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Early Start with Rahel Solomon

U.S. And Iran Preparing For Saturday Talks In Pakistan; Netanyahu Says No Lebanon Ceasefire, But Seeks Talks. Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired April 10, 2026 - 04:00   ET

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

ABBY PHILLIP, CNN ANCHOR: And thank you for watching NewsNights. You can catch me anytime on your favorite social media and X Instagram and TikTok. CNN's coverage continues next.

[04:00:44]

DANNY FREEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: 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: I'm Becky Anderson live from our Middle East programming headquarters in Abu Dhabi where the time is midday. You are watching Early Start.

And we begin this hour with claims of new attacks by the Iran proxy Hezbollah on Israeli soldiers and an Israeli border town. The ongoing fighting threatening what is this fragile ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran. It comes just a day ahead of direct talks aimed at ending the war in the region. Security in Islamabad, Pakistan, is tight where Vice President J.D. Vance will lead the U.S. delegation along with the special envoys Steve Witkoff and President Donald Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner.

Now two key issues are threatening what is this current ceasefire. Iran is demanding an end to the Israeli military operation in Lebanon. Israel's prime minister says Lebanon is not part of this two week ceasefire agreement, although he wants to begin direct talks with Lebanon to disarm Hezbollah.

And there is growing doubt about whether Iran will reopen, as it were, the Strait of Hormuz. Analysts and shipping executives tell CNN it is still too risky to cross and only a few ships have made the journey in recent days. That is a live look at tracking in those waters.

CNN's Eleni Giokos live this hour in Dubai. I'm going to begin with Paula Hancocks here in Abu Dhabi.

Paula?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Becky, those talks that start on Saturday morning between Iran and the U.S. will be crucial to see whether or not this fragile truce can develop into something more long term and more permanent. Now, we know the official talks will start Saturday morning. Iranian delegation, we understand, is already in Islamabad, according to Iranian state media. It's not clear exactly who's within that delegation potentially, according to state media, the parliament speaker who is really emerging as one of the key interlocutors when it comes to this -- these talks with the -- with the United States. One of those key sticking points, though, as you say, is Lebanon whether or not it was at the beginning agree to be part of this ceasefire.

Now, at the moment, there is no publicly available document that we can see what the conditions of that two week ceasefire were. Much of this has been really talked about on social media and announced by the leaders of the U.S., Pakistan and Iran on social media. So it makes it very difficult to pinpoint exactly what was agreed to. And of course, it makes it quite easy for all sides to either have misunderstandings or misrepresentations of what they believe this temporary ceasefire entails. But when it comes to Lebanon, we are seeing increasing international condemnation about Iran's -- excuse me, about Israel's coordinated strikes on the country on Wednesday, which have resulted in more than 300 people being killed.

But we're also hearing increasing international calls for Lebanon to be part of this ceasefire. Now, we understand from sources that the U.S. president has asked the Israeli prime minister to pull back a little bit. Certainly we're not seeing evidence of that at this point, but he did tell NBC News that he asked Netanyahu to be, quote, a little more low key. Now, what we have seen from the Israeli prime minister is that he is agreeing to direct talks with Lebanese officials. The Lebanese government has been calling for weeks for talks between Israel and Lebanon.

The Lebanese government does not want Hezbollah to be calling the shots in the country. In fact, we've heard the cabinet ordering the military to make sure that all arms within the capital, within Beirut are brought under state control. Becky.

[04:05:04]

ANDERSON: Good to have you, Paula.

All right that's to a degree laying the table, as it were, this Friday midday in the Gulf region.

Eleni, let's get an update from you on the latest on the Strait of Hormuz, which is clearly sort of a center point for these talks and incredibly important for this fragile ceasefire. And what's the state of the markets this Friday morning?

ELENI GIOKOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I mean, it's really interesting. You've got oil prices of Brent crude, the international benchmark, just under $98 a barrel, WTI just below $100 a barrel and ticking up at this juncture. Now if I look at what the markets are doing, so the indices, they're shrugging this off. Perhaps there's a bit of cautious optimism in terms of these very consequential talks in Islamabad and there's hope there's going to be some kind of diplomatic off ramp. But also for the oil markets, there's this realization that it's not just about the closure of the Straits of Hormuz and that Iran still has control.

And the Iranians have said any passage through the strait still requires coordination with the Iranian military. And it brings me to the CEO of ADNOC's comment yesterday, Sultan Al-Jaber, saying this, "Let's be clear, the Strait of Hormuz is not open. Access is being restricted, conditioned and controlled." So, you know, this has become a flashpoint. And President Trump has said that the two week ceasefire is subject to the opening of the Strait of Hormuz.

