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The Source with Kaitlan Collins

Trump "Disappointed" In Iran's Pick For Supreme Leader; Trump On Iran School Strike: I "Don't Know Enough About It"; Trump Says Objectives In Iran "Pretty Well Complete" As Hegseth Insists Strikes Are "Just The Beginning." Aired 9-10p ET

Aired March 09, 2026 - 21:00   ET

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

[21:00:00]

LT. GEN. MARK HERTLING (RET.), AUTHOR, "IF I DON'T RETURN: A FATHER'S WARTIME JOURNAL," FORMER U.S. ARMY COMMANDING GENERAL, EUROPE AND SEVENTH ARMY: And we would go to the memorial services in Baghdad. We were there in 2003 and 2004. And he had -- it was -- he couldn't quite understand what to say to soldiers, after they were memorializing their fellow soldiers who had scarified. On the top of the block -- top of the box, there's a phrase called Make It Matter, and that was the phrase he used to other soldiers. But in that box are 253--

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: And you still look at them--

HERTLING: Every day.

COOPER: Every day.

HERTLING: Every day. Pick three or four out--

COOPER: Yes.

HERTLING: --and think about, where would they be today? What kind of family would they have? Would they have kids? Would they be divorced? Would they have a job as a teacher or whatever.

COOPER: Yes.

HERTLING: And you just say it's a life that--

COOPER: Make it matter.

HERTLING: Make it matter.

COOPER: The book is, "If I Don't Return: A Father's Wartime Journal."

General Mark Hertling, thank you. It's really a wonderful read. Appreciate it.

HERTLING: Thanks, Anderson. Appreciate it.

COOPER: That's it for us. The news continues.

"THE SOURCE WITH KAITLAN COLLINS" starts now. KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN HOST: Tonight, the new push in Congress to force top Trump officials to testify when it comes to the war with Iran. The four Senate Democrats who are leading the charge will join us exclusively tonight.

I'm Kaitlan Collins. And this is THE SOURCE.

In the span of about three hours today, President Trump's messaging on the Iran war sounded at times like the end was near, and at other moments like the military campaign still has much further to go. The conflicting messages leave us with more questions than answers as we come on the air tonight.

But what is clear is that oil and gas prices are spiking. Political pressure is growing, and the President used a new word to describe what's happening.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: We took a little excursion because we felt we had to do that to get rid of some evil, and I think you'll see it's going to be a short-term excursion.

This was just an excursion into something that had to be done.

I mean, this was an excursion that a lot of people wouldn't have done.

We're ahead of our initial timeline by a lot.

So, we're winning very decisively. We're way ahead of schedule.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Excursion definitely seemed to be the word of the day.

Was it an attempt to calm the markets? Potentially. Because, after they closed, this afternoon, the President warned reporters, during a hastily-scheduled press conference, that the United States would respond even more forcefully if Iran tried to disrupt the world's energy supply.

While simultaneously projecting a short timeline, and also suggesting that the reason for this excursion, as the President described it, was more serious than anything that we have heard up until now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: They had thousands and thousands of missiles and everything else, most are now destroyed, but they were going to take over the Middle East. Those weapons were aimed at Middle Eastern countries that had nothing to do with this. They were going to take over the Middle East, and they were going to try and destroy Israel. So, we stopped it with good timing. And we're very proud to be involved in this, and it's going to be ended soon.

(END VIDEO CLIP) COLLINS: Today, we also saw rallies across Iran in support of the new Supreme Leader, the son of the previous Ayatollah.

We'll have a live report on the ground, inside Tehran, coming up during this hour.

Meanwhile, as President Trump today, who has insisted that he be part of selecting Iran's new leader, offered this assessment to reporters on the new Ayatollah Khamenei.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I was disappointed, because we think it's going to lead to just more of the same problem for the country. So I was disappointed to see their choice.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: During that same press conference, the President was also questioned about who is responsible for the bombing of a girls school in Iran -- Southern Iran, on the first day of this war.

Over the weekend, he blamed Iran itself for the strike, despite an analysis by CNN and others that indicated it was likely the United States military that was responsible.

And asked today about new video that shows a Tomahawk missile hitting the area, President Trump seemed to soften his position.

