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Early Start with Rahel Solomon

Senate Committee Set To Vote On DHS Secretary Nominee Thursday; 20-Year-Old U.S. College Student Missing In Spain; Saudi Arabia; Reserve Right To Take Action Against Iran. Aired 5:30-6a ET

Aired March 19, 2026 - 05:30   ET

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

[05:30:00]

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back. I'm Becky Anderson in our Middle East programming headquarters here in Abu Dhabi.

The foreign ministers of 12 Arab and Islamic states have called on Iran to "immediately halt its attacks and respect international law." That joint statement comes after Iran targeted energy infrastructure across the Gulf over the past 12-15 hours.

Saudi Arabia says it has intercepted ballistic missiles and fires were reported at gas facilities in Qatar. Officials say the country's main energy hub was extensively damaged by missiles twice in the past 12 hours.

Meanwhile, President Donald Trump says the U.S. knew nothing about Israel's plan to strike the South Pars gas field, which is a key Iranian asset, but he threatened to blow up the entire field if attacks on Qatar's energy facilities continue.

And across the region the death toll is rising. Lebanon is now reporting nearly 1,000 people have been killed since the conflict there began.

My next guest is the author of "Black Wave: Saudi Arabia, Iran, and the Rivalry That Unraveled Culture, the Middle East." Kim Ghattas is also a contributing editor with The Financial Times and a contributing writer for The Atlantic. No one better to speak to this hour. It's good to have you, Kim.

First, what are you seeing and hearing from inside of Lebanon at this point?

KIM GHATTAS, CONTRIBUTING EDITOR, THE FINANCIAL TIMES, CONTRIBUTING WRITER, THE ATLANTIC, AUTHOR, "BLACK WAVE: SAUDI ARABIA, Iran, AND THE FORTY-YEAR RIVALRY THAT UNRAVELED CULTURE, RELIGION, AND COLLECTIVE MEMORY IN THE MIDDLE EAST": Becky, Lebanon now has a million internally displaced people from southern Lebanon and from the southern suburbs of Beirut. That is one-fifth of the population.

I cannot emphasize enough how much pressure that puts on Lebanese society, on Lebanese NGOs, and on the Lebanese government, which is trying to support the refugees while it has barely recovered -- while the country has barely recovered from the last war between Hezbollah and Israel just over a year ago, November 2024, and why Lebanon itself is also trying to be -- to recover from the financial crisis, which hit the country in 2019-2020, and the port explosion in August of 2020 as well.

This is a lot to carry for a small country like Lebanon which finds itself a battleground for what people in the country feel now is a war of others on their territory. Do the Lebanese have responsibility for having allowed some of this to happen, absolutely. But when you have members of Hezbollah saying that they're avenging the death of Ali Khamenei, when you have Israel fighting Iran via Lebanon, you know, Lebanon really feels very much stuck at the moment.

ANDERSON: And civilians -- as you say, a million civilians, plus some, because it's not just those who are internally displaced, it's the entire country which is caught up in this. They are again caught between Israel's military campaign and Hezbollah's presence inside the country.

Realistically, what capacity does the Lebanese state and very specifically the Lebanese Armed Forces -- the army there -- actually have to influence events or protect the population at this stage?

GHATTAS: The Lebanese government and the Lebanese president have done too little too late in trying to stave off what was really looking like an inevitable conflict even after the ceasefire. The ceasefire was a -- you know, was just sort of suspended in time. But I want to remind your viewers that Israeli strikes against Hezbollah targets in the country continued since the ceasefire of November 2024 between Lebanon and Israel.

The Lebanese army and the Lebanese government were supposed to make sure that the area south of the Latani River, closed to the border with Israel, was free of all Hezbollah, you know, military arsenals, et cetera. They said they had done so. I think it's very hard to confirm.

The Lebanese government and Lebanese army did not want to enter into a full-on confrontation with Hezbollah to forcefully disarm the group, which would lead to internal conflict, internal clashes, which is again something the country cannot support and cannot endure further of this kind of violence.

But there is a lot more that the Lebanese --

[05:35:00]

ANDERSON: Right.

GHATTAS: -- government can do to deny Hezbollah freedom of action in the country short of a head-on confrontation. And let me just point out a few of the things they've done over the last few weeks, Becky.

One is offer Israel direct negotiations. The terms of those negotiations are still under discussion. They have also declared that Hezbollah security and military actions are outside of the law. And yesterday we saw Lebanese state media declare that it is no longer going to refer to Hezbollah's actions and to the groups as a resistance movement.

