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Trump Issues Expletive-Laden Threat To Iran Over Hormuz Strait Blockage; Two Killed In Haifa Iranian Missile Strike, Searches for Two Others Ongoing; 8 OPEC Plus Members To Raise Output By 206,000 BPD From May; Artemis II Preparing To Reach The Moon; Trump Proposes Steep Cut To NASA Budget As Astronauts Head For The Moon; Trump Warns Iran to Reopen Hormuz or Face Dire Consequences; Pope Leo Celebrates Easter, Continues Appeal for Peace; Savannah Guthrie Gave Easter Message Amid Mother's Disappearance; Advocates Cry Foul to Trump Administration's ICE Expansion; astronauts Aboard Orion Prepare to Loop Around Moon. Aired 1-2a ET

Aired April 06, 2026 - 01:00   ET

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

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[01:00:34]

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And welcome to our viewers here in the United States and all around the world. I'm Polo Sandoval live in New York. And here's some of what we have for you. Ahead here on CNN Newsroom, Donald Trump setting a new deadline for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz in a profane social media post when Iranian officials. We'll tell you a little bit about what Iranian officials had to say in response to the latest ultimatum from the president.

Pope Leo using his first Easter message as pontiff to call for peace as several major conflicts show few signs of ending.

And a little later, the Artemis II crew. It is now entering a new sphere as they travel deeper into space on their historic mission. We'll explain.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Live from New York, this is CNN Newsroom with Polo Sandoval.

SANDOVAL: Let's begin this hour with U.S. President Donald Trump after he issued a new deadline and also new threats against Tehran. President Trump has once again postponed the deadline for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

In a profanity laced social media post, Trump renewed his threats to target key infrastructure sites if Tehran does not comply by Tuesday. Iran has since fired back, saying that it will only reopen that vital waterway when financial damages from the war are fully compensated.

And we're also learning new details on this daring rescue of a U.S. airman whose F-15 fighter jet was actually shot down over Iran on Friday. We now know that the injured airman hid in Iran's mountainous region for more than a day before being rescued on Sunday. A source telling CNN that hundreds of U.S. special ops, military

intelligence personnel were all involved in this mission as well as the CIA. President Trump also said to brief or to offer a brief on the operation from the White House on Monday afternoon.

In the meantime, Israel faces a new wave of Iranian missile strikes. One of our producers actually captured this video of projectiles traveling high above Jerusalem overnight. And we do want to show you a live shot of Haifa, Israel, where Israeli media reporting that at least two people were killed and two remain missing after an Iranian strike on a residential building there on Sunday.

Let's go now to CNN'S Ivan Watson, who's following developments out of the Middle East for from Hong Kong. Ivan, news of that incredible rescue. It actually broke while were on air 24 hours ago.

Here we are today, though. What else have we learned about it?

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDNET: I mean, this was a major operation with a considerable amount of risk. Hundreds of troops involved and other U.S. aircraft, elite soldiers from SEAL Team 6 and Delta Force that were involved in this and ultimately succeeded in extracting this Air Force Colonel, one of two crew members of an F- 15E fighter jet that was shot down over Iran. This all taking place in southwest Iran.

What is fascinating is to hear amid the almost the celebratory vibe coming out of the Trump administration about the successful rescue of this Air Force colonel, is the flip side the counternarrative coming from Tehran?

Take a listen to what a spokesperson for the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps have to say. He claimed victory, that the Iranians had succeeded in destroying or forcing the destruction of two U.S. transport planes and two Black Hawk helicopters. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EBRAHIM ZOLFAGHARI, IRGC SPOKESPERSON (through translator): After Iranian Islamic fighters completed the operation to encircle the enemy, the contemptible enemy, in order to prevent the disgrace of Trump, the president of the United States, and the hollow prestige of its army, it was forced to carry out heavy bombing of its downed aircraft equipment, commanders and soldiers.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATSON: Now, this isn't surprising, Polo. I mean, you have two governments that are at each other's throats at war, killing each other's military personnel and citizens or trying to, at the very least. So as President Trump has issued his warnings with expletives about reopening the Strait of Hormuz, for example, the Iranian government has fired back, saying that his use of expletives is an example of sheer desperation and rage, as you pointed out, saying that Iran will only allow commercial shipping to pass freely when it is compensated for the considerable damages caused by the joint U.S.- Israeli bombing campaign.

