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What We Know with Max Foster

Mass Exodus From Southern Beirut Amid Israeli Evacuation Order; New Report From CNN's Fred Pleitgen And Team In Iran; Trump Insists He Must Be Consulted On Iran's Next Leader; Trump Fires DHS Secretary Kristi Noem Amid Mounting Pressure; Iran Vows To Avenge U.S. Sinking Of Navy Ship In Indian Ocean. Aired 3-4p ET

Aired March 05, 2026 - 15:00   ET

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

[15:00:27]

MAX FOSTER, CNN HOST: I'm Max Foster.

This is WHAT WE KNOW.

There's fear in Lebanon tonight after Israel ordered hundreds of thousands of people to evacuate.

CNN's Fred Pleitgen is the first U.S. reporter inside Iran since the start of the war. We'll bring you his report.

And meanwhile, Donald Trump has told "Axios" that he wants to pick Iran's next supreme leader. The reporter who spoke to him will be on this program.

Plus, we have new details on airspace reopening in the Middle East.

All of that is just ahead. But first, we go to Lebanon, where a mass exodus is underway from southern Beirut. Israel's military is warning people there

to save your lives and evacuate your homes immediately. Roads leading out of Beirut are packed with cars, causing huge traffic jams. Israel's finance

minister is vowing the IDF will turn the area into rubble, just like Gaza.

Southern Lebanon has already come under evacuation orders as Israel blasts Hezbollah targets there. Aid workers say some families are sleeping on the

streets, living in constant terror. Human Rights Watch says the evacuation orders may violate international law.

Matthew Chance is reporting for us from Beirut tonight -- Matthew.

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CHIEF GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Max, thanks very much. All of what you just reported is absolutely the case. There's a

massive displacement of people underway as Israel intensifies its military action, orders evacuation of certain areas of the country, the suburb of

Dahieh, which is the area of Beirut right behind me in south Beirut, is a Hezbollah stronghold. It's been the target of many intensive airstrikes

over the course of the past week, from the Israeli air force targeting Hezbollah infrastructure.

We went into that, you know what is usually a no go area, frankly. We went in with the permission of Hezbollah earlier today to try and look at some

of the damage with their permission. And almost as soon as we got there, another Israeli evacuation warning came through, plunging that mainly Shia

neighborhood into chaos and panic.

Take a look at what happened.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHANCE: They said there's been a warning from the Israelis that there could be a strike coming in. So we're going to get out of here. Alex, I

don't know, but we need to get out.

Okay. Can you hear me? All right.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

CHANCE: No, but we've just been trying to film at this location here in Dahieh. And we've been told to move away quickly now.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

CHANCE: People were showing us their phones saying, look, there's a -- there's a warning coming in. Go around, go around. This guy.

We've come into what is the most dangerous part of the Lebanese capital which is a very important stronghold of Hezbollah. The Iranian backed

militia group. It's the place where Israel has been focusing. And you can hear the gunshots outside there that Israel has been focusing its activity,

its intensive campaign of airstrikes against the Hezbollah group.

That's often, we're told, a warning to local residents who don't have cell phones or don't have that communication to tell them that maybe an Israeli

strike incoming. So we're going to get out of here.

I mean, this chaos that we're getting a glimpse of in south Beirut, it's all happening, remember, because in the hours after the Iranian supreme

leader was killed last weekend in those U.S. and Israeli airstrikes in Iran, Hezbollah, which hadn't struck Israel since 2024 fired rockets and

drones across the border into Israel and this has been the response. Israel is absolutely pounding south Beirut, forcing thousands of people out of

their homes and really dragging Lebanon into a conflict that many Lebanese tell us they're not ready for and they do not want.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHANCE: Well, Max, obviously, we got out, but I can tell you that area of south Beirut just over there has got hundreds of thousands of people living

inside it. Its very densely packed neighborhood.

And, you know getting out took a long time. The traffic jams were very intense indeed.

Israel, though, has been issuing evacuation orders for other areas in Lebanon as well particularly in the south of Lebanon, nearer to the Israeli

border, where to make way for military action there.

[15:05:09]

And that whole kind of upsurge in intensive Israeli military activity has sparked a sort of crisis of people displaced from their homes, many of them

coming to Beirut, other areas for relative safety, but desperately trying to escape that intensifying line of fire, Max. So very bleak situation

unfolding here in Lebanon.

