This is Jeremy Diamond joining us from Tel Aviv. So, so much has been made here, too, that, as Clarissa was noting, the 3 or 4 movies has to be at the center. The other major issue here is Lebanon and the continued trading of strikes between Israel and Hezbollah. Where do things stand this morning, Jeremy? Yeah, well, today we have seen Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon, and we have seen Hezbollah rocket attacks on northern Israel. So there certainly is no ceasefire on this front of the war. And the question, of course, is whether or not that will ultimately put in jeopardy the entirety of this broader U.S.-Iran ceasefire agreement. We've already seen Iranian officials say that they're not going to fully open the Strait of Hormuz because of the fact that Israel is continuing to carry out strikes in Lebanon. But what we are seeing is a new effort at diplomacy, one that was prompted by President Trump, who urged the Israeli prime minister to, on the one hand, scale back his strikes in Lebanon, and on the other hand, to engage in direct negotiations with Lebanon over disarming Hezbollah and also ultimately establishing peaceful relations between Israel and Lebanon. The Israeli prime minister, following his calls with President Trump, made that message, that request publicly. We could see talks between Israel and Lebanon as early as next week. But what the Israeli prime minister has also done is he has resisted a full on ceasefire in Lebanon. We've heard from sources that Israel intends to scale back some of its strikes in Lebanon. And we certainly haven't seen the level of carnage that we saw on Wednesday when Israeli strikes killed more than 300 people, including 33 children, according to UNICEF, in the span of about 10 minutes. But, you know, we are continuing to see Israeli strikes. We're still seeing Hezbollah strikes as well. And Hezbollah's General Secretary, Naim Qasem, today expressing more defiance, saying that Hezbollah will continue to fight Israel until the last breath. Erica. Jeremy, I appreciate the reporting. Thank you. We are also following this breaking news domestically. Inflation hitting its highest level in nearly two years. The latest numbers from the Trump administration show inflation rose more than 3 percent last month. Rose 2, I should say, more than 3 percent last month, as you can see there at 3.3 percent. up 0.9 from February. The oil shock from the war with Iran driving that increase. And after more than a month of rising prices, the national average for a gallon of gas, it's now $4.15. That's actually down two pennies from yesterday, but of course still incredibly high and much higher than that for folks in a lot of areas around the country. Still to come here, almost home. The Artemis crew is now just hours away from splashdown. We'll take a closer look at how they're preparing for what is considered the riskiest, It's the most precarious part of this mission and part of history. We're also going to speak this hour with Dr. Kelsey Young. She's the science lead for Artemis and the voice that guided the crew on much of their historic trip to the far side of the moon. Stay with us. You're in the Situation Room. Eva Longoria searching for France Sunday at 9 on CNN and next day on the CNN app. Style and substance. in the GMC Sierra. Or get a total value of over $11,500 on this Sierra 1500 model when you trade in an eligible vehicle. Heartworm disease. Ticks and fleas. Intestinal worms. 15 million dogs and counting no. Ceperica Trio offers triple protection against heartworm disease, ticks and fleas, and intestinal worms, all with one monthly chew. This drug class has been associated with neurologic side effects, including seizures. Use with caution and don't with or without a history of these disorders. 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Because when it comes to unlocking your home equity, there's a better way with FOA. Finance of America. Call today or get your free info kit at FOA.com. This Tokyo Series is a way to showcase what baseball means to Japan. We get to honor our teammates by coming to their home country. All of Japan will say they were at this game. Homecoming, the Tokyo Series. Now streaming on the CNN app. It is almost wake-up time for the crew of Artemis II. They'll be getting their final wake-up call for the final day of their mission in the next hour or so. They're, of course, expected to splash down tonight in the Pacific near San Diego. Today's re-entry is considered the riskiest part of this mission. Here's how the crew said they're preparing. I'll be honest and say I've actually been thinking about entry since April 3, 2023, 2023 when we got assigned to this mission. And one of the first press conferences we were asked, what are we looking forward to? And I said splashdown. And it's kind of humorous, but it's literal as well that we have to get back. There's so much data that you've seen already, but all the good stuff is coming back with us. All the good stuff is coming back with them. One of the NASA team