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Israel Launches a Broad Wave of Strikes against Iran; Tallarico Wins Senate Democratic Primary in Texas, Cornyn and Paxton Heads to a Republican Senatorial Runoff. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired March 04, 2026 - 03:00   ET

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

[03:00:00]

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UNKNOWN (voice-over): This is CNN Breaking News.

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR:

Hello and welcome to our viewers here in the United States and all around the world, I'm Rosemary Church. And we are following two big stories this hour. The intensifying war with Iran and U.S. primary elections in several key states.

So let's begin in the Middle East where the U.S. and Israel's war with Iran is now entering its fifth day. Israel has launched what it called a new broad wave of strikes against Iran, they've targeted what the IDF described as command centers used by Iran's domestic security apparatus. A U.S.-based human rights group says more than a thousand people, including children, have been killed in Iran since the war began on Saturday.

And in Beirut, explosions and smoke can be seen in the southern suburbs of Beirut this morning. It comes after the Israeli military issued an urgent warning for residents to evacuate the area, claiming they were in close proximity to Hezbollah facilities.

And CNN's Oren Liebermann is following developments and joins us live from Tel Aviv. So, Oren, what is the latest on the situation right now in Israel and, of course, its strikes on Iran and southern Lebanon?

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN JERUSALEM BUREAU CHIEF: Rosemary, a few different places to look at from the perspective of where I'm standing right now and we'll begin in Iran, where just a couple of minutes ago, the Israeli military announced they were launching what they called broad strikes against Iranian regime targets throughout Tehran.

We have seen them continue waves of attack on a repeated basis, effectively since Saturday morning. Those have broadened out, as Israel says, it has expanded aerial superiority across Iran. And that, frankly, has allowed Israel to operate, or at least its air force to operate freely throughout the course of the days.

And that's what we're seeing as Israel goes after targets of the regime, of the intelligence capabilities, of the regime's ability to continue itself and to name its own successors.

Israel said a few days ago that they had expanded their target list in recent months, ever since the 12-day war between Israel and Iran in June. And we are seeing them work their way down that list. Iran is striking back, or at least trying to strike back.

This morning over the skies of Jerusalem, I believe we have this video we can show you right here, an intercept seen over the skies of Jerusalem, alarms warning of incoming fire went off twice, once in the early morning hours and once about four hours ago. So, Iran, even on day five, even as Israel goes after the ballistic missile arrays and missile launchers, has been able to continue launching towards Israel. And, of course as we have seen, has been able to continue firing towards the Gulf States.

Meanwhile, in Lebanon, Israel has issued another evacuation warning for parts of Beirut and parts of Lebanon. We have seen those now with, I suspect, increasing frequency over the last several days, as they go after what they say are Hezbollah targets in the Dahiya neighborhood, a suburb of the capital of Beirut, which Israel views as a Hezbollah stronghold.

The Israeli military chief-of-staff said yesterday they would not stop striking Lebanon and striking Hezbollah until Hezbollah was fully disarmed.

Hezbollah has been able to fire back. We have seen warnings in the north. There was a direct hit from what appears to be a rocket on a village right along on the Israeli side, on the Israel-Lebanon border but Israel has, frankly, defanged much of Hezbollah, so the firing is not even close to what we have seen several months ago.

From the Israeli perspective, this continues. Neither objective of disarming Hezbollah is accomplished.

Israel going after not only the regime, but also the regime's ability in Iran to choose its own succession, to continue moving into the future. Israel said yesterday they struck what's called the Assembly of Experts, a council of 88 senior clerics who Israel believed were meeting to pick the next Iranian supreme leader.

Iranian state media says they were meeting virtually. But Israel's defense minister warned just a couple of hours ago, whoever is chosen, Israel considers that a legitimate target.

CHURCH: All right. Our thanks to Oren Lieberman joining us live from Tel Aviv with that report. And do stay safe.

Well, meanwhile, concerns are now growing across the region about the stockpile of weapons needed to defend against Iranian attacks.

