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Artemis II Astronauts Set For Reentry; Iranian Negotiations Set to Begin; Iran War Fuels Inflation. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired April 10, 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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BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: War-fueled inflation. Costs are soaring, as energy prices skyrocket, and Americans are feeling the pain. What new numbers tell us about the state of the economy.

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN HOST: Plus: talk preview. The vice president about to lead critical negotiations to try to end the war with Iran, and he's sending Tehran a warning: Don't play us.

And to the moon and almost back. The historymaking Artemis II astronauts are making final preparations before splashdown just hours from now.

We're following these major developing stories and many more all coming in right here to CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

KEILAR: Inflation nation. The Iran war sending energy prices surging, and Americans are paying.

New federal data showing inflation jumped to 3.3 percent in March. That is nearly 1 percent higher than the month before. Energy costs are driving this surge, with the conflict pushing up gas prices last month by a record 21 percent.

And these rising prices have Americans feeling pretty pessimistic about the economy, with consumer sentiment plunging to its lowest level on record. Top Trump economic adviser Kevin Hassett admitting the Trump administration has more work to do on inflation, but saying things will quickly turn around once the Strait of Hormuz reopens.

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KEVIN HASSETT, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL ECONOMIC COUNCIL: One of the things that would have been a warning sign would have been that what we believe is a temporary energy disruption would feed through to core, driving up prices of everything.

What we expect and what future markets expect is that there's going to be a rapid reduction in energy prices once we get the straits open. (END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Business columnist and founder of The Pinpoint Press Rick Newman is with us now to talk a little bit about this.

Rick, I want to talk -- hi. Great to have you.

I want to talk about a couple things that Kevin Hassett said about this report, other than the fact that he does seem to be conceding the strait is indeed not open here. First, just can you walk us through what he's saying about feeding through the core?

Would the inflationary effects of the war hit things other than gas and oil immediately or would some of those things be delayed?

RICK NEWMAN, BUSINESS COLUMNIST AND PUBLISHER, THE PINPOINT PRESS: I think it's all of the above.

So, everybody knows what has happened to energy prices. Just look at gasoline prices. This is important. Diesel prices have actually risen by more than gasoline. So diesel goes into trucks to transport goods. Diesel goes into farm equipment. And just about every product that we buy has energy as an input and.

When the price of basically all forms of energy go up, then the cost of producing that stuff goes up. So, consumers are now paying the direct cost of the war through gasoline prices mainly, but they're going to be paying higher costs for goods that are going up, where the costs are going up.

And that's going to -- that might not arrive for two, three or four months. Now, I don't think we're going back to the 9 percent inflation that we had in 2022. But as we -- everybody should know by now, including President Trump and Kevin Hassett, it's -- Americans are just sick with the cumulative increase in prices.

And Trump, of course, campaigned for president in '24 saying he was going to bring prices down. Prices have not come down. And now they're going up again by more than a lot of people want to see.

KEILAR: And, also, this notion that he's talking about of a rapid reduction in energy prices, would you expect gas to come back down as quickly as he's talking about that?

NEWMAN: So, the key thing that Kevin Hassett just mentioned, when the Strait of Hormuz opens up again and oil is flowing freely through the Strait of Hormuz, nobody knows when that's going to happen.

And even though we have a cease-fire in this war, the most alarming development in the way this just looks right now is that Iran now has way more leverage over oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz than it has ever had. Iran basically said, OK, we're just taking control of this thing.

They are charging a so-called toll on tankers that are going through of up to $2 million per ship. So that adds to energy prices. And they're only letting through about 10 percent of the prewar traffic. So Iran is basically saying, we're now asserting control over this crucial choke point.

So, for somebody at the White House to facilely or glibly say, oh, whenever the Strait of Hormuz reopens, tell me how that's going to happen. How is the Strait of Hormuz going to reopen? Because Iran doesn't seem willing to do that.

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KEILAR: It's a very good point.

And we also just learned that consumer sentiment plummeted to its lowest level on record. Perhaps that's no surprise when you look at what is happening all around us and what we're paying for things. What does this tell you about how people are feeling about that?

NEWMAN: So, that's the Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index. It goes back decades, and it includes the Great Recession and the financial crash in 2008 and a lot of periods of time, also COVID, that were, frankly, way worse than right now economically.

So the -- these -- what we think of as economic confidence indicators, really, there's been grade inflation or you might call it grade deflation. We do not have the worst economy in the history of that index. But that index now just basically measures the way people feel about the country in general.

And there's been a huge change among the way people feel broken down by political parties. So, when you get into the breakdown by party, Democrats are, frankly, depressed. Independents are pretty gloomy as well. And Republicans are sort of steady state.

But when you look at when you put Dem -- sorry -- Democrats and independents together, that's why this index has fallen so low. And that just tells us people are disgusted with what's happening in the country right now.

KEILAR: Rick, it is great to talk with you about what we're seeing here. Thank you so much for being with us.

NEWMAN: Thanks, Brianna. See you.

KEILAR: Omar.

JIMENEZ: Well, a big factor in those economic worries is the war in Iran.

