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Iran Strikes Target Nuclear Research Facility Near Arad, Over 100 Injured; Iranian Regime Arrests 25 People For Spreading Rumors Online; No Deal In Sight As Partial U.S. Government Shutdown Drags On; Former FBI Director Robert Mueller Dies at 81; Emergency Crews Rescue Hundreds After Major Flooding On Oahu. Aired 1-2a ET

Aired March 22, 2026 - 01:00   ET

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

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POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is great to be with you. I'm Polo Sandoval here in New york where it is. 1 It is early morning in the Middle East and we do want to begin with President Donald Trump who is now threatening an enormous attack on Iran's energy infrastructure. That's if Tehran does not allow for the free navigation of the Strait of Hormuz in the next 48 hours.

The U.S. President posting a warning on his Truth Social account and he wrote if Iran doesn't fully open without threat the Strait of Hormuz 48 hours from this exact point in time, the United States of America will hit and obliterate their various power plants, starting with the biggest one first. That would make the deadline roughly on Monday evening.

President Trump's comments, they come after Iran launched its most devastating attack on Israel since the start of the war.

And that's just one, an Iranian ballistic missile. It slammed into a building in Dimona, home of Israel's nuclear program. Iranian state media claiming Saturday's strike targeted nuclear facilities and was in retaliation for Israel's earlier attacks one of Iran's uranium enrichment sites.

And just hours later, a second Iranian missile hit southern Israel, this time in the city of Arad. Israel's emergency response services already declaring that a mass casualty event. The country's national security minister visited the site and declared Israel must continue to crush to achieve victory. CNN's Oren Liebermann reports from Jerusalem.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN JERUSALEM BUREAU CHIEF: Two major direct hits from Iranian ballistic missiles in southern Israel on Saturday evening within just hours of each other. First, take a look at this dramatic video from the city of Dimona. This is the city that is home to Israel's nuclear program and you can see this missile streaking in as it makes a direct impact on a one story building. According to Israel's Fire and Rescue Service, that building was destroyed.

Israel's Emergency Response Service, Magen David Adom says nearly 50 people were taken to the hospital as a result of that strike. Iran's national broadcaster says they attacked the city of Dimona and the nuclear program there after what they called a U.S.-Israeli strike on the Natanz nuclear facility in Iran.

Now the Israeli military says they weren't familiar with such a strike, but this is a facility that the U.S. had attacked back in June during the 12 day war.

Now just hours after that strike in Dimona, another Iranian ballistic missile hit the city of Arad, also in southern Israel, hitting a residential neighborhood there. You can see the damage to all of the buildings in the area. Walls ripped off of multistory apartments, smoke pouring out of some of the buildings there as emergency responders worked at the scene.

As of the latest update on Saturday evening, Israel's Emergency Response Service says at least 74 people have been injured, including seven in serious or critical condition. That number could rise with search and rescue teams still working at the scene.

It is or appears to be at this point the single largest number of injuries we have seen from a single Iranian ballistic missile since the start of the war.

Now, as the war has continued, Israel has pointed out that Iran isn't launching as many ballistic missiles as it was at the start of the war. Still, you see some of these missiles getting through as the Israeli military has warned that the missile defense array isn't perfect, it's not hermetic. And some missiles can get through that array, as we saw on Saturday night. Oren Liebermann, CNN in Jerusalem. All right.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL: Let's now bring in CNN's Mike Valerio for the very latest on the situation. Mike, lot of updates to get to take it away.

MIKE VALERIO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: OK, so we're going to talk about opening Hormuz and then we're going to talk about Israeli strikes in Lebanon and in Iran. Oren was just talking about Iranian strikes in Israel. So we're going to talk about what Israel done in Lebanon and Iran.

So talking about Hormuz, you know, what we're thinking about as we're going through the weekend is the president's not only his truth saying that or his post on Truth Social saying that, you know, Iran has two days essentially to open up this Strait of Hormuz. He was telling reporters before he left for Florida this weekend that, you know, this would be easy for allies to do on their own.

