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Final Preparations Ahead of NASA's Historic Moon Mission; Trump to Deliver Important Update on War with Iran Tonight; Trump Says He'll Attend Oral Arguments on Birthright Citizenship; Answering Your Questions About Beta-Blockers. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired April 01, 2026 - 08:00   ET

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

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JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Standing by to see if humans can still do what we did 50 years ago, counting down for a launch to the moon. So what is so new and so risky about this mission?

Breaking this morning, a brand new poll shows the president hemorrhaging approval on the economy. Does that explain why he will address the nation tonight?

And the rescue mission to save a dog lost for a week after falling down a waterfall.

I'm John Berman with Kate Bolduan and Sara Sidner. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

SIDNER: All right, we're taking you live to the Kennedy Space Center on Florida's East Coast. Right now, NASA is doing final preparations ahead of the launch of its historic moon mission just hours away. Now moments ago, the launch director gave the final go for NASA teams to start loading propellants into the rocket.

Four astronauts are set to fly around the moon and back, returning humans to deep space for the first time in more than 50 years. For the crew, three from the United States, one from Canada, they could set the record for farthest any human being has ever traveled from Earth. If successful, we could see astronauts back on the moon surface this decade.

As one of the astronauts put it, quote, we're going back to the moon because it's the next step in our journey to Mars. CNN's Jackie Wattles is live near the launch site at Kennedy Space Center, which is always an exciting place to be. What are things looking like this morning?

JACKIE WATTLES, CNN SPACE AND SCIENCE WRITER: Well, surprisingly calm. You know, this rocket is pretty notorious for giving NASA some issues. But we're right at the moment now.

We're about to see how it's behaving today. We just got word that launch controllers have given the go or the go ahead to start loading propellant onto the rocket. And they're going to start with that liquid hydrogen. Liquid hydrogen is the main fuel that's used to propel this rocket off the ground. And the thing about hydrogen is that it is a tiny, tiny molecule and it loves to leak. And that has been an issue that NASA has been grappling with throughout its time testing and flying this rocket.

So we're going to see if they can keep those leaks under control today. We know that they have to keep the leak rate under 16 percent. So that's what all eyes are going to be on today.

But yes, the weather is looking pretty good. We heard from weather officials yesterday there's about an 80 percent chance that we'll be go for launch in terms of weather. So I know a lot of people around here are crossing their fingers.

SIDNER: I bet they are, because as you mentioned, there have been issues in the past. What is this mission about? Because this mission is really about being able to not just go to the moon but go further all the way to Mars.

What are they saying about the plans to put astronauts back on the moon?

WATTLES: Right. Exactly. So the moon is really a steppingstone here. Right.

The long term goal is to go to Mars. But we don't yet have all of the technology we need to go to Mars. It's important to note the radiation environment beyond low Earth orbit. Right. Low Earth orbit is where the International Space Station is.

That's where we've been sending astronauts for decades, ever since we stopped going to the moon in the 1970s. And the radiation environment out in deep space beyond the moon and all the way to Mars, that's a far different environment. And so it's essential, NASA says, to set up a moon base and really have constant operations around the moon, dealing with that radiation environment, learning how to live and work in deep space before trying the far more complicated mission of going to Mars, where travel times are measured in months rather than days.

SIDNER: Yes. I mean, look, it's all pretty incredible. It's the thing -- it's the stuff of a childhood dream to go into deep space and eventually to Mars.

We will see how this first step goes in the next few hours. Jackie Wattles, thank you so much, live there from Kennedy Space Center in Florida -- Kate.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Ahead of President Trump's address to the nation tonight, there are new poll numbers just released this morning from CNN showing some historic lows that President Trump is now facing, like his approval rating on the economy, a new low, with the Iran war now triggering the worst energy crisis of our lifetime. And while the president bristles whenever asked about his potential next moves in this war, he is now offering a new timeline for getting out of it. The president claims that it could be done in two to three weeks.

And he now says it doesn't matter if Iran cuts a deal or not, and is even saying reopening the Strait of Hormuz, that critical oil shipping route that's been paralyzed since this war began, he now says it's not America's problem to fix.

CNN's Kristen Holmes is live at the White House this morning. Ahead of the big event tonight, Kristen, what are you expecting? What are you hearing about expectations of what the president's going to say?

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KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kate, we heard a little bit of a preview from Secretary of State Marco Rubio last night talking about those military objectives, destroying the Air Force, the Navy, saying that America was close to coming to finishing off those objectives. But this also comes at a time in which President Trump's approval ratings, not just with the economy but with the war in Iran, are very low.

Americans do not like this war. They don't quite understand it. It's also a time in which I'm talking to administration officials who are deeply concerned about the long-term political ramifications of this war in Iran, and particularly those gas and oil prices.

And I know you had Matt Egan on in the last hour, exactly what he was saying, that goes to the political side of this as well. Saying that, yes, the prices might spike, they might come down but not knowing a timeline on that. Remember, those midterms are going to be in November. So even if we get out of the war, there's a chance that those gas prices won't come down.

