War With Iran Full Episode: Mon, Mar 30, 2026

[0:11] Good evening, everyone. I'm Lindsay Davis. Thanks so much for streaming with us. This is War with Iran. Tonight, we're learning of another tanker hit near the Strait of Hormuz. This is we're seeing dramatic new images as the war enters a fifth week. A U.S. Air Force jet nearly split in half after an Iranian attack at an air base in Saudi Arabia. This comes as thousands more Americans arrive in the war torn region after Iran sternly warned over the weekend that U.S. ground troops will be set on fire. Meanwhile, President Trump claims a deal with Iran could come soon. He said the [0:41] U.S. is in talks with a new and more reasonable regime. But tonight, Iran says there have been no [0:47] direct talks and called the president's 15-point proposal illogical. Our Matt Rivers leads us off [0:52] from the region. Tonight, shocking new images of the vital U.S. radar jet destroyed in an Iranian [0:58] attack that also injured 15 American service members, five seriously. That U.S. Air Force [1:05] E-3 Sentry, its tail nearly severed. That distinctive radar dome that normally rotates [1:11] atop the aircraft, providing real-time battlefield data on enemy positions and flight operations [1:16] seen on the ground at the Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia. A U.S. official confirming to [1:22] Reuters that an E-3 was damaged in the strike. With 50,000 U.S. service members now in the [1:28] Middle East, tonight, President Trump warning the U.S. will be, quote, blowing up and completely [1:33] obliterating Iranian energy infrastructure and drinking water plants if Iran doesn't reopen [1:38] the critical Strait of Hormuz soon. [1:41] The president also claiming a deal with Iran could come shortly, saying the U.S. is in [1:46] serious discussions with a new and more reasonable regime to end our military operations in Iran. [1:52] They're agreeing with us on the plan. We asked for 15 things, and for the most part, we're [1:57] going to be asking for a couple of other things. [1:59] But Iran insisting there are no direct talks with the U.S., saying the president's 15-point [2:04] plan includes many requests that are excessive, unrealistic and illogical. Our Rachel Scott, [2:11] the U.S. ambassador to the United States, said the U.S. and Iran are in a state-to-state [2:12] house today. [2:13] So how do you square that? How do you explain that discrepancy between the two? [2:16] I think the American people are smart enough not to take the word of a terrorist regime [2:21] that has chanted death to America for 47 years at their word. [2:25] And tonight, thousands more U.S. forces arriving in the Middle East, including the U.S.S. Tripoli, [2:31] with 3,500 Marines and sailors, as President Trump weighs his next move. [2:36] The New York Times now reporting hundreds of U.S. special operations forces, including [2:40] Navy SEALs. [2:41] They're also now in the region and could be used to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz, [2:45] seize Iran's critical oil hub, Karg Island, or to hunt down Iran's highly enriched uranium. [2:52] Tonight, smoke and flames billowing from this oil refinery in Israel, and as Iran launches [2:57] attacks around the region, a top Iranian official tonight warning Iran is waiting for the arrival [3:02] of American soldiers on the ground to rain fire upon them. [3:06] And tonight, amidst all this uncertainty, U.S. crude oil prices closing above $100 a [3:12] barrel for the first time since 2022, when Russia invaded Ukraine. [3:16] And gas prices in the U.S. now at $3.98 on average, with many drivers across the country [3:22] already paying far more than that. [3:26] Matt Rivers joins us now from Doha, Qatar. [3:29] And Matt, what can you tell us tonight about a new hit on a ship near the Strait of Hormuz? [3:32] Yeah, Lindsay, a new report from the U.K. Maritime Trade Operations Center saying another [3:39] tanker near the Strait of Hormuz has been hit by an unknown projectile. [3:43] It sparked a fire. [3:44] They're on board. [3:45] And, Lindsay, it's a clear reminder that the Strait remains extremely dangerous and effectively [3:49] closed. [3:50] Volatile time indeed. [3:52] All right, Matt Rivers for us. [3:53] Thanks so much, Matt. [3:55] Secretary of State Marco Rubio was also asked about President Trump's comments on the Iran [3:59] war this morning by George Stephanopoulos on Good Morning America. [4:02] At one point, Secretary Rubio referred to Iran's regime as lunatics. [4:06] Listen. [4:07] I think the first point the president makes is he prefers diplomacy. [4:10] As I said, those efforts are nascent. [4:12] There is messages being relayed back and forth. [4:14] There's been some conversations going on, including through intermediaries, and he always [4:17] prefers that. [4:18] Look, if