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One World with Zain Asher

Israel Expands Operations To Target Hezbollah In Lebanon; Israel Raises Specter Of Major Lebanon Ground Operation; U.S. On Alert After Attack At Synagogue, Shooting At University; Suspect Dead After Driving Car Into Detroit-Area Synagogue; Civilians Caught In The Middle As IDF Targets Hezbollah; U.S. Temporarily Lifts Sanctions On Some Russian Oil. Aired 11a- 12p ET

Aired March 13, 2026 - 11:00   ET

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

[11:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN HOST, ONE WORLD: Hello, everyone. Live from New York. I'm Bianna Golodryga. Zain is off today. You are watching "One World".

Nearly three weeks into the war with Iran, actually two weeks now the U.S. Defense Secretary says U.S. and Israeli strikes have hit more than 15,000

enemy targets.

Here is the very latest. Israel is pounding Iran as well as Hezbollah targets in Lebanon. Tehran is firing back at Israel and its Gulf neighbors.

And more than 2000 deaths have been reported in Iran and Lebanon. In Lebanon, the International Organization for Migration says mass evacuation

orders could push the number of displaced people to more than 1 million.

All six crew members aboard a refueling craft were killed in a plane crash in Iraq. Officials say the incident was not due to enemy or friendly fire.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETE HEGSETH, U.S. DEFENSE SECRETARY: War is chaos. And as we saw yesterday with the tragic crash of our KC-135 tanker, bad things can happen. American

heroes, all of them, and as I have with all of them, as we have, we will greet those heroes at Dover and their sacrifice will only recommit us to

the resolve of this mission.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GOLODRYGA: Pete Hegseth also downplayed concerns about the Strait of Hormuz effectively shut down after Iran ramped up attacks in recent days. And

across Iran, thousands marched in support of Palestinians, holding portraits of the late supreme leader as explosions rang out nearby, at

least one person was killed in Tehran.

CNN's Jeremy Diamond joins us now from Tel Aviv. So today officially marks two weeks since the start of this war, Jeremy, and since then, another

front has opened up, and that is to Israel's north there with Hezbollah, another day of Israel retaliating for those initial strikes from Hezbollah.

What are we hearing in terms of what those strikes will look like today?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Well, the Israeli military has said that it's conducted dozens of waves of strikes against Hezbollah in

recent days, and we know that those strikes are getting closer and closer to the center of Beirut. Last night, we saw some strikes in Central Beirut,

which the Israeli military said was targeting Hezbollah stores of money essentially.

They're going after a lot of financial targets linked to Hezbollah trying to debilitate the organization's ability to carry out its operations and

pay salaries. The Israeli military also targeting Hezbollah weapons storage facilities in the eastern part of Lebanon, and also going after Hezbollah

rocket launchers in the southern part of the country.

Those rocket launchers were among those that will have been responsible, over the last two nights for several waves of attacks by Hezbollah

targeting northern and Central Israel. We have seen hundreds of rockets being fired by Hezbollah in coordination, often times, with Iranian

ballistic missile attacks.

One of those ballistic missiles strike -- struck the town of Zarzir in Northern Israel. Meanwhile, the Israeli military is threatening to continue

to expand its ground operations in Southern Lebanon. We know that the Israeli military is already conducting special operations raids in Lebanon

and also controlling a thin strip of land in the south of the country.

But now Israel's Defense Ministry, Israel Katz threatening that the Lebanese government will suffer additional loss of territory, should the

Lebanese government not take steps to disarm Hezbollah. Already, we've seen about 14 percent of Lebanese territory now under evacuation orders from the

Israeli military.

800,000 Lebanese civilians have been displaced as a result of those evacuation orders so far, and obviously, that humanitarian crisis risks

getting worse, as the Lebanese government says it is finding itself between Hezbollah firing rockets and endangering Lebanese civilians on the one end.

And on the other side of it ramped up Israeli strikes across the country of Lebanon. So, a very difficult situation for Lebanese civilians, and also

for civilians in the north of Israel. All of this seems to be escalating, rather than finding any kind of off ramp for this region, Bianna.

[11:05:00]

GOLODRYGA: And Jeremy, last night, Israelis heard for the first time from Prime Minister Netanyahu, since this war began, what was his message?

DIAMOND: Well, the Israeli Prime Minister doubling, tripling down, if you will, on this idea of regime change, making clear that that is the goal of

Israeli operations in Iran, even though we haven't seen any evidence yet of it being successful. And we are just now getting air raid sirens over Tel

Aviv.

