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Shutdown Negotiations Continue; Trump Looking For Off-Ramp in Iran War?; Social Media Addiction Trial. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired March 25, 2026 - 13:00   ET

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

[13:00:00]

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BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Twenty-six days into this war, and the White House appears to be looking for a way out, officials telling CNN that a meeting is in the works to discuss an off-ramp. The White House briefing is about to begin.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Plus, with no breakthroughs in Washington, TSA workers are near the breaking point. We have the latest on the funding fight and the search for a deal on Capitol Hill that would end this partial government shutdown.

And in a landmark case, a major legal blow for Meta, a judge ordering the tech giant to pay up for misleading users about the safety of its platforms for kids.

We're following these major developing stories and many more all coming in right here to CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

KEILAR: We do begin with breaking news on the war with Iran. Any moment, the White House briefing will begin, as CNN is learning the administration is trying to put together a meeting to talk about an off-ramp to the war.

Two senior administration officials telling CNN the plan is to send the vice president, J.D. Vance, to Pakistan for talks as soon as this weekend. And just in, an Iranian official has outlined five conditions for ending the war in response to that 15-point proposal from the U.S.

CNN senior White House correspondent Kristen Holmes is standing by. She is inside the Briefing Room. And we understand the briefing is a little bit delayed there.

Kristen, what's new?

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, this is the first time we're going to hear from Karoline Leavitt in roughly two weeks.

And, as you noted, it comes at a time where the White House appears to be looking for an off-ramp. We saw President Trump delay that ultimatum that he originally posed on actually striking these civilian power sites by five days, saying that these ongoing negotiations were happening.

And what we're told behind the scenes is that this is very fluid, that there was an invitation by Pakistan to host both U.S. officials and Iranian officials to have a conversation, to have these negotiations. They are working on that plan. That would include Vice President J.D. Vance, but everything right now still fluid among security concerns, on other reasons as well.

One of those other reasons, likely being the fact, as you just mentioned, that Iran has respectively downplayed or turned down that 15-point negotiation starting point and returned with their own five- point plan.

Now, we have a lot of questions for the press secretary today, particularly, who exactly is the United States negotiating with? What are the starting points for this negotiation? Why is J.D. Vance getting involved now? He has not been an active participant in this.

Now, we do assume that other officials like Steve Witkoff, the secretary of state, Marco Rubio, Jared Kushner could all be part of any kind of in-person meeting, but we still don't have effectively what exactly they're going into this meeting to hammer out, particularly if Iran is saying they have five completely separate points that they want to talk about.

But, also, who are they talking to? What has led them to trust this person? And can this person actually have any power in Iran, given what we know is a very fractured environment there?

KEILAR: All good questions. Kristen Holmes, thank you.

We will await that briefing -- Boris.

SANCHEZ: Two Israeli sources tell CNN that Israel is concerned about the U.S. potentially declaring a one-month cease-fire to allow for negotiations with Iran.

Let's take you live to Tel Aviv with CNN chief national security analyst Jim Sciutto, who's there for us.

Jim, Iran has now put out through state media five conditions for ending the war. One demand is a complete halt to what it calls aggression and assassinations. A second is that Israel stop attacking Hezbollah forces in Southern Lebanon. But on top of that, they're also asking for reparations for some of the war damages.

What are you hearing?

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, let's walk through all five of them right now.

So, as you say, one is a complete halt to aggression and assassinations, a second, an establishment of mechanisms to ensure that the war does not continue, Iran seeing to protect itself from another round of attacks down the line, guaranteed payment of war damages and reparations. [13:05:07]

This has been a consistent demand from the Iranian leadership. And then two in particular stand out to me regarding how the U.S. and Israel might respond to these, the first, as you mentioned, the condition that the war ends on all fronts from all parties, so, in other words, not just U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran, but Israeli attacks ongoing in Hezbollah, in Lebanon and elsewhere.

