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Erin Burnett Outfront

2 Oil Tankers Attacked & On Fire, Dozens Rescued; Trump Claims "We've Won" War With Iran, Offers No Evidence; New Video Shows Barrage Of Rockets Going Into Israel. Aired 7-8p ET

Aired March 11, 2026 - 19:00   ET

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

[19:00:25]

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: OUTFRONT next:

Breaking news live from Israel, where this country is bracing for major attacks from Iran tonight.

Also, this hour, multiple tankers burning in the Persian Gulf, all of this as President Trump just declared, quote, "We've won". So, what is he basing that on?

And a U.S. soldier injured in the deadly drone attack in Kuwait. We're learning more. He's speaking out. The first time were hearing from a survivor of that attack in which six American service members were killed.

Plus, a very select few ships are making it through the Strait of Hormuz, ships claiming to be headed for China. What the communist superpower is doing to help Iran tonight, a special report. Let's go OUTFRONT.

And good evening. And welcome to this special edition of OUTFRONT, "The War with Iran". I'm Erin Burnett tonight in Tel Aviv.

And breaking news just coming in to CNN. We'll show you the video. Two oil tankers are on fire right now in the Persian Gulf off the coast of Iraq. Twenty-two crew members had to be rescued from two vessels, according to the director general of the Iraqi ports company.

From these videos, which are absolutely stunning, you can see the oil. It appears to be on fire in the water the likely result of an oil spill, as Trump has just declared victory in this war.

Here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We've won, let me tell you, we've won. You know, you never like to say too early. You won -- we won. We won the bet. In the first hour, it was over.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: Well, here we are, entering the 12th day. And on the ground. Here, I'll show you what we just saw in the skies over Tel Aviv from where we are. Explosions crossing the sky, interceptors going out, and you can hear sirens in the distance. Those sirens were actually not immediately where we were, but you can see what we just witnessed. And there were no early warning sirens where we were when this happened. That's unusual.

Israel tonight is bracing for a major attack overnight. Sources telling us that they are expecting a, quote/unquote, "significant" expansion of attacks from both Iran and Hezbollah. We are also seeing this incredible video out of northern Israel tonight, north of where we are, where you see a barrage of rockets coming in from Lebanon in the skies there. And sources now say that Iran's biggest proxy, the Houthis in Yemen, could launch their first attacks on Israel of this conflict, as well.

Also, far from the U.S. winning tonight, we are seeing a major escalation of tensions in the Strait of Hormuz. And I just showed you those images. We have just confirmed, of an oil tanker on fire off Basra, that major Iraqi port, three ships. We also understand today attacked in the crucial shipping route of Hormuz today, according to the U.K. maritime trade operations, that is the authority on maritime security.

And we'll show you here. It's a Thai flagged ship that was struck totally engulfed in black smoke. Three crew members missing tonight. That crew forced to evacuate on lifeboats, according to Thai officials. And Iran is warning of more attacks.

This is pretty stunning to imagine that even two weeks ago we saw images like this, what world we would think we were living in.

Senior IRGC commander, meantime tonight is claiming that and I quote, "We have missiles that are launched from underwater. We may use them in the coming days."

This comes as we are learning the preliminary findings of the U.S. military's investigation into the strike on a girls' school in southern Iran has found the United States is to blame for that terrible, horrific tragedy. Sources are telling CNN that the military likely used outdated information about a nearby naval base and accidentally then hit the school, causing the single deadliest attack of this conflict so far in which it was children who were killed, 168 children and 14 teachers, according to Iranian state media. President Trump, who previously tried to blame Iran for the attack, is claiming tonight that he is unaware of the military's findings.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REPORTER: A new report says the military investigation has found it was the United States that struck the school.

TRUMP: I don't know about that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: And tonight, the mystery around Iran's new supreme leader is deepening. He has still not been seen in public. Three days after being named supreme leader. A source is now telling CNN that he was injured, but they are describing it as fairly minor a foot fracture, bruising around his eye and minor lacerations to his face. I describe those as minor because obviously in that strike, his father mother, wife and son were killed.

[19:05:01]

There are major questions there for about the full extent of his injuries, as we know multiple members of his family were killed. And that's according to Iranian state media. There's also real questions, of course about, you know, the depth of these injuries and why, if they are so minor, we have not yet seen him.

We have a team of reporters standing by for us. Kristen Holmes, with new reporting at the White House. Nick Paton Walsh is in Amman, Jordan. Jeremy Diamond is here with me in Tel Aviv. And Will Ripley is in Taiwan now, front and center, where there are major questions about China's potential involvement now in this conflict.

