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One World with Zain Asher
Israel Orders Evacuations in Entire Beirut Neighborhoods; Kurds Spread Across Region, Do Not Have Their Own State; U.S. Stocks Fall Amid New Fears Over Energy Supply; U.S. Gas Prices Have Hit Highest Point of Either Trump Term; Skepticism Over Trump Plan to Provide Guarantees for Ships; Trump Says He Must Have a Role in Picking Iran's Next Leader. Aired 11a-12p ET
Aired March 06, 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]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN HOST, ONE WORLD: Hello, everyone. Live from New York. I'm Bianna Golodryga. Zain is off today. You are watching "One World". It
is 07:30 Friday evening in Tehran. And the Pentagon is warning the amount of fire power facing Iran is about to surge dramatically.
Let's get you up to speed on the latest developments. Tehran is facing heavy bombardment after Israel announced that it had begun, a broad scale
wave of strikes in the Iranian capital. Gulf nations also remain under attack from Iran. In Bahrain, a hotel, two residential buildings and an oil
refinery were hit.
And in Qatar, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, all intercepting Iranian missiles and drones earlier Friday. The Israeli military, meantime, is pounding
Beirut and has issued more evacuation orders there, as tens of thousands of residents flee the Lebanese capital. Iran has been firing back as well,
including a new round of strikes on Tel Aviv.
And President Trump has spoken to CNN in the last few hours, saying that Iran's leadership has been neutered and he is not worried about democracy
there. CNN's Nick Paton Walsh is joining me now live in Tel Aviv. Nick, a lot of developments there, to your north there, with the border with
Lebanon, and continued back and forth between Israel and Hezbollah.
And obviously what's taking place with Iran. Just talk about what you're seeing on the ground. And also, if I could just get your take and what
you're hearing from sources on President Trump doubling down, saying that complete unconditional surrender is the only way that he will end this war
with Iran now.
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, let's deal with that first, because I think while we hear President Trump
sounding bellicose, leaning certainly for maximum military leverage here by demanding that unconditional surrender. He is still talking about the end,
potentially, of how this conflict may end up being resolved.
And if you look at that statement together with his clear declaration, he wants to be involved or certainly satisfied with the choice of Iran's next
Supreme Leader. Still a week after the death almost of Ali Khamenei, the previous one not yet appointed, and his suggestion that he's not really
concerned about democracy, does the a fair and just leader.
This is also him kind of talking about how he might see a political resolution to this as well. So, add to that as well the fact that we are
increasingly seeing CENTCOM U.S. military edging towards their two of their key goals. They're talking about an 80, 90 percent drop in missile and
drone strikes now.
That was one particular part of their goals, the navy losing 30 ships, another one of their goals to prevent Iran from having a nuclear weapon,
while the destruction we've been seeing inside Iran, pretty much, I'm sure, heads them quite close towards that. So, the military goals within reach.
President Trump very clear he wants unconditional surrender, probably cognizant of the fact that that's unlikely to happen, but they might get
something kind of close to it. And so that suggests me that the timeline here in President Trump's mind may not be the four to five weeks he spoke
about a matter of days ago.
All could change at a dime, obviously. But at the same time, we have seen, I think it's fair to say, a drop in rocket fire over Tel Aviv. I was woken
this morning by very loud interceptions overhead, certainly. And we went to the site of debris that had fallen after other interceptions last night as
well, but no injuries at this particular point.
And so, it is interesting to observe that change here. But what is possibly picking up, though, is Israel's activity to the north of where I'm standing
on their northern border with Southern Lebanon, a massive evacuation order there of the south of the country, from the Litani River south.
Obviously causing significant panic anxiety on the hundreds of thousands there and in southern Beirut, also demanded to be evacuated amongst
ordinary Lebanese there. Huge blasts heard through the night in Dahieh, the southern suburb of Beirut. 500 targets hit since the beginning of this
campaign, says the Israeli military.
We've heard that five Israeli soldiers have been, it seems, quite badly injured as a result of rocket fire. 70 rockets fired by Hezbollah over the
border as well according to Israeli officials.
[11:05:00]
So clearly, Hezbollah are not a spent force and one that the Israelis are going to continue to persist against. I think the question is now we're
seeing the fast pace of these evacuation orders being demanded, whether that suggests a faster pace of Israeli military action, or whether we're in
for this sort of separate chapter.
I think it's fair to say, outside of the U.S., Israeli-Iran conflict, this separate chapter being prolonged for many more weeks ahead, Bianna.
