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Erin Burnett Outfront

Two U.S. Planes Shot Down; Aboard Artemis Mission; A Top FEMA Official Defends Claim He Was Teleported To Waffle House. Aired 7-8p ET

Aired April 03, 2026 - 19:00   ET

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

[19:00:35]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: OUTFRONT next:

Breaking news, "The New York Times" just reporting that a U.S. Black Hawk helicopter was hit by Iranian ground fire. That is on top of two U.S. warplanes already shot down. A desperate search underway in Iran for one American still missing.

Plus, more breaking news. The Artemis crew tonight preparing for the main event, traveling further in space than any humans before them to the dark side of the moon.

The head of the Artemis program is here with the live update, along with the brother of an astronaut on board.

And our KFILE, with new reporting on a top FEMA official who once said he teleported to a waffle house. That official now doubling down on that claim.

Good evening. I'm Brianna Keilar, in for Erin Burnett.

OUTFRONT tonight, the breaking news, two U.S. warplanes shot down in the Iran war. And at this hour, there is a frantic search for one American crew member still missing in Iran.

One of the jets Iran says it shot down was an F-15E. That is a plane that is crewed by two people, a pilot and a weapon systems officer. We know one crew member was rescued and is alive, and it is now a race against time to find the second American. It's a highly risky mission. Just look at this video just in to CNN. It appears to show Iranian police officers firing at helicopters during what is believed to be the search and rescue operation.

"The New York Times" now reporting at least one Black Hawk chopper was hit by Iranian ground fire. And this comes as one Iranian official is offering a reward of around $76,000 for anyone who hands over that crew member alive and on state TV, this is the message that is being broadcast to millions. Quote, "Dear and courageous people, if you capture and hand over a pilot or pilots of the enemy alive to the law enforcement and military forces, you will receive a valuable reward and prize.

Now, it's still unclear where that jet went down, but this video geolocated by CNN shows low flying aircraft searching for the jet in southwestern Iran. And there's a second clip. It appears to show dozens of people there along this ridgeline, searching for signs of a downed aircraft or crew members.

This incredibly dangerous search coming as we are learning new details about a second combat plane that Iran shot down as well. The A-10 Warthog attack plane, it went down near the Strait of Hormuz. Now, according to a source, the plan, the plane was able to make it out of Iranian territory before the pilot ejected. That pilot was safely rescued.

Jim Sciutto is OUTFRONT live in Tel Aviv for us. He just moved into a shelter moments ago because of an air raid.

Jim, please tell us the latest that you're learning about the search and rescue operation.

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Yeah. We're hearing the air raid sirens over Tel Aviv, and we've just heard some of the booms of the interceptions or attempted interceptions. Just a reminder of Iran's continued missile capabilities, certainly to target its neighbors, to target Israel.

But also, as we saw today, to take down not one, but two U.S. military aircraft. It began with this F-15E, it's a two-person crew shot down over southwestern Iran quickly. U.S. search and rescue teams went out to rescue the pilots. We saw a number of videos of those U.S. rescue aircraft over southwestern Iran helicopters, fixed wing aircraft, fighters protecting those helicopters and fixed wing aircraft.

By later in the day, we learned that one of the pilots had been rescued. But at this hour, as we get into the early morning hours here in the Middle East, a second pilot status remains unknown. Then it was only in recent hours we learned that a second U.S. aircraft was shot down. This one, an A-10 Warthog, the jet went down into the Persian Gulf. The pilot ejected. That pilot was rescued.

But I think, Brianna, together with the strikes that were receiving right now here in Tel Aviv with these two aircraft shot down, one pilot still missing, but also with our reporting last night that Iran maintains significant missile capabilities, 50 percent of its launchers, 50 percent of its one way attack drones, a significant percentage of its coastal defense missiles. You take all of this together and you realize that despite relentless attacks from nearly one month of war, Iran maintains the ability to strike out, to do damage to U.S. forces in the region and to other countries in the region. And it calls into question President Trump's basic declaration of victory in his address to the nation earlier this week.

KEILAR: Yeah, that reporting about the capabilities, really putting the events of today into context.

Jim Sciutto, thank you.

And OUTFRONT now, retired Army Major General James "Spider" Marks, Brett McGurk, who held senior national security positions under the last four presidents, and Dr. Ravi Chaudhary, former director of rescue forces during the Iraq war. He is also a trained military pilot.

