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U.S. Races To Find Second F-15 Crew Member Shot Down Over Iran; CNN Poll: Dems Hold Early Advantage With Double-Hater Voters; Interview With REP. Kevin Kiley (I-CA); Trump Sets 48-Hour Deadline For Iran To Reopen Strait Of Hormuz; Artemis II Now Closer To The Moon Than Earth; Artemis Less THAN Two Days From Record-Breaking Lunar Fly- By; Supporters Of Wisconsin Mosque Leader Call For His Releas. Aired 6-7p ET

Aired April 04, 2026 - 18:00   ET

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

[18:01:47]

JESSICA DEAN, CNN HOST: You're in the CNN NEWSROOM. Hi, everyone. I'm Jessica Dean here in New York.

And tonight U.S. forces are searching for a missing crew member from an F-15 fighter jet that was shot down over Iran. Sources telling CNN the other crew member has been rescued and is in U.S. custody. There is some video that appears to show part of the search for that missing crew member. This footage has been verified by CNN, and as you see, it shows you a low flying aircraft there.

The White House says President Trump has been briefed on this incident, and for The White House perspective, let's bring in CNN correspondent Julia Benbrook from the White House right now.

Julia, what is the President and the administration saying about this missing crew member?

JULIA BENBROOK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, President Donald Trump has made some brief remarks in a few phone interviews. He told NBC News that he does not believe that this incident is going to impact or sideline change in any negotiations that are happening with Iran right now. He says that he does not think that's going to happen, but he declined to comment directly on this search and rescue mission.

Then in a separate interview with "The Independent," he said that he avoided a question when he was asked specifically on if there would be any steps taken, what might happen next if this missing crew member was captured or harmed by the Iranians.

He went on to say, "We hope that's not going to happen."

Now, of course, we will keep looking for any updates here, but we do not expect to see the President out and about again today. The White House has called a lid, which does not mean that we won't hear from him, though it does mean we won't see him. It does not mean we won't hear from him because as we know, he makes a lot of these big announcements even the very beginning of Operation Epic Fury on social media. His team has said that he has been working in the Oval Office throughout the day.

DEAN: And Julia, the President did make another threat to Iran via Truth Social. What is he saying there?

BENBROOK: Well, this comes just a little bit after he gave that primetime address just a few days ago at The White House, where he said that he believed that the Strait of Hormuz, that critical waterway where 20 percent of the world's oil typically travels through, he said that he believed it would open naturally after this conflict ended.

Today, though, he is reiterating a threat that he has made throughout this conflict, saying that time is running out and that the Strait needs to be opened fully.

I want to pull up his social media post. He said: "Remember when I gave Iran 10 days to make a deal or open up the Hormuz Strait? Time is running out, 48 hours before all hell will rain down on them," adding at the end of that post, "Glory be to God."

Now Trump has made this threat numerous times, like I said, but it started late last month and then he gave a 48-hour timeline. He then put that on pause for five days, then extended it for 10 more. So, it is now set for Monday, April 6th.

DEAN: All right, and it remains to be seen exactly what that means, to your point, Julia Benbrook, thank you so much for that.

Former marine combat fighter pilot, Lieutenant Colonel Amy McGrath is joining us now. She is also running as a Democrat for the U.S. Senate seat in Kentucky.

Colonel McGrath, thank you so much for being here with us.

[18:05:10]

I want to talk about this missing crew member. I think this is -- a lot of Americans are thinking about this person right now, anxious to hear any updates.

Help people understand what search and rescue missions like this typically look like, and what is involved in searching for somebody behind enemy lines?

LIEUTENANT COLONEL AMY MCGRATH (RET), U.S. MARINES: Well, we have the best search and rescue teams in the world. We have a lot of assets that are going to be totally focused on trying to find this missing crew member and I think what people should realize is that when you eject from a high performance aircraft, from a fighter jet like the F- 15, I flew the F-18, both as a front seat and a back seat in over 80 combat missions.