[03:05:04]

Sources tell CNN that at least one U.S. Gulf ally is already running low on crucial munitions used to defend against Iranian missile and drone attacks. This as the Trump administration is touting a number of early successes in the conflict, while also trying to get its messaging straight on why it went to war in the first place. President Trump is also facing scrutiny over the fact that U.S. citizens are now trapped in the Middle East days after the U.S. and Israel launched the first strikes.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio says all personnel are accounted for after a drone struck a parking lot near the U.S. consulate in Dubai and our Paula Hancocks joins us now from Dubai. So, Paula, what more can you tell us about the strike on the U.S. base in Qatar?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Rosemary, first of all, just to update here in Dubai, there was that parking lot strike. It was just next to the consulate building.

We understand there were no casualties as there were no personnel inside the consulate. In fact, the Abu Dhabi embassy for the United States, the consulate here in Dubai, had been cancelling all appointments until March 4th today. Clearly, that is going to be extended at this point.

Now, what we know in Qatar as well, we understand there have been strikes that have been intercepted. We also understand that in Kuwait, it's been a similar situation. There's been interceptions of several aerial targets.

The debris of one of those targets, one of the interceptions actually struck a residential building. Authorities saying that an 11-year-old girl was killed in that particular interception.

And in Saudi Arabia as well, there were two cruise missiles that were intercepted. Al-Kharj is an area in Saudi Arabia that was targeted, it's very close to one of the biggest, most significant Saudi military bases. It is a Saudi military base, but we know that the U.S. military aircraft have been stored there in the past.

So, this is what the Iranian, the Revolutionary Guard in Iran have been saying that they were going to do, that they were going to expand the scope of their targets. It had originally been military targets, although clearly we have seen even, especially here in Dubai, it's been beyond that. It's been hotels, it's been city centers, we've seen energy infrastructure across the region being hit.

But the IRGC now saying that they're going to target American political centers, pointing out that the Saudi explosion at the U.S. embassy there, which has closed the U.S. embassy, was the start of that and they were moving in that direction.

So, there is concern in the Gulf. Obviously, there are continual drones and missiles being fired in. Just over an hour ago, there were two interceptions we heard overhead here in Dubai. A lot more fighter jets appear to be in the skies, certainly yesterday and today that we have been hearing.

We also know that France is becoming involved. We understand from officials that they have deployed fighter jets here to the UAE, or at least to be in the skies of the UAE. They say they're protecting their military bases here.

They say one military base was hit in Abu Dhabi. Unclear at this point if they are going to be involved in trying to shoot down drones, but certainly it shows that there are other countries around Europe that are starting to get involved in this as well, even though France was very critical of the U.S. for carrying out and starting this war against Iran. Rosemary?

CHURCH: Indeed, it was. Paula Hancocks bringing us that live report from Dubai, many thanks.

Well joining me now is Maha Yahya, the director of the Carnegie Middle East Center. I appreciate you talking with us.

MAHA YAHYA, DIRECTOR, CARNEGIE MIDDLE EAST CENTER: Good morning, Rosemary. Thank you for having me.

CHURCH: Of course.

So Maha, you are there in Beirut, where Israel just attacked southern Lebanon shortly after issuing new evacuation orders for that area. At least 50 people have been killed since Monday as a result of IDF strikes. What impact is this having on the infrastructure of Hezbollah and its military capabilities and activities?

YAHYA: Well, I mean, the infrastructure, the military infrastructure of Hezbollah has already been significantly degraded over the past year and a half, I would say almost two years.

Let's not forget this began after October 7th. And then there was the almost two months of intense conflict where Israel was bombing Lebanon between October and November of 2024.

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And then after the ceasefire was declared, it's been almost a year and a half where the ceasefire was unilateral. Israel continued to bomb Hezbollah targets in Lebanon with significant losses, both in personnel of Hezbollah, but also civilian losses. I think almost 100 Lebanese civilians were lost in the past year.

So this infrastructure has already been significantly degraded, which also raises the question of why would Hezbollah begin a conflict or try to get involved in something when its own military capacities are not what they used to be. And its ability to inflict real pain, if you like, on Israel has been significantly constrained.

And the only way we can understand this is basically one of two explanations. One is we were already hearing that irrespective whether Hezbollah gets involved or not, Israel was already planning an operation, a ground operation in Lebanon. This has been in the rumor mill for the last two months at least.

