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Trump: Iran Attacks Cancelled Contingent On Rapidly Making A Deal; Three Separate Wildfires Raging In Spokane County, Washington; South Carolina GOP Senate Candidates To Face Off On Debate Stage This Week. Aired 3-4p ET

Aired August 02, 2026 - 15:00   ET

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

[15:00:00]

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: Hello again, everyone! Thank you so much for joining this Sunday. I am Fredricka Whitfield.

All right, we begin this hour with President Trump calling off planned attacks on Iran after an appeal from Iran and other Middle Eastern countries.

In a social media post, Trump warned that cancelling the attacks was contingent on a proposed deal being quickly agreed to. He says that deal calls for the Strait of Hormuz to be fully reopened and, in his words, ending Iran's nuclear threat.

Iran has yet to make any official comment on Trump's announcement. CNN's Julia Benbrook is following all of this, so Julia, I mean, what more is the President saying about his decision to hold off the attacks?

JULIA BENBROOK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it wasn't too long ago that officials had told CNN that President Donald Trump was considering planning for another round of strikes against Iran that could come as soon as this weekend. The President has now said that he has cancelled those planned attacks, but that that decision is contingent on Tehran rapidly making a deal.

I want to pull up this social media post for you now. In it, Trump said that the United States remains, "locked and loaded." He went on to say, "Despite this, we have just been asked by Iran and other Middle Eastern countries to hold off any attack and that the parameters of a deal has been agreed to."

Now, this move comes after Trump had spoken with Saudi Arabia's crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, and during that call, according to sources familiar with it, there was a push for de-escalation and concerns about these potential U.S. strikes were expressed.

So Trump now says that the parameters of a deal are in place, but it is hard to know exactly what that means, because just on Friday, he had said that he had plans to hit Iran hard, that that was a possibility. And when he was asked about the ongoing negotiations, the potential for some sort of a deal, he did not express a lot of hope. He said that he was losing faith in Iran's leadership and that they had just been making him angry.

Take a listen to how he framed how those talks had been going.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: I am losing faith in them because they do lie and they do misrepresent. Well, the other day, five missiles were shot. We knocked them down, but we were in the midst of a negotiation. I mean, I am waiting for Steve to call me how was the negotiation going. And instead, I got a call from Pete that they just shot five missiles at one of our bases in Jordan.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BENBROOK: So where do things stand right now? Trump says that any sort of a deal would include the immediate opening of the Strait of Hormuz, as well as an end to Iran's nuclear program.

Iranian state media has given no indication that Iran specifically asked for these strikes to be called off, nor that they have changed their stance on the Strait of Hormuz, which has been one of those key sticking points throughout this process -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right, Julia Benbrook, thank you so much.

CNN's Clare Sebastian has a closer look at how Iran and the U.S. got to this point.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: President Donald Trump claims in his Truth Social post that he backed off his threats of escalation in Iran because the outlines of a deal have been reached. And because of that, he had been asked, he said, by Iran and other Middle Eastern countries to hold off on major new strikes, to give diplomacy a chance.

Well, Iran's state media reacted with glee and derision, giving no indication that the country had asked for the attacks to be called off.

But trump also didn't mention which other Middle Eastern countries had asked for a delay, but that decision came just hours after he had spoken on the phone to the Saudi Crown Prince, Mohammed Bin Salman, clearly alarmed at both Trump's rhetoric and Iranian threats of retaliation, particularly when it comes to energy sites in the region.

The Crown Prince urged Trump to "prioritize dialogue" to reduce escalation, according to a readout of the call published by Saudi Arabia's state news agency.

Well, the other part of this is that the U.S. may also be concerned about Iranian retaliation. While the U.S. is still clearly the stronger power militarily, this war, now in its sixth month, has left it somewhat drained of military stockpiles. Its reserves of Patriot interceptors, for example, a critical defensive weapon are down to about a third of their prewar level, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

And given the expansion of the war that we've seen over the past week, strikes on the Red Sea by the Houthis, a drone strike on an Egyptian port, Trump may be looking to avoid a cycle of escalation that risks getting out of control.

