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FT: Trump Takes Aim At NATO Over Securing Strait Of Hormuz; Oil Prices Rise Above $105 A Barrel, Highest Level Since 2022; Trump Speaks to Reporters Aboard Air Force One; IDF: Michigan Synagogue Attacker Was Brother Of Hezbollah Commander; FCC Chair Threatens TV Networks Over Iran War Coverage. Aired 9-10p ET

Aired March 15, 2026 - 21:00   ET

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

[21:00:18]

JESSICA DEAN, CNN HOST: You're in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Jessica Dean here in New York.

And tonight, the war with Iran entering its third week. President Donald Trump is taking aim at NATO. The president telling "The Financial Times" tonight that the military alliance faces in his words, a very bad future.

If the countries fail to assist the U.S. in its efforts to secure the Strait of Hormuz, a vital passageway we've been talking about where one fifth of the world's oil passed through prior to the Iran war.

The war causing the price of oil to rise to its highest level since July of 2022. You see there, Brent crude oil and the global benchmark rose above $105 a barrel earlier tonight. U.S. oil rising 2 percent to just over $100.

The president just speaking on Air Force One. Here's what the president said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We have a lot of things to talk about, but there's not much I can say to you about it, brought to life. We had some very good results today as you probably heard in Iran, very strong results militarily. So, we're talking to countries about policing the straits. Otherwise, you know, we don't get very little one percent, two percent. China, as an example, gets about 90 percent of its own from the Hormuz Strait.

And nice to have other countries police that with us. It will help militarily with, as far as I'm concerned, we've essentially defeated Iran. I guess they can have a little bit of fightback but not much. Not much taken out their air force. As you know we've taken out their navy, we've taken out their air defense. There's no air defense whatsoever. We're taking out their leadership times (INAUDIBLE).

But militarily, it's been amazing. We attacked Kharg Island and left just one little area standing at the standing orders where they have the pipes, dual pipes, and we can do that on five minutes. We have it all locked and loaded and ready to go.

We want to do it we chose not to do it. I chose not to do it yet. They want to negotiate. They want to negotiate badly. I don't think they're ready, just want to negotiate, and as they should. But I don't think they're ready to do what they have to do. I think they will be at some point.

But we're doing very well with respect to that old situation in Iran. We are talking to other countries about working with us for the policing of the strait and I think we're getting good response. If we do, that's great. And if we don't, that's great.

Remember, like as an example of many cases with NATO countries, we're always there for NATO. We're helping them with Ukraine. As many, it's got an ocean in between us. Doesn't affect us, but we've helped them.

It'd be interesting to see what country wouldn't help us with a very small endeavor, which is just keeping the straight up, is that by comparison as well? It's all because Iran has very little firepower left, and their missiles are down to a low number. You see the shooting very, very many of them.

And because we've decimated their manufacturing capability, likewise, the drones are way down there, down to about 20 percent. They still have some reach out, but the drones are down and we're hitting, as of yesterday. We're hitting places where they manufacture, we think most of which we know where they are.

So, it's a very strong military operation just as it was in Venezuela. We have the strongest military anywhere in the world by far. Not even a contest. And I think people understand that and we will finish the job.

REPORTER: (INAUDIBLE)

TRUMP: I can't say yet. It's a little early contact today. And last night, but we've had some positive responses. We had a few that would rather not get involved. I tell you about that. I can't really say for sure, but China's an interesting case study. They get most of their oil by the (INAUDIBLE). Got a lot.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: All right. We are attempting to listen to President Trump there aboard Air Force One. As it happens, sometimes that is really tough to hear. I was having a hard time hearing it. I don't know about you at home.

So, we're going to go to Julia Benbrook now who has been traveling with the president over the weekend. You're still there in Florida, Julia. A couple of top lines that we do know that came out of that is that the president did speak on Iran.

