Return to Transcripts main page

The Brief with Jim Sciutto

CNN International: Trump: We're in Negotiations Right Now, with Iran; Iranian Missile Attack Causes Damage in Tel Aviv; Israel Steps Up Military Operations in Lebanon; About 290 troops Injured in Conflict; Russia Launches Rare Daytime Drone Barrage on Ukraine; Market Trades Raise Insider Trading Concerns; U.S. Eased its Sanctions on Some Iran Oil on Friday; Jury Finds Meta Liable for Child Exploitation on its Platforms; N. Korea Doubles Down on Nuclear Ambitions. Aired 6-7p ET

Aired March 24, 2026 - 18:00   ET

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

[18:00:00]

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR, "THE BRIEF": Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world. I'm Jim Sciutto joining you live

tonight from Tel Aviv. You're watching "The Brief."

Just ahead this hour, President Trump says the U.S. and Iran are now in negotiations to end the war. Large trades ahead of Donald Trump's

announcement of talks with Iran are raising concerns among market experts. And a jury has found Meta liable for sexual exploitation of children on its

social media platforms.

We do begin, though, here in Tel Aviv, where rounds of sirens have been warning multiple times today of incoming missiles.

Just a short while ago, I captured that video of a cluster munition falling over Tel Aviv, each of those pins of light there, an explosive device. An

Iranian source tells CNN there has been outreach from Washington and that Tehran is now willing to listen to U.S. proposals. President Trump

expressed hope earlier.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: We're having, by the way, a tremendous success, as you know, in Iran. We had one in Venezuela, and now we're

having one in Iran. They have no Navy left. They have no Air Force left. They have no anti-aircraft equipment left, no radar left, no leaders left.

The leaders are all gone. Nobody knows who to talk to.

But we're actually talking to the right people, and they want to make a deal so badly. You have no idea how badly they want to make a deal.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: The president somewhat cryptically alluded to what he described as a present from Iran, suggesting, after some pressing, that it might

facilitate efforts to end the war, perhaps related to oil and energy, and specifically the Strait of Hormuz.

Israel and Iran continue, however, to trade strikes. Some Iranian missiles made it through Israel's air defense system and caused damage, as you see

there, here in Tel Aviv. Israel says it is stepping up its military operations in Lebanon as well.

The Israeli military said on Tuesday it targeted fuel sites across the country. The IDF is now going to destroy all bridges, it says, over the

Litani River, a move designed to cut southern Lebanon off from the rest of the country, perhaps pave the way for a larger Israeli military occupation

there.

Joining me now is Jeremy Diamond. Jeremy, you've been speaking to Israeli officials as they absorb the president's public comments over the last 24

hours expressing hope for negotiations. Is it safe to say that the Israeli reaction has been skeptical?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Yes, without a doubt. Certainly, behind the scenes, it is a very skeptical reaction, a concerned

one in some corners. But publicly, what's interesting is we're seeing the Israeli prime minister play it very similarly to the way he played it

before we got into this war with Iran, which is to say that he's giving the president all the space that he needs and publicly kind of supporting his

effort at diplomacy here, telling an audience yesterday that President Trump believes that this is the moment to transform those military gains

into long-term successes at the negotiating table.

But privately, as you said, Jim, Israeli officials are telling us that they do not yet see the kind of substance behind these negotiations, and they

also are quite skeptical that the Iranians are in a place to make the kinds of concessions that would be necessary here, because what we've been

learning about that 15-point plan so far is very similar to what was on the table before this war, and it includes a lot of non-starters for the

Iranians.

SCIUTTO: Things that Iran has long refused, for instance, refusing to do enrichment on site. I wonder, is there any concern among the Israeli

officials you speak to that despite their, if not protests, warnings about how serious Iran might be, that President Trump might just declare victory

and move on anyway?

DIAMOND: Look, there's no question that that's a possibility. I think the Israelis are prepared for that scenario as well.

[18:05:00]

You know, last week, I asked the Israeli prime minister whether he could continue this war without the help of the United States, whether he would

be willing to.

The way he phrased it to me was, America is the leader, I am the ally. He paused and then he said ally. It sounded like he wanted to say the number

two or the follower, something like that. But the prime minister would not directly answer whether Israel would continue it alone. I think it would be

very difficult for them to do that without the support of those U.S. refuelers. Obviously, they can conduct strikes in Iran without them, but it

wouldn't be to the scale that we are seeing today.

