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Ships in Strait of Hormuz Targeted by Iran; Iran Steps Up Attacks; MAGA Influencers Turning on Trump Over Iran War. Aired 6- 6:30a ET

Aired March 11, 2026 - 06:00   ET

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

AUDIE CORNISH, CNN ANCHOR: So, Tehran claims its most intense strikes of the war are underway.

[06:00:41]

Good morning, everybody. I'm Audie Cornish, and we're talking about this unrelenting bombardment overnight.

Iran's military targeted Israel and U.S. assets. So, CNN teams in Doha reported booms loud enough to shake buildings as Qatar fought off waves of missiles and drones.

This as the Iranian capital continues to be hit. We've got rubble littering streets and neighborhoods. A CNN team in Northern Iran said. Air raids lasted for almost an hour, and jets could be heard overhead.

This morning, the biggest concern is the Strait of Hormuz. The oil shipping lane has become the new battlefield. And already today, three ships have been hit by unknown projectiles.

Sources tell CNN that Tehran is laying mines in the strait. The U.S. military says it has destroyed multiple Iranian mine-laying vessels, and Secretary Hegseth says the U.S. will not allow Iran to hold the strait hostage.

And we have team coverage from across the Middle East. We're going to begin, however, in Tel Aviv with the latest from CNN's Oren Liebermann.

Oren, I want to set the stage here with the attack on these three ships. What more are you learning?

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN JERUSALEM BUREAU CHIEF: Well, the U.K.'s maritime agency is only saying at this point that they were struck by what they called unknown projectiles. None of the vessels sank. But you can already see here the damage is done.

And that's because of the risk to shipping itself through the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world's most critical waterways, through which 20 percent of the world's crude oil flows.

Iran doesn't have to completely, militarily shut down the strait to make sure that it can't be used effectively. And that's because, when shipping companies and oil companies see the risk of passing through the Strait of Hormuz, they are concerned for safety. The insurance rates goes through the roof, and they don't sail through it, even if Iran hasn't been able to completely lock it down and shut it down militarily.

That, then, is the risk: that even a small number of attacks is able to effectively close one of the world's most critical waterways.

Two sources familiar with U.S. intelligence tell CNN that Iran has begun to lay mines in the Strait of Hormuz, and that would be an attempt to shut it off with force, to shut it off militarily.

That being said, one of the sources says they haven't even begun to use their full capability, and they still have some 80 to 90 percent of their mine-laying abilities, in terms of moving ahead here.

Now, the U.S. has known about what is an asymmetric threat and has tried to target this. We have seen the U.S. say since the start of the war, really, that they're targeting the Iranian navy.

And now they have put out this video from U.S. Central Command, which shows strikes on what the U.S. says are Iranian mine-laying vessels. They say they have struck more than a dozen of those as we see the U.S. here try to get ahead of the problem and do what it can to keep the Strait of Hormuz open.

But as I pointed out, Iran doesn't have to put ships all across it or lay mines all across it. Once shipping and oil companies decide it's too dangerous to sail through the Strait of Hormuz, once those insurance rates go through the roof, this very quickly has a worldwide impact. And for example, were seeing that at the pump in the U.S.

CORNISH: Oren, before I let you go, we're hearing, as we said, Iran claimed, that this is the most intense operation underway. But from your perspective in Tel Aviv, do you feel a difference in bombardment happening in the region?

LIEBERMANN: So, early this morning, we saw a couple waves of incoming missiles and sirens warning of those incoming missiles. I was actually around the airport early in the morning, around 4 or 5 a.m.

And we saw two rounds: one of those in what appeared to be either a cluster warhead breaking up over the skies of central Israel, or perhaps a missile that had been intercepted and flaming bits were coming off of it.

It is worth noting the Israeli military says about half of Iran's ballistic missile launches have been with cluster warheads.

So, Iran is able to keep up this pace of a couple missiles at a time obviously, any one of these missiles can cause a tremendous amount of damage. But according to Israels emergency response service Magen David Adom, there were no major reports of damage or any reports of injuries as a result of the latest ballistic missile launches.

CORNISH: OK, Oren, giving us the update from Tel Aviv. Thank you. And now I want to bring in our folks in the group chat. Joel Rubin,

former deputy assistant secretary of state. He's also the author of The Briefing Book. You can find that on Substack. Alex Plitsas, CNN national security analyst and director of the counterterrorism program for the Atlantic Council. And Vivian Salama, staff writer for "The Atlantic."

[06:05:09]

Earlier this week, someone in our group said that, you know, this oil conversation, it isn't everything, but it is a thermometer for how the American people might be feeling at any given time or concerns that they might have.

