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The Source with Kaitlan Collins
Trump Says War "Nearing Completion" In Address To Nation; UAE Under Iranian Attack As Trump Addresses Nation On War; Trump Says New Regime In Iran Is "More Reasonable." Aired 9-10p ET
Aired April 01, 2026 - 21:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: --he is seeing, as are his advisers, they are showing him the same type of polling that we've been seeing in recent days, just about how many Americans are losing patience with this war. And so, that's really part of this.
And addition to him laying out this timeline, which is of course very key to keeping Americans on side, the, you know, convincing them that this is not going to be a Forever War, a protracted military engagement. It's also about trying to tell them about the success of the military operations thus far, and try to sell them on why that he is there.
Now, of course, you brought up some key points with your panel about this question of ground troops or whatnot. One thing I'm going to be listening for is how much he tries to talk about diplomacy, because that is still, from every conversation I've been having with people in that building behind me, a clear priority for the President.
He is still prioritizing this idea of diplomacy, even though he has all of these different military options on the table, circling around the Pentagon, including having troops going over there and having boots on the ground. So, we'll have to see how he addresses that.
But I think by and large, this is really a message that he is hoping many, many Americans tune into tonight, and that he can hopefully convince to hang on for a bit longer.
KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, CNN HOST, THE SOURCE WITH KAITLAN COLLINS: Yes. Alayna Treene, we'll be watching closely.
And Brett McGurk, one thing in terms of diplomacy, as Alayna mentioned there, there have been two instances in the past. Last summer before the nuclear sites were struck. And then about a month ago, when diplomatic efforts were happening, not to the President's liking though, which is why he took military action.
BRETT MCGURK, FORMER MIDDLE EAST & NORTH AFRICA COORDINATOR, NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL: Well, tonight he has to do three things. Necessity, why we're doing this. The objectives we're trying to achieve. And how he's going to do it. I mean, those necessity, objective, and plan. And it'd be good if he says, I won't expect it though, Kaitlan, that we have some allies with us, because it always helps to have allies in something like this.
COLLINS: Right. And obviously, the President is -- we're expecting to talk about NATO tonight. I mean, he's been threatening to pull out of NATO in interviews, just today.
MCGURK: One thing, if he were to pull back, he won't do this. But Iran's missile and drone program has proliferated to Russia. It fuels Russia's war in Ukraine. It has been proliferated to terrorism.
COLLINS: Yes. And let's listen in--
MCGURK: He could actually connect this. But I don't think that's what we'll hear.
COLLINS: We'll see if he does.
Let's listen in to the President as he is expected to walk out any moment now, there in the Cross Hall, here at the White House.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Thank you very much. My fellow Americans, good evening.
Let me begin by congratulating the team at NASA and our brave astronauts on the successful launch of Artemis II. It was quite something. It will be traveling further than any manned rocket has ever flown, and will very substantially pass the moon, go around it and come back home from a distance that has never been done before. It's amazing. They are on the way. And God bless them, these are brave people. We want to -- God bless those four unbelievable astronauts.
As we speak this evening, it has been just one month since the United States military began Operation Epic Fury, targeting the world's number one state sponsor of terror, Iran. In these past four weeks, our Armed Forces have delivered swift, decisive, overwhelming victories on the battlefield -- victories like few people have ever seen before.
Tonight, Iran's navy is gone. Their air force is in ruins. Their leaders, most of them, terrorist regime they led, are now dead. Their command and control of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps is being decimated as we speak. Their ability to launch missiles and drones is dramatically curtailed, and their weapons, factories, and rocket launchers are being blown to pieces, very few of them left.
Never in the history of warfare has an enemy suffered such clear and devastating large-scale losses in a matter of weeks. Our enemies are losing. And America, as it has been for five years under my presidency, is winning, and now winning bigger than ever before.
Before discussing this current situation, I also want to thank our troops for the masterful job they did in taking the country of Venezuela in a matter of minutes. That hit was quick, lethal, violent and respected by everyone all over the world. After rebuilding our military during my first term, we have by far the strongest military anywhere in the world.
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And now we're working along with Venezuela and are, in a true sense, joint venture partners. We're getting along incredibly well in the production and sale of massive amounts of oil and gas, the second largest reserves on Earth after the United States of America. We're now totally independent of the Middle East, and yet we are there to help. We don't have to be there. We don't need their oil. We don't need anything they have. But we're there to help our allies.
Tonight, I want to provide an update on the tremendous progress our warriors have made in Iran, and discuss why Operation Epic Fury is necessary for the safety of America and the security of the free world.
From the very first day I announced my campaign for President in 2015, I have vowed that I would never allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon. This fanatical regime has been chanting, Death to America, Death to Israel, for 47 years. Their proxies were behind the murder of 241 Americans in the Marine Barracks bombing in Beirut, the slaughter of hundreds of our service members with roadside bombs. They were involved in the attack on the USS Cole, and they carried out the countless other heinous acts, including the blood -- just horrible, bloody atrocities of October 7th in Israel, something that most people, never seen anything like it.
