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Trump: Next Round of Iran Talks Possible this Weekend; Trump Blasts Judge over White House Ballroom Ruling; Jury Finds Live Nation and Ticketmaster Operated as a Monopoly; "Michael" Hits the Big Screen After $15 Million Reshoot Setback. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired April 17, 2026 - 08:30   ET

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

[08:30:00]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, we are standing by to see if there will be a new round of talks between Iran and the United States. The president says it could happen as soon as this weekend, but nothing firm has been set. And again, if it is going to happen this weekend, it really does seem as if people need to start moving pretty quickly to get there, to Islamabad, where these talks have been taking place all the way here in the corner of Pakistan.

With us now, CNN military analyst, retired Colonel Cedric Leighton, and CNN national security analyst Alex Plitsas. Cedric, let me just start with you here, because as I said, the talks, if they take place, will be over here in Pakistan, in Islamabad. Right now, key Pakistani officials are meeting in Tehran with Iranian leaders, and of course, there's a great deal of focus over here on Lebanon, where there is a 10-day ceasefire in place between Israel and Lebanon, but not necessarily Hezbollah. We'll get to that in a second.

Iran, Cedric, how does Iran normally handle negotiations like this? The ceasefire is supposed to expire on Tuesday.

COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Yes, John, I missed part of your question, but basically with Iran, there's going to be a situation where I think it's going to be really tough for there to be a real negotiation in this particular case, because they may end up making a concession on the Iranian side. The United States has several goals that it needs to achieve. Basically, one of them is to keep the Strait of Hormuz open.

The other one is to make sure that the nuclear aspect -- the nuclear weapons aspect on the Iranian side doesn't get into the province of nuclear weapons. So if that is not going to happen, then those talks are going to basically be perhaps a steppingstone to further talks, but they're not going to be a resounding success that will end the type of conflict that we're seeing right now.

BERMAN: And the Iranians have a history of trying to extend things, extend talks as long as they possibly can. While this is going on, Alex, obviously, the Strait of Hormuz basically closed the U.S. blockade. Military leaders say it's all but shut down Iranian shipping out. Other shipping not moving out of there as well. But, Alex, is it safe to say from what you're seeing that neither

side, neither Iran nor the United States, want to see fighting resume even when the ceasefire expires on Tuesday?

ALEX PLITSAS, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Sure. I mean, I think the president's made it clear that he would prefer a negotiated settlement to the remaining issues. And that was stated in the beginning leading up to this.

And we're still sort of in the same position in the sense that, you know, prior to the 12-day war over the summer last year and now prior to this conflict being initiated, his main goal was to ensure that they were not able to achieve a nuclear weapon at some point. And the two policy red lines that were sticking points were the highly enriched uranium at 60 percent that needs to come out of the country as well as the right for domestic enrichment. Because the technology that's used to enrich uranium for civilian purposes is largely the same minus some bigger arrays and technology to get you a weapons grade.

And the previous deal he pulled out of the JCPOA or the Iran nuclear deal allowed Iran to keep the technology to enrich that uranium to that point. And so the president's concern now is if they do not have the ability -- excuse me, if they retain the ability to enrich uranium domestically in the future, it does provide them the option to potentially break out for weapon again.

BERMAN: So, Cedric, one of the possibilities, and the president has floated himself, if he feels like talks are moving forward, if he thinks a deal can be reached, that he would travel to Islamabad, again, there in the corner of Pakistan himself, maybe to sign the deal or take part in the negotiations. What do you think of that decision?

LEIGHTON: I think it's a bad decision, John. And the reason I say that is because the person that the president would need to deal with would be the Supreme Leader. And as far as we know, the Supreme Leader is not able to travel to Pakistan at this point in time.

And if that's still the case, that would be (INAUDIBLE) an area where he's, from a protocol standpoint, not really meeting with the people that he's supposed to be meeting with.

[08:35:00]

So from a protocol standpoint, I think it's bad. I also think from a symbolic standpoint, if you have a president go there and the deal is not a success, is not what he needs in terms of the actual goals that we have from the U.S. perspective, I think that's going to be a real problem and it would potentially backfire on President Trump.

BERMAN: All right, Colonel Senator Cedric Leighton and Alex Plitsas, thanks to both of you.

Obviously, if you listen to the president, a lot of his discussions, a lot of his desire, I think, to push to a deal is based on domestic concerns with prices still high that he's trying to wish away to a certain extent. So where does public opinion stand on the war with Iran?