Well, the halt in attacks is, Trump says, contingent on a deal being made "rapidly." No specific timeline has been set, but this pattern of threats and then backing down has been repeated many times and for the ultimatum to work, Iran has to believe that the U.S. is willing and able to follow through.

Clare Sebastian, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[15:05:05]

WHITFIELD: All right, we continue to follow breaking news on the raging fire catastrophe unfolding in the Pacific Northwest. Oregon and Washington are trapped in their worst wildfire season in more than three decades, with a staggering two million acres already turned to ash. In Washington State, a state of emergency has been declared as crews battle ten massive blazes. Three of those infernos are tearing through Spokane County alone.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Holy crap!

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It is hot. There's a car.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, they are turning around. Oh, Jesus!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: I mean, look at this devastating new video, homes completely swallowed by fire, incinerated in a matter of minutes as the flames raced through neighborhoods.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a nuclear bomb going off in our neighborhood.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Never have I seen the fire this close and coming over the ridge like that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: So far, at least 600 structures are gone. Roughly, 5,000 more are under imminent threat right now.

(VIDEO CLIP PLAYS) WHITFIELD: And you can hear the monstrous winds that responders are fighting. The Washington National Guard has been mobilized, and more than 4,000 personnel are on the frontline statewide, including emergency crews rushing in from 14 states.

Let's go to CNN's Chris Warren with more on the forecast and these challenging fire conditions.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRIS WARREN, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Across the Pacific Northwest, including Eastern Washington, is a one out of three elevated threat today. On Saturday, it was a high end, three out of three extreme winds have come down considerably, seeing the winds today gusting up to about 20 miles an hour, while several hours of the day on Saturday, winds were frequently blowing from 20 to 30 miles an hour and gusting at times stronger than 40.

Smoke remains a concern. Winds are going to shift from the North, and that will help bring in even more smoke to the Pacific Northwest from Canada, and then dealing with the heat still dangerously hot across the Desert Southwest and Southern California, parts of Montana, and outside of the higher elevations in the Intermountain West, it is going to be hot as well.

Some of these temperature readings in Phoenix, we are going to be seeing up to 115, about ten degrees hotter than what you would expect even here in the hottest time of the year for the deserts.

Heat dome in place, helping to intensify that heat, extreme heat risk, in some of these areas in purple. Then we are going to watch that risk get up to major in the Portland-Vancouver area here in the Pacific Northwest as we continue to watch the fire danger across the Pacific Northwest.

After some brief cooling, the heat returns even west of the Cascades, close to 90 in Seattle on Wednesday, topping 100 in Portland.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right, Chris Warren, thank you so much.

And dramatic moments unfolding on the front lines of Europe's wildfire emergency last week. France and Spain, and now Greece is taking the brunt of it, where fierce gale force winds have forced hundreds of families to flee their homes. It has created a literal nightmare for crews on the ground.

And in the air, the ultimate tragedy struck today. Disturbing new video shows the exact moment two firefighting helicopters collided mid-air just west of Athens, sending one of those aircrafts right there in that moment, crashing to the ground.

CNN Greece has now confirmed that a Greek pilot and a Danish pilot were killed in that crash. Two other crew members, one Greek, one British national, have been rescued alive. All right, still to come, the late Senator Lindsey Graham's sister, officially running for her brother's seat in South Carolina. Why that's causing some unrest within the Republican Party.

And later, a stunning revelation that William Shatner and his daughter were both fighting cancer at the same time. We will hear from them, and they will talk about their mutual survival stories.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, South Carolina Republicans vying for Lindsey Graham's Senate seat will face off in two primary debates this week. The late senator's sister, interim Senator Darline Graham, who was appointed after her brother's sudden death last month, will be among the candidates on stage. This marks a critical moment for Graham, as she now has the president -- President Trump's backing for a full term.

His endorsement has some within the party, quietly stewing. CNN reporter, Patrick Svitek is joining us right now with more details on this.

