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U.S.-Israel War with Iran; High Oil Prices Could Stick through 2027; Iran War Aligns with Trump's "America First" Agenda; Israel Strikes Hezbollah Targets in Beirut; Gas Prices Climb with Hormuz Turmoil; TSA Staffing Shortages Delay Passengers at U.S. Airports; U.S. Extreme Heat. Aired 4-5a ET

Aired March 21, 2026 - 04:00   ET

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

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KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Hello and welcome to all of you watching us here in the United States, Canada and around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber in Atlanta.

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN HOST (voice-over): I'm Becky Anderson, live from our Middle East headquarters here in Abu Dhabi in the UAE.

And we begin with U.S. president Trump, who says he is considering "winding down," and I quote him there, military efforts in the Middle East.

Tehran doesn't believe his claim. A senior Iranian source says America's military posture in the region hasn't changed significantly. In fact, U.S. officials themselves say thousands more Marines and sailors are now being sent to the Middle East.

Earlier on Friday, Trump also reiterated that the U.S. has won the war and downplayed any efforts for a ceasefire

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DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: Well, look. We can have dialogue but we don't -- I want to do a ceasefire. You don't do a ceasefire when you're literally obliterating the other side.

They don't have a navy. They don't have an air force. They don't have any equipment to -- they don't have any spotters. They don't have anti- aircraft. They don't have radar and their leaders have all been killed at every level. We're not looking to do that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Well, president Trump also bashing NATO allies as, quote, "cowards" for not doing more to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz. NATO says it is discussing options on how to open that channel.

Meanwhile, Iran continues to target U.S. military bases. A U.S. official says two intermediate range ballistic missiles missed a joint British-U.S. military base in the Indian Ocean.

Also on Friday, Iranian state TV read a statement attributed to the new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei. There was no audio or video of him and he has not been seen publicly since he was appointed and reportedly injured nearly two weeks ago. Well, let's start this hour with Paula Hancocks joining me now from Abu Dhabi.

And that is a worrying development, Iran launching into intermediate range ballistic missiles at the Diego Garcia base, which is, of course, a joint U.S.-U.K. military base. That's according to U.S. officials. That's some 2,500 miles from Iran's coast.

What's been the scope of continued attacks on the Gulf region overnight, Paula?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Becky, it certainly shows an expansion in Tehran's mind of where it can target. And it has been targeting Gulf nations overnight as well.

We know there's been interceptions in Saudi Arabia, in Kuwait, here in the UAE. We also have heard in Israel that first responders are on their way to reported points of impact in central Israel after a barrage was fired in that direction as well. So no letup in Iran's response.

If anything, the fact it is expanding its scope, expanding its distance of what it considers to be a legitimate target, really goes against what we're hearing from the U.S. president, saying that, at this point, he believes the U.S. has won.

He is looking at potentially winding down the war with Iran, something which an Iranian senior Iranian official told CNN they simply don't believe because the military posture does not reflect what the U.S. president is saying.

And a quick look at that military posture. We are also seeing that there is a continuation of the military buildup. We know there's a Marine Expeditionary Unit, which comprises something like 2,200 Marines and other personnel, on its way to this region alongside the or with the USS Tripoli.

We understand also a second MEU -- Marine Expeditionary Unit -- has been rerouted and its deployment has been accelerated.

Now that, of course, will be weeks out from arriving in the region. But we're seeing this continuation of buildup at the same time. We also saw a interesting move from the United States. They have removed sanctions on U.S. oil about 140 million barrels of Iranian oil.

[04:05:04]

That is on ships at this point, an effort to try and cool the increasing oil price. Certainly, we have been hearing many critics saying the optics of this do not sit well, considering the U.S. is at war with Iran and now this is potentially giving a financial windfall to Iran. Now there was a CNN town hall with the U.S. ambassador to the United

Nations, Mike Waltz. He was asked about this. Let's listen to his response.

