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The Brief with Jim Sciutto
CNN International: Vance on Iran: "I Wouldn't Call It A War"; Zelensky: u.s. Negotiators to Visit Kyiv and Moscow; Deadlocked Clancy Jury to Return for Deliberations Friday; Venezuelan Opposition Leader Criticizes U.S.-Venezuelan Oil Deal; Rescuers Search for 5,000 Plus Missing in Nepal; U.S. Officials: More Offensive Strikes Near Hormuz Expected; Trump: Adam Telle to Become Acting Army Secretary; Remembering Gloria Steinem. Aired 6- 7p ET
Aired September 03, 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 in New York, and
you're watching "The Brief."
Just ahead this hour, it is not a war. U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance declines to call the continuing conflict with Iran a war and says he
doesn't know when it will end. Plus, a narrow escape for the E.U. delegation in Kyiv. I'll speak with the E.U. ambassador to Ukraine about
that experience as Russian missiles rain down. And, remembering an icon, feminist activist and journalist Gloria Steinem has died at the age of 92.
Well, Vice President J.D. Vance, while listing the administration's wins earlier today in the White House briefing room, claimed the current
conflict with Iran is not a war. He told reporters he cannot say when it would end and that that would be up to Tehran.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JD VANCE, U.S. VICE PRESIDENT: When you ask, when will this end? You're asking me a question like, when will the Iranians stop shooting at ships? I
think the reality is, I don't know the answer to that question. You would have to ask the Iranians. When will the Iranians shooting at ships stop
having an effect on world energy markets? And the answer is, it has less effect day by day.
So, what we're going to do is not depend on the Iranians behaving responsibly or negotiating in good faith. What we're going to do is use the
tools that we have at our disposal to ensure that the American people, one, never have to deal with the threat of an Iranian nuclear program, and two,
that world energy markets are properly supplied.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCIUTTO: Remember, the administration has claimed multiple times that they took away Iran's ability to fire. The U.S. president said the U.S. has
secured the passage of a large amount of oil through the Strait on Wednesday. U.S. officials say the day before that, the military hit a
record, as it escorted 40 commercial vessels carrying 18 million barrels of oil through the Strait of Hormuz. Before the war began, about 20 million
barrels passed through there each day, unencumbered. One official says U.S. forces had to fend off Iranian drones and missiles during those escort
operations.
Kristen Holmes joins me now at the White House. And, Kristen, in the simplest terms, there are a whole host of U.S. forces deployed to the
Middle East. There are many days recently where each side is firing at each other with effect, sometimes deadly strikes. So, when the vice president
says this is not a war, is that transparently designed to avoid congressional oversight under the War Powers Act?
KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: I would note that that was originally part of their thinking when they continued to say that
this wasn't a war, when they said that they were done with the military incursion, that they had moved on to a separate phase. But I would also
argue that part of this is messaging to the American people, particularly given how many Americans oppose this war.
And part of what we had been told about this shift from military operations and into an economic strategy is that, one, they do believe that the
military operations were not working. But, two, there is a bit of a disconnect when you are just focusing on the economics in which you can
keep this war at an arm's length, particularly going into these midterm elections. So, there is a little bit of messaging there, too.
The United States administration, or the Trump administration in particular, trying to distance themselves from this being a war ahead of
these critical midterms. And that's what you saw J.D. Vance doing. Now, in addition to not saying when he could see this ending and giving any kind of
timeline, there were a number of other questions that he couldn't answer, one being the cost of gas, talking about whether or not it would hit $3
before Labor Day, which was something that Scott Bessent had floated, saying he didn't know when it would go back to $3.
There were a number of questions that he really tried to kind of kick the can down the road on, a lot of them around the Iran war, which, again, is
very unpopular, as well as affordability and the cost of living, something else that people have been very critical of this administration over.
SCIUTTO: No question, and a continuing temptation, one would say, to blame the current inflation on the prior administration. Kristen Holmes, thanks
so much.
[18:05:00]
I will speak with the former head of the Iran branch of Israeli intelligence, Danny Citrinowicz, later in this program for Israel's review
of the war.
Turning now to Ukraine and new developments. Just over the last several hours, the Ukrainian president says U.S. negotiators are due to visit both
Kyiv and Moscow in the coming days. He says it is crucial that the U.S. remains actively involved in any talks intended to end the four-and-a-half-
year Russian invasion. These startling images illustrate the severity of Russian attacks this week on Kyiv. The city's mayor says nine people were
injured earlier today.
The E.U.'s ambassador to Ukraine says that her delegation, while visiting Kyiv, experienced an extremely close call yesterday. Katarina Mathernova
posted on X that a jet-powered Russian drone exploded very close to where the group was meeting. And Ambassador Mathernova joins me now from the
Ukrainian capital. Ambassador, first of all, we're glad you're safe. Thanks so much for joining.
