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Marc Sievers is Interviewed about Iran; Vance Backs Trump; Senate Prepares for SAVE Act Vote. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired March 17, 2026 - 06:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:34:32]

AUDIE CORNISH, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everybody. I'm Audie Cornish. Thank you for joining me on CNN THIS MORNING.

It's 6:34 here on the East Coast. And we are following these breaking news developments in the war with Iran.

So, drones and rockets fired at the U.S. embassy in Baghdad overnight. That's according to Reuters. An air defense system shot down two drones while a third hit inside the embassy compound.

An oil field in southern Iraq also came under attack on Monday. No casualties reported at this time.

[06:35:02]

ExxonMobil signed an agreement to develop that oil field late last year.

And new details about a fire in the laundry spaces on the USS Ford, which is deployed to the region. It burned for more than 30 hours last week and left dozens of service members with smoke inhalation. That's according to "The New York Times." Now, the fire was not combat related. "The Times" also reporting that some 600 sailors lost their beds in the fire and are sleeping on tables or floors.

President Trump says he will soon announce the countries that have agreed to help the U.S. reopen the Strait of Hormuz, but some key European leaders are reluctant to help. On Monday, a spokesperson for the German chancellor said, "it is not NATO's war." That after President Trump warned that NATO faces a very bad future if the alliance does not assist in reopening the vital waterway.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We defend all these countries. And then do you have any minesweepers? And they say, well, would it be possible for us not to get involved?

(END VIDEO CLIP) CORNISH: OK, Iranian airstrikes continue across the gulf region this morning. Drones targeting one of the world's biggest oil fields in southern Iraq. Then there's an oil tank farm near Dubai Airport also hit this morning. Now the president is saying this retaliation from Iran no one could have seen coming.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Look what happened in the last two weeks. They weren't supposed to go after all these other countries in the Middle East. Those missiles were set to go after them. So they hit Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait. Nobody expected that. We were shocked.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: OK, we're turning now to former U.S. ambassador to Oman, Marc Sievers. He's live now from Abu Dhabi.

Thank you so much for being with us.

Because when I hear something like that, I immediately want to know from someone like you, did gulf allies expect this, or do they see this as an intelligence failure or miscalculation?

MARC SIEVERS, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO OMAN: Well, I think it's not black and white. I think there was some expectation probably of some Iranian strikes on U.S. military facilities in the region. They've done that before. In Qatar last June. I think it's the extent of the strikes and the targeting of both, you know, economic infrastructure, energy infrastructure, and just simply civilian targets, resort hotels, residential neighborhoods I do believe that that's both unprecedented and quite surprising.

CORNISH: Can you talk more about what that means? We were -- CNN reporting some frustration among U.S. and allied diplomats that, you know, traditional channels aren't being used to build support that would help reopen the strait. One quote in our story from a senior diplomat says, does that diplomacy gap show up where you are? And -- sorry, one second. I want to know if that shows up where you are. What are you hearing in diplomacy circles?

SIEVERS: Well, I'm in Abu Dhabi. And I don't work for the U.S. government anymore, so I'm not technically a diplomat, but I certainly have diplomatic contacts.

CORNISH: Well, I mean among gulf allies.

SIEVERS: Yes.

CORNISH: Are gulf -- yes, are gulf --

SIEVERS: Yes.

CORNISH: In that world, are people saying, when is the U.S. going to call us. Wait a second, we're upset with Iran. Sort of what's happening from your position?

SIEVERS: Sure. I think there's a robust dialog. I think the gulf allies are in regular touch with the administration, with the United States. Certainly there's a very well-developed mechanism of military coordination. I think that is working quite well.

I don't think there's much of anything that they haven't heard. I think they do -- obviously, they want the Strait of Hormuz opened. On the other hand, they're utilizing pipelines. I know that Saudi Arabia has developed a pipeline going to the Red Sea. The UAE has done something similar to look for workarounds. But certainly they want to see that international cooperation. And I expect that it will develop. It may not be everyone that President Trump had hoped would join, but I do believe there will be some kind of multinational effort to reopen the strait.

CORNISH: We mentioned you're in Abu Dhabi, but you had been ambassador to Oman. And I think of Oman as a, you know, usually playing a kind of mediator role, finding that connection between Iran and U.S. or allies that might want to talk with it.

