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7 Hours Until The Deadline; Out of This World; Swept Away; Aired 1-2:30p ET

Aired April 07, 2026 - 13:00   ET

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

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[13:00:38]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: President Trump says Tehran has seven hours to make a deal or face the death of their civilization. With the White House unleashing new attacks on critical sites in Iran as the clock ticks down. We're tracking developments in the region.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: And they say a picture is worth a thousand words, but count us speechless, stunning images from space courtesy of the history-making Artemis II crew. We are tracking their mission.

And swept away, a recovery operation is now underway for a missing American woman whose husband says she fell overboard during the couple's boat trip in the Bahamas. We're following these major developing stories and many more, all coming in right here to CNN News Central.

SANCHEZ: Just hours from now, President Trump's deadline for Iran to make a deal. And if they don't come to agreement, the president says, quote, "A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again. I don't want that to happen, but it probably will," end quote.

There have already been new strikes across the country. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the IDF attacked railways and bridges used by the Revolutionary Guard after warning civilians to avoid using trains for some 12 hours. On Kharg Island specifically, which is critical to Iran's oil and gas exports, U.S. officials confirm a series of precision strikes on military targets, while Iranian media says that the strikes left oil facilities mostly untouched.

Let's go live now to Tel Aviv with CNN's Jeremy Diamond who's monitoring the situation for us. Jeremy, what is the latest on these attacks?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Well, Boris, with seven hours to go until President Trump's deadline, we have seen neither signs of a breakthrough nor a breakdown in these negotiations between the United States and Iran. And it seems like we are headed for President Trump to uphold that deadline at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time. Although as we have seen with him several times before, there are instances where he decides to extend a deadline because he sees signs of progress. But those have yet to reveal themselves. Instead, what we have seen today are indications of a potential escalation in this conflict.

The U.S. Embassy in Bahrain telling Americans to shelter in, to prepare to shelter in place today, a recommendation that is coming amid fears that should the United States carry out these massive strikes in Iran, that President Trump has threatened that Iran's retaliation would be swift and would also cross lines that they have not crossed before, particularly in terms of targeting those Gulf countries, targeting oil and desalination infrastructure in that region. And also, of course, potentially more strikes aimed here at Israel.

Throughout the day today, what we have also seen have been a series of Israeli strikes targeting Iranian infrastructure. Railways, highways, bridges, all of those have been targeted today by the Israeli military, which claimed that Iran was using some of these critical infrastructure areas to transport missiles, ammunition, and other military hardware.

What we have seen from the Iranians today is calling on people in Iran to gather around some of these potential target sites, effectively trying to use their own population as human shields. We've seen images of pro regime supporters gathering around the power plant today, for example, trying to form some kind of a human chain around it. We don't know whether that will deter the United States from striking those sites. But what we have also heard today are warnings from human rights organizations, the U.N. Human Rights chief, and the Red Cross, for example, condemning this kind of rhetoric that we are hearing from President Trump of targeting civilization, of targeting civilian infrastructure, warning that these would be grave violations of international law and could potentially amount to war crimes.

Israel, for its potential part, is preparing for the possibility that President Trump gives the green light to carry out these very types of strikes on civilian infrastructure in Iran. We're told by Israeli officials that they have readied a new list of targets of infrastructure sites and power plants inside of Iran that could be targeted. Should President Trump authorize these new strikes on civilian infrastructure, the Israeli is prepared to escalate their strikes on those types of targets as well. Boris.

[13:05:02]

SANCHEZ: And as you were speaking, Jeremy, we got a statement from a spokesperson for the Iranian government saying that President Trump's threats do not open the door to dialogue. So we'll keep an eye on those remarks and see if there is, as you put it, a breakthrough or a breakdown. Jeremy Diamond and Tel Aviv for us. Thank you so much. Brianna.

KEILAR: The world is watching as President Trump is ramping up his threats on Iran. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney summed it up like this. He said, "Canada expects all parties in this conflict, in any conflict, to respect international laws, the rules of engagement. And that means not targeting, certainly civilians or civilian infrastructure. Certainly, this is a point that we've made publicly and privately." CNN's Alayna Treene is at the White House.

