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Israel: Top Iranian Leaders Killed In Overnight Strike; Federal Judge Blocks RFK Jr.'s Vaccine Policy Overhaul; Rep. Pete Sessions (R- TX) On Airport Security Lines Growing As TSA Goes Unpaid Amid Shutdown. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired March 17, 2026 - 07:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:30:15]

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: The third week of the war in Iran, along with the disruption in the Strait of Hormuz, is sending oil prices to their highest level in years. And this morning gas prices hitting another high. A gallon of regular will cost you $3.79 on average. That is the highest that we've seen in three years.

For years, the United States has been the top oil-producing nation in the world, something the president touted during his State of the Union address just last month.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: American oil production is up by more than 600,000 barrels a day. American natural gas production is at an all-time high because I kept my promise to drill, baby, drill.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: CNN Business executive editor David Goldman is back with us this morning. Thank you for returning. I know it's early.

The president touting this "drill, baby drill" mentality and he said, like, this is yielding strong results. He has been bragging about it.

So why is the United States struggling to rein in these prices?

DAVID GOLDMAN, CNN BUSINESS EXECUTIVE EDITOR: Well, he's right. I mean, we produce more oil in this country than any other country in the world, which is an extraordinary thing to think about. This isn't the oil embargo days of the '70s. Today we kind of fend for ourselves here.

So why can't we just have oil producers just pump more oil? Well, there's a good reason for that because oil is at $100 today but we remember that oil was at $60 just a few weeks ago.

And if you're an oil producer and you're saying well, OK, if I need to -- it's not like flipping on a switch, right? If I'm going to turn on these pumps and make the investment to draw more oil out of the ground, I need to make sure that that's going to be profitable down the road. And if I think that oil is falling to $60 again soon, I don't necessarily want to do that.

I actually think it's a good thing that they don't want to start pumping oil. It signals that they might think that oil prices are going to fall again soon.

SIDNER: So you're sort of talking about the uncertainty --

GOLDMAN: Right.

SIDNER: -- which is also how the markets tend to react negatively to this uncertainty.

What is the thinking, you think, in their mind? That maybe this will be over soon?

GOLDMAN: Well, soon is relative, right? I mean, it's only been two weeks, the administration keeps saying. The question is how long does this last because Iran, this morning, just said that the Strait of Hormuz will never be the same again. So even if, you know, Trump took his ball and went home today and we said we're not going to be involved in this war anymore, there could be lasting consequences for many, many months.

The CEO of Delta today just said that, you know, if we have this going on for months and months at these prices we could start to have to make some adjustments.

So everyone is a little cautious right now. The big unanswered question and the thing that I can't tell you today is how long this is going to last.

SIDNER: Yeah. That is the question that everyone wants an answer to as soon as they can get it.

David Goldman, it is a pleasure. Thank you so much.

GOLDMAN: Thank you.

SIDNER: Appreciate it -- John.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, with us now CNN senior military analyst and retired Admiral James Stavridis. Admiral, thank you so much for being with us.

The news that we are waking up to is Israel is claiming they have killed this man, Ali Larijani, who is the Iranian security chief and maybe the most powerful man in Iran over the last several weeks, maybe even several months. Also, they say they killed this man in charge of the Basij paramilitary force.

This is one top, obviously, of already killing this man's father, the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. This is Mojtaba Khamenei, now the supreme leader. He is said to be injured.

So Admiral, my question to you is if they keep targeting Israel (sic) and effectively eliminating these leaders, what does that do to the stability of the regime, particularly the absence now of Larijani?

ADM. JAMES STAVRIDIS (RET.), CNN SENIOR MILITARY ANALYST, FORMER NATO SUPREME ALLIED COMMANDER (via Webex by Cisco): Let's park on Larijani for a minute. John, you'll get this reference. He's kind of the cardinal Richelieu of this rotten theocracy. He's been floating around, manipulating, leading internal dissent, and now he ascended to the top with the killing of Khamanei and the ascension of Khamanei's son who is probably gravely wounded.

So this is a big deal. If killing Khamanei was kind of a 10, I'd say this is an 8 1/2. It's a big deal. And the character to the right is the leader of the Basij militia, truly dreaded by the people. So point one, this is a big deal taking these two out.