[06:40:04]

Given how Iran has reacted, is there a diplomatic off ramp, or are these countries so upset that it's rearranged the political order?

SIEVERS: I'm not sure there is a diplomatic off ramp. I think there probably are some back-channel discussions going on in some form or another. But Oman traditionally, or at least for the last, you know, decade or so has been a major mediator between the United States and Iran. I think it's much harder for Oman to play that role now that there have been multiple drone strikes on Omani ports, on the Port of Duqm, the Port of Salalah, way down in the Arabian Sea near the Indian Ocean. These are civilian ports. They may sometimes be accessed by the U.S. Navy, but they're not U.S. Navy bases. And I do believe that those were great surprises, certainly to the Omanis and probably to everyone else that Iran did that.

CORNISH: OK, Ambassador Marc Sievers, thank you so much. Appreciate it.

SIEVERS: My pleasure, Audie.

CORNISH: All right, we're going to talk now about the politics at home, how this war could affect the political futures of two top members of President Trump's inner circle.

So, you've got Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who has seen his star rise basically, defending Trump's decision to initiate military action in a variety of places, including Tehran. But the conflict could complicate a potential White House run for, say, a Vice President J.D. Vance, who has made conflicting statements about the war with Iran.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Do you think this hurts -- this war hurts Vice President Vance's chances of becoming President Trump's successor in 2028?

MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE, FORMER U.S. CONGRESSWOMAN: The longer it goes on, it definitely does hurt J.D. Vance. And that's someone that I campaigned for aggressively.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: So, the reason why I wanted to play this, this piece of tape and from this person is because online, we know in MAGA world, there is a loud strain of people who are complaining about foreign intervention. And for a time it felt like J.D. Vance was their avatar. And is that your read of it as well? Is she flagging something because Vance is trying to say, look, everyone simmer down.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Look, she's definitely flagging, I think, just the blunt reality, I mean, of it. If this war goes on a long time and it doesn't go well, there's no doubt that J.D. Vance, the vice president, will have to -- you know, will have this sort of hanging over him.

CORNISH: Why him and not Rubio?

ZELENY: I mean Rubio will as well, but he's the vice president.

CORNISH: Right.

ZELENY: And he's the leading candidate at this point. I mean it is far too early to know what '27 and '28 will look like. But the sitting vice president of the United States has a bigger plane, a bigger portfolio. He is going to be the leading candidate. There's no doubt.

CORNISH: Does he have the bigger donors? What do our political folks say?

ASHLEY DAVIS, FORMER WHITE HOUSE OFFICIAL UNDER PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH: Well, he has different donors. I mean he actually has a lot of the tech donors as well. But, I mean, this is the consequences --

ZELENY: Leads the RNC fundraising apparatus for that reason.

DAVIS: Correct. And he has -- this is the consequences of being the vice president, which is why a lot of vice presidents don't necessarily are the heir apparents. I mean he's not going to ever contradict his boss. He can't. But also, I think that he has intelligence now that probably is a lot -- he has a lot better understanding of what's happening and what the issues are around the world than just campaigning. But listen, it's two and a half years away and like --

CORNISH: I know. You can see why people are asking because fundamentally Marco Rubio, in his position politically, prior to this point and how he's acting now as secretary of state and his various other jobs, are in line.

DAVIS: But -- yes. But Rubio is not MAGA yet (ph).

CORNISH: And I'm not sure people will feel like Vance is still in line with what he promised them.

CHUCK ROCHA, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: From the --- from the moment Donald Trump got elected, the race to replace him started. And what this does is it throws a wrench into those plans for lots of folks. Immediately you see Rubio and Vance start positioning themselves in places around the White House, around donors, to say, me, me, me, I'll be the one. And even Donald Trump has said, maybe these guys would make a great ticket together. The problem is, no matter where they position themselves, we, as Democrats, will hang this war and its unpopularity around their neck in TV ads from here to eternity, just like we do with George Bush.

CORNISH: So, here's an example of what you'll probably do. "Wall Street Journal," you know, J.D. Vance back January 2020, I think this is 2023, saying "Trump's best foreign policy? Not starting any wars," right? This is the time. And he also, in the past, talked about when he went to Iraq and he saw that we had been deceived, that the promises made by the foreign policy establishment of this country were a complete joke.