First of all, every single mission we are prepared. We brief for if we have to eject over enemy territory so the crew knows what to do. If that happens, though, an ejection is very violent and you may not survive it. If you do survive it, you might be injured and then you're on the ground and you know how to evade.

We have the training to be able to do that, to survive for days and to be able to signal for help, and so that's what we hope this aircrew is doing right now, and we know that our combat search and rescue crews are the best in the world.

And if they are out there, they are going to find them.

DEAN: Wow! And it really seems like what you're describing, the people who are on that -- that missing crew member has to balance both. Obviously, taking care of themselves, making sure that they are safe, but also trying to communicate signal to the search and rescue teams. And at the same time staying kind of on literally under the radar from the Iranians who are also looking for this person.

MCGRATH: That's right. I mean, you want to evade, you don't know the local population. You don't know if they like you or don't like you. You certainly want to remain away from anyone that has any authority with the Iranian regime, and you're trying to survive right now.

You're trying to evade and to make sure that you're in a place where our combat search and rescue teams that are so professional can find you, and these are very dangerous missions.

You saw the pictures of those low flying aircraft, low flying aircraft means that they're vulnerable, and so the pilots and the aircrew that do this are the best in the world, and it just shows we don't leave anybody behind.

DEAN: Yes, and so talk to us about these search and rescue crews. What kind of risks are involved for them beyond -- I mean, you listed it there, they are very exposed. We are looking at this right now. That's a very low flying plane, obviously.

What other things are they trying to prepare for while they are looking for this missing crew member?

MCGRATH: Well, obviously when we have leaders who say that the Iranian Air Defenses are completely obliterated, that we know is not true, right? So, if you're an air crew flying over Iran right now, you know, this is a very dangerous mission. We just had the F-15 shot down. We had another A-10 shot down. We had, some Blackhawk helicopters apparently taking some flak as well.

So, you know, it is -- they are very dangerous missions, but the folks that train to do this are the best and this is what we signed up to do. We are not going to leave anybody behind and we are going to go out, and if they are around, we are going to do everything we can to get them.

DEAN: I am curious if you're surprised by Iran's capabilities now six weeks in and following what we have seen.

MCGRATH: I am actually not surprised. Iran does really well on asymmetric warfare. So, when our leaders come out and say, look, we've won this thing, we've destroyed their Navy and their Air Force, well, they didn't have much of an Air Force to begin with. They didn't have much of a Navy to begin with.

Their strength is in asymmetry. So, in the Strait of Hormuz they have lots of underwater drones, lots of small boats, for example, to shut down that Strait, mines. Those are asymmetric weapons.

In the air, they have lots of surface-to-air missiles and not every surface-to-air missile system is something that we have big radar dishes for. A lot of surface-to-air missile systems, you could just put right on your shoulders and they would go after the infrared, the heat signal that is coming off of that aircraft.

And lots of people can have those weapons. They are very easily proliferated. So to say that we own the skies there is just -- it is just not true, and I think those of us that have been in combat know that and when we hear that from our leaders, so we sort of shake our heads, we know the Iranians still have capability.

DEAN: All right, Colonel Amy McGrath, thank you so much. I know we are all thinking about that service member and those search and rescue teams as they continue their work.

Thanks for your time tonight. We appreciate it.

[18:10:10]

MCGRATH: You bet.

DEAN: And still to come, the partial government shutdown still dragging on. We are going to talk to Independent Congressman Kevin Kiley as new polling shows Democrats holding an advantage over Republicans headed into the midterms, but not a totally rosy picture there. Theres some nuance. There always is.

Plus, we are keeping a close eye on the Artemis II crew just days from orbiting the moon. We will have an update from Mission Control in Houston. That's ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:15:13]

DEAN: A new CNN poll finds Americans views of both Republicans and Democrats remains deeply negative. In recent years, so-called double- hater voters broke for Donald Trump and Republicans, but that may not be the case in this year's upcoming midterms.

CNN's Harry Enten runs the numbers on why Democrats hold an early advantage -- Harry.

HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR DATA REPORTER: Hey there, Jessica. Happy Saturday to you.

