Return to Transcripts main page
The Brief with Jim Sciutto
CNN International: Sources: Trump Admin. Sees Challenge with Strait of Hormuz; Trump Lashes Out at Allies for Not Helping in Iran War; Trump Says U.S. Will Be Leaving Iran "Very Soon"; Trump Tells Other Nations to "Go Get Your Own Oil"; CNN Speaks to Photographer Inside Iran; Jordan, Qatar and Saudi Arabia Discuss Iran War; Artemis II Mission on Schedule for Wednesday Launch. Aired 6-7p ET
Aired March 31, 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
from Tel Aviv, and you're watching "The Brief."
Just at this hour, sources say the Trump administration realizes it might not be able to reopen the Strait of Hormuz within its timeline for ending
the war with Iran. I speak to Yalda Moaiery, a photographer inside Iran about life in a zone and the regime's hold on power. And the crew of
Artemis II are just 24 hours away from a historic trip around the moon.
We begin with President Trump's reported goal to end the war without reopening the Strait of Hormuz, which of course the war led to its closure.
Top administration officials have privately acknowledged they cannot achieve their military objectives quickly and vow to reopen the Strait
within that timeline. Not according to a source familiar with those talks.
The Wall Street Journal is reporting the president told aides he's now willing to end the U.S. military campaign against Iran, even if the Strait
remains closed. In a social media post, the president demanded that countries, including the U.K., go to the Strait and just take the oil
themselves. He added they would need to, quote, "start learning how to fight for yourself." Those are the president's words.
Here's what President Trump told reporters about the war just moments ago from the Oval Office.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: -- plan to bring them back down?
DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: All I have to do is leave Iran and we'll be doing that very soon and they'll become tumbling down. And stock prices
were up today almost to a record because they know two things. Number one, we have a safe country. We had to take a little detour because we had a
madman named Khomeini, who sadly is no longer with us.
And we had regime change already. We've knocked out one regime, then we knocked out the second regime. Now, we have a group of people that's very -
- that are very different. They're much more reasonable. I think much more -- much less radicalized. It's a -- we've had regime change. We're dealing
with people that are much more rational.
And it's very -- it's amazing what we've done. We had to make a little detour. So, when the stock market broke all records just a few weeks ago,
when it hit 50,000 on the Dow, 7,000 on the S&P, I said to the American people, it's time that we have make a little detour because we have a
madman that wants a nuclear weapon. And if we did not come out with a B-2 bomber, we would have a nuclear weapon right now. We would it would have
been used. It would have been used before this, before today. And you may not be standing there asking that question. OK?
So, I think we have a country that understands that. I see CNN did a poll and they talked about voters or mega voters. And my poll came out at 100
percent. Nobody covers that poll. Then another poll was at 92 percent approval. I think that the people understand that.
We'll be leaving very soon. And if France or some other country wants to get oil or gas, they'll go up through the Strait. And the Hormuz Strait,
they'll go right up there and they'll be able to fend for themselves. I think it'll be very safe, actually. But we have nothing to do with that.
What happens to the Strait, we're not going to have anything to do with because these countries, China, China will go up and they'll fuel up their
beautiful ships and they'll leave and they'll take care of themselves. There's no reason for us to do it.
We hit them hard. We got rid of a lot of a lot of the radicalized lunatics along the Strait. But if they want something -- but I would say that within
two weeks, maybe two weeks, maybe three, we're hitting them very hard. Last night, we knocked out tremendous amounts of missile making facilities. We -
- as you probably read or wrote, we knocked out -- excuse me?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Pardon me for interrupting. Will be -- the U.S. will be gone or done with the war in two to three weeks?
TRUMP: I think we're two or three weeks. We'll leave, because there's no reason for us to do this. Look, probably the Strait. A guy can take a mine,
drop it in the water and say, oh, it's unsafe. It's not like you're taking out an army or you're taking out a country or you didn't --
[18:05:00]
He can drop it, or he can take a machine gun from the shore and shoot a little few bullets on a ship or maybe an over the shoulder missile, small
missiles. That's not for us. That'll be for France. That'll be for whoever's using the Strait.
But I think when we leave, probably that's all cleared up. Today, I heard tremendous numbers of ships were sailing through. We're negotiating with
them right now. They've been again. We have had regime change.
Now, regime change was not one of the things I had as a goal. I had one goal, they will have no nuclear weapon. And that goal has been attained.
