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Trump: Iran Response "Totally Unacceptable"; State Media: Iran's Response Includes Hormuz Sovereignty; Israeli Sources: Netanyahu And Trump Spoke On Sunday. Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired May 11, 2026 - 04:00   ET

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

[04:00:41]

IVAN WATSON, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to CNN Newsroom. I'm Ivan Watson broadcasting live from Hong Kong. And here's what's ahead.

"Totally unacceptable," Donald Trump rejects the latest proposal from Iran, leaving an agreement to and the war still on hold. And as American passengers from the hantavirus hit cruise ship arrive in Nebraska for quarantine, at least one of them is presumed positive for the virus. Plus, we're just a month away from the FIFA World cup, but soaring ticket prices are dampening the enthusiasm for many diehard fans.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Live from Hong Kong, this is CNN Newsroom with Ivan Watson.

WATSON: All right, we're going to start with the latest developments on the Iran war. President Donald Trump is calling Tehran's response to a U.S. proposal to end the war, quote, "totally unacceptable." Iranian state media says the counter proposal includes recognition of sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz and a demand for compensation. But there's no mention of the country's nuclear program.

Meanwhile, Israeli sources say Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke with President Trump on Sunday. Here's what Netanyahu told CBS when asked about Iran's highly enriched uranium supply.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MAJOR GARRETT, CBS ANCHOR: How do you envision the highly enriched uranium will be removed from Iran?

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: You go in and you take it out.

GARRETT: With what? Special forces from Israel, Special forces, United States.

NETANYAHU: Well, I'm not going to talk about military means, but the president, what President Trump has said to me, I want to go in there and I think it can be done physically. That's not the problem. If you have an agreement and you go in and you take it out, why not? That's the best way. (END VIDEOTAPE)

WATSON: Also, Iranian state media reports its supreme leader has met with a senior military commander and received a report on the readiness of Iran's armed forces. CNN's Paula Hancocks joins us live from Abu Dhabi with the latest. Good to see you, Paula.

So President Trump clearly unhappy with the latest proposal coming from Iran. What's your read on where things are going now? Does it look like we could see the war erupting again and end to the ceasefire, or is it more of this kind of strange limbo that everybody's in?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Ivan, I think there is always that concern and that chance that hostilities could escalate, that there could be a return to the war. We've certainly heard that from -- from Iranian officials over the past few weeks saying that they can't trust the United States. They believe that President Trump will start hostilities once again. It is very difficult to know exactly what those chances are.

There's an assumption on both sides that there isn't an appetite to go back to the full-blown war that we saw earlier this year. But what we are seeing is it appears to be more of a reality check on just where the two positions are, where the U.S. stands, where Iran stands when it comes to what they want out of this -- this peace deal.

We did hear a lot of optimism last week from the U.S. President that the talks were going well. Despite the fact, we did still Iran firing missiles and drones at the UAE at Oman. We saw just on Sunday there were two drones fired towards the UAE. And also, Kuwait said that it had hostile drones in its airspace.

So certainly, there's this underlying threat that -- that those hostilities could increase. But what we've seen from this counter proposal, we could call it from Iran, and I must stress that at this point, we are hearing from state media. We haven't seen a copy of the proposal ourselves. But what they are saying it includes is a recognition of sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz, something the U.S. and Israel would not accept.

The Gulf nations who need the Strait of Hormuz in order to be able to export their energy to the rest of the world are highly unlikely to accept that either. Also, there was a demand for compensation for war damage. There was a demand for the end of fighting, including in Lebanon over the weekend. We have seen even though the ceasefire is holding, there was a number of attacks by Hezbollah and also Israeli strikes on southern Lebanon.

[04:05:26]

Also, state media has not made any mention of the nuclear program. Now, it doesn't mean it's not in the counterproposal, but it certainly means at this point that -- that this is not a focus for Iran. We know Tehran favors pushing back the thornier issues of the nuclear program to a later date. What they want initially is to end the war and to start to have some sanction relief. And of course, the Strait of Hormuz is a real key part in this.

So it's difficult to see where this goes at this point. We will wait to hear more from -- from Trump administration officials and the U.S. President. All we've had is this social media post at this point. But we have heard some of those close to President Trump, including Lindsey Graham, for example, suggesting that the -- the fact that this was such an unacceptable proposal means that there could be a return to hostilities. It is an extension of the state of limbo here, Ivan.

