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The Brief with Jim Sciutto

CNN International: Trump Extends Pause on Striking Iran's Energy Plants; Sources: Iran Fortifies Kharg Island; Trump Holds First Cabinet Meeting Since Iran War Began; Israeli Defense Minister: IRGC's Navy Commander Killer; OECD Projects U.S. Inflation to Hit 4.2 Percent this Year; Trump to Sign Order Directing DHS Chief to Pay TSA Agents; Exposing a Web of Men Drugging and Assaulting Their Wives. Aired 6-7p ET

Aired March 26, 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, joining you live

once again from Tel Aviv, and you're watching "The Brief."

Just ahead this hour, the U.S. president says talks with Iran are going very well, in his words, and he will now wait ten more days before striking

Iranian energy infrastructure. The OECD warns the conflict is causing an energy shock that will cause a surge in inflation in the U.S., and a CNN

investigation uncovers a hidden network of men sharing tips on how to drug and rape women.

Well, here in the Middle East, it was a day of threats and counter-threats, and finally, a further concession by the U.S. president. Soon after, he

said he doesn't care about coming to an agreement with Iran. President Trump has now extended the deadline for negotiations before carrying out

strikes he has threatened on Iran's energy infrastructure to next week. He said on social media, as per Iranian government request, please let this

statement serve to represent that I am pausing the period of energy plant destruction by ten days to Monday, April 6, 2026, at 8:00 p.m. Eastern

time.

Just hours earlier, the president said it is up to Iran to convince him to halt the war, claiming the Iranian leadership is, quote, "begging for a

deal."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: I read a story today that I'm desperate to make a deal. I'm not -- I don't -- if I was desperate, he'd be the first to

know. Let's get the hell out of there. I'm the opposite of desperate. I don't care. I want to -- in fact, we have other targets we want to hit

before we leave.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: Well, in that White House cabinet meeting you saw there, the president's special envoy, Steve Witkoff, said that the U.S. has been

negotiating with Iran through mediators, diplomatic channels in Pakistan. This as sources who are telling CNN that Iran is now preparing for a

possible U.S. ground operation by laying traps, landmines, moving military assets to Kharg Island, which handles some 90 percent of Iran's crude

exports.

Thursday's cabinet meeting had been intended to communicate the president's position to the public, but Trump frequently veered far off topic.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: We're fixing up the -- what was the Kennedy Center. I was honored when the board changed the name a little bit. Actually, it shows that the

Republican and the Democrats, they work together. But they don't sue the guy whose interest rates are too high. That's why we call him too late. His

name is Jerome Powell. We call him Jerome Too Late Powell.

They have $1,000 pens. And, you know, you hand pens out, you're signing, and you're handing them out. You're handing them out to all these people.

Sometimes you have 30, 40 people. And they were $1,000 apiece. Beautiful pen, ballpoint. 1,000. It was gold, silver, gorgeous. But I'm handing it

out to kids that don't even know what they are. What is this, mommy?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: That was President Trump talking about pens at the end of that Cabinet meeting. Kristen Holmes, live at the White House. And let's do our

best to tune out the many distractions there. From that Cabinet meeting and from your conversations with White House officials, do you have a sense

there is actual meeting of the minds now between Iran and the U.S., a willingness to negotiate, real openings to negotiate?

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: It sounds like, from my conversations with senior officials and from what we heard from Steve

Witkoff and Marco Rubio, that this is a fluid situation and that there are diplomatic talks happening, that they are trying to reach some kind of

negotiation here, but that it could change at any moment. We've heard them be positive before, optimistic before. They aren't being as rosy-colored as

they've been in the past. They are saying that it could shift at any point.

We heard Steve Witkoff at one point saying it was going to try, they were going to try to show Iran that this was an inflection point to prove to

them that President Trump would go through with these actions if they didn't come to the table. It does sound as though both sides are deeply

skeptical of each other, and with reason. Of course, we know that these talks have been going on before. They've fallen off the table multiple

times. The U.S. has said it was Iran's fault, that they didn't want certain things, that they would demand certain things. And Iran has said that the

U.S. didn't enter in good faith because they came in and struck various facilities or places in the country during these talks.

So, this is still an ongoing situation. We know that they have been talking about getting the vice president to Pakistan for potential in-person

meetings. That itself was also fluid. They were talking about this weekend, possibly next week.

