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The Lead with Jake Tapper

Ceasefire Deadline Looms Ahead Of Potential Talks; Starmer Apologizes For Controversial Ambassador Appointment; Lori Chavez- DeRemer To Step Down As Labor Secretary; Officials Identify 8 Children Shot & Killed By A Louisiana Father; Trump: Energy Secy "Totally Wrong" That Gas Prices Might Not Dip Below $3 Before 2027. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired April 20, 2026 - 17:00   ET

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

KASIE HUNT, CNN HOST AND POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Do not forget, you can now stream "The Arena" live. You can catch up whenever you want to. It's all in the CNN app. Just scan the Q.R. code below on your screen. You can also catch up by listening to "The Arena" podcast if that's how you prefer, you know, your buds. You can also follow the show on X and Instagram @thearenacnn. Don't go anywhere. Phil Mattingly is standing by for "The Lead." Hi, Phil.

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF DOMESTIC CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Kasie. Thanks so much. We'll for more tomorrow in "The Arena."

HUNT: Have a great show.

MATTINGLY: A ceasefire with Iran is about to expire. Will we see more strikes? "The Lead" starts right now. New video reveals the dramatic moments the U.S. Military seized the ship on the Strait of Hormuz. Now, with less than 48 hours on the ceasefire clock, President Trump is dispatching Vice President J.D. Vance overseas. But will Iran show up for talks? And a public apology from U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer. His statement today tied to the Epstein files as he tries to quiet calls for him to resign. Plus, breaking news, instead of a software update, this time, Apple is making a CEO update. Tim Cook stepping down at the top of the tech company.

Welcome to "The Lead." I'm Phil Mattingly, in for Jake Tapper. We start in our "World Lead." The U.S. and Iran heading for another potential round of precarious peace talks. This time, under a deadline with the two-week ceasefire set to end this week.

Now, President Trump tells Bloomberg that the ceasefire will expire Wednesday evening Eastern Time, which is actually a day past its original expiration date, but that it's highly unlikely he'll extend it further if no deal is reached this week. Now, according to a post from Trump today, he is -- quote -- "under no pressure whatsoever" to make a deal, "although, it will all happen relatively quickly." He writes, time is not my adversary. The only thing that matters is that we finally, after 47 years, straighten out the mess that other presidents let happen because they didn't have the courage or foresight to do what had to be done with respect to Iran.

Vice President J.D. Vance and other senior officials are expected to travel to Pakistan Tuesday ahead of a second round of talks with an Iranian delegation. Iran has not yet confirmed its participation. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian wrote today on social media that his country maintains a -- quote -- "deep historical mistrust" of the U.S. government, criticizing what he calls -- quote -- "unconstructive and contradictory signals from U.S. officials." They seek Iran's surrender, he writes. Iranians do not submit to force.

Now, the latest obstacle before U.S. and Iranian officials staring down the expiration date of that ceasefire and a potential second round of high stakes peace talks, the U.S. seizure of an Iranian- flagged cargo ship on the Gulf of Oman on Sunday.

CNN's Brian Todd starts us off breaking down what we actually know about this military operation.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): First came a six-hour standoff, according to U.S. Central Command, with repeated warnings to the Iranian-flagged cargo ship, the Touska, to stop heading toward an Iranian port in violation of the blockade. The Iranian vessel failed to comply, CENTCOM says. Then a more urgent warning from the U.S. Navy.

UNKNOWN (voice-over): Motor vessel Touska, motor vessel Touska, vacate your engine room, vacate your engine room. We are prepared to subject you to disabling fire.

TODD (voice-over): Video from the Navy then shows the U.S.-guided missile destroyer, the USS Spruance, firing repeated rounds at the Touska.

(FIRING)

The Iranian vessel disabled. Then, in the darkness of night, a dramatic boarding captured in a carefully edited video released by the U.S. Military. Marines from the amphibious assault ship the USS Tripoli rappelled down to the deck of the Touska from helicopters. How dangerous a mission was this for both sides?

MARK MONTGOMERY, RETIRED REAR ADMIRAL, COMMANDED USS GEORGE WASHINGTON CARRIER STRIKE GROUP: The rappelling down onto the deck is dangerous. The firing of the round into the ship was dangerous for the Iranians. So, there's risk here. How much risk is determined by what kind of fight the Iranians put up. They didn't.

TODD (voice-over): Former NATO supreme allied commander, Wesley Clark, believes even though the Iranian ship allegedly failed to heed the U.S. warnings, it's unlikely that its captain was just freelancing.

