03/18/2026 | World News Roundup

0:00Iran fires back, a deadly rise of Iranian missiles rocked Israel. A Trump appointee quits over the war, and record heat. Temperatures approach 100 degrees in parts of Los Angeles. Good morning, I'm Cammy McCormick with the CBS World News Roundup. Iran has lashed out with multiple attacks on its Gulf neighbors and Israel following the killing of one of its top leaders in an Israeli air strike. It's using some of its latest missiles to evade air defenses. CBS's Charlie Dagada is in Tel Aviv. Orange lights filling the skies over Tel Aviv last night, bomblets raining down indiscriminately across the city. Iran's cluster bombs designed to overwhelm Israel's multi-layered air defense system. This official say if not for Israel's early warning air defense system, the death toll would be much higher.

1:00Israel's second front against Iranian proxies, Hezbollah, has only intensified to expanding ground operations into southern Lebanon. Israel's defense minister is now claiming Israel has killed Iran's intelligence minister. President Trump yesterday blasted NATO allies for not answering his call to help secure the straight-of-for-move. He also criticized his national counter-terrorism chief who resigned over the war. CBS's Nancy Cordes is at the White House. President Trump slammed former Green Beret, Joe Kent minutes after Kent posted his letter of resignation on social media, saying he quote, cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran. Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation. I was thought it was a nice guy, but I always thought he was weak on security. That's not what Trump said last year when he nominated Kent to run the national counter-terrorism center. Then he praised Kent as a man who, quote, hunted down terrorists and criminals his entire

2:00adult life. Kent's nomination was controversial. He had a history of embracing conspiracy theories. In his resignation letter yesterday, Kent wrote, quote, it is clear that we started this war due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby. The security lines at airports across the country are growing longer. More TSA officers are calling out sick. They're not getting paid because of the partial government shutdown. Our Chris Van Cleve is at the airport in Phoenix. Spring break is turning into spring weight at airports across the country. I don't fly off loud, but it's never this bad. In Atlanta, Tuesday brought another day of weight times topping two hours. Monday, nearly 40 percent of TSA officers there called out sick, closing one of the checkpoints at the world's busiest airport. It was a rocky day in Denver, too. In Houston, weight times hit at least 103 minutes at Bush Airport. Today, three of the six TSA checkpoints at the Philadelphia Airport will be closed.

3:03TSA sick calls are surging since officers missed a paycheck Friday due to the month-long partial government shutdown. Acting deputy TSA administrator Adam Stahl says the agency is concerned about the growing number of callouts. If the call rate does climb, there could be scenarios where we may have to shut down airports. There is record heat in the West right now, more than 60 record highs were set yesterday from California to Idaho, Burbank and Long Beach hit 99 degrees. Their hottest March temperature on record, CBS's Carter Evans is in Malibu. The Southwest is sweltering under a heat wave scientist call unprecedented for March. It's too early. We're not ready. I'm not ready. In Arizona, the unrelenting sun is forced meter league baseball to shift its spring training games later in the day. Oh, we got to make sure the fans are safe. Daniel Swain studies extreme weather and climate change. What we're seeing is the long-term warming trend associated with climate change, really

4:04manifesting itself in an increasingly unignorable way, both in wet years and in dry years. Meanwhile, the wildfire risk in California is fairly low right now. There is considerable concern that this coming fire season later this summer into the fall could be in the West's mountain forested regions much worse than recent years. Joe Slussinger will be monitoring as the Fed looks at interest rates today. The Fedor Reserve will conclude its two-day policy meeting today, and it is widely expected that the Fed will take no action. That would mean short-term interest rates remain at three and a half to 3.75%. Ellie's Eden, part of Azure Standard, was created to make gardening more meaningful for families. In Azure Family, gardening is more than a hobby. It's how kids learn where food comes from, how families slow down together, and how we care for the land. Ellie's Eden offers carefully selected plant starts, seeds, and gardening essentials, chosen to help you grow with confidence, whether you're expanding backyard beds or planting

5:05your first patio garden. Ellie's Eden helps you grow something lasting. Explore Ellie's Eden at AZUREstander.com. Attorney General Pam Bondi has been subpoenaed by the GOP Chairman of the House Oversight Committee, CBS News Correspondent Edo Keefe as that. The committee is ordering the Attorney General to appear next month to discuss whether the department is complying with a law requiring it release all of the files related to Jeffrey Epstein. The DOJ called it unnecessary and wouldn't say if Bondi plans to comply. Jackie Senate committee will hear today from the man President Trump is chosen to head DHS. Nicole Killian is following. Senator Mark Wayne Mullin will appear before a Senate panel for a nomination hearing to become the next secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. President Trump nominated the Oklahoma Republican after removing Secretary Kristie Nome. The former businessman and MMA fighter could face a grilling over the ongoing DHS shutdown and immigration enforcement tactics. More correspondent Jonathan Vigliotti reports authorities have been looking at more surveillance

6:06footage from security cameras at the home of Nancy Guthrie, Savannah Guthrie's mother. Law enforcement sources tell CBS News the additional images were obtained over the last couple of weeks from surveillance cameras installed at Nancy Guthrie's Tucson home. One camera was fastened to a fence and focused on the back of the house, including the swimming pool area. A second camera showed the driveway and front of the garage door. The new images captured family members, landscapers and pool workers stretching back weeks prior to the kidnapping, but nothing deemed suspicious. The 2026 World Baseball Classic wrapped up in Miami last night, the details from sports reporter Erica Herskowitz. Fox Sports with a call, Eugenio Suarez answered Bryce Harper's game tying to run shot with that go ahead double in the top of the ninth to lift Venezuela to its first ever World Baseball Classic title, the Venezuelans knocked off the United States three to two. The Americans go home empty handed for a second straight time.

7:07We've learned this year's lineup for the Lala Paloza Music Festival, correspondent Jennifer Kuiper in Chicago with the details. The 2026 Lala Paloza Headliners include Charlie XCX, Lorde and Olivia Dean. This is the festival's 35th year and runs from July 30th to August 2nd in Chicago's downtown Grant Park, also performing somber, Jenny and the smashing pumpkins. Jennifer Kuiper, CBS News, Chicago. The Oscars drew fewer TV viewers this year, 17.9 million people watched the ceremony on ABC and streamed on Hulu, that's a 9% drop from last year and follows several years of gains. And that's the World News Roundup for Wednesday, March 18th. I'm Kami McCormick, CBS News. Now streaming on Paramount Plus.

8:08My center, my soul is gone. From Academy Award nominee Taylor Sheridan. Minus not a family designed to withstand tragedy. Starring Academy Award nominee Michelle Feiffer and Golden Globe nominee Kurt Russell. The worry is what you do next. You will have as much life to live as you'll have yourself. The Madison. New series, now streaming only on Paramount Plus. CBS Thursdays, are you ready for something new? Well, CBS is all new all night. It starts with the new episode of TV's number one comedy, Georgie and Andy's first marriage. And then, you might just die laughing because our favorite ghosts are back new too. Then, we follow up the funny with some good mystery. When Kathy Bates returns on a new mat lock and with Carrie Preston on the case in a new outlet. It's all new. CBS Thursdays, 8th, 7th, and streaming on Paramount Plus.