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Iranian President Says Never Surrender; War Has Killed 1,300+ People; Gulf States Fend Off New Missile and Drone Attacks; Trump Predicts Cuba's Fall; Russia Feeds Iran Intel on U.S. Forces; Iranian Democracy Advocate on His Country's Future; Iranian Minister Warns European Countries; Iran Retaliates against New Wave of Israeli Airstrikes; Chicago Memorial Honors Civil Rights Leader Jesse Jackson. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired March 07, 2026 - 03:00   ET

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

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): This is CNN breaking news

BEN HUNTE, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Hello and welcome to our viewers in the United States and all around the world. I'm Ben Hunte in Atlanta

ELENI GIOKOS, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): And I'm Eleni Giokos, live from our Middle East programming hub here in Abu Dhabi. We've got news from all around the world for you. Ben and I will be taking you through the next hour.

And this news just in to CNN. Iran's president says his country will never surrender as its military continued to trade strikes with Israel and aim retaliatory fire at a number of Gulf nations.

It comes after U.S. president Donald Trump demanded Iran's unconditional surrender in a televised address on state TV.

Masoud Pezeshkian said, quote, "They will take the dreams of our unconditional surrender to the grave."

A short time ago, Israel launched what it calls a broad scale wave of strikes against Tehran. The Israeli military says it used more than 80 fighter jets to carry out the attack. New video shows Tehran's Mehrabad Airport on fire, although it's not clear if the airport was struck directly.

Iranian state media reporting explosions from one end of the capital to the other. U.S. Central Command says American forces have now hit more than 3,000 targets inside Iran and that includes ballistic missile sites and command posts of Iran's Revolutionary Guards.

Our reporters are covering all of this from various angles. We've got Paula Hancocks joining us from Dubai. But first, I want to get to CNN's Jerusalem bureau chief, Oren Liebermann in Tel Aviv. Oren, from what we understand, Israel launching that massive attack on

Tehran. And this after we've also heard just a few minutes ago from the Iranian president, Masoud Pezeshkian, saying they will not surrender. Take us through the latest there.

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN JERUSALEM BUREAU CHIEF AND CORRESPONDENT: Well, what's interesting here about Israel's statement, that the latest wave involved 80 fighter jets, is that this isn't even the largest wave of attacks we have seen by Israel.

They have used more than 100 throughout the course of the first week of the war, in simultaneous strikes across parts of the country here. And you can see that that very much continues in this latest wave of attacks on Iran.

Israel says they targeted what they say was the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' military university, as well as a number of other sites, including ballistic missile launchers and ballistic missile arrays. That remains a key target for Israel as we see them work their way down their target list.

As you pointed out, U.S. Central Command says they have struck more than 3,000 targets in the first week of the war. Israel said just a couple of days ago that they have struck, I believe, about 2,500 targets. So you get a sense of how large the operation is, as it very much continues.

The U.S. president, Donald Trump, and the Defense Secretary vowed that that this effectively would expand and they would see larger and larger strikes as we move into the weekend and as we move in to the second week of the war here.

Meanwhile, as that happens, we see Iran firing back. What's interesting is that, over the course of the last several days, we have seen more of the incoming Iranian ballistic missiles happen several times during the day and the evening. Last night, there were at least three rounds of incoming ballistic missile fire in the overnight hours.

So Iran at least retaining some ability to launch at Israel. Meanwhile, on the Lebanese front, Israel continues to go after Hezbollah targets there.

What's interesting there as well is that Hezbollah Mia (ph) and the Lebanese ministry of public health have said that Israel has conducted commando raids into the country using helicopters and some small number of ground forces that have engaged in firefights with Hezbollah militants.

So it seems that Israel is pushing deeper into the country. This isn't a ground incursion or a ground invasion at this point, even as Israel has taken more positions along the Israel-Lebanon border. But we will certainly wait to see where this goes from here.

Keep in mind that over the course of the past 24 to 48 hours, Israel has issued evacuation warnings for large swaths of southern Lebanon, basically the entire south of the country, as well as large parts of the capital of Beirut and parts of the Bekaa Valley.

So Israel has the forces up there as it continues pushing and vows, at least right now, that Hezbollah will be disarmed before they before they scale back what's happening and the Israeli strikes in Lebanon.

