Return to Transcripts main page

Laura Coates Live

FBI Investigates Attack on Synagogue, Deadly Campus Shooting; Ayatollah's Issues First Message; GOP Lawmakers Slam Democrats Over DHS Shutdown Amid Terror Threats; Iranian-Americans Speak Out. Aired 11p-12a ET

Aired March 12, 2026 - 23:00   ET

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

[23:00:00]

ABBY PHILLIP, CNN ANCHOR AND SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: -- has gone down in Western Iraq. We are told that the aerial refuel tanker was not hit by any fire and five crew members were on board. There was another aircraft that was involved in the incident and that one did land safely. CNN is going to update this story as soon as we know more about the fate of those crew members.

Thank you very much for watching "NewsNight." "Laura Coates Live" starts right now.

LAURA COATES, CNN HOST AND SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Good evening. I'm Laura Coates. Tonight, two horrifying attacks here at home. One at a synagogue, the other at a university. And they're soaking a growing fear. Should Americans be worried about a rising terror threat on U.S. soil? And one big question lingering, is any of this connected to the war with Iran?

Both attacks are still being investigated. But what we already know is alarming. Now this, this is smoke billowing from a synagogue about a half hour outside of Detroit. That synagogue also houses an education center that includes a preschool. They've got a senior center, food bank, and more.

And police say that a driver plowed his car through the front doors and drove into the building. That car was apparently loaded with explosives, and the suspect was killed after a firefight with security guards. And thanks to their heroic actions, no one inside that synagogue was seriously hurt.

The Department of Homeland Security is now identifying the suspect as a 41-year-old man originally from Lebanon. They say he came to the United States in 2011 on an immigrant visa and was granted citizenship in 2016. Police tell investigators that us investigators are looking into reports that he told people that members of his family in Lebanon were killed in a recent Israeli airstrike. Now, authorities, they have not yet publicly identified or provided a motive. But they are saying this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JENNIFER RUNYAN, FBI SPECIAL AGENT IN CHARGE: I confirm that we are leading the investigation right now as a targeted act of violence against the Jewish community.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COATES: Now, the other attack happened less than two hours earlier when a gunman opened fire in a classroom full of ROTC students at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia. One person was killed, two others injured. And the suspect, previously convicted for trying to help ISIS and spent nearly seven years in prison for it. The FBI says they're investigating the shooting as an act of terrorism.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DOMINIQUE EVANS, FBI SPECIAL AGENT IN CHARGE: We have confirmed reports that prior to him conducting this act of terrorism, he shouted or stated "Allahu Akbar," and he was formally a subject of an FBI investigation in material supporting terrorism.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COATES: Now, the students in that classroom stopped this from being even worse. They were able to subdue the gunman. Sources tell us that one of the students stabbed him in the process. But the person who was tragically killed? Their instructor, Lieutenant Colonel Brandon Shah. He is a professor of military science, a Virginia native, and an ODU alum.

I want begin with CNN chief law enforcement and intelligence analyst John Miller. John, what a day. I mean, authorities in Michigan, they have been very careful not to reveal too much. But this is an attack where they believe explosives were in that car.

JOHN MILLER, CNN CHIEF LAW ENFORCEMENT AND INTELLIGENCE ANALYST, FORMER FBI ASSISTANT DIRECTOR: Well, this car crashed through the front doors, Laura, drove down the hallway, firing weapons from the driver, authorities believe. They say upon looking at the video, they see what appears to be shell casings coming out of the side window as he's driving, gets to the end of the hallway, and the car burst into flames quite suddenly.

Now, when they put those fires out after the security guard shot and killed the driver, one of the security officers was hit by the car and rendered unconscious. This was a very smoky fire. Nobody could see anything. They had to wear masks and air tanks. When they extinguished that, what they saw in the back of the car appeared to be mortar shells. Now, one possibility is those were high-grade explosives or military ordnance. The more likely scenario, because we've seen this in prior cases, is that those were the kind of mortars you use to fire off fireworks.

And the possibility is that the suspect here, Mr. Ghazali, may have loaded the car with fireworks and other accelerants, hoping that at the end of whatever shootout and ramming attack he was able to accomplish, the car would explode. What it did do is catch -- what it did do is catch fire.

