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Iran's New Supreme Leader Releases a Purported Message on State Media; Oscars 2026 Pushes Through, Security in Los Angeles to Heighten; Netflix Confirms Sequel to the Global Hit Animated Movie "K- Pop Demon Hunters". Aired 3-4a ET

Aired March 13, 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]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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

KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to all of you watching us around the world, I'm Kim Brunhuber. We're following the latest developments in the Middle East.

Israel now says its fighter jets struck more than 200 targets across Iran over the past 24 hours. Iranian state media report that heavy explosions rocked several cities a short time ago.

Some residents in Tehran said they felt their houses shaking. Iran's Red Crescent Society says an attack on a toll station wounded three of its aid workers.

Iran is vowing to keep hitting U.S. and Israeli targets, restrict the Strait of Hormuz, a key shipping route, and attack Gulf energy sites for as long as it needs. Israeli authorities say a missile strike has wounded dozens of people and damaged buildings in northern Israel.

(VIDEO PLAYING)

What you're seeing there is new video showing a strike hitting an oil tanker in the Persian Gulf off the coast of Iraq and Kuwait.

It comes as we're getting the first statement attributed to Iran's new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei. Read on Iranian state media, he warned the U.S. and Israel that they must pay compensation for their actions. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNKNOWN (through translator): Two final points is for those authorities who would implement these orders and carry out these services. We will ask for compensation from the enemy. If we can't get compensation from the enemy, we will destroy their properties as much as they have destroyed ours.

(END VIDEO CLIP) BRUNHUBER: Meanwhile, rescue efforts are underway after an American refueling plane went down in western Iraq. That's according to a central command which says the plane wasn't hit by hostile or friendly fire.

Our team of reporters are covering all angles of the war. CNN's Paula Hancocks is standing by in Abu Dhabi, and Ivan Watson joins us from Hong Kong.

Ivan, let's start with you. You're monitoring the fighting between Israel, Iran, and Hezbollah. What's the latest?

IVAN WATSON, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Right, the war continues to rage. There was some kind of a missile strike on a northern Israeli town called Zarzir with a community of largely Arab Bedouin residents there. Take a listen to what an emergency responder had to say in the aftermath of this strike.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OFFICER SHAY DAVID, EVENT COMMANDER ISRAEL FIRE AND RESCUE (through translator): We arrived at the site of a massive impact in Zarzir. There was extensive destruction at the scene and a considerable commotion. The teams arrived and carried out searches and the rescue of trapped individuals.

The site is a complex of four houses. We conducted searches in all of the homes, cleared the apartments, and worked to extinguish fires in the area of the impact.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATSON: The Israeli military says it has carried out strikes against more than 200 targets across central and western Iran over a 24-hour period, citing targets such as ballistic missile launchers and things like that. Residents of Tehran, before dawn in the east of the city, their homes shook from the impact of airstrikes in that part of Tehran.

The conflict with Lebanon continues as well, with Israel continuing to bomb central and southern Beirut as well as southern and eastern Lebanon, killing now more than 680 people. Among those killed were a dean of the Faculty of Sciences and a faculty member of Lebanese University when its campus in southern Beirut was hit, and these two academics were in the courtyard when they were felled by an Israeli airstrike.

The bombing campaign has displaced more than 800,000 people in Lebanon, as Israel declares vast swathes of the country to be no-go zones that will be targeted by warplanes and Israeli attacks. For it, the militia Hezbollah, which is firmly aligned with Iran and supported by Iran, it claimed to have carried out more than two dozen attacks on Thursday, and by the morning on Friday had carried out at least eight attacks. No signs of a let-up in this growing conflict.

BRUNHUBER: Alright. In the meantime, Ivan, give us an update on that downed U.S. plane over Iraq.

WATSON: Right. Not many details coming out of U.S. Central Command except for the fact that this was a KC-135 Stratotanker. That is an airborne fuel tanker, and that it went down.

[03:05:10]

It was lost, in the words of Central Command, somewhere over western Iraq, Central Command insisting that this was not a result of hostile fire or friendly fire. There was a second aircraft.

