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Erin Burnett Outfront

U.S.-Iran Ceasefire Shaky, Iran: Strait of Hormuz Is Closed; NYT: China Pushed Iran To Accept Two-Week Ceasefire With U.S.; "Real Chaos": Iowa Farmers Struggle Amid Iran War, Trump Tariffs. Aired 7-8p ET

Aired April 08, 2026 - 19:00   ET

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

[19:00:23]

ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: OUTFRONT next:

The breaking news, growing cracks in a fragile ceasefire. Iran accusing the United States of going back on its word and reportedly shutting down the Strait of Hormuz. So where does this leave the ceasefire after just 24 hours?

Plus, quote, "a trap". That is what Iranian officials are calling Trump's ceasefire, according to the son of a former Iranian Revolutionary Guard commander. Our rare interview from Tehran with someone close to the regime.

And China playing a major role in this ceasefire. But what do people in China think about Trump's war? Wait until you see what China's censors are actually allowing to go viral right now.

Let's go OUTFRONT.

(MUSIC)

BURNETT: And good evening. I'm Erin Burnett.

OUTFRONT tonight, the breaking news, the ceasefire with Iran hanging on tonight by a thread. Iran now accusing the United States of not keeping up its end of the deal. The White House says the ceasefire is still in effect as long as the strait of Hormuz is open. But Iranian state TV is reporting that the Strait of Hormuz is closed to oil tankers, while the White House says that claim is not true.

Listen to the Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETE HEGSETH, DEFENSE SECRETARY: The strait is open. Our military is watching. I'm sure their military is watching, but commerce will flow.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: Online, President Trump writing the United States of America will be helping with the traffic buildup in the Strait of Hormuz. Ships, though as of now are not moving. According to Iran, just three tankers have passed through the strait since word of a ceasefire that is down from 12 that went through yesterday. Before the war, it was 100 to 150 ships a day.

I've been talking to a CEO who's got three ships stuck. They didn't move at all today. They are still stuck in the Persian Gulf, north of the strait, and they are among the about 500 vessels that are trapped there waiting, as they have been doing now for over a month.

And today, when the White House was pressed about, well, who is actually in charge of the Strait of Hormuz? Listen to what the Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REPORTER: As of today, who controls the state of Strait of Hormuz?

KAROLINE LEAVITT, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Again, these statements were put out 12 hours ago. We expect that the strait will be opened immediately.

REPORTER: Who controls the strait right now?

REPORTER: One on the deportations of Iranian officials

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: Well, she didn't answer. But there is an answer, which is that Iran has been controlling the strait of Hormuz. And by the nature of this, which is the White House is saying they had to open it. They are acknowledging that Iran is the one currently controlling the Strait of Hormuz.

And unlike typical ceasefires, this agreement does not actually appear to be a formal written document, which is, of course, leading to the reality, which is that one side is saying this is what's agreed to, and another when this one. And then there's disagreements.

And the parliament speaker from Iran, who is also Tehran's lead negotiator, former mayor of Tehran, is accusing the United States of going back on its word. And for one, saying -- they're denying that Tehran had the right to enrich uranium. Iran claims that was included in the sixth clause of the framework. But again, it's a different word from the White House.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REPORTER: Has Iran given the administration any indication that it would simply turn over the enriched uranium, or is this an expectation that the president has that he would have to send in ground troops in order to do that?

LEAVITT: This is on the top of the priority list for the president and his negotiating team. That is a red line that the president is not going to back away from.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: Well, if it was a red line, that's a big problem. We don't know what the two sides agree to when it comes to enriching uranium. We do know that the Iranians have said that that is their right. It is an existential right. And the United States says it is an existential thing that it has to go away. So, if it's a red line, it's a big problem.

And Kristen Holmes is OUTFRONT live outside the White House.

So, Kristen, what more are you learning about how the White House views what is happening here as the ceasefire is hanging by a thread?

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, it certainly does feel like it is hanging by a thread, Erin. And what we're hearing from the vice president does not make it seem any more stable. The vice president saying that he believes the issue of Lebanon not being or being included in the ceasefire is just an honest misunderstanding.

So, of course, that goes to the question as to what exactly did these three sides agree to including or not including Lebanon? Seems like it would have been a real sticking point. Clearly is. Iran saying at certain points, going to completely shut down the Strait of Hormuz if they don't stop, Israel doesn't stop bombing Lebanon.

