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Artemis II Breaks Apollo 13 Distance Record; Artemis II Astronauts Begin Historic Moon Flyby; Today: Loss Of Communication Expected As Crew Passes Behind Moon; Trump: Every Bridge In Iran "Will Be Decimated" If Deadline Not Met; Trump: Both U.S. Airmen Rescued In Iran Are "Doing Well"; Trump: Iran Has Until Tomorrow Night To Reopen Hormuz Strait. Aired 3-3:30p ET

Aired April 06, 2026 - 15:00   ET

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

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[15:00:46]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: We start this hour following breaking news. A series of historic events taking place in space this hour. Right now, the Artemis II crew is making a lunar flyby on the far side of the Moon.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: The four astronauts in the Orion capsule are the first humans to ever glimpse this part of the Moon. And it's happening as the crew travels farther in space than any human has gone before. They're breaking the record that was set by the Apollo 13 crew 56 years ago. Here is that record-breaking moment just moments ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: From the cabin of Integrity here, as we surpass the furthest distance humans have ever traveled from planet Earth, we do so in honoring the extraordinary efforts and feats of our predecessors in human space exploration. We will continue our journey even further into space before Mother Earth succeeds in pulling us back to everything that we hold dear. But we, most importantly, choose this moment to challenge this generation and -- and the next to make sure this record is not long lived.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you, Integrity, and congratulations to you and the rest of the Artemis II team.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: CNN's Tom Foreman is with us now.

All right, Tom, help us understand what they just accomplished.

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, to understand it really, I want you to think about the distance that we're talking about here. Because we keep showing it kind of like this. Everyone shows it about like this. And this was a path they took to loop around here and come up this way. This distance from that moon right there to this Earth right here, in almost every graphic, looks about like that. That is not the case.

Honestly, you would have to go all the way across the studio to get something that more accurately represents the distance from the Moon to the Earth. It is a very great distance they've gone on here. So, yes, they've really gone way out there. And the things that they get as a reward for this is really pretty remarkable.

If you look at what Apollo saw, the Apollo 13 mission years ago, they really got to see things. This is, for example, the Orientale crater. Not crater, it's called a basin. That's a giant explosion from being hit by a meteoroid a long, long time ago. This is something you can partially kind of see from Earth, but not really. But now they get to see beyond that to the other side altogether, which Apollo 13 saw. And what they're looking for there is a different view of the Moon, a view of the Moon that is less volcanic than this side, that has sort of higher ridges and mountains than on this side, and it can give us a different sense of what's happening over there. That's why this is so extraordinary.

They're not just going farther. They're getting to see things that we have largely not been able to see except through robotic cameras and Apollo crews a long time ago.

SANCHEZ: The crazy thing is, too, Tom, not to nitpick the graphic. It's a great graphic. But the Moon is also moving.

FOREMAN: Yes.

SANCHEZ: And so, Artemis is moving as the Moon is moving. So, this lunar flyby is even more complex than -- than it seems.

FOREMAN: Yes, Colonel Birch (ph) was exactly right about that. It's been driving me crazy for days, because people sort of see it as this, you know, we go out and loop around this. Like, there it is. And you just go out and you just sort of loop around it like this. That's not really the case at all.

Because this is moving and the spacecraft is moving, you know, if I threw a basketball across the room and you had to fly a little, you know, balsa wood airplane around it, you would have to set up a loop that -- that caught it at exactly the right moment and sort of tracked with it to make that happen.

So, this is a -- a really, it's a triumph of physics and mathematics that they make this thing work out. But the bottom line is they're going to get this, you know, somewhere five to seven hours of this Earth observation, which I should point out is not as close as the Apollo observation, not as close as some of the robotic observation that's happened up there, a little bit further out, but still really important.

And because it's further out, that's why they're going to get that extra 4,000 miles beyond the record that we, you know, have not seen ever in time.

[15:05:04] That's why this crew is going to be talked about for a long time until

the next mission does somehow better, because these are the record breakers right now. These are the people who are out there where we have never gone before. And don't underestimate, for all of our technology, space travel is still unbelievably complicated, unbelievably risky, and this is a giant accomplishment.

KEILAR: Yes, it is an unbelievable thing that they are doing. And they're sharing it with us. Tom Foreman, thank you so much. Because the pilot, Victor Glover, is describing for us just moments ago. Let's listen into this. He's describing for us the dark side of the Moon as they have begun this lunar flyby. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VICTOR GLOVER, PILOT, ARTEMIS II: And Houston, Integrity was able to -- excuse me -- Science, Integrity was able to get a view out of window one, which is a beautiful view. I can see the entire moon that they're looking at. We left the T-shirt up there, so I was kind of peeking through the opening and the makeshift shroud there. And once I was able to get two eyes on it, what jumped out at me was Babalov (ph). It's just peeking out of the Terminator. It's clear of the Terminator now, but it just really jumps out because it's still got the low light, the low sun angle.

