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The Brief with Jim Sciutto

CNN International: Oil Surges Amid Attacks on Energy Infrastructure; Iran Attacks Gulf Energy Sites; Israel Kills Iran's Intelligence Minister; Top U.S. Intel Officials Testify About Worldwide Threats; Trump Attacks Allies Over Reluctance to Get Involved; Saudi Arabia Intercepts Missiles Over Its Capital; Powell Says He Will Stay Fed Chair Until DOJ Ends Investigation; Senators Grill Trump's Homeland Security Pick. Aired 6-7p ET

Aired March 18, 2026 - 18:00   ET

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

[18:00:00]

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR, "THE BRIEF": Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world. I'm Jim Sciutto in Washington, and

you're watching "The Brief."

Just ahead this hour, oil prices surge once again after an attack by Israel on Iran's gas fields and then retaliation by Tehran. Fed Chair Jerome

Powell says he will stay with the central bank until the Justice Department concludes its investigation of him, and Barcelona, Liverpool, and Bayern

Munich are among the teams fighting for a place in the Champions League's quarterfinals.

We begin, once again though, with the war on Iran. Iran making good on its threats to attack oil and gas infrastructure in the Persian Gulf.

Explosions rocked the Saudi capital Riyadh. It appears one of the sites it belongs to, the state oil giant Saudi Aramco. Flames erupted at a gas hub

in neighboring Qatar as well. Iran says this is retaliation for attacks on its own energy facilities.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EBRAHIM ZOLFAGHARI, IRANIAN MILITARY SPOKESPERSON (through translator): This is a firm warning to those responsible for attacking parts of Iran's

fuel and energy infrastructure in the south. In response, the fuel, energy, and gas facilities at the source of the attack will be set ablaze and

reduced to ashes at the earliest opportunity.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: Iran is blaming both the U.S. and Israel for an attack on its South Pars gas field. A U.S. official insists the strike was carried out

not by the U.S., but the Israelis. Israel ramping up its efforts to assassinate Iranian leaders as well. The Iranian intelligence minister,

Esmail Khatib, has been killed in an airstrike just a day after an Israeli strike killed the security chief, Ali Larijani.

Here in the U.S., President Trump attended a ceremony at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, where the remains of six U.S. soldiers were brought home.

Those soldiers killed in a plane crash in Iraq in efforts to support the war in Iran.

Also, today, Tulsi Gabbard, the U.S. National Intelligence, Office of the Director of National Intelligence, says it is not her job to determine what

is an imminent threat to the U.S. that that's up to the president.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JON OSSOFF (D-GA): Was it the Intelligence Community's assessment that nevertheless, despite this obliteration, there was a, quote, "imminent

nuclear" threat posed by the Iranian regime? Yes or no?

TULSI GABBARD, U.S. DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE: It is not the Intelligence Community's responsibility to determine what is and is not an

imminent threat.

OSSOFF: OK.

GABBARD: That is up to the president based on a volume of information that he receives.

OSSOFF: No, it is precisely your responsibility to determine what constitutes a threat to the United States.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: There are multiple intelligence reports that make judgments all the time on that question. In today's Senate hearing, Gabbard said the

Intelligence Community assesses the Iranian regime appears to be intact today, though degraded.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GABBARD: Even if the regime remains intact, the IC assesses that internal tensions are likely to increase as Iran's economy worsens. Even so, Iran

and its proxies continue to attack U.S. and allied interests in the Middle East. The IC assesses that if a hostile regime survives, it will likely

seek to begin a years-long effort to rebuild its military missiles and UAV forces.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: Joining us now, Manu Raju. And as you know, Gabbard was asked a number of questions regarding the president's quite bold claims about the

threat represented by Iran. One of them was that Iran was attempting or quite close to rebuilding a nuclear program. Steve Witkoff has gone so far

as to say it was a week away from having industrial-grade bomb-making material. Gabbard, as you know, had a line on that in her opening

statement, but didn't deliver it. What did she answer in the room?

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that caused a lot of concern among the Democrats on this committee, including the top

Democrat Mark Warner, who made that very clear. He pointed that out, that her oral testimony did not line up with her written testimony.

[18:05:00]

She said that she was just trying to speed through her opening remarks and didn't want to go through everything there, that there was nothing really

askew. But Warner saw a clear contradiction with the president's statement. And when she was asked time and time again about whether this was indeed an

imminent threat to the United States, and like the president said, like the president advised her, said she would not go that far.