A U.S. official tells us also a KC-135 fuel tanker that was involved in the incident that has since landed safely, and now there are rescue efforts for what are believed to be five crew members who were aboard this plane.

Now, this is important because in the first days of the joint U.S.- Israeli air campaign against Iran, three American F-15E Strike Eagles went down, these fighter jets, over Kuwait, and it was subsequently learned that this was due to friendly fire from Kuwaiti air defenses. In those cases, all of the air crews parachuted to safety.

We don't know yet what the fate is of the five crew members aboard this KC-135. We do know that Iraq has gotten increasingly violent. Another front in this conflict, for example, there was a strike on a French military base in northern Iraq that killed one French soldier and wounded at least six more.

Not clear where the incoming fire came from. The French president, Emmanuel Macron, put out a statement saying that those French troops have been on the ground there since 2015 as part of a campaign against ISIS and that there should be no justification about the war in Iran for these attacks on those French soldiers. There are a number of Iranian-backed militias operating inside Iraq that have vowed to attack U.S. and allied military targets in the country.

As well, one of these groups, it goes under the umbrella of the Popular Mobilization Forces, it's like a state-backed paramilitary group that involves a number of Iranian-backed factions. They say they've come under attack multiple times over the last two weeks and that at least 27 of their fighters have been killed. Kim.

BRUNHUBER: All right, I appreciate that. Ivan Watson, thanks so much.

I want to go now to CNN's Paula Hancocks in Abu Dhabi. So Paula, you've been monitoring Iran's attacks on Gulf nations, certainly there were those explosions in Dubai. What can you tell us?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well if we start in Dubai, Kim, we have seen a couple of waves of incoming missiles and drones this Friday morning in Dubai, one here in Abu Dhabi as well.

When it comes to Dubai, we have seen, according to authorities, one building in the financial district that was hit by debris from a successful interception of one of those incoming projectiles. There have been a couple on Thursday as well that caused what they call minor damage to the facade of a building. They have said that no injuries were reported in any of those incidents.

But it just reminds everybody that when the emergency alert goes off, authorities say take cover. Because even if the interceptions are successful, there is debris that falls from the sky.

Now when it comes to other places in the Gulf, we know Bahrain has had emergency alerts this morning. Saudi Arabia says that they intercepted dozens of drones that were heading towards the central and eastern part of the country. The eastern part, of course, is where those oil fields are in Saudi Arabia.

The energy infrastructure is really something that Tehran is focusing on. We had an interesting statement from the Revolutionary Guard in Iran saying that they would set the region's oil and gas on fire if Iranian energy infrastructure and ports are attacked.

Now, it feels like a belated statement because they are already attacking the energy infrastructure. They're already attacking the oil industry and tankers and ships in the Strait of Hormuz, in the Arabian Gulf, the Gulf of Oman.

Up to 16 vessels have been targeted and hit in those waters since this war began. That's according to the U.K. Maritime Agency. They say that some eight people have been killed.

There are at least four others that are missing and more that have been injured. So, we have been already seeing the energy infrastructure in the waters between Iran and the Gulf nations and also on land in a number of these Gulf nations be impacted.

Now, we also did hear from the new supreme leader talking about his neighboring countries. He spoke of 15 neighboring countries saying that they have to remove the U.S. military bases. They have to close them down, as they warned before, and then relations will be warm and close, Kim?

BRUNHUBER: Alright, I appreciate you bringing this up to speed on all of that. Paula Hancocks, thank you so much.

[03:10:10]

Now, earlier I spoke with Mehran Kamrava, a professor of government at Georgetown University in Qatar, and I asked him how we should read the mixed signals about the Strait of Hormuz that are coming out of Tehran. Here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MEHRAN KAMRAVA, PROF. OF GOVERNMENT, GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY IN QATAR: Well, Iran has always been notorious in not speaking with one voice, the Islamic Republic, that is. And so, it could very well be fractional politics, but there could also be a much more clever strategy at work here on the part of Iran, whereby you have the president playing the role of a good cop and then others playing the role of a bad cop. And so, you know, this could very well be part of a very deliberate

strategy to, on the one hand, keep adversaries and the United States and Israel guessing, on the other hand, maintaining all options open. And we also see this from the White House, the fact that there are multiple statements that could be interpreted in different ways.