And so, where the, you know, Babalov (ph) has that impact over the top of another crater, where the two craters intersect on the eastern edge. So, on the side closest to Orientale, where the two crater rings intersect, the shadow there is the highest peak in the interior of Babalov (ph). And so, you can see that terrain is -- there's some real variation in the terrain there that there's a nice peak where those peaks intersect, I'm sorry, where those rings intersect. And we'll get a picture of that.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Love the description, Victor, especially the comparison.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Very neat moment there.

SANCHEZ: Yes, yes. I'm trying to figure out exactly what he's talking about. It gets very technical, but -- but as -- was put by the command center on the ground, a -- a special description of things humans have never seen with their own eyes. Let's discuss this momentous day. We're joined now by Colonel Michael Fossum, a retired NASA astronaut and the former commander of the International Space Station. He's currently the Chief Operations Officer of Texas A&M University at Galveston. We also have with us Miles O'Brien, a CNN Aerospace Analyst.

Colonel Fossum, obviously this is the moment that we've been waiting for. Talk to us about all the preparation that has gone in -- in -- for this crew in this lunar flyby.

COL. MICHAEL FOSSUM, RETIRED NASA ASTRONAUT: Well, first of all, I have to say I'm jealous as -- as I could be. I'm so excited for -- for the crew that's doing this. I'm so excited for our space program. And finally, taking this -- this kind of serious step at going back to the Moon and not in a flyby, not in a touch and go, but with setting up a base. It's absolutely essential, this test, the -- the new rocket, the new spacecraft with humans on board.

And -- and -- and going out around the Moon, it -- it -- it's -- in a way, it's a replay of Apollo 8. So, it takes me back to being a 10- year-old child with my paper scrawled across the living room floor as I'm plotting their path around the Moon. It's years and years of preparation, of dreaming. And it's all finally coming together. It's really high drama. It's very exciting. And there's a lot of different testing that's going on during this mission.

KEILAR: Yes, I do wonder how many kids are being inspired watching this. Because this has been so exciting. And Miles, I think -- I mean, you have covered many, many launches, landings, NASA events. But this is so cool. And I just wonder what you think of this moment as they're describing the far side of the Moon here.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN AEROSPACE ANALYST: Yes, it's -- I'll -- I'll concur with Mike on that. I -- you know, we were kind of the, I guess, the -- the -- the generation that was sprinkled by moon dust, right? We grew up and watched Mercury, Gemini, Apollo. I -- I consider myself very lucky to have been alive to see all that. And the shuttle, as fabulous as it was, and I covered 40 shuttle launches and was always enthusiastic about that journey to space, the shuttle was never much farther than the distance between Washington and New York.

And so, we really were just on the very edges of space, just the -- just tip -- our tiptoes on the edge of space. And the idea that we're pushing out a quarter million miles and today have set a record beyond Apollo 13 is more than symbolic. It says something about where NASA is headed.

You know, the devil is in the details, though. So, this -- this, in fact, is a flyby mission right now. The follow-on missions are what I'm curious about. Will we, in fact, continue, sustain it and make good on the promise to create a sustained presence on the surface of the Moon?

[15:10:08]

SANCHEZ: Yes, it remains an open question. Obviously, this mission has to finish successfully, and -- and we're well on that way, including this 40 minutes or so of silence on the far side of the Moon. They're going to lose comms with Earth while they're out there, Miles. I -- I wonder what that nerve-wracking moment is going to be like.

O'BRIEN: Well, it'll be nice to get away from their newsfeed a little bit, I suppose. You know, I -- you know, it's one -- one way to cut yourself off from the social media world. No, it's, you know, to be flip about it, I apologize. But it is -- they will be sort of the loneliest humans in the cosmos, won't they? And while people will be holding their breath, the thing about what they're doing is it's called a free return trajectory, it's -- the path was set when they fired the last burn to refine it. And there haven't been too many burns required because they did such a good job putting that capsule in space and putting it on a good course.

So, they're -- they're headed around the Moon regardless, no matter what they do. They don't have to do, but just go for the ride. So, let's not worry about it. Let's -- they will come back from the far side of the Moon. And they will have seen things with the human eye unassisted that others have not. And that might have some, there might be some interesting quirks that they saw. I don't -- I wouldn't put too much hope into this being a scientific breakthrough, however.

KEILAR: And I take your point, them being alone, I take your point on that. I think that that's sort of a poignant moment, you know? I mean, you're being -- I -- you said you didn't want to be flip about it, but also like just to be alone like that is -- in that kind of way. I mean, whoever gets to do that.

