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Pakistani Prime Minister Asks Trump to Extend Deadline by Two Weeks; Trump Vows to Unleash Hell on Iran if No Deal by 8 P.M. ET Tonight; Artemis II Swings Around Far Side of Moon, Captures Rare Images; Companies Raise Prices Due to War with Iran. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired April 07, 2026 - 15:30   ET

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

[15:30:00]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: We have some breaking news. This just into CNN. The Pakistan's prime minister who is -- Pakistan obviously involved in these negotiations between the U.S. and Iran, tweeting that there's been progress in diplomatic efforts and to allow diplomacy to run its course. He's asking President Trump to extend his deadline -- that was an 8 p.m. tonight deadline -- by two weeks and for Iran to open the Strait of Hormuz for two weeks as well. He's asking everyone to adhere to a ceasefire for two weeks.

And of course this comes after the president has threatened to quote that "A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again." He also added, "I don't want that to happen, but it probably will."

Let's talk about this now with retired Army General Wesley Clark. He's former Supreme Allied Commander of NATO. General Clark, what are you making of this word from Pakistan's prime minister?

It sounds optimistic. Could this be the off-ramp?

GEN. WESLEY CLARK (RET.), FORMER NATO SUPREME ALLIED COMMANDER: It could be the off-ramp. You know it's at this point it's really a function of what the Iranians want to do. They think they're winning.

They think they've got the United States up in a bear trap and they control the Strait of Hormuz. And they are already reaching out to strike infrastructure across the Gulf. Saudi Arabia, the Emirates, Kuwait have all sustained big hits on totally civilian infrastructure, no military connection whatsoever. And now we're seeing the propaganda war starting with the Iranians saying they've got to put women around and children around these plants.

Well, I hope the Pakistani president, I hope that message will sink into the Iranians because it's really the Iranians that are the ones that have to initiate this, not the United States. It's very clear President Trump wants a breakthrough. So maybe this is it.

KEILAR: And as he's saying this, though, a whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again. I mean, what are you looking for without a kind of breakthrough? And I know it seems maybe you're thinking it's rhetoric, right? But what are you looking for at 8 p.m.?

CLARK: It's hyperbolic rhetoric. I understand -- take it as an expression of President Trump's earnest desire to end this.

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It's the way he's expressing it. And I know it may be offensive to the Iranians, but I think they understand it. But he wants an end to this.

Now, if the strikes go forward, I think we should have confidence in the U.S. military, our planners, our intelligence people. We're not going to strike really significant targets, unlike the Iranians. We'll be going after targets that have a military connection.

Now, if they're a power plant and it's connected to a factory or chemical plant or something that's providing support to the Iranian military, then that's a legitimate target. If it's a major bridge or a railroad in which forces can be deployed or which Russia can bring in or China's supplies and so forth, that's a legitimate target. So there are dual use targets that are totally legitimate.

And the other thing that's very clear is that President Trump has said from the beginning that this is not an effort against the Iranian people. It's an effort on behalf of the Iranian people to help them escape the clutch of the regime in Tehran. So that in itself is an argument against a conventional looking at this as some kind of a war crime.

KEILAR: And I hear what you're saying. But once Iran has implored people and they've answered that call, as we see in these pictures, including little kids to stand on bridges, does that change the legal calculation of the military looking at these targets?

CLARK: I think it certainly raises questions about the regime in Tehran and what their intent is. You know, back in the 1980s, they used children to clear minefields, or they just pushed unarmed people and young kids forward to clear the minefields by walking over them and killing themselves. So this is a tactic that this Iranian regime has employed in the past.

I'm not a lawyer --

KEILAR: General, and I hear what you're saying about that. And that's appalling, right? But this is different -- this is this is different having --

CLARK: This is appalling also.

KEILAR: Yes, this is appalling also. But having the U.S. in that case, right, the U.S. -- I mean, let's just talk about what the U.S. calculation is here, right? If you know that you have civilians and children on a bridge that you do consider a legitimate target, but now you are aware that there are civilians and children on that bridge, how does that change the calculation whether or not Iran is using appalling tactics? What is the responsibility now of the U.S.? CLARK: Well, first of all, I think it's a legal question as well as a

moral question. But morally for me, no, I try to find a different target, certainly. And I'm sure there are targets that aren't covered by these children. But I think it's also a reflection of the immorality and illegality of the regime in Tehran.

And I think it should draw the strongest condemnation on this. It is a terrible, inhumane tactic. It's using human shields.

And that's something that we -- none of us accept. But do we want to strike those people? No, we need to find some other targets, at least for now.

But we need to put the diplomatic pressure all on this regime in Tehran. But no, I'm not going to go through if I were in charge of it and bomb a bridge with a bunch of innocent people on it like this, even if they're put there by the regime.

KEILAR: Previously, it hasn't been acceptable to have an American president talking about wiping a whole civilization away, right? Killing a whole civilization, never to be brought back again. We've heard the defense secretary talking about no quarter.