I want to begin, though, with Kristen Holmes. She's at the White House.

And, Kristen, President Trump making that bold declaration tonight. And that is incredibly bold. It's not just that they won. He's saying that the United States won in the first hour. It certainly does not appear to reflect the reality that anybody here is seeing on the ground.

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, of course, Erin, I would go back to that first hour when the gulf countries were getting completely pummeled. I imagine they did not think that anyone had won at that time. And as President Trump is kind of doubling down on this narrative that the U.S. won, they won in the first hour, he's also continuing to reiterate this idea that only he can decide when the war is over. So, both saying that he won, but also not declaring that the war is over.

And in saying that like that, he clearly is not taking into account that there are multiple parties involved in this war. It does not appear that Iran thinks that this war is over. It does not appear that Israel thinks that this war is over. All of these parties are going to continue to fight, even if President Trump says that he has decided that this is over particularly because we know that they have not put out what metrics he will be using, what goals he will be using to declare that this war is over. So, this is going to continue in the region. And all of this is happening as Republicans are seemingly desperate for any kind of new messaging from the White House on this war.

When it comes to timeline, when it comes to the cost of oil, we've already started to see those oil prices surging when it comes to the goals for the war -- these are all things Republicans are going to the White House asking them to put out clearer messaging on, and we are told that the White House is intentionally not having the president or the administration box in themselves with any sort of actual timeline, because they want these military operations to continue.

So even though the Republicans are asking for it, they are not getting it and they're still going to be those questions as to what this will actually look like when President Trump declares that it's over, when there are so many other entities involved in this fight now.

BURNETT: Kristen, thank you very much at the White House tonight.

As we are looking at those burning tankers, I want to bring in now retired U.S. Navy Captain Lawrence Brennan. He was an officer on the USS Nimitz during the Iranian hostage crisis. He obviously knows this region and that strait very well. Seth Jones also here, along with Karim Sadjadpour.

And welcome to all three of you.

Captain, I want to start with you with the breaking news that we have this new video we've just confirmed late tonight here in these overnight hours, an oil tanker on fire off the coast of Iraq, near Basra. Of course, major, major oil port, obviously, these images are stunning. As I said two weeks ago nobody could have ever thought such a thing would happen if this was in the context of a war. And you said that it would, it would really have been unthinkable.

And now here we are, and this is happening that in Basra also, we saw those ships in the strait today on fire. So, captain, I guess just the simple question is, you know, how -- could you imagine right now you've been on the USS Nimitz sailing through the Strait of Hormuz.

CAPT. LAWRENCE BRENNAN (RET.), EXPERT IN MARITIME LAW AND STRAIT OF HORMUZ: That is true. A long time ago. It's a very difficult area, particularly for the United States Navy. And the Strait of Hormuz is an important choke point for international trade, particularly oil. This is going to have a tremendous impact in, unfortunately a negative impact both on the oil prices and the environmental costs are going to be catastrophic.

You know, burning the oil is one thing but the pollution that's going to be caused can be devastating for years. And this is going to basically stop international traffic through the Strait of Hormuz for the foreseeable future.

BURNETT: Which is really stunning. I mean just to think about it -- you know, I've been I was talking to someone who has tankers in there now. I mean, essentially those ships are waiting. And right now, it's a game of how long they can wait before they need to get restocked, whether they can get restocked, even from the Emirates turning transponders off to hide. I mean, it's truly, truly incomprehensible.

Oh, Seth -- Seth, you know. Yeah, go ahead, go ahead, Captain.

BRENNAN: No. It's horrible. I mean, it's as bad as World War Two. When the U-boats were attacking American and British tankers in the Atlantic and, you know, if you've ever been on a ship that's had a fuel and oil fire, it's catastrophic. It's environmentally bad. It causes all sorts of damages. [19:10:01]

There's nothing worse than seeing someone who's been burned, particularly in oil and fuel fire, and we had one on board Nimitz when I was there a long time ago. And it's just -- there's nothing worse than walking to sickbay and seeing people who are burned and the scars and affected burns internally and externally are horrible.

BURNETT: More people and more suffering happening. I mean, Seth, the IRGC commander that I mentioned is now also threatening, right? These incredibly fast missiles that they say go that that travel underwater technology from the Russians, ostensibly but saying that they haven't used those yet, but they might in coming days. Do you see that threat, Seth, as real?

