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Pentagon Says, We are Eliminating Iran's Ballistic Missile Systems; Iran Strikes Back, Targets U.S. Facilities in Middle East; Congress Prepares for Votes on War Powers Resolutions. Aired 10-10:30a ET

Aired March 04, 2026 - 10:00   ET

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

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PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now, breaking news, quote, we are just getting started. Pete Hegseth, just moments ago, laying out a plan to accelerate the operation in Iran. This as we're learning more about some of the Americans killed in Kuwait. And this morning, we're hearing from their family and friends.

Also, stepped up security, bases across America ordered to, quote, enhance vigilance and increase force protection measures.

Plus, this --

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: The war widens, dramatic video just in showing the American diplomatic consulate in Dubai being attacked.

And Israel launching new strikes against Tehran, new video into CNN showing the aerial attack, the country vowing to kill Iran's next supreme leader.

And new CNN reporting just in, the CIA working to arm Kurdish forces to spark an uprising in Iran. How far is the United States from a full scale ground operation?

Welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer with Pamela Brown, and you're in The Situation Room.

We are following multiple breaking news stories this hour right now, multiple stories. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth providing updates on the war with Iran as the conflict in the Middle East spirals. Right now, the Homeland Security secretary, Kristi Noem, is facing more questions from lawmakers up on Capitol Hill after an often contentious meeting yesterday with the U.S. Senate.

And we're also waiting for opinions from the U.S. Supreme Court. The justices could rule on several key cases, including on conversion therapy and whether the president can fire federal officials.

In moments, the House speaker, Mike Johnson, will hold his weekly news conference, and later, the Democrats will hold theirs. We're going to bring those to you live. And right now, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and the Minnesota attorney general, Keith Ellison, are up on Capitol Hill. They're facing serious questions in the Minnesota fraud probe.

BROWN: And new this morning, Wolf, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Dan Caine held a briefing. They say the U.S. and Israeli air assaults are expanding deeper into Iran, eliminating ballistic missile systems and seizing control of the skies and waterways. And Hegseth says that the U.S. airstrikes are just getting started.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETE HEGSETH, DEFENSE SECRETARY: We are accelerating, not decelerating. Iran's capabilities are evaporating by the hour while American strength grows fiercer, smarter and utterly dominant. More bombers and more fighters are arriving just today.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: CNN Senior National Security Reporter Zachary Cohen is here in The Situation Room.

So, what more did the defense secretary say, Zach?

ZACHARY COHEN, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: Yes, Pam. Secretary Hegseth both saying its early days in this ongoing military operation, but also touting the what he framed as the immense success of the U.S. military and its Israeli counterparts, saying that this was never meant to be a fair fight, and that essentially saying that the U.S. and Israeli forces have already essentially won the battle.

Now, General Dan Caine, who is also on that on that stage with him today, really making sure to reinforce the idea that the risk is still very real for U.S. and Israeli service members who are participating and carrying out this military action, and also saying that the risk to their lives is very real too. Both men mentioning the six U.S. service members who have been killed in action so far, but it was interesting, because unlike General Kane, who led off his remarks and closed his remarks remembering those service me members and their families, Hegseth took a little bit of a different tone, really pointing to the coverage that he says has been intended to make the president look bad. Take a listen to what Hegseth said earlier today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HEGSETH: This is what the fake news misses. We've taken control of Iran's airspace and waterways without boots on the ground. We control their fate. But when a few drones get through or tragic things happen, it's front page news. I get it, the press only wants to make the president look bad, but try for once to report the reality.

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The terms of this war will be set by us at every step.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COHEN: So, of course, Hegseth appears to be referring to the coverage of those six service members who were killed in Kuwait when a suspected drone hit this makeshift operation center that they were in. But, again, both Hegseth and General Caine refusing to put a timeline on how long this operation might go on, saying it could be weeks or longer, but that the U.S. will continue to set the tempo.

BROWN: And just to be clear, we have been covering the air operation extensively, and it is a big deal and would be front page news no matter who the president is, if U.S. service members are killed in war, especially in these early days.