This is extraordinary rhetoric that we've heard from members of these administration. We're also aware that service members are at risk of ending up in enemy territory, right? We just saw that here in recent days.

With that in mind, knowing what Iran is capable of, do you have any concerns that that kind of rhetoric coming from the American side could endanger service members?

CLARK: Certainly. And if I were in the chain of command, I'd be telling up the chain of command in the strongest possible terms, please don't use that rhetoric.

KEILAR: All right, General Clark, thank you so much for being with us. Obviously, this is a huge day to watch, and we appreciate your expertise today. Thank you so much.

Still to come, the Artemis II crew is homeward bound, but their work isn't over quite yet.

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(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: As the Artemis crew heads back home after their historic trip around the moon, we're getting stunning new images of Earth and the lunar surface. Moments ago, the astronauts chatted with their colleagues aboard the International Space Station. Here's Artemis II's Christina Koch describing how this mission differs from her time on the ISS during the call.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) CHRISTINA KOCH, ARTEMIS II ASTRONAUT: I'll start by saying we do miss the ISS. The views there are awesome. Being able to see specific places. Being able to see our home specifically. So, y'all's views are absolutely incredible and I miss that everyday almost. The thing that changed for me looking back at the Earth, was that I saw myself notably, not only the beauty of the Earth, but how much blackness there was around it.

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And how it just made it even more special and truly emphasized how alike we are, how the same thing keep every single person on planet Earth alive. We evolved on the same planet. We have some shared things about how we love and live that are just universal, and the specialness and preciousness of that really is emphasized with you notice how much else that is around it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: We're joined now by Garrett Reisman. He's a former NASA astronaut, also a professor of astronautical engineering at USC. Garrett, great to see you.

Yes, when you look at these pictures, Earth is kind of small in the grand scheme of things, huh?

GARRETT REISMAN, FORMER NASA ASTRONAUT: Yes, it really is. And that was really the takeaway from the first time that we did this back in 1968. I think one of the quotes from one of the Apollo astronauts was that we came to explore and discover the moon, but instead we discovered the Earth.

Because when we look back and saw that blue marble in that sea of blackness, it changed our whole perception of the fragility of our planet and the oneness of humanity.

SANCHEZ: So what are these images of the moon in particular do for you, Garrett? Realizing how pockmarked it is by, you know, meteorites and things that have hit it over billions of years. And also the color, it's browner than a lot of people realized.

REISMAN: Yes. So the first thing it does for me is it makes me jealous, Boris, because I really would have loved to have been on this crew. Yes, it was nice.

I heard Christina talk about that she misses the ISS and being able to see her hometown. And that was a lovely sentiment. But I think she was just trying to make the rest of us feel good, because that would trade it in a heartbeat for the views that she had.

It's spectacular. I mean, look, we've had imagery from the moon from decades ago, about 50 years ago. This imagery with modern technology --

SANCHEZ: Yes, yes. Modern technology, really special, also really glitchy. It seems like we've lost Garrett Reisman there. We'll try to get him back up. Garrett, can you hear me?

REISMAN: Yep, I got you.

SANCHEZ: You traverse the far side of the moon momentarily. All your jealousy over these astronauts. And you basically just copied what they did.

You went silent for a few seconds. Now we hear you again. Go on, Garrett, your thoughts on the views of the moon.

And we lost him again. Listen, look at how hard it is to put on live TV. So many technical issues.

He's in and out, Brianna. He's in and out. We'll send it back to you.

It just underscores the accomplishment of being able to go around the moon and back and be able to chat with these people so far away. Look at how hard it is for us just to go live. It's not easy.

KEILAR: Yes, Boris, it's not lost on me that Artemis was able to talk to the International Space Station today. And we just lost Garrett there on that little hit we did.

All right, moving on. A popular London music festival has actually been canceled after the headliner Kanye West was blocked from traveling to the United Kingdom. Let's go to CNN Entertainment correspondent Lisa Respers France.

Lisa, several sponsors, actually dropped out after it was announced that Ye would be the headliner.

LISA RESPERS FRANCE, CNN ENTERTAINMENT REPORTER: Yes, Ye is very controversial. And he is paying for his past comments about and that were very anti-Semitic. And, you know, it really frightened off some people.

And also, we've kind of been here before, because back in January, he took out a full page ad in The Wall Street Journal to apologize for his past anti-Semitic comments that he's made. But that's happened before, Brianna, in the past. He's made these really terrible remarks, and he's apologized and then he's come back and made terrible remarks again.

And this time, you know, he's changed his tune, but the show absolutely would not go on. I mean, even the prime minister of UK had something to say about it that was deeply concerning that Ye was even booked in the first place. But we have to keep in mind that this is a man who people still love to see him perform.

He just came off some sold out shows at SoFi, which are all over social media. And, you know, people -- they were sold out because people were there to see Ye, because they still love Kanye, be it the old Kanye, the new Ye. People still want to see him perform, but the folks in UK will not see him perform this summer.