And I should point out, while only a small number of countries, like the United States, the U.K., and Australia, have Tomahawk missiles. It's not a generic weapon. And as far as we know, Iran does not have any of them.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I will say that the Tomahawk, which is one of the most powerful weapons around, is used by -- you know, is sold and used by other countries. You know that. And whether it's Iran who also has some Tomahawks, I wish they had more, but whether it's Iran or somebody else, the fact that a Tomahawk -- a Tomahawk is very generic, it's sold to other countries. But that's being investigated right now.

I think it's something that I was told is under investigation. But Tomahawks are used by others, as you know. Numerous other nations have Tomahawks. They buy them from us. But I will, certainly whatever the report shows, I'm willing to live with that report.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[21:05:00]

COLLINS: And tonight, in a rare show of unity from any party in Congress, I'm joined by not one, but four Senate Democrats who are now threatening to voice a series of war powers votes on Iran, unless the Defense Secretary, Pete Hegseth, and Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, testify publicly about the war.

Virginia's Tim Kaine. California's Adam Schiff. New Jersey's Cory Booker. And Wisconsin's Tammy Baldwin. Are all here.

And thank you all for being here.

Senator Baldwin, just on what you heard from the President today. Is it clear to you how much longer this war could go on for?

SEN. TAMMY BALDWIN (D-WI): No, and this president has been anything but clear from the very outset.

Weeks before the war started, he said he might intervene militarily to support the protesters in Iran. Thereafter, he talked about their nuclear program. Thereafter, he talked about their ballistic missile program. Thereafter, he talked about regime change. Now he is talking about protecting the Straits of Hormuz, and we keep hearing reason and shifting rationale.

Look, the reason we need hearings is to allow the American public to have a say in this war. This President went to war, a war of choice. We were not under attack. We were not under imminent threat of attack. And the American people, through their elected members of Congress, have not had a voice in this yet, and that's why we're demanding hearings.

COLLINS: Senator Kaine, I mean, I think a lot of people who are watching this, or hearing what the President said today, want to know how long the war is going to go on, because they're paying way more in gas, and they're seeing what this is doing to the markets today.

I wonder what you made of the timing of the President's comments.

SEN. TIM KAINE (D-VA): Well, I think none of us know the answer to that. And we've been in both open settings and classified hearings, and we haven't heard a rationale. We haven't heard a time length. We haven't heard a plan.

And the question that we're asking is, haven't we learned enough from 25 years of war in the Middle East? What -- why do we need to be there now? And in particular, what the four of us want is public hearings.

The administration has kind of come into this pattern, in the last 13 months. Take military action without coming to Congress, not even consulting, much less getting approval. After the fact, offer classified hearings where we can't share with our own constituents the information about this war.

I've got Virginians who were just told today, they're going to be deployed with the George H.W. Bush carrier group in the Middle East. The carrier, the Ford, is already over in the Middle East, from Virginia. They're asking me questions, For how long? What's the endgame? I can't answer, even when I know information, because they're only doing this in classified.

That's why we want to have the principals, Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of State, come to the relevant committees, and put this before the American public. There's a reason they're afraid to.

COLLINS: Well, and there have been those classified briefings.

And Secretary Rubio, who was once Senator Rubio, says, This is more than we ever got when President Biden was in office, how much he's been up there, the questions he's answered behind closed doors.

The administration might hear this tonight and say, Well, we're doing what is standard procedure.

What would you say to that, Senator?

SEN. CORY BOOKER (D-NJ): I would say we're not in normal times.

And most Americans know the math doesn't add up. This is an administration that took a chainsaw, cutting people's health care, millions of Americans losing health care, cutting veterans benefits, seeing their prices going up on everything from energy to the cost increases because of the tariffs, at the same time going to the most expensive military engagement we have had since the war in Iraq and Afghanistan. This is the biggest disruption of the oil industry we've seen, which is jacking up prices at the pump. So, the math doesn't add up.

This is a major military conflict, with a major power, in the Middle East, that American lives are being lost, and the Senate of the United States of America is rolling over and doing nothing. No oversight. No hearings. No checks and balances. Republicans in the Senate are letting this president act unilaterally, which the Constitution says, There's no way a president can indiscriminately pick countries he wants to invade. That power lies with Congress.

But Congress has got to use their power. And that's why the four of us, along with Senator Murphy, Senator Duckworth, and others, are saying, Enough. No more business as usual. Our country is in crisis, the costs for average Americans are skyrocketing, and this president wants to spend tens of billions of dollars in his adventure -- in his adventurism overseas without coming to Congress.

