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One World with Zain Asher
IDF: Iran & Hezbollah Carry Out Coordinated Attacks on Israel; IDF: Tenth Wave of Strikes on Tehran Now Underway; Owner of Damaged Business Voices Anger at War, Losses; Frustrations for Foreign Nationals Stranded in Middle East; Governments Race to Evacuate Their Citizens from Middle East; Four of the Six U.S. Service Members Killed in Iran War Identified. Aired 11a-12p ET
Aired March 04, 2026 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[11:00:00]
BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN HOST, ONE WORLD: Hello everyone. Live from New York. I'm Bianna Golodryga.
ZAIN ASHER, CNN HOST, ONE WORLD: I'm Zain Asher. And you're watching "One World". Death and destruction from the sky all day long those words earlier
from the U.S. Defense Secretary, Pete Hegseth, in defiant remarks from the Pentagon. He made it clear that the American and Israeli military operation
Iran is just getting started.
GOLODRYGA: Yeah, his comments come as the war widens and threatens to explode into a much larger regional conflict now involving more than a
dozen Middle Eastern nations. Here's the very latest.
Turkey says that NATO destroyed an Iranian missile headed towards its airspace. Meanwhile, the IDF says that it began its 10th wave of strikes on
Tehran, and it's also intensifying its attacks on Hezbollah in Lebanon. Right now, the Israeli military is calling for the evacuation of a large
swath of Southern Lebanon.
ASHER: The Pentagon says a torpedo from a U.S. submarine sank an Iranian warship in international waters. And Tehran is retaliating throughout the
region, hitting American sites, travel hubs and oil facilities across the Gulf. Meantime, the death toll is climbing, with more than 1000 people in
Iran killed by Israeli and American strikes, according to a U.S. based human rights group.
GOLODRYGA: CNN's Nick Paton Walsh joins us now live from Tel Aviv. And from what we heard from the Defense Secretary Nick America is winning. He
reiterated numerous times that this was only four, five days in to this war.
And what we did also hear, though, from General Caine, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, what I think is more notable here, just from numbers
standpoint, and that is the sharp decrease in the numbers of missiles and drones that they have said Iran has been able to launch since the start of
the war.
So, you had the Defense Secretary basically characterizing, perhaps for an audience, maybe even of one, his assessment of the war, the Chairman of the
Joint Chiefs really breaking down the numbers. Tell us what stood out to you?
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, clear that they are seeing a substantial drop from what Secretary Hegseth
talked about as being a pre-planned playbook in the opening hours days of Iran's response to the killing of Ayatollah Khamenei, their Supreme Leader.
Hegseth, talked about how that pre planned kind of playbook is now run, and different type of command and control may be in place. But key is, since
those opening days, 80 percent less missiles being seen now, 70 percent less of the one-way attack drones seen now. Now those attack drones have
been, I think, particularly perilous for Gulf States, hard to stop. Very cheap.
You can use exceptionally expensive and rare interceptors to do that, but they appear to be in the things that have been getting through. Have we
seen that drop off because the Pentagon, the Israelis have been striking reserves of those missiles and drones on the ground inside of Iran?
Are the Iranian conserving what they have, or are they using them in a different way, perhaps more conservatively. Now, certainly here, round
about lunch time, we had two quite close incidents of what Israeli officials called a combined missile strike from the north, where Hezbollah
are.
That's Iranian ally, a proxy under extraordinary military pressure from the Israelis now, they have been, frankly, since a large Israeli assault in
late 2024 but the remains of them now under intense pressure too, yet still, missiles got through as far as here, Tel Aviv. We saw intercepts in
the sky and alert above here, no injuries from that.
And at the same time, missiles were launched from Iran as well. So, I think a key moment here where we are having questions now beginning to mount
about exactly how long Iran can keep what has been a comparatively ferocious and widespread retaliation across the region hitting Gulf nations
that were publicly opposed to U.S. Israeli operation before it even happened, questions mounting now as to how long they can necessarily keep
it up.
And of course, I should remind people, too, of the larger question now, the death toll inside Iran from these strikes is over 1000 according to one
human rights group who is in charge. Yesterday, we heard noises, suggestions that the Assembly of Experts whose two buildings in Iran in Qom
were targeted by the Israelis, but appear to have moved their meeting of 88 senior clerics online to find the successor to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
They've yet to publicly announce who that is. And with that vacuum come questions as to who's really in charge? And of course, who is there to
negotiate with? On that point, the Foreign Minister of Iran, Syed Araghchi has held a phone call, the first with the Gulf Cooperation Council since
the beginning of this conflict, and that's with the Qataris now.