BRUNHUBER: Yes, good point. So, Iran's military command now warning that if its energy infrastructure and ports are attacked, it will set the entire region's oil and gas on fire. That's what they were saying.

So, how real do you think that threat is, and what would that actually mean?

KAMRAVA: Well, you know, that is another one of those threats that the Iranians have been making, and I think it needs to be taken very seriously. Already Qatar's oil company here in Doha, Qatar Energy, has stopped production and export of liquefied natural gas, and it's going to take weeks, a couple of weeks at least, to get the production back and running.

And we're looking at one of the major LNG producers globally. And so this is not a threat to be dismissed lightly. These facilities are not militarily protected, and they're easy to hit.

In 2019, in fact, Aramco facilities in Saudi Arabia were hit by, again, suspected Iranian missiles that were, at least the Iranians blamed on the Houthis, or others blamed on the Houthis. So, this would have devastating consequences for the global economy, and, of course, much more devastating consequences for local economies, these oil economies that are very sensitive to fluctuations in price of gas.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: Lebanon is bracing for another flood of internally displaced people fleeing into the country's north following a new evacuation order by Israel. Its defense ministers ordered the military to get ready to expand its ground operations in southern Lebanon, and the new evacuation order issued on Thursday has doubled the area where Israel wants all civilians gone. Lebanon says more than 800,000 people are already internally displaced, and there are concerns the number could reach one million in the coming days.

(VIDEO PLAYING)

Israel is also stepping up its airstrikes on suspected Hezbollah targets. Lebanon says close to 700 people have already been killed in the fighting.

Now across the border, Israel is also taking fire from Iran and Hezbollah. CNN's Jeremy Diamond shows how destructive those strikes can be.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: This is the kind of power that Hezbollah still has. We're in a home in central Israel that was struck by a Hezbollah rocket.

You can see some of the shrapnel marks in this wall behind me. But wait as we walk into this home, and you're going to see how big the destruction really is.

This door broken down behind there is where that rocket actually made a direct impact. You can see all around here there are pieces of wood, and in other rooms there is glass that is shattered and lying all over the floor.

One thing that isn't destroyed is this right here, and that's because this is the bomb shelter inside of this home. And this is where an 86- year-old woman and her caretaker sheltered as those air raid sirens went off before that rocket ultimately came in.

But had they been anywhere else, it would be a very different story. This area has been completely shattered by the power of that blast.

And this is where that rocket actually made a direct impact. You can see the crater that's still here behind me, and this part of the home that really took the brunt of the impact.

What's so stunning, of course, is the fact that we are some 60 miles away from that Lebanese border, and yet Hezbollah still has the capacity to hit a place like this in central Israel.

[03:15:07]

And now the question, of course, is what is Israel going to do in retaliation?

We've seen, of course, already heavy airstrikes in the Lebanese capital of Beirut. And, of course, airstrikes in southern Lebanon as well. But Israel is also mobilizing ground forces near the Lebanese border as the Israeli Prime Minister deliberates whether to move in once again with a ground offensive.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: All right, still ahead. Global gas prices are rising, and it's all because of a narrow waterway off the coast of Iran. Look at why the Strip of Hormuz has disrupted the global energy markets. That story and more coming up, stay with us.

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[03:20:04]

BRUNHUBER: Iran's ambassador to the United Nations says Iran won't keep the Strip of Hormuz closed. Now, those remarks came hours after the new supreme leader vowed to keep the vital waterway closed as a tool of pressure.

The discrepancy between the two men hasn't been clearly explained. The U.N. envoy insisted that Iran remains committed to freedom of navigation. He blamed the U.S. for destabilizing the region and creating the current situation in the Strip.

Former U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry warns that no one should underestimate Iran's capacity to drag this war out. Here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAX FOSTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT AND ANCHOR: Would you say it's one of the worst crises in decades?

JOHN KERRY, FORMER U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: I would. I think it is because it has the potential of getting even more out of control. I mean, I think if people have a feeling that there's no off-ramp, it's going to have a profound impact.

