Return to Transcripts main page

The Situation Room

Jesse Jackson Honored in Chicago; U.S. Economy Loses 92,000 Jobs in February; Interview With Rep. Carlos Gimenez (R-FL). Aired 11:30a-12p ET

Aired March 06, 2026 - 11:30   ET

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

[11:30:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:30:49]

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: Almost one week after the United States and Israel launched the war with Iran, there have been intense new airstrikes overnight in Tehran, as well as in Lebanon's capital of Beirut. Those are aimed at Iran-backed Hezbollah forces.

Iran continues to strike American allies in the region, including near a U.S. air base in Kuwait.

Republican Congressman Carlos Gimenez of Florida is joining us right now. He serves on the Homeland Security and Armed Services Committees.

Congressman, thanks so much for joining us. I know you've been very busy up there.

Let me get your reaction, your assessment, first of all, of this operation in Iran after almost one week.

REP. CARLOS GIMENEZ (R-FL): I think it's going extremely well. Unfortunately, we lost six American fighting men and women, but outside of that,those are pretty light casualties considering the scope of the operation.

So I think the operation is going very, very well at this time.

BLITZER: President Trump just posted on social media that there will be -- quote -- "no deal with Iran except unconditional surrender" and then what he called the selection of great and acceptable leaders.

Are we dealing with regime change here?

GIMENEZ: I think we have to deal with the regime change, and we've been dealing with this regime for 47 years.

Look, I'm a firefighter, all right? And so I'm going to give it to you in firefighter terms. The state sponsor of terrorism, the nuclear ambitions, the ballistic missile program, all that is smoke. And that smoke comes from the fire. And the fire is the regime. Now, if we go in and we clear out the smoke and we leave the fire, the

smoke's going to come back. And so we have to eliminate the fire. And that's the regime. We have to eliminate it. We have to put it out so that we can get rid of all that other smoke, which is the nuclear program, ballistic program, and the state sponsors of terrorism.

If we don't get to the seat of this fire, which is the regime, we're just going to be fighting this fire again in three or four years.

BLITZER: Like almost all the Republicans in the House, you voted against the so-called war powers resolution that was narrowly defeated yesterday in the House.

Do you believe this is, in fact, a war? Because the Trump administration has been calling it a war, but many Republicans in Congress are still reluctant to do so.

GIMENEZ: It's certainly a conflict, but the president has the right to do that in order to protect the American interests.

The war powers resolution allows him 60 days, maybe up to 90 days. And then also there's the constitutionality of the resolution itself. And so I have no problem in what the president is doing. I will continue to back the president in what he's doing in Iran and also around the world.

I think that he's trying to change the world order for the better to protect America in the future, American lives in the future, my children and my grandchildren, I don't want them to be fighting Iran 20, 30 years from now, a much more powerful Iran. So I'm going to back his play.

BLITZER: The administration has not, as you know, ruled out the possibility of potentially sending American ground forces into Iran. Do you think that will ultimately be necessary?

GIMENEZ: Look, I take that to mean that there may be some operations where you need ground troops in order to carry out some kind of a mission.

And I think that that's what he's talking about. I don't think that he's talking about some kind of long-term boots on the ground like we had in Iraq and Afghanistan. I think he's talking about, yes, there may be some boots on the ground to carry out a specific mission, and then they get out.

And I certainly would not rule -- take that off the table. I wouldn't take any option off the table, because, at the end of the day, we need to get rid of this regime, because, again, if we don't, we're going to be fighting them over and over again and this will never end.

BLITZER: Congressman Carlos Gimenez, thanks, as usual, for joining us. Always appreciate having you with us in THE SITUATION ROOM.

GIMENEZ: My pleasure.

BLITZER: And we're following more breaking news right now.

New job numbers here in the United States data just published this morning by the Labor Department shows that the United States economy lost more than 90,000 jobs last month. Today's report also showed the job losses were felt by most industries.

[11:35:04]

Let's go live to our senior reporter, Matt Egan, who is watching all this closely.

What does today's report tell us about the current state of the U.S. economy.

MATT EGAN, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Well, Wolf, this was a disappointing report, and it suggests that the job market has not turned the page yet on what was a very weak 2025.

Now, as you mentioned, the U.S. economy unexpectedly lost 92,000 jobs in February. That's much worse than the gain of 60,000 that was expected. It's a significant slowdown from January. And December was revised from a modest gain to a loss of 17,000 jobs.