It may feel too little too late for the rest of the world -- for Israel, for the United States -- but this is really a breakthrough and historic move which should be recognized that has been taken by the Lebanese government.

ANDERSON: Yeah. No, you're making a very good point.

What sort of teeth at this point does the Lebanese Armed Forces have to disarm Hezbollah and to defend the country? I mean, who needs to --

GHATTAS: It's sort of --

ANDERSON: -- step up at this point? I mean, I'm thinking about the international community here, you know. What needs to be done next? I mean, the French are there sort of talking about what a political solution to this might be, what these talks might look like between Israel and Lebanon. But, you know, what else needs to be done and who else needs to step in, Kim?

GHATTAS: It's not a question of capacity, Becky. The Lebanese Army is not going to forcefully disarm Hezbollah and enter into a confrontation with the Lebanese militant group that has members in Parliament, supporters in -- you know, in politics, and other political parties, but also represents a share of the Shia community. You have to remember the Lebanese Army includes Shia soldiers. Some of their relatives may be in Hezbollah.

And we have seen this movie before in 1984 in Lebanon when the U.S. and Israel tried to force Lebanon into peace negotiations. The Lebanese Army split into two. That's what the government is trying to avoid.

So I think it is wrongheaded by the international community to insist on forceful disarmament. Does Israel -- is Israel right to say that the Lebanese government and Army did not do enough? That they now need to do the job? You know, that is their perspective.

But I also think that no matter what Lebanon offers today Israel is simply going to continue with its military operations and is going to continue to what it -- what it calls "mowing the grass."

It is going to force the depopulation, I believe, of a border zone along the Lebanon-Israel border. It is going to control that militarily. And it is going to possibly join that with, you know, the southern -- the southern Beqaa Valley and then around to the Mount Hermon and then to the buffer zone that it has created outside of the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

That seems to be the military plan, cutting off south Lebanon from the rest of the country and that will then become part of the negotiation and we'll have to see whether the Lebanese government and Lebanese ministers and negotiators have the metal to engage in these negotiations forcefully and then also deliver on the ground for the Lebanese and for the Shia community. We cannot afford to leave the Shia community, you know, on its own to fend for itself, stuck between Hezbollah, the Lebanese government --

ANDERSON: Yeah.

GHATTAS: -- and Israel.

ANDERSON: Kim, it's always good to have you. Thank you very much. You are the author, as I said as we started this, of "Black Wave: Saudi Arabia, Iran, and the Rivalry That Raveled the Middle East." And I do want to get your thoughts on that when you and I next speak. For the time being for your perspective on Lebanon. Thank you very much indeed.

Well, let's get you back to Rahel Solomon in New York.

RAHEL SOLOMON, CNN ANCHOR: All right, Becky. Thank you.

And still ahead for us this hour, a tense hearing on Capitol Hill. Lawmakers questioned President Trump's pick to lead the Department of Homeland Security, but were Markwayne Mullin's answers enough to advance to the Senate floor?

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL)

[05:44:20]

SOLOMON: Welcome back to EARLY START. The time now is 5:43 and this is your business breakout.

Let's start with where U.S. futures stand ahead of the opening bell on Wall Street, and all major futures are off this morning on the back of what was also an ugly day for Wall Street yesterday with all the major averages closing off more than one percent.

All right, let's take a look at some of the other business headlines this morning.

Global oil prices topped $110 per barrel on Wednesday as new airstrikes targeted energy infrastructure across the Middle East. In a bid to help offset costs, the U.S. announced that it temporarily waving the Jones Act, which will allow foreign-flagged ships to transport oil and gas between U.S. ports for the next 60 days.

[05:45:05]

As expected, the U.S. Federal Reserve voted to keep interest rates unchanged. The benchmark lending rates will remain at 3 1/2 to 3 3/4 percent. Fed chief Jerome Powell saying that a rate cut won't happen until there's progress on inflation and the overall performance of the economy.

Tens of thousands of workers are caught in the middle of a partial U.S. government shutdown. TSA officers are now working without pay and more than 360 have quit since the start of the shutdown. Staffing shortages are also causing long lines at airports as workers call out.

The U.S. Senate Homeland Security Committee is set to vote in the coming hours on President Trump's nominee to lead the homeland security department. This comes one day after Sen. Markwayne Mullin faced a fiery confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill. Lawmakers questioned him about immigration, disaster response, his temperament, and his own career.

