Return to Transcripts main page

The Situation Room

Vance Takes Reporter Questions Amid Escalating War with Iran; Trump After New Strikes: Iran Officially "A Failed Nation"; Ontario Premier Warns of "Devastating" U.S.-Canada Trade War; China's Xi Kicks Off Series of Diplomatic Visits; Lionel Messi Retiring from Argentina's National Team. Aired 11:30a-12p ET

Aired August 31, 2026 - 11:30   ET

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

[11:30:00]

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking news. We're following the vice president of the United States, J.D. Vance, just spoke on the tarmac just before heading to a MAGA event in Michigan. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

J.D. VANCE, U.S. VICE PRESIDENT: Hey. Good morning, everybody. How are you guys doing?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Great. Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good.

VANCE: Good. All right. Well, looking forward to today. We're going to head to Michigan. First of all, we've got a lot of big announcements on the anti-fraud task force. Particularly, we're going to talk about the fact that we're finally cracking down on the fraud in commercial trucking and commercial truck driving.

For too long, the Biden administration in particular and states who are cooperating with the Biden administration were effectively allowing tens of thousands of fraudulent CDLs on the road. This, of course, was undercutting Americans' wages. We know that trucking is one of the best sources of employment for non-college educated men, so it was bad for people's jobs, but it also made our streets and our highways a lot less safe.

So, we're cracking down on that in the Trump administration. The president gave us a very clear directive to do so. We're announcing some very tough measures in Michigan. And then we're obviously going to do a little bit of politics, too. We have two great candidates, in particular Mike Rogers, who's running for Senate against Abdul El- Sayed. An amazing guy, Mike Rogers, an Army veteran, a true patriot, and I think a guy who's going to make a great U.S. senator.

So, a little bit on the anti-fraud stuff, cracking down on trucking fraud. Also, a little politics, and I think -- are you guys going with us to Vegas afterwards?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If you would have us. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're happy to.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're happy to come on. If you want us to.

VANCE: Sorry. You're invited. Yes, come along if you want to. But look, we're going to have a good time talking to the Republican-Jewish Coalition, their annual assembly there in Las Vegas. So, it'll be a busy day, but I think a good day talking about what's good for the country and also how to keep it going.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can you give us any hints on how you're going to crack down on the CDL situation?

VANCE: We'll talk a little bit about it at the event today. I don't want to get too ahead of my remarks publicly today. But look, it's fundamentally just actually taking it seriously, forcing some of these fraudulent CDLs off the road and actually going after the people who are giving fraudulent CDLs in the first place.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: On Iran, the president tweeted some A.I.- generated video of bombing of Kharg Island. Was that meant to be a warning, or what was the messaging there? Why did the president tweet that?

VANCE: Well, you know, the president likes to switch it up on social media a little bit. He would be the first to say he doesn't make announcements about military actions on social media. But I think that he's sending a message to the Iranians, look, we know that they continue to shoot at commercial shipping.

We continue to have a lot of tools at our disposal to prevent them from doing so, or at least cut down on them from doing so. And that's what the president is saying is, look, you guys are shooting at commercial shipping. You guys are behaving like a terrorist country. You've got to stop, or there are going to be some consequences.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: On Venezuela, really quickly, with the deal for the $65 billion in reserve in Venezuelan oil, when will the U.S. see the first barrels of oil from that deal?

VANCE: I think importantly, we're actually already seeing significant increase in oil production out of Venezuela, which is one of the reasons why, despite a lot of people predicting that oil prices would go to $200 a barrel, they're obviously higher than they were a few months ago, but they're sort of much more stable, in part because of what we see coming out of Venezuela.

[11:35:00]

So, look, I think that we are going to see significant increase in production. The $65 billion barrel reserve is a big part of that, but I think it's a mistake to say, when will we see increased production, because we're already seeing increased production already.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you concerned about global vulnerabilities because of continued operations in Iran, either because of munitions drawdowns or other resources devoted to the region?

VANCE: Well, look, I think that we're in a position in the United States where, as strong as we have ever been, we're only going to get stronger under the president's leadership. We certainly saw under the Biden administration that the military was underinvested in and under- resourced. We're fixing that every day.

So, obviously, it's a concern of ours, but it's a concern of ours because of underinvestment in the military for a very long time, and it's something the president of the United States has said about fixing.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: On A.I., President Trump today said that Americans should get on board with wanting more data centers. How do you think that message goes over ahead of the midterms, where this is becoming kind of a touchpoint in some areas?