GOLODRYGA: Right.

DIAMOND: So, I'll continue talking to you as we move to a bomb shelter, but to let you know, the Israeli Prime Minister also talking about the New

Supreme Leader of Iran, pointing out that we have yet to actually see the new supreme leader's face, the prime minister tried to suggest that that's

because the new supreme leader is a puppet of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps.

And we know, of course, that the Israeli Prime Minister has said that he hopes that the conditions for regime change can be facilitated, but he also

made clear that ultimately that will be up to the people of Iran to actually make good on that, Bianna.

GOLODRYGA: All right, Jeremy Diamond, experiencing the reality of what life in Israel has been like for the past two weeks. The country experiencing

yet another air raid siren as a missile from Iran, I would imagine, is set to be heading in Israel's direction imminently. Jeremy, please stay safe,

and thank you so much for your reporting.

All right, let's bring in Israeli Journalist Amit Segal. He is the Chief Political Commentator at Israeli news Channel 12 and writes a newsletter,

"It's Noon in Israel". He's also the author of a book the Israeli Prime Ministers -- about the Israeli Prime Ministers. It's called "A Call at 4

AM". He joins us now from Jerusalem. And Amit, it's good to see you.

As we see, it appears, another missile directed towards Israel, there from Iran to pick up from what Jeremy noted, Prime Minister Netanyahu did seem

to shift his tone a bit yesterday when he was addressing the Israeli public for saying, while the U.S. and Israel had set the conditions in terms of

their military achievements in Iran over the past two weeks, that it was ultimately up to the Iranian people when it comes to regime collapse

saying, quote, you can lead someone to water, you cannot make him drink.

Did Israel and U.S. intelligence fundamentally underestimate the regime's resilience at this point? Just walk us through what you're hearing.

AMIT SEGAL, ISRAELI JOURNALIST: I'm not sure about this, but I would have to explain the strategy and what went wrong, if any. The concept of the war

is gripping the regime's throat with one hand and shaking it to its core with the other. Now the gripping is the raw military force used by, I

think, something like 7600 attacks of the Israeli Air Force alone on the Iranian target.

On the other hand, the shaking is those what we called in our last meeting here a week ago, surprises four or five strategic moves aimed at actually

causing this regime to collapse. This part has not happened yet, as far as I understand. So, we have a very successful military strike.

Very successful military strikes, as President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu said, something like 120 percent of what had been expected in the

first place. On the other hand, when it comes to shaking the foundation of the regime, this is slower than usual. That's my analysis.

GOLODRYGA: Yeah. And we heard from Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, earlier this morning, saying that missile production has functionally been

destroyed in Iran, and the U.S. and Israel collectively have hit some 15,000 enemy targets in the past two weeks.

We also heard from Iran's New Supreme Leader yesterday, I say heard, in quotations, Mojtaba Khamenei, because he only released a statement and we

didn't hear his voice, and we there's speculation as to his physical condition and how much injury he sustained in that initial bombing two

Fridays ago.

But meantime, we know Ali Larijani is confidently walking the streets of Tehran. He was given an interview today. Does Israeli intelligence have a

clear assessment of who is actually running the country now?

SEGAL: -- see whether Larijani, whether Khamenei is alive and kicking or in coma and not even aware of the fact that he is now the supreme leader. It's

quite clear that the more extreme part, more fundamentalist part of the Iranian regime is now in office or in the banker in this case.

[11:10:00]

It was quite funny to hear just a few minutes ago in the Iranian official news channel that Netanyahu's news conference yesterday was actually an AI

because it now got injured, killed. It takes one to no one. But for me, the most surprising fact is that Ali Larijani, as you said, appeared today in

this march to mark the Al-Quds Day, Jerusalem Day in Iran, while being bombed from jet fighters from who actually arrived from Jerusalem.

It's very interesting, Bianna, to see how Iran gets more similar to its proxies as long as this war goes on. This is exactly Hamas strategy, to

actually hide behind those civilians, knowing that Israel, unlike Iran, would never dare to bomb hundreds and thousands of civilians.

GOLODRYGA: I want to ask you about Axios reporting that President Trump told G7 leaders in a virtual meeting Wednesday, earlier this week, that

Iran is, quote, about to surrender. This is, according to three officials from those G7 countries who were briefed on contents of that call.

Is that Israel's assessment too? Do they believe that Iran is about to surrender?