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MIKE WALTZ, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO THE UNITED NATIONS: The measure is targeted toward oil that's already out there on ships, already out there in storage and to the previous question is very temporary.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANCOCKS: Now there have been Iranian -- U.S. sanctions on Iranian oil on and off for decades. So this quite a surprising and significant move by the Trump administration, Becky.

ANDERSON: Good to have you. Paula, thank you very much indeed.

All right. Well, joining me now from Rehovot in Israel is Danny Citrinowicz, a senior researcher in the Iran and the Shi'ite Axis Program at the Institute for National Security Studies. Danny is also a former head of the Iranian branch in the Israeli defense intelligence.

I just want to get, given your background, what your understanding or assessment is of what Israel's current thinking is at present.

DANNY CITRINOWICZ, SENIOR RESEARCHER, IRAN AND THE SHI'ITE AXIS PROGRAM, INSTITUTE FOR NATIONAL SECURITY STUDIES: Well, Israel is highly dependent on what president Trump will do for Israel.

We need to continue this campaign to destroy the Iranian capabilities that pose a threat to the state of Israel. But all comes down to the White House. If Trump will decide to stop, we will stop. We won't continue after. It will stop and it will continue.

Of course, we'll support any actions taken by the U.S. government, the administration. So I think in that regard, in Israel, we just want to exploit the time that the campaign continues to demolish everything that we can in Iran.

Definitely their strategic abilities, the missiles, maybe the nuclear but also the civilian ones. Something that I'm not sure that the administration would like us to do.

ANDERSON: You write that there, while there have undoubtedly been operational achievements, the broader strategic reality vis-a-vis Iran is far from improved, you say, and may in fact be worse than it was before the conflict.

Can you expand on your thoughts on that?

CITRINOWICZ: Yes, definitely. It's not that we don't have operational achievements. President Trump mentioned them. And, of course, the cooperation between the IDF and CENTCOM (ph) is almost flawless. But strategically, this campaign wasn't prepared right. You know, when

Iran survived the first wave of attacks, the decapitation of Khamenei, actually from their own, there was no strategic offramp to this campaign.

So Iran actually uses -- utilized whatever, what we're saying in terms of the asymmetric warfare, from the missiles and drone and closing of the Hormuz Strait. Now where we stand right now is the fact that we have a weaker Iran.

But Iran that want to avenge the death of Khamenei and, even more than that, Iran that I think will consider to cross the threshold regarding the nuclear capabilities. And while it has a (INAUDIBLE) 50 percent that I'm not sure we can take it out kinetically.

Then they have the ability to actually build this war -- so build, sorry, this weapon. So if the war will end today, yes, Iran is growing weaker. But it will rebuild its conventional capabilities.

And we have a new regime more to the extreme, that will utilize everything that's happening now demonstrates for the foreseeable future. And considering building a nuclear bomb. So I'm not sure it's a strategic winning. Unfortunately, I think despite all the operational achievements, strategically, I think that we actually losing.

ANDERSON: President Trump is has certainly proposed declaring victory at this point. But that would need to be followed, of course, by negotiations. I mean, it can't just be a retreat and that's it.

What are the prospects for negotiating with Iran's current regime?

And how supportive would Israel -- very specifically, Benjamin Netanyahu -- be for that?

CITRINOWICZ: Israel will be against any negotiation with Iran. Of course, Mr. Netanyahu cannot do anything because he cannot go against president Trump, definitely not publicly. So we can be objective of that. But that's it.

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We find it very hard to negotiate with the current leadership with Iran. (INAUDIBLE) used to be a senior commander in the agency (ph). So I think the negotiation now would be harder.

And I think that Trump would have to decide if he want to leave now, wanted to leave without negotiating, just abandoning (ph) everything and just go away or agree to the Iranian demands, to maybe demands that they have.

One, getting some sort of collaterals that nobody will attack Iran in the future and compensation for Iran damages that it suffered during the war. So I think that we have a problem now.

ANDERSON: Danny, very briefly, how is this war going down at home in Israel for a prime minister who faces elections this year?