And then more broadly, you know, if the United States is going for a kind of overarching deal here that includes commitments on the nuclear program,

et cetera, then I think Netanyahu is going to have to very quickly follow suit.

SCIUTTO: Jeremy Diamond, thanks so much. Well, Qatar has been reiterating that it is not mediating negotiations between the U.S. and Iran. Matthew

Chance asked the Qatari foreign ministry about exactly what contact Doha has had with Washington.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAJED MOHAMMED AL-ANSARI, QATARI FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESPERSON: We work very closely with the U.S. administration and with President Trump on

finding an end to the current escalations. We have conveyed very clearly that the attacks on Qatar have resulted in catastrophic results on the

energy sector and Qatar's economy.

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CHIEF GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Before the Iran war began at the end of last month, did you make the point to Washington

that, you know, this region and Qatar in particular would suffer enormous economic consequences potentially because of the conflict?

AL-ANSARI: We've said since 2023, escalation left unchecked in the region will lead to not only regional spillover, but the total regional war that

will engulf all of us. And this is exactly what we are in right now.

CHANCE: So, you told Washington about the potential economic consequences, but they ignored you. What do you feel about that?

AL-ANSARI: They took the decision to go to war according to parameters that they think are related to regional security. This is their

assessments. We're working very closely with them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: So, how is Israel viewing President Trump's latest statements? For more now, we're joined by retired Major General Amos Yadlin, the former

chief of Israel's military intelligence. He's now the president of Mind Israel Consultancy. Good to have you back on. Thanks so much for joining.

MAJ. GEN. AMOS YADLIN (RET.), FORMER CHIEF OF ISRAELI MILITARY INTELLIGENCE AND PRESIDENT, MIND ISRAEL: Good night.

SCIUTTO: So, as you listen to President Trump, I mean, come close to declaring victory in this war and saying that there's real potential for at

least a ceasefire here. How do you receive that? Do you agree with that assessment?

YADLIN: When I see the 15 points, most of them are very positive and they deal with the problems that Iran is inflicting on the region, on Israel, on

the United States. It's ending the Iran nuclear program, taking all the 440 kilograms of enriched uranium out, prohibited future enrichment, and

basically putting a very intrusive IAEA inspection in Iran. This is on the nuclear issue.

They are also dealing with the proxy, with Iran stopping financing and supporting Hezbollah and other proxies in the Middle East. And this is

welcome all over the Middle East, not only in Israel. And I think if the Iranians are going to accept this point, the goals of this war, the

objectives were achieved.

SCIUTTO: Are you skeptical that they're willing to? I mean, CNN spoke to Israeli officials earlier today who said they don't see Iran being willing

to make such concessions.

YADLIN: See, I can see why the president wants to end the war. I understand it. I wonder who is the partner on the other side. People are

speaking about Ghalibaf, who is the chairman of the parliament, a former general, air force commander in the IRGC, and then the mayor of Iran. And

he immediately yesterday, after the president spoke about negotiation in Pakistan, it was leaked. He denied it.

So, who is the partner? And the president spoke today about a different leadership in Iran. I hope he's right, even though I cannot see it yet.

Because if there is no regime change, and from the very beginning I told you, that a regime change could not be achieved from air attacks. You need

boots on the ground. The boots on the ground are the brave people of Iran. It is not going to be an American soldiers or Israeli soldiers.

[18:10:00]

However, if you are not changing the regime, but you change the regime behavior, the regime policy, this is basically what the president has done

in Venezuela. And he's looking for the same model. Whether this is true or not, we will see in Pakistan at the end of the week.

SCIUTTO: Those are two very different countries, Venezuela and Iran. As you well know, finding a Delcy Rodriguez equivalent in Iran, given the

beliefs of this regime, is at least far-fetched, is it not?

YADLIN: The president is speaking about such a model. I have my doubts, but let's see what is happening. Because unlike what people are thinking,

Iran is beaten militarily. You know, Jim, there is two chessboards here. There is the chessboard of the military confrontation. The U.S. and Israel

are defeating Iran 1,000 to 3,000, OK?

Iran is suffering huge drawback, rollback of their industrial base, defense industrial base, their missile defense, ballistic missile to attack the

Gulf state and Israel. And on the military side, they are losing. There is another chessboard, which is the chessboard of economic and political

issues.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

YADLIN: And in this game, they were not checkmate yet. On the contrary, they are in a good position to pressure President Trump on political issue

and on the price of oil.