In fact, she kept saying that it's up to the president to make that decision about whether it's an imminent threat or not. It is not the role

of the Intelligence Community or the Director of National Intelligence to make that kind of claim, which is what some Democrats, they came out after

the hearing, they were stunned to hear the Director of National Intelligence make that assertion. This is what Warner told me in the

immediate aftermath of the director's claim, that she could not assess whether it was an imminent threat. It was not her responsibility.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: What is your takeaway from her not saying this is an imminent threat? I mean, she was asked this repeatedly. What do you draw from that?

SEN. MARK WARNER (D- VA): I draw that the -- I draw the same conclusion I've made since day one of this war. This was a war of choice. There was no

imminent threat. Now, the Iranian regime was awful. The important thing, it is still awful. And I'm -- if anything, we've ended up with a worse and

more repressive leader right now. And again, with -- I don't see any of the four goals the president laid out of regime change, getting hold of the

enriched uranium, eliminating all of the ballistic missile capability and drone capability.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: And Jim, one of the big reasons why, of course, that there was so much interest about Gabbard's testimony in particular is that before she

became a member of the Trump administration, she was a very, very public skeptic about going after Iran and aggressive posture, attacking Iran in

any way. And since the attack of Iran just a couple of weeks ago, we've heard very little from Tulsi Gabbard publicly about this.

So, that's one big reason why a lot of Democrats in particular came out saying that she seems to be trying to somehow dance this fine line between

our past and personally held views and trying to align herself with the president. But what they heard from today in the testimony was that

oftentimes not answering the question, perhaps because of that, that tension that she herself is facing over her own personal views, Jim.

SCIUTTO: Yes, not answering the questions become an art on Capitol Hill, does it? Well, what about the president's other frequent claim that no

experts had warned him that Iran would retaliate by attacking Gulf nations? What answers to did lawmakers get on that?

RAJU: Yes. I mean, not as satisfactory ones. If you ask the Democrats on the committee, in fact, what Gabbard said repeatedly is that she would not

comment about her briefings with the president when she was asked about what about being briefing the president on the Strait of Hormuz and whether

he was told about that Iran would likely close the Strait of Hormuz if attacked. She said she would not get into those private deliberations.

Now, they did meet afterwards in a closed setting of the in a classified briefing outside the view of the public. Did they get any responses there?

It doesn't seem that way, Jim. So, those questions undoubtedly persist in the capital.

SCIUTTO: Maybe, maybe without answers as well. Manu Raju on the Hill, thanks so much. Well, the NATO secretary general, Mark Rutte, has said the

alliance is now discussing how to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. The conflict sending energy prices higher across Europe around the world. Also putting

the region's fertilizer supply chain under pressure.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARK RUTTE, NATO SECRETARY GENERAL: When it comes to the Strait of Hormuz, I have been in contact with many allies. We all agree, of course, that

Strait has to open up again. And what I know is that allies are working together discussing how to do that. What is the best way to do it? They're

working on that collectively to find a way forward.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: Well, President Trump, for his part, is still attacking NATO allies for failing to answer his call to help secure the Strait, calling

some of his allies quote non responsive. The president has expressed his displeasure on more than one occasion this week.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: All of the NATO allies agreed with us and -- but they don't want to -- you know, despite the fact that we help them so

much, we have thousands of soldiers in different countries all over the world and they don't want to help us.

Some are countries that we've helped for many, many years, we've protected them from horrible outside sources and they weren't that enthusiastic.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: Joining me now to discuss Europe's role is the foreign minister of Lithuania, Kestutis Budrys. Thanks so much for taking the time.

KESTUTIS BUDRYS, LITHUANIAN MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS: Thank you for having me here.

SCIUTTO: So, first, you heard Mark Rutte there saying that NATO is now discussing exactly how to open the Strait.

[18:10:00]

And you, you have said that NATO should at least consider answering the president's request to provide help. What kind of help exactly? Are you

saying that NATO should send ships there to help secure the Strait?

BUDRYS: First of all, NATO is the strongest alliance and strongest ally in the military organization and it has the capacity for the planning, for

operational planning that no one else has. And we should exploit this. And in this situation, there are many options. And even within the military

field, there are also options what we can do. A, be it the Hormuz Straits or be it the assistance to the attacked nations with concerns, air defense.

And we should consider them all.

So, that is natural way forward. In purpose to be prepared for the decision to be made, we have to consider different options and then go through the

military planning. Because it's not only for the politicians to decide what's the most effective way.

SCIUTTO: Sure.

BUDRYS: And of course, at the end, we want that diplomatic efforts would be implemented at the full effort.