SEGAL: I think we have quite bad experience expecting fundamentalists to surrender. Hamas has never surrendered so did Hezbollah. No one expects

Iran to actually hand over this, to raise the white flag like a Nazi Germany in World War Two. I think what President Trump means is that,

according to the a pre definition set by Israel the United States, it would be called surrender.

Surrender means that even if they keep threatening Israel at the UAE, Saudi Arabia and, of course, the United States, they will never have the tools to

actually make this threat happen. And that's, in my opinion, what President Trump means. Now it's a matter of, I would say, two to three weeks before

it happens, before Israel and the U.S. fully, or almost fully, eliminate Iran's ballistic missile industry, not only the ballistic missile and

launchers, but the ballistic missile industry.

So, Iran will have hard times, actually recovering it from the second disaster in less than a year.

GOLODRYGA: That's two to three weeks, you say, from now. As you see, there is growing pressure on President Trump to claim victory and leave this war,

given the spike that we've seen in oil prices and the pressure that he's receiving here at home. Does Israel believe that the President Trump will

stay with Israel in the course of this war, if that takes two or three or five weeks?

SEGAL: OK, so I don't want to mince my words. I mean, it is for those daily updates, daily phone call conversations between President Trump and Prime

Minister Netanyahu, the IDF Chief of Staff, and the CENTCOM Commander. There isn't a single hint that the U.S. is about to stop this war earlier

than expected, four to six weeks as we've just said.

However, since this is President Trump, so I think it's like the -- saying, leave every day if it's your last day, a bomb every day the Iranian

military facilities as it is, as if it's the last day of the war. So, this is the way of thinking of the Israeli military establishment. But there is

a cautious optimism that this war is going to actually be completed only after the plan you know, the former plan was, is to be actually fulfilled.

GOLODRYGA: And as we heard from Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, General Caine this morning, he said that today will be the heaviest day of bombing over

Iran so far over the last two weeks. Let me ask you, before we end, Amit, about what is happening in Lebanon and the fight with Hezbollah.

I'm not sure if Israel had assessed that Hezbollah would be entering this war as well and to the degree that they have an extent with the ferocity of

attacks and missiles that they've launched. And now Israel responding, telling, a source telling CNN, a senior Israeli official, that Israel

quote, wants to finish the job.

I know there are budgetary constraints that the country is facing. This is an election year for Prime Minister Netanyahu. Can he realistically open

two larger scale fronts at the same time?

SEGAL: So, first of all, I think the establishment understood exactly where Hezbollah is, but there were the expectations of the public were not met

because we were told, after the very successful military operation against Hezbollah, taking down Nasrallah, the pager attack, et cetera, that

Hezbollah was taken 20 years back.

[11:15:00]

However, even 20 years ago, Hezbollah was quite a formidable power in the Middle East. It was strong enough in order to disrupt the life of Israelis

in the north. So, it is not the monstrous terror army that it had been a year and a half ago, yet it's quite a disturbance, and that's why the job

will have to be finished.

The main perception in Israel is first to take Tehran, then we take Beirut and we won't have to take Beirut, because if Tehran collapses, it

necessarily means that Hezbollah is no longer funded for give or take a billion dollars a year, 90 percent of its budget. However, if the war ends

when the Iranian regime is still, I don't want to say intact, but it's still partially functioning, Israel will have, in spite of the election

here, to go deeper into Lebanon and to actually finish the job.

I know that more than half of Lebanese, the Lebanese citizens and the entire Lebanese government fully support it behind closed doors.

GOLODRYGA: Well, they support the elimination of Hezbollah. Obviously, they don't want to get mired in yet another war where their own civilians get

attacked and killed.

SEGAL: Of course.

GOLODRYGA: And we see the intensity of that fighting only increase. Also interesting to see whether and when the United States will weigh in on

what's happening there as well. Amit Segal, thank you so much for the time. Appreciate it.

SEGAL: Thank you so much.

GOLODRYGA: And returning now to this morning's Pentagon press briefing, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, seemingly downplaying Iran's actions in the

Strait of Hormuz. That critical waterway is seeing a near full halt of oil vessels. Multiple sources tell CNN, the Trump Administration underestimated

Iran's willingness to close the strait.

