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U.S.-Israel War with Iran; Gulf Nations Differ on How to End Conflict and Followup; Pakistan Offers to Host Talks for U.S. and Iran; Former Venezuelan Leader Maduro to Appear in U.S. Federal Court; IOC Bans Transgender Women from Olympic Games; Bipartisan Criticism of Trump War Briefs; White House Cabinet Meeting. Aired 10-11a ET
Aired March 26, 2026 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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BECKY ANDERSON, CNN HOST (voice-over): Welcome to the second hour of the show. I'm Becky Anderson in Abu Dhabi, where the time is just after 6:00 in
the evening.
Any moment now, U.S. president Donald Trump is scheduled to hold his first cabinet meeting since the start of the war with Iran. It comes as he
expresses frustration with Tehran amid repeated Iranian denials that talks to end this war are or maybe about to take place.
On his social media website a few hours ago, he warned Iran to, quote, "get serious soon" and that if no deal is reached, there will be no turning
back.
The president insisting on Wednesday that Iran really does want to make a deal. Take a listen.
(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.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: All right.
Meantime, Iran's leadership suffering another big blow with Israel's defense minister saying the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard
Corps Navy has been killed. Alireza Tangsiri has played a key role in implementing Iran's near-total blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.
Well, as we wait for the start of that cabinet meeting, I will get you there as soon as we get an indication it has started.
We've got Zachary Cohen with us this hour in Washington. Matthew Chance is in Doha in Qatar. Ivan Watson is in Pakistan's capital of Islamabad, amid
the U.S. trying to arrange these talks there between the warring parties.
Ivan, let's start with you. Pakistan at least has confirmed it is acting as an intermediary between the U.S. and Iran.
What do we know so far about whether or not these talks will happen this weekend and the scope of Islamabad's mediation efforts?
IVAN WATSON, CNN ANCHOR AND SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we certainly know, Becky, that two senior administration officials from the
Trump administration, they said to CNN that there was a possibility of these talks taking place here in Pakistan as early as this weekend.
And we have reporting that the Iranians preferred to speak to the U.S. vice president JD Vance, as opposed to the other envoys that the Trump
administration has relied on. That being Steve Witkoff, the real estate magnate, and president Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner.
But we do not know. We do not have confirmation whether this will actually take place. Pakistan's foreign minister put out a statement.
Saying that "U.S.-Iran indirect talks are taking place through messages being relayed by Pakistan. In this context, the U.S. has shared 15 points
being deliberated upon by Iran."
And he goes on to say that other countries like Turkiye and Egypt are also helping with the mediation effort. Now Iranian officials have said there
are exchanges of messages. But take a listen to what Iran's foreign minister had to say, which sounded downright dismissive of president
Trump's talk about Iran wanting a deal. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ABBAS ARAGHCHI, IRANIAN FOREIGN MINISTER (through translator): They talk about negotiations. They talk about other things. This is precisely an
admission of defeat.
Weren't they calling for unconditional surrender?
Then why are they now speaking about negotiations as the right course?
I will explain that there is no negotiations. But the fact that the enemy, who sought our unconditional surrender, now talks about negotiations,
requests, talks and mobilizes its highest officials to negotiate with the Islamic Republic, this means accepting defeat.
So far, the people of Iran, our armed forces and all segments of the nation are truly the winners.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATSON: In the meantime, we've seen some reporting from Iranian state media, from press TV about what Tehran is saying are five demands that it
wants from the U.S. if there are to be talks that move forward.
Number one, a complete halt to aggression and assassinations, the establishment of concrete mechanisms to ensure the war on Iran does not
resume, guaranteed and clearly defined payment of war reparations and damages, an end to military operations across all fronts.
[10:05:02]
And for all Iranian proxies in the region, interpret that as perhaps Lebanon and the Iran-backed militia, Hezbollah, and guarantee that Iran can
exercise sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz.
Now I might stress that, four weeks ago, before the joint U.S.-Israeli bombardment of Iran, the issue at stake was Iran's missile capability, its
nuclear program. And now Iran is talking about the fact that it has closed the Strait of Hormuz and jacked up energy prices around the world and
clearly has demonstrated its power over this strategic waterway.
And laying that out as a potential demand for any future negotiations with the U.S., of course, we're not at that stage right now. We do not have
confirmation that talks will take place and the war continues to rage on many fronts with the death toll continuing to grow -- Becky.
ANDERSON: Zach, Donald Trump warned Iran to, quote, "get serious" soon and that if no deal is reached, there will be, quote, "no turning back." To
that end, Donald Trump does seem particularly focused on Kharg Island.
Why is this specific island in what is known as the Persian or Arabian Gulf so central to U.S. strategy right now?
ZACHARY COHEN, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes, for Donald Trump, it's seen as a potential leverage point that he envisions using to push the
Iranians to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, which remains, as Ivan was saying, the biggest challenge facing the Trump administration and the United States
at this stage of the conflict.
And we're told that the Iranians are taking that possibility of a U.S. operation targeting Kharg Island.
Where 90 percent of its crude exports flow through, very seriously, making preparations for a potential American operation of some kind, bolstering
its defenses on the island to include laying mines, to adding additional shoulder-mounted rockets and missile capability.
