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Trump Weighs Military Plans Against Iran as Talks Continue; Interview with Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL): Trump Expected to Defend Economic Agenda, Including Tariffs; New Rocket Issue Throws NASA's Historic Moon Journey into Uncertainty. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired February 24, 2026 - 15:30   ET

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

[15:30:00]

VOICE OF ALIX DANIELS, ASSISTANT DISTRICT ATTORNEY, BARROW COUNTY, GEORGIA: ... What are you referencing there?

VOICE OF JENNI GRAY, DAUGHTER OF DEFENDANT: I'm referencing that I knew pretty well that Colt was the one that was doing it and I knew pretty well that my dad knew too.

DANIELS: OK and was that before you heard from any news, police or anything that it was in fact Colt.

GRAY: Yes ma'am.

DANIELS: OK.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: On cross-examination the defense said you told forensic investigators that Colt changed his passwords, changed his accounts constantly on social media. He was afraid the police or the FBI would find him. She said she didn't remember that.

ERICA HILL, CNN HOST: Wow. It is really something. Jean, appreciate the update. As you noted she's still on the stand there. Some more to come. Thank you.

CASAREZ: Thank you.

HILL: And you can catch more of this trial and those ongoing developments at CNN All Access. Just log on to CNN.com/watch.

This news just coming into us here at CNN. The State Department says the situation in Mexico has quote returned to normal after the arrest that followed this weekend after the killing of the drug lord known as El Mencho. U.S. citizens no longer being urged to seek shelter in the areas of Jalisco, Nayarit and Baja California. U.S. government staff however do still have a nighttime curfew. Flight schedules we're told are operating normally again in Guadalajara. A number of airlines have added extra flights for Puerto Vallarta today.

The U.S. agency said there are no roadblocks ordered by local authorities. But they did warn there could be some routes in Jalisco that have not yet fully reopened.

Iran says it is ready to do quote, whatever necessary to reach a nuclear deal with the United States. We'll take a closer look at that new offer from Iran.

[15:35:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HILL: Iran's deputy foreign minister says his government is ready to do whatever necessary to reach a nuclear deal with the United States. President Trump has been threatening, of course, military action if Iran does not agree to his terms. The already massive U.S. military presence in the region, we're learning, is also increasing. Just moments ago, a defense official telling CNN the U.S. is deploying a dozen F-22 stealth fighter jets to Israel.

KEILAR: And we're joined now by CNN national security analyst Beth Sanner, who's a former deputy director of national intelligence. And I'm curious, Beth, what you think of what Trump just told our Jake Tapper and Dana Bash and the other anchors who are at the White House ahead of the State of the Union address, kind of their usual sort of anchor lunch that they do there before this.

He said that Iran wants to make a deal more than I do. They just won't say that we won't produce nuclear weapons.

BETH SANNER, FORMER DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE: So, but that's the deal that we're asking for. So is it that they're not saying they won't want -- don't want to produce nuclear weapons, or is it literally that they won't agree to zero enrichment, which is what the demand is, what Witkoff repeated this past weekend? So I think that there are multiple things to this equation, right?

It's, you know, number one, we've now come down to this nuclear deal, and if not nuclear deal, military action. But there's a lot involved in, you know, really, what would we be willing to take in such a deal?

HILL: Is it your sense that this administration, that this president would be willing to take less than what we just heard, right, from Jake, what the president said, right, less than, hey, I won't produce a nuclear weapon?

SANNER: I think it would be hard. I mean, I do think that the Iranians are willing to do a deal because they want to avoid a military action, and they would be willing to do a deal that's like JCPOA, which basically has limits on enrichment, but it's not zero enrichment. Zero enrichment is something that I think this regime would be very, very loathe to do.

But on the flip side, what would we have to do in order to get them to that kind of deal? And we don't talk about that. What the Iranians would demand and what they demanded under JCPOA is enormous amounts of sanctions relief, and not just like on nuclear things, on terrorism, to take them off the terrorism list, to take them off human rights sanctions. Could this administration, after this regime has killed, as the president said, 32,000 people, I don't know if we know that or not, at least tens of thousands probably, can we really do a deal that would ultimately strengthen that regime, give them more resources so they could crack down more on the people? That's the deal that's on the table, folks.