WESLEY CLARK, RETIRED GENERAL, FORMER NATO SUPREME ALLIED COMMANDER: I'm sure the Iranian ship was in contact with Iranian authorities. It was an Iranian-owned ship. So, they would have had control of it. It was a -- it was a test. They wanted to see if we would stop it. We did stop it. TODD (voice-over): The Iranian ship is now in U.S. custody. Analysts say it's likely to be taken to an anchorage or port for inspection. It could eventually become U.S. property as a so-called prize, experts say, because it was seized after trying to run a blockade. Iran has threatened to retaliate for the seizure of the Touska.

MONTGOMERY: Do I think they're pissed at the U.S. Navy? Yes. Do I think if they could get a shot at a U.S. Navy ship, they would take it? In a heartbeat. But one of the things that happened over the last 45 days is a lot of their anti-ship cruise missiles were hit, a lot of their longer-range drones were hit.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[17:05:06]

TODD (on camera): So, what happens now to the crew of the Iranian vessel? Analysts say that depends on their nationalities. Any non- Iranian crew members on board, they say, would likely be taken off of the ship and repatriated. But any Iranian crew members on the ship could be detained because of the fact that the Iranians ran through that blockade, and especially if the ship was found to be carrying armaments or weapons for Iran.

CNN has reached out to CENTCOM for information on the nationalities of the crew members and on the status of the cargo ship. Haven't heard back on that yet. Phil?

MATTINGLY: Brian Todd with the latest. Thanks so much. I want to now bring in CNN national security analyst Peter Bergen. And Peter, to be honest, it's a little hard right now to follow exactly where things are headed. It's a little bit fluid. The president sometimes seems to be in different places than where his team is. We don't know where the Iranians are going. Given the fact, though, that the president is now stating, look, this is a hard, firm deadline, even if I moved it today, what's your sense on the ability to actually hammer something out in a very, very short period of time?

PETER BERGEN, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: I'm enormously skeptical, Phil, because it took the Obama administration at least 18 months to negotiate the JCPOA, the 2015 nuclear agreement. Trump has been posting about that today, saying that we're going to get a better agreement. If an agreement happens, it probably will be not dissimilar to the JCPOA agreement. On the table, when violence was last in Islamabad, was a 20-year moratorium. Obama got a 15-year moratorium, which Trump pulled out of in 2018.

So, look, you don't do this over coffee in the Serena Hotel in Islamabad over several hours. I mean, it's just too complicated. Both sides -- I mean, the lead in to your show showed how difficult this is going to be because there are so many fundamental disagreements. The commander-in-chief himself, it's so hard to pass what he actually means or what he actually believes. Does he even know what will happen tomorrow?

MATTINGLY: And I think you raised a really good point because -- and again, this is just one anecdotal example. But as we've been trying to figure out, will this happen? Who will be going if it does happen? There has been a question about J.D. Vance.

And the reason there's a question is because the president keeps saying things that aren't necessarily tracking with what we've seen, including at one point that Vance wasn't going, then that Vance was going, then that Vance was already on the ground, then we saw Vance at 11 a.m. this morning after the president had said he was on the ground show up at the White House. We believe Vance is going. We've been told he's going at this point, same delegation as the last time.

I think the question is, to your point, what does the president's kind of back and forth over what's actually happening right now due to the forthcoming negotiations?

BERGEN: I mean, I think it's deeply confusing. I mean, there's another clock ticking, which you know very well, Phil, which is the War Powers Resolution Act, which is, you know, obviously, presidents have tended to ignore it, but it does come up on May 1st, and it only requires a couple of Republicans who might be getting messages from constituents for that to actually be a problem for him. So, technically, there should be a vote. People will force a vote, I think, on May 1st on that issue.

And, you know, this is the least popular war at its inception that the United States has ever engaged in since polling started. So, it isn't getting better. I mean, with every passing day, you know, this is not -- there has been very confusing message around it.

And not least, you know, there was that blip where oil prices went down, but they lasted a day and it was based on essentially, you know, both sides disagreeing on the Strait of Hormuz. So, look, I mean, I hope it goes well on this, the whole world does, but, you know, will it go well? It seems highly unlikely.

MATTINGLY: If it does not go well, do you believe a hot war restarts immediately?

BERGEN: I think so because I think, you know, Trump has sort of boxed himself in. I mean, he has given another day to the ceasefire, as you pointed out, but he -- I just -- I don't think he can do nothing when -- it's his ceasefire. He's the one who came forward with it. And already, look, a blockade is an act of war already. Let's not kid ourselves. So, even though the ceasefire is sort of holding, the blockade itself is an act of war. So, more like activities continue to happen.

