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One World with Zain Asher
U.S.-Iran Ceasefire on Shaky Ground Ahead of Talks; Vance, Witkoff & Kushner to Take Part in Iran Talks in Pakistan; U.S. Reveals Talks with Beijing to Secure Truce; Hungary to Vote in Parliamentary Election on Sunday; Artemis II Astronauts Preparing for Friday Return to Earth. Aired 11-11:30a ET
Aired April 09, 2026 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[11:00:00]
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BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN HOST, ONE WORLD: Hello, everyone live from New York. I'm Bianna Golodryga.
ZAIN ASHER, CNN HOST, ONE WORLD: And I'm Zain Asher. You're watching "One World". The ceasefire deal between the U.S. and Iran appears to be holding
with guns largely silent across the Gulf region.
GOLODRYGA: Yeah, but it is on very shaky ground. A short time ago, Iran's President echoed claims that Israeli attacks on Lebanon violate the terms
of the deal, something that the United States and Israel dispute.
ASHER: Yeah, despite all this, U.S. and Iranian delegates are preparing for talks on Saturday in Islamabad. U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance, Special
Envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner will represent Washington.
GOLODRYGA: Yeah, security across the Pakistani capital has tightened significantly ahead of these talks. President Trump says U.S. military
personnel will remain in place in and around Iran at the meantime, as negotiations are playing out.
CNN's Stephen Collinson is standing by for us in Washington, but first we go to Jeremy Diamond in Tel Aviv. And Jeremy, as we hear this back and
forth as to whether or not Lebanon and ceasefire with Hezbollah was indeed part of this ceasefire deal.
We are hearing reports that perhaps there are more evacuation notices going out from Israel in Southern Lebanon. Just tell us if there are more strikes
that Israel is planning against Hezbollah targets.
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, there's absolutely no indication that the Israeli military is going to slow down or pare back its
attacks on Lebanon. What we have witnessed over the last 24 hours have been intense Israeli strikes in Lebanon, particularly yesterday, of course, when
we saw more than 182 people who were killed, more than 890 injured.
Many of these strikes taking place in densely populated areas in the Lebanese Capital of Beirut. And indeed, in the last two hours, we have seen
yet another military evacuation order issued by the Israeli military for new areas of Southern Beirut. So that likely is an indicator of additional
forthcoming strikes.
Already, earlier today, we saw multiple Israeli strikes in Lebanon that have killed at least 10 people, including women and children, according to
Lebanon's national news agency. We've also seen continued Israeli military ground activity in Southern Lebanon, where we have witnessed over the last
few weeks, intense battles between the Israeli military and Hezbollah forces.
As well as Israeli demolition activity near the border areas in preparation to create what Israeli officials have described as a buffer zone in
Southern Lebanon. And amid all of this, we're continuing to hear from Iranian officials insisting that Lebanon was meant to be part of this
ceasefire agreement.
The Speaker of the Parliament, Mohammad Ghalibaf, who set to be the Iranian intermediary in these negotiations in Pakistan, once again calling Israeli
actions in Lebanon a violation and warning that there will be consequences if those attacks do not stop.
So, all of this very much, putting this ceasefire at risk, but Israel and the United States both insisting Lebanon is not part of this deal. A very
different story from Pakistani mediators and Iran as well Bianna and Zain.
GOLODRYGA: Jeremy Diamond reporting live for us. Thank you so much.
ASHER: And in his latest piece for CNN's Stephen Collinson writes a teetering ceasefire bodes ill for treacherous U.S. Iran talks ahead. He
joins us live now from Washington. So obviously, yes, the ceasefire is, of course, on very shaky ground that there's reports that Iran is only
allowing about 15 vessels per day through the Strait of Hormuz.
But just in terms of what we can expect in Islamabad, the fact that President Trump is sending J.D. Vance this time, as well as likely, some
kind of sort of acceptable negotiator from the Iranian perspective, just walk us through what that symbolizes.
STEPHEN COLLINSON, CNN POLITICS SENIOR REPORTER: Yeah, and it's, let's remember this is a highly unusual thing that's going to happen. A very
senior American official meeting face to face with an Iranian official. So, there's this whole issue of the protocol here, that the president's second
in command is going to meet the Iranians.