WATSON: Paula Hancocks live in Abu Dhabi, reporting from the state of limbo, I guess. Thank you very much for that update.

The Israeli military announced new strikes in southern Lebanon over the weekend. Israel says it struck targets belonging to the Iranian- backed militant group Hezbollah. Lebanon's national news agency reports at least 22 people were killed in the strikes including, including a 12-year-old girl. Hezbollah says it launched 22 attacks of its own on Israeli forces.

Friends and families have been warning those killed in those strikes. The fighting has continued between Israel and Hezbollah despite a U.S.-brokered ceasefire that's supposed to be in place in Lebanon.

Joining me now is Maha Yahya, the director of the Malcolm H. Kerr Carnegie Middle East Center. Thank you so much for joining the program.

I'd like to get your assessment now. We're months into this latest of the wars between Israel and Hezbollah. Can you tell me, amid all the casualties and destruction, how would you assess Hezbollah's combat power on the battlefield?

For example, I understand the militia is no longer publishing the deaths of its fighters as they had, I believe, in 2024. So, what does that tell us about how it is combating Israel on the battlefield?

MAHA YAHYA, DIRECTOR, MALCOLM H. KERR CARNEGIE MIDDLE EAST CTR.: Good morning, Ivan. Thank you for having me.

Look, they've been able to put up a sorry they've been able to put up a resistance on the ground, but the cost has been tremendously high for the country. I mean, Hezbollah is no match for Israel.

Israel has aerial dominance. It's an army. They're able to conduct guerrilla warfare. Hezbollah can conduct guerrilla warfare on the ground. It's their territory.

But what has been happening in the south has been the literally systematic demolition and bombing of all signs of life across much of the south. Israel today is occupying 68 villages and towns across southern Lebanon. Many of those villages and towns have literally been vaporized.

They've been dynamited and bombed from the air. Cultural centers, economic lifelines, agricultural land, it's all been bumped to rubble. So it's -- it's very difficult to even make a comparison between the two. The maximum that Hezbollah has been, yes, they are able to fire rockets. They've been using technology that was developed in Ukraine, drone technology, where they use fiber optics to launch drones in Israel. But as far as Israel, I mean, this is practically like swatting flies to some extent.

They're able to reach some parts in the north, but that's it. And it's mainly attacks against Merkava tanks, amongst others. So the -- if you want the -- in the balance of things, the losses on the Lebanese side, both in terms of lives, livelihoods, and entire areas that have been completely obliterated, is far, far greater.

[04:10:08]

WATSON: There's no question this is absolutely traumatizing for the civilian population, more than a million people displaced, and for Lebanon's Shiite community. I understand that President Joseph Aoun and the Lebanese government have gone further than any has in arguably generations or decades in kind of criticizing Hezbollah. And there's an awful lot of pressure from Washington on negotiations with Israel. But what is that doing to politics inside Lebanon amid the famously fractious different divisions and factions within the country?

YAHYA: Okay, it's creating or it's intensifying polarization on the ground. Already over the past year and a half, the government president have taken significant steps towards the monopoly, state monopoly over arms, which includes decommissioning the military arm of Hezbollah, amongst other non-state actors. But this does not happen in three months or six months. This as international experience shows us, whether in Ireland, and South America, and other places, these are processes that take time, and they have a political as well as a military element to them.

The pressure on Lebanon has been tremendous the past year and a half. And despite a U.S. ceasefire that was broken in November 2024, Israel continued bombing in Lebanon and continued to occupy parts of the south Lebanon, five points. Now it's a much larger area.

So the polarization within the country has increased the sense that there's a lot of pressure on the Shia community at a time when it is also being attacked by Israel. The actions of the Israeli army are giving credence and playing into the narrative of Hezbollah that resistance is necessary and that they are the only ones that can protect their own community because no one else is doing the job. I mean, it's just -- it's mind boggling to me.

This military -- military actions will not lead to the end result that Israel or anyone else is looking for. They cannot obliterate an organization from the air. The only way to achieve the kind of, and by the way, decommissioning Hezbollah is a -- is a local Lebanese demand. This is not an international issue only.

So the only way that can be achieved is through both a combination of this, reinforcing the central state, supporting Lebanon's government, and through a political process. Again, bombing it, it cannot be bombed from the air is what I'm trying to say.