SCIUTTO: Of course, the trouble with deploying military forces there, whether by sea or by air or on the ground, is that involves danger. Do you

believe NATO allies would be willing to put European forces in the firing line, as it were, in the Strait of Hormuz?

BUDRYS: There were already many different reactions to it, to this way for -- you know, to this line of events. And before we will consider

politically, because of course, for each of the countries, the mandate has to be also given and the discussions within the parliaments would be

needed.

So, before that, we have to prepare the operations. And it's like an operational plan with the contingencies, what in the case of A, what in the

case of B scenario. And for it, we need the planning officers to be involved. That's why we need the machine to start.

SCIUTTO: The Finnish president, Alexander Stubb, who at times has been quite close with President Trump. They've even played golf together. As you

know --

BUDRYS: I cannot hear you now?

SCIUTTO: Oh, can you hear me now? Checking audio. Can you hear me? OK. Hello, Mr. Foreign Minister, do you hear Jim Sciutto? OK. We're going to

check that audio, get it fixed. Please stay with us, that the Lithuanian foreign minister, we're going to come back to him.

Meanwhile, we're going to check in on Saudi Arabia, where its air defense system intercepted Iranian missiles over the capital Riyadh. Foreign

ministers from Arabic and Islamic countries were meeting there to discuss regional security. Timing is notable.

Nic Robertson is live in Riyadh. And, Nic, I wonder, you know, part of the core of this relationship, right, of this alliance with the U.S. and

allowing U.S. troops to base in the region, is this sense of a U.S. security umbrella? Has that confidence -- has the confidence of Gulf allies

in that security umbrella been breached by what we're seeing here as Iran is able to get some attacks through?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes. We haven't heard that from any leaders, any officials here, Jim. But certainly, in the

conversations we're having behind closed doors with lower-level people, that's a sentiment that the dynamic changes, that things won't be the same

going forward. I don't think anyone's expecting an overnight change or a change significant change, you know, by the end of the year or the end of

next year, even.

But of course, the calculus is going to change. That dependency at the level that it's been at, they're buying most defensive products from the

United States, relying on their supplies of Patriot and other defensive missile systems, THAAD, for example, all of which are deployed in Saudi

Arabia, will be under strain and under question.

And just to sort of bring you up to speed with what's happening here this evening, because I think it's significant, significant that this is the

first time in the Gulf that the foreign ministers have been able to meet any leaders have met here face to face, bringing in some regional foreign

ministers from Egypt, from Jordan, from Turkey, from Pakistan, from Azerbaijan as well, to address collectively the current security

environment.

But as you say, just as they were gathering in the capital, for the first time that we've witnessed here, and we've been here since March the first,

there were sirens going off on people's phones, we witnessed intercepts in the sky, ballistic missiles fired into the sky, we witnessed intercepts

going up, heard the very, very heavy explosions.

[18:15:00]

The defense ministry here saying there were four rounds of ballistic missile -- two rounds of four sets of ballistic missiles. And again,

ballistic missiles in of themselves represent an escalation of what's been fired at Riyadh. Until now, it's been pretty much drones that have been

targeted at the capital. And we've learned from the ministry of defense that an oil facility south of just south of the capital here has had some

damage.

So, it is a very powerful message on an abrupt message that Iran has chosen to show these foreign ministers as they've been arriving here. It is, in

terms of Riyadh, a significant uptick and, and, and I don't think anyone meeting any of these foreign ministers meeting that this will have been

lost on them, Jim.

SCIUTTO: Well, please keep yourself and your team safe there given that, well, sometimes these things get through. Our thanks to Nic Robertson in

Riyadh.

Back with us now the foreign minister of Lithuania, Kestutis Budrys. Are you hearing me OK now?

BUDRYS: Yes, I can hear you.

SCIUTTO: OK. Great. I was going to mention that the Finnish president, Alexander Stubb, who at times has had a close relationship with President

Trump, suggested an interesting trade, as it were, that NATO provides help in the Middle East to open the strait, but that the U.S. commits itself to

defending Ukraine and boosting security assistance. Do you think that's at all a reasonable possibility?

BUDRYS: It has the assumption that our security is indivisible. And I would see in the same light we as NATO allies, of course, we share our

security concerns, we share the threat perception, and also, we share the capabilities and we should assist each other. This is the very natural way

for Europe.

Now, the absolute, absolute decisive moment is how this full aggression against Ukraine will end, whether we will have the long-lasting peace or

not, or whether the Russia's aggression will be repeated with the assistance of Iran, by the way, with their drone capabilities and the

others.