SETH JONES, PRESIDENT, DEFENSE & SECURITY DEPARTMENT, CENTER FOR STRATEGIC & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES: Erin, I do think there is a continuing threat from Iranian missiles cruise and ballistic missiles and drones, and also a threat from some of Iran's partner forces, including the Houthis. I think it would be very dangerous for U.S. ships to try to escort through the Strait of Hormuz right now until most of that most of those missiles and drones have been destroyed because, boy, the public -- the sort of public information campaign that the Iranians would get hitting a U.S. Navy vessel in the Persian Gulf or the Strait of Hormuz would be a huge public relations victory for the Iranians.

BURNETT: So, Karim, Trump was asked if he could declare victory in this war if the supreme leader remains the leader of the -- remains the ayatollah's son, right? A Khamenei replaces a Khamenei. And he responded, I don't want to comment on that.

I know, Karim, you have a new piece in "The Atlantic" that I hope everyone will read. You've got all these new details on the new leader, you know, so I guess what have you learned about those around him? And I know you've got a specific theory as to why we haven't seen him yet

KARIM SADJADPOUR, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: So, Erin, Mojtaba Khamenei has essentially spent his entire life in this very hard-line ideological cocoon. The men around him are some of the most brutal men of the Islamic Republic. Men like Hussein Tayeb, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, they are senior Revolutionary Guard commanders. Some of them have been deeply implicated in repression and torture and he owes his throne to them.

And so, I don't see any signs that he's prepared to meaningfully change the character of the Islamic Republic. And I think this creates a dilemma for President Trump when he says that this war has been a victory -- you know, obviously, we've had great military success, but it's a political failure. If you spend billions and billions of dollars replacing an 86-year-old leader with his 56-year-old son.

And so, I think that the president is going to have to be clear about what ultimately is his objective is here because if we've simply degraded them militarily, but we've given them a new lease on life, historians will see that as a strategic failure.

BURNETT: Captain Brennan, it is this regime, of course, that is keeping the Strait of Hormuz closed and no sign that that will change. Can there be victory? I mean in a sense, I'm asking a very obvious question, but can there be victory for the U.S., as the president has claimed, as long as Iran is keeping the strait of Hormuz closed.

BRENNAN: You can't have victory if you can't use the Strait of Hormuz. The Strait of Hormuz has to be reopened to international trade and that is a difficult, if not impossible thing to do under the present circumstances. You know, I fear it's going to require a regime change and possibly an occupation of Iran.

And I don't think anyone in their right mind wants to occupy Iran. It's just too dangerous a thing to do, too expensive and too risky. So, I don't think we have a short term answer. And as much as I appreciate the president's optimism, you know, declaring victory after the first day or two is just not the right thing to do. This is -- this is going to go on far longer than any of us hope.

BURNETT: Seth, in fact, he declared that he had had achieved victory within one hour.

JONES: Yeah, Erin, I mean I think the reality is, and we've heard this from everybody here, is that -- you know, it's one thing if you're at World War Two and you've got a surrender, a formal surrender by the Germans and the Japanese, or even the end of the Balkan wars, where there's the Dayton Accord that formally ends the war. There's going to be no -- there's going to be no end to this war. The Iranians aren't going to surrender. I think that's very clear right now.

And again, as we've seen with the Israelis over the last several years in the West Bank and Gaza and Lebanon and even Yemen, that there's just mowing the grass, this persists against Iran, and these -- these partner forces, I don't see this as being any different right now.

BURNETT: And, Karim, you know, as were understanding here, they're looking for significant expansion in the attacks coming in here and we did just see the sky light up with multiple interceptors just moments ago. We'll see what happens in these next few hours. We understand Israel is in the midst of intense strikes in Tehran right now, and in that, we just have not heard from the supreme leader. And I'm curious, Karim, if his injuries are as minor as are now being reported. A source is telling CNN they're minor as well you know, the bruise, the cut face, maybe a broken foot. That those sorts of types of injuries.

If that's the case, from talking to your sources inside Iran, including people who have known Mojtaba Khamenei for decades, why have we not seen him?

SADJADPOUR: You know, people who've known him many years describe him as kind of a meager presence. He has the kind of social skills of a dictator's son who's been coddled all his life. He doesn't have good interpersonal skills. He's not known to be a good speaker, a charismatic person. And so, when you combine all of these elements together, he's has --

his alluding assassination. He's injured, he's in hiding, he's trying to lead a country which is at war with America, Israel, and much of his own population. And you know, his injuries may be even to his face. I think that they're probably in a -- in a real dilemma to have this guy give his maiden speech and project confidence and strength when, you know, at the moment, he's anything but strong or confident.

BURNETT: Yeah, it's fascinating. And I guess if you see an injury, can that be portrayed as a survivor or, or does that -- that be perceived as weakness? And I guess it does depend what the extent of it.

