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Israel Steps up Attacks; Ambassador Danny Danon is Interviewed about Iran; Not Ruling Out Boots on the Ground in Iran; Gordon Sondland is interviewed about Iran. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired March 03, 2026 - 06:30   ET

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

[06:30:00]

AUDIE CORNISH, CNN ANCHOR: In Iran, who that might be. And first of all, I'm hearing this analogy, this will be similar to Venezuela, where there was a person the U.S. could turn to in terms of opposition. At the end of the day they sort of stuck with the regime leader who had been, you know, cheek and jowl with the dictator there. So, what are your concerns?

HOLLY DAGRES, SENIOR FELLOW, IRAN AND U.S. POLICY AT THE WASHINGTON INSTITUTE: Well, I should voice the concerns I heard in January, right before the unprecedented massacre, when there was an anti-regime uprising that wasn't successful before there was a communication shutdown that led to that mass -- that covered that massacre. I saw -- I heard from anti-regime protesters that there was a worry about a Venezuela scenario, that the United States would make a deal with the regime they don't want. And --

CORNISH: With the remnants of whatever of the regime is left.

DAGRES: And that was really exactly the sentiment then and I imagine is now. And so, when I hear the president saying, oh, well, three of them were killed, it means that he is trying to deal with the upper echelons of the clerical establishment. And that's something that Iranians do not want. They want this regime gone.

CORNISH: Yes. And we should mention right now, no internet. Also, a few months ago, here in the U.S., there were a lot of cuts to the programming that would have supported opposition figures.

You're nodding. Do you know about this?

SABRINA SINGH, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I mean there is some --

CORNISH: Whether it's Voice of America Persia --

SINGH: Yes.

CORNISH: Radio Farda --

SINGH: Yes.

CORNISH: But also money that would have gone to propping up the internet in these situations. SINGH: Well, I mean, we fund those organizations for cases like this,

to disseminate the message of whether it's democracy or if Donald Trump is saying to the people of Iran to rise up. I mean these are the outlets that you would push pro-democracy messages. But because of the cuts of this administration, you don't have that apparatus in place anymore. I mean we did see this administration turn on Starlink terminals during the protests. But even now, you know, they don't --

CORNISH: Any of that helping? I should let you jump in.

DAGRES: Yes.

CORNISH: What are you hearing?

DAGRES: Well, I think Starlink has been key, but this has been going on since 2022, the Woman Life Freedom uprising. There's been Starlink smuggled by ordinary Iranians. There's about 50,000 to 60,000 terminal users. But we did see a "Wall Street Journal" report that the administration had smuggled in about 6,000.

CORNISH: Got it.

So, let me follow up with this. Senator Mark Warner, Democrat, came out of a briefing yesterday, and he raised this question that I want to put to you.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MARK WARNER (D-VA): The question I have is if the Iranian people, and I shed no tears for the death of the Iranian leadership, who have been awful, but if the president of the United States is asking the Iranian people to rise up in the streets and then the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, who are brutal, murder 5,000, 10,000, 20,000 Iranian protesters, do we have any further moral obligation than to go in to support them with even potentially boots on the ground?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: Does the U.S. have a moral obligation since the president called Iranians to the streets?

DAGRES: Well, you know, I talked about the unprecedented massacre in January, where tens of thousands have reportedly been killed according to the group Human Rights Activists in Iran. And the president said there were about 32,000. So we've got about -- those numbers.

There was a growing call from Iranians inside the country for RTP, or responsibility to protect, including from prominent human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh. We also heard from the outside, from Nobel Laureate Shirin Ebadi for this call. And that's why it was -- it might have been jarring for outsiders to see that there were Iranians celebrating the initial strikes and, of course, the death of Khamenei in the streets. So, I think that --

CORNISH: But, Holly, I don't mean to pin you on this, but it's one of these things where do you -- do Iranians -- is there a sense that if you go out in the streets right now someone will come and back you up when things go sideways?

DAGRES: I think they certainly thought that somebody would back them up, and that's why there's been this anticipation within the country for weeks. I mean it's very -- it's really jarring because, in their eyes, this is an armed government. And that's why you've been seeing, like I said, the celebration that they thought they would have air cover.

CORNISH: But with no boots on the ground, that's the promise right now. Is it just hope or?