But as we see from the apparent frustration that the Strait does not have free navigation at this point, this is going to be much easier said than done. So we're tracking how many nations have signed up and have expressed a willingness to be part of this coalition when the time is right is the wording of this statement that the nations have put through help to reopen the strait.

[01:05:12]

So the U.K., France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Japan, Canada, Bahrain, South Korea was added to the list yesterday. Japan also signaling a new reporting that it could contribute minesweepers into the mix. But what we're trying to figure out is what exactly country is going to do in terms of the delegation of responsibility. And according to our reporting spearheaded by Kylie Atwood from the State Department, it's quite a tall order to assign who does what.

According to a senior European diplomat, nations need to be assigned who's going to do minesweeping, who's going to be in charge of escorts, counter drone capability, who will be sending warships exactly. And then which nations are going to be responsible for intel gathering from the sky and from space.

So it's not just going to be a parade of ships that assemble to reopen this Strait. It's going to be a very tall order.

Now talking about what Israel attacks have launched overnight into Lebanon and to Iran. This is about 200 targets the IDF has said hit in Iran. Mostly compounds that from the IDF statement are conveying that they have hit weapons missile caches in Lebanon. Two waves that have hit Hezbollah command centers.

But lest we forget the toll that has been stricken in Lebanon, a thousand people killed so far according to CNN's reporting. And in a nation of 5 million people, Polo, this is a situation where 1 million people since March 2nd have been displaced.

And you know, if the war is so much for people to comprehend and to keep track of. The Lebanon front opened up on March 2 when Hezbollah sent missiles into Israeli territory to avenge the death of Ali Khamenei. And then the fighting has continued apace ever since. So that's where we stand.

Our reporting targets are going to be continuing to figure out is there any more clarity as to how the Strait of Hormuz is going to be reopened by this coalition of mostly European nations with some other nations from Asia and AIPAC joining the mix with this 48 hour deadline now looming. Polo.

SANDOVAL: Yes, we know that list of countries is slowly growing. Mike Valerio in Beijing always appreciate that update

Bahrain, it's now becoming one of the latest countries to say that it is willing to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz. And that's according to state media, 22 countries. They've said they want to ensure safe navigation through the shipping route which is vital to the global economy. As we've seen the last few weeks. However, it's not clear exactly when what those efforts would look

like. President Trump has lashed out at NATO allies, branding them cowards for not helping secure the strait. The U.S. President, though, also asking allies to send warships and minesweepers into the area to allow for the safe passage of some of these oil tankers.

Asha Castleberry-Hernandez is a national security and foreign affairs analyst and a U.S. army combat veteran who served at the U.S. mission to the U.N. during the Obama administration. She joins me here from New York. Asha, it's always great to see you.

ASHA CASTLEBERRY-HERNANDEZ, NATIONAL SECURITY AND FOREIGN POLICY ANALYST: Yes, great to see you, Polo.

SANDOVAL: Let's stay on the topic of NATO, if we could. What do you see as the alliance's role in potential deescalation of this conflict?

CASTLEBERRY-HERNANDEZ: Yes, I think it's a matter of time that the alliances will contribute more, especially if it continues to escalate. And also based on the recent developments, like for instance where we just recently saw that Iran targeted the Garcia Diego military base out in the Indian Ocean, which is co-owned by United Kingdom.

So Iran is showing or expressing more that they're willing to target European military bases. So if that continues to show more security challenges as far as targeting specific areas, as well as if the economic costs continue to exacerbate involving oil and gas pricing, I think that will definitely provoke more from our European allies as well as the ASEAN community to help out.

SANDOVAL: And we're sharing with our viewers some pictures of a series of islands in the Indian Ocean that is home to that U.K.-U.S. Joint base that was actually targeted by the Iranians earlier this weekend.

I'm curious if I could get your thoughts on that attempted missile strike. What does it tell us? We had a retired Marine intelligence officer just in the last hour with a pretty serious reality check, which is that this is a reminder of the distance capabilities of Iran's missile stockpile.

