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Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees
Report: Trump Says Iran Deal Will Be Wrapped Up in a Week; Source: Iran Expected to Respond to U.S. Proposal on Thursday; Judge Releases Purported Epstein Suicide Note; Trump Defends Higher Cost for White House Ballroom, Nearly Double the Original Price; Hantavirus-Hit Cruise Ship Headed for the Canary Islands; Health Officials Race to Trace Contacts of Hantavirus Victims; CNN Founder, Ted Turner, Dies at 87; Trump Administration Said to Be in Talks to Send Afghans Who Aided U.S. Forces to Congo. Aired 8-9p ET
Aired May 06, 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: He made history that day in 1980, creating the first 24-hour news network and CNN's ability to cover worldwide events from the Gulf War to the collapse of the Soviet Union, led to Turner being named "Times" Man of the Year in 1991 and it matters so much to all of us.
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Turner did, though, call CNN the "Greatest achievement of his life," one we hope we can continue to maintain. Ted Turner was 87 years old. Thanks so much for watching. AC360 starts now.
[20:00:47]
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST, "ANDERSON COOPER: 360": Good evening from the newsroom, topping our CNN Global War coverage tonight, signs of progress in talks to end the conflict and no shortage of talk from the President about how close a deal could be.
He puts it at a week, according to Fox's Bret Baier, who spoke by phone with him. A week, he says, we're getting everything wrapped up, including, he says, Iran giving up it's highly enriched uranium and he said, completely reopening the Strait of Hormuz. Here's what the President said to reporters on camera.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REPORTER: You're facing an opponent right now in Iran that has refused to submit. You seem optimistic now that you may be closer to a deal. What's different about this moment now than in other moments where a deal has seemed close?
DONALD TRUMP (R) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Well, why do you say they refused to submit? You don't know that. You don't know what's going on behind --
REPORTER: They fired on U.S. ships a few days ago.
TRUMP: I know, A few days ago, it's a long time ago. You know, in the world of war, a few days ago.
No, they want to make a deal badly, and we'll see if we get there. Now, we have to get what we have to get. If we don't do that, we'll have to go a step further but with that being said, they want to make a deal. We've had very good talks over the last 24 hours, and it's very possible that well make a deal.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: That big step further, he's talking about appears to refer to a threat contained in the message he posted earlier this morning. I want to read it in full because it covers a lot.
"Assuming Iran agrees to give what has been agreed to, which is perhaps a big assumption, the already legendary Epic Fury will be at an end, and the highly effective blockade will allow the Hormuz Strait to be open to all, including Iran. If they don't agree, the bombing starts and it will be, sadly, at a much higher level and intensity than it was before."
Now, we don't know what, if anything, Iran has agreed to, only that sources tell us it is considering a one-page memo for declaring an end to the war, and triggering a 30-day negotiation period for resolving sticking points, including reopening the Strait of Hormuz, unfreezing Iranian assets and the nuclear question, which is a lot.
The President, though with Fox and separately with PBS, suggested that two of those three items, the Strait and nuclear matter, would be part of this initial agreement. An Iranian National Security spokesman calls the memo, "... more a list of American wishes than a reality." As to the President's threat to resume bombing if no agreement is reached, he gave no deadline for that and said this when asked about it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Never a deadline. It will happen, it'll happen, but never a deadline, thank you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Never a deadline, he said. Hearing the President, who has imposed an extended several deadlines over the course of this war, now say never a deadline is something of a departure.
So, is how quickly he seems to have moved past his decision just last night to abandon Project Freedom, the operation which was supposed to protect shipping through the Strait that was scuttled after barely two days, it seems.
The blockade, however, remains in effect according to Central Command, a carrier-based F-18 fighter today strafed and crippled an Iranian flagged oil tanker after it "failed to comply with repeated warnings that it was violating it."
Also, still very much a thing, the President finding new words to call the war.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: We're in a, I call it a skirmish because that's what it is.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Skirmish, excursion, incursion, war, today, he also said we won something he has said repeatedly, while also saying both on camera and online, that a deal to end the war is very close at hand.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: We've won, let me tell you, we've won.
Oh, I think we've won.
You know, I don't like to say this. we've won this. This war has been won.
We won, okay?
We were very close to a deal.
But were close to a deal. We're getting along very well with the new Iranian leaders.
We've won, whether you listen to the fake news or not. You know, it's amazing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Well, we do have some breaking news now. Just as we came on air, we learned that Iran is expected to respond tomorrow on this latest deal in the making that we've been talking about. That is according to a source in the region.
Joining us now, CNN chief White House correspondent, anchor of "The Source" Kaitlan Collins. Are White House officials optimistic behind the scenes that the U.S. and Iran are moving closer to an agreement on the on this short memorandum?
KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN'S CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT AND THE ANCHOR OF "THE SOURCE": I mean, it's hard to say, Anderson, because really, it seems like every day were hearing something different, both publicly and privately on this front.
I mean, just yesterday, the Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, is in the briefing room telling reporters that the war was over, that that part of this operation in Iran was finished. And then you heard the President today threatening to resume the bombing at a greater intensity if Iran doesn't agree to what he says has been agreed to at this point. And so, it's just a lot of contradictory messaging here on this front. And, you know, we've been hearing from the White House, from the President himself for about a month now that Iran is close to making a deal, that they want to make a deal, that they've agreed to, the large components laid out by the White House. But, I mean, that was on the tarmac where I was questioning the President about that a month ago, truly, in South Florida, as he was heading back to the White House. And were still hearing similar things from him today in terms of Iran wanting to make a deal.
[20:05:46]
And so, the President made clear today in that Q&A with reporters in the Oval Office that this is very much happening on a kind of 24-hour basis period. He was saying that just because there was shooting a few days ago, that given what's happened in the last 24 hours, these talks that he says are underway, that things look much more promising.
I still think there is obviously, understandably, a good dose of skepticism here in terms of what's going to come next and if this is actually close to something ending,
I think this one-page memo, I mean, the fact that it's one page when we know there are a lot of thorny issues here, and if you talk to Wendy Sherman or someone who helped negotiate the Iran nuclear deal under President Obama, they talk about how meticulous that was. You know, the subsections, you know, all of that in terms of enrichment.
COOPER: Yes, it takes months and months or years.
COLLINS: Right, and, I think just in terms of that, well see obviously what that looks like here. And if it does actually come to fruition.
COOPER: Yeah, Kaitlan, thanks very much. We'll see you at the top of the hour on "The Source".
Joining me now in the newsroom, retired Army Lieutenant General Karen Gibson, who previously served as Director of Intelligence for U.S. Central Command, and CNN global affairs analyst Brett McGurk, who served in senior national security positions under the last four Presidents, including President Trumps first term.
Brett, let me just start with you. What do you make of this idea that we're close, according to the President?
BRETT MCGURK, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Anderson, I feel like it's Punxsutawney, it's Groundhog Day, but I think were farther away now from a deal than we were days ago. And I'll tell you why, I think the U.S. administration came out very strongly with Project Freedom, that we're going to act militarily to help ships get through the Strait. And that was a clear position, it was reiterated and reinforced from the Pentagon just yesterday morning and Iran responded militarily.
They fired missiles at UAE. They swarmed our ships. We shot some small boats out of the water. And then we announced that we're stopping that mission. And in my experience with Iranians, Anderson, I actually had a very similar experience like this. I was going to see the Iranians on January 10th, 2024 because our forces were coming under attack all across the region. The morning of that meeting, the U.S. Navy ships were attacked in the Red Sea, the largest, most complex attack since World War II and the Iranians continued to escalate.
We had three Americans killed about two weeks later from Iranian drone in Jordan, tragically. We then had to turn around very strong airstrikes after that. This is what Iran does. And if Iran thinks they have the upper hand, Anderson, I think they think they do, they are not going to make the concessions that the administration is demanding.
So, I think, again, we're in a very difficult predicament. I think we're stuck. I don't see a breakthrough coming. The one thing that's a little different is the President's trip to China.
You know, that moves the entire system, our system and the system in Beijing and the Iranian Foreign Minister was in China just yesterday, and I'm sure the Chinese would like to, you know, be the peacemakers and try to broker an arrangement. That might be something that happens here in the next couple of weeks.
But as of right now, I do not see a deal happening. I think we're actually farther away than we were a couple of days ago.
COOPER: General Gibson, do you do you share that skepticism?
LT. GEN. KAREN GIBSON (RET), U.S. ARMY: Well, I think, here's what I think will get the first response from Iran will not be a yes or a no. It will be a yes to talks, but not on these terms and a counter- proposal, perhaps.
And I think it's interesting, of course, I haven't seen the one-page memo, but I understand there are some things that aren't on it this time, like perhaps proxies or missiles and Iran had previously insisted on tying the Lebanese ceasefire to this. And I understand that's probably not on there also.
You know, perhaps if we've left off missiles and we've left off proxies, maybe we are signaling that there are some concessions we are willing to make. Another one that I've heard potentially is the President's initial insistence on a 20-year moratorium on enrichment, that perhaps it's an Iranians countered with something like five. Maybe this is 12 to 15. So again, I think the Iranians are going to come back with a yes to talks, not these terms.
COOPER: To Brett McGurk's point, though, if, you know, there was this operation, we were going to have lanes and we were talking about how wide they would be, and are we going to expand them, if there's, if the Iranians respond militarily and then the U.S. just cancels that whole thing, what kind of a message does that send?