They will not have nuclear weapons. But we're finishing the job. And I think within maybe two weeks, maybe a couple of days longer to do the job.
But we want to knock out every single thing they have.
Now, it's possible that we'll make a deal before that because we'll hit bridges. And we've hit some. We'll hit some bridges. We've got a couple of
nice bridges in mind. But if they come to the table, that'll be good. But it doesn't matter whether they come or not. We've set them back. It'll take
15 to 20 years for them to rebuild what we've done to them.
They have no Navy. They have no military. They have no Air Force. They have no telecommunications. They have no anti-aircraft systems. They have no
leaders. You know their leaders are all gone. That's why we have regime change. We have nice new leaders. Peter?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you, President Trump. You talked about how the ballroom needs to have a drone-proof roof.
TRUMP: Right.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCIUTTO: The president there claiming regime change, though I will tell you Israeli officials I've spoken to do not believe that the Iranian regime
has changed significantly. The president also claiming there that Iran would have had a nuclear weapon and would have used it by now had the U.S.
not gone to war. There is no public evidence of that, and no intelligence assessment that U.S. officials have briefed on to give that indication.
Joining us now from the White House is Kristen Holmes. Kristen, when we listen to the President there, it does seem that he is laying the
rhetorical groundwork for declaring victory and going home. Is that what you're hearing from your sources inside the White House?
KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's certainly what I'm hearing from President Trump just now sitting at his
desk. I mean, this is something that I had been hearing from Republicans around the president as they were talking about what the next steps were in
this war, many of them believing that there were only a number of paths out of the current position that the United States is in, and one of them was
President Trump essentially declaring victory. And that is in part what we just heard now.
And I do want to point to one other thing he said. He obviously talked about that timeline, two to three weeks. He talked about regime change,
which, as you mentioned, it's not just Israelis who don't believe that there's been regime change. Look at the very people that we believe them to
be negotiating with through backdoor channels. Those are people who are still in place from the previous regime. One of them, Qalibaf, the
parliament speaker, is someone who's been mocking President Trump almost openly on Twitter.
But the other part I want to point out to you is this idea that the United States is negotiating with a very different, less radical and more rational
group of people. Again, these are people who are still part of the extended leadership in Iran.
The reason why Qalibaf is considered one of the top officials there is because he is said to have sway or power or authority with the supreme
leader, the current supreme leader, who, of course, is the son of the previous supreme leader.
So, the other thing I wanted to touch on, though, is just what you mentioned before we listened to Trump, which was about this idea of opening
the Strait of Hormuz and deciding that maybe they don't need to actually do that to end the war in Iran. And I do want to note they understand, the
administration understands, the importance of the Strait of Hormuz. They do understand the importance of opening up this chokehold, why it will help
end the war, why it will help lower gas prices.
But the idea is that President Trump himself imposed this timeline of four to six weeks, and now looking down the barrel of that timeline and looking
at the military objectives they've laid out, they just don't believe all of this is possible, which is why you're seeing President Trump grow
increasingly angry with our allies, saying that they should be the ones who are out there trying to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz, in particular
saying that they use it more than the United States does. And this is something he's saying privately as well.
But, of course, this is an acknowledgment and a real change from what we heard just yesterday. Jim, he was posting about if they don't reopen the
Strait of Hormuz, I'm going to bomb all of their power plants, et cetera, Kharg Island. That was just yesterday that he was putting that up.
So, now we have a completely different take on all of this, essentially with this understanding that they don't think they can actually do that, at
least within the time limit.
[18:10:00]
SCIUTTO: Yes. I mean, it's not just confusing, it's contradictory. Sometime in the span of a day or even hours. Kristen Holmes at the White
House, thanks so much.
Earlier today I spoke with Benny Gantz, former Israeli defense minister and a key opposition leader here in Israel. I began by asking if he believes
the war with Iran has already achieved its objectives.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BENNY GANTZ, FORMER ISRAELI DEFENSE MINISTER: Yes, in many aspects I do. First, I would like to say I think President Trump took a brave decision to
act. People were talking for years over the issue of Iran and no one actually did anything. He decided to do a previous operation and definitely
in this operation.
Now, if you look at the direct impact of the war itself, of degrading the strategic and the military capacity of Iran that influences not necessarily
the internal situation in Iran, but the region and the global aspect, then I think a lot has been achieved. It has to do with the nuclear, it has to
do with the navy, their air force, their air defense, their missile capacity.
