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Early Start with Rahel Solomon

Global Oil Markets Face Historic Levels Of Disruption. Aired 4- 4:30a ET

Aired March 13, 2026 - 04:00   ET

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

[04:00:36]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN Breaking News.

RAHEL SOLOMON, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning and welcome to our viewers joining us here in the United States and all around the world. I'm Rahel Solomon live this morning in New York.

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Becky Anderson live from our Middle East programming headquarters here in Abu Dhabi in the UAE.

Israel now says its fighter jets struck more than 200 targets across Iran over the past 24 hours. Iranian state media reports that heavy explosions rocked several cities in the country. As the war rages on, Iran vowing to keep hitting U.S. and Israeli targets, restrict the Strait of Hormuz, a key shipping route, and attack Gulf energy sites for as long as they say is needed. Israeli authorities say a missile strike has wounded dozens of people and damaged buildings in northern Israel. That happened after sirens sounded and the Israeli military said it had detected missiles fired from Iran.

Meanwhile, rescue efforts underway after an American refueling plane went down in western Iraq, that's according to Central Command, which says the plane was not hit by hostile or friendly fire. And we are also getting the first statement attributed to Iran's new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei. He has not appeared in public since his appointment. His message read out on Iranian state media.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MOJTABA KHAMENEI, IRAN'S NEW SUPREME LEADER (through translator): I gave this assurance to people that we will not forget, we will revenge on the blood of your martyrs. This revenge is not only for our martyred leader, it is actually for those who are martyred by the enemy. We will take a full revenge.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Well, CNN's Paula Hancock standing by here in Abu Dhabi. First, want to get to Nada Bashir, who is covering the very latest developments both in Iran and in Israel.

Nada. NADA BASHIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Becky, as you mentioned there, we have that first official statement from the new supreme leader of Iran, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei. As he mentioned, this was not a direct or public address. We didn't actually see or hear from him. This was a statement read aloud on state T.V., a seven part message delivered to the country. And in that message we heard that very familiar rhetoric of defiance against the United States and Israel, vowing once again to take revenge over the continued attacks on Iran.

And there were several statements there with regards to the attacks that we've seen, including the expression of condolences to those that have lost their lives, a call for repatriations for the damage incurred in Iran, but also a message sent directly to Iran's Gulf neighbors say that they are not targeting their neighbors, that they want friendly relations, but rather they are focused on U.S. military bases in the region, a warning there that all bases must be shut down, otherwise those attacks will continue. And as you mentioned, we have seen continued attacks on the Strait of Hormuz, a key shipping route. We heard from the new supreme leader saying those attacks won't stop until the war is over. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KHAMENEI (through translator): The level of blocking the Strait of Hormuz must definitely continue to be used. Studies have been conducted on opening other fronts where the enemy has little experience and will be extremely vulnerable and their activation will carry out if the war situation continues and based on the observance of interests.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASHIR: Now, of course, what we have seen overnight is a continuation of this fierce bombardment of Iran. We've heard from state media reporting a series of explosions reported in the country's capital, Tehran. And as you mentioned, we have now heard from the Israeli military saying they have struck some 200 military targets, in their words, overnight into the early hours of this morning, purportedly targeting missile infrastructure, missile launches and storage depots, as we have heard in the past, both from the U.S. and the Israeli military. But of course, as we have been reporting, civilian infrastructure, oil infrastructure has been significantly impacted in these strikes carried out by the U.S. and Israel on Iran. And we've been hearing from civilians describing just how close the impact of these explosions, of these strikes has been.

[04:05:07]

And of course, the death toll in Iran still rising. Of course, in Israel, a new wave of missile attacks is also said to have occurred overnight. We've heard those sirens warning civilians to take shelter. Again, reports of those missile strikes from the Israeli military taking place in Israel. And of course, there is no such thing sense at this stage from the statement we heard from Iran's supreme leader that there is any clear off ramp at this stage for this conflict, certainly no off ramp indicated by the U.S. president either. And in fact, the indication, the messaging that we've been hearing from Mojtaba Khamenei is that this war will continue. He has painted a picture of victory for Iran. But of course, the damage incurred, the death toll rising certainly paints a somewhat different picture.

