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Iran Claims It's Prevented U.S. Ships from Entering Hormuz; United Plane Hits Bakery Truck, Light Pole While Landing in New Jersey; Three Dead, Three Others Sick After Suspected Hantavirus Outbreak on Cruise. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired May 04, 2026 - 07:00   ET

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

[07:00:00]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking news, we have new footage of a terrifying landing. A United plane hits a truck and a light pole on one of the country's busiest highways just before it touches down.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Also breaking overnight, Iran says it's now stopped U.S. ships from entering the Strait of Hormuz, has as President Trump says the U.S. Navy is going to start guiding ships through the Strait of Hormuz.

And only humans allowed, the Oscars banning A.I.-generated actors and scripts from the awards.

I'm Kate Bolduan with John Berman. Sara is out today. This is CNN News Central.

All right, let's get to the breaking news this hour. Iran state media now claims that the country's -- that country's navy has prevented the U.S. military and U.S. military ships from entering the Strait of Hormuz. This is just as President Trump, as I mentioned, says that American forces will begin guiding ships through that very same strait.

A note here, a U.S. official tells CNN that guiding is not the same thing as escorting, as has long been discussed and not implemented, which, yes, raises a whole host of questions about how this actually works now. And so far, shipping data shows almost no traffic is moving there still.

On this announcement from Trump, Iran responded by publishing a new map of the strait. The red lines that you see right there, those are the boundaries of the expanded zone that Iran now claims it controls and warns that, well, the quote is, any foreign military force will be attacked if they try to approach or enter the key oil route.

Overnight, gas prices ticked up about a penny, but the national average, remember we've been tracking over time, has jumped 35 cents in just a week, to $4.46 a gallon.

Let's go to CNN's Kevin Liptak. He's live this morning for us at the White House to start us off. What are you hearing about all this? There seems to be quite a bit happening as we speak. KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Right. And I'll start with some of those claims that we've seen in Iranian state media over the last hour. You know, I've been talking to officials. No one had heard that an American ship had been struck, which was one of the claims that you heard from one of the Iranian state media sources. Now, Central Command, just in the last few seconds, coming out with a statement denying this, saying that no U.S. Navy ships have been struck, U.S. forces are supporting Project Freedom in enforcing the naval blockade on Iranian ports, so trying to clear up at least one of the pieces of information that's out there as the president tries to get traffic flowing again through this critical waterway.

You know, in the past the Iranians have claimed to have struck American vessels. It turned out not to be true, but I still think it underscores some of the risks that are inherent here as President Trump tries to get vessels flowing through the Strait of Hormuz. It has the possibility, if the Iranians fire back, of breaching the ceasefire, which is still in place but obviously something that the president doesn't want to be affected as he tries to pursue diplomacy with Tehran.

You know, it's not precisely clear what some of the American assets that CENTCOM has said will be involved in all this will actually be doing. They say it will involve guided missile destroyers, more than a hundred aircraft, drones, 15,000 service members. But how all of those assets sort of play in to reopening the strait isn't precisely clear. And American officials said that Project Freedom was not an escort mission. And so we don't know exactly what guiding will mean.

I think the suggestion is that the military will essentially coordinate with these ships to show them which channels in the strait are the safest and sort of, through their presence in the region, provides some reassurance to these vessels. But, of course, this claim today by the Iranians, I think, just underscores why so many shipping companies and ship pilots don't want to cross through the Strait of Hormuz because they've believe it is unsafe.

So, a number of challenges, I think, for the president that's underscored by what we've seen in the shipping traffic just this morning. They have shown that virtually no tankers or cargo transiting through the strait despite what the president said would be going into effect today.

[07:05:06]

Of course, you also have the diplomacy at play here. Yesterday, the president saying that he was disappointed. He thought their Iranian proposal was insufficient, but also at the same time saying that these discussions are very positive, saying that they could lead to something very positive down the line.

And so I think a lot of conflicting information here as this new initiative takes effect. Kate?

BOLDUAN: Yes, absolutely, a lot to watch this morning, very clearly. Kevin, thank you. John? BERMAN: All right. This morning, a terrifying landing all caught on camera. We're getting new footage in this morning of United flight with more than 200 people on board hitting a bread truck in a light pole on the New Jersey Turnpike as it was about to land in Newark.

Oh geez. The bread truck driver was able to pull over and call his employer. He was treated for injuries but he's doing okay. The bread, you'll be happy, to know was untouched.

The pilots and the air traffic control did not initially appear to be aware of exactly what happened. It was the plane's landing gear, tires that hit the truck. The flight was coming in from Italy and no one on board was hurt. But you can see why there are some major questions this morning.