I'm saying this because the Bush era neocon is the thing that kicked off the version of MAGA we see now in a lot of ways, whether it be globalization, whether it be immigration, but especially when it comes to foreign intervention.

[06:45:03]

How have you been hearing it when Hegseth and others say, it's not the same, different time, smart, not a stupid president?

DAVIS: This is why I have a very big policy for the last 20 years that I don't ever criticize sitting presidents. I never criticized Obama. I never criticized Biden. Because we don't know what we don't know. And I think this is the problem with campaigning --

CORNISH: Known unknowns. That's straight from your friend Rumsfeld.

DAVIS: Yes. Exactly. Bless his soul.

CORNISH: Right? Known unknowns. We're not dealing with a Rumsfeld now though.

DAVIS: No.

CORNISH: We have Hegseth. So, when you hear them up there, what do you think?

DAVIS: But listen when you -- I actually listen -- do I understand the issues that Iran has brought to this country for the last 47 years? Absolutely. Have we been fighting them for the last 47 years? Absolutely. It is very unpopular. Trump absolutely knows that it was going to be unpopular. But he had a set of intelligence that he's been watching and he decided to act on it. And I think he understands 100 percent this may lose the midterms for us, but that's what you do as president of the United States. CORNISH: Yes. But thinking of ghosts of Bush era pasts, for Democrats it's now, since that time been, wait a second, not enough of us stood up to those wars when we had doubts. Wait a second. And I hear them really struggling to articulate what it is a Democrat would do differently with Iran.

ROCHA: Well, it's easy to say I wouldn't be there. And the reason that I referred to the Bush thing was because for how long, and Ashley knows this better than I do, that we talked about it as Democrats. Like, remember when we went to war. And at least George Bush went and tried to explain why we was going to war. And he went to the U.N. And he went to Congress. And he went and got a war powers act. Like, at least an unpopular war was done, quote/unquote, the right way. This is everything the opposite of that. And I think Democrats will be never letting folks forget that. I don't know what their position will be, but right now it will be, no.

CORNISH: I know. Well, I'm not trying to be a nerd who skips to 2028. I'm trying to understand the path this country is going on, and particularly on the right, where online I see a wildly disparate view of what the president is doing.

ZELENY: Without a doubt. Online there is, but still the elected Republicans are largely, almost entirely, with this administration.

CORNISH: That's true though.

ZELENY: That is one difference. Joe Rogan is --

CORNISH: Though let me show you the poll about how they feel about Vance and Rubio though.

ZELENY: For sure.

CORNISH: That's far more split. Just so we know. We know they support Trump.

ZELENY: It's a little more split.

CORNISH: Yes.

ZELENY: But I think the reality is, we don't know how this will end up. But I think one thing is clear, that Vice President Vance has changed his position. He can't change it back. He can no longer -- I mean he will have to defend what happens in Iran. And if it does --

CORNISH: Has he changed his position, though? He said, I support the president and what he's doing now.

ZELENY: He believes now that it's the right thing to do, to strike Iran.

CORNISH: OK.

ZELENY: I mean he largely has said it. He's not the only vice president to differ with the president, though. CORNISH: Yes.

ZELENY: Joe Biden differed with Barack Obama on the bin Laden attack. So, that does happen.

CORNISH: Let me play Vance then.

ZELENY: OK.

CORNISH: And then I want the panel to hear and you guys can decide for yourself.

DAVIS: I forgot about that. You're right. You're right. But that was unusual.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

J.D. VANCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES (March 16, 2026): What the president said, and consistently, going back to 2015, and I agreed with him, is that Iran should not have a nuclear weapon. We have taken this military action under the president's leadership. I think all of us, whether you're a Democrat or Republican, should pray for success and pray for the safety of our troops. That's the approach that I've taken. Make it as successful as possible.

J.D. VANCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES (October 26, 2024): Our interests, I think, very much is in not going to war with Iran, right?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right.

VANCE: It would be a huge distraction of resources. It would be massively expensive to our country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: Is this what you're saying is going to be turned into a commercial?

ROCHA: Yes, every day. And even yesterday, his only defense was, I'm with the smart president because the other president was dumb. That was what he said in the Oval Office yesterday.

