerned about, you know, they say, number one, we've seen an attack in Austin, which looks to be inspired by the war. We've seen an attack in New York City, which, if not inspired by the war itself, has been inspired by the stirring of internet propaganda about attacking America, if not for Iran, for ISIS.

But they're also worried about Hezbollah, which has been very damaged overseas and still takes its commands in large part from Iran. But the damage that was done to Hezbollah operators overseas did not affect the ones who were spread out around the world who could be called up to do attacks. We've seen that before.

And then finally, simply Iranian agents. I mean, when you look at the fact that last week in the midst of all of this, an individual named uh Asif Merchant was convicted in Brooklyn Federal Court of plotting to kill a number of people, including Donald Trump, for Iran, working for the MOI, the Ministry of Intelligence in Iran.

COOPER: In the United States.

MILLER: In the United States.

COOPER: Do you know how long he'd been here? How he --

MILLER: He's been here a long time. He's a Pakistani origin, but he was involved in the criminal world, and what they were asking for him was to put together a team to assassinate Masih Alinejad, who you know is an Iranian dissident in Brooklyn, to assassinate Donald Trump, who at the time of this plot was a candidate running for president.

So, if there's any doubt that the Iranian footprint is here, that every time that in the NYPD or the FBI we made those arrests, they weren't replaced covertly by somebody else, this would be the time to worry about that.

COOPER: You're learning new information about the two terror suspects and those IEDs that were thrown outside Gracie Mansion.

MILLER: So we're beginning to get a picture of how the plot comes together. Number one, the two don't seem to be very much associated. I mean, mysteriously yesterday, the attorney for one of them said, you know, my guy didn't really know the other guy, which is hard to explain how you would travel in a car together from Pennsylvania, appear on video together, appear throwing bombs together allegedly at a demonstration and not somehow know each other very well. But this comes together when you look at how these plots unfold. They meet online. They get to know each other online. It may be a long time in discussions about things like this and we've seen in other cases before the plotters actually meet. But we do believe based on the search warrant that came through yesterday of a storage area in Pennsylvania and the explosive residue recovered there, that these kids live at home with their parents.

You can't make TATP and that's what's alleged at home with all the chemical smells and odors and mixing and drying and things that have to occur without your parents say, what is going on here? The storage area would have been a perfect place to put that together and based on the evidence they found that is the current theory they're going on.

COOPER: And the -- I also want to show this incredible photo of the New York Police Department Chief Aaron Edwards is his name jumping over the barrier to tackle one of the suspects. I mean, the bravery of that is extraordinary given its, you know, potentially an explosive device here, that turns out to actually have real explosives in it.

MILLER: Real explosives and real shrapnel. If you understand TATP when it's put together just right, think of the consequences there. That is material that depending on the amount that would fit in something this size, between one and two pounds, that would be shrapnel. Think of these metal screws, nuts and bolts, traveling at between three and 6,000 meters per second, which puts that speed in the low team. Faster than a speeding bullet.

And the idea that these officers were close enough to that device, chased these individuals down as one of them tossed one of those devices at them. The fact that the bomb squad people, two detectives and a sergeant, arrived there and managed to get into a render safe procedure on the street and recover those devices intact, bring them to the range, and recover --

COOPER: Yes.

MILLER: -- one intact so that they could get that sample to determine it was TATP. A lot of courage, and I have to say a lot of luck that those devices didn't function.

COOPER: Yes. John Miller, thank you. New episode of my podcast, All There Is, has just been released. This week my guest is Robert Irwin. He was just two years old when his father, Steve Irwin, died, known as the Crocodile Hunter. He was killed by a stingray while diving.

Robert shares memories of his dad, who he says is kind of like Indiana Jones in his memory. He talks about not hearing his dad's motorbike around Australia Zoo anymore and how he started to use some of his dad's items, his clothes, and got his watch working again, a son sharing his grief.

[21:00:09]

You can listen to the full conversation wherever you get your podcast or starting right now. You can watch the entire episode at CNN.com/AllThereIs. That's where you can also watch my new streaming show about loss. All There Is live this Thursday at 9:15 p.m. Eastern time. But check out Robert Erwin. It's a great podcast available wherever you get your podcast right now.

The news continues. The Source with Kaitlan Collins starts now.