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Transcript: Michael Leiter, Israel’s ambassador to the U.S., on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan,” March 8, 2026

2026-03-08T12:52:00-0400 / CBS News

The following is the transcript of the interview with Michael Leiter, Israel’s ambassador to the U.S., that aired on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” on March 8, 2026.

MARGARET BRENNAN: And we’re joined now by Israel’s ambassador to the United States, Dr. Michael Leiter. Welcome to ‘Face the Nation.’

ISRAELI AMBASSADOR MICHAEL LEITER: Good to be with you. Good morning.

MARGARET BRENNAN: So your prime minister and – the American president speak daily, according to President Trump. Have they agreed to beginning and ending the war on the same timeline?

AMB. LEITER: We’ve been collaborating now for months, I would say, even prior to Rising Lion and Midnight Hammer in June, and that collaboration includes daily conversations in which there is an assessment of how the war is progressing, and I assume that we’re going to reach a complete understanding on the end of this war as well.

MARGARET BRENNAN: So you believe and trust that America will stay with Israel through the duration of this, even if there are strains on the American economy, like gas prices?

AMB. LEITER: We’ve reached a level of collaboration that we’ve never seen between our two countries and between our two militaries. This is a very important operation that doesn’t depend really on a timeline. You know, when you’re doing something that’s so critical you are not going to look at a stopwatch. This has to be finished. This is a terror-sponsoring state that has to be brought down and that’s what we’re focused on.

MARGARET BRENNAN: But you agree with the U.S. assessment from the secretary there he said this is just a matter of weeks?

AMB. LEITER: We believe so. We’re seeing cracks in the edifice of this military security terror regime. They’re starting to have very grave difficulties in conveying orders down through the system. There’s arguments within the system about the appointment of a successor to the supreme leader. They’re having grave difficulties. The fact that they are lashing out irrationally to all of their neighbors and firing these ballistic missiles into all of their neighbors, some 12 countries, into Europe for crying out loud, is indicative of the fact they’re having huge problems. We’re having success in these attacks on their command centers.

MARGARET BRENNAN: So President Trump was specifically asked yesterday about sending troops in to secure Iran’s supply of enriched uranium. He said he’s not ruling it out. Does Iran currently have access to the documented enriched uranium that exists inside the country, and what is Israel’s plan to secure it?

AMB. LEITER: Israel’s plan is to secure it, that’s for sure.

MARGARET BRENNAN: How?

AMB. LEITER: How exactly is an operational issue, I don’t think, Margaret, that you want me to discuss here on a Sunday morning ‘Face the Nation.’ We’ve got to do that. It’s an objective we have to accomplish, but the first thing we have to do is create a situation we’re going to be able to get to that enriched material and remove it, and that has to reach a point where there’s less kinetic activity on the ground. It’s obviously on our radar screen and we’re going to take care of it. The whole objective here of this operation is to prevent a terror state from achieving nuclear weapons. So it’s very much on our radar screen and that’s what we’re going to accomplish.

MARGARET BRENNAN: So just to put a fine point on it the concern is that that material could end up in the wrong hands if the regime collapses and it’s a mess, right? So, how do you secure it without ground forces in some way? Is Israel ruling out ground forces?

AMB. LEITER: We are ruling out the possibility of this regime remaining in the position where they can endanger us and their neighbors. If that includes putting boots on the ground- our preference is for the boots on the ground to be those of the Iranians. These are people who have been living under the boot of this regime now for 47 years. They want freedom. This is a whole generation out there that knows there is such a thing as freedom but has never tasted it yet. They need to put their boots on the ground and ensure their future and the future of the region.

MARGARET BRENNAN: You mean the Iranian army, the IRGC?

AMB. LEITER: The Iranian- the Iranian includes- no, I mean the Iranian people. 80% of the Iranian people are opposed to this regime they just haven’t been able to express themselves.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Well and CENTCOM is telling Iranian civilians to stay home right now. Is there any organized or armed opposition inside Iran that Israel supports?

AMB. LEITER: We’ve been talking to the minorities now for many years.

MARGARET BRENNAN: The minorities meaning the Kurds and the Azeris?

AMB. LEITER: The Kurds, the Balochs, the Azeris, but the Iranian people themselves, the Persians, we saw what they did two months ago. There is a point of combustion where the people will rise up and say we have had enough. We want freedom. So once we set the stage and there is no longer regime with a million armed people that are willing to shoot their fellow citizens in the back, these people are going to rise up and say we want our country back.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Because President Trump said yesterday he does not want the Kurds, who make up about 10% of the population within Iran, he doesn’t want the kurds in neighboring countries to enter the conflict. We don’t want to make the war any more complex than it is already. Turkey’s foreign minister came and said he- he said he had spoken to Rubio about it, but he said this, ‘Israel’s intentions in this matter are not so secret.’ Turkey seems to think that your country is trying to get the Kurds to intervene here. Is that accurate?

