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War With Iran Escalates as U.S. Forces Attacked; Trump Warns There Will Likely be More Deaths of U.S. Troops; Sources Say, Authorities Probe Whether Austin Shooter was Motivated by Strikes on Iran. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired March 02, 2026 - 07:00   ET

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

[07:00:00]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: The breaking news, the war expands new airstrikes overnight in one country after another. We are standing by for the first Pentagon briefing of this conflict.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: Also breaking, officials say three U.S. fighter jets were accidentally shot down by Kuwaiti air defenses. The perils of war, what we're learning about the condition of the cruws.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Oil and natural gas prices are surging today. What does this spreading war with Iran mean for global energy supply?

I'm Kate Bolduan with Sara Sidner and John Berman. This is CNN News Central.

BERMAN: And the breaking news in what appears to be a widening war that the president now says could last four to five weeks. We are standing by for the first Pentagon briefing of this conflict. It comes after U.S. Central Command says three fighter jets were shot down by friendly fire from Kuwaiti forces. CENTCOM says all six crew members aboard the jets ejected, were safely recovered and are in stable condition.

Now, CNN geo-located video that appears to be an F-15 falling from the sky, the pilot parachuting out. There's also a video that appears to show a pilot safe on the ground after ejecting.

Now, the aircraft were F 15-Strike Eagle Fighter Jets, CENTCOM says, Kuwaiti air defenses mistakenly shot them down during active combat. That included attacks from Iranian aircraft, ballistic missiles and drones. The cause of the incident under investigation.

Now, CNN, following all the latest developments from around the globe, the White House, the Gulf, inside Saudi Arabia and Israel.

Let's start there. Our Nick Paton Walsh is in Tel Aviv with the very latest on the loss of three U.S. aircraft. That's a significant loss all at once, Nick.

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: It is startling to see three involved in a friendly fire incident like this, and I think it brings home the jeopardy that U.S. troops face as this conflict widens. Look, it's clear that CENTCOM is saying here this was an active combat area, likely it seems. So, if you interpret what they said, that Kuwaiti air defenses were engaging or engaging drones, missiles, other things at the time, and mistook these F-15s as legitimate targets too. That is essentially the consequence of the war that the United States is in here.

President Trump warned yesterday that there could potentially be more U.S. casualties. There's been three so far, and let's face it, this was clearly a near miss, all six crew ejecting safely and now being in a stable condition, having been recovered by the U.S. military.

We woke up on this Monday here in Tel Aviv again to sirens, sounds of distant booms, but across the region, normally peaceful civilian cities, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Doha, woken by explosions, hearing explosions and even the Saudi Arabia oil refineries, talking about how they had to take down two drones that were targeting.

And this Iranian retaliation after the U.S.-Israeli response continuing persistently over days in ways I think that many didn't really think was feasible. The question being ultimately now how much does Iran still have in its inventory to continue a regional barrage like this, drones, missiles, it seems, being used consistently, and indeed also too, who is in charge. We don't have a successor for the decades-long autocrat, the brutal Ayatollah Ali Khamenei who was killed by the United States over the weekend. As for the question ultimately is half suggestions by senior Iranian officials, the military units are acting on previous instructions, quite who's in charge and when this ends.

Israel itself in a widening conflict, the targeting of Tehran visible this morning, huge plumes of smoke around the Iranian capital. But to the north here in Israel late last night, the Iranian proxy militia, Hezbollah, in Lebanon, fired projectiles into Israel that were intercepted. And Israel has essentially taken the opportunity here that they've long sought to launch an onslaught now against what remains of the heavily weakened Hezbollah inside of Lebanon.

[07:05:04]

That is underway now. Targets in the south of the country being hit, population on the move, clearing out an area that some had just returned to after the war 18 months or so ago now. So, a region waking up to a broadening conflict and those startling images of U.S. pilots clearly in harm's way, but safe, I think, bringing home to those of you in the United States exactly the jeopardy now that this war is placing U.S. forces under. John?

BERMAN: It's a relief that they all appear to be doing well this morning. We should note that the estimates of costs on these F-15 Strike Eagle Jets range from anywhere from $30 million per unit all the way up to $100 million. So, this is expensive, this conflict, at this point.

Nick, thank you very much. Sara? SIDNER: All right, thank you, John.