MATTINGLY: The Strait of Hormuz right now, obviously, where the blockade is around at this point in time. The one thing, I believe it was Friday, all the days are blending together at this point, where everybody seemed to say, at least verbally, that the Strait of Hormuz was open. And all I could think about in that moment was there's no way Iran lets go of what they have gained in terms of sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz, the financial aspects of it when it comes to tolling at this point. That seems to be something that the Iranians would never want to part with. Do you see any way in which in a negotiation they're willing to send things back to the way they had been for 47 years prior?

BERGEN: Of course not, because they're making potentially a billion dollars a day on fees. Why would they give that up? Their economy is in free fall. They've got a lot of sanctions against them.

[17:10:00]

This is actually a way they can make money. So, I would be -- you know, why would anybody give that up?

MATTINGLY: Do you see the U.S. signing on to a deal if Iran does not give that?

BERGEN: Well, that will be where the negotiations start. You know, the way wars end is a mutual recognition of a mutually hurting stalemate. Both sides have to -- have to feel that. And right now, I think both sides are saying, I can take -- we can take more pain, whether that's the commander-in-chief of the United States or the ayatollahs in Iran. You know, could that be a day? Could that be a week? We could be talking about this in three or four months from now. There's no reason why it shouldn't happen that way, unfortunately.

MATTINGLY: There's a lot to continue to dig into, and I am always grateful for your perspective and expertise. Peter Bergen, thanks so much as always. Well, given this war, as we were just discussing, will gas prices ever dip back down below the $3 mark? Why President Trump called out his energy secretary for his response to that question when he was asked by CNN's own Jake Tapper. We'll have that. Plus, a tragic statement today from U.S. Senator Mark Warner announcing the death of his young adult daughter. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:14:57]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEIR STARMER, PRIME MINISTER OF UNITED KINGDOM: I should not have appointed Peter Mandelson. I take responsibility for that decision. And I apologize again to the victims of the pedophile Jeffrey Epstein who were clearly failed by my decision.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MATTINGLY: In our "World Lead," U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer feeling the heat in Parliament today as he addressed the growing scandal involving Peter Mandelson, the former U.K. ambassador to the U.S. Mandelson was fired last September when the extent of his ties to Jeffrey Epstein came to light. He is now under police investigation over possibly leaking documents, government documents, to Epstein.

CNN's Max Foster is outside 10 Downing Street in London. Max, Starmer faces huge criticism for not knowing Mendelson failed the vetting process, but reportedly got an override to take the position since Starmer had already appointed him? MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR: Yes. So, he's here in Downing Street tonight, but the knives are out for him. I have to say, he's basically in Parliament today. He admitted a massive system failure in his government. So, what he's saying is that he appointed Peter Mandelson. At that time, still very controversial because he had known links with Jeffrey Epstein. And also, he wasn't a career diplomat, but it's pretty clear that Keir Starmer wanted him to be in position. He'd also had this very checkered past as a politician, being fired twice in the past. But he wanted his man.

What he's arguing is after he was appointed, the Foreign Office just down the road here did the full security vetting, and he failed the very top level of that vetting. Keir Starmer is saying he wasn't told about that, so he sacked the head of the Foreign Office, Olly Robbins, and he says it was all his fault effectively. This is how Keir Starmer justified it today in Parliament.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STARMER: This is information I should have had a long time ago. And it is information that this House should have had a long time ago. It is information that I and the House have the right to know.

KEMI BADENOCH, LEADER, UNITED KINGDOM CONSERVATIVE PARTY: The right honorable gentleman's defense is that he, a former director of public prosecutions, is so lacking in curiosity that he chose to ask no questions about the vetting process. He asked no questions about Mandelson's relationship with Epstein. He asked no questions about the security risk Mandelson posed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: So, all the opposition parties calling for Keir Starmer to go, including members actually of his own backbench party as well. The big test, Phil, I think will be tomorrow when Olly Robbins, the head of the Foreign Office, will have his say at Parliament, and we'll see whether or not the stories match up.

MATTINGLY: Max, at the risk of trying to turn everything into a U.S.- related story, as Americans are often willing to do, the timing of all these happening with King Charles, Queen Camilla heading to the U.S. in less than a week for a state visit. Does that complicate anything here?

