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The Story Is with Elex Michaelson
Video Shows Explosion Near U.S. Embassy, Hotel in Baghdad; Trump Criticizes Allies for Refusing to Help in Strait of Hormuz; Hundreds of TSA Agents Quit as Airport Disruption Grow; U.S. and Israel Expand Their Attacks Inside Iran; Havana in Darkness as Massive Blackout Hits Cuba; Trump Claims a Former President Praised His Actions in Iran; Airline Execs Urge Congress to Restore DHS Funding; Chinese Mocking Trump with Videos, Memes Amid War with Iran; Trump: War with Iran Reason for Wanting to Delay China Visit. Aired 12-1a ET
Aired March 17, 2026 - 00:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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LAURA COATES, CNN ANCHOR: And can you just send our love to Libby and the kids.
SARAH ROSE HARRILL, SISTER-IN-LAW OF MAJOR JOHN "ALEX" KLINNER: Yes, absolutely. Thank you.
COATES: Thank you for sharing Alex's story.
Thank you all for watching. "THE STORY IS WITH ELEX MICHAELSON" is next.
ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.
ELEX MICHAELSON, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Elex Michaelson coming to you live from Los Angeles, where it's 9:00 p.m. Monday.
It is Tuesday morning in the Persian Gulf. And once again the top story is the war with Iran. President Trump is now lashing out at U.S. allies for rejecting his call to send warships and help to secure the Strait of Hormuz. The vital waterway has been effectively shut down by Iran since the U.S. and Israel launched the war more than two weeks ago. President Trump says some nations have agreed to help without naming what nations those are.
On Monday, his frustration was clear, though, with the countries who have rebuffed his demands.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We strongly encourage other nations whose economies depend on the strait far more than ours, so we want them to come and help us with the strait. I think we're going to have some good help, and I think we're going to be disappointed in some nations, too. You know, the prime minister of U.K., United Kingdom, yesterday told me, I'm meeting with my team to make a determination. I said you don't need to meet it with the team. You're the prime minister. You can make your own.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: Meantime, Israeli tanks could be seen inside Southern Lebanon as the IDF expands its ground operation there. Several western leaders have warned against a major offensive saying it could lead to devastating humanitarian consequences with the current humanitarian situation in Lebanon already deeply alarming.
Now, since Israel intensified its attacks on Hezbollah and the wider war with Iran, the Lebanese Disaster Risk Management Unit says more than one million people have been displaced internally.
We are also learning that about 200 U.S. troops have been injured in seven different countries during the ongoing military campaign against Iran. U.S. Central Command says the majority of those injuries have been minor. And in just the last few hours, we have this. Video from Iraq showing an explosion in the vicinity of the U.S. embassy in Baghdad. Iraqi officials say the embassy and a hotel were targeted by drones.
That's where we start off with CNN's Ivan Watson, who is live once again in Hong Kong.
Ivan, what more do we know about what's going on in Baghdad right now?
IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Right. Well, there have been these repeated drone attacks striking near the U.S. embassy in Baghdad, and there's some dramatic footage also of what looked like air defenses trying to shoot down some of these projectiles. At this point, no reports of injuries, but it's multiple times that there have been these drone attacks on, again, the U.S. embassy compound, this enormous installation in the center of Baghdad, in the Green Zone.
There was also a strike near Baghdad International Airport near an area that is used for diplomats as well. And the chief of the Iraqi Armed Forces has said there have been unjustified attacks on a number of installations, ranging from that U.S. embassy to oil fields as well. In Iraq, there are a number of pro-Iranian militias that are active, that have sworn to attack the U.S. and other allies, such as France. And in fact there was a French soldier killed in a strike in northern Iraq last week.
But also Iraq has long been this kind of proxy battleground. But it isn't the same country that it was 15 years ago when the U.S. had tens of thousands of troops on the ground. There's a U.S. embassy. There's some U.S. installations mostly in the north. But this is largely harassment fire right now. And it puts the Iraqi government in a difficult position. A neighbor of Iran, with these attacks going on within its territory.
I believe you can take a listen right now to something that Iran's top diplomat said about this war that has rapidly expanded since the U.S. and Israel first mounted their surprise bombing attack on Tehran a little bit more than two weeks ago. Take a listen. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ABBAS ARAGHCHI, IRANIAN FOREIGN MINISTER (through translator): Let me reiterate that Iran has not signaled or requested a ceasefire. This conflict must end on the condition that it will never be repeated. When we say we do not want a ceasefire, it is not because we seek to continue the war. It is because this time the war must end in a way that the enemies never think of repeating the attacks.
