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The Situation Room

Terror Threat?; Trump Administration Continues Mixed Messaging on Iran War. Aired 11:30a-12p ET

Aired March 11, 2026 - 11:30   ET

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

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: According to Western intelligence -- a Western intelligence official, Russia is giving Iran specific advice on how to use Iranian drones that are mass-produced by Moscow to hit U.S. and Gulf nation targets in the Middle East.

[11:30:07]

What do you make of this new CNN exclusive reporting?

BRIG. GEN. STEVE ANDERSON (RET.), U.S. ARMY: Well, first of all, it's shameful that the administration has not acknowledged this, and then they seem to take the word, in the words of Steve Witkoff, take them at their word that they're not sharing information with the Iranians, because of course they are.

But no one knows about the impact of drones and drone warfare better than the Russians, because they're at the receiving end of it from the Ukrainians. I mean, I met the other day with the Ukrainian drone manufacturer, who claims they're firing 5,000 drones a month, and they're taking out 500 casualties a day in the Donbass.

So, I mean, it's significant. So they have a lot of experience. They can help the Iranians a lot in how to conduct drone warfare against the United States and how they can use that to essentially close the Straits of Hormuz.

And I might add, when the Houthis decide to get involved, we might see the same thing in the Red Sea. Ten to 20 percent of the world's commerce passes through that strait down there, the Bab al-Mandab. And the Houthis could get involved in this thing, and they could shut that down as well. We could see a situation where both major thoroughfares in the world commerce are shut down as a result of this war in Iran.

BLITZER: Yes, that's certainly a possibility.

A Tehran military spokesperson, General, says the U.S. and Israel have targeted one of Iran's banks and says that that gives Tehran justification to target U.S. and Israeli economic centers and banks. How could that change the nature potentially of this war?

ANDERSON: Well, again, the intent of the Iranians, to expand the war, increase the pain, increase the hurt.

I mean, the fact that they're willing to take down the Strait of Hormuz shows that they're willing to put a hurt on their people, because an awful lot of their commerce flows through that strait as well. So the fact that they're attacking banks just shows to me that they're trying to essentially expand the war, increase the pain on the United States.

And, oh, by the way, Wolf, don't forget, they have got a lot of people in the United States to conduct terrorist attacks against soft targets here in the United States. That could be something that happens as well.

BLITZER: Yes, that's a real concern, to be sure.

Retired U.S. Army Brigadier General Steve Anderson, thanks so much for your analysis.

ANDERSON: Thank you, Wolf.

BLITZER: And still ahead: The White House wants to keep its options on the table in the war with Iran, including potentially ground troops. But will that actually accomplish the stated U.S. goals?

We will discuss the possible outcomes of this war and what they mean for the U.S. There's a lot more coming up right here in THE SITUATION ROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:37:31]

BLITZER: Right now, we're learning more about the third vessel struck by a projectile near the Strait of Hormuz earlier this morning. Thailand's Ministry of Transport saying that vessel belonged to them and that three who were on board are still unaccounted for. The strike brings the total number of vessels attacked near this key shipping lane up to 13.

For more analysis, I'm joined now by the director of counterterrorism at the Atlanta Council, former Defense Department official Alex Plitsas, and CNN global affairs analyst and former National Security Council official Brett McGurk.

Alex, first to you.

There's been a lot of attention paid to the Strait of Hormuz now, what's going on. Thailand, you just heard, a major non-NATO ally, has been -- not been involved, at least until this point. In your view, how much is this war widening potentially right now?

ALEX PLITSAS, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Widening in terms of other actors. It's really still localized in terms of where the strikes are taking place, but additional actors are being drawn in, not necessarily militarily, but due to the economic impacts of the strait, as you mentioned.

BLITZER: You think that some of these Sunni Arab countries neighboring Iran like Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar, are militarily going to start the offensive against Iran?

Because their targets, U.S. bases and other targets in their countries are being hit.