This murderous regime also recently killed 45,000 of their own people who were protesting in Iran, 45,000 dead. For these terrorists to have nuclear weapons would be an intolerable threat. The most violent and thuggish regime on Earth would be free to carry out their campaigns of terror, coercion, conquest and mass murder from behind a nuclear shield. I will never let that happen, and neither should any of our past presidents. This situation has been going on for 47 years, and should have been handled long before I arrived in office.
I did many things during my two terms in office to stop the quest for nuclear weapons by Iran. First, and perhaps most importantly, I killed General Qasem Soleimani, in my first term. He was an evil genius, brilliant person, a horrible human being, however, the father of the roadside bomb. And he lived -- just horrible what he did, Iran would have been perhaps in far better, stronger position. Had he lived, we would have had probably a different conversation tonight. But you know what? We'd still be winning and winning big.
And then, very importantly, I terminated Barack Hussein Obama's Iran nuclear deal, a disaster. Obama gave them $1.7 billion in cash. Green, green cash. Took it out of banks from Virginia, D.C. and Maryland, all the cash they had, flew it by airplanes in an attempt to buy their respect and loyalty. But it didn't work. They laughed at our president and went on with their mission to have a nuclear bomb.
His Iran deal would have led to a colossal arsenal of massive nuclear weapons for Iran, and they would have had them years ago, and they would have used them, would have been a different world. There would have been no Middle East and no Israel right now, in my opinion, the opinion of a lot of great experts, had I not terminated that terrible deal. I was so honored to do it, I was so proud to do it, it was so bad right from the beginning.
Essentially, I did what no other president was willing to do. They made mistakes and I am correcting them. My first preference was always the path of diplomacy. Yet the regime continued their relentless quest for nuclear weapons and rejected every attempt at an agreement.
For this reason, in June, I ordered a strike on Iran's key nuclear facilities in Operation Midnight Hammer. Nobody's ever seen anything like it. Those beautiful B-2 bombers performed magnificently. We totally obliterated those nuclear sites.
The regime then sought to rebuild their nuclear program at a totally different location, making clear they had no intention of abandoning their pursuit of nuclear weapons. They were also rapidly building a vast stockpile of conventional ballistic missiles, and would soon have had missiles that could reach the American homeland, Europe and virtually any other place on Earth.
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Iran's strategy was so obvious. They wanted to produce as many missiles as possible, and they did with the longest range possible, and they had some weapons that nobody believed they had. We just learned that out. We took them out, we took them all out, so that no one would really dare stop them. And their race for a nuclear bomb, a nuclear weapon like nobody's ever seen before. They were right at the doorstep.
For years, everyone has said that Iran cannot have nuclear weapons. But in the end, those are just words, if you're not willing to take action when the time comes.
As I stated in my announcement of Operation Epic Fury, our objectives are very simple and clear. We are systematically dismantling the regime's ability to threaten America or project power outside of their borders.
That means eliminating Iran's navy, which is now absolutely destroyed, hurting their air force and their missile program at levels never seen before and annihilating their defense industrial base. We've done all of it. Their navy is gone. Their air force is gone. Their missiles are just about used up or beaten.
Taken together, these actions will cripple Iran military, crush their ability to support terrorist proxies and deny them the ability to build a nuclear bomb. Our Armed Forces have been extraordinary. There's never been anything like it militarily. Everyone is talking about it. And tonight, I'm pleased to say that these core strategic objectives are nearing completion.
As we celebrate this progress, we think especially of the 13 American warriors who have laid down their lives in this fight, to prevent our children from ever having to face a nuclear Iran. Twice this past month, I have traveled to Dover Air Force Base, and it's been something. I wanted to be with those heroes as they returned to American soil, and I was with them and their families, their parents, their wives, their husbands. We salute them. And now we must honor them by completing the mission for which they gave their lives. And every single one of the people, their loved ones said, Please, sir, please finish the job. Every one of them. And we are going to finish the job, and we're going to finish it very fast. We're getting very close.
I want to thank our allies in the Middle East: Israel, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the UAE, Kuwait and Bahrain. They've been great, and we will not let them get hurt or fail in any way, shape or form.
Many Americans have been concerned to see the recent rise in gasoline prices here at home. This short-term increase has been entirely the result of the Iranian regime launching deranged terror attacks against commercial oil tankers and neighboring countries that have nothing to do with the conflict. This is yet more proof that Iran can never be trusted with nuclear weapons. They will use them, and they will use them quickly. It would lead to decades of extortion, economic pain and instability worse than we can ever imagine.
The United States has never been better-prepared economically to confront this threat. You all know that. We built the strongest economy in history. We're going through it right now, the strongest in history. In one year, we've taken a dead and crippled country, I hate to say that, but we were a dead and crippled country after the last administration, and made it the hottest country anywhere in the world by far, with no inflation, record-setting investments coming into the United States, over $18 trillion, and the highest stock market ever with 53 all-time record highs in just one year. It all positioned us to get rid of a cancer that has long simmered. It's known as the nuclear Iran, and they didn't know what was coming. They've never imagined it.
Remember, because of our Drill, Baby, Drill program, America has plenty of gas. We have so much gas. Under my leadership, we are number one producer of oil and gas on the planet, without even discussing the millions of barrels that we're getting from Venezuela. Because of the Trump administration's policies, we produce more oil and gas than Saudi Arabia and Russia combined. Think of that. Saudi Arabia and Russia combined. And that number will soon be substantially higher than that.
