Return to Transcripts main page
CNN This Morning
Netanyahu Says He'll Cease Attacks on Energy Sites; White House Asks Congress for $200B for War in Iran; Trump Makes Pearl Harbor Joke in Front of Japan's Leader; FBI Director: Counterintel Team was Fired over 'Ethical Violations'. Aired 6-6:30a ET
Aired March 20, 2026 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HANAKO MONTGOMERY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Huge cultural export. They've taken Korean culture, and they've brought it to the entire world and, of course, have millions of fans now because of this.
[06:00:10]
So, a huge moment for BTS and BTS's many, many fans, Rahel.
RAHEL SOLOMON, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, lots of excitement around the world for that. CNN's Hanako Montgomery in Seoul for us. Hanako, thank you.
And thank you for watching EARLY START. And our thanks to Becky Anderson and the team in Abu Dhabi for joining us today. I'm Rahel Solomon in New York. Have a great weekend. CNN THIS MORNING starts right now.
AUDIE CORNISH, CNN ANCHOR: The White House wants 200 billion for the war with Iran. Will the leaders you elected in Washington go for it?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PETE HEGSETH, U.S. DEFENSE SECRETARY: It takes money to kill bad guys.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: Congress gets to decide, however, and cracks are already emerging among some Republicans.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: Not putting troops anywhere.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: The president has said that before, but he's also leaving wiggle room. Why is that?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: President Trump asked us to hold off on future attacks, and we're holding out.
(END VIDEO CLIP) CORNISH: Now, Iran, however, has hit some of Israel's oil fields. Can both sides stop hitting energy resources?
And Americans divided, with the nation at war.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're not buying that (EXPLETIVE DELETED) that they were, you know, a threat to us.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We should have did it a long time ago.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: CNN THIS MORNING starts right now.
OK. You've got oil prices surging. The gas supply squeezed. Officials warn the war is creating the largest supply disruption in the history of the global oil market.
Good morning, everybody. I'm Audie Cornish, and we are following this breaking news on multiple fronts.
We're going to start with more oil refineries struck overnight in Saudi Arabia and in Israel and in Kuwait. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his country acted alone in hitting Iran's largest energy site, the South Pars gas field. That happened on Wednesday. He also said the strikes on energy sites will stop.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NETANYAHU: President Trump asked us to hold off on future attacks, and we're holding out.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: So, is this all coming at a price? Oil prices remain volatile this morning after reaching $119 per barrel on Monday.
I'm going to turn now to CNN's Oren Liebermann in Jerusalem to follow up on those comments from Netanyahu.
There was some conversation earlier this week after Trump tweets about the attack that Israel did on the South Pars gas field. Can you talk about what happened next? I think our Jeremy Diamond got to ask the prime minister a few questions yesterday about this. And here's one example of what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You also indicated today that you made a commitment to President Trump not to strike these oil and gas facilities in the future.
Should President Trump come to you one day and say oil prices are too high, it's time to end this war, will you listen to him? And do you need the United States in order to continue this campaign alone?
NETANYAHU: I don't think any two leaders have been as coordinated as President Trump and I. He's the leader. I'm, you know, his ally. America is the leader. But ultimately, President Trump makes his own decisions. And do I respect him? Yes, I do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: Oren, what's the state of this relationship?
OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN JERUSALEM BUREAU CHIEF: Well, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu -- and you heard it right there. You heard it actually, for much of the press conference -- is doing everything he can to make sure his messaging and his aims here are aligned with President Donald Trump.
Netanyahu knows that if he wants to continue this war -- and that is certainly part of his plans -- he needs Trump on board.
So, this press conference that we saw right there was all about messaging. We have spoken with American and Israeli officials who say the U.S. knew in advance about Israel's strike in the South Pars gas field, which has led to Iran's retaliation on energy facilities around the region, the spike in gas prices, and more.
