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Hegseth: U.S. Was Ready to Target Iran's Power Plants, Bridges; Kuwait and UAE Report Iranian Strikes Despite Ceasefire; Airline Fuel Costs and Prices for Travelers; Some Iranians Express Skepticism About Ceasefire Agreement. Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired April 08, 2026 - 10:30   ET

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

[10:30:00]

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking news, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth says the U.S. had planned to hit several targets in Iran, including bridges and power plants, if, if the ceasefire deal had not been reached between the U.S. and Iran. This, as the Joint Chiefs Chairman, General Dan Caine, says U.S. forces remain ready if the ceasefire falls apart. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEN. DAN CAINE, JOINT CHIEFS CHAIRMAN: We welcome the ongoing ceasefire, and as the Secretary said, we hope that Iran chooses a lasting peace. But as Secretary Hegseth said, let us be clear, a ceasefire is a pause, and the Joint Force remains ready if ordered or called upon to resume combat operations with the same speed and precision as we've demonstrated over the last 38 days, and we hope that that is not the case.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Joining us now, retired U.S. Army Brigadier General Peter U.S. Army Brigadier General Peter Zwack. Good morning, General. Thanks so much for joining us. As you know, both the U.S. and Iran have now claimed victory, publicly claimed victory, after this two-week ceasefire deal has been reached. Will this current deal hold, or are we already seeing it start to fracture?

BRIG. GEN. PETER ZWACK (RET.), U.S. ARMY, FORMER U.S. SENIOR DEFENSE ATTACHE TO THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION AND GLOBAL FELLOW, KENNAN INSTITUTE, WILSON CENTER: I don't know. I think that it's a high-stakes game. The Iranians have the leverage that they have a geographic advantage in and around the Straits of Hormuz, and how the maneuvers and machinations work around that or not is going to be central to that. While the guard -- the Revolutionary Guard has been beaten up on land, they still have plenty of little boats and mines and ways they can interdict it. So, we really don't want to get into that. They know that.

So, I think that, you know, how they exert their leverage in this 20- mile-wide channel, if you will, and how we manage access to it and avoid both sides an incident that turns into something bigger than that. Other pieces of this are if Iran continues to harass the Gulf states that border, if you will, or touch on that region, this isn't just about us and Iran. It's got to be also including the other nations in the Gulf. This is going to be very fragile. It's going to be open to other things that go on. And cool heads have to prevail throughout if, indeed, that end state of an open strait is desired.

BLITZER: Iran's Revolutionary Guards -- the Guard Corps, they say that they will stick to the ceasefire, but they warn they have a, quote, "finger on the trigger," quote, "a finger on the trigger." What would cause this ceasefire to totally unravel?

ZWACK: Well, first of all, there's always the -- Wolf, there's always, you know, blank happens and things happen out there. You got a lot of weapons, a lot of itchy fingers. And you can have an incident that blows into something very, very serious.

There are the issues that are, if you will, off screen. Israel is still bombing a number of its neighbors and is a wild card in all of this. And then, of course, you have how focused, how badly do the Iranians want this? And by the same token, what could trigger us?

[10:35:00]

And again, I worry as much about accident and incident as anything that's pre-calculated or meditated.

BLITZER: And as you mentioned, the IDF, the Israel Defense Forces, completed the largest coordinated strike targeting more than 100 Hezbollah command centers, military sites inside Lebanon. Israel says Lebanon was not included in the ceasefire agreement. Pakistan's prime minister says it was. So, what's your concern with this confusion in all of this?

ZWACK: Well, I think that one concern, just from a higher moral aspect, is while this is all going on, there is an ugly and bloody fight going on in Lebanon is very much a factor. How the negotiations go on in Pakistan is out there. And then you've, you know, got other nations that I would say, I'll be polite and use the word interested, but they're also spoilers like Russia. And there's just so many different currents that could be as much negative as temporarily positive.

No, this is this is high adventure, Wolf. And we're in it now. Let's keep our fingers crossed. But there are so many variables and a lot of weapons pointed and a lot of anger and certainly on the Iranian side, hatred with it.

BLITZER: Yes, good point. In an interview following the ceasefire agreement, President Trump said Iran's uranium will be, quote -- in his words, quote, "perfectly taken care of." Iran's got a large stockpile of highly enriched uranium. It's buried basically. It's a major concern, though, during the during this war. Getting rid of it was one of the big objectives that the U.S. had. Here's what Defense Secretary Pete Hicks said about this earlier this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) PETE HEGSETH, DEFENSE SECRETARY: It's always been non-negotiable that they won't have nuclear capabilities. And so, right now it's buried and we're watching it. We know exactly what they have and they know that. And they will either give it to us, which the president has laid out. They'll give it to us voluntarily. We'll get it. We'll take it. We'll take it out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: So, was the objective achieved or not?