Now in response, Hegseth is now telling the press that they, in his words, don't need to worry about it. Meanwhile, Joint Chiefs Chairman General Dan

Caine takes a more cautious approach.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GENERAL DAN CAINE, JOINT CHIEFS' CHAIRMAN: It's a tactically complex environment before I think we want to take anything through there at scale,

we want to make sure that we do the work pursuant to our current military objectives to do that safely and smartly.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GOLODRYGA: Our National Security Reporter Haley Britzky has been tracking the Pentagon's comments. She joins us now from Washington. So, as we heard

Secretary Hegseth downplay these concerns and dismissed the reporting by CNN as well. Just talk to us about the difference from what we heard from

Pete Hegseth and then what we heard from the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs.

HALEY BRITZKY, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: Sure Bianna, so kind of the routine response here that we get from Pete Hegseth, which is to call the

press reporting on these issues fake, to kind of take a more defensive stance on this. But as you mentioned, I mean Chairman Caine said that Iran

still has the capability to harm friendly forces and commercial shipping.

Secretary Hegseth saying that there is a plan for this, that there always has been a plan for this, but what that plan looks like and how that will

be executed is still kind of a question mark. General Caine said previously in another briefing that they hadn't quite been tasked with figuring out

how to escort ships through the Strait of Hormuz yet, but that they would work on setting those military conditions to ensure that they could do so.

But some other things that came up in this briefing today, Secretary Hegseth saying that the U.S. and Israel have hit 15,000 targets between the

two militaries. He said that Iran has no air defense, no air force and no navy. He also mentioned that Iran's entire ballistic missile production

capacity has been functionally destroyed.

So really coming out strong and confident in the targets that the U.S. and Israel have been hitting. He also spoke about an investigation that is

ongoing about an elementary school Iran that was hit with a strike early in the conflict that the U.S. has been investigating. Let's take a listen to

that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HEGSETH: But I will note to this group and to the world, there's only one entity in this conflict between us and Iran that never targets civilians.

Literally never target civilians. I look at the process that's used on dynamic strikes or on boat strikes and others. We have a very high-fidelity

process in that case.

So, we don't target Iran, does we will investigate. We'll get to the truth.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRITZKY: And so, as part of that investigation, the secretary said that a general officer who is outside of the U.S. Central Command, sort of chain

of command would be the one investigating, who'd been appointed as the investigating officer. But the secretary also said he took a lot of issue

with the reporting around this campaign, saying that it was inaccurate to say that these operations were intensifying.

Well as you previously mentioned, I mean, the secretary and the chairman have said now two briefings in a row, that, that day would be the most

intense day of operations.

[11:20:00]

So, all of this coming, of course, as the U.S. Central Command just announced a little while ago that all six crew members of a KC-135 that

went down over Western Iraq have been confirmed deceased. And our thoughts are certainly with their families, Bianna.

GOLODRYGA: Yeah, we are thinking of their families for sure, and thank them so much for their service. And just to clarify, no serious journalist, no

one here at CNN and the majority of our colleagues have accused the U.S. government of intentionally targeting civilians and this school.

It's just a matter of how this type of accident and tragedy was able to happen in the first place, and asking questions about the investigation to

prevent any future attacks like this as well. Haley Britzky, thank you. And amid a steep rise in oil prices, President Trump says that the U.S. will

provide military escorts for some tankers navigating the Strait of Hormuz.

The president made this claim in an interview with Fox News, adding that he hopes such action will not be required. Now, one Former U.S. Official tells

CNN, for decades, administrations have been -- have had a quote, bed rock principle to prevent this kind of oil crisis from ever happening.

Let's discuss now with Alayna Treene live at the White House, and it does appear that the president and his administration, while quite sensitive

about the rise in oil prices and the impact on American consumers are getting more questions specifically on this issue.

Did they factor in, that this would indeed be one of the strategies and levers for Iran to utilize, and that is closing the Strait of Hormuz? What

more are you learning from your reporting?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yeah, I will start with what we heard from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on this. I know Haley touched on

a little bit, but this was really a sensitive question during that press briefing. And as our colleagues have reported, you know, this question of

why they may have, you know, been unprepared or not better prepared for Iran to have closed the Strait of Hormuz.

And specifically, questions about, you know, if what we are hearing from the Trump Administration and the Pentagon, this idea that we have -- the

United States has completely gotten rid of Iran's naval capability. Is there air superiority then why is Iran still able to keep the Strait of

Hormuz closed?

And that was a question that Hegseth did not really have a better answer for. He did say, you know, not to worry about the strait as of now. And

also brought up something we've now heard from several Trump Administration officials, is that this idea of having the U.S. Navy escort tankers through

that very important waterway in the Persian Gulf, is something that they would consider doing at the appropriate time.