So this is going to be one of the most important conversations and outcomes out of Pakistan. We also heard, Becky, for the first time information about damage and capacity loss out of Saudi Arabia. On the Saudi Press Association website, a source close to the Ministry of Energy saying that 600,000 barrels have been taken out of capacity due to the recent strikes that we've seen. They also add another 700,000 barrels per day that have been removed out of the east west pipeline because of the recent damage. You can see the plumes of smoke from satellite imagery there.

Now, we haven't had a lot of assessment about the overall damage to critical energy infrastructure in the region apart from what we heard from the Qataris a few weeks ago, about a 17 percent loss in capacity. But interestingly, the Saudi Energy ministry source says this, and this is of course, just before these consequential talks to really drive home what's happening here in the region. They say that this has already negatively impacted the global economy, particularly with the depletion of a significant portion of operational and emergency inventories which has affected the availability of supplies and limited the ability to respond to this supply shortfall. So for the region, continued attacks on critical energy infrastructure is going to have a longer term impact on energy supply over and above what we're seeing in terms of shortfalls through the Strait of Hormuz, where we've seen a trickle of vessels going through, according to marine traffic, it's mostly Iranian linked vessels and tankers, as well as countries friendly with Iran.

ANDERSON: Good to have you back. Thank you. Paula is in Abu Dhabi. Eleni is in Dubai.

Joining me now from Paris is Daniel Levy. He's the president of the U.S./Middle East Project. It's good to have you this morning.

Look, I want to be completely transparent here. You've been, you know, a critic of Benjamin Netanyahu's approach to regional issues for years. What's your assessment of what Israel is trying to do at this point?

DANIEL LEVY, PRESIDENT, U.S./MIDDLE EAST PROJECT: Thank you, Becky. Israel, its leader, Netanyahu, have been pretty transparent. They've wanted this war for an awfully long time. They found an American president who was willing to buy what they were selling. We've heard reports about how Trump was bamboozled.

Not that there was no American agency, but you don't get this war without a very significant Israeli push. They want this war to continue. The numbers in Israel in polling that just came out, Becky, are 63 to 22 not pleased with the outcomes of this war. Did Israel and the U.S. win? Only 22 said yes versus 46, the rest undecided.

Netanyahu would like the war to continue. He will provoke. He will try to undermine negotiations. And he has a key card, as you've been discussing in Lebanon. And again, when it comes to Lebanon, Israel has no intention of putting something that could also be a win for these -- for the Lebanese government on the table.

You had the mediator that set forth the terms for the ceasefire, Pakistan say Lebanon was included, and then the Americans kind of walked that back. Israel said no way. Israel then conducted one of the most gruesome strikes on Lebanon throughout the war. And I think what the Israelis are saying is it will either be a ceasefire on our terms or no ceasefire at all unless Trump forces his hand. But the kind of deal Israel wants, I think would be to send Lebanon back into a civil war, which is something none of us would want to see.

[04:10:19]

ANDERSON: Well, let's pursue that because we have had announcement from the prime minister of Israel-Lebanon talks now, something that Lebanon, as you rightly point out and Paula was pointing out the same has been something the Lebanese government has been pushing for some time. This is significant. What do you believe those Israeli terms are then going into those talks?

LEVY: Right. So let's remind ourselves, Becky, that there were, and this is very unusual, as you know, you're experienced in this, there were direct talks between the Lebanese government and the Israeli government. Since that ceasefire in November 24, there have been direct talks. There was nothing Israel was putting on the table, which any Lebanese government, even a Lebanese government looking for a way out, willing to go more than halfway, which this Lebanese government was willing to do that they could in any way accept. And it, you know, in some ways, it's similar to the Gaza situation.

You had a ceasefire, but Israel carried on attacks. We see that every day in worse ways in Gaza. A journalist, someone in your profession, Becky, yet another journalist, the Al Jazeera correspondent, Mohammed Wishah, was assassinated by Israel just in the last couple of days. So Israel's idea is either the Lebanese government does our work and disarms in circumstances which we know are going to be impossible in Lebanon. How much more difficult does it make it for a Lebanese government to conduct these talks when Israel has just carried out the kinds of strikes across communities in Lebanon, mostly civilians targeted, that it did in the last couple of days.

So it has this mantra. You have to go into an internal Lebanese war just as it's tried to demand on the Palestinians. That won't happen. And therefore we will set terms where we continue to violate your sovereignty and essentially, therefore, to continue the war.