Patrick, I mean, many State Republicans saw Graham's temporary appointment as a fitting tribute to her late brother, but the tune has changed now when discussing a full term. They see Graham, you know, as a political unknown. So what's going on here and how is she being prepped for, you know, her first debate?

[15:15:07 ]

PATRICK SVITEK, CNN POLITICS REPORTER: Yes. As you point out, this very short special primary election remains competitive despite the fact that President Trump has endorsed Darline Graham. There is I think, a few reasons for that as we outlined in our story yesterday.

Number one, its people -- Republicans in South Carolina don't know a lot about her politics. Number two, this is a once in a generation opportunity. Arguably, South Carolina is a red state. Lindsey Graham had this seat for a long time. The next person who wins it could have it for a long time as well and so, it is a really big opportunity. And number three, we've seen President Trump's influence in South Carolina take a little bit of a hit recently, most recently in the Republican primary for governor, where he initially backed Pamela Evette, who advanced to a runoff but then lost badly to Alan Wilson in that runoff.

As she was headed for defeat in that runoff, President Trump had to kind of expand his endorsement to also include Alan Wilson. So those are some of the reasons why South Carolina Republicans look at his endorsement of Darline Graham and right now are just thinking this is not a done deal yet.

WHITFIELD: So Trump's endorsement. It didn't stop others from saying, I want in. They are throwing their hat into the ring. So how -- what is the competition? How is it shaping up? SVITEK: Yes, some of Darline Graham's most prominent opponents in this very short race, like I mentioned, are two Congressman Ralph Norman, Russell Fry, and also former governor and former congressman Mark Sanford. These are pretty well-known names in South Carolina politics, if not statewide, at least in the regions that they represent or have represented. And so far, they are not drawing very sharp contrasts with Darline Graham, but they are talking about being, for example, proven conservatives and having a long track record in the state and of course, that's in indirect contrast with her, who, like I said, people just don't know enough about her politics and her record in the state, even though I should note she has been involved in state government in relatively low profile positions for a while.

So, for example, she has been a commissioner on the Commission for the Blind. But of course, you know, that is a state agency. It is not the same as serving in an elected position in Congress representing the state. And so South Carolina Republicans are still, you know, learning a lot more about her now.

WHITFIELD: Voters having a lot to consider. All right, Patrick Svitek, thank you so much.

SVITEK: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right, just hours after the U.S. appeared on the brink of another major military strike against Iran, President Trump says he is hitting pause. What's behind his decision and how it might affect any future peace negotiations?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:21:53]

WHITFIELD: All right, new today, President Trump says he will hold off on new attacks on Iran as long as there is quick progress on a proposed deal with Tehran. The pause comes after Trump said Iran and other Middle Eastern countries made an appeal to give diplomacy time to work.

With us now is Gershon Baskin. He is a former hostage negotiator and is the Middle East Director at the International Communities Organization. Great to see you.

I mean, this is really fascinating. I mean, if you're a negotiator for Iran and you look at the number of times the U.S. has threatened to attack Iran only to back away at the moment, I mean, does this change the method of negotiations? How do you read all of this?

GERSHON BASKIN, FORMER HOSTAGE NEGOTIATOR; MIDDLE EAST DIRECTOR, INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITIES ORGANIZATION: Well, I think from Iran's position, they feel like they have the upper hand, they are winning in this war. They've won the war in terms of the way they perceive it and the backing down of Trump each time he wants to indicate that negotiations are going on is another victory for Iran. This is how the Iranian media is projecting it, this is how Iranian leaders are talking about it, and I am not sure that we fully understand why President Trump is giving in to allow them to have a sense of victory when President Trump keeps saying, we decimated them, we destroyed them. Their army is gone. Their ability to fight back is gone.

It is obvious that Iran is not the same kind of rational actor that the United States has experienced in other wars; Iran is willing to launch a war against all of its neighbors and damage the entire global economy by attacking infrastructure of oil and gas and means of production of energy distilleries, I mean, it is just the kind of thing that no one knows what to expect, what was supposed to be a war over the Iranian nuclear program has become a war over free transit in Hormuz. The war is completely changed.

