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CNN This Morning

Trump: U.S. Airman "Safe and Sound"; Iranian Media Denies the U.S. Rescued Missing F-15 Crew Member; New Video: Aircraft Wreckage Site in Iran; Pope Leo Delivers his Easter Message in Vatican City; Aircraft Wreckage Site in Iran; At Least 15 Hurt After Car Drives Into Louisiana Parade; Artemis II Shares Stunning New Views of The Moon. Aired 6-7a ET

Aired April 05, 2026 - 06:00   ET

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

[06:00:00]

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.

ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Thank you for joining us on this Sunday morning, April 5th. I'm Erica Hill, in for Victor Blackwell, and we begin this hour with the breaking news. A U.S. airman rescued after his jet was shot down over Iran.

President Donald Trump making that announcement just after midnight on Truth Social. The president said the military sent dozens of armed aircraft in to get the airman, who was injured. The president, though, says he will be just fine, in the president's words. No other Americans were hurt or killed in the operation.

The F-15 fighter jet was shot down by Iranian forces on Friday. One crew member was quickly and safely rescued. The other, though, of course, remained missing. While U.S. forces searched for the airman nonstop, the Iranians were searching as well. The country's state media promising a reward on Friday for anyone who captured the missing airman alive.

Now, Iranian media is actually denying the rescue even happened. Let's let you walk you through what we know at this hour about the rescue mission itself. Of course, the details still coming in to us here. Sources, though, do tell CNN's chief security analyst, Jim Sciutto, that the airman contacted the U.S. military shortly after the crash, contacting from behind enemy lines.

We do have team coverage this morning around the globe, tracking these latest developments. Betsy Klein is live for us at the White House. Eleni Giokos is in Dubai. CNN military analyst Colonel Cedric Leighton joining us now from Washington, D.C.

Betsy, I want to begin with you. First of all, walk us through what we know about the operation at this hour.

BETSY KLEIN, CNN WHITE HOUSE SENIOR REPORTER: Right, Erica. There's still so much we don't know. And we are working to gather more details on how this happened, where exactly in Iran this happened, what happened to that crew member in the time between when his plane went down and when he was rescued, what exactly his condition is, as well as whether any U.S. assets were harmed during this operation.

What we do know is that this is a remarkable operation by the U.S. military. It comes after a U.S. F-15 fighter jet was downed over Iran on Friday. The president said that the United States had been tracking the second crew member after the first crew member was rescued and planning for his rescue since he was downed.

He really underscored the sensitivity of this operation in his post to social media just after midnight, the president writing, quote, "We got him. My fellow Americans, over the past several hours, the United States military pulled off one of the most daring search and rescue operations in U.S. history for one of our incredible crew member officers, who also happens to be a highly respected colonel and who I am thrilled to let you know is now safe and sound." The president goes on to say that at his direction, the U.S. military sent dozens of aircraft armed with the most lethal weapons in the world to retrieve him. He sustained injuries, but he will be just fine.

The president went on to say that the success of this mission really underscores U.S. air dominance over Iran. Of course, it comes as the Iranians say that this didn't even happen, that this mission failed and that multiple U.S. aircraft were damaged in the process. We are checking on that.

But while this is certainly a welcome development for the country and for the Trump administration, it comes at a very challenging moment for this conflict, which began about five weeks ago today. Polling shows that this war is deeply unpopular with the American people. The president has repeatedly said it could be over in a matter of weeks, but it could escalate before then. And that is because there is a deadline coming up set by the president for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Of course, that's that critical oil thoroughfare. He says if they do not do so soon, all hell will rain down on them. Erica.

HILL: Betsy, appreciate it. And as the world, of course, is learning more about the rescue of this U.S. airmen in Iran, we're monitoring reaction from around the region. As I mentioned, Eleni Giokos is now in Dubai for us. So, as I noted, Iranian media actually denying this rescue ever happened. What more is Iran saying? And also, what's the reaction around the Middle East?

ELENI GIOKOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. So, the Iranians right now and on Iranian TV, they're categorically denying this rescue mission happened. In fact, they have a completely different account saying that two Black Hawk aircraft, as well as a C-130, were downed in the southern parts of Isfahan. So, completely different take. In fact, the parliamentary speaker, Speaker Ghalibaf, Erica, came out with an image showing what seems to be debris.

