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Source Says Iran's New Supreme Leader Suffered Fractured Foot, Facial Lacerations on First Day of War; House Oversight Committee Deposing Epstein's Longtime Accountant; Deadly Storms Rip Through Central U.S. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired March 11, 2026 - 13:30   ET

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

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[13:33:41]

ERIN BURNETT, CNN ANCHOR, ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT: And welcome back to our Breaking News coverage of the war in Tehran. I'm Erin Burnett in Tel Aviv, where we've been told to expect a significant expansion in attacks from Iran over the evening hours tonight.

It's been four days since Iran has selected its new supreme leader, but Mojtaba Khamenei has not been seen or heard from publicly, which now, of course, is raising questions everywhere. And today, we're learning a bit more information and obviously, any information that comes out, you have to take with a grain of salt till we see him.

But a source is telling CNN that Khamenei broke his foot and suffered cuts and a bruise to his face during the first day of joint U.S.- Israeli strikes. The son of Iran's president says Khamenei is safe and there are no concerns. Again, that's the source such that it is. Keep in mind that Khamenei's father, mother, wife, and son were all killed in those attacks.

Kian Tajbakhsh joins me now. He is a Professor of International Relations at NYU and he also was a political prisoner in Iran for over a year, putting you in an incredible position of being able to see this from the inside. I guess I just want to start with you, if I can, Kian, by talking about the new supreme leader.

Now, those injuries, again, I'm saying this is according to the source. If that is accurate, they are minor.

[13:35:00]

Now, we haven't seen him, so we don't know. But if that's accurate, they're minor. If that is the case, are you surprised that the supreme leader has not yet spoken directly to the Iranian people, whether in public or even from an undisclosed bunker-like location that could be made to look like anywhere, we just haven't seen him or heard from him?

KIAN TAJBAKHSH, FORMER IRANIAN PRISONER AND PROFESSOR OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS, NYU: Well, first of all, thank you for having me on, Erin. Yes, I am surprised. I think that under the circumstances, the ideological base of the regime, which I estimate to be around 10 to 15 percent of the population, they would be looking for a statement or a public appearance to be able to be mobilized to continue the fight.

On the other hand, it is the case that the selection of Mojtaba Khamenei indicates to that base that there is continuity in Iran's external and internal behavior. That is to say, they are confident and happy that the regime will continue its antagonistic posture against Israel and the United States and continue this fight. And also, internally, that the regime is not going to let up against potential dissidents or opposition voices inside the country.

So it's a continuity, which I think compensates for the fact that we haven't heard from him yet. And of course, there's the sense that we are in a war, so they're giving him a bit of a pass, but I'm sure that they are looking for a statement pretty soon.

BURNETT: So Iranian authorities, we learned this week, they said, Kian, that they arrested 30 people just since the war has begun. Suddenly we got this announcement that they had arrested 30 people accused of spying and working with foreign enemies. Obviously, it's vague. They didn't detail the nationalities of all those people, but you spent a year in prison as a political prisoner in Iran.

So when you see that headline, what kind of treatment, what do you think is happening to those people and where do you think they might be right now?

TAJBAKHSH: Well, first of all, thank you for bringing this up, Erin. I think it's very important that the world keeps its eye on the fact that this regime under the shadow of war, often and usually arrests many of its dissidents, disappears people and threatens them with secret executions. That is to say, the world is focused on the bombs falling, which is of course understandable, but there are many people that are being persecuted.

So my experience as a political prisoner and as a democracy activist, and as an Iranian American tells me very clearly. I mean, I can see what -- the police chief this morning said on Iranian TV. He said that anyone we see in the street that is voicing an opposition to the regime, we will treat as enemy combatants and we will treat them as we treat the enemy.

And he uses the word enemy. And he said, we are given orders to shoot to kill. And so, you know, these aren't just rhetoric because a month ago, the regime by all accounts killed 7,000 to 10,000 people in two days, which is an unprecedented level of brutality.

And so, I'm pretty sure that whoever is arrested, they will be treated harshly. And the fact that it's going to be much more than 30 people, there are tens of thousands of people who have been arrested. So we should keep our eye on that aspect of this conflict also.

BURNETT: All right, Kian Tajbakhsh, thank you very much. And I have my Air Pod in, so I know viewers can't hear it, but what I'm hearing right now is that we are getting an early alert of the potential for sirens and missiles coming in. We've been getting, obviously, some of those recently, we don't always necessarily get a warning, and sometimes we get them and they come to different places.

So it's been a bit more confused in recent hours than it had been in prior days, but we did just get this early warning. So we are going to abide by that. Sirens likely coming in the next few minutes as we continue our breaking coverage here with a ship's attack near the Strait of Hormuz as Iran is ramping up its strikes.