[23:04:55] What we didn't see is probably the kind of conflagration that he expected by putting all of that stuff together and then having some way to initiate that fire, which they're still looking into what that was.

COATES: I mean, from Michigan to Norfolk, Virginia. I mean, there are so many questions about the suspect in the Old Dominion shooting. And this is a guy, John, he was previously convicted on terror-related charges. And yet, somehow, he gets a gun, he carries this out. I mean, talk to me about how his past conviction is going to aid in the investigation of how he was able to even do this.

MILLER: Well, he's clearly barred as a convicted federal felon, which you know better than most as a former federal prosecutor. He's barred from being able to legally purchase firearms or pass a NICS test, as they call it, the information you have to submit to do a legal purchase. But it is also possible in his community that he was able to do some kind of direct sale with somebody he knew or get access to a firearm.

Either way, the FBI is now, as the lead in that case, going to have to track backwards to what was his online communications, who was he talking to, what spurred this attack. Clearly, the target was the U.S. military and the ROTC class for a man who was a former National Guard soldier before he gave his allegiance to ISIS.

But then the other question will be, and this will be an FBI question, were they checking up on him after his release from prison? Did they keep tabs on him? And if the answer is yes, it's still a challenge, Laura. We've had these cases where when I was with the Joint Terrorism Task Force in New York in the NYPD, where we kept an eye on people, but when they left the house and went for a drive and, say, went to a college, you couldn't tell as they walked in whether they were going to do an attack or try to sign up for courses.

COATES: Right.

MILLER: I mean, it's a difficult game watching somebody. It's resource intensive. But we're still going to have to ask the question, were they keeping an eye on him after his release?

COATES: A really important question. Another question I think people are going to be wondering, and there's no evidence that we know of to support, but I could imagine law enforcement is going to try to figure out if the timing of these incidents was coordinated or coincidental. That's got to be on their mind.

MILLER: So, that's going to be a cross-reference where they're going to pull every phone record, every internet record, every chat record between the two of them and see if they touch anywhere. You know, it's not necessarily a likely possibility, but it is a possibility, and they will have to eliminate that question.

COATES: John, thank you so much.

MILLER: Thanks, Laura. COATES: I want to turn to former FBI special agent Daniel Brunner and former chief of Homeland Security and Intelligence in Washington, D.C., Donell Harvin. Glad to have both of you.

I mean, Donell, let me begin with you because DHS, they confirmed that the suspect was born in Lebanon. I'm talking about what happened in Michigan, which is sad that I even have to differentiate what we're talking about in these days. And CNN sources say that authorities are investigating reports that he told people that he had relatives who were killed in an Israeli strike recently. Talk to me about the level of threat that we are or should be on in this country.

DONELL HARVIN, FORMER CHIEF OF HOMELAND SECURITY AND INTELLIGENCE, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA: Yes, and I just came from lecturing about this and the radicalization pathways. And so, the threat level that we're facing right now and the threat environment is unlike anything we've ever seen in this country.

I started my counterterrorism Homeland Security career really on the day of 9-11 when I was with FDNY. And on that day, we had one true adversary, and that was Al-Qaeda. Today, we have al-Qaeda, we have ISIS, we have right-wing extremism, we have left-wing extremism, and people who are radicalized or inspired by conflicts that are happening overseas they may have no connection to.

And so, it creates a huge problem for Homeland Security and law enforcement to try to keep up with all these people. John just talked about this. There's a lot of people on watch lists, there's a lot of what we call KSTs known as suspected terrorists. You can't follow them all 24 hours, seven days a week.

COATES: You can't arrest them immediately.

HARVIN: Correct.

COATES: -- get a little bit more than that, obviously. But Daniel, the explosives, explosives found in the back of the car and after the driver is leaving his vehicle into the -- drove it into the synagogue, how hard is it to prevent an attack like that?

DANIEL BRUNNER, RETIRED FBI SUPERVISORY SPECIAL AGEN0T, CO-FOUNDER AND PRESIDENT OF BRUNNER SIERRA GROUP: Well, it's not that hard. If you find the vulnerabilities, you find the weaknesses. If you look at the overhead shots of the synagogue, you can see in the pathways, in the walkways, there are bollards or strong concrete barriers. But just to the left of that, there's an open tree. There's a space where there's a gap.