[01:05:13]

A campaign that continues with reports of more dead southwest of Tehran in some of the latest strikes that took place overnight with rescue efforts from people trapped amid the rubble there. Polo.

SANDOVAL: And Ivan, on some of those strikes, I understand we've also learned that Israel has launched extensive attacks across Lebanon. So what else are we learning as Israeli troops appear to be pushing further into that territory?

WATSON: Well, on Sunday, Easter Sunday, which is an important religious holiday within Lebanon's sizable Christian community, Israel continued its bombing campaign, killing at least 11 people across Lebanon, including three people killed in very Christian neighborhood called Ain Saadeh and killing at least four people in front of the Rafiq Al Hariri public hospital in Beirut where a strike took place across the street from the entrance, one of the entrances of the hospital where Doctors Without Borders operate. So descriptions of dozens of wounded people being brought in after a major airstrike there.

The Israeli -- on the Israeli side, we've seen the aftermath of a missile strike that hit in the northern Israeli city of Haifa, hitting a seven story building with at least two people killed there and rescue efforts overnight as people tried to remove some four people who were believed to be missing underneath the rubble there.

And in the meantime, the ongoing Israeli ground incursion into southern Lebanon continues with the defense minister and now 18 lawmakers from far right side of the political spectrum sending a letter calling for an expansion of what they describe as a security buffer zone, which would, if that was followed through, it would add to what the Israeli defense minister has said.

They're calling for the permanent dislocation of hundreds of thousands of Lebanese civilians following what the Israeli defense ministers described as the model that was used in Gaza during more than two years of fighting there that killed more than 70,000 people, according to the Israeli military, a permanent destruction of entire communities along southern Lebanon's border with Israel in the Israeli military and government's words, to protect northern Israel, basically ethnically cleansing entire huge chunks permanently of southern Lebanon. Polo.

SANDOVAL: Yes, those words coming from top IDF officials, no doubt chilling for many in the region. Ivan Watson, thank you so much for that reporting.

Global oil prices, they climbed after President Trump's threat to strike Iranian energy facilities. At the same time, there are eight OPEC countries that have agreed to slightly boost their oil production in May. But the wider organization, it's actually warning that repairing damaged infrastructure is not only costly, it's also going to be a lengthy process, apparently. I want to show you now a look at Brent crude where it stands right

now. You see they're closing in on $110 a barrel, rising oil prices. They're trickling down to the gas pump, too, where the U.S. national average is currently hovering around $4.11 a gallon. That's to the AAA Auto association, but other parts of the country seeing prices even higher than that.

A quick look now at some of how some markets in Asia are responding. You could see them not just in Japan, but also in South Korea are up at this moment, certainly reassessing after Trump's very direct threats on Iran to go after infrastructure in if Tehran does not open up the Strait of Hormuz. So we'll certainly see how that plays out in the next few days.

And President Trump's fire Truth Social posts, it is drawing sharp criticism from U.S. lawmakers. In Easter post on X, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, he compared the president to a, quote, unhinged madman. And he also described his threats as possible war crimes.

Former Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene also reacting, saying, quote, Trump threatening to bomb power plants and bridges hurts the Iranian people, the very people Trump claimed he was freeing.

And all this is coming as Democrats on Capitol Hill are voicing concern over the White House's request for roughly $1.5 trillion in defense funds for 2027, a potential 40 percent increase from last year, which would boost military spending to its highest point in modern history.

Some are arguing that the Trump administration already has more than enough resources to do what it plans to do in the region. Here to help us unpack this all and get a better understanding of it is CNN's senior political analyst Ron Brownstein.

[01:10:00]

Ron, it's great to have you with us again.

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Good to be with you.