ZWACK: No, not yet. Bottom line is that the enriched uranium is in the ground somewhere. You have significant elements in the Iranian, if you will, security operat, a nation that sees the uranium as a sovereignty issue. It boils -- it's more than just having those potential weapons of mass destruction. And how we work a deal with the Iranians to get it out of the ground and in a safe place is -- it will be a huge undertaking. And it ended prior administrations and the United Nations could not get it done. And again, I think that the Iranian almost national identity now is in part linked with that uranium.

BLITZER: It's a huge issue. Al right. Retired U.S. Army Brigadier General Peter Zwack, thanks very much for joining us.

ZWACK: Always, Wolf. Thank you.

BLITZER: Pamela.

PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: And just ahead here in the Situation Room, Wolf, a major U.S. airline says fuel costs should reach two billion dollars next quarter. That could happen. And what this could mean for travelers heading into the summer travel season. We'll explain coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:40:00]

BROWN: Breaking news. U.S. stocks opened higher this morning after President Trump's announcement of a ceasefire agreement with Iran. The deal includes Iran's military coordinating the passage of ships through the critical Strait of Hormuz, prompting oil prices to drop. Crude oil, the global benchmark, is at roughly $93 a barrel as of this morning.

BLITZER: Let's go to our business and politics correspondent, Vanessa Yurkevich, who's joining us right now. Vanessa, what does all of this mean for the average American consumer when it comes to, say, rising gas prices?

VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS AND POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, oil prices dropping 15 percent overnight is certainly encouraging news. Worth noting, though, that oil prices are still up nearly 50 percent from the beginning of the war. But analysts do expect that oil will trade around what you're seeing on your screen right now, those higher double digits, that is if there are no escalations to these talks or to this war.

Now, oil prices directly affecting gas prices. It does lag, though, and that is why we did see a jump of 2 cents overnight. So, the national average 4.16 a gallon, that's up 2 cents from yesterday, up 10 cents from a week ago, and up about 71 cents from just about a month ago. Now, because of the lag in oil prices to gas prices, it's about two to four weeks, according to analysts.

And in terms of that lag, it will take a little bit of time for things to first stabilize for gas prices. But then we do expect a drop, according to GasBuddy's Patrick De Haan, who says that we could see a drop of about 1 to 3 cents a day and then 7 to 15 cents a week.

[10:45:00]

That is if, guys, things kind of stay where they are right now and things don't escalate again.

BLITZER: You know, I've got a follow-up question for you. Delta Airlines' newest earnings report said the company expects fuel costs to rise by as much as $2 billion this quarter. What could that mean for the cost of air travel?

YURKEVICH: Yes. So, air travel in the first quarter, according to the CEO, has already risen by about 6 percent in terms of cost of airfares. The projection for the second quarter is that they're going to see an impact of $2 billion in added fuel costs, and that means that they're ultimately going to have to raise prices and ultimately cut back on some flights. That's because of jet fuel prices, which have nearly doubled. Look at that. Just yesterday, $4.81 a gallon compared to what Delta was paying in late February, $2.50 a gallon.

But Ed Bastian, the CEO of Delta, was asked about this, and those projections were made before the big oil drop. However, he does expect prices to still be a little bit higher. Here's what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ED BASTIAN, CEO, DELTA AIR LINES: We're happy to see the sell-off, and we hope that this is the end -- not the end, but, you know, the start of an end to the conflict, and a peaceful resolution is achieved soon. But the reality is that it's a very volatile situation. We know we're going to be higher for longer off of whatever price you want to look at, and as a result of that, we're taking action, not looking at it on a day-by-day basis, but over time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

YURKEVICH: Now, Delta has joined United in JetBlue in finding other ways to sort of offset some of these higher prices. They announced that they were raising checked baggage fees by about $10, trying not to raise airfares too much, but trying to find these other cost savings by having to increase it for consumers in other ways, guys.

BLITZER: All right. Vanessa Yurkevich reporting for us. Vanessa, thank you very, very much. Pamela. BROWN: Thank you so much, Vanessa. Coming up, what do Iranians think about the current state of the war and this fragile ceasefire? We're going to speak with someone talking to people inside Iran.

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[10:50:00]

BROWN: All right. Breaking news. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth says President Trump spared Iran and, quote, "chose mercy" because the country accepted a ceasefire under overwhelming pressure. But not everyone feels the same way. Some Iranians expressed a sense of vindication and skepticism about the U.S. and Israel's commitment to the already fragile Tiberi (ph) truce.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I was very pleased that the demands and requests we had put forward were accepted. They were forced to accept these terms because of the resilience our people showed over these 40 nights. Now, we are recognized as a major power in the world.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): I used to say we should keep fighting because the other side is not trustworthy at all. Every time they agreed to a ceasefire, they came back stronger afterwards. So, it could happen all over again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: And joining us now is Dr. Nazee Moinan. She's an adjunct fellow for the Middle East Institute. Thank you so much for coming on, Nazee.