There's no country like us anywhere in the world, and we're in great shape for the future. The United States imports almost no oil through the Hormuz Strait and won't be taking any in the future. We don't need it. We haven't needed it, and we don't need it. We've beaten and completely decimated Iran. They are decimated both militarily and economically and in every other way.
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And the countries of the world that do receive oil through the Hormuz Strait must take care of that passage. They must cherish it. They must grab it and cherish it. They could do it easily. We will be helpful, but they should take the lead in protecting the oil that they so desperately depend on.
So, to those countries that can't get fuel, many of which refused to get involved in the decapitation of Iran, we had to do it ourselves, I have a suggestion. Number one, buy oil from the United States of America. We have plenty. We have so much. And number two, build up some delayed courage. Should have done it before. Should have done it with us as we asked. Go to the Strait and just take it, protect it, use it for yourselves. Iran has been essentially decimated. The hard part is done, so it should be easy.
And in any event, when this conflict is over, the Strait will open up naturally. It will just open up naturally. They are going to want to be able to sell oil, because that's all they have to try and rebuild. It will resume the flowing, and the gas prices will rapidly come back down. Stock prices will rapidly go back up. They haven't come down very much, frankly. They came down a little bit, but they have had some very good days, over the last couple of days. We've done actually much better than I thought. But we had to take that little journey to Iran to get rid of this horrible threat.
With our historic tax cuts, where people are just now talking about receiving larger refunds than they ever thought possible, they are getting so much more money than they thought. That's from the great Big, Beautiful Bill. Our economy is strong and improving by the day, and it will soon be roaring back like never before. It will top the levels that it was a month ago.
I've made clear from the beginning of Operation Epic Fury that we will continue until our objectives are fully achieved. Thanks to the progress we've made, I can say tonight that we are on track to complete all of America's military objectives shortly. Very shortly. We are going to hit them extremely hard over the next two to three weeks. We're going to bring them back to the Stone Ages, where they belong. In the meantime, discussions are ongoing.
Regime change was not our goal. We never said regime change, but regime change has occurred because of all of their original leaders' death. They're all dead. The new group is less radical and much more reasonable. Yet if during this period of time no deal is made, we have our eyes on key targets. If there is no deal, we are going to hit each and every one of their electric-generating plants very hard and probably simultaneously.
We have not hit their oil, even though that's the easiest target of all, because it would not give them even a small chance of survival or rebuilding. But we could hit it and it would be gone, and there's not a thing they could do about it. They have no anti-aircraft equipment. Their radar is 100 percent annihilated. We are unstoppable as a military force.
The nuclear sites that we obliterated with the B-2 bombers have been hit so hard that it would take months to get near the nuclear dust, and we have it under intense satellite surveillance and control. If we see them make a move, even a move for it, we'll hit them with missiles very hard again. We have all the cards. They have none.
It's very important that we keep this conflict in perspective. American involvement in World War I lasted one year, seven months and five days. World War II lasted for three years, eight months and 25 days. The Korean War lasted for three years, one month and two days. The Vietnam War lasted for 19 years, five months and 29 days. Iraq went on for eight years, eight months and 28 days.
We are in this military operation, so powerful, so brilliant against one of the most powerful countries for 32 days, and the country has been eviscerated and essentially is really no longer a threat. They were the bully of the Middle East, but they are the bully no longer. This is a true investment in your children and your grandchildren's future. The whole world is watching, and they can't believe the power, strength and brilliance, they just can't believe what their seeing. They, leave it to your imagination, but they can't believe what they're seeing, the brilliance of the United States military.
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Tonight, every American can look forward to a day when we are finally free from the wickedness of Iranian aggression and the specter of nuclear blackmail. Because of the actions we have taken, we are on the cusp of ending Iran's sinister threat to America and the world. And I'll tell you, the world is watching. And when we do, when it's all over, the United States will be safer, stronger, more prosperous and greater than it has ever been before.
May God bless the men and women of the United States Armed Forces, and may God bless the United States of America. Thank you very much. And good night.
COLLINS: That was President Trump delivering a prime time speech from the White House, justifying why the United States went to war with Iran, and also arguing that this conflict, he believes, will end in a short matter, specifically saying that he believes the next two to three weeks could be the new timeline.
What you just heard is obviously the kind of speech that one might have expected when the war started about a month ago. But now, four weeks in, you heard the President threatening to hit more targets in Iran, as he also made mention of peace talks that he says are still ongoing.
He also addressed what a lot of Americans wanted to hear about, which is rising gas prices here in the United States, as the President argued, they'll come down quickly once this war is over, even though some experts in energy have been skeptical of that.
I do want to note, the President argued about Iran and their capabilities, saying that they could have soon had missiles that reached the United States homeland. A fact check there that overstates what U.S. intelligence actually believed was the timeline for Iran building those weapons. A lot of estimates that we saw put that type of capability about a decade away. The President also made the argument overall that he is doing what no other president was willing to do. Of course, he was in office previously and did not go to war with Iran, something that he is trying to make the case now why he did so, not only to Americans, but also to a base of his that is increasingly skeptical of this war.