Point two, to your question, somewhere in the headquarters of Mossad and probably over in the Kirya, which is the Pentagon of Israel, they have a big board, and it's got pictures of all of these folks drilling down way below the four-star down to the three-star, two-star putting in the military contacts. They're going to continue to relentlessly go after these people.

[07:35:08]

And point three, and finally, here is the good news. At some point you may get down to a layer in the rock formation where you can actually have a conversation.

BERMAN: Yeah. And again, both of these guys key in the crackdown of the protests over the last several months there. Maybe this will -- if they are both, in fact, gone -- inspire some kind of new uprising on the streets there. Although that, too, carries a risk.

I want to shift gears here and ask about the U.S. troops movements. We know that CENTCOM has approved a Marine Expeditionary Force to head toward the Middle East. We believe they're somewhere over here and they will arrive sometime in the next week or so, or maybe a little bit after that.

Admiral, what do you think these 2,500 Marines or so will be doing?

STAVRIDIS: I think there are three options kind of floating around out there.

The first and most bruited about is the idea of seizing Kharg Island. Kharg Island is the center of the Iranian oil-gas production facility. It's their transshipment point for 90 percent. You're circling it now. It's well north of the Strait of Hormuz.

You know, we're all quite centered on the strait, but the Persian Gulf is huge, and a great deal of oil and gas moves in up there in Kharg Island. That is the heart of the Iranian and that, believe me, is U.S. Marine Corps 101, seizing islands. Think Iwo Jima, World War II, Okinawa. They're very good at this.

It's a relatively small island, John. It's about a third the size of Manhattan where you are. I think the Marine Force coming in with complete air superiority and sea control around it would be sufficient to seize and potentially hold the island. That puts at risk the entire Iranian economy. That's basically --

BERMAN: Um-hum.

STAVRIDIS: -- because they are really nothing more than a gas station. That puts them at big risk.

And then you turn to them and say, hmm, how would you like to open the Strait of Hormuz now? That's a pretty reasonable play.

So I think that's the key mission for those troops.

BERMAN: Um-hum.

STAVRIDIS: You could also see them around the Strait of Hormuz knocking down land facilities that threaten the strait. In an extremis, you could see them going after the uranium -- the enriched uranium. Boy, that's a tough mission. I'd bet on Kharg Island.

BERMAN: All right, Admiral James Stavridis. Thank you so much for helping us understand what these Marines could do when they get there as obviously, the battle and focus is on the Strait of Hormuz and reopening that key waterway. Appreciate it -- Kate.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Cuba plunged into darkness overnight. The island's electrical grid yesterday just collapsed. The island has been plagued by blackouts for a time, but this nationwide blackout comes after the Trump administration effectively cut off access to foreign oil.

President Trump also now floating the idea of turning his focus and taking over Cuba.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Taking Cuba in some form, yeah. Taking Cuba. I mean, whether I free it, take it. I think it could do anything I want with it if you want to know the truth. They're a very weakened nation right now. They were for a long time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: This energy crisis is also sparking protests in the streets of Cuba as it also is leading the -- leading to cutting back of school hours and even cutting back of hospital services available.

CNN's Patrick Oppmann is on the ground in Havannah for us.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Cuba is once again in an island- wide blackout, something that has happened frequently enough over the years but this time it feels different because it is the first time since an oil embargo put in place by the Trump administration has led or contributed to this kind of island-wide blackout affecting 10 million people at the moment.

The Cuban government says they are working to restore power. The question is, can they? Because according to their own admission, no oil has come in for three months now. We have seen longer and longer blackouts as this crisis has developed. You know, where I live sometimes it gets up to 20 hours in the last several days.

We have seen people going out at night to protest, banging pots and pans. In one small town in the east of Cuba, people actually attacked the Communist Party headquarters over the weekend. Tried to burn down the headquarters before police came in and firing shots in the air and broke up that protest.

But people are on edge here. People are wondering if the government can hold on. Certainly, the Trump administration has said they believe that the government here is in its final hours and that they should make a deal with the U.S. to allow some of that flow of oil. But the Trump administration is calling on the government here to make major concessions. No sign that would take place and whether or not they could do it in time.

