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CNN's The Arena with Kasie Hunt

Just In: Trump Claims War With Iran "Very Complete"; Just In: Oil Prices Surge, Trump Doesn't Rule Out Seizing Iran's Oil; CNN Exclusive Interview With Adviser To Iran Supreme Leader. Aired 4-5p ET

Aired March 09, 2026 - 16:00   ET

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

[16:00:01]

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: This is the first time that he's actually been in front of the entire press corps and opened it up for questions. Of course, reporters who are on the ground there, but the endgame where we're going here what America's involvement is going to be all of those major questions.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Yeah, certainly. Kristen, thank you so much.

"THE ARENA WITH KASIE HUNT" starts right now

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

KASIE HUNT, CNN HOST: Hi, everyone. I'm Kasie Hunt. Welcome to THE ARENA. It's good to have you with us on this Monday.

As we come on the air today, oil and gas prices are skyrocketing as the war with Iran causes the biggest disruption to the global oil supply in history. And the Trump administration gives wildly inconsistent answers as to how long this all will last. Just moments ago, President Donald Trump told CBS this, quote, "I think the war is very complete pretty much. They have no navy, no communications. They've got no air force," end quote.

That just days after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETE HEGSETH, DEFENSE SECRETARY: What was the Iranian navy is largely no more. There'll be more boats to be sunk for sure. So, their ability to project any power in that area, in a naval sense is --

INTERVIEWER: Diminishing.

HEGSETH: Diminishing and will be increasingly diminished. Again, what I want your viewers to understand is this is only just the beginning.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: Today, multiple Arab gulf states are reporting new Iranian strikes with at least one oil refinery in Bahrain hit. AAA says the average price for a gallon of gas in the United States now $3.48. That's up almost $0.50 from just one week ago. Energy analysts estimating the war is now disrupting 20 percent of the entire world's oil supply.

(VIDEO CLIP PLAYS)

HUNT: That's shocking footage showing the moment that storm drains along the streets of Tehran burst into flames. That explosion, believed to have been caused by runoff following the Israeli bombing of an oil storage facility nearby. Sources familiar with the matter telling CNN that there's concern within the Trump administration over the scale of Israels attacks on Iran's oil infrastructure.

This afternoon, President Donald Trump told NBC News that he would not rule out seizing Iranian oil, but said it's too soon to talk about it. This after Iran's foreign minister accused the U.S. of, quote, "plotting against our oil and nuclear sites in hopes of containing huge inflationary shock," end quote, and adding this, "Iran is fully prepared and we to have many surprises in store," end quote.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARGARET BRENNAN, CBS NEWS HOST, FACE THE NATION: How high do you think oil and gas are going to go?

CHRIS WRIGHT, ENERGY SECRETARY: They shouldn't go much higher than they are here because the world is very well supplied with oil. There's no energy shortage at all in the western hemisphere. What you're seeing is emotional reactions and fear that this is a long-term war. This is not a long-term war

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: So as that happens Iran has a new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, son of the late supreme leader who was killed in an airstrike at the beginning of the war. The younger Khamenei is considered a hardliner, and already President Trump is telling NBC News that Iran, quote, "made a big mistake choosing him."

Across Iran today, large scale rallies in support of Khamenei's selection, as the government called on its citizens to pledge allegiance to the new supreme leader.

We at CNN have the first crew of an American network to enter Iran since the start of the war. CNN senior international correspondent Fred Pleitgen, along with photojournalist Claudia Otto, just spoke with one of the supreme leader's top foreign policy advisors. And we do want to note CNN's able to report from Iran only with the permission of that country's government. But we maintain full editorial control over what we report.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Iran has a new supreme leader. What does that mean for your military effort and the confrontation with the United States and Israel?

KAMAL KHARAZI, FOREIGN POLICY ADVISER TO IRAN'S SUPREME LEADER: That means the system is quite functioning.

PLEITGEN: Is your side seeking, or will you seek a ceasefire with the United States at this point in time and with Israel?

KHARAZI: I don't see any room for diplomacy anymore, because Donald Trump have been deceiving others and not keeping with his promises. And we experienced this in two times of negotiations, that while we were engaged in negotiation, they struck us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: All right. Let's get off the sidelines head into THE ARENA. My panel is here, along with CNN business and politics correspondent Vanessa Yurkevich and CNN senior international correspondent Frederik Pleitgen, who is live for us in Iran.

And that's where we are going to start this hour.

