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New V.A., DOJ Agreement Could Put Homeless Veterans at Risk; Federal Reserve Board Keeps Rate Steady at 3.6 Percent; Iran Says U.S.-Israeli Strikes Damaged Oil & Natural Gas Facilities; Top Intel Officials Testify in Senate on Worldwide Threats; Mullin Has Tense Confirmation Hearing Amid DHS Shutdown Fight; Mullin Says ICE Will Need Judicial Warrants to Search Private Property, With Limited Exceptions. Aired 2-2:30p ET

Aired March 18, 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]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": So here, they're talking about 700 homeless veterans?

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Roughly.

KEILAR: Not all homeless, but a number of them at risk for that. But this is significant just because of the sheer numbers overall of homeless veterans in the country.

TODD: That's right. And so that group could be widening the people they target, and it is disturbing. According to the 2024 report that HUD published there at the time, there were almost 33,000 veterans facing homelessness in the U.S. Nearly 14 of them -- 14,000 of them were actually unsheltered and the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans says about five percent of all adults experiencing homelessness in the country are veterans.

That's a staggering amount of veterans, who are either homeless or facing homelessness. We talk about guardianship. Everyone thinks about Britney Spears, right? Now, this is different than that, but the fears are similar, that it could maybe go too far in what they do with these veterans and the decisions they make for them.

KEILAR: All right, Brian, thank you so much. We know you'll keep an eye on this important story.

And a new hour of "CNN News Central" starts right now.

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": We start this hour with Breaking News out of the Federal Reserve. The Central Bank making its decision on interest rates right now, the first one since the start of the war with Iran some three weeks ago. Let's go live with CNN's Vanessa Yurkevich, who's standing by at the Fed's main office in D.C. Vanessa, what's the call?

VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS & POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: The call is that the Fed funds rate is unchanged. So the Federal Reserve deciding not to do anything with interest rates, this time around leaving them unchanged, keeping that Fed funds rate between 3.5 percent and 3.75 percent.

This is coming after the Federal Reserve notes in its press release to reporters that the labor market has softened. Inflation is still a bit elevated, but the unemployment rate has been holding steady. But the key line that we received from the Federal Reserve is this. I just want to read it to you.

The implications of developments in the Middle East for the U.S. economy are uncertain. So there is that uncertainty that the Federal Reserve will be taking into account.

This was a delicate balance by the Fed today, deciding to hold rates steady, but at the same time signaling that there could be some turbulence ahead. We also got from the Federal Reserve in this particular meeting, economic projections. This is where they see the economy in the next year or so.

We are seeing in this economic projection that they do expect one rate cut still this year. They also are signaling that they believe inflation will actually cool from where it is right now. PCE, that's the inflation gage that the Federal Reserve likes to look at, is at 2.8 percent on an annual basis.

They expect that to come down to 2.7 percent. That is a signal that the Federal Reserve maybe believes that this war with Iran could be short lived and that the inflation impact could be short lived. They also go on to note that the unemployment rate will likely hold steady this year at 4.4 percent.

GDP actually noting that it could tick up to 2.4 percent. There was just one dissent among the board, Stephen Miran, who has dissented five times in a row. He is calling for a quarter point cut at this meeting. But it was mostly unanimous except for this dissent, that they wanted to hold rates steady.

We're also looking forward to that 2:30 press conference with Jerome Powell where for the first time he will be asked, where does he see the economy going and the impact of the Iran war? What will it mean for inflation? What will it mean for prices for everyday consumers? He'll also be addressing perhaps, if he's willing to take some questions and answer them from reporters, about this DOJ investigation that was blocked by a federal judge into him and whether or not he lied to Congress. That judge decided to block that probe by the DOJ.

We also know for the first time he is going to be addressing whether or not he is going to say anything about the president's pick for the new chair of the Federal Reserve, set to replace him in May. That is Kevin Warsh. See if he comments on that.

And also worth noting if he plans to stay on with the board of the Federal Reserve. That is ultimately his decision. But a lot of questions going to be posed to the chairman of the Federal Reserve who usually holds his answers quite close to his vest. That will kick off at 2:30 p.m. But as of right now, the Federal Reserve deciding in its second meeting of the year to leave interest rates unchanged. Boris?

SANCHEZ: Yeah, we look forward to those remarks from Jay Powell coming just minutes from now. We'll be monitoring them. So stay tuned for that. Vanessa Yurkevich, thank you so much. Brianna?

KEILAR: As the war in Iran continues to create economic uncertainty, we are getting our first look at what the Iranian media is calling powerful strikes that targeted Iran's oil and gas facilities. Iran has accused the U.S. and Israel here. The U.S. is saying these are not American strikes. Israel is saying that one of these strikes was done in coordination with the U.S. So we are obviously sorting through the details on this.