PLITSAS: Understanding is those things are under consideration if this continues down the road, and they have made it quite clear that these attacks need to stop and that they're not going to put up with it. So far, they have been gracious and they have been defensive and taken care of their people, but that is something that's a certainty of possibility.

BLITZER: A source is telling CNN, Brett, that Iran's new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, suffered a fractured foot and other minor injuries on the first day of the U.S.-Israeli bombardment of Iran.

I'm curious what you make of this new reporting. Does it surprise you at all that we haven't seen or heard from him in public yet?

BRETT MCGURK, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Considering that Mojtaba is the third supreme leader since the '79 revolution, you would think you would want a somewhat of a public rollout, at least a statement from this new supreme leader.

We have seen nothing. Now, of course, he's probably deep in hiding. I think no question I bet the Israelis are trying to target him. But no statement, no anything, written, otherwise, I think, is pretty odd, Wolf.

BLITZER: You say the Israelis are targeting him potentially.

MCGURK: I would assume so.

BLITZER: But do you think the U.S. is also targeting him?

MCGURK: I think the U.S. is probably -- the U.S. -- what I can see the U.S. military doing is prosecuting what is basically the Iran war plan.

The White House said earlier, when it started, four-to-six-weeks campaign. That's about right. And they are methodically taking apart Iran's entire defense industrial base, missiles, drones, everything that Iran needs to project power.

[11:40:08]

And the key inflection point right now is that that still probably needs a period of weeks, Wolf, to go, maybe two weeks, maybe a little more, maybe a little less. And the question is whether this economic pressure in the Straits of Hormuz, which is now Iran's main focus, is going to shorten that clock.

And I actually think the worst case here would be the military campaign does not go to completion, Iran retains the ability to really reconstitute, and has a power structure intact, and you could actually be somewhat worse off. So we're at a really key inflection point now.

BLITZER: Alex, I know you're well plugged in. What are you hearing?

PLITSAS: So what I'm hearing is that the administration realizes that there's pressure not only on the United States, but on partners.

So, as it relates to the straits, CENTCOM, as we saw yesterday, targeted 16 minelaying boats. They have specifically been going after that infrastructure in the area to try to prevent or try to degrade the military capabilities there to the extent possible to help facilitate convoy movements in the future if they decide to take that action.

Also, in speaking to officials, the DFC, which is the international investment arm of the U.S. government led by Ben Black, has put together a $30 billion rolling portfolio for insurance to make up for the insurance market for ships, because the commercial insurers were not going to continue to offer policies in some cases.

And so, for that, it'll include hull and machinery, as well as cargo, to try to give them an option. So that's taking care of the security and the insurance side.

BLITZER: My own sense about the new ayatollah, the new supreme leader in Iran, is that the U.S. and Israel and others would love to hear directly what he has to say. Is he going to repeat all the earlier statements by the other ayatollahs, "Death to Israel," "Death to the United States," or is he going to try to project a little bit more moderate tone?

MCGURK: I suggest very much the former. He is known to be within that camp of the Revolutionary Guards and the elements of the regime. So it's a really continuity of Iranian policies.

One thing on the -- I helped build a coalition in the last administration in the Red Sea in the Bab al-Mandab choke point, in which Iranian drones and missiles were shutting down that. We had about 20 countries with us, a naval coalition, but it took weeks to put together.

This is really hard, painstaking work, and the question is whether we have that time here. But this is all about now Hormuz. I think the main focus has to be getting that straight open and buying the time that we need, because if this ends with Iran showing that they can deter, they can basically have deterrence because they can shut down that strait, something they have threatened before, now they're doing it, that's a bad outcome.

So that's really the key focus.

BLITZER: Why do you think Mojtaba Khamenei, the new supreme leader of Iran, has been basically invisible, haven't heard from him, seen him over these past several days?

PLITSAS: Well, there have been rumors about his condition, but, as our colleagues at CNN reported earlier, it now looks as though he may not have been as severely wounded as initially reported, with a fractured foot, cuts to his face, and sort of a black eye, which leads to more questions, to your point, about why we haven't seen a statement, because Brett was 100 percent correct.