I believe they have learned a profound lesson and realized what kind of country they are facing, a country that will not hesitate to defend its own security and is prepared to continue the war at any cost.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
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WATSON: Iran has demonstrated that it lost its entire top leadership, its supreme leader, it is -- has lost complete air superiority over its own territory. U.S. and Israeli warplanes bomb at will and yet it is indicating that it's willing to take enormous punishment and to incur punishment on the U.S. and frankly, the global economy and the region with cheaper asymmetric warfare and I think that's what we're seeing in places like the U.S. embassy in Baghdad -- Elex.
MICHAELSON: Yes, Ivan. Meanwhile, what's going on right now in Lebanon?
WATSON: The war continues there. The Israeli government has announced that it expanded its ground operations already in the border area of southern Lebanon on Monday, also continuing its bombardment of south Beirut, of east parts of the country of the south as well, with some strong words coming from the Israeli defense minister, because, of course, Israel issued multiple of these, what it calls evacuation orders, where it tells the civilian population to leave large parts of Lebanon.
I think you can interpret that as basically declaring large parts of the country a kill zone, that the Israeli warplanes can bomb at will, and that's created this giant displaced population in Lebanon of more than a million people. The entire southern band of Lebanon south of the Litani River and north of that have been declared effectively kill zones right now. And the Israeli defense minister has said that hundreds of thousands of these Lebanese civilians, quote, "will not return to areas south of the Litani River until the safety of residents of northern Israel is assured."
And Hezbollah, that closely Iran allied militia that's active in Lebanon, continues to fire its rockets across the border. Israeli authorities say about 100 projectiles a day, sometimes more, and continue to wound Israeli civilians. Meanwhile, the Lebanese death toll continues to surge. More than 880 people killed, more than 100 children among those casualties of the Israeli strikes.
MICHAELSON: We will be talking more about that throughout the next two hours here. Ivan Watson in Hong Kong, thank you so much.
Meanwhile, President Trump says he will soon announce the countries that have agreed to help the U.S. reopen the Strait of Hormuz. But his comments come as key European leaders signal their reluctance to enter the conflict.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FRIEDRICH MERZ, GERMAN CHANCELLOR (through translator): Like the United States and Israel, we want to see an end to Iran's nuclear and missile programs, but we will not take part in this war. We have said this from day one. That remains the position of the federal government. This also means that as long as the war continues, we will not participate in ensuring freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz by military means.
KEIR STARMER, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: We will not be drawn into the wider war. We cannot allow the war in the Gulf to turn into a windfall for Putin.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: Over the weekend, President Trump warned that NATO faces a very bad future if the alliance does not assist the U.S. in helping to reopen the vital waterway. This despite his previous stance that the U.S. doesn't need allies who, quote, "join the war after we've already won." On Monday, the president blasted the alliance for not backing U.S. Naval forces in the region.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: We defend all these countries. And then do you have any Minesweepers? And they say, well, would it be possible for us not to get involved? I've been saying it for a long time. This is the greatest thing to come out of this. We spend trillions and trillions of dollars on NATO to defend other countries. And I always said, but if it ever comes time to defend us, they're not going to be there. Many of them would not be there and we're going to have to start thinking more wisely in this country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: Joining me now for more on this is CNN military analyst and retired U.S. Air Force Colonel Cedric Leighton.
Welcome back to THE STORY IS. What could NATO actually do to help the U.S. that it's not doing right now?
COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Well, one of the things it could do, Elex, is, as President Trump said, to bring in some of their vessels, including Minesweepers, that could potentially be useful in clearing operations in the Strait of Hormuz or in the rest of the Persian Gulf. So that's one thing they could do. They could also provide intelligence support. They could provide other logistical support, communication support. So there are a lot of things that NATO allies could do if they choose to do it and their parliaments approved it.
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MICHAELSON: Why aren't they doing it?
LEIGHTON: Well, the reason they're not doing it is because they're looking at this war basically through the lens of wars that have happened in the past and the support they've given to the U.S. in the past. First of all, they -- the NATO allies look at this as not being a NATO war. So that's one thing. So they see it as outside of the NATO alliance, but they're still allied with the United States. But the other problem that they have is that they were not consulted about this war. There was no U.N. resolution that says this war is, you know, in essence, justified under international law.
And so because it's a preemptive attack that was conducted by both the United States and Israel, they're looking at it as, in essence, a war of choice. And since it's a war of choice that doesn't have a precipitating cause that's at least publicly known. That becomes the issue that they're dealing with and they find it very difficult to, in essence, square that circle.
