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Top Iranian Leaders Killed; Islandwide Blackout Hits Cuba; Rubio's Popularity; Airport Security Lines Grow; Aixa Diaz is Interviewed about Gas Prices. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired March 17, 2026 - 09:30   ET

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

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[09:30:16]

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: OK, breaking this morning, Israel says it has killed two of Iran's most powerful leaders. Israel's defense minister says the head of Iran's national security council, Ali Larijani, was killed in a strike overnight. The Israeli military says it also killed the head of Iran's feared Basij paramilitary force. Iran has yet to confirm either of their deaths.

CNN's Oren Liebermann is in Tel Aviv for us.

We have also not heard from the United States on this yet. But this is what Israel says has happened. What are you learning this morning?

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN JERUSALEM BUREAU CHIEF: Well, Sara, we have already seen what may be a type of Iranian response for the -- at least the third or fourth time today we got the sirens warning of incoming ballistic missiles from Iran. So, during this live shot I may have to head to shelter. We'll, obviously, keep you posted. And I suspect, if the sirens go off around us, you will very much hear them.

But Israel announced earlier today, and specifically Defense Minister Israel Katz, that Israel had killed, in a targeted assassination, Ali Larijani, one of the most powerful people in Iran, and the key decision maker after the assassination of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei at the beginning and in the opening wave of this war back 18 days ago. Larijani was likely at the top of Israel's list of targets, viewed as the de facto leader now, he was the head of the security officials there, and Israel viewed him as basically conducting the campaign against Israel, and that is ordering the missile launches and the overall war, and conducting the campaign as Iran has lashed out and attacked gulf states and U.S. diplomatic missions -- I'm hearing what I think might have been an interception in the background -- and U.S. diplomatic missions in the gulf. Larijani, therefore, was viewed as incredibly critical. And from Israel's perspective, that made him a priority target.

Katz, Israel's defense minister, made it clear that it's not just Larijani, it's the command leadership below him that remains on Israel's target list, as we have seen them go after other members of Iran's leadership in the first two and a half weeks of the war. Israel also said that they had taken out the leader of the Basij paramilitary force, as well as, according to an Israeli source familiar with the matter, a number of other senior leaders in the Basij. That's significant because Israel views the Basij as the internal security force that cracked down and crushed the major waves of protests we saw across Iran in January. Israel perhaps believing that by taking out the Basij leadership that may allow for the Iranian people to protest, to rise up and overthrow the regime. That is the closest we've come to seeing a day after plan from Israel. So, that looks like it's part of the strategy here and going after Iran's security and defense leadership.

SIDNER: Yes, the Israeli intelligence here, absolutely stunning.

Oren Liebermann, thank you so much. Please get to safety if you're hearing those ballistic missiles incoming. Appreciate it.

Kate.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Right now some 10 million people in Cuba are without power after the island's electrical grid just collapsed. Well, the island has been plagued by power outages for some time. This is the first time the entire country has gone dark since the Trump administration cut off foreign oil supplies. The crisis has sparked protests in the street, is also in the midst of this, emergency measures have meant reduced school hours and even a cutback of hospital services. Now, President Trump is also clearly suggesting that after Iran he's looking to turn his focus to possibly taking Cuba.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I do believe I'll be the honor of -- having the honor of taking Cuba. That'd be good. That's a big honor.

REPORTER: Taking Cuba?

TRUMP: Taking Cuba. In some form, yes. Taking Cuba. I mean whether I free it, take it, I think I could do anything I want with it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: A lot going on here, clearly.

Let's get to CNN's Patrick Oppmann, who's live in Havana for us.

Patrick, talk about what's happening on the island with this massive blackout and also kind of the reaction to what we now hear from President Trump.

PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN HAVANA BUREAU CHIEF: Absolutely. And you begin with the blackout. Of course, the power goes out all the time here. We've had islandwide blackouts before but not like this under an oil embargo for the United States. According to Cuban officials it's been three months since any oil has come into this island. And that is just going to complicate efforts to get this aging power system back online. Only some pockets of power have been restored so far across the island.

