We've got some breaking news that I'm going to live.

We want to bring you right now. U.S.

Central Command says it has destroyed three IRGC associated oil tankers after

Iran targeted two Navy warships. Remember we reported earlier there were

reports of explosions overnight at Kharg Island.

We didn't have details of those. It looks like this is what was

happening. I'm going to read you the release that

we've just gotten from U.S. Centcom.

It says Centcom forces struck three Iranian crude carriers after the Islamic

Revolutionary Guard Corps launched ballistic missiles towards two U.S.

Navy warships patrolling regional waters.

A U.S. aircraft carrier and guided missile

destroyer successfully evaded multiple unprovoked Iranian attacks.

No American personnel were harmed following Iran's failed attack.

Centered on permanently disable the IRGC crude oil carriers off the coast of

Kharg Island and near Jask. American forces also completely

destroyed the unladen crude oil carrier kilo, also known as Noxon, in the Gulf

of Oman, striking the vessel in multiple critical locations to render it

inoperable after the crew was directed to abandon ship.

We have Jeff Mason here with us. And since you are our white House

correspondent, I do want to ask you what this means for the president, who just

spent the week saying on the heels of the vice president similar, similar

comments. This is not a war.

This is something else. And as we're seeing kinetic action ramp

back up. Does that make that a harder line to

sell? It absolutely makes it a harder line to

sell. And you're right to emphasize that

because both of them were talking about it.

The vice president took questions from the press earlier this week and said, I

wouldn't necessarily call it a war. And the president doubled down on that.

And meanwhile, we're seeing this what certainly some, I think, will consider

an escalation between both sides. So it's not a conflict that is done.

They obviously are nowhere near a peace agreement.

We talked earlier about Steve Woodcock and Jared Kushner going to Russia and

Ukraine. Well what does that mean?

It means they're not in talks with Iran, or at least they're not going somewhere

into the Middle East to continue talks there.

Uh, this is a shift, and this is going to make that case, as you said, about,

um, semantics anyway, Much harder to to pass it exactly right.

As we're talking about oil prices spiking bike back up, especially the

cost of diesel. This is the most expensive holiday at

the pump for folks in quite a long time. This is something that is obviously on

the president's mind, but it's also on the mind of these shipping companies and

these operators who are trying to get this product out.

We were speaking earlier about capacity. OPEC is meeting later this week.

I think they're meeting tomorrow. And they've reached a point.

Uh, as our oil analysts are telling us, it's not about production.

The production isn't the issue, it's the shipping.

It's the transportation. And you've got to not only get it

through the straits safely, which as we see is not is more easily said than done

at the moment. You've got to convince those operators,

those shipping companies, your master Lloyd's of London, to ensure it.

And you've got to get people to crew it. We talked early in this conflict about

all those mariners who were stuck on the wrong side of the Gulf for months and

months, with supplies dwindling. This is going to be a harder sell.

I mean, people are desperate for these jobs in some places, but they are going

to reevaluate where they're getting this stuff and how they're moving this

through the Gulf, also at a time politically, where the vice president

and the president have been emphasizing the fact that more oil was getting

through the stream, certainly not back up to the level that it was before the

war. And that's always really important to

emphasize. But more was getting through.

Uh, nonetheless, oil prices are taking back up again.

That is a huge political headache, uh, for the president going into the

midterms. Speaking of the midterms this coming

week, uh, the Republicans are gathering in Dallas, uh, to talk about the midterm

elections. And the president's going to give his

support to all the lawmakers who are seeking re-election.

This is a little bit of a tricky backdrop.

Uh, not just the fact that the Iran war is going on, but the fact that more, as

you say, kinetic activity is happening in the region at the same time when they

were trying to downplay it. It's also interesting that we're seeing

the video being released from Centcom, because one of the problems we've had as

reporters trying to cover this conflict is there has not been a lot of real time

information coming out. So at least we do have a statement from

the Pentagon. I would say that, you know, that is

helpful to know what the U.S. has happened.

Obviously, we'll have to wait for Iranian news sources and semi-official

agencies to respond as we have this tit for tat.

But there's also a debate about, look who is really in control of the Gulf,

how real that threat of mines really is. There's so many unknowns.

And as that drags on, where we're going to see that is exactly where we were

just talking about oil prices. And I wonder if it leads to this bigger

conversation folks are starting to have about middle powers.

We were talking to our colleague Amir Abu Omar about what GCC Gulf countries

are doing. When you don't have the US.

Taking a strong position on, those negotiations are getting this solves.

You see these other countries trying to come together and come up with their own

solutions, which maybe it's time for them to do.

But at the same time, it leaves the US kind of out of the room, and it makes it

harder for the U.S. to influence that outcome.

And it's no surprise to all of our viewers and listeners, the economy is a

global one. This is having an impact on every single

and nearly every single country around the world.

What the president does, what the U.S. does right here, impacts our European

allies. It impacts the Middle Eastern allies.

And that also comes at a time when some of those relationships, as we were

talking earlier too, have been strained. Uh, Canada, the European Union, uh, and,

and allies in the Gulf. So that that context is also tricky

because everybody is affected. All right.

And just summing up here before we leave you for the day, we have a new statement

from U.S. Central Command saying, America, the

U.S. has destroyed three what they are

calling IRGC oil tankers after Iran targeted two U.S.

naval warships in the Gulf. As this conflict continues, our coverage

will continue on all platforms. We will be here again tomorrow, will

hopefully have some updates for you. We'll be checking in with our teams, who

of course will be reporting on this throughout the evening.

Stay tuned for if the president weighs in on this, I think I mean, right now at

Centcom, that's that's putting the news out.

But this is something that the president will no doubt have been informed about

and may have some thoughts to share as well.

Do you expect to hear from him this weekend?

I it's hard to say, but he's got his phone nearby.

Speaking of phones, bringing all of the conversations together, uh, he has an

opportunity to to weigh in on Truth Social, and I wouldn't be surprised if

he did.