How much has it hurt the president? With us now, CNN chief data analyst, Harry Enten.

HARRY ENTEN, CNN CHIEF DATA ANALYST: Hey, I snuck right in here.

BERMAN: So look, there's this notion, and you see articles about it all the time, that the president is leaking because of the war with Iran. What evidence is there?

ENTEN: Yes, I think this is so important because in the polling, you may see the president leaking support. But I think for me, the question is, as we head towards midterm elections, has there been any real impact on those congressional Republicans who are running for re- election this term?

And you know what? Take a look at the generic ballot, the shift in it, zero, zero, zero, zero, zero. Democrats had a small lead heading into the war.

They continue to have a small lead that would likely win them the House, but not one that would be consistent with them winning the Senate. So despite the war going on for well more than a month now, there has been zero, zero, zero shift. This is a reality check for those who are saying the war has massively changed the political landscape going into the midterm.

BERMAN: So how much has it moved?

ENTEN: It's moved zero, zero, zero, zero, zero.

BERMAN: OK, so broaden out a little bit if you're talking about maybe support for one party or another on foreign policy.

ENTEN: Yes, OK, so what's one of the reasons why we've seen this zero point shift? Just take a look here. OK, party trusted more on foreign policy.

In late February, it was Dems, but within the margin of error by four points. What's actually happened by late March? That number actually shifted by one point, which is within the margin of error, but it actually made the Democrats' lead on foreign policy trust go down a point to three points.

So again, what we're seeing here is this war has simply put, when it comes to the parties at large, coming to congressional Republicans, it just simply put has not changed the political landscape at all.

BERMAN: How much do voters say they care about the war?

ENTEN: Yes, OK, so you see this little shift. You see the fact that the generic ballot shifted zero, zero, zero, zero, zero. You ask yourself, OK, why might that be?

Well, how about this? Say they care a great deal or quite a bit about the Iranian situation. In early March, it was 45 percent. Now, guess this? Again, it's just a shift of a point. It's within the margin of error but actually shifted down by one point to 44 percent.

So the majority of Americans do not, in fact, say they care quite a great deal, or quite a bit about the Iranian situation. Look, this may be impacting the president somewhat, but in terms of congressional Republicans, in terms of changing the landscape, heading into the midterm elections, look, Johnny, as I like to say, and Jimmy Carver like to say, it's about the economy. But when I'm with this guy, it's smarty pants.

BERMAN: But the interesting thing here, and one way to look at this, is that any focus on Iran is not focused on the economy.

ENTEN: Correct.

BERMAN: So it may be that these numbers aren't moving, but the economic numbers, which really do matter, do perhaps shift on the margins.

ENTEN: The gas prices, inflation, that's the name of the game. Those numbers shift, that's bad for Republicans if they go in a southern direction. If they go in a northern direction, in terms of people being more satisfied, then that, in fact, would be a real game- changer.

BERMAN: Thank you very much.

ENTEN: Thank you, Johnny.

BERMAN: Sara.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: All right, thanks, gentlemen.

President Trump firing back at a federal judge who ordered him to pause construction on his White House ballroom project. In a Truth Social post, Trump said the decision by a George W. Bush-appointed judge was politically motivated. He also called it a threat to national security, but the judge says it's the president's national security justification for the project that is, quote, disingenuous.

CNN correspondent Katelyn Polantz is joining us now. What are you learning?

KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Sara, this is Judge Richard Leon on the bench in Washington, D.C. He's been there a while, very well-respected. He does, indeed, say that Donald Trump and his administration, in what they're telling the court about building this ballroom, has been disingenuous. And also, this judge, he really loves an exclamation point.

We've gotten several orders from him over this ballroom saying that the way that Trump is going about it, what he is building here, should not be something he can just do on his own. But here's where we are right now. At this moment, they can keep building, but not the ballroom that Donald Trump wants, just what's underneath it, what's below ground, the national security needs.

[08:40:00]

There've been a couple moments in this ongoing court case, Sara, where the Trump administration, the Justice Department, has said to the court, time is of the essence and we are building a bunker underneath. We need to close off what is being built underneath that ballroom because it is for national security needs and we need to be able to protect the president.

But Judge Leon, he got very angry recently because the Trump administration decided they were just going to keep building the whole ballroom, not just the national security aspects of it. They thought that he was giving them the green light to keep building, but Judge Leon, he says that that is way too much of an overread of what he was going to allow them to do with this ballroom.

