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Trump Hasn't Signed off on Ceasefire Proposal; Details of Airman Rescue; Rep. Dave Min (D-CA) is Interviewed about the Ceasefire Proposal; Artemis II to See Moon; Rob Meyerson is Interviewed about the Moon. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired April 06, 2026 - 09:00   ET

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

[09:00:00]

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: Said that "having a single conviction vacated will not stop ICE's enforcement of the federal immigration law." And it went on to say, "if you break the law, you will face the consequences."

Now Vedam's lawyers say they are trying to file for a bond hearing to see if he can be released while this process plays out. But it's obviously an opportunity that Vedam has now been waiting more than four decades for.

Omar Jimenez, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: We are standing by to hear from President Trump, the latest on what he calls deep negotiations over a ceasefire in Iran. Word this morning that Iran sees things very differently.

The Artemis II crew about to break the record for the furthest humans have ever traveled from earth. And wouldn't you know it, there are still toilet issues.

And then two will enter, one will leave. Michigan, UConn in the NCAA men's championships. Which team is the heavy favorite despite decades of futility. That's a big hint. Michigan.

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

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking this morning, no ceasefire. Iran denying there is a last-ditch effort to implement a 45-day ceasefire in the region. Instead, the Iranians say they want a full-stop to the war. New reporting into CNN this morning suggesting President Trump was never on board with the 45-day ceasefire plan. It remains to be seen how the president prefers to negotiate a ceasefire, if at all.

The negotiations this morning were viewed by some as the last chance to stave off the massive strikes on Iran's power plants and other infrastructure that the president of the United States says are coming if the Strait of Hormuz remains blocked. The president did not mince his words Easter morning, threatening Iran with hell on earth should the critical route for the world's oil remain closed.

This morning, two Qatari tankers carrying gas turned around as they approached the Strait, reiterating it is very much closed for business. The president will have to answer for all of this in just a few hours when he takes questions from reporters at the White House.

CNN's Alayna Treene has the very latest for us.

You started with some new reporting for us this morning. What are you learning?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, look, I think there is a lot of tension right now as we're seeing a lot of U.S. intermediaries between the United States and Iran, really trying to see if they can get some sort of agreement, whether it is this 45 day ceasefire proposal that we're told these countries had drafted, or if it's something else to try and see if they can delay or push off that new deadline that the president set for 8 p.m. Eastern tomorrow night, or for Iran -- you know, for Iran to either reopen the Strait or to see a severe escalation into attacks on their infrastructure and energy sites.

Now, the countries we know that have really been key and crucial to all of this, really the lead communicators between these countries has been Pakistan, Egypt and Turkey, among others. We know that the president's special envoy, Steve Witkoff, is whether -- as well as his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, have continued to really have these negotiations. You heard the president tell "Axios" in an interview yesterday that they are in deep negotiations.

But the question, of course, is really, what does that mean? Because we have heard now from this White House and from the president himself for weeks that he believes that negotiations were going well, that he was hopeful some sort of effort for diplomacy or a deal could be possible.

Meanwhile, we've heard kind of the opposite from the Iranians. And just to give you a sense of what we're hearing from them today, we heard Iran say that they just reject this idea of a temporary ceasefire. We heard from their foreign minister saying, "we are calling for an end to the war and for preventing its recurrence." Essentially saying that they want a full deal to have an off ramp to this war, not just a temporary ceasefire.

Now, amid all of this, I will say, you know, again, a lot of these countries are worried about the escalatory escalation from the U.S. military in Iran, in part because so many U.S. allies in the gulf are expected to see immense retaliation from Iran if that actually occurs. And I do think it's worth noting and pointing out that we've already seen a lot of attacks from Israel on Iranian infrastructure, but also Iran hitting at some of that same -- similar infrastructure at partners in the Middle East.

All to say, there are so many questions of whether or not negotiations are actually possible to lead to a deal. What does the timeline look like? All of that hopefully will get addressed by the president at 1 p.m. today, Sara.

SIDNER: Yes. Also, the timeline has moved several times. First it was five days. Then ten days.

TREENE: Yes.

SIDNER: Then it was supposed to be today. And now tomorrow at 8 p.m.

TREENE: Sorry.

SIDNER: All good. That pen is attacking your hair. But, Alayna Treene --

[09:05:00]

TREENE: It got stuck in my hair.

SIDNER: There is a lot of questions that just need to be answered, I know they will be asked today, about 1 p.m. as the president addresses the nation and the press. Appreciate it.