FOSTER: Well, it's possibly the most sensitive trip I can imagine of a monarch, either this one or the previous one at this time, because what you've got here is the king, who is head of the government but also has a duty to stay above politics, will not be able to address this issue. And if he's caught out by that, he could constitutionally be held up on that.

This is also Epstein-related. The king is head of the legal service here, which is currently investigating his brother, Andrew. Also, something he can't comment on because he can't be seen to jeopardize that case. So, very, very sensitive trip for him. It couldn't be harder. But he's pretty experienced at this. And I think President Trump is aware that -- he has been made aware, certainly behind the scenes, that the king can't comment on this. So, I'm sure we'll try to avoid any embarrassment for him.

MATTINGLY: Max Foster in London, thanks so much, my friend. Well, some breaking news from the White House. The Trump administration just announced a cabinet-level shakeup. We're going to go live to the White House, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:20:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MATTINGLY: We do have breaking news from the White House. The Trump administration has just announced a cabinet-level departure. I want to get straight to CNN's Kristen Holmes on the North Lawn. Kristen, who is it? What's happening?

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, right now, we know that the secretary of labor, Lori Chavez-DeRemer, who has been under a months-long investigation, is leaving the administration. I want to get right to this post we saw from Steven Cheung, who does communications here at the White House, who said, Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer will be leaving the administration to take a position in the private sector. She has done a phenomenal job in her role by protecting American workers, enacting fair labor practices, and helping Americans gain additional skills to improve their lives. Keith Sonderling will take the role of acting secretary of labor.

OK. So, a couple things to keep in mind here. There are only two other people that we know have left the cabinet. They are Attorney General Pam Bondi and secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem. We have been talking about who is going to be next to leave. There was widespread concern within the White House that because of this investigation into Chavez-DeRemer, it would be her and that there would be a lot of backlash over the fact that it would be three women who were removed from the cabinet.

Now, we don't know whether or not she resigned from this position or if she was fired by President Trump. You can hear this very explicitly vague context here by saying she's leaving the administration. But that had been a concern among many officials in the White House, that three of the cabinet officials that were gone were women.

Just to give a little bit of background here. This case against her, this investigation into Chavez-DeRemer had been growing. We were told at one point it was in its final stages.

[17:25:00]

This all started with a complaint to the Inspector General's Office of widespread misconduct. Since then, there have been a lot of resignations. There have been public episodes. We've seen reporting in "The New York Times" about her family members being alleged to be text messaging. That was all part of this investigation. So, just last week, there seemed to be new information dropping. So, clearly, it was becoming somewhat of a distraction. But again, there had been a lot of conversations as to who the next cabinet member was going to be that departed. Now, of course, it is the secretary of labor.

Now, the one other part of this that is so fascinating is it really comes to show you the pivot that we are in right now at the White House after a year and a half of no firings at all coming to a place. And now, we've had three out in just the last, I think, two months. And we don't see any sign of that slowing down.

President Trump has clearly entered a new phase of this presidency where he wants to have who he wants around, when he wants them around. He doesn't want that fear or isn't being led by that fear of looking like a revolving door like the first term. And that was something that had really driven him to try to keep a status quo, try to keep a very level cabinet. Again, we've moved on to the new phase now.

MATTINGLY: Yes. Underappreciated stability, I think, of the senior team and cabinet officials up to this point. Starting to change pretty fast, though. Kristen Holmes somehow keeping up with all of it at the White House, thank you very much, my friend.

I want to talk about this with the folks from "The Huddle" podcast, former Trump press secretary, Sean Spicer, veteran journalist, good pal, Rachael Bade, Democratic strategist Dan Turrentine.

All right, look, I'm going to TLDR Kristen's great rundown here, like DOL was a mess, almost entirely because of Lori Chavez-DeRemer and the -- it seemed like ever -- we were talking about it before we came on, like the day after day after day of allegations that were really not great and looked bad. She now leaves. What do you make of it?

SEAN SPICER, CO-HOST, "THE HUDDLE": The irony is it's probably the one cabinet member aide from Sean Duffy the Democrats want to stay in the cabinet. She had great relationship with the teamsters and other unions. I say Sean Duffy because he has worked across, you know, party lines to really get a lot of transportation done. But, you know, look, you're right, there was headline after headline after headline. That's where Trump just can't stand the chaos and says enough, like there weren't enough deliverables, if you will, in the Department of Labor purview to substantiate keeping her. So, for those reasons, she's out.

