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Vance Says, U.S. Never Indicated Lebanon Included in Iran Ceasefire; Israeli Barrage on Lebanon Tests Fragile U.S.-Iran Ceasefire; Oil Prices Rebound Amid Fragile Iran Ceasefire. Aired 7- 7:30a ET

Aired April 09, 2026 - 07:00   ET

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

[07:00:00]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: The ceasefire holding by a thread after what the White House calls a misunderstanding. The key focus today, was Lebanon part of the deal? Why is the Strait of Hormuz still essentially shut down? And what does this mean for the talks now planned in Pakistan as President Trump levels a new threat overnight?

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Countdown to splash down. Final preparation is underway for what is considered the riskiest part of the Artemis II mission.

And then gator on the lam and in a pool and hissing, or as they say in Florida, Thursday.

Sara is out this morning. I'm John Berman with Kate Bolduan. This is CNN News Central.

BOLDUAN: So, this morning, the fragile two week ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran is being put to the test, lots of finger-pointing going on over what is actually included in the deal. These images we're showing you are from Lebanon, from Beirut, where Israel launched its largest strikes since the war began. And Hezbollah, Iran's proxy in Lebanon, has reportedly responded with its first rocket attacks on Israel since the deal was announced.

In the Strait of Hormuz, that critical oil route, a time lapse shows very little movement happening today. Iran says that traffic there has been halted after accusing Israel of violating the ceasefire by those strikes in Lebanon.

But the U.S. says Lebanon and Hezbollah were never part of the deal. Let me play what Vice President J.D. Vance is saying about it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

J.D. VANCE, U.S. VICE PRESIDENT: I think this comes from a legitimate misunderstanding. I think the Iranians thought that the ceasefire included Lebanon and it just didn't. We never made that promise. We never indicated that was going to be the case. What we said is that the ceasefire would be focused on Iran and the ceasefire would be focused on America's allies, both Israel and the Gulf Arab states.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: So, now Vance is set to attend face-to-face talks with Iran, along with the Trump special envoy, Steve Witkoff, and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, in Pakistan on Saturday. Iran's delegation is expected to arrive tonight. The president posted overnight that the United States military will be remaining in the region in place, as he put it, quote, until such time as the real agreement is reached, is fully complied with. If for any reason it is not, which is highly unlikely, he writes, then he levels the new threat. The shooting starts bigger and better and stronger than anyone has ever seen before.

CNN's Alayna Train is live this morning at the White House for us. Alayna, what are you hearing about this and what is the level of -- pick the path, concern, or optimism that this ceasefire is holding.

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: I think there's a lot of concern that it's clearly a very tenuous, fragile, ceasefire at this moment. And I think one of the biggest concerns as we're waking up this morning is just how much confusion there is as to what was exactly agreed upon when both sides announced that they were joining this two-week ceasefire.

You've mentioned, you know, what's happening with these Israeli attacks on Hezbollah and Lebanon is a crucial sticking point. I think one of the biggest parts of the ceasefire was Iran agreeing to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. You heard the White House, Karoline Leavitt, the press secretary, arguing yesterday that they had seen some traffic ticking up in the strait, but that was very minimal. Iran later said that they were closing it because of those ongoing attacks in Lebanon and really coming down to what we heard the vice president argue was just a fundamental misunderstanding of whether or not Lebanon was exactly in the agreement.

And so that has created a lot of consternation and, of course, something we have to see how that is going to be resolved. You did hear the vice president just after that clip you played, he went on to say that Israel might be checking themselves when it comes to their attacks on Lebanon. We'll have to see if that's actually what the path forward is here, if Israel will be the one to seize those attacks, to try and ensure that the strait is reopened and the ceasefire remains intact.

But I think another big part of all of this, Kate, is also, again, what are exactly the points that they are basing -- you know, using as the basis for the negotiations that are set to kick off in person in Islamabad this weekend.

[07:05:09]

One of the things that was most notable to me, I know that, you know, shortly after that ceasefire proposal was agreed to Tuesday night, you know, you saw Iran, their Supreme National Security Council putting out this statement that included what they argued were the ten points, something CNN reported on. The president, I was told, was very livid about that statement. He tried to characterize the CNN statement -- or, excuse me, the CNN reporting on that statement as fake, but we have not seen any type of language we have asked repeatedly now from the White House and our sources what are the ten points then that this is based on.

You heard the White House press secretary yesterday say the ten points that have been flying around, they had at Iran initially given the United States, ten points, they threw that in the garbage. Now, they're using a separate ten points as the basis for these talks. But, again, we have not seen those. And we still are wondering exactly what the 15-point plan, what the specifics of that are.

And so there's so much confusion around this. From my conversations with my sources in that building behind me, they do tell me they're confident that the talks this weekend will continue and they are hoping that can kind of clear a lot of this up and be the start of potentially several intense negotiations to come, but, again, very fragile this morning and a lot of questions about how this is actually going to proceed.

