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U.S. and Israel Escalate Attacks Against Iran; Trump on Gas Prices, If They Rise, They Rise; Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-TX) Ends Reelection Bid Amidst Pressure from GOP. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired March 06, 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: Breaking this morning, gas prices have never been higher under President Trump, higher than what he took office, higher than at any point in either term. The consequences of the war on Iran as we get new reports of a new wave of attacks.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: Also breaking, Congressman Tony Gonzales dropping his reelection bid after admitting he cheated with a staffer who later took her own life, but he says he will stay in Congress as members of both parties call on him to resign now.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Three women have been found dead in two different locations in Utah. Now, a man is under arrest. Police say he confessed to the killings spree. The reason why, even more unsettling.

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

BERMAN: All right. The breaking news, as of this morning, gas prices have never been higher under President Trump in either term, more on that in just a moment. This is what is driving it, simply put, war.

New video of explosions lighting up the sky over Tehran. Residents there say it was the worst night of strikes on the capital. We're getting a better look at the destruction inside Iran. State media reports that a busy shopping district was hit, some of the attacks playing out on live T.V.

You can see there a loud explosion sent the reporter running for governor.

The Pentagon now is vowing to dramatically surge fire power over Iran. U.S. Central Command released video of a strike of an Iranian drone carrier.

Also, there are new images of the Sri Lankan Navy rescuing dozens of Iranian sailors who survived a U.S. torpedo attack on that warship in the Indian Ocean.

CNN is the first network, first American network, reporting from inside Iran. We will get there in just a moment. First to CNN's Nick Paton Walsh in Tel Aviv with the very latest. Good morning, Nick. NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Iranians waking up to what, as you said, there is some residents calling the worst night they've seen so far, our Fred Pleitgen in Tehran talking about heavy strikes before dawn. So, this perhaps the back end of what Israel announced yesterday, the 14th wave of strikes against Tehran. They say they've hit yesterday 2,600 targets so far.

And indeed this morning, an evacuation order for parts of the city have gone. Israel talking about the next phase of their war against Iranian targets being underway and saying surprises are potentially in store here. Iranian state media referring to about 3,000 residential buildings they say have been hit at this stage.

But at the same time too, U.S. officials have been saying yesterday that they are seeing a 90 percent drop in Iran's missile launches and an 83 percent drop in their drone launches, so clearly a suggestion from the Americans that this wave of attacks is seeing some kind of impact on Iran's ability to project abroad, while at the same time though, interestingly, again, we have another morning in which countries across the Gulf and prior to the conflict were suggesting the U.S. and Israel should not launch something like this or again, it seems, under some form of attack. Qatar, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia referring to interceptions around their territories and two residential buildings and a refinery hit in Bahrain.

At the same time, it's important to remind everybody we still do not have a new supreme leader in Iran. We are now heading into a week potentially since the killing of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and while there's been chatter about Iranian state media about this announcement being imminent, that's been going on for days.

President Trump has very publicly said he wants somebody in charge who he approves of. He wants to be involved in the decision-making process, an extraordinary suggestion, frankly, given it's normally done by 88 hard line senior clerics who've been trying to meet, it seems, over past days to get that done. But is this a political off- ramp? We don't know at this stage.

Separately, Israel has taken this opportunity and the remarkable move by Hezbollah in Lebanon to try and avenge the death of Khamenei to launch an exceptionally aggressive campaign to the north here.

[07:05:02]

Evacuation orders in Southern Beirut overnight, heavy airstrikes reported in that area of Dahieh, which is a traditional Hezbollah stronghold, and also to Southern Lebanon under a massive evacuation order as well. This is hundreds of thousands of civilians scared, on the move, worrying that the assault they saw in late 2024 may be even more intense this time around as well.

But, look, a region, I think, seeing now the unintended consequences of this conflict spiraling out and still the outstanding, extraordinary question amid ferocious airstrikes against Tehran, who is in charge in it, Tehran itself.

BERMAN: With so much going on in so many different locations.

Nick Paton Walsh and Tel Aviv, thank you very much for that report. Sara?

SIDNER: All right, thank you, John.

Also, breaking news, gas prices are the highest they have been at any point under either of President Trump's terms in office, surging today to an average of $3.32 a gallon. President Trump does not seem concerned about gas prices. In an interview, he said, if they rise, they rise.

CNN's Kevin Liptak joins us now from the White House. This is quite a turn from bragging about the prices and how low they were. What are you learning?

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes, a real shift in tone for the president who really used every public appearance over the last year to talk about his efforts to bring down the price of gas. Now, the price of gas going up 34 percent just in the last week.

