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The Source with Kaitlan Collins
Sources: Russia Giving Iran Intel On U.S. Military Targets; WH: Iran War Will Be "Very Good" For Energy & Oil Markets; Former Dem Leaders Pay Tribute To Rev. Jesse Jackson. Aired 9-10p ET
Aired March 06, 2026 - 21:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[21:00:00]
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST, ANDERSON COOPER 360: According to authorities, he tried to buy the silence of his child victims by claiming that he stood to receive $10 million as restitution for quote, Being a Jan 6er, unquote.
A month ago, he was found guilty of five criminal charges, including molestation, lewd and lascivious exhibition and transmission of material harmful to a minor. Yesterday, he was sentenced to life in prison. Unless, of course, the President decides to pardon him, again.
That's it for us. The news continues. "THE SOURCE WITH KAITLAN COLLINS" starts now.
KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, CNN HOST, THE SOURCE WITH KAITLAN COLLINS: Tonight, Russia gives Iran a helping hand, as President Trump now demands nothing less than an unconditional surrender.
I'm Kaitlan Collins. And this is THE SOURCE.
As we come on the air tonight, it's been a huge night of explosions and smoke filling the skies over Tehran. This is the main domestic airport in the Iranian capital that handles most of its commercial flights. Video from that airport shows airplanes that are on fire tonight, as this is also an airport, I should note, that has military uses. Though it's still not clear, and we're trying to figure this out right now, what exactly is being struck and why.
The Iranian response to that is being felt subsequently in places like Tel Aviv, where the sirens have been warning residents to take shelter from incoming fire.
And earlier today, just to put in perspective what we're seeing tonight, this is what we heard from the United States Treasury Secretary about this preview of the bombardment that was apparently to come.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SCOTT BESSENT, TREASURY SECRETARY: As Secretary Hegseth, General Caine, and the President, have all said tonight, tonight will be our biggest bombing campaign and will do the most damage to the Iranian missile launchers, the factories that build the missiles, and we are substantially degrading them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: And as the United States works to degrade Iran's capacity, here on the seventh day of this war, we heard from President Trump, now declaring, in his words, There will be no deal with Iran except UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER.
That's a new, more expansive objective that we've heard from the President, since the other aims that we've heard from him since this bombing began.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Our objective is to defend the American people by eliminating imminent threats from the Iranian regime.
PETE HEGSETH, DEFENSE SECRETARY: This is not a so-called regime-change war.
TRUMP: We're ensuring that the world's number one sponsor of terror can never obtain a nuclear weapon. Never going to have a nuclear weapon.
MARCO RUBIO, UNITED STATES SECRETARY OF STATE: The United States is conducting an operation to eliminate the threat of Iran's short-range ballistic missiles, and the threat posed by their navy, particularly to naval assets.
KAROLINE LEAVITT, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Victory will be determined by the Commander-in-Chief, once the goals and the objectives that we have repeatedly laid out are fully realized.
JD VANCE (R), U.S. VICE PRESIDENT: There's just no way that Donald Trump is going to allow this country to get into a multi-year conflict with no clear end in sight and no clear objective.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Now that may be so. But obviously, the objective seems to be shifting. And it's unclear how long unconditional surrender could take.
One thing you didn't hear in several comments from the President and his top advisers, was democracy. In fact, the President actually told my colleague, Dana Bash, during a phone call earlier today, that he's not set on Iran becoming a democracy. He's even open to the idea of another religious leader in Iran.
As to what unconditional surrender looks like. This is the word that we heard from the White House.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LEAVITT: What the President means is that when he, as Commander-in- Chief of the U.S. Armed Forces, determines that Iran no longer poses a threat to the United States of America and the goals of Operation Epic Fury has been fully realized, then Iran will essentially be in a place of unconditional surrender. Whether they say it themselves or not.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: There is also this twist tonight, as sources tell CNN, Russia is providing Iran with intelligence on where the U.S. military is positioned. According to our sources, Moscow has shared information about the locations and the movements of U.S. troops, ships and aircraft.
When asked about their view of this stunning reporting that Russia is helping Iran here. This was the initial response from the White House press secretary.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LEAVITT: We don't comment on intelligence reports that are leaked to the press. Whether or not this happened, frankly, it does not really matter.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Just a few moments later, my colleague, Kristen Holmes, followed up with Karoline Leavitt, about that comment that it does not really matter.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: You just said on Fox that it doesn't really matter if Russia is giving Iran information about military assets. Why doesn't it matter if U.S. military is being put in danger by Russia? And is that what the President believes as well?