We could hear a little of that. He said they're talking to Iran, but he doesn't think that they're ready. He says that Israel is working with the U.S. on securing the Strait of Hormuz and again, once again demanding other countries help protect the strait.

We're also getting this interview from "The Financial Times" tonight in which he talks about those NATO countries and what might happen if they don't help in the strait of Hormuz. Tell us -- tell us what you're hearing.

JULIA BENBROOK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, I was able to listen to those remarks as Trump traveled from here in Florida, where he spent his weekend back to Washington, D.C. And, of course, the topic, the ongoing war in Iran was the main focus here as reporters pressed him and he was asked, are you ready to declare victory? He said he was hesitant to use that word specifically. Instead, he went back to some familiar language that we've heard from him where he said that Iran had been decimated.

He praised the work that the United States had done so far. One key topic that came up throughout was the Strait of Hormuz, which, of course, we've been talking about throughout the night where 20 percent of the world's oil typically goes through that strait, but it's been at a halt, a near complete stop since the war began, and Trump has been calling repeatedly this weekend for countries to help. He says this should be a team effort to secure the strait.

In fact, in a post, he said that many countries, specifically those that have been impacted by Iran's attempted closure of the strait, would be sending warships to help keep it open. And he said hopefully, big emphasis on hopefully there, that China, France, Japan, South Korea and the U.K. would be sending ships and that the United States would be bombing the shoreline in the meantime.

Now tonight, he said that there have been conversations with various countries. He thinks that those are going well. As he was pressed on if there was any commitment, he said he didn't want to get into that, but that some countries didn't necessarily want to get involved. So, he's saying those conversations are going well, but he's also saying that there aren't necessarily commitments. I guess I shouldn't go that far, but he's not detailing any specific commitments when it comes to this.

He's also going in directly against NATO allies calling on them specifically to join in here, but adding a warning, saying that he's going to be paying attention to those that do not want to get involved. He also says that he thinks that this is a small ask, because I wrote this down, because I thought this was important wording, he said. He described Iran as having a little bit of fight back, but not much.

So, he thinks that it's a small ask for these countries to send in warships to help secure the strait.

DEAN: And again, Julia, so that's what we heard from him there on Air Force One. "The Financial Times" interview -- specifically him talking about NATO and him saying that NATO faces a very bad future if it does, if those countries don't help the U.S. secure the Strait of Hormuz. BENBROOK: Yes, he's repeated this a few times. That was essentially

what he said on air force one as well. And saying he's going to be paying attention if they don't act specifically. And he's long been critical of the defensive alliance, NATO. And he is saying that he wants to see them get involved here as he goes on with his efforts in Iran, specifically.

DEAN: All right. Julia Benbrook in West Palm Beach, Florida. Thank you for your reporting tonight.

We're going to take a quick break. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[21:13:38]

DEAN: Joining us now, Republican Congressman Carlos Gimenez of Florida. He serves on the House Armed Services and Homeland Security Committees.

Congressman, thank you so much for your time tonight. We sure do appreciate it. A number of things to get to.

I do want to start -- nice to see you. I want to start with President Trump's message that we're hearing to NATO allies, telling "The Financial Times" they face a very bad future if they do not assist with securing the Strait of Hormuz. He repeated something similar like that on Air Force One. Do you think that's -- that's a fair thing to say to NATO?

REP. CARLOS GIMENEZ (R-FL): No, I think he's just frustrated that he's not getting more cooperation from NATO. I think that things that happened with Spain, et cetera, has got him a little bit frustrated. And sometimes, you know he vents his frustrations but again, I don't think that that the NATO -- that the NATO alliance is in jeopardy, let's put it that way. I don't think the NATO alliance is in jeopardy at all.

DEAN: Do you think this is just essentially him blowing off steam from frustration?

GIMENEZ: Oh, yeah. No, I believe that is. And again, he believes that it's actually in NATO's best interest. It actually in the world's best interest to go ahead and protect the Strait of Hormuz and that we shouldn't be doing it all alone, because you know, that oil isn't just for us. It's for the rest of the world, too. And so and so the gas prices, oil prices and all that in order to bring that down, it should be a cooperative effort.