KEILAR: He seems a little in a box to you.

SANNER: The deal that's on the table is getting them to zero enrichment, but for what? To actually strengthen a regime that ideologically wants to destroy Israel and wants to hurt us.

KEILAR: So right now, the U.S. is very much positioned -- positioning for this strike, right? I mean, that's all of this buildup in the region. What are the pros and cons of that and the risks?

SANNER: So there is a really wide spectrum of options. If the president decides that we can't just walk away after this huge buildup in the region and just say, OK, they're not going to agree, and I think that that's likely, that it's going to be hard for Iran to do the terms that we wish. So that means either you walk away after you spent maybe a billion dollars building up all these forces and go home.

No, I think that the likelihood is that there's some kind of strike.

[15:40:00]

So the risk of just doing this limited strike is that Iran doesn't know that it's just a limited strike because you've been talking about, you've heard President Trump and others talk about regime change, which is why, you know, there's really no trust here. So if they see a strike coming in, why wouldn't they do, A, we're under existential threat and major, major retaliation?

And I think that that is, you know, that's one of the risks is even when you do this limited thing, it can escalate very quickly because they're not just going to absorb that and say, OK, fine.

Then on the other end of it is this regime change and a lot in between. And we just don't know what this looks like. I mean, I think we have to be honest about -- General Caine is talking to him about the complexities of this, how hard it is. War does not go according to plan.

HILL: Such an important point and so much to think about. Beth, always appreciate your insight. Good to talk to you.

SANNER: Thank you.

HILL: Well, after a year in office, President Trump is now just hours away from delivering his State of the Union address. What can we expect? We'll discuss Republican Congressman Byron Donalds next.

[15:45:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HILL: As President Trump prepares to deliver his State of the Union address tonight, it's clear where Americans want him to focus. According to CNN polling, 57 percent say the president should use his speech tonight to talk about the economy and the cost of living.

Among Republicans, that number is even higher, 65 percent. And that far exceeds, as you can see there, some of the president's other top priorities and what they'd like to hear from them. Immigration is just 15 percent.

Joining us now from Capitol Hill is Republican Congressman Byron Donalds of Florida. Congressman, it's nice to have you with us this afternoon.

So my colleague Jake Tapper, along with a number of other anchors, was just at a lunch with the president where he talked a little bit about what we will hear tonight from him at the State of the Union address. And he said one of the things that he will say -- and Jake was quoting him on this -- "Is that we're about to have the best three years and it's already started," on the topic of the economy.

That's what we're expecting to hear from the president tonight. As you know, as President Trump rightly pointed out in 2024, it's about how people feel. That is something that President Biden didn't do well.

So it's one thing to say the economy is going to get better. Do you anticipate that the president tonight will acknowledge the way that people are feeling, which is that the economy doesn't feel great to them?

REP. BYRON DONALDS (R-FL): Well, it's good to be with you. I think the president is going to hit all the high points tonight, including that one. And I understand why the American people still feel the struggles.

It's because the economy under Joe Biden was so bad. Prices were so out of control. Wages were depressed.

Everything was significantly more expensive. It does take time to unwind that. But you have to look at what President Trump has been able to accomplish in his first year.

Wages adjusted for inflation, one of the most important measures in our economy, is up and rising steadily. The GDP is growing. The inflation rate has stabilized.

And so you are starting to see some of those downward pressure on prices. The gas at the pump, gas prices, they are down all across America. And in some of our key markets, rental rates and housing prices are also starting to stabilize in some areas, starting to come down.

So I think President Trump is right. We're at the beginning of a hot three-year run in our economy. It's because of his economic policies. But the American voter cannot forget the danger caused to America by Joe Biden and Democrat economic policy. It did not work for our families. It left too many Americans behind.

And Donald Trump's recipe for success is beginning. And he's going to talk about that tonight.

