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What We Know with Max Foster
Artemis II Begins 7-Hour Flyby Of The Moon; Trump Issues New Threats To Iran As Deadline Looms; Trump: Rescue Operation Included A Lot Of "Subterfuge"; Sponsors Withdraw From London Festival As Kanye West Headlines; Savannah Guthrie Back At "Today" After Mother's Disappearance. Aired 3-4p ET
Aired April 06, 2026 - 15:00 ET
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[15:00:33]
ISA SOARES, CNN HOST: A history making moment in space.
I'm Isa Soares, in for Max Foster. This is WHAT WE KNOW.
After six days of rocketing through space, Artemis II has begun its flyby of the moon, and this is why the mission was launched. The astronauts will
spend the next seven hours shooting pictures of the moon's surface and recording their observations, a bit like a survey. It will include a
flyover of the far side of the moon to areas never seen before by mankind.
Just a short time ago, the crew set a record for distance traveled. They have now flown about 250,000 miles, 400,000 kilometers from Earth.
Take a listen as they mark that record setting moment.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: From the cabin of Integrity here, as we surpass the furthest distance humans have ever traveled from Planet Earth, we do so in
honoring the extraordinary efforts and feats of our predecessors in human space exploration.
We will continue our journey even further into space before Mother Earth succeeds in pulling us back to everything that we hold dear. But we, most
importantly, choose this moment to challenge this generation and the next, to make sure this record is not long lived.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you integrity and congratulations to you and the rest of the Artemis II team.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOARES: Wow. I want to bring in Randi Kaye, the Space -- Johnson Space Center in Houston.
And, Randi, great to see you.
What a moment. What a special moment, not just for the mission, but really for all of mankind. Talk us through what we heard, of course. So we broke
that -- as Artemis II broke that space distance, but also that really emotional moment when they named a crater right after one of the
astronaut's late wife.
RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, it was really special moment. I mean, they have this crew has said this is a mission for all and they really do
mean it. But there was that moment after they broke the record from Apollo, where Jeremy Hansen, the mission specialist on board, requested that they
name one of the craters that they're going to be observing on the moon, that they name it Karol Crater, and that would be named after commander
Reid Wiseman whose -- late wife and it was a very emotional moment for the crew. They were hugging and crying, and there were a lot of tears. It was -
- it was really special.
But the flyby did begin, the window for the flyby began at 2:45 Eastern Time. So it's underway, as you said. And then there's going to be another
moment, which is exciting and also nerve wracking about 6:44 Eastern Time tonight when the crew will lose contact for about 40 minutes with mission
control here in Houston.
That is when the Earth sets behind the moon, so they'll lose contact until it rises once again. So, that will happen. And then at 7:02 p.m., that is
when the crew will make their closest approach to the moon, about 4,000 miles away or so. And then at 7:07 p.m., they will have their maximum
distance from earth, more than 252,000 miles away. They have their eyes on about 35 different lunar targets that they're hoping to observe. And this
is what one of the lunar scientists here at Houston told me about that..
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JULIANE GROSS, ARTEMIS CAMPAIGN SAMPLE CURATION LEAD: It's a timeline that goes with them. So they know where within that time frame, where they are,
which is the next target to go in, so they can look at those, they can orient themselves. We have a little maps in there. So we are highlighting
directly where these, the next features are that they're going to observe so that they know where to go.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: And one of the main targets that they want to see is something called Oriental Basin. The crew has been talking about this. It is a multi-
ringed basin. It looks like a a bull's eye. It's one of the youngest craters on the moon apparently. So they're excited to see that. They'll be
looking at the textures and the colors and reporting back to the scientists here.
They're also going to be looking at if there are any new craters on the moon that weren't there before, they'll be looking at places where they can
land on the moon in the future, and they're hoping to get a glimpse of the south pole on the moon, and they're expected to take about a thousand
pictures.
Now, the scientists and mission control will be in touch with them while they are on this lunar flyby as much as they can. They just don't know what
the signal will be like. And that will impact when well actually be able to see any images from the lunar flyby. But they're certainly hoping to get
those as soon as possible and hoping to download with the crew as soon as possible. So they have all the images and everything that they saw fresh in
their mind -- Isa.
[15:05:03]
SOARES: Yeah, we're all waiting to see it with glue to NASA on X and on Instagram.
Thank you very much, Randi. Great to see you.
KAYE: You, too.
SOARES: Appreciate it.
So what we want to know is how big is this moment in the history of space exploration.
Joining me now is Terry Virts. He's a former NASA astronaut who was a commander on board the International Space Station.
Great to have you with us.
This is quite a moment, as you heard my colleague talk about just for our viewers around the world, just explain what really -- why this mission is
so important.
