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Trump's Deadline Today for Iran to Reopen Strait; Artemis II Completes Lunar Fly-By and Heads Home. Aired 6-6:30a ET
Aired April 07, 2026 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[06:00:10]
AUDIE CORNISH, CNN ANCHOR: The ultimatum is clear: open the strait or get blown to smithereens. But will President Trump follow through?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PETE HEGSETH, U.S. SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: Iran has a choice. Choose wisely.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: So, Iran rejects a temporary ceasefire. So, what cards do they have left to play?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: One of the biggest highlights was coming back from the far side of the Moon and having the first glimpses of planet Earth again.
(END VIDEO
CORNISH: The Artemis crew has boldly gone where no one has gone before. What Their mission to the Moon means for the future of space travel.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It doesn't feel real. It's still -- I don't know yet. Still numb.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: And it's a "W" for the Wolverines. It came down to the final minute. CNN THIS MORNING starts right now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: The entire country can be taken out in one night. And after that, they're going to have no bridges. They're going to have no power plants. Stone ages, yes.
(END VIDEO CLIP) CORNISH: The fate of Iran hangs in the balance. The U.S. military on standby to fulfill President Trump's ultimatum.
Good morning, everybody. I'm Audie Cornish, and here's where we start: this breaking news out of Iran.
It's deadline day, just under 14 hours left. And right now, the Strait of Hormuz remains closed. Will the president follow through with his threat to, quote, "blow Iran back to the stone ages"? Or will he let diplomacy -- diplomacy prevail?
Both the U.S. and Iran have rejected a temporary ceasefire. Trump says it is not good enough.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ESMAIL BAGHAEL, IRANIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESMAN (through translator): Negotiation in no way involves an ultimata crime, or a threat to commit war crimes.
The Islamic Republic of Iran and the Iranian nation have a very, very bitter experience of negotiating with America, and we did not gain these experiences lightly to simply ignore them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: Today in the group chat, Isaac Dovere, CNN senior reporter; Steve Anderson, retired U.S. Army brigadier general; Chuck Rocha, Democratic strategist and former senior advisor to Bernie Sanders's presidential campaigns; and Ashley Davis, former White House official under President George W. Bush. She's also the author of the new book, "The Power Pivot With Grit, Grace And Growth," which is out today.
Welcome and congratulations.
ASHLEY DAVIS, FORMER WHITE HOUSE OFFICIAL UNDER GEORGE W. BUSH: Thank you. I didn't know you were doing that.
CORNISH: Oh, of course. Of course. We love it. It's in the group chat.
OK. So serious business to start. I have heard that overnight, the IDF issued an urgent warning for Iranians to stay away from trains and railways.
CNN reporting showing that Israel has approved an updated list of energy and infrastructure targets. And that, basically, they're waiting on Trump's decision on the next steps.
And we also heard Trump talking about a plan about bridges. Is this part of the war games? Meaning did people sort of model out what it would mean to go after Iran more broadly?
BRIG. GEN. STEVE ANDERSON (RET.), U.S. ARMY: Well, we would not be going after bridges that had civilian applications only if they had military connections somehow, because otherwise it would be a war crime. Water desalination plants, civilian target, a war crime. Power plants,
probably civilian targets, unless they supported some kind of a military installation. Probably a war crime.
So, it would be a very, very difficult thing for American soldiers to be faced to make it -- you know, to try to obey what would be essentially an illegal order, as Senator Kelly and his colleagues did a couple of months ago.
CORNISH: Yes. I'm glad you're bringing this up, because we have heard it so much. I want to play the U.S. secretary general. I'm sorry, the secretary -- secretary-general of the U.N., who was asked about the potential for violations of international law. And I'll have you guys react when we come out of it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEPHANE DUJARRIC, SPOKESPERSON FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL OF THE U.N.: I think whether something is a crime or not, a crime would have to be decided by a court. But they -- any attack on civilian infrastructure is a violation of international law and a very clear one.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: So, a spokesperson for the secretary-general. Is it too soon to be talking this way?
EDWARD-ISAAC DOVERE, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: The president keeps saying it right. So, that's why we're talking about it. He said over and over again yesterday at that press conference that power plants, bridges are on the target list.
He said, destroy the whole country. That -- that the Iranian people would be willing to suffer for it. Those are the things that, look, I'm -- I'm not a lawyer, certainly not an international lawyer, but there is a pretty clear line in international law.