BOLDUAN: Yes. I mean, maybe the one thing that seems somewhat certain amongst the sea of confusion that you well laid out is that they believe talks will still continue. That has not been thrown into question, it seems, yet. But, I mean, clarity, please, on all fronts.

It's great to see you, Alayna. Thank you so much. John?

BERMAN: Yes. Let's get the view from the region now. I want to go to CNN's Paula Hancocks who's in Abu Dhabi this morning.

Paula, what are you hearing from there?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, it's worth pointing out that that Lebanon really does seem to be one of the key hurdles to this fragile truce at this point. It's certainly what Iran is holding onto closing the Strait of Hormuz again. But it's worth pointing out, even though the U.S. vice president believes there must have been some kind of misunderstanding, the prime minister of Pakistan, who is the mediator in all of this, also said that that Lebanon was part of it. So, that's clearly come from somewhere. He's not going to put himself on the record if he doesn't believe that to be the case.

Hopefully, this will be cleared up when those talks do start in Islamabad though. But what we are hearing is that nothing will move from this region when it comes to the U.S. military personnel, the assets, until there is a real agreement, we're hearing that from the U.S. president.

But when you look at what happened in Lebanon on Wednesday, these strikes were significant. 182 people were killed in the strikes. The strikes, according to the Israeli military, had about a hundred different targets. They only took ten minutes, and that many people were killed within that time.

Now, one thing that is interesting, it wasn't just in Hezbollah strongholds. It was in the center of the capital. This was Shia Muslim neighborhoods, Christian neighborhoods. Those people in those neighborhoods don't support Hezbollah. But Israel has said that Hezbollah does hide among civilian populations.

They have said one target that they managed to kill, they said that the personal secretary of the Hezbollah chief was assassinated. But there is widespread condemnation about just how significant these strikes were. The foreign minister of Belgium was just several hundred meters away when it happened. He said this has to stop, Lebanon has to be part of this ceasefire deal. John?

BERMAN: That is the word coming from Europe almost universally this morning. And we will see what Israel continues to do or not to do.

Paul Hancocks in Abu Dhabi, thank you very much for that report.

Happening now, oil jumps back up. Traders not so sure about this ceasefire, really no traffic moving through the Strait of Hormuz. So, does that mean high gas prices are here to stay?

And we're standing by to see attorneys for Sean Combs in court this morning, new arguments in his federal appeal. Why they will argue it was all just amateur porn.

And this morning, you can own a piece of the Eiffel Tower if you have a lot of money and high ceilings.

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[07:10:00]

BOLDUAN: The price of oil on the rise once again after falling dramatically yesterday on the news of the ceasefire between the United States and Iran, and tracking gas prices, as we do here in the United States, the gas prices also edging up overnight.

And CNN's Matt Egan has here with more. Need some context around all of this. Where's it headed? When is there going to be a break anytime soon?

MATT EGAN, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Well, Kate, look, I mean, that was fast, right? The oil price crash is already over at least for the moment, as you noted, future's moving significantly higher for oil, right, U.S. oil prices now flirting with $100 a barrel again, up 5 percent.

Now, all of this comes after yesterday's historic decline, right? WTI, the U.S. benchmark, yesterday, it was down by $16. That's the most in any single day in terms of dollars since oil futures started trading back in the 1980s.

But the fact that they're already moving higher again, Kate, really underscores the fragile nature of this ceasefire and the fact that this is not going to be easy, right? This is not like flipping back on a light switch, right? We have infrastructure in the region that's got to get repaired. There's been personnel that's been evacuated, they have to return. BOLDUAN: And foreign leaders have said it's going to take years to repair some of that.

EGAN: Yes, absolutely. This is going to take time, money, and confidence. But the most immediate problem is this, the Strait of Hormuz, right? The fact is that even though reopening the strait is a crucial part of this ceasefire agreement, the data shows that the traffic through the strait at this point has been negligible, right, far, far shy of the roughly a hundred or so ships that would normally be transiting this waterway, some of them carrying oil and energy that's needed to go to the rest of the world, right?

[07:15:13]

And so, again, this is going to take some time.

So, what does all of this mean when it comes to gas prices? Now, as you noted, gas prices did inch higher again. Remember, gas moves with a lag to oil. So, this is just a fractional increase to just under $4.17 a gallon, well above where things were before the war started, and the highest level in almost four years. And when you look at the trend, I mean, it's just been this dramatic spike that really began just at this yellow line basically when the war started. Gas prices when they started the year, right, just below $3 a gallon. Look at this move, higher.

And this is not just a problem in blue states, coastal states that sometimes are more expensive states. This is a problem everywhere, including some red states that President Trump won in 2024. Look at this, this shows gas price change over the past month. And some of the states where prices are growing up the fastest include those Trump states, like Arizona, Utah, Wyoming, and Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky as well.

