And good evening from the newsroom, topping our scene in global work coverage tonight. Attenduis sees fire with the deadline pushed back by the president. Planned peace talks on shaky ground in Iran vowing retaliation for what it calls U.S. or in piracy on the ship.
Sentcom released this video of what it says is an Iranian flag cargo vessel attempting to reach Iran in violation of the U.S. blockade. Now after the ship failed to comply with repeated warnings over six-hour periods, Sentcom says the Navy instructed the crew to vacate the engine room of the ship and then fired. U.S.
Marines then chopper over to the Iranian flag vessel from an amphibious assault ship that according to Sentcom now the propulsion of the Iranian boat had been disabled by those multiple shots from a guided missile destroyer and the Marines eventually repelled down to the cargo ship to control it. Iran called this a violation of the ceasefire said the armed forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran will soon respond to and retaliate against this U.S. armed piracy. Now earlier yesterday President Trump also accused Iran of violating the ceasefire in a social media post.
This weekend an IRGC gunboat fired on an oil tanker followed by a cargo vessel hit by an unknown projectile. The president's post went on to say we're offering a very fair and reasonable deal and I hope they take it because if they don't the United States is going to knock out every single power plant in every single bridge in Iran no more Mr. Nice Guy. New reporting tonight is well that the president's public commentary surrounding negotiations has a time been detrimental to the ultimate success that is according to some Trump officials who spoke to CNN.
One person familiar with the talk said quote the Iranians didn't appreciate potists negotiating through a social media and making it appear as if they had signed off on issues they hadn't yet agreed to and ones that aren't popular with the people back home. They added that the Iranians are particularly concerned about appearing to look weak. More than that exclusive reporting in a moment from our Caitlin Collins all of this against the backdrop of a ceasefire that was supposed to expire tomorrow on Tuesday, April 7th. The president announced a two weeks ceasefire this morning in a phone interview with Bloomberg without a lot of fanfare.
He pushed that back a day saying the ceasefire would end Wednesday evening Washington time. He also did a phone interview with the New York Post and I'm quoting from the article now the president on Monday morning confirmed that vice president JD Vance special envoy Steve Wyckoff and advisor Jared Kushner have left the U.S. for Islamabad to prepare for the meetings. They're heading over now.
Trump said they'll be there tonight islamobotime. The only thing was the vice president was not in fact en route to Pakistan. Few hours after that article posted seen in spot advances motorcade pulling up to the White House. The current plan is for the vice president to depart Tuesday morning for talks on Wednesday according to sources familiar with that.
The first time the vice president traveled to Islamabad for peace talks took a total of 18 hours. That does not leave a lot of time for diplomacy before president Trump's new ceasefire deadline of Wednesday evening Washington time. The president also told Bloomberg in that interview that it's quote highly unlikely he'd extend the ceasefire if a deal wasn't reached in time. The Iranian so far haven't even committed to Wednesday's talks and later today their top negotiator posted on social media saying quote Trump by imposing a siege and violating the ceasefire seeks to turn this negotiating table in his own imagination into a table of surrender or to justify renewed warmongering we do not accept negotiations under the shadow of threats.
So a lot to get to tonight's joining me now our chief white house correspondent and the source Caitlin Collins. So obviously a lot of moving parts especially given the president's very statements on social media. What more do you and the senior white house team know about exactly where things are headed? I understand.
The white house has been arguing that the president is playing the long game here. These are negotiating tactics that he's been using but publicly when you look at his comments I mean much less just on the logistics alone of whether or not the vice president was going to show up for those talks impact stand if they were actually happening. I mean the comments from the president have really been all over the place. I mean obviously we're expecting these talks now to happen.