[01:10:09]

Just how it potentially target those islands. It could potentially target other countries, other. Other nations in the west.

CASTLEBERRY-HERNANDEZ: Yes, exactly. It definitely defines the long range of that ballistic missile. And the willingness to target is outside the United States involving a military base, but even a military base associated with Europe. And also it tells you the range where it can go more west towards targeting Europe.

So it definitely was a signal as far as what the attempts and its willingness behind it. And I think that again may provoke the European countries to want to get involved in this if they continue to see developments going in that direction. SANDOVAL: And also seen as possible retaliation for the U.K. allowing

the U.S. to use some of its bases. And because of that decision to allow forces to use those bases in those facilities, do you see that resulting in perhaps some domestic security concerns for U.K. officials? What should they be worried about?

CASTLEBERRY-HERNANDEZ: Yes, well, first and foremost, this should have been definitely discussed prior to the U.S. preemptive strike against Iran so that European countries could speak to the public as well as calculate how much of this is a challenge involving their domestic security.

You're seeing with the United States that we're more vulnerable to homeland attacks as a result of sleeper cells. So it's the same concern that you can apply to with regards to areas like in the United Kingdom and France where they do have sleeper cells.

When you join these military operations or wars in the Middle East, those kind of involvements definitely provoke domestic concerns. So this is definitely something that they have to take into account in terms of planning and moving forward in this operation. But you also have to take into account the economic costs.

Again, the oil gas pricing is of extreme concern for many consumers around the world. And this is the fifth largest world oil reserve. So that may also again provoke interest for them to take to join and a justification of why the people may support it.

SANDOVAL: What's your assessment of the warning that was issued from President Trump on Saturday evening directed at Iran that if it does not fly fully reopen and allow for secure passage in the Strait of Hormuz, that U.S. forces and potentially with its allies could go after some of Iran's power infrastructure, mainly some of their large power plants? I mean, what do you make of that decision or that potential scenario, I should say?

CASTLEBERRY-HERNANDEZ: Well, President Trump is watching these gas prices go up. This is a domestic concern. Consumers are feeling it. The American people are concerned. So he knows as long as that Strait of Hormuz is restricted that directly it's going to impact and exacerbate the oil prices for this country and many others around the world. So that is something that he wants to definitely take into account.

And so in terms of responding to that, he's willing to promote provocative rhetoric to try to shape the Iranian people or Iranian leadership to open up the Strait of Hormuz because that's the only way you can stabilize the oil and gas prices.

SANDOVAL: Yes. Well, Iran now apparently has a little under 48 hours watch to see what or if the regime response. Asha Castleberry- Hernandez, always great to have you join us. Really appreciate your insight.

CASTLEBERRY-HERNANDEZ: Thank you. SANDOVAL: Cuba is experiencing its second nationwide power outage in

less than a week and that's left more than 10 million people in the dark again. The power grid collapsed Saturday following Monday's island wide blackout. The U.S. started blocking fuel shipments to Cuba just three months ago. The island had been heavily reliant on oil from Venezuela.

The Cuban foreign minister had said that his nation is open to talks to end the fuel embargo. But then on Friday, the Cuban president said that the country is now preparing for a potential attack. And those comments follow President Trump's threats to, quote, take Cuba.

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MIGUEL DIAZ-CANEL, CUBAN PRESIDENT (through translator): We are not sitting with our arms crossed. First of all, we recognize that there could be an aggression against Cuba. And we have unleashed a preparation plan to raise our people's readiness for defense in the interest of the war of all the people, which is our defense concept and which is a defense of conception, not aggressive, and to defend the country with the preparation and the preparation of all the people in defense.

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SANDOVAL: With the U.S. and Ukraine, they will continue their talks on ending Russia's aggression against its neighbor on Sunday. Negotiators they held one round of peace talks in Miami on Saturday, which U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff described as constructive.

