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Future of Gas Prices?; Mass Shooting Investigation in Louisiana; Deadly Shooting in North Carolina; U.S. Seizes Iranian- Flagged Ship. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired April 20, 2026 - 13:00   ET

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

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BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: A new deadline for a deal. President Trump says the cease-fire with Iran ends in about two days and that he is unlikely to extend it. U.S. officials could soon head back to the region for talks.

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN HOST: And a rattled city after the deadliest mass shooting in two years. A gunman kills his seven young children and a cousin in Shreveport, Louisiana. We will tell you what more we're learning from investigators.

And targeting tumors, researchers seeing potential promise in mRNA vaccines against a deadly form of cancer, a powerful new tool that could train our own bodies to fight the disease.

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

KEILAR: We do begin our hour with breaking news.

Just two days left in the U.S.-Iran cease-fire, and President Trump says it's highly unlikely that he will extend it and that fighting could restart immediately if there is no peace deal reached.

Those comments to Bloomberg coming as Vice President J.D. Vance gets set to fly to Pakistan for a second round of talks with Iran, talks that Iran may not even show up to. Instead, tensions appear to be escalating, Iran's military vowing retaliation today after American forces fired on and seized an Iranian-flagged freighter after it tried to bypass the blockade that the U.S. has in place on Iran's ports.

U.S. Central Command releasing this video here of the ship's capture that shows Marines arriving on helicopters. They repelled and boarded this cargo vessel known as the Touska. U.S. CENTCOM says a Navy destroyer intercepted it. And after the Touska ignored repeated warnings over the course of six hours, the destroyer ordered the Touska's crew to evacuate the engine room and then opened fire.

Here's the moment. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Motor vessel Touska, motor vessel Touska, vacate your engine room. Vacate your engine room. We're prepared to subject you to disabling fire.

(WEAPONS FIRE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: CNN's Jeremy Diamond is live for us in Tel Aviv.

Jeremy, as we're looking towards these peace talks, there is a lot hanging in the balance, as there are kind of two schools of thought. Perhaps this escalation creates different negotiating positions for Iran and the U.S., this kind of escalation and these threats that are being traded back and forth. Or perhaps it's a sign that things are going very poorly and will we even see this next round of negotiations?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right, Brianna.

It really does feel like we are at a fork in the road here, on the one hand, the possibility of a return to a hot war between the United States and Iran, and one that would likely re-engulf this entire region, as we have seen over the first weeks of this war between the U.S. and Iran, or, on the other hand, the very real possibility of a deal that could extend or solidify the cease-fire that we are now seeing, perhaps even a broader agreement to end this war altogether.

All of those options very much seem on the table at this moment amid considerable uncertainty, including about whether the Iranians will even attend these negotiations, as they still have yet to confirm officially that they will be participating in these talks in Islamabad, the Iranian president, for his part, saying that Iran will not submit to force.

But he also sent a message today that he wants and that the country of Iran needs to see this war end, so that it can focus on rebuilding. It's important to note that, before the last round of negotiations, we saw similar kind of mixed messages from the Iranians. And, ultimately, they did attend those talks, and we did have this two-week cease-fire agreement that resulted from that.

But, in the background of all of this, there still is this standoff IN -- off of Iran's coast, where the United States has not only fired upon, but also seized this Iranian-flagged vessel there. We know that Iran's military has warned that it would respond, calling the United States' actions -- quote -- "a maritime highway robbery."

We have also seen messaging coming from the Iranians through their state media indicating that Iranian forces will respond to the seizure of this vessel, so that standoff very much happening in the background of all this and could impact what we see happening in the next 24 to 36 hours. [13:05:15]

The -- in Lebanon, meanwhile, we're seeing that the cease-fire there is holding, but a message today from the Lebanese president clearly expressing concern about the possibility that war could return to this region, and very much hoping to unlink the cease-fire that we are now seeing in Lebanon from the rest of the negotiations, with the Lebanese president saying that, in his mind, these are separate issues.

Clearly hoping that, even if the United States and Iran and Israel return to war, that the cease-fire that has now taken hold, the temporary cease-fire in Lebanon, that that one will continue, and negotiations between Israel and Lebanon, which are set to resume on Thursday, can be pursued -- Brianna.

KEILAR: Jeremy, thank you for that report from Tel Aviv -- Omar.

JIMENEZ: Well, want to bring in the latest reporting from the White House now.

CNN's Kristen Holmes is with us.

So, Kristen, what is the latest as we're learning Vice President Vance is set to head to Pakistan for potential talks at this point?

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, we're not getting that much clarity from the White House.