SCIUTTO: Is it arguable that Iran has more power today in that space than it had prior to the war? Because it's demonstrated an ability to be able to

open and close the Strait of Hormuz.

YADLIN: That's exactly why you should not end this war before you make sure that Iran is not doing it again. And this is by maybe a political

agreement or by a military operation. And the president, in a way, keep the two options. He go to negotiate with them on, I think, a very good plan.

However, if he fails and if Iran is not coming, he bought some time to bring the Marine Battalions and maybe the 82 Airborne Division. And the

Strait of Hormuz should be taken from Iran.

If this tool of deterrence vis-a-vis the International Community, vis-a-vis the Gulf state, stay at the head of Iran, this is not a good result of this

war.

SCIUTTO: It's a dangerous proposition, though, is it not, to put those boots on the ground there, whether it's around Kharg Island or perhaps on

the shores of the Strait of Hormuz, they would be, even with U.S. defenses, within firing range of Israeli, of Iranian forces, rather.

YADLIN: Look, the U.S. is dealing with the Strait of Hormuz since the 1980s. And Admiral Cooper, who is the commander of CENTCOM, was the

commander of the 5th Fleet in Manama, Bahrain. This was his main mission. And it is not a huge invention. Marines know how to take islands or shores.

But the main work, by the way, is done by airpower, very good intelligence on the Iranian cruise missiles, very good intelligence on the Iranian

drones that will attack. This is above land. It should be held by an air force, airpower, based on very good intelligence. And, believe me, this is

my two expertise.

And if, and there is always a possibility that it's not hermetic, a drone is coming towards a tanker, there is an escort with a very good missile

defense that will shoot down these drones. This is an operation that needs time. So, if negotiations fail, the president gets more time to prepare it

and to launch it according to his decision.

SCIUTTO: Do you have any worry -- does Israel have any worry, that President Trump might just declare victory, defining victory in his own

terms, and say, I'm done, regardless of what Israel's advice is or regardless of the dangers going forward to the Strait and elsewhere? They

might say that the costs are too high, simply for me.

YADLIN: It might be. But as I told you, Israel haven't go to this war to open the Strait of Hormuz. Israel went to this war to make sure that there

will not be existential threat from Iran on the nuclear issue and on the ballistic missile issue.

SCIUTTO: Did you achieve those goals?

[18:15:00]

YADLIN: Absolutely. Absolutely. I think Israel is much safer today than it was on February 27th. We hold them back years. And I hope that the brave

Iranian people, because we don't have a war with Iran, with the Iranian nation. We have a war with this murderous regime that's calling in the

street, death to Israel, death to America. And we have to stop them because they have developed the capability to inflict existential threat on Israel.

So, in this case, we are different from you. You have interest, global interest, great power competition vis-a-vis Russia and China. You have the

energy. We have our existential issue vis-a-vis this murderous regime, extreme radical regime that want to destroy Israel. And maybe for you, it

was a war of choice. For us, it was a war of necessity.

SCIUTTO: Existential. Amos Yadlin, always good to speak to you. Thanks so much for joining.

Please do stay with us. We'll have much more when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCIUTTO: U.S. Central Command says some 290 U.S. service members have been injured during combat operations so far in the Iran war, that number up

from about 200 just last week. At least 13 U.S. military personnel have been killed since the war began.

President Trump says Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and the chair of the Joint Chiefs, General Dan Caine, were disappointed by the prospect of the

U.S. negotiating a cease-fire with Iran.

Joining me now is Ronen Bergman. He's a staff writer at The New York Times Magazine and author of "Rise and Kill First: The Secret History of Israel's

Targeted Assassinations." Ronen, good to have you.

RONEN BERGMAN, STAFF WRITER, THE NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE AND AUTHOR, "RISE AND KILL FIRST": Pleasure. Thank you for having me.

SCIUTTO: So, do you see, given the time you've spent covering this conflict, but also Israel and the U.S., do you see a split brewing here

between the U.S. and Israel as to what is victory in this war?

[18:20:00]

BERGMAN: First of all, I think the basic problem or the initiation of this problem was that nobody really determined what is a victory in this war

unless three things happen or more than one of the three. One could be total Iranian surrendering to the U.S. demands on missile proxies and

nuclear. What was already presented in the last round in Geneva and the Iranians refused and then the U.S. sort of stopped the negotiation with

war.

