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White House Holds Press Briefing; Interview With Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA); Americans Stuck Overseas?. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired March 04, 2026 - 13:00   ET

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

[13:00:00]

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BASH: Thank you so much for joining INSIDE POLITICS.

"CNN NEWS CENTRAL" starts right now.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: We have breaking news on the war with Iran.

Any moment, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt is set to hold her first briefing since the U.S. launched its first attack over the weekend. And her comments will come just hours after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the U.S. military operation is accelerating today. More American warplanes are now heading to the Middle East.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETE HEGSETH, U.S. DEFENSE SECRETARY: As President Trump said, more and larger waves are coming. We are just getting started. You can say four weeks, but it could be six. It could be eight. It could be three. Ultimately, we set the pace and the tempo.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: At the same time, 2,000 miles from the Persian Gulf, an American submarine sank an Iranian warship in the Indian Ocean off of Sri Lanka. It's the first time that a torpedo has destroyed an enemy vessel since World War II, according to the Pentagon.

Also today, the nation's top military officer paying tribute to those six American service members killed shortly after the Iran war began. So far, four of them have been identified by the military, General Caine saying: "We will never forget their sacrifice."

And, Boris, we're going to learn more about those service members a little later in the show.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: We look forward to that.

Over the last few hours, Israeli forces have been bombarding Iran and Lebanon as well. Parts of Beirut were left smoldering as Israel intensifies its campaign against Hezbollah. There's also been a remarkable development out of Turkey, NATO's air defense system destroying an Iranian missile overnight that was traveling toward Turkey's airspace.

There are concerns that actions like this could lead to a dangerous escalation if the alliance were to get drawn into the conflict. And as the question of potential regime change looms, we're learning from sources that the CIA is now working to arm Kurdish forces aiming to potentially spark an uprising inside Iran.

Let's get straight to CNN anchor Erin Burnett, who's live for us in Tel Aviv.

Erin, what are you learning?

ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: All right, so Boris and Brianna, we're in the midst, obviously, of the back-and-forth, the missile strikes here in Tel Aviv.

But also you talk about the Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth talking about that the United States says it's just getting started and that there are going to be more and larger waves of strikes from the United States and Israel against Iran.

The latest that we have, and we're going to waiting hopefully imminent updates on these numbers, but that the U.S. says it struck about 2,000 targets in Iran. And that number no doubt has gone up over the past few hours since we got the last update. One

of the biggest changes to that, of course, is that torpedo striking that Iranian warship off the coast of Sri Lanka. It had been over off the coast of India for scheduled exercises that it was participating in, and then it was struck and taken down. That was basically one of the creme de la creme of the Iranian navy, one of its newest and most sophisticated destroyers.

We understand that there are possibly 150 dead sailors. Some of them, they're picking them off the surface of the sea. So it's a deeply disturbing development in a rapidly escalating situation.

And I'm here with CNN chief international security correspondent Nick Paton Walsh. Nick, when you see images like that, you have got Americans dead, you

have Iranian civilians dead, you have Israelis dead, you have those sailors on the warship. It is all an incredible tragedy and it is a situation that is escalating here as we speak.

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes, certainly. I mean, it's still 180 souls, even if that Iranian ship named after Qasem Soleimani, who was the first move militarily taken by President Trump in his first term.

BURNETT: By Trump, yes. Yes.

WALSH: Still, we are at a point where it appears that there has been a change in Iran's behavior, not just in the last hours, we have seen here, but in the last days. One of the key takeaways from Secretary Hegseth's statements was that he had perceived Iran was following a preplanned playbook in the first part of this conflict in terms of its retaliation.

And we have all seen it. We saw the extraordinary ferocity across the region against countries who, frankly, were not pro publicly this war...

BURNETT: Yes.

WALSH: ... and that they have switched now to maybe something more adaptive.

[13:05:01]

BURNETT: Yes.

WALSH: But also, two key numbers, the missile strikes, the missile launches 80 percent down from the beginning, the drones 70 percent down from the beginning. That suggests a changing...

BURNETT: That's in terms of the outgoing from Iran...

WALSH: Absolutely.

BURNETT: ... which would indicate that there has been a deterioration, frankly, in their ability to launch, right?

WALSH: Yes.

Or they went all in right at the start...

BURNETT: Yes.

WALSH: ... because they didn't want things to get destroyed and they had this preplanned playbook.

BURNETT: Yes. Yes.