At one point Democratic Sen. Gary Peters confronted Mullin over comments he made about Alex Pretti, the ICU nurse who was shot and killed by a federal ICE agent in Minnesota. Shortly after Pretti's death, Mullin described him as a "deranged individual." He now says that was a mistake.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MARKWAYNE MULLIN (R-OK), NOMINEE FOR U.S. HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: Those words probably should have been retracted. I shouldn't have said that and as secretary I wouldn't. The investigation is ongoing and there is -- like I said, there are sometimes I'm going to make a mistake and I'll own it. That one, I went out there too fast. I was responding immediately without the facts. That's my fault. That won't happen as secretary.

SEN. GARY PETERS (D-MI): So you regret that statement?

MULLIN: I already said that -- yes, sir.

PETERS: Would you want to apologize to the family of Alex Pretti?

MULLIN: Well, sir, I just said I regret those statements.

PETERS: Is that the same as an apology?

MULLIN: I haven't seen the investigation. We'll let the investigation go through and if I'm proven wrong then I will, absolutely.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOLOMON: Now if confirmed, Mullin would replace Kristi Noem who was ousted as DHS secretary earlier this month.

The family of a U.S. college student who went missing in Spain is pleading for information that could help track him down. Twenty-year- old Jimmy Gracey, a junior at the University of Alabama, was last seen in the early hours of Tuesday morning while on spring break in Barcelona. His family says that he went to a nightclub but never returned to his rental home. Gracey's mother says that police have his phone that was recovered after being stolen.

All right, still head for us, Saudi Arabia sends a warning to Iran. Ballistic missiles target Riyadh even as ministers from across the region come to town. CNN reports from the Saudi capital coming up next. (COMMERCIAL)

[05:52:95]

SOLOMON: Saudi Arabia is warning Iran against further attacks in the Gulf. The Saudi foreign minister says that the kingdom reserves the right to take military action against Iran if necessary.

On Wednesday, air defenses intercepted ballistic missiles over the Saudi capital while diplomats from neighboring countries were gathering to discuss the war.

CNN's Nic Robertson is in Riyadh with the details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Very significant that just as the Gulf foreign ministers and other foreign ministers from the region -- Turkey, Egypt, Jordan, and the Pakistani foreign minister here as well, the Azerbaijan foreign minister also. Just as they were gathering in Riyadh the heaviest ballistic missile barrages on the capital since the war began.

And I asked the Saudi foreign minister after their meeting how he interpreted this action by Iran and what Saudi Arabia was going to do about it.

PRINCE FAISAL BIN FARHAN AL-SAUD, SAUDI FOREIGN AFFAIRS MINISTER: And I think that's the clearest signal of how Iran feels about diplomacy. It doesn't believe in talking to its neighbors. It tries to pressure its neighbors, and I can say categorically that's not going to work. The kingdom is not going to succumb to pressure and -- on the contrary. This pressure will backfire. The Iranians will have to understand that this has consequences.

ROBERTSON: So a very clear and strong message to Iran that their actions are illegal. That they should stop immediately. That if they continue there will be consequences. Escalation, he said, would be met with escalation. He didn't give what the red line would be where Iran would cross in Saudi Arabia and the other Gulf countries would, neither did he give a timeline.

But he also indicated that he didn't think Iran was listening. That he didn't think that they would change their actions. So really appearing to set the scene for very possibly for a further escalation.

And he also criticized what he called "fake information" coming from the Iranians, saying that they were only targeting American-related facilities in the region. He said that was absolute fake, not true, and he pointed to the impacts of some of those ballistic missiles or the debris falling from intercepts of those ballistic missiles around Riyadh tonight saying that there were two oil facilities that were hit. We also understand from the Ministry of Defense that four civilians were also impacted, caught in some of the falling debris from those intercepted ballistic missiles. But this, the heaviest attack on Riyadh by the Iranians so far in the

war, a very clear message from the Saudi foreign minister but very clear as well that Iran just may not be listening right now.

[05:55:00]

Nic Robertson, CNN, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SOLOMON: We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL)

SOLOMON: Welcome back.

The Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida has been demolished nearly 10 years after a deadly mass shooting. It's being replaced with a permanent memorial set to open next year. In 2016, 49 people were killed in the attack on the LGBTQ-friendly club making it the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history at the time. Concept designs for the memorial include a walkway with rainbow glass panels honoring the victims, a survivors' tribute wall, and a garden among other spaces.

[06:00:08]

That's going to do it for us here today. Thanks for being with us here on EARLY START. I'm Rahel Solomon live in New York. Our thanks to Becky Anderson and her team in Abu Dhabi. "CNN THIS MORNING" starts right now.