NAZEE MOINAN, ADJUNCT FELLOW, MIDDLE EAST INSTITUTE: Thanks for having me.

BROWN: I know you've been hearing from Iranians since this very fragile ceasefire was announced. What are you hearing from them?

MOINAN: I actually spoke to one of them this morning that has sterling, that can get in touch with me more easily than others. And, you know, it's ironic, but their biggest fear is that this war will stop. I mean, you wouldn't think that the entire nation wants to go through the suffering they're going through now and get bombarded day and night. But their biggest fear is that the regime will stay.

BROWN: And is there a fear that the regime will be even more emboldened and bloodthirsty after this?

MOINAN: That's a great question. Yes. I think right now with the ceasefire also, the person actually told me that this ceasefire will be remembered as open season on what they call traitors and that the two weeks will be used to exterminate all the ones that were detained during the January massacres, even the ones that are still languishing in prison for women's life freedom. They are deathly afraid of exacting revenge. Iran is a sovereign country and there's not much we can do about what's happening inside Iran. And they're afraid that they're the targets next.

BROWN: And the response to the ceasefire has not been monolithic, right? I mean, we've seen celebrations, we've seen people burning flags, that kind of thing. Help us better understand the overall dynamic inside the country among the civilians, because we've heard Iranian leadership claim victory here.

MOINAN: Exactly. So, there's always been two Irans, Pamela. There's an Iran that's upper scale, a mobile middle class that goes out without the hijab nowadays, that can sit in a restaurant with their fiance or their boyfriend and not get disturbed. And there's this other Iran that's heavily invested in the regime. They're traditional. They're the base of the regime. You see them in full hijab, as you saw yesterday, with women and children lining up against the bridges and the power plants.

The things that I -- the thing that want the world, the Americans to know, is that the base is shrinking. It has been shrinking for some time, but ever since the massacres in January, there's been this reset button where that social contract is broken.

So, what we saw about the base coming out and rallying around Mojtaba, the new leader, the protecting of power plants, is really a small base, and they might even be paid off, and they might even have been busted. The rest of Iranians really want to be part of the International Community. They want to be given political space, social space, economic space, to realize their own potential. This is a great civilization. They resourced for people.

I always tell people that the biggest industry, the biggest resource Iran has, it's not its oil and energy, it's the people. They're highly educated, they're forward-looking, they want to be part of the Western orbit. This war, to them, is a war that should have happened 40- somewhat years ago when Ronald Reagan started protecting the tankers through the Gulf in the tanker wars, an operation, I think, called (INAUDIBLE).

BROWN: Yes. It's OK.

MOINAN: Yes. There's so many operations.

[10:55:00]

BROWN: Let me just follow up with you, though, because President Trump has said there's a new regime now.

MOINAN: Yes.

BROWN: And I wonder if you see it that way, and what is the likelihood that there will be an uprising of the people that the president is still sort of calling for?

MOINAN: The likelihood of an uprising is high. The Iranians are waiting for the moment where they feel protected enough to be able to defend themselves and go out and claim their country back. So, they're waiting for the moment, but there's mixed signals also. There is General Cooper who says, you know, don't come out of your house. I think the crown prince has said the same thing. I think the president has said the same thing. You know, he showed great understanding, saying that the Iranians don't want to be shot. If they go out to the street, they will be shot. So, that part is high.

The -- when I spoke to you right after Khamenei was dead, they killed the supreme leader on the first day, I think euphoria was an all-time high. You know, Iranians are joyful people. They're waiting for a moment of celebration. And they were celebrating the death of the longest-running dictator. For 37 years, he was dictating their social mores, their finances, how much education did they get, where did they go to school, what music they listened to, what do they wear.

So, of course, when that personality is removed, you kind of think that this is the end of the regime. We're five weeks later, and it's not the end of the regime. But, you know, I just want to remind everyone that this is -- we've never done enough studies on this regime since day one. There's nowhere in the 17 volumes of compilation of Khamenei, who was the founder of the Islamic Revolution, that if the world offers you an olive branch, take it. This is a regime that's meant to survive, that's meant to deter and eventually replace the Western civilization with a global Islamic caliphate.

So, the odds are it's just leaving, just overnight saying, OK, you know what, I don't think we're a firepower match with the U.S. and Israel. We might as well pack and go. That's not going to happen anytime soon.

BROWN: That's not going to happen, yes. There's, you know, the firepower, and there's the ideology, and that ideology is pervasive among leadership there. Nazee, thank you for bringing your perspective --

MOINAN: Thank you.

BROWN: -- to the table and helping us better understand what the citizens of Iran are thinking in this moment. We'll be right back.

MOINAN: Thank you for having me.

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