Return to Transcripts main page

CNN News Central

Iran Rejects Temporary Ceasefire, Demands Permanent End to War; Trump Threatens to Strike Iran Energy Sites, Bridges in Profane Post; Artemis II Astronauts to Make Historic Moon Flyby; DC U.S. Attorney's Office Under Pirro Sees Unusually Low Win Rate. Aired 8:00-8:30a ET

Aired April 06, 2026 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:00]

STEPHANIE YANG, CNN SENIOR ASIA BUSINESS EDITOR AND REPORTER: ... This type of human data is turning into a multi-billion dollar industry, since companies say it's going to take billions of hours of training before robots can be deployed into people's homes. Analysts say that the data from these videos isn't as effective as having humans guide robots through the tasks themselves, but it's a lot cheaper and faster to collect. As AI advances, developers are combining human and virtual training methods, all in the name of building the world's most advanced Android.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking news just in. Iran rejecting a temporary ceasefire, demanding a permanent end to the war with the U.S. and Israel. What does this now mean for that new deadline and ultimatum President Trump just laid out?

And next stop, the far side of the moon. Today, the Artemis crew goes the farthest any human has ever traveled from Earth.

And imagine driving down the highway and a plane, then, you know, pulls up and lands right in front of you. What forced the pilot to make this emergency landing?

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

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: The breaking news this morning, we are trying to ascertain the disposition of what President Trump calls last ditch, deep negotiations for a ceasefire in Iran. That is what he told Barak Ravid of Axios, who will be with us in seconds. So I'm going to stop talking as soon as I can, so we can get to his reporting.

A couple of quick updates first. This morning, Iran says it rejects the notion of a temporary ceasefire. What does that mean?

And we just learned the two Qatari tankers carrying natural gas turned around before transiting the Strait of Hormuz. So it is clearly still effectively closed this morning, despite the president's latest expletive-laden threats to destroy infrastructure, including bridges and power plants, if the strait stays closed. I should also note the president says he will answer questions today from the press at 1:00 p.m. -- Sara.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: Thank you, John. Let's get straight to our Barak Ravid, a CNN political and global affairs analyst, as well as Peter Bergen, our CNN national security analyst. First to you, Barak, what are you learning about what I think you've called a last-ditch effort for a ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran?

BARAK RAVID, CNN POLITICAL AND GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Yes, Sara. So as far as I understand from both U.S., Israeli, and regional sources is that there are talks going on even now as we speak to try and see whether in the next, what now, 36 hours left until President Trump's ultimatum is actually -- exactly 36 hours -- whether it can be possible to reach some sort of a partial deal. This will not be a deal to end the war, but this will be a two-phased approach, meaning let's first do some sort of a ceasefire.

The number of days I heard is 45 days. I heard it from four sources. Let's do this ceasefire.

It will include confidence-building measures from both the U.S. and Iran. From the U.S. side, it could be some guarantees that the war will end. It could be some frozen money released.

From the Iranian side, it could be some relief when it comes to tankers in the Hormuz Strait. It could be some dilution of highly enriched uranium. Let's do that in the first phase, and then we'll go into negotiations on a deal to permanently end the war.

For now, the main issue that is the sticking point is how to give Iran guarantees that this is not just a temporary ceasefire. Because this is the number one concern from the Iranian side. They say, we don't want to be in a situation like Hamas in Gaza or Hezbollah in Lebanon, that on the one hand, on paper, there's a ceasefire, but in reality, the Israelis are attacking there every now and then.

They don't want to be in the situation. They want to get clear guarantees that this war is over. And I'm not sure that the U.S. can really give them guarantees, because at the moment, there's zero trust between the parties.

SIDNER: That is the difficult part to move forward. Peter, the president -- I don't know any other way to describe this -- but went off the rails with this stunning, expletive-laced threat to Iran, talking about bombing different sites. You see him there.

He's telling them to open the effing strait, and you'll be living in hell if you don't. I mean, what did you think when you saw this, and what purpose does it serve?

[08:05:00]

PETER BERGEN, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Well, it was shocking. What purpose does it serve? I'm not sure, because particularly the praise be to Allah seemed particularly gratuitous, and it was gratuitous in general over Easter weekend to make such a set of threats. But I wanted to return to what Barak said, because I think that's kind of the key. The Iranians have always not wanted a temporary ceasefire, because they don't want to be in the situation where the Israelis and all the United States are mowing the lawn, meaning that they keep going back and keep striking at will for the foreseeable future. And this seems to be a huge sticking point.

We've seen an Iranian official not explicitly responding to Barak's reporting about the 45-day ceasefire, but we've seen Iranian senior officials just rejecting the whole idea of a ceasefire. So they do want a permanent end to the war, and that seems to be a pretty big disconnect between the two sides.

SIDNER: Barak, I'm just curious how Iran is responding to not just these talks, where I think they're asking for other things like being repaid for some of the damage the United States has done, but to this particular outburst by the President of the United States.

