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Early Start with Rahel Solomon

War In Iran. Vance Heads To Hungary. Aired 4:30-5a ET

Aired April 07, 2026 - 04:30   ET

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

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN ANCHOR: At the deadline, a little more than 15 hours away at this point. Israel warning Iranians today to stay away from trains and railway lines. Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps calls Trump's threats baseless. An Iranian government minister is asking young people to form human chains around energy facilities. He says attacking public infrastructure is a war crime.

Well, it's just past midday there. It is just after half past 11:00 in or just around half past 11:00 in Qatar. And Reuters reporting that two Qatari LNG tankers have been cleared to pass through the Strait of Hormuz in recent days have turned around. It cites sources saying Iran had cleared these vessels as part of a Pakistan deal brokered last week.

Well, joining me now is Abdulla Banndar Al-Etaibi. He's an Assistant Professor in International Affairs at Qatar University. Just describe why this recent news on these LNG tankers not making it through the Strait of Hormuz is significant.

ABDULLA BANNDAR AL-ETAIBI, INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, QATAR UNIVERSITY: Yes. Hello, Becky. Good to talk to you again.

Well, it's quite different and weird, honestly, to hear about the tankers coming back, especially after the Pakistani American initial deal of having some of these ships to pass through the Strait of Hormuz. We know how important is this for good intentions, first of all, and secondly, for the importance of energy for the global economy. There are a lot of importers rely on -- the GCC countries are relying on Qatar for the LNG, the (inaudible) natural gas.

And for the tankers to go back to Qatar, I mean, that shows lack of intention, good intentions from the Iranian side. And this is actually complicating the matter even more.

ANDERSON: Qatar, of course, is the world's second largest exporter of LNG, mostly to Asia. Seventeen percent Of Qatar's LNG export capacity has been knocked out. Reports suggest repairs will take out nearly 30 million tons per year of the fuel for three to five years. The impact on the country's finances cannot be overstated.

Qatar insists a diplomatic solution is absolutely critical. What are the real risks here of a protracted conflict?

AL-ETAIBI: Well, when it comes to the LNG, I think the damage has already been done by the Iranian attack that target Ras Laffan March 3rd, which forced Qatar force majeure and then another attack later in March as well. That's actually even complicated the matters for Qatar and for the global economy. We know that, as you said, 20 percent is Qatar contribution to the LNG global consumption. More of it goes to Asia, but also 30 percent go to the British electricity and also 10 percent of what Italy is importing is from Qatar.

And we saw the Italian prime minister in Qatar last week, and this was important visit in that regard. What's coming and what's -- what are the implications of what's happening at the moment now. I think Qatar is a peaceful country at the end of the day. Qatar wants more deescalation, want this issue to be over as soon as possible because this is not helping anybody. This is not helping the world as well.

This is putting more interests at risk, global interest at risk. And it's not only about energy or LNG. We talk about other things, Becky. We talk about fertilizers, for example. We talk about the helium. So we going to feel all these attacks in the next few months.

Lots of products will -- prices will go up. We talk about electronics, we talk about food, we talk about other things. So this is -- will be shown and will be felt by all of us in our bank account very soon. I mean, this is not good. And this is I think, why we need to push for more deescalation. And this is why everyone, I think, is relying on Pakistani talks to break through.

ANDERSON: You know, and these next hours certainly in this region feel very consequential. I'm sure there is the same feeling in Iran and in Israel indeed. Life very much goes on where you are and around the region, of course, despite these constant threats of attacks. I think it's important for our viewers around the world to just know that. Clearly people are on edge, but life does go on. Just describe how things are where you are.

[04:35:08]

AL-ETAIBI: Well, it's complicated in the region. I mean, we're feeling the whole war in the region because we see daily attacks with drones and missiles by the Iranian side. But also the world is feeling that through the economy and through energy as well. I mean, at the moment we are witnessing the last few hours of President Trump's deadline and we have to keep our focus on the main issue here, that civilian infrastructure, energy infrastructure should not be thrown in this chaos.

And we heard recent reports that Iranians are calling for human chains. I mean, targeting is illegal and also when you talk about using humans as a shield, this is also illegal. This is just complicating the issue. So, I mean, this scenario is the worst for the region and it's the worst for the world if we look at it from this perspective. And I think stability is important for all of us and we need to find a way that dialogue prevail and diplomacy prevail for this to happen.

