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The Brief with Jim Sciutto

Sources: U.S. Rescues 1 of 2 Downed Fighter Jet crew in Iran; U.S. Intel Says Half of Iran's Missile Launchers Intact; White House Budget Calls for $1.5T in Defense Spending; China Races to Remake its Nuclear Weapons Program; NASA Shares New Pictures of Earth from Artemis II Crew. Aired 6-7p ET

Aired April 03, 2026 - 18:00   ET

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

[18:00:00]

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hello, and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world. I'm Jim Sciutto, live in Tel Aviv,

and you're watching "The Brief."

Just ahead this hour, sources say that U.S. forces have now rescued an airman whose fighter jet was shot down over Iran. They are still searching

for the second crew member. The Trump administration is seeking $1.5 trillion for defense next year, the biggest boost to military spending in

modern history. And NASA shares new pictures taken by the crew of Artemis II on their journey to the moon.

We begin with the first U.S. warplane shot down over Iran since the war began. Sources tell CNN the U.S. has now rescued one of the two crew

members from the F-15E fighter jet. The status of the second crew member, not clear at this point.

This new video shows low-flying aircraft, apparently part of the U.S. search and rescue mission following that crash. This footage shows dozens

of people in what looks like a search on the ground for those U.S. pilots. Iran is said to be offering a reward for capturing what it describes as the

enemy pilots. Images published by Iranian media appear to show part of the wreckage of the F-15.

A second American military jet, we learned, was also struck by Iran today. Tehran claims the A-10 Thunderbolt II crashed in the Persian Gulf after it

was hit by air defense systems. A U.S. official says the pilot was rescued after safely ejecting from the aircraft. This all comes following our

exclusive reporting, which has found that U.S. intelligence indicates Iran retains roughly half of its mobile missile launchers, along with thousands

of one-way attack drones, as well as coastal defense missiles.

In Washington, President Trump said in an interview that the downing of the F-15 would not affect his hopes for negotiations with Iran.

Kristen Holmes is live at the White House. And, Kristen, regardless of the president's comments there about not affecting negotiations, you have not

one but two U.S. jets shot down over Iran, one pilot still missing. It certainly shows that the danger over Iran remains. Can you describe how

White House officials took today's events?

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, the White House has been largely hunkered down. They've been behind closed doors. The

national security team is here. President Trump has been working between the Oval Office and the Oval Dining Room. We've seen the Marines standing

outside of the West Wing. But they have tried to not communicate any of what is happening through the White House itself.

In fact, I was told that they wanted to streamline the communication through the Central Command, although hours and hours and hours ago they

told me they were putting out a statement from Central Command, which never actually came. They wanted everything to be streamlined through the

Pentagon, so that's why the only remarks that we've had at all from the president have been, one, a Truth Social post talking about oil, one about

the economy and Good Friday, and then these interviews, these kind of one- off, few-minute interviews.

And I do want to point out, you know, we're not sure where these negotiations stand. In fact, it was supposed to be that U.S. officials and

Iranian officials were set to meet in person last weekend, then they kept getting pushed, and now there is really less discussion at all about

ongoing negotiations.

So, what we're trying to square here is how what happened today with these downed planes, these downed military planes, squares with what President

Trump said when he addressed the nation just days ago when he was trying to sell this and saying that the U.S. had air superiority, saying that the war

was essentially over and had been won by the U.S.

In fact, even right before that in the Oval Office he had said at one point, we literally have planes flying over Tehran and other parts of their

country and they can't do anything about it. This is certainly going to raise concern about the truthfulness of those claims, but also just for

Americans as they are watching this, seeing how involved the United States is.

[18:05:00]

SCIUTTO: No question. And, of course, our thoughts to that missing pilot and his loved ones, Kristen Holmes at the White House. Joining me now,

former U.S. Ambassador to the United States, former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, John Bolton, who also served as national security adviser

to President Trump during his first administration. Ambassador, good to have you on the show.

JOHN BOLTON, FORMER U.S. NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER AND FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO THE U.N.: Glad to be with you.

SCIUTTO: I want to begin, if we can, with the big picture here. So, just a day after President Trump speaks to the American people, claims, in effect,

victory over Iran, we have not one but two U.S. aircraft taken down. Thankfully, two pilots rescued, one still missing. But also, our report

last night that the latest U.S. intelligence assessment finds that Iran retains significant missile capability. Did the president's victory speech

reflect the reality right now in this war?