He also posted that the talks are focusing on closing the remaining gaps to reach a comprehensive peace deal. But as the two sides talk peace, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Russia launched new strikes that left parts of Ukraine in the dark. He later questioned whether Moscow really wants to end the war.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): No one needs this war. The teams will continue communication tomorrow. The most important thing is to understand how ready the Russian side is to move toward a real end to the war and whether they are prepared to do so honestly and decently.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: Iran's Islamic regime says that it's arrested dozens of people for, as they describe it, spreading rumors online. After the break here on CNI Newsroom, we'll hear from an expert on the Iranian regime's human rights abuses against this latest wave of anti- government protesters. Stay with us.

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[01:20:09] SANDOVAL: Thank you so much for staying with us. Iranian authorities, they've arrested 25 people for what they call spreading rumors online. And that's according to Iranian state media. These latest arrests, they come just days after Iran publicly executed three men tied to nationwide anti-government protests that happened earlier this year.

Among them, 19 year old wrestler Saleh Mohammadi, whose case drew international attention and condemnation. Former Iranian water polo player Reza Salmani, now living in exile, says that Saleh's execution has now devastated athletes and activists alike. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REZA SOLEIMANI, FORMER WATER POLO ATHELETE: You know, I don't know, I'm just speechless to say honest with you. I cannot even do anything right now. It's really sad moment. I feel that, you know, what happened with that kid, you know, I wanted to thanks to so many of those athletes, stay strong. And we saw that in the two months ago, how they stand beside their people. I mean, we had over 100 athletes got shot on the street.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: In the lead up to the war with Iran, nationwide protests erupted over economic turmoil and anger at clerical rule within the country. Human rights groups say that thousands of people were killed as authorities moved to crush the demonstrations.

For more, I do want to bring in now Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam. He's the director of the NGO Iran Human Rights and also professor at the University of Oslo. Mahmood, it's so good to have you join us. Thank you for your time.

MAHMOOD AMIRY-MOGHADDAM: Thank you very much. Thanks for having me.

SANDOVAL: In your efforts to advocate and push for human rights and the independence of the people in Iran, I wonder what your contact has been like or your organization's contact has been like with people inside Iran and very real concerns of this regime that still is holding onto power.

AMIRY-MOGHADDAM: Absolutely. And, you know, we should keep in mind that the real existential threat to the Islamic Republic regime comes from Iranian people who want fundamental change.

And that's the reason why, you know, we hear about executions despite a war going on. But they still use lots of resources on arresting people. In the recent weeks, we have seen increased number of arrests of both ordinary people, but also, you know, human rights activists, other political activists, because they know that once the war is over, the people will eventually come out and those people pose the real threat to the Islamic Republic.

SANDOVAL: Do you see another mass or another potential for further protests similar to what we saw play out in January? AMIRY-MOGHADDAM: Yes, I do. Because, you know, the Islamic Republic

regime is not only repressive, it's also incompetent in solving people's daily problems and it's highly corrupt, so they have nothing to offer.

Iran, you know, is a country of more than 90 million people and sooner or later they will come out again. Of course, you know, while the war is going on, we won't expect people come out and protest. They came out in January and we remember what happened. You know, thousands or maybe tens of thousands were killed on the streets.

But since the regime has nothing else to offer, people will come because a change is inevitable. The question is, what is the price people have to pay?

SANDOVAL: It wasn't that long ago that President Trump issued a very direct threat towards the Iranian regime, that the execution of any protesters would be met with serious action on behalf of the United States.

Obviously, since then we have seen the launching of an all-out war. With the executions that we unfortunately saw play out just a few days ago, what is your hope that the White House will do to respond to the regime carrying out those executions?

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AMIRY-MOGHADDAM: Well, you see, as you mentioned, there has been a war going on. The leaders of the Islamic Republic have been targeted. I'm not sure what more the White House can do, but what we have called on, you know, we have called upon the international community of also European countries which have diplomatic relations with Islamic Republic to do whatever they can to use all their diplomatic channels.

What is important is that human rights situation in Iran and in particular situation of prisoners and situation of the death penalty is not overshadowed by the war because that's what typically happens, you know, when the Islamic Republic executes three protesters, normally that would have been the main news in all international media. But since the war is going on, of course, you know, the war takes much more attention.