[07:40:08]

Patrick Oppmann, CNN, Havana.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SIDNER: Our thanks to Patrick.

All right, a federal judge delivered a major blow to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s vaccine agenda. The judge temporarily blocking sweeping changes, including the department's effort to scale back the number of vaccines recommended for children.

Joining me now is CNN health reporter Jacqueline Howard. Jacqueline, what does this mean for parents and for the vaccine guidance that really shapes child -- a child's care?

JACQUELINE HOWARD, CNN HEALTH REPORTER: Sara -- well, what this means is nothing has changed quite yet. This temporary block means that the current vaccine recommendations and policies remain in place, but that's for now because the block is temporary.

So the backstory here is earlier this year when, as you mentioned, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and others within the Department of Health and Human Services took steps to completely overhaul the childhood vaccine schedule by reducing the number of vaccines recommended. When that happened several medical groups, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, sued the government, saying that these changes would cause harm.

As a result of this, just yesterday a U.S. district judge, Brian Murphy, said the CDC's decision to overhaul the childhood vaccine schedule actually did not go through the proper legal channels. So this change has been temporarily blocked.

Now in response to this ruling, here is what a spokesperson for HHS says. "HHS looks forward to this judge's decision being overturned just like his other attempts to keep the Trump administration from governing."

So, Sara, this means this legal battle continues.

What that statement is referring to is Judge Murphy is the same judge who also blocked the Trump administration's attempts to deport immigrants to countries that were not their nations of origin. So there is that history there between the judge and the current administration.

But again, we have to watch to see what will happen next.

SIDNER: Yes, certainly.

Has there been any response from the medical group that filed the lawsuit in the first place?

HOWARD: Yes. So the American Academy of Pediatrics actually called this ruling historic.

In a statement the organization says, "In the wake of today's decision, one thing remains clear: parents can continue to turn to the AAP's childhood vaccine recommendations and talk with their pediatrician about how to best protect their children's health."

So in the meantime, Sara, the American Academy of Pediatrics does have its own recommendations and vaccine schedule to follow.

And keep in mind AAP and other medical groups have worked closely in partnership with CDC. It seems like just recently under the current administration we're seeing this split between medical groups and federal health officials. And in their statement, the American Academy of Pediatrics actually called for HHS to continue that close relationship with them, so they really want their partnership with the administration to continue, Sara.

SIDNER: Jacqueline Howard, thank you. Important reporting this morning from you -- John.

BERMAN: All right, tragedy in Hawaii. A couple watches as their dream home is just swept away.

And where are the pancakes when you need them? A catastrophic syrup spill, seriously. It snarled the freeway for hours. We're talking syrup like -- there it is. It actually was like an inch thick in some places.

SIDNER: A sticky mess.

(COMMERCIAL) [07:48:00]

BOLDUAN: The partial government shutdown of DHS has led to brutal and growing wait times at airports and led to hundreds of TSA agents now quitting. That shutdown now enters its second month.

At the center of the political stalemate is the future and funding of ICE. And as with every shutdown, as we have seen of recent, Democrats and Republicans are currently and still blaming each other for not coming to the table to bring an end to this. And now Democrats, today, are pushing ahead with a new move to try to force a vote that could end the shutdown.

House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries is now telling fellow Democrats he's launching a discharge petition tomorrow. It would fund most of DHS, including TSA, while not approving new funding for ICE and Customs and Border Patrol.

This tactic has worked for Democrats recently -- a discharge petition -- like in successfully forcing the vote to release the Epstein files. But this move this time, like others, would require Democrats to win over a number of Republicans to get this to the floor.

Joining me right now is Republican Congressman Pete Sessions of Texas. Congressman, thanks for coming in.

Texas has seen some crazy wait times --

REP. PETE SESSIONS (R-TX) (via Webex by Cisco): Good morning.

BOLDUAN: -- at airports. In Austin -- though I know not in your district -- the security lines we've seen in video reached outside the terminal.

Facing that and the reality that TSA workers are quitting now, are you open to funding TSA, FEMA, CISA, and then debating funding for ICE afterward?

SESSIONS: I think we all recognize that there's a political difference here. Our friends that were Democrats years ago wanted to defund ICE. This is not a new issue. This is not a new issue because these same types of arrangements have happened for years. I am not open to that. We must understand that ICE has a role and a function.