KATARINA MATHERNOVA, E.U. AMBASSADOR TO UKRAINE: Thank you very much. Thanks for the invitation. Good evening.
SCIUTTO: First, let me ask you this. Given how close this drone came to where you were meeting, this delegation, do you believe this might have
been a deliberate attempt on your life?
MATHERNOVA: Well, just to clarify, we call E.U. delegation the European Union Embassy in Kyiv. So, this is actually our permanent place. And
indeed, there was a jet-powered drone that flew by and exploded about 300 meters on the street next door, where it destroyed a university, which had
160 students, thankfully, in a shelter.
This was already a second time the delegation had a very close call. A year ago, almost exactly a year ago, our building was damaged by two ballistic
missiles exploding in close proximity. And the blast wave pushed out and destroyed about 100 windows and a lot of the furniture internally, et
cetera. So, whether it was a target or whether it was, you know, a careless disregard to us as a diplomatic mission being there, it's hard to say. But
certainly, it felt like an attack.
SCIUTTO: As you see an attack like that that threaten your delegation, but also daily attacks that are quite deliberately intended to kill Ukrainian
civilians and also take away energy infrastructure, punish them, in effect, to try to force Ukraine into surrender, when Putin says he would like
negotiations, do you believe him?
MATHERNOVA: So far, we have not seen any serious attempt by Russia to actually negotiate. And in fact, what happened in the last eight days, we
have really a horrific escalation right now, because apart from the nighttime attack that you almost got used to, there are now nighttime and
daytime attacks that are incredibly disruptive.
For example, yesterday, we had 10 air alerts during the day. And when you have an air alert, the life stops. Children have to go to shelters, cannot
study. Shopping malls are emptied. The metro stops. So really, life for all practical purposes stops. So, people are saying that Kyiv is becoming a
frontline city. And this has been really a very recent escalation. So, it's very difficult to believe when Putin says that he wants to negotiate,
because he wants to destroy Ukraine and surrender.
SCIUTTO: We know that he's trying to take advantage of Ukraine's shortage of air defense missiles. European allies keep saying quite publicly they
are delivering more aid. Has it arrived already? Is some of it arriving already? Because it just seems that every night Ukraine is still getting
overwhelmed.
MATHERNOVA: There are more deliveries happening. And unfortunately, in terms of the PAC-3 interceptors, there is a worldwide shortage of them. And
these Patriot interceptors are the only effective way of stopping ballistic missiles. There is a lot of deliveries of different type of air defense
that help with cruise missiles, that help with some type of drones. And Ukrainians have their own capacity to develop the drone interceptors, et
cetera.
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But indeed, there is shortage but the E.U. is, first of all, delivering financial aid, and second of all, helping U.S. defense industry because we
are enabling Ukrainians to purchase these from the U.S. But there is a problem with a worldwide shortage, notably also because of the war with
Iran that you just discussed in the previous segment.
SCIUTTO: As you know U.S. negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner the president's son-in-law are planning it seems to go to Ukraine finally after
a long time many visits to Moscow. Do you -- does the E.U. have confidence in Witkoff and Kushner as negotiators on Ukraine's behalf?
MATHERNOVA: Well, we will see what will happen. Maybe the first trip to Kyiv after, as you mentioned, many trips to Moscow will change the optic
and will give a broader perspective, and hopefully we will have a breakthrough. Hope is what we have.
SCIUTTO: Yes. Before we go President Trump today has demanded that Europe pay back the U.S. for all U.S. military support to Ukraine over the last
several years. We should note the president uses exaggerated figures in terms of the dollar amounts there. But do you consider that -- does the
E.U. consider that a serious demand and one that the E.U. will consider? We should remind our viewers this was money appropriated by the U.S. Congress.
MATHERNOVA: Well, let me tell you what we have been doing. It's the second year in a row that we are exclusively financing by the E.U. and its member
states and some likeminded smaller contributions from other countries. The entirety of the Western support to the Ukrainian budget and through the
Pearl Initiative via NATO, we are in fact paying for the military equipment that is produced in the U.S. that gives jobs to U.S. workers in the defense
industry. And we have been doing this for the second year in a row without U.S. financial contribution. And I think that's important to remember.
SCIUTTO: Well, Ambassador Mathernova, again, we're glad you and your delegation is safe. Thanks so much for joining the program.
Well, back here in the U.S., still no verdict in the Lindsay Clancy murder trials. The jury was sent home just a short while ago after a sixth day of
deliberations. There were though many surprising twists. The judge told the jury to follow his instructions and even read out the definition of
reasonable doubt. He had an animated conversation with the defense attorney about one juror in particular. Clancy is the Massachusetts mother accused
of killing her three children in 2023. The jury is now tasked with deciding if she is criminally responsible for their deaths.