[19:05:01]

And the other point, President Trump saying that's a whole separate skirmish, saying that to a reporter. And J.D. Vance was just asked more questions about why this misunderstanding.

And what he said is that he's heard that the Israelis and I want to make sure I get this right, may check themselves a little bit when it comes to Lebanon, and not because it was part of the original agreement, but because they want these negotiations to go well. Now, I do want to kind of get to the bottom of one of the things Karoline Leavitt said over and over again was this idea of two proposals, part of what she is saying is a reaction to what we saw last night from the Iranian national security group that put out saying that the talking about the ten points, saying the U.S. had agreed to essentially letting Iran enrich uranium among a long list of other things.

Karoline Leavitt was pushing back on that, saying the Iranians came with a list of ten points that would immediately in the garbage. Then they came with another ten points. That is now where President Trump sees the negotiating starting. But we don't know what is on that list, and we haven't been able to get any details from anyone.

The only details we have seen are in the statement that Iran put out that we're now hearing is garbage and was thrown away. So, what they actually agreed to, big question. If there are honest misunderstandings, that could lead to a lot of really bad things happening in the region.

BURNETT: Yeah, absolutely, Kristen. And of course, if it was thrown in the garbage, Iran certainly acknowledging it was thrown in the garbage. This is what they're releasing to everybody as their list.

All right. Everyone is here with me now.

General Kimmitt, it's a mess. Okay? I'm going to use a nonmilitary word. It's a mess. But from a military perspective, with all of that, there's this tenor, that tenor. What's a tenor? What's a tenor? There's nothing printed.

How fragile does that mean, the ceasefire is?

BRIGADIER GEN. MARK KIMMITT, U.S. ARMY (RET.): It really depends on a simple premise. Do both sides want to go back to fighting, or do they want to not fight? Look, these points are ridiculous because they're not meant to be in agreement on a ceasefire. Those are the points for the negotiations which start this Saturday.

BURNETT: Yeah.

KIMMITT: And that's the important point. All of this is prelude. And if both sides, all three sides, if you include Israel, want to negotiate on these key points where were very, very far apart right now, they will hold to the ceasefire and let it work itself out of the negotiating table.

But this notion that somehow everybody's going to be walking away from this and going back to a fight because they can't agree on what they're going to be negotiating on in a week, I think my view is that the ceasefire is fragile, but it will hold at least until they start the negotiations.

BURNETT: All right. Which means at least for a few more days, right, until they're supposed to start.

How do you see it, Karim?

KARIM SADJADPOUR, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: I think the negotiations are also likely to happen just because the Trump administration is keen to get this ceasefire, as is the Iranian government. Once we get to negotiations, I think it's a whole different story because, you know, the nuclear negotiations under President Obama took 18 months to succeed. These negotiations will not only be nuclear, they're going to be about the strait of Hormuz, about missiles, drones on proxies. And the idea that they're going to be resolved in two weeks is, is a nonstarter.

BURNETT: Well, back then, the Strait of Hormuz wasn't on the list because it was an open waterway. Now Iran is controlling it. Right? So that's now a new thing. And perhaps the most important one.

Barak, on this issue of Lebanon, which is -- which is crucial, right? And there is, there is an unbelievable amount of suffering going on in Lebanon right now as part of that war. Trump says Lebanon wasn't included in the ceasefire. Iran says it has to be included. And obviously, it's Israel that is currently attacking Lebanon and at war there, right, not the United States. But you have done extensive reporting on this, Barak. Did Trump and

Netanyahu discuss Lebanon, or is this a last minute? Israel is not happy about the ceasefire overall. So, they're going to do what they want in Lebanon

BARAK RAVID, CNN POLITICAL & GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: No, no, it's definitely not the case. What happened yesterday when Donald Trump called Benjamin Netanyahu to tell him that he decided to accept the ceasefire and to go for the ceasefire, one of the issues they talked about was Lebanon, because for several days now, the Israelis were very concerned that even if there is a ceasefire, the U.S. is going -- the U.S. or Iran is going to ask to wrap the Lebanon issue in.

So, the Israelis spoke to the U.S. for several days about this issue. And during that call, Netanyahu raised Lebanon again and basically got Trump to say, no problem. We're not going to wrap those two together. Iran is Iran, Lebanon is Lebanon. You can continue on doing what you're doing in Lebanon.

