CNN Inside Iran, US Evacuation Flights, Rising Gas Prices and more

0:00Hey there, from CNN, I'm David Rhine with the five things you need to know for Thursday March 5th. Stay six of the war with Iran, and CNN is the first US network to cross into the country since the conflict began. Senior international correspondent Fred Pleikin is here with us. Fred, where are you? What are you saying? Hey David, so we're in Iran, currently on the way to Tehran. We've already gone past the site of what appears to be a fairly recent air strike. We also saw a larger than usual presence of security forces on the roads here. However, in shops, everything seems to be well stocked. There doesn't seem to be any panic, and we also didn't see any lines in front of gas stations, for instance. Important to note that CNN operates in Iran only with government permission. The state-affiliated Islamic Republic news agency says the death toll in Iran since the conflict began has passed 1200 people. We've got to step away when we come back. Evacuation flights are finally starting to take off in the Middle East.

1:02Stick around. Evacuations are ramping up out of the Middle East after thousands of travelers have been stranded in the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and other regional airports for days. Airlines are scheduling new flights and governments are organizing charter flights, but travel options are limited. The Trump administration has faced backlash for not having an evacuation plan ready before the first strikes were launched, but State Department spokesperson Tommy Piggitt told CNN this morning that multiple U.S. evacuation flights are underway. He said anyone who needs help should call 202-501-4444. The current numbers as of now are that over 20,000 Americans have been able to return to the United States since this began, including the provision of direct assistance to nearly 10,000 Americans by our 24-7 task force. Charter flights are also underway. So we encourage Americans, please call that number, please register so that we know where you are. NATO Secretary-General Mark Ruta praised President Trump's decision to launch strikes on Iran,

2:04but says NATO won't participate in the conflict. Clearly, NATO is not itself involved here. NATO Allies are providing key enabling support, what we see here is that NATO in that sense is also this power projection, projection platform for the United States, because without European Allies, the U.S. would have found it very difficult to launch this campaign against Iran. The comments come as several European countries are working together to defend a British air base in Cyprus, and France is still determining how far it's willing to get involved. A French armed forces spokesperson says the country is allowing U.S. non-combat aircraft to use an air base on the French mainland, but only if those planes don't participate in war operations in Iran. Spokesperson added this was a routine procedure with the framework of NATO. France has not permitted the U.S. to use its air bases in the Middle East. Meanwhile, Azerbaijan's president condemned drone strikes in his country as, quote, �active terror� two people were reportedly injured.

3:07He blamed Iran for the attack, but Iran is denied responsibility, suggesting the operation was a false flag carried out by Israel. Israel's foreign minister said he spoke with his Azerbaijanian counterpart today and condemned Iran's quote over and delivered aggression against Azerbaijan. U.S. gas prices continue to climb in the wake of the war. AAA reports that the national average at the pump is 325 a gallon, up 26 cents since Friday. It's the highest average price in almost a year, and the largest three-day rise since March of 2022, shortly after sanctions were imposed on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine. It's all because Iran has effectively closed the straight-of-war moves that critical channel where 20 percent of the world's oil passes in the Middle East. White House press secretary Caroline Levitt downplayed the concerns on social media, saying �U.S. oil production is high, and plans are in place to access Venezuela's oil and send Navy escorts through the straight-of-war moves if necessary. Speaking of price hikes, is your energy bill higher lately? How the White House and Big Tech are trying to address that?

4:08Coming up next. I'm Dr. Sanjay Gupta, host of the Chasing Life Podcast. Dr. Zachary Ruben, he's a pediatric allergist, clinical immunologist, and he just recently released his book called All About Allergies. With food allergies, we know that that's been around for thousands of years, but just describe differently, right? There's even ancient Chinese texts that talk about avoiding specific foods during pregnancy or different parts of life, so there's definitely evidence that it's been around, and it's probably as a protective measure against toxins, or parasites that were found in food, and it became this more exaggerated response. Listen to Chasing Life, streaming now, wherever you get your podcasts. The Trump administration is teaming up with tech companies to protect against the shock of rising electricity costs. This agreement will ensure that America can maintain the most advanced AI infrastructure of the planet without American families being forced to pick up the tab.

5:13Google, Microsoft, Meta, Oracle, XAI, OpenAI, and Amazon signed on to this voluntary pledge, which would see companies paying a different rate for electricity needed to power data centers than regular consumers. Comes as Trump is trying to assuage affordability concerns ahead of the midterms. We cause a ban on the rise for many reasons, but these power draining AI data centers are a big culprit. And Porta Cavillettes all this, though, and energy experts told CNN this agreement doesn't really have any teeth, because the enforcement of the pledge would have to come from states and their utility regulators, something an administration official also acknowledged to CNN. That's all for now. You can find the latest updates from Fred and his team in Iran over at CNN.com, really wild images to see what it is like there right now. We'll be back with another update here at 6 p.m. Eastern. Talk to you later. To have I got news for your ears, the podcast, I am your host, Michael Ian Black. In this week's episode, we're covering everything Iran, airports, Elvis, we're answering the

6:20question, could Elvis beat up Trump or would Trump have the better of Elvis? And what is Trump's take on Bruce Lee? All of this and more. Have I got news for your ears? Check us out on Apple, Amazon Music, wherever your podcast even better, you can watch the podcast on Spotify.