GIOKOS: Yes. Oren, I just want to bring up this map of all the strikes, the U.S.-Israeli strikes into Iran.

[03:05:00]

And it's quite widespread. You mentioned here that the 80 fighter jets in those pre-dawn strikes in Iran were really targeting ballistic missile sites, military bunkers and so forth.

What is our understanding of the degradation of Iran's military capabilities?

Do we have any insight on that?

LIEBERMANN: So we've gotten some of this information from the Israeli military. They say they've targeted somewhere between -- and I forget the exact numbers -- between 60 percent and 80 percent of the ballistic missile launchers, as well as either 60 percent or 80 percent of the missile and air defenses.

So that's been a key target. That's actually a lot of what has allowed the Israeli air force and the American Air Force and American Navy to basically have free rein over large parts of Iran. It's because they were able to take out the air defenses.

And that's why you see the Israeli military putting out videos of their fighters over Iran. It's because of that freedom they have to operate. But this has always been an asymmetrical war.

Iran was never going to put up its air force and match it fighter to fighter with the U.S. or Israel. Iran's weapons have been their ballistic missiles and they still have those, at least to some extent, as we saw here last night, as well as their one-way attack drones.

And then some of their other capabilities, that's what Iran is using here to fight back, as well as their determination to stay in the fight here. And that's what we're seeing on day eight.

GIOKOS: Yes. And Masoud Pezeshkian saying they are not going to surrender. That coming just a short time ago. Oren Liebermann, thank you so much for that update.

I want to go live now to CNN's Paula Hancocks, who's in Dubai.

Good to see you, Paula. I want you to give me a bit of insight into what has happened in Dubai today. The interception, specifically, a lot of news out of Dubai Airport.

What is the latest there?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. So this was a couple of hours ago. We did hear the interceptions. We also heard the alerts, the emergency alerts, telling us to stay inside.

And it does appear as though there has been some kind of impact near or in the grounds of Dubai International Airport. We're waiting for official lines on that. What we did hear is that flights were suspended temporarily.

We heard from the Dubai media office saying that it was for the safety of passengers, airport staff and airline crew. But then just half an hour later, Emirates said that all the flights had resumed. And if you had a flight this afternoon, you could presume it was going to go ahead.

Now we did speak to a resident of Dubai who was inside the airport when the blast happened. Let's listen to what he saw.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Shortly after 9:00, we were at the terminal three at Dubai International Airport. And there was a large impact. A lot of smoke could be seen from the glass. It seemed to be within the airport perimeter.

But obviously in these situations, it's quite difficult to tell. There were vibrations, reverberations. What was extraordinary is that the Dubai authorities within the airport reacted. There was professionalism, there was calm, there was no panic. The passengers showed no panic, either, that I could see.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANCOCKS: And certainly that was the case when we were at the airport a few days ago. It was a very calm and organized atmosphere.

Now at this point, it's unclear whether it was a direct hit, whether it was debris from an interception. We certainly have seen a number of drones and missiles continue to be able to impact the Gulf nations here in the UAE.

On Friday, officials said they intercepted nine ballistic missiles, 101 drones and they remain on high alert. We also saw in Saudi Arabia that officials there saying that 20 drones were approaching the Shaybah oil field when they intercepted them.

Also the ministry of defense saying that there were five separate waves of attacks since midnight. So even though we are hearing from U.S. officials that the ability of Tehran to be able to retaliate, that the number of ballistic missiles and drones is dramatically reduced from the beginning of this war, they are still able to get some through.

And certainly more than 100 drones coming toward the UAE on Friday is still a significant number. But the air defense systems here and also across many of the Gulf nations are working as they should. Well over 90 percent of what is coming in is being intercepted.

GIOKOS: Yes. Very true. [03:10:00]

Even with the alerts this morning, interceptions going well despite the continued onslaught here. Paula Hancocks, we appreciate that update, live in Dubai for us.

Now oil-rich Gulf states are struggling as the war with Iran strains their economies. On this map, you can see where gas and oil infrastructure has already been hit. As the conflict widens, the Strait of Hormuz sits basically empty. The vital shipping channel normally handles tankers carrying 20 percent of the world's oil supply.

