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CNN This Morning

Deadly Attack on Israel After Killing of Top Iranian Leaders; Joe Kent Resignation Puts Intelligence Behind War at Question; Long Lines, Short Tempers at Airport Security Checkpoints. Aired 6-6:30a ET

Aired March 18, 2026 - 06:00   ET

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

[06:00:15]

AUDIE CORNISH, CNN ANCHOR: Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation. That is what a top spy appointed by President Trump said in his resignation letter. We're going to talk about whether or not he's right.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX): If any official in the administration disagrees with the national security policies of the president, he or she should resign.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: The defiant exit divides MAGA further. Does the split now run deeper and closer to the president?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: We don't need any help, actually.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: Rejected by NATO and nearly everyone else, the president now says the U.S. can handle the Strait of Hormuz alone. So, what would that look like?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(EXPLOSION)

CORNISH: Right here, more shots fired at the U.S. embassy in Baghdad. Is there any hope of talks to end the fighting?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's disgraceful what's going on here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: A political standoff over ICE agents that is now hurting TSA agents, air passengers caught in the middle. So, what is the real sticking point? CNN THIS MORNING starts right now.

So, Iran now vowing revenge for the deaths of two senior leaders. New video overnight, This is showing missiles being fired at Tel Aviv, quote, "in retaliation."

Welcome, everybody. I am Audie Cornish. I want to start with this news. That attack on Israel. It's one of the breaking developments that we're following right now.

Israel says that it intercepted missiles overnight. At least two people have been killed in the central part of the country after an apparent cluster bomb exploded.

More strikes on the U.S. embassy compound in Baghdad. That was targeted by at least four projectiles. That includes two drones. And there is some damage in the area. We do not have reports yet of casualties.

Now, all of this as Axios reporting that Steve Witkoff has opened a direct line of communication with Iran's foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi.

Now, Araghchi has denied this, writing on social media that his last contact with Witkoff was actually before U.S. strikes began. But on Monday, President Trump told reporters this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: They want to make a deal. They're talking to our people. They're negotiating. And we always talk. You know, somebody said, well, would you talk? Why would you even talk to him?

I talk to everybody, because sometimes good things come out of it. But I don't know if they're ready yet.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: I'm going to bring in now CNN's Oren Liebermann in Jerusalem. Oren, so, we're learning about Israel targeting an Iranian intelligence minister overnight. What detail do you have?

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN JERUSALEM BUREAU CHIEF: We learned this a short while ago, and we're now waiting to find out what Israel assesses is the results of those strikes.

But Israel targeted Iranian Intelligence Minister Ismail Khatib in an overnight strike in the Iranian capital of Tehran. This is part of what we've seen, effectively, since the start of the war where Israel continues to target and kill Iran's top leadership.

That began with Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and that continued just one day earlier with the assassination of Ali Larijani, the country's top security official, and now the intelligence minister.

We don't yet have confirmation of the results of the strike, not from the Israelis. And the Iranians have not commented. But this is a continuation of what Defense Minister Israel Katz here said just one day ago.

He said Israel will continue to hunt down the leaders of the Iranian regime. And that's what we're seeing play out here in real time.

Iran, meanwhile, has vowed to respond to the killing of Larijani. We saw at least some of that late into the evening last night and in the overnight hours, where Iran launched a barrage of missiles. At least one appeared to have a cluster warhead from video we saw in the skies over central Israel.

And we saw reports of damage across the central part of the country, sirens also sounding here in Jerusalem, at least two people killed as a result of those strikes in Ramat Gan, which is just north of Tel Aviv.

Meanwhile, as Israel and the U.S. continue to carry out strikes against Iran, we also see the soaring death toll there, as this war very much continues as we near the three-week mark, Audie.

[06:05:05]

CORNISH: OK. Oren, thank you so much.

I want to turn to this next, because there's been a shakeup in the White House, and this puts the intelligence behind the U.S. rationale for going into the war with Iran in question.

So, you have the National Counterterrorism Center director, Joe Kent. He has resigned. Here's the thing. In his letter, he says it's because he couldn't support the ongoing war.

And he wrote that "Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation, and it is clear that we started this war due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby."

So, Kent leaves behind a crucial role. He was tasked with monitoring intelligence associated with terrorist organizations in the Middle East and drug cartels.

Now, sources tell CNN that he actually met with Vice President J.D. Vance and Director of Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard yesterday.

Both Vance and Gabbard, as we know, have been outspoken about the U.S. getting into endless wars. That's how they talked in the past.

In the meantime, President Trump, well, he's glad Kent's gone.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I always thought he was a nice guy, but I always thought he was weak on security, very weak on security.