HILL: Well, in the time that the president has had, what's clear, at least in our most recent polling, is that a number of Americans don't believe that his priorities are in line with what they would like to see. So as we look at what is happening, let's look specifically at tariffs. The Tax Foundation estimates that tariffs have actually increased the average American household's tax payments by $1,000 in the last year.

And we know, of course, the New York Fed found earlier this month that 90 percent of those tariffs are paid by U.S. businesses and consumers. Given the ruling from the Supreme Court, is this a moment that the president should perhaps take that off-ramp for an economic policy that is not at all popular with the American people, and certainly not with their wallets?

DONALDS: Look, I will tell you one thing. When it comes to tariff policy, what President Trump has been working to accomplish since he came back to the White House is actually redoing these trade deals that have not been in the interest of the American family, the American company, or the American worker. They've not been in our interest. They've been in the interest of other countries.

And so President Trump has been working feverishly to get fair trade deals for the United States. That will directly impact affordability in every aspect of our economy.

But number two, and more importantly, people are about to get their tax refunds over the next couple of months. And what you're going to see are much more sizable tax refunds than American families have seen. No tax on tips, no tax on overtime.

This was in the president's agenda last summer, passed by Congress, signed into law by Donald Trump. Democrats all opposed it. But the American people are seeing the benefits today.

So I would argue, while some Americans may have questions on tariffs, if you look at every economic agenda item that Donald Trump has been able to accomplish without Democrat help, mind you, it has been to the interest of middle class families all across America. And when they file their taxes and get their refunds, they're going to see that directly in their bank account. It's going to help them through the rest of this year, while the rest of the president's agenda takes hold over the next couple.

HILL: I want to play from you. One small business owner, Sarah Wells, told us here on CNN about what the impact of these tariffs have been on her, her family, her business. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SARAH WELLS, FOUNDER AND CEO, SARAH WELLS BAGS: I was amazed and thrilled. It feels like a win for small businesses. We have been out there telling our story of the real impact of this for a year.

[15:50:00]

It's been absolutely devastating. I have had to lay people off in my small business. And we have been out of inventory, not having our bestsellers. It's cost us probably half a million dollars in losses this last year. So today, to hear that the tariffs were ruled illegal and far-reaching, it was an awesome success.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: That was really troubling for her as a small business owner. She's not the only one to feel that way. She's not the only American to feel that way.

Does the president hear what she's saying? Do you hear what she's saying as a lawmaker?

DONALDS: I absolutely hear what she is saying. I know President Trump does as well. And this is part of the work that has to be undone from previous administrations that, quite frankly, didn't know how to do it.

(CROSSTALK)

HILL: This is not about previous administrations, Congressman. This is specifically about the tariffs that the president himself put into place.

DONALDS: Don't cut me off. We're having a nice conversation. Now you're cutting me off.

Understand, when it comes to economic policy, that economic policy trends over time. We have terrible trade deals in the United States that were basically signed and negotiated by former presidents who don't know what they're doing when it comes to economics. But they were setting up trade which has hurt small businesses, large businesses, mom and pops in the United States.

If you're going to try to get some of these countries to the table, how do you do it? You send them a letter and say, pretty please, they're not going to do that. You've got to be tough.

And that's what Donald Trump was working to accomplish. The Supreme Court has spoken. The president made his adjustments.

But let's just be clear. Tariff policy, in my view, is about restating the global order when it comes to trade to favor the United States. But if you look at everything else that Donald Trump has been doing with respect to the economy, it is significantly better, without a shadow of a doubt, than everything Joe Biden did or Barack Obama did or George W. Bush did.

It's not even close. You know it. I know it. The American people know it as well.

HILL: When we talk about the American people, a January Fox poll says 39 percent say they're worse off financially than they were a year ago. 36 percent say they're doing the same. That woman's story, again, is in direct relation to the economic policies that the president put in place when it comes to tariffs.

Last question before I let you go. Do you believe the more than $133 billion in tariffs that's been collected should now be returned?