GOLODRYGA: Yeah, and aside from the human toll here, the president would indeed be sensitive about also the rising prices at the pump, something
that we will get to later this hour, but that is something that he is very much aware of and a lot of nervous Americans as they're going to the gas
stations as they're seeing those prices rise.
Nick Paton Walsh, thank you so much. Appreciate your time. And as we mentioned, CNN's Dana Bash spoke to President Trump a short time ago. Trump
told Dana, that Iran's leadership has been quote, neutered. He again stressed how he believes the U.S. should be involved in the process of
choosing Iran's next leader.
The president also believes the next leader of Iran will need to quote, treat the U.S. and Israel well, even if it doesn't become a democratic
state. Kevin Liptak joins us now live from the White House. So, a lot there to parse through from the president and his comments again reiterating that
he will accept nothing but complete surrender from the Iranians.
And echoing what he had said earlier, that he will play a part in deciding who the next leader of the country would be. But Kevin, he also then began
talking to Dana about possible regime change in Cuba as well. Just walk us through some of the headlines he's made today.
KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Right. And he brought that issue of Cuba up on his own. You know, Dana didn't raise that with him. He
clearly had been thinking about it, apparently emboldened by what is happening in Iran, you know, the assassination of the supreme leader there,
but also clearly emboldened by what he has accomplished in Venezuela.
The capture of Nicolas Maduro, the installation of, apparently, a client government underneath Delcy Rodriguez, the one-time vice president. You
know, the president has actually been thinking about Cuba for quite some time, since well before the attack in Iran began a week ago, the U.S. has
been in talks with the grandson of Raul Castro.
There is some skepticism, I think, inside the administration, that he will be the person to lead Cuba in a new direction going forward. I think
there's an open question of whether they have, in fact, identified anyone on that island who will be able to work with the United States to
accomplish what the president seems to think they will be able to do.
But at the same time, there is, you know, quite a dire humanitarian situation under way there, you know, fuel shortage, just food shortages,
all these questions about how much longer the regime there will be able to sustain itself. And clearly, the president now eyeing that country as the
next one in his lineup of places where he wants to orchestrate regime change.
You know, for all of the insistence by the Pentagon, by the White House, that what's happening in Iran is not a war of regime change. President
Trump seems to be undercutting that at every moment, including in this message today, when he is talking about unconditional surrender of the
Iranian regime.
You know, in that interview with Dana, he also downplayed this idea that gas prices could suddenly become a political issue for him, and certainly
we just saw today, the price of gas reached the highest level in either of President Trump's two terms so far, you know, as much as the president
wants to downplay it.
The -- you know, officials in this building very much believe that higher gas prices could pose a dire political problem for Republicans in the
midterm elections this year, in an election that is already very much about affordability and about the cost of living, and you have seen a scramble
among administration officials to try and find ways to mitigate the price of gas, whether it's allowing these U.S. backed risk insurance for tankers,
or this plan that the president has announced to allow for naval escorts of tankers through the Strait of Hormuz.
That is, there a lot of questions about how exactly that would work. And so as much as the president seems to be putting forward this kind of
nonchalant attitude about it. There is, I think, some serious concerns among the president's senior most advisers about what that will portend
politically, and so.
I think, taken altogether clearly, this is a president who feels very strongly about the way this conflict is going so far.
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And also, doesn't necessarily feel an imperative to end it in the immediate term, but I think it still raises a lot of questions about what exactly his
end game in all of this is.
GOLODRYGA: Yeah, no doubt. Kevin Liptak, thank you so much reporting live from the White House. Well, CNN has reported that the CIA is working to arm
Iranian Kurdish forces. However, any attempt to arm Iranian Kurdish groups would need support from the Iraqi Kurds.
The Kurdish people are a regional minority who make up between 8 to 17 percent of Iran's population. CNN's Clarissa Ward has more on the
complicated role of Kurdish politics and loyalties.
CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Everyone is watching to see whether Kurdish fighters will launch a ground offensive into Iran.
So, who are the Kurds?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WARD (voice-over): They're one of the largest stateless ethnic groups in the world, about 30 to 40 million people spread across a mountainous region
spanning Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Syria. After the collapse of the Ottoman Empire a century ago, they were promised a state of their own.
It never materialized. In Iran, Kurdish armed groups have fought the government for decades operating from bases along the Iraqi border.