But when I read his statement, I realized that it's a good thing that he's out. Because he said that Iran was not a threat? Iran was a threat. Every country realized what a threat Iran was.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: OK. Joining me now in the group chat, Jasmine Wright, White House correspondent for "NOTUS" and coauthor for the NOTUS morning newsletter; Charlie Dent, former Republican congressman for Pennsylvania; and Antjuan Seawright, Democratic strategist.

So, we are going to talk later about Kent's proximity to the antisemitic and racist wing of the party. This came up during his security hearings.

However, the other thing that came up during his original hearings was the idea that Democrats said he would bend intelligence to his political preoccupations. Has Trump been bitten by the exact thing that Democrats raise as a potential problem?

JASMINE WRIGHT, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, "NOTUS": Well, if you ask Joe Kent, who is expected to be on Tucker Carlson later on this week, maybe he would say yes.

I mean, I think fundamentally, this is a problem for the White House. Yesterday, they moved after that resignation letter hit the Internet. They moved to discredit him. Folks called him a leaker.

The White House basically told reporters that -- or an administration official told reporters that he had been removed from these highly classified presidential daily briefs, because they thought that he was leaking.

And so, you know, they've moved to kind of section him off and say that he didn't really have that much power.

But what he believes has a lot of power, particularly in the MAGA base now, we know that they are not necessarily as fractioned as we perhaps believe them to be because of some of their loudest Speakers. But privately, a lot of folks do agree with him, and they kind of championed him.

CORNISH: Now he's second to Tulsi Gabbard, right?

Yes this guy has serious security clearance. They put him there when they wanted to have a conversation about Venezuela and Tren de Aragua and border security.

But now it comes to this Iran issue. And Charlie, can you talk about this? You have Tom -- Tom Cotton, the senator, on social media, saying that he agrees that Kent and his family sacrificed for the nation. But he says, "I disagree with his misguided assessment."

Can they kind of clean up on aisle nine here when they have someone in this position coming out and saying this?

CHARLIE DENT, FORMER REPUBLICAN PENNSYLVANIA CONGRESSMAN: Well, there's certainly a problem for the White House. But my own personal view is I think that this is good riddance.

This man has been pointed out, engaged in extreme politics. He was an election denier. He was all in on the MAGA. I don't think he should have had the job, notwithstanding, of course, he had served our country and his wife was killed in action.

But this guy was a problem. I thought from day one they should have never put him in this position.

Now I agree with something he said, though. I do think that -- that -- I do think that there was -- look, he -- I disagree with the idea on Israel. He -- Israel did not force our hands here.

CORNISH: Yes.

DENT: If -- if the president of the United States wanted Israel to go in, which I think he did he greenlighted them. They would not have gone in without us. So, I don't agree with him at all on that.

But I do think that there are some other aspects of what he said that are probably true, that the --

CORNISH: Yes. There's a lot of kind of, like --

DENT: -- intelligence said it was not an immediate threat.

CORNISH: -- broken clocks rhetoric around this --

DENT: Not an immediate threat.

CORNISH: -- like, rhetoric. But let me just play House Speaker Mike Johnson. Here's what he had to say after this news broke.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA): I don't know where Joe Kent is getting his information, but he wasn't in those briefings, clearly. Because the secretary of state, the secretary of war and everyone -- the joint chiefs of staff, General Caine, they had exquisite intelligence that we understood that this was a serious moment for us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: "I don't know where he's getting his information" is wild, given his actual title, which is guy who collects information as hub for security. Am I making that up?

[06:10:03]

WRIGHT: Director of National Counterterrorism.

CORNISH: That is literally the job.

WRIGHT: Yes.

ANTJUAN SEAWRIGHT, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: This is what happened when you appoint people who are loyal to a cause. Most of the appointees are reflective of what Charlie just laid out, but they also have been reflective of this MAGA/"America First" movement. No wars. Most of those folks campaigned, like Marjorie Taylor Greene and

others, that no new wars, no endless wars, no regime change.

Now here we are. The president has yet to justify to the American people and to the Congress why we're in this current war situation, costing the American taxpayers $1 billion a day. Very unpopular amongst the American people; very unpopular among his own base.

CORNISH: Yes.

SEAWRIGHT: And that's why you see the fractures. That's why you see people who are honestly saying, You know what? I don't care what has been, as it relates to my loyalty to the president. The president will end -- the presidency will end one day. Now, I have to be honest and truthful about what we're dealing with.

CORNISH: Well, it's a mixed bag about motivations there. I want to point out two things.

One thing Kent did was effectively smoke out Tulsi Gabbard --

WRIGHT: Yes.

CORNISH: -- who I have not seen in the process of prosecuting this war.

and she follows up on something that Kent said. And it was fascinating. She says, "as our commander in chief, Trump is responsible for determining what is and is not an imminent threat," and that the president concluded that the terrorist Islamic regime posed an imminent threat.

