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Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees

Trump Agrees To Two-Week Ceasefire, Subject Of Hormuz Opening; Iran Claims Victory, Says It Forced U.S. To Accept 10-point Plan; Sirens Sound In Tel Aviv After Trump Announces Iran Ceasefire; Trump Announces Two-Week Ceasefire; Iran Claims Victory; Trump Says Iran's 10-Point Proposal Is "Workable Basis" To Negotiate. Aired 8-9p ET

Aired April 07, 2026 - 20:00 ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: Our White House team, Alayna Treene and Kristen Holmes, are just learning that the Trump administration is now preparing for a potential in-person meeting of U.S. and Iranian officials, which would be significant and would likely take place in the coming days in Islamabad, Pakistan. Pakistani mediators would be there, along with President Trump's special envoy, Steve Witkoff, son- in-law, Jared Kushner, both of who we're there when this failed the first time around. But this time, Vice President J.D. Vance apparently may also join, which is also a notable development.

Well, thanks very much for joining us as our breaking news coverage continues here on AC360 with Anderson Cooper. It starts now.

[20:00:38]

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST, "ANDERSON COOPER: 360": Good evening from the newsroom as our CNN Global War coverage begins, it is 8:00 P.M. on the East Coast. Now, this is the exact minute President Trump had said as the deadline for launching the destruction of Iran's civilization, bombing it back to the stone ages is what he had threatened. The latest of a string of threats and deadlines and deadline extensions dating back to the 21st of last month.

Four bellicose threats, all of which rattled markets and shock consciences and ultimately, we're not followed through on. Tonight, though, after promising what many legal scholars pointed out would likely be a war crime, the President posted this online.

Its lengthy, I want to read it to you in full, it begins, "Based on conversations with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Field Marshal Asim Munir of Pakistan and wherein they requested that I hold off the destructive force being sent tonight to Iran and subject the Islamic Republic of agreeing to the complete, immediate and safe opening of the Strait of Hormuz. I agree to suspend the bombing and attack of Iran for a period of two weeks. This will be a double-sided ceasefire."

The President goes on, "The reason for doing so is that we have already met and exceeded all military objectives and are very far, along with a definitive agreement concerning long-term peace with Iran and peace in the Middle East". He adds, "We received a ten-point proposal from Iran and believe it is a workable basis on which to negotiate almost all the various points of contention have been agreed to between the United States and Iran, but a two-week period will allow the agreement to be finalized and consummated".

The President closes with, "On behalf of the United States of America, as President and also representing the countries of the Middle East. It is an honor to have this long-term problem close to resolution. Thank you for your attention to this matter".

A short time later, a senior White House official told CNN that Israel is on board with this, answering one key question. Even though just moments ago we got reports of more incoming missile fire from Iran. We'll have a live report from Tel Aviv shortly. Iran's National Security Council has also weighed in, saying in a statement that Iran has achieved a great victory and forced the United States to accept its ten-point plan.

Iran's Foreign Minister added this online, "I hereby declare on behalf of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, if attacks against Iran are halted, our powerful armed forces will cease their defensive operations". He continues, "For a period of two weeks, safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz will be possible via coordination with Iran's Armed Forces and with due consideration of technical limitations".

A lot to discuss during our two-hour Global War coverage tonight. First, quickly, how we got to this point. The day beginning with the President making that threat that no President ever has. He made it on his social network. Quoting now, "A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again. I don't want that to happen, but it probably will". That was preceded by this threat yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: We're giving them until tomorrow, 8:00 Eastern Time and after that, they're going to have no bridges, they're going to have no power plants, stone ages, yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: Well, today that kind of language drew criticism across the political spectrum in addition to a push from Democratic lawmakers for war powers legislation or the Presidents removal under the 25th Amendment, there we're new expressions of concern from some Republicans.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

SEN. RON JOHNSON (R-WI): I am hoping and praying that President Trump is, this really is bluster. I do not want to see us start blowing up civilian infrastructure. I do not want to see that. us start blowing up civilian infrastructure. that we are not at war with the are not at war with Iranian people. We are trying to liberate them. (END AUDIO CLIP)

COOPER: Alaska Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski said online today that the President's threat against Iran, "... cannot be excused away as an attempt to gain leverage in negotiations". Additionally, she called the Presidents rhetoric, quote, "an affront to the ideals our nation has sought to uphold and promote around the world for nearly 250 years".

Well, there will be no follow through on the rhetoric, at least for now. However, all this has driven oil prices to record highs. The spot market price of a barrel of benchmark Brent crude settling today at $144.00. Gas prices, though not yet in record territory, now stand at $4.14 a gallon, up $1.16 since the war began.

I want to get the latest from our CNN White House correspondent Kristen Holmes and CNN senior National Security correspondent Zach Cohen.

