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Early Start with Rahel Solomon

Gulf States Face New Wave Of Iranian Missile And Drone Attacks; Race To Succeed Greene Testing Trump's Endorsement Power; Miami Heat's Adebayo Charts NBA's Second-Highest Scoring Game. Aired 5:30-6a ET

Aired March 11, 2026 - 05:30   ET

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

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[05:33:05]

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN ANCHOR: Well, Israel says it is ramping up strikes on Iran as Iran-backed Hezbollah militants -- and on Iran-backed Hezbollah militants in Lebanon, sorry. This video from social media shows damage to a building in Tehran. Our CNN team in northern Iran reported major nighttime air raids with jets flying overhead and powerful explosions.

Meantime, the Israel Defense Forces issuing another evacuation order for residents in southern Beirut, warning of military operations in the coming hours there. Lebanese state media say that Israeli strikes targeted this apartment building in central Beirut earlier today.

For its part Iran says it has begun its most intense and heaviest operation yet -- it says firing waves of missiles and drones on Gulf states. CNN teams in Doha heard loud booms over the city.

CNN's Paula Hancocks joins us live from Abu Dhabi. And we just heard an alert here and thankfully, we just had the all-clear. It's the second time, at least in Abu Dhabi, in the last, what, 12 hours or so. I know you've got some news from Dubai.

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, yes. So Dubai Airport appears to have been affected once again. We understand from officials that four people have been injured as two drones fell in the vicinity of the airport. Now they say that operations have resumed as normal or as normal as they are at the moment. Obviously, several restricted, but they say that air traffic is operating as normal. So once again we're seeing Dubai Airport being targeted. It's not the first time.

And then a quick look around the region as well. We saw in Saudi Arabia once again the Prince Sultan Air Base being targeted by drones. This is a Saudi air base but one that we know that U.S. military jets have used in the past.

[05:35:00]

A similar situation in the east of the province where the energy and the oil sector is really prevalent. And then we've seen in Bahrain and Qatar a number of alerts and blasts. So, I mean, Iran did say it's going to be its most intense and heaviest operation. It has been fairly consistent around the Gulf nations it has to be said. We had here in Abu Dhabi two waves of interceptions overnight. So it certainly does appear to be slightly higher than it usually is.

And we've also heard from Iran that they're expanding their target list once again. They've said that now offices and assets of major American tech companies are going to become a target in the region. This according to state media that there are various cloud data development offices here and across the region.

So if anything, this is -- this is not being pulled back. They're expanding the list of what they want to target.

ANDERSON: Let's get to Saudi and find out what the latest is there.

Paula, for the time being, thank you. Paula Hancocks is with me here in Abu Dhabi.

Faisal Abbas is the editor-in-chief of Arab News, and he joins us live from Riyadh in Saudi Arabia. And Faisal, we've just been reporting that once again targets in Saudi Arabia today by the Iranians.

What's the perspective there on the very latest and the likelihood this will calm down or potentially intensifying after Ramadam, which will end next week? What's the current thinking?

FAISAL ABBAS, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, ARAB NEWS: Well, thank you for having me, Becky.

Actually, in the late hours last night-early morning, two additional drones were downed on their way to Al Shaybah, an oil field in southeast Saudi Arabia. This brings the total attempts of striking Al Shaybah oil field, in particular, to 36 percent of the total drone and missile attacks on Saudi Arabia.

So there is a clear strategy on behalf of the Iranians to try to make this war as expensive as possible for the United States and for countries that can impact the United States. Certainly the whole world will feel the pinch if oil prices reach to $150 a barrel. Let us not forget that you have three countries now -- Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar -- that are either completely offline or semi-offline with severe reduction to their total output of gas and oil in the region.

So that's clearly the Iranian strategy.

In terms of military targets in Saudi Arabia there has been a few attempts on the Prince Sultan Air Base, but I have to reiterate this is a Saudi base. There are no American troops. Saudi Arabia has closed its airspace and grounds and forbids any use of it up till this moment, at least, against Iran in respect of their 2023 Beijing declaration which forbids aggression against --

ANDERSON: Yeah.

ABBAS: -- each other.

ANDERSON: So --

ABBAS: unfortunately, the same cannot be said about the Iranians.

ANDERSON: So -- and I want to just use what you've just said as a sort of a sounding board for the next question.

Senator Lindsey Graham has criticized Saudi Arabia recently, posting on X, "Saudi Arabia seems to be issuing statements and doing things in the background that are marginally helpful, but unwilling to participate in military operations to end the reign of terror coming out of Iran." He says, "Hopefully this changes soon. If not, consequences will follow."

Lindsey Graham clearly appealing to Saudi Arabia, in some ways making a big assumption that Saudi Arabia will get further involved in what it sounds to me is if he's suggesting would be offensive operations.

Your reaction to that.

ABBAS: Well, you know what they say about Lindsey Graham. He is much like British weather, Becky. If you don't like what he says, wait a moment. He tends to flip-flop quite a lot, so I will take whatever he says with a -- with a grain of salt.

Just a few weeks ago he had told Gulf countries to "suck it up." Now he wants Gulf countries and Saudi Arabia to be involved in the war. And all I can say to that is be careful what you wish for because at this stage, as I alluded in my first answer, clearly, the Iranian strategy is to make this was as expensive as possible and you do that by limiting access to the Strait of Hormuz and by attacking oil facilities.

