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Dueling Strikes on Mideast Energy Sites Make Oil and Gas Soar; Labor Rights Icon Cesar Chavez Accused of Decades of Sexual Abuse; Body of American College Student Found in Barcelona; Drop in Youth Happiness Tied to Social media, Gaming. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired March 19, 2026 - 15:30   ET

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

[15:30:00]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Moments ago, CNN's Jeremy Diamond asked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if killing the Ayatollah of Iran would empower hardliners. Here's part of the response.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: I'm not sure who's running Iran right now. Mojtaba, the replacement Ayatollah, has not shown his face. Have you seen him?

We haven't. And we can't vouch exactly what is happening there. There is a cloud here that's not clear.

[15:35:00]

What we see is that there is a lot of tensions inside the people who are edging for the top. It's not a uniform position. You see that sometimes with the contradictory orders that are given, you know, they do one thing and then they withdraw it and so on.

I think it's important that they know that if they think they're going to target the world, target the President of the United States and so on, they themselves are being targeted.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Meantime, around the world, oil and gas prices are spiking even higher. Today, gas in the United States averaged $3.88 for a gallon of regular unleaded, much higher than it was only a few weeks ago before the conflict began. Let's get analysis from an oil industry expert, Andy Lipow of Lipow Energy Associates.

Andy, thank you so much for being with us. One thing that we're also seeing is an uptick of strikes on both sides of this conflict, specifically on energy production sites. What is that doing to global markets?

ANDY LIPOW, OIL INDUSTRY ANALYST: Well, thanks for having me, Boris. The attacks on the energy infrastructure is really concerning because even if the conflict were to end tomorrow, we need to repair these energy infrastructure facilities. And a case in point is that big industrial complex in Ras Laffan, where 20 percent of the LNG that supplies the world is coming out of.

The CEO came out this morning and said damage and repairs are going to take three to five years. So there's a big supply disruption that's occurring after the fact. The same can be said about the refineries that were attacked overnight, whether they're in Israel or Kuwait.

They sustained some damage. So you get a product disruption on gasoline, jet fuel and diesel fuel. And all of these things combined keep the price of refined products high.

SANCHEZ: We heard from Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent saying that the U.S. could un-sanction Iranian oil on the water. What exactly does that mean? And would it bring the price per barrel down?

LIPOW: Well, that would certainly follow the easing of sanctions on Russian oil that's on the water, and it would allow more countries around the world and refiners to purchase that Iranian oil, which in the past had sold to countries in Europe such as Spain, France, Italy and Turkey. So it does provide some relief right up front because it takes that oil that's in floating storage, provides it to the market.

SANCHEZ: Bessent also said the U.S. could release more from the Strategic Reserve on top of the 172 million barrels the Energy Department confirmed it would release last week. At what point do these releases deplete the reserve? When do they become a problem?

LIPOW: Well, I think the 172 million barrel release is going to take place over the next four months, which equates to only one and a half million barrels a day. I don't think that we can logistically get more barrels per day out of the SPR even if we wanted to. So I think that's a limitation in and of itself.

SANCHEZ: I also wondered if you could help us understand the impact the war is having on liquid natural gas, because there are obviously no strategic reserves for LNG that can be tapped.

LIPOW: Well, this is really difficult, especially for Europe, which is in a dire situation since they're divorcing themselves from Russian supplies by the end of the year. And we've seen with this Ras Laffan damage taking 20 percent of the world's supply off the market, natural gas prices in Europe have doubled over the last month. And to put that in perspective here in the U.S., we're paying about three dollars per million BTUs. In Europe, it's seven times that price. And of course, as you can imagine, that's impacting their manufacturing sector, the heavy industry and so forth.

SANCHEZ: Andy Lipow, thank you so much for joining us. Appreciate your time.

LIPOW: Thanks for having me.

SANCHEZ: Of course.

Still ahead, new fallout after shocking allegations of sex abuse against civil rights icon Cesar Chavez. What this means for his legacy and the people involved in his cause?

[15:40:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Today, there is new fallout over what Latino leaders are calling deeply troubling sexual misconduct allegations against Latino civil rights icon Cesar Chavez, detailed in a New York Times investigative report. Since the report, we've seen events celebrating his legacy canceled and local memorials and statues of Chavez covered up. These allegations say that Chavez abused and molested multiple women over the course of decades, including some minors as young as 12 years old and legendary activist Dolores Huerta, who co-founded the United Farm Workers Union with Chavez.