FOSTER: Yeah. Got a real sense of that from the report. When the finance minister in Israel says the IDF will turn the area into rubble, just like

Gaza. I mean, how do you receive that? What does it mean?

CHANCE: Well, I mean, I think we've all seen at this point images of what Israel can do when it decides it wants to level a neighborhood. And, you

know, Gaza is imprinted on the minds of everybody, particularly in this region that is currently under Israeli airstrikes because they know that if

Israel makes a concerted effort to destroy a neighborhood, it's got the firepower, its got the political will to do that.

That's why so many people take these Israeli evacuation orders seriously. There were a mass exodus from Dahieh when we were there. Many people moving

to the coastline setting up camp with their families because they've got nowhere else to go.

And we're seeing a similar process, as I mentioned, taking place in the south of Lebanon as well, another Hezbollah stronghold where the Israeli

military is engaged in a land operation. It's intensifying its airstrikes there to push Lebanese villages, villagers and Hezbollah fighters back from

the Lebanese border, from the Israeli border, back deeper into Lebanon.

And that is causing yet another sort of, you know, exodus of people to the north and a big humanitarian crisis -- Max.

FOSTER: Matthew in Beirut, thank you so much for bringing us that.

Well, right now, CNN correspondent Fred Pleitgen and his photo and producer, Claudia Otto, are making the long drive to Tehran. CNN is the

first U.S. network in the country since the start of this war. It's important to note though, that CNN is operating in Iran only with

permission from the government.

Here's Fred's latest report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We're making fairly good progress towards Tehran. It is a very, very long drive, though.

Some things that we are seeing, we already went past one place where apparently there had just been an airstrike. There was thick black smoke

billowing over one place, so it seemed like a fairly fresh airstrike. Also, some destroyed buildings that we saw from our vantage point as we were

driving past.

The other thing that I would also say is that there are definitely more checkpoints than usual. We did see checkpoints with fairly heavily armed

security personnel. Other than that though, it seems as though things are going on and we certainly don't see any sign of order collapsing here.

Taking a quick break for a coffee along the way. We've been driving for several hours. There's a couple of things that we've noticed. Number one,

is that first of all, all the shops are open, all the shops are really well stocked, even with fresh things like for instance, fruits and vegetables.

Ooffee obviously also available as well.

And then also the gas stations. There's no long lines as gas stations. Fuel seems readily available and you just don't see any sort of degree of panic

anywhere.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: That's Fred. He's on his way to Tehran for us right now.

Meanwhile, U.S. President Donald Trump said Thursday that he must be involved in appointing Iran's next supreme leader. In an "Axios" interview,

Trump dismissed reports that the son of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei could take over, calling him a lightweight.

Mr. Trump was speaking to Barak Ravid from "Axios", who is also CNN's political and global affairs analyst, and he joins us now.

Congratulations. I mean, it's a fascinating line, and there's so much to unpack here.

I'm just wondering what you thought he meant. Is that that he's going to impose a leader on the country, or is he going to work with the mullahs? I

mean, how would this work?

BARAK RAVID, CNN POLITICAL AND GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: It's a very good question. I think that what I learned the most from those remarks, from

what the president told me is that when people in the administration, even the secretary of defense just the other day and others say our goals are to

destroy Iran's ballistic missiles, destroy Iran's navy, make sure Iran doesn't have a nuclear weapon. All those are accurate but it;s not all the

goals.

And I think that Donald Trump, when he entered this war, he wants to make sure that he has a victory. Victory picture at the end of this war, and not

some situation where even if the U.S. gets a lot of achievements out of this war, as he told me, he doesn't want to be in a situation that in five

years, whoever is the next leader will rebuild and rearm so that the U.S. will have to do it again in five years.

[15:10:16]

Therefore, Donald Trump wants to see a leadership in Iran that is very, very different in its policies than the current one, than the leadership of

Ali Khamenei who was eliminated, and then the leadership of Mojtaba Khamenei the son of the former supreme leader, who is at least as much as a

zealot as his father was.

FOSTER: But if the current regime --I mean, you and I know if the current regime is in place, there's no way they're going to have a leader imposed

on them. Are they? So if he does have a say that it really speaks to the regime change argument, which he says isn't the reason for going there.