They obviously have traditional mediating role here, close to the United States. His point, according to a post from the Qataris, was to say that
all the retaliation, much of which has hit Doha as well was aimed at U.S. military facilities, not obviously Qatar itself, that obviously, I don't
think, will wash with the majority of the Gulf nations infuriated.
[11:05:00]
Sometimes it seems indiscriminate nature of what they've been on the receiving end of. But it is a sign that these Iranians may be looking for
some sort of reach out to maybe get some kind of diplomatic track, or at least hill bridges with Gulf nations who were there in the days prior to
try and keep this from spiraling into a conflict.
But I should point out that the Omanis, who were the mediator up until the last moment, have had their key facilities hit on multiple occasions by the
Iranians. So, it's a lot of work to do for there. But I think these two things, the fact that we're seeing suggestions of inventories being
potentially questioned now on the Iranian side.
And maybe the Americans too, who clearly, according to the Pentagon, have moved from stand-off precision missiles to perhaps being able to be more in
place over targets in Iran and drop less guided munitions. That may be because they're running out of choices.
The fact we might be seeing now both sides recognizing they have a finite stock of things, maybe we're going to get to a point where phone calls like
the one we've just seen from Iran's foreign minister become more frequent. Simply don't know the Americans very full of bravado about how they're in
the beginning of this here.
And I should point out, you know, it's just four full days at this stage. It may feel like weeks, frankly, for many following it, but it's early and
short at this point.
GOLODRYGA: Yeah, it does feel like weeks for those that have been having very little sleep, like yourself, and those Israelis there and in the
region that have been constantly having to go to bomb shelters and inundated by these attacks.
It is interesting that publicly, as you noted, the Qataris are acknowledging what the Iranian foreign minister said, that these attacks
are directed on U.S. facilities that having been said. It's also perhaps even more notable that Qatar did respond to those Iranian attacks as well
in the past 24 hours. Nick Pyton Walsh, thank you so much.
ASHER: Thank you, Nick. All right, let's bring in Former IDF Spokesperson, Retired Lieutenant Colonel, Jonathan Conricus. He's also Senior Fellow at
the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies and Co-Founder of Bottomline Media. Jonathan, thank you so much for being with us.
I'm sure you watch the press briefing earlier at the Pentagon, where U.S. Joint Chief of Staff Chair Dan Caine, said that it is obviously still early
days in terms of this war with Iran that the U.S. is going to accelerate military action, strike deeper into Iranian territory, creating additional
freedom of maneuver.
At what point, though, will it be time for the Americans to come up with a strategic plan to arm and assist any kind of opposition groups? We have
been hearing reports that the CIA is potentially, possibly arming Iranian Kurds. I mean, obviously, in the past, the Kurds have been very loyal to
the Americans in previous conflicts, and they are also sort of really strong and good fighters.
The only problem is, and it's quite a big one, is that the Kurds represent about 8 percent of the Iranian population. And so, I do wonder what
ordinary Iranian citizens will think of that? Just in terms of your thoughts, though, at what point will the Americans and the Israelis have to
come up with a clear and strategic plan in terms of how to allow opposition groups within Iran to take advantage of this moment?
LT. COL. JONATHAN CONRICUS (RET), FORMER IDF SPOKESPERSON: Yes, hello from Israel. Thanks for having me on. I think such a plan not only exists, it is
unfolding. It perhaps hasn't been communicated yet, but I think that's pretty wise. And I think that things are happening in Western Iran and in
other places of Iran.
They're happening in Tehran and other main cities that I think are serving that specific purpose. The purpose being to apply pressure on the Iranian
regime, and to allow the Iranian people not specifically minorities. You mentioned the Kurds. They're one of the few big ethnic minorities in Iran.
But there are others as well. But I think the end situation here is to or the way to reach the end situation is to apply continuous, relentless,
multi-dimensional pressure on the regime. Militarily speaking, what Secretary of War Hegseth just briefed about and what the Israelis are
doing, that's obvious.
But then on the ground with different clandestine services, both American and Israeli, arming and equipping the different opposition groups, whether
ethnic groups, or ordinary Iranians with the tools and means that they need in order to actually start challenging the regime.
Once the bombs actually stop flying in the air, and once the time will be right, I think that is what's happening. And I think in due time, it will
be communicated. But I have no doubt that such a plan exists and is, in fact unfolding.
[11:10:00]
GOLODRYGA: All right, because the Iranian nation and the people are very much a pluralistic country and society. And that is why there is concern
that if the focus was solely on arming the Kurds, what would that mean for the rest of the nation? I think you sort of address that there in your
answer.