the Iranian regime had come forward at any point in the past and said, we're going [4:22] to walk away from our nuclear ambitions, we're going to do nuclear energy the way every other [4:27] country in the world primarily, almost every other country in the world does it, and that [4:30] is through a peaceful means in which you bring in the fuel and it's supervised and so forth, [4:35] we're going to stop supporting terrorist groups across the region. [4:38] Look at this region. [4:39] Every single terrorist group in this region has a link to the Iranian regime, every single [4:43] one. [4:44] Hezbollah, Hamas, the Shia militias that are attacking everyone out of Iraq. [4:49] Every single one of these groups and all the destabilization in this region tracks directly [4:53] back to the Iranian regime. [4:55] Those things have to be addressed. [4:57] And if Iran had been willing to address those in the past, we wouldn't be having this interview [5:00] on this topic right now. [5:02] Their refusal to do so and their continuing move towards one day acquiring a nuclear capability, [5:07] these people are lunatics. [5:08] They are insane. [5:10] They are religious zealots who can never be allowed to possess a nuclear weapon because [5:13] they have an apocalyptic vision of the future. [5:16] And all of their neighbors know that, by the way, which is why all of their neighbors have [5:19] been supportive of the efforts we're conducting. [5:21] You call them lunatics, but the president just had this post where he says we're in [5:24] discussions with a new and more reasonable regime. [5:26] Let me try to pin you down on that. [5:28] Who is this new and more reasonable regime? [5:31] Is the United States is in direct contact with them? [5:33] Well, I'm not going to disclose to you who those people are because it probably would [5:37] get them in trouble with some other groups of people inside of Iran. [5:39] Look, there's some fractures going on there internally. [5:42] And at the end of the day, I think that if there are people who are in contact with the [5:43] Iranian regime, they're going to be in trouble. [5:44] If there are people in Iran who now, given everything that's happened, are willing to [5:47] move in a different direction for their country, that would be great. [5:50] Imagine in Iran that instead of spending their wealth, billions of dollars supporting terrorists [5:55] or weapons, had spent that money helping the people of Iran, you'd have a much different [5:59] country. [6:00] So we are always hopeful that that would exist over there. [6:02] It's unfortunate. [6:03] The people of Iran are incredible people. [6:05] The people who lead them, this clerical regime, that is the problem. [6:08] And if there are new people now in charge who have a more reasonable vision of the future, [6:12] that would be good news for us, for them, for the international community. [6:14] But we have to be prepared for the possibility, maybe even the probability, that that is not [6:20] the case. [6:21] But the president said they are. [6:22] Is that the case or is it not? [6:23] I'm just trying to get some clarity on that. [6:25] Well, what I mean is, yeah, so you have people that are saying some of the right [6:29] things privately. [6:30] Obviously, they're not going to put it out in press releases and what they say to you [6:32] or put out there for the world doesn't necessarily reflect what they're saying in our conversations. [6:38] But at the end of the day, we have to see if these people end up being the ones in charge, [6:41] seeing if they're the ones that have the power to deliver. [6:43] We're going to test it. [6:44] We are hopeful that that's the case. [6:45] There are clearly people there talking to us in ways that previous people in charge [6:50] in Iran have not spoken to us in the past. [6:52] Some of the things they're willing to do, some of the things they're saying they're [6:55] willing to do. [6:56] Obviously, they have to go do it. [6:57] We're going to test that proposition very strongly because we always prefer to settle [7:01] things through negotiation and diplomacy. [7:04] But we also have to be prepared for the fact that that effort might fail, that we are dealing [7:08] with a 47-year-old regime that still has a lot of people involved in it who aren't necessarily [7:13] big fans of the regime. [7:14] We want to keep that in mind and keep it in the hands of the people who are involved [7:18] in it. [7:19] It's not just for diplomacy or peace. [7:22] Again, Iran rejects any suggestions that negotiations are taking place. [7:26] Iran's foreign ministry called the U.S. proposals excessive, unrealistic, and illogical. [7:31] Tonight, as questions swirl about who the president referred to when he said the U.S. [7:34] was dealing with new Iranian leadership, one of our ABC