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Three American Troops Killed, Five Wounded U.S. Military Says; Interview with Sen. Tim Sheehy (R-MT); Interview with Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA); Israel Reports Fatalities after Iranian Missile Hits Residential Area. Israel renews Attacks, Iran Vows To Avenge Supreme Leader's Death; New: 3 American Troops Killed, 5 Wounded, U.S. Military Says. Aired 2-3p ET

Aired March 01, 2026 - 14:00   ET

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

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[14:00:18]

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now, breaking news: the first American casualties in Operation Epic Fury. The new reporting this hour, three U.S. Troops killed in action, plus new attacks from Israel in just the last hour. In just the last hour, explosions inside Tehran.

Welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer, you're in THE SITUATION ROOM.

And we begin this hour with the breaking news.

Three American troops killed in the operation in Iran five others seriously wounded. Today, Israel is carrying out a new wave of attacks inside Iran. This is new video from the Israeli air force showing the Iranian military headquarters in Tehran being hit.

Just outside of Jerusalem meanwhile, an Iranian missile killed nine people in a bomb shelter just beneath a synagogue, that according to Israeli police. And you can see emergency workers bringing out body bags.

We're also getting new video from inside Bahrain of an Iranian strike there on Saturday. Watch this.

Bahrain, the home of the U.S. military's Fifth Fleet.

President Trump is telling "The Atlantic" magazine that the new Iranian leaders do want to talk, although he did not specify who the new leaders are.

CNN's team of correspondents and experts are here to break down all the very latest developments. I'll also speak to lawmakers from both sides of the aisle.

Joining us now is Senator Tim Sheehy, a Republican from Montana. He serves on the Armed Services Committee. He's a retired U.S. Navy Seal.

Senator, thanks so much for your service. Thanks so much for joining us.

I know you have said that President Trump made the right decision in launching these strikes on Iran. You are a combat veteran. You were awarded a Bronze Star with valor and a Purple Heart. You know the military, you know war.

First of all, can I get your reaction to the very sad news that three U.S. service members are confirmed killed during this operation in Iran and at least five others seriously, seriously -- according to the Central Command -- seriously wounded. What's your reaction?

SEN. TIM SHEEHY (R-MT): Well, of course, any loss of life or injuries for our men and women in uniform is unfortunate, Wolf. And as you know from decades reporting in the region, this is par for the course for Iran. We have to unfortunately, weigh the risks to our current forces against the risks to our future forces.

And of course, as you know, for decades, the Iranians have killed thousands of American servicemen all over the world. And as you well know in the past several weeks, they've been killing tens of thousands of their own people.

So unfortunately, risk-reward is part of what we have to weigh in any of these operations. This was the right call. We've got to finish the job.

BLITZER: So tell us a little bit more why you support this military action.

SHEEHY: Well, again as you know, as you just said, you've been throughout the region. I've myself served that naval base in Bahrain during my time in service.

And Iran is the single largest destabilizing force in that region, has been for the last half century through their proxy groups -- Hezbollah, Hamas, of course the Houthi rebels and a global network of terrorist organizations.

They also, of course, Wolf as you know, serve as a regional attack dog for groups like China and Russia who use Iran and other rogue states like Venezuela as destabilizing forces so that they can keep us tied down doing things that keep us from doing things they don't want us to be doing, like supporting Ukraine, like defending Taiwan.

So this type of operation to finally behead and hopefully permanently degrade the ability of Iran to launch these destabilizing strikes is very important. It's long overdue. And I'm very grateful the president has made the decision to finally take these folks out because, again, as you know, since the 1980s this regime has been murdering in the most brutal way, not just American servicemen, but innocent civilians the world over.

BLITZER: Iran's Supreme Leader, the Ayatollah Khamenei, has been killed in these strikes, along with other top Iranian military leaders. President Trump, in fact, says 48 Iranian leaders have been killed. And he tells "The Atlantic" magazine that Iran's new leaders want to resume negotiations. The president says he has agreed to talk with them.

