Return to Transcripts main page

Early Start with Rahel Solomon

Iran Claims Images Show Downed U.S. Fighter Jet; Trump Presses Ahead With Conflict Without Clear Endgame; Former Iranian Official Outlines Potential Peace Deal. Aired 4:30-5a ET

Aired April 03, 2026 - 04:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:33:27]

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back. I'm Becky Anderson, live from our Middle East programming headquarters here in Abu Dhabi in the UAE.

Breaking news out of Iran in the past hour, state media has released images it claims show the wreckage of a U.S. Air Force fighter jet. Iran claims it was an Air F35 stealth fighter. Analysts say the wreckage photos appear to be from a U.S. Air Force F15 jet. U.S. Central Command says all U.S. fighter aircraft are accounted for. Iran's IRGC has made the same false claim at least half a dozen times, CENTCOM says.

Well, two exclusive CNN reporting about the extent of the damage to Iran's military capability now. Three sources tell CNN roughly half of Iran's missile launches are still intact despite the daily attacks by the U.S. and Israeli military. This is according to recent U.S. Intelligence assessments.

Thousands of one-way attack drones also remain in Iran's arsenal. One source says Iran is, quote, "still very much poised to wreak absolute havoc throughout the entire region." Well, a Pentagon spokesperson called CNN's reporting completely wrong.

Well, for more, we are joined now from London by Sanam Vakil, the director of the Middle East and North Africa program at Chatham House. Always good to have you, Sanam. Thank you for joining us this morning.

Let's start with the following. Iran's former vice president for strategic affairs and the former foreign minister has outlined a plan for a peace deal in Foreign Affairs magazine saying, that Tehran, and I quote him here, "should offer to place limits on its nuclear program and to reopen the Strait of Hormuz in exchange for an end to all sanctions, a deal Washington wouldn't take before but might accept now." And he goes on to suggest a non-aggression pact and economic interactions with the U.S. Iran should declare victory and end the war. Javad Zarif has said he has huge experience, of course, in negotiating with the U.S. What do you make of what he has laid out as a plan at this point?

[04:35:48]

SANAM VAKIL, DIR., MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA PROGRAMME, CHATHAM HOUSE: Well, good morning, it's nice to be with you. First of all, yes, you're quite right. Javad Zarif, the former foreign minister, has had success in negotiating with the U.S. he was instrumental in negotiating the Iran nuclear agreement that was signed in 2015. But over the past five or six years, he's really been on the margins of diplomacy. He's no longer an official and sits at the University of Tehran.

I would say he's an outsider of a system that he was once deeply part of. These are interesting ideas. I think what Zarif is suggesting is that Iran currently could declare victory because it has the upper hand. And the time for a deal is now. If Iran tries to continue this war for too long, it could lose the gains it has made.

The United States is obviously considering a serious escalation, perhaps mounting an operation to open the Strait or seize Kharg Island, and the tables could very well turn. So what Zarif lays out is, of course, an ideal scenario for Iran. It is looking to end the war with guarantees of cease fire, and ultimately it needs sanctions relief. But all of this is very hard to achieve. In the climate of a polarized Middle East, the Gulf states want to be involved.

The United States has its own priorities. So, there is just a lot to drill down on, and somebody needs to convene and bring the parties together.

ANDERSON: So Donald Trump offered a 10-day window for talks which if still open, and it's not necessarily clear that it is. He made no real -- he didn't underscore that when he spoke 36 hours ago to the American people. But were that still to be open, it would close, of course, on the 6th of April, which is a couple of days from now. So, how do you assess where any peace deal or ceasefire deal is at this point?

VAKIL: Well, I know that there are back channel talks and there are all sorts of efforts underway from the public facing ones led by Pakistan, but to a lot of private mediation channels that are alive and well in the region. Countries and individuals are trying, but we are also witnessing. Escalation is also on the horizon. The U.S. is sending in all of these additional troops, Marines, amphibious forces, the 82nd Airborne. That really suggests that in tandem to these diplomatic efforts, there is escalation on the horizon.

These diplomatic off ramps will be important to get off of the escalation ladder. But it doesn't appear to me that we're going to have any sort of ceasefire or a cease of hostilities in any way by the Monday deadline.

ANDERSON: And you wrote in The Guardian a few days ago, Gulf states know that a significantly weakened Islamic Republic would not produce the stability that they need. Leaving the Islamic Republic to control the Strait of Hormuz is also an untenable outcome. At the same time, you say allowing the war to run its course could entrench a longer, more volatile conflict environment. So 36 hours after the president's speech was with a window potentially

still open, but not clear at this point for some sort of talks, at least to start. What do you see the risks at this point?

VAKIL: I think the risks are that the U.S. walks itself directly into escalation. President Trump probably sees that escalation is his only off-ramp. He can't really meaningfully walk away from this war with the Strait of Hormuz in Iran's control, and that is the worst-case scenario for the Gulf states. They do not want to be held hostage to Iran's will.

But I think escalation is in the cards. We have to judge President Trump not by what he says, but what he does. And the movement of forces without any meaningful diplomacy really indicate that that is the direction of travel. That is, of course, going to be dangerous. There will be human costs for Americans and, of course, for Iranians.

[04:40:16]

Iran will retaliate. We know they will. They have said they will. And then there could be further escalation beyond that. Tit for tat strikes are predicted, but will the Houthis enter this war? Will there be strikes and attacks on the Bab al-Mandab?

