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Isa Soares Tonight
President Trump Puts His Ultimatum To Iran On Hold; Israel Ramps Up Attacks On Iran And Lebanon; House Speaker Mike Johnson Rejects DHS Funding Bill Passed By Senate; Iranian Strikes Back At Israel And Gulf Neighbors; Iran-Linked Hackers Breach Kash Patel's Personal Emails; U.N. Warns Of Catastrophe In Lebanon Amid Israeli Attacks; Settler Attacks Against Palestinians Surging In West Bank; Amazon Web Service CEO Speaks To CNN About Plans For A.I.; Donald Trump Signature To Appear On New U.S. Dollar Bills. Aired 2-3p ET
Aired March 27, 2026 - 14:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[14:00:00]
MAX FOSTER, HOST, ISA SOARES TONIGHT: Hello, and welcome, I'm Max Foster in for Isa Soares. Tonight, President Trump puts his ultimatum to Iran on
hold. Israel ramps up attacks, and the top American diplomat tries to sell the U.S. war strategy to skeptical allies.
Here's what we have for you in terms of the latest on the war with Iran. The President is delaying strikes on Iran's energy sites by 10 days, as
negotiations between the two countries continue. If those diplomatic efforts fail, President is weighing options for dramatically escalating the
war against Iran.
CNN has learned that Pentagon officials have drawn up scenarios for deploying troops to seize various targets within Iran. Israel is vowing to
escalate strikes as it carries out fresh attacks across Iran.
Iran reports at least 18 people were killed and another 10 injured. Iran's state media says a nuclear facility was targeted in the latest strikes.
Officials say there were no casualties there. The IDF had issued a warning to civilians that it would strike Iranian military infrastructure in that
area.
Well, we're joined now by Larry Sabato; the Director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia. Thank you so much for joining us. I
guess the best -- you know, the biggest news today was the delay in the attack according to Trump -- something like ten days. I mean, how do you
read that or could it be a distraction tactic. What do you make of it?
LARRY SABATO, DIRECTOR, CENTER FOR POLITICS, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA: We still don't know how serious the negotiations are, or really if there are
actual negotiations, rather than simply in exchange of demands.
Obviously, everyone hopes, at least, in the States, everyone hopes that there are real negotiations, and that putting boots on the ground can be
avoided. Because there's one thing, nearly for sure.
If you put thousands of troops on the ground in Iran, you're going to have casualties. And that's the last thing that America wants, but it's also the
last thing that Donald Trump wants. He's the one who meets the bodies in Delaware.
FOSTER: In terms of the timing, I mean, there's been, you know, if you -- if we look back on the pattern of some of these decisions, he doesn't want
to disrupt the oil markets again, so, he's being quite positive during the week.
But then we see a sort of an uptick over the weekend, perhaps because there were oil markets had shot. Do you think there's a risk we may be heading
into another one of those weekends?
SABATO: Oh, absolutely. I think most people expected of the dramatic increase in the cost of a barrel of oil and gas prices at the pump. And
it's starting to affect lots of other things like fertilizer, food prices, the longer this goes on, the worst that inflation will get, not just for
the United States, but for other countries.
It's only going to get worse as it goes on longer. And I think the White House completely understands that. But they've painted themselves into a
corner or Trump has. And it's difficult to see what exactly we're going to do with allies like Israel to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
That's the key to the whole thing. Why they didn't realize that, that was the ace card that Iran had, that Iran would probably use it. It's a mystery
to me and lots of other people.
FOSTER: Obviously, there are a lot of emphasis being put on these, you know, alleged talks this weekend in Pakistan. But what do you think is in
it for Iran to send someone senior to that and even get involved?
SABATO: They're willing to endure a lot more pain I think than the United States is. And so, for them, I suppose at some level, they would rather see
the war end without a lot of additional destruction of their infrastructure.
But having said that, I think they're willing to endure it if they have to. And they think they can outlast the United States.
[14:05:00]
And based on our history and how we react to foreign wars, they may well be right.
FOSTER: But what are we going to get out of these talks even if they do take place? Because you don't resolve things with one afternoon of talks,
do you?
SABATO: Given the points that supposedly have been exchanged, it's hard to see how they'd agree on any of them. I mean, these are very serious matters
that have been discussed for years and decades, and they haven't been resolved.
So, how they expect to get anything done in a meeting or two is beyond me. And the Iranians keep saying, I guess correctly, that the last time they
were in talks with the United States, we ended up using the talks as a cover, a cover to begin bombing Iran.
Everyone is mystified by what the strategy actually is. And I suppose from Trump's perspective, he's trying to keep all his options open. He wants to
keep the peace option open.
He's also keeping an escalation open by sending all these additional troops. But nobody sees the end game. Maybe Trump does, but he hasn't told
us.