GIBSON: Yes, I think one of the stickier issues, potentially is how traffic is allowed to go through the Straits. You know, for us, I think a red line, a non-negotiable, will be some role that Iran might insist on playing in terms of either exacting a toll for passage or controlling in some way. That will be one of our red lines, I think.
[20:10:17]
COOPER: Brett, do you believe, I mean, I understand the idea that that should be a red line, they don't want Iran having control over it, but do you think it's possible that would not be a red line for this administration?
MCGURK: I think, Anderson, there probably voices in Tehran the President Pezeshkian guys who have to be responsible for trying to run this country saying, hey, let's do a deal. But I'm at Ahmad Vahidi and the people we've talked about on this program, Anderson, the revolutionary guards, they have a very different view. I doubt they're going to give up what they think is their control of the of the Strait of Hormuz.
I hope again, I hope I'm wrong, but I suspect what's happening are Pakistan wants to play peacemaker. They're probably putting some spin on the ball that maybe were getting closer. I think the Chinese are engaged.
But again, the decision makers in Iran, whoever they are, we believe it's Vahidi and these guys who are the real hardliners. For them to give up what they think is their main card right now, the Strait of Hormuz, I find it very doubtful unless the President decides to just totally cave and say, I'm out of this entirely. You guys have the Strait, the toll can happen. I do not see the U.S. doing that. I think that would be a very bad outcome. So, I go back --
COOPER: Isn't that sort of the message? The President seems to be telegraphing, I mean, that he wants to move on from this. I mean, that's all the stuff you kind of hear.
MCGURK: I think we said at the beginning of this whole thing that going back to Clausewitz, if a leader does not know, is clear in his mind what he wants to achieve. The objectives will be defined for you. That's basically what's happened now. And the presidents of two minds he wants out of this and he also doesn't just want to totally walk away.
So, even the statement this morning, do a deal or else were going to bomb you again. I think we're divided. It's very unclear. But again, who's going to make the decision in Iran to do a deal with the United States of America? the Great Satan. That's going to be a difficult decision.
I doubt, I hope this response comes tomorrow and they say, here's all the highly enriched uranium. We're going to give up enrichment, that would be a very good day. I'd love to come on the program and say, this is a great outcome. I just don't see that happening in the next -- in the near term.
COOPER: Yes, I mean, general, has there ever been a case with Iran where there's like a one-page deal and for --
GIBSON: No, no, no, and that's why I think it will be yes to talks, particularly if they have some sense that we are willing to ease on the blockade or, you know, unfreeze frozen assets or perhaps lift some sanctions.
I've always thought, you know, they think that they can outlast us in this regard and as brad mentioned, you know, there are some indicators in the U.S. there's the meeting with Xi coming up.
There's also Memorial Day weekend when many Americans get in the car and drive someplace on vacation and then there's FIFA coming up in June. And I don't think the President, the administration wants to have this hanging over our heads as we enter the world cup.
So, progress would be, okay now were going through negotiations with Iran, and the Iranians know that.
COOPER: General Gibson appreciate it. Brett McGurk as well. Thank you.
Coming up next, more on what we're learning about the effort behind closed doors to bring the conflict to an end. We'll go live to Islamabad, Pakistan, where this could all come together or fall apart in the next few days.
Later, the President's ballroom, the one he said would not cost taxpayers a single dime. Remember, all those rich people giving up money? Well, keeping them honest, he wasn't wrong, it won't cost taxpayers a single dime. It will be more like 10 billion dimes. The latest on a Senate Republican plan to fund it with a billion of your tax dollars.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:17:47]
COOPER: I want to get some new details, more details on our breaking news. Theres new reporting that we could be hours away from Iran's counter-offer in talks aimed at ending the war. That's the latest from CNN's Nic Robertson, who joins us now from Islamabad, Pakistan.
So, it is already Thursday in Islamabad. What more do you know about what Iran is expected to do?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes, we've heard from their spokesman at the Foreign Ministry in Tehran through Wednesday saying that they were studying the U.S. proposal that came in over Sunday. They got it. They've been looking at it since then.
It seemed that it was sort of perhaps going off the rails during Monday, where Project Freedom was led to that sort of spike in violence. But now they're saying, no, its back on.
And what I am learning is that the expectation is that Iran's response will be delivered today. Precisely, what's going to be in it? That's of course, the big question. How closely does it match or not with what the United States handed over, over the weekend? That's where the mediators come into play. But throughout the day, there is still this level of expectation that it is going to be positive. But when the Iranians indicate that something is going to be positive, it might be positive for them. It might not be for everyone else.
I think another thing that's sort of I've learned that although President Trump has been very strong in some of his language today, because we understood that Epic Fury was over, finished, done with, that Project Freedom was put on pause and then the President said, well, if Iran doesn't do what I want, then we are going to go back to bombing again. And he has had that message a couple of times and has also spoken about with PBS about the need to get Iran's highly enriched uranium, which until now has been a red line.