Multiple sources say the CIA has backed some of those groups as they prepare for a possible ground offensive. In Iraq, the picture is very
different.
Kurds here built a powerful autonomous region after the fall of Saddam Hussein, and worked closely with the United States in the fight against
ISIS. But they're wary of provoking Iran, and are trying to stay neutral, calling for peace and stability. In Syria, Kurdish militias became one of
Washington's most effective partners against ISIS controlling much of the North East.
But they were ultimately forced to give up some of that territory to the government in Damascus.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WARD (on camera): Across the region, Kurdish politics and loyalties vary widely, but many share a long history of struggle for recognition, autonomy
and in some cases their own state. Clarissa, Ward, CNN, Erbil.
GOLODRYGA: Our thanks to Clarissa for that. And still to come on "One World" as the war in the Middle East escalates, oil prices are rising very
fast due to fears over energy supply. We'll break down the numbers coming up. Plus, no port in the storm. Details ahead on how the Trump
Administration plans to help ships still carrying oil through the Strait of Hormuz.
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DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: And yesterday, my administration announced decisive action to help keep down the oil prices,
including offering political risk insurance for tankers transiting into the Gulf. As you know, pretty dangerous territory. Further action to reduce
pressure on oil is imminent, and the oil seems to have pretty much stabilized.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: All right. There you hear the president commenting on the price of oil and focusing on the energy markets. Let's get a look at the markets
and how they're doing at this hour. You see red across the board, the DOW down over 1 percent the S&P 500 also down 1 percent the NASDAQ down nearly
1 percent.
And so much focus, of course, on gas prices, which are at their highest point of either Trump presidency. Let's take a look at how the oil markets
are looking, and look at Brent now up $91 up 6, almost 7 percent and some saying it could even reach $100 soon. It is at more than $90 the first time
since April of 2024 that is an increase of more than 50 percent so far, just this year alone, for Brett crude.
The U.S. Energy Secretary saying the Navy will now begin escorting ships through the Strait of Hormuz. Chris Wright told Fox News that naval escorts
will start, quote as quickly as we can, oil being shipped through there has basically come to a complete standstill. Nearly 80 percent has been choked
off now this as they face the very real threat of being attacked by Iran if they try.
So, let's get the very latest with Matt Egan, we're seeing oil, as we noted, Matt, up $91 a barrel, the biggest spike we've seen in a couple of
years. And for Americans, what that really means is what they're seeing at the gas pump, and that is also increased as well. That's their biggest
concern. Just walk us through the numbers.
MATT EGAN, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Yeah. Well, look, Bianna, this is clearly a serious situation. The war has derailed the flow of energy out of the
Middle East, and investors are increasingly concerned about when that flow will resume. That's why oil prices are surging once again.
This is U.S. oil prices. WTI, at $88 almost $89 today up by almost 10 percent on the day. That means the oil is on track for its biggest one day
increase since 2020. And look at this trend, oil prices were relatively low and stable, and then boom, the war hit, and now they're going almost
straight up.
As you mentioned, there's some who believe that this is not nearly done yet. The Energy Minister of Qatar warned that if ships don't start moving
through the Strait of Hormuz, in the next two to three weeks, we can see oil prices go to $150 a barrel. This is the Strait of Hormuz, this narrow
waterway off the coast of Iran.
And the fact that there's been a de facto shut down of this waterway means one that the flow of energy oil that's been produced in Saudi Arabia,
Qatar, the UAE and elsewhere, is not getting out to the rest of the world, but it also means that some countries have been forced to slash production
because their storage tanks are filling up.
"The Wall Street Journal" reports that some oil fields in Kuwait have been forced to cut back on their production, all because the Strait of Hormuz
has shut down. Now as you mentioned, gas prices have been going up rapidly here in the United States and really around the world.
The national average is now 3.32 a gallon. That is up from just below $3 a gallon before the war started. And this is, as you mentioned, the highest
average gas price in the United States in either of the president's terms. Now, to be fair, we should note that one people are making more money than
they were a few years ago.
So that means that gas is not swallowing up as much of their paychecks. And also, gas prices were even higher. They were about $5 a gallon after Russia
invaded Ukraine under Former President Biden. Now, President Trump has suggested he's not overly concerned about this, telling CNN's Dana Bash
that this is going to be short term and that prices will go down very quickly.
He also insisted that the Strait of Hormuz has already been figured out, but, Bianna, I got to tell you, I think the message from the market is this
has not been figured out, and that this is unsustainable. Back to you.