And the other one is that Iran has gone all out. It's trying to increase the cost on every single level and therefore has. CHURCH: Yes. And so with President Trump threatening another big wave of attacks on Iran, what are you expecting will come next as more countries in the region are drawn into this conflict?

YAHYA: What Iran's strategy from day one has been to really increase the cost on everyone. It's targeting energy infrastructure, which is affecting Europe and other parts of the world. It's targeting civilian infrastructure, as we heard from your reporters.

So for President Trump, I mean, that has been the problem from day one is the political objectives of this operation have never been clear. They talk about, initially it was about the nuclear.

For many of us, it was clear that the nuclear negotiations were literally an intermission between, you know, and a grander strategy, if you like, where now we have Act Two. Act One began with the 12-Day War a year ago. So it's not clear to us how he's going to use the military might of the United States in order to achieve political objectives.

From day one, it seemed to many of us that the objective really is regime change. It's not about changing the regime itself, changes within the regime, but actual regime change, which in a country like Iran is very difficult.

This is not Venezuela. It's not, it's a different dynamic.

Now there are reports of trying to arm groups in Kurdish and Baluch areas, which are on the peripheries of Iran, which already is a very dangerous sign because it can ferment not only internal chaos, but could lead to civil strife and possibly the fragmentation of Iran or some sort of, you know, fracturing of the country that would have a ripple and spillover effect on Turkey, on Saudi Arabia, on Iraq, and on Central Asia. I mean, this will not stay within Iran.

CHURCH: And Maha, in the wake of the death of Iran's Supreme Leader, the big question now, of course, is who will be named as his successor. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, his son, Mojtaba, is seen as a potential successor. If he's appointed, what signal would that send, given he is actually more hardline than his father, isn't he?

YAHYA: I think the signal that it would send, and we're hearing that he has been elected, at least from some Iran international and other opposition, if you like, media.

The signal it would send is a continuation of the regime. The regime is still holding together, and we see that. We see that very clearly.

There have been no cracks and no leaks, nothing. It's holding together and it's holding together quite well, despite the attacks on the security services by President Trump or by the U.S. and Israeli forces. So the signal regime is sending is continuation.

We're still holding together. It's more of the same. And in fact, we're going to become even more hardliners than we were before. All the military pressure that the country is under is not going to get us to shift position. I think that's kind of the signal that I see in the election. But at the same time, it also puts a massive target on the man's back.

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So it'll be interesting. I mean, we'll have to wait and see how this dynamic plays out.

CHURCH: Indeed. Maha Yaya, thank you so much for talking with us. I appreciate your analysis.

YAHYA: Thank you, Rosemary.

CHURCH: We are following breaking news out of Texas, where the Senate Democratic primary has gone down to the wire. CNN is able to project a winner. We'll have that for you after the break.

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CHURCH: CNN can finally project a winner in perhaps the most closely watched primary in the country.

In Texas, State Representative James Tallarico will win the Democratic Senate race, defeating U.S. Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett. Confusion over where to vote led election officials to extend their hours at some locations. Crockett has threatened legal action.

On the Republican side, CNN projects incumbent Senator John Cornyn and State Attorney General Ken Paxton are headed for a runoff.

In North Carolina, CNN projects former two-term governor Roy Cooper will win the Democratic Senate primary. This November, he will face former National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley to replace retiring Republican Tom Tillis.

[03:20:09]

Turning to Arkansas, CNN projects incumbent Senator Tom Cotton will easily win the Republican Senate primary. Hallie Schaffner is projected to win the Democratic primary, she is a sixth-generation farmer who says she recently closed her family farm due to economic challenges.

A closer look now at the contentious Republican Senate race in Texas. CNN's Arlette Saenz has details on the high-stakes runoff.

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ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The Republican primary is now set to extend another 12 weeks, and one supporter of Attorney General Ken Paxton said they are preparing for all-out war with Senator John Cornyn. Paxton and Cornyn failed to reach that 50 percent majority threshold needed to avoid a runoff, and instead the two men will be facing off in that May 26th contest. Now, as they wrapped up their primary night remarks, both candidates

laid out some of their lines of attack heading into that race.

