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Trump To Deliver "Important Update" Tonight On War With Iran; Now: Final Preparations Ahead Of NASA's Historic Moon Mission; "He Tried To Kill Her": Defendant's Son Says His Father Confessed. Aired 7:30-8a ET
Aired April 01, 2026 - 07:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[07:30:00]
SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: New this morning, CNN polling shows President Trump's approval rating on the economy has hit a new low. Just 31 percent approving of the president's handling of the economy, the top issue among Americans. His overall approval is a point above his all- time low in CNN polling, holding steady at 35 percent.
All of this comes, of course, ahead of his address to the nation tonight.
CNN Washington bureau chief David Chalian here to make sense of it all. Give us some sense of how big of a change this is -- but it is a new low.
DAVID CHALIAN, CNN WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Well, as you note -- as you noted, the economy is the top issue for Americans and used to be a strong suit of Donald Trump's and he is at a record low on that, and that becomes a problem.
You noted his overall approval in our poll, 35 percent. Just look over time, Sara. You see the change. There hasn't been much change since last October. He has been consistently at this low point for quite some time now. That's what's giving Republicans on Capitol Hill who are up for re-election this year a little bit of heart palpitation.
If you look at his approval by party, you will also see that his biggest drop is among Republicans. So we are seeing some slippage among the president's own partisans. He's now at 80 percent approval among Republicans. In January, that was 87 percent. He's down to 26 percent approval with Independents, Sara, a key part of the electorate that also will give a lot of worry to Republicans on Capitol Hill.
SIDNER: Look, now the economy is the biggest concern of Americans and when he was elected it was the biggest concern of Americans. It is the reason in some -- in major part why he got elected because he said he could fix it fast.
Can you give us some sense -- delve into some of the numbers that you're seeing on the economy here in this poll. CHALIAN: Yeah. Take a look here about his overall handling of the economy. As you noted, 31 percent approval. That is a record low for Donald Trump. You can see here over time his handling of the economy. And that, by the way, among Republicans is at 71 percent. Just in January, he had 85 percent approval on the economy with Republicans.
So we're seeing slippage there as well on the economy factor, largely driven by really pessimistic assessment from the American people. Seventy-seven percent say economic conditions in the country are poor. Only 23 percent say they're good.
And a lot of that right now we know, $4.00 gas. This is not going to help his political predicament. Only 24 percent of Americans approve how Donald Trump is handling gas prices. Three-quarters of Americans disapprove how he's doing that.
If you look by party, again, among his own Republicans, it's just a bare majority -- 56 percent only approve how the president is handling gas prices.
SIDNER: Yeah, and Independents -- that is an abysmal number there -- 16 percent.
Let me ask you about foreign policy because the gas prices and foreign policy actually go together right now.
CHALIAN: Yeah, they do, no doubt, because of the war in Iran, and we'll hear the president address this tonight no doubt.
Thirty-six percent approval on how he's handling foreign affairs. So again, right in line with his overall approval, which is abysmally low. Thirty-six percent approval, 64 percent disapproval.
And again, when you break it out by party you see the slippage among Republicans. In January, it was 84 percent approval among Republicans on Trump's handling of foreign affairs. That's down 10 points now. Clearly, the Iran war is not sitting well with the American people across the party spectrum.
SIDNER: All interesting numbers, David Chalian. Thank you so much for breaking them down for us this morning -- Kate.
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: You're talking about the economic frustration there to the price of gas now that is driving, as David and Sara were just talking about, some of that economic fear and frustration being voiced in that new polling. The national average is now $4.06 a gallon.
I want to play for you what President Trump said when pressed about what he's doing to actually lower prices.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: All I have to do is leave Iran, and we'll be doing that very soon. And they'll become tumbling down. (END VIDEO CLIP)
BOLDUAN: He says that. However, most experts say that relief is not likely to be immediate, especially if the Strait of Hormuz remains largely paralyzed.
CNN's Matt Egan is here with much more on that. What are you seeing and what are you hearing about this?
