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Trump Watches Birthright Citizenship Arguments at Supreme Court; NASA's Artemis II Astronauts Head to the Launch Pad; Artemis II Crew Performing Final Checks Ahead of Launch; NASA Moon Mission Set to Take Humans Farther Than Ever Before. Aired 2-2:30p ET

Aired April 01, 2026 - 14:00   ET

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

[14:00:00]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": -- case.

We're following these major developing stories and many more, all coming in right here to "CNN News Central."

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": Breaking News to CNN, the four astronauts of the Artemis II crew are headed now to the Launch Pad here at Kennedy Space Center. They're in that Astrovan that you see is getting a police escort, about a 10-minute drive away from the operations center where we find CNN's Randi Kaye, who's actually able to hear what these astronauts were sharing with a crowd of family and team members who were there.

We were trying to listen in to what they were sharing with them, but our mics couldn't pick it up. Randi could though. Randy, what did you hear?

RANDI KAYE, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, we got as close as we are allowed to get because they've been in quarantine, so they weren't even allowed to hug their families, but they were talking to them, and Commander Reid Wiseman was closest to me, and he was talking to his two daughters. He lost his wife to cancer back in 2020, and he was telling them that he's not going to be able to remain in contact as much as he would like and that there is an astronaut, what they call an earthbound astronaut, here on site who will be in contact with them if they have any questions, but he will try and reach out to them as much as he can.

But he stood there, and he did this. He did the heart shape to his daughters, and they did it back to him, and even after he got on the van, they were doing that to him. It was a highly emotional moment, and then you have Christina Koch, the Mission Specialist who was next to him. She was talking to her husband. She's been on the International Space Station. She joked that her husband won't be able to call her like he did when she was on there. She's going to be so far away and may not have contact. If he can't find something in the house, he can't call. That's what she was saying.

(LAUGH) And then also Victor Glover, the Pilot, was talking to his children and his wife. And then you had Jeremy Hansen, the Canadian, who was talking to his wife. So this was really, really an emotional moment. This was their send-off for their families, certainly a lot of excitement, a lot of emotion, and a lot of concern.

A lot of people here are hoping that they will be safe, and the launch will happen 6:24 tonight. Boris?

SANCHEZ: And right now, indications are that all systems are go, Randi, so we will see what happens when that launch window opens. Pete Muntean is here with us now, as well as Clayton Anderson, a retired NASA astronaut.

Pete, one of the things that we're going to be watching closely is the weather because, of course, this is Florida. It rains from time to time. The view, though, is that there's a very good percentage, about 80 percent, according to NASA officials, that this is going to take off tonight.

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: The latest weather briefing that the astronauts received from the Space Force 45th Weather Squadron was that 20 percent no-go chance, meaning 80 percent chance for go. That's about as good as you can get when it comes to this, especially in Florida, central Florida, with a sea breeze, the coast here where we are, the wind coming out of the east.

There is a tiny bit of concern about rain. This cannot launch if there is precipitation. Of course, can't launch if the winds are too high, can't launch if the clouds are in the wrong place. There's even concern about solar flares. There was a big one on Monday. Thankfully, though, it was pointed away from Earth, away from the path of Artemis II.

We are anticipating potentially a shower to pass through here. It does not seem, from the launch director, that this will really change their plan as we go forward. 20-minute drive here on the Astrovan. They will make it to where we are in about 10 minutes' time. All four astronauts on board there on what is quite a nerve-wracking drive. They will go up to the tower on Launch Pad 39B, up the elevator, see the closeout crew there in the tower, strap into the Orion capsule, something that humans have never been on board before, and then launch for this 10- day voyage around the moon.

This is really where the tension has reached a totally new pitch, now that we are so, so close to astronauts being on board the Space Launch System and Artemis II rocket.

SANCHEZ: It is going to be fascinating to watch. I wonder, Clayton, if you could share with us any insight on what it's like to be in that Astrovan, driving over to this Launch Pad. I gave some of the superlatives a moment ago, but this is an enormous rocket that is going to go faster than just about any rocket has ever gone before.

CLAYTON ANDERSON, RETIRED NASA ASTRONAUT: I think it's a cool time to be in that Astrovan. I remember they had a cooler of bottled water for us, and I was afraid to drink any because I didn't really want to have to use the bathroom when I got to the launch pad tower.

(LAUGH)

ANDERSON: But when you see that rocket, I can't even imagine how big this one is. I just know that the shuttle was massive, and the shuttle was alive. It was breathing as it off-gassed all the fuel that was rolling through the pipes. It's very surreal because you say, this is really going to happen. This is really a monster that I'm going to climb on top of that has explosive potential.

