Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Trump Urges Countries To Help In Securing Strait Of Hormuz; Macron Urges Iran To Halt Attacks On Middle East Countries; Concerns On Capitol Hill As War With Iran Enters Third Week; IDF: Michigan Synagogue Attacker Was Brother Of Hezbollah Commander; 100 Million People Under Threat For Severe Storms Across U.S.; FCC Chair Threatens TV Networks Over Iran War Coverage. Aired 10-11p ET

Aired March 15, 2026 - 22:00   ET

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

[22:00:27]

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN HOST: And welcome to our viewers here in the United States and all around the world. I'm Polo Sandoval in New York. I'll be with you the next three hours as we continue to follow live developments in the Middle East, which is where we want to start at this hour, and the latest on the U.S. and Israel war with Iran.

President Donald Trump with a message for NATO. This as he calls on other countries to help the U.S. in keeping the critical Strait of Hormuz open. In an interview with "The Financial Times", he warned that NATO faces a, quote, "very bad future if U.S. allies fail to assist in securing that strategic waterway."

China is currently one of the countries that President Trump is urging to step in and help address shipping disruptions that were sparked by the war with Iran. And he now says that he may have to postpone a planned summit with Xi Jinping.

President Trump spoke about the need to secure that strait, with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. The two leaders, they held a call on Sunday as Tehran near total closure of the critical shipping lane has already stopped oil tankers from transiting and also pushed energy prices higher, consequently. Trump has called on Starmer and other leaders around the world to help safeguard security of the strait with international naval forces.

Iran's foreign minister says that Tehran is open to speaking with countries about safe passage of their vessels and was asked in an interview on Sunday about reports that it's now negotiating with a few countries.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ABBAS ARAGHCHI, IRANIAN FOREIGN MINISTER: I cannot mention any country in particular, but we have been approached by a number of countries who wants to have a safe passage for their vessels, and this is up to our military to decide, and they have already decided to let, you know, a group of vessels belongs to different countries to pass in a safe and secure. So, we provide them security to pass because we have not closed this strait.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: And that comment from Iran, it claims to have fired about 700 missiles and more than 3,600 drones at the U.S. and Israeli targets since the war started.

Israel's military for its part, it claims that it struck more than 200 targets in Iran over the past day, with the IDF now saying that operations are taking aim at what it called Iran's ballistic missile capabilities and air defense system. Inside Israel, police say that at least three people, they suffered minor injuries after a cluster missile struck Tel Aviv. You could see it there in CCTV footage as it landed in the middle of the street on Sunday. And that video coming in from Lebanon that we also want to show you, it captured this large explosion rocking Beirut's southern suburbs with that plume of smoke visible in the night sky, as well as that flash.

All right. Let's begin our coverage now by heading over to CNN's Ivan Watson joining us live from Hong Kong.

Ivan, it's good to see you again.

The president basically issuing an all call to many of the United States allies, to NATO allies as well. Is he getting any response?

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Noncommittal at this point. You know, nobody is directly saying no except for Australia which says it has not been consulted or asked formally yet, but an Australian cabinet minister saying, we're not going to be sending a ship to the Strait of Hormuz on the record.

But I think the fact that more than two weeks after the surprise U.S.- Israeli bomb attack killed Iran's supreme leader only now the Trump administration is calling, trying to scramble to put together some naval force to protect shipping through the Strait of Hormuz suggests, I think that's very much evidence that this is a scenario that the White House was not ready for and putting together naval escorts and this type of thing, putting together what the U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has said, they're talking about putting together plans for insuring cargo ships going through the Strait of Hormuz. That suggests that the government simply wasn't ready for this scenario, one that has been talked about, frankly, in this region for generations.

And it's a big question about whether that can be put together. And if you want to know about the risks, 20 Thai crew members of a cargo ship just arrived in Bangkok in the last 24 hours after their ship was one of was -- was hit in the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday. And that's more than a dozen ships in the Gulf and in the strait that have been hit since this war began.