The second is a regime change. Now, at the beginning of the war there was a hope fueled by optimism from Israeli intelligence, the foreign intelligence

agency, the Mossad, that this will happen and we saw the impact of that, the echoes of that in the first Trump speech when he was speaking about the

Iranian people and called them to go and --

SCIUTTO: Rise up.

BERGMAN: -- rise up -- and not rise up and kill, but rise up and take your faith into your hand and topple the regime.

The third thing that could have happened, which is statica (ph) but has a strategic meaning, was if U.S. or Israel or U.S. and Israel together would

be able to obtain and take away the 430 kilos of uranium.

SCIUTTO: That hasn't happened.

BERGMAN: Now, all -- so, all three --

SCIUTTO: The uprising hasn't happened, right? Yes.

BERGMAN: Yes. So, at least for now none of these three happens. These three could determine in reality, not in words, not in you know changing

and distorting what actually happened like in previous time when you know President Trump said obliterated about the site and Prime Minister

Netanyahu followed when he said we removed two -- not one, two existential threats for generations to come, the nuclear and the missile, and of course

this was a lie.

When all of these three, at least for the time being, did not happen then it's about words. It's about phrasing, it's about words. And I think that

when the initial phrasing of these 15 points was received or obtained by Israel today it did not echo very well because Israel saw that on two main

issues. One that if this stops tomorrow that Israel was not able to fulfill or to destroy all the list of targets in its target bank.

The second, which is mainly now about the industry, the military industry and second it does not give the promise to Israel, especially on the

missiles, that indeed something profoundly would change.

SCIUTTO: Right. I mean, that speaks to a loss, does it not, or at least not many, and again, there have been so many war aims it's hard to keep

track as President Trump himself has raised everything from regime change to unconditional surrender to the nuclear program, et cetera. He now seems

to be saying, I got enough, whatever that is.

But by any measure, if they still have those capabilities granted reduced that doesn't serve either the U.S. or Israeli interests.

BERGMAN: Yes. Because if -- you know, much of the Iranian nuclear project was indeed destroyed in the previous round. But as long as they have the

uranium, they still have 11 sufficient quantities. So, they have enough 60 percent enriched uranium that can easily be turned to 90 percent for 11

warheads.

SCIUTTO: The only way to get that would be a ground operation.

BERGMAN: Yes.

SCIUTTO: Do you see serious consideration by Israel doing that on its own if the U.S. doesn't go so far?

BERGMAN: Well, the -- I think that the secret of such an operation would be -- to be a secret.

SCIUTTO: Right.

BERGMAN: A secret operation. And once the president of the United States is speaking about such an operation, assuming that the Iranians also see

the press conference or the tweet on truth Social Network, they would have soldiers on site waiting.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

BERGMAN: That means casualties. Casualties means everything. So much more complicated. And if such an operation was planned, then I would assume,

maybe more than assume, that the planners, the leaders, the special operation experts would think that this may be not the right time to do

something with it.

SCIUTTO: Is it possible that the U.S. and President Trump simply declares victory withdraws from this war and that Israel then retains the right as

it were to continue striking Iran much as it has done say in Lebanon or elsewhere?

BERGMAN: Yes.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

BERGMAN: This is what happened with Hezbollah and it continued. But in the short-term -- first of all, I don't see a split, not -- at least not

overtly split between Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Trump. You know he could try and convince him. I know that he sent the former

minister, Ron Dermott, that was brought back from retirement because an expert of the White House. He went -- he took him back from retirement and

he sent him to speak with the White House, trying to convince the White House at least giving Israel more time or even not going for a ceasefire

for now.

[18:25:00]

But the meaning of a ceasefire is a ceasefire for now. Retaining the right, we will do in time, that's fine. And of course, they will say it, but this

is -- this goes back to the beginning of what our discussion, that if it's not one of the three goals, it's going to be just the way that it's being

phrased, not in reality. And in reality, Iran will have the enriched uranium, Iran will have something around 2,000 ballistic missiles, and the

knowledge to retain and rebuild its industry.

SCIUTTO: And it seems still the ability to open or close the Strait of Hormuz.

BERGMAN: Yes.

SCIUTTO: Ronen Bergman, enjoyed the conversation.

BERGMAN: Thank you.

SCIUTTO: Thanks so much.

BERGMAN: Thank you.

SCIUTTO: Well, for further discussion, joining me now, Democratic Congressman and Army veteran, Jason Crow. He sits on the House Armed

Services and Intelligence Committee. So, Congressman, thanks so much for taking the time.