[18:05:00]

Also, the location could change because of security. But it does sound as though the U.S. is hopeful that this will go somewhere in terms of a

diplomatic resolution rather than a boots-on-the-ground resolution, where if you talk to many Republicans, they feel that's the only other option if

this falls through for the White House to take.

So, the other thing to just note about this entire Cabinet meeting is that there has been an enormous amount of criticism about this war and about the

fact that the White House has been really opaque on what kind of information they're giving out. And even when we ask specific questions

about what we're hearing from regional sources or sources inside the White House, we ask direct questions about it. They say things like, oh, it's

just a lot of speculation.

We've been trying to get answers, and this did serve to answer at least some of those questions, one of them being what was this gift that

President Trump was talking about when he mentioned two days ago that the reason, he thought these diplomatic negotiations were serious was because

of a mystery gift. And he revealed today that that gift was eight tankers, oil tankers, crossing through the Strait of Hormuz carrying oil, and that

when he saw that, he realized that they were serious about negotiation and that they were negotiating with the right person, because there's obviously

a lot of questions as to who they're actually talking to and is that person really in charge, given what we know about the leadership being taken out.

The other thing that we heard here was from Vice President Vance. Vice President Vance is someone who has been very vocal in the past about being

against U.S. intervention abroad. He said that this war was necessary because they needed to stop Iran from getting nuclear capabilities.

It's meaningful when the vice president says that. Again, somebody who is against, in most cases, U.S. intervention now getting involved and saying

it was necessary. They were clearly trying to combat the negative messaging around this and fight some of the criticism, which they know is very loud

right now. Americans have a lot of questions.

SCIUTTO: Americans, lawmakers, Republican and Democrat, as we've heard over the last 24 hours. Still with those questions, Kristen Holmes at the

White House, thanks so much.

Well, to that point, on Capitol Hill, lawmakers, including many members of the GOP, are drawing a red line on deploying U.S. ground troops into the

war without approval from Congress.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOSH HAWLEY (R-MO): The president said, I thought, three or four days ago, I'm not sending troops anywhere, I think was his quote. So, I hope

that would be a good outcome not to do it.

Iran has just been completely devastated. Their military has shown total domination. I just -- you know, why send in ground troops?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: Many lawmakers frustrated over the limited information coming out of the Pentagon, out of the White House, about plans going forward, even

the goals of this war.

Joining me now, Democratic Congressman Mike Quigley. He sits on the House Intelligence and Appropriation Committees. Congressman, thanks so much for

taking the time.

REP. MIKE QUIGLEY (D-IL), CO-CHAIR, U.S. CONGRESSIONAL UKRAINE CAUCUS AND MEMBER, U.S. HOUSE INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE: Thank you. Good to be back.

SCIUTTO: So, as you know, that Cabinet meeting was meant to explain better to the American public what our next steps in this war and the

negotiations. Have you, either from that Cabinet meeting, from briefings that you've received, do you have a clear sense of what the next steps are

in the war if the president were to choose to expand it?

QUIGLEY: I don't have a clue what they're doing. I haven't gotten a sense at all of what the strategy is, what the goals are, what the exit strategy

is. But it is not just me. I will tell you my Republican colleagues feel the exact same way. Why are we here? What are we doing? How are we going to

accomplish this? Is this about regime change? Well, then you're going to need to have all our troops on the ground. And by the way, Iran has a 1.5-

million-man army.

I'm not even sure we have the capabilities of winning that war. Is this about the nuclear program? Then why in the world did we pull out of the

treaty that Iran was in compliance with when they were not moving forward with nuclear program, the JCPOA?

SCIUTTO: No question. And that has been, as you know, one of the stated goals of the war, although the stated goals from the president have changed

at times. Do you see any circumstances under which U.S. ground troops could be deployed, perhaps to Kharg Island, in a way that would not pose

substantial risk? I spoke to one of your Republican colleagues yesterday who said, well, a small contingent is actually not boots on the ground.

It's really a special operation. Do you buy that distinction?

QUIGLEY: No. Troops on the ground are troops on the ground. We've already lost troops. We should care about each and every one of them. We have a lot

of troops who have been injured. There have been a lot of innocent lives lost in this, as there would be in any single war.

[18:10:00]

But if we haven't learned anything, I guess we haven't learned anything from previous wars in the Middle East. They don't go by script. No one

imagined we'd be in Afghanistan for 20 years. We thought regime change would be simple enough in Iraq, in Libya. If we haven't learned those

painful lessons, I'm afraid we're in for another one here in Iran.