[22:05:04] And meanwhile it continues to rage, Polo. Yes, you have Israel saying it struck some 200 targets inside Iran. The death toll continuing to rise there. With more than 1,000 people reported killed in Iran. Iran saying that tens of thousands of homes have been damaged, that hundreds of medical health emergency and pharmaceutical facilities have been damaged. And in the meantime, Iran says it has fired some 700 missiles and 3,600 drones, and they've been scattering out across the region.

Some kind of a drone hit Dubai international airport, for example, starting some kind of a fire there in the last 12 hours. And that airport is now temporarily suspending its operations.

You showed this dramatic image of a cluster missile hitting a street in Tel Aviv on Sunday. That caused minor injuries to about three people. There also, some U.S. diplomatic housing was damaged by debris falling from the interception of a projectile, and the U.S. government actually condemned Iran for targeting diplomatic and military facilities though that's been very much what the U.S. has been doing in Iran for more than for more than two straight weeks.

And the fighting continues to rage in and around Lebanon with the Israeli bombing campaign of the south and east of the country, as well as the southern suburbs of Beirut. More than 800 people killed believe more than 100,000 people displaced in Lebanon by the fighting and what Israel calls evacuation orders, which are basically declaring large parts of the territory kill zones for Israeli airstrikes.

Meanwhile, Hezbollah on Saturday, that's the Iran backed militia that is in Lebanon, it claimed it carried out its largest -- larger number of attacks thus far, 47 in a single day. No signs of any end in sight of this expanding regional conflict.

SANDOVAL: So many layers to this conflict. Ivan Watson, thank you so much for updating us on all those fronts.

Let's get some analysis and some more reporting now on the situation there.

Let's head over to CNN political and national security analyst David Sanger.

David, it's so good to see you again

DAVID SANGER, CNN POLITICAL AND NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Good to see you, Polo.

SANDOVAL: David, let's pick up on where Ivan left off there. And as he reported, and as you know very well, that the administration as Ivan put it, is right now scrambling to try to turn to its allies, pointing out that all call for anybody to any of these countries to send in any potential naval assets to help with these escorts. Ultimately though, what is the president's ability to gather a coalition of willing nations? I mean, many of these he has criticized and insulted in the past. SANGER: Well, there is an element of irony here for a president who

has not had a whole lot of use for alliances before, to suddenly be pressing the Asian allies, the NATO allies and of course, the allies in the gulf to contribute. I think he'll have a moderate amount of success I think as NATO has tried to deepen its relationship with the Gulf Cooperation Council and all that, they will see an advantage in contributing to this. I think that some of the Asian countries will certainly feel pressure to do so.

The timing of the request is interesting because you're seeing the prime minister of Japan come to Washington this week in her first visit, her first official visit since taking office and they thought they were there to discuss tariffs and Taiwan and security, those security issues now will be dominated by this.

Now, President Trump, of course, is turning this a little bit into a threat. You heard him say earlier today or he read a transcript of him saying earlier today that things would not go well for NATO if they turned him down. This is outside of NATO's territory. And of course, NATO is tied up right now helping Ukraine. But my guess is, at the end of the day, NATO will contribute.

SANDOVAL: The president's back in the nation's capital right now, facing what will be many decisions to make in the coming days, David. Ultimately, though, what is your reporting tell you about President Trump's thinking right now as we're three weeks in as the latest piece of reporting from you and your colleagues at "The New York Times", he's essentially right now faced with two options. Does he continue with the United States in the fighting or to use the word in your reporting, to extract himself from this conflict that continues to intensify?

[22:10:02]

Any indication of which way he may be leaning?

SANGER: So, I think you're going to see him stay in for a number of weeks more. He said at the beginning of this conflict two weeks ago that it was a four to six week operation, and White House officials have said to me in recent days, and my colleagues, they think that is still about right, but that may be four to six weeks of active combat polo, of taking out Iranian facilities, arms and so forth.

What we're learning from the experience in the Strait of Hormuz is that he will probably have to be patrolling that, and so will the allies for months or years, so that Iran doesn't use its one greatest weapon of stepping in to interrupt that flow. And then he's got to make decisions about ground troops to take Kharg Island if he decides he wants to do that, the major Iranian export site and the nuclear site at Isfahan which is believed to hold the, most potent of the near bomb grade uranium. And there, that would be a particularly dangerous operation.

