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We turn now to Senator Mark Warner. He’s the top Democrat on the intelligence committee, and he joins us from Charlottesville, Virginia. Good morning to you, Senator. 

SEN. MARK WARNER: Good morning, Margaret. 

MARGARET BRENNAN: I want to pick up where we just left off with the ambassador when he was talking about his country’s intelligence estimates versus ours. He said he was in that room that day when Prime Minister Netanyahu pitched President Trump on this war that the U.S. is now in. He said these press accounts were wrong. In your understanding of U.S. Intelligence. Is it true? The CIA disputed the Mossad’s assessment as farcical.

SEN. WARNER: Well, Margaret, I was not in that meeting. I know two things. One, having seen all the intelligence, there was no imminent threat from Iran against the United States. And two, I take my former colleague, and now Secretary of State Marco Rubio, at his word when he publicly said, well, we knew the Israelis were going to strike Iran, so we felt we needed to go ahead and strike first, since Iran would attack us. So we are where we are, but let’s- no American should forget this is a war of choice, chosen by the president, and if we just quickly look at the goals regime change, frankly, the new leadership is more radical getting the enriched uranium out would require 10,000 troops minimum, guarding a perimeter around a bunker where our troops would have to go in and get this very volatile uranium out. The Ukrainian- [sic.] I’m sorry, the Iranians could bomb that. We- we’ve taken down a lot of their ballistic missiles whether to be seen. They still have many left shooting down our planes. Thank God our military is world class and got those pilots out, but they literally have thousands of drones left. And this question about what the president is going to do with closing the Strait of Hormuz. The Iranians have hundreds of speed boats where they can still mine the strait or put- put bombs against tankers in closing the strait. How is that going to ever bring down gas prices?

MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, two things on that. Just to follow up, that 10,000 troop requirement, is that an official government estimate, and is that in the midst of combat, or is that with Iranian government permission to have boots on the ground?

SEN. WARNER: This has been- this has been known for. There is a reason, the Iranian regime is awful. I agree with the ambassador on that they’ve been awful for 47 years. But there was a reason why previous presidents, including President Trump in his first term, didn’t choose to go to war, because this is extraordinarily complicated, the fact that the president acts like he’s surprised the Iranians closed the strait or would attack our Gulf allies. Anybody would have read the intelligence would’ve known that was first. The ability to protect our soldiers would require every estimate, I’ve seen at least 10,000 troops guarding a perimeter, sending troops into these bunkers for days on end. Very vulnerable. The Iranians still have ability to bomb their own bunkers. That is again a reason why I think action like this has not been taken before.

MARGARET BRENNAN: So CNN is reporting that- and the New York Times, that China is set to deliver new air defense systems to Iran within the next few weeks. The Israeli ambassador previously has acknowledged that China was considering helping- helping Iran. How significant would you describe Beijing’s support at this point?

SEN. WARNER: I would describe it as significant, but they try to hide themselves. China says, well, this is their private sector. We all know there is no such thing as a true private sector in China. Every company in China has to have its first loyalty to the Communist Party. But what we have done, let me also point out Margaret, by the Trump administration releasing sanctions on Russian oil. That’s $10 billion to Putin. More crazy is by releasing sanctions on Iranian oil at sea, we have literally funded the Iranian government $14 billion that they’re using to buy from China and elsewhere weapons to attack our troops. That is insanity in my mind.

In the hours between President Trump threatening to eradicate a “whole civilization” unless Iran agreed to open the Strait of Hormuz and the announcement of a two-week ceasefire, Republicans in Congress remained mostly silent about Mr. Trump’s threat.

The president had given Iran a deadline of 8 p.m. Tuesday to reopen the strait, a critical channel for global oil trade, or face attacks on its civilian infrastructure. Twelve hours before the deadline, and about 11 hours before he announced a ceasefire, Mr. Trump posted an ominous message on Truth Social.

“A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again. I don’t want that to happen, but it probably will,” he said.

Rep. Nathaniel Moran of Texas appeared to be the first Republican in Congress to express unease, saying Tuesday afternoon that he does “not support the destruction of a ‘whole civilization.’”