Now, we should continue to create this pressure that will make Iran less supportive of the terror armies it has all over the region and obviously
less stable the regime itself and maybe it will set the conditions for a regime with interchange or regime change in and of itself.
SCIUTTO: I've spoken to many Israelis who have told me they would not consider the war won if Iran maintains the enriched uranium, if there was
not some operation to take or control that. Do you agree?
GANTZ: I agree it's very important to take those 400 kilos or keep them buried or take them out of there, but once again I suggest not to forget
that a threshold has been crossed which is to operate in Iran and I think Iran understands that. And they laid back and thought that everyone talks
about but no one is doing anything. Well, someone is doing something and I think it's a major change.
SCIUTTO: So, you're saying that if the nuclear issue is not dealt with today, perhaps it could be dealt with at another time?
GANTZ: If -- I hope that the Iranians -- look, it is only for the Iranians who decide eventually what's the regime over there. It's only for the
Iranians to give up or not to give up on their nuclear mission. We just must -- we must make the conditions for them to understand it right, and
they should choose between taking care of their own country, taking care of their own people or trying to sabotage the region, to destabilize the
region or to threaten someone else. If they decide this way, we can revisit them.
SCIUTTO: Do you think that goal can be achieved by negotiation?
GANTZ: I guess it's a combination, you know, it's a military means, it's a diplomatic means, but we have seen that only the diplomatic means took us
nowhere. Only military means may be challenging, but the combination of those two I think will take us somewhere.
SCIUTTO: On the issue of the Strait of Hormuz, the president is now raising the possibility that opening the Strait is not America's
responsibility, that it's perhaps the Gulf nations, European nations. Is that fair, do you think, to leave that problem that began with this war,
right, to leave that to others?
GANTZ: You know, Jim, I don't know what the phrase fair stands for. In wartime it's not necessarily fair, you know. Iran was a global challenge,
it's a regional challenge and it's also a threat for the State of Israel.
Iran's ability and intention and in a way willing to destabilize the issue to keep the world hostage in a way was there already. So, I think if the
world wants to help to stabilize this region, if the world wants to maintain and to keep their own interest, they should get involved, Israel
and others.
Now, I don't know what President Trump will decide at the end of the day, but I think it's important that Iran will not be in a position to blackmail
the world in terms of energy capacity or any way different.
SCIUTTO: We were in northern Israel over the weekend and saw the frequency of Hezbollah fire and spoke to Israeli forces now operating inside Lebanon.
You have open discussion here now in Israel of pushing up to the Litani River. Is that going to be a permanent Israeli occupation or at least long-
term?
GANTZ: Well, you know, being the last soldier that came back from Lebanon in May 2000, after serving there for 22 years, I would not like this to be
an option that we will choose. However, what we must have is defense capacity for our villages. You saw them in your own eyes. It's
unacceptable.
[18:15:00]
I would like to see a situation in Lebanon where I can face someone with statehood responsibility, which is the government of Lebanon. Until it
happens, until Hezbollah is being dismantled, I think we need to improve our defense capacity along the border.
Now, should we stay all over the place from the border to the Litani? Should we keep a narrower belt and then do some kind of mobile activity or
anything else? That's for operational discussions within the IDF, and I think we will figure out the right way to do it.
SCIUTTO: How about in terms of Israel's relations with Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, but also next stages for Gaza? Do you see any pathway
with this government, this current government, for a negotiated solution, or do you see, in effect, a forever war?
GANTZ: Well, I think that we are in Judea and Samaria, and we are settled in places. Most of them are not involved with the Palestinians themselves,
and I think that we will end up finding a way to live with the Palestinians, because no one is going anywhere.
But seriously speaking, I don't think the Palestinians are doing enough. Let me tell you why. Because my son was fighting in Gaza, and then his unit
was called up to Lebanon. On the way, they were asked to go into Jenin to take care of a few terrorist squads.
Now, Jenin, it's a Palestinian territory, or under the responsibility of the Palestinian administration, which did nothing against those terrorists.
So, why does my son have to serve in fighting terrorists from Jenin? So, that's the reality over here.
To sum it up, yes, I think we have to figure out some way of living with the Palestinians, where Israel is responsible for the security, but they
also have to be responsible for what happens in their area of responsibility, and I don't think they're doing enough.
SCIUTTO: On the passage by the Knesset of this law for the death penalty of Palestinians accused of violent crimes, you oppose the bill in this
form. Why?
