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U.S. Service Member Missing In Iran Has Been Rescued; Trump Issues Blunt Warning To Iran; Pope Leo's Easter Message; Daring U.S. Mission Rescues Downed Airman After He Evaded Capture For More Than A Day In High Mountains Of Iran; Final Steps For Artemis Before Moon Flyby; Judge Rules Exonerated Immigrant Can Stay In The U.S. Aired 2- 3p ET

Aired April 05, 2026 - 14:00   ET

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

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[14:00:36]

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: And we're following major breaking news. Thanks very much for joining me.

I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington, in for Fredricka Whitfield. We want to welcome our viewers here in the United States and around the world.

And let's begin with the major breaking news.

A U.S. service member missing in Iran since his jet was shot down has now been rescued. Right now, CNN is learning key details of the massive and very risky mission involving bombs, special forces and hundreds of U.S. military and intelligence officials.

Sources say a team of U.S. commandos carried out an operation deep inside Iran, extracting the injured weapons officer from a very rough mountainous area after the F-15 he ejected from was fired on Friday. The plane's pilot has also been rescued.

President Trump, who announced the successful operation early this morning, is escalating his threats against Iran, issuing a new and rather vulgar ultimatum to open the vital Strait of Hormuz.

In a social media post laced with profanity, President Trump called on the quote, "crazy bastards of Iran to open the f-- strait," vowing severe military action if they don't.

We're covering this quickly unfolding story from all sides.

CNN anchor and chief national security analyst Jim Sciutto is joining us live from Jerusalem and CNN correspondent Julia Benbrook is over at the White House.

I want to start with you, Jim. First of all, what are you learning about this rather daring U.S. operation to rescue the service member?

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Yes. Well Wolf, it was daring and dangerous and highly intricate, involving dozens of war planes, hundreds of U.S. military personnel and intelligence personnel, but also the remarkable actions of this missing pilot over the course of more than 24 hours, as the military sought to bring him to safety.

It began on Friday, of course, when the F-15 was shot down. The U.S. got their first communication from the missing weapons service officer later that evening, indicating that he was injured.

And then over the next more than 24-hour-period, on multiple fronts the U.S. military sprang into action, organizing a search and rescue operation involving both aircraft, but also boots on the ground, as well as generating a misinformation campaign inside Iran to, in effect, throw Iranian authorities or attempt to throw them off the scent, saying that both U.S. pilots had by that point already been rescued -- wasn't true.

The Iranian government was doing its best to try to find the pilot first, going so far as to encourage residents in the area to look for the pilot, report his location, even offering a reward.

And then that pilot in the midst of this found his way 7,000 feet up a ridgeline, hid there as his location was pinpointed. And then those forces went in.

Again, difficult operation -- a lot of low flying aircraft, including helicopters and fixed wing. So dangerous that in the end, the U.S. lost two aircraft. They weren't able to take off. They were later destroyed so that they wouldn't fall into Iranian hands.

But that pilot taken to safety, time to treat those injuries -- serious injuries. Though we are told he will recover. Just a remarkable more than 24 hours with a tremendous outcome for the military, for the pilot and certainly for his family and loved ones.

BLITZER: Jim Sciutto, thanks very much. We'll get back to you. Stay safe over there.

I want to go right now to Julia Benbrook. She's over at the White House for us.

Julia, the president has had a lot to say today about this rescue operation and his deadline to Iran. What more can you tell us?

JULIA BENBROOK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it was overnight in a social media post that President Donald Trump confirmed that that missing service member whose F-15 fighter jet was shot down had been rescued.

In that post, Trump said, "We got him." He also called this one of the most daring search and rescue operations in U.S. history.

[14:04:46]

BENBROOK: He said that he had been monitoring the situation throughout the day with other top officials, including Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, as well as the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. And then we do expect to hear more on this mission tomorrow. He has

announced that he is going to speak with the press in the Oval Office about this mission, specifically. That is expected to take place at 1:00 p.m. Eastern.

And then looking even farther into the future here at what's next? Trump has repeatedly threatened to target Iranian power plants if they do not agree to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, that critical waterway where typically 20 percent of the world's oil passes through. That has been at a near complete closure during this conflict.