FOSTER: As you say, troops will be hugely unpopular within America, presumably where they're not massively engaged in the whole idea of this
conflict anyway, are they, particularly when they see the fuel prices going up again?
Do you think he's just saying he's going to send the troops as a way of threatening Iran with no intention of, you know, actually seeing them touch
ground?
SABATO: Well, I think that's very possible. If you look at Trump's business career as well as political career, it's filled with bluffs. He likes to
bluff his opponents. Now, I don't know if it's a bluff, but I think you have to take that as a possibility.
What you mentioned is the critical factor. When this war started, it was already unpopular. It was already unpopular, even though the early days
seemed to be very successful from the U.S. perspective. It has become even more unpopular.
And I'll tell you what the least popular part is, putting boots on the ground. There have actually been surveys where large groups of voters are
supportive of that to the degree of about 7 to 10 percent, meaning 90 percent or more are opposed to putting boots on the ground.
This is a very serious matter for any president, any White House. How are you going to keep a hold of public opinion and keep the public behind you
to the extent that you can continue to wage the war?
FOSTER: OK, Larry Sabato, as ever, I really appreciate your thoughts on this huge issue. The war with Iran was front-run -- front and center today
as G7 Foreign Ministers met in France. The U.S. Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, was pressed by European allies on the administration's strategy to
bring an end to the conflict.
Ministers called on Tehran to stop charging ships a toll for safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz. Rubio says the administration has yet to hear
from the Iranians following an exchange of proposals.
So, here's what he had to say when asked about the possibility of U.S. ground forces entering Iran.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARCO RUBIO, SECRETARY OF STATE, UNITED STATES: We can achieve. We are achieving all those objectives. We are ahead of schedule on most of them,
and we can achieve them without any ground troops, without any.
Now, in terms of why there's deployments, number one, the President has to be prepared for multiple contingencies, which I'm not going to discuss in
the media. And again, I refer you to the Department of War, who will talk - - probably tell you the exact same thing.
But we can achieve all of our objectives without ground troops. But we are always going to be prepared to give the President maximum optionality and
maximum opportunity to adjust to contingencies, should they emerge.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOSTER: Well, I'm joined now by Fabrice Pothier; he is a former NATO Director of Policy Planning, the current CEO of Rasmussen Global. Thank you
so much for joining us. I mean, it's very hard --
FABRICE POTHIER, CEO, RASMUSSEN GLOBAL: Pleasure --
FOSTER: To map anything out here, isn't it? Make any sort of predictions. But are you concerned about the oil market shutting going into the weekend
and seeing what action might take place?
POTHIER: Well, I think what you are seeing right now is both on the military front, a very -- I would say impactful, powerful air campaign. And
that however, has not achieved the political goal of regime change.
And therefore, it's air campaign that is starting to, basically running in circles and facing an adversary that is inferior militarily, but it is
willing to absorb more pain. And that has found some asymmetric ways of putting some cost on this military campaign with both the United States,
Israel, and the gulf allies.
And then diplomatically, what you are seeing on full display during the G7 meeting is the U.S. in a complete diplomatic cul-de-sac, because they have
not engaged before launching their campaign with the Europeans.
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They black -- tried to blackmail the Europeans into some form of support around the Strait of Hormuz. But as long as militarily, the situation is
not de-escalating, there's not a diplomatic way out of it. It's very unlikely that any European allies will be willing to contribute to
anything.
FOSTER: We were hearing there about ground troops potentially going in, which could just be a warning shot to Iran. But do you see Iran's tactic
currently to almost not rush into any negotiation because, well, they're being very effective, is the economic war, even if they are losing the
military war, as Trump says.
POTHIER: Yes, I think the Iranians are controlling the clock here. Even though again, the cost is obviously much higher on their side, of the human
and infrastructure costs. But being a theocracy, a dictatorship, they're willing to absorb much more pain than any normal democracy, or normal open
society.
So, they are playing this, and I think the United States has very seriously underestimated the resilience of the regime and how the regime has adapted
to the last air campaign and has dispersed and decentralized a lot of this -- its command and control, which makes it harder to target and harder to
bring -- to bring to its knees.
FOSTER: Do you think they're saying, we'll start talking once you stop attacking us?
POTHIER: I think they might go even further for the moment, because quite frankly, what you're saying is, they're holding the Strait of Hormuz with
quite limited capabilities, and have a huge global impact.
And that is actually starting to create quite a significant pressure on the United States. So, I think you can imagine their logic being, we're not
giving -- going to give any ground until Donald Trump on his own terms, decides somehow to deescalate not because basically he's -- you know, he's
scared of us. But because he's politically exhausted and has no longer the support of the American people.
FOSTER: How easy would it be for him to de-escalate, considering that Iran is -- Israel rather, is clearly making the most of this moment and probably
doesn't want to finish the war just yet?