WATSON: Yes, I mean, this complicated political calculation, how do -- how do you even begin to do that with hundreds of thousands of people still displaced and people continuing to be killed? Maha Yahya, Director of the Middle East -- Carnegie Middle East Center for Lebanon, thank you very, very much for your analysis.

YAHYA: Thank you.

WATSON: All right. Now oil prices are up. After talks between the U.S. and Iran stalled again. Global and U.S. crude oil rose more than 3 percent on Sunday. Brent crude is nearly $20 more expensive than it was before the war, and U.S. crude is about $10 more expensive. Those elevated oil prices are costing Americans more at the pump.

According to AAA, average gas prices are now $4.52 a gallon. The U.S. energy secretary, Chris Wright, says the Trump administration may consider suspending the federal gas tax.

And now to Spain's Canary Islands. That's where the remaining passengers aboard the cruise ship at the center of a hantavirus outbreak are set to disembark and head home today. Just moments ago, a plane carrying 17 Americans evacuated from that ship arrived in Nebraska, where they will undergo medical evaluation.

One on board has tested positive for the virus, and another has mild symptoms. They were among 94 people of 19 nationalities who left the ship on Sunday. Reuters is reporting that one French passenger has tested positive for the virus and that her condition is deteriorating.

[04:15:03]

CNN's Melissa Bell joins us live now from Tenerife in the Canary Islands. Good to see you, Melissa.

So a complicated evacuation process now underway. Tell us about who's left on the ship and what is their future going forward.

MELISSA BELL, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Ivan. We've just been watching from this distance the refuting operation going on the MV Hondius here this morning. Still aboard are a bunch of different people.

First of all, some of the Dutch crew that we understand will be disembarked later today to head back to the Netherlands. Another group, the Australians, five of them, plus a New Zealander that will be evacuated later today when the flight is there and ready to take them back to that part of the world. But also aboard still this morning are the 30 crew that will remain on the ship to accompany back to the -- to Rotterdam in the Netherlands, where it will undergo the whole disinfection process there.

So for now, still some aboard, but the vast majority were safely and successfully disembarked yesterday in that operation where we saw them coming back and forth with that little boat to collect them in groups of five and take them onto their departing planes. What has emerged since then, after the end of that day of successful disembarkation and repatriation, Ivan, are these new cases.

Remember that until now there had been eight confirmed cases of the hantavirus reported around this particular cruise ship, including, of course, the three who had sadly died. What we've learned is that since last night, two of those repatriation flights have seen two new cases emerge. There is on the American flight to Omaha, Nebraska, that took off from here in Tenerife last night, one person who has symptoms, another person who's now been confirmed to be positive for hantavirus and will go straight. We understand, when that flight lands in Omaha, Nebraska, to the quarantine unit there.

There is also on the flight that brought back towards Paris the French cases, five in all, heading to the Bishop Hospital to the north of the city. One woman who had begun to display symptoms on the flight home. She's now been confirmed by the French health minister as being positive to hantavirus, which means that we now have 10 confirmed cases of hantavirus that are a result or have been confirmed around this particular trip, Ivan.

WATSON: All right, Melissa Bell, live from the Canary Islands with the stricken cruise ship right over your shoulder there, apparently now in the process of being refueled. Thank you so much, Melissa.

Moving on, Democrats are hoping to pick up more congressional seats in the midterm elections, but redistricting battles in several states could upend those plans. A look at who's likely to have control of the House. That's coming up ahead here on CNN.

And an emotional reunion between deported parents and their dying son just a day before he lost his battle with cancer. More on their heartbreaking story of love across borders after this break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:22:02]

WATSON: Welcome back. Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives are scrambling to figure out what's next. That's after Virginia's Supreme Court handed Republicans an advantage in the next election. The court struck down a redistricting plan that had been approved by voters and that could have helped Democrats win up to four more House seats.

It is the latest effort to reshape congressional maps in a way some critics say racially discriminates against voters of color. Still, prominent Democratic Congressman James Clyburn told CNN's Jake Tapper that he plans to run and win in the next election, no matter what Republicans do.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JAMES CLYBURN, U.S. HOUSE DEMOCRAT: Voters will have their last word on this, and I don't know why people think I could not get reelected if they redistrict South Carolina. So I'm going to run irrespective of what the makeup of the district might be, because I believe that I have a record that is very acceptable to the South Carolina voter, and I have a good understanding of America's promise.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WATSON: That ongoing redistricting battle between Democrats and Republicans is escalating ahead of this year's midterms. CNN Chief Data Analyst Harry Enten runs the numbers on where things stand right now.