WALSH: Supreme leader gets killed, we do this. And they're adapting possibly and learning from the mistakes or that their reserves are being taken out on the ground before they even launch.

Also too the U.S. shifting from precision munitions at a distance to perhaps being over the targets, maybe using unguided munitions as they're there, some military experts have suggested, so changes there certainly.

BURNETT: Yes.

WALSH: And, Erin, one thing that's really stood out to me today here is the combined element of the attacks against Israel. We have had on two occasions, around about lunchtime, launches from the north. That's Hezbollah, Southern Lebanon.

BURNETT: Yes, from Hezbollah in Beirut, yes.

WALSH: And from Iran as well at the same time, other indications around the region too. That may...

BURNETT: Indicating coordination, right?

(CROSSTALK)

WALSH: Indicating some communication, I mean, not a particularly advanced idea, right, launch at the same time, try and overwhelm air defenses.

BURNETT: Right. Right.

WALSH: But, still, we haven't had that yet at this stage.

BURNETT: And interesting, Ali Larijani, who right now, as we're still awaiting whether there's been an easy supreme leader chosen and there's still confusion there.

WALSH: Yes.

BURNETT: Pezeshkian, the president, is still there, but Ali Larijani has -- even prior to this had already been perhaps taking a senior leadership role, the senior leadership role, security chief, did post, Iran prepared for a long war.

Now, at this point, you can't tell what's bluster, what's real, but that's certainly the position that they are still taking.

WALSH: And the same thing that Secretary Hegseth did. We're at the beginning of this. This could go on for a long time.

BURNETT: Right. Right.

WALSH: Look, I don't think, in the middle of combat anyone says, all right, we're almost done here, guys.

BURNETT: We're ready to go. Yes, no. No.

WALSH: Time to check it all out. But I think what we are seeing, indications that both sides, everyone

has finite stocks, with perhaps the exception of the Israelis. So there may not be an indefinite path for all of this. And I think that another thing that really struck me today was a phone call from Iran's foreign minister, Seyed Araghchi, to his Qatari counterpart.

BURNETT: Yes.

WALSH: Now, that's the first time that we have seen Iran, who's been bombing the countries that were trying to mediate at times between it and the United States...

BURNETT: Including Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar last night, to say, yes.

WALSH: Yes, absolutely. Absolutely.

That is a sign you might see that the Iranians are looking to see what public outreach they can do, it may have been having privately beforehand, but Araghchi's message was, we're not coming for you. We weren't going for you. We're going for the bases on your territory.

(CROSSTALK)

BURNETT: Yes.

WALSH: And I think trying to repair that bridge. But the response he got was, well, yes, but you have really damaged relations here.

But I think that might be the sign that someone's trying to create a channel here that means there's an off-ramp at some point. We will see.

BURNETT: All right Nick, thank you very much.

And, obviously, Boris and Brianna, the U.S. has indicated they're not open to any sort of those communications. But it's important to emphasize in the context of what Nick just said that to reach out to the Qatari foreign minister, who has often been an interlocutor in these discussions, is different than the Omanis, who had been party to the failed nuclear negotiations, that trying to bring Qatar into this could be significant.

But as of yet so far at least the U.S. is signaling very clearly they're not open to that, but that's what we're watching as they say the strikes are picking up going into Iran. And, of course, we're seeing them on this end the onslaught continuing as well -- back to you.

SANCHEZ: Yes, a lot of activity all across the region.

Erin, thank you so much.

As we stand by to hear from the White House this afternoon, we're learning new details about how the CIA is working to spark an uprising inside Iran, sources telling CNN that the plan involves arming Kurdish forces who operate along the Iraqi-Iranian border.

KEILAR: And we're joined now by CNN's senior national security reporter Zachary Cohen and CNN national security correspondent Kylie Atwood on this.

And, Zach, let's start with you about this reporting. Tell us what you are learning about this plan to arm these opposition groups and also the concerns this could be sparking about a civil war.

ZACHARY COHEN, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: Yes a really controversial idea here, but we're told that the CIA support for these Iranian Kurdish opposition groups started months ago, before the ongoing U.S.-Israeli military operation targeting Iran.

But now that we're in that operation and it's ongoing, the idea here is that essentially the goal would be fomenting a popular uprising inside Iran itself and effectively using them as a military tool to draw attention away from the population inside of Iran itself, so that they can, as Trump said, take back their government.

Now, this is highly controversial for a number of reasons, but the biggest one being that there are concerns that allowing the Kurdish opposition groups to essentially cause a military conflict with the Iranian regime forces would precipitate a civil war inside of Iran, fracture the country, which is much more difficult of a situation to resolve than even the one we're currently in.