“That is not who we are, and it is not consistent with the principles that have long guided America,” he wrote, adding that “how we protect the lives of the innocent is just as important as how we engage the enemy.”

Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska said Mr. Trump’s threat “cannot be excused away as an attempt to gain leverage in negotiations with Iran.”

“Everyone involved—especially the President and Iran’s leaders—must de-escalate their unprecedented saber-rattling before it is too late,” she said in a social media post.

Rep. Kevin Kiley of California, who recently switched his party affiliation from Republican to independent, also weighed in, urging Mr. Trump against the escalation.

“The United States does not destroy civilizations. Nor do we threaten to do so as some sort of negotiating tactic,” he wrote.

The lack of condemnation from most congressional Republicans stood in stark contrast to the dozens of Democrats who called for Mr. Trump to be removed from office via the 25th Amendment or impeached over the rhetoric. By Tuesday afternoon, more than 70 Democrats in both chambers had called for his removal, including former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

“Donald Trump’s instability is more clear and dangerous than ever,” the California Democrat said in a statement. “If the Cabinet is not willing to invoke the 25th Amendment and restore sanity, Republicans must reconvene Congress to end this war.”

Rep. John Larson, a Connecticut Democrat, announced Tuesday afternoon that he had introduced articles of impeachment against Mr. Trump, although that effort has no chance of succeeding with Republicans in the majority.

Some conservatives outside of Congress, who were once fervent Trump supporters, also condemned the president’s threats. Former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones were among those calling for Mr. Trump’s removal.

Less than two hours before the 8 p.m. deadline, Mr. Trump announced the ceasefire, provided Iran agreed to the “COMPLETE, IMMEDIATE, and SAFE OPENING of the Strait of Hormuz,” delaying the threatened large-scale attack.

American journalist Shelly Kittleson has been freed after militants from the Iranian-backed Kata’ib Hezbollah kidnapped her in Iraq one week ago.

Two Iraqi government sources and a source familiar with the situation told CBS News on Tuesday that Kittleson had been released. Secretary of State Marco Rubio later confirmed her release, saying in a statement, “We are relieved that this American is now free and are working to support her safe departure from Iraq.”

Kata’ib Hezbollah had Kittleson’s name on a list of American journalists to target for kidnapping, multiple sources said. She was abducted in Baghdad last Tuesday, March 31.

A spokesperson for the Kata’ib Hezbollah militia said earlier in a post on the group’s Telegram messaging app channel that Kittleson was being released on the condition that she leave Iraq immediately.

Her exact whereabouts were not immediately clear.

Two militia officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told The Associated Press that in exchange for Kittleson’s release, Iraqi authorities would free several detained members of Kata’ib Hezbollah.

Earlier, the group released an undated video of Kittleson in which she speaks directly to the camera. It is unclear where the video was taken. It runs about two and a half minutes long and she is seen wearing a pink sweater and green blazer.

Rubio in his statement thanked the FBI, Department of Defense, “U.S. personnel across multiple agencies, and the Iraqi Supreme Judicial Council and our Iraqi partners, for their assistance in securing her release.”

FBI Director Kash Patel said in a statement that the agency was “thrilled to welcome American journalist Shelly Kittleson’s release today.”

“Our Hostage Recovery Fusion Cell was relentless in this effort working with our outstanding State Department, Department of War, and other partners across the federal government,” Patel said, using the Trump administration’s preferred term for the Defense Department. “This was a team effort in every way reflecting President Trump’s commitment to leaving no American behind.”

Alex Plitsas, Kittleson’s designated point of contact in the U.S. and a CNN national security analyst, previously told CBS News the U.S. government had warned Kittleson about a specific threat against her by Kata’ib Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed paramilitary group that was allegedly looking to kidnap or kill female journalists.

Kittleson was contacted multiple times with warnings of threats against her, including as recently as the night before she was abducted, a U.S. official had told CBS News.

Journalist Kiran Nazish, the founder and director of the Coalition for Women in Journalism, told CBS News last week that Kittleson was traveling to Iraq to stay with a family there who had reassured Kittleson that she shouldn’t worry and that they “would keep her safe.” Kittleson told Nazish in a text message that she had been advised not to travel, but “she was doing what she had always done,” Nazish told CBS News.