SEN. JOHN CORNYN (R-TX): Character is on the ballot. Ken Paxton doesn't believe that that matters. He believes that all of his misbehavior and his scandals are sort of baked in the cake, and he's won a couple of elections since much of that has come out.

KEN PAXTON (R), TEXAS ATTORNEY GENERAL: When he compromised, we fought. It's not about personal attacks. It's about what your record of delivering for the people of Texas is, and on that front, John Cornyn has failed us time and time again.

SAENZ: The contest on the GOP and Democratic sides here in Texas were already the most expensive Senate primaries in U.S. history, with the majority of that spending taking place on the Republican side. Senator John Cornyn saw more than 70 million dollars poured into efforts here to try to boost his campaign.

One big question going forward is whether President Donald Trump will decide to get involved. He declined to endorse any of the candidates when it was a three-way primary, but he's left the door open to potentially endorsing in a runoff.

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CHURCH: Joining me now from Oxford, England, Richard Johnson is a senior lecturer in U.S. politics at Queen Mary University of London. I appreciate you joining us.

RICHARD JOHNSON, SR. LECTURER IN U.S. POLITICS, QUEEN MARY UNIVERSITY OF LONDON: Good morning.

CHURCH: Let's start with the Texas Senate Democratic primary, where James Tallarico surprised everyone with CNN projecting he will win after his intense battle with Jasmine Crockett. She is alleging that people have been disenfranchised after the state Supreme Court stopped Dallas County from counting late votes due to confusion over new rules. But Tallarico has won enough support, it seems.

So how significant is his win for the Democratic Party, and what could it mean for the future?

JOHNSON: I think these two candidates basically had two different targets in this campaign, particularly when I'm thinking about the negative campaigning that they did, not against each other, but on the one side with Jasmine Crockett, her target was Donald Trump, and she ran very strongly, I am the candidate who stands for everything that Donald Trump does not.

But James Tallarico, he presented himself in some ways as a more conciliatory figure, but also he had this kind of anti-elite message, a kind of left populist message as well. So although Tallarico is someone who we might say is perhaps a little bit more socially conservative than the median Democrat nationally, he's a seminarian, he's a sort of strong Christian, but he pitched himself as someone who would go after the billionaires and the elite.

And I think actually that combination of someone who can have a more socially conciliatory message, particularly in a state like Texas, but also have a strong left populist message could be a very interesting combination when we come to the general election in November.

CHURCH: Indeed, and of course, trouble for the Texas Senate Republican primary with John Cornyn and Ken Paxton heading for a runoff. Why was incumbent Cornyn unable to get the support he needed to win this outright? And how likely is it that President Trump will endorse one of these candidates to avoid the high cost of a runoff election?

JOHNSON: This is a sign of pretty profound weakness on the part of a long standing incumbent. John Cornyn has been a senator for two decades and has long been seen as a fairly conservative person. However, he has, I think, committed two sins in the eyes of the MAGA movement.

One is that he's been part of the Republican leadership. So he was the Republican Senate whip. So that gives a sense that he's kind of part of the swamp as the MAGA side would see it.

The second is that occasionally, he has disagreed with Donald Trump, particularly around the 2020 election lie that said that Donald Trump had actually won the election. And Cornyn did not go along with that. Cornyn also supported masking during COVID.

[03:25:08]

And so those are things that Ken Paxton has seized on. And really, I think this is going to be a big problem for the Republicans because they now have this runoff at the end of May. We've got nearly three more months of Paxton and Cornyn taking potshots out of each other, rather than focusing on defeating the Democrat James Tallarico, and Tallarico now gets a clear run right up until November.

CHURCH: And just very quickly, we already know, of course, that the upcoming midterm elections will be tough for Republicans with President Trump's approval rating below 40 percent in most polls and with the threat of the Democrats taking back the House and the Senate in play. Texas is critical in all of this, of course. So what do you think will happen when it comes to Texas in the months ahead? And of course, during the midterms?

