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Several Gulf Arab Nations Feel Impact Of U.S.-Israel War With Iran; Georgia Voters Decide Who Will Replace Marjorie Taylor Greene; Aramco: "Catastrophic" For Oil Markets If Strait Remains Blocked. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired March 10, 2026 - 07:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:30:15]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, breaking news. CNN's Fred Pleitgen is on the ground in Iran where the CNN team felt -- I mean, literally felt -- it was shaking -- they felt heavy bombardment overnight.

Now a reminder that CNN operates in Iran with the permission of the Iranian government, but we maintain full editorial control over what we report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It was a very kinetic night here in the Iranian capital of Tehran. We ourselves witnessed several waves of what appeared to be very heavy airstrikes. And the building that we're in right now and that we're staying in was shaken on several occasions from the sheer force of the impacts.

Now from our vantage point it appeared as though especially targets in the east of Tehran were being attacked and also possibly around Mehrabad Airport, which is in the west of Tehran. It's actually an area that has been attacked in the past as well.

All this as the airstrikes conducted mostly by the U.S. and Israel continue not just here in Tehran but, of course, throughout this entire country.

Meanwhile, the political standoff also continues as well. President Trump, of course, saying that he vows to keep the Strait of Hormuz open for oil shipments into the world markets, whereas the Iranians are warning that they are the ones who control the Strait of Hormuz.

A source close to the Iranian government telling me that the Iranians are the ones who control the taps of the world's oil supply. They say that Iran is even thinking of imposing duties on ships carrying oil that are affiliated with countries friendly to the United States.

At the same time, the Iranians are saying also at this point in time they see no sense in negotiations with the United States and are preparing for what could be a long war. Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Tehran.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Fred Pleitgen on the ground in Iran for us. Fred and his team, thank you so much for your continued reporting there. We'll bring it to you as he can send it out.

There's also new video we want to show you from northern -- coming in from northern Iraq in the Kurdish region there. Eyewitness video shows a massive fire burning near the UAE consulate. This is after three drones were reportedly shot down.

Also new video is coming in from Dubai -- really over the beach in Dubai. Take a look at this showing a fighter jet firing a missile at what appears to be an Iranian done. The video though ends before we see whether that missile makes impact.

CNN's Paula Hancocks is live in Abu Dhabi for us this morning. What's the very latest that you're picking up from there?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well Kate, we've had an emergency alert here in Abu Dhabi in the last sort of 10 minutes or so. We understand from authorities that there is a fire at a facility in an industrial area of Abu Dhabi. They say as far as they know at this point there are no casualties. We did hear as well a number of hours ago early this morning maybe up to 10 interceptions overhead.

So it is continuing. No let up in the retaliation from Iran at this point certainly when it comes to the UAE.

And that video I want to refer to Kate is really quite remarkable. The fact that you do see the fighter jet trying to take down a drone over a beach in Dubai notable as well because you see people on that beach in Dubai. It really brings it home that here in the UAE there is great trust in the military that they are going to manage to intercept these drones and these missiles and so you do see people still carrying on with life as usual.

But the UAE has been remarkably targeted in this retaliation. It appears to be far more projectiles than anyone else in the region, including, it appears, Israel, which along with the United States started this war. Now these are yesterday's figures, so we know that they are higher. But there's some 253 missiles, 1,400 drones-plus that have been fired in just the last 10 days. That's not counting what we have heard this morning. Really remarkable.

And then also this UAE consulate in Erbil in Iraq that's I think the all-clear for the previous emergency alert here in Abu Dhabi. But the UAE consulate in Erbil, in Iraq, appears to have been targeted as well showing that UAE assets across the Gulf and the Middle East are potentially a concern at this point.

We've heard from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs saying that there has been no casualty. They believe no damage. But they have asked Kurdistan authorities to look into this and find out exactly what had happened because clearly that is of concern to them.

[07:35:00]

But we are seeing the Gulf nations continuing to be targeted by Iran, none more so than the United Arab Emirates at this point. Worth pointing out though the military has intercepted well over 90 percent of what Tehran has thrown at them so far -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: Paula Hancocks, Abu Dhabi -- in Abu Dhabi for us. Thank you so much, Paula -- Sara.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: All right.