TERRY VIRTS, NASA ASTRONAUT (RET.): Well, from a technical point of view, the test pilot in me loves this because this mission is just one step in
eventually getting back to the moon and then hopefully, eventually on to Mars.
So, this is part of what we call a build-up approach. The next mission will actually have lunar landers that the rockets can test out. And then the one
after that hopefully will actually go land on the moon. So, this the test pilot, you know, phase of this is this is just one step in a much bigger
program.
But I think what we're seeing today is the best of humanity. There's other things that you could see the worst of humanity, unfortunately too often.
And this is really the best and it really is humanity. This is -- what America is doing is amazing. I'm very proud of my country.
But also Jeremy Hansen is a Canadian astronaut. The service module that has the big rocket engine that that pushed the capsule out to the moon is built
by the Europeans. So, this is a great moment for humanity overall.
SOARES: And, Terry, as you're speaking, I'm seeing from our team that already the Artemis II crew is already -- I'm going to quote them -- seeing
awesome features, which is fantastic. We also know, of course, the lunar flyby started that they're going to be working. The crew is going to be
working shifts to take images of the moon over the next six hours.
My colleague Randi Kaye was talking, Terry, about 35 lunar targets. They're taking about 1,000 photos. What exactly what details, topography, color,
what will they be looking for?
VIRTS: Well, the color is one thing. I noticed when I was taking pictures. They told me at the time that I had taken the most ever photos of any space
station astronaut, but, I noticed that when you look at the Earth's atmosphere or different features on Earth, my I would see and perceive
things differently than the camera chip. Our eyes are designed differently than the camera chip, and so they're going to want the crew to subjectively
say, hey, I see some brown there, or maybe yellow or red or purple, whatever.
When you look at the moon, it looks great, but there's -- there actually is some color there. Theres different minerals. So that's one of the things
what they see will be part of the scientific process. And then the lighting on the moon, on the -- on the backside, the far side of the moon will be
really interesting because the sun isn't directly overhead and it's not directly on the other side, it'll be on the side. So it's kind of like dusk
or dawn on the moon, which means there'll be a lot of shadows.
The far side of the moon is full of craters. I call the moon is like Earth's offensive lineman. It's going around orbiting around our planet,
blocking us from asteroids. So, a lot of asteroids and stuff that otherwise would hit earth because we have a moon. They hit the backside and the
backside is just nothing but craters.
So, they're going to see some really interesting craters there. And then they're going to go into shadow. And so, they won't have the sun, it'll --
all of a sudden, it'll turn dark. They've been out in sunlight now for, you know, almost a week when they go through the moon's shadow, that's going to
be super interesting because they can look out, hopefully and see the galaxy, see billions of stars. I could see that from the space station when
I was in earth's shadow.
Maybe they'll see the moon's atmosphere. There's a very, very, very, very thin atmosphere on the moon. I don't know if they'll see that or not, but
they'll be able to see things in darkness. That'll be super interesting.
SOARES: Interesting, of course. But we also have a loss of communications, I think is about 40, 45 minutes. I mean, how nerve wracking would that be?
Give us a sense of what they'll be feeling inside Artemis II.
VIRTS: Well, the good news is that means no, no cell phones, so they'll be device free for at least 40 minutes. But, you know, there's no burn
happening. They're not firing the rocket engines right now. As I joke, Sir Isaac Newton is in charge, so they're just floating. You know, gravity is
in charge. There's nothing to do.
When the Apollo missions, they actually had to fire the rocket engine to come back to earth. And they did that when there was no communication. So
that was a very tense, you know, 30 or 45 minutes where they had to NASA, everybody on earth had to wonder, did that rocket burn work for those guys?
Because if it didn't, they would have been stuck there forever.
So that'll be, it'll be tense, but it'll frankly -- it'll be nice for the crew. It'll be amazing. There will not be another human being in sight for
40 minutes. Other than the four of them right there. I think that would be -- I was always jealous of guys like Michael Collins on Apollo. He got to
stay in the command post and be alone while the other two went down.
So, for one hour out of every two hour orbit, he was the only human being in his -- in his universe.
[15:10:01]
SOARES: Let me ask you then, Terry, a question that my young children asked me just 24 hours ago, which was, why won't the astronauts land on the
moon if they want to know about the moon, why not just land on it?
VIRTS: Well, or really easy answer is, they don't have a lunar lander. All they have is a capsule. So, they -- if they fired the engines to go down to
the moon, that would be a one way trip. They would make another crater on the moon. So, it won't be until we build this -- this next lunar lander
that will actually be able to land and that -- and those aren't ready yet. So that'll probably be a few years, uh, before we can do that.
That's a good question though. Tell your kids, keep on asking those good questions.