You've already seen what's happened to oil production, gas production. You've seen what's happened to prices. That will flow down into everybody's economy if it goes on too long.

And I think it's really important to avoid the potential of somebody completely misreading or further misreading how one choice will affect others.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: I'll bring in CNN's Mike Valerio, who is in Beijing. Mike, let's build on what we just heard there from John Kerry. You're monitoring the latest in the Strait of Hormuz and the effect on oil prices in the markets, bring us up to speed.

MIKE VALERIO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, they're not going to fall precipitously until the Strait of Hormuz, and we're talking about the price of Brent crude. That is the global benchmark, and we talk about global benchmarks. We mean that is the price of crude that other oil producers look at, and they say, okay, well, this is what we look at to determine how much we're going to price our barrels of oil.

So, really, to the Secretary's point, and to the point that analysts around the globe, not just here in East Asia, are saying, there's not going to be a precipitous fall in that price until safety of vessels transiting through the Strait of Hormuz is guaranteed. And to that point, we can look at the price of Brent right now, just hovering over $100 a barrel. It only dropped, Kim, into the $87 range on Tuesday when the U.S. Secretary of Energy, Chris Wright, mistakenly posted on X, paraphrasing his post, but saying, hey, the Navy has escorted a tanker through the Strait, and that led to the sharpest fall in the price of oil that we've seen since this conflict that turned out not to be true.

But in terms of how this is affecting American voters, who arguably could control the destiny of what happens here in their own way when they go to the ballot box, how they're being affected, U.S. gas prices right now, I should say, before the conflict started, were around, on average, $2.98. And since then, as we're approaching the two-week mark, the U.S. average price of gas is at $3.60, so that's more than a $0.60, $0.62 increase. And we should say, when all of these measures were put into the

pipeline when the war in Ukraine started in 2022, relief of up to $0.42 a gallon were recorded by the United States Treasury, that includes putting millions of more barrels of oil from the strategic petroleum reserves into the pipeline and executive orders.

So my point here is, if using those toolkits can only alleviate the pain of the pump in America by 40-some-odd cents, and the price has already gone up by 60 cents a gallon, that leads analysts and traders and certainly people at home at the pump to believe nothing may really work, as well as getting the situation in the Strait of Hormuz under control, Kim.

BRUNHUBER: Yes, only one solution, as you say. Mike Valerio, thank you so much. I appreciate it.

VALERIO: Right. No problem.

BRUNHUBER: The Department of Homeland Security says the man who rammed a car into a Detroit area synagogue was a naturalized citizen from Lebanon. The 41-year-old suspect died when his car caught fire shortly after he crashed into the Temple Israel synagogue on Thursday.

The temple includes a daycare center and a school. A security guard was knocked unconscious when the car struck him as it smashed into the building, but no teachers or students were injured. The FBI says it's investigating the attack as a targeted act of violence against the Jewish community.

President Donald Trump offered condolences for the violence. Here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: I want to send our love to the Michigan Jewish community and all of the people in the Detroit area following the attack on the Jewish synagogue early today. I've been fully briefed, and it's a terrible thing, but it goes on.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: Well after a fatal shooting at a Virginia university that left one person dead and two others injured, it's now being investigated as an act of terrorism.

[03:25:08]

It happened Thursday morning at Old Dominion University in Norfolk when a gunman opened fire on a classroom full of students. Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger identified the victim who was killed as Army Lieutenant Colonel Brandon Shaw, an instructor at the university. Officials have identified the shooter as a convicted ISIS supporter and U.S. military veteran Muhammad Jalloh.

CNN's Brian Todd is in Sterling, Virginia, with the latest on the gunman. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We're here in Sterling, Virginia, in the middle of a group of upscale townhouses where we believe the suspect in the Old Dominion University shooting lived. That suspect identified as 36-year-old Muhammad Bailor Jalloh, a former Virginia National Guard member who spent nearly seven years in prison after pleading guilty to trying to support ISIS, the terror group, officials at the time saying that he tried to procure weapons for an ISIS attack.