CITRINOWICZ: Well, no change, despite, you know, Netanyahu want to build on his achievement and operational achievements. But I think in Israel, if you support Netanyahu, you support this war. If you're against Netanyahu, you'll ask questions about the effectivity of this war.

ANDERSON: Always good to have you, Danny. It's a pleasure. Thank you very much indeed.

And we will have a lot more from the Middle East coming up. But for now, let's get you back to Kim in Atlanta.

BRUNHUBER: I appreciate that, Becky.

In Washington and beyond, Republican support for president Trump's war on Iran is strong. But as costs pile up and gas prices soar, some cracks are starting to show. We'll take a look at the politics of the war ahead here on CNN NEWSROOM.

Plus a new warning that high oil and gas prices could be here to stay so long as the war with Iran continues with no end in sight. Those stories and more coming up. Stay with us.

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BRUNHUBER: Analysts are warning that oil and gas prices could hit new highs the longer the war with Iran blocks the Strait of Hormuz.

Goldman Sachs says the price for a barrel of Brent crude could be in the triple digits for years if supply disruptions stretch on. Brent crude topped more than $110 per barrel on Friday amid fresh attacks on energy infrastructure in the Gulf region.

The supply disruptions are causing gas prices to skyrocket here in the U.S. since the start of the war. The AAA auto association says the current U.S. average is about $3.92 per gallon. That's the highest average price since October of 2022. CNN's Anna Cooban has more.

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ANNA COOBAN, CNN BUSINESS AND ECONOMICS CORRESPONDENT: Oil prices dipped on Friday but they are still well above where they were before the war broke out.

Now Goldman Sachs is saying that we may have to buckle up for high prices all the way through 2027. There was one piece of potential good news for energy markets today. Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that his country would abide by Donald Trump's call to not carry out further attacks on key Iranian energy sites. But a lot of the damage has already been done. Israel struck Iran's

South Pars gas field on Wednesday. South Pars holds the world's largest reserves of natural gas and is critical for meeting Iran's domestic energy needs.

That provoked Iran to retaliate by striking Qatar's Ras Laffan liquefied natural gas facility, the largest in the world. QatarEnergy, which operates Ras Laffan, said that the attack had reduced the country's export capacity of LNG by 17 percent and that it could take up to five years to repair.

Adding to the concerns were comments from a senior Iranian security source to CNN on Thursday, who said that the Strait of Hormuz, through which 20 percent of the global oil supply usually exits, will, quote, "not return to pre-war conditions."

The strait has been effectively blocked for three weeks to the vast majority of vessels. If supply disruptions become prolonged, Goldman Sachs has warned that the price of Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, could top its all-time high set in 2008 of around $147 a barrel.

Now the International Energy Agency has called the crisis, quote, "the largest supply disruption in the history of the global oil market." More than a week ago IEA member countries said they would tap reserves and release 400 million barrels of crude.

But the IEA said on Friday that supply side measures can only do so much. The agency suggested measures that governments, businesses and citizens can take, including working from home and lowering speed limits by 10 kilometers an hour.

Fundamentally, however, what needs to happen to bring down prices truly is a reopening of the Strait of Hormuz -- Anna Cooban, CNN, London

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BRUNHUBER: All those rising gas prices and soaring costs are starting to cause cracks in Republican support for president Trump's war with Iran. New Reuters-Ipsos polling shows that while a vast majority of Republicans approve of the U.S. strikes on Iran, one in five disapprove.

And congressional lawmakers are showing a clear reticence to rubber stamp the president's expected request for some $200 billion to fund the war effort. Several Republicans tell CNN they need to see far more detailed plans from the White House before they can even begin to consider that kind of allocation.

Three weeks into the conflict, with no clear strategy to end the fighting, some Trump supporters worry the U.S. Is being dragged into an endless war. Now in a CNN town hall Friday, U.S. ambassador to the U.N. Michael Waltz called it a special kind of "ultimate forever war" that puts America First. Here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE WALTZ, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO THE UNITED NATIONS: One of the things that we should be very clear on is how consistent President Trump has been in terms of Iran never having a nuclear weapon.