VANCE: Well, what the president said about data centers is they're an important part of the A.I. economy. When people build them, they have to build the power plants along with the data centers. I think probably 99 percent of the backlash to data centers has come in areas where building a data center means higher utility and higher electricity for the people on the ground.

So, I think what these companies have to do is take advantage of some of the federal deregulatory efforts that we've undertaken. If you build a data center, you should be putting power back into the grid, not taking it out. And if that is happening, I don't think the data centers are that controversial. It's when the utility bills get so much higher, that's when it's a real problem.

All right. Guys, we'll see you on the other side. Take care.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Vice President J.D. Vance speaking to reporters, answering questions just moments ago over at the Joint Base Andrews. He's getting ready to fly to Michigan.

I want to bring in Democratic Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi of Illinois right now. He serves on the House Intelligence Committee. He's obviously well briefed on all these issues. You heard the vice president, Congressman, point out that the U.S. military says it targeted Iranian rocket launchers trying to put mines in the Strait of Hormuz. Given that economic pressure and diplomacy at least have not fully reopened this critical waterway, at least not yet. Do you support the Trump administration renewing actual military strikes?

REP. RAJA KRISHNAMOORTHI (D-IL), INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE AND RANKING MEMBER, CHINA SELECT COMMITTEE: No, I think that this is just whack- a-mole. There is no military resolution to this conflict. And indeed, we're now seeing published reports of generals and people in the military urging Pete Hegseth and the president not to resume full- scale military options.

The only option on the table is a negotiated one. That has to be the focus of our efforts. Removing the mutual blockades, which are driving up the cost of gasoline. Now, it's $4 for a gallon of gasoline. It's going up to $5 if there's a resumption of full military strikes. Making sure our friends, partners, and allies are at the table to make sure that the Iranians don't play us off against each other in any kind of negotiation.

And then finally, weaning ourselves off fossil fuels. The fact that we are not in any way doing that basically gives the Iranians more leverage with regard to our energy supplies and also signals to the markets that we're not doing anything different. And that's why there's going to continue to be an upward pressure on the price of oil.

BLITZER: The Washington Post, I assume you read the article, is reporting that the U.S. military commanders, the top military commanders, have actually now warned Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth against a prolonged large-scale conflict with Iran due to a serious risk of weakening U.S. abilities to confront threats elsewhere. Based on your briefings, and you're a member of the Intelligence Committee, does that assessment track with your understanding of the downside of this war?

KRISHNAMOORTHI: Yes. We are now in a situation where we've depleted our Patriot missiles, our THAAD interceptors, SM-3 interceptors, our tomahawks, which are our precision fires, as well as other important components of our deterrence. And as a consequence, not only are the Iranians noticing that, but so are the Russians and Vladimir Putin, and so is Xi Jinping, who is basically, along with his analysts, counting our magazine depth every single day. And it just means that when we lower our deterrence, we basically invite aggression, and we slide closer to conflict in other theaters, which is what I'm very concerned about now.

BLITZER: As you know, Congressman, the war with Iran has massively disrupted the global oil supply, but President Trump announced an agreement with Venezuela over the weekend to try to bolster American oil reserves and potentially lower gas prices out there. Where do you stand on that deal?

[11:40:00]

KRISHNAMOORTHI: There is no deal. I mean, Delcy Rodriguez announced terms that are much different than anything that Donald Trump said. But even so, you know, if there were such a deal, it seems to be one that would be done under coercion or duress. It looks like colonization to people like me. Not only is that immoral, but it's illegal under the Venezuelan Constitution, and it's stupid for our long-term interests.

They will just reverse anything that is done now, just as they've done in the past when they've nationalized resources. And that is in part why so many private companies here don't want to do business in Venezuela because they're concerned about that. BLITZER: At the same time all of this is going on, Congressman, the trade war with Canada shows absolutely no signs of weakening right now. Your state, Illinois, exports billions of dollars' worth of goods to Canada. What are you hearing from your constituents about these U.S.-imposed tariffs?

KRISHNAMOORTHI: They are really upset. Look, these tariffs are just taxes on Americans, OK? So, when Trump talks about putting tariffs on Canada, he's basically putting taxes on Americans at a time when they're already feeling the pinch with $4 gas, inflation at 3.3 percent, high interest rates, and just the price of everything going up. In addition, in Illinois, we're feeling the double whammy because we'll feel the counter tariffs or the retaliatory tariffs on Illinois exports to Canada.

And so, you know, at this point, Illinoisans are fed up. They don't want to hear talk of another trade war with another country, certainly not Canada. And I think at this point it defies logic what the president is doing here. And so, perhaps the only way that this is going to end is by Democrats taking charge of Congress and putting a real check on him in November.

