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Erin Burnett Outfront

U.S. Strikes On Iran Intensify As Chaos Spreads Across Mideast; Israel: Moving To "Next Phase" Of War, "Surprises Ahead"; War With Iran Rattles Markets, Oil Prices Spiking; Trump Ousts Homeland Security Chief As Iran Intensifies Threats. Aired 7-8p ET

Aired March 05, 2026 - 19:00   ET

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

[19:00:30]

ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: And good evening. Welcome to this special edition of OUTFRONT, "War with Iran". I'm Erin Burnett, live in Tel Aviv tonight.

And we have breaking news, Israel tonight saying its war with Iran is moving to its what's calling its next phase, in which it specifically is warning of additional surprises ahead. To use their words, cryptic and chilling message indeed.

Well, there's no signs on the Iranian side of any let up. Just before we came on the air, a massive fireball here in Tel Aviv. You're looking on your screen just to the east of where we are, near the airport, you're looking at new video of what appears to be a direct hit of something, whether it was a missile or a debris, it's unclear exactly.

But we did see several missile strikes tonight. From here, you could look at a video that I took on my phone as the sirens were going off not long ago, and we saw what could be in the air. If you look there, some sort of cluster munition style missile. Unclear exactly if it what kind of cluster it was, if it was. But obviously, that -- that could certainly fit that bill.

We know that Iran has claimed that it did in fact launch cluster munitions at Israel. It comes as President Trump claims that Iran, however, is ready to talk.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: They're tough and they want to fight, and they're calling -- they're saying, how do we make a deal? I said, you're being a little bit late, and we want to fight now more than they do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: He says the United States wants to fight more than they do. Of course, that's not perhaps what public opinion shows.

But the Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told reporters in just the past hour that B-2 U.S. bombers have dropped dozens of 2,000-pound bombs over Iranian territory. He says it strikes against Iran's navy have also intensified, even though, of course, Trump had indicated that the navy was already on the bottom of the sea. Hegseth claims that the U.S. has hit an Iranian drone carrier ship as well.

And in a new interview with ABC's Jonathan Karl, Trump said that Iran is, quote, decimated for a ten-year period before they could build it back.

But the war with Iran, of course, is spreading panic in many places. But let's look at the markets because it's been up and down there. But now, you're really starting to see it sink in that this is real. The Dow at one point sank more than 1,100 points. It did claw back some of those losses, still a loss today.

Oil prices now are surging. There was a spike of nearly 9 percent. That's the biggest one day increase in just about six years.

And adding to the economic fears out there are serious concerns surrounding energy, right? And frankly, perhaps, the world's single most important waterway, the Strait of Hormuz. Iran tonight is saying that the strait is closed to ships specifically from the United States, from Israel or from Europe.

Now, I was talking to a shipping chief who has three massive, fully loaded oil tankers right now near and along the strait, and it's hard to hide for them. They're giant.

Today, the crews painted over the flags that are on the ships because frankly, giant tankers sitting there full of oil are sitting ducks for small Iranian boats, which they see coming out at night. They say trying to attach bombs to tanker hulls.

Now, the shipping chiefs -- the shipping CEO, I'm sorry says only the Americans, only the Americans can stop this and keep the world's vital Strait of Hormuz open. We're waiting to see if the U.S. Navy or the U.S. is going to get more directly involved there.

We have a team of reporters standing by tonight. Nick Paton Walsh is here with me in Tel Aviv. Matthew Chance is in Beirut, Lebanon, which has been receiving sustained strikes. You just had to take cover. Clarissa Ward is in Erbil, Iraq, and Nic Robertson is live in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, tonight.

I want to begin, though, here with you, Nick Paton Walsh.

So, we saw several strikes tonight in the night sky. One of them both, you and I witnessed that sort of cluster, like a -- like a dandelion coming down. Right. And then on the ground, something got through not far from here.

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, we certainly were. We went to saw debris that rescuers said had impacted a lithium solar panel storage, heavy flames there. No injuries, no sign of cluster munitions, according to the people we spoke to on the ground there. We've seen Iranian state media say that they are loading some of their rockets with cluster munitions. [19:05:02]

What we saw in the sky over there unclear, really my experience of them would suggest you'd hear a very distinct noise after they hit the ground. We didn't hear that tonight. And it may also be that the Iranians are finding ways of trying to confuse the interceptors by allowing that sort of strange dandelion, as you say sort of extra munitions --

BURNETT: Doesn't know where to go.

WALSH: Doesn't know exactly where to go.