I can tell you, having been in the Oval Office with him, he always seeks to give diplomacy a chance. He is a president of peace. He is seeking to end wars all over the world. In this case, this is the ultimate for endless war, in the sense that it's been going on for 47 years.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: Joining me now is Natasha Lindstaedt, professor of government at the University of Essex.

Thanks so much for being here with us again. Really appreciate it.

[04:20:00]

So we heard there when Mike Waltz calls this a war to end war, is he actually making a strategic case here?

Or is he just trying to keep the America First crowd from jumping ship?

NATASHA LINDSTAEDT, UNIVERSITY OF ESSEX: Well, he's trying to speak to Trump's base. And Trump has surprisingly been able to maintain his base even as he campaigned on no more wars. He was incredibly critical of the Iraq war and what a debacle that was in his mind.

And now, instead of being really an isolationist president, he's really been more imperialistic. And many of his supporters are going along with it.

I mean, we've seen poll after poll show that, while a majority of Americans don't support this war -- and, in fact, it's very unpopular -- you have somewhere around 80 percent support coming from Republicans, particularly MAGA Republicans, that believe that this is just something that needs to get done.

And so they're able to make the case that Iran posed a huge threat or some kind of imminent threat to the U.S. And he's not really hemorrhaging support, as you might think, at least amongst Republican voters.

Now that might change if gas prices continue to go up. It might change if there are more American lives that are lost or if he actually does decide to put boots on the ground. But for the moment, they're able to sell that, at least to the base.

BRUNHUBER: Yes.

So if that support does start to dip, do you think that it would be because of those strategic reasons you talked about, those geopolitical reasons? Or do you think it will basically just be down to pocketbook issues,

the high price of gas?

LINDSTAEDT: I mean, it's definitely about the price of gas. This is a much more important issue to Americans than foreign policy issues. We see this time and time again. It's about how it affects their pocketbooks, as you said.

And with gas prices going up, at least $1 a barrel, a 27 percent increase, maybe even moving toward $5 a barrel at some point, this is really going to hit Americans and particularly will, you know, hit Americans that have lower levels of income.

I mean, we see from 2022, when gas prices were really, really high because of the war in Ukraine, at least at that point, the job market was better. And there was a little bit more negotiation than Americans could have.

But in this case, we're seeing a really difficult job market and problems with inflation, problems with cost of living. And that was the one thing that Trump said he was going to fix on day one. And instead of Americans seeing prices go down, everything is going up. And this has actually only exacerbated the situation.

BRUNHUBER: Yes. So all of this making some Republicans in Congress nervous, Republican leaders telling CNN they don't even have the votes in their own party for the Pentagon's $200 billion funding request.

I mentioned earlier, at least without getting a more detailed plan, how much trouble is the president in with Congress on this, do you think?

LINDSTAEDT: So it's going to be really difficult to get this through in the House where there's already really a slim Republican margin. And those races in the midterms are really tight for some Republicans, where their constituents are not in favor of this conflict. They're not in favor of all the price increases that they're seeing.

And so for those Republicans -- and we're already seeing the likes of like Lauren Boebert, for example, from Colorado, saying she's not going to be able to support this. There's absolutely no way.

The other issue is, for some, this is a sign that this war isn't going to end soon. I mean, that's actually some of the things that Republicans are questioning, that they're in favor of this but they don't want this to go on too long.

And that if it does, that's going to be a problem. And so by asking for this much more money, Trump is really signaling that this could go on a long time, even though he recently said that maybe he's scaling back his ambitions, not in favor of regime change anymore.

And that it's going to be more about really annihilating the nuclear threat coming from Iran. But I could see much more pressure coming from the House to get this through, more difficult to get this passed. BRUNHUBER: Yes. You mentioned the midterms. I'm curious. I mean,

according to our reporting, Trump administration officials are admitting the higher prices triggered by the war could linger for months.