contributors told Elizabeth Schulze [7:39] there's likely a reason the administration is being coy about it. [7:42] OK. [7:43] Let's talk about the White House press secretary. [7:45] talking to after we saw that post from the president this morning. Who do you think are [7:48] they talking to people? Why do you think this is happening, Steve? Elizabeth, I think they're [7:53] trying to say that they are talking to people, but the people that they are talking to probably [7:57] don't want to be identified because they don't want to have a crosshair on their forehead. [8:02] And so we know that the Israelis are actually moving through a list of targets of target [8:08] assassinations. And the problem here is if you kill everybody, then you won't have anybody to [8:12] talk to. So they're using intermediaries. And the Iranians keep insisting and saying that we're [8:18] not talking to the Americans. And they're not talking to the Americans. They're talking to [8:21] the Pakistanis. They're talking to the Turks, talking to the Saudis, all of those intermediaries [8:25] that are trying to pass messages back and forth between the two parties. So it's a delicate [8:31] discussion because you hear a lot of belligerence. You see a lot of maximalist demands out of both [8:36] sides. But turning down that heat a little bit may help the discussions go a little bit better. [8:42] If, in fact, we hope to get some sort of a resolution this week. [8:47] And at the same time, Steve, you've got CENTCOM saying that the USS Tripoli carrying [8:51] 3,500 additional service members, Marines, from the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit [8:57] has arrived in this region. A second Marine unit's already on the way. So [9:00] what do you think those troops could be used for? What do you make of that movement from [9:05] American troops? [9:07] Yeah, it's not just the Marine Corps. The 82nd Airborne apparently now has thousands of soldiers [9:11] in, apparently joint special operations. [9:13] The negotiations command has moved people in. And so the president is trying to build [9:16] military options. Are there military options? There are. Are they risky? Yes, they are. [9:21] But he wants to be able to come to the negotiating table saying, if these negotiations fail, [9:25] I do have military options, and they may include seizing Karag Island. They may include using [9:31] force to open up the Strait of Hormuz. So going into negotiations, having military options [9:36] that have not already been demonstrated. Remember, the bombing campaign continues, Elizabeth, [9:41] so. [9:42] thing i think today was that the israelis say that they are moving on to economic targets [9:46] so most of the targets that they've hit up to now have been sort of missile [9:51] production facilities leadership facilities the besiege the irgc headquarters these sorts of [9:57] things if the israelis are moving to those sorts of targets you can bet that the u.s is as well [10:02] now is that sort of the end of the target list it may be which is maybe the reason that the white [10:07] house is willing to have these discussions they're running out of targets and running out of things [10:11] that they can hit and could explain i guess steve why we hear the white house continuing to say [10:16] this original timing of four to six weeks still an option when we're now in week five yeah and and [10:23] frankly the white house has been very coy about being nailed down on a particular why did we go [10:28] to war and what are the conditions that would end the war so at some point the president has about [10:33] six or seven things where he has said in the past this is what i want to say and he can choose a [10:38] couple of those if he can get to a negotiated settlement with the iranians and say look [10:41] these are the things i think secretary rubio was very clear about that this morning these are the [10:45] sort of three or four things that the u.s believes it needs to achieve and is close to achieving [10:51] all right thanks to elizabeth president trump suggested talks were moving forward because iran [10:55] allowed 20 oil tankers to pass through the critical strait of hormuz abc news live first [11:00] anchor diane macedo asked a former state department official about that is that a good sign for [11:05] negotiations it's great for the international economy although it's not nearly what is required [11:12] to do in terms of the the pre-war 20 million barrels a day what roughly one-fifth of a global [11:19] daily uh uh oil supply i think what it demonstrates again is that iran has set up a preferential [11:27] system and they're charging now tools who gets in and who gets out all that does frankly is [11:32] demonstrate the fact that the iranians not the americans are in control how can we change that [11:40] only