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Homemade Bombs Tossed at Home of Zohran Mamdani?; Iran War Causing Skyrocketing Oil Prices. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired March 09, 2026 - 13:00   ET

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

[13:00:02]

DANA BASH, CNN HOST: The plaque was installed without notice in the wee hours of Saturday morning.

Quote: "On behalf of a grateful Congress, this plaque honors the extraordinary individuals who bravely protected and defended this symbol of democracy on January 6, 2021. Their heroism will never be forgotten."

Never forgotten and maybe never seen by most people, because it hangs in an area of the people's chamber where the general public isn't usually allowed. Just a reminder, it took 1,088 days for this plaque to be installed due to GOP obstruction.

On his first day in office last year, President Trump issued pardons to more than 1,500 charged or convicted in connection with the insurrection, including those who attacked police. More than 140 police officers were assaulted that day. Five died afterwards.

Thanks for joining INSIDE POLITICS.

"CNN NEWS CENTRAL" starts right now.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: We are following multiple breaking headlines this hour.

Right now, oil prices are skyrocketing across the globe as the escalating war in the Middle East fuels the biggest oil disruption in history. Americans are now paying 50 cents more a gallon of gas on average than they were just 10 days ago, when this war started.

And despite the soaring prices, President Trump is calling it a -- quote -- "very small price to pay for peace." In the meantime, the Israeli military says it's begun a wide-scale wave of strikes across Iran. Our CNN team reporting from inside Tehran says they heard several thuds across the capital shortly after dawn.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: In neighboring Bahrain, an Iranian drone attack targeting an oil refinery injured dozens. And now Tehran is warning that it has -- quote -- "many surprises in store."

We also have some new video from inside Iran showing large crowds gathered and pledging allegiance to the newly appointed supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, the second son of the former supreme leader who was killed in the U.S. airstrikes.

U.S. anchor Erin Burnett -- CNN anchor, I should say, Erin Burnett is live for us in Tel Aviv, Israel.

Erin, what is the latest where you are?

ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: Well, you all talk about the uptick, that we do understand there's a significant uptick going on as we speak, according to Israeli forces, in terms of sites that they are hitting across Tehran.

We also had Gulf nations reporting fresh aerial attacks today. They are accusing Iran of escalating the conflict with those retaliatory strikes, whether by drone or ballistic missile, across the region, although none have joined the fight themselves. And that's very significant.

It does come after Iran's president said Tehran would stop attacking its neighbors, as you mentioned, and then obviously that then it was an uptick. Then you had the confirmation of a new supreme leader, the Ayatollah Khamenei. Well, that's what he is. He's also the son of Ayatollah Khamenei. And then those attacks continued.

I will also say here -- and I'm with Jeremy Diamond here in Tel Aviv -- we did see a noticeable uptick in siren warnings and missiles over the afternoon as the day continued here.

And we went to the site of one of them, Jeremy, with these clusters. I know you have been looking at that, but the cluster munitions that Iran has seemed to be using...

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Yes.

BURNETT: ... that we saw, and it did come down over a suburban area, one piece, right? It's large missiles, but one piece came down and hit a construction site, killing construction workers.

And that's the sort of completely, in a sense, random, but the reality on the ground here of what those missiles can do.

DIAMOND: And, today, we kind of took a new step with regards to these cluster munitions, because this does appear to have been the first fatality as a result of one of these clusters.

And, again, these are within the head of the missile that is being shot up from Iran, a ballistic missile, but it's then spreading out into something like 24 different smaller bombs that have...

BURNETT: Twenty-four, wow.

DIAMOND: Twenty-four in some of these missiles that have somewhere between five and 10 kilograms of explosives, so relatively small compared to the ballistic missiles that can have half-a-ton to a ton of explosives.

So we're not seeing the same huge craters as a result of these, but we are seeing that they are spreading out over large civilian areas. And, today, two people were seriously injured, one person was killed as a result of these missiles. We also saw today more missiles being fired from Hezbollah, including right here towards the center of Israel.

