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IDF: Strikes Underway Against Tehran Military Infrastructure; U.S. Claims it's Making Diplomatic Headway in Ending War with Iran; Netanyahu Orders Expansion of Buffer Zone in Southern Lebanon. Aired 5-5:30a ET

Aired March 30, 2026 - 05:00   ET

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

[05:00:00]

BRIAN ABEL, CO-ANCHOR, EARLY START: Hello, and welcome to our viewers in the United States and all around the world, I'm Brian Abel in Washington.

BECKY ANDERSON, CO-ANCHOR, EARLY START: I am Becky Anderson live from our Middle East and gulf programming hub here in Abu Dhabi. And we begin this hour in Tehran, where earlier, the Israeli military said it was striking Iranian terror regime, military infrastructure across the capital.

Meanwhile, the U.S. claims it's making diplomatic headway in ending this war with Iran. Tehran, though, is accusing the U.S. of quote, "secretly planning a ground invasion amid ongoing negotiations." Here's what President Donald Trump said on Air Force One earlier.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: So, we -- we've had very good negotiations today with Iran, getting a lot of the things that they should have given us a long time ago. We'll see how it works out, but they're very good.

Moving along very nicely. They're agreeing with us on the plan. I mean, we asked for 15 things, and for the most part, we're going to be asking for a couple of other things.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Well, CNN has previously reported about what is this 15- point plan laid out by the U.S., and delivered to Tehran by Pakistan. It includes Iran committing to no nuclear weapons, handing over its highly enriched uranium, limits on Tehran's defense capabilities as well as an end to regional proxy groups.

And, crucially, the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. Pakistan now says it is prepared to host negotiations between the U.S. and Iran this week, after holding what it called productive talks with Egypt, Turkey and Saudi Arabia on Sunday.

Let me get you to CNN's Paula Hancocks, who's been monitoring all of this. Paula, more strikes this Monday in region, and more parties involved in trying to end this war. What is the latest?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Becky, if we have a quick look around the region when it comes to the military side of it, we know that overnight, Israel continued with a number of airstrikes across Iran.

We actually heard from the Israeli military on Sunday saying that they believe that they are days away from hitting all the targets in Iran that they classify as top priority. They say they have many more targets they want to hit.

But they said when it comes to the military infrastructure, the regime infrastructure, their top priorities have almost all been targeted. We are seeing the arsenal going the other way as well, though we have been seeing airstrikes -- excuse me, missiles fired into Israel from Iran.

Those waves of projectiles continuing to be fired despite the fact that Israel and the U.S. insist that they have degraded the ability of Tehran to be able to do this. And we've seen that continuing here in the region as well.

Here in the UAE, there have been projectiles shot down the -- in Sharjah, we saw smoke emanating as the sun rose on this Monday morning in Kuwait. We have seen that according to authorities, there has been a desalination plant and a power station that has been -- that has been targeted.

And one Indian worker killed as well in these strikes, though, desalination plant being targeted, condemned also by Qatar. This is obviously a key factor for many of these gulf states who rely heavily on this critical infrastructure.

So, we are seeing the ability of Tehran to terrorize its neighbors and to also focus on U.S. installations in the region, and Israel, despite the fact that those two countries claim they have degraded their ability significantly.

But as this is happening, we're still hearing about the diplomatic side, the optimism is certainly on the American side at this point. We're hearing optimism from the U.S. President, Donald Trump, claiming that Iran has agreed to most of those 15 points on his peace plan.

It's not what we're hearing from the Iranian side. In fact, an Iranian security official has told CNN, that it is up to Tehran when this war ends, rejecting what we've heard from Trump, what we've heard from Secretary of State Marco Rubio, suggesting this will only last weeks.

[05:05:00]

The security official saying they are able to carry this on long term. Becky?

ANDERSON: Yes, good to have you, Paula, thank you for that. Well, Israel says it is launching new strikes on Hezbollah targets in Lebanon. Here you see new clouds of smoke rising this morning over southern Beirut. Israel making more moves on the ground as well.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered the expansion of what he describes as a security buffer zone in the south of the country, southern Lebanon. All of this causing more misplacement or displacement and misery among the people of Lebanon.