The Times said it interviewed more than 60 people regarding the allegations against Chavez, using union records, e-mails and other documents to corroborate aspects of the accounts. In a statement, Huerta said that she had two sexual encounters with Chavez the first time she says she felt manipulated and pressured the second time she says she was forced against her will. Huerta says both sexual encounters led to pregnancies that she then kept hidden.

CNN has not independently verified these allegations. United Farm Workers declined to provide any additional information beyond its issued statement when contacted by CNN.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Huerta stated quote, "I have never identified myself as a victim, but I now understand that I am a survivor." She went on to say, "The knowledge that he hurt young girls sickens me. My heart aches for everyone who suffered alone and in silence for years. Cesar's actions do not reflect the values of our community and our movement."

According to The New York Times, Chavez's family calls the allegations deeply painful and said quote, "As a family steeped in the values of equity and justice, we honor the voices of those who feel unheard and who report sexual misconduct."

We're joined now by Matthew Garcia. He's a professor of history, Latin American, Latino and Caribbean studies at Dartmouth University. He wrote the book "From the Jaws of Victory, the Triumph and Tragedy of Cesar Chavez and the Farm Worker Movement."

Matthew, thank you so much for being with us. Cesar Chavez is a hero, a Latino hero, and this is a shock to so many who are certainly revising how they feel about him. But maybe it's not a shock to you.

Explain.

MATTHEW GARCIA, WROTE BOOK ABOUT CHAVEZ AND FARM WORKER MOVEMENT: Yes, during the 1970s, when the farm workers movement had gained so much first contracts for field workers and an agricultural labor relations act that allowed them to have collective bargaining rights, Cesar took his eye off the goal. He wanted to build an intentional community at La Paz, the headquarters. And he moved to purge people that he saw as people that betrayed the movement and betrayed him.

And I think those aggressive behaviors now we see it in a wider light that it also involved victims, very young victims, in this case, girls and Dolores.

SANCHEZ: Matthew, along with those aspects of his history, your research also revealed other aspects like extramarital affairs. I wonder if what you found during your research and publication of the book on his life led you to believe that some of the actions that he was taking went beyond that.

GARCIA: Yes, I documented an extramarital affair that apparently, I'm told, shook loose some repressed memories of the victims. It came forth in a closed Facebook list that people talk about the past. And then they were forced to put it down.

But there was enough people that saw it that they wanted to blow the whistle, and they reached out to me. And I facilitated the communication with Manny and Sarah at the New York Times. And then I helped Manny and Sarah over the five years that it took for them to do their tremendous reporting.

KEILAR: And I know you say that his family was not a fan of your book when it was first published. I do wonder, as they're now saying to the New York Times, at least their statement on Tuesday night was they're not in a position to judge the claims. But as a family steeped in these values, they honor the voices of those who feel unheard and who report sexual misconduct, also saying the allegations are deeply painful to their family.

How do you view their reaction here?

GARCIA: I understand their desire to get this right, but I think it's really important for them to take a beat and step back. They created a confidential channel for other victims to come forward. And I think we're at the level where if someone did experience something with Caesar, it's something that should be reported to authorities at this point.

I'm really wondering about the victims and what legal recourses they have and how they might, given the changing statutes of limitations on prosecuting these kinds of abuses, how might they get recompense from the enablers or the perpetrators or the profiteers? We've seen this in Epstein, and I wonder if we will see it here.

SANCHEZ: Do you see these allegations as damaging what the movement that he helped advance stands for?

GARCIA: It has, but if we are able to look beyond the man, which I think is going to be difficult for some time, but we can see that there are other farmworker organizations from California to Vermont that have been doing great work and advancing farmworker justice. They've just been in the shadow of the United Farm Workers and the Cesar Chavez Foundation. So my hope is that with Cesar falling today and as we get our heads around what he's done, it'll allow these organizations that have done incredible work already to emerge and be the spokespeople for farmworker justice in this country.

KEILAR: Matthew Garcia, great to speak with you. Thank you so much for being with us.

GARCIA: You're welcome.

KEILAR: And we'll be right back.

[15:50:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: We have breaking news in the search for an American college student who disappeared after a night out in Spain. James Gracey, a 20 year old junior at the University of Alabama, was last seen outside a club in Barcelona on Tuesday.

KEILAR: CNN's Dianne Gallagher is with us now on this story. Dianne, what can you tell us?

