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The Story Is with Elex Michaelson

WH - U.S. Envoys Heading To Pakistan For Fresh Iran Talks; U.S. continues to enforces blockade In Strait Of Hormuz; Iran - No Meeting Is Planned With U.S. In Pakistan; Iran's Foreign Minister Meeting With Mediators In Pakistan; Trump - Not Pressured To Quickly Reach Deal With Iran; Hegseth Urges Allies To Take Larger Role In Strait Of Hormuz; Israel-Hezbollah Clashes Persist After Ceasefire Extension; Palestinian Officials - Israeli Fire Kills 12 Across Gaza; Ukrainian & Russian Pows Released In Prisoner Exchange; Roommate Of Missing Doctoral Student Arrested In Florida; New Images Released To Celebrate Hubble's 36 Years In Space; Curiosity Rover Finds Organic Molecules On Mars; Aired 1-2a ET

Aired April 25, 2026 - 01:00   ET

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

[01:00:00]

BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Now FIFA is just basically saying in response to all this anger about it that listen, don't hate the player. Hate the game. They say, this they're just basically going in line with the industry standards that are set in the United States. This is not the case in Mexico where tickets cannot be sold for higher than the face value or it just got passed in Ontario for Canada's games. Those tickets also cannot be priced higher than the face value.

So it also kind of gives the U.S. a bad look. So another price tag that we are hearing about that is way higher than what people think it should be, particularly when the World Cup is about fans from all over the world coming to one place to celebrate the game and celebrate their countries. Brynn Gingras in New York. Back to you.

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ERICA HILL, CNN HOST: Thanks so much for joining us this hour. Stay tuned. The next hour of "The Story Is" begins right now.

Hello. Welcome to "The Story Is." I'm Erica Hill in tonight for Elex Michaelson. "The Story Is" to meet or not to meet U.S. negotiators heading back to Pakistan potentially for talks with Iran. Tehran though says there is no direct meeting planned.

"The Story Is" tornado terror. Parts of the Central U.S. could see more storms like this over the weekend. Twisters already carving paths of destruction.

And "The Story Is" life on Mars? Scientists may be one step closer to answering that question.

"The Story Is" mixed messages from the U.S. and Iran about whether fresh peace talks could happen this weekend in Pakistan. Now the White House says envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner are traveling to Islamabad on Saturday. Vice President J.D. Vance, though, will be staying behind, but he'll be on standby should there be progress and any negotiations.

U.S. central command meantime releasing this photo on Friday, which appears to show a destroyer intercepting an Iranian flagged ship. As Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth says the U.S. blockade not ending anytime soon.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETE HEGSETH, U.S. DEFENSE SECRETARY: No one sails from the Strait of Hormuz to anywhere in the world without the permission of the United States Navy. To the regime in Tehran, the blockade is tightening by the hour. We are in control. Nothing in, nothing out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: Now meantime, Iran's Foreign Minister, Abbas Araghchi, touched down in Islamabad earlier. He is there to meet with Pakistani officials as part of a regional peace tour. Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman posting that there are no direct talks planned between the U.S. and Iran. The Iranian Foreign Minister is also visiting key mediators at Oman and Russia. CNN's International Diplomatic Editor, Nic Robertson reports, this planned tour could be leading to some confusion about when and if Abbas Araghchi will meet directly with the U.S. delegation.

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NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: His meeting with the army, the commander of the army, the field marshal here Asim Munir, is meeting with the Foreign Minister. He's meeting with the interior minister. These are the interlocutors that the parliamentary speaker when he came here from Iran two weeks ago that he met with.

So the Pakistan is seem to be taking him as a person representing the Iranian position at the moment, and that's what he says is here to represent. I think that there's sort of some confusion that I think relates perhaps to sequencing the Iranian Foreign Minister landed about five hours ago. He landed out at the VIP airport here. He's meeting with -- he's having his meetings very close to that airport in the army headquarters, which is nearby. As we understand those meetings have gone through the night about 5 hours now, his plane is still on the ground.