[06:05:00]

Now, we've reached out to U.S. military to get a response. But clearly, the Iranians are trying to sort of play down this rescue mission, which President Trump has said was dangerous and daring, and they were able to rescue the second crew member after around 36 hours, after the U.S. F-15 fighter jet was downed in Iran on Friday.

It was also a race by the Iranians, as well as the United States, to find the second crew member. There was a reward out for the capture of the crew member. And clearly, this is an enormous feat for the United States. We have had reaction from Israel, from the finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, and this is what he had to say. The hearts of every Jew and every Israeli is filled this morning with joy over the safe rescue of two American air crew members in heroic operation on Iranian soil. So, that was part of the messaging here.

But importantly, we've also heard from military analysts who say that if this crew member was captured, it could potentially be a bargaining chip for Iran, as that deadline looms where President Trump is reiterating that all hell will break loose if the Strait of Hormuz is not opened.

In the meantime, Iran, of course, retaliating with not only strikes in the Gulf region, but also very harsh words, saying that if Iranian critical energy infrastructure is struck over the next few days, that the gates of hell will open up on the region. So, we're monitoring that, as we've seen new strikes in Abu Dhabi, specifically on a petrochemical plant here. We've seen two specific sites in Kuwait struck, a power plant as well as a water plant, and two units are now out of work as well.

So, this is really a critical moment, Erica, where many people are asking, what is the military capability of Iran to make good on their threat in the coming days?

HILL: Yes, an important question as we wait and we watch, and of course, that deadline, which Betsy mentioned as well. Eleni, appreciate it. Thank you.

Also, with us this hour, CNN Military Analyst Colonel Cedric Leighton. Colonel Leighton, let's start, if we could, with the operation itself. So, we learned, Jim Sciuto reporting, that shortly after this airman went down, who we're told is a weapons specialist, shortly after that, was already able to make contact. Walk us through the training that he would have received to be able to immediately work to not only get himself to safety, but to let the U.S. military know that he needed to be rescued.

COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Yes, Erica, good morning. This is a key element of their training. Basically, once they land and if they can safely remove themselves from their parachutes and their harnesses, then they move quickly to an area where they feel safe. And they try to avoid being seen by the local population, by local military forces.

And what they -- the first thing that they do is they make sure that their beacon is activated. And that beacon is the one that transmits their locational data to a central command post. And that can then be relayed throughout the U.S. military system all the way to the Pentagon and to the White House. So, that's basically how things start. They do have capability to communicate in addition to that beacon. And that appears to be what happened in this case, that the colonel who was -- you know, who was the weapons systems officer on board the F- 15, he was able to communicate and provide further locational data and also receive guidance, because they would have some idea and, in some cases, a very good idea of exactly not only where he is, but where he would need to go in order to be picked up. And most importantly, in the initial stages, to avoid being detected by the Iranian forces.

HILL: And that's some of the challenge, right? There is this incredible technology to be able to communicate with the U.S. military to facilitate that rescue. But there's also a fine line to make sure that that information, frankly, and that that communication is not intercepted by the Iranians.

LEIGHTON: Yes, absolutely. And so, that communication has to be quite discreet and it has to be encrypted. So, that's a real challenge. Those people that work on those things within the U.S. intelligence community are highly skilled, but all communications have a degree of vulnerability associated with them. So, the most important thing is that the signal not be intercepted, not be deciphered and not be spoofed. And so, those are key factors in the way in which the whole system operates.

And the system does have redundancies within it. It also has some safeguards within it to prevent or at least mitigate the spoofing of, you know, potential spoofing of an interception of the communication.

[06:10:00]

HILL: As we're learning more about this rescue operation and how it went down, frankly, we're hearing still team six. We're hearing about the sheer number, right, of U.S. military involved. Just walk us through your sense of what would have been needed to ultimately end up where we are, which is this incredibly successful mission that did not result in any loss of life. As we've been told, two planes were reportedly destroyed so that they could not be taken by the Iranians. But the fact that there were so many involved just walk us through that, not only the different branches, but just the intense coordination that would have to go into this moment.

LEIGHTON: Yes, basically, the tip of the spear is the 52nd Expeditionary Rescue Squadron. Now, they may or may not have been directly involved in this, but that kind of capability would be the capability that would be needed. And they are actually located in the Middle East and are ready to go on a moment's notice for events exactly like that.