BOLTON: Well, I think for about the past five weeks he's overstated the results, and that is always a mistake. At the same time, there's a lot of

commentary at the press saying, well, they're running out of targets to hit. Obviously, they're not running out of targets to hit.

And the only concern here is if you think the war has to be over in the next two weeks. When Trump started out, he estimated four to six weeks. I

think that's turned out to be optimistic. Don't give yourself timelines. The objective here, whatever the objective is, and, of course, we still

don't really know what his objective is. It never -- it's never a wise move to say, we're going to do it in X amount of time. And if you bear that in

mind, then what we have done is substantial. It's just not enough yet.

SCIUTTO: I imagine then if you're saying his original four to six weeks timeline was problematic, for him to have said the other night two to three

more weeks to, in effect, complete the job, given what we saw today, is that an equally unrealistic timeline?

BOLTON: Well, I think it's unrealistic. But let's -- with all due deference to the brave pilots who are out there, one of whom is still missing, as of

this point, Kuwait has shot down three American aircraft and Iran has shot down two over nearly six weeks of operations. We are performing beyond any

expectation. And I hope we can say that right until the end of this. But war is war, and the pilots who are risking their lives here know that as

well as anybody.

SCIUTTO: Well, tell me from a strategic perspective, and, again, to your point earlier, it's not quite clear what the president's aims are because

he's changed them at times, but do you believe that the U.S. is winning strategically in this war as well as tactically?

BOLTON: Well, I don't -- my view is we need regime change in Iran. I've held that view for a long time. And I don't think that strategically the

Middle East changes until that regime goes.

Now, in terms of what may be Trump's objectives, he cannot claim victory while the Strait of Hormuz is still closed. That would be so contrary to

reality that it would shatter his credibility and America's. And, obviously, the Strait is still closed and, I assume, is one of the biggest

priorities the military has, although, as we can see by this intelligence, that maybe 50 percent of their missile launchers, of Iran's missile

launchers, are still working. That's considerably higher percentage than we've heard in earlier briefings where we've heard 75, 80 percent of the

launchers have been knocked out.

SCIUTTO: When you say regime change -- well, the president has said it repeatedly, but like you, Israeli officials have told me they don't

consider the leaders who currently run the country to be much different from those who led it previously. What's your reaction to see the president

claim regime change when the evidence doesn't seem to support that claim?

BOLTON: Well, I think he still doesn't understand what regime change is. He doesn't understand it in Venezuela. We've removed Maduro, but the same

group of thugs are running the country as were before. What he particularly doesn't understand about Iran is we're up against a radical ideology, and

the people below the 400-plus or so that have been eliminated hold that ideology, perhaps even in harder line terms than the people who have been

eliminated.

[18:10:00]

So, it's not until the ideology is pushed out of power, reflected in the ayatollahs, reflected in the Revolutionary Guard, that the people of Iran

may have a chance to get a different kind of regime. And that's why helping the opposition, which I don't think we're doing, is critical, particularly

if we're not going to put any substantial number of boots on the ground. I take that for granted. That's what Trump says. But that means all the more

we need to aid the opponents of the regime inside the country.

SCIUTTO: As you know, President Trump has been directing fire at NATO allies for not joining the war against Iran. You told me prior to Trump's

second term that NATO would be in danger, that he might very well try to withdraw the U.S. from NATO as, well, as you've recounted, he thought about

doing in the first term.

Do you see him as now acting on what has been, well, I don't know if it's quite correct to call it a long-time ambition, but at least something --

it's something he's thought and talked about for some time? Do you think he's going to pull the plug?

BOLTON: Well, I think it's very possible. I mean, you even have Marco Rubio saying that we're going to have a reevaluation of our relationships with

NATO after the war is over. I think this is a very dangerous moment for NATO.

And I will say I don't think the Europeans have helped. I don't think it helped when they said, oh, well, this is not our war. It is their war. And

just for a little geography lesson, they are closer to Iran than we are. They are more in danger of Iranian rockets ranging Europe than we are

because Iranian rockets can't reach the United States. And Europe has experienced terrorist attacks from Iranian sources, just as North America

has.