ANDERSON: Yes. Nada is in London. Nada, thank you.

It is just after midday here in the UAE. Paula Hancocks standing by in Abu Dhabi. And let's just get our viewers up to date, Paula, on what we understand to have happened around this region of the Gulf over the past 24 hours.

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So, Becky, we've been seeing more incoming projectiles from Iran in a number of different Gulf nations here in the UAE. Let's start here. We've seen two waves in Dubai at this point. We also know from authorities that one building in the financial district was the facade was hit by debris from an interception. That's happened a couple of times on Thursday as well.

This causing the most damage really at this point. The missiles and drones are still being intercepted. But of course, that debris does have to fall somewhere, which is why authorities say when those emergency alerts go off, take cover immediately inside. Now, we've also seen in Saudi Arabia that they've intercepted dozens of drones, according to authorities. They say that they were on their way to the center and the east of the country, the eastern province, of course, being where those oil fields are.

So we're seeing again Tehran focusing on the energy infrastructure, focusing, as the Revolutionary Guard had said as well, that the region will -- oil and gas will be set on fire if Iranian energy infrastructure is targeted, a kind of belated warning there as they are already targeting the energy infrastructure. The waters off the Gulf as well, we are seeing, have been heavily impacted in the Strait of Hormuz, the Arabian Gulf, the Gulf of Oman. The U.K. Maritime Agency says now that some 16 vessels have been targeted by Iran. These are oil tankers, cargo ships and other vessels. Now, the maritime agency also says that some eight people have been killed.

Four are still missing in those attacks and a number injured as well. Now, when it comes to where the off ramp is, there doesn't appear to be one at this point. We heard from Mojtaba Khamenei, the new supreme leader, that these attacks on the Gulf nations will continue. Now, he did say in this statement that was read out that relations between and he said 15 of the neighboring countries in Iran will be warm and close, but the continuation of attacks on U.S. military bases will not be abated, saying that these countries in the Gulf and further afield need to get rid of U.S. bases in their country, otherwise they will continue to be a target. Becky.

ANDERSON: Paula Hancocks with the very latest from the Gulf region.

Meantime, Lebanon -- thank you, Paula. Lebanon is bracing for another flood of internally displaced people fleeing into the country's north following a new evacuation order by Israel. Its defense minister has ordered the military to get ready to expand its ground operations in southern Lebanon. The new evacuation order issued on Thursday has doubled the area where Israel wants all civilians gone. Lebanon says more than 800,000 people are already internally displaced, and there are concerns that number could reach a million in the coming days.

Well, Israel also stepping up its airstrikes on suspected Hezbollah targets. Lebanon says almost 700 people have been killed in this fighting.

Right. We will have a lot more from the Middle East coming up for you. For now, though, I want to get you back to New York and to Rahel.

[04:10:00]

SOLOMON: All right, Becky, we'll check back with you in a few minutes. Thank you.

Here in the U.S., the FBI is investigating a pair of attacks more than 700 miles apart on Thursday. The Department of Homeland Security says that a man who rammed a car into a synagogue in the Detroit, Michigan area was a naturalized citizen from Lebanon. The 41-year-old died when his car caught fire shortly after he crashed into the Temple Israel Synagogue on Thursday. The temple includes a daycare center and a school. A security guard was knocked unconscious when the car struck him as it smashed into the building.

No teachers or students, however, were injured in the incident. The FBI says that it's investigating the attack as a, quote, "targeted act of violence against the Jewish community." President Donald Trump offering his condolences for the violence.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I want to send our love to the Michigan Jewish community and all of the people in Detroit, Detroit area following the attack on the Jewish synagogue early today. And I've been briefed -- fully briefed, and it's a terrible thing, but it goes on.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOLOMON: And in Virginia, a fatal shooting at a university is also being investigated by the FBI as an act of terror after a gunman opened fire in a classroom. One person was killed, two others injured. This happened Thursday morning at Old Dominion University in Norfolk. Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger identified the victim who was killed as Army Lt. Col. Brandon Shah, an instructor at the university. Officials identified the shooter as Mohamed Jalloh, a convicted ISIS supporter and U.S. military veteran. Jalloh pleaded guilty in 2017 to attempting to provide material support to a terrorist group.