So, these are the rescue men that the PJs that actually are there and can actually come into an area on a moment's notice. But behind all of that, you have all kinds of elements within the Air Operations Center, which are designed to facilitate the communications of the rescue crew, as well as direct all of the air picture within a certain area of responsibility. And that Air Operations Center is the one that really directs not only the rescue, but also helps move the downed pilot or the downed weapons systems officer to a safe location. They are fed a lot of intelligence information. They also serve as a communications note. And those elements then come together. But a lot of this is then orchestrated at higher levels of command beyond the Air Operations Center to include the unified command, which is central command. That's where Admiral Brad Cooper is the commander. And then, of course, it goes to the Pentagon, where the Secretary of Defense and then ultimately the president can follow this from the White House Situation Room.

So, in essence, what you have, Erica, is a very big architecture that brings all the helicopters, all the airplanes that are needed in order to do this. And when the president talks about dozens of aircraft, that could very well be the case in this situation because you have the actual rescue craft that go in, plus you have intelligence overwatch, and you have fighter overwatch. So, there are fighters that would come in to potentially help with any ground engagements, say that their parties are discovered by the rescue party, they're discovered by the local elements there. So, they would be there to help protect those elements if they needed close air support for because of an engagement from hostile forces.

HILL: Colonel Cedric Leighton, always appreciate your insight and your expertise. Thank you so much for joining us early this morning.

LEIGHTON: You bet, Erica.

HILL: Still ahead here on CNN, more on this breaking news as we look at what comes next now in the war with Iran and also how Iranians may have actually played a role in that airman's rescue.

Plus, a live look for you this hour at Vatican City. Pope Leo delivering his Easter message to the world this hour. We'll bring you live to Rome just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:15:00]

HILL: More now on the breaking news out of the Middle East. President Trump announcing on social media U.S. forces rescued the airman who was on that F-15 shot down over Iran. The Iranians desperately wanted to find the missing American airman first.

They were offering a reward, and of course, that person could have been extremely useful as a bargaining chip. An Iranian TV news anchor reporting that officials offered a valuable reward and prize to anyone who captured the airman and handed him over. Iranian media outlets are now denying, by the way, that this rescue even happened.

Joining me now is Behnam Ben Taleblu, who's the senior director of the Iran program at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. Behnam, it's great to have you with us at this hour. The fact that Iranian state media is now denying this U.S. rescue operation, the Tasnim news agency claiming several enemy aircraft, American aircraft, were destroyed by the warriors of Islam, and the pilot rescue operation failed. Even in a country that is, of course, dealing with an intense Internet blackout, the reality is information could still be getting through. What's the strategy here?

BEHNAM BEN TALEBLU, SENIOR DIRECTOR, IRAN PROGRAM, FOUNDATION FOR DEFENSE OF DEMOCRACIES: Great to be with you, Erica. Indeed, information is getting through. This was something that actually had attracted quite a lot of Iranian attention on social media, even, again, with that blackout that you mentioned.

But there's two things that are worth recalling here. One is that for the Islamic Republic and a government like the Islamic Republic, the media war or the narrative war is just as important or often more important than the war based on the facts on the ground. Most authoritarian governments are based on some kind of constellation of lies, narrative, and disinformation. And this is yet another, you know, element of that kaleidoscope between state in Iran and society in Iran.

And the second thing is that the regime, you know, by invoking religious allegory there, is keen to draw a parallel with the failed American rescue attempt back in 1980, if I'm not mistaken, to rescue U.S. hostages in the Carter administration. That was Operation Eagle Claw. Many U.S. special operators have really trained off of that mission since then.

[06:20:00]

We've seen a significant change in capacity and capability for U.S. special operations, taking into account everything from environment, terrain, you know, the threat of the adversary. A lot of things have changed since 1980, but the Islamic Republic is once again trying to say that just as that mission failed in 1980, this one failed as well.

HILL: There was, you know, as we noted, this call, of course, or frankly -- pardon me, the fact that we were hearing from Iranian state media there was a reward, perhaps not surprising, for any information, for the capture. This airman could have been quite the bargaining chip, and that leading to, understandably, a lot of concern on the American side. How do you think this successful rescue, though, changes, if at all, where this war stands?