Quote, he wrote in this opinion yesterday, "Defendants now seek to turn this exception for national security on its head and unreasonably insist that the entire ballroom project may proceed. Based on the record before me, I cannot possibly agree. National security is not a blank check to proceed with otherwise unlawful activity."

So the fight continues between the White House and the district court, the trial level court in D.C., Judge Richard Leon being the judge overseeing this. And at this time, he says putting a ballroom that Trump wants on the East Wing after he's torn down everything there, just because it has drone-proof roofs and bulletproof windows, that doesn't mean that it's a national security reason to build that gigantic ballroom that Trump has proposed. But this is ultimately going to come down to the appellate courts and Donald Trump, the president, is out there talking about how unhappy he is with this judge right now. There were a couple of Truth Social posts last night, and one of them, he even mentioned, due to time constraints, the ballroom won't even be done before the end of this term in office for Donald Trump.

Those time constraints, that's the Constitution and the limits on Donald Trump's time in office as president -- Sara.

SIDNER: Yes, there is a lot there, and this isn't the first time we've seen him clash with judges. We will see how this all ends. Katelyn Polantz, it's a pleasure. Thank you so much -- Kate.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Eva Longoria is back and exploring the lavender fields of Provence and the world-famous wineries of Bordeaux. Ah, in the CNN original series, "EVA LONGORIA SEARCHING FOR FRANCE." Two new episodes air Sunday at 9 p.m. on CNN, and the next day on the CNN app. Here is a sneak peek.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

EVA LONGORIA, CNN EVA LONGORIA SEARCHING FOR FRANCE: Oh my gosh.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's nice.

LONGORIA: I have to taste this right away. Sorry.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, let's go.

LONGORIA: And what is the cream in here?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I mix the meat just with mustard and fermented milk.

LONGORIA: Wow.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Really, really good.

LONGORIA: Oh my gosh. I love that I can taste your Tunisian heritage in this dish. It's front and center, but at the same time in a tartan, in a French way. Wow. It is so full of love and history.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think the both of you, you don't cook with that much ego. You're kind of artists for me.

LONGORIA: You guys are so young to be an entrepreneur, to have this level of talent at your age.

LONGORIA (voice-over): It's thrilling to be cooking and eating with these amazing young chefs, all still in their 20s, who are changing the face of French food.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You work hard, and at the end of the day, it's always a good day.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, because we are free.

LONGORIA: Wow.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SIDNER: All right, ahead. A car nosedives right into a massive sinkhole that opened in the middle of a road. How that driver is doing this morning.

And, crawfish flavored ice cream? Genius or disgusting? And who's eaten this?

Those stories and more ahead.

[08:45:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BOLDUAN: A major shockwave reverberating still through the entertainment industry this week. Some are describing it as David beating Goliath. We're talking about a court case that's been going on.

A jury verdict now finding that Live Nation and Ticketmaster have been operating as a monopoly and in doing so, violating federal and state antitrust laws. It's a huge blow to the largest concert promoter and ticket seller in the United States. And now the judge overseeing the case will be holding a second trial to determine remedies. Even setting the stage even for a possible breakup of this entertainment giant.

Live Nation, not happy with the verdict and could appeal saying after this that it competes aggressively, but not illegally. And also saying that the jury's verdict is not the last word on this matter.

The case was originally brought by the Justice Department and dozens of state attorneys general, including California's Attorney General Rob Bonta who joins us now. General, thank you for being here. In this next phase, would you like to ultimately see Live Nation and Ticketmaster broken up?

ROB BONTA, CALIFORNIA ATTORNEY GENERAL: It's got to be on the table. There's all sorts of potential remedies in the next phase that the judge will oversee. Potential massive monetary damages including the possibility of restitution to victims who've been harmed, fans who've been overcharged and been ripped off.

The possibility of behavioral remedies where there could be prohibitions on certain type of conduct going forward for Ticketmaster and Live Nation. And certainly, as you mentioned, a breakup of the monopoly. We've asked for that.

Specifically, we've asked for a divestiture, a spin-off of Ticketmaster as a separate company. So that's all on the table, but all to be determined by the judge in the coming weeks and months.