And so what we hope is that situation of human rights situation of Iranian people is not forgotten.

SANDOVAL: Yes, no, it's such an important message. Thank you so much for coming on with us and sharing the story of the people inside Iran. Many of them unable to get their messages out with this internet blackout. And my apologies for getting your name wrong at the beginning. Professor Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam. Really appreciate you joining us. Thank you.

AMIRY-MOGHADDAM: thank you. Thank you so much.

SANDOVAL: I'm Polo Sandoval. For our viewers in North America, I'll be right back with you with more of your headlines. And for our international viewers, it's inside Africa.

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SANDOVAL: Welcome back. We are following the very latest developments in the U.S. and Israel's war with Iran. Tehran launched back to back attacks on southern Israel. More than 70 people are wounded after an Iranian missile hit the city of Arad on Saturday.

Officials have declared the attack a mass casualty event. And meanwhile, Israel says its strikes by its military and the U.S. will increase significantly this week. President Trump is threatening to hit and obliterate Iranian power plants if Tehran does not reopen the Strait of Hormuz within 48 hours.

His latest warning coming after he sent other conflicting messages that the U.S. is now considering winding down military efforts in the region, while reports also say that thousands of additional troops are being sent to the region. CNN's Julia Benbrook has more on the conflicting messages coming from the White House.

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JULIA BENBROOK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: As President Donald Trump spends his weekend at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, he took to social media to say that he believes he has accomplished his objectives in Iran and way ahead of schedule.

He added that he thinks Iran wants to make a deal, but that he does not want to make a deal right now. This comes as we enter the fourth week of this conflict and there are still a lot of questions about how this will come to an end. There also questions about the potential of sending in ground troops.

Now, according to CNN reporting, top military officials in near daily briefings at the White House have given Trump a number of options, and some of those do include sending in American troops. When he was asked about this in recent days, he gave a confusing answer. He said this.

He said, I'm not putting troops anywhere, seeming to clearly rule it out, but then adding, if I were, I certainly wouldn't tell you. Even though Trump has yet to make a decision about sending in ground troops at this point, it is clear that the administration is preparing for a number of options, a number of contingencies.

Two U.S. officials who spoke with CNN said that thousands of Marines and sailors were being deployed to the Middle East and that process had been accelerated.

U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz spoke at a CNN town hall and he was asked this, he reiterated what Trump had said about all options being a possibility, but said that the preferred option is to continue degrading the country its nuclear capabilities from air and sea. Take a listen. MIKE WALTZ, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO THE UNITED NATIONS: I don't think

anybody should expect this to look anything like we saw back in 2003, two decades ago with a massive invasion. There are other options on the table, but I think if President Trump could avoid that, he absolutely would. If we can do this and degrade those capabilities from the air and from the sea, that would be the preferred option.

BENBROOK: And there are a lot of things to consider here. For many Trump allies who have so far supported the president's efforts, sending thousands of troops to the Middle East could be a breaking point, especially with many already focusing in on the midterms. Traveling with the president in Florida. Julie Benbrook, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL: And there is still no deal in sight as the partial government shutdown in the United States continues to drag on. Lawmakers they are working to reopen the Department of Homeland Security before Congress leaves town for spring recess.

Democrats have demanded changes to DHS policies after Border Patrol agents shot and killed two American citizens in Minneapolis earlier this year. President Trump, in the meantime, is actually threatening to send ICE agents into airports on Monday for security and to carry out immigration arrests if a deal is not reached.

The shutdown causing major TSA staffing shortages and also frustrating travelers that are stuck in long lines because of this disruption. Here's CNN's Gloria Pazmino.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, throughout most of the day here at Terminal A at Newark Airport, the wait times really varied depending on the time of day. But for the most part, the lines were moving pretty efficiently. We saw wait times here hovering around 30 to 40 minutes during the peak times of the day.

But that was certainly not the case at all other airports around the country.

