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Hegseth Comments on Strait of Hormuz; Rep. Brendan Boyle (D-PA) is Interviewed about Iran; Rabbi Jen Lader is Interviewed about the Synagogue Attack; Oil and Gas Prices Rise. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired March 13, 2026 - 09:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:01:20]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: There's a lot of breaking news we're following at this hour, including this. Four service members are dead after an Air Force refueling plane crashed in Iraq. We just got an update from the Pentagon on that and also on the latest on the war with Iran. The defense secretary is now saying that you do not need to worry about the Strait of Hormuz, they're dealing with it.

Gas prices rising for the 13th straight day since the war begins. And Goldman Sachs is now updating its forecasts, revising it to say the price of oil could be 20 percent higher for the rest of the year.

And investigators are working in Michigan now to find a motive behind that terrifying synagogue attack. We're expecting to hear updates from Michigan's governor just minutes from now. We're going to bring that to you.

I'm Kate Bolduan, with John Berman. Sara is off today. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

BOLDUAN: All right, let's get right to it.

Moments ago, the Pentagon just wrapped a briefing, an update on the war with Iran, giving new detail about -- including the deadly crash now that we've learned involving U.S. military refueling plane. The crash happening in Iraq. Pentagon officials confirm four of the six crew members on board were killed. Their bodies have been recovered. An active rescue operation, though, we've heard is still underway for the remaining two service members on that crew that are still missing.

Joint Chiefs Chairman Dan Caine just said that the incident occurred over friendly territory in western Iraq while the crew was on a combat mission. Emphasized though that it was not, they believe, not a result of either hostile or friendly fire. I want to play for you what Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) PETE HEGSETH, DEFENSE SECRETARY: War is chaos. And as we saw yesterday with the tragic crash of our KC-135 tanker, bad things can happen. American heroes, all of them. And as I have with all of them, as we have, we will greet those heroes at Dover and their sacrifice will only recommit us to the resolve of this mission.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Much more to come on that.

The secretary also spoke about and was asked quite a lot about the Strait of Hormuz, that critical shipping channel that has effectively now been shut down for days over threats from Iran and ramped up attacks by Iran on ships in the recent days. The defense secretary says that the moves now by Iran there are a sign of sheer desperation on the part of the Iranian regime, downplaying concerns about this violence and saying, we've been dealing with it, and you don't have to worry about it.

CNN's Natasha Bertrand is following this. She was listening in on all of this and from Washington for us.

What more are we learning?

NATASHA BERTRAND, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, one of the big pieces of news that we got out of this briefing actually did come from Secretary Hegseth and he said that the U.S. has evidence that the supreme leader, the new supreme leader of Iran, has been wounded and may, in fact, be disfigured, which is why the -- why the public has not been able to see his face or hear from him directly in the remarks that he has allegedly provided in recent days.

Here's a little bit of what Hegseth said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETE HEGSETH, DEFENSE SECRETARY: Iran's leadership is in no better shape. Desperate and hiding, they've gone underground, cowering. That's what rats do. We know the new so-called not so supreme leader is wounded and likely disfigured.

[09:05:06]

He put out a statement yesterday, a weak one, actually, but there was no voice and there was no video. It was a written statement.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERTRAND: Now, Hegseth was also asked directly about the strike on the girls school in Iran that occurred on the first day of the war, and what the status of that investigation was. He said that U.S. Central Command has designated an investigating officer from outside the command to complete a command investigation, and that he was not going to get ahead of the results of that probe.

And then, of course, as you mentioned, he and General Dan Caine, they did talk about the Strait of Hormuz and all of the problems that are occurring there, given that Iran has said that it is determined to keep the strait closed. He said, don't worry about it and that when the time is right sequentially, whatever that indicates, the U.S. military will be prepared to do escort operations through that waterway, Kate.

BOLDUAN: Natasha, thank you so much for your continued reporting on this.