Earlier, UNICEF told CNN that the war has displaced 20 percent of the country's population in just three weeks, and more than 19,000 children, according to UNICEF, are forced to flee their homes every day.

Well, Maya Gebeily is the "Reuters" bureau chief for Lebanon, Syria and Jordan. She joins me now from Beirut. It's good to have you with us this morning. Thank you. We have seen strikes over the -- or certainly plumes of smoke over the Beirut skyline. What's the latest where you are in the capital?

MAYA GEBEILY, REUTERS BUREAU CHIEF FOR LEBANON, SYRIA & JORDAN: Just like you said, Becky, we've seen new strikes this morning on Beirut's southern suburbs. It appears to have been a targeted strike. So, we haven't seen entire buildings coming down this morning like we have in the past couple of weeks in the southern suburbs, which have been subject to Israeli evacuation orders.

You have hundreds of thousands of people who have -- who have fled those neighborhoods and have gone deeper into Beirut or into other parts of Lebanon, and, as you said, have been increasing, you know, the population density in other parts of the capital and other parts of the country, and straining public services in those areas as well.

ANDERSON: Yes, it's just after midday with you there in Beirut. Let's have a listen to the latest from the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, PRIME MINISTER, ISRAEL (through translator): We are in a multi-arena campaign. We are striking with immense force against Iran and its proxies. We are achieving great accomplishments, achievements that are creating visible cracks in the terrorist regime in Tehran, in Lebanon.

I have now instructed to further expand the existing security zone in order to finally thwart the threat of invasion and to push the anti- tank missile fire away from our border.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: What do you read into that move to further expand the existing security zone in the south?

GEBEILY: This is what we've been reporting on for the past week. Essentially, he's not the first Israeli official, obviously, to mention this. We saw the Israeli Defense Minister last week instruct the military to expand that buffer zone. We've been reporting on this and what it means for Lebanese residents

who are still in southern Lebanon. And what we've seen on the ground at least, is we've seen Israeli troops try to push in a little bit deeper into the border zone.

They have been facing fighting, you know, kind of defense that's being put up by Hezbollah militants who are still in those towns. But it also means an expansion of Israeli strikes. And really, over the past week, the kind of the group that's been hit the hardest have been Lebanese medics.

We've seen strikes over the weekend that have killed ten Lebanese paramedics just in those 24 hours between Saturday to Sunday. Other strikes have hit Lebanese power stations, water stations. So, as we've reported, the expansion of the buffer zone also means an expansion of strikes on Lebanese public infrastructure, which is really terrifying.

Lebanese infrastructure is kind of already ailing. It's already struggling. And whatever is being destroyed now could take decades to rebuild.

ANDERSON: OK, and we are just bringing up further pictures of the plumes of smoke over the Beirut skyline as we -- as we speak. As I understand it, a regional source told "Reuters" that Hezbollah has, quote, "guarantees" regarding a wider deal that -- those sources saying, Iran is prioritizing Lebanon.

It will not accept Israeli violations in Lebanon like what happened after the 2024 ceasefire. And how much optimism or not, does that sort of create where you are in Lebanon when a wider deal does seem so far away?

And what do you make of the fact that we have seen no further progress to date, at least, in what were posited as these sorts of, you know, Israel-Lebanon talks.

GEBEILY: As you -- as you said, I mean, the Lebanese President really took what is a big step domestically to say, I'm ready to have direct talks with the Israelis on a ceasefire.

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And unfortunately, it seems that, that his call has fallen on deaf ears. There's really -- as far as we've heard from U.S. officials and from others, there's very little bandwidth right now for the U.S., which is kind of all consumed by the conflict with Iran, to try to mediate a deal between the Israelis and the Lebanese at this stage.

So, there's no active diplomatic track in terms of a state-to-state diplomacy. And so, instead, what we're hearing from sources here, from sources across the region is that Hezbollah is really banking and counting on the fact that Iran will make sure that Lebanon is included in any kind of regional deal that it gets with the U.S. and with the Israelis.

But we -- as you said, we don't know what that looks like. We don't know how long it's going to take. We don't know how many more Lebanese will be displaced or killed in that -- in that -- in that time.

