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Status of Trump Ballroom and Arch?; Severe Storm System; Iran Finally Opening Strait of Hormuz?. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired April 17, 2026 - 13:00   ET

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

[13:00:00]

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN HOST: I'm all for it. I think, also, them showing how we do our jobs better than we probably do will be really valuable for a lot of people.

(LAUGHTER)

MATTINGLY: But, hey, there's no group of 435 people in America that deserve the TMZ treatment more than lawmakers.

Pass some stuff, and maybe I will change my mind. That's just my -- sorry. It's Friday. I can have an opinion, right? That's how it's supposed to work.

Great panel. Thank you guys very much.

And thank you for joining INSIDE POLITICS.

"CNN NEWS CENTRAL" starts right now.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Open for business. Tehran says the Strait Of Hormuz is open, a possible lifeline for the struggling global economy, though it may come with some strings attached. We will explain.

JESSICA DEAN, CNN HOST: Running on fumes? Airlines now warning Europe that they are running out of jet fuel, and it could be -- they could be forced to cancel flights during the busy summer travel season.

Also, a severe weather threat for millions of Americans, as a new wave of storms brings wind, hail, rain and possibly tornadoes to the Central U.S.

We're following these major developing stories and many more all coming in right here to CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

SANCHEZ: We're following major breaking news to CNN, President Trump telling Axios that he is expecting a deal with Tehran to end the war within a day or two.

Iran earlier announced that the Strait of Hormuz is completely open to all commercial shipping now that the 10-day cease-fire between Israel and Lebanon is under way. Iran's foreign minister says the vital waterway will remain open for the duration of the truce announced yesterday through its approved point of passage.

It's unclear yet whether Tehran will stop charging those vessels for going through the strait. President Trump responded on TRUTH Social, saying the strait is -- quote -- "ready for business and full passage," while adding that the U.S. Naval blockade on Iran will remain until a deal to end the war is 100 percent complete.

Right now, we're seeing a big reaction on Wall Street. Oil prices have dropped sharply and stocks, as you can see on the right, are surging.

Let's go now live to Tel Aviv with CNN's Jeremy Diamond.

Jeremy, Iran's foreign minister says that it was the cease-fire between Israel and Lebanon that prompted the decision to reopen the strait. What are you hearing there in Tel Aviv?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Yes.

And that statement from the Iranian foreign minister really does explain the pressure that the United States and President Trump in particular brought to bear on the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, to agree to this cease-fire in Lebanon in order to not only preserve and allow this cease-fire between the United States and Iran to continue, but also clearly to ultimately lead to the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.

Now, obviously there's a lot still of unknowns about the reopening of this strait, whether or not Iran is still going to try and charge a toll for ships that are going to pass through it. But, certainly, between that and the kind of indications of positive momentum towards more progress and a potential deal between the United States and Iran, it seems key, it seems clear that the Lebanon cease-fire was key to pushing all of that forward.

But there are still a number of questions about how this will all move forward, how much progress has truly been made, as President Trump is indicating that a deal could really be imminent here with Iran, including questions over the future of the Strait of Hormuz.

President Trump has said that Iran is committed to never again closing the Strait of Hormuz. A different story coming from Iranian state media, which is indicating that, should the United States not end its naval blockade of ships coming from Iranian ports, then Iran will once again close that strait.

And, indeed, as of now, the United States is not ending that naval blockade. President Trump saying that it's going to remain in place until his transaction with Iran is 100 percent complete -- Boris.

SANCHEZ: Jeremy Diamond, thank you so much for that update from Israel -- Jessica.

DEAN: All right, let's check in on the market reaction to this announcement of the strait reopening.

Let's bring in CNN business senior reporter David Goldman. He's joining us now from New York.

David, we have seen you on all day, because this has just been a moving target with how things are being affected. But talk us through what's happening right now.

DAVID GOLDMAN, CNN BUSINESS SENIOR REPORTER: Yes, it's a good thing I'm wearing my breaking news sweater today.

(LAUGHTER)

GOLDMAN: Yes.

I mean, so oil is certainly lower today. And it's not just a little bit lower. Look at the prices. It's down near $80 a barrel. The stocks are significantly higher. And so this is a good day, not just for investors. It's a good omen for consumers, because all of us are sick of those high gas prices.

And so, eventually, those were going to start to come down. But the reaction right now, it's a lot of sentiment. It's a lot of unwinding of those negative feelings that folks had about the war, so good news for stocks, good news for oil certainly today.

[13:05:11]

DEAN: And another piece of this, and we talked about this yesterday, but prior to the announcement of the strait reopening, a group representing some 300 aviation companies warned government officials about the potential for jet fuel rationing. Tell us about that.

GOLDMAN: Yes. Yes. Yes.