CNN's Brian Todd is in Sterling, Virginia with the latest now on the gunman.

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We're here in Sterling, Virginia, in the middle of a group of upscale townhouses where we believe the suspect in the Old Dominion University shooting lived. That Suspect identified as 36-year-old Mohamed Bailor Jalloh, a former Virginia National Guard member who spent nearly seven years in prison after pleading guilty to trying to support ISIS, the terror group. Officials at the time saying that he tried to procure weapons for an ISIS attack.

Now, at the residence where we believe the suspect lived, I knocked on the door three separate times. Twice a man answered, first pointing to a sign that was taped in the front door. The sign saying we do not wish to speak to the press. He pointed to that sign and said, we really don't want to speak to anyone right now. And then he closed the door.

The second time he answered, he said, I'm trying to be as nice to you as I can about this, but you have to understand we're going through a really tough time now and we don't want to talk to anybody. We also spoke to five different neighbors from the neighborhood. They describe a very large family living at that address, a family of multiple generations. But they said the family didn't really interact with anyone in the neighborhood and the neighbors really didn't interact with them. One neighbor told me that he would sometimes pass the suspect by when he would walk in the neighborhood.

He said the first time he did that, he said hi to the suspect, but the suspect didn't say anything back and just looked down on the ground, down toward the ground, rather. And he said every time he would pass the suspect after that, it would be the same thing. The suspect wouldn't say anything and would just look down to the ground. This neighbor said, quote, "something about him didn't sit well with me." Another neighbor said, quote, "I'm surprised that they released him and let him come back here."

Also, accounts from Old Dominion University from law enforcement sources are pretty grisly regarding the scene of the shooting at that ROTC classroom at Old Dominion. Sources telling CNN that when the shooting unfolded, the suspect was subdued by other students and at least one other student stabbed him to death.

Brian Todd, CNN, Sterling, Virginia.

SOLOMON: All right. Still ahead for us, where do oil prices go from here? Despite the Strait of Hormuz being thousands of miles away, attacks on vessels there continue to have an impact on gas stations here in the U.S. that story when we return.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:18:34]

SOLOMON: Welcome back. The U.S. is taking surprising steps to curb the pain of rising gas prices in the U.S. The Trump administration has temporarily lifted sanctions on Russian oil stranded at sea. U.S. Treasury Secretary says that the short term waiver only applies to oil already in transit and will not significantly benefit the Russian government. But this comes as gas prices continue to edge up.

The latest reading from AAA says that the average price at the pump is $3.60 a gallon. That is a $0.35 increase from just last week.

And the Strait of Hormuz moves about 20 percent of the world's oil every day. And with Iran's new supreme leader vowing to keep it shut, well, fuel prices worldwide continue to soar. But why is it hitting so hard Even in the U.S. CNN's Tom Foreman explains.

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This conflict is far away. The United States produces a tremendous amount of oil and gas. So why is it affecting your corner gas station? Because we're talking about another part of the world that also produces a lot of petroleum products. Places like UAE, Saudi Arabia, huge producer, Kuwait, Iraq, and yes, Iran as well.

And almost all of that has to come out through this body of water and through the Strait of Hormuz. About 3,000 ships a month, 20 million barrels a day. And Iran is putting so much pressure, military pressure, on those ships with a threat of attack that they're effectively closing the metaphorical gates here and saying nothing can get out from this area at the time. How are they doing that?

[04:20:06]

One of the ways is with the threat of mining the area, which is believed to be underway in some fashion there. We don't know exactly what kind of mines they're using at this moment or how effective they would be, but we know what they have. For example, they have these. These are called influence mines. They sit in the water and they wait for ships to pass overhead.

If they see a small boat, they may let it pass. A medium sized one, let it pass. But they see one of those big tankers that they're after, that's when they'll blow up. We don't really know how effective they can be, but we know they've already disrupted the flow here immensely. Now, most of this is going out to go to Asian countries, principally China.