We'll start with Kristen. Is it clear exactly what the U.S. and Iran have agreed to as any kind of a framework for these upcoming negotiations? Because it looks like this puts Iran in control of the Strait of Hormuz, certainly for the next two weeks.

[20:05:18]

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: It does certainly look like that. And that does appear to be what at least is going to happen for these two weeks. We know that both sides are agreeing to a ceasefire. We also know, of course, that they're reopening the Strait of Hormuz, although it's unclear what the circumstances around the reopening are in terms of is this going to cost money? Is this going to be, is there going to be a toll? We just aren't clear on exactly what they're starting from.

Now, President Trump has talked about this ten-point plan, a basis for negotiation. Now, we are seeing a lot of bluster right now as both sides are taking credit for winning this. Essentially, we have a statement here that was from the Council. Excuse me, this is Iran's Supreme National Security Council that says that they won the war and it lays out what they believe is in ten-point plan. It does not give any kind of actual details, but just says that essentially the United States bent to Iran.

When we asked the White House about this ten-point plan, they just said that this was a jumping off point. They would not give any details and then they said that it was President Trump and the U.S. military that got Iran to back down.

So, it's a lot right now in this time period of everyone saying the other person is backing down. But what we do know, of course, is that there is now a two-week ceasefire, that the Strait of Hormuz will be open, though we don't know the conditions and that Isarael has agreed as well to the ceasefire, which is key in all of this. But when we talk about Israel, it is important to note we don't know how long they've agreed to this. They've agreed to this one portion of a two-week ceasefire to hammer out negotiations between the U.S. and Iran. But we don't know what this looks like down the road.

COOPER: And our Jeremy Diamond is reporting on concerns from Israel about this plan. Joining us now is CNN's Zach Cohen. So, what are you hearing from Pentagon officials tonight?

ZACK COHEN, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Anderson, a U.S. official telling me that at least for now, the U.S. military has paused strikes inside Iran. So, we're seeing a tangible impact of this supposed ceasefire deal that has been agreed upon, it sounds like by both the Trump administration and the Iranian government.

But digging a little deeper into this ten-point plan that the Iranians say that at least in practice, that the Trump administration has agreed to, one of the conditions is really striking, and it is a demand that the United States withdraw all combat forces from all bases and points of deployment within the region. So not just in the general proximity of Iran, but in the region itself, all of the bases, including the bases that we've seen be hit by Iranian missile strikes and drone attacks over the last several weeks in retaliation to these U.S.-Israeli strikes.

So, and that comes in addition to this other demand about the Strait of Hormuz, which effectively amounts to Iran demanding that the United States formally legitimize Iran's control of the Strait going forward. And that's something that we have to remember, was not the case before these joint us-Israeli strikes first began.

Iran did not formally control the Strait of Hormuz. That was something that they did in response to the U.S.-Israeli military operations. And it's something that has ultimately led us to this point and was the key motivator, it seems, for President Trump to agree to this cease fire. He was realizing, it seems, that there was a shot clock here. An urgent need to reopen the Strait, but at what price remains to be seen? It sounds like there will be talks in the near future between Iran and the U.S. and Pakistan.

But according to these ten demands that the Iranians are putting forward, including the withdrawal of U.S. forces from all bases in the region, it will be shocking to see if the Trump administration agrees to that among the other ones.

COOPER: Zach Cohen, appreciate it.

Joining me now is former deputy secretary of state Wendy Sherman, who led the team who negotiated the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran. CNN's global affairs analyst Brett McGurk, who served in senior National Security posts under the last four Presidents, including President Trump's first term and CNN global affairs analyst and Iran expert Karim Sadjadpour. Karim is currently a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

Brett, first of all, what's your reaction to the President's announcement of this and the Iranians response? BRETT MCGURK, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: I think, Anderson, there's a lot we don't know obviously, here the guns are going silent for a time, but not surprising if you do this all in public, like what's happening. The Iranians always demand, as Wendy knows, the last whatever it is in a military exchange, the last shot in the negotiation, the last, you know, edit to the text and they're coming in and basically saying, you just had it on screen. The Strait of Hormuz is open in coordination with their armed forces. If that is true, Anderson, that is not a return to status quo ante bellum. How it should be with free passage of the Strait and that's a hugely problematic outcome, if that's what we just agreed to.

COOPER: That's a huge victory for Iran because Iran was not in control officially of the Strait before this.

MCGURK: Right, so I think the test here over the next 48 to 72 hours are ships passing freely through the strait, clearing that backlog, or are they stopping and paying a toll to Iran? Is this system that they've set up?

So, we'll see, I mean, I'm talking to a lot of people who honestly, Anderson, don't know, people who are very close to this in terms of how it's going to go, I don't know. President Trumps statement suggests it will be free passage, free complete passage. And the Iranians put out a statement saying that they have to coordinate with their armed forces, so that's a problem.