DAGRES: I mean, I think that they're thinking that the United States and Israel are going to take out this regime. But again, as these casualties get bigger, because there have been civilian casualties. The group, Human Rights Activists in Iran have reported at least 700 civilians killed. I think that mood, that hope for change, from bombs from the sky, would really change over time because this is war. This is wartime.

CORNISH: Yes. OK, we're going to follow up with you as we hear a lot of opposition groups, especially in the diaspora, talking about what they want for Iran going forward.

You guys, stay with me. We're going to talk a little more this hour.

Straight ahead on CNN, the back and forth of the attacks between Iranian backed proxies and Israel.

[06:34:54]

Plus, U.S. troops killed in Kuwait in an Iran drone attack, as the White House has yet to rule out sending more boots on the ground.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

CORNISH: Israel carries out simultaneous strikes in Tehran and Beirut. One high rise building collapsed in southern Lebanon after an Israeli strike on Monday. In the capital of Beirut, streets were packed with people trying to flee the city as Israel targets Hezbollah forces in the country.

Now, Israel's prime minister spoke to Fox News last night about this whole operation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: I hear the people are saying, well you're going to have an endless war here. You're not going to have an endless war.

This terror regime in Iran is the weakest point that it's been here since it hijacked Iran from the brave Iranian people 47 years ago. So, we're -- this is going to be a quick and decisive action.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: Joining us now live from Tel Aviv, CNN Jerusalem bureau chief Oren Liebermann.

Oren, we are following right now the death tolls. What are you hearing out of Israel?

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN JERUSALEM BUREAU CHIEF: Audie, we're seeing an intensification on virtually all sides of this conflict here on day four. President Donald Trump has promised a, quote, "big wave" attack is coming from the U.S. against Iran. America certainly still has the forces in the region. So, we'll wait to see what comes. Frankly, what is a threat against the Iranian regime that is still in place here, although they've certainly lost their top leadership, on day four.

Meanwhile, Israel has continued to strike targets in Tehran belonging to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the intelligence ministry according to the Israel Defense Forces. They also say they've expanded air superiority across parts of Iran, which basically lets them do what they want.

[06:40:04]

This as Iran lashes out with its remaining forces and its remaining capabilities against countries in the gulf. And the State Department acknowledges that because of that, it is very difficult for American citizens who want to leave the Middle East right now. And that includes here in Israel.

Meanwhile, we are seeing an escalation on the northern border of Israel as Israel has widened its campaign against Hezbollah. Israel -- the Israeli military that is says it has seized more posts along the border between Israel and Lebanon. Keep in mind, Israel has held on effectively indefinitely at this point to five posts in southern Lebanon that it's used to look into the country. Israel now widening that in what it calls an enhanced defense posture, as we see punishing strikes from Israel against Hezbollah in Beirut.

Audie.

CORNISH: OK, that is Oren speaking to us. Thank you so much, Oren.

I want to turn now to Danny Danon, Israel's ambassador to the U.N.

Thank you for being with us, Ambassador.

First, I want to play for you something that we heard yesterday from a lawmaker who came out of a security briefing. His name is Mark Warner. And here's what he heard as the sort of explanation for why the U.S. decided now to do these particular strikes.

Here it is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SEN. MARK WARNER (D-VA): There was no imminent threat to the United States of America by the Iranians. There was a threat to Israel. But if we equate a threat to Israel as the equivalent of an imminent threat to the United States, then we are in uncharted territory.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: Can I get your response to that?

DANNY DANON, ISRAELI AMBASSADOR TO THE UNITED STATES: Audie, we tend to believe that Iranians. When they chant death to Israel, we believe them. When they pay the proxies to attack us, we believe them. And I think President Trump showed leadership when he also believed the threats coming from Iran. For good reasons. They tried to assassinate the U.S. president twice. They actually fed proxies who attacked a U.S. target for generations, for years and where the Americans were killed by Iranian forces. So, I think the president took the right decision to believe the Iranian regime.

CORNISH: Yes.

DANON: And, you know, we see what's happening in the last 24 hours where they are lashing attacks against Europe, Cyprus, against countries in the Middle East with ballistic missiles.

CORNISH: Let me follow up on that.

DANON: So, just imagine that they actually had the nuclear --

CORNISH: Yes, on that particular question. Hold on one moment.

DANON: Let me finish. Let me -- let me finish, Audie.

CORNISH: Mr. Ambassador, hold on one second.

DANON: No, let me finish -- let me finish my point. Just -- just --

CORNISH: I want to ask you this question because we are talking about --

DANON: Let me finish my point, please.