SOARES: Yeah. I mean, they are, they have, I've been showing them the photos on NASAs website that have been glued. They've seen the explainers,
the video explainers. This is fantastic. What it does. Of course, the interest for science and for exploration for all the younger generation is
wonderful.
Terry, really appreciate -- appreciate you coming on the show. Former NASA astronaut Terry Virts there. Thank you, Terry.
VIRTS: Thanks --
SOARES: You're very welcome. Sorry, we cut you off there.
Now to extraordinary new threats against Iran by U.S. President Donald Trump. He is vowing to destroy all bridges and power plants in the country
if it does not fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz by Tuesday night. The deadline, if you remember, is 8:00 p.m. Eastern.
Mr. Trump just spoke to reporters at the White House in the last hour. He says he's not worried the attacks on Iran's critical infrastructure would
amount to war crimes. President Trump said Iran must agree to a deal that includes the free flow of oil through Hormuz, or else.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The entire country can be taken out in one night. And that night might be tomorrow night.
PETE HEGSETH, DEFENSE SECRETARY: Per the president's direction, today will be the largest volume of strikes since day one of this operation. Tomorrow,
even more than today. And then Iran has a choice. Choose wisely, because this president does not play around.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOARES: Let's go to Betsy Klein, who's at the White House, was listening in.
So, Betsy, help us understand a bit of what the president said, because at one point I heard him saying, you know, we are dealing with and talking
about Iran. He said, I think it's going well. We think they're negotiating we think in good faith.
Yet at the same time, he said, every bridge in Iran will be decimated if the deadline is not met. Where are we on those negotiations? The
possibility of a ceasefire here?
BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, the president is clearly trying to keep his options open here, but we are seeing him truly
emboldened by that remarkable and successful mission to rescue and F-15 airmen in Iran over the weekend. The president addressing reporters for
about 90 minutes with top members of his national security team, and he said that he understood that that was a dangerous mission. He said that
there were members of his team who did not want them to take it on, including people in the military.
Underscoring just how complicated this was, we heard from the CIA director, John Ratcliffe, who said that finding that airmen, airmen was the
equivalent of hunting for a single grain of sand in the middle of a desert. The president also, as you noted, reiterated those plans to potentially
attack Iran's critical infrastructure starting at 8:00 p.m. Eastern time on Tuesday if a deal is not reached to either have some sort of a ceasefire or
reopen fully the Strait of Hormuz. That is that critical oil thoroughfare.
Earlier today, he called a draft proposal for a ceasefire a significant step, but said it did not go far enough. And later on, he said he believes
that the Iranians are negotiating in good faith. But the president laying out very stark terms. Listen to his framing here.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: We have a plan because of the power of our military, where every bridge in Iran will be decimated by 12:00 tomorrow night, where every power
plant in Iran will be out of business, burning, exploding, and never to be used again. I mean, complete demolition by 12:00, and it will happen over a
period of four hours if we wanted to. We don't want that to happen.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KLEIN: Now, the president was asked specifically about some of this mixed messaging. Was he winding this war down or was he planning to bomb Iran
into oblivion? He said he couldn't say. He doesn't yet know because he doesn't know how Iran is going to respond in these negotiations.
He was also asked multiple times about whether these strikes on critical infrastructure, strikes on bridges, strikes on power plants, things like
that that he has mentioned really might impact the Iranian people. And he downplayed those concerns. He was also asked whether that might mark a
violation of the Geneva Convention and constitute war crimes. He really dismissed those concerns.
He also told our colleague Kristen Holmes that reopening the Strait of Hormuz is a very big priority for those negotiations.
[15:15:06]
So, all this shaping up to be a very complicated, challenging 29 or so hours ahead.
SOARES: Yeah. Even suggesting perhaps the U.S. should toll it, not the Iranians tolling the Strait of Hormuz.
Betsy, really appreciate it. Thank you very much.
Well, coming up, President Trump recounts the harrowing ordeal to rescue a U.S. airman in Iran. What he said the weapon system officer faced after
being shot down. You have to listen to it after this break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:18:36]
SOARES: Well, during today's news conference, President Trump recounted the ordeal a downed U.S. airman faced before being rescued in Iran. He said
the weapon system officer scaled steep terrain with his face bleeding rather profusely. His words, after ejecting from his plane. The chair of
the Joint Chiefs of Staff says the operation was successful because of the crew member's absolute commitment to surviving.
While the Pentagon didn't say how many U.S. troops were involved in the rescue mission. President Trump did describe the number of planes used in
the operation, some of which he said were part of an illusion.
Have a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: The second rescue mission involved 155 aircraft, including four bombers, 64 fighters, 48 refueling tankers, 13 rescue aircraft and more. We
were bringing them all over, and a lot of it was subterfuge. We wanted to have them think he was in a different location because they had a vast
military force out there. Thousands -- thousands of people were looking.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOARES: Zachary Cohen joins me now for more.
