U.S. Searching for Crew Member After F-15 Downed in Iran

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23:45We're back with our tech lead in a revealing new interview with arguably one of the most important humans in your future. Tech journalist Laurie Siegel sat down with Sam Altman. Sam Altman is the CEO of OpenAI. That's the company behind ChatGPT and platforms still to come that will likely continue to shape our lives. And one key part of their discussion, Altman raised what he says is one of the most critical dilemmas of our time. One of the most important questions the world will have to answer in the next year is, are AI companies or are governments more powerful? And I think it's very important that the governments are more powerful.

24:23Like the future of the world and the decisions about the most important elements of national security should be made through a democratically elected process. I think we have to work with the government. But the intensity of the current mood of mistrust, I was miscalibrated on. I understand something there now. That interview just dropped on Mostly Human with Laurie Siegel. It's a podcast on YouTube, or you can listen to it on iHeart. Let's bring in Laurie Siegel, who we should know, once covered tech here at CNN. Laurie, that question of what's more powerful, what should be more powerful, AI companies or government, did you expect that he would say government?

25:05It's such an interesting point. As long as I've covered Silicon Valley and technology, and Jake, just to give you a sense, I've interviewed Sam Altman for the last 15 years of his career, and he's had many different seats. This is by far the most powerful seat he has sat in. And there was for so long this tension between Silicon Valley and the government. And that's just not the case anymore. And now oftentimes it feels like Silicon Valley is the government to some degree. And so I wasn't shocked by that answer. But, you know, what I will say is he really stood his ground. You know, if you recall, there was really a back and forth between Anthropic, which is OpenAI, OpenAI's rival, and the Trump administration over these red lines of how far is too far when it comes to using this technology.

25:48and when can we pull it back? And Sam Altman came in and said, we're going to do a deal with the government. He admitted to me the timing wasn't great, but he said it is essentially a patriotic duty to do business with the government, especially with how powerful he sees this technology and what's coming. You also asked Altman about last week's landmark jury verdict that found Meta and YouTube liable for harmful and addictive platforms for younger users. I want to play that moment. I'm curious what the outcome of this case means for AI companies like OpenAI. I mean, I think society is going to decide that creators of AI products bear a tremendous amount of responsibility to the products we put out in the world.

26:28But I kind of thought that before this case, and I haven't reviewed this enough to say if there's like a specific thing that will apply to us. How much do you think he's thinking about the lack of guardrails on social media and if any, could be put onto AI? You know, I think that one of the things in this interview is we go incredibly in-depth, in a way that I haven't heard a tech founder speak in-depth, about the guardrails for our children. And my question to him was, how do you make sure that artificial intelligence, now this is, OpenAI used to be a non-profit company. Now it is a for-profit company worth nearly a trillion dollars.

27:06And the implications of that are, how do we build a business model that actually is good for humanity. And I said, how do you make sure that AI doesn't become the next form of social media, where you had these incentives that addicted a generation to social media and wasn't healthy? And we really get into the specifics of it. And I said to Sam, you know, we both have one-year-old boys. And I said to him, we're both raising sons, but to a degree, you're raising my child as well, because the world that my son grows up in, your technology will impact every facet of his life. And do you feel the weight of that?

27:38And, you know, he said, you know, my highest order of it is to not destroy the world with AI. And he's thinking a lot about those guardrails. And so I think that's something we need to continue to push our tech leaders on. So the big issue, or perhaps one of the biggest issues in all of this, is that people are terrified that AI is just going to get rid of the need for workers, that jobs are going to be destroyed because AI will do it all. Altman conceded to you that AI could be disruptive in that way. Here's more of what he had to say. I'm not like a long-term jobs doomer. I think we'll figure out new things to do.

28:13I think we always do. Yes, clearly there will be a huge amount of short-term demand for electricians and skilled tradespeople. Eventually, I think the robots will do some of those things. But all of these things are just sort of like periods of time. If you just look at how much jobs have shifted every last decade, that will keep going. What was your takeaway on that? I think it's going to get a lot of criticism for what he said there. I think that we are entering a period where there, to his point, there will be a lot of disruption. He talked about his philosophy. I think if you watch this interview, and we speak for over an hour, you really understand the mind of Sam Altman.

28:49He talks about how the one word he would define of his career would be abundance and trying to create abundance with artificial intelligence for everyone. There are so many hard questions that allow us to get to that point, especially with what we're about to see with the amount of job loss with artificial intelligence. And so he did talk about a world where AI helps people create value and where automated research helps to, you know, 10 years of scientific research in a year. And he's excited for that world. But, you know, there are a lot of questions, Jake. The podcast is called Mostly Human with Laurie Seale.

29:20You can find it on YouTube. You can find it on iHeart. Laurie, always great to see you. Thank you so much. Good to see you. Breaking news on our world leader, Ron, is claiming it struck a second U.S. combat plane today, an A-10 Thunderbolt near the Strait of Hormuz. Coming up, insight on the type of intelligence President Trump is likely reviewing. My next guest once served as President Trump's intelligence briefer. Stay with us.

29:45Are you stuck staring at your W-2? Are tax refund worries holding you back? You probably have FOMO, the fear of messing up. The fix? Using TurboTax on Intuit Credit Karma. They find every credit and deduction to help you get every refund dollar you deserve or your money back. It's time to overcome your fear of messing up and get your taxes done right. Start filing today in the Credit Karma app. Our world lead continues the breaking news in Iran. Iran's military says it has struck a second U.S. combat plane today, claiming an A-10 Thunderbolt 2 called a Warthog crashing into the waters of the Persian Gulf.

30:27This is the search continues for a second crew member of a different downed U.S. fighter jet. Just two days ago in his prime time address, President Trump told the country that Iran's military prowess had been decimated. Tonight, Iran's navy is gone. Their air force is in ruins. Their leaders, most of them, terrorist regime they led, are now dead. their command and control of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps is being decimated as we speak. We've beaten and completely decimated Iran. They are decimated, both militarily and economically and every other way. One of the most basic rules of military strategy is don't forget the enemy gets a vote.