I should note, though, and just remind our viewers that to do so to have the navy go in and escort these tankers at a time like this, where, you

know, our reporting and others have shown that Iran is believed to have been laying mines in the strait. It is a high-risk operation, and so that

is something also, of course, being calculated into all of this.

But we did hear in the latest from the president himself, in a radio interview with Fox News, saying again, that he would do it if it was

necessary, but is hoping that will not be something that they actually have to move forward with this idea of the navy going in to escort the ships.

Listen to how he put it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: We would do it if we needed to, but we would do it if we needed to, but hopefully things are

going to go very well. We'll see what happens.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TREENE: So, look, I think one of the big things with all of this, and the reason this is, of course, such a big deal, is one, again getting back to

that question of, why is Iran able to do this, if their military has been so destroyed, but also, there's so much concern about what is happening to

global energy supplies.

The Strait of Hormuz is responsible for 20 percent of the world's crude oil. And energy executives are saying, for now, until they believe that

their ships, their oil tankers, will be able to pass through there safely, they do not want to send them. And so that's compounding the economic part

of all of this that is, of course, so crucial to the ongoing war that we're seeing take place in the Middle East, Bianna.

GOLODRYGA: Yeah, the rising insurance costs that would be needed to get those ships through as well.

TREENE: Yeah.

GOLODRYGA: Alayna Treene, thank you so much. Well, the U.S. on alert after a deadly shooting at a Virginia University. Authorities are investigating

it as an act of terrorism. Plus, an update on the attack at a Michigan synagogue, what we're learning about the attacker and what's being done to

keep the Jewish community safe amid rising antisemitism.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:25:00]

GOLODRYGA: The FBI has officially designated Thursday's deadly shooting at Old Dominion University in Virginia as an act of terrorism. On Thursday, a

gunman opened fire on a classroom full of students. The FBI says that he was killed when a group of students overpowered him.

Two students were injured and the instructor, Lieutenant Colonel Brandon Shah was killed. The FBI says the shooter is Mohammed Jalloh, a convicted

ISIS supporter and U.S. military veteran. Jalloh served seven years in prison for attempting to provide material support to a terrorist group.

And in Michigan, the FBI is calling an attack on a synagogue near Detroit a targeted act of violence against the community. A man rammed his vehicle

into the Temple Israel Synagogue and school on Thursday, setting part of the building on fire. Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer spoke about the

incident earlier.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. GRETCHEN WHITMER (D-MI): I want Michigan's Jewish community to know that we are with you. Violence in our houses of worship and in our schools

and in our daycare centers like this hit especially hard. Yesterday's attack was antisemitism. It was hated, plain and simple.

We will fight this ancient and rampant evil. We will stand together as we do it, and we will call it out. We must lower the rhetoric in this state

and in this country, especially at this moment where we have seen such a rise in antisemitism and more attacks on the Jewish community.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GOLODRYGA: Ivan Rodriguez has the details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

IVAN RODRIGUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A house of worship turned into a site of terror Thursday. After police received reports of an active

shooter and a car driven into a building at Temple Israel in West Bloomfield Township, Michigan, a synagogue that also contains a school.

SHERIFF MICHAEL BOUCHARD, OAKLAND COUNTY OF MICHIGAN: One of the head of security was taken to the hospital. He got knocked down by the car when it

reached the building.

RODRIGUEZ (voice-over): The Oakland County Sheriff says a security guard engaged the suspect in gun fire after the vehicle ran through a set of

doors and the suspect is now dead. Sources say the man's car contained what appeared to be a large number of explosives.

The sheriff says something caught fire inside the vehicle, and the suspect's body was badly burnt.

BOUCHARD: It caused terrible, terrible smoke in that part of the building, and so when all of our people collectively went in that building to search

out the threat to remove innocent, a lot of them took in significant amount of smoke inhalation.

RODRIGUEZ (voice-over): According to the sheriff, at least 30 law enforcement officers were taken to the hospital for smoke inhalation, but

no staff or children were injured. An FBI agent leading the investigation says the attack was a targeted act of violence against the Jewish

community.

DANA NESSEL, MICHIGAN ATTORNEY GENERAL: Shocking, and you know, it is creating a circumstance where I think people are going to be afraid to go

to synagogue.

RODRIGUEZ (voice-over): The incident comes amid a surge of attacks on members of the Jewish community in the U.S.