RAVID: I think you're right. I think that it is -- it's not Vene -- Iran is not Venezuela. I don't think that the U.S. -- the U.S. can impose a

leader on the current system. I think therefore, if you had to ask Donald Trump how he wants to see the victory picture, I think he will tell you

that he wants to see a different system in Iran.

And different system means that even if it's not, you know, classic regime change. You go in with ground troops, you take over the presidential

palace, you kick out the current government, you arrest them even if this is not the -- what's going to happen. He wants a process that at the end

creates a different system in Iran

FOSTER: How's that possible do you think? Obviously, it's a very ethnically diverse nation, and there will be, you know ethnic minority

groups that could come together and challenge the majority, but it's so complex, isn't it? He'd have to work with those regional powers.

RAVID: I agree, my personal opinion is that this is close to impossible, because Iran is a very diverse and complex country. And if I'm trying to

try to look how such a path can look like okay, in the next few weeks, the U.S. and Israel are going to continue weakening the regime. And then at a

certain point, they're going to stop the kinetic phase.

And from what I hear from us and Israeli officials, is that the end of the kinetic phase doesn't mean the end of the war because then I think you will

see other actions, soft operations intelligence operations that will try and get people out to the streets. It's a big question mark, whether it

will be possible, because as long as the kinetic phase is here, as long as they're bombing, nobody's going to go to the streets people are not going

to come out.

The question is, after this ends, whether the Iranian regime is weak enough so that people say, you know what? Regardless of the fact that they killed

so many thousands of protesters two months ago, I think now its worth going out again because I think that this time, it will be more successful.

That's the big question mark.

And I think this is what the president hopes that will happen, that once you get the Iranian regime to a point, that its very, very weak when people

will come out again, it will not be able to do what it did two months ago.

My personal opinion is that its not clear if this is if this will really be the case, because if -- the more the Iranian regime is -- the weaker the

Iranian regime is, the stronger could be the crackdown on any dissent.

FOSTER: Okay. Barak Ravid, thank you so much for joining us. A fascinating interview you had, and thanks for giving us the insight behind the scenes.

We've just had some breaking news, actually. The United States suspending operations at its embassy in Kuwait now. The State Department says whilst

there have been no reported injuries to U.S. personnel in the country, the safety of Americans abroad remains its highest priority. It advises U.S.

citizens in Kuwait to depart the country using commercial or other available transport options.

We'll have more on this as we get it, but a worrying situation for Americans there, of course, and many others.

And some more breaking news. Donald Trump has fired his Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. Noem has faced growing scrutiny over multiple

issues, in particular, her handling of the actions of federal immigration agents in Minneapolis. She is the first member of Donald Trump's cabinet to

be fired.

[15:15:00]

CNN understands that Donald Trump was also angry with an expensive ad campaign that showcased Noem heavily.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN KENNEDY (R-LA): I'm sorry to interrupt, but the president approved ahead of time you spending $220 million running TV ads across the

country in which you are featured prominently.

KRISTI NOEM, OUTGOING DHS SECRETARY: Yes, sir. We went through the legal processes. Did it correctly with OMB.

KENNEDY: Did the president know you're going to do that?

NOEM: Yes.

KENNEDY: He did?

NOEM: Uh-huh. I think would be helpful to know is how effective that communications has been that overwhelmingly --

KENNEDY: Effective in your name recognition. I mean, I personally just -- I mean, to me, it puts the president in a terribly awkward spot.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Oklahoma Senator Markwayne Mullin will take over for Noem at the end of the month. He offered few details though when pressed about it on

the steps of Capitol Hill just a few minutes ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(CROSSTALK)

SEN. MARKWAYNE MULLIN (R-OK): No, I -- you know, the president. I still got to communicate. So we'll talk about it moving forward but I appreciate

it, guys.

REPORTER: How do you feel about this?

MULLIN: Yeah, the president already talked obviously, the statement went out. But we need to -- we need to talk with the president. And we're going

to get on the same page and do what things what we need to do.

REPORTER: Do you want the job?

(CROSSTALK)

REPORTER: When did you find out, sir?

MULLIN: A little bit before you guys did.

REPORTER: Do you want the job?

REPORTER: Any changes?

REPORTER: Senator, did you expect this?

MULLIN: Guys, I'll let --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Kristen Holmes is at the White House.