So, not a lot of Lebanese are pinning their hopes on that. Obviously, they're hoping that any diplomatic resolution will put an end to Israeli strikes and ground advances, but there's not -- it doesn't look like there's a lot of progress that we can hang our hat on.

ANDERSON: Briefly and finally, where does this all leave Lebanon? The Lebanese people, including those in the Shia population who are not supporters of Hezbollah.

GEBEILY: It's probably one of the most challenging times for Lebanon since the civil war that ended in 1990, because it's a confluence of all these crises all at once. I mean, you have an internal crisis.

You have the divisions that were -- that were pitting the Lebanese government against Hezbollah all throughout last year. Now, you have an Israeli ground operation that could go as far as 30 kilometers into Lebanese territory.

You have a massive displacement crisis. You have a strain on public networks that are already severely underfunded. So, it's really kind of the confluence of all of these crises that Lebanon has had to deal with one-by-one in the past.

And they're all converging at once and presenting some really serious challenges, not just in terms of territory that Lebanon could lose in the long term, but in terms of the internal challenges and the internal tensions between these different sectarian communities.

And one of the biggest fears that people have is that, if there is a -- the occupation of southern Lebanon, where will this population of 1 million displaced people go? It's a tiny country. And what are those tensions going to look like down --

ANDERSON: Maya, it's good to have you. Thank you for making the time for us today. Your perspective is really important to us as we continue to follow what is going on in Lebanon, as clearly, we continue to follow the developing news across the region. Thank you.

And I will be back later in the hour. For now, let's get you to Brian, who is in Washington.

ABEL: Becky, excellent coverage of the conflict, and we will see you back shortly. Thank you. Here in the States, as the Trump administration talks about negotiations with Iran, it's also sending more U.S. troops to the Middle East, and is putting hundreds more on alert.

But a new "AP" poll highlights how deeply unpopular that is, with 62 percent of Americans opposing the deployment of ground troops to Iran. The poll also finds that the vast majority of Americans believe the U.S. military action in Iran has gone too far.

And still to come, TSA agents may finally see a paycheck today after more than a month of waiting. We'll have the latest on efforts to end the partial U.S. government shutdown and reopen the Department of Homeland Security.

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[05:15:00]

ABEL: Some TSA officers could be getting paychecks as soon as today through an executive order signed by President Trump. But since Congress still hasn't agreed on a deal to reopen, the Department of Homeland Security, those same workers are not sure whether this is a temporary fix or if it means the checks will keep coming. CNN's Camila DeChalus has the latest on the partial shutdown.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CAMILA DECHALUS, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER (on camera): Well, here at this airport, we're seeing relatively short lines. You don't see that many major disruptions here that you've seen in other airports across the country.

But in these last few hours, I spoke to several TSA workers about the news that the Trump administration is going to start paying them amidst this government shutdown, and they've had mixed reactions.

Some expressed relief at this news, saying that it's about time that they've gone weeks without getting paid, and they still showed up to the job despite not having that financial compensation.

While others expressed frustration that this partial government shutdown has lasted this long, and others brought up this concern that even though this agency, TSA, is getting paid, what is going to happen to the thousands of other federal employees working at other agencies under the Department of Homeland Security that are still going to go without pay because of this partial shutdown, especially in light of everything that's happening on Capitol Hill?

What we were hearing is that the House lawmakers on the House side and on the Senate side, are nowhere closer to striking this deal. In the past few days, you saw that the Senate passed a bipartisan bill to fund the Department of Homeland Security, but excluded money for Immigration Enforcement and Border Patrol.

Whereas House Republicans on the House side passed their bill, that included a short-term funding bill for DHS, but it also included money for Immigration Enforcement and Border Patrol. And that is a stark difference here.

Now, Senate Democrats are very adamant that they're not going to take up the House funding bill for DHS, because it includes money for Immigration Enforcement. And they've been very clear that they're not going to support any funding for DHS unless it includes reforms to several federal agencies under it.

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And that is where they're at a big stride, and that big differences. But we're not really hearing any movement happening at this time. And so, what I'm hearing from several federal agencies under DHS is how long is this going to last?