We should have seen something at this point. I mean, in theory, it could be a security issue. Let's not forget the communications infrastructure has been struck, and his father, the late supreme leader, was in communication for a lot of the 12-day war at one point or another, just due to him being hidden and the communications infrastructure being hit.

So that also remains a possibility. One of those, I think, is probably the likely scenarios, unless you see it differently, Brett.

BLITZER: He knows he's a target. He doesn't want to be -- he doesn't want to tell anybody where he is.

MCGURK: Reported yesterday the president of Iran, Pezeshkian, still has not even heard from the supreme leader.

BLITZER: Really?

MCGURK: So it's -- we tend to think adversaries are 10 feet tall. We don't really know what's going on inside Iran right now. They are projecting strength and confidence. They're projecting consolidation of the power structures. But, honestly, we don't know, Wolf.

This is just -- this is realm of unknown and uncertainty. And it's a key moment here these next few days.

BLITZER: And a story we have been following very closely, the White House now is committed to releasing its investigation into that girls school abominable believed to have killed at least 168 children and a whole bunch of teachers, according to Iranian state media.

We heard President Trump suggest that Iran could have carried out the attack against itself, even though recent analysis indicates that the U.S. is likely responsible. What are you looking at to glean once this report is released?

MCGURK: I would just say we should be transparent on everything we find. That is really critical. And something like this, we should be totally transparent to the world and the American people.

Obviously, this was not -- would not have been intentional. It is horrific. It's heartbreaking. It's tragic. But whatever our investigation finds, it should be released, and we should be totally open to that.

BLITZER: Because the U.S. clearly was targeting an Iranian military site right next to that school. So it's obvious that one of those Tomahawk cruise missiles that the U.S. was launching at the Iranian military site could have been sent the wrong place and hit the school by accident.

PLITSAS: I mean, it's entirely possible.

I mean, Brett and I were talking about this earlier this week. The president was talking about the Iranians having missile capabilities. While they have some, they don't have Tomahawks. They do have other types of missiles. So, in theory, it's possible.

But if you follow the deductive reasoning here, like you said, compound next to a legitimate target, potentially an errant targeting error or a munition off course is probably the most likely outcome. The Department of Defense will determine what that is.

[11:45:00]

In either case, it's a horrible tragedy. It obviously was not purposeful under these conditions. And the transparency, I believe, will come from the Department of Defense. I think Brett's right.

BLITZER: There's no indication the U.S. military wanted to kill all those schoolgirls, no.

PLITSAS: Absolutely not. Absolutely not.

BLITZER: All right, Alex Plitsas, Brett McGurk, to both of you, thank you very, very much.

PLITSAS: Thank you, Wolf.

BLITZER: And up next, brand-new video coming into CNN showing one of the teen terror suspects days before that attack in New York City. What investigators are now learning from this. We have details.

That's coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: More breaking news.

We're getting new video of one of the teen suspects accused of tossing homemade bombs near the home of the New York City mayor. Authorities say this is the moment that 18-year-old Emir Balat entered a Pennsylvania fireworks store before walking out with items needed to detonate the bombs.

[11:50:10]

Balat and 19-year-old Ibrahim Kayumi are both U.S. citizens from Pennsylvania, according to court documents. They claim they were inspired by ISIS. Both are charged with multiple crimes, including use of a weapon of mass destruction. No devices exploded.

National security and counterterrorism expert Colin Clarke is joining us right now. He's the executive director of The Soufan Center, and he's the author of the book "After the Caliphate: The Islamic State and the Future Terrorist Diaspora."

Colin, thanks so much for being here.

The president has said ISIS was destroyed on his watch. Is the group still active, though, in trying to push attacks against countries like the U.S.? Are there other ISIS-inspired terrorists out there who want to kill Americans?

COLIN CLARKE, SENIOR RESEARCH FELLOW, THE SOUFAN CENTER: Thanks for having me, Wolf.

Well, first, let's make clear that ISIS has not been destroyed. This group is very much alive and well in Syria, parts of Iraq, and throughout the world through its various affiliates.