GOLODRYGA: And shipping has dropped by 80 percent through the Strait of Hormuz. And as we know, roughly 20 percent of the world's oil flows through
there. Iran has said that they are not officially closing and blocking off the strait, but that's effectively how oil tankers and companies have
viewed this, right?
Because you've got to get insurance for those tankers, and no one wants to take the risk to see if Iran could indeed retaliate, as they've threatened
to do.
[11:20:00]
EGAN: Yeah. Absolutely first and foremost, they've got to worry about the security of the people who work on these ships. Then they have to worry
about the safety of the cargo, including oil and liquefied natural gas. Obviously, there's environmental issues, and then there's the insurance
problems, because some of the carriers have dropped their coverage.
So, you put it all together, and on Wednesday, exactly zero ships went through their Strait of Hormuz, some oil tankers and some context zero on
Wednesday. That compares with a typical day before the war, when 60 tankers were going through carrying oil. So, this is clearly a very serious
situation.
And one last point for you is just how markets are reacting. U.S. stocks are solidly in the red. You see, the DOW is about for 1.1 percent down,
around 500-point, 1 percent for the S&P 500. Bianna, I got to tell you, I'm actually surprised at how well U.S. markets have handled all of this news,
because when you really zoom out on the week, markets are down, but not nearly as much as you might imagine given this oil price spike that we're
looking at.
GOLODRYGA: Yeah, and this coming after a weaker than expected jobs report as well. So coupled with concerns about the energy market, now you have
concerns about the overall stability of the U.S. economy and perhaps a slowdown in hiring. Matt Egan, thank you.
EGAN: Thanks, Bianna.
GOLODRYGA: Well, my next guest is the CEO of Qamar Energy, Robin Mills. Joins me now live from Dubai. Robin, welcome to the program. Thanks so much
for joining us. So, as we have noted, roughly 20 percent of the world's oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz, Iran hasn't officially shut down that
strait.
But effectively that is how many oil companies are responding to this now, especially with the tankers down 80 percent in terms of traffic through the
strait. You hear President Trump say, this is not a big dish issue. They have taken out the Iranian navy and that the U.S. is looking for any sort
of military escorts that could escort some of these tankers through the strait.
ROBIN MILLS, CEO OF QAMAR ENERGY: Your reaction to all of this, and are you surprised by the spike we've seen in prices?
I'm surprised that the spike hasn't been bigger like we have shut down 80 percent I would say 90 percent of transit through the Strait of Hormuz, 20
million barrels per day of oil which would normally go through there, which now can't get to world markets. So, I think we can expect prices to go
quite a bit higher.
And it's not about the Iranian navy, but it's about the drones and other ways that vessels can be threatened.
GOLODRYGA: And analysts now predict Brent could cross $100 a barrel. You've got Qatar's Energy Minister warning that it could hit $150 if Hormuz is
officially closed down. What specific trigger would push us from a temporary spike to you think one that could last for a longer term?
MILLS: Well, we have to see when is something like normal transit going to be resumed, through the strait, because right now, all these oil producers
are fitting up their storage tanks. We saw first a couple of days ago, Iraq filled its storage. Today, we see reports Kuwait is cutting back.
Because once these countries fill their storage, they can't produce, they can't export, so they have to cut back production, and we will see other
Gulf countries same, if we don't get transit back very soon, and we're going to see a steady escalation of prices. And indeed, I expect we'll
cross $100 per mile pretty soon, since we don't seem to be anywhere close to a military resolution of this.
GOLODRYGA: Yeah. And as you know, Kuwait now also being the latest country to cut production because its storage tanks are filling up. The impact that
is having here in the United States is a top concern for Americans and in Washington as well. Politically, this could be a very sensitive issue.
It has long been a sensitive issue for every administration, and that is the price of gasoline, which has spiked as well about 11 percent this week
alone. If the conflict drags on, just talk about the impact that could have and how much higher Americans. I mean, obviously this is a global crisis,
but for an American audience with an American President who plays close attention to these prices.
Just talk to us about what we can expect to see at the pumps here over the next few weeks.
MILLS: Well, you know, the U.S. doesn't import much oil from the Middle East now, and of course, it's a big exporter of oil now, but it plays in
the world market like everybody else. So, when the world price goes up, prices in the U.S. go up too. And indeed, we'll see the impact on the pumps
in the U.S.