DIANNE GALLAGHER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I have a very sad update here. A spokesperson for the police in Barcelona tells CNN that the body that was found today is that of James "Jimmy" Gracey, the 20 year old University of Alabama student who went missing on Tuesday in Barcelona. The spokesperson tells our Pau Mosquera that Gracey's body was discovered at a shallow depth just a few meters down, that forensics teams are still continuing their work at Somorrostro Beach.

That is where Jimmy's body was found. And they do expect to remove his body shortly. According to that spokesperson, quote, everything points to it being an accident, not a criminal act.

But again, this is all still under investigation. Again, the 20 year old University of Alabama student was visiting friends who were studying abroad in Spain for his spring break. He had just arrived on Monday.

He went out with friends, we're told, that night and was last seen around 3 a.m. at a nightclub there by somebody. And at that point, that is when they sort of got separated. Did not see him again.

His family said that his phone had been recovered by police after being stolen but had been basically begging for any kind of information or updates up until this point here. According to our colleague there in Barcelona right now, Jimmy's father, who is there in Barcelona, has been informed, but is likely not coming to the scene because he is deeply affected, as you must imagine at this point.

SANCHEZ: My thoughts are obviously with his family. Dianne Gallagher, thank you so much for that sad update.

Compass, the largest real estate brokerage in the world, is now dropping its antitrust lawsuit against Zillow over how home listings can be marketed online.

The brokerage had argued that a Zillow rule surrounding when homes could be listed on the site was designed to crush competition in the home search space.

KEILAR: Zillow denied the allegations but ultimately decided to amend its listing requirements. In a statement, Compass applauded the changes that Zillow made.

And Finland is happy. The Wellbeing Research Center at the University of Oxford just ranked the Nordic nation as the happiest country in the world for the ninth time.

SANCHEZ: There is a dark side to this report. Negative emotions are becoming more common in all regions. And the report noted a striking drop in youth well-being, especially in the U.S., tied to the use of social media.

Dr. Jeff Gardere joins us now. He's a clinical psychologist and professor of behavioral medicine at Toro University. Doctor, how much stock do you put into studies like this?

DR. JEFF GARDERE, CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST: Well, a lot of them, because what we're starting to see now is that in the countries where we are actively working with youth to get them to reduce their time on social networking, especially being on the Internet. When we do that and they're spending more time with family, that they have lower scores with regard to issues around anxiety and depression. And what this particular study showed that in Finland, this is a country that is more about community.

They're more about the welfare of their country and they're more about children having many of the experiences that are outside of social media and much more about real time and real world experiences.

KEILAR: So what is it about Finland? I mean, how does Finland do it when it seems like this is a time of such divisiveness?

GARDERE: Well, I think what Finland has done is they're doing what we're starting to look at now, which is making sure that we look at things like algorithms, making sure that social media influencers are not talking about what someone looks like or keeping up with certain trends or finding value in just what visually you present. And this particular country, Finland, we see it in Costa Rica also. They are much more interested in making sure that youth are better connected to family and that a lot of their activities are around community and being there face to face with other people.

They want to put more of the social in the media.

SANCHEZ: Five of the six countries in this report are Nordic nations. What can we learn from that? Anything?

GARDERE: I think we need to follow a lot of what they are doing. These are people -- and the Finns talk about it all the time. They have less anxiety, less depression because they are invested in their people.

It's a combination of wealth, equal distribution of wealth, having a welfare state, protecting people from risk of recessions and paying close attention -- and we've talked about it here many times -- paying close attention to making sure that kids are spending less time on social media and more time in real world experiences.

KEILAR: Yes, that's right. This youth unhappiness. I mean, it is that number of hours they're spending on social media or gaming.

It's easy to say don't do it. What else do we need to do?

GARDERE: Well, I think that if you talk the talk, you've got to walk the walk as parents. If we're doom scrolling or on our devices all the time or on our computers and not spending that quality time with family, and then we're trying to tell our children, listen, you need to spend less time on social media. Well, we've got to act that out for them.

We have to be role models for them. And we have to allow our devices or stop our devices rather from being babysitters for our children.

[16:00:00]

And we have to invest that time the same way as many of these eastern, northern European countries have been doing. And that's why they've been at the top of this happiness scale for the longest time.

KEILAR: Yes, such a good point. Dr. Jeff Gardere, thank you so much.

And "THE ARENA" with Kasie Hunt starts right now.

END