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17 Americans Land in Nebraska After Evacuating Hantavirus-Hit Ship; French Woman Tests Positive for Hantavirus After Arriving Home; Iran Says It Put Forward Generous Proposals to the U.S. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired May 11, 2026 - 07:00   ET

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

[07:00:00]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking news while you were sleeping, the American passengers on that cruise ship hit by the Hantavirus, they have now arrived back on U.S. soil. One presumed positive case. What happens now?

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Also breaking, President Trump calls the Iranian peace offer totally unacceptable, an offer that came in days later than it was supposed to, by the way. The president himself says that Iran is playing games with the United States. The question is, why do they feel so empowered?

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: And we're in the middle of a record-breaking climbing season, but the climb to Summit Everest has turned deadly again. The man who wrote that bestselling book after surviving one of the deadliest Everest climbs ever is joining us. What's changed, what hasn't 30 years after into thin air?

I'm Sara Sidner with John Berman and Kate Bolduan. This is CNN News Central.

BOLDUAN: Let's get to that breaking news this morning. The 17 Americans evacuated from a cruise ship, that cruise ship hit by the Hantavirus, they are now back on U.S. soil. Their plane touched down early this morning in Nebraska. You can see it actually right there. On board, at least one passenger who has tested positive for the virus, another one described as exhibiting mild symptoms. That's according to the Department of Homeland -- Department of Health and Human Services.

The American passengers, they are now at the National Quarantine Unit at the University of Nebraska's Medical Center in Omaha, where they will be assessed, they will be monitored. This is that specialized medical facility we have talked about in the past. It is 20 single occupancy, 300 square foot rooms, all specifically outfitted with negative air pressure systems in order to contain the spread of any viruses. The facility says that the passenger who tested positive will be taken directly to a bio-containment unit.

Now, back on that cruise ship, the second day of evacuations is now underway as the ship is docked at Spain's Canary Islands. The first day of evacuations involved 94 passengers of 19 nationalities. John?

BERMAN: Yes. Let's walk through more of where we are right now.

With us is CNN Medical Correspondent Meg Tirrell. Meg, what are we seeing here?

MEG TIRRELL, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. So, just to remind folks, so this was a cruise ship that was carrying almost 150 people as they were taking this cruise kind of from South America over through toward the coast of Africa.

Now, there were 23 nationalities of folks on board, including 17 Americans. There was also one British national who resides in the United States. Those are the folks who headed back overnight to that containment unit in Nebraska, the National Quarantine Unit.

We know from the WHO that three people who were thought to have Hantavirus are dead. There are eight cases now that the WHO had said are either confirmed or very strongly suspected. And they do recommend monitoring for about 42 to 45 days of folks with symptoms after their exposure.

Now, the American cases who came back overnight, we know that there's one presumed positive. So, one person tested positive but actually doesn't have symptoms. Another person started showing some mild symptoms, health authorities said, but we haven't gotten a positive test for that person, so we don't know if that person's going to end up being a case.

Now, this presumed positive is headed to a biocontainment unit in Nebraska. The other folks are going to the quarantine unit. They're going to undergo monitoring and assessment. Now, that other person who does have symptoms is going to be treated a little bit differently. They're going to a different one of these kinds of facilities.

Now, what they're going to be doing there is assessing these folks for their risk level, of course, any symptoms. This is not thought to be contagious if people don't have symptoms, and most contagious when somebody has a fever. And it's possible they'll be able to proceed to home-based monitoring for 42 days in consultation with their state and local health authorities.

Now, when you're looking at early symptoms of the Andes virus, I know, exactly, it looks like the common cold or the flu. Andes virus is this form of Hantavirus, which is the only one known to be able to spread between people, and that's the one we have here. So, we're talking things like headache, fever, muscle ache, some G.I. symptoms. Obviously, the concern here is that this is a pulmonary disease. It's a lung disease. That's why it can be so deadly and difficulty breathing obviously would be the consideration.

BERMAN: Yes. In terms of the risk level, I suppose, you know, for others, what are health officials saying here?

TIRRELL: Right. So, both U.S. and world health officials are saying the risk to the general public at this point is low. [07:05:04]

Obviously, to the people who were on the ship, the WHO is saying that risk is higher. They're calling it a moderate risk.

We did hear from the NIH director, who is now the sort of acting lead of the CDC right now, Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, on with Jake Tapper over the weekend about how he's looking at the risk. Here's what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. JAY BATTACHARYA, ACTING CDC DIRECTOR: This is not COVID, Jake, and we don't want to treat it like COVID. We want to -- don't want to cause a public panic over this. We want to treat it with the Hantavirus protocols that we, that, again, were successful in containing outbreaks in the past. And so we followed those protocols.