Has the U.S. military objective been met? What is the endgame of this mission?

SHEEHY: Listen, the endgame is pretty clear. We need to stop the terror coming out of the IRGC, The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps.

[14:04:46]

SHEEHY: That terror will continue as long as this regime is in place. And I think the Iranian people, most importantly, have made clear they're ready to take their country back. They're ready to finally topple this regime, but they need help.

And we've been helping them now here these past several months, since Midnight Hammer and through now. And my hope is that we're able to weaken the regime to the point where the Iranian people can rise up and once again build a government that represents their interests, and they can live free in their own country.

And that will also provide stability to the rest of the region and ultimately the world.

BLITZER: And as you know Senator, just a few nights ago, President Trump addressed the nation with his State of the Union speech that ran just short of two hours, an hour and 47 minutes.

The president spent only three minutes talking about Iran. Did he adequately prepare the American public for this military action.

SHEEHY: Well, as you all know, he's been very consistent in this. Let's not forget he took out Soleimani during his first term, and Soleimani was the architect of the death of many of my friends, many folks you know as well, from journalists to civilians to servicemen.

And he set the tone with killing Soleimani in 2020 that showed that we were actually going to enforce the red lines that we set out.

We weren't going to talk big and let Iran continue to spread their reign of terror. When they did something that was bad we were going to we were going to hit them back and he did.

He did again with Midnight Hammer when they were told repeatedly through negotiations that lasted decades, that their nuclear program was not to progress. They ignored those warnings. They continued to progress so we took that out.

Now, over the past several months, they've been given consistent signaling from the administration that any attempt to rebuild this program, or any attempt to continue their reign of terror, was going to be met with another strike and it was. So this has been a pretty steady ratcheting of pressure, be it

economic sanctions or military action. So I think to say this wasn't signaled pretty clearly is just not accurate. The president and this administration have signaled very clearly what the consequences of bad action are going to be. It's about time we punish bad behavior on the world stage from Iran. And that's what we're doing.

BLITZER: Iran has targeted U.S. military bases and U.S. troops inside seven neighboring Arab countries and I'll read them -- Bahrain, UAE, Qatar, Jordan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and most recently now, in Iraq. Are you worried about this conflict escalating big time right now or destabilizing in fact, the entire region?

SHEEHY: Well, the simple fact is it's already destabilized, Wolf, as you know. I mean, Iran has been destabilizing the region for 46 years. So to say that to take them out is going to destabilize the region, I think, is a little bit backwards.

Their very presence and their very continued action has been destabilizing. Now getting rid of them, we're only 24 hours, 48 hours into this is probably going to last another several days, if not weeks.

But short-term destabilization here in the immediate is going to lead to a longer-term runway for the region to get back, hopefully to an economic and diplomatic stability that they all want and we all want.

I think it's pretty clear, I've served in every single one of those countries you've talked about. I'm sure you've been there as well. Most of those countries have been in a very comfortable-uncomfortable spot these past couple of decades between wanting to be part of the 21st century global economy, wanting to be in the good graces of the United States and the global economy, while also being quite annoyed and frankly, scared of what they have on their back doorstep, which is a murderous terrorist regime.

So most of these ruling governments throughout the region want the IRGC gone. They want them completely neutered. And I think they're willing, as we've seen in their rhetoric and their action, to help partake in that.

And of course, there's going to be hopefully not much longer a few days, a couple of weeks of more action. We're going to have to wear that risk, as are they. But it's clear that that they're with us in this endeavor, and we've got to finish the job we started.

BLITZER: These U.S. military strikes against Iran were launched without congressional approval. Democrats are demanding an immediate vote on what's called the War Powers Resolution. What do you say to those who want to restrain the president right now from further military action against Iran?

SHEEHY: Listen, Congress has a constitutional role in this, no question. The Democrats have every right to bring War Powers Resolutions to the floor. I wouldn't dispute that. My hope is they get voted down because I think to end this campaign

now, it would be a huge mistake. The regime is at its weakest point ever. In 46-and-a-half years, they're at their weakest point right now in every possible way -- economically, militarily, politically. And to stop now and allow them to potentially regroup and rearm would be a huge mistake.

