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U.S. Embassies In Saudi Arabia, Kuwait Closed After Drone Attacks; Six U.S. Service Members Killed In Iranian Strike On Makeshift Operations Center In Kuwait; Primary Day: Texas, North Carolina And Arkansas Voters Head To Polls. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired March 03, 2026 - 07:30   ET

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

[07:30:00]

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: All right, the breaking news for you this morning. The U.S. embassies are closing in two places, the Middle East and Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia, as Iran escalates its retaliation against Israel and U.S. assets and allies in the region.

Now, Iran has several missiles and drones in its weapon arsenal, some capable of hitting targets all the way in Europe, like the 300 Soumar, a long-range, ground-launched cruise missile that is potentially nuclear capable. That is what it looks like there. It has an estimated range of 3,000 kilometers or more than 1,800 miles.

And there -- then let's take a look at the Shahed. It is exploding drones that are flown directly into targets. They're cheap, they're effective, and they also have a maximum range of 2,000 kilometers.

Now, Iranian media shows off the drone firepower -- rows of them -- stored in underground tunnels and mounted on rocket launchers. They have been widely used by Iran since the conflict began to strike targets in Middle Eastern countries allied with the United States.

Our CNN teams are following all the latest developments from Iraq, Saudi Arabi, and in Dubai.

Let's start with Clarissa Ward. She is near the Iraq-Iran border. What is going on there? We know that yesterday you saw a drone go straight over your head -- one of the drones that I think we just mentioned. What are you seeing today?

CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, today it's been a little bit quieter Sara, but it was quite an active night with Iran-backed militias in Iraq firing a number -- more than a dozen by our county, at least -- of attacks, most of them on the Erbil airport that is in the distance there just behind me. We heard quite a number of booms. We saw some air defenses. This has been the sort of primary target of Iran and these Iran-back Iraqi militias because it's one of the few places in the region where there is still a U.S. troop presence.

Now we have also heard today of at least two strikes on Iranian Kurdish militant groups here in Iraqi Kurdistan. This is interesting Sara because, of course, there's been a lot of speculation that in the event of a regime collapse in Iran that Iranian Kurdish groups could potentially come in from Iraqi Kurdistan and play some kind of a role in trying to secure the situation.

All of that very, very much speculative at the moment but nonetheless, it is interesting that we are now seeing direct attacks on those groups. To the best of our knowledge there have not been any casualties as a result of that.

But one thing is for sure. This is all making the leadership here in Iraqi Kurdistan very, very uncomfortable indeed. They have been very careful not to call out Iran in any of their public statements. They are also managing a sometimes challenging but crucial relationship with Turkey. And so very reluctant to get involved.

We saw that reporting from Barak Ravid at Axios yesterday that the leadership here in the form of President Barzani and also Talibani had spoken to President Trump. We have been pressing their offices all day trying to get some confirmation on that.

But fair to say this is incredibly sensitive. They don't want to talk about it. And that, I think, just really giving a sense Sara of how complex this whole situation is across the region with so many different groups with different interest and different concerns and anxieties that this could very quickly be ratcheting up to a place where it loses control, Sara.

SIDNER: Yeah. I mean, Iraq has already been through hellacious war and now they're trying to thread the needle. It is not an easy thing to do.

Thank you to you there in Erbil, Clarissa.

Let's go to Nic Robertson. He is in Saudi Arabia where the U.S. embassy in Saudi Arabia has been attacked. What are you seeing and what you are learning?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yeah, and I -- and I think just to follow up on what Clarissa is saying it is a needle -- an incredibly delicate needle to be threaded by the Saudi government here over what's happened.

Last night you had those two drone impacts right outside the U.S. Embassy here in Riyadh. There were no casualties as far as we're aware but there was some damage. There was a fire lit by those attacks. And there was a report that more drones were on their way. The State Department issued a shelter-in-place for the embassy here, for the consulate in the West in Jeddah, for the consulate in Dhahran in the -- in the east, much closer to Iran and inside Saudi Arabia to shelter in place there.

And then that warning about a couple of other drones being in the air. Also, we had confirmation that they impacted. Saudi authorities saying that they intercepted other drones flying in. We know yesterday that the Saudis intercepted drones flying over an oil refinery. There was a little bit of damage there. They intercepted five drones, they say, around a military air base -- a Saudi military air base just outside of the capital Riyadh.

[07:35:07]

There's a sense here that Saudi Arabia is getting drawn closer into what is seen as a U.S.-Israel war where the goal post listening to the president and others in the administration -- a sense of the goal post if not shifting and not clearly defined on what the outcome is going to be.

