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The Situation Room

Israel Expanding Ground Operations into Lebanon; Trump Says Cuba "Wants to Make a Deal"; Protecting the Strait of Hormuz; March Madness Brackets Revealed. Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired March 16, 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]

PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Schools are closing early, all the things. Derek Van Dam, thank you so much.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: And just ahead, Israel expanding ground operations right now into Lebanon, aimed at destroying the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah. We'll speak with Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. That's coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Breaking this morning, the Iran war is widening in the Middle East right now. The Israeli military says its troops are expanding their ground operation in southern Lebanon against the Iran- backed militant group Hezbollah. The IDF says it seeks to dismantle Hezbollah's infrastructure and to eliminate terrorists.

[10:35:00]

According to Israel's defense minister, hundreds of thousands of residents who've been evacuated or are evacuating will not return to the areas until the safety of northern Israel's residents is totally assured.

Joining us now, Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland. He serves on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Senator, thank you so much for joining us. What's your response to this buildup of the war further into Lebanon, at least at this point?

SEN. CHRIS VAN HOLLEN (D-MD), FOREIGN RELATIONS COMMITTEE: Well, Wolf, good to be with you. Look, the war that the United States and Israel launched against Iran has poured gasoline on a region that was already in flames. And it's hard to see how this widening war is going to end. Obviously, we'd like to see an end of Hezbollah's attacks on Israel. It's not clear at all to me that an Israeli full-blown invasion of Lebanon will actually achieve that goal. As you know, Wolf, we've seen this in the past, and it was not successful.

At the end of the day, there has to be a solution where we support the Lebanese Armed Forces and that they are strong enough, ultimately, to displace Hezbollah, which, as you know, is a militia operating in Lebanon. But for now, look, the region is ablaze, and the president, who told us he would never drag us into another war, especially in the Middle East, has done exactly that.

BLITZER: Is there any indication that the Lebanese Armed Forces, Senator, is actually taking steps to disarm Hezbollah in Lebanon?

VAN HOLLEN: Well, the LAF has worked to try to replace Hezbollah. They are not as strong a force in many ways as Hezbollah, which is why I have supported the United States and our allies further strengthening the LAF. What we want in Lebanon is a unified government. Obviously, different factions are involved, but one army, and it should be the Lebanese Armed Forces. And we should be doing more to strengthen them.

BLITZER: President Trump recently warned NATO that it faces, and I'm quoting him now, "Very -- a very bad future if the U.S. allies fail to assist the United States in securing the Strait of Hormuz," which Iran has shut down. Should NATO allies send warships to the Strait of Hormuz right now? How does this get resolved?

VAN HOLLEN: Well, Wolf, this war is making us less, not more safe. And you're talking about the president who threatened to attack Greenland if they didn't cooperate with his plan to take over Greenland, and a president who actually is now strengthening Putin's hand by relaxing our restrictions on the purchase of Russian oil.

So, I don't think our NATO allies are going to be in much of a mood to be helping Donald Trump, especially when he just went off and started this war. I mean, this war is in violation not only of U.S. law and our Constitution, it's obviously a violation of international law. So, I would think our European partners would really want no part of this. The question is whether they'll say so clearly or whether they'll just sort of, you know, pause for time.

BLITZER: And let's not forget, Greenland is part of Denmark, Denmark being a major NATO ally. Do you have any sense, Senator, from your briefings, and I know you're well briefed, of just how dangerous it will be for U.S. naval ships to escort vessels through the Strait of Hormuz?

VAN HOLLEN: Oh, Wolf, that will put American military forces at even greater risk. We've already lost 13 service members, hundreds wounded, and, of course, over 2,000 civilians now killed throughout the region, including the schoolgirls in Iran. That would be very dangerous.

Look, there was never any doubt that the United States military could obliterate the Iranian military, never a doubt. The question all along has been for what purpose, to what end, at what risk, and what the hell is the endgame? And they have no endgame, and trying to use the strategy that Trump says he wants to to open the straits is simply going to prolong this war, in my view. Iran, of course, can use asymmetric tactics. That's been their whole approach. And their goal now is to bog down the whole region, in fact, the whole world, in response to the U.S.-Israeli attack.

BLITZER: The House Democratic leader, Hakeem Jeffries, said yesterday that Congress will soon vote on another war powers resolution to try to rein in President Trump's military actions in Iran after that resolution, Resolution 1, failed. Even if there are enough votes to pass this one, what does it actually accomplish besides just symbolically rebuking the president?

[10:40:00]

VAN HOLLEN: Well, Wolf, number one, Congress should act, and we should act not only on a war powers resolution. My view is that we should demand and try to hold things up until Republicans pass an actual authorization to use military force. That was what was done in 2001 with Afghanistan, 2002 with Iraq. And what we're seeing from Republicans is just that they want to completely abdicate their responsibilities.

