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White House Holds Briefing Amid War With Iran; Trump to Attend Dignified Transfer of Six Slain U.S. Service Members; U.S. Forces Have Struck More Than 2,000 Targets; White House Says U.S. Has More Than Enough Weapons for Extended Iran War. Aired 2-2:30p ET

Aired March 04, 2026 - 14:00   ET

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

[14:00:00]

KAROLINE LEAVITT, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: -- correspondence and public correspondence with defense contractors, asking them to aggressively speed up their manufacturing of American-made weapons which, again, are the best in the world.

With respect to Ecuador, I would point you back to the statement released by the U.S. Southern Command. On March 3rd, Ecuadorian and U.S. military forces launched operations against designated terrorist organizations. These operations are a powerful example of the commitment of partners in Latin America and the Caribbean to combat the scourge of narco terrorism.

And together, we are taking decisive action to confront narco terrorists who have long inflicted terror, violence, and corruption on citizens throughout the hemisphere. And with all that, I would also add that this weekend, I'm pleased to announce the president will welcome the heads of state from 12 nations across our Western Hemisphere in Miami, Florida, on Saturday. The point of this newfound Latin America Summit is to promote freedom, security, and prosperity in our region.

The following countries will be in attendance. Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Honduras, Panama, Paraguay, Trinidad, and Tobago, and maybe some others as well. And the president will be speaking with the leaders of this country, who have really formed a historic coalition to work together to address criminal narco terrorist gangs and cartels, and counter illegal and mass migration into not only the United States, but the Western Hemisphere, which remains a key and top priority of this president.

Thank you very much, everyone. And you'll see the president yourselves in an hour.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you, Karoline.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you, Karoline.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you, Karoline.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": All right. We are listening there to the White House press secretary who was asked, what is victory in this war with Iran? And she said victory will be determined by the commander-in-chief after the goals they have laid out are realized. A lot of wiggle room, certainly in that answer there. Obviously, they're emphasizing a lot of the successes that they have seen, even as there are a lot of questions about how they're prosecuting this war.

And she was also asked about that, all of the deaths at that school. CNN reporting 168 children, at least, dead. And she was asked about that. She said the U.S. doesn't target civilians. She said the media should use caution, essentially, because Iran uses propaganda very effectively. That raises more questions. What is she saying with that? She's opening the door to the idea that this may not be true.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": There are also, obviously, questions about what happens post-conflict, once that sort of subjective vision of victory is reached. And she was asked about what role the U.S. would have in determining the future of Iran's leadership. She said that that's something that President Trump has discussed with allies and advisers. But the focus right now is on the quick success of the operation. So not a ton of clarity there.

The White House also pushed back on questions about a comment made by Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth this morning regarding American fatalities overseas. The secretary suggested that the press was eager to attack President Trump by reporting on those deaths. CNN's Kaitlan Collins was asking about that and received a lashing from Leavitt, falsely claiming that we were reporting that the dark -- network was reporting that in order to attack the president.

As Kaitlan said there, news outlets, including CNN, have widely reported these kinds of incidents during every American administration, whenever there is conflict. We actually have CNN Chief White House Correspondent and Anchor, Kaitlan Collins, live in the press room right now. Kaitlan, talk to us about that exchange.

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT AND ANCHOR: Yeah, Boris, just for anyone who missed the Pentagon press conference this morning, I would like for everyone to listen to Secretary Hegseth himself as he was providing this update on Operation Epic Fury and talking, of course, as has happened as part of this operation, the tragic deaths of those six U.S. service members. These are the words himself from Secretary Hegseth.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETE HEGSETH, UNITED STATES SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: When a few drones get through or tragic things happen, it's front-page news. I get it. The press only wants to make the president look bad, but try for once to report the reality.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Obviously, reporting on troops' deaths is not an attempt to make the U.S. president look bad. It is something that happens under every U.S. president, as both you, Boris and Brianna, know. Not only President Trump, also under President Biden, during the withdrawal of Afghanistan, when those 13 service members were killed during the bombing at Abbey Gate, we reported extensively on that.