[20:10:23]

COOPER: Yes, Karim, the statement is, passage to the Strait of Hormuz will be, "possible via coordination with Iran's Armed Forces and with due consideration of technical limitations. It also talks about coordinating with the Armed Forces and this confirming a unique economic and geopolitical position for Iran.

KARIM SADJADPOUR, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: You know, Anderson, Iran wants to essentially normalize its control over the Strait of Hormuz as its Panama Canal and the one --

COOPER: Which it wasn't previously.

SADJADPOUR: No Strait of Hormuz is an international waterway, and they want to make it an Iranian waterway to take tolls from each ship that passes through, which is making them the most important exporter of oil at the moment. Because 20 percent of oil, LNG, fertilizer passes through the strait, and they want to do that for a couple of reasons. Number one, they say that they want reassurances that they're not going to be attacked again in the future by the United States and Israel.

And number two, they believe they deserve compensation for the billions of dollars in damages they've endured. I'm very skeptical that they're going to be able to get those assurances so long as their official slogan is "Death to America and Death to Israel," and they're committed to their nuclear program, their missiles and drones and proxies, they're not going to be able to get those reassurances. So, in my view, we can breathe a temporary sigh of relief, but I don't think were anywhere near a permanent resolution to this conflict.

COOPER: And Wendy, this has nothing to do with, I mean, there's nothing in this about the long-term nuclear program that Iran has, which is probably number one. I mean, right now, the Strait of Hormuz is the biggest issue for the United States. But the nuclear future of Iran is probably a bigger issue for the planet. Do you believe the Iranians are negotiating in good faith here? I mean, have they have they won this round?

WENDY SHERMAN, FORMER DEPUTY SECRETARY OF STATE: Well, I think what you've heard from both Brett and Karim is absolutely right. Iran is in control of the Strait of Hormuz. They're also in control of their enrichment stockpile. That really hasn't been discussed at all in this two-week break.

We see that we are in much worse shape. It's much more hardline regime now than it even was before. I'm sure Karim would agree with that. And as a result, it concerns me that now they will believe they need a nuclear weapon to act as a deterrent from future attacks by the United States, Israel, or anyone else for that matter.

And if that is in fact, where this goes, then indeed there will be many other people in the world who will want nuclear weapons as well.

I think the really tough part here, as Brett pointed out, is we don't know how much this will hold for two weeks. And there is a wide, wide gulf, as Karim said, between where the President has said he wants to be and where this ten-point plan is. They're not even in the same universe. And these negotiations are very tough. They take more than two weeks. I'm not even sure you could get a framework. And the fact that the President has said he's going to base this on the ten-points that have been laid out by Iran. Most of those points are in Iran's favor.

COOPER: Right, Wendy, when you were negotiating, how long did the negotiations for the deal you got in 2015? How long did that take, it was like a year, wasn't it?

SHERMAN: Oh, it took 18 months to get there.

COOPER: Eighteen months, yes. So, the idea that this is going to happen in two weeks, I mean, that's just not the Iranian clock.

SHERMAN: That is not the Iranian clock and this is a very technical negotiation. Everything from how you ensure safe passage in the Strait of Hormuz to what you're going to do about sanctions relief and what that looks like to what the stock, what happens to that stockpile, what Iran can continue to do.

Iran has said in the Supreme National Council said again tonight, they have to hold on to their right to enrichment. They believe that is a right they have in the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. The United States has never believed it is a right. We only acceded to the possibility under strict monitoring and verification. Theres a lot, a lot that has to be worked out here. And I think the really horrible thing about what's happened over the last few weeks is that the United States has lost its moral authority in the world, we have pushed back our alliances. This really has not only created some positives for Iran and to be sure, we have hurt their missile program, we have hurt their facilities. We have hurt their Navy. No question about all of that, but we've also made heroes in some ways out of Russia and China, who have helped Iran and now think they can do whatever they want because the United States did.

COOPER: Brett, do you agree with that? Because that's a really bleak look at, I mean, if that's what came out of all this, that's bleak.

[20:15:25]

MCGURK: Yes, Anderson, I tend to withhold judgment until we know a little more and see. We don't really know what's happening in Iran. We don't know the strength of the system. I do think we've lost the plot, though, Anderson. I mean, you and I we're talking back in January about the protests by the Iranian people, and I feel like we've lost that critical --

COOPER: Do you think destroying their civilization is a --

MCGURK: I know exactly. I mean, what we saw play out in the last 24 hours was so counterproductive to everything, and particularly the Iranian people are protesting for their civilization, for Iranian nationalism, against the Islamic Republic, the Islamic state of, the Islamic Republic of Iran. And we just we've lost that.