POTHIER: Well, yes, but Israel will have to adapt to whatever decision is taken in Washington, because, even though Israel has conducted some air
operations against Iran on its own terms, it does need for this kind of very broad, very intense air campaign.
It does need U.S. support, not just politically, but also logistically and militarily. So, the U.S. and Israel will have to follow whatever decision
Trump takes.
And I think Israel is going to have this kind of general doctrine of, they will keep some form of pressure on Iran even after major hostilities, like
they did against Syria or did against other enemies, where they would come and remind and exert and reinstall in a way, deterrence by destroying some
infrastructure.
So, I think Israel has already, in a way, gathered or won a lot of points here in terms of being able to dominate and impose its own will on the
region. But we'll have to indeed adapt to whatever U.S. decision. And I think this U.S. decision will hopefully come sooner rather than later.
FOSTER: OK, Fabrice Pothier, thank you so much for your insights tonight.
POTHIER: Thank you.
FOSTER: Oil prices are up even though U.S. President Donald Trump said he is extending a pause on strikes on Iran's energy sites. He also said that
he had expected oil and gas prices to rise even more because of the war with Iran.
Global oil futures moving higher, the U.S. benchmark is up by more than 4 percent. A live look at Wall Street for you, all the three major indices
are solidly in the red, as you can see. Actually, the Nasdaq down more than 2 percent.
Anna is here. I mean, that's interesting, isn't it? That oil prices went up even though Donald Trump was effectively trying to calm it down by delaying
the strikes. Are they starting to disbelieve what he says?
ANNA COOBAN, CNN BUSINESS & ECONOMICS CORRESPONDENT: I think in -- my take on this is that there is now a disconnect between what Trump says and how
markets are reacting. They're sort of looking at the material situation on the ground rather than his statements.
And the situation on the ground is that the Strait of Hormuz is still basically blocked --
FOSTER: I'm sorry, we're going to come back to you because Mike Johnson is speaking in Washington. We need to catch him.
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REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA): Here in the opening and in the beginning here to make clear, the Republicans are not going to be any part of any effort to
reopen our borders or to stop immigration enforcement.
We are going to deport dangerous criminal, illegal aliens because it is a basic function of the government. The Democrats fundamentally disagree. The
Senate Democrats have hoisted upon this appropriations process their radical crazy agenda.
We call it crazy because that's what it is. They want to reopen the borders, and they want to stop the deportation of dangerous criminal,
illegal aliens. We have to do these basic functions of government. We have to fund them in order to do them.
In the last several days, we have recent examples of dangerous criminals in this country killing innocent Americans. We had an 18-year-old college
student in Chicago, a young lady who was shot in the back by a dangerous criminal who had been released in that sanctuary city and first released at
the border under Joe Biden.
They opened the border wide for four years, just yesterday or last 36 hours or so, an 83-year-old man is pushed onto the subway tracks and run over by
a dangerous criminal, illegal alien. This has to stop.
The Republicans are not going to be a party to this. They have taken hostage the funding processes of government so that they can impose their
radical agenda on the American people, and we can't have any part of it.
This gambit that was done last night is a joke. I'm quite convinced that it can't be that every Senate Republican read the language of this bill, and
I'm going to -- I'm going to just read you one excerpt of it, because it's pretty alarming.
And it says everything that you need to know in section four. This is on page two of the bill. This is -- this is an actual -- this is an actual
copy of the bill, that excerpt, it says, quote, "the contents printed under the headings of this bill, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and
Border Security operations.
Under the heading of U.S. Customs and Border Patrol and Protection, shall have no force or effect for purposes of this act and amounts specified in
the final bill under the subheading, border security operations, and under the heading, U.S. Customs and Border protection, and under the headings of
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Department of Homeland Security shall be zero."
We're not doing that. And it is unconscionable to me that the Democrats would force some sort of negotiation at 3 O'clock in the morning and try to
hoist this among -- upon the American people, and then get on their jets and go home for their holiday, and pretend and think that we're going to go
along with that.
So, we're going to do something different. We're going to do the responsible thing. Republicans are going to continue to govern and do the
right thing morally, politically -- legally and politically.
We are going to take care of those who take care of us. The employees and the Department of Homeland Security have gone without funding and without
paychecks for 42 days. It's second longest shutdown in U.S. history, bested only by the longest shutdown in U.S. history, that these same radical
Democrats hoisted upon the government in the Fall of last year.
Forty-two days they've gone without pay. We've had, by some estimates, close to 500 TSA agents who have resigned from their jobs. And who could
blame them? They've gone half the fiscal year without a regular paycheck. We can't ask that of anyone.
And the lines around the airlines and at the airports have been wrapped around the buildings because of all this turmoil. We are very grateful to
have a strong commander-in-chief in the White House who has taken real leadership.
President Trump has already ordered by executive order that TSA agents will be paid, and those -- that machinery is in process right now, the Office of
Management and Budget is working through that to make sure that, that happens.