Colonel Fossum, to you is, as this is a fly by, and I guess the hope is eventually in the future, we're looking back on this mission as laying the foundation for there being a moon base and travel to Mars. I mean, what do you think? They could be maybe looking at some point at a spot on the Moon where there could be a moon base at some point in the future. How are you thinking about that?

FOSSUM: It's exciting to think about. And my wife and I traveled to Florida last week to -- to be there for the launch, because this is a -- a really landmark for -- for human spaceflight and certainly for NASA. Seeing that and -- and the -- the -- the far side of the Moon, and we don't call it the dark side, because some -- it -- it's also lit, but that different perspective and the geology is different because the Moon has been really pounded on the backside. So, it is a different texture than the front side of the Moon has.

But the -- I think that that, in -- in a way, when they slip into the radio silence, the -- right now, mission control is monitoring all of the systems on the spacecraft and the crew can go to sleep at night knowing that the ground is watching everything and they'll wake them up if they need to.

When they slip into that radio blackout, they'll know it's just us. The radios will get quiet. And I guarantee you that it's going to be a moment of bliss for them up there, to just take it all in for those few minutes while they're alone. And -- and their trajectory is already set. That's not going to change. But it -- it's -- it -- it -- but it's -- it's part of the drama of the whole thing.

SANCHEZ: And enormous astronomical drama, you could say. Colonel Mike Fossum, Miles O'Brien, thank you both for the perspective. Appreciate it.

FOSSUM: You're welcome.

Still to come, President Trump sharing new details on the daring rescue of an American airman from behind enemy lines, as well as setting a deadline for reopening the Strait of Hormuz. KEILAR: And then later, why one expert says the Iran war could send

shockwaves through the economy beyond soaring gas prices. We'll have that and much more coming up on CNN News Central.

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[15:18:20]

SANCHEZ: Today, President Trump is drilling down on his threats against Iran if they refuse to open the Strait of Hormuz. During a press conference that wrapped up a short time ago, Trump said that Tehran has until tomorrow night at 8 P.M. to make a deal or face devastating strikes. The President also gave details of the harrowing U.S. operation to rescue two airmen behind enemy lines. Let's go straight to the White House and CNN's Betsy Klein.

So, Betsy, what more did President Trump say?

BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, Boris, President Trump is clearly emboldened by that successful rescue mission of a downed F-15 airman over the weekend in Iran, joining top National Security officials for a press conference for about 90 minutes that just wrapped up. He said that he understood that that was a dangerous mission and there were members of the military who weren't on board with it. And underscoring just how complicated it was, we heard from CIA Director John Ratcliffe who compared finding that downed airman to hunting for a single grain of sand in the middle of the desert.

The President also reiterated those plans to potentially strike Iran's critical infrastructure starting at 8 P.M. Eastern time tomorrow if a deal is not reached to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Earlier today, he had called a draft proposal, a good, significant step forward, but said it did not go far enough. He did say he believes that the Iranians are negotiating in good faith, but he set this up with very stark framing. I want you to listen to what he had to say about that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We have a plan, because of the power of our military, where every bridge in Iran will be decimated by 12 o'clock tomorrow night, where every power plant in Iran will be out of business, burning, exploding and never to be used again.

[15:20:10]

I mean, complete demolition by 12 o'clock, and it'll happen over a period of four hours if we want it to. We don't want that to happen. We may even get involved with helping them rebuild their nation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KLEIN: The President was asked repeatedly about concerns that taking out critical infrastructure might impact the Iranian people. He really downplayed those concerns. He said that they are willing to suffer for eventual freedom. He also dismissed concerns that this could violate the Geneva Convention and constitute a war crime.

Trump also told our colleague, Kristen Holmes, that reopening the Strait of Hormuz was, quote, a very big priority for any negotiations. This, as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth says, that today marks the largest number of strikes since this conflict started. Tomorrow will be more, all setting up a very consequential 28 hours or so ahead, Boris.

SANCHEZ: Betsy Klein live for us at the White House, thank you so much. Brianna?

KEILAR: All right, let's talk more about all of this. We have Dr. Ravi Chaudhary, who is a former Assistant Secretary for the Air Force and a former Director of the Personnel Recovery Center in Iraq. We're also joined by Michael Allen, former Special Assistant to President George W. Bush for National Security and former Senior Director for Counterproliferation at the National Security Council.

First off, I immediately thought of you when this story broke, because we had spoken off camera on Friday, and you had said that you thought this crew member was evading. I was -- I said, really? And you said, yes, I think that's -- I think that's what's happened. But you did not say it on air. What led you to believe that that is what was happening, as it indeed was?

