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Iran Vows Retaliation For U.S. Strikes On Key Oil Hub; Trump Calls On Other Nations To Help Secure Strait of Hormuz; FCC Chair Threatens Networks After Trump Fumes Over Coverage; NY Lobbyist Tied To Trump Pardon Charged With Attempted Extortion. Aired 9-10p ET

Aired March 14, 2026 - 21:00   ET

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

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[21:00:22]

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN HOST: Hi there. Good evening. Thank you for joining us. Welcome to CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Kate Bolduan in New York for you tonight.

Iran issuing a new threat across the Middle East now. It says it will strike oil and gas sites tied to the United States. If any more of its own energy infrastructure is attacked. T

his warning is in response to U.S. strikes on a key Iranian oil hub located in the Persian Gulf. President Trump says the U.S. only hit Iranian military sites on military sites on that island, but he vowed to reconsider his decision, as he put it, if Iran doesn't let ships start passing safely through the Strait of Hormuz.

Now, the strait has become very clearly the central flashpoint in this war. Twenty percent of the world's oil goes through it. Iran has essentially paralyzed it since this conflict began.

The latest from Iran's foreign minister now, he's now claiming that the strait is open, essentially only closed to ships from the U.S. and Israel.

Tonight, the president is calling on other countries to get involved to help secure the Strait of Hormuz, telling them to send warships to the strait adding that the U.S. will help a lot.

I want to start this hour with CNN's Nic Robertson in Kuwait City.

Central focus right now, Nic, for sure. What can you tell us about these new threats from Iran? What do they mean?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yeah, Kharg Island hugely important, 90 percent of Iran's oil exports are crude. Oil exports come from there. That's about four to five percent of what the sort of global uptake of oil is its vital to Iran because it has a lot of oil storage there as well. So to threaten that, that's a pressure point.

It is at the opposite end of the gulf from the Straits of Hormuz at the northern end here, it's about 130 miles off the coast of Kuwait. Here it is a focus that could really shift Iranian activity as well to the northern end of the Arabian Gulf, the Persian Gulf. But the attacks from Iran, the verbal attacks threatening U.S. business interests. I think that's also a message that Iran wants to be heard in European capitals as well, because it doesn't want them joining the United States in trying to force the Straits of Hormuz to open up.

Iran today targeting Qatar, targeting the UAE, threatening and warning people in the UAE, the UAE to get away from U.S. business interests in the area. Bahrain hit today. The Saudi military airbase just outside the capital, that was the target again, a ballistic missile. They were intercepted here in Kuwait.

The civilian international airport here was hit, according to the civilian aviation authority, two drones impacting a radar facility. They say the military also saying that a number of drones were intercepted. Three intercepted two falling in an open area, but two hitting a military base inside of Kuwait. Three Kuwaiti service personnel injured as well today.

So Iran's -- the threat on this key pressure point for Iran is rippling out to another spate and round and perhaps a slight uptick in strikes and rhetoric against these Gulf countries here.

BOLDUAN: Yeah and, Nick, you're laying out perfectly. I mean, the threat -- the very real threat that Gulf nations have already been facing since this war began. And then you now have this new threat from Iran that it's going to be targeting, could be potentially targeting U.S. assets, U.S. interests in Gulf nations, in the territory of Gulf nations. What are you hearing about that?

ROBERTSON: I think one of the interesting things today is that we heard President Trump acknowledge that some KC-135, the air tanker refueler aircraft that are stationed in Saudi Arabia, the Prince Sultan Air Base, admitting that they had light damage. There have been reports of a strike there.

Now, the Saudi authorities haven't mentioned that. And I think that's significant because it just shows that although the gulf countries here are providing support for the United States in defensive measures here, they say, they don't want to draw attention to that. They are still afraid of getting drawn into this conflict. The Europeans or some of them at least, and the Gulf states, perhaps not saying it loudly, publicly, but really seeing what's happening to the oil that's not passing through the straits of Hormuz as being a United States generated problem.