The key message I want to send to your audience is that this is not COVID. This is not going to have -- lead to the kind of outbreak.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TIRRELL: So, obviously a lot of questions, people so scarred from that pandemic. But the message really worldwide is this is not the same as that it doesn't spread in the same way, and we shouldn't have that level of concern that it's going to affect people so broadly.

BERMAB: Just need to take the precautions, what they seem to be taking. We'll monitor these people who are in Nebraska.

Meg Tirrell, thank you so much for that.

TIRRELL: Thank you.

BERMAN: Sara?

SIDNER: All right. This is related, of course, a French woman who was on board the ship has also tested positive for the virus. The French prime minister says she began showing symptoms while on board the flight that was returning to France.

CNN's Melissa Bell is on the island of Tenerife. Officials just had a press conference. What did you learn?

MELISSA BELL, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We've been finding out more about the onward journey of the M.V. Hondius. It's now been -- Hondius has now been refueled. We understand that the Australian passengers that were due to be disembarked will, in fact, be going on with the ship to Rotterdam, to go back to Australia from there because of technical issues on their flight. Otherwise, there are 22 people that will be disembarked today. Another 32, including those Australian passengers, will carry on with the crew to Rotterdam.

But we have also been hearing from authorities at that press conference some interesting details about the rest of the evacuations, the ones that we saw yesterday, the great majority of the passengers, including those Americans you mentioned who were taken off the ship on Sunday, they were asked about whether this had been a success, this whole operation, given those two suspected positive cases that you mentioned, the one amongst the American passengers and the one amongst the French returning to Paris yesterday. They said, not at all.

What's remarkable is that they managed to coordinate all of these agencies to have these pretty quick and pretty effective evacuations with all of this follow-through back on their own home soil that allowed -- has allowed them not only to be identified as possible positives, but also then contained and followed by medical authorities.

Interesting details we've been learning as well, Sara, about that suspected positive American case. This is someone who was identified early on, on the cruise ship, for having been in contact with one of those passengers who sadly died. And, of course, it is when they are symptomatic that people are the most contagious. That American passenger had been closely followed. Two of his tests, one had been negative, one had been a mild positive.

It wasn't until he was on his way back that he was identified as being a potential positive, and that's important because it is a reminder, of course, of this long incubation period, but also confirms to authorities following this, that even as they contain the spread, they're starting to understand or able to understand more and more about how it is transmitted.

And what we've been hearing from them is that it tends to be from someone who is showing symptoms and with whom you are in very close proximity. Sara?

SIDNER: All right. Melissa Bell, thank you for your reporting there the very latest from Tenerife, the Canary Islands.

Ahead, oil prices rising again overnight over the war with Iran. Could the Trump administration pause the federal gas tax amid these soaring prices?

And we're learning more this morning about the person struck and killed by a Frontier Airlines flight. Investigators analyzing new video that's out today that's pretty spooky. You see there, we stopped it before the plane makes contact. But how did the person make it onto the runway in the first place?

Also, a U-Haul leads police on a wild chase in Georgia, and it was all caught on camera. What happened after this. Good grief.

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[07:10:00]

BOLDUAN: New word from Iran pushing back on President Trump's criticism now. President Trump yesterday called Iran's latest counterproposal to end the war totally unacceptable, he said in a statement that he put out. Iran, however, just responded now, has responded to that, saying that its offer, describing its own offer, as, quote, reasonable and generous.

Now, the exact details of said offer are, at this point, limited. Iranian state media says that it includes recognition of sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz and a demand for compensation for war damages. Most importantly, though, there's apparently no mention of the country's nuclear program, a central and key sticking point clearly for the U.S.

CNN's Julia Benbrook is live from the White House for us this morning with the very latest, which leads to the unanswerable question, I guess, which is, what now?

JULIA BENBROOK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Exactly, there are a lot of questions. And it really was a waiting game here at the White House this weekend. But, as you mentioned, the United States has now received a response from Iran on its proposal to bring this conflict to an end, and President Donald Trump says that he is not happy with it.

I want to pull up that full response for you now. This came on Truth Social Sunday. Trump said, I have just read the response from Iran's so-called representatives.

[07:15:03]

I don't like it. And then in all caps, he called it, totally unacceptable.

Now, it's obvious that Trump does not believe that this response puts the United States in a place for serious negotiations, but there are still a lot of questions, and we have reached out to the White House for specifics on this. What was included in the response, and how far does it go, if at all, in addressing Iran's nuclear capabilities, its highly enriched uranium, the things that we have been discussing for several weeks? According to Iranian state media, that counterproposal, it included acknowledgement of sovereignty of the Strait of Hormuz and demands for compensation, those nonstarters here at the White House.