And we will reduce the lines and the waits at the airlines. It will make sure that those who are protecting us are paid. But what we are going to
present and what we're going to vote on this floor, our rules committee is working through this right now.
We're going to put a clean, simple, continuing resolution that will go until May 22nd. It's just a number of weeks to allow for all those who
sacrificially serve the country and protect other Americans.
All these agencies, ten agencies under the Department of Homeland Security will continue at their current funding levels to make sure that they are
protected.
We're going to send that over to the Senate, and we hope that they'll accept that, they can do it in record time, just like that with the
unanimous consent, they could do that as early as Monday.
In the meantime, TSA will be paid. We will have done our jobs and we will protect the homeland because that is the most basic responsibility of the
Congress, is to protect the American people. We're not playing political games on this.
We encourage some of our Democrats, hopefully, we'll have some of our Democrats in the House who will go along with this and stop the pain that's
being forced upon these people. The reason that we can't accept this ridiculousness, OK, is because we're not going to risk not funding the
agencies that keep the American people safe.
The Department of Homeland Security is the third largest department in the federal government.
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It has ten agencies beneath it. It's not just TSA, it's also FEMA, the Coast Guard, all these agencies that keep us safe, we must fund them. This
is not a game. Republicans will do the responsible and honorable thing, and Democrats will continue to play politics.
(CROSSTALK)
JOHNSON: Real quick. Real quick.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you, thank you, Mr. Speaker. You and John Thune are not on the same page. You came out and criticized Democrats. He was the
engineer behind this. Why are you guys not on the same page?
JOHNSON: I would --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And are you not extending the shutdown if you were to accept what the Senate had passed, this could end tonight and the TSA lines
would shrink?
JOHNSON: I wouldn't call John Thune the engineer of this. Chuck Schumer and the --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He --
(CROSSTALK)
JOHNSON: Democrats in the Senate -- Chuck Schumer and the Democrats in the Senate have forced this upon the Senate. I have to protect the House --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He didn't have to accept it --
JOHNSON: Let me answer the question, Chad(ph). I have to protect the House --
FOSTER: OK, you can see there the politics of Washington in full play. We're going to bring in Larry Sabato at this point. He's the Director of
the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia.
Because for the international audience, just explain what's happening here. This was about a funding bill, wasn't it? For Department of Homeland
Security. It passed the Senate, and then is being sent back to the Senate. Just explain what the issue is.
SABATO: Essentially, after 42 days of a shutdown, at least, of parts of the Homeland Security Department, which is an enormous department, the Congress
or at least the Senate, finally, reached an agreement.
It didn't solve all the problems, didn't cross all the 'Ts' and dot all the 'Is', but it was enough to get these thousands and thousands of workers at
TSA who are at the airports paid again. They have missed three paychecks already, and probably a fourth they will miss as well.
And it was unanimous. You see what the speaker there wasn't explaining clearly is that this came out of a Republican-controlled Senate. They
control the Senate, 53 seats to 47 for the Democrats. This was unanimous.
And it got to the House, and personally, I think the speaker would have gladly accepted it, but he suddenly got a lot of opposition from the most
conservative members of his caucus. They're called the freedom caucus, and they insisted they wouldn't vote for it.
And the Democrats were going to have to come in and rescue him, and that wasn't guaranteed. So, now he's brought it back to the border and these
terrible undocumented aliens who are committing murders and all kinds of terrible things, that's for the Republican base.
And this is going to go on. Now, the President says he's going to find a way to get the TSA workers paid. There are others in the administration and
out, who say there really is no way to do it. But we'll see.
They can -- they can work wonders if they want to, but this is going to go on and it's an embarrassment for Congress. I don't think either party has
distinguished itself in this -- in this combat. But right now, the Republicans own this more than the Democrats do.
They control both Houses of Congress, plus the White House, and they've just blown up the agreement that was reached overnight after 42 days of a
shutdown.
FOSTER: Yes, which would have got people paid effectively. Thank you so much, Larry. We're going to go to Annie Grayer. She's on Capitol Hill with
the latest. So, it's going back to the Senate. It's basically ping-pong.
ANNIE GRAYER, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Lots of ping-ponging, lots of angry finger-pointing, lots of questions from both sides about what is each party
getting out of this?
But House Speaker Mike Johnson came to Capitol Hill this morning facing fury from -- mostly from his right flank, where conservatives were saying
they were not going to accept the deal that was passed in a bipartisan fashion in the Senate overnight.
Because the Senate deal did not include funding for border patrol or ICE, and the House Freedom caucus, which is this right-wing group in the House
of Representatives, said that that was a non-starter for them.
And Johnson, after talking with a number of his members, meeting with members for over two hours behind closed doors, decided to come up with
this plan where they're going to fund the entirety of the Department of Homeland Security.