And part of that is because President Trump continues to do these one- off interviews with various outlets where he says different things, different from what he said in a previous interview and also different from what we're hearing from U.S. officials and White House officials, who are really working behind the scenes frantically to keep these talks headed in the right direction.

We know there's a lot of backdoor, behind-the-scenes diplomacy going on right now, as they try to secure these talks. We have heard some reporting that Iranians are going to send a delegation, but, of course, as we have heard, nothing has been confirmed officially.

President Trump was asked in one of these interviews what would happen. Does he know if Iran is going to show or not? He says: "I don't know. I mean, they're supposed to be there. We agreed to be there, although they say we didn't. But, no, it was set up, and we will see whether or not it's there. If they're not there, that's fine too."

Obviously, that won't be fine since they're working towards this actual peace deal here. The other big question, when exactly are they going? When is the American delegation going? There have been questions as to whether or not J.D. Vance himself was going to go.

Last week, President Trump saying that he wasn't going because of security. Now we are told by officials that he is, in fact, going, he's going to leave at any moment. President Trump at one point saying in an interview this morning he was about to be wheels down. We do know from U.S. officials that he hasn't left yet. Very much,

from everyone we're talking to, they are expected to get on that plane and head over there for these talks. We know that the White House, the administration as a whole is looking for an off-ramp here. They want to make diplomacy work.

There have been a number of hurdles, one of them being, of course, President Trump's own social media, in which he has been lashing out at the Iranians, continuing up with his rhetoric, at one point saying, no more Mr. Nice Guy. If there's no deal reached, he's going to go back to bombing bridges and infrastructure, which, of course, is where we were at the beginning of this cease-fire.

Again, despite the rhetoric, despite the escalation that we're seeing, we do know that the administration is seeking an off-ramp and hoping that they will come out of this with a deal.

And just one quick mention, yes, President Trump said that they would not -- they would likely not extend the cease-fire, but he also said that the cease-fire was going to expire Wednesday night United States' time. We had been tracking a Tuesday night for the end of the cease- fire.

So that does give some room there, which, obviously, making sense, given that we know the team isn't even in the air yet.

JIMENEZ: Some room, but, still, we're lacking a lot of clarity as to what these next steps are going to look like.

HOLMES: Yes.

JIMENEZ: Only time will tell. I guess we will see.

Kristen Holmes, appreciate the reporting, as always -- Brianna.

KEILAR: We are following some breaking news out of North Carolina, which is where police say they're searching for several suspects after a deadly shooting near a middle school.

CNN's Dianne Gallagher is following this for us.

Dianne, tell us what you have learned.

DIANNE GALLAGHER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, so Brianna, again, details still coming in on this story here, but what we do know right now is at least two people are dead, others are shot in what the state Bureau of Investigations in North Carolina are calling a mass shooting in Winston-Salem.

Now, police say this does involve juveniles. We don't know the ages of the people involved yet. It happened just before 10:00 a.m. at Leinbach Park in Winston-Salem. That's near Jefferson Middle School. Initial information suggests this was a planned fight that escalated into a shooting.

Police say they received a call about a fight in progress and, while they were en route, that call got upgraded to the shooting. Basically, they say that the young people met at the park, the situation escalated, and then several people began shooting at each other.

Now, law enforcement has used drones to help with their search and investigation. Police say that several people have been identified and located, though we're still not sure how many of those are suspects versus victims versus witnesses. Police say they are still trying to kind of get through this right now. It's being worked out.

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Now, classes at Jefferson Middle School and a nearby high school are ongoing. Police say that, if parents want to pick up their children, they can. And while officers are slowly leaving the scene now, they do still have some road closures in that area because of the investigation.

Now, look, we are expecting to learn more from police, because, again, there are some hard numbers here that we would like to nail down, some details here, a little bit later this afternoon -- Brianna.

KEILAR: All right, we will be looking for that.

Dianne, thank you for the latest.

Still to come: fuel fight. Energy Secretary Chris Wright says we might not see $3 gas until next year, until 2027, but President Trump says the secretary is -- quote -- "totally wrong."

Plus, a new study is giving hope to patients dealing with one of the deadliest forms of cancer. That would be pancreatic cancer.

And, later, it was coronation day for a heroic principal who tackled and disarmed a gunman inside his school's lobby. What a special moment this was. We will get to see it, as students honored him. We will have that for you on CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

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KEILAR: President Trump says Chris Wright is wrong after the energy secretary warned gas prices may not drop back below $3 a gallon until next year.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: When do you think it's realistic for Americans to expect the gas will go back to under $3 a gallon?

CHRIS WRIGHT, U.S. ENERGY SECRETARY: I don't know. That could happen later this year. That might not happen until next year. But prices have likely peaked and they will start going down. Certainly, with a resolution of this conflict, you will see prices go down.