Zach, CNN has new reporting that the CIA is now arming Kurdish forces to foment an uprising inside Iran. Tell us about that.

COHEN: Yes, Pam. Sources telling me and our colleagues that this effort by the CIA does fold in with President Trump's initial call on the Iranian people to rise up and take back their government. We're told that the CIA is working to arm Kurdish opposition groups inside Iran working to potentially unify those groups together for an opposition -- military operation of sorts, one that can allow the conditions for the people to take back to the streets. You may remember yesterday, Donald Trump reinforcing that it's not time for those protesters to once again take to the streets waiting for potentially these Kurd opposition groups to try to provide some sort of military element to those peaceful protests.

BROWN: All right. Zach Cohen, thank you so much. Wolf?

BLITZER: And, Pamela, Israel unleashes a new round of strikes on Iran, its tenth wave since last Saturday. Both Iran and its militant ally in Lebanon, Hezbollah, are striking back and they're targeting U.S. facilities in the Middle East. This is a fire at the U.S. consulate in Dubai. A CIA stationed in Saudi Arabia and a U.S. base in Qatar, the largest in the Middle East, in fact, have all come under fire.

We have our correspondence across the region standing by. CNN's Chief International Security Correspondent Nick Paton Walsh is in Tel Aviv, Israel, for us right now. What are you learning, Nick, about these coordinated attacks from Iran and coming in from Lebanon?

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes, interesting this morning that we have had the first, and there's been two of them, sign from the IDF, the Israeli Defense Forces, that we are seeing coordinated attacks here from the north, from Hezbollah in Southern Lebanon, firing missiles, at the same time, missiles fired from Iran.

Now, that's resulted in alerts here, Jerusalem, also in the north as well on two separate occasions, suggesting perhaps coordination, obviously, perhaps a shift in sophistication between Iran's allies in Lebanon under heavy Israeli assault ultimately for all over a year now, lesser since the ceasefire, and perhaps a change in exactly how Iran is prosecuting this. So far, no casualties during these. We have heard of two Israeli soldiers who were injured. It seems closer to the border area now receiving treatment in the Haifa Hospital. But at the same time, Israel too moving with maximum, it seems, aggression inside of Lebanon itself. They have requested or demanded the evacuation of civilians south of the Litani River in Lebanon, and that includes an entire city of Tyre, essentially saying anybody seen moving south will be considered potentially to be of hostile intent towards the Israelis.

The Israeli forces themselves, according to a couple of hours ago, my conversation with the spokesperson were not shifted from their positions closer to the border, what they described yesterday as a buffer zone. They were essentially putting in place to mean they didn't have to evacuate Northern Israel like they did after the Israeli assault in late 2024. But airstrikes in Beirut too in a sense that when Israel saying they will disarm Hezbollah, that could be an enormous undertaking ahead. Wolf?

BLITZER: And very quickly, Nick, I know that the Iranian and Hezbollah rockets and drones have been coming into mostly Central Israel, Northern Israel as well. But was there an attack on Jerusalem today as well?

WALSH: There were, I think, alerts in that particular direction, certainly, Wolf, that we heard. But this point I'm not aware of casualties reported in that particular area. But we've been hearing throughout the day shifting patterns of alert around Israel. Wolf?

BLITZER: Yes, sirens have been going off throughout Israel, including in Jerusalem. We'll see what happens, and we'll follow up with you. Nick Paton Walsh, thank you very, very much.

BROWN: And, Wolf, the Senate is set to hold a procedural vote on a bipartisan war powers resolution today that seeks to limit President Trump's military operations in Iran without permission from Congress. The House is expected to vote on its own version later this week.

Joining us now is one of the lawmakers leading that effort, Democratic Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia.

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He serves on both the Senate Foreign Relations and Armed Services Committees. Thank you so much for coming on.

So, you have the support of at least one Republican colleague, Senator Rand Paul, but Punchbowl News reports your resolution is, quote, all but guaranteed to fail. Why is it still necessary to hold this vote?