My foreign policy and political sources are back with me.
And Brett McGurk, right when the President came out, he said that one thing he wanted to do was lay out why it's necessary for safety and security of Americans that this is happening. Do you think he made that case?
MCGURK: I thought he started with the necessity. We talked about, necessity. The objective. Then what's the plan.
I thought the necessity, laying out the bill of particulars on Iran was fairly effective, not entirely accurate, as you just pointed out. I think it's important to remind people what Iran is about. It is a real threat. There are reasons to be doing what we're doing.
I thought when he laid out the objectives and the plan, I don't think we heard too much. And my takeaway was that we might be in for an escalation of this war. I mean, he said, If there's not a deal, he'd put back on the table.
COLLINS: He didn't talk about a deal very much.
MCGURK: Well, he said if there's not a deal -- the energy targets everything else he'd been talking about.
So, if we were -- thought we might hear a de-escalatory speech that, We're going to wrap this up in a couple weeks. Actually heard something quite different that -- and he said, he visits the families at Dover, and he said we must honor them by completing the mission. And then he basically threatened Iran that there's -- that, We're going to prepare to send you back to the Stone Age.
So, I think this war is going to continue for some time. I mean, that's what I -- that's what I heard.
COLLINS: David.
DAVID SANGER, WH & NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT, THE NEW YORK TIMES: I thought it was striking that while he had a chance to speak to the Iranian leadership, the replaced Iranian leadership, he did not make an offer or any discussion of what the U.S.-Iran relationship could look like.
I mean, these are two countries that have every reason that they could be natural allies. Historically, at various moments, long time ago, they were. But there was only threat to the Iranian leadership. There was no incentive.
MCGURK: Right. SANGER: I thought the second really interesting thing was that the President basically dismissed the operations to go get the nuclear material. You may remember that when this war started, that was supposed to be the number one objective, keep Iran from making a bomb, and that means taking away the near-bomb-grade material. This time, he said it would take months for them to get near the nuclear dust.
COLLINS: I mean, just last week, last Monday, a little over a week ago, I asked the President about getting that enriched uranium, and he said that it would be very easy for the United States to go in and get it.
The other thing here is the Strait of Hormuz. The President seemed to back up and confirm reporting there that he's not interested in the United States having control of it or having that settled if the United States does end this war.
MCGURK: Well, and that's inconsistent. I mean, one thing, he complained about the Obama administration and sanctions relief and everything.
But if Iran comes out of this controlling the Strait of Hormuz, and being able to meter ships that go through there and taking a cut of every ship, they're going to make hundreds of millions and billions of dollars. So that, if that is the outcome here, strategically, that is not good if our objective is to contain Iran.
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Yes, he called on our allies to come in and help in the Strait, and we might be willing to help. But I heard him say, We kind of would lead that mission from behind, hoping that our allies might step up, which I'm not sure they're going to do.
Look, it's a difficult mission. He said, It's easy. It's not. You got to -- you have to have assets that can, Kaitlan, shoot down anti-ship missiles and drones. It's hard. And we did this in the Red Sea with a small coalition. It's a very difficult military mission and strategic equation. And the way we're talking about our allies every day, I don't see the allies really signing up to take on this mission. They should. I mean, they should. It is in their interest to do it. We should stay on them.
But I think the Strait of Hormuz remains a very unresolved issue here. I didn't really hear an answer.
COLLINS: Well, I mean, if what Brett's hearing is that, and that -- is that there's a potential escalation here.
The President talked to Americans about rising gas prices, but he said that they would come down after the war is over. I mean, if the war is going on for two to three more weeks, maybe longer than that, do you think that that was sufficient?
BRAD TODD, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Well, they're going to start to come down. I think he's right to recognize that. He's trying to show the American public that he hears their anxiety about it. And I do think gas prices are going to be one of the drivers of public opinion on the war.
I think Brett's right about what he said about the allies, though. He called on our allies to come in and take over the Strait and deal with the Strait. Now he's mostly talking about Japan and Korea. Both of them get about half their oil and gas through the Strait of Hormuz.
But he's also talking about Europe. And I think the heads of state of our NATO allies need to have heard this message pretty loud and clear. We've maintained bases in their countries. We've fueled their economies. We've protected them from Russia for 75 years. And they wouldn't let us use our own bases in their country to engage in our national security here.
And I think that -- you know, I'm a big supporter of NATO. Most Republican senators I talk to are as well. But I think there's a real schism here. And I think if our allies need -- they need to hear the President tonight, and it's time to get on the horse and ride.
COLLINS: Well, and I should note, I mean the President's saying that they -- he could withdraw from NATO. It was his Secretary of State who did co-sponsor a bill, saying the President can't unilaterally do so. He needs Congress to help him.
Karen, overall, not just on NATO, what do you think Americans heard in that speech one month in?
KAREN FINNEY, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR, FORMER SR. ADVISER, 2016 CLINTON CAMPAIGN, FORMER DNC COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: Look, if you are concerned about your own pocketbooks? And let's be honest, that's what most Americans were probably listening for. They're listening for, How is this going to affect my life, my economy? You weren't reassured.
