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Qatar Says It Shot Down Two Iranian Bomber Aircraft; Israeli Military Launches Strikes Against Hezbollah Targets Across Lebanon After Evacuation Warnings; U.S. Military Says Four U.S. Troops Killed, 18 Seriously Wounded; Oil Prices Jump Amid Concerns Over War Disrupting Global Supplies. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired March 02, 2026 - 13:30   ET

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

[13:30:00]

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: -- drones were fired at Saudi Arabia today, and they were struck. They were taken down. But again, the result on the ground is significant and serious. They were targeting Saudi Arabia's biggest oil refinery. I've been there. It is on over a massive area. You can get three huge oil tankers pulling up offshore, feeding off of pipelines, coming out of that refinery at one time. There are ships lined up usually, usual circumstance, way out in the sea.

So, what happened when you have fiery parts of an interceptor drone system falling down around a facility like that? Fires break out. No one was injured, but the energy department here in Saudi Arabia said they had to shut down some of those facilities. So even though you can interdict them with defense systems, they're still collateral damage and it has commercial impact. And of course, that is exactly what Iran is trying to achieve here, commercial impact, drive up the price of oil.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": Yeah. Nic Robertson, thank you so much. Obviously, we'll be keeping an eye on that.

And ahead on "CNN News Central," we're going to speak with former Deputy Commanding General of the U.S. Third Army in Kuwait, who is in Dubai and witnessing this war unfold in the Mideast. Stay with us for that.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:35:30]

ERIN BURNETT, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS AND ECONOMICS CORRESPONDENT: And we are back with our Breaking News coverage on the widening war with Iran here in the Middle East. I'm Erin Burnett, right now in Tel Aviv. In the widening war, you had strikes already, drone strikes on a Saudi Arabian facility. You've got Israel and Hezbollah now fighting in a new front.

You had Qatar saying that it has taken down two Iranian fighter jets. Obviously, it would be very significant. If so, that would be the first takedown of Iranian aircraft so far, and showing that those aircraft are obviously in the skies.

Where we are now, we've been hearing in some of the hours overnight, some of the strikes back and forth between Hezbollah, of course, as well as the incoming missiles -- coming from Iran. And we hear those sirens as that happens. But the Hezbollah targets across Lebanon also being struck.

We're talking about the Beirut suburbs, as well as across southern Lebanon. Meantime, Iran is stepping up strikes on Gulf capitals and other cities in the region, as I just mentioned, both with missiles as well as drones. Our teams in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Doha, hearing explosions throughout today.

And the U.S. military now says that four American service members have died in the fighting, someone else dying overnight. And there have been 18 seriously wounded, as President Trump says, that the number of American dead is likely to rise, perhaps substantially. I'm joined now by retired Major General Randy Manner.

He's the former Deputy Commanding General for the 3rd U.S. Army in Kuwait, knows as much as anyone. He also happens to be currently in Dubai, which means he's stranded, along with tens of thousands who have been unable to travel due to the attacks. I mean, it's been called a hole in the sky, the world's busiest airport. The disruptions from this widening war worldwide on that basis alone.

General, I very much appreciate your time. And talking to senior Emirati officials in the UAE, I understand the main focus there right now is defense, that they are trying to defend against continuing oncoming onslaughts, whether missile or drone.

What are you seeing and experiencing as you look at it through your eyes, not just that you're there, but that you are the commander in Kuwait, that this is a scenario that you, I'm sure, had trained for, although perhaps never envisioned actually seeing and experiencing the way you are right now?

MAJ. GEN. RANDY MANNER (RET.), FORMER DEPUTY COMMANDING GENERAL, U.S. 3RD ARMY IN KUWAIT: First of all, my thoughts are absolutely with the U.S. military members that were killed and injured, and their families, of course, as well as the families of those military that are serving in the region. And secondly, of course, the civilians on all sides who have been killed or injured and are in great danger right now. And lastly, of course, people like myself and tens of thousands of other travelers who have been literally stuck here in harm's way.

It is something I need to compliment the UAE government and the people. They are very calm. They are very resilient. Yes, there, of course, is tension. They are doing everything they can to accommodate and to take care of these tens of thousands of travelers from around the world who we are all stuck here. And I will tell you that is very gracious, and they are very supportive.

And that is just absolutely wonderful, given that there have actually been attacks against their nation as well. BURNETT: So, and obviously, we have talked about it. You are experiencing it yourself. My understanding is, you know, more than 20,000 travelers. Obviously, the airport itself was hit, which is truly stunning to imagine. When I saw those images, having been in that terminal so many times, it is just absolutely shocking. But that they are now putting everyone up in hotels and providing everything, which I know is also the case in Qatar, another almost as important transportation hub.