And you begin to focus. You put your game face on, and it's really a focused time to make sure that you don't make any mistakes on the things that you're supposed to do.

[14:05:00]

SANCHEZ: Yeah. Talk to us about that because I read that for astronauts who've taken off on previous missions, it's noisy in there. Talk to us about what it's like to sit inside that capsule and to experience being on what you just described as a monster?

ANDERSON: Well, part of the way this will happen and fold out is they've got a long time, I think, to sit inside the capsule until it is launch time So you're listening with your headset to all the conversations that are going on between the launch control team, the mission control team, the crew commander, making sure that everything is counting down appropriately, that all the sensors are reading correctly, that there aren't any issues to the launch. (Inaudible)

(CROSSTALK)

SANCHEZ: Clayton, I just want to stop you for one moment because the Astrovan is literally passing behind us as we speak. There's a helicopter following as well as a convoy.

MUNTEAN: Look at all these people who have lined up here, along the access road here as we go by the vehicle assembly building.

SANCHEZ: Yeah.

MUNTEAN: This is an Incredible moment.

SANCHEZ: Yeah.

MUNTEAN: To see this live.

SANCHEZ: A convoy of law enforcement with them as well as supporters. You see folks there holding up signs, the American flag.

I wonder, Clayton, as you were describing what it's like to sit in the shuttle, before you get in there, what's going through your mind when you see so many folks whether it's family or team members, tens of thousands of people, who have engineered and through hard work and math and dedication put together a mission like this, a historic moment? ANDERSON: Astronauts are the pointy end of that spear. That spear is loaded with thousands of people who do their absolute best to make sure that their piece of this massive puzzle was done properly and correctly. A lot of pride in those people standing on those roadsides that are waving to those astronauts. You can tell the difference here, this is a lunar mission for the first time in 50 years versus, oh, yeah, we're going to launch another space station crew up.

Yeah, it's a cool deal but it's not as it's not as big as this, and you can tell that through the emotions of all the people, all the families, the crew, everybody that's pulling together to make this happen again for the first time in 54 years. It's an incredibly emotional day and hopefully, the beginning of a great day for American spaceflight.

SANCHEZ: When you talk about it being emotional, Clayton, what emotions does this evoke in you? The fact that the United States is recommitting to deep space exploration after decades of, essentially, shelving a program that would get astronauts about as far as man has gone.

ANDERSON: I'm envious. I'm very envious. You know, I wish I was still involved That's not what the cards had for me. But to be involved in this way, at least keeps me emotionally invested in what's happening. It's incredibly important to me that the United States be -- stay as the space faring preeminent nation in the world, that we're the leader, that we do things the best and we do those things first.

I think that's a very important aspect of this. Yes, it's global. It's international. The Italians helped build, the Europeans helped build the Orion capsule, a lot of players helped build the rocket, the SLS. But in its essence, it's an American effort and the Americans need to lead the way. So, that's what makes it emotional for me, is that I'm very proud to be an American and I'm very proud to be a part of this space program.

SANCHEZ: No doubt. Clayton, thank you so much for sharing that with us. Please stand by Pete, as well. We're going to stay on top of this story as you see the Astrovan getting closer and closer to that Launch Pad. We're going to bring you the moments where the Artemis II crew boards the vessel.

But I do want to go back to Brianna, who is in D.C. with the day's other huge story. Brianna?

KEILAR: That's right, Boris. We're here outside the Supreme Court as they're taking up one of the terms most important cases, deciding who is and who is not an American citizen. We have details from court, plus how President Trump, who was in attendance, is responding to this case. We have that and much more coming up on "CNN News Central."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:14:28]

SANCHEZ: Breaking News to CNN. You are watching the crew of Artemis II arrive at the Launch Pad in style. That is the Astrovan. The crew right now off boarding as they just left the operations center, waving goodbye to loved ones and to an enormous team that has helped put this historic mission together. In just moments, they are going to enter the Launch Pad and strap in to perhaps the most ambitious test flight that has ever been done. Certainly, the most ambitious mission that NASA has put forward in half a century.

[14:15:00]

They are headed to the other side of the moon and back to earth. There you see them boarding the elevator now, that will take them more than 300 feet up into the actual capsule that they're going to be in, strapped in for this ride.

They're waving toward a camera now. We're of course going to keep on top of these images from Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

But let's go straight to Brianna Keilar because Brianna -- actually, we're going to stick with this as we see the astronauts here in the elevator. Obviously, a moment that is historic for a multitude of reasons. Among this crew, you have the first Canadian to ever fly to lunar orbit. You also have the first woman to go into lunar orbit as well as the first African-American too. We have, I believe we still have retired astronaut, Clayton Anderson, with us.