But Donald Trump has indicated, though, that he is entertaining this. In addition to the CIA laying the groundwork, he's spoken to members of both the Iraqi and the Iranian Kurdish opposition forces in recent days. We're also expecting both the Iranian and Iraqi Kurdish forces to participate in some sort of a military operation in the coming days with U.S. and Israeli support.

[13:10:09]

So we're going to have to wait and see if that actually plays out, but this is very much an active ongoing plan, in addition to the military part.

SANCHEZ: We anticipate the White House is going to be asked about that. The briefing is set to start momentarily.

Kylie, in the meantime, we just learned from the White House that they're set to host these arms executives on Friday. This is coming at a time where there are concerns about munitions supplies and interceptors and Tomahawk missiles and THAAD systems. What are you hearing about this meeting?

KYLIE ATWOOD, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes.

Yes, particularly when it comes to interceptors supplies. Those are the defensive capabilities of the United States and its allies to shoot down these Iranian missiles that are coming against U.S. forces and U.S. allies in the region. What we're learning, according to sources in the region, is that some

U.S. allies are running low on their stockpiles of these interceptors. It's not panic right now, a source told me, but they do want the United States to replenish those stockpiles as soon as possible. They're working with the United States on that right now.

But, fundamentally, what this boils down to is that this is a bit of a math problem when it comes to this war right now. How many Iranian missiles do they have in their stockpile and how many interceptors are the United States and their allies going to need to be able to continually defend against those missiles?

And the secretary of state, Marco Rubio, on Monday boiled down why this math problem exists. And I want to read to you a portion of what he said, that Iran is producing, by some estimates, over 100 of these missiles a month. Compare that to six or seven interceptors that could be built a month.

So, clearly, the rate at which Iran was producing missiles was higher than the rate at which the United States was producing interceptors, which is creating what could be this issue here.

Now, we did hear from President Trump yesterday saying that the U.S. munitions stockpile is medium, medium to high. He didn't say which munitions, notably. We also heard from the secretary of defense earlier today, effectively saying this is not going to be a problem. The U.S. is going to set the pace for this war. The stockpiles are in good shape.

But this is obviously an area that the administration is watching, given this meeting on Friday.

KEILAR: Kylie, if you could quickly address, because we're waiting for this briefing here, this issue of evacuations, because the U.S. has ordered immediate evacuations across the Middle East, but Americans are struggling to get out.

I have been talking with someone who just happened to be there in the UAE traveling with her baby and her husband, and they are in touch with the State Department. That has not yielded anything for them, as they want to get out. A lot of people are in that position. What's happening here?

ATWOOD: Yes, the State Department, the White House is saying that these evacuation efforts are actively happening right now. They're trying to get flights in. They're trying to get charter flights. They're trying to get military flights, get Americans on commercial flights.

They are saying that these efforts are actively under way. But there are some mixed messages that they have also sent over the last few days telling Americans to shelter in place, but also telling them to depart as soon as they can. And so some Americans are questioning really what they should do now.

The State Department deputy spokesperson, Tommy Pigott, was on CNN earlier today, and he said his main message is for those Americans to, one, register with the State Department to get all the information they can when there becomes a flight that's available for them to potentially get on, and, two, to be ready to go, so, if they are alerted from that messaging, that they're able to get out, that they can actually get out of the country and get there quickly.

But I do think it's worth noting that we heard from the secretary of defense earlier today, saying that about 90 percent of the U.S. military personnel in the region was actually taken out of what he said was the X, the bullseye, where the Iranians could be hitting.

And we didn't see the State Department taking action to warn its diplomats and to warn Americans in a really pronounced way until after these strikes had begun to occur. So, there are going to be questions going forward about why there wasn't more action taken proactively.

Now, obviously, with the airspaces closed, getting in these evacuation flights for the U.S. government is a real challenge.

SANCHEZ: Kylie and Zach, thank you both so much for that update.

Still ahead, as we await the White House press briefing, lawmakers will soon vote on a resolution aimed at curbing President Trump's authority to launch strikes against Iran. We're going to be speaking with the top Democrat on House Armed Services.

KEILAR: Plus, we're hearing from the sister of one of the American service members who was killed in Kuwait.

These important stories are more coming up this hour on CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

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[13:18:46]

SANCHEZ: We're now at day five of the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran, and lawmakers are moving toward a vote on a war powers resolution aimed at curbing President Trump's authority to continue military strikes without explicit congressional approval.