But when he came in, he said he was coming here, and then he was going to go to Oman, and then he was going to go to Moscow. And it's not clear if the Foreign Minister spokesman is kind of making a message for public consumption, international consumption, but it's quite possible Iran's Foreign Minister is having a meeting here. He'll take off, leave the country, and may circle back if all the meetings go well for that meeting with Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff potentially Sunday, potentially Monday.

I think one thing's worth understanding here as well is that the Iranians do not have a lot of trust and faith in Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff. They feel let down by them before another negotiations and specifically felt let down by them here two weeks ago. So, I think it's pretty -- we use the word fragile. I think it's fluid. I think a lot of things can happen. There's a lot of positioning going on at the moment, but this is some diplomacy that wasn't happening a couple of days ago. It opens the door to possibility, but not a definitive outcome.

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HILL: Let's bring in our retired U.S. vice admiral Robert Harward. He's a member of the Iran policy project at the Jewish Institute for National Security of America and former Deputy Commander of U.S. Central Command. He's joining me now live from the UAE. Sir it's good to have you with us this hour. As we look at how everything is playing out, is it clear to you who is controlling the Strait of Hormuz right now?

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VICE ADM. ROBERT HARWARD (RET.), MEMBER, IRAN POLICY PROJECT, JINSA: Well, the flow out of the Strait of Hormuz is controlled by the U.S. Navy's. There's no doubt of that. But the fact that commercial shipping is still concerned about the threat from Iran limiting that flow is indicative of the control both the U.S. and Iran has on passage through the straits at the moment.

HILL: As we watch how this is --

HARWARD: -- why that is so critical to the negotiations.

HILL: Absolutely. And as we watch as how -- as we watch how all of this is playing out, what is fascinating is what we're hearing from the Trump administration. And Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth repeating this morning that we have all the time in the world, right, quoting the president saying we're not anxious for a deal. When you look at this, especially in light of new reporting from CNN that the military stocks have been significantly depleted for the United States, I mean, there are concerns about what would happen if there was another conflict in the next few years. Does the U.S., in fact have all the time in the world?

HARWARD: Well, time is on their side. There's no doubt about it. The economic pressure Iran is feeling is highlighting the problems they have internally. I think that adds to this negotiations. Do you want to be the guy who concedes these and becomes the fall guy for the regime in Iran? So there's a lot internal strife going on in Iran right now that highlights the strength of the U.S. team and their negotiations. So they don't have all the time in the world, but they have time.

And I believe more time than the Iranian do based on the financial problems they're experiencing.

HILL: When we look at how things are playing out, we heard also from Secretary of Defense, Hegseth, today talking about how he wants to see Europeans step up. This is, of course, not the first time that he said this. We've heard similar comments from President Trump as well. I want to play a little bit of what he had to say this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETE HEGSETH, U.S. DEFENSE SECRETARY: Europe and Asia have benefited from our protection for decades, but the time for free riding is over. We are not counting on Europe, but they need the Strait of Hormuz much more than we do and might want to start doing less talking and having less fancy conferences in Europe and getting a boat. This is much more their fight than ours.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: Europe and, of course, much of the region, obviously feeling the impact more acutely in this moment than the United States. Of course, the United States and Israel started this war without consulting their allies. What do you see as Europe's role in this moment?

HARWARD: Well, the history in the region has always been a combination and coalition of willing actors. When you saw the piracy actions in the straits and through the Bab-el-Mandeb with the Somali pirates, everyone collaborated and worked together. I think oil has been a driving factor in the region for years, and there's always been collaboration on that. So right now, that's not in place, and there are things the Europeans can do.

You could man ships, contracted support with ships to provide arms to ensure they straight passage. So I can sense the frustration, and it's real. And I'd be surprised if ultimately our European partners don't get involved in one way or another, maybe not collectively on a kinetic activity, but more in a defensive posture. So, again, we'll have to see if Iran comes to the table on negotiation or this situation drives on, and that will dictate the European's involvement in the not too distant future.

HILL: There is some cautious optimism just the fact that you do have, both sides in Islamabad, if you will, or will be this weekend. You are there in the region. What are you hearing? What is the sense about that potential cautious optimism there?