Look, one of the most interesting little nuggets from our latest CNN- SSRS poll is that Democrats have -- get this -- a six-point advantage on the generic congressional ballot, and they are doing so despite the fact that the party has a 28 percent favorable rating. So, how the heck are they doing this? How are they almost seeming to pull a rabbit right out of the hat like a magician?

Well, it all comes down to this key bloc of voters. This key quarter of the electorate, that is among the 26 percent who dislike not only the Democratic Party, but the Republican Party as well.

If you look at their choice for Congress, look at this. Democrats have a 55 percent to 24 percent advantage. So, it turns out that the Democrats, in the minds of 26 percent of the electorate, are the lesser of two evils, and that is why they lead in the race for Congress right now by six points overall.

Now, this 31-point lead that Democrats have right now amongst those double haters, that is very, very different from what we saw four years ago when Republicans took control of Congress.

Take a look here. Okay, among voters who dislike both parties, again, those double haters, the choice for Congress, this time around, we are talking about Democrats with a 31-point lead. Look at what it was back in 2022. In the exit poll, Republicans won those double haters by 17 points, and that is why they were able to take back the U.S. House of Representatives, flip control of that chamber four years ago.

This time around, it looks like Democrats are going to do it again on the backs of double haters. Double haters, again saying, you know what? Democrats are the lesser of two evils.

And the idea of being the lesser of two evils really gets at what a lot of voters who are Democrats are feeling, Jessica, who are Democrats.

Take a look here, how Democrats feel. This is how voters who are Democrats feel. Look at this. Only 63 percent, just 63 percent of Democratic voters actually view the Democratic Party favorably. We are talking about only about two in three, in fact, a little bit less than two and three, though within the margin of error, more than two and three.

But look at this, Democrats who plan to vote for the Democratic candidate for Congress in 2026, ninety-six percent, 96 percent, near 100, near that unanimity, right? Why? Because Donald John Trump is the motivating factor for Democrats.

Amongst Democrats, 99 percent of them disapprove of Trump. This 99 percent looks a whole heck of a lot like this 96 percent, very much unlike the 63 percent, so the bottom line is this, Jessica Dean, as we sit, I don't know, what is it, six months until the midterms? Let's see, April, May, June, July, August, September -- a little -- a little bit more than half a year away, okay. A little bit more than half a year away, what we are dealing with here is really simple, which is Democrats are leading in the race for Congress by six points, despite the fact that they have a favorable rating of just 28 percent because they are the lesser of two evils, especially among Democrats. Happy Saturday, Jessica, back to you.

DEAN: All right, Harry Enten, we always appreciate you. Thank you for that.

And we are joined now by Congressman Kevin Kiley of California.

Congressman, thanks so much for being here with us. Harry talked a lot about double haters there, people who are neither enchanted with Republicans nor Democrats.

Last month, you switched your party affiliation from Republican to Independent. Tell us why you made that decision to go Independent.

REP. KEVIN KILEY (I-CA): Well, I think partisanship has just gotten out-of-control, and that's what you see reflected in in surveys like that, that folks see that, you know, regardless of which party is in charge, the same problems continue to go on, and maybe foremost among them, the fact that we just can't reach agreement on really anything these days.

I mean, we had the longest government shutdown in U.S. history last year. We have an ongoing shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security at a time when there is this heightened threat environment in the United States, we have this crazy gerrymandering war that's broken out across the country, where each party is upending its map in different states to try to enhance its own position.

And, you know, all of this then permeates through the rest of this country in a sense of political division that I think is worse than it has ever been and is really weakening our ability to act and protect our national interests.

So I do think that one of the biggest challenges we face right now is overcoming political division and hyper partisanship, and the move that I made, I hope, will be a first step in trying to help make that happen.

[18:20:10]

DEAN: And you mentioned this, what you call a gerrymandering war, where we've seen both parties doing -- trying to create more seats, in California, they did that by putting it to the people, and it did affect your district.

So in your mind, then in this new district that you're running in, being Independent is it is an advantage?