MICHAELSON: So we've been talking a lot about the Strait of Hormuz. We just had that graphic up on the screen showing where it is. For the average person they don't really care about the concept of Strait of Hormuz. What they care about is every time they go to fill up their gas pump, their gas prices are a lot more expensive because of the Strait of Hormuz. So that's where 20 percent of the world's oil goes through that little strait that Iran has so much to do with.
LEIGHTON: Yes, that's right and --
MICHAELSON: What is the danger to the ships right now that are choosing not to go through there? What would need to happen militarily to get that strait moving again and to get everybody's gas prices down?
LEIGHTON: So basically the Strait of Hormuz would have to be secured, and what does that really mean in order to get those gas prices down? They would have to be a way to make sure that the Iranians don't put mines in the water and that they don't lob missiles at those ships. So they can do the missile launching piece from, both from the sea as well as from land. So this actually presents several problems from a military standpoint because if you go into a maritime actions, you would need a naval force that can actually handle those kinds of operations and can basically confront the Iranians.
The Iranians, you know, most of their Navy has been sunk, but that's the Navy that we see basically on the surface. What else is part of their maritime force are speedboats. Very agile speedboats. They also have dinghies. They have dhows, which are the Arab basically fishing boat. That kind of thing is really an asymmetric advantage that the Iranians have. So even though a vast majority of the standard Iranian Navy is at the bottom of the sea, the problem is that they have other means of delivering mines so that's one problem. The other problem is with the -- with launching missiles from land is
you'd have to occupy the land or at least make it impossible to launch missiles from that. So that could potentially be done from the air, or of course it could necessitate ground troops, depending on the exact nature of the threat. So that's the kind of thing that would have to happen. And we're a long way off from securing that part of the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz.
MICHAELSON: Right. So there's no question that Iran has been badly hurt in terms of their military capabilities from all of this. But there is also no question that they have not been completely obliterated because if they were completely obliterated, the Strait of Hormuz would be open.
LEIGHTON: Yes, that's right.
MICHAELSON: And Hezbollah, which is funded by Iran, it's been a proxy for Iran, wouldn't still be active right now. So it's clear that Iran has been battered, but they're not completely buried just yet, at least that seems to be the case.
LEIGHTON: That's right.
MICHAELSON: Retired U.S. Air Force Colonel Cedric Leighton, thank you again for the analysis and insight. Literally from the minute that this thing started until now. We appreciate you always.
We are just over a month into the partial government shutdown here in the U.S. and TSA agents have now missed their first full paycheck. The agency says hundreds of workers have quit in the last few weeks. It's starting to show at the nation's airports especially in the southern part of the U.S. Security lines stretching for more than two hours. Bad weather making matters worse, leaving many travelers frustrated.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SCARLETT KELCH, TRAVELER: When we first got here, the line was wrapped around. We had to wait like an hour to even check our bags, and it was like a two minute process. I could like punch through a wall right now. I'm like just over it.
VICTORIA KILGORE, TRAVELER: We were supposed to go to Punta Cana in, what, two hours? And so there's no flights out.
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And when you try to rebook, no flights go out for another 24, 36 hours at best, for at minimum $300 to $400 just one way. And I have a family of four.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: CNN's Ryan Young has more from Atlanta.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) RYAN YOUNG, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, the situation at the airport at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport is one of frustration and timing. If you were here early this morning, what you saw here at the main checkpoint was a two-hour wait. As the day went on, though, it got better as more TSA agents started to flow in. But the real story here was all the people who were missing their flights, not only because of the backlog of security, it's also because of all the bad weather that was in the area.
As we look this direction, the story really started to unfold when there was actually a food drive for TSA agents. People brought food so the TSA agents could feed their families. A lot of them were talking about how painful this has been, and they hope this government shutdown end sometime soon.
But I want you to see this as we come back from this video. You can see the lines that are not open here at the busiest airport in the world because they don't have enough TSA agents to staff it. So that is the real concern over the next 24 hours.
Will we see another spike as this is happening all across the country? Let's not forget the bad weather that's sitting out there, that's also having an impact on air travel across this country.
Ryan Young, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MICHAELSON: Thank you, Ryan. And how sad is it that we have to have a food drive for our own TSA agents? Think about that. While they are working a food drive because they're not getting paid.
Still ahead, THE STORY IS in Cuba where millions are in the dark right now after the collapse of the island's power grid. How a new threat from President Trump could complicate efforts to get those lights back on.