SEN. TIM KAINE (D-VA): First, every senator should go on the record as to whether they support this war with Iran. President Trump is calling it a war. Secretary Rubio has called it a war. Head of the Joint Chiefs General Caine has called it a war. We are not supposed to be at war without a vote of Congress. Members, including senators like to duck and dodge and hide rather than be accountable. We all need to vote at this historic moment. Do we support this war or not? Second, it's necessary because even if it falls short, my filing of war powers resolutions in the past has changed behavior. Recently, we got Republicans to support a war powers resolution, no war in Venezuela without a vote of Congress. After that first procedural vote, President Trump canceled the second strike on Venezuela and then negotiated with Republicans to get them to change their vote and had to make offers. We won't put troops on the ground. We'll send Secretary Rubio up for the first public briefing in six months about this.

We all need to be held accountable. We can change the administration's behavior with this vote, but the American public needs to watch this debate as we ask the question, have we learned nothing from 25 years of war in the Middle East, 14,000 American troops and contractors dead, more than 60,000 injured, hundreds of thousands of civilian deaths, $8 trillion of expense, and what did we get out of it? That's the reason we're having this debate today. And today's vote will be the first step and definitely not the last as we try to challenge this illegal and unwise war.

BROWN: And as you know, the administration is trying to make an argument that this is different from wars of the past that America has been involved in. Of course, we will wait and see. But what can Congress really do here at this point to rein in the president on Iran besides just rebuking him symbolically with this vote?

KAINE: There are a number of strategies we can use. The War Powers Resolution is the first. It's a privileged motion, which means when you file it, you are guaranteed a floor vote. They can't bottle it up in committee, so that's why we're starting with this privilege motion. But we have legislation that will be on the floor of the Senate. We can -- on other topics, but we can seek to amend that legislation to say no appropriated funds for operations in Iran.

There's a way to force a vote on a war authorization in Iran that I think the Senate would vote down because members don't want to be on record for a war that has already led to American casualties and will likely, sadly lead to war.

Senators and members in the House often like to just hide and let the president do this, but the framers of our Constitution said we shouldn't send our sons and daughters into a war unless Congress has the guts to vote on it and say it's in the national mission.

And certainly, after the classified briefing we received yesterday, where I challenge the administration, the pattern of the last year suggests you don't think you ever have to come to Congress to wage war. They didn't contest my assertion. The evidence about what was the imminent threat to America was extremely weak to non-existent, at least as that term imminent threat to America has been used in the past.

The American public needs to hear what's at stake here. They've already seen the president advance multiple different rationales for this. They've seen the president display kind of an astonishing lack of a plan, we'll bomb until we stop, and then Iranians, you take over your government. A jump ball is not a plan.

And so this debate today is the beginning of Congress doing what it has to do on matters of war, which we should jealously guard the Congressional prerogatives. We have to put it before the public so that they're educated as to what is the reason, if there is one, what is the plan if there is one. We're doing this to try to protect American troops from needlessly sacrificing their lives.

BROWN: Given what you just laid out though about the lack of Congress's role, you know, a lot of people have argued, Congress has basically rendered itself useless under the second Trump administration with this latest example being President Trump unilaterally going to war without authorization from Congress. What do you say to that? Would you agree?

KAINE: Well, look, I think that that's a fair critique of what Congress has done under presidents of both parties, but I haven't.

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When I came into the Senate in 2013, after having been governor and watched my Virginia Guard deploy again and again and again into Iraq and Afghanistan, and going to the funerals and wakes and to the deployments and the homecomings, I made a pledge when I came in, I would stand up against any president trying to take us to war without Congress, and especially if war in that circumstance is a bad idea. And I've held the same standard of President Obama, President Trump term one, President Biden, President Trump term two. We don't need another war in the Middle East.

My state, Virginia, is very pro-military. We're probably the more, most connected state to the military of any in the country. I'm on the Armed Services Committee. I have a kid in the military. I support our troops and support our military. They serve bravely, but they're often betrayed or sacrificed by bad civilian decision-making. That was the lesson in Vietnam. That was the lesson of Iraq. We should have learned that lesson and we need to avoid it.