I think that's significant in itself. The problem, I think, though, is that the American side appears to want and believe that this could be a quick
process that J.D. Vance could go into Islamabad and get a much more prolonged agreement between the United States and Iran.
[11:05:00]
The president has been talking about a joint venture with Iran on levying tolls in the Strait of Hormuz and helping Iran dig up its nuclear material
from its nuclear plants that were bombed by the United States last year.
I mean, that is really fantastical, if you think about it. The Obama Administration nuclear deal with Iran took 18 months, highly complex,
technical negotiations. We now have many more issues on the table. And the fact is that although the cease fire is holding, and that looks like good
news, there haven't been missile attacks into the Gulf today. The United States hasn't been attacking Iran.
The premise of the cease fire, according to President Trump, was that the Straits of Hormuz would be open immediately, freely and to everybody that,
as you said, there is not taking place. Only a trickle of ships are going through. And I think that tells us where the leverage is going to be in
these talks? Iran now has this massive new tool it can use to try to force concessions that it didn't have before the war started.
ASHER: That is Stephen Collinson, live for us. Thank you.
GOLODRYGA: Well, Israel has issued a broad evacuation order for several neighborhoods in Southern Beirut, amid reports of fresh Israeli strikes as
a National Day of Mourning is underway in Lebanon. It comes a day after Israel launched blistering attacks across the country. Israel says those
were the largest coordinated strikes in Lebanon since the war began.
ASHER: And more than 100 sites were hit Wednesday in just 10 minutes. Funerals are being held today for some of the victims. Lebanon says that
nearly 200 people were killed and almost 900 others wounded. International condemnation is growing over the attacks.
GOLODRYGA: The U.N. Human Rights Chief is calling the bombardment a horrific amount of carnage that defies belief. CNN's Nada Bashir shows us
the devastation in Beirut.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NADA BASHIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Homes destroyed, the air filled with smoke, the site of yet another deadly attack.
BASHIR: This is the aftermath of an enormous Israeli military strike here in Beirut. This is one of the more than 100 targets, according to the
Israeli military that they believe to be Hezbollah targets struck today. But you can see behind me, these appear to be residential buildings upon
this is a very busy area full of shops and a busy roadway.
There would have been many people at this site and around the area at the time of the blast, and now, emergency services are working to dig through
the rubble for victims.
BASHIR (voice-over): The Lebanese Health Ministry says hundreds have been killed and wounded, adding to the more than 1500 people the ministry said
Tuesday have been killed in Lebanon over the course of this war. Hopes that the ceasefire between the U.S., Israel and Iran would extend to Lebanon
were quickly dash just hours after it came into effect.
RASHA, BEIRUT RESIDENT: We were sitting drinking coffee like normal, and then we heard a very loud noise, three blasts at the same time. And then we
saw the smoke, but we couldn't tell where it was coming from. What kind of life is this? We don't know what will happen in the next hour. The last
thing we could imagine is this kind of attack occurring in the center of Beirut.
BASHIR (voice-over): In the neighborhood of Tallet El Khayat first responders attempt to rescue survivors after a section of a residential
building was completely leveled. Both the U.S. and Israel have claimed Lebanon and was never part of the ceasefire agreement, despite claims to
the contrary from Pakistan's Prime Minister, who helped broker the deal.
Now, fears of a further escalation, including a possible retaliation from Hezbollah ally Iran, has left many fearful over what now lies ahead for the
people of Lebanon, Nada Bashir, CNN in Beirut.
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GOLODRYGA: Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps claims shipping through the Strait of Hormuz has stopped following Israel's bombardment of Lebanon
on Wednesday. According to marine tracking data, vessel traffic through the critical waterway remains negligible.
ASHER: Now U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance says that if Iran does not follow through on promises to reopen the Strait and the ceasefire will end. Oil
prices are once again rising, surging back to $100 a barrel. Is uncertainty over the Strait worries investors.