Because of this, oil prices are surging U.S. Crude oil prices jumped 36 percent this week to $91 a barrel. The international benchmark, Brent crude, has gained 27 percent. Look at that. It's sitting at just over $93 a barrel

U.S. markets have also dipped as investors worry about energy inflation. The Dow, the S&P 500 as well as Nasdaq all closing in the red on Friday. Take a look at that. S&P down 1.3 percent.

Joining me now we've got from Huddersfield, England, is Danni Hewson. She's the head of financial analysis at AJ Bell.

Really good to have you with us. You know, I just want to take -- I want you to take me through what we're seeing in the oil market in particular, because, earlier this week, despite energy and critical energy infrastructure that was struck, there was almost no real -- there was a jump but it wasn't really that aggressive.

Things changed dramatically on Friday. Take me through why that is.

Is there an understanding in terms of the supply constraints from the Strait of Hormuz and potentially the capacity loss that we've seen out of this region through the strikes?

DANNI HEWSON, HEAD OF FINANCIAL ANALYSIS, AJ BELL: Oh yes, absolutely. The fact that we are now seeing an absolute logjam through the Strait of Hormuz, which, as you say, is a crucial shipping route for energy supplies, has really rattled markets.

Look, when we started on Monday morning, we had seen the oil price jump a bit. We certainly saw gas prices jump more considerably. But I think investors were really taking a cautious approach.

They were wondering quite how long this attack was going to go on for, whether we would hear for more from the United States that there could be a quick solution to what was going on. Of course, instead, what we've seen is a real ratcheting up. And more than that, we've seen attacks from Iran on really important infrastructure in places like Qatar, which have had a huge impact then on the price of energy across the world.

And as that happens, people start to consider how long this might go on for. What happens if the Strait of Hormuz is shut for a prolonged period of

time there?

Thinking back to 2022 and those oil shocks, the energy shocks, which really ratcheted up inflation and I think investors are now starting to consider this in very different terms.

GIOKOS: Yes. And it is very different because it's not just the Strait of Hormuz that is closed. We're seeing key infrastructure that has been damaged here. We also know that president Trump and the administration has announced insurance guarantees, bringing in the Development Finance Corporation.

Also saying there's going to be naval escorts for some of the vessels. A lot of the experts I've spoken to are not completely convinced that it's going to work for the 130 tankers that need to pass through the strait on a daily basis.

What are you hearing?

All right. All right, Danni.

We've lost Danni, unfortunately. Danni Hewson there for us, taking through -- taking us through all the shocks that we're seeing in the energy markets and the impact that's going to have on global oil prices and how that's going to feed through into inflationary impacts in all parts of the world.

In the meantime, the United Nations secretary general is also sending a warning that the war in Iran could spiral out of control. Antonio Guterres called for an end to the fighting and urged for serious negotiations to take place. Iran's U.N. ambassador has called on the U.N. to do more to stop the deaths of civilians.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AMIR SAEID IRAVANI, IRANIAN AMBASSADOR TO THE U.N.: Despite our repeated communication to the Security Council calling for an immediate halt to this criminal war, the council has remained silent.

According to the latest report of the Iranian Red Crescent Society, at least 1,332 civilians, including women and children, have lost their lives so far.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GIOKOS: Right. President Trump is once again focusing on Cuba. He claims it's only a matter of time before the regime crumbles. When we return, the plans Mr. Trump has for the island nation, if the government falls.

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And there are new details about who may be responsible for the bombing of a girls' elementary school in Iran. Just ahead, what a CNN analysis of the strike shows. We'll be right back. (MUSIC PLAYING)

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HUNTE: President Trump is once again suggesting Cuba is next on his administration's agenda, telling CNN the regime, quote, "is going to fall pretty soon."

He also said he put secretary of state Marco Rubio in charge of the island nation.

The U.S. has put intense pressure on Cuba in recent weeks, including an oil embargo, which has caused a severe energy shortage. CNN's Patrick Oppmann has more for us from Havana.

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PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Donald Trump says that Cuba is, quote, "ready to fall." It would seem to be the kind of rehashed bluster we've heard from many U.S. presidents since the Cold War. But now it does feel a little different.