We'll see gasoline, we'll see diesel for commercial vehicles going up, and we'll see jet fuel for aviation. All of these prices are going to rise
significantly. And everybody's here is talking about crude oil, of course, but don't forget, the Gulf is a big exporter of these refined products and
we've seen already the impact in Asia on the refined product market.
[11:25:00]
And of course, consumers at the pump are buying, not buying crude oil, they're buying gasoline, and that has been hit even more than crude oil.
GOLODRYGA: Right. And Qatar has declared force majeure, really, after a drone strike on Ross law fund that is the world's largest LNG export hub.
But you're right to note that despite the U.S. being the world's largest exporter, oil is basically like money. It's fungible, so the impact that it
has is not isolated to just one part of the world.
President Trump, earlier this week, said that he was not looking to tap into the SPR just yet. I mean, do you think that, that is a possible option
for him. Would you be surprised if that indeed happened over the next few weeks, if this war does drag out longer?
MILLS: If it drags on for a few weeks, and if we don't get transit through the Strait of Hormuz restored to at least some level. I think there'll be
absolutely a lot of pressure to use the SPR to have a release of stocks and to -- and for other countries have their own strategic stocks to join in,
absolutely.
The one issue there I do see is that China has huge strategic stocks. Actually, more days of cover than the U.S. has right now. And there'll be
people watching China very closely to say, well, should we be releasing our strategic stocks if the Chinese don't? And effectively supporting Chinese
actions. So that makes this politically trickier than it would have been.
GOLODRYGA: Yeah. And then it raises the question of, if you start to see more pressure from around the world, India comes to mind, are we going to
see the United States face more pressure to lift some sanctions on Russian oil as well. Again, all of these thoughts and considerations in the days
and weeks to come as this war continues to unfold and expand in the region.
Robin Mills, thank you so much for the time. Really appreciate it. All right. Breaking News into CNN, Sources tell CNN that Russia has been
providing Iran with intelligence about U.S. assets in the Middle East. It is not clear if any Iranian attack can be attributed to Russian targeting
information.
Our Zachary Cohen joins me now, and this is really troubling reporting. I believe "The Washington Post" was the first to report this. We can now
confirm it as well with our own reporting, Zach. Just talk about what we are hearing, exactly how Russia has been able to help Iran, and this comes
after the United States has already lost six of its military personnel.
ZACHARY COHEN, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: Yeah, Bianna, this is really the first indication that Russia has sought to get involved in the
ongoing war Iran. And we're told that this intelligence that Russia is providing to Iran is related to the movement and locations of U.S. troops,
ships and aircraft.
And it's predominantly based around intelligence that comes from Russia's very sophisticated constellation of overhead satellites. That's something
that they can use to track those movements of American service members in the region, as well as the other assets you mentioned.
And so, we're not -- it's not clear if we can link a single Iranian attack to the intelligence that was provided to Tehran by Russia. But as you
mentioned, we do know that six U.S. service members were killed in a suspected drone strike that targeted a makeshift operation center of sorts.
Those were the first casualties on the U.S. side that we've learned about to date. And so, we're also being told as well that there the U.S. has
intelligence that China may be preparing to provide financial support to Iran as well. Now, as of this moment, it appears China has stayed out of
the conflict, but that would also be a significant development support that could also include missile components and logistical help.
And obviously, Beijing more cautious as far as providing support to Iran trying to avoid a direct confrontation with the United States. Obviously,
the U.S. and Russia have been on opposing sides as far as the war in Ukraine goes. So, Russia is maybe more aggressive support for Iran is not
overwhelmingly surprising, but significant nonetheless.
GOLODRYGA: Yeah, and Russia had been relying on Iranian Shahed drones for much of its war in Ukraine as well. Also, notable that President Trump is
scheduled to visit China and his first summit with Xi Jinping since he's returned to office for a second term as well, in just a few weeks' time.
Zachary Cohen, very consequential reporting. Thank you so much. All right, still ahead for us on the campaign trail, Donald Trump was critical of
other presidents who got entangled in wars. So why has he stepped up U.S. military action during his second term? We'll talk to a presidential
historian after the break.
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GOLODRYGA: Welcome back to "One World". I'm Bianna Golodryga in New York. Here are some headlines we're watching today. As the U.S. and Israeli war
intensifies in Iran, we're now learning Moscow may be offering Tehran some help. Sources say Russia is aiding Iran's war effort by providing
intelligence on U.S. military targets.