And a massive storm system so powerful it's even sending donkeys running for cover. Ryan talked about that storm system a little bit. We'll show you some of this video when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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MICHAELSON: A train from Tehran to Turkey is becoming a lifeline for Iranians fleeing the conflict there. Dozens of passengers arriving at the border describe the chaos in the capital as Israeli and U.S. strikes keep pounding Iran. Some say they plan to return and defend their country. Others say they're hoping the regime falls.
One passenger described the situation on the ground this way.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MOHAMMED HOSAIN, IRANIAN CITIZEN: The situation in Tehran, Tehran, you know, it's war. Missiles are coming. Bombs are coming from anywhere. You see, you know, you're walking and, you know, some bombs maybe come.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: Now Iran has not updated its official death toll from U.S. and Israeli strikes in over a week. But a U.S. based human rights group reports more than 1300 civilians and 1100 military personnel have been killed.
Want to take a live look right now from Beirut, where it is just after 6:00 in the morning as we take this image full, the country's health ministry says close to 900 people have been killed there since Israeli attacks began on March 2nd, although CNN cannot independently verify those figures.
More now on that situation from CNN's Jeremy Diamond in Tel Aviv.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Certainly Israel and the United States have been pummeling Iran with airstrikes in recent days. In fact, they're expanding their strikes because of the fact that they've destroyed so much of Iran's air defenses. And here in Israel, we're continuing to watch one wave after the next of ballistic missiles being fired at Israel. Just moments ago, air raid sirens sounding in northern Israel warning of yet another incoming Iranian ballistic missile.
We saw earlier today not only barrages of Iranian ballistic missiles, some of which were outfitted with cluster munitions that made impact and caused damage across the country, but also Hezbollah rocket in northern Israel that struck near the town of Nahariya in that part of the country, injuring several individuals.
But meanwhile, today what we've seen is an expansion of Israel's ground operation in southern Lebanon, sending troops into several more of those villages along the border where the Israeli military is aiming to, they say, destroy Hezbollah infrastructure to try and make the situation more stable for northern Israeli residents living along that border.
It is another step by Israel to go deeper into southern Lebanon, but certainly not the kind of all-out ground operation that we know the Israeli military is preparing for, in which the Israeli prime minister is currently considering, and which tonight we're hearing multiple European countries urging Israel not to take that step. Instead we know that there are discussions about the potential for the direct diplomacy between Israel and Lebanon.
So far, none of that is really gaining traction. But in the meantime, we are seeing the continuation of Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon, including in the Lebanese capital. All of that now resulting in a huge toll in Lebanon. More than 800 people killed, of which at least 100 are believed to be children, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry, and the Israeli defense minister today, saying that hundreds of thousands of people in southern Lebanon who have been displaced, they won't be allowed to return to their homes, he says, until the residents of northern Israel can be safe from the threat of Hezbollah.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MICHAELSON: Jeremy Diamond, thank you for that in Israel.
Now we go to Cuba, where President Trump has once again set his sights, threatening to take over the island as it deals with a crippling nationwide blackout.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I do believe I'll be the honor of -- having the honor of taking Cuba. That'd be good. That's a big honor.
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UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Taking Cuba.
TRUMP: Taking Cuba in some form, yes. Taking Cuba. I mean, whether I free it, take it. I think I could do anything I want with it. You want to know the truth? A very, weakened nation right now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: Millions of people across Cuba are in the dark, as we've talked about after the island's power system suffered a total collapse. It is the first blackout since the U.S. effectively shut off the flow of oil to Cuba.
CNN's Patrick Oppmann is on the island.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Cuba is once again in an island- wide blackout something that has happened frequently enough over the years. This time feels different because it is the first time since an oil embargo put in place by the Trump administration has led or contributed to this kind of island wide blackout, affecting 10 million people. At the moment, the Cuban government says they are working to restore power.
The question is, can they? Because, according to their own admission, no oil has come in for three months now. We have seen longer and longer blackouts as this crisis has developed. You know, where I live, sometimes it gets up to 20 hours in the last several days. We've seen people going out at night to protest, banging pots and pans in one small town in the east of Cuba. People actually attacked the Communist Party headquarters over the weekend. Tried to burn down the headquarters before police came in and firing shots in the air broke up that protest.
But people are on edge here. People are wondering if the government can hold on. Certainly the Trump administration has said that they believe that the government here is in its final hours and that they should make a deal with the U.S. to allow some of that flow of oil. But Trump administration is calling on the government here to make major concessions. No sign that that would take place and whether or not they could do it in time.
Patrick Oppmann, CNN, Havana.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MICHAELSON: Patrick Oppmann, able to file that report while we still had power earlier.