Dr. Chaudhry, this is a video where we see Iranians searching for a crew member. They have been implored to do so by their government. It has been several hours at this point since we first learned about this downed fighter jet.

Are you still hopeful that the U.S. can find this remaining crew member alive?

DR. RAVI CHAUDHARY, FORMER ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF AIR FORCE FOR ENERGY, INSTALLATIONS & ENVIRONMENT: Thank you for that question, Brianna. And most importantly, thank you for your service as a military spouse, because right now, all of the aviation community is watching with bated breath on the outcome of this rescue. And to kick it all off, honestly, we have some of the highest trained pilots, aircrews and rescue officers in the world, and they are now busy doing that job and trying to affect the recovery of our men and women who have become isolated, as we describe it, in the personnel recovery or rescue environment.

Right now, we are moving and transitioning from a period in which, the term Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape, an acronym that's known all too well to crew members. We are transitioning from a survival, when you eject out of an aircraft and then proceed to an evasion period.

Thank the Lord we have one crew member with us, but our rescue forces are not going to stop until we get that final crew member back to their families, back to safer forces. And to give you a sense of what that looks like, I brought with me some of the life support equipment that our men and women in uniform wear.

This is my old helmet that I wore in the air force. And as you can see, it is complex and it's designed to keep our aircrew members safe in any ejection sequence.

Now, this particular ejection happened could -- have happened at separate moments in microseconds that separated our two crew members from each other, which allowed us to rescue one. However, another one could have been a bit further away.

And so, during the ejection sequence, your procedures are pretty clear. You are to make sure that you have a safe canopy, a safe parachute. You look up, you drop your visor, drop your mask, and then ensure that when you land and you do a safe landing, you check yourself to make sure that you are in fact safe, healed, good to go.

And then you go to the next phase, which is the ability to evade. So absolutely, it is a challenging environment and we hope for the best for our crew member that is still isolated.

KEILAR: Yet that training, General Marks, SERE school, one of the more intense trainings that military -- that service members go through. Just talk to us a little bit about the lengths that they are trained to in order to not just avoid capture but also survive if they are captured, and also the lengths the military goes to not leave a man behind. I also think that's very important.

MAJ. GEN. JAMES "SPIDER" MARKS (RET.), ACADEMY SECURITIES HEAD OF GEOPOLITICAL INTELLIGENCE: Well, not leaving a comrade behind is part of our ethos. I mean, that is the bedrock upon which we all stand. And as was described so incredibly well, SERE training is not only rehearsed as a matter of routine, it is a requirement before you get into the cockpit and it's validated as a matter of routine as well.

And every time there is a mission, there is always a 24/7 within minutes available SESAR combat search and rescue capability that's on the tarmac ready to go. So, the time between, when the pilots had to evacuate that aircraft had to get out of that aircraft, and by the time they hit the ground, there was probably always already several blades that were turning and aircraft that were aloft in order to go to the location.

[19:10:05]

Bear in mind, there are three beacons, one with the aircraft, one with the pilot and one with the seat. So, you have to deconflict where, in fact, which beacon are you going after?

And then to your question about hopefulness and optimism, that overrides everything. I mean, it's not finished until it is acknowledged that the mission has either been accomplished or we've done the very, very best. And indicators are that were moving in that direction. So, you remain eternally optimistic.

And as long as that beacon is chirping, there is obvious hope that you can go after and recover that pilot. And the skills of these SESAR pilots are absolutely world class, and I've been involved in those in different extremist circumstances, and they are the best of the best.

So, I remain very helpful. I hope, I hope that's the message that we can get out.

KEILAR: Yeah. And Brett, you've negotiated with Iran. Obviously, we're familiar with Iran's history when it comes to Americans and American service members. The government is now offering this reward for the capture of the missing U.S. service member.

How would Iran like to exploit that if they got to the crew member first?

BRETT MCGURK, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: I think first, Brianna, look, our hearts and prayers are with our personnel. This is an ongoing rescue mission. I think it's very appropriate. We're not hearing details. This is the most dangerous thing they can do.