MATT EGAN, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Well Kate, clearly, as we just heard from David Chalian, $4.00 gas is a political problem for this White House --
BOLDUAN: Yeah.
EGAN: -- so it makes sense that officials are searching for an off- ramp. But energy industry experts that I'm talking to -- they're surprised that this is the off-ramp that's being floated.
BOLDUAN: Really?
EGAN: Walking away from the Strait of Hormuz and letting someone else clean up that mess. Because look, every single day -- as we look at high gas prices, every single day about 20 percent of the world consumes in oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz. At least that was the case before the war. It's just not sustainable to let it stay closed.
BOLDUAN: Right.
EGAN: And allowing Iran to stay in control -- well, that's going to potentially be more expensive.
And so analysts say yeah, look, if the conflict ended you could see a major drop in prices --
[07:35:00]
BOLDUAN: Um-hum.
EGAN: -- but not back to pre-war levels. And possibly --
BOLDUAN: Well also, who defines what conflict-ending is?
EGAN: Right.
BOLDUAN: Like, you can -- U.S. warships can leave but the strait could still be closed.
EGAN: Exactly. You can end the war but that doesn't necessarily end the energy crisis.
Oil market veteran Dan Pickering -- he told me it's a terrible idea to just walk away from the Strait of Hormuz --
BOLDUAN: Yeah. EGAN: -- because it would leave a very dangerous situation and investors would demand higher compensation.
And look, the U.S. is not an island to itself --
BOLDUAN: Right.
EGAN: -- in terms of energy. Every single day the U.S. imports more than six million barrels of crude and almost two million barrels of gasoline, jet fuel, diesel and other energy products.
And even some former Trump officials think that this would be a bad idea. Take a listen to former Trump energy secretary Dan Brouillette on Fox Business yesterday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAN BROUILLETTE, FORMER ENERGY SECRETARY: The story -- The Wall Street Journal story is accurate that I think it's highly problematic that we would leave that area without opening the strait. I mean, you think about this logically. If that were to happen Iran gets exactly what it wants. It gets a ceasefire, it gets to keep this chokehold, and it looks more like a timeout rather than a deal.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
EGAN: Now, he went on to say that this would just punt the problem to future administrations. And look, that's why Dan Brouillette and some other --
BOLDUAN: But that's like so unrealistic. You can't punt this -- an energy crisis that we're in the midst of. A global energy --
EGAN: Right. It's not sustainable. I mean, look at oil prices.
BOLDUAN: You can't punt this to another administration --
EGAN: Right.
BOLDUAN: -- years out.
EGAN: Right. We already saw last month a 51 percent increase in oil prices just in March, the second-most since futures trading started back in the early 1980s.
BOLDUAN: Um-hum.
EGAN: And look, I think the bottom line here is the last five weeks it's been a reminder of how events on one side of the world can impact what all of us pay in terms of prices here in the U.S. And just walking away from the Strait of Hormuz -- that risks unlearning that lesson.
BOLDUAN: Yeah. It's looks -- and when you look at the global -- the global oil markets, I mean, welcome to the rollercoaster that we're going to be watching now. EGAN: Yeah.
BOLDUAN: I'm listening very closely to what the president says tonight.
EGAN: Absolutely.
BOLDUAN: Good to see you.
EGAN: Thank you, Kate.
BOLDUAN: Thank you so much -- J.B.
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right.
President Trump now says the war in Iran could end without Iran reaching any kind of deal and without opening the Strait of Hormuz. And also, he claimed that the United States has already achieved its top priority.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I had one goal. They will have no nuclear weapon, and that goal has been attained. They will not have nuclear weapons.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: All right, "That goal has already been achieved," he said.
With us now is CNN national security analyst Alex Plitsas, and David Sanger. David is White House and national security correspondent for The New York Times.
And as soon as President Trump said that, David, I thought of you and all the work you've done on Iran's nuclear capability and whether or not it's gone. And then sure enough, within like 20 minutes, you had posted an article in The New York Times.
So how true is the statement that the president is saying the United States has achieved all its goals in regard to Iran's nuclear program?