So there's no question we have the constitutional right to check executive power. But right now this is well within the executive branch's control. This is well within the -- not just the constitution, but also historical precedent for an executive to take this kind of action.

I hope that -- I hope that we finish the job, as I said. I would urge my congressional partners on both sides of the aisle, despite what their feelings about the president personally may be, to realize that this is good for America, it's good for the free world.

The IRGC does not care whether Republicans or Democrats. They do not care what administration is in the White House. They're going to kill Americans one way or the other. They're going to take us hostage. They're going to murder our citizens and our allies.

[14:09:46]

SHEEHY: And it's about time as I said, we finally put the IRGC down and allow the people of Iran to take over their own country again.

BLITZER: All right. Senator Tim Sheehy, thanks so much for joining us -- the great state of Montana. Love Montana.

All right. Thank you very, very much.

SHEEHY: Thank you, Wolf.

BLITZER: And we're continuing to follow the breaking news out of the Middle East right now.

There's going to be a quick break first. Let's take a quick break.

And with the push to get lawmakers back up on Capitol Hill immediately for a War Powers vote, Senator Adam Schiff is among the Democrats making the demand. He's standing by live. He'll join us here in THE SITUATION ROOM.

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BLITZER: We're continuing our breaking news coverage, the United States military says three American service members have been killed in the U.S.-Israeli military operation against Iran, and five others have been seriously wounded, according to the U.S. military's Central Command, which released a statement.

I want to bring in Senator Adam Schiff right now, a California Democrat. Senator, thanks so much for sharing part of your Sunday with us.

I want to begin with your reaction to this very sad news of these American military casualties.

SEN. ADAM SCHIFF (D-CA): It's a terrible loss. It's devastating. And my heart goes out to the family of those service members and the others who have been injured.

This is the terrible cost of going to war, as the president described earlier. And it's a decision the president should not have made. He has not made the case to the American people. He has not made the case to Congress. He sought no authorization.

And he hasn't made the case because there was no imminent threat from Iran. They were not in the process of rebuilding their nuclear program or building a bomb. The president said only months ago that he had obliterated their nuclear program. Now that was I think, an exaggerated claim.

But nevertheless, at this stage, it posed no threat to the United States nor do they have the capability of hitting us with ballistic missiles. So there was no cause for us to go to war with Iran. And to go to war with Iran over regime change and risk American lives with such tragic result, I think, was a terrible mistake by the president.

BLITZER: You say no imminent threat, but is there a long-term threat from this regime in Iran?

SCHIFF: Sure there's a long-term threat. There's a long-term threat from North Korea. There's a long-term threat from other parts of the world also. But we don't just go to war over a long-term threat. And there's no constitutional authority for a president to go to war over a long-term threat without seeking authorization from Congress.

Now we have a situation where we really can't predict what happens next. We see Iran lashing out at the region, lashing out at our bases around the region. We may have the Iranian people rise, as the president is calling on them to try to topple the regime right now. We've decapitated it, but the regime still exists.

Whether they can do it or whether they get massacred because we don't come in with ground troops, is really unknown. And I think just as the president has unleashed chaos at home, he has now unleashed chaos on the world stage and without a plan really to effectuate whatever aim he might have.

BLITZER: As you know, many of your fellow Democrats in the Senate are urging their colleagues to return to Washington immediately for a vote on this War Powers Resolution.

You're very vocal in your support of that legislation that would rein in the president's authority to launch military action in Iran without congressional approval. And specifically tell us why.

SCHIFF: Well, I introduced -- Tim Kaine is the lead, along with Rand Paul -- Senator Schumer and myself introduced a War Powers Resolution that calls on the Congress to essentially require the president to come to Congress to continue hostilities. To seek an authorization to use force, as President Bush did in Afghanistan and in Iraq.