New this morning the Iranian women's national soccer team is stuck in Australia and a source telling CNN no country is willing to facilitate their travel back home. Two more members of the team, a player and a coach, have just requested asylum there following the Asian Cup tournament. Five other teammates were granted humanitarian visas earlier after fleeing their hotel yesterday.

There are fears the team may face severe punishment in Iran after they did not sing their national anthem before their first match last week. On Sunday, supporters surrounded their bus and chanted "Save our girls."

President Trump posted online in support of the players and spoke with Australia's prime minister who said he's ready to help all the players on that team -- John.

BERMAN: All right, continuing to keep our eye on oil prices right now. You can see $88 a barrel, which is down seven percent. This is down pretty substantially from the highs yesterday, which reached $120. And I bring this up because this as much as anything may be the factor that determines the end of this conflict.

President Trump saying it's "very complete" yesterday after that big spike in oil prices. That the war could be "very complete".

With us now Holly Dagres, senior fellow at -- on Iran and U.S. policy at the Washington Institute, and retired Army Brigadier General Steve Anderson.

General, I just want to start with you here. If, as the president said, this conflict is very complete, if they were to say this week hey, we're basically done here. This is a map of all the strikes -- the U.S. and Israel strikes on Iran. The Iranian strikes all over the Gulf. But if it is over or soon to be over, what's been achieved?

BRIG. GEN. STEVE ANDERSON, U.S. ARMY (RET.): Well, thank you, John, for having me.

I think the only thing that we've achieved is we've achieved our military objectives, but obviously we have yet to achieve our political objectives. I mean, we actually have a more radicalized ayatollah now in control of the country than we did before, you know. So I think this war will last really as long as Donald Trump wants it.

I mean, he can wake up tomorrow morning and declare victory and say that's it or he can extend it longer and try to take our more military targets.

But that's essentially what they're doing is they're just degrading the military capability to project power to the other -- you know, to the UAE, to the GCC, and others. And they're just trying to extend that as long as they possibly can.

But the military objectives, John, were never in doubt. We knew from the very beginning that we were going to achieve that. The political is much, much more difficult and we've got a long way to go.

BERMAN: Let's talk a little bit more about the political, Holly, because obviously, the Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, now the supreme leader and the son of the now slain former supreme leader in Iran, and the Islamic Republic is still carrying out some kind of military activity.

I just wanted to highlight this right here because there were missiles that were shot toward Turkey. I'm putting a blast there. They did not land. They were shot down. But this did perhaps spur the United States to remove some diplomats from near the Incirlik Air Base. It's a key NATO air base inside Turkey.

So again, politically, if, you know Khamenei is still in power, if the Islamic Republic is still able to shoot missiles around the region, what -- where does that leave things if it were to end this week?

HOLLY DAGRES, SENIOR FELLOW, IRAN AND U.S. POLICY, THE WASHINGTON INSTITUTE, CURATOR, THE IRANIST SUBSTACK (via Webex by Cisco): Well, if it were to end this week it would mean that the Islamic Republic is still very much in power. It would mean that they would declare victory because the fact that it was able to survive -- yes, the supreme leader was killed but his son took over -- that would suggest that in their view they could declare victory. That this -- that they had won this war.

I know that might not look on a military front like that but to them the optics that they were able to fire all these drones and ballistic missiles around the region, that they were able survive, this itself could be declared a victory.

And I think we should also acknowledge the fact that there is still very much a security presence on the streets of Iran. They are making arrests. There is a fear of a massive crackdown. We had unprecedented executions last year -- more than 2,100 -- the highest since the 1980s. And I imagine the repression will be much, much worse after this war but also after the unprecedented massacre in response to anti-regime uprising.

So I would say that it has only created a worse situation for the Iranian people if the Islamic Republic were to survive.

BERMAN: Um, General, one of the key issues right now is the Strait of Hormuz. This is where so much of the world's oil supply passes through. About 20 percent passes through this area. Not much of it goes to the United States but much of it goes to Asia. It is having global implications. And the shipping traffic -- this is another map here. You can see basically nothing passing through this area.