GANTZ: I don't -- let us not forget what it is that we are talking about. You know, I've been fighting terrorists for more than four decades, and I
think they deserve death on the battlefield. When it comes to the court, I think we should not do it the way it is being phrased and the way it is
being discussed in this specific law. However, as you rightly said, I oppose it.
But let us not forget, first, we are talking about terrorists, and we are not talking about innocent people, we are not talking about civilians, we
are not talking about regular crimes, we are talking about extreme cases of terrorist activities. Secondly, I'm sure it will be reviewed by the Supreme
Court, and I don't think this is over yet.
SCIUTTO: Final question. Of course, there are elections coming up, and you and your party are running. Do you believe that there will be a change of
government after these elections?
GANTZ: What I'm advocating is to have a unity government, a wide Zionist unity government, which is not controlled by extremists from any side. We
have complexities around here, and I think it takes some kind of unity and responsible way of dealing with them. And I'm sure we can achieve this this
way or another.
SCIUTTO: All right. Well, we wish you luck. Thanks so much for joining.
GANTZ: Thank you very much.
SCIUTTO: Appreciate it.
GANTZ: Thank you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SCIUTTO: Benny Gantz there, the former Israeli defense minister. Joining me now, Danny Citrinowicz, senior fellow at Israel's Institute for National
Security Studies and former head of the Iran branch in the Israeli military intelligence service. Thanks so much for joining.
DANNY CITRINOWICZ, SENIOR FELLOW, INSTITUTE FOR NATIONAL SECURITY STUDIES AND FORMER HEAD OF IRAN BRANCH, ISRAELI DEFENSE INTELLIGENCE: Thank you
very much.
SCIUTTO: So, first, before I ask you to react to Benny Gantz's comments, I want to dial back to President Trump's comments. He says, once again,
regime change has been achieved in Iran. Your response?
CITRINOWICZ: There was a change within the regime, a very bad one, because what we had before the war, I don't think Ali Khamenei was a moderate guy,
but he actually balanced the system between the more conservative or radical and more moderate. What we have now is a very radical regime
controlled by the IRGC. It actually, you can see the connection with Mojtaba Khamenei. He's using -- they're using him as a puppet.
So, the -- when you think that, it also decentralized the system, meaning that you don't have a center of gravity like Ali Khamenei. So, if you want
actually to form some sort of answer to what the U.S. is asking, you have to go through many people that need to decide what to do.
So, all in all, what we have now is, I think, a much worse situation than we had before the war because we are dealing with such a radical regime. It
will be very hard to reach an agreement with this regime.
[18:20:00]
Even more importantly, I think they will consider even running to a nuclear bomb. This is where we stand right now.
SCIUTTO: Running to a nuclear bomb, why? To defend themselves against the next attack? Is that the idea?
CITRINOWICZ: Well, turning back to Ali Khamenei. He was actually the guy that blocked all the initiatives coming from the regime to rush into a
bomb. He wanted Iran to have a threshold state, to be a threshold state on the enrichment side, but not crossing the Rubicon. He was very afraid of
that.
So, the fact of the matter that he's gone and his fatwa is gone, then it's opened new venues to RGC to rush into a bomb. And why? Because they
understand that it's the ultimate card that will defend them towards the future.
They see how the U.S. president behaved in Kim Jong Un. They understand eventually they'll have the nuclear capacity. Iran and -- U.S. and Israel
will not have the capacity to attack them in the future.
SCIUTTO: Right. OK. Let's talk about Benny Gantz's comment there that it is not fair to leave it to U.S. allies to reopen the Strait of Hormuz,
which I might remind viewers was open prior to the war. Is that the new reality now that they have to clean up the mess in effect?
CITRINOWICZ: Well, again, we don't know what President Trump will decide, but he has two problematic options. It's not a decision between good and
bad, decision between bad and worse. So, he can negotiate with Iranians, acknowledging the fact that they're controlling the Straits and thus
allowing them to continue controlling it, or we can try to use military force.
But even if you take the Straits, then the Iranians have the capacity using drones and missiles to block the Straits again. They can hit the tankers
every time.
SCIUTTO: Yes.
CITRINOWICZ: So, the problem is that he doesn't have a good answer for it. So, this is where we stand right now.
SCIUTTO: Tell me your best assessment of how Iran would view a U.S. ground operation, whether on the banks of the Strait of Hormuz or Kharg Island or
retrieve the nuclear material. The president uses that as a threat. Do you believe Iran sees that as a threat or perhaps an opportunity?