Fred, what more did you talk about with that senior Iranian official? I know that was an exclusive interview.

PLEITGEN: Hi there, Kasie. I think one of the things that the Iranians are trying to project right now is that they're very much in control of the situation, and that they've sort of found their footing.

[16:05:05]

I think in the initial stages when the combat operations began, of course, with those strikes that initially killed the former supreme leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and really hit a lot of the senior commanders of Iran as well, I think there was a sense among many that it might be quite difficult, actually, for the Iranians to continue to fight back. But they feel like they're in a groove now. They've got a new supreme leader, as we just talked about. We were at that massive rally where many people came out to pledge allegiance also, of course, to mourn the former supreme leader.

And I asked the adviser to the supreme leader for foreign policy whether or not Iran was ready for a longer war with the United States and he said that they certainly were. And he also said at this point in time he does not believe that there's a chance for diplomacy let's listen in.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PLEITGEN: How does all of this end then? If you say, right now, there's no room for negotiation, President Trump says he wants complete surrender.

What does that lead to?

KHARAZI: There's no room unless the economic pressure would be built up to the extent that other countries would intervene to guarantee this termination of aggression of Americans and Israelis against Iran.

PLEITGEN: Finally, what is your message to President Trump as we sit here, as the war is going on?

KHARAZI: That means that what is important for us is the end of this game, and we are ready to continue that game.

PLEITGEN: The end of this game, you mean how this war will end is?

KHARAZI: Yeah, the end of the game would be the time that American and Israelis would come to this understanding that this strategy is not working, and they have to stop their aggression against Iranians.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PLEITGEN: But as we speak right now, Kasie, we certainly can report that there have been a flurry of airstrikes once again today. And then, of course, also during the weekend as well. You showed some of that footage of that fire in in various parts of Tehran after those oil facilities were bombed. We were actually at one of those facilities later, as it was still burning, as smoke was still billowing, there certainly an apocalyptic scene that we saw there.

And you can still see some black smoke also over the city as well. So that air campaign certainly does continue. There are airstrikes that happen throughout the day. At the same time as we just heard there, the Iranians are saying that they are gearing up for a war that could take an extended period of time -- Kasie.

HUNT: All right. Fred Pleitgen for us in Tehran, a remarkable, courageous reporting.

Fred, thank you very much.

And, of course, just to reiterate this reminder, CNN able to report from Iran only with the permission of the country's government but we do maintain -- Fred maintains full editorial control over the reporting.

Vanessa, let me come to you here back stateside, there has been a little bit of positive movement in the markets after the president told CBS that the war is pretty much complete. What's the latest?

VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS & POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. Oil prices hitting their lowest level of the day after crashing through that $100 a barrel benchmark overnight, even reaching up to $115, $120 a barrel. Those are numbers that we haven't seen for nearly four years since the war between Russia and Ukraine broke out.

But even though these levels have come down to about $85, $90 a barrel, still 30 percent higher than they were just a month ago. Markets obviously move very quickly, but what isn't moving so quickly for Americans at least today, is that price of gas people are showing up at the pump and realizing that gas is costing about 50 cents more on average than it did just a week ago, and 40 cents more than it did a year ago, when president Trump was newly in office.

Of course, oil prices can change. They could go back up again especially because so much of the world's oil, 20 percent is really locked at a standstill at that Strait of Hormuz, where 20 percent of the oil moves through as oil tankers are simply stuck there unable to move -- oil the U.S. does have a good supply of oil. However, oil trades on a global market, and that's why you're seeing nerves. That's why you're seeing oil prices rise, and that's why you're seeing gas prices rise.

According to GasBuddy, we could see another 10 to 20 cent rise, and we could and will likely reach $4 a gallon here in the United States.

But investors on Wall Street were also encouraged by that conversation that President Trump had with CBS News. Markets really made a turnaround. The Dow closing up 239 points. Look at that. Most of the day in the red finishing in the green also, the Nasdaq and S&P closing in the green.

This is really investors reacting to news being headlined sensitive, as they've been saying for the past couple of weeks or so. But really overall a tepid response from Wall Street trying to be more measured or trying to project a more measured tone that the administration may have with Iran.

But as we know, we just heard from, Fred, missiles being traded in both directions, including hitting key oil infrastructure in Iran and in other areas of the Middle East. We'll just have to keep an eye on those oil markets. A lot can change in just moments, Kasie.

HUNT: Yeah. Really can.