I've got so many questions for you today, Kristen. I just wanted to ask you first about Mullin, actually because it didn't sound as if he had actually

agreed to the job there. Am I wrong? I mean, it wasn't very clear.

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: It's hard to say no to president Trump when he asks you to serve in his cabinet, Max. So I

think that likely, especially given the close relationship between Mullin and Trump, Mullin will end up in this job. And it is also likely that he

will be quickly confirmed because he is a senator, and that is that generally tends to be much easier to get a senator, a sitting senator

confirmed. He has relationships with both Democrats and Republicans up on Capitol Hill, but I also thought it was interesting that he said before he

went to the White House, he was going to have to talk to his wife. He said that in a separate clip, when reporters were asking him questions, and then

he said he would have to call and talk to President Trump again.

Just to note that the two men are very close. They talk all the time. And Mullin has become somewhat of a surrogate for the White House he is

constantly on television, constantly doing interviews and so when the White House puts out for messaging.

I do want to say one thing here, because it is becoming incredibly clear as the time goes on. Since this firing, that Noem is the scapegoat for all of

the issues that the Trump administration was having with the immigration policy. At one point, I have heard now from an administration official who

said that her drama was overshadowing the messaging.

The reason why that is so critical is that President Trump has been so angry at his staff behind closed doors, saying that people that the various

cabinet officials that his comms people, communications people are not sending the messaging clearly enough on how much they've done on

immigration. And it's clear from these statements that now this is who is taking the fall for that. It is going to be Kristi Noem.

And as you noted, part of this also is what President Trump saw in the Senate judiciary hearing these contentious back and forths, with not only

Democratic senators, but also Republican senators in particular, her saying that President Trump signed off on this $200 million ad campaign that

President Trump has now been on the record telling a reporter that he had no idea anything about it until much later.

This is striking because we know that President Trump and Chief of Staff Susie Wiles have really worked hard to not have a shuffling of cabinet

positions, to not have a revolving door so that it didn't have the same appearance at the first administration did, where everything was chaos. And

so, this is the first cabinet official to be fired. And of course, they've given her this kind of off ramp here as a special envoy for the shield of

Americas, where it appears based on her response, that she's going to be working under the secretary of defense and secretary of state, Marco Rubio,

and Pete Hegseth. But again, this is a clear firing here after President Trump was enraged.

And one more note on that is that I had spoken to senior White House officials just a week ago or two weeks ago, in which they said the prospect

of having a cabinet shakeup at this point was very low, because the White House did not want to have any kind of inconsistency or looking like

inconsistency ahead of the midterms clearly, that changed and likely changed because of how angry President Trump was.

FOSTER: Is it also an acceptance that, you know, that key domestic policy on immigration has backfired to some extent particularly when you take

Minnesota as a case study? So then there's an opportunity to reset, but I'm wondering into what.

[15:20:00]

HOLMES: I would say that it's not quite a concession of that. We have heard President Trump concede the way that only President Trump would. That

would be viewed as a concession saying we could have done things a different way in Minnesota. That is probably the most of a concession.

What I would say, though, is that this is more of a shifting of the blame for why that policy didn't succeed, because what you're seeing here is not

necessarily putting, you know, that she had a bad policy. It's that she was bad at messaging the good things that the Department of Homeland Security

was doing. And that's what I'm hearing from officials, not anything about the policy itself, but that she was a bad messenger in particularly given

the kind of drama that she was entangled with.

She had fought with leaders of ICE and Border Patrol. She had contentious relationships. There have been accusations of infidelity with one of her

top aides. So this is clearly them pointing to all of that and saying, that's the reason that the immigration messaging wasn't as strong as it

could have been. And that's why the reason why this policy is not as popular as it could have been.

FOSTER: All right. Okay, Kristen, thank you so much. Just hearing that Noem actually learned of her firing as she was arriving at that event we

were showing on CNN a bit earlier on, so she was told, and then she had to carry on with the event, which she thought she'd be doing in her current

position.

Well, still to come, Iran vows revenge after the U.S. Navy sunk an Iranian warship off the coast of Sri Lanka. We'll look at whether Iran is still a

threat after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FOSTER: Iran says the United States will bitterly regret sinking an Iranian navy ship in the Indian Ocean. The U.S. torpedoed the warship off

the coast of Sri Lanka yesterday, something a U.S. submarine hasn't done in more than 80 years. Iran is now vowing to avenge the strike, which killed

dozens of people.