Now, at the residence where we believe the suspect lived, I knocked on the door three separate times. Twice, a man answered, first pointing to a sign that was taped in the front door, the sign saying, we do not wish to speak to the press. He pointed to that sign and said, we really don't want to speak to anyone right now, and then he closed the door.

The second time he answered, he said, I'm trying to be as nice to you as I can about this, but you have to understand we're going through a really tough time now and we don't want to talk to anybody.

We also spoke to five different neighbors from the neighborhood. They describe a very large family living at that address, a family of multiple generations, but they said the family didn't really interact with anyone in the neighborhood and the neighbors really didn't interact with them.

One neighbor told me that he would sometimes pass the suspect by when he would walk in the neighborhood. He said the first time he did that, he said hi to the suspect, but the suspect didn't say anything back and just looked down on the ground, down toward the ground rather, and he said every time he would pass the suspect after that, it would be the same thing.

The suspect wouldn't say anything and would just look down to the ground. This neighbor said, quote, "something about him didn't sit well with me." Another neighbor said, quote, "I'm surprised that they released him and let him come back here."

Also, accounts from Old Dominion University, from law enforcement sources, are pretty grisly regarding the scene of the shooting at that ROTC classroom at Old Dominion. Sources telling CNN that when the shooting unfolded, the suspect was subdued by other students and at least one other student stabbed him to death.

Brian Todd, CNN, Sterling, Virginia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: The devastation from the bombed oil tankers could launch an environmental crisis in the Persian Gulf. Just ahead of how the black plumes of smoke from bombs could impact air quality in the region. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [03:30:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BRUNHUBER: Welcome back to "CNN Newsroom," I'm Kim Brunhuber. Let's check today's top stories.

The U.S.-Israeli war with Iran is now entering day 14. Israeli authorities say a missile strike has wounded dozens of people and damaged buildings in northern Israel. It happened after sirens sounded and the Israeli military said it had detected missiles fired from Iran.

U.S. President Donald Trump suggested that oil tanker crews should, quote, "show some guts and transit the Strait of Hormuz." The U.K.'s maritime agency says at least 16 oil tankers, cargo ships and other vessels have been attacked in and around the Strait of Hormuz, the Arabian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman since the war began two weeks ago.

Three Gulf states have reported new Iranian attacks in recent hours. This video shows smoke in Dubai's financial district, officials say an incoming projectile was intercepted whereas debris fell onto a building and there were no injuries. Saudi Arabia reported new drone attacks while emergency sirens also sounded in Bahrain.

CNN Senior Producer Bijan Hosseini joins me now from Doha. So you've been monitoring all these attacks. What more can you tell us?

BIJAN HOSSEINI, CNN SR. PRODUCER: Yes, Kim. Well, we know that Iran's supreme leader, the new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, came out and said that Iran was going to continue to attack Gulf neighbors.

He said they would attack U.S. bases if these Gulf countries didn't shut down those U.S. bases. He also said that the Strait of Hormuz would remain closed and we have seen that play off over the last couple days with Iran really focusing a lot of that firepower on energy infrastructure.

We know that they attacked two fuel storage tanks across Bahrain and then Oman. We also know that they attacked two foreign oil tankers off the coast of Iraq and Kuwait in Iraqi waters.

Those attacks led to one person being killed. Dozens of crew members had to abandon those ships as well. An eyewitness telling CNN that they saw a very bright light and a very loud explosion, we know that that caught on fire after that attack as well.

And as you mentioned, we're seeing these attacks play out through the Gulf on land. Dozens of drones fired into Saudi.

Their Ministry of Defense confirming that they intercepted those. And in the UAE, that debris from that drone hitting a building in Dubai's financial district.

And DIFC is paramount in the global economy. It's something that Dubai has built up for the last 30 years. Some of the top banks, international law firms all operate out of that area.

[03:35:09]

And you can see in that footage too, it's just right by Dubai's Burj Khalifa, which is the iconic monument of Dubai, the world's tallest building. So that debris hitting a bit close to home, but we know no one was injured in those attacks.

We're also seeing on the travel side, passengers finally getting home from this region, people landing in Athens, people also landing across cities in India. We have that footage.