It's not clear whether any Iranian attack can be linked directly to Russia, targeting intelligence. The Israeli Defense Forces carried out heavy
strikes in Beirut overnight. The Israeli military saying it is targeting Hezbollah sites and has warned residents to evacuate nearly all of Southern
Beirut.
And the IDF says eight Israeli soldiers were wounded by Hezbollah fire near the Lebanese border. Gulf States have been forced to fend off Iran's
retaliatory strikes. In Bahrain an oil refinery was struck on Thursday, as well as a hotel and two residential buildings. Qatar Kuwait and Saudi
Arabia all intercepted Iranian missiles and drones earlier Friday.
Evacuation flights out of the Middle East are slowly resuming. The first British government-chartered flight from Oman landed in London earlier
today. Thousands of people have already managed to leave the region as the conflict intensifies and flight schedules are in disarray.
Well, it's been nearly a week since the start of the war with Iran. Trump won the presidency in 2016 and 2024 after campaigning against the long and
draining wars of his predecessors. Let's take a look back at some of his own words.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: We are never going back to a party that wants to give unlimited money to fight foreign wars that are endless wars that are stupid wars.
Biden will trap us in nothing but endless Middle East wars. We will strike down terrorists who threaten our citizens, and we will keep America out of
these endless, ridiculous, long term foreign wars. No to endless wars, and no to the godless values of the communist left.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[11:35:00]
GOLODRYGA: But more than a year into his second term, Trump has steadily expanded his use of military force abroad, from Venezuela to Nigeria to
Iran. Let's bring in presidential historian Douglas Brinkley. He's a Professor of History at Rice University, a contributing editor at Vanity
Fair, and the author of several books.
Douglas, it's good to see you. Thanks so much for joining us again. We are just one week into this war. So, without going into much determination. And
this is not a failure or a success, it's very early to say that. Your views on just how President Trump had campaigned himself to be against the
opposite of what his predecessors, both Republican and Democrat, who he blamed for foolishly getting the United States into these endless wars.
How you view him today, given the actions we have seen thus far, especially in his second term?
DOUGLAS BRINKLEY, PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: Well, today, I would view Donald Trump as a war hawk who wants to be more popular in Tel Aviv in Jerusalem
than he's going to be in Phoenix and Albuquerque, meaning that this is not a popular war in the United States.
Precisely from what you said, Donald Trump was the symbol of no more endless wars. How foolish these wars of George W. Bush in particular were.
It was defining political characteristic of Trump that he wasn't just going after Democrats and liberals, but just would rip into George W. Bush's
presidency for the mistakes made after 9/11 a kind of overreaction, claiming that there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq when there
weren't.
But there's another side of Donald Trump that has been working the Israel front since the very beginning with Jared. They've been focused for first
term on the Abraham Accords, trying to get new friendship agreements, trade agreements with Israel, and say, Saudi Arabia.
And then there was hope of Jordan. And then that all changed. I think October 7th here, you know, started moving their chess pieces on the board
around, and Donald Trump, you know, I believe in October, you know, 25th I would think he was in Israel, and he's treated as a hero.
Winston Churchill or Douglas MacArthur appearing in the country, meaning he has great love and support in Israel. And his friendship with Benjamin
Netanyahu. Are there like this? I mean, they will be books written on and on about the you know, Trump and Netanyahu, because it's dominated in
foreign policy terms both Trump terms.
He's in Middle East history for big not as a peacemaker like Jimmy Carter, but as a war maker.
GOLODRYGA: Well, to be fair, this is a regime that a number of U.S. Administrations have viewed as a global menace and a threat. Obviously, a
number of the predecessors to President Trump have tried to whether it's the JCPOA or just unlimited sanctions, tried to bring this regime to its
heels.
It is ultimately President Trump, whether or not this war drags the United States into a quagmire or proves to be a success, who can ultimately say
that he was the one who eliminated the supreme leader? I'm just wondering, from your perspective, is there a possibility where Trump can say, I ended
wars quickly?
I'm not repeating past mistakes. If this is indeed a two or three- or four- week operation and war where the president settles on someone like he did in Venezuela. How will he be judged from that?
BRINKLEY: Well, if it's 2, 3, 4, weeks, like you said, that would be the best news for everybody that we don't try to do a rebuild, to take a
country of 95 million and try to go in there in the United States, and recreate that society is not going to happen any more than it did properly
in Iraq with Shiites and Sunnis and Kurds.