[13:40:00]

We're told to expect a significant expansion of those strikes where we are standing here in Tel Aviv tonight. Stay with us for the latest on the war.

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BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": Happening now in the House investigation into Jeffrey Epstein, testimony from Epstein's longtime accountant, Richard Kahn.

[13:45:00]

He's being deposed behind closed doors today. The House Oversight Chairman calls Kahn a "big witness." Lawmakers were expected to ask him, among other things, how Epstein accumulated his vast wealth and how he spent it.

Moments ago, a member of the House Committee said Kahn provided some new information about the system that enabled Epstein to commit his crimes. The Congressman also saying this.

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REP. SUHAS SUBRAMANYAM, (D-VA) OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE: We can't get into the details of everything that was said, but one of the things that we did learn was that there was another head of state that was mentioned as having financial transactions with Jeffrey Epstein, not an American one. And then another person who was an accuser of Donald Trump was given in settlement by Jeffrey Epstein's estate. We did confirm that.

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KEILAR: Now, law enforcement authorities have never accused Trump of wrongdoing in relation to Epstein. Kahn's attorney told CNN, Kahn never witnessed any abuse by Epstein. It was never told of any abuse. Kahn has also denied allegations he was a facilitator in Epstein's sex trafficking operation.

We're joined now by Staff Writer for The Atlantic, Sarah Fitzpatrick. She's reported extensively on Jeffrey Epstein. That was something, what we heard from Congressman Subramanyam there. What's your reaction to that?

SARAH FITZPATRICK, STAFF WRITER, THE ATLANTIC: My reaction is that these hearings are actually having some kind of impact. We are learning something new every single time. And I think what we're seeing kind of between the Republicans and the Democrats is this effort to totally protect Donald Trump from any association with Epstein by the Republican Congressmen. And then we see Democrats really focusing on this line of question.

But this is a material new fact. And I think, of course, it needs to be reported out. We need to learn what it is. But it again shows how much -- how little was ever done in terms of information that the Justice Department could have gotten, could have received. And we are having to use Congress to find that information.

KEILAR: Talk about this witness today, Kahn, a big witness the chairman says. And that's, I think, goes to the heart of what the victims so often say, which is follow the money.

FITZPATRICK: Absolutely. It is stunning to me. I have not -- I am told that as of yet, he has never been questioned by the FBI, never. Meanwhile, Maxwell is being arrested. Like, this is stunning. This is just complete negligence. I cannot think of a single law enforcement officer that would say, you wouldn't at least go and meet with the accountant, the accountant who still controls the money.

It's fascinating. And it's just, again, it goes to show that for whatever the Trump administration and the Biden administration claimed about wanting to see this through, they did not do the basics, the absolute basics. And that should really scare every American.

KEILAR: It is pretty stunning that he was never questioned by any federal law enforcement. What questions do you think they need to ask him?

FITZPATRICK: I think there's so many questions I'm really interested in. The Committee has been sitting on over 44,000 documents from the Treasury Department, from the estate. We still have no -- the public has no concept of what's in those documents. I would be very interested in settlements to victims, settlements to other individuals, perhaps to keep quiet about things. Payments from -- you know, there's been a lot of discussion about Epstein's foreign ties and his ties perhaps to foreign intelligence agencies.

I'd want to see if there were any payments made there. And just quite frankly, there's a whole list of people that were in his life making this possible. And the thing that I think, I was talking to a source recently who said that in the line of questioning, he confirmed five clients of Epstein's, five.

Five people is not enough to finance this entire operation. It had immense overhead. You had tons and tons and tons of people, plus settlements, plus transportation. It just -- it doesn't add up.

KEILAR: And there were others in Epstein's inner circle who are slated for testimony here in the coming months. What are you looking for? How revelatory could those depositions be?

FITZPATRICK: I think all of these depositions could be extremely revelatory because they are under oath, because they require true, honest testimony. But I think it really remains to be seen about if people follow, as you say, follow the money, follow the lines of questions, and if there'll be any action taken. Just because someone sits down under oath, the question is, do we follow those lines? Does law enforcement follow up on those things?

And if there's no indication right now that anyone at DOJ is doing any kind of investigation based on what we're hearing.

KEILAR: We have to be clear that what has come out of these files and out of this renewed interest in the Epstein case is kind of twofold in the terms of individuals who are getting a lot of negative interest.

One is people who maybe, you know, what is their participation, questions about should they somehow be considered complicit, perhaps criminally in this? Could there be new charges? Then there's also on the other side of it, people who are learning, were having still social connections, even cavorting with Jeffrey Epstein in the wake of him becoming a known child sex offender.