members who's been speaking with the Artemis 2 crew is Dr. Kelsey Young. She is the science lead here, a brand new role, and a sign that NASA takes the research aspect of this mission very seriously. It's so great to hear your voice on the loops. I just want to channel everything that you guys are probably feeling right through my eyes and heart. It is awesome to see the side of the moon. I can't say enough how much science we've already learned and how much inspiration you've provided to our entire team, the lunar science community, and the entire world with what you were able to bring today. You really brought the moon closer for us today, and we cannot say thank you enough. Dr. Kelsey Young joins me now. It's great to have you with us. That whole idea of them bringing the moon closer to hear that in your words. I have to say, I have had chills so many times throughout the last 10 days watching this massive team behind this Artemis II mission, including yourself, as we enter into these final hours. I know this is a risky portion of it. Where are you at in this moment? How are you feeling? honestly you know our crew our friends are still in space right you said which is where i'm coming to you from you know it's definitely business mode it's execute mode it's you know get our colleagues home safely mode um i'm definitely a post processor i know it happens so i'm sure once they're home and and you know in a few days i'll have time to kind of sort through the oceanal part But right now, it's business as usual. You were speaking with them, right, throughout the mission. We saw some of that earlier. We were talking in the break briefly, and you were talking to me about the data, right, and there's all the science that has been sent back that's coming back with this crew. But so much of this mission is also about setting future missions up for success. This is really step one, or I guess step two, since this is Artemis II, right, following that first unmanned journey. Exactly right. So Artemis II is the first crewed flight, as you point out, of the Orion vehicle. Artemis I flew an uncrewed Orion capsule. But we're hearing more and more about these future missions just next year. And ultimately, we're building toward a moon base to establish a sustained presence on the lunar surface. It's a really exciting time. And Artemis II has really taken these next steps. um what has been the the biggest moment for you thus far as as you're watching history unfold um what has had the biggest impact oh my gosh wow that's that question this week it's crazy i mean i think the flyby itself of course i mean that was the thing i was looking forward to the most I think, you know, when I was, you know, sitting there on launch day, what I was most excited for truly was that very first description of the moon to come down from the crew on flyby day. And honestly, that bore out. You know, I think hearing people who have worked so incredibly hard to understand the science objectives of this mission and then hearing them actually, I mean, if you go back and listen to what they were communicating with me about real time, They were doing active science, exactly what we asked them to do, which is be members in the field, right, in situ at the moon, and hearing them saying that they were scientifically discussing and working multiple hours with a spacecraft near the moon. That's probably what's going to stick with me the most. There was what is remarkable is all the communication you had, right? I mean, essentially, you're in constant communication, but that's all. Most of it's public, right? We can listen in. we know what's happening. Take us behind the scenes of what will those conversations be like when the crew is back on Earth? We're not expecting to hear from them. The media is not expecting to hear from them for some time. But I would imagine you'll be talking with them. Other members of the team will be without all the cameras around, without all of us listening in. What will you really dive into with them? You know, for me, my corner of this mission, right, The Lunar Science Corner, we certainly will have debriefs with them where we ask them, again, you know, our responsibility is twofold. And we wish our other science objectives for the mission. And on the other hand, we want to learn lessons so that future missions can accomplish science even better, even more efficient. So when we sit down with them, we'll talk about both of those things, right? We'll debrief the process. You know, how did it work? Did that communication work? How was the camera hardware? How did you find to perform your science duties? But then we'll talk science. This crew is really passionate and interested in the science. We will show them data. We will show what we've been able to do with the images we've already downlinked in flight and have a back and forth with them scientifically. The space to build off of the discoveries that our team has. contributing additional, you know, recollections, experiences, data collection moments that they