SCIUTTO: So, what is your reaction upon learning that the president has extended the deadline again, his own self-imposed deadline, about

broadening strikes to hit Iranian energy infrastructure to next week? Do you believe it's possible that Iran is offering something in return that

would justify such an extension?

QUIGLEY: I don't know that there's actually real negotiations taking place. We're hearing it's through a third party, but we're certainly not

getting any details. And what exactly do we think that they're going to offer? We think they're going to -- we don't -- we can't imagine they're

going to offer regime change. And is this something to do with the nuclear program? I again go back to we already had that.

So, we're spending a billion dollars a day. The cost of this war is going to exceed the cost that we could have used to extend the health care

benefits to all Americans. So, there's a real cost to this and a real risk to the homeland.

Iran is a country quite capable of terrorist activities anywhere in the world. The threat of escalation is mind-numbing. And the fact that they

think that they can orchestrate something, and the Iranians won't think, well, we're going to have retribution elsewhere, or that this can't explode

into a confrontation that exceeds all understanding, it's naive, dangerous, and frankly just stupid.

SCIUTTO: Trump administration officials, and for their part, Israeli officials have said to me that whatever the ultimate goals, that at least

four weeks into this operation that the U.S. and Israeli militaries have exacted enormous damage on Iranian capabilities. From your perspective, did

this war at least accomplish that, weakening Iran as a military threat and as a threat to its neighbors?

QUIGLEY: I think that the strikes that took place last year, in which the president said their nuclear caparoos were completely obliterated,

obviously that's not the case, showed that this is a country that can restore itself. It has allies. It's getting help from our adversaries.

So, I guess the best answer would be temporarily. Temporarily? And what does that mean? We have to go in every year, every couple years, put out

American lives, the threat of real confrontation and terrorism here, the extraordinary cost in all of those measures because we occasionally have to

weaken them. That's a threat that's not worth it if we just weaken them temporarily.

If this is something to end the conflict and end Iran as a threat for all time, that has to be an all-out war, a cost the American people don't want.

SCIUTTO: Congressman Mike Quigley, appreciate you joining.

QUIGLEY: Anytime. Thank you.

SCIUTTO: Well, the U.S. and Israel say that an Israeli operation today targeted and killed the head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy,

who they hold responsible for closing the Strait of Hormuz, Rear Admiral Alireza Tangsiri is said to have ordered hundreds of drone strikes on

commercial vessels, played a key role as a result in the blockade of the Strait.

Israel's military is now conducting operations on multiple fronts across not just Iran, but also Lebanon, Syria, Gaza and the occupied West Bank.

The Israeli military's chief of staff said the military is now spread too thin and with too few recruits.

Joining me now is a former Israeli national security adviser, Eyal Hulata. Thanks so much for taking the time.

EYAL HULATA, FORMER ISRAELI NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: Good evening.

SCIUTTO: So, first, your view of whether Iran is truly in a position to negotiate now. Do you believe, does Israel believe that it's been so

weakened that they feel, listen, they have to make concessions in order to survive?

HULATA: Well, for Iran, the term have to make concessions has proven to be false throughout the time. I mean, Iran is very rarely willing to make

concessions. They do this only when they have to, what they call drinking from the chalice of poison. And I'm not sure that Iran is already quite

there yet, even though they have been completely degraded in their capabilities and also in their leadership, military leadership, but also

civilian leadership.

[18:15:00]

In a point in time, this is exactly the kind of dilemma that they will be in. I would assume that eventually they will. I think that Iran is weaker

than they want us all to think. I think that they're investing a lot of resources and trying to make us all think, the West, through media, that

they're actually holding strong and they can do whatever they want and close the Strait of Hormuz, where, in fact, they're being eroded in every

day that passes with this operation. I'm not sure that they're willing to make those concessions today, but I would assume that overtime they will.

SCIUTTO: There is a read that Israel would prefer the war to go longer and that there's some concern here that the U.S. president might strike a deal

or at least a ceasefire, right, before Israel accomplishes all of its military goals. Is there any truth to that read?

HULATA: I think what we're worried about as Israelis, by and large, and, again, I'm not speaking on behalf of my government. I'm trying to look at

this as a more broader national security interest. I think the question is not how long this war is, but what are the terms in which the war ends. I

think the worry is that this war will end with an agreement that leaves the enriched uranium stockpile in Iran intact and sanctions are relieved. This

will be a disaster.

SCIUTTO: I mean, without a ground operation, that's just a fact, right?