And, Zach, I mean, this was a complex rescue and search mission. I heard General Dan Caine saying it was also an extremely dangerous mission. Talk
us through what we heard.
ZACHARY COHEN, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: Yeah, dangerous and complex. That's exactly what chairman of the joint chiefs, General Dan
Caine, and President Trump, how they described this operation to rescue the U.S. service members from that downed F-15 fighter jet, both using hundreds
of U.S. service members, according to President Trump, and a variety of different kinds of aircraft using intelligence assets as well to locate the
weapons officer who really was stranded inside enemy territory, according to the president.
[15:20:24]
Now, he described the journey that this weapons officer took in really dramatic terms, saying that once he ejected from the downed fighter jet
scaled, really steep terrain behind enemy lines, treated his own wounds, which included bleeding from the face, according to the president. Also
then once climbing to safety, turning on his transponder so that he could be located by U.S. forces in the region.
That's when, though, this deception campaign that you mentioned really became key. The CIA, along with the U.S. military, really using a vast
amount of assets, including air assets, to really create a distraction of sorts for the large amount of Iranians who the U.S. says were also looking
for this downed airmen at the time, sort of creating the illusion that maybe they were looking in one place when they were really looking in the
other.
And a new detail today as well. That's A-10 Warthog service close air support aircraft that was engaged in part or as part of this search and
rescue operation. It was shot down during -- while these events were playing out. This is an aircraft that was one of the primary aircraft
responsible for communicating with the U.S. service member who they were trying to rescue from the ground. Donald Trump also describing how other
U.S. aircraft ultimately got stuck once they landed, as they were trying to pick up the rescue.
So, a really complex and dangerous mission here, but one that also reinforces a key point. Weve heard the president repeatedly insist that
Iran's missile defense, air defense capabilities have been completely obliterated, yet they were able to take down an F-15, U.S. fighter jet,
which raised the question of how much of Iran's capability still exists. And what more does the U.S. military to do to actually obliterate it?
SOARES: Indeed. Well, quite the mission. And it resulted, I understand, in no U.S. casualties, some very good news indeed.
Zach. Appreciate it. Thank you.
And still to come tonight -- goodbye, Earth. Hello, moon. We head back into space where the Artemis II crew is beginning the historic flyby. That is
next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:25:52]
SOARES: And back to our top story. Now, the crew of Artemis II have broken a record, and now they have begun their flyby of the moon, start at about
almost 40 minutes ago or so. This is the most significant part of their 10- day mission to space. They will spend seven hours going around the moon, taking turns, peering out of the window and taking photos.
I think they're taking about 1,000 photos. A little more than an hour ago, the crew set a record for distance traveled from Earth. They are now about
250,000 miles, 400,000 kilometers from Earth, beating the record held by the 1970 Apollo 13 mission.
Our Tom Foreman is tracking all the action in space for us.
Tom, great to see you.
So, explain for our viewers, because we know that the flyby, the moon started what was almost half an hour ago or so. What does that entail? What
does that mean in real terms?
TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's an interesting thing because people think about the moon because of all the graphics you see is as just
kind of sitting out there and they go fly around it. But you have to remember the moon itself is moving the whole time. So, it's not that
simple.
This is a perfect collision of mathematics and physics. Physics being mathematics, where they have to come up and sort of approach this and go
over it and let the moon move past them at the same motion. So, the other thing that you have to bear in mind is when you see graphics like this,
which everybody uses us included, this gives you a sense that the moon is actually much closer to the earth than it really is. The problem is, if we
made -- if we made this big enough to show the relationship, it would be so wide that they would both look pretty small on the screen because its
really far out there.
So that -- in a simple matter, what they've done is they're going out there and they're catching the moon as it goes orbiting by, and just timing it
perfectly to pass by and get this look that very, very few people have ever had.
SOARES: A survey. I think they're taking shifts, right? They're taking in turns. Take photos of the moon. I heard Randi Kaye saying they're taking
about a thousand photos. They look, I've got about 35 lunar targets and I'm just reading here, Tom, that I'm saying that special tablets will help the
astronauts spot moon features.
FOREMAN: Yeah. And they've been studying for this. They've been studying and studying and studying, looking at geographic formations and basically
taking quizzes on how to spot these things because the other part of this is it has literally to do with lighting how the sunlight that is available
is hitting that side of the moon.
People often call this the dark side of the moon. If you don't know by now, it is not dark. It's the dark side of the moon because we can't see it.
It's metaphorically dark. There's plenty of light that hits that side of the moon.