So, I really would love to see and analyze as to how the security details were looking at this because the bollards were there to protect the vehicle. But if the individual just drove off to the left of the bollard, he was able to gain access to the lobby of the area and location.

So, I think with basic driving through intelligence, he had done some advanced intelligence work and looking at the location. Obviously, this is planned. I don't believe this is a spur of the moment. He may have been looking.

[23:09:59]

I think they should look at video of the past few days to see if that vehicle was seen in the area. And as he was planning this and looking at it, when the investigation is being conducted, they'll see if there were other individuals that he was planning this with or were inspiring him.

COATES: A really important point because his death does not mean the end of this investigation. The reconnaissance, if possible, is going to be important, too.

I mean, Donell, talk to me about the fact that since the start of the war with Iran, sleeper cell risks within the United States seem to have spiked. The president says that the government knows where these cells are. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNKNOWN (voice-over): Have you been briefed about how many Iran's sleeper cells there could be inside the U.S. right now?

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: I have been. and a lot of people came in through Biden with his stupid open border. But we know where most of them are. We've got our eye on all of them, I think.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COATES: I mean, we've got our eye on all of them. Just explain a little bit more about what that process of surveillance would look like and the hurdles with being able to either disrupt or prevent.

HARVIN: So, this is a bigger discussion that we actually have time for. So, you have the traditional sleeper cells. People who came over as part of the diaspora from the fall of the Shah, they've been monitoring for decades. Now, these people are in their 60s or 70s, probably not a threat. That's the traditional intelligence. Then you have people who may -- they may have influenced or inspired.

Then you have -- President Trump is actually right. He has led a little hyperbole there. But during the Biden era, there were about 1,600 Iranian nationals that presented themselves to the border. What we don't know is how many of those people were sent here, if those people are just regular people who aren't trying to commit crimes, but we also don't know the getaways.

The problem is I think most of what we've seen now, and I think this will bear out, are people who have no connection with the actual country, who may be inspired like ISIS inspires people. We see that just a couple of days ago with the bombing in front of Gracie Mansion in New York. We saw that in October with the ISIS-inspired youth that were trying to commit the Halloween attack. And so, people can be inspired and have no relationship or no connection to it. So, there's a lot of threat streams we have to keep an eye on. Law enforcement, Homeland Security does have an idea of people that may be aligned with Iranian forces or, you know, may have been compromised by them. There's a lot of people out there that they'll keep an eye on.

COATES: Daniel, there was another tragic incident today, this one at Old Dominion University, where a gunman fatally shot one person, injured two others. The FBI is investigating this shooting as an act of terrorism. And the suspect actually was arrested in 2016, pled guilty for trying to provide support for ISIS, sentenced to prison, served, I think, seven years or so, was released in 2024 in light of his criminal history and background.

Talk to me about how the FBI would have been keeping tabs on him even after he served his prison sentence to provide release perhaps or otherwise based on the fact and the nature of his conviction.

BRUNNER: Well, one of things that people have to understand is there isn't an available, you know, countless number of agents to keep an eye on every single person that is suspected or former felon in this country. So, for the FBI to be able to keep an eye on a single individual or group, agents carry typically four to six cases in their -- on their daily lives and investigate these four to six. And we have to look and prioritize what are the most violent -- what are the most vulnerable, what are the most dangerous to this country.

This, to me -- both attacks, to me, appear to be lone wolf attacks. Self-inspired, self-motivated individuals who believe that they are going to begin the revolution. Only their act can push forward the agenda that they are believing.

So, it is very easy these days for an individual. We see numerous attacks in New York City or in Berlin or driving -- just getting behind a vehicle in New Orleans. These types of attacks are very easy to conduct if it's a lone wolf. And it's very difficult for the FBI to detect these crimes because there are no other individuals that are conspiring, that are grouping, that are planning it. It's just the individual in their own world.

So, it's very difficult to surveil someone if they're just driving around and living their life. Meanwhile, inside their head, they're planning this attack. So, it's extremely difficult, if not impossible, mostly difficult. Director Wray previously said the most difficult terrorist attack to prevent is the lone wolf attack, and that's what to me these two appear to be.

COATES: Oh, my God. Well, thank God for the heroes who were present. Thank you both.