COLLINS: So, can you lay this out, what this looks like? I mean, I imagine they're not going to come testify publicly. We'll see if they take you up on your offer. If they don't, what will you do?

SEN. ADAM SCHIFF (D-CA): They're going to have to testify publicly.

We know from the classified briefings there was no imminent threat of attack. So, if there was no imminent threat to the United States, why are we at war? And they make no mistake, in a closed session or an open discussion, that we are at war. So, why?

[21:10:00]

What is the case to be made for this? When Americans can't afford their groceries, they can't afford their medicine, they can't afford the cost of living. And yet, we're dropping a billion dollars of bombs, it seems, every day in Iran. Let them make the case to Congress. Let them make the case to the American people. I think they will have to come in and testify, and we want to maximize the pressure to make that happen.

We haven't been in a war like this since the beginning of the Afghanistan War and the Iraq War. The President then, at least, sought authorization from Congress, tried to make the case to the American people.

They haven't done this. And I think they haven't done it, because they're -- they don't want to put themselves at risk. The senators, they don't want to go on the record, this way. But they ought to have just a fraction of the courage our service members are displaying. They think this is such a great idea? Let them bring up an authorization. Let them vote on it. But at a minimum, let them testify under oath.

The President says, We didn't bomb an Iranian girls school. I'd like to hear the administration figures come and repeat those words under oath, if that's the truth.

COLLINS: Do you believe, when he says that, given what he said today?

SCHIFF: I don't believe him. No. But I think there has to be a sharing of the intelligence with the Congress. I think we should find out exactly what the administration knows. And frankly, we should find out when they knew it.

If the President was briefed that this was an American Tomahawk, that, tragically, for whatever reason, faulty intelligence or a faulty weapon, if he was briefed and they lied to the American people, the American people deserve to know it.

KAINE: Kaitlan, can I tell you something else we can't believe? I can't believe the President today called this an excursion.

Imagine you're one of these families, and you're watching your kid come home, killed, or your spouse come home, killed. One is a Virginian. And you hear this president today trying to make light of it, calling it an excursion? That is so insulting. I hadn't heard that until you just said it, and my skin crawls when I hear that kind of disrespect.

COLLINS: You know, Senator, I'm glad you brought that up, because we do have video now of the dignified transfer happening right now, just a few moments ago, for the seventh U.S. service member who was killed in this war.

It is 26-year-old Army Sergeant Benjamin Pennington of Glendale, Kentucky. He was assigned to the 1st Space Battalion, the 1st Space Brigade, a unit that is within the Army Space and Missile Defense Command. He died after sustaining injuries in an attack, last week, in Saudi Arabia.

And this is the dignified transfer that just happened moments ago at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware. You can see there, at the end of that line, Secretary Hegseth, and Vice President Vance are on hand for this dignified transfer, as the President is making his way back to Washington now.

Obviously, this is an incredibly solemn moment for this family. To your point, Senator Kaine. As they're bowing their heads before this transfer case, where his body is, has been carried back to the United States, is taken to a van.

[21:15:00]

(VIDEO - VANCE ATTENDS DIGNIFIED TRANSFER FOR 7TH SOLDIER KILLED IN WAR)

[21:20:00]

COLLINS: You've been watching the dignified transfer for Sergeant Benjamin Pennington, 26-year-old member of the U.S. Armed Forces, who was killed in Saudi Arabia.

You didn't hear any audio in that as that is a very solemn moment that happens at Dover Air Force Base, when his body is welcomed back in that flag-draped case, with his family waiting. And as you saw the Vice President and Secretary Hegseth there on the tarmac, as that flag-draped case was put inside that van just now.

And Senator Baldwin, there was a family friend of his who talked about how much his family was hurting as a result of this. And I think, for everything we talk about, the public testimony, the evidence.

BALDWIN: Yes.

COLLINS: All of this is a reminder of why there is such a strenuous debate when something like this happens.

BALDWIN: Yes.

COLLINS: Because what you just watched is a very real reminder of the human cost of the decisions that are made here in Washington.

BALDWIN: It is a profound reminder of the cost of war, and it can never be allowed to be an illegal, unconstitutional war in a system of constitutional checks and balances. And it is precisely why we are calling on our Republican colleagues to stand up and be that check and balance, along with all of us, to highlight through public hearings, what is happening.