So, it's from our side also to meet the needs of the United States. It's very natural. And that is why I'm calling for considering different

options, what we can provide in this case from Europe's side, what are the needs from the United States. And of course, talking with the Gulf

countries, we understand that the air defense is of the biggest concern and of the biggest demand that is right now.

I talked to almost all ministers of the Gulf countries just after Iran started attacking these countries and shooting to all the directions. And

all of them were talking about the need to return to the diplomatic track and to use pressure on Iran to stop this escalation and go into the

negotiations and continue negotiations.

So, I think that combination of everything, of military means, diplomatic means, and also economic sanctions on Iran and very clear consequences to

the regime, what will be after if they will continue to violate the international principles of territorial integrity, we will proceed.

SCIUTTO: As the president expressed frustration that Europe has not come to U.S. aid in the Strait of Hormuz, he raised questions again about his

view of the usefulness of NATO. And as you know, it's not the first time. And there was a genuine rift within the alliance over Greenland only a few

weeks ago.

Does Lithuania fear that President Trump might just up and leave, just say I'm done with NATO? Is that a genuine concern where you are?

BUDRYS: That was not the first time when people were concerned with the United States remain within the alliance with the same capabilities that

was previously. And all these concerns were wrong. We saw in the last summit in The Hague that there was a clear message to Europeans, do your

share and increase defense spending. And there are high expectations from you Europeans.

And we are meeting these expectations like Lithuania this year is spending 5.4 percent of our GDP. That's the highest number in all NATO and all the

free world. And other allies are also following this path. So, if there are some challenges in front of us, if there are some different understandings

in certain situations, that's what the alliance is built for. We have the Article 1 that says that we have to sit down and solve everything in a

peaceful manner.

And this is how allies should act, because we committed to each other the highest price that can ever be. We committed to each other to die if it is

needed for our security. So, I think that within the spirit and within the procedures that are tested for 75 years already of the alliance, we will

continue.

SCIUTTO: One, I think, under covered impact of this war. It's not just on oil and gas, as you know, it's on fertilizers, because, of course, the base

materials of that travel through this strait as well.

[18:20:00]

Can you explain the impact in Lithuania of this, particularly on farmers? Are they feeling that already?

BUDRYS: Of course, the energy crisis is the first factor that changes the situation for the farmers. Of course, we feel the tension in our market as

everyone. A bit less with fertilizers because of the market structure, we have our own production capacities also in Lithuania.

But thinking about all the measures that have to be applied right now, one measure should be excluded from all these options. That is the review of

our sanctions policy. We cannot go with the immediate short-term effect, reducing the sanctions on Russia, or be it in any other direction, just to

reduce the price, because it will have the longer-term strategic impact and it will weaken us vis-a-vis Russia or any other current or potential

aggressor.

SCIUTTO: So, to that point, do you worry that President Trump might not reimpose those sanctions whenever he decides the oil price has come down,

if it comes down?

BUDRYS: That is the most effective instrument now in the hands of the current administration, sanctions. Those were moments, looking back into

this year, when Russia was forced to do the steps, at least imitate that they are ready to negotiate with Ukraine, when they were threatened or when

the sanctions or secondary sanctions were imposed on Russia's main client.

So, I have this hope that the policy of the effective sanctions will be returned to the agenda and that will be used, because otherwise we lack of

real credible sticks to force Russia to negotiate. Same goes with Iran. We need sticks in our hands to force them to negotiate.

SCIUTTO: Foreign Minister Budrys, thanks so much for joining the program.

BUDRYS: Thank you for having me here.

SCIUTTO: Still ahead, the Iran war is making Fed Chairman Jerome Powell's job a lot harder. U.S. Central Bank is raising its inflation forecasts as

global oil prices continue to surge.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCIUTTO: Welcome back. In today's Business Breakout, U.S. stocks fell sharply, oil prices jumped following the latest attacks on oil and gas

facilities in the Persian Gulf.

[18:25:00]

Brent Crude closed up almost 4 percent on the news, rising now to over $107 a barrel. All this as the U.S. Federal Reserve has now raised its outlook

for inflation this year to 2.7 percent. The Fed also kept interest rates unchanged. This was expected. Fed Chair Jerome Powell said the war's

effects on oil prices is raising new uncertainties for the U.S. economy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEROME POWELL, CHAIR, U.S. FEDERAL RESERVE: You can worry about all of the ways that oil commodities -- oil-related commodities go into manufacturing

and that kind of thing. The truth is it's completely out of our hands and we just, like everybody else, we have to just wait and see what happens.

It'll come down to how long the current situation lasts and then what are the effects on prices and then how do consumers react and that kind of

thing.