So Trump has made that threat many times. The deadline has changed many times. He first made it last month. He set a 48-hour deadline, and then he put that on pause for five days, then extended it ten more. He had been saying that that deadline was Monday at 8:00 p.m.

And now, Wolf, we often read posts directly from the president in this role. And I will say there have been several times in recent weeks where some of that terminology has given me pause, where I've said, am I going to say this on air? And today is no exception.

I want to pull up his most recent post for you with a warning that this language is quite jarring.

So in this he said, quote, "Tuesday will be power plant day and bridge day, all wrapped into one in Iran. There will be nothing like it. Open me -- and then used profanity that I'm not going to read directly, but it's there on your screen -- strait you crazy bastards, or you'll be living in hell. Just watch. Praise be to Allah."

He then signed that like he usually does "Donald J. Trump". We have then since seen another post from him where he said Tuesday at 8:00 p.m. Eastern. He has referred in several brief interviews throughout the day to Tuesday as a time that he is willing to take action, saying that he would be blowing everything up if a deal is not reached.

Now, an Iranian senior official did respond to that latest ultimatum, saying that the strait is not going to be opened until Iran is fully compensated for what has taken place during the war. That's what they're saying. And then accusing Trump of sparking an all-out war in the region.

BLITZER: All right. Julia Benbrook at the White House for us, thank you very much for that report.

I want to continue the conversation. Joining us now, Hal Kempfer is a retired U.S. Marine intelligence officer and the CEO of a global risk intelligence and planning company. Hal, thanks very much for being with us.

First off, what was your reaction when you learned the U.S. had rescued this airman?

COL. HAL KEMPFER, U.S. MARINE INTELLIGENCE OFFICER (RET.): Well Wolf, obviously, I was very pleased to see we had a successful combat search and rescue operation. And then as the details started to unfold, it really says something about what we can do.

This is an operation that I think very few, if any, countries in the world could pull off. It had a lot of moving parts. There was the operational side, there was a special operations side.

There was also this amazing intelligence effort and even a CIA disinformation, deception plan, if you will, to mislead the Iranians during the rescue itself.

And it also says a lot about SERE training -- Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape. The colonel did an amazing job, injured, was able to get to safe ground, hunker down and was able to contact and basically make this whole thing happen.

BLITZER: We're also learning how that the CIA was the first to locate him and was also running what was being described as a deception campaign inside Iran while the rescue took place.

Can you take us through the CIA's role in this operation and how the CIA officials might have been the first to locate him?

KEMPFER: Well, obviously a lot of that is classified, as you can well imagine. So there's only so many details that we know. But the CIA has tremendous assets. They're also have the ability to pull in all the assets of the rest of the intelligence community.

Obviously, they got they received contact from the colonel. They knew where he was. There's a variety of different means. And I can only speculate that these are signals intelligence and dealing with some overhead systems we have, we're able to locate him.

And then they had to look around the area, that's well within Iran. It's near Esfahan. It's near a populated area. And they had to probably direct him is my guess to where he could be safely hid until they could get to him and then find a site where the C-130s had to land, come up with this operation with the small birds, the special operators, and they pulled it all off.

But the CIA was absolutely intricate, even putting out the deception notice that he was -- he'd been rescued or was being rescued while they were mounting the rescue.

BLITZER: Yes. To try to mislead the Iranians. Even though the U.S. and Israel both say they have control of Iran's skies, how dangerous was this mission for U.S. planes?

[14:09:49]

KEMPFER: Well, we have air superiority. We have air dominance. But with that said, there is always inherent danger. You can't -- there's no way to take out every man portable air defense, shoulder-fired missile out there. And there's other air defense systems they have.

We've never declared air supremacy, which means we completely own the skies. And I think there's a reason for that is there is some latent capabilities. And of course, anytime you get close to the ground as those Blackhawk

helicopters did earlier in this operation, they took ground fire. So there is always some danger, inherent risk. Although we have apparently suppressed most of the air defense assets in Iran.

BLITZER: The president in today's social media post, threatened to target Iranian power plants and Iranian bridges on Tuesday, this coming Tuesday, if the Strait of Hormuz isn't reopened. What do you expect will happen in the coming days?