I want this war to end. I want to prevent other service members from dying. I want to stop the waste of billions of dollars of taxpayer money. And I think the way we do that is by demanding that these administration officials come to Congress, in public, answer questions, because that matters. It engages the American public in this debate, and that's how it was meant to be by the Framers of our Constitution.

COLLINS: Senator Booker?

BOOKER: There are immeasurable costs of war, and we're seeing that. We've spent literally trillions of dollars now in wars in the Middle East, from Afghanistan, to Iraq, to Syria, Kuwait, so much of our nation's treasure. But what is not calculable is the impact of the loss of life and the American soldiers that have been lost.

This is grievous. And we are seeing, unfortunately, not a theater of war that is just in Iran. It's expanded to over 15 countries, from Cyprus to Turkey, you're seeing missiles now and countries being drawn into this conflict. And even here at home, we're seeing the potential for terrorist attacks rise.

This is a sobered moment for our nation in which a president, by himself unilaterally, has made a decision to bring our country into this conflict, to put American lives at risk. And indeed, we now have lost some.

Congress has a duty, Congress has a job, not just to sort of let this go, but to stand up and allow there to be debates. The most deliberative body in the world should be having deliberations, should have hearings. There should be transparency to those hearings. And we, as a nation, should let the voices of the people elected by the nation, really, do their job and bring out all the truths that are going on through serious questioning of those main actors.

And I will tell you this. This war, forget your party in our country is wildly unpopular at this point, and we still have a shroud over this war, because those people responsible have not sat before public hearings, as is our tradition.

We have got to make sure that we do our job. And that's why, again, we're going to use the levers of power that we have, as individual senators, and as now a group of us, to not let this be business as usual, to not let Republicans in the Senate simply look another way, or let the President do whatever he wants. Our body was designed to provide a check on the executive, and it's time that we do it.

COLLINS: The four of you are here. Where is the Democrats' Leader in the Senate on this? Where is Chuck Schumer on this effort that you want to undertake tonight?

SCHIFF: Well, I think he joins us in wanting to do everything possible to bring this war to a conclusion.

And what we just witnessed in that dignified transfer, there is no more powerful testimony of the cost of war than what we just watched.

It is not just that the President didn't come to Congress to make the case for this or seek an authorization. It's just that this is a war in search of an aim with tremendous cost for the American people.

One of the soldiers who was killed is a Californian. I want this, what we just watched, to be the last diplomatic (ph) transfer we see in this war. There's no more powerful reason to put a stop to it than what we just witnessed.

[21:25:00]

And we have so many profound needs here at home that we are unable to meet. We spent trillions of dollars on the Iraq War and the Afghanistan War. We're spending billions and billions on this. They're talking about bringing a funding bill to the Congress.

I'd rather bring funding bills to provide disaster assistance we still haven't received after the fires in Los Angeles, or to help our farmers, or to help other parts of the country that are in desperate need. But instead, we are spending billions on a conflict that was a choice of the President, something he now has the gall to call an excursion? This is no excursion for our service members whose lives are at risk. It's certainly not an excursion for their families back home.

So, we're going to use every means we can to hold them accountable. I think when the American people hear from these administration officials, they will see how thin the case for this was, and that, I hope, will end, hasten the end of the conflict.

KAINE: Kaitlan, just to say, what unifies these seven who have lost their lives. Two things. They all volunteered to serve this country because of their patriotism. They're from different parts of the country in different years of service, some young, some old. That's the first thing that unifies them. And second thing is they have no more future. Their future has been cut off. And the President calling this an excursion. You can't watch that and feel that that way of characterizing this as deeply disrespectful.

And so, we're going to force this into the open and into the sunlight. And we have some real optimism that when this is in the sunlight, and people see the absence of the rationale, and the absence of the plan, they'll say this was a horrible mistake, and we shouldn't have allowed it to happen, and we're going to do what we can to stop it and make sure that it's carried out in a dignified way, in accord with our constitutional traditions.

(CROSSTALK)

BOOKER: --I think is so important. Weeks ago, it was Venezuela.

KAINE: Yes.

BOOKER: Where the President took us in unilaterally. Now it's Iran. Tomorrow might be Cuba.

KAINE: Right.

BOOKER: If we continue to let President Trump think he can unilaterally commit our soldiers, commit billions of dollars, to whatever war he picks, without a check from Congress, we have lost our democracy as it was designed.

COLLINS: Senators. Thank you for being here tonight. Thanks for joining us on set.