[21:05:00]
LEAVITT: What I meant, Kristen, and thank you for giving me a chance to make it very clear, is that it clearly is not making a difference with respect to the military operations in Iran, because we are completely decimating them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Also tonight, in an interview with "60 Minutes" that's going to air this Sunday, Secretary Pete Hegseth was asked the same -- about the same prospect and about this reporting that Iran -- that Russia is sharing this intelligence with Iran, this notion of them helping them. And this is what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HEGSETH: We're tracking everything. Our commanders are aware of everything. We have the best intelligence in the world. We're aware of who's talking to who, why they're talking to them, how accurate that information might be, how we factor that into our battle plans. Our CENTCOM commander. So, we know what's going on.
And the President has an incredible knack at knowing how to mitigate those risks. And so, the American people can rest assured, their Commander-in-Chief is well-aware of who's talking to who, and anything that shouldn't be happening, whether it's in public or back-channeled, is being confronted, and confronted strongly.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: So just to put this reporting in perspective. This is coming as we're learning that Russia is helping Iran target U.S. troops in the region, as the Ukrainian leader, President Zelenskyy, said, The United States is asking for help from Ukraine to repel Iranian drones, something that they are all too familiar with.
Meanwhile, at the White House this afternoon, the President, along with the Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, and several others, took part in a round-table discussion on college sports.
During that event, the President was asked about this Russia news. A question, that you can hear, from the way he answered, he clearly did not want to answer.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PETER DOOCY, SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, FOX NEWS CHANNEL: It sounds like the Russians are helping Iran target and attack Americans now.
TRUMP: That's an easy problem compared to what we're doing here.
(LAUGHTER)
TRUMP: But -- but can I be honest? It's just -- I have a lot of respect for you. You've always been very nice to me. What a stupid question that is to be asking at this time. We're talking about something else. Can we keep this maybe.
Peter, I'll give you one more chance because that was a bad question you asked before. Go ahead.
DOOCY: We've already got a lot of sound bites about the sports.
TRUMP: How do I leave him (ph)--
DOOCY: Can I ask one off topic?
TRUMP: On topic.
DOOCY: On topic, OK.
TRUMP: Which is unusual for you. Go ahead.
DOOCY: Thank you.
What is motivating you to do this right now? Because there is a lot of other stuff going on in the world.
TRUMP: Right. That's right. There's a lot. We're doing very -- by the way, in Iran, we're doing very well.
I saw what was happening with college sports, and it doesn't sound very important compared to what's happening in Iran and other places. But it is very important to me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: More on those comments in a moment from the President's former National Security Advisor and his perspective.
But for the latest on the ground, I want to go to CNN's Clarissa Ward, who is joining me now from Erbil, Iraq, which has been facing drone strikes tonight.
And Clarissa, obviously, we've seen your reporting every night in terms of what you've been witnessing. What's the latest so far that's on the ground?
CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kaitlan, just in the last hour or so, we heard a series of loud booms coming from that direction, which is the direction of the United States consulate here. It appears, from what we heard, air defenses and interceptions, that there was no impact as a result of what appeared to be some kind of a drone strike.
But earlier this evening, the big news was that the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad put out a warning, saying that Americans should be very careful about staying in hotels in the Kurdistan Region, which is where we are, that have a high concentration of foreigners staying in them.
And just to give our viewers some context, Kaitlan. All the hotels here have a lot of foreigners staying in them at the moment, because many U.S. contractors and other nationalities as well, once this war began, were moved off of bases and put up in hotels.
Now, two hours after that notification went out, four drones were fired on central Erbil. One of them exploded by a hotel in the center of the city. The others were intercepted. Nobody was injured as a result.
And we have already had a claim of responsibility from one of these Iran-backed militias that are based in Iraq, and they said, quote, Your evacuation of your bases and flight to hotels does not make you safe. We are pursuing you, and we know in which hotels you reside.
[21:10:00]
And this really sending a chill down the spine of many in this region, because up until now, most of the attacks have been focused on areas where there are either a U.S. military presence, a U.S. diplomatic presence, or else Iranian Kurdish opposition fighters. Now, it appears that hotels and civilians staying in those hotels are a target, Kaitlan.
COLLINS: Yes, obviously, that's chilling, and also speaks to Iran not letting up, whether it's Iran or those Iranian-backed militias.
Clarissa Ward, please stay safe with you and your team. You guys are doing great work. We'll check back in with you on the ground.
As I mentioned, also here tonight is the President's former National Security Advisor, Ambassador John Bolton.
And Ambassador, I mean, you heard what Clarissa just reported there, about now they're targeting hotels, other areas that are not military targets. I mean, what does that say to you about what Iran is doing right now, as the President is demanding unconditional surrender.