[21:05:01]

And they want to see the United States find a way to fix it without drawing themselves in.

Here in Kuwait, they have that experience going back several decades for when the United States came to support Kuwait, when Saddam Hussein, the northern neighbor, the dictator in Iraq invaded, killed thousands of Kuwaitis, tried to steal their oil, was ultimately driven out by a huge coalition, Operation Desert Storm, the First Gulf War, as it was known.

Kuwait is here, very sort of intertwined and supportive of the United States, but finding themselves getting closer and closer like the other Gulf states, to being drawn in and Kharg Island being a focus, potentially for -- for the United States to strike the oil facilities. They're sensitive for Iran. That would push the fight just closer here. Everyone's watching and worrying about how it all moves out from this moment.

BOLDUAN: Absolutely. I think the way you kind of described it to me earlier, it's not just ripple effects. These are like waves that are coming at these Gulf nations.

It's great to see you, Nick. Thank you so much. I really appreciate it.

Let's talk more about this with me now. Former State Department Middle East negotiator Aaron David Miller and retired Rear Admiral Mark Montgomery. Thank you both for being here.

Aaron, let's -- let me ask you just what Nick was talking about right there. He said that the general view that he's getting from gulf nations is that this is when it comes to Hormuz, this is a U.S.- generated problem. And they're trying to -- they want the U.S. to figure out a way to fix it without being drawn in.

Do you think that the paralysis and the threat to the Strait of Hormuz can be fixed by the U.S. alone? Or is it inherently, in the end, going to require a coalition of nations?

AARON DAVID MILLER, FORMER STATE DEPARTMENT MIDDLE EAST NEGOTIATOR: No, I don't think it can be fixed. I mean, every intelligence analyst, CIA, DIA over the years identified closing -- closure of the straits as a significant, serious problem. Could -- could an international coalition of the willing or unwilling? I'll let the admiral speak to the logistics here.

If you had a coalition, you could probably do it, but it would take a long time. You'd have to suppress coastal defenses. You'd have to engage in an enormous demining process. And then you'd have to have convoy escorts. We've done that before, '87, '88 during the tanker war.

But look, Kate, the problem here wars of choice, wars of necessity, you have to have a clear set of objectives. You have to have an accurate assessment of your adversary, and you have to at least plan for anticipated contingencies.

And I think we find ourselves drifting now, wandering all over the parking lot because not enough or inefficient or insufficient or no attention was paid to what happens when you take the country to a war, not a special operation, but a war. BOLDUAN: And, Admiral, kind of to what Adam was talking about here when it comes to the Strait of Hormuz, you had Chris Murphy, the senator, he said that Navy escorts for vessels would require the entire U.S. Navy.

Do you think that's what it would require?

REAR ADM. MARK MONTGOMERY (RET.), SENIOR DIRECTOR, FOUNDATION FOR DEFENSE OF DEMOCRARIES: No, I don't know where that number comes from the -- that's not realistic. I've done escorts before. Back in the late 1980s, as Aaron referred to, and I think two things have to happen. First, I agree this is not going to happen fast and the president is going to have to come to grips with that.

Admiral Cooper and General Caine, the CENTCOM commander and chairman, have told him it's a four-week campaign to significantly degrade the weapon systems throughout Iran, but particularly along the coast, their mines, missiles, fast attack craft and drones. Once that's traded down to a reasonable military risk, we can then bring in -- we'll have -- we certainly have a persistent stare, ISR, we'll have to have aircraft up probably eight aircraft up all times equipped with special rockets that shoot down drones that are actually very cost, effective helicopters to take out the small craft and then navy ships.

And my guess is it's around 14 ships constantly in that rotation, moving them through. We used about six or seven, but it's a different world than 40 years ago but 14 ships is not 14 destroyers.

We -- I know that senator doesn't know these numbers, but we have 93 destroyers. Not for, you know, we can make 14 work. And that's assuming we don't get French, British, Australian, maybe Japanese and Korean destroyers. They have to be air defense destroyers. So, they have to be high quality but we have allies with those.