KILEY: Well, I think it is a reflection of the way that I've always approached my job, which, is I've always said, that I am going to be an independent voice for my district. And in my time in Congress, which has only been three years now, I've tried to focus on just things that don't have a particularly partisan valence, but deliver for the folks that I represent.

And so, you know, delivering funding for roads to alleviate traffic, to protect Lake Tahoe, which is in my district, and to stand up to leaders in both parties against gerrymandering, which I think is a plague on democracy.

But I think that part of the problem that we have in this country is that everything is just viewed too often through a partisan lens, and I think that people, regardless of whether they're Democrat or Republican or Independent or some third party, they want a representative who is going to first and foremost answer to their constituents, not party leaders in Washington, not party leaders in Sacramento, which is I am from, California, but we will answer to them.

DEAN: I want to talk to you about something that is going on back in Washington, D.C., where The White House seeking roughly $1.5 trillion for defense spending as part of its new budget request.

And obviously, The White House's budget request is kind of -- a way to look at it is kind of where they are prioritizing things, what they prioritize, but this would boost military spending by more than 40 percent compared to last year.

Where do you stand on that?

KILEY: Well, it is important that we have robust military spending to ensure that we are fully prepared to protect our national interests. But, you know, we need to look beyond the top line and see what these funds are actually being used for. Of course, we are at a moment where we are also hearing there is going to be a $200 billion supplemental coming to Congress related to the ongoing conflict with Iran, and I have said that congress needs to be more involved in defining what our objectives are there going forward.

So Congress can't simply say, okay, we are going to agree to this amount or that amount without asking any questions. We need to figure out what is actually needed and how are these funds going to be used, because we need to make sure that they are going to be used in a way that reflects the intent of Congress and more importantly, the American people when it comes to something like the conflict with Iran and what exactly the scope of this is going to be going forward.

DEAN: Well, because also, look, you have to cut things, right? And so there are cuts that are going to be made in order to support that.

KILEY: Well, of course. And you know, we -- I think this is another thing that folks on all sides across the country would agree on that the national debt is a huge problem for our country when we are talking about $37 trillion - $38 trillion, and you just mentioned the funding request for the Department of Defense at this point, the second biggest line item on our entire budget is just interest that we pay on the national debt.

So of course, all of these decisions need to be made with that in mind and with a view of the tradeoffs that, yes, when you increase funding for one thing and you don't have as much for another. Now, I think there are plenty of ways that we can rein in spending. I think there is all kinds of waste, fraud and abuse that we can rein in. I think there is all kinds of ways that we can run our government more efficiently, and I think that applies to defense spending as well by the way.

You know, we need to make sure that we are using the money in the best possible way that takes advantage, for example, of a lot of the new technologies that are becoming increasingly important in modern warfare. That gives us efficiency in terms of how we contract.

So all of those are things that Congress needs to really dig into in a very serious way before we arrive at a final number or final appropriation.

DEAN: All right, Congressman Kevin Kiley, thanks for your time. We appreciate it.

KILEY: Thanks for having me. Still ahead, an American journalist abducted while reporting in Iraq following serious threats against her life. We are going to talk to a former Pentagon official who is also her close friend, about what he knows and the efforts to get her back home. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:28:39]

DEAN: Tonight, as an urgent search is underway for the missing crew member of the fighter jet downed over Iran, President Trump is repeating threats for Tehran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, saying the U.S. will unleash all hell if a deal isn't made by Monday.

He has delivered similar ultimatums before, but then extended the deadline. Iran has remained defiant in its control over that critical waterway.

We are joined now by CNN national security analyst, Alex Plitsas. He is a former Pentagon official and U.S. Army Special Operations veteran. He is currently the Director of the Atlantic Council's Counterterrorism Program.

Alex, thank you for being here with us.

In the context of where we are now with the President saying earlier this week that the war could end within three weeks. Now, then saying that he could potentially bomb them back into the stone Age. And now what we are hearing from him about this 48-hour deadline and the idea that we also have a missing crew member in Iran right now.