SCHIFF: Yes.

COLLINS: And of course, to the Sergeant's family, our thoughts and our prayers to everyone who knew him and loved him, and may his memory be a blessing.

Coming up here on THE SOURCE. We have new details when it comes to the strikes of this war we just talked about. Who is responsible for the deaths of those children at a girls school on the first day of the war. There's new video tonight that gives new insight into that.

And we're also going to go live to the ground in Tehran. Our team has new reporting. And CNN's Fred Pleitgen is reporting live for us from there.

[21:30:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Tonight, President Trump is softening his previous suggestion that Iran was behind that deadly strike on an elementary school next to an Iranian naval base.

He was pressed on the strike today, after there was new video that came out that showed what appeared to be a Tomahawk missile, which is used by the United States military, hitting the base.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I haven't seen it. And I will say that the Tomahawk, which is one of the most powerful weapons around, is used by -- you know, is sold and used by other countries. You know that. And whether it's Iran who also has some Tomahawks, I wish they had more, but whether it's Iran or somebody else, the fact that a Tomahawk -- a Tomahawk is very generic, it's sold to other countries. But that's being investigated right now.

REPORTER: Mr. President, you just suggested that Iran somehow got its hands on a Tomahawk and bombed its own elementary school on the first day of the war. But you're the only person in your government saying this. Even your Defense Secretary wouldn't say that, when he was asked, standing over your shoulder, on your plane, on Saturday. Why are you the only person saying this?

TRUMP: Because I just don't know enough about it. I think it's something that I was told is under investigation. But Tomahawks are used by others, as you know. Numerous other nations have Tomahawks. They buy them from us. But I will, certainly whatever the report shows, I'm willing to live with that report.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: According to Iranian state media, at least a 168 children and 14 teachers were killed in that strike.

And this is the new video that adds to that growing list of evidence, including CNN's own analysis, suggesting that the United States was likely responsible for the strike, though there has not been an official confirmation on that front.

This was filmed from a construction site nearby. It shows a projectile striking a location inside the Iranian Revolutionary Guard base. It's directly adjacent to the school. Experts tell us at CNN that the munition is consistent with an American BGM- or a UGM-109 Tomahawk Land Attack Missile. And as this video continues, the camera pans to show a huge plume of smoke coming from the direction of that all-girls elementary school.

Our previous analysis that we shared with you on Friday, that was based on satellite imagery, geolocated videos, and the assessment of munitions experts. It found that the school was hit around the same time as an attack that was launched by American forces.

This satellite image, just after the strike, shows several impact craters at the Revolutionary Guard base and the all-girls school. That's what you can see in red here, and what experts say look like precision strikes. That dotted line on your screen is a wall. It is all that separates the school and this base.

[21:35:00]

My source tonight is CNN's Senior International Correspondent, Fred Pleitgen. He's live on the ground in Tehran.

And I want to note for everyone. CNN operates in Iran with the permission of the Iranian government, as is required under local regulations. But we maintain full editorial control over what we report.

And Fred, when you look at this. The President just issued a new threat, a few moments ago. He said he's going to hit Iran 20 times harder if they don't keep the Strait of Hormuz open. Obviously, that is critical for shipping and for energy, for oil to get out of the Gulf.

What have you been hearing from sources on the ground there tonight?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Kaitlan.

Yes, the Iranians certainly have been listening to some of the things that President Trump has been saying about the Strait of Hormuz throughout, really, the course of the day and the course of the evening.

And I was in touch with a senior Iranian source, earlier tonight, who essentially said to me that the Iranians believe that they are the ones who can, if they want to, have a chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz, claimed that the Iranians are even drawing up plans for possible duties on ships trying to transit the Strait of Hormuz that are affiliated with, what the Iranians call, the enemy state, obviously meaning the United States. So, any state friendly to the United States, those ships, the Iranians say, would then have to pay duties to the Iranians.

But what they also say, I want to quote from, from what the source told me, Kaitlan. Said, The Strait of Hormuz is closed. No matter how much noise Trump makes and threatens, the strait will not open. We hold the screw to the global oil price in our hands, and for a long time, the U.S. will have to wait for our actions to control the price.

So obviously, the Iranians threatening to, as they put it, keep the Strait of Hormuz closed or close the Strait of Hormuz down, despite those threats from President Trump. And the Iranians, throughout the better part of the day, have been saying that this war, as they call it, between themselves, the U.S. and the Israelis, will end on Iran's terms, and when the Iranians see fit, Kaitlan.