Still ahead, shaken to the core. A member of Temple Israel says this was one of her biggest fears, her safe space destroyed. She will join me, next. Plus, new CNN reporting on the war in Iran shows regime change may not be possible, and those oil prices may not come down any time soon. A key member of the Armed Services Committee will join and describe.

[23:15:02]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNKNOWN: We're committed to keeping this community safe. If you think you can target the Jewish community in this county or anywhere in this state, you're wrong. We're going to not only stand in front of them to protect them, we're coming for you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COATES: An unequivocal message and pledge of protection by law enforcement following the attack targeting a synagogue outside Detroit today against the backdrop of a dangerous rise in antisemitic violence across the country in recent years like the synagogues under threat in Mississippi and New York in start of the new year, a fire bombing assault and a demonstration for Israeli hostages, the deadly shooting of two Israeli embassy staffers at an event at the Capitol Jewish Museum right here in Washington, D.C., and the arson attack at the Pennsylvania governor's mansion while Governor Josh Shapiro's family slept.

[23:20:04]

And those are just a few examples. My next guest was personally shaken today by the attack on her synagogue, Temple Israel. Democratic State Representative from Michigan, Samantha Steckloff, joins me now. Representative, thank you for being with us. I mean, earlier today, you called the synagogue your safe space. Has the attack today shaken that feeling of safety?

SAMANTHA STECKLOFF, DEMOCRATIC MICHIGAN STATE REPRESENTATIVE: The entire Jewish community in Metro Detroit is feeling it. I think the entire Jewish community around this country is feeling it. These are our houses of worship. These are our safe spaces. This is where we go to be with our family, to celebrate life, to celebrate marriages and bar mitzvahs. This is your home. And to have something happen like this in your actual home has just been absolutely heartbreaking and shaken this community to its core.

COATES: Representative, I mean, clergy and staff, they attended FBI active shooter training about two months ago. And just the thought that they would have to do that is appalling. But since then, there has been a war in Iran that has broken out. Has the synagogue been on a kind of high alert in recent weeks?

STECKLOFF: They've actually been on a high alert for a few years now. Actually, the last time I spoke on CNN was right after Kanye West Ye went on a tirade on social media where he has 32 million followers, double the amounts of Jewish members in the entire world. There's only 15 million of us. So, this has been heightened for a few years. And then as October 7th happened, and then, of course, the war in Iran has only sparked the flames. I hate to say this, but this was almost like we knew something was going to happen, and I just can't believe it happened here in Michigan. COATES: There has been an alarming rise of antisemitic attacks in recent years. There has been a rise in antisemitic speech. There has been a debate as to what antisemitism even is. I mean, when you speak with people in your community about the rise in antisemitism, is there a consensus as to why and how to stop it?

STECKLOFF: You know, any time there's something happening in the world, there's always -- there's always an emphasis on a minority community, and it just happens to have been the Jews for the past few years. I mean, we've seen the divisive rhetoric from the top in the last decade. It was bound to trickle down to everyday Americans when you are feeling this type of pressure of things that are going on halfway across the world. And the first instant is to come to a Jewish community where Jewish preschoolers are there and to attack. This is antisemitism at its core.

COATES: Representative, you understand that many people may have not heard of your synagogue before now, and I hesitate to know that this might define it. So, can you share about your community and what you want people to know about your safe space?

STECKLOFF: Temple Israel is the largest reformed synagogue in this country. I spend a lot of time at this synagogue with my friends and family. I'm very active in the Jewish Fertility Foundation, and we do so many events there. Just last night, we had a women's event with over 700 members.

This is a very close-knit community. It is a close-knit community of love and respect for each other. This is where my cousins go to preschool. This is where my whole entire family has spent their lives. This is a moment of extreme fear within this community, and Temple Israel has risen to the time.

You saw exactly what happened today with the training from our security officers at Temple Israel. I mean, I also want to speak about the teachers, the teachers who protected these children, who sprang into action. These are true heroes.

And I thank everyone so much for your outpouring of love and support. I mean, the police presence from everywhere around Metro Detroit, the FBI, the AFT, everyone came to the aid of Temple Israel and its members. And I cannot thank everyone enough for all of their love and support.

COATES: Representative Samantha Steckloff, thank you.

STECKLOFF: Thank you very much for having me, Laura.

COATES: Next, the new leader of Iran sends out his first message. So, why don't we see him or even heard him yet? And ahead, Iranian Americans tell us what they think of this war. We've gathered a few together, and you'll hear directly from them tonight.