Nazish said Kittleson traveled to Iraq and Syria several times before and had “experience reporting on the ground in difficult circumstances.” Kittleson lives in Rome and has spent time in Istanbul.

A charity that Prince Harry co-founded in Africa to honor his late mother, Princess Diana, is suing him for defamation after he stepped down as a patron last year.

Sentebale, which Harry co-founded with Prince Seeiso of Lesotho in 2006 and helps youths with HIV in southern Africa, filed suit last month in London’s High Court, according to court records reviewed Friday.

Online filings show Harry and his friend, Mark Dyer, a trustee at the charity, are being sued for either libel or slander. No documents were available.

“The charity seeks the court’s intervention, protection, and restitution following a coordinated adverse media campaign conducted since 25 March 2025 that has caused operational disruption and reputational harm to the charity, its leadership, and its strategic partners,” Sentebale said Friday in a statement on its website.

A spokesperson for Harry and Dyer said the pair “categorically reject these offensive and damaging claims.”

In the local language of Lesotho, where the charity is based, Sentebale means “forget-me-not.”

At the time, they said the relationship between the board and its chair, Sophie Chandauka, was beyond repair and that they were stepping down in solidarity with five trustees who resigned over an internal dispute that had broken into public view.

“What’s transpired is unthinkable. We are in shock that we have to do this, but we have a continued responsibility to Sentebale’s beneficiaries, so we will be sharing all of our concerns with the Charity Commission as to how this came about,” Harry and Seeiso said in a joint statement at the time.

Chandauka later accused Harry of orchestrating a campaign of bullying and harassment to try to force her out.

She told Sky News in March that Harry’s resignation had blindsided her and was “an example of harassment and bullying at scale.” She said he also had interfered with a whistleblower complaint she filed against the charity.

Two U.S. Navy destroyers had transited the Strait of Hormuz to begin mine-clearing operations in the vital waterway, U.S. Central Command said Saturday.

The destroyers crossed through the Strait and operated in the Arabian Gulf, CENTCOM said on social media. Additional U.S. forces, including underwater drones, will “join the clearance effort in the coming days,” CENTCOM said.

The operation came as President Trump said on Truth Social on Saturday that the U.S. was doing “a favor to Countries all over the world” by clearing mines from the strait. Mr. Trump also said Saturday that all of Iran’s mine-laying ships have been destroyed.

“They probably have a couple of mines in the water,” Mr. Trump later told reporters early Saturday evening as he was departing the White House for Florida. “We have minesweepers out there. We’re sweeping the strait.”

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards later released a statement threatening to deal “severely” with any military vessels transiting the strait, according to Agence France-Presse.

“Any attempt by military vessels to pass through the Strait of Hormuz will be dealt with severely. The IRGC Navy has full authority to manage the Strait of Hormuz intelligently,” the Guards’ Navy Command said in a statement released through state broadcaster IRIB, AFP reported.

The IRGC added that passage of the strait would only be “granted to civilian vessels under specific conditions.”

Meanwhile, Vice President JD Vance traveled to Islamabad for direct trilateral talks with Iran and Pakistan. However, in a news briefing early Sunday morning local time following what he said was a 21-hour marathon negotiation session, Vance said that the U.S. had not reached a deal, adding that Iran had “chosen not to accept our terms.”

The vice president departed Islamabad shortly after the news conference.

Saturday marked the first time the U.S. and Iran have held face-to-face talks since the Islamic Revolution in 1979. Before Sunday’s talks, the highest-level direct contact had been when former President Barack Obama, in September 2013, called the then newly elected Iranian President Hassan Rouhani to discuss Iran’s nuclear program.

U.S. officials told CBS News in late March that at least a dozen underwater mines had been placed in the waterway. Their analysis was based on American intelligence assessments. The devices include the Maham 3, a moored naval mine that uses sensors to operate, and a “sticking mine” called the Maham 7 that rests along the seabed until a target passes within range. Both devices are manufactured in Iran. Drones and missiles were also used to stop ships from passing through the Strait.