We're eight months out now from the midterms. Obviously, a lot can change in that time. I mean, the war could be over; gas prices, I guess could come back down, although, as I reported earlier, you know, many people think that those prices could stay high for a long time. I mean, it is hard to know.

But how likely is it that this conflict will be a drag on Republicans come the midterms?

LINDSTAEDT: Well, it's definitely going to be a drag on Republicans if there are huge increases to gas prices and food prices and they're all connected.

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Because when there is a conflict, this raises the price of foods and just products in general that people are consuming. And it's not something that goes away right away. It takes a while for things to settle down.

And so we could see by the midterms that Republicans are going to be affected. And as I said, there are a lot of different swing districts that are going to be incredibly competitive.

And just looking at the Senate, it might not be so bad for Republicans. I think it's going to be very difficult for Democrats to take the Senate just because there's really only a handful of Republican incumbents that are up for reelection.

But I think the House is really going to be difficult for the Republicans to maintain. They already have a very slim margin, as I mentioned. And this just doesn't help. This isn't making really anything better, this conflict.

And with the majority of Americans not in support of that -- and that's just at the beginning of the conflict and this will tend to get worse over time -- you could imagine that this will be a drag on Republicans.

BRUNHUBER: We'll leave it there. Always appreciate it, Natasha, thanks so much.

LINDSTAEDT: Thanks for having me.

BRUNHUBER: The U.S. gets the green light from the U.K. to use British bases in some operations in Iran. But soon after that announcement, Iran took aim at a key military facility in the Indian Ocean. We'll have that story coming up. Stay with us.

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ANDERSON: Welcome back. I'm Becky Anderson, live from our Middle East programming headquarters here in Abu Dhabi. Wherever you are watching around the world, you're more than welcome.

Back to our top story, the war with Iran. A huge ball of fire and clouds of smoke rose over a Beirut suburb during an Israeli attack on alleged targets of the Iran proxy group, Hezbollah.

[04:30:02]

The Israeli military also says Iran has launched more missiles toward its territory. Meanwhile, the Strait of Hormuz effectively closed and oil prices on the rise.

The Trump administration lifted sanctions of 140 million barrels of Iranian oil. The temporary waiver allows Iran, they say, to sell oil that is already sitting on tankers on the water.

As for the timeline and when this war will end, president Trump is sending mixed signals. He posted on Truth Social that he is considering winding down military efforts. But thousands more Marines and sailors are being deployed to the Middle East.

Well, Iran has tried and failed to strike a joint British-U.S. military base in the Indian Ocean. That is according to a U.S. official who says two Iranian ballistic missiles missed the Diego Garcia base on Friday morning.

That happened after the U.K. said it would allow the U.S. to use British bases to go after Iranian missile sites that target ships in the Strait of Hormuz. Iran later warned Britain that it considers the move participation in aggression. Despite the U.K. announcement, president Trump is unimpressed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I was a little surprised at the U.K. to be honest with you. They should've acted a lot faster.

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ANDERSON: Well, for more, we're joined by Simon Kelly, a retired Royal Navy commodore. He's now a defense consultant and the leader of maritime operations with Fozzie Miller Group, speaking to us from Suffolk, Virginia, today.

Let's just start with this reported targeting of the Diego Garcia base, which is 2,500 miles away from Iran.

What does that tell us about the Iranian strategy and very specifically, its message to the U.K. at this point?

COMMODORE SIMON KELLY (RET.), U.K. ROYAL NAVY: Yes. Good morning, Becky.

I think it's very interesting to see the speed at which they've been able to carry out this attack. I think we need to understand just how effective it was because this feels like it was right at the outer range of something that we could have expected from the Iranians.

But it challenges the assumption that the Iranian ability to make decisions has been destroyed and also their capability has been completely neutralized. So I think it's quite an interesting development to just to see how quickly the statement was joined up, followed by the firing.

ANDERSON: Could you just explain for our viewers what the change in U.K. posture is, if any, at this point?

KELLY: Yes. I think it's quite nuanced. This starts to conflict the speed of the decision making, I think, left the U.K. government in a difficult position. They couldn't quite work out how to balance a policy of not agreeing with the initial action that president Trump took but wanting to support an absolute key ally.