Let's get right to CNN Aviation Correspondent Pete Muntean with the latest on this. Pete, I got to say I drive by the Newark Airport on the turnpike there, and you often think, man, this is close, but not this close.

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: And pilots know it too. You know, this is going to be a very interesting one for investigators, John. Most of the time we hear of airplanes hitting light poles maybe on the ground usually while taxing into a tight gate. So far, I can't find a case in recent memory where a U.S. commercial flight has hit a light pole while still in the air, and that's the important caveat here. That's what investigators say that this plane hit a light pole first, not necessarily the truck.

Here are the circumstances. United Flight 169 arriving from Venice, Italy, coming into land on Newark's Runway 29, 29er in aviation terms, that is Newark's shortest runway, favorable yesterday to the strong winds out of the west.

The approach to that runway goes right over about 12 lanes of I-95 and Newark's New Jersey Turnpike there. That is the map there. And I want to show you the still frame of what appears to be the left wheel of that 767, the left landing gear assembly, out of the window of that bread truck that was damaged, clearly a case of too low on this approach path.

But now the question is why. Usually pilots landing here are okay to down to about 400 feet and then continue visually, essentially using their eyeball to judge their height on the approach path. But they're cautioned by way of published landing procedures that the approach path and the runway 29 does not really -- is not fully clear. There are obstacles in the way they're supposed to cheat a little bit high on the approach path.

And I want you to listen now to the air traffic control audio here in which the tower and in exchange describes that the airplane itself was also damaged. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you get a report for what the issue was? UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I got different conflictions on the turnpike.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, they felt something over the threshold and there's a hole in the side of the airplane. So, I'm going to get you on the runway here in a moment. They said it was right at the threshold. So it'll just be a minute.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MUNTEAN: Newark's Runway 29 still closed today until about 11:00 A.M. Eastern Time, according to the latest data. The data about the flight itself will be very telling here. Right now, we only have the open source data, which shows the plane over the highway at about 125 feet, going about 160 miles per hour. That's the rough, preliminary data we don't have a full picture yet. And what investigators will want to look at is the flight data recorder on board the 767, also, the voice recorder. Did the pilots realize they were too low? Was there a discussion about the risk posed by obstacles in the highway?

The NTSB says it arrives on the scene today. Of course, they will want to interview the pilots here. That will be very telling. Still, a lot to figure out here in the very early stages of this investigation. Thankfully, nobody really seriously injured here, John. It seems like that driver's going to be okay.

BERMAN: Yes. I just can't get over seeing the tire in the window past this truck driver there. He's singing, he's doing his thing on the highway, then a plane lands on him. I mean, it's not something you see every day.

Pete Muntean, thank you for that update. I'm sure we will hear more soon. Kate?

BOLDUAN: It's just -- it is crazy.

BERMAN: Right?

BOLDUAN: Crazy. Thankfully, I mean, you think how many people on that plane, I mean so much could have gone so much worse. Much more to come on that.

Also, this is not just about an Instagram post.

[07:10:01]

That is the word from the acting attorney general, Todd Blanche, defending the new criminal charges that the Justice Department has brought against the former FBI director, James Comey. So, what else do they have?

And breaking overnight, Rudy Giuliani is hospitalized and said to be in critical condition today.

And three people are dead, more passengers are sick after the outbreak of a suspected rare virus on a cruise ship.

We'll be right back.

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BERMAN: Breaking overnight, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani is in a Florida hospital where he is said to be in critical condition. A spokesperson for the 81-year-old tells CNN he is stable and did not say why he's in the hospital, or, frankly, which hospital.

[07:15:01]

Giuliani was last seen Friday on his streaming show, America's Mayor Live, where he told viewers that his voice was a little under the weather. President Trump posted on social media calling Giuliani a true warrior and the best mayor in the history of New York City.

Breaking overnight, a very unusual and deadly apparent outbreak on a cruise ship, three people have died and at least three others are sick after a suspected outbreak of the rare hantavirus. At least three who died, were passengers on the ship. The ship is now anchored off the coast of Cape Baird off West Africa.

Let's get to CNN's Larry Madowo for the latest on this. Larry, what are you learning?

LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John, we know that this ship is a Dutch-flagged cruise ship. It's known as the MV Hondius and the company operating it is known as Oceanwide Expeditions. It began its journey about seven weeks ago off the coast of Argentina and Ushuaia, which is often called the end of the world. It made its way to Antarctica, South Africa and has been sailing along the West African coast until where it is currently docked in prior, off the coast of Cape Verde.

Authorities Cape Verde have not allowed passengers off the ship, but they have sent medical crews on board to attend to the two people who are exhibiting symptoms of hantavirus. Only one has been confirmed. The World Health Organization calling this a public health event, and it is currently doing epidemiological investigations, gene sequencing, and more lab testing, to be sure that these are the five people, including the three have died, were indeed hantavirus.