The majority of the island is still in a blackout. And, of course, as the days go on, people's fuel runs out, if they're lucky enough to have a generator. The batteries, if they have those, run out, and their food begins to spoil in their fridge. And so this becomes not an inconvenience, but it becomes quite a dire situation.

You know, last night it was completely dark across Havana. And for anybody who needed to go to the hospital, had an emergency, it gets to be something of a dangerous situation.

[09:35:04]

Cubans were stunned when I told them, because, of course, people really aren't connected at the moment, about President Trump's comments and about reports in "The New York Times" and "The Miami Herald" that Trump is demanding that Cuba's president, Miguel Diaz- Canel, step down, that he and others in the government are seen as an obstacle to change. And that's part of the negotiations they're carrying on with representatives and family members of Raul Castro, who although retired, is still seen as the ultimate authority in this country. And so Cuba is very much under pressure at the moment.

And what we heard President Trump say, many U.S. presidents over the years have claimed that the Cuban government was going to end, communism here was going to end on their watch. Certainly, though, in this case, we have not seen the Cuban government in such a weakened position in many, many years.

BOLDUAN: Much more to come. My goodness. So thankful that you're there for us, Patrick. Thank you so much.

He does such amazing reporting from there always.

John.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, happening now, stock markets open for about five minutes and 30 seconds. So far you can see opening in the green in a very positive direction. We'll keep our eye on this over the course of the morning.

And we've seen gas prices rise. The biggest single day jump since the war on Iran began. One possibility that's been floated to reduce these prices is maybe give up the gas tax. Well, why that might not work.

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[09:40:58]

BERMAN: All right, this morning, it is never too early, never too early to talk about 2028. The approaching presidential election. It is getting closer and closer and closer. And one person who may very well be rising, secretary of state, national security advisor, Marco Rubio, front and center with the war on Iran, but also rising, like, look at these smiles. Look at this. Look at the way -- look at the way they're looking at each other there. All right, with us now, CNN chief data analyst Harry Enten.

HARRY ENTEN, CNN CHIEF DATA ANALYST: I'm looking at you with that same smile.

BERMAN: It's the same way that they look at each other here. Look, when you talk about the prediction markets, how has -- you know, what's happened to Marco Rubio's stock over the last few weeks?

ENTEN: Marco Rubio is hot, hot, hot, like a summer heat wave. I mean just take a look here. Over the last six months, chance Rubio's the 2028 GOP presidential nominee. He was just at seven percent six months ago. Hello, up like a rock, 27 percent chance now. What is that? That's quadrupling his chances in four months' time. Marco Rubio's chances, according to the Kalshi prediction markets, way, way up.

BERMAN: OK. Why?

ENTEN: Why? Why are his chances way, way up? Well, one of the reasons why his chances are way, way up is because the MAGA base really likes the U.S. military action in Iran.

Take a look here. OK, MAGA GOP on the U.S. military action in Iran. Look at this. Nearly nine in 10, 89 percent approve of the U.S. military action in Iran. That is the MAGA GOP base. Just nine percent disapprove of it. This is tremendously popular among the Republican base. And, of course, Marco Rubio, secretary of state, overseeing the effort. It seems to me that a lot of people are taking that into account, including President Donald Trump, who has been smiling an awful lot at Marco Rubio lately.

BERMAN: Look at those smiles right there.

ENTEN: I know.

BERMAN: No, again, you know, and I should say that this also gets to the issue of how popular is this war in the president's base. According to the numbers, you know, pretty popular.

ENTEN: Yes, Tucker Carlson be darned. This war is very popular among the GOP base.

BERMAN: When we see, you know, the approval of the war here, when we talk about Marco Rubio gaining in the prediction markets, how does his popularity compare to other secretaries of state?