So, if we've abdicated in the past, then it's a muscle that is weak through not being used. I'm forcing the muscle to exercise and it'll get stronger with exercise. This is the sixth or seventh war powers vote that I forced in the last 13 months, and I can assure my colleagues I'm going to keep doing it because this muscle that's grown weak through non-use, I'm going to try to exercise it so it'll grow strong again.

BROWN: So, you are clearly against this war, but I want to play what one Democrat in Ohio, in the House, Congressman Greg Landsman said. He opposes the war powers legislation. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. GREG LANDSMAN (D-OH): The job is very simply to get rid of the missiles, the launchers, the military assets that this regime has that could do and has done enormous damage. To me, this is a no brainer. They had a window of opportunity to take out very specific military assets in order to defang the Iranian regime. We will be safer as a result.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: How do you respond to him and other Democrats who feel the same way?

KAINE: That they should vote for an authorization for military force. You can -- if you are for a war against Iran and notice the Congressman said we had a window of opportunity to take out an asset, he didn't say there was an imminent threat to the United States. But if you're for war against Iran, then the Constitution says there should be an authorization on the floor of Congress and you should vote for it.

But don't give the president an easy pass laying around the Constitution. Don't let him end run the Constitution. Any member, Democrat or Republican who thinks war is a good idea, let him stand up and vote for an authorization for war. Don't hide under your desk and just let the president do it on his own. Because if you do, you're opening the door for presidents of either party into the future just to wage war willy-nilly, spending billions and trillions of dollars and risking the lives of our kids, risking the lives of our kids without members of Congress being held accountable for it.

BROWN: And when it comes to the imminent threat, that is key, as you look at separation of powers, because Article 2 is widely understood to allow a president to take action if there is an imminent threat.

Senator Tim Kaine --

KAINE: Correct.

BROWN: -- we really appreciate you coming on the show and lending your voice to this conversation.

KAINE: Absolutely. Thanks, Pamela.

BROWN: Wolf?

BLITZER: And still ahead, I'll speak with the Republican Congressman Mike McCaul of Texas, who sits on the House Foreign Affairs and the House Homeland Security Committee.

And later --

BROWN: Midterms 2026 kickoff. We're going to break down the results from the year's first primary races.

You're in The Situation Room.

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[10:20:00] BROWN: And we continue our breaking news coverage, the war with Iran. New this morning, Israel's military is warning residents in Southern Lebanon to evacuate today. Israel is expanding its operations against Hezbollah, the Iranian backed militant group that has been launching strikes at Israel from Lebanon.

BLITZER: CNN's Chief Global Affairs Correspondent Matthew Chance is joining us from Beirut, Lebanon, right now.

Matthew, before we talk about the evacuations that have been proposed, what are you learning, first of all, about this first coordinated attack by both Iran and Hezbollah?

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CHIEF GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Yes. This is something that Israel says it's been observing over the course of the past several hours, coordinated strikes between the Iranian regime and, you know, what was once one of their strongest proxies, that Lebanese militia, Hezbollah. And, of course, it's quite possible Hezbollah, it carried out what it said a revenge strike against Israel in the hours after the supreme leader of Iran, Ayatollah Khamenei, was killed last weekend in a joint U.S. and Israeli strike. And it was actually the Israelis that carried out the strike.

And that sparked, you know, an enormous amount of retribution from the Israelis. The missile strikes and the drone attacks that have been carried out in Hezbollah in its weakened state have not had a massive impact on Israel. They've been quickly intercepted and haven't caused a whole lot of damage.

But the retribution on the part of Israel has been incredibly intense. They've ordered the evacuation, like you say, of villages in South Lebanon, which are strongholds of the Hezbollah group. And they've also been pounding areas in the south of Beirut, the Lebanese capital as well, the city from which I'm talking to you right now, some of those overnight strikes hitting those known Hezbollah strongholds.