DAVID SANGER, CNN POLITICAL AND NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST, WHITE HOUSE AND NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT, THE NEW YORK TIMES (via Webex by Cisco): There's not a lot that is true about this one, John.
The president, if he left now and if nothing changed in the next few weeks before he left -- and he said he would be out in two weeks or so -- Iran would still be left with its stockpile of near-bomb grade enriched uranium. That's about 970 pounds, most of it buried under a mountain in Isfahan. And as we've discussed before, an operation to go and retrieve it and a commando raid would be enormously risky.
But if it stays there, there's a risk as well, which is that Iran could build some underground centrifuges, bring it up to bomb grade, and we're right back to where we were before this attack happened.
And you'll remember that on February 28, the president said this was the major issue that led him to conduct the attack.
BERMAN: Alex, again, just expand a little bit on what David was talking about. Where is this nuclear material and what would the military operation be to get it if the president so chooses? If he doesn't just say we're done tonight.
ALEX PLITSAS, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST, DIRECTOR, ATLANTIC COUNCIL'S COUNTERTERRORISM PROGRAM: Well, David has laid it out in a number of his articles 100 percent correctly. Out of the total of about 440 kilograms of highly-enriched uranium there is an expectation of at least 220 that is here under the facility at Isfahan. It's a deep buried facility. It was hit during Operation Midnight Hammer but given the depth, the highly-enriched uranium gas wasn't destroyed. So it's expected to be stored in tubes underneath.
The facility is about 300 miles inland. It's surrounded by mountains. Fifteen kilometers outside the third-largest city inside of Iran. Multiple avenues of approach, so if you were to try to go in there and do something it would be an incredibly risky mention as David laid out.
BERMAN: All right. Then I want to also talk about one other marker the president, I suppose, has removed, not laid down. It's the opposite of laying down. Saying that this war could end and the United States would not really do anything to open the Strait of Hormuz. The strait effectively closed by Iran over the course of this conflict. Not much shipping passing through.
[07:40:05]
What does that mean?
PLITSAS: Yeah. So it's basically closed due to risk at this point. Shippers are not moving their ships through voluntarily. They're not closed due to mines but from an economic perspective the outcome is the same in terms of driving up costs, which was Iran's strategy in the first place.
So the Pentagon had laid out objectives in the beginning of the war, which was take out the drones, the missiles, the associated industrial base, sinking of the Navy, and then there was this open question about the nuclear program. The straits are what are called "mission creep" because the Iranians added this as an objective afterwards. The U.S. gets very little oil out of the Gulf at this point.
And the president then reached out to allies very publicly and forcefully and said hey, we want your help doing this. The allies said no. And he's become a little blatantly angry in the last few days and said you know what, it's your problem to deal with. So it's entirely possible he says look, we've hit 13,000 targets. We have 3,000 left to achieve those objectives. And you know what, the straits are somebody else's problem.
BERMAN: Somebody else's problem. You said he's angry.
How angry? Very, David. Because now the president this morning is saying that removing the United States from NATO -- leaving NATO in his words were "beyond reconsideration." I feel like that may be a few negatives there. But he's considering leaving NATO.
SANGER: Yeah.
BERMAN: He's floating that notion. This is something you've been talking about. And this is, of course, all the NATO nations here in blue. You've been talking to him about NATO for, what, more than 10 years now.
SANGER: Yeah.
BERMAN: So how do you take these new threats this morning?
SANGER: Well, I think he could very well do it. He is angry.
He, of course, did not bring the NATO nations into the decision-making on going to war. Most of the European nations believe it was an illegal war. That is to say it wasn't prompted by an imminent threat. And some of them have denied him use of their airspace, at least to conduct offensive operations. Spain, among them but not the only one. There were restrictions even from Britian.
But I think that the key thing to think about today John is imagine that you're Vladimir Putin and you woke up to read this interview and this news. What has Donald Trump done in the past week? First, he has brought about a conflict that raised the price of oil and thus got Putin and Russia out of its economic fix or at least gave them a pathway out. And now, if he pulls out of NATO, he will have helped Russia accomplish what has been Putin's greatest goal for the past quarter century, which is to split up NATO.