HULATA: Well, either a ground operation or a negotiated agreement where President Trump insists and pushes Iran to concede to give it all away.

SCIUTTO: Can you see Iran making such a deal, giving up all of that enriched uranium?

HULATA: Well, you know, the supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, had three options before all this started, right? He could concede to American

demands or he could concede to his own people and give them reforms or confront. He chose to confront, and I think the outcome did not play, not

for him personally well, and I think overall for Iran.

Over time, they will face the same kind of constraints. If President Trump stands on the principles, which I think he will, and he will not give away

the sanction relief without resolving those core issues, the nuclear issues, the missile issues that also worry the allies in the Gulf, Saudi

Arabia, Emirates. If President Trump holds those principles, the war can continue. Maybe we'll have a ceasefire with the opening of the Strait of

Hormuz that would buy time more broadly but at least alleviate the energy.

So, I think this is something that President Trump will want, but a real agreement without resolving the core issues, I don't see this possible.

SCIUTTO: There's an odd characteristic to President Trump describing it as a gift that Iran allowed a handful of tankers to go through the strait, a

strait that was open before the war. Is there an irony to this war that Iran gained an ability to control that strait that it didn't have prior?

HULATA: Well, Iran always had the ability to control the straits.

SCIUTTO: Exercising it now, though.

HULATA: Exactly, but they haven't exercised it. And the reason they haven't exercised it is because they were not in existential threat to the

regime the way they are now. They're using means that they haven't used before because they're in a position where this is the only thing that they

have left to be able to push the United States, Israel, and the countries around them.

I think overall, the strategic decision to attack GCC, Saudi Arabia, the Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman, all of those, I think this will flip on

them eventually. I think that if Iran enjoyed for many years some kind of, I don't know if empathy, but at least participation of those countries in

sanction evading mechanisms and money laundering.

SCIUTTO: A lot of money in Dubai.

HULATA: I don't think this will continue the way it did. So, overall, I think this will not be a strategic gain for them. Over time, the Strait of

Hormuz problem will be resolved. I'm not in a position to give advice to Admiral Bradley Cooper. He was the commander of the fleet. He knows exactly

what needs to be done. I'm sure that there are operational solutions to them and that we will see them happening over time. This is not a very

strong leverage. I'm way more worried about the stockpile of the rich uranium that is buried in rubble. At least from an Israel perspective, this

is the pathway to a weapon that must be resolved.

SCIUTTO: Eyal Hulata, thanks so much for joining us.

HULATA: Thank you.

SCIUTTO: I look forward to having you back on the program.

HULATA: Thanks.

SCIUTTO: Coming up on "The Brief," the Iran war's impact on inflation is coming into greater focus. The OECD says the U.S. will suffer some of the

worst inflation pressures this year as a result of this war. We're going to dive into the war's economic effects next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:20:00]

SCIUTTO: Welcome back. In today's Business Breakout and across-the-board sell-off on Wall Street as investors monitor the mixed and even confusing

diplomatic signals on the Iran war, the NASDAQ fell more than 2 percent, ended the day in correction territory. That is 10 percent below its most

recent high. U.S. bond yields continue to rise as well. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury hit an eight-month high.

Brent Crude settled more than 5 percent higher at $108 a barrel. As energy costs surge, the OECD is warning that inflation in the world's 20 largest

economies will hit 4 percent this year, much higher than its forecast just a few months ago. You see there at 2.8 percent. It now predicts U.S.

inflation will hit even higher, 4.2 percent, more than double the Fed's target.

Richard Quest joins me now. And, Richard, can you explain, because it's been lots of ups and downs in this market, can you explain why the market

seemed particularly spooked at the end of this week?

RICHARD QUEST, CNN BUSINESS EDITOR-AT-LARGE AND CNN ANCHOR, QUEST MEANS BUSINESS: Because the seesawing, backwarding and forwarding seems to show

no end. And what we saw today, at least during the session, is when Donald Trump said he doesn't care whether it all ends or not and he doesn't care

about what Iran thinks, that was just grist to the mill that -- and on top of which, you do have all these military assets moving into the region. And

there is the old adage that you don't tend to move military unless you intend to use it. And the number and size and scale does suggest that he's

going to use it.

And put -- so, you end up with a market that's down 2 percent on the NASDAQ, in a correction, as you say. And then you get this Truth Social

where he says, as per Iranian government, let this statement serve, I am pausing the period of energy plant destruction until April the 6th. And the

futures go up.