[23:25:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) COATES: For the first time today, we received a purported statement from the new supreme leader of Iran, Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of the previous leader. But we did not see him nor we hear his voice. The Iranian state T.V. anchor read the statement this morning. In it, Khamenei vowed to keep the Strait of Hormuz closed as a -- quote -- "tool of pressure."

[23:30:02]

And the pressure is building in the critical chokepoint for the world's energy supply. Today, the price of a barrel of oil closed above a hundred dollars for the first time in four years. That price spike is happening because of attacks like this one just off the coast of Iraq. Six vessels have been hit in the last two days. All suspected Iranian attacks.

Sources tell CNN the Trump administration underestimated Iran's threats to close the strait and attack ships. In fact, sources tell CNN top officials in the administration told lawmakers they did not plan for Iran to close the strait. Why? Well, the administration assumed closing the strait would hurt Iran's economy more than the United States' economy. But now, Americans are paying on average 60 cents more for a gallon of gas than before the war. And prices are only expected to rise despite Trump's order to release a hundred and seventy-two million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

I want to talk more about it with Congressman Adam Smith, a Democrat from Washington and ranking member on the House Armed Services Committee. Congressman, welcome back. Our sources tell us that Trump officials told some lawmakers that they -- they did not plan -- they did not plan for Iran to close the Strait of Hormuz when the war began and essentially shut down the flow of oil in the region. So, what does that tell you, that they failed to either anticipate or plan about this, what many call the foreseeable consequence of the war?

REP. ADAM SMITH (D-WA): It tells me they dove into this war without a clear idea of where it was going beyond an initial target list. They had an initial target list. Obviously, they wanted to blow up Iranian missiles and launchers and perhaps drones. But as far as anticipating where the war would go, they didn't pay a lot of attention to it because, as you point out, none of this was surprising. It wasn't like, you know, they just failed to think about it.

A whole lot of other people had already thought about it. I mean, we've been talking about a potential conflict with Iran for at least the last 15 years. As a senior member of the Armed Services Committee, I've been through countless briefs going back that far. And everything that we're seeing play out is what has been talked about. The fact that the regime has dug in pretty deep is unlikely to cave, unlikely to change even if they are bombarded, and the fact that they are in a huge show point for the global economy, and they will likely use this.

This has been the standard thinking about a potential conflict with Iran for a long time. But the Trump administration chose to just say, nope, we're going to go in, we're going to bomb, and I guess we're going to hope that all those things that we were told were going to happen somehow won't.

COATES: Well, our latest reporting also indicates that the regime is not losing control of Iran. At the start of the war, Trump called for Iranians to rise up. But now, the administration is emphasizing more limited operational objectives, not explicit regime change. Is this a moving of the goalposts or prudent?

SMITH: I think it just shows that, again, they did not think this through because there's a pretty clear bifurcation in objectives here. On one side of it, you've got degrade Iran's capability. And there's a huge debate about how much can you degrade Iran's capability and crucially for how long, how quickly could they build back. And so, if you look at it from that side, you would say your ability to inflict significant sort of game changing damage is problematic and the cost could be high. So, going in doesn't make sense.

So, Trump did this sort of weird sort of thing where he's like, yes, but what we're hoping for is the other side of that, and that is the regime change argument. You know, the argument that, OK, you can argue that doing this doesn't affect enough of a change, but we're going to hope that it will, we're going to hope that it either leads to full- scale the end of the regime or at least whoever winds up in charge is going to be more compliant.

But that's an objective that we've also long known isn't going to be achieved by an air campaign. The regime is simply too strong. The hardliners have too much control for that to happen. So, now, Trump has us all caught in between those two things.

Have we done enough on the degrading side to sort of declare victory and go home? I don't think anyone incredibly argue that. But to get to the real victory of a fundamental change in Iran, there's no plan on the table right now to get us there and this continues to spread in terms of the cost again, and Trump doesn't have a clear way out of it because of that trap between those two ever-changing goals.

COATES: I want to turn to the concerns that are brewing here at home now over terrorism. And we've seen two attacks today, congressman, that investigators say appear to have terror ties. There's a partial government shutdown. It's impacting DHS funding. Republicans are claiming that Democrats are putting the country at risk. Listen.