The question is once they do materialize once he does leave Washington if they actually result in anything and what those look like after of course the 21 hours that he spent in Islam about previously did not yield the results of the White House was hoping to get. But also just looking at the president's comments himself Anderson I mean it was just on Friday night when we were on air covering the president's comments with a healthy dose of skepticism for this very reason that the president was sounding optimistic about a deal that he was telling us as he left the White House last week that they were close to getting a lot of the points that they wanted to in these negotiations publicly he was saying different things that Iran agreed to when it came to developing a nuclear weapon and reaching uranium getting the uranium that's already in Iran and the president was saying it was going to now be in the hands of the United States. I mean those comments alone were quite rosy productions of what the Iranians had agreed to and what we're hearing now is that the Iranians didn't like what the president was saying publicly and that those had not been agreed upon points that the president was saying were agreed upon points of discussion and so all of this is really an open question right now in terms of where this is going and what this is going to look like and it's up against this deadline this week of the president and what he's going to do about this ceasefire because he's already saying the deadline is not tomorrow it's now going to be on Wednesday night in Washington time as you noted local time and so the question is what happens then once the vice president is sitting down across from these Iranian officials they've been negotiating with in person in Pakistan and if it results in the president extending that ceasefire or if he was going to be facing you know what he had been threatening Iran with two weeks ago when he initially declared this ceasefire which was going after their power plants going after their energy plants and so all of that is really up for discussion in this moment and it's not really clear where this is going despite what we've been hearing that was quite optimistic from the White House just about 48 hours ago. Yeah, Gailin thanks very much we'll see you at the top of the hour on the source joining me now we're tired of Armou Lieutenant General Caron Gibson who previously served as Director of Intelligence for US Central Command and former Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman who led the team that negotiated the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran.
Ambassador Sherman let me start with you you heard the reporting from CNN's White House team between the level of distrust the president bragging about a deal the Iranian pushback of those remarks how difficult would it be to have a successful and negotiations at this point. Extremely difficult Anderson I think we're understanding what's going on the president is going on CNBC tomorrow morning before the markets open I'm sure we'll hear the vice president is on his way we're going to get a good deal we have won we are winning to make sure that tomorrow's a better day than today was when in fact everything looked rather bleak this is a very very complicated negotiation even more so than when we did the 2015 deal because the president is trying to negotiate on several very tough issues with the additional issue of the Strait of Hormuz which was open before the war began and now is closed this has really as hair long well of the bulwark said almost like superpower suicide meaning that we have touched every piece of the global economy every piece of Americans day to day pocketbook our alliances our partnerships our weapons inventory the future of our military our relationship with China so much is on the table in this negotiation so it would be tough for anyone to be able to think you could get any of this done beyond very very broad top lines in a day's worth of negotiation not possible I mean General Gibson if that is the case that this touches on every aspect of everything essentially it is even more stunning the lack of planning that went into or coalition building or kind of run up to this just in terms of what we've seen over the weekend the the firing on the ship in the straight what do you make what you've seen so I think I would say there's probably a lot of military planning that went just to your earlier for years I mean there are years in Iran similarly had been planning to retaliate you know as long as we had a plan on the books they had a plan to respond so they're they were well prepared for this as well I think but to your question about the actions against ships this week it really even though it's playing out in a military dimension it almost seems to be like economic brinksmanship and so the Iranian you know hit on a couple of ships demonstrating that they do in fact still have their hand on the neck of the global economy via the Strait of War moves that it's still an incredible leverage that they have and they can exert a lot of economic pain and then the US the strike that you showed at the beginning of this hour and taking and seizing the tanker that was bound for Iran demonstrating that we have the will and the commitment as well as the capacity to truly enforce the blockade that were there to perform it's not just a performative deployment of naval assets so I think both actions by Iran and the United States are not surprising. Ambassador the president lashed out again today against the 2015 nuclear deal you played a key role in the Goshay do you see any sign that the Iranians will agree to something to deal with the president that they were not willing to negotiate with for your team and the president said that they've already agreed to hand over all their enriched uranium which is I mean there's no evidence that that is the case and there's certainly sentiment from Iran that that is not the case. It could be very happy if in fact the president and the negotiators could get a deal that either handed over all of that enriched uranium or somehow made it inert so that it couldn't be used couldn't be reused in any capacity that's a big operation a possible one but a big operation I think it would be good if in fact Iran said as the president has leaked out that it would suspend enrichment for a number of years that would be a good thing but all of these ifs require technical details not only what is the it you're going to do but how are you going to implement it and most importantly how are you going to verify it and monitor it and I agree with the general our military is exquisite and spectacular but as she also pointed out Iran has asymmetric capabilities including its drones its missile attacks its ways to go after our bases in the Gulf region that leave us off kilter in spite of our ability to push back their capacity which we have most certainly done.