TALEBLU: Well, not just where this war stands, but where this war could go, and indeed, some might say should go. Some might say, you know, it requires a fundamentally different approach to aerial operations, particularly in the southern parts of the Islamic Republic, given the fact that could this have been a trap, a trap to draw U.S. forces, who had been flying recently, probably in a similar pattern, as you know, much lower recently, with heavier bombers as well, into a false sense of confidence over parts of Iranian territory.

We've heard debates, if not even braggadocio from the administration, about air supremacy versus air superiority. Even if one or two surface-to-air missile systems are hidden in underground tunnels, if they are able to come out again and surprise low-flying, you know, U.S. jets, again, that could be a problem. And the second is, what if this is not surface-to-air missiles, but MANPADs, those shoulder launch systems that do, you know, lock on to the heat signature of lower jets at that altitude. So, one is that, you know, potentially operationally things may change.

But two, I think it just goes to show you that despite the Islamic Republic wanting to find this service person and take them hostage and, you know, make have a big propaganda coup, the regime couldn't even find this person on their own territory. And that just goes to show you the conventional, as well as the intelligence, overmatch of the Americans versus the Islamic Republic. So, you know, keep your eye out for how that overmatch manifests itself in the weeks to come.

HILL: We have, of course, the deadline looming from President Trump to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, which has been followed by a threat in return from Iran. Take a listen to what a spokesman for Iran's military said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EBRAHIM ZOLGAQARI, IRGC SPOKESPERSON (through translator): Do not forget, if escalation continues, the entire region will turn into hell for you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: How concerned are you about potential escalation in the coming days?

TALEBLU: Well, we've seen quite a bit of escalation, not just in this conflict, but really in the various cycles of violence that have defined the post-October 7 Middle East. You know, some have said, particularly from the Arab states of the Persian Gulf, that this is now a regional war.

Well, we've been living in some variant of a regional-wide war since October 7, 2023. Multiple fronts against Israel, multiple fronts against international commerce, multiple fronts against U.S. forces, and now multiple fronts against critical infrastructure, both on the pro-American side and on the anti-American side.

So, I am worried about the regime preemptively potentially going against critical infrastructure in some of those GCC states, but also if the regime chooses to use what's left of its limited firepower to draw more blood rather than to cause more economic pain or energy damage.

HILL: Yes. Behnam Ben Taleblu, really appreciate your insight this morning. Thank you.

And as we continue to follow the breaking news this morning, I do want to share with you some video that we just got in here to CNN. So, this is from Iranian state media, which shared images of an apparent aircraft wreckage. This following the news from President Trump posted just around midnight that there had been a successful U.S. rescue operation to rescue that airman.

We're going to have more on this ahead. We are also closely following what is happening at the Vatican this hour. Pope Leo just wrapping up his Easter message on this Easter Sunday in front of thousands joining there in Vatican City. We're going to take you there in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:25:00]

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.

HILL: As we continue to follow the breaking news out of the Middle East, U.S. forces in dozens of aircraft rescuing the U.S. Service member whose F-15 fighter jet was shot down over Iran. New video geolocated by CNN appears to show the wreckage of several aircraft in southern Iran.

So, you can see in this footage here, there's a large field of smoldering debris destroyed aircraft parts. It's not clear the type of aircraft here in this video or who it may belong to. These images were released after President Trump confirmed the missing airmen's rescue just hours ago.

CNN Senior White House Reporter Betsy Klein back with us now. So, Betsy, as we're learning more this video, how does that figure into what we know at this hour?

KLEIN: Erica, this video certainly underscores how much we still do not know about this operation, including how this happened, where in Iran exactly it happened? What happened to this crew member in the time between when that plane went down and when he was rescued? And whether, as Iran contends, any U.S. aircraft were harmed in this operation.

[06:30:00]

The president, we should note, said that no U.S. service members were even wounded in this remarkable rescue operation.

The president said that the U.S. had been tracking this downed crew member, his location, and planning for this rescue operation since Friday.

I want to read to you a little bit from his post to social media overnight. He says, "we got him, my fellow Americans. Over the past several hours, the United States military pulled off one of the most daring search and rescue operations in U.S. history for one of our incredible crew member officers who also happens to be a highly respected colonel and who, I am thrilled to let you know, is now safe and sound." The president goes on to say that at his direction, the U.S. military sent dozens of aircraft armed with the most lethal weapons in the world to retrieve him. He sustained injuries but will be just fine.

