Return to Transcripts main page

The Situation Room

Shutdown Negotiations; Iran Says No Cease-Fire. Aired 11-11:30a ET

Aired March 25, 2026 - 11:00   ET

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

[11:00:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SAVANNAH GUTHRIE, CO-HOST, "THE TODAY SHOW": Those thoughts demand to be thought.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

GUTHRIE: And I will not hide my face. But she needs to come home now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: Yes, she does.

And if you have any information at all that could help investigators, you can call 1-800-CALL-FBI or you can submit information at Tips.FBI.gov.

The next hour of THE SITUATION ROOM starts right now.

Happening now, breaking news: Iran says -- quote -- "no cease-fire," while President Trump has said the U.S. and Iran want to make a deal. We're going to bring you all the latest developments, as 1,000, as 1,000 U.S. troops get ready to deploy in the Middle East.

And, later, pressure mounting, as tens of thousands of TSA agents are still working without pay. Where do talks stand to end the DHS, Department of Homeland Security, shutdown? That's ahead.

Welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer. Pamela Brown is off. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.

Happening now: new strikes in Lebanon, as war continues to rage in the Middle East. Today, the Israeli military says it struck a series of Hezbollah targets as it ramps up attacks in the country. Amid growing concerns of an expanded ground attack in Lebanon, Israel is now preparing to approve a major increase in the number of reserve soldiers it can mobilize, setting a new limit as high as 400,000.

CNN's Nick Paton Walsh is joining us from Beirut, Lebanon. CNN's Jeremy Diamond is in Tel Aviv.

Let me start with these latest Israeli attacks against Hezbollah.

First of all, Nick, you're there in Beirut. What can you tell us?

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes, look, this is a fast escalating situation, where ultimately the public strategic goals of Israel appear over the last 48 hours to have widened, a clear indication given by that suggestion that potentially 400,000 reservist forces may indeed be being called up.

That is likely, you might argue, to be part of a force for a wider ground invasion, not that Israel has publicly declared that as their intention fully yet, or indeed that we see major signs of that under way. But, politically, we have heard the defense minister, Israel Katz, talking about severing all the bridges across the major river of the Litani towards Southern Lebanon, and indeed the hard-line finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, talking about annexing that, occupying that part of Southern Lebanon.

Overnight, we have had some strikes in Dahiyeh. We have had gas stations targeted. We have seen two paramedics killed in the town of Nabatieh while riding a bicycle, a number of strikes hitting people on bicycles in that town back then, and a general sense, I think, among Lebanese that the target list they're seeing Israel strike here is widening.

Israel says that is infrastructure that assists Hezbollah. Lebanese say that's infrastructure that enables civilian life to carry on as per normal.

The town of Tyre, the city below that Litani River demarcation, increasingly hit by strikes, as are other areas around there too increasingly depopulated, but still civilians there as well. In fact, just the last -- before we came on air, we heard something that might have been an explosion behind me here in Beirut, the southern area of Dahiyeh constantly under observation and attack as well.

Hezbollah's leader, Naim Qassem, has just said now is not the time -- my paraphrase here -- now is not the time for negotiation and that would amount to a form of surrender. Look, he doesn't speak for all of Lebanon here at all, and their government seeks a similar goal of disarming Hezbollah.

But we are in a point now in this war where Israel essentially is making quite maximalist goals public here that potentially could alienate many Lebanese here, who see that as a violation of their sovereignty. Naim Qassem, the Hezbollah leader, too calling for national unity here, I think acutely aware the Hezbollah are putting Lebanon in a complex position here through ultimately dragging Israel closer into their territory.

Many concerns, though, here that we are potentially going to see a wider ground invasion and occupation, be it for leverage, be it as a strategic win to keep Hezbollah rockets away from Northern Israel's border. Unclear at this point.

But hour by hour here, Lebanese sitting around, wondering what those noises really are and a massive sense of anxiety about what lies ahead, Wolf. BLITZER: All right, Nick Paton Walsh in Beirut, stay safe. And we

will stay in touch with you. Thank you very, very much.

I want to go to CNN's Jeremy Diamond right now in Tel Aviv.

Jeremy, Israel and Iran are continuing to exchange strikes today, even as the U.S. is reportedly trying to work with Iran on ending the war. Walk us through what's taking place where you are in Israel.

[11:05:07]

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Wolf, well, we have seen several waves of Iranian ballistic missile attacks today, although certainly not at the pace that we saw yesterday, when Iran fired at least a dozen waves in a 24-hour period.