CITRINOWICZ: No threats. In terms of how the Iranians view it, in a way, after you killed Ali Khamenei, the worst is behind them. Nothing the
president will say and will threaten Iran actually will force them to open the Straits.
This is a strategic decision. Even if the U.S. would take Kharg Island, they won't open the Straits. Things will escalate. They won't capitulate.
And probably also the Houthis are getting involved more than they are doing right now. So, if and when they will decide to use ground invasion, I'm not
saying it's not going to put pressure on the regime itself, but it's not going to capitulate. It's not going to open the Straits. It's not going to
accept the 15 points. And the fact of the matter is there is no silver bullet solution to the Iranian problem.
SCIUTTO: From Israel's perspective, if the war ends about where it stands in a couple of days, but with the nuclear material still in the country,
the Strait not open and no regime change, would that be a victory or a defeat?
CITRINOWICZ: Operational success, strategic failure. Because operationally, we are doing what we need to do, working the IDF and
CENTCOM, amazing results. But the bottom line, it's not accumulating into strategic gains in a way that we have to remember what was the purpose of
this campaign. It wasn't degrading Iranian capabilities. It was creating the condition to people to go to the streets. You know, just remember what
President Trump said. It will be yours to take.
SCIUTTO: Yes.
CITRINOWICZ: And so, we have to measure the success based on the purpose of this campaign. And if you measure that by that, it's not a success. It's
not a success. It's definitely a strategic failure.
SCIUTTO: Danny Citrinowicz, appreciate having you on.
CITRINOWICZ: Thank you very much.
SCIUTTO: Still ahead this hour, a strong rally on Wall Street as investors, at least, believe an end to the war is near. Could they be
getting ahead of themselves?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[18:25:00]
SCIUTTO: Welcome back. In today's Business Breakout, U.S. stocks soared Tuesday on hopes that the Iran war could be over soon. The Nasdaq, the best
performer, rose almost 4 percent. Oil prices also pulled back. Earlier in the day, J.P. Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon discussed the market reaction to the
Iran war so far.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAMIE DIMON, JPMORGAN CHASE CEO: We should all hope nothing goes wrong. We should all hope that these bad people are -- you know, that we win this
thing and clean up the straits and that Iran is no longer a threat to everybody. And -- but there are -- you know, the markets will be concerned
until it's over. But I think it's very important. It's much more important that this be successfully completed than what the market does.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCIUTTO: There are new concerns, though, about how the Iran war is impacting Europe. Eurozone inflation rose to 2.5 percent this month. And
the E.U. Energy Commissioner warned member states to plan for a potentially, quote, "prolonged disruption." All this is the average price
of gas in the U.S. has hit $4 a gallon.
Joining me now, Robert Armstrong. He's the U.S. financial commentator for The Financial Times. Robert, thanks so much for joining.
ROBERT ARMSTRONG, U.S. FINANCIAL COMMENTATOR, FINANCIAL TIMES: Thank you so much for having me.
SCIUTTO: So, we've seen this market swing one way and the other based on tweets and comments from the president, sometimes contradictory within the
span of hours or days, often time to market open and close. What did you see in today's rally? Possible overreaction to the positive side?
ARMSTRONG: I think what the market is seeing is the president repeating several times and members of his cabinet repeating several times their
commitment to being out of this situation in Iran come what may. So, the message is not about so much the facts as the attitudes of the president
and his inner circle. And what the market wants to hear from them is that they remain committed to this being a short war.
SCIUTTO: Big picture, I'll remind our viewers, you're the person who coined the famous phrase TACO for Trump always chickens out this during the
tariff uncertainty last year. Do you find Trump comments over the past 24 hours perhaps foreshadowing another TACO?
ARMSTRONG: You know, when this war began, I thought really the era of the TACO trade was over because in a war it takes more. It takes more -- it
takes two to TACO as several people have joked. I wish I came up with that line that I did not. In other words, war gets you involved in a sticky way
with other parties who have a say in what happens.
But this week, it sounds like the president is willing to walk away from this war, even while the state Strait of Hormuz is still closed. This
regime is still in place and the enriched uranium is still in Iran. If that is true, that is surely the biggest TACO of the administration so far. Is
it true? Your guess is as good as mine, I'm afraid.