Now, a look at this. A massive storm system sweeping across the eastern part of the U.S. has caused severe thunderstorms, blizzard conditions, even tornadoes. Hundreds of thousands of customers across several states lost power. Thousands of flights canceled or delayed. This multi-day storm has pushed winds up to 80 miles an hour in spots across the Gulf Coast, all the way up to the Great Lakes. It's expected to move offshore overnight.
In the south, multiple twisters were reported. One in Arkansas demolishing buildings and parts of a home. And take a look at this. Massive winds lifted -- look at that -- parts of a barn in southern Missouri sending donkeys running for cover. Farmers say none of the animals was injured.
Another storm is bringing a rare winter wonderland in the southern U.S. A sudden plunge in temperatures caused snow to fall in Alabama. Severe weather caused school closures on Monday. A freeze warning has been issued in northern Alabama until late Tuesday morning.
By the way, here in Southern California, it's really, really hot as all the rest of the country has that severe weather.
Donald Trump says a former president is praising his actions in the war with Iran, but he won't say who. Our panel, maybe they know who. They can discuss that and more. Lots of political headlines. Alicia Krause, Will Rollins, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You said twice today that you talked to another former president --
[00:33:23]
DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- about the Iran strikes?
TRUMP: I did.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Was it George W. Bush?
TRUMP: No. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Was it Bill Clinton?
TRUMP: I don't want to say. That person said, I wish I did it. OK? But I don't want to get into who.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.
TRUMP: I don't want to get him into trouble. Maybe -- hey --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have a guess.
TRUMP: You know what? I think you probably know.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ELEX MICHAELSON, CNN ANCHOR: OK, so there's only four living presidents, so CNN reached out to all of them. None of them say they've talked with President Trump about Iran.
In fact, aides to former presidents George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and Joe Biden say there's no record of any communication with President Trump at all about anything since his inauguration day.
Joining me to discuss this and more is Elisha Krauss, conservative commentator and op-ed writer for "The Washington Examiner"; Will Rollins, former federal prosecutor and Democratic candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives. Former candidate. Not -- not running now.
Good to have you both back here.
OK, Elisha. So, it is impossible that everybody's telling the truth here.
ELISHA KRAUSS, OP-ED WRITER, "THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER": Uh-huh.
MICHAELSON: Either these former presidents are lying about their conversation with President Trump, where they told him, you're doing a great job, or President Trump just made this entire thing up out of the blue and just lied about it with a straight face. What do you think's more likely?
KRAUSS: Is it, like, "both and"? I mean, my first thought was that maybe he did talk to George W. Bush, but he got so much heat for having former secretary of state Condoleezza Rice at the White House after we were a part of the military operation in Iran, that he was like, oh, don't want to put my hands on that.
But I don't know. I think the most likely one to have had a conversation with Trump, because he's kind of a good old boy, but then lie about it and be like, it wasn't me, is Bill Clinton.
[00:35:08]
Because I think that maybe he does wish he had done something. And I think that he would take President Trump's call. But I don't know. The president also, unfortunately, as a fan of his
who has voted for him, he likes to elaborate a little bit. He and my six-year-old have that in common.
MICHAELSON: Elaborate?
KRAUSS: Yes.
MICHAELSON: Is that the right word?
KRAUSS: You know.
MICHAELSON: Exaggerate, maybe?
KRAUSS: Exaggerate, pontificate.
WILL ROLLINS (D), FORMER CANDIDATE FOR HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES: I think he was talking about Bill Pullman from "Independence Day." I'm pretty sure.
KRAUSS: Who is alive.
MICHAELSON: Well, I was -- yes. I was thinking that maybe, you know, because he is the 45th president and the 47th president.
KRAUSS: He talked to himself.
MICHAELSON: So, the for -- the former president, maybe it was him.
KRAUSS: Or I --
MICHAELSON: The 45th president said that was a good idea. I should have done it when I was in there.
ROLLINS: He's having trouble finding people who believe this war is a good idea. I think that's part of the problem.
KRAUSS: Maybe it was a former vice president.
MICHAELSON: Yes.
KRAUSS: Who wanted to be president.
MICHAELSON: Who's that?
KRAUSS: I don't know.
MICHAELSON: Mike Pence?
KRAUSS: Mike Pence? I don't know.
MICHAELSON: yes. But Mike Pence says it's a good idea, by the way. But sort of it gets to the bigger point of Donald Trump, throughout his life, has been very good at creating his own reality, right?
KRAUSS: I mean, he created a source for the media at one point. MICHAELSON: Yes, yes.
KRAUSS: Like, we cannot forget that.