So there has been sort of, if you will, that signaling that we've seen the hardliners in Iran sort of take positively saying that they're calling it a retreat by ending, by pausing Project Freedom, by ending Epic Fury. They are calling that a retreat, and so that is looked favorably upon, I guess, by those hardliners.
But then you have this stronger, more robust language coming from the President. But from what I am learning, that's not affecting how the Iranians are treating it.
[20:20:10]
The President is getting some trolling by the top negotiator. He said, well, that was the end of Operation Trust Me, Brother, talking about Project Freedom.
So I think at the moment, the Iranians seem to be in a position of we are going to come back with something. And the test, of course, is going to be does it match what the U.S. gave them and how closely?
I think there is a Plan B for the mediators. But you know, the positivity is in the air. But for all the caveats we've been talking about here.
COOPER: Yes. Nic Robertson, thanks very much.
Joining me now is Vali Nasr, a Professor at Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies.
Vali, do you buy this? What the President is saying?
VALI NASR, PROFESSOR, JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF ADVANCED INTERNATIONAL STUDIES: Well, with a grain of salt. I mean, we've been here before. He has claimed we are very close to a deal. He has put his wish list on the table, but the way it looks is that he played his hand over the weekend saying he is going to double down on the blockade and he is going to forcibly open the Strait of Hormuz.
And once the Iranians began escalating, he has essentially backed off. And now we are back to a proposal given to Iran to end the war and the Iranians are going to give the same response they gave before, which is we can end the war now, you lift your blockade, we open the Strait of Hormuz. We see if this works for a month.
During that time, we can start talking about everything else and they're not going to make any commitments on the nuclear issue before they see that the President can deliver on the first step, which is lifting of blockade for lifting of blockade.
COOPER: The memo reportedly gives 30 days to resolve extraordinarily complex issues like nuclear demands, negotiating security in the Strait of Hormuz, the unfreezing of Iranian assets. Is that realistic?
NASR: No, I think both sides understand that once the war is over, it is not going to start again. So, it doesn't matter if they get to a nuclear agreement or not.
I think for President Trump, the most important thing is to get out of this war that he started, and he didn't expect to still be in it. 60 days on and then he wants to go to China. He wants to wrap this thing up.
And the Iranians also want to end the war. Both of them know they're not going to get a nuclear deal, especially with what the President has put on the table in 30 days. But they will say that because that gives the impression to everybody that the nuclear issue is still at play while they end the war.
Once they end the war, they're not going to start it again. Regardless of what happens at the nuclear table.
COOPER: Iran launched what they are calling the Persian Gulf Strait Authority, a new body it says will govern traffic through the Strait of Hormuz. Are you seeing any signs that the Iranian regime is actually willing to actually give up control of the Strait?
NASR: Well, they're never going to give up the control because they sit on the Strait, so they can always shut it down if they're attacked again, if that's what controls means.
Now, whether they translate that control into collecting fees, entirely depends on whether there is any agreement ever with the United States to lift sanctions on Iran. They've said that if the sanctions remain and their only course for getting economic livelihood is to tax the shipping going through, that's what they will do. And I believe even in during his trip to Beijing, the Iranian Foreign Minister is encouraging China to become a party to the management of the Persian Gulf after the war ends.
COOPER: One of Iran's top negotiators, the Parliament Speaker, he put out a series of messages on state media to the Iranian public, warning tough times ahead. The U.S. intends to break Iran through economic pressure. Does it tell you anything that he is putting that warning out there?
NASR: I think all along, while the President says that a deal is very close, what you hear in Iran at the highest level, saying that the more he says that, the more it means war is coming. Because twice while we were negotiating with them and he said, a deal is closed, Iran got attacked in June and then in February. So they hope for the best, in other words, there might be a diplomatic solution, but they're preparing for the worst.
So these messages they're giving to their own public is messages that don't expect a breakthrough with the United States. Don't listen to what President Trump is saying. The blockade may last longer. They may attack us again and we are in this for the long haul.
So the message you're getting from Iran is not that they share the President's enthusiasm about how close we are. They are actually highly distrustful of the President's messaging, thinking that behind the positive messages, the U.S. is actually preparing for more military action.
COOPER: Vali Nasr, it is good to have you on again. Thank you so much.
NASR: Thank you.
COOPER: Coming up next, we have breaking news on the Jeffrey Epstein case and what is claimed to be a suicide note. A federal judge unsealed it. Details on that.
Also a new chapter in a shameful story. How support is now growing for Afghans who risked their lives working with American forces during the war, but whom the government in the U.S. is not just turning away from this country, but reportedly trying to send them to Central Africa or back to Afghanistan and the Taliban.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:29:24]
COOPER: There is breaking news in the Jeffrey Epstein case that has waited nearly seven years to come out, a purported suicide note now found -- not found, I should point out, in the millions of pages of documents released to the public.
