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Chaos at Airports; Interview With Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL); Senior U.S. Intel Official Resigns Over Iran War. Aired 11-11:30a ET

Aired March 17, 2026 - 11:00   ET

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

[11:00:02]

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: I'm Wolf Blitzer with Pamela Brown, and you're in THE SITUATION ROOM.

And we begin this hour with major breaking news. The head of the U.S. Counterterrorism Center, Joe Kent, has just announced he's resigning.

In a letter posted on X this morning, Kent said in part -- and I'm quoting him now -- "As a veteran who deployed to combat 11 times and as a Gold Star husband who lost my beloved wife, Shannon, in a war manufactured by Israel, I cannot support sending the next generation off to fight and dying a war that serves no benefit to the American people, nor justifies the cost of American lives."

PAMELA BROWN, CNN HOST: CNN national security reporter Zachary Cohen is here with us.

Zachary, tell us more about how significant this is and also just help our viewers understand. You have this top counterterrorism official saying that there was no imminent threat from Iran, but we just heard from the speaker of the House saying, actually, there was.

ZACHARY COHEN, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: Yes, this is a big deal on a couple different fronts.

One, Joe Kent was obviously a Trump appointee serving in a very senior position within the U.S. intelligence community. He's somewhat of a controversial figure, but in his job as director of National Counterterrorism Center, he would have access to the highest levels of classified intelligence, including about the threat posed by Iran, the threat posed to Americans in particular by Iran.

And he is openly disputing the Trump administration's first initial justification for launching this war against Iran in this resignation letter, writing: "I cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran. Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation."

It goes on to say that it was clear this war started due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby. And if you remember, when the Trump administration was first coming out with its explanation for why now, why did it start this conflict now, the first reason was that Iran posed an imminent threat to Americans. Well, we have reported shortly after there that Pentagon briefers

acknowledged to Congress that Iran -- there was no indication Iran was planning to attack Americans first unless it was attacked by Israel and the United States.

And then the explanation shifted from the Trump administration. It was actually the imminent threat was to Israel, that Iran was going to imminently attack Israel. That is just sort of this evolving nature of the Trump administration's justifications for launching this conflict, one that Joe Kent takes particular issue in this letter.

BROWN: And how is the Trump administration reacting to this, this morning?

We know that officials in the administration don't take too kindly to those who would resign in a fashion such as this, but Joe Kent has been a longtime ally. He's been deployed 11 times. He lost his wife in Syria in 2019.

COHEN: Trump endorsed him for the race for Congress just a couple years ago.

BROWN: Trump endorsed him, right.

COHEN: And he really did sort of become a figure in Trump world via his views on the 2020 election. He had raised questions about whether the 2020 election the outcome was legitimate or not, and that is sort of how he entered the fold.

He ultimately was confirmed by Congress and had been serving in this prominent intelligence community position. It's noticeable that we haven't really heard anything from the Trump administration about this yet, really radio silence from a president who we know will address controversy like this head on when he feels like he needs to.

BROWN: All right, well, let's go actually to the White House, where we're going to find our Kevin Liptak, who's been tracking any responses coming from the administration.

What's the latest, Kevin?

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes, nothing official yet from the president, although we are expecting to see him any moment now in the Oval Office with the taoiseach of Ireland. He's here for St. Patrick's Day.

But you do hear officials who are within the Trump orbit beginning to sound off on this. One former White House official described Joe Kent as an egomaniac, someone who is resigning this position in a quite a high-profile fashion. And I think that is probably along the lines of what we will hear from the president if and when he decides to respond to this.

But I do think it will be difficult for him to entirely dismiss this resignation as someone with Trump derangement syndrome, as someone who is a Trump enemy, as he does so often, just because Joe Kent has so often aligned himself with the president. He is of the MAGA wing of the party.

That's how he ran as a candidate for Congress two times in Washington state, and it is why he was selected for this position in the first place. His confirmation was not an easy one, by any means. He was very narrowly confirmed by the Senate. And all of these questions about conspiracies around the 2020 election, about potential ties to white nationalists all arose in his confirmation hearings.

And for all of those reasons, I think it will be difficult for the president to sort of entirely distance himself from this individual who is now coming out very publicly decrying some of the perceived rationale for the war in Iran.

And I do think it will also put in a very difficult position Joe Kent's boss, the director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, who has espoused in previous lives the very same positions about questioning the adventurism of previous iterations of the Republican Party, questioning of nation-building pursuits.

[11:05:09]

She too was a veteran, just like Joe Kent, and so putting her, I think, in a difficult position. But, certainly, we expect to hear from the president very soon, and hopefully he will be asked about all of this.

BLITZER: We will see what he says. All right, Kevin Liptak, thank you very, very much.

I want to bring in CNN KFILE senior editor Andrew Kaczynski, who's joining us on the phone.