BOLDUAN: Let me ask, Admiral, one other thing, because it's just popped up in a new interview that the President Trump did with NBC News.

[21:10:02]

He told NBC News this, the only power Iran has, and it's a power that can be closed off relatively quickly is the power of dropping a mine or shooting a relatively short range missile but when we get finished with the shoreline, they're not going to have that power either. What does that mean, finish with the shoreline?

MONTGOMERY: Look, he's -- so he's implying that, you know, that's killing, that's getting rid of the drones air drones, the surface drones, the missiles, which are cruise missile systems and mines and mine laying equipment that the Iranians have and the general region of the general area of the straits. I think that's awfully optimistic that we get rid of all of them.

But if we get rid of a reasonable amount, 90 to 95 percent, you then create something that the commanders, as they bring their forces through, can manage. We can operate in a -- in a threat environment. You just don't want to be in a heavy threat environment. So, I think the president is slightly overstating what we can do. And then underestimating how we can operate.

BOLDUAN: Aaron, can you speak to the dynamic and maybe the evolving and shifting dynamic that is at play with Gulf, with the Gulf nations and U.S. allies not wanting to be drawn into this. Do you think they're going to be able to avoid being drawn into this? I mean, you can see what Iran is pulling off with strikes on Gulf nations already.

MILLER: Look, in this part of the world, the admiral knows this and so do you, Kate -- geography is destiny and proximity means vulnerability. And the reality is Qatar, the Emirates, Bahrain, the Saudis, their whole conception of their future is based on security and stability in the Gulf, turning the UAE integral, MBS, Mohammed Bin Salman wants to invite every conceivable sports franchise to Saudi Arabia. Sportswashing maybe, maybe not, to basically turn Saudi Arabia into a modern country, a window to the world.

All of that right now is completely turned upside down by the reality that Iran deals with horizontal escalation, short range ballistic missiles and drones. They can make life intolerable and unlivable and undermine that vision. So, whatever happens when this is over, the Gulf states are going to be more angry at the Israelis and us. They're going to be dependent on us but they're going to have to figure out a way since geography is destiny, to deal with whatever emerges an embittered, angry, Iran-seeking retribution.

Some Iranian Delcy Rodrguez that the president is hoping will somehow emerge. My colleague Karim Sadjadpour at Carnegie says it won't be Iranian Delcy Rodrguez. It's going to be Iran -- Iranian Kim Jong Un. And that's the problem with underestimating, as the president has done, the enemy, the adversary.

BOLDUAN: ADM, it's good to see you. Admiral, thank you so much for coming in. I really appreciate it. Thanks for the time.

Coming up next, congressman and veteran, Eugene Vindman, speaking out on the war. His latest thoughts on where things stand right now and where things are headed. This as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy tells CNN that Russia is helping Iran more than we think.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT: My intelligence told me that they said if Europe and the United States can help Ukraine with intelligence, in this war, it means that Russia can help Iranian regime.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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BOLDUAN: So right now, congress sitting on the sidelines of the war in Iran. But that could change soon. The Pentagon is expected to ask Congress for more money to continue funding this war effort. According to some estimates, that request could top $50 billion. And Democrats are facing intense pressure from their base to find any way to push back and bring this war to an end.

I want to bring in right now to continue this conversation, Congressman Eugene Vindman, Democrat from Virginia, member of the House Armed Services Committee and a retired army colonel who served in Iraq.

Congressman, thank you for coming in.

Let's start with funding. Would you support additional funding for the war in Iran if the Pentagon asked for it?

REP. EUGENE VINDMAN (D-VA): Look, Kate, the president, this administration entered this war without a plan. A real plan. Their current plan is based on hope. Hope that American air power is sufficient to bring the Iranians to their knees and hope that the Iranian people rise up against this regime. And over the course of the last two weeks, I've not seen anything that looks like the Iranian people are in a position to rise up and air power so far has not been sufficient to open the Strait of Hormuz.

