Return to Transcripts main page

The Situation Room

Trump Says, Cuba is Going to Fall Pretty Soon; Trump Tells CNN He's Not Worried Over Whether Iran Becomes a Democracy; Israel Launching New Strikes on Tehran and Beirut. Aired 10-10:30a ET

Aired March 06, 2026 - 10:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:00:00]

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now, breaking news, intensifying attacks. U.S.-Israeli strikes against Iran ramping up, new explosions, as smoke rises over the capital city of Tehran. CNN is now in the country. Stand by for that as the Iran experiences as heaviest night of strikes so far.

Aerial assaults, new video into The Situation Room, towns and villages in the country level, and new video from CENTCOM showing overnight attacks on Iranian targets. The U.S. military this morning saying it's using, quote, a number of new capabilities. And the defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, warning, and I'm quoting him now, if you think you've seen something, just wait, end quote.

All of this, as Europe gets drawn in Britain, France, Spain now agreeing to provide military support, but remaining critical of the war.

And gas prices soaring up 30 cents in just one week, their highest of either Trump administration, what the White House is doing this morning.

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

Ahead in The Situation Room, inside Iran. CNN is now the first U.S. network allowed into the country since the start of the war operating in Iran only with government permission. Our Fred Pleitgen is on the ground in the capital city.

Plus, Kristi Noem is out. Markwayne Mullin is in. The new CNN reporting what his confirmation could look like and his number one priority, straight ahead.

Also, terror in the night sky, twisters tearing through Oklahoma right now, two people are dead as strong storms sweep through the planes. The danger not over as the threat's still very much alive today.

But let's begin with the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran. Our reporters have been dispatched to every corner of the region, bringing you all the very latest reporting.

But let's begin with the breaking news right now. President Trump telling CNN Cuba is going to fall, quote, pretty soon. CNN's Chief Political Correspondent and Anchor Dana Bash spoke to the president over the phone just moments ago. It was a wide-ranging conversation, and Dana's joining us right now on the phone. Update our viewers, Dana. How did it go?

DANA BASH, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Wolf. Well, it was wide-ranging. It was very brief. But we certainly packed a lot in.

Let's just start with Iran. He said he would give the war so far, from the U.S. perspective, a 12, maybe 15, on a scale of 10. He said that he believes the U.S is doing very well militarily, better than anyone could have dreamed. He said, I rebuilt the military in my first term. As you know, I'm using it in my second term. Iran is not the same country as it was a week ago. A week ago, they were very powerful and now they have indeed been neutered.

So, the question -- one of the many questions, as you know, Wolf, is who's next? Who's going to be the leader? He connected it to Venezuela, as we've now heard him do in the last couple of days. But I asked him, well, okay, but in Venezuela, you had Delcy Rodriguez, and he said she's doing a very good job. I said, well, would you be okay with a religious leader in Iran? And he said, the answer is yes. It doesn't necessarily have to be a democratic leader in Iran. It just has to be somebody who treats the U.S. and Israel fairly as well as people in the countries in the rest of the Middle East. Wolf?

BLITZER: And it was interesting, while you spoke at length with him about what's going on in Iran, Dana, he also told you he's got his eye on Cuba, Cuba. Explain.

BASH: He brought up Cuba unsolicited, Wolf. He said, Cuba's going to fall pretty soon, by the way. Cuba is going to fall too. They want to make a deal so badly, they want to make a deal. And so I'm going to put Marco, meaning Rubio, over there and we'll see how that works out. We're pretty focused on this one right now and that he was talking about Iran. We've got plenty of time, but Cuba's ready after 50 years.

[10:05:00]

BLITZER: Interesting. Gas prices, as we all now know, are up some 34 cents a gallon in just a week. What did he say about that?

BASH: He said, that's all right, it'll be a short-term time. It'll go way down quickly. He said they're up a little bit, not much, but it'll drop down to record lows. I asked him if that means that he thinks that they've got the Strait of Hormuz figured out, and his answer was, yes, they think that they've knocked -- he said big ones. So, he is very bullish on all of this, including, and especially, I think, not just militarily, but especially the idea on Iran of gas prices being temporary because, you know, Wolf, when it comes to the economy, the president is laser-focused on gas prices, has been from the beginning. But also just the notion that it would be okay with him to have a leader at Iran that's not a democratic leader and perhaps still part of the religious leadership, that is the Iran -- he didn't say part of the Iranian regime, but it's okay with him to be a religious leader still, to have a religious leader heading up Iran.