And Iran is the one that is threatening the Strait of Hormuz.

[21:15:01]

And so, we need to take care of Iran, but also we need to protect those ships so that we get the world's oil flowing again. DEAN: And President Trump also telling reporters tonight that, in his

view, Iran wants to negotiate a deal, but he doesn't think they're ready. Do you see a diplomatic off ramp at this point tonight or, you know, thereabouts soon?

GIMENEZ: If there is a diplomatic off ramp, it come and it'll probably catch us by surprise. But at this point, I'm going to take the president at his word that they're not ready. And what he means by that, I'm sure is that the terms that they want to, you know to reach this deal are not are not good enough for the president and not good enough probably for Israel, probably not good enough for the world.

Remember, you know look, if this regime stays, stays in place then were going to be at this three or four years from now, because this is what the Israelis call cutting the grass. But eventually, yeah, you know before we cut the grass, they're going to have a nuclear weapon. And then the entire dynamic changes then you're going to have a Iran with nuclear weapons that is going to be able now to threaten with impunity the Middle East and the rest of the world.

And so that's what we're trying to avoid, that Iran can never, at least this regime and Iran can never have a nuclear weapon.

So, I guess the deal that they want is not good enough for the president. I'm sure that's what he means.

DEAN: And I just want to clarify I want to make sure I think I understand what you were saying, but you're saying if this regime stays in place, that we -- that the U.S. would have to do something again in three or four years, not that this current conflict would go on that long.

GIMENEZ: No, no, it would. You know, we'll stop. We will, you know, you know, degrade their ability to have nuclear weapons and deliver those weapons. But this regime is intent on having nuclear weapons and the means to deliver them. And so, I take them at their word. They've been at it for 47 years. Okay? I don't think they're just going to stop, right?

And so, if this regime continues three or four years from now, five years from now, we'll be at it again because they'll have -- they'll have -- they'll be developing the delivery systems and then they'll be developing as much as they can as quickly as they can the capacity and the capability to have a nuclear weapon and again, that changes the entire dynamic of the region, not only the region, but the world as far as Iran is and their sponsorship of terrorism in the region and around the world.

DEAN: I want to ask you about another subject that I know you are extremely focused on, which is Cuba. President Trump also saying tonight he thinks something will happen with Cuba very soon. I know you've been talking with the White House as well. What's your sense of this?

GIMENEZ: Well, right now, what's happening in Cuba is that the demonstrations are increasing more and more. You see them every night. Theres been reports that now in some towns, they're setting fire to the communist party headquarters in each of these towns. And since there's no light because there's no electricity then it's harder. It's -- it's harder and harder for the regime actually to find out what's going on.

And so, these demonstrations are starting to gather in more strength. And I would hope that the president would issue a warning to the regime, the Cuban regime, the same warning that he issued to Iran, the Iranian regime, is that, you know, that he's not going to stand by and let -- and let the regime murder its own people.

And so, we're hopeful, you know, look I live in Miami. We have millions of Cuban Americans here. We're hopeful that this is the beginning of the end of that regime. That regime needs to go. It's been in power for 67 years, and it's completely wrecked the island completely.

They don't have any power. They don't have any food. They don't have any medicine. They have no basic necessities because the regime can't provide for it. They can't pay for any of it because they basically run that country into the ground.

DEAN: And so for you, what is the best case scenario out of all of this in Cuba?

GIMENEZ: Best case scenario is the regime goes that we have political change that we have. We have a transition to democracy. And that -- and with that will come, you know, the economic change that is necessary in Cuba. But I would not start with economic change. I think political change needs to happen.

The Cuban people are ready for it. They're in the streets. They're demanding it. The diaspora is waiting for it. You know, I live in this beautiful city that we had a hand in building and we'd love to go back and help rebuild Cuba because it needs to be rebuilt from the ground up.