John.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, lets listen to what the secretary just said about the Strait of Hormuz.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETE HEGSETH, DEFENSE SECRETARY: They are exercising sheer desperation in the Straits of Hormuz. Something we're dealing with. We have been dealing with it. And don't need to worry about it. We're on plan to defeat, destroy, disable all of their meaningful military capabilities at a pace the world has never seen before.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: With us now, Congressman Brendan Boyle, a Democrat from Pennsylvania.

Don't need to worry about it in terms of the closure or near closure in the Strait of Hormuz. Your reaction to that, Congressman?

REP. BRENDAN BOYLE (D-PA): Well, you know, competence is not a word that very quickly comes to mind when I think about this administration and specifically Secretary Hegseth. So, I am very worried about it. And so are the markets. We have seen a 60 cent increase in the price of gasoline at the pump here locally in the Philadelphia area, which actually tracks with the national average. That's not over a year or over a decade. That is literally over the course of just over a week.

BERMAN: Will note that, obviously, the price of gas and the price of crude both higher after Russia invaded Ukraine, but absolutely much higher over the last month than it had been to be sure.

Your reaction to the news that we did hear also from Secretary Hegseth, that the new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, may be disfigured, he said. He called him a weak leader. How does that change the situation?

BOYLE: Well, first, on the point you just made about gasoline, we're only under two weeks into this. There's no guarantee that we're not talking about $4 of gas if we were to speak about a week or ten days from now. The way this is headed in terms of the price of a barrel of oil, I've seen one estimate that it would go up to $140 a barrel. That would put us north of $4 a gallon at the pump.

In terms of the new ayatollah, who is younger and perhaps even more vicious than the former ayatollah, I obviously don't have any information, haven't received any classified briefing as far as what his status may be. Frankly, this administration has done an incredibly poor job in briefing members of Congress and keeping us up to date.

When we go back into session on Monday, I think it is absolutely necessary that we have another classified briefing to learn more about this, as well as our previous conversation about the Strait of Hormuz.

BERMAN: In terms of, though, weakening or targeting the Iranian leadership, that's something clearly Israel has done. That's something that the president has referred to in different ways over time. And it's something that the senator, the senior senator now from Pennsylvania, John Fetterman, a Democrat, has said he's in favor of. He told Kate Bolduan just a week ago that he's in favor of really going after anyone leading Iran.

Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN FETTERMAN (D-PA): Yes, just keep killing, killing them until they're -- until they're gone. I mean, absolutely. I saw that, I've read that they're going to target who they elect to be their next leader and kill them. Absolutely. I fully support it. So, that's what's entirely appropriate.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: So, how appropriate do you think it is?

BOYLE: Yes, I have to say, when I'm looking for advice on military operations, or what to do strategically, John Fetterman isn't the source that I'm looking at for that sort of information or guidance. I make up my own decisions based on the facts and the evidence, not what, you know, Senator Fetterman may say or think on, frankly, any given issue.

BERMAN: You spent a lot of time working on budgets and the budget committee in the House, getting new assessments of what the operation inside Iran costs. If there is a vote that comes to Congress on authorizing more funding for the war there, how would you vote?

[09:10:08]

BOYLE: Oh, I -- there is no way I would vote to spend one more dime on this. I need basic questions answered. Why are we there? What is the mission? What does end date look like? What is our ultimate goal? And finally, what is the plan for a transition to a secular democratic Iran, which so many of us wish, and so many in the diaspora have been praying for, for literally almost a half century? None of those basic questions have been answered whatsoever.

So, absolutely not would I vote to spend even one more dime on this war. The full cost of which already 13 days in, by the way, is probably somewhere around $25 billion. For that same amount, we would have been able to prevent health care increases in premiums for some 20 million Americans. This is a war of choice, not a war of necessity. BERMAN: And just very quickly, the secretary says the war goals are

to, you know, destroying Iran's missile capacity, destroying their navy, and also disabling their nuclear capacity. That's what they say their goals are. That's not enough for you.