CNN's Kara Scannell joins us to break down what happened. And, Kara, there had already been a lot of concern that this was headed towards a hung jury
and a mistrial given how long they've been deliberating. But did today give you and others a clue as to where this stands in terms of this focus on one
juror is the sense that one juror is standing in the way perhaps of a decision on acquittal, or do we know?
KARA SCANNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Jim, it's a fascinating development today because, as you said, the jury for the past two days have said that
they've been unable to reach a decision. And that was all we knew. So, no one knew if that was seven jurors in one position and five in another. But
today we learned from the defense attorney who summarized the note that the judge had received from the jury that there is one juror that will not
follow instructions about reasonable doubt. That is how Clancy's attorney described it.
So, the judge brought the juries -- the jurors in one by one, asked them at a sidebar whether they could follow his instructions on the law. The judge
said that he was confident that they could. He then read to the jury in open court when they were all assembled his description the legal
requirements of reasonable doubt. What is reasonable doubt and asked the jurors to go back and continue their deliberations. That all took place at
the end of the day. So, the jury will be back tomorrow to continue the deliberations and what will be day seven of this case.
But they have already been in deliberations for roughly 36 hours as our count. But very fascinating today to learn that there is one juror who
seems to be in a different position than the rest. And that does tell us more than what we knew where there was a lot of debate and discussion of
maybe they are maybe this is a split camp, you know, 50/50 you've got six on one side six on the other. But now it seems like this is coming down to
one juror.
[18:15:00]
We do not know where that weight lies though. Clancy's lawyer being quite confident that he thinks it's in his favor. He asked the judge to remove
that one juror from the trial. The judge is not doing that. And the prosecutor saying we don't know which side this one juror is on, we should
just let this process play out.
And, Jim, we have seen this before in cases the Sean Diddy Combs case. There was a juror that the jury sent a note saying there was one juror who
wasn't following the law, and then the next day a verdict was returned. So, really, still remains unclear how this is going to end. But the jury will
be back tomorrow morning to continue their deliberations.
SCIUTTO: We know you'll be watching, Kara Scannell. Thanks so much.
Still ahead, new criticism of the U.S.-Venezuela oil deal. Venezuelan opposition leader, Maria Corina Machado, says any agreement struck with the
current U.S.-backed Venezuelan regime is illegitimate. Details just after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SCIUTTO: Welcome back. In today's Business Breakout, a second straight day of gains on Wall Street. All the major averages rallied more than 1 percent
as chances of a Federal Reserve interest rate hike this month decrease. Fed Governor Christopher Waller said today he is leaning towards holding rates
steady because he believes inflation is easing. He said he wants to, quote, "give disinflation a chance." All his comments helped trigger a further
drop in U.S. Treasury yields. That said the recent global bond sell off is causing pain in the housing market. The average 30-year fixed rate mortgage
in the U.S. has now risen to its highest level in more than a year.
Venezuelan opposition leader, Maria Corina Machado, is criticizing the newly secured oil deal between Washington and the U.S.-backed Venezuelan
government. In a video statement posted on social media Machado says the U.S. has a role to play in developing Venezuelan oil but she says only a
democratically elected Venezuelan government has the legitimacy to strike such a deal. She did not criticize the Trump administration directly but
she says the Venezuelan people have the right to question this new venture.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARIA CORINA MACHADO, VENEZUELAN OPPOSITION LEADER (through translator): The wealth of our land does not belong to an illegitimate regime, it
belongs to the Venezuelan people. Of course, the United States is the key partner Venezuela needs to fully realize its strategic value. That's what
the majority of the Venezuelans believe.
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It's reflected in the values shared by our two countries, and it's something I've championed throughout my life. The enemies of the United
States and Venezuela are currently in Miraflores. But precisely for that reason, because the partnership between Venezuela and the United States is
of strategic importance to both nations, we all need things to be done right.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCIUTTO: U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance, however, delivered a strong defense of the deal today. Unlike Machado, he calls the deal a win for
Venezuelan citizens as well as Americans.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VANCE: The way that that's going to work is that private companies, American companies can go in there, generate a lot of oil revenue.
Obviously, that's going to mean world oil markets get only more supplied. That will lower costs for Americans. That means a lot of revenue is going
to go to the people of Venezuela. But also, thanks to the deal struck by Marco and Pete Hegseth and others in the administration, it actually sets
us up to where the American people will directly receive some of the royalties as well.
So, it's good for Venezuelans. It's good for anybody who's buying gas. And it's good for the American taxpayer as well.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCIUTTO: American taxpayer benefiting from Venezuelan oil. Well, oil experts say any benefits from the deal are still years away. Vance claimed
today he cannot promise when U.S. gas prices would fall back to $3 a gallon however.