KEMPFER: Well, I think that's a maximum pressure statement that he made. But what I would expect is that these targets, if you will, the critical infrastructure targets within Iran -- bridges, power plants, and I can think of some other things that have dual use -- dual use purpose.

For example, they support the military. They support the military industrial complex. At the same time, they also have civilian applications. Those will come under target.

I would also be looking very closely along the coastline and particularly those islands that are in the Strait of Hormuz and even Kharg Island further up the Persian Gulf. All of these are target areas that might be considered.

BLITZER: Retired U.S. Marine Colonel Hal Kempfer, thanks so much for your service, and thanks so much for joining us here today.

KEMPFER: Thank you, Wolf.

BLITZER: And our coverage of the breaking news on the rescue of the missing U.S. airmen will continue in just a few minutes.

Also, other news, we're following. NASA's Artemis crew is now closing in on the moon in the first human lunar mission in more than 50 years. The final crucial steps that will happen today as they prepare for their flyby.

And Pope Leo delivering his first Easter message as pontiff, his direct appeal to world leaders to end the world's wars.

[14:11:52]

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BLITZER: We're, of course, continuing to follow the very dramatic rescue of a U.S. service member inside Iran. Iranian state media now released this video confirmed by CNN showing a wreckage site after President Trump announced U.S. Special Forces rescued the last crew member from last week's downed F-15 fighter jet.

Sources tell CNN two damaged special operations aircraft had to be blown up during this very daring operation involving hundreds of U.S. troops and intelligence officials.

Trump says the airman was seriously wounded when his plane went down, adding there were no casualties in the actual rescue.

We're going to bring you much more details as we get them. Stand by for that.

But there's other important news, including news coming from the Vatican, where Pope Leo delivered his Easter message to the crowd packed into Saint Peter's Square calling for peace amid the war in the Middle East.

Earlier in the day, Pope Leo celebrated his first Easter Sunday mass since becoming pontiff.

CNN's Christopher Lamb is joining us now from Rome. Christopher, what did Pope Leo, the first American pontiff, focus on in his Easter Sunday message

CHRISTOPHER LAMB, CNN VATICAN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, broadly speaking, Pope Leo was urging those in power to end the conflict taking place in the world.

You know, in the last few days -- Easter Sunday and the run up to Easter -- we've really seen Pope Leo kind of find his voice. He's been quite outspoken on his -- in his call to end these conflicts.

He told me on Tuesday night that he hopes President Trump could find an off ramp to end the war in Iran. And he repeated that message of peace on Easter Sunday from the balcony of Saint Peter's. And this is what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

POPE LEO XIV, ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH (through translator): Let those who have weapons lay them down. Let those who have the power to unleash wars, choose peace; not a peace imposed by force, but through dialog; not with the desire to dominate others, but to encounter them.

We are growing accustomed to violence, resigning ourselves to it, and becoming indifferent. Indifferent to the deaths of thousands of people, indifferent to the repercussions of hatred and division that conflicts sow.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAMB: Well Wolf, you know, it's not a surprising thing to hear a pope call for peace. But it's different with Leo because he is, of course, as you say, the first American pope, and he's speaking out at a time when there is a U.S. military action going on in Iran.

And in many ways, we are seeing Leo be something of a spiritual counterweight to what is happening in terms of the leadership of the United States and the Trump administration. He is making it very clear he does not agree that there can be any kind of divine justification for the war that we have heard from some in the administration.

[14:19:47] LAMB: He also said this Holy Week that God does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war. Very strong words there on the week before Easter Sunday. And, you know, we really have seen Leo step up in terms of his comments and his criticisms of what's going on.

And I think we've seen him really step into the shoes of being pope during this first Easter since his election, Wolf.

BLITZER: Yes. Pope Leo, originally from Chicago.

Christopher Lamb, thank you very, very much for that update. And a happy Easter to all those who celebrate.

Coming up, our special breaking news coverage will continue after the rather dramatic rescue of a downed U.S. airman from deep inside Iran.

CNN's Haley Britzky will join me to discuss the mission involving Special Forces, deception and heavy fire, all ending in success.

[14:20:38]

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BLITZER: We're continuing to follow all the breaking news. The U.S. has rescued the missing American airman whose jet was shot down over Iran in a risky mission that involved hundreds of U.S. military and intelligence personnel.