But you're right, at the end of the day, the best tool we have is to say no more dollars for this war that's making us less safe. And so, I've been very clear, I will not support money for this Trump war, which is making us less safe and, of course, pushing up prices dramatically here at home. This is a president who said he was going to focus on day one on ending wars and reducing prices. Instead, he started wars, and prices are going way up.

BLITZER: Senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, thanks as usual for joining us.

VAN HOLLEN: Thanks, Wolf.

BLITZER: And next hour, we'll speak live with former Georgia Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene about the Iran war and much more. Pamela.

BROWN: Wolf, in other news, members of the Kennedy Center Board are expected to meet with President Trump at the White House in the next hour. They'll reportedly be getting a big presentation on the president's renovation plans and voting on his proposal to shut down the facility for two years starting in July. The meeting comes days after Mr. Trump announced he was replacing longtime ally Richard Grenell as the center's president amid slumping ticket sales and canceled performances.

And another Trump ally is pushing for a change at the White House. According to The Washington Post, the head of a federal arts commission is proposing the Ionic-style columns at the main entrance to the White House be replaced with the more ornate Corinthian columns. Those columns are frequently used on Trump properties and are expected to be featured in his White House ballroom. A White House spokesperson told The Post, while the president prefers Corinthian columns on new construction, there are no plans to change the existing columns at the White House. So, there you have it, Wolf.

BLITZER: All right. we'll see what happens. Coming up, pumping up the pressure. President Trump wants to lean on other countries for help defending a vital oil shipping route near Iran. But what would that actually look like? And could it really work? We'll ask a retired Army brigadier general when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [10:45:00]

BLITZER: Happening now, tracking very severe weather as a major storm moves east. This is a live look. Take a look at this. Charlotte, North Carolina. The storm passing through bringing damaging straight-line winds, rain, and triggering tornado watches and warnings. And in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, look at this. A much different scene. Blizzard conditions are impacting folks there. Snow totals in other parts of the state already topping 30 inches. We're keeping an eye on all of these developments for us. We'll have another update in about 30 minutes. Stand by for that. Pamela.

BROWN: And, Wolf, President Trump is turning up the pressure to get other countries to help open the critical Strait of Hormuz. So, far, there are no takers. Shipping through there has been choked off by Iran. Also, we're learning this morning that Israel is planning to continue its military operations for at least another three weeks.

With us now is retired U.S. Army Brigadier General Steve Anderson. Hi, General. Thanks for coming on. So, the U.S. is calling on allies and China to help open the Strait of Hormuz. What is the likelihood the U.S. will get the help it needs to open up that 20 miles?

BRIG. GEN. STEVE ANDERSON, U.S. ARMY (RET.): Well, thank you, Pamela. I mean, I think we'll probably get some kind of a modest coalition of forces to support us. But, I mean, the irony will not be lost on the allies that we've tried to, you know, essentially that we're trying to strong arm into supporting.

I mean, we did not coordinate ahead of time with America, that being the Trump administration. They didn't convince American people. They didn't convince Congress. They did not build a coalition. I mean, I was very proud to have served in Iraq and Afghanistan, and we had 32 nations on our side, and that's tremendous power.

In fact, Donald Trump has downplayed NATO for his entire career. You know, think about Greenland, as Senator Van Hollen just pointed out. You know, and he lifted the sanctions in Russia, which means that now the Russians are going to have more cash to kill Ukrainians, and that means NATO's going to have to step up.

So, you know, he stuck his hand in the middle of a hornet's nest here, and now he wants help. It's going to be very, very difficult. The Americans will no doubt have to carry most of the burden. We've also already lost 13 Americans in spending a billion dollars a day. These escort missions are very dangerous, and they're going to be very expensive. Pamela, I hope you filled your car up over the weekend because it's going to get ugly.

BROWN: Yes, gas prices are going up, right? The president's comments specifically about NATO, he said that they're facing a, quote, "bad future if they won't help," and that he will remember the U.K. for not fully supporting the U.S. Do you see those as threats, and what do you think he means by that?

ANDERSON: Well, it's hard to take him -- you know, he changes his mind so often. But he truly does not appreciate our allies and understand the strength of the NATO alliance that has built 80 years of prosperity, not only in Europe but in the United States. He doesn't understand the value of building strong coalitions with our NATO allies and for contributing to NATO in the first place. It's very, very sad to see this because really, I think our national security is at risk because he's incapable of building the effective coalition that we need worldwide to support and stand up to the threats that face us.