had in life. I want to we're going to have to leave it there, unfortunately. But I do want to just put up a picture that I think has gotten so much attention. The entire team has done so much to really this is such a unifying moment, I think, of joy and pride for this country and frankly, around the world. But when we see the images of the team that makes up this mission filled with so many women, so many people of color, you are inspiring, truly, a next generation. because if you can't see it, you can't be it. And so I just want to thank you for everything that you and your team are doing. I know our comms are not great, but Dr. Kelsey Young, thank you for your time, and we look forward to learning so much more in the days and the weeks and the years to come. We, of course, are expecting that last crew wake-up call, as I mentioned, for the mission. That happens just a little over an hour from now, and lucky you, we're going to bring it to you live. Be sure to stay with us for that. Also, our continuing coverage of this mission, the return of Artemis II. That coverage begins tonight, 7 p.m. Eastern, right here on CNN and also on the CNN app. Coming up here, reviving attention to the Epstein files. Spotlight back on the Epstein files now. Following remarks from the First Lady, remarks that may have caught the White House and even the President off guard. We'll take a close look at the fallout this morning. 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I'm Clarissa Ward in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and this is CNN. Happening today, there is growing speculation and, frankly, a whole lot of questions. After First Lady Melania Trump's surprise announcement on Thursday, where she denied having close ties to Jeffrey Epstein, and denounced what she called unfounded and baseless lies about her connection to the late convicted sex offender. Take a listen. The lies linking me with the disgraceful Jeffrey Epstein need to end today. I am not Epstein's victim. Epstein did not introduce me to Donald Trump. I met my husband by chance at the New York City party in 1998. Numerous fake images and statements about Epstein and me have been calculating on social media for years now. Be cautious about what you believe. These images and stories are completely false. I was never involved in any capacity. I was not a participant. Was never on Epstein's plane. and never visited his private island. Now is the time for Congress to act. Epstein was not alone. Those remarks, including that call you heard there for Congress to act, also included her call for Congress to hold a public hearing with Epstein's survivors, a call that drew a notable reaction from some of those very survivors. but she said that she'd like the opportunity to have the survivors testify under oath no one's ever given that us that no one's ever said that before what she also said was um that the testimony would be sworn into congressional record i think that's huge because what we're saying has to be taken seriously if it's sworn into the congressional record this is the first powerful woman and she has a lot of power, coming forward and saying, I'm going to do something. This is what should happen. What I say is, OK, let's call your bluff. CNN's Betsy Klein is at the White House with more now on how the First Lady's rare address may have undercut not only her own advisers, but also her husband. None of the reporters in the room knew that this was coming, knew anything about the substance or topic of this statement. I was told ahead of time that it was going to be a statement and not an announcement. And a senior advisor to the First Lady had told the New York Post that its substance would, quote, spread internationally. Complete silence in the White House cross hall, a very notable and official formal space to deliver this announcement, as the First Lady walked in and sought to place distance between herself, Jeffrey Epstein, and Ghislaine Maxwell. Now, she has been very litigious on this issue in the past, but she has not spoken about it publicly. ignoring a shouted question on the issue as recently as February. Now, what is most notable here is that the First Lady is directly undercutting the messaging coming from her husband, his West Wing, and some of his top lieutenants, including former Attorney General Pamela Bondi. This is something that Trump and Bondi have repeatedly and emphatically sought to tamp down, saying that the country is ready to move on. And you might remember that very notable moment at a hearing back in February when Bondi was asked to turn around and apologize to Epstein survivors. But on Thursday, Melania Trump once more showing her independent streak with this call for action. Public hearings from survivors with transparency in Congress. Now, one source familiar with the matter tells us that President Trump did get a heads up that this was coming. However, the president spoke by phone to a reporter from MS Now and said he didn't know what this was about. So as his team has urgently tried to shift the attention elsewhere, this issue now once more gaining momentum. Betsy Kline, CNN, the White House. Well, this month brings new testimony in the House Epstein investigation. The Justice Department announcing Pam Bondi does not, of course, have to appear for her upcoming deposition before the House Oversight Committee about the release of the file, saying she doesn't have to appear because she's no longer Attorney General. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, though, is scheduled for a voluntary interview with the panel on May 6th. The files showed Lutnick communicated with Epstein more than a decade after he claimed to have cut off all contact. Still to come here, we'll ask Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthy from the Oversight Committee about the first lady's statement there, her call for a public hearing for Epstein survivors, and also his call to have the president removed from office. 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Vance is on his way to Islamabad, Pakistan, where he's going to lead the negotiating team meeting with Iranian representatives this weekend. President Trump's special envoy, Steve Whitcoff, and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, are also involved in those discussions. Joining us now is Democratic Congressman Roger Krishnamurti of Illinois, who serves on the House Intelligence and Oversight Committees. Congressman, it's good to have you with us this morning. So J.D. Vance is now leading this team. Of course, we know he was not really a big fan of intervention in the first place, perhaps the most resistant within the administration, according to our reporting. Sources telling CNN last month as well that CNN, that Iran rather, had said they're done talking with Steve Whitcoff and Jared Kushner, but they would engage with the vice president. Is J.D. Vance the right person right now to be in this key position? I don't know. I think that J.D. Vance or whoever is going to be negotiating has to face one reality, which is that Iran believes that it has a lot more strategic leverage, especially economically, than it ever did before. I think the biggest problem right now is that we've exposed a huge weakness, and the Iranians know they control the Strait of Hormuz. They control our oil supplies. And as a consequence, I'm concerned that they're going to use that leverage to ease pressure on them with regard to their nuclear program or their ballistic missile program or their proxies. And in the meantime, we are engaged in an illegal and constitutional war that has to end right now. So let me just pressure on that. You said you believe Iran has more strategic leverage than it has before. You're saying you believe they're going to use that. So are you saying that this is going to lead to a weaker deal, put the United States in a worse position than we were before the war? Absolutely. I think that we should have used our diplomatic efforts in concert with our friends, partners and allies to bring to bear maximum pressure on the Iranians at a time when you know we could have done a better job of basically avoiding the economic costs that have now accrued to the United States Look, the Iranians know that Americans are reeling under four or five, six dollar gas prices at this point. Three point three percent inflation that was announced today, potentially higher interest rates. And they're going to use that against us. And those facts were not present before the start of this war. You called earlier this week for President Trump to be removed from office following his threat to, quote, eliminate to eliminate rather a whole, quote, civilization in Iran. There has been a significant amount of reaction to those comments. Of course, I want to play what one of your Democratic colleagues had to say about calls to invoke the 25th Amendment. Yeah, I think the 25th Amendment should be invoked. You know, of course, the people who have the power to do that aren't going to do that anymore than we have the votes for impeachment. So spending a lot of time focusing on, gosh, we have to remove him from office and coming up with a specific plan for it. We don't really have a path. Adam Smith there, Congresswoman Madeline Dean, also echoing a similar statement, saying a sentiment rather, saying that pursuing the 25th Amendment, she believes, is not the best use of Democrats' time. Do your colleagues have a point, Congressman? They might have a point, but remember, Marjorie Taylor Greene completely disagrees. She also called for the invocation of the 25th Amendment. I think there's a growing awareness on the part of my colleagues on the other side that this guy is losing his marbles. He is not mentally in the right place to discharge the duties of his office. And so as that chatter grows on the other side, even publicly, I think that we should, you know, call a spade a spade and say, you know, look, I don't think that this person should be running our country now. Now, remember, talking about eliminating a whole civilization