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Active Shooter at Michigan Synagogue; Gas Prices Rising; Old Dominion University Shooting; Message From Supreme Leader of Iran?. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired March 12, 2026 - 13:00   ET

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

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BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: A message purportedly put out by the new supreme leader of Iran threatening the U.S. and its allies, but there are questions about whether this message actually comes from him. We'll explain.

Plus: strait talk, oil hitting $100 a barrel again, though President Trump says that the U.S. makes -- quote -- "a lot of money when oil prices rise." Americans paying more at the pump may not agree.

JESSICA DEAN, CNN HOST: Joining the search. The FBI is helping to look for a retired Air Force general who once commanded a base associated with UFO lore. He's now been missing for nearly two weeks.

We're following these major developing stories and many more, all coming in right here to CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

SANCHEZ: We start this afternoon with breaking news out of Norfolk, Virginia. We're learning that two people were injured and a gunman is dead after a shooting inside an academic building at Old Dominion University.

CNN's Ryan Young is joining us now.

Ryan, what are you learning?

RYAN YOUNG, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Boris, the all- clear has been given on campus.

Two people, though, are in critical condition and the shooter is dead. Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia, says the shooting started on campus around 10:49 this morning, the shooting happening at the Constant Hall. We're waiting for a news conference right now to update us on exactly what happened, but there is still a large police presence there.

And, as you can imagine, a lot of students there are shaken by the shooting. Take a listen. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ZACHARY MULDER, STUDENT: And, as I was sitting, a bunch -- probably about 30 -- 30 or so people ran in through the front door, Webb Center, screaming "Shooter and gun." So, by that time, we just -- everybody that was in that center just left straight out the front door. And we ran down the road.

My heart dropped. I didn't know -- really know what was going on. I just knew I had to leave immediately. So, it was pretty scary at that point, because I didn't know really what was going on or how close the threat was. So it was terrifying. I just knew I had to leave from the direction everybody was running.

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YOUNG: Yes, Boris, we still have several teams working on the details of this.

We know the ATF is on scene. And we're waiting for a news conference to update us on this. But let's not forget two people in critical, that gunman now dead.

SANCHEZ: Ryan Young, thank you so much for the update there.

We turn back to the breaking news on the war with Iran, Iran striking oil tankers earlier today in the Strait of Hormuz, as Israel right now is escalating its operation in Beirut.

Let's go live to Tel Aviv with CNN's Erin Burnett.

Erin, what's the latest?

ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: All right, well, Boris, the latest retaliation from Iran, there's been this wave of attacks on tankers and energy supplies to the region, all these images of tankers on fire, stunning as they are. We continue to see that.

And the new supreme leader in that message that you said, which I'm holding here, it's quite extensive, purportedly from him, vowing to keep the Strait of Hormuz, that vital shipping lane, closed.

There are major questions today after the new supreme leader released this statement that is purportedly from him, because, obviously, we haven't seen him, as you said, Boris.

Iranian state media actually read Mojtaba Khamenei's alleged words aloud. So they read the entire statement here. I'm just going through. I guess depends on what font size you have, but one, two, three, four, 5.5 pages.

He calls -- talks about the blood of martyrs. He talks about keeping the Strait of Hormuz closed, and, also, interestingly, thanks the fighters of the resistance front in other countries, a very clear reference to other militias that have now begun fighting on Iran's behalf. Now, Khamenei himself was reportedly injured in the strike that killed

his father and other family members. And he details in here which family members he says died. But he also mentions in here that, according to this, purportedly from him, "I had the honor of visiting his body after his martyrdom," referring to his father.

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But then it oddly says: "I heard that his uninjured hand was clenched in a fist." Just sort of an odd thing, whether that's a translation or whether he didn't see it himself, a bit unclear. We are also following new strikes in Beirut as this war expands, hours after the Israeli military has doubled, we understand, the evacuation zone.

And Jeremy Diamond is here with me now.

Jeremy, look, in this statement I mentioned: "I also sincerely thank the fighters of the resistance front. We consider the countries of the resistance front to be our best friends," obviously referring to the expansion of this war...

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Yes.

BURNETT: ... to Hezbollah itself, where the strikes have intensified, even as Israel has upped its response. And you have seen that firsthand today.

DIAMOND: Yes, and there's no question that Hezbollah is critical towards Iran's kind of retaliatory strategy in this war.