CNN's Matt Egan joins us live now with more. Passage through the Strait is negligible. There are reports that Iran is only allowing a trickle, just
like a handful 15 vessels a day pass through the Strait, which is obviously not enough to get the global oil market back to where it was.
And we had this glimmer of hope yesterday, when we were talking about oil prices dropping down to $90 a barrel, $95 still elevated, but at least
trending in the right direction. And now we're back up again Matt. So, this season of volatility is going to be the name of the game for quite some
time.
MATT EGAN, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Yeah, Zain and Bianna unfortunately, here we go again, right?
[11:10:00]
Oil prices racing back to life as that initial enthusiasm for the ceasefire has really faded into concern over whether or not the ceasefire can even
last and when the Strait of Hormuz will open back up. Now, yesterday, oil prices crashed by the most in any single day since oil futures trading
started back in the 1980s.
But as you noted, moving back up today U.S. oil futures spiking by almost 9 percent as we speak, above $102 a barrel. This is roughly session highs so
far today, and it's well above the $90 or $91 a barrel low from yesterday morning. This is a significant move.
And I think the fact that oil prices are already on the way back up really does underscore the fact that this is not going to be quick or easy, right?
This is not like flipping on a light switch. A lot of the energy infrastructure in the region has been damaged. There's been oil production
that's been shut down.
Personnel has been evacuated, and all that's going to take time and money and confidence before it can go back to normal. And the biggest problem, of
course, as you mentioned, is the Strait of Hormuz. Now look at all of these oil tankers that had been lining up just waiting to go through the Strait
of Hormuz.
And the fact is that, as you mentioned, the traffic through this narrow waterway, despite the ceasefire being announced, that traffic has been
very, very small, far shy of what would be needed to really restore confidence. And the fact that the Strait of Hormuz has not yet fully
reopened, that's going to, of course, be bad news when it comes to consumer prices and the price of gasoline.
Now gas prices, they move with a lag to oil. So, we're still seeing gas prices move higher, but thankfully today, only fractionally higher, 4.17, a
gallon, if you round, that's the new national average. That's the highest level in almost four years. That is well above the pre-war level of just
under $3 a gallon.
Look at the trend. This yellow line is basically when the war started. You can see on the left side of the screen, I mean gas prices in the United
States were very cheap to start the year, and they've just gone dramatically higher, and they've yet to really level out.
Now, I think the good news is that analysts do think that we could start to see gas prices trend lower in the coming days, maybe, if all goes well,
dropping below $4 a gallon. But the bad news is, history shows that this can take a long-time right?
Gas prices, they tend to go down a lot slower than they went up. There's a saying that gas prices, they go up like a rocket, but they only fall like a
feather. And so, getting back to those pre-war gas prices before the conflict really started, I mean, that's something that take a very long
time, especially if oil prices continue to go in the wrong direction. Back to you guys.
ASHER: Matt Egan, thank you.
GOLODRYGA: Well, the White House is crediting China for its role in the ceasefire agreement between the U.S. and Iran.
ASHER: Officials say the Washington and Beijing held high level talks in the run up to the truce, as Will Ripley reports, China is doing everything
it can to end the war, and that means getting creative.
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WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): No one knows decapitation better than I do says the eagle in the golden robe. This
AI generated viral video produced by Chinese state media. It portrays the United States as an aggressor, killing Iran's Supreme Leader.
Burning through expensive weapons, while Iran responds with cheap drones, eventually running out of missiles, triggering a global oil crisis satire
that hits uncomfortably close to reality.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: South Korea didn't help us. You know, who else didn't help us Japan.
RIPLEY (voice-over): But President Trump is giving China more credit telling AFP, Beijing helped broker the ceasefire just weeks before he set
to travel there again for a high stakes meeting with Chinese Leader Xi Jinping.
China's Foreign Ministry says Foreign Minister Wang Yi made 26 calls to counterparts, while a special envoy traveled to the region to mediate.
China has actively worked to promote peace and push for an end to hostilities she says, why? Because a wider war threatens something Beijing
depends on oil.