And I couldn't imagine something that played more to the Russian strategy than high oil prices and a splintered NATO.
BERMAN: Yeah. Look, I don't mean to be glib here, but this is Vladimir Putin and Russia right now, and he's smiling at this -- at this discussion.
SANGER: Yeah.
BERMAN: David Sanger, Alex Plitsas, thank you so much for being with us. Appreciate it -- Sara.
SIDNER: All right. Thank you so much, John.
All right, let's take a look at live pictures now from the Kennedy Space Center on Florida's east coast. Right now, NASA is doing final checks ahead of its historic launch, which is just hours away. Four astronauts will fly around the moon and back returning humans to deep space for the first time in five decades.
NASA's chief posting this overnight. "Artemis II waits on the pad, ready to carry astronauts potentially farther than any humans have traveled in more than half a century."
If successful, we could see astronauts back on the moon's surface this decade.
Joining me now live from Kennedy Space Center is CNN aerospace analyst and one of our favorite people, Miles O'Brien. It's so good to see you this morning.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN AEROSPACE ANALYST: Aww, thank you, Sara.
SIDNER: Will you just -- we just love you and we love your nerdiness and we love how much you love space.
What is the significance of this particular mission?
O'BRIEN: You know, Sara, I've been thinking about it this morning as I was driving up to the vehicle assembly building -- the huge hangar for Saturn V rockets and the shuttle. I've covered probably more than 40 shuttle launches but this one is different. This is a moment in history. This is a moment where human beings, for the first time in more than 53 years, will break the bonds of human orbit and head on their way toward the moon.
It's hard to describe. It's an emotional moment. It's a historic moment.
And for NASA, the hope is from the top on down that it sends this agency on a trajectory to put human beings back on the surface perhaps as soon as 2028. That's an aggressive date but that's the goal.
SIDNER: What are some of the things are you're watching this launch -- when do things get hinky. When do things -- where you're watching it, when are the moments when things can go wrong?
O'BRIEN: There's so many places where things can go wrong but I will start with the fueling process, which should begin very shortly. Three-quarters of a million gallons of liquid oxygen and hydrogen need to be pumped into that towering rocket which stands higher than the Statue of Liberty with 8.8 million pounds of thrust -- the largest rocket NASA has ever built.
[07:45:07]
As you may know Sara, they've had some difficulty in the fueling process. Hydrogen, which is the main fuel which propels it to space, is the lightest, smallest molecule and it leaks. And they've had problems with leaks in the past, so we'll be watching that carefully.
The eight minutes to orbit -- that's a wild ride which is a nailbiter by any stretch.
SIDNER: Um-hum.
O'BRIEN: But I should point out unlike the shuttle, the crew has an escape system where it can pull an ejection lever and break themselves free from the rocket anywhere along the way to go to safety.
Ultimately though I'm going to be watching most for the re-entry, which comes nine days and change from now if all goes well. And the heat shield on that Orion capsule, which did not perform perfectly 3 1/2 years ago on the Artemis I mission. Modifications have been made but it's a 5,000-degree re-entry. We want to make sure that crew gets home safe and splashes down in the Pacific.
SIDNER: We absolutely do.
I do -- just -- I'm curious how big of a difference -- how big of a leap is Artemis II in terms of its capabilities compared to all of the missions that you have watched over these many decades?
O'BRIEN: Well, you know, Sara, the shuttle had a certain set of capabilities, which this rocket doesn't frankly have. It could carry satellites to space and bring huge payloads back, as a matter of fact. It was kind of built with the idea of being a space truck. This is an entirely different system. This is about sending human beings to other bodies - celestial bodies -- the moon. And eventually the idea is to get human beings on the surface of Mars. So it's a bit of an apple and an orange.
But I will say it's really important to point out that this rocket -- the way it's designed has a lot of inherent safety for the crew as it rides into space. The shuttle crew had no real options for crew escape. This one does. And so while I'll be nervous, as I always am when they light that controlled explosion which sends them to space, there are plenty of ways they can stay safe even if things go poorly.