HARWARD: Everything's very quiet at the moment, but everyone's looking forward and hoping there's going to be a long-term solution. The problem for the Iranian government, any of those capitulation puts them at threat internally. So that's why I think the dynamics are going to be so enlightening this weekend to see how they come to the table and whether they're willing to give up on either control of the straits or the nuclear power program -- nuclear weapons program that they've been insistent that they have the right to legitimately enrich uranium, and we all know that's only for a program. So can they capitulate on any of those components? And if so, that presents a dilemma for them back in Tehran. So everyone here is cautious but optimistic. Some either or of those two conditions can be met by the government in Iran.

[01:10:00] HILL: Retired U.S. Vice Admiral Robert Harward, good to have you with us. Thank you.

HARWARD: Thank you.

HILL: Well, as fighting persists meantime between Israeli forces and Hezbollah in Lebanon despite the extension of a ceasefire. The Israeli military says it struck Hezbollah rocket launchers in southern Lebanese towns on Friday just one day after that three week ceasefire extension was announced. Hezbollah for its part says it targeted an Israeli armored personnel carrier in Southern Lebanon. Each side is blaming the other for violating the ceasefire.

Israel's Prime Minister says his country will continue to strike any threat in Lebanon, but the terms of the ceasefire allow all necessary measures of self-defense. Hasbullah says the agreement, "Has no meaning due to Israel continuing its attacks on Lebanese territory." Meantime, the UN agency UNICEF says a ceasefire alone is not enough for displaced Lebanese civilians to return home. Lebanese authorities report nearly 2,500 people have been killed, more than 1.2 million displaced since early March.

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JAMES ELDER, UNICEF GLOBAL SPOKESPERSON: There's such a degree of impunity. When that happens, then the attacks are on all the things that families and children need. So it is homes, it's hospitals, it's health care facilities, makes it much harder for people to go back. Everyone wants to go home. No one wants to be in a shelter.

But if your home has been turned to rubble or if your home is now occupied or, if you're simply going back to an area where the only hospital doesn't can't function anymore, all these things are making it very difficult for people even with a ceasefire.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: In Gaza, Palestinian health officials say Israeli fire killed at least 12 people, including six police officers across the enclave on Friday. Grieving families gathering at a hospital Khan Younis. Deadly Israeli fire was also reported in Gaza City and Beit Lahia. The Israeli military says it was targeting Hamas militants in Gaza City, but did not respond to request for comment on the other reported strikes.

Fighting in Gaza has persisted despite the October ceasefire. Israel and Hamas blaming each other for violating the deal. Reuters reports Israel has increased its attacks on the Hamas run police force in recent weeks. And this latest violence comes as Palestinians in one city in Gaza will head to the polls this weekend. It's the enclave's first vote of any kind, since 2006.

It'll be taking place in Central Gaza. Palestinian officials say the city was chosen because it suffered less damage than most other places in the enclave. The vote itself is part of Palestinian municipal elections happening simultaneously in the West Bank. The election is seen as a barometer of public opinion on Hamas.

One day of celebration -- a day of celebration rather after a prisoner exchange between Russia and Ukraine secured the freedom of a 193 prisoners of war for each country. The freed Ukrainian soldiers cheering, hugging one another as they got off the buses that brought them home. Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Friday, the soldiers were freed as part of an exchange deal with Russia. He also noted some of the soldiers did have injuries. Others are facing -- were facing criminal prosecution in Russia. As part of that deal, 193 Russian captives were also returned home. The U.S. and the UAE mediated that prisoner swap.

A destructive tornado tearing through parts of Oklahoma and more dangerous severe storms are expected in the Central U.S. soon with a storm chaser who will join us live from Oklahoma after the break.

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HILL: The threat of multiple severe tornadoes is expected to continue over the next few days across the Central U.S. Thursday saw the first of the storms, a violent slow moving tornado roaring through Enid, Oklahoma. The National Weather Service says the twister was about 500 yards wide at one point. It caused significant damage leaving at least 10 people injured. Meantime, in Georgia, we're following severe weather there as well after nearly 1,000 homes have been threatened by growing wildfires fueled by an ongoing drought. More than a 120 homes have already been destroyed by two major wildfires in South Georgia.

Jenn Sullivan has more now on the extreme conditions.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JENN SULLIVAN, CNN REPORTER/PRODUCER: This massive tornado caught on camera by a weather chaser in Enid, Oklahoma, about 65 miles northwest of Oklahoma City.