So, is he jaw-jawing the market? Did he see what had happened on the trading and this is the response? We don't know. All I know is that it's

exhausting for the market makers that you just don't know where you are at any given moment.

SCIUTTO: So, Richard, we don't know what's inside the president's head, but you watch these markets very closely. Have you identified a pattern

here? Because, notably, it was before markets opened earlier this week when the president had some other statements seemingly meant to calm them,

rosier comments on the state of the war, at least a willingness to discuss diplomacy. Is that a consistent pattern that you've seen from the

president's statements in recent weeks?

QUEST: Jim, from where I come from in northern England, we have a saying, let's call a spade a bloody shovel. And you've just got to call it as it

appears.

[18:25:00]

And here, there is no doubt that when the heat gets really hard in the market, something happens. The president says something. He acts. There is

a movement that takes the heat out and the market rallies back up again. But nothing fundamentally alters underneath it. And that's the important

thing to bear in mind.

And, in fact, arguably, the underlying movement is deteriorating and worsening. All that's happening is the market is being teased, if you will.

It's being sugar-coated, manipulated with a small M. It's being told things it wants to hear. And as a result, it goes back up again. You can't

necessarily say that. And I wouldn't say that's the president's motive, because I don't know.

But I can say that the relationship, as you say, between these statements, market movements, reality of what's happening, true change in the economic

circumstances, which, as the OECD points out, is deteriorating, that there is a connection.

SCIUTTO: Final question, then. And I know the market is not, you know, an individual. It's many tens of thousands, millions of individuals making

decisions. But there are some quite big influential investors there. Why aren't some investors seeing through that, right? I mean, if it's so

transparent.

QUEST: Good question. I asked the same one several times of different people. Very simple answer, because you don't want to be on the wrong side

of it. That simple as that. If you think that this might be the end of it, if you think that this -- forget TACO and all of those things. If you're a

major investor and you think, hang on, is this the moment? Do you really want to risk it? Do you really want to be on the wrong side of it?

And so, you move into the market. You make your move, and then the algorithms start noticing. Others follow, and it becomes a self-fulfilling

prophecy. That's why the market -- the market is essentially -- it's like the analogy, you know, like when the doctor hits your knee for a reflex,

that's what happens with the market. But as the reflex reaction happens, others pile in. This could disappear tomorrow. We just don't know. It

depends what the president says.

SCIUTTO: Well, watch his Truth Social feed, I suppose. Richard Quest, thanks so much. Checking some of today's other business headlines.

Uncertainty over the Iran war putting even more strain on the U.S. housing market as well. The average rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage has now

jumped to a six-month high. It is now almost at 6.4 percent. Mortgage rates have now risen for four straight weeks, undercutting Trump administration

efforts to make housing more affordable.

U.S. social media stocks fell sharply one day after a landmark civil verdict against both Meta and Google. Shares of Meta, the parent company of

Facebook and Instagram, tumbled almost 8 percent. Shares of Snap plunged more than 10 percent. Investors fear that social media forums will now be

held liable in many other cases, accusing them of harming the mental health of young users.

Two, U.S. senators say they will introduce a bill now that bans the federal government from using Chinese-made robotics. They say the robots present a

security risk because they can collect data and be controlled remotely. The bill would cover both humanoid robots and unmanned ground vehicles. Well,

like that one you're looking at.

When we come back, a check of the international headlines. Plus, President Trump remains noncommittal on the timeline of when he might try to end the

war, or even how to end it. We'll have more coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:30:00]

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

A U.S. judge has rejected a call to dismiss the federal case against Nicolas Maduro and his wife. Attorneys for the ousted Venezuelan leader had

argued that the couple cannot afford to pay legal fees due to U.S. sanctions. Maduro has pleaded not guilty to charges related to drug

trafficking and weapons. U.S. president Donald Trump says other cases are going to be brought against him going forward.

The IOC has adopted a new policy banning transgender athletes from competing in women's Olympic events. Female athletes will now need to

undergo a genetic screening. The one-time test is conducted with a cheek swab or a blood or saliva sample. The IOC has long deferred to

international sports federations on eligibility.

Well, as we reported earlier in the hour, President Trump says the U.S. will now hold off, once again, on striking Iranian energy sites, this time

for an additional 10 days. The president cast doubt on the prospect of a deal during a White House cabinet meeting earlier, but later he said, well,

talks are going well. Wall Street closed down a short time ago on investors' doubts about exactly how well those talks are going.