[14:05:00]

But these attacks would mark a major escalation in this conflict. Let's bring in CNN's Jeremy Diamond, who is live for us in Tel Aviv. Jeremy, what's the latest where you are and try to help us sort out who may be responsible for this. Obviously, we're hearing different things.

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. Well, let's first talk about what the official statements have been about this from the three countries involved. Iran has accused the United States and Israel of carrying out these strikes on two oil and gas facilities inside of Iran.

The Israelis and the Americans, neither of them have put out any official statements claiming or denying responsibility. But we now have just heard from a U.S. official who is denying that the U.S. took part in these strikes. However this official also indicating that the United States was aware of these strikes taking place, but that these were Israeli strikes.

Israeli sources also telling us that they carried out these strikes, but again, on one of them, saying that the United States was -- one of those strikes was coordinated with the United States. But the bottom line is that these appear to be the largest attacks that we have seen on Iran's oil and gas facilities and could really change the game in terms of how Iran chooses to respond to all of this, particularly as it relates to U.S. allies' oil infrastructure in that very same region.

And that's because we've heard from the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps affiliated media which is saying that this crosses a red line. But in addition to that, we've also heard from Qatar, one of the key neighbors in the region, which actually shares this South Pars facility, offshore facility with Iran. Qatar has now called this a " dangerous and irresponsible step." The bottom line is that this is already having ramifications in the crude oil market.

We've seen prices shoot up about five percent off of this news alone, sending prices over $108 per barrel in the United States. That means higher prices at the pump as well and, of course, all of this is being compounded by the fact that the Strait of Hormuz still remains closed to non-Iranian vessels and that is of course having the biggest impact on those oil prices which are going up something like $3 to $5 every single day that this strait actually remains closed.

And so far, there doesn't seem to be a plan for other countries to join the United States in sending ships to the Strait of Hormuz to get it back open by force. Brianna?

SANCHEZ: Jeremy Diamond, live for us in Tel Aviv, thank you so much for the update. Top U.S. intelligence officials, a short while ago wrapped up their public portion of their worldwide threat assessment hearing. It's now gone behind closed doors.

Senators grilled intelligence community chiefs about the war with Iran and what President Trump had said that led him to launch preemptive strikes.

KEILAR: Their testimony coming just a day after the resignation of the Director of the National Counterterrorism Center, Joe Kent, who said Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation. He also blamed Israel for deceiving President Trump into thinking that Iran did pose an imminent threat.

Today, Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard was asked about the Iranian threat.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JON OSSOFF, (D-GA) SENATE INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE: Was it the intelligence community's assessment that nevertheless, despite this obliteration, there was an "imminent nuclear threat" posed by the Iranian regime, yes or no?

TULSI GABBARD, DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE: It is not the intelligence community's responsibility to determine what is and is not an imminent threat.

OSSOFF: OK.

GABBARD: That is up to the president based on a volume of information that he receives.

OSSOFF: No, it is precisely your responsibility to determine what constitutes a threat to the United States. This is the worldwide threats hearing where, as you noted in your opening testimony, quote, "You represent the IC's assessment of threats."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: All right CNN's Zach Cohen is with us now for more on this. All right. He might have had her there on that one. It is an inconvenient title of the hearing for that kind of questioning. What more did we learn from it?

ZACHARY COHEN, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: Yeah, guys. Gabbard and the rest of the top intelligence officials that were witnesses and testifying today were repeatedly pressed to add clarity around the Trump administration's reasoning for why the U.S. is now at war with Iran. And Gabbard in particular appeared to go to great lengths to try to avoid contradicting the evolving explanations that President Trump and the White House have provided over the last two plus weeks and in part, Gabbard even omitted a piece of her written prepared remarks when she was delivering it during the hearing.

I mean it was an important piece. It was a piece that talked about the IC's, the intelligence community's assessment related to Iran's nuclear ambitions and it stated that Iran's nuclear enrichment production and their capability to produce and enrich uranium had been obliterated, and there had been no efforts as far as the U.S. intelligence community was concerned to rebuild it, and that they would continue to look for indicators how the new or future regime would approach a potential nuclear weapons program.

[14:10:00]

But take a listen to an exchange between Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Committee, who -- and Gabbard after Warner immediately seized on this admission.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MARK WARNER, (D-VA) VICE CHAIRMAN, INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE: Even in your printed testimony today, on Page 6, in your last paragraph on Page 6, as a result of Operation Midnight Hammer, Iran's nuclear enrichment program was obliterated. There's been no effort to try to rebuild their enrichment capability.