[07:50:05]

And I think that the negotiation that took place several weeks ago about the changes that would be made should have been significant enough to get my fellow Democrats -- my friends -- back on with some bit of reliability.

They've also seen a change -- a change at the top. Kristi Noem came and testified. It was a hearing that really ended up, I think, showing the American people some of the frailties of the policies. I think those will be corrected. I think that effective with Sen. Markwayne Mullin, who will become the director, that there will be a different viewpoint perhaps as is seen by the American people in their hometown.

But no, I --

BOLDUAN: Why --

SESSIONS: -- believe we need ICE. We've got to have them. There has to be someone who will go and be on the front line to take criminals out of this country.

BOLDUAN: Why is buying more time to have that debate, at the same time getting people paid and back to work at America's airports, not an OK compromise though?

SESSIONS: Well, I voted yes. Generally speaking, you look at the people who vote yes and then question why people vote no. The people that vote no are those people that did not want the compromise.

I think that the fight should now take place over who is going to be the secretary, and that will be Markwayne Mullin. And he is a United States senator who knows each of these people. He will speak with clarity about the issues.

I spoke with Mr. Markwayne Mullin yesterday about my ideas about the job and performance that he will be doing. He was very open to hearing from me. I think I made sense to him.

I want to be able to explain to my constituents what ICE has as not just a policy but how they're going to play these things out, and I want to know where they're going to go and what order they're going to do them in.

So I think that that's really the crux of the matter. This is simply a political battle that should be one that would be done professionally and in -- and looking at the secretary. I think the president made the change. That should be the opening that would be necessary politically for the Democrats to seize upon. OK, now let's renegotiate. And I think that's what needs to take place; not holding up federal workers.

BOLDUAN: It sounds like we are nowhere near breaking the stalemate, is what I take from this.

Let me talk to you -- let me ask you about Iran. The president is moving about 2,500 Marines to the region.

Are you OK with putting those troops on the ground?

SESSIONS: I actually spoke to some media last night and I indicated that I believe that what these 2,500 Marines of the Marine Expeditionary Force would be, would be to probably secure the island. The island is not, in my opinion, boots on the ground in combat (INAUDIBLE). It's to --

BOLDUAN: How so? It is a territory. It is Iran.

SESSIONS: -- secure a facility.

Well, I'm not going to argue that point. Matter of fact, you're right.

But what I would say is the president has chosen not to obliterate the ability that -- to get oil. And I think he wants to go secure that to make sure the Iranians don't do them self in.

So I think it's probably wisdom. Is that boots on the ground? No, not like inside Iran where they're in the cities where we go through circumstances that we've had in the past of large areas of population, combatants against us, and it is a mess.

I am against the -- what I call the mess -- moving people -- Marines, snipers -- into population areas. But I do think that this would be wise to secure that island and (INAUDIBLE).

BOLDUAN: But -- OK, but it is boots on the ground; it's just not a large number of boots on the ground that you would oppose.

SESSIONS: No. I really want to make this point. When we think boots on the ground we think going back to Somalia. We think going back to Iraq. We think about going to Afghanistan. That is not what we are talking about, or at least I am. I'm talking about to secure this facility -- the oil facilities, which are in everyone's best interest.

BOLDUAN: OK, so now I will continue to seek what the definition of boots on the ground is going forward because you know that others -- when they are sending their loved ones overseas, they will think there are boots on the ground, Congressman.

SESSIONS: Well, I think that you're entitled to your opinion, but my point is I don't think they're facing enemy combatants when they secure oil facilities.

[07:55:00]

BOLDUAN: OK.

Congressman Pete Sessions, thank you for coming in -- John.

BERMAN: All right, a Utah mother is facing a possible life sentence without parole after a jury found her guilty of murdering her husband with fentanyl. Prosecutors say Kouri Richins killed her husband Eric in 2022 for financial gain and because she was unhappy in her marriage. Her sentencing is scheduled for May 13.

So a sticky situation on a freeway east of Los Angeles and I'm going to allow, like, the usage of that word there. A truck hauling maple syrup overturned causing major traffic problems. You can see the syrup just pouring out of the back of the truck.