Jason Marczak joins us. He's director of the Adrienne Arsht Latin American Center at the Atlantic Council. Thanks so much for joining. So, did you
read Machado's reaction to this as a careful rejection of the deal?
JASON MARCZAK, DIRECTOR, ADRIENNE ARSHT LATIN AMERICA CENTER, THE ATLANTIC COUNCIL: I think Machado is using this deal to reinforce the importance of
the democratic transition, right? There's three phases of the plan that the U.S. has put forward. Stabilization, reconstruction, democratic transition.
And what she's putting forward is the fact that while this deal is being made, while the U.S. now has significant direct interests in 17 oil fields
in Venezuela, 65 billion in proven reserves, that this fundamental democratic transition is key to the future of Venezuela. And that
democratic transition also should govern both this deal and any future deals that are put forward.
SCIUTTO: Should, and that is the argument of the opposition here, the president doesn't seem to think so. He says, you know, Venezuela's not
ready for this, not clear what he's basing that on. Is there a practical obstacle here, though, in that companies, even a company like Chevron that
has pledged $7 billion, that they're not actually going to make these investments, ones that you would make over many years, unless they know
that the deal is going to last beyond Trump, beyond Delcy Rodriguez?
MARCZAK: Yes. I mean -- yes. Jim, I mean, legal certainty is critical and durability, right? And I think with this particular deal, given the fact
that the deal that was announced by President Trump last week, given the fact that the U.S. is directly involved in the deal, I think the hope from
the U.S. is it will incentivize other companies to get involved, not only in these 17 oil fields, but in making additional deals as well.
Political transition requires a strong democracy. It recovers governance. Companies look for governance. So, in addition to an election, which is
absolutely fundamental, what's also key is having the governance frameworks, having independent courts, independent judiciary to be able to
resolve legal disputes, independent National Electoral Council, have the ability for Venezuelans to be able to watch any news channel, including
CNN, that they want to be able to watch. So, the executives traveling down have that type of freedom and the Venezuelan people have that type of
freedom.
This is all fundamental to Venezuela's future. And elections are key. My aspiration is that we will hopefully see elections in the near-term.
SCIUTTO: But let me ask you this, there's an enormous amount of money involved here, enormous amount of oil and enormous amount of money. So, the
financial incentives for Trump and for Delcy Rodriguez and her regime is to move forward without elections because they don't want to delay this
anymore.
And by the way, Delcy Rodriguez might calculate she wouldn't be around anymore if there were free and fair elections held. I mean, the incentives,
the financial incentives, and again, there are enormous pressure, both those parties not to go the democratic pathway.
MARCZAK: Yes. I mean, at the same time that what you see is the U.S. is pushing for talks between the opposition, Dinorah Figuera, who's elected
the president of the National Assembly back in 2015. She's leading those talks on behalf of the opposition. This could be important that people like
Maria Corina Machado are involved in those discussions. There was a last month, another run expected later this month.
[18:25:00]
And that those talks which are being pushed by the U.S. Delcy Rodriguez does not want to come to those talks on her own. They're being led by Jorge
Rodriguez, president of the National Assembly there. But those talks actually produce meaningful results, concrete actions, and that those
actions are actually monitored for implementation, because we've seen past rounds of talks in Venezuela and things were agreed to and nothing actually
ever happened.
And so, implementation, verifiable implementation is critical so that we can achieve the democratic transition that's fundamental in Venezuela. And
also, at the same time, give investors the certainty that their investments will be overseen by a democratic governance framework.
SCIUTTO: Before we go, Maduro, who, of course, is sitting in a Manhattan jail, you know, not far from where I'm sitting now, is claiming sovereign
immunity and saying, therefore, the U.S. cannot prosecute him. Is the outcome of this trial here a fait accompli or might he have an argument?
MARCZAK: Look, I mean, I think that the U.S. doesn't bring -- the Department of Justice doesn't bring people to trial unless it knows it has
substantial evidence, has the ability to get a guilty verdict. And so, no trial is, of course, a fait accompli, but the evidence is significantly
stacked up against Maduro.
SCIUTTO: Jason Marczak, thanks so much for joining the program.
MARCZAK: Thanks for having me.
SCIUTTO: Checking now some of today's other business headlines, A.I. chip giant NVIDIA announced its largest ever corporate acquisition today. It is
buying open-source A.I. platform Hugging Face, love that name, for $13 dollars. Hugging Face is the platform that was hacked by A.I. agents from
OpenAI, an incident that raised alarm bells across the globe. Today's deal is seen as a further vote of confidence in open-source A.I. models that are
cheaper and easier for users to customize.