HARRY ENTEN, CNN CHIEF DATA ANALYST: Look, the redistricting wars for the 2025-2026 cycle have taken a drastic turn over the last two weeks or so. And now I think it's fairly safe to say that Republicans will, in fact, win them when it comes to this cycle. But what exactly does that mean? Does that mean it's a nightmare for Democrats?

Well, sort of, but not really. Why do I say that?

Well, let's just take a look at what it actually means and we can best see this in terms of what we think Democrats will need to win the national House vote by in order to win control come November. You know, under the current lines, what we'd essentially think is they'd have to win the national House popular vote by less than a point. Basically, you win the national House vote, and then you win control of the U.S. House. That's what we would think under the current lines.

But under the redistricting lines, right? The redistricted lines. Well, now with Virginia, Florida, Tennessee, the Supreme Court ruling, we think that Democrats would have to win the national House vote by, let's say, between three and four points in order to win House control come November. Now, that's a significantly wider margin, a significantly wider margin than what we'd expect under the current lines, the ones that, of course, the elections were fought under in November of 2024. But it's three to four points.

It's not anything like 10 points or anything like that. It just makes the road significantly harder for Democrats. But there is good news for Democrats, and that is you see this three-to-four-point margin right here. And what do they lead right now by in the national House vote polls?

[04:25:02]

Well, their average lead, well, it's about six points, which you don't have to be a mathematical genius to know that six points is significantly wider than, well, three to four points. But that leaves Democrats with a much smaller margin for error, right? It leaves them at the upper end of this range that if the polls, let's say the election were held today, if the polls were off by just two points, or if I would actually draw that so that our viewers could actually see it, two points.

Well, that means if there was an error two points in the wrong direction, Democrats all of a sudden might not win back the House at all. And more than that, on the eve of the election, we still have months and months to go. So these polls can change.

But even if on the eve of the election, you look, historically speaking, the real margin of error, you know, you look at all the errors, historically speaking, we're talking about closer to plus or minus seven points. So what that essentially means is yes, Democrats would be favored going into the elections today if, in fact, this were the polling average nationally, this six-point lead, but they'd be significantly the favorite, would not be, they would not be anywhere near as big of a favorite as they were just say, let's say a few weeks ago. And you can actually see this pretty well in the prediction markets, right? Because let's just take a look at the chance Democrats have to win the House in 2026.

When you go back about a month ago and look at that, Democrats had an 86 percent chance. You look at it now, well, that advantage is down to about a 74 percent chance. And that of course makes a whole heck of a lot of sense given that the lines have, are going to be redrawn heading in the election, heading into the 2026 election in a much less favorable way for Democrats than we thought that they were going to be.

So the bottom line is this. Democrats in the catbird state, six still, but not nearly the favorites that they once were, or at least what we thought they were going to be just say a month ago.

WATSON: All right. The parents of a teenage U.S. citizen with stage four cancer. They fought to return to their son after they were detained by DHS and deported to Mexico. After weeks apart and a difficult journey, they were reunited tragically just one day before their son passed away on Sunday. CNN's Zoe Sottile filed this report after their emotional reunion.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ZOE SOTTILE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): Video shows the moment parents released from an Arizona Department of Homeland Security facility reunited with their teen son dying of cancer. The 18-year-old U.S. citizen fell ill in December while visiting Chicago and was diagnosed with stage four colon cancer.

Meanwhile, his parents, both Mexican nationals, had previously been deported from the U.S. after entering illegally. But desperate to visit their dying son, they re-entered the U.S. in April, this time applying for temporary non-immigrant visas.

However, the couple was denied, detained, and ultimately deported back to Mexico once again on Friday according to DHS. In a last-minute bid to reunite, their son flew to Durango, Mexico, a week ago, where he discontinued treatment. In the days leading up to his parents' release, he had this to say.

KEVIN GONZALES, SON OF DEPORTED PARENTS: I feel emotional, happy, and right now a bit sleepy, but everything is fine. I want to thank the entire world for their help.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WATSON: Our condolences to their family. Passengers evacuated from the hantavirus-hit ship are now back in the

U.S. After the break, CNN tracks the origin of this strain of the virus. This and more next.

And a record-breaking heat could reach triple digits in parts of the Western U.S. CNN's weather report is just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:30:00]