And then, finally, a guarantee that Iran can exercise sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz. So, that last one, I am certain that U.S. officials would not be willing to sign on to something along those lines, because, of course, the president himself has claimed sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz, or at least the willingness to open it to allow that oil to flow through.

As to Israel's response to that previous condition that it stop all fighting on all fronts, I mean, from the beginning of this latest talk of peace negotiations initiated by President Trump, the response from Israeli officials have been has been quite skeptical, I mean, right up to the Israeli defense minister, Israel Katz, saying yesterday that Israel's attacks on Iran will continue -- quote -- "with full force."

And we have seen that. And, by the way, we have seen Iranian attacks continue as well. We have been in the shelter here at least three times today as some of those Iranian missiles have managed to get through Israeli defenses.

So, from the Israeli perspective, you have heard from the beginning skepticism and also a little bit of worry that perhaps the U.S. defines victory on its own terms, which are not terms shared with Israel. It's a genuine concern. And -- on the -- at the same time, they will, of course, say that it's up to President Trump to decide how far this war goes, but does not mean, to your point, Boris, that Israel does not have its own concerns.

SANCHEZ: Jim Sciutto, thank you so much for that reporting from Tel Aviv.

After the break: TSA workers and passengers on the brink. We will take you live to Houston's George Bush Intercontinental Airport, where travelers have been facing hours-long waits through security four days. Ed Lavandera is there live next.

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KEILAR: Happening now: Pressure is building on Congress and the White House to strike a deal to fund the Department of Homeland Security.

TSA agents have now been working for weeks without pay. And that has caused hundreds of employees to quit. It has caused thousands of TSA employees to call out of work. And that's why we're seeing these long lines. Right now, Republican senators are pushing a bipartisan bill that

would fund all of DHS except for parts of ICE. And if that passes, Republicans would then attempt to muscle through ICE funding and new voter I.D. policies through what is called budget reconciliation.

And that is just a very weedsy way of saying that's how they could do it without requiring any votes from Democratic lawmakers. But Democrats aren't on board with this plan because it doesn't include ICE reforms, all of the ones they want, and President Trump has thrown cold water on his party's idea as well.

Trump is demanding Republicans pass his voter I.D. bill as part of the negotiations to fund DHS, Boris.

SANCHEZ: In short, it doesn't seem like a solution is imminent. And that means way more headaches for travelers.

Right now, passengers are experiencing some of the longest TSA wait times at Houston's George Bush Intercontinental Airport.

That's where we find CNN's Ed Lavandera, who's there for yet another day, watching these passengers endure hours and hours and hours in line.

How does it look today, Ed?

ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Boris, we're in a pretty bad place when I come on and tell you that the good news is that the wait times are about an hour-and-a-half for many passengers.

I mean, that's compared to what we have seen in the last few days, where people have been waiting four or five hours at a time to get through the security checkpoint. But that's happening because Wednesday is one of the lowest travel passenger days at this airport.

So the volume of people just isn't the same. We are close to the end here of the TSA security line. From about this point, people have about 45 minutes to come. But we have been talking about how the security line has actually stretched this entire -- filled up this entire lobby of the top part of terminal E.

It has actually gone down an escalator to the floor below. Look at what it looks like today. Over the last few days, these lines have been filled. This is all makeshift lines to get through this crush of TSA stress at the moment. And then there's another floor below that.

But, today, because it's a low volume travel day, that has not been necessary. Now, here's the bad news. Officials here at the airport in Houston tell us that they expect on Thursday and Friday for those long, brutal lines to come back because these become higher volume travel days.

There are a number of sporting events and other conferences happening here in Houston that is also going to be adding to the passenger load here. So, all of this comes as -- even though today looks pretty good, the next few days is not going to be good.

We continue to see a number of federal agents, ICE agents out here as well. What's interesting is, people -- a lot of people have been asking, what exactly are they doing? They're not really able to help in opening up more lines because those have to be manned by the trained TSA officers.