AMB. LEITER: I wouldn’t take the words of President Erdogan too seriously. He’s talking about his own caliphate spreading throughout the Middle East.

MARGARET BRENNAN: He was the foreign minister.

AMB. LEITER: He’s talking about taking over- well that’s coming down from the president- he’s talking about taking over Saudi Arabia and Israel at the same time. Look, we want a united Iran, there’s no question about it, but we want to empower the minorities to have their say in the process, in the political process. They’ve been denied of their freedom, so it’s not matter of supporting this particular minority or another, it’s supporting all the minorities. What we’re encouraging them to do is to coalesce, is to come together, to unify. If over the past 47 years the opposition of Iran would have unified, this regime would have come down a long time ago. So we can help them coalesce, we can help them unify, we can help them come together and rise up and say we’re taking our country back. That’s ultimately the end game.

MARGARET BRENNAN: So your prime minister gave an address Saturday and said to the IRGC, to those who lay down their arms no harm shall come. To those who do not, their blood is on their own heads. If there are no Israeli ground forces who do you want the IRGC to surrender to? How does that work?

AMB. LEITER: There are many precedents in history where the people themselves- like Romania, they turned their guns around against Ceaușescu. When people are deprived of freedom, there’s a certain point where they say enough. And all they have to do is put down their weapons and not participate- look they don’t to participate when the people rise up in shooting their own civilians, their own neighbors, their own families in many cases. So look the objective here is to achieve a situation where Iran is no longer an exporter of terrorism, is no longer raining ballistic missiles down on its neighbors and is no longer in the pursuit of nuclear weapons. That’s achievable and together the collaborative effort between Roaring Lion and Epic Rury we’re going to accomplish that.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Ambassador, we have to leave it there for the moment, but we’ll have more questions shortly. We need to take a quick commercial break. Stay with us.

[COMMERCIAL BREAK]

MARGARET BRENNAN: Welcome back to ‘Face the Nation.’ We return to our conversation with Israel’s Ambassador to the United States, Dr. Michael Leiter. Just to pick this back up, when we talk about what’s coming next in Iran, it has tremendous impact potentially for the entire region and American interests there. The president said when it comes to Iran’s next leaders most of the people we had in mind are dead. The New York Times is reporting the Israeli strike that killed the supreme leader also took out Iranian pragmatists, that was how they phrased it, who were also in that same compound, but the White House had hoped that those individuals might help lead a new Iran. Were they intentionally targeted by Israel or was this unintended?

AMB. LEITER: No. Pragmatists are very limited in their ability to influence in Iran. There have been pragmatists all throughout the 47 years of this terror regime, they have had absolutely no influence. The people influencing, deciding for Iran are these ayatollahs who have a very apocalyptic view of the future and don’t really care about how many people they kill of their own or others. So look, what we’re hoping for is that we move into a period of a transitional government where the minorities come together, where the majority of the people come together. All the various opposition parties come together for a transitional government where they can lead the country for a year or so, together with the guidance from the United States, and Israel and other regional allies, who will no longer live under the fear of being hit by ballistic missiles and then move into a mode of a democratic process. Let the people choose. Let’s not forget the people of Iran are the most pro-western people after Israel.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, but when I hear this is going to take weeks not months, referring to the combat, what you’re talking about takes a long time- that kind of transition. So we’re not just talking about a limited military operation. U.S. Pressure, Israeli pressure is going to have to be there for a long time.

AMB. LEITER: Well, this isn’t Iraq or Afghanistan because in this case 80% of the people oppose the regime. They just need the ability to express themselves. That’s what we’re emphasizing here. This is not a repeat of forever wars. They have got to put their boots on the ground and they’re beginning to be motivated and to feel that they’re going to be able to accomplish that. They’re beginning to move forward, it’s just going to take a little bit more time. There’s no long-term gain without some minimal pain. Look, I know what war is all about. I hate war. I lost my son in war. I don’t want to see war. None of us in Israel want to see war, but we can’t have a situation where our existence is threatened every day by a regime that says they’re going to eliminate us.

MARGARET BRENNAN: But just to put a fine point on it, did Israel intentionally target those other Iranian leaders that the president had referred to as some of the people he had in mind to lead?

AMB. LEITER: You know Margaret, we’re pretty good at precision, I think we’ve proven that, but the degree of precision where in this very same room there are these people sitting and those people sitting, we’re not that good.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Ambassador, thank you for your time this morning.

AMB. LEITER: Good to be with you.