So, now for Netanyahu, this is getting more on -- on messaging, and that's probably why he spoke in English to the foreign media: to make sure that message got across the Atlantic Ocean, letting Trump know that Trump leads, Israel will follow, even as both have acknowledged, yes, there are some different aims here.
The U.S. has laid out their military aims, while Israel has done much more of going after Iranian regime leadership; has carried out at least two strikes on Iranian oil facilities and energy facilities.
But at least now that Trump has said don't do that anymore, Israel will hold off. And that lets it continue the rest of the war and the remaining targets.
[06:05:01]
CORNISH: We're learning now that six U.S. allies have said they are ready to, I guess, contribute to what they call appropriate efforts to open up the Strait of Hormuz.
Can you talk about which allies and what exactly are they offering?
LIEBERMANN: At the moment right now, it seems all they're offering is to take part in planning for an appropriate response.
It is, at this point, nothing more than a statement, because there is no plan that we have seen to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
This came out not in the last Pentagon press briefing, but the one before that, where they said they're working on it. There isn't a plan right now, but the U.S. allies want to be seen as being willing to contribute in some way. So, they put out a statement saying they'll take part in the discussions.
Those allies include the U.K., France, German -- Germany, Italy,, the Netherlands, Japan and Canada. Japan already said they're not sending warships. Other countries have said they'll take part in discussions.
But that's where this stands right now. Discussions. The Strait of Hormuz, one of the world's most critical waterways, remains under Iran's control right now.
CORNISH: OK, that's Oren Liebermann. Oren, thank you so much.
I'm going to turn to this, because for this war, the Trump administration is planning to ask Congress for $200 billion. The president says this is a small price to pay. A lot of Republicans are having a tough time with that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. LAUREN BOEBERT (R-CO): I am a "no." I've already told leadership I am a "no" on any war supplementals. I am so tired of spending money elsewhere. We need "America first" policies right now.
SEN. LISA MURKOWSKI (R-AK): How much is this going to cost? What -- to what extent is the Congress engaged in this? And the answer on most of this is I don't know.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: All right. Joining me now in the group chat: Seung Min Kim, White House reporter for the Associated Press; Michael Warren, senior editor at "The Dispatch"; and Maria Cardona, Democratic strategist.
I want to start with our White House reporter, because there's a lot of money flying around between the war for Ukraine; also, this; also, the budget request.
SEUNG MIN KIM, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Right.
CORNISH: Can you give me a sense of the scale of what they're asking for?
KIM: Right.
CORNISH: Is this the first of many asks or part of an ongoing?
KIM: Well, it could be just the first, because remember, this is actually what the Pentagon is asking of the White House. And it's not just the Pentagon that has a role in this war.
It's the State Department that's also probably going to need extra money. I'm told by my sources that that figure is still being formulated.
But I just want to put it into context $200 billion, if you look at that figure. If you look at all the money that the U.S. has contributed for the war in Ukraine, that happened after the Russian invasion in 2022, depending on -- depending on the statistics that you look at, it's about $180 billion. I mean, so that is --
CORNISH: Yes. You're not the only one doing the math.
KIM: Yes.
CORNISH: Let me play for you some sticker shock reaction from some Republicans.
Thomas Massie, kind of evergreen there in terms of his response to the administration. He asked, "Is this the first?"
And then you have someone like, let's see. This is Shelley Moore Capito, who is saying, "It was twice what I thought it was going to be."
"What exactly is it for? How long is it good for?" These are -- this is my Republican board. We haven't even gotten to the Democrats. OK?
So, Mike Warren, help me. Why are they surprised when you heard Hegseth say, "Look, it takes a lot of money to kill the bad guys"?
MICHAEL WARREN, SENIOR EDITOR, "THE DISPATCH": There's been no case made, no sustained and consistent and frequent case from the president either before -- certainly before that this war happened.
And now, since the war has started, not just -- not to the American people, not to foreign allies, not to allies within his party, and not even to members of Congress.
And I think that these questions are the kind of questions that Congress is supposed to ask. I have a feeling that they're going to find this $200 billion for this, but it's going to be difficult.