DEAN: And how -- how does that happen? How does regime change happen? Is that -- is that a military strike?

GIMENEZ: That's the people. The people are going to have to rise up, which I think they are rising up. But again, we also have to show support for the people and their right to self-determination. This regime like I said, has driven this island into the ground.

There are very oppressive regimes. They have 1,400 political prisoners. They freed 51 the other day, by the way, that was a really big deal. But they still have over 1,300 political prisoners.

[21:20:03]

Any time that the people go out and basically just demonstrate for freedom and basic rights, they get beat down and they get put in jail. It's a very oppressive, murderous regime, and that needs to go. And not only that, it has -- you know, basically driven this island into the ground, the economy into the ground. They can't provide for the basic necessities.

It is a failed state, and it needs to go. We need a new political structure in Cuba in order for the people of Cuba to rebuild their country. And once again thrive. Remember in 1959, I don't know if you remember or not. You know, I'm a little bit older.

DEAN: I wasn't around then, but yes, yes.

GIMENEZ: I got you. Okay. But in 1959, actually, Cuba had the second highest standard of living in the in the western hemisphere. And it was known as the jewel of the Caribbean. And now, the standard of living is lower than Haiti's.

I mean this is what communism and socialism does. It drives you into the ground. It drives, you know, the economy into the ground and when people don't have basic freedoms and they don't have a way to move up in the world, this is what happens to their economy. And this is completely corrupt and incompetent regime that we've had for over 67 years.

DEAN: All right. Congressman Carlos Gimenez, thanks for your time tonight. We appreciate it.

GIMENEZ: My pleasure.

DEAN: Still ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM tonight, the FCC chairman sends a warning to TV networks about the coverage of the war with Iran. And President Trump also weighing in on that. We will bring that to you, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[21:25:59]

DEAN: We're learning new details about the man police say rammed a car full of explosives into a Detroit area synagogue. That man in the attack -- accused in the attack is Ayman Ghazali. He is a 41-year-old naturalized U.S. citizen from Lebanon.

The Israeli military saying that Ghazali's brother was a Hezbollah commander who was recently killed by a strike in Lebanon.

Sources telling CNN Ghazali was flagged in government databases here in the U.S. for having connections to Hezbollah in Lebanon, but was not believed to be a member himself.

Let's bring in CNN's Gloria Pazmino to give us more details.

What else have you learned, Gloria?

GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Jessica. And today, we are also hearing from temple Israel. That was the synagogue that was attacked last week when Ayman Ghazali drove a vehicle packed with explosives into the synagogue, home to a school, a playground, a large complex there in Michigan. Thankfully, there were no children that were injured. No one was seriously injured except for one of the security guards who did engage with the attacker and went to the hospital from the injuries he sustained.

But the temple posting a message earlier today reaching out to its community, thanking them for the support that they have gotten in the past few days, but also letting them know that because of the damage to the building, the building is not going to be accessible or usable for the congregation for the foreseeable future. So, they are now having to go through the process of figuring out, you know finding space and being able to host services and provide the services that they provide in the aftermath of this attack.

Now to the connection between these two men. Ayman Ghazali is the man police say drove his vehicle into the synagogue last week. And now we are learning about a connection between him and a man that was killed during an IDF strike in Lebanon on March 5th. We are told that Mohammed Ghazali -- Ibrahim Mohammed Ghazali was a Hezbollah commander who was killed in an IDF strike on March 5th.

So, this connection is significant because this attack at the synagogue was coming as one of several, is one of several incidents in the last few weeks that we have seen, which are being investigated as acts of terrorism by law enforcement. And all of this has started since the U.S. military action began in Iran a few weeks ago.

DEAN: All right. Gloria Pazmino with the very latest for us -- thank you so much for your reporting. We appreciate it.

The Trump administration is not happy with how news organizations are covering the war in Iran. FCC Chair Brendan Carr is threatening to revoke broadcast licenses for news coverage he's deemed fake news.