The president sounding somewhat unconcerned. This is what he told Reuters. He says, I don't have any concern about it. They'll drop very rapidly when this is over, and if they rise, they rise, but this is far more important than having gasoline prices go up a little bit.

So, you know, a relatively nonchalant perspective from the president. I will tell you in this building behind me, there is an acute recognition that an increase in gas prices is going to pose quite a dire political problem for Republicans in this year's midterm elections where the issue of affordability, the cost of living issue had already proven to be an animating factor for voters.

You know, President Trump, it was just last week, a week ago today, he was in the Port of Corpus Christi talking about his energy agenda. Of course, we know at that point the president had already ordered this attack on Iran to begin. It has, you know, created a scramble, I think, at the White House to try and come up with ways to lower the price of gas, you know, obviously one of the most important, economic indicators.

You know, the price of oil also has this carry-on effect across all sorts of other issues, whether it's the price of airlines, whether it's heating. That's something the president has talked about frequently as well. You have heard the White House already announced a few ways that they're trying to bring these prices down, including U.S.-backed risk insurance for tankers. The president has also said that there could be naval escorts for tankers through the Strait of Hormuz, although it's not clear at this point how exactly that would work.

The president is ruling out at this point tapping the strategic petroleum reserve. But it's clear as this war goes on and the president has suggested that he doesn't have a specific endpoint in mind that this is going to continue to be a major, major issue for him and his advisers here at the White House. SIDNER: Yes. And you also have Iran threatening that if any vessels from the U.S. go through the Strait of Hormuz, they will try to shoot them down. It is a volatile situation and we're certainly seeing the repercussions in the market.

Kevin Liptak, thank you so much for your reporting there from the White House. Kate?

BOLDUAN: Some of the other breaking news overnight, Republican Congressman Tony Gonzales now says he is dropping out of his reelection bid after admitting to having an affair with a staffer who later died by suicide. The turn of events here has been quite something. We've got new details on what all led to it.

We're also learning more about how the soon to be former secretary of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem, lost the confidence of President Trump. The moment that sources say was the last straw.

And the Justice Department has posted overnight more documents, documents that had previously been missing from the Epstein files, documents containing allegations against President Trump.

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BOLDUAN: So, he is now dropping out after months of questions, and then a flood of pressure from his own party, Republican Congressman Tony Gonzales gave in, announcing late last night that he's ending his reelection bid after he finally admitted to and is now facing a Congressional investigation over having an affair with a staffer who later died by suicide.

CNN's Annie Grayer is tracking this one for us, and she joins us now. Annie, what more are you learning about this? This announcement came in late last night.

ANNIE GRAYERY, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Well, Kate, the situation became untenable once Congressman Gonzales admitted in an interview that he actually did have an affair with his former staffer while she was working for him, who later killed herself.

And this is an allegation that has been following Gonzales around for weeks, if not months, that he had been denying. And he had said that he was going to stay in his reelection bid. But once he came out and admitted to the affair, things happened really quickly. We're told that the number three Republican in the house, Tom Emmer, the majority whip, had a phone call with Republican Congressman Tony Gonzales to talk with him about how he had let the team down, and because so many people had endorsed Gonzales and were standing by him amidst these allegations.

[07:15:06]

And it was shortly after that phone call, we're told, that the House Republican leadership team together decided to put out a stunning statement calling for Gonzales not to seek reelection.

But notably, this statement did not call on Gonzales to resign immediately. But before we get to that, I want to just read a little bit because hours later, Gonzales put out his own statement announcing that he would not seek reelection. And Gonzales said, after deep reflection and with the support of my loving family, I've decided not to seek reelection while serving out the rest of this Congress with the same commitment I've always had to my district.

Now, Gonzales has said he's going to serve out the rest of his term, and that's a major question, because if the leadership team feels strongly enough that Gonzales shouldn't seek reelection, why would they want him to stay in Congress for the remainder of the term? And Republicans have a lot of questions about that. Of course, the health ethics investigation is going to continue into him as long as he remains in Congress.

BOLDUAN: Annie Grayer, thank you so much. I really appreciate the reporting. We'll see what else happens now. John?

BERMAN: All right. A man accused of killing three women expected in court today, how police were able to track him down.

And the dramatic rescue of a hiker lost for two days in the freezing cold.

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[07:20:00]

BERMAN: This morning, Kristi Noem is out as secretary of Homeland Security. President Trump says he will nominate Oklahoma Senator Markwayne Mullin to replace her. The president was said to be livid about a government-funded ad campaign that placed Noem front and center that she testified before Congress that he approved. He's denied that. She is the first cabinet's secretary to go in his second term.

