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Iran Fortifies Kharg Island, Readies for U.S. Assault; GOP Rejects Democrats' DHS Funding Counteroffer; Poll: More Than 6 in 10 Americans Disapprove of War. Aired 6-6:30a ET

Aired March 26, 2026 - 06:00   ET

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

[06:00:10]

AUDIE CORNISH, CNN ANCHOR: So, the U.S. is deploying thousands of ground troops, Iran laying traps and boosting firepower. Is Kharg Island worth American lives?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAROLINE LEAVITT, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: President Trump does not bluff, and he is prepared to unleash hell.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: So, the White House is saying that talks are proceeding with Iran. Is that just a distraction from a coming invasion?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. NANCY MACE (R-SC): I want President Trump to take Lindsey Graham out of the Situation Room.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: Frustration in the ranks. Some Republicans are not satisfied with what they're being told about the war.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Get here five hours at least.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: Desperate hours. Can anyone salvage talks to end the TSA pay crisis before the travel rush this weekend? CNN THIS MORNING starts right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: And they are negotiating, by the way. And they want to make a deal so badly, but they're afraid to say it, because they figure they'll be killed by their own people. They're also afraid they'll be killed by us. UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): They talk about negotiations. They talk about other things. This is precisely an admission of defeat.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: Iran rejects a U.S. peace proposal as the next possible battleground is now coming into focus.

Good morning, everybody. I'm Audie Cornish, and here's where we begin. A key island and a considerable risk.

Sources tell CNN Iran is fortifying Kharg Island. They're laying traps. They're moving additional troops and firepower in. Now, Kharg Island is about 15 miles from Iran's mainland, and it handles 90 percent of the country's oil exports.

The U.S. attacked the island once before. Now, the White House may use U.S. troops to seize it.

Two Marine units, which specialize in amphibious landings, have recently deployed. One thousand U.S. paratroopers expected to deploy to the Middle East in the coming days.

So, could we be looking at boots from the sea? Boots from the sky? Risk of U.S. casualties on the ground in Iran? Well, I'm bringing in to discuss CNN political and global affairs commentator Sabrina Singh.

Sabrina, thank you so much for being here.

Since you worked at the Pentagon, help me understand. When we're saying deploy, is that a guarantee there's boots on the ground or is that just moving people into the arena?

SABRINA SINGH, CNN POLITICAL AND GLOBAL AFFAIRS COMMENTATOR: It's not a guarantee that that's boots on the ground, but what it is doing, it is giving the president and the secretary of defense options and additional capabilities in the region so that, if the president decides to authorize plans to take Kharg Island or to go anywhere else within the region, he has flexible assets there to do it.

Now, the seizure of Kharg Island, that could be very difficult, as you were just saying. They've, you know, sort of fortified the island, moved more air defenses, firepower there.

CORNISH: And when we say it's an export hub, does that mean it's an island that's full of oil industry infrastructure? Does that mean there's military bases there? Like, what's on the island?

SINGH: I mean, it is -- it is essentially an oil depot that has been used for large cargo ships to move in and out, and it has very deep waters to allow those large tankers in and out. It's not necessarily used for military purposes.

That being said, Iran is likely moving assets in there, because they are seeing us move other assets into the region, as well. So, they want to be fortified.

CORNISH: Yes, I want to play for you, then, related to this, Iran's deputy foreign -- deputy foreign minister was speaking. I think we have a clip of that. Let's take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There are thousands of U.S. Marines on the way. What happens if they get used, do you think?

SAEED KHATIBZADEH, IRAN DEPUTY FOREIGN MINISTER: We defend.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What does that mean, though, for these Marines, if they were to land in Kharg Island?

KHATIBZADEH: Oh, just read what happened in Vietnam.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: Vietnam.

SINGH: I mean, any mission to take Kharg Island. I mean, you'll remember the secretary of defense four weeks ago said there will be casualties in this war. There already have been 13 casualties, over 200 injured.

There are likely going to be American servicemen and women that are killed during this operation.

So, the president's calculation is -- has to be is this worth it? And it's not just about taking Kharg Island. It's about holding Kharg Island. How long can you hold it for and what does that mean for any type of negotiations?

Because just because you take this island, that does not automatically mean that the Strait of Hormuz opens up, and oil starts flowing back and forth.

In fact, it could be used as a negotiating tactic at, you know, the table, should negotiations take place. But that doesn't necessarily mean that Iran is going to capitulate anytime soon.

[06:05:13]

CORNISH: One last thing. What are you going to be listening for in the next day or two? The last time, there were going to be talks. The administration, you know, after markets closed, there ended up being strikes.

So, are we actually looking at an off-ramp options or just another round of military action?