All right. Vanessa Yurkevich -- Vanessa, thanks very much for that report.

All right. Our panel is here in THE ARENA. CNN legal analyst Elliot Williams, CNN political commentator Jonah Goldberg, former Biden White House communications director Kate Bedingfield, and former speaker pro tem, Patrick McHenry.

Welcome to all of you. Thank you very much for being here.

Congressman, when you hear the president say that the war is pretty much complete, what does that tell you? Because it seems to say something about the politics of this situation.

PATRICK MCHENRY (R), FORMER FINANCIAL SERVICES COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN: Well, it tells you that the president measures this thing differently than previous foreign engagements, that he has no intention of actually cleaning up the mess. But just creating the ingredients for a change here where Iran cannot be an offensive capable -- it takes away their offensive capability which they've used across the Middle East, across the world. And that would be a global good. And then letting it shake out with neighbors that have to take the reins from here on out. That's one.

And then two --

HUNT: Is that over to you, Netanyahu?

MCHENRY: Yes. Good luck. Good luck to you.

HUNT: OK.

MCHENRY: The wealthy neighbors -- you have wealthy neighbors and a means of paying for your restoration. You've taken out the top, I don't know, 200 leaders of this regime, and no one's crying about that. Internationally, and now they have to go work it out here. That's different.

If you really want to see the metric here, what Trump thinks of Iran is what he thought of Venezuela. Stability is what we're going for. There's no other greater good here, no talk of democracy or restoring elections or anything of that sort. But the issue here at home is what is the message that he's saying to the American people about why this matters to us?

HUNT: Right.

MCHENRY: He needs to convey that to House Republicans that are with him today in south Florida. And listening to him, he needs to convey that to both parties in order to get funding for the -- for the rest of this engagement or to restore what was just spent. That engagement also needs to include the public on why this matters. And we're starting to see that this weekend with administration. But we need to see this really ramp up in the coming days.

HUNT: Jonah, I mean, in terms of the American people, there hasn't been a big sales pitch so far. And the result that people are seeing is higher prices at the pump. What are the implications of that?

JONAH GOLDBERG, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yeah, look, higher prices at the pump. In an era where everyone was, the cliche is that affordability is everything is not great. I can't imagine there's any Republicans in Congress that are psyched about high prices at the pump. I think part of the problem -- you know, we've talked about this a bunch of times. There are all sorts of reasons. Forget the constitutional ones for a second why you go to Congress and you go to the public and you build up a case.

And it's -- so that people know what to expect. They know how to price in things. They know how to, like adjust their time horizons and the problem with the effort from the White House is it's not so much they haven't explained why they're doing it. They've given every conceivable explanation for why they're doing it and some of these things are not reconcilable.

You cannot say you're liberating the Iranian people, but you're also going to keep the ayatollah regime in place for stability. Like those things are in conflict and you can't get the elements of the national security apparatus, the Basij, the Republican guard to switch sides in a place where the people, if they lay down their weapons, the people will pick up the weapons and kill them because they hate them so much.

And so, you have all of these conflicting different explanations, like, literally, Trump spends days calling different news outlets, giving different explanations about why we did it and what our end goals are. And I think that that can only lead to confusion for everybody.

KATE BEDINGFIELD, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yeah. I just -- I would say and I think the problem with the -- it's -- okay. So now, it's the region's problem to pick up the pieces is the aftershocks of picking up those pieces can be felt here in the United States. I mean, energy prices are obviously you know, a very obvious one, gas prices going up.

And remember when gas prices go up, the cost of diesel goes up, the cost of flights go up, the cost of fuel for tractors, for agriculture.

HUNT: For making plastic.

BEDINGFIELD: Food prices, manufacturing -- I mean, it has a ripple effect across the economy that's very real. And then, you know, the increased instability in the region leads to potentially the loss of American soldiers, the loss of American life, the jeopardizing of American interests in the region.

So, you know, the idea that Trump would just sort of light the fuse, say, we killed the ayatollah, which, of course nobody is crying for the loss of the ayatollah, but then say, well, the rest of the fallout is -- is the problem for the region, that is not that -- that's not a good argument to the people at home in the United States of America.

[16:15:05]

ELLIOT WILLIAMS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Yeah. And the interesting thing about gas prices, it's the most real metric, I think, of any we've seen over the course of the year, even, you know in the debate, frankly, on the show even about tariffs, it was about lumber and automobiles and things that are still very abstract to many people. The most enlightening stat I saw today was in "The Wall Street Journal", that there's an 80 percent chance that gas hits $4 a gallon this month. That affects literally every American, if not, you know, an overwhelming proportion of the country and in all the ways you're saying.