We are standing by to hear from the president this morning. The president has yet to take a single question from reporters on camera since launching this major attack. Trump returned to the White House last night from his Mar-a-Lago club where he ordered the strikes. He didn't respond to questions from the press there. Trump did tell The New York Times in a brief phone interview yesterday, he expected, quote, quite a bit higher casualties than the three service members killed in action so far.

CNN's Kevin Liptak is at the White House with more on this. Kevin, a lot of people expecting to hear from the president, we are in such a large conflict now. What are you learning about when he might start taking questions on camera?

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes. And it's unusual for the normally very valuable president to not take questions on camera at this point. You know, we will see him in a few hours from now. He's participating in a Medal of Honor ceremony here at the White House. It doesn't seem likely that that would be a venue where he would take questions about this combat operation that he has ordered up.

We did see two videos that were recorded and edited by the White House, and, of course, the president has been taking questions over the telephone, providing in bits and pieces some of his justification and rationale for this conflict.

But some of his answers in these phone calls have been inconsistent. For example, he told one caller it could take two or three days if Iran agrees to a deal for this war to end. In another phone call, he said it could take four to five weeks. He told one caller that the objective in Iran was freedom for the people, but he told a different caller that he envisioned this to be something like a Venezuela situation, where the top leader is taken out, but the rest of the government remains in place.

He told The New York Times yesterday that he had, quote, three very good choices to lead Iran. He told A, B, C that his top choices to Iran had actually been killed. So, some inconsistencies in what the president is saying in all of this.

The one thing he has been relatively consistent on is that this will likely result in more American deaths. Listen to what he said in one of his videos on that particular point.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: Sadly, there will likely be more before it ends. That's the way it is, likely be more, but we'll do everything possible where that that won't be the case.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIPTAK: So, you hear him there, say that's the way it is. But, certainly, plenty of very serious questions remaining about what the legal rationale is, what the cost of this will be, and what President Trump's ultimate endgame looks like.

A number of people asking those questions are lawmakers. Of course, the president did not seek authorization from Congress before beginning this conflict. We do understand that the administration plans to brief the so-called Gang of Eight, that's Senate and House leaders, as well as leaders on the relevant committees. That's expected to happen today. The full House and the full Senate expected to get a briefing on this new conflict tomorrow. Sara?

SIDNER: Kevin Liptak, thank you so much. We will wait to see when the president starts taking questions publicly. We do appreciate your reporting there from the White House. Kate?

BOLDUAN: All right. And there's a lot more ahead for us, including lawmakers are expected to vote this week on a resolution requiring President Trump to seek approval of Congress in order to use any further military force. The House minority leader, the top Democrat in the House, one of that Gang of Eight that Kevin was just talking about, Hakeem Jeffries, is joining us this hour.

And officials in Austin, Texas, are looking into whether a mass shooting early Sunday morning may have been motivated by these attacks on Iran. New video into CNN just shows the moments that gunshots ring out. What we're learning about the suspect, more about him, this morning.

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BOLDUAN: All right. So, next hour, we have a Pentagon briefing we're standing by for, which will be the first time any member of the Trump administration has faced questions on camera since the military strikes began more than 48 hours ago. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Joint Chiefs Chairman General Dan Caine, they are expected to be briefing and speaking with reporters.

And ahead of that, to give you a sense, we can show you a map where the US and Israel have the -- where the U.S. and Israeli strikes have targeted in Iran so far. Tehran is in the north of the country where many of these strikes have clustered. And then also then we'll show you this map. This is a map of where a lot of, and generally speaking, Iran has hit back, retaliatory strikes, targeting many of Iran's Gulf neighbors and U.S. military bases in the region.

[07:15:00]

Israel, the UAE, Kuwait have all reported deaths.

Let's get over to CNN's National Security Correspondent Kylie Atwood now for much more on this. Kylie, what are you learning?

KYLIE ATWOOD, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, what we're all watching for is this briefing from the Pentagon that happens in the next hour here. It will be the first time that Trump administration officials have taken questions from reporters on camera since this military campaign began more than 48 hours ago now, Kate. And, obviously, one of the major questions that folks have is what was the compelling factor that led the United States to actually begin this campaign that started in the wee hours of Saturday morning, but also the timeline for what Americans can expect for how long this is actually going to last.