BOYLE: Well. Excuse me. And five different administration officials say five different things, including President Trump's, whose message actually changes every single day. I still don't think those questions have really been answered.

BERMAN: Congressman Brendan Boyle, from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, thank you so much for being with us this morning.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: So, we are standing by for a live update from the governor of Michigan on that attack of a suspect ramming a car filled with explosives into a synagogue in suburban Detroit. We're going to bring that to you.

Plus, the Pentagon is calling the Strait of Hormuz a tactically complex environment. Well, saying a lot about it, actually. Just after President Trump tells Fox News in a new interview that oil tankers should, in his view, show some guts and start passing through.

We'll be right back.

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[09:16:38]

BOLDUAN: We're standing by, as you're looking right here, at a live picture out of West Bloomfield, Michigan. We're standing by for a news conference and an update from there. Michigan's governor, Gretchen Whitmer, is expected to be part of this and speak about -- after this suspected terror attack at a synagogue in suburban Detroit. Officials say a man rammed his vehicle into Temple Israel, setting part of the building on fire. The synagogue says that 140 students were inside that building at the time, along with teachers and staff. Everyone physically OK.

Homeland Security has identified the suspect as a Lebanese born man who became a U.S.. citizen in 2016. Officials say that he was found dead at the scene with a rifle and also a large amount of explosives found inside the vehicle. Why he did this remains under investigation.

But joining me right now is Rabbi Jen Lader with Temple Israel.

Rabbi, thank you for being here. I mean it's less than 24 hours since all of this happened. How are you processing everything at this point?

RABBI JEN LADER, TEMPLE ISRAEL: You know, we're taking it hour by hour at this point, but are overwhelmed with gratitude that everybody was safe.

BOLDUAN: Absolutely. What are you hearing from the congregation and the community?

LADER: There has been a really unbelievable outpouring of support, not only from within our community, but from our greater Detroit community, Jewish community, non-Jewish community, our neighbors, our friends are coming out of the woodwork to offer their support, their help, their space, whatever they can do to help get us through this difficult moment.

BOLDUAN: It is -- it is, I guess, the heartwarming side of a tragedy to see how people come together. I mean this is clearly under investigation. And there are -- every agency as part of this, as we're learning.

But one thing that is already clear at this point is how extraordinarily the security team at the synagogue responded. That member of the security team that did end up going to the hospital, do you know how he -- how they're doing?

LADER: He's doing great. He's doing great. And he and every single other member of our team that ran into the line of fire to protect us, they are -- they are absolute heroes in every way and are fully to be credited with saving the lives of hundreds of people.

BOLDUAN: It is hard to -- and you -- and you don't want to, but it is, when you think about it, what they did and how tragic and how much more horrible this could be had they not been there, right?

LADER: Yes. My brain won't really let me even consider those possibilities. But we are -- we're really lucky that all of the protocols that we put in place, the trainings, our teachers who participated in the trainings are a wonderful team, that everything worked the way they were supposed to work to protect us. It's truly, truly a miracle.

BOLDUAN: It really is.

Rabbi, have there been specific threats made toward the temple recently?

LADER: You know, as a -- as a large Jewish institution, we're used to vague threats. We've had bomb threats. We've had graffiti, those kinds of things. But in my tenure at the synagogue, we've never had a direct -- a direct threat of violence and certainly no acts of violence.

BOLDUAN: Yes, I mean, we know, though, anti-Semitic threats, anti- Semitic attacks just across the board, across the country, are on the rise.

[09:20:05]

I mean I have family that lives in the area, and it really just kind of reinforces the point that when you think about how it seems -- it always happens elsewhere is not even close to reality anymore. It's happening really in every community. I mean if we're all living in this very scary reality at the moment, how are you -- how do you find and bring comfort to those around you in the midst of all of this? LADER: You know, I was -- I was speaking with our moms and our dads

who were here reunifying with their children as they escaped the building across the street yesterday. And really two things kept coming up to the surface. And one was, I can't believe it happened here. I never thought it could happen here. And the other was, I was just waiting for it to happen here. I knew -- I knew at some point it would be us.