SANDOVAL: Let's unpack a little bit of what we saw the last 24 hours of developments alone. We saw that harrowing rescue of a U.S. service member and also an escalation from the president threatening to target power plants if free navigation in the Strait of Hormuz is not restored.

Does any of this potentially move the needle for Americans on how they feel about this war?

BROWNSTEIN: I don't think very much. I mean, look, I think from the beginning, you know, we don't have that much polling on this question, but I think what we do have says that Americans are certainly impressed by the skill and the power that the American military is projecting in this fight, but they do not see a strategic plan and they are not sure they are. In fact, they are sure that the costs they are do not justify the

benefits. You know, in that CNN poll from a couple days ago, we had 66 percent of Americans saying they opposed the military action in Iran. I mean, that's extraordinary in a country that is divided as closely as we are.

I mean, not only, you know, somewhere around 3/4 of independents, but even up near 30 percent of Republicans and similarly 2/3 saying they do not believe the president has a plan and 70 percent, as I saying the costs exceed the benefits. Big opposition to the $200 billion that they are requesting.

So, you know, on the one hand, as with this rescue, you can be impressed by the professionalism and the skill of the American military and still question the strategic value of what we are doing. And I think that's where most Americans are at this point.

SANDOVAL: No, it's absolutely incredible, for sure. To your point especially that it didn't go beyond material losses. So that is an important point.

But when it comes to the President's language in this post, too broad, obviously, there certainly is no expectation of the president exhibiting any sort of statesmanlike language in his posts. But the vulgar nature of what he posted in his very direct threat to Iran, you heard a little bit of the response from some of its political rivals.

But what about the American public as a whole? Where do you think that the reaction will be?

BROWNSTEIN: Yes, look, I think if you look at the tweet, it's not only the vulgar language, it's the vulgar nature of the threat. I mean, you are talking about something that many, many experts believe are war crimes under international law. I mean, you deliberately destroying civilian infrastructure necessary for the preservation of life in a combatant country is a war crime.

In the analysis of most experts in international law, there was a letter put out a few days ago by the website Just Security with experts international law, former Pentagon officials, former State Department officials, basically arguing that the course that the president is laying out does entail war crimes.

Now, there is an audience in America for, you know, war without quarter in effect, and basically, you know, unleashing hell, as the President said. But I would be shocked if there is a majority for this.

I mean, you know, this kind of like, you know, used to describe the phrase in Vietnam of making the rubble bounce. It's kind of that way politically, too. I mean, if you have opposition to your strategic direction, talking louder or, you know, exhibiting more violence is not necessarily a way to broaden your coalition.

And I do think that if we engage, in fact, in massive destruction of civilian infrastructure, that will not be a popular move with most of the American public.

SANDOVAL: And then there's also the argument that most would see as a valid one coming from the former congresswoman from Georgia, Marjorie Taylor Greene, who says that potential attacks on civilian infrastructure would effectively negatively impact the very civilians that the President very early on had claimed to be looking after. That help was on the way.

BROWNSTEIN: Right, right. Absolutely. And look, you know, it's not as one thing we have learned. You know, we talked about this before. We see this on a variety of theaters, everything from Minneapolis to Iran. I mean, the president acts as though he alone controls the pace and ferocity of the conflict. He believes, as the military planners say, that he alone has escalation dominance.

But that is not the way it plays out in practice. I mean, when you are pushing people, you know, opponents or targets can push back, often in asymmetric ways. I mean, he was forced to retreat in Minneapolis by people who had nothing more than cell phones and whistles.

And here in Iran, you know, the administration continues to argue that we have essentially eliminated their ability to cause harm.

[01:15:04]

And that just isn't there. I mean, just isn't true. Obviously, we've tremendously degraded their military part of the, you know, the military success that were talking about. But they continue to have the ability to strike back. And if in fact he does go forward with massive attacks on their civilian infrastructure, it could result in Iran imposing severe damage on civilian infrastructure in countries around the region, which could translate into higher oil prices and more headaches for Republicans here at home.

SANDOVAL: The regime in Iran still appears to be coherent. The nuclear material is still there. And the Strait of Hormuz, there is still no free navigation there. So, certainly some mounting pressure on the president to secure a win versus just declaring a win.