So, I want to see a real plan. I want to know what the achievable objectives are. This president changes from moment to moment to unconditional surrender, from unconditional surrender to taking out Iranian nuclear capabilities, which apparently just eight months ago were completely obliterated. So, I guess that was not true.

[21:20:01]

And we don't know what this president is looking to achieve. So, before we throw good money after bad, I'm going to want to hear a plan and as this president frankly has been very cavalier with spending about $1 billion a day in American treasure and American blood, we've now had 13 casualties. I was at the Dover dignified transfer ceremony just a week ago and I watched those coffins go by. And I kept asking myself, the president was just in front of me. He's like six feet in front of me.

Said, "When will this end?" is what I'm asking myself. And we still don't have an answer to that. So, no, I'm not inclined to support the funding right now

BOLDUAN: When it comes to the war, there's some interesting perspective on the role of Russia here. Trump believes that Russia might be helping Iran in the war. We have reporting, there's reporting that Iran -- that Russia has been offering Iran intelligence help when it comes to the war. Ukrainian President Zelenskyy just sat down with Fareed Zakaria, and he said this about what his intelligence team is confirming about it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ZELENSKYY: We saw intelligence shared with us some details, and it was Russian details in these Iranian drones. This is the first. And the second point is my intelligence told me next that -- that they think that they share information, intelligence with Iranian regime. They helped them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Russia offering intelligence support to Iran. How should the United States respond to that? Because right now, what we've seen is the Trump administration is moving to lift sanctions on Russian oil that is stranded at sea. And I've talked to many a smart person on energy security who says that Russia is just the big winner in that.

But how can the U.S. respond to this?

VINDMAN: Look, this is a very serious issue. It's obscene that the president would actually lift sanctions on Russian oil in this context. Over the course of the last couple of weeks, and this has been publicly reported, there have been extremely expensive exquisite radar systems that have been destroyed by precise targeting.

Apparently, some of these tanker aircraft in Saudi Arabia that may have been damaged. We don't know the extent of that damage. We're targeted and there is other information potentially out there that the Russians are providing to target American interests, American personnel.

We should take this very seriously. This is obviously -- you know, Russians are our adversary, they're not our friend. And the president is just waving his hand at this like, well, we support the Ukrainians. They support the Iranians.

No, this is American blood and American treasure. We have had 13 casualties. For the president not to take this seriously is, frankly, outrageous. For him to lift sanctions at this moment is obscene and completely unacceptable. We need to hold this president's feet to the fire on this point. You know, just going back to that point about funding.

So, my Democratic colleagues think that supporting funding is supporting the troops.

No, I think it's the exact opposite. I think if you want to support the troops, we need to have a plan. We need to have achievable objectives and we don't need to put soldiers in harm's way.

I was deployed to Iraq. I know what that means. We can't put soldiers in harm's way without a plan, without an exit strategy.

BOLDUAN: Congressman Eugene Vindman, thank you for coming in tonight. I appreciate your time.

VINDMAN: Thank you.

BOLDUAN: Coming up ahead for us, the president and Secretary Hegseth lashing out at the coverage of the war with Iran. And tonight, the FCC chairman is joining in on that with a new threat to broadcast networks. That's next. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[21:28:40]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I just want to know where all the gas from Venezuela at. I paid $4.87 at the gas station.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I came to get gas, and the pump is looking at me like a bank loan officer, asking questions like, sir, are you ready for these financial decisions?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: $8 -- $8.21, you might as well get your horse.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Americans feeling the rising prices at the pump. I want to show you a look at how quickly they have gone up. Right now, the average price for a gallon of regular is $3.67. That's up from $2.90 a month ago. Republicans on the Hill and beyond. They are seeing these very same numbers, just as they're also looking at the midterm elections Democrats alike.

But some Republicans, like Jim Jordan, for example, they're making the case still that what you're seeing at the pump, this is just a short term blip.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLP)

REP. JIM JORDAN (R-OH): To stop them from getting a nuclear weapon is a worthwhile objective. And President Trump is committed to achieving that goal. And if that means prices go up for a short time, I think Americans understand we can -- we can -- we can -- we can live with that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Joining me right now to discuss former Republican governor of New Hampshire, Chris Sununu, who is also now the president and CEO of Airlines for America, and CNN political commentator Jamal Simmons.