And I think that without that green light from Donald Trump, we wouldn't have seen Israel go ahead with this very massive strikes in Lebanon today that, according to Lebanese officials, killed more than 250 people.

[19:10:11]

We still don't know how many of them are Hezbollah. How many of them are civilians. But it was definitely a massive strike in various parts of the country. But when Israel went for the strike, Netanyahu knew that he got Donald Trump to say, okay, you can continue on doing what you're doing in Lebanon.

BURNETT: So, General, just because one country can destroy another does not mean that that country wins. You can look at, say, Ukraine or you could look at Vietnam, right? There are many examples in history. I'm just giving that example here because when Trump said he was going to wipe a civilization off the map, technically the United States has the military might and the ability to do so should it choose to do so.

Okay, that doesn't mean that the U.S. necessarily wins. And so, the question is right now, who really does have the upper hand? Back to when I said to Karim, the thing on the table now in these negotiations about the strait of has never been on the table before because it had never been under threat. It wasn't controlled by anyone. Now it is controlled by Iran. They are controlling it at the current moment. So, who has the upper hand here?

KIMMITT: The United States has thrown the most advanced military in the world against the Iranians for the last 25 days. The Iranians still think they're winning. They win because they're not losing. What else can we do to the Iranians to try to compel or persuade them to change their views on their nuclear program, their ballistic missile program, their proxies, and now the Strait of Hormuz?

When you add that all up, you've got to say right now, the Iranians have the upper hand. BURNETT: And so, Karim, when they say they're winning, sounds like

the general say they believe that.

SADJADPOUR: They believe that. And I say that not only because of their public statements, but because of conversations I have with people in Tehran that sound as triumphant privately as they are.

BURNETT: As they are projecting publicly.

SADJADPOUR: Yes. And listen, that could well prove to be a miscalculation. This regime has made many miscalculations over the years. I even think that there are parts of this regime within the Revolutionary Guards who don't mind prolonging this war, because once this war ends, what's going to happen is that the Iranian public, the majority of whom hate the regime, are going to go back to focus on their economic grievances, social and political grievances.

And there could well be more protests. And when war is happening, it is a distraction from that public anger against the regime.

BURNETT: Barak, what is from your reporting, the response or the sense from the Trump -- Trump inner circle from Prime Minister Netanyahu's inner circle of what general and Karim were just saying, that Iran is not just projecting victory, that Iran truly believes that it is victorious at this time. And in fact, when you look at things like the strait of Hormuz, it has achieved something at the end of this war that it didn't have at the beginning.

SADJADPOUR: Well, I think one of the things I hear from Israeli officials and not necessarily people who are close to Netanyahu, but people who are part of the security services and the IDF and the intelligence services. And I think I hear the same thing from the U.S. military is that at the moment both the Iranian regime and the IRGC and the general public are not fully aware of what really happened in the country, because they're at war, because communication is bad, because there's no internet.

But when the war will be over, one of the things that they'll discover is first, how much military capabilities they've lost, how -- how much the country -- what kind of destruction the country went through. So there's one thing that the Iranian regime says its winning or, or that people within the regime feel that they're winning or have the upper hand, but it doesn't mean that that's the reality.

You know, there's a difference between how somebody feels and what the reality is. And the reality is that it will take Iran, especially militarily. It will take them a long time to recuperate from this. And when it comes to the nuclear side, it will take them a long time to rebuild their nuclear program if they would decide to, which they did not.

And there's a reason that the Iranian regime did not decide to try and rebuild its nuclear program since the war in June 1st, because they knew that they'll get hit again, and second, because they know that they have a very hard time trying to reach this highly enriched uranium that is buried right now in their bombed and destructed nuclear facilities.

BURNETT: Right.

[19:15:00]

And, General Kimmitt, just a final thing here. We know, you know, the administration gives target lists regularly of what they've destroyed. But what I noticed when I look at that is they never tell us relative to what's there.

So there's a list of these many launchers have been. At one point, they did say they've only destroyed, I think, what half of the actual missile launchers. Right? So, they did -- they did give us a base there. But a lot of these things, it's sort of like, okay, that's a big number of destroyed drones, but maybe it's not big relative to how many they have or what their production capacity is, right? That -- that hasn't been put out.

KIMMITT: Yeah, I think we've been surprised at the resilience of the Iranian military. And I think our intelligence has led us down a little bit because we seem to keep getting the last launcher.