Where would you say the trajectory of this is headed at this point?

ALEX PLITSAS, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Sure. Theres been a lot of statements that I guess can be either confusing or conflicting if folks aren't really well-versed in what is going on, so I will try to break it down for the viewers.

There have been about 13,000 targets struck inside of Iran from the initial objectives that the Pentagon and The White House laid out, which include the drones, the ballistic missiles, the associated industrial base, sinking the Navy, the Air Force, et cetera., the nuclear program, by and large, hasn't been really touched and U.S. Central Command tells us there are about 3,000 targets left, which gives us about a two or three-week timeline, which is what the President was mentioning.

Separate from that, he mentioned another deadline that he had given to Iran to come to the table, open the Straits of Hormuz, and so far, they have failed to do so. That deadline expires on Monday in 48 hours.

[18:30:24]

We have a third aircraft carrier battle group that is on the way, and we've got -- we've seen an air bridge coming out of the United States, so I think the President's made it clear that he's going to take additional action if the Iranians do not -- do not heed his warnings.

DEAN: And the Strait of Hormuz, obviously, is -- is critical leverage for Iran. What do you see as a tipping point, if there is a tipping point there, for them to cede some ground there? Does threats -- does a threat of escalation, does that -- do they hear that and respond to that?

PLITSAS: The problem is they've misread the President since the beginning, since prior to the conflict he had made some, you know, statements to them about what they needed to do, which included no domestic enrichment, handing over their 440 kilograms of highly enriched uranium at 60 percent, which is where we keep hearing about them being two weeks away from a weapon. They were actually about two weeks away from going from 60- to 90 percent highly enriched uranium, enough weapons grade fuel for about 11 weapons, if they had all of their enrichment technology.

They failed to heed all of that, we ended up in a conflict now, and he continues to set policy positions, and the Iranians so far have not responded. The Straits are a strategic choke point if they're going to be held at risk as they are right now, because they're physically open, they're not mined. But shipping owners won't let ships transit.

DEAN: Right, right, okay. I do want to also talk to you about American journalist Shelly Kittleson, who is your dear friend. She has been missing now for four days, kidnapped in Baghdad while reporting there. We understand there had been threats against her. I know you're very involved in trying to make -- raise awareness and get her back home. Update people, on what they need to know about Shelly and the current situation.

PLITSAS: I mean, what's happened is nothing short of disgusting. I mean, she is a wonderful human being, kind, she's been a journalist well known in the area for, you know, two decades, reporting in the -- from the front lines, from Afghanistan to Syria to Iraq, well-known to Iraqi authorities and to all the groups that operate in the region as a journalist. And there was a threat that was made against her for a kidnapping plot, and about four days ago she was taken off the street in Baghdad. You know, the Iraqi government has come forward and made statements

that there is an individual who's in custody, we believe, who is affiliated with Kata'ib Hezbollah. Nobody has come forward to claim responsibility for the kidnapping at this point, and we'll -- we believe that she's being held hostage. The only people inside of Iraq who really have the authority or power to kind of step in here is the Shia coordinating framework that that -- will select the next prime minister.

So, whether it's former prime ministers or the current prime minister, Sudani, or the chief of the Supreme Court, the -- the groups that are responsible for taking her or coordinating are part of the PMF, which is the -- the Shia militia groups that operate there under that umbrella. They are quasi-state-oriented because they get some funding from the state, and the Iraqis have always attempted to use them when necessary to fight ISIS, but when something bad happens they don't want to be held accountable.

The Iraqi government is the only one who can do something about this at this point, and they are responsible for her well-being.

DEAN: And so, what -- what can be done? How do you reach the -- and convince the Iraqi government to do what you are saying?

PLITSAS: I believe the Iraqi government is acting, but it's going to take some real willpower on their side to make this happen. The United States government has been nothing short of fantastic over the last week, from the men and women at the FBI to the State Department, the Hostage Recovery Fusion Cell, the Special Envoy for Hostage Affairs Office, to the National Security Council. The entire U.S. government is behind efforts to try to bring her home, and right now the Iraqi government is the one -- who we're looking to -- to finalize the actions here that are necessary to get her released.