Their air defense systems really looking at this island, as important as it seems to be to the Trump administration itself. But look, talking to U.S.
officials and military experts, two things have become very clear.
One is that, even if the U.S. was able to successfully seize Kharg Island through a military operation of some kind, that in no way guarantees that
the Strait of Hormuz will ultimately be reopened.
And two, it doesn't solve the problem of the current global economic crisis that has been triggered by this conflict as well. And it puts significant
amounts of risk on U.S. forces if they are called upon to carry out an operation, as it would require a sizable landing force, which means boots
on the ground.
And that's something that has been very controversial here in Washington, as lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are expressing increasing concern
that this conflict is headed to a point where U.S. soldiers will be asked to start carrying out ground operations.
And that is a -- would be a significant escalation in this conflict and also a significant investment by the Trump administration, as there's no
end in sight at this moment.
ANDERSON: Let me bring you in, Matthew, from Doha.
Thank you. Zach.
While the Gulf as a bloc is absolutely clear that Iran cannot hold the Strait of Hormuz hostage, this is not just having a massive impact on these
Gulf nations but also, of course, on the global economy.
It is interesting, I think, just to spend a moment discussing how these Gulf countries are positioning themselves and the narrative that we are
hearing, which is not a kind of uniform narrative, about the way forward at this point.
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CHIEF GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: No, it's not. I mean, the notoriously, you know, divided or have, you know, they're not a
monolithic bloc anyway, when it comes to the positions of these Arab Gulf states toward the Islamic Republic.
I mean, some of the states like Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates where you are and Bahrain are, you know, kind of have adopted a very
aggressive stance toward what should happen next when it comes to Iran.
Very concerned that, if the war ends right now, for instance, with Iran's regime still in place, that could have very negative consequences for them
in the future; whereas other countries like Qatar, from where I'm speaking to you right now, and Oman, both have a much better relationship
traditionally with Iran.
And they've adopted a much more conciliatory tone when it comes to dealing with the Islamic Republic. A couple of days ago, for instance, the foreign
ministry spokesman here in Qatar said, look, whatever comes, you know, after -- in after this war.
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You know, Qatar is a neighbor to Iran and will have to live with whatever entity exists post the Iran war. And so that's a much more conciliatory
tone than we've heard from places like Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
But look, all of the countries are united in their concern about the attacks that have taken place so far on their energy infrastructure and on
their civilian populations by Iran.
Drones and missiles have been raining down particularly in Dubai and in the United Arab Emirates where you are, which has been perhaps the most hardhit
in those Iranian strikes.
And there's a great deal of shared concern as well, Becky, about whether worse is to come, particularly if ground troops from the United States are
deployed into places like Kharg Island or possibly into areas on the Iranian coast as well, close to the Persian Gulf, to try and loosen its
grip on the Strait of Hormuz.
That's all very well. That's all very negative consequences potentially for American forces there. But it's also likely to provoke a massive
retaliation against energy infrastructure targets, for example, in the surrounding Gulf states as well.
They've already suffered, in the words of the Qatari foreign ministry, catastrophic losses over the course of the last four weeks or so of
conflict.
But you know, that could be massively amplified and multiplied if there is a sustained Iranian assault on the very delicate, very expensive, very
essential energy infrastructure locations here in that are run by the Gulf states.
ANDERSON: To all of you, all of you have incredibly important datelines on this and it's good to have you all. Thank you very much indeed.
We're now joined by Vali Nasr, who is a professor at the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University, an absolute expert when
it comes to understanding where the Iranian thinking is at and what happens next.
You and I have been talking for nigh on 2.5 decades, Vali. It's good to have you on today of all days.
First, what do you make of these attempted talks between the U.S. and Iran?
Let's start there.
DR. VALI NASR, JOHNS HOPKINS SCHOOL OF ADVANCED INTERNATIONAL STUDIES: I think, at this moment, they're not going to be happening. The Pakistanis
tried; they passed messages. But the positions of the two sides are very far apart.
And at any rate, the Iranians don't believe talks mean anything. They were talking to the United States twice. And in the middle of those talks, both
in June and then in February, the United States attacked.
So they think that the U.S. Is preparing for a ground invasion and talking to the United States is not going to be fruitful. It's not going to avert
the attack. And perhaps it's even a cover for Washington to prepare for the attack by having these talks.
ANDERSON: Now I just wonder who, if anybody, the U.S. thinks that they will be talking to, were these talks to go ahead or perhaps, you know, at
some point in the future.
You recently wrote, quote, "While there is a lot attention on Ghalibaf, the appointment of the former IRGC General Zolghadr deserves more attention.
Ghalibaf may be the hot ticket for the White House" -- and perhaps you want to explain why people are believing that.
"But Zolghadr is the reality on the ground."
Just explain the importance of this man and how he might, at some point, play a interlocutor role, if at all.
NASR: Well, the problem Washington has is that, from the very beginning, it was besotted with the Venezuelan model. I think the president has a bias
toward them. He's continuously looking for a Delcy Rodriguez.