So, look, we have to see as the dust settles here, what's happening in the Strait of Hormuz, how intact is this regime? Is the Supreme Leader even in control? Is he alive? We actually don't know these answers. So, we'll have to see. But obviously there are a lot of problematic elements here right now. And I think it's going to require some good diplomacy to try to pull them together.

COOPER: Karim, I mean, do you, yes, huge devastation in, you know, facilities capabilities in Iran. But does is in some way the regime are they a worse regime than the one that was in place before, which was, you know, a suicidal, fanatical regime? Is Iran stronger in some weird way than they we're before?

SADJADPOUR: I think their ability to project power is weaker, but their hold over society right now is stronger.

COOPER: Over Iranians?

SADJADPOUR: Over Iranian society, it's a military government, revolutionary guard government with all of their fingers on the trigger. And, you know, our greatest ally against the Iranian regime are the people of Iran, who for 47 years have been fighting for freedom. And, you know, they want to - they believe that Iranian civilization is being suffocated by this regime.

So, President Trump's threats to destroy Iranian civilization is strategic malpractice. You want to be on the side of Iranian people, on Iranian civilization, because this cold war we've had with Iran is never going to end until we have new leaders in power in Iran, who's organizing principle is the national interest of Iran, rather than the revolutionary ideology of 1979.

COOPER: If, I mean, Brett, if you were a regime which has long believed the U.S. wants to destroy you, and the U.S. President has said that he's willing to wipe out your civilization and bring you back to the stone ages. Is giving up your nuclear weapon just from a purely strategic standpoint, or your nuclear program? Is that a wise move?

MCGURK: No, I think it's what he said. They will they will now have a strategic calculation to try to retain what they have and build it back. It will be hard to build it back. They have to rebuild the centrifuge and capacity and everything else to actually do anything with that enriched uranium.

But no, they're sitting on 1,000 pounds of highly enriched uranium, Anderson, without any inspectors, without anything. And that's a big problem. And that is, again, we can't lose the plot here. It's the Iranian people, as Karim just said, it's the missiles and drones. It's the nuclear. It's obviously support for terrorism. And we haven't necessarily here made any of that better. But I just want to withhold judgment as we go forward and see even what's just happening, which just happened tonight. We still have some open questions, a lot of open questions.

COOPER: Yes, I should point out that nuclear agreement that was made in 2015 through Wendy Sherman and many others, that was ripped up by the Trump administration, which is what is ultimately led us to the position that we're in now. Wendy Sherman, Brett McGurk, Karim Sadjadpour, thank you.

Coming up next, we'll go to Israel, which was coming under new attack just as we went to air. We'll bring you that new reporting.

Also, more on how this is likely to be received by the Iranian people, some of whom formed human chains around likely airstrike targets today, after urging from the government there. That and more as our CNN Global War coverage continue.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:23:30]

COOPER: Those were air raid sirens a short time ago in Tel Aviv after Iran launched more missiles at Israel tonight, the latest just a few moments ago, people there being urged to take shelter, among them CNN's Jeremy Diamond, who joins us now.

So, what are you hearing from Israeli authorities about their opinion on this deal? And is it clear how you I mean, how the Prime Minister and again, I'm hearing more air raid sirens. So, if you got to go, you got to go. But what are you hearing from Israeli officials?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right, Anderson, you can see actually behind me one of those cluster munitions coming in as the air raid sirens are now sounding here in Tel Aviv. We're going to go to shelter, and you can stick with us as we move. But this is the fourth time now that we have had air raids in Israel since President Trump released that tweet announcing this cease fire agreement between Iran and the United States. And in fact, this siren is the second one we've seen since the Pakistani Prime Minister said that the ceasefire had gone into immediate effect.

So presumably, if the Pakistani Prime Minister is to be believed, then the ceasefire is already in effect. And what we are witnessing right now are violations of that ceasefire agreement by Iran, which is continuing to rain down ballistic missile fire over Israel. Some of those, including cluster munitions.

And as I can tell you, the reaction from Israeli officials tonight, to this ceasefire agreement is that they will abide by this agreement. They will also cease fire for the next two weeks alongside the United States as long as Iran keeps up its end of the bargain here.

But Israeli officials are not pleased, I spoke with an Israeli source tonight who said that Israel is reluctantly agreeing to this cease fire agreement, and they are doing so because, as Prime Minister Netanyahu told me several weeks ago, President Trump is the leader, Israel is the ally in this military campaign in Iran. But ultimately, Israeli officials felt like they still had more to achieve in Iran, more goals to achieve militarily through strikes, and also more targets that they could strike inside of Iran as well.