BLITZER: And you also got into some politics with him, Dana. You asked him about the Senate race in Texas and whether he is going to endorse Republican Senator John Cornyn. And what did he say?

BASH: This was interesting. Well, first of all, he said, I'm going to be making a decision very shortly. But he then connected it to a piece of legislation that he has been talking about for a long time, and that is what we call the SAVE Act, what he said we should be calling the Save America Act. And he said he wanted to have everything in it.

And what he was talking about are five pillars of this legislation, voter I.D., proof of citizenship, no mail-in ballots except for the military, illness, disability, and travel. And here's what I think was new. He added social issues, trans issues, no men in women's sports, and also no transgender operations for youth.

I tried to get a sense of what he was -- whether he was saying that he wants John Cornyn to either support getting rid of a filibuster, at least have a talking filibuster, as a connector to his endorsement. He didn't really answer that question, quite honestly. But the fact that he is now pressing -- he actually said this Save America Act, as he calls it, is the most important thing that he's focused on right now other than the war against Iran.

BLITZER: Excellent work, as usual, Dana, thank you very, very much.

And to our viewers, make sure you watch Dana later on Inside Politics right after The Situation Room. That's at 12:00 Eastern.

And let's go live right now to CNN's Chief International Security Correspondent Nick Paton Walsh. He's standing by in Tel Aviv.

Nick, overnight, Israel unleashed new attacks on the capitals of both Iran and Lebanon. Tell us about that.

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes, absolutely. The 15th wave of Israeli strikes against Iran underway in the last hours, their military has announced, and the target number hit as of yesterday was 2,600. Our colleague, Fred Pleitgen in Tehran and residents there reporting the worst night, residents say, of strikes they've heard since indeed this began. Iranian state media saying that 3,000 residential buildings have been hit, something we can't confirm independently. But a U.S. based human rights group yesterday was saying over a thousand Iranians dead since the start of this.

So, a continued serious move here by the U.S. and the Israelis to hit Iranian targets now as we edge towards a week, frankly, since this began, but at the same time as well, the Israelis reporting a significant drop in Iranian rocket fire. We did hear in the morning here loud interceptions over Tel Aviv likely from Iranian-launched rockets. But just to remind you of the roughly 90 percent drop in both missiles and drones that CENTCOM talked about indeed yesterday.

Now, President Trump, while speaking to Dana Bash, also putting out a Truth Social post, in which he demanded unconditional surrender from Iran. That, to me, of course, is a military move there, to increase pressure, certainly, but it's also the president talking about indeed how this could end. He also clearly has a mind on who will be the new supreme leader startling that a week nearly has passed and we still don't know who's calling the shots in Iran.

Still though to the north of where I'm standing in Beirut, significant number of blasts heard.

[10:10:03]

The Israelis saying they've hit 500 targets since their operation began, provoked by Hezbollah joining the war, avenging the death of Ayatollah Khamenei, but massive evacuation orders now in Southern Lebanon, Southern Beirut, hundreds of thousands potentially on the move here, forcibly fleeing Israeli strikes.

This, a whole separate chapter potentially in the conflict and the dynamic of which will inform quite what happens in Iran here, but remarkable today to see what seems to be a narrative forming around the dropping in intensity of Iranian firepower, although they are still trying to hit their Gulf neighbors as well. And President Trump talking about Iranian politics and also, whilst demanding surrender, nonetheless evoking the question of how this ends. Wolf?

BLITZER: All right. Nick Paton Walsh in Tel Aviv for us, stay safe over there. Thank you very much, Nick.

CNN, as I pointed out, is the first U.S. network allowed into Iran since the start of the war. And our Senior International Correspondent Fred Pleitgen and his team, they are now in Tehran, the capital where airstrikes hit just before dawn. We have to point out that CNN operates in Iran only with government permission.

Here's Fred's report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It is certainly been quite a kinetic morning here in the Iranian capital, Tehran, there were really heavy airstrikes, I'd say, a little bit before dawn. We heard jets flying around this area for an extended period of time. There were also some massive airstrikes, and we saw thick black smoke billowing from one location, which seemed to be in sort of the central, maybe southern central part of the city as we were driving around. That also went on for an extended period of time as well, clearly, a very large airstrike that happened there with that plume of smoke hanging over almost the entire city.