And when you look at the trend, you can see that job loss over the past year or so has not been a fluke. We have now had job loss in five out of the last nine months. And since May, the first full month after the president rolled out his liberation day tariffs, the U.S. economy has lost 19,000 jobs, the unemployment rate going up to 4.4 percent.

That was unexpected. The unemployment rate, it's not high, but it is moving in the wrong direction. As far as why this happened, well, health care lost jobs, but that was largely because of a strike, a strike that has since ended. So those jobs should come back.

Weather, extremely cold temperature may have also played a role, because some weather-sensitive sectors like construction and leisure, hospitality, they lost jobs, but other sectors that are less exposed to weather, including manufacturing and information, also lost jobs.

So, look, bottom line, we were hoping this report was going to show us some stability. Instead, we got more signs of vulnerability. And, Wolf, keep in mind this vulnerability is coming before the energy price shock set off by the war in the Middle East.

BLITZER: Well, let's follow up on that, because gas prices, as you know, the latest numbers are not very encouraging, the drop in oil supplies, meaning the price of a gallon of gas in the U.S. is going up. Could be up to $4 a gallon, we're told, by the end of the month.

EGAN: That's right.

Veteran analyst Tom Kloza telling my colleague Chris Isidore that, yes, the national average could go up to $3.90 a gallon this month. Here's what we are right now, $3.32 a gallon, some context. That's up 34 cents just since the war started. It's the highest gas price of either of the president's terms. Why is

this happening? It's because the flow of energy out of the Middle East has been derailed by the war, and investors are getting increasingly concerned about when that flow will get turned back on.

Look at oil prices. Prices were low and stable for the last eight months or so, but now, because of the war, they're going straight up, getting closer and closer to $90 a barrel.

And the president told CNN's Dana Bash that he believes the situation in the Strait of Hormuz has been largely resolved. But I got to tell you, I think the message from the market is it has not been resolved and that, Wolf, this situation is not sustainable -- back to you.

BLITZER: Matt Egan with all the numbers, as usual, thanks very, very much.

EGAN: Thanks, Wolf.

BLITZER: Coming up, CNN is live from Chicago, where hundreds are gathering to honor the late civil rights icon of the Reverend Jesse Jackson.

CNN's Jeff Zeleny is inside the House Of Hope there in Chicago, where this memorial is set to begin -- Jeff.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, good morning. We are on the city's far South Side in Chicago as mourners are coming to pay their respects to Reverend Jackson in Scripture and song.

And it will be a remarkable ceremony here, where three former living Democratic presidents will be sending Reverend Jackson off.

We will have more from Chicago after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:43:36]

BLITZER: Happening now: A memorial service is set to begin in just a few minutes to celebrate the life of the civil right's icon the Reverend Jesse Jackson.

Hundreds of people are pouring into the House of Hope in Chicago. We saw the city's former Mayor Lori Lightfoot arrive in the last hour. Former Presidents Barack Obama, Bill Clinton and Joe Biden are all expected to deliver remarks.

And Grammy Award winner Jennifer Hudson will also give a musical performance.

CNN national affairs correspondent Jeff Zeleny is joining us live from Chicago.

Jeff, tell our viewers what you're seeing out there. ZELENY: Wolf, this is going to be an extraordinary service here at

the House of Hope on Chicago's South Side, of course, the home of Reverend Jackson, where he made his political home for so many decades.

And mourners are coming here to celebrate the life of Reverend Jackson. And, Wolf, if you look behind me here, there is a famous phrase, of course, keep hope alive. That is from Reverend Jackson's 1988 convention speech.

People have been coming up here taking photographs to just remember the moment, to have a bit of a memento here before they walk into the service. But, as you said, the three former living Democratic presidents, Bill Clinton, Barack Obama and Joe Biden, will be delivering remarks here, as well as former Vice President Kamala Harris.

[11:45:00]

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will also be on hand. Of course, she is a daughter of Illinois as well. But, Wolf, it will be so interesting to see these former presidents each pay tribute in their own way. Of course, Bill Clinton had the longest relationship with Jesse Jackson.

He almost ran against him in 1992. He did not. But Joe Biden actually did run back in 1988, when Jesse Jackson was a very serious candidate. He won three million votes and paved the way for the other president, Barack Obama, of course, a son of Chicago as well.