REP. JASON CROW (D-CO), U.S. HOUSE INTEL COMMITTEE AND U.S. HOUSE ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE: Thanks, Jim.

SCIUTTO: So, help me understand your understanding of where the U.S. stands now. Did you hear from the president today him, in effect, declaring

victory by his own definition of victory?

CROW: Well, here's where we stand. President Trump has launched a war without the consent of the American people, without debate and

authorization of the United States Congress, without the funding to ensure that we can go the distance and support our troops, and without an endgame,

and without a plan.

After 24 years of endless conflict, after the United States spent $5 to $8 trillion on endless conflicts, regime change, and nation building that

ended poorly, and here we are. And he's also spent the last year maligning our allies and disassembling our partnership networks around the world, the

very same allies and partnership networks that we would rely upon in an instance like this to make sure that our troops or service members are

safe, that we can open up the Straits of Hormuz, and we can secure our interests throughout the Middle East. So, it's a pretty big mess, and it's

a mess that Donald Trump's making.

SCIUTTO: To the point of the Strait of Hormuz, President Trump, in his comments, somewhat cryptic about the gift Iran offered, seemed that he was

identifying that Iran perhaps would open the Strait for some traffic. From where you're sitting, did Iran gain that power from this war? In other

words, it now has the ability to open or close the Strait, which it didn't have before the U.S. launched military action.

CROW: I think people need to understand something really important, and that is Iran has spent decades preparing for this moment. They have been

preparing for the moment for the United States to try to destroy the regime, and that means they've built up stocks and reserves of munitions,

of drones, of missiles. That means they've decentralized command and control.

It means they've built terror proxy networks around the world that can be activated and have been activated to attack Americans and American

interests. It means they've developed a cyber capability that can attack our financial institutions and our energy infrastructure. And it also means

that they view the Straits of Hormuz as one of their most decisive pieces of terrain, and they will not give it up because they believe that that is

their biggest piece of leverage. So, that is what they've spent the last decade doing.

And right now, because Donald Trump has actually started this war without a strategy, without a coalition -- you know, even in Iraq and Afghanistan, we

went to war with coalitions, and those ended up turning out poorly. We don't even have that in this instance.

So, my job right now is to make sure that we protect our service members. That's our number one job, our 50,000 servicemen and women who are in the

region. We protect Americans, both at home and abroad, from terrorism. And we force this president to articulate what the endgame and strategy is for

wrapping this up.

SCIUTTO: Yes. You, of course, served yourself. The president has now deployed two units, both the 82nd -- elements of the 82nd Airborne and also

Marines to at least, it seems, keep open the possibility of a ground deployment on Iranian territory. Would that be too dangerous a mission,

given what capabilities Iran maintains?

CROW: Putting boots on the ground is always very, very dangerous, right? And this is the creep that we all warned about. This is the creep that when

Donald Trump said three weeks ago that we already won the war, it's won, we just haven't won enough.

And look what's happened. We continue to spend $2 billion a day. Gas prices continue to skyrocket. Americans are now paying upwards of $400 million a

day more for energy. And now, we continue to escalate and interject military units, including, you know, one of my units. I served in the 82nd

Airborne Division during the invasion of Iraq in 2003. One of the best, most famous divisions in American military history.

[18:30:00]

So, we have to make sure that these paratroopers are protected. And the way that I do that is by forcing this administration to tell us what their plan

is and how they're going to protect these folks and how we're going to wrap this up.

Because the Middle East, I'm telling you, I'm telling you, we're going to have to Americans are over endless conflict in the Middle East. They don't

want to spend trillions of dollars. They don't want to be pulled into another cycle of endless conflict. They want to be able to pay their

mortgage, pay their rent, buy groceries, rebuild our bridges, have good schools. That is what Americans really want. And Donald Trump is delivering

anything but that.

SCIUTTO: Yes, it's notable, of course, because all those things you just said, President Trump himself said repeatedly prior to this war. One

pressure point Congress has, right, is this administration request now for $200 billion to fund this war. As I understand it, even some Republicans

are not willing to sign that check right now. Where does that go in Congress, in your view?

CROW: Well, on my desk, it goes nowhere. I'm a hard no on that, for all the reasons we just talked about. You know, my job is to make sure that we

don't start endless conflicts, that we protect our military, and we use our military as a last resort. And I just chronicled all the problems with

this, and how Donald Trump bypassed the American people through their representatives, and didn't even make the case, didn't even put it to a

vote, right? So, I'm a hard no on that.