CIA operatives deceived potential Iranian captors to throw them off before a team of American commandos swarmed in to rescue the officer.

CNN national security reporter Haley Britzky is joining us. She's here in Washington, D.C.

Hayley, this was a rather daring operation to rescue this airman. What more can you tell us?

HALEY BRITZKY, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: Yes, Wolf. daring is a great word for this. I mean, this is an incredible operation that we're learning about that unfolded yesterday.

This weapon systems officer, sometimes called a WSO in the military community who was alone after they'd rescued the pilot from the F-15 that went down, hiding in the mountains in Iran. We're learning roughly 7,000 feet above sea level, really putting that training into practice.

It's called SERE training -- Survive, Evade, Resist and Escape training that service members undergo. Really putting that into use here and evading Iranian forces and being able to communicate with the U.S. military and ultimately getting extracted from Iran.

The president announcing this incredible operation just after midnight last night, saying, we got him. Saying it proves that the U.S. has air dominance and air superiority over Iran, something that, of course, came into question after this F-15 was shot down on Friday. But this involved dozens of aircraft, as you said, hundreds of

military and intel personnel, CIA operatives who started sowing their own misinformation campaign on the ground in Iran to sort of confuse Iranian military operatives who were looking for this second crew member.

So really a very intricate operation here that thankfully resulted in the safe extraction of this weapon systems officer, who the president says was injured but will ultimately be ok, something we're absolutely going to look to hear more from tomorrow when the president holds a press conference tomorrow afternoon to discuss more about this operation.

BLITZER: All right. Haley Britzky reporting for us. Thank you very, very much.

Coming up, President Donald Trump escalating tensions with Iran in a social media post laced with profanity. He's warning open the Strait of Hormuz by tomorrow or crucial Iranian infrastructure will be struck and destroyed.

[14:27:22]

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[14:36:58]

BLITZER: You're watching our breaking news coverage of the war with Iran. A U.S. airman whose fighter jet was shot down over Iran has been rescued. Sources telling CNN that an operation was carried out overnight deep inside Iran.

President Trump is also stepping up his threats against Iran over the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.

Joining us now, CNN chief global affairs correspondent Matthew Chance. He's in Doha, Qatar, right in the region over there.

Matthew, you've got some new reporting. I take it on last ditch efforts by Oman not very far away to help keep the strait open. What can you tell us?

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CHIEF GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, definitely. Some talks underway and producing some results say the Omanis to try and keep the Strait of Hormuz open or to reopen it rather.

But the Iranians themselves have been doubling down on their defiant rhetoric. One official earlier tonight saying that they would only reopen the Strait of Hormuz not because of President Trump's threats to bomb their civilian infrastructure, but if they're paid war reparations. And so, the Iranians are really, you know, showing no sign of any compromise on that issue.

In terms of those Omani talks, these are kind of last ditch attempts to broker some kind of deal to try and -- try and keep this or to try and reopen the strait. Basically, the talks have been going on according to my Omani source, for the past two weeks, and they're focused on international shipping, having to register with Iran before being allowed to pass. Now, that's controversial because it basically formalizes Iran's control over that very important strategic waterway, which is a main corridor for some 20 percent of the world's energy resources.

And so, the United States, for example, and other countries in this region do not want to see that. But the trouble is tonight, Wolf, you know, with the dead, even though the deadline that President Trump has self-imposed on, on on hitting civilian infrastructure looks like it may have been pushed back. The only alternative is escalation. And that means more risk to the region, more risk potentially to U.S. forces and more risk to the global economy, Wolf.

BLITZER: All right. Matthew Chance on the scene for us in Doha, Qatar -- thank you very, very much.

Coming up, the astronauts on board the Orion spacecraft have now started day five of their mission around the moon. The final crucial steps today for those on board and mission control in Houston.

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[14:39:05]

BLITZER: We're continuing to monitor the latest on the very daring mission that rescued the second remaining crew member of a U.S. fighter jet shot down Friday over Iran. After a life or death race between U.S. and Iranian forces to find the missing injured air force officer, President Trump says an operation conducted by U.S. commandos with help from the CIA was successfully carried out last night. President Trump says the officer was wounded in the crash, but is receiving care.

Stay with us. Much more coming up. We'll get all the very latest developments for you.