JOHN BOLTON, FORMER TRUMP NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO THE U.N.: Well, they're targeting civilians, which is completely contrary to whatever law of war there is. That violates it. That's not something obviously we do, or that Israel is doing.
And I think, again, this is evidence of the kind of regime we're dealing with. This is not a regime that you can find some nice Ayatollah who has a bigger smile than the Ayatollah Khamenei, now deceased, and we can deal with him. This is why regime change has to be the outcome here.
COLLINS: Well, in terms of the unconditional surrender demand that the President made this morning. I mean, if we don't know who is running Iran right now, what does that look like?
BOLTON: Well, there isn't going to be unconditional surrender from this regime. They're just not going to do it.
The purpose of these attacks, in going after the nuclear and ballistic missile programs, the Revolutionary Guard, the Quds Force, the Basij, the Navy, is to destroy their personnel and their capabilities, and by so doing, destabilize the regime at the top, and permit the opposition to begin to pry it apart even further and thereby bring it down.
The regime is at its weakest point, its most unpopular point, since it took power in 1979. And when you eliminate their capability to threaten us, and our allies in the region, and their own people? This allows the opposition, disorganized though it may be, to find leaders in the current regime, perhaps in the regular military, not the Revolutionary Guard, but the regular military, that will turn to the opposition and help bring the regime down.
COLLINS: I think a lot of people might have listened to what you just said and say, OK, but how does that work? How long does that take? That doesn't seem like something that's going to happen in the next few days. I don't know. We've seen this timeline now, four to six weeks from the White House.
I mean, how do you even define unconditional surrender? Or is it just a term that the President himself defines? BOLTON: It sounds tough, you know? That's tough, that Donald Trump is a tough guy. Look, it isn't going to happen anyway, so I don't think there's much purpose in trying to define what he meant.
And regime change is going to be complicated. This is a group of religious fanatics who have been in power for 47 years. They're a threat to us, and our friends and allies. They need to be eliminated, and it's going to take some time. We need patience and persistence from the administration to do that.
COLLINS: The President today, as you heard what he said there, when Peter Doocy of Fox News was asking him about the reporting that Russia is providing intelligence to Iran about where U.S. assets are, where U.S. troops are, obviously with the intention Iran has to, to kill them. What did you make of how dismissive not only the President was, but initially, how we heard the press secretary respond to it, and what Pete Hegseth said as well tonight.
BOLTON: Well, Leavitt and Hegseth are not worth the oxygen to respond to.
I think that the best we can hope here is that Trump will understand that Vladimir Putin is not his friend. That would be a significant strategic breakthrough, if he realized that he's not somebody that is going to find accommodation. This is a new report, but not surprising, since we're doing the same thing to the Russians. But if Trump came to realize that he's dealing with an adversary, not a friend, in the Kremlin, that would be a big step forward.
There's a downside here too that occurred to me. And that is, when Trump calls up Putin to berate him for providing Iran this intelligence? Putin says: Donald, you're right. We should not be fighting with each other here. Let's make a deal.
Magic words to Donald Trump.
Let's make a deal. We'll cease all intelligence, supply of intelligence to Iran, if you cease the supply of all intelligence to Ukraine.
And since Trump lives to make deals, I am worried that he might make that.
If we continue to destroy Iran's retaliatory strike capability, they can have all the intelligence that the Russians can give them on the positions of our forces. They won't be able to do anything about it.
[21:15:00]
If we cut off intelligence to Ukraine, as Trump did temporarily, last year, the effect on the Ukrainian military could be devastating. I think Putin knows that. Whether that's his plan or not, obviously, I don't know. But I think Trump is so susceptible to the transactional approach of making a deal with his friend, Vladimir, that it's not impossible. COLLINS: I mean, that would also come as Zelenskyy says, The United States is asking for Ukraine's help here, because obviously they deal with the Shahed drones a lot.
The other thing that happened is when it comes to sanctions on Russian oil, which everyone has been going after since Russia invaded Ukraine. Is it logical, in your view, in this moment, to ease oil sanctions, as Russia is helping Iran?
BOLTON: No, absolutely not. The cutoff of oil coming out of the Strait of Hormuz goes mostly to Asia. And so, they're the region most affected by the absence of tanker traffic. And the country that's hurt the most is China. I mean, I think this is a wonderful development. The last thing we need to do is ease the sanctions on Russia. They haven't been effective to begin with, unfortunately.
And I think there's plenty of oil out there, could come from the United States and Canada and help drive prices down. So, I don't see any reason to make it easy on Russia or China at this point.