Of course, as we've mentioned, the Iranians are denying this and they say that multiple aircraft were damaged or harmed during this operation. And we are still working to ascertain the substance of what we are seeing in this video. But we've asked the White House whether we might expect a briefing. The president is here in Washington for Easter Sunday with no public events on his schedule, Erica. HILL: All right. We'll see if that perhaps may change based on, of

course, what has happened over the last several hours. Betsy, appreciate the updates.

Also with us, Bryan Stern. He's a U.S. Army Navy veteran and the Chairman and founder of Greybull Rescue, a nonprofit that helps with rescue and evacuation efforts in conflict zones.

Brian, it's great to have you with us and to talk through this with your expertise this morning. So according to sources, the airman was able to get in contact shortly after ejecting, able to get in contact with the U.S. military Friday. That, of course, helped put this rescue operation in perhaps more in focus. Just walk us through, though, the difficulties that this operation was facing given not only where things stand in terms of the war, but just the terrain as well?

BRYAN STERN, U.S. ARMY & NAVY VETERAN: Yeah. So my -- just for context, my team and I have done -- we've conducted 809 of these things in the last 4 years. Rescues are hard. Evacuations are hard. Extractions are hard. It doesn't matter where they are. When we did Maria Corina Machado out of Venezuela, that is hard. This is hard. All these things are very, very, very difficult.

The evacuees, the -- what we call the IPs, the isolated persons, in this case, this -- the WSO, the colonel, they have to take -- well, we really need them to take an active role in their safety and in their extraction. And that's exactly what you saw here.

The benefit here is that the -- our U.S. Air Force personnel go through a lot, and a lot and a lot of training. There's a lot of sustainment training that goes with it to help, right? It's a lot different than a random American stuck in a war zone, as an example.

So when we talk about the terrain, this terrain is formidable. You can look at it, it's -- parts of it are flat. What does that mean? There's not many places to hide. Where it's not flat, it's mountainous. What does that mean? It's really hard to navigate, really hard to climb, and also really hard to hide.

So the terrain here was unforgiving. More importantly, the people in the area were equally as unforgiving, too. So you have a very hostile threat environment. You have a very hostile physical environment. And at the same time, because it's Iran -- Iran is not Afghanistan. The Iranian regime is not the Taliban. The Taliban thought that plumbing was a novel idea. The Iranians, they had --- they really know what plumbing is. They have excellent electronic warfare. They have missiles. They've got jammers. They've got interceptors. They have excellent intelligence, excellent ground intelligence.

So from a transmission and emanation perspective, every time that WSO got on the radio was risk of detection. And that means geolocation. So you have unforgiving terrain. So I have poor terrain, a hostile environment because it's a war zone, and also a very high counterintelligence threat environment as well.

HILL: And there also was the clock ticking for obvious reasons, given everything that you just laid out, in addition to the fact that we're told, according to the president's post, that the airman was injured, is going to be okay. But that obviously adds to the situation as well.

What does this say to you moving forward? The fact that this was able to be done successfully, according to the president, no loss of life, no further injuries, which is remarkable, especially such a large operation involving, you know, dozens -- we were told, dozens of aircraft? It also says a lot about what the U.S. military is prepared for as this war continues.

STERN: Yeah, I think is a strategic communication to anyone who's watching. This is very analogous to the Maduro raid and so many other things that have happened recently insofar as we will fight and we will win.

[06:35:08]

Don't take our people or we will come for them. We understand we will move heaven and earth to rescue American citizens. The benefit of this operation is very interesting. One of the things that will come out, I'm sure, in due course, there were things in this operation that went wrong, that did not go perfect. And there'll be armchair quarterbacks to talk about that. And that's fine.

The reality is when you do rescue missions, they never go to -- never go perfect. There's always things. That's the footage that you're seeing. The propaganda, the Iranian propaganda machine is in full swing. You're looking at the wreckage of a C-130. We lost two C-130s in this operation. Both of those were blown up by us. They were -- for a lot of reasons, they were not usable. Those were detonated by U.S. special operations forces.

So the -- well, the point is, is that the integration of our intelligence community. This was an absolutely an intelligence-led operation paired with air dominance, paired with special operations. This delivers a strategic communication to say that we will move heaven and earth for our people, number one. And number two, we can, we can adjust for bumps in the road and still win.