It has been, I think remarkable given the numbers we're hearing from the CENTCOM about the drop, 90 percent drop in missiles, 80 percent drop in drones the other way around forgive me that we're still seeing the relentlessness of the salvos coming here towards Tel Aviv that may suggest a bid just to see if they can get anything through. There haven't been any injuries over the day so it may just be were seeing a lot of interceptions, a lot of debris falling down. But it has been startling to see the persistence of the images in the sky over here in the interception we've been seeing.

BURNETT: Yes. And specifically -- and I'd say the past three hours, right. There had actually been a few hours of quite quiet, and then -- and then we did just suddenly see that pick up. But as you say, it appeared to be that it hit a highly flammable location. Whatever it was, it came through, whether it was a missile or part of a missile debris, unclear.

All right. Nick Paton Walsh, so that's what we're seeing here on the ground. And we showed you the video of what Nick and I both witnessed.

I want to go to Nic Robertson on the ground in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

And, Nic, Saudi Arabia just moments ago announcing -- they say that they had intercepted and destroyed three ballistic missiles that were specifically targeting an air base south of the capital, obviously hugely significant. I mean, you're on the ground there when they attacked the U.S. embassy, but this is the first time, I believe Nic, that Saudi authorities have said that there were ballistic missiles that they intercepted.

What more are you learning?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yeah. And it's significant that they're going after Prince Sultan Air Base is about 50 miles south of the capital, Riyadh, here. This is a base that the United States has historically used in the past. These three ballistic missiles intercepted in the last hour or so.

Now, it was only 15, 16 hours ago that the Saudis intercepted three Iranian drones fired at the same air base. And a couple of hours before that, it was three cruise missiles that had been fired at the base. It is very clear the Iranians want to get missiles on that base. They clearly have targets there, they believe, and the Saudis are doing an efficient job, it appears of intercepting them.

What we got today as well was statistics from Kuwait over the number of missiles fired in the first day of the war first four days of the war there, 212 ballistic missiles, 394 drones fired at them. They've lost two armed forces service personnel killed in the attack, 67 people injured.

But the metrics, if you break them down are quite interesting. On that first day, 86 ballistic missiles fired at Kuwait, a tiny, tiny country. They were able to shoot down 68 of them.

Fast forward to a couple of days ago. Only 27 ballistic missiles fired at Kuwait. They shot down all of them.

That's what the Saudis are looking at. The Bahrainis, the Qataris, the Emiratis, they're all trying to calculate what precisely Iran is doing, looking at those numbers of missiles ticking down. But the persistence at Prince Sultan Air Base just gives that clear indication the danger is still right there. Iran has an intent.

BURNETT: They do, they do. And as you said, it's significant that at this point, perhaps Saudi may have thought, well, the embassy was the focus and then the pause three ballistic missiles just tonight in the darkness.

Nic Robertson, thank you so much, in Riyadh.

Ronen Bergman of "The New York Times" is here with me in Tel Aviv, along with Karim Sadjadpour also joining me, and Seth Jones.

Okay, all of you. Ronen, can I just start with you? You know, we just saw, obviously. What? You know what you heard here, the sirens over the past few hours and what were witnessing on the ground out by the airport.

So, when you hear the Israelis say that this is -- they're moving into the next phase, that they that they say will include additional surprises. What's your reporting on what that could be and where we are?

RONEN BERGMAN, NEW YORK TIMES CORRESPONDENT: Well, by the nature of surprises, it needs to be surprising. So, if we would know, then, I think that the Israelis are looking into bringing a massive one, maybe one massive achievement, something maybe more symbolic, maybe something that could be a photograph of winning something.

BURNETT: A victory image.

BERGMAN: Victory image of something. And I think that yesterday we, we heard the Israeli ministry of defense after the announcement or the -- not the official -- but after the news came that Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of the late leader, is going to be elected or has been elected as his successor. He said he is a legitimate target, like he is putting a mark on him.

BURNETT: Yeah. BERGMAN: So, I could imagine if a politician makes a or puts a mark

on someone killing, that someone would be something that they could be -- identify as a -- as a victory

BURNETT: That could be the victory because it eliminates the family tree. It eliminates the whole father-son --

BERGMAN: Yeah. It basically says we killed the regime, even if they didn't. And also it seems that the negotiation, if we just hear what President Trump is saying, the negotiation between the one that my colleagues and myself in "The New York Times" uncovered yesterday, the secret, the secret channel --

BURNETT: Yes.

BERGMAN: -- between the -- between Iran through -- Iranian intelligence, through a European country, through the CIA all of that is not yet yielding into bringing fruit into a real negotiation and a real agreement. President Trump said it's too late.