So, I think the Europeans compounded this. I just -- I hope a lot rides on NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, who will, I guess, visit with Trump on

Wednesday. He's done a great job under extraordinary difficult circumstances. I just hope he can continue it this coming week.

SCIUTTO: Ambassador John Bolton, thanks so much for taking the time.

BOLTON: Thank you very much.

SCIUTTO: The shooting down of not one but two U.S. jets over Iran marks a significant moment in this conflict, a reminder of new video just into CNN

appearing to show the search and rescue mission for the downed crew members. This took place in southwestern Iran. As we've been reporting, a

U.S. official says that a second war plane was also struck. That pilot ejected and was recovered safely.

It underlines the escalating risks to U.S. personnel of a drawn-out war. At least 13 U.S. military personnel have been killed since the start of the

conflict. This is despite the fact that President Trump has said more than once the war's already won.

Joining me now is retired Lieutenant General David Deptula. He himself has piloted F-15 jets like the one shot down over Iran today. He's now dean of

the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies. Good to have you on. Thanks for taking the time.

LT. GEN. DAVE DEPTULA, U.S. AIR FORCE (RET.) AND DEAN, MITCHELL INSTITUTE FOR AEROSPACE STUDIES: You bet, Jim. Great to be here.

SCIUTTO: So, first let me ask you as a pilot yourself, and as an F-15 pilot no less, can you describe the pilot's experience of this? Shot, ejecting

over enemy territory, a mad dash by search and rescue teams to rescue them. To date, one rescued. We don't know the status of the other pilot. Describe

the pilot's experience of this.

DEPTULA: Well, fortunately, even though I've been shot at multiple times, I didn't get in the position of being hit or having to eject. But what I will

tell you is that the moment an air crew ejects over enemy territory, the situation shifts into a race between recovery forces and hostile forces

trying to capture them. The air crew's immediate priorities are obviously survival, avoiding detection by the enemy when they get on the ground, and

then establishing secure communications with rescue forces as rapidly as possible in preparing to authenticate themselves to rescuers.

So, their job is to stay alive long enough for the recovery architecture to reach them. So, I think what's amazing and that it's difficult to convey is

that recovery architecture is much, much more complex than most people realize.

This isn't just a helicopter flying out to pick up a downed air crew. The Air Force's dedicated fixed-wing personal recovery aircraft is known as the

HC-130J Combat King.

[18:15:00]

And what it does is it helps coordinate the mission as well as refuel rescue helicopters. And then on top of that, you've got the rescue

helicopters. On top of that, in today's event, you had armed MQ-9s providing overwatch. You had an A-10 attack aircraft suppressing enemy

fires, and you added high-end aircraft fighters like the F-35A using their sensors to monitor threats and build the picture for the rescue force. So,

it's an incredible amount of choreography that is required to make recovery successful.

SCIUTTO: Let me ask you this. Are you surprised that Iranian forces were able to take down an F-15 at this stage of the war, given the number of

targets hit? Because, of course, the U.S. has been seeking to destroy early warning radar, missile launchers, et cetera. Are you surprised they were

able to take one down?

DEPTULA: No, quite frankly, just the opposite. It's been absolutely incredible that after over a month of thousands of sorties and strikes over

highly defended territory of Iran, it says much more about how effective U.S. air power has been at suppressing the Iranian defenses than it does

about Iranian success.

So, let me put that in context. In Operation Desert Storm, the coalition lost 42 aircraft over 43 days of combat. Now, I'm not a math major, but

that's just under one loss a day. If you go back and you look at Vietnam, we lost 1,700 aircraft. So, losing aircraft is serious, but it does not

mean that Iran has suddenly reversed the air campaign. It does mean that Iran still has some surviving anti-aircraft capability.

SCIUTTO: So, it at least -- and listen, the math is quite different from Vietnam or even Desert Storm, where you were the principal attack planner

for the air campaign. But to have two aircraft taken down in the same day at least indicates that the U.S. does not have free reign over Iranian

territory. Is that correct? Because that's been the implication that President Trump, the defense secretary, and others have been communicating

to the American people.

DEPTULA: Well, let me stick to the military realities. Air superiority never means zero risk. It means the ability to operate in desired locations

at particular times when you choose without prohibitive interference. So, the enemy still gets a vote. And this particular incident reflects the fact

and the reality that the Iranians have some air defenses that can surprise our forces. But once again, put in historical context, it is amazing that

we've been able to operate as much as we have with impunity until we got to this date.