And we certainly witnessed that last night, as Hezbollah fired a barrage of more than 100 rockets towards northern and Central Israel, the largest barrage that we have seen from Hezbollah since they entered the fray just over a week ago.

And yes, I went to one of these homes that was struck by one of these rockets. I think we have some of the images here. You can see the large crater that's immediately in front of this home.

BURNETT: Yes. Wow.

DIAMOND: A part of the home has been completely shaved off. There were bits of concrete all over the place. The inside of this home that I went into had shattered glass all over the place.

The people who were inside the home was an 86-year-old woman and her caretaker. They went into their safe place, their bomb shelter that was inside this home. And I got to tell you, the bomb shelter was intact, despite how close this rocket actually landed. They are perfectly fine, obviously shaken by this. But it is remarkable.

BURNETT: Which is actually completely stunning.

DIAMOND: It is remarkable.

BURNETT: I mean, it's remarkable, when you see that, to realize those rooms, which I have seen in places, right, like Be'eri and other -- in the kibbutz that were hit after October 7.

DIAMOND: Yes.

BURNETT: Just to think about that that truly did save lives.

DIAMOND: Absolutely, and, in this case, not only the lives of the people in that home, but the home next door, which was also quite severely damaged as a result of this strike.

And Israel immediately, when this barrage happened, started hitting Beirut hard. And we saw last night multiple strikes in the Lebanese capital, and today as well one strike in central Beirut. And that was notable because what we have seen so far are mostly strikes in the Dahiyeh, that Hezbollah stronghold. That's the southern suburbs of Beirut.

BURNETT: South, yes.

DIAMOND: But, today, they hit really Central Beirut. And we don't yet know why they did that or what they were targeting, but we are witnessing the expansion of this front between Israel and Iran fighting -- Iran fighting through its proxy, Hezbollah, in Lebanon.

As we know, the Israeli prime minister very much considering expanding that front even further, with ground troops being mobilized as we speak potentially for a new ground offensive in Southern Lebanon.

BURNETT: All right, well, thank you very much, Jeremy Diamond, as those fronts continue.

And we have this remarkably long letter, letter, statement, purportedly from the supreme leader now in hand -- Jessica, back to you.

DEAN: All right, Erin, thank you so much for that.

And let's talk more about the impact on oil. Right now, crude prices are about $95, $94, $95 after surging over $100 a barrel overnight, the cost of gasoline still rising as well. And, right now, the U.S. average is nearly $4 a gallon.

On CNN this morning, Energy Secretary Chris Wright telling Americans, essentially, no pain, no gain. Listen.

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CHRIS WRIGHT, U.S. ENERGY SECRETARY: We need to defang, and we are defanging Iran's abilities to threaten American troops in the areas, its allies, its neighbors, and global energy markets. So, yes, you have got to go through short-term pain to solve a long-term problem.

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DEAN: CNN business and politics correspondent Vanessa Yurkevich is watching the markets. Vanessa, the president downplaying the surge in oil prices, but the fact is, the volatility is likely here for a while. What are you tracking?

VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS AND POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Yes.

And what investors are telling me, Jessica, is that they need to see a sign of de-escalation, and not just these blips here and there, but sustained de-escalation, to keep oil prices at those lower levels that we have been seeing prior to this war with Iran.

But look at where prices are right now. Crude oil, this is U.S. crude, $95 a barrel that is up, 8.5 percent in just the last day. And then you see Brent crude, that's the international benchmark, at $95 as well, actually, up 7.2 percent in the last day.

And what does that mean for gas prices? Well, it, of course, trickles right down, the national average, $3.60 in many states, higher like Pennsylvania, Illinois, California. That's up 2 cents in just the last day, and that's about 35 cents just from a week ago. And from a month ago, that's up 66 cents.

And we know that Americans are seeing that and they're feeling that. Because of these rising prices, there was a historic release of oil from 32 member nations from the IEA, 400 million barrels released. That has never been done before. The last big release was 200 million barrels.

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If you divide it, we're doing rough math here, by 100 million barrels a day, that's what the world consumes, that adds up to just four days of oil supply. Here in the United States, President Trump announcing just yesterday that we're going to release about 172 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

Again, rough math here, divide that by about 20 million barrels consumed a day here in the United States, that's just a little over eight days of oil. Now, what we know, we're hearing a message purportedly from the new supreme leader in Iran, who said that the Strait of Hormuz is going to continue to be closed.