Joining me now, Aaron David Miller, former U.S. State Department negotiator for the Middle East, now a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for

International Peace. Aaron, good to have you back.

AARON DAVID MILLER, FORMER U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT MIDDLE EAST NEGOTIATOR AND SENIOR FELLOW, CARNEGIE ENDOWMENT FOR INTERNATIONAL PEACE: Great to see

you, Jim.

SCIUTTO: So, you have said in looking at these negotiations that Iran is likely to demand a price for an agreement that Trump is not willing to pay.

Can you describe what that price might be?

MILLER: Yes. I mean, you saw the 15 points that Trump put out. You saw the five points that the Iranians countered with. Whether they're delusional or

not, the Iranians believe they're winning. And they have picked two points of vulnerability. They don't have escalation dominance over Israel or the

U.S., but they clearly identified the Gulf states as a weak point. And they've managed to impose a regime of preferential passage through the

straits.

In order to open them, they're going to not just demand a formal guarantee that there will be no resumption of military activity, not to mention

sanctions relief, as well as reparations, and likely, given the fact that Trump wanted to share sovereignty with the supreme leader over the straits,

they'll ask for a new regime which will solidify Iranian control. Most of that, Jim, cannot happen, nor are the Iranians prepared to accept the 15-

point plan.

[18:35:00]

So, I think right now, Trump's bought himself some more time until April 6th. I don't think you'll have a negotiation deal by then. And then you're

going to see the next move is the president. Is he going to escalate in an effort to pressure Iran to somehow soften its negotiating position? That's

where we're going to be. We're a month in already. That's where we're going to be 10 days from now.

SCIUTTO: You heard our Richard Quest notes, as others have noted, that the president's positive comments about negotiations are often timed to market

open and market close and the direction of the market. And he has made no secret of the fact that he's watching gas prices, oil prices, et cetera. Do

you think that the Iranian leadership is aware of that, that that's a pressure point for them, leverage for Iran against the U.S., knowing that

that he's reacted not just to Iranian military strikes, but also the direction of the market?

MILLER: Yes, I think for decades, certainly during the hostage crisis, the Iranian regime played America like a fiddle. And I think the president is

so vocal and so transparent about what's important to him and what isn't. Absolutely. I think they're looking at this.

And, you know, the president's already unsanctioned 140 million barrels of Iranian oil. There's no way to rationalize or somehow suggest that that's a

win for the United States. So, again, whether they're delusional or overconfident, the Iranians believe that they're winning and they are

prepared to, I think, endure a fair amount of American pain and pressure to essentially prove that point.

One last point, Jim. They've weaponized geography. And this is something that it's hard to believe that the Trump administration did not anticipate.

They've weaponized their proximity means vulnerability to the Straits and the Gulf states.

SCIUTTO: Perhaps anticipated, but made a gamble before we go just quickly. You have noted that the U.S. is, of course, a global power, Israel, a

regional power, which gives them ultimately different objectives. Do those different objectives potentially lead to disagreement or a situation where

the U.S. might want to end the war, but Israel wants to maintain the ability to strike Iran? For instance, its nuclear program.

MILLER: Yes. You know, in Iran, we're Mars, they're Venus. And, yes, there are frictions and there are divergences. But one thing is unmistakably

clear. The most important thing in 2026 for Benjamin Netanyahu is not Iran. It's not Lebanon. It's not Gaza. It's getting reelected. He needs Donald

Trump as an active campaigner, which gives Trump enormous leverage over this prime minister.

When Trump decides this war is over, pick up the phone. Lebanon may be an exception. But as far as kinetic activity with Iran is concerned, when

Trump decides he's done, Netanyahu is done, too.

SCIUTTO: Aaron David Miller, thanks so much for joining.

MILLER: Thank you, Jim. Take care.

SCIUTTO: And we will be back with much more.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:40:00]

SCIUTTO: Just in to CNN, President Trump says he will sign an executive order directing the Homeland Security Secretary, the new one, Markwayne

Mullin, to pay TSA agents immediately. He posted on social media, quote, "I'm going to sign an order instructing the Secretary of Homeland Security,

Markwayne Mullin, to immediately pay our TSA agents in order to address this emergency situation and to quickly stop the Democrat chaos at the

airports. It is not an easy thing to do, but I am going to do it."

A month, we should note that constitutionally, it is Congress that has the power of the purse. We'll be checking into the legal questions that post

raises.