[07:40:08]

Now, the president has said that he wants to secure this. If the United States were to make an effort to secure the straits militarily, what would that entail?

ANDERSON: I think, John, that would be a disaster. I mean, I'm assuming that he's talking about some kind of a ground incursion to the -- to the shorelines around -- in Iran, you know, to try to take control.

I mean, there's lots of asymmetric threats that would be coming from that area. You know, you've got speedboats. You've got -- you can mine the channel. You can sink oil tankers. You can -- you can try to destroy the navigation system, the buoy markers. They can flood the zone with drones, you know. They can do all those things.

I think the smart move here is to simply escort the tankers. The military -- the Navy has incredible capability. The Phalanx system is on all their destroyers. The Phalanx system is essentially a Gatling gun that they've used many, many years. It's extremely successful. It can knock out anything bigger than a soccer ball that tries to come to those oil tankers. I think that's the smart move.

I used those systems, by the way, in Afghanistan and Iraq. We called them C-RAMs (counter rocket, artillery, and mortar). They're extremely effective.

The right answer here is not to invade Iran or put boots on the ground. The right answer is to escort the tankers.

BERMAN: All right.

General Anderson, Holly Dagres, thank you so much for being with us this morning -- appreciate it -- Sara.

SIDNER: All right. Thank you to you, John.

All right. Now back here in the U.S., today voters in northwest Georgia are picking former Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene's replacement. Greene resigned in January amid a growing public rift with President Trump.

At one point, 22 candidates filed to run in this race. After a handful of withdrawals, the contenders include 12 Republicans and three Democrats all competing on the same ballot. If no one wins a majority today the top two vote-getters head to a runoff next month.

Joining us now is Tia Mitchell, Washington bureau chief for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. So there are all these people on this ballot. That is a lot of human beings on a ballot for people to try to figure out who they want to vote for. Is there any which one of them that is gaining traction at the moment?

TIA MITCHELL, WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT, THE ATLANTA JOURNAL- CONSTITUTION (via Webex by Cisco): So I think, of course, Clay Fuller, who is a former district attorney in the area, gained a lot of traction by being endorsed by President Trump. So he's -- of all the Republicans on the ballot he's the only one whose campaign literature says at the very top "Trump endorsed" and he's hoping to ride that to the runoffs most likely because this race is very likely to go to a runoff.

But I will say there's another candidate, a Republican, and his name is State Senator -- former State Senator Colton Moore. His state Senate district was within this congressional district, so a lot of voters already know him. He has a lot of grassroots support because he kind of had a reputation as being a firebrand -- someone willing to go toe-to-toe not just with Democrats but with fellow Republicans when he was in the state legislature.

So there are a lot of people who like that about Colton Moore kind of in the same way that they liked it about Marjorie Taylor Greene when she was first elected. So the question is that grassroots support enough to lift Colton Moore to the runoff even without Trump's endorsement? He is still very Trumpy.

Virtually every Republican on the ballot -- they are campaigning on a pro-Trump agenda. But again, Clay Fuller is the only one who has Trump's actual endorsement.

SIDNER: Yeah. So it sounds like the firebrand that MTG was and then sort of started to change and then went up against Donald Trump -- it sounds like the voters in her district actually want someone like the MTG that she was at the very beginning. Is that how you're seeing this?

MITCHELL: You know, I think that is something that we'll be listening a lot to voters today as they head to the polls.

I think one important point is this is a special election. It's the only thing on the ballot so we expect turnout to be really low. So what the candidates have been focusing on is getting their people to the polls because a lot of this race is going to be decided about whose people are the most enthusiastic and energized to make it to vote today. And it is a little rainy, you know, in the area --

SIDNER: Yeah.

MITCHELL: -- and things like that.

That being said, I think what people loved about Marjorie Taylor Greene was they always trusted she would speak her mind. They always trusted that she was very loyal to Trump until, you know, their split at the end. And they trusted that she was a true MAGA. [07:45:00]

But we always would hear voters say, you know, sometimes we don't agree with her approach. We don't agree with everything she says but we respect that she's willing to say it.