But from here a very strong diplomatic language again calling this a violation of international norms to attack diplomatic premises and also reaffirming their commitment to protecting their own security, their own citizens, including the right to respond to aggression.

So it's strong diplomatic language but again, walking a tightrope reluctant to get drawn into a conflict that is -- that is putting out its tentacles, and they calculate Iran intentionally having these escalations by reaching deep into Saudi Arabia at U.S. targets.

SIDNER: Yeah. And as you know, there has been no love lost between Saudi Arabia and Iran, but this is the U.S.-Israel-led war. It looks like Saudi is being cautious about what it does next.

Let's go now to Paula Hancocks who is in Dubai where there has also been damage and a lot of fear there for the residents and visitors in Dubai. What are you learning on the latest on the attacks there?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well Sara, just in the last few minutes we've had a briefing from officials here in the UAE and they've given an update on the number of missiles and drones that have been targeting the UAE -- well over 1,000 when you look at the ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, drones that have been hitting the UAE. Now the officials are saying that they are intercepting the vast majority of them -- well over 90 percent at this point.

And they also addressed a concern that is gaining more of a voice now. The longer this war goes on what are the -- what's the ability of the UAE to continue intercepting these missiles? And they said that they do have a strategic storage of ammunition. They have a multi-layered air defense system. They're really trying to put people's minds at rest that they are able to protect them.

And to that note as well, just last night, Monday night, we saw the UAE leader, we saw the minister of defense, the crown prince of Dubai walking through Dubai Mall, talking to some of the shoppers trying to give this semblance of normality, not that that is a semblance of normality to see the leaders walking through a mall. But they wanted to give a reassurance that they have the situation under control.

Now when it comes to that State Department declaration that everybody should depart now from the Middle East, there are many who are trying here in Dubai. We've just come back from Dubai International Airport and there was a number of people there. It is far quieter than it usually is but there is a tiny fraction of flights that are getting in and out at this point -- Sara. SIDNER: Yeah, and there are a lot of people who are trying to figure out how to get out of the region. And Dubai is the hub where most people -- that most people fly through to get out of the region, and that's been severely curtailed.

Thank you to you, Paula Hancocks, for that explanation. Also to our Nic Robertson who is in Saudi Arabia, and Clarissa Ward who is in Iraq -- John.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Yeah. I'm here with CNN global affairs analyst Brett McGurk. And I just want to reiterate what our reporters in this region have said.

The U.S. Embassy now in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait City -- they are closed. The State Department has ordered non-essential, non-emergency personnel out of the UAE, out of Qatar, out of Bahrain, out of Jordan, out of Iraq. And in addition to that, Brett, the State Department suggested that every American basically almost anywhere on this map get out if they can.

What does that tell you?

BRETT MCGURK, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST, FORMER MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA COORDINATOR, NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL, SENIOR FELLOW, HARVARD'S BELFER CENTER: Yeah, John. The last notice you just mentioned, I've never seen anything like that. And what that shows is the threat reporting from Iran is off the charts. That doesn't mean they'll be able to carry out all their threats but we're clearly seeing the intent of Iran to target Americans everywhere -- not just drones and missiles -- probably terrorist and various asymmetric threats.

Again, I have never seen a notice like that from the State Department -- everyone American across the Middle East find a way to get out of the region. And, of course, they're on their own. They don't -- civilian flights, as we just heard, might not be available.

What is Iran trying to do here? Why are they doing this? Why are they attacking all six countries in the Gulf? They are trying to put pressure on these countries which have close relations with United States to basically say to Washington this needs to stop. We need to de-escalate.

BERMAN: Now, in terms of unpresented, you've never seen anything like it in terms of ordering everyone out of the region.

There are a couple of things also that I'm not sure we've seen, which is in Doha, in Qatar, right here, the Qataris shot down, they say, two Iranian planes. That's extraordinary. I don't think we've ever heard that before.

[07:40:07]

And then in Lebanon, the Lebanese government cracking down on Hezbollah, which is highly unusual also. This may be --

MCGURK: Yeah.

BERMAN: -- showing stuff is backfiring on the Iranians?

MCGURK: So let me break it down. I mean, strategically, two Gulf countries with the closest relations with Iran historically are, as you mentioned, Qatar and Oman. Iran attacked Oman today which is surprising, and Qatar shot down two Iranian fighter jets yesterday. I honestly never thought I would see that.