We know that when this crisis began, there was hundreds of thousands of people trapped here in the region. More than 11,000 flights were canceled across 10 countries. And we're slowly starting to see flights out of these three major hubs, specifically Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Doha, start to ramp back up.

We know that tens of millions of passengers pass through these three important cities every year. And finally seeing some relief on that end, Kim.

BRUNHUBER: I appreciate those updates, Bijan Hosseini. Thanks so much.

Now in addition to the humanitarian crisis stemming from the U.S. and Israeli war with Iran, environmental group Greenpeace is warning of a potential environmental disaster from oil spills. Ships carrying a total of 21 billion liters of oil remain trapped in the Persian Gulf, tankers in the Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz continue to come under attack.

Iran bombed two oil tankers in the Gulf on Wednesday and several other vessels have also been hit. Iran's new supreme leader has vowed to keep attacking ships in the Strait of Hormuz as a tool of pressure.

Joining us now live from Reading, England is Dr. Akshay Deoras, a research scientist at the University of Reading. Thank you so much for being here with us.

So we heard about the oil tanker situation in the Persian Gulf. Greenpeace calling it an ecological time bomb. I mean, how concerned are you about a massive ecological disaster just waiting to happen?

DR. AKSHAY DEORAS, RESEARCH SCIENTIST, UNIVERSITY OF READING: I'm very concerned, to be honest. And over the last week, we have seen the focus getting shifted from strikes on the land to strikes on ships carrying oil.

Because if you remember what happened last weekend, there were attacks on oil facilities around Tehran that did release a lot of smoke and cocktail of different gases in the air. And that was quite toxic. But now we know that at least six ships have been attacked over the last 48 hours, I think total in 18 since the war began, and they're carrying oil.

So if they're attacked, if the oil gets into the sea, then that's just going to affect marine life and also release smoke, which is really bad.

BRUNHUBER: Yes, and I want to ask you about that a little bit later, because I know that is your specialty. But just looking at the water still, I mean, the Persian Gulf home to coral reefs, mangrove forests, and also importantly, desalinization plants that, you know, millions of people across the region depend on for drinking water. So if any of those trapped tankers is breached, I mean, what could that mean for the wider Gulf ecosystem?

DEORAS: Well, it's definitely going to affect the ecosystem. And like you said, you know, we have got desalinization plants, and there are lots of other things also in the region. One major concern is that there are lots of ships that are trapped over there at the moment.

And we don't know which ship is going to attack where. So the main concern remains from oil spill. And, you know, these ships carry a lot of oil.

It's not a very tiny amount of oil, but a lot of oil. So if something happens to ships, and you know, the oil starts spilling in the water, it's just going to affect the ecosystem in the region and have impacts across the globe.

BRUNHUBER: All right, so that's the water. Let's turn to the air, because residents in Tehran saw black rain last weekend. I mean, as somebody who studies this, can you walk us through what actually causes this black rain?

DEORAS: So as the name suggests, rain was black. And I think it was an eye opener for people when they woke up on Sunday, the 8th of March in Tehran, because they saw that, you know, the rainwater turned black.

So it was caused by a combination of natural and human factors. We know that there was a weather system, there was a low pressure system over there that basically brought in moisture, and it was going to rain anywhere. But we did have strikes on at least four oil facilities around Tehran on Saturday.

And then that released a lot of different things in the air. So we had, for example, soot, dust particles, we had polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, some metal compounds, sulfur, nitrogen as well.

And when it started raining, raindrops acted as tiny magnets, which just put all these different tiny particles and chemicals together and came down on the ground as black rain. So the rain was in fact contaminated on that day.

BRUNHUBER: I mean, it sounds disgusting. I mean, when we're talking about these smoke plumes and pollutants on the scale that we're talking about here, I mean, how far can they travel? And should people in neighboring countries in the region be worried as well?

[03:40:00]

So smoke does travel to some extent, we know that dust travels quite a lot. And when it comes to, let's say, oil particles or other heavy metal compounds, they cannot travel that much because they are heavy, so they will just come down to the ground very quickly.

When it comes to how concerned neighboring countries should be, I think the main concern is from smoke, because we know that, you know, weather systems keep on traveling. For example, the weather system that dumped rain over Tehran last weekend, the east brought some rain in North India and surrounding regions. But that's not going to carry all the hazardous stuff.

