Tonight on Amanpour and Company, Thursday, April 2nd, 2026 [View all]

Tonight on Amanpour and Company
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Thursday, April 2nd, 2026

John Kirby
Former U.S. National Security Communications Adviser / Former White House Official
American and Israeli bombs will continue pounding Iran. President Trump, seeking to reassure Americans that he has a plan, said, "We're going to hit them extremely hard over the next two to three weeks. We're going to bring them back to the Stone Ages, where they belong." These comments appear to be blowing up in Trump's face: Iranians are angry about the verbal assault on their 2,500-year-old civilization, and support of the Iranian diaspora for the war appears to be diminishing. Trump's address shed no additional light on a possible plan for the war's end. Oil traders were clearly hoping for a plan for reopening the Strait of Hormuz. They didn't get one. John Kirby is a former U.S. Navy Rear Admiral and has served as Pentagon spokesperson, State Department spokesperson and National Security Communications Adviser. Kirby joins the show from Chicago.

Edward Wong
Diplomatic Correspondent, The New York Times
America's shifting objectives for its war with Iran are giving the world whiplash. New York Times Diplomatic Correspondent Edward Wong says it's all part of the president's "destroy and deal" doctrine. Wong joined the show to discuss this, and China's increasingly complicated role in the Middle East.

Vali Nasr
Former U.S. State Department Adviser / Professor, School of Advanced International Studies, John Hopkins University
Iran's military says the U.S. and Israel will face "lasting regret, and ultimate surrender" — while also denying Iran has been weakened by more than a month of war. Despite Trump's claims of discussion with Iran, there seems to have been no negotiation — and there may be no Iranian negotiators left to talk to. Former Foreign Minister Kamal Kharazi, now adviser to the Supreme Leader, was seriously injured in a strike on a residential building that killed his wife, according to Iran's state media. Vali Nasr, Iran scholar and former adviser to the U.S. State Department, joins Christiane.

In Case You Missed It
Employed But Still Homeless: The Invisible Population Growing Every Year
Economic pain at home and abroad from the war in Iran is placing millions of Americans at risk of financial ruin, following years of housing scarcity and employment volatility. Brian Goldstone, in his new book "There Is No Place for Us," reports on the changing face of homelessness in America by following five working families in Atlanta. The author joins the show to discuss.