General whatever happens is it likely there will be a US military presence in the straight for a long time to come? I think there probably will be you know as Ambassador Sherman has said it's going to take a long time to work through the technicalities of an agreement when we reach that and I should back up and say the purpose of the blockade while it is in fact to deny Iran the vast majority of money that it gets most of the revenue comes from things that are transom to see the reason we want to strip them of of revenue is to compel them to make greater concessions at the negotiating table and so until those concessions are made we'll need to sustain that kind of pressure on them and that's being done through the US military so until we reach some final agreement I don't see how we can ease the pressure on Iran they're in the Gulf. Ambassador do you still see very different clocks that the Iranian has the Iranians have and that the US has for this I mean does time continue to be on the side of the Iranians in terms of ability to absorb pain and even economic pain because they don't really care about their people so who side is time on? Yes they don't care about their people it is a culture of resistance they lasted the Iran at RAC war for eight years even when they weren't doing very well.
President Trump likes to get instantaneous capitulation that will never work with Iran ever they can put up with economic catastrophe which they have their economy is in shambles they can put up with countries around the world not thinking very highly of them they can deal with any of this because they are this culture of resistance because the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps does have control in Iran and even though there are some internal debates and divisions as there are in every government nonetheless I think the hardliners are well in control this is going to be a tough go not impossible but very very tough and I hope if Vice President Vance goes he brings the experts with him that he will need so that he really knows what he's getting because when Donald Trump negotiated building a building if he didn't get the building built he went on to the next building this is life and death war and peace it's a particularly different matter. Thank you Chairman thank you General Gibson as well thank you. President Trump has claimed Iran has agreed to let the US retrieve what he calls their nuclear does as I mentioned that would be there in which uranium Tehran denies that's the case if the deal is made what might that actually entail some insight from experts who know ahead and later the community report will be on a grieving time after an unthinkable mass shooting eight children murdered investigator say the gunman was the father of most of the kids will be right back. Finding the source you can trust for weather forecasts should be easy right?
This is CNN meteorologist Derek Van Damme thrilled to introduce the new CNN Weather app. Check your daily forecast to plan your day the weekly forecast to see what's on the way and prepare for any major storm with our robust real time video coverage. The app is stunning and if your weather nerd like me you'll love our in-depth stories in the photo of a day download the CNN Weather app on iOS today. I'm Dr.
Sanjay Gupta hosted the Chasing Life podcast. When the Wolverines asked me to deliver the 2026 commencement address to the medical school I was honored and I jumped at the chance. We have a special episode because I'd like to share that speech with you all to all the recent grads whether it's high school or college or maybe you know someone's studying hard to get in or just get through medical school. I want to share a few lessons that I learned along the way even more than 30 years later I never take for granted that the education afforded me the chance to say I'm Dr.
Sanjay Gupta and this is Chasing Life. Streaming Now, Reven, Get Your Podcasts. Welcome back. While Iran hasn't committed to participating in any talks yet they have said clearly that any deal that calls for the removal of their enriched uranium is not a deal they're willing to make.
Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman saying Iran's enriched uranium is quote sacred to us like the soil of Iran. Now this despite President Trump claiming that Iran had agreed to work and jointly to remove their enriched uranium and bring it to the US. I want to bring in that right now. I've seen a national security analyst Alex Pletzis and senior fellow at the Council of Strategic Risk Andrew Weber.
He's also a former assistant secretary of defense for nuclear chemical and biological defense programs and has spent two decades extracting nuclear materials from unstable parts of the world. So, as someone who's been on the ground during the removal of highly enriched uranium what does an operation like that entail and especially in this case what unique challenges exist with Iran's uranium stockbox? Well, it's very complex in any situation. I was involved in the removal of highly enriched uranium from Kazakhstan and what was called Project Sapphire.
But to do this inside Iran in tunnels that we've bombed we don't know the condition of those tunnels or the canisters containing the highly enriched uranium. So with Kazakhstan in a peaceful cooperative environment it took a team of experts from the departments of defense and energy almost six weeks to safely package the material which was mostly a metal form for safe transport to the United States. Six weeks? How much material are we talking about compared to what Iran may have?