CORNISH: Mr. Ambassador. Ambassador, please hold on one moment --

DANON: Yes, but I will finish my point. Just --

CORNISH: And I will let you finish your point.

DANON: Just --

CORNISH: So here it is. President Trump says this could last four to five weeks. Is that your expectation?

DANON: I will finish my point.

Just imagine that Iran had today nuclear capabilities assembled on those ballistic missiles. That would be a threat, not only to Israel, not only to the gulf countries or to the European countries. It would have been a threat to the American people. So, President Trump took the right decision for the American people, not because he wanted to help Israel or the gulf countries or Europe. You know, we are in the front line, but those radicals, the U.S. and the (INAUDIBLE).

CORNISH: I think the concern is people don't want to have to imagine. They want to know if there was an imminent threat and if there is concrete evidence of that threat, not to imagine if perhaps there had been.

I want to let you answer the question from earlier. What is the specific end state you believe you are trying to achieve? Is there a particular thing that you are trying to achieve at the end of this war? If it's just the nuclear program, we understand, but are there other things there?

DANON: It is very clear. You know, both Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Trump mentioned the goals of this operation. First, to make sure they don't have nuclear capabilities. Second, to dismantle the ballistic missile threat. And it is a threat. Look what's happening today in Dubai, in Riyadh, in Doha in Tel Aviv, in dozens of capitals around the world. It is a threat. So, I'm sure that after we will finish the job, they will not -- will not have those capabilities to threat so many communities around the world.

And also the network of proxies. Iran has spent billions of dollars on terror. I believe that after this operation will be complete, they will not have the possibility and the ability and hopefully we cannot guarantee that. But we hope and we pray that the Iranian people will have a better future, a better regime. That it's in the hands of the Iranian people to decide what they are doing, when they are taking control of their future.

[06:45:06]

CORNISH: Yes.

DANON: But that's something they will have to decide about.

CORNISH: And right now, they are still under a crushing regime and a violent regime that has threatened them from going out in the streets. I know that some U.S. officials have expressed some willingness to potentially talk with whatever is left of Iran's leadership going forward. Is there anyone around right now that Israel would feel comfortable dealing with, would trust in any kind of diplomatic capacity from Iran?

DANON: Well, Audie, diplomacy is always better than war. We exhausted diplomacy. We tried it for years. Also, the U.S., the Europeans, so many dialogs with the Iranians, and they delayed and delayed and delayed. But if there will be genuine efforts with the real guarantees that they are not able to actually continue with the deception and the lies, I'm sure diplomacy will come into action. I'm not -- I don't think it will be a very long war. And after this operation will -- all will be over, you're going to have to go to diplomacy and get the guarantees, make sure you have the inspectors, make sure you have the mechanisms that will not allow Iran to continue on the same track they were in the last 47 years.

CORNISH: OK, that's Ambassador Danon. Thank you for your time.

DANON: Thank you very much.

CORNISH: At this point, six U.S. troops have been killed in Kuwait in an Iran drone attack. The White House not ruling out sending more troops into the line of fire.

In an interview with "The New York Post," President Trump said he would put boots on the ground in Iran if they were, quote, "necessary." A similar message from the Pentagon.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REPORTER: Are there currently any American boots on the ground in Iran?

PETE HEGSETH, DEFENSE SECRETARY: No, but we are not going to go into the exercise of what we will or will not do. We'll go as far as we need to go to advance American interests.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: OK, group chat is back.

I wanted to talk about this. First, I don't know if anyone heard anything from the ambassador that they wanted to follow up on. Please do in this conversation as well.

ALEX THOMPSON, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: I think he made his point.

CORNISH: Yes.

VIVIAN SALAMA, STAFF WRITER, "THE ATLANTIC": Yes.

CORNISH: Yes, in terms of what?

THOMPSON: Oh, well, he just kept repeating, I want to make my point. I want to make my point.

CORNISH: Yes.

Well, I want to follow up on this because we are joined at the hip with Israel in this fight. It is part of -- part and parcel of why we are there. The troops on the ground issue has always been seen as some kind of red line. When I'm reading MAGA sort of online conversation, I'm hearing people say, chill, stop worrying about this. He hasn't put boots on the ground. We are OK with this.

SINGH: Yes, I think for the administration to achieve the objectives that were outlined yesterday, those four objectives, as we were talking about earlier, I don't know that an air campaign alone is going to achieve all of those objectives, if you want to just completely --

CORNISH: Yes. But mainly because it's never been done before.