I suspect we will see more military action from these Gulf state -- maybe UAE and Saudi Arabia maybe today and over the coming days. I think that's something Iran didn't expect and that shows this is having a counterreaction that Iran wants. This is actually galvanizing these Gulf states in self-defense, in unity against what Iran is doing.

And you mentioned Lebanon. Again, strategically the number one proxy group Iran has had for decades. One reason it has been so -- there's been such deterrents against ever attacking in Iran is because of Hezbollah. They had hundreds of thousands of rockets and missiles they can rain down on Tel Aviv.

Now Hezbollah has been knocked on its back over the multiple conflicts that have been fought since October 7. And yesterday the Lebanese government, for the really first time, said all Hezbollah military activity is banned in Lebanon. That's something Iran does not want to see.

So that is also -- that's the strategic picture. But tactically, John, if the question is how long can Iran keep up this tempo of short-range missiles and drones --

BERMAN: Yeah.

MCGURK: -- they seem prepared to keep it up for some time.

BERMAN: This is the Shahed drone right now which has been such an effective weapon for Iran over the last few days. And for the Russians and Ukraine, Iran has been supplying the Russians with this.

MCGURK: Yes.

BERMAN: I do want to ask one other question about some action that the Iranians are trying to take or threatening to take. They say they're closing essentially the Strait of Hormuz. This is this shipping lane right here. It's just 20 miles wide -- only two miles wide actually where ships can go through. Twenty percent --

MCGURK: Yes.

BERMAN: -- of the world's oil passes through that. And you can sort of see the impact of that right here. These are the straits right here -- another look -- and this is a live look at all the ships in the region. And you can see right here, which is basically that bottleneck, nothing is going through. MCGURK: Two miles -- yeah, you're right. Twenty miles wide, two miles for the ships. Iran has said nothing can pass. If that continues for a period of time I think you'll see a significant effect on global oil markets. I would just say I've been watching this closely. Oil prices are now creeping a little bit above $80. That's far above where it has been.

But I'd just remind people early in the Ukraine conflict oil prices -- global prices went up to $130 at one point and were hovering around $110. So keep this in some context. We have tools to keep the prices low.

But again, Iran is trying to wreak global havoc so the pressure comes down on Washington to pull back. And we'll see if they can succeed. But yeah, that is definitely a chokepoint.

One reason I think the U.S. military went after the Iranian Navy -- it's been announced it basically sunk everything -- every asset they have -- was so that Iran cannot come out and mine the straits, which would be something that would be very difficult to overcome.

So I can see tactically what Iran is trying to do but it's just everything they've got.

BERMAN: Yeah.

MCGURK: Drones, missiles, closing the strait. But so far, at least what we're seeing from the Gulf states, is unity and actually more inclined to work with us against Iran. But it's early. We're in the third day of this.

BERMAN: It is, but that's a fascinating development worth watching over the next several days.

Brett McGurk, great to see you. Thank you very much -- Kate.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: So there were no sirens, no warnings. Those are just some of the new details that we're learning today about the Iranian strike that killed six U.S. service members at a civilian port in Kuwait on Sunday. There is video showing smoke rising from a makeshift operation center where the service members were when the attack happened. You can see it there off in the distance.

CNN's Zac Cohen has more on the details that are coming in about this tragedy. Zac, what are you learning?

ZACHARY COHEN, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: Yeah, Kate. We're told that U.S. troops in Kuwait really had no time to protect themselves before what's been described as a makeshift operations center at the civilian port took a direct hit from a suspected Iranian drone strike. Now this is part of the initial Iranian retaliatory strikes that we saw after the U.S. and Israel began their war with Iran. And as you mentioned, the death toll now on the U.S. side has risen to six in total after two additional -- the remains of two additional U.S. service members were recovered. U.S. Central Command acknowledging the increasing death toll in a statement yesterday, saying, "As of 4:00 p.m. Eastern, March 2, six U.S. service members have been killed in action. U.S. forces recently recovered the remains of two previously unaccounted for service members from a facility that was struck during Iran's initial attacks in the region." It goes on to say that "The identities are being withheld while the families are notified."

[07:45:00]

But look, this is a reminder of what Donald Trump warned in his initial video statement when the U.S.-Israeli operation first began that he expected there to be U.S. casualties as a result, and we are seeing that number slowly increase.

I mean, it's interesting too because we're learning new details about where these U.S. service members were when this strike took place. It was described to us as a facility that was described as a triple-wide trailer with office space inside of it. And then after the strike there was fire still burning hours later. The walls were blown out. The inside of the facility, we're told, was completely blackened.