Really, we -- I wouldn't speculate in any way and there's really not a lot we can do other than kind of watch and see.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: Well, as they were meeting, there was another discouraging inflation report. Wholesale prices rose 7 tenths of a percent last month.

That was more than double what was expected and it's the biggest monthly increase since last July.

Joining me now, Heather Long, Chief Economist at Navy Federal Credit. Heather, good to have you.

HEATHER LONG, CHIEF ECONOMIST, NAVY FEDERAL CREDIT UNION: Good to be here.

SCIUTTO: You know, it's interesting in watching the Fed Chairman's comments because he, of course, talked about the effect of oil prices on

inflation, but he also talked about the effect of tariffs. So, you have two inputs there that are adding to the Fed's challenge of trying to keep

inflation under control. I mean, what do they do about it?

LONG: Yes, exactly. It's not an easy job and it looks like Fed Chair Powell may be staying in that job even past May 15th when he was supposed

to have a replacement as Fed Chair. No, not looking good for that.

But look, the problem you mentioned, the data that came out this morning that was hotter than expected, that data was for February. So, even before

the war in Iran started, there were a lot of indications that parts of the economy were running really hot and potentially overheating. And it's not

just from the tariffs. He did talk about the tariff impacts today, but he also talked about his ongoing consternation at why the services part of the

economy is also still running well above the 2 percent target the Fed has for inflation.

SCIUTTO: What about impact on economic growth? I mean, you've got to look into a crystal ball here. Difficult for the Fed to do, difficult for any

economist to do. But how soon do these rising oil prices and energy prices impact economic growth?

LONG: Well, we're starting to see it in real time. I mean, at Navy Federal Credit Union, we have 15 million members. And I can tell you, you know,

we've been monitoring daily the credit card spending. And you can already see that people are starting to shift their spending. Obviously, they're

spending more on gas, way more than they were a month ago or a year ago. But some people are having to cut back in other areas to try to compensate

for that, you know, a little bit less maybe on eating out or on their travel plans for the summer.

And so, this is the complication for the Fed going forward. At what point do consumers really get discouraged, either stop spending or do they

believe that these higher prices are just here to stay? So, far, that shift is very small.

SCIUTTO: I wonder, as you also look at look at all the data coming in, that's a fascinating statistic, by the way, looking at, you know, credit

card spending already as an indicator. The Trump administration prior to the war, you heard this a lot from Scott Bessent, was convinced that there

was a big boom about to happen, right? That once the effects of tax cuts kicked in, people would have a lot more money to spend. And perhaps in time

for the midterms, you know, there'd be this economic boom. Is anybody talking about that now?

LONG: Well, I think the fairest way to say it is if you roll back to a month ago, a lot of economists were talking about a hot economy this year

due to those tax cuts and deregulation and what seemed like a Federal Reserve that was going to lower interest rates some more this year. And

now, it's more like a tepid outlook, huge concern about inflation staying high. You obviously saw the Fed talking about that today and growth.

I don't think too many people are anticipating a recession from this unless it really stretches on for a long time, but it's no longer looking like a

hot economic year. It's looking a lot more tepid.

SCIUTTO: Yes, no question. Heather Long, good to have you on. We'll have you back as we continue to watch this.

LONG: Thank you.

[18:30:00]

SCIUTTO: Well, checking some of today's other business headlines, President Trump has issued a 60-day waiver of the so-called Jones Act in

hopes of lowering gas prices. The waiver will allow foreign tankers to move oil, gas and other energy between U.S. ports. In normal times, only U.S.

flag vessels are able to do that. Studies show the Jones Act adds to the cost of energy in the U.S.

Nearly 150 retired federal and state judges have come out in support of A.I. giant Anthropic in its battle with the Pentagon. CNN has learned that

the judges have filed an amicus brief in that ongoing case. They say they fear a growing government influence over private companies. The U.S.

labeled Anthropic a supply chain risk when it refused to let the U.S. military use its A.I. model in things that, well, Anthropic opposed,

including autonomous weapons and mass surveillance of U.S. citizens.

More than 1,000 employees of the Voice of America network are set to return to work. This after a judge said they must be reinstated. President Trump

had moved to dismantle the news agency, placing staff on paid administrative leave. Now, a court order has said its reporting and

programming must begin again.

Still ahead, E.U. lawmakers are set to vote this week on their trade agreement with the U.S. Many in Europe, though, don't like the terms of the

deal. We're going to discuss the future of U.S.-E.U. trade.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCIUTTO: Welcome back to "The Brief." I'm Jim Sciutto. And here are the international headlines we're watching today.