Alayna, has the White House clarified what the President means by "A whole civilization will die tonight," which is a pretty definitive statement. Are they trying to back away from that at all?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: No, they have not. They have not issued any sort of clarification on what the president means when he used that incredibly aggressive language and rhetoric. Look, I think there's no question, Brianna, that what the President is trying to do here is assert maximum pressure on the Iranians. We typically see him issue really aggressive threats, perhaps not to this extent, but aggressive that's like this in the past when he is trying to force the other side to essentially acquiesce or at least meet them somewhere, you know, for some sort of deal that could be made.

Now, I will say from the conversations I've continued to have with people in the White House and throughout the Trump administration, they are still hoping that some sort of negotiation or compromise, even if temporary at this point, could be reached before that 8:00 p.m. deadline that the President set for this evening.

Now, as for negotiations, you know, there's been a lot of back and forth we've seen, particularly from the Iranian side, arguing that negotiations are not happening anymore. But we heard the opposite from the vice president, J.D. Vance, who was in Hungary today, saying, essentially, quote, "There is going to be a lot of negotiation before that deadline."

Now, I do want you to also listen to what we heard from Vance and how he was describing where he believes the war is, and also trying to add more clarity to the timeline on this because, of course, that is something that the President's new threats have really thrown into question here. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JD VANCE, U.S. VICE PRESIDENT: The United States has largely accomplished its military objectives. There are still some things that we'd like to do. For example, an Iranian ability to manufacture weapons that we'd like to do a little bit more work on militarily. But fundamentally, the military objectives of the United States have been completed.

So that means, as the president has said very shortly, this war is going to conclude.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TREENE: Now I will add some context to what we're hearing from the vice president. He is someone who has long been at the forefront of the arguments being made to the president that this cannot be a forever war, that this needs to be a war that ends swiftly and decisively. Of course, given what we are hearing from the president today, I think this idea that the war could be finished soon, you know, that really does add questions to that timeline. And one other thing that I think is just really pointing out with all

this, particularly when we look at that post and the president saying "A whole civilization will die tonight." I'd remind you of what he said yesterday during that press conference when he was addressing reporters.

He was asked specifically about how these attacks, you know, on bridges, on civilian infrastructure, energy plants, et cetera. How is that helping the Iranian people, that he has always vowed to come to their aid, and he essentially acknowledged that there would be suffering, but he claimed that he believes the Iranian public is willing to suffer if that means eventual freedom. Of course, it's very much unclear if they actually agree with that on the ground in Iran, but that is what we heard from the president yesterday.

KEILAR: All right, Alayna Treene, thank you for that report from the White House. And this just in. A pro-Iran militia group in Iraq says it has decided to release American journalist Shelley Kittleson.

Kittleson was abducted in Baghdad last month. Kataib, Hezbollah security chief, says Kittleson's release is on the condition that she leave Iraq immediately.

Still to come, the crew of Artemis II heading back to Earth, and they are not coming home empty-handed. We are live from NASA's mission control center. Plus, a Democrat is hoping to pull off a major upset in former Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene's ruby red congressional district will tell you why Republicans have a lot on the line in this Georgia special election, even if their candidate wins.

And then later, an American woman is missing after her husband says she fell overboard during their boat trip in the Bahamas. We have that and much more coming up on CNN News Central.

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[13:14:24]

SANCHEZ: The crew of Artemis II is now heading back toward Earth, but not before sending us some breathtaking images from the far side of the moon. These rare photos showing the lunar surface were taking taken during Monday's historic seven-hour flyby when the four-member crew soared deeper into space than any human has ever traveled before. And take a look at this. The crew also capturing this spectacular moment Monday night of the moon eclipsing the sun.

CNN's Randi Kaye is live for us at Johnson Space Center in Houston. Randi, what else did the crew witness that they were able to beam back to Earth?

[13:15:00]

RANDI KAYE, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: These photos are just incredible. All of these images, Boris, they have about 10,000 images, apparently, that they're going to share at some point with the lunar scientists here. But we can walk you through just a few more of them. That that moon, the shot of the Earth dipping behind the lunar horizon is that one right there is so incredible. And the scientists are so excited here about getting these in, because the way that they would describe them, the way that they describe them with the hue, by seeing them with the human eye, is exactly what the scientists wanted to hear from.

There's another one of the Earth dipping behind the lunar horizon, and that's the eclipse there. And if you look very closely on the right of that photo, those very little, those little tiny, bright specks, those are planets, according to the experts here.

Now, there's one photo that I want to show you which has really incredible texture of the lunar surface that you can see all of the craters, because the far side of the Moon is apparently much more rugged. Many more mountains on the far side of the Moon. And we spoke with Dr. Nicky Fox here, one of the top science officials, about this particular photo showing all this texture. And here's what she said.