SCIUTTO: Yes. Well, we might get contradictory signals before the end of this program. You've been noting there have been points when the movements
of stocks, bonds and other factors appear to have pressured the president's decision making. There's even a pressure index you've cited on other
factors appear to have pressured the president's decision making.
[18:30:00]
Do you see this latest move as a reaction to the market or almost -- or perhaps it's contrarian that he's not reacting to the markets, at least the
price of oil?
ARMSTRONG: Well, I think the S&P 500 before today's rally was down five or six percent and has really been flat now for a long time, since late last
year. So, I think we know the president treats the stock market as a scoreboard for his presidency and the scoreboard does not look that good.
But of course, the real threat, the thing he really has to sweat about is the price of gasoline. And I think that crossing $4.
And by the way, if this goes -- if the Strait of Hormuz stays closed for another couple of months, we could be talking $6, $7 gas. I think that is
what's really applying the pressure to the president now. That is a genuine political threat to him and his party if gas prices really get off their
chain here.
SCIUTTO: Yes. And there are folks in the oil markets we've talked to who said that, you know, that the shortage is going to be lasting regardless
what happens tomorrow in the war in the next couple of weeks.
But before we go, you have been among many who have watched suspicious trades right prior to Trump decisions or public comments on the progress of
the war. How serious is this? How serious is the manipulation of the markets by people who seemingly have inside information?
ARMSTRONG: If the market is being manipulated or if there is insider trading based on information that is only available in the White House,
that is absolutely as serious a thing as it can possibly be. Markets are based on trust, and this would be about as big a violation of market trust
as it is possible to imagine.
However, and I think this is very important to emphasize, we don't have decisive proof that that is going on right now. We have some very big
trades at suspicious times, but these are volatile times in markets. So, we have to be very careful about what we say with any certainty here.
SCIUTTO: Well, it'd be nice if there was some oversight in the U.S. right now. Robert Armstrong from the FT, thanks so much for joining.
ARMSTRONG: My pleasure.
SCIUTTO: Straight ahead, my conversation with a photojournalist inside Iran, how she defied the regime's internet blackout to tell her story and
the story of the people of Iran.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[18:35:00]
SCIUTTO: Welcome back to "The Brief." I'm Jim Sciutto in Tel Aviv, and here are the international headlines we're watching today.
King Charles is set to make his first state visit to the U.S. next month. Buckingham Palace says he and Queen Camilla will participate in events
celebrating the U.S. and U.K. relationship. President Trump posted on social media the visit will be a, quote, "momentous occasion."
In a separate post, he berated the U.K. for its position on the Iran war. Golfer Tiger Woods has pleaded not guilty to misdemeanor charges following
his rollover crash last week in Florida. He's been charged with driving under the influence, property damage and refusal to submit to a lawful
test. His attorney has waived arraignment and is demanding a jury trial.
President Donald Trump claims regime change has already occurred in Iran. His defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, says the U.S. and Israel continue,
however, to pound targets in Iran as a way of convincing Iran's leaders to make a deal. Top military planners in the U.S. say their goal at this point
is simply to drive Iran to the bargaining table.
Well, the Iranian people themselves have survived night after night of U.S. and Israeli bombing, destroying homes and taking innocent lives. The
Iranian regime has also created an Internet blackout, making it extremely difficult for Iranians to share their stories themselves with the outside
world.
However, my team and I managed to get in touch with and speak with Yalda Moaiery, the photographer I spoke with last month and who remains inside
Iran. We should note her picture and audio quality is not great. It's a testament to how hard Iran's leadership is working to keep accurate
information from getting out. But we feel it's important for you and for Yalda to have the chance to be, in her words, a voice for her people.
Yalda shared her experience as a civilian in a war zone and whether she believes there will be regime change. Have a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
YALDA MOAIERY, IRANIAN PHOTOJOURNALIST: A lot of homes and building that belong to the citizens and the civilians are getting collapsed and the
civilians have been killed because their apartments were close to the hidden buildings of the security forces, which the people do not know where
are they exactly.
But when some building is collapsed, I mean, they hit some place. Two or three buildings just close to that place collapsed, and people got killed,
unfortunately. So, the situation is like this. A lot of people got killed. A lot of civilians are going to die.
Now, this city is like a (INAUDIBLE) city. Prices are going up every hour. The internet is blocked for more than one month, so people cannot connect
to the free world. And the situation is terrible, actually.
