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Early Start with Rahel Solomon

Global Oil Markets Face Historic Levels Of Disruption; Gulf States Repel New Iranian Attacks; President Trump Insists Iranian Soccer Team "Welcome" At World Cup. Aired 5:30-6a ET

Aired March 13, 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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[05:32:05]

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN ANCHOR: Well, I'm Becky Anderson from our Middle East programming headquarters here in Abu Dhabi and let's get you up to date on what is going on with this war in Iran and its repercussions, of course.

Lebanon facing or bracing for another flood of internally displaced people fleeing into the country's north. That follows a new evacuation order by Israel. Its defense minister has ordered the military to get ready to expand its ground operations in the south of Lebanon, and the new evacuation order issued on Thursday has doubled the area where Israel wants all civilians gone. Lebanon says more than 800,000 people are already on the move, internally displaced, and there are concerns that number could reach a million in the coming days.

Well, Israel also stepping up its airstrikes on suspected Iran-backed Hezbollah targets. Lebanon says almost 700 people have been killed in the fighting so far.

Well, Hezbollah is proving that it still does have capacity to bomb targets well into central Israel.

A rocket badly damaged a home north of Tel Aviv on Thursday. As my colleague Jeremy Diamond now reports the couple who live there survived by sheltering in the bomb-proof part of their house. Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM REPORTER: This is the kind of power that Hezbollah still has. We're in a home in central Israel that was struck by a Hezbollah rocket. You can see some of the shrapnel marks in this wall behind me but wait as we walk into the home and you're going to see how big the destruction really is.

This door broken down. Behind there is where that rocket actually made a direct impact. And you can see all around here there are pieces of wood and in other rooms there is glass that is shattered and lying all over the floor. One thing that isn't destroyed is this right here, and that's because

this is the bomb shelter inside of this home. And this is where an 86- year-old woman and her caretaker sheltered as those air raid sirens went off before that rocket ultimately came in. But had they been anywhere else it would be a very different story. This area has been completely shattered by the power of that blast.

And this is where that rocket actually made a direct impact. You can see the crater that's still here behind me and this part of the home that really took the brunt of the impact. What's so stunning, of course, is the fact that we are some 60 miles away from that Lebanese border and yet Hezbollah still has the capacity to hit a place like this in central Israel.

And now the question, of course, is what is Israel going to do in retaliation? We've seen, of course, already heavy airstrikes in the Lebanese capital of Beirut and, of course, airstrikes in southern Lebanon as well. But Israel is also mobilizing ground forces near the Lebanese border as the Israel prime minister deliberates whether to move in once again with a ground offensive.

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[05:35:15]

ANDERSON: Well, global gas prices are rising, and it is because of what is a narrow waterway off the coast of Iran. The impact of the Strait of Hormuz on energy markets is just ahead.

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[05:40:13]

RAHEL SOLOMON, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back.

The U.S. is taking surprising steps to curb the pain of rising gas prices in the U.S. The Trump administration has temporarily lifted sanctions on Russian oil stranded at sea. The U.S. Treasury secretary says that the short-term waiver only applies to oil already in transit and will not significantly benefit the Russian government.

This comes as gas prices continue to edge up. The latest reading from AAA reporting that the average price at the pump is $3.60 a gallon. That is a 35 cent increase from just last week.

Joining us now from Abu Dhabi is Eleni Giokos. Eleni, good to see you again.

We've been hearing these conflicting messages from President Trump and the Iranian regime on the Strait of Hormuz. What's the latest?

ELENI GIOKOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, we are definitely hearing a lot of different messaging. And, you know, on end it's to try and ensure that the oil market doesn't experience this massive shock but the fundamentals, of course, tell us a totally different thing. Just to give you an idea of the havoc that we've seen in the Strait of Hormuz -- which is a key artery, you know, moving around 20 million barrels of oil every single day -- we've had at least 16 vessels, both tankers carrying oil as well as cargo vessels, as well as bulk carriers being attacked. And that just -- just the fear of that you've seen shippers being too afraid to even attempt that route.

Interestingly, President Trump said that the crews and the tankers should show some guts and move through the Strait of Hormuz, but it's such an existential threat and risk. And, of course, the Iranian regime saying they don't want to see a drop of oil, specifically U.S. tankers or anyone affiliated with the U.S. or Israel -- that they will be attacked.

The new Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei vowed to keep the Strait of Hormuz closed yesterday in the statement that we saw.

But also importantly, how this affects Russia oil which, of course, has been sanctioned since the invasion of Ukraine. What is interesting now is that 30-day waiver that was offered to India to alleviate fuel shortages there and was meant to last for 30 days and now extends further than that after oil breached that key threshold of $100 a barrel and closed at that level in yesterday's session.

Now the Treasury Department is saying that all Russian products and petroleum products will be able to be sold, so it's a temporary lift on the sanctions until, interestingly, April 11 of this year. So it brings into question how long this is going to last.

And then importantly, you have the International Energy Agency yesterday saying that this is the largest disruption of oil in the history of oil markets. And I think we really need to focus on that despite the fact that they've announced that emergency release of 400 million barrels, which we've never seen happen before.

The question is what is the flow rate going to be and is it going to perhaps assist with sort of bringing down the deficit that we're seeing because 20 million barrels of oil per day are basically out of the markets.

SOLOMON: Yeah, it was a stark warning. It got my attention as well.

Eleni Giokos from Abu Dhabi. Eleni, thank you.

Now let's take a look at some of the other business headlines this morning.

President Trump is demanding that Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell cut U.S. interest rates as the war with Iran approaches a third week. The war has driven oil prices sharply higher, as we just mentioned, and it's also driven nervousness in the financial markets which has also sent U.S. mortgage rates up. The Fed is expected to hold rates steady when it meets next week and hopes for rate cuts this year -- well, they're fading.