It's good to have you guys here.

Governor, let us begin.

[21:30:01]

The administration seems -- not just seems -- the message from the president on this is short term pain to fix a long-term problem.

Do you think that is the right message that you think American/voters months down the line are going to be comfortable with?

CHRIS SUNUNU, PRESIDENT AND CEO, AIRLINES FOR AMERICA: Yeah, look, if this really is a 45 to 60-day endeavor, a Memorial Day is always kind of a marker, if you will, for where gas prices are going to be set for the rest of the summer. If he can, you know, have this large military onslaught, they can somehow, secure the Strait of Hormuz, even with regime change or militarily sometime in the next 45 days, then absolutely. It doesn't really become a political piece of the puzzle come November.

Affordability as a whole, right? You know, prices rising on other things as a whole will still be there. But it's not just dictated by gas prices.

BOLDUAN: No, that's exactly right. I mean, people were dealing with -- we're in the midst of an affordability crisis, Jamal, when gas prices were low. So, I mean, this is on top of that.

What do Democrats -- what do you think of how Democrats have been handling this so far? Do you think in terms of gas prices but also just the war and messaging and where the position that they're taking, do you think they are in the right place? Do you think they are doing enough?

SIMMONS: The Democrats are doing fine at the moment. The problem is the president isn't doing that great because the Democrats really right now are driving the message about how the presidents falling short.

I just pulled up three states that I thought would matter, right? Georgia gas prices are up 53 cents. In Michigan, they're up 56 cents. And in North Carolina, they're up 53 cents also.

The reason why those are important, Democrats are defending two senate seats in Michigan and in Georgia. And Democrats are trying to take a Senate seat in North Carolina, right? So those three states are incredibly important.

The president's job is to go out to the country and tell us why this is important. I've been doing communications for a long time, and one of the things that makes good effective messaging has got to be clear. It's got to be concise. It's got to be compelling. It's got to be consistent.

All those things have to happen for the American public to be able to hear it. And what they're doing right now are jumping around to a bunch of different reasons and not really telling the American public in a consistent way why were in Iran, why now, and what the objectives are and when do we get out.

BOLDUAN: With that, consistency definitely has been something that the -- that the president has struggled with, especially with this war with Iran, Governor. Do you think the president did speak on present a video and send it out at the kind of the beginning of this. Do you think it is time for another address to the nation for if the president wants a shot at clearing this up and getting on the path of a consistent message, of answering this question of why we're there and what is the measure of success, and we're getting out?

SUNUNU: Well, messaging and transparency, you know, as Jamal said, are critical but were two weeks in guys. We are two weeks in. And on the first day, the president said this is a 30 to 45-day pure military mission where he's going to pummel them for 30 or 45 days.

We're a couple weeks into this, he said. Our goal is to get regime change. Well, when the ayatollah was taken out another one stepped up and he very clearly said that's not going to do it.

So, I mean, I love the idea of transparency and communication. No one should ever be complaining that this president doesn't communicate enough. I mean, he's effectively running three press conferences a day, running -- you know, with -- you know, taking questions from the press left, right and everywhere.

Now, consistency yes, consistency needs to be there. But I don't think he hasn't been consistent. He said it's going to be 30 to 45 days. It's going to be a massive military action. We have to secure the Strait of Hormuz.

I mean, there's still a lot of time for him to achieve those objectives. From a political standpoint, still -- whether this plays into November, no, not if he achieves those objectives by mid-May. And again, will there be more -- a little more of a coalition from the other Middle East states? Yes.

You know, there's a lot more to play out here to be sure. These are the early days. And I don't think he's blowing it on communication -- on his communication at all. These are just the early days. They've had a lot of success militarily, right?