Kate.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: And as the president will be taking those questions, speaking with reporters this afternoon, one of his primary focuses of hosting this today, of bringing reporters in is this dangerous rescue mission over the weekend of a U.S. airman stuck in Iran after his F-15 fighter jet was shot down. The details now coming out about how that operation unfolded, how the officer survived until they found him, incredible.

CNN's Jeremy Diamond has much more on this from Tel Aviv for us this hour.

Jeremy, what are you learning?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kate, first of all, I'm coming to you from a reinforced stairwell as those air raid sirens have once again sounded in the Tel Aviv area. This comes as we've seen in the last 24 hours have been particularly intense in terms of the rate of fire that we've seen from Iran. Strikes last night in northern Israel, overnight here in the Tel Aviv area. And once again, two sirens in a row.

We do know that four people were killed in that strike on a Haifa residential building last night following an overnight search effort. Rescue forces finally did locate those four bodies, a couple in their 80s, as well as their son and his companion. Four fatalities. The highest number that we've seen in a single strike since the early days of the war.

But as you said, we are also learning more details about that extraordinary American rescue mission inside of Iran to rescue that weapon systems officer. And this is an effort that involved hundreds of U.S. military and intelligence personnel. Everyone from Navy SEAL Team Six to the CIA. And it also involved the use of heavy bombs that were dropped in the area around where this weapon systems officer was located, in order to keep away the Iranian forces that were also looking for him at the time.

And you can see in some of this satellite imagery that we have, 28 craters in that very same area. That was a result of the bombardment that was carried out by the U.S. military in the area. That weapon systems officer, a colonel, he was able to get to a ridgeline some 7,000 feet above sea level. He hid in a crevice. He was wounded. And ultimately, those special operators went on the ground, rescued him, took him out.

It didn't all go exactly according to plan. The U.S. military had to destroy two of its U.S. cargo plane transport aircraft that was supposed to take them out of Iran, had to fly new aircraft in. But ultimately, quite an extraordinary mission that was pulled off here. And that weapon systems officer now receiving medical treatment. The other one, of course, the first airman, the pilot in that case, had been recovered the day before.

BOLDUAN: All right, Jeremy, thank you for that update. And also, of course, as you said, you know, a reinforced hallway now, a stairwell, as sirens going off once again around Jeremy and his crew in Tel Aviv.

John.

BERMAN: All right, with us now is Congressman Dave Min, a Democrat from California, a member of the House Oversight Committee.

Congressman, thanks so much for being with us.

REP. DAVE MIN (D-CA): Hi, John.

BERMAN: Barak Ravid of "Axios" and others reporting that the president claims the United States is in deep negotiations, those are the president's words, over a possible ceasefire in Iran, and that one of the proposals floating out there is for a 45-day temporary ceasefire. What are your expectations, and maybe hopes, from these discussions?

MIN: First, I just want to echo what was said earlier and say, you know, just how stunning and amazing it was to read the news yesterday of the rescue of the downed airmen. And that's a testament to the capabilities of our military. Leave no person behind. It really was heartening to see.

But the ever-changing Trump deadlines and updates, very reminiscent of what we saw with the tariffs, right? He'd announced a tariff because he woke up in a bad mood. He'd resend that later, he'd raise it, he'd lower it.

And the problem with doing this in the context of Iran and this war is, one, it's -- obviously it's illegal. Only Congress is supposed to be able to authorize military force or certainly declare war, which is what we're in right now. But two, it's becoming increasingly clear that Donald Trump is not mentally well. That he's someone who's completely unhinged, as we saw with this Easter day post yesterday, profanity laced, threatening war crimes. This is not someone who looks well physically, certainly mentally he appears unhinged.

And right now we are subject to the, you know, whims caprices of this madman who is threatening strikes. He's saying one day we're going to have negotiations, the next day we're going to bomb the hell out of Iran and send them back to the stone ages. The American people deserve answers at this point. What are we getting out of this? What constitutes victory? How do we get out of this? And this is very, very much a mess right now that appears very difficult for us to get out of. Our economy is already suffering. The estimates are going to get a lot, lot worse.

So, we need some accountability. Congress needs to get involved. And I don't know why Mike Johnson, what I call meaker (ph) Mike Johnson is not right now stepping up and asserting Congress' authority.

[09:10:08]

BERMAN: You were mentioning the president's social media post where he said, "open the f-ing straight, you crazy bastards, or you'll be living in hell." This was the threat he issued yesterday.

You talk about the president shifting negotiating standpoints. Some of his supporters say, oh, this is him keeping adversaries on his toes. They say this is the art of the deal. What do you say to that?