Thank you all very much. I really appreciate the conversation.

And our breaking news coverage continues because we are getting some more new details just coming in on the tankers on fire right now in the Persian Gulf.

Plus, a U.S. soldier who survived the drone strike in Kuwait that killed six service members is speaking out for the first time. That we are hearing from someone who was there, who witnessed that attack. And breaking new details about a crucial and new level of support that Russia is providing. Iran tonight, just how deeply involved is Putin right now?

And Iran is warning of $200 a barrel for oil specifically. They put a number on it. Is that an empty threat? One of the top oil experts in the world is with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:22:10]

BURNETT: Welcome back to a special edition of OUTFRONT live in Tel Aviv, "The War with Iran". As we are here in Tel Aviv, we are following the breaking news at least one person dead after two oil tankers were attacked going up in flames in the Persian Gulf. We understand 38 crew members were rescued.

"Reuters" is reporting that an initial investigation by Iraqi security officials found that explosive laden Iranian boats hit the tankers. This comes as we are also learning tonight that Iran is now increasingly using cluster munitions, a very powerful and dangerous weapon on its missiles.

Jeremy Diamond is here with me now.

And, Jeremy, you know, you've been working on this piece as you've been observing this, but we started seeing it a few days ago and said these in our skyline start to look like cluster munitions. And then as you were observing and doing the research you found out that there is new munitions being used.

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. That's right. I mean, we've been talking about this for days, looking at these images of the specks of light in the sky, wondering what these could be. And after speaking with experts, it's quite clear that Iran is indeed using these cluster munitions. And it does appear to be an effort to try and evade Israel's air defense systems

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DIAMOND (voice-over): Their orange glow streaks across the night sky. Each speck of light a small bomb carrying up to 11 pounds of explosives and raining down indiscriminately, sometimes in densely populated areas.

They are cluster munitions, and Iran is increasingly packing the heads of its ballistic missiles, with dozens of them aiming to pierce Israel's sophisticated air defenses.

DIAMOND: One of those small bombs struck the roof of this residential building, and you can see the hole is only a few inches wide. And yet this is the kind of destruction that just one of those small bombs can cause, one of multiple impact points from a single missile.

DIAMOND (voice-over): We confirmed nine separate impacts from that one missile. They include this strike on a Tel Aviv car wash that severely wounded one man, and another in a neighboring suburb. The impacts are spread out across seven miles of mostly residential neighborhoods, illustrating why using these munitions in populated areas violates international law.

The next day, another cluster missile attack sends bomblets tumbling south of Tel Aviv. At least five impacts scattered across eight miles. One bomb hit a street here. Nearby, two construction workers were killed, the first fatalities in Israel caused by these weapons.

Israel's military, which has itself deployed cluster munitions in other wars, says about half of Iran's missile attacks use these munitions, vehicles overturned, shrapnel slicing through anything near the impact.

[19:25:01]

Iran's missiles are more destructive when equipped with a single large warhead, but the clusters are much tougher to intercept.

TAL INBAR, SENIOR RESEARCH FELLOW, MISSILE DEFENSE ADVOCACY ALLIANCE: It's a mechanism to bypass an active missile defense. In some cases, you can hit the target with an Arrow or with a THAAD missile for example, but the bomblets will continue and will get to the target.

DIAMOND (voice-over): The Israeli military does try and intercept these bomblets, expending a costly and finite quantity of interceptors in the process.

DIAMOND: So, if there is a strategy here by Iran, that could be it, to try and deplete Israel's air defenses, right?

INBAR: We know it. I think Iran doesn't have the capability at the moment of orchestrating a large barrage of ballistic missiles. So, if Iran wants to cause a lot of damage, even with a small number of ballistic missiles, then a submunition missile or missiles with bomblets will be the weapon of choice.

DIAMOND (voice-over): The weapon of choice as Iran pursues a war of attrition, one missile at a time.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DIAMOND: And, Erin, we did reach out to the Iranian government for comment on this. They did not respond in terms of why they are using these cluster munitions. But we spoke with weapons experts who said, you know, these really don't have much military value. If you're trying to hit a target, you're not going to use a munition that's going to spread out over potentially seven miles of an area.

And so, it's clear that this is indiscriminate. It's clear that it's intended to not only evade Israel's air defenses, but also to disrupt life here. I mean, every time one of these missiles goes into the air, millions of people are forced to go into bomb shelters, and obviously they're relatively safe if they do go into bomb shelters from these relatively small bombs. But as we've seen two people killed so far, and the destruction really --

BURNETT: And it's amazing. You've been to so many of the sites, and the one where two people were killed, I went to what I was struck by was exactly that that it's a suburban neighborhood. You go in and the exact location itself is incredibly small, right? It's just the terror is that anybody could be standing there and they were standing there, you know and as you say, that's what terrorizes civilian populations.