And so they came, they settled on a policy that was allowing U.S. assets to use U.K. air bases for self-defense in the region. I think there's just been a nuance and an expansion of this because, again, the pressure to open the straits for U.S. to ease the prices at the pump means that they've looked at this.

And they're just expanding this concept of self-defense to anything that might take action against the Strait of Hormuz. It doesn't feel like a big change. But certainly in country, U.K. opposition parties are saying this is a slippery slope. And we've seen the Iranian reaction, which has felt immediate.

ANDERSON: Let's talk about that Strait of Hormuz because this is really important. Sources that I speak to around this region of the Gulf are absolutely emphatic that Iran cannot be allowed to hold that waterway hostage.

And there has been pressure from here in the Gulf and from the United States for the U.K., for Europe, for others to get involved in what would be a U.S.-led international coalition.

So with your incredible experience in maritime activity, what do you make of the current momentum?

Who might get involved and how, Simon?

KELLY: Yes, I think the joint statement that we saw overnight from a -- from a number of countries, many of whom, of course, had been asked to support by president Trump, it was, as you would expect of something that there was not many countries, it was fairly vague in terms of what it said, readiness to contribute appropriate efforts.

But it does feel like a shift. And I think there is an increasing demand to do something.

[04:35:00]

There's an incredible challenge here, though, because every country will have to satisfy its own national priorities as well. And anything you pull, whether it's from the Indo-Pacific region or whether it's from the NATO region, there is an implication.

And that's that there's a message that's going to be sent. And so I think there's a challenge. And I think probably we're at a really challenging stage for many countries in terms of their ability to actually deliver effective forces into the region.

ANDERSON: What would those effective forces look like?

What is it that this international coalition would be charged in doing?

Can you be specific as far as capabilities, you know, what that -- what that operation would actually need to do?

KELLY: Yes, absolutely. Let's start by talking about, I think, the things that won't change. So the first thing that won't change is the mission is going to be broad. And it's almost going to be without end. There'll be no end state of this beyond opening lines of communication in terms of timelines.

Because, at the moment, if you just measure it by how many ships would have passed through the Strait of Hormuz since the start of this action, we probably would have had about 2,000 ships or so that would have passed through the strait.

So there's a huge number of ships that require escorting. So a ship or two from NATO, a ship or two from the East is not going to be enough. The Armilla Patrols in the 1980s, I think there were 30-odd ships that took part in that. So that's not going to change.

What's also not going to change is the complexity of bringing these ships together. One of the real advantages of an organization like NATO is you -- we've spent decades and decades getting NATO standards right.

So when you arrive in theater, you can talk to each other. It seems like a really simple thing. But the technology, the ability to put codes onto the communications, you've got to overcome that. You've got to be able to share data.

A lot of the data and intelligence will be at U.S. classification only. You've got to be able to identify each others' forces. You don't want to travel through the Strait of Hormuz and misidentify a friendly helicopter for an incoming drone. All of this, none of this will change, despite shaping of the area by the U.S., before we can even consider any of this.

ANDERSON: It's good to have you, Simon. Thank you very much indeed. Just a sense of the complexities of the ask and needs at present.

Well, a new CNN investigation finds that the U.S. and Israel have tried to wipe out Iran's munitions, including missile launchers, by bombing the entrances to Iranian facilities hidden deep underground. CNN's Tamara Qiblawi now reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TAMARA QIBLAWI, CNN SENIOR INVESTIGATIONS WRITER: An Iranian underground missile city buried deep inside a mountain, a show of force aimed at Iran's enemies, a contingency plan to protect its precious Arsenal from being eradicated by massive bombardment.

Dozens of these subterranean fortresses are spread across the country. It's proof that Tehran has been preparing for a war just like this one for years and possibly decades.