First it was Larijani before he was killed, then it's now Ghalibaf. And they're focused on that.
But in reality, as important as Ghalibaf is, he's part of a system. And the system is now in the hands of IRGC and in the hands of Mojtaba Khamenei.
And the appointment of Zolghadr does not mean that Zolghadr would be the interlocutor.
It means that -- it actually signals as to where the regime is in Tehran, where the center of gravity is and what the mindset is. And Zolghadr is a
very extreme hawk. And his appointment suggests that Iran is not looking for talks.
Iran is looking for how it's going to manage escalation, for escalation in this war and ultimately, the president will be negotiating directly,
indirectly, through intermediaries with Mojtaba Khamenei.
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And the -- and the circle of IRGC that is actually in charge of Iran now, thanks to the decapitation campaign that Israel and the United States have
carried out, it has put them in charge. And the U.S. continuously focusing on a single person is like focusing on a shiny object and missing the
larger picture here.
ANDERSON: Vali, as this all goes on, of course, the Gulf nations have been, as they describe it, recklessly and in an unprovoked fashion attack,
the UAE again overnight, taking on some 15 ballistic missiles, more drones; two people dead in the UAE.
The UAE, it's an interesting position that I see developing here. It's very forward-leaning in its narrative on all of this. Just have a listen to what
Lana Nusseibeh, one of the ministers of state, who is in Washington this week, said on "Morning Joe" today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LANA NUSSEIBEH, UAE AMBASSADOR TO THE U.N.: These groups -- Hamas, Hezbollah groups in Iraq, the Houthis -- have to be dealt with
comprehensively. That didn't happen. And today the Houthis have the capability.
We're talking about the Strait of Hormuz. They have the capability now to choke point the Red Sea and the Bab Al-Mandab, which they're threatening to
do. So comprehensive means let's deal with the problem. You can't go back to a pre-February 28th world view of Iran. We have learned a lot about this
regime since then.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: And I think the point that the UAE, through Lana Nusseibeh there and others in Washington this week is making, is that stopping now, were
there to be a ceasefire.
For example, through talks this weekend without a lasting solution to the Strait of Hormuz, a lasting solution to the threat of Iran's missile
capability, its nuclear, its proxies around the region, will get the region and the rest of the world absolutely nowhere.
And it will effectively mean -- and this is certainly the thinking here -- that we'll be in this lasting cycle of escalation and de-escalation, which
does nothing for this region and the rest of the world.
What do you make of that position?
NASR: Well, it's quite understandable. First of all, it's quite understandable that UAE and other Gulf countries are angry at the attacks
or angry at the damage that's done to their -- to their economies.
And they were trying to avoid this by trying to persuade president Trump after that not to go to war with Iran, because they knew that the dangers
that was there. The point is that now that the war has happened, that the U.S. has to essentially remove the Islamic Republic. That's also the
position of Israel as well.
And it's the position of also many hawks in Washington. But that is really asking president Trump to essentially continue escalating into Iran and
ultimately go to Tehran if it -- if it need be.
So it is -- it is -- it sounds a like that is a great final solution to bring absolute peace to the Gulf. But it also requires the United States to
sign on to something that president Trump never had.
So it's a final solution at great expense.
But what if president Trump doesn't want to go that far?
What if the United States does not have the capability?
What if the Islamic Republic actually doesn't fall?
And this ends up being a crisis that goes on for months and months and ultimately one has to be thinking about what, short of a final solution,
would actually be feasible in the short to medium term.
And it cannot be black-and-white that, either we stop right now or that it has to be everything because, in the end, reality may not be either of
these two.
ANDERSON: Gut check from you.
As we close this out, where does this go in the next 36-48 hours?
I mean, we have this self-imposed deadline, once again, by Donald Trump at the beginning of the week, five-day deadline. No holds barred, basically,
is his message overnight, should Iran not talk in Pakistan, if that's where these talks are supposed to happen this weekend. Let's just get your gut
check from you.
NASR: I think president Trump has resolved for some kind of ground operation, either on Kharg Island or on the coast of Iran, east of the
Strait of Hormuz.
The idea is to -- is to force Iran to the table with leverage in U.S.' hands. But Iran has shown that it will escalate for escalation and it has
capability to escalate in the Gulf. The Houthis could very well enter the war, close Bab Al-Mandab, put pressure on oil exports out of the Red Sea.
[10:20:00]
And also Iran may attack varieties of targets in the Gulf as a way of escalation. And then on the ground itself, it depends on how the Marines
and the Special Forces fare against Iran. So this would be a whole new phase of the war, which could carry on for a number of weeks, it could get
very ugly.
And both sides will try to get leverage to get to the talks. But the U.S. is basically -- has made a decision. Actually, it is not interested in
talks right now, regardless of what it says about going to Pakistan. I think president Trump has resolved on trying his hands on a ground invasion
and then decide where it goes from there.
ANDERSON: Vali, always good to get your insight and analysis, your perspective so important. As we close out this week, we are effectively
into a month into this war now, promised by the U.S. it would take 4-6 weeks. Let's see. Thank you.
Now be sure to check out my reporting about concerns among Gulf states about -- over their postwar futures.
