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Higher U.S. Gas Prices Linger; Possible Second Meeting with Iran; Data Center Backlash; Weeklong Severe Storm Threat; Husband of Missing Woman in Bahamas Released; Pope Leo in Algeria. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired April 14, 2026 - 08:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:31:03]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: This morning we are getting new presidential reaction to an administration official who says he teleported to a Waffle House. So, you heard that right. But in case you need more explanation, CNN's KFile has extensive reporting on claims made by FEMA's number three, Gregg Phillips, who has long talked about supernatural encounters that he says he has had.

Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GREGG PHILLIPS, FEMA'S OFFICE OF RESPONSE AND RECOVERY: The car lifted up and took me where I was going. And I ended up at a Waffle House like 50 miles away from where I was. And I said, Waffle House in Rome, Georgia. I said, that's not possible. You just left here like a moment ago. And -- but it was possible. It was real.

Teleporting is no fun.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Teleporting is no fun, he said.

So, CNN's Andrew Kaczynski called the president to ask about all this. The president's first response was, quote, "was he kidding?" When Andrew said, no, the president said this, quote, "I don't know anything about teleporting. It just sounds a little strange, but I know nothing about teleporting or him, but I'll find out about it right now."

After the KFile report on Phillips claims about teleporting, sources say the White House urged DHS officials to either remove Phillips or keep him out of the public eye.

CNN has reached out to Phillips, FEMA and the Department of Homeland Security for comment. So far, none have responded.

This morning, oil prices are falling a little bit here. You can see West Texas down nearly three percent. Brent crude down about 1.3 percent so far. This over a little bit of optimism that maybe both the United States and Iran are considering a new round of talks. Gas prices ticked down overnight as well, down about a cent as far as I can tell here, though going to three digits there I can't really tell what those numbers are, but take my word for it, down a little bit.

Higher gas prices, they are lingering with the president saying they could be high or even higher through the midterm elections.

Let's get to CNN's Rafael Romo, outside a gas station in Atlanta this morning.

Rafael, what are you seeing?

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning, John.

Drivers here in the south, and across the nation, are feeling the pain at the pump, which is not expected to ease this week, especially considering oil prices climbed Monday. And those oil prices climbed after the U.S. military said it would implement President Trump's shipping blockade against Iranian ports in the state -- in the Strait of Hormuz.

This is only expected to further tighten the global oil supply, John. But we got some positive news overnight after brent crude, the global oil benchmark, rose seven percent to $102 a barrel on Monday. Earlier this morning, the price went down by 0.8 percent on the day at $98.60 a barrel. WTI, the U.S. benchmark, dropped two percent to $97.10 a barrel.

What prompted prices to slightly go down? Well, writing about the falls in prices on a note today, Deutsche Bank analysts pointed to growing hopes that the U.S. and Iran might still reach some kind of deal.

John Denholm, the chairman designate of the International Chamber of Shipping, said the global economy is going to suffer, especially if the Iran war doesn't come to an end in the near future.

This is what he had to say

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN DENHOLM, CHAIRMAN DESIGNATE, INTERNATIONAL CHAMBER OF SHIPPING: If it continues, we're going to have a real problem. Fuel prices are already high. It's going to get worse. We're going to have shortages of petrol, shortage of diesel, shortage of avgas (ph), shortages of fertilizers. There's a huge amount of quantities that flow through the Persian Gulf, and that will drive inflation in the western world, the free world, and that will probably drive recession.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[08:35:05]

ROMO: And, John, to put it in perspective, Brent crude has gone up by 40 percent since the beginning of the war, while the WTI, the U.S. benchmark, has risen a whopping 50 percent. According to AAA, the national average price of gasoline today is $4.12.

Let's remember, it was $2.98 when the war started. At this gas station where we are, $3.99 cash, $4.09 credit.

John, now back to you.

BERMAN: Yes, it's been so reactive. Oil prices and gas prices, so reactive to even the little bit of news concerning Iran.

Rafael Romo, in Atlanta, thank you so much.

Kate.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, and on that, this morning, Iranian state media is reporting that there is still no agreement to hold another round of talks. A source tells CNN, though, that Trump officials are internally discussing details for new negotiations before the ceasefire expires next week.

Let me bring in CNN political and global affairs analyst Barak Ravid of "Axios."

Of course, Barak, thanks for jumping on.

