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Early Start with Rahel Solomon

Trump Warns Iran To Reopen Hormuz Or Face Dire Consequences; Orban Facing Stiff Competition From Pro-European Party. Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired April 06, 2026 - 04:00   ET

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

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[04:00:41]

DANNY FREEMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us here in the United States and all around the world. I'm Danny Freeman in New York.

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Becky Anderson live from our Middle East programming headquarters here in Abu Dhabi in the UAE. It is midday Monday, week six of this war, and Iran responding with its own threats after U.S. President Donald Trump issued his latest ultimatum to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. The President has once again pushed the deadline for Iran to open that vital waterway.

In a profanity-lay social media post, Trump renewed his threats to target key infrastructure sites if Tehran does not comply by tomorrow, Tuesday. Iran fired back, saying it will only reopen the Strait when financial damages from the war are fully compensated.

We are also learning new details on the rescue of a U.S. airman whose F-15 fighter jet was shot down over Iran. The injured crew member reportedly hid in Iran's mountains for more than a day before being rescued on Sunday. A source tells CNN hundreds of U.S. special ops, military and intelligence personnel were involved in that mission, as well as the CIA. President Trump set to brief the press on the operation from the White House later today.

Iranian missile strikes overnight. Air raid sirens could be heard blaring just outside Tel Aviv. We are looking at a live shot of Haifa in Israel, where Israeli media reports at least two people were killed and two remain missing after an Iranian strike on a residential building there on Saturday.

And further, Iranian attacks on the Gulf region overnight. Eleni Giokos standing by in Dubai. Paula Hancocks is in Abu Dhabi. And Paula, let's start with you. Day 37 in this war, it certainly feels very consequential this Monday amid threats and counter-threats of a massive escalation in the hours to come, even as reports surface of some talks behind the scenes. Meantime, these deadly attacks by the warring parties continue. What's the latest?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Becky, we are seeing certainly this war of words, which is increasing at this point. There's escalation when it comes to the rhetoric with that social media post that you mentioned from the U.S. President with its profanities, but threatening to target civilian infrastructure, threatening to target power plants and bridges. There has been a lot of Iranian official reaction to this particular post.

We've heard from the parliament speaker, for example, saying that Trump is pushing the U.S. towards a living hell and warning the region could burn. Now, the official Iranian response has been that if civilian infrastructure is targeted in this way by the U.S. and Israel in Iran, then they will reciprocate in kind when it comes to the U.S. allies in the region, so presumably the Gulf nations, the neighboring countries. And so this is obviously a great concern to many in the region.

And experts also caution about the fact that if you are targeting civilian infrastructure, it could constitute a war crime if you are punishing an entire civilian population. Now, we've also been seeing an unusual reaction from Iranian embassies around the world, very tongue-in-cheek reactions to this particular post by the U.S. President.

The Iranian embassy in India, for example, has posted, "Swearing and throwing insults are how sore loser brats behave. Get a grip on yourself, old man." We're seeing similar responses from within the U.S. as well. The Senate minority leader, Chuck Schumer, saying that this is the response of an unhinged madman.

So we are seeing, certainly when it comes to the rhetoric, nothing like a de-escalation, anything but, in fact. But we are hearing as well behind the scenes that the negotiations or whatever they are at this stage are continuing. A Pakistani source telling CNN that Pakistan and Egypt are still passing communications between Iran and the U.S.

[04:05:14]

President Trump himself claiming in an interview with Axios on Saturday that negotiations are still ongoing, but very little clarity as to what that looks like at this point. And as we talk about diplomacy, rhetoric escalating, the military damage is continuing. We saw overnight and into Monday morning in Iran, there were airstrikes in a number of areas.

For example, in Baharestan County, just southwest of Tehran, the capital, in a densely populated area, there were a number of residential buildings, we understand, were hit, according to Fars news agency, saying 13 killed. And also in eastern Tehran, another four killed. Of course, CNN can't independently confirm these figures. Becky?

ANDERSON: Paula, thank you.

