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Longtime Epstein Accountant Testifies in Congressional Probe; DHS Faces Leadership Change; Trump to Address Economy with Voters in Kentucky; Iran's New Supreme Leader Injured on First Day of War. Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired March 11, 2026 - 10:30   ET

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

[10:30:00]

BARAK RAVID, CNN POLITICAL AND GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST, FORMER AXIOS MIDDLE EAST CORRESPONDENT AND GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT, AXIOS: He also said something interesting that this war against Iran is a result, according to him, of everything the Iranians, all the bad things the Iranians did against the U.S., Israel, and the region for the last 47 years. And he said, I quote, this is payback. They're not going to get off easy, meaning the Iranians.

What's interesting, Wolf, is that while President Trump is talking about the war ending soon and the objectives going to be achieved soon, and that he also said that the war is way ahead of schedule and that more damage has been done to the Iranians than after 12 days than what the U.S. thought would take six weeks, Israel's minister of defense, Israel Katz, just an hour ago, said that there's no time limit to this war.

So, I think it is -- at least I start to see more and more gaps in the rhetoric of the U.S. and Israel when it comes to how long this war is going to continue.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, because it seems to me, and correct me if I'm wrong, Barak, that the Israelis, especially Prime Minister Netanyahu, they want to take advantage of this opportunity to try to completely destroy Iran from ever representing some sort of existential threat to Israel.

RAVID: I think it's more than that. I think that Prime Minister Netanyahu and his government would like this war to end with regime change in Iran. I think that at the beginning, Netanyahu thought that the opening strike on Iran, taking out Ayatollah Khamenei, the supreme leader, and several other top officials, would be that destabilizing that the Iranian system will crack and quickly collapse. This is obviously not the case.

And I have to say that many people I spoke to before the war didn't think it's going to be the case, but Netanyahu did. And I think that over the last few days, you've seen Netanyahu starting to sort of recalibrate and sort of try to walk back some of his comments.

And now, he's only talking about, you know, we're trying to lay the foundations for regime change. It's about the Iranian people. If they're going to do something, it's their chance. If not, it's beyond our control. So, I think that even Netanyahu starts to realize that, you know, it's one thing to degrade Iran's military capability, which, by the way, this operation is doing. But it's a whole different thing to take out the regime that is much more entrenched than I think Netanyahu thought.

BLITZER: All right. Barak Ravid, excellent reporting. Thank you very, very much.

RAVID: Thank you, Wolf.

BLITZER: And just ahead, happening now, Jeffrey Epstein's longtime accountant testifies behind closed doors before a congressional panel. The top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee is standing by to join us and he'll weigh in. That's coming up next.

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[10:35:00]

BLITZER: Happening now behind closed doors. Jeffrey Epstein's longtime accountant is testifying before a congressional panel. The House Oversight Committee is expected to press Richard Kahn about how the disgraced financier and convicted sex offender made his fortune and paid survivors of his abuse. Kahn has long denied any wrongdoing and said he was unaware of Epstein's crimes when he worked for him.

Joining us now, Congressman Jamie Raskin of Maryland. He's the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee. Congressman, I know you're not on the Oversight Committee, so you're not part of the questioning of Kahn today. But what do you hope to learn from his testimony?

REP. JAMIE RASKIN (D-MD), RANKING MEMBER, JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: Well, the accountants were critical actors like the lawyers, the bankers, the doctors. But, you know, the lawyers organized people's visas and moved the girls, the young women from place to place. The bankers were obviously critical in creating the financial infrastructure and keeping the money moving. The doctors were there for sexually transmitted diseases and to certify that the girls and young women being trafficked were clean. But, you know, none of it really could have happened without the accountants keeping track of the money coming in and the money going out. And so, we've got to follow the money.

Nobody believes who's involved in this, that this more than a billion- dollar global sex trafficking ring just had two people committing crimes in it, Ghislaine Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein. Nobody believes that. And so, this guy's critical both to learning more information and to determining what crimes he may have been involved in.

BLITZER: And he's testifying under oath behind closed doors. We'll hear what these members of the Oversight Committee have to say. Members of Congress have now questioned multiple witnesses about their ties to Epstein. But it doesn't seem there's been true accountability, at least not yet, for the survivors, at least not here in the United States. What does justice, in your opinion, Congressman, ultimately look like for these women?