And, look, the good news is analysts do suspect that if oil prices can stay roughly where they are now, then you could start to see gas prices start to tick lower in the coming days. But I think the bad news is history shows that prices, they tend to go down a lot slower than they went up in the industry. It's known as prices going up like a rocket, but down like a feather. And even in the best case scenario, right, where the ceasefire holds and the strait actually reopens, it's going to take months before we get back to anything close to those pre-war prices.

BOLDUAN: Absolutely. Keeping an eye on it right here, as we've been watching it ticking up all morning, and we can likely continue to see much more the same.

Thank you so much, Matt, something we have to watch very closely.

Coming up for us, a man was trapped for two weeks in a flooded mine and we're now learning details of the incredible rescue. Wait until you hear this.

Plus, punches thrown on the pitcher's mound. What went down at the Braves-Angels game? (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:20:00]

BERMAN: Can I get an Amen, Amen Quartet that is? Get ready for the high drama and high prizes, the Masters is on this morning.

CNN's Andy Scholes is live from the highly exclusive Augusta National this morning. Bundled up, I see, Andy.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Yes, Berman. Little chilly here this morning in Augusta, but it is going to be a beautiful day for round one, eventually 70 and sunny this afternoon. Who's going to bring home the green jacket this year? Well, that quest, it starts today.

We, of course, had the par three contest on Wednesday. It's always just cuteness overload with all the kids out there just dominating, and some of those kids were even getting to work out there on the course. Brooks Koepka's son, Crew, he decided he was going to pick up a rake and fix up a bunker. Jon Ramh's son, Kepa, meanwhile, he was out there fixing the divots. But no one probably had more fun than Nick Taylor, Ryan Fox and Corey Connors' kids. They were just all over the place all afternoon. And check out Tommy Fleetwood's son, Frankie. I mean, he won the eye and hair lottery, and just look at the form on his swing already. I'm pretty sure he's going to do all right now.

Aaron Rai actually won the par three competition, but that's bad news because no one has ever won the par three and then gone on to win the Masters.

All right, elsewhere, Major League Baseball handing out the suspensions from the Braves-Angels Brawl from Tuesday. Jorge Soler and Reynaldo Lopez, each have been suspended for seven games for their roles in the fight. Both have appealed those suspensions. Soler, he was in the lineup again last night and he homered again against his former team. The Braves, though, they ended up winning that one 8-2 last night.

In the NHL, meanwhile, Connor McDavid is putting on a show against the Sharks last night. He scored two in the second period, finished with a hat trick, as the Oilers beat the Sharks 5-2. Tough loss for San Jose, they're three points out of the last wild card spot in the west with five games left to go in this season.

Now, back here at the Masters, this guy right here is the most coveted item in the golf shop. This is the Garden Gnome. This year, it actually comes with a working umbrella right here. It costs $60 in the golf shop, goes for way, way more online.

But in order to secure one of these bad boys, you got to get in line outside way before 7:00 A.M. And I actually joined the rush of patrons that were coming into Augusta National to try to get this guy earlier this week and to see -- wanted to see what the hunt was all about.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: What time did you get in line?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was 5:15 this morning.

SCHOLES: 5:15. What are you trying to do when you get in the gift shop?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ah, gnomes, of course.

SCHOLES: Why'd you get here so early?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Shopping for gnome.

SCHOLES: We want the gnome, right?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Of course, yes.

SCHOLES: Are you getting nervous now that the line has stopped?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, very.

SCHOLES: Do you think you're going to get one still, because the line's getting longer, you think they're going to be gone?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, I think they're going to be gone.

SCHOLES: What do you think the odds of getting a gnome are at this point?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, I'd say slim to none.

SCHOLES: Do you feel like you've won the Masters with walking out with this guy?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Absolutely.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We feel successful.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tired is what we feel.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I didn't get here early enough. That's okay though. Yes, I mean, we got to go to hollow ground. So, how much can you complain, right?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Only $400 on Facebook. We'll get one maybe.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: Now, they started the gnome in 2016 and then they didn't do one in 2017, but, Berman, they've done one every year since. And it's just become such a thing that there's now rumors that this is actually going to be the last year for it because everyone comes here and tries to get this.

[07:25:01] And it's just, like I said, becomes such a hot item. We'll see if they continue it moving forward. But the sky is pretty cool that he comes with a real umbrella.

BERMAN: I was going to say, besides the umbrella that works, does it do anything else for $60 to $400? Does it like sing songs or have like a T.V. screen or something?

SCHOLES: No. I mean, he's just here.

BERMAN: He's just here, but very cute, Andy, I have to say. I'm so happy for you that you have the garden gnome. You can put it next to all the others that are in your garden this morning. It's awesome. Thank you very much.

All right, new this morning, a woman goes missing in the water is off the Bahamas. Now, the husband is arrested. He says she just went overboard.

And the most dangerous part of the mission is just ahead. Happening now, how the Artemis crew is preparing to reenter the atmosphere.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:30:00]