Key regional partners telling me some concessions need to be made, along with security guarantees for the Gulf region, before a ceasefire between
the U.S. and Iran can be reached.
And Gulf Arab officials stating openly that Iran's military capabilities used to punish them for the U.S.' and Israel's actions cannot remain intact
in any future regional order. You can find that online and on the CNN app.
OK. I want to get you some other news this hour as well. Still ahead, Venezuela's ousted leader will be back in a New York courtroom today. His
lawyers will push to throw out the case. Details on that are after this.
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ANDERSON: Venezuela's ousted president is due back in court next hour. Nicolas Maduro's attorneys are expected to push for a dismissal of the case
in a courtroom here in New York, you see it there.
They say the Treasury Department has revoked a license that allows Venezuela to pay for his legal costs. And, in their view, that violates
Maduro's constitutional right to defend himself. Maduro has pleaded not guilty to charges related to drug trafficking, money laundering and
corruption.
Well, CNN senior legal analyst Elie Honig joins us now live from Washington.
The trial hasn't started and there is already some drama. Just explain these allegations by Maduro's defense, if you will, or certainly their
position.
ELIE HONIG, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Well, Becky, we have a long way to go until trial. But yes, this is a very important issue about who will pay the legal
fees for Nicolas Maduro's attorney.
Now he went out and hired a very accomplished criminal defense lawyer here in the United States, Jeffrey Pollack. And originally, Maduro's wish is to
have the nation of Venezuela pay his legal fees. And by the way, I should say legal fees here in the United States for a case like this can be
multiple millions of dollars.
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Venezuela was willing to do that, to make the payments. However, the United States government objected because we said, well, our Treasury Department
has financial sanctions on both Venezuela and Nicolas Maduro. So the payment of his fees for a case here in the United States would violate
those sanctions.
However, as you alluded to before, the Treasury Department briefly granted a waiver. They said, it's OK, you can go ahead with this, to Nicolas
Maduro. But then the government revoked that waiver.
And so the question today basically is, does that waiver survive?
In which case Maduro can have his legal fees paid by Venezuela.
Or is it no good?
In which case Maduro will probably not be able to retain Mr. Pollack and instead will have to get a court appointed lawyer.
ANDERSON: How likely is the court to allow Nicolas Maduro to use Venezuelans' funds to actually pay for his defense?
Just walk us through what you expect to happen next effectively.
HONIG: So we don't have really much, if any, precedent on this. I certainly am not aware of any prior case where we've had a dispute about,
can a foreign nation pay a person's legal fees if there are sanctions in place.
And I think the judge is going to have to consider a couple of things.
First of all, how do you weigh a person's constitutional right, not just to counsel but to counsel of your choosing, versus the right of the U.S.
government to impose sanctions?
And second of all, what do you do with that waiver?
I mean, clearly, our government messed up. They issued this waiver for a very brief time. And then they said, oh, sorry, we take it back.
So is the judge going to say sorry, once you issue a waiver, you can't just take it back?
Or is the judge going to say, this was clearly an error and therefore I'll forgive you for it?
ANDERSON: What options do Maduro and his wife have here?
I mean, as clearly they build their defense, at some point they're going to need to be able to pay for that defense, right?
I mean, what options do they have?
HONIG: Yes. Two options. So one, they can still pay for their own lawyer from their own personal private money. There's no bar on that.
The other thing is, if they're unable, if they -- they've said they just don't have enough money to pay for an attorney.
Whether that's true or not, who knows?
But if any person in our U.S. federal courts cannot afford a lawyer, like you may have seen on the TV shows, if you cannot afford a lawyer, one will
be provided for you.
And so in that case, they would either get a lawyer from the federal public defender's office here in New York, who I've done many cases with. They are
top-notch lawyers. Alternatively, we have this thing called the Criminal Justice Act Wheel, where you get randomly assigned a private defense lawyer
who agrees to do the case for a lower rate that's paid for by the government.
So he will not go attorney list. Either way, he will either have Mr. Pollack, who he wants. And if he can't pay for Mr. Pollack, then he'll get
a public defender or he'll get a CJA appointment.
ANDERSON: Elie, I've got 60 seconds.
Can he claim immunity for his conduct while he was leading the country?
HONIG: He can claim it. He will claim it and I believe he will lose. So United States law is surprisingly permissive. There are cases in the past
where our authorities have seized someone in a foreign country in a manner that is acknowledged to be illegal or improper.
But our courts here in the United States have said, even if that's the case, you don't get out from under an indictment.
And with respect to immunity, the U.S. government's position is, A, he is not the legitimate president of Venezuela and, B, massive drug trafficking,
narco trafficking that he's charged with here, is not within the scope of the job as president.
So he's going to make those arguments. But I'm fairly confident he will lose.
ANDERSON: Got it. Good to have you, mate. Thank you.
HONIG: Thanks, Becky.
ANDERSON: Well, Venezuela's acting president, Delcy Rodriguez, says her government is stepping up global engagement. Talks are underway with the
U.S. and with dozens of energy companies showing interest. Speaking at a forum in Miami, Rodriguez said investment is already gaining momentum.