We haven't seen this kind of massive use of military force by the United States since the initiation of those conflicts, and Congress needs to approve it or needs to say "no more".

So yes, I'm urging the Congress to come back into session, take a vote on this, put people on record. If the president wants to continue this war, let him come to Congress and seek an authorization. Let him make the case to the American people.

The American people don't want another endless war. The president promised he wouldn't engage in more warfare over regime change. He's broken that promise. Nothing about this is going to improve the quality of life or the cost of living for Americans. If anything, it's going to make it worse.

But if he has a case to make, he needs to make it. It doesn't appear that he does. And we need to insist on a vote on this ASAP.

BLITZER: A fellow Democrat, Senator John Fetterman supports the strikes and the president's authority to order them.

Here's what he told our Dana Bash earlier today. Listen to this

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SEN. JOHN FETTERMAN (D-PA): People keep -- described that it was illegal war. Now read the War Powers Act. And now that has not been violated at this point what happened yesterday.

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BLITZER: So how do you respond to that, Senator Schiff? And specifically, if there's a formal vote to authorize this military action, are there enough Republicans to join a lot of Democrats in passing it?

SCHIFF: You know, first of all I'm a good friend of John's, but I don't agree with him here. The Constitution makes it very clear that Congress has the power to declare war.

[14:19:47]

SCHIFF: The president has essentially declared war in his midnight address the other night, but he does not have that power. And so we're using the remedy that we have, which is the War Powers Act, to try to bring this to a conclusion.

In terms of whether we have the votes, I think the vote for it will be bipartisan. In light of what John said, the vote against it will be, also some element will be bipartisan.

Whether we'll have enough votes, I don't know. It may depend on what happens between now and the time that votes takes place and how long this conflict continues. If it continues, we will bring up undoubtedly successive war powers resolutions.

But I would hope that we could insist that if a president of the United States wants to declare war, they need to come to Congress. This president has shown all too much willingness, whether it's in Venezuela or Nigeria or Iran or elsewhere to simply let loose the dogs of war. And we need to rein that in.

BLITZER: Senator Adam Schiff, thanks so much for joining us.

SCHIFF: Thank you, Wolf.

I want to bring back my colleague Fredricka Whitfield, who's joining us from Atlanta right now, Fred.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: All right, Wolf.

Several people were killed when an Iranian missile hit a bomb shelter located below a synagogue. And this happened earlier today in a residential area of the city called Beit Shemesh on the outskirts of Jerusalem. Israeli police say nine people were killed in that attack.

And then just moments ago, sirens rang out in Tel Aviv. And we also saw some interceptions taking place over the city.

Let's bring in now Jerusalem correspondent, Jeremy Diamond in Tel Aviv. You're on the phone. Tell me about experiencing these warning sirens and what else is going on there.

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Yes. Well, we've been facing multiple rounds of incoming Iranian ballistic missiles over the course of the last ten minutes or so. Currently inside a safe shelter amid those sirens.

We did see, you know, as soon as those sirens went off, multiple interceptors being fired from Tel Aviv, going into the air trying to intercept some of those Iranian ballistic missiles.

So this does appear to have been quite a significant barrage. Multiple booms could be heard from the shelter in which we currently are. And you know, that is (INAUDIBLE).

We've seen some of these barrages have grown more frequent but sometimes they've been smaller in number. Sometimes you only hear one interception actually taking place. In this case, we heard multiple.

As it relates to earlier today, we were in the city of Beit Shemesh, a really tragic scene there where you had not only the fact that this ballistic missile appears to have made direct impact onto a synagogue there, but also the fact that a bomb shelter was beneath that synagogue.

Multiple people were sheltering inside that bomb shelter. But unfortunately, several of them were killed as a result of the direct impact in the synagogue caving in on that shelter.

You know, I spoke to residents there who were very shaken by what had taken place, shaken by the fact that people who tried to get to a safe place were ultimately killed inside that shelter.

At least nine people have been killed in that attack according to Israeli paramedics dozens more were injured in what has been the deadliest strike in Israel of this conflict resulting from an Iranian attack.