But I've got to repeat, none of those attacks truly matter. That's the body count fallacy we had in Vietnam. The more we kill, the more were going to be successful. This notion that somehow knocking out launchers, notching out air defense systems, knocking out drones is somehow going to military victory, translates to strategic victory, I think that still is a flawed strategy.

BURNETT: Oh, an important to put it -- to put it that way so clearly.

Thank you all very much. I appreciate it.

Barak, thanks to you as well.

And next, the breaking news continues. A rare interview tonight from inside Iran. I'm going to speak with the son of a former Iranian Revolutionary Guard commander. He's close to the regime. He's talking to Iranian officials tonight. He's going to join us live from Tehran and tell us why they are talking about these talks as a trap.

Also, breaking reports that a vital oil pipeline has been attacked in Saudi Arabia, even in the face of a ceasefire. We'll go live to the ground there.

And bipartisan outrage, as Pam Bondi plans to defy a subpoena regarding the Epstein files.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:21:15]

BURNETT: Breaking news, Israel defending its continued strikes across Lebanon. It says they are not part of any ceasefire agreement with Iran. Lebanon says those strikes have killed nearly 200 people today alone, injuring nearly 1,000 others, just today. Vice President Vance tonight said this about the strikes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

J.D. VANCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The Israelis, as I understand it, again, I'm supposed to get a full report when I get on the plane. Have actually offered to be, frankly, to check themselves a little bit in Lebanon because they want to make sure that our negotiation is successful.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: I want to go to Jeremy Diamond. He's in Tel Aviv tonight.

And, Jeremy, interesting. The vice president there was looking for the words that he wanted to use. Okay? And perhaps that's significant if how he wanted exactly describe it.

What is the latest that Israel is actually saying that you're learning from sources about those strikes in Lebanon and the ceasefire?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Well, we're certainly seeing no indication from the Israelis that they are willing to check themselves as it relates to strikes in Lebanon, as the vice president characterized it. What we've seen instead are repeated insistences, both by sources behind the scenes, but also by Israeli officials publicly, that they are going to continue to carry out strikes against Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Today, we heard from both the Israeli military chief of staff who said that they are going to continue to strike Hezbollah with determination. And we also heard tonight from the Israeli prime minister himself, who said that he had insisted on Israel retaining the right to strike at Hezbollah in Lebanon amid the ceasefire with Iran. And he also made clear that those strikes would continue.

And so, the question is, is this going to ultimately lead to the collapse of the ceasefire? Because the Iranians are now saying that they've shut the strait of Hormuz once again, because of these Israeli strikes in Lebanon, which killed at least 187 people. And they are also seemingly implying that this could perhaps threaten the ceasefire altogether. And the prospects of those negotiations that are set to take place in Pakistan this weekend.

So, a very perilous moment for this ceasefire. But from the Israeli point of view, both from an internal domestic political standpoint, with a lot of pressure from Israels northern residents to continue striking Hezbollah, as well as from a security perspective, the Israelis are insisting on the right to continue striking at Hezbollah. And so far, the United States seems to be backing them on that -- Erin.

BURNETT: Jeremy, thank you very much in Tel Aviv tonight.

And I spoke just before the show began with Hamzeh Safavi. He is a political science professor in Tehran at Tehran University. He's a supporter of the Iranian regime and a family from the IRGC. He's the son of a senior official in the Iranian government, who's also a former chief commander of the Revolutionary Guard.

Here is some of our conversation about how the Iranian regime right now from inside Tehran is viewing this ceasefire and what he knows about the new supreme leader, Khamenei.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BURNETT: I know that you say some officials in the Iranian regime now are concerned that this is part of a trap. What do they mean by trap?

HAMZEH SAFAVI, SON OF SENIOR MILITARY ADVISER TO LATE AYATOLLAH KHAMENEI: You know, after two rounds of negotiations in the Trump's administrations, they recognized that maybe from the start day of the negotiation, the idea, the real idea from the USA side was not the real negotiation. They decided to attack Iran before. And the negotiation was just a trap.

[19:25:03]

So in this round, there are a lot of officials that believes that, these two-week ceasefire is a -- again, a trap. And maybe within these two weeks, USA or Israel, they, they will attack again or even maybe after two weeks, they will start again to make some attacks, to Iran and, you know it's less than 24 hours that they declare ceasefire.

BURNETT: I mentioned your father is a senior military adviser in Iran, former Revolutionary Guards' commander.