And we've already -- by the way, I want to make something clear here, because what Donald Trump is going to say, oh, if we don't fund this

endless war, if we don't give him $200 billion, that means we don't support the troops. We've already appropriated the money for the troops. We've

literally already passed the defense budget that will make sure that our military, our military families, our soldiers are getting paid. We actually

gave him a huge pay raise to make sure that we're protecting our units around the world.

What I'm unwilling to do is give this president money and just throw it at this conflict that the American people don't want, that I don't want, and

is already turning into a disaster and a quagmire.

SCIUTTO: Before you go, I want to ask you about, of course, another seemingly endless conflict, that is, Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

Today, in a particularly brutal act, although not the first by any means, Russia sent a drone into the western Ukrainian city of Lviv into a 300-

some-odd-year-old church there for no good reason.

President Trump, as you know, has been reducing, not increasing, U.S. support for Ukraine and speaking constantly of making a deal with Russia.

Do you fear that President Trump, even in the face of attacks like the one we saw today, will walk away from Ukraine and try to make a deal with

Russia?

CROW: None of this makes any sense, right? In the areas where we should be supporting, our friends and our partners, which would actually promote

world peace and security, promote American economy, peace in Europe, which is always in our interests, and push back against one of our biggest

adversaries, in this case, Russia, he's pulling back. And then in areas where our interests are questionable, and we're actually seeing energy

prices go up, and where Americans want us to reduce involvement in endless conflict, he's investing more.

So, in an area like Ukraine, where we don't have to put any boots on the ground, we have an incredible, willing, and capable partner in Ukraine, all

they need is support, support by the way, which Americans want to give, because they recognize the long-term interests in making sure that Europe

is secure, and Ukraine is our long-term partner and ally, he's pulling back from. So, it's kind of a topsy-turvy world, and he's doing the opposite on

all of these things that Americans want him to do.

SCIUTTO: Congressman Jason Crow, veteran yourself, thanks so much for joining.

CROW: Thanks Jim.

SCIUTTO: Well, still ahead this hour, suspicious trades in the financial markets, charges that investors have profited from inside information about

the Iran War.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:35:00]

SCIUTTO: Welcome back to "The Brief." I'm Jim Sciutto in Tel Aviv, and here are the international headlines we're watching today.

More details have emerged about Sunday's fatal crash at LaGuardia Airport in New York. The NTSB says that two, those two air traffic controllers were

working in the control tower during that collision, between an Air Canada Express jet and a fire truck. While there's no indication that fatigue

played a role, the NTSB chairwoman said it will be part of the investigation.

Markwayne Mullin has been sworn in as the new U.S. Homeland Security Secretary. Mullin, who succeeds Kristi Noem, joins the department in

turmoil. Its funding expired last month. It has been mired in negotiations on Capitol Hill. The former Senate Republican from Oklahoma was confirmed

Monday in a 54 to 45 vote.

A source in the Middle East tells CNN that Saudi Arabia hopes Iran's cruise and ballistic missile capabilities will be degraded as much as possible

before the war ends. That official adds that Riyadh does not want any damage done to Iran's civilian infrastructure, however, saying, quote, "We

cannot have an aggressive neighbor, but also can't have a population that is destitute."

Well, a quite unusual spike in trading activity just before President Trump posted Monday morning about talks, peace talks with Iran. Well, that spike

is now raising concern that some investors were tipped off in advance. Reuters says traders bet half a billion dollars on the price of crude oil

just minutes before that post sent crude price tumbling. It's unclear exactly who made those trades. There was also a reported spike in S&P

futures contracts at exactly the same time.

And a post on ex-U.S. Senator Chris Murphy called the S&P futures bet, quote, "mind-blowing corruption." The speaker of the Iranian parliament had

this to say, fake news is used to manipulate the financial and oil markets and escape the quagmire in which the U.S. and Israel are trapped.

Joining me now, Julien Mathonniere. He is the senior oil markets correspondent at Energy Intelligence. First, beginning, certainly lots of

outrage over trading activity in the oil markets before Trump's post. Do you believe -- do the markets believe that there is an insider trading

problem here?

[18:40:00]

JULIEN MATHONNIERE, SENIOR OIL MARKETS CORRESPONDENT, ENERGY INTELLIGENCE: Hi, Jim. Yes, it's not the first time I've been hearing, you know, those

very words, insider trading or manipulation in the past week or 10 days.