WHITFIELD: Is the U.S. or Iran serious about a diplomatic solution?

BASKIN: I think that the parties that are most interested in diplomatic solution are the Gulf Arab states -- the Saudis, the Emiratis, the Kuwaitis, the Bahrainis, all of these Gulf states that are producing oil and shipping oil is damaged by the closure of the Straits of Hormuz and the Bab el-Mandeb is jeopardizing their ability to continue to have oil flow around the world.

We are seeing the price of gas going up in the United States. We will see what happens on Wall Street tomorrow. It is deeply affecting the global economy. And this is why I think Trump keeps holding off on a decision to move forward with the war and deliver the devastating blow that he has been talking about.

WHITFIELD: I also want to ask you about Gaza. President Trump announced a deal that would see Hamas disarmed in Gaza and for Israel to withdraw. You said the moment to disarm Hamas is now.

Why do you think that? And how much hope do you have with this kind of agreement?

[15:25:00]

BASKIN: We have a period of time when the stars seem aligned, where both Hamas is at its weakest point ever, it is under tremendous amount of pressure from the mediators of Egypt, Qatar, Turkey and the two million Gazans who have been held hostage now for nine months by the continuation of the war, when it should have ended last November.

We also have a reality where Israel is heading for elections, and Prime Minister Netanyahu is not doing well in the polls. His strongest asset that he presents to the Israeli public, is his strong relationship with President Trump.

So the Americans know that Netanyahu is in a position where he can't really say no, even though his base is strongly against this agreement. There is still great misunderstanding of what the agreement is and dissatisfaction in Israel that Hamas is not really going to disarm. They are going to store the weapons, but someone on the American team told me the intention is to eventually destroy those weapons.

We have to understand that this is going to take time. It is not overnight. It is not a matter of days or weeks even, but it is a first step on a process that should have happened already nine months ago and it is good that it is happening now.

WHITFIELD: Both Hamas and Israel have added caveats to the deal, essentially saying the other side has to go first. You know, there are reports today that Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu is expressing doubts about the deal. So, what will it take to actually see this go through?

BASKIN: Right. Both sides expressing doubts and they are speaking to their own base, but in reality, this process is going to be controlled by the Board of Peace and we should see action moving within two weeks is what they have allowed themselves to work out the modalities, the actions that need to happen is a pressure on Israel to begin to withdraw pressure on Hamas, to begin to collect weapons and turn them over to a newly deployed Palestinian Police force under the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza, the technocratic committee, who are gearing up to go into Gaza for the first time since they were established eight months ago.

And the process of recovery and rebuilding Gaza will begin slowly. Again, it is a process that will take time. The first steps are most difficult, and that's why I think the Americans and the mediators are watching very carefully. They were very smart to create a verification mechanism composed of a number of different countries, in order to ensure that not only will this agreement have agreement on both sides, but it will actually be implemented.

WHITFIELD: All right, Gershon Baskin, always a pleasure having you. Thank you.

BASKIN: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right, still to come, the case that could shake the Trump administration's immigration policies. How this man won the right to return to the U.S. despite signing his deportation papers.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:32:21]

WHITFIELD: All right, welcome back.

A federal judge has ordered the Trump administration to return a man it deported to Honduras back to the U.S. In a ruling this week, the judge said 20-year-old, Jose Eliezer Martinez-Andino, was likely denied due process, including access to an attorney before he was deported.

CNN national correspondent, Rafael Romo joining me now with more on this. You've been following this, and it is not over yet.

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is not over yet. It is still an ongoing case, and it has been ongoing since he was deported in April.

And, Fred, it is a case that has the potential of setting precedent when it comes to deportations and involves the rights of immigrants and due process as defined by the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution.

A federal judge in the District of Columbia has ruled that the U.S. Justice Department must facilitate the return of Honduran man who was deported to his native country in April because the Department of Homeland Security may have violated his due process rights by allegedly not allowing him access to an attorney and coercing him to sign papers for voluntary departure he did not understand.