Now, I don't know if maybe this is a negotiation tactic, but it doesn't have the remarks of becoming -- at least when it comes to Trump or becoming a deal.

BURNETT: Karim, how do you see what Ronen was just talking about when it comes to Ayatollah Khamenei's son, Mojtaba, and that, you know, that perhaps if he is the supreme leader, that removing him would somehow provide a sort of a VE Day image.

KARIM SADJADPOUR, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Well, Erin, Ayatollah Khamenei himself ruled for 37 years, it's doubtful if Mojtaba is confirmed the supreme leader, whether he'll be alive for 37 days, because indeed, there is an Israeli bulls eye on his back. Ultimately, even if he becomes supreme leader, he's not going to be that powerful a figure the killing of Ayatollah Khamenei was the equivalent of a bunker buster bomb, politically, in Iran, its left an enormous vacuum, which will likely take many years to fill, if indeed this regime can stay in power. But certainly, for the foreseeable future, the key players in Iran will be the Revolutionary Guards.

BURNETT: So, Seth, I want to show you again what we saw in the night skies tonight. And as Nick Paton Walsh was saying, in a sense, the ability of Iran to continue with consistency to launch is notable.

We did see -- that there were actually within -- within an hour, a few, a few strikes. The one that I'm showing there is the one that I described as sort of you know, when you blow a dandelion and that's what it looked like.

Obviously, there's some saying, well, is that possibly a cluster munition? Right? This is designed to inflict mass civilian harm or was it simply putting out lights to sort of masquerade, right, so, you couldn't actually find the missile itself? You can see that that closer up there of all those fireballs in the sky.

You know, what do you think, Seth? And do you think that they are running low? Or from what we see here and what you just saw and Saudi Arabia, do you think that they're dragging out their use of their weapons, ballistic missiles is strategic?

SETH JONES, FORMER ADVISER TO COMMANDING GENERAL, U.S. SPECIAL OPS FORCES IN AFGHANISTAN: Well, Erin, that is a huge question. We don't fully know the answer to that yet were still in what Clausewitz, the Prussian general calls the fog of war. But I will say this. The numbers of Iranian cruise and ballistic missiles are way down at the moment.

We know that the Israelis and the U.S. are desperate to strike not just the above ground targets, the missile silos, but also the ones below ground, which is where some of the B-2 bomber strikes are helpful is to go after the Shaheds and missiles that are stored deep underground. But I would -- I would say there is this other issue that is looming which is the Iranians do have friends, including the Houthis in Yemen, that have thousands of cruise and ballistic missiles and drones.

So, there are others. If they wanted to come to the aid, that could create problems for Israel and the U.S. as well.

BURNETT: How big are those risks? And I'm also thinking about north of here, where Israel has done something very, very significant in striking, not just in Beirut, although massive strikes there, but actually all the way in the north of Lebanon in Tripoli today.

BERGMAN: This is the main development in the last 24 hours, and the development is that backed with actions in the field -- so Hezbollah forces attacking Israeli forces, either those that entered Lebanon on the border but it -- also it's significant because Israel received intelligence that Hezbollah basically surrendered or gave its consent to pressure from Iran, from the more radicals in Iran this time, the army that pushed them to go all in into war with Israel.

Hezbollah wanted to have something more symbolic, to show their gratitude to Iran for many years of investment. But the Iranians sort of forced their hands and they led them to a situation where they are signaling Israel, we are not afraid of war. That was followed by Israel ordered to evacuate the Dahieh where Hezbollah headquarters is, and the continuous bombing of Beirut.

[19:15:04]

And here we are, it's not yet fully war, but we are very, very close to an all-out war between Israel and Lebanon, between the IDF and Hezbollah. This by nature will delay any kind of peaceful or any kind of, I would say, resolution to this war.

BURNETT: And we have seen some coordinated attacks. The IDF says, that they've both been coming from the north that we hear and coming at the same time. And we've actually witnessed that, you know, sitting here. So certainly, we've seen that.

We're going to be going to our Matthew Chance, I want to say in just a few moments because he had to actually take cover and flee in southern Beirut because of the strikes warning from the IDF to move quickly.

So, Seth, in an interview today Trump said, and this was obviously hugely significant that he must be, quote, "involved" in the appointment of Iran's next leader. He also said that Mojtaba Khamenei was unacceptable to him.

What do you read into this, that he's come out and said that that he should be involved?

JONES: Well, Erin, in addition to that, we've heard several senior Israeli officials within the last 24 and 48 hours saying that this is now a fantastic opportunity, one that they may not have to get rid of the regime. So, there are discussions now both on the Israeli and the American side about what happens next.

