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Countries Around the World Scrambling to Contain Hantavirus; Sir David Attenborough Marks His Centennial Year. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired May 08, 2026 - 03:00   ET

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

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ELENI GIOKOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT AND ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers, joining us from all around the world. I'm Eleni Giokos, live in Dubai. Just ahead on "CNN Newsroom."

The U.S. President says the ceasefire with Iran is still in effect and warns that it won't be hard to tell when it isn't. We'll have the latest in a live report.

Countries around the world are racing to contain an outbreak of Hantavirus. Details on what health officials are saying.

Plus a look at how Pope Leo is marking one year since his historic election after meeting with America's top diplomat.

Welcome to the show and we begin this hour with two major developments in the Middle East.

First, the United Arab Emirates says Iran has launched a new wave of drone and missile attacks and that comes as the U.S. and Iran have traded fresh fire in and around the Strait of Hormuz. The U.S. military says it launched self-defense strikes in four areas along the Iranian coast targeting missile and drone launch sites, command and control locations, as well as other assets.

Iran says attacks hit civilian areas and oil tankers. U.S. Central Command says the strikes are in retaliation for Iranian attacks on three Navy-guided missile destroyers that were transiting the Strait of Hormuz. None of those ships were actually struck.

There are also new reports of Iranian missile and drone attacks on the United Arab Emirates where I am right now and also Paula Hancocks standing by in Abu Dhabi for us. Could you share with us the details of what we know on these renewed strikes here in the UAE and then importantly, you know, what that means for the ceasefire which President Trump says is still holding despite the trading of fire between the U.S. and Iran in the Strait of Hormuz?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, so Eleni, what we know about these, the missile and drone fires from this morning is fairly limited. It was about three hours ago that there was a statement from the Ministry of Defense saying that they were engaging operations of missiles and UAVs.

We don't have any confirmation of what was targeted or whether there has been any damage but we have been seeing this week a number of strikes against the UAE originating from Iran. Monday night, of course, the most significant, the Ministry of Defense saying some 19 missiles and drones were fired at that point or at least they engaged that number of projectiles.

So what we are seeing is when there is increased hostilities between the U.S. and Iran when the escalation happens and they do exchange fire, certainly this week we have seen that Iran has responded by targeting the UAE. Earlier this week there was also a strike against Oman, so the Gulf countries coming under fire once again.

Now what we did see in the Strait of Hormuz was that there was again this exchange of fire between the U.S. and Iran. U.S. Central Command saying that U.S. forces intercepted unprovoked Iranian attacks and responded with self-defense strikes. This was when three of their U.S. Navy guided missile destroyers came under fire, they said.

Now CENTCOM says that there has been no damage, there wasn't any reported strikes that impacted those ships and they managed to transit the Strait of Hormuz into the Gulf of Oman. But they did carry out strikes against Iranian military targets. They said it was launch sites of missiles and drones, there was command and control locations and also intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance infrastructure.

Now from Iran's point of view, they say that the reason that they had fired on the U.S. is because they believed the U.S. had violated the ceasefire by disabling one of the Iranian flagged vessels earlier in the week, that happening on Wednesday. Because this U.S. naval blockade is still in place in the Strait of Hormuz.

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Now when it comes to the political impact of this, we really are seeing the Trump administration trying to downplay any escalation in hostilities. This is what the U.S. President said.

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DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: They trifled with us today, we blew them away, they trifled, they call that a trifle. I'll let you know when there's no ceasefire, you won't have to know.

If there's no ceasefire, you're not going to have to know, you're just going to have to look at one big blow coming out of Iran. And they better sign their agreement fast.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANCOCKS: And we are waiting for the Iranian response to the U.S. proposal that's on the table at this point. It could potentially come any time now. Eleni. GIOKOS: Alright, Paula Hancocks in Abu Dhabi for us. Thank you.

I want to bring in Malcolm Davis, Senior Analyst on Defense Strategy at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute. Really good to have you with us.

I want to start off, Malcolm, with just looking at this notion about the ceasefire holding despite the exchange of fire. President Trump says there's a specific threshold that they're willing to endure before things fall apart. What is your assessment of the military activity that we've seen in and around the Strait of Hormuz?