CNN's Ivan Watson has more.

[15:25:00]

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Pentagon footage of an Iranian navy ship seconds before its destruction.

PETE HEGSETH, U.S. DEFENSE SECRETARY: Yesterday in the Indian Ocean, an American submarine sunk an Iranian warship that thought it was safe in

international waters. Instead, it was sunk by a torpedo, quiet death.

WATSON: Two weeks ago, this Iranian frigate participated in an international naval conference hosted by India.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: On your right hand side is the Islamic Republic of Iran ship, Dena.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Please welcome the esteemed Iranian band.

WATSON: A contingent of Iranian sailors marched in a big parade. On Wednesday, the navy of Sri Lanka received a distress call from

international waters. By the time rescue teams arrived, the Dena was already gone beneath the waves and only life rafts and an oil slick

remained.

COMMANDER BUDHIKA, SRI LANKAN NAVY SPOKESMAN: As of this time, we have been able to recover a few dead bodies. We suspect that the bodies are

workers from this ship.

WATSON (voice-over): Sri Lankan navy, air force and coast guard search and rescue operation so far rescued at least 32 people and recovered at least

87 bodies.

WATSON: The Trump administration says one of the goals of its war in Iran is to completely destroy the Iranian navy. Iran's foreign minister calls

the ship sinking an atrocity and warns the U.S. will regret this new precedent.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: In the last few minutes, we've just learned that Sri Lanka is launching a rescue operation to rescue more than 200 people from a second

Iranian ship.

Joining me now, Tom Sharpe, former officer for the Royal Navy.

Sorry to drop that one on you, but we don't know much about the second Iranian ship. But if it happened again, what do you make of that?

TOM SHARPE, FORMER UK ROYAL NAVY OFFICER: Look, I think the first incident was -- was a fair shot. I've wrestled with this and I've discussed it with

contemporaries of mine who commanded warships and submarines. And we all agree that in the context of the war, in the context of what's trying to be

achieved here, that was an enemy combatant closing a known friendly force position. It's a -- it's a fair game.

There are questions to be asked about why it was there, coming back from a -- from an Indian exercise. Why were they conducting an exercise in India

when the rest of their navy is getting absolutely hammered? And why are they then heading at 12 knots straight towards the Lincoln task group,

seemingly unaware of any sort of threat?

These are very peculiar activities for a country at war. If it's happened again, I mean, I was almost likening it to the Moskva in the Black Sea and

the number of things that were missing --- the basic things that were missing to allow this to happen. To happen twice in 24 hours is

extraordinary.

FOSTER: But what are you saying about the pace it was traveling at the first ship? And what that -- what do you mean by that?

SHARPE: If you think there's a submarine threat, there are certain things you're going to do. You're going to slow down if you want to listen through

your sonars, or if you don't have sonars -- and I'm pretty sure the Dena didn't -- then you increase to maximum speed.

You make it as hard as possible for the submarine. That may or may not be tracking you. You weave, you alter course at certain times to make the

targeting solution for the submarine more difficult. And frankly, I'm not sure any of those would have worked against or worked up Virginia class

submarine with a mark 48 torpedo. I think, you know one on one in deep water is the golden rule of not going up against submarines, don't do it

because they have the upper hand.

So I think but like I say, they were just plodding along in a straight line. It looked like this came to them. The first they would have known

about it was when the heavyweight torpedo broke the ships back.

FOSTER: So pretty effective operation on behalf of the Americans. They are completely freewheeling at this point, though, aren't they? They're not

operating with any sort of within any sort of international rules based system. What do you make of that? Is that acceptable?

SHARPE: Well, on the one hand, you have the law of armed conflict and international humanitarian law. On the other hand, you have, you know war

is war weapons free. And it's obviously very clear where the U.S. now is on that continuum. And, you know that's not unprecedented. And so, I think --

I think that's a fair -- it's a fair target.

I think the distance, the range at which it was engaged is, is part of the deal. It was -- it was designed to shock. They could have waited a day or

two days for it to get closer. It would have been easier for the submarine. They did it deliberately in, you know about 1,500 nautical miles away from

where they were deliberately to create that effect.

And if you look at the response it's having from Iran who are vowing to avenge it, when you consider everything else that's going on, then clearly,

it's had that effect. They've had that shock effect.