SANDOVAL: Yeah. On that last point that you mentioned, David, I wonder if you could just expand exactly where the administration currently stands when it comes to Iran's nuclear stockpile. Speaking to a former IDF spokesperson about 24 hours ago, and he told me that that is really one of the main priorities, if not the main priority for the Israeli government, that this does not end until that stockpile is secured.

What about the United States, though, and their thinking?

SANGER: I think, that both have come to that conclusion because let's assume for a minute that while they have killed the supreme leader they have left in place a clerical government run ostensibly by his son, we believe is injured and still by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which will now feel more than ever that it needs to have the potential to build a weapon than it did even before the attacks.

And so, that will make the fuel extremely valuable to them. So, I can't imagine the president letting this end without attempting to secure that fuel. It is 500 miles or so, maybe a little less into the country, about 270 miles thereabouts from Tehran. It's deep under a mountain. It's really hard to get to. And it would be one of the most difficult Special Forces operations you could imagine dealing, of course, with highly radioactive and potentially toxic nuclear fuel.

SANDOVAL: Yeah. We've heard from Israeli sources before already, or at least recently, that they believe they're confident that if it does get to that point, that the Israelis and the U.S. could carry out a mission like that. Nonetheless, as you highlight a dangerous and very risky one.

David Sanger --

SANGER: It could, but perhaps at some cost.

SANDOVAL: Absolutely. That's a really good point to end on. David, as always appreciate you joining us and thank you for all your ongoing reporting on this.

SANGER: Thanks, Polo. Great to see you.

SANDOVAL: Likewise. Or that disruption in the strait, it's currently sending oil prices soaring to their highest levels, the highest we've seen since 2022. Brent crude, which is the global benchmark, it has now surpassed $106 a barrel, and U.S. oil that climbed to over $101 a barrel. U.S. gas prices. They're also up about 24 percent since the start of the conflict. In fact, according to AAA, they are currently estimating that those fuel prices are roughly $3.70 in the United States, an increase from yesterday.

Still to come here on CNN NEWSROOM, a stark warning from French President Emmanuel Macron to his Iranian counterpart. And this is the strikes continue across the Gulf region. Also, with Iran's foreign minister saying about the new supreme leader's health and his absence that continues to fuel rumors at this hour.

Our breaking new con -- breaking news coverage continues after a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [22:18:13]

SANDOVAL: Right now, much of the Middle East is currently on alert after Iran launched a new wave of missile and drone strikes over the weekend. Several Gulf nations including the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait and Iraq, they said that many of those attacks were intercepted, though there was some damage reported as you see here. The French president, Emmanuel Macron, he says that he spoke recently with his Iranian counterpart, urging him to end what he called unacceptable attacks on neighboring countries.

In a post on X, the French president warned that his country will intervene if necessary to defend its interests its regional partners and freedom of navigation. Of course, a reference there to that ongoing conflict in the Strait of Hormuz.

Let's go now to Gary Grappo. He's a former U.S. ambassador to Oman. He joins me from Tempe, Arizona.

Mr. Ambassador, thank you so much for joining us.

GARY GRAPPO, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO OMAN: Thank you. It's a pleasure to be with you this evening.

SANDOVAL: I'm wondering if I could get your quick thoughts on the French president saying threatening, really that the French government could potentially intervene. Do you see that happening?

GRAPPO: Certainly not in the near term. No, it's not in the French interest. But I think it's important that President Macron lays down his marker. And it should be noted that the Gulf countries, obviously, the ones most immediately affected, are even more so concerned because they are not a party to this conflict. They made it very, very clear.

The U.S. aircraft are not using -- and U.S. warships are not using facilities or bases in their territories. They're not permitted to do so and they're not participating in the conflict. And they can't say so publicly, but they're probably opposed to this conflict.

[22:20:01]

It was certainly known before the conflict began.