I was just looking about comments from the French president, Emmanuel Macron, speaking out this morning. And he also wrote on social media that he had talked to both the Iranian president and President Trump. And his view was that he said he, "urged the resumption of negotiations suspended in Islamabad, the clearing up of misunderstandings and the avoidance of any further escalation."

What are you hearing about -- it just reminded me yet again of how little involvement kind of really at the table there is of traditional U.S. allies in these negotiations, and a reminder that France was part of the negotiations during the 2015 nuclear talks.

BARAK RAVID, CNN POLITICAL AND GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Yes, I think the European allies of the United States are not really involved in the current negotiations. They were not involved in the negotiations ahead of the war. During February, they were not involved in negotiations before the 12-day war in June 2025. The U.S. wants to hold those negotiations directly as possible with the Iranians and with some sort of facilitation from third parties. In the past it was Oman. Now it's Pakistan. The Egyptians and the Turks are also involved. But the Europeans are not in the picture.

And at the moment, from what I hear from U.S. officials, is definitely -- there are definitely talks going on between the U.S. and Iran to try and bridge the gaps. The Pakistani mediators are involved. The Turkish mediators are involved. The Egyptian foreign minister will meet Secretary of State Rubio today. He's also involved. There is an effort to try and bridge the remaining gap from the talks in Islamabad over the weekend. But the U.S. official told me just minutes ago that at the moment there's still no agreement on a date for a second round of talks.

BOLDUAN: And talk to me more about this, because we are learning overnight about some of the contours of what were -- what were put on the table in the first round of talks, right? That from the U.S. side, pausing uranium enrichment for 20 years, Iran responds saying that that -- you know, offered five years.

And notable that you saw -- I saw that Senator Lindsey Graham, one of the president's biggest supporters here and has definitely been intimately involved in speaking with the president throughout all of this, he spoke out about kind of that idea of a 20-year pause on uranium enrichment. Not happy with accepting a pause on enrichment rather than a ban.

What do you -- did you hear in that, that Lindsey Graham was speaking out there in that moment, and where do you think it then goes from here?

RAVID: Well, I think we're at the point that you can see -- I mean there are two issues that are at the center of this deal, OK? It's the issue of enrichment in Iran and the issue of the highly enriched uranium stockpile.

BOLDUAN: Right.

RAVID: If those two issues will be solved, I think everything else will fall into place. So, those are the key things.

And between the U.S. position that is talking about 20-year suspension of uranium enrichment, and the uranium position that speaks about single digit suspension, you can see how they can reach an agreement. It's not -- it's a substantial gap still, but it's not unbridgeable. Same thing with the stockpile. The U.S. wants it completely out of the country. The Iranians wanted it diluted inside the country. There is room for a deal here.

But I think what Senator Graham is saying, and I think that's the most important thing, that any deal with Iran at the end of the day will have to go through Congress. And I think he is sort of already -- he's already fired several shots across the bow for the White House, warning that he would call the White House negotiation team to tell Congress exactly what the deal that they're working on.

[08:40:13]

And any deal I think will not be simple for the Trump administration to pass through Congress.

BOLDUAN: Yes. You also have reporting, Barak, on another important -- what has been an important element of what's been going on, especially with this ceasefire, that the secretary of state is going to be hosting a meeting today between the Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors in D.C. to launch direct talks between the two countries. I mean what are you hearing could come out of this given how there's been quite a difference of opinion of if Lebanon and Iran's proxy in Lebanon, Hezbollah, fall under this ceasefire agreement? RAVID: So, I think there are several important things in this meeting. Number one, the fact that finally, after too long, too much time, there is somebody senior in the Trump administration that is dealing with the Lebanon file (ph). Secretary of State Rubio picked up the ball and he's now dealing with this issue. And that's very important because for a long time nobody had this ball. And basically the Trump administration, for too long, gave Benjamin Netanyahu to decide what's -- what is the U.S. foreign policy in Lebanon? And I think that's done and over with.

And I think what's -- the second thing that is important is to see whether Rubio presses in that meeting to get an Israeli commitment for either a ceasefire or some pause in the fighting in Lebanon, because if the fighting is going to continue, I find it very hard to see how any progress in negotiations between Lebanon and Israel can be achieved. And if fighting continues, it will be much harder to reach a deal between the Lebanese government and the Israeli government because Israeli forces will be even more entrenched in Lebanese territory, and it will be even harder to get Israel to pull its forces back.