But Jonathan, you also said that there appears to be a plan in place about the day after and who will be perhaps leading the country. President Trump,
on numerous occasions over the past five days has, I don't know if it was flippant or he was actually speaking truth by saying that whoever he had in
mind had already just been taken out by the Israelis.
But yesterday, more notably, we had Former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant on the show, and he made clear that both the United States and
Israel had been working, perhaps even for years, on the soft power approach, following what a kinetic strike and a kinetic war that we've just
been engaged with now would look like.
Why do you think that is not being communicated more? It's not as if we are asking who those people are and give us all of your specific information,
but it has created a big question here about what the strategy ultimately will be?
CORNICUS: Yes. The questions are in place, and I think they should be answered eventually. And I think that both Israel, in its small capacity
and the U.S. in its infinitely larger capacity, we have experiences from events that have transpired in the region in the last 20, 30 years, and I
think lessons that have been learned from it.
And it's much better to approach a mission like this with an end state in mind, than to just wheel in and start killing people that you may need in
order to stabilize the situation in the future. I think the main reason why this isn't named and made official is because it's a very fluid and dynamic
situation.
And both Israel and the U.S. want to keep their cards close to themselves, and not to give away information, which afterwards will be important. I
think, however, we need to be clear about where, at least from an Israeli perspective, Israel wants to go.
Israel understands that as long as this regime is in place in its current form, with its religious fundamentalist world view that sees it as a goal
to destroy what they call the Zionist entity, then Israelis will continue to suffer from Iranian aggression, whether it's their aspiration to build
nuclear weapons, their missiles, their proxies, or terror activities around the world.
And that's something that I think at this stage, after 47 years of this Islamic regime, Israel is finally saying enough. This isn't something that
we're going to tolerate. We see that there is a window of opportunity here. The regime is weakened. The regime is susceptible to internal as well as
external pressure.
And what Israel is doing is trying to use that opportunity and enact plans that have been in -- they've been in planning for quite a long time. What I
hope is that they will be executed in such a way that they, you know, incorporate the lessons from the past, Iraq, Afghanistan and other areas
that I think are very relevant, but also understand the limitations in terms of the use of force.
And I think that the U.S. and Israel are indeed aware of the limitations of kinetic force. And both countries, I think, understand that the day after
in Iran will eventually be defined by the Iranian people, not by external forces, not by U.S., not by Israel.
The Iranian nation is a great nation. The people is brave, very, very smart and educated, very proud, and has a sense of history. And at the end of
this fighting, will come the other stage where the people will be able to rise up and really enjoy the benefits of what Israel and the U.S. have
done. And I think that's why the plan isn't being communicated in order to preserve that level of surprise and flexibility.
ASHER: Jonathan, in order to justify a war, you typically need an imminent threat. And of course, it is no secret that Iran has posed an existential
threat to Israel for many decades. Of course, we all know that. For the U.S., yes there was a threat, albeit less of an imminent one.
When Marco Rubio was asked about this, the excuse that he gave was that he felt as though, because the Israelis, these were his words, not mine, that
the Israelis were going to attack, that the U.S. would have suffered the blow back from that, therefore, the U.S. had to strike first, alongside
Israel.
When Donald Trump was asked about that yesterday, he gave a very different answer, essentially saying that he believed that the Iranians would have
actually attacked American bases in the region first, ahead of any kind of American attack.
[11:15:00]
And obviously sort of explaining, expressing the fact that it is the U.S. that runs the show, not Israel, which is basically what Marco Rubio was
intimating. What do you make of the credibility of both of those explanations?
CORNICUS: I think that you know, the president is very forthcoming, very transparent with the media. Gives tremendous access, and you can really get
a piece of his mind by asking direct questions and getting very forthcoming answers. So, I think what he said is pretty clear.
As you said, from an Israeli perspective, there's very little dilemma. This is a pretty binary situation. From our perspective, Iran is a threat, and
that's why we are -- and they are an enemy. They've tried to destroy us. That's why we are fighting against them.
From U.S. perspective, I agree, there's a bit grayer, but I mean, I look at it in a historical sense, and I ask myself, you know, why wait? Why wait
for a fundamentalist regime to acquire and develop the weapons that they need in order to become an existential or very significant threat to
territorial U.S.?
Why wait for that to happen? And why not take the opportunity check their aggression and undermine their ability to build nuclear weapons and put
them on ballistic missiles? And then save yourself a lot of trouble and a very difficult strategic position down the road.
I think that's the responsible thing to do. I think that's what every country should be doing. You're not supposed to deal with issues only when
they are here, now and present, and when they're very difficult to deal with, because then you will definitely pay a much higher price.