So, this is actually counterproductive action on the part of the Iranians thinking that this would somehow ratchet up the pressure on Washington and to a limited extent, it's having an impact. But I think also the reverse is much more true.

SANDOVAL: And on the question of potential impacts, Mr. Ambassador, you know, as you know, you've been there. These partnerships that have continued and been ongoing for decades between the United States and many of these Gulf states. Do you see this war causing perhaps a strain or maybe even some permanent damage to some of those alliances?

GRAPPO: I'm very concerned about that. The wording of President Trump's statement about NATO countries was unclear. Was he simply putting out a warning, which they didn't need, that this is going to be very difficult for the economies of NATO countries or we see suggesting perhaps that if NATO countries don't join in, don't support United States in this conflict, that there be -- there may be consequences in terms of the relationship itself, which is not in the interest of NATO, not in the interest of NATO members, and especially, of course, not in the interest of the United States.

And I don't know whether that was intentional. It's unwise. But as the conflict continues, and I agree with your previous journalist report that it's like -- this conflict is likely, likely to last at least a couple more weeks, at least the armed or military component of it. And the pressure will increase on U.S. allies, including the Gulf countries, to participate in some role and longer term to provide greater security for the Strait of Hormuz.

SANDOVAL: And speaking of pressure, let's talk a little bit about the pressure currently on President Trump. Mr. Ambassador, do you see, you know, given the course of events, when do you see the president potentially making a move to declare victory, potentially in those next couple of weeks?

GRAPPO: Potentially, yes. I mean, that's this is one of the difficult things about President Donald Trump. He's a very unpredictable president. I mean, he could do it tomorrow. It's unlikely, but he could.

It could happen at any moment. And I'm sure it wears on Bibi Netanyahu who is more interested in pursuing this conflict much longer than I think Donald Trump is. But certainly, another couple of weeks.

But he is facing pressures. Theres the economic pressures which manifest themselves, most obviously in oil prices, but they will have ramifications throughout the U.S. economy and the prices of other goods, particularly agricultural goods, travel transportation and so forth. There's also, I think verified reports that Gulf countries are rethinking their U.S. based investments. And we're talking about tens, possibly hundreds of billions of dollars, particularly in the tech sector. That's very likely to bring additional pressure, very meaningful pressure, I would add, on Donald Trump.

And then finally, there is the president's own so-called MAGA base who really did not want to see the United States engage in another Middle East war that could stretch out as long as it already has and perhaps even longer and actually could go for years as your previous correspondent alluded to in terms of providing security for the strait of Hormuz.

SANDOVAL: Now, you've given us something else to look out for in the future the potential for even more economic stability with the potential fracturing of those relationships and those deals that you mentioned.

Ambassador Gary Grappo, thank you so much for taking the time as always. Appreciate your insight.

GRAPPO: You're most welcome SANDOVAL: There are also some growing questions about Iran's new

supreme leader and his health. The country's foreign minister says that Mojtaba Khamenei is now managing, quote, "the country's strongly and is in good health." Khamenei is yet to appear in public just a week after his appointment, he did release a statement, recently at least a purported statement. A source telling CNN that he was injured on the first day of strikes by the U.S. and Israel that killed his father and other top leaders.

The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Mike Waltz, he told CNN that the administration has doubts about how much control the new supreme leader actually has over Iran.

Let's go now to Shervin Pishevar. He's advisor to Reza Pahlavi. She's -- he's the eldest son of the ousted shah of Iran.

Thank you so much for joining us again

SHERVIN PISHEVAR, ADVISER TO REZA PAHLAVI: Thank you. Thank you for having me.

SANDOVAL: I'm wondering if you could just share a little bit about Reza Pahlavi's hopes right now of -- you know, how he hopes this will eventually conclude?

PISHEVAR: Absolutely. The crown prince, Reza Pahlavi, called on the Iranian people to come out in the streets in January 8th and 9th of 2026.

[22:25:06]

Millions of Iranians came. They were all calling out for Reza Pahlavi. And this regime, as evil as it is, responded with bullets, anti- material bullets the size of Coca-Cola cans on human bodies, 43,000 people were killed.

