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Early Start with Rahel Solomon

CNN Team In Northern Iran Reports "Major" Overnight Strikes; Israel Warns Residents In Southern Beirut To Evacuate; Lebanon: 570 People Killed In IDF Strikes Since March 2. Aired 4:30-5:a ET

Aired March 11, 2026 - 04:30   ET

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

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[04:31:27]

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN ANCHOR: From our Middle East programming headquarters here in Abu Dhabi, I'm Becky Anderson. Time here is 12:30, on Wednesday, the 11th of March. It's midday in Tehran, 10:30 a.m. in Beirut, and Israel says it is ramping up strikes on Iran and Iran backed Hezbollah militants in Lebanon.

This video from social media shows damage to a building in Tehran. And a CNN team in northern Iran reported major nighttime air raids with jets flying overhead in powerful explosions. Those raids show that the U.S. and Israeli operations are active outside Tehran as well as inside.

Meanwhile, the Israel Defense Forces issuing another evacuation order for residents in southern Beirut, warning of impending military operations there. Lebanese state media say that Israeli strikes targeted this apartment building in central Beirut earlier today. Israel's military operations in Lebanon are taking a heavy toll on civilians.

Of course, Lebanon says at least 570 people have been killed since the IDF strikes began. At least 83 of those are children. And more than 700,000 people have been displaced by Israel's strikes and evacuation orders. One woman describes just how difficult the situation is.

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REEM HUSSEIN, DISPLACED FROM SOUTHERN SUBURBS OF BEIRUT (voiceover): I used to make kibbeh and stuffed grape leaves and we would make tabbouleh and fattoush with grilled meat. The difference is like between the sky and the earth. And now we are eating like this.

There is such a big difference between sitting comfortably in your own home, cooking your food when no one tells you to get up and leave when no one speaks harshly to you. Now, the difference is very big. Very big. Do not look at me. The difference is huge. The difference between sleeping in your own bed and sleeping on the ground.

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ANDERSON: Well, CNN's Matthew Chance now further explains what life is like for the people caught in a war zone.

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CHIEF GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: It's pretty grim if you're from one of those Hezbollah controlled areas. We're talking about areas of south Lebanon, the Beqaa Valley in the east of the country and in south Beirut, the city from where I'm talking to you now, which is, you know, a long time Hezbollah stronghold. Those areas have been given basically broad evacuation orders from the Israeli armed forces saying you get out to protect your lives, are going to be striking Hezbollah related targets there. And Indeed, that's what's been happening.

There's been a sort of incessant flow of airstrikes from that vantage point we've been seeing here in Beirut in those southern suburbs, targeting what Israel says are Hezbollah related kind of assets, individuals and buildings as well. And that's led to that enormous outflow of people seeking safety away from the front lines, out of the firing line. We're looking at more than 700,000 people now across the country that have, that are basically on the move. And you can imagine the enormous pressure that's put on the Lebanese authorities that has lunged from crisis to crisis over the years. It now has this massive displacement of hundreds of thousands of people. And even with the backing of the various international and local aid organizations that are here in some force providing tents and food and soup kitchens and things like that, it's still a struggle to find people medical care, to find them food and to find them shelter.

[04:35:02]

And so, it's a big crisis. And I have to say, you know, there's a lot of animosity that we're hearing about amongst ordinary Lebanese people, you know, not from the Hezbollah areas, that Iranian backed militia has drawn this country into yet another conflict with Israel. So, there's a lot of anger and frustration towards Hezbollah about that right now.

ANDERSON: Fawaz, take a look at this with Fawaz Gerges who is a professor of international relations at the London School of Economics. Also, the author of the Great the Struggle for Freedom and Democracy in the Middle East. He joins me now from London. It's always good to have you, Fawaz. Thanks for making the time.

The Lebanese president has been critical, highly critical of Hezbollah saying, and I quote, "Whoever fired the rockets wished to purchase the collapse of the Lebanese under an assault and chaos, even if that comes at the cost of the destruction of scores of our villages and the fall of hundreds of thousands of our people, all for the sake of the Iranian regime's calculations. I wonder what you make of that and what you believe the Lebanese government wants in terms of a sort of short- and long-term fix here.