COLLINS: Yes. Well, I mean, not only is the Treasury allowing transactions of the German branch of the Russian oil company. Also, we are seeing them allow India to buy Russian oil for the next 30 days, boosting obviously Russia in this moment.
BOLTON: Yes.
COLLINS: I mean, it's happening.
BOLTON: Yes, to be clear -- to be clear, I think sanctions enforcement should be taken away from the Treasury Department. I think it should be given to the Defense Department or perhaps the Justice Department. Our sanctions are so full of loopholes, and they have been, going back 20, 25, years.
Woodrow Wilson, who really pressed for sanctions, he was the creator of the idea of economic sanctions in contemporary times, called it a form of warfare. And we're not -- we're not using sanctions as a form of warfare. That's why they don't work.
COLLINS: Overall, as someone who was in this inner circle when the President was making big foreign policy decisions, I wonder what stands out to you now that we are almost at one week since this war was launched, of how the administration has responded. Whether that's from the President or, you know -- one thing that I've noticed is the Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, who famously was against war in Iran and foreign entanglements, in her previous stance before serving in this role, she hasn't said anything on social media, on Twitter, since last Friday -- since February 25th.
BOLTON: Yes. Well, I think that's a real plus. She's not worth the waste of oxygen either. I think Trump, on the military side, I think the performance--
COLLINS: Yes, but she's in his Cabinet.
BOLTON: Yes, but that's -- I mean, maybe she'll go now too. Maybe he'll be on a roll.
I think the military has performed brilliantly. I think their planning and their coordination with Israel are outstanding.
I think where Trump is potentially going to run into trouble, already has run into trouble, is on the political side. He failed to make, what I think is, an overwhelming, compelling case for regime change based on Iran's nuclear and terrorist threats. He hasn't done that yet. He still could. He didn't prepare Congress for it. He didn't prepare the allies for it.
And perhaps most serious of all, it's not at all clear to me that he's prepared coordination and assistance to the opposition inside Iran. He's certainly begun it with the Kurds. That's a positive step. But a lot more needs to be done there.
So, the work on the political side stands in stark contrast to the work on the military side.
COLLINS: Ambassador John Bolton, thank you for joining us.
BOLTON: Thank you.
COLLINS: Up next. The cost of the President's war in Iran is impacting millions of Americans. Just look at gas prices, they're up 34 cents a gallon one week after this took place. Why the White House is arguing, Actually, this war will be a good thing for energy prices.
Plus, there's a new CNN analysis on what might be the single deadliest strike of this war so far. It's the bombing of a girls elementary school in southern Iran. Initially, people claimed it was Iran that did this. But now, the White House says it's under investigation. And CNN has taken a close look at the evidence.
[21:20:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LEAVITT: We have to focus on the short-term and the temporary goals of Operation Epic Fury. To obliterate the Iranian regime will be a very good thing for the energy and oil markets and for oil prices across the globe in the long-term, when you no longer have a terrorist regime that is restricting the free flow of energy through the Strait of Hormuz and to the rest of the world.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: The White House is arguing tonight that the President's war with Iran will eventually benefit Americans, even if they're feeling the pinch from rising gas prices right now. The President told Dana Bash today, he believes this spike will be short-term, and that will go down very quickly, way down very quickly.
But for a President who regularly boasts about cheap gas prices, pain at the pump might come with a political price as well. At least that's what some of the President's advisers are worried about, based on the conversations that we've been hearing in Washington.
Right now, the average price of gas jumped to $3.32 a gallon today. That's actually the highest it's been since September 2024. It's also the highest price of either of the President's two terms in office. It's not the only tough economic news that we're getting today. There was also a new U.S. jobs report that shows the economy actually lost 92,000 jobs in February, with the unemployment rate rising to 4.4 percent.
Here to discuss are my excellent political sources tonight.
Jamal Simmons is a former deputy assistant to President Biden.
And Shermichael Singleton is a Republican strategist.
[21:25:00]
And Shermichael. Ambassador John Bolton is pro what the President is doing in Iran. He says he just wish it happened when he was there. But what he just said stood out, is that he doesn't think the President has done enough to make the case to the American people for why this is happening. If they're paying more for gas, what do you think is going through their mind tonight?
SHERMICHAEL SINGLETON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Well, look, I think some of the President's advisers are right to worry about this and really sort of keep their finger on the post. You don't want this to get out of hand too much.
But I also think it's important to remember that gas prices have gone down between 6 percent and 10 percent since Trump has been back in office, in comparison to the previous administration.
That said, when Karoline Leavitt says, Hey, this is ultimately going to be good for the American people in general. I think the point that she's trying to make is, If you can destabilize the Iranian regime, you do remove their ability to create conflict, particularly in the Strait of Hormuz, which is really important for us and many other allies across the world. So, in that regard, she has a point.