DONALDS: Oh, look, let me answer two things real quick. Number one, to the polling number that you just said, everybody knows that this economy is way better than the one that Joe Biden left the United States with. I mean, that's just beyond --

HILL: But we're talking about the economy of today.

DONALDS: -- measurable. That is a fact. We all know that the economic policies of the previous administration were disastrous. You've got to acknowledge it because prices were out of control.

The economy was stagnant.

(CROSSTALK)

HILL: Congressman, a year in, is this President Trump's economy?

DONALDS: Prices are under control. The economy is getting better today.

Look, I heard your polling, but polling is a snapshot in time. The reality is, is that this economy is significantly better under Donald Trump than anything Joe Biden and the Democrats could produce, because they had their way and they almost wrecked the American economy for everybody in our country.

HILL: Congressman Byron Donaldson, thank you for your time. Stay with us. We'll be right back.

DONALDS: Thank you.

[15:55:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: NASA's return to the moon is delayed again. A new problem with the Artemis 2 rocket has led NASA to scrap plans for a March launch that would send four astronauts on a 10-day loop around the moon. The first human journey to deep space since the Apollo program ended back in 1972.

HILL: So NASA now says liftoff will not happen before April. That's a sharp reversal from just days after a wet dress rehearsal fueling test showed some success. CNN's senior space and science writer Jackie Wattles is joining us now.

So Jackie, what's actually happening here?

JACKIE WATTLES, CNN SPACE AND SCIENCE WRITER: Yes, so as you said, we were looking really promising for an early March launch date. And then there was a pretty abrupt reversal. NASA announced that they had detected some helium leaks, particularly in the upper part of the Space Launch System rocket.

That's the massive moon rocket that NASA is using to power these missions. And helium is very important. It's a gas that's used to kind of clean out fuel lines to make sure that there's no explosive gases lingering where they're not supposed to.

And it's also used to help pressurize fuel tanks. And it turns out this issue is big enough that they're going to have to roll the rocket back off the launch pad for servicing. And that's expected to cause some pretty significant delays, unfortunately.

KEILAR: Yes, that's a huge undertaking. And Jackie, this isn't the first issue that they've found this month.

WATTLES: That's right. Yes, NASA's been putting this rocket through some ground tests. One in particular is called a wet dress rehearsal.

That's kind of a practice run for launch day where engineers fill the rocket up with fuel and try to figure out what quirks they're working with. And it's long been plagued with hydrogen leaks. And hydrogen is one of the propellants that's used to kind of blast this rocket off the launch pad.

And it's the smallest molecule in the universe. So hydrogen is notoriously difficult to contain. And so NASA, just as it was getting its arms around that fuel leak problem and getting things on the right side, it looks like these helium leaks came in and dashed their hopes.

HILL: So they said now not before April in terms of a launch date. How much confidence is there in April?

WATTLES: Right, that's the big question. We won't know more necessarily until NASA gets that rocket off the launch pad for servicing. They're expected to roll back tomorrow.

And once that happens, we might get a better indication of launch window. April 1st is probably the earliest possible opportunity. But NASA said they're also looking at some dates in May and June.

KEILAR: May and June. OK, let's hope that they can get this thing off the launch pad before then. How important is this mission for NASA?

WATTLES: Yes, well, a big deal would be an understatement. Artemis 2 is expected to send four astronauts on this slingshot trip around the moon. And it'll mark the first time since 1972 when NASA's Apollo program ended that humans will travel to deep space.

[16:00:00]

So for context, for the past few decades, we've only sent astronauts to low Earth orbit. That's just a couple hundred miles away. And the moon is a quarter million miles away.

There's radiation issues, communication blackout issues, a lot to deal with. And all this, of course, is happening as the U.S. considers itself to be in a new space race, this time with China rather than the Soviet Union.

KEILAR: Yes, huge mission. Just like your first live shot on our show, which is also huge, Jackie. And we welcome you, Jackie Wattles. Thank you so much for taking us through that.

"THE ARENA" with Kasie Hunt starts right now.

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