Ron Brownstein, wish we didn't have to leave it there, but as always, really appreciate you coming on. Thank you.

BROWNSTEIN: Thanks for having me.

SANDOVAL: Mary. Well, thousands filled St. Peter's Square to celebrate Easter Sunday. Ahead, we'll be hearing about Pope Leo's first Holy Week as pontiff and why his Easter message is resonating far beyond The Vatican.

And Artemis 2 getting closer to the moon as the crew prepares for its historic lunar flyby. We'll return an update on the mission as Orion enters the moon's gravitational field. Don't go anywhere.

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[01:20:11] SANDOVAL: The Artemis crew is they're about 40,000 miles away from the Moon as they prepare for their lunar flyby on Monday. That's around 64,000 kilometers. They just entered the moon's sphere of influence. That's where the pull of the moon's gravity, it's greater than that of the Earth.

Later on Monday, they'll be looping around the moon's far side after traveling deeper into space than humans have gone in decades. On Sunday, the crew also took a moment to mark the Easter holiday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRISTINA KOCH, ARTEMIS II MISSION SPECIALIST: We wanted to take a minute to commemorate the holiday that we have. This time of year is something that many religions and many cultures hold dear. It's a time of emotions such as joy, as well as honoring what's going on both in our world and in our religious beliefs.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: Back down here on Earth. President Trump proposing cuts to NASA's budget. While the Artemis program would still be funded, other research aspects would not be. His proposal would cut NASA's overall budget by about 23 percent.

Earlier, I had a chance to speak to former NASA astronaut David Wolf about the historic nature of the mission and what it means for this crew to enter the lunar sphere of influence.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID WOLF, FORMER NASA ASTRONAUT: This is the spot at which, if you had somewhere to stand, you could drop a pencil, say, let go of it, and instead of falling back to Earth, it would go toward the Moon. It's where the Moon's gravity is more effective than the Earth.

But the Moon is small, so you have to be much closer to the Moon for that point to be reached that occurs much closer to the Moon than to the Earth.

SANDOVAL: That's incredible. So essentially, it took over four days for this crew to finally slip out of the reach of the gravitational pull of Earth.

WOLF: Well, interestingly enough, they're still orbiting the Earth, and so is the Moon, for that matter. So in some sense, the Earth is still the boss here. It's the big guy on the block here, but it's being influenced by the Moon to some degree.

SANDOVAL: Let's talk about what we expect to happen on Monday afternoon. We understand in a little over 12 hours, integrity will pass the Apollo 13 distance record. But they'll also the crew will begin to reconfigure their cabin for this flyby. So tell us a little bit more about the preparations that are likely going to happen in the coming hours after they wake up on Monday morning. WOLF: Well, you know, these space vehicles are interesting in that

they can be reconverted from a kitchen, a dinner table, to a science laboratory for biology, to an observation, for Earth observations, or in this case, lunar observations.

So they're getting the cameras out, several Nikons of different kinds of sensors and films and their checklists, and all configured to capture lots of data as they spend a few hours going by the moon outbound before they get pulled back in to the Moon and back to the Earth.

SANDOVAL: Let's see we can actually put up some of those images also that have been sent back from the crew. They're absolutely incredible when you see their perspective and what they've been able to see out of their window where you see that Earth through the window.

What do you see, though, as the science objectives when it comes time for that flyby? I was struck by hearing, you know, hearing from -- listening, I should say, to some of the NASA officials on Saturday night where they were describing how these astronauts will be able to see parts of the moon that have never been seen by the human eye.

WOLF: In fact, they've already seen parts since they're coming in somewhat from the side. They're seeing parts of the Moon already that have never been revealed to the human eye in all the millennia of humans. I find that fascinating this far side of the Moon that gets the same amount of light, by the way, as the other side. There's no dark side, there's a far side.

But the science is enormous. It follows up on the Apollo series, but in far more detail. And now we go to use the resources on the Moon and to use them to go far further and to move on to Mars very shortly. In fact, this is a learning and test ground for Mars missions, human Mars missions.