It's also from these mountain bases that Iran stores its mobile missile launchers, taking them out, firing before hiding them back into the mountain to reload and avoid detection. The U.S. and Israel want to destroy this threat.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETE HEGSETH, U.S. DEFENSE SECRETARY: And just like Hamas and their tunnels, Iran has funneled decades of state resources, not to their people but into missiles and drones and proxies and buried facilities. But we are hunting them down.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QIBLAWI: We wanted to find out how, examining satellite images from 27 underground bases, including 107 tunnels.

What we found was evidence of a rapid-fire American Israeli campaign to trap a large number of Iranian munitions underground, blocking entrances and exits to these bases. Like here, here and here, access points to these facilities blocked.

We found that the U.S. and Israel bombed at least 77 percent of the tunnel entrances that we were able to review satellite images of.

Here, we see rockets fired from mobile launchers towed out of tunnels. The images are from propaganda video released last year. We geolocated this video to here a large underground city with many of the access points ravaged by U.S. and Israeli bombardment earlier this month.

Here, we see huge craters surrounding a tunnel portal. Here, a destroyed rocket launcher and a reddish cloud of highly toxic rocket fuel.

But less than 48 hours after the site was first bombed, evidence of Iranians already digging for access to their munitions underground.

[04:40:00]

And this isn't the first time Iran's jumped to repair its underground facilities.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tehran is completely filled with smoke.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QIBLAWI: After the 12-day war with Israel last June, Iran repaired missile production facilities, an industrial complex linked to uranium enrichment centrifuges and subterranean medium range missile sites.

Like this one where Iran reopened access points to those munitions, again starting to repair them just 48 hours after that war ended.

The U.S. and Israel continue to score tactical successes around underground facilities but these might be temporary solutions as Iran continues to adapt -- Tamara Qiblawi, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON: Well, long lines plague U.S. airports as a Homeland Security department shutdown is creating a TSA staff shortage. How workers and passengers are coping is up next.

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BRUNHUBER: Senators from both parties met late into the evening Friday, working on a deal to end the stalemate over funding for the Homeland Security Department.

Democrats are refusing to approve those funds without significant reforms at Immigration and Customs Enforcement after two U.S. citizens were shot and killed earlier this year.

White House border czar Tom Homan says discussions are continuing. Republicans insist the White House has improved its offer to Democrats, though they declined to provide details.

But as negotiations go on in Washington, airports across the U.S. are seeing long lines for security screenings as TSA officers continue to miss work. The agency says nearly 10 percent of its workforce didn't show up on Thursday. TSA officers have been working without pay for over a month.

Democrats have offered several bills that would fund the TSA and other critical departments but they've been rejected by Republicans.

[04:45:02]

The transportation secretary warns the situation could get even worse

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEAN DUFFY, U.S. SECRETARY OF TRANSPORTATION: I think as we come into next week, that second paycheck is due a week from today as they're going to miss that. If they do, if a deal isn't cut, you're going to see what -- what's happening today look like child's play.

This is going to be -- these are going to be good days compared to what's going to happen a week from now as America tries to travel. And again, do I -- is this still safe as you go through the airport?

Yes. But it takes a lot longer because you have less agents, working.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: CNN's Ryan Young has more from one of the nation's busiest airports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RYAN YOUNG, CNN SENIOR U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, the situation here at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport has been one of hurry up and wait.

If you look at the big board there, you can see the long wait times. Even that TSA precheck line that says 20 minutes, it's a lot longer than that.

The pain here has been really felt on the main checkpoint. Look right here, you can see the long lines that have been sustained all day long. We've talked to people who waited more than three hours in line to get to their destination.

One traveler telling us they arrived here at 2:45 am and they still missed their 6:00 am flight. The pain here, tremendous. TSA agents also telling us they are tired, they're frustrated and they're hoping someone pays them.

But they believe they will miss their next paycheck on the 27th as well. And a lot of them don't know how long they can continue this stress.

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AMBRIA BRITT, AIR TRAVELER: I have been in this wheelchair. They're going to tell me to go stand up in line. I have M.S.

How you going to expect me to stand up and push my own self in a wheelchair?