I think for Netanyahu, if he finds himself in a place where America and Iran desist from striking each other, he at least wants freedom of maneuver in Lebanon and of course, across the Palestinian territories, Gaza, West Bank. But will he be able to get away with that? Because will Iran accept a ceasefire only on their direct front that doesn't include Lebanon. And as you know, that's one of the issues that's being played out right now. Does Trump have the leverage to stay stop prime minister, when it comes to Netanyahu?

He of course does. Has he used that leverage? No.

ANDERSON: I want to get your assessment on the Israeli strategic thinking when it comes to the Gulf region, where I am at the moment. Reckless, unprovoked attacks from Iran over the last five weeks, which have had a significant impact on not just military, but civilian infrastructure. We've talked a lot about that over the past five or so weeks. The Gulf has been pulled in to a war that it wasn't part of, didn't want, and now is living the result of, as it were. You have suggested, I think, in the past that weakening the Gulf is or was part of the strategic thinking in Tel Aviv.

Can you just explain?

LEVY: Yes, absolutely. The Israeli approach under Netanyahu, I think, has to be understood because we use this term, Greater Israel. He and the government use that term, and people tend to think, oh, that's obviously a territorial thing, taking a bit more of Lebanon, Syria, all the Palestinian territories. But Netanyahu has something more ambitious and more sophisticated in mind. He wants to make Israel the indispensable dominant regional power.

And he saw a Gulf which was beginning to develop its own power. Trump went to the Gulf, first visit of the second term, not to Israel. He has not liked what he's seen in terms of the nascent talks just before this war started between Saudi, Turkey, Pakistan, Egypt, which suggested that it wasn't just Iran they were worried about, but also Israel's radicalizing and destabilizing influence. And when Netanyahu looks at the region, he wants to create relations of dependency of the Gulf on Israel. So the weakening of the Gulf, the attacks on the Gulf, which were unfortunately, eminently predictable when Israel and the U.S. started this war, were not an unfortunate side effect.

[04:15:05]

They were part of Netanyahu's plan. Netanyahu has a plan. Trump is incoherent. I think it's easy to understand that's the case. Netanyahu wants to create a gulf dependency on Israel so that Israel is the central node in a regional access.

He talked about this days before the war. Indian Prime Minister Modi was in Israel. He said, I'm going to create a hexagon of alliances. The gulf has to be part of that. It has to be brought into that.

Not just some of the gulf, but all of the major players. He has said during this war that the answer to Hormuz and to the Red Sea, run your pipelines through Israel, run them to our Mediterranean ports. That's his intention. Some of his people have been open about it. And so for Israel, for Netanyahu, a Gulf that faces the kinds of trials, challenges, attacks of the last weeks is where he wanted this to be.

He hasn't yet got his outcome because Iran has shown more resilience than I think anyone anticipated. And many, not all, but many in the Gulf are perhaps looking at this and saying we have to worry about Iran and Israel. How do we balance that?

ANDERSON: The perspective of Daniel Levy. Daniel, thank you.

Not everybody will agree with Daniel's perspective. There are a myriad of voices in and from this region on this region. It's important that we consider those who have done a lot of research in this region and those that have a view on what happens next.

We'll have a lot more from the Middle East coming up. But for now, Danny, back to you in New York.

FREEMAN: Thanks very much, Becky.

All right. Coming up, the astronauts of the Artemis II mission are making the long journey back to earth. Less than 24 hours until reentry and splashdown off the coast of California. We're going to take a look at all the preparations. That's coming up next.

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[04:21:35]

FREEMAN: NASA and the astronauts of the Artemis II mission are getting ready for their return to Earth. The astronauts are more than halfway home now, but the most daunting and precarious part of the mission is still up ahead reentry into Earth's atmosphere. Their Orion capsule is on track to splash down off the coast of San Diego, California in the coming hours shortly after 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time. CNN's Ed Lavandera is at the NASA Space center in Houston, Texas with more on the preparations for these astronauts return home.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The Artemis II astronauts inside the Orion capsule. And the Artemis II team here on the ground of Johnson Space Center at Mission Control are preparing to go through the final preparations to bring this mission to an end. It all culminates Friday night around 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time, 5:00 p.m. Pacific Time when the Artemis II capsule and the Orion capsule will land several hundred miles off the coast of San Diego, California. And these are some of the most tense moments of this mission. This capsule will be put through a rigorous test coming through the Earth's atmosphere, temperatures near 5,000 degrees, traveling at a speed of almost 24,000 miles per hour.