[20:25:44]

But for the for the time being, we understand that Israel will abide by this ceasefire. Again, it is contingent on Iran doing so as well. And as we are witnessing right now, and as you're witnessing by my presence in this bomb shelter. In fact, we just heard a boom going off overhead. Iran is not yet abiding by the terms of this ceasefire.

Interestingly, the Pakistani Prime Minister also said that this ceasefire agreement would include Lebanon, which presumably would halt Israeli military operations in Southern Lebanon. Israeli airstrikes in the Lebanese capital of Beirut that we've been seeing over the course of the last few weeks, and Hezbollah attacks on Northern and Central Israel. That is also a big, big question mark because Israeli officials, their understanding was that if a ceasefire was reached with Iran, they would likely intensify their operations against Hezbollah in Lebanon. This would very much change that equation.

But again, we haven't yet officially heard from the Israeli government about the ceasefire agreements, about this inclusion of Lebanon, other than, again, what I'm hearing right now from an Israeli source.

COOPER: All right, Jeremy diamond, appreciate it. Thank you very much. I'm joined now by CNN National Security analyst Alex Plitsas and retired U.S. Army colonel Peter Mansoor.

Alex, you and I have been talking since, before this began, is this the outcome you expected? ALEX PLITSAS, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: You know, leading up to this point, the comments coming back about the Pakistan led process we're not great, that it was not really going anywhere and then all of a sudden, it started to gain traction over the last day or so, where there was a real push by the Pakistani Prime Minister to get this two- week ceasefire into effect. If the straits would open up.

There was, I think, some warm sentiments earlier today, as I would describe it, I heard from some allied intelligence officials, also hearing from some White House officials. It was trending in the right direction and then it finally landed about an hour before the deadline had hit.

So, you know, now hearing Jeremy as well, I think he's 100 percent correct. If you remember the last time as well, we've also completely decimated the Iranian command and control structure. So, I imagine there's a chance that there could still be some sporadic missile fire coming in for a bit until all of the Iranian units are reached and told that the ceasefire is, in fact, in effect.

COOPER: Their capabilities remain, I mean, they're able to shoot down U.S. planes. They're able to fire missiles into Israel.

PLITSAS: Yes, I mean, what we're hearing is that the jet that was shot down the other day was brought down by a shoulder fired missile. So, the administration has been talking about air superiority and air dominance, which is taking out the fighter jets and then the surface to air missiles that are fired with the radar dishes that people are used to seeing in the movies. But there's also shoulder fired ones. And the lower you fly to the ground; you know that the greater the chance of that happening, it's hard to get all of those.

COOPER: Colonel Mansoor, what are the odds this ceasefire holds for the full two weeks? And I guess more importantly, let's talk big picture. If Iran has control through its Armed Forces over the next two weeks of the Strait of Hormuz, does that, then whatever happens to the negotiating table essentially give Iran de facto control moving forward because they didn't have that before?

COLONEL PETER MANSOOR (RET), U.S. ARMY: Well, absolutely. I mean, that's the big takeaway from this ceasefire is that for at least two weeks and presumably going into the negotiations, Iran is in control of 20 percent of the world's oil supply and can exact tolls on shipping. It is an own goal of enormous proportions. You know, my PhD advisors Alan Williamson Murray once wrote that mistakes in tactics and operations can be corrected, but miscalculations in policy and strategy live on forever, and I'm afraid that's the case here with the Trump administration in its war on Iran.

COOPER: So, is this what you get when you go into a war without really having a plan other than Jesus is going to protect us and protect our bullets, and they're going to shoot straight and we're going to kill a lot of them?

It's what you get when you expect tactical and operational excellence to achieve strategic outcomes, and you don't think through the second and third order effects in the branches and sequels, and what can happen if things go wrong. You know, the administration had three major goals, regime change, stop Iran from supporting its proxies around the Middle East and destroy its nuclear program, none of them have been achieved. It's damaged and degraded. Their missile and drone capacity and destroyed their Navy. But yet Iran still controls the Strait of Hormuz. So, none of the strategic goals have been met and they're unlikely to be met.

COOPER: Alex, do you agree with that?

PLITSAS: I think, you know, when all of the exercises have been done over the years for the straits to prep the United States, it all was predicated upon taking out the missiles, the nuclear program. And it didn't begin with an existential threat to the regime in terms of taking out all the major leaders in the decapitation strike at the beginning. So, Iran immediately went into a position of an existential threat response and through that, they we're able to hold the straits at risk.

And for years, we've always talked about them mining the straits or the naval. But now with the evolution of drone warfare over the last few years, particularly because of the war in Ukraine, they we're able to do so without actually physically closing the straits, they're open.

[20:30:52]

COOPER: I mean, essentially, this is moved from a fight over Iran's nuclear program and the regime to concern over the Strait of Hormuz and getting oil through. I mean that's where the administration's interest has shifted. We're not hearing them talk about concern of the nuclear capabilities of Iran anymore, it's all about opening up the Strait.