The oil embargo that Donald Trump has put on this island give some credence to his comments to CNN that the government here is hanging on by the thinnest of threads.

Every day we see fewer cars on the road. The blackouts become longer and longer and people are becoming increasingly desperate.

[03:20:00]

As they wonder how their food will last in fridges if there is no more power, how they will earn a living if inflation is out of control and salaries are becoming near to worthless.

And so when Donald Trump says the Cuban government is desperate for a deal as he told CNN's Dana Bash on Friday, perhaps there is some truth in that although the Cuban officials that I spoke to say they will never allow the U.S. to dictate to them ever again.

And they are willing to resist the Trump administration even willing to take to the streets and fight, if necessary.

All the same, though, this appears to be checkmate as no other governments, not Cuba's allies, Russia or China certainly not Venezuela, following the U.S. attack on that country or even Mexico following a pressure campaign from the Trump administration are stepping in to send oil, the oil that this economy so desperately needs.

So at the moment, there are rumors and whispers of talks of back channels going on, of deals being struck. But as this crisis goes on, it is taking a far more deeper toll on the Cuban people -- Patrick Oppmann, CNN, Havana (END VIDEOTAPE)

HUNTE: Russia is not playing a neutral observer in the war in Iran. That's according to multiple sources who have spoken to CNN. They say U.S. intelligence shows that Moscow is supplying Tehran with intelligence about the location and movement of U.S. ships, planes and troops.

Much of it comes from Russian satellites but it's still unclear if any Iranian attack can be linked to the intelligence that's received from Moscow. Russia's state news agency says the two countries' presidents held a phone call on Friday and agreed to continue contact. For more, we are joined by CNN's Gabe Cohen. He's in Washington.

Gabe, thanks so much for staying up for us late again. We appreciate it.

What else can you tell us about Russia apparently getting involved now?

GABE COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Ben, look, that's one of the reasons this is really significant, right, is because it's the first indication that Moscow is getting involved in this war, with those sources telling us that Russia is providing that intel about the location of American troops and assets so that Iranian military can target them.

And much of that intelligence is coming from this sophisticated satellite system that Russia has. It's a tool that Iran on its own does not have, as the country has seen its own capabilities degraded day after day from all of this fighting.

It's not a huge surprise to see these two countries in communication or collaboration. These are nations that, for years now, have been working together in some capacity on various military technology -- missiles, drones.

What we don't know, though, is whether this means Russia's involvement in this crisis, in this conflict, could expand, especially after that phone call you referenced, Ben, on Friday between Iran's president and Vladimir Putin, Russia's president.

Now the White House, for their part, they have brushed off this story. They do not want to talk, it seems, about Russia. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told CBS News that, of course, the president is well aware of who is talking to whom. And at this point, there is no reason to believe there's any security threat because of Russian involvement.

Though I will note, as of a couple of days ago, Hegseth told reporters that Russia and China are, quote, "not really a factor in this war."

Press secretary Karoline Leavitt, she told reporters that if Russia is in fact providing this intel to Iran, it's not making much of a difference at this point because of the success of the U.S. military operation thus far. And president Trump himself, he snapped at a reporter from FOX News on

Friday when he was asked about this story during an event at the White House that was focused on how to potentially change college sports. Here's what the president said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

QUESTION: It sounds like the Russians are helping Iran target and attack Americans now.

TRUMP: That's an easy problem compared to what we're doing here.

(LAUGHTER)

TRUMP: But can I be honest?

It's just I have a lot of respect for you. You've always been very nice to me. What a stupid question that is to be asking at this time. We're talking about something else.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COHEN: So we haven't heard the administration condemn Russia for this. But as that clip clearly shows -- and there are plenty of others -- this administration is really laser focused on talking about the success of this operation.

Trump telling CNN on Friday, quote, "A week ago, Iran was powerful. Now they have been indeed neutered."

But Ben, one of the big questions we have heard the administration say, they were hoping for this 4-5 week timeline for this war effort.

[03:25:00]

It's unclear if that timeline could change if more countries like Russia are drawn into the conflict

HUNTE: OK, well, thank you for that update. Gabe Cohen, we appreciate it. And thank you for being with us for our overnight hours as well. We really appreciate that, too.

