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Early Start with Rahel Solomon
New Strikes In Middle East; Pentagon Requests War Funding; Israeli PM Agrees To Trump's Request. Aired 5-5:30a ET
Aired March 20, 2026 - 05:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[05:00:23]
RAHEL SOLOMON, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Rahel Solomon live this morning in New York.
BECKY ANDERSON, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Becky Anderson, live from our Middle East programming headquarters here in Abu Dhabi.
It is Friday, March the 20th, and straight ahead on EARLY START.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BEN HUNTE, CNN ANCHOR: Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the UAE all report intercepting projectiles.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's going to be over with pretty soon. We've obliterated there -- just about everything there is to obliterate.
KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: The Trump administration is reportedly preparing to ask for $200 billion from Congress for the war.
PETE HEGSETH, DEFENSE SECRETARY: It takes money to kill bad guys
ELEX MICHAELSON, CNN HOST: Israel's prime minister says he will hold off on attacks on Iran's gas fields after requests from President Trump.
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: He's the leader. I'm, you know, his ally
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: It's 1:00 p.m. here in Abu Dhabi, on Friday.
We begin with new drone strikes in countries across the Middle East. Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and here in the UAE, all reporting intercepting projectiles early today. And just within the past hour, Iranian state media report that the spokesperson for the powerful Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, Major General Ali Mohammad Naini, has been killed. Meanwhile, Israeli sources confirm an Iranian missile struck an oil refinery in the port city of Haifa. No injuries reported there, but emergency teams are on site to assess the damage and check for hazardous materials.
A U.S. F-35 fighter jet like the one you see here, made an emergency landing at an American base in the Middle East. Two sources say the plane was struck by what is believed to have been Iranian fire.
U.S. President Donald Trump says Israel will hold off on its attacks on Iran's gas fields. Iran reporting a major strike on its South Pars facility, the largest in the world, on Wednesday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I told them, don't do that, and he won't do that. We didn't discuss, you know, we do -- we're independent but get along great it's coordinated. But on occasion, he'll do something. And if I don't like it. And so, we're not doing that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Well, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel acted alone in that attack, but U.S. and Israeli sources tell CNN the two countries coordinated on the strike.
Well, CNN's Eleni Giokos is live with us this hour from Dubai.
I want to begin, though, with our Jerusalem bureau chief, Oren Liebermann.
And both sides causing lasting damage to the world economy at this point. Is it any clearer from the Israeli perspective as you understand it from your sources, what is left to do? What the ultimate objective is here, and whether or not the U.S. and Israel are aligned, and what the end of this war looks like, Oren?
OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN JERUSALEM BUREAU CHIEF: Becky, Israel has made it clear at this point that it's not done with this war and has at least several more weeks two, three, perhaps even more than that of war ahead of it in terms of the targets Israel is going after. Every Iranian regime facility can find at least that's what it looks like from our perspective here. Iranian military facilities and ballistic missile sites, as well as a list of high value targets that is targeted assassinations of Iranian leadership.
We saw it from the very beginning with the assassination of the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and then with Ali Larijani in the past several days, and the intelligence minister. And that's not over yet as we understand it Israel still has targets that it intends to kill as it goes through and prosecutes this war here. The U.S. also making clear it's not done with the war it has laid out or tried to lay out, at least specific military goals. But defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, President Donald Trump, they have basically said the war will end when President Trump decides the U.S. is ready to declare victory and decides he's won.
So, the U.S. a little less clear, even if it's tried to state its goals, it's not clear what the timeline is or how much longer this lasts. In terms of any breaks between the two countries, we don't really see that because of the coordinate it takes to carry out a military campaign like this. On the South Pars gas field. It was of course, Trump who said the U.S. didn't know in advance we have spoken to both Israeli and American officials who say the U.S. Did in fact, know in advance.
And from that perspective, you can look at Netanyahu's press conference last night and see that as more messaging than anything else showing the world and, crucially showing Trump that he will -- that they're on the same page that he is following the United States.
[05:05:10]
The soundbite we heard right at the beginning of the show, even making it sound like he was subservient to the United States and will follow the U.S. lead. Israel has now struck at least twice Iranian energy and oil infrastructure we see worldwide the effects of Iran's retaliation. Netanyahu now saying he won't continue those strikes.