I mean, as Brett pointed out, if we're talking about an escalation, he's talking about two to three more weeks, then we're looking at -- and he said this was going to be over in four weeks. Then we're talking seven to eight weeks. And the kind of escalation he was talking about doesn't sound like it's just going to be two to three more weeks. I mean, we're sort of joking about this. Everything's Two more weeks, two more weeks, two more weeks. So, that's a concern.
And even in his conversation about the economy, he said, Oh, it was so great a month ago. No, it wasn't. People were -- I mean, his numbers on the economy have been going down steadily for quite some time. So, I don't think people heard anything to make them feel reassured about, Why did we have to do this right now? I know he said -- tried to make this imminent argument. But again, the fact-checkers will, I think, correct that.
And he did not make a case to -- he didn't call people to action, to be a part of this. He really tried to -- and I don't think people are going to believe that just because he says it should be over, that everything all of a sudden is going to go back to normal. I don't think -- I don't think people will buy that.
COLLINS: Everyone stand by. We are analyzing President Trump's speech.
And I should note, as we have been discussing what the President was just saying from the White House, Iran is hitting its Gulf neighbors this evening. Air raid sirens have been sounding right now in the UAE. And according to officials there on the ground, their air defenses are actively engaging incoming missiles and drones.
We've got a team in the Middle East across this.
And Jim Sciutto is joining me live from Tel Aviv.
Matthew Chance is in Doha.
And Jim Sciutto, obviously you were just talking about the sirens going off in Tel Aviv all day long.
One thing the President was driving home is that this is for the safety of the world. He was saying that past U.S. presidents should have done this. And was addressing Iran's capabilities.
What stood out to you?
JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR & CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Yes. Well, I said before the speech that what folks in Israel will be listening for is his answers on Iran's missile capabilities and on its nuclear program. And we got those answers.
On the missile capabilities, he said that they've been dramatically curtailed. And while that may be true, it's cold comfort to people here who, myself included, spent a good part of their day in bomb shelters at the start of the Passover holiday, I should note, as Iranian missiles continue to rain down on Israel.
On the nuclear program, his answer is that the U.S. is going to monitor it from satellites, and if they make a move, he says, the U.S. will take action.
That has not been Israel's goal at the start of this war. I've been told by multiple Israeli officials that they would not consider the war a victory unless that 400 kilos of enriched uranium was controlled in some way. That does not appear to be the President's goal here, even as the war continues.
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Finally, just regarding Iran and the nuclear -- the nuclear deal. He says that he terminated Barack Obama's nuclear deal, in part because of the money that it sent Iran.
We should note that by lifting sanctions on Iranian oil ships, Iran has gained many billions of dollars in oil sales just in the last several weeks. It's worth mentioning.
A final point, if I can, on NATO. Trump's views on NATO began long before this war. We should note that just weeks ago, and I've been speaking to European officials throughout it, that his attempt to take Greenland, from NATO ally Denmark, very nearly broke the Alliance then. And in the wake of it, many European officials told me that the trust had been broken. So, he's had a long-term view of NATO, not much interest in it, not much commitment to it, that began long before this war and his upset over NATO allies not joining the war.
COLLINS: Yes.
And Matthew Chance, you're on the ground in Doha.
Obviously, we were just talking about how the leaders of Gulf nations have been watching this very closely, these Gulf states.
In terms of a deal being reached. The President has been pretty optimistic about it this week, in conversations with reporters. Tonight though, he didn't announce a breakthrough. He kind of barely addressed the diplomatic talks that are underway. And as Brett McGurk was noting, he threatened to blast Iran back to the Stone Ages, should this not work out.
How do you think that comes across to the Iranian officials that were listening?
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, look, I mean, I spoke to Iranian officials earlier on today, and they said they didn't put much stead in the public remarks of President Trump, because they don't reliably reflect what actually happens. And they went on to say, this reflects a trait of him, that he is eccentric and unpredictable. Which we, of course, we all know.
But I mean, there's been a physical response as well to this speech in the region, with alarms going off, and missiles and drones being launched by Iran across the region, particularly at the United Arab Emirates, within the past few minutes. We have had those reports coming in of attacks from Iran, again, against those surrounding Gulf Arab states that have been so terribly battered in the course of the past month or so since this Iran war began.
These are energy-rich countries that depend almost entirely on energy exports for their survival. And they've seen those revenues, because of the blockade in the Strait of Hormuz, and because of the attacks on the energy infrastructure, absolutely sort of devastated, dropping from billions of dollars a day, in some cases, to close to zero. And so, we're looking at an existential economic crisis for this region.
And there was very little in terms of reassurance in that speech by President Trump. He talked about potentially escalating the conflict, at least continuing it. Certainly, there was no word on when this conflict would come to a conclusion.
And in so much as he did address that, I think we're all left with the impression that at the end of this conflict, we could see an Iran which is strengthened strategically, that will keep the Strait of Hormuz under its control, and possibly even have the capability to have ballistic missiles and even a nuclear program at the end of this war. And so, that's very alarming for the countries in this region.
Kaitlan.
COLLINS: Yes. He mentioned the money they got when Obama was in office, but didn't mention the money they might get from the unsanctioned oil during this war, from the U.S.
Matthew Chance on the ground in Doha. Jim Sciutto in Tel Aviv. Thank you both. Please, both stay safe as you're there reporting.