But there's other news we're following as well. Take a look at this. You're looking at live footage inside the Orion capsule as the U.S. and Canadian astronauts on the Artemis II mission prepare for day five.

Right now, the crew is about 65,000 miles away from the moon and is expected to enter the lunar sphere of influence. That's the point where the moons gravitational pull on the Orion capsule is stronger than the Earth's.

[14:40:05]

This will also help set the stage for tomorrow's historic journey into deep space, and the far side of the lunar surface.

CNN's senior national correspondent Ed Lavandera is joining us now from the Johnson Space Center in Houston with more details and a lot of important preparations before tomorrow's maneuver. What's ahead for the crew today?

ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Wolf.

We really are counting down to some of the most exciting moments that will come from this journey around the moon and back for the Artemis II crew. And as we look at live pictures inside the capsule, this happening right now, the crew is undergoing and preparing for a series of tests with what is called the Orion crew survival system. And that's really just a -- the acronym that they use to talk about the spacesuits. So, they will be getting into these spacesuits.

Once again, this is all really part of the plan and this mission to really test the survival systems on board this capsule so that they can be confident that it will work for future missions. That's what the NASA administrator told CNN this morning, talking about how one of the crucial aspects of this mission is to prepare the crew, test all of this stuff out as much as possible to make sure that the future crews can work on this -- in this capsule and in this space safely and protect their lives for future missions.

So, all of that unfolding and it is absolutely fascinating to be able to watch this crew work in real time as they go through much of this testing. And this comes as they have been sending back to earth some stunning images from that they've captured with the collection of cameras that they have on board.

And as the crew woke up just a few hours ago to start their fifth day of this mission, Christina Koch, one of the astronauts there had talked about an easter message and a little bit of easter fun they're having this morning.

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CHRISTINA KOCH, ASTRONAUT: We did hide a few eggs around the cabin. They were the dehydrated scrambled egg variety, but we're all pretty happy with them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAVANDERA: Really important to point out, this is not some colorful egg with nice, fun chocolate or jellybeans on the inside that they can hide around and eat. It's like, you know, dehydrated scrambled eggs. So that's going to need some hot sauce to make taste better. But that is, you know, a little bit of fun they're having this morning as they're now clearly getting into their work day and getting closer and closer by the minute to the moon -- Wolf.

BLITZER: I hope they're enjoying a little bit of Easter as well. Thanks very much, Ed Lavandera in Houston for that update.

Let's get some perspective right now. I want to bring in Professor Lealon Martin, dean of the college of sciences and engineering at Southern University.

Professor Martin, thanks so much for joining us. Southern University, as you know better than I do, helped develop a truly critical component of NASA's Artemis I mission. Explain how your school was involved.

PROF. LEALON MARTIN, DEAN, COLLEGE OF SCIENCES & ENGINEERING, SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY: Yes. So, we were under -- first of all, good afternoon and happy Easter. But we were involved in a subcontract to the university with Boeing and NASA to perform engineering support at the facility where many of these components for the Artemis program are being constructed.

And so specifically, what we did was we did wire harness testing, and failure analysis primarily for communication support for the space launch system.

BLITZER: So, Professor, what does all this mean for the school and for your students?

MARTIN: Well, it means everything. It means everything. So, you know, Southern University, 75 percent or more of our students are either Pell eligible or first-generation students. So, this is a completely new world for them.

And to come from, you know, a parish and end up at Southern University and end up in a -- working on a, on an Artemis I rocket is -- from the students' perspective, is a dream come true. And we're just proud that we were able to facilitate that and make that happen.

BLITZER: And what else are you hearing, Professor, from your students on who are on campus about Artemis II?

MARTIN: Well, we had a watch party the other day for the launch, and we talked about the legacy and the impact that that Southern University had in Artemis I. And when I tell you that their eyes lit up, and a student came up to me afterwards and says, you know, what are the chances of me being able to work on the Artemis mission to the moon? I mean, to the to Mars, excuse me?

And I said, look, we've already been a part of the program, so anything is possible. Just keep working hard. And we will provide those transformative educational opportunities.

BLITZER: We're already seeing this Artemis II mission inspire a generation of young minds all across, not only the U.S. but the world. How important is this for the future of space exploration.