And Clayton, as you're watching them de-board that Astrovan and get on the Launch Pad and now, they're getting ready to head up into the capsule, what is going through your mind as you look at these pictures?

ANDERSON: Well, it has a lot of great memories of my time flying on the shuttle. The pad has changed, the elevator has changed, everything has changed since I was there years ago. But now, they're looking at that massive rocket from an incredibly close vantage point, which is very, very cool. It makes it all come real very fast. So then, I believe they're going to get on to another elevator and head up to the entrance point where they'll walk across the gantry way into -- and begin to enter the capsule.

So, the helmet bags that they're carrying are very important and they have some of their other gear in there and the suit techs will help them each individually get into the capsule, get strapped into their seats, get connected to the communication system, and then the rhythm of the day will begin because they're so used to practicing this and listening to what they're supposed to hear.

It'll be a very cool time, but again they've got their game faces on now I believe, and their focus will really narrow to what is ahead immediately.

SANCHEZ: Yeah, this is when the rubber meets the road, when muscle memory takes over and all that training for years will kick in as they depart planet earth, headed toward the moon. We're going to keep bringing you pictures from this special mission here at Kennedy Space Center.

But now, let's go to Brianna Keilar who is outside the Supreme Court for us. Brianna?

KEILAR: Yeah, what a moment to watch there in Florida, this lead-up to this launch, Boris. But here in Washington, we are tracking this landmark case here at the Supreme Court behind me that could redefine what it means to be an American. Earlier, President Trump was inside the court, he was watching in person the court hearing arguments on birthright citizenship, and he was the first sitting president to ever attend such a proceeding.

He was there for over an hour as both liberal and conservative justices voiced doubt whether his executive order that would end birthright citizenship is legal. It is written in the 14th Amendment, establishing nearly every person born in the United States is a citizen of the United States. Among its points, the Trump administration believes the executive order is needed to combat birth tourism, foreigners traveling to the U.S. just to give birth, but it's clear that some of the justices were not buying it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN SAUER, UNITED STATES SOLICITOR GENERAL: Media reported as early as 2015 that based on Chinese media reports, there are 500 -- 500 birth tourism companies in the People's Republic of China whose business is to bring people here to give birth and return to that nation.

JUSTICE JOHN ROBERTS, CHIEF JUSTICE OF THE SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES: Having said all that, you do agree that that has no impact on the legal analysis before us?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Let's go to CNN Chief Supreme Court Analyst, Joan Biskupic. And Joan, you were there --

JOAN BISKUPIC, CNN CHIEF SUPREME COURT ANALYST: Yeah.

KEILAR: -- in the court. What were your big takeaways from what you heard?

BISKUPIC: Well, Brianna, there was a lot of energy and excitement in the courtroom, just the fact that a president of the United States was showing up there. So, but you know, there were times when I thought, was this going to turn this into a circus? And it really didn't. You know, he was quietly ushered to his seat.

As you mentioned, he did leave in the middle of it at one point, but you know, overall, it was still as serious as you would have expected on such a historic question here. And let's remind everyone where we come into on this.

You referred to the 14th Amendment that was ratified in 1868. And then in 1898, the Supreme Court issued a decision that essentially reinforced the idea that anyone born here, irrespective of the immigration status of their parents, would be considered a citizen.

[14:20:00]

And I have to tell you that the questioning from justices who we really watch in these kinds of closed cases, all moving against Donald Trump. And let's hear just two comments, first from Chief Justice John Roberts, and then from Justice Amy Coney Barrett, both of who could be very key justices here.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: The examples you give to support that strike me as very quirky. You know, children of ambassadors, children of enemies during a hostile invasion, children on warships. And then you expand it to the whole class of illegal aliens are here in the country. I'm not quite sure how you can get to that big group from such tiny and sort of idiosyncratic examples.

JUSTICE AMY CONEY BARRETT, ASSOCIATE JUSTICE OF THE SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES: What if you don't know who the parents are?

SAUER: I think there are marginal cases.

CONEY BARRETT: How would it work? How would you adjudicate these cases? You're not going to know at the time of birth for some people, whether they have the intent to stay or not, including U.S. citizens, by the way.

I mean, what if you have someone who is living in Norway with, you know, their husband and family, but is still a U.S. citizen, comes home and has her child here and goes back? How do we know whether the child is a U.S. citizen because the parent didn't have an intent to stay?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BISKUPIC: You know, Brianna, I wondered whether the Chief and Justice Barrett and some of the others were really going to tip their hand, but I felt like they didn't. There was one other kind of money quote that I'll give you from the Chief before I comment on Donald Trump's departure.