And, right now, Vice President J.D. Vance is on his way to Islamabad, Pakistan, where he will lead a team of President Trump's top negotiators in really critical negotiations with Iran.

The vice president had this warning for Iranian officials before leaving Washington:

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J.D. VANCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: If the Iranians are willing to negotiate in good faith, we're certainly willing to extend the open hand. If they're going to try to play us, then they're going to find that the negotiating team is not that receptive.

So we're going to try to have a positive negotiation. The president has gave us some pretty clear guidelines. And we're going to see.

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JIMENEZ: Now, these discussions are getting under way as serious misunderstandings remain still about the current two-week cease-fire, specifically whether Iranian-backed Hezbollah is fair game for Israeli attacks.

That critical sticking point has actually kept the Strait of Hormuz essentially shut down to oil tanker traffic.

I want to bring in CNN international diplomatic editor Nic Robertson, who's standing by in Islamabad ahead of these pivotal talks.

So, Nic, clearly a lot to discuss here on the table from multiple sides here. How are the two sides approaching this situation?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes, I think there's a sense here from the interlocutors, Pakistan, that this is an opportunity really where some ground could be covered that could sort of cement this cease-fire in place.

But I think there's an absolute recognition that it is very tenuous at the moment because of the tensions that exist. As we have heard from the speaker of Iran's Parliament, Ghalibaf, who is one of the expected members of the Iranian delegation who's believed to be on their way to Islamabad at the moment, along with Iran's foreign minister, that the issue, as you said, of Israel attacking Hezbollah, a proxy of Iran in Lebanon, that's a key issue.

Also, the speaker of the Parliament raising an issue about Iran's blocked assets, wanting an unfreezing of those assets, a pretty tall order. Iran's coming into this saying that they have got a 10-point plan and that they're expecting to be able to work through that plan.

I think there's a sense on the U.S. side of J.D. Vance coming in, by all accounts, so far, as we understand, not expecting to stay in Pakistan for long.

But I think the view here is that it may take longer than one day to kind of lock in the necessary points, whether it's five points or six points or seven points, off of Iran's plan to kind of lock in that cease-fire and get the Straits of Hormuz opened up to get those oil tankers flowing to un -- to take this pressure off the global economy, the U.S. economy, so many economies at the moment.

I think what I'm getting when I talk to sources here is that very clearly there's a wish from the U.S. side to make this work, and J.D. Vance is well respected in Islamabad for his diplomatic efforts so far, perhaps less so Steve Witkoff, from the Iranian perspective.

So, J.D. Vance being here in person is going to be a big counting point, if you will, if gaps are going to be bridged. There is a complete breakdown of trust, so I don't think anyone's expecting Iran and the U.S. to be inside the same room, but inside the same building, these sort of proximity talks, if you will.

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But I think there's also an assessment here that understands the Iranian perspective that, despite what we have heard from the White House, despite what we have heard from the Pentagon that really Iran's been beaten into a position of submission. I would say the assessment here is not that, that Iran comes into this -- and maybe we will hear about it more directly from their negotiators when they get here.

But we have got a sense of it already in the tweets, that Iran comes into this in quite a bullish position, potentially ready to withstand more war, and with the belief that they have a military arsenal to continue to deliver pain in the Gulf and keep the Straits of Hormuz closed.

So it is hugely tenuous at the moment, but, as we understand it right now, Iranian delegation, U.S. delegation on their way into Islamabad. Talks begin early Saturday.

JIMENEZ: And while they're still very far apart right now, it remains to be seen what progress may potentially be made if these talks move forward as expected.

Nic Robertson in Pakistan for us, really appreciate the reporting, as always.

Meanwhile, for us, with Israeli strikes in Lebanon threatening to upend peace talks, as we were just discussing, we're learning of a tense phone call between President Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. We will have a live report from Israel later this hour.

And it could be the most dangerous part of their mission, coming home. We're tracking the Artemis crew as they prepare to reenter the Earth's atmosphere in quite possibly a speeding ball of fire.

And a major flood threat in Hawaii, as another storm lashes the state.

We will have that and much more coming up on CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

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KEILAR: All right, the final day is here, and it is a big one for NASA and Artemis II, as the astronauts head home from their historic 10-day mission around the moon that we have been following every step of.

The Orion capsule is less than eight hours away from splashdown off the West Coast. And for the last time, the crew got a musical wakeup call, as NASA played "Run to the Water" by the ban Live, or Live. Live?

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KEILAR: It's Live, I have been told by my team.

Anyways, today's reentry is perhaps the riskiest part of this journey. This is very serious business as they're coming back down to Earth here. This heat shield has to hold as the capsule descends into Earth's atmosphere at speeds reaching up to 25,000 miles per hour. That is about 30 times the speed of sound.

The heat shield must also withstand temperatures reaching 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit. That is roughly half as hot as the surface of the sun.

Let's check in with Ed Lavandera at Houston's Johnson Space Center.

Ed, that's a tall order. They have a lot of -- they have a lot to get through here in several hours. What's ahead for them?

ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, we can't really sugarcoat what is happening here over the course of the next seven hours.