And I think this is it's pretty clear, with the conversation around the Strait of Hormuz, that this is a point of leverage from Iran. Vivian, is that the sense the White House is conveying to you?

VIVIAN SALAMA, STAFF WRITER, "THE ATLANTIC": I mean, they would love to downplay it as much as possible, but there's no question about it. They have found the weak point in President Trump's strategy here because of the fact that the economy was already an issue before this war began.

CORNISH: Yes. Before oil hit $150 a barrel.

SALAMA: Before oil prices went skyrocketing in the last couple of days. And so, you know, they knew going into midterms and thinking ahead beyond that, that the president's weakness at this point was this question of affordability, inflation, and the economy in general.

And now, with oil prices going up, it could bump inflation even higher. We are in a midterm election year. They know that this is the case.

And so, they are doing what they can to exacerbate the situation. Of course, it's also a war tactic for them on their side, as well.

CORNISH: Exactly. We're going to talk about that a little more today, because that is where we're hearing conversation from. Hegseth and others.

And one of the things that people are talking about is the leverage that Iran has militarily.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sure.

CORNISH: And I noticed something interesting: Trump coming out on Truth Social and saying, Look, essentially, if the insurers don't believe we can protect the ships going through, then the U.S. and the U.S. government will provide, essentially, risk insurance --

PLITSAS: Yes.

CORNISH: -- for that area. What exactly does that mean, and how much money would that mean? PLITSAS: Excellent. So, there was a program set up through the

international finance company, the DFC, in which about $20 billion on a rolling basis is going to be set aside, largely to cover hull and machinery on the boats, in case they get hit when they go through.

CORNISH: So, $20 billion. We're going to cover hull and machinery, whatever that means. Yes.

PLITSAS: Yes. To start with, basically. The boat and the cargo, as well. And it's identified best in class insurers according to folks I spoke to at the program, and the treasury's coordinating right now with CENTCOM. Because you need both security and an insurance vehicle or mechanism, or else it doesn't work as we saw this morning, there were three boats that were hit with projectiles. The they've specifically been targeting their abilities to try to close the straits militarily.

And it's part, as you just mentioned, you're 100 percent right. So, just real quick, it's all -- it is purposeful. So, they are purposely trying to drive up the price of oil.

It is part of a four-part strategy that the Iranians have to try to fight back. They're trying to elongate the war, because they don't think the president will stick it out for the long term.

They are specifically trying to raise the price of oil and cargo across. They want to maximize U.S. casualties, and then they're engaging in information operations online, trying to divide the MAGA base against.

CORNISH: Which we're going to talk about all those today. Senator Rand Paul on FOX Business on Tuesday issuing this warning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. RAND PAUL (R-KY): I think if you add in high gas prices, high oil prices, and if we are still bombing Iran with kinetic action -- people don't want to call it war -- but if they're still kinetic action that causes oil to be over $100, I think you're going to see a disastrous election.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: Now, Karoline Leavitt, the White House, Speaker Johnson, they all say this is temporary. Your concerns are unwarranted, because it is not going to last that long. Because the military operation is going to be successful.

JOEL RUBIN, FORMER DEPUTY ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE: Yes, Audie, they're whistling past the graveyard on that one.

Look, oil prices are always, in Middle East wars, the top-level concern. They should not be discounted. What Alex laid out, though, the $20 billion guarantee program from the Development Finance Corporation, which is supposed to be doing international development projects. This is going to quickly run into congressional concerns, as well.

So, there's a couple of dynamics. There's not only the market; now there's Congress coming in, trying to put guardrails around this policy.

But at the State Department, I have to tell you, when we would deal with checklists on Middle East issues, it would always be at the top of that checklist.

CORNISH: Yes.

RUBIN: Does not matter Democrat or Republican. The free flow of oil through the Gulf was the primary foreign policy objective of the United States for decades on end.

And so right now, this has to be the top priority.

CORNISH: Yes. And the industry in the region voting with their dollars, voting with where they put their ships.

RUBIN: Yes.

CORNISH: That's the reality check.

And last word to the voters before we move on. In the March 6th Quinnipiac poll: How concerned are you that military action in Iran will raise gas prices? You've got independents clocking in at 79 percent, saying they are concerned.

And even the GOP, their voters divided. It's pretty close. So, we're going to talk about the implications for all of this today. Group chat, stay with me.

Coming up next, we're going to continue this breaking news coverage. And the path to boots on the ground in Iran. The White House is leaving the door open.