So remember that this is a huge closure. It was about 20 percent of the world's jet fuel comes through the Strait of Hormuz, and 69 percent of that went to Europe. So that's why Europe was talking about having six months of -- I'm sorry -- six weeks of supply left, and then they were going to face maybe rationing.

So, as you can see, 1 cent of jet fuel increase is $50 million for an airline over the course of a year. That was significant added cost, and so that's why we were faced with maybe cut flights, cut routes, and higher airfares.

Now, is that all that going away? Probably not, unfortunately. This is going to take quite some time to unwind, and so your summer travel plans might not be so great.

DEAN: Right.

And so I think that's the piece of it, the takeaway, which is, a lot of people watching go, OK, so what does this all mean? When do gas prices go down? And it sounds like we don't have a simple answer to that.

GOLDMAN: Well, yes. So think about everything that needs to happen before then. So the strait needs to actually stay opened. And, as Jeremy was pointing out, that is an active question, whether this is real or not.

But let's just assume that it is. Well, tankers need to go out, and then other tankers need to come back in. They need to fill up with oil, and those facilities had no place to put the oil. They need to come back on. There's a lot of engineering that goes into turning an oil facility back on.

It's not flipping a switch. But when that happens, they need to load the oil tankers. Then they need to get to their destination, and they move as fast as, well, an oil tanker. It's very, very slow. Then they need to off-load that into refineries. They need to refine it. They need to pipe it to warehouses.

They need to get that onto trucks that bring it to your gas station that might not be so willing to lower the price, because it is very unprofitable to make gas. All of that needs to happen first. That's why we're not going to see lower prices any time soon.

DEAN: All right, there. Underline that, everyone.

David, thank you so much. We really appreciate it.

And still to come here: A severe storm system is set to slam much of the country with hail, tornadoes, and other damaging winds, all of that possible.

Plus, President Trump says a federal judge's decision to pause construction of his ballroom -- quote -- "is a threat to national security."

And a little bit later: Bad weather, tariffs, and high fuel prices are creating a recipe for wildly expensive tomatoes.

That and much more coming up here on CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:12:19]

SANCHEZ: More than 50 million people in the Central U.S. are bracing for the worst weather they have seen all week. Days after punishing tornadoes, massive hail and serious flooding, the same areas could see severe thunderstorms capable of spinning up EF-3 tornadoes or stronger.

Right now, evacuations are under way in parts of the Great Lakes region. Rivers in Wisconsin and Michigan are at significant flood levels, with Michigan officials also monitoring several dams that are under stress from the high water.

CNN meteorologist Allison Chinchar is tracking all of this for us. And she joins us now.

So, Allison, where is this storm headed?

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Right. So, the storm is pretty much headed in a lot of the same places you

mentioned that have already seen severe weather this week. Now, we just got this brand-new updated map just a few moments ago. One thing to note is that it had been a level three out of five severe threat. We are now up to a level four.

So the threat for the severe storms has increased in just the last hour. Now, we are still expecting swathe of damaging winds. You're talking 60-, 70-, even as much as 90-mile-per-hour winds with some of these storms, tornadoes, some of which could be strong. You're talking EF-2 or 3, perhaps even stronger, and very large hail, the size of tennis balls.

Now, right now, there's not much activity going on. But, as we go through the next hour or two, we will really start to see more and more of those storms begin to fire up and move off to the east. It is very apparent where that front is, right, the high today in Chicago 81, but only 65 in Minneapolis.

But it is the clash of that incredibly warm air with the cool air behind, it's what's fueling the potential for severe thunderstorms today. Now, specifically for the tornado risk, that is going to be greatest where you see the striped area here on the map. That's where we could end up seeing some EF-3 tornadoes perhaps moving through some of these areas.

Even outside of the tornado threat, though, straight-line winds of 70 to 90 miles per hour is possible, especially here in the red-shaded area and also where you have those white stripes. That's where we could be looking at some of those strongest winds, especially through the evening hours tonight.

So let's break down that timeline for you again. Say, about 3:00, 4:00, 5:00, that's when you're really going to start to notice a lot of what we refer to as discrete cells, the individual storms beginning to fire up. That is where you're going to have the greatest potential for some of those supercells that could lead to tornadoes.

By the time we get to the evening hours, it starts to really kind of form into more of a line or a bow echo. This is where you're really going to start to see those damaging strait line winds take place. And those will continue through the evening and the overnight hours.

The storm itself does weaken gradually overnight, so that, by tomorrow morning, there's not really much left. But the other concern is also going to be the flooding component, this right here video out of Michigan showing the flooding in this particular area. Trust me, rain is the last thing these areas need.

[13:15:01]

All of these dark green dots you see here on the map show the wettest April on record. Keep in mind we still have roughly two weeks to go left in this month, and they have already hit that mark. We are going to be adding more rain to these areas, albeit not a ton, maybe one to two inches. But that is enough that it could exacerbate a lot of the flooding concerns in these areas.