All right. Jeremy Diamond, thank you so much.

And obviously, really crucial to see this as we're hearing about the potential of new munitions being used, that Jeremy is confirming this already on cluster munitions.

Democratic Senator Tammy Duckworth joins me now. She's on the Senate Armed Services, Veterans Affairs and Foreign Relations Committees. Senator Duckworth is also an Iraq war veteran.

And, Senator, I appreciate your time.

And I want to start with the deadly strike on a girls' school in Iran here. And that is two sources are telling us that the preliminary findings of a U.S. military investigation, which is still ongoing, say that the U.S. is to blame, likely due to using outdated information about a nearby naval base when they did their targeting, how troubling is this when just the very basics of it, the use of outdated information for the targeting?

SEN. TAMMY DUCKWORTH (D-IL): Well, it's incredibly -- it is incredibly troubling to me, and it should be to all of us because it shows the lack of coordination and prior planning and how rushed this process was conducted by the Trump administration. Frankly, I want to know who actually cleared the targeting of an area right next to the girls school or the girls school itself. Why was there not better coordination?

And, you know, Pete Hegseth said recently called a silly -- rules of engagement silly. Well, you know what? The rules of engagement are there for a reason. But I think this speaks to the rushed nature of this effort by the Trump administration. And I would really want to know who is actually going through the target protocols and who's clearing up these targets for attack.

BURNETT: Yeah, I know there's been a lot of questions about, you know how the list was compiled and how much -- you know, what human beings were checking of the list. And I know there are so many questions to be answered there.

President Trump, Senator, today said, quote, "I don't know about that", when he was asked about these preliminary reports about the investigation. You know and he obviously has declared victory as well.

But are you worried about retaliation in this case and specifically retaliation on American soil?

DUCKWORTH: Well, I think Donald Trump has made Americans less safe by attacking Iran. I don't think that there was a justifiable reason for this. And frankly, you know, we've already lost service members. And I would expect that were going to lose more and if they're going to retaliate, this is all on Donald Trump. He decided to do this.

The responsibility rests with him. He is the commander in chief. And he chose to go to war without coming first to Congress. And you can see how haphazardly they're conducting this war. They seem to be surprised that the war is spreading. Why would you be surprised?

Anybody, you know, basic military intelligence would tell you that immediately an attack like this would draw in our allies would draw in, would put Americans in the region in greater danger. And I am deeply, deeply concerned that we are less safe today than before. These attacks began by President Trump.

[19:30:04]

BURNETT: You bring up the soldiers who lost their lives, the service members. And we're now tonight, senator hearing from the survivor of the drone attack in Kuwait in which six U.S. service members did die. Sergeant First Class Cory Hicks spoke out to ABC Minneapolis affiliate KSTP about what he saw, that when that attack happened and what he's experiencing now.

And I wanted to play him for everyone.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SGT. FIRST CLASS CORY HICKS, U.S. ARMY; INJURED IN DRONE ATTACK: Turning my head to the left and I seen the nose of that drone popped through. And as soon as it did, I knew what it was. Turned to my right and that's when it blew up and just blew the whole building apart. I got shrapnel wounds on my arm and sever artery impact my groin area, and I still have shrapnel coming out of me. It's just popping out of --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: Senator. of course, you serve on Armed Services and Veterans Affairs, but you're a veteran yourself. You suffered yourself with injuries.

I mean, what do you say to Sergeant Hicks right now and other American service members who we know some are injured with minor injuries others with very, very serious critical ones.

DUCKWORTH: I say to them that I understand the valor with which they serve. And I will strive every day that I'm in the United States senate to honor that by doing my job to hold the Trump administration accountable, to hold those who decide whether or not we go to war, accountable, to have those decisions made in a way that is deliberate.

And we know why we're going, we know whether or not these, you know, we were under imminent attack. We know whether or not what the end state will be.

You know, the Trump administration is hiding behind the valor of our men and women in uniform. They will always perform to the maximum capability of their professionalism. They will always step up and say, yes sir, I will execute the mission. The problem is who who's giving those orders? And frankly, Donald Trump has not done his job. He has not come to congress and justify to us why this was necessary.

And then he chooses to hide behind the valor of our men and women in uniform, and then he treats them with a pittance. You know, he's cut funding for the V.A. He's fired more veterans than any other president in American history. And he said very casually, oh, this is war. More will die.