Well they had more material. They had 600 kilograms of 90 percent enriched H.E.U. whereas the Iranians have an estimated 440 plus kilograms of 60 percent enriched uranium. Alex, how long would it take Iran to enrich their, I mean to actually make this weapon able?
So provided they actually had all the remaining enrichment technology to get from 60 to 90 for that amount is estimated somewhere between one to two weeks which is the breakout period everybody kept talking about and unfortunately that was mischaracterized as how long would take them to get a weapon. That's how long would take them to get the fuel. It would still be at least six months to a year afterwards to weaponize that at that point. And what physical form is the uranium stored in right now and like what kind of containers is it in?
Yeah so the 60 percent enriched H.E.U. is in scuba tank like containers in the form of uranium hexafluoride gas. So think about like 100 pound scuba tanks about this big. And if Alex, I mean it's one thing to launch our operation in peacetime in Kazakhstan.
If the uranium, if Iran is not cooperating this is the president said that they would be and Iran says there is no DL. What would it be like to actually defend this position while you are trying to do this? This is an incredibly complex one because the out of the 440 estimated kilograms of high-link rate of uranium only about 220 are said to be under Isfahan which was the main facility that we hit with missiles. We actually weren't able to bomb it and completely destroy it which is why it exists.
So more of the remaining balance is said to be in a couple of facilities as much as you know for two weapons worth may actually be missing. It's unknown. The conversation with the IAEA that had with David Sanger one of our colleagues as well is we've been talking to the Israelis. So you effectively have that outside Iran's third largest city about 300 miles inland.
The facility is about 15 kilometers outside that city with multiple approaches. So you'd have to have some sort of large blocking force to protect the facility. The specialist that he was just talking about would have to then go inside. It could be a lengthy operation.
Some of this is leaked out to the press which is why some of these details are available. You could be looking at a sizable operation which is why at this point the president was talking originally about maybe leaving that persistent stare for right now and trying to work the South through a negotiated settlement. Andrew, President Trump said he wants uranium to be flown to the US. Does this make any sense to you Andrew?
I mean given your experience to do this under in a combat environment with a foreign country and the regime in that country with their military does not want you to take it. How difficult is that? Well to do it in a non-permissive environment as a special military operation would be extraordinarily risky. It would be next to impossible to do it because the time on target you would need would probably be days or even weeks and you'd have to defend your personnel inside Iran and that would take most likely thousands of ground troops.
We didn't have those issues. That's why a negotiated solution where perhaps the Iranian HEU has moved to a third country like for example the international low enriched uranium fuel bank in Askaman Kazakhstan which is under the IAEA. That would be a perfect spot for this uranium to be moved to and it would be less let's say insulting to the Iranian regime for it not you know rather than have it come to the United States. It's kind of mind boggling to comprehend just the difficulty of this.
Yeah I mean the military obviously would be reluctant to have to do this unless it was absolutely necessary and you know there were this was a backup option to midnight hammer over the summer. There are a couple of units within the US military. There are some in some of our allied partners who have the ability to run this type of operation. The Israelis did one in Syria where they sent their Air Force Special Operations unit into a chemical weapons facility.
They basically said the difference between this would be distance and time more or less and that was the backup option not realizing it wasn't going to be destroyed over the summer so incredibly complex, highly risky as was just mentioned you'd have to defend against it and as we've seen the Iranian still possessed drones they still have the ability to fire and let's not forget the downed aviator was not that far outside of Isfahan. We had several aircraft that went down the helicopter struck fire while they were there so there are still ground elements that could pose a threat. I'll complete this thing very much at Interwebria as well. The first more on the second round of peace talks expected this week will still and clear for on will even show up after the US military fired on its season.
Ronny and ship will talk it over with two veteran diplomats and later stunning new video from the commander of the Artemis II crew. You're looking at the first ever human view of what's known as an Earth set. We'll explain exactly what that means coming up. Now the look of the moment the US military boarded and seized that Iranian flag ship on Sunday the move escalating the situation of the Gulf following this is unclear for Ronny and officials are going to show up for the second round of peace talks this week.
