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Israel Strikes Iran As Trump Warns "Big Wave" Yet To Come; Iran & Proxies Launch New Strikes On U.S. Allies In The Gulf; State Department Urges U.S. Citizens Across Mideast To "Depart Now". Aired 5-5:30a ET

Aired March 03, 2026 - 05:00   ET

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

[05:00:14]

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: It is the top of the hour here. Welcome and with all of our viewers joining us from the United States and around the world. I'm Erica Hill in New York.

We do begin this hour with the latest developments in the U.S.-Israel war with Iran, and word that Israel is launching simultaneous strikes in Tehran and Beirut.

The onslaught from the Israeli military coming as President Trump tells CNN that, quote, "the big wave" hasn't even happened yet. More than 700 Iranian civilians have been killed since the war began on Saturday, according to a U.S.-based human rights group.

Meantime, Israel says it is striking Hezbollah targets in Lebanon's capital. The attacks on Beirut come just one day after the Iran-backed militant group launched missiles and drones at an Israeli military base. Lebanese officials say more than 50 people were killed, dozens more wounded in IDF strikes on Monday.

Across the Middle East, U.S. allies are fending off the latest wave of retaliatory attacks from Iran and its proxies. Hundreds of ballistic missiles and more than 1,000 drones have been intercepted so far, according to official figures.

CNN's Oren Liebermann tracking all of these developments for us, joining us now live this hour from Tel Aviv.

Oren, what more are you learning?

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN JERUSALEM BUREAU CHIEF: Erica, two fronts to look at from Israel's perspective and from where we sit here. The first, of course, and where we're seeing a dramatic change and intensification of Israeli operations and strikes is on the northern border with Lebanon. That's where Israel says it has seized more points in southern Lebanon.

Keep in mind, Israel has held five positions there that have allowed it to look into southern Lebanon, which is a Hezbollah stronghold. Israel now says it has sent in more troops to take more positions there, portraying it as an additional defensive layer here as the conflict intensifies. It looks like we're getting some reports from northern Israel that Hezbollah projectile of some sort hit in a residential area in a village right along the border. We're waiting for more details on that. We'll keep you posted.

Meanwhile Israel continues to carry out punishing waves of strikes, targeting what they say are Hezbollah strongholds, headquarters, facilities that they use in Beirut itself, and then issuing evacuation orders for villages in southern Lebanon, as well as we anticipate strikes there. The Hezbollah attack you mentioned, some 30 hours ago or so that was the only reason Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu needed to dramatically broaden the campaign that Israel has been conducting against Hezbollah. And we're seeing that play out.

Meanwhile on Iran, Israel and the U.S., from what we understand, continue to carry out strikes there. Israel says it has expanded its air superiority over the skies of Iran, which means that Israeli fighter jets have more ability to operate pretty much as they want striking targets in Tehran that they say belong to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the intelligence ministry of the Iranian regime, and more.

One of the key questions here, not only for Israel, but also for the U.S., especially as Secretary of State Marco Rubio seemed to say that it was Israel that led the U.S. into this war is how long will this last? And that's a question that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was asked on Fox News. Here's what he had to say about that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: I hear the people are saying you're going to have an endless war here. We're not going to have an endless war because we -- at this point that, we've been and Iran, this terror regime in Iran, is the weakest point that it's been here since it hijacked Iran from the brave Iranian people 47 years ago. So, we're -- this is going to be a quick and decisive action and we're going to create the conditions first for the Iranian people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIEBERMANN: Meanwhile, as we see Iran lashing out in virtually every direction, hitting Gulf countries. The U.S. State Department has acknowledged it is very difficult for American citizens to get out of the Gulf when it comes to Israel. U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee basically said look, there aren't many options to get out. Airspace remains closed. There are no ships that the U.S. is trying to arrange to get out.

And the best option is to go all the way, south across into Egypt and try to get out from there. So, options are limited for movement here as we see an intensification of the campaign, both in Lebanon and in Iran.