President Trump had told the Iranian people that we have your backs. That created a moral contract. And he's kept his word, along with the Israelis and the IDF.

And what we're watching right now is the first A.I. war of America. This is a precision war. What happened in the first week? They've been taking out their infrastructure of terror. The missiles, the navy this week, the drones are hunting down the Basiji members who killed so many -- so many Iranians on those days and for decades.

The word I'm getting on the street from Iran is that the Iranian people are celebrating these attacks on the Basijis this week. They have a term for it that's popular. That they go out in the streets and they're celebrating, the hunters are being hunted now.

The crown prince has 175-page report on the reconstruction of Iran, has a week-by-week plan for having a transitional government, which is going to form, and Western governments should be you know recognizing that that transitional government as a replacement for this illegitimate, Islamic regime. There would be a vote on a referendum for what form of democracy the Iranian people want, and the next stage is the infection.

So, we're defanging the military capabilities and terror capabilities and violence of this regime. And then there will be a call for defections or defections are beginning to happen and will accelerate as these operations go, this liberation operation continues.

SANDOVAL: Is the crown prince concerned that President Trump could move to essentially walk away or declare victory while also leaving the regime in power?

PISHEVAR: I think there is a commitment to continuing to defang this regime, to take away its ability to use violence. As we've seen, they've attacked 14 of their Arab and Muslim countries, you know, that they were supposedly friendly with in the past. That shows that the absolute violence and insanity of this regime. If they had a nuclear bomb, they would have used it.

So, it's a totally different era in the Middle East. You know, countries that have not signed the Abraham Accords are looking at the Abraham Accords as a kind of a standard to have to be able to protect themselves and access to technologies that shoot down these missiles, like the Iron Dome.

SANDOVAL: And then also, what do you make of the fact that we are yet to see the supreme leader being video or making a public appearance? What does that tell you?

PISHEVAR: The Iranian people are calling this the (INAUDIBLE) supreme leader. There's no proof of life. There's a letter that was -- that was put out. That's just signal that they're trying to buy time. It does seem like he's been mortally wounded.

The leadership is in disarray. This -- we're reaching the final end game of the Islamic regime, this 47 years of a nightmare for the Iranian people in the Middle East and the world is at the end game.

SANDOVAL: Shervin Pishevar, thank you so much for letting us steal you away for a few moments and for sharing your thoughts. Really appreciate your time.

PISHEVAR: Thank you. Of course.

SANDOVAL: And we'll have much, much more after the break. Don't go anywhere.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[22:32:32]

SANDOVAL: President Trump ramping up pressure on NATO allies as his administration calls on other countries to help try to secure the Strait of Hormuz.

U.S. Democratic Senator Cory Booker now calling for accountability for the war with Iran, telling CNN that both Republicans and Democrats have allowed presidential power to go unchecked. He's now demanding a congressional response and also warning that if President Trump's power -- his war power is not reined in, then it could pave the way for him to start military operations in other countries.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. CORY BOOKER (D-NJ): If we allow this to happen, then we give Trump the permission to say, okay, finish with Venezuela. I went to Iran. Now I'm going to go to Cuba. Now I'm going to go to North Korea. It is outrageous and never conceived of that. We could have this level of a military engagement without authority, without the people's House, Congress doing something about it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: All right. Let's discuss the political dynamic surrounding this war here. I'm joined by CNN political commentator Brad Todd. He's also a Republican strategist and co-founder of On Message. And he also does consulting for Republican candidates in multiple House and Senate campaigns. And a quick note, he also works -- at least does some work for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.

Brad, thank you so much. Apologies for that long intro.

BRAD TODD, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: That's okay. You can do it all as long as you want.

(LAUGHTER)

SANDOVAL: Well, tell you what, let's dive right in here.

TODD: Good morning, good day.

SANDOVAL: Good evening. I know. It's good evening for us.

The president clearly does enjoy some support when it comes to his base. However, do you have some larger concerns that the war with Iran could potentially cost Republicans come midterms?