I can't shake from my head the quote that Victor Glover had just a few days ago, where he told us: "We have to come back."

And that is the challenge that they are facing today. Right now, the crew is in those final preparations. They have a lot of work that needs to be done inside the cabin. You have seen that cargo netting. They need to reconfigure everything in there, get the seats ready. Eventually, they will be putting on their space suits.

They need to go through the burns to make sure that this space capsule is headed in the exact direction that it needs to go. This is really a question of the angle and the trajectory by which this capsule comes through the Earth's atmosphere. There are a lot of questions and concerns about whether or not the heat shield can withstand the reentry and those punishing conditions for this crew.

And they need to nail it. There is not a lot of wiggle room here for error. So, the officials here at Johnson Space Center know that they have to nail it. This will be incredibly tense, 13 minutes of reentry there toward the end.

For six of those minutes, Brianna, this crew will be completely cut off from communication as it's going through the most intense conditions of the Earth's atmosphere, but, despite all of that, the crew and these astronauts still sending back inspiring messages about what this moment has meant to them. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRISTINA KOCH, ARTEMIS II CREW MEMBER: If I could have told that little girl who took home a picture of Earthrise and have it in her room that she would eventually launch from that same place to see that same view, I'm pretty sure she would not believe it.

But even though I still can't believe it and she certainly wouldn't believe it, she chased that dream and it ended up happening.

VICTOR GLOVER, ARTEMIS II PILOT, NASA: When we went to the moon the first time and we started calling big things that humanity accomplished moonshots, and we take ownership of this moonshot and realize that we can do it, and then we also think about the future and that this is just the beginning.

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LAVANDERA: Brianna, NASA officials insist they have done all the calculations, all the analysis for several years to ensure that this crew gets back safely, that the astronauts have signed off on all of this.

Brianna, I interviewed this crew when they were first announced back in April of 2023. And in the story that I did back, which -- did back then, which I just went back and rewatched, I described them as the future cosmic rock stars.

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And when they land safely, over the course of the next few weeks, when we see them doing interviews and being everywhere, they will have reached that rock star status, for sure.

KEILAR: No doubt.

Ed, thank you so much. We are obviously anxiously awaiting their return.

And ahead: Here on Earth, prices are going up, inflation surging to the highest levels in nearly two years. We are live at the White House right after this.

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JIMENEZ: All right, President Trump promised to bring down costs on day one, but let's just look at the last month.

Gas prices have risen at record speed, up more than 21 percent since the start of the Iran war. And, today, the average national price is $4.15 a gallon. That's up from $2.98 before the war started. And that is part of what's driving inflation, which is now at its highest level in nearly two years, meaning inflation is higher now than when President Trump took office. I want to bring in CNN's Kevin Liptak, who's at the White House for

us.

I mean, look, Kevin, affordability issues have really made an impact on President Trump's second term. It's part of why he was elected. The economy was on the minds of a lot of voters back in November. How are officials there reacting to these latest numbers?

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: You know, they're not surprised by this spike in inflation.

Of course, they have been watching this spike in gas prices as closely as anyone. But even if they didn't come as a shock, it is certainly setting off alarm bells, not just inside the White House, but among the president's wider circle of Republican allies, who really do wonder what this is going to portend for them in the midterm elections, which had already been about before the war affordability and the cost of living.

And there was another piece of economic data today that I think only underscores those concerns, which is consumer sentiment, the survey that the University of Michigan puts out every month showing that consumer sentiment now at its lowest level on record due to frustrations with this price spike.

The reading is now lower than at any point post-World War II, including during the Great Recession, the pandemic downturn, inflation after that pandemic downturn. And what respondents in the survey said is that they blame the Iran conflict for this spike.

And so the White House is really trying to downplay this in some ways, trying to underscore areas where prices have not gone up. This is what a White House spokesman said earlier, that: "Although gas and energy prices are seeing volatility, prices of eggs, beef, prescription drugs, dairy and other household essentials are falling or remain stable thanks to President Trump's policies."

You also hear the president and his advisers continuing to insist that, once the Strait of Hormuz is reopened, that gas prices will plummet. Of course, the strait very much remains not reopened at the moment. That is part of what is driving the president's frustration ahead of these high-stakes talks with J.D. Vance, the Iranians in Pakistan on Saturday, the president clearly acutely where this all stands.

He just wrote on TRUTH Social: "The Iranians don't seem to realize they have no cards, other than a short-term extortion of the world by using international waterways. The only reason they are alive today is to negotiate."

So the president's saying they don't have any cards, except for that one card that is throttling the international oil trade and causing him some very serious political problems here at home, I think only underscoring how big a chip the Strait of Hormuz has become in these negotiations. JIMENEZ: Well, and even if a deal is made in the sometime near

future, the speed with which prices jump does not usually match the speed with which they come down, if that ends up being the scenario.

Kevin Liptak, reporting at the White House, appreciate it, as always.

All right, coming up for us: Vice President J.D. Vance on his way to Pakistan for peace talks with Iran, but a top Iranian official just said those talks won't begin unless Israeli strikes in Lebanon end. We will be live from Tel Aviv after the break.

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