So we're saying vice versa advance and it's delegation will fly to Pakistan tomorrow for those talks. Don't mean I was running Crocker former US ambassador to Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Syria, Lebanon, Kuwait, incredible career, former State Department official Alan Air who played a key role in negotiating the 2015 Iran nuclear deal. Ambassador, what do you make of where we are at right now in these negotiations and in the ceasefire? Well, in terms of negotiations we wait and see whether people convene tomorrow in Islamabad, very uncertain right now.
I think we are in the ceasefire. It's the issue is the Strait of Hormuz. Iran's actions is a violation of international maritime law to control international waterway and that is a very dangerous present not just for the Strait of Hormuz but around the world, whether it's the Milwaukee straits in South China Chi, South China Sea, whether it's the Strait of Tehran, the Babal-Mendib, the Suez Canal, the Bosphorus, this cannot stand. So the blockade is the right thing to do.
What I hope the two sides will do is find a way back to the status quo in April 27 when it was an unrestricted international waterway. You think that's sort of the best that can be hoped for from these talks, the status quo? In the near term, yes, the other issue is support for Iranian affiliated militias, their nuclear program goodness knows if these are resolvable at all, it's going to take a lot of time, a lot of negotiation, a lot of effort. That can't be done in the short term.
I think what we should be aiming at now is a short term return to the status quo before the hostilities begin and then allow time for negotiations to unfold and it will take a lot of time. Allen, you've previously compared this process to a Rubik's Cube. If these negotiations between the US and Iran do indeed move forward, what do you think both sides would actually be willing to give? And do you agree with the Ambassador that basically a status quo on the Strait of Hormuz is the best that it could be hoped for in the short term?
Well, I always agree with Ambassador Crocker. But I think the problem is that that's the lever that Iran is the least willing to give up. So I think they're going to hold on to control of the Strait for as long as possible. And I agree, best case scenario, they give that up early, but why would they?
That's their strongest lever. So I think it's going to be contentious. And again, there's no one issue. It's all a balance.
You've got these scales right here. The more the US wants from Iran, the more they're going to have to put in this scale to balance it out. Iran is not going to walk away agreeing to what the US wants just because the US says, well, we won't bomb you anymore if you give us what we want. That's not going to happen.
Ambassador, what should the, do you agree with that, Ambassador, that essentially it may not be possible to just get, why would Iran? Let me get out and see that question. Why would Iran give up control of the Strait? Because that is, again, I think internationally unacceptable, what they've done for the reasons I cited.
This has global implications. It would make international shipping a very dangerous occupation everywhere. And their effort to turn the Strait of Ramos into the Strait of Iran simply cannot be allowed to stand. So if the ceasefire collapses, let it be on this single issue in which I think the US would have some international support to reopen that waterway.
And while Iran clearly sees it as a card, a card that can be tossed with his hand and then played again on another hand. They've shown they can do it with a minimal amount of hardware. They can do it again, sadly. Allen, I want to ask you a question I asked Wendy Sherman earlier, which is, are the clocks still completely imbalanced in terms of Iran's time frame and the Trump administration's time frame?
Yeah, I heard that question. I totally agree with that again with this time, Ambassador Sherman. Yeah, they're totally different. I mean, Iran can accept more short-term pain and a blockade takes longer to affect the change you want, whereas the Strait of Hornholes has already been closed for 40 days and every day that it stays closed adds more and more to the pain.
So yeah, we do have a two-clock issue and it works in favor of Iran. Ambassador, when the president has set deadlines and then extended them, threatened civilization and destructions, threatened several times now the bombing of every bridge in the country, Secretary Hicks has talked about bombing dual-use infrastructure. At a certain point, does the administration lose credibility just in their public statements when they do that? I heard a comment here some time ago saying that the president is to be taken seriously, but not literally.