But what can be said is he's created a fear factor of himself, Trump. Now I think the success of last year's strike on Iran, precision going after a
nuclear facility was a flawless operation, or near flawless. And then the apprehension of Maduro and Venezuela, you know, was seen as a marvel of
American military might and technological, know how.
[11:40:00]
But you couldn't -- can't start getting addicted to those things. And this is not anything slight going on right now. We are creating chaos and mass
instability and in a very tender box region in the Middle East. And I'm nobody quite sees what the end plan is. Do we have somebody who could be a
leader in a government of Iraq that's not just some puppet figure that Donald Trump's picking up out of a door or a plane deck and saying, here's
who it is.
Is there somebody who's organic that could come in and do the job? And we don't -- can't envision what's going to be like, but you met, you can see
if you were in Iran as because it's such a tough situation, I'd try to get out. If I had kids, I'd be trying to hit some border anywhere, get me out
of country.
And then you're going to have these hard-core fundamentalist fighting forces embedded there that are going to demand that we put boots on the
ground and invade and that doesn't happen always that well. So, I would just say extreme caution, smart military actions, and try to create, at
least at the Pentagon, a timeline where this can hit into a new phase.
So, it's not just Israel and the United States, you know, against the world, so to speak. And when you have gas places that are going to go all
over the place on the map, when you're going to have channels of cargo ships blocked, when this starts affecting the American people and the
American economy, it's already the lowest of any public approval rating in American history for the start of a war.
It can be downhill from there. And Donald Trump does not have great numbers, at 38 percent approval overall, so he's to sell this. Why are we
doing this? Why should my daughter or son die over this cause? What are we doing? There are answers to that, that for 40 some years, we have been
jerked around by this Islamic Republic and who is really a force of darkness and evil picture term in the world.
So, there's an argument to do what we did, but I don't feel the president sold it to the American people writ large --
GOLODRYGA: Yeah, a regime that has American blood on its hands as well, going back nearly half a century. But Doug, to your point, it seems the
president is only more interested in world affairs. And you know, going back to Latin America, here you have in the Caribbean, the president after
his operation and extracting Nicolas Maduro saying today to CNN, to our own Dana Bash, that he would like to see Cuba fall next, that that's going to
be the next card.
So, it's pretty clear that he's not stopping, at least now with Iran. Just talk about what kind of legacy that could leave for him.
BRINKLEY: Trump's going for a legacy of a global imperialist that has the world's greatest military and our technology is supreme, and is putting it
at his disposal elevate his reputation in history to say I was a wartime president and I did these things. I reactivated the Monroe Doctrine.
And so now I have the right to do what I'm going to do with Venezuela or Guyana or Cuba in the Western Hemisphere. He's going to say, Israel has
emerged as our great ally. Britain is sitting, you know, waffling on a stone fence where I'm going in with Israel, and we'll see who joins the
board.
And one of the more upbeat things is some of the Arab countries, because Iran's foolishly drones and missiles. Their ways are saying, hey, why are
you hitting me and temporarily siding with the United States and Israel, which is helpful, Europe has to figure out their strategy on everything.
I think France and Macron needs to is trying to work the diplomatic beat of keeping Lebanon from further engulfment. But if we get video of just
civilian dead from Iran and that American missiles are, you know, blowing up ancient Muslim holy spots, or that busloads of children are being
killed.
As this goes on, we're very impatient in America. People will start seeing the United States as some kind of boogey man. So, Trump is moving fast
because the cycle is fast. We're now in the iPhone world. We want everything for every second.
GOLODRYGA: Yeah.
BRINKLEY: Not a lot of State Department white papers coming in here on what's plan B, C, D and F. It's just, do it and then and reap the
consequences and dump as much military, you know, missiles on Iran as possible.
[11:45:00]
GOLODRYGA: Yeah. You mentioned Europe, they're still struggling to contain the largest land war on their, you know, in their territory since World War
Two, this war now entering its fifth year in Ukraine. Douglas Brinkley, a very dangerous world we are in. Thank you so much. Appreciate the time.
BRINKLEY: Thank you --
GOLODRYGA: And still ahead, CNN takes you inside Iran, where residents in the capital are seeing a heavy barrage of air strikes. A reporter in Tehran
will give you the very latest.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GOLODRYGA: All right. Right now, CNN Correspondent Fred Pleitgen and his photojournalist and producer Claudia Otto are in Tehran. CNN is the first
U.S. network in Iran since the start of the war. And it is important to note that CNN is operating in Iran only with permission from the
government. Here is Fred's report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's certainly been quite a kinetic morning here in the Iranian capital Tehran. There were
really heavy air strikes, say, a little bit before dawn, we heard jets flying around this area for an extended period of time.