Iran. Yes. The fact that we can almost count on every single hit that Iran has in a single day on two hands, maybe, maybe they get ten or a dozen hits. It's not nothing, but come on, they have completely decimated the Iranian military but they got to finish it and open up the strait. It all comes down to the Strait of Hormuz

SIMMONS: Well, Governor, here's the problem. The problem is that the president should have been doing that two, three weeks before we started attacks. Right? When you think about when we went into Iraq, when you think about some of the other major American military expeditions, we went in with the American public, knowing what we were doing, and everybody was briefed and ready.

[21:35:04]

You can't say we were -- we would have been telling our enemy because we were moving an entire armada to the Middle East. The enemy knew we were preparing to go to war. The president should have been telling us what it is.

And since then, one day, Marco Rubio is blaming it on Israel. One day they're saying it's about nuclear weapons. Another day, they're saying it's about the Straits of Hormuz.

We don't know exactly why it is we're there and when we're getting in.

BOLDUAN: Let me -- let me jump in because I want to add another element to this, which is --

(CROSSTALK)

SUNUNU: You do not broadcast when you're planning an attack. That's crazy.

SIMMONS: You broadcast why you're going --

SUNUNU: You build up your military.

BOLDUAN: I will -- no, but the president had threatened that he was going to attack Iran for months. But the president did threaten Iran, that he would attack for months. So not on a date certain, that is true, but this -- this was -- this was known and assets were moving to the region for quite some time as they needed to be.

Let me add this into the conversation, which is the FCC chairman, Brendan Carr. It has been very clear that the administration, especially the defense secretary, has taken a position very aggressively of not being happy about -- about press coverage of the war, not happy with even the questions coming at him, even in press briefings about this war effort.

The FCC chairman, Brendan Carr, he is now appears to be threatening broadcasters over coverage of the war that they would like to describe as fake. And here's the quote from the FCC chairman: "Broadcasters that are running hoaxes and news distortions, also known as fake news, have a chance now to correct course before their license renewals come up."

Let me add this into the caveat. He has threatened a lot of outlets previously over coverage and those threats have not become action.

But is this -- what does this add to the conversation? Jamal?

SIMMONS: You know, this isn't conservative. It isn't laissez faire, right? This isn't any of the things that we always think of Republican administrations having a hands off the market.

These -- this particular government has decided that it's going to use its power to try to determine what private companies are going to do and how they're going to cover the news.

I think that every Republican out there who is concerned about this because you spent your entire life arguing against government involvement, should be looking at a Democrat to support this year.

BOLDUAN: Final thought, Governor?

SUNUNU: Well, Jamal, the first part of what Jamal said is 100 percent right. Terrible look for the FCC to be saying this. In fact, the White House should be reining in completely. You know they want to be the party of free speech.

It doesn't mean that we're going to start voting for Democrats because the FCC chairman said something silly. But and the other thing I'll throw out there, if -- Trump could have

won this thing decisively on day one. And guess what? The media still isn't going to give him credit for it. Hello?

BOLDUAN: You can't say that.

SUNUNU: I mean, that shouldn't shock anybody, right? The medias never, never really been -- been, you know, you know, for President Trump, so to say. So that shouldn't shock them by any means. And yes, for the FCC to be threatening licenses over it is really crazy and just a terrible look for the administration as a whole.

BOLDUAN : Broadly speaking though, you can't say then though, Governor. You can't say the media wouldn't give -- give him credit if he had won on day one. That's just --

SUNUNU: When is the media ever given? Look, I'm not here to defend President Trump, but what does the media ever give him credit for? Is it 100 percent of what he's done -- give me one thing the media gave him credit for right off the bat.

BOLDUAN: We're 100 percent.

SUNUNU: Nothing. Come on.

BOLDUAN: Not going down that road this evening, Governor. That's for sure. We're not going down were not going down, okay? We're not -- we're not doing it. We're just not going to do it.

SIMMONS: I will say this. Can you say this for a second? For those of us -- for those of us, even the Democrats who support the American troops and who think that the country, when it goes to war, ought to be united behind our foreign policy, this is very hurtful because we don't know why it is we're there. And Americans believe that. We don't -- we're not being told everything there is to know.