MARGARET BRENNAN: We’ll be right back

Sen. Tim Kaine says supporting Kristi Noem as DHS secretary was a “big mistake”

March 8, 2026 / 1:50 PM EDT / CBS News

Washington — Sen. Tim Kaine, a Virginia Democrat, expressed regret on Sunday for supporting Kristi Noem for Department of Homeland Security secretary last year.

“Big mistake,” Kaine said on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan.”

President Trump announced Thursday that Noem would leave her role following a string of controversies that boiled over last week. The president announced that he had selected GOP Sen. Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma as her replacement.

Kaine was one of seven Democrats who voted in favor of Noem’s confirmation to the role at the helm of DHS last year. On Sunday, Kaine, a former governor, pointed to Noem’s time leading South Dakota as his justification for supporting her confirmation, saying “governors are often good Cabinet secretaries.”

“But what we learned, and this bears going forward, is that she wasn’t calling the shots,” Kaine said. “Stephen Miller is calling the shots, and as long as he is calling the shots without reforms, this is going to continue to be a very, very rogue, renegade department.”

Kaine said Democrats fear that Mullin could face the same fate when he takes over as DHS secretary, warning of the possibility that he could bow to the top Trump aide. GOP Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina also warned about Miller’s “outsized influence” on Sunday, saying on CNN that Miller should be ousted as well, though Tillis said he believes Mullin will act more independently than Noem.

Kaine also acknowledged that Mullin “could demonstrate otherwise.”

“What we want to see is not just the change in the name plate on the door, we want to see reforms to the way ICE and CBP operates,” Kaine said. “They should operate like local law enforcement does — not invading peoples’ homes without warrants, body cameras, not wearing masks.”

Like Noem, Mullin will face a confirmation process in the Senate. Already he’s received support from at least one Democrat, Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania.

The switchup at DHS comes amid a stalemate over funding for the department. Democrats have demanded reforms to immigration enforcement agencies and have pledged to continue opposing all funding for the department until an agreement can be reached. Meanwhile, the department — which also oversees TSA, FEMA and the Coast Guard — has been shut down since Feb. 14, after funding lapsed.

Kaine stressed that Democrats want to fund the other agencies at DHS, while confining the ongoing negotiations to the immigration enforcement agencies. He noted that DHS’ immigration enforcement received an influx of funds in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act last year.

“They’re not running out of money,” Kaine said. “We can continue the reform discussion there.”

https://www.cbsnews.com/video/sen-tim-kaine-says-he-made-a-big-mistake-voting-for-kristi-noems-confirmation/

President Donald Trump said Sunday that Iran’s new leader is “not going to last long” without U.S. approval as Operation Epic Fury continues into its second week.

“He’s going to have to get approval from us,” Trump told ABC News in an interview. “If he doesn’t get approval from us he’s not going to last long. We want to make sure that we don’t have to go back every 10 years, when you don’t have a president like me that’s not going to do it.”

“I don’t want people to have to go back in five years and have to do the same thing again or worse let them have a nuclear weapon,” the president continued.

Trump’s comments come after Iranian state media reported that a majority consensus had been reached on a new supreme leader following the Feb. 28 assassination of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

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Iranians carry pictures of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as they march in a protest rally on the fourth day of mourning in Magam, Jammu and Kashmir, on March 4, 2026.(Faisal Khan/Anadolu/Getty Images)

Mohammadmehdi Mirbaqeri, who serves on Iran’s Assembly of Experts, the clerical body tasked with selecting the supreme leader, did not offer any names but acknowledged to the Mehr News Agency that there are still “some obstacles.”

ABC News reported that Trump said it’s possible he would be in favor of someone with ties to the old regime.

“I would, in order to choose a good leader I would, yeah, I would. There are numerous people that could qualify,” he said.

[ISRAEL HAMMERS IRANIAN INTERNAL SECURITY COMMAND CENTERS TO OPEN DOOR TO UPRISING]

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President Donald Trump confirmed the U.S. launched strikes on Iran on Feb. 28, 2026.(The White House via X Account/Anadolu via Getty Images)

The Associated Press reported that several figures are being viewed as potential successors to Iran’s supreme leadership. They include:

• Mojtaba Khamenei — Son of late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei
• Ali Reza Arafi — Senior Shiite cleric

[IRAN POSTPONES TEHRAN FAREWELL CEREMONY FOR KHAMENEI WHERE LARGE CROWDS WERE EXPECTED TO GATHER]

• Hassan Rouhani — Former president of Iran
• Hassan Khomeini — Grandson of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, founder of the Islamic Republic
• Mohammed Mehdi Mirbagheri — Head of the Islamic Cultural Center in Qom

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Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz warned Iranian leadership in a post on X last week that any successor who tries to “destroy Israel, to threaten the United States and the free world and the countries of the region, and to suppress the Iranian people” will be an “unequivocal target for elimination.”