MICHAELSON: Yes. But when it comes to gas prices, that is something people see. And that's a number that they know. And you can't really lie to somebody about that.
I mean, is that real -- really politically problematic for him? Or do you think Americans just say, yes, it's worth the price of -- price of admission?
KRAUSS: Well, I think unfortunately now, because we've seen some pollings [SIC] that show that the Iran war is, like, not that popular with Americans.
And then, if Democrats, like this guy over here, can use that as fodder against the Trump administration -- administration and other Republicans, it could be problematic, long-term.
But I think that we also need to remind people. I love how the left is actually making the argument that I've been making for 20-plus years of the drill, baby, drill. Let's have more natural resources and oil reserves that are created here in the United States.
MICHAELSON: Who on the left is making that argument?
KRAUSS: No, they've been saying -- the environmentalists and leftists that have said that we shouldn't -- that we should be moving to all electronic and solar and wind power for the last 20-plus years. And really, the EPA regulations that have been pushing us in that direction.
This is a perfect example of how the United States of America is big enough and powerful enough that we should not be, like, relying on really evil nations like Iran and Russia for our oil.
In addition to that I will remind people that at the beginning of the Ukraine war, within the first, I think it was three months, gas prices went up 42 percent.
Now, we are in the first month of what's happening now. Gas prices on average have gone up 21 percent.
So, it's not nearly as much as a bipartisan backing of the war in Ukraine. Unfortunately, we are in a day and age where, when war happens, gas prices go up.
MICHAELSON: Well, especially when you deal with those particular countries. Yes.
ROLLINS: I think the problem for him, actually, is with his own base, because I've got buddies who voted for him, too, and they're worried about costs.
And the No. 1 issue for him in 2024 was affordability. And it was his perception as a businessman who was going to help improve the economy and lower costs for Americans.
And they don't understand this particular war. And we talked last time about how we, I think, all agree that it's a good thing the ayatollah is gone. But that explanation for the American people still is not clear and when you have a fifth of the world's oil supply moving through the strait of Hormuz and gas prices going through the roof, people are getting pissed off.
MICHAELSON: Yes. I mean, do you think it's a problem? Because we have heard some loud voices on the right, people like Megyn Kelly, Tucker Carlson, Steve Bannon, Marjorie Taylor Greene.
KRAUSS: You mean the crazies that most of us don't want on the right anymore?
MICHAELSON: Well, that's the --
KRAUSS: On the right.
MICHAELSON: That's the question. I mean, where is the debate? Because if you actually look at the polling --
KRAUSS: Yes.
MICHAELSON: -- most of the base is actually with Donald Trump.
KRAUSS: Yes. Most of the Republican --
MICHAELSON: And these other folks are very loud.
KRAUSS: Yes.
MICHAELSON: So, people on the left think they represent maybe the right.
KRAUSS: I would honestly, in defense of the hard, crazy woke people on the far left, I would say that the -- the woke right is very similar, in that they are the loud ones that get a lot of attention, but they are not the majority.
And I think that I would tell the president, secretary of state Rubio and Republicans, like take a chill pill take a breather. And do not rely on the word or the pontifications and grifting of these people, because it is not what the base wants. And it's not clearly what's not best for the American people.
MICHAELSON: So. you think it's a good idea?
KRAUSS: What?
MICHAELSON: What's happening in Iran right now?
KRAUSS: Absolutely. I -- I think that liberating and, hopefully, allowing the Iranian people to free themselves of a regime that has been tormenting them for decades, for longer than I have been alive, is a great thing. And I love to see the aspect of freedom and democracy that is
spreading, not just there in the Middle East but all over the world right now.
MICHAELSON: Do you think it's a good thing?
ROLLINS: Huge gamble. I think it remains to be seen. And I think there wasn't a debate, like we talked about last time.
And I think both of these things can be true. It is good to have the leading global sponsor of state terrorism, that regime to be displaced. The problem is it hasn't fully been displaced.
The sun is now in power. He's even more aggressive about obtaining a nuclear weapon than the prior ayatollah was. Which means what are you going to do with the 400 kilograms of enriched uranium that's on the ground in Iran?
[00:40:08]
MICHAELSON: Yes.
ROLLINS: And I think the American people still did not have an opportunity to see how their resources, their blood, the soldiers who have been killed in Iran, protecting the world and protecting us.
MICHAELSON: Right.
ROLLINS: What -- what were those deaths for? And did we have an opportunity as a country to make this decision together?
MICHAELSON: Right. And the son just saw his -- his father, his wife, his own kid get killed in all this. Usually that doesn't moderate somebody.