two ways well there are three ways to do it right you can talk it to death to see whether or [11:45] initiated solution, hard to imagine. You could go back to the battlefield, not back to. You can [11:51] continue, you could escalate, you could deploy the, what, 5,000 Marines and sailors that now [11:57] exist in theater. But it's hard to imagine that so few American forces are going to change Iranian [12:04] risk calculation. And finally, you could do however unlikely it seems is the unilateral [12:11] we won strategy. Trump can declare tomorrow that he's hollowed out Iran's military capacity. He's [12:18] killed a lot of the leaders. He's laid the conditions at some point down the road for a new [12:24] Iranian polity, basically declare he's won. That would work, presumably, although I think it would [12:30] represent a strategic defeat for the United States. They're not a constituency in this [12:36] country that this president cares about. That wouldn't breathe a collective sigh of relief. [12:41] Maybe, Lindsay. [12:41] Graham wouldn't. If, in fact, Trump ended this war tomorrow. The problem is, will the Iranians [12:47] let him out? If they would, I could see that diffusing this. [12:54] Our thanks to Diane for that. Coming up, how the war with Iran stands to give China [12:58] some significant long-term wins. Welcome back. President Trump was set to visit China tomorrow [13:17] to meet with the Chinese president as part of a diplomatic trip planned for months. [13:21] But the White House now says that trip will happen in mid-May because of the war in Iran. [13:26] Some experts speculate whether China's President Xi Jinping is calculating what the war could mean [13:31] long-term for Chinese investments in the Middle East and its military conflict with Taiwan. [13:36] Stephanie Ramos spoke to senior White House correspondent Selena Wang and a leading energy [13:40] industry analyst about it all. Selena, I want to start with you. What are your sources telling you [13:46] about where China's focus is right now and what it possibly stands to gain from all of this? [13:51] Yes, Stephanie. Well, I mean, first of all, Chinese leader Xi Jinping has been notably silent amid this [13:57] incident. Instead, Beijing has really been watching all of this play out from the sidelines. [14:01] And experts have been telling me that that is exactly where Beijing wants to be as they see [14:06] some real long-term upside to everything that's been unfolding. For one, you have U.S. military [14:12] assets that are being pulled away from the Indo-Pacific and towards the Middle East. [14:16] Number two, you've got President Trump distracted and clearly not drawing the attention of Beijing. [14:24] Right now, Beijing is not in the ire of President Trump. [14:27] And thirdly, going into this high-stakes meeting between President Trump and Xi Jinping in just a [14:32] few weeks, the relationship with China gets to be a pretty big bright spot in what's otherwise [14:38] currently a relatively chaotic foreign policy for Washington. And even though President Trump has [14:44] publicly called on Beijing to get involved and help reopen the Strait of Hormuz, China has not [14:50] taken President Trump up on that offer. They have stayed out of this. And I'm told that the [14:55] calculus here is very straightforward. [14:57] For one, Chinese oil tankers have, many of them, still have been able to get through the Strait of [15:03] Hormuz. Number two, China has been building up its strategic oil reserves in case of a crisis exactly [15:09] like this. And Beijing has also been building its own green energy industry to provide a cushion [15:15] when there's been a crunch from oil. So given all of those reasons, China has really been staying [15:21] out of all of this. [15:22] They certainly have. And Clayton, I'd like your take on this. Is China making a strategic [15:26] restraint? [15:27] Do you think that China is going to be able to get rid of all of this from involving itself in the Middle East? [15:33] It looks like it has been so far, but I'm not sure how long that'll last. You know, the arguments that we just heard, I think, are very valid. [15:38] I think they're sort of the glass half full, like optimistic scenario from Beijing. But they have a lot at stake here and a lot of risk. [15:45] Beijing imports about 11 million barrels per day of crude oil, and about half of it, 45%, comes from the [15:52] Mideast Gulf. The discounted oil that it's been getting from Iran is kind of a drop in the bucket. [15:58] China hasn't been paying attention to that. But that five and a half, let's say million barrels a day that comes from the Gulf, China has to have it. [16:04] And even though it has taken steps to mitigate its risks, like clean technology and like building those strategic reserves, they're really not [16:15] substitutes or continuing flows from the region. [16:18] They can just kind of buy more time and offer a bit of diversification. [16:22] If those flows don't resume, we are going to see shortages in the Asian markets. [16:26] And Sylena, you mentioned President Trump said to me that the United Kingdom has not been flourishing in the Arab world. It's not been flourishing in the European countries. [16:27] But in the Middle East, we've seen a little bit of growth in the U.S. and the Middle East. So is China going to be able to inserting new infrastructure into the U.S. or even into the U.S. in the future? [16:27] President Trump is set to meet with the Chinese president in May. What do both sides look to get [16:34] out of this meeting? Yeah, look, when it comes to President Trump, he's going to be looking for [16:37] some tangible commercial wins. So think more commitments to buy U.S. agricultural products [16:43] like soybeans, especially as American farmers have been hurting both from this Iran war and from [16:48] the president's trade war. Secondly, also potentially more purchases of U.S. products, [16:54] U.S. commercial industry. And also, the U.S. is also going to be likely looking for an extension [17:00] of China's pause on those rare earth export controls. Those are those critical minerals [17:05] that much of the world really relies on for all sorts of high-end technology products. [17:10] From Beijing's perspective, overall, they want to lock in stability for the rest of President [17:16] Trump's second term. They'll also be looking for an extension of that trade truce. Those tariffs [17:20] are very painful to Chinese factories. They'll also want to be [17:24] seeing a lot of the U.S. trade trade in the U.S. and in the U.S. and in the U.S. and in the U.S. [17:24] a lowering, a lessening of export controls on high technologies, including critical artificial [17:31] intelligence semiconductors. So I think business is going to be a big focus and commercial [17:36] industries will be a major focus for this meeting. But of course, as just mentioned earlier by [17:41] Clayton, the Iran war is going to loom large over all of this. [17:45] And Clayton, last question to you. There are concerns that China could move [17:49] in on Taiwan if this war drags on in the Middle East. Are those concerns valid? [17:53] I'm afraid they are. [17:56] I think that generally the assessment in defense circles is that China has been told that it needs [18:02] to be ready for options like that in another year or two. So it might not be something that's [18:07] imminent. Those estimates could always surprise to the upside. But the key consideration, of course, [18:15] to the colleague's point earlier, is that the United States is quite distracted right now [18:18] and also really running through supplies of some of our best munitions, best weapon systems. [18:24] If they're being expended at a really high rate, [18:26] in the Middle East, they're not going to be available for strategic priorities in the Pacific [18:31] related to China and Taiwan. And by the way, they're also not going to be as available for NATO [18:36] as it tries to shore up Ukraine's defenses against Russian onslaught. [18:40] Thanks to Stephanie. Coming up, [18:41] we try to answer some of the biggest oil and gas related questions out there with an expert from [18:46] GasBuddy. Welcome back, everyone. It's now been just over a month since the war in Iran began. [19:03] As we've been reporting, the ongoing conflict and the relative closure of the critical Strait of [19:07] Hormuz have caused oil and gas problems in the Middle East and the Middle East as well. [19:07] We'll be right back after this. [19:08] We'll be right back after this. We'll be right back after this. [19:08] We'll be right back after this. We'll be right back after this. [19:08] The war caused oil and gas prices to soar. Let's take a look at those prices by the numbers. [19:13] Global oil is now trading at $115 a barrel, up 2% since last week and on track for its biggest [19:19] monthly rise. Oil in the U.S. specifically is up by the same amount, trading at about $101 per [19:25] barrel. Meanwhile, the national average cost for a gallon of regular gas in the U.S. reached about [19:31] $3.98 today, according to GasBuddy. That average price is up $1.04 since the war began, [19:37] and prices are only expected to keep rising. The state with the highest prices for regular gas? [19:42] California, which today reached $5.86 a gallon on average per GasBuddy. [19:47] As we mentioned, the closure of the Strait of Hormuz has been a major factor, [19:51] but two container ships did successfully cross the Strait for the first time since the conflict began, [19:56] as according to the Ship Tracking Service Marine Traffic. But traffic through the Strait [20:00] is still down