[01:25:02]

SANDOVAL: David, as a former NASA astronaut, your perspective is fascinating. It is unique. Tell us what this means personally for you as you will be watching that historic moment during that flyby.

WOLF: Well, I see it as I know these people. They were younger astronauts when I left and when I moved onwards and I love seeing them stand on the shoulders of the us to go further and carry the program to where it's going to go, which is a high ground moon base making fuel, making energy, using the moon as a resource and as a really a part of the Earth moon system. A day will come where we'll wonder how we ever operated without the moon as part of our system.

SANDOVAL: If you could finally for me, if you could transmit one or two sentences to your fellow astronauts out in space, what would it be?

WOLF: Keep making us proud.

(END VIDEO CLIP) SANDOVAL: Still on the way here on CNN Newsroom. The death toll in Lebanon continues to rise as the war with Iran upends the region. Now Israel's far right is demanding that the IDF ramp up military operations in southern Lebanon. Well, more in a moment.

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[01:29:45]

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back. I'm Polo Sandoval live in New York.

And here's what we're following at this hour.

U.S. President Donald Trump warning that Iran will face severe military action if it does not reopen the Strait of Hormuz by Tuesday. On Sunday, Mr. Trump once again postponed his deadline for Iran to lift its effective blockade of that vital waterway, or else the U.S. will target Tehran's power plants and other key infrastructure.

Iran for its part, it says it will -- it will only reopen the strait when financial damages from the war are fully compensated.

Meanwhile, Iran's state-affiliated media reported that at least six children were killed overnight during U.S.-Israeli strikes and more than a dozen people were killed in a separate attack just outside of Tehran.

For the latest on this and more, let's now go to CNN's Julia Benbrook following developments from the White House.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JULIA BENBROOK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: President Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened to target Iranian power facilities if it does not fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz, that critical waterway where 20 percent of the world's oil typically passes through. And he said over the weekend that time is running out.

His deadline here has shifted multiple times. When he first made this threat late last month, he set it at 48 hours, and then paused it for five days, then extended it for ten more.

Now, he had said it was Monday. It appears that he is now pushing that to Tuesday. And I do want to pull up a post that came this weekend with the warning that the language used here is jarring.

It is filled with profanity, but I'll read it for you. He said, "Tuesday will be power plant day and bridge day, all wrapped up in one in Iran. There will be nothing like it. "Open" me -- and then he 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 it like he usually does Donald J. Trump.

now in several brief phone interviews, he repeated that Tuesday time frame, saying that he could take further action if a deal is not reached by then. In an interview with Axios, he said that he could blow everything up over there.

Now, a senior Iranian official, he has responded to Trump's recent ultimatum, saying that it would only reopen the Strait of Hormuz if it is fully compensated for financial damages during the conflict.

Trump is expected to speak with reporters and field questions in the briefing room at 1:00 p.m. Eastern on Monday.

Julia Benbrook, CNN -- the White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL: Meanwhile, inside of Iran, residents of Tehran, they have been reacting to President Trump's latest threat over the Strait of Hormuz. This is what they have to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): Iran has to retaliate. It has no right to threaten. This infrastructure belongs to all the people of Iran. If they have a problem with the government, if they have a problem with others, America has no right to harm the people of Iran and to damage the infrastructure and disrupt the lives of all the people.

They should confront each other in a different way, in a way that has nothing to do with the infrastructure and disrupting people's lives.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): We shouldn't say we surrender, but it shouldn't be such that, as they say, we want to resist at any cost. All the infrastructure that we have now would be destroyed, and we'd have to try for several years to get back to this level.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: And more than a dozen Israeli far-right lawmakers, they are demanding that the IDF expand its plans to destroy villages along the Lebanese border and expel its residents. And this as Israel launched a wave of deadly attacks across Lebanon on Sunday. That wave killing at least 11 people, including a four-year-old girl.

Officials say that the strike on Beirut killed at least four people and wounded dozens more. Across Lebanon, civilians are left traumatized but remain resilient in the face of this conflict.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I had two residential apartments that were destroyed. Where am I supposed to go now? Should I set up a tent and sit in it?