One of those missiles appear to have gotten through Israel's air defenses, hit an area near the town of Ramla in Central Israel, not far from the airport here.

BURNETT: Yes.

DIAMOND: And so we're continuing to see that Iran and Hezbollah are finding ways to get through Israel's air defenses, even if not with the same kind of devastating impact that we saw at the beginning of this war or in previous wars.

BURNETT: Right.

Of course, we're watching very carefully to see what shifts and when now that there is a new supreme leader who, while there may be many questions about who backed him coming in, now has the full public backing of all the powers that be in Iran, but, most importantly, the IRGC, the Revolutionary Guard Corps.

[13:05:09]

DIAMOND: That's right.

He was viewed as someone who was already very close to the IRGC before he came into power, had already been involved in security discussions under his father's rule before. And it's also, I think, important to keep in mind what -- the kind of personal impact that he may have in ruling now.

He lost his wife, his mother, another sibling, I believe, his father, of course, in those opening Israeli strikes.

BURNETT: And his own son, I believe.

DIAMOND: Yes.

And so what kind of impact is that going to have on the new ruler of Iran? Put the politics and everything else aside, just the personal impact. Does that impact the way that he makes decisions going forward? And, of course, he's also someone who is now newly in power, going to try and desperately stay in power.

As far as the Israeli perspective is concerned, the foreign minister, Gideon Sa'ar, was asked by our own Bianna Golodryga today whether he is now on the target list. He said, you're going to have to wait and see for that.

BURNETT: Yes. I mean, and that, of course, is the huge question of what happens next, and Iran juxtaposing those images of obviously the crowds that they want people to see, and that while that does not reflect so much of Iran, it does reflect some of Iran...

DIAMOND: Absolutely.

BURNETT: ... who are celebrating the fact that they have a new supreme leader.

All right, Jeremy Diamond, thank you very much.

And, Boris and Brianna, sort of, I think, what Jeremy said does capture the incredible instability of this moment, not just the oil prices that you say that have the entire world on edge about what the impact might be here, but also that we simply do not know what the impact of this new supreme leader is going to be on Iran's actions, which is why I mentioned the uptick that we saw today.

It may have nothing to do with it, right? It may just have already been sort of plugging through the system, but we're watching every indicator we can to see what his leadership is going to mean for what's next in the war.

SANCHEZ: And how he handles the Strait of Hormuz, where so many of that petroleum flows through.

Erin, we will go back to you throughout the afternoon.

As she noted, we have been watching oil prices all day. They almost hit $120 a barrel overnight before reports surfaced that Western leaders would be meeting on ways to address the spike, but the skyrocketing rise in oil prices is a potential crisis with few simple solutions.

KEILAR: One idea to help ease the economic pain is releasing oil from national strategic reserves.

Let's talk about this now with industry analyst Andy Lipow, who's the president of Lipow Oil Associates.

Andy, first off, just kind of broadly here, how high can oil prices go, and for how long do you think we're talking about here?

ANDY LIPOW, PRESIDENT, LIPOW OIL ASSOCIATES: Well, thanks very much for having me.

I think that if the conflict goes on for another three to four weeks, you could see crude oil prices hit $120 per barrel, near what they hit overnight. And, of course, that's going to take gasoline and diesel prices up with it. The longer the conflict goes on, the greater the supply disruption.

And you're already seeing that, because tankers can't load in the Middle East, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, and Iraq have all had to cut production.

SANCHEZ: Andy, I also wonder what your reaction is to news that after the G7 countries met, France's finance minister said they were not ready to release strategic oil reserves yet. Do you think that eventually might have to happen? LIPOW: I think it will have to happen as long as the conflict goes

on, because it's very difficult to make up a shortfall of 20 million barrels a day of crude oil and refined products coming through the straits.

And the release of Strategic Petroleum Reserves is only going to play a small role in overcoming the large deficit that's occurring.

KEILAR: And last week, Andy, President Trump announced this plan to ensure oil tankers passing through the strait, even promising that if necessary, the navy could escort them. How does that affect things? And is that realistic?