[11:30:00]

TRUMP: I want to send our love to the Michigan Jewish community and all of the people in Detroit.

RODRIGUEZ (voice-over): I'm Ivan Rodriguez reporting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GOLODRYGA: And we'll have more on those two attacks in our next hour. Well, as the bombs fall in Iran, Israel expands the front line in Lebanon, we'll

look at Hezbollah targets there and the civilians caught in the middle.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GOLODRYGA: Hi, welcome back to "One World". I'm Bianna Golodryga in New York. Here are some headlines we're watching today. Two weeks into the war,

some 2000 deaths have been reported in Iran and Lebanon. U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth says American and Israeli forces have struck more

than 15,000 enemy targets.

As a result, Hegseth says Iran has no air defenses, no air force and no navy. The U.S. military confirmed all six crew members aboard an American

refueling plane that went down in Iraq were killed in the crash. That brings the total number of American service members killed since the

conflict began to 13.

U.S. military officials say the crash was not caused by hostile or friendly fire, but involved a second U.S. tanker. Multiple sources tell CNN, the

Trump Administration underestimated Iran's willingness to close the Strait of Hormuz. Earlier, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth denied that.

President Trump says the U.S. will provide military escorts for some tankers navigating the strait if needed. The president made this claim in

an interview with Fox News, adding that he hopes such action will not be required. Well massive crowds rallied in cities across Iran today in

support of Palestinians.

Many held up portraits of the new supreme leader and his dead father. Iran state media reports one woman was killed in Tehran as a result of a U.S.-

Israeli strike. Israel says that it is expanding its military operations against Hezbollah. And on Thursday, we saw the first steps of that

expansion.

[11:35:00]

Bombs rain down on Beirut's southern suburbs on Thursday, as officials say nearly 700 people have been killed in recent days. Meanwhile, one expert

estimates mass evacuation orders across Lebanon could push the number of displaced to more than 1 million within the next few days. Isobel Yeung has

more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ISOBEL YEUNG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We're back in Beirut now. We can smell the smoke and see these big plumes of smoke from where explosions are going off

in the city itself. Look at that. Look at that smoke there.

YEUNG (voice-over): Israel has intensified its air campaign on Lebanon over the last 24 hours. In the aftermath of Iran backed militant group Hezbollah

firing a barrage of rockets towards Israeli territory last night. Earlier in the day, we traveled to the Bekaa Valley in Eastern Lebanon, where many

residents have already been ordered to leave by the Israeli military. As we arrive, another strike warning buzz our phones.

YEUNG: -- get out of here quickly. Maybe put your camera down, because there's military making it difficult, because roads are getting shut

because of this warning from the Israeli military to evacuate. We're actually trying to get out of here quickly, because this is the exact spot

that the Israeli military is saying that could be a potential strike --

YEUNG (voice-over): For journalists to operate here, we need the permission of Hezbollah, who enjoy significant control and support in this area. We

arrive at the site of a building that was struck just yesterday. A neighbor came over to tell us his version of events.

YEUNG: Did you see the strike happen?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

YEUNG: What did you see?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I saw the explosion and the rocket falling. We picked up fingers belonging to small children. These are the "terrorist targets" that

Israel's targeting. That's it.

YEUNG: -- these guys are saying that we have to get out of this area.

YEUNG (voice-over): According to Hezbollah and the neighbor, eight people were killed here, including three children. This is not the only accusation

of civilians being killed in this war, though, Israel maintains that it only targets Hezbollah infrastructure. Yesterday, a building in the nearby

town of Tamil Al Tata was struck.

16-year-old Syrian boy Mohammed (ph) was dragged from under the rubble. He says at least six of his family members didn't make it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We were sleeping in the morning. A jet came and my dad died. And my mom died and my sister-in-law and her kids.

YEUNG: I'm so sorry. When did this happen?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was sleeping. The strike woke me. I saw my father in pieces.

YEUNG: I'm so sorry. It must have been terrifying.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I wish it was me and that I hadn't seen my dad like that.

YEUNG (voice-over): One of so many lives torn apart by a war with no end in sight. Isobel Yeung, CNN Beirut.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GOLODRYGA: Of course, it is always the civilians who bear the brunt of these wars. Let's get some perspective from Fawaz Gerges, Professor of

International Relations at the London School of Economics, and Author of "The Great Betrayal: The Struggle for Freedom and Democracy in the Middle

East".