Eleni, let me bring you in. The Strait of Hormuz, absolutely central in all of this. What's the story this hour there? ELENI GIOKOS, CNN ANCHOR & CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it seems that Iran is using the Strait of Hormuz as its most lethal weapon right now that's affecting the global economy. And just to Paula's points there in terms of the reaction about President Trump's social media post, I've been speaking to economists and market analysts this morning, and they are very shocked at the rhetoric and the messaging coming through from President Trump.

You and I have covered how messaging from President Trump has been able to calm markets down. This is going to have the complete opposite effect because it is not showing de-escalation, or perhaps even just sort of close to an idea of when this war actually comes to an end. One economist told me that if President Trump does go ahead with targeting power plants and bridges like he threatened to do so, then we're talking about a road to escalation. And one economist said, and that's a very scary scenario because we are going to be expecting retaliation across the region as well.

Interestingly, over the weekend, OPEC plus countries agreed to increase supply by 206,000 barrels per day. Now, some people tell me that this is just a symbolic move. It's not really going to have a big impact on the supply scenario where you've already got almost 20 million barrels of oil per day that are out of the market because of the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

Cornelia Meyer, the CEO of Meyer Resources sent me this, and she says there's a trickle of ships which Iran is allowing to go through. And then you've got oil moving in Saudi Arabia from the East to West pipeline. The capacity there is around 5 million barrels per day. And then you've got 1 million -- 1.5 million barrels per day from Abu Dhabi that moves through to Fujairah and then into the Gulf of Oman, then 300,000 barrels per day from the pipeline from Kurdish Iraq to Turkey. And then she says the rest is trapped.

And some see this supply disruption as what we've seen in COVID-19. It basically mimics that, and only that was a demand shock. And then now demand shocks are easier to bring back once the economy recovers. But now we are dealing with a supply shock.

To unravel that, Becky, is not going to be easy. You need to see 100 percent capacity through the Strait of Hormuz. Economists say that we'll only see 50 percent capacity in May and June if the war comes to an end. So everyone's sort of tallying these numbers.

In the meantime, you have gas prices that have risen in the United States. You've got jet fuel prices that have risen, and of course fertilizer prices. So this has triggered the largest supply shock in history.

ANDERSON: Eleni, good to have you. Thank you very much indeed.

We are seeing, as I understand it, a slight reduction in the price of Brent crude this morning. The Asian markets pairing some of the losses of last week. But as we've been saying, we are expecting a press conference from Donald Trump at 1:00 p.m. Eastern time today. You'll work that out wherever you are watching in the world. That will be hugely well watched. Whether it is massively consequential remains to be seen. It was advertised as being held to talk about what happened over the weekend with the rescue of that U.S. serviceman in Iran. But as we know, we've had this sort of profanity laden tweet by an X post or social media post on Truth Social by Donald Trump over the weekend, extending the deadline for Iran to open the Strait of Hormuz through Tuesday.

Some reports behind the scenes and maybe some talks going on about the potential for a 45-day ceasefire with a further sort of comprehensive agreement after that. But again, details very, very unclear at this point. What we do know is that Donald Trump has a deadline. It is Tuesday. If the Strait of Hormuz is not opened by Iran at that time, they all hell will break out as far as he is concerned. And similar counter threats from the Iranians. An enormously important few hours to come.

[04:10:17]

Well, still to come on this show, new week, Hungarians will go to the polls in a parliamentary election. And that result could have big consequences, not just for Hungary, but for Europe and beyond. That is up next.

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[04:15:02]

FREEMAN: Back stateside now. Democrats are throwing cold water on the request from the White House for $1.5 trillion in defense fund. The budget blueprint for 2027 would increase defense spending by more than 40 percent compared to last year. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries says the Pentagon does not need more money. Take a listen.

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REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES (D-NY), HOUSE MINORITY LEADER: The Department of Defense has been given over $1 trillion within the last year. They have more than enough resources, as far as we can tell, in order to do what is necessary. At the same period of time, Congress has to be good stewards of taxpayer dollars. The cost of living in this country is out of control. And Donald Trump promised to actually lower costs on day one. That hasn't happened. In fact, life has become more expensive for the American people.