So U.S. service members seemed to have been caught off guard and by surprise by this Iranian retaliatory strike and it's something that we do expect to see potentially more of as Iran continues to target U.S. military bases across the region.

BOLDUAN: Yeah, absolutely. Six U.S. service members now confirmed killed in this attack.

Zac, thank you very much for bringing that to us -- John.

BERMAN: We are getting some new details just in on the damage done to one of Iran's nuclear facilities.

And we are standing by -- it is Election Day in Texas. These closely- watched primaries where there is a powerful Republican Senate incumbent who could fall.

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[07:50:20]

SIDNER: Our breaking news this morning, the U.S. is closing two embassies in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait as Iran launches retaliatory strikes across the Middle East. And the State Department is urging Americans to immediately leave 14 countries in the region due to "serious safety risks."

Joining me now is CNN national security analyst Peter Bergen, and Trita Parsi, an Iran scholar with the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft. Thank you, gentlemen, for being here.

Peter, first to you. Look, Iran has been greatly weakened by years of sanctions. Israel sustained bombings of its proxies in the region, whether it be Hezbollah or Hamas. The first attack by the U.S. in Iran and its nuclear capabilities. And now this huge attack that is happening now where Israel has killed a large number of its leadership, including the supreme leader, and the United States is at war with Iran.

Is what we are seeing from Iran now the worst that it can do?

PETER BERGEN, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Apparently, and it seems very counterproductive. I mean, look, to the extent that Iran has a bank -- it's Dubai where, of course, they've attacked Dubai International Airport -- I mean, that's where basically because of the sanctions all of Iran's financial logistics are conducted through Dubai.

They've attacked Qatar, which they share the world's largest gas field with, so they're effectively attacking their own assets. They've attacked Saudi Arabi, which in recent years -- in the last couple of years was doing some kind of rapprochement with Iran. And they're trying to close the Strait of Hormuz, which is a form of economic suicide since their largest exporter, oil and gas, which has to go through the strait.

So look, I mean, they're lashing out with -- I think, you know, it's all very counterproductive. They've managed -- they want to regionalize the war but they're turning the region against them.

SIDNER: Trita, I want to ask you because you've written a book about the prior deal with the United States and Iran that the Obama administration made. When you look at that deal and you look at what's happening now which one is the better move for the United States?

TRITA PARSI, IRAN SCHOLAR, EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, QUINCY INSTITUTE FOR RESPONSIBLE STATECRAFT, AUTHOR, "LOSING AN ENEMY: OBAMA, IRAN, AND THE TRIUMPH OF DIPLOMACY" (via Webex by Cisco): There's absolutely no doubt about it that obviously the JCPOA was a far superior pathway for the United States and for U.S. national interests. We would not have these dead Americans at this point, the region would not be on fire, oil prices would not be skyrocketing, and further instability would not be happening.

But beyond that I think it's very important to point out that there was another deal on the table in the negotiations that was conducted up until last week. The Omani foreign minister who was the mediator chosen by the United States, laid out the details of that deal, and that deal was actually much stronger than the deal that Obama managed to get in 2015.

Trump had the option of declaring victory, pointing out that he had a better deal than the previous administration. Instead, he chose to declare war without there being any imminent threats to the U.S.

So I don't think there's any doubt that we could have been in a much better place had Trump actually pursued U.S. interests rather than letting the Israelis decide the direction that the United States would go.

SIDNER: Peter, you know the region so well. What do you see happening going forward? Do you see other nations starting to get into this war that really has become regional because of all the places that are being struck, whether it be by Israel and the United States or with Iran in retaliation. You've got, you know, Iraq, the UAE. That we're looking at all of these different places -- Kuwait, Saudi Arabia. I mean, this could really blow sky high.

What do you think will happen? How will these other nations respond?

BERGEN: Well, they're certainly going to respond defensively if their interests are at stake. We saw the Qataris already shoot down Iranian planes. The Saudis have indicated if there are continued Iranian attacks near the -- near the oil facilities that they would also take defensive measures.

I mean, how this will play out -- you know, who the hell knows ultimately. President Trump doesn't know, the Iranians don't know, no one knows. We've thrown a bunch of dice up in the air and we'll see how they land.

You know, what we -- the last time the United States engaged in regime change from the air it was Libya in 2011. Libya still has two competing governments 15 years later and had a civil war that lasted a decade in which the United States, Saudi -- the UAE, Qatar, Turkey, and Russia all got involved in various ways.