Secondarily, I would say, if this is a very short-lived conflict, then the concern among traders and investors will indeed stabilize over time.
COLLINS: I mean, I think, Jamal, the question is, define short-term, and what that looks like for people.
JAMAL SIMMONS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR, FORMER DEPUTY ASSISTANT TO PRES. BIDEN, CO-HOST, "TRAILBLAZE" PODCAST: No -- absolutely define short-term.
Here's the thing. Gas prices are a billboard in every community all the time. You can stop somebody on the street and say, How much did you pay for gas yesterday? They'll tell you exactly how much they paid, and how much it is today. They drove past the same gas station.
It's never a good thing. I mean, in the administration that I was in, the same--
COLLINS: Yes, you've dealt with this personally.
SIMMONS: --the same problem.
COLLINS: Yes.
SIMMONS: Those gas prices go up. You can't really compete with people. It's the most noticeable sign of inflation that people have. Here's a problem. You've got gas prices going up. You've got job losses in February, 92,000 job losses in February. People are feeling the crunch.
And nobody knows why we're in Iran. The President and the administration is not really telling us everything. The stories change. They didn't tell us before they went, while they're in Iran. We didn't even see the President, except for that midnight press conference for a couple of days. It just feels like something's going on, and the American people don't quite understand, and they're not going to reward the President, or stick with him, until he really convinces the rest of us, why we're doing this.
COLLINS: Yes. I mean, Shermichael, if you look at the numbers of--
SINGLETON: And look, they're--
COLLINS: Go ahead, Shermichael.
Because I'm curious. I mean, in terms of just, you know, this is a president who often thinks he's the best messenger. Today he didn't want to take questions on Iran. He kept asking people to talk about what's happening in that room, college athletics. I mean, he's not the first president to do that. But given there is a compelling story out there that people want to know more about, do you think that's wise?
SINGLETON: Well, look, first of all, Jamal is right in terms of the American people being able to pretty quickly assess the increase or the fall of gas prices. We all have to deal with it every single day.
The President does have, in his tool box, the ability to tap into our strategic petroleum reserves. Those reserves are slightly down. Joe Biden tapped into them in 2020 to 2021. Unfortunately, the previous administration didn't refill those reserves, so we only have about 20 days or so worth of supplies, which is clearly not enough.
That said, Kaitlan, there is a message to make to the American people about why this is necessary.
Iran, for 47 years, has been the number one sponsor of terror in the world. They have killed over a 1,000-plus U.S. troops. They have killed thousands of innocent people, women, children, in their part of the world and abroad. And also, they are a key ally of China, exporting around 13 percent to 14 percent of China's strategic oil reserves to the Chinese, and 80 percent of that going to China, 1.38 million pumped a day. That money is allowing the Iranian regime to fund those terrorist proxies.
That should be good enough for the American to people to recognize that we are not safe, our allies aren't safe, our troops stationed in that part of the world are not safe, so long as this regime is in power.
COLLINS: Yes, I mean, it's an open question of what the American people think. It's one week.
There is a -- Jamal, as someone who worked in the White House, you know, messaging and what that looks like, how important that is. There's this video that the White House posted tonight, basically -- I'll just let you watch it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(VIDEO - WH POSTS VIDEO SPLICING IRAN WAR FOOTAGE WITH NFL GAMES)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: I mean, that comes after the Call of Duty-style video that we saw.
I'm a biggest football fan as anyone who's watching right now.
SIMMONS: Yes.
COLLINS: Do you think that is effective messaging?
SIMMONS: You know, this is a very serious time. These don't feel like very serious moves. And when you couple that with scenes of the FBI Director partying with Olympic athletes, just days before the President of the United States was going to war--
COLLINS: Yes, but that was before this happened.
[21:30:00]
SIMMONS: It was before. But you know that the FBI Director should have known that we were going to war, and there were going to be some things that the FBI should be doing to prepare, instead of firing the Iran counterintelligence unit that was happening.
At the same time, we've got the administration talking about releasing sanctions, some of the oil sanctions, on Russia, which you were just talking about a few minutes ago. We're at war in Ukraine -- excuse me. The Ukrainians are at war against Russia, and we're helping them. So, we're going to give Russia more money, at the same time, where our allies in Ukraine are trying to fight Russia, which is going to give Russia, it seems, a better chance to go after the people in Ukraine?
This is a chess match, and the board is full of things. And the President of the United States has now taken us into Venezuela. He's now taken us into Iran. We've been in Ecuador. And what's next? Is it Cuba? We were threatening Greenland.