The U.S. director of national intelligence says that Iran's government is degraded but remains intact. Tulsi Gabbard told senators Tehran remains

capable of attacking U.S. and allied interests in the Middle East. She also said that only the president can decide if a country poses an imminent

threat.

[18:35:00]

Iran's president lashing out at what he calls the cowardly assassination of his country's top officials, many of them in recent days, including the

intelligence minister Esmaeil Khatib, who was targeted in an overnight strike in Tehran. His death marks the latest attack by Israel on many

dozens of the country's senior leaders, just a day after killing the country's top security official, Ali Larijani.

President Trump's nominee for secretary of homeland security grilled on Capitol Hill today. Senator Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma faced questions

from fellow lawmakers on his own record, immigration, and the government's handling of major natural disasters. Our European Parliament committee is

set to vote on Thursday on the long-delayed U.S.-EU trade deal, criticized now by some in Europe as too advantageous for the U.S. The E.U. trade chief

says a final deal is possible before the summer.

Under the agreement, most European exports to the but many U.S. products heading to Europe would face zero tariffs. The trade deal was hammered out

before, notably. The U.S. Supreme Court struck down many of Trump's global tariffs, raising questions over the very legal basis of this agreement.

Joining me now, Brando Benifei, chair of the European Parliament Delegation for Relations with the U.S. here in Washington for talks with U.S.

officials. Thanks so much for joining us.

BRANDO BENIFEI, EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT MEMBER AND CHAIR, E.U. PARLIAMENT DELEGATION FOR RELATIONS WITH THE U.S.: Thank you very much.

SCIUTTO: So, this deal was negotiated at a time when the president had seemingly unlimited ability to impose tariffs. Now, the Supreme Court has

limited that ability. Is this deal still up to date?

BENIFEI: Well, we want to have clarity and stability. In fact, in these days, I will also visit the Supreme Court and learn more about future

ongoing discussions because we know there are further contestations of the use of the present powers, the new legal ways that Trump administration has

found.

But anyway, for us, the most important thing is to bring stability and clarity. This is what we are demanding when talking to Ambassador Greer, to

Lutnik and also to the Congress. We want stability and we do not want surprises like new investigations on digital, for example. We want to be

sure that we get the conditions we negotiated and that we can bring some clarity between the two sides of the Atlantic.

SCIUTTO: But aren't surprises the norm? I mean, for instance, the deal was negotiated a number of months ago and then in the midst of the dispute over

Greenland, President Trump threatened new tariffs that of course would have violated the deal. He pulled back from that threat and then you had the

Supreme Court decision.

I mean, what confidence do you have, do European nations have, if you sign this deal, that it lasts another day, another week?

BENIFEI: Yes. Well, that's why the European Parliament that will vote, in fact, on the advancement of the deal has put specific safeguards so that

the measures can be stopped and can be retracted if there are new surprises, as you call them. So, we are putting some guardrails so that we

can reciprocate any form of threat or change in the course of our trade deals, because we want to keep good relations. We are not talking only

about trade. We are talking about security. We are talking about a global alliance on many issues.

We have deals linked to the security of supply chains on semiconductors. So, we are looking at that with this view, but we need also to be safe.

That's why we have put some, I would say, emergency brakes for the deal in the next months.

SCIUTTO: Now, you, of course, elected to represent the European people. If I'm a member of the European public and I look at the basic terms of the

deal, E.U. products get a 15 percent tariff, U.S. products get a zero tariff. Is that fair for Europe? Do Europeans still believe it's a fair

deal?

BENIFEI: I can tell you. I don't think it's a very fair deal in absolute terms. But when you look at the comparative position of other countries,

other parts of the world with which the U.S. made deals, the European Union is in a good position.

SCIUTTO: Less bad.

BENIFEI: Less bad. Less bad. It's -- I explained to my American counterparts that when you have a deal where one part raises the tariffs

and the other one decreases them, you need to be sure that everyone is doing its part correctly. Because there is already one part, us, that is

making an extra effort, I would say.

But the point for us is to maintain this comparative advantage. That's why we need to be sure that we are not facing further tariffs.

[18:40:00]

And that's why we will follow very clearly the investigations ongoing so that we are sure that we land on the terms we agreed.

SCIUTTO: OK. Right now, in public relations between the U.S. and Europe are not good. I mean, the president is quite upset that Europe is not

providing military resources to open the Strait of Hormuz, he's openly questioning the NATO treaty, and of course, the effects of the Greenland

dispute still remain.