Today, a federal judge unsealed it. It is brief, it is unsigned, and it reads in part "... they investigated me for months, found nothing. It is a treat to be able to choose one's time to say goodbye. No fun. Not worth it."
CNN's Katelyn Polantz is working the story joins us now.
What more do we know about the origins of this note and why it has just been now unsealed?
KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE SENIOR REPORTER: Anderson, this is a note that is or was found by the cellmate of Jeffrey Epstein in the summer of 2019 after his arrest for sex trafficking as he was awaiting trial. What happened is that he was housed with a cellmate in the MCC in Manhattan and attempted suicide.
[20:30:19] At that point in time, Epstein survived. But the cellmate, his name is Nicholas Tartaglione, he said he found a note.
This note in a book in the cell, opened it, saw it, and said Epstein was trying to kill himself. All of that was something we didn't know about widely until about a couple weeks ago, because at some point in time, this cellmate started talking more publicly about finding this note, and it got tied up in his own criminal case, something different from Epstein's. And so the New York Times, they went to court in April, and they asked a judge in the Tartaglione criminal case, and this is a man who is serving life sentences for quadruple murder.
They asked for more information about Nicholas Tartaglione and to release this note. It came together very quickly. The Justice Department spoke up just two days ago in court saying, we support transparency around Epstein, we don't have this note authenticated, but if it's in this case, we have no issue releasing it.
And a judge ruled today that this note should be released. So it was in the possession of Nicholas Tartaglione, the cellmate of Jeffrey Epstein, in July of 2019, but is purportedly written by Jeffrey Epstein in a suicide attempt before he actually committed suicide and died.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST OF "ANDERSON COOPER 360": Yeah. Katelyn, thanks very much. Appreciate Katelyn Polantz. Tonight, the president is pushing back on criticism over his White House ballroom project nearly doubling in price. He defended it today on social media, posting, and I quote, "The only reason the cost has changed is because after deep-rooted studies, it is approximately twice the size and a far higher quality than the original proposal, which would not have been adequate to handle the necessary events, meetings and even future inaugurations."
The original price was $200 million. The double-size, highest-quality completed project will be something less than $400 million. This comes just days after Senate Republicans added $1 billion for White House East Wing security enhancements as part of an ICE and Border Patrol funding bill.
And now, the text allocates the cash for, quote, "security adjustments and upgrades to support enhancements by the United States Secret Service relating to the East Wing modernization project," later stating that the funding can't be used for, quote, "non-security elements of the project." For months, the president has insisted that private donors would pay for the renovation, not American taxpayers.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: We have no taxes. This is taxpayer-free. We have no taxpayer putting up $0.10.
We did this, no charge to the taxpayer whatsoever.
I'm paying for it. I'm paying for it. The country is not.
We're donating a $400 million ballroom. Myself and donors are giving them, free of charge, for nothing.
It's being paid for 100 percent by me and some friends of mine donors.
Rich people and people are putting up the money, zero taxpayer dollars.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: And so that's not true. Joining me now is Senior Political Commentator and former Republican Congressman, Adam Kinzinger.
What do you make of Senate Judiciary Republicans trying to tack on $1 billion of taxpayer money to this project after the administration repeatedly said taxpayers would not be paying for it at all?
ADAM KINZINGER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR AND FORMER REPUBLICAN CONGRESSMAN: I mean, it's clearly an attempt to get on Trump's good side, to impress him. There's always kind of, in the political world, out-competing each other to see who can make Trump happiest. And after the attempted assassination, or at least the shooting at the White House Correspondents' Dinner, it didn't take long for the White House to come out and say, this is why we need the ballroom.
It's the old thing, never let a crisis go to waste. And at the same time, he's still going to UFC fights. He still goes to the villages. He still goes on his golf course. But for whatever reason, dinner, for security reasons, we have to build a ballroom. I mean, clearly, this is just them trying to get on his good side.
And I'll also add, it's not an increase. It's like an infinity percent increase in taxpayer cost, because what was originally zero is now upwards of a billion.
COOPER: Right. And also, I mean, odd that an alleged builder does not know that the price is going to double within a very short span of time. Does it make sense that it would cost $1 billion for security adjustments and upgrades? I mean, is it even clear how that money would be tracked? Are these kinds of things tracked closely?
KINZINGER: Not necessarily. So when a money is authorized, it basically puts, hey, you can use up to this amount of money. And then it's basically then up to the White House to figure out how to use it. And so they now have that to use. And so he can use it to adorn his ballroom with gold.
[20:35:00]
They can use it to build whatever they want to build under the ballroom. But the biggest thing to keep in mind is even this whole process started because the president went against, did not go in front of Congress, did not ask the American people to tear down the East Wing. This is not his house.