And I think that poses a huge risk for President Trump, because I think what we've seen is the parts of the operation have been very successful in degrading the regime but trying to install a new one with American fingerprints is going to be very complicated, may actually delegitimize any kind of a future government, and it's going to be very difficult to do that anyway from the air and from maritime platforms.

BURNETT: Yeah.

JONES: You'd need forces.

BURNETT: Well, I know certainly, you've never -- no one has ever accomplished that by air before. I mean if you're talking about full regime change.

Karim, you know, I know that you've talked about the deep unpopularity of the regime. You know last night was talking to the foreign policy advisor for Prime Minister Netanyahu here, and he put out a number that I've heard from others who don't necessarily share his point of view. But it's this, you know, at least 80 percent of the Iranian people don't like this regime, and they want to get rid of it.

I mean, do you agree with that? And I guess in that context, does Donald Trump coming in and say he needs to be involved in choosing a leader, move that number maybe in the wrong direction?

SADJADPOUR: I agree, Erin, this is one of the most unpopular governments in the world. I think there's few countries in the world with a greater gap between its government and its people than Iran. And one of the reasons this government is so unpopular, Erin, is because its politically, socially and economically authoritarian, and it rules from the moral pedestal of a theocracy but its elbow deep in corruption and repression. So that's deeply offensive to Iranians.

That said, I think the only thing the president of the United States or any foreign leader should be saying is that it's up to Iranians to determine who their next leader is going to be. And we want to empower Iranians to make that decision.

BURNETT: All right. And, Ronen, one question before we go, our Fred Pleitgen on his way into Tehran, and he's not there yet. Weve seen the images we have seen. There's -- there is destruction there. All right.

But what he witnessed driving in up from Armenia was things functioning, stores open. He said produce available. Look, it's anecdotal of what he's seeing right now, but does that say something to you?

BERGMAN: I think that we have seen both on the popular level. So, the citizens, the people and on the government level, we saw something that surprised Israeli and possibly American officials. The level of functioning.

BURNETT: Yeah.

BERGMAN: So, life continues but not just life the government continues. The some of the -- of the -- of the components of the Iranian regime is much bigger than each one of them together. And the fact that Khamenei is gone does not mean that tomorrow the regime itself disassembled.

And I think that when Trump says I want to be involved in what way, he is going to have a voting in the -- in the ballot when they vote for the advisory council, I'm not sure how that that works. And I'm sure that if Trump says I have -- I need to influence, it means that he gave up on regime change.

This is not regime change. This has been involved with this current regime and negotiate with this current.

BURNETT: That's right. We're actually looking at video of Fred right there in Iran and obviously, it's fascinating what he's seeing. Right? He pulled up to a gas station. There was no hoarding. There were no lines and there was gas. I mean, these are small things, but these are the linchpins --

BERGMAN: It also shows. This also shows that if the regime if the if the people are not affected directly by the war, maybe in the central cities, it means that the Basij, those who are repressing the people, those who can go to the street and fired at protesters with machine guns, they are also not effective, meaning the fact that Iran cannot run war to the outside with outside countries in the same kind of power.

[19:20:09]

It doesn't mean that it cannot still control the domestic issue with the -- with an iron fist.

BURNETT: And that's the crucial question.

All right. Ronen, Karim, Seth, thank you all.

And our breaking news, the coverage continues here. President Trump has been speaking -- seeming to publicly back the idea of an armed uprising in Iran. And we keep hearing, oh, they're going in. They're not going in. The reports are true. The reports are not true.

Well guess who's on the ground and knows? That's Clarissa Ward, and she's ahead.

And loud explosions rocking Beirut. I referenced those, but truly unbelievable up there right now. And our Matthew Chance has been in the center of it. Our team there just had to head to take cover and he's going to be coming up with us in just a few moments there as we will take you there live.

Also, following breaking news out of Washington tonight. We have some new details coming in on exactly what happened there with President Trump's decision to fire his Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:25:27]

BURNETT: Welcome back to this special edition of OUTFRONT war with Iran and breaking news right now, President Trump says tonight that he would welcome Kurdish opposition groups launching an offensive against the Iranian regime.

Trump said, and I quote, "I think it's wonderful that they want to do it. I'd be all for it."

Well, it comes as CNN is there on the ground and learning that the CIA plans to arm Kurdish forces, they believe, to possibly spark an uprising inside Iran.

So, let's go to Clarissa Ward. She is in Erbil, Iraq, which is, of course, the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan.

And, Clarissa, I know that you have new reporting this hour on the heels of what the president said about pushing an openly embracing the idea of a Kurdish ground invasion.