And this mission, unlike the Apollo missions, this one has been timed so that they can see that side of the moon lit up by the sun. So, what they've
done is they've studied to look for the colors of the Earth, the shape of various formations. They're further away from the moon, actually, the way
they're looking at it now than some of the apollo missions. But they argue that also gives you a more holistic approach, looking at it and seeing how
everything sort of fits together
SOARES: I can't wait to see these images. Tom, appreciate it.
FOREMAN: Yeah.
SOARES: Thank you so much.
FOREMAN: It's a good time.
SOARES: Let's stay with this. We now welcome in someone who has spent more than 170 days in space. Ron Garan is a retired NASA astronaut who has
orbited the earth close to 3,000 times. That's quite something to be.
Great to see you, Ron. Appreciate it.
Just your -- your -- just give us your initial thoughts. Just saying to my colleague the flyby started what, almost half an hour ago. This is the
moment where they're really trying to capture every detail, color, topography of the moon. What would they be looking for here?
RON GARAN, AUTHOR, "FLOATING IN DARKNES": Yeah, I was able to listen in on the science briefing that the crew had a couple hours ago. And what you
need to understand is everything is extremely choreographed. There's craters that they're looking for. There's other features that they're
looking for. There's all kinds of science that can come out of this. There's a whole science team at the Johnson Space Center right now, you
know, looking over their shoulders -- shoulders, so to speak.
So, it's, you said a thousand photos. I think it's thousands.
[15:30:01]
SOARES: Right.
GARAN: So, I think -- I think they're going to be taking a lot of photos. They have choreographed what windows they're taking them from, what
cameras, what lenses, what settings. And so, it's all really planned out, but really, what they -- what the most important thing is, is that they
have human eyes on there. So there's a lot of discussion in the science briefing about their human interpretation of what they're seeing, their
human description of what they're seeing. And so, that's something you can't do with robotic space exploration.
SOARES: Yeah, I was going to ask you about that because even though we've got humanized, the distance is thousands of miles, right? So how, how help
us understand how a human eye can do better than, for example, robotics here.
GARAN: Yeah, I think robotics and human sensors, the eyes serve different purposes. They're going to get no closer than 4,070 miles to the lunar
surface. So that's still, you know, way out there.
But that gives them the opportunity to see a wider part of the moon. In fact, they're going to see parts of the moon that no human has ever seen
before. And so, I know that the scientists are very excited in what their own interpretations of what they're seeing is. They're going to compare
interpretations between crew members. This is a part of -- of the drill here that is also very choreographed.
SOARES: Let me ask you a technical question because I had to Google this to be quite honest with you, because we heard now from the last few
minutes, in fact, what, 10 minutes or so ago from NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman, who said they're seeing already awesome features. And what do they
say? They said, we've just had a huge moment realizing that Hertzsprung is about the same size as our incredible Orientale. And I think they're
talking about two craters on the moon, right?
What does that mean?
GARAN: Well, I think they're just surprised that, you know, they spent years training for this, but you can't train for everything. And I think
they just got surprised by the contrast between those two features on the moon.
SOARES: Wow. That's -- and this is the sort of detail they'll be looking for. Right? But there'll be 40 minutes or so when they -- I think they're
behind the moon. There will be -- there won't be any communications for someone, of course, like yourself, who is -- who has traveled, who knows
what this is like as an astronaut, as a NASA astronaut. What was -- what do you think that moment is like? Take us inside.
GARAN: Oh, so they're going to go into eclipse. So, the moon is going to block their transmissions back to the Earth, as you said, for about 40
minutes. So, for 40 minutes they will have no contact with mission control. But everything is going to continue. So, everything's being recorded on
board.
And then as soon as they get what's called AOS, acquisition of signal, when they get outside from behind the eclipse of the moon, they'll start
downlinking all that stuff and they'll pick up right where they left off. It's going to be an interesting time for the crew because they're used to
having mission control in their ear the whole time, and now, it's going to be quiet for 40 minutes. And that might take some getting used to.
SOARES: I bet. Or some peace and quiet. That might be nice as well on -- any risks here?
GARAN: I mean, the entire mission has its own risks, but there's no specific risk here. They're not entering into orbit around the moon. There
would be a risk in that because if the engine doesn't fire, then you can't get back. But they're on what's called a free return trajectory. So, if
they do nothing, they're going to -- they're going to splashdown in the Pacific Ocean.
So, basically, when they made the burn, when they fired the engines to go to the moon, that served as the deorbit burn, that's going to happen on
Friday. So this -- this was all planned, done on purpose to make this as safe as it possibly can be.
SOARES: And just before we go, Ron, just from my own -- I just being nosy here. How do they prepare for these flybys? Are they just simulation or are
-- the methods are used for this?
GARAN: Yeah. Primarily simulation. They have computer simulations. They spend hours and hours and hours in the Orion simulator, going through this
and they have, you know, classrooms to walk through it, you know, like paper drills where they're just, you know, looking at the flight plan and
the checklists and making sure that they understand it. And like I said, they've been training for this for years.