In her ruling, issued in June, Judge Beryl Howell at the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, said that plaintiff, Jose Eliezer Martinez-Andino, who is an immigrant from Honduras with no criminal history but with a three-year-old U.S. citizen daughter dependent on the authorization he held to work legally in the United States, was removed from this country in a manner that boggles the mind.

According to court documents, Martinez-Andino, who worked as a mechanic in North Carolina and is now 21 years old, was detained in Montana in March and placed in ICE custody even though he had special immigrant juvenile status that allowed him to live and work in the United States. In other words, he was legal.

In the documents, Martinez-Andino also alleges that he was coerced to sign two forms agreeing to voluntary departure. He was also deprived of access to his retained counsel, his attorney, for ten days and flown to Honduras by the U.S. government on April 10th, 2026, barely three weeks after his civil arrest.

In an interview in Tela, Honduras, where he awaits his return to the U.S., Martinez-Andino told CNN Espanol he was denied his rights multiple times.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(JOSE ELIEZER MARTINEZ-ANDINO speaking in foreign language.)

TRANSLATION: They told me that if I didn't sign the deportation papers, I could be in jail for six to eight months.

(REPORTER speaking in foreign language.)

TRANSLATION: Did they give you any justification or anything for deporting you?

(JOSE ELIEZER MARTINEZ-ANDINO speaking in foreign language.)

TRANSLATION: No. Nothing. I mean, (they told me) you don't have the right to see a judge or a lawyer. You're going out. That's what they told me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[15:35:00]

ROMO: In a statement, the Department of Homeland Security told CNN that Jose Martinez-Andino originally entered the country illegally through Mexico in 2020, but acknowledged that his removal proceedings were later dismissed by an immigration judge without prejudice in 2023.

The statement also says that Martinez-Andino was issued a voluntary departure, and departed the country on April 10th. He received full due process. Any claims that he was not allowed access to an attorney are false, but it seems like Judge Howell thinks Martinez deserves the chance to litigate his claims in a federal court, and directed the Department of Justice and Homeland Security to continue, "... in a prompt and expeditious manner, efforts to facilitate his return to this country." In other words, the judge says he has got to be able to come back to the country to defend himself here.

WHITFIELD: And the Department of Justice or this administration has to facilitate his return and get him back to the States.

ROMO: According to the judge, yes.

WHITFIELD: All right, thank you so much, Rafael Romo. Appreciate it.

All right, there is a battle brewing over the future of the Democratic Party. That fight will be on full display Tuesday, with primaries in Michigan and Missouri.

And tonight, on "The Whole Story," CNN's Donie O'Sullivan takes a look at the growing power of Democratic progressives. He speaks with activists, candidates and controversial voices online from across the Democratic spectrum. Here is Donie with a preview.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DONIE O'SULLIVAN, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Fred.

There has been a war happening in the Democratic Party over the past few months, and we've been following that as all these primaries play out, really a big debate about how far-left the party should go.

One person who says the party has not gone left enough is Cynthia Nixon. She played Miranda in "Sex and the City," and you might remember that she ran for governor of New York in 2018. As we were on this journey at the No Kings Protest a couple of months ago, we spoke to her. Here is what she had to say.

CYNTHIA NIXON, ACTOR: I think the Democratic Party, because of its donor base, keeps trying to push its base towards the center, and nobody wants to be in the center right now.

O'SULLIVAN: I've always identified as a Miranda.

NIXON: Well, thank you.

O'SULLIVAN: What has, do you think, changed within the Democratic Party since you ran for governor?

NIXON: I think not enough has changed within the Democratic Party. And I think the Democratic Party is a slow, lumbering giant, very slow to wake up.

MAYOR ZOHRAN MAMDANI (D), NEW YORK CITY: No kings!

(CROWD answer "No Kings!")

MAMDANI: No Cuomo.

(CROWD answer "No Cuomo!")

MAMDANI: No ICE!

(CROWD answer "No ICE!")

NIXON: The election of Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic socialist, which is a dirty word for a lot of people. Weve got more and more people like him running across the country.

MAMDANI: I will be mayor of New York City.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

O'SULLIVAN: And obviously since then, the Democratic socialists have had a lot of success this summer, including here at the Democratic primaries in New York City.