JOHNSON: There is a bit of a dilemma, I think, for the Democrats about Texas, because Texas is always this prize the Democrats have had their eye on. And they've become sort of fixated on it in different election campaigns. Back in 2018, when the Democrats nominated Beto O'Rourke for the Senate contest against Ted Cruz, the Democrats out-fundraised the Republicans 2-1, in a state that's very expensive to run election campaigns in.

I mean, I think this could become the most expensive campaign in American history already is with respect to the primary. And there's a question for Democrats as to whether they want to redirect ultimately valuable resources to one state, which gives the same yield to them as winning a much smaller state and could, you know, in another close contest could cost them.

So I think part of it will be will depend on whether the Republicans choose Paxton or Cornyn. I think if they choose Paxton, who's a much more divisive character, that I think Democrats will go probably all in on it. If the Republicans choose Cornyn, I think they'll still fight hard for it, but maybe not quite with the same level of intensity.

CHURCH: All right. Our thanks to Richard Johnson for bringing us that political analysis. Thank you so much.

All right, let's return to our other top story.

We're looking at these live pictures right now from Beirut, where we are seeing billowing smoke from the latest Israeli strike on the Lebanese capital. This is the second strike we've seen in about the last ten minutes. So we'll continue to watch this very closely and of course, those strikes came after Israel's military warned people to evacuate very quickly from that area.

Coming up next, the latest on the war with Iran, we will have a live report from Doha as Qatar announces arrests over suspected links to Iran's Revolutionary Guard. Back with that in just a moment.

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CHURCH: Back now to our breaking news out of the Middle East. Just a short time ago, sirens were blaring in Jerusalem as a number of suspected Iranian missiles were being intercepted over the city. It comes as the Israeli military says it's begun a 10th wave of new attacks on Tehran, calling them broad-scale strikes targeting Iranian terror regime targets.

There are also new strikes in Lebanon where smoke could be seen rising in the southern suburbs of Beirut earlier. The Israeli military had urged residents in the area to evacuate, claiming they were in close proximity to Hezbollah facilities.

Meantime, Qatar says an Iranian ballistic missile struck the largest U.S. military installation in the Middle East. There were no casualties. And Qatar also says it's arrested 10 people with suspected links to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

CNN's senior producer Bijan Hosseini joins us now live from Doha. Good to see you, Bijan. So what more can you tell us about these arrests in Qatar?

BIJAN HOSSEINI, CNN SR. PRODUCER: Hi, Rosemary. Yes, the team hearing some more interceptions taking place late last night. And we know that one of those attacks got through hitting Al Udeid Air Base, as you mentioned, a ballistic missile that was confirmed by Qatar's Ministry of Defense overnight. Al Udeid is, as you said, the largest air base in the Middle East.

Usually there's some 10,000 military personnel stationed there. We know about six weeks ago, as tensions were starting to flare up between Iran and the U.S., that they began evacuating what they said were non-essential military personnel.

But also contrary to that, we saw a buildup of military equipment, some air transporters, some air refuelers that were stocking up at Al Udeid base. So we'll continue to watch that.

And in terms of the IRGC connection, yes, a statement from Qatar's state-run news agency, 10 suspected people detained, two separate cells. They say we know seven of them, according to officials, were given the task of gathering information on key facilities and sites. And we also know that three of them, and I'm quoting here, "were assigned to conduct sabotage activities and trained in the use of drones."

The statement went on to say that these detainees also had key coordinates and locations on them, as well as technological and communication devices. Rosemary.

CHURCH: Bijan Hosseini bringing us the latest there from Doha. Many thanks for that live report.

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SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY), U.S. SENATE MINORITY LEADER: Once again, the answers are very unsatisfying. They have shifting goals, different goals all the time, different answers every day.

And I am truly worried about mission creep. When there's no set plan, when you can't hear day after day, we're going to do this, and this. And these are the reasons why you end up with an endless war.

You end up with mission creep. You end up with all kinds of problems.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: That was Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer describing what he fears the U.S. military action in Iran will devolve into.

Despite Tuesday's briefing with top officials, senators remain largely divided along party lines on what the Trump administration's end goals are. The Senate is set to vote as soon as Wednesday on a war powers resolution that will require President Trump to gain congressional approval to continue the military campaign. The House is expected to vote on a similar measure Thursday, but both are likely to fail.