[01:35:02]

We have been seeing other places that are facing significant wait times. George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, Texas, was seeing over an hour wait times. John F. Kennedy Airport in New York City also seeing significant wait times. And the wait times just really ebb and flow depending on the time of day.

Now, many of the travelers that we spoke to here today said that they came prepared. They knew that there was a possibility they would have to wait a lot longer than usual. So they came in early just to make sure that they would be on time for their flight.

We also spoke to a number of passengers who were very sympathetic with the TSA workers who are not coming into work as a result of this partial government shutdown. Many of them expressing frustration that this shutdown is still ongoing and that politicians on the Hill have not been able to solve the impasse. Take a listen.

PATRICK BRUNNER, TRAVELING TO ATLANTA: It seems that the people that are working here, they come in for free, which we greatly appreciate. But I hope that, you know, it must be very difficult for their personal situation. And I think we all have to thank them to come in under the circumstances.

PAZMINO: Now, these partial funding shutdowns are becoming a very familiar reality for these workers. We are now in the third funding lapse in the last six months. And TSA workers say that they are living paycheck to paycheck. Shutdowns like this means that they cannot afford their bills.

Many of them saying that they cannot even afford to get to the airport to show up to work. And that is one of the major reasons why call outs are significantly increasing in the past few days. TSA agents calling out sick because they are not getting paid.

And so that is part of what is causing the long wait lines at airports. So far, more than 366 workers for TSA have submitted their resignations. And the shutdown is affecting more than 61,000 workers. Gloria Pazmino, CNN, New Jersey.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL: Former FBI Director Robert Mueller has died at the age of 81. He served in that role for 12 years under presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama. Mueller served in the Marines and was a Vietnam veteran, but he's perhaps best known for leading the probe into alleged Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.

And while his investigation did not find that the Trump campaign was guilty of collusion, Mueller did not fully exonerate the president of obstruction allegations. Mueller's family says that he was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 2021.

I want to go now to one of the former colleagues of the director, Richard Kolko, He's a retired FBI Supervisory Special Agent. And as we mentioned, he served as the Bureau's national Press office chief under Mueller.

I'm wondering if you could just start off by just telling us how you believe that Director Mueller will be remembered. I know he was a Bronze Star veteran and FBI director to you. What will be his legacy?

RICHARD KOLKO, RETIRED FBI SUPERVISORY SPECIAL AGENT: Well, my legacy is clear. I think he's a tremendous man, a hero. Was wonderful for the Bureau and wonderful for the country. And I'm here on my computer looking, we have a alumni page former FBI personnel. And it's just glowing comments about him and what he did for the Bureau and what he did for the country.

You have to remember going back to 9/11, it was almost bait and switch. I mean, he was joining what he thought was the finest criminal investigation agency going, and a week later, it had to become the finest counterterrorism agency going. Very big changes in just his first week there.

SANDOVAL: And Richard, thank you for sharing some of your personal pictures too, that we're sharing with our viewers right now of you along with the Director back when you served under him.

Do you perhaps have a personal experience that you would like to share that will give you -- give us some insight into what his relationships were like inside of the Bureau?

KOLKO: Well, many things. First of all, he really saved the Bureau. After 9/11 there was a strong desire for many people to dissect the Bureau, tear it apart into an intelligence agency and a law enforcement agency separate. That would not model, would not have worked in the United States. And he fought hard to help save the Bureau. He did that. It was good for the FBI and good for the country and good for our security.

But he was the type of man who, while stern, very attention to detail. Same kind of man who would show up on Christmas Eve in the command post on his own time to make sure that his people were doing well. Always concerned about everybody. He can read through a lot of the comments and people who went through personal tragedies in their lives.

He was the man who reached out to them without any fanfare, just to make sure people were good. And you know what he did professionally, from not allowing the enhanced interrogations after 9/11 to making sure the wireless warrants were not approved.

[01:40:02]

The man went out and took risks all the time for him, for the FBI, for the country. And I think every one of them paid off.