I do think that should we allow the status quo to prevail in the Gulf, we would be basically setting ourselves up for a huge step back, a strategic defeat at the hands of Iran, and that's why I keep emphasizing the criticality of getting the Strait reopened without conditions and without restrictions to all vessels, regardless of nationality. We unfortunately created that situation by starting this war in the first place, but now we've got to recover at least that much, or we're going to lose a lot more than credibility. Ambassador Crocker, Ellen Eyre, thank you very much. Up next, as tensions continue to rise in and around the Strait of Hormuz, I'll get perspective from former head of US Central Command General David Petraeus, and later take a look at Earth setting behind the moon.
It is the first video ever recorded what's known as Earthset, who's actually recorded on the phone of the commander, courtesy of the Artemis II crew. Comedian Craig Ferguson is going coast to coast to one pack what it really means to be an American today. What could possibly go wrong? Craig Ferguson, American on purpose, new series premieres May 30th and 9th on CNN and next day on the CNN app.
As we've been discussing, the ceasefire between the US and Iran is expected to expire Wednesday evening, Washington time, Vice President of Ants expected to depart to the Paxnet tomorrow morning for more negotiations. Meanwhile, the Iranian Foreign Ministry insists there are no plans for talks, quote, as of now. I'm going to go to see an international diplomatic editor, Nick Robertson, in Islamabad for more. Nick, what are you hearing from the Iranian side?
Yeah, we're hearing tweets very recently from both the president and the speaker, the main negotiator on the Iranian side, Gallybaff. And they're both accusing the United States of trying to get a surrender out of the Iranians, and Gallybaff as well is saying, look, we're not going to come and negotiate while we're under threat. And that means that Strait of Hormuz being blocked. So there's a lot of chatter from the sort of hardliners in Iran that are indicating they don't want the talks to happen.
They're talking about the possibility of military options. I think the reality in the Strait of Hormuz over the past more or less 24 hours, it's been pretty quiet. So I think that's a good indicator. But these tweets, of course, they play toward domestic audience.
We listen to them. But I think there is still hope, despite what they're saying, that they will come for talks. How concerned are Pakistani mediators about all this uncertainty? Yeah, they're really concerned.
I mean, really, really concerned. It's like a roller coaster. I mean, that's what I heard from one source earlier today. A lot of diplomacy going on for a minister, for a minister, prime minister, to president, the field martial conversations with President Trump as well.
So a lot of hard diplomacy going on, and a real hope that the Iranians come through. The test is going to be, of course, if JD Vance is getting on a plane sort of early morning DC time, realistically over here, that gives the Iranians until late tomorrow afternoon, late Tuesday afternoon, local time here. So maybe another 12 hours or so to actually indicate whether or not they're going to come, whether or not it's worth JD Vance getting on a plane. And then I think the hope is, if the negotiators, the mediators hope here is, if they can get both sides around the table, they really hope that they can get a deal with time.
And they won't try to go for marathon 21-hour talks, that they'll try to sort of break it up talks on night times rest. So nobody like last time is getting irritable. It makes the deal more reachable, more manageable. That's the aspiration.
But it's nothing without the Iranians at the table. And that is a big worry going into tonight here. Nick Robertson, thanks. Perspector, now from retired US Army General, former head of US Central Commandant, and Petraeus, is also former CIA Director.
General, are you optimistic about this round? I think the base case is that the vice president gets on a plane. The Iranians then decide, OK, they probably need to go to Islamabad as well. And that the decision is made on some kind of memorandum of understanding that can enable at least the discussions to continue.
And therefore, you extend the current ceasefire a bit further. Clearly the pressure on Iran is fairly substantial. You know, not 80 to 90 percent of their economy goes into or out of their ports. That is not happening right now.
They do have 35 billion in reserves they can still use. They have 180 or so million barrels of oil floating around out in the Asia Pacific and so forth. And they're keenly aware of the pressures on the United States as well. And I think the bottom line is that both sides would like to see a resolution to the ongoing conflict.
The question is, of course, will they give in on the Strait of Hormuz? And I agree fully with my old diplomatic partner, the greatest anti-sold-driver head, Ambassador Crocker, who was just on, and noted that this cannot stand. This cannot become the Strait of Iran. And our pressure, the blockade on the blockade, has seemed to be quite effective, including, of course, the boarding of the Chinese ship that reportedly had dual-use chemicals on it.