Carr posting in a post on X, quote, "Broadcasters that are running hoaxes and news distortions, also known as the fake news, have a chance now to correct course before their license renewals come up. Broadcasters must operate in the public interest and they will lose their license if they do not."

Joining us now is CNN chief media analyst Brian Stelter.

Brian, just a few minutes ago, President Trump posted on Truth Social his feelings. He also talked about it on Air Force One. There's a lot here. Bring us up to speed.

BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA ANALYST: He really seems to be fuming about how the Iran war is being covered by the American media. Quite frankly, Trump does not want the scrutiny. He would prefer a propagandistic, pliant press in the United States.

But he's not going to get that. He's not getting that. And so, he's fuming on Truth Social about it. He posted an unusually long message. I think we can put the whole thing up on screen.

And in it, Trump accurately points out that pro-Iran social media accounts have been posting lies and fake A.I. generated videos to make it seem like the Iranian military is mightier than it really is. So that is a real phenomenon. It's really happening. CNN and "The New York Times" have debunked those pro-Iran regime lies. But then Trump suggests that some real news outlets have been running

the pro-Iran videos, and acting like they're real, running these A.I. generated videos.

[21:30:05]

He suggests. Maybe it's even treasonous to show those videos. And I've got to tell you, Jessica, I have not seen any U.S. news outlets that have fallen for those videos to the contrary, real news outlets are debunking those lies.

But Trump sounds confused by the chaotic information environment. It is chaotic out there. And that's what brings us to his handpicked FCC Chairman Brendan Carr. And this new threat against broadcasters. Carr was at Mar-a-Lago yesterday. He was talking with Trump, and then he posted this threat on X.

And here's the thing -- cable channels like CNN are not regulated by the FCC, but local TV stations are. And so, Carr is threatening to revoke licenses or not renew licenses for these stations in the future however, the threat is pretty hollow. He has very, very little power to follow through. These licenses have eight-year terms. They're not up for renewal for years, and it would cause a protracted legal fight if the Trump administration actually tries to punish stations in this way.

DEAN: Yeah. I mean, there's just -- yeah, there's so many layers to this. And I guess the question is, Brian, like, how far can it go?

STELTER: It can go pretty far in the courts. This can go on for a while and I've got to say, I suspect we will see the Trump controlled FCC attempt to punish a station, at least one station in this way. We've all seen in the past year how some media companies have acquiesced and made Trump friendly moves while trying to win FCC approval for various mergers. That's why CBS has an ombudsman now, for example.

So, if media companies are pressured into submission and self- censorship, Carr and Trump will achieve some of what they want without actually taking explicit government action. They'll just pressure companies into doing so. But we've also seen from many media outlets a real reluctance to give in to that pressure. For example, CNN's CEO, Mark Thompson, just said the other day, CNN's trying to tell the truth about this war. And no amount of public pressure or threats from the White House are going to change that posture.

I was really struck last night by what the Radio Television Digital News Association said. This is the trade group that represents TV news executives and reporters across the country, and a lot of these local stations that might feel vulnerable to pressure.

The group said, quote, "Journalists are not intimidated by a bully with a briefcase. They faced far worse and kept reporting. They will keep reporting now."

And I think that is the overall takeaway I've seen this weekend. There's been so much criticism of Carr's tweet. Democratic lawmakers calling it authoritarian and unconstitutional.

But mostly, we've heard from journalists saying they're not going to change what they're doing. They're just going to keep covering this war and these other topics the way we always have. And that seems to be the proper response to these very aggressive but ultimately hollow threats coming from the Trump administration.

DEAN: Just keep doing the reporting. Brian Stelter, good to see you. Thank you so much. We appreciate it.

Still ahead, artificial intelligence is playing a major role in the war with Iran. And there are some big questions around it. We'll dig into that next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[21:37:38]

DEAN: One of the most powerful tools being used on the battlefield is something troops can't hold in their hands. It's not even physically tangible. It's artificial intelligence.