Also, when Trump was in office in his first term, when troops were killed overseas in Niger, for example, we reported on those as well. And also when President Obama and Presidents Bush, and dating back to their predecessors, were also in office. The reason this is covered is obviously because these are troops who are making the greatest sacrifice that anyone can make. And it's important to cover their deaths and to remember them and to talk about why they were killed in action if they were, and obviously how that can be prevented going forward.

It's an important part of this, and also a costly reminder of why there is such extensive coverage over what's happening right now in the Middle East, and why there are so many questions about what the president's goals are, what his exit plan in Iran is, and what he wants to see come next here.

[14:05:00]

One question I will note that was also asked during this briefing, among many others, about the objectives of this was whether or not the president has changed his mind with the potential of troops on the ground.

The president said the other day that he didn't have similar concerns that other presidents have shared in the past, about a hesitancy to talk about putting troops on the ground. They have made sure that that is an option that is on the table, but obviously, it is not one that the president has utilized yet. So, it's obviously a question going forward of what exactly this is going to look like and what the president plans to do here going forward.

Something that not just Democrats on Capitol Hill have had questions about, Republicans as well, in terms of how long this operation could last, how extensive it could truly be, and also what the plan is next for Iran, and who's going to lead inside of Iran after the president took out the supreme leader.

KEILAR: Yeah, and listen, Kaitlin, I'm so glad you asked that question. I heard that as well this morning, listening to Secretary Pete Hegseth. It's so important that we acknowledge and identify these service members. It is a serious commitment that they and their families make, and when this happens, it drives home what they are sacrificing. In this case, Captain Cody Khork, Sergeant First Class Noah Tietjens, Sergeant First Class Nicole Amor, and Sergeant Declan Coady.

There's a reason why General Caine, this was the first thing that he talked about when he gave his remarks at the Pentagon today, because it's important to acknowledge their sacrifice. Kaitlin, thank you so much.

COLLINS: And also, Brianna --

KEILAR: Yes, go on.

COLLINS: Can I just add one thing to that? Because I think you make a really good point. I mean, reading the statements from the families of these who were killed just showcases you. I mean, these are people. They have sisters and parents, and obviously talking about the sacrifice that they have made is important here. And the president himself is going to be highlighting that when he attends their dignified transfer, when those six cases are brought back to the United States covered in the American flag.

It is something he did during his first term in office and talked about after, how difficult it was and what kind of a struggle it was. And so obviously, it is not an attempt to make the president look bad to cover that. It is something that the press, not just CNN, but all reporters and the media do under any president, and it's because of the reason that you just laid out there.

KEILAR: Yeah, it is the most somber, I think, aspect of being the president, which is when these decisions are made, and we've heard previous presidents talk about it, this is what they have to realize. Lives are on the line, and this is something that drives that home. Kaitlin, thank you so much.

Let's bring in Kylie Atwood to talk a little bit about the evacuations, because that's something that we heard Karoline Leavitt asked about during this briefing.

KYLIE ATWOOD, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, that's right. She was pressed on why the State Department, the administration had not done more to warn Americans to try and get Americans out of the region before this war broke out, of course, prompted by the U.S. strikes on Iran, and she pushed back saying that it's all hands on deck to try and help provide assistance to those Americans who want to leave the region right now.

She also said that the State Department did put out signs to Americans in the region. When it comes to messages to the Americans, however, she referenced a February 11th do-not-travel advisory that the State Department put out. That's a routine advisory that the State Department puts out. In that advisory, it noted that these are places that are dangerous that Americans should not travel to.

It didn't note any potential impending sense of elevated danger, obviously, given what is occurring now. We should also note that most of the countries that are being impacted by this war were not on that list of countries that Americans should not travel to. Just to name a few, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Israel were not included on that list.

So, there are still questions about what the State Department did before and did not do. She said right now, the Department is in touch with thousands of Americans who are trying to get out, so we continue to watch their efforts on that front. A new intake form for Americans in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Israel who want evacuation plans, shared with them by the U.S. government. They should look to the U.S. government website to see that.