[13:50:00]

FITZPATRICK: Yes.

KEILAR: Right? And questions about their judgment for doing that. Commerce Secretary, Howard Lutnick is someone who is going to voluntarily appear before the committee about his relationship with Epstein. The file suggests he actually did not cut ties with Epstein in 2005, as he previously claimed. What do you want to hear about this? How should we be looking at this particular person?

FITZPATRICK: I think this is a fascinating example. I think there's a couple of things. The first is that Epstein was still a convicted sex predator. He was registered and Lutnick is bringing his children and his nanny to visit them in person in a foreign country.

This is an incredible question of judgment, but it also speaks to what were the protections that Epstein may have not been receiving from the government. Things that sex offenders should not be able to do, he clearly was able to do in terms of movement, in terms of access. The second thing I'm really interested in is Lutnick went through a background check, a vetting, and in theory, a security clearance, given the Treasury campaign.

The Trump administration has refused to answer if ties to Epstein, relationships with Epstein, contact with Epstein ever came up in any of that vetting process. And that would be significant because it would be important if a foreign adversary knew about an embarrassing relationship. That is something that could be used for blackmail.

So if that did come up and it wasn't addressed, that's one question. And if it never came up, the question is why. And that's something that I am really looking for.

KEILAR: Do you think for some of these people, what they learned, some of what they learned later might have given them a more complete picture of Epstein? Or do you think that's a cop-out?

FITZPATRICK: I think it's a cop-out given the level of reporting that was out there. The fact that it was very, very widely reported, even before he was arrested, that there was a sex trafficking investigation. So I don't think it holds water.

And I think for all of these people, this is not just -- this is someone you are choosing to associate with. And these are people who are government officials. And government officials, we hold to a higher standard.

KEILAR: Sarah Fitzpatrick, great to speak with you about this. Thank you so much.

Ahead, at least two people are dead after dangerous tornadoes and giant hail slammed Illinois and Indiana. And the storm threat is not over. We're keeping an eye on it and we'll have the latest.

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[13:57:01]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": Right now, more than 18 million people are under tornado watches in six states. The alerts following a deadly storm system that led to multiple tornadoes in parts of Texas, Illinois, and Indiana yesterday, where two people were killed.

Record-size hail also pelted the area, some as big as baseballs, smashing car windshields. Listen to how one resident in Illinois described trying to survive that storm.

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JIM HORCHEM, TORNADO SURVIVOR: I said, Annabelle, there's a tornado coming. And she said, what should we do? And I said, hold on a second, I think it's turning to go the other way. And I said, no, it's coming at us, so we should run to your brother's house and get in his basement. Grabbed a bunch of pillows and blankets, and I just kind of huddled over them.

And it wasn't, you know, I can't say it was that loud, but I knew it was bad when I've seen the water come underneath the bathroom door.

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SANCHEZ: Let's go live to Whitney Wild, who's in one of the hardest- hit towns in Lake Village, Indiana. Whitney, tell us about the damage that you've seen.

WHITNEY WILD, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CORRESPONDENT: Well, there are multiple places here where these buildings are completely destroyed. I'll step out of the frame here and let you look at one. This was a convenience store in Lake Village, Indiana, that is now completely demolished. And what is wild about this scene, Boris, is that there's a large, what looks like a steel CITGO sign. That CITGO gas station is on the other side of the road I'm standing on. So that gives you a sense of how far and wide debris was spreading. Minutes ago, we saw what appeared to be a large group of first responders walking through this area.

It is not clear exactly what they were doing. They disappeared into the forest here. They had a dog with them. We expect to get an update from the Illinois State Police sometime this afternoon.

What we know, Boris, is that scenes like this are playing out throughout the Midwest. There was a violent storm system that ripped through from Texas to Oklahoma to, as you pointed out, Illinois to Indiana. The storm threat is not over.

There are still 90 million people, who throughout the day today, are going to be under a severe weather threat. The total deaths tied to tornadoes through this month, and we are not even halfway through, Boris, is already 10. What we saw was that there were other deaths in both Michigan and Oklahoma last week.

As you mentioned, there were two today right here in Lake Village, Indiana. This is a very startling start to the storm season. March is typically when we start to see these tornadoes start kicking up, but a death toll of 10, Boris, is really hard to grapple with.

I want you to listen to a woman who told us what it was like as this tornado marched through this area just before seven o'clock last night.

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CASSIDY SINWELSKI, TORNADO SURVIVOR: When the clouds started coming this way, but then we also saw them coming this way and going down --