There's a great deal of concern because the heat shield in the first artist -- Artemis mission was which did not carry a crew came back severely damaged through the reentry into the Earth's atmosphere. And there have been a small group of heat shield experts and led by a former astronaut who have been very critical about this mission and question whether or not it should have happened to begin with. But NASA officials insist they have gone through all of the analysis, all of the testing that they've had sign off from the astronauts on this crew themselves, that they have everything in place to return this crew safely back to Earth. But given all of that, there is still a great deal of anxiety that the teams here on the ground are dealing with.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEFF RADIGAN, ARTEMIS II LEAD FLIGHT DIRECTOR: It's 13 minutes of things that have to go right is the way I think about it. You know, I have a whole checklist in my head that we, you know, we're going through of all the things that have to happen. You know, the forward bay cover has to come off, the drogues have to come out, the main chutes have to deploy, the reefing systems have to cut and we have to get touchdown angle alignment correct and then hit the water correctly.

AMIT KSHATRIYA, NASA ASSOCIATE ADMINISTRATOR: It's impossible to say you don't have irrational fears left, right? But I would tell you -- I tell you I don't have any rational fears about what's going to happen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAVANDERA: Reentry into the Earth's atmosphere for the Orion capsule and the Artemis II astronauts will take about 13 minutes. And for six minutes that crew will be in a communication blackout. There will be no way to talk or find out exactly how those astronauts are doing and how the capsule is holding up in those extreme conditions. And here at Mission Control, that will be a very tense time. And to make it even more dramatic, we know that -- we've been told that family members of the astronauts will be in the viewing area behind Mission Control, desperately waiting to hear their voices come back on the communication system once they break through back into the Earth's atmosphere and start falling to the ocean for that dramatic splashdown off the coast of San Diego, California Friday night.

Ed Lavender, CNN at Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.

FREEMAN: Thank you, Ed, for that reporting. And CNN will have live coverage, of course, of Artemis return to Earth from the moment they enter the atmosphere to the splashdown in the Pacific Ocean. It all begins at 7:00 p.m. eastern, 4:00 p.m. on the west coast and midnight in London.

[04:25:05]

To this now, First Lady Melania Trump is blasting what she calls lies linking her to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. She made the remarks in a rare address on Thursday at the White House, and she called on Congress to allow his victims to testify.

Now, some of the Epstein survivors have pushed back on the first lady's comments. They said calling on victims to testify was a deflection of responsibility. CNN's Betsy Klein has more from the White House.

BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: What I have learned in covering First Lady Melania Trump for more than a decade is that she is fiercely independent, she keeps a very tight circle of aides, and she does things her own way. And one sign of that is that none of the reporters in the room knew that this was coming, knew anything about the substance or topic of this statement. I was told ahead of time that it was going to be a statement and not announcement. And a senior adviser to the first lady had told the New York Post that its substance would, quote, spread internationally. Complete silence in the White House Cross Hall, a very notable and official formal space to deliver this announcement as the first lady walked in and sought to place distance between herself, Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell.

Now, she has been very litigious on this issue in the past, but she has not spoken about it publicly, ignoring a shouted question on the issue as recently as February. She emphatically stated that she was not Epstein's victim, that she had no knowledge or involvement of his crimes. Their connection, she said, was purely social in Palm Beach and New York.

She also addressed a 2002 e-mail exchange with Ghislaine Maxwell that was made public back in February as part of a tranche of documents related to the Epstein investigation. Melania Trump in that e-mail, signs it Love Melania. Ghislaine Maxwell writes back calling her sweet pea. Trump on Thursday said that was a casual correspondence and she was being polite.

Now, what is most notable here is that the first lady is directly undercutting the messaging coming from her husband, his West Wing, some of his top lieutenants, including former Attorney General Pamela Bondi. This is something that Trump and Bondi have repeatedly and emphatically sought to tamp down, saying that the country is ready to move on. And you might remember that very notable moment at a hearing back in February when Bondi was asked to turn around and apologize to Epstein survivors. But on Thursday, Melania Trump once more showing her independent streak with this call for action public hearings from survivors with transparency in Congress.

Now, one source familiar with the matter tells us that President Trump did get a heads up that this was coming. However, the president spoke by phone to a reporter from MS NOW and said he didn't know what this was about. So as his team has urgently tried to shift the attention elsewhere, this issue now once more gaining momentum.

Betsy Klein, CNN, the White House.

FREEMAN: Thank you, Betsy, with that reporting.

We'll get back to our coverage of the ceasefire. Just ahead, we're going to take a look at the confusion currently in the Strait of Hormuz. Iran says oil tankers can pass, but not many feel it's safe. Stay with us.

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