Return to Transcripts main page

CNN This Morning

Trump: War with Iran Could Take 4 Weeks or Less; Video Shows Fighter Jet Fall from Sky Near U.S. Base; Crude Oil Prices Up, Stock Futures Down Sharply Amid War with Iran. Aired 6-6:30a ET

Aired March 02, 2026 - 06:00   ET

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

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

[06:00:37]

AUDIE CORNISH, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking news this morning: more military action in the war with Iran. Good morning. I'm Audie Cornish. And President Trump says the war could take four weeks or less.

We'll see his defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, just two hours from now. He's scheduled at a news conference at the Pentagon at 8 a.m. Eastern.

And Iran says it will not negotiate as it continues counterattacks on Israel and U.S. allies in the Gulf.

Overnight, CNN learned several U.S. fighter jets crashed in Kuwait. Kuwait's Ministry of Defense confirms all crew members survived. CNN geolocated this video showing an F-15 falling from the sky near a U.S. airbase.

It's unclear why the jet crashed. The crew did appear to eject safely.

Now, other videos showed a pilot safely on the ground after a parachute landing. They're now being treated for injuries.

The scene in Tel Aviv overnight. Sirens sounded as Iran launched a new barrage of missiles. At least ten people have been killed and 200 injured in Israel since the military operation started this weekend.

Joining us now in Tel Aviv, Nick Paton Walsh, CNN chief international security correspondent.

Nick, first, let's start with this wave of attacks. First, we saw images of these warplanes falling. What are you seeing as the -- the next steps in terms of maybe even Israel's response?

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I mean, look, we don't know exactly what caused these startling images over Kuwait's skies, but certainly, it brought home the vulnerability, potentially, that U.S. troops are exposed to here. Three dead so far. But President Trump warning there could be more casualties.

And what he said, as you pointed out, could be a four-week war. Unclear where he really got that number from. And also, too, in the same day, he talked about the possibility for talks with Iran soon, as well.

This incident being prescribed, it's not clear yet by Kuwaiti officials; simply saying several aircraft were involved in an incident. And I'm sure the Pentagon chief, Pete Hegseth, will be asked for specific details imminently.

But this whole region, so many nations accustomed to a peaceful Monday morning, woke up to the sound of explosions here across Gulf states that were not publicly advocating for war.

The noise of drones, explosions heard in peaceful civilian towns like Abu Dhabi, Dubai. Certainly, Saudi Arabia's oil refineries shooting down two drones that appeared to be targeting it, as well.

Also here in Tel Aviv, we were awoken this morning by sirens again and some booms in the distance here. Unclear quite what they have been a result of.

And certainly, Israel's emergency services reporting nothing of concern at this particular point.

Israel, though, early this morning launching a new front in this war to its North. The Lebanese faction Hezbollah, an Iranian proxy, massively weakened during a war in late 2024 with Israel and stepping back, it seemed, from this conflict, many think, took the wildly inadvised [SIC] step of firing projectiles into Israel, claiming responsibility for it, saying it was their vengeance for the death of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Look, Israel have been itching for a chance to take off -- take out what remains of Hezbollah, and it looks like that is underway now, as we speak, with many civilians on the move inside Southern Lebanon.

But let's not forget Iran itself to continue strikes in Tehran. Here, Israel clear it has air superiority; that it will continue to pick off key targets. The Sanandaj residential area, apparently, one being particularly hit over recent hours.

The Iranian Red Crescent saying that the death toll now is 555. That is significant here.

And another key question to who is really in charge inside of Iran? It is notable that at this stage, Ayatollah Khamenei has been dead this long, and we do not have a clear replacement lined out.

Obviously, they'll be fearing for their safety, but I think it shows you the sense of disarray inside Iran. And indeed, whether that is informing this extraordinary lashing out we've seen across the region that I think surprised many -- Audie.

CORNISH: OK that's Nick Paton Walsh, reporting to us right now and throughout the day from Tel Aviv.

And I want to dive more into that remarkable video that we showed you a moment ago. So, this is a U.S. warplane falling out of the sky in Kuwait. CNN analysis shows the plane is an F-15 fighter jet. [06:05:05]

Now, the crew safely ejected. Kuwait's defense ministry says several planes actually crashed in Kuwait earlier today. The pilot was seen on the ground after parachuting to safety.

We want to talk about how this happened, and here to do that is retired Army Brigadier General Steve Anderson.

Thank you so much for being here. Because we're going to talk not just about that plane, but also the sort of pros and cons of doing an air campaign with the goal of regime change, which is not something history has shown us really before.

So, first, talk about what you were seeing with that F-15. Give us the context of what our capabilities are in the region.