31:16Today's developments raise questions about what President Trump just asserted there, as does some new and exclusive CNN reporting, according to recent U.S. intelligence assessments. And three sources familiar with that intelligence, quote, roughly half of Iran's missile launchers are still intact, and thousands of one-way attack drones remain in Iran's arsenal, unquote. CNN's national security analyst Beth Saner and David Sanger join me now. David, of course, is the author of the book New Cold Wars, which will be out in paperback next week, and he writes for The New York Times. Look, obviously, I don't want to downplay the fact that the U.S.

31:49military has done a tremendous amount of damage to the U.S., to the Iranian military. And no one's questioning that. But at this juncture of the war, especially when the president's claiming we're two or three weeks away from ending the whole thing, at least one U.S. fighter jet has been shot down, if not two, including the warthog. What does that tell you about where the war really stands? I think it stands in a country that is as vast and as mountainous and has caves and, you know, it is big. And 90 million people. 92 million people. I mean, it's just impossible to completely eliminate what Iran has because they've designed their military to withstand these kind of strikes.

32:32These facilities for drones and missiles are underground in caves, hidden. And so, you know, this is going to happen. And I think that this is one reason why the president didn't actually say our goal is eliminating it anymore. His most recent goal is significantly degrading it. But where does that leave the Gulf and where does that leave transit in the strait? I mean, I think that this is a problem we just continually make in history. We underestimate weaker powers and don't understand that they have cards. David Sanger, what danger does the president put the United States in when he claims Iran's air force is in ruins and the Navy's gone?

33:10When that's obviously not, when what he's saying is obviously either not true entirely or that doesn't mean that the threat to American service members is gone. So it can be true and it can be less relevant than the president would have you believe. Right. So have we sunk their Navy? Absolutely. Did the Navy have a lot to do with their power projection? Not very much. Their Air Force is certainly down. But that doesn't mean that they can't shoot airplanes out of the sky, as we have seen today. At least one, maybe two. We think there may have been a helicopter or so that got hit, perhaps, in the rescue efforts.

33:50So they are not toothless. That's not the big risk the president faces. The big risk the president faces here is that he set himself a two weeks, maybe a little more limit for beginning to get out of this. Well, first of all, the war may not be over then. He may be done with it, but it may not be done completely with him. Right. Yeah. The second big risk, I think, that he runs is that if the war ended or the U.S. participation ended with things where they are roughly today, what would you have, as Beth was suggesting there? A strait that is still closed or at least under Iranian control. 970 pounds of highly enriched uranium, which was supposed to be the reason for this, exactly where it was before the war happened.

34:39and, of course, a regime that the president says has changed, but just the personnel changed. Now, was there regime change in Iran, Jake, when Ayatollah Khomeini died in 1989 and another Ayatollah came in? Not exactly. Yeah, a regime change the way that there was regime change in Maduro. Maduro was gone, but his entire regime was there and his vice president took over. Today, the president posted on Truth Social, with a little more time, we can easily open the Hormuz Strait, take the oil and make a fortune. it would be a gusher for the world. What? Beth, is it that simple? I mean, he also said, by the way, the other night, that the Strait of Hormuz was going to open, quote, naturally.

35:18Naturally. It would be nice if it opened naturally, but I don't think it will. And the reason for that is a couple. Like, one is that Iran doesn't want it to be open to everyone. Right now, it's open to Iranian ships, and they are raking in the dough. They're producing twice as much, exporting twice as much as they did before the war, and they're taking tolls. And in their parliament, they passed a bill. So obviously, it's kind of a functioning government. They passed a bill in their parliament saying that they were going to install a toll system. And so we are going to be seeing them having this vote and deciding that this is how they want it to be.

35:57A new CNN poll asks voters how the president is handling the situation in Iran, whether they approve of military action. 66 % disapprove. disapprove. That's as of March 30th. That number's jumped seven points since the start of the war. David, the president is well aware of the approval ratings. Look, approve is down to 34 percent. What do you think would need to happen in the coming days and weeks to turn American public sentiment around? It's a really good question because the speech on Wednesday night was intended to do that. And what did the markets do? The price of oil went up, which meant that they believed that in fact the strait would remain closed.

36:36And all the other indicators suggested that no one was really persuaded he had a plan to get out. So at this point, he's basically teetering each day between I'm leaving in two and a half weeks and I'm escalating in the interim. And he may well, I suspect you probably will see him escalate. The destruction of that bridge the other day seemed to be an escalation. He's got to decide in coming days whether to go after Karg Island, which is where the oil shipped from, whether to go after the nuclear material, whether to go put people in the strait. But if you do that, particularly Karg Island and the strait, you are there for a while because taking it's one thing, holding it is another.

37:20And the history suggests numbers go down as these wars continue. And this is an interesting war in the sense that it's one of the few in our lifetimes that there wasn't initially at least a rally around the flag effect. There really wasn't one at all. Thanks, everyone. Appreciate it. More analysis ahead from a unique guest who served in various capacities, including Secretary of Defense, CIA Director, White House Chief of Staff. Stay with us.

37:50And our sports lead, ESPN brought back a fan favorite to note and celebrate World Autism Awareness Day. This is yesterday. 14-year-old Madden Orlovsky, son of host Dan Orlovsky. He returned to a studio covered wall-to-wall with Madden's art. I have great autism.

38:11Thank you all for supporting me.

38:20And I love you, Mom, Hunter, Nolan, and Lennon.

38:28Love you.

38:35All right, how about Jalen Hurts and the Eagles? How about Jalen Hurts and the Eagles? From one Eagles fan to another, keep up the great work, Madden. Your talent, your courage inspires us all. And on behalf of everybody here at The Lead and CNN, we love you. In our health lead, we're paging Dr. Sanjay Gupta, taking your questions on beta blockers and whether long-term use of the medication is necessary for heart attack survivors. Sanjay? Well, Jake, we got so many questions about this topic. Big news, obviously, in the world of medicine, but also in the country as a whole. I mean, 10 % of adults in the United States take beta blockers.