BOLDUAN: Barak, it's good to see you. Thank you so much.

John.

BERMAN: All right, if you have lived somewhere where there's been an election in the last year or so, even a local election, chances are that you've heard these words or seen them in a television commercial, data centers. These enormous places that A.I. companies need to build to house all the hardware to fuel all the artificial intelligence that people are using all the time right now.

Port Washington, Wisconsin, just passed a referendum creating some limits, some sort of restrictions around the building of data centers in that town there.

So, what does this tell us about this as an issue going forward?

With us now, CNN chief data analyst Harry Enten.

Harold, good to see you this morning.

HARRY ENTEN, CNN CHIEF DATA ANALYST: Nice to see you, my friend.

BERMAN: Again, the reason we're talking about this is, it is absolutely something you hear about. Maybe you're not paying attention to it as it passes by, but it's a big deal.

ENTEN: It is a huge deal. Data centers have become a boogeyman. And you mentioned Port Washington, Wisconsin. That's a place that Donald Trump actually won. And to me, data centers represent a rare bipartisan moment here in America, and that is the opposition to them. The building opposition.

Take a look at this. All right, oppose building A.I. data centers in their communities. Look at this, 65 percent of all adults. Now, we occasionally see something that gets two-thirds support. But what's rare here is, look at the bipartisan support, 78 percent of Democrats, 66 percent of independents, 56 percent of Republicans. This is a rare instance in which you have the majority of Democrats, Republicans and independents actually in unison on something. And it's their opposition to data centers.

And I think this is going to be something that's not just going to stay in Port Washington, Wisconsin, but it's going to expand out throughout the political map. And it's going to be very interesting to see if politicians take one side or the other side of this and are able to take advantage of what seems to be this clear backlash in the polling data.

BERMAN: And they said there'd be nothing out there that could bring us together. It turns out --

ENTEN: Love will keep us together, as well as A.I. data centers, at least the opposition to them.

BERMAN: All right, what do people think in general right now when they think of A.I., whether it's going to help or hurt?

ENTEN: Yes, OK. So you see this, opposition to building A.I. data centers. And I think this is part of a larger, a larger picture of this backlash against A.I.

And I should note, I use A.I. Most Americans use it in some way. Yet, despite that, say A.I. will do more harm than good in their day to day lives. Again, look at this. This is bipartisan. Fifty-five percent of all adults. That's up from 45 percent -- 44 percent a year ago. Fifty- nine percent of Democrats, 58 percent of independents. And again, 52 percent of Republicans. So, again, you're getting this building backlash to A.I., despite the fact that most Americans are using it in their lives, they're scared of it. They're worried about it. And again, this is going to be something to see very interesting going forward whether or not politicians say, you know what, we want some restrictions here.

[08:45:01]

BERMAN: I'm not sure I can think of another issue where these numbers are quite as similar.

ENTEN: They're so similar. It's just very, very rare.

BERMAN: What about the people behind A.I.?

ENTEN: Yes. OK. So again, the other thing that I think is so notable here is those, the companies, the people who are developing A.I., people don't necessarily think that they're looking out for their best interests. Look at this. Again, it's just five percent of all adults, five percent of Republicans, four percent of independents, four percent of Democrats. Again, look at this unison here.

Now, I will say there's a chunk of don't know. But even here, 47 percent say they don't represent their best interests. Again, I think A.I. is building as an issue. It's going to be a big part of campaigns going forward as there is this backlash, despite the fact that so many Americans are using it.

BERMAN: Harold Enten, good to see you this morning. Interesting to see the unity in all of this.

ENTEN: Unity.

BERMAN: Kate.

BOLDUAN: You know what else we're all unified around? We don't like bad weather.

ENTEN: That's true.

BERMAN: That's -- good, good point.

BOLDUAN: Thank you. Thank you. Well, end the show right there.

Right now a large swath of the country is facing just that, another round of bad weather. Dangerous weather, in fact. From southern Texas, up to the Great Lakes. And the storms started moving through yesterday, triggered several tornadoes.

I'm going to show you Hillsdale, Kansas, where one tornado touched down and just ripped through the town there. And in northern Michigan, flooding was the big threat and it looks like it will continue to be.

CNN's Derek Van Dam is joining us right now with much more on this.

Derek, what are you watching?

DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: OK, so as advertised, Kate, yesterday was another active day of severe weather. This is starting off our multi-day stretch of severe storms.

First, look at what happened in southern Minnesota. That is an incredible twister caught by this drone.

And then look at the electrification of this supercell thunderstorm. Hundreds of lightning bolts just flashing throughout the day. And maybe this camera will pan a little bit to the north and east because we saw some interesting cloud formations with this as well. Check this out. Really beautiful with the sunset in the background, but these are ominous clouds. They're known as mammatus clouds. And they're a precursor to some severe weather. And you do not want to be flying during those conditions because often very, very high turbulence within and around those supercells.

All right, so yesterday there were 14 confirmed tornadoes. Southern Minnesota, into central Wisconsin, even portions of Missouri and into Oklahoma.

Look at this. Latest update from the Storm Prediction Center just updated here within the past couple of minutes, including this enhanced risk for southern Michigan, the greater Chicago suburbs, stretching west to Des Moines. And this is also new, Oklahoma City. We could see some stronger thunderstorms pop up throughout the day today. Some of these tornadoes that do develop could be on the stronger side. You can see the hatched area stretching from the Great Lakes through the Southern Plains. Greatest chances of EF-2 tornadoes within those two areas.

Now, we've also seen an expansion of this golf ball sized hail. We consider that large hail. Not only is that dangerous for you if you're outside, but, of course, your property, your vehicle, your home, that could be impacted across the Great Lakes area.

So, timing this out, really expecting the storms to fire up. Right around 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. tonight. Heading home from work, Des Moines, Milwaukee to Chicago, keep an eye to the sky. That's when things get nasty. And then nocturnal tornadoes potentially overnight as these storms march eastward and we continue this multi-day severe weather threat.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: Yes, many more days to come. Just look at that.

Derek, thank you so much for keeping a close eye on it for us.

There's also new video in this morning showing the moment four astronauts emerged from the Orion space capsule. We are just getting our first look at this moment. We're going to show it to you. We'll bring you more of that after the break.

And the husband of the American woman who went missing in the Bahamas is still missing in the Bahamas. Well, that husband is out of jail this morning. Why her daughter is now telling us she does not think this is the end of the story.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:52:55]

BERMAN: This morning, new questions in the disappearance of a Michigan woman in the Bahamas. Her husband, Brian Hooker, has now been released without charges after being taken into custody nearly a week ago for questioning in connection with his wife Lynette's disappearance.

Brian Hooker told investigators his wife fell overboard while the two were sailing in rough waters, and that he quickly lost sight of her. But Lynette's daughter has said she has doubts about this account.

With us now, CNN legal analyst Joey Jackson.

Counselor, so Brian Hooker was in custody, but now released without charges.

JOEY JACKSON, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Yes.

BERMAN: So, what does that spidey -- what does your spidey sense tell you about where this is going? JACKSON: Yes, John, it tells me there's a lot of suspicion, but

there's a lot of smoke, but they don't yet have the fire.

Now, they brought him in for questioning, they being Bahamian officials, on the notion that they had probable cause to believe that a crime was committed, right? In English, they believe that there was some suspicious activity around her death.

But I think there's a lot of sizzle around that, but no specific and direct evidence. And there's good reason to question the narrative, that is his narrative, right, with respect to what happened. You have a woman who's able bodied, who is very physically fit, who's grown up, according to her family, in water, essentially, you know, swimming, laking, et cetera, grew up around boats. She's been boating with him for a significant period of time. She's very adept at doing this. She's into safety. She's into precaution.

And oh, lo and behold, she's missing. And then, of course, you add to that, John, the volatility that's been described of their relationship, and there's some reason to believe that his story may not add up. That was the basis upon which he was brought in. But to date, they do not have a smoking gun to continue to detain him and charge him.

BERMAN: Well, how much would it have taken for them to keep him in custody?

JACKSON: So, I think you need a little bit more than what they had, which is the following, is that certainly the circumstances seem to be somewhat suspicious surrounding her death. Certainly she was a person you would not expect that would just fall off a boat, as he said. Certainly there was a narrative with regard to their past relationship and with regard to how he was as a drunk. You need something a lot more than that, which would suggest that he engaged in any type of criminality, and that's always dependent upon the facts.