LIPOW: Well, we're waiting to see the details of the insurance program for these tankers.

I believe that there's always some amount of tanker operator owners that will take the reinsurance and go through the Strait of Hormuz. But, right now, nothing is really happening and the tanker movements are still at a virtual standstill.

SANCHEZ: We're seeing South Korea imposing its first fuel cap in almost 30 years. Do you anticipate that if the conflict extends several more weeks we might see more of that?

LIPOW: Well, I think you will see more of that in countries outside of the United States, in Canada and perhaps Europe.

What is also concerning is you're seeing countries like China and Thailand who are now restricting their exports, and that, of course, reduces refined product supply to other nations that need it.

KEILAR: And this idea that the Trump administration is saying, in the long term, this is actually going to be good for energy prices, for energy production and what we are going to be paying, is that true?

[13:10:11]

LIPOW: I don't think so. I think, after the conflict ends, we might see oil prices decline substantially, but probably not to pre-conflict levels of $67 per barrel for WTI.

I think one of the issues is, even when the conflict ends, it's going to take several weeks to restore production throughout the Middle East, and those refineries that have been damaged by drone attacks, it may be weeks or months before they return to full operating service.

SANCHEZ: Andy Lipow, thank you so much for sharing your expertise. Appreciate you joining us.

LIPOW: Thanks for having me.

SANCHEZ: Still to come: President Trump says he and Israel alone will decide when the war with Iran is over. We will take you live to the White House for the latest there. Plus, new video appears to confirm a U.S. strike on an Iranian base

adjacent to an elementary school where Iran says over 180 people were killed. What the administration is saying about this.

KEILAR: And, this hour, we remember Army Sergeant Benjamin N. Pennington. The Pentagon says he died on Saturday after he sustained injuries during that attack -- during an attack last week in Saudi Arabia.

Pennington was 26 years old. He was originally from Glendale, Kentucky. And his death brings the total number of U.S. troops killed in the Iran war to seven.

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[13:15:39]

KEILAR: President Trump just posted on TRUTH Social that he will be holding a news conference this afternoon at 5:30.

The U.S.-Israel war with Iran is now entering its second week, and President Trump says he and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will decide when the war ends. But he says Washington will ultimately have the final say. The president also says he will have the final say on who will lead Iran, warning that any new supreme leader won't last long without U.S. approval.

CNN's Kristen Holmes is at the White House for us.

Kristen, did the president clarify what conditions have to be met for him to end the war?

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: No, he didn't.

And that's one thing that we know lawmakers, as well as us reporters, have been asking, and it might come up at that press conference today in Doral. This is the first time he's giving an official press conference since he launched these attacks on Iran.

So there will be members of the media there, a lot of them, to be able to ask questions. He's taken some questions from the pool. He's given some statements, but this is the first time it's been billed as an actual press conference. Here's what we know, what President Trump has said.

He has said that there are four major objectives that they want to achieve before the end of the war, before they will actually put an end to this. But some of these objectives are hard to quantify, for example, eradicating nuclear ambition in Iran.

So that is the specifics that we have been trying to get to the bottom of. And, again, these lawmakers, they have been briefed by the top Trump administration officials. They came out of that briefing saying the same thing, that it wasn't clear what the actual endgame was here. And this is what he said directly when he did one of these kind of

one-off interviews, President Trump. He said, "We have been talking," him and Netanyahu, "and I will make a decision at the right time, but everything is going to be taken into account."

I mean, that's pretty big, Brianna. Like, I mean, everything's going to be taken into account. We have these objectives. They're hard to quantify. What exactly does that mean in terms of how long this is going to go? Something that Americans care deeply about.

KEILAR: And, Kristen, Iran has named the late ayatollah's son as its new supreme leader. Has the president said whether that's an acceptable figure to him?

HOLMES: Well, he had said before they even named him that that would be unacceptable to him.