[05:40:00]

Now, Saudi Arabia -- its energy ministry and oil production company Aramco has been doing its utmost, including shifting distribution from eastern Saudi Arabia to western Saudi Arabia through the Red Sea to ensure that at least 70 percent of oil production reaches the markets.

And the question to Sen. Lindsey Graham here is --

ANDERSON: Yeah.

ABBAS: -- do you really want Saudi Arabia not to focus on stabilizing the energy markets and enter this war with its military might, with its alliances with the United States, with it's alliances with Pakistan, and with the courage of our armed forces and have an unpredicted outcome, or would you rather have Saudi Arabia focus on stabilizing the energy markets --

ANDERSON: So --

ABBAS: -- which is in the benefit of the United States and the rest of the world? ANDERSON: To your point, I have to ask then as Saudi concentrates its efforts on trying to stabilize these oil markets, how concerned is the kingdom that the Red Sea could become and active theater of conflict?

ABBAS: Obviously, Becky, all options are on the table and we -- you know, we would be doing the viewers a disservice if we say, you know, the authorities are not on high alert. I think clearly, every scenario imaginable has been discussed and the armed forces are locked and ready.

And I think there is an element there for possibly that the powder has been kept dry in case there is an escalation in the Red Sea which requires immediate military intervention in an area where we have supremacy. I don't think in terms of military might we can add much to what the Americans and the Israelis are doing.

But in terms of the Red Sea, if push comes to shove, I would imagine that scenario is already planned for and the armed forces are on standby to intervene in case it's needed.

ANDERSON: Faisal, it's good to have you. Faisal Abbas is the editor- in-chief of Arab News. Worth a read of that publication. You can get it online and in its print form, of course -- out of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia for you today.

Let's get you back to Rahel Solomon now in New York with some of the other news.

RAHEL SOLOMON, CNN ANCHOR: All right, Becky. Thank you.

Well, still ahead for us, nearly a month into the partial U.S. government shutdown the impacts are piling up, especially at the nation's airports. Coming up, we'll have a closer look at what many air travelers are facing after this break.

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[05:47:25]

SOLOMON: 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 7 runoff will serve the remainder of Greene's term, which ends in January.

Here's what both candidates had to say after Tuesday's results.

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CLAYTON FULLER, U.S. HOUSE REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE, GEORGIA'S 14TH DISTRICT: They support President Trump. I think you see that in the results tonight. They want to know who President Trump was endorsing in this race and that's why they came out in droves to support him because they know they want an America First fighter on Capitol Hill fighting for his policies that are going to make a difference of our community -- and that's what they want to see.

SHAWN HARRIS, U.S. HOUSE DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATE, GEORGIA'S 14TH DISTRICT: The people of northwest Georgia is just excited not only about me but excited to fight that guess what? Finally, we can break through as a coalition of Democrats, Independents and Republicans. Tonight you would imagine everybody was here as Democrats -- no. It's also Republicans here because they want change. So I'm just thankful to have this opportunity.

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SOLOMON: Marjorie Taylor Greene, the one-time MAGA firebrand, resigned two months ago following a bitter split with President Trump.

It's been nearly a month since the U.S. Department of Homeland Security shut down and there has still been virtually no progress in the negotiations. One Senate Democrat said that lawmakers are stuck on the substance of the talks. Democrats want reforms to immigration enforcement. But Republicans and the White House have resisted nearly all of the proposed changes, blaming the stalled negotiations on Democrats.

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SEN. JOHN THUNE (R-SD): Every attempt that we have made to sit down and try and get this Department of Homeland Security appropriations bill across the finish line has been rebuffed by the Democrats with prejudice.

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY): It's a lot of bull. And second, we are constantly in communication with the White House. It's not that there's a lack of means of communication. We're sending things back and forth. It's a substantive problem. The White House will not budge on things that Americans want.

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SOLOMON: Now, perhaps the biggest impact of the Homeland Security has been seen at the nation's airports. Some passengers say that they have been stuck in security lines for three hours or more, and some airports are advising travelers to arrive four to five hours before their flights.

All right. We're going to take a quick break and we'll be right back.

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[05:54:17]

SOLOMON: Welcome back.

New storms are bringing tornado activity to the central U.S. More than two million people are under a severe thunderstorm risk as storms moved east overnight. Authorities are now concerned about potential for flash flooding. A supercell thunderstorm produced tennis ball- sized hail and tornadoes that moved through Kankakee, Illinois Tuesday evening. No injuries have been reported.

A NASA space probe is expected to fall to Earth soon several years earlier than expected. NASA says that most of the huge spacecraft will disintegrate when it begins reentry into the atmosphere, but a few pieces could make it through. The agency says that the odds are low that anyone will be hurt.

[05:55:00]

The Van Allen Probe A was one of two launched 14 years ago to study bands of high-energy particles. The probes worked longer than expected and ran out of fuel in 2019. At first the machine wasn't expected to fall back to Earth until 2034, but an active solar cycle moved up that date.

All right, and turning now to the NBA where the Miami Heat's Bam Adebayo hit a hot streak on Tuesday in a win over the Washington Wizards. He alone finished the game with a staggering 83 points. His performance marks the second-highest scoring effort in the league's history, surpassing the late Kobe Bryant, whose career-best peaked at 81 points.

Now, despite historic performance, Adebayo fell short of the NBA's all-time record because that crown still belongs to Wilt Chamberlain following his 100-point game in 1962.

All right, that's going to do it for us here on EARLY START. Thanks for being with us, and our thanks to Becky Anderson and her team in Abu Dhabi. "CNN THIS MORNING" starts right after this break.

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