Why would that affect you? Because oil is traded on a global market. Let me fill the back of our hangar here with a bunch of barrels representing all the oil being traded in the world right now. And because of the trouble around the Strait of Hormuz, 20 percent is now being held up. You simply can't take that out of the market without affecting manufacturing and shipping and trade.

And, yes, what you're going to pay when you try to fill up your car for this weekend.

SOLOMON: Great visual explainer there. Our thanks to Tom Foreman. Let's bring in now CNN's Mike Valerio, who joins us this morning in Beijing.

Mike, good to see you. So what more can you share with us about the war's effect on oil prices and really the markets? Because we've all been feeling it.

MIKE VALERIO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, I can't stress enough to any American who's waking up early this morning that in addition to what Tom said with his great piece a couple of seconds ago, you know, even if, Rahel, oil production is amazing in the United States with no disruption to domestic production, which is the case, we're still paying more in the United States. If you're in, you know, Idaho, Iowa, New Jersey, California, anywhere in between, you're paying more. Because American oil producers sell to the global market. So if there's a disruption here in Asia or the Middle East, American oil producers aren't going to say, oh, you know, we're going to sell our oil super cheaply to the rest of the world. No, there is a huge demand.

So American oil is going to be sold at more expensive prices. And then us back home in the United States, we're going to be paying more. So to that point, you know, you touched on it certainly in the introduction to this segment, before the war started, oil prices on average, you know, don't be mad at us if you're paying more in California or New York, on average they were $2.98 before the conflict started. And now as we're on day 14 or thereabouts, it's up to $3.60 on average. And we want to say that because now there are all these measures, Rahel, to try to bring oil down below $100 a barrel.

Right now, throughout the trading day in Asia, it's been hovering around $100, $101. These measures haven't really worked in terms of injecting more barrels of oil into the pipeline. The last time something like that was done with the United States injecting 170 million or thereabouts barrels of oil into the pipeline when the war in Ukraine started, that lowered gas prices by at most 40 cents a gallon, as little as 17 cents a gallon. So now we're looking at a price increase of more than 60, 60 cents a gallon. So we're leading to thinking what else besides guaranteeing the safety of ships in the Strait of Hormuz can bring gas prices down?

And there's really not a whole lot aside from securing the Strait of Hormuz that can work, that can make things feel better for consumers, be they in China or be they back home in the United States, Rahel.

SOLOMON: Yes, it's interesting, Mike. It really sort of illustrates the last few weeks that expression that's often used to describe gas prices. They go up like a rocket and down like a feather.

Mike, we'll see you again soon. Thank you.

VALERIO: Yes.

SOLOMON: And with five hours to go before markets open here on Wall Street, U.S. futures are all off about, well, 4 cents (ph) of a percent. A moment ago, they were off half a percent or more. Investors continue to react to the disruptions in the oil market as Mike and I were just talking about, as the war with Iran now closes in on two weeks.

Also on tap today, a key inflation report closely watched by the Federal Reserve. We'll keep an eye on it.

[04:24:21]

We'll also have more coverage of the war in Iran, including Tehran's new attacks affecting the heart of Dubai's financial district. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANDERSON: Welcome back. I'm Becky Anderson live from our Middle East programming headquarters here in Abu Dhabi. I want to get you up to speed with the very latest on the war in Iran. At least three Gulf States, including the United Arab Emirates, reporting new Iranian attacks. Officials in Dubai say air defenses have intercepted an incoming projectile.

Its debris fell into the financial center. No injuries reported. Saudi Arabia reported new drone attacks, while emergency sirens were also heard in Bahrain. State media in Iran, meantime, saying heavy explosions were heard in Tehran and other cities. Israel said its fighter jets dropped more than 200 military targets across the country.

In northern Israel, officials say about 30 people were injured after a missile strike caused a fire. Despite attacks going both ways, the U.S. president said his military operations are on track.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: The situation with Iran is moving along very rapidly. It's doing very well. Our military is unsurpassed. There's never been anything like it. Nobody has ever seen anything like it. And we're doing what has to be done should have been done.