But of course, the big test in this debate will come on Tuesday. That crucial U.S. Senate Democratic primary in Michigan -- Fred.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right, Donie O'Sullivan, thank you so much.

Be sure to tune in to "The Whole Story" with Anderson Cooper, "The Left Insurgency." It airs tonight at 8:00 P.M. on CNN and the next day on the CNN app.

All right, straight ahead here in the CNN NEWSROOM, the next moon landing is going to be rough. We will tell you about the rocket on a collision course with the lunar surface and why SpaceX is excited about the mission, even though it has gone wrong.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:43:13]

WHITFIELD: All right, a SpaceX rocket is speeding toward a crash landing on the moon. It has been drifting aimlessly through space since launching a pair of lunar landers in January of last year. Well, this rocket will now hit the moon's surface Wednesday morning at 5,400 miles an hour, with the force equal to three tons of TNT. This can't be good, right?

Well, the rocket will then create a giant dust cloud that scientists actually want to study and stargazers just want to watch. So let's get some perspective on that cosmic crash.

We are joined now by CNN aerospace analyst, Miles O'Brien, always great to see you. You always help us understand the whole big picture. So crash landing sounds not good, but then to see that scientists want to actually study the dust, so this is potentially good. So where are you on all this?

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN AVIATION ANALYST: There are some lemonade in here.

WHITFIELD: Yes.

O'BRIEN: For sure. You know, if there was a moon encampment and this was going anywhere near human beings, wed be very worried, of course. In this case, now, there is nobody there in the moon that we know of, and we are pretty certain of that one. And the fact that it is going to hit the moon and kick up this dust cloud, and astronomers can actually watch that happen gets them very, very excited because they can determine exactly how those dust clouds act and how they work.

And if you go back to 2009, Fred, there was a spacecraft that NASA deliberately crashed into the south pole of the moon called LCROSS and it was that crash and that plume that allowed them to determine that there was actually ice water on the moon.

So a lot of science can come out of this --

WHITFIELD: From mistakes --

O'BRIEN: But it is important -- it is important that these things happen on purpose, right?

WHITFIELD: Right, because, I mean, this one is an unintended consequence. The one that you just described that was intentioned. So now, yes, I really better understand your lemonade kind of, you know, comparison here. So, how is it they are able to now turn kind of this unintended consequence into something potentially good? So the right tool is already there.

O'BRIEN: The whole world is going to be watching. The whole world will be watching, Fredricka.

I remember back in 1994, Shoemaker-Levy 9, it was a comet that broke up in space into a dozen or so pieces, and it hit Jupiter over the course of a week, and the world was mesmerized by this.

Now, this impact is going to be just a tiny fraction of that. But every telescope that can will be aiming at it to see what this all looks like and it is a bit of a novelty, but some good science might come out of it. But there is something to remember here. Space is getting more and more crowded, and as these launches become more routine, some protocols and rules on what to do with these spent rockets should be considered and enacted, don't you think?

WHITFIELD: Yes, because space junk can be a problem. I mean, why do we now want to, you know, pollute our universe in some other new kind of way?

O'BRIEN: It is what humans do, I guess, right? We go to places and we leave trash, right? It is really bad. WHITFIELD: Bring your trash home. Right!

O'BRIEN: Yes, yes! Or at least put it in a place where it is not going to clonk anybody on the head. This space rocket could have been nudged in a way that it would have gone into a solar orbit, but, no one seemed to care too much. And there it is, on its way to a high speed impact.

WHITFIELD: Yes, but what was the original plan? What did they hope was going to happen to this rocket?

O'BRIEN: Well, it was unintended that it would hit the moon. It was just kind of bad luck. They could have fired a rocket a little bit longer and changed the orbit ever so slightly. But this was launched to send two landers to the moon. This was back in January of 2025.

One of the landers failed, one of them succeeded so the mission was a success and this upper stage, this hulk of a rocket is just out there meandering around in orbit, gaining -- doing its thing, doing what Newton would say it would do, which is to say, never slow down.