in and of itself erodes our national security because it gets our adversaries and the bad guys to think, OK, well, maybe we should take preemptive action of some kind that could harm Americans and our interests around the world. There does not seem to be a lot of appetite within President Trump's cabinet to use the 25th Amendment. We'll continue to follow that, see where things go. I do want to get you, though, on these latest developments when it comes to the Epstein file. So the comments that we heard from the first lady yesterday seemingly coming out of nowhere. There are a lot of questions about the why, which still have not been answered. But in terms of what she was calling for, she's calling on Congress to hold public hearings with Epstein survivors. Is that something that the Oversight Committee has plans to follow up on? Well, I'm glad that Ranking Member Garcia echoed her sentiments. I think we should call these survivors to Congress, and I hope that Jim Comer, the chairman, listens to her call. I think that, remember, let's level set why we're even here. It's because the survivors, more than 1,000 victims of this ghastly child sex trafficking ring perpetrated by Ghislaine Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein, then girls are now middle-aged women who have yet to receive a single measure of justice. And so that has stiffened the spines of a lot of Republicans and Democrats to finally resolve this issue, shed sunshine on what happened. But yet numerous pieces of evidence and numerous documents have not been disclosed by the Trump administration. And so I think Melania's call yesterday was very important. It will seem to see how that plays out, especially given comments that we heard from the acting attorney general, Todd Blanche, about the Epstein files just in the last week. Here's what he had to say. And so I think that to the extent that the Epstein files was a part of the past year of this Justice Department, it should not be a part of anything going forward. OK, I'm not sure you totally get what people feel about that, but I want to move on. So this should not be a part of the DOJ moving forward is what we heard from him. Is that realistic? No, that's crazy talk. That's just a talking point from Donald Trump, kind of uttered by Todd Blanch. I know that Donald Trump wants this to go away. And in part, I think he started this Iran war and other foreign military ventures to avoid coming to grips with this Epstein issue. Look, millions of pages of documents have yet to be released by the Justice Department, despite the Epstein Files Transparency Act. Witnesses have not come before the Oversight Committee yet, as they should, including Pam Bondi, who, by the way, I believe should be held criminally in contempt if she does not appear before the committee as she has been subpoenaed. it. And so this issue is not going away. Republicans and Democrats are calling for full transparency and bringing justice to the survivors of this ghastly sex trafficking ring. Congressman Roger Christian Martha, we appreciate your time this morning. Thank you. Thank you, Erica. Coming up here, a journey that spans truly a lifetime. A woman born at Yale New Haven Hospital, later worked there as a janitor for 10 years. Now she's returning as a doctor. She's with us next. Somewhere out there, someone's paying $30 for a single plate of steak and shrimp. What? Teeny tiny shrimp. But don't worry, here we have big butterfly shrimp. In here we're ballin'. It's actually fire. What is? Yeah, fire. Yeah, it's fire. It's fireballin'. Best gift ever. 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Live coverage begins Friday at 7 p.m. Eastern or watch on the CNN app. Kara Swisher wants to live forever. Saturday on CNN and next day on the CNN app. This morning, an inspiring story for you. Shea Taylor Allen, you're going to meet her in just a moment. After high school, she worked as a janitor at Yale New Haven Hospital. And then her mother became sick. And after seeing what her mom went through in the health care system, She said she decided she wanted to advocate for patients like her mother. She went back to school while still working full time. She's now getting ready to graduate from Howard University School of Medicine. And her next stop. Come on. That is right. She is headed back to where it all started, back to Yale New Haven Hospital, right where she worked, where she was actually born. This time, she will be there as a resident in anesthesiology, Dr. Shea Taylor Allen, here to share her story. It is so great to have you with us this morning. You, I mean, the reach of your story, I have to say, you were inspiring so many people. That moment when you found out you had matched with Yale, I love your reaction. But just walk us through what that was like for you, what it's still like a couple of weeks later. Well, thank you for having me. this is an amazing opportunity right now. But that day was just, I always say, was just so surreal for me. I couldn't imagine that I was finally getting