BRANDON CLEMENT, STORM CHASER, WXCHASING: You can start feeling the ground start to move and shake, and you can hear the roar outside, and you start hit -- getting hit with debris. It's a harrowing situation.

SULLIVAN: This powerful twister was on the ground for more than 30 minutes, shredding dozens of homes and tearing down trees. Multiple people were hurt. This was just one of several tornadoes reported Thursday night across several states as a band of storms stretched across the Central U.S.

TYSON SCHMIDT, LAKE KAHOLA, KANSAS RESIDENT: The wind was already blasting. We really had very little warning that it was coming in that fast.

SULLIVAN: Multiple homes were destroyed in this neighborhood outside of Wichita, Kansas, and more severe weather is on the way for many of the areas already recovering from Thursday's storms. Meanwhile, the Southeast is grappling with the worst spring drought on record, and it's fueling wildfires and water shortages.

In Georgia, crews are battling two major fires that together have singed nearly 40,000 acres of land.

BRIAN KEMP, GEORGIA GOVERNOR: We believe that these two fires have created the most lost homes ever in the history of our state.

SULLIVAN: The flames torching hundreds of homes, charring businesses and cars. So many families say they have lost everything.

GINGER HUNTER, LOST HER HOME IN BRANTLEY COUNTY, GEORGIA: My brain's like, oh, I want to go in the living room and get in recliner and watch TV. Well, there's no living room.

SULLIVAN: With both fires barely contained, at least 4,000 homes remain under evacuation orders. I'm Jenn Sullivan reporting.

[01:20:00]

HILL: Joining us now, Storm Chaser Edgar O'Neal. He's joining us from Oklahoma City. It's good to have you with us, and I'm glad you're safe. I always get a little worried when storm chasers join us, and I'm sure you hear that from a lot of people, including your family. Can you just walk us through what you have seen? Because some of the pictures that we're seeing are just I mean, they're heart wrenching.

EDGAR O'NEAL, STORM CHASER: Yeah. This year has been it -- I mean, it's just gotten off to a crazy start, to be honest with you. We've been chasing all over. I mean, from up and seeing tornadoes in Minnesota and then down to, like who you're talking about earlier yesterday in Enid, Oklahoma. Just a lot of people's homes being destroyed, which is always the sad part about seeing all these storms. And, yeah, it's just been a really busy year already, and it doesn't look like it's going to let up anytime soon.

HILL: Yeah. It doesn't. That is for sure. Worried about things, of course, that are set to come over the weekend. I was struck by the fact that you grew up in Jacksonville, Florida as I understand it. Not exactly tornado country. You moved to Oklahoma in 2012 and not long after. You were there for yet another devastating tornado. Having experienced that for the first time, that in some ways informed the fact that you're now a storm chaser. How did that happen?

O'NEAL: Yeah. I mean, like I said, I moved here in the end of 2012, and then in 2013, we had the Moore, Oklahoma followed by the El Reno, Oklahoma tornado. And we had -- me and my family had to run from that, and I didn't know what I was doing. I didn't know how to look at radar. It was terrifying. I mean, the lights were -- I mean, the lights were flashing. It was dark. The roads were just super congested, and I had no idea if the tornado was going to hit me or not.

So after that, I just decided, like the best thing I could do was go on a ride along with another storm chaser, and I went on one ride along. And at the time, I was a social worker, and I was like, you know what? I got to figure out how to do this for a living. It just kind of, like, piqued my interest.

HILL: Piqued your interest. I'm fascinated with the fact too that you were a social worker up until then, because I was also struck by I know you've said that, we see all this destruction. You're documenting a lot of what you see. But when you see the aftermath and having covered tornadoes, I mean, it is -- it defies words in many cases, when you're speaking to people who are there assessing what is left, if anything, of what they found. And I think maybe what a lot of people don't realize is sometimes you'll stick around to help.

O'NEAL: Absolutely. It's -- it can be very traumatic, even for the chasers and the people who are there. Obviously, it's not the same as it is for the families there. And yeah, we do stick around. We do help, especially when we even had some issues with people getting FEMA money. And sometimes it's us volunteers that are there, and we help, and we help raise money even on social media to make sure that these families are getting taken care of after these storms.