Also joining me tonight is CNN's Chief International Anchor, Christiane Amanpour.
Christiane, just your takeaways from what you heard from the President tonight?
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Well, honestly, to be very frank, I didn't hear a lot new. A lot of what President Trump says, he's already said, a lot of the descriptions.
I think the most concerning thing was about the nuclear material that is still in Iran, which is the 400 kilograms of highly enriched uranium to 60 percent, which everybody says has been buried and would require a very, very highly specialized, difficult Special Forces operation to get. And there seemed to be no indication of that.
In fact, the President said that it would take months to get near what he called the nuclear dust. I'm assuming that's what he's talking about. That, We will hit them hard if they make a move. We have all the cards, and they have none. Which, other analysts and experts have characterized as pretty much following an Israeli template, which is the so-called mowing the lawn template, i.e., you keep hitting, you keep hitting.
It's a constant pattern of being on a war footing. If you hit and degrade, which obviously Iran has been, and then, I don't know, later they pop up again, and then you keep hitting. This is what Israel has been doing for the last decades around its borders.
[21:35:00]
So, that was one thing, which I thought. The other is about the Straits of Hormuz. It was somewhat complicated. The President basically said, We don't need it. We'd like to help others, but we don't need it. Why don't you buy U.S. oil?
And then he repeated what he said before about NATO allies, Why don't you drum up some delayed courage. Just take it. The hard part is done. The rest will be easy.
And then he said, But it will open up naturally, because Iranians want to sell oil.
So, it wasn't clear whether there is a further strategic objective of trying to open the Strait of Hormuz, which is what everybody in the region wants, and most particularly the allies. American allies, especially in Asia, are very, very hardly hit -- hard-hit, a huge number of states of energy emergency have been implemented, and they're really having a tough time, to the point, as some of you have discussed, that some sanctions on Russian oil at sea are being removed, including some sanctions on Iranian oil at sea, to try to relieve the pressure on some of these oil prices.
As for Europe, as you know, they do actually use their bases to allow the United States to use them, right now, in various different degrees. But they don't want to join the offensive part of a war that they were never consulted on. They believe it's a war of choice. They believe there wasn't an imminent threat from Iran, that the negotiations on the 27th of February were going in the right direction, and could have produced perhaps something more important in terms of, keeping the nuclear threat under wraps than this war has introduced yet.
If that 400 kilograms of highly enriched uranium remains inside of Iran, that will mean one of their strategic objectives, the main strategic objective, has not been accomplished.
So, was waiting to hear whether there was any plans in that regard, and didn't hear it.
COLLINS: What about what he said about the regime there, where he was talking about, who is running Iran right now, something he's described as a new regime that he believes is more effective to be in discussion with. He's cast out the new Supreme Leader, who is, of course, the son of the old Supreme Leader that was killed. Did that stand out to you at all, Christiane?
AMANPOUR: Well, here's the thing. They have said several times, that there is a regime change sort of by another word, i.e., the regime has changed.
It actually hasn't. It's just other layers are coming up that have already been in place. Yes, there have been very successful intelligence successes on finding various leaders. In fact, a lot of leaders, level one, level two, have all been decapitated. But more keep coming up.
And the most important thing, I think, until we see otherwise, is even nearly five weeks into this, the IRGC, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, remains in control, remains able to retaliate in whatever way. It just takes one missile here or there, it just takes one drone here or there to threaten the most important part of this whole equation, which is the Strait of Hormuz, through which 20 percent of the world's oil does travel.
So, they don't actually need to do a huge amount, but they are doing what they need to do, to retaliate, and to hold the world hostage in this economic way, including to an extent, the United States, so not as much of the rest of the world. But with gas prices rising, perhaps with food prices rising, because the chemicals for fertilizer, i.e. for crop growth, and not being able to be exported, that could start to hurt not just the U.S., but other countries very much.
In terms of the Iranians and the Americans right now, it doesn't sound like there are any progress in negotiations, which we were told might be happening. And certainly, key allies are trying to be mediators, try to figure out how to get there, to be some kind of agreement and negotiation to stop this.
The President of Iran actually wrote an open letter to the people of the United States today, realizing the communications battle is a lot of it, saying that, We're just defending ourselves. We telegraphed this retaliation. And he even said to Trump's essential -- as he said, It was my honor to pull out of the nuclear deal. The President of Iran said, that this was, we were -- We were committed to our agreement. And then, you know, he said it was delusional to pull out of it, because this is where we are right now.
So, there doesn't seem to be a huge amount of opening right now for negotiations. And we'll wait to see what happens next.
COLLINS: Yes. Particularly over the next two to three weeks.
Christiane, great to have your thoughts on this speech tonight.
Everyone, stay with us. Our special coverage of the President's address on this war with Iran is going to continue. We'll go live to the White House, right after a quick break.
[21:40:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: The nuclear sites that we obliterated with the B-2 bombers have been hit so hard that it would take months to get near the nuclear dust, and we have it under intense satellite surveillance and control. If we see them make a move, even a move for it, we'll hit them with missiles very hard again. We have all the cards. They have none.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: That was the President's update just a few moments ago on the status of that enriched uranium in Iran. Of course, something that the President struck those sites, just last summer, when he argued that they had been totally obliterated. He argued tonight that he thinks this war is nearing completion, as he also threatened to send Iran into the Stone Age, should diplomatic talks not work out.