TODD: Well, I think what to start off and look at, where does President Trump's approval rating sit right now relative to his predecessors at the same point? He's within about -- he's about 2/10 above where President Obama was, 2/10 of one percent at this point in his second term, and he's two or three points ahead of where George Bush was at this point in his second term.

So, it's pretty normal. His position currently and his advantage is that the Democratic Party is at an all-time low. Harry Enten of CNN here this morning showed that Democrats are in the low 20s in their approval, congressional Democrats.

And so, the thing about the midterm elections is Republicans don't have to outrun perfect. They just have to outrun the Democrats. And right now, the Democrats also are seeing a lot of warning signs about their political standing.

[22:35:05] SANDOVAL: Do you see the White House as being currently satisfied with public opinion up to this point? You know, you mentioned some of those poll numbers

TODD: No, I don't think they're happy with it other than, you know, one thing that's sure is President Trump's base is rock solid. You know, his approval on what he's doing in Iran among Republicans is 93, 94, 95 percent, depending on the poll. You look at the people who like him strongly, sort of his particular Trump base within the Republican Party, the numbers are even better.

So, his standing with his base is as good as it possibly could be. So the goal becomes, how do you persuade more independents? They typically vote on the economy, and I think the president has rightly focused on that in the last six months. This war has sort of proved to be a diversion from that. But I think you'll see once this war wraps up, he'll go right back to the economy and try to improve that before we get to the midterms for independence.

SANDOVAL: I'm glad you mentioned independence. As you know, AAA estimating the gas prices are up now about 24 percent since the war started. That's just one of many several kitchen issues. The cost of food is certainly something people are talking about. Farmers are certainly concerned about diesel prices as well.

What are Republicans on the ballot -- you know, we talked about the midterms. What are some of those Republicans that are up for elections this year, likely sharing with the president in terms of their concerns about this war?

TODD: Well, I think first off, on the on the issue of fuel prices and agricultural prices, remember, it's the Democrats who paused development of United States oil resources. They put 625 million acres offshore off limits to oil development. They paused LNG development. They stopped seven leases that had previously been issued in Alaska.

Democrats did everything in their power to drive up energy prices and squeeze the American supply. You know, right now, you have 22 percent of the world's LNG comes through the Strait of Hormuz, maybe 20 percent of the oil. If it weren't for Joe Bidens policies, those numbers would be lower. America would be shipping more of that oil.

So, I think Republicans are glad to talk about energy policy on the campaign trail, and they're going to be glad to talk about tax policy. If Donald Trump had not passed his Working Families Tax Cut last summer, then taxes would have gone up on every single American who pays taxes. That was the Democrats' plan.

And so, that's the kitchen table issue he's got to come back to as well. There are issues with food and housing. The presidents been working on. But that fundamental difference that Democrats are going to raise your taxes, President Trump cuts your taxes and Republicans are working more to lower energy prices. And Democrats are working to raise them. I think those two fundamental distinctions will be driven home this fall. SANDOVAL: Originally, the president has said that this was going to at

least he expected this to be a short term conflict. Now, it seems that any sort of timetable is off right now given the unpredictability. The White House certainly still maintains that it is quite possible, they say, that this could end in the next four to five weeks.

Given the unpredictability, though, Brad, should the White House be concerned about getting dragged into a long term conflict? And then certainly voters not reacting positively to that.

TODD: They should. They should. And I think they are.

The data indicates that if this is a short term war, then independent approval of this war is going to be very strong. Its only hardcore Democrats who will oppose a short war that gets rid of the greatest terrorist threat on earth. And that's the Iranian regime.

Those people are called Democrats, and they oppose everything Donald Trump does. If he cured cancer, they would be on cancer side. That's how polarized our country is right now.

So, President Trump doesn't have to worry about them, though. He has to keep his Republicans and worry about independents. And we know if it's a short conflict that independence will be on their side.

And, you know, I think the president is facing a choice right now, right? His decision to decapitate Iran's military has happened. That's been made. So now the choice is do you take their energy infrastructure out as well? And if there's going to be a regime that succeeds the Khamenei regime and is going to be one America can work with and will be and will refuse to terrorize Israel and its neighbors. Well, then they should leave that oil infrastructure intact.