And this response, it came later than many administration officials had predicted. In fact, Trump and other officials on Friday said that they thought that they would receive a response from Tehran sometime that day. Even then, Trump was pressed on the timing, if he believed that Iran was slow-rolling this response, and he essentially said, we'll find out soon enough.

In an interview with Axios yesterday, Trump did confirm that he had spoken with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, that the two discussed the Iranian response as well as other matters. They have been in close contact throughout these peace negotiations, these attempts at peace negotiations. He did categorize that as a good phone call.

And all of this comes as he is preparing for a high-stakes trip to China, where he will have bilateral meetings with Chinese leader Xi Jinping. We expect there to be a welcome ceremony, those meetings leading up to a state banquet. And this topic of the conflict in Iran and all that it impacts will no doubt loom large.

BOLDUAN: Absolutely so. Julia, thank you so much. I appreciate it. John?

BERMAN: All right. Cars harassed, fights and chaos on the streets as police break up what they call a teen takeover. This is a growing trend, they say, creating all kinds of problems.

And then overnight, high drama and major controversy as the game's biggest star, literally, in terms of height, is tossed from a crucial playoff game, just what all the fans want to see.

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[07:20:00]

BERMAN: So, millions of basketball fans waited all weekend to see the game's biggest star, Victor Wembanyama, play Sunday night, and what happens? He gets tossed, like 12 minutes in.

Let's get right to CNN's Coy Wire for the latest on this. Coy?

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Yes, wild. Wild stuff, John. This series has already been spicy, and last night, the heat got turned all the way up to volcanic.

In the second quarter, as John mentioned, just minutes in, Victor Wembanyama rips the ball away, uncorks an elbow that catches Naz Reid flush on the chin. Looks like a vintage Mike Tyson left hook. Reid hits the deck. He survives the haymaker, but Wemby ejected for the first time in his career with a flagrant two foul.

And from there, Anthony Edwards says, it's my turn. Ant Man dropped 36 points, 16 in the fourth quarter, carrying Minnesota to the 114-109 win. This series is now tied at two.

Philadelphia got blitzed by orange and blue. The Knicks buried 18 threes in the first half alone, 25 total, tying an NBA playoff record. There were so many Knicks fans, John, in Philly, at one point it sounded like Madison Square Garden South. Final score, 144-114.

The Sixers' season is done. The Knicks complete the sweep and grab a franchise record seventh straight playoff win through ten games. John, these Knicks are the most dominant playoff team we've seen. A plus 194 point differential so far, the best the NBA has ever seen.

Out west, the Ducks and Golden Knights gave us a playoff thriller. Anaheim's youngster Beckett Seneca kept his heater alive, becoming just the sixth player in NHL history to score in three straight playoff games before turning 21. This tied it to Anaheim's Alex Killorn throw through to swing the momentum. More twist than a twisted colossus coaster at Six Flags there in Cali. And in the third, Ian Moore burying the wrister that slams the coffin shut. Ducks win 4-3. Suddenly this series is all knotted up at two games a piece.

Now, Montreal was absolutely buzzing for game three. Look at this. The Canadiens fed off every decibel. The Habs came out slinging in a 6-2 beat down of Buffalo. Alex Newhook lit the lamp twice. Rookie goal- goalie Jakub Dobes cooler than rink ice, continuing a breakout postseason after piling up 29 wins this year, most by any rookie goalie. The Canadiens take a 2-1 series lead, and right now the Bell Center sounds like a jet engine in hockey skates.

Finally, MLB, Phillies won 6-0 over the Rockies. Moms there to be honored for Mother's Day, and their mascot, the Philly Phanatic, nothing says I love you mom more than a full-blown spear tackle, John, gives her flowers and then a whole lot of loving there. I think the Philadelphia Eagles need to look up the Phanatic to see if he's available for football season.

BERMAN: I don't know what goes on in that family. That's -- I mean, they got to tone it down a little bit there, Coy, I have to say.

Also, congratulations to the Washington Wizards, proving that tanking, being intentionally awful can pay dividends. Well done. Just a lesson all of our kids should learn.

Coy, thank you very much.

SIDNER: OMG. We're going to leave it there, John Berman.

BERMAN: That's going to be -- that's a statement of fact.

[07:25:01]

SIDNER: It's not a lesson, but fine for today.

All right, ahead, breaking overnight, the American passengers from the Hantavirus-stricken cruise ship finally back on U.S. soil. Now what?

And we're keeping a close eye on gas prices this morning. Prices rose 6 cents in the last week. Could we see any relief before the summer driving season begins?

Those stories and more ahead.

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SIDNER: All right. This morning, 17 Americans now back in the U.S. after they were evacuated from a cruise ship stricken by the deadly Hantavirus outbreak.

[07:30:05]

They came ashore early this morning in Nebraska with at least one passenger.