[21:45:00]
CNN's Alayna Treene is watching it all from the White House.
Alayna, obviously White House officials had a point with this speech. Do they believe that they achieved that goal?
TREENE: Yes, from my conversation so far, Kaitlan, they do. I mean, he did exactly what they wanted him to do. Even though, really we didn't hear anything new from the President this evening.
The point of this was to really try and sell this to the American people. And part of that is, yes, we have heard the President make many of these claims in the past, that the United States is winning this war, that they are close to achieving all of their objectives, that the war is going to end soon.
But they had hoped, really, that having that speech and those comments come in the form of an address to the nation, meant many Americans would actually be watching.
And I'd remind our viewers that this comes at a time, when they recognize how much the American public's patience is wearing thin. And so, that was really part of this. And he did, I would note as well, largely stick to the script, which is uncharacteristic of him.
But again, I think some things that we were watching for, that just didn't happen, was he did not lay out specifics on when he's expecting to end the war, and said he just said he expected it to be completed soon.
He left the Strait of Hormuz question kind of open-ended, repeating this idea that perhaps the United States will end the war, even if the Strait remains closed.
And also, he didn't say anything about ground troops, something we know they are heavily considering behind closed doors.
And so, again, we really didn't learn much from the President, from those comments tonight.
COLLINS: Yes, obviously we've heard the President in his Q&As with reporters. Many people might have been listening for the first time. We'll see what their takeaway of this was.
Alayna Treene from the White House. Thank you.
John, obviously, a lot of takeaways from that speech there, in terms of whether or not it does move the needle, as the White House is hoping it will.
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, to an extent, it was a collection of a lot of what he's been saying in social media posts, over the last few days.
With us now:
Former Obama administration official, Van Jones.
Iran expert, Karim Sadjadpour.
Retired Air Force Colonel, Cedric Leighton.
And former JAG officer, Margaret Donovan.
And there was a bit of an inherent contradiction, in saying that, The objectives are very nearly complete, it's almost over, but we're going to attack Iran into the Stone Age over the next few weeks. And if you want a sense of how the reaction is being felt around the world. I've been watching oil prices, both Brent Crude and West Texas, up 3 to 4 percent in just the last hour, while the President has been speaking.
COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST, U.S. AIR FORCE (RET.): Yes, that's a significant change, John, in terms of rising, you know, rising prices. And what that indicates to me is that the markets aren't really buying what the President is saying.
And with the statement that he made, that we're looking at two to three more weeks, that we'll be hitting them hard, quote-unquote, that is really, I think, what is making the oil markets nervous.
And that's going to, I think there will be some costs associated with that, both in terms of popular support, potentially, as well as mission costs for the military, as the military basically flexes its muscles to go and move into certain areas. He didn't say which areas. He never talked about Kharg Island. He didn't talk really about the Strait of Hormuz. But it is something that we really need to look at.
BERMAN: Karim?
KARIM SADJADPOUR, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST, SENIOR FELLOW, CARNEGIE ENDOWMENT FOR INTERNATIONAL PEACE, IRAN EXPERT: For me, John, tonight was a reminder that the most important deliberations that have been happening, over the last month, are not between America and Iran, but between President Trump and himself.
And tonight was -- oftentimes, hour by hour, he can go from threatening escalation to the prospect of diplomacy and a deal. And I think tonight he was very much in escalation mode.
I think there was two various -- very nervous audiences tonight. There was members of the American public who are worried about American service members being sent into harm's way. He didn't give any indication that that would be the case. But a lot of nervous partners in the Middle East tonight, worried that he was simply going to declare victory and exit the war. He didn't do that either. So, he was able to thread that needle.
But when he said that, We're going to continue with the mission to complete the mission? Still not clear what that mission is.
VAN JONES, FORMER SPECIAL ADVISER TO PRES. OBAMA, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Look, I think Trump is on course to get a thank-you card from the ayatollahs this year.
This speech was a disaster. It started off good because he was tough on the Iranian regime. He's explaining why they were bad.
But the three things Americans are looking for from this President? It was three strikes, and you're out.
First of all, regime change, which is something that has been on the table. He just fudges it and says, Well, we have it, because we went from an old Ayatollah to a young Ayatollah with the same name. That's not regime change. You lose credibility when you play little word games like that.
Number two, the nuclear materials. He says, We're not going to go get it, we're just going to surveil it from the satellite. We were doing that before. You don't need a war to do that. So why are we -- why are we doing a war to do something we were already doing?
[21:50:00]
And then, number three, the Strait. They've got a chokehold on the entire world economy. And rather him saying that they're going to have to give that up. He goes, It's just going to magically open up. And by the way, I guess the Swedish people and the Indians should just go over there and grab it. That is ludicrous.
So, whether you're talking about the nuclear materials, regime change, or the Strait? This President just swish, swish, swish, three strikes, and we are in a worse position now than we were before the war -- before the war started.
BERMAN: Margaret?