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DELCY RODRIGUEZ, INTERIM PRESIDENT, VENEZUELA (through translator): In this short time that I've been in charge of the presidency of the
Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, we have received more than 120 energy companies, mainly from the United States, but also from the Middle East,
from Asia, from Africa, from Europe that have come.
If you ask artificial intelligence how many meetings President Rodriguez has held, it will tell you 236 meetings in this time.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Well.
Protests erupting in Caracas as workers and teachers demand higher wages and better conditions amid ongoing economic struggles.
Well, in other news, transgender women athletes are now excluded from the Olympics. The International Olympic Committee, or the IOC, has agreed today
to a new eligibility policy that aligns with U.S. president Donald Trump's executive order on women's sport.
The IOC says that eligibility for any female category event at the Olympic Games is, quote, "now limited to biological females."
[10:30:02]
The policy will apply to the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028. It is unclear how many transgender women compete at the Olympic level.
Right. Still to come here on CONNECT THE WORLD with me, Becky Anderson. Israel's prime minister says his country's military is creating an expanded
buffer zone in southern Lebanon to push Hezbollah forces farther away from Israel.
I'm going to take a closer look at who is paying the highest price.
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ANDERSON (voice-over): Welcome back. You're watching CONNECT THE WORLD with me, Becky Anderson. Here are your headlines.
Venezuela's ousted president is due in a courtroom in New York next hour. Nicolas Maduro's attorneys are expected to push for a dismissal of this
case. He has pleaded not guilty to charges related to drug trafficking, money laundering and corruption.
Critics of Big Tech are hailing a California jury's verdict against Meta and YouTube as social media's Big Tobacco moment. On Wednesday, the tech
giants were found liable in a case that accused them of intentionally getting a young woman addicted to their platforms, causing harm to her
mental health. The companies say they will appeal.
U.S. President Donald Trump is warning Iran to, quote, "get serious" soon about making a deal to end the war. He posted on his social media website
that if a deal doesn't happen, there will be no turning back. The White House says talks with Iran have been happening. Iran refutes that.
ANDERSON: Well, lawmakers in Washington received closed door briefings on the war in Iran on Wednesday. One Senate Democrat says he thinks the Trump
administration has no plan for reopening the Strait of Hormuz. Have a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. CHRIS MURPHY (D-CT), MEMBER, FOREIGN RELATIONS COMMITTEE: What they did confirm for us in that briefing today was that there is no way to
reopen the Strait of Hormuz. There is no military plan to open the strait. The strait is effectively going to remain closed until the war ends. So
that's bad news for American consumers.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Well, the House briefing was reportedly pretty acrimonious, with one Republican storming out and another calling it the most contentious he
has seen. But dissatisfaction was evident on both sides of the aisle.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. JASON CROW (D-CO): We're not getting answers from the administration on the end game, on the strategy, on how they're going to protect the
50,000 troops who are in that region, how we're going to de-escalate and what our ultimate goal is. And our service members deserve better.
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QUESTION: Would you support troops on the ground in Iran at this point?
REP. DERRICK VAN ORDEN (R-WI): No. I've been 100 percent crystal clear from the beginning. No, the answer is no. We can achieve the strategic
goals that Donald Trump wants to achieve without doing that. I don't support that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Well, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu says his country's military is expanding its presence in southern Lebanon. It is
part of an effort to expand what he calls a buffer zone and push the Iran- backed Hezbollah forces farther from Israel.
As we have been reporting this escalating conflict, this front between Israel and Hezbollah has caused significant civilian casualties and
heartbreaking losses.
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ANDERSON (voice-over): Lebanon's health ministry says the latest victims include two paramedics, who were killed by an Israeli strike as they were
traveling to carry out a rescue mission.
HASSAN JABER, FATHER OF MURDERED PARAMEDIC (through translator): A treacherous, unjust enemy. We saw what he, Israel, did in Gaza and he did
before in Lebanon and what he's doing in Lebanon now. A paramedic who doesn't even have a knife going to save someone else. They strike him and
kill him.
This happened in more than one strike, more than one place.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Well, let's turn to CNN's Nick Paton Walsh. He is in Beirut and has a closer look now at why the wider conflict in the Middle East might be
resolved with a compromise rather than unconditional surrender.
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TRUMP: So thank you to the incredible members of my cabinet. They are doing a phenomenal job, everybody pretty much agrees on that, including our
newest member, secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin.
Thank you, Mark.
And we all know very well he was a very popular senator, very effective senator.
Effective probably being the more important word, JD, don't you think?
J.D. VANCE (R-OH), VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Yes, sir.
TRUMP: We wish you a lot of luck. You will do fantastically well. Congratulations.
Amazing family that was here yesterday in the Oval. Sworn in, his family is amazing. Thank you very much.
We are now on day 41 of the disgraceful Democrat shutdown of Markwayne's department. Congratulations. His department is shut down. Shut down by the
radical Democrats. But Democrats are really punishing the American people.
I saw it today on one of the shows where they were interviewing people at the airport and they are all angry at the Democrats. They are actually
angry at Schumer. I didn't think anyone knew his name. One woman said that Schumer is disgraceful, a disgrace to our country.