But, Becky, after Iran struck what I think is Israel's largest refinery in northern Israel, Netanyahu may feel he has no choice but to bide his time and carry out another strike on Iranian energy.
ANDERSON: While I've got you, it's just after 11:00 there in Jerusalem, of course, in neighboring Lebanon. The assault there goes on.
Just get us up to speed if you will, on what we understand to be the latest on the Israeli attacks there.
LIEBERMANN: Israel's presence in southern Lebanon, Israel seizure of territory and its push into southern Lebanon is deepening several kilometers or more in some points as it effectively tries to cut off southern Lebanon, bombing bridges along the Litani River, issuing evacuation warnings for everything south of the Litani River and more as it continues to strike. Beirut, trying to target and weaken Hezbollah. Hezbollah has shown that it can keep firing back here.
There is an attempt to start a diplomatic process by Lebanon, by the Lebanese government. But Israel has not engaged on that. And from what we see on the ground, from what we see from the statements from the Israeli military, they are pushing this war on Israels northern border against Hezbollah deeper, even as we see the rising death toll in Lebanon.
ANDERSON: Oren, good to have you. Thank you.
Get to Dubai now, and, Eleni, reporting in "The Wall Street Journal" this morning suggesting that Saudi light crude already being sold to Asian buyers via its Red Sea port for around $125 a barrel? Should there be no easing in restrictions of supply? And at present we see no easing. Prices reportedly in April going to $150 and beyond.
The bottom line here is that the market at least, and this is a good indication here as to what might happen next. Not pricing in an end to this any time soon. ELENI GIOKOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's a really important question.
I'm glad you mentioned the futures market versus the physical market. And we are seeing a huge discrepancy in terms of the pricing models. And I think that's what's pretty worrying because, you know, the futures market is sort of looking at what happens to supply. And were not just talking about the Strait of Hormuz but physical destruction within the capacity that were seeing here in the gulf states. You and I have been discussing all the critical energy infrastructure that has been targeted since the start of this war.
And importantly, we have finally some kind of assessment on the damage that was done, Qatar energy that shut down Ras Laffan at the beginning of the war has spoken about the actual implications here. And I want to take you through these numbers because it really affects everyone.
You have numbers that are being brought out by Qatar, 17 percent of capacity has been wiped out, 17 percent of capacity. That is absolutely massive that we're seeing. That's going to cost around $20 billion a year in revenue losses for Qatar energy. And it's going to take between three and five years to bring it up to full capacity. They've already called force majeure. So, in other words stopping selling products to their long term contracts.
Qatar is the world's largest producer of LNG, 20 percent of supplies come from Qatar and then that means that the products that are going to be impacted. So, I just want to take you through these. They're really important in terms of refining our crude products around the world. The things that are most notable to me is the likes of helium, which interestingly, Qatar produces around 30 percent of global helium supplies.
Helium is used to cool things down like MRI machines. So just to give you an idea of what's happening and then I was looking at the jet fuel prices, Becky, and everyone's really worried about this and I'm looking at the prices and actually they've risen far higher than what we saw during Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
The airline industry is reeling. They really worried. So while we're worried about crude exports through the Strait of Hormuz, it is a refined product that we're seeing a spike in already that's coming to fruition. And that's very concerning.
Goldman Sachs saying we should expect oil prices to hover around $100 a barrel well into 2027. And you see these numbers, it's very obvious that we're sitting in a supply disruption scenario.
ANDERSON: Yeah, it is very worrying. Eleni, thank you.
All right. More coming up from us but for the time being, let's get you back to Rahel, my colleague in New York, for more of the day's top stories -- Rahel.
[05:10:02]
SOLOMON: All right. Becky, we'll see you soon. Thanks so much. President Trump says that he may soon ask Congress for $200 billion to fund the war with Iran. U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth addressed the massive price tag during a Pentagon briefing on Thursday.
CNN's Kylie Atwood has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KYLIE ATWOOD, CNN U.S. SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth saying that the U.S. military is on plan to achieve its military objectives in the Iran war, but not saying a time frame for when those objectives would be accomplished, saying that President Trump would ultimately be the determining factor as to when this military campaign is over.
When he was asked about reports of the administration asking Congress for $200 billion in additional funding for the Iran War, this is what he said.