Today, we haven't seen any significant impacts from those Iranian missiles, although there was one hit near a key power plant in Israel, Iranian state media claiming that the power plant was hit, Israeli authorities denying that, saying that it struck an open area near the plant, but that the plant was not damaged.

What we have seen today certainly has been a continuation of Hezbollah's rocket attacks, and those have caused casualties in the northern part of Israel, no fatalities, but several people were wounded as a result of Hezbollah rocket fire, something that we have been seeing over the course of the last few days as that front is certainly heating up.

Meanwhile, the Israeli air force has continued to carry out significant strikes across Iran in the Iranian capital of Tehran, the Israeli military saying that they struck weapons production facilities, as well as anti-aircraft positions. They also said that they struck a research facility in Isfahan, which is also the city where Iran has its nuclear site.

That's a facility, though, that Israel says was responsible for developing submarines and other naval assets. They also struck cruise missile assets in Iran. So, as you can see, Wolf, these are wide- ranging targets that the Israeli military is continuing to attack.

And,as you mentioned, this is as we are seeing in the background this effort to kick-start a diplomatic process between the United States and Iran that for now is not showing any signs of real, concrete progress. And certainly Israeli officials remain incredibly skeptical about the prospects for that diplomacy and critically about whether the Iranian regime is in a position to make concessions.

And that also, of course, has to do with some of what Israel has been doing, which is killing a number of senior Iranian officials, which has really only led to more hard-line Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps-aligned officials being in charge and calling the shots in Iran.

That may be influencing the attempts at diplomacy that we're now witnessing at this moment -- Wolf.

BLITZER: All right, Jeremy Diamond in Tel Aviv, stay safe over there. Thank you very, very much.

And joining us now to discuss all of these developments, the former special assistant to President Obama and former U.S. special Middle East coordinator during the Clinton administration Ambassador Dennis Ross. He's now the counselor at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

Ambassador Ross, thanks so much for joining U.S.

President Trump has expressed optimism, as you know, over talks of ending this war with Iran, while Iran's state media is reporting Tehran won't accept a cease-fire and does not believe it's logical, their word, logical to enter into talks with the United States.

What's your read on the current situation?

DENNIS ROSS, FORMER U.S. ENVOY TO MIDDLE EAST: Well, I think, right now, the Iranians, at least the current Iranian leadership, which is dominated by the Revolutionary Guard, I think they think time is on their side.

The fact that the president is presenting 15 points for discussion, using mediators to convey messages, they don't see that as a sign that they're losing. They know what they have lost in terms of the degradation of the military capabilities, but they also feel that they have enormous leverage right now because they're controlling what can go into and out of the Gulf.

They control the Straits of Hormuz and the result of that is, they see themselves having leverage and creating greater pressure on us. They're affecting the world economy. They're affecting oil prices. So, as much as Iran has been hit hard, you have a leadership that also feels they have lost a lot, but they also are at a point where they have more of an ability in their eyes to continue to hold out, use the leverage they have.

And they expect that the president isn't prepared and isn't able to assume the price that the U.S. is paying, at least in terms of high oil prices.

BLITZER: As you know, CNN has been reporting that Iran has expressed to the Trump administration that it would prefer to negotiate with Vice President J.D. Vance, instead of special envoy Steve Witkoff and President Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner.

Will this have any impact on the talks to try to end this war? What do you think?

ROSS: Well, it's interesting. I think there's two reasons for why we're seeing that kind of a message conveyed.

One is, they had a couple of rounds with Witkoff and, secondarily, with Jared Kushner, in which the rounds not only didn't conclude, but there was force that was used, going back to last summer, and then now what's happened on February 28. So this is their way of saying, when we have dealt with Steve Witkoff,

the result has been that we get hit militarily. So they want to send the different message as it goes to that, but -- as it relates to that. But I think there's something else here.

There is an image of Vice President Vance that he's not an enthusiast for our involvement in Middle East wars. I think they read that as creating also another potential lever for them. They will deal with someone in the administration who they assume is not a fan of this war. Whether they're right about that or not is immaterial. That's what they perceive.

[11:10:20]

So they perceive right now they have leverage because they're controlling who can come into an out of the Gulf and because we're allowing -- in a paradoxical situation, the Iranian position has always been, if we can't export our oil, no one will export their oil.