So, all of this is not really a good sign for those oil prices and then, of course, gas prices for consumers, Jessica.

DEAN: All right. Yes, it really helps when you lay it out like that to see how significant this all is and its impacts.

Vanessa Yurkevich, thank you so much.

And still come here: Gulf states under attack and under pressure to join the Iran war. We're going to talk more about why they're resisting.

Plus, a high-ranking retired air force general that once commanded a base associated with UFOs is missing. We're going to have the latest on the search.

And, later, 17 states suing the Trump administration over a policy that forces universities to prove they are not considering race in admissions.

We have those stories and much more coming up here from a snowy D.C. on CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

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SANCHEZ: Today, in a written statement attributed to Iran's new supreme leader and read on air by Iranian state TV, Mojtaba Khamenei called on neighboring countries to shut down U.S. military bases, while threatening to continue targeting U.S. interests in the Middle East.

Iran has dramatically stepped up attacks on shipping traffic and energy assets in the region, but despite those strikes and despite mounting pressure from the Trump administration, many Gulf nations have been reluctant to join the war.

Let's get some perspective now with retired U.S. Army Major General James "Spider" Marks.

General, thanks so much for being with us.

What is your reaction first to this statement attributed to the supreme leader?

BRIG. GEN. JAMES "SPIDER" MARKS (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: He's trying to separate the United States with what have been legitimate partners over the course of many, many years, as you know, multiple decades.

We have routinely maintained very positive relationships in the region, and those have grown over time. So what the new leader in Iran is doing, in spite of the pressure that the United States and Israel continues to provide, he can still lash out. He can provide a little bit of punishment.

But for the most part, albeit the images right now of tankers that have burned and those that are burning is significant, there's limited capability that he has to reach out continually, as he did over the course of a couple of days. So we're moving into a period, I think, Boris, of transition in terms of the pressure that the United States and Israel will provide, and it really is marching through a more mechanistic approach to the targeting.

But, again, what we're seeing is Iran trying to really create some fissures in that alliance, and that's all about significant economic pressure. I mean, it's certainly contingent upon Straits of Hormuz, but it really is going after economic nodes, in addition to just oil tankers.

SANCHEZ: Yes.

I wonder how you think the calculus has shifted for some of these Gulf allies, and whether those relationships with the United States are at risk of fraying, in part because the foreign minister of Oman put out a statement suggesting that regional actors are betting that aligning with the United States may have the U.S. adjusts its calculus, but he suggests that there's growing debate about the effectiveness of those security arrangements.

Oman has said that this war is illegal and immoral. I wonder if you think these relationships are actually at risk.

MARKS: Well, certainly when you hear things like that, first of all, let's keep that in perspective. That's their perspective on the legalities, et cetera.

Long-term relationships with the GCC, I think, are going to remain very, very strong. Certainly, in the near term, what I would expect to see is kind of a cohesive nature of the alliance, although I do find it very interesting that the GCC has stepped up and said, we are not going to -- at least they have said it for now -- we are not going to participate in the potential for escort missions through the straits.

Look, if you go back to 2019, the United States and the GCC collective navies did just that. So the scar tissue is there. The positive results of that are there. I'm curious why that hasn't stepped back up and been something front and center of trying to further solidify the relationships.

SANCHEZ: There's also a question of whether these Gulf nations go in the other direction and fully back the war alongside the United States. I think perhaps the most likely candidate to do that is Saudi Arabia.

What would it take for Riyadh to join -- to fully join the fight and what would it mean for the war?

MARKS: Well, I think all of the GCC nations, and certainly the kingdom of Saudi Arabia, they stand to -- they stand in a better position, certainly if they're together. And their long-term engagement does not include Iran.

SANCHEZ: Yes.

MARKS: For the longest time, that -- those regional partners have been isolating Tehran. And now Tehran is giving them every reason to continue along that path.

So I think those nations, again, strategically stand in a much better position if they are together with the United States, albeit there is some near-term challenges that exist. There is some pain that exists.

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But the objective is to further identify those fissure points in the regime and continue to weaken that. Look, the regime is not going anywhere. This is not a friend of the United States or the West. This is -- again, this is not a near-term solution. This is, I think continual pressure is what's required.