So, you know, maybe this will all turn out fine. I think history shows us that's somewhat unlikely.

[07:55:00]

SIDNER: Trita, let me ask you about what is happening from your view inside of Iran from the long history that you know of this country where now the supreme leader is gone, many of the top officials have been killed, and it is now operating in somewhat of a vacuum.

What do you see happening there? How are they operating now?

PARSI: I don't think it is operating in a vacuum. The supreme leader had already been removed from operational decisions for quite some time. They had already prepared themselves and have layers and layers of decisionmakers that would replace anyone that is killed. This plan was put in place immediately after the June 12 war in which they truly were taken by surprise and there were at least about 12 to 18 hours in which there was a bit of a chaos and panic inside of their system.

That is not the case this time around and we see that based on how they have responded as well. And their strategy, as Peter pointed out, has been to expand the war as far as they can and prolong it as much as they can. Because their calculation is that the only way this war ends in a durable way, meaning that Trump and the Israelis don't came back six months later with another war campaign, is if it is ending after it's been really costly to everyone. So that no one thinks that it was a good idea to start it, and no one thinks that it's a good idea to start it again.

And this is part of the reason why they're lashing out in this way. And I agree that in many ways it is counterproductive, but I think it's because they think this is existential and they're not thinking about the day after at this point.

SIDNER: And trying to sort of injure everyone to make it too painful to continue. It's an interesting strategy and one that we'll be watching.

Trita Parsi, Peter Bergen, thank you both so much for your valuable knowledge of the region -- John.

BERMAN: This morning the FAA is looking into what caused an engine fire that forced a United Airlines flight from Los Angeles to Newark to return to LAX. Pilots reported the fire moments after takeoff in the Boeing 787. More than 250 passengers evacuated on slides and mobile stairs once the plane landed back in Los Angeles. You can see them right there on the tarmac. That could not have been fun. They later caught another flight to Newark. United does say no one was hurt.

The House Oversight Committee released video of the high-stakes, closed-door depositions with both former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. They were each questioned for nearly 4 1/2 hours, each over their ties to Jeffrey Epstein. Of course, Secretary Clinton testified she was not sure whether she'd even met him, so there may be no ties there according to her.

In the video, Bill Clinton denies any knowledge of Epstein's crimes. And Hillary Clinton tangled with Republican lawmakers over what she called "political posturing."

New video of firefighters in Longview, Texas staging a rescue nearly 1,000 feet in the air. A hot air balloon struck a radio tower leaving two people trapped for almost three hours. The balloon became tangled up there in the guidewire. You can see that. That does not look fun at all.

Crews eventually climbed the tower and brought them both down to safety. The basket was actually stuck for a while longer. They just were able to get that down -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: All right. It is primary day. The polls are open already in North Carolina. They're about to open in Arkansas and Texas. The first primaries of this midterm election season and at stake nothing short of controlled Congress, of course. There are two races though that people are paying especially close attention to, both in Texas and both having to do with the Senate.

So let's go there. CNN's Arlette Saenz is in Dallas for us this morning. Lay it out for us. What's going to happen today, Arlette?

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT; Well Kate, voters have already arrived here to a polling site in Dallas as they are preparing to cast their votes in two increasingly competitive primaries in the race for U.S. Senate.

On the Republican side you have Sen. John Cornyn who is fighting for political survivor -- survival as he is facing a challenge from the state's conservative attorney general Ken Paxton and Congressman Wesley Hunt. Now this has been one of the closely-watched races of this cycle so far and it has already drawn in a lot of money. The GOP and the Democratic primaries here in Texas amount to the most expensive Senate primaries in U.S. history.

Now, Cornyn has tried to argue that some of the political baggage surrounding Ken Paxton relating to his past legal and personal scandals -- that would be detrimental to Republicans here in Texas in November if he is nominated. But Paxton, so far, has maintained a lot of support with the conservative base here in Texas. Now, polling has shown this three-way contest incredibly tight and if no Republican receives a 50 percent majority this will head to a late-May runoff.

Now on the Democratic side, many Democrats are hopeful that potentially this could be a year where they could potentially turn Texas blue, but they still have to get through that Democratic primary first. And that has been an increasingly heated contest as well between Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett and State Rep. James Talarico who was little known before this Senate race began.

Now both of these candidates have really presented different arguments for the way to win and the types of voters that they will need to turn out in November, as Talarico has said that they need to appeal to Independents and disillusioned Republicans.