DEAN: And just to be clear, Alex, you believe that she was kidnapped because she's an American journalist?

PLITSAS: That's correct. She was kidnapped specifically and likely being held hostage specifically because of her passport and her nationality. Despite the fact that she's been living overseas for 20 years, she's been reporting from the front lines, everybody knows who she is. This was really just to grab an American and use her as leverage.

DEAN: Yes, and I think that just sends a chill down everybody's spine when they hear that.

PLITSAS: I mean, as it should. I mean, if you're an Iraqi official, you know, they've been trying to turn the corner in the country since the war ended. No one's going to want to come in and do foreign direct investment or have tourists come into a country where innocent women can be captured and kidnapped off the street. So, the Iraqi government needs to step up here and make sure that she's released if they want to have any hope or a future in the country, particularly because they're facing a massive liquidity crisis. They're going to need support from the U.S. and other international institutions, and this is just not how things are done.

DEAN: All right. We hope very much for Shelly's return, and I know you and so many others are working really hard to make that a reality. Alex, thank you so much for being with us.

PLITSAS: Thank you.

DEAN: We'll be right back.

[18:34:50]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:39:30]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEREMY HANSEN, ARTEMIS II MISSION SPECIALIST: There -- there's been a lot of disbelief up here. Just the fact that what we're seeing, where we are, it's hard to wrap your mind around. Like, I mean that sincerely. It really bends your mind. And the emotions that come along with that, there's a -- a lot of happiness. Just to have -- experience these unique things just brings you joy as a human.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: Astronauts on the Artemis II mission describing what they're feeling as they're making this historic trip into deep space. NASA just giving an update on the mission, saying the crew is now closer to the moon than they are to the Earth. Kind of a crazy thing to think about.

[18:40:06]

CNN correspondent Randi Kaye is joining us now from the Johnson Space Center in Houston.

Randi, they took questions from reporters, updated everyone, looked ahead to Monday. What -- what all did we learn from their briefing?

RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They took questions and they also brought pictures to show us as well, Jessica. They shot -- they showed us a great picture of the moon taken from the Orion capsule. And on the left side of the moon is something that we've never even seen before, has never before been seen by human eyes, so that was really cool.

And then, they also showed a selfie of the Orion capsule that was taken from a camera that is mounted on the wing of the capsule, so that was great. But we did learn a lot of information. More importantly is that the capsule is in great condition. The tiles are still firmly attached to the capsule. That's really important for reentry. That's critical. Also, we learned a great deal of information about the lunar fly-by, which is the big day planned for Monday. That's going to take place then. Things they want to see include this massive crater called Orientale.

It's this -- it's this large basin. Much of it has never before been seen by human eyes. The crew has been talking about this. They're really excited about it. They want to collect science about it. And they've been studying, we learned today, using flashcards. That's how they're learning about the lunar topography.

They also took them on a trip, a field trip, to the Icelandic highlands to learn how to describe things and to test how they're going to describe what they see. They will also see more of the moon than Apollo did more than 50 years ago. They are going -- it's going to be illuminated perfectly for them. They're going to be further away, so they'll have this wide-angle view of the moon, and they'll be able to see much, much more.

Now, they are going to lose contact with the Orion capsule for about 40 minutes when they go behind the moon, but they're not concerned about that. One big concern still seems to be this broken toilet on board. It's a huge issue. There apparently is urine that's frozen in the line, and they cannot expel this from the capsule. They talked about that at the press conference today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN HONEYCUTT, ARTEMIS II MISSION MANAGEMENT TEAM CHAIR: I would really like for it to be in the best state that it can be for the crews' sake, you know? It's -- they're kind of like it's -- it's -- it's a little bit of camping in space already, but then it makes camping a little bit tougher when you don't have the full capability of the toilet. But, you know, they're -- they're okay, and they're trying to manage through the situation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: And the crew really does seem to have a good attitude about this. The mission specialist, Christina Koch, calls herself the space plumber.