SIDNER: Yeah. I love the way you describe it. The old mission is sort of like a truck. This one is an entirely different system.
We will all be watching, Miles O'Brien -- I know you among us. Thank you so much for your reporting there from Kennedy Space Center -- Kate.
O'BRIEN: You're welcome.
BOLDUAN: It's always good to see Miles again.
SIDNER: It's so cool. I know.
BOLDUAN: Coming up for us there is new CNN reporting coming in. How people in Iran are now using an app to track airstrikes -- their new reality.
And a 14-year-old says that he is ready and running to be the next governor of Vermont.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DEAN ROY, 14-YEAR-OLD RUNNING FOR VERMONT GOVERNOR: Yeah, I'm 14. I know it sounds crazy, a 14-year-old running for governor, but honestly, look at the people in charge right now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL)
[07:52:00]
BERMAN: This morning a growing number of Iranians turning to the social media and messaging service Telegram to communicate on all kinds of issues from life and death to entertainment.
CNN's Leila Gharagozlou is with us with her reporting on this. Good to see you this morning, Leila.
LEILA GHARAGOZLOU, CNN REPORTER: Hi. Yeah. So Iranians have been in 33 days of an internet blackout -- a government-imposed internet blackout. And because of their lack of access to reliable news they've turned to Telegram and these Telegram channels that are essentially civilian-focused information channels.
So Raw Vandun, in specific, basically has 47,000 subscribers who come in and tell people where they're having -- they're hearing airstrikes, fighter jets. Where they've seen power outages and what the damage has been. And it's been really critical in terms of a lifeline for the average person to kind of get a sense of what's going on.
Tehran itself is a massive city. It's about nine to 10 million people. So if you live on one end of the city you can't really tell what's going on on the other end. And because there's no access to proper news outlets this is kind of the best way that they can get their information.
And it's just been incredible to see people kind of chat on there, get a sense of what's going on, ask people for help, to call relatives, and to check in on people in their neighborhoods.
BERMAN: Yeah, it's really interesting to see sort of the chain of information and how it gets passed person-to-person almost. This is the absence of reliable internet service and the absence of reliable information, as you say.
Lelia, terrific reporting. Thank you very much -- Sara. No, Kate -- yeah.
BOLDUAN: I will take it.
BERMAN: Yeah.
BOLDUAN: I'm just going to mosey on over there.
BERMAN: Hey, sorry.
BOLDUAN: Apologies, everyone. Hello. Would you like me up here? OK, I'll go up here. Let's do this, everyone. Hello. Yes, it is Wednesday.
A member of the New Hampshire governor's security team helped save the life of a driver after a crash. Here are the details. The security -- members of the security team actually pulled the driver from a burning car on Tuesday after he crashed into a toll booth on the highway. The car burst into flames.
The governor, herself, was also on the scene and Governor Ayotte we're told grabbed a fire extinguisher to try to also help and put out the flames.
The driver was transported to the hospital. We're told they have serious but non-life threatening injuries. The details of what led to the crash -- they are still being investigated. But look at that.
Also, the Vermont governor's race just got a new candidate and a whole lot more attention. The reason is the new candidate is a 14-year-old high school freshman. His name is Dean Roy. He created his own third party that he called "The Freedom and Unity Party" in order to try and run.
And if you are wondering how a 14-year-old can run for governor of Vermont, rules only require and stipulate that a candidate for governor live in the state for four years before running. So there you have it. Now a 5-year-old can run.
[07:55:00]
Forget swiping. Now your friends can pitch your love life like a startup, and you get to decide if this is a great idea or simply mortifying. It's called "Date My Mate." Single people are presented lovingly through PowerPoints in packed bars. Friends take the stage with slides, photos, and fun facts, making the case for why their friends are the most date-worthy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Today I'm going to be auctioning -- I mean, selling -- presenting my bestie, Sienna.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's straight. His sex is male because yes, please, it wasn't an option. His height, tall enough. Weight, frankly, none of your business.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BOLDUAN: Honestly, that's the best ever (INAUDIBLE) because yes, please wasn't an option.