So, including ICE and Border Patrol, and do that for eight weeks, and then they will have another -- try and do another conversation about how to fund
this agency further.
But the problem is, the Senate has already left town for a two-week recess, and the Senate Democrats and Republicans have been going back-and-forth for
41 days -- 42 days, about how to move forward with these negotiations.
And last night was the only time there was a breakthrough. So, the House is really throwing a wrench in the Senate's plans here. This is just the
latest example of how we see House Speaker Mike Johnson and Republican Senate Majority leader John Thune.
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Two Republicans who lead the House and Senate chamber, not on the same page here because Republicans control both the House and Senate, and yet, each
chamber has a different plan for how to approach this.
And all the while, the lines at the airports are continuing to grow. TSA agents are going without pay. President Trump has announced that he would
use an executive order and his emergency powers to pay TSA workers.
But there's a lot of questions legally about how that's going to happen. So, now -- so, what seems like the Senate was sending over a wrapped bow,
easily lay-up for the House to finish. Now, all those plans are wrecked.
We're sort of back to square one here as House Republicans are now presenting their own plan for DHS.
FOSTER: Yes, what a frustration for all those workers who just aren't getting paid. Thank you so much Annie, for joining us from there. We'll be
back after a quick break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
FOSTER: Well, as President Trump halts his threats on Iran's nuclear or rather energy facilities, citing ongoing talks, Israel instead is choosing
to escalate. Defense Minister Israel Katz says Israel will expand strikes on Iran in response to missile fire.
Iran said today its Arak nuclear facility was hit in a strike with no casualties. Israel accuses the Iranian regime of attempting to rebuild the
nuclear reactor there, and the Israeli military issued an evacuation warning to civilians in the area.
As the war drags into its fifth week, the Iranian Red Crescent says at least 1,900 people have been killed and another 20,000 injured since the
conflict began. CNN's Matthew Chance has been following the latest from Doha, and we expect it to carry on for weeks. So, where are we, Matthew?
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CHIEF GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, I mean, that's right, Max. I mean, look, there is no end in sight after four weeks
of this U.S. and Israeli campaign in Iran.
There is a great deal of, I think, anger and disquiet in this gulf region with the various Arab states who have been sort of struck by Iranian
rockets -- sorry, Iranian missiles and drones in retaliation, and have suffered an enormous economic impact as a result of that.
[14:30:06]
The Foreign Ministry of Qatar, from where I'm speaking to you right now, which is a very rich oil and gas producing state on the Persian Gulf, has
said that the economic consequences it's suffered so far have been catastrophic. And so, it's a match to billions of dollars.
There's also a great deal of, you know, kind of disappointment to put it mildly in the fact that the warnings that these Gulf states and Qatar gave
the United States before it embarked on this Iran war, that the economic consequences could be very dire were apparently ignored by Washington. So,
that's two areas where there's concern.
The final area is the future because the attitude, the sense you get speaking to people here, speaking to various government officials, is that
they're concerned, they fear that the situation is going to get a lot worse before it gets any better. I mean we're on the on the cusp now of a
potential escalation by the United States of the Iran war. They could choose to go the other way, and you know, appease Iran or walk away from
the conflict. But, you know, the concern here is that if the United States goes for escalation, potentially puts ground forces in Iran, then that
could result in even more negative consequences for the region.
I mean, Iran has said it will strike out, lash out at energy infrastructure in the surrounding Gulf States. It's already done a bit of that, but that
could if it's a more sustained campaign that could have even deeper economic consequences. And it's something that people and governments in
this region are absolutely terrified about, Max.
FOSTER: It's always been the, you know, the conflict that has loomed over the region, hasn't it? Iran and Israel in particular. And is there, you
know, in some quarters the view that actually now this has started, America needs to finish it properly, and therefore, we should withstand a bit more
of this?
CHANCE: I mean, I've heard that view expressed sort of by various Gulf states. The Saudi Arabians, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, these are
Gulf States which have a lot at stake, of course, but have also traditionally taken a much more hard line against the Islamic Republic,
against Iran across the Persian Gulf. But you know, the Gulf region does not speak with a single voice. This is not a monolithic block when it comes
to the attitude towards Iran. And so, there are other sort of kingdoms, states within that collection of Gulf monarchies like Qatar, like Oman that
want to take a much more conciliatory line.
Qatar, for example, had its foreign minister and its prime minister, both the same person, in Washington earlier today, speaking to J.D. Vance, U.S.
Vice President, basically emphasizing to him that, you know, energy infrastructure in the region must be preserved. They've already had the
biggest gas production facility in the world struck by Iranian rockets. They don't want to see any more of that kind of damage inflicted on their
economy.
FOSTER: OK, Matthew Chance, thank you for joining us from Doha.
We're going to go to a developing story for you. A source confirming to CNN that hackers connected to the Iranian regime have accessed the personal
email account of the FBI Director, Kash Patel. The hackers published photos of Patel taken before he was in charge of the agency.