DEAN: All right, Randi Kaye with the latest from Houston. Thank you so much for that. We appreciate it.

And joining us now is CNN Aerospace Analyst Miles O'Brien. Miles, good to see you. We just got a little bit there from Randi about what we're hearing from officials. But generally, it sounds like this mission overall is running really smoothly, you know, with just such a clean launch, and now they're looking ahead to -- to Monday and what comes then. What -- what are you watching for, and how would you rate things so far?

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN AEROSPACE ANALYST: Well, I got to say, Jessica, 23 million bucks for a toilet, and this is what we get? You got to be kidding me, right? You know, it reminds me of the early days of the shuttle program. It was the same story. The early missions, in some cases, they had to resort to bags and so forth for the toilet in those days. So, it -- it took a long time to get that worked out. You would have think these bugs would have been worked out. In the Apollo days, they didn't bother with the toilet. They just used

bags and so forth. You can imagine how that went. And many of the Apollo astronauts sort of went on what you would call a low-residue diet in advance, and Frank Borman famously decided he was not going to number two the whole time. And so, this is probably more information that people need to know. But if you're in space, in that little minivan, and the toilet's not working, that's an issue.

DEAN: Yes, yes. Well, they're, you know, hoping to try to work it out. But as you -- as you -- it is an expensive toilet. That is true. So ...

O'BRIEN: Yes.

DEAN: ... walk people through just generally. Obviously, they're -- they're orbiting the moon. Why -- what is -- what is significant about what they're doing in this mission? And why are they not landing on the lunar surface? I think some people wonder about that.

O'BRIEN: Yes, just to -- you know, a little bit of nomenclature. They're actually not circularizing their orbit around the moon as they did during Apollo. They're taking a big, wide, high-altitude loop around, 4,300 or so miles above. So, they're going to get this big, wide view, as Randi was referring to, whereas the Apollo astronauts were kind of down in the weeds at about 100 miles above. So, it'll be a different kind of view.

The reason that they're not landing is no lander and no spacesuit has been devised yet. We're still working on that. SpaceX and Blue Origin are both working on competing lander ideas.

[18:45:03]

A company called Axiom is working on a spacesuit. But until those pieces of the puzzle are slotted in, there will be no landing. And that's why when they say there'll be a landing in 2028, I'm pretty skeptical because a lot of things have to happen and test. Of course, you want to land -- you know, try those landers out unpiloted first before you put people in them. And you have to test out those spacesuits as well.

So, it will be interesting to see how quickly NASA can get all that together before actual boots can go on the ground on the moon.

DEAN: Yes. And so, when they reach the far side of the moon, these astronauts are going to see a view very few people have ever seen. You were just describing where they're going to be and how they're going to be positioned. What is that going to be like? Obviously, they were also talking at this press conference about their science questions, kind of what they're hoping to learn with all of this, what they're trying to kind -- make sure they glean from this. What do you think about all that?

O'BRIEN: Well, you know, astronauts have to, you know, sort of be jacks and jills of all trades, right? They go up there and they conduct the experiments on behalf of people who are bona fide experts. And there are a lot of geologists who are really interested in the moon, of course, and who really know a lot about it.

And so, they have had a crash -- crash is probably not a good word in this case. They've had an intensive course ...

DEAN: Yes.

O'BRIEN: ... in learning about lunar geology. And they've been using flashcards. They're very diligent by all accounts. And I'm sure, you know, most astronauts are type A overachievers anyway. And I'm sure they've, you know, worked -- they've worked on it. But what they're going to do, you know, they -- they've taken them on various field trips to places like Iceland where there's similar, you know, terrain. And the moon is, after all, made up of rocks from our planet after a collision four and a half billion years ago.

So, this is not like it's strange things we have -- we don't have here on this planet. But when you're at 4,500 miles above it and you just have a few hours and you've got, you know, eight eyeballs looking at these -- these features, what do you do? How do you say -- how do you articulate that?