PETE HEGSETH, DEFENSE SECRETARY: As far as $200 billion, I think that number could move. Obviously, it takes -- it takes money to kill bad guys. So, we're going back to Congress and our folks there to ensure that we're properly funded for what's been done, for what we may have to do in the future, ensure that our ammunition is -- everything's refilled and not just refilled but above and beyond
ATWOOD: Now, President Trump was also asked in the Oval Office about this $200 billion in funding and why such a high figure would be needed if the war is coming to a conclusion. As he has said multiple times before, Trump did not give a direct answer but did give an indication that that funding would be needed to replenish U.S. stockpiles of its weaponry.
We also heard from the top Senate Republican, John Thune, saying that Congress would need a descriptor of what those funds would actually be going towards in order to clear them, but also saying that it remains to be seen if a budget like that could pass his chamber.
Kylie Atwood, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SOLOMON: Well, oil prices have edged lower despite energy hubs across the Middle East continuing to get hit, comes after a tumultuous day where the global benchmark brant crude surged to $119 a barrel before settling at $108. That is the highest closing level since July 2022. Tehran had retaliated with strikes on energy infrastructure and Israel and Qatar after Israel targeted Iran's South Pars natural gas field in a major escalation in the conflict.
Airports across the U.S. continue to see passenger wait times expand as record amounts of TSA officers don't show up to work.
The Department of Homeland Security says that more than 10 percent of agents did not show up to schedule shifts on Wednesday. For over a month now, employees have been expected to work without pay as the DHS remains unfunded by Congress and with no end in sight to the partial government shutdown, government officials are warning the public to prepare for lines to get even longer.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEAN DUFFY, TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY: It's getting worse day by day, and we have to think about the TSA worker. But these are not highly paid individuals. They start off at about $45,000 to $55,000, but living in, you know in D.C. and Atlanta and New York, they live in very expensive communities. So, it's really challenging for them.
And so, I saw this with the FAA and our air traffic controllers, the TSA agents missed a partial payment. Last Friday, they missed a full payment. As we get into next week, Becky, and they're about to miss another payment, this is going to look like child's play what's happening right now. You're going to see small airports I believe shut down. You're going to see extensive lines and air travel is going to almost come to a grinding halt, stop.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOLOMON: Well, still ahead for us, the search for an American college student missing in Barcelona comes to a tragic end. What Spanish police are saying about the death of Jimmy Gracey ahead in a live report.
Then what the Israeli prime minister is saying about President Trump and Israel's partnership with the U.S.? We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[05:18:22]
SOLOMON: Welcome back.
The family of a U.S. college student who went missing in Spain say that they are working with local authorities to figure out what happened after Jimmy Gracey was found dead in Barcelona. The sad discovery came just two days after the 20-year-old went missing during a night out with friends in Barcelona.
Let's get to Melissa Bell, who joins us live this morning from Barcelona with more.
Melissa, what more can you share with us? And what more are you learning?
MELISSA BELL, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, what we found out late last night was that the local police had confirmed the fact that the body that was found just off the coast here just opposite where the young James Gracey was last seen, he'd come out of this nightclub, last seen by his friends at about 3:00 a.m. on Tuesday morning. And that search had been on ever since.
Yesterday evening, we discovered that a body had been found just opposite on the beachfront here, where he'd last been seen. Later confirmed to be the remains of James or Jimmy Gracey, as he was known, this 20-year-old University of Alabama student, who was a teen hockey player. He was a chaplain of his fraternity, well-liked by all. The eldest of five siblings, his father had come over desperate for news of what might have happened to his son.
And of course, this very sad news yesterday evening that these were indeed his remains. Now apart from that, there are a lot of questions that remain. And for now, because the investigation is ongoing, authorities are reluctant to tell us much more. An autopsy will be carried out but there are questions, for instance, about the young man's phone, James Gracey phone, we understand, had been found before his remains were. The question is we understood from his mother that this could have been stolen this is a Facebook post that she put out before his body had been found.
[05:20:03]
The phone had been stolen. What might it reveal in terms of what his movements were with whom he might have been? The CCTV footage that would have shown him in and around the club in those last few hours of the morning of Tuesday. All of this will be part of the investigation that continues. We wait for more news on that, but for now a very tragic day for the family and friends of James Gracey, had been hoping until the end that they might get better news.