ROLLINS: Right.
MICHAELSON: That makes them more extreme to try to get back at whoever just did that to their family. We'll see what happens on that front.
Meanwhile, you know, Republicans may have to deal with the political consequences of the Iran war. Democrats may have to deal with the political consequences of this DHS shutdown, because the reality is ICE is funded. And they are keeping everything else closed, because they want to make a point about ICE.
Now, they say, we'll fund everything else except for ICE. Republicans aren't taking us up on that, which is true.
But is there some real danger in keeping this thing going, and seeing those long lines at TSA, and people just saying, all right, enough?
ROLLINS: Yes, 100 percent. They've got to move off this. They made their point.
He overreached in Minnesota. They should move on, though, now, especially when we potentially have internal threats from operators of Iran in the United States. They need to make sure that Homeland Security gets funded.
And I think they made the right move by objecting to incredible overreach by this administration in Minneapolis. And people saw what happened to American citizens on the streets, who were violated with their constitutional rights being taken away like that and killed, right? I think they made the right choice to stand up.
But now, the political winds have shifted. They have to be savvy enough to move off this and focus on an unpopular war and rising costs, which is what most Americans care about.
MICHAELSON: But how do Democrats do that and not look like they've just given up and given in?
KRAUSS: I don't know if I can give Democrats any advice right now, but I can give the GOP advice. If they -- if they, when they're hit with, oh, rising gas costs, be like, OK, well, it's spring break right now in the country. And you and your family had to wake up a couple hours earlier.
Or because of the increase of inflation that occurred in the previous administration and the fact that the Democrats complain about affordability but are not tangibly doing anything to help you afford things or increase the, like, positive growth of our nation's economy.
They could go down a list of things and be, like, who's helped make things more affordable? Who's created more economic growth?
MICHAELSON: Yes.
KRAUSS: Who's going to let you go on spring break with your kids? It's the GOP.
MICHAELSON: Well, of course, the Democrats would say this war in Iran has not made your life more affordable either. But that's a -- that's a whole other. We keep going. But at some point, we've got to --
KRAUSS: Let's go; let's go.
MICHAELSON: Elisha, Will, thank you both. Great to see you, as always.
President Trump and China's Xi Jinping are seemingly in a standoff over the war with Iran. And now Beijing's heavy-handed censors are allowing some shockingly critical videos about Trump to go viral. We'll go live to Beijing, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[00:47:46]
MICHAELSON: President Trump has been seeking to have China help to reopen the strait of Hormuz and to fix the global oil crisis. But so far, Beijing is not playing along. Now, President Trump says he may postpone his upcoming meeting with
Chinese leader Xi Jinping by a month or so. That possible delay comes as the Chinese have been openly mocking Trump over the war with Iran.
CNN's Will Ripley explains.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have no issue with civilians.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why did you attack the Minab school?
WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This A.I. video from Iran's embassy in China is going viral.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Lie, lie, lie. Lie!
RIPLEY (voice-over): Beijing's heavy-handed government censors are allowing videos like this to spread, magnifying the narrative that President Donald Trump is evil and dishonest.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We didn't hit the Minab school. America doesn't have Tomahawk missiles at all.
RIPLEY (voice-over): A preliminary U.S. military investigation found the strike was likely American. China is seizing on the moment, condemning the war, claiming the moral high ground.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let me keep everyone safe.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sounds great.
RIPLEY (voice-over): This state media video shows the U.S.. putting other countries in a cage.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Relax. Sometimes security comes with a little control.
RIPLEY (voice-over): As the war escalates, so does the trolling. President Trump's White House prayer circle with religious leaders flooding Chinese social media.
Censors are allowing a tidal wave of viral videos and memes mocking that moment in the Oval Office.
The caption on this political cartoon reads: "A Nobel Peace Prize winner who devours kids."
Other cartoons in Chinese state media ridicule the rising price of oil. They say President Trump is adding fuel to the fire in the Strait of Hormuz by asking countries, including China, to send warships.
Chinese state media is reporting Trump's threat to postpone his meeting with President Xi Jinping later this month.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE) RIPLEY (voice-over): China's Foreign Ministry is urging all sides to de-escalate, saying Beijing and Washington remain in communication about Trump's visit to China.
[00:50:01]
An opinion piece in Communist Party mouthpiece "Global Times" says, "Washington is asking who will send warships. Beijing is asking how to stop the war."
Users are flooding state media with comments like these: "Seems like Trump knows he won't be able to come to China, so he's lining up an excuse for an off-ramp."