CORNISH: He did. There's a lot of smart president/dumb president kind of conversation from the administration. You hear that phrasing.

ROCHA: But the American people --

CORNISH: Yes.

ROCHA: The American people ain't dumb.

ZELENY: Sure. I mean I'm -- it definitely creates an opening. I mean if there truly is this -- a long incursion here and there is an America first rising up, I mean this will be a problem for J.D. Vance. But I don't think that just disagreeing with the president is disqualifying at all.

CORNISH: Is enough of a nonstarter, yes.

ZELENY: However, the base is against this. So, what I'm watching for is, are Republican electeds who are on the ballot in November, are they going to start following the Joe Rogans and others? As of now, they really haven't.

CORNISH: No.

ZELENY: There's support on Capitol Hill. But that could change very quickly.

CORNISH: Yes. OK, you guys, we want to talk a little bit more about the partial government shutdown affecting the Department of Homeland Security, enters another week. And as we mentioned earlier, very long lines at the airport as a result. So, Republicans want voters to blame Democrats. We're going to talk about how this is going to play out.

Plus.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is clearly an attack on poor people, and it is clearly an attack on women.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: So, the Senate is taking up the SAVE Act. It's been billed as a way to stop non-U.S. citizens from voting.

And later on CNN, Republican congressman -- there's going to be a Republican congressman, Pete Sessions, who's going to join to talk about the war in Iran.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:53:44]

CORNISH: So, Republicans are set to take the Senate floor today in a bid to pass the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, also known as the SAVE Act. The recent House passed bill includes several requirements that Democrats say would cause wide scale voter suppression, while Republicans say they're necessary.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN CORNYN (R-TX): So, I don't understand how it could disenfranchise millions of Americans. And maybe he would explain.

SEN. DICK DURBIN (D-IL): I'm happy to. Thank you for that question, because I think all of us should be aware of the fact of what is required by this act when it comes to registering to vote. You have to present identification, correct? But your driver's license, which most people use in the course of business every single day, is not acceptable. What is acceptable is a passport. Fifty percent of Americans do not have a passport. Those who want to obtain it so they can vote will pay $186 and wait three or four weeks for that to happen.

Secondly, you can use a birth certificate. But any person who has changed their name as a result of a marriage or a hyphenated relationship has to find not only their birth certificate, some correction of it, to prove that they're eligible to register to vote.

[06:55:00]

It's estimated that nine percent of the voters in America do not have the identification required by this bill.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: OK, that's a long piece of tape, but I'm going to give you the punchline, because at the end John Cornyn says, well, gee, some of that could be changed with amendments right? And it was just like a strange kind of moment where Trump really, really, really wants this piece of legislation. Can you talk about why?

ZELENY: He wants this piece of legislation for a couple reasons. One, he wants to inject cultural issues into the midterm elections. It's also talking about banning transgender surgeries and other things.

CORNISH: Women in sports. Just -- we'll show it to people.

ZELENY: And women in sports, which has nothing to do --

CORNISH: Yes, so there's some stuff on --

ZELENY: Right, which has nothing to do with voting in America. But it also allows the discussion about, are the midterm elections really going to be safe? Look at that list their.

CORNISH: Yes.

ZELENY: Ban on gender affirming surgery for minors. And ban on trans women in women's sports. Obviously has nothing to do with casting ballots. But this is now a priority of the White House. But I think what --

CORNISH: It gives some people a reason to vote for it and make some people look bad if they vote against it, right? Because you can then say, well on this --

ZELENY: Depending on your perspective. Sure. Yes.

CORNISH: Depending on your political perspective you can say, hey, this lawmaker wouldn't ban women in transports, even though it's a bill about voting.

ROCHA: And when you go up and just ask the general public, do you think you should have an I.D. to vote, folks are going to say yes. But that's the last reason folks actually show up to go vote. That's the reason, I think, that they're talking about this, is this is got in every poll -- slow down, Chuck. I'll just promise you this, is in every poll that I'm doing in every race across the country, this is not what people are talking about. They're talking about the price of gas, groceries and daycare. They're not talking about, do I have an I.D. or not? And I had to show an I.D. to get this voter registration card to begin with.