SANDOVAL: And as the head of the Bureau, especially as you mentioned, you know, the enhanced interrogation controversy and the debate that was raging decades ago, how would he potentially navigate that criticism that perhaps he would have to face on all sides of many debates?

KOLKO: He was a man of principle and a man of character, and he stood up for both and for what he thought was right. I mean, even to the Attorney General, to the President of the United States. He did what he thought was best based on his training, his experience going back to his early days.

I mean, you think about it in the 1960s, when many men were looking for ways to avoid military service after graduating the Ivy League, he still was willing to join the Marine Corps. And not just join the Marine Corps, but a combat position. Went and fought for our country in the jungles of Vietnam.

Not your regular guy. And that character, that personality, and that stood out his entire career. And he will -- he was missed in the FBI, and he'll be missed in our country.

SANDOVAL: And of course, in 2017, he was selected by the DOJ to lead that investigation that would make him the subject of so much ire, especially from the President. What do you think made him the best person to lead that probe? It came with an incredible and intense spotlight?

KOLKO: Spotlight that he avoided.

SANDOVAL: yes.

KOLKO: I know that the spotlight was on him, but throughout the entire time he was special counsel, I do not believe he had one single press conference. He never spoke to the media. Everything you saw, heard, and read was other people talking about what he was doing. And to get bashed for so long and never respond, but just do his job to the best of his ability. Not everybody agreed with it, and that's for sure.

But you know, that he did it to the best of his ability and led his team to the best of his ability. And that will follow him forever. That he did a good job.

SANDOVAL: We have time for perhaps one more memory here. I'm sure there were a lot of young up and coming agents that would join the Bureau. I mean, can you recall any instances in which he offered some advice to, you know, men and women who were looking ahead to a bright future at the FBI?

KOLKO: Well, I used to go to a lot of the graduations down at the FBI Academy of Quantico, and his speech was always just an excellent speech. He kind of -- he used a lot of the same speeches or versions of the same speech.

But you could tell that not only was he talking to the new agents that were graduating, getting their badge and credentials that day, a very, very proud day in a young person's professional life, but he was also talking to the families of those agents, letting them know what their role was, how important their role was and how proud they should be of their family member who had just completed training at the FBI academy and was joining the finest law enforcement, intelligence and counterterrorism agency, not only in the country, but in the world that had taken on a life of service to help protect their country. He was a great leader and he will be missed.

SANDOVAL: And we are thinking about Director Mueller's family tonight. Richard Kolko, thank you so much for sharing some of these memories with us. Really appreciate your time.

KOLKO: Thank you. Thanks for having me.

SANDOVAL: And lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, they are condemning President Trump's reaction to Mueller's death. In a Truth Social post, President Trump wrote that he was, quote, glad Mueller died. You can read that statement yourself. And it's a statement that been met with some immediate pushback from Capitol Hill. On the war with Iran now is shuttering the lives of hundreds of

millions of people who have nothing to do with it. Still ahead, basic necessity are out of reach. As rising energy prices rattle economies in Asia.

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[01:47:11]

SANDOVAL: Well, people in cities outside of the Middle East, they are protesting the U.S. war with Iran. Hundreds marched in central Madrid on Saturday. They held banners and chanted slogans opposing the conflict and President Trump as well as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

In India administered Kashmir, where Muslims make up a majority of people there, protesters marked the end of Ramadan with demonstrations in support of Iran. They strongly condemned the U.S. and Israel's actions there.

Well, economists call it a black swan event, an economic shock that no one can see coming, but it's so destructive that it affects everyone. That kind of calamity is currently playing out in countries around the world right now because of the spike in energy prices. And it's all caused by Iran's closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

Some Asian countries, they're even resorting to emergency measures just to try to save the energy they have. Starting in Pakistan, they closed schools for two weeks. In India, they're rationing gas supplies. South Korea imposing its first fuel price cap in decades. And then the Philippines, they're mandating a four-day workweek. Here's CNN's Ben Hunte.

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BEN HUNTE, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): It's a shock to the system in Asia, the chokehold in the Strait of Hormuz blocking most fuel and energy imports from the Middle East to Asia. Normally, more than 80 percent of the tankers in the waterway carrying crude oil and liquefied natural gas would be bound for Asia. But barely anything is moving now.