KEILAR: Yes, it's the big news. Lisa Respers France, thank you so much for that story.

Still to come, the rising gas prices caused by the war with Iran could soon show up in other everyday charges. What items and services we're already seeing going up.

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(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: Now to some of the headlines that we're watching this hour.

Environmental groups are asking a federal court panel today to drop its temporary halt of a lower courts order that instructed Florida officials to close down that controversial immigration detention center in the Everglades, the so-called Alligator Alcatraz facility that opened last summer as part of President Trump's immigration crackdown.

It remains open, still holding detainees. The environmental group wants the detention center closed, arguing federal officials failed to follow national environmental laws when they quickly built the center on an airstrip surrounded by the Big Cypress National Preserve.

[15:55:00]

And two weeks after his confirmation, Markwayne Mullin is making his first trip as Homeland Security Secretary. Mullin traveled to Western North Carolina to discuss FEMA relief efforts after Hurricane Helene in 2021 -- 2024, I should say, in Florence in 2018. Mullin surveyed progress on some of the areas that were hit hard and he also took part in a roundtable with local emergency officials to talk about FEMA's response.

SANCHEZ: And a disturbing scene to show you in San Antonio when a motorcyclist lost control of his bike just missed crashing into a group of small children. The fiery wreck was captured last week on a home security camera. The cyclist skid across the pavement slamming into a curb before his bike burst into flames.

Police say he ran across the street covered in flames rolling in the grass to douse the fire. He suffered second degree burns but fortunately is expected to make a full recovery. The kids apparently were OK.

We are following breaking news right now as Pakistan's Prime Minister says talks between the U.S., Israel and Iran are progressing. He's asking that all parties take part in a two-week ceasefire.

KEILAR: Markets remained flat amid President Trump's threat to end an entire civilization tonight. That is what he threatened, and oil prices are still well above $100 a barrel after the U.S. attack on Kharg Island earlier today. And that comes before President Trump's deadline for Iran to open the or suffer severe consequences.

Let's go to CNN business and politics correspondent Vanessa Yurkevich. Vanessa, these rising prices are forcing some companies to pass that cost on to consumers. Tell us what you're seeing.

VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS AND POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, well, well, we're watching oil markets very closely up about 100 percent in just the last month. You have U.S. crude trading looks like about $112, $113 a gallon. Before the war, it was $57 a gallon.

You can see that spike just since February on your screen. That translates, of course, directly to gas prices. So the national average today, $4.12 a gallon. That's up two cents from a day ago. And that is up very much more than we saw just a year ago. And of course, six weeks ago, we were at about under $3 a gallon.

Also worth noting, diesel prices have been rising actually much faster than regular gas prices. The current national average for diesel is $5.65 a gallon. That is not that far away from the record set in 2022 during the war with Russia and Ukraine when it was at $5.82 a gallon. Also, jet fuel we are watching that has doubled in price. Before the war, February 27th, $2.50 a gallon. Just yesterday, $4.69 a gallon. So companies have to decide what are they going to do with these rising gas and diesel and jet fuel costs?

Well, we're hearing from Amazon, USPS. Amazon saying that they're adding a temporary fuel charge of 3.5 percent for any third party that is using their shipping service, U.S. Postal Service. Again, a temporary 8 percent fuel surcharge, first time they're ever doing it for any packages. And then Delta, United and JetBlue all raising their checked baggage fees by $10.

Also, we're hearing from United that they're actually going to pull back on the amount of flights that they're offering, about a 5 percent cutback over the next six months. What these companies are doing are trying to take the burden of these higher prices off the consumer a little bit and find different ways to add price increases. Demand for airfare is still pretty high, guys.

And when you start to raise the price of tickets, that's when demand starts to fall. So companies really looking for other ways that they can sort of move these higher prices around to maybe make it feel a little bit more comfortable for consumers. Of course, consumers every day filling up at the pump are seeing those higher prices, and that's probably where Americans are noticing it the most.

But businesses really trying to make it a little bit easier for consumers to digest some of these other price increases for various companies, whether it is shipping companies, businesses, or, of course, airfare. We know that there is a spike in a 10 percent demand in airfare this summer. Airlines not looking to use that.

SANCHEZ: The price of energy going up raises the price of everything, right? Everything runs on fuel, essentially. Vanessa Yurkevich, please stand by, or actually, thank you so much, because as we run out of time this hour.

We just learned that President Trump has been made aware of this Pakistani proposal for a two-week ceasefire. Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt saying the president has been made aware of the proposal and that a response will come. Obviously, time here being crucial, we're now just about four hours away from this deadline that President Trump has set for some kind of deal to come together to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and other U.S. objectives.

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Otherwise, Iran would face serious repercussions.

KEILAR: Yes, big questions about whether this is going to potentially be the off-ramp, so we're going to be watching to see if that's the case.

And "THE ARENA" with Kasie Hunt starts right now.

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