So, Wolf, it will be a remarkable moment here to watch all of these tributes, Scripture and song, and a bit of levity as well, celebrating the life of Reverend Jackson -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Yes, we will have live coverage here on CNN. That's coming up very, very soon.

Jeff Zeleny in Chicago for us, thank you very much.

And, to all of our viewers, thanks very much for joining us this morning. I will be back tomorrow, yes, tomorrow, Saturday, for three hours from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. Eastern for more of our special coverage of the war with Iran.

"INSIDE POLITICS" with our friend and colleague Dana Bash is coming up next right after a short break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:50:45]

DANA BASH, CNN HOST: You are looking at live pictures of the funeral service for Reverend Jesse Jackson.

Welcome to a special edition of INSIDE POLITICS. I'm Dana Bash in Washington. ABBY PHILLIP, CNN HOST: And I'm Abby Phillip in Chicago, where

thousands of people of all ages are gathering to pay their final respects to the civil rights icon Reverend Jesse Jackson, who died last month at the age of 84.

This funeral will begin in just moments from now here at the House of Hope Arena in Chicago. It is -- what you're listening to as the Legacy Mass Choir. They have been performing since the services began. But we will also be seeing a wide array of guests and dignitaries showing up here, Dana.

BASH: That's right, former President Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, Joe Biden, as well as former Vice President Kamala Harris. The governor of Illinois, J.B. Pritzker, and countless faith leaders will also be speaking. Award-winning singer and Chicago native actress Jennifer Hudson will perform "A Change Is Going to Come."

It will be a tribute worthy of Reverend Jackson's towering influence on American society.

PHILLIP: Very much so.

He rose from humble beginnings in the segregated South, and Reverend Jackson went on to pioneer a whole new era in American politics and in civil rights.

He helped shatter racial barriers as the first major black presidential candidate, and he amplified in those campaigns the marginalized voices of black and brown people all across this country, proving that grassroots activism can move elections and influence policy.

Here with me at the House of Hope is my friend and our colleague Van Jones.

Van, it's great to be here with you to talk about this, because I think you know well the impact. I think we see it here in the -- just the wide array of people, from young to old who are gathered, thousands of them in this hall.

VAN JONES, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: It's insane.

Listen, it's Beatlemania, and he's not even alive.

PHILLIP: Yes, yes.

JONES: It was a parking lot. The traffic was shut down just even trying to get in here.

And it's the biggest family reunion I have seen in a very long time. Everybody has a story, from the biggest to the smallest, about Reverend Jackson helping them personally. I have a story of myself of how he reached out to me after the Obama administration and helped me to get involved with the technology sector.

He's helped so many people. And you have literally thousands of people here all with a personal story about one man.

PHILLIP: How many individuals in American life can say that they can gather three former presidents, a former vice president, they can -- and even the ones that are not here, the President Trumps and President Bushes...

JONES: Yes.

PHILLIP: ... have all said positive things about this one individual. What does that say about his legacy?

JONES: Look, it says it's that somebody who comes from very humble beginnings, who grew up really on the edge of nowhere with very little, can find in themselves the courage to stand and make a difference.

And he made a difference for African-Americans. He reached out to the gay community during the AIDS crisis when a lot of black pastors wouldn't do that.

PHILLIP: Yes.

JONES: He reached out to farmers during the Reagan era, when farm foreclosures were happening and pulled in farmers.

His rainbow coalition was centered on blacks, but it included everybody. Now you just call it intersectionality or whatever term.

PHILLIP: Yes.

JONES: No, it was the rainbow coalition before it had all them syllables.

PHILLIP: It is modern politics as we know it now, but at the time...

JONES: Created by him.

PHILLIP: He created it.

And to your point about talking about gay people, about showing up at the AIDS March, he was the very first to do that at a national convention, to mention gay people at a national convention, to say that a woman should be on the vice presidential ticket.

(CROSSTALK)

PHILLIP: One of those women who ended up being on the vice presidential ticket after Geraldine Ferraro, Vice President Kamala Harris, will be here today. So there's a lot of history in the halls here and also a lot of faith in the halls.

I mean, we're going to see a wide array of religious leaders. And one of the earliest forms of Reverend Jackson's activism was in organizing the religious community. Talk to us about how he brought religion into civic life, public life, politics as well.

[11:55:04]

JONES: You have to remember the black community at that time had very little. We had our black colleges. We had our black university. We had our black colleges and we had our black churches. That was our base.