As you heard from Kevin earlier, President Trump has given differing timeframes for how long this is going to last in conversations by phone with some reporters over the weekend, but we have heard from him in multiple conversations that this will last for four to five weeks.

The question, of course, is how is this all going to conclude? What can the American people expect? I think it's worth noting that in addition to all of these retaliatory strikes that we have seen from the Iranians against U.S. assets in the region, and, of course, U.S. allies in the region, U.S. officials are also saying that there's the possibility of carrying out suicide attempts by the Iranians. So, they're watching for American facilities to see if that's possible according to a source familiar with the situation now with the planning.

When it comes to if there's a possibility of the Trump administration providing any more additional support to the Iranian people, given President Trump has called for them in his videos to rise up and take over now that the ayatollah has been killed by the U.S. and Israeli strikes, U.S. officials, the Trump administration are not being explicit in saying that they will or will not do that.

We did hear from Senator Cotton, who is a close ally of President Trump's, over the weekend. He spoke on CNN with Dana Bash, and what he said is that he would expect to see a very focused campaign by the United States against Iran's missile program and the assets of the Iranian regime's power, so those pillars of power.

He did not say there would be any additional support. He said hopefully they'll be able to degrade the regime to the ability so that they're no longer able to oppress their people. Whether or not a campaign by the heir is successful, fully and overthrowing the regime is a question that many experts have been raising over the weekend. Kate?

BOLDUAN: Yes. And add that to the list of many, many questions remain about all of this. Thank you so much, Kylie, I really appreciate it. Sara?

SIDNER: All right. Ahead, drones target one of Saudi Arabia's largest oil refineries as the conflict across the Middle East intensifies.

And a gunman opens fire in a popular part of Austin, Texas, killing two people and injuring more than a dozen others. Now, authorities is trying to figure out if that shooter was motivated by the strikes in Iran. Those stories and more ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BERMAN: This morning, police in Austin, Texas, along with the FBI, are investigating whether a deadly mass shooting there is connected to the U.S. war on Iran. This happened at a bar in the busy entertainment district. Authorities say the shooter was armed with a pistol and an assault rifle and started firing out of the window of his SUV.

Two people are dead, 14 others wounded. Police shot and killed the suspect.

CNN's Holmes Lybrand joins us now with the latest on this. What are the details? What are you learning?

HOLMES LYBRAND, CNN REPORTER: That's right, John. So, this individual, armed with a pistol, with a rifle, did end up shooting two individuals who died as well as 14 others.

Now, investigators are looking at whether there is a nexus in terms of the attacks on Iran. This individual was seen with a shirt that had the Iranian flag and there were other items that were found that kind of give investigators this potential idea that he may have been motivated by the recent attacks by the U.S. against Iran.

Now, something to kind of contextualize that is this individual also who, originally from Senegal, became a U.S. citizen in 2013, has had mental health issues and mental health instances with authorities in the state of Texas. That also could be part of this, and it is certainly part of the investigation.

Now, all of this also ties into the FBI and DHS really being on high alert for any potential attacks on U.S. soil inspired by the attack against Iran. We already have multiple assassination plots that have been foiled by Iranian government in the U.S. That's including against President Donald Trump twice, as well as his former secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, and his former national security adviser, John Bolton.

So, this is certainly something that investigators will continue to look into. It is something that they're very concerned about, especially in these early days after the attacks against Iran.

BERMAN: Yes, no question that security is increased in U.S. interests all around the world on a very heightened state of alert at this point.

Holmes Lybrand, thank you so much for that report. Bring us more information as it comes in. Thank you. Kate?

BOLDUAN: We are standing by for the Pentagon. The defense secretary and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs set to brief reporters and take questions after the weekend of attacks on Iran.

[07:25:05]

And new reporting, CNN witnessed flames and explosions at Iraq's Erbil Airport, one of the few places in Iraq where U.S. troops are still stationed. And new details about the U.S. weapons arsenal that the Trump administration is now unleashing on Iran.

We'll be right back.

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BOLDUAN: Breaking news this morning, we are awaiting a news conference next hour -- from the top of the next hour from the Pentagon, this after three U.S. Fighter jets were shot down by friendly fire from Kuwaiti forces. We've now learned this morning U.S. Central Command says all six crew members aboard those jets, they ejected, they were safely recovered, and are in stable condition.

[07:30:05]

CNN geo-located this video that appears to show an F-15 falling.