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CENTCOM: U.S. Disables 2 More Iranian Oil Tankers Amid Blockade; Countries Race To Track Hantavirus As Cruise Passengers Head Home; Trump: Ceasefire Holds, Despite U.S. And Iran Exchanging Fire. Aired 11-11:30a ET

Aired May 08, 2026 - 11:00   ET

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

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[11:00:34]

PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now, answering your Hantavirus questions. Dr. Sanjay Gupta will be here as health officials worldwide are racing to trace passengers who have left that Hantavirus hit ship and returned home.

Plus, how much more will your summer vacation cost? Why the rising gas and jet fuel prices might dampen your travel plans.

Welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm Pamela Brown. Wolf Blitzer is off today and you're in the Situation Room.

Happening now, the Trump administration is hoping to receive a response from Iran today on that U.S. peace proposal and the shaky ceasefire is tested yet again. Minutes ago, we learned that the U.S. military has disabled two Iranian flagged oil tankers trying to run the blockade. This is brand new video right here from U.S. Central Command that we received just moments ago.

And the U.S. and Iran exchanged attacks overnight. This is also new video. It's from Iran's state media and it purportedly shows launches toward U.S. ships and the Strait of Hormuz. President Trump says three U.S. destroyers fended off the missile and drone attacks.

The U.S. responded with strikes on military targets inside Iran this morning. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the administration is still hoping for diplomacy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARCO RUBIO, SECRETARY OF STATE: We're expecting a response from them today at some point. We have not received that yet in the last hour, but perhaps that will come. Their system is still highly fractured and a bit dysfunctional as well, so that may be serving as an impediment. I hope it's a serious offer. I really do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: All right, so let's go live now to CNN International diplomatic editor Nic Robertson. He's in Islamabad, Pakistan. So, Nic, you heard Rubio is hoping for this positive response from Iran today. Is that optimism shared by others involved in the peace efforts?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: I think they would love, certainly the mediators here in Pakistan would love to believe that's what's going to happen. They were expecting the Iranians to get back to them yesterday with their response to the U.S. proposal.

This really does come against the backdrop of the longer you wait to move the diplomacy forward, the more shaky and fragile the ceasefire becomes. The President says it is still in place. But let's just look at a little tick-tock of some of the sort of Iranian diplomatic activity over the past couple of weeks.

Two weeks ago, the Iranian foreign minister rushes in here overnight, high-speed meetings so that a response can be given to President Trump. You know, they worked through the night so that he could have that response in the evening. Things seem to have a momentum.

Fast forward to just about a week ago. Iran sends its response back to the United States. That was Friday last week. The United States responds on Sunday. And now we've got this yawning week where you've had Project Freedom, the sort of the IRGC trying to take on the U.S. Navy, losing there the incidents last night. More vessels being stopped from getting into Iranian ports just in the last few hours, as you were reporting.

So, you know, the diplomacy might be going on in the background, but what we see more of is more of the sort of kinetic activity. Now, Secretary Rubio, they're saying that he hopes it will come today. President Trump is saying they need to do it soon. And he's laid out what he expects to be in that document when it comes. This is what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. President, has Iran officially responded to the one-page offer?

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, it's more than one-page offer. It's an offer that's basically said they will not have nuclear weapons, they're going to hand us the nuclear dust, and many other things that we want.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Have they screwed up so far, Mr. President?

TRUMP: Yes, they've agreed. When they agree, it doesn't mean much because the next day they forget they agreed. And, you know, we're dealing with different sets of leaders.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How close would you say that you are to a deal right now with Iran?

TRUMP: It could happen any day, I could. And it might not happen, but it could happen any day. I believe they want the deal more than I do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTSON: Yes, and the reality here seems to be that Iran does seem to think that it can wait this out, that sort of tick-tock of how quickly things have gone. They've really slowed down the pace of talks and diplomacy at the moment.