This brings the total to ten people who have now been killed in Israel over the course of the last day and a half since this conflict broke out. And of course, the risk is now that this could all continue to get worse as Israeli officials vow to continue to expand their operations in Iran. And Iranian officials vowing to continue to retaliate and to avenge the killing of the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei.

WHITFIELD: And now, Jeremy, the Israeli military is saying that it's preparing to mobilize around 100,000 reservists for this Iran operation. Do you get the sense that Israel is preparing for a prolonged fight?

DIAMOND: Yes, that's exactly what appears to be happening. I mean, you know, when this operation was first launched yesterday, Israeli officials were telling us that this was going to be at least days.

They also all made clear that this was going to be something far wider in scale, far more destructive in terms of the impact in Iran than what we saw during that 12-day war in June. And indeed, Israel has claimed to have killed dozens of senior Iranian officials. We know that there have been attacks on Iran's ballistic missile program.

And now an Israeli military official telling us today that they basically have total air superiority over parts of Iran with Israeli jets constantly flying over the Iranian capital.

And they also say that this is only just the beginning of this operation. And indeed 100,000 Israeli reservists now being mobilized, which also signals the fact that we know this conflict is widening.

[14:24:48]

DIAMOND: And we're still waiting to see, for example, whether some of Iran's proxies join in to this fight in a more significant manner. We've yet to see whether Hezbollah is also going to start firing missiles upon Israel.

That decision doesn't seem to have been made yet, but certainly Israel is making preparations for this conflict to continue to widen.

WHITFIELD: All right. Jeremy Diamond, be safe. Thank you so much.

All right. Still ahead, new explosions at the airport in Erbil, Iraq. On top of massive protests across the country condemning the killing of Iran's Supreme Leader, a live report from Iraq, next.

You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.

[14:25:25] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. Welcome back to our breaking news coverage.

Israel said it is renewing its attacks on Iran and today struck the country's military headquarters. Tehran has retaliated with missiles and drones hitting countries throughout the Middle East, including Iraq, where Iran-backed factions are claiming they used missiles to strike Erbil. That part of Iraq is home to some U.S. military assets, and in the last hour, a CNN team captured a series of explosions near the U.S. air base in Erbil and that's what you're looking at right now. And here you can see a large plume of smoke rising from the airport there.

Let's go live now to CNN's chief international correspondent Clarissa Ward in Erbil, Iraq.

Clarissa, what is the latest there and what has been the reaction in that region to these stunning developments over the last 24 hours?

CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fredricka, I think people are just trying to get their heads around the rapidly escalating pace of the events of the last couple of days. Here in Erbil, over the course of the past few hours, people heard a series of booms. This has become quite common here now, these booms came from the Erbil air base attached to the airport, and we actually drove to take a look.

And I just want to share with our viewers some footage that we took from outside the perimeter from inside our car. Take a look.

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WARD: Okay. So, you can see their flames and black smoke that is inside the perimeter of the Erbil airport, which is one of the very few places in Iraq where you can still find U.S. service members. There appears to be some kind or have been some kind of a direct impact there. Unclear what the cause of it was, potentially rockets. We have seen a big uptick in the last few hours with not just Iran striking Iraqi Kurdistan, and here in Erbil, but also Iran backed militias inside Iraq which have a significantly escalated their attacks. You can smell that very distinctive smoky kind of cordite smell.

Again, we don't know exactly what was hit. We don't know if there were any casualties but certainly we have been hearing regular booms. We also heard air defenses going off, and we're trying to find out more details as to what the exact target was and whether anyone was hurt as a result.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WARD: Now, Fredricka, since we visited the site there, we have seen a statement that's been put out by an umbrella group of four different Iran-backed Iraqi militias taking credit or responsibility for that attack on the Erbil airport. They said that there was a drone that was used. Again, we still haven't heard anything with regards to casualties. There's been some speculation that it might have been some kind of an ammunition dump that was hit some of the amateur footage that we saw on social media early on showed a sort of cascade of explosions, indicating that might be a possibility.