39:11So a lot of people paying attention to this. I'm trying to get to as many questions as possible. This one is from Paul in New Westminster, British Columbia. He says, I had a heart attack in 2007. I have since been on beta blockers. Should I continue them? them. We got a lot of questions similar to this one. First of all, let me be absolutely clear. You should talk to your doctor about this. Absolutely. And let me put an exclamation mark on this. There are black box warnings about abruptly discontinuing beta blockers. You could get a spike in heart rate. You could get a spike in your blood pressure.

39:47That could be a problem. If you are advised by your doctor to discontinue them, typically you will titrate off the beta blockers as opposed to suddenly stopping them. So that's the headline there. But I think what Paul is really reacting to are these new studies which have shown that people who had stable heart function, had good heart function a year after a heart attack, and either continued the beta blockers or didn't continue the beta blockers, found that there wasn't a huge difference in the likelihood of having another heart problem. I mean, if you take a look at the numbers there, the numbers were actually slightly higher for those who continued beta blockers.

40:27But point being, there wasn't really additional benefit if you had good heart function and you continued the beta blockers. So I think that's what Paul is asking about. Another question from Joanna. Why are beta blockers recommended after a heart attack? Yeah, this is really fascinating. So here's the scenario. Someone's had a heart attack. Part of their heart muscle has died. the rest of the heart is under stress as a result of that. Beta blockers lower the heart rate, decrease the blood pressure, and that can take some of the stress off the heart. And the idea was that that could help prevent a second heart attack or a second heart problem.

41:05And this goes back to trials from the 1960s. But Jake, a lot has changed since then. If someone has had a heart attack, we can open the blood vessels to the heart much more quickly using things like angioplasty. There are things like blood thinners and statin medications, which also improve the likelihood that someone won't have as much heart muscle death after a heart attack. In fact, if you look at the numbers overall, in 1970, if a 65-year-old person had a heart attack, they had about a 60 % chance of leaving the hospital alive. Nowadays, it's closer to 90%. So a lot has changed, and that has made the need for beta blockers in some situations not as necessary.

41:46I think we've got time for one more question. This is coming from Larry, who asks, what are the long-term side effects of beta blockers? Well, again, keep in mind, they lower your blood pressure. They slow your heart rate. So you're not getting as much blood flow to the rest of your body. That's part of the problem here. People will get cold hands and feet, which can be significant enough to the point where they're not doing some of their regular activities. Extreme tiredness, weight gain, and feeling dizzy or lightheaded. These are all potential side effects. And also the cost. I mean, it's a$20 a month drug.

42:22Typically, on average, it's a medication that's been around for a long time. But 10 % of the U.S. adult population, Jake, taking it, taking it for the rest of their lives, those costs add up. And that's been part of the problem as well. So new studies about beta blockers suggesting that maybe for about half the people out there, Jake, who've had heart attacks in the past, they may not need to continue taking beta blockers. But again, talk to your doctor. Jake? All right, Sanjay, thanks so much. This is CNN Breaking News. The lead tonight, the urgent search and rescue operation now underway for a U.S.

42:58F-15E Strike Eagle fighter jet crew member behind enemy lines. You're looking at photos shown by Iranian state media of what it claims is the wreckage of the fighter jet after it was shot down earlier today. Sources familiar with the U.S. search operation say that one U.S. service member, crew member, was successfully rescued. He is alive. He is receiving medical care. Then just hours ago, Iran claimed it had shot down a second U.S. combat plane over the Persian Gulf. A U.S. official tells CNN that the pilot of the A-10 Warthog was able to navigate out of Iranian territory before ejecting and being rescued.

43:32Today marks the first time since the U.S. launched military strikes against Iran on February 28th that any U.S. aircraft have been shot down. CNN's Jeremy Diamond is live for us in Tel Aviv. And Jeremy, what more can you tell us about where this operation, the rescue operation, stands as of this hour? Well, Jake, it appears to be ongoing. Keep in mind, it is after 1 a.m. now in Iran. So the middle of the night, this search and rescue operation supposedly still ongoing. As the fate of that second airman from that downed F-15 fighter jet, his whereabouts still very much unknown. The other airman who was in that plane, he is receiving medical attention from the U.S.

44:16military and is safely in U.S. hands. We also understand that Israel was not asked to assist in the search and rescue effort. They are not directly involved, but they are providing intelligence to the United States to try and assist with that search and rescue effort. Obviously, both Israel and the United States have done extensive planning and training for this very scenario. the possibility of one of their fighter jet pilots or navigators being down in Iranian skies and now being inside of Iranian territory. Israel also postponed several strikes that it had planned in the area inside of Iran so as not to interfere with the search and rescue efforts.

44:58And all of this, of course, Jake, is the latest indication that we are seeing that despite the military successes that Israel and the United States have had, Despite the statements that we've heard from U.S. and Israeli officials about the extent to which Iran's military capabilities have been destroyed and degraded, Iran is still showing significant capabilities. It is not easy to take down one of these F-15 fighter jets, and yet Iran is showing that it still maintains at least some of the sophisticated capabilities that can allow it to do something like that. In fact, we've also learned that a second U.S.

45:32military plane, an A-10 Thunderbolt, was also struck by Iran today. That pilot was apparently able to navigate outside of Iranian territory and then ejected safely. But it does, again, show you the capabilities that Iran still maintains. And it strikes at the heart of what President Trump has been saying over the course of this week, as he insisted that Iran has no air defense capabilities, no capability to down jets. Well, they showed that today. And it is the latest indication that we are seeing that this conflict is showing no signs of slowing down. As we heard President Trump earlier this week say, at least several more weeks of military operations.