“It does not matter what his name is or the place where he hides,” Katz said.

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[Iran’s senior clerics ‘exposed’ after building strike in Qom, succession choice looms]

Ashley Carnahan is a writer at Fox News Digital.

Energy secretary says “period of elevated energy prices” will be temporary

March 8, 2026 / 1:52 PM EDT / CBS News

Washington — Energy Secretary Chris Wright said Sunday that elevated energy prices amid the escalating war with Iran will be “temporary,” stressing he believes gas prices “shouldn’t go much higher.”

“We have a temporary period of elevated energy prices, but it will not be long,” Wright said on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan.”

Concerns about a global energy crisis have grown as the war with Iran enters a second week. But Wright claimed “in the worst case, this is weeks — this is not months, and it leads to a much better place.”

“It leads to an Iran that’s defanged, that can’t threaten its neighbors, can’t threaten American soldiers, and can’t continue to drive up energy prices by making a mess of the Middle East,” Wright said. “They can move to commerce, not conflict.”

The comments come as the war has continued to push up prices at the pump, with gas prices up 14% in the past week, according to AAA data. The national average rose to $3.45 per gallon Sunday, after dipping below $3 in December. But Wright said gas prices “shouldn’t go much higher than they are here, because the world is very well supplied with oil.”

“There’s no energy shortage at all in the Western Hemisphere, the United States is a net exporter of oil, a large net exporter of natural gas,” he said. “But refineries in Asia and Europe are seeing an interruption from the normal crude flows.”

Wright cited “massive energy stores around the world,” noting that “what you’re seeing is emotional reactions and fear that this is a long-term war.” He stressed that “this is not a long-term war.”

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The energy secretary said while previous administrations have “begged, bartered and bribed the Iranian government to stop its nefarious activity,” it “simply hasn’t worked.”

“Now is the time to end their risk to America and the world,” Wright said.

Meanwhile, the war has dramatically reduced shipments of oil and liquefied natural gas through the Strait of Hormuz, a waterway through which about 20% of global oil shipments normally travel. Asked by Margaret Brennan about when the strait could see a return to the typical 20 million barrels of oil transported per day, Wright said he expects things will return to that level “relatively soon,” though he noted that protection by the U.S. military may be necessary.

“All of our military assets right now are focused on ending Iran’s ability to kill their neighbors, threaten American soldiers and threaten ship traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, but that’s going swimmingly well,” he said. “I think in the relatively near term, you’re going to see their capacity so low that we’ll see more normal ship traffic return to the Strait of Hormuz.”

Wright argued that the operation in Iran will “bring in an era of even lower energy prices, because a major energy producing region of the world, the Middle East, will no longer have a strong, powerful Iran that can threaten their neighbors, that can threaten the United States of America, and was not far away from a nuclear bomb.” He called that scenario “unacceptable,” while noting that the real risk to energy prices “was not doing anything.”

“The president’s going to continue to stay focused on ending a 47-year conflict, stay focused on growing the global energy supply,” Wright said. “This is actually part of that effort. It does involve a temporary impediment to energy production, but on the other side, it will allow much more energy production and much lower energy prices.”

The Trump administration has resisted calls to tap into the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, but Wright said Sunday that “we’re more than happy to use that if it’s needed.” Still, Wright said that oil was needed at refineries in Europe and Asia, and there is more than 100 million barrels of untapped Russian oil that could be used. The U.S. Treasury Department said last week that India can buy crude oil and petroleum products from Russia until April 4, calling the sanctions waiver a “stop-gap measure” to “alleviate pressure” on the market.

“We’re not helping Russia by just accelerating the sale of their oil to stop the rise of energy prices and keep European and Asian refineries in oil,” Wright said Sunday. “We’re just doing pragmatic things to get through a short period.”

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President Donald Trump is vowing to reject signing any new bills into law until the SAVE America Act is passed by the Senate, a tall order with just 53 Republicans seated and the 60-vote filibuster threshold a high hurdle.

“Great Job by hard working Scott Pressler on Fox & Friends talking about using the Filibuster, or Talking Filibuster, in order to pass [THE SAVE AMERICA ACT], an 88% issue with ALL VOTERS,” Trump wrote Sunday morning on Truth Social. “It must be done immediately.”

“It supersedes everything else,” Trump added. “MUST GO TO THE FRONT OF THE LINE.”

The vow to halt all new law signings is a new one coming from the White House and notable because of the Senate hesitation to follow the urgings of Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, to force the Senate to bring the bill forward through the talking filibuster.