PLITSAS: Yes, we began with a statement that they were two weeks away from getting a weapon, in reality it was about two weeks away if they had the enrichment technology from getting that 440 kilograms of highly enriched uranium from 60 to 90 percent, just enough fuel for about 11 weapons. But then you still have to build a bomb and that takes, you know, a good bit of time afterwards.

So if you pivot away from that to the other strategic threats, there was a clear plan, years of intelligence, about 16,000 targets for the missiles, the drones, the industrial base, the navy, et cetera, which Central Command has been working through off of an air tasking order and, you know, there's about 3,000 or so targets left. They're not completely done, they wanted to be done with it so they don't have to go back.

But then there was mission creep, the straits was not an original military objective, and then a transition to protesters isn't a military objective, it's a political one. The military can set the conditions for it, but with a million men at arms, you can bomb every headquarters in the entire country. And unless you get every AK-47, you have an unarmed population and unless the security forces fall, it's difficult for them to take over. COOPER: And Colonel, it does seem now that the U.S. is dealing with an Iranian regime, which the President says there has been regime change because there's a lot of dead leaders and who have been replaced by new ones, there's a lot of reporting that the new ones may be more hardline, more extreme, have less reason to feel like they need to be moderate in any capacity.

Do you think Iran now is a greater threat to the U.S.? Obviously, they've been severely -- their, you know, capabilities have been degraded for how long, we don't know, but in terms of the actual regime, the threat, does it remain to you?

MANSOOR: In the near term, the regime has been severely degraded, there's no doubt about that. But in the long term now, if this ceasefire holds and ends up in some sort of negotiated settlement, that regime is going to be more hardline than what they replaced. And if they weren't working towards achieving a nuclear weapon before this, they certainly are now.

They understand that their only way to survive will be to go the way of North Korea. And even if they become an international pariah, if they have nuclear weapons, they'll be left alone. And that's where we're headed.

COOPER: Colonel Mansoor, I appreciate your time. Alex Plitsas as well.

Coming up next, CNN Political Analyst Maggie Haberman's remarkable New York Times reporting on how the President decided to go to war in the first place and who counseled against it.

Also, the view from inside Iran as the fighting winds down, perhaps for good, perhaps only for now.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:37:49]

COOPER: Crude futures right now down around 15 percent before the President announced the two-week truce with Iran. Airstrikes earlier in the day reportedly killed at least 20 people there. There are new details on how the President made the decision to go to war more than a month ago.

The New York Times reports that Israel's prime minister told the President that a joint campaign could destroy Iran's military, bring down the regime, spark a popular uprising. U.S. intelligence officials cast doubt about that. The report is drawn from the upcoming book, "Regime Change: Inside the Imperial Presidency of Donald Trump" by Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan. And Maggie joins us tonight.

I want to get your reporting in a moment. What more can you tell us about President Trump's decision to agree to this two-week ceasefire?

MAGGIE HABERMAN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: There's a lot we still don't know, Anderson. And candidly, I'm not sure exactly what is happening. The number of people I've talked to around the President who aren't entirely sure either is not small. At the moment, it appears that we have passed his 8:00 p.m. deadline for what he said this morning was that, you know, a civilization was going to end or be wiped out, or whatever, he said.

And he's put a two-week pause on it. Pakistan intermediaries appear to be backing that up. You know, obviously, if the goal is to not be engaged in a deeper military conflict, that is something that the White House would be happy about. But what it means for a few weeks from now remains to be seen.

What it means in terms of whether Iran remains in control of the Strait of Hormuz remains to be seen. And what it, you know, still means in terms of either, you know, their nuclear enrichment capabilities or sanctions on Iran's economy, which have been really harming Iran's economy and, you know, impacting their behavior to some extent, is still an open question. So where we will be in a few weeks, I don't know.

COOPER: You and your co-author Jonathan Swan have an excerpt from your new book, "Regime Change: Inside the Imperial Presidency of Donald Trump," in The New York Times today. It's fascinating. You describe in it a situational meeting where Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu gave a detailed pitch for going to war with Iran.

Do you think the public fully grasps just how influential Netanyahu was in President Trump's decision to attack Iran? What have you learned?

HABERMAN: So our reporting, Anderson, for the book -- and this is our first excerpt from it, the book comes out in June -- but relates to how this particular lead-up period.

[20:40:09]

And I think it's important to underscore -- and again, we write about this today, Jonathan and I do -- that the President and Bibi Netanyahu have actually been much more aligned in certain ways over a very long period of time than certainly a lot of the President's base of supporters want to see. And then some of his own advisers either recognize or want to admit.