HILL: Oren, live for us in Tel Aviv this hour -- Oren, thank you. Well, as were watching all of this Saudi Arabia, we're learning, has intercepted eight drones near the capital of Riyadh in the central city of Al-Kharj. This video shows you just how sparse the traffic is. So, this is near Riyadh's diplomatic quarter. The U.S. embassy there has closed that after an attack on the facility by what were suspected to be Iranian drones.

The United Arab Emirates says it has faced more than 800 Iranian drone and missile attacks in this regional conflict. Most of those were intercepted. Its leaders are projecting strength, posting a video showing officials walking through a mall in Dubai saying they remain, quote, close to the people.

CNN's Paula Hancocks is live -- Paula Hancocks is live in Dubai with more of those details for us -- Paula.

[05:05:07]

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Erica, there is no letup at this point in the Iranian retaliation when it comes to these gulf nations. You mentioned Saudi Arabia, which has had to close its U.S. embassy because two suspected drones had targeted and been shot down intercepted in that area. Now, we also know that apart from Riyadh where there have been drones intercepted, also the area of Al Kharj. Now this is close to a military base, a significant military base that the U.S. military has used in the past.

We've also seen in Kuwait, the U.S. embassy having to close. Now, we understand that on Sunday and on Monday, they had interceptions in that vicinity. So that's the reason for that.

But what we have heard from the IRGC in Iran is that they are expanding the scope of what they are targeting in the Gulf nations at this point. They have said that they are targeting military sites affiliated with the United States. It has to be pointed out that far more than that has been, in fact, impacted. We've seen blasts at hotels, at airports, at energy infrastructure, but they are now saying that they're going to expand it to American political centers, pointing out that that what they did in Saudi Arabia was a move in this direction.

So, there are concerns that the Iranian retaliation is starting to expand in its target list, although as I say, they have not been restricting themselves just to the military bases that the U.S. would have been using. Now, as you mentioned there as well, we did see here in Dubai and the Dubai Mall on Monday evening, the UAE leader was walking around with his defense minister, with the crown prince of Dubai. They were talking to shoppers. They were sitting in the mall clearly trying to give a sense of reassurance to residents here, given the unprecedented amount of missiles and drones and military attack that Dubai, Abu Dhabi, the UAE has come under.

Now, we are seeing hundreds of missiles and drones that have been targeted towards the UAE over the last four days. We're just on day four now and already that number is significant, 182 missiles, 689 drones. The ministry of defense, though, is at pains to say that the vast

majority of those have been intercepted, that the military is able to take down well over 90 percent of what is being thrown at it. At this point, we know that the UAE does have significant air defense systems. They have been working with the U.S. military for years now and they have probably one of the best defenses in the region, but Israel -- Erica.

HILL: Paula Hancocks, really appreciate it, live in Dubai this hour. Thank you.

Still ahead here, U.S. officials say they took the best chance they had to stop an imminent threat. How the White House is defending the strikes on Iran.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:12:03]

HILL: Six U.S. service members are now confirmed dead after an Iranian strike on an operations center at a civilian port in Kuwait. These were the first American deaths since the start of the war with Iran. The Trump administration has said more casualties are likely. Here's the U.S. president and his top diplomat are defending their military assault on Iran, which they claim posed an imminent threat.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARCO RUBIO, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: The imminent threat was that we knew that if Iran was attacked and we believe they would be attacked, that they would immediately come after us and we were not going to sit there and absorb a blow before we responded, because the Department of War assessed that if we did, that if we waited for them to hit us first after they were attacked and by someone else, Israel attacked them. They hit us first and we waited for them to hit us, we would suffer more casualties and more deaths.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: 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.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: Now meantime, the U.S. State Department has ordered the mandatory evacuation of non-emergency American government personnel and their family members from key countries in the region -- the UAE, Jordan, Bahrain, Iraq, Qatar and Kuwait, places where there is a high risk of ongoing attacks. Of course, in a number of those areas, airspace is closed its very difficult for anyone to get in or out of the country.