ENTEN: Yes, if we look within his own party, right, you see this 89 percent. This is reflective of a larger popularity. Happy issue that Marco Rubio has. I mean just take a look here. OK, own party approval as secretary of state, about at this point the presidency. Look at this, Marco Rubio at 81 percent among Republicans at this point. Significantly higher than Tony Blinken was, of course, who was Joe Biden's secretary of state at this point in the Joe Biden presidency. He was only at 73 percent. So, I think Donald Trump is also looking at these numbers, seeing, hey, this is a popular guy amongst the Republican base and the actions he's overseeing are also quite popular. Maybe he's someone I might want to get behind for 2028.

BERMAN: How is secretary of state as a job for a stepping stone to the presidency?

ENTEN: It's a very good stepping stone to the presidency, at least historically speaking. Eventually elected president without ascending due to the death of a president, look at this, six secretaries of state went on to be president. That's actually the same number as for vice presidents who, of course, did not ascend just because of the death of a president who were direct -- who were elected. And so you see these numbers, you say, hey, secretaries of state, they can very well be president. Maybe Marco Rubio might be.

BERMAN: Well, I mean, but it was like -- it was like Jefferson and Madison.

ENTEN: Hey, Thomas Jefferson is a sacred name in this household, OK, John Berman.

BERMAN: It's been a long time. I think James Buchanan was the last one.

ENTEN: Hey, Hillary Clinton came pretty close.

BERMAN: OK. But again, James Buchanan, the last one who won.

Harry Enten, great to see you this morning. Thank you very much.

ENTEN: Thank you. Smiling back at you.

BERMAN: We've got a lot of news this morning. We'll be right back.

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[09:49:07]

BOLDUAN: The official kick off to March Madness is tonight with the first four of the action happening in Dayton, Ohio. UMBC squaring off against Howard and then the Texas Longhorns face off with NC State. You can watch the NCAA men's tournament, as I said, starting tonight and the women's tournament kicks off tomorrow night with Nebraska taking on Richmond.

The 2026 World Cup is quickly approaching and U.S. Soccer -- USA Soccer is now unveiling Team USA's new jerseys. The players collaborated with Nike to make two jerseys, one stars, one stripes, that will be featured at -- there you go -- featured at this summer's games. And for the first time all 27 teams representing the United States will wear these kits. That's including the U.S. women's team and youth national teams. Fans will get a first look at the jerseys in action when the U.S. men's national team face Belgium in a friendly this month.

[09:50:03]

And grab the kiddos, your actual kids, or maybe just kids at heart because Olaf has come to life. Yes, this is the latest creation from the imagineers at Disney with a big, new reveal that's about to debut at Disneyland Paris at the end of this month. The word is, is that this uncanny robot version of the frozen star only took three months to create thanks to the help of A.I. By comparison the creators say something like this used to take years to pull off, but now they're able to simulate a virtual world in order to teach the robot more quickly in how to walk, interact and even wave his cute twiggy little arms.

Sara.

SIDNER: That is one way to put it.

All right, we've got some breaking news for you. It's pretty breathtaking. One top TSA official says some airports may need to shut down as TSA is, quote, fully stretched.

CNN's Ryan Young taking us back into the Atlanta airport where things look, simply put, really bad.

RYAN YOUNG, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, they're really frustrating. And we've talked to people who've gone in and out of different lines to try to beat this rush here. As you look back this direction, you can see how far it stretches. But we do have that new breaking news about the idea that some airports may have to close down. We want you to hear the soundbite for yourself.

Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ADAM STAHL, TSA'S ACTING DEPUTY ADMINISTRATOR: We're fully stretched. And so, frankly, there's not much else we can do. As the weeks continue, if this continues, it's not hyperbole to suggest that we may have to, quite literally, shut down airports, particularly smaller ones, if call out rates go up and we can't -- a lot of these officers can't afford to come in.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

YOUNG: Yeas, you understand that call out rate is really imperative right now.

If you look down this line here as we shoot through some of the passengers, you can see how many empty seats are open right now. That's normally full, especially with the day where they're expecting spring break travelers. We're seeing a lot of call outs here. We've been talking to folks who work around the airport. They say they've never seen the amount of call outs that are going on.