This, of course, happens as the United States and Israel continue their air campaign, not just here in Tehran but in various locations around the country. They say that they're going to continue to try and degrade the Iranian military infrastructure and then also take out, as they put it, key leaders as well.

At the same time, the Iranian government is vowing not to back down, not to negotiate with the United States, and Iran's military says that it is going to continue targeting not just U.S. assets here in this region, like military bases in the Gulf states, but, of course, continue to target Israel as well. The Iranians are saying that their missiles stockpiles are still very much filled and that their missiles are very capable as well.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: That was CNN's Fred Pleitgen reporting from inside Iran, from Tehran, the capital.

I want to go live right now to CNN's Jeremy Diamond. He's on the border between Israel and Lebanon. And Israel is carrying out what they describe as broad-scale strikes in Beirut against Hezbollah. Jeremy, what's happening where you are?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, this front in Israel's war with Iran is certainly heating up. Days after Hezbollah began firing rockets into Northern Israel, joining the fray in an attack that they said was revenge effectively for the killing of the supreme leader, Ayatollah Khamenei.

Today along the border, we have been witnessing and hearing an intensification of this war between Israel and Hezbollah. We were doing reporting here in Metula, along the Israel-Lebanon border, when we saw two projectiles coming in from the Lebanese side of the border striking a location not far from where we are. And then we witnessed the back and forth between these two sides, Israeli military forces firing artillery fire that was going over our heads and then striking positions inside of Lebanon.

What's been so notable, Wolf, is to see how close some of these positions are that the Israelis have been striking inside of Lebanon, some of them as close as just a half mile inside Lebanese territory, indicating that Hezbollah, which has been supposedly pushed out from this portion of Southern Lebanon over a year ago when that ceasefire was reached, it signals that Hezbollah is trying to re-infiltrate some of those areas, getting very close not only to Israeli military positions inside Southern Lebanon, but also to Israeli civilian areas, like where we are right now.

The Israeli military also just announcing that as a result of some of those projectiles that have been coming in from Hezbollah into Northern Israel, five Israeli soldiers have been severely injured today as a result of some of that fire. They've been evacuated to receive medical treatments.

But, again, this front, very much heating up, Wolf. We've seen Israeli tanks along the border. We've heard jets circling overhead airstrikes inside of Lebanon, as the question now looms as to whether or not the Israeli military is going to conduct a more significant ground operation inside of Lebanon. Certainly reservists, tens of thousands of Israeli military reservists are being called up.

And that does seem to be certainly an option that the Israeli prime minister is considering, although there's no sense that a decision to go for that ground operation has been made yet.

[10:15:02]

Wolf?

BLITZER: All right. Jeremy Diamond on the Israeli-Lebanese border, stand by for more from him, that's coming up. And stay safe over there, Jeremy.

Also new this morning, the Trump administration says the United States Navy will begin escorting ships through the Strait of Hormuz. Iran struck the oil tanker, Skylight, off the coast of Oman leading to shipping traffic, nearly stopping through the critical shipping lane. As oil prices are rising here in the United States and indeed around the world, President Trump wants to assure safe passage to resume the flow of oil from the Middle East.

And this morning, Iran says it has launched a fresh wave of drones against U.S. bases in Kuwait. CNN Senior Producer Bijan Hosseini joins us now from Doha, the capital of Qatar.

Bijan, what can you tell us about these U.S. Navy escorts?

BIJAN HOSSEINI, CNN SENIOR PRODUCER: Yes, Wolf. U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright saying the U.S. would start helping Navy -- helping ships, the U.S. Navy would help those ships pass through the strait. A big caveat there, he said, as soon as it's reasonable to do so. In an interview, he said, first, the U.S. needs to, quote, suppress Iran's ability to wreak havoc on their neighbors and on Americans in the area. He added, as soon as it's reasonable to do it, we'll escort ships through the strait and get energy moving again.

We know that the Strait of Hormuz is absolutely vital. A fifth of the world's oil passes through it. And we heard Iran's IRGC say yesterday that the strait was closed to the US, Israel and their western allies, and that any of those vessels would be, quote, certainly hit.

This all comes seven days into Iran's retaliation here on the Gulf. We know that U.S. Central Command yesterday said that Iran's ballistic missile attacks have decreased by 90 percent. Their drone attacks have decreased by 83 percent. But we still witnessed attacks on five Gulf countries this morning, Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and here in Qatar.