CNN's Julia Benbrook joining me now from Washington.

Julia, what more are we hearing? There is a very important briefing. I know, coming up later today for lawmakers. JULIA BENBROOK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. In a matter of

hours, we do expect members of both the House and Senate to have the opportunity to be briefed on the joint U.S.-Israel strikes against Iran. And part of those remarks that you played from President Donald Trump, that was the first time that we'd heard him speak publicly about Operation Epic Fury.

And while he has said that combat operations will continue until objectives are met, his timeline has wavered. Weve heard him say two to three days. Of course, we are several days into this now, already. Through the week, he has said at one point, and the most recently he has said four to five weeks. But he has also said that it could go on longer.

Now, overnight, we do have a new post from Trump where he commented on the capabilities of the United States to keep going here. I want to pull that up for you now.

In this post, he said, quote, the United States munitions stockpiles have at the medium and upper medium grade never been higher or better, as was stated to me today, he posted this on Monday, just before midnight.

He said, "We have a virtually unlimited supply of these weapons. Wars can be fought forever and very successfully using just these supplies, which are better than other countries' finest arms. At the highest end, we have a good supply but are not where we want to be. Much additional high-grade weaponry is stored for us in outlying countries."

[05:15:01]

So kind of a remarkable acknowledgment there that at the highest end, that supply is not where he wants to see it. Taking a step back here to what took place before this escalation, we know that there have been multiple rounds of high stakes talks between the United States and Iran. On the U.S. side, those were led by special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump's son in law, Jared Kushner, and those latest talks took place on Thursday, just days ago now in Geneva. And when those ended, it was clear there was still a significant gap between the two parties when it came to a potential nuclear agreement.

In a recent interview with CNN's Jake Tapper, Trump said that they weren't willing to give us what we asked for and they should have done it. He also warned that a big wave was going to be coming soon.

HILL: Julia, important updates for us. Appreciate it. Thank you.

Also with us this hour, Danny Citrinowicz is a senior researcher at the Institute for National Security Studies, joining us now live from central Israel.

Dan, it's good to have you with us. You know, Julia was just laying out there more of the case that the Trump administration is putting out in this moment. Looking at who is left in Iran right now, is it clear who is in charge? DANNY CITRINOWICZ, SENIOR RESEARCHER, INSTITUTE FOR NATIONAL SECURITY

STUDIES: Well, first we have to say that this regime is not going to capitulate. Despite the fact that Israel and the U.S. decapitated Khamenei itself, they're not going to forego their strategic capabilities, we have to say that.

The other side, the other thing we have to remember, there is no Delcy Rodriguez in Iran. Yes, we know that this regime is run by what we call the institute that actually run everything the national security council headed by the Secretary Ali Larijani, but he's not the leader of Iran right now. What we're waiting for the appointment of the Iranian supreme leader, the next one.

And now we have Larijani, we have Mohammad Ali Abbas, that is the speaker of the majlis, both of them are very dominant in Iran right now. But they are not alone. They have to consider the thoughts of the IRGC, the army, the Basij.

So the bottom line of things that despite the fact that they don't have Khamenei right now, there is no sign of them changing their policy regarding the U.S. and this is actually will lead the U.S. to some sort of strategic junction, whether to try to topple this regime and, you know it's going to be very hard or to reach an agreement with this regime knowing they're not going to capitulate on the missiles and enrichment capability that they have.

HILL: Is it your sense that the U.S. would go in then and try to topple the regime? Because we also hear these comments from the president, right? President Trump basically saying, hey, we got rid of, you know of the supreme leader for you. Now, it's up to you. Iranians, rise up. This is your moment

CITRINOWICZ: Well, I think it's wishful thinking. Again, we don't -- we don't have a crystal ball. We don't know what will happen. But I think this regime right now is stronger than people might think.