What are you learning tonight?

CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, this has caused a huge amount of trepidation here in Erbil, the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan, especially from the leadership of Iraqi Kurdistan, who are just desperate not to get involved in this conflict, to remain neutral.

But these Iranian Kurdish groups have been saying now for the past few days that they are planning a ground offensive into western Iran with U.S. and Israeli support. They said it could happen in the coming days. Today, they're being a little more circumspect and simply saying that they are preparing, that they are ready.

We actually had a sort of interesting conversation with a car salesman here in Erbil who told us that two days ago, he sold 50 Toyota Land Cruisers to one of these Iranian Kurdish militias. Now, we're not going to say which one it was because we're protecting the identity of this car dealership. But certainly, given the timing and given the speculation and the anticipation about the possibility of some kind of a ground offensive, that will certainly give rise to speculation that there is indeed something in the works. Now, will it actually happen? We really don't know, Erin, because

certainly these Iranian Kurdish militias are under a lot of pressure from the leadership here who actually have sent forces to the border to try to stop any kind of ground offensive from happening. And in turn, I should add the leadership here has come under pressure from the White House who say, listen pick a side.

But for the leadership here picking a side could be very dangerous, particularly if the end result of this war is not regime, and the powers that be remain in Tehran. They have been consistently hitting Erbil with drones and missiles for the past few days. So, there is very real fear that any kind of a ground offensive could jeopardize their situation and risk things spiraling out of control, Erin.

BURNETT: Clarissa, thank you very much in Iraqi Kurdistan tonight.

And OUTFRONT here with me now in Tel Aviv, Eyal Hulata. He is the former Israeli national security adviser, served 23 years in the Israeli intelligence agency, Mossad.

I appreciate you being here tonight.

Okay. Clarissa had so much new information there but, you know, including the fact that there's some on the border to try to stop anybody from going in, right? That there's clearly conflict. But that anecdote that she had obviously could be very significant, 50 Land Cruisers sold to an Iranian Kurdish militia, which she's not naming, just today.

EYAL HULATA, FORMER ISRAELI NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: I mean, it's -- I think it's very reasonable that they are preparing. I mean, there are so many of the inside of Iran, the minorities outside of Iran that have beef with this regime for a long time.

BURNETT: Money, by the way, they probably got from the CIA. It's a lot of money.

HULATA: Maybe 50. I mean, the fact that CIA is backing those opposition groups shouldn't be surprising. And also, I mean, it's not unique, right? I mean, when the Turkish intelligence services armed al-Sharaa and HDS and then drove them to storm into Damascus and take down another tyrant, it seemed perfectly normal to everyone, right?

I think the main difference here that Iran is not Syria, the size of Iran is much larger. And the strength and the amount of capabilities that IRGC and all the other forces in Iran have --

BURNETT: The state is strong.

HULATA: Yes, it's strong. So, they can definitely draw attention from the central regime in Tehran. And I think that there is a lot of -- I can understand why this is welcome if you try to fracture the regime.

[19:30:04]

By the way, it's not only Kurdistan. President Aliyev of Azerbaijan has threatened to engage because of the attacking here. So, Iran is surrounded by all of these groups that can take a lot of attention to the periphery, which can help actually the people of Iran to rise up.

BURNETT: So, you're putting a lot of context on it. Some of the initial framing of this was a little bit more simplistic, shall I say. It was -- they're going to arm that they've been arming for a while, actually, Iranian Kurds inside Iran that basically they've got stashes of weapons in their attics.

And in Iraqi Kurdistan, they are getting these troops together, and then they're going to go in and suddenly, you're going to have an uprising, and it's going to spread from there through the country and topple the regime.

HULATA: Yeah.

BURNETT: That's a way oversimplification I think obviously.

HULATA: Yes, I think so.

I mean, I think what we can see and I see -- I think we definitely are going to see more of this. We'll see things happening in the Kurdish areas of Iran. And well see in the Ahvaz province, where the Muslim Arabs live there and in Baluchistan and in other places.

Iran -- more than 50 percent of Iran is minorities, and most of them have a lot to attribute to this regime that have been pushing them for so long. So, I think that all of these components will need to play out, not necessarily in a week or two or three or four, but I think over time, this is what any attempt of the regime to continue to try to control Iran, this is what they'll have to face.

BURNETT: Okay. So, now, something that I shared at the top of the program, which is the IDF saying that Israel is moving to what they're calling the, quote/unquote, next phase of the war and that there would be surprises.