HILL: When you were talking about too, how it -- there's concerns, and we're certainly seeing it, right? I mean, we're seeing that storms are more frequent. They are more severe. That is all well documented. What is the sense that you're getting from people there in Oklahoma? I mean, how can you prepare for what could be a really difficult season?

O'NEAL: Yeah. Oklahomans are really unique, to be honest with you. So we're no stranger to severe weather around here. It happens all the time. Actually, it's a lot of the time trying to talk locals out of standing on their front porch and filming the tornado. But they also do take it very seriously, and they understand we have a good tornado warning system here. So that does allow people to have enough time to get into their storm shelters and seek safety before a tornado hits.

But a lot of people in Oklahoma are very educated about tornadoes, and I learned that, like I said, when I moved from Jacksonville and here, and I was an outcast, but they -- the people here are very weather aware, and they know their stuff.

HILL: All right. Edgar O'Neal, good to have you with us. Thank you.

O'NEAL: Thank you.

HILL: A towering 27 foot sculpture of the Buddha has been unveiled in New York this week. It's along the city's High Line Park. It opens to the public in just a few hours. It was created using sandstone from Vietnam. The sculpture is an homage to Afghanistan's famous Buddhists that were destroyed by the Taliban. The artist behind the project says the Buddha theme -- the Buddha holds themes rather of memory, loss, and resilience, which both New Yorkers and tourists can now experience.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TUAN ANDREW NGUYEN, ARTIST: My work actually looks at memory and erasure and kind of the aftermath of war, displacement, colonialism. But in this case, it's looking at the aftermath of that kind of destruction and thinking about what it would mean if we applied, like ideas of reincarnation to an object and how that would kind of help us reflects on the different erasures of recent history.

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[01:25:00]

HILL: You're watching "The Story Is." I'm Erica Hill. For our international viewers, Quest World of Wonder is next. For our viewers in North America, stay with us after this quick break. We'll be right back.

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HILL: Welcome back to "The Story Is." I'm Erica Hill. Let's take a look at today's top stories. Clashes between Israel and Hezbollah continuing one day after the ceasefire extension was announced. Both sides blaming the other for violating that agreement. Hezbollah says it attacked an Israeli armored vehicle in response to Israel's destruction of homes. For its part, Israel says it will continue to attack anything it deems to be a threat.

Palestinian health officials say Israeli fire killed at least 12 people, including six police officers across Gaza on Friday. Fighting the enclave has persisted, despite the October ceasefire agreement. Israel and Hamas blame each other for violating the deal. This comes as Palestinians in one city in Central Gaza head to the polls this weekend, the first vote of any kind in the enclave, since 2006.

The White House says Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner are traveling to Pakistan in the coming hours as Iran's Foreign Minister is already in Islamabad visiting mediators, but his spokesman says he has no plans to meet right now with Witkoff and Kushner. The White House, however, says they're traveling there to hear the Iranians out after seeing some progress from Tehran.

Iran has said it will not negotiate with the United States until it ends its blockade of the Iranian ports in the Strait of Hormuz, but there's no sign of that happening. In fact, the U.S. military says it's redirected more than two dozen ships since the blockade started. CNN's Brian Todd has more.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: New details from the Pentagon on a campaign to keep the pressure on Iran with the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports and to expand interdictions beyond the Persian Gulf.

PETE HEGSETH, U.S. DEFENSE SECRETARY: To the regime in Tehran, the blockade is tightening by the hour. We are in control. Nothing in. Nothing out. TODD: More than 30 ships have been turned around by the blockade so far according to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. But he says the blockade is also now, "Going global." U.S. forces seizing what Hegseth called two Iranian dark fleet ships that had made their way into the Indian Ocean, vessels which Hegseth said had left Iranian ports before the blockade went into effect.

HEGSETH: They thought they'd made it out just in time. They did not.

TODD: The first ship seized by U.S. warships was the massive tanker Tifani on April 20th. According to Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman General Dan Caine, the sanctioned vessel was transporting Iranian oil at the time.