As you said on Monday, over 6,000 contracts worth more than half a billion dollars were sold across Brent Oil, West Texas Intermediate, and as you

mentioned, the S&P 500 Future, which essentially allows their holders to bet on the future direction of prices. And what is disturbing is that a

minute after these contracts were sold, President Trump fired away a tweet claiming productive conversation with Iran and announcing, you know, a five

days postponement on planned military strikes, which of course immediately prompted prices to fall.

And B, this massive trade occurred without any change, without any visible change in public, in market sentiments. In other words, the trade did not

follow the signal. It sorts of anticipated the signal, which of course raised a few red flags.

SCIUTTO: Yes. No question. I mean, it certainly requires investigation. You have U.S. lawmakers calling for it. We'll see. We'll see if it happens.

A lot of investors stand to lose, you know, if the market is not clean.

Another big area of concern for the market, as I understand it, is supply, not just the price of oil, the direction of the price, but the quantity

available. Can you explain exactly what that concern is?

MATHONNIERE: Of course, Jim, yes. I believe the oil market right now is at a critical juncture. Until now, it's been able to quickly tap into, you

know, floating storage capacity, sanctioned or not, by which I mean, you know, Russian oil or something else to -- you know, to sort of compensate

for the supply losses from the Strait of Hormuz transit. We believe these reserves are now almost depleted, which rapidly increases the risk of, you

know, further price increases in the coming weeks if the situation does not improve.

My consultancy, Energy Intelligence, calculates that Gulf countries at the moment export about, you know, just shy of 7 million barrels per day.

That's less than 40 percent of the 18 million barrels per day that used to transit through the Strait of Hormuz before the war.

So, you know, last week, we had like a few weeks, for example, the reopening of this pipeline between the northern Kurdistan region of Iraq

and Turkey, but that carries 200 at best, but will carry 200,000 barrels per day. This is a drop in the ocean.

You know, the deficit right now is 10 to 11 million barrels every day. It's about 10 percent of the world market. So, imagine if we carry on for

several months, it's really going to be a problem in terms of supply, especially for Asia. Yes.

SCIUTTO: Yes. And that certainly undermines any confidence Trump seems to have that he could bring down the price of oil with talk of peace

negotiations. Tell us about the impact of relaxing sanctions on Iranian oil. He says that's just about trying to keep prices down, but it's putting

quite a lot of money in Iran's pocket, is it not?

MATHONNIERE: It's true. And, you know, the irony of the story is that now Iran is exporting more crude oil than before the war. But, you know, the

point of doing that, as I think Scott Besson tried to explain, is that if you don't do it, you know, price will spike even more.

So, you know, the obvious solution to the current problem is to relax the sanction somewhere else. And it means Iran -- but you probably forgot to

mention Russian oil as well. You know, we knew from the beginning that in case of severe lasting disruption, the savior would be, you know, Russian

oil, which right now sits on, you know, Russia right now sits on sanctioned barrels. The U.S. administration has relaxed those sanctions for buyers

like India, where, you know, until now it couldn't sell.

And therefore, you know, if the conflict really lasts, it could devolve into a redox of 2022, where we suddenly wake up from our green transition

dreams and we conclude that energy security and feasibility of supply is paramount.

SCIUTTO: Yes, yes. A lot of countries around the world reconsidering their energy security right now. Julien Mathonniere, thanks so much for joining.

MATHONNIERE: Pleasure.

[18:45:00]

SCIUTTO: And just ahead, a jury says that Meta is liable for failing to protect children from sexual predators. The company ordered to pay some 375

million dollars in damages. We're going to bring you the tech giant's response just after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCIUTTO: A jury has found that Meta violated New Mexico law in a case which accused the tech giant of enabling child sexual exploitation. The

parent company of Facebook and Instagram is now on the $25 million in damages. A spokesperson for Meta said it plans to appeal the case. This is

part of a wave of new legal pressure against social media companies, specifically over child safety.

Joining me now is Clare Duffy. And, Clare, I wonder what the significance of this case is. Specifically, what law did Meta violate and does that

create a precedent for other similar suits?

CLARE DUFFY, CNN TECH REPORTER AND CNN PODCAST HOST, TERMS OF SERVICE: Yes, Jim, I think other states will certainly be watching this decision

closely, potentially as a model for an approach that they can take in their own states.