Andrew, I know you had previously reported that Joe Kent gave a previously unreported interview back in 2022 to Greyson Arnold, a Nazi sympathizer and white nationalist. A spokesperson for Kent, who was then running for Congress at the time, said -- and I'm quoting him now -- "Joe Kent had no idea who that individual was when he encountered him on the street, and Joe Kent has repeatedly condemned the statements that the individual is accused of making" -- end quote.

Andrew, what more can you tell us about Kent's past?

ANDREW KACZYNSKI, SENIOR EDITOR, CNN KFILE: Well, look, Joe Kent's resignation is dramatic, but it's really not particularly surprising if you look at his record. He's a former Green Beret. He did numerous tours overseas.

His first wife, Shannon, was a military member who was killed overseas in a suicide bombing in Syria that targeted U.S. troops. What's remarkable here too is that he entered politics in 2021 to primary a Republican who had actually voted to impeach Trump. He had two failed bids for Congress.

And when he entered politics, he specifically said it was in part because he witnessed -- and this is the direct quote from one of his videos launching his campaign -- "the failures of the government establishment" and keeping us at war in the Middle East, watching officials that he said -- quote -- "lie about regime change wars."

And during that campaign, both campaigns, he railed against the military industrial complex. He railed against endless wars. In one of the interviews he gave, he literally said, "Let's not start a new war with Iran." That was a 2021 interview.

At the same time, as you mentioned, he has been a polarizing figure. During his congressional run, he did face repeated scrutiny over contact with far right figures and extremist figures, which he later disavowed.

And, of course, he works for Tulsi Gabbard, who before joining the administration had a long history of opposing war with Iran, and not that long ago, just five, six years ago, she was literally selling as she ran for Congress merchandise that said "No War With Iran" on her campaign Web site.

So this also puts a lot of questions at her, as has been mentioned here. But, ultimately, I do think that the resignation here reflects his longstanding opposition to American intervention abroad.

BLITZER: All right, Kevin Liptak, thank you very, very much -- Pamela.

BROWN: All right, let's get some more perspective now on this from CNN political and global affairs commentators Sabrina Singh and retired U.S. Army Brigadier General Steve Anderson.

If you would, just put in perspective for our audience, especially those who might just tuning in -- who might just be tuning into this news, why this is so significant.

SABRINA SINGH, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS COMMENTATOR: This is significant because this was a Trump political appointee in a very high-level position within ODNI, directly reporting to Tulsi Gabbard.

This is someone that had access to the highest levels of intelligence and classified information, so could really understand the threat picture that the United States faces here at home and also overseas.

I think what's also significant about this resignation is, it could potentially start another domino effect within this administration. But you're seeing the MAGA base really fracture, not just with Joe Kent. You obviously have talked to Marjorie Taylor Greene just yesterday about her opposition to the war in Iran, but also people like Joe Rogan, people with loud megaphones that represent the MAGA base that do not support this war.

And, frankly, over 60 -- or about 60 percent of Americans, a CNN poll found recently, do not support this war. And so I think the fact that Joe Kent said that there was no imminent threat posed from Iran was one of the key, core components of the argument that this administration made to the American people.

And that's fracturing right now with someone that clearly had the information to assess that. BLITZER: That's true. What do you think, General?

BRIG. GEN. STEVE ANDERSON (RET.), U.S. ARMY: I totally agree with Sabrina.

I mean, I think that this is absolutely significant. I mean, think about the anguish that he went through to do this, to make this resignation. I mean, this is an insider. This is a MAGA guy through and through. And this is a tremendous blow to President Trump.

But it took an incredible amount of political courage for him to make the stand that he has made. I don't agree with his positions. I don't agree with his -- a lot of things that he's done in the background. But I respect him for his service to our nation, losing his wife, as he did, and for his ability to make a political stand here of the highest order.

I'm very, very proud that he has chosen to do this. And I hope that this leads to other resignations, because this war is not going well. It's only getting worse. And I think that Joe Kent, by recognizing that there was no imminent threat and actually putting that in writing, and resigning as he did, is a tremendous, tremendous blow to the Trump administration.

BROWN: And just to follow up with you, you have Joe Kent saying in his resignation letter there was no imminent threat.

[11:10:04]

But then we heard from the House speaker, Mike Johnson, who has been briefed on the intelligence, right? And he tried to argue that, actually, yes, there was an imminent threat from Iran to justify this and he believes that this is going to wrap up soon, that the mission will be completed soon. I wonder what your reaction is to that.

ANDERSON: He's saying what Donald Trump tells him to say.

Unfortunately, he and the entire Republican Party have abdicated their role providing oversight over the president. I mean, they should be having hearings, for crying out loud. We're almost -- we're on a third week now and he's done nothing, done absolutely nothing.