But, General, when you see Pete Hegseth, the Defense Secretary, saying that the strikes in Iran aren't going to spiral into something more protracted or bigger. He declares, this is not Iraq, this is not endless. Do you have confidence in that?

MANNER: It seems to me that the purpose and mission have been shifting over the past few days and the past few weeks. Initially, it was to ensure that they could not continue to develop nuclear weapons. Now, it is about regime change. And then there are so many things that are being piled on to the mission list. It almost seems like someone Googled it before the brief to throw everything on the kitchen and the kitchen sink into it. So, it is a little bit disconcerting.

And in fact, one of the small things that does matter to tens of thousands of people here, as well as to their families, it is a little bit disheartening and a little bit envious to hear that the BBC has announced that the U.K. government is actually arranging transport for the British citizens to be able to extract them, whereas here for us as Americans, we feel abandoned.

[13:40:00]

The State Departments have talked to two embassy personnel -- two different embassies. They are in survival mode, quite frankly, because as we know, the administration reduced their budgets by almost one half over the past year.

So, this is a difficult situation for people who are not used to being in a combat situation. And that, of course, is quite frankly, probably 99 percent of the travelers that are here.

BURNETT: Well, I would imagine none of them would have ever expected such a thing. I mean, that's the entire brand of where you are. But I think it is fascinating and extremely important, General, what you've just said, that you think that some of the cuts are in fact impacting the lack of extraction for American citizens. I can only imagine how that feels.

What's your -- as you talk to other Americans, when they see that the British are arranging something, and that the Americans are not?

MANNER: Oh, it's extremely sad. When I was the Deputy Commanding General in 3rd Army, we would do extractions of civilians around the area whenever there was an urgent need. Now, granted, the numbers were much smaller at that time. But at the same time, we would set it up and we moved quickly and rapidly, both from the point of view of security and to get Air Force cargo aircraft into the area to extract those American civilians no matter what.

So not hearing anything from the embassies, not hearing anything from the websites, it is very disheartening. And I do appeal to everyone to call their Senators and their Representatives to demand that the Defense Department do this.

As a military retiree, I'm not as worried about this personally because I understand that the risks here are not as substantial. But remember that for the family members of these people who are non- military, they are very, very worried and rightfully so, about their loved ones that are here. And unfortunately, the State Department was not prepared, and it's not in the works yet.

BURNETT: Yeah, absolutely. Well, important. And I hope that those words that you're saying here are being heard. General Manner, thank you very much. I appreciate your time. We all do. And we have so much more of our breaking coverage here on the war with Iran.

Ahead, including what could happen next. With all these uncertainties that General Manner was just referring to, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is warning that the war will not be a single overnight operation. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:47:03]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": President Trump tells CNN that the big wave of U.S. strikes on Iran is still to come, even as he offers a loose timeline for how long this war could last. The president says he has not ruled out potential boots on the ground, but he is praising how operations so far have unfolded.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: This was our last best chance to strike, what we're doing right now, and eliminate the intolerable threats posed by this sick and sinister regime. And they are indeed sick and sinister.

We also projected four weeks to terminate the military leadership. And as you know, that was done in about an hour. So we're ahead of schedule there by a lot.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: With us now, geopolitics expert, Ian Bremmer. He's the President and Founder of Eurasia Group and GZERO Media. Ian, thanks so much, as always, for being with us.

What's your reaction to the last best chance to eliminate the threat posed by Iran?

IAN BREMMER, PRESIDENT & FOUNDER, EURASIA GROUP: This war is being fought on America's timeline, obviously. President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu in Israel, the co-attacker on this, I mean, they're the ones that decided that they didn't want to pursue negotiations any further. They waited till they had adequate military capabilities in place and then they gave the order.

But if they had chosen to wait for three or six or nine months, it certainly wasn't going to be a principal issue for the American people or for U.S. national security. It is true that the Iranians were rebuilding their nuclear capabilities and building substantially their ballistic missile and drone capabilities, as we're seeing across the Gulf states over the last 48 hours. But none of that was an urgent threat to the United States itself.

And for an America-First president, the timeline is really his choosing.

SANCHEZ: So why do you think they chose to strike now?

BREMMER: Well, they didn't -- they'd given ultimatums to the Iranians and those ultimatums were not leading to an outcome that Trump wanted to see. They certainly weren't going to provide the assurances with inspections of zero enrichment and no enriched uranium stockpiles. They weren't willing to negotiate on their ballistic missile program. This was all something that Jared Kushner, that Steve Witkoff, that Trump was actually demanding on the ground from Iran.