BEDINGFIELD: Yes. And I can tell you, having sat in the Biden White House when we were dealing with --

HUNT: Just going to ask you.

BEDINGFIELD: Yeah, the spike in in the cost of oil after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, I mean, we threw every policy solution that we could come up with at the problem. Biden pushed for a gas tax holiday. We did releases from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. We talked about Jones Act waivers.

I mean, we were throwing everything that we could think of at the wall because for really for precisely for the reasons that Elliot is talking about, it is an acute pain point for people in their lives across the country. And it's very hard to communicate with people about the other things that your administration is doing that benefits them, when all they see is, I'm paying more to get around day to day. MCHENRY: But let's be honest, these markets are not based off supply

and demand. They're based off of emotion and uncertainty, and that's why we're seeing this large spike. The uncertainty can be dealt with administration communicating clearly.

The final point on gas prices and this issue of oil, where are the -- where's this oil and natural gas going from Iran? Not to the United States. None of its coming to the United States. Majority of it is going to China.

What's the next big negotiation? China. The trade deal with China in April. And so, all of this plays into a larger geopolitical sandbox even though this is overwhelming --

GOLDBERG: I agree with that entirely. Theres a problem though. Commodity markets are by their very nature, such that if Europe can't get and if China can't get oil from the Persian Gulf, that means they're going to go try to buy it from Latin America and from the United States, which means oil prices, oil scarcity anywhere creates higher prices everywhere and that's a -- that's a problem.

MCHENRY: That in the short run, this has nothing to do with the supply and everything to do with uncertainty.

GOLDBERG: For sure. I agree with you. I agree with that.

HUNT: So, let's talk for a second about kind of how we got here and to your -- the point you were making about now this needing to be the region -- the region's problem to solve. I want to ask you, Jonah, what you think about this because Lindsey Graham talked to "The Wall Street Journal" and he explained how he managed to convince or help convince the president to strike Iran this way.

He said, quote, to help make the case on Iran, Graham traveled several times to Israel in recent weeks meeting with members of the country's intelligence agency. They'll tell me things our own government won't tell me, he said. He spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, coaching him on how to lobby the president for action. Netanyahu showed the president intelligence that persuaded Trump to go ahead, Graham said.

What do you make of this, Jonah?

GOLDBERG: Well, I like it because I've spent so much time hearing how Israel's pulling all the strings and the Jews run the world. And it turns out it was Lindsey Graham all along.

(LAUGHTER)

HUNT: Lindsey Graham would love everyone to think that.

GOLDBERG: I think it's -- I don't know how weird it is that he did it. I think it's really weird that he's talking about it. Like, it's just -- it's a weird look, and you got to remember, there's this very inside MAGA fight about the people who are pro this war and the people who are anti this war. And I think Lindsey Graham is kind of taking a victory lap when he should maybe calm down a little bit.

HUNT: I mean, that's definitely seems to be what he's doing here. Congressman, is it productive?

MCHENRY: Talk or not talk, what was -- what's Lindsey Graham's decision? Always to talk. So this --

(LAUGHTER)

MCHENRY: This should be of no surprise. What I would say is stepping back is the voices within this administration that said take action, were persuasive. That is good for American national security and will be a net positive for Western lives that have been abused by this Iranian regime.

HUNT: I think we can all say that we hope that that is ultimately the outcome here. Still a lot of unknowns, however.

Coming up next here, we're expecting the dignified transfer of Army Sergeant Benjamin Pennington sometime soon. He is the seventh American killed in the Iran war. We will of course, bring that to you when it happens. But first, we're going to talk with one of just four House Democrats who voted not to rein in the president's war powers in Iran, Ohio Congressman Greg Landsman is here live.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. GREG LANDSMAN (D-OH): I'm more of a country first guy. So, whatever I think is best for the country and for my constituents for the district, in this case, national security. To me, this is a no brainer.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:24:18]

HUNT: All right, welcome back.

We're continuing to follow the economic and military fallout of the -- as the war with Iran enters its second week.

Joining me now Democratic congressman from Ohio, Greg Landsman. He sits on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, and he's one of a handful of Democrats who voted with Republicans against a measure that sought to limit the president's war powers.