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DR. NICOLA "NICKY" FOX, ASSOC. ADMINISTRATOR, NASA SCIENCE MISSION DIRECTORATE: And, you know, when he was talking about some of the craters looking like sort of black holes and that if you jumped into one, you'd go all the way through the Moon and come out the other side. And, you know, I heard him say that now I'm looking at it, and of course, I can hear his voice. And when he described it as a very jagged edge, I mean, there's unusual shadows in it, which this is just an amazing way to look at the Moon and be able to see it in this detail and just also get the emotion and the things that his eye was picking out.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAYE: And as went through these photos with her, we also showed her one of the photos that includes that new crater that they named after Commander Reid Weissman's late wife, the Carroll Crater, as they called it. And when we asked her about that, and we talked with her about that, she actually teared up. This was a very emotional moment for not only the crew on board Artemis II, but also for those here watching from the Space Center here in Houston.

SANCHEZ: Yes, how could you not be touched by that moment? It was so special, Randi. Also, as they get back in about four and a half days or so, they have a special invitation. Tell us about that.

KAYE: Yes, they have a special invitation to head to the White House, to the Oval Office. They got a thumbs-up from the President last night. He was actually asking them. He said he would like to get their autograph and invited them to the White House. So, it sounds like they have a second trip, maybe one a little less complicated, but a second trip to take part in when they get back to Earth.

SANCHEZ: Randi Kayea at Johnson Space Center, thanks so much for the update.

Up next, she went from being one of the president's fiercest allies to one of his harshest critics. But are supporters of former Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene willing to flip as well? We're going to take you live to deep red Georgia, her district where a Democrat is hoping to pick up her seat in a special election today. Stay with us.

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[13:22:41]

KEILAR: A big test for President Trump in Georgia. Voters in the state's 14th Congressional District are heading to the polls to decide who will fill the seat of former Trump ally Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene. This is deep red territory, so a Democratic win would be a huge upset. CNN correspondent Isabel Rosales is there watching this closely watched Georgia district.

Isabel, what are you learning from voters there?

ISABEL ROSALES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Brianna, voters I spoke with were skeptical that a Democrat could pull off a major upset in this ruby red district. But three topics kept coming up. I noticed that we were driving them to come out and vote, and that was the economy, the war in Iran, and immigration.

Now, Republicans hold a razor-thin majority in the House, so this seat is critical for them. Right now, so far, they've got a 2:17 to 14 majority there. Now, this election, this special election runoff could serve as a barometer as to how voters are feeling about the Trump administration's Iran policy ahead of the midterms.

Now, we've got two candidates here who are veterans but are very drastically opposed in their position when it comes to Iran. We've got the Republican, Clay Floyd, who's a former prosecutor. He has Trump's endorsement, and he defended the U.S. Military action

in Iran, saying that, quote, "Our country is safer because of what President Trump has done regarding Iran." And the Democrat, Sean Harris, he's a retired army brigadier general, he called Iran, quote, "A war of choice."

Now, all of the voters that I've spoken with so far out of this polling location, they, except for one of them, have been in support of what President Trump has done in Iran. But time and time again, the top issue out of all of the ones that I mentioned were kitchen table issues. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALLEN GOMAN, VOTER: Cost of living is number one right now. I understand the other issues at hand, but, you know, this is something that's been hindering this country for four or five years. The rising cost of economy, cost of living, and I think that needs to be addressed first.

Price of groceries. You see, I've seen people starve, go hungry. And I have literally. And we shouldn't be in that place. To me, I go back to the economy. We need to make it affordable for everybody. (END VIDEOTAPE)

[13:25:13]

ROSALES: And special runoff elections in particular can often feature low voter turnout. So voter enthusiasm is going to be key here. And in races like this, that turnout can swing these sorts of elections much more so than we would see in a bigger election, a bigger scale.

Now, I did speak with the election supervisor here at Floyd County. It's one of 10 counties in this 14th congressional district. And she said that so far they have been processing 800 votes an hour, something that she described as a steady turnout. Very smooth, Brianna.

KEILAR: All right, we'll keep watching. Isabel, thank you for the latest there. Next, President Trump says a quote, "A Whole civilization will die tonight unless a deal is reached with Iran." We are live in the Middle East right after this.

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