And President Trump has said just a short while ago that the reason these federal agents are out here is to go rehab a fake image. So we have seen ICE agents standing outside these areas handing out water to people, really kind of staying on the fringes, asking questions and guiding people to where they need to be to get into the line, but a stunning admission from the president about why federal ICE agents are out here at these airports right now -- Boris.

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SANCHEZ: Yes, not a good look to have an hour-and-a-half wait in a TSA line be welcomed as relief.

Ed Lavandera, live for us in Houston, thank you so much.

Breaking news. After days of deliberations, we're hearing a jury has reached a verdict in a major social media trial accusing Meta and YouTube of using practices designed to be addictive for children.

Stay with CNN. The details in just moments.

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SANCHEZ: Breaking news to CNN.

A verdict has been reached in a major civil trial that accuses social media giants Meta and YouTube of using products designed to be addictive to children.

KEILAR: CNN's Clare Duffy is with us now.

This is huge, Clare. What are we learning?

CLARE DUFFY, CNN BUSINESS REPORTER: Well, Boris, Brianna, I am hearing that the verdict form was just handed to the judge, so any second now, we should find out what this decision is, this coming on the ninth day of jury deliberations after a seven-week landmark trial.

As you said, this case accuses Meta and YouTube of intentionally designing features to be addictive to young people and harming the mental health of a young woman, Kaley, who filed this lawsuit. I'm told she is in the courtroom to hear this decision, along with parents of other children who they say were harmed by social media, which gives you a sense of the importance and the significance of this decision.

So many parents, not just Kaley and her mom, who filed this suit, but so many parents who for years have raised concerns about safety issues on social media are watching this very closely. This has been a sort of drawn-out deliberation process.And we have gotten a few clues from the jury along the way.

Several days ago, they submitted a question asking for instructions on how to fill out the damages form, suggesting that maybe at least as to one of those defendants they had made a decision finding one of those companies liable. But then just a few days ago, they said they were having trouble coming to an agreement with regards to one of the defendants.

So, unclear where this is going to land here, but just a really significant moment in the first of what is hundreds of these very similar cases that is set to go to trial here, Boris, Brianna. So I will come back to you hopefully in a few minutes with a decision.

SANCHEZ: And, Clare Duffy, please keep us posted.

Let's bring in technology journalist Jacob Ward. He hosts "The Rip Current" podcast.

Jacob, this has the potential to reshape the way that these companies operate. Help us understand how.

JACOB WARD, FOUNDER, "THE RIP CURRENT": Well, Boris, it not only would reshape how they operate. I mean, I don't think it's too much to say this could really reshape childhood in the modern era.

This is an era in which the idea has been legally that these companies are not responsible for what people post on there. And there's even First Amendment protections as to the way that their algorithm curates content. But what this case would establish is that the product is defective.

If they find for the plaintiff, then they're going to be basically saying the like buttons, the ways in which we interact with this stuff, the way the whole platform is designed, is in fact a defective and harmful product. And that would be an entirely new idea. It would create this concept that it's really impinging on people's autonomy, on their ability to make good choices for themselves.

Boris, in the United States, we're really good at punishing murder and theft, but psychological and behavioral harms, this is a whole new kind of category that we really touch very rarely in the courts.

And social media -- really, this trial could turn what has been this kind of feeling among parents that something is wrong here and something needs to change into something that could actually be a legal theory and create a sword that will then be wielded by, as your colleague mentioned there, lots and lots of other cases, a huge pipeline of liability coming at social media from here.

KEILAR: Yes, Jacob, and as we are waiting for this verdict, we want to see exactly what it is here, you touched on something, which is there's a feeling among parents. You said this could reshape childhood. I think there's really a feeling, right, that it needs to be reshaped.

And there's been an acknowledgement, I think, broadly here in Washington among members of Congress, among policymakers that things need to be reshaped. And yet they have struggled so much with how to address this and stay in line with issues of freedom of speech.

They have really struggled to navigate that. So how do you see this fitting into that struggle?