CORNISH: I just have to say, are they really going to stop once you have so many people in the theater of war? We're not at boots yet. We're going to talk about that later, about whether or not there'll be troops on the ground in some capacity.
But it's fair to say the U.S. has done a lot to diminish Iran's capabilities.
WARREN: Yes.
CORNISH: Can you say "no" now, when there's the potential to finish the job, by whatever metric that is?
WARREN: Right. Well, and it's also confusing, because the president says the job is already done.
MARIA CARDONA, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Exactly.
WARREN: And yet, we need more money. And look, this is -- I think there is an actual case to be made that, you know, that this war was important and the war was right to do now. And the president hasn't made that. And members of his own party are basically calling him out on it. It's
making it much more difficult for the president to sell this war after its already started.
CORNISH: And then Democrats can jump on that. So, here's Nancy Pelosi speaking about the atmosphere around this right now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA), FORMER SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: The only thing that really matters is public opinion. Public opinion weighs in. The president cannot ignore that. Nor can the members of Congress who are giving him all this sway, who've abolished the role of Congress given by the Constitution to declare war, A.
[06:10:01]
B, the president listens mostly, though, to the stock market. And as you see, it's gone down thousands of points from where it was.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: The president does listen to numbers. He does listen to markets. She's not wrong about that.
But war is a different beast. So, can you make sense of the messaging here?
CARDONA: Yes, absolutely. And you're right. He has not made the case not only to Congress or to the allies but, more importantly, to the American people. And this is where I --
CORNISH: You think that would make a difference, though? Like, when I think back to the forever wars, you know, 9/11, the U.S. was attacked, OK? It was not imminent. It happened.
CARDONA: That's right. That's right.
CORNISH: And it changed the public opinion and atmosphere.
CARDONA: Right.
CORNISH: And gave a lot of leeway to those administrations after.
CARDONA: That's right. But do you know why? Because they actually -- I mean, they at least had the audacity and the courage to tell us a lie about why we went to war after 9/11.
They went to Congress. They made the case publicly. It ended up being wrong in the end. But at least they made the case.
CORNISH: So, you're saying that's what helped with public opinion?
CARDONA: Absolutely. Yes, absolutely.
CORNISH: OK. CARDONA: Because they gathered everyone and said, this is about -- and they actually made sense.
The problem here is every time that there's a microphone in front of Trump or Rubio or Hegseth, they say something different. And then, when you ask for $200 billion after you spend $1 billion the -- from the start of the war, and you have American families who can't make ends meet?
CORNISH: Yes.
CARDONA: That, I think is -- CORNISH: Well, we're going to follow up on that, because in the horseshoe politics of this, you hear both Republicans and some Democrats saying there are people here in the U.S. who need support.
CARDONA: Yes.
CORNISH: And that can really alter the conversation.
You guys stay with us, because we're going to ask the question about whether or not this is a so-called escalation spiral. Will the White House stop the war with Iran before it gets out of hand?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I actually thought the numbers would be worse. I thought that it would go up more than it did.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: And the president says that oil prices could be worse. We're going to talk about what the administration is actively doing to try and get them down.
And then the rose revoked. ABC cancels the new season of "The Bachelorette" just days before the premiere.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[06:16:42]
CORNISH: All right. It is now 16 minutes past the hour. Here are five things to know to get your day going.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEVE SWEENEY, LEBANON BUREAU CHIEF, "RUSSIA TODAY": Further rocket attacks were reported against Nahariya and a --
(EXPLOSION)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: OK. That is the Lebanon bureau chief for "Russia Today." His name is Steve Sweeney, narrowly escaping a missile strike during a live broadcast in Southern Lebanon.
So, Sweeney and his cameraman, they survived. They're being treated for injuries in the hospital. There are ongoing Israeli airstrikes and ground operations in the region.
Meanwhile, James Gracey, the American college student who went missing in Spain, he has been found. He was dead.