I think the American side should push for a deal but also the IRGC. We know that Iran, the situation in Iran is very vague at the moment. Like we don't know who is ruling or who's leading Iran. Internally, we believe that the IRGC is actually taking over. And they don't believe in diplomacy, they believe in more in hard power. And this is actually complicating things by using the Strait of Hormuz and just dealing with it as a canal and imposing money on countries. I mean, on ships.

This is illegal. This is just making the whole situation more complicated for all of us. At the end of the day, I think the Middle East has taken a lot of conflicts and we need to -- we don't need more complex action on our list here in the region.

ANDERSON: Yes. Abdulla, the window is closing to a degree unless Donald Trump once again extends this deadline. Talks as we understand it, continue behind the scenes. The Iranians have knocked back the first ceasefire proposal as we understand it from the Pakistanis have delivered their own 10 point plan. We await to see what happens in the hours to come.

It's good to have you. Thank you very much indeed for joining us, all right. The hours tick by on "deadline day." Let's get you back to Erica Hill who is in New York. Erica?

ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: Yes. Becky, thanks. Well, Iran says four of its army officers were killed in the US mission rescue -- rescue mission rather that -- to rescue that downed airman. Meantime, President Trump is threatening to jail the journalist who reportedly leaked information on that story. CNN's Jim Sciutto now has more details on the mission itself and how it happened.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: With the missing US pilot now safe, President Trump declared Sunday militarily one of the best Easters ever.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF UNITED STATES: In the United States military, we leave no American behind. We don't do it.

SCIUTTO: A US F-15E Strike Eagle was shot down during a night mission over southwest Iran on Friday, forcing its two US airmen to eject, leaving them wounded and stranded. The jet was from the 48th Fighter Wing out of Royal Air Force Lakenheath Base in England. According to a source briefed on the executive summary of the search and rescue operation, US search and rescue teams extracted one of the airmen shortly after the crash, but the fate of the second, a colonel, remained uncertain.

For a harrowing 24 hours, he evaded Iranian forces, scaled a mountain ridge, and awaited rescue.

PETE HEGSETH, US DEFENSE SECRETARY: When he was finally able to activate his emergency transponder, his first message was simple and it was powerful. He sent a message, God is good.

JAMES STAVRIDIS, FORMER NATO SUPREME ALLIED COMMANDER: This is a full colonel. So this is somebody who's 45 plus years old, probably went to Sears School a long time ago, who climbed 7,000ft, uses his transponder, does it all on a broken ankle. I can't wait to see this guy. SCIUTTO: Due to the terrain and hostile Iranian forces in hot pursuit, senior officials describe the operation as one of the most challenging combat search and rescue missions. The CIA helped deploy a campaign of misdirection to confuse Iranians over the airman's location and condition.

JOHN RATCLIFFE, CIA DIRECTOR: We deployed both human assets and exquisite technologies that no other intelligence service in the world possesses to a daunting challenge comparable to hunting for a single grain of sand in the middle of a desert.

[04:40:10]

SCIUTTO: CNN has learned that the elite Army, Delta Force and Navy SEAL Team 6 were among the hundreds of special operators and intelligence personnel involved in the mission. The President said the massive undertaking involved 155 aircraft, including four bombers, 64 fighters and 48 refueling tankers. Because of the Iranian sand at the landing site, several of the aircraft could not take off again and had to be destroyed.

DAN CAINE, US JOINT CHIEFS CHAIRMAN: This was an incredibly brave and courageous mission, and a testament to the courage, skill and tenacity of the joint force and our leaders. And especially a daylight option having the guts to try means so much to so many.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HILL: Australia's most decorated living soldier has been arrested for alleged war crimes. Forty-seven year old Ben Robert-Smith is accused of five counts of murder during a deployment to Afghanistan between 2009 and 2012. Among the allegations, Robert-Smith fatally shot an unarmed Afghan teenager and also allegedly kicked a handcuffed man off a cliff before ordering him to be shot.

Robert-Smith has repeatedly denied the allegations. He had been hailed as a hero and awarded top military honors for his six tours of duty in Afghanistan.