Yes. It's weak. He's being challenged by multiple issues that happened domestically and outside, of course. And some of them the war of Israel and us conducting against it. But it's still very strong.

The fact is also, we have to remember that there is no viable opposition in Iran itself, yet the people are against this regime, but there's no leader to this opposition inside Iran. So, the thought that someone can take out people to the streets, it can be maybe theoretically possible, but practically, what will happen to have the agency, the Basij fighting them, maybe bloodshed on bloodshed on the streets.

We won't have democratic Iran in the near future. We have to remember that. So, the administration has a choice whether to work with this regime. It's problematic. But you can find some sort of agreement with them, a limited one to stop the war or to bet something bigger trying to topple this regime.

But then you can find civil war in Iran. You can find a lot of other problems in Iran. You won't find Western leaders in Iran that actually want to interact with the U.S.

This is not going to happen. And we have to face the reality right now.

HILL: Yeah. The other reality is what we're seeing as this plays out across the region. You know, my colleagues are just talking Paula Hancocks specifically before the break about the concerns that are rising among the Gulf states as we continue to watch this Iranian response, discussion about whether and how to respond. What's the reset potentially, that you see shaping up in this moment across the region, not only for those countries but frankly, for their relationships with the United States?

CITRINOWICZ: I think it's directly connected to the Iranian strategy. The Iranians working on the issue of attrition they are thinking that the time is actually working for them, not against them. So, they're trying to raise the stakes. They're trying to make sure that that countries, the international community, will pay the price for the war itself.

This is why they are blocking almost rates. This is why they're attacking the neighbors. It's not something that they want to do, but they understand that the gulf states are the weakest link in the chain, and they assume that the price will be so high for them, for the UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, that actually they will press the administration to stop the war.

[05:20:06]

And I think that for them, they're not going to stop. And actually, if things will get sour, I see them also attacking the energy facilities in those countries because for the regime itself, we have to remember this is a fight for their life. And given the understanding that they're not going to capitulate, they're going to intensify this war. They're thinking this war will take weeks, maybe months.

This is why they're calculating the ammunition, but unfortunately, we'll see those things happening. They will continue to do that. They're not going to stop it because for them, it's the only way in their eyes to bring this war to stop

HILL: As you lay all of that out, the way they could play out the timeline. There's also the reality about of what we heard yesterday from President Trump, who told my colleague Jake Tapper, the big wave hasn't even happened yet. What is your sense of what that big wave could potentially look like?

CITRINOWICZ: More airplanes, more missiles against the same targets. Actually, what Israel is the U.S. trying to do right now is attacking two main targets families in a way. One is depriving or trying to limit the Iranians ability to launch missiles and of course, the other strategic capabilities, whatever left from their nuclear facilities.

The other thing is trying to undermine the regime. So they're trying to attack the agency headquarters, Basij headquarters, even border patrols, to think that this is the way to undermine this regime and pushing people to the streets while the regime is weak.

So, my sense is, is what the U.S. and Israel try to do. We try to do the same, but with more munition, with more force, and trying really to see whether they can snap the leadership. Unfortunately, I'm very skeptical that this is actually will happen.

HILL: Yeah. Danny Citrinowicz, really appreciate your insight, your expertise this morning. Thank you.

CITRINOWICZ: Thank you.

HILL: As we have been following international travel to and from the region still heavily disrupted by the war with Iran. So, passengers stranded of course not just there, but also stranded across the globe.

Passengers here in Thailand -- you're looking at pictures out of Thailand. They've been stranded since the weekend when the conflict broke out.

Some of the world's busiest airports, of course, are in the region but with airspace closed over several countries and territories, people can't get out, others can't get in. The planes, of course, aren't moving either.