If you deal with things before they materialize, well before the enemy has an ability to really threaten your assets, which is the situation of the
U.S., then I think that's a much smarter thing. And I think Americans, in my perspective, should, you know, rally around that and appreciate that?
Yes, the threat isn't homeland U.S. yet, but the U.S. is now taking action in order to prevent that from happening. In historical times, it would have
been as if the UK or the U.S. would have taken preemptive action against Nazi Germany before they had a significant Air Force and ballistic missiles
that they developed and other things and that that would have been nipped in the bud.
That's the comparison that I'm looking at here. From an Israeli perspective as I said, it's pretty clear we've been at the receiving end of a lot of
Iranian aggression. My only complaint to my government, prime ministers, et cetera, is that we're doing it way, way too late, and this is something
that shouldn't have been allowed to fester for so long, for so many hundreds of Israelis to be killed by Iranian funded terrorists around us,
and finally, now we are bringing the battle to the Iranian regime.
And I'm very optimistic about the future. I think that very good things can happen, good, peaceful, prosperity oriented, things can happen once this
horrible regime is actually taken off, and the Iranian people can reclaim their country.
ASHER: All right, Jonathan Cornicus live for us. Thank you. Appreciate your perspective. All right, as we mentioned, the U.S. Defense Chief is touting
the success of the operation, which the U.S. is calling epic fury as the conflict spreads across the region.
GOLODRYGA: Yeah, at a pentagon briefing earlier, Pete Hegseth saying the U.S. Israeli campaign against Iran is just getting started, and laid out
plans to accelerate military efforts.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PETE HEGSETH, U.S. DEFENSE SECRETARY: This is not a mission accomplished situation. This is simply a reality check. The combination of U.S. and
Israeli intelligence and combat power will control Iran and will control it soon.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODYGA: CNN's Haley Britzky joins us now from Washington, DC. And Haley, I want to go back to what we were discussing with Nick Paton Walsh, because
you can't but help notice the stark difference in the presentation, in the approach, in the information delivered from the Defense Secretary and then
the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
And it did seem as if Pete Hegseth, at times, appeared a bit defensive, reminding those journalists in the room that we are only five days into
this operation, saying everything is going great, America is winning, and the best is yet to come essentially, was his message. Whereas there was
more nuance from General Caine. Just talk about why that's significant?
HALEY BRITZKY, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: Right. So, I think that Secretary Hegseth, he often takes a sort of defensive stance when he's
talking about, certainly U.S. military operations, whereas General Caine comes with numbers, he comes with statistics to sort of lay out on the
ground what we're seeing.
And you really saw that difference play out during the press briefing today. And like you've mentioned, I mean, Secretary Hegseth, we saw very
confident Hegseth today saying that, you know, America is winning devastatingly.
[11:20:00]
He said that before the end of the week, so before the one-week mark of the start of this operation, U.S. and Israeli Air Forces will have total air
superiority over Iran, meaning that bombers, fighters can continue to kind of pick off these Iranian targets as they come up with them and as the
president directs them.
He also made very clear, and I think, as the president has said as well, that more is expected. He said more and more and larger waves are coming.
He said that more fighters were and bombers were arriving in the region, even today, we know that U.S. forces are continuing to flow into the
region, even as roughly 50,000 U.S. forces are already dedicated to this operation according to the Central Commander who said that yesterday.
Secretary Hegseth said that we, the U.S., will be using 500 pounds, 1000 pounds and 2000 pounds laser guided munition, gravity bombs going forward
and in coming days. And so, we'll certainly see more of that operation play out.
But as you mentioned, General Caine, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, really had a more specific message that he was delivering today. He
laid out more of the objectives as well. Let's take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEN. DAN CAINE, U.S. JOINT CHIEFS CHAIRMAN: First, we are targeting and eliminating Iran's ballistic missile systems to prevent them from
threatening the U.S. forces, partners and interests in the region. Second, we are destroying the Iranian Navy, degrading its capacity, capability and
ability to conduct operations, not just in the Central Command AOR, but as the secretary showed in the video around the world. Third, we're ensuring
Iran cannot rapidly rebuild or reconstitute its combat capability or combat power in those phases.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRITZKY: So, we heard some of those objectives that the Secretary and the General you know, have been pointing to since Monday at their other press
conference. A couple of stats I want to quickly mention that General Caine brought up as well.
He said ballistic missiles shot fired from Iran were down 86 percent from the first day of fighting this operation, and that one way, attack drone
shots fired from Iran were down 73 percent. So, he kind of brought more of those, the numbers that we can see that quantified on the battlefield.