And that's really the biggest affordability argument that the Trump administration had heading into November. But as you noted, this is also really having been a realignment of President Trump's objectives in this war. The Strait of Hormuz, just two days ago, he was saying that if they did not, if Iran did not open the Strait of Hormuz, that this was going to be something that would lead him to bombing or striking these kind of civilian locations, water plant, power plant.

That is not what he's saying now. Now he's saying we don't need to open it. Actually, other countries should open it. We don't rely on it that much.

And that's coming because he self-imposed this four- to six-week timeline, which now seems extended by an extra two to three. And they don't believe, they being the administration, that they can get done their military objectives and reopen the Strait in that time period.

This is a lot of questions, and this is a lot for Americans to take in. Obviously, he's going to be addressing a lot of this tonight.

BOLDUAN: Absolutely. Kristen, it's great to have you this morning. Thank you so much -- John.

BERMAN: All right. We are standing by to see if the president arrives at the Supreme Court to sit in on oral arguments. This is something no sitting president has ever done before.

He said he's going. This says he challenges the long-held constitutional right to birthright citizenship.

The big change that could be on the way for one of the most popular treatments after heart attack.

And the big announcement from Tiger Woods. He pleaded not guilty after flipping his SUV. The sheriff said he was sweating profusely with pills in his pocket.

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BERMAN: So we are standing by to see if the president follows through on his promise to head to the Supreme Court this morning for historic arguments on his efforts to limit birthright citizenship. Birthright citizenship is the idea that if you were born in the United States, you are a citizen.

This is what the president said about the arguments.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: All of this legislation, all of this, everything having to do with birthright citizenship, it was at the end of the Civil War. The reason was it had to do with the babies of slaves and the protection of the babies of slaves. It didn't have to do with the protection of multi-millionaires and billionaires wanting to have their children get an American citizenship.

It is the craziest thing I've ever seen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: All right, with us now is CNN senior legal analyst, Elie Honig. And Elie, I'm not sure I've been sold enough, but if the president goes to these arguments, which we think he is, this is something no president has ever done before. So this is a big deal.

He clearly thinks it's important. Talk to me about what the Constitution says, the actual language that deals with birthright citizenship.

ELIE HONIG, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: OK, John, always a good idea to start with the parchment itself. The 14th Amendment, ratified in 1868 after the end of the Civil War, tells us that all persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof are citizens of the United States. Now, for 157 years after its passage, this was generally understood to mean that if you're born here, you are a citizen here with only the narrowest of exceptions until January 20th, 2025, Donald Trump's first day back in office, where he issues an executive order titled Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship. So how exactly would Trump's executive order narrow the scope of birthright citizenship? First of all, it says that birthright would not apply if the parents are here illegally, without legal status. That obviously would impact millions of people.

And also, birthright citizenship would not apply if parents are here with temporary legal status. So that would include parents here on work visas, on student visas, special occupation visas. People are here for their scientific or medical knowledge, recipients of DACA Dreamers from the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals.

So if Trump gets his way, it's going to severely narrow birthright citizenship.

BERMAN: All right, so talk to me about the arguments we're going to hear today, because I have a feeling that this line right here is going to be what the administration argues most vociferously.

HONIG: It's all about these five words, subject to the jurisdiction thereof, because the 14th Amendment tells us you have to have two things to be a citizen. Born here, no question about what it means to be born, but then subject to the jurisdiction thereof. What does that mean?

Now, let me show you what the Trump administration's argument is. If you have a person, let's say hypothetically, born in Mexico, a Mexican native and resident, who then comes to the United States illegally or temporarily, the Trump administration's argument is that person is subject to the jurisdiction of Mexico, and for constitutional purposes, not the United States.

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But here's what the response is going to be from the lawyers who are challenging this. They're going to say, first of all, this language does not say solely or exclusively subject to the jurisdiction of the United States.

And the second argument is going to be, if you're from Mexico and you're here even illegally, you bet you're still subject to the jurisdiction of the United States. You could be arrested. You could be imprisoned.

You could be questioned, searched, taxed, ticketed. All the things that the United States normally does can be done even if you're here from Mexico. So it's all going to turn on that key five-word phrase.

BERMAN: In the lower courts, this has worked its way through the lower courts, and it really hasn't seemed like they've had a hard time on this.

HONIG: Well, to channel my inner Harry Enten, 0 percent of the lower courts have agreed with Donald Trump. District courts, trial-level courts in Washington State, Maryland, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire have all rejected Trump's position. Also, the courts of appeals, the courts of appeals for the First Circuit, this is your territory, John, up in New England, the Fourth Circuit, and the Ninth Circuit have also agreed that Trump's position is wrong. So every lower federal court to hear this has agreed that Trump is wrong. And just to give you one quote, this is from a federal judge in Washington State, an appointee of Ronald Reagan, so not some liberal judge.

Here's what he said. He said, Trump's position is a blatantly unconstitutional order that boggles the mind. So I think Trump's lawyers are going to be fighting an uphill climb today, but you never know.

