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00:00Let's go out front.
00:03And good evening, I'm Erin Burnett on this Monday.
00:06And out front tonight, Trump's escalating war with Iran.
00:10At this hour, the U.S. military is conducting what may be the most dangerous and complex
00:14mission since the start of Trump's war, which is blocking all traffic entering and leaving
00:19Iranian ports.
00:20Now, right now, there could be 15.
00:22The point of this is that there's a lack of clarity on what weapons Iran is referring
00:26to, whether this is bluster or bravado or something real.
00:30This escalation comes after the peace talks, of course, collapsed in that first round in
00:35Pakistan, leading the Strait of Hormuz, still closed.
00:38And Vice President J.D. Vance moments ago talked about the negotiations this weekend.
00:43Here he is, where the American military forces are blocking maritime traffic.
00:48And if Iranian tankers defy U.S. orders, American service members may have to board and stop
00:55a fully loaded oil tanker, not knowing who's on board, what type of weapons, what the entire
01:00point of it is.
01:01It's obviously incredibly risky for American soldiers' lives.
01:05And it is putting American troops dangerously close to missiles, to drones, to Iranian mines,
01:11despite this claim from Trump today, where he said, and we'll see what happens.
01:16Of course, NATO at this point, American allies have refused to participate in this.
01:20So tonight, it is only American soldiers.
01:21We'll see if that changes tomorrow.
01:24Kristen Holmes is out front, live outside the White House, to begin our coverage.
01:27And so, Kristen, what more are you learning about how far Trump is willing to take this
01:31brocade and looking in the reality of this, of how many American lives he is willing to
01:36lay down for it?
01:38All right, Kristen Holmes, thank you very much.
01:40Of course, Vice President Vance, interesting as we bring our panel in here, also said that
01:44he himself called the president half a dozen to a dozen times during the negotiation.
01:48So he couldn't do a deal either without going back to Washington.
01:51Maybe their communications are just a bit more secure.
01:53OK, everyone's here with me.
01:55Stephen Hurrell, retired captain, naval intelligence officer.
01:58Let me just start with you.
02:00The U.S. has at least 15 warships in the region, as we said, right?
02:02So we don't know exactly how many of them may or may not be involved.
02:04But we know that firepower at least is there to be used, could be being used for this blockade,
02:1011 destroyers as part of that.
02:11And that, obviously, the blockade does put them in the line of fire.
02:14You know, we're talking about Seth Jones, you know, you're seconds away.
02:16So that's not enough time, obviously, to move a ship.
02:19Never mind, take cover.
02:21So there's a real risk here, right?
02:24There is.
02:25So a blockade is going to be a complex operation, 11 necessary.
02:30So they're trained to go on board ships, even up to hostile.
02:33Right.
02:33Now, who knows what those mean or don't mean?
02:35But, I mean, the reality would seem that it would seem reasonable to expect that Iran will test this
02:41and that they would have a plan for when the U.S. sailors boarded the ship.
02:44That would just seem pretty obvious.
02:46That's very well possible.
02:47So probably initial boardings with fast attack craft.
02:50I disagree with diminishing them as not a threat.
02:54Missiles and drones as well coming by air.
02:57So you're getting inside that threat envelope.
02:59Predator Atlantic, I know you've reported on Iran for more than two decades.
03:02You spent a lot of time there.
03:03So when you hear J.D. Vance say, as Kristen's reporting,
03:07that they were moving the goalposts on the Strait of Hormuz, the Iranian negotiators,
03:13and she also mentioned this whole point about their need to go back to Tehran to get approved.
03:18Let me just play that for you.
03:21It's interesting, actually, because I made the point that J.D. Vance himself said he called Trump
03:25half a dozen to a dozen times.
03:26And one would think he would know the difference.
03:27I mean, that's a big range.
03:29But it's a lot of calls.
03:30He couldn't do a deal without Trump's approval.