BLITZER: We'll see if that happens. Amid all of these developments, Congressman, developments involving the United States and these other countries, the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, has a packed international schedule this coming week, traveling for diplomatic events in Egypt and Kyrgyzstan. As the top Democrat on the China Select Committee, I'm curious how you view China's emerging role right now on the global stage.

KRISHNAMOORTHI: Look, they're cheering all these missteps on the part of President Trump, militarily, economically, diplomatically. They are glad that the U.S. is tied up in this war in Iran because it means it distracts attention from what our friends, partners, and allies require in the Indo-Pacific region. We are lowering our deterrence, and we're basically creating a situation where not only does China have an easier path toward potential aggression in the South China Sea and Taiwan, but they also have an easier economic path where they're basically convincing countries who are perhaps on the wrong end of the trade stick relative to the U.S. to come into their orbit and to trade with them on their terms. And ultimately, that is in the long-term worst interest of the U.S.

BLITZER: Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi of Illinois, thanks so much for joining us.

KRISHNAMOORTHI: Thank you.

BLITZER: And there's more breaking news coming into the Situation Room, this time from the soccer world. Argentina superstar Lionel Messi now says he's retiring from his country's national team. He wrote on Instagram just a little while ago, quote, "It was a decision that hurt and still hurts deep down, but I understand that the time has come. I always fought and left everything on the field for this jersey to bring you joy and make you feel proud to be Argentine through football," end quote. CNN sports analyst Christine Brennan is back with us. Christine, this is a major announcement, not a small deal.

CHRISTINE BRENNAN, CNN SPORTS ANALYST AND SPORTS COLUMNIST, USA TODAY: No, Wolf, this is huge. How many kids do we see out there wearing that very familiar number 10, the blue and white stripes, that's Lionel Messi's jersey, and that jersey will not be worn ever again. He will keep playing in the United States, in Miami, the inter-Miami team, but he is finished with the national team in Argentina, 207 games overall, not just the World Cup, but other international tournaments, 125 goals, 68 assists. They won one World Cup four years ago. They came in second, as I think many people know, just last month and a half ago, and just one of the greatest careers, potentially, you could argue, the greatest career ever in soccer, 39 years old.

[11:45:00]

And a key factor here, Wolf, is he lost his dad, 68-year-old father, a couple of days after the World Cup ended, and he said that has led him to think in a way that he probably may not have, as he turned 39 and lost his dad.

BLITZER: And we checked, it was what, two years ago, he said he would retire when he felt he was, quote, "No longer able to perform, no longer enjoying the game, or no longer helping his teammates."

BRENNAN: Although you could argue, he had a terrific World Cup, I think for the intense interest for the Americans and around the world as well, but an American audience loving soccer, men's soccer as never before. You saw him. We saw how great he is. We saw just the spectacular goals, the way he saved the day, time and again for Argentina, getting them to that final where they lost to Spain.

And so, yes, it's time for him, and his word is the only word that matters. I'm going to guess there are a lot of fans out there over the next few years, especially, who will miss him very much on the international stage.

BLITZER: Will his fans in Miami keep seeing him still play down in Miami?

BRENNAN: Yes, they will, he's playing there. This announcement, which is a huge story throughout the sports world, culturally, everywhere, who doesn't love Messi, who doesn't love soccer, but there's no mention of what would happen with Miami, which means he will continue to play, at least for this season. We'll see how that goes after that.

BLITZER: We'll see how that goes. Lionel Messi retiring from the Argentine national team. We'll see what happens in Miami. Thank you very much, Christine Brennan. And we'll have more news when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:50:00] BLITZER: There's breaking news coming into the Situation Room. Search crews have just recovered another body after this weekend's flash floods in the Grand Canyon in Arizona. The death toll now stands at two and at least 15 people are unaccounted for. The flood also knocked out the pipeline that provides drinking water for tourists at the park. And there may be more rain just ahead. The area is under a flood watch through this evening.

Also happening now, the tit-for-tat between the United States and Canada is going to cost you, our viewers, more money. Starting next week, Canada is set to enact tariffs from 15 up to 50, 50 percent on more than 700 American goods. It's part of Ottawa's effort to match U.S. tariffs dollar for dollar. This will, of course, impact a number of sectors, including steel and aluminum, paper products, construction materials, home appliances and agriculture, including dairy and seafood.

