Return to Transcripts main page
CNN News Central
Trump Says "Consequences Will Be Fire" For Iran If Houthis Retaliate; Dominican Republic Confiscates Passport of Johua Riibe, who Last Saw Missing University Of Pittsburgh Student. Aired 2:30-3p ET
Aired March 17, 2025 - 14:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[14:34:21]
BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: President Trump is now promising dire consequences for Iran, insisting he will hold the regime responsible for any future attacks by Houthi rebels in Yemen.
Over the weekend, the U.S. unleashed a punishing assault on Houthi targets. The rebels, though, retaliated, firing missiles and drones at the "USS Harry Truman" in the Red Sea.
A Houthi military spokesman said today that his group will respond to escalation by escalation. The White House says that no actions are off limits.
CNN's Paula Hancocks is monitoring developments for us from Abu Dhabi.
Paula, what message is the U.S. trying to send Iran here?
[14:35:02]
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Boris, today, we saw an even clearer message from the Trump administration that if the Houthis retaliate, then it will be Iran that the Trump administration will hold responsible.
The U.S. president, posting on Truth Social, said that, "Every shot fired by the Houthis will be looked upon as a shot fired by the weapons and the leadership of Iran."
Now the administration, just like the Biden administration before it, does, consider the Houthis to be part of this so-called Axis of Resistance. So funded, equipped, trained by Iran. And they are putting the blame firmly at their door.
Now, we heard from the national security advisor, Michael Waltz, over the weekend as well. On Sunday, he said that they believed in this strike that they had killed a number, multiple, he said, Houthi leaders in these strikes.
And he as well hammered home the point that Iran is to blame. Let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL WALTZ, NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR: All options are always on the table with the president. But Iran needs to hear him loud and clear. It is completely unacceptable and it will be stopped the level of support that they've been providing the Houthis.
President Trump is coming in --
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: So -- so --
WALTZ: -- with overwhelming force. We will take -- we will hold not only the Houthis accountable, but we're going to hold Iran, their backers, accountable as well.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANCOCKS: Now, the U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio also said that this mission was a favor to the world, saying that it would stop the control that the Houthis have over the key shipping lanes in the Red Sea, in this part of the world.
Now, we have also had indications from multiple officials that this is not a one off. We have heard that there will be further strikes in the days and the weeks to come.
We know that more than 50 we're killed over the weekend. Almost 100 were injured.
And we're hearing from a senior military official that they are looking at broader strikes as well. They're suggesting this is going to be a more sustained effort to try and prevent the Houthis from continuing to be able to strike container ships and other ships in the Red Sea.
By saying that they have already done the collection of the intelligence needed to know exactly what to strike -- Boris?
SANCHEZ: Paula Hancocks, thank you so much for the update this afternoon.
This afternoon, a memorial in northern Macedonia is growing after a fire ripped through a popular nightclub, killing at least 59 people. Some dramatic video shows the moment the flames spread rapidly early yesterday morning.
Officials say some 500 people we're inside for a concert at the time when sparks from pyrotechnics on stage started flying. An investigation is now underway as devastated families are demanding answers.
So far, 20 people have been arrested, including members of the band that was performing. And there are reports the nightclubs license may have been issued illegally.
This disaster is now one of the deadliest nightclub fliers -- nightclub fires in the last decade. Still to come, we have an update for you on the search for a
University of Pittsburgh student who vanished in the Dominion Republic. Officials have now confiscated the passport of the man, believed to be the last person seen with the victim.
We'll be right back. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[14:42:49]
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: New details in the investigation of University of Pittsburgh student, Sudiksha Konanki, who vanished while on spring break in the Dominion Republic.
A source close to the investigation is telling CNN Dominion authorities have now confiscated the passport of Joshua Riibe, the man who was seen on surveillance video walking with Konanki to the beach.
This is coming as newly released photos show Konanki's flip flops and sarong-style cover up found in a lounge chair on the beach.
Let's bring in CNN's chief law enforcement and intelligence analyst, John Miller.
John, do we know why Dominion officials decided to confiscate his passport?
JOHN MILLER, CNN CHIEF LAW ENFORCEMENT & INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: This was something that was done very early on in the investigation. It's not something that just happened.
Which is, you know, after they met him, they got his passport to establish his identity and to figure out when he came into the country, when he was scheduled to leave the country.