But what's interesting here in Erbil is that the Kurds here find themselves in the unpleasant position of being sandwiched almost between strikes from Iran and from those Iran-backed militias, although I do think -- which are inside Iraq. I do think it's worth noting, though that those Iran-backed militias in Iraq are getting hit very hard, one of them coming out today saying that four militiamen were killed in airstrikes and as regular as these attacks have been, Fredricka, so far, they are not having a huge impact or major casualties, thankfully.

WHITFIELD: Yeah, the volatility continues. All right, Clarissa Ward, thank you so much.

All right, straight ahead. Some lawmakers -- U.S. lawmakers are calling for Congress to return to Capitol Hill for a war powers vote. And how this conflict with Iran could square with the American people who were sold a promise from Trump of no more foreign wars. A Republican member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma, is with us

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WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: Breaking news we're following. We're getting right now new satellite images of the damage inside Iran from the latest U.S. Israeli strikes, and this shows destroyed buildings at a drone base in Iran. And this is a destroyed cruise missile storage facility and damaged bunkers in Iran.

You can see the precision strikes on the aircraft shelters in this photo. And this is a satellite image of destroyed naval ships and buildings. The U.S. Israeli strikes also destroyed a radar system at an air base in just southeast Iran.

We're also getting images of damage done from Iranian strikes. This is the port of Jebel Ali in Dubai. You can see before the strikes on the left and after on the right, smoke billowing from the port.

And this is in Beit Shemesh right outside Jerusalem, Israel. You can see the destruction from an Iranian strike in a residential area. Israeli police say the attack killed nine people, killed several people at a bomb shelter under a synagogue.

[14:40:01]

The death toll has now reached, as I said, at least nine people. It could go up. Several are still seriously injured.

I'm joined now by Republican Senator Markwayne Mullin. He's from Oklahoma. He's a key member of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Thanks so much, Senator, for joining us. I want to start with your reaction to the news that three U.S. service

members have been killed. Five seriously injured in this military operation. How do you react when you hear that?

SEN. MARKWAYNE MULLIN (R-OK): Well, it breaks my heart for their families I mean, these young men and women, we haven't got the report of who they are just quite yet. They all understood the risks they were taking but at the same time, it hurts us because while they're out there defending our freedoms home and abroad were out here enjoying it. Back in Oklahoma for the ultimate price that they paid their families, though today, they're hurting.

And those are the ones we need to be praying for. Those that were married, those that were brothers and sisters and moms and dads, and then the parents of these brave young men and women, too. So, Wolf, I think all of us can come together and say we're hurting and we're praying for the family and at the same time, our forever gratitude for the sacrifice they made for this great nation.

WHITFIELD: Yeah. Our deepest, deepest condolences to their loving families. So sad indeed. In his announcement about this military operation, President Trump warned Americans to prepare for possible troop deaths. If this war drags on for weeks or longer, for that matter and U.S. casualties mount, are you confident that the American public will consider this a noble mission and tolerate growing U.S. military losses?

MULLIN: Well, first of all, I'm going to push back. This isn't a war. We haven't declared war on Iran. We're not at war with Iranian people. We had to remove a murderous regime that's been attacking the United States for 47 years.

Him and his murderous thugs have killed thousands and murdered thousands of Americans for literally 47 years. You heard the president's announcement. He went through all the attacks that they've had through multiple presidents and the straw that I would say that broke the camel's back, or the final straw is we're never going to allow the number one world sponsor of terror to be able to get a nuclear weapon.

There is no doubt that they were building delivery systems to affect our interest and our assets all around that region. There was no -- there's no question they were trying to develop a weapon that would reach the United States. And in that case, it wouldn't have been a matter of if, it would be a matter of when.