So, have you been talking to him during this conflict? And what has he shared with you?

SAFAVI: Yah, I talked with him, and I think all of them are ready to sacrifice their lives for their homeland. And it's, you know, they say it's a -- a fight and it's an invasion towards Iranian territory, toward Iranian dignity and pride. And they are ready to sacrifice themselves for their homeland. And until now, they see that the Iran has upper hand in this battle.

BURNETT: Hamzeh, at this at this time from where you sit, and as a regime supporter, do you have confidence that the new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, is alive and, in charge and running things? Or are you uncertain?

SAFAVI: I have no information about that.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BURNETT: Karim Sadjadpour is back with me.

And, Karim, look, it's very rare to be able to talk to anyone in Tehran because the internet is not available to almost anyone, right? Hamza Safavi obviously is from a senior Revolutionary Guards family. He is a regime supporter. He was able to speak to us but in that role, he is also in Tehran's speaking to people in the regime. And so, what he says there is reflective of those conversations today in the 24 hours since the ceasefire. What do you hear and what he said?

SADJADPOUR: I thought it was interesting how he tried to wrap both himself and his father in patriotism. Suddenly, they're nationalists defending the homeland, when in reality --

BURNETT: Right.

SADJADPOUR: -- this is a regime which has always put national interests and the interests of the Iranian people as a secondary tertiary factor. Their mission is to preserve the regime.

His father was a senior commander in the Islamic Revolutionary Guards, doesn't have the word Iran in it. They're there to defend the revolution.

And what I also noticed was his expensive marble fireplace. And this is someone who, you know, is an academic. And the first generation, like his father, were the military commanders, the second generation have become like a mafia. And in fact, the Revolutionary Guards are the mafia that are running Iran right now.

BURNETT: It's funny, I remember when we were in Tehran for presidential election in a neighborhood that was full of Revolutionary Guard families, the nice restaurants, there was a Zenia Thai store. Even in the midst of sanctions, right? There was a Mercedes dealer or selling Mercedes.

So, I'm curious though, you know, he said they're willing to sacrifice their lives for their homeland. And then he said they think they have the upper hand. Now that's actually harkening back to what you said a moment ago, that that is the public posturing, but that it also seems to be very much how they -- what they what they truly believe and how they see this right now.

SADJADPOUR: I think that's right, because they really had one mission and that was regime survival. And I think here there's a strong possibility that they are going to overplay their hand, meaning they're going to say, we now control the Strait of Hormuz. We're not going to give up our nuclear ambitions. We're not going to give up our missile ambitions. And if President Trump thinks this is going to be a quick real estate transaction, I think that's wrong.

BURNETT: One final thing. He was very terse with his answer about the supreme leader. I thought that was interesting, right? He didn't -- he didn't move to say, yes, he's in charge. He -- he didn't want to answer it at all.

SADJADPOUR: I think if Mojtaba Khamenei is alive, I'm told that he is. Theres probably very few people who are in contact with him.

[19:30:02]

And I was told even by someone recently that their negotiations that they happen about whether or not to negotiate with the United States happened inside the Tehran metro.

BURNETT: Inside the Tehran metro?

SADJADPOUR: Yes.

BURNETT: Where they had those conversations.

SADJADPOUR: Yeah. Deep underground.

BURNETT: All right. Thank you very much, Karim Sadjadpour.

And next, our breaking news continues. China reportedly pushing Iran to agree to the ceasefire. But what does the Chinese government really think about Trump's war? Wait until you see the comments in China that they are allowing, amidst the censorship to go viral.

And we're learning of more attacks across the Gulf despite the ceasefire targeting crucial oil infrastructure. We'll go live on the ground to one of them in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BURNETT: Breaking news, new details around President Trump's decision to accept ceasefire with Iran, with a senior Israeli official telling CNN now that many people around Trump were, quote, pushing to end the war, including Vice President J.D. Vance, who played a, quote, "substantial role".

[19:35:08]

This comes as China's role here is becoming clearer, with the White House revealing talks between top levels of the U.S. and Chinese governments contributed to the ceasefire rise in China's superpower status.

Will Ripley is OUTFRONT with more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): "No one knows decapitation better than I do," says the eagle in the golden robe.

This A.I. generated viral video produced by Chinese state media, it portrays the United States as an aggressive killing. Iran's supreme leader. Burning through expensive weapons while Iran responds with cheap drones, eventually running out of missiles, triggering a global oil crisis satire that hits uncomfortably close to reality.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: South Korea didn't help us. You know who else didn't help us? Japan.