[14:45:00]

MARTIN: Well, it's a milestone. It's a milestone for humanity. It marks the beginning of our attempts to explore the outer portions of our -- the outer portions of our solar system, perhaps deep space. And so, this is a watershed moment from a -- from a science, technology innovation standpoint. And it's just so refreshing to see our young people have these types of opportunities. And I think -- I think enough can't be said about the talent and of this generation that we have. BLITZER: Professor Lealon Martin, thanks for all your important work.

Thanks very much for joining us.

MARTIN: Thank you so much for having me.

BLITZER: And coming up, a second airman safely recovered after their jet was shot down over Iran. We're going to go to the White House to detail how this high risk mission deep inside enemy territory actually unfolded.

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[14:50:32]

BLITZER: Much more on our breaking news out of Iran coming up. But first, some other important news. A sweeping FBI indictment in January exposed an alleged gambling scheme tied to college basketball, with dozens of players caught up in it.

According to prosecutors, some were paid thousands of dollars to subtly alter their performance, not throw a game, but simply score less than expected.

A new CNN flash doc takes a closer look at how this is happening and what's at stake

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's really easy in basketball to fake a bad game because everybody has real bad games all the time.

JOON LEE, SPORTS JOURNALIST: The fixers were basically asking the players to hit the unders on their point totals.

JIMENEZ: It was a lot of, I'm going to pull myself out. I'm not going to score as much as I should. And with that came payouts.

LEE: U.S. attorneys allege that these athletes took bribes between $10,000 and $30,000 across multiple games to shave points.

JIMENEZ: If there was one game where a player didn't quite live up to what they were supposed to do, the player would say something like, sorry, this team was so bad, I couldn't help it. I was trying, but they're so bad. And then the response would be something like, it's all good. You did what you needed to do.

(END VIDOE CLIP)

BLITZER: And joining us now to discuss basketball agent Daniel Poneman.

Daniel, thanks so much for joining us.

What are the ways college basketball players can earn money from playing the sport? And what's the range of income you've seen? DANIEL PONEMAN, BASKETBALL AGENT: Well, you know, the beautiful thing

today is in the last six years, college athletes have -- are now able to earn money on their name, image and likeness and are getting direct revenue sharing payments from the schools themselves. So, it's less necessary than ever for guys to throw games to make a few extra dollars because most of these big universities, guys are making -- and some girls -- are making six and sometimes seven-figure income.

So, I've negotiated deals for my clients as, you know, as small as $10,000 a season, which again, when I was 19 years old, that would be great money for me. But as high as $2 million to $3 million for one season for some top elite athletes at power for schools.

BLITZER: It's a lot of money. With so much money now circulating in college basketball, do you understand how players with limited earnings might be vulnerable to outside influence from gamblers?

PONEMAN: Yeah, well, point shaving in game fixing is nothing new. If you look through the history of this sport and others, you go back to the Black Sox scandal, right? Throwing the World Series over 100 years ago. Athletes throwing games and adjusting their stats for gamblers is not a new phenomenon.

Like I said, it's less necessary than ever for college athletes to do that because there are so many legal ways for them to make money, which is a wonderful thing.

But now with the influx of legal gambling and gambling apps and gambling advertisements, it's also more present in their lives than ever. They have more friends on college campuses that are gambling and probably asking them, you know, who's injured and who's playing tonight?

There's more ways to be corrupted now than ever, but there's also more ways to earn legal money for athletes than ever.

BLITZER: Interesting. All right. Daniel Poneman, thanks so much for joining us.

And to our viewers, watch "Money Madness: College Basketball at a Crossroads". That's coming up tonight, 8:00 p.m. Eastern.

A man who faced deportation after his murder conviction was overturned after more than 40 years, he can stay in the United States. The day after his charges were dropped, ICE agents picked him up for a decades-old deportation order.

CNN's Omar Jimenez spoke with his family and brings us the very moment they learned he'd be coming home.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIMENEZ (voice-over): They could only watch through a screen in state college, Pennsylvania, for what became a moment more than 40 years in the making for a 64-year-old Subramanyam Vedam and his family. SARASWATHI VEDAM, SUBRAMANYAM VEDAM'S SISTER: Before the judge read

his decision, he wasn't allowing himself to be hopeful. He has had so many disappointments.