[Image: SAVE act]

Sen. Mike Lee talks with a guest during a rally urging Congress to pass the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, on Sept. 10, 2025.(Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

“I, as President, will not sign other Bills until this is passed,” Trump’s post continued, “AND NOT THE WATERED DOWN VERSION – GO FOR THE GOLD: MUST SHOW VOTER I.D. & PROOF OF CITIZENSHIP: NO MAIL-IN BALLOTS EXCEPT FOR MILITARY – ILLNESS, DISABILITY, TRAVEL: NO MEN IN WOMEN’S SPORTS: NO TRANSGENDER MUTILIZATION FOR CHILDREN! DO NOT FAIL!!!”

While Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., has publicly acknowledged a willingness to bring a vote on the SAVE America Act before the upper chamber, there is hesitation within the Republican Party about forcing the talking filibuster under the current Senate rules.

The talking filibuster would force Democrats to speak on the Senate floor to argue against a voter identification position widely supported by Americans, as Trump noted, but it would also force Republicans to sit in attendance with a quorum. That has been rebuked by longtime Senate GOP veterans as something that would “waste time.”

[FETTERMAN EXPECTS DHS SHUTDOWN AMID PARTISAN FUNDING FEUD, BREAKS WITH DEMOCRATS ON VOTER ID]

[Image: Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., speaks at Senate GOP leadership press conference.]

Senate Majority Leader John Thune has promised to bring the SAVE America Act to the Senate floor, but there remains some GOP hesitation on forcing the talking filibuster.(Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

Former Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has been publicly opposed to forcing a talking filibuster because of the time constraints it would force on the Senate GOP, and he remains one of the few Senate Republicans not signing on to support the SAVE America Act.

Another development that clouds the SAVE America Act filibuster is the recent appointment of Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., to serve as the next Department of Homeland Security secretary, perhaps resigning from the Senate by the end of March.

Fox News Digital reached out to Mullin’s office for comment. McConnell’s office declined to comment on Trump’s Truth Social vow to block all new law signings amid the standoff on the DHS funding that has the government in a partial shutdown and the Senate sitting on the House-passed SAVE America Act.

[GOP REACHES KEY 50-VOTE THRESHOLD FOR TRUMP-BACKED VOTER ID BILL AS SENATE FIGHT LOOMS]

“We’re going to have a vote on this, but in terms of what the president is willing to sign, Maria, we need to get the Department of Homeland Security funded,” Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso, R-Wyo., told Maria Bartiromo on “Sunday Morning Futures.”

“The Democrats have blocked that right now. And the greatest threat to the American people today is terrorism. So I want to make sure that the Democrats work with us to pass and fund the Department of Homeland Security, because I’m worried about the lone wolf, the sleeper cells and the cyber terrorism that’s coming our way because of what Iran is telling people around the world to do to continue this reign of terror,” Barrasso said.

Getting to 60 votes in the Senate is unlikely with just Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., as the lone potential Democrat vote to side with the Senate GOP on the SAVE America Act.

[HOUSE REPUBLICANS PUSH JOHNSON TO GO TO WAR WITH SENATE OVER SAVE ACT]

[Image: Mitch McConnell, John Barrasso, John Thune]

Senate GOP WHIP John Barrasso and Majority Leader John Thune have expressed more support for forcing Democrats to filibuster the SAVE America Act than Sen. Mitch McConnell.(Getty Images)

“The Democrats are against so many of the things that I think help this country,” Barrasso added to Bartiromo. “They’d rather stand with illegal immigrant criminals than with the safety and security of the American people. I want to get the SAVE Act to the floor. I want to have a vote.”

“That’s the next step on this need to get the Department of Homeland Security open and funded,” he continued. “The Democrats are bowing to the liberal left: The people that want to eliminate ICE, the people that want open borders again, and the people that really aren’t looking out for the best interest of the American people.

“As the president said in the State of the Union, it is the first duty of the American government to protect American citizens, not illegal aliens. But that’s what not one single Democrat stood up for that when every Republican stood and cheered loudly.”

Barrasso, the Senate GOP member whipping up support, considers the SAVE America Act “common sense.”

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“You want to make sure that [only citizens can vote],” he concluded to Bartiromo. “You want to make sure that when people show up, they have a photo ID to prove they are who they say they are. You need a photo ID to buy a beer, to board a plane, all of those things. And it’s 90% popular with the American people. The only people against this are the Democrats because they want to make it easier to cheat.”

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[DAVID MARCUS: Passing the Save America Act to save Cornyn is a fair deal]

Eric Mack is a writer for Fox News Digital covering breaking news.