[08:55:02]

Now, you know, they turned it into, obviously, a -- it was a rescue mission. It's gone from that given the time in the event. Yes, that she's dead. In the event that they find her, there could be some indications based upon -- because bodies are always a treasure trove of information with respect to any abrasions or anything that might constitute some kind of back and forth interaction of a negative variety.

But what they had, John, was not enough.

BERMAN: What's life going to be like for Brian Hooker now that he has been released?

JACKSON: So, look, he's a person of interest. And I think it's important to note that not only could he be prosecuted in the Bahamas, which they're adept at doing prosecutions, of course, but the U.S. attorney has jurisdiction, that's in the United States, based upon the fact that, you know, the United States Coast Guard is involved. They're American citizens. It happened on an American boat. And so, he can live his life as he lives his life. He'll be under that suspicion. In the event that they find her, and they do some analysis that may raise the ante.

In addition, you don't know who was around that surrounding area. Is there any satellite or surveillance video which might suggest that something happened, in which case he acted in an untoward way towards her. So, far from closed at this point. They'll continue to investigate at all times. And in the event that they find something, we could suspect that he could -- could be rearrested. But right now he's released. Person of suspicion, but no charges.

BERMAN: Joey Jackson, thank you for explaining that so well. Appreciate it.

JACKSON: Thank you, John.

BERMAN: Kate.

BOLDUAN: Well, new this morning, they're getting a whole new view of the Artemis II crew as they're being released from their capsule after Friday's successful splashdown. This new video is just coming in. We're taking a look at it with you. Commander Reid Wiseman shared the video, it's helmet camera video, he shared it overnight, of that moment when they splashed down and were formally welcomed back to earth.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. Do it. Say it. Yes! Let's go. Get your sill (ph) cover. Sill covered.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sill covered.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sill cover. Here. Right there.

You got it?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We got you. I got you. I got you, so lean over. Take your time. Sill cover's on.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right. Hit it.

(CROSS TALK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Four green.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Four green.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ike (ph). Welcome home. Christina, welcome home. Yes.

CHRISTINA KOCH, NASA ASTRONAUT: Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Jeremy.

Absolutely.

Welcome home, brother. There it is. Reid. What's up? Welcome home, brother.

REID WISEMAN, NASA ASTRONAUT: Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you. Thank you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: It's so sweet and also just kind of running through my head is like what that crew is feeling in that moment. Just like, relief. But just immense levels of gravity. And like what they just went through. But what an amazing moment to be. The crew that like unlocks it and gets to see them for the first time.

BERMAN: I was going to say, it's, you know, it's sort of like how we all greet each other here every morning.

BOLDUAN: Welcome. Welcome, brother. Congrats. Yes.

BERMAN: Yes. Good morning. Welcome. Welcome. Hey, good morning. Except we're not sitting down.

BOLDUAN: We're like in sprinting and late and all the things, yes.

BERMAN: Yes. Yes. That was awesome.

BOLDUAN: Yes.

BERMAN: All right, happening now, Pope Leo is on his ten-day mission in Africa. That's over there. Here in the United States, the president's still trying to clean up after he made those attacks on the pope and posted an image of himself that he claims -- he claims was not depicting himself as Jesus. He said he thought it showed him as a health care worker. He is, in fact, neither Jesus nor a health care worker.

CNN Vatican correspondent Christopher Lamb is traveling with Pope Leo in Algeria.

And, Chris, I mean, this trip got off to a heck of a start, not really, through Pope Leo's making. How has it been going so far?

CHRISTOPHER LAMB, CNN VATICAN CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Well, it really did get off to a heck of a start. That's an absolutely right description.

And Pope Leo responding, though, to that extraordinary broadside from President Trump, saying he would continue to speak out and he wouldn't be intimidated or be -- have any fear of the Trump administration.

But I think we're seeing today is the Vatican try to draw a line under the matter. The pope is in Annaba, which is north eastern Algeria. We've seen a very personal pilgrimage here. He's been visiting the site connected with Saint Augustine of Hippo, who is the founder or the spiritual father of the (INAUDIBLE) order, which Pope Leo is a member of. And, of course, he's the first Augustinian pope.

So, he took part in a very poignant pilgrimage today. And also emphasizing the importance of Christian, Muslim relations on this trip. Saint Augustine is a very much revered figure in Algeria, which is, of course, a Muslim majority country.

[09:00:02]

But you do get the sense that Pope Leo wants to continue to speak out though on matters that President Trump has criticized.