SCIUTTO: President Trump and Israeli leaders keep saying they want the Iranian people to rise up against their government. Is that at all
possible, from what you see?
MOAIERY: No, it's not possible at all. A lot of gunmen are in the streets with their guns and weapons and everything, and you cannot do anything
against them. I mean, a lot of checkpoints are in the streets, and a lot of supporters are in the streets. So, people cannot do anything. It's
completely nonsense.
[18:40:00]
SCIUTTO: Do you believe the regime, the government, has been weakened at all? Because, again, U.S. and Israeli leaders say the regime might fall.
MOAIERY: When you are living here, I mean, on the ground, you cannot feel such a thing. A lot of militia people are in the streets. As you can see,
nothing has been changed. I don't know how Donald Trump (INAUDIBLE) changed the regime. I cannot really understand it.
SCIUTTO: What about the effect on your lives, the power outages, electricity, the smoke from the fires?
MOAIERY: We do not know if we have water or electricity (INAUDIBLE) or not. The sounds of the bombs, the smokes are everywhere. When you are, I
mean, driving in the city, you can see it, and it's all the time, every hour. People are really tired of this.
SCIUTTO: Do you have hope that the war will help you?
MOAIERY: I have to say that people are hopeful that the regime will (INAUDIBLE) with this war. But there is no evidence in (INAUDIBLE), no
evidence on the ground, but people are very hopeful.
SCIUTTO: So, you're saying people are still hopeful it might change?
MOAIERY: Yes. And people are supporting the war. If I want to be honest, and if I want to be -- I have to be honest and I have to be (INAUDIBLE).
And people want the war to be continued because they tried many peaceful ways to change this regime, and they (INAUDIBLE) do anything. So, they hope
that this time something happens to them, and the regime will fall with this war. I don't think so.
SCIUTTO: You don't think so?
MOAIERY: I don't think so. And I don't see any evidence.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SCIUTTO: Yalda Moaiery, an Iranian photojournalist, sharing her accounts and stories from inside Iran.
Well, coming up, flying in for talks, leaders from Jordan, Qatar and Saudi Arabia come together to discuss regional stability. After the break, a
former Jordanian ambassador tells me what a resolution to the Iran war could or should look like.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[18:45:00]
SCIUTTO: Jordan's king, Abdullah, arriving in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, for talks with the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman. The Qatari Emir
also took part in discussions. This, of course, amid the ongoing war with Iran.
In Doha, CNN's Matthew Chance asked the Qatari foreign ministry about the prospects of a U.S. ground invasion of Iran.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CHIEF GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: There's a lot of talk at the moment about the possibility of a U.S. ground invasion of Iran.
How concerned are you about that? How do you assess that would have consequences for Qatar and for the region?
MAJED AL-ANSARI, QATARI FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESPERSON: We are against any escalation that could endanger the stability of the region any further.
That we have said from day one. We are not going to comment on the operational strategies of both parties. What we will say is that any kind
of escalation that goes beyond the current parameters of the conflict threatens to further destabilize the region.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCIUTTO: Joining me now is Omar Rifai. He's a former Jordanian ambassador and former secretary general of the Jordanian foreign ministry. Thanks so
much for taking the time, sir.
OMAR RIFAI, FORMER JORDANIAN AMBASSADOR AND FORMER SECRETARY-GENERAL OF JORDANIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY: Thank you, sir. Thank you.
SCIUTTO: I want to ask your views of where this war stands from the view of America's Arab allies, including Jordan. I mean, first, what's your
reaction to President Trump saying, in effect, it's up to the rest of the world now to open the Strait of Hormuz? Did the U.S. create a problem and
is now leaving allies to fix it?
RIFAI: Well, I believe, firstly, that the war happened because the U.S. and Israel decided to go to war. And therefore, I mean, you know, whether
they created the problem or not, who went to war, so to speak, first. And this was totally not clear at the time because I think peaceful
negotiations were going along very well in Geneva and the Omanis and so on. We were, I understand, we were very close to a deal. Now, we're probably
not as close to a deal as then.
So, I mean, you know, I don't think we have to get our numbers right who started the war and then the rest of this is the reaction to that.
SCIUTTO: So, where has this war left Jordan? Is Jordan safer or less safe today?
RIFAI: Well, I mean, we in Jordan always believe that Jordan is safe. Now, of course, what's happening all around us and all over the area, it makes
the whole region unsafe at this moment. But I -- you know, I believe that Jordan is solid and can stand and has stood in historical times against
many such occasions. And we are strong and we are safe. But I mean, we're as safe as the whole region is.