03:33But do you think this is an issue that the people negotiating for Iran didn't have the authority?
03:37Or is it literally a communications issue, right?
03:41That they can't talk to the Supreme Leader because that could,
03:43any kind of a phone call from Islamabad with Americans present,
03:45could reveal where somebody was.
03:48So you can't actually do those communications.
03:50Right.
03:50I think your point is well taken.
03:52And in power and that the power structure has been somehow dismantled.
03:55I think that that is a fantasy, quite honestly.
03:59It's a highly institutionalized.
04:00That's the hoop, but it's just that unrealistic.
04:03I think so.
04:04Yeah.
04:05Now, it may be the case that who would come to the negotiating table were never the people
04:09who were at the right hand of the Supreme Leader.
04:11So there's always there in what they represent and where the different power centers are falling.
04:15But that doesn't mean that they don't exist.
04:16That they don't exist.
04:17So, Barack, you've done extensive reporting, obviously.
04:20That doesn't mean that at some point it may not be true, right?
04:22It just hasn't been true every time he's used it up until now.
04:25But that's when I get to that recent U.S. intelligence assessment, right?
04:28His own intelligence is saying half of Iran's missile launchers are still intact
04:32and thousands of one-way attack drones are there and they can still manufacture them,
04:36which obviously could put U.S. troops right in the line of risk, you know, seconds away on those ships.
04:42So what does all that mean?
04:44When we talk about the new capabilities that they are threatening, you can blow that off
04:48or you could say, well, look, they hit Diego Garcia and maybe that means something.
04:53So I think that's a lot of hyperbole on Iran's part.
04:56Wrapped my head around a threat that we wouldn't understand or have never seen before.
05:00Right.
05:00Sounds as much.
05:01Flip side.
05:02And, Laura, what about who is in charge?
05:03I know anyone following this sees the Daily Report,
05:07some seemingly more informed than others about the real state of the Supreme Leader.
05:10Talking to a regime insider, we did have an interview with someone from Tehran the other day.
05:14When I asked that question, it was a terse response.
05:17It was, I cannot talk to that, which I actually interpreted to be that the person had no idea
05:22as opposed to it was hiding it, right?
05:24What are you hearing?
05:26Similar, certainly, you know, we can certainly surmise that there is a heavy IRGC presence
05:33at the upper echelons.
05:34Right.
05:34The economy obviously controlled by them.
05:37Thank you all very much.
05:38And next, the breaking news, Congressman Eric Swalwell resigning from Congress.
05:41After CNN spoke to a former staffer who accused the California Democrat of assault,
05:46and just moments ago, a Republican who is also facing allegations of sexual misconduct
05:50announced he's stepping down.
05:52And breaking in the face of a crushing defeat for close Trump ally, Victor Orban,
05:57Vice President J.D. Vance is defending his decision to go to Hungary during the war and
06:02to appear at a campaign rally for Orban.
06:05And President Trump tonight is trying to explain away the post that he put online depicting himself
06:11as Jesus Christ.
06:13Gretchen Carlson and Jamal Simmons are next.
06:16So what do they make?
06:17What do you make of Trump saying he had no idea anybody could think this was Jesus Christ?
06:20He thought that this guy was a doctor.
06:34The breaking news, Trump is digging in on Pope Leo attacks, telling CBS News tonight,
06:39quote, he's wrong.
06:41It's interesting.
06:42There's a whole lot of detail there that Vance has given.
06:44But I think it's important to just be clear here that Trump did not try to say it was a
06:47joke.
06:48That was not his excuse at all.
06:49In fact, he said he was a doctor in the picture, not Jesus Christ.
06:53Our Christopher Lamb was with Pope Leo on his trip, where he condemned the war and was
06:58asked about Trump's attacks.
07:00And Chris begins our coverage out front.
07:04Yeah, a tense encounter.
07:05And, you know, we've heard a lot about that one, obviously.