Then he was interviewed by FOX and he said that he was -- quote, unquote -- 'not happy." Now, of course, you mentioned what the other part of that was. He said that no leader, no interim leader is going to last long without U.S. approval.

The one thing to keep in mind here is, President Trump has continued to compare Iran and the leadership structure in Iran to what we saw in Venezuela, this idea that there was someone kind of waiting in the wings who was -- had all the government experience, who had the backing there, who would work with the United States, that doesn't exist in Iran.

So, even though this is a model that has worked in Venezuela with Delcy Rodriguez, who, of course, was Maduro's vice president, now has taken over as acting president, and is working with the U.S., that doesn't really have a shape in Iran.

And anyone that the United States was looking at, President Trump has admitted, is likely dead because of all of the strikes. So it's very unclear how they believe that the Venezuela model would fit into Iran, the other part of this, of course, being the fact that Iran has this faith-based system.

So the idea of unconditional surrender and that kind of thing are not things that would be conducive to the situation in Iran. So, again, that is how President Trump has couched us, that he wants a similar situation. But the landscapes are so vastly different, it doesn't seem like that's even remotely possible.

KEILAR: Yes, definitely not apples to apples.

Kristen Holmes, live for us the White House, thank you so much.

Coming up: Improvised explosive devices outside the New York mayor's home are being investigated as ISIS-inspired terrorism. The investigation led FBI agents to a home in Bucks County, Pennsylvania.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is the FBI. We have a warrant. All occupants come out through the front door with his hands up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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[13:24:04]

SANCHEZ: We're following breaking news.

Two men are now facing charges of providing material support to a terrorist organization and using a weapon of mass destruction after two homemade bombs were tossed during New York City protests. This all happened Saturday near Mayor Zohran Mamdani's home.

CNN's Gloria Pazmino is outside police headquarters for us.

Gloria, what more are you learning?

GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Boris, we're expecting to hear from the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York and police Commissioner Jessica Tisch in just a few short while, but we are learning more about the charges that Emir Balat, 18 years old, and Ibrahim Kayumi, 19 years old, the two men who traveled to New York City from Pennsylvania to participate in those counterprotests.

They will be facing federal terrorism charges. They are accused of providing material support to a terrorist organization and of using weapons of mass destruction. We also are expecting to learn about additional charges in just a short while.

[13:25:06]

Now, these two men were arrested on Saturday following those protests. It was a protest that was organized by a right-wing influencer dubbed as an anti-Muslim protest outside the gates of Gracie Mansion, the mayoral residence here in New York City.

And that protest attracted a counterprotest. And once you had those two groups in there, there were a lot of back-and-forth between the two groups. At one point, the protesters pepper-sprayed the other group. And it was then that the counterprotesters launched these homemade devices into the crowd.

Now, we have learned more about what was inside these devices, Commissioner Jessica Tisch saying earlier that they were made of glass, nails, screws and bolts, and that, if they had detonated, they had the potential to cause serious injury and even death to people around them, the material inside those devices expected to act as shrapnel.

It was also found to have had explosive material inside of them. So had these devices ignited and exploded, this situation could have looked a lot worse.

Now these two men from Pennsylvania, 18 and 19 years old, facing federal charges. We also know that law enforcement was in Pennsylvania at the home suspected to be the home of one of the two suspects. They carried out a search warrant there yesterday.

And we are expecting to learn more about exactly what law enforcement is describing as an ISIS-inspired attack. We need to learn more about exactly what they mean by that, how the suspects were allegedly inspired by ISIS, and whether or not they were actually recruited or radicalized by ISIS, or if this is more of what we have seen in recent years where suspects become radicalized on their own through social media, online materials and that sort of thing.

So we expect to learn more about those federal charges, the mayor condemning those protests earlier today and thanking the NYPD. He and his wife were not at home at the time of the incident and no one was injured -- Boris.

SANCHEZ: Gloria Pazmino live for us in New York, thank you so much.

Ahead on CNN NEWS CENTRAL: a new warning for U.S. government employees working in Saudi Arabia, as the conflict with Iran escalates.

That story is coming up.

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