"Let me translate that: 'I'm out of options. Somebody help!"
"The U.S. originally wanted to use Venezuela and Iran, two major oil- producing countries, as bargaining chips for a deal. Now, the U.S. crippled their own strength."
All of those anti-U.S. comments, too many to count, spreading freely across China.
RIPLEY: As China calls for calm in the Iran war, Beijing is still flexing its military muscle near Taiwan. Twenty-six Chinese warplanes flew around this island over the weekend, ending a nearly two-week lull. The flights followed a speech by Taiwan's president defending sovereignty.
Activity dropped again on Monday. Some analysts think Beijing may be avoiding a bigger escalation before that possible Xi-Trump meeting, if and when it happens.
Will Ripley, CNN, Taipei.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
RIPLEY (voice-over): Will, thanks.
RIPLEY (voice-over): So, let's talk more about that. On Monday in the Oval Office, President Trump tried to explain why he may delay his trip to Beijing. Here's what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: We're speaking to China. I'd love to, but because of the war, I want to be here. I have to be here, I feel.
And so, we've requested that we delay it a month or so, and I'm looking forward to being with them. We have a very good relationship.
But because of the war.
There's no tricks to it either. It's just -- it's not, like, oh gee, I'm waiting. It's very simple. We've got a war going on. I think it's important that I be here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RIPLEY (voice-over): CNN's Mike Valerio joins us live from Beijing.
Mike, what more are you learning about this meeting?
MIKE VALERIO, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I think that we should impart to everybody who's watching back home and around the world, Elex, that there's relief -- it's really palpable here on the Chinese side -- that this meeting is not happening.
And it's a relief, because both sides felt as though they needed a little bit more time. When we're in this very volatile economic situation, especially the Chinese side was telegraphing and communicating to state media commentators and to political observers that they needed -- they needed to be longer to solidify the deliverables of this high-stakes summit that was originally set for the 31st of this month into April 2nd.
So, we had talks in Paris between both China and the United States that seemed to deliver positive signs.
But when you think about everything that's at stake when oil prices are going higher and higher, of course, far away from the $120 barrel for Brent that we saw a couple of days ago, but still pretty elevated. They want to come back with some deliverables, like we're going to do this; X, Y, Z with tariffs. We have this agreement with perhaps Boeing.
What are we going to do about chips, about selling soybeans back to American farmers, not just having the Chinese government buying soybeans from Americans?
So, I think that, certainly, there is a big sigh that is being felt but this is delayed, not denied this meeting. It's going to happen. It's just a question of when because the stakes with China and the United States are far above any economic relationship that China has with Iran.
RIPLEY (voice-over): Yes. And we just saw in in wills piece some of the Chinese sensors at work. And allowing for this, you know disparaging comments about President Trump.
Can you give us some insight into how the Chinese censors work on everything, including this broadcast that's on right now?
VALERIO: Well, yes, I mean, so we're being watched right now. So, if we say anything that they deem problematic, they will put color bars up and say, Please stand by.
I'm able to see it in the bottom left-hand corner of my eye if were being censored but on the internet I think what people should know is that China's sensors are debate and discourse that, of course doesn't work in their favor.
So, there's a phrase in Chinese or kind of a moniker that people in China regard President Trump as a nation builder, because this is another area where so many people in China perceive as though President Trump is helping their interests. And were being censored right now, just so you know, color bars are up so you never know sometimes.
MICHAELSON: Oh, God.
VALERIO: Yes, yes. I'm not sure if we can put it on the screen --
MICHAELSON: That is --
VALERIO: -- but I see in the bottom left, no signal. Please stand by. Yes, yes.
MICHAELSON: So -- so I just asked a question about --
VALERIO: So anyway.
MICHAELSON: -- how does Chinese censors work, and it literally -- the Chinese people that were monitoring that decided we do not want people to hear that.
VALERIO: Yes.
MICHAELSON: And they started to censor that discussion at the -- at the. Wow. That's amazing.
[00:55:00]
VALERIO: Yes. Sometimes -- sometimes it happens. Yes, there you go.
MICHAELSON: All right, Mike.
So, for everybody that watched the conversation or was able to watch the whole thing, it was very insightful and very interesting. Sorry to get you knocked off the air there.
But Mike Valerio, thank you for all your reporting in Beijing.
VALERIO: That's OK. No problem.
MICHAELSON: We'll check in with you more next hour.
Still ahead here on THE STORY IS, more on the expanded Israeli ground operation in Southern Lebanon. I'll speak with an expert in Beirut on its effects across the region. You can see that interview next hour. We're back right after a short break.
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