And this is the thing that I think people need to remember. The White House is not the president's house. It's the people's house that they allow the president to live in. So he doesn't have a right to go tearing down parts of it and making a decision. But obviously, clearly, he did. And now, something has to be built in its place. And he decided it was going to be a big, nice ballroom.
COOPER: Yeah. Congressman Kinzinger, appreciate it. Thank you.
Up next, the cruise ship hit with the deadly hantavirus outbreak is now sailing to a port. We'll tell you where it's going as health officials are trying to rush to find anyone who came in contact with those who died and those who are sick.
Plus, we remember CNN Founder, Ted Turner, who died today at the age of 87. His incredible life legacy ahead.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TED TURNER, CNN FOUNDER: I dedicate the news channel for America, the Cable News Network.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:40:15]
COOPER: The cruise ship with the deadly hantavirus outbreak has left the Cape Verde area off the coast of West Africa, is heading towards Spain's Canary Islands. Three passengers have died, three others who were sick were evacuated today, and two others are hospitalized including one in Switzerland where health officials are scrambling to try to trace who they may have come in contact with while officials may be getting closer to figuring out the source.
Randi Kaye tonight has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DR. MARIA VAN KERKHOVE, WHO'S DIRECTOR FOR EPIDEMIC AND PANDEMIC PREPAREDNESS AND PREVENTION: This was an expedition boat and many of the people on board were doing bird-watching.
RANDI KAYE, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Turns out a bird-watching tour may be the source of this hantavirus outbreak. According to the Associated Press, two Argentine officials investigating how this started said their government is leaning toward the idea that a Dutch couple contracted the virus while bird-watching in the city of Ushuaia, Argentina before boarding the ship.
The AP reports the couple visited a landfill during the tour and may have been exposed to infected rodents. That 70-year-old Dutch man was the first to die on the ship days after they left port in Argentina. His 69-year-old wife died about two weeks later. The rest of the people on board including nearly 150 passengers are now on a three- to four-day journey from Cape Verde to Tenerife in the Canary Islands.
Spain has agreed to receive the ship there. Upon arrival, the plan is for all passengers to be taken to a nearby airport and sent back to their home countries. The 14 Spanish citizens will be examined and go directly into quarantine at a Madrid hospital.
KASEM HATO, PASSENGER (through translator): This is the country of Cape Verde in front of us, but it is forbidden to go down to it.
KAYE (voice-over): This travel vlogger on board posted on social media about the predicament they now find themselves in.
HATO (through translator): Today was supposed to be the last day of our 35-day trip on the Atlantic, but it is clear that our journey will not end here because Cape Verde refused to receive us on its coast.
KAYE (voice-over): Earlier today, this medical evacuation boat removed three sick people from the ship. On their way to the Netherlands, a source from Spain's Health Ministry told CNN that Morocco refused to let the plane carrying two of the evacuees land to refuel. Instead, it made an unscheduled landing at Gran Canaria Airport to do so.
VAN KERKHOVE: People are usually infected through contact with infected rodents or their urine, their droppings or their saliva. Human-to-human transmission is uncommon.
KAYE (voice-over): Yet in this case, the World Health Organization believes the virus may have been transmitted person-to-person on board and just today following, lab tests, confirmed this is the Andes strain of the virus which has spread among close contacts before.
VAN KERKHOVE: We're also working with authorities for anyone that has left the ship. In fact the Swiss Federal Office of Public Health has confirmed that a passenger who traveled on the first leg of the voyage and disembarked at St. Helena on April 24th has now tested positive for hantavirus. That passenger, according to the cruise company, is being treated at a hospital in Zurich. His wife who was with him has not shown symptoms but is self-isolating as a precaution.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Randi joins us now. What about the Swiss passenger?
KAYE (on camera): We know a little bit more. We know from the cruise company that he disembarked early on, on April 24th in St. Helena. But what we don't know, Anderson, is when and how he got back to Switzerland. We don't know how many countries he traveled through, how many people he came into close contact with.
COOPER: On the flights (ph) he was on.
(CROSSTALK)
KAYE (on camera): Right. We just have no idea, so that's certainly -- those are certainly some questions that need to be answered. And also tonight, Anderson, we're learning that the Georgia Department of Health is now monitoring two people from Georgia who were on that ship, who also disembarked early on. They say that they are in good health, they're showing no signs of infection, and they're following all of the CDC recommendations. Now of course, the World Health Organization is saying this is not the next COVID. They're warning against that. But it's important to note that the virus can stay dormant in someone's system for up to eight weeks before showing any symptoms, so these people are going to get off this ship in the Canary Islands. We don't know of any plan to quarantine others except for the people from Spain who are going to the hospital in Madrid to quarantine. So we need to know what's going to happen where these people are going to go.
COOPER: Randi Kaye, thank you. Very scary. It is a story spanning the globe, yet touching individual lives, the kind of story that Ted Turner built CNN to report. Sadly this one is about him. Ted Turner died today. He was 87-years-old and what a force of nature and a pioneer, not just in cable news, but baseball and boat racing and bison preservation and world peace.