They're very, very substantial quantities and are very professionally carried out operation. So I think, again, both sides would like to continue the process. I think they'd both like to resolve the issue, especially the United States, of the Strait of Hormuz. It has to go back to what it was, an international body of water through which there is freedom of navigation allowed, and no country can lay claim to it.
That's an important issue that has to be resolved. And in return, there may be some trade space on the frozen assets of Iran around the world. That could be unfrozen in some kind of phased fashion and give them a bit more of a lifeline going forward. And of course, in the background, there's always the threat of additional violence from the United States as we then start to address the really thorny issue, which is, of course, the 1,000 pounds of 60% enriched uranium, that is in one or two locations, deeply underground in Iran, and for which we need to get that out, ideally perhaps with the International Atomic Energy Agency overseeing this, we can trust them on this kind of operation, dilute it, ship it out, whatever it may be, and then talk about whether Iran will have a right to enrich anything at all going down the road.
And there's going to have to be backs and force on that, needless to say, a hugely challenging issue. So do you agree with General with Ambassador Crocker that the status quo basically returned to the status quo previous to this conflict on the straight is the most that could be hoped for, and maybe the best case, like realistic scenario for any kind of current negotiations, that the nuclear issue is simply too complex for anything other than some sort of as you said memo of understanding. It could be that even the straight is a bit too complex or too complicated or too thorny for right now. But again, let's get back to the table, get talking.
Of course, you have an issue as well that we saw an evidence over the weekend where it's not clear that all parts of the Iranian government are on the same song sheet. The Foreign Minister said the straight is open. The Revolutionary Guards Corps said no, the straight is closed. You have the speaker who's the negotiator.
And so there's going to be some issues with that as well. Can he actually deliver what it is he agrees to with the United States? So again, it would be phenomenal if the straight was reopened as a result of these upcoming talks. And then with some other quid pro quo's in there, that would be fantastic for the global economy, fantastic for the Gulf States, our partners, and frankly for Iran as well.
But keep in mind, we're going to have to de-mine it first. We have to be very confident that any mines are out there or found and exploded. And we're going to have to ensure that there's no rogue elements in Iran that are going to pepper these ships as they go by and undermine the confidence that is essential. This is not about risk insurance.
This is about confidence that they will not lose crew members. Do you, I mean, if there was any, the president has said that Iran has agreed to jointly removing its enriched uranium, Iran says that that's not the case. If there was a scenario in which the US was considering attempting to remove it without Iran's permission, do you have any belief that that could be done from a just militarily and without tremendous loss of life? It seems like an operation like that could take a very long period of time in a hostile environment.
It would be incredibly complex. Could our US military do it? Sure it could. It could do just about anything.
How many casualties would we sustain? Can we sustain a force on the ground? Can we even get a force on the ground with all the earth moving equipment, excavators and expertise and barrels, whatever is required for this? And can you even sustain them logistically, protect them against drones and missiles and ground fire and everything else?
That's a very, very tough question. So this would be an enormously complex issue. And by the way, we're not sure that it's all underneath the rubble of Esfahan one or two other locations. And we're going to have to understand that the air is all there.
So again, think of the operation that was required, quote, just to rescue one downed aviator and all the hardware we left behind and so forth. And now think about what it would take, and by the way, in roughly the same area, think about what it would take to put a force on the ground as the capability, the expertise and the equipment to do this and how we would be able to protect them. Very, very tall work. General Potayos, always a pleasure.
Thank you. Come here next. We have new details on a horrific Maschudian-Lusiana. 30-day father killed eight children, nearly all of them, his own kids.
Growing memorial outside of Shreveport, Louisiana, home, flowers, balloons, stuffed animals, left to remember eight children shot to death on Sunday. Authorities said the gunman was the father of most of the victims, Isabelle Rosales says more. This is real, and this is the result when someone snaps. So I'm going to ask the community, along with prayer, with every mental health consultant counselor that is out here, this family and this community needs you.
I need you. Because how do we get through this? Deep grief in Shreveport, Louisiana, as the details unfold in a horrific domestic attack in this community. The incident happened in the early morning hours of Sunday.