SANCHEZ: Kylie Atwood, thank you so much for that update. Let's go now live to Tel Aviv with Erin Burnett. Because, Erin, we've seen over the last few hours, a lot of activity, not just in the Strait of Hormuz, not just over Israel where you are, but as far as near Turkish airspace and into the Indian Ocean near Sri Lanka as well.

ERIN BURNETT, CNN ANCHOR, ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT: Yes. Yeah, I mean the borders of this have vastly expanded. I mean, if you just take a look at the Indian Ocean, all the way off the coast of India with that torpedo, that in and of itself expanding this theater beyond anything anybody could have comprehended.

[14:10:00]

I'm here with Nick Payton Walsh and I just want to, Nick, as we hear Karoline Leavitt speaking. OK, there were two things that stood out to us everyone standing where we are, all right, and let's go through them. First of all, she said something about we are hours away from achieving air dominance over Iran.

Now, that really stood out everyone to Nick and I standing here because, Nick, that is not what we've heard from the defense secretary of the United States, who obviously has a very aggressive posture, but on that a very different timeline.

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, I mean, I think we correctly recall Secretary Hegseth talking about how they were about a week away from that air superiority. It may have been General Caine, but that was actually a little longer than some of the feelings we've been getting from Israeli officials here who've talked about air superiority being possibly achieved or even closer still.

I think the White House press secretary said a few hours, but look, this may be a misspeaking, this may be different versions of what you refer to as superiority.

BURNETT: Right.

PATON WALSH: But clearly, there's a narrative now being formed that a lot of Iran's air defenses are down and that essentially, in the future, the United States may have freedom to move over Iran, which could change the tone and the pace of this if they feel they have liberty to move and pick off targets as they wish going forwards.

BURNETT: Right, and I mean, when you hear a press conference like that there's obviously a lot of back and forth, but that stood out, the focus on air superiority, Boris and Brianna, and that that could be much more imminent, at least from what the press secretary said. Another thing that stood out there was a question, a good question about the supreme leader.

PATON WALSH: And the good answer, absolutely.

BURNETT: Has there a Supreme Leader been chosen? Now, her answer was very interesting. What he was looking for was confirmation as to whether the administration knew that it happened or not. She very clearly chose to not give that confirmation.

Now, whether it's because they don't know, or they do know, or they're signaling to Tehran about what they want, that -- we both thought was very interesting. And I'll say this, Nick, also in the context of last night, there were very credible reports that Ayatollah Khamenei's son had indeed -- his second son had indeed been chosen. Now, obviously, we weren't able to confirm that. We have not reported that. It's 24 hours later. That still has not been confirmed as to whether that happened. This is all significant.

PATON WALSH: And it was clear that there was a virtual meeting happening of the Assembly of Experts, the 88 senior clerics, potentially, who would be involved in that decision. Now, that has not been made public.

The interesting thing there was the misunderstanding where she basically, I think, was fact-checking that the reporter hadn't got a newsflash saying he's been elected, Mojtaba Khamenei, the son --

BURNETT: Right.

PATON WALSH: -- of the assassinated Ayatollah Khamenei, and clarified, no, OK, that's what we expect is going to happen. Has it happened yet? Not necessarily. And so, it was interesting to perceive her face.

(CROSSTALK)

BURNETT: Right, because the question was, would you be OK with him?

PATON WALSH: Ultimately, yeah.

BURNETT: And she was categorically not going to answer that. She knew that was the question, right?

PATON WALSH: Yeah.

BURNETT: She didn't want to answer it. And that could be an important tell in and of itself.

PATON WALSH: Because we've had President Trump for some time now saying that he had indication who he thought it was going to be and he wasn't going to say.

BURNETT: Right.