Here he is. It'll be 46 years ago next month, launching what would become what you are seeing right now.
[20:45:00]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TURNER: To act upon one's convictions while others wait, to create a positive force in a world where cynics abound, to provide information to people when it wasn't available before, I dedicate the news channel for America, the Cable News Network.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: He fought a lot of skeptics, many of whom ran broadcast networks to even get to that moment, which he later said he'd been thinking of for years.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TURNER: Well, I actually thought about it back in '74, '75, six years before I did it. I thought it would be really convenient whenever you got home to be able to tune into the news instead of having to get home at 6:30 or wait till 11 o'clock, because in those days the news only came on in the early evening and very late.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: The idea caught on slowly at first, and suddenly, one January, Ted Turner's brainchild was in the right place at the right time in a way that no one else was.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BERNARD SHAW, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): This is -- something is happening outside. Peter Arnett, join me here. Let's describe to our viewers what we are seeing. The skies over Baghdad have been illuminated. We are seeing bright flashes going off all over the sky.
(END VIDEO CLIP) COOPER: Skies over Baghdad have been illuminated. That was CNN's Bernie Shaw. Peter Arnett was there and company at the network that Ted built at the start of Operation Desert Storm. Two other CNN veterans, television pioneers, joining us now, CNN's Christiane Amanpour and PBS's Judy Woodruff.
What a remarkable person to have graced this planet and created so much, a complex figure. Christiane, people tell stories about Ted Turner in the early days of CNN, walking through the newsroom like here in his bathrobe, grabbing coffee in the break room, getting snacks. What do you remember about him from back then?
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: That, I remember that.
(LAUGH)
COOPER: That, hard to forget.
AMANPOUR: I was an entry-level --
(LAUGH)
AMANPOUR: -- an entry-level desk assistant, and he would come down really, really early or whenever it was. I was on an overnight shift or an early morning shift, and it was like the parting of the Red Sea. We'd all just sort of stand back and let the great man walk forward and thinking, what is he doing in his pajamas and his bathrobe? But I just thought it was so unbelievably cool because, right there and then, you saw that this truly great man was a man of the people, so to speak.
You know, there was very little sort of barrier between him and us. Not that we were all friends and on first-name basis, we worked for him, but we knew that he was absolutely in love with CNN, loved the creation that he made, and loved the impact that it was having. And all of us willing foot soldiers, you know, saluting and following our commanding officer into battle, which literally we did, through thick and thin, through when he could make payroll, maybe when he couldn't.
And it was just the most exhilarating experience, amazing, especially for a young entry-level, you know, want to be foreign correspondent like myself.
COOPER: But he created a place that an entry-level desk assistant could become a foreign correspondent and one of the greatest that has ever been, where if you were at a broadcast network, that would never have happened back then in that time in this way.
Judy, you had such a great story about meeting with Ted Turner in Atlanta before taking the job at CNN. You asked him how he felt about women journalists. Would you mind sharing that?
(LAUGH)
JUDY WOODRUFF, FORMER CNN ANCHOR, SENIOR CORRESPONDENT, PBS NEWSHOUR: Oh, I'd be happy to. I've told this story many times. But what happened was that Tom Johnson, who was then the Head of CNN, had approached me about leaving PBS, where I was, to come to work as an anchor in Washington for CNN. And he and I had conversations that went on for months. And finally, we agreed, except he said, you know, we really have to have the final conversation with Ted, who's on board, but you need to go talk to him.
So I'm in his office, I walk in, and one of the very first questions I asked him was, what do you think about -- I need to know, how do you feel about women in journalism? Do you take women seriously? And he looked at me, put his hands on his hips, and he said, are you serious? I'm married to Jane Fonda.
(LAUGH)
WOODRUFF: And I have to say that shut it down.
(LAUGH)
COOPER: Christiane, I mean, it was remarkable watching you cover the first Gulf War from the Middle East. Obviously, it had not been done in that way before CNN, the idea of a 24-hour news with reporters on the ground inside Baghdad. CNN was able to operate when others, their satellites were shut, I mean, their systems were shut down.
AMANPOUR: Yeah, well, look, CNN -- people forget that he created CNN, as you pointed out, with that fantastic video clip about why he did it in 1980, 46 years ago. Then he went international in 1985 and essentially helped break down the barriers of information around the world.
[20:50:00]
In so many nations, which only had state-controlled media in the dictatorships and authoritarian countries, if they could get a satellite downlink, and many people did surreptitiously, they could see different parts of the world and different information that they were getting force-fed by their own state.
So when it came to the first Gulf War, CNN was overseas, no other TV network had the capacity to be broadcast all over the world like that and in real time. It was start-up before start-up, it was VOD, video- on-demand before there was such a thing, I mean he was so ahead of his time. But even the so-called enemy camp watched and understood, and the halls of power in almost every country in the world had CNN.