COLLINS: Yes, Cuba--
SIMMONS: How many different places can we do at the same time?
COLLINS: Cuba very well could be next on the President's to-do list.
But Shermichael, one thing I was thinking about in terms of affordability and the issues that the White House has tried to focus on, going into November.
The Center for Strategic and International Studies estimates the war is costing the U.S. about $890 million a day.
We had heard from Congress, it was about a billion dollars a day.
I do think it's a real question of how Americans will see that.
SINGLETON: Yes, look, I'm a fiscal hawk. I'm very conscious about the increasing debt that we're passing on to my generation, and at some point my daughter's generation, and at some point my grandchildren. That is something that we, quite frankly, should be very concerned about.
It is a national security threat to have to rely on foreign countries to buy Treasury notes, in order for us to keep printing money over and over again. That's just not how most Americans are able to live their lives. United States government should be ran, I would argue, in a similar fashion.
That said, though, to get back to the strategic reasoning for this, Kaitlan. I would agree with my friend, Jamal, that it is time to make the case to the American people. We've heard a lot about Russia. But China, at the end of the day, is our greatest geopolitical foe, from the developments that they're spreading their dollars around across the international community, to increasing their military presence in the South China Sea, to meddling in the Middle East, South Africa, et cetera. We have got to limit their ability to usurp the United States' lead. This is how we do it.
COLLINS: We'll see if the White House makes that argument.
Shermichael Singleton makes it in a formal way.
Jamal Simmons.
SIMMONS: Makes it as well as Shermichael just made it. Shermichael made a pretty good argument.
COLLINS: Well, we'll leave that at there.
Shermichael Singleton. Jamal Simmons. Thank you both for being here.
We have a new CNN analysis, up next. This is something that everyone's been asking about. Who is responsible for that strike on an all-girls elementary School in southern Iran, that has been the deadliest incident of civilian casualties since this war started.
[21:35:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: In the weeks since this war with Iran has been underway. The deadliest incident of civilian casualties was a strike that happened on an elementary school in southern Iran that killed scores of children.
Tonight, a CNN analysis of that attack reveals evidence suggesting that the United States military was likely responsible for it.
What you're about to see is disturbing. I want to warn you. The United States says it's still under investigation. But this was the scene at the school, just after the strikes one week ago nearly.
CNN has not independently confirmed the death toll. But Iranian health officials and state media believe that at least a 168 children and 14 teachers were killed.
Our analysis, which is based on satellite imagery, geo-located videos, and the assessment of munitions experts, suggest that the school's hit around the same time that an attack that American forces had launched on a neighboring Iranian naval base.
This new satellite image shows several Revolutionary Guard buildings near the all-girls school. You can see how close they are. In red, you can see the craters at the center of the structures, including the school, in what experts say look like precision strikes. A wall marked by that dotted line there is all that separates the school and this base.
When asked about the strike this week under -- multiple times, during multiple different press briefings, this is what Trump administration officials have told reporters.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SHAWN MCCREESH, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, THE NEW YORK TIMES: Did the United States airstrike a girls elementary school and kill a 175 people?
LEAVITT: Not that we know of, Shawn. And the Department of War is investigating this matter. And I would just tell you very strongly, the United States of America does not target civilians, unlike the rogue Iranian regime that targets civilians, that kills children, that has killed thousands of their own people, in the past several weeks, and uses propaganda, quite effectively, and unfortunately, many people in this room have fallen for that propaganda.
TOM BATEMAN, BBC STATE DEPARTMENT CORRESPONDENT: Can you give us an update on what the administration knows, what you know now, about the reported strike on a girls school in southern Iran on Saturday? HEGSETH: All I know -- all I can say is that we're investigating that. We, of course, never target civilian targets, but we're taking a look and investigating that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Now, the internet blackout in Iran has made it very difficult for our teams to examine weapons fragments that are left at the scene, for further evidence of responsibility.
Reuters reports though that U.S. military investigators also believe it is likely U.S. forces were behind that strike.
Joining me tonight on this.
Former Deputy Director of National Intelligence, Beth Sanner.
And also, the senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Karim Sadjadpour.
[21:40:00]
And it's great to have both of you here tonight with your perspectives.
Beth, obviously, this is just tragic. And you hear from U.S. officials, they don't intentionally target civilians. But when you see what we've -- what we've gleaned from this own analysis that CNN has done, what do you make of this?
BETH SANNER, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST, FORMER DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE: Well, I have looked at the overhead imagery myself, and I think that it's probably likely that this was struck by mistake, and that it was a mistake that was based on targeting, on misunderstanding. When you look at this IRGC base and this school, as you mentioned, there was a wall built, and the school was opened about a decade ago.