The Iranians are suggesting that the United States always does something just when there's diplomacy is on the table, either under pressure or just a bad move. But I think the picture at the moment is Iran is not moving quickly.

[11:05:12]

Part of that may have to do with what we heard from President Trump there. Some of those things that he's saying that need to be in their response, they're already saying they're not going to do, hand over the highly enriched uranium, the nuclear dust, stop their nuclear enrichment towards a bomb. These are things that they're refusing to commit to. This may be why it's going so slowly.

BROWN: All right. Well, we'll wait and see when Iran responds. Nic Robertson, thank you so much.

And happening now, a person involved in the situation tells CNN that the CDC has classified its Hantavirus response as level three, and that's the agency's lowest level of emergency. The response right now is focused on several Americans who disembarked from that cruise ship, the MV Hondius, in late April before the Hantavirus was diagnosed among passengers, before the scope was clearly known.

And that was also prior to authorities confirming this uncommon strain of the disease that could transmit person to person rather than from rodents to humans. CNN's Randi Kaye has more.

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RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): More than two dozen passengers from 12 different countries possibly exposed to the Hantavirus on board the MV Hondius cruise ship already on the move around the world. The cruise company Oceanwide Expeditions confirming that 29 passengers got off the ship at St. Helena and one body was removed after the first leg of the cruise on April 24th, 10 days before the first official Hantavirus case was confirmed.

DR. TEDROS ADHANOM GHEBREYESUS, W.H.O. DIRECTOR GENERAL: While this is a serious incident, WHO assesses the public health risk as low.

KAYE (voice-over): Those who disembarked early on include six passengers from the United States. Oceanwide says all those who got off the ship have been contacted by the cruise company.

GHEBREYESUS: Given the incubation period of the Hantavirus, which can be up to six weeks, it's possible that more cases may be reported.

KAYE (voice-over): Authorities are still trying to get a handle on the exact movements of the Dutch couple they believe is at the center of the outbreak, the first two people to die.

GHEBREYESUS: Prior to boarding the ship, the first two cases had traveled through Argentina, Chile and Uruguay on a birdwatching trip, which included visits to sites where the species of rat that's known to carry Hantavirus was present.

KAYE (voice-over): None of the people on board are showing symptoms of the virus, health officials say, but cases and suspected cases around the world are rising.

DR. JEANNE MARRAZZO, PRESIDENT OF INFECTIONS DISEASE SOCIETY OF AMERICA: When people are very symptomatic, particularly with fever, that is when they are most infectious for this virus.

KAYE (voice-over): In Switzerland, a man on the same flight as the 69- year-old Dutch woman who died after collapsing in the airport is also in the hospital. In Singapore, two people from the ship are isolating and awaiting test results.

In Canada, three people are asymptomatic and self-isolating. Eight French nationals are also being tested after contact with a passenger who tested positive for Hantavirus.

And in Germany, a passenger from the ship was whisked away to the hospital by ambulance to quarantine. Here in the U.S., two passengers from Georgia, two from Texas, one from Arizona, another from Virginia and an undisclosed number of people from California are all being monitored by their state health departments. That includes daily temperature checks. None of these people are officially in quarantine.

Those on board are isolating in their cabin rooms and being asked to wear a mask when they leave. The ship is expected to arrive in Tenerife in Spain's Canary Islands this weekend. It won't anchor in the port, though. Smaller boats will ferry passengers in to minimize risk.

When the 13 passengers and one crew member from Spain disembark, they will immediately be taken to this hospital in Madrid to quarantine. Meantime, authorities continue to insist there is no cause for alarm.

MARIA VAN KERKHOVE, W.H.O. DIR., EPIDEMIC & PANDEMIC PREPAREDNESS AND PREVENTION: This is not SARS-CoV-2. This is not the start of a COVID pandemic. It doesn't spread the same way like coronaviruses do. It's very different. It's that close, intimate contact that we've seen.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: And our thanks to Randi Kaye for that report.