And as General Marks just said, whenever we deploy our personnel into harm's way, we deploy the search and rescue capability. So, hearts and make -- I'm just hopeful, that this goes well, but we are in combat right now over Iran on Iranian soil. And this is about as serious as it -- as it gets. And to your point,

Iran would love to have an American military personnel in their custody, honestly, alive. That's what they want. Even remains -- they would keep remains as a as a barter. This would be a POW, but their hostage taking, that's how it's kind of in their modus operandi.

So I -- they are putting out messages from early this morning. Find the pilot, find the personnel. Unclear how the population is responding to that.

But yeah, Brianna, that is why this is so high stakes. And look, we are at war with Iran. I -- we've been saying this now for weeks. This is going to be a long, protracted war. There is no clean off ramp. There is no clear diplomatic path.

We are trying to escalate to de-escalate. That's kind of what we're doing. I was reading between the lines of the president's speech the other night. I don't think that's going to work. So, we're in a protracted campaign here.

And once we come out of this current emergency situation, I think a lot of thinking has to be done about the next moves in this -- in this military operation.

KEILAR: Ravi, I think that service members fighter pilots, even though we have heard these talking points from the administration about the abilities of Iran militarily, be deteriorating, which they have. But I think the American people may have a different view of that than, say, service members do. I think fighter pilots are maybe well aware of some of the risks they're facing?

I think that what has happened may come as a surprise to the American public, especially as were talking about multiple planes being hit than a rescue helicopter being hit. How are you seeing that?

CHAUDHARY: Well, it's quite simple, Brianna. Every time a aircraft or a crew member is put in danger or risk, all of us in the aviation community comes together and our hearts stop. We are thinking -- we are brothers and sisters together in arms. We fly together, we fight together, and we win together.

And so, this moment is crucial for us. Our personal recovery forces are the best in the world at doing this. And they have a motto and it goes all the way back. And it really is built into their DNA, "So that others may live". And they live by that motto every single day.

And so, the professionalism and the courage of the men and women who are serving right now is unparalleled. And so we've got to make sure that we give them the support, the resources and the capabilities they need to do their job that they've been tasked to do.

And if there's one thing I could say to the American people, it would be to keep hope, to continue to support our men and women who are serving, regardless of political affiliation. They are engaged in a struggle. So, thank you very much.

KEILAR: And thank you to you.

And, Spider, the president says that this down jet will not impact negotiations with Iran. Are you seeing this though, as a critical inflection point?

[19:15:01]

MARKS: I don't. I -- as we've all described look, this is an incredibly tragic incident. Look, these are human beings. One has now been recovered. God bless the team that could do that. Hope that that individual is recovering.

We don't know the status of the other pilot. We'll find that out, certainly in the very near future. But keep this all in perspective. I think there are a couple of things to realize. Number one, the velocity of the attacks and the strikes that we've seen over the course of the month is absolutely phenomenal. The punishment that's been laid upon the Iranian regime is unprecedented. And we've had this challenge. And we'll solve this problem.

The second thing is, I think America views what were involved in right now is kind of like a video game. Like you turn it on, you turn it off, we get back involved. Look, these are dirty, nasty engagements. And we have to understand that.

But if the decision is to continue the fight, we continue the fight. Of course, what we've seen is a consideration. I don't think that is the final consideration in terms of what the next steps look like.

KEILAR: Brett, what do you think

MCGURK: In a worst case scenario, Brianna, if they get their hands on an American, that's going to make any diplomatic path all the more fraught. I hope that does not happen.

I generally agree with General Marks. Let's get through this. Let's hope for the best here and then get on with the campaign. But as I go back to my first point right now, I don't see an off ramp, Brianna. We have a long way to go.

KEILAR: Yeah. Especially as the president is saying, two to three weeks. Is it difficult to see what that two to three weeks is? Certainly, I think a lot of observers feel that it is. And you certainly do.

Brett, Ravi, Spider, thank you so much to all of you. Really appreciate it.

OUTFRONT next, our breaking news continues. Next, I'll speak to a top Democrat getting updates on the search for this missing service member in Iran. What is he learning?