RASKIN: Well, it starts with implementing the law that was passed overwhelmingly in the House and in the Senate, the Epstein File Transparency Act, which mandates the release of 6 million documents, only 3 million have purportedly been released.

[10:40:00]

But, of course, we found tens of thousands of pages. They are completely redacted. So, we believe that the Department of Justice continues to be involved in a cover up. And until we get all the information out and we find all of it, it's going to be very difficult to move things forward. And that's why our colleagues in the Oversight Committee have subpoenaed Pam Bondi to come there.

Obviously, she testified a couple of weeks ago in the Judiciary Committee, and we were not at all happy with her testimony there, which was completely evasive and non-responsive. And if anything, just reinforced our concerns that she's involved in a cover up of the information, as opposed to an effort to get to the bottom of all these crimes.

BLITZER: Do you have any indication at all, Congressman, that the Attorney General, Pam Bondi, has responded to the Oversight Committee's subpoena in its Epstein probe? If not, can your panel, the Judiciary Committee, and you're the ranking member, can you do anything about that?

RASKIN: Well, the Republicans are in the majority. And Chairman Comer has the power of subpoena and presumably should be able to get the speaker behind him if they are serious about having Attorney General Bondi come and testify. And somehow, the majority will have to take it so seriously that she feels that she could be held in contempt if she conducts a repeat performance of what she did before the Judiciary Committee, where she refused to answer any question essentially coming from the Democratic side and was extremely evasive and noncommittal and, I think, duplicitous in talking about the Epstein investigation.

Remember, when she first came into office at the beginning of the Trump administration, the very first thing that they did was they sacked Maurene Comey, who was the lead prosecutor in the Epstein case in the Southern District of New York. Then they got the file down from New York, and they declared the investigation over. And they have proceeded to declare the investigation over numerous times before Congress.

So, when members are asking, have you prosecuted or are you investigating any other co-conspirators, the answer, obviously, is no. They consider this case closed. And that's the major obstacle facing us right now. The Department of Justice will not do its job, and the attorney general would not commit to me to set up a joint federal, state and local task force in order to see which crimes are were committed and which crimes can still be prosecuted under the relevant statutes of limitation.

BLITZER: On another important story, Congressman, you recently, as a lot of us remember, questioned the Homeland Security Secretary, Kristi Noem. She was then still the Homeland Security Secretary. I want to play a little bit of that clip. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RASKIN: You said that they were domestic terrorists. Do you regret that?

KRISTI NOEM, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: I offer my condolences to those family. And again --

RASKIN: Based on what you know today, were Renee Good and Alex Pretti domestic terrorists?

NOEM: There's ongoing investigations. And so, I cannot --

RASKIN: So, you still don't know? You think that's an open question?

NOEM: I would think you would want there to still be investigations going into these situations.

RASKIN: Well, you stated the conclusion two hours after they were killed that they were domestic terrorists.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Shortly after that exchange, President Trump announced that Kristi Noem would be replaced at the end of this month by the Oklahoma Republican Senator Markwayne Mullin, a former House colleague of yours. Do you have confidence in his leadership that will emerge over at the Department of Homeland Security?

RASKIN: Well, I don't really know Senator Mullin. And I want to be as optimistic as possible. But we'll trust and we'll verify that he's addressing the extremely serious deficiencies over at the department. And he should start by saying that Alex Pretti and Renee Good were not domestic terrorists. I mean, that is a terrible thing to say about a fellow citizen.

Domestic terrorists are somebody like Timothy McVeigh, who blew up the Oklahoma federal building, or the racist anti-Semite who went into the Tree of Life synagogue and executed people praying there, or the guy who went into the Buffalo supermarket and opened fire. Those are domestic terrorists.

[10:45:00]

People who are protesting to support the Constitution and the Bill of Rights are not domestic terrorists. He should establish that. He should establish that the Homeland Security Department will cooperate with local police in Minneapolis to investigate those crimes. And he should establish that they're going to respect the rule of law. And that means take the masks off and put the cameras on and begin to act like a real law enforcement, albeit a civil law enforcement agency in the United States. BLITZER: She easily could have apologized during your very, very tough questioning, but she didn't, repeatedly. Congressman Jamie Raskin of Maryland, thank you so much for joining us.