RACHAEL BADE, PODCAST CO-HOST, VETERAN JOURNALIST: Let's also think about what Republicans have been talking about and yelling about at the top of their lungs past week, and that is Eric Swalwell, right? There is a reckoning happening on Capitol Hill when it comes to sexual misconduct, inappropriate text messages with people.

And, you know, I'm not saying -- I'm not equating, you know, what she is accused of and what Eric Swalwell is accused of by any means, but it's hard to stand on a soapbox when the person standing next to you has allegations against them as well. So, I don't know, we don't know yet if she was pushed out, did she resign on her own but, I mean, I wouldn't be surprised if she was indeed fired, that this is part of the calculus. This is all, you know, in the swirl right now. And they've got a problem in their own cabinet with somebody who has some serious allegations against her.

DAN TURRENTINE, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST, PODCAST CO-HOST: Well, this, I think, Phil, is part of it. You said last year that they've been very stable. They had a very stable campaign. What was happening in both of those instances? They were winning. They were doing well. They have not been doing well the last four months, right? And when that happens, you tend to make some changes, right? What you might have let go before, now is suddenly like, hey, this is bothering me. The headlines are getting worse. You're out. I wouldn't feel very good, perhaps, if I were Kash Patel right now.

SPICER: Well, look, I think the big difference between Secretary DeRemer and others is that, as I said, there weren't a ton of big deliverables. She had done a 50-state tour, which is admirable, going out there talking to workers in these different states. She had good relationships with the union. But I think when President Trump looks at a cabinet official, if they're not delivering for him in a big way and they've got these scandals. And again, this is the other thing. You kind of mentioned it. It's not just her, Kristen mentioned this, it's the husband, it's the father.

(LAUGHTER)

I mean, there's a point at which it's one thing if it's just you. But when it's like the entire family, you got a problem.

MATTINGLY: When it's you reading a story and you're like, wait, I thought it was the husband. Oh no, it's the father. It's both of them.

SPICER: Yes. But the other thing is -- look, here's the other thing. I literally have a shameless plug, a new book coming out where I talk about --

(CROSSTALK)

BADE: Don't get it started, Phil.

SPICER: Here's the deal. Pat of the reason that I talk about the difference in Trump 1.0 and 2.0 is the different relationship that the cabinet had. You referenced it. But here's the thing. Lori was not one of those people who had that relationship with him. Pete Hegseth has known President Trump for 15 years. Susie Wiles has been around him for 10 years. Karoline served in the first term. Lori was brought in at the recommendation of the team.

MATTINGLY: Sean O'Brien.

SPICER: Sean, right.

(CROSSTALK) Right. So, this is not somebody that had a relationship to fall back on President Trump with and say, Mr. President, you know me, you know who I am, you know my family, you know, this is all fake news, like she didn't have that infrastructure around him, which is why you should read Trump 2.0.

(LAUGHTER)

MATTINGLY: I was going to get to it.

BADE: All right.

[17:30:00]

MATTINGLY: You know, again, I understand. A true savvy pro, making sure to get in.

BADE: Always get selling. Always get selling.

MATTINGLY: Yes.

SPICER: And subscribe to the D.C. Huddle.

MATTINGLY: That I -- that -- I mean, how do you guys feel in high definition? Do you feel good? Like is it, a lot of people are waking up to you guys and coughing, do you feel like you're showing out right now the way?

BADE: It's a good thing they don't have high definition in the morning.

MATTINGLY: No, no, no, it's great. One of the things that I wanted to get to is our good friend Josh Dawsey had this story in "The Wall Street Journal" about the President and kind of what was going on behind the scenes as he was working through Iran at this point in time. Obviously we've seen the public bluster, the shows of strength, the threats that he's had, but also you can hear him sometimes allude to concerns about perhaps going down the path of a Jimmy Carter with what happened in the failed Iran rescue or types of foreign policy fiascos like that going forward. What was your read on kind of the state of play inside the Oval Office right now?

TURRENTINE: Well, I think he wants to get out of this, but he also has his brand, which is strength, dominance and winning. And in Venezuela it was easy, right? You were in, we were out within, you know, four hours, it was clean, basically President Rubio now running the country. Here he can't figure it out. And we talk often on the show, I think that most people thought, OK, this isn't going to help him politically, maybe it won't cause him a lot of harm.

Now the question is to what degree has he harmed his party? And I think for those reasons he sees, all right, I got to get out. But you can't as an American right now, just leave. And the question is, what does victory look like? And there's a lot of gray in that right now. And for a guy who doesn't do kind of shades of gray, it creates a lot of problems. MATTINGLY: To that point, and I should note, Annie Linskey was on the byline too, also a good pal of mine, no disrespect.