[23:35:02]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. THOM TILLIS (R-NC): So, the Democrats need to get off of this and recognize that they own the TSA problems, they own the Coast Guard funding. They own all the damage that's coming as a result of it.

SEN. JOSH HAWLEY (R-MO): It is leading to a crisis, and I hope that we don't soon start having, you know, major issues at airports. Four and five-hour lines are outrageous. But what's it going to take, a major security incident before Democrats realize it's wrong to not pay law enforcement in our airports?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COATES: What's your response?

SMITH: Yes, I mean, that is just unbelievably insulting to the intelligence of anyone who knows anything about the legislative process. The Senate put on the table the Democrats in the Senate, full funding for TSA, full funding for the Coast Guard, full funding for FEMA, full funding for everything in DHS, except for ICE, which is the part we don't like.

So, if either of those two senators there weren't just hypocritical, brutal liars about what's going on and sincerely wanted to do anything about those things that they claim to care about, vote for that. It's on the table. You want to fund TSA? We're with you. Democrats are with you in the House. We're with you in the Senate. You want to fund the Coast Guard? Let's do it.

And to stand up there and say Democrats are blocking this incredibly important funding and gosh, it just seems to so hurt them, then vote to fund it. It's on the table. It's available to you. But what we Democrats won't do is we won't vote to fund ICE and their continued violation of the rights and freedoms of Americans all across this country.

So, they are not being honest with the American people about the options that are in front of Congress right now. They want to fund those things? Vote, fund them. Let's go, and we won't have to worry about it anymore. So that -- sorry, I'm trying not to swear as I explained this, which is hard because that was just some pretty hypocritical B.S. that we just saw from those two senators.

COATES: People often find it hard not to swear on my show. I won't take it personally. Congressman Adam Smith, thank you.

SMITH: You do a wonderful job. Thank you. I appreciate it.

COATES: Well, that's not B.S. I'll take that. Thank you.

We've heard Republicans call the war everything from a conflict to an excursion. The markets, though, and the U.S. economy, they don't care what it's called, they care where it's causing. And right now, that's a surge in oil prices that could drag down several parts of the supply chain and risk igniting the inflation that the president said he was extinguishing.

That's the context for this next message from the president today. Quote -- "The United States is the largest oil producer in the world, by far, so when oil prices go up, we make a lot of money. But, of far greater interest and importance to me, as president, is stopping an evil empire, Iran, from having nuclear weapons, and destroying the Middle East and, indeed, the world. I won't ever let that happen."

Joining me now, former White House spokesperson for the George W. Bush administration, Pete Seat, and former Democratic Congressman Tom Malinowski. Good to have both of you here. I'll begin with you, Pete, because it's one thing to say rising oil prices are a short-term issue. It's another to try and frame it as a good thing. Is that what Republicans running for election want him to be saying?

PETE SEAT, FORMER WHITE HOUSE SPOKESMAN FOR FORMER PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH: Well, the we here is rather dubious. Sure, upstream producers would make more money, refineries would make more money, the federal government would get more money in taxes and royalties, but we would pay more money and are paying more money at the pump.

So, I think it is absolutely fair to say, at the very least, the administration could have better prepared us all for the fluctuation in gas prices. Gas prices have always been politically sensitive. We see those fluctuations a half a dozen, a dozen times every day. For those of us who commute to and from work, we know exactly how much it costs to fill up the tank last week versus this week.

But I think what's also important is the Iranians also understand that, and that's why they are targeting their efforts on the Strait of Hormuz and preventing the 20 million barrels a day that go through the strait because they know that is the only leverage and pressure point that they have to potentially bring a quicker end to this conflict.

COATES: It's a hell of a pressure point and key leverage, Tom. I mean, the motto from the administration seems to be short-term pain, long-term gain. Can you actually sell that message convincingly?

TOM MALINOWSKI, FORMER NEW JERSEY REPRESENTATIVE: I hope that's the midterm message because they're going to lose on that message. Americans are paying for this right now in so many different ways. Higher gas prices, threats to our homeland. The higher gas prices, by the way, there's a champagne party in the Kremlin right now because Putin is benefiting from this.

Our allies in Asia and Europe are feeling the cost.