And so, after 9/11, America had a resolve that said, we will never do this again, meaning never again. We'll never be caught flat footed. We're going to be proactive and go after those that threaten us. And President Trump finally had the backbone that other presidents haven't to finally try diplomacy and try diplomacy by saying, you're not going to get a nuclear weapon. We're not going to negotiate with you. We're not going to allow you to enrich because you can't be trusted. You're not going to have the nuclear capability and if you do, then you're going to pay the ultimate price. So, diplomacy first. And then at the end of it we took out the

murderous regimes. And now, it's up to the Iranian people to get their country back and hopefully turn it back to the great country. It was before the ayatollah stole power from them in 1979.

BLITZER: In his State of the Union Address, if you listen carefully, as I did when he was speaking about Iran and he spoke about Iran for about three minutes out of nearly two hours, he did use the word, at one point, he said war. And that jumped out at me at the time. I don't know if you remember that, but if you want to go back and listen to that, you'll see he used the word war.

He's repeatedly over these many, many months as president, referred to himself as an antiwar, anti-foreign conflicts president. How are you explaining to your constituents that this attack benefits them directly? What do you what are you saying to them?

MULLIN: Well, this is what peace through strength looks like. Either the president and the United States is going to lead from the front, or we're going to allow someone else to take that lead. You saw what appeasement type of foreign policy looks like underneath Biden. And that was disastrous.

You saw that the Biden administration was constantly being outflanked by China and Russia. You saw wars breaking out throughout the -- throughout the world. Since President Trump has come in office in just short 13 months, he's able to stop eight wars and he's trying to prevent it and sometimes strength. This is what strength looks like.

The president didn't want to go to war. He tried to use diplomacy. He tried to talk sense into the ayatollah in this murderous thug regime. The truth is, they didn't want that. They had this this fantasy of having a nuclear weapon every since 1979, the ayatollah has talked about that, and we have been absolutely -- final resolve of saying we're not going to let that take place because it would disrupt us.

And so, the way I talk to those that may have questions about it, it's very simple. It is in our interest because what happens around the world will affect the United States.

[14:45:03]

Our economy is a world economy regardless if we like it or not. The dollar is the world currency. And with Iran having a nuclear weapon, it would destabilize over 20 percent of the world's oil, which is directly affect -- which does directly affect all of us, because you cannot build a product and you cannot deliver a product without factoring in the energy costs and then the shipping lanes that they could easily disrupt with the Suez Canal and the other straits that are around there, it would put it would make the economy constantly volatile.

So, bringing stability to the Middle East is, in the United States' best interest. That's why we have so many assets there. I'm sure you can show a picture of how many bases we have just in that region, because of how important it is to the United States. BLITZER: Certainly is a critically important area.

Republican Senator Markwayne Mullin of the great state of Oklahoma, thanks so much for joining us.

MULLIN: Thanks, Wolf. Thanks for having me on.

BLITZER: And we'll be right back.

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[14:50:06]

WHITFIELD: All right. We continue our breaking news coverage. Let's bring back our panel, CNN global affairs analyst Brett McGurk with us.

Brett, let me begin with you.

Sirens just went off once again over Tel Aviv. We're also learning a short time ago that Israel is calling up some 100,000 military reservists. So do you think given everything that you're seeing, that this conflict could potentially last a long time?

BRETT MCGURK, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Potentially, I would give it at least a week or more. I think a period of weeks. I think if I can step back, you know, we're not even 48 hours into this, so we all should have humility of predicting where it might be going.

A couple of indicators there. I think the Israelis are calling up those reservists. That's really a message to Hezbollah to their north in Lebanon, saying stay on the sidelines do not get into this. I think that is really what the Israelis are trying to signal.

But the missiles coming from Iran, again not unexpected. I think there's a major military focus right now on the U.S. side and the Israeli side, targeting those that missile infrastructure, the missiles in the launchers. And this is going to go on for a period of days. I'll be watching over the coming days whether the Iranians are able to continue these barrages.

The medium range missiles to Israel, they're in fewer supply. But those short range missiles targeting the Gulf states, targeting Iraq, Iran has a large supply and stockpile of those.