But they are angry at the Democrats, they know what is happening. They are punishing the American people including travelers and airports on the
request to return to open borders and give amnesty to illegal alien criminals.
They want to give amnesty to some of the criminals that came into our country. Just about all of them, actually, if you look at it. They love
sanctuary cities, a sanctuary for criminals. They want to make sure they are taken care of.
That is what they are fighting about. They don't want to talk about that but that is what they are fighting about. They want to protect criminals,
11,888 murders, many of them, I will say, are gone now, because of us, we got them out. But still have some left. Should have never happened, should
have never been allowed to come into our country.
But we are not going to let it happen, we are not going to let the Democrats get away with this stuff and people are wise to them. So they
need to end the shut down immediately or we will have to take some very drastic measures.
This morning I want to give an update on the Operation Epic Fury, which is an appropriate name, because we are absolutely obliterating them. Over the
past three weeks we have been hitting Iran's military capabilities at a level few people have ever seen before. People never knew there was such a
capability.
We have the finest military anywhere in the world by far -- strongest military anywhere in the world by far. I built it during my first
administration and used it during my second administration -- unfortunately, because I should never have to use it.
You have a pretty good witness in Venezuela also. It was a smaller version of what we are doing now. We are crushing their missiles and drones
stockpiled, destroying their defense industrial base, we have wiped out their navy completely, their air force completely.
[10:40:00]
We have wiped out a large percentage of their missiles.
And the missile launchers -- without the launchers, you can't -- the missiles don't do any good. And we have knockout probably close to 90
percent of the launchers. Probably more than 90 percent of the missiles themselves, between someday fired and more than they fired we knocked out.
We also destroyed a lot of the factories -- we are continuing to do that but a lot of the factories where they manufacture the drones and the
missiles. The drones, too, are way down. The reason they are down is they go one way and they don't come back. For the most part we are shooting them
down. But we also are able -- we've really done tremendous damage to the places where they make them.
And just so we set the record straight, because I've been watching "The Wall Street Journal's" fake news in all these stories that get printed
like, oh, I want to make a deal -- they are begging to make a deal, not me. And anybody that's what was happening over there would understand why they
want to make a deal.
But they say, oh, we're not talking -- anybody would know -- they are not fools, they are very smart, actually, in a certain way and they are great
negotiators. I say they are lousy fighters but they are great negotiators. They are begging to work out a deal.
I don't know if we will be able to do that, I don't know if we are willing to do that. Should've done that for weeks ago, should have done that two
years ago. Or they should've done it when we first came into office because two years ago they had free reign under Biden, sleepy Joe, worst president
in the history of our country.
What he allowed to happen to our country at the borders and even with a thing like this. But not just him, every president for 47 years, every
president should have done this, they should have done it a long time ago, because you cannot give lunatics a nuclear weapon and they would have had a
big one.
It stopped really when we did the b-2 but even before that, Barack Hussein Obama, what he did when he gave them the Iran nuclear deal, gave them free
will toward a nuclear weapon. Basically he chose Iran over Israel and others that didn't want him to do it.
But I terminated that deal. Had I not terminated that deal, you would've had a nuclear weapon years ago and it would have been used, guaranteed. One
of the reasons you know about the guaranty is -- guarantee was their neighbors were like bystanders. They work involved very much -- they
weren't involved very much. People were concerned with Iran, a big black cloud over the Middle East.
They were concerned but all of a sudden they start shooting, these five in particular, five countries, they start shooting at Qatar, Saudi Arabia,
UAE, Kuwait, Oman. They start shooting at them. Everybody was shocked, including us.
You know why?
Because they are sick and they had a plan to take over the Middle East. And some of those missiles that we shot at them were locked long before we
started in this process. They were locked and loaded and aimed at those countries. They wanted to take over the Middle East.
But we happened to come along, so it wasn't so easy. So right now their navy is sunk, the largest elimination of a foreign navy that has taken
place, maybe ever but certainly since World War II. Their air force is gone, their antiaircraft and communications abilities totally dismantled.
One of the problems they do have when they deal with us is people aren't able to communicate with anybody else, you know, because all of their
leadership has been gone. The first level is gone and they met to pick a new level and they are gone.
They are all gone, because they didn't make a deal and because they are sick people. They are really sick. They are really sinister, sick people.
And if anybody thinks it was OK to have a group of people like this to have nuclear capability and nuclear weapons and if we didn't attack with the B-2
bombers, they would have had a nuclear weapon within two weeks, maybe four weeks.
Between two and four weeks they were planning to have a nuclear weapon, if we didn't hit them at that time with the B-2 bombers. One of the great air
raids in history, may be the greatest. Dark at night, no moon, no light. Every single bomb hit its mark and just obliterated that place. So it's now
very deep under Earth.
And it was an amazing thing. But they would have nuclear -- and they would have used it without question.
[10:45:00]
And you know that because why did they shoot all these countries that weren't involved with them?
They weren't involved, had no big problems. Because they are sick, because they wanted to take over the Middle East. Not just Israel. Certainly Israel
would have been the first on the list.