A group of major automakers is urging Congress to permanently ban Chinese cars from the U.S. market. The alliance includes General Ford, Toyota,
General Motors and others. It wants the legislation passed by the end of the year. The group says Chinese cars represent a national security threat
and are unfairly subsidized by Beijing.
The Dutch Central Bank says it has moved a large part of its gold out of the U.S. and Canada, says the gold is now being held at the Bank of
England, where it is more easily tradable. The Dutch Central Bank says the move makes it better prepared for any crisis. France has recently pulled
its gold from the U.S. as well.
Just ahead, eight days after catastrophic flooding in Nepal, some 5,000 people remain missing. We'll have an update from there when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[18:30:00]
SCIUTTO: Welcome back to "The Brief." I'm Jim Sciutto. And here are the international headlines we're watching today.
U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance says he would not call the conflict with Iran a war, but admits he doesn't know when it will end. He claims the U.S.
is the only country capable of ensuring control of the Strait of Hormuz. He declines to say whether the Trump administration is considering arming
Iranian dissidents.
The Trump administration has asked the Supreme Court to give the U.S. Postal Service the power to withhold deliberately a mail-in ballots. This
follows a long battle over President Trump's executive order for March, giving federal agencies a significant role in elections typically run by
states. The midterms are just two months away.
More than 1,200 people are now confirmed dead in Nepal more than a week from those devastating floods. More than 5,000 people remain missing, among
them hundreds of workers at various hydropower projects, some believe trapped in tunnels. Hanako Montgomery has more on the continuing rescue and
recovery efforts.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HANAKO MONTGOMERY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: More than a week on from the deadly flash floods, Nepal is still counting the number of those who died and
searching for thousands who remain missing. Authorities are desperately searching for survivors, particularly in hydropower tunnels where hundreds
remain unaccounted for, but it's unclear how many are still alive.
The rescue and recovery effort is being hampered by bad weather, destroyed roads and bridges, but also because the tunnels are filled with thick,
heavy mud from the floods. Prime Minister Balendra Shah says some of these operations can't safely continue until that mud has fully dried, and one
military officer has warned that that task could take months. That gives you a sense of the scale of what lies ahead.
And now, there's another growing concern that disasters of this magnitude could become more frequent due to climate change. Here's what the prime
minister had to say about this issue in parliament.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BALENDRA SHAH, NEPALI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): This is a serious signal that alongside climate change, the risks we must bear in the
Himalayan region are increasing. We must be aware of this, and the time has also come for us to present forcefully before the international community
the disasters we are suffering because of climate change.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MONTGOMERY: And new images continue to reveal the scale of the devastation. Drone footage shows the trail of destruction left by the
floods, and residents are digging mud out of their homes in some places, even as their entire village remains buried. And with bridges washed away,
rescue workers are building makeshift zip lines to reconnect communities cut off by the floods.
Thousands of families are also now mourning their lost loved ones. You can see here men shaving their heads as part of Hindu cremation rituals. And
for families who still haven't recovered a body, straw effigies are being burned, a symbolic farewell to loved ones they may never be able to bury.
Hanako Montgomery, CNN, Kathmandu, Nepal.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SCIUTTO: Returning now to our top story, the ongoing war with Iran. U.S. military officials say they expect to see more offensive strikes on Iran
near the Strait of Hormuz, though Tehran says it's been able to regroup quickly, and the U.S. vice president is saying there's not a war.
Joining me now is Danny Citrinowicz, senior researcher at Israel's Institute for National Security Studies. He's former head of the Iran
branch of Israel's Defense Intelligence. Danny, good to have you back.
DANNY CITRINOWICZ, SENIOR RESEARCHER, ISRAEL'S INSTITUTE FOR NATIONAL SECURITY STUDIES: Thank you very much for inviting me.
SCIUTTO: So, I'm going to ask you a very basic question. Is it a war still in Israel's view?
CITRINOWICZ: Well, in Israel's view, we are in sort of a limbo, meaning that definitely we're not returning back to the war that we had starting on
the 28th of February, but we are not in a truce or a ceasefire because the kinetics still continue.
But I think the real question is not that we are if we are or not, the real question is what is the meaning or what is the aim, what is the exit
strategy of the U.S. administration regarding this conflict? Because definitely one time, you know, the president's talking about everything
that's connected to sanction, and then U.S. attacking near Hormuz, and then returning back to maybe to a ceasefire or trying to topple this regime.
[18:35:00]
And until we won't know what the administration is trying to do, it will be very hard for us to understand until when this conflict will continue.
SCIUTTO: Yes. I mean, they certainly have not identified the end goal here. They do seem to have settled on a strategy that at least for now the
president is satisfied with, and that is this economic strangulation strategy, keeping up the blockade to eventually force Iran into something.