[23:39:55]

We're depleting our munitions, munitions that we need for the defense of our allies against Russia and China, all of these, the turmoil in the global economy for actually not disarming Iran, because this war is probably going to end in a week or two with an Iran that has yes, fewer weapons for now, but a younger and even more radical and more determined leadership.

COATES: We think a week or two. You think it's going to be a short- term conflict.

MALINOWSKI: Yes. I mean, Trump does not have the stomach to take this beyond another week or two given everything that is happening. He does not have the stomach to go all the way for regime change. So, what they're going to do, I think it's pretty clear, is go through the target set, destroy a lot of the missile production, a lot of the missile launchers, the drone production facilities. All of that is important. It will weaken Iran's military capacity, but only temporarily.

In the meantime, the leadership, this newer leadership, will have absorbed our best shot and learned that Trump is not willing to go all the way. And so, the threat, the deterrent that we had, will be weaker. So, I think what most Americans will be asking is, for what? Was all of this, is all of this worth it given that the ultimate military objective we will have achieved is actually not much to speak for?

COATES: Well, before -- Pete, before the president -- before the war, the president said that gas prices were going down, the mortgage rates were going down. He told farmers that he was going to take care of them. Now, he's undoing a lot of that with what's happening. Mortgage rates are keeping back up. You've got gas prices up. Fertilizer costs are up, hurting farmers. What is your sense of the pain threshold for this administration? Do you agree with what Tom is saying in terms of the Constitution to withstand a few more weeks?

SEAT: Well, a lot of that depends on what the administration is willing to communicate to us. I think they have met expectations in terms of communicating or rather deceptively communicating what they are doing. So, it rattles the enemy and the Iranians don't know what's coming next or when this campaign, this conflict may end.

But I would give them a performance improvement plan when it comes to messaging domestically about these prices. The economy was moving in the right direction. A lot of prices were moving in the right direction, which is down.

But we also have to remember that presidents do not unilaterally control gas prices. I know we put a lot of attention and anger towards politicians, particularly towards the president, when gas prices go up. Oil is traded internationally. International markets dictate the price of oil. That's why you're seeing countries around the world release barrels from their strategic reserves because this doesn't just touch the United States, it touches the global economy as well. And the administration needs to be clear about that with all of us.

COATES: Yes. Well, Pete, Tom, I'd leave it there. I know you have -- quickly.

MALINOWSKI: I mean, he's absolutely right, presidents don't normally control the price of oil and gas. This is a single-handed effect of what the president of the United States did. This is different from the normal price fluctuations. Obviously, he's responsible for this.

COATES: Pete, Tom, thank you both. Ahead, you've heard from the politicians, you've heard from the military, you've heard from the experts. Well, next, you're going to hear from Iranian Americans, their candid opinions, their concerns, and hopes when it comes to the war in Iran.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[23:45:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COATES: Iranians have deep pride for their country and they want to say in its future. But finding out how they feel during a war can be not only difficult, but dangerous. People inside Iran are cut off from the rest of the world. They've had virtually no access to the internet since the war started. That's according to the internet monitoring organization NetBlocks. The situation on the ground is extremely dangerous.

CNN's Fred Pleitgen witnessed it firsthand when an airstrike hit near where he was reporting inside Iran.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: OK, we're hearing jets overhead. There's anti-aircraft carrier going up. They told us we got to get out of here as fast as possible.

(EXPLOSION)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COATES: So, how do Iranians feel about the war? And what do they want to happen next? I'm joined by three Iranian Americans who are family members in Iran: Sam Asghari, an actor, Dr. Negin Ghaffari, a city commissioner for Calabasas, California, and Mohamad Firouzeh, a restaurant owner from Minneapolis. I thank you all for being here. I'm eager to hear how you're feeling. I'll begin with you, Mohamad. What was your reaction when you heard the ayatollah had been killed by the United States and Israel?

MOHAMAD FIROUZEH, OWNER, NADER PERSIAN RESTAURANT: I hate to be happy from somebody's death or somebody dying and you be happy for it. But I am happy, actually, because I have been in this situation in Iran. There has been lot of pressure on people, and people are just getting tired of handling this regime because it has been passed through. It has been for over 47 years. They have been butchering people. No matter what they say, they don't care. If you are not from them, then you are against them. They're not going to take care of you no matter what.