And if you look back at his first term, President Trump's term, you know, the strike on General Soleimani was something that a lot of people opposed around him. He really didn't have any hesitation about doing it and just did it. There were some people who were thrilled that he did it. It had repercussions, right?

I mean, Iran has been looking to go after him in one way or another ever since, and it has escalated tensions there. But it shouldn't really be a surprise if you look at the decade-long relationship. When Bibi Netanyahu came to this situation room meeting with the President and the President's senior advisers on February 11th, it's pretty extraordinary, Anderson, because it is clearly unusual for a foreign leader to be in this kind of an in-person meeting in the situation room. It certainly speaks to the magnitude of it. But Netanyahu was laying out a number of different ways in which they believed this could go, that a war could go. And it would involve taking out ballistic missile capacity. It would involve Iran not attacking its neighbors so aggressively. It would involve Iran not choking off, you know, minimal likelihood of choking off the Strait of Hormuz. And then there was the possibility of regime change, that it could happen.

He played a video of possible options for who could take over if there was, you know, some change or disruption to the clerical leadership in Iran, although most of the Americans didn't really favor the people that he was talking about or some of the people he was talking about. So he didn't suggest this all as, if this, then this is the absolute outcome.

But certainly, President Trump was impressed by what he heard. He didn't completely say yes right there, but he did say sounds good to me, or something to that effect, to the prime minister. And it was clear that that was a likely green light. It was clear to the President's advisors that he was impressed with what they saw.

The next day, there was an overnight assessment that was done by U.S. intelligence officials, and there were aspects of what Netanyahu described that could be done. But the regime change scenarios were described by the CIA director as farcical, and by the Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, as bullshit. And so that is where it becomes a conflation of a lot of different points. Most notably was that JD Vance was the most adamant voice against doing this in the President's circle, and repeatedly said this in front of his colleagues to the President.

COOPER: Wow. Fascinating. Maggie Haberman, thanks very much.

Joining me now is Democratic Congressman Dan Goldman, a member of the Homeland Security and Judiciary Committees. What's your reaction to this ceasefire?

REP. DANIEL GOLDMAN (D-NY): Well, I'm not surprised.

COOPER: Not surprised that the President did not follow through on his threat?

GOLDMAN: Yes, exactly. I think Donald Trump has one speed, which is threat, threat, ratchet up, ratchet up, ratchet up the threat. And he was desperately looking for an off-ramp here, recognizing that, as I think certainly he was advised, that his threats were absolutely outrageous and unhinged.

And really, separate from, apart from the potential war crimes he was talking about, counterproductive to the ultimate objective, which is to support the Iranian people --

COOPER: Not wipe out their civilization.

GOLDMAN: Not wipe them out. And he's actually moving them closer to the regime. But what concerns me is that this deal seems to be predicated on this 10-point plan that Iran presented. I don't know exactly what's in it, but Iranian media is reporting 10 points that their national council released that is incredibly favorable to --

COOPER: It's essentially -- according to that -- their 10 points and what the council says about it, it's the Armed Forces of Iran control the Strait of Hormuz for the next two weeks and by implication from then on.

GOLDMAN: And there's no threat -- no attack on Iran. They have the absolute right for nuclear enrichment.

COOPER: All troops, all U.S. troops out of the entire world.

GOLDMAN: All U.S. troops that essentially this is over. They control the Strait of Hormuz and they can build their nuclear --

COOPER: President Trump has said that or his administration has indicated that this is a good -- that they've looked at the 10-point plan and it's a basis for negotiations.

[20:45:02]

GOLDMAN: So that is quintessential Donald Trump double speak to get out of a jam that he created. And the reason why his threats are not going to work is that this regime does not care about the Iranian people. In January, they murdered tens of thousands of their own people.

So his threats to destroy infrastructure or destroy the Iranian people are --

COOPER: They don't care.

GOLDMAN: -- actually helpful to the regime. They say, great, go ahead. You'll be the enemy. We're not the enemy. Then we'll have more control over them. And Donald Trump is not somebody as, you know, a draft dodger and who has no military experience, clearly does not understand how military strategy and diplomacy works with a regime like Iran. And we are much worse off, I think, today than we were before this started.

COOPER: It is incredible that the U.S. may be facing a situation where Iran actually gains full control of who goes the Strait of Hormuz. Money is paid. They control the access, which they did not previously had. And in the process, the U.S. has alienated pretty much all of our allies by doing this without any real notification, any real coordination and without the ability to really sustain this, without a lot of more allied support.

GOLDMAN: And the oil sanctions are supposed to come off. That is a very, very devastating weapon that we have supported in Congress. I have supported as a diplomatic solution to pressure Iran to stop their genocidal terrorist activity and development of a nuclear bomb. And so this is incredibly favorable to Iran.