And unfortunately, it happened to coincide -- its orbit happened to coincide with the orbit of the moon. But look at the poor moon, Fred. Look at all those pockmarks on it. It is used to it.

WHITFIELD: I mean, really? I am going to say, what kind of damage here?

O'BRIEN: Give it one more shot.

WHITFIELD: Oh my goodness! Yes, one more crater. Okay, are people going to be able to watch all this or something?

O'BRIEN: You won't be able to see with the naked eye. But if you've got a good telescope, 2:30 A.M. Eastern Time, you do the conversions, but looking at it, you won't see it. It will be about a second. Really, I think just -- get up in the morning and watch CNN and you'll see the footage from all the great astronomers from all over the world.

WHITFIELD: Of course, we will have the best pictures.

All right, Miles O'Brien, great to see you. Thank you so much.

O'BRIEN: Pleasure, Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right, speaking of space, William Shatner, well, he has a new mission to go where he has never gone before.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WILLIAM SHATNER, ACTOR: I am doing the one in the desert in the spring. The one --

ELEX MICHAELSON, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: You're doing Coachella

SHATNER: Coachella.

MICHAELSON: You're going to do Coachella?

SHATNER: A half hour Coachella -- a half hour. I told my daughter and she was like, it is frightening.

MELANIE SHATNER GRETSCH, WILLIAM SHATNER'S DAUGHTER: Coachella!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:53:18]

WHITFIELD: All right, he has explored the final frontier. Now. William Shatner is heading into the desert after battling cancer and the 95- year-old "Star Trek" actor is giving heavy metal a try and plans to perform at next year's Coachella.

CNN's Elex Michaelson has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MICHAELSON: This idea of both of you getting stage four cancer at the same time.

SHATNER: Yes. I thought it was a brilliant idea.

GRETSCH: I know. We were really clever.

MICHAELSON: William Shatner fought aliens as Captain Kirk on "Star Trek."

SHATNER AS CAPTAIN KIRK: Where are the Tribbles?

MICHAELSON: Brought criminals as T.J. Hooker.

SHATNER AS T.J. HOOKER: Let's take a ride downtown.

SHATNER AS DENNY CRANE: Oh, please.

MICHAELSON: And fought courtroom battles with Denny Crane on "Boston Legal."

SHATNER AS DENNY CRANE: It was an accident.

MICHAELSON: But in real life, he fought stage four skin cancer while his daughter, Melanie, was battling stage four breast cancer.

Who was first? You were first.

Melanie, self-discovered a lump on her breast. At first, doctor said it was fine, but she insisted, they recheck it.

GRETSCH: Under her breath she said, no, I would have missed that.

MICHAELSON: While Melanie was sick, her dad asked a doctor to check out a lump on his neck.

SHATNER: Really put his hands on this. You better get this out.

GRETSCH: I just thought, I -- I don't think I can survive losing him. Like I think I'll just -- it'll be too much for me and I'll die too.

MICHAELSON: Doctors removed Shatner's mass and gave him immunotherapy.

SHATNER: One day, a year or two ago, my oncologist said, you're free.

MICHAELSON: Melanie's treatment, a double mastectomy, six rounds of chemo, 30 rounds of radiation, and a year of immunotherapy. She's now in remission.

SHATNER: Just a few years ago, both diagnoses would have been, pack your bags and get ready to die.

SHATNER: Here's her story.

[15:55:05]

MICHAELSON: Father and daughter are now talking about their journeys in their new podcast, "No Time But Now."

SHATNER: There's no time but now to lead your life.

MICHAELSON: The podcast has meant quality family time for the father of three daughters.

Melanie was born two years before the debut of "Star Trek" on NBC in 1966.

Star Trek is 60 years old.

SHATNER: I know.

MICHAELSON: How do you think about that?

GRETSCH: That's so old.

ANNOUNCER: These are the voyages of the Starship Enterprise.

SHATNER: It's a phenomena.

MICHAELSON: Right.

SHATNER: It's a phenomena that I have discounted from time to time.