There's a vote on Thursday. I mean, is there the political will and support in Europe to pass this agreement in light of all that?

BENIFEI: Well, what will be voted first is in fact what I was saying earlier, safeguards and guardrails on the negotiations that, in fact, will

happen also inside the E.U. between the governments and the European Parliament to actually finalize the package towards the U.S. We respect the

deal, we respect the terms, but we are putting, as I said, some elements to prevent surprises. And so, this will be what will happen in the next

months.

I think it's important that we maintain stability and clarity knowing that there are issues that are making us apart. They are putting us apart. I

want to be very clear. Threats coming from the other side of the Atlantic will not help Europe, but also will not help U.S. interests. We need to be

in good terms for our economy to work well together. We should stop hearing threats one time on Spain, one time on Greenland, one time on France. This

is not useful for the American economy.

SCIUTTO: Could those threats break the trading relationship?

BENIFEI: Well, it's breaking trust. So, our people are not trusting very much at the moment this stability I was advocating for and explaining that

is our main objective, but also anti-Europeanism is building inside the American public discourse, so we should try to stop this. We should instead

build better relations, but this depends a lot, in my view, on President Trump's willingness to just maybe sometimes restrain from saying things

that will create problems for U.S. also, not only for Europe.

SCIUTTO: Well, good luck.

BENIFEI: Thank you very much.

SCIUTTO: Brando Benifei of the European Parliament, thanks so much for joining the program.

BENIFEI: Thank you very much. Thank you.

SCIUTTO: Straight ahead, Senators grill President Trump's nominee for Secretary of Homeland Security. His answers on ICE and the shootings in

Minneapolis right after the break.

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[18:45:00]

SCIUTTO: President Trump's nominee for Secretary of Homeland Security faced intense questioning on Capitol Hill today. Senator Markwayne Mullin

of Oklahoma answered questions from his fellow lawmakers on immigration, the ongoing rage, disaster response, as well as his own career. Mullin came

under particular fire for his response to two deadly shootings by federal immigration agents during that violent immigration crackdown in

Minneapolis. At the time, Mullin called one of the people shot dead, quote, "a deranged individual." During the hearing, he said he made a mistake.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MARKWAYNE MULLIN (R-OK): Those words probably should have been retracted. I shouldn't have said that. And as secretary, I wouldn't. The

investigation is ongoing. And there is -- like I said, they're sometimes going to make a mistake, and I own it. That one, I went out there too fast.

I was responding immediately without the facts. That's my fault. That won't happen as secretary.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: Taking responsibility. Our Priscilla Alvarez has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Senator Markwayne Mullin, who was tapped by President Donald Trump to serve as Homeland Security Secretary,

faced a grilling from his own colleagues on Capitol Hill on Wednesday. There were tense exchanges with both Republicans and with Democrats.

Now, on the Republican side of the aisle, he clashed with Chairman Rand Paul, who him and Mullin have a simmering feud over comments that Mullin

made back when Paul was attacked by his neighbor in 2017. Take a listen to that exchange.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. RAND PAUL (R-KY): You told the media that I was a freaking snake and that you completely understood why I had been assaulted. You went on to

brag that you'd already told me, to my face, that you completely understood and approved of the assault. Well, that's a lie. You got a chance today.

You can either continue to lie or you can correct the record.

Tell the world why you believe I deserve to be assaulted from behind, have six ribs broken and a damaged lung. Tell me to my face why you think I

deserved it. And while you're at it, explain to the American public why they should trust a man with anger issues to set the proper example for ICE

and Border Patrol agents.

MULLIN: Mr. Chairman, first of all, I didn't know they exceeded your damage.

PAUL: Haven't heard I misspoke and it was heated and I made a mistake.

MULLIN: Actually, it wasn't heated and I'm not apologizing for pointing out your character.

PAUL: Good, good. So, you're jolly well fine and you want the American public and the people up here to vote that may or may not vote for you to

know that you supported the felonious violent attack on me from behind.

MULLIN: I did not say I supported it. I said I understood it. There's a difference.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALVAREZ: Now, Mullin also faced questions related to issues the Department of Homeland Security touches, including some of those issues and policies

that have been controversial over the last year. And administrative warrants, for example, which are used by immigration officers under Noem.

There have been an interpretation that they could be used to go on private property, something typically reserved for judicial warrants. And Mullin

said that he would abide by judicial warrants being the vehicle to go on to private property.

He also talked about contracts and doing away with the policy that Secretary Kristi Noem has -- had implemented about approving contracts over

one hundred thousand dollars. He also talked about the quotas that were imposed by the White House of three thousand daily immigration arrests,

saying more vaguely that he follows what the president's mandate is and the president's policies.

