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Severe Storms to Slam Central U.S. with More Tornadoes, Hail, Flooding; Trump Says $4 Gas Prices in U.S. Are Not Very High; Trump Says Next Round of Iran Talks Possible This Weekend; Airlines Urge Governments to Prepare for Jet Fuel Rationing; Medical Cannabis Use on the Rise Among Women. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired April 17, 2026 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:00]

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Capital in his own style, with his name, his image and classical themes. Sara E. Bond is an associate professor of ancient history.

SARA E. BOND, ASSOC. PROFESSOR OF ANCIENT HISTORY, UNIVERSITY OF IOWA: But I think he believes that this is going to be part of his legacy, that if he builds a gigantic arch that surely won't be dismantled, that it will continue to place him in this kind of pantheon of great presidents.

FOREMAN (voice-over): Despite a 100 million dollar price tag, according to Axios and a lawsuit the commission stuffed with Trump appointees rapidly approved moving ahead.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it's all right.

KAROLINE LEAVITT, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: This is a rendering of the arch for you.

FOREMAN (voice-over): Team Trump says the edifice will enhance Arlington and the nation's 250th birthday. But when Trump rolled out his idea and was asked, who's it for? His answer then, me.

Tom Foreman, CNN, Washington.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: We are watching the airports. The president says talks with Iran could take place as soon as that this weekend. But if that's so, officials like Vice President Vance, they need to leave now or soon.

An impossible fuel crisis. Word this morning, that huge parts of the world could run out of jet fuel in just six weeks.

And the dog that pretty much stopped Iowa basically shutting down the interstate, both lanes jumping the median there. How did this drama end?

I'm John Berman with Kate Bolduan and Sara Sidner. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

BOLDUAN: All right, there are huge parts of the country that just can't get a break right now. The severe weather threat is not letting up the dangerous storms that have hammered state after state. Pardon me.

Those storms are packing one final punch for some. Today could be the most intense yet. Even more than 50 million people are under severe weather threats from Texas to Wisconsin.

There's the threats of thunderstorms, tornadoes we've seen and wildly large hail. We've got some updated numbers that have just come in this hour. We're now learning that there have been even more tornadoes than expected.

There have been 47 reports of tornadoes and more than 350 reports of large hail in this past week. Tornadoes that just shredded homes, uprooting trees, downing power lines across several states. We're showing you video from Tulsa, Oklahoma, which today is once again at risk for tornadoes.

And then there is the hail. Hailstorms caused extensive damage in places, especially in Kansas, that seem to be hit very hard by. We're talking softball sized hail falling from some spots.

A CNN affiliate also reports a 41 year old truck driver was struck and killed by lightning during one of those storms. And on top of all that, there's also significant flooding that we've been seeing in the Great Lakes. Showing you drone video.

This is in parts of Michigan from the Muskegon River in Michigan. Officials are very concerned this morning about several dams as a result of all of this rain.

CNN's Allison Chinchar back with us to start us off this hour. What can we expect today, Allison?

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: And more of what we've already seen so far this week, it's been kind of a week of flooding, rains, large hail and yes, even some tornadoes. You take a look at some of the damage behind me. This was from Tuesday in Kansas.

Again, you can kind of see some of the damage there that the storms caused in that particular region. They were not the only ones that have been dealing with some of those -- and have Monica push this forward for me real quick so we can take a look.

This was from Michigan. Again, you can see the tornado damage kind of ripping off the side of that building there in Ann Arbor. And again, we've also had flooding.

We've also had hail. Look at this. You can see the large hail taking out the back windshield of this particular car.

We had hail the size of grapefruits at one point this week. The next system is gearing up. It's this low pressure system that you see right through here.

Now, what that system is going to do is it's going to slide off to the east and going to bring some of those strong to severe thunderstorms with it. You've got swaths of damaging winds. You're talking from the Up of Michigan all the way down into Texas. A lot of the storms are going to start to develop around two, three o'clock this afternoon. That's when we have the greatest chance for tornadoes, and some of them could be strong. We also have the potential for large hail.