The 20-year-old disappeared after he went to a nightclub in Barcelona, and his body was found in shallow waters at a beach near the club, where police had been searching.
Barcelona police say it appears to be an accident and not a criminal act.
And the new season of "The Bachelorette" has been shelved. This comes amid allegations of abuse for the season's star, Taylor Frankie Paul.
ABC decided to pull the show after TMZ published a video from 2023, showing Paul throwing a metal bar stool at her former partner while her child was in the room.
Now, in a statement to "People" magazine, Paul's representative said, quote, "After years of silently suffering extensive mental and physical abuse, as well as threats of retaliation, Taylor is finally gaining the strength to face her accuser."
And it goes on to say she's taking "steps to ensure that she and her children are protected from any further harm."
Now, "The Bachelorette" was set to premiere this Sunday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (singing): I could spend a lifetime watching you swim.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: BTS is back! The K-pop group just dropped a new album. It is called "Arirang," and this is their first album after taking off for four years to complete mandatory military service.
Finally, here's the moment President Trump said this about the war in Iran while sitting next to the leader of Japan.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: One thing, you don't want to signal too much. You know? When we go in, we went in very hard. And we didn't tell anybody about it, because we wanted surprise.
Who knows better about surprise than Japan? OK. Why didn't you tell me about Pearl Harbor? OK. Right? You know, he's asking me, do you believe in surprise? I think much more so than us.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
OK, so it was a moment. Our White House reporter.
KIM: I had to -- I had to file that for the wire, and I had to listen to that quote several times, just to make sure I had heard what I had heard.
What was so striking to me, aside from that comment, was the prime minister's face. She really --
CORNISH: Oh, wait. I think we have it.
KIM: Can we play that? Like, just the poker face that she lacked and just the widening of the eyes and kind of the --
CORNISH: Listen to you. She tried.
KIM: She did try.
CORNISH: She tried. Oh, oh, internal groan.
KIM: Yes.
CORNISH: And we return to composure.
KIM: Right.
CORNISH: Yes. No, I appreciate it. And she likes him a lot. We should say they have a good relationship.
[06:20:02]
KIM: They get along. Like, they greeted each other with a really warm hug. But it's so funny to me, because so many of these foreign leaders who come to the White House, we've talked to people. They actually prep for these Oval sessions.
CORNISH: Yes.
KIM: Because they know they can get out of control. There are a lot of questions flying. The president says things like this.
So, the -- the leaders can kind of -- they try to anticipate what may happen so they're prepared in front of these cameras. I am not quite sure she --
CORNISH: Well, as he says --
(CROSSTALK)
WARREN: They can't have anticipated that.
CARDONA: I bet you they never anticipated that. I bet you they did not practice that question.
KIM: Right. CORNISH: OK. We have to leave it there, thankfully.
After the break on CNN THIS MORNING, we're going to turn to this revelation. Kash Patel of the FBI fired a team specializing in threats from Iran. And this happened just days before the war. So, people are asking whether he put politics over protecting the U.S.
Plus, is the president considering putting troops on the ground in his war on Iran? He says if he was, we wouldn't know.
I want to give you a live look at LAX. I know it's early, and there are long lines at airports across the U.S. We're running 120 minutes long in Atlanta, 90 at George Bush International in Houston. And I'm sorry to say this, more than an hour at LaGuardia in New York. Stay with us, guys.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[06:25:36]
CORNISH: So, the FBI director stands by his decision to fire an expert team from a counterintelligence unit that had specialized in threats from Iran.
Kash Patel did this just days before the war with Iran started, and Patel told a hearing on global threats that Iran posed a continuing threat to the homeland.
So, he was pressed on why members of that team were fired. CNN has reported that the agents who were fired were working on Trump's classified documents case, as well.
Patel wouldn't say that that was the reason.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. STEVE COHEN (D-TN): You fired those 12 people. They were experts on Iran, were they not?