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FREEMAN: Meanwhile, as President Trump continues escalating his threats against Iran, demanding they make a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a new CNN poll shows that just 33 percent of those asked approve of how President Trump is handling his role as Commander-in- Chief. The same number approve of how the President is handling the war with Iran. And when it comes to people's overall view of the President, the data doesn't improve much either. Just 35 percent of those polled said they approve of how President Trump is handling the role of President. And nearly two-thirds of people said they disapprove of President Trump's handling of his job.

Now, despite those numbers, one Trump ally in Europe is counting on high-level support from the administration ahead of a crucial election. CNN's Clare Sebastian looks at how Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban is facing the toughest challenge yet to his 16-year rule.

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CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Pabonis Sandor Toth has been serving up pints for 43 years in this small village in Hungary. And it's from behind the bar, he says, he's witnessed a lot of history in the country, including the fall of communism and later four victories in a row by Prime Minister Viktor Orban and his Fidesz party.

SANDOR TOTH, PUB OWNER (through translator): People who come here chat about which party says what. And I believe that generally here people vote for Fidesz as they help pensioners but also young people.

SEBASTIAN (voice-over): Toth says he voted for Fidesz each time. And Orban and his nationalistic and socially conservative politics have a lot of support in this town of about 450 people. Rural areas are traditional Orban strongholds. But that could be changing. In the upcoming election, Orban faces one of his toughest challenges yet, Peter Magyar, a former Fidesz insider and current leader of the center-right Tisza party, which is surging in popularity, especially with voters under 40 and people in urban areas.

MARIA JUHASZ, HUNGARIAN VOTER (through translator): I would like to see change very much indeed. I will obviously vote for Tisza. We must change this regime, so yes to them.

SEBASTIAN (voice-over): Magyar is trying to tap into voter concerns about domestic issues like health care and food prices, knocking on doors in Orban's heartland to try to win new voters. And he's promised to realign Hungary with the European Union.

PETER MAGYAR, TISZA PARTY LEADER (through translator): Those who choose Tisza will choose a working, humane, European, proud, peaceful and a serene Hungary.

SEBASTIAN (voice-over): Orban has close ties with Russia and has frequently clashed with the E.U., especially over its support of Ukraine. Most recently he blocked a $103 billion loan package for Ukraine and he says the opposition would drag Hungary into the conflict.

VIKTOR ORBAN, HUNGARIAN PRIME MINISTER (through translator): You, Tisza, are pushing the courage of the Ukrainians and you are not standing with the Hungarians. You want a Ukraine-friendly government and you want to take the money of the Hungarians to Ukraine. This is the truth.

SEBASTIAN (voice-over): The vote is being closely watched around the world, not only for the impact it will have on the E.U., but what it could mean for right-wing populist politics. Orban is a close ally of U.S. President Donald Trump. And on Tuesday, Vice President J.D. Vance will visit Hungary to try to drum up support for Orban. Both the U.S. and Hungary have aggressive policies on immigration, with Orban famously building a border fence in 2015 to keep migrants from illegally entering.

Magyar says he'll maintain the fence if he's elected, but will restore an independent media and judiciary, which have been eroded under Orban's rule. He'll also limit prime ministers to two terms. Polls say, for now, Magyar's Tisza party is in the lead. But analysts say it could still be an uphill battle to unseat Orban.

ROBERT LASZIO, "POLITICAL CAPITAL": The gerrymandered constituency map, the high proportion of the out-of-country voters, and the minority representation in Hungary, these are the three factors that help Fidesz to counterbalance a potential Tisza lead.

SEBASTIAN (voice-over): Voters in Hungary will decide on April 12th if they want another round of Orban's brand of populist politics or something new.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I don't know yet. We will see. We will decide inside the polling booth.

SEBASTIAN (voice-over): Clare Sebastian, CNN, London.

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[04:20:02]

FREEMAN: All right, Clare, thank you for that reporting.

We'll have much more coverage on the war with Iran. Meanwhile, after a quick break, coming up, we're going to be joined by a military analyst to examine the strategies being deployed in the Middle East.