RIPLEY (voice-over): But President Trump is giving China more credit, telling AFP. Beijing helped broker the ceasefire. Just weeks before he's set to travel there again for a high stakes meeting with Chinese Leader Xi Jinping.

China's foreign ministry says. Foreign Minister Wang Yi made 26 calls to counterparts, while a special envoy traveled to the region to mediate.

China has actively worked to promote peace and push for an end to hostilities, she says. Why? Because a wider war threatens something Beijing depends on oil.

The ceasefire hinges on reopening the Strait of Hormuz, a fifth of the world's supply passes through it, most of it headed to Asia.

China is by far the largest buyer of Iranian crude, around 80 to 90 percent, more than a million barrels a day. They've spent years propping up Tehran. Beijing cannot afford a prolonged conflict that shakes global markets.

China also helped broker a breakthrough between Iran and Saudi Arabia in 2023, and now appears to be working both sides again, publicly, calling for calm, positioning itself as a responsible global power.

But online in China, a flood of comments like these. "Trump is the most incoherent and untrustworthy tribal leader in the history of mankind."

"The U.S. has an artillery shortage, a two-week time-out to replenish weapons stockpiles. After these two weeks, fights and bombardments will probably just resume."

In China, political content like this never goes viral, unless government censors allow it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

RIPLEY: And this story just aired in its entirety within China. They didn't censor us.

And, Erin, you know, this program gets censored all the time, but not tonight.

China is walking a very careful line here. They're striking a diplomatic tone in public, possibly working behind the scenes, working the phones.

But at the same time, they're embracing the power of this A.I. generated content, which is getting millions and millions of views around the world. They're seizing the moment to shape the global narrative, casting President Trump and the United States as reckless and itself as this peace loving, responsible power, even as China continues almost daily PLA military activity near this island where I am, Taiwan -- Erin.

BURNETT: Absolutely. Thank you very much, Will.

And now, let's go to Seth Jones, former advisor to the commanding general of U.S. special operations forces in Afghanistan. Seth, you have spent an extraordinary amount of time in recent days, months and years focused on China.

So, when you, you know, you hear. Obviously, you know, the way that China is, is positioning itself right now, when you look at the war in Iran, have you seen evidence that China provided Iran help that went beyond, perhaps even things like targeting as we know that Russia has helped Iran with, but that went to the extent of military aid?

SETH JONES, FORMER ADVISER TO THE COMMANDING GENERAL, U.S. SPECIAL OPS FORCES IN AFGHANISTAN: Yeah, Erin, in Ukraine, we know the Chinese have provided components to the Russian military and they've essentially done the same in with the Iran war as -- they haven't provided a wholesale weapons systems, what they have provided, including vessels that have gone through the strait of Hormuz, is fuel that's been used for Iranian missiles, drone components that the Iranians have used, and other components that have been used in in Iranian missiles and drones.

So again, these are all offensive weapons that the Iranians have been using, but again, just not wholesale kits, mostly just components,

BURNETT: Components, but obviously crucial if you're talking about things like fuel. And other parts as well.

Seth, you know what you have been for a long time sounding the alarm about U.S. weapons capacity or lack thereof, okay, on a whole lot of fronts.

[19:40:01]

So, I just want to make that clear. You have been saying this for a long time, that were there to be a war in the Pacific or over Taiwan, that the United States was not prepared.

Now you have just had a war that has seen incredible depletion of all sorts of missile types, including Tomahawks, many missiles and weapons that would be used in any kind of conflict with China, certainly even regarding Taiwan, where will was just reporting from.

What have you seen? How big -- how big is this problem, this erosion in supply that has happened in just the past 40 days?

JONES: Erin, it's a serious problem. And as Will showed in that Chinese video, I mean, the Chinese are making light of it.

I mean, there are two types of big problems. The first is U.S. offensive long range missiles, like the Tomahawks and the JASSM extended range, both which are critical for U.S. war plans against China, both of which have been used to an extensive degree. The Tomahawks used in the Iran war were the largest contingent of Tomahawks ever used in a U.S. war, and they were already low.

And on the defensive side, the U.S. has used a significant amount of its interceptors from both THAAD and Patriots. Again, these are critical for the China war plans or plans.