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When asked by CNN's Manu Raju, House Speaker Mike Johnson refused to classify the U.S. involvement as a war.

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MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Do you acknowledge that this is a war right now?

REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA), U.S. HOUSE SPEAKER: I think it's an operation.

RAJU: The people -- U.S. servicemembers are getting killed right now?

JOHNSON: It's a dangerous operation and an important one, we had to act because there was an imminent threat. But there's not a declaration of war.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: CNN's Brian Todd is following developments from Washington, he joins us now live. Good morning to you, Brian. So what more can you tell us about the congressional briefings and, of course, how this war is impacting the views of Republicans and Democrats?

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Rosemary, this first few days of this campaign have touched off kind of a predictable political battle here in Washington, as you just played a couple of clips from Mike Johnson and Chuck Schumer. Those are really indicative of the political battle lines being drawn over this campaign here in Washington. Members of Congress did get briefings on Tuesday from officials in the Trump administration about the campaign.

But, of course, the reaction to those briefings did fall along party lines, Republicans coming out generally in support of everything the Trump administration is doing, but Democrats voicing frustration about a lack of a plan, about kind of an incoherent endgame.

Manu Raju caught up with two prominent Democrats in the House, Hakeem Jeffries, he is the House minority leader, and Congressman Greg Landsman from Ohio, a Democrat, and asked them about their takes on the administration's briefings and the possible endgame of this conflict. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: Did you get an explanation of what the endgame is here?

REP. HAKEEM JEFFIRES (D-NY), U.S. HOUSE MINORITY LEADER: There's no explanation as to what actually prompted the decision to pursue this war of choice in the absence of any evidence that there was an imminent threat to the United States of America or American interests in the region.

REP. GREG LANDSMAN (D-OH): To me, this is a no-brainer. They had a window of opportunity to take out very specific military assets in order to defang the Iranian regime. We will be safer as a result.

However, if it goes beyond that, they need to come to Congress.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TODD: Now, Hakeem Jeffries also told reporters that from his briefings with administration officials that they had told him that this military action could go on for several weeks and that they did not rule out possibly putting American troops on the ground in the Middle East. As Rosemary alluded to, there are some measures coming up in Congress this week.

We do know that on Wednesday, the Senate is expected to vote on whether to allow a future vote on limiting President Trump's war authority with Iran, but that measure appears unlikely to move ahead because it lacks enough support to move ahead. Most of the democratic resolutions and initiatives regarding this campaign are not expected to be successful. Rosemary?

CHURCH: All right. Our thanks to Brian Todd in Washington for talking with us at this early hour, I appreciate it.

Well, tributes are pouring in for four U.S. service members who the Pentagon has identified as the first Americans who were killed in the war with Iran. 35-year-old Captain Cody Khork is being remembered by his parents as a man whose life was defined by devotion, character and service. A fellow soldier, says 42-year-old Sergeant First Class Noah Tietjens, was the kind of guy that was always around to help you.

39-year-old Sergeant First Class Nicole Amor was the mother of two whose husband says she was just days away from returning home to her family, and 20-year-old Sergeant Declan Cody, he is described as well- loved and highly dedicated. Two other soldiers who were killed on Sunday have not yet been identified. Our condolences go out to all their families and loved ones.

Trip to Dubai turns into a travel nightmare. I will speak with an American woman stranded in the Middle East as the war with Iran escalates.

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[03:40:00]

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CHURCH: We're getting this breaking news in from Israel, where the IDF says one of its F-35 fighter jets recently shot down an Iranian military plane over Iranian airspace. Now, this is the first reported instance of a piloted fighter jet successfully shooting down another fighter jet in combat. We'll continue to get more details on that situation.

Now, another part of this story, of course, is the war in the Middle East is rattling global markets and causing energy prices to surge. Oil reached its highest level in more than a year on Tuesday before retreating. Brent crude, the global benchmark gained more than 4.5 percent to top $81 a barrel.

Prices eventually cooled down after President Trump announced new steps aimed at easing supply disruptions in the Middle East. The President says he has ordered insurance and other guarantees for oil, energy and other maritime trade in the region. And here's a look at how Asian markets are trading right now, let's

bring those numbers up. Stocks tumbled sharply in early Wednesday trading.