But the bottom line here, ultimately, is that we still don't really know how long this operation will go on. Secretary Hegseth mentioned, you know,
it could be four weeks, six weeks, eight weeks, or even three weeks. So, it's really unclear timeline, of course, of how long this is going on?
All of this happening, as the U.S. has also just announced yesterday, the identities of four of the six U.S. service members who were lost in Kuwait.
So certainly, plenty more information that your journalists are looking for, and more questions the Pentagon will have to answer about this.
GOLODRYGA: Yeah, of course, our thoughts are with the families, friends and loved ones of those soldiers who sadly were killed in action. Haley
Britzky, thank you so much. And still to come, plumes of smoke rise over Beirut as Israel targets Hezbollah. The latest from the Lebanese Capital
just ahead.
ASHER: And later this hour, growing concerns about international travel. We'll look at how some countries are working to get their citizens out of
harm's way?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:25:00]
ASHER: All right, Iran and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, carried out their first coordinated attacks on Israel on Wednesday. The Israel, the
IDF, Israel Defense Forces say that Iran and Hezbollah launched two joint attacks, setting off alert sirens in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. CNN teams on
the ground say they saw missiles intercepted over the central part of Israel.
GOLODRYGA: And the attacks come as Israel steps up it strikes on Beirut, inflicting serious damage on the Lebanese capital Wednesday. The Israeli
military issued an urgent warning for people to evacuate the city's southern suburbs, saying they were in close proximity to Hezbollah
facilities.
ASHER: All right, Matthew Chance is in Beirut for us with the very latest. Obviously, Lebanon is a multi-ethnic country. It's a pluralistic society,
and so opinions on Hezbollah are certainly mixed and divided. You have the Shia Lebanese who clearly support Hezbollah.
However, there are a lot of Lebanese people Matthew who are simply tired and exhausted of being consistently dragged into conflict by Hezbollah.
Just walk us through what you're hearing on the ground.
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CHIEF GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, especially actually and noticeably, people who are from those areas of South Lebanon,
for example, that are traditionally the heart bed of support for Hezbollah.
I mean, many thousands of people Zain have been forced to once again, flee their homes, pack their families into their cars, get on the backs of
trucks, and move out of their houses and try to find shelter here in Beirut, elsewhere in the country, there's lots of people sleeping on the
streets outside.
And so, they're in an appalling set of circumstances. And there's a lot of pressure being put on the Lebanese government to act and to crack down,
they formally banned, as we've reported, Hezbollah's military activities, which is a risky thing to do in a volatile and divided country like this.
And of course, there's also blame being apportioned to Hezbollah for dragging Lebanon, increasingly into this war by attacking Israel after the
assassination, the killing of the Iranian Supreme Leader by Israeli forces, along with U.S. backing at the weekend.
There have been intensive air strikes taking place in the south of the country at various other Hezbollah strong holds. That's what Israel says
it's targeting. But also, here in the Lebanese capital as well, overnight, very intensive strikes on areas of South Beirut, which are, you know, those
most strongly controlled by Hezbollah.
We traveled to that part of the city earlier today to look at a small hotel that had been struck overnight, and we met the owner. And she insisted that
there was nobody there from Iran, no Iranian citizens, no Hezbollah fighters, just ordinary families, not Hezbollah who she blamed for sort of
attracting this kind of negative, violent attention. Take a listen to what she said and what we saw.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAGUY CHEBLI, HOTEL OWNER IN LEBANON: We had no one here. We had no any Iranians or any Hezbollah armies here. And we are not that stupid to check
them in. We are not that stupid. We live here. It's our home.
CHANCE: How angry are you?
CHEBLI: I am angry, of course --
CHANCE: -- with Hezbollah?
CHEBLI: I am angry with Hezbollah and Israel and Iran, but Hezbollah, more you know why? Because they are Lebanese. They should be Lebanese. They are
not. They are proving day by day that they are not Lebanese. They are hurting us. They are hurting our homes, our children.
CHANCE: And they are dragging this country into the Iran war?
CHEBLI: They are dragging us to war that we don't want and we're not ready.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHANCE: Right. Well, some very outspoken criticism of Hezbollah there from the owner of that hotel that was struck in an Israeli air strike overnight.
For the moment, though, it doesn't seem that Hezbollah is holding back. In fact, you just mentioned those reports that it is now coordinating attacks,
according to the Israeli military, with Iran on targets inside Israel.
[11:30:00]
And so that is a sure sign that it is going to be increasingly targeted itself by Israeli forces, as Lebanon seems to be sucked in more and more to
that sort of regional war, Zain.
ASHER: All right, Matthew Chance, live for us there. Thank you so much. All right still to come here on "One World", American stranded in the Middle
East are scrambling to get out as thousands of commercial flights are canceled that story next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ASHER: All right. Welcome back to "One World". I'm Zain Asher.