46:12And we are seeing today the risks that that entails. This is not just a safe campaign with no risks for the United States. Something like this can happen. And today it has. And of course, we'll see what that means for the rest of this conflict in the weeks ahead. Jake. Jeremy Diamond in Tel Aviv, thanks so much. Let's bring in Leon Panetta, who served as Secretary of Defense and CIA Director under President Obama. Secretary Panetta, good to see you. So these fighter pilots are put through rigorous survival training. But what does it say to you that one crew member was rescued while the other crew member is still somewhere missing inside Iran?

46:48Yeah, it's not unusual, Jake, because when they get out of that fighter plane, they can go in very separate directions and be located a distance apart. So you can find one, but you may take a while in order to be able to try to locate the other pilots. So I understand the problem. And hopefully our search and rescue operations will continue until we've been able to locate the other pilot. It's a principle that the military abides by that we leave nobody behind. We leave nobody behind. And I'm hoping that they'll continue the search and rescue and be able to bring both pilots back home. Iran state media is offering a bounty for capturing the downed crew members.

47:36President Trump told NBC that today's events will not affect negotiations with the regime. How much leverage would it give the Iranians if they recover that missing American service member first?

47:49Well, look, you know, the president keeps talking about negotiations, but there's some kind of mystical negotiations going on because every time he says something's going to happen, the ceasefire is going to happen, it doesn't happen. So his credibility, frankly, is subject to question. And I think what's happening now, Jake, is to a large extent, the president is paying the price for not being really honest and direct with the American people about what this war is all about. You know, he keeps giving mixed messages. And one day he'll say, we're going to end the war soon, and then talks about bombing Iran into the Stone Age, which I think involves a much more prolonged war.

48:47he basically continues to send messages that create conflict and the American people then really don't know what's going on he says we've won the war he says we've achieved a lot of our military objectives but obviously Iran still has a missile capability they're able to bring down our fighter planes. They're able to close the Straits of Hormuz. They still have a lot of leverage in dealing with the United States. We have to recognize that if we really are ultimately going to bring this war to an end. There's no doubt that the U.S. has done a lot of damage. The U.S. military has done a lot of damage to Iran's military capabilities.

49:30But yesterday, sources told CNN that according to U.S. intelligence assessments, roughly half of Iran's missile launchers remain intact and Iran still possesses thousands of these attack drones despite the president saying this to the nation on Wednesday. Take a listen. Their ability to launch missiles and drones is dramatically curtailed and their weapons, factories and rocket launchers are being blown to pieces. They have no anti-aircraft equipment. Their radar is 100 % annihilated. And on Tuesday, the Pentagon said Iran's air defenses were so significantly degraded, they had started flying B-52s over the country.

50:12Now that Iran has downed a U.S. fighter jet, what does it tell you about Iran's current capabilities?

50:20Well, you know, let's be honest about where we're at. And I would hope that the president could be honest with the American people about where we're at. Number one, we haven't been able to bring down the regime. That was the primary objective of going to war. The regime is going to remain in power. This is a hardline regime. And once we leave, it's going to continue to represent a threat that we're going to have to deal with. we're going to have to continue to monitor that situation. Secondly, yes, we have obtained a lot of our military objectives, but the bottom line is they still have a missile capability.

51:06They still have the ability to bring down our planes. And more importantly, they still have the ability to close the Straits of Hormuz. The president has talked about our allies somehow going in and opening up the straits. It wasn't their war. It's our war. The United States has to provide the leadership to go in and open up the straits. And let me tell you, the result of those straits being closed, the president would like to somehow say it's not a problem for the United States. It is a problem. People are going to the gas station. The prices are sky high. There's a lot of damage occurring to our economy and to the world economy.

51:48We've got to do something about reopening the Straits of Hormuz. It's our responsibility, requires our leadership, hopefully working with our allies. That is the truth of what's happening with this war. And the president needs to tell the American people that. Former Secretary of Defense and CIA Director Leon Panetta, thank you so much, sir. Always appreciate it. As all of this is unfolding in the Middle East, Defense Secretary Hegseth has fired not one but multiple top generals. Is this really the best strategy when the country's at war? That's next. Plus, you're looking live inside the Orion spacecraft where we can see the four astronauts who are heading to the moon.

52:25That's pilot Victor Glover working out, the man in the gray shirt in the center of your screen, while the other crew members are preparing the test that they're going to do later in this mission. Stick with us.

52:40in our politics lead defense secretary pete hegseth fired the u.s army chief of staff general randy george and two other top army generals on thursday dismissals that come as the u.s appears poised to intensify strikes and the pentagon is weighing a potential ground invasion in iran in a post chief pentagon spokesman sean parnell framed general george's firing as a retirement effective immediately. A U.S. official told CNN that senior army leadership had been caught off guard. Quote, it doesn't feel like a very thought out decision, unquote. Now, I have been personally covering General Randy George's career for about 15 years.

53:16I wrote a book in 2012 about the ill-fated combat outpost Keating, which had been in 2006 placed in a dangerous position in Afghanistan. Then Colonel Randy George and his Lieutenant Colonel Brad Brown tried to shut down that app post in 2008 because of the precarious position it was in, although their warnings were not heeded with any urgency. And then Cop Keating was devastatingly attacked in 2009. Those who know General Randy George consider him to be well-respected, smart, strategic, someone who acts with the best interests of his service members and the United States at the top of his mind.

53:53His dismissal, along with that of Chief of Chaplains Major General William Green, Jr. and Commander of Army Transformation and Training Command General David Houdini are just the latest in a string of abrupt firings that Hegseth has carried out inside the Pentagon since he took office. Hegseth has fired more than a dozen senior military officers over the last year. In fact, he's almost completely remade the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Just two officials remained from before President Trump took office, Marine Corps Commandant General Eric Smith and Chief of Space Operations General B. Chance Saltzman.

