Escalation in Iran and the first American casualties

The 11th Hour with Stephanie Ruhle

MS NOW, Stephanie Ruhle

Politics, Washington, Congress, News, Ms Now, President, Versant Media, Policy, Msnbc, Versant, Government, Senate

4.4 • 3.6K Ratings

🗓️ 2 March 2026

⏱️ 43 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Iran has retaliated against regional US bases, leading to the first American casualties and a 10% surge in global oil prices. While President Trump is publicly calling for the Iranian people and military to topple the remaining regime, he faces mounting criticism from Congress and national security experts over the lack of a clear strategic endgame or constitutional authorization for the war.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Good evening from Times Square in New York City. I am Stephanie Rule here tonight for our special coverage of the attack on Iran.
0:12.0	Today we saw yet another day of intense airstrikes and bombings by the United States and Israel hitting literally thousands of targets inside Iran as this war stretches into its second
0:23.0	day. In response to U.S. Central Command says Iran has launched retaliatory strikes on Israel, Kuwait,
0:29.3	Iraq, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and on U.S. military bases on and around the region.
0:36.4	One of those retaliatory strikes on a U.S. military
0:39.4	base in Kuwait led to the first known American casualties since the start of this military
0:44.7	campaign. Three U.S. service members were killed and another five were seriously wounded. In response,
0:50.5	President Trump released a pre-recorded video addressing these casualties directly.
0:57.3	Earlier today, CENTCOM shared the news that three U.S. military service members have been killed in action.
1:06.2	As one nation, we grieve for the true American patriots who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our nation,
1:14.8	even as we continue the righteous mission for which they gave their lives. We pray for the
1:22.0	full recovery of the wounded and send our immense love and eternal gratitude to the families of the fallen.
1:30.5	And sadly, there will likely be more.
1:33.9	Before it ends, that's the way it is.
1:38.8	I just want to level set for a moment.
1:41.3	Beyond that pre-recorded video responding to the casualties and one other video
1:46.2	Trump posted in the middle of the night on Saturday, on Truth Social, the platform's his family
1:52.3	is the majority owner of, the American people have heard very little from the president himself
1:57.6	on how we got here and what the plan is going forward. The president has had no official press conference, nor did he answer to the president himself on how we got here and what the plan is going forward.
2:01.3	The president has had no official press conference, nor did he answer questions from reporters
2:06.2	when he returned to Washington tonight, and no one from his administration joined the Sunday
2:10.9	shows earlier today. All this, despite military strikes on Iran that have now caused conflict
	...

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