CORNISH: Yes, that's your cue. Is -- is the line that clear?
ANDERSON: Very clear. I mean, you cannot attack those kind of targets. So -- but every target needs to be evaluated. And that's one of the things that we have legal opinions. We have staff judge advocate, general lawyers that are part of every decision.
And they have to first look at and make a recommendation to the commander, the actual authority that makes a decision. Every single target gets evaluated, whether or not it's an appropriate military target. If it's not an appropriate military target to -- to attack it would be a war crime.
DOVERE: You mentioned that -- that video that had Senator Kelly and the others in it. They -- that video was people who had served in various capacities, saying, just repeating what was in the military code, right? That you are not required to follow an illegal order. And for that, the secretary of defense tried to strip Senator Kelly of
his pension and his rank. It's ongoing legal stuff about it. Right? And saying this would never happen. The president is talking about it happening.
CORNISH: So, the flip side of this is the negotiation, right? Happening in the background, the talks happening in the background. For you guys sort of thinking things, especially like domestic politics-wise, does this give -- do people look at this as Trump just bargaining?
CHUCK ROCHA, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: I don't think so. I think that folks look at this and say, what does this have to do with me? As I talk to voters, they -- they see Iran on the TV. They see what's going on. And they -- they wonder every day as gas prices go up.
And I think that's where the real point is here, is that there's a pressure on Donald Trump that he feels. And he also doesn't like to be told what to do and what not to do.
CORNISH: Right.
ROCHA: And I think that's at the core of this.
But the American people, which none of us have talked about yet -- we talk about all the ramifications of this war -- every day are getting up, and life is getting harder. Gas prices, utility prices, all the things they're like, what does that have to do with me? And how does that make my life better? Easier?
They kind of get it. We don't want bad people to have bad weapons.
CORNISH: Yes. They've created a kind of --
ROCHA: Right.
CORNISH: -- horseshoe politics.
ROCHA: Yes.
CORNISH: Where very -- the furthest right you can go --
ROCHA: Right.
CORNISH: -- and people on the left, anti-war left are together in raising some of these concerns.
DAVIS: I mean, and I would actually like to ask you this question. I think that -- that he has very limited time left in regards to what, obviously, if he hits the threshold of what Congress has to approve in regards to a war, so like 180 days. I don't know how many is it -- how many days are left? Three months maybe.
ANDERSON: Yes, yes. War Powers Act. Yes, 180 days.
DAVIS: Yes. To trigger that. So, I think -- but however I'm -- CORNISH: Never mind more munitions, right? At a certain point.
ANDERSON: Well, the political will to continue to fight. I mean that's the other issue here. You know, I mean, the Iranians have it in spades, OK? They're fighting for their lives there. It's an existential threat to them.
And this whole war was essentially predicated on a miscalculation of their will to fight.
Oh, by the way, they also have the -- the card, which is the Strait of Hormuz. And they also have perhaps 1,000 pounds of highly enriched uranium that we haven't found.
So, the Iranians have the cards. We don't. America's stocks seem to go down every single day. Iran's seem to go up.
DAVIS: But I also think, to go back to your original question, I do feel that this is part of his negotiation.
We all know, and we have for now, almost six years, that he goes like this, and then it comes down at some point. I mean, we have to remember, at the end of the day, we're negotiating with terrorists, and we've never been able to negotiate well with Iran or their, you know, affiliates.
So, I would assume the president would not want to do what he says he's going to do tonight by blowing up bridges, whatever they are: bridges, power plants. But this is definitely part of the negotiation.
Again, though, when you're negotiating with really horrible terrorists, where do you get with that negotiation?
CORNISH: I have one last question, because I still have you here.
When people talk about war crimes or people talk about what steps are next, they often look to who are the leaders, who is around Trump, who said he's working off of gut and instinct.
And I want to show you this image, which is all the military leaders removed or retired under Hegseth as secretary of what he calls war.
So, when you look at this -- and these are people from various positions -- one, there's the obvious: a lot of women and people of color. And that makes sense in the context of their crusade against equity programing, that kind of thing.
Should I be worried --
ANDERSON: Yes, absolutely.
CORNISH: -- frankly, going into a war that there's been this kind of purge of the people who have the knowledge?