Congressman, thanks very much for being here. Really appreciate your time.

And I do, of course know that you have another war powers resolution that's slightly different coming up for a vote this week. I do want to note that, but I also want to start with the news here, which is, of course, the new Iranian leader that was named over the weekend. The president said that was a big mistake. But he also this afternoon has said that the war itself is all but complete, was the word he used in an interview with CBS News.

[16:25:07]

Do those things contradict each other?

LANDSMAN: Yeah. I mean, the president has been a pretty bad source of information on this. Unfortunately, president should be the core source of information. You know, the general the head of the joint chiefs, General Caine, he's been much clearer, and he's in charge of the operations which is take out the missiles, the launchers, the drones, the rockets -- they're the infrastructure that was protecting or was being built up to protect their enrichment activities.

That's the operation. And that should be coming to a close because there were only so many targets. And had he been clear the president about this from the very beginning, I think most people would have said, "Okay, that makes more sense." But you know, he's all over the place and that's just how he is. And it's a -- it's a huge problem.

HUNT: Where are you on the success or failure of what we've seen here? Do you think the world is better off today than it was before this started?

LANDSMAN: We don't know yet, right? The decision was, look, the Iranian regime wants to enrich uranium. They want to do it underground. We can stop that.

But they were building up this shield to protect the -- you know, the enrichment work. At what point do you go in? Do you wait until that it's already up and running? This shield which makes it difficult to penetrate, if not impossible? Or do you go now and do it while they're weak?

I would have said. Yeah, go now. We don't want to have to get to a point where we have a larger, more complicated, more expensive, more deadly war. So, the strikes make sense, but they need to get in, get them done, and then get out.

HUNT: Speaking of strikes, we've been reporting that there has been some concern inside the Trump administration about the scale of Israeli strikes on oil infrastructure in Iran. Are you comfortable with the way that's been playing out so far?

LANDSMAN: My understanding is, is that the focus has been on the military infrastructure. That is where I'm comfortable. And you know, anything else does seem like it would be destabilizing. So, yeah, I hope that the focus is entirely on military assets. So, at the end of this operation the Iranian regime is not in a position to continue to destroy the lives of other people around the region and the lives of those within its own -- you know, its own country you know, a Iran that has been decimated in terms of its military infrastructure makes the world an infinitely safer place.

HUNT: And do you think that this is a war?

LANDSMAN: Look, I would consider this to be targeted strikes. That's the operation. The operation is what defines it right. And despite the president being all over the place and the fact that he should come to Congress, like my resolution by the way, is you got 30 days.

The only reason I voted against the last one is because it would have required an immediate end. It wasn't just a war powers resolution saying Congress has the War Powers. Of course, Congress has the War Powers. It says you have to stop immediately, which would have put our troops and bases and allies in a very vulnerable position.

So, I think finishing the operation will make every everyone much more, you know, safe. It will -- it will deal with something that we haven't dealt with in decades. Right? The Iranian regime is one of three major adversaries. Russia China being the other two. We're in a position to demilitarize destroy the military capabilities of one of those, which will make the region infinitely safer, and us as Americans, much safer.

HUNT: So, you, of course, are now in a much tougher reelection fight than perhaps you would have been absent some changes to the makeup of your district, to redistricting when you spent time at home and you're home now, Congress is out of session. When you're talking to your constituents, people in the street, do you think that what we're seeing here in Iran, how its playing out, are the politics of it going to make it easier or harder for a Democrat like you in the midterm elections?

LANDSMAN: I have no idea. But I think in these decisions, most decisions, certainly decisions about war and peace or military intervention operations like this, you cannot think about the politics. The question is, would you have made the same decision? And how do you do this responsibly?

And if he can't get this done in a couple of weeks, he's got to come to the United States Congress for sure, 100 percent.

[16:30:05]

HUNT: Are your constituents feeling the impact of prices at the pump yet? Is that something that you're hearing about?

LANDSMAN: Yeah. I mean, you know, you drive around, it's -- it's above, I think $3.40 today and part of that is the uncertainty. And the driver of the uncertainty unfortunately, is the president of the United States.

He should be very clear that this is a limited operation, and it's about to be over, that they have certain targets. Once they're finished with those targets, they are done, and I think that will make a big difference in bringing, you know, gas prices down.

HUNT: All right. Fair enough.

Congressman Greg Landsman, thanks very much for your time, sir. Appreciate it.