And so everything moved from the students and from the preachers at first. Reverend Jackson was able to come to a place like Chicago and he was a genius. There were so many pastors already here on Sundays. He did his rallies on Saturdays.

PHILLIP: Yes.

JONES: So he could get all the pastors who -- they were fighting each other on Sunday. They were with him on Saturdays.

PHILLIP: That's right.

JONES: So his use of the pulpit, his use of celebrity -- and you can't hear it, but this place is rocking already.

And if you don't have Kleenex in your hands, go get them.

PHILLIP: Yes.

JONES: This is going to be a powerful faith witness to this man's power.

PHILLIP: It is going to be very powerful.

We saw a lot of younger children here. And, look, this is a generational moment, where there are a lot of young people who did not grow up with Reverend Jackson. They are too young. They were born just in the last 10 years.

JONES: Right.

PHILLIP: And some of them are here because it is a moment to remember that the past is still with us and that there's a generation that needs to be taught.

JONES: Can I say something about that?

PHILLIP: Yes.

JONES: Because between -- Dr. King was killed in 1968, and then Obama was elected in 2008.

That's 40 years in the wilderness. The center post in that whole process was one man, Reverend Jackson, his '84, '88 campaigns. He held us over for those 40 years. And I think a lot of young people think you had nobody from King to Obama.

PHILLIP: Yes.

JONES: You had 40 years of incredible leadership. And that's why you have literally every major figure in the black community and beyond in this room today.

PHILLIP: I love that analogy, 40 years in the wilderness.

JONES: Forty years.

PHILLIP: And right smack-dab in the middle, Dana, is Reverend Jesse Jackson. He is the bridge between the civil rights era of Dr. King and what ended up being the first black president of the United States.

So, even in this moment, I think this is a moment of a passage of that era. And that is why so many people are here to remember it, Dana.

BASH: Yes, absolutely. What a great conversation with you and Van. We will get back to you very shortly.

I want to talk to the reporters who are here at the table with me in Washington.

And, Toluse, I want to start with you. We are in Washington. We are going to see the last three Democratic presidents speaking at this event. It says so much about the impact that Jesse Jackson has had on politics, on the Democratic Party, and, of course, society.

TOLUSE OLORUNNIPA, "THE ATLANTIC": Yes, everyone remembers looking at the pictures of Reverend Jackson on the balcony where Dr. King was killed.

And there was a question about what would happen to the civil rights movement over the ensuing years. And he took the mantle. He decided that he wanted to play the role of not only being a leading organizer, but to be a politician and want to be in the rooms where people were making policies that would impact people who are marginalized.

And he ran for president. He continued to be engaged. He was a very big kingmaker. And when it comes to Democratic politics, he made sure that every major Democratic politician was listening to what him and his organization were pushing for and advocating for people who are less fortunate, who are marginalized.

And I had an opportunity to speak to him and interview him in the aftermath of George Floyd's death as I was writing a book about George Floyd. And he was engaged even with the second civil rights movement that we have seen in the past 60 years after that first civil rights movement.

We saw the uprising after George Floyd was killed. And he was very engaged. He was very much involved and wanting to see the country get better and get to a better place, get to a more diverse place, get to a place in which people were able to actualize what they were going to the streets for.

And so the fact that he was engaged over the course of that 60-year period from 1968 all the way through the 2020 shows how much he was playing a role in the 21st century future of what this country was going to look like.

BASH: Yes, it's so true.

And, Tia, we were talking the day that Reverend Jackson passed away just about the impact obviously on politics, obviously on society, obviously on culture, but just to kind of dig a little bit deeper on young people and young black children in this country and how they see themselves.

TIA MITCHELL, WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF, "THE ATLANTA JOURNAL- CONSTITUTION": Yes.

We talked about his "I am somebody" speech. It became his mantra. And I grew up in a church that instilled that in us. And we had an "I am somebody" speech that we used to recite in church. I talked about the fact that a poster from his presidential run was on my grandparents' wall, because he did represent something to black people when he became the first major -- first black person to have a serious run at president.

And so it just -- I think that, when I reflect on Jesse Jackson, yes, he was this huge civil rights leader, but just his story, in and of itself -- and I know we have heard a lot of that from Abby -- his story, in and of itself, is one of resilience. It's of someone who did not shrink, despite perhaps his early circumstances.