Fawaz, it's good to see you again. So just to back step over these past two weeks, Hezbollah launched the first strikes here. The domestic backlash

against Hezbollah within Lebanon has been unprecedented, but I know you fear now that an Israeli ground expansion in the south will only spiral and

widen the conflict in the region, perhaps pulling in Iraq, Yemen and the Gulf. Just talk to us about your concerns over the days to come.

FAWAZ GERGES, AUTHOR OF THE GREAT BETRAYAL: Well, Bianna, for your own viewers, the American-Israeli war on Iran is now a wider regional conflict

spreading into the oil producing Arab, Gulf states, Iraq, Lebanon and probably Yemen very soon, I fear. You have now huge surge in oil prices and

slowing the global economy.

I think Lebanon now is really facing an existential crisis. I mean, just to give you an example, and your reporter in Beirut talked about the figures,

almost Israel's blanket evacuation orders have forced almost 1 million Lebanese, displaced 1 million Lebanese. More than 600 people have been

killed, 1000 injured.

Israel now is threatening a wider ground offensive in trapping again ten of thousands of Lebanese in South Lebanon and other places.

[11:40:00]

What the Lebanese President has done in the past few days, President Joseph Aoun proposed direct talks between Lebanon and Israel. And this is for the

first time, the President of Lebanon called on the American government and the French government to basically exert pressure on Israel to stop the

hostilities, to pull out of occupied Lebanese territories and stop violating Lebanese sovereignty in return for beginning the process of

disarming Hezbollah.

So far, neither the Americans nor the Israelis have responded to President Aoun and the war continues. And Israel really is trying to punish the

entire population of South Lebanon, the Bekaa Valley and Dahieh in Beirut is the social and base, the popular base of Hezbollah.

GOLODRYGA: Well, to your point, President Aoun has condemned Israel's advance, accusing the country of, quote, showing no respect for the laws of

war nor for international laws. But at the same time, he has accused Hezbollah of betraying Lebanon and banning its military activity.

So, I guess the question is, does the Lebanese army really have the capability and capacity to disarm Hezbollah?

GERGES: No, it does not so far, because the Lebanese army is really a very small army. It's more of a police force than an army, point 1. Point 2, for

your own viewers, Hezbollah is not just a military organization. It's a social and political movement. You have 2, 3 million people who represent

the social base of Hezbollah.

And Hezbollah has a major, you know, I mean numbers of parliamentarians in the parliament. So, any move by the Lebanese government against Hezbollah

could trigger domestic instability and probably civil strife, and that's why the Lebanese government, there is no economy.

The government is very fragile. The Lebanese government is appealing to the world to stop Israel's attacks on Lebanon, in order to begin the process of

really serious discussions with Hezbollah, in order to basically disarm Hezbollah. Hezbollah has made it very clear.

It's willing to discuss its arms, but only after Israel's pulls out of occupied territories in the south and stops violating Lebanon sovereignty.

Just for your own viewers, since the cease fire was signed between Lebanon and Israel in 2024, Israel has killed hundreds of Lebanese and injured a

couple of 1000.

It still occupies five major hills in South Lebanon and violates Lebanese sovereignty on a daily basis. So, what the Lebanese government is saying,

Look, you have to stop this kind of attacks on Lebanon in order to force Hezbollah to really press Hezbollah to begin the process of discovering its

arms, because Hezbollah will never do so unless Israel stops violating Lebanon sovereignty on almost daily basis.

GOLODRYGA: You mentioned that aside from being a militant and as the United States and many other countries view Hezbollah a terrorist organization,

that it also has a political arm. And it is notable that over the past few weeks, even our reporters there on the ground speaking with the Lebanese

citizens and civilians who are caught in the middle of this yes, expressing their frustration and ire at this war with Iran starting.

But also, notably with Hezbollah itself saying that they are betraying the Lebanese people. So, in terms of the pressure on those in the government

there in Lebanon who are members of Hezbollah, do they not face, or have to face accountability here too?

GERGES: Well, I mean, absolutely. I mean, many Lebanese are very upset with Hezbollah's decision to retaliate against the assassination of Iran Supreme

Leader Ali Khamenei. Again, for your own viewers, there is an umbilical cord between the Shia community in Lebanon, led by Hezbollah and the

Iranian government.

But again, context is very important, Bianna, here, since 27, 24 since the ceasefire was signed, Israel strikes Lebanon on an almost daily basis.