COLLINS: I mean, obviously the President seems to disagree with that. He says it could end soon. He talked about this notion of unconditional surrender in recent days.

How do Iranian officials, I mean, depending on who's in charge, how do they view what the President has been saying in terms of the end of this war?

PLEITGEN: Yes, and of course, Iran has a new Supreme Leader, since yesterday. New Supreme Leader elected, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of the late leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in that airstrike.

And I was actually able to speak to one of the most senior foreign policy advisers of the Iranian Supreme Leader. And he told me that the Iranians right now see almost -- or don't see any sort of room for negotiations with the United States, and are preparing for a very long war.

Here's what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PLEITGEN: How does all of this end then? If you say, right now, there's no room for negotiation. President Trump says he wants complete surrender. What does that lead to?

KAMAL KHARAZI, FOREIGN POLICY ADVISER TO THE OFFICE OF THE SUPREME LEADER: There's no room unless the economic pressure would be built up to the extent that other countries would intervene to guarantee this termination of aggression of Americans and Israelis against Iran.

PLEITGEN: Finally, what is your message to President Trump, as we sit here, as the war is going on?

KHARAZI: That means that what is important for us is the end of this game, and we are ready to continue that game.

PLEITGEN: The end of this game? You mean how this war will end is--

KHARAZI: Yes, the end of the game would be the time that American and Israelis would come to this understanding that this strategy is not working, and they have to stop their aggressions against Iranians.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PLEITGEN: But Kaitlan, tonight, nothing seems to be stopping here in the Iranian capital. In fact, it was a very kinetic night here for us. There were a lot of airstrikes that we heard, saw and actually felt. And in certain cases, the building that we're actually staying here, the walls were shaking.

It seems as though, especially the east of Tehran was struck. Also an airport in the west of Tehran called Mehrabad Airport, it's little city airport. But then also a town, I would say, about half an hour, maybe 45 minutes to the west of Tehran, called Karaj. Some massive strikes going on there as well. So, at this point in time, it certainly seems as though those combat operations, those strikes, still very much in full swing.

Kaitlan.

COLLINS: Fred, please stay safe and keep us updated with what is happening on the ground there. It's great to have your insight.

Fred Pleitgen, in Tehran.

Up next here for us on THE SOURCE. As Fred noted, Iran has picked the son of the previous Ayatollah as the new Supreme Leader. What message does that send to the United States? How President Trump is interpreting it? With my Global Affairs source, right after this.

[21:40:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: President Trump says he is disappointed that Iran has chosen the son of the slain Iranian leader as the next Supreme Leader. When pressed by reporters today, he declined to say if the United States is going to target Mojtaba Khamenei, just days after the U.S.-Israeli strikes killed his father.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REPORTER: Do you have to take him out? Does he have a target on his back?

TRUMP: You mean the new Supreme Leader?

REPORTER: The new Supreme Leader--

TRUMP: You mean the son?

REPORTER: How can there be an Iran with another Ayatollah?

[21:45:00]

TRUMP: Well, I don't want to -- I don't want to say that. But, you know, I was disappointed, because we think it's going to lead to just more of the same problem for the country. So I was disappointed to see their choice.

REPORTER: Are you looking at someone internal given that you just said that their leadership has been decimated and wiped out? TRUMP: I like the idea of the -- you know, internal and eternal, come to think of it. But I like the idea of internal because it works well. I mean, I think we've proven that so far in Venezuela. We have a woman, Delcy, who has been, you know, President of the country, very respected, very -- she's doing a great job.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: I'm joined tonight by CNN's Global Affairs Analyst, Brett McGurk.

And I do think some people might say, Well, if it's the son of the Ayatollah, is that really regime change, or is it still the same regime?

BRETT MCGURK, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST, FORMER MIDDLE EAST & NORTH AFRICA COORDINATOR, NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL: Kaitlan, this mission now is not regime change.

I think one thing that's very clear, heading into the second week, is that this mission -- the mission that CENTCOM is executing, and they are executing, I think, a very clear mission, it is to basically significantly degrade Iran's power projection outward. So it's Navy, it's missiles, it's drones, it's nuclear, command and control.

And they are prosecuting that campaign. I would suspect, it has maybe two weeks left to run. I don't want to put a timeframe on it. But they're prosecuting that campaign. They have clear orders.