A month-long investigation has uncovered a hidden network of men sharing tips on how to drug and then rape women. CNN's Saskya Vandoorne spoke to

women who survived this kind of awful abuse and tracked down a man who boasted about raping his own wife.

Just a warning before we begin, this report contains accounts from survivors of sexual assault and abuse, which are disturbing. Those who

appear on camera did give their consent, and we respected the wishes of those who asked to remain anonymous.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Emergency.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Warden connecting.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Go ahead, caller, what's your emergency?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I've just heard from my daughter. She's on her own in a house with four children and has just learned she's been drugged with her

son's sleeping medicine.

ZOE WATTS, SURVIVOR: We worry about his coming behind us walking down the street. We worry about going to our car late at night, but we don't worry

about who we lie next to. I didn't realize I had to.

SASKYA VANDOORNE, CNN PARIS BUREAU CHIEF (voice-over): Zoe Watts may never know if the videos her husband made of her being raped were ever uploaded

online. She met him when she was 17. He's now serving 11 years for rape, sexual assault by penetration, and drugging.

WATTS: I knew that he wanted to have a conversation because we'd had a church service that Sunday. He reeled off a list of his wrongdoings to me

as if it was a shopping list. I've done this, this, this, this, this, this, and this. I've been using our son's sleeping medication to put in your last

cup of tea at night to tie you down, take photographs, and rape you. And I think I just went into shock.

VANDOORNE (voice-over): Zoe kept the abuse secret for a few months as she grappled with what had happened to her. Speaking out only after a severe

panic attack, her mother then called the police.

WATTS: There were some times that I thought, you know, this isn't right. But what would it mean? What would our family look like? Their children

would be without a dad and there would be a reputation and my boys would grow up having a reputation and they'd know what their dad was doing.

VANDOORNE: I've noticed you haven't used the word rape a lot. Tell me why.

WATTS: Because it just doesn't -- I don't know. It's like one of those things, really. I really -- I struggle with that, to say that that's what's

happened. It's like people can say it to me, but I just don't think -- whew.

VANDOORNE: You know you're not alone.

WATTS: Yes. Yes, sadly.

VANDOORNE (voice-over): Huge numbers of explicit sleep videos are being uploaded online by users who claim it's non-consensual. One website

profiting from this is motherless.com. Last year, we began investigating a porn site that gets over 60 million visits a month, focusing on the

thousands of videos featuring women who appear unconscious during sex acts. Most of its users are based in the U.S. It's home to so-called sleep

content with hundreds of thousands of views.

One popular hashtag is eye check, a way of proving a woman is asleep. We created a fake name and soon got into a private Telegram group dedicated to

sharing sleep content with almost a thousand members.

[18:45:00]

One day, a man in the group we're calling Piotr, not his real name, DMed me. Piotr admitted to me that he had been crushing pills into his wife's

drink to rape her in her sleep. Without encouraging him, I tried to find out how he was managing to do this. Who was he? Where was he?

Even when women come forward, proving it can be nearly impossible. Some drugs leave the body within 12 hours. Survivors often only realize much

later what happened. And even with the courage to speak out, there are still countless roadblocks when it comes to reporting to police or bringing

a legal case.

Amanda Stanhope didn't know her partner had been abusing her for five years.

AMANDA STANHOPE, SURVIVOR: The police had to look through all these videos.

VANDOORNE: And what did they make of them?

STANHOPE: The one where I was absolutely horrified and he'd performed a sexual act on my face whilst I was unconscious and it was completely clear.

And the police looked at this one and I thought, there's the evidence. And the police said to me, well, we can't use that. That isn't clear evidence

because it looks like you're pretending to be asleep.

VANDOORNE (voice-over): Her former partner was charged with multiple counts of rape and sexual assault. He took his own life before the case

could go to court. While talking to survivors, the man I was DMing continued to message and send me videos.

VANDOORNE: It's made me even more determined to try and meet him, to get him in person. So, I'm going to send him a message now and I'm going to see

if he would meet with us.

VANDOORNE (voice-over): By now, we'd worked out he was in Poland and we knew roughly where he lived, but he refused to meet. And then, a tip. He

let slip that he was planning to attend a party.

VANDOORNE: That's him. I recognize him. So, we're inside the restaurant and I've just seen him dancing with her.

And at the start of this investigation, all of these men were faceless. And so, seeing him tonight has just really brought home the fact that this is

happening in real life.