the answers that I needed. And it was like a sign of relief once I seen that y'all was on that paper. Yeah, I'm sure. I was really struck by, and I think so many people can relate to, that your inspiration, as I understand it, to become a doctor, to go into this field, started with your mom because of what your mom was not getting as a patient, where the system was failing her. Can you talk to me a little bit more about how that not only inspired you, but how you're sort of using that in the hopes of making a change to some of the systems that are still in place? Of course. So my mom went through a health care disparity that a lot of people in America, unfortunately, do go through. And I use that as a sense of strength. I reached out to my CEO at the time because I was actually cleaning her office. I would take out her trash. And I got this bright idea of let me email her to see if she could help out in some way. And she did that. And I got to see advocacy firsthand through my CEO. And I just knew I wanted to help more people. So that's when I decided that I wanted to become a doctor. I went home to Google, how do you become a doctor? And I wanted to help people that were like my mom. And here you are helping people like your mom. You know that you share a lot of your story on social media, which is so engaging. And you have a number of followers, I think, who would agree. But part of that message that you also have is to not be afraid of no. You weren't afraid of the no, right, when you reached out to the CEO for help with your mom. How do you think that's continued to serve you? I think it continued to open more doors for me. I wasn't scared of doors shining in my face. I wasn't afraid of failure, right? Failure was a big part of my journey. I felt so many times before I got here. And a thing I did not allow is for people to make me believe that I didn't belong here. So I became so skillful and knowledgeable in the things that I needed to learn so I wasn't dismissed or denied. So I kept opening those doors and I kept kind of putting down those walls so I can be where I am today. You've talked about the importance of mentors and how they have really served you. And I can see you paying it forward, right? Even just in what you're putting out on social media. How important is that to you? And also just even in the form of representation, what that can mean. It's extremely important. We need people that look like us in order to mentor us through this process. My mentor is not a woman of color, but she helped me so much to get through this journey and to refine my application and help me with things with how to become more professional in these spaces. So I think having people who look like you or even people who want to help you because that's just what they want to do is extremely important in this journey. Shea, thank you for giving us a bright spot. The news cycle can feel pretty rough, I know, for a lot of people. This is the kind of good news that we all need. Thank you. And best of luck to you. Thank you so much. Thank you for having me. Absolutely. Absolutely. Connecticut's lucky to have you. Thank you. Still to come here in the Situation Room, how about another bit of good news? The countdown to Splashdown. Hours away now from Artemis II's return to Earth following this historic mission around the moon. And it is a big day ahead for the crew. The alarm goes off for them just about 40 minutes from now. We're going to be live from Mission Control in Houston ahead. Our brains are incredible, but memory can get complicated. it that's why scientists develop nareva memory 3d with clinically tested ingredients to support three dimensions of your memory take it from me an elephant never forgets remember nareva look at this endless big butterfly shrimp for us endless steak for them oh did you know that buffet is French for happy wallet I say German Well amigo you just got schooled in buffetonomics You're late. Hey-hoo! Forget the warm-up. DirecTV got hot. They're on fire with more MLB games than anyone. Welcome to the big leagues, kid. How old are you? Eleven. The itch and rash of moderate to severe eczema disrupts my skin. Despite treatment, it's still not under control. 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So these new numbers show that consumer sentiment at the beginning of this month unexpectedly plunged to all-time lows. Since they started tracking this shortly after World War II, you look at consumer sentiment falling by 11% just between March and April. sentiment is now 9% lower than it was at this point last year. And look, this really shows two things. One, I think how shocked people are by skyrocketing gasoline prices, but also just how sensitive Americans are to any sort of price increase right now, especially highly visible ones like gasoline. And the fact that we're talking about record low consumer sentiment really does say a lot when you think about the fact that this means that sentiment is now lower than it was back in 2022 when gas prices were at five dollars a