Now, I would tell you the second aircraft that was hit here wasn't independent. It was part of the rescue effort, as I just mentioned. So, it

was associated with going in there and trying to recover the air crew.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

DEPTULA: So -- and they --

SCIUTTO: Yes. Which is -- it's an important point because just as the bombing missions carry risk, the search and rescue missions carry their own

risk as well. Lieutenant General Dave Deptula, thanks so much for joining.

DEPTULA: You bet. Have a great day.

SCIUTTO: Still ahead, the Trump administration's new budget calls for boosting military spending to its highest levels in modern history while

slashing social programs. We're going to hear from a U.S. lawmaker next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:20:00]

SCIUTTO: Welcome back. President Trump's new budget is in, and it has an enormous increase in U.S. military spending that would make it the largest

U.S. military budget in modern history. Joining us now to discuss is Congressman Lou Correa. Congressman, thanks so much for taking the time.

REP. LOU CORREA (D-CA): Thank you for having me. Happy Good Friday.

SCIUTTO: When you look at this budget, and I know that the country is currently at war, does the U.S. currently need the biggest military budget

in modern history? Is that what the country needs today, in your view?

CORREA: Well, Jake, we just have passed a major budget, defense budget, to accommodate all the needs of this country. And now, we're looking at a 40

percent increase. I thought we had won this war last week. I thought we'd won this war last year.

Now, we're looking major expenditures. And at the same time, we're cutting domestic programs. The president is now saying that we need to look at

Social Security and Medicare. I thought we weren't supposed to be in these long-protracted wars. What happened?

SCIUTTO: I was going to ask you for your reaction to that, and I believe we have the sound of the president saying exactly those words earlier this

week. Let me play what he said for you, and I want to get your reaction on the other side.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: It's not possible for us to take care of daycare, Medicaid, Medicare, all these individual things. They can do it on

a state basis. You can't do it on a federal. We have to take care of one thing, military protection. We have to guard the country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: It's quite remarkable, Congressman, is it not? Because you may remember President Biden, when he was in office, accused Republicans of

privately wanting to make major cuts to social programs. Now, there's the president saying it out loud.

CORREA: I'm shocked. I think most of my Republican colleagues would agree with me. We're not going to touch Medicare. We're not going to touch Social

Security. And I don't know how he gets through this major increase in military spending. I thought we were done with forever wars.

What the president is saying is our seniors, all of us that need a little bit of help, healthcare, are on our own, and that we are now spending

through the roof on another war in the Middle East that we were promised we would never end to.

You know, it reminds me of Colin Powell. General Powell used to say, you break it, you own it. I think the president is saying we're in the Middle

East for quite a while. This is terrible.

[18:25:00]

SCIUTTO: The administration, as I understand it, could get some of this increased money, $350 billion of the $445 billion extra. I mean, it's

amazing these numbers that we're talking about. Under a maneuver requiring only a majority vote. You say some of your Republican colleagues are

surprised by these numbers, too. Do you think that Republicans will buck the president on this?

CORREA: Well, on the reconciliation maneuver, you only need civil society. In terms of votes, maybe they get it through the Senate, but in Congress,

remember, the Republicans only have a one or two vote majority. And right now, I can probably count three or four Republicans that probably would

have a hard time voting for this kind of defense increase in spending and to cut domestic programs.

Now, the president's talking about the states stepping up and taking care of their fair share. But I have to remind the president, California gives

the federal government $100 billion more a year than we get back. And I think most states would say the same thing. We pay our fair share to the

feds.

Now, you're asking us to shoulder the burden that the feds are supposed to take care of, like Medicare and Social Security. I just don't see this

argument flying.

SCIUTTO: I wonder how your constituents are experiencing this war and the economic effects of this war. Gas prices are now 37 percent higher than at

the start of the war in California in particular, seeing big jumps in gas prices. What are you hearing from your constituents?

CORREA: $80, $90 to fill my gas tank this last week. OK. You talk about the war. Prices are going up everywhere. Food prices, gas prices. You talk

about the war. We have American citizens whose parents are undocumented in this country. They're being deported. I say this to you because now the

president is asking for more money for ICE, more money for Department of Homeland Security. While he's cutting up back on TSA there.