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ANDERSON: Welcome back. I'm Becky Anderson, live from our Middle East programming headquarters. Twenty-five past midday here on Monday in Abu Dhabi. U.S. President Donald Trump warns that Iran will face severe military action if it doesn't reopen the Strait of Hormuz by Tuesday.

On Sunday, Mr. Trump once again postponed the deadline for Iran to lift its effective blockade of that vital waterway, or else the U.S., he said, will target Tehran's power plants and other key infrastructure, very specifically, he said, bridges. Well, Iran says it will only, "Reopen the Strait when financial damages from the war are fully compensated."

[04:25:20] Well, let's turn to Ali Vaez, who is joining us live from Geneva, Switzerland, keeping a very keen eye on what is going on. He's the Iran Project Director with the International Crisis Group. Good to have you this morning, sir. Thank you.

As we barrel towards Trump's new deadline now for Iran to open the Strait or face attacks, it is worth reminding ourselves that those attacks, of course, could be a war crime, according to experts. You argued in a Friday "New York Times" op-ed that, "Trump has lost control of events in Iran." Can you just explain your analysis of Trump's mindset at this point?

ALI VAEZ, IRAN PROJECT DIRECTOR, INTL. CRISIS GROUP: It's good to see you, Vicky. Well, basically, President Trump did not think that at this point in the conflict, because if you remember, he had said this would be a four to six week conflict. So in week six, Iran is shooting down American fighter jets.

Yes, there was an impressive rescue operation, but wars are not won by rescue operations or evacuations, as Winston Churchill used to say. And Iran can still fire missiles towards Israel, drones towards the Gulf States. It is still choking off the Strait of Hormuz. So a lot of the objectives of the Trump administration have not been met, despite all the tactical and operational successes that they have had.

And at this point, the President basically has three options, all of them unattractive. Number one is to continue a pace. But again, it's very costly set of operations that are not bringing the strategic objectives any closer. Second is to escalate. And all options of escalation, whether it's land invasion or attacking infrastructure, could result in even a worse situation, the closing off the Bab al- Mandab, the potential attacks on energy infrastructure in the Gulf or in Israel.

Or he can basically get a deal. And to get a deal, he has to make concessions to a regime that he was hoping to topple. And all of those options would be very difficult and would be hard to portray it as a victory.

ANDERSON: I'm interested in who you believe the U.S. administration may be talking to at this point. We are getting reports that there's some sort of detail on a sort of 45-day ceasefire to be followed by some sort of comprehensive plan. I'm interested to get your thoughts on that.

Before I do, the Iranian parliament speaker, Mohammad Ghalibaf, says that Trump is dragging the U.S. into, as he says, living hell with these threats. Several Iranian embassies trolling Trump today. The embassy in Bulgaria posting, take it easy, tiger.

The Austrian embassy saying, "The desperation is almost palpable." The South African embassy invoking the U.S. 25th Amendment about the president's fitness for office. Look, and you would expect this from Iranian embassies around the world. So perhaps we shouldn't be surprised by this. But what maybe is surprising for our viewers is just how much of this is being done on social media effectively. How should we, though, understand, given what I've just shown the viewers on these X posts, how should we understand Iran's thinking about what is going on at this point very specifically? What do you understand to be the thinking in Tehran?

VAEZ: Well, there is a sense of overconfidence in Tehran that they have been able to stand their ground despite being faced with two superpowers, two nuclear powers throwing everything they have at them. And this is why the Iranians also risk overplaying their hand. A lot of this taunting against President Trump, I think it's going to backfire, is actually going to push him more to double down and to escalate.

But at the end of the day, Becky, I am not optimistic about the diplomatic options. The 45-day ceasefire idea is very similar to what the mediators tried to put in place in Gaza. The Iranian fear is that the 45-day window would be used by the U.S. and Israel to regroup, rearm, replenish their, intercept their stockpiles and then come after Iran again. And that's why they're not interested in a ceasefire. They seem only interested in some kind of a comprehensive agreement. But a comprehensive agreement would be very hard to negotiate.

[04:30:05]