SINGH: I think the president really boxed himself in with that first 48-hour deadline, and then extending it to the five days, which conveniently ends when markets close on Friday. What I'm going to be looking for is to see if the president extends

that deadline. I think hitting any infrastructure, energy infrastructure is going to have even larger effects on the global markets.

And the global markets are already going to take months to recover from. And the infrastructure that was hit in Qatar, Saudi, others, it's going to potentially take years to recover from.

CORNISH: Yes.

SINGH: So, I'm going to look forward to see what the president does if he extends that deadline and says talks are continuing, they're great. We're going to hold off on hitting energy structures, but we're going to keep targeting military targets.

And then I think the second thing is, what does this president do with these forces moving in? I think he is going to initiate some type of action, potentially to take Kharg Island, and use it as a tool at the negotiating table.

CORNISH: OK. Sabrina Singh, thank you so much. I know you're going to be back with us in a bit.

But coming up on CNN THIS MORNING, President Trump holds his first cabinet meeting since the attack on Iran, as new polling shows that more Americans are not on board with his war.

Plus, travel chaos and talks to end it. Well. They're not going well. So, can they be salvaged?

And we're going to hear from Savannah Guthrie. She's speaking out as the search for her mom goes cold.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SAVANNAH GUTHRIE, CO-HOST, NBC'S "TOAY SHOW": We are in agony.

HODA KOTB, NBC: Yes.

GUTHRIE: We are in agony. It is unbearable.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:11:43]

CORNISH: So, TSA agents are set to miss their second round of paychecks amid the DHS shutdown tomorrow. Today, airport wait times are getting more difficult to track. Several major airports are basically pausing wait time reporting. Right? They won't even tell us, due to overwhelming lines.

In Houston, however, lines already stretched 3.5 hours long. Yesterday, Republicans rejected the Democrats' counteroffer that would

fund DHS, and that included demands for ICE reforms. For instance, officer I.D., funding for body cams, protecting sensitive locations from immigration enforcement like schools and hospitals, and also, some training standards.

Now, it's worth noting, the White House has agreed to those demands last week, but only once DHS is fully funded. And that includes ICE. The latest Republican proposal doesn't include any of that, both sides blaming each other for the back and forth.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BILL CASSIDY (R-MD): I think Democrats right now are a little bit like the Iranians, in which they feel like they can hold a hostage and get more gain, and it doesn't matter that people are suffering in our country or theirs. They have a hostage, and they're going to milk it for as much as possible.

SEN. CHRIS MURPHY (D-CT): They are the ones holding those agencies hostage. We do not want TSA shut down. Every single day, we go to the floor and say, you will get every single Democratic vote to open up TSA, and they block that bill every single day.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: Joining me now in the group chat, Betsy Klein, CNN senior White House reporter; Mike Dubke, former Trump White House communications director; and Meghan Hays, former Biden White House director of message planning.

I want to start with you, Betsy. There was this quote from a reporter we both know, Chad Pergram over at FOX. He's really well known and very connected. And here is what he said. A senior House Republican member on what it will take to break the DHS funding impasse. Quote, "a couple more shootings or the lines to get even longer."

BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That is ridiculous. But that's the reality right now. And it doesn't seem like there is any movement on either side, based on everything we are hearing on Capitol Hill and what we are hearing at the White House, which is just continuing to blame Democrats.

But there is a very serious human toll here, and you're seeing that as DHS officials are going to have another week of $0 paycheck. And we're starting to hear those stories of TSA -- gainfully employed, fully employed people -- seeking assistance from food pantries, which is just devastating.

CORNISH: Yes. And then you're hearing some pretty random offers here. Elon Musk on social media, on his X: "I would like to offer to pay the salaries of TSA personnel during this funding impasse."

And then a White House spokesperson had to say, "We greatly appreciate it. This would pose great legal challenge."

KLEIN: Which might be the first time that the White House has actually said no to something for legal reasons, from Elon Musk.

CORNISH: Well played.

In the meantime, the president offering this suggestion while he was at the NRCC fundraising dinner. So, this is literally the dinner with all the people where you're like, hey, this is the message you're going to go take out to the country in our races.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: And if we have to, we're going to send in the National Guard if we need to, because we only -- you know, we have 6,000 ICE agents, and we have 40,000 of the other people that they're helping out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[06:15:08]

MIKE DUBKE, FORMER TRUMP WHITE HOUSE COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: Congress has got to get to work here. I don't know what else to say.

CORNISH: You don't want the National Guard at the airport?

DUBKE: I don't want ICE at the airport either. And -- and frankly, the TSA agents. I mean, here's the thing that we were talking about, you know, years ago about air traffic controllers. You know, they make a lot of money. So, they had the ability to -- to save up some money.

These TSA agents do not. They can easily quit and go and work somewhere else and make just as much money as they're making at the airport.

CORNISH: Yes. And by "somewhere else" --

DUBKE: And they forget this.