07:08You know, all so fascinating in the context of Trump's battle with Pope Leo, as you see
07:12these record numbers of Americans joining the Catholic Church.
07:16OK, Jamal Simmons and Gretchen Carlson.
07:18And Gretchen, I mean, this is fascinating because one in five people who voted for Trump
07:23were Catholic.
07:24OK, and it's very curious when we talk about these new numbers and people flocking to the
07:28church for a variety of reasons.
07:30OK, but there was a lot of passion in that, that he typed up all of that.
07:33The first thing that came to me was because the Pope is more popular rating of Pope Leo
07:38in America is very high.
07:40And the disapproval rating of Donald Trump currently, who are more popular or who he deems to be having
07:46more success at the time.
07:48With regard to getting into religion, do I think it's going to have any with autism?
07:52He made fun of Michelle and Barack Obama.
07:55His post over the weekend down, right, when he had an Easter weekend.
07:57OK, but then this post where he was Jesus, he did take down Jamal.
08:02So let me play again part of Trump's explanation for the post.
08:05And I will say you're the son of a Methodist AME preacher.
08:07So that's I mean, everybody has a right to have a view on religion and I'm Catholic.
08:11So here we go.
08:12All right.
08:12So let me play, though, when Trump's explanation for why he posted himself as Jesus Christ,
08:18Jamal.
08:19Say because my first thought is, come on, that's one of the most ridiculous things he said.
08:24Of course, that's not true.
08:25But that's a ridiculous thing to say.
08:27I don't know anybody who didn't look at that and think he just posted himself as Jesus Christ.
08:33What's your reaction to this?
08:34Yeah.
08:35So I did call my dad and I wanted to check in with him, get the pastoral view of this.
08:39You know, his sense to not do is have, you know, compare yourself to God and bear false
08:44witness or have a false idol or any of those things.
08:47And that's what Trump was sort of go.
08:49And I think it's low touch.
08:50He just doesn't have the same feel.
08:52Tonight, I mean, you're hearing these words and Megyn Kelly, of course, along with others
08:56who had been instrumental in his election, have been very, very vocally against him in
09:01this war and with these religious posts.
09:04Gretchen, I'm also curious, though, just about the Trump state of mind, why he would
09:08choose to do this.
09:10It was last night.
09:11He posted all night long.
09:13He posted all night long.
09:15OK, he started off with things about golf.
09:18Right.
09:18We're in a war.
09:19We started with golf.
09:19But then I'm just going to go through 949.
09:21That was the Jesus he posted.
09:23What do you make of that?
09:24I mean, he didn't sleep.
09:25I make that nobody's in charge.
09:27And maybe he, to your point, had no understanding that it would happen.
09:30And we've talked about this before.
09:32He hasn't been sort of telling us what we're really up to in Iran.
09:35Now we're going into the streets of Hormuz.
09:38We're not.
09:39It all just seems really disconcerting.
09:41Like, they're making it up as they go.
09:42And we really need people to be.
09:43I'm just saying a very, very practical, basic perspective.
09:46Being up all night, whatever you're posting, is not good for your judgment, for your reaction
09:51time, for any of it.
09:52All right.
09:52Thank you both very much.
09:54And next, breaking news.
09:55Congressman Eric Swalwell says he's resigning from Congress amid allegations of sexual misconduct.
10:00And Vice President J.D. Vance is defending his decision to go to Hungary and campaign
10:05for Viktor Orban at a rally after Orban suffered a stunning defeat in Hungary.
10:11Was that loss a repudiation of Trump or not?
10:16Go for it.
10:17Dissolve.
10:17Music full.
10:17Killer mites.
10:18You can take the panel out.
10:20Stand by a break.
10:21In three, two, effect.
10:23Before you break, please, Nostra.
10:24It's just incredible to think about what these decisions coming out of nowhere can change
10:29the calculus.
10:30Thank you so much, Manu Raju.