The White House has not ruled out that U.S. military forces carried out the strike that hit a girls' elementary school in the southern Iranian city of Minab on Saturday. Iran's state media says at least 168 children and 14 teachers were killed. CNN's Isobel Yeung has more for us on the analysis of the bombing.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ISOBEL YEUNG, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Nearly a week after a strike killed scores of students in Iran's Minab, it seems more and more likely that was responsible. A new satellite image shows an Iranian Revolutionary Guards base and an elementary school in southern Iran. Here you see craters in several of the buildings, including the school. They were hit in their exact centers, suggesting precision strikes. Experts say a wall separates the school and the base. Satellite images from December show dozens of people in what appears to be a handball court at the school.

Reuters now reports that U.S. military investigators believe U.S. forces were responsible, though they haven't yet reached a final conclusion.

N.R. JENZEN-JONES, DIRECTOR, ARMAMENT RESEARCH SERVICES: It paints a picture of multiple simultaneous or near simultaneous strikes. And it looks like these were delivered with explosive munitions, probably air delivered.

I think the most likely scenario in this case is that it's a U.S. or Israeli airstrike gone awry. It's probably a targeting failure somewhere in the targeting cycle, an intelligence failure.

YEUNG (voice-over): The Israeli military say they weren't operating in the area.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: To date, we've hit over 2,000 targets.

YEUNG (voice-over): American military officials say they carried out extensive strikes in this area and released this map showing strikes in southern Iran. The base and the school in Minab are located here.

PETE HEGSETH, DEFENSE SECRETARY: We, of course, never target civilian targets but we're taking a look at investigating that.

JENZEN-JONES: The damage we've seen is quite significant. It's unlikely it was something like an air defense missile fired by the Iranians, for example.

YEUNG: When we try to assess who is responsible for airstrikes, we typically try to examine the weaponry fragments left behind. But in this instance, there's an Internet blackout in Iran. It's been really difficult to obtain that. And so this investigation is still not conclusive -- Isobel Yeung, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HUNTE: In response to CNN's findings, a U.S. military spokesperson said, quote, "It would be inappropriate to comment given the incident is under investigation."

OK. Still ahead, more of our breaking news coverage from the Middle East. We will go live to the region where Gulf states have been fending off Iran's retaliatory strikes. See you in a moment.

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GIOKOS (voice-over): Welcome back. I'm Eleni Giokos, live for you in Abu Dhabi. I want to take a look at today's top stories.

Iran's state media says explosions can be heard in parts of the capital, Tehran. It comes hours after dramatic video showed the city's Mehrabad Airport in flames. The Israeli military says it used more than 80 fighter jets to carry out a, quote, "broad scale wave of strikes" on Iran earlier today.

The United Nations secretary general is warning that the war in Iran could spiral out of control. Antonio Guterres said the attacks are causing harm to civilians in the region and pose a grave risk to the global economy. He has called for an end to the fighting and urged for serious negotiations to take place.

Iran's president has announced that Tehran would stop striking its Gulf neighbors unless attacks originate from those countries. He also apologized to those nations in an address on Saturday. It is not clear when the attacks will stop.

After the address, interceptions over -- continued over the United Arab Emirates and sirens rang in Bahrain. We've got CNN's senior producer, Bijan Hosseini, monitoring all of this for us in Doha.

And from my understanding as well, you've received alerts there where you are to take cover. Give me a sense of what you're experiencing

BIJAN HOSSEINI, CNN SENIOR PRODUCER: Yes. I want to start off by reading Pezeshkian's comments. They're pretty remarkable.

He said, "I personally apologize to the neighboring countries that were attacked by Iran."

He then added, "We do not intend to attack neighboring countries. As I have repeatedly said, they are our brothers."

The irony of that, as you pointed out, is we got a security alert on our phones, asking us to seek shelter, from authorities here in Qatar around the same time he made these comments, maybe shortly after. We did get the all clear about 30 minutes ago.

Then Qatar's ministry of defense coming out saying they had successfully intercepted a missile attack. All that happening. In this morning as well in the UAE, some of our colleagues receiving alerts to shelter from Abu Dhabi to Dubai to Sharjah. And the ministry saying they had intercepted attacks there as well.