FAWAZ GERGES, PROF. OF INTL. RELATIONS, LONDON SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS: Well, I mean, I think the Lebanese government in particular the president and the prime ministers are extremely angry with Hezbollah's decision to retaliate for the assassination of the Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Hezbollah fired six missiles in retaliation. What Israel has done since Hezbollah's retaliated, it has used that

retaliation as a justification to punish the entire civilian population of the south of Lebanon. Amadahi in Beirut and the Beqaa Valley. We have to really contextualize what has happened.

Of course, Hezbollah's decision was reckless. It did not take into account how and what Israel would respond. And the Lebanese president is very angry. Joseph Aoun because Lebanon, Becky, has not even recovered from the last war between Israel and Hezbollah in 2024.

And since the ceasefire was signed more than 13 months ago, Israel has attacked Lebanon on a daily basis violating the sovereignty of Lebanon, occupies five hills in south Lebanon and killed hundred and injured thousands of Lebanese. What I fear the most is that the current crisis, that Israel's wide-ranging offensive, land and air offensive could really trigger domestic instability and civil strife in Lebanon between the Lebanese government and Hezbollah.

ANDERSON: Meantime, what do you make and your assessment is really fascinating. What do you make of possible talks then between Lebanon and Israel in Cyprus potentially with mediation? How viable are those efforts? Let's call them that, while strikes and rocket fire continue?

GERGES: Well, look, let me be direct as usual, and I'm always direct. The Lebanese government has urged, has pleaded, has begged the U.S. government and Europe to intervene in the past 13 months with Israel in order to stop its attacks on Lebanon, in order to stop its violation of Lebanese sovereignty, in order to pull out its forces from southern Lebanon. Because Hezbollah has made it very clear all along it will not disarm unless Hezbollah ends its occupation of Lebanon and unless Israel basically ends its attacks on daily basis from Lebanon.

I fear now that Israel in the past 13 months has had plans to attack Lebanon, to attack Hezbollah, because Hezbollah has not been defeated. Hezbollah's capability has been degraded, but it remains a potent force, as we have seen in the past few days.

What I fear the most, Becky, is that even if the war between the United States and Israel on the one hand, and Iran ends, Israel will not end its war against Hezbollah. Because Israel now basically has the justification in its own eyes to basically deliver a fatal blow to Hezbollah. And this requires basically a massive land offensive, ground offensive in the next few weeks, next few days and next few weeks.

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ANDERSON: Well, we will continue to monitor what is going on there. The killing of Ali Khamenei has further shaken Iran's already weakened regional network of allies. I mean, you're right to point out that while Hezbollah is degraded, it continues to produce project power, but in a weakened state. And we see that to a degree around the region.

So, I just wonder, as we sort of reflect on what we've seen over the past near two weeks now, what does this mean for the axis of resistance, as it is dubbed by many, the proxy Iranian backed forces around this region?

GERGES: You know, Becky and I, we have talked many times about the celebrations in Israel and the United States after the two years war in Gaza that both the Americans and Israelis basically had written the obituaries of Iran's regional allies or proxies and basically have celebrated the decline and weakness of Iran. Here we are.

Even though Hezbollah and the popular mobilization forces in Iraq and Houthis are weakened, they are still major players in this particular in the Middle East itself. In fact, Israeli leaders are surprised by the potent and far-reaching responses of Hezbollah. And Iraq now is an open front. And the bigger point to take into account, Becky, for your own viewers, you always say, what's the big picture? The big picture is that the American Israeli war against Iran has escalated into a region wide conflict.

Now, it's no longer really between the United States and Israel and Iran. It's in the Gulf where you are. It's in Iraq. It's in Lebanon. I would not be surprised if the Houthis do not really basically plunge in the next few hours and next few days.

Strategic, really monstrous strategic miscalculation on the part of the United States. I don't think Israel has miscalculated because Israel in fact has convinced Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, convinced President Trump to basically go after Iran, because he basically convinced President Trump that Iran was weak, Iran was vulnerable, Iran was on its knees, and all you need to do is to deliver a fatal blow.