Still to come here, the US vice president's visit to Hungary. Why many believe the trip is meant to give Prime Minister Viktor Orban a boost ahead of Sunday's election?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:46:16]

HILL: US Vice President JD Vance is heading to Hungary days ahead of the country's critical election. He is expected to hold bilateral meetings in the hours ahead with Prime Minister Viktor Orban, whose grip on power is facing a big test in Sunday's votes. CNN's Clare Sebastian is following these developments for us from London.

We have these meetings today. It's important to note the timing here, which is also being questioned in terms of what its actual purpose is with that election looming, Clare? CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Erica. Five days to go, it's

impossible to ignore the tension now building in Hungary ahead of this critical election and France's appearance I think will be interpreted by many as a way to sort of stump for Auburn here. He's going to appear at a bilateral meeting with the Prime Minister, then they're going to hold a joint press conference and then they'll appear, it seems, at an event later in the day for Hungarian American Friendship Day.

So it is certainly extremely high profile. It has been playing heavily in Auburn's pre-election canvassing and campaigning that we've seen. So it's a huge propaganda coup for him, but I think a measure of this, right? The US is in the middle of its war with Iran. Gas prices are really high. The deadline that Trump has set for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz expires while Vance is in Hungary.

All of that a measure of the extreme importance that the US places on this ally, a landlocked European country of less than 10 million people, but a key ideological outpost for the US in Europe. Orban, essentially the poster child for the populist right in Europe, and clearly the US is willing to stake some political capital on arriving and appearing with him five days before this critical election.

Because, of course, Erica, the wrinkle here is that Orban, after 16 years in power, has been trailing behind his rival Peter Magyar in the lead up to this election. Now, the polls obviously don't always show the full story, but Vance is arriving, albeit as there are no guarantees that Orban will actually win this election.

HILL: It is such a moment. It's also, of course, this election being closely watched as well by Ukraine. Kyiv has a lot riding here potentially on the outcome. What would it mean either way, especially, I guess, if there is a shift in power, Clare.

It is hard to overstate, I think, the importance both for the European Union and for Ukraine of this, to Orban and Hungary have been blocking key decisions regarding Ukraine. And at the moment, they're holding up 90 billion euros in critical funding for Ukraine that was agreed, including by Hungary, in painstaking negotiations in December. They're also blocking the 20th package of sanctions.

So everyone, I can tell you, in Brussels is waiting for the day after April 12th to see if a new, more pro-European leader can be elected and they can move forward. And for Ukraine as well, look, this has been not only existential from financial point of view, but politically. They faced enormous pressure from Hungary and notably in the last few days.

Hungary and Viktor Orban's party have sought to link Ukraine to explosives found near a gas pipeline in Serbia carrying gas to Hungary, which various people, including Ukraine, have suggested could be a false flag by Russia. Russia, of course, a key supporter of Orban. So this is a geopolitical fault line in this small European country, Erica, and critically important for Ukraine as it seeks to continue to garner European support to defend against Russia. HILL: Absolutely. Clare Sebastian in London this morning, thank you. Stay with us much more to come here on EARLY START after a quick break.

[04:49:56]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HILL: Mighty Michigan managing to hold off UConn to win the school's first NTA men's basketball championship in nearly 40 years. The Wolverines clawing their way to a 69-63 win over the Huskies. Coming out strong in the first, they were led by Elliot Cadeau, the newly- minted most outstanding player of this year's Final Four. This shot from Michigan guard, Trey McKenney, breaking a whole lot of hearts.

UConn tried to come back in the second half, closing some of the gap, even getting within four points inside the final minute. But it was not enough for the Huskies to secure. Would have been their third national title in four years. The Wolverines winning their first title since 1989. And you can see some lights and plenty of people in the streets there celebrating in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

[04:55:03]

Well, one of the biggest names in the WNBA is changing teams. The Chicago Sky trading two time all star Angel Reese to the Atlanta Dream in exchange for Atlanta's first round draft picks over the next two years. Reese led the league in rebounds last year and has averaged 14 points per game in her first two seasons.

Reese says she's beyond grateful to be moving to Atlanta. The Dream's head coach praising Reese predicting she will thrive with her new team.

Thanks so much for joining us this hour. I'm Erica Hill in New York. I'll be back with Becky Anderson for another hour of EARLY START right after this break.

[05:00:00]