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Attacks in the Strait of Hormuz; Trump's Approval Rating; Rene Marsh is Interviewed about Her Children's Book. Aired 9:30-10a ET
Aired March 11, 2026 - 09:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[09:30:00]
DANNY FREEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: More attention to trying to get these gas prices lower because she said, as you noted there, or as rather she noted there, it's not just the gas prices, it's a lot of things these days feel too expensive. So, again, the pain definitely being felt at the pump here and across the country as this conflict in the Middle East continues, Sara.
SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, just adding to the cost of living for everyday Americans.
Thank you so much, Danny Freeman, for that story there from Philadelphia.
John.
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, a little bit of breaking news this morning. The commander of U.S. Central Command just said the U.S. struck a large ballistic missile manufacturing facility inside Iran.
Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ADM. BRAD COOPER, COMMANDER, U.S. CENTRAL COMMAND: Forces executing Operation Epic Fury aren't just defending against Iranian threats, we are methodically dismantling them by hitting Iranian missiles and drones as we also strike their defense industrial base. Just last night, our bomber force hit a large ballistic missile manufacturing facility, as an example. So, it's not just about what's shooting at us today, it's also about eliminating the threat in the future.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: All right, with us now, CNN global affairs analyst Kim Dozier and CNN political and national security analyst David Sanger, a White House and national correspondent for "The New York Times."
That from Central Command. But it comes as word that this Thai cargo ship was hit, and we have images of it on fire, in the Strait of Hormuz. One of three vessels that were hit. This is the Thai vessel. Two other cargo ships were hit there as well. You can see exactly where they were in the strait there. So, David Sanger, this kind of activity, what does it tell you about what the Iranians are capable of? And also importantly, now what we're learning they were prepared for.
DAVID SANGER, CNN POLITICAL AND NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Well, John, I think it tells us a few things. First, I think the administration underestimated how the Iranians would respond. Because there had been virtually no response from Iran after the June strike on the three nuclear sites, I think they concluded that probably the same would happen here.
The second is, I think the Iranians are now hitting a sort of desperation move. We have long assumed that they would not try to close off the gulf, because that also bottles up all of their own export of fuel. Not that they had a whole lot going right now, but their own oil exports all have to go out through the Strait of Hormuz. So, they're stopping it for everyone, including themselves. Not in their economic interests. And so, I think the U.S. had assumed that wasn't going to happen.
And I think the third thing it tells you is that the president had failed to sort of bring the allies along with the plan to go attack Iran here. The European allies in particular, Japan, South Korea. Now he's going to all of them to see if they will release oil into the market from their own supplies to keep prices down. So, countries that were not consulted ahead of time have been called in to clean up the mess.
BERMAN: And, Kim Dozier, one other bit of news from overnight, word that this U.S. diplomatic support center in Iraq, near Baghdad, you spent so much time in this region, was hit overnight there. Again, the targeting that the Iranians are choosing, what can be learned from that? And where do you see all of this on day 11 or 12 of the conflict?
KIM DOZIER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Well, Iran hadn't yet deployed its various proxy forces other than Hezbollah. The Iraqi popular mobilization militia had been pretty quiet. We also haven't heard anything from the Houthis beyond them saying that their hand's on the trigger and they're ready to be called.
So, what you see is Iran deploying its various militia groups strategically. There were some harassing attacks, yes, up north in Iraq against the Kurds. But to strike a U.S. base outside of Baghdad means they're being called into action.
And the U.S. embassy has warned Americans to consider leaving the country because this is a large force. Tens of thousands of highly trained people, hardened in the ISIS fight. They can start to cause a lot of pain pretty fast.
And then you could have the Houthis incorporated into the fight. They've got the Bab-el-Mandeb and the strait there that's also about 30 kilometers across, about 18 miles or so, that they could also choke. So, then you've got the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab-el-Mandeb choking global traffic. BERMAN: Yes. Just so people know what Kim's talking about. This is Iraq where those militias loyal to Iran might be operating. This is Yemen right here. You can see, if they wanted, they could harass the strait coming out of the Red Sea. And that's in addition to the closures now out of the Strait of Hormuz, where so much of the oil passes, mostly headed toward Asia.
David Sanger, you know, President Trump called for unconditional surrender from Iran. One of his somewhat, you know, movable target statements on when this war would end.
SANGER: Yes.
[09:35:03]
BERMAN: And the White House press secretary clarified on putting that, you know, in inverted (ph) commas there, what unconditional surrender means.
Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REPORTER: Does the president still want Iran's unconditional surrender?
KAROLINE LEAVITT, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Well, when President Trump says that Iran is in a place of unconditional surrender, he's not claiming the Iranian regime is going to come out and say that themselves. What the president means is that Iran's threats will no longer be backed by a ballistic missile arsenal that protects them from building a nuclear bomb in their country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: What's the takeaway from all this language that's being used?