Hantavirus is extremely rare, but can be severe. It causes respiratory illness known as hantavirus pulmonary syndrome and severe kidney disease, one or the other. And in this case, the reason that people get hantavirus is if they come into contact with rodents, like mice or rats, using their saliva, their droppings, or their urine. It's very rare for human-to-human transmission. And the only version of hantavirus that can be transmitted between human to human is known as the Andes virus. It's primarily found in Chile and Argentina, where this originated. It's still not clear what could have happened.

This ship has 170 passengers and 71 crew on board. They're currently -- they've been in Cape Verde since Sunday. And authorities are working with the World Health Organization to figure out exactly what to do with them. The precaution here, John, appears to be what was similar, what we saw during the beginning of the COVID virus, where ships, cruise ships that had suspected cases would not be allowed to offload passengers and crew until authorities knew more.

BERMAN: Yes. Obviously, the geography of this journey does raise questions there, and I know they want some answers soon.

Our Larry Madowo, thank you so much for that update.

All right, a car full of explosive smashes into a gym. We've got new details on who was behind the wheel.

And there is nothing bigger in sports than game sevens in the postseason. We had a few of them overnight. We've got some of the dramatic finish.

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BOLDUAN: The Pistons win their first playoff series in nearly two decades, and they had to really work to get to this point.

CNN's Coy Wire is here with more on that. I mean, they had quite the deficit they came back from.

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Yes, Kate. This was a comeback for the ages, overcoming a 3-1 deficit against the Magic, first playoff series winning 18 years for Detroit. Cade Cunningham cool as a polar bear's toenails, 32 points, 12 assists. Tobias Harris added 30 in a 116-94 win. The last time Detroit won a playoff series was 2008. People were still lining up for their first iPhone 3G at that time, Kate. This is the 15th team in NBA history to overcome a 3-1 deficit. Second in the last two nights, after the Sixers came back to get Berman's Boston Celtics.

The Pistons will advance to face Cleveland next. The Cavs and Raptors game seven was tied at halftime, but the man they called Spider got to spin it. Donovan Mitchell weaving through the defense with 22 on the night. Jared Allen snagged a piece of history with LeBron, only Cavs players with 20-plus points, 15-plus rebounds in a game seven. He went for 22-19.

And then here goes Spider on this one, into the stands. Hello, fans displaying that resolve, that effort that Cleveland needed, a 114-102 win. And that's a wrap for round one. Eight teams eliminated. Eight teams remain.

NHL Stanley Cup playoffs in the lone game seven in the first round, Canadiens and Lightning. Canadiens got on the first there with a little ping pong or ping puck action, Nick Suzuki with the redirect. The game was tied in the third until Alex Newhook would break it. Game seven, where every shot counts in Montreal, said, how about just nine? Yet nine shots on goal, fewest ever in a playoff win, a 2-1 win.

Montreal faced Buffalo in the second round. No Canadian team has won the cup since the Canadiens in '93.

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MARTIN ST. LOUIS, MONTREAL CANADIENS HEAD COACH: We're not leaving.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WIRE: All right. Game one of the second round series between Minnesota and Colorado was wild and there were an avalanche of goals, 15 of them, Kate. Cale Makar scored two for Colorado in a 9-6 win. That scoreboard was working overtime like it had bills to pay. Colorado jumped out to the 1-0 series lead.

All right, Kate, finally, your MVP of the day, not Messi, not Ronaldo, a four legged field crasher in Argentina, most valuable pup. Watch it here. Stopped on a dime, give you two nickels. She turned that pitch into a playground, juking folks like it was a World Cup final.

[07:25:03]

Fans loved every minute, Kate, and there were about five minutes in this chase out there breaking ankles. The crowd in Rosario were cheering, olay, with every dodge and juke, you got to love it. They finally did catch her and she was not too happy, nor were the fans. They wanted to see an encore. Nice little pause in that match.

BOLDUAN: Well played. I mean, how can you choose, like this is so much fun. You guys are the best. This is like such a party. Like just happy and, I mean, five minutes, I mean, the game was already a million minutes too long, I'm sure, already knowing how soccer matches can play.

WIRE: Yes.

BOLDUAN: All right. That is amazing.

It's good to see you, Coy. Thank you.

WIRE: You too.

BOLDUAN: Cutie cutes.

All right, ahead for us, Iran says, it has prevented U.S ships from entering the Strait of Hormuz. It comes after President Trump says the U.S. will be guiding ships through that very same strait. So, where do things stand in this moment? We're going to take a look.

And the fallout is just beginning to set in for Spirit Airline customers. Now that the airline has gone under, what travelers need to do now to rebook?

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