TURRENTINE: We love everybody.

MATTINGLY: We like Annie way more than we like Dawsey. You're hearing from the same and probably many more Republicans on Capitol Hill as I am right now about quiet frustrations, wanting, knowing that's a midterm year, wanting to just focus on what he was talking about in Arizona, in Nevada, tax, no tax on tips, One Big, Beautiful Bill. What are they telling you behind the scenes right now about how they're feeling?

BADE: I mean, they're worried, obviously. And that's why Susie Wiles, I mean, right now as we speak sometime today, she's going to be sort of convening a whole bunch of the top Trump brains to gather at the Waldorf Astoria to talk about the midterms and messaging. What do we need to do to try to hold our majorities? The challenge here is that we've heard about these sort of high-level meetings happening a lot over the past four and five months, and it's always the same thing, which is focus on affordability, talk up your victories, right, enough with the GOP infighting, and focus on domestic politics, not, you know, foreign policy.

But every time they have one of these meetings, the President does something like, you know, go pick up Maduro in Venezuela, bring him to U.S. courts. And now we're in Iran after another one of those meetings. So the person who perhaps needs to hear that, at least focus on domestics, is the President. And clearly, he is a bit distracted at the moment.

We have also talked on the show about GOP infighting and how it is, you know, just dominating as Dan said, just dominating.

SPICER: There's the infighting, and then there's also the lack of being able to deliver. These guys go into an election year with a list of accomplishments, said, in 30 years, I would want this going in Big, Beautiful Bill, no tax on tips, trade, all these things from the MAHA movement, and they can't even message it right. They've got the list of accomplishments. They need to go out and sell it.

MATTINGLY: The guy in the Oval Office, too. You got a book coming out about this?

SPICER: I do. Yes. Trump 2.0, available on Amazon right now.

MATTINGLY: Dan, Sean, my good friend Rachael Bade, appreciate you guys, as always. Thanks so much.

[17:33:27]

Well, up next, President Trump today is contradicting his own energy secretary on the price of gas. And when you might see those prices go dramatically lower. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) MATTINGLY: The nation joined Shreveport, Louisiana, the whole community in mourning the lives of eight young children, seven of them killed by their father and what police describe as a domestic attack, the youngest victim, just three years old, the oldest, 11. Police say on Sunday morning, 31-year-old Shamar Elkins shot and killed seven of his kids, a cousin and critically wounded his wife and another woman.

One child, a 13-year-old boy, managed to escape. Elkins died during a shootout with police. CNN's Isabel Rosales has more on how this tragedy unfolded as a community grieves from what is now the nation's deadliest mass shooting since 2024.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TROY BROWN, UNCLE OF VICTIMS: I'm the uncle of the girl that was -- that are deceased. Them children were my life.

ISABEL ROSALES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A father killed seven of his young children and their cousin in a horrific domestic attack early Sunday in Shreveport, Louisiana.

TABATHA TAYLOR, SHREVEPORT CITY COUNCILMEMBER: Domestic violence is nobody's joke. It is real and these are the residual effects of what happens if we're not paying attention.

ROSALES (voice-over): Police identify the gunman as 31-year-old Shamar Elkins and say he also targeted his wife as well as another woman. Both were injured.

MAYOR TOM ARCENEAUX, SHREVEPORT, LOUISIANA: We mourn for these children. We mourn for the women who are recovering.

ROSALES (voice-over): CNN obtained video showing police closing in on the gunman after he ran off. Officers ultimately shot and killed him after a car chase.

FREDDIE MONTGOMERY, NEIGHBOR WHO LIVE ACROSS THE STREET: I opened my curtain and looked out the curtain and it was it was the Shreveport Police Department. They will make an entry into the side door, going into the house.

ROSALES (voice-over): A neighbor who lives across the street, tell CNN he witnessed the aftermath of the shooting. He said he saw the shooter just yesterday.

MONTGOMERY: I wave just being neighborly and he actually waved back and the children were playing in the yard. And so I just went home and 12 hours later, this.

[17:40:00]

ROSALES (voice-over): Only one child, a 13-year-old boy, was able to get out of the house.

CPL. CHRIS BORDELON, SHREVEPORT POLICE DEPARTMENT: He jumped off of the roof while fleeing from the suspect in this case. And he did have some injuries, but he is expected to recover.

ROSALES (voice-over): And uncle, Lionel Pugh, says it's very hard to cope right now for the family.