And Saudi Arabia today, more than 20 drones targeting the Sheba (sic) oilfield -- sorry, the Shaybah oilfield. It's a massive oil and gas field that is operated by Saudi Aramco out in the empty quarter. That's a vast stretch of desert out in Saudi Arabia and in Bahrain.

Hearing sounds and sirens throughout the morning there to seek shelter. So obviously, we're hearing these comments from Iran. We did hear from U.S. Central Command on Thursday. They said that Iran's missile attacks had decreased by 90 percent and that their drone attacks had decreased by 80 percent versus from the start of the war.

We're now in our eighth day but no signs of slowing down in these Gulf countries, Eleni.

GIOKOS: Yes, Bijan. Really good point. So Masoud Pezeshkian saying that the attacks on neighboring countries will stop. We don't know when that will take effect. Bijan there in Doha obviously experiencing those alerts as well as other parts of the region as well. Thank you so much, Bijan. Good to see you and we'll catch up with you very soon.

Now as the future of Iran hangs in the balance, CNN chief international anchor Christiane Amanpour spoke to Iranian democracy activist Mehdi Mahmoudian from Tehran. He spent nearly a decade of his life imprisoned by the regime and they discussed his hopes for the country and the future. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Mehdi Mahmoudian, welcome to our program from Tehran. I can't tell you how pleased we are to have you.

Can you just tell me how it is for you?

What it is like, the bombing?

How do you feel about it?

MEHDI MAHMOUDIAN, IRANIAN HUMAN RIGHTS AND DEMOCRACY ACTIVIST (through translator): What happened in the streets of Tehran and after the war in Tehran brought out two different feelings in us.

One was a sense of joy that those who had played a role in suppressing the people, those who had killed thousands of people in the streets.

[03:35:00]

Or had ordered massacres were killed and were no longer there to continue the repression.

On the other hand, we were sad that our country had been invaded and the countries had attacked our country based on their own interests. And these feelings can be easily seen on the faces of the people, both joy at the death of the dictator and sadness that the war had begun and that it would probably bring decades of suffering to Iran.

AMANPOUR: Do you think, Mehdi Mahmoudian, that there is a possibility to change your regime?

And how do you think it should happen?

Who should be leading the change?

MAHMOUDIAN (through translator): In these struggles of the last 20 years, I was in prison for at least nine years. And I hoped that I and all my friends and comrades in Iran who are fighting to confront tyranny and replace it with a democratic system, we hoped that we could establish the system with the help of civil society and the Iranian people.

Today, I also hope that America and its allies will allow the fate of Iran to be determined by the Iranian people themselves and allow us to determine our own fate by stopping the war of attrition.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GIOKOS: All right. We're going to have very short break. We'll be back right after this.

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HUNTE: Iran is warning other countries to not get involved in the war with the U.S. and Israel. Iran's deputy foreign minister says if European countries join attacks against Iran, those countries will become legitimate targets for retaliation.

He says Tehran warned other Gulf states before the war started, that if the U.S. attacks Iran, then Iran would target U.S. bases and assets in the region. Meanwhile, French president Emmanuel Macron is emphasizing the need to contain the escalation in the region.

[03:40:00]

Let's talk about it some more. Joining me live is CNN's Barbie Latza Nadeau in Rome.

Thank you so much for being with me. Macron is calling for de- escalation and speaking with leaders across the region. But at the same time, he's also sending in military assets.

So where does Europe actually stand on this war right now?

BARBIE LATZA NADEAU, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, you know, that's a good question and it's one that I don't think is very easy to answer. Europe is divided at the best of times.

And so in a situation like this, every country has diplomatic relations or had diplomatic relations with Iran. So the relationships are very different. Here in Italy, you know, the government has been very adamant about saying we are not at war, we are not at war.

But like France, they're also sending military assets, naval assets toward the Middle East, along with Greece and France. And we've seen Germany, for example, be, you know, trying to calm things down, trying to call for diplomacy.

And yet in Spain, we've got an entirely different reaction, which is sort of, you know, very much anti-war, very much anti confrontation

HUNTE: And there is also a growing dispute between Washington and Madrid, too, after Spain refused to let the U.S. use its bases.

Where does that currently stand?

How is that changing things?