We could be looking at the size of tennis balls, if not larger. Now, when we talk about the tornadoes, the greatest threat is really going to be here in kind of that orange color, where you also see the stripes on the map. We have the potential even to see some EF2s or EF3 tornadoes in that particular location.

Again, like I said, especially this afternoon and into the early evening hours, the storm itself is going to then form into a long line that's going to continue to spread east. That's where you have the greatest threat for some of those really strong, damaging winds. That could be 70, even 80 mile per hour wind gusts as that line continues to slide off to the east.

[08:05:00]

So again, here you can see that three to four o'clock time frame be 70, even 80 mile per hour wind gusts as that line continues to slide off to the east. So again, here you can see that three to four o'clock time frame. That's when you start getting some of those discrete cells forming.

Then it starts to congeal into that line as we make our way through the evening hours before it spreads eastward into the Ohio Valley and much of the rest of the Midwest overnight tonight.

BOLDUAN: All right, Allison, thank you so much. Another busy night of storms ahead -- Sara.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: All right, thank you, Kate. President Trump says Iran talks could resume in Pakistan this weekend and he may go there to finalize a deal.

This as gas prices now are above $4 a gallon in the United States and the president saying they aren't so bad. As the world is watching and waiting to see if the U.S. and Iran will return to the negotiating table. Here's what the president said when he was asked, how much longer will Americans have to put up with high prices at the pump?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, they're not very high. If you look at what they were supposed to be in order to get rid of a nuclear weapon with the danger that entails of the gas prices have come down very much over the last three or four days.

(END VIDEO CLIP) SIDNER: Average gas prices have actually dropped in the last few days by just a few pennies. There's still more than a dollar higher than when the war began.

CNN's Alayna Treene is live for us at the White House this morning. What are you learning this morning? There were a lot of things said yesterday by the president as he talked about many different things, including potentially going to Pakistan himself for these talks.

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, look, I do want to start with some of those comments on gas prices, because I'd remind you, Sara, we're seeing the president. He was in Nevada yesterday. He's going to have a speech in Arizona today.

I mean, he is out there in the Sun Belt really to sell this midterm strategy and what should be this mark -- you know, the party's marquee policy legislation wins, you know, the working families tax cuts and also, it's no tax on tips policy. But of course, there has been a lot of concern about how the war is impacting all of this. One of the big things that the Trump administration had been planning from the start of this year, really, to do and to focus on for his midterm strategy was to also, of course, tout the economy, talk about gas prices, which had been lower prior to the war than they had been in the previous administration and try to sell that type of thing for the midterms.

And what I've been hearing in my conversations with Republicans on Capitol Hill, with Republican campaign operatives, is that this has all been kind of scrambled by the war with Iran. Now, you played that one clip of him, but he also went on to say, while speaking to reporters before departing for this trip yesterday, he said that if he thinks that they have very successful negotiations with the Iranians and if they can ultimately get a deal, then he thinks that oil prices will drop, that gas prices will drop and that hopefully this problem that is really a huge problem for Republicans right now as they look ahead to November, that that will ultimately resolve itself.

But still a lot of concern about that and also a little bit of concern about how the president and, you know, is framing this with the rhetoric he is using, arguing that they're not very high. I mean, there's a lot of people inside the White House who recognize that gas prices are currently a problem for them.

As for what you mentioned about the president himself floating this idea of going to Islamabad, there's a lot I was told that would need to happen for anything -- for any trip like that, for the president to actually move forward.

From the conversations I have been having with administration officials in recent days, they had floated that possibility but would only be if he could really go and take a victory lap. And we're still waiting to see exactly whether or not a compromise is actually going to prevail here and if they can move toward that second round of talks which they are pushing for this weekend. So a lot that still needs to happen, I think, before the president would make a trip like that.

SIDNER: Yes, a lot of details would definitely have to be worked out. Alayna Treene, thank you so much for your reporting for us this morning -- John.