Well, you know what? It's people like those who have already laid down their lives. It's our men and women in uniform, in harm's way today, will continue to show up.

The least we can do in the United States senate is have a debate about whether or not this is justified, and the least the Trump administration can do is come to us and say, what is next? What exactly is the end state? What is the off ramp? What is the goal you're trying to achieve? And we will make sure that they do that.

BURNETT: Yeah. Sen. Duckworth, I appreciate your time. Thank you very much.

And we do have news breaking right now. We are confirming that Russia is now giving Iran a new level -- a new level of crucial support. Nick Paton Walsh is live in Amman, Jordan, with his exclusive new reporting that is coming up just after this.

And then a top investment bank, Goldman Sachs, tracking Trump's mixed messages on Iran. And we're going to show you how every single word is impacting markets, and the price at the pump.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:37:22]

BURNETT: All right. We are back with a special edition of OUTFRONT, "The War with Iran". And we have breaking news right now.

Dramatic new video into OUTFRONT showing the moment an Iranian drone hit a fuel storage tank at a port in Oman, causing a massive explosion. Emergency crews are still waiting to put out the fire at that port.

Oman, of course, had been the key mediator in the nuclear negotiations and has repeatedly tried to find off ramps and be a bridge. So, obviously, this happening there is very significant.

It comes as CNN has learned that Russia is providing very crucial support to Iran, helping Iran use advanced drone tactics that Russia has honed on the battlefield in Ukraine. The U.K. has said they've used some 57,000 drones.

Nick Paton Walsh is OUTFRONT live in Amman, Jordan.

And, Nick, you're breaking this news from your sources. And what more are you learning about the weapons Iran is using and the specific support that they're getting and doing so from Vladimir Putin's Russia?

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: I mean, one of the surprises of this war perhaps in the Gulf region in general, has been how successful these Shahed Iranian drones have been in getting through air defenses. Originally designed in Iran, and then the Russians picked them up, used them en masse against Ukraine, producing them a lot of time in Russia as well.

We've known for a few days that the Russians have been providing kind of general information assistance for the Iranians in terms of locations of U.S. assets and perhaps satellite pictures, too. But a western intelligence official I spoke to says it's gone further and become more concerning. And that general assistance has now become assistance with targeting strategies allowing them to basically pass on the know how that they have from Ukraine to the Iranians.

Now, the source didn't go into exactly how the strategies are being played out here, but it can only mean one thing. For the last three years, the Russians have been sending waves of drones sometimes over a thousand in one night across Ukraine. They sometimes change course on the radar. I've seen them go in loops, do whatever they can to evade Ukrainian air defenses.

The Ukrainians themselves, every week try to introduce something new to potentially combat this threat that's claimed many hundreds of lives, certainly. And I think the concern here is, ultimately, the Russians have passed on these tactics, their knowledge of what the best way to saturate air defenses can be and handed that three years worth of knowledge to the Iranians to be used against Gulf States and the United States, who simply don't have the day to day learning of the Ukrainian military.

Ukraine sent advisors to here Jordan, where I am, and possibly technology as well. But still, that's catch up, Erin.

[19:40:01]

BURNETT: So, Nick, what are your sources saying about Russia's view of Trump starting this war with Iran?

WALSH: I mean, ultimately, if you step back, it was bad news for Russia when their ally Venezuela lost its former President Nicolas Maduro, a humiliation there that Russia could do nothing to stop that from happening. And indeed, some element of humiliation with the excessive bombing campaign of the U.S. and Israel against the Iranian regime but if you look at the potential longer term here, we have to Russia's benefit seeing the U.S. treasury issue a general license, a sanctions waiver allowing their associated dark fleet to sell oil, some of it said to be to India.

That puts money in the Kremlins coffers, likely. In this instance, they are clearly potentially getting some kind of tit for tat response. Because of the American assistance of intelligence and weapons to Ukraine, Russia is providing the same back to Iran here. And so, perhaps if this drags out longer and longer, we may see Russia turn what was initially a loss into a soft win -- Erin.

BURNETT: Yeah .

All right. Nick, thank you very much.

As Nick points out, some of those shadow tankers that were sort of floating around undeclared, full of Iranian oil, either impossible to sell or sold at steep discounts to the market price, now all of a sudden, much more willing buyers and a much higher price.

And next breaking news, the Trump administration just announcing it is releasing 172 million barrels of oil from the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve. Okay how much difference does that make? How long does that bridge the gap?