All right. Obviously, you've been in Mossad for 23 years, the national security advisor. If you knew exactly what the surprises were, you wouldn't tell me. But it was -- but what is your position?

HULATA: No more surprises.

BURNETT: Yeah. Then they wouldn't be surprises, as Ronen said. But what -- what sort of thing fits in that? I mean, we've seen thousands of bombs dropped. We hear about B-2 bombers. We hear about 2,000-pound munitions we, you know, you've already taken out all of the leadership that was there. I mean, there are obviously some, but some of the key leadership, much of it.

So then what's a surprise? What even qualifies as one in your mind, you know?

HULATA: I think what we need -- the way I would -- I would try to think about this, is that I'm sure that both in Washington and in Jerusalem, everyone is thinking how to get this regime off balance. What would make them either -- not just surprised by way of, you know, just substance, but to get --

BURNETT: You lose your footing, lose your footing.

HULATA: Lose your footing, get him really off guard, distract them from the things they need to do, because at the moment, they are firing less and less missiles here. I mean, I'm sure you felt this today, right?

They are firing -- Hezbollah is not able to fire at Israel the way they are. And I think also in the region, by and large, Iran seems like they are losing their momentum in what they're able to do.

As was said by Ronen, and I completely agree, it doesn't mean that they don't have enough strength to hold on the people, enough to make sure that there is no -- inside of Iran, to make sure that there won't be any protest. But if were really serious about trying to create conditions for the Iranian people to be able to uprise, then we need to clear some of those strongholds of the regime so that there will be space for alternative leadership to rise up. This will be --

BURNETT: Why do you think there's been such a delay of announcing a new supreme leader, especially when they had the meeting? And then there was the reports that it was the son, and then but were still in this sort of is it or isn't it?

HULATA: So --

BURNETT: And it's been days.

HULATA: Yeah. It's been days and it might take longer. And I think that there is a serious debate within Iran about this, because let's just try to understand what they're doing. This is a revolutionary regime that came after a monarchy.

BURNETT: Uh-huh.

HULATA: In monarchies, kings are accessed by their sons or daughters sometimes. Right?

So, in what way is Supreme Leader Khamenei being success by his son Mojtaba opposing the monarchy style of passing succession? This doesn't make any sense. And another thing is that Mojtaba is no more than his father, a real serious religious cleric in the way that possesses weight.

I'm sure that the hardliners in that council are not happy with Mojtaba replacing Khamenei, because if they are committed to the regime ideology, they want something more serious than that. And I think that the military might not be very happy about this either.

So, I think there's a conflict between those two groups there, and it means that there is a lot of friction inside. There are fractures within. I definitely think they're are weaker than we all believe.

BURNETT: All right. Eyal, thank you very much. Good to see you tonight. And our breaking news coverage continues as Israel is carrying out

intensifying strikes in Beirut. Plumes of smoke can be seen over the city and our teams on the ground are hearing that. I mean, the incredible onslaught had to take cover and move very quickly. We're going to take you there live to our Matthew Chance, who's on the ground next.

And we're also following the breaking news tonight out of Saudi Arabia.

[19:35:02]

Three ballistic missiles tonight targeting an air base have just been intercepted there. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BURNETT: And welcome back to this special edition of OUTFRONT, "War with Iran". We are live in Tel Aviv with breaking news just north of where we are, Ronen Bergman from "The New York Times" just described as a single most important development in this war today, and that is the massive strikes near Beirut.

[19:40:03]

There was an urgent and unprecedented evacuation warning given in Beirut, which is saying a lot -- urgent and unprecedented in Beirut. We are talking about tens of thousands of people racing, racing against time to escape the area. It all happened incredibly quickly.

Our Matthew Chance was there, and he is in Beirut tonight.

So, Matthew, tell me what happened and what you've learned about this onslaught.

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CHIEF GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. Well, first of all, Erin, over the course of the past couple of hours, we've seen, you know, multiple Israeli airstrikes taking place in the area of the Lebanese capital, Beirut, right behind me, in the distance is south Beirut, the suburb of Dahiah. It's a very strong stronghold of Hezbollah. The Iranian backed militia that Israel is fighting here, here in Lebanon.

Hezbollah actually invited us into that area earlier today. Usually, it's a -- it's a no go zone. You can't get there. It's too dangerous. But Hezbollah invited us in to try and take a look at the damage.

But almost as soon as we got there, there was this new order from Israel to evacuate the entire area, sort of plunging the sort of mainly Shia neighborhood into chaos and into panic. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHANCE: Okay. We've got to go because they said there's been a warning from the Israelis that there could be a strike coming in. So we've got to get out of here, Alex. I don't know but we need to get out.