[06:10:03]

And the new images that shed light on the attack of a girls' school in Iran.

Also, talking about this human toll, because it's climbing. And we're now learning just how many U.S. service members have been injured since the start of U.S. strikes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CORNISH: It is now 15 minutes past the hour. Here are five things to know to get your day going.

[06:15:05]

We are hearing from the Pentagon, confirming that about 140 U.S. service members have been injured by Iranian attacks since the start of U.S. strikes. Now, this includes eight service members who have been seriously

wounded during the war. A total of seven U.S. troops have been killed in action.

And Iran's state broadcasters, they've released new photos that appear to show fragments of a U.S. Tomahawk cruise missile recovered at the scene of that strike that hit a girls' school in Iran.

A hundred and sixty-eight children and 14 teachers were killed in that strike.

CNN cannot independently confirm that the fragments shown here are from the missile that struck the school. But a CNN analysis confirms that the fragments are at least consistent with U.S.-made tomahawk cruise missiles.

And here in the U.S., a large and dangerous tornado touches down in Illinois. This is video taken yesterday afternoon in a rural area South of Chicago.

Already, several homes and businesses have been destroyed. We're talking the roofs ripped off, buildings left in a pile of debris, but no injuries have been reported as of yet.

And the race to replace Marjorie Taylor Greene is set. Trump-backed Republican Clay Fuller will face Democrat Sean Harris in a runoff election for Georgia's 14th Congressional District. And the winner will serve out the remainder of Greene's term, which ends in January.

And the Miami Heat's Bam Adebayo on a hot streak on Tuesday in a win over the Washington Wizards. He alone finished the game with a staggering 83 points. I want to say that again: 83 points.

This marks the second highest scoring effort in the league's history, surpassing Kobe Bryant.

It did fall short of the NBA's all-time record, which still belongs to Wilt Chamberlain, who had a 100-point game back in 1962.

And after the break, we're going to continue our coverage of this war in Iran. President Trump might be losing some of his most influential voices in terms of support. What could that mean for the MAGA movement?

And CNN is on the ground in Tehran. And we're going to bring you a report from inside the country.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:21:36]

CORNISH: OK, another prominent voice in President Trump's political coalition joins the growing list of those breaking with him over the U.S. war with Iran.

Podcaster Joe Rogan, who, of course, played a key role in getting Trump back into the White House, is feeling duped.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE ROGAN, PODCASTER: Well, it just seems so insane, based on what he ran on. I mean, this is why a lot of people feel betrayed, right? He ran on no more wars and these stupid, senseless wars. And then we have one that we can't even really clearly define why we did it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: Rogan is one of several conservative commentators raising concerns about the war. And it's the cause of the latest MAGA divide. You can count Tucker Carlson and Ted Cruz in that camp. They have reignited their feud.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TUCKER CARLSON, PODCASTER: And no offense to Ted Cruz or all the other dumbos who are always saying, We got all this actionable intelligence. It's so important. We need them so desperately.

Really, let's evaluate the quality of that intelligence.

SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX): I believe Tucker Carlson is the single most dangerous demagogue in this country, and I'll tell you, I've made the decision that I'm going to take him on head directly.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: Bringing back the group chat. First, I want to talk about the role of Rogan, because I -- this is not me saying this is like the single most important voice in foreign policy circles.

It's me saying he represents a particular kind of voter. A voter that believes they're independent thinking; that is antiwar; and that came out for Trump, and Democrats lost. How significant is the way he's talking?

SALAMA: It is extremely significant, especially because of how influential he is with the certain bloc of voters that the administration feels they have locked in, but at the same time, they would not want to lose. They would not want to risk losing, especially again, we're in a midterm election year.

And, you know, I'm old enough to remember the 2024 campaign, where Joe Rogan's support for the president was a huge win for them. And they were really touting the fact that Rogan was behind him, that he felt that Rogan was the --

CORNISH: Yes.

SALAMA: -- Rogan felt that Trump was the better candidate.

CORNISH: And Joel points out, Rogan at one point had been behind a Bernie Sanders, who --

RUBIN: Yes, he endorsed Bernie in 2020

SALAMA: Right. And that's the thing, is that he -- he was ideologically malleable in a way. So, they felt like it was a big win for them to have lured him to their side, because they felt like genuinely, Rogan's support meant that Trump was the better candidate.

CORNISH: Adn what he's saying does reflect something we see in the polling.

So, the White House is coming out every day and saying, Look, we've been clear with you guys what this war is about: not getting nukes, et cetera.