[11:09:23]

And be sure to stick around because CNN's chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, will answer your questions about the Hantavirus in an upcoming Situation Room special report. Stay with us. We'll be right back.

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BROWN: Happening now, Iran says it is considering the latest proposal from the U.S. to end the war. And Secretary of State Marco Rubio says the response is expected today.

Despite the talks, the U.S. and Iran have continued to exchange fire. And also a short time ago, we learned that the U.S. military disabled two Iranian-flagged oil tankers trying to run the U.S. blockade. So with us now to make sense of everything that's happening around this is CNN Global Affairs analyst Karim Sadjadpour. So what do you think? Is Iran dragging its foot right now?

KARIM SADJADPOUR, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: I think the challenge we have now, Pamela, is that both President Trump and Iran on one hand do want to move on and end this war. But both sides are demanding a lot to do it because for President Trump he spent upwards of perhaps $50 billion on this war. So he's going to need to justify why we went to war and he's going to demand a strong deal.

[11:15:08]

Likewise, the Iranian regime has sacrificed an enormous amount. Probably the damages they've incurred has been over $100 billion. So they also need to demand a very high price for that. And so on one hand, despite the fact that both sides want to see a deal, they're very far apart.

And I think at this point, the bottom line up front, as they say, we're closer to a return to conflict than we are to a deal at this moment.

BROWN: You do think so?

SADJADPOUR: I do think so, yes.

BROWN: What makes you say that?

SADJADPOUR: Well, in the last couple of days alone, you know, we've attacked Iranian vessels. They've retaliated either against us or the United Arab Emirates. And so there hasn't been a lasting ceasefire. And as I said, the two sides, there's such an enormous trust gap. You know, they don't trust anything that we say. We don't trust anything that they say. These are two countries that haven't had an embassy. We haven't had an embassy in Tehran since 1979. So, you know, profound mistrust and, as I said, a huge gap in expectations.

BROWN: So it's interesting because the administration has tried to keep the ceasefire separate, basically downplaying what's happening in the Strait of Hormuz as skirmishes, you know, below the threshold. But you don't necessarily see it that way. You see it as potentially a reopening of a bigger conflict again.

SADJADPOUR: Well, Iran obviously has to decide whether or not it wants to counter-escalate. And a lot of this is not political science. It's psychology. It's, you know, them trying to read President Trump. And there's kind of an inverse relationship here because the more they believe that President Trump is eager to do a deal and end the war and move on to the next topic, the more they will probably escalate and the greater their demands will be. So the challenge always in U.S.- Iran negotiations is it's not a win-win outcome. It's a zero-sum game.

BROWN: So then what do you make of the Secretary of State Marco Rubio saying we expect a response today? How does that play into the Iranian psychology?

SADJADPOUR: Well, at the same time, the Iranians don't want to get bombed by the United States. So they will probably, you know, put out a proposal to the United States which shows, OK, we're interested in talking. We don't want to be bombed. But I still think there's probably a huge gap between what they're willing to offer and what President Trump is willing to accept.

BROWN: And what do you make of, as we were waiting for the Iranian response, what we have seen in the Strait of Hormuz? I mean, you clearly say that that is concerning, right? You had the U.S. destroyers attacked by those small boats and drones. Fortunately, they weren't damaged.

But you have that, and then you had these two Iranian ships trying to force through the U.S. blockade. I mean, how are we supposed to understand and read that at this very tenuous time in the diplomatic negotiations?

SADJADPOUR: Well, what's happening in the Strait of Hormuz is a lose- lose for both the global economy and for the government of Iran. They're losing approximately $450 million a day because they can't get their oil out. At the same time, the global economy is suffering because the price of oil keeps spiking. And the estimates from many economists is that, you know, the more this persists, as we're approaching summer vacation season, you know, even higher oil prices could go. So it is a lose-lose. Neither side, in my view, is really benefiting from this double blockade.

BROWN: Do you think the U.S. underestimated just how much leverage Iran had with the Strait?