NTSB board member Inman says he was fired by White House

By David Shepardson
March 8, 2026 5:40 PM UTC Updated 1 hour ago

节点运行失败

Item 1 of 3 Member of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) ​​​J. Todd Inman looks on, in the aftermath of the collision of American Eagle flight 5342 and a Black Hawk helicopter that crashed into the Potomac River, at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, in Arlington, Virginia, U.S., January 31, 2025. REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz

[1/3]Member of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) ​​​J. Todd Inman looks on, in the aftermath of the collision of American Eagle flight 5342 and a Black Hawk helicopter that crashed into the Potomac River, at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, in Arlington, Virginia, U.S., January… Read more

WASHINGTON, March 8 (Reuters) – A Republican member of the U.S. National ​Transportation Safety Board said on Sunday he was fired on Friday ‌by the White House without any explanation.

Todd Inman, a former chief of staff to Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao during President Donald Trump’s first term, had served on the ​NTSB since April 2024. He was the on-scene board member at ​the American Airlines collision with an Army helicopter in January ⁠2025 near Reagan Washington National Airport that killed 67 people and the ​November crash of a UPS cargo plane on takeoff from the Louisville, ​Kentucky, airport that killed 15 people.

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The White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Inman was removed from the NTSB website on Sunday. The NTSB told senior ​leaders in an email seen by Reuters that Inman’s position was ​terminated.

The NTSB declined to comment.

The White House fired then-NTSB Vice Chair Alvin Brown in May. ‌Brown, ⁠a Democrat who was the first-ever African American elected mayor of Jacksonville, Florida, has filed suit challenging his dismissal.

The NTSB investigates all civil aviation accidents. The board investigates significant accidents in other modes of transportation – highway, ​marine, pipeline and railroad – ​and determines ⁠the probable cause of accidents and makes safety recommendations.

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Inman said serving on the NTSB had been a great honor. “Witnessing ​these horrible accidents have undoubtedly taken a toll on ​me and ⁠my family and has changed my perspective in a positive way on how we regulate safety for the traveling public,” Inman said.

Late last month, the Senate ⁠confirmed ​John DeLeeuw, who had been managing director of ​safety and efficiency for American Airlines and a Boeing 787 captain, to fill Brown’s seat ​on the NTSB.

Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Mark Porter and Aurora Ellis

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

MEXICO CITY: Mexican drug cartels are increasingly calculated in their targeting decisions, often avoiding deliberately attacking American tourists and citizens out of concern it could prompt intensified U.S. retaliation, according to experts.

Following last month’s killing of Ruben “Nemesio” Oseguera Cervantes, known as “El Mencho,” the powerful leader of the Mexican Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt joined “Fox & Friends” and had a warning for the drug gangs: “The Mexican drug cartels know not to lay a finger on a single American, or they will pay severe consequences under this president.”

Analysts say actions by President Donald Trump — including the designation of cartels as foreign terrorist organizations and high-profile operations abroad such as the capture of Nicolás Maduro and the killing of Ayatollah Khamenei in Iran — have reinforced cartel perceptions of heightened risk.

A soldier stands guard by a charred vehicle set on fire in Cointzio, Mexico, Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026, after the death of cartel leader Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes.(AP Photo/Armando Solis)

Mexican drug cartels have long operated with a primary objective: protect revenue streams and avoid actions that could trigger an overwhelming government response. Security analysts and former U.S. officials say that calculus often includes avoiding the deliberate targeting of American tourists and citizens inside Mexico.

“Of course, drug cartels are afraid of President Trump since he declared them terrorist organizations. That may be one of the reasons why they don’t attack American citizens or tourists,” cartel expert and activist Elena Chávez told Fox News Digital.

She said the cartels “modernized and are well-informed about what is happening, especially because they know there are bounties on their heads. That’s why they fear the United States, even more so since Trump became president and declared the cartels terrorist organizations. Of course, they monitor all of this and have people who keep the leaders informed about how things are moving. [The price on ‘El Mencho’s’ head] in the United States was very high.”

Adding to the pressure, Trump spoke Saturday at the newly minted Shield of the Americas Summit in Florida — a coalition of 12 Latin American and Caribbean nations — coming together to take on the cartels, among other policies.

“We have to knock the hell out of them because they’re getting worse. They’re taking over their country. The cartels are running Mexico. We can’t have that. Too close to us,” Trump warned.

President Donald Trump, center, Dominican Republic President Luis Abinader, second from left, Argentina’s President Javier Milei, El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele, Guyana’s President Mohamed Irfaan Ali, Costa Rica’s President Rodrigo Chaves Robles, Bolivia’s President Rodrigo Paz and Chile’s President-elect Jose Antonio Kast pose for a photo during the Shield of the Americas Summit in Doral, Fla., on Saturday, March 7, 2026.(Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)

“Right now, there must be more than a million Americans coming to Mexico to spend their vacations in their homes. The drug cartels don’t mess with them or their homes. They know there’s no way to avoid a reaction from the United States if they mess with its citizens. There’s an unwritten rule that says you shouldn’t mess with American citizens; if you do, you’ll suffer retaliation from the United States. And even more so now with the Trump administration” Samuel González, national security expert and former prosecutor of the specialized unit on organized crime, told Fox News Digital.