Atlanta got to do better.

I had to pay a stranger $100 to push me and get me through the TSA line. Do better, Trump, fix it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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YOUNG: Even though you have three hours before your flight, are you sure you're going to make it?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think I am. I was here two days ago. I made it. Yes, I estimate it's about an hour and 15 minutes from this point.

YOUNG: OK.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. I think I'll make it.

YOUNG: Have you ever seen anything like this?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Never. Never.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

YOUNG: Yes, travelers are really telling us they're not sure how to prepare for this. They're wondering, should they arrive five hours before time?

We also know Monday is another big travel day here at this airport and they're concerned about what they see when they arrive back here on Monday

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: A federal judge has ruled that a Pentagon policy limiting independent press access is unlawful. The plan, spearheaded by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, was deemed by the court to restrict the constitutional rights of reporters.

The Friday ruling specifically challenged a provision that allowed the Pentagon to revoke press credentials based on the content of reporting. The Pentagon has since stated it will be filing an immediate appeal against the ruling.

Powerful storms hit the Hawaiian island of Oahu, causing catastrophic flash flooding and forcing evacuations near a dam that's dangerously close to failure. Details on that just ahead. Stay with us.

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[04:50:00]

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BRUNHUBER: A flash flood warning has been issued for Oahu island in Hawaii as the second significant storm in a week pounds the state. Thousands of people have been ordered to evacuate the island because this 120-year old dam may collapse or breach at any time.

That's according to the Oahu Department of Emergency Management. Catastrophic flash flooding from the storm has cut off some towns, destroyed homes and forced rescues from the storm. In northern Oahu, some residents are grappling with devastating loss.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was a scary situation for us. Pretty much lost things, so everything. I mean, got us here but you know, everything else gone. Yes. It's our house. It's our home up there.

BRUNHUBER (voice-over): Heavy rain and strong winds from last weekend's storm set off dangerous flooding, landslides and sinkholes and knocked out power to thousands across the state. Flood watches and advisories have also been issued across the Hawaiian islands.

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BRUNHUBER: The ongoing heat wave in the Western U.S. would be virtually impossible without human-induced climate change. That's according to a new study from climate scientists with the World Weather Attribution Group.

The extreme heat has shattered several monthly records and more are expected to be tied or broken in the next few days.

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[04:55:07]

BRUNHUBER: Actor Val Kilmer is set to appear posthumously in an upcoming film, thanks to the use of generative artificial intelligence. Kilmer, who died aged 65 last April, will take on a role in "As Deep as the Grave."

He was cast before his death but was unable to work on set during due to his throat cancer diagnosis.

First Line Films says his appearance will be the first time a movie studio has used AI in this way. Now the filmmakers say they work closely with Kilmer's estate and his daughter, adding that this will be a fitting way to honor Kilmer's attachment to the character.

All right, we're just a couple of hours away from the highly anticipated concert by K-pop megastars BTS in Seoul, South Korea.

There you see live pictures as fans are lining up, even hours away from the concert. Now that comes after the seven-member group dropped its long-awaited album, "Arirang," on Friday. This will be their first concert in almost four years.

Remember, they had to put their musical careers on hold to complete mandatory military service and fans can barely contain their excitement. Listen to this.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I've been an Army since 2015, since I was 10 years old and never got a chance to go to any K-pop concert or anything. So it's very emotional day for me.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm just like, I've been to K-pop but I'm so excited to see V(ph) and just in general, like I'm waiting for them so bad and like, I can't -- I can't believe them and they're going to be so close.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I know.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I can't wait, like they're going to be so -- I can't. I'm going to cry. I'm going to scream, cry. It's going to be amazing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: Officials say the free concert is expected to draw up to 260,000 fans and Netflix will livestream the show to 190 countries. On Friday night drones lit up the sky over Seoul with images of the BTS members. Saturday's concert kicks off a global tour which starts next month.

All right, that wraps this hour of CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Kim Brunhuber. Becky Anderson and I will be back with more news in just a moment.