I think the question is does Colton Moore have that or is he perceived as even more problematic again because the difference between Colton Moore and Marjorie Taylor Greene was yes, she would say her mind, but her reputation was never as -- he's a lot more pugilistic in approach, I would say, particularly towards fellow Republicans. He literally got banned from the Georgia House floor --

SIDNER: Right.

MITCHELL: -- that was led by fellow Republicans at one point.

So it was much more confrontational with Colton Moore with his fellow party members. We don't know if that turns people off in his district or again that energizes him and to what extent.

SIDNER: Let me ask you about something that Marjorie Taylor Greene said because of some of the reporting that you've done. First, let's just let people listen to what she said about Trump's war on Iran.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE, (R) FORMER U.S. REPRESENTATIVE FROM GEORGIA: Not what we voted for, Megyn. It is absolutely America last. It's the same bullshit we've seen for decades now.

And I don't think the president is being tongue-in-cheek. I know that man very well. And he repeatedly and repeatedly says he's not going to heaven the same way he repeatedly says that he's like what do you think, should I run for president again? You know, I think that started out as we can take it as a joke, but I don't think he's joking.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: So I -- you did a piece in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on how Georgia Republicans feel about Trump's war on Iran. Are they leaning towards Marjorie Taylor Greene or is it the opposite?

MITCHELL: So Republicans, as we know by polling, by and large are willing to trust what Trump says and give him time to justify this war in Iran. So among Republicans a lot of them -- the majority of them say hey, I'm supporting the strikes because Trump says they were needed. We're even seeing that as we talk to Republican elected officials, but even Republicans on the ground.

That being said, the gas prices are concerning and I think the boots -- possible boots on the ground are also concerning to voters from both parties.

SIDNER: Tia Mitchell, it's great to have you here. Thank you so much -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: Team USA coming up big at the World Baseball Classic in a nailbiter against Mexico.

Andy Scholes has the highlights for us. Tell me more.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Hey, I'll tell you what. It is so much fun having meaningful baseball games to watch in March. This was such a good one last night in Houston. A sellout crowd of more than 41,000 on hand to watch it.

Team USA was looking to stay undefeated, and they had a big third inning against Mexico. Aaron Judge going opposite field here to get the U.S. on the board. That made it 2-0. Then four batters later the Red Sox young star Roman Anthony crushed this one for a 3-run homerun. And Paul Skenes on the mound just mowing people down. He struck out seven in four scoreless innings.

Now, Anthony's Boston teammate Jarren Duran made this game interesting. He homered twice, once in the sixth and then in the eighth. Mexico got the tying run to the plate but the U.S. able to get the ground out here to end it.

USA wins 5-3 to improve to 3-0. They can secure a spot in the quarterfinals this weekend if they can beat Italy tonight.

All right. In the NHL last night the Kings and Blue Jackets continue to fight for a playoff spot. Adrian Kempe coming up big in the clutch scoring here in overtime to win it for L.A. 5-4. The Kings one point out of the last wildcard spot right now in the West.

All right, in the NBA, meanwhile, the league canceling the Hawks planned Magic City Monday night promotion. So the team had planned to celebrate Atlanta's Magic City strip club when they host the Magic next Monday. They said it was going to be a tribute to the iconic cultural institution. They were going to sell the club's lemon pepper wings and sell Magic City Hawks merchandise.

But in a statement on canceling the promotion, NBA commissioner Adam Silver said, "We have heard significant concerns from a broad array of league stakeholders, including fans, partners, and employees. I believe canceling this promotion is the right decision for the broader NBA community."

Now, Sports Center's Luke Kornet had petitioned the league to cancel the promotion last week saying it was inappropriate.

The Hawks said they were disappointed in the decision but respect the league's decision. They said -- the team also said they are still going to have rapper T.I. perform at halftime, Kate, and they are still going to sell the lemon pepper wings, but there's going to be no mention of Magic City and no merchandise sold.

BOLDUAN: Andy Scholes, thank you. Love me some T.I.

Berman, would you like to comment? BERMAN: Hey, everyone keeps their clothes on. I mean, I think they're going to still go forward with it but everyone fully clothed.

[07:50:00]

BOLDUAN: And you can have an opinion on if you're excited about that or disappointed all on your own.

BERMAN: Thank you very much.