VANDOORNE (voice-over): The man who had been messaging me day and night was only a few feet away, oblivious. I'd come to see if he was real and

there he was with his wife, the same people I saw in the videos. We couldn't approach Piotr's wife without potentially putting her in danger,

so we reached out to police about our findings.

The Telegram group we infiltrated eventually disappeared, but as the Patton authorities know well, one goes offline, another soon resurfaces.

We reached out to both Motherless in Telegram, but did not receive a response. As campaigns by German journalists to shut down Motherless and

strengthen moderation on similar platforms continue, videos of women who appeared to be abused while unconscious are still being uploaded. And U.S.

safe harbor laws largely protect the site from liability.

In the end, it all comes back to Gisele Pelicot, the survivor whose trial shocked France and drew global attention. With astonishing dignity, she has

taken hold of her own harrowing experience.

VANDOORNE: In reporting this case, we've spoken to multiple survivors who say they were drugged and raped by their husbands, and many of them see you

as a source of strength. With your permission, I'd like to read you some of the messages that these survivors have sent to me to read to you. One

survivor, her name is Amanda Stanhope, she lives in Wigan. Her strength inspired me to speak out. She broke the silence and shame, so many

survivors are forever grateful to her. I'd love to say thank you. If she can do it, then so can I.

GISELE PELICOT, survivor (through translator): You're making me cry. It's beautiful. These are testimonies that move me, of course, but it is nice to

say to yourself that they have found this strength. I was able to transmit that to them, it was a win, because we must indeed be united with

everything that happens. Because if you stay in your corner, you will never shift perceptions.

And I say bravo ladies, bravo. Don't be ashamed of doing it. All women must be able to do this process, even if it is very difficult, even if it is

very complicated in their head. But they're going to get there. It takes time. It can take months, days, maybe even years. But they will eventually

get there.

Saskya Vandoorne, CNN, Paris.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[18:50:00]

SCIUTTO: An important story. CNN's investigation is already drawing sharp reactions from lawmakers across Europe. In the U.K., Jess Phillips,

Minister for Safeguarding and Violence Against Women and Girls, said the report underscores the urgent need for the government's new specialist task

force to crack down on online perpetrators, saying, quote, "There is nowhere for these vile criminals to hide."

In Italy, the investigation has amplified calls for legislative reform from Italian Democratic Party lawmaker Laura Boldrini, who highlighted the

report as a catalyst for accountability in a political landscape still grappling with what she described as a patriarchal history.

We should note, for help in the United States, please call the National Sexual Assault Hotline. The number is 800-656-4673 or chat 24/7 at

rainn.org. Outside the U.S., U.N Women and the Pixel Project provide a directory of agencies.

Please do stay with "The Brief." We'll be right back after a short message.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCIUTTO: We have more now on President Trump's attempt to bypass Congress to pay TSA agents. As we noted earlier, he posted on social media that he's

going to sign an order instructing the Secretary of Homeland Security, who is now Markwayne Mullin, to immediately pay our TSA agents in order to

address the emergency situation and to quickly stop the Democrat chaos at the airports.

Kristen Holmes is at the White House. And, Kristen, simple reading of the Constitution. Article 1, Section 9, no money shall be drawn from the

Treasury but in consequence of appropriations made by law, that is, by Congress. How does the President propose to do this without action by

Congress?

HOLMES: Well, there isn't a proposal right now, Jim. That's what we're trying to get to the bottom of. And the last line of this Truth Social post

says, it's not an easy thing to do, but I'm going to do it. Well, it's certainly not an easy thing to do because of what you just noted.

Now, it is possible to move money from one area to another. We've seen this administration do that before. The Office of Management and Budget has

tended to dip into one pot to give to another.

But just a reminder as to why we're in this -- why these agents aren't getting paid, it's overfunding for DHS because there isn't the money there.

So, the problem is where exactly could this money come from and how are they going to do this to bypass the law?

And it also raises a huge series of questions for setting a precedent here. I mean, around these government shutdowns, which we've obviously covered

extensively over the last decade or so, this idea that you can just bypass Congress completely just to do something that you want to do because you

are the president, it just raises a lot of questions as to, one, if this was legal, why hadn't they done it before?

And, two, if it's not, how are they going to intend to work the system to try to get this done, get these men and women who have been working without

pay their checks?

[18:55:00]

SCIUTTO: Kristen Holmes, we know you'll keep on top of it. Thanks so much. And thanks so much to all of you for joining us this evening. I'm Jim

Sciutto, live in Tel Aviv. You've been watching "The Brief." Please do stay with CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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