BRIG. GEN. STEVE ANDERSON (RET.), U.S. ARMY: Well, there's probably at least 30 or so F-15s that are stationed there in Kuwait. And they all, no doubt, took part in this massive air campaign that took -- over the weekend. Over 1,000 sorties were flown.

You have to remember that it was an incredibly complex operation involving the Lincoln carrier battle group, the Ford carrier battle group out in the Mediterranean, all the bases that we have in the Middle East.

Without a doubt, there was probably Tomahawk missiles launched from submarines, in fact. So, it was an incredibly complex operation.

So the fact that we'd have some kind of collision or some kind of incident, you know, is not that --

CORNISH: Yes.

ANDERSON: -- you know, it's not that remarkable.

But what is remarkable is the performance of the American military in this and the Israeli military. To have done what they've done over the last couple of days without a single shootdown is pretty remarkable.

CORNISH: I want to ask you about some of the drones in the region. We have an image of an Iranian drone stockpile.

And I was thinking about this, because when you look at the war between Ukraine and Russia, drone warfare has greatly moved technologically.

So, what are your concerns with a stockpile like that? How does that play into this conversation?

ANDERSON: Well, they have a huge stockpile. I mean, they've been providing for the last four years, the Russians, the Shihad drone that has been very effective over in -- in the battle in Ukraine. They've been tens of thousands of them have been provided to the Russians, and they've operated very, very well. So, I'd be very concerned that there's a stockpile. I mean, these

people are not stupid. They know that these attacks were probably coming. And so, these Shihad drones are, you know, pretty good-sized drone; probably about as big as this table. But they could be easily hidden in underground facilities and out of the fray.

So, the fact that they've got probably tens of thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands of these things sitting around and not to mention they also have missiles in. And of course, they've already shown a proclivity to attack the GCC. And of course, Israel.

So, you know, I'd be very concerned about the performance and the presence of these drones.

CORNISH: Help us understand the size of the Iranian military and whether or not air power alone, airstrikes alone, will do what the U.S. president wants it to.

ANDERSON: Air power will not win this war. Air power can shape the battlefield, but they cannot win. You need to have boots on the ground in order to actually execute regime change and actually win a war like this. And this is, in fact, what we're in.

So, I mean, we probably need at least a half million troops on the ground in probably six months to get ready if we were to do some kind of invasion. And mercifully, we're not talking about something like that.

CORNISH: No. We are not.

ANDERSON: But air power is not going to do it alone. What -- they've been very effective, like I said, in shaping.

So, what we've got to do is we've got to continue to put the pressure on. But people need to understand. And we constantly overestimate the -- the ability of the power of -- of air power. It will help to win the war, but it cannot win the war by itself.

CORNISH: OK. Brigadier General Steve Anderson, thank you so much for being with us.

Coming up on CNN THIS MORNING, we're standing by today to hear from Pentagon officials. This is going to mark the first time top members of the administration have spoken publicly about the military operation in Iran.

Plus, today, the Trump administration is going to face top lawmakers on their plan for the war with Iran.

And how oil prices and market futures are reacting to the conflict.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:13:39]

CORNISH: Global markets reacting sharply this morning as the war with Iran disrupts the global crude oil supply.

The Strait of Hormuz, a major shipping route in the Middle East, is under threat. And the oil tanker Skylight was struck off the coast of Oman.

Now, these strikes have caused oil to rise by nearly 9 percent during trading today.

U.S. stock futures are also rattled, taking a dive before trading begins this morning.

Now, CNN business and economics reporter Anna Cooban joins us now from London. This happened over the weekend, obviously, but now, markets can react. Can you talk about what you're seeing?

ANNA COOBAN, CNN BUSINESS AND ECONOMICS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Audie. Well, you've sketched it out there. We're seeing markets react pretty negatively to this. Seeing stock indices across Asia and Europe in the red today. And of course, U.S. futures are pointing to a very difficult day ahead for Wall Street.

But I will focus on oil, which you've mentioned, which is what all investors really are looking at today. That global oil price is Brent, which is the global benchmark, rose as much as 13 percent this morning, which is an enormous jump and really reflects the anxieties that traders have about whether or not global oil trade will be disrupted through that all-important Strait of Hormuz, that tiny waterway through which a fifth of the world's global oil supply travels every single day.

Now, even if Iran, which partly controls that strait, hasn't fully blocked it, many shipping companies are voluntarily avoiding it because of the security risk.

[06:15:03]

Maersk is a Danish shipping company. They've blocked all their vessels from going through.

And even though some traders are imagining that this -- the disruption to oil might last a very short amount of time, there is a concern that this will become a prolonged disruption. And in that case, some analysts are betting that the global price of oil will hit or even top $100 a barrel.