And if I can kind of read between the line here, lines of what's going on, the military, on orders, is executing that plan. It's basically the Iran war plan, I mean, and they're prosecuting the targets. And that is going to continue until either they say, Mr. President, we have completed the mission. Our targets have been prosecuted. We think we've significantly degraded missiles, Navy, power projection. Or President Trump says, It's time to stop. So, that's kind of where we are.

I actually think that military mission, Kaitlan, is discreet, is achievable. It's about a classic degrading the military capacity of Iran. And you could get to a place where that is finished.

And yes, Mojtaba will be the new Supreme Leader. You'll have a weakened Iran, a much -- a much weaker Iran, internally-focused. I would suspect U.S. and Israeli air forces will continue to be able to have air supremacy over the skies.

So, it might look something like -- and again, I'm just looking at kind of a base case of where this might be heading -- like Iraq in the 90s, where we have a containment of a weakened state, much more contained Iran. So, that is kind of where I think it's heading. The idea--

COLLINS: But is that a clear cut off line for the United States' involvement? Or is that just there is a base level of U.S. involvement in this? MCGURK: Oh, I think there'll be a base level of U.S. involvement. Not on this level of intensity.

COLLINS: Forever?

MCGURK: For the foreseeable future. Because this will not -- I mean, one thing that the appointment of this new Supreme Leader demonstrates is that the hope, which we heard from President Trump last week, you might have a Venezuela, and I never thought that scenario was particularly plausible. You might have someone -- someone new emerge, to take the reins and then reach out to us to do a deal. Mojtaba Khamenei will not be that person. Very unlikely. So, I don't think that is really in the cards.

But I think the U.S. policy would be -- look, we have a clear policy now. Iran cannot reconstitute its power projection capabilities, its missiles, its drones, its nuclear. And if we see that happening, we would be willing to take military action, or we -- our sanctions pressure would maintain. So, it's basically we're asking Iran to change its policies, its policy that it's had for decades, of outward power projection, of kind of spreading the revolution around the world.

COLLINS: But if his son is not going to do that, do you think that he should -- he should be concerned about being assassinated like his father was?

MCGURK: I have--

COLLINS: And many members of his family?

MCGURK: So, I take what President Trump said tonight. I have no doubt, he's surely on the Israeli target list. However, Kaitlan, you don't know who's going to come after him, so.

Mojtaba Khamenei -- we had a -- in 2024, you'll remember the President of Iran, Ebrahim Raisi, died in a helicopter crash. He was actually a very learned cleric, and he was thought to be the successor, a likely successor, to Khamenei. And I was in the White House at the time, and we kind of ran scenarios of what the succession might be, now that Raisi is gone.

And Mojtaba Khamenei was on the list, but not high on the list, because he doesn't have religious credentials. He's never really held an official position. The revolution in 1979 was all about a response to the dynastic system of the Shah. So, like, he was kind of, maybe a mid-tier candidate.

So, whether or not he can actually -- I mean, right now, I think he's a figurehead. The Revolutionary Guards are behind him. Whether he can actually consolidate power and be a powerful leader is a big question. And over time, the legitimacy of this Islamic Republic with someone like that in charge might actually erode. So, some ways to go.

But the military campaign, I think they do have a mission. It's on track. And we'll see how long it goes. I think it probably has a couple weeks or so.

COLLINS: OK, we'll see if it is a couple weeks.

MCGURK: Thank you.

COLLINS: Brett McGurk.

No clear signal from the White House yet. We'll be watching that closely, though.

And we heard from the President today on that timeline. Could it be over soon? There were questions, given what the Defense Secretary said recently, that this is just the beginning. When the President was asked about that, this is what he said. We'll tell you, right after this.

[21:50:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Is the U.S. military operation in Iran nearly over, or is it just beginning? President Trump and Defense Secretary Hegseth have offered two different takes on that, in the last 24 hours.

[21:55:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: We're achieving major strides toward completing our military objective. And some people could say they're pretty well complete.

PETE HEGSETH, DEFENSE SECRETARY: What was the Iranian Navy is largely no more. There'll be more boats to be sunk, for sure.

Again, what I want your viewers to understand is this is only just the beginning.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: The President was asked today to square his comments with what we heard from Secretary Hegseth, and he offered this explanation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REPORTER: You've said the war is, quote, "Very complete." But your Defense Secretary says, this is just the beginning. So which is it, and how long should Americans be prepared for this war to last for?