You omitted that paragraph from your oral opening. Was that because the president said there was an imminent threat two weeks ago?

GABBARD: No sir, I recognized that the time was running long and I skipped through some of the portions of my oral delivered remarks.

WARNER: So you chose to omit the parts that can contradict the president.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COHEN: So Trump has said as recently as this week that Iran's nuclear ambitions were part of the justification for launching this ongoing conflict. He has also pointed to Iran's ballistic missile capability as another reason. Gabbard seemed to contradict that as well today, saying that Iran has not only not chosen to pursue an intercontinental ballistic missile, one capable of reaching the United States, but that they would be 10 years away from achieving that if they did decide to move forward.

So, still that gap exists between what the intelligence community has been telling Donald Trump and what his reasoning has been to justify this war.

SANCHEZ: And not just on the justification for the war, but what would happen with the Strait of Hormuz. Gabbard was asked whether she briefed President Trump that Tehran might try to shut it down. How did she respond?

COHEN: Yeah, lawmakers really wanted to know was Donald Trump briefed and told about the downsides of launching this conflict, and Gabbard and CIA Director, John Ratcliffe, were both a little bit evasive in answering those questions, declining to say whether or not they briefed Trump on specific things, but acknowledging that it has been well known for years now that Iran would threaten to close the Strait of Hormuz if they faced an imminent threat to their survival.

And they would also take other steps like attacking Gulf allies of the United States in the region too. So that information was out there. The intelligence community was aware of it. Did it get communicated to Trump or did he choose to ignore it? That remains a question.

KEILAR: Zach Cohen, thank you so much. Really appreciate it.

Still to come, Republican Senator, Markwayne Mullin grilled by his colleagues on Capitol Hill as he hopes to soon lead the Department of Homeland Security. The major changes that he wants to make following Kristi Noem's controversial reign.

Plus, some key questions ahead of Attorney General, Pam Bondi's closed-door briefing on Capitol Hill. What lawmakers plan to ask her about the Epstein files.

SANCHEZ: And parts of the U.S. right now are under sweltering, record-breaking heat. That and much more coming your way next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:17:32]

SANCHEZ: Today on Capitol Hill, President Trump's new pick for DHS Secretary, Senator Markwayne Mullin faced tense questioning on his vision for the department. Under outgoing Secretary Kristi Noem's leadership, the department has been swamped in controversy, especially when it comes to highly visible sweeping immigration operations in several American cities.

During his hearing, Mullin indicated He would do things differently.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MARKWAYNE MULLIN, (R-OK) DHS SECRETARY NOMINEE: But I do believe there is a better approach and I think working with municipalities I would love to see ICE become a transport more than the frontline. If we get back -- if we can get back into just simply working with law enforcement, we're going to them and we're picking up these criminals from their jail. One, we're going to reimburse them for having the person there and a partnership is while important --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: We're joined now by Deborah Flieschaker. She served as DHS Executive Secretary under President Biden and as Acting Chief of Staff for ICE. Deborah, thanks so much for being with us.

Overall, what did you make of Senator Mullin's testimony?

DEBORAH FLIESCHAKER, FORMER DHS EXECUTIVE SECRETARY UNDER PRESIDENT BIDEN: My main takeaway is that he took what should have been a walk in the park and has made it more difficult for himself. You know, Senator Paul has said he won't be voting for him. Senator Fetterman sounds like he's wavering. I don't think that that was the expected outcome.

I think that there was supposed to be a vote on his nomination in committee tomorrow. Now, it's up in the air based on his questioning about the classified work that he did, that nobody knows anything about.

SANCHEZ: Yeah. He was asked about comments that he'd made regarding knowing the smell of war and then he was sort of pressed on that because, as far as the record is concerned, he has not served in the military. I wonder what could he mean?

FLIESCHAKER: That's really unclear.

SANCHEZ: Yeah.

FLIESCHAKER: And the Senators seemed quite unclear. And he didn't seem like he wanted to talk about it outside of a classified setting. I think that it's fine for certain things to be held in a classified setting but the idea that he can't talk in generalities about the type of work that he did and that the agencies who vetted him aren't aware of any classified work that he did is odd.

SANCHEZ: He talked about having been trained for a mission and then going to a certain area to do it But no specifics. We'll see if more come to light. Did you get the sense from his comments that he would run DHS differently than his predecessor?

FLIESCHAKER: Look, I think what we need to keep in mind is that immigration is being run out of the White House.

[14:20:00]

And so, whether it's Secretary Noem or a to-be Secretary Mullin, I don't think it matters that much. I think Stephen Miller is in charge of immigration policy in this country. I think that they have decided that the public -- they recognize the public turned against them, given what they saw in Minneapolis and Los Angeles and Chicago.