54:24Now, you might have noticed if you look at that photo, Hegseth's version of the Joint Chiefs, those are entirely white men, despite the fact that as of 2024, nearly 33 percent of active duty service members are of color and nearly 18 percent are women. Hegseth made it quite clear that that type of representation in the top ranks does not matter to him. The era of DEI is gone at the Defense Department and we need the best and brightest. Physical standards must be high and gender neutral. If women can make it, excellent. If not, it is what it is. We're reviving the warrior ethos. We're eliminating the distractions and the debris.

55:07No more DEI. Two of the first leaders, Hegseth, let go, were former Joint Chiefs Chair General C.Q. Brown, the second black officer to hold that post, and Chief of Naval Operations Lisa Franchetti, the first woman to lead the U.S. Navy. Just last week, the New York Times reported that in an extraordinarily rare move, Hegseth was actively blocking the promotions of four Army officers. Officials saying two of the officers are black, two of them are women. Parnell defended the promotion process to the New York Times as apolitical and unbiased, unquote. The New York Times reports that Army Secretary Dan Driscoll repeatedly refused to let Hegseth strike those officers' names from the promotion list.

55:47Officials told the Times that Driscoll took heat from Hegseth's chief of staff, the controversial Ricky Berea, for promoting Major General Antoinette Gantt to command the military district of Washington. The Times reporting, quote, Mr. Berea told Mr. Driscoll that President Trump would not want to stand next to a black female officer at military events, the officials said, unquote. Berea denies that story. Driscoll is someone Hegseth perceives as a threat, sources tell CNN. Unsurprisingly, he has worked closely with the now retired General Randy George. Hegseth's firing sprees, targeting women, targeting people of color, or even just those he feels personally threatened by.

56:28This all comes as the U.S. is weighing a further escalation in the already unpopular war in Iran, a ground invasion that could potentially risk the lives of thousands of troops, which only 11 percent of U.S. adults polled by CNN support. In that same poll, incidentally, Secretary Hegseth himself is registering at a 35 percent approval rating, with 65 percent of the American people disapproving. And now, without the guidance of tenured military officials who have served for decades honorably, that guidance, because Secretary Hegseth is either dismissed or hamstrung for reasons that remain unclear to even top military officers, Now the Trump administration is scrambling to prove to the American people that there is a clear plan for the war in Iran and that it's worth the costs of thousands of U.S.

57:10troops that they're putting in harm's way. Let's bring in Washington Post reporter Dan Lamont, who covers the Pentagon, and the military has broken a lot of these stories. Dan, can you put in perspective what the firing of General Randy George will mean for the leadership of the Pentagon right now? Yeah, I mean, Randy George has been in the Army for more than 40 years. I met him just maybe a year or two after you did when he was a one-star general at the Army War College in Pennsylvania. He's a thoughtful guy. I honestly have no idea which party he would belong to politically. He kind of adheres to that old-school, nonpartisan sort of idea that you would hope for in your generals.

57:51So a source familiar with what happened tells me that this was entirely, the firing was entirely about these promotions and personnel matters. Uh, and, uh, you know, that's the reason. And that General George requested a meeting with Hegseth. Hegseth refused to give it to him and they fired him and leaked it to the media at the same time. Um, what's going on here? Why would Hegseth do this? I think this is a significant, uh, final data point in, in sort of the Randy George army saga under Hegseth. I do think it's more complex than being just about this event. My own reporting would suggest that there's been sort of this churn on this.

58:36How long will Randy George last? Whether or not Randy George is acceptable to exit? Really going back many months. And that Dan Driscoll, who had really kind of hit a good teamwork kind of vibe with the general, really did like him, really did want to keep him, and was increasingly frustrated trying to make the case to Secretary Hegstead. And what was the issue beyond the issue of personnel and promotions? What are the other issues? I mean, I think some of it is the senior Pentagon staff right now, there are people who literally are combing through biographies, combing through past testimony, looking for what they said on diversity three, five, seven years ago, and kind of building a dossier of sorts, trying to assemble who kind of fits the mold they're looking for.

59:30Randy George had served under the Biden administration. Randy George specifically had been a senior military assistant to Lloyd Austin, Biden's defense secretary. And in testimony, when asked candid questions, he was in favor of diversity as part of a broader effort to have unit cohesion in the Army. There are thousands of troops deployed to the Middle East right now, as we all wait to see if the U.S. is going to commence with a ground operation in Iran. Is there a sense that there's any confidence that there's a, well, give us the sense of confidence in Hegseth's leadership among those who are directly impacted in the U.S.

1:00:06military? I think it's pretty divided. I don't think by any means it's universally against. There are people who really kind of buy into his lethality rhetoric, but there is significant concern that He's perhaps not fully appreciating the gravity of this situation, particularly when you look at things today like the pilot down on the ground. This is something that was a foreseeable circumstance in a serious campaign with numerous aircraft up against the country that also has anti-aircraft. Dan Lamothe of Washington Post, thank you so much. Good to have you, sir. Pope Leo is in Rome tonight carrying the cross during Good Friday services as thousands gather in Italy for the Holy Easter weekend.

1:00:48We're going to go live to Rome next.

1:01:01We're back with our faith lead, and you're looking at scenes from Rome on this Good Friday as Pope Leo led the way of the cross around the Colosseum. CNN Vatican correspondent Christopher Lamb is in Rome for us tonight, and we should note he's the author of a brand-new book, American Hope, What Pope Leo XIV Means, for the church and the world. Chris, these commemorations, and coinciding, of course, as it does with the Jewish holiday of Passover, they come as the Pope has been pretty outspoken recently about the Iran War. Now, in your book, your excellent book, I'm holding it up here, you write, Leo is a Pope at a time when millions of people are crying out for global statesmanship.