TRUMP: Well, I think you could say both. The beginning -- it's the beginning of building a new country.

We could call it a tremendous success, right now, as we leave here, I could call it. Or we could go further, and we're going to go further.

(END VIDEO CLIP) COLLINS: Perspective now from Jeffrey Goldberg, the Editor-in-Chief of The Atlantic, who you might remember, was inadvertently added to that Signal chat with U.S. national security leaders, including Secretary Hegseth, in what became known as Signalgate.

I want to talk to you about Signalgate, actually, in a moment.

But when you hear that from the administration. I think anyone might see it and say, Is it going on longer? Are we done? What's happening here?

JEFFREY GOLDBERG, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, THE ATLANTIC: Oh, I think it's very clear. It's the beginning of the beginning of the end of the beginning, but we're in the middle of the beginning of the end. I don't know why you can't track that.

Obviously, they don't -- I mean, I think this is, like anything in the Trump administration, trying to guess is almost fruitless, because I don't think Donald Trump knows. I think he -- remember, he governs with his gut. He leads from his gut. He says that. And so, he will wake up and decide that we won, and then it's over.

And the military has a plan. They have an Iran plan, and it's to degrade the following, you know, the ballistic missile program, the nuclear program, the Navy, the Air Force. And they're hitting their marks. There's a lot of things to blow up.

And at a certain point, Donald Trump is going to look at what the military has done and say, That is victory. Or he's going to watch the markets, or the price of oil, and he's going to say, No, that's a victory. And then we'll know what he considers to be victory.

I'm really surprised at the level of communication even between the Secretary and the President. That's why you think -- that's why some people think it's the beginning, and some people think, it's the end right now.

COLLINS: Well, and I also -- that was interesting, the President said it was the beginning of a new country in Iran. Obviously--

GOLDBERG: Yes.

COLLINS: But Hegseth has made clear, this is not nation-building, this isn't regime change.

GOLDBERG: Yes.

COLLINS: You write in The Atlantic today, in a new piece, and you talk about the consequences that the administration has faced, or I guess, hasn't faced, as you put it, and you write that, Every day, hundreds of aviators are ordered into the airspace above Iran. Their lives depend on the operational security that the military's culture of accountability is designed to safeguard.

GOLDBERG: Right.

COLLINS: I wonder, what your perspective on that is in the middle of this.

GOLDBERG: Well, this is the worry about Secretary Hegseth and some of the others who are involved in that Signal business from last year.

Secretary Hegseth is in charge of 3 million people, roughly, uniformed, civilian. If any of them had done what he did, which is put classified secret information into an open chat, not knowing who was in the chat? I was happy to be in the chat. They would be court- martialed, or punished, or disciplined, or fired or something, or sent to remedial education. Right?

And the problem, and this is what you hear from inside the Pentagon, and inside the military, is that he got away with it, no punishment. And so, as an example to the men and women of the Armed Forces, it's a little troubling.

And I think that this level of posturing and performance is not actually -- we see it every day -- is not an actual substitute for serious, clear communication, both to the American people and to the people who are serving in harm's way. And so, many of the problems that we've seen, right from the beginning in the Pentagon, under Pete Hegseth, have remained.

That said, the United States military is tactically, incredibly sophisticated and effective. It's just that on the strategic side, you don't see that same level of preparation or thoughtfulness.

COLLINS: What did you make of the President repeatedly calling it an excursion, today? I hadn't heard that from him before Saturday, when he said, and he said it three or four times today.

GOLDBERG: You know, the President uses words that come to his mind. Whenever they come to his mind. Remember, he's also an entertainer, and he's testing out language that will resonate with the MAGA base, but also beyond. And so, I don't make that much of it, because if we tried to parse too clearly or too granularly, his language, we would get caught in kind of a cul de sac.

I think he doesn't know when the war is going to end, and I think he will wake up one morning or in the middle of the night, decide that it's over. And that could be tomorrow. Or as Brett McGurk said, it could be two weeks from now, or three weeks from now. We just don't know.

[22:00:00]

COLLINS: Jeffrey Goldberg, thank you for joining us tonight.

GOLDBERG: Thank you.

COLLINS: Your new piece is out in The Atlantic. Everyone should read it.

Thank you so much for joining us tonight.

"CNN NEWSNIGHT WITH ABBY PHILLIP" starts now.