BOLDUAN: And that's why you need the media, even if you don't like them, Governor. Good to see you. Thank you so much.

Moving on. Coming up next -- coming up next, CNN is on the ground in one of the hardest hit areas of Lebanon. We're going to bring you the toll that the war is taking on that region. We'll be right back.

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[21:43:37]

BOLDUAN: CNN is on the ground in Lebanon, an area known as -- in a suburb known as a Hezbollah stronghold.

CNN's Isobel Yeung has this report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ISOBEL YEUNG, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: So we're in the southern suburbs in the area of Dahieh, and it's just another level of destruction here. You can see this building was just recently struck by an Israeli air strike still on smoke. This whole buildings just entirely crumpled stuff everywhere on the floor. I mean, the Israeli defense forces said that this is a Hezbollah stronghold, and there are Hezbollah command centers here that they've been targeting. They've ordered everyone to evacuate. And the saying that they'll treat anyone who remains here as terrorists.

YEUNG (voice-over): This is the strike that leveled the building behind me. Dahieh has been hit harder than any other Beirut neighborhood. But still, a small trickle of residents returned to pick up belongings or check on their homes.

YEUNG: What did you come to pick up?

MOHAMMED, LOCAL RESIDENT: I wanted to take some stuff from the house. Like clothes for the kids.

YEUNG: What is it feel like seeing your neighborhood like this?

MOHAMMED: We stand firm. We need to stand firm. Because the resistance fighters are sacrificing a lot of blood and whatever we offer is too little.

YEUNG: Hezbollah is the reason that the Israelis are targeting this area. You have no blame for them?

[21:45:00]

MOHAMMED: Israel is the reason. For 15 months, they've been killing us and we've been silent.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Guys! Guys! There are four bodies.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is what the complex looks like after the strike.

YEUNG (voice-over): Un the aftermath of strikes, it falls on the civil defense team based on the outskirts of Dahieh, to put out fires and save any casualties. The Israeli military has warned it could start striking ambulances across Lebanon if, as they allege, Hezbollah continues to use them as transport vehicles. Hezbollah told CNN they do not use ambulances or medical centers for military purposes.

On Friday, the IDF also struck a healthcare center, killing 12 medics in southern Lebanon.

YEUNG: Is that something you're worried about?

GHADEER ZEINEDDEEN, LEBANESE CIVIL DEFENSE: Yes, of course. We had a threat like today. He wanted -- he wanted to attack the ambulances. So, it was like a shock for us.

ALI RAHAL, LEBANESE CIVIL DEFENSE: Although there's a high risk that we will get bombed, but we can't stay down, this is our duty

YEUNG (voice-over): Now, though, the strikes are not limited to Hezbollah strongholds. An apartment block in a mostly Christian neighborhood of Beirut was struck twice, once yesterday and again today.

YEUNG: Marhaba! How are you?

YEUNG (voice-over): Locals tell us they no longer know who to trust and fear. Their neighbor could be an Israeli target.

YEUNG: All the glass is shattered here.

YEUNG (voice-over): Many are resentful that they've been dragged back into yet another war.

YEUNG: From up here, you can really just see how close everyone lives to each other and how densely populated this area is. You've got apartment blocks wedged in next to each other. I mean this apartment was targeted just a few hours ago, and the residents here, many of who are Christians, are saying that they just don't have anywhere else to go to.

So, it must be absolutely terrifying.

SAMIRA, LOCAL RESIDENT: Is anyone not afraid? We were so scared.

YEUNG: What's it like seeing --

SAMIRA: It's the first time they strike here. I mean, they never struck like this.

YEUNG: Who do you blame for this situation?

SAKO DEMIRJIANE, LOCAL RESIDENT: Of course, Hezbollah. Wherever Hezbollah is present anywhere in Lebanon, there is no safety. Of course, they're endangering the lives of Lebanese all around Lebanon. They didn't have to enter this war. And then they're saying that they're supporting Iran. What's that got to do with us?