1:01:41His gentle, reserved style stands in contrast to politicians looking to dominate the news cycle, unquote. Put that into context for us. Well, Jake, I think the point about Leo is that he's someone who had the spotlight thrown upon him. He wasn't seeking to be Pope, and he's having to deal with the fact that the media and the world is looking to him for leadership. But he's someone who is naturally quite gentle and reserved. He's not someone who goes out there looking to make headlines, unlike, as you can see, with certain politicians. But we have seen Leo become more outspoken recently. You know, he told me on Tuesday night that he hopes that President Trump can find an off-ramp to the war in Iran.

1:02:30So, you know, Leo the lion is gentle, but he knows when to roar. And we are hearing more from him, and we're hearing him be more outspoken recently. Leo's been Pope for 11 months now. It's a job he never expected to get. You write that just before the conclave that elected him began, he wrote to a friend, quote, quote, I'm sleeping well, relying on the belief that there will never be an American pope. How do you think Leo is enjoying the job? Well, I think it's taken a bit of adjustment for him because, of course, he was, you know, relatively obscure cardinal, you know, known in church circles, I should say, but, you know, not that well known to the wider public.

1:03:13So it has been a big adjustment for him. He's been trying to appoint his new team. He's moved into the papal apartments. He's getting himself set up. I think it's going to take some time for him to really, you know, get into the role. This first year has been very much an adjustment, but I think we are seeing him become more comfortable as Pope. And, you know, in the coming days, he's going to travel to Africa for a major trip across four countries and so we're going to hear more from him then but it has been an adjustment for him certainly but yeah i think after almost a year leo is gradually and and surely getting into the position again the book is american hope it's about the new pope christopher lamb in rome thanks and congrats on the excellent new book thank you a nice gift from space on this friday as the Artemis astronauts are sending back stunning images of the Earth as they journey toward the moon.

1:04:15And we're now getting live pictures from inside the Orion capsule, where the astronauts are up and working and working out. We're going to get an update from their mission live at the Johnson Space Center next.

1:04:31In our out-of-this-world lead today, some positive news from NASA this afternoon about the historic mission around the moon. The Orion capsule was supposed to do some corrective maneuvers today to ensure the astronauts were on the right path to the moon. But it turns out they're not needed. The spacecraft is on the right track. CNN's Ed Lavender is down at Johnson Space Center with the details. You can see the entire globe from pole to pole. You can see Africa, Europe. And if you looked really close, you could see the northern lights. It was the most spectacular moment, and it paused all four of us in our tracks.

1:05:08These are the first breathtaking images shared by the Artemis II crew as they officially set course for the moon. There's nothing that prepares you for the breathtaking aspect of seeing your home planet both lit up bright as day and also the moon glow on it at night with the beautiful beam of the sunset. The four astronauts have traveled at speeds of up to 3 ,400 miles per hour. You're getting a live look outside the windows of the Orion spacecraft. That's nearly 5 ,000 feet per second as they head into the most crucial part of their mission. I got to tell you, there is nothing normal about this.

1:05:46Sending four humans 250 ,000 miles away is a Herculean effort, and we are now just realizing the gravity of that. We got the clearest view yet of the astronauts on board the Orion spaceship as they answered questions about their journey so far and revealed they've been glued to the views of Earth from the four main windows in their cabin and also finding the best ways to sleep. Christina has been sleeping heads down in the middle of the vehicle, kind of like a bat suspended from our docking tunnel. Victor's been up where Jeremy is right now. It's more comfortable than you would think. And it's nice to sleep in weightlessness again.

1:06:23Every time I was dozing off last night, I had that image that I was tripping off a curb and I was waking myself up, so my body's getting re-acclimated. Friday's wake-up song in a daydream by the Freddie Jones band. It was really great to wake up this morning and look out the window and see the full moon off the front of the vehicle. There's no doubt where we are heading right now. Their planned course adjustment was canceled. It wasn't needed. Copy that. Up next, a cabin change. The crew will need to transition their seats positioned for the launch to set up for their lunar flyby when they make history.

1:06:56It's brought us together and showed us what we can do when we put, not just putting our differences aside, when we bring our differences together and use all the strengths to accomplish something great.

1:07:09And Jake, you know, the first 48 hours of this mission have been rather hectic in terms of this crew having to adjust the configuration of the cabin so that they can work and sleep in it. But they did get some time today to be able to reach out and have private conversations with their families and back here on Earth. So that was a welcome respite. They had already done kind of a round of interviews describing what they've been through. And up until then, they had not been able to talk to family members. So they were able to carve out some of that private time so that they could talk to their spouses and children down here on Earth, which I'm sure came as a welcome moment for this crew that has really been on full display here for much of the last 48 hours as we watch them do their work in space.

1:07:52Jake? All right, Ed Lavandera at Johnson Space Center. Thanks so much. Joining us now, Anisha Ross, the cousin of one of the astronauts, Victor Glover, the pilot on Artemis II. Anisha, thanks so much for joining us. So we've been watching live photos from inside the Orion capsule. We saw your cousin Victor doing his daily workout earlier. what is it like to see your cousin live in space? Thank you, Jake, so much for having me. It is super exciting just to, again, to be able to sit back and watch and knowing that, you know, he belongs to me. Yeah, that must be pretty cool. Did Victor share with you how he felt leading up to the space flight?

1:08:33Was he excited? Was he nervous? this? Yes, a mixture of emotions, but all great. And that does come, just as you stated, with excitement. It does come with a bit of nervousness, no matter how hard you train. It's different when you're in that moment. But he was just full of smiles before takeoff. I think we have some video of him working out that we just got. Victor will hopefully get to speak to his wife and kids a few times during the journey. If you could talk to him in space, and I understand why they limit the phone calls for that. It's probably pretty expensive. What would you say to him?

1:09:14What questions might you have? You know, I really don't have any questions for him, but I would let him know again how proud I am of him. You know, he is a God-fearing man, so we know that everything is going to be okay. but just to let him know that I'm super proud of him and I can't wait for him to come down so I can physically give him a hug again. And I would just ask, just the experience. It is different when we watch, but just really how is it? How do you feel? And to hear it firsthand. I'm not sure of the age difference between you two, but what was he like as a kid? Yeah, we're actually very close.