BOLDUAN: Now the company, as I mentioned, said that the verdict here isn't the last word. And it also has argued that the up to $280 million that it pledged in its settlement that came about with the Justice Department in a handful of states just recently, they have said that ultimately, they believe that will prove larger than what you all will see after this jury verdict. I want to read what Live Nation is saying.

[08:50:00]

"We remain confident that the ultimate outcome of the state's case will not be materially different than what is envisioned by the DOJ settlement." One, respond to that, but if that's the end result, is a win, I don't know, actually still a loss here for you guys?

BONTA: No, a win's a win. And a lot of spin, unfortunately, by Live Nation. They certainly can appeal -- they have that right that jury verdict might not be the last word, but it's a very strong word.

Live Nation got absolutely thrashed. The jury verdict form was 11 pages long on every question, every question about wrongdoing of Live Nation, the jury answered yes. And we are able to get treble damages here, meaning that whatever the damage is determined by the judge in the remedies phase, it will be tripled.

We are very confident that that will be much more than the U.S. DOJ's slap on the wrist, sweetheart deal, where they bailed, literally bailed, on the eve of trial and decided to cave to Live Nation while 33 states and the District of Columbia fought on and went all the way to a jury verdict and got this incredible victory for the people of the United States.

BOLDUAN: Yes, I mean, even the judge overseeing this was shocked, surprised, and not happy about that settlement that seemed to have come about without even giving them notice. Let me ask you about a couple of things --

BONTA: Likely so.

BOLDUAN: -- as well. Former Congressman and former Democratic candidate for governor, Eric Swalwell, he's now out. He is facing multiple allegations of sexual misconduct, including being accused of rape that in one instance the woman says occurred in the Los Angeles area. We know that the LA DA has assigned the Sex Crimes Division to investigate.

We know there's another investigation possible into allegations in the Bay Area. I'm curious, Attorney General, is your office investigating this?

BONTA: So we don't comment on any current or pending investigations but I will say we're monitoring the situation. Mr. Swalwell must face full accountability for his conduct, including any criminal investigations in whatever jurisdictions the potential crimes occurred, including in Manhattan, in Los Angeles, in the Bay Area. District attorneys, local prosecutors are best located in the first instance to conduct those investigations and should they decide to take those cases to prosecution to prosecute them.

Should there be some sort of potential conflict or need for my office to get involved, we may, but that has not happened at this point. So at this point we're monitoring, but I am very certain and committed to the proposition that Mr. Swalwell must face full accountability for his actions and I stand with the victims and the survivors who suffered, based on their accounts, just unimaginable pain and victimization.

BOLDUAN: The Attorney General of any state is that position is often seen as a steppingstone potentially to the governor's office. I know that you obviously declined to run in this governor's race as Gavin Newsom was term limited, but what do you think of the mess left in the wake of Eric Swalwell being a front runner, then dropping out? Do you think it increases the chances of Republican wins?

Do you regret not throwing your hat into the ring?

BONTA: I love my job and I wasn't looking for another job and the Attorney General's role right now, in particular the California Attorney General's role with respect to protecting democracy, rights and freedoms, making sure we're enhancing public safety, protecting our environment, protecting constitutional and civil rights, et cetera, et cetera, is so critical and it's the job I want to do. I believe it's the job I'm meant to do. I want to give it all of my passion, my commitment, my talent, my time. I'm also a Californian who believes deeply and cares deeply about who the next governor is and I believe the people will decide. Very appropriate that Mr. Swalwell, who's no longer a candidate, has suspended his campaign. There's other strong candidates on the Democratic side and some are starting to ascend now in the public eye as we enter the voting window as communications ramp up and the candidates make their cases to the people.

So the people will decide and I will do my best to be the best partner that I can be to whoever the next governor is. The next governor's success is California's success and I do not think we will be locked out as Democrats. I do not see any realistic possibility that two Republicans will advance.

I know there's been some data that have suggested that might be possible. I think it's a small possibility. I think one Republican will go through as well as one Democrat and that one Democrat will thrash the Republican in the general.

BOLDUAN: Attorney General, thank you very much for coming in this morning -- John.

[08:55:00]

BERMAN: So in Western Michigan, intense flooding created a sinkhole that swallowed a car. There it is. You can see the whole thing there really just in it. They were able to tow it out and fortunately the driver was not hurt.

Traffic all but stopped in Des Moines as an evasive dog led police on a chase. There it started on the eastbound lane of I-235 but moved to the westbound lane because this dog has no respect at all for traffic laws or customs there and jumped the median. Eventually police were able to catch it.