I don't understand the logic behind this ask for more money for the military and cutting back everywhere else. I can tell you right now that my

constituents that have been suffering from increases in their health care costs because the president cut the Affordable Care Act. If I go to them

and I say we need this additional military spending, I know exactly what they're going to tell me, which is focus on Main Street, focus on the needs

we have here in Orange County.

Focus on the needs of our schoolchildren, of our seniors. Focus on creating jobs. Focus on making sure that we have good relations across the country.

Reduce tariffs. Reduce the cost for us. Why are you sending our young men and women to fight overseas? We don't even know what the goal is of this

war. We don't know when to say we're successful. The president says it's up to my gut feeling when we're done. I just don't think my constituents are

going to buy this one.

And I can tell you, this congressman is going to be very hard pressed to even look at this reconciliation bill with any seriousness. And I'm not

even talking about the fact that this country is trillions of dollars in debt and that our biggest expenditure now at the federal level, our biggest

expense is now interest on the debt. And we're just continuing to ramp this up.

We've got to mind Main Street. We've got to take care of taxpayers. We've got to take care of our families and really look at what national defense

is about. And us involved in another forever war is not one of those things that should be involved in.

SCIUTTO: Congressman Lou Correa, we appreciate you joining.

CORREA: Thank you.

SCIUTTO: Well, despite now nearly a month of war and heavy U.S. and Israeli airstrikes ongoing, sources tell CNN Iran can still, quote, "wreak absolute

havoc." CNN's exclusive reporting on what weapons Iran still has in its arsenal, that's coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:30:00]

SCIUTTO: Welcome back to "The Brief." I'm Jim Sciutto, live in Tel Aviv. And here are the headlines we're watching today.

Sources tell CNN the U.S. has now rescued one of two crew members from an F-15E fighter jet shot down today by Iran. The status of the second service

member remains unclear. Search and rescue efforts still underway. A U.S. official says another combat jet, also taken down by Iran, forced the pilot

to eject. That pilot was rescued.

Many Christians around the world are marking Good Friday, reflecting on Jesus' crucifixion. Pope Leo is leading Holy Week services for the first

time since he became head of the Catholic Church. He led the traditional Way of the Cross at the Coliseum just a short time ago, becoming the first

pope in decades to carry the cross himself through all 14 stations.

After two days packed with activity, things are a bit quieter today for the Artemis II moon mission. The astronauts on board have sent some stunning,

high-resolution photographs back from space. They took these as they moved out of Earth's orbit. They say they are eager to capture similar images

from the far side of the moon. But boy, that's a great shot of Earth there, isn't it?

Well, the downing of two U.S. warplanes by Iran Friday has underscored the new reporting CNN shared just last night, which is that Iran retains

significant missile capabilities. Sources told myself and my colleagues that U.S. intelligence assessments have found that Iran retains some 50

percent of its missile launchers, as well as 50 percent of its one-way attack drones and a large percentage of its coastal defense missiles. This

despite daily bombardment of thousands of targets by the U.S. and Israel since the start of the war on February 28th.

Joining me now, CNN global affairs analyst Karim Sadjadpour. Karim, good to have you tonight.

KARIM SADJADPOUR, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST AND SENIOR FELLOW, CARNEGIE ENDOWMENT FOR INTERNATIONAL PEACE: Thank you, Jim. Likewise.

SCIUTTO: So, first, I wonder if you can give a sense of how the Iranian regime takes the fact that it was able to shoot down two U.S. jets today. I

mean, from their perspective, I imagine something of a propaganda victory, even if they are suffering from these relentless airstrikes.

[18:35:00]

SADJADPOUR: Jim, when you listen to the statements of Iranian government officials, it's clear they think that they're winning this war, that the

momentum is on their side, and they don't seem to be in a hurry to compromise or to pursue diplomacy right now with the United States.

SCIUTTO: Yes. I mean, it's remarkable, given just a few days ago, President Trump seemed to calm the markets for a moment by saying negotiations were

underway. What is your best sense as to the status of those negotiations? I mean, there was talk of face-to-face meetings in Pakistan. Those are not

happening. Are there any substantive negotiations?