gallon, lower than even the lowest points of COVID or after the Great Recession. And the University of Michigan, which puts out this survey, it said that this really was across the board. This was a widespread breakdown in sentiment. They said it was across age group, income groups and political affiliation. Now, I should note that 98 percent of these interviews were done before the ceasefire was announced. But Erica, As you know, we're not expected to go back to those pre-war gasoline prices anytime soon. Back to you. All right, Matt, appreciate it. Thank you. The next hour of The Situation Room starts right now. This is CNN Breaking News. Welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm Erica Hill. Wolf Blitzer is off. Pamela Brown is on assignment. We begin this hour with the breaking news. We are now just hours away from these peace talks aimed at ending the war with Iran. Vice President J.D. Vance at this hour is on his way to Islamabad, Pakistan. His delegation will include Special Envoy Steve Whitcoff as well as President Trump's son, Ahmad Jared Kushner. Here's what the vice president had to say just before leaving a short time ago. We're looking forward to the negotiation. I think it's going to be positive. We'll foresee, as the president of the United States said, if the Iranians are willing to negotiate in good faith, we're certainly willing to extend the open hand. If they're going to try to play us, then they're going to find that the negotiating team is not that receptive. So we're going to try to have a positive negotiation. The president has gave us some pretty clear guidelines, and we're going to see. One of the major topics of those talks, the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. So the image that you're looking at there, you can see just how shipping has come to a virtual standstill. You see all the boats there that are not able to go anywhere. And this, of course, is a route that supplies some 20 percent of the world's oil. Reopening the strait was a condition of the ceasefire. Analysts, though, say it is still at this point too risky for ships to make that journey. Another threat to derail this fragile ceasefire, Lebanon. Today, Israel and Iran backed Hezbollah exchanging more attacks. Israel says it has agreed to direct peace talks with Lebanon as soon as possible. We also have some new CNN reporting here. Sources telling us that just before the announcement of those Israel-Lebanon talks that President Trump held a tense phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. An Israeli source telling CNN Netanyahu came to understand that if he did not call for the direct talks with Lebanon, Trump might simply declare a ceasefire. Netanyahu's office telling CNN yesterday's call was a friendly conversation. For more now on the war in Iran, I want to bring in Republican Congressman Carlos Jimenez of Florida. He serves in the House Armed Services and Homeland Security Committees. Congressman, it's good to have you with us at this hour. Let's start with where things stand and specifically with that call and what is happening. Earlier this week, you had said the U.S. needs to finish the job here, highlighting the accomplishments of the U.S. military, but also telling Fox Business that we can't, in your words here, leave, quote, the entire developed world vulnerable still to this regime. How vulnerable do you believe the U.S. is going into these negotiations, given that Iran controls the Strait of Hormuz now, which is not the case before the U.S. and Israel launched this war? Well, I mean, Iran could have controlled the Strait of Hormuz at any time they wanted to. And this just demonstrates that this is what they will do in the future. Can you imagine a nuclear-armed Iran now putting basically a gun to the world's head and says, well, now you have to pay us $10 a barrel for every barrel that flows through the straits, and we're going to control it, and there's nothing you can do about it, especially after they already have a nuclear weapon. That's why Iran can never have a nuclear weapon. Part of the negotiations has to be that the Strait of Hormuz have to be open to international shipping, and that Iran will never obtain a nuclear weapon. Now, Iran wants to have a nuclear weapon, and they want to control the Strait of Hormuz, So I guess I think we're a little bit, we're far apart on what we want and what Iran wants. So it would be interesting to see what happens with these negotiations. What is the leverage that the United States has going in, given that there has been much made of Iran's increase in leverage? Because it is, as you noted, you said they could have controlled the Strait of Hormuz before they didn't. The reality is right now they are essentially holding that waterway hostage. Yeah, right now they are. But, you know, eventually they will succumb to American military pressure and military dominance. And so we can operate in Iran anytime we want. We can touch them anytime we want. And so they have to understand that. They do understand