He's essentially parroting everything that Donald Trump tells him to say. I mean, this is a great detriment to our country. And, like I said, he's abdicating his congressional authorities by doing this. But, I mean, what he's -- clearly there was no imminent threat.

And by having Mr. Joe Kent come online and saying that just solidifies that position. We have essentially launched a war with no clear objectives and with no real cause to do this. I mean, it is a war of choice. And this is not going well. It's going to go -- take a lot longer than we think it will, because I have no doubt that President Trump is going to declare total and complete victory an hour from now, a day from now, a week from now.

Whenever it happens, it will be total and complete victory. But the problem is, the Iranians have a voice. They have a -- they have a vote in this mission. And they have seen what they can do in the Strait of Hormuz to put essentially economic chaos in the world. And they know that they are holding some cards that they're going to play.

One of them is a terrorist threat in the United States. And the resignation of Mr. Kent is a blow to that.

BROWN: Well, we will absolutely see. Thank you so much.

BLITZER: All right, Steve Anderson and Sabrina Singh, to both of you, thank you very, very much -- Pamela.

BROWN: Any moment now, President Trump will meet with the Irish prime minister at the White House. We're going to bring it to you live when it happens.

Stay with us. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:16:54]

BLITZER: We have more breaking news.

The speaker of Iran's Parliament has just suggested that there's no end in sight for the crisis in the Strait of Hormuz. Foreign ministers from the European Union countries decided against expanding their naval operations in the region, this as President Trump appeals for U.S. allies to help secure that critical waterway that Iran has shut down.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We defend all these countries. And then do you have any minesweepers? And they say, well, it would be possible for us not to get involved.

I have been saying it for a long time. This is the greatest thing to come out of this. We spend trillions and trillions of dollars on NATO to defend other countries. And I always said, but if it ever comes time to defend us, they're not going to be there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Joining us now, Democratic Congressman Jared Moskowitz of Florida. He serves on the Foreign Affairs Committee.

Congressman, thanks so much for joining us.

First of all, where do you stand on President Trump's request for U.S. allies, NATO allies specifically, to help secure the Strait of Hormuz?

REP. JARED MOSKOWITZ (D-FL): Well, obviously, it would be nice if they came and helped us, but this is clearly a failure of the administration to figure out what the plan for the Strait of Hormuz was before we went into the war. This is clearly an oversight. Everybody knew that, if this ever

happened, they would use the Strait of Hormuz. That wasn't a secret that that would be used as a choke point. And so now we're trying to build a coalition after the fact to try to do this.

Now, thankfully, we passed a law after the first administration, first Trump administration, that wouldn't allow the president to pull us out of NATO, because otherwise he would be threatening that. He can't do that now without the Senate. So that's important here. That's why you don't see that in Trump's talking point.

But, look, this is going to have repercussions with our allies, right? It does make us look a little weak that we're coming to them and saying, hey, do you have any minesweepers? This is usually stuff that we do behind the scenes, right? And the fact that he's doing it in front of the camera tells you that it doesn't look like many allies are coming to our aid.

Now, they should. They should try to help us get the Strait of Hormuz open. It's in their economic interest to get it open, right? It's in the world's economic interest to get it open. Most of the oil that flows to Europe and to Asia comes through the Straits of Hormuz, not necessarily the United States.

So they should try to do it. But this is clearly a failure of the administration's planning before the war.

BLITZER: On another very sensitive issue that just came up today, President Trump's now former Director of the National Counterterrorism Center Joe Kent has just resigned, publicly saying -- and I'm quoting him now -- "Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation, and it is clear that we started this war due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby."

How do you respond to that?

MOSKOWITZ: Well, I don't care what Joe Kent says, right? Democrats opposed Joe Kent getting that position. Joe...

BLITZER: He was confirmed by the Senate.

MOSKOWITZ: He may have been confirmed by the Senate. He wasn't confirmed by Democrats. He was confirmed by Republicans, OK?

This is a guy who went on Nazi sympathizer podcasts. This is someone who has espoused pro-Kremlin talking points, thinks that Putin had some justification to go into Ukraine. He said Anthony Fauci should be charged with murder. He's not exactly the messenger here that I think we should be putting up, even if you agree with some of his points in the letter.

[11:20:01]

So I'm glad he's gone. He should never have gotten that position, quite frankly. He ran a very extreme campaign with racist, Islamophobic sort of language when he ran for Congress, when he lost, which is why he wound up in the administration.

But, look, I think, if you look at the evidence and you look at the briefings Congress has gotten, they have not been able to make the case that there was this imminent threat immediately to the United States from Iran. Obviously, we want to get rid of the nuclear program. That's been the United States policy for decades, trying to get rid of the nuclear program.

But they have not made the case why they had to go. We have heard, well, they were trying to create a ballistic missile shield and they were on their way. Look, they should have been clearer with the American people why the president felt he needed to go there.