Just yesterday there was a food drive for TSA workers. They were going downstairs, getting water, peanut butter and bread. So, you understand the pain point that they're under right now as they're not being paid. And then you see what's happening to the traveling public. This line stretches all the way past the carriage where all the luggage comes in. It's unreal right now. We don't know when it'll get any better. Sara.

SIDNER: Just seeing you huff and puff, because I know you work out hard, sir. You're a black belt. To see you have to walk that line to see how long it is, is crazy. And Atlanta is used to a huge group of people.

YOUNG: I want to show you as much as possible.

SIDNER: Right.

All right, thank you so much, Ryan. Do appreciate it.

YOUNG: Yes. Yes. Yes, and --

SIDNER: All right, the war with Iran continues on for its third week, thousands of miles away, with ramifications, of course, being felt here at home at the gas pump for sure. Gas prices hitting another high this morning. A gallon of regular will cost you $3.79 on average. That's the highest they've been in three years. National AAA spokesperson Aixa Diaz is with me now.

Look, you see this national average up about $0.25 just since last week. Some states seeing gas at $5 a gallon. Is there any way to try and figure out how to find yourself something that's a little bit cheaper?

AIXA DIAZ, NATIONAL SPOKESPERSON, AAA: Well, Sara, that's a good question because you can save at the pump. And there are ways to actually minimize how much you're spending. First of all, it's also just being mindful. When you pull up into the gas station, how often do you actually look up to see what the gas station is charging? So, be mindful of that.

But it starts with your car itself. And check your car maintenance. Tire pressure and weight on your car both affect fuel economy. So, that means that tire pressure, make sure it's in good condition, and also remove any extra weight in your vehicle. Are you driving around with a bunch of donations or like clothes that you've been meaning to return to the store and you haven't? Take those out of your car because that's going to help with fuel economy.

But also at the pump itself, just be mindful of how much you're paying. If your car doesn't require a premium gasoline, then stick to regular. And also sign up for fuel rewards. AAA partners with Shell. You can save at the pump, and it shaves cents off a gallon, and that all adds up.

SIDNER: And one of the things is cash. I know none of us carry it very often now, but it is cheaper oftentimes to pay cash at the pump.

But looking for the price is a funny thing. You sometimes don't realize when you look up, you're like, oh, wait, in L.A. it was $7 a gallon at one of the -- one of the stations. And next door was $5. So, that's a great tip.

Why is gas typically, though, higher this time of year as spring goes into the summer months?

DIAZ: Yes, so spring and summer are the highest seasons for gas prices because demand goes up. The demand for gasoline goes up when the weather gets nicer. Spring break season kicks it off and it lasts through the summer driving season. So, this is the time when we normally do see gas prices going up.

Also, summer blend gasoline is more expensive to produce. That's about to hit the market. And pricier additives are included in that blend to help it from evaporating during the summer months.

[09:55:01]

So, you've got a combination of higher demand, summer blend gasoline, and rising crude oil prices. So, that means spring and summer are going to be your highest times for gas prices.

SIDNER: I feel like you just called me out when you said if you have stuff in your car that's kind of weighing it down, like donations or other things.

DIAZ: I knew (ph).

SIDNER: I think you knew. You know me.

Aixa Diaz, thank you so much. I do appreciate you coming on.

BERMAN: It's something to see. I mean in California, obviously the price is always high. But it's like $5.50 a gallon right now. $0.07 over night.

SIDNER: Yes, and some of them, $7, some of it. They're getting away with highway robbery over there.

BERMAN: And Ryan Young, a black belt, walking around the Atlanta airport.

(CROSS TALK)

BERMAN: I thought -- I was like, why are you telling me this? Is he going to, like, fight with people there? Is there going to be -- is there going to be a Bruce Lee movie here at the airport?

SIDNER: No, he was huffing and puffing and he's so -- works out so much and he's a black belt. I was like, it's got to be a long line.

BOLDUAN: He did say I'm glad that you gave me a break so I can show you the (INAUDIBLE).

BERMAN: All right, well, thank you all for joining us. This has been CNN NEWS CENTRAL, where we are all black belts in the martial arts. "THE SITUATION ROOM," up next.

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