GEN. DAN CAINE, CHAIRMAN, JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF: At approximately 11:30 p.m. eastern time, U.S. military forces and law enforcement forces also went to the ship via rotary wing platforms, fast roped onto her deck, and secured her.

TODD: Two days later, a similar interdiction of what he called the stateless tanker, the Majestic X, as with the seizure of the Tifani video of the operation issued by the Pentagon.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Order vessel Majestic X. We intend to conduct the boarding of your vessel.

TODD: U.S. forces then seen rappelling onto the deck of the Majestic X.

CAINE: Both ships, the Tifani, the Majestic X, and their crews remain in U.S. custody.

TODD: Those operations coming on the heels of a U.S. destroyer firing on then seizing the Iranian cargo ship, the Tosca.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Motor vessel, Tosca.

TODD: After U.S. officials said the Tosca ignored repeated warnings to stop. That means the U.S. forcibly seized three large Iranian linked vessels within the span of four days.

REAR ADMIRAL MARK MONTGEMERY (RET.), COMMANDED USS GEORGE WASHINGTON CARRIER STRIKE GROUP: The lesson to the Iranian ships is if you slow down and let us board you, you'll get the vertical envelopment. If you don't, you'll get the 5-inch gun followed by the vertical envelopment.

TODD: Meanwhile, Hegseth says Iran's fleet of speedboats operated by the Revolutionary Guard Corps has been severely downgraded to what he calls a group of criminals on the high seas.

HEGSETH: The IRGC specifically has been reduced to a gang of pirates with a flag.

TODD: Hegseth says those speedboats are still harassing civilian ships. MONTGEMERY: These ships can do damage. They could have a boarding party like we've seen where they put ropes and ladders across and board the ship and take control of the pilot house. They could also just launch weapons inside a ship using rocket propelled grenades or something like Javelin, anti-tank weapons and do real damage to the ship.

TODD: I asked Retired Admiral Mark Montgemery if the U.S. resumes combat operations, would it be stretching U.S. forces too thin to engage in combat, enforce the blockade, and conduct those wide ranging interdictions of tankers. Admiral Montgemery said the U.S. could still pull it off, could still launch about 500 to 700 strikes a day. But he also said the Iranians would, of course, ramp up their retaliation, firing cruise missiles, ballistic missiles, and drones at American ships. Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: The U.S. justice department ending its criminal probe into Federal Reserve Chair, Jerome Powell. The DOJ had launched that inquiry back in January amid criticism from President Trump about renovations at the Fed.

[01:35:00]

But of course, these came among consistent criticism from the President about Powell not lowering interest rates faster. His term as Chairman ends next month. A key Senator had vowed to block confirmation of the President's replacement pick for Fed Chair unless that probe was dropped. Here's CNN's Evan Perez with more.

We seem to be having a little issue with that audio. We'll try to bring you that piece later. Meantime, we do want to get you caught up on this story. You've likely been seeing a lot about the U.S. special operations soldier who's accused of betting on the ousting of former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. He's now been released on bond. Federal prosecutors say Master Sergeant Gannon Ken Van Dyke used his knowledge of the classified rate to place bets on the prediction site Polymarket. And they say his long shot wager on Maduro being out of power netted him $400,000. Van Dyke is facing five criminal charges. He's expected back in court on Tuesday.

The roommate of one of two missing doctoral students in Florida is now under arrest. The 26-year-old former University of South Florida student is facing several charges including tampering with evidence and failure to report a death. A SWAT team was called to his family's home after he barricaded himself inside on Friday, but he eventually, as you see here walked out and with a towel tied around his waist. Two Bangladeshi doctoral students at the University of South Florida, Zamil Limon and Nahida Bristy were reported missing last week. Limon's body was found on a Friday on a Tampa Bay Bridge. The sheriff's office though says Bristy is still missing. Detectives are conducting searches in multiple locations.

A surprising discovery to tell you about on the surface of Mars by NASA's Curiosity rover and the clues it just may reveal about life on the red planet.

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[01:40:00]

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HILL: So as we were talking about before the break, the U.S. justice department has now ended its criminal probe into Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell that the announcement coming this week. The inquiry, of course, was first launched in January amid criticism from President Trump for Powell not lowering interest rates faster. Here's more from Evan Perez.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EVAN PEREZ, SENIOR U.S. JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: The justice department's investigation of Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell is over, yielding to political and legal reality that it really wasn't going anywhere. Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, says that she's ending the investigation that began earlier this year and instead will rely on an Inspector General's investigation that's been ongoing since last year.