I sit on a rubble showing a whole world where we are. Someone who can barely afford the daily bread, can't even buy a loaf and then a plane comes and strikes. For what reason? Just because I'm sitting on my land. I will not

leave. This is our land and we will not give it up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: Nearly 1,500 people have been killed since Israel launched its full-scale air and ground campaign on Lebanon last month, and that figure is according to Lebanon's health ministry. The IDF retaliated after Hezbollah fired into Israel in solidarity with Iran.

There he is. During his first Easter services as pontiff, Pope Leo reiterated his calls for peace. He once again urged world leaders to reject division and war and instead seek dialog and understanding.

[01:34:51]

SANDOVAL: CNN's Vatican correspondent Christopher Lamb follows this from Rome.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRISTOPHER LAMB, CNN VATICAN CORRESPONDENT: Well, thousands turned out in Saint Peter's Square to listen to Pope Leo's first Easter Sunday message. And the first American pope underlined once again the need to end the conflict taking place around the world.

He insisted that the Easter message is one of nonviolence, and this is what he had to say from the balcony of Saint Peter's.

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 conflict sow.

LAMB: Now we've seen during these last few days, probably a really step into the role of being pope. He's been very outspoken during this Holy Week and Easter about the war going on in Iran.

He said to me that President Trump needs to find an off ramp to end the conflict. And also saying on Palm Sunday that God does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war. Very pointed remarks, which some took as responding to U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who has sought to frame the U.S. intervention in Iran as divinely supported. Now Pope Leo is pushing back against that.

We also saw Leo carry the cross for the first time for the entirety of the Stations of the Cross. That's the first time that's happened in decades. And that was also a powerful symbol.

Leo, on Easter Sunday, celebrating a mass. Then, of course, delivering his Easter Sunday message. And then circulating around the square. We saw him just drive by us.

And, you know, there was cheers and people waving at the Pope. There's a sense that Leo can offer some hope during difficult and turbulent times. There was a banner raised up that said, "Pope Leo, we are with you. Guide our future".

Leo, the first American pope celebrating his first Easter since election with a message of peace and hope at Easter.

Christopher Lamb, CNN -- Rome.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL: I'm back with more of your headlines in a moment.

[01:37:35]

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SANDOVAL: Welcome back.

Now to a three-day event in Mumbai that has designers and celebrities focusing on fashion. Fashion Week actually, showcasing a mix of traditional craftsmanship and contemporary design. Established designers and emerging talent, they spotlighted -- they were spotlighted during this event. More than 30 designers were featured this year.

Designers are experimenting with themes of identity, strength and individuality. This is now the 26th annual staging of Fashion Week in Mumbai.

I'm Polo Sandoval in New York. Thank you so much for joining me.

For our international viewers, "WORLDSPORT" is next. For our viewers here in the U.S., the news continues with me in a moment.

[01:41:17]

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SANDOVAL: And welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Polo Sandoval live in New York.

And here's what we're following at this hour.

NBC's "Today Show" host Savannah Guthrie, she shared a moving Easter message this holiday weekend as the search for her missing mother continues. You'll recall Nancy Guthrie was last seen on January 31st at her home in the Catalina foothills of Tucson.

Well Sunday, Guthrie talked about her family's struggle during a virtual Easter service.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SAVANNAH GUTHRIE, "TODAY SHOW" HOST, NBC NEWS: We celebrate today the promise of a new life that never ends in death. But standing here today, I have to tell you there are moments in which that promise seems irretrievably far away, when life itself seems far harder than death.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: The search for Nancy Guthrie, it is now entering its third month. Officials believe the 84-year-old may have been kidnaped as authorities continue to investigate.

Elsewhere, under the Trump administration, Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, they have been making arrests in courthouses and other locations once considered off limits. Immigration advocates, they say that the major shift in policy prevents many immigrants from receiving a particular level of due process.

Here's CNN's Rafael Romo to explain

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you have a warrant for his arrest?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Where is the warrant?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey. Grab him.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Where is your warrant?