And China openly mocking Trump's war with Iran.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:45:51]

BURNETT: And were back with a special edition of OUTFRONT, "The War with Iran". Breaking news, this moment, we are closely watching those two oil tankers that are on fire right now after coming under attack in the Persian Gulf off the coast of Iraq. Iraq's ports have completely stopped operations after the attacks. Those are some of the most important shipping, oil shipping ports in the world and that halt is according to the director of the Iraqi ports.

And it comes as an Iranian Revolutionary Guard official is warning that the price of oil could reach $200 a barrel. Now that threat is coming, according to "Reuters", despite three attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz today, President Trump is defiant. He is telling oil companies to keep sailing through the strait, something that virtually none of them are willing to do. It is the world's most important energy choke point that carries about a fifth of all crude oil, sources familiar with U.S. intelligence tell CNN that Iran has laid a few dozen mines in the strait shipping traffic is obviously at a virtual standstill amidst the -- amidst the threats.

All right. And president Trump is speaking right now. So, we're going to go to him and listen, here he is

REPORTER: -- petroleum reserve, a timeline of when that could happen.

TRUMP: We're going to be doing it very quickly. And then we'll fill it up. We'll fill up our reserves.

You know, if you remember I filled them up and then I had a deal to go at the highest level, a level that's never been. And Schumer and the Democrats for $25. And it was turned down. Do you remember that, Peter, almost before your time, but not quite. But it was -- we had a deal at $25. Think of that $25 a barrel. And the Democrats turned it down. We were going to fill, we're going to tap it out like it's never been. But they turned that down, and now it's a lot higher.

REPORTER: President Trump, are you considering having the U.S. Treasury Department buy oil futures as a means to keep the oil prices down, or --

TRUMP: Well, we're going to be in very good shape. You see what's happening. They are pretty much at the end of the line. Doesn't mean we're going to end it immediately but they are -- they've got no navy, they've got no air force, they've got no anti-air traffic. Anything they have no systems of control. We're just riding free range over that country.

And now, we're going to look very strongly at the straits. The straits are in great shape. We've knocked out all of their boats. They have some missiles, but not very many. I think we're in very good -- we're in very good shape.

The main thing is we have to win this thing, win it quickly, but win it and there are many people I'm just watching some of the news. Most people say it's already been won. It's just a question of when, when do we stop?

We don't want to let it regrow and ideally would like to see somebody in there that knows what they're doing. In other words, they can build a country. Now, one other thing. We can hit sections of Tehran and other places that if you do it, it will be almost impossible for them to rebuild their country. And we don't want that, but we can hit electric. We could take apart their electric capacity within one hour, and it would take them 25 years to rebuild it.

So, ideally, we're not going to be doing that. Thank you very much, everybody.

REPORTER: Thanks for the question.

REPORTER: Is the timeline still four weeks? Mr. President, timeline is still four weeks.

BURNETT: All right. That was President Trump just talking about releasing some oil from the strategic petroleum reserve.

And I want to go to Daniel Yergin, world renowned Pulitzer Prize- winning expert on oil and gas.

Dan, a lot to talk to you about, but I want to start with where the president just was making news, talking about releasing oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. Guess we understand that the release that he is suggesting would be about 41 percent of what's in there right now. He had talked about refilling it post-Biden, but I do not believe that that had happened. So it was a little bit more than half full to begin with, but we're using about 40 percent of what's in there.

So I guess the question is how big of a deal of that and how long is that and how long does that last? I mean, it's a -- it's a bridge but how big a one?

DANIEL YERGIN, S&P GLOBAL VICE CHAIRMAN: Well, I think that's exactly right. It's a bridge. I mean, the Strategic Petroleum Reserve was created half a century ago. Exactly for this purpose to deal with the crisis in the Gulf.

[19:50:00]

And it's time to use it. It's -- it helps offset the disruption, but it doesn't solve the disruption, altogether -- all the countries that belong together in the International Energy Agency are releasing about 400 million barrels a day over some period of time. They've pledged to do that. But that's, you know, over the month of March, if this war continues, it will have the world will have lost 400 million barrels a day.

Erin, the other thing, I want to just go back for a second, if I can, to Russia because you were making a really important point. Vladimir Putin has won the lottery here. He's the biggest winner so far because he's -- the price of oil is way up to fund his war. And the sanctions are being taken off.

And the other day, two days ago, he had a meeting in the Kremlin where he was positively gloating and bragging about the oil and gas position of Russia.

BURNETT: Those prices going up. All right. And there's -- you know, Russia potentially with the benefit, as you point out, Dan, but also Iran itself, the tanker tracking firm Kpler says that Iran is actually -- and let me just make sure everyone's listening to what I'm about to say here -- Iran is exporting more oil through the strait today than before the war. They're saying 2.1 million barrels a day on average over the past six days. Now that's up slightly from the average in February. So, it was 2 million. It's now -- it's now 2.1. It's a small increase, but it's an increase. And last I checked, everybody else's has gone essentially to zero.