What this attack proves, and we saw it again in Sydney, Australia, in December, is that the Islamic State's propaganda continues to resonate with large groups of people, including Westerners and, among those Westerners, U.S. citizens.

So, unfortunately, this is going to ebb and flow. It's not the last attack we will see, and we need to remain prepared.

BLITZER: On another event that I want to get your thoughts on, Canadian authorities up in Toronto are investigating what they're calling a national security incident, their words, a national security incident, after shots were fired yesterday at the U.S. diplomatic consulate in Toronto.

There have also been three separate shootings reported at synagogues not that far away in the Toronto area. Thankfully, no one has been injured in any of these incidents, but officials are investigating potential links to tensions in the Middle East. What stands out to you so far about the string -- this string of this incident?

CLARKE: So you have got Toronto. There was also an incident at the U.S. Embassy in Oslo, Norway, and there was an incident at a synagogue in Belgium.

I had a piece of "The Atlantic" over the weekend warning about the spillover effects of the Iran war, Iranian proxies or individuals inspired by Iran or hired by Iran to launch attacks in the West. I think we're in the early stages of this conflict, but it's existential for the regime. So I would very much expect to see more attacks of this sort.

BLITZER: More attacks at U.S. diplomatic missions, U.S. buildings, and more attacks against synagogues as well; is that what you're saying?

CLARKE: Against really any American, Israeli, or Jewish interests worldwide.

We have seen this in the past. It's against the buildings themselves, of symbols, and potentially against individuals. And so we need to be very careful moving forward.

BLITZER: Good point.

Speaking of the war in Iran, there's growing concern right now among U.S. counterterrorism officials that Iranian sleeper cells, as they're called, perhaps even proxies of the regime, could still launch attacks here in the U.S. and indeed around the world. How likely do you think that is?

CLARKE: Look, it's hard to put a percentage on this and say it's 44 percent likely.

The chances are greater than zero. And we know from previous arrests of Hezbollah operatives here in the United States that individuals admitted to being part of sleeper cells and that they were told to operationalize in the event of a war between the U.S. and Iran. We're at that stage.

The supreme leader, one of the holiest individuals in all of Shia Islam, has been killed. I would very much expect to see something, if we were ever going to see an Iranian sleeper cell happen over the course of the next few weeks.

BLITZER: Yes, so worrisome.

President Trump says the U.S. is -- quote -- "on top" of this threat. What could Iranian attacks on U.S. soil, do you believe, Colin, look like? Is Iran capable of killing a bunch of people here in the United States, indeed, other Americans around the world?

CLARKE: Well, we know Iran is capable of killing people. We just look at history, 1992 and 1994, Hezbollah bombings in Argentina, 1996, Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia, and, in 2012, a bus bombing of Israeli tourists in Burgas, Bulgaria.

Clearly, they have the intent. They have the capabilities. In the United States, it's a little bit of a harder target. Thankfully, we have world-class intelligence agencies and law enforcement. But this is a major concern. This is not about threat inflation. We're in a hot war with the Iranians right now, and I expect them to pull out all the stops.

BLITZER: Yes, I suspect you're right.

Colin Clarke, thanks so much for joining us.

And we will have more news when we come back.

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[11:59:30]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(CHEERING)

ANNOUNCER: Eighty-three, 83 points for Bam Adebayo. He will come out of the game.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: New this morning, a big Bam in Miami. The Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo scored 83 points last night. Unfortunately, he did it against my Washington Wizards. It's the second highest single-game scoring total in NBA history, only behind Wilt Chamberlain's very iconic 100-point game.

To make the feat even more amazing, Adebayo bio is largely known as a defensive player. His previous career high was 41 points. That's also pretty good.

[12:00:10]

And, to our viewers, thanks very much for joining us this morning. You can always keep up with us on social media @WolfBlitzer and @PamelaBrownCNN. I will see you back here tomorrow morning, every weekday morning 10:00 a.m. Eastern for two hours.

"INSIDE POLITICS" with our friend and colleague Dana Bash starts right now.