I also just want to quickly point out airline stocks falling today. Of course, there's been huge disruptions with airlines and airports all around the world. And gas. European gas prices were up around 23 percent this morning, because Europe relies on much of the LNG, liquefied natural gas, traveling through that all-important Strait of Hormuz.

CORNISH: OK. That's Anna Cooban with the update for us there.

Now, President Trump says that the U.S. won't let up on Iran until all of the objectives are achieved. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: I once again urge the Revolutionary Guard, the Iranian military police, to lay down your arms and receive full immunity or face certain death. It will be certain death; won't be pretty.

I call upon all Iranian patriots who yearn for freedom to seize this moment, to be brave, be bold, be heroic, and take back your country. America is with you. I made a promise to you, and I fulfilled that promise. The rest will be up to you. But we'll be there to help.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: Joining me now in the group chat, Joel Rubin, former deputy assistant secretary of state and author of "The Briefing Book" on Substack; Jamil Jaffer, founder and executive director of the National Security Institute; and Susan Page, Washington bureau chief for "USA Today."

Susan, I want to start with you, because the president reached out to multiple news reporters over the weekend and had little questions answered. And we heard slightly different reasons, timelines. Can you talk about what we heard?

SUSAN PAGE, WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF, "USA TODAY": Well, we -- we heard what we have heard before in the buildup to this action, which is not a clear explanation of what the U.S. goals are or how they're going to be achieved, or how long they'll take, or what the price will be.

So, the -- this conflict may last for days, or perhaps 4 or 5 weeks. Experience says it will last longer than the administration thinks at the beginning.

And I think the most critical question is what is success for President Trump? What will success look like? How does the war end, now that it's begun?

CORNISH: Now, these are very important questions, and they strike at also the fault lines of Republican circles in general, right? When it comes to those who support U.S. intervention in the world versus not.

And I do see some differences. The president is not promising nation building, period. He's not even promising, frankly, to help with a shift in regime. He's saying, you guys rise up and do that yourself.

And there's no mission. Like, there's no discussion of humanitarian concerns driving it, compared to, say, an Afghanistan.

So, what do you see in how he is trying to sell it? How are we starting to understand what this Trump Doctrine is?

JAMIL JAFFER, FOUNDER/EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, NATIONAL SECURITY INSTITUTE: Well, the president talked about early on all the terrorist attacks that Iran has conducted over the years against American forces in the region, against American allies around the globe. He talked about the 1983 attacks in Beirut. He talked about Iran's

potential involvement in the al Qaeda attacks on the USS Cole.

CORNISH: Right. None -- none of those are imminent to this moment, right? So, already, there's a difference.

JAFFER: No, that's exactly right.

But then he also talked about the nuclear program. And he suggested slightly in his earlier speech that there might be new information about -- about the nuclear program. And there might be -- there might be new suggestions that it had restarted in some way.

The problem, of course, is that you've heard from members of Congress who were briefed that they hadn't heard that.

And so, we're not sure whether, in fact, the administration has made that case to Congress, where they had that case internally. They certainly haven't made it publicly.

CORNISH: Yes.

JAFFER: And so, we'll see whether or not that's part of the equation. That would be the core of the imminent threat.

But to be fair, Iran has been killing Americans for many, many years, including in Iraq and around the region, including as recently as a year or so ago when they hit American soldiers. So --

CORNISH: But we didn't hear anything during the State of the Union. Right? We just had him come out in a baseball cap and say this is happening, and that there could be losses and casualties.

Can you talk about, as Congress sort of picks up the ball this week, I don't know if there's really much they can do.

JOEL RUBIN, FORMER DEPUTY ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE: Yes. I mean, the hard reality of the congressional role in this is that there's going to be a lot of screaming. There will be a vote on the floor in both chambers.

But the war powers resolution to stop this war, even if it passes the margin, won't be enough to override a presidential veto, if it gets to President Trump's desk.

And it likely won't, because the Senate probably will reject the resolution.

And so, this means we're now in a space where President Trump has his policy. And I've got to be honest, this is not a new President Trump policy. This has been his view on Iran for well over a decade.

Remember, he opposed the Iran nuclear deal when President Obama was negotiating it. He withdrew from it in 2018. He's been very harsh for years.

CORNISH: But he also said so many times on the campaign trail --

[06:20:01]

RUBIN: Yes, well --

CORNISH: -- in interviews, we will not go to war with Iran.

RUBIN: Yes.

CORNISH: And in fact, sort of implied that either a Biden or Harris administration would be war-mongering.

RUBIN: Support (ph) triangulation. He -- he definitely conned a lot of his supporters into believing that.

CORNISH: Did you just say "conned"?

RUBIN: I did say that because, honestly, if they had been paying attention to Donald Trump and his rhetoric on Iran for many, many years, they would have known this is exactly where he wanted to go on Iran.