Some Countries like China, Japan and South Korea have sizable oil stockpiles to help offset shortages. But other Asian nations only have a month or two of fuel in reserve, and for them, it's crisis mode.

There are long lines for gas, particularly across Southeast Asia, where there has been panic buying and a surge in gas prices. The cost of petrol jumping more than 20 percent in Vietnam on Friday.

In Pakistan, a similar price hike at a time when many people were traveling for Eid Al Fitr, some people say they can barely afford increasing bus fares.

JAHAN ZEB, PAKISTANI LABORER (through translator): Look, I'm a poor laborer. Apart from this expense, I have to go further. I have to buy clothes, et cetera, for the children. So much money has been spent on bus fares. I don't understand what to do next.

HUNTE (voice-over): High costs also forcing some migrant workers India to head home. These workers in Gujarat, India's textile hub, say they don't know when they'll return because cooking gas isn't affordable, if it can even be found.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): We are returning to our village for five days. We didn't have gas. The company we work for is also about to be shut down. So what can we do? We are starving to death.

HUNTE (voice-over): Other countries are limiting some official operations to cut energy costs.

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Sri Lanka says it's closing its government institutions on Wednesdays, but says ports and hospitals will still function normally.

The Philippines has switched many of its government offices to a four- day work week. And Bangladesh has closed universities to conserve electricity and fuel. Airlines, too, are feeling the pinch. The price of jet fuel is skyrocketing, taking ticket prices with it. And with fewer routes available as airlines avoid war zones, tourism could suffer.

Thailand's tourism ministry estimates it could lose over a billion dollars if airspace closures last eight weeks. As the war stretches on, economic hardship will expand because what happens in Asia will certainly impact the rest of the world. Ben Hunte, CNN.

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SANDOVAL: We're back after a quick break. Don't go anywhere.

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SANDOVAL: Emergency crews and Hawaii's National Guard, they have been carrying out hundreds of rescues across the island of Oahu. This after a powerful storm dumped up to three months of rain in just 24 hours.

Officials say that it's the worst flooding they've seen in over 20 years.

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As much as 12 inches or some 30 cm of rain fell across the northern half of the island, which was already saturated from an earlier storm event. Some stranded people even had to be rescued off of rooftops using helicopters as flooding cut off roads.

More than 70 people, including a number of children, had to be airlifted from a youth camp after they were trapped by rising floodwaters. And a rare heat wave is breaking records for the month of March across

the western United States. And it's not even done yet. The scorching temperatures, they are expected to continue on Sunday and well into next week. CNN's meteorologist Allison Chinchar has your full forecast.

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ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Dozens of records have been set across much of the western portion of the country. All of these dots indicate one of those records. But it's not just daily records. These are all time March records for these locations and more of them could be broken as we head through the rest of the day on Sunday.

They're also going to start to spread eastward. So all of these dots you see here across the central U.S. portions of the Mississippi Valley and Southeast, those are daily records that could be broken. Not just Sunday, but some of the cases even Monday and Tuesday.

Here's a look at the forecast. Again, you'll start to notice more of that orange and red and yellow color spread eastward. Really the only cool spot on the map is going to be portions of the Northeast and into the Great Lakes region.

Down to the south, this is where the warmer temperatures are going to be. So Lubbock, Oklahoma City, Memphis, Jackson, all looking at those temperatures, at least 10 to 15 degrees above average. Some of them do drop back a little bit on Monday, but many of them rebound right back up again on Tuesday.

Take a look at Dallas, for example, 94 for that high temperature, the average is 70. And when you look at the rest of the week for Dallas, you'll notice every single one of the next seven days is expected to be at or above and sometimes significantly above that average temperature.

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SANDOVAL: Thank you so much, Allison Chinchar. And thank you so much for joining me. The last hour of news. I'm Polo Sandoval in New York. The news continues with my colleague Ben Hunte in a moment.

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