And so, instead of what the security person who's exiting said -- I saw no imminent threat. I saw no imminent threat -- she comes out and says the definition of imminent is when he says it is.

WRIGHT: Yes. And missing from that statement, one, is Joe Kent's name. But secondly, it's whether or not she agrees that there was an imminent threat.

CORNISH: Right. That her direct report is wrong.

WRIGHT: And whether or not the intelligence conclusion supports the fact that there's an imminent threat.

And those are two things that she's going to be asked about later on today at the Senate Intelligence Committee I talked to one person allied with the MAGA movement who basically said Joe Kent was the first. Tulsi Gabbard is inevitable because of their views.

CORNISH: OK. Hold on. We're going to talk about Joe Kent more later, because there's a lot to this. Stay with me. Antjuan, I promise I will come to you.

Coming up on CNN THIS MORNING, I'm going to talk about the Strait of Hormuz. And what does it mean when the U.S. says it needs help? The president says, look, we don't.

So, what has changed since -- I don't know -- Monday?

And today, Senator Markwayne Mullin faces his confirmation hearing. What is that going to look like?

And in the meantime, no end in sight for those of you at the airport. Hello, I'm sorry.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I had delays yesterday for, like, three hours. And I'm thinking I'm going to rebook my travel -- wait on travel until this settles down.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:17:01]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Our president has turned our country into a third- world country. This is disgraceful. And I hope, at a minimum, they are offering all these TSA employees an extra dollar and a half, $2, $3 an hour to show up to work.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: CNN is currently tracking TSA wait times at major airports. It is 6:17 Eastern. Already wait times in Atlanta, Orlando, and JFK in New York are close to one hour.

Hundreds of TSA workers across the country haven't shown up for work this week amid this Department of Homeland Security shutdown.

The system, it's hit a rough patch. A TSA official warns some smaller airports could be forced to shut down if DHS isn't funded soon.

So, when is this going to end? I mean, agents have been working without pay for more than a month. Democrats have been refusing to fund DHS without reforms to ICE.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN (D-MA): ICE being able to wear masks; to be able to pull people out of their cars and throw them to the ground; to be able to gas little babies; and to be able to shoot people in broad daylight with no accountability. That is not helping reduce lines at the airport.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: So, the White House actually released a letter just yesterday, signaling that it might be ready to make some concessions.

So, what do they include? Expanded use of body cameras at ICE; some limits on enforcement activities at so-called sensitive areas, specifically schools and hospitals; increased congressional oversight of DHS detention facilities; and visible I.D.s for DHS law enforcement. And lastly, adhering to existing laws not to deport U.S. citizens.

I really like that last one. Group chat is back.

Some of the things I didn't see on there are sensitive locations including polling stations, which Democrats had started to nudge in that direction, even though that was not the original definition of sensitive locations under previous law.

And also, there are questions about use of force policy and oversight. So where is this going, Antjuan? Like, what do Democrats need in writing to feel good about ending the shutdown?

SEAWRIGHT: To answer your first question, nowhere fast. Democrats have been very intentional about what their asks are, including ICE agents, like normal law enforcement officials, not wear masks. And the whole warrant process, not being able to illegally enter a business.

CORNISH: So, the administrative versus judicial warrants.

SEAWRIGHT: Versus judicial warrants. I think that's a big sticking point. The body cameras and all the things that have been laid out.

And while Republicans want to hoodwink the American people that Democrats are holding up funding for TSA agents and so forth, they've been funding bills brought to the floor to be voted on, to open up every single aspect of the agencies, with the exception of ICE; DHS and ICE.

CORNISH: So, let me make this clear for people, and you can tell me if I'm right. So, basically, there have been bills put forward that say, OK fine, fund TSA.

WRIGHT: Yes.

[06:20:08]

CORNISH: But you still can't have money for ICE. What's going on with that legislation?

WRIGHT: Yes. I mean, Democrats have basically tried to say, We will fund every part of DHS except for ICE and Border Patrol, so that we can get these negotiations out of the way.

The White House has told me that they're not conceding that. They're not allowing Democrats to open up other parts of DHS without funding ICE, because --

CORNISH: Because that's their leverage. Right? They want to point at the lines and say -- WRIGHT: Yes, that's because they know that it's never going to get

reopened.

I mean, I think I was sent that list by the White House yesterday, and, you know, that is true. But there are some caveats, like with the I.D. part, it says this does not pertain to undercover agents. With the -- with the sensitive sites, it says, unless there are credible enforcement efforts needed to do that, right?

CORNISH: Yes. and we know their definitions of things like credible and imminent are -- yes.

WRIGHT: So, I -- so I think that this list is really far away from what Democrats want.

CORNISH: OK but here's what the public sees.

WRIGHT: Yes.

CORNISH: John Cornyn, Republican in a vicious primary versus a House Democrat, Greg Casar in Texas. Let me show you this exchange.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN CORNYN (R-TX): Why don't you tell me your Democrats to vote to pay these poor people?