significantly, with 103 fewer ships crossing each day, according to Bloomberg data. [20:07] As we mentioned earlier, ABC News Live First anchor Diane Macedo spoke with Patrick DeHaan of GasBuddy. [20:13] GasBuddy released this list of frequently asked questions about Iran and how it's affecting gas [20:19] prices. So I kind of want to go through those with you. The first one is pretty simple. Why do [20:23] gas prices rise when something happens thousands of miles away? [20:27] Yeah, you know, it's a great question, popular refrain. It's one of the most globally integrated [20:32] commodities in the world. You think about electricity, that can't really be shipped overseas, [20:36] oil is one of those things can be slapped on a ship and sent virtually everywhere. So oil prices, [20:42] if there's a wrinkle anywhere in that global supply chain, there is right now in the Strait [20:46] of Hormuz to the de facto closure, it's having a huge impact on the global price of oil and [20:51] nobody can escape that globally determined balance of supply and demand that price. [20:56] And so that is why it doesn't really matter where the event may be. If it's a big disruption to the [21:00] price of oil, or I should say the supply of oil or demand, we generally see a big price [21:06] reaction. Another popular question was why do gas prices rise if the US is energy independent? [21:16] Yeah, you know, the phrase energy independent gives the impression that the US is somehow [21:20] insulated from the price of oil or supply shocks elsewhere. But oil is globally traded. What oil [21:26] comes from Texas can be replaced by something from Brazil and something from the Middle East [21:31] can head to China. It's a globally connected commodity. And so our barrels can be impacted [21:36] because oil sellers just like you and I might sell our house. [21:39] The highest bid price, oil companies do the exact same. And so when somebody in China or India [21:45] suddenly no longer has access to that Middle Eastern crude oil that's blocked by the Strait, [21:49] they start to go to the same countries and sellers that we do. And that forces prices higher. [21:55] America is not directly dependent on oil from the Strait of Hormuz. So a big question was [21:59] why oil prices rise even if we don't get much oil from that Strait? [22:04] Yeah, I know it's because the global oil market really doesn't care where the oil is coming from. [22:10] It cares about the total balance of crude oil. And so, you know, if you take again, 20% of the [22:16] world's oil is stuck in the Strait of Hormuz. It doesn't care where it comes from because oil can [22:21] be moved so much around the world. That's why global prices react even if the US doesn't receive [22:27] much oil because oil can be sent virtually everywhere. [22:31] Question number four was why can't the US just keep its own oil? [22:36] Yeah, you know, that's a popular refrain. US oil exports have only risen to record levels in recent [22:42] years. US oil companies can export that. They can sell it on the global market. And so while we [22:47] could keep more of our own oil, our refineries generally aren't handling this type of light oil. [22:53] We generally use something that's heavier. And so much of that excess oil is not even destined [22:58] for the US market. And if we were to suddenly block that flow off, US oil production would [23:03] plummet in the long term, and that would push prices up in the long term as well. [23:08] And finally, gas prices have jumped on nearly a daily basis over the past month. So why [23:13] are prices going up if stations have cheaper gas in their tanks? [23:17] Yeah, it's all about the replacement cost. Gas stations look at the next cost, the next tanker. [23:23] It might be $500 or $1,000 more. And especially in this environment, that next tanker could cost [23:28] them $5,000 more. So it's always about replacement costs. When that replacement cost starts [23:34] declining, stations will start lowering prices before they sell through that next tank. Many [23:39] times right now when prices are going up, it's that they're going to raise prices based on the [23:43] next tank. [23:44] The next tank going up several thousand dollars. And just like during COVID, you'll remember, [23:48] prices didn't wait a month or two to start declining. They start declining immediately. [23:52] So if this problem suddenly is resolved overnight, gas stations will start lowering prices in the [23:57] next 24 to 48 hours. [24:00] All right, Patrick DeHaan, thank you. [24:02] Our thanks to Diane for that interview. And that is our show for this half hour. [24:07] I'm Lindsay Davis. Be sure to stay tuned to ABC News Live for more context and analysis [24:11] of the day's top stories. Thanks so much for streaming with us. [24:15] We'll see you next time.