But a couple things happened here. When you are striking -- we've now struck 3,000 targets. And you're doing that very quickly. To review all of those target packages, to make sure that there aren't mistakes, is very difficult and time-consuming.
And at the same time, I really believe that it is just -- it is just a difficult thing. There is a list that is of non-targets, that has schools and hospitals on it, but that list has to be updated.
And then, I think that the broader context here is that this administration is not really emphasizing this idea of mitigating civilian harm. And, in fact, they've absolutely gutted the office at the Pentagon that was set up at the beginning of the Trump administration, whose job is to help do this and apply technology, which I really think could help here.
COLLINS: Karim, when you hear that from Beth, and you hear how U.S. officials have responded to the questions repeatedly that they've faced, in briefings about this. You write about the strike in your latest piece, for The Atlantic. You talk about the fog of war. Will there be accountability, in your view, for this?
KARIM SADJADPOUR, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST, SENIOR FELLOW, CARNEGIE ENDOWMENT FOR INTERNATIONAL PEACE: It may not happen within the Trump presidency, Kaitlan. It may be a subsequent president takes accountability for that.
And I spoke to an American general who's served in Iraq. And he said, All populations living under tyranny understandably want a magic bullet, which is only going to kill the bad guys and do no civilian harm. And of course, that doesn't exist. And as we see with this terrible, horrific incident, war is hell.
And I do think, Kaitlan, that in the aftermath of Iran's massacre of their own people, last January, when it was reported as many as 30,000 people were killed. I think a lot of Iranians, probably most Iranians who protested, wanted to -- wanted President Trump to make good on his promise to intervene. But when people are experiencing these kinds of civilian casualties, and their lives totally disrupted, many people may be having second thoughts about that now.
COLLINS: Beth, I mean, that comes as the President is now demanding unconditional surrender here. Do you think he'll get it?
SANNER: Well, I think -- you know, I mean, someone asked me about this earlier today, and I said, Well, presidents often redefine their statements and their definitions of success.
We've seen Putin do that multiple times, regarding Iran.
And then, just a couple hours later, we saw Karoline Leavitt redefine it as, Any time the President decides that Iran is no longer a threat, that's unconditional surrender.
So no, we're not going to see what we would normally term, unconditional surrender, because that's impossible. And Karim can explain this better than I can. But that is just not in this regime's DNA. But we will somehow define it in a way so, you know, or ignore it, so it doesn't matter anymore.
COLLINS: Yes, Karim, what is your take on that?
SADJADPOUR: Well, I think, in at the moment, the regime's strategy is to try to negatively impact American public opinion. And the way they're trying to do that is to spike the price of oil. There's been U.S. service members who've been killed.
When Americans are turning on the television sets, now they're seeing explosions everywhere. And we know this is not a popular war. Only perhaps a quarter of the country is supporting it. And their hope is that the President will abruptly pull the plug under pressure from American public opinion.
And so, it's going to be a question of resolve, because Iran cannot withstand this type of military onslaught, from both the United States and Israel, for many months to come.
COLLINS: Yes, real questions about just how long that could go on, for the battle of wills that we keep hearing about here.
[21:45:00]
Beth Sanner. Karim Sadjadpour. It's excellent to have both of your perspectives on this tonight. Thank you.
SADJADPOUR: Thank you.
COLLINS: And up next. We take you behind the scenes of the White House every week. This was a particularly significant week, not only the war with Iran, but the President ousting his first Cabinet Secretary of his second term. We'll take you behind the scenes on that, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: President Trump goes to war with Iran, and fires a Cabinet Secretary for the first time in his second term. Here's our behind the scenes look at this consequential week in Washington.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TRUMP: It was my opinion that they were going to attack first. They were going to attack. If we didn't do it.
COLLINS: Karoline?
ON SCREEN TEXT: Monday, March 2.
[21:50:00]
TRUMP: First, we're destroying Iran's missile capabilities.
Second, we're annihilating their navy.
Third, we're ensuring that the world's number one sponsor of terror can never obtain a nuclear weapon.
COLLINS: He said that these strikes against Iran by the United States could go on for four to five more weeks.
There was something else that stood out about the President's remarks.
TRUMP: See that nice drape?
COLLINS: He quickly shifted from talking about the war in Iran to talking about the construction of his ballroom happening just behind him.
We hadn't yet heard from the President in-person on-camera until earlier today. He began his remarks by talking about what his objectives are in Iran. It's obviously incredibly important, given what we've heard from his other top officials, in the last 36 hours or so, on what exactly they are trying to achieve in Iran, and how long that could take.