The Pentagon is using B-2 bombers, cruise missiles and A.I. to strike targets in Iran. Reports show A.I. has been used for things like -- scanning satellite images, gathering intelligence data and predicting military outcomes.

And it's not just shaping the battlefield. It's also being used to potentially change our perception of war. Fake images and videos of the war. This is fake. I know you see it on your screen, but just telling you while you're watching it, identified as A.I.-generated have racked up millions of views online.

Executive vice president of the Center of New American Security, Paul Scharre joins us now.

Paul, thanks so much for being here with us. We appreciate it.

It is incredible the impact that A.I. is having in this war. Tell us about what you're watching from your perspective.

PAUL SCHARRE, AUTHOR, "FOUR BATTLEGROUNDS: POWER IN THE AGE OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE": Well, we are now in an age of A.I. warfare. The U.S. military is using artificial intelligence right now in operations against Iran. U.S. over 6,000 targets in Iran. It's a very fluid and dynamic battlefield environment. The U.S. is going after mobile targets, mobile missile launchers, mobile drone launchers, senior Iranian military commanders who are moving around in hiding.

And the U.S. has got to be constantly updating its intelligence to account for this environment, as well as to account for changes in U.S. posture, where U.S. aircraft are located, what U.S. munitions stores look like. And so, A.I. is incredibly valuable in this environment for sifting through drone video feeds and satellite images, and then just synthesizing all of this information to help prioritize targets for the United States. And we've had senior defense officials report that A.I. is now being

used in that way to help support U.S. operations.

DEAN: What about when it comes to the ethics of A.I. and how it's used on the battlefield? What -- how should we be thinking about that?

SCHARRE: Well, there are a lot of concerns about areas where A.I. might make mistakes. We know that A.I. is prone to making mistakes sometimes, and if A.I. gets things wrong in a battlefield environment, the consequences could be life and death.

We've seen you know, really tragic example of what the stakes are in warfare with what appears to be a U.S. strike in error against an Iranian girl school where scores of children were killed.

[21:40:13]

There's no indication that that was due to A.I., but it really underscores what the stakes are here, if there are mistakes, and the importance of making sure that if the U.S. is going to use this technology, it's doing so in a way that's safe and responsible.

DEAN: Yeah. And so, how should people, as we continue to go through this war, what are some things that we should be thinking about in terms of how this is reshaping war?

SCHARRE: Well, we're at the early stages right now of what A.I. is going to do to transform warfare over the next several decades. I mean, these are really just -- not just what we're seeing in Iran, but also in the war in Ukraine for example, or in Israeli operations against Gaza. We've seen some early indications of ways that militaries are using artificial intelligence.

But overtime, in the next few years, we're going to see militaries incorporate A.I. ever more deeply into their operations. And one of the things that's going to do is really transform the cognitive speed and scale at which militaries can operate, allowing militaries to get more information faster about the battle space to understand what's happening, ideally make better decisions to stay ahead of their enemies.

But other countries are going to have access to the same technology and so over time, we could see an arms race in A.I. where it really accelerates the tempo of operations on the battlefield in ways that could be destabilizing and dangerous.

DEAN: Yeah. And this has been in the news, too, as, as anthropic, which contracts with the U.S. government, has said negotiations broke down because the government would not make certain ethical guarantees about how they're using A.I. and this continues to go on. Who should be making these decisions?

SCHARRE: Well, right. So, within the same 24-hour period that the U.S. launched operations against Iran using, in fact, some of Anthropic's A.I. tools to support U.S. military operations, the Pentagon also said that it was going to discontinue its work with Anthropic and retaliate against the company, labeling them a supply chain risk.

And this really comes down to two key areas of disagreement between Anthropic and the Pentagon. One is over domestic mass surveillance. Anthropic has raised concerns that A.I. could be used to help the government surveil U.S. citizens in ways that might violate Americans' rights and privacy.