I just wonder, is there evidence that Iran is going to collapse or at least relent under that economic pressure?
CITRINOWICZ: Well, actually, no, and I think there is a big problem with this strategy. First, we have to remember that economical pressure, it's a
mean, it's not an end. The question is what the administration is trying to achieve. But if they think in Washington, in the White House, that Iran
will capitulate or eventually will have some sort of regime being toppled, then I think they got it all wrong.
Yes, I think we all need to admit, and we've seen the picture, the economic situation in Iran is tremendously bad. The blockade is working. But having
said that, it won't lead to Iranian capitulation. I think it will lead to Iranian escalation as we look. So, this is not a viable strategy to counter
Iran these days.
SCIUTTO: You and I have talked about this multiple times since the start of this war, and you've made quite clear that at least from Israel's
perspective, the war will not be won unless Iran's nuclear program is definitively ended. It isn't. And there's some new reporting that there's
been increased activity around the Pickaxe Mountain facility there.
If President Trump abandons that goal, does Israel take over? Is it going to live with an existing Iranian nuclear program?
CITRINOWICZ: You're touching a very important point, because the whole world, especially the U.S., they're focusing on the most traits that were
open before the war started, and they're neglecting the real purpose of this war, except toppling the regime that it failed. Of course, everything
that's connected to depriving the Iranian nuclear capabilities.
So, definitely, it will stay as it is, Israel will have to think what to do, because at the end of the day, Israel cannot live with a nuclear
threat. And by the way, I think this war actually put Iran even closer to Obama, because we killed Ali Khamenei, what was the blocker, in front of
the Iran system to cross the threshold. And even more than that, we have an extreme regime, controlled by the Abbasid, that have the capacity to return
back to enrichment and reach Obama.
So, I think the situation is highly complex. And if the U.S. will decide to end now, it will be more complex. Because there's not going to be any
solution to the nuclear side. I don't know what Israel will decide to do, but it will be very hard for Israel to continue while the threat is
actually building and not reducing.
SCIUTTO: President Trump has again talked about the Iranian people rising up to take down their government. I've been in touch with many in Iran who
paid an enormous price already for the awful crackdown in January. Does Israel believe that's a possibility? Do you? Does even the president
believe that's a possibility? Is there any evidence of that?
CITRINOWICZ: Well, Prime Minister Netanyahu is speaking about the need to topple the regime. But I think that you cannot build a strategy on some
sort of wishful thinking. And nobody can build on that. Nobody knows what the Iranian people will do. And by the way, I'm not sure that this war
actually expedited the process. Because at the end of the day, the regime, the Abbasids took over. They have no intention to leave anytime soon. If
people will go to the street today, they will be butchered, like the people were butchered on 8th and 9th of January.
So, I don't think, despite the economical situation, that we'll see revolution anytime soon. And even worse than that, what we have right now
is a regime that has no intention to capitulate. So, yes, we can speak about the need to topple the regime.
But at the end of the day, while you're pressuring them more, they will respond kinetically to what is happening right now. So, I don't think it's
a viable solution to hope that the sanctions will topple this regime. I think it's more or less a hopeless cause that won't lead us to the strategy
that we want to implement in the future.
So, I really think we need to return back to the drawing board, think about realistic solutions to the Iranian problem. Because relying on unrealistic
solutions, like hoping that the regime or the people will go to the streets and topple this regime, this is really, it's not going to help countering
Iran in the future.
SCIUTTO: Danny Citrinowicz, always welcome on the program. Thank you.
CITRINOWICZ: Thank you very much, Jim.
SCIUTTO: Well, from the flags you see planted, at first you may think it's Israeli territory. It is not. This is Southern Lebanon. CNN embeds with the
Lebanese army for a rare glimpse into that area occupied by Israeli forces.
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[18:40:00]
SCIUTTO: Individual homes to entire villages and towns all reduced to rubble and ruin in southern Lebanon. A CNN team embedded with the Lebanese
army obtained rare access to the Israeli-occupied part of southern Lebanon. Under a U.S. framework agreement, a ceasefire has been in effect since
June. But Lebanese officials say the near daily strikes continue. Our Jeremy Diamond shows us what he saw on the ground.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): From this coastal road to the rubble-strewn countryside, you'd be forgiven for
thinking this is Israeli territory, but it's not. This is a rare firsthand look at occupied Lebanon.
DIAMOND: We're currently driving through Israeli-occupied Southern Lebanon. In fact, we just passed an Israeli military checkpoint. We're in a
convoy of vehicles, dozens of families reaching their homes inside the Israeli zone of control, three Christian villages where many people are
still living, the only way in or out of this area for these families.