FOSTER: Okay. Tom Sharpe, appreciate your analysis on that. It's been a huge talking point.

Coming up one of the Middle East's biggest airlines says airspace has reopened. We'll show you who's flying where, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FOSTER: The airline Emirates says the airspace over the Middle East has partially reopened, allowing the logjam of passengers trapped by war to

slowly clear thousands have managed to leave the region on commercial flights. But as the conflict intensifies, flight schedules remain in

disarray.

Here's where things stand for some of the biggest carriers then in the region. Emirates says it is operating a reduced flight schedule and

connecting passengers in Dubai will only be accepted for travel if their flight is operating. Over in Abu Dhabi, Etihad says commercial flights in

and out of its main hub are suspended until Friday, other than repatriation flights. Qatar Airways flights are suspended. Although it's planned some

relief flights from Muscat in Oman and Lufthansa has suspended all flights to and from Tel Aviv until March 22nd.

Richard Quest is with me. Are you impressed about how quickly this is going? Or I mean, how are you seeing it?

RICHARD QUEST, CNN BUSINESS EDITOR AT LARGE: It's what I would have expected simply because of the severity of keeping the airspace closed and

the airports shut. And I think the information that you've given will change and will change rapidly, if for no other reason than it only takes a

few well-positioned missiles in the wrong place if you will. And that will all have to be rethought.

There are two aspects here.

[15:35:00]

The first is how are they doing it? Well, they're doing it through corridors, either because aircraft are being monitored very closely, even

escorted in some cases, but much more likely that airspace, these corridors, has been determined as being safe in the sense that there is

enough protection around them, anti-missile protection, and that or they're going in a direction which is highly unlikely to be hit. It's all about

risk management. It's all about risk appropriation. Working out what is likely to be the possible risk of that route at that time.

For the airlines, I've been talking to CEOs of the major gulf carriers, and it really is a case of get things moving when you can and take no troubles

with safety. Safety comes first.

FOSTER: People would be very nervous getting on these flights. You're the least nervous passenger in the world. I'm sure you'd be comfortable getting

on one, but what would you say to people that do want to get out, but are very nervous about flying through a war zone?

QUEST: You won't be flying through a war zone. If that -- I mean, that's a contradiction in terms. I'm slightly playing with the language here, Max.

The reality is, if that plane, if that commercial aircraft takes off it is safe. They are not -- I mean, of course, I'm making myself a hostage to

fortune by saying it. Could something go wrong? Of course, in the same way that the Kuwaitis shot down three American warplanes.

But the reality is going west going through these corridors there is such a high degree of confidence to answer the core point. Would I be on one of

those planes? Yes. If I was on whether it be Etihad, Emirates, Qatar, or whatever out of their major hub, I would have no hesitation because the

authorities are basically saying we have now determined this is safe. They're not going to take risks in that sense.

FOSTER: Richard, appreciate it. Richard, we'll be back, of course, with "QUEST MEANS BUSINESS" at the top of the hour with much more on all of the

business ramifications here.

The United States is suspending operations at its embassy in Kuwait. We're hearing the State Department advising U.S. citizens in Kuwait to depart the

country using commercial or other available transport options.

The Trump administration has come under fire for not being better prepared to evacuate Americans in the Gulf region, but the State Department says it

has already got 10,000 American citizens out of harms way.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TOMMY PIGOTT, PRINCIPAL DEPUTY SPOKESPERSON, U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT: I don't accept that characterization of what we've been able to do here. We

saw the implementation of this task force immediately, and we also saw the assistance of Americans from the very beginning. That's why that 10,000

number is so important.

Each one of these countries, of course, with a different situation that people are working with people are actively overcoming in order to provide

those security options where able. But we have seen Americans be able to return to United States since the beginning. We've been providing that

direct security, that direct travel guidance from the very beginning. And we've also been assisting departure, whether through flights or through

ground from the very beginning as well.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Joining us now, someone who knows conflict in the Gulf, Adam Ereli was the U.S. ambassador to Bahrain from 2007 to 2011.

Thank you so much for joining us.

Despite what the State Department is saying now, it's pretty clear they had no plan before this conflict for evacuating people from the region. Even

the day before, the Israeli embassy was saying, we can't help you. And even Donald Trump said there was no plan.