TRUMP DISCUSSES EXPANSION OF DRUG CARTEL CRACKDOWN, ISSUES GRIM WARNING TO IRAN

While high-profile killings of Americans in Mexico have occurred, experts describe them as isolated and liabilities to cartel interests rather than part of a strategic campaign.

“There are several precedents that demonstrate why the cartels are particularly careful not to touch American citizens. One of the most important was the Camarena case: the kidnapping, torture, and murder of DEA agent Enrique ‘Kiki’ Camarena in 1985 in Mexico, perpetrated by leaders of the Guadalajara Cartel (Rafael Caro Quintero, Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo, and Ernesto Fonseca Carrillo) in retaliation for the destruction of ‘El Búfalo’ marijuana ranch.

“This crime marked a turning point in the anti-drug relationship between Mexico and the U.S., prompting the DEA’s ‘Operation Leyenda’ to capture those responsible and revealing the complicity between drug traffickers and high-ranking Mexican officials.”

He added, “Another case is that of Agent Zapata. On Feb. 15, 2011, gunmen from ‘Los Zetas’cartel killed Special Agent Jaime Zapata of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE/HSI) and shot Agent Victor Avila on a highway in San Luis Potosí, Mexico. The murder triggered intense pressure from the United States on Mexico to combat the cartels, resulting in the capture of several implicated Los Zetas members, including Julián Zapata Espinoza, alias ‘El Piolín.’

“All these precedents are examples of why the cartels learned that it is not in their best interest to attack American citizens.”

TROOPS REINFORCE PUERTO VALLARTA AS UNREST SHOWS SIGNS OF EASING FOLLOWING EL MENCHO’S DEATH

Security experts say cartels closely monitor political rhetoric in Washington, particularly statements suggesting unilateral U.S. military action or expanded cross-border operations. Public debate over labeling cartels as terrorist groups has resurfaced in recent years, with some lawmakers arguing it would provide additional tools to disrupt financing and logistics networks.

According to former federal officials, cartels’ avoidance of deliberately targeting Americans is rooted less in ideology and more in risk management. High-profile attacks on U.S. citizens can generate intense media coverage, diplomatic strain and increased enforcement operations that disrupt trafficking routes.

Tourists walk past a burned shop in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, on Feb. 24, 2026, after cartel-linked violence erupted.(Alfredo Estrella/AFP via Getty Images)

Director General of the National Citizen Observatory, Francisco Rivas, told Fox News Digital: “Drug traffickers are much more afraid of attacking a foreigner than a Mexican because crimes against foreigners are prosecuted much more severely by the Mexican authorities. The greater media pressure when the victim is a foreigner creates more incentive for the police and prosecutors to investigate a kidnapping, extortion, disappearance or homicide.”

“In Mexico, more than 90% of intentional homicides and disappearances are related to people who had specific contact with the cartels, primarily for business reasons. The problems tourists experience in Mexico are the same as they might encounter in Miami, London, Rome or Paris: robberies, fraud and even some extortion, but these are proportionally marginal. Most crimes suffered in Mexico are suffered by Mexicans, and most violent crimes involve Mexican victims linked to cartels,” he said.

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While millions of Americans travel to Mexico each year without incident, law enforcement officials emphasize that criminal violence remains widespread in regions where cartels operate.

Authorities on both sides of the border maintain that cartel decision-making is driven by financial incentives and survival calculations. Actions perceived as likely to trigger direct U.S. retaliation are widely viewed by analysts as counterproductive to those interests.

Related Article

Trump’s ‘total elimination’ strategy paved way for fall of cartel kingpin ‘El Mencho’

Armando Regil reports on Mexico and Latin America. You can follow Armando on Twitter @armando_regil

Kansas City International Airport reopens after brief closure due to unspecified threat

March 8, 2026 7:35 PM UTC / Reuters

March 8 (Reuters) – Kansas City International Airport reopened on Sunday ​afternoon after a brief closure ‌as authorities investigated a possible threat, the airport and ​federal government said.

“The ​security incident at @Fly_KansasCity is now ⁠clear and normal operations ​are resuming,” U.S. Transportation Secretary ​Sean Duffy wrote in a post on X.

The Reuters Iran Briefing newsletter keeps you informed with the latest developments and analysis of the Iran war. Sign up here.