They would have used nuclear weapons -- a nuclear, not too many of them but they would have used a nuclear weapon on Israel and other neighbors. And
then they would have come after us.
We had a weak president that would have done great damage. Fortunately you don't have a weak president and I knew what was happening. I think we have
been proven right. They took one missile, it went 2,500 miles. They supposedly didn't have a missile like that, no missile without capability.
But they shot the now famous island, the island that the U.K. was very afraid to give us, said we don't want to get dragon. We don't want to get
dragged into their wars either. One thing we are very disappointed -- I will say it publicly, we are very disappointed with NATO, because NATO has
done absolutely nothing.
I always said, 25 years ago -- I wasn't a politician but I was always involved in politics. I said 25 years ago that NATO is a paper tiger. But
more importantly, that we'll come to their rescue but they will never come to ours. I want you to remember that we said this, they didn't come to our
rescue.
Now they all want our help when they are annihilated, the other side is annihilated. We would love to send ships. They made a statement, a couple
of them, we want to get involved when the war is over. No, it was about to get involved when the war is beginning or before it begins.
We had the U.K. say that we will send -- this is three weeks ago -- we will send our aircraft carriers, which aren't the best aircraft carriers, by the
way. They are toys compared to what we have. But we will send our aircraft carrier when the war is over.
Oh, that's wonderful. Thank you very much. don't bother. We don't need it. And we don't need it, we don't need them. We estimate it would take a
proximately four to six weeks to achieve our mission and we are way ahead of schedule. If you look at what we have done in terms of the destruction
of that country, we are way ahead.
Think of it, they have no navy. And they have good ships, 154 ships have been shot down and are resting very nicely at the bottom of the sea. And we
did that in a matter of less than a week, because we have the greatest military in the world, by far, nobody even close.
So we estimated it would take approximately four to six weeks to achieve our mission. 26 days in, we're extremely, really a lot ahead of schedule.
The Iranian regime is admitting to itself that they have been decisively defeated. They are saying to people this is a disaster.
They know it, that is why they are talking to us. They wouldn't talk otherwise. But they are talking to us because they got a disaster on their
hands. They have defeated -- they can't make a comeback. We are free to roam over there.
Cities and towns, destroyed all of their crazy nuclear weapons and missiles and drones they are building and we are doing that. They now have a chance
to make a deal but it's up to them. And they will tell you we will not negotiate. Of course they are negotiating, they've been obliterated.
Who wouldn't negotiate?
They are begging to make a deal. We will see if we can make them ideal. If they make--make the right deal. If they make the right deal, the strait
will open up, Hormuz strait will open up. Even out we don't know if there are any mines. 22 mine droppers. A boat that drops mines.
Who has 22 mine droppers, except for people who have evil intentions?
Every one of those mine droppers has been struck, with the same weapon we used to stop drugs from coming into the United States of America. When we
hit those boats come it is the exact same weapon, extremely effective.
We have unlimited supplies and extreme the effective. But they have no more mine droppers. We are 98 percent down drugs coming in by border, by the
ocean, by the sea. 98 percent. And we are trying to figure out who are the 2 percent, because we think they are the bravest men -- maybe women.
Whoever is on those boats is very brave or doesn't watch television. But drugs coming in by sea, coming in by water, are 98 percent down.
[10:50:04]
And now we will stop the drugs coming in by land. Now it's all pinched and these people are trying to come in by land. And we will -- that's the easy
one.
But we had to take care of the water first. Nobody's going to make it. Nothing is coming in anymore. It was hundreds of millions of a week were
coming in by water. But they now have the chance -- that is, Iran -- to permanently abandon their nuclear ambitions and chart a new path forward.
We will see if they want to do it. If they don't, we are the worst nightmare. In the meantime, we will just keep blowing them away, unimpeded,
unstopped. There is not a thing they can do -- they can't do anything about it, you know. If they could, you'd be hearing about it. You'd be hearing
about it.
You don't hear anything about it. They can't shoot our jets. We have the best military equipment in the world, not even a contest. You see that with
Venezuela. They had other equipment, they didn't have ours, it didn't work.
Think of it, we get the situation in Venezuela, it was a great military operation getting a very, very dangerous man who has killed a lot of
people, forced people into our country. Incredible, he emptied his prisons in Venezuela, emptied his prisons into our country -- emptied his prisons
into our country and I hope that charge will be brought.
That's a big charge that has been brought yet. It should be brought. He emptied his prisons into our country and was a major purveyor of drugs
coming into our country. And he's now been captured and, you know, I guess being given a fair trial.
I would imagine there are other trials coming, because they really sued for just a fraction of the things that have been done. With Iran we will keep
doing what we've been doing. Nobody is a match for the United States but they are not a match for the United States. It's small potatoes.
That's why I'm so disappointed in NATO, because this was a test for NATO. This was a test for NATO. This was a test. Help us -- you don't have to. If
you don't do that, we're going to remember. Remember this months from now, remember my statements.
They have any question, a great expression, never forget. As we end threats to America brought, we are focused at home on building the greatest economy
-- before this started the Dow hit 50,000, S&P hit 7000. Both of those achievements were not achievable.