Also, breaking NASA releases these first images of earth taken by the Artemis crew as the astronauts prepare to do what no other human has done before, go to this specific part of the far side of the moon. Commander Reid Wiseman's brother is my guest. And Congress questioning a top FEMA official's fitness for office after a KFILE uncovered claims that he once teleported to a waffle house.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:21:35]

KEILAR: Breaking news, the speaker of Iran's parliament mocking U.S. search and rescue efforts for an American crew member who is still missing this hour after a U.S. fighter jet was shot down over Iranian territory, saying, quote, "After defeating Iran 37 times in a row, this brilliant, no strategy war they started has now been downgraded from regime change to, hey, can anyone find our pilots, please?" Adding a frowning face emoji and he continued, quote, "Wow, what incredible progress. Absolute geniuses."

U.S. officials say the other crew member on that downed jet was rescued alive and is receiving medical treatment.

OUTFRONT now, Democratic Congressman Adam Smith, he is the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee.

Congressman, thank you so much.

First off, your reaction to how this is playing with the Iranians and what they're making of this?

REP. ADAM SMITH (D-WA): Well, I think it points up the difficult job that the president has launched us on in this war. We are trying to fundamentally change Iran's calculus in the region and basically eliminate their ability to threaten their neighbors, to build ballistic missiles, to pursue a nuclear weapon, to support terrorist groups. That's a very difficult thing to accomplish.

All Iran is trying to do is survive and maintain the ability to do all of those things I just listed, basically to threaten their neighbors and the asymmetry of that is a problem for us. Yes, we can destroy a lot of their missiles. We can destroy a lot of their launchers. We can destroy their navy and planes, but all they have to have is a few missiles, a few drones, and enough resources to continue to support their proxies in order to survive.

That's why I thought this war was a mistake in the first place. The cost of it was going to be really, really high, and our ability to achieve actual meaningful results was just going to be too difficult. And I think the latest the events from today of two of our planes being shot down, apparently, sort of points up the difficulty of that mission.

KEILAR: And listen, I recognize we don't know. We have to be very clear. We do not know what has happened to this second service member. Obviously, the hope is that they are alive. They will be recovered. If they are captured by the Iranians, which is clearly the goal of the Iranians, what is your concern for that service member and how that could be exploited in this war? SMITH: Yeah, well, two things. First of all, I want to make clear, I

support our service members. I support our troops and my thoughts and prayers are absolutely with the service members who are at risk and at danger every day, and particularly the one that has been lost after this plane was shot down. We need to support that.

I mean, my feelings about the war don't change my incredible support for our service members, and we all need to be rooting and praying that he is returned home safely. But yeah, it fundamentally changes the equation. If the Iranians have an American service member hostage that totally changes the negotiations, it gives them another leverage point and -- leverage point, sorry, and makes it more difficult to resolve this conflict. And that's the other part of the problem with the president's approach on the war, and certainly his speech yesterday.

What is it that we want exactly? He keeps talking about how Iran is begging for a deal. There's no evidence of that.

[19:25:01]

But what would a negotiated settlement look like at this point?

There's rumors that J.D. Vance is trying to negotiate some sort of brief ceasefire, but on what terms? The president has not made that clear. And that makes this all the more difficult to accomplish our objectives.

KEILAR: This demonstration of Iran's capabilities. And we've reported on this, but were sort of seeing it in reality in the events of today. The president has said that this wont affect negotiations with Iran. He said, quote, "We're at war". He told NBC that.

But I wonder if you think the events of today, the capabilities were now seeing, if that's actually something -- do you believe Trump or do you do you think that Trump actually might use what has happened as a pretext to do something more, to maybe launch a ground invasion?

SMITH: Sure. As a general rule, no one should believe Trump. I mean, he's got -- he says things that are patently ridiculous on a day in and day out basis and then contradicts them an hour later. And look, I personally think that's a vastly larger problem than some people seem to think and why we never should have elected him in the first place.

But particularly in a war when he bounces all over the place about what he's trying to accomplish and what the actual factual reality is, that makes all of it more difficult to run our country, much less to be engaged in a war.

But yeah, no, it does make it hard to figure what Trump is thinking in terms of negotiations. If he thinks that this isn't going to change anything.

Again, it points up the asymmetric symmetry here. What Iran just needs to do is have leverage points over it. And certainly, if they're holding a U.S. service member hostage, I think that does change the equation despite what the president has said about it.

KEILAR: Congressman Adam Smith, we thank you so much for being with us this evening.

SMITH: Thanks, Brianna.