CORNISH: I think we mean food delivery, basically. Yes.

DUBKE: Well, anything. I'm not saying DoorDash, but I am saying something else. And so, Congress really -- until Congress has to stand in that line, which is starting to happen --

CORNISH: Why do I have to wait --

DUBKE: -- the airlines --

CORNISH: -- for lawmakers to go to the airport for them to think this is an issue worth solving?

MEGHAN HAYS, FORMER BIDEN WHITE HOUSE DIRECTOR OF MESSAGE PLANNING: That's a great question. I think the American people would like to know, because really, the people who are being hurt here are the American people.

DUBKE: Exactly right. HAYS: And it's just so chaotic. And I think that it's really a challenge for both Democrats and Republicans to keep. The Democrats have put up 7 or 8 bills that the Republicans have voted no on. That looks foolish.

Republican or -- Democrats not willing to negotiate on anything, that looks foolish.

DUBKE: That is foolish.

HAYS: Trump putting forth a thing that says we won't -- we won't deport U.S. citizens. That also looks really foolish. Like, everybody is not winning here.

And -- and the American people, again, are the losers, just like everything else when we shut down the government.

CORNISH: Can I ask one other thing, though? When Trump came in earlier in the week and just said, no, don't compromise, what is even the point?

And No. 2, do they have some polling that says the White House is looking great on this? Like, why would he come in, say that, and then effectively own the problem going forward?

KLEIN: I do think the White House expectation is that Democrats are going to start to shoulder some of the blame. But right now, we're not seeing that.

CORNISH: One more thing I have to leave us with. You talked about the folks who are struggling. This is the TSA acting administrator. This was just yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HA NGUYEN MCNEILL, TSA ACTING ADMINISTRATOR: Many in our workforce have missed bill payments, received eviction notices, had their cars repossessed and utilities shut off, lost their childcare, defaulted on loans, damaged their credit line, and drained their retirement savings.

Some are sleeping in their cars, selling their blood and plasma, and taking on jobs -- second jobs to make ends meet.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: OK, you guys stay with me. We've got a lot more to talk about. We're also going to have a lawmaker on ask questions about this directly.

But in the meantime, Meta and YouTube, they've lost a major social media trial. So, is this their big tobacco moment?

Plus, Americans increasingly skeptical about the war with Iran. Will the president ignore that and escalate the fight?

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[06:22:06]

CORNISH: According to a new Pew research poll, more than 6 in 10 Americans disapprove of the president's decision to attack Iran. And as U.S. forces bear down on the Middle East, support for the military operation is waning even within the Republican Party.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MACE: If there are boots on the ground, I think there will be enormous costs associated with it. And I would never make any decision, going into war or not into war, based on the politics. But this is a midterm year, and I think that there will be consequences to it.

I think right now the base is with the president. I'm with the president. I think he's done a phenomenal job.

But the minute that we have a single boot of a single soldier from the United States on the ground --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Your views change?

MACE: -- the views change. And I think it is -- I think it's overnight.

(END VIDO CLIP)

CORNISH: So, if the Trump administration can't rally support fully for this war within the party, how can it hope to win over voters?

I'm bringing back the group chat along with Sabrina Singh.

Sabrina, earlier when we were talking, we played that clip of the one of the foreign affairs officials for Iran, where he kind of evoked the "V" word, saying it will be Vietnam --

SINGH: Yes.

CORNISH: -- if boots land on the ground on Kharg Island.

And one thing the Iranians have been doing in their propaganda is sort of deft use of U.S. fissures in our culture over boots on the ground and forever wars.

Can you talk about sort of the view from the administration that you're seeing? Are they basically, like, the public's with us? So, move those boots?

SINGH: I think -- I mean, I think Nancy Mace does have a point that the base is with Trump on this, but it's still a majority of Americans. I mean, 6 in 10 do not support this war.

And we are heading into a midterm year where, frankly, I mean, this president ran on the idea of affordability and bringing down costs. And every American around the country and, frankly, people around the world, are seeing costs going up.

CORNISH: Yes. And I should say I'm looking at the paper today.

SINGH: Yes.

CORNISH: Post office sets fuel fee on packages, right?

SINGH: Right.

CORNISH: Now, all the oil execs are meeting in Texas. I'm seeing quotes come out of them talking about the long-term effects of this on the economy.

Because there was not a formal attack on the U.S. Right? And I know someone is going to say for 47 years, Iran has dot, dot, dot.

DUBKE: You just took away my talking point.

CORNISH: Yes, and I'm just saying there was no rally around the flag effect. There was no thing that made people coalesce.

DUBKE: It seemed arbitrary. That Saturday seemed arbitrary when the United States went into Iran.