SADJADPOUR: I don't think there are any direct substantive negotiations. Probably there's a lot of communications via third parties, particularly

countries neighboring Iran, whether in the Persian Gulf or Turkey or Pakistan. Perhaps there's text messages sent between Iran's foreign

minister and President Trump's envoys.

But I think that when it comes to the bottom-line objectives of both Washington and Tehran, these countries are many miles apart to reaching

some kind of a lasting resolution.

SCIUTTO: You have said that while the U.S. is winning the war militarily in terms of targets struck, et cetera, it's losing politically and the

information war as well. Can you explain why that is in your view?

SADJADPOUR: In an ideal scenario, Jim, when an American president is taking the country to war, you want to unite the American public and, in this

case, divide the Iranian regime. And what has happened in this war has been the exact opposite. The American public is very much divided, increasingly

opposed to this war, and we've united the Iranian regime against a common adversary.

And that's also true when it comes to global public opinion, whereas two months ago, last January, the big global news was Iran massacring many

thousands of its citizens and international public opinion was condemning the brutality of the Iranian regime. Now, international public opinion has

shifted and it's focused on American aggression against Iran.

And so, militarily, notwithstanding the terrific reporting that you and your colleagues did last night that the extent to which we've degraded

Iran's missile capacities is perhaps less than we thought. Militarily, the United States and Israel have dominated this war, but in terms of the

information war, the political war, we've really been lacking.

SCIUTTO: Is it clear to you who's running things in Iran right now? And if the chain of command is intact, given the number of senior leaders that

have been killed so far?

SADJADPOUR: Well, broadly speaking, I think we can say that the Revolutionary Guards are in pretty firm control in Iran. I don't really pay

close attention to statements from, for example, Iran's president, who's not a powerful individual.

But we don't really know what is the state of the new supreme leader's health, Mojtaba Khamenei. There's been a lot of reporting about the fact

that he was injured. He was in an adjacent room when his father was attacked. But, you know, we don't -- there's mixed reporting about whether

he's in the hospital, whether he's incapacitated, whether he's capable of leading.

We also know that many of his top advisers come from the hardest-lying wing of the Revolutionary Guards. And so, President Trump's statement that

there's been regime change is certainly not true. There's been a personnel change. And to the extent that there's been change, it's empowered

individuals in Iran who are even more dogmatic in their thinking.

SCIUTTO: Karim Sadjadpour, thanks for helping us understand it all.

SADJADPOUR: Thank you, Jim.

SCIUTTO: Well, in southern Lebanon, of course, another front in this ongoing war, Christians are marking Good Friday today with prayers and

religious processions. Many have stayed in the area despite Israel's ongoing military advance and mass evacuation orders. An Israeli military

official says that Israel is considering destroying border villages inside Lebanon to create what it calls a buffer zone against attacks from

Hezbollah. More than 80 towns and villages have already been emptied.

Nada Bashir has more now on what's become a humanitarian crisis.

[18:40:00]

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NADA BASHIR, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Displaced by war and left searching desperately for safety. This is the reality for so many

families in Lebanon.

BASHIR: This is one of many camps that have been set up here in Beirut to house those displaced by the war and we're actually in quite an upscale

neighborhood but this open space has been transformed and filled with tents to house families that have nowhere else to go. And above us we can still

hear the drone buzzing a constant reminder that this war is far from over and for many families here there is no certainty of if they'll ever be able

to return home.

BASHIR (voice-over): Susan and her family of seven fled their home in the southern suburbs of Beirut after a night of intense Israeli airstrikes. For

over a month now they have been sheltering out on the street in these small tents joining the more than 1 million people now displaced across Lebanon.

SUSAN, INTERNALLY DISPLACED (through translator): Our home was destroyed, the glass was broken, the balcony was blown off. The first strike hit

during the night and we fled straight away. My daughter was shaking, she had a panic attack just from the sound. My youngest daughter, she's seven

years old, was also afraid. Where is the humanity? Where is the humanity?

BASHIR (voice-over): 85-year-old Abu Mohamed was also forced to flee his home in Dahiya. Over his lifetime he has seen conflict tighten its grip on

the country time and time again.

ABU MOHAMED, INTERNALLY DISPLACED (through translator): Our situation is very bleak. We left even without our clothes. We couldn't bring anything

with us. They told us to shelter here and we've been here ever since, as you can see.