CORNISH: Here's an example of the people online who are not supportive of this, who are actually kind of worried. I think it's no accident that some of them are women given the changes that would be involved. Here's a sample.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So, some might even argue that requiring that you show your passport is a violation of the 24th Amendment, which ended poll taxes and literacy tests, adding extra obstacles to vote.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, but it's only people whose names don't match their birth certificates. Um, right, married women.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Donald Trump thinks this is just going to affect brown voters and people he thinks will not support him. But Kansas proves that this can affect a lot of white, rural voters.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: This is one of those sneaky pieces of legislation where I think some people, I assume as a reporter, I'm like, people don't know about that. That's like a deep in the weeds. And then you go and look and they actually have a lot to say about it and can pinpoint where they feel they'll be affected.

DAVIS: Well, and some of the messaging as well. The bottom line is, the impact on this bill is going to be nothing because it's not going to pass the Senate. So, this bill, as is, is not going to pass.

CORNISH: Wait, say that again. So, you're saying -- you think John Thune is just not going to get this before the Senate, or you think it doesn't have the votes to pass?

DAVIS: Doesn't have the votes to pass. I mean, so we're going to start today. It's going to be probably a ten day process of them having various talks, filibuster, you say -- if you want on the floor. Everyone's going to be here all weekend. Republicans and Democrats are going to get really annoyed.

There is a chance that some version of this bill, which is what I think Cornyn was referring to, does pass in regards to maybe just I.D., not showing a birth certificate, not showing anything else.

CORNISH: Don't you already have to show an I.D. in most states?

DAVIS: But a lot of --

ZELENY: In some states. Not all states.

DAVIS: In some states. Not all states, right?

CORNISH: I see. I see.

DAVIS: That's --

CORNISH: Well, then, can I ask a question? There has bene --

DAVIS: that's the crux of the issue that I think the 86 percent of Americans do believe in. Not some of the other issues.

CORNISH: Not that long list. Cornyn, of course, in the middle of a pretty vicious primary. Trump putting pressure on him, on this piece of legislation in particular. Can you help me understand the connection there?

ZELENY: Because Ken Paxton, the Texas attorney general, who's running against John Cornyn in the primary, did a pretty brilliant, political move by boxing Cornyn in, saying, yes, I might get out of this race if the SAVE Act is passed. So, then the president is pushing for the SAVE Act. So, it creates this whole issue.

And John Thune, the majority leader, has been saying --

CORNISH: Because the president has withheld his endorsement.

ZELENY: Right, he's withheld his endorsement. But the majority leader, John Thune, has been saying, look, the votes are not there for this. So, yes, there's going to be a long, drawn out thing. But it also has a provision in there to change mail-in balloting in many states, which is also used in Republican states like Utah.

CORNISH: Yes.

ZELENY: SO, mail-in balloting has been sort of a thorn in the president's side, but it's also helped him in many cases. There are Republicans who mail-in their ballots as well.

CORNISH: And very popular among his voters.

The reason why I wanted to talk about this is because, at the end of the day, all the things we've talked about on the show today, whether it's the war in Iran, the strikes on Iran, whether it's the TSA and the long lines, voters are going to have their chance to speak up about it in the fall. And people are really questioning whether the president cares so much about this because he wants to somehow tip the scales.

DAVIS: Here's -- about all the issues you just talked about, I think this is why the American people vote people in, like Trump, or someone that is completely outside the fore on -- of political -- the political infrastructure.

CORNISH: Establishment.

DAVIS: Establishment.

CORNISH: Yes.

[07:00:00]

DAVIS: Because if you look at your Congress and say, why isn't TSA being paid? Now I'm being impacted because I'm going on spring break or wherever you're traveling.

CORNISH: Yes.

DAVIS: This -- our politicians are not working. So, I think it's being --

CORNISH: Yes. But you want your vote to matter.

DAVIS: Correct.

CORNISH: And I think that's what people are worried about.

DAVIS: Yes.

ROCHA: And more -- and more people in every election, me and Jeff were in Texas for the primaries, more people are voting than ever before, Democrat and Republicans, because something is happening. And the overarching thing in both things is the anxiety of being pissed about how much everything is costing right now.

CORNISH: OK, you guys, thank you so much. I know we covered a lot of ground. Thank you for helping me make sense of it. I appreciate it.

And thank you for choosing to be with us. The headlines are next.