Right now, they're the only ones who are allowed to export their oil. None -- no one else is allowed to export their oil. So that gives them in their eyes a lot of leverage. And the fact that they feel the leverage is not only that they say they will refuse a cease-fire, but they're also trying even to shape who it is that will negotiate with them from the American side.

BLITZER: If the U.S., Dennis, continues to push for a diplomatic off- ramp and Iran continues to reject that diplomatic off-ramp, how does this end? Where do things go from here?

ROSS: Look, I think the one thing that we can be absolutely certain of, the war cannot end so long as Iran has control over who's able to export oil out of the Gulf and through the Straits of Hormuz. The war simply can't end in those circumstances.

So where does that leave us? It leaves us several different possibilities. One, the president carries through on his threats to hit power plants, and hoping that would affect the Iranians. The danger of that is, they decide they will go after desalination plants among our key Gulf friends.

A second possibility is, you seize Kharg Island and say, OK, this is the source of 90 percent of your revenue and your exports. That gives us a leverage to create a counterpoint to them. Well, that's -- that may explain why we have 2,500 Marines on the way and another 1,000 members of the 82nd Airborne on their way. Maybe this is a way the president actually threatens to do that without actually doing it.

Third possibility is, we simply impose a boycott on what Iran can ship out so that, in effect, Iran is no longer able to do it. Maybe a fourth possibility is, you go to the Chinese and say, look, we have been left with no possibility of being able to bring this war to an end because they're controlling the Strait of Hormuz.

If no one else can export, we're left with the reality that we will have to stop the Iranians from exporting. But that affects the Chinese, and they have a lot of leverage on the Iranians. So there are diplomatic points of leverage that we might be able to use. There's also military points of leverage we might be able to use.

The problem, of course, with some of the military threats are, those are not ones we really want to carry out, and the Iranians seem to want to test this. At the end of the day, they are weak. They're not as strong as they're conveying. They are weak. They have lost a lot.

The key question is, how do you bring greater pressure to bear on them? When I'm suggesting to you, Wolf, is there may be a diplomatic means using the Chinese, who cannot afford to have the Iranian exports stop; 90 percent of the Iranian exports in oil go to China.

A major part of China's oil importing comes out -- there's the biggest importer of oil globally, and a major part of that comes out of the Gulf. If we say that's all going to stop because we can't permit Iran to continue to control things, maybe that moves the Chinese to go and act with the Iranians and say, OK, look, it's time for you to look for a way out as well.

That then leads to a negotiation. There are things we need in that negotiation. The 440 kilograms of highly enriched uranium has to be shipped out of Iran. The certainty that they will give up developing a nuclear program has to be part of this.

Yes, there will be limits on ballistic missiles. They in turn will insist on getting some sanctions relief. You can see some basis of a negotiation, but the Iranians don't look like they're ready for a negotiation right now. And if that's the case, then you have to find a way to apply pressure that would matter to them.

What I'm suggesting to you is, bringing the Chinese into this is maybe one way to affect them in a way that so far we have been unable to affect.

BLITZER: All right, excellent, excellent explanation. Thanks very much, Ambassador Dennis Ross. Good to have you in THE SITUATION ROOM.

And still ahead: Congress on the clock. Weeks of painful security lines at airports and frustrated fliers, all this upping the pressure on lawmakers to reach a deal to fund the Department of Homeland Security. We will speak with Democratic Whip Katherine Clark and Republican Senator John Kennedy.

All that coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:19:08]

BLITZER: Happening now: long lines, tough choices and a race against the clock.

This morning, Senate Republicans are scrambling for a deal that would finally pay TSA workers. The federal employees are about to miss their second full paycheck, a personal hardship that has prompted more than 450 TSA officers to simply quit. That has created snarled lines at airports across the country and wait times that can last several hours.

Lawmakers are set to go on recess this coming Friday. Just minutes ago, House Speaker Mike Johnson put the blame squarely on the Democrats. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA): We heard 450 TSA agents who are no longer going to work for the agency. How can you blame them? As Leader Scalise said, 49 percent of FY26, the fiscal year, they have been unpaid. This is a real hardship for their families and all the travelers, business travelers, people traveling to go to funerals and weddings and with their families.

[11:20:04]

They can't get through the airports because the Democrats are playing games up here. And you know what? You should ask your -- the ultimate question, why? Why is Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries, why are they doing this? Why would they -- they know this is crazy. They have to know it's crazy to not be able to call this out.

Why are they doing it? Because they're afraid of their radical base. Boom, that's it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: We're covering all the angles of this developing story.