SCIUTTO: The New York Times reported recently that the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, was privately encouraging President Trump to continue
the war. Is that Jordan's position as well? I mean, is there agreement as we see King Abdullah, MBS, the emir of Qatar meet? Is that the message they
want to send to the U.S.?
RIFAI: I don't believe so. I mean, I believe that Jordan has always been interested in the peaceful solution of problems and not the military ones.
And I mean, I think, you know, two leaders can sit and discuss issues without having to support the other on the stance that they've taken. So, I
don't believe that Jordan at all believes that the war has to continue.
Quite the contrary. We believe that the war has to deescalate and hopefully end. I mean, all wars end at some stage. The problem is not just the ending
of the war. It's what do you do after the end of the war and make sure that in the future there are no more wars? We've had too many wars in this part
of the world and uncalled for and unnecessary. It has to stop at some stage.
SCIUTTO: Tell me about the U.S. position and influence in the region now following this war. Whenever it ends, is the U.S. going to leave this war
more or less powerful, more or less respected?
[18:50:00]
RIFAI: Well, I mean, to be honest with you, I believe the U.S. is going to leave this war more unpopular. I think, you know, the U.S. has lost a lot
in terms of its popularity in the Arab region because, you know, I mean, people see scenes which are unbelievable, destruction and death and so on.
And for something that we believe could have been solved and can still be solved diplomatically and peacefully. So, I think the U.S. has definitely
lost the lost a bit of weight and stance in the region as a result of this war.
SCIUTTO: Omar Rifai, we appreciate you joining.
RIFAI: Thank you, sir. Thank you for having me.
SCIUTTO: Well, just ahead, NASA astronauts are set to return to the moon's orbit for the first time in more than 50 years.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SCIUTTO: By this time tomorrow, four NASA astronauts should be on a rocket headed back to the moon. NASA says there is an 80 percent chance that the
weather will be favorable for Wednesday's planned launch of the Artemis II rocket. It will take three Americans and one Canadian further from Earth
than anyone has gone in more than 50 years.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEFF SPAULDING, SENIOR NASA TEST DIRECTOR: Our team has been working amazingly hard through these weeks and months trying to get this vehicle
ready to where it is. We've had some challenges. The team has done an outstanding job managing each and every one of those throughout all of this
through many different scenarios, through weather, through lots of different things that we've had to work through to try to get through all
of this and get to where we are today. People are excited and ready to go on this this first chapter on our way back to the 1970s.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCIUTTO: The 10-day mission will orbit the moon and see parts of it that have never been seen by human eyes. It's the first step in NASA's plan to
land humans on the moon and build eventually a permanent base there. Tom Foreman breaks down the rocket that will take the astronauts all the way to
the dark side of the moon.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: No matter how many space launches you have seen, you've never seen one like this because the space launch system is a
vessel unto itself. This is a beast, taller than the Statue of Liberty from the base of the tip of the torch, well over 300 feet. It weighs around 6
million pounds, but that's OK because it can produce about 8 million pounds of thrust, starting with those two big solid fuel boosters on the side
there.
They will both burn straight through at the beginning, giving it that extra boost as it gets off the ground and then they will fall away. They could
almost get the job done entirely by themselves, but they will have the help of that big orange core in the middle. It's orange because that is
insulation to keep what's inside very, very cold.
[18:55:00]
Liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen, both of which will be flowing down to these four RS-25 engines down below, altogether sending this well up into
space with a tremendous amount of power.
So, where are the astronauts in all of this? They're up here. That's where you'll find the Orion crew module just below it, the service module that
will supply water and oxygen and all sorts of things to the crew up above. And below that, another big booster, which will send that part into a giant
elliptical orbit around the Earth before sending it on its way.
One more thing. You'll see that upside down ice cream cone up there, that is a escape module, in a sense, a way for the crew to get out. Even when
this rocket is going thousands of miles an hour, it could bring them safely back down to Earth. Of course, everybody hopes that this doesn't get used,
that everything falls off as it should properly. And the Orion crew is on its way on this historic return to the moon.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SCIUTTO: Thanks to Tom Foreman there, an exciting day tomorrow will be for space travel. Thanks so much for joining us today. I'm Jim Sciutto in Tel
Aviv. You've been watching "The Brief." Please do stay with CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:00:00]
END