LIONEL PUGH, VICTIMS' UNCLE: It was devastating because, I mean, I got here and all I can see is just, you know, yellow tape, you know, a crime scene.

ROSALES (voice-over): Pugh told us his sister wanted to file for divorce from Elkins last month.

PUGH: Told her I was like, man, just love the one you with. You know, you ain't going to find nothing else out there. Just joking around. But if I knew it was going to, you know, turn out like this, you know, I never would have -- I never would have said that.

ROSALES (voice-over): He remembers the children.

PUGH: That was just, you know, just regular little sweet kids. Fun. Just happy to be here. You know, just full of joy.

ROSALES (voice-over): Many community members visited the victim's home to pay their respects on Monday.

ARCENEAUX: The biggest lesson that we have is that we must protect those who cannot protect themselves.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROSALES: And at this home where these eight children were killed, the side door, you can still see these round, these bullet hole marks taped off by police markings. And in front of it, a growing memorial of balloons, flowers and teddy bears. So many in the community honoring this family.

The family of this shooter also spoke to me about an extensive history of mental health issues that he had been hospitalized in recent months for over a week at a local V.A. And that today Elkins and his wife were set to appear in court to sign divorce papers. By the way, his wife, the most injured out of those who survived went out of surgery. She was shot nine times, the family tells me. But she is awake, aware and talking. Phil?

MATTINGLY: Isabel Rosales, Shreveport, Louisiana. Thank you very much for the latest.

Shreveport City Council member Tabitha Taylor joins us. Now you saw her in Isabel's piece. I just -- to start with as a parent, as a member of any community, I can't imagine what Shreveport is going through, what families down there are going through right now. How is the community doing?

TAYLOR: We are devastated and we're taking each day one day at a time, one second, one minute. The rallying of our community is extremely strong. We have support from all over, including you all for contributions to be made to this family, prayers, mental health support. A vast majority of individuals just come to hold each other's hand and pray for one another because it is so needed. Sometimes I call this the ministry of presence and it's not what you say, it's just your presence that's there to allow the family to know and to allow the community to know that we are banding together in this time of tragedy and trauma.

MATTINGLY: I was watching the news conference earlier today with state and local officials. I know you were there, some of whom called for more to be done to strengthen domestic violence laws. I want to play for our viewers some of the sound from the sheriff who said this. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHERIFF HENRY WHITEHORN SENIOR, CADDO PARISH SHERIFF'S OFFICE, SHREVEPORT, LOUISIANA: How much are the lives of these victims worth? Because the truth is this domestic violence is not a private issue. It's not a family issue. It is a community issue. And when we fail to respond in a coordinated, consistent and compassionate way, people die.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MATTINGLY: You made an emotional plea yesterday asking people to make better use of resources to address mental health challenges, saying this is when or this is the result when someone snaps. Do you have a sense of what can be done going forward? What this may spark in terms of change that hopefully maybe has a policy good for something that's so terrible in the moment.

TAYLOR: It is our point of what we need to --

MATTINGLY: I think we lost the councilmember. We're going to keep a close eye on this. Keep you updated throughout. We may actually have her back now. Councilmember, are you back with us now?

TAYLOR: Yes.

MATTINGLY: Sorry.

TAYLOR: I am back with you.

MATTINGLY: Go ahead. You were talking about potential options.

TAYLOR: Yes, it's a call to action. I absolutely agree with Sheriff Whitehorn and what he said for the last six to eight weeks. Members of the city, Shreveport City Council, some of us on the city council have cried out about domestic violence. We are appreciative of the contributions that 50 Cent and G-Unit made towards domestic violence in our city because our numbers are staggering. Thirty percent of the homicides that we have in Shreveport, Louisiana, are related to domestic violence. And the growing group of women who are often affected are African American women.

[17:45:03] So this call, this plea by the sheriff is one that we need in his totality. That means it's not just one body. It is the sheriff. It is the -- it is Shreveport Police. It is the city marshal. It is the community. It's the state. It's the federal government all being intentional about domestic violence and taking this extremely serious. It is important for the community that when they see this, that they have to use their voices as well.

But in using their voices, what we have to do as a community is make sure that we create a safe haven for women, children, even men that are affected by domestic violence to come. It has to be a multi layered call to action. And in that call to action, there has to be teeth. There has to be funding. There has to be training in all levels. So when we talk about this, then we have to heal the person totally.