MIN: I don't know what the deal is right now. I think right now, from what we've heard, both in some of the classified briefings we had before we went into recess and from news reporting, is that at this point we'd be very lucky if we got back to the status quo before we launched this war, which is the Strait of Hormuz open with Iran at least nominally trying to bottle up his nuclear program. By all accounts right now Trump has said that regime change is off the table. We're not going to be able to get the nuclear materials in Iran. I'm not sure what constitutes victory at this point, but this does not appear like someone who is savvy at negotiating, savvy at strategy. This appears more like someone who bankrupted six casinos, which, of course, Donald Trump has.

BERMAN: The -- in terms of -- sorry, I wasn't expecting the casino reference there.

The president in the White House submitting to Congress a request for $1.5 trillion for the defense budget for fiscal 2027. Are you predisposed to support an increase in military spending of that nature?

MIN: I think we need to see what's in the final bill. But for DHS funding, I think the Democratic House position has been clear. We need to see guardrails in there to ensure that ICE agents are not assaulting people in our streets, that they are following the same laws that everyone else does. And I can't constantly go to my constituents and say that I voted for something that allows federal masked agents to go ahead and continue attacking you, pulling guns on you and all the stuff we've seen ICE agents do in Orange County and elsewhere. As far as the rest of the budget, we'll have to see. But I, right now,

I'm very concerned that Donald Trump is waging this war without any accountability, without any oversight. And until we have some hearings, until we have some briefings that help us understand what the point of this war is, until maybe we authorize war, I'm not comfortable voting for a blank check for someone who I, as I said, I think he's a madman at this point. He is putting us into a conflict that looks like it's threatening hundreds, if not thousands, of brave American lives. And I need to see what happens first, but I'd like to see some accountability.

BERMAN: Congressman David Min from California, we appreciate your time this morning. Thank you.

Sara.

SIDNER: All right, just ahead, in a matter of hours, four astronauts will make their historic flyby of the moon, traveling farther from earth than any human has ever gone before.

And the remarkable story of an 83-year-old man who's been at work at the same job for more than 60 years.

Plus, an Easter story that is definitely not in the Bible. One police department recreating a viral video with a surprising appearance from that Easter bunny.

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[09:17:51]

BOLDUAN: An historic day is ahead. The Artemis II crew is about to break the record for how far humans have traveled from earth as they fly around the far side of the moon.

CNN's Randi Kaye is tracking all of this from Johnson Space Center in Houston.

Randi, bring us up to speed. What is going to happen today?

RANDI KAYE, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's a really big day, Kate, certainly here at the Johnson Space Center. When they get by the moon today, it is going -- they're going to be so close that it's going to look as if, from the astronaut's perspective, as if they're holding a basketball at arm's length.

So, let me just run down the day for you for this flyby. At 1:56 p.m., Artemis II is expected to pass Apollo 13's distance record. At 2:45 p.m. Eastern Time, that is when the lunar flyby actually begins. At 6:44 p.m., that is when they are going to have this expected loss of communication with Mission Control here at the Johnson Space Center. That's when the earth is going to set behind the moon, and then they'll lose communication until the earth rises once again. At 7:02 p.m., that is going to be their closest approach to the moon, about 4,070 miles. And then at 7:07 p.m., they will be at their maximum distance from earth. We're talking about more than 252,000 miles away from earth. And then at 9:20 p.m., that is when the lunar flyby will be concluded.

Now, they have 35 lunar targets that they are trying to find up there. So, they have a lot of work to be done. And if you're wondering how they're going to find those, we were too. So, we asked one of the lunar scientists here, and this is what she told me.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. JULIANE GROSS, ARTEMIS CAMPAIGN SAMPLE CURATION LEAD: It's a timeline that goes with them so they know where -- within that timeframe where they are, which is the next target to go in. So, they can look at those. They can orient themselves. We have little maps in there. So, we are highlighting directly where these -- the next features are that they're going to observe so that they know where to go.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: One of the lunar targets that the crew has been really excited about trying to see is this -- it's called oriental basin. And it is a massive multi-ring basin.

[09:20:00]

It almost looks like a bull's eye. They want to also check out the colors and the textures of the lunar surface. They're also going to be looking for new craters. They're going to try and find the south pole. And even some landing areas for future missions.

And, Kate, they expect to take about a thousand pictures while they're there. And mission control is, of course, hoping to remain in touch with them, even though they will lose contact for a little bit, but they do hope to get in touch during this and stay in touch with them and also get some of these images back while this lunar flyby is happening.

BOLDUAN: It's all so cool. And it's all going to happen in just a few hours.

It's great to see you, Randi. Thanks for being there.

Sara.