There is now a plan coming together, but it's going to take a long time to get everyone out. What do you make of all that?

ADAM ERELI, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO BAHRAIN: Yeah, it's sort of par for the course, right? I mean. We don't do -- we don't do the civilian aspect

of conflict very well for a variety of reasons.

Number one, we don't want to alarm people. Two, we don't want to show our hand if you're -- you know, you can't tell Americans to get out of the

country before the attack, right? Because then Iran knows, definitely knows something is coming. And you know, oh by the way, these places are very far

from the United States and hard to hard to organize things.

Once, frankly, once, once the bureaucratic machine sort of cranks up and gets moving, then things happen -- you know, things happen pretty, pretty

quickly and pretty well. But it does take a while. And meanwhile, you've got lots of Americans going, what the heck is going on? And get me out of

here and hurry it up. And you've got a lot of more questions than answers.

FOSTER: I'm interested. I know that British government has been asked about mass evacuations. They're saying this isn't classed as a mass

evacuation yet because that would mean evacuating 300,000 people for the British case.

You know, you know, just explain the difference between the type of evacuation we're seeing here or telling people to leave. And that tipping

point that turns it into a mass evacuation that the government has to deal with.

[15:40:10]

ERELI: Yeah. You know, the difference is -- the difference is one of really public order. If -- if you're in a country, let's say, you know,

you're an American ambassador in a country and, and all authority central authority, all capability of the host government to protect its own

citizens and American citizens disappears. Well, then you've got no choice but to do everything possible to get everybody out. And that's basically

called a NEO, a Noncombatant Evacuation Operation, a NEO.

And that's where you see, you know marine amphibious ships go offshore and, you know send helicopters in and predetermined assembly points and get

everybody out. And, oh, by the way, I should say that in most countries in that part of the world, those sort of things are practiced, right, with the

American community. So that would be a -- that would be an emergency evacuation.

In this case where you've got sort of heightened levels of insecurity and danger as a result of conflict. But at the same time, a sovereign

government that is in control of its territory and working with us, then it just becomes a matter of facilitating travel to the -- to the extent that

you can and as is needed.

FOSTER: Okay. Ambassador Adam Ereli, thank you so much. Interesting to hear from the, you know, the other side, we're hearing a lot from the

people trapped there at the moment. But you know, it's a very complicated thing. Thank you.

Still to come, the White House is defending this social media video. We'll tell you why some are laughing, but some call it inappropriate

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:45:07]

FOSTER: The White House is defending criticism of a social media video that features footage from the video game "Call of Duty". Here's some of

that video.

(VIDEO CLIP PLAYS)

This is all part of a one-minute montage called "Courtesy of the red, white and blue" about the strikes on Iran. It's already racked up 30 million

views just on X. Comments from have ranged from amusement to disgust, the White House communications director seemed to welcome the attention that

they're getting on social media.

Brian Stelter joins us now.

I think, Brian, I thought about this a lot today because it does cause confusing feelings, doesn't it? Because a computer game is fun and it's not

real, and they're associating that with, you know, you know you know, raw reality on the ground on something that really isn't fun.

BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA ANALYST: Yes, this is something that has, I think, shaken a lot of people today who associate Call of Duty with just

entertainment, with just, you know, something they do to pass the time something that they view as just a part of their leisure time. And then all

of a sudden, you see the game in a very different context.

But of course, it's very hard to separate what you see in some video games, some modern warfare video games like Call of Duty from what we are seeing

right now in the Middle East. One of the points -- one of the notable things about these games in recent years is just how realistic they look,

how realistic they've become. And so in some ways, you might argue that the Trump White House is taking a natural next step trying to link them

together.

But, you know there has been quite a bit of condemnation of this video from military veterans, from geopolitics experts saying that it's inappropriate

and it's juvenile to come up with a video like this. And I think this video, Max, speaks to a challenge the Trump administration has. This war

has already proven to be unpopular in the U.S. most Americans say they oppose the U.S. action in Iran.

So the Trump White House, looking for ways to persuade the public, they're probably going to be posting more videos like this. But again, the outrage

about the video might be part of the point. We know the White House likes to sometimes stoke this kind of controversy to get more attention.

FOSTER: It's obviously very different from the way things have been done before, where wars are taken very seriously. And, you know, this is a sense

of duty that we're acting on behalf of the nation. But it's serious stuff. I just wonder if it might cause harm in the sense that people won't take

the war as seriously as perhaps they should.