Israel has killed hundreds of Lebanese, and yet Hezbollah did not retaliate, not even once in the past 13 months, not even once.

And Hezbollah has made it very clear that unless Israel stops killing the Lebanese, and unless Israel pulls out of occupied territories in the south,

even after the ceasefire, Hezbollah will be forced to retaliate. So, where we are.

[11:45:00]

And the Lebanese government is saying it's willing to really disarm Hezbollah, but first, it wants commitment by the United States and the

international community to prevent Israel from striking Lebanon on a daily basis. But of course, President Trump has given Israeli Prime Minister

Benjamin Netanyahu a green light, and that's why, I fear.

Even if the war against Iran ends today, the war in Lebanon will not end, because Benjamin Netanyahu, really now, is trying to deliver what he thinks

the final blow to Hezbollah. And I think it's again, will be a strategic miscalculation, because Hezbollah is not just a paramilitary organization.

Is deeply embedded in the social and political and economic lifeline of Lebanon.

GOLODRYGA: Yeah, and President Aoun really stuck in a hard place here. As you said, he may want to disarm Hezbollah and have the opportunity, but to

quote, you directly, just moments ago, his military doesn't have that capability at this point. And we have yet to hear from President Trump and

his administration on this particular front as well.

Fawaz Gerges, thank you. Thank you for your time.

GERGES: Thanks.

GOLODRYGA: And still to come on "One World", gas prices surging as Brent crude spikes near $100 a barrel today. What it All means for consumers at

the pump, that's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GOLODRYGA: Right, let's take a look at the markets and oil prices. Brent crude is hovering around $100 per barrel today. That is the first time

since 2022 of course, that was Russia's larger scale invasion into Ukraine. Iran, meantime let's look at WTI as well. WTI up at 96 up nearly half a

percentage point as well.

Well, Iran says that it will keep the Strait of Hormuz closed as other countries start to release oil from their strategic reserves. And the U.S.

also waived sanctions on some Russian oil that is oil that's already loaded on tankers at sea. All of this leading to more pressure on surging gasoline

prices.

Let's bring in Anna Cooban in London, and if the intent in lifting these sanctions at least temporarily, I think we heard the treasury secretary say

yesterday, through April 11th, if the intent was to cool concerns and lower prices, that's not what's happened.

[11:50:00]

And in the meantime, a lot of outrage among European and Ukrainian allies there about lifting the sanctions on Russia.

ANNA COOBAN, CNN BUSINESS & ECONOMICS REPORTER: Yes, and you know, we've seen oil close for the first time since August 2022 yesterday, to over $100

a barrel. And Goldman Sachs has upped their forecast for the average price of global oil across the rest of the year by 20 percent.

So, within the space of a couple of weeks, Bianna, we've seen huge changes to the global oil market. And we're in the situation where there is so much

turmoil that the U.S. has actually done something which, even a few weeks ago have been completely unthinkable.

They've temporarily lifted sanctions on Russian oil, these seaborne cargoes that have been loaded as of yesterday. Now the U.S. Administration says

that this is something which it doesn't believe will provide Russia with any significant economic benefit because of its temporary nature.

But as you can imagine, European leaders who are trying to get a sort of peace deal in Ukraine on trying to keep the U.S. supporting Ukraine is

finding this quite difficult. We see Friedrich Merz, the Chancellor of Germany, come out today to say that easing sanctions now, for whatever

reason, is something that we believe is wrong.

But this really speaks to the reporting that we've had from CNN colleagues, from anonymous sources, saying that national security officials within the

U.S. Administration really were not anticipating the willingness of Iran to close that all important, Strait of Hormuz, so much so that we're now in a

position where we're seeing the U.S. go back on Russian sanctions, which, as I said, would have been unthinkable just a couple of weeks ago.

GOLODRYGA: Yeah, no doubt. Anna Cooban will be watching markets for us in the days to come as well. Thank you so much. And we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GOLODRYGA: 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, fuel

prices worldwide have been volatile. CNN's Tom Foreman looks at the impact here in the U.S.

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This conflict is far away. The United States produces 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, a 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.

[11:55:00]

About 3000 ships a month, 20 million barrels a day. And Iran is putting so much pressure, military pressure, on those ships with the 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? One of the ways is with the threat of mining the area, which is believed to be under way 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. Well, 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.

GOLODRYGA: All right, thank thanks to CNN's Tom Forman for that very informative report. All right, do stay with CNN. I'll have more "One World"

after a short break. Stay with us.

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