1:09:58He's just a little bit over a year older than me. But as a kid, he was really just even who he is today, extremely smart. And he was good at everything he did. You know, he played sports. He played football. He was good at it. He ran track. He was good at it. He wrestled. He was good at it. So everything that he did, he was good at. And so being where he's at now and seeing the man that he has become is absolutely phenomenal. And it's not a surprise, not a surprise whatsoever. Extremely smart, extremely intelligent, and just an overall, he was really a good kid. But did he always know he wanted to be an astronaut?

1:10:41Like, was his room decorated with pictures of Neil Armstrong? Did he have stars on his ceiling? I mean, did you know he was going to be an astronaut? No, not at all. Not at all. knowing that he was going to school, of course, for engineering, but an astronaut was not on the radar, you know. And so for this to happen is definitely graced by God. But we are enjoying this entire journey with him. But that wasn't in the plans. It wasn't in his plans. So it sounds as though he's not only a man of science, he's a man of faith. So on this Good Friday, just talk to me for a second about how he views this.

1:11:19Does he look at this incredible universe and think God made this? I mean, how does he, because obviously sometimes there's a clash between science and faith. And yes, it is sometimes. But absolutely, just looking at and knowing that, man, this was something that the Lord created. This was all him. And that's how we view it. Even when it comes to science, we know that this was still God's creation. And yes, he is a God-fearing man. He has a wonderful husband, an awesome father, a wonderful cousin, of course, right? And his faith is first above everything. Well, I'm so excited that I got to talk to you.

1:12:04You must be so proud of your cousin, Anisha Ross. Thank you so much. And have a really wonderful, magical Easter. Well, thank you, Jake. And you do the same. Thank you for having me. It was an honor. Be sure to join the lead Monday. We're going to have special live coverage of the Artemis 2 mission. The Orion spacecraft during our during our show will travel behind the moon and reach the farthest point that humans have ever traveled in space during our show. We're going to cover it live. You don't want to miss it. The domestic win for President Trump today, despite the tense moments he's facing on the global front.

1:12:39We're back in a moment.

1:12:45Our politics lead now fresh off the ouster of U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi and just weeks since the dismissal of Homeland Security Secretary Kristineau. CNN's learning from several sources and multiple cabinet officials could be at risk of hearing you're fired from President Trump. Possibly at risk, Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-Duremer, of FBI Director Kash Patel, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, although who knows? My panel joins me now. Thanks so much for joining us. Brian, one person close to Trump says of more possible shakeups in the cabinet, quote, this is a recalibration. There are high expectations that are not being met, unquote.

1:13:25We've already got two high profile firings in the last few weeks, possibly more shakeups ahead. Usually this happens after the midterms, not before the midterms. What's going on? I think if I had to step back and see where the mentality is, I think some of the staff, maybe even the president, probably assumes that we're going to lose the Senate in November. And if that's the case, it's easier to get people confirmed during a Republican Senate than a Democratic Senate. Oh, interesting. That would be the safe assumption from the friends that I have there. So let's get credit where credit's due. President Trump did not win today when it comes to the economy.

1:13:55Good news. The best jobs report to date of his second term. The U.S. added 178 ,000 jobs last month. The unemployment rate ticked down to 4.3 percent. Good stuff. We're all happy for that. Karen Finney, will these job numbers alleviate some of the angst that voters are feeling about the economy? Probably not, because the president also released his budget today, and it is staggering how much we, that video that was released earlier this week, then pulled back where he said, because we're at war, we can't pay for child care and Medicaid and all these things. Medicare. We can't do all those things after saying in 2024, of course, we're not going to cut it.

1:14:31Anyway, the budget that he put forward, those things are all significantly on the chopping block, including getting rid of LIHEAP, which is heating assistance for poor people. So, you know, it's sort of like I just he can't seem to like stop from doing the things that are so damaging to any president in the midterm by. sure, it's good for people in the health care sector, which is, I think, where we saw the most growth. Nursing, I think they also said. But not in the other parts of the country, like farmers who are struggling because of the war in Iran and the issues with the Strait of Hormuz, like the cuts that he proposes to pay for the war.

1:15:11I think that's not going to do anything to reassure people. But Brian, credit where credit's due to the president. You know, good jobs report today. Yes, I mean, I think everybody sort of had a sigh of relief, It was a week where compounding issues erupted, but this was a good one for them. Despite this... I'm going to put it right. Nice issues erupted. It's very difficult. It's Good Friday. It is Good Friday. Gas prices continue to rise, unfortunately. Today's national average price per gallon is$4.09 per gallon of regular unleaded. We're now paying 37 % more for gas than we were when the war began.

1:15:43Do you think that the administration is doing enough to acknowledge the pain and lay out any sort of plan to get the prices down? Listen, I think they have. I think the president said during this week's speech that this was going to take a little bit longer. And to be patient, I think they need to do more in sort of creating the urgency of why it's going to take longer. But are they doing more? I mean, you can always do more when it comes to lowering energy costs. You can do a gas tax holiday. You can increase more permits. You can put more supply. You can have Russian energy and Iranian energy more into the system.

1:16:16But they should do more. And gas prices is a problem for this administration. Most voters, not to interrupt you, most voters actually make the decision of what the economy looks like in an election in July. Not in November, but in July. Oh, interesting. We're months away from July. And so it's hard to see a 180 in a short amount of time. Yeah, but the president the other night in his speech about Iran tried to make it seem, okay, so it's maybe two or three more weeks. Everything's about two weeks away with this guy. But he also didn't really say anything to the American people like, hey, look, I know you're suffering.

1:16:48I know this is hard, but I need you to stick with me. He didn't really do that. And that was a perfect moment to try to bring people into exactly what you just said, Jake, acknowledging the pain. Instead, he kind of gaslit us on the economy. And look, if prices stay high, you know as well as anyone, Brian, particularly for families who are taking summer vacations, they're going to have to think twice. Can they afford it? So, Brian, you were just talking about the president wanting to get replacements for members of the cabinet confirmed before Republicans maybe lose control of the Senate. CNN has some new exclusive reporting that Justice Samuel Alito was taken to the hospital last month in a previously undisclosed incident.