STELTER: Right. There is this idea that the White House of all outlets is, is reducing this concept to a video game. It makes you wonder. I think it

raises people -- people wonder about who's in charge as a result.

This idea that video game footage is being used and portrayed as war is not entirely new, by the way. We saw an example of this a few days ago from the

game war thunder. People were sharing a clip from that game and claiming it was from Iran. And more broadly, the information environment now is

overwhelming. It is saturated by some yes, real videos, some that are misleading, some that are straight up A.I. generated and fake.

It is very confusing out there, and I understand why many people have been messaging me emailing me, saying it's so hard, so hard right now, harder

than ever to differentiate what is a real genuine video from this conflict versus an A.I. generated one or something that is meant to mislead. We are

seeing this in some cases from pro-Iranian accounts, posting propaganda videos that are completely made up and nonsensical.

But then when you have the American White House sharing a video that includes video game footage, you know, you could argue that's in the same

ballpark, creating confusion among the public, or at least advancing this situation where it's hard to understand what video you're seeing on your

social media feed at any given time.

FOSTER: Well, as we say, the White House is pleased with the, you know, the conversation that's come out of it. So that's probably achieved their

goal.

STELTER: Yeah, they are.

FOSTER: Brian, thank you.

Still to come, for their latest game, Iran's women's football team did something different when the national anthem played. We'll show you what

they did next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:52:11]

FOSTER: The CNN team in Abu Dhabi says it heard loud blasts in the capital earlier today. The UAE's defense ministry posted this message online. It

says air defenses responded to missile and drone threats from Iran, which we're being intercepted by fighter jets.

More now from CNN's Paula Hancocks who's in Dubai.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We have seen and heard a significant amount of incoming here in the UAE this Thursday night. In Abu Dhabi,

around 7:00 p.m. local time. The emergency alerts started. And then for about the next hour, there were fairly consistent booms heard by our team

in Abu Dhabi as interceptions were happening overhead.

Now the authorities in that alert did say that there were going to be sounds of interceptions heard across the country. Scattered areas of the

country, they said and then we did hear an alert here in Dubai as well with some distance blasts heard of potentially more interceptions. So, it does

appear by that alert from the authorities saying scattered areas of the country that there was a fairly consistent attack by Iran at this point

with potentially missiles or drones or both being fired into a number of different cities.

Now, we know that the authorities say they have intercepted more than 90 percent of what is coming in from Iran to the UAE. And we have figures they

will, of course, be dated now since we have had this barrage just this Thursday evening.

But the figures that we have from just before that from authorities is some 196 missiles have been fired over the past six days, and 1,072 drones have

been fired as well. We're hearing a number of fighter jets in the air. We certainly have been hearing a lot of fighter jets today.

What we have been seeing as well is a number of commercial jets managing to get out of Dubai. We know that hundreds of passengers have been leaving

Dubai over recent days from Monday night. This started, in fact more than hundreds have been leaving as the effort to try and increase the number of

commercial flights leaving here was really getting into gear.

It's uncertain what Thursday night will do to those efforts, though. There had really been a bit of a lull here in the UAE. There had been sporadic

incoming, maybe a blast here, a blast there, but certainly what we have seen this Thursday evening, what we have heard reminds us more of the first

couple of days of this war.

Paula Hancocks, CNN, Dubai.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[15:55:00]

FOSTER: As war rages in their home country. Emotions are running high as the Iranian women's soccer team plays in the women's Asian cup in

Australia. The team sang the national anthem and saluted today ahead of its match on Thursday against Australia.

That was in stark contrast, though, to the anthem ceremony during their opening game on Monday, when the team stood in silence. We don't know the

reason for the two different approaches.

In a news conference before today's game, striker Sara Didar choked back tears as she spoke about the team's concerns for their loved ones back

home.

Some more breaking news into CNN. Israel moving into the next phase of the war with Iran. Israel's military chief has just announced. Eyal Zamir said

in a video statement that we are now moving to the next phase of the operation. In this phase, we will further dismantle the regime and its

military capabilities. We have additional surprises ahead, which I do not intend to disclose.

I'm Max Foster. That's WHAT WE KNOW.

"QUEST MEANS BUSINESS" up next.

END

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