Holmes Lybrand is following the story for us from Washington. I mean it's extraordinary, isn't it? The images are kind of interesting, but it's just
the idea that the head of the FBI can have his phone hacked.
HOLMES LYBRAND, CNN REPORTER: Right. That's right. And to stress, the FBI says that no government information was accessed. This was only Patel's
personal email. And the emails that were accessed that range from about 2011 to 2022, they include photos, emails about travel, business, things
like that. The hacking group, which is connected to the government of Iran, claimed that it had hacked the FBI. But of course, that is far different
than hacking the personal account of Patel. Still concerning, but much different.
And I do want to stress as well that this is common for Iran. And in 2024, before Patel was even appointed as FBI director, the FBI told him that he
was a target of an Iranian hack as well as other Trump officials that were coming into office. So, this is really something that we have seen from the
government of Iran many times and it is something that as the war continues, as the conflict continues, we're going to see a lot more as Iran
continues this everything and the kitchen sink sort of method of attacking U.S.
FOSTER: Yes, that asymmetric warfare they're so known for, isn't it? Holmes, thank you so much for that.
Now, still to come tonight, from crisis to catastrophe, the U.N. warns the humanitarian situation in Lebanon is worsening by the day, calling the
speed and scale of the disaster staggering. And then CNN visits the West Bank amid a surge in settler attacks on Palestinians. What we learned about
the Israeli military's claim of maintaining law and order. Ahead.
[14:35:27]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
FOSTER: The U.N. warns Lebanon is facing a humanitarian catastrophe as Israeli strikes and evacuation orders have now forced about 20 percent of
the country's population from their homes. Israel carrying out new strikes in Beirut today as ground troops press ahead with efforts to seize much of
southern Lebanon. Israel is vowing to establish what it calls a buffer zone to shield northern Israel from Hezbollah attacks.
UNICEF says some Lebanese families are fleeing the fighting with only the clothes they have on their backs. It calls the speed and scale of the
displacement staggering and says children are paying the highest price.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARCOLUIGI CORSI, UNICEF REPRESENTATIVE IN LEBANON: Just in three weeks more than 370,000 children have been forced out of their homes here in
Lebanon, which is an average of at least 19,000 girls and boys displaced every single day. Just to grasp the scale, this is the equivalent of
hundreds of schools, buses filled with children fleeing for their lives every 24 hours.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOSTER: Let's bring in Ronnie Chatah, host of the Beirut Banyan podcast. Thank you so much for joining us. The -- this buffer zone as we're talking
about is actually huge, isn't it? Much bigger than they've previously tried to enforce.
RONNIE CHATAH, HOST, BEIRUT BANYAN PODCAST: If it reaches up to the Litani River, this buffer zone will include upwards to 15 percent of Lebanon's
geography. And of course, that includes what is now an effectively depopulated part of the country. Three weeks ago, roughly a quarter of --
roughly a quarter of the Lebanese population, over one million Lebanese were forced out of their homes from southern Lebanon as well as southern
Beirut.
And you're unfortunately seeing something that ended 26 years ago, which is a return of an Israeli presence in southern Lebanon. Whether it's an
incursion, long-term occupation, doesn't really matter. It's an old buffer zone that's coming back to life, unfortunately for Lebanon, and it's a
direct consequence of us being involved in a war that has absolutely nothing to do with Lebanon.
[14:40:10]
FOSTER: So, is the idea, do you think, for the Israelis to push these communities above the Litani River and then control below the Litani River?
Because I know that they've also been destroying bridges, haven't they? Which makes it very difficult to cross.
CHATAH: From every action the Israelis have taken in southern Lebanon, it looks like two things are happening at once. First the forced expulsion of
hundreds of thousands of Lebanese inhabitants, and then as you're indicating as well, a severing of sorts of southern Lebanon from the rest
of the country, infrastructure, bridges, everything, preventing Lebanese from returning to their homes.
And this seems like a potentially future diplomatic tactic, one that includes perhaps at the end of the day a return to Lebanese sovereignty.
And fortunate -- one can hope a return of Lebanese citizens to their homes as well. But there's long ways to go before you see diplomatic resolution.
Unfortunately for us, we're in the middle of a war and it's the third week of fighting and it looks like this will -- this will continue on beyond
American-Iranian conflict. In other words, Israel and Hezbollah will keep fighting it out. It's a bad situation for Lebanon and humanitarian level.
It's bad for Lebanese sovereignty. And it shows the consequences of failed diplomacy leading to war which we're going through right now.
FOSTER: And I've seen reports that some people are trapped in southern Lebanon. They can't actually get on to the other side of the river. There
are also many who don't want to go obviously because they fear they'll never be able to go back. So, there's this big sort of lost group of people
who don't have homes to go to but can't actually get anywhere either.