The Senate is set to vote today, and the House is going to vote on a similar measure tomorrow, as concerns intensify on Capitol Hill over this war that's already claimed six American lives. The Trump administration has held multiple closed-door classified briefings for lawmakers.

We're joined now by Congressman Adam Smith of Washington, the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee.

Congressman, thank you so much for sharing part of your afternoon with us.

As we're learning that the White House is hosting defense contractors this week to talk about ramping up weapons production, President Trump is blaming President Biden for giving munitions to Ukraine and not replenishing U.S. stockpiles. I wonder what you say to that and how concerned you are about potential shortages.

REP. ADAM SMITH (D-WA): Well, that misses the point of the moment.

We have had stockpile problems for a long time. And would U.S. national security interest really be better served if Russia controlled Ukraine? Russia is aligned...

SANCHEZ: Congressman, I'm so sorry to interrupt you, but the White House is giving its briefing right now, and we are going to listen in.

Here is Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt. If you could, Congressman, please stand by.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

KAROLINE LEAVITT, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: And they are paying in blood.

[13:20:00]

Since 1979, the terrorist Iranian regime has actively and intentionally facilitated the killings of Americans. They chant "Death to America" and fund other radical terrorists who attack our country and are seeking to destroy Western civilization itself.

These terrorists seized our embassy and took 66 Americans hostage in Tehran. They slaughtered 241 U.S. service members with a truck bombing in Beirut. They killed and maimed hundreds of American service members in Iraq. And this is just a small fraction of their blood-soaked record.

Prior leaders have been too weak and ineffective to address this threat. Some, like Barack Hussein Obama, even sent pallets of cash that ultimately financed this terrorist crusade against the United States and our people, while signing stupid and naive deals that put Iran on the path of developing nuclear bombs.

After years of endless appeasement and empty statements from politicians on both sides of the political aisle in this town, President Trump is finally the man of action. President Trump is holding these monsters accountable and permanently extinguishing their nuclear ambitions.

Future generations of Americans will look to this moment as the moment where the specter of a nuclear-armed Iran ended. At the beginning of Operation Epic Fury launched last weekend, President Trump laid out clear objectives to the American people on what the U.S. military seeks to accomplish through these major combat operations.

Number one, destroy the regime's deadly ballistic missiles and completely raze their missile industry to the ground. Number two, annihilate the Iranian regime's navy. And, so far, we have destroyed more than 20 Iranian ships, including their top submarine last night, using a torpedo for the first time since World War II.

There is not a single Iranian ship under way in the Arabian Gulf, Strait of Hormuz, or the Gulf of Oman. Number three, Operation Epic Fury will ensure the regime's terrorist proxies in the region can no longer destabilize the region or the free world and attack our armed forces. And thus far, Iran's proxies are hardly putting up a fight.

Number four, this mission will guarantee that Iran can never obtain a nuclear weapon. It's safe to say that, thus far, Operation Epic Fury has been a resounding success. American forces have struck more than 2,000 targets, destroying hundreds and hundreds of ballistic missiles, launchers and drones.

As the Department of War said this morning, we expect to have complete and total dominance over Iranian airspace in the coming hours, clearing the skies for our brave warriors to continue achieving these noble and long-sought-after objectives.

There's been a lot of misreporting and intellectual dishonesty from the American media on why President Trump decided to launch this operation. So, let me remind you, Operation Midnight Hammer, which took place last June, obliterated Iran's three major nuclear sites.

Yet the terrorist Iranian regime has remained fully committed to rebuilding its nuclear program. How do we know this? Because Iran has pursued this path of war and violence despite President Trump dispatching two of his top and most trusted negotiators to engage in exhaustive and good-faith negotiations to try and reach a deal.

And the world knows this president's preference is always peace and diplomacy first. Look no further than the eighth additional global conflicts he has ended in the past year as proof. Unfortunately, the terrorist Iranian regime refused to negotiate in good faith. They chose this path of violence and destruction, and they are reaping the consequences of their horrible decision.

The regime did what they always have done. They lied. They delayed. They tried to string the United States of America along. They wanted to buy themselves time to continue building ballistic missiles and other deadly weaponry that could harm our U.S. personnel and troops in the region and to continue aggressively pursuing their unacceptable nuclear ambitions.