And these are, this is a great crew. Great choice by NASA and they're doing a great job.
SOARES: We are all fascinated by it. We're also seeing that during their flyby, Ron, we're seeing it now. The Artemis II crew should be able to spot
the landing sites of Apollo 12 and Apollo 14 missions, of course, both of which viewers will know touched down on the near side of the moon.
Really appreciated, Ron Garan. Thank you very much. Retired NASA astronaut, for joining us. Really, really fascinating discussion. Thank you.
GARAN: My pleasure.
SOARES: Well, it's the final moments of trade on Wall Street. And stocks are more or less flat.
If we bring that up, the Dow -- yeah, 10 -- 2/10 of a percent. The Dow has been seesawing really, as you can see there between gains and losses
throughout the session, up for now.
This is our Business Breakout.
Shipping through the Strait of Hormuz remains seriously restricted. Maritime tracking data shows the number of ships getting through the strait
is at about 5 percent of pre-war levels, one analyst group says about two thirds of the oil living in the gulf last week was bound for China.
Well, gas prices in the U.S. continue to rise. The average price now stands at $4.12 a gallon, up nearly 40 percent since the start of the war. Prices
have now risen almost every day since March 1st.
Jamie Dimon says the us could be heading for a recession if the war with Iran leads to higher inflation. The CEO of JPMorgan Chase says the U.S.
economy was on sturdier ground today than years gone by, but said the risk of higher prices and higher interest rates could become, quote, "the skunk
at the party".
While two sponsors have pulled out of the London-based Wireless Festival after Kanye West was announced as the headliner. Pepsi, the main sponsor of
Wireless and drinks company Diageo, have dropped out. The rapper has faced backlash in recent years after making antisemitic and offensive remarks.
The British prime minister condemned the festival's choice of headliner, calling it deeply concerning.
Anna Cooban's here with more.
I mean, it kind of begs the question, Anna. Good to see you, by the way. It kind of begs the question why they went with him as a headline in the first
place.
ANNA COOBAN, CNN BUSINESS & ECONOMICS REPORTER: It is baffling. I think it's baffling when you look at exactly what he said and done, and I
obviously won't repeat everything he said.
SOARES: No.
COOBAN: But to get a picture of this. Last year, he released a song entitled "Heil Hitler," was selling T-shirts with swastikas. So this --
this is baffling. A lot of people are asking the question or putting pressure on other partners of this festival, like PayPal and Budweiser,
asking them to step away.
I mean, PayPal, there's a report that they are not allowing any more of their branding around this festival, but I think people will probably want
to see a lot more action where that's concerned.
SOARES: Do we have a sense of number of tickets sold at this point? Do we know how if they've sold that many, given the controversy?
COOBAN: This this is a festival happening in July. It's three dates. Kanye West has been asked to perform all three of those dates. They're expecting
around 150,000 people. So, this isn't a small festival.
SOARES: Right.
COOBAN: It's a big platform. And you know, this is all happening against the backdrop of rising antisemitism in the U.K.
SOARES: Yeah.
COOBAN: We saw last month this arson attack against three ambulances that belonged to a Jewish voluntary rescue organization. That's just one
example.
SOARES: Yeah, it's horrific.
COOBAN: And we've got the campaign against antisemitism and nonprofit. They are basically calling on the government to ban Kanye West from
entering the country, and that would really be taking a leaf out of Australia's book, which last year actually canceled his visa. They said, we
don't want Kanye West importing bigotry into our country.
SOARES: So, we've got Pepsi, Diageo. What other companies? Those are the two they've pulled out, right?
COOBAN: Yes.
SOARES: What other companies associated?
COOBAN: Well, PayPal and Budweiser are the largest companies associated with this.
SOARES: But they still haven't budged on this.
COOBAN: According to a report, PayPal is now no longer allowing its promotional name on promotional material going forward. We'll have to wait
to see if anything more comes from that. But companies are used to severing ties with Kanye West. Remember, he had a long partnership with Adidas,
Balenciaga, TJ Maxx, they a number of years ago now severed ties with him because of his comments, which included antisemitic comments.
SOARES: And he hasn't commented so far.
COOBAN: No.
SOARES: In fact, better not -- better than he doesn't comment.
COOBAN: Yeah.
SOARES: Thanks very much indeed.
And still to come, U.S. President Donald Trump is threatening complete demolition of some critical infrastructure in Iran if it doesn't meet his
demands by Tuesday night. We'll tell you what those are next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:41:46]
SOARES: Well, back now to one of our top stories.
U.S. President Donald Trump's threats against Iran as a deadline looms, he warns every bridge and every power plant in Iran could be destroyed if it
doesn't fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz by Tuesday night.