LANDSMAN: Thank you, Kasie. HUNT: All right. Coming up next here in THE ARENA, new details on one of the first and deadliest strikes of the Iraq war. What new video reveals about who was behind a deadly strike that hit a school and killed dozens of children.

Plus, what the White House is saying and not saying about the possibility of bringing back something that hasn't been seen in this country since the days of the Vietnam War.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARIA BARTIROMO, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: Mothers out there are worried that we're going to have a draft, that they're going to see their sons get in -- and daughters get involved in this. What do you want to say about the president's plans for troops on the ground? As we know, it's been largely an air campaign up until now.

KAROLINE LEAVITT, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Uh-huh. It has been, and it will continue to be. And President Trump wisely does not remove options off of the table.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:35:59]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETE HEGSETH, DEFENSE SECRETARY: People ask boots on the ground. No boots on the ground. Four weeks, two weeks, six weeks. Go in, go in.

President Trump knows, I know, you don't tell the enemy. You don't tell the press. You don't tell anybody what -- what your limits would be on an operation. We reserve the right.

We would be completely unwise if we did not reserve the right to take any particular option, whether it included boots on the ground or no boots on the ground.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, echoing what top administration officials, including President Trump, have been saying about U.S. ground forces in Iran, they're not taking it off the table.

Last week, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said it's not part of the current plan. And while the White House leaves the possibility of putting those boots there, Leavitt also saying this about the possibility of bringing back something the country has not seen since Vietnam.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARTIROMO: Mothers out there are worried that we're going to have a draft, that they're going to see their sons get in -- and daughters get involved in this. What do you want to say about the president's plans for troops on the ground? As we know, it's been largely an air campaign up until now.

LEAVITT: Uh-huh. It has been, and it will continue to be. And President Trump wisely does not remove options off of the table.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: Congressman, President Trump wisely does not remove options from the table as a political matter, leaving open the possibility there would be a draft to put boots on the ground in Iran. Seems like, I don't know, going out on a limb.

MCHENRY: Like a hard no? Kind of like a pretty easy no?

HUNT: Like, yeah, like, I was a little surprised that the door was left open.

MCHENRY: I don't -- I think this is just a mistake on a TV hit. And that's how I rate it. The current issue before the administration is a funding request on Capitol Hill. They're going to have to struggle through the House and the Senate, and they're going to have to have a bipartisan vote in both chambers in order to get funding for that. That's going to be the key vote on this war or however were defining this conflict with Iran.

BEDINGFIELD: I would say, not to -- not to far be it for me to defend Karoline Leavitt, but to --

(CROSSTALK)

BEDINGFIELD: Well, look, to the congressman's point about making a mistake in a TV hit, it may just be that she had not discussed that with the president, had not discussed it with the team. And when you are the spokesperson out front, you do not get out in front of the president. And that kind of answer is the kind of answer that leaves you enough space to be able to come back later and say, I discussed it with the president. He said, absolutely not.

So, you'll never really hear me defend Karoline Leavitt, but I will -- I will say that that was also sort of what I saw in this. The thing that seems much more concerning to me is that the things that are coming out of Donald Trump's mouth and coming out of Pete Hegseth's mouth about how this war is being conducted and the fact that they are not willing to take boots off the ground, off the table.

I don't know why we would give them the benefit of the doubt that that's some sort of, you know, brilliant attempt at strategy and not them leaving the option on the table, because we have seen that. We have seen them unable to follow through or unwilling, I should say, to follow through on any of the strategic statements they've made thus far.

WILLIAMS: And I think Jonah made a really great point earlier in the program, this idea of the -- well, no, he does.

(LAUGHTER)

GOLDBERG: Watching my wallet.

WILLIAMS: You're dead to me.

(LAUGHTER)

WILLIAMS: No, but this idea of the of the explanations just shifting quite consistently from the president and the secretary of defense is leaving Americans with a lot of totally legitimate questions, like are we going to have a draft? I don't know whether I can trust the words that are coming out of the people in charge.

And there isn't sort of the clear -- if you think of FDR and giving a fireside chat about shared sacrifice, this is why we're here. This is what we're doing, and this is what the effects will be. There hasn't been that because they've sort of been all over the place.

HUNT: Well, I mean, Jonah, it does seem and this is you know, there was a debate last week that the Defense Department, the defense secretary, came out and said, well, you're trying to make the president look bad when you cover a service members that have passed away.