KASH PATEL, FBI DIRECTOR: I don't believe so.
COHEN: They worked in counterintelligence, did they not?
PATEL: I'm taking you at your word, sir. I'm not familiar with every single one.
COHEN: You're the director. I'm not. You should know the answer. You fired the people. Where did they work?
PATEL: I -- people were terminated for violating their ethical obligations and the high standards I had.
COHEN: Was the ethical violations that they dealt with the case of the classified documents that were found at the bathroom in Mar-a-Lago? Was that the ethical issue?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: OK, group chat is back. We've been following this for a while, in part because, you know, we saw that shooting in Austin. We've had attacks.
And people may not realize this, but the FBI does the spy chasing on the streets of the U.S. That's their job, is to go around looking for threats.
So, what do you make of the way that, like, he's responded to this? Kind of, I don't know her, but also maybe ethics?
KIM: Well, he's responding really carefully, because as we pointed out, as you pointed out before the clip, that the -- that, you know, the CNN's reporting shows that they were cut because of their work on the classified documents case that the Justice Department did before the president came back into office.
And we also know that that theme of retribution has been a big theme throughout the president's second term.
CORNISH: Particularly at the FBI.
KIM: Particularly at the FBI, because there -- you know, he -- the president has a suspicion about the FBI.
CORNISH: Yes.
KIM: This dates back to his first term. Obviously, the Justice Department had a big role --
CORNISH: And we're basing this on the fact that the FBI, like, there are people suing right now --
KIM: Right.
CORNISH: -- over these exact issues.
KIM: Exactly.
CORNISH: You know, I want to point out. He didn't have an answer. But a few weeks back, Ben Williamson, who's the assistant director for public affairs at the FBI, said, Look, I can answer this.
He said that he spoke to FBI execs, and they confirmed that just three of the people fired worked on the Iran issue. He also said that their counterintelligence is doing great. The numbers are up and that this story -- just playing down this story, that this was not a decimated intel. What's your response to that?
WARREN: I mean, of course, that's what he's going to say. Look, if -- if Kash Patel were put into this position in order to sort of be hyper competent, he wouldn't be in this position. He's there to be a sort of political hatchet man. That's -- that's why he is on --
CORNISH: Did you say "hatchet"? "Political hatchet man"? WARREN: Yes.
CORNISH: OK.
WARREN: For -- for -- for the president. That's -- that's how he got on the president's radar in the first place. That's what he's there for.
And I think it's really the -- what the -- what the hearing, I think, really revealed, there's sort of -- there's something in social psychology called the Dunning-Kruger effect, where you don't know what you don't know. And then you sort of overestimate your knowledge of the thing that you don't know about.
CORNISH: Yes.
WARREN: And I think that really revealed, maybe at best, that Patel doesn't really have that institutional knowledge of the FBI that is so important, that would help you realize. Wait a second, Mr. President. Maybe we can't fire these people who are working on this other important priority of yours.
CORNISH: Yes. Like, this is a time maybe you want those Farsi speakers. You want people who have --
CARDONA: Exactly.
CORNISH: -- institutional knowledge
CARDONA: And it's not just astounding, but it should be incredibly infuriating and should inject, frankly, a lot of fear in the -- into the American people.
Because this is exactly what we were all afraid of: that he was focused not on people who had the expertise to do this job, but people who were there to do his political bidding.
CORNISH: Right. Or the consequences of that.
CARDONA: Exactly.
CORNISH: Of which I hope not to have to report on any.
CARDONA: Right.
CORNISH: So, you guys stay with me. Straight ahead on CNN THIS MORNING, we're going to talk about this idea of an escalation spiral or a trap. And we want to talk about whether the U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran could turn into a longer entanglement for the U.S.
And Secretary Scott Bessent has had an idea to lower oil prices. We're going to ask whether or not he can actually pull it off.
And one other thing. Tonight, as the war in Iran stretches into its third week, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Mike Waltz, and a panel of experts, they're actually going to take questions.