We had a statement from the family yesterday speaking of their heartbreak, thanking people as well for the outpouring of love, support and prayers that they'd had. But also, of course, asking for privacy at this terrible time for the family.
SOLOMON: Yeah absolutely. Okay. Melissa Bell for us there in Barcelona -- Melissa, thank you.
And still ahead for us, the U.N. shipping agency is trying to open a humanitarian corridor in the Strait of Hormuz. Why the organization says that there needs to be freedom of navigation on the critical waterway. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[05:25:26]
ANDERSON: Well, the United Nations Shipping Agency says that it plans to start negotiations of a humanitarian corridor in the Strait of Hormuz. The organization says about 20,000 seafarers are trapped in the Gulf because of the war with Iran. It's unclear when the negotiations will start or whether Iran would even cooperate.
Now, the U.N. says at least seven sailors have been killed in the Gulf since the war started.
Israel's prime minister speaking candidly about his goal of regime change in Iran. Benjamin Netanyahu answered a number of questions from my colleague, CNN's Jeremy Diamond, at a news conference in Jerusalem on Thursday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: You assassinated Iran's supreme leader and dozens of other senior Iranian officials. The result of that so far has been the appointment of a new supreme leader considered to be even more hardline than his father. The Iranian regime is not showing any signs of collapse as of now.
So, I wonder, what do you say to those who say that killing those individuals is in fact, empowering the hardliners in Iran? And are you confident that your strategy will still lead to regime change?
NETANYAHU: I'm not sure who's running Iran right now. Mojtaba. the replacement ayatollah, has not shown his face. Have you seen him? We haven't.
And we can't vouch exactly what is happening there. There is -- there is a cloud here that's not clear what we see is that there is a lot of tensions inside the people who are edging for the top. I think the authority and the hold that Khamenei has had is not going to be translated to anyone, not to Mojtaba if he's there and not to anyone else.
Yes, yes, we're seeing cracks. We're seeing cracks, and we're trying to propagate them as fast as we can. Not only in the top command. We're seeing cracks in the field you know, it's sort of like a hollowed out rotten piece of wood that's holding on the outside, but there's a lot of rot inside.
We're seeing some defections. We're seeing fear and trepidation in the IRGC units that are manning the ballistic missiles. You know why? They're afraid to die. They're not -- they're not all suicidal. We're going to hit them again and again.
DIAMOND: You've also indicated today that you made a commitment to President Trump not to strike these oil and gas facilities in the future. Should President Trump come to you one day and say oil prices are too high, it's time to end this war, will you listen to him? And do you need the United States in order to continue this campaign alone?
NETANYAHU: I don't think any two leaders have been as coordinated as President Trump and I. He's the leader. I'm, you know his ally. America is the leader. But ultimately, President Trump makes his own decisions. And do I respect him? Yes, I do.
DIAMOND: The question is whether you would or could continue the war without the United States? Could you without the United States, without the refueling capabilities, for example?
MODERATOR: We're going to close. Thank you so much. Thank you, Mr. Prime Minister.
NETANYAHU: You exhausted your questions.
(END VIDEO CLIP) ANDERSON: Well, the Rafah border crossing was once again open for limited travel between Gaza and Egypt. Israel reopened the crossing on Thursday, its most recent closure lasting nearly three weeks.
Now, some Palestinian patients are being let out of Gaza for desperately needed medical treatment that they cannot get inside. What is this war-torn enclave? You can see the ambulances gathered there at Khan Younis hospital. The U.N. and other officials say thousands more Palestinians still require urgent care.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RAED AL-NAMS, MEDIA DIRECTOR, PALESTINIAN RED CRESCENT SOCIETY: According to the Palestinian ministry of health there are around 18,000 patients and injured whose conditions are classified as critical and for whom lifesaving services are unavailable in the Gaza strip. We hope that the efforts made in this regard will lead to an increase in the numbers. So, the largest possible number of them, patients and injured, can be evacuated to outside the Gaza Strip, and receive medical services, depending on the nature and type of their illnesses.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Jerusalem's historic Al-Aqsa Mosque, meantime, remains closed today for the first time in 60 years that the place of worship has been shut during Eid Al-Fitr.