GOLODRYGA: And I'm Bianna Golodryga. Here some of the headlines we're watching today. The U.S. Defense Secretary says an American submarine sank
an Iranian warship in international waters off the coast of Sri Lanka. This video was shown at an earlier Pentagon briefing.
Pete Hegseth says that it was the first sinking of an enemy vessel by a torpedo since World War II. Sri Lanka's Navy says that it has recovered
several bodies.
ASHER: The Israel Defense Forces say they have begun a 10th wave of strikes on Tehran. They say they're targeting command centers used by Iran's
internal security forces and Basij militia. Earlier this week, a former IDF soldier told CNN that she believes Israel's end goal is to, quote, cripple
the Islamic regime in Iran.
GOLODRYGA: Israeli attacks have inflicted major damage on parts of the Lebanese Capital Beirut. The IDF say they are urging people in the south of
the city to evacuate, claiming Hezbollah facilities were in the area. Iran and Hezbollah carried out their first joint attacks on Israel on Wednesday.
ASHER: As the war in Iran stretches into a fifth day, new images are emerging from inside the country. This photo, geo located by CNN, shows a
large plume of smoke near the City of Isfahan. Iranian state media has reported explosions in several parts of the country.
[11:35:00]
The U.S. based human rights activist news agency reports that more than 1000 people have been killed since the war began.
GOLODRYGA: There is frustration and huge uncertainty for foreign nationals across the Middle East who are looking for ways to get out of the war zone.
The U.S. has already closed some embassies and ordered many diplomatic staff to leave. More than 1500 Americans have reached out to the State
Department for help, and many countries in the Gulf have closed their air space, and thousands of flights have been canceled.
ASHER: President Trump says that no plans to evacuate Americans was made before the strikes began, because it happened too quickly. Now, the
government says it is looking at ways to get Americans out. Joining us live now from the White House CNN's Kevin Liptak.
Although we do remember that, Mike Huckabee, just a day before, did say that you know, if you are an American, working at the U.S. Embassy, for
example, in Israel, that it would be time -- the best time to get out would be now that was a day before the strikes actually happened. Just walk us
through though.
Now, if you are an American and you are stuck in the Middle East, what recourse do you have, especially without evacuation plans Kevin?
KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Right. And the State Department says that they're trying to work to set up charter flights to
get military planes equipped to get Americans out, to help Americans book commercial travel.
But of course, commercial flights have been extraordinarily limited the air space and some of these major transportation hubs, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Doha,
they've all been intermittently closed. Carriers are canceling flights, sort of left and right, and it's created this enormous amount of
frustration about why more wasn't being done ahead of this war's onset to help Americans at least prepare to get out of the country.
You know, the U.S. was building up this military sort of stronghold in the region for weeks and weeks, but apparently no work was done ahead of time
to try and prepare for this possible Iranian retaliation.
And you know, President Trump did say in that phone call with Jake Tapper earlier this week that in fact, that was the biggest surprise in all of
this was that Iran was retaliating against these very wealthy Gulf state nations, and so that perhaps leads to the sense that Americans weren't sort
of ready for this evacuation effort to proceed.
Now we did hear from Marco Rubio, the Secretary of State, yesterday, describing some of what his department is doing to try and help Americans
get out. Listen to what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARCO RUBIO, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: We have identified and continue to identify charter flights, military flight options and expanded commercial
flight options, meaning working with the airlines to send bigger airplanes with more seats. The problem is, or the challenge we are facing is air
space closures.
If a country closes their airport, for example, in some cases, the airports have been hit. So, the airport in Kuwait was hit. So, if an airport has
been attacked or the air space is closed, then we can have the planes lined up to go, but we can't get them to land because we don't have the
permissions to land there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LIPTAK: Now, as of yesterday, the State Department said it was working on charter flights out of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan.
They say that they are waiving their typical requirement that passengers reimburse the State Department for their travel.
As of yesterday, the State Department had been in contact with 3000 Americans. They say 9000 Americans have been able to leave, but that's just
a fraction of the hundreds of thousands of Americans that actually live in the Middle East.
ASHER: All right, Kevin Liptak, live for us there. Thank you so much. We're also tracking European countries efforts to evacuate their citizens from
the Middle East as well. The British Foreign Minister says she is working with airlines and governments in the region, and has already charted a
flight out of Oman. Special flights are also being arranged by France and Italy as well.