NADEAU: Well, I mean, you know, there are around 40 bases run by the United States across Europe. We've got some in Sicily here in Italy, some in the north of the country and in Germany as well and in France.

Now France and Germany and Italy have said that they would be willing to consider the use of U.S. using those bases if there's been a request, because there are protocols in place. There was a protocol in place as well with Spain.

But Spain has refused, refused in the beginning to be involved, to allow anything to -- any military action from those bases on the Spanish mainland. That has not changed.

Now that immediately turned into a trade war, with Donald Trump saying they didn't need any Spanish goods so that they would be, you know, shutting down all trade. That has calmed down a little bit.

But it really feels on some level, Ben, it's out of control, with everybody trying to figure out what the message is. And certainly they are not on the same page yet. Ben.

HUNTE: OK. Well, thank you so much for that update. Barbie Latza Nadeau, we appreciate it. Speak to you again soon.

And now let's go back to Eleni for our oil and market update -- Eleni.

GIOKOS: All right. Thanks so much, Ben.

Quickly checking in on how Brent and WTI have been performing over the past few days. We've got an energy price shock that is coming into play. You've got the Strait of Hormuz that is shut down and, of course, critical energy infrastructure that has been hit.

Brent crude sitting just above $93 a barrel. A lot of the experts that I've spoken to are expecting triple digits on both of those benchmarks as we continue to see hostilities. And a huge effect on supply into the global market. We'll check in on those numbers a little later.

But in the meantime, you know, we also have a lot of analysis to do on the political front. And as things stand in Iran right now and also the most latest comments from Masoud Pezeshkian. I want to bring in Ronen Bergman. He's a staff writer for "The New York Times" magazine.

Ronen, great to have you with us. And just in today's news, we heard from the president of Iran, Masoud Pezeshkian, saying that Iran is going to stop targeting its neighbors and also apologized for that.

At the same time, we had colleagues and people in Doha talking about alerts there. We've seen strikes this morning in Abu Dhabi as well as in Dubai. Give me a sense of what you believe is happening in Iran from a centralized or decentralized government perspective and how that's going to play a hand on how long this lasts.

RONEN BERGMAN, STAFF WRITER, "THE NEW YORK TIMES" MAGAZINE: Well, the killing of Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader, of course, at least in the immediate future, left a vacuum. As long as it was alive, it was his word and that's it. And anything especially on these strategic issues, would be -- would have brought to his attention and his decision.

Now there is a -- it's not the implementation (ph) but different parties and different sects inside the regime are taking different stance. I am told, though, Israeli intelligence believed that this time, surprisingly, and unlike previous times, it is the military, the regular military, not the IRGC military, that is taking the more hawkish point of view.

And we saw a few times where Iran was speaking in two voices. Iran promised that it would -- at the beginning, it won't attack (INAUDIBLE). He said that they don't want to force the proxies to support it. (INAUDIBLE).

It's not clear who is in total control. I assume that if the president said something like that, the president will seem to be like, you know, sort of the weakest link of all the leadership of the regime.

[03:45:04]

If he said that, probably he believes that he has had the power to fulfill. But I'm not sure that we saw the end of this confrontation. And if -- even if I'm not sure that it is not too late from the point of view of the countries that were attacked in their future relations with Iran.

GIOKOS: Yes. I mean, there's a lot going on here. We've seen strikes on critical energy infrastructure. We've seen strikes aimed at airports. There's an amazing interception rate here, which, of course, has you know, saved so much of the damage, the potential damage here.

What kind of offramp do you believe Iran might be looking at?

Or even president Trump and Israel, to try and ensure that they stick to that four-week timeline that the Trump administration was talking about?

BERGMAN: You asked about Iran?

GIOKOS: Yes.

BERGMAN: Asked about Iran, Iran's point of view, right?

Yes. So I think Iran is seeing this as an existential war. And you know, it just makes sense when not in all the statements but in the statement from the leaders, especially from president Trump, you hear the ambition and the goal and its accelerated volume for a regime change.

So from the point of view of a regime, this is an existential war, a doomsday scenario. And in this kind of war, they use everything they have, including putting themselves beyond the point of no return in their relationship with Arab countries.