ANDERSON: All Americans should be worried, OK? President Trump surrounded himself in his cabinet with nothing but sycophants. These people aren't qualified to do what they're doing. They're not -- they have no experience to do what they're doing. And that's why they're doing such a terrible job, and they're not getting --
CORNISH: What about Caine? I mean, there are people who.
ANDERSON: He's a competent guy. But I'm telling you, he -- what Hegseth has done is essentially tried to purge all the people that would push back against him.
[06:10:03]
Case in point, the chief of staff of the Army, General Randy George. You know, he probably pushed back on the ground operation in Iran.
He probably pushed back on removing black officers and female officers from the one-star list. He might even have pushed back on the Kid Rock flyover and Hegseth's decision to shut that investigation down.
I mean, imagine how differently it would have been if the flyover had been over Bruce Springsteen's house.
CORNISH: Right.
ANDERSON: But I mean, all these kind of things. But Dan Caine probably should have gone to bat for Randy George. He probably should have gone into Hegseth's office and said, Look, if -- if this guy is gone, I submit my resignation.
CORNISH: But their whole thing is --
ANDERSON: And that would have protected him.
CORNISH: -- you've got to follow the policy of the commander in chief. Are they not right to say, we need people who are on board with what we're doing to make sure it's successful at the end of the day?
ANDERSON: Following the commander in chief means giving him advice that maybe he doesn't want to hear. That's what they need.
The problem with Donald Trump and the problem with Pete Hegseth is they surrounded them with nothing but sycophantic yes-men. They're not telling him what he wants [SIC] to hear, because they're going to get fired if they do.
CORNISH: Yes.
ANDERSON: They need to tell him the truth. And that's why we are -- we find ourselves in the middle of the biggest geopolitical disaster in American history.
CORNISH: OK. Thank you so much for being here, Brigadier General Steve Anderson.
You guys are going to stay with me for the rest of it.
Coming up on CNN THIS MORNING, the White House is looking for the leaker. They're threatening to throw a journalist in jail.
And we now know what will replace Stephen Colbert in his late-night slot.
They're partying in Ann Arbor this morning. March Madness is over, and the Wolverines are on top.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nobody cared about stats the whole season. Nobody cared about nothing but winning. I'm just glad to be a part of that.
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CORNISH: OK, this just in. CNN right now is learning of a shooting outside the Israeli consulate in Istanbul. Now, this has resulted in several casualties, according to CNN's affiliate CNN Turk.
Police said three people had been neutralized and two police officers were injured.
Now, video shows that the police were crouching behind a bus amid sustained gunfire. No Israeli diplomatic personnel were believed to be inside the consulate at the time.
And it's now 16 minutes past the hour. Here are five things to know to get your day going.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth invoked God while praising the successful mission to recover a U.S. airman whose fighter jet had been downed over Iran. And he likened this rescue to the Lord's resurrection. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HEGSETH: Shot down on a Friday, Good Friday. Hidden in a cave, a crevice, all of Saturday. And rescued on Sunday. Flown out of Iran as the sun was rising on Easter Sunday. A pilot reborn, all home and accounted for; a nation rejoicing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: In the meantime, the Trump administration has terminated multiple civil rights settlements that were supposed to protect transgender students in school. That's according to the Department of Education.
Now, this reversal is also in a bid to enforce Trump's executive order that the government recognize only sex assigned at birth.
And CBS will not replace Stephen Colbert with its own new programing. Instead, they opt to turn a profit by selling that coveted time spot to Byron Allen.
Now, Allen has a time buy deal with CBS and pays to air his programs on the network. This deal will make CBS profitable in the late-night hours.
Allen's syndicated "Comics Unleashed: will move up an hour to the 11:35 time slot starting May 22, the day after the finale of "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert."
And Amazon and U.S. Postal Service have agreed on a tentative new package handling deal that will help the struggling U.S. agency with its massive financial losses.
So, Amazon is going to retain about 80 percent of its existing deliveries with USPS, or more than a billion packages each year. It had originally threatened cutbacks of more than 60 percent.
And smile.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- to track it down, and he will. And it's over. Hail to the champions. Hail!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: That's right. After 37 years, Michigan is once again national NCAA champions.