KEILAR: OUTFRONT next, our breaking news continues. The downed U.S. aircraft shattering President Trump's claims like this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We're flying wherever we want, Pete. We have no -- nobody even shooting at us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Plus, live pictures from Artemis II. What can we expect when the astronauts get to the dark side of the moon and lose contact with mission control? They're going to lose contact for about 40 minutes. We'll talk to the head of NASA's Artemis program next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:31:33]

KEILAR: All right, we have some breaking news. You are looking at live pictures of the Orion capsule. We keep getting some very cool different views. And this is it from the exterior. And NASA has also released the first stunning images of Earth -- here you see them -- taken by Artemis II Commander Reid Wiseman. Those photos were taken as the four-person crew departed the Earth's orbit after the translunar injection burn, which we were here for live last night. That critical step before Artemis heads toward the moon.

And OUTFRONT now is Bill Wiseman, the brother of NASA astronaut and Artemis commander, Reid Wiseman.

You must be so proud, and I just want to show everyone something. This is your brother in space just moments ago. He addressed -- he addressed the world last night. Here's pictures of him just moments ago.

But he also, of course, addressed the world last night. And I want to listen to that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REID WISEMAN, ARTEMIS COMMANDER: And I got to tell you, there is nothing normal about this, sending four humans 250,000 miles away is a herculean effort, and we are now just realizing the gravity of that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Bill, how does that feel for you listening to your brother and watching him there? BILL WISEMAN, BROTHER OF ARTEMIS II COMMANDER REID WISEMAN: Well, it

feels exactly on par for Reid Wiseman. That's a very Reid Wiseman-like comment. He's an amazing servant leader. And he loves his job. There's no more -- not much more I can say than that.

KEILAR: Yeah. And I mean, they're doing, they're putting on a great show for us as they're doing their science, as they said. There was also this great moment. It was an emotional moment between your brother and his daughters, Ellie and Katy, as the crew was heading to the launch pad, we saw this. The entire crew was in quarantine, so they weren't able to hug.

But he made this heart shape with his hands. And it's -- there it is. It's a bit of a throwback to a special moment that he had with Ellie before a 2014 mission. And for those who don't know, your brother is he's a single parent. He lost his wife to cancer in 2020.

Can you speak to just sort of the personal side of this, how difficult it is for him to be away, even as he's showing his daughters what it is to do something that's just so incredibly groundbreaking and important?

B. WISEMAN: I think its incredibly challenging for him. It's incredibly challenging for the girls. I would say that, Reid is doing what he thinks is best, both for both for them, for himself and for, frankly, for humanity.

And he and I had long discussions about this back when he was discussing going from being the chief astronaut to doing this mission and whether or not that was the right thing for him and the right thing for his family. And I think he did some serious soul searching on that and concluded that this was what he wanted to do.

I don't think it made the girls happy three years ago or even four years ago, but I think if you asked him today, they would say, our dad's doing exactly what he needs to be doing.

KEILAR: And we're looking at him now as we see some live pictures of the entire crew.

I just think its really important that you all have talked about this element. We all get so jazzed and excited about what they're doing, but there is this real sacrifice on the part of the family. Theres the excitement. And I know, Reid posted on Instagram, he said, when you were packing for the moon and discover your daughter snuck some cookies she made into your luggage, my heart can't take it. Got to love that -- cute little smiley face on there.

But he also just relayed that conversation that he had with your nieces to "The Daily Mail".

[19:35:02]

He said, quote, "I told them, here's where the will is. Here's where the trust documents are. And if anything happens to me, here's what's going to happen to you. And I know you had lunch with your nieces here earlier this week.

These are real considerations, right? I mean, you're talking about these kind of years of discussions they've had about this.

B. WISEMAN: For sure. And I think if this had happened four years ago, it would have been a very different circumstance. I'll tell you, those girls grew up a lot in the last few years, and I think that was a very -- frankly, it's -- it sounds like an unnatural conversation to have, but I think it was a very natural conversation for them to have.

KEILAR: Yeah. And an important one for them to have. And I know you must be watching what -- how the mission's been going. It's been going quite well. On Monday, we're going to be were expected to be seeing them on the far side of the moon. They're going to be 40 minutes where they won't be able to communicate with mission control.