CORNISH: Let me let Jamil answer that briefly. "Conned," is that the right word?

JAFFER: Well, look, certainly, the MAGA base did not expect President Trump to be in wars around the globe. They didn't expect him to replace Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela or conduct a decapitation strike in Iran.

But I think Joel is right. The president has been clear on Iran. He didn't think the Obama nuclear deal was the right thing. He's right about that. He does think Iran is a serious threat to America and our allies in the region. He's right about that, too.

Whether he's right that this effort will succeed in changing the regime in Iran or achieving peace for the U.S. in the region is something we'll see.

But at the end of the day, Donald Trump has been consistent on Iran. He's been opposed to the regime. He's right to be opposed to the regime. They are a terrorist regime. They've been killing Americans for years.

And at the end of the day, the Iranian people will be better off if, in fact, they are able to rise up and replace the regime.

CORNISH: We're going to talk more about that, because that is a massive question mark going into this week. And frankly, the next couple of weeks.

Now, after the break on CNN THIS MORNING, we're going to talk about those U.S. fighter jets that crashed out of the sky in Kuwait, because we're now hearing from the Pentagon on this video. We're going to have a live report just ahead.

Plus, how Republican lawmakers are rallying behind the president in the wake of these strikes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:25:48]

CORNISH: Mixed reaction in the streets of Iran after the killing of Iran's supreme leader. Now, we've seen celebrations in Tehran and other cities, but also pro-regime rallies.

President Trump spoke directly to the Iranian people over the weekend.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: The voices of the Iranian people could be heard cheering and celebrating in the streets when his death was announced. I call upon all Iranian patriots who yearn for freedom to seize this moment, to be brave, be bold, be heroic, and take back your country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: All right. We're bringing back retired Army Brigadier General Steve Anderson, but also joining us, Shirin Nariman, a former political prisoner from Iran and a human rights advocate.

So, first of all thank you so much for being here. In this moment over the weekend, what were your emotions, frankly?

SHIRIN NARIMAN, FORMER POLITICAL PRISONER FROM IRAN: Well, as a former political prisoner, as someone who has seen death and had been tortured myself, what I can say is that this was the end of a tyranny, a theocratic tyranny, religious tyranny.

And what makes me happy is that I want to see this will end for everyone. So, no one else has to go through what I went through, or people that are currently in prison, they go through. That's why I really think this is a -- end of this regime.

And we have to what -- we have to fight it. We have to fight it on the ground, you know, by ourselves.

And one thing that helps me to go through these moments is that I have a clear path for the future. You know, I support National Council of Resistance of Iran, which is led by a woman, Maryam Rajavi. She has a plan.

And that's the one reason that gives me hope for the future and keep me going for a free democratic era.

CORNISH: Yes. Well, let's talk about that more. So, Maryam Rajavi, exiled, of course, Iranian opposition leader with the National Council of Resistance of Iran.

And I think the thing about her and maybe even a monarchist like Reza Pahlavi, is there are different factions of support. So, for people like Pahlavi, who obviously believes in having a monarchy again, there are some people who don't want that. There are people who look at Maryam Rajavi's background and the group,

its background, knowing that at one time, they were considered a terrorist group by the U.S. and say the U.S. is not going to be able to work with them again.

How many different factions are we talking about?

NARIMAN: I think, basically, you look at the organization that -- the opposition that is very strong, very organized, and very disciplined, and it has only one goal, and that's the regime change. And they have a track record, you know.

Yes, we were on a terrorist list because of part of the appeasement policy that was going on at the time. But we worked hard to remove that, because there was no basis for it.

CORNISH: Yes.

NARIMAN: And all that happened because of Maryam Rajavi, because of her direction. She's a very smart, strong, charismatic leader. And she has been able to move forward with the changes.

And I think the message has been always clear that we work with every country. You know, we have a lot of support in the Congress right now. Bipartisan support, you know.

CORNISH: Well, let me follow up on this idea, then, because you've mentioned something, a pro-democracy group. I've mentioned the monarchists.

There's also the ethnic minorities, whether it be the Kurds, Azerbaijan -- people who believe they want more independence. And then there is the IRGC. There is the military, the republic guard.

Steve, can you talk to us about what we should be watching for from them?

ANDERSON: Well, in the military, we use this term "center of gravity." And the center of gravity in this fight is clearly going to be the IRGC, the Islamic Republican Guard Corps.

Perhaps 200,000 of them, highly motivated, well-armed, well-equipped. They've got tanks. They've got APCs. They've got all kinds of weapons. They've got missiles. They've got drones. They're going to be very, very difficult force to beat.

And until we do that, until we break them --

CORNISH: But can their loyalties be divided? Will there be groups -- you're nodding.

[06:30:00]