So, I was there, I was in protest in 1988, in 2001, and I was there until 2018. I've seen everything. I've seen a lot of -- you know, people get killed in front of me, tortured in front of me. I don't want to say like -- some other people, they haven't been in this situation, which we have been.

[23:50:02]

When you are in this situation, you can tell the truth from both sides. I'm happy to see this situation. They got to go. They got to go. We need some help.

Right now, President Trump is doing an excellent job. I don't care if people say he's not good. He's making the world know. The world right now is the best thing that can happen to our country. If these people don't help us, then they're going to kill everybody. They're going to slaughter everybody, no matter how many Iranian are there. They don't care about Iranians. They care about what they do.

COATES: Well, let me ask Negin because I understand you've been able to reach some of your family members. How are they doing?

NEGIN GHAFFARI, COMMISSIONER, CITY OF CALABASAS: The situation in Iran obviously is tragic. It's tragic in every way you look at it. But the people of Iran have been begging for help from external sources. They've been begging for help from Israel, from the United States. That's how desperate the situation is.

My family, along with the 90 million other people in Iran, they are -- they are desperate. They're desperate for freedom. They're desperate for any sign of a chance for liberation.

COATES: Sam, I know that you lived in Iran until you were about 12, until coming to the United States. And I'm curious from your perspective when you hear the president calling on Iranians to rise up, to take back their government. Some have taken that to mean that he wants people to directly confront the Revolutionary Guard. Do you have understanding on how people in Iran are receiving that message?

SAM ASGHARI, IRANIAN AMERICAN ACTOR: The Iranian people have been fighting this fight for a very long time. This is not just the president's orders or our revolutionary leader, which is Reza Pahlavi, which is being called out by millions of people in the diaspora and the people of Iran. This is the people of Iran wanting freedom, and they've been fighting this fight for a very long time.

It has been a war in the country itself before this foreign against the Islamic Republic even started. You know, people in the streets were already fighting this war. So, nothing has changed for them. That's why you see many videos of people filming from the rooftops and saying, death to the dictator, they're chanting USA, and they're sort of siding with the enemy. That might be sort of foreign for the American people to see. But for the Iranian people, this is what we have been fighting for many years.

So, it's absolutely a celebration for them because it's a beginning of a hope, not just a war, just like any other country. This is a very special situation.

COATES: Negin, what would success look like?

GHAFFARI: Success would be -- would look like absolute and total regime change. For the people's call for the leader that they have chosen, Reza Pahlavi, to be able to come in during and foster a transitional phase under the Iran prosperity plan that he has co- created with a group of experts that directly outlines what that transition would look like for Iran to have a referendum and have a chance at creating a new Constitution and decide to move forward with that Constitution and create a secular democracy, it would look like freedom for the Iranian people and their choice of leader who is Reza Pahlavi. They've made that abundantly clear that that's who they want to lead them.

COATES: Sam, can I ask you, finally, living outside of Iran, what do you believe is the responsibility, for lack of a better word, for those in the diaspora, speaking about the regime and what's happening within Iran, particularly given the feeling of voicelessness that you've expressed for people who live inside Iran?

ASGHARI: Our responsibility, especially me as an artist, is to be the voice of the voiceless. And that being said, it's not that I'm speaking out my opinion, is that I'm speaking the facts, is I'm speaking on the emails and the notes and the messages that I received from the families of the people that got murdered and from everybody else that is sort of struggling, not even going to the fact that the people got murdered.

But take a look at all the opportunities that have been stripped from the youth, from people like me, that look like me. They have the potential. Like me, they would like to be successful. Just take a look at the immigrant group outside of Iran. The second they flee Iran is the second they become one of the most successful immigrant groups anywhere they go, whether it's Europe or America. And America itself, Iranian Americans are amongst the most successful immigrant groups.

[23:55:00]

And as you saw in the protest that happened, that's why you saw millions and millions of people taking out in the streets of Los Angeles and Toronto and New York. And they did such an amazing job. It was historical. I mean, they did a peaceful protest. You did not see a sign of graffiti anywhere on the streets. They were cleaning out, cleaning up after themselves. They were protesting and saluting the American lives, the military casualties that we had. And that's something that makes me proud as an Iranian American.

COATES: Thank you all so much.

GHAFFARI: Thank you for having us, Laura.

COATES: And thank you all so much for watching. "The Story Is with Elex Michaelson" is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)