CNN's Ed Lavandera is over at Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston. CNN congressional correspondent Lauren Fox is here with me in THE SITUATION ROOM.

Ed, let me start with you. How long are the lines now, this morning?

ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, you know we are living in crazy times when I tell you that the hour-and-a-half- to-two-hour wait that most passengers are going to have to endure here at George Bush Intercontinental Airport is actually good news, because that's compared to what we have seen over the last several days, where we have seen waits as long as four to five hours.

When you have to wait an hour-and-a-half, it doesn't seem as bad. At least, that's what passengers are telling us. This is approaching the very end of the TSA security line here at George Bush Intercontinental Airport. We're in terminal E, where right now airport officials say the wait

time is about 90 minutes. At terminal A, which is the other -- only other checkpoint that's open, the wait there is about two hours. And this line winds its way all the way out here through the main part of the terminal lobby.

It had been stretching out into the parking lot behind -- beyond the glass wall down there and then down an escalator and then down to this lower-level, but you can see right now this is empty. Airport officials are telling us that Wednesdays are one of the lower load travel days. And that's why we're seeing a little bit of a reprieve from those really nightmarish lines that we have seen over the last couple of days.

But this is just a sliver of temporary hope, because we're told that obviously passenger traffic is going to increase on Thursday, Friday into the weekend as well. So those four-to-five-hour lines could be coming back. And they're anticipating those lines to really dramatically get worse in the next couple of days.

But at least for now, on this day, if you're one of the lucky ones who scheduled their flight for a day like today, considering what this airport has been through in the last few days, these passengers are feeling quite lucky -- Wolf.

BLITZER: All right, let's hope it stays and gets better and better.

Ed Lavandera in Houston for us, thank you very much.

Lauren, how confident are Republicans right now that they can get this deal passed before leaving for recess, what, in two days?

LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I mean, right now the vibes on Capitol Hill are just not as good as they were 24 hours ago.

I think there are a couple of hiccups that are happening right now with this potential deal that Republicans were optimistic about on Monday night. And one of the obstacles for them is the fact that Democrats have yet to counter the offer that they sent them.

Essentially, Republicans are offering to give them funding every part of DHS, including some of ICE, without the immigration enforcement piece. Democrats say, if they are going to fund programs like CBP and part of ICE, they want to see additional reforms.

And I will just tell you, it's not just Democrats that are unhappy with this deal. There are some conservatives in the House who also aren't happy. Take a listen to just how frustrated members across both sides are.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. TIM BURCHETT (R-TN): We don't -- we don't want to fund a bunch of garbage. And we don't -- and we're not going to. I hope we stick to our guns on that until we can get it worked out.

REP. SUSIE LEE (D-NV): They did nothing to address the reforms of ICE. And that's what we want. And so until they do that, it's not a serious offer.

QUESTION: What do you think of this plan by Senate Republicans to fund everything but ICE?

REP. ANDY HARRIS (R-MD): No, that's crazy. You got to -- you got to reopen all of government.

QUESTION: Are you definitely a no on that proposal?

HARRIS: Yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOX: So, you hear there the chairman of the House Freedom Caucus, obviously a really powerful group that Mike Johnson has to contend with. There are just so many moving pieces.

And the president himself has not been cleared that he liked the Republican Senate plan that was put forward on Monday night, saying yesterday that he may not be happy with anything they come up with. So, right now, that urgency that you're seeing in places like where Ed Lavandera is right now, it's just not being felt on the Hill.

Do they leave on Friday for recess? I think that remains a huge question mark right now.

BLITZER: Let's see what happens. The stakes are enormous right now.

Lauren, thank you very much.

Lauren's our congressional correspondent. Appreciate it very much.

And still to come: Democrats are adding to a string of recent wins in special elections, this time flipping a state district in Florida that includes Mar-a-Lago. What the upset could tell us about out the party's outlook for November's crucial midterm elections.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:29:24]

BLITZER: Happening now: travel headaches at the nation's airports. People are waiting hours in line as TSA workers go unpaid in this nearly 40-day partial shutdown of the Homeland Security Department.

Top Senate Republicans were initially optimistic about a compromise to fund all of the Department of Homeland Security except for a portion of the immigration enforcement budget, but lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are now casting doubt on that plan's future.

Joining us now, Republican Senator John Kennedy of Louisiana. He's the author of an important brand-new book. It's a "New York Times" bestseller, "How to Test Negative for Stupid: And Why Washington Never Will."

Senator, thanks for all you're doing. Thanks for writing this important book.