We were awoken, the team and I, to alarms going off at 3:45 in the morning of a missile attack, saying that the security threat level was elevated. 15 minutes later, we got a message saying the threat had been eliminated and Qatar's Ministry of Defense coming out and confirming a drone attack on Al-Udeid Air Base saying they had successfully intercepted all of those. So, attacks from Iran down, according to U.S. Central Command, but we're still seeing them over here in the Gulf. Wolf? BLITZER: All right. Bijan Hosseini in Doha, Qatar, for us, Bijan, we'll stay in close touch with you as well. Stay safe.

And much more coming up from Iran straight ahead here in The Situation Room, but, first, there's other news that's unfolding. The new head of the Department of Homeland Security, Republican Senator Markwayne Mullin, now set to replace Kristi Noem. It's been a turbulent few months for the agency. So, what kind of changes, if any, can we expect? We have details.

You're in The Situation Room.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:20:00]

BLITZER: We're, of course, continuing our breaking news coverage of the war with Iran, but there are other stories breaking right now as well. Happening now, the White House is working through confirmation plans for Senator Markwayne Mullin as the next secretary of Homeland Security. Kristi Noem is on her way to a new post, leaving a trail of controversies in her wake. Two American citizens shot and killed by federal agents, immigration crackdowns, contentious hearings up on Capitol Hill, and this controversial and an expensive ad campaign mostly featuring her.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KRISTI NOEM, FORMER HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: Why do I love these wide open spaces? They remind me of why our forefathers came here, not just for its beauty but for the freedom only America provides.

I'm Kristi Noem.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: And now President Trump wants Markwayne Mullin, the senator from Oklahoma, to take her place.

CNN's Priscilla Alvarez is joining us here in The Situation Room. Priscilla, first of all, what do we know about Senator Markwayne Mullin?

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, as you just mentioned, he is a Republican senator from Oklahoma. Prior to that, he had spent about a decade in the House, and he is a staunch Trump supporter.

Now, he learned the news that he was going to be tapped for secretary of Homeland Security almost as quickly as we did yesterday when the president announced on social media that he had selected him and that the secretary -- the current secretary of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem, would be moving on to another post no longer at the helm of the department.

But, Wolf, I have to tell you after multiple conversations with sources over recent weeks and months, her place at the department was becoming increasingly unstable for some of the reasons that you mentioned, the deaths of two U.S. citizens fatally shot by federal agents, the ad campaign that you just played there, even allegations of a romantic relationship with her chief adviser, Corey Lewandowski, which she has called, quote, tabloid garbage during hearings this week.

But what we're also learning is what was the final straw here, because there have been multiple controversies surrounding the secretary for some time now, and it was an exchange with Republican Senator Kennedy earlier this week when she was testifying, where he asked her about the ads, the multimillion dollar campaign that showcased her, and she said that the president did know about it, and the president telling Reuters yesterday he did not know anything about it, and ultimately that led to multiple calls that he had with Republican lawmakers, and ultimately a decision for her to be dismissed from her job.

I had one Homeland Security official tell me that this was, quote, long overdue, another official saying that this was, quote, the culmination of her many unfortunate leadership failures.

[10:25:03]

So, she will be going on to a special envoy position at the end of the month. That is a position that the president announced focused on the Western Hemisphere. Of course, Mullin will still have to go through his confirmation hearing in the next couple weeks.

Wolf, this is a department that is used to turnover during the first Trump administration, I covered five secretaries of the department, one of the most important ones for the president on his immigration enforcement, and many of those ended up serving in an acting capacity.

BLITZER: Interesting, all right. Priscilla Alvarez, as usual, thank you very, very much.

Deadly, severe storms are sweeping through the southern plains overnight. Listen to this.

Terrifying video shows a huge tornado taking over the sky in Fairview, Oklahoma. At least two people have died, a mother and a daughter after their car got caught in the storm. As the storm pushes east, parts of the Midwest are under severe thunderstorm risk right now.

And still to come, we're live from the Middle East as the U.S. and Israel clearly intensifying their strikes on Iran overnight, bringing the heaviest night of bombardments yet.

But, first, governors, mayors, faith leaders, and even former presidents are all gathering right now in Chicago to pay their respects to the late Reverend Jesse Jackson.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:30:00]