It's up to those nine justices.

BERMAN: He looks like his mind is boggled right there. He looks very serious. I asked for a photo.

HONIG: I said, please give me a photo that suggests mind boggled.

SIDNER: John Berman, you're cut off. That is enough, fellows.

BERMAN: Thank you very much. We will be watching this very closely, and it will be historic, especially if the president goes.

SIDNER: Thank you so much. All right. Just ahead, an American journalist kidnapped in Baghdad. The latest details we're learning on who may be responsible.

And diesel prices are soaring to nearly $5.50 a gallon. The pain American truckers are feeling right now. We will speak with someone who is in dire straits.

Those stories and more ahead.

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SIDNER: For decades, beta blockers have been a common prescription after you have a heart attack, and they're often something patients are told to take for the rest of their lives.

But more and more research is raising questions about giving beta blockers to every patient. So we're paging Dr. Gupta. What do you want to know about beta blockers?

You've asked some questions, and Dr. Gupta is here to answer your questions. Good morning to you. Let's start with Paul from New Westminster, British Columbia.

He asks, I had a heart attack in 2007 and have since been on beta blockers. Should I continue them? Considering what he's hearing about this new look at whether they're necessary.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Right. I mean, so much news about this, and I think it's left people a little confused. Let me be clear.

You should you should talk to your doctor about this. And even to add an exclamation mark to this, there is a black box warning about abruptly discontinuing beta blockers. So because it can spike your heart rate, it can spike your blood pressure, it can cause other problems.

So definitely talk to your doctor about this. But I think what Paul is reacting to, and Sara, we got a lot of questions sort of in this similar vein, is this idea that most people after a heart attack, about 10 percent of the U.S. population are taking beta blockers. Most people stay on these medications, as you mentioned, for the rest of their life.

And what a few studies have shown recently is that if your heart function is stable and it's good heart function after having some sort of heart attack or heart problem, what they find is there's not a big difference between those who continue taking the beta blockers and those who discontinue taking the beta blockers. So several studies, this one came out of South Korea, but they basically showed that, you know, the chance of having another problem, another heart attack, another hospitalization, was actually slightly higher in those who continued the beta blockers. And I think this is getting a lot of attention.

Again, 10 percent of the U.S. adult population taking beta blockers, taking them for their entire lives or the rest of their lives, that's what this study is sort of reacting to.

SIDNER: Yes, I mean, as a person who doesn't like taking pills, like, I completely get why someone would say, like, is there any way I can get off of this? But as you said, it's really important that this is a discussion with your doctor. But you can bring them the new information to say, hey, what do you know about this?

Let's go to our next question. Joanne wants to know, why are beta blockers recommended after a heart attack?

GUPTA: Yes, this is really interesting. So think of it like this. Someone has had a heart attack.

Some of the heart muscle has died, and there's stress on the rest of the heart. The rest of the heart is under stress, trying its best to sort of keep up. What a beta blocker does, it slows down the heart rate, it lowers the blood pressure, and it sort of takes some of that stress off the heart.

And these trials go back to the 1960s. So, you know, we've been thinking about this for a long time. What they found was that that decreasing of the stress could help prevent a second heart attack or a second heart problem.

The thing is, a lot has changed over the last 60, 70 years. When someone has a heart attack, they can quickly reopen blood vessels now, something known as angioplasty. They can use blood thinners. There's other medications like statins. So overall, I think this is really interesting. In 1970, if someone over the age of 65 had a heart attack, they had about a 60 percent chance of leaving the hospital alive.

Nowadays, it's about 90 percent.

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So having a heart attack today versus 50, 60 years ago when beta blockers were widely recommended is very, very different. And that's, you know, that's good news, Sara. I mean, medicine has come a long way in terms of how to take care of somebody who had a heart attack and how to prevent those heart attacks in the first place.

SIDNER: Yes, that is the good news of all this. Look, we've got one more question from Larry who wrote in asking, what are the long-term side effects of taking beta blockers?

GUPTA: Yes, I mean, that's the other side of this is there are side effects for a lot of people. Again, think about it like this. It lowers your blood pressure.

It slows your heart rate. So you're not getting as much blood flow to various parts of your body. People often complain of cold hands and feet, and this can be significant to the point where they're not engaging in activities.

Tiredness, fatigue, dizziness, lightheadedness, and also, obviously, Sara, the cost. $20 a month, not that expensive, but a lifetime of that cost. Across 10 percent of the adult population, this could bring costs down significantly if some of these measures are put into effect.

SIDNER: Absolutely, and those are some of the side effects that you're seeing there. And it would be hard to live with something that gives you extreme tiredness, right? I mean, I can see why people would say, hey, maybe there's another alternative.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta, thank you. This is really enlightening. Appreciate it -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: Coming up still for us, a historic moon launch is on track for this afternoon. Why is it so risky this time and why it's so important for the future of NASA?

And the wild week-long rescue mission to bring a missing dog back to its owner, get this, after falling down a waterfall.

Be right back.

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