But if it's going to be another IRGC regime and Republican Guard regime that's going to try to terrorize the neighbors, well, then, they got to take the infrastructure out. The Kharg Island, the export terminals, so that the Iranian regime won't be able to have money to terrorize its neighbors.

So, I think the presidents weighing that choice. He's trying to send signals to the more, more reasonable people in the Iranian civil government and the Iranian regular army, that now's the time to take your country over. If you don't, your oil infrastructure is going to go out.

SANDOVAL: Yeah. I mean, given the regimes power, you can understand that being really quite the challenge for so many people there who are still even concerned about taking to the streets and then the point that you make on Kharg Island I'm sure that they're also concerned about any further strikes there on their oil infrastructure, maybe even causing more instability on oil markets so as you lay out, there's a lot to consider right now --

TODD: No doubt.

SANDOVAL: -- as they calculate their next move.

Brad Todd, always a pleasure to have you on. Thank you so much for your time and for your thoughts.

TODD: Thanks a lot. Appreciate it.

SANDOVAL: Thank you.

All right. Now, hundreds of TSA workers, they are quitting their jobs during the ongoing partial government shutdown, likely because they're not getting paid.

[22:40:04]

Right now, more than 60,000 workers went without their first paycheck over the weekend. Transportation security Sean Duffy, he tells Fox News that at least 300 workers have left their posts, and that call outs are doubling at the moment. He's now warning that the situation could get even worse.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEAN DUFFY, TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY: These are men and women who don't make a lot of money. And so, some of them are making choices to go, you know, whether they're driving uber or waiting tables, they have to put food on their family's table. And in these places where this is happening you're seeing really long lines.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: And those TSA agents, they seem to be getting some support from some of the CEOs of top U.S. airlines, executives from American, Delta, Southwest, JetBlue, all of them are among those that are calling currently for DHS funding to be restored to pay federal aviation workers.

In an open letter to Congress, they wrote that air travel is the political football amid another government shutdown. The letter was posted online on Sunday and published in "The Washington Post".

Still ahead of this hour, we are learning new details about the suspect who rammed a truck into a Michigan synagogue and exchanged gunfire with security officers inside. Israeli officials now telling CNN that his brother was part of an Iranian proxy group in Lebanon. More on that.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANDOVAL: We're now learning more about the man who drove his vehicle laden with explosives into a Michigan synagogue. The Israeli military now saying that Ayman Ghazali's brother was a Hezbollah commander in charge of managing weapons operations for the Iranian proxy group's unit.

CNN's Gloria Pazmino with more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. And we had actually reported a few days ago that Ayman Ghazali, the man who law enforcement say drove a vehicle packed with explosives into a synagogue in Michigan had actually been previously flagged in U.S. law enforcement databases for having a suspected connection to known members of Hezbollah.

[22:45:17]

And now, we are learning more about that connection. We are told that Ghazali had a brother. He's been identified by the Israel defense forces as Ibrahim Mohammed Ghazali, and we are told that he was a Hezbollah commander who was killed in an IDF strike on March 5th. Now this is according to a spokesperson for the IV -- for the IDF, who said that they struck a Hezbollah military building believed to be used to store weapons. And in that strike, Ghazali, the brother of the man who drove his vehicle into a synagogue in Michigan last week, he was killed during that attack.

We know that this incident remains under investigation by federal authorities here in the United States, and that attack on the synagogue in Michigan unfolding as one of several incidents that authorities are investigating as acts of terrorism ever since the beginning of U.S. military action in Iran.

Gloria Pazmino, CNN, New York

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL: It may be pretty tough to travel throughout parts of the country with more than 100 million people in the eastern half of the U.S. now facing the threat of severe thunderstorm. Even the potential for tornadoes. The sprawling storm, it has everything. It's bringing feet of snow, blizzard conditions also for parts of the Midwest and also parts of the Great Lakes.