The only risk remains about smoke. But I think the threat more is to Iran and countries in the Middle East where airstrikes are happening because the impact is very large locally compared to globally in terms of air quality.

BRUNHUBER: Well, let's talk about the acute impact then. We only have about a minute left, but the WHO, you know, has flagged that this can pose serious risks for, you know, especially for children, older people, anyone with lung conditions. I mean, what kind of damage does this do, and how long does it last, you know, in the air and in people's bodies?

DEORAS: Yes, that's a good question.

So it depends on two things. The first thing being exposure. Assume that we are going to get more strikes in the near future.

That means the air will continue to get contaminated. It would continue to get polluted and become more hazardous. When that happens, we see immediate risk, for example, burning of eyes, respiratory issues, and itching of skin.

But if the exposure is long, then all these particles can get into your body, in your blood, and cause long-term issues, for example, long-term respiratory issues or cardiovascular issues. And young children, elders, I would say old people and people with comorbidities are at a greater risk compared to others. So it will all depend on what happens in the near future, and that will decide, you know, how much people will be affected.

BRUNHUBER: Yes, yet another reason so many people want this war to end. Dr. Akshay Deoras, thank you so much for speaking with us. I appreciate it.

Iran's propaganda machine has gone into overdrive since the conflict got underway. Its aim is to portray Iran's strength and military accomplishments, often with the extensive use of A.I. But as Nada Bashir reports, accuracy is far from the priority.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NADA BASHIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Iranian state media celebrating the first statement from its new leader. This comes as the pro-Iranian propaganda machine is in full swing, portraying a resolute image of strength on television and social media, like this A.I.- generated image that appeared to show the U.S. embassy on fire after an Iranian strike in Saudi Arabia. Misinformation has been rife from the outset of this war. Iranian

leaders have, for example, portrayed attacks on Israel as having completely decimated cities and key military assets. One parliamentary representative claimed last week that all Israeli security and intelligence centers were being struck by Iranian missiles.

And in this social media post from Iran's Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council Ali Larijani posted last week, he claimed that more than 500 U.S. soldiers had been killed in just the previous few days. In reality, seven U.S. service members are confirmed to have died during the war so far.

A.I.-enhanced images have also circulated claiming to show a destroyed American radar installation in Qatar. The unverified claim was also shared in an article by the "Tehran Times" newspaper. It is false claims like this that have spread doubt amongst international audiences over the veracity of attacks, both inside Iran and beyond.

Iranian state media has also, as expected, been highly selective in its coverage. Take, for example, the devastating attack on Iran's Minab Elementary School, which killed more than 168 young girls and 14 teachers, according to state media.

The widespread coverage of the aftermath and the mass funeral held for the victims is a stark contrast from the regime's response to the thousands reportedly killed earlier this year during anti-regime protests.

Of course, both the U.S. and Israel are also striving to shape coverage of this latest conflict in a never-ending battle to control the narrative, with reporters and members of the public in Israel subject to a military censor and President Trump making vague statements like this.

TRUMP: We've won. Let me say we've won.

You know, you never like to say too early you won. We won the bet in the first hour it was over.

BASHIR (voice-over): Nada Bashir, CNN in London.

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BRUNHUBER: As the war continues in the Middle East, countries are bracing for the economic fallout still to come. How Asian countries are preparing as fuel prices are rising. Stay with us.

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[03:45:00]

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BRUNHUBER: Well, Asian markets continue to tumble when markets open Friday as the war in Iran fuels fear of a rising oil prices and potential oil disruptions. Major indices, as you can see, are all trading lower.

And these are the business headlines.

President Donald Trump is demanding that Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell lower interest rates as the war in Iran approaches the third week.

[03:50:00]

The war has created a spike in oil prices, mortgage rates are also up, but investors don't expect rate cuts this year. Federal Reserve officials are expected to hold rates steady when they meet next week.

U.S. senators came together to pass the largest housing affordability package in a generation. The bipartisan bill called the 21st Century Road to Housing Act contains dozens of measures meant to increase housing supply and lower costs. It's not clear if the bill can pass the House, which passed its own smaller bill last month.