SANGER: Well, it's an unconventional use of the phrase unconditional surrender to say the least. I mean unconditional surrender has got two parts to it, John. One part is capability, you lay down your arms, and I guess the president could declare, once the Iranians have run out of arms and their proxies, are no longer fighting, that maybe that's the case.
The second part is, is an intent element, right? That you unconditionally surrender and you allow your adversary to then step in and mandate your future. Think of Japan's unconditional surrender after the dropping of the atomic bomb. Think of Germany, right, at that time. And those are the -- those are the wars that, as President Trump said, you know, he was thinking back to the days when America won wars altogether.
I think what you're hearing from the press secretary is, you're not going to hear that intent part here. And that does leave you with the question that, at the end of this, are you left with sort of a rump (ph) state that's run by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and is severely degraded, but may still be a significant threat in trying to rebuild? And that's the problem the president faces, which is, he really wants to get off this exit ramp, but he can't if he believes that he's leaving a current threat.
BERMAN: Yes, that would be an unusual type of unconditional surrender, that eventuality.
SANGER: Yes.
BERMAN: David Sanger, Kim Dozier, great to see you both. Thank you so much.
Kate.
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: So, there is new video in showing the moment two brothers jump in to rescue a man trapped inside a burning car. We're going to bring you more on that story.
And you may have thought you'd never see one of these old things again. How this payphone, though, is now serving a new and special purpose.
We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:41:57]
BERMAN: All right, we have reached a milestone when it comes to President Trump's approval rating.
CNN chief data analyst Harry Enten is here with that.
So, what is that milestone?
HARRY ENTEN, CNN CHIEF DATA ANALYST: You know, I took a look at all the polling, averaged it all together, and we have now reached the year mark. We have now reached the year mark in which he has a negative net approval rating.
So, we have been talking about this for a long period of time. According to my average of polls, what we've been looking at is every day since March 12, 2025, President Trump has been underwater. And we've been counting up the days. We've shown this slide a number of times, and we have now reached the point in which Trump has been swimming with the fishes for a year.
BERMAN: So, not so happy anniversary.
ENTEN: No.
BERMAN: So, underwater --
ENTEN: Unlike ours. We'll be better (ph).
BERMAN: Underwater. It's always a happy anniversary. ENTEN: I know. Love.
BERMAN: Underwater overall, but really bad with one voting group.
ENTEN: Yes, really bad with one voting group.
John, you know, we have spoken about this independents, independents, independents. The center of the electorate. We have been talking about how Trump has been just downright awful with them. And I decided we're going to look back and compare it to other presidents this century, at this point, in their second term. Compare it to George Bush. Compare it to Barack Obama. And look at that, 38 points underwater at this point. That is worse than Obama by 20 points. That is worse than George W. Bush by double digits. And, of course, George W. Bush's second term went way off the rails.
BERMAN: Katrina, Iraq. Ultimately, the great recession as well. So, that is not a comparison you want (INAUDIBLE).
ENTEN: No, you don't like that.
BERMAN: Why? I mean, what don't independents like?
ENTEN: What don't independents like? What don't the overall electorate like? Are you focusing on the right issues? Are you focusing on what people actually care about? And if you -- if you look right now, you look at a Fox News poll that recently came out, look at this, say the Trump admin is focused on the wrong things. Sixty percent overall say that the Trump administration is focused on the wrong things. Look at that, 78 percent of independents say that the Trump administration is focused on the wrong things. I mean, how does that work? How does that work politically, John? I don't understand how that works, especially if those numbers hold to the midterm elections. That's a big freaking problem.
BERMAN: Well, it may not be working as you look forward to the midterm elections. So, how have predictions changed about whether or not Democrats can take back Congress?
ENTEN: Yes, OK. So, you know, look, we've been talking about the House and pretty much every historical marker, all the prediction markets, all the polling indicates that the Democrats are in the catbird seat when it comes back to taking back the House. But how about combining it with the United States Senate? That is taking back the whole enchilada. Taking back all of Congress. And what we see is the Democrats chance of doing that has been rising, rising, rising. On a stairway to heaven, my dear friend. And what we see there is that Democrats at this particular point have been increasing those odds. It's not yet at 50 percent, but it is clearly rising. And that is something I think is quite shocking, because a lot of folks like myself thought Democrats would take back the House. But the idea of taking back the Senate as well, well that is a pretty big deal.
BERMAN: "Stairway to Heaven," always the best last song for any junior high dance.
Harry Enten, thank you very much for this.
[09:45:01]
We've got a lot of news. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BOLDUAN: The Miami Heat's Bam Adebayo has a whole lot to be celebrating right now in a win over the Washington Wizards. He finished off the game Tuesday night with a staggering number of points, 83 points. Only one player, in the history of the NBA, has scored more points in one game than this. And that is Wilt Chamberlain. And he still holds the NBA record with 100 -- a 100-point game from back in 1962.
Sara.
[09:50:04]
SIDNER: As you are well aware, it's difficult right now with all that's going on and even more difficult often to talk to your children about what's happening in the news today. War, grief, financial stress, all are things that are showing up on social media feeds and popping up on news alerts.