Police estimated at one point about an inch of syrup coated the roadway and crews had to hose the area down with water for about eight hours. They should have used pancakes. I mean, everyone knows water doesn't work on syrup. You need the pancakes.

All right, a couple in Maui watched as rising floodwaters destroyed their home. The weather has just been brutal out there. The stream behind their house -- this was a stream -- it grew and grew and grew. And you can see ultimately it just swept the house -- the whole structure away.

Now this family did not have flood insurance. They never thought the water would reach them. Now they say they're sleeping in a storage container -- Sara.

SIDNER: Wow. That is terrifying. All right, thank you so much, John.

Well look, we're going to talk more about this chaotic weather. It is making its final push after bringing severe thunderstorms, tornadoes, and a blizzard. And you saw the flooding there -- the flash flooding there in Hawaii.

Video from Kentucky now showing a trail of damage. The storm prompted a rare snow day in Alabama. This morning people across the Deep South are waking to a deep freeze.

CNN meteorologist Derek Van Dam joining us now. It is all a crazy mess. Those are crazy pictures from Huntsville, Alabama in mid-March.

DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Hey, we had that snow squall come through Atlanta as well. It got into my backyard. It was something else.

And you know what? People are taking this into their own hands trying to protect their early-season plantings. I drove into work this morning and saw a peach tree covered with a little warming globe underneath it. So really, people trying to combat the early season blossoms that have already come out across the Deep South.

We've got over 11 states right now under some winter -- cold alert, I should say. And it's not just the Deep South. I mean, places across New England are waking up to a temperature that is 42 degrees cooler than it was yesterday at this time.

So this is a big wake-up call. As you step out, dress accordingly. This type of temperature -- well, especially in the south, means business. We're talking about below freezing wind chill values are far south as the Florida Panhandle.

This is the storm system responsible for the cold weather. It's also responsible for the march of our severe storms that raced through the eastern half of the country yesterday. We say goodbye and good riddance but, of course, it had its last laugh because it helped knock out over half a million people's power last night and it continues this morning.

These are the temperatures for today and I want to just show you this. The actual temperature in Atlanta is 48. But there is some light at the end of the tunnel. I'm taking you forward to Saturday to save time. There is a big warmup in store for the eastern half of the country.

So what's causing all this chaotic weather? Well, we've got a very amplified jet stream over the country and so we've got these dips of cold air in the east and the rise in the temperatures in the west.

In fact, as meteorologists, we're having a difficult time coming up with a superlative to describe the amount of heat that is incoming across the west. Over 350 record highs possible for places like Phoenix that haven't reached 106 since 1947. That's their earliest 106 degrees. It could happen.

SIDNER: I've got a couple of superlatives, like you had one -- broken or rude. Either way --

VAN DAM: Record or rude.

SIDNER: -- the extremeness is -- yes.

Thank you so much. Appreciate it, Derek -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: The Wall Street Journal is out with a big new report on OpenAI's push into what it calls adult mode. The CEO, Sam Altman, wants ChatGPT to allow -- to allow sexual content on the platform, saying that it's time to treat adults like adults. But some of his own advisers are apparently very much against this and the Journal reporting they are warning of an "unhealthy dependence" and even calling the bot a potential "sexy suicide coach."

CNN's Clare Duffy has much more on this. What are you learning about this?

CLARE DUFFY, CNN TECH REPORTER: Yeah. So let's talk about where this all comes from.

BOLDUAN: Yeah.

DUFFY: OpenAI CEO Sam Altman announced this mode -- this adult mode in a tweet in October and he was talking about the company's efforts to balance keeping ChatGPT entertaining and humanlike while protecting users' mental health --

BOLDUAN: Um-hum.

DUFFY: -- and especially protecting young users.

In that post he said, "In December, as we roll out age gating more fully as part of our treat adults like adults principle, we will allow even more like erotica for verified adults."

Now, that post prompted backlash from employees internally.

And now we're learning from this Wall Street Journal report that OpenAI's own Council on Well-Being, which includes experts in psychology and neuroscience -- they raised concerns about this in a meeting with the company in January.

And this is not totally surprising, right? We've seen a number of concerns about users becoming more dependent on chatbots.