U.S. negotiators offered to lift crippling sanctions on Iran and even provide nuclear fuel to Iran at no cost to support a civil nuclear power program. They additionally had the opportunity to accept U.S. support as an investor in potential projects to develop peaceful nuclear energy together under a mutually agreed upon framework.

Yet, in response, Iran would have to forfeit their enrichment capacity once and for all. But Iran rejected. They accepted none of these generous and unprecedented offers by the United States. Simply put, they refused to say yes to peace.

[13:25:00]

And their refusal made clear that their number one priority was building a nuclear weapon with which to threaten the United States of America, again, the country they have been chanting death to for nearly five decades.

Let me state this again clearly. Iran rejected the path of peace because the terrorists in charge of this regime wanted to build nuclear weapons to use against Americans and our allies. President Trump made the determination, a courageous determination and decision, that the path the United States was on with Iran had only one outcome, massive death and destruction at the hands of a nuclear-armed terroristic regime.

That path of death and destruction and threats against the American people have ended with Operation Epic Fury. Operation Epic Fury has forged a new path that will better ensure the security of the United States and our people.

The terrorists made a bet that President Trump would be like many of his predecessors, that he would just talk and he would refuse to enforce his clear red lines. But that has proven to be a catastrophic error in judgment.

When President Trump makes a threat -- and I have reiterated that threat many times from this podium to all of you over the past year -- President Trump does not bluff. The president's words are backed up by the mightiest warriors in the world, who possess the most sophisticated capabilities this world has ever known; 49 and counting of the most senior Iranian regime leaders, including the supreme leader, have already been wiped off the face of the earth.

Make no mistake, killing these brutal terrorists is good for America and makes the world a much safer place. I want to also extend our prayers and condolences to the families of the six U.S. military service members who have been lost in Operation Epic Fury. These heroes represent the very best among us.

They laid down their lives in defense of our country and we will never forget their legacy or their sacrifice. As the president said, we grieve for these American patriots and their families as we continue the righteous mission for which they gave their lives.

President Trump intends to attend the dignified transfer of these American heroes to stand in grief alongside their families. I understand the Department of War is working on scheduling this transfer and we will provide updates at the appropriate time.

Finally, the Trump administration is also doing everything within our power to protect Americans in harm's way. Since the launch of Operation Epic Fury, more than 17,500 Americans have safely returned home from the Middle East, with over 8,500 American citizens returning home to the United States just yesterday alone.

If you are a U.S. citizen in the Middle East looking to return to the United States, the secretary of state asks that you please register with the State Department at STEP.state.gov. The State Department will identify where you are and provide travel options directly to you.

The administration is already rapidly chartering flights free of charge and booking commercial options, which we expect to become increasingly available as time goes on and the success of this mission further comes to fruition.

I know the president and Secretary of State Rubio have been in touch as well with our allies in the region directly about this problem, making it clear that it is a priority of the United States of America to bring every American home. The Trump administration will not rest until every American is home safely and until the terrorist threat from Iran has been completely destroyed.

With that, I will take your questions.

Eric (ph), why don't you kick us off today? Thank you for being here.

QUESTION: Karoline, thanks so much for having me. It's great to be here.

As you mentioned, Iran's regime, its leadership has largely been decimated. Do we have a sense right now who is actually calling the shots in Iran? And we're also hearing reports that the supreme leader's son may be named his successor. Do you have any more information about that? I just had a quick follow-up as well.

LEAVITT: Sure.

We have seen those reports as well, of course, and this is something that our intelligence agencies are closely monitoring and looking at. We -- the truth is, we will have to wait and see. The president has said repeatedly that the objectives of Operation Epic Fury are the four military objectives that I laid out for you previously, to destroy Iran's navy, to destroy their ballistic missile capacity, to ensure their proxies in the region can no longer harm Americans, and to also ensure that they can never obtain a nuclear weapon.

As for what comes next for Iran, the president has said, of course, it's a good thing for the United States to want freedom for the Iranian people, and ultimately we hope that freedom rests in their hands.

QUESTION: Karoline, we have seen the Arab and Muslim nations coming under fire as well. President Trump's vision for the region has been to bring the Arab and Muslim nations to the table together, Abraham Accords, obviously, with Israel.

If this regime topples, could we see a new day in the region and really a new Middle East come out of this when the dust settles?

LEAVITT: Well, the greatest deterrent to true and long-lasting peace in the Middle East has always been the rogue Iranian terrorist regime. And our Arab and -- Arab and Gulf partners in the nation admit that as well as, of course, our close friend and ally Israel.