[16:40:03]

It's tied to the messaging on the broader conflict, because when you're losing Americans, people want to know why, right?

GOLDBERG: Well, so a couple of things about that. First of all, every journalistic organization since there have been journalistic organizations reports on casualties of their own people, that's just what you do, right?

And one of the things I find really hilarious about some of the -- you know, the chesty broseph (ph) secretary of defense press briefing.

HUNT: Well, not right here, chesty broseph (ph)?

(LAUGHTER)

GOLDBERG: Is, is the -- he wants to do this thing to attack the fake news. You know, the liberal media, the lamestream media and all this kind of stuff. But most of the lamestream media isn't in that room anymore because they've all left. And instead, like, there was a reporter from Lindell TV like the MyPillow network who asked a perfectly legitimate question. And a bunch of these people from like, right wing outlets are asking perfectly legitimate questions, because at the end of the day, when you go to war and it hasn't been explained to you in advance, you have some, like, legit questions to ask.

WILLIAMS: And a lot of like to your to another point you made earlier in the show, this is the Jonah Goldberg, another great point you made in the program. There's a rift on the right over whether to be in the war and some of that would be picked up on by right leaning voices. And they're asking questions about how do we feel about the fact that people are dying. They are fair questions to ask

GODLBERG: I should say, I agree entirely with Pete Hegseth. That's not a sentence I utter often. It makes it would be crazy to say we're just absolutely ruling out boots on the ground. I mean, politically, I think its problematic, but as a matter of fact, you want Iran to be scared that there might be an invasion. They're going to deploy resources differently if they actually believe that there's no way we're ever going to put boots on the ground, they get to target harden in a completely different way and so like militarily, I think that makes a lot of sense.

The draft stuff is just Japanese game show craziness. And besides, Congress has to authorize that anyway.

BEDINGFIELD: And I agree with you on the strategic military front, under an administration where you could trust the words of the president and the secretary of defense and they said, were not going to telegraph our punches to Iran. Of course, that makes sense from a military strategic standpoint. Of course.

GOLDBERG: Yeah.

BEDINGFIELD: The problem comes when you have the administration changing their direction every other day and frankly, not being truthful with the American people.

HUNT: Yeah. I mean, the -- you referenced Pete Hegseth, right? And the way that he's been conducting himself in this, in this instance, I want to flash back to 2016 when he was on Fox and he was talking about, you know obviously this was the year that president Trump got elected, wasn't clear he was going to win that race, obviously. But this was Hegseth back in 2016.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETE HEGSETH, DEFENSE SECRETARY: It's typical Trump -- all bluster, very little substance. He talks a tough game. But then when pressed on it, he's an armchair tough guy.

I hate to say it, but this is a guy who said -- who said that John McCain is not a war hero, yet he sought his own five military deferments.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: So, speaking of the draft.

(LAUGHTER)

GOLDBERG: Yeah. I'm nostalgic. I used to be at Fox back in those -- in the before times. I got nothing. I mean --

(LAUGHTER)

HUNT: I mean, I think, you know, this is also Kate in the context of us seeing dignified transfers, right, of the service members who have been killed the president met with the families of the six of them over the weekend, according to ABC.

Did witnessing the dignified transfers give him Trump pause? No, not at all. The president said the parents would be upset if I did that. The parents said to me every one of them, please sir, win this war for my boy. In one case, a young woman as you know, please win this for my child.

You know, Trump has his own personal history of not having served when many Americans were thrown into harm's way. And now he's in this role.

BEDINGFIELD: Yeah, and the fact that we have him showing up to a dignified transfer and wearing a baseball cap, I thought was a really odd decision. Now, he showed up, he spoke to the families. He did what the commander in chief is supposed to do.

But sending a signal by wearing a baseball cap, I thought, was just a really odd and frankly, just disrespectful thing to do. And I sort of wonder, you know, I remember there was so much criticism of Joe Biden for looking at his watch during the dignified transfer when those fallen soldiers came home from Afghanistan. Where are -- where are the MAGA voices who are so upset about that? Where are they when -- when the president is disrespecting these families in this way?

So, look, it is -- it is a gut wrenching incredibly difficult responsibility of the commander in chief to attend these kinds of ceremonies. And it's important that he went but he should have shown a little more respect, in my opinion, and not worn a baseball cap.

HUNT: All right. Coming up next, here in THE ARENA, the defense secretary on defense over one of the earliest military strikes from the Iraq war. What new video shows and what the secretary is saying.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

INTERVIEWER: There was a report late in the week from two officials that it was likely U.S. involvement.