SINGH: Exactly.

CORNISH: That doesn't mean it may not, but right now there's no historical comparison.

SINGH: Exactly.

But I think what's also -- what this administration has not explained is just the economic impacts that this war is having. I mean already today we're waking up to higher gas prices than we were yesterday. And they're continuing to rise in states that are actually having primaries today.

So, I think the administration also needs to make the case for how they're going to extract the U.S. from this war, how they're going to, you know, open that Strait of Hormuz that is -- effectively has -- shipping traffic has been completely rerouted, which is impacting global markets all over the world.

And just one more thing that I would say here is that, you know, Pete Hegseth said, we're not going to lay out our objectives to the American people, to our adversaries. We're not going to give you any indication.

CORNISH: Yes.

SINGH: But the Defense Department demands the biggest budget and taxpayer dollars. They do deserve an explanation.

CORNISH: Is there a reason why -- let me put it to you this way. I don't think the Bush administration, in the end, feels like it hasn't heard the last of all the things they said going into Iraq, right?

SALAMA: Yes.

CORNISH: That is continuing to be fact checked to this day.

SALAMA: Right.

CORNISH: Is the Trump administration just trying to avoid that? Like, why show up with PowerPoints and a laser pointer when you want to be able to declare some kind of success at some point.

SALAMA: Partly avoiding it because President Trump promised to, partly because it's costly, partly because it's not popular with the base. The base does not want a prolonged war.

CORNISH: Yes. Let's show some polling while you're talking about that.

SALAMA: Yes. And so, you know, this is ultimately what their goal is. But I am old enough to remember the George W. Bush administration also wanting to win hearts and minds in the region. And, you know, to Sabrina's point, you go in there and you launch an operation, even if it is successful, even if it is short term, what's to say that America is safer, as the administration is arguing, when you tarnish America's image abroad.

CORNISH: Right.

SALAMA: You go in there, you drop a bunch of bombs, and then you leave. That does not necessarily help America's image longer term.

CORNISH: Make you safer. Right.

SALAMA: And so that is another element that they need to make the case for, that Americans are safer, and that these people, who now, you know, are struggling to pay for gas and put food on the table because of this war thousands of miles away are safer.

[06:50:07]

CORNISH: Well, even if they make the case, I have to say, the lawmakers are not going to be leaning into this. Mike Johnson saying he thinks he has the vote to protect the president's abilities in terms of war powers.

THOMPSON: Well, and the hearts and minds, I think, is a key distinction between the, you know, George W. Bush's war on terror, the Iraq War, and this one.

CORNISH: Yes.

THOMPSON: In part because, you know, you are not hearing any democracy talk. Any sort of rebuilding an entirely new government. Even in Libya, where you had the Obama administration sort of do regime change --

CORNISH: Yes.

THOMPSON: But through the air, there was a clear militarized opposition taking over the government. There is not that in -- there's been no talk, and Trump has shown that he is actually in some ways more comfortable dealing with sort of more authoritarian figures that have, you know, control over the country. And you could see him making a deal with a similar figure in Iran.

CORNISH: Yes, I don't know if Israel will, but, yes.

SINGH: I was going to say, to Alex's point, sorry, I did not mean to interrupt.

CORNISH: Yes.

SINGH: But to Alex's point, you know, President Obama did think that going into Libya, in a very targeted way, and toppling the Gadhafi regime would lead to change. And it, obviously, as we know today, Libya's still fighting a very deep internal civil war. So.

CORNISH: Yes. All right, you guys stay with us because you mentioned some things a couple of times here, such as oil prices, right?

SINGH: Yes.

CORNISH: We are seeing them go up as this war escalates. And then Israel's prime minister trying to persuade the world this is ultimately the way towards peace. What needs to be done to convince the U.S. public.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:55:32]

CORNISH: Europe on edge with the conflict in Iran. Israel's prime minister is trying to convince the world this is ultimately the way towards peace.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: We achieved, in fact, four breakthroughs for peace. Brokered by President Trump, working together with me, we brokered -- we brought forward the Abraham Accords, which was four peace treaties with four Arab countries. And now, working together against Iran, we will be able to bring many, many more peace treaties. So, this is not -- this is not an endless war, this is a gateway to peace. It's the exact opposite of what people are saying.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: Joining the group chat now to talk more, Gordon Sondland, former U.S. ambassador to the European Union under President Trump.