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: ICE in courthouses.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Back up.

ROMO: Under the Trump administration, federal immigration agents have gone where they generally have avoided in the past, conducting chaotic arrests, also impacting American citizens during a crackdown that has included those seeking asylum in the United States.

URVAL PATEL, VOLUNTEER, DETENTION RESISTANCE: They are showing up to their court dates. They're getting future court dates because they're meeting the requirements set by the law in this country.

ROMO: The practice of arresting people at immigration courts is the subject of an ongoing lawsuit brought against the Trump administration by civil rights groups last year. And according to that ongoing lawsuit, the Justice Department recently admitted to a federal judge, it's been incorrectly relying on an Immigration and Customs Enforcement memo to justify arrests at immigration courts. CNN has reached out to DHS for comment.

But immigration advocates say what these viral videos don't show is a tectonic shift in the asylum policy.

LAUREN WAITS, COURT WATCH VOLUNTEER, GEORGIA ASYLUM AND IMMIGRATION NETWORK: The major difference is that nobody's getting bond anymore.

ROMO: Several times a week, Lauren Waits sits in her kitchen and watches immigration court proceedings through a virtual feed.

WAITS: The dramatic change has been for people where there's no criminal history whatsoever. Those folks prior to this administration had access to bond.

Now, the way I see it, we're all paying with our tax dollars to keep them in these detention facilities for no good purpose.

ADRIANA HEFFLEY, LEGAL SERVICES DIRECTOR, GEORGIA ASYLUM AND IMMIGRATION NETWORK: What changed is that in around July of 2025, I began to take the very new position that the majority of immigrants in immigrant detention are not eligible to even ask a judge for bond.

ROMO: Immigration attorney Adriana Heffley, the director of legal services at the Georgia Asylum and Immigration Network, leads the court watch program, a network of over 100 volunteers who document immigration court hearings.

Observers with GAIN's court watch program say in the past, it was very likely for people living in the country with no legal documents to get bond if they didn't have a criminal record.

But there has been a noticeable change during the current administration.

HEFFLEY: It's a drastically different interpretation of existing law that has been commonly understood by, you know, everyone practicing in immigration law for decades.

ROMO: An Immigration and Customs Enforcement memo from July, posted online by the Immigration Policy Tracking Project, says in part that effective immediately, it is the position of DHS that such aliens are subject to detention and may not be released from ICE custody except by parole.

According to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement documents published in February, the federal government will spend more than $38 billion to acquire eight facilities to serve as large scale detention centers and 16 processing sites.

[01:49:52]

ROMO: That's in addition to ten other existing facilities to increase capacity for immigrant detention for more than 90,000 by the end of November.

Rafael Romo, CNN -- Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL: Firefighters in California, they have successfully contained 95 percent of a massive wildfire that is spread over 4,000 acres. The blaze broke out on Friday in Riverside County, with the exact cause still under investigation.

Footage captured by residents showed some thick smoke billowing over communities nearby. See these ominous pictures? Cal Fire says that all evacuation orders have now been lifted.

So now that the Orion spacecraft has entered the moon's sphere of influence, the crew is preparing for their lunar flyby that's scheduled for Monday afternoon.

CNN's Ed Lavandera has the latest from Houston.

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ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The Artemis II crew is preparing for what will be the most momentous moment of this mission, as they prepare for the flyby around the moon. And there has been a great deal of thought over -- as to what will happen over these hours.

And to excruciating detail, NASA officials laid out what the plan will be and how this crew will maximize their time flying around the moon, capturing the images and parts of the moon that have never been seen before.

This is a moment that has not happened in more than 50 years. And NASA officials say that the four-person crew will divide time taking pictures of the moon as they fly around it.

There will be two astronauts at the windows at any given time, taking pictures. The other two crew members will be inside preparing.

They have a laundry list of the various spots and specific areas of the moon that they want to capture images of, and they have a detailed plan of when they will fly around each of those spots, and a plan to be able to try to capture as many of these images as possible.

On top of that, there will also be cameras on the solar panels that extend from the capsule looking down on the moon itself. So there should be some extraordinarily stunning images of the moon.