REP. GREG CASAR (D-TX): Let's do it. Let's do it.

CORNYN: No, you do it.

CASAR: No, no, you don't have to yell at me.

CORNYN: I've voted for it time and time again.

CASAR: Let's go. Let's -- let's talk for a second. There's a bipartisan bill to fund just the TSA. Can we do that together?

CORNYN: Not acceptable.

CASAR: Not acceptable to fund just the TSA?

CORNYN: You want to fund -- how about all the terrorist attacks like we see down on Sixth Street? Do you want those to continue? These people are keeping us safe. Tell the Democrats to vote for funding the DHS.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: If you can believe this. I think people were there to bring hamburgers. Like I think this was a Whataburger, like campaign moment where everyone is supposed to show that they were helping TSA. And then it ends up in a "See you outside," you know, debacle, let's just say.

Like, what is this debate that we just saw? DENT: Look, there is a real problem in this country that, if each

side, both Republicans and Democrats, have used these shutdowns now to advance specific policy.

CORNISH: That's true. Yes.

DENT: This is a very bad thing. Now, look, it's true that -- that -- that we need to reform ICE. No question about that.

But at the same time, these TSA workers, the Coast Guard, FEMA, they are paying the price. This is absolutely wrong. They need to fund this thing.

And this thing is going to end when enough people like that, that gentleman we just saw, who was complaining about standing in line, when we hear enough of those people.

CORNISH: Yes.

DENT: This is when this ends.

CORNISH: And we heard from TSA workers again. They're being hit multiple times because of various shutdowns. So, they're -- you know what I mean?

WRIGHT: They now lose their second paycheck.

CORNISH: Which is when they quit. Now, you know, most people are like, you know what? Probably I'd do the same.

SEAWRIGHT: But let's show you how serious this administration --

WRIGHT: I mean, almost 400 TSA agents have quit. So --

SEAWRIGHT: Let me show you how unserious this White House is. The last line that you mentioned in your opening is promise not to deport American citizens following the law that already exists. They --

CORNISH: Yes. I wish I didn't need to.

SEAWRIGHT: They have been -- they have been declarative that they have not deported American citizens. That's why you know they're very unserious. They're not interested in funding the government properly.

And certainly, they're not interested in real reforms to ICE, because ICE is, in fact, working for them among their base.

WRIGHT: But I do wonder if the further away you get from some of those really, you know, concerning moments, like in Minnesota.

CORNISH: The deaths of two U.S. citizens.

WRIGHT: The further you get away from those, is it the further that Democrats get away from their leverage? Right?

CORNISH: Yes. WRIGHT: Are they losing the political argument, because you are getting further and further away? There are so many things happening in the news cycle. And so, people aren't concerned as much about ICE.

CORNISH: Yes. It's yet another waiting game.

WRIGHT: And yet, they're concerned about the airports.

CORNISH: Yes.

WRIGHT: And people not getting paid and their prices getting higher.

CORNISH: It's another waiting game at the expense of many other people.

We're going to talk more. We've actually got a Democrat coming on. We'll be able to ask that question after the break.

You've got House conservatives revolting over the stalled SAVE Act, right, which is about voter I.D. So how do Democrats counter that?

We're also going to take a closer look at life for Iranians, which is filled with threats, both foreign and domestic.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:28:31]

CORNISH: All right. We've got President Trump now lashing out at NATO allies, who are denying his calls for ships to help secure the Strait of Hormuz.

So, while talking with reporters in the Oval Office, the president actually framed the demand as a test of loyalty for NATO members and threatened the future of the alliance over their response.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Well, we don't need too much help. And we don't need any help, actually.

We don't need help. You know, we've -- we've -- that war is -- has been long prosecuted, as far as I'm concerned.

I think NATO's making a very foolish mistake. And I've long said that, you know, I wonder whether or not NATO would ever be there for us. So, this is a -- this was a great test, because we don't need them, but they should have been there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: All right. Joining me now to talk about this, retired Navy Admiral James Stavridis. He's also CNN senior military analyst and former NATO supreme allied commander.

I've got the right person to talk about this. Admiral, thank you so much for being here.

My first question is about this photo I've been seeing for the last couple of weeks, which is images of decommissioned mines. So, I was seeing this reporting that we once had, like, a larger minesweeper fleet. So, what do we have now in terms of mine kind of countermeasures?

ADMIRAL JAMES STAVRIDIS (RET.), CNN SENIOR MILITARY ANALYST: Well, the good news is that you're showing four Avenger class minesweepers.

Frankly, would have been nice to have them in the Gulf, but they're far from the cutting edge of minesweeping technology at this point, Audie. They're all over 30 years old.

What you're showing in the background there is the replacement.

[06:30:00]