We are standing by for a press conference from the Pentagon. Will the defense secretary stand by the president's claims that the war in Iran is "very complete"?

What about the president's unsubstantiated claims that Iran attacked its own school when the evidence points in a different direction?

And the search for a truck driver who flew by a school bus and narrowly missed two little girls at the bus stop.

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[07:55:23]

BOLDUAN: The world is keeping an eye on oil markets again today. Oil prices have fallen quite sharply since the wild highs of just about 24 hours ago all because of President Trump's latest comments that the war with Iran would be over very soon.

Still, we now have new comments from the CEO of the world's top oil exporter. Saudi Arabia's Aramco saying this morning that if the war continues there could be catastrophic consequences for oil markets, according to Reuters. The reason there, the fighting is essentially still left closed down the Strait of Hormuz, the channel that roughly 20 percent of the world's oil would normally pass through daily.

You can see -- we'll show you how traffic there has essentially come to a halt and left the White House to scramble to look for a solution while continuing to carry out its military operation and possibly now even talking about sending the U.S. Navy in to escort ships moving through.

Iran, they're responding, saying that they control the strait, with an Iranian source telling CNN's Fred Pleitgen, who is in Tehran, "We hold the screw of the global oil price in our hands."

Joining me right now is Tom Kloza. He's the chief energy adviser for Gulf Oil. Thanks for coming in, Tom. I really appreciate it.

This statement from Aramco that there could be catastrophic consequences for oil markets if this drags on and the strait remains essentially closed down, what in your view is going to change that short of this war completely ending?

TOM KLOZA, CHIEF ENERGY ADVISER, GULF OIL (via Webex by Cisco): I don't know. I mean, we need to get the strait reopened or else this just proves to be a break in prices and not a new trend. So, you know, you're talking about 16 million barrels a day of crude and probably five million barrels a day of refined products that exits the strait.

And, you know, this morning you've got an attack -- supposedly a drone attack on a refinery in United Arab Emirates that's almost a million barrels a day in capacity. You know, the world uses about 100 million barrels a day of fuel.

So it's still very, very dangerous over there and we really need to get an exit ramp or to get that strait secured right now, and it doesn't appear to be so.

BOLDUAN: Yeah.

I want to play what President Trump said just last night about the -- about the Strait of Hormuz and what he is proposing in terms of possibly sending in the U.S. Navy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: When the time comes, the U.S. Navy and its partners will escort tankers through the strait if needed. I hope it's not going to be needed but if it's needed, we'll escort them right through. If they play that game, we're going to hit them at level that they have not seen before.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: What are you hearing about this, I guess, promise? Are companies and shippers -- are they believing it? Are they banking on it?

KLOZA: Well, I think they'd like to believe it, and I think the insurance companies stand ready to resume underwriting some of the vessels going through there.

But I'll give you an idea of the problem here. This kind of action was used in the late '80s to escort ships through the strait during the Iran-Iraq War. Back then you didn't have all of this ordnance and all of these drones that were capable of knocking out vessels or knocking out billions of dollars of infrastructure in the Persian Gulf.

So I think market would like this to work. It may be that, you know, the Navy escorts are the only way to get through the Gulf. But it will take probably a week of quiet transit before the market calms down about it.

BOLDUAN: I was going to ask you, you know, if the war would end today how long does it take for everything to kind of normalize -- and it seems some time.

The wide range of just what we've seen in the last 24 hours, Tom -- can you just give some perspective on that? I mean, from the high of almost $120 a barrel to -- you know, to the low 80s. Like, what story does just that range --

KLOZA: Yeah.

BOLDUAN: -- tell?

KLOZA: It tells you that the entire oil market was untethered, and I think it's still untethered unfortunately. Yesterday we saw a $38.00 difference between the low of the night or the 24 hours and the high. That's more than you see in several years sometimes.

So there are people who want to believe on thing or another but, you know, it's going to take really mollifying some of the buyers and convincing some of the would-be sellers that it's safe to sell and we're not going to see this thing go untethered and get away again.

BOLDUAN: Tom Kloza, great to have you and your perspective on it. I really appreciate you taking the time in what I can imagine is quite a busy moment for you. Thank you -- John.