BASHIR (voice-over): But it's not just shelter that people are in need of. Medical and psychological support centers have become a lifeline for many.

At this makeshift clinic in Beirut NGO Doctors Without Borders is working to reach displaced patients struggling to access medical care.

DR. CAINE REHAYEM, MEDICAL COORDINATOR, DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDER (MSF): We are mobilizing our teams to respond to primary health care needs including

the general medical consultations, the care for non-communicable diseases or chronic conditions as well as sexual and reproductive health care and

very importantly mental health and psychosocial support.

BASHIR (voice-over): Elsewhere in Beirut, volunteer medics are visiting shelters to provide weekly check-ups. At this elementary school, more than

250 displaced people are currently being housed. Each classroom now a makeshift shelter. But it's not just physical health that is being attended

to here.

SAMER EL SAFAH, MAKHZOUMI FOUNDATION: We give a lot of care and attention to children and especially during war they are most affected so what we do

is we do recreational activities on a daily basis for them. Those two, three hours that we do the recreational activities with them are the time

that we get them out of what they are passing through the day, hearing bombs, voices, their parents are on edge.

BLITZER: Thirteen-year-old Fatima and her family are also among the displaced. They fled from the south, narrowly escaping an overnight Israeli

military attack.

FATIMA RIDA, INTERNALLY DISPLACED (through translator): At night they bombed the building behind us. Of course, we were very scared, we were

sleeping. We thought that was it, that we would be martyred.

BASHIR (voice-over): While shelters like this provide some respite for these families, there are no guarantees of safety as the expanding Israeli

military assault continues to loom large over Lebanon.

Nada Bashir, CNN, in Beirut.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SCIUTTO: Another front of this war. Well, still ahead, China's race to modernize and greatly expand its nuclear weapons arsenal. We're going to

have a special investigation into a top-secret facility in southwest China.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:45:00]

SCIUTTO: Welcome back. In today's Business Breakout, encouraging news on the health of the U.S. jobs market. The U.S. added a stronger than expected

178,000 jobs in March. That was more than double expectations. The unemployment rate ticked down as well. However, revised numbers for the

previous month showed the U.S. lost more than 130,000 jobs. That's more than the initial estimates.

Gas prices in Hong Kong have now surpassed $15 per gallon. That's the highest known price in the world. Hong Kong did have pricey petrol before

the Iran war. However, the growing supply crisis in Asia is making things even worse. Many car owners are reportedly driving to mainland China to

fill up their tanks, where prices are about a third lower.

Some U.S. lawmakers now want President Trump to block Chinese carmakers from building vehicles in the United States. Trump has said he is open to

Chinese car firms building in U.S. factories. Three Senate Democrats argue that such a move would deliver a massive blow to the U.S. domestic auto

industry. They want to keep Chinese autos built in Mexico and Canada from being shipped to the U.S. as well.

There is new evidence now that China is in the process of massively expanding and modernizing its nuclear weapons program. CNN has conducted an

extensive investigation into a complex in Sichuan province believed to be a focal point of the country's weapons production push. Tamara Qiblawi has

the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TAMARA QIBLAWI, CNN SENIOR INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER (voice-over): This dome holds clues about how China might be building what U.S. intelligence says

is Beijing's next generation of nuclear weapons. It's part of a secret Chinese nuclear weapons facility constructed at blistering speed over the

last five years.

So, what do we know about this building? Declassified CIA documents from 1971 tell us that this location has historically been used to build nuclear

weapons. For decades there were few signs of growth here until this dome was built. But from up here, there's only so much that you can say about

the structure.

So, we decided to take a closer look. We combined satellite images, over 50 snapshots from various phases of the construction process, to recreate the

view from the ground. Extensive piping snakes into a building with a tall ventilation stack and huge air handling units. That tells you that this

gigantic facility is designed to handle very, very toxic materials.

This is the centerpiece of the facility. The reinforced dome shaped like a pill. It's where we believe the components of nuclear weapons are being

made or assembled. We also see a tunnel just a few yards away. It's big enough to fit a large truck, and it disappears into the inside of a

mountain. Experts say there's no known nuclear facility that looks like it anywhere in the world.