MARGARET DONOVAN, FORMER JAG OFFICER: And by the way, just days ago, he was threatening to take out civilian infrastructure if the Strait wasn't opened. So that's how important it was to the President just days ago. So, how are we to define what is and isn't going to be important tomorrow?
My biggest takeaway from that was that it doesn't -- we weren't informed of any plans. We don't know what the future plans hold. We don't know about ground troops. We don't know about future air strikes. We don't even know what a deal would look like. He just kept referencing the deal.
And I thought that it was notable that he compared, towards the end of his speech there, he compared what's going on in Iran to World War I, World War II, Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq.
All of those, with the exception of Korea, which was sort of a nuanced international authority that Truman relied on, all of those began or were conducted with congressional authorization. And so, for whatever reason, the Bush administration was able to go to Congress after 9/11, but he couldn't go to Congress here.
So, my biggest takeaway here was that this is an unaccountable executive not working through the people's elected representatives.
BERMAN: And each of those examples include the word, War.
DONOVAN: Yes.
BERMAN: They do, notably.
All right, thank you all for being here and watching this with us, trying to understand what we heard and what it means going forward. Kaitlan?
COLLINS: Yes. Thanks, John.
And one big question is how Congress feels about the President's speech. We've heard from a lot of Republicans and Democrats since this was launched one month ago. And a member of the House Armed Services Committee is actually going to join me, right after this. What did he take away from what the President said?
[21:55:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: We're following the breaking news here tonight, as we just heard from President Trump, saying that the United States -- and this war in Iran is nearing completion, in his view, as he added that the United States plans to hit Iran extremely hard over the next two to three weeks.
Joining me tonight is a Democrat from Colorado, Congressman Jason Crow, who serves on the House Armed Services and Intelligence committees.
And so, it's great to have you here.
Because, from what you heard from the President, do you believe this war with Iran is closer to ending or escalating?
REP. JASON CROW (D-CO): Kaitlan, no American is going to bed tonight with a more clear picture of what the endgame is and when this is going to wrap up.
I heard Donald Trump double down on his strategy, in fact, indicate that he's going to escalate this over the coming weeks. He doesn't appear to be listening to anybody, our intelligence community, Congress, the American people.
He is digging into what is a war that Americans don't want. We have spent close to $100 billion on this already, $2 billion a day. The terror threat is off the charts. The cyber threat against this is off the charts. We've lost 13 Americans, hundreds have been wounded. Our allies have been further maligned and pushed away from us. This is getting worse with each passing day.
COLLINS: So, your takeaway is that this is going to escalate?
CROW: Yes, absolutely. I mean, that's -- that's not my takeaway. That's actually what Donald Trump just said. He said that it's going to get worse, that he's going to do more over the next couple of weeks, which, you know, is inconsistent with everything he said.
The double speak tonight was pretty astonishing, right? He said, We don't need their oil, but we do want their oil. We don't care whether the Straits are opened, but all our allies should go and open the Straits. We've already won the war, but we haven't won the war, we have to actually do more intense bombing over the next couple of weeks. We didn't do regime change, but we did do regime change. So, one minute to the next, he was saying the opposite of what he said during the speech.
COLLINS: Was what he said about gas prices sufficient, based on what you've heard from your own constituents who are paying more at the pump right now?
CROW: Well, I'm always baffled when a billionaire who's sitting in Washington, D.C., who spends most of his time on golf courses and out of his resort in Mar-a-Lago, lectures Americans, working-class folks, like the people that I represent in my community here, and just says, You know, this is going to be short-term pain. So, don't worry about your mortgage that's coming due in a couple of weeks. Don't worry about the fact that you can't fill your gas tank up anymore, or that you have to cancel the family vacation, or you can't pay your health care premiums. This is just short-term pain for long-term good.
Easy for him to say, because it's not his kids that are doing the fighting and dying. He's not the one that has to worry about paying his mortgage or filling his gas tank. So, it just rings hollow to me.
COLLINS: He talked about NATO, and those allies, and opening the Strait of Hormuz, something that he has been blasting lately, and even threatening to withdraw in an interview he did with The Telegraph. He didn't threaten to withdraw tonight, during that speech. But I wonder if you are worried that he genuinely may try to do that.
CROW: Well, this President, he's irrational, he's unpredictable. I do worry about that, right? He keeps on talking about it. And let's be clear about the chronology here.
He started a war without any notice, without noticing Congress -- notifying Congress, without involving Congress, without going to Congress for a vote and for authorization, without notifying our allies.
Then he started this without a clear goal and endgame, which remains true to this day. We are -- we are not indicating how exactly we're going to end this. We're spending exorbitant amounts of money.
[22:00:00]
And then he goes to our allies, and he says, Why didn't you come and help us? Why aren't you coming to our aid? At the same time as he's actually maligning them and calling them names and threatening them. I mean, is this the way anybody acts to gather friends and alliances? It's just horrible to see. These are people that I fought with and served with overseas, in Iraq and Afghanistan, our allies, and they deserve better.
COLLINS: Congressman Jason Crow, thank you for joining us with your takeaways.
Thank you all so much for joining us here tonight for our special coverage. It's continuing here on CNN. NEWSNIGHT WITH ABBY PHILLIP starts now.