And what is very different when this was done during the Apollo missions, it was audio only. There was no visual inclination or any visuals of what was actually happening. It wasn't until much later, after the crew returned, that we were able to see those images.

Now, they're going to be seeing the video, all of this in real time. But of course, there will be a moment, about 40 minutes where the crew loses all communications.

But this is the moment, the most significant moment of the Artemis II crew mission to the moon.

Ed Lavandera, CNN -- Houston, Texas.

(END VIDEOTAPE) SANDOVAL: Ed said it best. But not only is it momentous, it's also quite historic. This mission, it is capturing the attention of many people throughout the country and really around the world.

CNN's Harry Enten runs the numbers.

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HARRY ENTEN, CNN CHIEF DATA ANALYST: Look, with Artemis up and away, a lot of folks are wondering, when are we finally going to go back to the moon? And there's a lot of interest in doing so, in part thanks to Artemis.

Just take a look here. Look at these Google searches, literally up like a rocket. Hello. You know, I had to say it.

Look at this, up 669 percent versus last month. That is the highest ever -- the highest ever for a month. We are in it right now higher than at any point since 2004, since we were doing Google searches.

And I think that the interest level we're seeing right now in Google will translate over to the actual polling data. Because if we look at the polling data before Artemis went up in the sky, look at this, should be going to the moon, should going to the moon be a priority, 57 percent. The majority of Americans said yes.

But look at this, a very sizable portion, 41 percent said no. Now I will note one of the things that is so interesting about going to the moon and basically all of this travel up into space is it's bipartisan. It's bipartisan in an era in which we really don't have much bipartisanship.

So what we see is majorities of Democrats and Republicans actually said that going to the moon should, in fact, be a priority. And I got to admit, that's not so much of a surprise to me necessarily, because, again, in this era in which we have such deep polarization, my goodness gracious, I mean, we talk about it all the time here. You and I talk about it.

Look at this. What is the event that created the most America pride -- the most pride in being an American? CBS News pulled this back at the end of the last decade.

And you know what? Even 50 years after we went up and we went to the moon, Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin -- the event that was number one was the moon landing. The moon landing was still number one 50 years after the fact.

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ENTEN: And again, I think we need national pride so much. Levels of pride are so low. Going back to the moon may in fact be just that anecdote in order to recreate that pride that we had back in 1969.

Of course, there is that question of who will actually go to the moon. And many Americans, including myself, kind of want to pass the buck a little bit. Because take a look here. Do you yourself want to go to the moon? Just 32 percent. One in three Americans say, yes, they are the ones -- they themselves want to go to the moon compared to look at this two in three who say, you know what, no we're good. We'll stay on terra firma.

And you know what? I kind of feel that as well. I kind of like terra firma. And I'll note that majorities, just as we were looking at the majorities of both Republicans and Democrats, say it should be a priority to go to the moon, majorities of Democrats and Republicans say, no, we're good here on terra firma.

But look, Artemis is creating a lot of national pride. A lot of folks are asking themselves, when are we going to the moon next? And I think that is a question that is going to be asked as we continue to watch those astronauts be up there way beyond the clouds.

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SANDOVAL: Harry Enten, thanks for breaking down the numbers.

Let's talk sports.

UCLA has won its first NCAA women's basketball title. The Bruins dominating South Carolina 79 to 51 in Phoenix. UCLA leading by 13 at halftime and they never looked back.

All their starting players, they finished the game with double figures in scoring. So, confetti raining down as this win capped a stellar season of 31 wins and just one loss.

Michigan, UConn they will be facing off in their men's championship game on Monday night. The Wolverines, they are entering the title game with confidence and momentum after a dominant final four performance. And in their regular season, Michigan was winning games by an average of more than 30 points.

But the UConn Huskies, they now have a chance to win their third national championship in four years, being one of the most consistent programs in the NCAA tournament.

And with that, I want to thank you so much for joining me the last hour of news. I'm Polo Sandoval in New York.

The news continues with my colleague -- with my colleague Ben Hunte in Atlanta in a moment. Don't go anywhere.

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