We can lose two giant aircraft and still not lose anybody and still prosecute an objective successfully. That is a strategic communication that I will tell you most militaries, most forces, most intelligence communities in the world, they can do a lot of things, but they can't pivot like that. And that's because the integration of our SOF, our intelligence community, and our greater military in the joint force is so well-integrated that we can sustain a couple of bumps in the road, deal with them appropriately because we have so much resources and so much commitment and so much tenacity, and then still succeed and win where some of our guys will have some bumps and bruises, but it'll be okay.

HILL: Bryan, really good to have you with us this morning and to walk us through all of that. I do want to point out CNN has not yet independently confirmed, those exact aircraft and the details behind what led to this wreckage. Of course, we're continuing to work through that. Thanks again for being with us this hour. We are continuing to follow the breaking news, of course, out of Iran.

And the very good news, the headline for you if you're just joining us, that missing airman rescued. The president posting that just hours ago, injured but will be fine in the words of the president. We are also following a number of other developing stories on this busy Sunday morning.

We're on the verge of a really big moment in space at this hour. The Artemis II crew preparing for its lunar flyby as we're now nearly halfway through this historic mission. We'll take a closer look for you at what is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:42:27]

HILL: New this morning, video of a chaotic scene at a Louisiana parade where a car drove into a crowd yesterday, injuring at least 15 people. So the footage captures the panic and the confusion as Iberia Parish first responders work to reach the injured. So at one point, a woman can actually be heard describing what she's seen.

Take a listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WOMAN 1: She's under the car?

WOMAN 2: Yes, her leg is under the car.

WOMAN 1: Oh my God, she's sitting there?

WOMAN 2: Her leg is under the car.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: So you hear that woman talking about someone's leg being under a car. Here's what another resident says he saw.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ELI ANDERSON, RESIDENT: We were all walking in the parade, listening to music, getting sprayed with water, having fun. And I noticed a guy get into his car. He starts revving his engine and he inches closer to the parade. I just simply thought that he was coming join the parade.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: So the sheriff's office says the driver showed signs of impairment. At this point, they do not believe the crash was intentional. State police say the driver was booked, charged with driving while impaired, first-degree negligent injuring, careless operation, and also open container.

Also this morning, NASA sharing new photos from the Artemis II astronauts as they continue their historic journey toward the moon. Right now, that crew is flying far beyond Earth's orbit, sending back fresh views as they head closer to the moon, farther from Earth than any humans in more than 50 years. The big moment, we are counting down to that, that comes tomorrow when the spacecraft makes its closest flyby of the moon. And there's also some good news from inside the aircraft. Mission control confirming an earlier toilet issue, that has been fixed. That is very good news for the four astronauts on board.

Joining me now is Keith Cowing, former NASA astrobiologist and the editor of NASA Watch. Great to talk to you again this morning, Keith. So when we look at where things stand this morning, the -- one of the mission specialists, Christina Koch, talking about the moment that something really clicked for her, that something felt different as they were looking at the moon.

And I just want to play that moment for our viewers.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRISTINA KOCH, ARTEMIS II ASTRONAUT: That one of the interesting things that happens when you look at a moon that inherently just looks different is -- like the darker parts just aren't quite in the right place. And something about you senses, that is not the moon that I'm used to seeing. And sure enough, we got out our lunar targeting information and we matched up and we're like, yeah, that is the dark side. That is something we have never seen before.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: Can you put that, Keith, in perspective for us, that dark side, something we have never seen before. What does this mean?

[06:45:00]

KEITH COWING, EDITOR, NASA WATCH: Well, you know, it's funny. Last night, I tweeted something because it just occurred to me from Star Wars when they say, that's no space station, it's a moon. I just flipped it. That's no space, you know, it's -- that's what came to mind.

And today, I just tweeted something else where the NASA thing that they play while nothing's happening with the music and the spacecraft moving slowly, I went back to being the 15-year-old boy watching 2001 for the first time back in '68.

So I think anybody who's even had a tangential contact with the space program has got to be having these resonances. But where they are, to her point of where she is, you know, there is something about the moon that if you've been looking at it for a long time, it sort of just sits in your head with the dots. And if it's off, the only way your brain can tell you that is we're close, we're getting closer. And it'll be kind of cool when you hear the reactions to the moon, like visibly getting bigger between the time they ate lunch and the time they checked in an hour later. That's when you're going to hear some really interesting comments [ph].