And yet, people like him, saying out loud, over and over again that it is not clear to them. And independents, when they've been asked, do you have a clear explanation for why the U.S. is at war? At least the numbers in Quinnipiac showing that that's not the case.

I want to play for you, Megyn Kelly, who represents, I think, the part of the party that is very upset with neocons and people like Lindsey Graham.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MEGYN KELLY, PODCASTER: People are going to change their minds over the coming days and weeks, one way or the other. But my own -- my own feeling is no one should have to die for a foreign country.

Our government's job is not to look out for Iran or for Israel. It's to look out for us. And this feels very much to me like it is clearly Israel's war.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[06:25:05]

CORNISH: Audible groans from you here. Tell me. Help me understand the nuance of your reaction.

RUBIN: Well, first of all, there's no nuance in her antisemitism right there. And her "blame the Jews" for the decision of the United States to launch a war against Iran that is based upon decades of policy.

I just find it grotesque that we have commentators essentially using antisemitic tropes in order to attack the American policy.

Focus on the policy, criticize it, complain about where it's heading. But blaming foreign governments and saying that you're being manipulated by Jews, manipulated by Israel, is really going into the darkest, deepest corners of hate that we're experiencing right now.

CORNISH: I think you're not the only one hearing this. Here's Ted Cruz. I just want to play another cut from him, because this was -- he was addressing -- oh, sorry he was addressing earlier -- I can say it -- a conference. And he said on the right, there is a strain of antisemitism that needs

to be discussed openly and that this war is triggering that conversation to be had more openly.

PLITSAS: That's right. That's right. I mean, the Israeli ambassador, the last time I spoke to him, I asked him. I said, look, what's your No. 1 concern out there right now?

And I thought he was going to address the war zone. You know, Gaza or something else, or, you know, Hezbollah. And he said, no, it's actually the rise in antisemitism in the United States is the primary concern that keeps him up at night.

We've seen a significant rise in actions across the United States targeting, you know, people of Jewish faith and, in some cases, just stereotyping people who are not even Jewish.

I mean, it's -- you know, yelling at some kid on your college campus and telling them to go back to Poland is not defending, you know, people that you feel are oppressed against Israeli government policies. It just means you're an antisemite. And this type of behavior is completely unacceptable.

CORNISH: In the meantime, Trump says what he has said whenever it comes to run, frankly, is MAGA is Trump. Right? Like that he is the one who dictates what "America first" is.

And it does seem like, in some of the polling, Republicans are more or less with him. So, what I can't tell is if I'm looking at a couple of media voices out there for clicks, being contrarian, or if this represents an actual break that we could see in the coming weeks.

SALAMA: It seems that -- and the White House knows that the longer this conflict continues and the more pain that people feel at the pump, the more pain they feel at the grocery store. If inflation starts to go up again, then you will start to feel like it's a broader phenomenon.

You know, what you see in the markets, it tends to be sort of a precursor to what voters end up feeling. And so, they want this to be -- they want to get in and out. They want it to be, you know, a short term, you know, a short-term pain for long-term benefit.

CORNISH: Yes.

SALAMA: And this is what officials tell me.

CORNISH: Yes. I'm curious. You know, people out there, check in on the sons, in particular, in your life. I'm hearing people worry about a draft. I'm hearing people -- Oh, is that a thing for you, too?

SALAMA: A hundred percent. No, I mean not for me personally, but I --

CORNISH: Yes. Yes, I didn't think that was a thing. And now it's more. Especially as he hasn't taken it off the table.

SALAMA: I'm hearing it constantly in the last couple of days.

PLITSAS: I mean, so we're not going to see a draft. The -- just the military footprint, I think we can talk about in terms of intentions.

CORNISH: Yes.

PLITSAS: Words are one thing. You actually have to have capabilities to back up what you're talking about there are no infantry divisions mobilized anywhere. There are no ground forces. It's basically --

CORNISH: But it speaks to the level of fear and misunderstanding they also have about the intent of the White House.

RUBIN: Oh, yes. But I think that's -- that's the key red line, as well, for the Rogans of the world.

Right now, the Republicans, broadly speaking, support this war. But if we're talking about troops and boots on the ground, that's where the Rogan argument really comes into force. He says, you broke a promise. And that's where, I think, we see Republican support disappear.

CORNISH: Yes, yes. OK, you guys stay with me. We're going to get into some of the detail about what's going on in the Strait of Hormuz.

Coming up, sources say that Iran is basically mining a vital trade there. Is already -- is the U.S. ready to counter that threat?

And one of the administration's war objectives, of course, has been to destroy Iran's navy. But there might be another threat that they should be worried about.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:30:00]