RAVID: Well, first, to the issue of repayment, I actually think that this point is actually doable. I think this is not going to be a sticking point. And I think that there's a lot of things going on behind the scenes.

There's a very big difference between what we see in public statements from both sides and what's going on in private. The differences are huge. That's one thing.

Second, I think that when the Iranians see President Trump's rhetoric, I'm not sure that the effect on them is what the President thinks it is. Meaning, I think Donald Trump is saying, you know, I will talk tough, and it will put pressure on them, and he uses it, and he thinks it's leverage. The Iranians on the other side, I think they're interpreting this not as them being under pressure, but they see it as Donald Trump being under pressure and therefore resorting to such rhetoric.

I think the Iranians think about things differently than how the U.S. thinks about it. They look at it from a different point of view. And therefore, I'm not sure that Trump's rhetoric is actually helping to what he's trying to achieve.

SIDNER: Understood. Peter, just to get to this incredible rescue of the U.S. airmen that was deep inside Iran. His fighter jet was shot down.

Have you learned anything about how this all went down? I know the CIA was also involved in all this.

BERGEN: Well, I think it really goes to the question of Joint Special Operations Command. Joint Special Operations Command, as far as you recall, was founded as a result of the disastrous Desert One rescue operation in which eight American service members were killed. And Joint Special Operations Command has probably done uncounted thousands of kind of operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

And so, I mean, what it goes to is the fact that this is an organization which is operating at the highest level and has done so for a long period of time, which is not to say that things couldn't have gone wrong. Luckily, they did not. But I think it goes to, you know, many decades, particularly post 9-11 of JSOC, Joint Special Operations Command, being able to launch these kinds of operations with a high degree of success.

SIDNER: Yes, it also gives you some sense of just sort of how difficult it is if you'd have people on the ground, how that would kind of met out. Peter Bergen, Barak Ravid, thank you both so much. Appreciate it this morning -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: There's new CNN reporting coming in, how D.C. prosecutors are facing pushback from jurors in an unusual way while prosecuting President Trump's foes. Got that for you coming up.

Plus, the moment police capture and arrest a man that they say tried to push an unsuspecting stranger in front of a moving train.

And the countdown to the moon flyby. NASA scientists are about to travel farther from Earth than any human has ever traveled before.

[08:10:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: We are standing by now just hours from when the Artemis II crew breaks the record for how far humans have traveled from Earth. They are going to fly around the far side of the moon.

Apparently, people get very upset if you call it the dark side of the moon, which sounds infinitely cooler and has a better album cover. But that aside, they will be seeing features on the lunar surface that human eyes have never seen before. Right now, they're about 240,000 miles from Earth.

This is what they said about it all overnight.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRISTINA KOCH, ARTEMIS II ASTRONAUT: We entered the lunar sphere of influence about an hour ago, and sure enough, we are now falling to the Moon rather than rising away from Earth. Also, earlier we had the Earth out as a crescent out the side hatch and the Moon out window three. And definitely by far, the moon is bigger than the Earth.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: All right, CNN aerospace analyst Miles O'Brien is with me now. So, Miles, they're in the lunar sphere of influence and about to be further from us than any human has ever been before.

What does it all mean?

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN AEROSPACE ANALYST: Wow, that's deep stuff. It makes me want to play that Pink Floyd album to think about it. Right, John?

[08:15:00]

In any case, yes, this is this has been an interesting test flight. It makes me want to play that Pink Floyd album to think about it. Right, John?

In any case, yes, this is this has been an interesting test flight to watch. Some of the little things which can be big things have been trouble for them, like the toilet. It's devilishly difficult to make a space toilet.

They've learned how to don and doff their pressure suits in a hurry. They have rung out the hand flying of the spacecraft. But ultimately, what get people resonate with is this idea that they're going farther than any humans have gone before.

And at 1:56 p.m. Eastern time, they will exceed the record, which was set by Apollo 13, which, as you know, John, was a mission that went awry. And as a result, they had to do this wide lap around the moon, this free return orbit, which is what this crew is doing. They set the previous record.

So for those of you, you know, if that those kinds of things matter to you, that'll be an important thing. You should watch as that happens today.

BERMAN: It's pretty cool. I mean, they're really far away and they're going to be looking at the moon so closely for so long. What are they going to do with that time as they orbit -- Miles?

O'BRIEN: Well, they will be staring out the window, and they will be doing it with purpose. They spent a lot of time here on Earth learning how to look at rocks and articulate what those rocks are all about and what those features are all about. But I don't want people to think that there's going to be some kind of huge scientific breakthrough by this crew looking at the far side of the moon from 4,600 miles of altitude.