[16:45:00]

Is that report false?

HEGSETH: I've already said we're investigating.

INTERVIEWER: If you could tell the American public it definitively was not us, you would tell us, wouldn't you?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REPORTER: Mr. President, did the United States bomb a girls elementary school in southern Iran on the first day of the war and kill 175 people?

TRUMP: No. In my opinion, based on what I've seen, that was done by Iran.

HEGSETH: Well, we're still investigating and that's where I'll leave it today. But what I will emphasize to you and to the world is that unlike our adversaries, the Iranians, we never target civilians.

HEGSETH: I would caution you from pointing the finger at the United States of America when it comes to targeting civilians because that's not something that these armed forces do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: The Trump administration there responding to questions about who is responsible for that deadly strike on a girls school in Iran that killed at least 168 children and 14 teachers, according to Iranian state media. The president, defiantly pointing the finger at Iran while the defense secretary says the investigation is still underway.

This all comes as new video appears to show a U.S. airstrike targeting an Iranian naval base. Right next to that girls' school as the CNN and expert analysis also finds the U.S. military was likely responsible for the strike.

Joining me now to discuss, CNN military analyst, retired Admiral James Stavridis. He is, of course, the former NATO supreme allied commander.

Admiral, thanks very much for being here. Can you talk a little bit about why something like this might have happened, considering, of course, we do not target civilians, but our analysis shows it's likely that we were responsible for this?

ADMIRAL JAMES STAVRIDIS (RET.), CNN SENIOR MILITARY ANALYST: A number of ways. This could have gone sideways. And I've launched many, many tomahawks over the years. They're a very, very good weapon. They're extremely precise, but they are not perfect. No weapon is.

And unfortunately if I had to guess, I would say that either there was an internal breakdown in some aspect of the final terminal guidance of the Tomahawk missile or its conceivable, Iranian counter fire of some kind knocked it off its intended course and just a tiny, tiny shift and tragically evidently it may well have hit this school and killed children.

I will point out, Kasie, from the Iranian perspective, when we say, quite correctly, we would never target civilians. What goes off in an Iranians head goes back to the late 1980s, when the United States, one of our warships, a cruiser called the Vincennes, fired a surface to air missile and shot down an Airbus and killed 160 or so Iranian pilgrims on their way to the Hajj.

So that was a terrible accident. Misjudgment on that navy cruiser. In this case, it's probably a mechanical or a ground fire problem. But the point is on this one, I agree with Secretary Hegseth, full investigation and release it, show the transparency. That's the best way you can demonstrate that our intent was to strike a military target, and we are deeply saddened by the events that occurred close by. HUNT: Thank you for that.

Admiral, let's talk about the strategic situation here for a second, because, of course, a big debate here at home already about rapidly rising gas prices, a historic shock to the U.S. or, excuse me, to the global oil supply and, of course, it's all tied up in the Strait of Hormuz.

I know you spent so much time in this region. The president has suggested that the U.S. Navy could escort oil tankers across the strait. Is that remotely plausible?

STTAVRIDIS: It is, and we did it in again, same time period I was describing earlier the late 1980s, Iraq and Iran were at war and the Iranians then sought to close the Strait of Hormuz to cut off the oil revenues to Iraq. So, to keep this strait open, we, the United States navy, did a number of things, including escorting large oil carrying tankers. They were reflagged, meaning we took down the flag of whatever nation they were registered to put up an American flag and then put American cruisers, my own cruiser Valley Forge, escorted numerous tankers in and out of the Strait of Hormuz under Iranian fire.

And it is a dangerous mission, and you can argue about whether that's the best use of a $3 billion U.S. cruiser to protect a single oil tanker, that's a debate you can have. But, yes, we've done it. Would it reassure? Very nervous merchant ship captains? I'm not so sure that it would. The best course of action to keep the strait open is to simply continue to pound away at the Iranian military assets -- their mines, their short-range ballistic missiles, their speedboats that can come out and swarm a civilian tanker.

Go after those assets, and you can hopefully prevent the Iranians from a hard closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

[16:55:05]

HUNT: All right. Admiral James Stavridis, always grateful to have your perspective on the program, sir, especially in times like these. Thanks very much.

STAVRIDIS: Thanks, Kasie.

HUNT: All right. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HUNT: All right. Thanks very much to my panel. Really appreciate all of you.

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