SIDNER: All right, as NASA aims to land humans on the moon this decade, several companies are trying to get there with a different goal, to mine it. One of the companies seeking to harvest the moon is Interlune, based in Seattle. Its founder, Rob Meyerson, says, quote, "it's not a question of if, it's a matter of when."

Rob Meyerson joins me now. He worked on the space shuttle program before leaving NASA to become president of Jeff Bezos' space company Blue Origin.

Thank you for being here.

All right, so what is on the moon that makes a mission to the moon to try to mine it so worth your time? Give us an example of what's there that's harder to find on earth.

ROB MEYERSON, CO-FOUNDER AND CEO, INTERLUNE: Well one thing that's plentiful on the moon and is really rare on earth is helium three, a stable isotope of helium that is useful in quantum computing to make things extremely cold, and also future potential uses in fusion energy and medical imaging.

SIDNER: How much is it to try and unearth, if you will, helium three on earth? I mean how expensive is it?

MEYERSON: On the moon, do you mean, Sara?

SIDNER: Yes. How -- I mean much would it be -- would it cost a pound, for example?

MEYERSON: How much -- it's -- so, yes. We've run the numbers, and assuming, you know, future costs, lower costs of launch and where we expect the price of launch to go in the 2030s, we expect to be able to bring that back and make significant money in return. But that cost, it's -- it includes the cost of launch. It includes the cost of the equipment, including the rocket, to bring it back to earth.

SIDNER: We read in "The Times" that it costs about $9 million a pound to try and get it here on earth.

MEYERSON: Yes.

SIDNER: Is that about right?

MEYERSON: That's -- yes. Yes. To buy it here on earth, it's -- it's about, yes, $20 million a kilogram, $9 million a pound. That is -- most of that helium three comes from tritium decay, which is a very, very rare material in itself. And it's controlled by the U.S. government, the Department of Energy. And that's why the price is so high. So, you know, at that price, helium three is the only element in the universe that's priced high enough to warrant going to space and bringing it back to earth to sell.

SIDNER: Yes. At $20 million per kilo, that is an understatement of the year.

But how herculean of a task is it to try and do this, to not only, obviously, you have to get the launches to the moon and make them, you know, cost effective and safe and plentiful. But then to get there and to do the mining itself, I can't imagine what that would -- what that would take. Give us some sense.

MEYERSON: Yes. Well, it starts with the industrial base, the companies that will launch from earth, land landers on the moon, drive across the surface of the moon. The Artemis program that we're celebrating today is funding the development of all of that infrastructure. We -- the new lunar industrial base. It's an industrial base that was really discarded after the Apollo program, and we're having to rebuild that from scratch.

Because of NASA's investments and private investments in those transportation -- that transportation infrastructure, at Interlune we can focus on harvesting, excavation, sorting materials, rocks from sand, for example. We can mechanically process the soil to extract these solar wind gases, the helium three and the other gases that come from the sun and then we can separate the helium three from the other gases and bring the really valuable stuff home.

It is, you know, it is a big task, but it's really anchored by all the investment that NASA and private industry are making in all that infrastructure that we can depend on.

SIDNER: I just have to lastly ask you, how did you get what seems like a wild idea, just, what, 10, 20 years ago it would seem like, OK, really, we're going to go mine the moon?

MEYERSON: Well, we use the word harvesting because harvesting is what -- extracting these solar wind gases is -- harvesting is a more accurate representation of what we're doing.

How did we get this idea?

[09:25:01]

It starts with the great team of founders, including my co-founder, Harrison Schmitt, who's a -- flew to the moon on Apollo 17. He's the only geologist to walk on the moon. And he -- he and I co-founded the company back in 2020, along with my other co-founders, Andrew Hornsby, Gary Lye, and James Antufiev. We believe that the infrastructure that we need to go harvest space resources and build an in-space economy is being developed by companies like SpaceX, Blue Origin, my former employer, and a whole number of other companies. And we're depending on that. We're counting on that. And as NASA says, we're going back to the moon to stay this time. Interlune is that reason to stay. It's a commercial company that's seeking, you know, to profit and benefit humanity from these vast resources that are out there in space.

SIDNER: It's pretty incredible just talking about it and that you have a plan to do this. We'll be waiting and watching. Let us know when it happens. Maybe we'll come along, Rob Meyerson. Thank you so much.

John.

BERMAN: If you drink moon helium, you inhale it, does it make your voice higher, right?

SIDNER: Sounds fun.

BERMAN: I mean that's really the question we all want the answer to.

Gas prices reached $4.12 overnight. What OPEC is now looking to do to keep prices in check.

And America's favorite eagle couple welcomes new additions to the family. We've got to find out where they're registered.

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