U.S. senators came together to pass the largest housing affordability package in a generation. The bipartisan bill contains dozens of measures meant to increase the supply of housing and lower costs. It's not clear if the bill can pass the House, which passed its own smaller bill last month.

And digital media company BuzzFeed warned that is has "substantial doubt" that it can continue as a business. In an earnings report the company says that it is engaging in strategic conversations over its cash issues. The company posted a $57.3 million loss in 2025. BuzzFeed's media empire used to be known for its viral videos, online quizzes, and Pulitzer Prize-winning news departments.

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

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[05:48:52]

ANDERSON: Welcome back. I'm Becky Anderson and here are some of the stories that we are watching for you today.

The Department of Homeland Security says the man who rammed a Detroit area synagogue was a naturalized U.S. citizen from Lebanon. The 41- year-old suspect died when his car caught fire shortly after the crash into the Temple Israel synagogue. The FBI says it is investigating the attack as a "targeted act of violence against the Jewish community."

Well, a fatal shooting at a university in Virginia is being investigated by the FBI as an act of terror. That happened Thursday morning at Old Dominion University after a gunman opened fire on a classroom full of students. Officials identified the shooter as convicted ISIS supporter and U.S. military veteran Mohamed Jalloh. Well, they also confirmed that the gunman was eventually killed after students overpowered him.

[05:50:00]

And the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran now entering day 14. Israeli authorities say a missile strike has wounded dozens of people and damaged buildings in northern Israel. That happened after sirens sounded and the Israeli military said it had detected missiles fired from Iran.

And I do want to get you some video just coming into CNN now. We've been telling you about large crowds gathering in cities around Iran to mark what is known as Al Quds Day, an international -- annual international rally in support of Palestinians. Now, these are the videos.

Explosions have been reported in central Tehran near the site of one of those rallies. That is according to the Iranian state-affiliated news agency Tasnim. A video posted by Tasnim on telegraph shows people at a rally chanting there as smoke from one of the explosions billows nearby.

And shortly before that Israel issued new evacuation orders for areas near where huge crowds had been gathering to mark the Al Quds Day in Tehran. The Israel Defense Forces (the IDF) issued the warning in its Farsi account on X which, like the rest of Western internet, is actually blocked across Iran.

Well, that is the very latest image coming to us from Iran. As we get more, of course, we will get it to you.

I want to get you live to CNN's Paula Hancocks who is in Abu Dhabi in the UAE. And further evidence on day 14 that there is no letup in what are these unprovoked and reckless attacks on the Gulf region, Paula.

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Becky. And we are having information coming through to us about Oman as well, saying that two foreign residents have been killed in Oman as a drone crashed near the industrial area. Now it's unclear whether that was a direct hit or an interception at this point.

But bear in mind Oman is or was the mediator between the U.S. and Iran before the military activities took place and they had considered themselves insulated from what is happening. Now, Iran claims it has not been targeting Oman, but we have seen a number of drones or projectiles in that country -- nothing like we have seen across the rest of the Gulf nations though.

I also want to bring you some -- an update on the service members that were in that downed refueling aircraft. So we understand now from U.S. Central Command that four service members have been confirmed deceased in that incident, and the rescue efforts are ongoing. They say that six were on board at the time of the incident.

Now they had said that it is "not due to hostile fire or friendly fire," but an investigation is going on at this point to see what exactly did happen to that refueling aircraft. It crashed over western Iraq.

Now elsewhere in the Gulf we have been seeing a continuation of Iranian projectiles hitting different areas. In Dubai, for example, here in the UAE, we saw this morning -- this Friday morning -- that a building in the financial district was hit by debris from an interception of one of these projectiles. We understand the facade of one of the buildings was damaged. Authorities though saying that there are no injuries in that particular incident.

In Saudi Arabia we understand dozens of drones have been intercepted as they were heading towards the central and eastern parts of that country. The eastern part, of course, is filled with oil fields. We have seen an increasing tendency by Iran to be targeting the energy infrastructure, and they are doing that once again in Saudi Arabia -- Becky.

ANDERSON: Good to have you, Paula. Thank you very much indeed.

All right, you are up to date. Stay with us on CNN. Rahel Solomon will have more of today's headlines after this short break.

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[05:58:45]

SOLOMON: Welcome back.

President Trump says that Iran's men's national soccer team would be welcome at the World Cup this summer, which the U.S. is co-hosting. Iranian officials say that the squad will not participate because they hold the U.S. responsible for what they call the assassination of their supreme leaders.

In a post on Truth Social, President Trump added that although the team was welcome, he raised concerns about the players' safety.

Earlier this week, FIFA's president said that President Trump also assured him that the Iranian team would be welcome at the competition.

And before we go, after several delays, the U.S. space agency NASA has set a new date for the launch of its Artemis II moon mission. The towering rocket -- well, it's had problems with various fuel leaks, but on Thursday officials finished a two-day flight readiness review and announced a go.

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LORI GLAZE, DEPUTY ASSOCIATE ADMINISTRATOR, NASA: Completion of the work and the VAB and at the pad, we are on track for a launch as early as April 1, and we are working toward that date.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOLOMON: NASA also set several other dates in April in case of such things as weather delays. The 10-day crewed mission would loop four astronauts around the moon. It would be the first crewed lunar trip since the Apollo missions 50 years ago.

[06:00:05]

All right, that's going to do it for us this hour. Thanks for being with us here on EARLY START. And our thanks to Becky Anderson and her team as well in Abu Dhabi. I'm Rahel Solomon live in New York. "CNN THIS MORNING" starts right now.