GOLODRYGA: British Prime Minister Keir Starmer says that he understands how worried people are about what is going to happen next. He spoke earlier to
lawmakers in London.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KEIR STARMER, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: Mr. Speaker, can I make clear this is obviously an extremely serious situation. And I know the whole country; the
whole country is worried about the potential for escalation. They are worried about the impact on their lives, particularly when they see what is
happening with energy.
The family and friends of those who are caught in the region will be worried sick about them, and of course, we got civilians and military
personnel at risk in the region. We need to act, therefore, with clarity, with purpose and with a cool head.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: Our next guest is the President and CEO of the Flight Safety Foundation. Hassan Shahidi is joining us now. Thank you so much Hasan for
taking the time.
[11:40:00]
And this is something, as we know, that has been impacting tens of thousands of people who are now stuck in that region, specifically a region
that is known as a bridge between East and West. You see thousands upon thousands of travelers daily.
And given that, yes, there were heightened tensions ahead of the strikes last Friday, there have been heightened tensions for months now, and yet
people found themselves in a position where they had no other alternative, no option B for getting out of the region so quickly.
So, you do have a check list of what passengers should do when they find themselves in a similar type of situation. Can you just walk us through
that? Because, as we know, there are so many families now who are desperate, desperate for any sort of help to get out.
HASSAN SHAHIDI, PRESIDENT & CEO, FLIGHT SAFETY FOUNDATION: Yes. Well, this is unprecedented, and what we're seeing is anxiety concern on the part of
passengers who are stranded, but also those that are expats that are living in the Gulf States and trying to get out. And it's creating anxiety. It's
creating a lot of worry about families and how do they get out?
And so first of all, it's very important to register with the Embassy of your country, certainly in the U.S. there are thousands of those that are
stranded, that are certainly registered and have expressed their interest that they want to leave. And other countries are doing the same thing.
They're being asked their citizens to register with the embassies. And certainly, the second important thing is to focus on safety, safety for
yourself and your family, making sure that you have situational awareness, making sure that you're checking with your airline. Right now, there are no
scheduled flights out of there, but certainly checking with the airport and checking with the authorities.
ASHER: You know, I think that one of the things that really caught people by surprise is that if you are British or American or living in Dubai, yes,
of course, you're used to sort of witnessing these wars or flare ups in the Middle East. But never would you expect that the UAE would, a country that
sort of seems to by and large mind its own business, would be dragged into this directly.
That is what caught a lot of people by surprise, and that is why a lot of people, quite frankly, didn't evacuate sooner. So, the question then
becomes, if you are living in Dubai, for example, or Abu Dhabi, you now have an important choice to make.
You can either wait it out and hope that this war blows over relatively quickly, or you can then try to begin to make the sort of 6, 5, 6, hour
drive to Musk got in Oman to try to get a flight out to wherever you can get a flight out to. How do you know, if you're in that situation. What on
earth you're supposed to do?
SHAHIDI: Yes. I just came back from the region before the conflict started. And certainly, there are people there that were worried that we would
actually end up in the situation we are right now. So, there are some limited options, and the countries there in the Gulf are looking to see how
they could arrange for these flights, for these stranded passengers.
Dubai and Abu Dhabi are looking for some limited operations to open up their airspace intermittently, to be able to have these flights leave.
There are also others in the region, such as Doha, Riyadh partially -- and Muscat as well.
So yes, there are options in terms of ground transportation, you know, to try to get to these airports, but we're talking about hundreds of thousands
of people, so it's really practically very, very difficult right now. And we're seeing that governments are now working to try to have these flights,
commercial and even charter flights.
The U.S. is looking to figure out to try to send some charter flights to get people out of Israel, which is very difficult right now because the
airspace is closed. But also, these other countries. I would just say that when you're talking about hundreds of thousands of people, this is near
impossible to try to get all of these people out.
GOLODRYGA: Yeah. And the FT has an article today about some families paying up to $250,000 and these are obviously families that can afford to perhaps
charter a private plane, even taxis and cars to get out of one country into another, is costing thousands of dollars.
But passengers are still advised to fly commercial and the majority can only afford commercial flights.
[11:45:00]
So is it ultimately up to the airline companies, and it's understandable the predicament they find themselves in too trying to first and foremost,
provide safety for their passengers and their employees to decide when they ultimately will be able to fly in and out of the region.
SHAHIDI: That's right. And what we're hearing now from the Gulf States is that they're trying to work with the airlines to make this easy as possible
for the passengers. In some cases, you know, help pay for those flights out. As you have heard in the reports that you've been providing UAE, for
example, is offering to pay for all the costs, hotel and travel costs for the passengers that are stranded there.
So, the governments in the Gulf are trying to be proactive, or trying to do everything they can to try to accommodate the situation, to offset these
costs, in some cases, pay for these costs. And so, I think we will need to see over the coming days and weeks how the governments are going to be able
to coordinate.