And President Trump basically against the recommendations of the American military establishment and the intelligence community, which told them that any major military campaign really will not topple the Iranian regimes. He bought the Israeli Prime Minister's basically words. And here we are again now in this really devastating and costly war in human and of course in economic terms on everyone, including in Europe and the United States.

ANDERSON: Yes, it's a very extremely challenging situation. As you say, this is no longer, you know, specifically U.S. Israeli attacks on Iran. It is very much spilled over into the region. What happens next is what's so important. Fawaz, always a pleasure. Thank you very much indeed. The perspective there of Fawaz Gerges.

Well, after treading a fine line between support and caution, EU officials are set to debate the war with Iran at the European Parliament this hour. We're going to get you a live report on that after this.

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[04:48:40]

ANDERSON: This hour, European Commission President Von der Leyen has addressed the European Parliament on the war with Iran. Many EU leaders have somewhat tiptoed around the U.S. and Israeli strikes. Now some officials are set to join Von der Leyen in a debate on the conflict.

On Tuesday, German Chancellor Frederick Metz expressed Europe's growing concern over the war, saying a, quote, "Dangerous escalation was underway with clearly no plan to end the war."

Well, for more on this, we're joined now by CNN senior international correspondent Melissa Bell, based in Paris. And Melissa, with not least, serious concerns about energy security and the consequent fallout for Europeans and the global economy, of course, how united is Europe as a bloc in how to respond to this war?

MELISSA BELL, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I think what this war has done in a war, Becky, it's important to note that Europe was not even consulted on, has really laid bare the divisions of Europe, not simply along party lines within the European Parliament, not simply between those who are in favor of regime change or those like the Spaniards who are against war altogether and any infringements to the rule based order. What this war has exposed are divisions that go far deeper than that for the European Union that are actually institutional.

[04:50:03]

So, Ursula von der Leyen, as you said, is now speaking for the European Parliament. But she really ruffled feathers earlier this week, Becky. When she was addressing a meeting of all of the EU's ambassadors abroad. Now, at that meeting, she essentially explained that the European Union could no longer be the custodian of the rules- based order. Her point being that this organization that was built as a peace organization, this is what she's just been telling the European Parliament with some 30,000 bureaucrats, that it is one of the largest political bodies in the world, arguably the most legalistic. Her questioning is whether at this stage, with the world as it is and geopolitics having changed as they have, the European Union can still continue to function along its old lines, seeking as it does consensus and compromise amongst its 27 members.

Now, that ruffled a lot of feathers because there are many within the European Union who believe that it is because it is the inherent embodiment of the rules-based order that it functions, that it needs to continue doing so. And that very much is going to be at the heart of what you hear in the European Parliament today, those discussions about whether the European Union itself needs to change as a result of what's happening around it. Becky.

ANDERSON: This is absolutely fascinating and we must continue to monitor what is going on there at the European Parliament. Melissa will speak to you in the hours to come here on CNN. Always good to have you in Paris for us. Thank you.

All right, I'm going to get us out now on the pictures. Most recent pictures out of Beirut. This is what's coming into us ahead of that. Still to come, new details on the attempted bombing at a New York protest, what authorities found while investigating the men accused of planning the attack. That is after the break. These are live images with smoke once again over the Lebanese capital.

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RAHEL SOLOMON, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back. Another special election is testing the power of President Trump's endorsements, this time in Georgia's ruby red 14th district where CNN projects that Republican Clay Fuller, who is backed by the president, will face Democrat Shawn Harris. This is the seat of former Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene.

Now the winner of the April 7th runoff, will serve the remainder of Greene's term, which ends in January. Greene, the one-time MAGA fire brand, resigned two months ago following a bitter fallout with President Trump.

Okay, that's going to do it for this hour. Thanks for joining us. I'm Rahel Solomon live in New York. We'll have another hour of early start after this break.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Early start with Rahel Solomon next on CNN.

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