And the other is around this idea of fully autonomous weapons, which is not an issue today, to be clear, but concern that over time, the military might use A.I. to field weapons that are making their own decisions on the battlefield about which targets to strike, instead of just making recommendations to humans. And the pentagon said that they weren't planning on doing those uses today, but they didn't want a private company dictating to them how they used A.I. and it's really caused a pretty messy public breakup between one of the leading A.I. companies and the U.S. military.

DEAN: Yeah, it's been really fascinating to watch that.

All right, Paul, thank you so much. Really, really great conversation. We appreciate it.

SCHARRE: Thank you.

DEAN: Polls show some Americans are conflicted over the president's decision to go to war, while others support it.

And earlier tonight, I speak with -- I spoke with CNN chief data analyst Harry Enten to talk to him about what Americans are thinking when it comes to this war with Iran.

Here's what he told me.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HARRY ENTEN, CNN CHIEF DATA ANALYST: Yeah. Why don't we just talk about President Trump? First of all, right? I've heard a lot of the president's critics, you know say, hey, this is going to basically bring the President Trump's second term to an end. He won't be able to do anything more.

But here's the thing, President Trump is liked as much now as he was before the war started. I mean, just take a look here. Americans who approve of Trump. In late February, just before the war started, it was 41 percent. And now, it's the exact same, 41 percent.

There has been no movement in the average poll. And I have to say this doesn't really surprise me very much, Jessica, because President Trump's approval rating has been just so consistent over his term that even a war in the Middle East can't seem to move it at least a little bit.

DEAN: And so any idea why the numbers haven't shifted that much?

ENTEN: Yeah. Okay. So, let's talk beyond just the fact that President Trump's approval rating has been so static, right? Why don't we talk about how Americans feel about the war itself? And this is where it gets really interesting, because there are a lot of different polls, and they say a lot of different things.

Okay. This is the net approval of the U.S. military action in Iran. This is the seven most recent national polls, the net approval rating and percentage points. Look at this, you can find polls where its negative, minus 14, minus 13, minus 12, minus 11, minus 11. But then you can also find two recent polls that where you actually see that Americans are either equally divided or actually slightly more likely to approve than disapprove, as is the case in the most recent "Washington Post" poll.

[21:45:10]

So the bottom line is this, while there are plenty of people who dislike the war, there are polls that actually show that Americans are evenly divided or slightly more likely to actually favor the war than oppose it. And therefore, it's not really much of a surprise that Trump's numbers haven't moved, because the American people seem to be fairly evenly divided.

DEAN: Interesting.

And so, when you're looking at the numbers, how about how much Americans care about what's happening in Iran? What's their level of caring about this?

ENTEN: Okay, this to me is probably the most fascinating part of this segment, right? Because there are a lot of Americans who really do care. And there are a lot of people who, of course, have family in the Middle East that really care.

But take a look here -- okay, Americans who say they care about a lot about the U.S. economy, 84 percent. How about the Iranian situation? It's just 45 percent of Americans who say they care a lot about the Iranian situation. So, I would expect that number to climb if, in fact, gas prices go up and there's an effect on the U.S. economy.

But at this point, for a lot of Americans, they simply don't actually care that much. So, it's not that much of a surprise that, in fact, you're not seeing President Trump's numbers move, because at this point, the thing that the Americans care about is the U.S. economy. They don't necessarily care that much about a situation overseas, Jessica.

DEAN: Yeah, 84 percent. That is a high number. What about --

ENTEN: A high number. That's a high number.

DEAN: High number. We don't see 84 percent on many things. What about interest rising or falling? Is it moving any direction?

ENTEN: Yeah. So, you see this 45 percent right here. This is a pretty low number and then just take a look at google interest. Americans searches for Iran, down 84 percent, 84 percent versus the beginning of the war and to put this into some perspective, more Americans were searching for the academy awards in the last hour by a significant margin.