President Trump has said this is about $100 million in cost overruns on a multi-billion dollar renovation of the historic Federal Reserve headquarters here in Washington and whether Powell misled Congress about that. Powell and some Congressional Republicans say it's more about pressure by the President to force Powell to lower interest rates.

Senator Thom Tillis has blocked the nomination of Kevin Walsh, Powell's successor, as a result of all of this.

THOM TILLIS, U.S. SENATOR: I'm going to talk about what's preventing me from being in a position to vote for you. There were a variety of reasons why this building went over budget. And as a matter of fact, if we put everybody in prison in federal government that had had a budget go over, we'd have to reserve an area roughly the size of Texas for a penal colony because of the way government projects work. Let's get rid of this investigation so I can support your confirmation.

PEREZ: What's clear is that this hasn't been a normal investigation. The FBI has not been involved, which isn't how criminal investigations usually work. Instead, political appointees in Piro's office have been conducted the investigation and they showed up recently at the Federal Reserve headquarters and were denied entry.

A federal judge threw out subpoenas that were issued by Piro's office citing prosecutors own statements that they didn't have evidence of a crime. A Piro had vowed to appeal that ruling, but never actually did. So now we anticipate that the end of this investigation means that Walsh's nomination can move ahead before Powell's term ends next month. Evan Perez, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEO CLIP) HILL: New images of the Hubble Space Telescope to show you to celebrate the 36th anniversary of its launch. The pictures released by space imaging company Vantor show Hubble from just 38 miles away. The orbiting observatory has given us astonishing views of nearby planets and far off galaxies. Scientists say it's actually revolutionized our understanding of the universe.

Meantime on Mars, NASA's curiosity rover scoring a major discovery, the most diverse set of organic molecules ever found on the red planet. In fact, the same carbon building carbon based rather building blocks that helped to spark life here on Earth. This groundbreaking discovery comes from a first of its kind experiment where the rover dissolved a rock sample to reveal its chemical makeup.

Researchers reported in the journal Nature Communications that the molecules discovered included seven that had never before been detected on the red planet. Researchers believe the material was preserved in rock for billions of years. It's also new evidence that Mars may once have been habitable and sustained life.

Ashwin Vasavada is a Curiosity Project Scientist with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory joining us now from Los Angeles. So this is a really big deal, right? What is it about these molecules in terms of what they reveal about potential life on Mars even if it was 3.5 billion years ago?

ASHWIN VASAVADA, CURIOSITY PROJECT SCIENTIST, NASA'S JET PROPULSION LABORATORY: It is a fantastic discovery for our mission. We've been on Mars now for 14 years, and this isn't the first time we've seen these organic molecules, carbon based molecules, like the molecules that do the machinery of life in us and everything we know that is living.

[01:45:00]

But it is the most diverse collection we found, and it tells us that ancient Mars have the raw materials for life. We don't know yet if life ever took hold, but the more we learn about Mars with curiosity, the more we learn it was a habitable place.

HILL: So as I understand it too, it's not just that this is giving us greater insight into Mars, but potentially to other worlds in the solar system. How so? We may have just lost our guest. Sorry about that. We'll try to get him back.

I have to say though, the entire staff here are very excited about these discoveries and what it could tell us not just about Mars, but of course about other areas of the solar system. Well, since we lost our guest, we're going to move on to the next story. Give us a quick break here. We'll be right back.

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[01:50:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) HILL: Back now to our favorite story. Hopefully, no more tech gremlins will get in our way. We're talking about Mars here and NASA's Curiosity Rover scoring a major discovery. The most diverse set of organic molecules ever found on the red planet. Those are the same carbon building blocks that help to spark life here on Earth. Back with us, Ashwin Vasavada, who's a Curiosity Project Scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Labs. Joining us from LA, thanks for rolling with the technical glitches there.

So we were just talking about what this could also tell us not just about what life may have been on Mars, but also in other areas of our solar system. How are we able to tell that from what they find on Mars?