Just after 6 a.m., police received a call that someone had entered a home where nine people lived and shot everyone inside. Minutes later, police received another call reporting a shooting at a nearby house. Authorities say they quickly realized the two incidents were connected. Police say the shooter then carjacked a vehicle.
They chased him into the next parish where officers fatally shot him. See an end up team video showing police closing in on the gunman after he fled the scene. In total, police say 31-year-old Shreveport, killed eight young children, ages 3 to 11. Seven of the kids were his own, the eighth, a cousin.
He also shot his wife and another adult woman. Both have serious injuries. The shooter's brother-in-law, Troy Brown, says he doesn't know how to make sense of it all. I don't know how to feel.
I don't know how to act. He said the shooter who served in the Louisiana Army National Guard until 2020 was struggling with his mental health and had sought help at the VA Hospital for something personal. He didn't elaborate. He seeked help.
He got help. He came home. Everything was good. A couple of weeks ago, a couple of weeks to a month, everything like to him was falling apart.
And Uncle Lionel Pugh says it's very hard to cope right now. It was devastating because I mean, I got here and all I can see is just, you know, yellow tape, you know, a crime scene. Both Pugh and Brown told CNN that the shooter's wife wanted a divorce. And Brown said that they were due to appear in court today to sign the papers.
A neighbor who lives across the street tells CNN he witnessed the aftermath of the shooting. I opened my curtain and looked after curtain and it was. It was the street court police department. They were making an entry into the side door, going into the house.
He said he saw the shooter just yesterday. I waved just being neighborly. And he actually waved back. And the children were playing in the yard.
So I just went home and 12 hours later, this. Brown says the family is struggling, but resilient. I'm not OK. I'm not going to be OK for a while.
These were eight babies, precious babies. So no, I'm not OK. And yes, I am going to seek help for myself as well as my child, my wife, and my sister-in-law. We're all going to go to council.
Yes, it's going to take a while, but we're going to make it. And as Bill has always joins us now from outside with that makeshift memorial we see behind you is about what's, I mean, how is the community doing at this hour? And just, this is unthinkable. They're in shock.
They're stunned. Some are outraged. But there's been an incredible show of support from this strong community here in Shreveport. Just a block away.
A vigil drew over 100 people. The mayor was there. The police chief was there, all of them showing their support. And you can see this growing memorial behind me.
Community members coming out with teddy bears with candles with balloons, giving their hearts to this family that has gone through so much. Troy Brown, by the way, told me that his son died on this roof trying to get away from that gunfire. His daughter survived by jumping off. She was not injured, but her aunt was shot nine times.
She's out of surgery. But she is awake, aware, and they tell me, talking, Anderson. This will result, thanks very much, not a really horrific story. After a difficult day of news, we leave you tonight.
With a reminder of the shared home that we all, thankfully, inhabit over the weekend. Reid Wiseman, commander of the Artemis II mission, shared an incredible video that he recorded on his iPhone during their historic mission around the moon for the window of the Orion spacecraft. Now, you're about to see an Earth set when the Earth sets behind the moon. It's the first time humans ever saw one.
And you'll hear the cruise reaction. Take a look. Would you look at that? Yes, way.
On social media, Commander Wiseman described the moment as one chance in a lifetime. Well, there you see the Earth set. That's it for us. Caitlyn Collins is taking over now with the source.
See you tomorrow. Hey, I'm Anderson Cooper. In the podcast, all there is, we explore grief and loss in all its complexities. You have been, and I mean, so sincerely, the soundtrack to my healing.
My guest on this episode is Chanel Jones. In January, she began hosting a Long-Way-Gen of Bush Hager today with Jenna and Chanel, the fourth hour of the Today Show. In May 2025, Chanel's husband, UJ OJ, died from Gilead-Blessdoma. When you hear other people share, it is healing and you don't feel as isolated, you feel less alone.
And so I feel like you've created this beautiful quilt of like nurturing our hearts. And so I am honored to be part of this quilt. Talking grief, building community. That's what the podcast is all about.
This is all there is. Listen and follow wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Daniel DeKim. I'm going to South Korea to figure out how this small nation conquered the world with its culture.
Join me and meet the artists and creators behind the phenomenon. K everything now streaming on the CNN app. // //