So, you have these as the target for any excessive rainfall in the next 24 hours.

SANCHEZ: We will be keeping an eye on it, thanks to you.

Allison Chinchar in the Weather Center, thank you.

Up next: a ballroom battle, a federal judge once again pausing construction on President Trump's White House project. So what happens now? We will discuss next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:20:13]

DEAN: President Trump lashing out at a federal judge who again ordered him to pause construction on his massive White House ballroom project.

The president writing on social media: "The decision, which was made by a George W. Bush-appointed judge, was politically motivated and a threat to national security." He added: "A Trump-hating judge for the first time in history wants Congress to pay hundreds of millions of dollars for a glorious ballroom, instead of accepting donations from great American companies and citizens."

CNN's Katelyn Polantz is joining us now.

Just to be clear, Katelyn, no evidence this is a Trump-hating judge, just to be fair. This is just the ruling that the judge made. What more can you tell us about this judge's decision and where things go from here?

KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE REPORTER: Well, this judge has had a streak of independence for a very long time on the bench. His name's Richard Leon. He is a Republican appointee, and he's a very senior judge.

He, though, in this case, has been very unhappy with the way the White House is approaching this ballroom construction. Donald Trump wants the ballroom to be built now, the whole thing. He tore down very quickly the old East Wing in October. And since then, there has been construction continuing.

Judge Leon a couple times now has told the White House, you got to stop. We need to look at the law, and I don't believe that you can just go ahead and build this. This is the people's house, not just Donald Trump's home. And, also, you need congressional approval, even if that $400 million for the ballroom is coming from private donors.

So, where we are right now, the judge is saying the White House and the Justice Department are being disingenuous if they are trying to say the building of the entire ballroom is a national security matter. There are parts of it that are, specifically the bunker underground. Underneath that ballroom, there would be potentially medical facilities and there would be facilities there for the protection and safety of the president and the staff as part of the White House complex. The judge is going to let that part of the construction go forward.

But the ballroom itself, where Donald Trump wants to host before the end of his presidency, that cannot go forward until there are more court proceedings. The Trump administration, they care a lot about this, though, and so they are already appealing this ruling. They have appealed other rulings of Judge Leon about the ballroom very quickly.

And the judge, he writes with a lot of explanation points, saying that: "National security is not a blank check to proceed with otherwise unlawful activity."

And so there's a standoff between the court and Trump, but now it's at the court above Judge Richard Leon at the D.C. District Court. It's going to be at the Circuit Court of Appeals and then potentially the Supreme Court.

DEAN: OK, more to come.

Katelyn Polantz, good to see you -- Boris.

SANCHEZ: Meantime, one of the president's other projects in the nation's capital is moving forward despite overwhelmingly negative feedback from the public.

The proposed Triumphal Arch got the green light from a key committee that's stacked with Trump loyalists.

CNN's Tom Foreman has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Wasteful, gaudy, disruptive. Against a torrent of public complaints, the Trump administration is plowing ahead with plans for a massive Triumphal Arch across the river from the Lincoln Memorial, with no less than the interior secretary telling the U.S. Fine Arts Commission, the project:

DOUG BURGUM, U.S. INTERIOR SECRETARY: Will strengthen the city's symbolic architectural vocabulary. It will enhance the city's triumphal urban design.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's going to be really beautiful. I think it's going to be fantastic.

FOREMAN: The president began talking up what some are calling the Arc de Trump last year, and the size has now quadrupled to a towering 250 feet, taller than the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, just a bit shorter than the U.S. Capitol.

PHILIP KENNICOTT, CULTURE CRITIC, "THE WASHINGTON POST": This is gargantuan, and it's going to fundamentally change the skyline. FOREMAN: What's more, "Washington Post" culture critic Philip

Kennicott asks:

KENNICOTT: Why a Triumphal Arch? When did America celebrate triumphs? We honor sacrifice, we honor service, and when war is over, we get back to peace. He just doesn't understand the history and the symbolism of this city.

FOREMAN: Of course, it fits neatly into Trump's ambitious effort to remake the nation's capital in his own style, with his name, his image and classical themes.

Sarah E. Bond is an associate professor of ancient history.

SARAH E. BOND, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF ANCIENT HISTORY: 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: Despite a $100 million price tag, according to Axios and a lawsuit, the commission stuffed with Trump appointees rapidly approved moving ahead.

[13:25:02]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All in favor say aye.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Aye.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Aye.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Aye.

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

FOREMAN: 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.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ: Our thanks to Tom Foreman for that report.

Sources tell CNN the White House is considering giving around $20 billion in exchange for their highly enriched uranium. We will speak to the reporter who broke this story next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Now back to our breaking news, President Trump telling Axios that he expects a deal to end the Iran war in a day or two. That comment follows a major breakthrough he announced earlier today, when Iran said it was reopening the Strait of Hormuz, though a number of details on that end remain unclear.