MALCOLM DAVIS, SR. ANALYST, DEFENSE STRATEGY, AUSTRALIAN STRATEGIC POLICY INSTITUTE: Look, it's interesting. You would have thought Iran would have been sensible and essentially tried to dial down any aggression, but they're not. They're launching these attacks on commercial shipping and even against U.S. naval vessels in the Strait of Hormuz.

I think because they feel the determination to try and control the Strait of Hormuz and they don't want to see that control slip away by default. And so you are seeing this constant Iranian harassment and attacks. The Americans are responding defensively, they're shooting down incoming Iranian missiles and drones.

And they're doing very limited retaliatory strikes against locations where those missiles and drones were fired from. But you're not seeing escalation at this point in time. So I think the Americans are being very cautious, the Iranians, I think, are tempting fate.

And I think President Trump said it well, that at a certain point, the Americans will say enough is enough. And then you will see a significant escalation on the part of the Americans.

GIOKOS: Yes, and then President Trump says we'll know when that moment will happen. And frankly, the Iranians have been testing the ceasefire.

They seized vessels not too long ago. They've been targeting various vessels in and around the Strait of Hormuz. And this is all while, in the backdrop, there's some kind of diplomatic off-ramp or hope for that in this sort of one-page memorandum where the Iranians need to respond decisively.

And I wonder when you see these swarm attacks of these speedboats or the mosquito fleets, the asymmetrical methods that Iran has right now, what is the sense of Iran's position that they're clearly wanting to leverage what they're doing in the Strait?

DAVIS: Look, I think when you look at how the Iranian forces are structured, the Americans, the U.S. President Trump has said very clearly that the Iranian navy has been destroyed. And he's quite correct. But the point there is that there are two Iranian navies.

There's the Iranian regular navy, which is largely now on the bottom of the sea. And there's the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps navy, which is the one that is active at the moment.

And these are these small craft that are armed with missiles that can launch drones. And they're controlled by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, which are the power force that is currently controlling the Iranian government.

So whilst there might be a diplomatic effort on the part of the moderates within Iran, it's the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps that are making the decisions and really shaping the outcome of this crisis. And they are content to use the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps naval forces, these small craft and these missiles and drones, to try and test the Americans' resolve.

GIOKOS: You know, there are two U.S. destroyers right now in the Persian Gulf that were able to transit the Strait of Hormuz. You've got the U.S. naval blockade in the Gulf of Oman. And frankly, there are just so many U.S. assets right now.

What is your assessment of how these resources can be tapped into, you know, to pressurize Iran further?

DAVIS: Well, look, if the Iranians continue to launch these attacks, then the Americans have the option of launching more robust military attacks against Iran. As you say, there's large numbers of U.S. naval vessels. There's substantial U.S. Air Force aircraft that are in theater that can be brought in from outside the region, including long-range bombers.

All of these could be brought in and are poised and ready to go if the U.S. President gives the word to relaunch a campaign of bombardment.

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And they would go after Iran's missile and drone capabilities. They would go after the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps forces, including the IRGCN, the Navy. And they would certainly start to increase the pressure on the Iranian government to come back to the table and this time do it seriously.

I think the challenge the Americans are facing at the diplomatic level is, firstly, that the Iranians that are involved in the diplomacy are not the ones making the decision back in Tehran. And secondly, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps forces are not prepared to accept any of the conditions set by the Americans. And so diplomacy is really going nowhere at this point.

GIOKOS: All right. Malcolm Davis, thank you so much. Good to have you on the show.

Well, at least 12 people are dead after the latest Israeli strikes in Lebanon. The Lebanese health ministry says 37 others were wounded in attacks across the country south on Thursday.

Israel and Hezbollah are trading fire despite a fragile ceasefire. But diplomatic sources say Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors will hold their third round of talks in Washington next week to try to reach a more durable truce.

All right. We're following two stories in Italy this hour.

First, Pope Leo is marking one year since his historic election, becoming the first American pope. He is set to visit Pompeii and Naples for events, including meetings with disadvantaged people and clergy members.

Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is scheduled to meet with his Italian counterpart along with the Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in the coming hours. The visit comes after criticism from President Trump for what he said was Italy's lack of support for the U.S. war against Iran. Rubio met with Pope Leo at the Vatican on Thursday.

The two discussed the Middle East and some other issues as well as disagreements in recent weeks that led to tension between the Trump administration and the Vatican. They exchanged gifts, with Rubio acknowledging that Leo is a baseball guy as he gave him a small crystal football. The pontiff gave Rubio a pen made from olive wood, a symbol of peace.

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MARCO RUBIO, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: It has the seal of the State Department, so what to get someone who has everything.

POPE LEO XIV, HEAD OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH: I love being of course, plant of peace. This is the coat of arms of the pontificate here.

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GIOKOS: The authorities are tracking dozens of people linked to the cruise ship at the center of a deadly Hantavirus outbreak where they've been monitored extensively. We'll be giving you an update on that and of course where those still on board are. We'll be back after this.

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GIOKOS: Welcome back.

President Trump says he very much hopes the hantavirus outbreak is under control, adding that a full report will be released later today. His administration is under fire from public health experts who say the government and the CDC should be doing more.

Right now, authorities are monitoring people and cases in all these countries highlighted in red. Hantavirus has killed three people and also infected several others worldwide, all of them connected to a cruise ship, which you see here. It's on a live track to Spain.

We've got more now from CNN's Melissa Bell.

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MELISSA BELL, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): After three days docked off the coast of Cape Verde, the M.V. Hondius is on its way to the Canary Islands, with the World Health Organization saying that it does not expect a widespread outbreak.

MARIA VAN KERKHOVE, DIRECTOR, WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION-DEPARTMENT OF EPIDEMIC AND PANDEMIC THREAT MANAGEMENT: This is not SARS-CoV-2, this is not the start of a COVID pandemic. This is an outbreak that we see on a ship.

BELL (voice-over): The first passenger died some 10 days after the ship left Argentina. The captain's announcement filmed by one of the passengers on April 12th.

Only later would the virus be identified, according to Oceanwide Expeditions which operate the ship. At the time of the announcement, there was no evidence of a virus or contagion present on the vessel. The case was believed to be isolated following medical review.

The operator adding that as of Wednesday, the man was not confirmed to have been infected with Hantavirus.

The wife of the man who died was one of at least 30 passengers to disembark at St. Helena, traveling on to South Africa, where she collapsed and later died after she was taken to hospital. Several more passengers were evacuated from the ship whilst it was docked off of Cape Verde. Two were now being treated in the Netherlands and a third in Germany after a convoy accompanied them to hospital.

The ship is now on its way to Tenerife, where it is expected to arrive on Sunday and where dock workers have threatened to strike.

JOANA BASTA, TENERIFE PORT WORKERS UNION REPRESENTATIVE (through translator): Right now the workers are really worried because they basically haven't been given any information at all. They haven't been told anything about what safety measures are going to be put in place.

BELL (voice-over): But for those on board of what became the cruise from hell, the end may finally be in sight.

Melissa Bell, CNN, Paris.

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GIOKOS: Right, more on the Hantavirus after the break.

Plus, Iran announces new rules for ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz. We'll get reaction from the CEO of the maritime risk management company Marisks. That's just ahead on "CNN Newsroom."

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(COMMERCIAL BREAK) GIOKOS: Welcome back, I'm Eleni Giokos in Dubai. Let's check in on some of today's top stories.

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President Trump says a full report on the Hantavirus outbreak is expected later today and that quote, "we hope the outbreak is under control." The World Health Organization says Hantavirus has killed three people and infected at least five others linked to a cruise ship. But the WHO says widespread transmission is unlikely.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is set to meet with Italy's prime minister today. Rubio's visit with Giorgia Meloni comes amid ongoing criticism from President Trump for what he said was Italy's lack of support for the United States war against Iran. The right-wing populist Meloni has also spoken out against President Trump's feud with the Pope.