And then this morning in Houston, a good time to get crawfish ice cream, which is apparently a thing. This is from Red Circle Ice Cream there. Reuters writes that what they do is take Cajun spices, garlic, and then at one point live crawfish and then boil them together. They boil together.

I don't think the crawfish stay live the whole time. Then those juices are combined with butter and seasoning and then added to a cream base that is churned and becomes the ice cream.

BOLDUAN: I'm not going to lie, my mouth is watering.

BERMAN: A cooked crawfish is then placed on top. We've got no reaction this morning from the crawfish.

SIDNER: That is awful, John. But Kate says she's trying it and happy about it.

BOLDUAN: Well, Old Bay is like one of the most delicious seasonings on the planet.

SIDNER: Yes, but --

BOLDUAN: What about like it's a sweet, salty thing?

BERMAN: Well, bacon ice cream is good. By the way, neither bacon ice cream nor crawfish ice cream, kosher, neither.

BOLDUAN: There we have it, JB. Thanks, JB. What are we doing? I'm on your time now. Sorry.

SIDNER: I'm going to take it from here now. No worries.

BOLDUAN: Right there.

SIDNER: All right, a $15 million last minute reshoot nearly derailed the Michael Jackson biopic, "Michael," hitting theaters next week. It was a surprise legal discovery tied to a past abuse allegation against Jackson that forced major rewrites and it's sparking new debate over how to look at Jackson's legacy.

CNN's Stephanie Elam is with us now. What are you learning about this? I know there's a lot of people excited to see it.

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There are so many people who are excited to see it, which is surprising to some people when you look at the colorful background that Michael Jackson had. Still, the movie you will see when it comes out is not the movie you are going to see.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm just getting started.

ELAM (voice-over): When "Michael" hits the big screen, the king of pop will moonwalk, thrill, and don that iconic love, but don't expect this.

MICHAEL JACKSON: I ask all of you to wait and hear the truth.

ELAM (voice-over): Anything related to the child molestation accusations that followed Jackson for decades.

BRENT LANG, EXECUTIVE EDITOR, VARIETY: Initially, the film was supposed to actually start in 1993 as police cars were showing up to Neverland Ranch and Michael Jackson's house was going to be searched for evidence.

ELAM (voice-over): Variety reports the filmmakers were stunned when Jackson's estate found a clause in the 1994 settlement with accuser Jordan Chandler that derailed the nearly finished film.

LANG: And there was a clause in that agreement that prevented anybody from making a film that involved Chandler as a character or that depicted a Chandler-like character in that film. Our sources are saying that the reshoots cost at least 10 to $15 million.

DAVID DANIELS, CNN SENIOR PRODUCER: Last things that we see are the bad tour. ELAM (voice-over): CNN producer David Daniels saw the final version.

DANIELS: It is not a look how wonderful everything was, no blemishes, no problems. It is legendary that Joe Jackson ran the family with an iron hand. There is a very famous incident that injured Michael while he was filming a soda pop commercial.

ELAM (voice-over): But that may not be enough for some critics, especially since a 2019 documentary renewed attention to child sex abuse allegations against Jackson.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Told me if they ever found out what we were doing, he and I would go to jail.

ELAM (voice-over): The Jackson family denied abuse allegations made by Wade Robson and James Safechuck in the documentary. Their attorney did not respond to CNN's questions about the upcoming film. Jackson was acquitted in an unrelated child molestation trial in 2005.

L. LONDELL MCMILLIAN, FORMER JACKSON ATTORNEY AND ADVISER: I am hoping that this film will showcase the beautiful, brilliant life and love of Michael.

ELAM (voice-over): Elle Londell McMillan is a former Jackson advisor and reps the Prince Estate. He says an estate's first priority is to protect its own legacy.

MCMILLIAN: While it may make some people scream and yell, you'll see millions of other on the other spectrum stating, why would you let that in if the facts have not been proven?

ELAM (voice-over): Michael is already tracking to be a box office smash as was the recent Broadway play, MJ the Musical made by a different team.

DANIELS: They still think of him as this incredibly talented child.

ELAM (voice-over): Some music experts say Jackson's link to generations of childhood memories allows many fans to separate the flawed man from the artistic icon.

DANIELS: He gets bracketed with some of the things I think you really love, like Disney movies and other kind of child.