WARD: Well, it's such a complicated thing, Brianna, right, because you're talking here about a fundamental First Amendment issue, which is that we want kids, in theory, to be able to find people who share their interests out in the world.

You have heard over the course of the years members of the LGBTQ community or anybody who's in any sort of underserved community looking for comfort and company, community, right, finds it on social media. And so I think politicians have been very loath to try to tamp down on that.

But, like you say, Brianna, there's really a growing feeling that something has to change. And that's in part why, on March 5, the Senate unanimously passed an update to the Child Online Protection Act that would basically raise the protection age from 13, what it is right now, up to 16.

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That's really a sign -- a unanimous vote in the Senate is a sign that people are really starting to feel something here, that there's a groundswell of cultural and political will to get a change done here. But will this court case go one way or the other? Of course, we don't know.

And whether this case goes forward or not, this is truly an existential threat to the way that social media companies have worked. And so, if the plaintiff does win in this case, you can bet that Meta and YouTube, if either of them are found -- if it's found -- decided against them in these cases, they are going to fight tooth and nail.

This is an existential threat to their business model. And, of course, they're going to appeal and appeal and appeal, you guys.

SANCHEZ: Let's bring in former state attorney Dave Aronberg.

Dave, what implications do you see this case potentially having and what would an appeal from Meta look like or YouTube?

DAVE ARONBERG, FORMER PALM BEACH COUNTY, FLORIDA, STATE ATTORNEY: Boris, this is a bellwether trial. And the outcome here is going to have huge ramifications.

If Facebook is found to be liable here, then you can expect there's going to be a lot more lawsuits that are waiting in the wings. And, apparently, there's like 10,000 more lawsuits that have been bundled in multidistrict litigation across the country by parents, school districts, attorneys general.

And so this means a lot. And the appeal, if they lose, if Google and Meta lose, they're going to harp on causation. They're going to say that no reasonable jury could find that it was a social media platforms that led to this plaintiff's issues. Mental health is so complex as it is. How can you say it's our platforms that cause great distress, body dysmorphia and other things?

So that's what I see coming down the pike.

KEILAR: You know, I wonder, the argument here from the defendants was that there were other issues in the home life of this plaintiff that contributed to the difficulties that she had and that social media created for her.

ARONBERG: Right.

KEILAR: I'm kind of paraphrasing there. But, basically, they were saying, listen, we're not the culprits and this isn't a vacuum, and you can't blame us entirely.

I wonder how convincing you think that argument was here.

ARONBERG: Well, it's a good argument by the defense. There were very aggressive, Brianna, on this. They said that the plaintiff's trauma was really because of familial strife. It's offline bullying. It's hard to put the blame on us when you have all these other issues going on in your personal life.

And it's up to the jury to make that decision, whether it was Facebook and Google that had the proximate cause here of the plaintiff's depression, her body dysmorphia, and the self-harm that she experienced. Or is it just a correlative factor in a larger picture here?

SANCHEZ: We should point out, and it was alluded to a moment ago, there are separate cases that are sort of being decided simultaneously.

Just yesterday in New Mexico, a jury found that Meta was harming children because of its platform, and they penalized the company $375 million. If they wind up being liable today, do you have any idea what kind of penalty they might face, what they might be liable for?

ARONBERG: It's hard to say.

I do think it'll be massive, because, if a jury finds that they caused this young woman's self-harm -- and I think there's not a lot of sympathy for these deep pockets who have made so much money on the backs of young people. If this sounds like the tobacco litigation, it's because it is.

The plaintiffs based their legal theory on the successful litigation against the tobacco companies in the 1990s, and you saw what happened to them. So I do think they get hit with a massive penalty. In New Mexico, these damages were capped at $375 million, and that's the maximum penalty because the lawsuit was brought by the attorney general there.

So this one could go way higher than that.

KEILAR: All right, Dave, if you can sit with us for a second, we are awaiting this verdict in this very important, landmark social media addiction trial. A verdict has been reached. We are waiting to hear what it is.

We will get in a quick break. We will be right back, hopefully with that news for you.

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