So, we're draining huge resources in an area, Iran, which was not even a priority of this administration.

BURNETT: No, it certainly wasn't on any -- on any list. Seth, just as you're speaking, President Trump has just posted something on social media about NATO. He posted, NATO wasn't there when we needed them, and they won't be there if we need them again. And he did this in all caps. He said, "Remember Greenland, that big, poorly run piece of ice, three exclamation points. President DJT."

He obviously met with the chief of NATO today. What do you what do you read into this?

JONES: Well, look, the president is clearly not happy that he asked NATO for help in opening the Strait of Hormuz. But, I mean, let's be clear about this. The Europeans and the Asian countries that he identified, Japan, South Korea, were never brought into the planning. And they were asked to help out and open the strait because the U.S. wasn't willing to risk its own forces, either ground forces or naval forces.

So why would these countries that have weren't brought in in the planning stages early on? I've talked to senior officials from all of these countries. Why would they risk their own soldiers if the U.S. wasn't willing to risk the same? And we've seen previous Republican presidents, George H.W. Bush in the Gulf War, George W. Bush in 2003, and even after the attack in -- on 9/11, build coalitions with NATO and other countries, it just -- it wasn't done here.

BURNETT: Yeah. All right. Seth, thank you very much.

And next, our breaking news coverage continues. Iranian attacks continuing, still raining down, even despite a, quote/unquote, ceasefire. Reports of a number of strikes on countries across the gulf tonight, including a significant one in Saudi Arabia, where were going to go live on the ground with the breaking details.

And the economic pain just starting to be felt. America's farmers hit hard by Trump's war. And it is just the beginning. They warned that they are on the brink.

Jeff Zeleny and Clarissa Ward are live next with two special reports OUTFRONT.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:47:41]

BURNETT: Breaking news, crude oil up now almost $100 a barrel again, $97, up 7 percent from the low of the day as the Islamic Revolutionary Guard in Iran confirms that oil tankers are still halted this hour in the Strait of Hormuz. The three that we have been tracking have not moved. They are still stuck as drone and missile strikes are still happening across the region, some of them targeting vital oil infrastructure, including in Saudi Arabia, which is where our chief international correspondent, Clarissa Ward, is on the ground tonight.

Clarissa, a strike there on oil infrastructure. You're seeing new attacks where you are, including in the eastern side of Saudi Arabia on some of those oil infrastructure points. What are you learning? CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right,

Erin.

I would say that the day started with a great deal of optimism and a big sigh of relief that a potential catastrophe had been averted, that cooler heads were prevailing. But this precarious and fragile ceasefire has not actually really been a ceasefire, not in Lebanon, as you discussed earlier on in your program and not here in the Gulf countries, either. The UAE saying they intercepted 17 ballistic missiles and 35 drones. Bahrain also intercepting 28 drones, attacks also in Kuwait.

And here in Saudi Arabia, at least nine drones were intercepted. And one drone actually successfully hit a pumping station at this vital East-West pipeline. This is a pipeline now that has become a really crucial artery for the Gulf countries. It is effectively the only way they can now export their crude oil through the Red Sea, because of that chokehold that Iran continues to have on the strait of Hormuz.

And when we have spoken earlier on today to different sources here in Saudi Arabia about what they're feeling ahead of these potential talks or anticipated talks, I should say, in Pakistan between the U.S. and Iran, this is one of the issues that they say really is a red line for the Gulf countries, and that is Iran maintaining any kind of control of the Strait of Hormuz.

[19:50:04]

They are also very concerned about Iran's continued capability to fire off ballistic missiles, about its regional proxies, particularly the Houthis here in the Gulf, though, they have been a little bit quieter in this latest conflagration.

But all of this to say that these gulf countries want to be sure that the U.S. will be taking their security concerns to the negotiating table as well, to ensure that after the U.S. potentially leaves this conflict, they will not be left to contend with the fallout alone, Erin.

BURNETT: All right. Thank you very much, Clarissa.

And those high oil prices as we talk about going back up again because of the fragile ceasefire situation, is hitting all Americans, and it's going to hit people more as time goes by. U.S. farmers are on the front lines here.

In Iowa, a state that President Trump won three times, farmers are saying that they are on the brink.

And Jeff Zeleny is OUTFRONT.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

AARON LEHMAN, IOWA FARMER: A lot of farmer discouragement out there. Prices of our soybeans, prices of all our commodities started going down, prices of fertilizer and other things we import to plant a crop started going up. So, for a year, we've seen some real chaos on all sorts of trade tensions.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: There's always uncertainty, obviously with farming. But as you start this season, are there more uncertainties than most?