JIMENEZ (voice-over): Subu, as he's known, was convicted of murder in the early 1980s and sentenced to life without parole. He also pleaded no contest to charges of possessing LSD with intent to distribute it. In 2025, a judge overturned his murder conviction based on key evidence prosecutors withheld during his original trials. But his drug convictions stayed.

[14:55:01]

So right when he was set to be released after 40-plus years, ICE took him into custody for deportation proceedings.

His family says Subu was a legal resident but not a citizen, and DHS claims because of his drug conviction and his status, he can be deported. He came to the U.S. to State College from India as an infant with his parents. They would visit him weekly when he was incarcerated. His parents died in recent years.

VEDAM: I feel mournful and sad that my parents are not here to see this day and I feel like they're with us somehow. But that's the hardest part.

JIMENEZ (voice-over): After the hearing, Subu put out a statement, writing in part, "I have a really, really special family. I'd also like to thank the many, many friends that have supported and believed in me over the past 44 years. Without their belief in justice, I don't think my success would have been possible."

After his murder conviction was overturned, the board of immigration appeals determined he was an exceptional situation and reopened his immigration case, which came to a resolution this day. The judge weighed a few factors in his decision. He said Subu was admitted as a lawful permanent resident as an infant and has been one over 60 years. On the drug related charge, the judge said he showed genuine rehabilitation in prison from his teen years to his 60s now, and strong family ties here in the U.S., with plans to further his own education.

The judge concluded Subu's release would be in the best interest of the United States.

JIMENEZ: The family gathered here in the State College neighborhood about 30 minutes or so from the detention facility, from really all over the country and beyond, expecting that with this decision, which is what they wanted, they would be able to bring him home. But now they've got to wait just a little bit longer.

VEDAM: We don't have that much more time.

JIMENEZ: How are you going to remember this day?

VEDAM: It's the beginning of the beginning. I'm waiting for the time when I can actually give him a hug.

JIMENEZ: So, a few things here. The Department of Homeland Security has the ability to appeal, and that's part of why Vedam hasn't been released. They also, though, DHS also emphasized his drug related conviction as part of a statement where they also said that having a single conviction vacated will not stop ICE's enforcement of the federal immigration law. And it went on to say, if you break the law, you will face the consequences.

Now, Vedam's lawyers say they are trying to file for a bond hearing to see if he can be released while this process plays out, but it's obviously an opportunity that Vedam has now been waiting more than four decades for.

Omar Jimenez, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

BLITZER: Hello, and thanks very much for joining me. I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington. I'm in for Fredricka Whitfield today.

Welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world.

There's more breaking news we're following. "We got him," those are the words of President Trump announcing the rescue of the second remaining U.S. servicemen shot down Friday over Iran. After a rather intense search spanning nearly two days, U.S. special forces carried out a massive, daring mission last night involving hundreds of U.S. troops, a lot of bombs, and even a deception campaign organized by the CIA.

Video released by Iranian state media and geolocated by CNN shows the remains of several aircraft at a wreckage site inside Iran, sources tell CNN two damaged special operations aircraft had to be blown up during the operation, which extracted the serviceman, who was injured after his plane was shot down from the mountains inside Iran. The plane's pilot was quickly rescued after that downing.

Following the successful operation, President Trump is escalating his threats to Iran in a social media post full of a lot of profanity, warning the country's officials to open the quote, "effing Strait of Hormuz or face hell".

I want to go straight to CNN's Julia Benbrook over at the White House.

Julia, the clock is ticking down on the president's deadline for Iran to make a deal with the U.S. Update our viewers right now on where those talks stand and what more we're learning about this rescue operation.

JULIA BENBROOK, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, starting with the rescue operation, President Donald Trump and a social media post overnight, he confirmed that that missing service member whose F-15 fighter jet was shot down over Iran had been rescued. Trump said, "We got him". He also called this one of the most daring search and rescue missions in U.S. history.

And we are getting a bit more information about what took place here. We know that this involved dozens of aircraft and hundreds of military personnel, as well as intelligence personnel, CIA operatives were leading a misinformation campaign in order to throw off any potential captors. And then, of course, that was -- there was the missing airman who was able to evade capture for more than 24 hours.