It's kind of this almost. It's an unbelievable kind of moment. They are going to be having. But I wonder, how are you going to manage that moment

B. WISEMAN: Well, let me channel that through two different humans. One is my dad, Reid and my dad. He is going to be -- I think somebody earlier today asked the question. He's going to be chewing on a pencil the whole time. He's going to be sweating it.

I'm an engineer, and I know all that's going to happen behind the moon is just physics. They're going to come around the moon in 40 minutes, and were going to be able to talk to them again. But my dad's going to get super nervous. And I think anybody that doesn't understand what it means to have an object 4, 000 miles behind the moon in a return trajectory, I think they're going to be a little challenged with it. But the smart folks at NASA know what they're doing and I'm not worried at all.

KEILAR: I'm glad to hear you were Zen about it. And I just want to let you know I know -- I'm not. I don't think you can see it, but you are right next to your brother right now as were looking at live pictures of him aboard Artemis II. So, you got to replay that when we get off air, and you can see it. It's just a cool moment with you two.

Bill, great to have you on. Thank you so much for being with us.

B. WISEMAN: Cheers. Thanks a lot.

KEILAR: Thank you.

And OUTFRONT now, Dr. Lori Glaze, who is the head of NASA's Artemis program.

All right. Dr. Glaze, it's going to be tough competition coming after talking to Reid's brother there. But this is so exciting what we're watching this -- and also today talk to us about this decision to cancel what is called that outbound trajectory correction burn. It's an engine firing that's supposed to keep the spacecraft on its precise path to the moon.

How should we read that? A sign that things are going well

DR. LORI GLAZE, HEAD OF NASA'S ARTEMIS PROGRAM: Yeah, absolutely. The fact that we don't need that burn just tells you that when we performed that translunar injection burn yesterday evening, it was so spot on that, you know, we had scheduled the opportunity to do this correction burn. We had it in the plan, but it would have been so small, it was barely worth doing. Weve got other opportunities coming up in the coming days, and we will make little adjustments along the way, but you can read that meaning that we are on a great trajectory.

KEILAR: And we're just a few days from this truly historic event when the Artemis crew is on the far side of the moon on Monday, which is further than any humans have traveled into space where they're going to be. What should we be expecting to see?

GLAZE: Well, I can tell folks, you can start thinking about us starting that lunar flyby, going around the far side about 2:45 p.m. on Eastern Time on Monday afternoon, we'll be approaching the moon and starting that trip around. It'll take us several hours around 9:20 p.m., we will be exiting from that lunar flyby. So, we've got several hours of incredible science observations that are going to be made.

You can expect that well be able to watch the crew inside the cabin while they're making those observations, but you can be prepared. It'll probably be kind of dark inside the cabin. They want to be sure that they get really good pictures and imaging, so they want to keep it dark inside so that they can see outside better without internal reflections.

You can also expect, I think I heard you mention there will be a communication outage for about 40 minutes. That's anticipated the moon will be in between us and earth and so were not able to, to have that direct communication link. But as I just heard Reid's brother say, you know, just trust in the physics. There's nothing that can happen except to sling us back around back to Earth. So that's exactly how that'll go.

And then at about 8:30, while were still coming around the back side of the moon, the moon is going to block the sun. So, we will actually have an eclipse where the sun will be blocked by the size of the moon, and the crew are going to be able to see the sun's corona. They are very much looking forward to making those observations.

KEILAR: It's going to be incredible.

[19:40:00]

And as you mentioned, Bill, Reid's brother, he's pretty Zen about this, but he said his dad not so Zen about it. And it feels like we're all getting this kind of moment from the '60s where this this kind of blackout, right?

So how are you going to be? Where on that continuum are you going to be during that 40 minutes?

GLAZE: Well, I'm very confident in what's going to be happening during that time. I again, trust in the physics that it will swing us around, bring us back towards earth. And I also know that our crew are going to be doing some incredible science during that time.

For me, you know, the biggest thing is I just can't wait to see what they're capturing during that time period. And when they come back around, they'll get to share that with us all.

KEILAR: Yeah. And we're going to get to watch it during this hour on Monday. We're so excited.

Lori, we know that you were excited. Dr. Lori Glaze, thank you so much for being with us and sharing your time with us tonight.

GLAZE: My pleasure. Thank you.

KEILAR: OUTFRONT next, we have our breaking news on those two American planes shot down. That will continue. One crew member still unaccounted for in Iran. Could this force President Trump to escalate his war with Iran?