VASAVADA: Well, one of the interesting things that we did was use the same experiment that we did on Mars on a meteorite that's been, that had been formed very early in the solar system. And currently, we think that meteorites carry around these complex carbon molecules. They're formed naturally. There's no life on the meteorites, but they may have seeded the raw materials of life all throughout the solar system. We did the same experiment on Mars as we did on the meteorite, and the same sorts of chemicals were produced by that experiment.

So we think that the organics that we're seeing on Mars may have been seeded by these meteorites, and life on Earth may have once been seeded by those meteorites too.

HILL: Does this change at all some of the future experiments or what you may try to send Curiosity to do?

VASAVADA: Well, for Curiosity's mission, we're going to keep climbing a mountain that that we've been climbing now for 14 years. Every layer we climb is younger than the one below it. And so we can sort of read the history of Mars as we climb through these layers. We're going to keep looking whether Mars had those conditions that could support life more later and later in its history.

The thing that should follow is that we'd love to return rocks from Mars to Earth to do the kind of definitive experiment. Curiosity doesn't have the laboratories needed to prove that life took hold of these environments that could have supported life. We need to return rocks to Earth, use the best laboratories on Earth to really answer that question.

HILL: Can that happen?

VASAVADA: We hope so. There's a rover that followed Curiosity. It's actually it looks a lot like Curiosity called Perseverance. It went around and collected samples that we think might hold evidence of ancient life. But to really answer that, we have to return those samples. NASA has been working on ways to do that. We're sort of in the middle of figuring out whether, we do it robotically or do with astronauts or how actually we do it. But that's the way to answer this question, and I really hope we get there.

It's been a long journey to find these samples to get to the point where we found water. We found organic molecules. We know that Mars was a pretty friendly home for life. We just don't know if life ever took hold.

HILL: And what about getting human life to Mars? Where does that stand?

VASAVADA: So with Artemis II, that was so fun to watch, so spectacular to see NASA sending humans the furthest they've ever been in the solar system. So we're going to be exploring the moon for a while and preparing to get to Mars. And I'm just really excited, and I'm sure I'll see it in my lifetime that humans will set footprints on Mars.

HILL: Well, that is pretty great, because that would be my lifetime too. So I would be excited to see it. Ashwin, great to have you with us, and thanks for rolling with those tactical glitches. We appreciate it.

VASAVADA: Absolutely. Thank you very much.

HILL: All right. Turning now to the NBA playoffs. Some more excitement there. The Celtics holding on to beat the Sixers, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown each scored 25 points. The final, Boston 108, Philadelphia 100. Boston now has a two to one lead in the first round series. Game four is Sunday in Philly.

In the Western Conference, LeBron James and the Lakers winning in overtime against the Houston Rockets. King James scored 29 points including a game tying three pointer with just seconds left in regulation. The Rockets were playing without their star, Kevin Durant for the second time this series. The Lakers could sweep though with a win Sunday in Houston.

A trademark Michael Jackson accessory on the auction block in California. A white glove, which belonged at one point to the superstar, is expected to fetch about a $100,000. Jackson's personal artist received it as a gift in 1984. The rhinestone encrusted glove weighs 9 ounces. Experts believe Jackson did wear it on stage. Another of his gloves is being auctioned off in France. That one is expected to fetch up to a $175,000. Don't worry. You still have time here bidding closes April 30th.

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LAURA KIRK, NATE D. SANDERS AUCTIONS, AUCTION MANAGER: I'm not sure how many gloves Michael had made for him.

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It's a limited number. They don't come up for auction very often at all. They're really quite rare. So he -- I wouldn't really fathom a guess, but it's not his fedora, for example, is much more common. But the white glove, it's very rare.

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HILL: Some exciting news. Pop star Harry Styles and actor Zoe Kravitz are engaged following an eight month romance as according to media reports. Kravitz sparked rumors of an engagement after she was spotted wearing a large diamond ring recently in London. Those rings do spark the rumors. The couple were also spotted together in Rome last August. Neither has confirmed their impending nuptials.

Thanks so much for spending part of your day with us. I'm Erica Hill. Stay tuned. Much more ahead here on CNN after a quick break.

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