BERMAN: All right, looking to travel this summer. Brace yourself. New warnings. That entire swath of the world could run out of jet fuel in six weeks.

And then a highly anticipated, hugely controversial film on the verge of release, all about Michael Jackson, the major setback that nearly derailed the movie.

And three words you might not expect to hear. Some might have thought they would never be said at all. Crawfish ice cream. There I said it.

And this morning we are told people like it.

[08:10:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: This morning, concerns that the war in Iran could cause jet fuel shortages and even fuel rationing. The head of the International Energy Agency is warning that Europe could run out of jet fuel in six weeks -- that's if the Strait of Hormuz remains shut. Let's get to CNN senior reporter David Goldman with the latest on this.

Six weeks is soon.

DAVID GOLDMAN, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Yes, yes. Anytime that we're talking about running out of jet fuel, rationing jet fuel, that's scary stuff. It's about as appetizing as crawfish ice cream. And so, you know, we're in for a tough summer.

This is going to be a summer of cut flights. It's going to be a summer of higher airfares. And so if you haven't booked your summer travel already, it's not going to be a great experience, unfortunately.

Yes, I mean, one of the reasons why we're dealing with this is that it's a huge cost to airlines. So just one penny in additional jet fuel costs, that's about $50 million every year for an airline. It's about a quarter of their overall costs.

BERMAN: Wow.

GOLDMAN: So, you know, for an airline like Delta, they're talking about $2 billion of costs just in the past month alone. So, you know, one of the things that we're going to be watching for, right, is what's going on in Europe, because 20 percent of the world's jet fuel comes through the Strait of Hormuz, but that's about 69 percent of Europe's jet fuel. So we're going to act with a delay, though, right?

[08:15:00]

We work on a global market and so unfortunately for American travelers, a lot of what we're seeing in Europe over the next few weeks, that could be happening around the summertime for us.

BERMAN: Look, the president keeps on saying that there could be a deal as soon as this weekend. Say there is a deal. Say the Strait miraculously opened in the next two weeks.

Would that be enough to alleviate all of this?

GOLDMAN: Probably not, right? Because so much needs to happen before we can get back to normal situations. So production needs to come back online for all of the facilities that have shut production. That could take a matter of weeks.

And then once they start producing and getting the tankers back to where they need to go, I mean, they don't operate like oil tankers, right? They take a real long time to get to where they need to go.

And so by the time that this actually filters down, those lower prices filters down, I mean, it could be the fall. It could be the winter if it ended soon.

BERMAN: None of this is a snap your fingers type of thing, David Goldman. Thank you very much.

GOLDMAN: Thank you.

BERMAN: Kate.

BOLDUAN: Up ahead, the Justice Department appealing now a decision by a federal judge after they were dealt a blow. Well, after the judge dealt a blow to the White House's ambitious ballroom project. Got much more on that.

And how medical cannabis is on the rise with women. A deeper look at the impacts of weed and why women of all ages are turning more to it.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BOLDUAN: In the new CNN special, Dr. Sanjay Gupta is taking a deep dive into how medical cannabis is rising in popularity in a big way among women. He traveled the country, visiting somewhere you might not expect to learn about all the reasons that women, young and old, are turning to weed when it comes to this new special. The eighth installment of Weed, this series that Sanjay's been working on for so long.

And you all have questions about it. We've brought in your questions. And Sanjay is now back to answer all of your said questions.

Can I jump into it, Sanjay? Erica from Canada wants to know, what are the short and long-term effects on a baby if a mother uses cannabis while pregnant and while breastfeeding?

GUPTA: Yes. Let me just preface by saying I think this was the most surprising, if not shocking, part of our investigation. Just how many women are using cannabis while they're pregnant and or breastfeeding.

Studies anywhere between 7 percent to 20 percent of moms doing this. And you know, these are hard studies to do. A lot of women don't talk about this. It's very stigmatized, obviously. And oftentimes it is commingled with other substances such as tobacco, alcohol, things like that. So these are hard studies to do.

But we do know this. Cannabis crosses the placenta, first of all. That was a big question.