Plus, a top FEMA official doubling down on his claims that he teleported to a waffle house? KFILE is next with what that official is now saying.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:45:32]

KEILAR: Tonight, President Trump, in his first public comments just hours after learning an American F-15E fighter jet was shot down over Iran, he posted this, "Keep the oil, anyone?"

And now, two U.S. warplanes have been shot down as "The New York Times" reporting that a U.S. Black Hawk helicopter was hit by Iranian ground fire and that desperate search is still underway this hour in Iran for the one American who is still missing.

OUTFRONT now, CNN senior political commentator Van Jones and former Republican Congressman Adam Kinzinger. He is a retired lieutenant colonel in the Air National Guard.

Adam, as we're looking at what has happened here in the last day, I think compared to other days in this war, it obviously stands out. Iran hitting a second U.S. combat plane. Now you have the search ongoing for this second crew member. "The New York Times" is reporting that a Black Hawk took fire, Iranian ground fire.

How significant is all of that to you?

ADAM KINZINGER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: It's significant. I mean, its, you know, just a day ago or so, President Trump said that we had air supremacy over Iran. This sounds more like air superiority. I won't get into all the details, but basically, it's still a contested environment. Iran still has some capability.

And I also wonder, there's been some recent shipments between Russia and Iran. So, I'd be -- I'd be curious on what those shipments were. But look, it's still a very dangerous environment. You know, the good news here is that these air crews are very well-trained. I went through this training myself on escape, evasion, resistance, stuff like that. We invest a significant amount of money in combat search and rescue, which makes us very unique compared to any other military. We make it clear that we don't leave people behind.

But this is dangerous work, and I think we've got to take a moment to recognize the fact that we're focused on this means that this doesn't happen very much, which is a testament to our air superiority. But at the same time, it's -- this is -- this is tough and dangerous.

And the fact that they have not found this other this "Wizzo", the weapon systems operator, yet, implies to me that he's doing a great job of hiding. Obviously, we need to be in communications and go in and get him, but it just shows this training is in place and it's fantastic that they have that at least.

KEILAR: Adam, I just want to follow up on something you said. I hear you saying we should question whether this is just Iran getting lucky on this day. And if something has materially changed, perhaps with the help of Russia.

KINZINGER: Uh-huh. Yeah. I mean, look, it's clear that Russia is at least providing satellite intelligence to Iran. Even the White House isn't denying it, although they're claiming it's no big deal. And then as Zelensky came out and said, we know they provided pictures of an air base in Saudi Arabia, and then that air base was attacked with precision. That's what destroyed the E3.

And Russia certainly does have some surface to air capability. Much of it's been degraded in the war with Ukraine. But there have been some shipments back and forth between Russia and Iran. Some of that was advanced Shahed drones, which actually the Russians have improved on from Iran. They make them now in Russia as well. But there could have been other things in that, too.

The problem is the administration is not forthcoming on this stuff. And pretending like Russia isn't part of this makes us question this.

KEILAR: Van, I want to play what we have heard from the president about capabilities. Here we go.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: We literally have planes flying over Tehran and other parts of their country. They can't do a thing about it.

They have no anti-aircraft equipment. Their radar is 100 percent annihilated. We are unstoppable as a military force.

We're flying wherever we want, Pete. We have no -- nobody even shooting at us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Van, what do the events of the last day do to that narrative?

VAN JONES, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I mean, destroys it. And, you know, this is a very serious war and a very unserious president. And, you know, for the families that are impacted, you know, somebody right now is watching this, hoping, praying that their loved one has been found. You want a president that is, with you in mind and body and soul and focus, not doing silly tweets about grabbing oil and whatever else nonsense he's doing.

[19:50:11]

This is not the right way for a commander in chief to act. People are in harm's way, and this could be the first of many. This is really more -- becoming more of a -- of a world war situation when you have Ukraine and Iran and Taiwan and Gaza and over and over again, you see Russia, China, North Korea and Iran cooperating in Ukraine, cooperating in Iran, cooperating across this whole theater against the United States, often Israel, often NATO.

This is a very serious development. This is starting to look like a World War III development with a set of hostile powers. China buying the oil from Russia, buying the oil from Iran, keeping them in the fight, Iran providing drones to Russia. Russia supplying intelligence to Iran, the North Koreans supplying troops to Russia.