There were also some massive air strikes, and we saw thick black smoke billowing from one location, which seemed to be in sort of the central,
maybe southern central part of the city as we were driving around. That also went on for an extended period of time as well.
Clearly, a very large air strike that happened there with that plume of smoke hanging over almost the entire city. This, of course, happens as the
United States and Israel continue their air campaign, not just here in Tehran, but in various locations around the country. They say that they're
going to continue to try and degrade the Iranian military infrastructure, and then also take out, as they put it, key leaders as well.
At the same time, the Iranian government is vowing not to back down, not to negotiate with the United States. And Iran's military says that it is going
to continue targeting not just U.S. assets here in this region, like military bases in the Gulf states, but of course, continue to target Israel
as well.
The Iranians are saying that their missile stockpiles are still very much filled, and their missiles are very capable, as well.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GOLODRYGA: Our thanks to CNN's Fred Pleitgen reporting from inside Iran. And still to come for us, flights out of the Middle East are slowly
resuming. How passengers are navigating this travel nightmare. That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:50:00]
GOLODRYGA: You're looking at a live feed of flights around the globe amid the conflict in the Middle East. Thousands of flights have been canceled
over the last week alone, but the log jam is slowly starting to clear up.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We reached out to a lot of just, you know, Senate and then representative offices as well. They -- it seemed they're like,
organizationally, just, just wasn't really a plan.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We could see the U.S. Consulate in Dubai from our window, and for three days I'm looking at it, I'm like, OK, it's right
there. That's kind of cool. We ended up actually checking out that morning, and then that same night, actually, there was a drone attack on it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I spent the first night huddled on the floor next to my bed, worried about like the windows exploding, so you hear alerts going
off, you hear explosions in the sky. It's hard to know what's going on, but it's really unsettling.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: Governments are chartering evacuation flights, and airlines have resumed limited flight schedules. But as CNN's Lynda Kinkade reports, many
passengers are still scrambling to find their way home.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LYNDA KINKADE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Relief to finally be home, but it was a chaotic journey out of Dubai for this British couple, first
traveling by bus to Oman and then booking seats on a commercial flight out of --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yeah. I mean, it was absolute chaos.
KINKADE (voice-over): There are tens of thousands of stranded tourists across the Middle East. Many stuck for days with little to no information,
trying to find a safe way out.
MALGORZATA MARKIEWICZ, POLISH CITIZEN STUCK IN DOHA: We want to go back home. So, we think about -- we're thinking about going to Riyadh and then
taking plane to Warsaw, but we don't know if transport is safe.
KINKADE (voice-over): Governments across the globe are ramping up repatriation flights to evacuate their citizens. Many of the initial
flights transporting the sick and elderly as well as children and families. This German woman says she felt lucky to be on board.
BITA ALAVI, EVACUEE: We have two children, and one that's due in eight weeks. If I hadn't got out within two weeks, then I wouldn't have been able
to leave anymore, and would have had to have the baby there.
KINKADE (voice-over): And there was a joyful reunion in Kenya after a group of school children arrived safely in Nairobi after being stuck in Dubai.
The school's director says they could see missiles being intercepted in the air.
OLIVE TINDIKA, EVACUEE: It was scary. Every day, you get alerts, and the children will just lose it, and are we going to die? Because we are not
used to that. So, it was a very, very traumatizing experience.
[11:55:00]
KINKADE (voice-over): The U.S. State Department says it's also coordinating charter flights for its citizens, that move coming after the U.S. was
heavily criticized for failing to have an evacuation plan in place when the strikes were first launched. The administration claims the situation
unfolded too quickly, but even as governments work to arrange flights, there isn't a seat for everyone who wants one.
Some commercial airlines have resumed limited services, but snagging a spot on any flight remains difficult. And for some, a safe return home may still
be days away. Lynda Kinkade, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GOLODRYGA: And finally, this hour, the home coming service for the late civil rights leader, Reverend Jesse Jackson, is about to begin in Chicago,
celebrating his life and legacy. Former presidents are expected to speak, and pop and gospel stars are expected to sing in memoriam.
We'll have more of Reverend Jackson's service in the next hour. Do you stay with CNN. I'll have more "One World" after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