HILL: What does it mean though too that we're there now for the first time ever, right, laying eyes on this part of the moon? What is the hope in terms of what we'll learn even just in those visuals that could change what we know?

COWING: Well, you know, it's funny. We have -- we've been sending probes to the moon for half a century, okay? Got lots of pretty pictures, very close, high resolution. We could see the lunar landers where they still are after half a century.

And, you know, they -- people would say, well, what, you can send two2 people. Well, human eyeballs aren't the best visual system, but they're pretty good. But it's what's behind them and what to look for during those moments is important.

And being able to take a camera and take a shot lets you interpret the scene from a human perspective that you then zing back to Earth for a few other billion people to see too. So there's multiple layers as to the value. But going into the far side of the moon, even though the Chinese have landed there and so forth, there's always something new on the moon.

HILL: Always something new. And we'll be learning more about it. Keith, really great to talk to you as always. Thank you.

COWING: My pleasure.

HILL: Up next here, a live look as Pope Leo is on the Pope Mobile now, making his way out of Vatican City. You see him there, greeting the faithful feeding that cute little guy after delivering, of course, his message on this Easter Sunday. A closer look at that message from the Pope, his very first Easter, of course, as pontiff. We're going to take you there live next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:51:54]

HILL: As we continue to follow the breaking news this morning, President Trump confirming a daring rescue mission has successfully recovered a missing U.S. Air Force colonel from inside Iran.

The president says the colonel is, quote, "safe and sound" after a high-stakes operation, which involved dozens of aircraft to retrieve him. We are also -- just getting into here at CNN, so this is new video which has been geolocated by CNN. It appears to show the wreckage of several aircraft in southern Iran. You can see in the footage there's a large field here of smoldering debris, destroyed aircraft parts. And as we are looking at this, we are still determining just the type of aircraft and who owns them. We'll bring you more on that information as soon as it's confirmed.

Also new this morning, Pope Leo celebrating his first Easter since being selected for the papacy nearly a year ago now. Thousands of worshipers gathering at St. Peter's Square for mass and for the Easter blessing. CNN Vatican correspondent Christopher Lamb is there.

Christopher, the Pope's message this morning, I do want to talk about the message, but the Pope also, as I understand it, he just went by in the Pope Mobile. So you just saw the Pope this morning?

CHRISTOPHER LAMB, CNN VATICAN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Erica. The Pope just went by. And actually, I can see him now coming back up the Via della Conciliazione into St. Peter's Square. There's huge excitement here. Thousands have gathered out there waving at him. He's actually just coming by. It's like -- as you might be able to hear the sound of people waving, he's responding to the crowd.

Obviously, it's Easter Sunday and it's a day of joy for Catholics who are celebrating the most important day of the church's year. And Pope Leo has on this Easter Sunday emphasized the importance of this this day, communicating hope and peace. And he spoke earlier from the balcony of Saint Peter's Basilica, and this is what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

POPE LEO XIV, HEAD OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH: 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 so, indifferent to the economic and social consequences they produce, which we all feel.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAMB: Well, look, Erica, Pope's repeatedly talk about peace. But the thing about this Pope is he is, of course, the first American to be elected to the papacy. And his message of peace comes at a time when, of course, the U.S. has started this military intervention in Iran. So there's an added resonance to the Pope's words. And he is very concerned about what is going on in the world. He actually announced today that he's calling a special peace vigil in St. Peter's Basilica on the 11th of April.

So, you know, in these last few days, we've really seen Pope Leo step up his calls to try and end this conflict in the Middle East and Iran.

[06:55:08]

He spoke to President Herzog of Israel on Good Friday. He told me on Tuesday that he hopes that President Trump can find an off-ramp to end the war in Iran.

So we are seeing this first American pope who does have a slightly more low-key style than his predecessor start to really find his voice. This happening on, of course, the first Easter that he's celebrating since his election, Erica.

HILL: Yeah. And certainly, his words on Palm Sunday just last weekend, saying that Jesus has not listened to the prayers of those who wage war, getting a lot of attention here in the United States as well over the last several days.

Christopher Lamb, great to have you there for us live. We'll continue to check in with you. Thank you.

Ahead here in the next hour, the world reacting to the breaking news out of Iran. U.S. forces rescuing the airman whose fighter jet was shot down in Iran. We have live team coverage for you across the globe. Stay with us. This is CNN This Morning.

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