They will be able to characterize some things, but we've seen the far side of the moon with all kinds of satellites and telescopes that we have flown previously. Looking at it with the human eye and trying to explain it to scientists on the ground has its own appeal, I suppose, but it's not going to be a scientific breakthrough. This is a test flight, and they will get a spectacular view and hopefully they'll be able to describe it to us as well as send down some of this amazing 4K video, which does separate things definitely from Apollo era.

BERMAN: Yes, they're going to take a lot of pictures, that's for sure. And I think we've all become familiar with the idea that they lose communications with Earth for this brief period when they go around the moon. What happens then, Miles?

We all, I mean, when in the movies we all collectively hold our breaths, but what happens for real at NASA?

O'BRIEN: I guess it gets very lonely for them, doesn't it, right? They're the four lonely individuals in the cosmos, starting at 6:47 Eastern, ending at 7:27 Eastern. No one will be able to talk to them.

Their iPhones will not be -- their newsfeeds will not be filling up. The e-mail boxes will not be loading up. They will be as disconnected as any humans can be.

It'll be, I'm sure, a profound moment for them and for all of us on this side, I think. It's an interesting thought to think about humanity moving beyond our little sphere. You know, the thing that strikes me, though, John, if you want to talk big picture here is the crew has been just like the Apollo crews, which is they spend most of their time talking about Earth.

You go to the moon, that may be your goal, but ultimately what you find is the most interesting thing to look at and appreciate and understand is this blue marble of ours, as Carl Sagan called it, this wonderful oasis in the void. So I think as much as anything, when we explore, we appreciate where we are right now.

BERMAN: That's so well said. Listen, Miles O'Brien, it's always great to talk to you. Thank you for putting it in such wonderful perspective -- Sara.

SIDNER: All right, thank you. And just ahead, Hogwash. The words from D.C.'s top prosecutor to claim that her office is struggling to prosecute some of Trump's foes. New CNN reporting is just ahead.

Also, cases of a highly contagious respiratory virus still surging in some states. How health officials are now responding.

Those stories and more ahead.

[08:20:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BOLDUAN: There's new reporting into CNN this morning. The U.S. attorney's office in D.C. under Jeanine Pirro has racked up an unusually low win rate in trials in federal district courts so far this year, far below the national average. And some of what's driving that, sources say, is clearly, in their view, a jury pool that may have lost trust in the Trump administration and the U.S. attorney in charge. Now responding, CNN's Katelyn Polantz has this new reporting. She's joining us right now. Katelyn, tell us more about what you're learning here.

KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kate, I was hearing it from many people very close to the federal court in Washington who watch that court closely, who watch the prosecutor's office closely. They've lost the jury pool. That's what the people were saying.

And in truth, in the beginning of this year, the first eight trials, jury trials for federal criminal defendants that the U.S. attorney's office took through the court, they only won half of them. That is a far lower rate than the national average of 90 percent conviction rate at federal criminal trials. So I wanted to find out, was this a pattern? Was this a fluke? Was

this a symptom of something larger? Here is what I heard from Jeanine Pirro herself, the U.S. attorney. I spoke to her on Saturday about this situation and the numbers before her right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEANINE PIRRO, U.S. ATTORNEY FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA: What I'm telling you and every defense attorney out there is that out of 84 cases, you've got two acquittals. And you want to say that the system is different now? That's hog wash.

And if a jury feels that there's -- that we haven't met our burden, then so be it.

I don't see, you know, a couple of cases and a few examples as indicative of what's going on in the system. I run one office, one staff, one city, one crime, and I'm very proud of the conviction rate in both areas.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[08:25:00]

POLANTZ: So that conviction rate that Jeanine Pirro is talking about, she's including the guilty pleas that criminal defendants are making. But I wanted to look specifically at jury polls.

One of the cases there was a hung jury, not an acquittal, a hung jury in a fraud case against Democratic Representative Cori Bush's husband that happened earlier this year. The jury couldn't agree on what to do there. And the U.S. attorney's office decided they were going to have to drop the case after that result. And I looked very closely at what happened there and what happened in other different trials that have gone on this year. And there has been a reported distrust, a dislike of the Trump administration and its policies that have really created this situation, Kate.

One of the things one of the defense attorneys was doing in one of the trials leaning into this was saying, it's all things Trump. Trump is somewhere overhead. And in that particular case, it was about a man with a laser pointer near Marine One flying in the air. And the defense attorney closed in her arguments, oh, God, protect the king from this peon and this cat toy.

That's what she told the jury. And that man with the laser pointer, he was acquitted.

BOLDUAN: Katelyn Polantz, what your reporting, as always, great job. Thank you so much, John.

BERMAN: All right, just moments ago, Barak Ravid from Axios told us negotiations are taking place at this moment for a possible ceasefire in Iran. We're trying to learn where they stand. Barak also reports that the Iranians might see the president swearing on social media as a sign of weakness. And than a pilot makes an emergency landing on a busy highway. But at

least he leaves the passing lane open.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

END