But, look, I voted for the war powers resolution in Congress. This is clearly a war. It clearly needed to come to Congress for a vote, and that's why I voted for that.

BLITZER: He did put out a statement disavowing any connections to extremism.

MOSKOWITZ: Who did, Joe Kent?

BLITZER: All right. Kent, yes.

MOSKOWITZ: OK, great.

BLITZER: He said he met this guy on the street.

MOSKOWITZ: Oh, yes, yes.

Wolf, you and I have not wound up on a Nazi sympathizer podcast, right? It's not something that accidentally happens, OK? He's an extremist. He's had links to the Proud Boys. This is not a guy that Democrats want to associate with.

I know that, like, lately, what's happening is, there are people in the MAGA movement like Marjorie Taylor Greene that come out and say things that we now like. But I think the messenger kind of matters, right? These are people with decades of history of dividing America, saying all sorts of extreme positions to appeal to the most extreme in our society.

And so I'm actually happy Joe Kent is gone, even if we agree with some points in his letter.

BLITZER: And you remember, when he was running for Congress, you came out against him, even though you're not in the Senate. You couldn't vote against his confirmation, but you came out against him.

MOSKOWITZ: Oh, yes. And so did most of the Democratic Party. We were on the record with Joe Kent because we saw what his congressional campaign was like, right? And we saw the things that he was doing in order to get elected to Congress.

He ran one of the most extreme congressional races. It's why he lost a Trump district. He was a Republican running in a Trump district, and the Trump district decided he was too extreme for them and elected a Democrat.

BLITZER: Interesting.

The House is expected to vote again on a war powers resolution seeking to limit President Trump's military actions against Iran. Even if it passes this time, what would it really accomplish besides just symbolically rebuking the president?

MOSKOWITZ: That's all it would accomplish. It would be symbolic, because you would need the Senate to obviously pass it as well. It failed in the Senate a week ago, and then it failed in the House.

And so, look, if it comes up again, I will support it because Congress' authority under Article I has been weakened by both Republican and Democratic administrations when we have the whole kit and caboodle. So when Democrats have the House, the Senate, and the executive branch, we have weakened Congress' authority.

We have to reestablish ourselves, not just when it comes to the war powers, but when it comes to all sorts of stuff. We don't pass laws in Congress anymore. We let the executive branch do all this rulemaking, so that way we don't have to take positions.

And when you have a weak Congress, you then can have a run amok executive branch. And that's what we're seeing. And Mike Johnson has allowed this executive branch to have more power than in the history of the United States. Congress has to claw some of that power back.

BLITZER: Democratic Congressman Jared Moskowitz of Florida, thanks very much for coming in.

MOSKOWITZ: Thanks, Wolf. Thanks for having me.

BLITZER: Appreciate it very much -- Pamela.

BROWN: Thank you so much.

And just ahead here in THE SITUATION ROOM: growing chaos at airports across the country, travelers stuck in security lines for hours, as you see right here.

Well, the TSA says it is fully stretched. And now there are new warnings that some airports could be forced to shut down altogether.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:28:16]

BLITZER: Short staffing has led to hours long delays at major airports like Houston and Atlanta. More than 300 TSA agents left their jobs as the Department of Homeland Security funding fight plays out here in Washington up on Capitol Hill.

CBS News is reporting that the agency's average call-out rate also jumped to 6 percent during the shutdown.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AYUSH KAKKAR, TRAVELER: Some of my friends actually told me that they flew, I think, on, like, last week, and they had to wait for like three hours or four hours from Newark. So I was like, I got to come early for that.

If you're not getting paid for your job, what's the point in working it? And I get the whole line, because there's obviously less employees. And, obviously, security is pretty important in an airport. So I do empathize with the employees that aren't getting paid. It makes sense.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: All right, let's go live right now to CNN senior national correspondent Ryan Young. He's over at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta.

Ryan, what are you hearing from passengers in these very long lines?

RYAN YOUNG, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, the impact here is real. You can actually feel it and see it with your own eyes.

This is the main checkpoint right here, and you can see the backup that is now happening here. For the last half-hour or so, we have seen the number of people in this line drop. The wait was under 34 minutes. And just like you see, when the flight started to pick up throughout the day, it gets impacted.

So now this is starting to fill up. The wait is about over 40 minutes. But as we flip this camera around, it's the north checkpoint that everyone's concerned about, because the line here is the one that folks are talking about.

We're going to sneak through here because this is the actual line that people are standing in. If you see here as we go down, it's as far as the eye can see when it comes to people waiting in line. And we're told, even at this sign right here, it's more than an hour wait as you get past these gates, so many TSA agents calling out. The impact is real.

Take a listen to passengers who are just frustrated by what they're having to deal with.