DR. RAVI CHAUDHARY, FORMER AIR FORCE ASSISTANT SECRETARY: Brianna, I have to be honest with you, it is literally in the DNA of every air crew member, every military member, never to give up hope. In fact, in our Air Crew Survival Manual, it teaches us all the technical things we need to do to stay alive, to evade capture, but most importantly, the final statement is never give up hope on your fellow Americans, and they will always be there for you.

And in harrowing fashion, in one of the most daring rescues I've ever witnessed in my career, this is exactly what happened. And thank the Lord that we got our crew members back.

KEILAR: Yes, what was your reaction to everything that we learned, Michael? Because we did -- I mean, this was incredible, but we did learn a lot here.

MICHAEL ALLEN, FORMER NATIONAL SECURITY SPECIAL ASSISTANT TO PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH: Yes, in the press conference or the ...

KEILAR: In the press conference.

ALLEN: Yes, well, first of all, he went straight to what I think is the central weakness in his case, which is that if the Strait of Hormuz is continued to be closed or effectively controlled by Iran, I think that strike -- that -- that chalks up as a strategic loss for the United States. They haven't had a great deal of leverage over us, if any, in decades. And now they're in this perfect situation where some can get through if your buddy's with Iran and others cannot, maybe we're going to do a toll situation.

So, the President focused on that. And by the way, I think that's why he's ramped up his rhetoric. That's why he said, I'm going for the jugular of the economic infrastructure in your country. And he feels the pressure. I don't think he understands why they haven't capitulated yet. And I think that explains the President's rhetoric.

KEILAR: Do you think, Michael, that the pressure he's putting on them, is he calculating correctly that that is the pressure that will make them capitulate?

ALLEN: So, I don't necessarily see that the regime has it in their nature even to capitulate to the United States. I think at best, over some time, maybe after we've reopened the strait, there'll be a de facto ceasefire. We'll say, listen, maybe through a third party, we'll quit bombing the mainland of your country if you sort of back off issuing new threats against commercial vessels going through the Straits.

So, I -- don't put a lot of stock in eventual diplomacy. And I definitely don't see the Iranians, because of their very character of anti-Americanism and anti-Western philosophy, as compromising in a material way at all.

KEILAR: Energy was also your purview at Air Force. And I -- I wonder how you're seeing this as the President is issuing this very, very harsh threat where, I mean, some people are looking at what he's threatening to do by tomorrow night if Iran does not reopen, if -- if Iran does not capitulate. As a possible war crime to talk about taking out all of this energy infrastructure in Iran. How are you seeing this moment?

CHAUDHARY: Yes, it's very interesting to observe the President's statements on that. As the assistant secretary of the Air Force, my job was to look at the defense of our installations. And honestly, infrastructure and energy was at the top of my list. It was the one thing that kept me awake all night.

[15:25:03]

The one thing we need to worry about, and I was governed and our military is governed by the law of armed conflict that we've signed up to, and making sure that this does not turn into a humanitarian situation is, to me, the critical juncture in which we determine whether this becomes something more critical than proportionality of a military operation.

KEILAR: I wonder, as we did hear a lot, and it sounds like, listen, we're going to probably be continuing for some time. We're going to be continuing this story for some time. With that in mind, we learned a lot of information today about this rescue. And I wonder, Michael, if you have any concerns that we learned too much.

ALLEN: Yes, I always do. I remember when I worked up on the Hill and the Osama bin Laden raid was briefed to Congress and every -- almost every secret associated with it broke, either in the days that came after or in later movies and books. So, I love that we have these tremendous successes and they're uniting and they're fantastic. But I do think we get carried away sometimes over-briefing the details of our tactics, techniques, and procedures. And honestly, as a country, we need to be a little bit more buttoned up when it comes to intelligence matters.

KEILAR: Ravi?

CHAUDHARY: I would agree with you totally, Michael. I think in these particular cases, you need to be very conscious about critical capabilities, military capabilities, as well as other agencies. So, you won't hear me even mention any three-letter agency here because I know we have more operations to get done. And that is so vital to ensure that our crews stay safe in future operations going forward.

And we've just got to rely on their procedures. It was an incredibly well-orchestrated event by so many team members of our intelligence, rescue, military forces, special operations, CSAR, all that came together to get our crew member back. But at the same time, let's make sure our tactics and techniques stay under wraps.

KEILAR: We love the information as journalists, but I'm sure from your seats ...

ALLEN: Of course, yes.

KEILAR: ... it's a different -- different story. Ravi, Michael, thank you so much to both of you.

CHAUDHARY: Thank you.

ALLEN: Absolutely.

KEILAR: We really appreciate it.

Still to come, the astronauts aboard Artemis II are traveling to where no human has gone before and they're farther away right now than any human has ever been from Earth. We have an update on this historic mission to the far side of the Moon.

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