But they hung on to it as a way of being able to have that certain amount of leverage over him. They we're trying to determine, is he a suspect? Is he a person of interest? Is he just a witness where we need to make sure that we have access to him to get information?
And by taking his passport and holding it and assigning a couple of detectives to be with him while he stayed over past his departure date was just a way of saying, well, he's not in custody and he's not charged and he's not under arrest and he's not a suspect. But it gave them a way to maintain access to him.
KEILAR: And what's the significance of Sudiksha Konanki's personal items being found there on the beach?
MILLER: Well, it's a clue, but it's a clue that tells us something we already know, which is, if she was OK, she would have come back for that stuff that night.
Or, as Josh Riibe told investigators he did, he came back for his stuff the next day. Which raises a question, why didn't he take his stuff? That would be his shirt, his shoes, his room key, and the contents of his pockets. Why didn't he take it that morning when he left the beach? Why did he come back the next day?
It's one of the gaps in the story that give investigators kind of pause in what was the mindset of these two people.
[14:45:02]
Now you have to factor in the context that they both theoretically had had a lot to drink. It was 4:00 in the morning when they got to the beach. They went into the water.
According to him, they were knocked over by a wave and nearly drowned. And he says he was able to save her to -- to the point she was standing up in the sand again, still in the surf, and himself to the point that he went and got sick and then went to sleep in a chair.
But at the end of the story is the thing they still don't have.
KEILAR: Yes. John Miller, thank you so much for the latest on this. We do appreciate it.
And next, as March Madness gets underway, turns out, the amount of screen time isn't the only thing that goes up. Apparently, so do appointments for a certain male medical procedure. Well explain right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[14:50:02]
SANCHEZ: March Madness is once again upon us, that time of year when the battle for brackets and bragging rights tests friendships and family bonds.
And while the odds of getting every game right are one in 9,000,000,000,000,000,000, which is a one followed by 18 zeros, folks just don't give up.
KEILAR: No quintillion, like that's a number.
SANCHEZ: Yes.
KEILAR: I didn't realize.
SANCHEZ: OK.
KEILAR: The frenzy over brackets will fuel trash talk and a drop in workplace productivity, and that's going to last for weeks.
We have CNN's resident bracketologist, if there is such a thing, with his foam finger.
SANCHEZ: Oh, wow. OK. KEILAR: Stop waving those -- oh, peace, peace foam finger. Victory, V for victory.
SANCHEZ: OK.
KEILAR: Harry, yes. Three -- a weird way to do three, but nonetheless.
OK, anyways, Harry, help us figure out the odds of who's favored to advance here.
HARRY ENTEN, CNN CHIEF DATA ANALYST: Yes. OK. So beyond my foam finger, what are the stats actually saying?
And I think it's interesting because we're going to look at how the nation is picking and then the odds of who they actually should be picking.
So let's talk about what the nation's going on at this point. So the nation's top picks to win it all -- I hate this - number-one seed Duke, 31 percent.
Duke can play, in my mind, do nothing right. I wish them nothing. If they were playing baseball, 14 inning games played in rain. I guess I wish them like six overtimes and exhaustion in college basketball.
How about a first-round upset? The number one? How about the Drake Bulldogs, 42 percent. They're an 11-seed. They're the number-one pick from the nation to actually upset in the first round.
Now here's the thing though. This is how the nation is picking. Who should they be picking?
So, you know, it turns out all of the statisticians, we're all in a community together, and my old colleague, Neil Paine, has a model out right now. And so I decided, I said to Neil, I'm going to crib your notes.
And let's take a look. Who do the stats say will win, according to Neil Paine's model? Well, overall, 25 percent Duke. So I think Duke is getting a little oversold by the nation. I think fewer people should be picking Duke. Of course, I don't want Duke to win anyway.
And how about for a non-number one? How about the Volunteers out of Tennessee, 5 percent chance of winning it all. So that might not be a bad pick. If you're trying to upset everybody else, you want to perhaps have a bracket that's a little bit different. Picking Tennessee to go all the way, I think is a pretty good pick.
SANCHEZ: Bracketology, Harry, in itself is an industry, and folks spend obscene amounts of time and also money. They gamble on March Madness. Just -- just how much time and money is spent on this annual tradition?
ENTEN: Yes. What are we talking about here? Well, I think this will give you a pretty interesting sort of understanding. How many people are actually going to watch this thing on a Wednesday afternoon or, excuse me, on a Thursday afternoon or a Friday afternoon?