[10:50:00]

BROWN: The Strait of Hormuz continues to be closed. How do you see this impacting the everyday American? I mean, we're already seeing some impact, but the longer this goes, what do you see happening?

ANDERSON: I think this is going to go on for quite some time, Pamela. I mean, I think we're going to be having this conversation in another three months, to tell you the honest-to-God truth, because even if Donald Trump declares victory tomorrow, and, you know, no doubt he will, whatever time it happens, he will declare total and complete victory and leave.

The problem is that the Iranians have to agree to that, and I don't think they're going to do that. I think that they recognize they've got a lot of power with closing the Strait of Hormuz. It's a very, very difficult mission to escort ships through there. We just decommissioned, the United States just decommissioned our minesweepers, so now we're going to have to use these untested replacements, the littoral combat ship, the LCS, which has never been used before, it's a very narrow channel.

So, the action time of the destroyers that are providing the escorts is going to be very, very short, maybe 30 seconds, maybe a minute to react. In the Red Sea, where they were effective, they had a couple of minutes to react. And so, there's a litany of asymmetric threats, not to mention the mines, of course, underwater drones that could be used to damage our ships, homemade cruise missiles. I mean, you remember sinking of the Moskva four years ago by the Ukrainians. I mean, essentially that was a surfboard on steroids. You've got suicide bombers, suicide speedboats, the USS Cole that was attacked in 2000, thousands of ships. So, it's going to be a very, very dangerous and very, very expensive mission.

BROWN: And on that note, you've spent much of your military career in logistics, basically getting troops what they need. Early on in this war, we heard the U.S. say that it had plenty of munitions for a long- term war, if needed. Now, that we are a few weeks into this conflict, are you confident the U.S. has the resources to sustain the fight at the level it wants?

ANDERSON: No, we will not. We do not. I mean, the comments that we had an unlimited supply of munitions that the president made a week and a half ago were pretty ludicrous. We're already having to divert munitions from South Korea to support our allies in the GCC. You know, munitions are a finite thing, and it takes a long time to spin them up and make them. The president had a meeting with defense industry and asked them to quadruple their production. But again, that's going to take months to do.

We are running out of munitions. We're running out of defensive munitions and offensive munitions. Now, we're going to have to use, as the secretary of defense said recently, we're going to have to use more gravity bombs. What that means is that we're not going to have the precision that we've had with the munitions we've used thus far, and that means more civilian casualties and inflame the wrath of the Iranians even more.

So, we've got a long way to go. Logistics is a key element in this battle, and we just don't have the logistics that we need to sustain this kind of a fight for much, much longer.

BROWN: All right. Brigadier General Steve Anderson, thanks for coming on to share your perspective. We appreciate it, and we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:50:00]

BLITZER: March Madness starts tomorrow and the men's and women's matchups are now set.

BROWN: I know you've been working on your brackets, Wolf. College basketball fans have about 36 hours to get their brackets filled out and ready to go. Our Andy Scholes tells us how to improve the odds of winning.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Wolf and Pam, the madness is here. It's time to start digging into this bracket and filling it out. And you know, it's always fun trying to pick an upset in the first round and brag to your friends that you had it.

But if you want to be successful in your bracket competition, it's really all about the final four. And if you want to beat your friends and co-workers, you pretty much have to pick the national champion. And there's some trends that can help you do so.

One of them is called KENPOM. It measures a team's offensive and defensive efficiency. And every single champion since 2002 has been top 40 in offense and top 22 in defense. So, who qualifies for that right now? Well, you've got Duke, Arizona, Houston, Florida, Tennessee, Michigan, Michigan State, Iowa State, Virginia, Gonzaga, and UConn. You can expect all of these teams to do well in the bracket.

But there's some good teams not on the screen right now. For example, big 10 Champions Purdue. Best team in offense, but just 36 in defense. Arkansas meanwhile, Darius Acuff won the SEC. They're sixth in offense, but according to KENPOM, not good enough to go all the way and win a national title.

Now, this is a very trusty trend. The last 21 champions have been in the top 12 of the week six AP poll, and there is a team noticeably missing from this AP poll, that's the defending champion. Florida Gators. So, if we go back to this screen, we can start crossing some teams off. Florida's not in the poll. Neither was Tennessee, neither was Virginia.

And if we want to dive deeper into the KENPOM rankings, 19 of the last 21 champions have been top nine in offense. That eliminates UConn, Gonzaga, Iowa State, Michigan State, and Houston. So, we're left with just three. Duke, Arizona and Michigan. They're all one seeds, which matters because once he's win, the overwhelming majority of the time, you see that they've won 28 times in the history of the tournament.

Finally, take a look at this map. See this red line going right down the middle of the screen. So, since 1997, every single champion has come from --

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