So when it came time to that particular moment, CNN's amazing group of pioneers like producer Robert Wiener, and there was Nic Robertson who was an engineer there, and Eason Jordan, and Tom Johnson, all those people, and Ted Turner, basically said that we have the technology, we can do it. And Ted said, and this is crucial for today, we must cover all sides of the story. We must be across those frontlines, even if the president and chief of, you know, the chairman of the joint chiefs is telling us that is enemy's territory and your people might get killed in the war, we will stay because only volunteers.
And we did, and that launched CNN into the global stratosphere.
COOPER: Yeah.
AMANPOUR: Before that, CNN was purely American, and this made it a global behemoth.
COOPER: He also, I mean, Judy, he revolutionized not just news and journalism, but what television could be. Where do you think that kind of determination, that vision for the future came from?
WOODRUFF: You know, that's a hard question to answer, Anderson. We know very well now the story of his -- of his growing up. His father was a successful businessman and advertising in Atlanta, but he took his own life, and that had to have had a profound effect on Ted.
You know, he -- there were times in his life when he battled depression, but he -- I think he dealt with so much. I mean, Christiane was closer to him than I was, but from my sense of him, he was someone who dealt with whatever came along by just dealing with it. He would say what was on his mind, and I have to share with you a story.
After he had lost CNN, and it was Time Warner and AOL, I was at an event in New York and I was walking with Richard Parsons, who was then the Head of Time Warner overseeing CNN, and there were a lot of, frankly, people were being laid off, a lot of them. Ted was very unhappy about this.
I had seen him. He was across the stairway, and he yelled over to me and to Dick, he said, "Hey, Judy, have they fired you yet?"
(LAUGH)
WOODRUFF: He was so --
COOPER: Wow.
WOODRUFF: He would say what was on his mind --
(LAUGH)
AMANPOUR: Yeah.
WOODRUFF: -- and he knew that Dick Parsons was standing there listening.
COOPER: Yeah. Judy Woodruff, Christiane Amanpour, it's great talking to you guys. Thank you so much, and remembering this remarkable, remarkable man. Really appreciate it.
We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:57:21] COOPER: An update now on a story brought to you about some 1,100 Afghan refugees, many of whom contributed to the United States war effort, who may now be sent to the Democratic Republic of Congo or back to Afghanistan and the Taliban.
That's according to a report of the New York Times. They were originally brought to Qatar in what was supposed to be a temporary stop after being cleared to come to the United States. The Trump administration now has ended that program, won't allow them here.
Shawn VanDiver is President of the aid group, AfghanEvac, which is launching a high-profile open letter opposing the policy. It goes public tonight. He joins us now. So, Shawn, first of all, what is this open letter? Who signed on so far?
SHAWN VANDIVER, PRESIDENT, AFGHANEVAC: Sure. Thank you so much for having me on today, Anderson. This open letter is signed by over 600 people. There's about 100 organizations. There's former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Mike Mullen, General Stan McChrystal, over 30 retired ambassadors, and hundreds and hundreds of veterans, faith leaders, and everyday Americans, all saying one thing. Do not send our allies to the Congo. They stood up for us. Don't send them somewhere dangerous. Bring them here to the United States.
COOPER: I think a lot of people don't realize, some of these are also family members of active-duty U.S. military personnel.
VANDIVER: That's exactly right. Over 150 of the people there are family members of active-duty U.S. service members.
The camp is made up of 42 percent children and then 50/50 men to women, which means there's about 800 women and children who are there, potentially being sent to Congo or literally anywhere but the United States if the State Department has their way.
COOPER: And these people were evacuated to Qatar. This was like the way station. They would go through security clearances and then the Trump administration changed their policy and doesn't want any Afghans coming anymore.
VANDIVER: That's exactly right. We had 5,000 Afghans a month, our allies leaving Afghanistan, going all over the world to places like this. It was working. They were vetted. And on day one, President Trump shut it down.
We need your viewers to sign our letter. If they go to afghanevac.org/sign and we need them to donate to support our efforts so we can keep fighting this heinous decision at afghanevac.org/donate.
COOPER: What is the likelihood of, I mean, the administration changing its policy? Are they engaging with your organization at all?
VANDIVER: AfghanEvac has always been about regular people standing up and fighting for doing the right thing, fighting for our American dream and our American promise. And we can still do that. We've seen success. We're going to continue to see success, but only if we continue to see everyday Americans stand up and say, hell no.
[21:00:00]
COOPER: Shawn VanDiver, appreciate your time tonight. Thank you very much.
VANDIVER: Thank you so much.
COOPER: That's it for us. The news continues. "The Source with Kaitlan Collins" starts now. I'll see you tomorrow.