The United States is now urging U.S. citizens throughout the Middle East to leave now.
Is it clear to you, based on what we've heard from the administration, why the United States is at war with Iran right now?
SEN. CHRIS MURPHY (D-CT): Of course, it's not clear.
The objectives that they have laid out, cannot be achieved in four days, four months, or four years.
This is a growing crisis of incoherence and incompetence at the White House.
ON SCREEN TEXT: Tuesday, March 3.
REPORTER: Why wasn't there an evacuation plan?
TRUMP: Well, because it happened all very quickly.
COLLINS: I wonder what you think stranded Americans make of that answer.
PETE BUTTIGIEG, FORMER TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY: Americans are paying the cost for this already. First and foremost, of course, the service members, some of whom have already given their lives in this conflict.
Only now are they thinking about how to evacuate the Americans who are in harm's way? It just makes absolutely no sense.
ON SCREEN TEXT: Wednesday, March 4.
HEGSETH: We've taken control of Iran's airspace and waterways.
But when a few drones get through or tragic things happen, it's front- page news.
I get it, the press only wants to make the President look bad -- but try for once to report the reality.
LEAVITT: Operation Epic Fury has been a resounding success.
COLLINS: Given what Secretary Hegseth said this morning, is it the position of this administration that the press should not prominently cover the deaths of U.S. service members?
LEAVITT: No, it's the position of this administration that the press in this room, and the press across the country, should accurately report on the success of Operation Epic Fury and the damage it is doing to the rogue Iranian regime.
COLLINS: Secretary Hegseth was complaining that it was front-page news about these six service members who were killed.
LEAVITT: That's not what the Secretary said, Kaitlan, and that's not what the Secretary meant, and you know it.
COLLINS: As you know, we cover the deaths of U.S. service members under every president.
LEAVITT: The press does only want to make the President look bad.
The President of the United States will be attending their dignified transfer. So please--
COLLINS: We're going to cover that dignified transfer.
LEAVITT: So please--
COLLINS: That's not making the President look bad. That's showcasing that.
LEAVITT: And we--
COLLINS: As we did in his first term. And during Biden.
LEAVITT: --and we expect you to cover that as you should. We expect you to cover that as you should, Kaitlan.
COLLINS: The reason this is covered is obviously because these are troops who are making the greatest sacrifice that anyone can make. And also, a costly reminder of why there is such extensive coverage over what's happening right now.
Tonight, the Pentagon tells us the bombing campaign in Iran is intensifying.
What would you say to Americans who are watching this tonight, and are worried about how this is expanding and how long this could go on for?
MIKE PENCE, FORMER VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I understand the concern the American people have.
We literally have been at war for 47 years.
Now we're taking the fight directly to the Iranian regime.
I want to commend President Donald Trump for having the guts to pull the trigger on this.
ON SCREEN TEXT: Thursday, March 5.
TRUMP: The United States military, together with the wonderful Israeli partners, continues to totally demolish the enemy, far ahead of schedule.
They're saying, How do we make a deal? I said, You're being a little bit late.
COLLINS: Mr. President, why Markwayne Mullin? Why Markwayne Mullin, Mr. President?
Don't believe he'll stay at DHS.
JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: What led to the firing?
COLLINS: This is obviously monumental, because she is the first Cabinet member of President Trump's second term to be ousted.
I've covered Trump for 10 years now. He does not like when people use money that is related to him, to try to further their own image, or when they try to eclipse the President or make themselves too important. And clearly, that is what ultimately what ultimately happened here today, and led to Kristi Noem's ouster as the DHS Secretary.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: Up next. We heard from former President Barack Obama today, paying his final respects to the civil rights icon, the Reverend Jesse Jackson, with some stinging words for the current President.
[21:55:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: This evening, former President Obama delivered a not-so- subtle rebuke of the Trump administration, as he was speaking at the Reverend Jesse Jackson's memorial in Chicago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, 44TH U.S. PRESIDENT: Each day, we're told by those in high office to fear each other and to turn on each other -- and that some Americans count more than others, and that some don't even count at all.
Everywhere we see greed and bigotry being celebrated, and bullying and mockery masquerading as strength.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: It was a memorial full of high-profile names, featuring several speeches, from former presidents Bill Clinton and Joe Biden, also former Vice President Kamala Harris, thousands others from all walks of his life who converged to send the Reverend off. A striking testament to all the lives that the civil rights icon touched.
Reverend Jesse Jackson died last month at the age of 84. May his memory be a blessing.
Thank you so much for joining us on this major breaking news week. We really do appreciate it.
"CNN NEWSNIGHT" starts now.