Okay. Can you hear me all right?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

CHANCE: No, but we've just been trying to film at this location here in Dahieh. And we've been told to move away quickly now. People were showing us their phones saying look, there's a -- there's a warning coming in go around, go around this guy.

We've come into what is the most dangerous part of the Lebanese capital, which is a very important stronghold of Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed militia group. It's the place where Israel has been focusing. And you can hear the gunshots outside there, that Israel has been focusing its activity, its intensive campaign of airstrikes against the Hezbollah group.

That's often, we're told, a warning to local residents who don't have cell phones or don't have that communication to tell them that maybe an Israeli strike is coming. So, we're going to get out of here. I mean, this chaos that we're getting a glimpse of in south Beirut.

It's all happening, remember, because in the hours after the Iranian supreme leader was killed last weekend in those U.S. and Israeli airstrikes in Iran, Hezbollah, which hadn't struck Israel since 2024, fired rockets and drones across the border into Israel. And this has been the response.

Israel is absolutely pounding south Beirut, forcing thousands of people out of their homes and really dragging Lebanon into a conflict that many Lebanese tell us they're not ready for and they do not want.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHANCE: Yeah. Well, Erin, very chaotic scenes, I can tell you, Dahieh and the surrounding suburbs, there are hundreds of thousands of residents that live there. It's a very densely packed area. And, you know, there were very long traffic jams, I can tell you, trying to get out of there.

Israel has also issued evacuation orders elsewhere in the country, in the Bekaa Valley to the east, to the south, in the whole area of south Lebanon, south of the Litani River, nearer to the border with Israel. And it sparked a sort of internal displacement crisis now in the country.

BURNETT: Yeah unbelievable. And just when everyone tries to flee in just a panic of that complete gridlock that that you were caught in to give us a glimpse of that.

Matthew Chance, thank you so much. Just north of here in Beirut, when those back and forth has happened, you know, you hear it here, you hear it there, you realize just how close all of it is.

And next, Americans caught in the middle of a war launched by their own country. And so many are still struggling to get out. I'm going to talk to a retired army major general who was stuck in Dubai, had to make multiple stops across two continents, has finally made it back to the United States, a journey which took just about 48 hours.

And breaking details on Trump's decision to fire Kristi Noem. We've got some new details this hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:48:58]

BURNETT: And we're back with this special edition of OUTFRONT, "War with Iran", and the breaking news now that we are following out of Saudi Arabia, more than three ballistic missiles, we understand three of them targeted an air base just outside of Riyadh, Prince Sultan Air Base. They were just intercepted.

We're keeping a close eye on that situation. Of course, the embassy there had been struck just a couple of days ago, so we're watching that. But we understand three of those missiles were intercepted.

And it comes as the first Americans who were stranded in the Middle East because of the sudden outbreak of war, the U.S. strikes are just returning to the United States on various flights, chartered evacuation flights. Those are just starting to come in.

OUTFRONT now is retired Army Major General Randy Manner. He was the deputy commanding general of the Third Army, which operates in the Middle East.

So, the situation obviously is in the center of his entire experience, the region. But he was here in Dubai and then he got back to the United States after being stranded when the war broke out.

[19:50:04]

So, General, I really appreciate your time. I mean you made multiple stops across two continents. You're coming home from Dubai, a flight, I think, give or take, that I would say is about 13-ish hours to go, if I'm correct usually flying from Dubai to New York, it took you 41 hours and were going to put up a map.

These are all the places that you went. It looks like Istanbul and Prague and London and then okay, finally, Virginia how chaotic was this experience?

MAJ. GEN. RANDY MANNER (RET.), WAS STRANDED IN DUBAI AMID STRIKES: So, it was very chaotic. I've never experienced anything like it. First thing is, I want to make sure to tell everyone that my heart and soul is thinking about all the families of those servicemen who have been killed, as well as my heart and soul goes out to those civilians on all sides that have been -- of course, those family members that are very worried about their loved ones in the Middle East right now.

Forty-one hours from the time I left for the airport to the time that I got home, we had three aborted attempts. The third attempt, we had incoming missile warnings. We are loaded on the aircraft for the third time, and the missiles started to come in. They hit the consulate five miles away at the American consulate in Dubai.

We had unfortunately, as you can imagine, a lot of people were screaming on the plane they wanted to get off. They said, this is no place to be filled with jet fuel. There were children crying. I was standing up and helping people to, quite frankly, just to decompress and to calm down. And this was the safest place to be.