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Well, earlier today, we visited one of the areas that had been hit at a small hotel. We spoke to the owner there. It was absolutely devastated. But she insists, this owner, that the hotel that had been destroyed in an overnight strike had no Iranian citizens staying as guests, and definitely no Hezbollah fighters either. Take a listen to what she had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAGUY CHEBLI, HOTEL OWNER IN LEBANON: We had no one here. We had no any Iranians or any Hezbollah armies here. And we are not that stupid to check them in. We are not that stupid. We live here. It's our home.

CHANCE: How angry are you --

CHEBLI: I am angry, of course

CHANCE: -- with Hezbollah right now. CHEBLI: I am angry with Hezbollah and Israel and Iran, but Hezbollah more. You know why?

CHANCE: Why?

CHEBLI: Because they are Lebanese. They should be Lebanese. They are not. They are proving day by day that they are not Lebanese. They are hurting us. They're hurting our homes, our children.

CHANCE: And they are dragging this country --

CHEBLI: They're dragging us to war that we don't want and we are not ready.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHANCE: Yes. And, Wolf, that public anger, which is being directed, of course, against Israel, but against Hezbollah as well, is forcing pressure on the Lebanese government who are being sort of like forced to act against Hezbollah, saying they're banning the group's military activities, which is a big step in this country.

BLITZER: All right. Matthew Chance at Beirut, stay safe over there. Matthew, one of our courageous journalists, I appreciate it very, very much. Pamela?

BROWN: All right, Wolf. Speaker Johnson has been weighing in on the war with Iran. Let's take a listen to what he's been saying.

REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA): Our hearts and our prayers do go out to the families of our six fallen service members who've given their lives in defensive freedom in this country and America's interests. And I love my colleague and classmate, Brian Mast, and he is a visible reminder of the service and the sacrifice that so many provide this country. And those who are brave enough to put on the uniform and put themselves in harm's way deserve our eternal gratitude, and they have it.

Let's talk about Operation Epic Fury, the details, the latest of which were recounted this morning by the secretary of war and the chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff. They've been remarkably transparent. As you know, last night, members of the House received another very thorough briefing on the operation. We had, of course, the secretary of war there, Pete Hegseth, and Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff General Raizin Caine. You had Secretary of State Marco Rubio. You had John Ratcliffe, director of the CIA. We had legal representation from the Department of Justice. They answered questions forthrightly, and it was, I think, very helpful to a lot of the members or everybody that participated.

They have communicated at great length the details of the operation, both to Congress and to the American people. It's -- I think you can make an argument this is the most transparent administration in U.S. history. The commander-in-chief himself has been very forthright and very vocal about what's going on, answering questions and providing the insights that I think that people need. We're four days in so far on Operation Epic Fury. It's been limited, precise, and extremely lethal. It's been a remarkable success thus far as recounted as recently as the last couple of hours by those leaders I mentioned.

The early results are very encouraging. Iran's naval fleet is degraded. That was the first part of the mission, or at least the second part. The first part was the missiles. And its missile facilities in Iran, and the stockpiles have severely depleted. It's former Ayatollah, the mastermind behind decades of terrorist violence, recounted by Chairman Mast and all of us over the last several days, he is now deceased.

The administration has detailed its rationale behind the operation, and it bears repeating. The largest state sponsor of terrorism, Iran and its proxies, have killed more Americans than any other terrorist regime on Earth. They are dedicated to it. And they have been, and they say the quiet parts out loud. They wanted to wipe Israel off the face of the Earth and they'd like to take us out as well. We're the great Satan in their analogy in their misguided religion, and there was no way to appease them.

In defiance of every American president since Jimmy Carter, the Iranian regime has pursued the means to acquire a nuclear weapon so that they could take that madness and that ideology to its full conclusion. Everyone, regardless of political affiliation, should be able to agree that that can never happen, should never happen.

President Trump exhausted every diplomatic channel to this end. He tried. They've been over backwards. Since March of last year, he directed his administration to initiate five different rounds of negotiations with Iran's leaders. Most recently, and along the way, they've offered sanction relief, normalization, and most recently, they even offered nuclear fuel for life if Iran would cease its domestic nuclear program, and they were rebuffed.

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