These planes in Australia remain grounded, since all flights to Qatar have been suspended on a number of airlines. Emirates says, though it does plan to resume a limited number of flights on Tuesday night. Select flights were permitted to fly out of Dubai on Monday. Some of those planes going to India after travelers had waited days to get to their destinations.

For now, though, others really just forced to play this waiting game, as this conflict continues.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Previously it was very excited. We just enjoyed everywhere with after good news. We just -- just -- I'm just cry it and just spoke it with my kids on the web, camera, and I don't know, hopefully I will get a chance to see my kids.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: The war with Iran also continuing to impact global oil prices. We'll take a look at what is driving that increase, just how bad things could get. That's ahead here on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:26:36]

HILL: Welcome back. I'm Erica Hill.

Here's a look at some of the stories we're watching for you today.

State media in Iran reporting a U.S.-Israeli strike damaged a centuries old UNESCO designated palace. Golestan Palace dates back to the 16th century. It is one of the oldest in Tehran. The palace's famous mirrored throne room, along with its museum artifacts, had previously been moved to a secure vault following the deadly protests in January and during the 12-Day War last June.

President Trump is set to meet with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Tuesday. The president will host his German counterpart at the White House, with the pair set to discuss the latest developments in the Middle East.

The House Oversight Committee has released new footage from the depositions meantime of former U.S. President Bill Clinton and his wife, former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. The couple had agreed to speak with lawmakers about their alleged connections to Jeffrey Epstein, after weeks of pushback and threats of criminal contempt. Neither deposition produced significant new information.

The U.S. State Department is ordering mandatory evacuations for non- emergency personnel and their families across the Middle East, citing the security concerns in Jordan, Bahrain, Iraq, Qatar and Kuwait. Video from early today in Doha shows objects falling from the sky after Qatar's air defenses intercepted an incoming projectile. Qatar says it has now shot down more than 100 missiles and two drones.

For more, were joined by CNN's senior producer, Bijan Hosseini, who's joining us now live from Doha.

Bring us up to speed, Bijan, on what more is happening there in Doha.

BIJAN HOSSEINI, CNN SENIOR PRODUCER: Hi, Erica. Yeah, it's 1:30 p.m. local time on what is day four of Iran's retaliation here.

I just want to go over some of those numbers that you just mentioned. This was confirmed by the Ministry of Defense overnight. So far, over the last four days, three cruise missiles, 101 ballistic missiles, 39 drones and two SU-24 fighters have been launched towards Qatar alone. And, you know, the government coming out and saying they've intercepted nearly all of those.

But that last number, those two SU-24 fighters is extremely significant. It is a huge escalation as it's the first confirmed case that we have from a Gulf country shooting down Iranian aircraft.

And we've heard from a number of Qatari ministers over the last couple of days saying they reserve that right, that that right is theirs to respond to this Iran -- Iranian aggression. And we saw that play out overnight last night.

We also have been getting information from Qatar's media office. They've been pushing back against reports suggesting that they're running out of air defense missiles. They said those rumors are completely false and that their Patriot air defense systems remain well-stocked.

And as far as injuries go, the last number we were told by authorities, 20 injured. And we know that there were 8,000 passengers that were in transit that are stranded here. They were traveling to their locations and were caught at Doha's Hamad International Airport.

So, 8,000 passengers there. They have been well-looked after they've been given complimentary hotels, but obviously, a very scary feeling for those passengers who are waiting on updates as to when they can leave once airspace is opened. We also know there's a cruise ship, two cruise ships docked in Doha's Mina Port.

One of those cruise ships, the Mein Schiff 5 belonging to German cruise liner TUI cruises, has a capacity of 2,500 passengers and 1,000 crew. They have been asked to remain on board until airspace can open up, but TUI Cruises is saying that they are being well-looked after and that they have enough resources for them as well -- Erica.

HILL: Yeah, really appreciate it. Thank you.

Well, as we look at the broader impact, of course.