President Trump says the Iran ceasefire is still in effect despite new strikes by both sides. Tehran has yet to respond to a one-page memorandum aimed at ending the war. Mr. Trump says Iran better sign the deal fast or the U.S. military will knock them out a lot harder and more violently in the future.

The tracking group Marine Traffic says shipping through the Strait of Hormuz dropped to zero over the past few days. It comes as Iran has laid out a new set of rules for ships hoping to travel through the vital waterway. That is according to a document seen by CNN calling for the Vessel Information Declaration.

Iran says the form must be completed by all ships for passage. It's comprised of more than 40 questions and it requires the ship's name, I.D. number, country of origin, as well as destination. It also asks for nationalities of the registered owner, manager, as well as crew.

I spoke to Dimitris Maniatis a little earlier, the founder and CEO of the maritime risk management company Marisks. With so many seafarers stranded on ships in the Gulf, I asked him about the prospects for escorts from an international coalition. Take a listen.

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DIMITRIS MANIATIS: Escorts are incredibly difficult to guarantee safety of merchant vessels.

We also need to understand the considerations of liability. If any Navy is escorting a ship, guaranteeing safe passage, and that ship is hit, and potentially it becomes a total loss with casualties or fatalities, who takes the responsibility for everything that follows after that?

Generally, the navies don't want to do escorts of commercial vessels. They don't want to take that responsibility. You see that Navy ships, first and foremost, have to protect their own selves.

So, their mandate, generally speaking, is currently a war situation. So, they are fighting.

They can't focus on escorting vessels, merchant vessels, in and out of the Straits of Hormuz. I doubt that an international coalition of warships would be willing to undertake that impossible task. It would just amplify the problems, really.

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GIOKOS: The World Health Organization is hoping to calm fears of a Hantavirus outbreak as countries race to trace, as well as contain, the disease.

I want to bring in Torsten Feldt, who is the head of the Tropical Medicine Department at University Hospital in Dusseldorf. Really good to have you with us, Torsten.

I also want to just show you some of the images and share with our viewers of a German woman that has been exposed to Hantavirus. When arriving in Dusseldorf, we saw hazmat suits, emergency vehicles transporting her. Really important moment here.

I guess a lot of people are worried about how this can be transmitted, whether we're sitting in a dangerous moment. Tell me about the state of this woman and your patient and she's under quarantine right now. So, give me a sense of whether she's experiencing any symptoms.

TORSTEN FELDT, HEAD OF TROPICAL MEDICINE DEPARTMENT, UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL DUSSELDORF: Thank you very much. So, luckily, the patient is clinically totally stable and does not show any signs of an active infection and the first set of viral diagnostics is negative. So, that is reassuring for the moment.

GIOKOS: Absolutely.

FELDT: Unfortunately, this does not rule out that she has been infected and is in her incubation period. So, keeping up the protection measures and the real clinical and virological observation is still necessary for the coming weeks.

GIOKOS: So, give me an idea of when symptoms might actually start to materialize after the moment of exposure to the Hantavirus. So, what kind of incubation period are we talking about here realistically?

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Unfortunately, the incubation period is very broad, ranging from under a week up to eight weeks. That makes it really difficult and is also just a challenge in the contact tracing for the health authorities.

The fact is, all of the possible contact patients are in the incubation period.

GIOKOS: You know, a lot of people are seeing the headlines about Hantavirus. We're looking at a cruise ship that is part of the story, a real big part of the story. It is bringing back memories of what we experienced during COVID-19, but the World Health Organization says it is very different.

So, explain to us why it is.

FELDT: Yes, I fully agree with the assessment of the World Health Organization. It's completely different and we are in a much better position.

The reasons for that assessment are, first of all, the virus is completely different and it is not as transmissible as COVID-19, as SARS-CoV-2. That's the most important point. Human-to-human transmission is a rare event and occurs except in some occasions which are described like only in close contacts and longer contact families and also like situations you can very well imagine on a cruise ship.

Second, we are on top of the wave or ahead of the wave. We know the virus for quite a couple of years, although it's a rare virus, it's a rare infection in humans and we know the source.

We know the outbreak and that's one of the advantages of the cruise ship. We know who was on board and we have really good information for the contact tracing, which is essential in the moment.