This lawsuit was filed back in 2023 by New Mexico's Attorney General Raul Torrez, accusing Meta of creating a breeding ground for sexual predators by

failing to keep bad actors from contacting kids on Facebook and Instagram and for failing to warn parents and teens about these risks. And Meta had

pushed back on this, saying, look, we invest in safety filters. They can't be perfect. We are honest about the fact that some bad actors and bad

content can get through those filters. But the jury here did not buy that. The jury found Meta liable on all counts in this case, finding that the

company willfully engaged in unfair and deceptive and unconscionable trade practices.

As you said, they have ordered Meta to pay $375 million in damages. And Meta says that it will appeal. As you said, Jim, I will read you a

statement from a Meta spokesperson about this decision. They said, we respectfully disagree with the verdict and will appeal. We work hard to

keep people safe on our platforms and are clear about the challenges of identifying and removing bad actors or harmful content.

And look, $375 million is sort of a drop in the bucket for a company as big as Meta. But this is still a really significant moment, given that the

company has for years faced concerns from parents and advocates and lawmakers about risks to children on its platforms. This is really the

first time that a jury is holding the company accountable for those issues.

[18:50:00]

SCIUTTO: Yes. There are a number of cases against social media companies on their handling of underage users. You follow this space very closely.

Are those tech giants, those tech companies, are the apps getting any better at doing this, at policing this kind of behavior and protecting kids

from this kind of thing?

DUFFY: Well, certainly in the face of these years of concerns, these companies have invested in additional safety measures. They've rolled out

parental control tools. They've rolled out default privacy and safety settings for teen users.

The concern that I've heard from parents and advocates is that these safety measures still put too much onus on parents and teens to sort of police

their own experience online. And the companies should be doing more to handle and manage that safety. And the other thing I think that we're

hearing from parents and advocates is that the lawmakers have sort of dropped the ball here.

We still do not have any comprehensive online safety legislation. And so, what we're seeing instead is the state attorneys general, families trying

to take to the courts to mandate these changes instead. That is certainly something that we could see come out of this New Mexico case as well, Jim.

SCIUTTO: Yes, whenever I watch those hearings on the Hill on issues like this, I always find the lawmakers seem they seem outmatched on this topic.

Clare Duffy, thanks so much for covering.

Well, coming up on "The Brief," one rationale for the U.S. and Israel's ongoing war with Iran is to keep Tehran from gaining nuclear weapons. Well,

North Korea has taken notice and is now doubling down, perhaps even showing off its own nuclear ambitions. We'll take a look next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCIUTTO: Well, President Trump says the U.S. will not allow Iran to acquire nuclear weapons. North Korea says its status as a nuclear armed

state is, quote, "irreversible." In an address to parliament, the North Korean leader, Kim Jong Un, accused Washington of state-sponsored terrorism

and said that his country is now strengthening its nuclear forces. Our Will Ripley has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): North Korean leader Kim Jong Un walks into Parliament with confidence. State

media claims he just won reelection by a landslide, with 99.93 percent of the vote.

In front of a packed house in Pyongyang, Kim has a defiant message for President Donald Trump. The United States is now resorting to acts of

state-sponsored terrorism and aggression. The hostile forces wanted us to make a different choice, preaching a payment for our giving up of nuclear

weapons. But the present situation clearly proves our nuclear possession is irreversible.

Kim never names Iran. He doesn't have to. His message to Trump is blunt. When diplomacy fails, only brute nuclear force will do.

[18:55:00]

Ever since the Iran war broke out, a string of high-profile North Korean weapons tests, this salvo of cruise missiles, fired from Kim's flagship

destroyer, the Choe Hyon. Days later, a barrage of what state media calls a dozen nuclear-capable rockets. Kim, joined by his daughter and rumored

successor in training, the teenager believed to be named Kim Ju Ae. She's even getting behind the wheel of a brand-new tank, with her father riding

shotgun.

Kim and his daughter busy flaunting their firepower. And Russia, praising its anti-U.S. partnership with Pyongyang. During coverage of the Iran war,

Russian state TV airing footage of North Korean troops training near the Ukrainian front, and glorifying soldiers who chose suicide over capture, a

clear signal Russia has North Korea's back.

And back in Pyongyang, Kim is honoring families of fallen troops, doubling down on nuclear weapons, and telling his military and his people to prepare

for war.

Will Ripley, CNN, Taipei.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: A view inside North Korea. Thanks so much for joining me today. I'm Jim Sciutto in Tel Aviv. I'll continue to be here this week. You've

been watching "The Brief." Please do stay with CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:00:00]

END