But the response from our from -- our from -- our members, from our people has been tremendous. When something happens to a Jewish community anywhere, it happens to all of us everywhere. And our people are proud, they are -- they are amazed, they feel incredibly lucky and just -- we can't wait to gather together tonight as we celebrate shabbat and to recognize -- to recognize this moment as an incredibly lucky, gratitude-driven moment for each and every one of us.

BOLDUAN: Rabbi, where are you going to be gathering? I mean, I was also just thinking of Passover coming up. And what does that mean for -- it's a huge congregation. What does it mean for the congregation in (ph) the building?

LADER: We have no idea when we'll be able to be back in the building. The building was severely damaged in many different ways, not just from the car but from the smoke and the sprinklers and everything else. So, we don't really know. Our Torah's are safe. We're going over to rescue them this morning. But our neighbors have offered spaces and really I can't speak to exactly where we'll be holding our services, or bar mitzvahs, our seders, all those things. But we're really proud to be part of a community that steps in and supports each other in times of need.

BOLDUAN: And it will continue to be a central part of that community. I mean you have this suspect who was found dead in this -- found dead in the vehicle. While this is very much under investigation, I don't know, what are you thinking, learning more about the suspect. There's reports that the suspect talked about family members of his being killed in a recent Israeli strike in Lebanon. Just your thoughts towards the person who did this.

LADER: Are that any relationship that any news organization or anyone is talking about in terms of his family's loss of life, which is a tragedy in and of itself, any connection to an attack on an American synagogue in the suburbs of metro Detroit is intensely anti-Semitic and inappropriate. And that's something that we've all been dealing with too, that, you know, using that as an excuse for why somebody might have come after a group of American Jews in Detroit, that's anti-Semitism at its -- at its, at its peak. And we're hoping that that is not the story that people are telling. And instead the story is that American Jews shouldn't have to live this way, in fear to send their children to preschool.

BOLDUAN: A very important message today. Rabbi, thank you very much for coming on. I sincerely appreciate it.

As I had mentioned at the very top, we are waiting and standing by, we're going to show you a live picture right here, for an update, a press conference. We're going to be hearing from Michigan's governor, Gretchen Whitmer, coming up.

Also ahead for us this hour, gas prices rising for the 13th straight day since the beginning of the war with Iran. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth saying, do not worry about the Strait of Hormuz. We're minutes away from opening bell and keeping an eye on it all.

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[09:28:20]

BERMAN: All right, breaking just a short time ago, economic growth numbers revised downward in the fourth quarter of last year to just 0.7 percent. That's worse than the 1.4 percent that was initially reported and way worse than the third quarter, which was over four percent. And all of this -- all of this is before the possible economic impacts of the war on Iran. And gas prices are up again today.

Let's get to CNN's Vanessa Yurkevich in Ridgefield, New Jersey, for the latest on this.

Good morning, Vanessa.

VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS AND POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, John, gas prices rising yet again by another $0.03 overnight by about $0.30 in the last week and over $0.60 in the last month or so. That is because of the rising oil prices we have seen really stuck between that $90 to $100 a barrel range, because the Strait of Hormuz, that critical passageway for 20 percent of the world's oil, has remained effectively closed.

Here in Ridgefield, New Jersey, this is really a thruway for a lot of people who are commuting from Connecticut to Philadelphia. And so we've spoken to people from all over. A lot of folks I've been speaking to feel like they really have no control over this situation, and they sort of have to show up here at the pump and pay the prices that are listed. Here in New Jersey, the rate for regular gas is $3.58. So, just below that national average. But other drivers feeling more frustrated. One woman told me that she believes that this is falling square on the U.S. consumer. Another gentleman saying that if prices continue to increase, he's just going to have to stay home.

Take a listen to what they told me.

[09:30:04]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EVELYN RUIZ, PHILADELPHIA RESIDENT: Because of all this that's going on in the war, everything is affecting us. We're paying for it. All