that. And so we're dealing with a regime that uses its own people as shields for legitimate military targets. We're dealing with a regime that has killed between 30,000 to 50,000 of their own people two months ago. We're dealing with a regime that is attacking neutral ships in international waters. All those are war crimes. And so, you know, I, you know, I go in there with my eyes wide open. I don't trust this regime at all. And this even though the Trump administration is saying it's a new regime, it sure looks a heck of a like like the old regime. And so, you know, we have our work cut out for us. This is not going to be easy. But I but listen, Iran is a cancer. All right. And whenever you're trying to cure cancer, the the medicine is going to be painful. But we have to go through it in order to cure that cancer and rid the world of this menace, which is this regime in Iran. So just picking up on what you're saying there, we know the president is keeping assets in the region. These are going to be difficult talks, is what I'm hearing from you, which is what we've heard from a number of folks. What I hear from you, too, is if this diplomatic effort does not work, are you comfortable then with the U.S. resuming these attacks? And if so, what does that look like to you? well we look if it doesn't work and uh and the the the president has basically called a ceasefire for two weeks our leverage is our ability to hit and strike iran at any time in any place of our choosing and really crippling crippling the regime and that's what we need to do if it gets if it gets to that and so the regime has to understand that they do i mean we've been operating there for 40 days and they've been basically able to do nothing about it uh and so that's where we come in. And then our capacity to eventually open the Strait of Wermuth anyway, regardless of what Iran wants to do, by crippling their coastal defensive systems and offensive systems, and then bringing NATO in eventually to start to convoy these ships through. We cannot allow a nuclear-armed Iran to hold the world hostage. And if they become a nuclear power, they will. We also have to obtain the 500 kilograms of nuclear material that Iran has right now. So that's got to be some of the things that are non-starters for us. And yeah, we're going to be far apart, but then, you know, Iran is going to have to suffer the consequences if in fact they don't come to the negotiating table. In terms of suffering the consequences, of course, earlier this week, the president threatened to, in his words, eliminate a, quote, whole civilization in Iran. that has prompted a lot of pushback for obvious reasons. You mentioned war crimes on the part of Iran. That has brought up questions about war crimes potentially, if the U.S. were to act on that, along with the threats of taking out energy infrastructure. Are you comfortable with the president's language? Look, I mean, the president has his way of trying to negotiate. And so a lot of times what I'll do is I don't listen to really a lot of what he says. I just look at what he does. Would you be comfortable if he ordered the military to wipe out an entire civilization? Absolutely not. I mean, that's not something I ought to be comfortable with, wiping out a civilization. But again, I'm not also comfortable with Iran threatening to wipe out Israel and America for the last 47 years. Death to America, death to Israel. I'm not comfortable with that either. But the only people that really actually have war crimes against them is the Iranian regime. Like I said, using their own population as human shields on legitimate military targets, striking neutral flagships in international waters. Those are real war crimes at this regime. And then killing thousands of their own people when all they want is freedom. Those are war crimes. So we're dealing with a regime that has been perpetrating war crimes for decades. For the President of the United States to say that, which I wish he hadn't, but that is not a war crime. That's his negotiating style, and so I'll leave it there. There are multiple players, of course, in this war. As I noted, I already reported President Trump in an interview. He had said yesterday that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asked him to be a little more low-key in his Lebanon operations. is Israel and the continued back and forth between Israel and Hezbollah is that complicating these diplomatic efforts going into discussions tomorrow? Yeah, probably and maybe but also Israel has a right to defend itself and Hezbollah continues to launch rockets at Israel and Israel has a right to defend itself. What is interesting is that the Lebanese government is starting to become more and more friendly to our side and is asking Hezbollah to disarm. That's a heck of a development that the Lebanese government would do that. And so I think the pressure campaign is working. Hezbollah, Hamas, they need to be disarmed. And Iran has to be convinced that they can no longer fund these proxies that create havoc in