WHITFIELD: CNN global affairs commentator Sabrina Singh, also with us here.

So, Saudi Arabia now being pulled into this conflict. What might have been Iran's expectation after launching attacks on other neighboring countries in the Middle East?

SABRINA SINGH, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Well, I think Iran made a huge miscalculation by targeting not only expanding outside of just military targets. I mean, they're hitting civilian infrastructure. You're seeing hotels being set on fire people, places where there's no military infrastructure or personnel being stationed. And so, what this is actually doing is bringing gulf nations in closer

with the United States, who are very upset by Iran's attack on their own civilians and potentially bringing them into this war and potential strikes that the U.S. is continuing along with Israel. And so, I think what we're going to have to watch for is if those gulf countries do join the United States in Israel and striking back against Iran inside Iran.

And of course, the regional and economic impacts. I mean, you're already seeing flights being canceled. I think tomorrow, we'll get an indication of where the oil markets are. And so, this is going to have profound impacts, not just for the region, but for Americans here at home as well.

WHITFIELD: Iran's foreign minister has said they had every right to defend itself.

CNN military analyst, Colonel Cedric Leighton, also with us now.

So, Colonel, President Trump says the U.S. has sunk nine Iranian navy ships and has damaged the navy headquarters. So how strategically important is this for the U.S. to cripple Iran's navy?

COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Actually, Fred, it's really important. And one of the reasons is, is that Iran sits on the northern side of the Strait of Hormuz. The Strait of Hormuz is, as you know, many have said before me, about 20 percent of the world's oil supply goes through there. And that is a critical lifeline, not only for countries in Europe, but also for countries in Asia, because they get most of their oil from the Middle East and specifically from the Persian Gulf region.

So, it's in the vital interests of the United States and many other countries that that waterway be kept open. In other words, that freedom of navigation be allowed through that area.

The other thing is, is that just for the safety of the U.S. Navy, vessels that are already in the Persian Gulf and in the Arabian Sea, right next to the Persian Gulf, they need to make sure that they are not threatened by Iranian naval forces, and they were able to at the very beginning of this operation, sink a vessel that the Iranians had a corvette, which is a type of warship that the Iranians have. They were able to sink that in port and, and basically that was a message to the Iranians that they would not tolerate any efforts to limit the freedom of navigation in this area.

WHITFIELD: And then, Brett, quickly, you know, Iran has formed a transitional council and is preparing to appoint a new leader. So, what do you expect that process will be like? Would the revolutionary guard get involved or even simply take control, potentially?

MCGURK: Great question. Well, they say they have. They have a process. They formed an interim council. This is in their constitution.

Decisions now being made by the President Pezeshkian, the chief justice and a cleric to be named. But none of those people have been seen publicly, very unclear. And the extent of that leadership decapitation.

One of the candidates to replace Khamenei was his son and he might have actually -- Mojtaba -- and he might have actually been killed also in that strike.

[14:55:03]

Look, Iran has only had one secession from the supreme leader from Khomeini to Khamenei. And it's -- since its revolution in 1979. So, they are kind of in uncharted territory here. And given that leadership disarray, this might be why extraordinary statement today by the Iranian foreign minister, Araghchi, he basically acknowledged in an interview that Iran's military is acting independently, perhaps without command and control and orders that were given to them before this conflict started.

That suggests a real breakdown in command and control. But again, they might get their act together here and come together. The regime has been around for a long time, and they're not going away anytime soon.

WHITFIELD: All right. We'll leave it there.

Again, it's been reported some 48 top Iranian leaders, or at least -- yeah, among their leadership have been killed in this.

All right. Brett McGurk, Cedric Leighton, Sabrina Singh, thanks to all of you.

Wolf?

BLITZER: Thanks, Fred.

Thanks to our viewers. Thanks very much for joining us this afternoon. I'll be back tomorrow morning. Every weekday morning, 10:00 a.m. Eastern in "the situation room".

CNN's breaking news coverage from the Middle East continues with Abby Phillip and Erin Burnett right after this quick break.

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