CHATAH: There are Lebanese that refuse to leave and we see them on the news and they are going to be effectively disconnected from the rest of the
country and it's a tragedy in that many Lebanese that do not want to leave their homes and refuse to leave are risking their lives too. This is a
price paid, an unfortunate price paid for any Lebanese resisting Israeli incursion, occupation, invasion, however you want to frame it.
That said, this is an unfortunate reality for the average Lebanese citizen that never wanted this round of fighting to emerge. A war that is now
effectively launched from Iran in Lebanon with Hezbollah paying a big price for exposing itself to this level of destruction. And the average Lebanese
person, whether they're south of the Litani River or displaced north of the Litani River in Beirut and north of Beirut as well, Lebanon as a country
and the Lebanese as a population are paying a huge price for being involved in regional war. Something that should have ended decades ago, yet you
still have it in our -- in our lifetime. Another round of fighting, this time between Hezbollah and Israel.
FOSTER: There have been European leaders speaking out against what's happening in southern Lebanon, but it doesn't seem to have had much impact,
presumably because the only world leader that can have an impact on this is Donald Trump.
CHATAH: You've seen some level of proactive diplomacy on the Lebanese side. Two things have happened. One is a first for Lebanon, reaching out for
direct negotiations with the Israelis. Ceasefire talks, they haven't matured yet, but the Lebanese side at least has expressed interest in
deescalation with direct talks with the Israelis. This is a first for Lebanon.
On a more local level, Lebanon's foreign minister and Lebanon's government as a whole, has called for the expulsion of Iran's ambassador in Lebanon,
considering him persona non grata. There is some diplomatic maneuvering. It's at its earliest stages, but this is an important indication that at
the end of the day, Israel's security gains, whatever they are, in southern Lebanon, will not necessarily lead to the disarmament of Hezbollah. You
need international action and you need an international resolution for something this big. Iran's security leverage in the region, best expressed
Hezbollah, currently fighting Israel, that requires international attention.
And you're right, for better or worse, American power tends to offer the most conclusive results in diplomacy. We're not there yet.
FOSTER: No. OK. Ronnie Chatah, I really appreciate you joining us today from Beirut.
Now, the Israeli military's chief of staff says he's raising 10 red flags before the IDF "collapses." He warns the military is under severe strain
from personnel shortages as it operates on multiple fronts, including the occupied West Bank as well where settler attacks on Palestinians are
surging. Our Jeremy Diamond just visited the West Bank. And we warn you, his report has some disturbing images.
[14:45:08]
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): 75-year-old Abdullah Daraghmeh moans in pain. His breathing is labored. His face
bloodied, bruised, and swollen. Bones broken. His family and multiple eyewitnesses say Israeli settlers stormed into his home in the middle of
the night and beat him to a pulp.
In his West Bank village of Tayasir, those same settlers have now established an outpost considered illegal even under Israeli law. Soldiers
standing idly by until something else draws their attention. Producer Abeer Salman identifies us as journalists before translating the soldiers'
commands.
ABEER SALMAN, CNN PRODUCER: Sit down. Sit down. Sit down.
DIAMOND: So, the soldiers just immediately came up and started pointing their weapons directly at us, telling everyone to sit down immediately.
Obviously, we're not posing any threat here.
DIAMOND (voice-over): The commander comes straight for our camera and within seconds --
DIAMOND: What are you doing? We're journalists. What are you doing?
DIAMOND (voice-over): A soldier has just put photojournalist Cyril Theophilos in a chokehold, forcing him to the ground.
DIAMOND: Don't touch him like that. Don't touch him like that. Give me my phone.
DIAMOND (voice-over): The soldier who assaulted Theophilos continues to demand he turn off his camera before another smacks my phone.
DIAMOND: So, as you can see, what we have seen happen in the last 24 hours is that settlers came to this area. They settled that hilltop. And now you
have a lot of soldiers coming to this area with the Palestinians in this area. They're on top of the home of Immad, the man that we were just
speaking to. We're seeing the soldiers treat the Palestinians in the area as a threat when really what started this problem was obviously the
settlers who came in the middle of the night and took over land that's not theirs.
DIAMOND (voice-over): The Palestinians here are detained and questioned. Soldiers detain us, too, and walk us back to our vehicle. They say they're
trying to establish order between settlers and Palestinians. But as the cameras keep rolling, it becomes clear these soldiers are here in service
of the settler movement.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (text): We are here because this is our place.
DIAMOND (text): Is this your village?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (text): The land is ours.
DIAMOND (text): SO, all the West Bank is yours?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (text): Of course. And not just for the soldiers, for the Jews.
DIAMOND (voice-over): They also say it's personal. These soldiers tell me they were friends with the 18-year-old settler who authorities say was
killed last week by a Palestinian driver. Palestinians dispute that account.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (text): If you had a brother and they kill him, what would you have done?