And so, they are doing their best to try and accomplish the same goals with less notice.

SANCHEZ: He did say, Senator Mullin, that if he were secretary, immigration officers would almost always, nearly always, need a judicial warrant to enter homes and businesses, whereas over the last year-plus, what we've seen is just an administrative warrant, which requires less burden of proof.

One is approved by a judge, the other is approved essentially by a federal immigration official. Do you believe Senator Mullin?

FLIESCHAKER: I would very much like to believe Senator Mullin. I'm so glad that Senator Mullin thinks that ICE should follow the Fourth Amendment. And I truly hope that he was speaking for the administration when he said that.

I will say that that hasn't been part of the DHS funding negotiations. The White House has not indicated that that is a place they've been willing to compromise up to this point. I hope that that is a new development and one that will stick around.

SANCHEZ: So, Kristi Noem previously had said that FEMA should be eliminated. She then later backtracked. What did you make of Mullin saying that FEMA should be not completely eliminated, but restructured? What would that restructuring entail, do you think?

FLIESCHAKER: That's a really good question. I think FEMA largely has been restructured by the elimination of so many jobs. And I think that we're seeing the harm that comes from that.

People are not getting relief in the disaster areas that need it. And so by restructuring, I hope he means rebuilding.

SANCHEZ: Touching back on the immigration crackdown, this hearing is happening as DHS is shut down because Democrats want certain concessions to be made, demands that they have on things like judicial versus administrative warrants, body cameras, et cetera.

Do you think that the shutdown is impacting the U.S.' ability to foresee and prepare for potential terrorist attacks in the heightened environment that we're in right now, given the war with Iran, given that over the last two weeks we've seen a number of purported attacks?

FLIESCHAKER: It's hard for me to answer. What I will say is that CISA was cut by a third through the DOJ actions, the fork in the road and the reductions in force. So it's hard for me to say that challenges that CISA is having are due to a shutdown now.

I'm sure shutdowns don't help. And I know that the Democrats have offered to reopen all the non-immigration portions of DHS. And we'll see if the Republicans take them up on that.

SANCHEZ: Deborah Flieschaker, thank you so much for joining us. Appreciate it.

FLIESCHAKER: Thank you.

SANCHEZ: Coming up, when can Americans express some relief on interest rates? They're holding steady. The Fed announcing interest rates are unchanged. The Central Bank also giving us a clear picture of what it is seeing in the economy for the future.

We're standing by for Chairman Jerome Powell to make some remarks. He likely will also be asked about a federal judge blocking a grand jury subpoena against the DOJ's wishes to investigate him. We'll keep an eye on this. Stay with CNN. We'll be right back. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:28:15]

KEILAR: In moments, Fed Chairman, Jerome Powell will talk about the decision the Fed just announced to keep interest rates unchanged. It is the first big call from the board since the start of the U.S. and Israel's war with Iran.

SANCHEZ: Let's bring in an expert on the economy. Aaron Klein joins us. He was Deputy Treasury Secretary in the Obama administration and is now a Senior Fellow in Economic Studies at the Brookings Institution. Aaron, thanks for being with us.

No real surprise that interest rates stayed the same, right?

AARON KLEIN, FORMER DEPUTY SECRETARY, TREASURY DEPARTMENT: Yeah, everybody had expected the Fed to stay the same, probably this one and most likely the next, which are the last two of Jay Powell's term.

People have been watching to see whether there'd be more dissents. Last time, there were two Fed governors that dissented. People thought there may be as many as three. Only one ended up dissenting, Stephen Miran, who's been Trump's personal chief economist while serving on the board, dissented every time since he's been appointed. No surprise there.

So in some ways, the Fed came together and supported Powell a little more than people were expecting.

KEILAR: We also learned in this announcement that Fed officials have penciled in a rate cut for the year, which in December, well before this war started, it was the same thing. They were in the same place with that. So I wonder how you're seeing this.

KLEIN: Well, what I'm seeing this is the Fed doesn't know yet what's happening. They've increased their projections for inflation. They went up actually by over 10 percent of what they thought inflation would be from December.

So they think this war is going to temporarily elevate prices this year, which is going to make it harder for them to cut rates. On the other hand, the economy softened since what they last saw. We lost jobs in February. We've lost jobs four of the last seven months.

So the economy is weakening, but inflation is getting stronger. So the Fed isn't quite sure what to do, and they're kind of hunkering down and waiting.

SANCHEZ: As you noted, this is Powell's likely second-to-last meeting, and there is the Fed Chair, Jerome Powell, right now. Let's go ahead and listen in. --