CNN correspondent Rene Marsh joins us right now. She is also the author of a new book, "The Nature of Change," which helps parents tackle these difficult issues. It's lessons on determination, resilience and hope from the outside world.
I loved what you did here because you used nature to try to teach lessons about change. Tell me what your intent was.
RENE MARSH, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Look, you said it off the top. I mean we are in the thick of it when it comes to just covering these headlines that literally are head spinning for us. And my mom heart is often wondering, are kids OK? We cover the headlines, but how does it trickle down to the youngest, the ones that don't have the voting power? And are we doing enough to help them navigate the big change that's happening for them personally, but also that they may be witnessing in the world around them?
And so, I didn't set out to write this book because of the current events.
SIDNER: Right.
MARSH: That kind of just popped up. Because I've been working on this book for a couple of years now. But I think what is safe to say is that change is inevitable in life.
I went through my own personal change, and it was -- that was the inspiration for this book. And my intent is simply to give parents a tool because they're overwhelmed. They don't know how to break down these abstract concepts of hope, determination, and resilience to maybe a five-year-old or a six-year-old. And so, what this book does is it takes nature, it uses it as a metaphor to help them to grasp these concepts. Whether it's the tree that is losing it all, it is down to its bare limbs. But there it is, standing up straight and tall. Or whether it's the spider that is rebuilding its web over and over again.
And, you know, as someone who has lived a life where it has been marked by tragedy and unwanted change, I can tell you, life's survival toolkit must have these three things, hope, determination, and resilience. And so, I wanted to pass on my lived wisdom to the younger generation, especially for a time like now.
SIDNER: And you lost your sweet baby boy. You have been blessed with another child.
MARSH: Yes.
SIDNER: So, these lessons are very relevant because they're ones that you're still having to teach now.
I loved the way that you went through and talked about fear and talked about the things using the tree and using the spider as kind of conduits for that.
Tell me a little bit about how you did that and what made you think, I'm going to use nature to do this?
MARSH: Yes. I mean, it was really authentic in the sense that, through my own personal story and experience, I spent a lot of time in nature. And I received, honestly, so many profound sort of moments of inspiration that really were like words of wisdom for my soul. And, you know, that's where the seed was planted, that I wanted to put some of the lessons that I received from my time in nature when I was going through my own personal grief and pass that on to the younger generation.
And the beauty about this is that, you know, these lessons from nature are not so highbrow that a four-year-old can't understand. You can be inspired by it if you're in your 40s or if you're four. But they're equally as inspiring.
SIDNER: Yes, I love that. I'm going to read a little passage, because I really love it. The kids find this tree and the branch is broken off. And you can see it there. And it's illustrated beautifully. And one of the child, Amal, says, "I bet it hurt when the branch broke off." Points to the scar. And then Kit says, "maybe, but the tree is still standing, determined to keep growing tall." That sort of struck me as an adult because, as you know, I've been through my own --
MARSH: Yes. Yes. Yes.
SIDNER: Like, madness and trying to heal and trying to deal with it. And what you realize is, you're stronger than you think you are, right?
MARSH: It's amazing because the trees have been my greatest teacher. And I do think that sometimes when the bottom falls out, it paralyzes you enough to pay attention to some of these lessons that are surrounding us. Nature really, truly does mirror a lot of what we can pull as wisdom for our own human experience. And so what I do hope that this book does is maybe gets kids off the screens, encourages them to get outside and just be still and pay attention enough.
In a world that is moving extremely fast, this is encouraging everyone to slow down, take a breath, take a moment. And what is nature telling me today? How can I apply that to my life? Because so often, Sara, we talk about mental health in adults, but we really don't focus it in the younger kids.
[09:55:04]
We may talk about the teens and social media, but it's never honestly too early to start working that muscle. I liken it to going to the gym. You know, if you don't use that muscle of hope, determination and resilience before you need it, you can't just show up to the marathon and start to run.
SIDNER: Right.
MARSH: So, I really urge, you know, parents who want to start this conversation early, this might be a way to do that through storytelling and also through just time outside.
SIDNER: Yes, it's a starter kit.
MARSH: It is.
SIDNER: You could think of it as kind of a starter kit.
MARSH: Yes.
SIDNER: But it's beautiful. It's beautiful. Take a look. It's beautiful and it really does kind of walk you through some of the things that are going to happen in life.
MARSH: Inevitable.
SIDNER: They're not avoidable, you know what I mean?
Rene Marsh, this is a great book, "The Nature of Change," sort of helping us understand the world around us using nature as the conduit to get us through.
MARSH: Yes.
SIDNER: Really appreciate it. It's beautifully done.
MARSH: Thank you, Sara. Thanks.
BERMAN: What a wonderful message that is.
Thank you all so much for joining us. This has been CNN NEWS CENTRAL. "THE SITUATION ROOM" is up next.
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