PATON WALSH: And so, this process has ticked along with the United States clearly having, obviously, a massive interest in it, but also seeming to have some kind of inside track on it. So, this is speculation here, but are we looking at a process here where there is other motion perhaps happening in which this key announcement of who succeeds, Mojtaba Khamenei is a dynamic factor within these processes.

BURNETT: Yeah. PATON WALSH: Remember, too, we have seen these two interesting developments today as well, diplomatically, where the Iranian foreign minister has reached out to his Qatari counterpart --

BURNETT: Right.

PATON WALSH: -- to have a discussion in which he essentially seems to have said, sorry, the attacks on your country were trying to hit U.S. bases and was told that simply isn't a good enough explanation. But he also, this morning, spoke to his French counterpart, Jean-Noel Barrot, and now we've just learned that Emmanuel Macron, the French President --

BURNETT: Yeah.

PATON WALSH: -- has spoken to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel here. Mostly, it seems, about Lebanon --

BURNETT: Right, on the (inaudible).

PATON WALSH: -- and the Israeli attacks there. But this is diplomacy that's now in the public view and I'm not suggesting necessarily that the timeline Secretary Hegseth talked about of us being the beginning of the operation is incorrect, but there is clearly another track opening here that hasn't existed for the last four days of this and that may begin to inform things more as we go forward.

BURNETT: Yeah, and just so, you know, we take what we can get there to the extent that there is information, but it does feed into what we're learning here on the ground and seeing this choice of supreme leader obviously crucial as well.

All right, we've got more of our coverage of the war in Iran here, our Breaking News coverage continuing. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:18:45]

KEILAR: White House press secretary just moments ago addressing a key question on the timing of President Trump's attacks on Iran. According to Axios, the decision came after a phone call from Prime Minister Netanyahu, who shared information on the location of the Ayatollah and his deputies. Here is Karoline Leavitt's response.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LEAVITT: I think the president prior to that phone call had a good feeling that the Iranian regime was going to strike United States assets and our personnel in the region.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: She said he had a feeling. Notably, did not say the president had intel that Iran was going to launch any strikes. The Senate voting this afternoon on a war powers measure to limit President Trump's authority to continue military strikes without congressional approval. The House is set to hold a similar vote tomorrow. And we're joined now by Republican Congressman Mark Alford of Missouri.

Sir, thank you so much for being with us. You heard Karoline Leavitt there during this briefing saying the goals here are to destroy Iran's ballistic missile program, to annihilate Iran's Navy, to dismantle Iran's terrorist proxies, and to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon. How do you achieve those goals without regime change and/or long-term U.S. presence with U.S. boots on the ground in Iran?

[14:20:00]

REP. BRIANNA KEILAR, BORIS SANCHEZ, KAITLAN COLLINS, KYLIE ATWOOD, ERIN BURNETT, NICK PATON WALSH(R-MO): Look, I think you're seeing that with the kinetic action that we are taking with our stealth capabilities, including the B-2 stealth bomber out of my district, Whiteman Air Force Base, who led the midnight hammer strike back in July, decapitating the nuclear capabilities at that time. As you've been talking about on your air, the air defenses are being decimated as well. That's going to give us the ability to go in now with fighters that do not have stealth capability to further strike Iran and strike them very hard.

Those objectives are very reachable. I think one of them that I'm very interested in is how are we going to take out some of these other partners with Iran who have been getting support and ammunitions and money from this terrorist state, in particularly the Houthis in Yemen. The B-2 stealth bomber struck them as well deep, took out some of their munitions last year.

We have got to make sure that not just the head of this snake, the head of this octopus, as some would say, has been decapitated, but the tentacles as well. Because if we do not, it's going to grow back like the head of Medusa and I think be even worse. This is a moment in history where this president, this secretary of war, this chairman of the joint chiefs of staff is making a difference that will last a lifetime.

If we can achieve lasting peace in the Mideast, and I think this is the beginning step of that, then we will have achieved something that not just my grandchildren, but my great-grandchildren will be talking about and reading about, not in history books, but whatever we have for information sources in the coming years and decades.