DIAMOND (voice-over): Israel invaded this area nearly six months ago, after Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed militant group that is based here,
fired rockets at Israel for the first time since 2024, retaliating for Israeli strikes on Iran.
DIAMOND: We're really close to the Israeli border now and this is all we're seeing piles of rubble one home after the other completely destroyed.
DIAMOND (voice-over): A ceasefire is technically in effect here, yet, Israel carries out near daily strikes. Most of this rubble was caused not
by airstrikes, but by bulldozers and controlled demolitions. Part of Israel's plan to raise every town and village in this area, with only a few
exceptions. A trio of Christian villages have been spared the fate of their Shia Muslim neighbors.
DIAMOND: The contrast really is quite striking. We're now inside one of those Christian villages. And as you can see, there is life here.
DIAMOND (voice-over): But below the surface, life is far from normal. The residents here are surrounded by the ruins of neighboring villages.
DIAMOND: So, where has vintage (ph) been?
DIAMOND (voice-over): And the sights and sounds of war. Even two-year-old Joe recognizes the sounds of jets overhead.
YORGOS MITRI, LIVING IN ISRAELI-OCCUPIED LEBANON (through translation): What's in the sky?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translation): Jets.
DIAMOND: Planes, jets.
DIAMOND (voice-over): Like many in this Christian village, Yorgos blames Hezbollah, which embedded in the surrounding Shia villages for bringing war
to his doorstep.
MITRI: It's from our side, sure. Can I blame our side?
DIAMOND: What do you mean by our side?
MITRI: Hezbollah and our government. We're living in peace. Nothing happening here. Why -- why we did all of this? And you can see the results.
DIAMOND: When you see their destroyed homes, what - what do you think? Do you -- do you feel like they deserve this? Do you feel like --
[18:45:00]
MITRI: No, no. Nobody deserve like this. Nobody. Sure, no. And we can't live alone. We need to live all -- altogether. And we need our government
to be here and to take responsibilities.
DIAMOND (voice-over): The Lebanese government says it's now trying to do just that, deploying the army to reclaim sovereignty over Southern Lebanon,
both Israel and Hezbollah. A task it's trying to accomplish without coming into conflict with either one.
COL. RAJA AMER, SOUTH LITANI SECTOR, LEBANESE ARMED FORCES: We need the world to see that we are working in a very dangerous situation and a very
harsh situation.
DIAMOND (voice-over): That danger comes into focus as soon as this soldier begins telling the story of the Israeli strike that killed his comrade.
DIAMOND: When you were first deployed to the south -- and that was some kind of Israeli strike close by.
This is at least the fourth Israeli artillery strike that we have heard in this area since we've been here. And we've only been here for about 20
minutes.
AMER: It's continuous. It's continuous and all the area of operation. As I told you, since the 27th of June framework agreement, we had to know more
than 5,000 attacks. This is the ceasefire from their side.
DIAMOND (voice-over): The Lebanese army says 34 of its soldiers have been killed so far this year. Some died in Israeli strikes. Others were killed
by unexploded ordnance.
As part of the ceasefire agreement with Israel, Lebanon is working to clear the south of weapons held by non-state actors like Hezbollah. This fiber
optic drone is just one example.
MAJ. ALI FARRAN, ENGINEERING REGIMENT, LEBANESE ARMED FORCES: We are finding munitions deployed by the Israeli enemy forces and we are finding
munitions dropped by armed group from Lebanon.
DIAMOND (voice-over): The scale of the challenge comes into view as we drive through the south, a bastion of Hezbollah support where the group's
flags and martyrs posters line the roads before arriving in the town of Zawtar al-Gharbiyah.
This is a pilot zone where the U.S.-backed framework agreement between Lebanon and Israel. Soldiers now patrol the town, man checkpoints at its
entrances, and monitor military activity from observation posts like this one.
DIAMOND: This is really quite striking. You have a Lebanese army observation post right here. And just a few hundred meters away on the
opposite hilltop, an Israeli military position.
DIAMOND (voice-over): The pilot zone means some families have been able to return to their homes or whatever is left of them.
MAHMOUD DARWISH, ZAWTAR AL-GHARBIYAH RESIDENT: This is from Israel, America.
DIAMOND (voice-over): And peace is impossible to imagine.
DARWISH (through translation): They killed us. They killed our people. They killed our loved ones. They killed our friends. They destroyed our
homes. How do they think they'll ever make peace with us? During five months, the five months of war, I was away from my home and my village. We
fled. We left the village.
I wished, during that period, just for 10, 15 minutes, to return to my home, to smell the land, because this is my land. My land loves me and I
love her. I won't leave her and she won't allow me to leave her.
DIAMOND (voice-over): Darwish barely flinches at the sound of a nearby airstrike.