I want to bring in CNN's senior legal analyst, Elie Honig, right now. He was an assistant U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York. Elie, as you know, the Supreme Court -- the U.S. Supreme Court earlier this year, struck down President Trump's tariffs. So, bottom line, how can he proceed legally now with these new tariffs against Canada?

ELIE HONIG, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST AND FORMER ASSISTANT U.S. ATTORNEY, SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK: Well, Wolf, when the Supreme Court issued its ruling back in February, it did not decide that Donald Trump can never impose tariffs as a blanket matter. Rather, that decision back in February was the Supreme Court saying that Donald Trump used one particular statute, the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, to impose a set of global tariffs. And the Supreme Court basically found that statute, that particular law, does not permit those particular tariffs.

Now, it's important to recognize Congress holds the tariff power, not the president. But Congress can delegate some of that power over to the president. And they've done this many times over the years. There are a whole series of other laws allowing the president to impose tariffs. So, what the president is trying to do now with respect to Canada is use a different law, this law called Section 338 of the Tariff Act of 1930. And now, he's saying, OK, under that different law, I'm going to impose these tariffs of up to 50 percent on certain Canadian goods.

BLITZER: So, let's discuss that a little bit more. The law that the Trump administration is now relying on for these new tariffs against Canada. What does it say specifically and what do we know about it legally speaking?

HONIG: So, we know very little because no U.S. president in the last 96 years since passage of this law has ever attempted to use it. And hence, there has been no litigation, no court decisions on this. But the basic gist is that if the president finds that the United States is being economically discriminated against by another country, if its products are being tariffed by other countries at a higher rate, then the president does have the power to impose these tariffs of up to 50 percent.

And the administration's argument here is, well, Canada is tariffing some of our products at higher rates than it's tariffing other comparable products from other countries. Therefore, we're being discriminated against. Therefore, the argument is we have the right to impose these tariffs back on Canada.

BLITZER: What are the potential flaws, though, or openings for challenges to this particular law, Elie?

HONIG: So, first of all, there's an argument that the Trump administration has not even studied this issue. They have no data or stats as to what the extent of the impact of the Canadian tariffs is going to be. Therefore, the tariffs that we're imposing on Canada are not proportionate to that threat. Second of all, there's an argument that some of the items that are actually being tariffed do not fall within the purpose of the tariffs.

So, the Trump administration said, we're going to tariff goods impacting certain industries, such as the auto industry, the dairy industry, the alcohol industry. But if you actually look at the tariffs, some of the items that are going to be tariffed fall outside of that. For example, hockey sticks, dog leashes. There's a whole long list of things. So, the argument is that some of the things we're tariffing actually fall outside what we're saying the purpose of the tariffs is.

BLITZER: No one has actually ever sued over these latest Canada tariffs, that we know of at least. But could we eventually see lawsuits?

HONIG: Yes, I think we could, and it could be quite soon. These are still fairly new tariffs. But important to understand, not just anybody can sue if they object to these tariffs. You have to show what we call standing, meaning you have to show that you will suffer or have suffered some specific concrete injury. In this case, it would be a financial injury.

Now, if we look back at the other tariffs case, the one the Supreme Court struck down, the tariffs in those cases were American companies paying those tariffs. The lead company was actually a company that imported educational equipment from China. And so, that's what you need in order to show standing here. So, if one of these American manufacturers that is paying these tariffs files a lawsuit, they will have standing.

[11:55:00]

And, Wolf, if you said this earlier, I just want to make sure people understand. When we impose tariffs, they are not paid by foreign countries. Canada is not cutting the U.S. a check here. Those tariffs are paid by U.S.-based importers when they import goods from Canada. So, if one of those importers brings a lawsuit, they will have standing to do that.

BLITZER: All right. Elie Honig, good explanation. Thank you. Thank you very, very much.

HONIG: Thanks, Wolf.

BLITZER: And finally, a quick note of clarification. On Friday, I interviewed the Democratic governor of Virginia, Abigail Spanberger. We discussed legal challenges to the Trump administration's directives for the Postal Service on mail-in voting. A comment I made suggested that U.S. military and overseas voters' ballots would be impacted by these directives. I want to be clear right now. Those ballots are exempt from the Postal Service's new rules implementing the president's March executive order. Those groups are covered under the Uniformed and Overseas Absentee Voting Act, just to be specific on that point.

And to our viewers, thanks very much for joining us this morning. You can always keep up with us on social media, @wolfblitzer and @pamelabrowncnn. We'll see you back here tomorrow morning, every weekday morning, 10:00 a.m. Eastern, for two hours. Inside Politics, with our friend and colleague, Dana Bash, starts right after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:00:00]