And I think the number from your -- that -- that you just posted that really stood out to me was the strongly disapprove. When -- as somebody that looks at polls, when I see the strongly disapprove or strongly approve, those people generally aren't going to get moved off of that number.

CORNISH: Right.

DUBKE: And 44 percent.

CORNISH: That's a massive number for strongly.

DUBKE: That's a really high number. Yes. So, we've got -- look, it was foreign entanglements. Trump ran on affordability. He ran on closing the border.

[06:25:06]

CORNISH: But the reply from Hegseth has been --

DUBKE: I understand that.

CORNISH: -- just not stupid wars. Everyone was against stupid wars. This is a smart president. So, this is a good war.

KLEIN: Yes. And you're going to start to see these very serious concerns from lawmakers like Nancy Mace. They had this closed-door briefing in the House Armed Services Committee just yesterday.

And a lot of them left privately expressing severe reservations about the real lack of clarity on strategy, end game, boots on the ground.

And the White House perspective on this is, well, Congress is going to leak, so we are not going to give them that clarity.

CORNISH: And also, Democrats, are they really going to vote against funding a war that is escalating? Are they really, especially when there's just been this conversation about munitions and drones and what we're running out of. Like, Democrats, do they really have an argument right now while the thing is still going?

HAYS: Well, yes. I mean, if we're not funding DHS fully and we're not funding TSA people, people in our own country can't afford food, but we're going to send $200 billion to a foreign war that nobody wants and 44 percent of Americans strongly disapprove, and 6 in 10 disapprove, in general?

I think that puts Democrats in a really hard spot. It also is a really hard argument to make to the voters going into the midterms.

How do you make that argument: when we can't afford things in our own country, we're going to go for a war that nobody wants?

SINGH: I think Meghan is right on that. Like in terms of where Democrats are. The -- the issue is, is and that we dealt with when we were, you know, sending military packages to Ukraine, is that our stockpiles are going down almost daily and drastically.

And this is very expensive. I mean, it's almost $1 billion a day for this war.

So, there will have to be some type of backfill, and Congress is going to have to authorize that.

I think, on both sides of the aisle, people are very uncomfortable with it, but there will have to be some type of package. Otherwise, we are going to dip so low it will impact our readiness.

CORNISH: I'm also fascinated by the generation of soldiers who went into politics precisely because they did not feel good about the way the U.S. conducted past wars. They did not feel good about what happened in Afghanistan.

And now here we are, some of them in charge, you know, in a situation that people are raising questions about might look the same. I mean, that's Hegseth. That's like -- that's a lot of these lawmakers.

SINGH: I mean, I think, you know, with some of these folks that are in power right now, they're bending the -- what they used to stand for to the will of the president and what he wants.

I mean, I think also at the beginning of this war, you know, the president laid out like for the Iranian people, it's yours to take. And I think he was banking on this idea that there would be some type of revolution in Iran and that, you know, people would rise up.

And the reality is, is that's not going to happen when people in charge still have the guns. CORNISH: Let me play two pieces of tape for you that are interesting.

One, we're all keeping an eye on those folks who fancy themselves independent but supported Trump. This is Joe Rogan and what he has said in recent days and weeks about the war.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE ROGAN, PODCASTER: It just seems so insane, based on what he ran on. I mean, this is why a lot of people feel betrayed, right? He ran on no more wars and these stupid, senseless wars. And then we have one that we can't even really clearly define why we did it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, but he said he's against endless wars.

ROGAN: Well, they're all wars.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're against endless wars.

ROGAN: They're all endless.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: That "they're all endless," with such resignation.

DUBKE: Well, at the end of the day, one bleeds into the other. I mean, we were talking about gun -- or drug boats, and we were talking about Venezuela. And now we're talking about Iran.

I mean, I think the point: we're at a weird inflection point here. Your original question about will Democrats vote against funding our troops? In most instances, I would say there's no way that they can't fund our troops.

But I -- I tend to agree with -- with Meghan on this one. I think we're at a point where the Democrats feel like they have to stand up and do something and say no, and --

CORNISH: To show disapproval.

DUBKE: To show disapproval.

CORNISH: Yes.

DUBKE: And with gas prices going through the roof.

CORNISH: In the meantime, the more Republicans are speaking up, I think the real -- there's real question here.

DUBKE: Yes.

CORNISH: Nancy Mace, using a metric that sounds arbitrary, but I think is reflective of the mood in some corners of the party. A single boot on the ground changes how we may think about that. I'm going to be interested to see if she is proven right.

Sabrina, thank you for coming back to talk with us. Straight ahead on CNN THIS MORNING. President Trump sounds bullish on those diplomatic talks with Iran.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: They want to make a deal so badly, but they're afraid to say it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: Not in this deal, Iranians. Are they losing faith that the U.S. can help them?

Plus, could the LaGuardia plane crash spark a reckoning for air traffic control across the U.S.?

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