And those studies have been done. Cannabis does cross the placenta. Second of all, it gets concentrated in breast milk.

So not only is it in the breast milk, oftentimes it's at doses or concentrations higher than just in the normal blood supply. So these are obvious concerns. And the studies that have been done link cannabis use during pregnancy to low birth weight, to preterm labor, to things like preeclampsia. So there's all kinds of concerns.

But Kate, I think part of what's happening here is a lot of women who use cannabis before becoming pregnant for depression, for anxiety, for finding cannabis to be the thing that really helps them. They continue using cannabis during pregnancy.

And I think that's the real tension here. And it's a significant tension for a lot of these women.

BOLDUAN: And what you're getting at is an important bit of it, is just the evolution of the use of cannabis for medicinal purposes and the success that you have shown of cannabis as medicine. And that is this through line as many mothers are told to continue medication if they can during pregnancy. But I just remember all of the conversations I had with my doctor about what can be, what can't be.

And it comes down to, you have to have those conversations with your doctor about your personal risk --

GUPTA: Absolutely.

BOLDUAN: -- on either side of it, right? Then there is also this, Sanjay. Jodi from New Jersey is asking, can marijuana products, specifically those that are edible, be helpful for perimenopausal symptoms?

When you talk about menopause and perimenopause, this is a whole new important world that is finally getting more attention from the medical community.

GUPTA: Yes, Kate. And just to build on what you just said, I think women have been minimized when it comes to a lot of clinical trials for all sorts of different substances. Women sometimes aren't part of these trials because, hey, a woman could get pregnant in the middle of the trial.

So what does that do to the trial or hormonal fluctuations? So as a result, I mean, women going through perimenopause, up until recently, hormone replacement therapy had a black box warning on it.

So you know, I saw my mom go through this. I saw my wife go through this. It's significant. And so perhaps no surprise that they're increasingly turning to alternatives.

When it comes to perimenopause and menopause, there's better data around this. And there's no question, as we saw in Oklahoma, that women are increasingly turning to cannabis, specifically for a few things. So they know that with THC, it can help curb anxiety, specifically.

It can affect the hypothalamus, which is the body's temperature area. So that can reduce hot flashes. And it can also act as an anti- inflammatory.

So women who have general aches and pains associated with perimenopause and menopause, this can be helpful. Again, I'll say this a thousand times, that there's caveats here. And this needs to be done responsibly.

And I think in many ways, what I kept hearing from doctors around the country is that, you know, cannabis, if we're going to call it a medicine, it should be treated with the same rigor and respect that you treat any medicine. So it doesn't work for everybody. There are potential harms.

But for a lot of women who haven't had a lot of options, they're increasingly turning to this.

BOLDUAN: That is fascinating. I had really not appreciated that cannabis could, with some, help with hot flashes in that way. That is a fascinating element.

[08:25:00]

And but what you're hitting on, which is add to the number of reasons why we love you, is just having the conversation. It may be uncomfortable and there may be caveats. And it may not be for everyone. But you're having the conversation and you're investigating it in only the way that you can, Sanjay.

It's so good to see you.

GUPTA: Thanks for having me, Kate. Appreciate it.

BOLDUAN: Thank you so much. And you can watch Dr. Sanjay Gupta reports "WEED8, WOMEN AND WEED" this Sunday night at 8 right here on CNN.

SIDNER: This series is always like really fascinating, truly.

BOLDUAN: From the first installment, I still remember.

SIDNER: Me too.

BOLDUAN: Right?

SIDNER: Yes.

BOLDUAN: It's been -- and he's worked so hard. It's been an unbelievable journey for him. SIDNER: Really good. All right, ahead. Some are calling it David

beating Goliath.

The shockwave throughout the entertainment industry after a jury finds Live Nation and Ticketmaster operated as a monopoly. How Live Nation is looking to appeal now.

And a pup on the lam, major interstate traffic brought to a halt after a dog was found darting through the traffic lanes. How did this end? I hope well.

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