We did deplane once that was safe we got back. And then of course, we attempted a fourth time, I will tell you that the plane was loaded in only eight minutes, and the pilot said, we are leaving now. And he pushed away from the gate and we made it to the runway like in five minutes, which anybody who's been into Dubai, that's a record.

And then we took off, picked up fighter escorts to leave the area. We had to fly 6-1/2 hours to Istanbul we got refueled and this very fortunate to get out. There were hundreds of canceled flights. And putting it bluntly, the one that I happen to choose happened to fly. But there are tens of thousands of Americans and many others that are trying to get out. And it's very frustrating when our State Department is just struggling to do anything whatsoever.

BURNETT: And I mean, just imagining that the fear, there's a missile and it gets aborted and reloading I mean, gosh, it -- it's really terrifying to even think about and then to go in eight minutes when you're talking about the size of a jet, you're talking about in that airport, that is really incomprehensible to me.

Also, though, what you point out is those planes taking off with the fighter jet escort. That's the way they're doing it?

MANNER: Yes, that's what they did last night.

BURNETT: So -- yeah.

MANNER: What night is this? I'm sorry, that was two nights ago. I'm sorry.

BURNETT: Night before last, I think yeah.

MANNER: But I will tell you that my hat goes off --

BURNETT: To my friend Kim. My friend Kim was in Dubai. Yeah. Yeah. I'm sorry, there's a little bit of a delay, so. I don't mean to be talking over you yet, and I -- and I've heard that from others about the government in the UAE. I had a friend, Kim. She actually left to Dubai today with her teenage daughter.

Actually, just like you. She had booked on a flight. Canceled go back the next day. She was going to Chicago.

You know, she's lived there for 30 years, paid taxes in America, all the way along. She's an American. She's a patriot like so many people who live outside the United States, right? She's a patriotic American. But in all this, she decided to go home. She was very frustrated with

the United States government, how they're handling it. Here's what she said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KIM KELAITA, DUBAI RESIDENT: There was a little communication, not too much, to be honest with you. I was very disappointed in that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: I mean, she was disappointed and so many others I'm talking to in Dubai are disappointed. None of them, by the way, with the Emirati government, all of them with the United States government. That's where the frustration has been very focused.

I know you and I spoke when you were stuck in Dubai and, you know, you said this as a general, right, who has commanded one of the largest bases in the United States controls and here in this region. And you had said you felt abandoned as well. I mean, gosh, that's got to be a tough feeling to have, you know, given your experience and everything you've done and the way that you're looking at this conflict.

MANNER: Because I know what right looks like I have actually personally with coordination of the State Department at my level, I've evacuated Americans, hundreds of Americans on very short notice, getting them out within 12 hours, 12 hours of notification. You can imagine while we were in these hotels and hearing about the Brits, the French, the Spanish, the Czechs, and others receiving notifications from their governments about where to move to pick up flights that were going to be coming in within two to three days.

It was very deflating to be able to get a nonstop answer from the State Department.

[19:55:03]

We cannot help you get out. I was just appalled and I'm very disappointed and shocked. And again, not on the people that were on the ground, the state department on the ground. They were doing the very best they could, and they were in survival mode. This is what happens when an unintended consequence of cutting the budget of the State Department by almost half.

So, it was a terrible, terrible time to be an American there, because other governments are much smaller size were taking care of their citizens, and the United States was not taking care of Americans.

BURNGETT: General Manner, I appreciate your time. Thank you so much and I'm grateful you shared your story and were glad you're back home.

And next, we are following breaking news out of Washington. We have new reporting on exactly what happened with the firing of homeland security secretary, I suppose now former, Kristi Noem.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BURNETT: And welcome back to this special edition of OUTFRONT, "War with Iran".

Today, the president Trump making a massive change to the homeland security agency amid concerns of potential threats in the United States because of this war, Trump suddenly announcing that he is removing Kristi Noem as DHS secretary. It's a significant move. News she learned apparently while arriving at a prescheduled event in Nashville, that she went along and completed.

Noem facing bipartisan criticism on Capitol Hill this week over her conduct, including the deadly shootings of two U.S. citizens in Minnesota, an alleged romantic relationship with her chief advisor, and a very expensive DHS ad campaign that included her riding a horse and a cowboy hat at Mount Rushmore.

Trump says Republican Senator Markwayne Wullin will take her job. Kristi Noem is set to leave her role as DHS secretary at the end of this month.

All right. Well, thanks so much for joining us live here from Tel Aviv. With all of the developments in the war tonight. I'll be back here tomorrow starting at 1:00 p.m. Eastern. And also, of course, for OUTFRONT at 7:00 p.m.

"AC360" starts right now.