MICHAELSON: Shatner's upcoming book, "William Shatner and You," is about how his roles change the lives of his fans. Something that makes him emotional to think about.

SHATNER: So many people have come up to me and said, I'm -- I am this because of you.

SHATNER AS CAPTAIN KIRK: Once again, we've saved civilization as we know it.

MICHAELSON: To me, "Star Trek," more than anything, is about an exploration of what it means to be human.

Do you think that as well?

SHATNER: See, that's beautifully put. And I agree with that.

SHATNER AS CAPTAIN KIRK: I'm from Iowa. I only work in outer space.

MICHAELSON: Would you play Kirk again?

SHATNER: Depends on the story.

MICHAELSON: What are you most excited about in the future?

SHATNER: My heavy metal.

MICHAELSON: That's right. Shatner is performing heavy metal music for the first time.

SHATNER: I am beginning to get it. It isn't so much, when do I come in? It's -- I've got to feel the music and then come in with the lyrics.

MICHAELSON: Yes.

SHATNER: And it's all about passion.

GRETSCH: Rage. Rage.

SHATNER: Rage.

MICHAELSON: Do you -- do you see your dad as a heavy metal star?

GRETSCH: No. I missed that one.

MICHAELSON: His band, set to play at Riot Fest in Chicago this fall and then --

SHATNER: And I'm doing the one in the desert in spring.

GRETSCH: Oh, God.

SHATNER: The one --

MICHAELSON: You're doing Coachella?

GRETSCH: Coachella.

MICHAELSON: You're going to do Coachella?

SHATNER: Half -- MICHAELSON: Playing -- playing -- playing heavy metal?

GRETSCH: My -- my -- my daughter was like, that's not Coachella.

SHATNER: It's right.

MICHAELSON: Is that the secret though to be excited about the future?

SHATNER: You've got to be.

MICHAELSON: Elex Michaelson, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: It is exciting right now!

All right, now to a remarkable story of conservation and community. This week's CNN Hero is a true trailblazer in environmental protection. She became the very first wildlife veterinarian in her home country of Uganda, devoting her career to protecting endangered mountain gorillas.

But when she realized their survival was deeply connected with the conditions in the local communities, she took action.

Today, her groundbreaking mission is helping both the gorillas and their human neighbors to thrive together.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GLADYS KALEMA-ZIKUSOKA, WILDLIFE VETERINARIAN: The mountain gorillas used to be one of the most critically endangered species on earth. When I first came out here as a vet student, I realized how intelligent they were, and you know, I felt a really deep connection. I was like, wow. I felt it was so important that they're protected.

Bwindi Impenetrable National Park is home to 43 percent of the world's endangered mountain gorillas. Bwindi is threatened by a lot of high human population growth. There's a lot of interaction between the gorillas and the people. We used to find that people were not hygienic.

Gorillas are picking up preventable diseases, basically, and this made me realize that you couldn't protect the gorillas without improving the health of their human neighbors.

(PEOPLE speaking in foreign language.)

KALEMA-ZIKUSOKA: We started the Village Health and Conservation Team approach in 2007. They do a lot of good work promoting health and hygiene practices, and now we're reaching over 10,000 households.

You can make each other sick. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

KALEMA-ZIKUSOKA: But we're not making each other sick, because you're cleaner.

Over time, we have seen huge changes, having a clean toilet, a hand washing station, a separate animal house. At the same time, we want to make sure that they're less dependent on the forest by finding them sustainable livelihoods.

You cannot keep the gorillas healthy when people next to them are poor, hungry. It just can't work. We found out that the coffee farmers were not getting a fair market price, and were still entering the forest to poach.

So, then we started to sell the coffee. We give them an above market price, and a donation from every bag goes to support community health, gorilla health, and conservation education. This is showing people that we care about not just the gorillas, but we also care about them.

Gorilla tourism has completely transformed the lives of the people here, and engaging local communities is our way of making sure that gorillas are being protected.

I always get very excited when I hear that baby mountain gorilla has been born, and as long as the communities see the gorillas as their future, the numbers are going to keep growing.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[16:00:00]