And so, a lot of it has been sort of teaching them the vocabulary of geology and giving them the insights and understandings that would truly be meaningful for somebody who really knows about geology. That's a -- that's a high bar to get over. But one of the things they're going to do is almost as soon as they can after the fly-by, when everything's fresh in their mind, they're going to have a -- a teleconference, kind of a debrief, with the scientists at the other end to really ask a lot of probing questions and hopefully get some things out of them that will be meaningful to them.

But, you know, ultimately they can take pictures all day long, but what you see with the human eye is -- is better, and it's sometimes difficult to articulate. So, it'll be interesting to see how they do.

DEAN: Right. You have to have the language for it. Fascinating stuff.

O'BRIEN: Right.

DEAN: Miles O'Brien, thank you so much.

O'BRIEN: You're welcome, Jessica.

DEAN: Still to come, outrage in Milwaukee. The president of Wisconsin's largest mosque taken into federal custody by ICE agents. DHS accusing him of being a foreign policy threat. That's next.

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[18:52:53]

DEAN: Local officials and religious leaders are calling for the release of a Wisconsin mosque president detained by ICE. Salah Sarsour is a Palestinian-born legal permanent resident of the U.S. His attorney says his detention is due to criticisms of Israel. DHS has accused him of lying on his green card application. Speaking to supporters, Sarsour's oldest son spoke about his father.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KARIM SARSOUR, SALAH SARSOUR'S SON: He said the word give up isn't in the Palestinian dictionary. And today we carry that and we say the word give up isn't in our dictionary. We will keep fighting for him until justice prevails, until he's out reunited with his family, his grandkids, and the new grandkids that's coming up next week.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: CNN Senior Correspondent Josh Campbell is joining us now with more on this arrest and the circumstances surrounding it.

What more do we know, Josh?

JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jessica, we've seen this uproar from elected leaders, members of the clergy, the general public. After the president of Wisconsin's largest mosque was arrested, as you mentioned, on Monday by immigration agents, he was then taken out of the state to a jail in Indiana.

Now, Sarsour is a Palestinian-born legal permanent resident of the U.S. He's lived here for over 30 years, according to his legal team, and they believe that he's been singled out by the Trump administration, as you say, based on his past criticism of the state of Israel.

Now, the specific reason for his detention remains an open question amid conflicting claims by the Department of Homeland Security and Sarsour's legal team. His attorneys say he was detained on grounds that he is a foreign policy threat, but that's something they adamantly deny. We asked DHS the specific reason for his arrest, and they provided us this statement.

They say that Sarsour is a terrorist convicted for throwing Molotov cocktails at the homes of Israeli armed forces. They go on to say in the statement: "This illegal alien from Jordan lied on his green card application to gain legal status in the United States."

Now, we're trying to get more information for the federal government to back up these claims. We've reached out to DHS. They referred us to the U.S. State Department. We reached out to the State Department. We reached out to the Justice Department. The Justice Department has referred us back to DHS. Very difficult to get any details about what has happened.

[18:55:07]

But as far as what that criminal history might have been, that DHS mentioned, we found no indication of any U.S. charges in his more than 30 years in this country. But his attorneys do note that he was convicted as a minor in a controversial Israeli military corps decades ago for offenses that included allegedly throwing rocks at Israeli officers. Sarsour's attorneys also say that the U.S. government has known about that decades-old conviction when he was a child in Israel since he came to the U.S. in 1993. So, you know, again, we're waiting to get more details.

In the meantime, we are hearing from multiple public officials who are speaking out on social media. The mayor of Milwaukee called the detention an outrage. He said in the statement, Sarsour is a legal permanent resident. There is no substantive evidence that he has done anything wrong.

Finally, Jessica, as far as what happens next, he remains in detention. His attorneys have filed a motion seeking his immediate release. We'll wait and see what a judge ultimately decides.

DEAN: Okay, Josh Campbell with the latest. Thank you so much for that.

CAMPBELL: You bet.

DEAN: President Trump warning Iran, time is running out to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. We've heard this from him before. What might it mean now? We're live from the White House next. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

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