All right, our coverage continues in just a moment. The war in the Middle East is disrupting global markets, oil supplies and international shipping as we said. We will have a live report on that from the region in just a moment, do stay with us.

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[03:45:00]

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CHURCH: CNN projects House Representative James Tallarico will win the U.S. Democratic Senate primary in Texas. He will defeat U.S. Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett, but a legal battle may be brewing. The Texas Supreme Court stopped Dallas County from counting late votes due to confusion over new voting rules.

Tallarico will face either Republican incumbent Senator John Cornyn or Attorney General Ken Paxton in the November election. Both are headed to a runoff election in May. Neither of them secured the 50 percent threshold needed to win.

Well back to the war in the Middle East. It is disrupting global markets, oil supplies and international shipping.

Let's get more on this from CNN's Eleni Giokos who is following the markets from Abu Dhabi. Good to see you, Eleni. So how are global markets and the price of oil looking right now?

ELENI GIOKOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well I quickly want to talk about markets because we saw a bloodbath in Asia. We had the Nikkei dropping 3.6 percent, the KOSPI in South Korea down 12 percent.

But interestingly, European markets are looking much better today. In fact, they are currently in the green. You've got the DAX up around 0.04 of a percent, the FTSE flat but positive.

So what's really interesting here is that I think investors are really trying to assess firstly how long this war is going to last for, the impact that it's going to have on energy markets and importantly, how long the Strait of Hormuz, that key choke point where a lot of vessels pass through carrying around 20 million barrels of oil per day, how long that is going to be disrupted.

We know the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps has said that not a drop of oil is going to pass through the Strait. That's not entirely true.

What we are seeing and I spoke to Lloyd's Intelligence just a short while ago, they were talking about there have been some ships that have passed through but it is just a trickle. They turn off their radar so that they are not identified. But we also know very big news coming through that President Trump

says that he's going to intervene in terms of ensuring these ships, he's going to bring in the Development Finance Corporation to come in and assist with that because the war risk premiums have increased so dramatically and also saying that if required, the U.S. Navy is going to help those vessels pass through the Strait. That all really pushing into the narrative that the U.S. is trying to intervene to keep those energy prices much lower even though Brent and WTI have seen spikes over the past couple of days.

[03:50:05]

We also have analysts saying that given the issues and the risks that are currently in the market, they are surprised that they haven't seen a much higher price. Here we go, WTI sitting at $77 a barrel, that's up 3 percent. Brent crude sitting just above $80 a barrel.

JPMorgan predicting that we could see an oil price of around $120 a barrel. The other thing that's going to play a very key role here is the energy infrastructure that has been targeted in this region from Saudi Aramco refinery catching on fire. We've got that Allen G plant in Qatar.

Qatar, one of the biggest producers of liquefied natural gas, has now suspended all operations in that country. That's going to have an enormous impact.

You've got the Duqm port in Oman where we saw a fire there as well and a fuel depot. Here in the UAE, in Fujairah as well. We've got Kuwait.

It's, really, quite prolific. This is intensely disturbing for the energy market right now. And we know President Trump doesn't want to see higher oil prices because it has a direct impact in the United States on the economy front and inflation where he wants to see much lower interest rates.

So, we're seeing confluence of issues and confluence of risks and investors right now are trying to assess what this is ultimately going to mean and it really comes down to how long this will last. Rosemary.

CHURCH: Our thanks to Eleni Giokos in Abu Dhabi with that live report.

Well Israelis are on edge with threats of airstrikes coming from both Iran and Hezbollah in Lebanon. CNN's Jeremy Diamond shows us how Israel's emergency services are responding.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Data is coming in on these screens right here.

DIAMOND (voice-over): We're inside the nerve center of Israel's emergency medical services. Magen David Adom's now fortified dispatch center.

URI SHACHAM, CHIEF OF STAFF, MAGEN DAVID ADOM: This was built about a year ago. When we were preparing for a multi-frontal war, we said we need to take our previous dispatch center, put it underground where we can assure the continuity of the EMS services.