10:32And out front next, the crew of the Artemis II mission opening up after their historic
10:37journey around the moon.
10:39And J.D. Vance breaking his silence, defending his decision to go and campaign for Hungary's
10:45Viktor Orban days before Orban's massive loss.
10:48David Pressman, the former American ambassador to Hungary, is our guest next.
10:56Stand by to dissolve 20.
10:58And dissolve 20.
11:02Breaking news.
11:03Vice President J.D. Vance defending his decision to travel to Hungary to campaign for a top
11:07Trump ally during the Iran war.
11:09That was Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
11:12And it came, of course, right ahead of Orban's crushing defeat.
11:18All right.
11:18Well, J.D. Vance talking about it on Fox News tonight.
11:21Trump, though, has not uttered a word about Orban's loss, which, of course, was made all
11:27the more humiliating for the White House after Vance's highly public trip, right, during the
11:31Iran war and Trump calling into a crowd of supporters in Hungary during that trip.
11:38I appreciate your time.
11:39You know, when you try to look at this, and there are a lot of layers to it as to
11:43why Orban was defeated by Peter Mayer.
11:48And do you see Orban's defeat, though, especially when we look at J.D. Vance there and Trump calling into
11:53the rally just last week, in part as a repudiation of Trump and what Trumpism stands for in Europe?
12:00Well, look, it's a repudiation of the results of this election became clear.
12:04And while the vice demonstrating such bravery in the system, when I was ambassador, would always describe how if...
12:11You know, Vance reacting to Orban's loss, he didn't mention Peter Magyar by name.
12:18You know, he said he'd work with the new president, but didn't mention him by name.
12:21That also is actually very interesting, to not mention the name.
12:26It's beneath the United States.
12:27It's the United States' values and shared interests, and we need to begin to act like that.
12:31For a while, and that was in part because of Trump.
12:33I mean, CPAC, right, with the big D.C. meeting, had actually started having a CPAC in Budapest over the
12:39past several years, right?
12:40That there had been this incredible tie.
12:41I remember, of course, back when Tucker Carlson was a supporter of Trump's, but, you know, he took his whole
12:45show on the road there to talk about how great Hungary was and how that was a model for MAGA.
12:50I mean, here are some of the MAGA leaders talking about Orban.
12:56Okay, Orban had stature among certain important people in MAGA.
13:02Does that mean that there are ripple effects, that there are domino effects of his stunning, dramatic, and very obvious
13:08loss, right?
13:09There was no way to sugarcoat it.
13:11There was no way to fig leaf it and try to say it was close and steal it.
13:13There wasn't.
13:14Does that have an implication for MAGA and for Trump here?
13:17But the reality, and I think the election results, and the propaganda that he continued to transmit.
13:24Huge reason for Peter Magyar's victory, including his stature to fight for Ukraine and to stand up to Putin.
13:33Thank you so much, David Pressman.
13:34And next, one astronaut from the Artemis II crew getting, well, I mean, is there any better welcome than this?
13:41From her dog after she came back from the moon.
13:46And finally tonight, the Artemis II astronauts back home sharing deeply emotional moments of return.
13:53Astronaut Christina Koch back on Earth, reunited with her joyful dog, Sadie.
13:58Special welcome from Sadie Koch wrote on Instagram,
14:01I'm still pretty sure I was just Sadie sprinting through the sand, just to imagine what that feels like for
14:07Christina.
14:08And then Victor Glover returning home to Texas, a hero's welcome there for him.
14:12An entire neighborhood turned out.
14:14He had essentially a parade to welcome him back.
14:17A powerful reminder that as remarkable as these missions are, nothing beats coming home.
14:24As all of them said when they were there on the far side of the moon,
14:27and that emotional mission that we heard from Christina herself saying,
14:33what all the choices that you have, and when they look out there,
14:35they choose Earth and choose to come home.
14:38Well, thank you so much for joining us.
14:40AC 360 starts now.