KEILAR: Hopefully, there are still books. Secretary Hegseth said Iran cannot outlast the U.S. I wonder if you have any concerns. Those could be some kind of famous words that were said there. You have seen insurgencies in the Middle East. You have seen insurgencies in Afghanistan. Do you worry that America has not learned a lesson about that?

ALFORD: I'm sorry, it's kind of hard to hear in statuary here (ph). There is a lot of reverberation. I will say this, and I didn't hear your question quite clearly.

KEILAR: Let me try to restate it for you and just touch your IFB earpiece and hopefully, it will be a little louder. So Secretary Hegseth said that Iran cannot outlast the U.S. I wonder if you have concerns about that. We have seen U.S. involvement in other conflicts, where -- I mean that is entirely what happened, that the U.S. was outlasted.

ALFORD: Listen, Brianna, this is not Iraq. This is not Afghanistan. We have the kinetic capabilities, the stealth capabilities, the munitions, the counter drone technology that we did not have back then, and the experience and the knowledge that we have learned from the illicit war from Russia on Ukraine, the knowledge that we have gained from that.

We are using this technology, and that's why the president took this decision to strike before we were struck. There was an imminent threat of danger. The development of intercontinental ballistic missiles by Iran, the largest sponsor of terrorism, Islamic terrorism in the world, who has continued to be a bully, continued to be an enemy, who has sworn war and has sworn the death of Americans and the death of Jews all over the world.

We have got to make sure that we do outlast Iran. That is going to mean, I think -- I'm on the Appropriations Committee, and we will be looking at a supplemental package. That will be up to our Appropriations Chair Tom Cole, certainly, and Ken Calvert, who is the chair of the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee.

But we've got to make sure that the prime contractors, defense contractors -- I've talked to them two today -- that we are rebuilding our arsenal, that we have the capabilities to outlast Iran. I believe that we do at this point. You can see that now from the decline in the number of missiles they have sent to their neighbors in the Gulf region.

And they have gone from some 100 missiles a day now down to 20. So they are reducing their stockpile faster than they can reload. And we will have the technology, we will have the fighters, we will have the will, and we will have the aptitude to kill this octopus.

KEILAR: And what about Congress' involvement here? You've seen the utility and said that it has empowered Congress in the past when it came to congressional authorization for the use of military force. Do you see the utility of that in this case?

[14:25:00]

ALFORD: Well, look, some would argue that we still can operate under the authority of the use of military force in 2001 after the towers fell. I don't think we need that at this point. The authority that the president is operating under is the Article 2 authority.

KEILAR: No, no, I'm talking --

ALFORD: Two (ph) --

KEILAR: But I'm talking about congressional authority over this particular war. Do you see the utility in having that? Because you have seen the utility just in that concept broadly in other conflicts before.

ALFORD: Look, this Congress, you said the Senate is voting on it now or today, and later this week our body is going to vote to try to hobble the president of the United States, to shackle him, . to hobble his authority to carry out this strike.

We cannot afford this at this moment. We have the Iranians on the rope. And at this point, it's not a game of whack-a-mole, it's a game of whack-a-mola. As soon as one pops their head up to be the next leader, we're taking them out. We have seen that before. This is not going to end well.

If they want to continue their bullying, their thuggery, and their treacherous Islamic terrorism, then it is not going to end well with them. If they want to fall in line with the rest of the world and become good neighbors to the partners of Egypt and Saudi Arabia and Qatar, and those who want good neighbors and want normal relations in the Mideast and want true lasting peace in the Mideast, then let's do it.

I think anyone who would agree to that would be able to stay in power. But if you're going to continue to torture your own citizens, to behead your own citizens, to throw acid in the face of your own citizens, just think what they would do to us if they were able to retain power. We cannot afford to let that go on. We have them on the ropes. It's time to finish them off.

KEILAR: Congressman Mark Alford, thank you so much for being with us. And ahead on "CNN News Central," we'll have more of our coverage of the war in Iran. We're going to discuss the military situation here with retired Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt. Stay with us.

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