With us now, CNN Chief Data Analyst Harry Enten. So, you know, look, we said there was a proximate cause there apparently, this ad campaign, but there were some other things going on, right?

HARRY ENTEN, CNN CHIEF DATA REPORTER: Yes. There were a lot of other things going on. The American people wanted her fired, they wanted her removed. She was a political nightmare for the president of the United States. I mean, just take a look at this, wanted Noem removed as DHS secretary, overall, last month, Quinnipiac University found the majority of Americans, 58 percent wanted to be adios amigos, goodbye, see you later. Among independents, you can see it right here, 62 percent of independents, we're talking more than three and five independents, want her kicked to the curb. So, Donald Trump here making the politically popular move because Americans were, simply put, sick of Kristi Noem.

BERMAN: And this was well before this testimony that was so controversial. All right, how about her approval rating, how has that tracked?

ENTEN: Yes, how has that tracked? Look, the idea that Kristi Noem is unpopular is not a new phenomenon. It's one that is dated all the way back to the beginning of Trump's second term. I mean, just take a look here. Okay, Kristi Noem's net popularity rating during Donald Trump's term, positive, none, zero, nada, none of the polls did she have a positive net approval rating. In all of the polls, she was underwater, swimming in the deep blue sea. She had a negative net popularity rating in every single poll conducted during Donald Trump's second term. Simply put, Americans did not like the job that she was doing as DHS secretary. And, recently, the clear majority of Americans, about three in five, wanted her kicked to the curb, fired, as I said, by Donald Trump. So, again, Trump doing what the American people wanted him to do.

BERMAN: You talk about her job as secretary of Homeland Security. The immigration efforts that the president has been pushing, in theory, largely fall under Homeland Security's umbrella. How has that effort been greeted by the American people lately?

ENTEN: Yes. This idea that Donald Trump could somehow contain Kristi Noem to just, you know, her own little part of the world, right, and it wouldn't affect him, that is political fantasy. Kristi Noem was hurting Donald Trump in office on his key -- one of his key top issues that got him elected president of the United States.

I mean, just take a look at Trump's net approval rating on immigration. You go back a little bit over a year ago, he was on the plus side of the ledger, look at that, two thumbs up, plus seven points. But, again, down he goes in large part because Kristi Noem's efforts, look at this, minus 17 points on the net approval rating on a key issue for Donald Trump, one that got him elected to his second term. And among independents, he went from plus three net approval on immigration all the way down to minus 30 points. I mean, my goodness gracious, on a key issue that independents had trusted Donald Trump on over Kamala Harris, and Krist Noem's efforts, simply put, killed, crushed Donald Trump on such a key issue for him.

BERMAN: Permission to touch the board here.

ENTEN: You can touch it.

BERMAN: All right, so she's out. The president's going to nominate Oklahoma Senator Markwayne Mullin. If he is confirmed, that means there will be an open Senate seat in Oklahoma. There's a process, it'll be filled for a time being, but it'll be on the ballot in November.

BERMAN: He's a Republican.

ENTEN: Yes.

BERMAN: Open seat. What are the chances that Republicans hold that seat? ENTEN: Yes. I think the best part of Trump nominating Markwayne Mullin for this seat is, you know, if you nominated somebody from, let's say a purple state, there might be the chance that Republicans could lose that race. That is not going to happen in Oklahoma.

Just take a look here at the Kalshi odds, right, prediction markets, chance that GOP wins the Oklahoma Senate race in 2026. Look at that, 95 percent chance. David Boren was the last Democrat elected from Oklahoma, and that was all the way back in 1990. Oklahoma is a red state and will continue to be red.

BERMAN: All right. Harry Enten, thank you very much. We got a lot of news developing. We'll be right back.

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SIDNER: Just in, new blast rocking Tehran as Israel ramps launches and broad-scale wave of strikes on Iran and Lebanon, and the U.S. now vowing to dramatically surge firepower over Iran.

At this point, let's talk about the cost of this war in Iran. It's costing U.S. taxpayers about $890 million per day, according to the latest analysis from the bipartisan group, the Center for Strategic and International Studies. They say war operations during the first 100 hours alone are estimated to have cost $3.7 billion.

Let's break those numbers down for you. Air operations are clocking in at $30 million per day. That's with over 200 fighter aircraft conducting missions. Naval maneuvers have surged during the operation. Each day, the fleet of battleships takes part in the war will incur another $15 million per day. Ground operations estimated at $1.6 million per day. The bombs, missiles, and artillery that we've seen so many videos of our estimated to have cost the government approximately $1.5 billion dollars in just the first 100 hours of this war.

[07:30:05]

And those interceptor units to stop Iranian missiles and drones, another one.