DARWISH (through translation): We are here and we will remain here.
DIAMOND (voice-over): It is here, amid displays of defiance, that Lebanon is probing one potential path forward. Here, where Israeli airstrikes still
ring out, where Israeli tanks and Hezbollah flags can still be seen.
AMER: The ultimate objective, the final objective is clear. It's the Lebanese state authority inside the pilot zone strictly.
DIAMOND: But why is the Lebanese army not going and kicking indoors and confiscating weapons?
AMER: Doing things in violence against our own people, it will be also with other sequences.
DIAMOND: Lebanon is a country with a history of civil war. Is that one of the reasons why, you know, the Lebanese army is not being aggressive
against Hezbollah because you want to avoid another civil war?
AMER: I'm saying that we will do this slowly. We will do this in a reasonable way. Who will fight the children of this country? But in the
same time, we are not going to accept something illegal.
DIAMOND (voice-over): Jeremy Diamond, CNN, Southern Lebanon.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SCIUTTO: Still to come, she was a force of nature, the woman who broke barriers and blazed so many trails, leaving an indelible mark on the world,
has now passed away. The legacy of Gloria Steinem, just ahead.
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[18:50:00]
SCIUTTO: This just in, U.S. President Donald Trump announcing a change to his administration, writing on Truth Social that Adam Telle, the current
Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works, will become the acting Army Secretary. He will replace Secretary Dan Driscoll, close friend of the
vice president, who submitted his resignation recently, following tensions between him and Pentagon Chief Pete Hegseth. We'll continue to cover that
story and the ramifications.
Finally, tonight, tributes pouring in for the American civil rights activist, journalist, and feminist icon Gloria Steinem, who has died at the
age of 92. Steinem became the defining voice of the women's rights movement in the early 1960s, when she began advocating for gender equality in the
workplace, reproductive rights, and other progressive causes for women. She was honored for her work, which continued well into her '90s, and includes
the Presidential Medal of Freedom. More now on her life and legacy.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GLORIA STEINEM, CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVIST, JOURNALIST AND FEMINIST ICON: Any philosophy that tells us that there's only one way to live, has got to be
wrong for some people.
SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Like few in her generation, journalist and feminist leader Gloria Steinem helped shape the national
dialogue on some of the most contentious issues of our time.
STEINEM: The point is not what we choose, but that we have the right to make a choice.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Smith College, Steinem burst onto the national scene in 1963 with an expose of the working
conditions of Playboy bunnies. She applied for and got a job as a bunny at the New York Playboy Club to get the inside scoop. She revealed the long
hours and stingy salaries of women who worked in the clubs where rich men spent their leisure time.
CROWD: Equal pay for equal work, nobody got it around.
SIDNER (voice-over): Steinem became a tireless advocate of what came to be called the women's liberation movement. She was an eloquent and sometimes
poignant champion of women's issues, including equal rights and abortion.
STEINEM: I can assure you as a woman who has had one, that abortion is not a pleasurable experience. It is only a last resort. And if the anti-
abortion forces were not also anti-contraception and anti-sex education in the schools, we would have millions fewer abortions.
CHRIS WALLACE, JOURNALIST: You were the one who coined the phrase, reproductive freedom. Now how did that happen?
STEINEM: It was reproductive rights, reproductive freedom, but clearly the ability to control, to make decisions over our own physical selves is
fundamental to democracy. But because democracy did not in the beginning include female human beings, we didn't necessarily include reproductive
freedom.
SIDNER (voice-over): Her refusal to shy away from hot-button issues provoked a backlash.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I teach my children to hate just like me. Card cheats, poor sleeves, baby killers, and sodomites.
SIDNER (voice-over): In 1971, Steinem launched Ms. Magazine, the first national women's magazine run by women. The preview issue sold out, and
within five years, its circulation reached half a million. She hobnobbed with the rich and famous and received the red carpet treatment as a
celebrity in her own right. In September 2000, Steinem married David Bale, father of actor Christian Bale. They were together for less than four
years. Bale died of brain lymphoma at age 62.
Steinem, though, remained active as a mentor and educator. The 2011 HBO documentary, "Gloria: In Her Own Words," introduced Steinem to a new
generation of women.
[18:55:00]
And in 2013, President Barack Obama awarded her the nation's highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
BARACK OBAMA, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: Her one piece of advice to young girls is, I love this, do not listen to my advice. Listen to the voice
inside you and follow that.
SIDNER (voice-over): Steinem is a woman of many talents. Quote, "I'd be crazy if I didn't understand that this was a medal for the entire women's
movement."
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SCIUTTO: A trailblazer lost. Thanks so much for joining us today. I'm Jim Sciutto in New York. You've been watching "The Brief." Please do stay with
CNN.
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