Mr. Trump says Iran must allow the free flow of oil through the waterway, and says his preference would be to seize Iran's oil, adding, quote, "I'm a
businessman first."
The U.S. defense secretary and head of the CIA also spoke at that news conference. We brought you early. They lavished praise on President Trump
for the daring rescue of two U.S. airmen whose F-15 jet had been shot down in Iran. Have a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PETE HEGSETH, DEFENSE SECRETARY: Make no mistake about it, none of this would have been possible without the courageous leadership and ironclad
determination of President Donald J. Trump.
JOHN RATCLIFFE, CIA DIRECTOR: The professionals at the agency and at the Department of War deserve immense credit for their flawless execution
during this daring mission. Their skill, creativity and courage are unmatched on the battlefield wherever they step. But none of that matters,
and all of that is wasted without a president with the political courage to put them into action.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOARES: Let's get more on this.
We're joined now by retired U.S. Lieutenant General Mark Schwartz is a CNN military analyst.
Great to see you.
Let me guess first, your thoughts on what we heard from the U.S. president? On what on that really audacious rescue mission. Just your takeaways from
what we heard.
LT. GEN. MARK SCHWARTZ (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: It certainly was audacious. And the fact that the training of the two downed airmen, you
know, came into play, it shows that the survival, evasion, resistance and escape training they receive as part of their pilot pipeline or weapon
systems operator pipeline works. And they both did very well. And then just the orchestra behind getting the pilot out initially. And then even more
so, everything that had to come together with the central intelligence agency, the U.S. Special Operations Command, and everyone else, you know,
under the leadership, certainly of, admiral of the CENTCOM commander, Admiral Cooper, was really exceptional. So just very happy that both airmen
are, you know, safe and back in contact with their families.
SOARES: Oh, indeed. And we know from President Trump's and they're both recovering very well, Lieutenant General Mark Schwartz.
But let me get your takes. I mean, there were you know, they went down deep inside Iran. We know that many assets were needed. At one point, I heard --
I believe President Trump said they were using something like 155 aircraft. They said hundreds of people were actually part of this operation. And how
the CIA, how they played a role in kind of deception. I thought that was really interesting.
Speak to that element. And how do you weigh the risk? Because at one point, the president was asked whether everyone around him in terms of military
was on board with this, and he said, no.
SCHWARTZ: And that's not surprising. You know, everyone has their -- you know, in terms of the senior military leadership primarily that are
advising, you know, some may say, hey, right now the threat level is too high, or, hey, if, if the isolated person has the opportunity to wait a
little bit longer, maybe we delay until we have, you know, better conditions in terms of the threat to both the rescue force and to the
airmen.
[15:45:18]
So, you know, those types of conversations are important to have. And that candor, you know, by military advisors, whether that's coming from the
chairman, commander, CENTCOM commander, the joint special operations command, that's their job is to provide the options available and the risks
associated. So that's very normal, particularly in a crisis response situation.
But the number of aircraft involved -- so, the fact that, you know, they very rapidly put together, you know, a plan and a couple of courses of
action for deception to draw away forces from both the Basij forces and civilians, and certainly, the IRGC was exceptional.
And during operations like this, having, you know, worked at the command, I can tell you that the imagination that exists inside of those crisis
planning teams, because they look back at all the operations that they've done, you know, up to this point, and the lessons learned from them and
what they could do to, you know, facilitate what is most important is getting that rescue force in safely and getting it out as important, you
know, with the survivors.
So, it was really great to hear a little bit of that alluded to by, you know, both the president and certainly, Chairman Caine, you know, made a
couple of comments that, you know, I certainly understood what he was getting at.
But make no mistake: it was extremely intense, I'm sure for the planners and everyone involved to make sure that they could get everyone out safely.
SOARES: It was quite the mission. I think it all happened so quickly in something like 48 hours, 72 hours. But it -- and also no us casualties,
which was which is staggering given the complexity, like you said, lieutenant general, of the -- of the operation of the mission.
Let's look ahead, if I may, to a deadline that we have a deadline that was set by President Trump that is fast approaching. That is tomorrow at 8:00
p.m. Eastern. We heard President Trump talking about Iran, saying that everything will be obliterated if talking about power plants, bridges,
basically civilian infrastructure.
How do you view this? Do you think this is a real military option or do this? Do you think it's just a bluff or a campaign to try and push Iranians
to the table?
SCHWARTZ: Well, it's certainly the latter to push the Iran leadership, you know, in its current form, whatever that is, to the negotiating table and
come up with some resolution. But I do believe that the comments will be carried out in action by, you know, at the president's direction. If they
don't come to the table, he's demonstrated that, you know, he's -- he means it. And he talked about the initial timeline that he pushed that to the
right a few more days to allow for more dialogue to occur.