The ceasefire hinges on reopening the Strait of Hormuz. A fifth of the world's supply passes through it, most of it headed to Asia. China is by
far the largest buyer of Iranian crude, around 80 to 90 percent more than a million barrels a day. They've spent years propping up Tehran.
Beijing cannot afford a prolonged conflict that shakes global markets. China also helped broker a breakthrough between Iran and Saudi Arabia in
2023.
[11:15:00]
And now appears to be working both sides again, publicly calling for calm, positioning itself as a responsible global power, but online in China, a
flood of comments like these. Trump is the most incoherent and untrustworthy tribal leader in the history of mankind. The U.S. has an
artillery shortage.
A two-week time out to replenish weapon stockpiles. After these two weeks, fights and bombardments will probably just resume. In China political
content like this never goes viral, unless government censors allow it.
China is walking a very careful line here, striking a diplomatic tone in public, possibly working behind the scenes and at the same time, embracing
the power of this AI generated content, seizing the moment to shape the global narrative, casting President Trump and the United States is reckless
and itself as the peace loving, responsible power, even as it continues almost daily PLA military activity near Taiwan, Will Ripley, CNN, Taipei.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ASHER: All right, still to come on "One World", a pivotal election in Hungary this weekend, as the incumbent prime minister leans on Trump
officials for support. We'll tell you why just ahead.
GOLODRYGA: Plus, after being further away from the Earth than any other human beings, the Artemis II astronauts are due to wake up in a few minutes
and prepare to head back home.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're constantly moving around, whether it's to complete a task, to just eat, you know, to look out the window to take a
picture. It everything we do in here is a four-person activity.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
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GOLODRYGA: All right, well, voters in Hungary had to the polls on Sunday to determine who will be leading their country next. U.S. Vice President J.D.
Vance spent time in Budapest this week urging voters to stand with the incumbent Prime Minister, Viktor Orban.
ASHER: Yeah, conservatives worry Orban could lose his 16-year iron grip on Hungary dealing a blow for the far right in Europe. Opposition Party Leader
Peter Magyar has held a double-digit lead over Orban's party in most polls for more than a year.
GOLODRYGA: Melissa Bell joins us now from Hungary, just outside of Budapest. And to say that it is highly unusual to see a U.S. official, much
less a Vice President, campaign for another leader ahead of the elections, is an understatement Melissa, but I guess the logic here is they think that
that will help voters decide who they're going to vote for. Is that what you're hearing?
MELISSA BELL, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the American Vice President left nothing to chance or to doubt, explaining that he was
here in Budapest this week to help his friend, Viktor Orban win this election just days from the poll.
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What we'd seen in February was Marco Rubio come here to do the same, explaining that Viktor Orban's success was our success, meaning Magyar.
They really see American officials their fate tied with that of the man who really championed the way, showed them the way how do to turn a Western
democracy into a liberal one.
Now there are those die-hard supporters of Viktor Orban who believe that that's great, that the support that he's had from Washington, that his
proximity to Moscow, are things to be celebrated.
One of the interesting things about this campaign is that the campaign posters for Viktor Orban show President Zelenskyy's face, because he's
really used the war in neighboring Ukraine as a way of frightening people into voting for Fidesz, explaining that if there's a change of power to
Tisa, the movement that's been led by Peter Magyar, well, then all kinds of things will happen, not least a change when it comes to Ukraine, and that
could mean more involvement In the war for Hungarians, which worries them a great deal.
Peter Magyar, on the other hand, has run a really remarkable campaign on very domestic issues, the fact that Hungarians look around them and in this
part of Europe, their neighbors seem to be doing better economically. He's run on bread-and-butter issues, on the fact of the health care system not
being where it should be.
And that appears to have made the difference even in what had been Fida's Bastians like this one, traditionally, Budapest is more liberal leaning
than the rest of Hungary. And here to the South West, this town had long been very much in the hands of Viktor Orban's party. Even here, the polls
suggest Peter Magyar might make in roads and end up having the town fall to Tisa. And that really is remarkable.
So, everyone very much looking at to Sunday, many Hungarians who are hoping for change after 16 years with a great deal of hope. But this is also an
election, of course, that is being so closely watched from outside, by Washington, by Moscow, and, of course, by Brussels.