Well, if we look at the weekday afternoon tourney viewers, look at this, 7.4 million average across the networks back in 2024.
I want to put that in some perspective for you. That is more than all, but 15 primetime shows. So there's going to be a ton of people who are going to be watching this.
And now here's the thing that I want to note. And I'm not sure it's in the follow up or not, because, you know, sometimes I get the question, sometimes not.
But if you want to get away and you want to be one of those folks who are going to watch, it turns out there are a lot of people who are doing a very interesting thing.
A lot of people on my fair agenda, what are we talking about? Vasectomies, vasectomies around the tournament, people get out their little scissors here, they decide to do a little clipping.
Get this. They rise significantly versus the baseline, up 10 percent to 50 percent around the tournament. Men will do anything to watch college basketball.
However, I will not go that far at this particular moment. I'll tell you that much.
SANCHEZ: I do --
(LAUGHTER)
SANCHEZ: I was just going to say, I do believe it's a bit more complicated than just somebody taking scissors out and cutting --
KEILAR: Yes. No self -- I don't think it's a self-vasectomy.
(LAUGHTER)
SANCHEZ: No.
ENTEN: It's not?
(CROSSTALK)
ENTEN: I thought we could do it together. I thought --
(LAUGHTER)
SANCHEZ: You got to get out those --
(LAUGHTER)
SANCHEZ: -- those Reddit pages, Harry. You got to get off those Reddit pages.
Do you have the money that's spent on March Madness? How much money? Because it's not nothing.
KEILAR: Yes.
ENTEN: No, it's -- it's not nothing. But here's the thing. It's not nothing. But here's the thing you should keep in mind is you guys we're hinting at it at the beginning, right, in terms of essentially the chance that you could get a perfect bracket.
You're better off playing the lottery, folks. You're better off playing the lottery.
Because the chance of an event occurring -- you mentioned it -- one in 9.2. I had to look up what the abbreviation was for quintillion. It's Q.I. OK? That goes out 19 digits.
Winning the Powerball, you got a better chance of winning the Powerball. One in 292,000,000. Or on the sadder part, how about a one in 4,000,000 chance of getting killed by a shark?
So look, I - I think if you're hoping to do something --
(CROSSTALK)
ENTEN: -- good with your life. Yes.
(LAUGHTER)
KEILAR: I'm sorry.
ENTEN: Maybe, maybe go for the Powerball. But it's going to be fun, either way, scissors or not.
KEILAR: No. Oh, my goodness. So you're saying there's a chance?
[14:55:01]
SANCHEZ: Yes, yes.
(LAUGHTER)
ENTEN: There's -- there's -- look, there's always a chance. Look, miracles can happen.
I can somehow come on the national TV with a pair of scissors. So the idea that someone could maybe win and actually get a perfect bracket, hey, you never know, as they say about the lottery.
KEILAR: It could be us.
Hey. And we do need you to work up, like, maybe a "Shark Week." Shark bracket for Boris --
SANCHEZ: Yes, yes.
KEILAR: -- because of his -- you know, he likes to hang out with sharks. SANCHEZ: Yes, yes.
KEILAR: So --
ENTEN: Different numbers in the cage together.
KEILAR: OK.
SANCHEZ: Hey, you guys --
ENTEN: We can -- we can -- we can go in the cage together. And I will just say --
(CROSSTALK)
KEILAR: He's not in a cage, dude.
(CROSSTALK)
KEILAR: He's like, outside the cage.
SANCHEZ: As long as no --
(CROSSTALK)
ENTEN: No, I'm not going -- no, no, no, no.
SANCHEZ: -- scissors and the vasectomies --
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: -- and those weird --
KEILAR: You'll be there outside the cage.
SANCHEZ: -- the weird Internet search history that you've got going on.
Harry Enten, always appreciate you, man. Great to see you.
ENTEN: Incognito mode. Incognito mode.
KEILAR: He's going to be in the cage with the scissors, ready to defend.
SANCHEZ: Self-defense.
KEILAR: Yes. That's right.
SANCHEZ: Giving the sharks vasectomies.
(LAUGHTER)
SANCHEZ: Harry, great to see you.
(LAUGHTER) SANCHEZ: Still to come, President Trump is expected to tour the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts within the next hour, after naming himself as its new chair. His visit coming just days after Vice President Vance was booed during a concert there.
We're going to get serious in a minute, I swear. Just stay with us until after this commercial break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