But, you know, all indications that I can see from reporting is that he will carry through with these strikes if there's not some level of
settlement or at least, you know, a major step forward to suggest that they are going to come to a resolution of the conflict and open up the straight.
SOARES: Yeah. And under the Geneva Convention, of course, any attacking any sort of civilian infrastructure would be -- would constitute a war
crime. I know the president has spoken about this. He said he doesn't care about that. I think he repeatedly said that in the last, what, three, four
hours or so, as we've heard them.
I wonder, though, if as we look ahead to tomorrow, whether you think that Iran has leverage here, because we heard President Trump talk about the
Strait of Hormuz, he was asked by one of my colleagues, the importance of opening the Strait of Hormuz.
Do you think, Lieutenant General Mark Schwartz, that Strait of Hormuz is more important right now than any of the other criteria that the U.S.
president has been pushing for? Is that -- is that the most important thing right now?
SCHWARTZ: I don't believe it's more important than ensuring that Iran never has the ability to develop a nuclear weapon. I don't, but it is
absolutely growing in importance because of the, you know, the global economic impact that it's having currently. And, you know, I do think that,
you know, if we -- if we get to the point where a lot of these infrastructure targets are hit, we're going to see a very significant
response against the Gulf states. And certainly, our U.S. force disposition in those Gulf countries, if in fact, these strikes are carried out and an
agreement can't be reached.
SOARES: We shall see. He did say we are dealing with them. I think it's going well.
[15:50:01]
We think they're negotiating in good faith. So, here's hoping that diplomacy works out.
Lieutenant General Mark Schwartz, really appreciate you coming on the show. Thank you, sir.
SCHWARTZ: Thank you.
SOARES: And still to come tonight, NBC's Savannah Guthrie is back on the job more than two months after her mother went missing. We'll have a look
at her emotional return. That is next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SOARES: NBC anchor Savannah Guthrie is back at work more than two months after her mother disappeared from her Arizona home.
Earlier today, she made her first appearance back in the spotlight.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SAVANNAH GUTHRIE, NBC NEWS ANCHOR: Pretty shot of the sun coming up. Good morning. Welcome to "Today" on this Monday morning.
We are so glad you started your week with us, and it is good to be home.
CRAIG MELVIN, NBC NEWS ANCHOR: Yes, it is good to have you back at home.
GUTHRIE: Well, here we go. Ready or not, let's do the news.
MELVIN: Yeah.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOARES: Eighty-four-year-old Nancy Guthrie was reported missing from her home on February 1st. Her whereabouts are still unknown.
Our Omar Jimenez has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This was really a big moment. The return of Savannah Guthrie to the "Today Show" after it's now been more than two
months since the disappearance of her mom, 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie.
There were a lot of questions over how this day would go, if they would take the time to acknowledge it, to start the show, and while there was a
little bit of that, there was a lot of welcome home. That was what we heard from her co-anchor, Craig Melvin, and then her as well, that a lot of that
sentiment. But they really just got right into the show as they would any other typical morning on that program.
It wasn't until the next hour that when Savannah Guthrie went out onto the plaza, as the today show anchors typically do, and they\re greeted by fans,
many of them are holding signs of support signs showing her mother. And that was really the moment where we saw for the first time, at least over
the course of this program, those emotions actually break through. I just want to show you a little bit of that moment.
GUTHRIE: These signs are so beautiful. You guys have been so beautiful. I've received so many letters, so much kindness to me and my whole family.
We feel it. We feel your prayers. So, thank you so much.
JIMENEZ: Now, to put things in perspective, the last time Nancy Guthrie was seen was back on January 31st, and here we are in April. And this
point, there really is no leading theory from authorities, despite the high profile nature, not only of this disappearance, but also the subsequent
investigation, which is excruciating for any community or family to go through, but especially so when its playing out in such a public way, as we
have seen with the Guthrie family here.
[15:55:08]
They've offered up to $1 million for any clues leading to significant progress here. And while there have been bits and pieces of evidence that
have come out that have sparked interest from the general public, potentially sparked leads for investigators as well. As I mentioned,
nothing really substantial that we know of publicly that has moved this investigation forward to this point. And you saw the reaction from
Guthrie's "Today Show" family. It's similar to many people online that have been cheering her on and supporting her throughout all of this.
And while her professional work continues, the personal pain of what she and her family have been going through won't be going anywhere and perhaps
only becoming more prevalent as time goes on.
Back to you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SOARES: Thank you, Omar. Omar Jimenez there.
And of course, our thoughts are with the Guthrie family.
And that does it for us for today. I'm Isa Soares. That is WHAT WE KNOW.
Do stay right here with CNN. We have more after the break.
END
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