YEUNG (voice-over): It's a cruel question, particularly for the civilians forced to shoulder the cost of this relentless war.

Isobel Yeung, CNN, Beirut.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BOLDUAN: Thank you so much for that report.

Coming up next, the dark side to President Trump's pardon spree. A lobbyist now under arrest and accused of extortion. The reporter who broke the story joins us.

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[21:52:15]

BOLDUAN: Extortion, violent threats, million dollar payouts, and offers. The arrest of a lobbyist in New York is revealing how the pardon process is becoming big business under President Trump.

Lobbyist Josh Nass was arrested yesterday on charges of attempted extortion. According to court documents, he was trying to force a client to pay up after getting him out of jail, thanks to a pardon from President Trump. But when Nass only got a fraction of his payment, prosecutors say that he allegedly plotted the violent extortion of one of his clients.

CNN has reached out to Nass for comment, but have not heard back.

Joining me right now is one of the reporters who broke this story, and it is a fascinating read, Ken Vogel of "The New York Times".

It's good to see you, Ken.

Just lay out for me what is going on, what is going on here, and how these men are connected to President Trump's orbit.

KEN VOGEL, REPORTER, NEW YORK TIMES: Yeah, President Trump has largely forsaken the Justice Department process for identifying and vetting worthy recipients of clemency pardons and commutations. So, in place of this system, you've seen a real growth of this industry of lobbyists and lawyers who have connections to President Trump or the people in his orbit who are charging big fees, $1 million or more in some cases, to try to get people clemency, to try to get applications before President Trump.

And this guy Josh Nass is a lobbyist who had ties in sort of influential conservative evangelical circles around President Trump. And he enlisted some of these folks to try to elevate this pardon push. And it was successful. President Trump granted this guy, Joseph Schwartz, a pardon.

BOLDUAN: And then what happened?

VOGEL: So, Josh Nass reported that he was paid $100,000 for this lobbying. And it was sort of odd because there were other people who were paid by the same guy, Joseph Schwartz. Much more $960,000 to one lobbying firm. And it sort of didn't -- it seemed discordant. And now we learn from these charging papers that, in fact, the contract with Josh was for $600,000 he was only paid $100,000. And the steps that he took to try to recoup the remaining $500,000 are what landed him in a whole lot of trouble here.

BOLDUAN: I would say so. I mean, some of the things that are the accusations involve like essentially kidnapping seems to be some of the allegations here. But what this, as you write it and you write it so well, is you say that this highlights a shadowy corner of the growing clemency lobbying industry that has emerged around Mr. Trump.

And you detailed that very much. But I think the question going forward is, and what I'm curious is your take on has this completely upended the pardon process forever, do you think?

VOGEL: Potentially. I mean, you know, Joe Biden tried to return it to normal, as he did with like, so many of the norms around the presidency.

[21:55:05]

And it was largely taking clemency recommendations through the Justice Department process, but also, did you know some of his own clemency, including to his son rather controversially, as well as other family members and issuing preemptive pardons to political allies who we thought would be targeted by President Trump. And that did seem to be a continuation of the flouting of the norms.

So, it's different here with Trump as he's starting earlier, you know, with the 1,600 pardons of the January 6th offenders. And also is doing it in a way that has really opened the door to people, you know, everyone from his former bodyguard collected $1 million to lobby for a pardon to Donald Trump Jr.'s hunting buddy who collected $900,000 to lobby for a pardon and got a pardon for CZ, this cryptocurrency tycoon whose company entered into a rather lucrative deal with President Trump's own cryptocurrency company.

So, you see the potential for this type of transactionalism. Do I think, a greater degree than we've seen it with other presidents?

BOLDUAN: For sure. It's a really interesting reporting, Ken. For -- everyone should take a look at it . Thanks for coming in. I appreciate it.

And thank you all so much for watching this evening and joining us.

Polo Sandoval picks up the CNN's live coverage in a moment.

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