Everyone of you -- most of you, I guess -- said he will never hit 50,000 during a four-year period because it is too high level. Well, we hit it in
our first year. Now we have to take an excursion to Iran and stop this maniac, who is no longer with us, the supreme leader. Wasn't so supreme. No
longer with us, very sad.
We have to stop him from blowing up the world, blowing up the Middle East and blowing up our country. I thought frankly the oil prices would go up
more and I thought the stock market would go down more.
Hasn't been nearly as severe as I thought -- I thought they had confidence in the American president and maybe the people sitting on the table. But
America -- finally the taxes this year, they are receiving record-setting refunds. A very big story -- well, it should be a big story.
I don't think you read about it much for the I speak about it. I speak about it, because these people here, you don't write about it. You don't
write about the drug prices going down. Going down 30, 40, 50, 60 percent, 70 percent. Favorite nations -- called the most favored nations, we are
paying the lowest prices anywhere in the world.
Before, we pay the highest prices anywhere in the will -- Bobby, right?
And now we are paying the lowest prices in the world. It's a different. A different from 40 to 80 and even 90 percent. That's a big difference. We
are slashing regulations and investment is pouring in from all over the world. The most investment of any country in history has been put into our
country the last year.
[10:55:00]
We had to take a little detour -- won't be long, it ends soon -- we had to take a little detour, go to Iran and we had to put out a fire. Very
dangerous fire that could have blown up big portions of the world, if not the whole thing.
So tomorrow we will be announcing a variety of actions we are taking to support American farmers, who we never forget, we love the farmers. We gave
them $12 billion out of tariff money, tremendous amount of tariff money come in.
And we continue have -- as you know, the Supreme Court gave us a very unfortunate, foolish ruling, a ruling that gives the people who have ripped
off our country, gives them some money back. It's one of those things. Terrible, terrible, horrible mistake they made but it's OK, because we have
another method -- we will use the other method.
But because the tariff money has been so substantial, we gave our farmers, who have been mistreated by some countries, we gave them $12 billion and
they are extremely happy. And they deserve it. They never complain. They just go out, they farm and they wouldn't do anything different.
They wouldn't trade jobs with any of you, except maybe some of the fake media, I don't know. Somehow I don't see that. I like the job better,
actually for some I love the farmers, so we gave them $12 billion.
In just a few moments Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent will discuss the new actions we are taking to address energy prices, which have not gone up as
much as I thought, Scott, to be honest. It's not over, so maybe it will go up a little bit more. It's all going to come back down to where it wasn't
probably lower.
And my productions have been right. Trump was right about everything -- they have a new hat, Trump was right about everything. Pretty right. But
Scott is going to address that.
And before we go very much further, I want to ask vice president JD Vance to say a few words about where we are with the situation, he's involved
with Steve and Jared on negotiations. And then some of the others will speak. We will have Mark say a few words.
Pete Hegseth, who was born for this role. I mean, he's doing a great job. They gave him a hard time. And people, I will tell you -- somebody came up
to me yesterday and said I give a very hard time, I made a mistake, Pete Hegseth is doing a great job. You are not going to believe it, he gave you
such a nasty, hard time.
But you are doing great. And then Steve is going to speak and Scott will speak last. And if we have any questions, we will take some questions. You
may have questions. I doubt it. So JD, please.
VANCE: Yes, sir. Thank you, good to see everybody. Proud to be part of this team. The president summarizes very ably. The Iranian conventional
military is effectively destroyed. They don't have a navy, they don't have the ability to hit us like they could a few weeks ago.
There has been a lot of reporting about diplomatic options, negotiations. Pete and his team, there are further military options. But what we have now
that we didn't have when the president took over a little over a year ago is the ability to use every tool at our disposal to ensure that Iran
doesn't get a nuclear weapon.
When I say options, I think it is important the American people know options for what. It is options to ensure that Iran never has a nuclear
weapon. You talk about people who walk into a crowded supermarket and have a vest on and they blow up the vast and a couple people get killed and it
is a terrible tragedy.
It is not something that can kill a couple people but many tens of thousands of people. That is the most important American national security
objectives that exist for any administration at any time, if you don't want the worst people in the world have a nuclear weapon.
That is why the president is doing this, that is why the president cares so much about this particular issue. I will let Steve talk a little bit about
the details of the negotiation but the last thing I will say before I turn it over to Marco is I'm very mindful, of course, that we have a lot of
folks overseas fighting ably for the United States of America.
Steve and the whole team, we are very proud of them. But they are fighting at a time when we are about to enter as Christians the most important week
of the Christian calendar, the holy week that celebrates the return of Jesus Christ to Jerusalem.
I want to say to all of my fellow American Christians, particularly those serving in the Gulf, that I wish you a very blessed Easter, a very blessed
holy week and we continue to stand behind you and continue to support you every step of the way.
TRUMP: Thank you very much -- Marco.
MARCO RUBIO (R-FL), U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: The most important job any president has is to keep the American people safe. Every president says it
but we have a president who means it does something about it.
As the president outlined very clearly to the world on the night this operation began, Iran has been at war with the United States --
[11:00:00]
END