But he also said that he would retract statements that he made about Alex Priddy Pretti, in particular, one of the U.S. citizens who was killed by

federal agents in Minneapolis earlier this year. And that touched on the overarching theme of the hearing, which is that he would concede if he made

mistakes. He also said that he didn't want the department to be the lead story in six months if he was confirmed.

And overall, trying to convey to his colleagues that he would take a different approach to the Department of Homeland Security, even if the

substance of the administration's agenda, the aggressive immigration crackdown, remained the same. Now, of course, he still has to work his way

through the confirmation process. Secretary Noem, for her part, plans to leave the department at the end of this month.

Priscilla Alvarez, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SCIUTTO: Coming up on The Brief, the Champions League quarterfinal field is now set. We'll have today's highlights next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:50:00]

SCIUTTO: In today's UEFA Champions League, the remaining round of 16 matches took place, deciding the quarterfinalists in Europe's top club

competition. Don Riddell has the details. Don, who made it through?

DON RIDDELL, CNN WORLD SPORT: Good to see you, Jim. A lot of goals tonight. I think that was the highlight and some very, very big names and

some huge quarterfinal ties now to look forward to. And let's start with the five-time winners, Barcelona.

They have stormed into the last eight. But they had an interesting night at home to Newcastle. The Magpies came to play at the Camino, scoring twice in

the first 28 minutes to give their hosts something to think about. Anthony Elanga with the brace, two-all on the night, three-all on aggregate.

Newcastle threatening to pull off an upset. But Barca just took them to the cleaners in the second half. Robert Lewandowski scored a quick-fire brace.

And then Rafinha scored his second of the night as the Catalans won 7-2, 8- 3 on aggregate.

Barcelona will now play Atletico Madrid next in the quarterfinal. Atletico had dominated Spurs in the first leg. But Kolo Muani 's first-half strike

gave Atleti something to think about. However, Spurs still two goals behind in the tie. And Julian Alvarez restored Atleti's three-goal advantage here

early in the second half. So, a mountain to climb for Spurs.

They had some fight left in them. And a wonderful strike from Xavi Simons gave the Spurs faithful the belief that perhaps they could still somehow

turn it around. But they just had too much to do. Simons actually ended the night with a brace. Spurs won the game 3-2. But Atleti were comfortable

winners overall, 7-5 on aggregate.

It hasn't been a particularly good week for the Premier League clubs in Europe. But Liverpool will be very pleased with their evening's work at

Anfield. Trailing by a goal in their tie against Galatasaray. They restored parity through Dominik Szoboszlai midway through the first half.

And then, in the space of just a couple of second-half minutes, they really turned things around. First, Hugo Ekitike put the Reds ahead in the tie.

And then almost immediately after that, Ryan Gravenberch made it 3-nil on the night. 3-1 on aggregate.

Mohamed Salah, by the way, involved in both those goals. And then he got himself on the score sheet with a beauty, as Liverpool put this one beyond

any doubt at all. 4-nil at Anfield. 4-1 on aggregate. Liverpool progressed to face the reigning European champions Paris Saint-Germain.

As I mentioned, an absolute ton of goals in this round of 16. There were 68 in total. Bayern Munich scored no less than 10 of them. They just destroyed

Atalanta in the first leg. They scored another four tonight to finish the job. Harry Kane got a brace. And Bayern's youngster, Lennart Karl, got on

the score sheet as well. Bayern romping to a 10-2 aggregate win.

[18:55:00]

The next round won't be quite so easy. It's Real Madrid. The quarterfinal ties will be played over two legs in April. And as I mentioned, some very

big clashes to look forward to. We've got PSG Liverpool, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Barcelona versus Atletico Madrid, and Arsenal, the Premier

League leaders, against Sporting Lisbon. Back to you.

SCIUTTO: Wow. That last Liverpool goal in the top left-hand corner, that was pretty good.

RIDDELL: Yes.

SCIUTTO: I don't think I could have hit that. Don Riddell, thanks so much.

RIDDELL: All right.

SCIUTTO: Well, the highly anticipated matchup for the championship game of the World Baseball Classic certainly lived up to expectations.

Tuesday night in Miami, Venezuela took on Team USA, highly favored, we should note. At one point, it seemed like the U.S. might have enough to

win, but ultimately, Venezuela captured its first-ever World Baseball Classic championship. Celebration ensued.

Thanks so much for joining us today. I'm Jim Sciutto in Washington. You've been watching "The Brief." Please do stay with CNN.

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