And most importantly, the airspace has to be open. If there are missiles flying, if there are drones flying, then you can't really open the air
space. So, it's fluid, it's dynamic, and it's going to be difficult in the coming days and weeks.
GOLODRYGA: Yeah, we've experienced this off and on over the course of the war between Israel and Gaza, where we saw, airlines would stop flying and
then resume their flights to Israel. But that seems like nothing relative to what we are seeing right now, because of the central hub that the region
really has become over the last few years.
Hassan Shahidi, thank you so much for your tips. Thank you for your insights. Really appreciate it.
ASHER: Thank you so much.
SHAHIDI: Good to be with you.
GOLODRYGA: And still to come for us, the economic impacts of this war are starting to come to light. We'll check what's happening with stocks and to
the price of oil that's coming up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ASHER: All right, traders and investors are speculating how the attacks on Iran will shake out, just in economic terms. Many are concerned that a
prolonged conflict would drive up inflation and, of course, slow global growth. Those are the fears that dragged Wall Street down sharply on
Tuesday.
Let's take a look and see how the markets are faring now. The DOW is actually up a little bit more than half of 1 percent.
[11:50:00]
S&P 500 up nearly 1 percent and the NASDAQ up by even more one and a half percent.
GOLODRYGA: And here is how the oil markets are reacting right now as well. They've taken a turn south Brent Crude, about 77, 70 closes to 78 while WTI
down nearly one percentage point. The U.S. produces more oil, we should note, than any country. Yet the war with Iran is already driving up the
price of gasoline in the United States.
The average retail price jumped $0.09 a gallon on Tuesday, after a rise of $0.11 on Monday. CNN's Vanessa Yurkevich joins us now live in New York. And
Vanessa, if there is one indicator that the president closely watches more than anything else and is most sensitive to, that is both the stock market
and how oil prices are reacting?
He had mentioned yesterday that the United States would be guaranteeing the safe passage of tankers through the Strait of Hormuz. Not sure how exactly
that that would happen and those guarantees would be met. But it is notable that we have seen oil prices go down a bit today, despite what we saw
earlier this morning, which was a significant rise?
VENESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS AND POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. And that is what investors believe. They believe, and they know that the president
watches the markets, and they believe that the president often will moderate his tone based on what markets are doing.
And we have kind of seen that in the last 24 hours. So, you have U.S. stocks rebounding this morning. I mean, look at that, the DOW up almost 300
points, S&P up almost 1 percent and the NASDAQ up almost one and a half percent. That is a turnaround from yesterday, when we saw markets fall at
one point by 1200 points over fears of just how long this war could go on.
Then we heard from the president that he was going to provide safe passage to oil tankers in the Middle East region, as well as insure them. And then
talked about the strategy, a little bit about the fact that he believes that the U.S. has actually taken out a good portion of Iran's military
already.
So, you see now hopeful wishful thinking from investors looking to neutralize this. Also, you have a group of investors who have been really
buying at the dip of some of these stocks for the past couple years now. So that is happening.
On the oil markets yes, moderation, as you mentioned, down a little bit this morning, because largely the Strait of Hormuz, though, over the past
couple days has been closed to oil tankers, and that's why you have seen, despite the dip this morning, still crude prices U.S. crude prices and
Brent prices down 13 to 14 percent over the last couple days.
And that is because you have not seen the passage of oil tankers through that region that you see on your screen right there, which accounts for 20
percent of all oil transport. I will say, though, guys, as you mentioned, the translation to gas prices here in the United States has happened really
quickly.
Gas prices up $0.20 in the last two days. That is significant for U.S. customers who are filling up their tanks every single day.
GOLODRYGA: Yeah, Americans will be watching that closely. Venezuela Yurkevich, thank you so much.
ASHER: Thank you, Vanessa.
GOLODRYGA: We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:55:00]
ASHER: All right. Finally, this hour, tributes are pouring in for the six U.S. service members killed in a deadly Iranian drone strike in Kuwait on
Sunday. The first Americans to die in the current conflict with Iran.
GOLODRYGA: Yeah. Only four have been publicly identified. They were Captain Cody Khork, Sergeant First Class, Noah Tietjens, Sergeant First Class,
Nicole Amor and Sergeant Declan Coady, all were soldiers with a U.S. Army Reserve unit out of Iowa.
A source says the strike came quickly with no warning or sirens to alert the troops to take cover. The attack happened on the second day of the
joint U.S. Israeli military operation against Iran. And we are thinking of their families, their loved ones, and we thank them for their service. And
do stay with us, we'll have more "One World" after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