Especially because it's having so many consequences for thousands of federal employees under DHS. And even though it's brought some relief to TSA workers that they're going to get paid, what is going to happen to the thousands of others we've heard, even as of today, more than 500 TSA workers have quit in this partial government shutdown.

And really begs this bigger question is, how many others are going to quit and other federal agencies under DHS as a result, the fact that this partial government shutdown has lasted this long. Camila DeChalus, CNN, Virginia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ABEL: And CNN's Jake Tapper spoke with White House border czar Tom Homan about TSA agents finally being paid. He said while he's glad the President is able to pay those agents, there are thousands more DHS workers still going unpaid. Homan says lawmakers need to fund them all. Tapper also had this question for the border czar.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: Once TSA agents start getting paid, will ICE agents leave the airports?

TOM HOMAN, U.S. BORDER CZAR: We'll see. You know, it depends how many TSA agents come back to work. How many TSA agents have actually quit and have no plan coming back to work? I'm working very closely with TSA administrator and the ICE director to decide what airport needs what?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ABEL: And still to come, Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels have entered the Middle East conflict. What this could mean for global shipping both in the Strait of Hormuz and another key strait in the Red Sea.

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[05:25:00]

ANDERSON: Welcome back, I'm Becky Anderson from our Middle East programming headquarters here in Abu Dhabi. President Trump claims Iran has agreed to quote, "most of the 15-point list of U.S. demands to end this war."

One key provision in that plan is the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. The U.S. also wants Iran to commit to no nuclear weapons, to hand over highly enriched uranium and set limits on its defense capabilities.

Well, Tehran has expressed skepticism of those White House demands, and Iran accuses the U.S. of planning a secret ground invasion while it makes overtures at diplomacy. Meanwhile, the International Energy Agency says the closure of that Strait is the biggest oil shock in history.

It's causing oil prices to soar and disrupting stock markets around the world. Well, joining us now is Burcu Ozcelik; who is Senior Research Fellow for Middle East Security at the Royal United Services Institute, joining us today from London. Burcu, thank you.

Houthi rebels, a Yemen-based Iran-backed militia wading into this expanding Middle East conflict, firing two missiles at Israel. What's the risk of their further involvement at this point?

BURCU OZCELIK, SENIOR RESEARCH FELLOW FOR MIDDLE EAST SECURITY, ROYAL UNITED SERVICES INSTITUTE: I would say the risk is real. This is a moment that we have been anticipating since the start of the U.S.- Israel assault on Iran, and I think it was a question of when the Houthis would enter the fray and not if.

They are an Iran-linked-backed proxy group, but they retain a high level of independence, self-production of certain military capabilities, and have political, historical, social roots that are unique to Yemen.

So, whilst they are within the political, military, ideological framework of Iran, they do retain some independent capabilities and would like to retain those capabilities through the course of this war.

ANDERSON: We are already seeing Brent crude spiking well above 100 bucks on the barrel as a result of Iran's effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz. If the Houthis were to do to the Red Sea what we have seen them do in the past, which is completely disrupt shipping there, how would that reverberate around the global economy?

OZCELIK: It would have significant implications, undoubtedly. And this is a nightmare scenario. We've already been at the brink of and experienced several nightmare scenarios over the course of this month's long war across the gulf and the Middle East.

But this would amplify and maximize those effects to another scale. The closure or serious disruption to a second vital choke point, that of the Red Sea and the Bab al-Mandab Strait would be -- would be very consequential for the freedom of navigation, shipping rights, of course, and the price of key commodities, energy supply --

ANDERSON: Yes --

OZCELIK: Fertilizers, other products as well.

ANDERSON: Let's discuss this QUAD meeting, let's call it that. This meeting in Pakistan with Saudi, Turkey, Egypt and Pakistan. You posted about this meeting, describing it as still fluid. And each is approaching this with slightly different interests and motivations. But it is worth watching. Why? What are you watching at this point?

OZCELIK: Well, it's interesting to see what kind of new regional order will emerge from the ashes of this war. We are seeing already momentum along the lines of this QUAD grouping they're meeting, and they do have different interests and motivations.

Turkey is a NATO ally. It has so far stressed the importance of maintaining its neutrality. It has condemned.