Also, they felt extremely confident on the back of a very successful, though much simpler, military operation in Venezuela. And frankly, they felt extremely confident with their experience with Iran, having engaged in strikes, killing Qasem Soleimani at the end of Trump's first term, the 12-day war that the Americans didn't start, but quickly joined in when the Israelis experienced success last year.

[13:50:00]

They really felt like they have military dominance and there's nothing the Iranians could or would do to respond or retaliate. But that's very different from saying that they a clear plan for what's going to happen with Iran going forward. They're doing a lot of damage. They're killing a lot of leaders. They're obviously setting back Iran's military capabilities dramatically, once again. But that's very different from the possibility that you're going to have an Iranian government that will no longer be able to repress its own people.

That last front, we've seen Secretary Hegseth walk it back pretty dramatically in the last 24 hours, and it shows a lack of long-term planning here.

SANCHEZ: And to that point about a lack of long-term planning, what happens if, in four or five weeks, there is no new regime in Iran that opens its arms to the West and effectively the U.S. winds up kicking the hornet's nest in the Middle East and then walking away? Does that make the world safer?

BREMMER: The United States is not massively less safe in the sense that Israel and the United States have shown that there are no other powers in the Middle East that have military capabilities to cause damage. So I mean, Hezbollah, you saw strikes opening the front again against Israel, six missiles. Those sorties used to be 40, 50, 100 a few years ago. Not anymore, because they don't have that capacity anymore.

So, it's not as if Iran is going to pose a major military danger to the region, either itself or with its proxies. But this is going to be an unpopular war if you would have seen all of this being done, all of this death and destruction, and not an outcome that the Americans want to see. And also, of course, long-term, there is asymmetric danger. We may have seen that with this attacker in Austin just over the last day.

Certainly, Iran has been a very active supporter of terrorist acts, not just in the region, but even attempted in the United States as well. And over time, the likelihood that radical Islamic extremism becomes a bigger problem for the United States and its allies, that obviously goes up in the aftermath of an effort of regime change that fails in Iran.

SANCHEZ: And we are anticipating an update on that shooting in Austin this afternoon. We'll, of course, bring you the details as we get them. Ian Bremmer, thanks so much for the perspective.

BREMMER: Good to see you, Boris.

SANCHEZ: Still ahead on "CNN News Central," more of our coverage on the strikes on Iran and the potential impact on oil prices, not just there in the Middle East, but also here in the United States. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:57:25]

KEILAR: We do have Breaking News. Oil and gas prices are surging as the war intensifies across the Middle East, threatening global energy supplies. New video showing a fire at a major oil refinery in Saudi Arabia and there was also an attack on a liquefied natural gas plant in Qatar. And smoke seen billowing from an oil tanker near the Strait of Hormuz. Shipping through that critical oil corridor is now reduced to a trickle.

And today, major maritime insurers are terminating war risk coverage for ships operating near Iran, which is a move that could effectively halt tanker traffic, choking off millions of barrels of oil from global markets.

CNN's Matt Egan is with us now. That is sort of a very cohesive look at all of the pressures that we are going to see on what we're paying at the pump. So what should Americans expect here, Matt?

MATT EGAN, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Well, Brianna, Americans can expect to pay more at the gas pump, but there's a lot of uncertainty over just how much more, because this is an ongoing situation. It's fluid, and we just don't know how big these supply disruptions will be, nor how long they'll last. Initially, oil prices reacted dramatically, with crude spiking 12 percent overnight. But when we take a look at oil prices right now, you can see they've backed off those earlier gains, right? Five percent for Brent, about six percent for U.S. oil prices WTI. This is a big increase. It's the biggest since June, but it is hardly a panic.

And when you look at the trend for oil prices, you can see that for the past few months, oil prices were safely below $60 a barrel. But look at this spike leading up to the war with Iran and today, you can see above $70 a barrel for the first time in seven months. Now, in some ways, I'm surprised that oil prices are not up by even more because of what you were just discussing, which is the situation with the Strait of Hormuz. That's this narrow waterway off the coast of Iran.

It's still open, but maritime traffic has effectively stopped because of the conflict and insurers have dropped their war coverage for ships transiting this waterway. And veteran analyst, Bob McNally, he told me that if this continues for another few days, you're going to see oil prices go that much higher because this is the waterway where Gulf oil producers, they get their oil out to the market.

The other thing we got to watch closely is whether or not any oil production facilities, especially in Saudi Arabia, get knocked offline by attacks. All of this matters directly for the price of gasoline. Gas prices have been pretty low for the past year or so. They're still below $3 a gallon, but only fractionally and analysts --