So what I -- I don't know how this statement from Pezeshkian will play out. But I think that what we will see is just more of the same in the sense of making the West pay a price for the war, in casualties, in oil, in oil prices, in economy and trying to hold on.

And for the time being, we need to say we do not see real cracks in the regime. We don't see defection. We see that, even if hammered and severely damaged, their command and control system is more or less working, even if there are different factions there.

And this is -- in this, the way that this is playing out now, I don't see a solution in the coming future. And, of course, what Hezbollah decided.

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GIOKOS: All right, Ronen Bergman, thank you so very much. Good to have you with us. I appreciate your insights today. A lot happening. As you can see, some of those attacks on the screen. And we're monitoring the situation across the region. All right. Thank you so much, Ronen.

After the break, a look at the powerful tributes to the late civil rights leader, Jesse Jackson, and his music-filled memorial service. We'll be back right after this. Stick with CNN.

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HUNTE: Welcome back.

A local reporter for a Nashville Spanish language news channel was arrested by ICE on Wednesday. Her attorney says agents did not have a warrant but lawyers for the Department of Homeland Security say they did file one and her visa had expired.

Estefany Rodriguez was sitting in her car with her husband when ICE agents detained her. The car had a press logo identifying her as a journalist. But still, Rodriguez immigrated to the U.S. illegally from Colombia in 2021. She's being sponsored by her husband, who is a U.S. citizen.

Her attorney says she's in custody at an immigration detention center.

Leaders across politics, faith and culture gathered in Chicago on Friday to honor the life and legacy of civil rights leader, reverend Jesse Jackson. He died on February 17th and he was 84 years old.

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HUNTE (voice-over): The joyful and music-filled service that you're seeing there followed Jackson's journey from a child of the Jim Crow South through his fight for civil rights to his role as a political powerhouse in Washington, D.C. CNN's Jeff Zeleny has more for us from Chicago.

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JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Three former living Democratic presidents and scores of dignitaries and thousands of mourners gathered in Chicago on Friday to pay tribute and celebrate the life and legacy of the reverend Jesse Jackson Sr.

Chicago, of course, was his political home. But indeed, the world knew Jesse Jackson as not only a political figure but an international one of diplomacy. His family praised him as a father, a grandfather as well.

It was a touching afternoon of tributes here at the House of Hope on the South Side of Chicago. But from President Barack Obama to Bill Clinton to Joe Biden, they all shared lessons about Jackson.

BARACK OBAMA (D), FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Each day we wake up to some new assault on our democratic institutions. Another setback to the idea of the rule of law an offense to common decency.

But this man, reverend Jesse Louis Jackson, inspires us to take a harder path. His voice calls on each of us to be heralds of change, to be messengers of hope, to step forward and say, send me wherever we have a chance to make an impact.

JOE BIDEN (D), FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I knew Jesse. And history remembers him. I knew him as determined and tenacious. I knew him as underrated, undeterred and unafraid. Not a joke.

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And more than most, Jesse was dedicated with every fiber in his being to redeem the soul of America.

BILL CLINTON (D), FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We did not always agree. But I'll tell you one thing. He made me a better president when I got in office because he was always pushing on things.

And he knew that change came from the outside in and sometimes from the inside out. So he knew how to keep pushing and nagging and wearing you out. ZELENY: And former Vice President Kamala Harris also addressing the

crowd, reminding that she was a student in 1988 during Jackson's second presidential bid. She said that was inspiring for her as well. She implored Americans to take lessons from Jackson's life and apply them to today's challenges -- Jeff Zeleny, CNN, Chicago

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HUNTE: At least eight people have been killed in destructive tornadoes that tore across the central United States. The U.S. National Weather Service tracked this tornado near Three Rivers, Michigan, on Friday.

Look at that. Yikes.

A homeowner also filmed a tornado as it moved through Union City.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Holy ...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There goes a house.

HUNTE (voice-over): My goodness.

Officials say at least four people were killed and 12 others injured in Michigan. Multiple homes and barns were damaged or destroyed.

A round of storms killed two people in Oklahoma just one day after a tornado killed a mother and daughter.

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HUNTE: Those are wild images.

That wraps up this hour of CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Ben Hunte in Atlanta and our coverage from the Middle East continues after this quick break. See you tomorrow.