SADJADPOUR: I think that the President himself admitted he was not expecting them to close the Strait. And a lot of people said that Iran closing the Strait is kind of the strategic equivalency of a suicide bombing, and that they do a lot of damage to their adversaries, but they do a lot of damage to themselves. And so the question is, you know, who can last longer here?

BROWN: All right. Karim Sadjadpour, always great to have you on here, your analysis. Thank you so much for joining us.

[11:19:04]

And up next here in The Situation Room, if you're planning a summer getaway this year, it could be a lot more expensive. We were just talking about the rising oil prices. So how much should you plan to spend on your family vacation? We're going to break it all down and make it make sense, up next. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: We're looking at some live pictures of Orange Beach in Alabama, where it's a very comfortable 70 degrees. And we're showing this to you because a lot of people are planning their summer vacations. In fact, we're just two weeks away from the official start of summer. And this morning, the average price for a gallon of gas is $4.55. Prices are up 15 cents since last weekend, nearly $1.40 from one year ago.

So how will the jump in prices impact the summer travel season? I want to bring in our CNN business senior reporter, David Goldman, here to make it make sense. He is ready for his vacay, that's for sure. He's suited up for this segment. All right, so you're getting us in vacation mode here, David. But the bottom line is, how much more will vacation this summer cost?

DAVID GOLDMAN, CNN BUSINESS SENIOR REPORTER: Yes, it's a question I want the answer to because as you can tell, I am ready to get out of here. Question is, how much more is my summer vacation going to cost? Well, I don't have such great news for you because for a family, it's going to be about $4,000 this year.

[11:25:07]

That's a lot of money. It's so much money, in fact, that almost half of people said forget the whole thing. I am just going to stay at home. That's according to our friends at NerdWallet. And what's going on here? Well, jet fuel. Jet fuel is the big thing. It's up 84 percent just this year alone. And what is that doing to airfares? Because that's key. Well, in the last week, they're up 9 percent.

Pamela, I hope you have booked your travel because this is getting really expensive. If you haven't in the commercial break, I encourage you to do that because they're up 24 percent over the past year for domestic airfare. According to Kayak, that's a lot of money.

And if you do the quick math, which I have done in my head, a $500 ticket last year, that's going to, hold on, I got to carry the one, that's $620. And if you have a family with kids, that adds up really quickly.

BROWN: Yes.

GOLDMAN: We're talking about hundreds and hundreds of dollars. So why is this happening? Well, you might think that these other airlines are to blame. They've all cut flights, but we all know it's Spirit's fault. Spirit is the one that has gone out of business, cutting 2 percent of all domestic flights. These other airlines are going to have to make up for all of that. So, you know what? I don't want to go on a plane anymore.

I want to travel on a road trip. Well, bad news there, too, Pamela, because 4.55, as you mentioned, is the price of gas today. That's up. Look what it was a year ago. So your road trip that was pretty affordable last year is going to cost a lot more this year. That is about 53 percent more expensive since the start of the war. That's how much gasoline prices have gone up.

All right. Forget the whole thing. I'm going to stay in a hotel near me. All right. I'm just going to walk to this hotel. Well, bad news there, too. Six percent, that's the price that hotel prices have gone up in the last year alone. OK, so you know what? Forget the whole thing. I am just going to get a drink. I'm going to stay at home.

Finally, I got some good news for you. Pour me a tall one. Send me to Margaritaville. I'm going to go the only 1.65 percent. That is way less than inflation. Here we go. We're going to be drinking this later. Pamela, enjoy your vacation.

BROWN: Live in the dream. You are just going to peace out right after this segment to go to your vacation. I mean, you are ready, David Goldman. You are ready. I love it. But it sounds like based on everything you laid out, there's going to be a lot of staycations this summer. David, thank you for making it make sense. We always appreciate that.

[11:28:00]

And if you'd like David to help you make it make sense, e-mail your question or send us a selfie video of your question to make it make sense at CNN.com.

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