That event was in London and was sold out in five minutes. But this strange -- I'm going to call it the Frankenstein of tech talent meets matchmaker is also popping up in the United States and Australia. The reason, who knows? Some suggest that there is serious dating app fatigue setting in across the board with people craving more real-life connection over endless scrolling.
SIDNER: What?
BOLDUAN: Sara.
SIDNER: People meeting each other in person and not online?
BOLDUAN: I don't know what you're talking about.
SIDNER: What is going on?
BOLDUAN: You and I talk to each other staring at cameras, so --
SIDNER: I mean, that is weird. Thanks, Kate.
All right. Now to some bombshell testimony. It is in the trial of the Hawaii doctor accused of trying to kill his wife while they were on her birthday hike.
On the stand yesterday the defendant's son testified he Facetimed with his father shortly after the attack on his mom. He told the jury his father confessed to him, saying he was going to jump off a cliff.
CNN's Jean Casarez has been closely following every detail of this trial. It, like, is heartbreaking --
JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah.
SIDNER: -- to see the son up there having to testify.
CASAREZ: That's right.
SIDNER: And not just testify, but testify against his father --
CASAREZ: Yeah.
SIDNER: -- in the attempted murder of his mother.
CASAREZ: Yes. You know, Sara, when he walked in last night -- because this is Honolulu, Hawaii and so it's nighttime to us -- he didn't look at the defense side and didn't look at this father. Walked straight, sat there, and he testified. He was stoic. No emotion.
But this is pivotal testimony for the prosecution. He said that a year ago, in March, that his parents were out of town because they were celebrating his living in Maui with his two younger siblings. And he said he got two phone calls from his father. One a little before 11:00 a.m.; the other one a little bit before 12:00 a.m.
We want to play you a portion of that. Now, he said on the first call he just saw his father in dark glasses, and he was on the edge of a very steep cliff.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOEL GARNER, DEPUTY PROSECUTING ATTORNEY: What did the defendant tell you during that call as close to word-for-word as you can remember?
EMILE KONIG, DEFENDANT'S SON: That he would not be making it back to Maui and to take good care of the younger kids. And he had -- that Ari, my stepmom, had been cheating on him and that he tried to kill her.
GARNER: Did the defendant tell you why he tried to kill Arielle?
KONIG: Uh, no.
GARNER: During this 10:42 a.m. call, did the defendant tell you anything about what he planned to do next?
KONIG: Um, during that call the next plan that he said was to jump off the cliff.
GARNER: During this first call at 10:42 a.m., did you ask the defendant any questions yourself?
KONIG: I -- yes. Um, I asked what was on his shirt because it looked like I saw splatters of something on his shirt. And he said oh, it's just her -- meaning Ari's -- blood.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CASAREZ: Oh.
On that second call he said that he was at the end of his rope to his son. He said he was going to jump off the cliff. His son said please, don't do that. And he said look, I've got to go before the police get me.
Now, in December of 2024, when he knew about this emotional affair, his hard drive came out yesterday and he was searching on Reddit how do you cope in an affair. What do you do? What emotional support can you get? He was ordering audiobooks of how to get through an affair.
He was also looking at some remembrances, it seemed like, of their marriage and their reception, and the planning of their marriage.
Also looking at some financial records. You know, he was married before this and the child support that he was paying and the alimony he was paying was -- were huge amounts.
Looking at all of this in December before what happened in March.
SIDNER: I just, again, involving his son that way that the son testified -- I mean, I can't imagine how he lives with this for the rest of his life.
CASAREZ: You know, there are so many victims when you have situations like this.
Now the prosecution rested their case in chief at the end of the day yesterday. The defense will start today. This is a self-defense case. We will see if they put the defendant on, but he will try to explain all of this if he takes that stand.
SIDNER: You will be watching it all and we'll certainly be having you on to explain what happened. Thank you so much, Jean Casarez.
CASAREZ: Thank you.
SIDNER: Appreciate it.
A new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts right now.