The Kansas City ​Aviation Department said it ​evacuated sections of the airport in ‌Kansas ⁠City, Missouri, due to a potential threat. It said the evacuation was ​initiated at ​around ⁠11:15 a.m. local time and that airport ​police worked with ​the ⁠FBI to investigate.

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Almost 1 million passengers pass through ⁠each ​month, according to ​airport data.

Reporting by Curtis Williams in ​Houston; Editing by Matthew Lewis

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

特朗普称空袭可持续到伊朗无领导人可投降 伊称可激战半年

发布时间：2026年3月8日 23:00 / 来源：联合早报

（空军一号 / 耶路撒冷综合电）美国总统特朗普暗示，美国和以色列对伊朗发起的战争，或许只有在伊朗潜在领导人与军队被消灭殆尽后方可结束。以色列也誓言将继续全力作战。伊朗不甘示弱，宣称有能力维持至少六个月的高强度战斗。各方态度强硬，这场冲突仍看不到尽头。

特朗普星期六（3月7日）在空军一号上告诉媒体，目前他对于同伊朗谈判不感兴趣。他说，如果伊朗所有潜在领导人选都在美以持续空袭中被消灭，伊朗军队也被摧毁，那么谈判将变得毫无意义。

特朗普说：“到某个时候，我认为伊朗可能连可以说‘我们投降’的人都不剩。”

针对美国是否会派出地面部队，以确保伊朗浓缩铀的安全，特朗普说：“也许在某个时候，我们会这么做。那将是一件好事。”他强调，向伊朗派遣地面部队必须有非常充分的理由。

美媒：美以拟派地面部队夺取伊朗核武库

美国新闻网站Axios较早时引述消息报道，美国和以色列考虑在战争后期，派地面部队夺取伊朗核武库。据报道，美以已讨论两个方案，即把浓缩铀运出伊朗，或让核专家在现场稀释处理。

特朗普星期六也排除让库尔德武装加入对伊朗军事行动的可能。他说：“这场战争已经够复杂了，没必要让库尔德人卷入其中。”

此前有报道称，美国正寻求为伊拉克与伊朗境内的库尔德武装组织提供武装配备，让他们与伊朗军队作战，以削弱伊朗军事资源。

据悉，伊朗的库尔德自由生命党（ PJAK）是与美国进行相关磋商的库尔德反政府组织之一。针对特朗普的表态，PJAK星期天告诉美国有线电视新闻网（CNN）：“重要的是，伊朗库尔德武装比以往任何时候都更加强大，并已做好应对任何情况的准备。”

特朗普星期六还对伊朗南部小学遇袭一事称，这是伊朗自己所为，“因为你们也知道，他们的弹药袭击非常不准确”。

伊朗官员早前指，伊朗南部一所女子小学在战争首日遭受美国袭击，导致超过150人死亡。

以色列总理内坦亚胡星期六誓言，以色列将动用一切力量，继续与伊朗作战。他称，经过一周空袭，美国和以色列已几乎完全控制德黑兰空域。

内坦亚胡在电视讲话中说：“我们已制定有系统的计划，以铲除伊朗政权，并实现其他许多目标。”他还称，以色列已改变中东地区权力平衡。

伊朗以新一代导弹发动新一轮袭击

伊朗伊斯兰革命卫队发言人星期天则放话说，伊朗武装力量有能力以当前节奏，持续高强度战争至少半年。发言人还说，伊朗将在未来几日使用先进且较少使用的远程导弹，给敌人带来更沉痛的打击。

星期天稍晚，革命卫队宣布使用“新一代”导弹，对以色列特拉维夫与贝尔谢巴，以及约旦的阿兹拉克（Al-Azraq）空军基地实施新一波袭击。

据以色列媒体报道，此次袭击造成至少六人受伤。报道引述警方说，初步迹象显示，来袭的伊朗弹道导弹可能携带了集束炸弹弹头。

与此同时，美以也继续空袭伊朗，并首次瞄准伊朗石油设施。伊朗星期天说，美国和以色列飞机在夜里袭击德黑兰与周边地区的四个石油仓库和一个石油产品运输中心，造成至少四人死亡。

以色列证实，以色列空军打击了德黑兰的燃料储存设施，以防止伊朗使用这些设施。

德黑兰省省长莫塔梅迪安星期天说，由于燃料供应网络遭到破坏，德黑兰的燃料供应暂时中断。伊朗国家石油产品分销公司首席执行官维斯卡拉米则说，伊朗油库拥有充足的汽油储备。

受油库遇袭影响，德黑兰星期天笼罩在厚重雾霾之中，空气里弥漫着烧焦的气味，当地还降下可能对人体有害的黑雨。伊朗环境部门呼吁人们留在室内，以避免出现呼吸道和其他健康问题。