RASKIN: Thank you, Wolf.

BLITZER: And coming up, CNN's exclusive new reporting, sources telling us that Russia is helping Iran with drone tactics. What we're learning, new details just ahead.

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[10:50:00]

BLITZER: Happening now, President Trump getting ready to speak to voters in Kentucky. According to event organizers, he's expected to talk about the state of the U.S. economy and the path forward. This comes as CNN is now reporting that House Speaker Mike Johnson, as well as other Republicans, have been struggling to find a way to address Americans' chief concerns over affordability and the cost of living. Here's the Trump administration's messaging on the economy in this, his second term.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: Our country is ready to fail. Totally fail. Now, we're the hottest country anywhere in the world.

HOWARD LUTNICK, U.S. COMMERCE SECRETARY: We've got more jobs, lower energy costs, and lower interest rates coming. This is the golden age coming.

TRUMP: Grocery prices are starting to go rapidly down. Rent is down. Airfares are down. Hotel rates are down. Cell phone prices are down. And we're just getting started.

So, under my leadership, economic growth is exploding to numbers unheard of. Mortgage rates are the lowest in four years and falling fast. We gave you no tax on tips, no tax on overtime, and no tax on Social Security.

The Dow Jones broke 50,000 four years ahead of schedule. The roaring economy is roaring like never before. And in fact, we're winning so much that we really don't know what to do about it. You're going to win big. You're going to win bigger than ever.

J.D. VANCE, U.S. VICE PRESIDENT: And under Donald Trump and Republicans, in just one year, the average American has seen $1,700 increase in take-home pay. That is more money in your pocket, and that's what we're here to do, is make you guys more prosperous.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Right now, we're getting new details about the state of the U.S. economy. The latest Consumer Price Index shows that prices are up 0.3 percent in February, while annual inflation remains at 2.4 percent. And that's welcome news for U.S. households that are now facing an increase in energy costs and rising prices at the pump as this war with Iran continues.

Joining us now, CNN senior reporter David Goldman. David, make it make sense. Today's question, how will this war impact affordability and the U.S. economy?

DAVID GOLDMAN, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Well, like you said, we just got some out of inflation, and it's decent news. And actually, if you think about it, this wasn't this month. This was last month, before all of these gas prices and oil prices started to surge. 2.4 percent is around where you would want inflation to be, and that kind of gave the Trump administration a decent message going into the midterms about affordability. We were all going to get those nice tax refunds from the big, beautiful bill. So, there was a decent message going into the midterms. And now, with oil and gas prices rising, that's going to get a lot harder.

BLITZER: We just learned, David, that the number of countries of the International Energy Agency will be making 400 million barrels of oil available to try to offset the supply loss through the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz. But here in the U.S., the gas prices are up another four cents just overnight. The national average, according to AAA, is now $3.58 per gallon. How much will the rise in oil and gas prices end up costing the average U.S. household?

GOLDMAN: Well, there's one way to look at it, and this is from Mark Zandi, who we've had on a lot, from Moody's, who says that oil prices, when they rise $10, that gives you and your household $450 more to pay over the course of the year. So, if oil is sustained at a $10 increase, that's $450 more. So, that would mean if we stay at this $90 range that we're at right now, oil was $60 before, you're looking at a $1,300 increase for you and your family.

Now, this SPR release that you just mentioned, that could help. But remember, the last time that we did this in 2022, about half as much, gas prices only fell around 17 cents over the course of four months. So, you double that, we might be looking at over the course of four months, you know, maybe we shave 40 cents off the cost of a gallon of gas. That's still not going to help all that much, especially if oil stays at this rate.

BLITZER: David Goldman, as usual, thank you very, very much.

GOLDMAN: Thank you.

BLITZER: And coming up, CNN is following new reports that Iran's new supreme leader was injured on the first day of the war. The latest developments just ahead.

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[10:55:00]

BLITZER: Happening now, breaking news. Brand-new CNN reporting about the man tapped to lead Iran, Mojtaba Khamenei and rumors about the reports of his health. And drone collaboration. CNN's exclusive new reporting on Russia and the growing level of help Moscow is now providing for Iran.

Welcome to our --

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