LEHMAN: Oh, yeah. I saw so many farms are reporting that they're on the brink of something bad, that their communities are on the brink of something bad.

ZELENY (voice-over): Aaron Lehman is a fifth generation Iowa farmer and worried like never before, with fallout from the Iraq war.

LEHMAN: No one anticipated that we would have a shock to the system, like a massive increase in fertilizer prices because all the experts did not see this coming when we will see this -- this rise in fertilizer prices because of this war. And really, no one's really seeing a way out.

ZELENY (voice-over): Spring planting is just around the corner here in Iowa where the cost of fertilizer and diesel have soared since the war began.

LEHMAN: We're filling over 100 gallons in our fuel tank multiple times a week.

ZELENY: So that cost will be thousands of dollars.

LEHMAN: Thousands of dollars, thousands of dollars. And it's not just for what we put into our combine. It's not just what we put in our tractor. In addition to that, what it takes to get my grain to my market, the trucks that are using diesel fuel there, they're feeling it as well.

ZELENY (voice-over): President Trump's promises on trade and tariffs face even more scrutiny here now, in a state he won three times.

ZELENY: Have you felt the whiplash of that tariff policy this past year?

WES RIETH, ROW CROW PRODUCTION MANAGER, LONGVIEW FARMS: Yeah. I mean I think it's hard to say for any farmer that we haven't, right?

ZELENY (voice-over): Wes Rieth is farm manager at Longview Farms, navigating an ever growing set of obstacles.

RIETH: You can look at futures prices for soybeans, you know, again, and kind of watch the pendulum swing, a little bit. And I think, yeah, that kind of lends itself to, you know, these parallels that we see in geopolitics or, you know, conflicts, Middle East, et cetera., that, yeah, create, some of this uncertainty.

ZELENY (voice-over): This year, the optimism of a new season comes with even more risk.

RIETH: So, we get one chance to plant and we get one chance to harvest and that's it for the year. So, we get one try every single year. And so even like in my lifetime, I might get 30 tries at this.

That really puts things into perspective. Like I only, you know, the prices of fertilizer, seed, whatever, like could go crazy, but like, we can't not plant. We still have to go out and plant the crop.

ZELENY (voice-over): For the next seven months, as the crops begin to grow --

LEHMAN: Just starting to poke through.

ZELENY (voice-over): -- a political season will also unfold. Testing whether any of these challenges influence the midterm elections.

LEHMAN: But in addition to that, I think farmers are becoming more and more aware is that you need to say to our elected leaders, what are you saying about the fertilizer situation? What are you saying about the trade situation? Are we going to stand up to these things that are hurting us or are we not?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ZELENY: Now, the concern and the anger is so palpable, talking to farmers and other small business owners here, Erin.

Now, Iowa, of course, is about 7,000 miles from the Strait of Hormuz, but of course, it brings it home how interconnected the world and the markets are. Now in the front lines of the midterm elections this year, Iowa sits right at the center of it for the first time since 1968, an open governor's seat, an open U.S. Senate seat that could determine the control of Congress -- Erin.

BURNETT: Thank you very much, Jeff Zeleny.

And next, Pam Bondi says she's backing out of testifying about the Epstein files.

[19:55:03]

But is she really off the hook?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BURNETT: Tonight, bipartisan outrage after the Justice Department said Pam Bondi will not testify about the Epstein files. The former attorney general was set to appear before the House Oversight Committee next week, after the panel issued a bipartisan subpoena. The DOJ then announced today, because Ms. Bondi no longer can testify in her official capacity as A.G., the department's position is that the subpoena no longer obligates her to appear.

Of course, she's the one who oversaw the withholding of the files and then putting them out. So, she is the one who has all the information. The top Democrat on the committee, Robert Garcia, is threatening to hold Bondi in contempt.

Republican Nancy Mace said on social media, quote, "Pam Bondi cannot escape accountability simply because she no longer holds the office of attorney general. The cover up continues. The innocent don't run."

Epstein survivors are calling for Bondi to be deposed immediately as well, and it remains a mystery why Bondi and others, including the president of the United States, have blocked the full release of the Epstein files.

Thanks so much, as always, for joining us.

"AC360" begins right now.