When that woman comes in, we just can't hand her a brochure and say, go on about your field -- about your business because the trauma then leads to the children and they fill it in school and then they may grow to be domestic abusers themselves. So this is a call to action for our city and other surrounding cities in this nation. People have to understand how serious domestic violence is and how dangerous it is for our first responders.

This man went to three houses, three houses. He shot these children. He knew who they were. Seven of them were his and you have just left this community in a state of shock of disrepair. This is how you left us. But in the midst of this struggle, what we have to do is look at the real issue, put political jargon aside and let's go and do the work so we can save our city. Let's report be the example of what change in domestic violence looks like.

MATTINGLY: A hopeful and hopefully very accurate. I have no doubt from your side of things message going forward. My thoughts, my family's thoughts, our thoughts here at CNN, more importantly, our prayers are with Shreveport. We appreciate your time. Shreveport City Councilmember Tabatha Taylor, thank you so much.

TAYLOR: Thank you. Thank you, sir.

MATTINGLY: And for any of you who need help or know someone who is facing domestic abuse, please visit the National Domestic Violence website, www.thehotline.org or call 800-799-SAFE. We're back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:52:11]

MATTINGLY: In the Money Lead, President Trump says his own energy secretary, Chris Wright, is wrong on gas prices. Now, here's what Wright told CNN's Jake Tapper just yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: When do you think it's realistic for Americans to expect the gas will go back to under $3 a gallon?

CHRIS WRIGHT, ENERGY SECRETARY: I don't know. That could happen later this year. That might not happen until next year, but prices have likely peaked and they'll start going down.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MATTINGLY: Today, Trump told "The Hill," "No, I think he's wrong on that. Totally wrong." Now, keep in mind, just last week, Trump conceded himself that gas prices will not significantly fall anytime soon. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, it's going to be -- eventually it's going to be lower. No, it might not happen initially, but it's going to -- it's going to go down.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you believe the price of oil and gas will be lower before the midterm elections?

TRUMP: I hope so. I mean, I think so. It could be. It could be or the same or maybe a little bit higher, but it should be around the same. I think this won't be that much longer.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MATTINGLY: For the record, the national average for gas has ticked down a little bit. We're now at $4.04 a gallon. That's down 9 cents in a week, but still up more than $1 since before Trump launched Operation Epic Fury.

I want to bring in Henrietta Treyz. She's the director of economic policy at Veda Partners. At the risk of simplifying a, the complexity of a global market, and we don't know the duration of the current conflict. Who's right in this debate?

HENRIETTA TREYZ, DIRECTOR OF ECONOMIC POLICY, VEDA PARTNERS: Well, I would say they're both wrong because prices are about to go back up. So obviously, you've seen that crude prices have spiked. The Strait is not reopened. We are months away from clearing the backlog of ships that are in there now, and that doesn't even take into account the fact that the largest LNG facility on earth has been bombed out and 80 other facilities in there -- there's some sort of an option for the gas prices to get back to where they were on February 27th right now. It's going to be months.

MATTINGLY: Yes, and it's worth noting that it had been since I think what, March of 2021 since they've been under three when they hit that point late last year. It's a lift for sure. I do want to ask we're just weeks away from the busy summer travel season. European Airlines warning they may need to start canceling flight, flights to ration jet fuel. What do you see U.S. airlines doing in this space.

TREYZ: That they're doing the same thing. So various airlines are already canceling flights. Air Canada canceled all of its flights to JFK for the next five months. That rationing that you're talking about is really started in Asia is moving over to the E.U. and jet fuel prices are up 95 percent since the start of the war. So you're going to see $100, $200 tacked onto your tickets from here. The pain hasn't really fully hidden yet.

[17:55:02]

MATTINGLY: Henrietta Treyz one of the best in the business and knows I could do this for like another three hours. I very much appreciate your time. Thanks so much.

Well, breaking news in the Tech Lead, Apple CEO Tim Cook is stepping down after nearly 15 years on the job and making Apple a $4 trillion company. What this major departure I'd say about the tech industry and its future coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MATTINGLY: Welcome to The Lead. I'm Phil Mattingly in for Jake Tapper. This hour we're following breaking tech news. Apple CEO Tim Cook is stepping down after nearly 15 years of leading the company. Apple introducing AirPods, Apple watches, Apple T.V. Plus, literally everything you use in your house. So who will take Cook's place? And how big of an impact could this have on the products many of us use every day?

[17:59:57]

Plus, negotiators are running out of time to make a deal before the ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran expires. Vice President J.D. Vance is expected to head to the region tomorrow.