I was typing it on my computer, then searching for Iran. So, look, Americans haven't necessarily cared that much about the situation in Iran so far, and their interest level, Jessica Dean, has been falling as the war has carried on.

Well, of course, wait and see if any of this changes. But at this point, the Iranian situation is something happening overseas. That's not necessarily impacting how Americans view the president.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: All right. Harry Enten, as always, thank you for that.

Tornado warnings and heavy snow in the forecast. We'll get into it. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

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[21:52:04]

DEAN: Severe thunderstorm threats are intensifying as a powerful, multi-day storm sweeps across the U.S. The storm could affect over 100 million people. The Midwest and Great Lakes have already been hit with several feet of snow and heavy winds, while rain has started falling in parts of Arkansas, Missouri, Mississippi and Tennessee.

CNN meteorologist Allison Chinchar has the latest.

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ALLISON CHINCHAR, AMS METEOROLOGIST: More than 20 million people are under winter weather alerts across much of the Midwest right now, and that's just the winter side of this storm. We also have the severe thunderstorm side of this, and that's really going to impact folks from New York all the way down to Florida. That's more than 100 million people impacted just by the potential for damaging winds of 60, 70 even 80 miles per hour. The potential also for a few strong tornadoes.

Now, the target point is really going to be this red area right here. That includes Washington, D.C., Richmond and down through Raleigh. But any of these areas you see highlighted here have the potential for strong to severe thunderstorms. We've already got some that are continuing through the overnight hours here. You can kind of see as we play through the remainder of the evening.

You've got that strong line of storms still going 2:00, 3:00, 4:00 in the morning by the start of morning rush hour, it's likely going to be pretty dicey there for places like Atlanta and then also up into the northeast as that early wave slides through areas like New York and Boston. Then again for the afternoon commute, you're still looking at the potential for some strong thunderstorms across New York, Hartford, Boston, even providence.

The good news is at least across the southeast, most of that line is now starting to exit the region but you do have some of that wraparound snow on the colder side of the system that will end up eventually sliding in across portions of the northeast. Wind, however, is certainly going to be the most widespread impact that we have from this particular system. All of these areas you see here in the yellow or even the red color, are under those high wind alerts. Some of these areas, as we mentioned 50, 60, even as much as 70-mile-per-hour wind gusts in some of these locations, as we go through the rest of the day on Monday.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DEAN: All right. Allison, thank you.

And that major weather system causing problems on Capitol Hill. One of the five stories were watching as we head into this new week, the House canceling votes tomorrow because of that weather. Votes are expected to resume Tuesday.

Also, the Save America Act will get its time on the Senate floor this week. President Trump has been pressuring Republicans to blow up the filibuster to get the restrictive voting bill over the finish line. They have so far not shown an appetite to do that, though the measure cleared the house last month, mainly on party lines.

Republican Oklahoma Senator Markwayne Mullin takes his first step to become the next secretary of homeland security. On Wednesday, a Senate committee will hold its first confirmation hearing on his nomination. On March 5th, the president nominated Mullin to replace Kristi Noem after a string of controversies, controversies at the agency.

March Madness is officially underway. The men and women's college basketball tournaments begin this week.

[21:55:00]

The men's start on Tuesday. The Duke Blue Devils are the overall number one seed after winning the ACC championship game.

Duke is joined by Arizona, Michigan and Florida as the top seeds for the men's tournament. On the women's side, undefeated UConn is the top overall seed. UCLA, Texas and South Carolina join them. They're at the top of it all.

And finally, get ready for some warmer days. On Friday, the March equinox will usher in spring in the northern hemisphere and fall in the southern hemisphere. It is the only time of year when the Earth's axis is tilted either toward or away from the sun.

Thanks so much for joining me this evening. I'm Jessica Dean. I'm going to see you back here next weekend.

NEWSROOM with Polo Sandoval is headed your way next. Have a great night.