JEFFREY LEWIS, DISTINGUISHED SCHOLAR OF GLOBAL SECURITY, MIDDLEBURY COLLEGE: Well, the facility that we are considering is clearly a nuclear

weapons facility. What precisely it does, we don't know. But it is very large. And just the sheer scale of it suggests that this is part of a very

substantial investment in China's ability to produce nuclear weapons.

QIBLAWI (voice-over): This puts the Trump administration in a bind. U.S. President Donald Trump is set to visit Beijing next month, and he's

expected to start discussions about negotiations to contain Chinese leader Xi Jinping's nuclear ambitions.

[18:50:00]

QIBLAWI: But what we found is that China may already be establishing the facts on the ground. This is our nuclear production facility. It sits

within a complex, a network of bases strung along the sides of narrow valleys.

QIBLAWI (voice-over): Each of these sites, long considered by U.S. intelligence to be a cornerstone of China's nuclear weapons program, has

gone through a massive expansion in just five years. Take this one, for example. Two villages were demolished to make way for a new site that,

according to Chinese government documents, manufactures explosive lenses which surround the plutonium core of a nuclear weapon.

Now, look at this one, around 50 miles away, over 600 buildings were torn down to expand a collection of labs known as Science City, considered to be

the brains of China's nuclear weapons program. This is yet another security challenge that Trump will have to contend with, and there are fears that

his ongoing war on Iran may harden China's resolve to expand its nuclear weapons program.

LEWIS: One consequence of what the Trump administration is doing in Iran is not going to be to cow or intimidate the Chinese, but it will be to

frighten them into building more nuclear weapons.

QIBLAWI (voice-over): Tamara Qiblawi, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SCIUTTO: When asked about CNN's findings China's foreign ministry said it is quote unaware of the situation. China's defense ministry declined to

comment.

Coming up next, the final frontier an update from the Artemis to mission on its historic journey back to the moon.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCIUTTO: In just the past few hours we got an update from space on the Artemis II lunar mission. The crew has skipped a planned engine burn

intended to keep their spacecraft on its precise path because well they say they were already on the right path. They did also get a chance to phone

home.

Ed Lavandera has more on day three of this remarkable mission.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

REID WISEMAN, ARTEMIS II COMMANDER: You can see the entire globe from pole to pole. You can see Africa, Europe and as if you looked really close you

could see the northern lights. It was the most spectacular moment and it paused all four of us in our tracks.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): These are the first breathtaking images shared by the Artemis II crew as they

officially set course for the moon.

CHRISTINA KOCH, ARTEMIS II MISSION SPECIALIST: There's nothing that prepares you for the breathtaking aspect of seeing your home planet both

lit up bright as day and also the moon glow on it at night with the beautiful beam of the sunset.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): The four astronauts have traveled at speeds of up to 3,400 miles per hour.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You're getting a live look outside the windows of the Orion spacecraft.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): That's nearly 5,000 feet per second as they head into the most crucial part of their mission.

[18:55:00]

WISEMAN: I got to tell you there is nothing normal about this. Sending four humans 250,000 miles away is a herculean effort and we are now just

realizing the gravity of that.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): We got the clearest view yet of the astronauts on board the Orion spaceship as they answered questions about their journey so

far and revealed they've been glued to the views of earth from the four main windows in their cabin and also finding the best ways to sleep.

WISEMAN: Christina has been sleeping heads down in the middle of the vehicle kind of like a bat suspended from the roof of her cabin. Victor's

been up where Jeremy is right now. It's more comfortable than you would think and it's nice it's nice to sleep in weightlessness again. Every time

I was dozing off last night, I had that image that I was tripping off a curb and I was waking myself up. So, my body's getting re-acclimated.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): Friday's wake-up song in a daydream by the Freddie Jones band.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was really great to wake up this morning and look out the window.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): Their planned course adjustment was canceled. It wasn't needed.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Copy that.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): They are transitioning their seats positioned for the launch to set up for their lunar flyby when they make history.

VICTOR J. GLOVER, ARTEMIS II PILOT: This brought us together and showed us what we can do when we put not just putting our differences aside when we

bring our differences together and use all the strengths to accomplish something great.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SCIUTTO: What a view. Thanks so much for joining us today. I'm Jim Sciutto in Tel Aviv. You've been watching "The Brief." Please do stay with CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:00:00]

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