So, it would appear, Dan, that the only country at least marginally benefiting right now from that situation is possibly Iran.

YERGIN: It is Iran. And they are getting, of course, much higher prices. They were before. They were like 1.5 million barrels a day. So, their oil is waved through and its headed to China and they're making more money out of this while everybody else is just shut down.

And it's not only oil and gas that's shut down. It's food shut down. It's commercial shipping that's shut down. It's really kind of a paralysis, except for those Iranian ships.

BURNETT: Goldman Sachs came out with a report very interesting that they were tracking all the comments that President Trump has made about how long the war is going to go on and on. Top officials and the statements are contradictory, right? Whether it's two weeks or four weeks or whatever it is its been shifting a lot and the report from Goldman points out that on the same day, they said the war would end very soon, but not this week, and that the war was, quote, very complete, pretty much.

And they're going on from there and they're laying it all out, obviously, to make the point that that back and forth, that whiplash matters a lot for the actual prices that all Americans are paying because it's affecting the market literally moment by moment. And we've seen that right when it was the war will pretty much end. We all saw what happened to oil prices within minutes. How much is the lack of clarity?

And frankly, the complete confusion that is being is coming out from the White House on timing here at times hurting the oil market.

YERGIN: I think it certainly could causing that kind of whiplash that you're saying and confusion. And of course, meanwhile, the war goes on. And I think what's happened in the last couple of days is that Iran has decided for them, this is a forever war for this regime, for their survival. And what they've decided to do is wage war on the global economy.

And that's when they talk about $200 a barrel oil, whether that's going to happen or not they want to create fear and they want to affect not just the oil price but the global economy because that's their tactic to try and end the war on favorable terms for them.

BURNETT: All right. Dan Yergin, thank you very much.

And next, a closer look at Chinas role in the war with Iran. And it's not so subtle jabs that they are mocking Trump's war with China -- with Iran.

We'll be back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:56:50] BURNETT: Welcome back to a special edition of OUTFRONT, "The War with Iran".

We are live in Tel Aviv tonight with breaking news, even as traffic in the Strait of Hormuz is close to a standstill, at least six ships covertly passing through. In recent days, we have learned that ships near the strait have begun actually broadcasting messages, seemingly aimed to discourage Iran from striking them. Some of the messages that CNN has seen include China owner, all Chinese, and China owner and crew.

Will Ripley is OUTFRONT with a closer look at the role that China is playing in the war.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In China, this A.I. generated video shows president Donald Trump trying to make Iran's supreme leader disappear, but instead his son pops up -- a not-so-subtle jab at the United States.

Another viral video goes even further, this one shared by Iran's embassy in Beijing, untouched by China's army of online censors. Implying President Trump started the war to distract from the Epstein files, showing a U.S. missile bombing a school. Then showing the destruction of American military bases, aircraft carriers and the Israeli prime minister's compound.

Across Chinese social media, the message is blunt -- America started this war.

Publicly, President Xi Jinping's government is striking a more diplomatic tone, calling for restraint. China's foreign minister, Wang Yi, says -- this is a war that should never have happened, and a war that benefits no one.

China has long been Iran's economic lifeline. Beijing buying most of their oil exports despite years of U.S.-led sanctions, and now, U.S. officials say they're watching signs Beijing could soon provide more crucial financial support to Tehran.

The war is shaking global energy markets, oil prices surging to four- year highs, attacks threatening shipping routes in the Middle East.

For China, the world's biggest energy importer, that's a serious risk. But strategically, Beijing may also see opportunity as the two superpowers compete on the world stage with the CIA putting out these official recruitment videos brazenly and openly luring Chinese officials to spy for the U.S.

Analysts say a prolonged war could pull American attention and military resources back to the Middle East and away from Asia, allowing China to flex its military muscle around Taiwan in the South China Sea and disputed islands near Japan without U.S. interference.

(END VIDEOTAPE) RIPLEY: And tonight, all of this is unfolding just weeks before a planned meeting between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping, a summit in Beijing expected to focus on trade, technology and the situation here in Taiwan.

For China, the war shows the limit of its clout and ambitions in the Middle East, Erin, but it also gives Beijing another chance to present itself as a force for peace and stability. In stark contrast to President Trump's America.

BURNETT: All right. Will Ripley, thank you very much in Taipei tonight.

And thanks so much to all of you as always for joining us. We'll see you back tomorrow. "AC360" starts now.