I wanted to talk about this argument, that what we're looking is actually a pathway to peace. First, what did you hear in the way Netanyahu is framing this for the public?

GORDON SONDLAND, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO THE EUROPEAN UNION: He's absolutely right, it is a pathway to peace. Because, first of all, if this war weren't as fraught as it is, there wouldn't have been any reason for it in the first place. It's sort of a circular argument.

CORNISH: But people are concerned that if you create more chaos in the region, just by definition, Iran is already hitting targets elsewhere, that risks a larger, more complicated conflict and even possibly terror attacks, right?

SONDLAND: Well, Audie, the status quo, doing nothing is creating chaos because then it becomes a situation where Iran, at their time and place of choosing, can decide who to strike, when to strike. You can see, even with this decapitation, even with thousands of sorties having been flown already, the kinds of conventional capabilities they have. It's staggering.

CORNISH: Yes.

SONDLAND: I wish our manufacturing were that good.

CORNISH: I think it is pretty good. That's the -- that's the hope.

So, we know Iran's three member council for interim rule, still standing. So it's not as though this thing has fallen apart completely.

SONDLAND: As of what time?

CORNISH: As of what time.

The president's war objectives, as we've heard the count this morning, destroy missile capabilities, annihilate the navy, end nuclear ambitions, and to stop arming militant groups in the region. And then there is this giant question mark about what happens after.

SONDLAND: Well, you don't know what's going to happen after because this --

CORNISH: But you're asking the Iranian people to go into the streets in the after.

SONDLAND: Well, but wait a minute.

CORNISH: Yes.

SONDLAND: This is a very fluid situation.

CORNISH: OK.

SONDLAND: And the first thing you have to do is, you have to degrade their capability. It's one thing for Jared and Witkoff to sit down with the Iranians when they have what they had a week ago versus three or four weeks from now --

CORNISH: Right.

SONDLAND: When 95 percent of their capabilities are gone, their naval fleet is at the bottom of the Med or at the gulf, then you have a very, very different conversation. And when you decapitate the top 40 or 50 people, you -- the odds are, it's like spinning the dice. The odds that the next 40 or 50 people coming up may have a different view than the first 40 or 50.

CORNISH: Yes, is that true what people think of when they look at the Iranian regime, which has a lot of contingencies?

SINGH: I was -- yes. I mean, as you know, the Iranian regime is founded in layers. I mean they have -- they have different contingency plans. And so that's why the IRGC remains so intact, because they can go deep down into their structure.

I think the point that I would push back on is, what does success actually look like? I mean we thought the war in Gaza when they killed Sinwar would end with that. So, where does this stand (ph)?

CORNISH: Yes. Well, let's (INAUDIBLE). SONDLAND: Here's the problem with the Trump administration. They have

not explained thoroughly enough how fluid this really is. This is not a compartmentalized thing where you can say, first we're going to do this, then we're going to do this, and then all of a sudden everyone's going to lay down their arms and --

SINGH: Right.

SONDLAND: And there's going to be kumbaya.

SINGH: How? How do they do that? Yes.

SONDLAND: What you have to do is you have to take the guns out of their hands. And buy the guns I mean the missiles, short range, long range drones and the nuclear capability.

SINGH: But I also think the guns -- the guns for the people --

CORNISH: Yes.

SINGH: The people that are able to quell the protesters, you also have to take their guns. How do you do that?

SONDLAND: Well, thank God we have a Second Amendment here in the United States.

SINGH: So, you are in for boots on the ground, because that would mean boots on the ground to do that.

SONDLAND: No, I am not -- I am not -- I am not for boots on the ground unless the conditions call for it. And they're a long way from calling for it now.

CORNISH: OK. Well, in the meantime, to your point, U.S. opinion of airstrikes against Iran right now is still in the disapprove area. So, to your point that you mentioned earlier about the explanation and how people are receiving it, it clearly still matters.

[07:00:04]

SONDLAND: It hasn't been explained well and it hasn't been explained how important it is to get control of Iran because it -- the amount of peace that will break out in the Middle East between Saudi Arabia and Israel and other countries that still is --

CORNISH: Is -- yes, is a question right now. I will say, I'm not going to make predictions, as you might.

Gordon Sondland, thank you so much. I do appreciate it.

We have to leave it here because we're at the end of our hour. Thanks to the group chat. Thank you for waking up with us. The headlines are next.