Remember that Viktor Orban's rule of Hungary, has also been marked by a distancing from Brussels, and he's really sort of become the arch blocker
of the European Union. So, there will be many in Brussels who heave a sigh of relief if he does fall.
They have had tried very hard, however, to stay entirely out of this election, and it is the United States representatives, its officials, both
Marco Rubio and J.D. Vance, who have had no such qualms making their way here, really, in the days ahead of the election, a remarkable show of force
by Washington to try and sway an election because it looks so tight, Bianna and Zain.
GOLODRYGA: Melissa Bell, you'll be watching this for us as the vote approaches. Thank you.
ASHER: We were both going to try to pronounce the town where you are Melissa. It was like a --
GOLODRYGA: You're on the spot.
BELL: Can I give it a go?
ASHER: Yes, yes please.
BELL: Szekesfehervar I've been practicing all day, and I'm really glad you gave me an opportunity. I've been there. Szekesfehervar, there you are.
GOLODRYGA: Perfection.
ASHER: Wait, hold on. Szekesfehervar.
BELL: Szekesfehervar, I was -- I've been Szekesfehervar. I've been practicing all day. I didn't dare try it then, but you pull me on the spot.
I'm really glad I got away with it, Szekesfehervar.
ASHER: You're so cute.
GOLODRYGA: Amazing.
ASHER: Melissa Bell, live for us, from Szekesfehervar.
GOLODRYGA: Amazing, thank you.
ASHER: Thank you.
GOLODRYGA: As someone married to a Hungarian or somebody with Hungarian origin, that is impressive, because I wasn't even going to attempt that.
Melissa, thank you.
ASHER: Thank you, Melissa. All right the U.S. Department of Justice says that Former Attorney General Pam Bondi will not appear for her upcoming
deposition about the Epstein files. Bondi is scheduled to testify before the House Oversight Committee on April 14th, but the Justice Department
says she won't appear because she was subpoenaed as Attorney General, and that is, of course, a role that she no longer has.
GOLODRYGA: Now, the committee says that it will contact Bondi's personal counsel about her deposition. The top Democrat on the Committee says Bondi
must testify or face contempt of Congress charges. Meantime, Sean Diddy Combs lawyers are asking a federal judge to release the performer from
prison immediately.
Combs is serving a 15-month sentence for prostitution related charges. His lawyers were in court a short time ago arguing that his actions were
voyeurism and amateur pornography and not related to prostitution.
ASHER: A jury found Combs guilty last July. He's been in federal custody since he was arrested in September of 2024. All right, finally, before we
go, the Artemis II astronauts are scheduled to wake up about 10 minutes from now, beginning the penultimate day of their mission to the Moon.
GOLODRYGA: Yeah, flight control teams and the crew will begin preparing the capsules cabin for the scheduled splash down in the Pacific on Friday. As
they make their way home, the astronauts reflect on how this mission has changed them.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEREMY HANSEN, CANADIAN SPACE AGENCY ASTRONAUT: We have seen just some extraordinary things, things that I thought we might see they looked
similar to what I thought they might look like, and other things that I just had never even imagined.
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And those were different perspectives that we saw these things from. But I have to say, it hasn't changed my perspective or the perspective that I
launched with. What the perspective I launched with was that we live on a fragile planet in the vacuum, in the void of space. We know this from
science. We're very fortunate to live on planet Earth.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: The gravitational tricks that they play there never cease to amaze me. Well, as we go, take a look at some of the incredible photos that
the crew has sent back home. This is the far side of the Moon.
ASHER: We'll have special coverage as the crew of the Artemis II Mission returns to Earth following the historic trip around the Moon, join us at
07:00 p.m. Eastern, 04:00 p.m. Pacific time. And if you're watching from Hong Kong, at 07:00 o'clock in the morning.
GOLODRYGA: And do stay with CNN. There's more "One World" in about 30 minutes time, but "CNN Creators" is up next.
ASHER: We've had a great show, including a live report from Szekesfehervar.
GOLODRYGA: You said it that right.
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(CNN CREATORS)
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