We've also heard just yesterday of also threats against banks in Paris. American banks in Paris, strikes on American companies in the Gulf. So there is a lot of scope for escalation, and certainly the administration is trying to weigh the cost-benefit. But I think President Trump has signed off already.

ANDERSON: Sanam, good to have you this morning. Thank you. Best wishes to you there. We will take a very short break at this point. Back after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:45:48]

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN ANCHOR: U.S. financial markets are closed today for the Good Friday holiday, but Wall Street ended really a volatile session on Thursday with some mixed results here. The Dow fell 61 points after being down by as much as 650 earlier in the day. The Nasdaq and S and P both managed some small gains, as you can see here.

And if gas prices in the United States seem high right now, just wait until Memorial Day. AAA says the current price for a gallon of Regular unleaded is $4.09, but analysts are predicting $4.50 to $5 by the end of May. And obviously, a really big travel holiday here in the United States.

Speaking of travel, the Artemis II mission on its way to the moon. The four astronauts aboard the Orion spacecraft are asleep at the moment. Even astronauts have to sleep.

When they left Earth's orbit on Thursday, it was the first time that happened since Apollo 17 in 1972. And the historic mission is the first in over 50 years in which astronauts will come so close to the moon. Now the crew is expected to travel farther than any other mission to reaching over 250,000. And on their closest approach to the moon, they'll be just over 4,100 miles from the surface.

And on Thursday, some of the crew reflected on how smooth the launch was the day before. They actually weren't expecting it to happen on the first try, but it did. And now they're on their long trek to the dark side of the moon.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEREMY HANSEN, MISSION SPECIALIST, CANADIAN SPACE AGENCY: The views are extraordinary. It's really fun to be floating around, and it's -- it just makes me feel like a little kid.

REID WISEMAN, ARTEMIS II COMMANDER: When we got done that burn, we just kind of looked at each other as a crew. We had been to the moon before in 1969, 1968 through 1972. It's been a long time since we've been back. And I got to tell you, there is nothing normal about this.

CHRISTINA KOCH, MISSION SPECIALIST, NASA: Having just experienced incredible views of planet Earth and seeing the entire planet out the window in one pane, knowing that we're about to have some similar views of the moon in that same way is definitely getting me more excited for it.

VICTOR GLOVER, ARTEMIS II TEST PILOT: We get to give ourselves a mission that we can hold onto to say, hey, look at what we did for the rest of our lives. You know, we call amazing things that humans do. Moonshots for a reason, because this brought us together and showed us what we can do when we put not just putting our differences aside, when we bring our differences together and use all the strengths to accomplish something great.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JIMENEZ: Watching them, I now feel like I'm underachieving. But while the mission to loop around the Moon is underway, it won't be finished until the Orion spacecraft survives the plunge back through the Earth's atmosphere. And we've got CNN's Tom Foreman to break down why the heat shield matters most to keep the astronauts safe.

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: When the Orion capsule comes back in contact with the Earth's atmosphere. Perhaps the most important part of this spacecraft will be this heat shield down here, because Orion will hit the atmosphere at about 25,000 thousand miles an hour, much faster than a typical low Earth orbit spacecraft would hit. And that means as the air is compressed, it will heat up to about 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit, half the surface temperature of the Sun.

Now, this is an ablative shield, which means it is supposed to erode away against that intense heat. But on Artemis I, a very similar capsule with a similar shield so saw uneven erosion at the bottom of it, and that raised some safety concerns. So NASA has changed the way that they're bringing this back. The pattern, the approach angle, and they're hoping that will ease that problem and not let it occur again, so that Orion will be able to slow down, pop its parachutes, and safely splash down in the ocean.

JIMENEZ: All right, Tom Foreman, thank you. Shifting gears here. Newly released video shows Tiger Woods arrest for suspicion of driving under the influence of. We'll show you what the police body camera footage reveals about his behavior following a serious car crash. Ahead on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:54:15]

JIMENEZ: Let's get you updated on a few stories here in the United States. Accused killer Luigi Mangione will have more time to prepare for both of the criminal trials he's facing. A U.S. Judge is postponing Mangione's federal trial until next January. The 27-year- old faces federal stalking charges in connection with his alleged attack on UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. And Mangione is accused of shooting Thompson on a New York City street more than a year ago. The state murder case against him is also being delayed, with proceedings now set to begin in September.

Meanwhile, we're getting our first look at police body cam footage of Tiger Woods' arrest last week. The golf legend is charged with driving under the influence after he crashed into another vehicle and then rolled his SUV. This is body camera footage of some of the aftermath.

[04:55:01]

This is video from Martin County Sheriff's deputies which shows Woods undergoing a series of field sobriety tests after telling police he'd had nothing to drink before the accident. Police searched woods pockets and say they found two pills, which were later determined to be prescription hydrocodone, painkillers. The crash happened as Woods was attempting another golf comeback after years of injuries and car crashes.

Meanwhile, a U.S. Judge dismissing Blake Lively's sexual harassment claims against her. It ends with U.S. director and co-star Justin Baldoni. The actress accused Baldoni of making sexual comments towards women on set and improvising intimacy that had not been choreographed. She claimed Baldoni then launched a campaign to discredit her. As Baldoni denies all of it.

The judge ruled some of Lively's claims were invalid because of legal technicalities, including that she was considered an independent contractor rather than Baldoni's employee.

Thanks for joining us, everyone. I'm Omar Jimenez in New York. Becky Anderson and I will be back with another hour of early start after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)