This is developing into a very serious thing. And we have a very unserious president doing silly things while the world gets closer and closer to a situation we haven't been in for two generations.

KEILAR: And, Van, when you look at that post of the presidents and you see what has happened today and he's saying it's not going to change negotiations, but I wonder if you're concerned that this -- the president could escalate the war against Iran.

JONES: Well, I don't -- I'm mainly concerned that we get this war fighter back. That's my main concern. And we get this war fighter back safely. Not to be used as a bargaining chip, not to be tortured by Iranians, not to be paraded about. This is the sort of thing Iranians love to do.

I remember being in elementary school. They grabbed a bunch of our hostages back in '79. Right now, they've taken the world itself hostage in terms of the economy. And that strait. They would love to hold an American hostage and just torture us.

And so, the most important thing I'm concerned about is let's get this war fighter home and let's get serious about what this is. This is turning into a very serious situation globally. And we need some seriousness from the White House.

KEILAR: Yeah, the stakes are very high.

Van Jones, Adam Kinzinger, thank you so much to both of you.

And OUTFRONT next, a top FEMA official is addressing KFILE's report that he claimed he was teleported to a waffle house. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:56:47]

KEILAR: Tonight, an update to an exclusive KFILE report you saw first here on OUTFRONT. New fallout over a top FEMA officials claim that he was teleported, yes, teleported to a waffle house. Yes. Waffle house miles away.

Democratic lawmakers have been raising concerns about those comments and about the FEMA official himself, Gregg Phillips, after CNN's KFILE reporting revealed, among other concerning comments, this claim Phillips made on a podcast last year.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GREGG PHILLIPS, HEAD OF FEMA'S OFFICE OF RESPONSE AND RECOVERY: We had a teleport incident. Two of them which, which transported me about 40 miles from where I was and -- and near Albany, Georgia, to the -- to the ditch of a -- to the ditch of a -- of a church. I ended up at a waffle house like 50 miles away from where I was. It was an incredibly frightening moment to experience yourself in your car, flying through the air. It was possible. It was real.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: KFILE's Andrew Kaczynski broke this story. He's with us now.

Andrew, what exactly is Phillips saying now and how is he explaining these claims?

ANDREW KACZYNSKI, CNN KFILE SENIOR EDITOR: Brianna, Phillips is doubling down on his teleportation claims in a series of new social media posts over the last week. Phillips, who oversees the government's disaster response, is defending those remarks, saying they were part of a religious experience and citing examples in the bible, while also accusing critics of taking him out of context. Haters are going to hate. That's what Phillips wrote in one of a handful of comments over the past month on social media. Not backing away from his claims, but defending them and doubling down.

All of those coming in the days following CNN's reporting. On Truth Social, Phillips defended himself by writing in one post, "I have no regrets for my words nor my faith in my savior, Jesus Christ. The bible has many examples of the power of God."

And that same thread, he then shared a passage from the Book of Acts, describing the apostle Philip being, quote, "snatched away" by the Holy Spirit and appearing miles away. And when another user asked him directly if he had experienced something like that himself, Phillips responded yes, adding, quote, "The Bible calls it transported or translated". That post has been deleted since our reporting.

Now, we asked FEMA and Phillips which part was taken out of context, but we have yet to hear back. But Phillips did post a lengthy response to our story on Truth Social on Wednesday, writing that the podcast occurred while undergoing cancer treatment and, quote, "the podcast at the center of this controversy was part of chronicling that journey. And during that journey, things happened that I can't explain."

This all comes after Phillips failed to appear at a House Homeland Security meeting last week, where he had been scheduled to testify on the impact of the partial shutdown on DHS. That is, the agency that oversees FEMA. Now, neither Phillips nor FEMA responded to CNNs question about why he didn't appear. But again, it occurred several days after CNN's reporting.

Multiple Democratic lawmakers at that hearing saying that Phillips past comments made him unfit to lead the office of response and recovery, which sources have told us is one of the most consequential roles at the agency, pointing not only to his claims about teleportation but his past violent rhetoric about former President Biden and inflammatory comments about migrants -- Brianna.

KEILAR: Andrew Kaczynski, thank you.

Thank you for joining us.

"AC360" starts now.