GIOKOS: A lot of people are talking about some of the people that were on the cruise ship have actually flown to their respective countries. We've seen some deaths, particularly, for example, one of the passengers that went to South Africa. In terms of tracking and tracing and containing the spread, what do you believe the best protocol would be for the remaining passengers that are on the cruise ship? Go to one place? Go to many countries? What's your advice here?

FELDT: First of all, it is really a big challenge that those persons left the vessel and they are really around the world and this is the main challenge for the health authorities and this is really the key essential factor now to trace those persons and maybe their contacts should they become symptomatic.

And European authorities are just working on the algorithms to diagnose and select the patients who should be quarantined for how long and categorize the risk where all of those about 150 persons on board of the ship should be considered as contact persons. That is clear and then separation into symptomatic patients, asymptomatic patients is important and quarantine is absolutely necessary.

GIOKOS: Torsten Feldt in Dusseldorf, thank you so much for that update. We wish you all the best. It's a big job ahead with this new reality, thank you.

All right, we're going to a short break. We'll be back. Stick with CNN.

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GIOKOS: All right, quick look at the markets there. You can see Asia pretty mixed today.

So let's get into some of today's top business headlines.

A federal trade court has struck down President Trump's 10 percent across the board tariffs. The judges at the U.S. Court of International Trade ruled that Trump lacked the legal justification to enact the policy. They ordered him to cease collecting money and refund prior payments to the plaintiffs. The administration is expected to appeal.

Maersk is planning to pass on to consumers the increased cost of disruption to global shipping caused by the war with Iran. The CEO of the Danish shipping and logistics company says he expects expenses to increase by half a billion dollars due to high energy costs. He also said Maersk still has six ships stranded in the Persian Gulf.

The U.S. jobs report for April is due out in the coming hours and it's expected to show that the labor market added around 67,000 positions last month. That is about one third of the jobs created in March. But it's actually in line with the average so far this year, now unemployment is expected to hold steady at 4.3 percent.

France's transportation minister says the government is fully mobilized to help airlines hurt by jet fuel costs that have been pushed higher by the U.S.-Israeli war in Iran.

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Measures include extended tax payment deadlines and cash flow support for the hardest-hit businesses. France and other European countries are trying to prevent travel disruptions after some airlines warned of jet fuel shortages coming soon. About 75 percent of Europe's jet fuel is imported from the Middle East.

Now one of the world's most recognized experts on the natural world is celebrating a milestone birthday today. Sir David Attenborough turns 100 years old. Over more than seven decades of documentary filmmaking, Attenborough has become one of the voices most associated with stories of nature.

The iconic natural historian and broadcaster said he's been surprised by the influx of birthday greetings he offered thanks to everyone who sent him messages.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

SIR DAVID ATTENBOROUGH, BRITISH NATIONAL HISTORIAN: I had rather thought that I would celebrate my 100th birthday quietly, but it seems that many of you have had other ideas.

I've been completely overwhelmed by birthday greetings from preschool groups to care home residents and countless individuals and families of all ages. I simply can't reply to each of you all separately, but I would like to thank you all most sincerely for your kind messages. I wish those of you who have planned your own local events tomorrow have a very happy day. (END AUDIO CLIP)

GIOKOS: What a wonderful message.

Well, a group of artists in northwestern England created a likeness of Attenborough in the sand to mark his big day. It included a quote from the legendary filmmaker that reads, "We often talk of saving the planet, but the truth is that we must do these things to save ourselves." A very happy birthday to Sir David Attenborough.

Alright, the famous Banksy mural is on view in a rather unusual venue. "Migrant Child" is moving through the canals of Venice, Italy on a boat on view for residents Friday and Saturday.

The artwork was removed from its original location for restoration after humidity and flood damaged it. New owners are restoring the entire building where the mural was initially installed, it will be returned when the restoration is complete next year.

I'm Eleni Giokos, in Dubai. Thanks so much for joining us. "World Sport" is up next, and then stay tuned for more "CNN Newsroom" with Kim Brunhuber at the top of the hour.

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