At one point, John Sauer, the Solicitor General, was saying, you know, it's a new world now because of immigration problems. And the Chief said, it's a new world, but it's the same Constitution. And Donald Trump left before the whole thing was over, but he was in the room when the Chief and John Sauer had that exchange, Brianna.

KEILAR: Yeah, he heard that. And there have been questions. There were questions today. The solicitor general said, no, this is about -- this is perspective (ph), meaning for people moving forward from this point in time. But obviously, there were a lot of questions. And legal watchers are saying there's no way that the court could rule in the administration's favor without this potentially affecting those who are already in the U.S. with citizenship and are the children of illegal aliens.

Let's go back now to Florida where, Boris, you are watching. And this just strikes me. It is such a long lead up, but every moment is so exciting as this crew is getting ready for this launch here.

SANCHEZ: Never has putting on gloves been so, so --

(LAUGH)

SANCHEZ: -- meaningful and impactful, Brianna. It seems trivial, right? They're putting on gloves. But these gloves are going to be worn by hands that are commanding arguably the fastest ship that mankind has ever built.

They're going to be going 17,000-plus miles an hour to a place no one has ever been, to the other side of the moon and back. Just moments ago, they put on their helmets. They got all kinds of tubes strapped in. Fortunately, I have some technical minds that understand more of the detail of what those tubes signify.

Pete, walk us through. Pete Muntean is here with us. Walk us through what we're seeing right now.

MUNTEAN: This is an environmentally enclosed, controlled, sealed, sterile chamber at the top of Launch Pad 39B, essentially, the area where these astronauts don and test their spacesuits. Before they were in their suits, as they were saying goodbye to their families, as they got in the Astrovan, sans helmet, sans glove.

Now they are putting on, you can see there, their helmets and gloves. And this is really critical. This is called the closeout crew. And so, they are critical in this whole process of getting the astronauts prepared to essentially strap in to the largest and most powerful rocket -- most powerful rocket rather, not the largest, but the most powerful rocket NASA has ever launched.

This is the first time anybody will sign the wall there, which is tradition, in the white room which was built for Artemis on Pad 39B. Since the previous Artemis mission was not crewed --

SANCHEZ: Right.

MUNTEAN: -- which really underscores the significance of this mission. This is the first time that humans have ever been in the Space Launch System and the Orion capsule. What is going to be a remarkable test flight that will tick off first after first. They will go behind the moon, on the far side of the moon, further than Apollo 13 went on the far side of the moon, depending on the timing of the launch --

[14:25:00]

SANCHEZ: Yeah.

MUNTEAN: But it seems very likely that they will exceed that record. So the furthest that humans have ever been from Earth. And then they will do a free return trajectory, harnessing the moon's gravity and then the earth's gravity to come back to earth to make a successful splashdown here.

We're getting ahead of ourselves, though.

SANCHEZ: Yeah.

(CROSSTALK)

MUNTEAN: It all has to be -- it's all predicated on the launch. And there are still dozens, if not hundreds of things that this crew will need to check. They will do a comms check here. They will do a check of their suits. They will do a check of the pressurization in the Orion capsule there, as they are about to get in it.

It is about the size of a six-person tent that you might buy at REI. This is cozy quarters.

(CROSSTALK)

SANCHEZ: Two minivans -- two minivans, side by side.

MUNTEAN: So -- and we're looking at the iconic countdown clock now.

SANCHEZ: Yeah.

MUNTEAN: Notably under four hours until launch. The window opens here at 6:24 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time. It seems very hopeful, though, that we are at this point.

SANCHEZ: Yeah, it struck me as you were describing some of the detail of what the mission entails that Jeremy Hansen, the Canadian astronaut that we were just watching, get his helmet put on and sort of get his suit all put together. He's never actually even been to space. So quite the first mission --

MUNTEAN: Yes.

SANCHEZ: -- to go on as you're headed out.

MUNTEAN: Most of the crew are veterans in spaceflight. And most of the crew also veterans in test flying. They have flown airplanes for Boeing and the like to make sure that they are up to snuff. There will be some piloting here. You would think that in a space mission in 2026, this would be --

SANCHEZ: Automated.

(CROSSTALK)

MUNTEAN: -- all automated and essentially on autopilot. One of the key benchmarks of this mission is to make sure that these astronauts can maneuver the Artemis capsule around essentially the top stage, the last stage of this rocket.

And so, they will do that in earth orbit before they launch on their larger voyage to the moon.

SANCHEZ: It is truly going to be a spectacle. Depending on whether or not we see liftoff, hopefully we will. NASA is very confident that we will take off tonight. The window opens in fewer than four hours.

Stay tuned to CNN. We're going to bring you the latest here from Kennedy Space Center as the crew of Artemis II gets ready to head where no one has been before.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)