And then you end up with some decisions that have to be made in terms of the Iranian people, whether they're going to stand for this type of illegal, autocratic, brutal, hypocritical type of relationship that they have with Tehran. And will they bet on Israel, the United States, and their regional neighbors to be there for them?

SANCHEZ: Major General James "Spider" Marks, appreciate you sharing your perspective. Thanks for joining us.

MARKS: Thank you, Boris.

SANCHEZ: Of course.

We have some breaking news to share with you on CNN. There's a major police presence on the scene of an active situation at Temple Israel in West Bloomfield, Michigan. This is just northwest of Detroit. This video is from moments ago.

DEAN: The Oakland County Sheriff's Office posting on Facebook there are multiple agencies on the scene, and you can see that with your own eyes. There are reports of an active shooter.

I want to bring in CNN's Jason Carroll.

Jason, details still scant right now. What are you learning?

JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Very serious situation that we're looking at.

You saw some of the video there from just a short while ago, a massive police presence that we're seeing there in Bloomfield Hills, Detroit. Local police are -- have responded to reports of shots being fired and a car being driven into Temple Israel there in Bloomfield Hills, which also contains a school.

Now, this incident prompted Bloomfield Hills schools to go into what is being called secure mode. We can also tell you that an alert was sent out by Farmington Hills police which indicated that an active shooter event was taking place there in West Bloomfield Hills.

Again, all schools and houses of worship in the area have been advised to shelter in place. Also, we can tell you that police have been telling people to, obviously to avoid the area. We're also told that police agencies are also responding to other temples in the area to provide security out of an abundance of caution.

I'm also just getting in a statement from the Oakland County Sheriff's Office saying that multiple agencies, as you can see there, are now on the scene of Temple Israel. And this is clearly a very, very grave situation that they're dealing with here.

Also a statement coming in from the Jewish Federation of Detroit, saying -- quote -- "We are aware of an active security incident at Temple Israel. Law enforcement are responding. Our Jewish agencies are currently in precautionary lockdown. We ask community members to stay away from the area at this time."

And I just want to give you just what I've been able to gather here, just a little bit of history about Temple Beth Israel there in Bloomfield Hills. According to what I've been able to gather here, it's the state's first Jewish congregation there, established in 1850, located at Telegraph and 14 Mile Road.

It's been there since 1973, so obviously some an institution that's been in that community there in Bloomfield Hills for generations. Again, just to repeat, local police responding to reports of shots fired and a car driven into Temple Israel, which also contains a school.

Now, we are trying to get as much information, gathering it in the minutes after we've gotten word that this has happened. We're going to continue to gather as much information, as many facts as we can get for you and bring it to you as soon as we can, but clearly a very grave situation that we're looking at there in Bloomfield Hills, a suburb of Detroit, about 25 miles from the city there.

SANCHEZ: And, as you can see on your screen, a huge law enforcement presence.

Jason, please stand by for us. We're going to continue to dig to get more confirmed news on this incident, the report of an active shooter at a Michigan synagogue.

We're going to take a quick break. We'll be right back. Stay with CNN.

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DEAN: And welcome back as we continue to follow breaking news, this coming out of Michigan, where we are getting -- this is video from just moments ago.

You see the massive law enforcement there. These are reports of an active shooter and a car being driven into a building at Temple Israel. That's a synagogue that does include a school and early childhood center.

I want to bring in Jason Carroll.

Jason, we're still working to get details, but what we can all certainly tell with our own eyes is that this is a massive law enforcement response there in West Bloomfield, Michigan.

CARROLL: Incredibly grave situation that law enforcement that emergency responders, that the community is now dealing with there.

As you said, we were receiving reports that police have said that they were responding to shots being fired and a car being driven into Temple Israel, which obviously now we're being told also contains a school. This incident prompted Bloomfield's Hills to go into what is being called secure mode.

This is what happens obviously when you have a situation like this. We are looking right now at live pictures coming into coming -- into our studio from one of our affiliates there on the ground, canine units there on the ground, police there on the ground.

We received a statement from the Oakland County Sheriff's Department, which has also responded to the scene out there, saying that multiple agencies, as you can see with your own eyes through the live pictures there, are on the scene at Temple Israel in West Bloomfield after the reports of this active shooter came in.