DIAMOND (voice-over): Built for a war just like this one.

SHACHAM: Oh, Yes.

So, yes. So, our cell phone just received a notice that in the coming minutes, sirens will probably be activated.

DIAMOND (voice-over): Another wave of Iranian missiles. Screens here light up with projected points of impact.

SHACHAM: This barrage of rockets, we have almost 80 potential hitting points.

DIAMOND (voice-over): Within minutes, it's time to move.

DIAMOND: Okay, so we've just learned that there is a potential impact as a result of one of these Iranian ballistic missiles and we're going to jump in with the paramedics to the scene.

DIAMOND (voice-over): Paramedic Ori Lazarovich hits the gas.

ORI LAZAROVICH, PARAMEDIC: We had one rocket that struck very dense area.

DIAMOND: And this is a direct impact?

LAZAROVICH: Direct, apparently. So, we haven't gotten there, but it seems like it's a direct impact.

DIAMOND (voice-over): While speeding through traffic, Lazarovich is also processing a fire hose of information.

LAZAROVICH: So, we have an update now that it wasn't a direct hit. It was a very big piece of shrapnel that hit the building on the highest levels.

DIAMOND (voice-over): As soon as we arrive, he rushes toward the impact site.

DIAMOND: Okay, so we just arrived on the scene. Obviously, very chaotic. So, this isn't a direct impact, but nonetheless, you can see the damage just from shrapnel of a potential interception here, part of this roof caved in.

DIAMOND (voice-over): A half dozen people are lightly wounded, but many more are shaken. Irina was in a bomb shelter across the street when she suddenly heard a sharp sound.

And yet, shock here is also matched with another realization.

LAZAROVICH: If it were to be a direct hit to this building, we'd be seeing at least five buildings with casualties inside.

DIAMOND (voice-over): And debris not so easily swept away.

Jeremy Diamond, CNN, Ramat Gan, Israel.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: The U.S. has closed three of its embassies in the Middle East as the war with Iran intensifies. Strikes from two suspected Iranian drones forced the closure of the embassy in Saudi Arabia. The U.S. embassies in Kuwait and Lebanon are also closed for now.

The U.S. State Department ordered all non-emergency government workers to leave five countries in the region. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said it in the region as well.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARCO RUBIO, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: Rest assured, we are confident that we are going to be able to assist every American. As I told you, right now we have a little over 1500, maybe closer to 1600 Americans requesting assistance. And we know that we're going to be able to help them.

It's going to take a little time because we don't control the airspace closures. As these opportunities begin to open up, we can act very quickly to reach them and get them out of harm's way.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[03:55:03]

CHURCH: Emirates, Etihad and Virgin Atlantic have resumed limited flights in the region as travelers try to fly out of the affected areas. But more than 2500 flights in the region remain cancelled. CNN's Richard Quest has more on how the disruptions are impacting passengers worldwide.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RICHARD QUEST, CNN ANCHOR AND BUSINESS EDITOR-AT-LARGE: There are tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of passengers that are now stranded around the world as the airspace in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates remains closed. The UAE includes the airports of Abu Dhabi and Dubai.

Dubai being the largest and most significant. The Gulf 3 airports are now the backbone of much of international aviation. Ever since those hubs grew through Emirates, Qatar Airways and Etihad, so the number of travelers passing through has grown exponentially.

Now, with the missiles flying, the airspace is closed and the ripple effects are being felt around the globe. Some flights are just starting again. According to the UAE, certain safety corridors are being constructed out of Dubai that will allow FlyDubai and Emirates to get limited flights; perhaps up to 48 flights an hour will be allowed to leave. How they're doing it isn't clear, but it's widely believed to also

include escorts from military aircraft and of course ensuring safe routes through other countries. What this has all shown is that the shift in aviation to the Gulf 3 airports has now been complete and dramatic. And now whenever there are problems in the Middle East, so it's the Gulf 3 carriers that perhaps bear the biggest brunt.

Richard Quest, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: And thanks for your company, I'm Rosemary Church. Our coverage of the war with Iran and the U.S. primaries continues with Becky Anderson and Erica Hill after this.

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