Visual media company BuzzFeed warned that it has, quote, "substantial doubt it can continue as a business." In an earnings report, the company said it's engaging in strategic conversations over its cash issues, the company posted a $57.3 million loss in 2025. BuzzFeed's media empire used to be known for its viral videos, online quizzes, and Pulitzer Prize-winning news department.

The war with Iran is triggering shockwaves through the global oil industry as the price per barrel climbs, stocks fall, and major supply disruptions are expected. CNN's Kristie Lu Stout has the latest from Hong Kong as many countries are considering defensive measures to conserve fuel.

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KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The region sources a whopping 60 percent of its oil from the Middle East. In Bangladesh, there are long lines at the pump as authorities limit supplies. Even universities have been closed to save energy.

MOHAMMAD JOYNAL, DRIVER IN BANGLADESH (through translator): Trying to get oil in my company car, I've been stuck for two and a half hours in this queue for oil.

LU STOUT: India has invoked emergency powers to divert liquefied petroleum gas away from industrial users and toward households. Pakistan has ordered a range of austerity measures, from closing schools to shifting services online.

South Korea is imposing a fuel cap for the first time in 30 years as it seeks alternative sources of energy beyond the Strait of Hormuz. And taking the long view, China is accelerating cuts in carbon intensity over the next five years as it maintains its focus on renewable energy.

Elsewhere, Vietnam is calling on companies to encourage remote working, and Thailand is ordering government workers to save energy by suspending overseas trips and working from home.

The Philippines as well, with the President, urging personnel to hold virtual meetings instead. This comes after it rolled out a temporary four-day work week for some government offices, with air conditioning set no lower than 24 degrees Celsius or 75 degrees Fahrenheit.

The United Nations is warning that if disruptions drag on, food and fertilizer prices will skyrocket, and that will hit vulnerable economies especially hard.

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BRUNHUBER: Well glamour will be on display in Hollywood on Sunday for the Academy Awards show, and security will be playing a bigger role there after recent claims that Iranian drones could target California. More details coming up after the break.

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[03:55:00]

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BRUNHUBER: The death toll from several days of thunderstorms has risen to three as the severe weather outbreak across some southern and midwestern states winds down. One person was killed when severe storms ripped through Mississippi Wednesday night, and two others were killed Tuesday in Indiana.

Meanwhile, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration now predicts that El Nino will develop between June and August, and last through at least the end of the year. El Nino is a periodic weather and climate cycle in the tropical Pacific. It alters weather patterns and releases extra heat into the atmosphere from the oceans, which raises average temperatures globally.

President Donald Trump says Iran's men's national soccer team would be welcome at the World Cup this summer. That's even though Iranian officials say the squad won't participate because they hold the U.S. responsible for what they called the assassination of their supreme leader. In a post on Truth Social, President Trump added that although the team is welcome, he raised concerns about the player's safety.

The U.S. is co-hosting the tournament. Earlier this week, the FIFA president Gianni Infantino said that President Trump assured the Iranian team would be welcome at the competition.

California officials are downplaying recent unverified claims that Iranian drones could target the West Coast. Governor Gavin Newsom says there's no imminent threat to the state, but with the Academy Awards just days away, officials are beefing up security and taking no chances with any threats. Sheriff and police patrols have been increased at landmarks and places of worship in Los Angeles.

The FBI sent a memo alerting state officials of unverified claims by Iranian-affiliated actors who wanted to conduct potential drone attacks.

Netflix has confirmed that a sequel to the wildly popular "K-Pop Demon Hunters" is in development. The animated musical is Netflix's most- watched film of all time. Its co-directors Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans are returning for the sequel.

It's expected to follow the adventures of the demon-hunting musical trio called Huntrix, but no release date has been confirmed. The original won Best Animated Feature and Best Song at the Critics' Choice Awards. It also won two Golden Globes, a Grammy, and two Oscar nominations.

All right, that's it for this hour of CNN Newsroom, I'm Kim Brunhuber in Atlanta. Our coverage of the situation in the Middle East continues with Rahel Solomon after this quick break.

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