The Wolverines beat UCONN 69 to 63 last night in Indianapolis for the tournament title in Ann Arbor. Jubilant fans celebrated this historic win.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sixty-nine to 63.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Michigan, we are victorious. We are champions. We are the national champs of the NCAA. Let's go.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let's go!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: And you are the first team to beat UCONN in the Sweet 16 or later since 2009. This ends an incredible 18-game winning streak for the Huskies.
And after the break on CNN THIS MORNING, talks or threats. Can the president threaten Iran and push diplomacy at the same time?
Plus, the Artemis crew has visited the far side of the Moon, and now they make their journey back home. I'll show you some live images of the spacecraft.
[06:20:04] We're going to be talking to the spokesperson for NASA's interstellar mapping and acceleration probe mission satellite, next.
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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We will explore. We will build. We will build ships. We will visit again. We will construct science outposts. We will drive rovers. We will do radio astronomy. We will found companies. We will bolster industry. We will inspire.
But ultimately, we will always choose Earth. We will always choose each other.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: Artemis II has boldly gone where no one has gone before. The lunar flyby took the astronauts more than 250,000 miles from Earth, farther than anyone has ever been, and NASA's most ambitious Moon mission in more than 50 years pulled off its historic flight last night, spending more than 40 minutes traveling through deep space.
[06:25:13]
The Orion is now headed back home after making history. Hakeem Oluseyi is joining me now to discuss. He is the CEO of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. He's also a spokesperson for NASA's interstellar mapping and acceleration probe mission satellite, which are way better credentials than mine, which are basically "Star Trek" fan. So, I'm glad you're here, Hakeem.
HAKEEM OLUSEYI, CEO, ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY OF THE PACIFIC: Thank you.
CORNISH: And the first question I want to ask is just your reaction to this. We heard earlier what they were saying. Speaking in very sort of lofty terms about the mission.
OLUSEYI: Yes.
CORNISH: How were you feeling about it?
OLUSEYI: Thank you so much for having me.
I think that this is spectacular in many ways. This is a technology demonstration, and it is a sense of a hint of what is going to come next. Right?
We have a grand scheme for creating space infrastructure that leads to a permanent Moon base, permanent presence of humans on the Moon. And this is one of those initial steps.
So, they have been making sure that the technologies to get humans safely on the Moon are working up to specification. And things have turned out, you know, as well as anyone could have hoped. CORNISH: It also feels like a kind of reorientation from focusing on
Mars. I know NASA has new leadership. Can you talk about -- again, you said technology demonstration. What does this show about where NASA is headed?
OLUSEYI: Yes. So, this is -- you know, it illustrates technological leadership on the one hand, right? A lot of people are trying to get to the Moon. And here, NASA has successfully done it. And, you know, we -- SpaceX famously wants to go to Mars.
I think that going to the Moon is a very first step. The Moon is a more hostile environment than Mars is. It doesn't have an atmosphere. And, you know, so what that means is, is that astronauts will be less protected on the Moon, in comparison to Mars.
But it's a lot closer to Earth. So, if you want to jettison and get back to Earth, then the Moon is a safer place in that regard.
CORNISH: Can you talk about this, quote, unquote, "free return"? How does the journey home work?
OLUSEYI: Yes. So, this is the equivalent of throwing up a rock and letting it come back to Earth. But --
CORNISH: Sound scientific.
OLUSEYI: -- the difference is -- is that. The difference is, is that this is a -- you know, space maneuvers are not like moving around in the sea or moving around with an airplane. Everything has to do with what is called orbital dynamics.
So, what you have to do is have burns that put you on the right orbit, and you want that orbit to intersect with the Moon. And then you come under the Moon's gravity and get pulled back down to Earth.
And essentially, this is no different than falling to Earth from 250,000 miles up. So, it's all traveling under the influence of gravity. And here on Earth, we call that falling.
But in our minds, we think that they're flying through space like an airplane. But it's more akin to exactly what I said at the beginning: to a rock falling back to Earth.
CORNISH: Well, Hakeem, I can see why you are a communicator and educator. I really appreciate the explanation. Thank you.
OLUSEYI: Thank you, ma'am.
CORNISH: And straight ahead on CNN THIS MORNING, the Middle East is actually on high alert. How will Iran retaliate if the U.S. and Israel attack power plants and bridges in the region?
Plus, it's runoff day. Can Democrats flip a ruby-red seat in Georgia?
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[06:30:00]