DIAMOND (text): So, that's revenge?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (text): Revenge.
DIAMOND (text): You're talking about revenge. But you're a soldier. Is this normal to carry out revenge? As a soldier?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (text): Listen, at the end of the day, if the state doesn't address what they did, those who murdered the youth, the settler
last week, remember? What do you expect us to do?
DIAMOND: So, we're currently detained by the Israeli military. They've told us to sit in our cars and wait. As you can see, one of them is right here.
And you know, what's really quite striking is the fact that so many of these soldiers are clearly manifesting the same kind of settler ideology.
DIAMOND (voice-over): This soldier makes that crystal clear.
DIAMOND (text): They don't have permission to be here even under Israel law. Even under Israel law, this isn't a settlement. This isn't a legal
settlement.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (text): That's right. Bit it will be a legal settlement.
DIAMOND (text): Ah, it will be. How do you know this?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (text): Slowly, slowly.
DIAMOND (text): Thanks to your help, right?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (text): Of course. I help my people.
DIAMOND (voice-over): Nayir is describing the settler playbook, and the role Israeli soldiers often play in propping it up. The Israeli military
did not respond to CNN's questions about soldiers conduct in the West Bank, including our detention. Amid the war with Iran, those efforts are
intensifying with at least four outposts established this week alone. Land often taken with the blood of Palestinians.
I didn't expect this. Abdullah's son says. This is not normal.
DIAMOND: So, just as we're visiting one patient in the hospital from a settler attack, we've just learned that there have been multiple other
settler attacks in the area, and one of the patients is at this same hospital.
DIAMOND (voice-over): 29-year-old Sakar Salman says a scuffle broke out after settlers came onto his land, and one of them clubbed him in the back
of the head. When soldiers arrived, he says they arrested him and beat him with the butt of their guns.
The soldiers are a protection for the settlers. I would tell the soldiers that they stole my sheep and they would say that I'm lying and that I'm the
one who attacked them. And every time I tried to say something, the soldiers would beat me. The settlers, he says, always go free.
Jeremy Diamond, CNN Tayasir, The West Bank.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[14:50:14]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
FOSTER: As Amazon Web Services marks 20 years, the cloud computing division is making a huge bet on the future of artificial intelligence. The expected
$200 billion Amazon will spend this year is higher than what many on Wall Street had predicted. An Amazon official says most of the money will go to
data centers and servers. And as concerns swirl about a potential A.I. bubble burst, critics want to know if and when companies are going to see a
return on these investments.
Let's go to tech editor Lisa Eadicicco. She joins us now. Lisa, I mean -- I mean it's extraordinary. It's been 20 years. But it's also extraordinary
how pervasive this cloud business is.
LISA EADICICCO, CNN BUSINESS TECH EDITOR: Absolutely. AWS is essentially the backbone of the web, and that's something that became really evident
last year when there was an outage that took out a lot of AWS-powered services. People had a hard time ordering their coffee, getting through
their daily routines, making doctor's appointments. So, it really is a fundamental part of the web.
And a big part of its future depends on being just as essential to A.I. companies. And that's really what we've been seeing here from Amazon is
this push to really work with companies like OpenAI and Anthropic and also provide tools to companies that are building their own A.I. apps and
agents. So, that is a big part of its future.
And I recently sat down with the CEO of Amazon Web Services, and one of the biggest questions I had for him was about that spending, what makes them so
confident in the demand in A.I. to put all that money towards infrastructure. And he did share some anecdotes with me based on what he's
seeing. For example, he was in a meeting with around 150 senior technology leaders and he asked them, are you seeing a return on your A.I. investments
or are you expecting to on a clear path to see that return in the next six months? And he said 90 percent of the room raised their hands. So that's
just a little bit of color.
And hearing from him was really interesting because as the CEO of AWS, he does kind of have a front row seat into what companies are looking for,
what kind of resources they need, what kinds of things they're doing with their products and how they're infusing A.I. into them. So that was
definitely a big part of our conversation, and this is going to be a big theme moving forward, I'm sure.
[14:55:04]
FOSTER: Yes. Fascinating. Lisa, thank you so much.
Donald Trump's signature will soon appear on newly printed dollar bills. That is according to the U.S. Treasury which adds it's the first time a
sitting president's signature has been on paper currency. The news in honor of the 250th anniversary of the United States. Trump's likeness will appear
on a number of anniversary items issued by the government. There you can see one of them.
And finally, Twilight star, Taylor Lautner and his wife, also Taylor, have announced they are expecting their first child. I wonder if it's called
Taylor. Well, posting to Instagram, the couple shared a carousel of images, including their baby scan photos. The caption read, "What's better than two
Taylor Lautner?" in a not-so-subtle nod to the potential name of their new addition.
Thank you for watching tonight. Stay with CNN. I'll have "WHAT WE KNOW" up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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