And also, as you mentioned, we do not have that -- it's not only a moral superiority, we are not the leader of the democratic world anymore. We asked our allies to come in and support us, and they said no. Meanwhile, China and Russia are coming to the defense of Iran, and they are emboldened now, recognizing the United States is far less powerful overall.

Our military is incredible and can execute these operations, but that's not power. And that is not a democratic leader of the free world wielding influence and power. And right now, I'm very concerned that the Iranian regime is fortified, and they have the upper hand right now in these negotiations because Donald Trump overplayed his hand, went way too far, is completely erratic, reckless, unstrategic, and is really causing serious harm.

And it's part of the reason why I and many others have called on JD Vance in the Cabinet --

COOPER: Yes.

GOLDMAN: -- to invoke the 25th Amendment, because he is not capable of being the person in charge of our military. And what we are doing on an international stage, he is step by step destroying our stature in the world and our ability to promote our values.

COOPER: Congressman Goldman, I appreciate your time. Thank you very much.

Coming up, inside Iran today, urged by the Iranian regime, thousands of people form human chains to guard against attacks on bridges and power plants. Up next, a former political prisoner explains the impact of President Trump's Stone Age threats to destroy Iran's civilization.

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[20:52:58]

COOPER: There's more ceasefire news just in out of Iran, a statement read on state-run media instructing all military units to follow the Supreme Leader's order and stop firing. I'm joined now by Kian Tajbakhsh, an Iranian-American scholar and former political prisoner who was held in Iran from July 2009 to January 2016, released as part of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal. What do you think of this ceasefire?

KIAN TAJBAKHSH, FORMER POLITICAL PRISONER IN IRAN, FREED AS PART OF 2015 NUCLEAR DEAL: Well, I have to say, first of all, for most ordinary Iranians, this would be great news. I mean, people from inside Iran called us immediately. They were very happy because, of course, they want this war to stop. They want any kind of destruction happening.

But as I've been looking at the announcement by the Iranian government, I'm very skeptical that this will be sustainable. There is only --

COOPER: Because of the 10-point plan?

TAJBAKHSH: Well, yes, because of the 10-point plan. And in fact, the demands on it are so maximalist and it's so far apart from what the United States has put forward in its 15-point plan that it's very, very hard to see how they would even begin to close that gap.

COOPER: It's -- I mean, part of the -- from what I've heard of the 10- point plan, they're talking about U.S. pullout of all military bases in the region, which there are many -- that Iran's Armed Forces would have control over the Strait of Hormuz, which is not the situation that existed prior to the opening of the conflict. There's really nothing about Iran's -- giving up Iran's nuclear program, all of which were key points to -- before the start of this.

TAJBAKHSH: Exactly. In fact, the only documentation we've seen is a single tweet from the foreign minister. But actually, there is an announcement from the spokesperson of the National Security Council, the Supreme National Security Council. And that is very much more extensive, by the way.

And it actually says that the only justification we have for negotiating with the Americans is that we have compelled their total defeat. And that the only reason we've agreed to this is that we have been told by the ambassador of Pakistan or the government of Pakistan --

COOPER: Which is the intermediary.

TAJBAKHSH: The intermediary, that the United States has accepted in principle all of our demands.

[20:55:23]

These demands include a complete acceptance of enrichment inside Iran. And so, as you say --

COOPER: Wow.

TAJBAKHSH: -- the -- it just seems to me it's just so far apart.

COOPER: Because what President Trump has said in his statement is that these are the basis -- you know, we've looked at the 10-point plan and it's the basis -- it seems like a good basis of negotiation.

TAJBAKHSH: Yes. It just -- it's not convincing. I mean, at this point, I think it's probably the case that President Trump is feeling great stressed because of what's happened. The -- you know, the -- what I consider actually tactical failures, not strategic failures.

COOPER: It is interesting, though, to me that this has changed from, you know, initially there was talk of some regime change, but there was also talk, you know, it was about Iran's nuclear capabilities, to now it seems like issue number one for the United States is the Strait of Hormuz.

TAJBAKHSH: Well, it is now because I think that the administration feels that they have degraded the nuclear facility so much that it's under rubble that they can put it off for a while. But I think the issue is generally that they have become, you know -- it seems that the original war aims the United States was pursuing -- have -- somehow got lost or at least they've been lost in this ceasefire announcement because the 15-point plan that the U.S. put forward does include all those things.

And what the Iranians are feeling probably are they're emboldened because they have a control of the Straits of Hormuz. And I don't see any way that they're going to be able to close the gap.

COOPER: Kian, thank you. I really appreciate it.

Up next, more on this critical moment, the U.S. and Iran reaching a two-week-long ceasefire as we've been talking about. We'll get a live report from the White House. This is our CNN Global War Coverage continues through the next hour.

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