Let's go to Allison Chinchar from the weather center for your forecast.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

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)

SANDOVAL: Our thanks -- our thanks to Allison Chinchar for the forecast.

And I'm going to have much, much more after the break. Don't go anywhere.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[22:52:33]

SANDOVAL: Welcome back.

The Trump administration now threatening to go after U.S. TV networks for their coverage of the war with Iran. The head of the Federal Communications Commission now warning local broadcasters could lose their licenses over what he deems as fake news coverage.

CNN's chief media analyst, Brian Stelter, breaks it all down for us.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA ANALYST: Hey, the Trump administration's threats against TV stations are back, front and center. And this time, it's happening as the president is fuming about how the Iran war is being covered and scrutinized by American media outlets. Trump's handpicked FCC chairman Brendan Carr, used his public megaphone on Saturday to threaten broadcasters, seemingly trying to pressure them into softening news coverage.

First Amendment Advocates, free speech scholars. They were appalled by what they called an authoritarian and unconstitutional post by Carr. It's certainly unheard of in modern American history. But the threat is ultimately pretty hollow because there's very little Carr can actually do to follow through and he'll likely be stymied by the courts if he tries to tv stations are not at serious risk of being banned from the U.S. airwaves because of the crusade.

But Carr's comments do still carry a lot of weight because he represents the U.S. government. Carr was in Florida visiting Trump at Mar-a-Lago on Saturday when he posted this 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.

The law is clear, Carr wrote. Broadcasters must operate in the public interest, or they will lose their licenses if they do not.

Now, as a practical matter, the FCC has not denied a license renewal in decades. If the government tries to take a license away, it will probably cause a protracted legal battle. And given Trump's tendency toward retribution and his public comments against TV networks, there could be a really strong First Amendment case.

So, the system seems to favor existing station owners. And we should keep in mind, cable channels like this one, CNN are not licensed by the U.S. government, and neither are streaming platforms like Netflix. But yes, local TV and radio stations are licensed and we've seen in the past year how some media companies with station licenses have caved or submitted, or even self-censored, sometimes trying to win U.S. government approval for mergers.

That was a concern last year at CBS parent company Paramount. And now, Paramount is planning to buy CNN's parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery. So, Carr's threat gained a lot of attention and a lot of criticism over the weekend.

[22:55:02]

And it seemed he probably wanted that attention because he's using his bully pulpit in order to influence network choices and station choices. Many Democrats came out and condemned Carr for doing so. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer reacted by saying, quote, this is vindictive, fascist stuff and he said, if Carr continues down this route, Democrats will hold him accountable.

Threatening broadcasters licenses for war coverage this administration doesn't like is the worst thing Carr has done. And that's saying something.

Now, Trump might say it's the best thing Carr has done. He praised Carr in a true social post on Sunday night saying, quote, "Looking at the licenses of some of these corrupt and highly unpatriotic news organizations is the right thing to do."

Now, the key line there -- the keyword is unpatriotic. Trump and his allies are trying to smear news outlets as being unpatriotic for independently covering the Iraq war. But history shows that most people see through that kind of rhetoric. Most people want and expect the press corps to provide independent coverage, independent scrutiny of what is going on when lives are at stake.

Brian Stelter, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL: Well, the Academy has spoken -- and celebrations, they are just getting started. After this year's Oscar winners received their awards, the newly crowned best and brightest of the film industry.

Tonight's big winners, they include Paul Thomas Anderson's "One Battle After Another". It won best director, best adapted screenplay and just moments ago won best picture. It also raked in a win for Sean Penn as best supporting actor.

Ryan Coogler's "Sinners" which earned a record breaking 16 nominations walking away with wins for best original screenplay, best original score and best cinematography. And Michael B. Jordan winning best actor for his role as twin brothers in that film.

Jessie Buckley, no surprise here, she won best actress for her emotional performance as a grieving mother in "Hamnet", becoming the first Irish winner of a best actress Oscar.

Thank you so much for joining us last hour of news. I'm Polo Sandoval in New York. Stay with me. I'll be joining you for another hour of coverage in just a few moments.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)