1:17:26He was evaluated and administered fluids for dehydration and then returned home that night. CNN's chief political commentator David Axelrod tweeted, quote, given the growing possibility of a Democratic-controlled Senate next year, it would not be at all surprising if Alito announced his retirement soon to allow Trump to push through. a nominee, unquote. Obviously, we all wish Justice Alito the best. What do you think? Let's hope so. I mean, at the end of the day, the Supreme Court is the ultimate place where politics is played. And if President Trump gets a chance to put in a fourth or maybe a fifth, you have to do it this year.

1:17:56And then if you throw potential confirmations for cabinet designees or new cabinet members, it's a busy Senate schedule. But I mean, it has to be done. We don't want to end up with the Ruth Gader Ginsburg situation. Yeah. What do you think? I mean, let me just say - He didn't want to end up with the Ruth Bader Ginsburg situation. So the situation was that President Obama went to lunch with Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and he was supposed to deliver the message to her, you retire before we lose the Senate. Yeah. And, you know, in his polite and collegiate, is it, professorial way. There you go. She left the lunch and had no idea that that's what he was saying.

1:18:31And I think President Trump's a little bit more direct. A little bit. It seems a little bit more direct. But that could serve him well in this. Of course. And look, this is an issue both for Democratic and Republican presidents, where you want to be able to shape the court. So, yes, I suspect that if he hadn't already gotten a phone call, he's going to get one very soon that says, hey, so when are you leaving? Or a truth social. Or a truth social. That's right. That's the other way to come. Him and with Clarence Thomas. I think those two are the first that come to mind of what needs to be solved before November.

1:19:02Although we're in a town where people think that they can live forever. Yeah, I mean, look. Joe Biden. Joe Biden is a good example. And they're not accountable to him. I mean, there's not really anything he can do to them. So it'll be interesting to see that people do get a little, as my father would say, hardheaded when it comes to these things. As the president learned when it comes to the Fed chair, Jerome Powell also. Yes, yes. I'm right here, baby. Can't touch me. Karen, Brian, enjoy your Easter weekend. I really appreciate your being here. Up next, the eye-popping amount a homeowners association wants from people who lost their homes in the California wildfires last year.

1:19:39In our national lead, it has been more than a year since fires destroyed entire neighborhoods across the Los Angeles area. By CNN's count, at least 16 ,000 structures in L.A. County, 16 ,000 homes, businesses, other buildings, were destroyed or damaged in January 2025 because of the fires. 15 months later, LA County's Permitting Progress dashboard reports about 2 ,000 building issues have been, building permits have been issued. Just over 1 ,000 homes are currently under constructed. How many have been completed of the 16 ,000? 30. Not 30 ,000. 30. And there's another story lurking in those grim numbers, as CNN's Nick Watt discovered.

1:20:20Shockingly, all the losses have not stopped one of these homeowners associations from demanding thousands of dollars from its members and giving them just about a month to pay up. It's just been the worst year ever, and this is the cherry on top. 52 homes in this community burnt to the ground in January 25, many more damaged. Ryan Harmon had to flee. I want to go home. Look at that. They still haven't moved back home. Like so many, he's been dealing with, sometimes fighting with, insurance companies, mortgage companies, contractors, and then a letter arrived from the Homeowners Association. We were all like, what?

1:21:02You know, you have to read the letter a few times to go, are they really saying that? Are they really threatening me? Here's the letter from July. A demand for$23 ,614 to replace fences, irrigation, shrubs, and trees. just 34 days to pay or face late fees and interest. For those with hardship or questions, please contact the management office for possible assistance. At least one lawsuit has been filed for non-payment. They do need to repair stuff, right? Yes, yes, sure. So what's your beef? Do you take your neighbours and kick them when they're down, when they're displaced, when they're out hundreds of thousands of dollars, when they've gone through a catastrophe?

1:21:45He and others also wonder if quite so much money is needed to fix up the common landscaping. There's people fighting, arguing back and forth. And it's just unfortunate. It's pitted neighbor against neighbor. And it didn't need to be this way. We asked the HOA board for comment. Haven't heard back. This assessment could have been much, much larger. But here are two neighbors on their side. It's just that people have different personalities and react differently in stressful times and when they are affected by trauma. And it became a little ugly. Randé Sotomayor is a professional mediator, tried to unite her neighbours with a kumbaya Zoom call.

1:22:30I don't like it because it's money out of my pocket, but I completely understand why it was required. Some don't. Rifts remain. Bottom line, rebuilding your own house after a fire is hard. Getting more than 200 households in an association to agree on how to rebuild what you share is even harder. Is anybody not talking to you because of this? I believe possibly in my next door neighbor. She doesn't want to talk to me. Fine. Jake, more than a year since the fire. Yep, there is construction going on, but there's also still a tangle of red tape, dueling lawsuits and counter lawsuits, still unclear where some compensation might be coming from.

1:23:15It's a bit of a mess. But listen, this fire killed 19 people, destroyed 9 ,000 buildings. Coming back from that is going to be a long, emotional and of painful process. Jake. All right, Nick, thanks so much. Coming up Sunday, a special Easter edition of State of the Union. We're going to talk with Democratic Senator and the Reverend Raphael Warnock at his legendary Ebenezer Baptist Church. We're going to talk about faith and politics, a special Easter Sunday edition. We're also going to talk to the NASA administrator, Jared Isaacman. That's Sunday at 9 a.m. at noon, only on CNN. Aaron Burnett out front starts now.

1:23:52Have a wonderful good Friday and an amazing Easter. I'll see you Sunday morning.

1:24:26We'll see you next time. options available. Taxes and fees extra. See full terms at mintmobile.com.