(END VIDEO CLIP) KEILAR: Today, the president rejecting that prediction, telling the Hill: "No, I think he's wrong on that, totally wrong."

Just a reminder here -- and, like you need it, because you have been filling your car up, right? A gallon of regular is now $4.04 on average, a lot of you out there paying much more than that. It's a drop actually from last week, but it's still well above the prewar price of $2.98 a gallon.

Remember that? What a sweet price to play -- pay, right? Oil prices are back on the rise today after the U.S. Navy fired on and seized an Iranian vessel over the weekend in the Strait of Hormuz.

We're joined now by Patrick De Haan. He is the head of petroleum analysis for GasBuddy.

And, Patrick, talking to energy experts, I'm inclined to believe Secretary Wright over President Trump on this. Is that the correct view? Or does Trump know something maybe we don't know?

PATRICK DE HAAN, HEAD OF PETROLEUM ANALYSIS, GASBUDDY: Well, I think there's both -- both of them have some accuracy to their statements.

First of all, I don't know that prices have peaked. We certainly could see a reacceleration here as oil prices go up. I don't expect prices to fall below $3 a gallon until later this year. And that's still a big if that happens.

I think, right now, with the constant back and forth and the reescalations happening, it's maybe reducing the odds of that. If we were to see a sub-$3 gallon average, it would likely be later this fall into the winter. That's when we tend to see lower prices, compared to the summer, but I don't know that prices have peaked.

So I think both President Trump and Secretary Wright are correct in some areas. Prices may not necessarily fully decline yet until there is some sort of resolution, but it's looking a little bit murky. I definitely don't think we're going to see many states under $3 this summer.

There's still a possibility that that could happen in a few places, but certainly not the national average until later this year.

KEILAR: So when you're talking about a potential drop here, that is long after a lot of driving that we will plan to be doing, right? You have got Memorial Day kicking off summer here very soon. Americans have their summer vacations. They're going to be making some lovely trips, or at least they were planning on it.

What should they be planning to do if they're driving on those vacations, heading to the beach? What should they be thinking of?

DE HAAN: Well, probably, first of all, to set aside more money for that road trip, because it will likely be more expensive this summer than we anticipated. Even if things drastically improve overnight, I think the best case

now this summer is probably a national average in the mid-to-upper $3- a-gallon range, whereas, previously, our 2026 fuel outlook had called for prices in the low $3 range. That's now likely off the table.

So you will be paying a little bit more, and that's under the most ideal of outcomes. There's still the potential that we could see gas prices remaining at or above the $4 gallon mark for a portion of this summer. How long and how high is really just contingent on whether the strait can be reopened, and to what degree, and if ships will start sailing through,.

That's the best outcome. We still could see outcomes that entail record-setting prices as well. So there's a wide range of possibilities, but I think the best advice for motorists is to certainly plan ahead on paying more.

And you may want to avoid the West Coast if you want to avoid some of the highest gas prices across the country this summer, the West Coast in unique danger as we have seen the Strait of Hormuz closure, California a state that now relies on imports from the very countries that are impacted the most from the strait closure.

So, the West Coast airports as well, like LAX in San Francisco, could be at higher risk of potential short-term jet fuel issues. So, gasoline, diesel and jet fuel on the West Coast, it's going to be a completely different ball game compared to some of the nation's interior states this summer.

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KEILAR: That's a really interesting point, because, last week, we heard this jet fuel warning in Europe. According to the head of the IEA, they have about six weeks of fuel. When you're looking at the U.S. here, how long are we insulated from that? Is it just the West Coast that we should be worried about?

DE HAAN: Probably the West Coast more than any other region because of the unique shutdown of two refineries in California that were responsible for a big part of that state's refining capacity.

That's probably also why you're seeing some airlines target cancellations of flights in and out of airports like LAX and San Francisco, because those are the two airports, along with potentially Seattle as well, that are likely to experience pressure this summer.

Again, this -- these areas of the West Coast are going to rely more on imports from areas that are now more impacted by the Strait of Hormuz shutdown, and also this morning's earthquake in Japan highlighting a unique risk that, even though a lot of the discussion is about oil in the strait, that the Middle East is seeing millions and barrels of day of refining capacity that are offline.

That refining capacity would deliver jet fuel to areas like Asia, Europe, and potentially even the West Coast, so just a lot to keep on track here. But the West Coast could experience some of that pain temporarily. I still think the U.S. is insulated from some of the larger concerns like they are going to see in areas like Europe.

KEILAR: All right, good to know.

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

And still ahead, some new details about the man who is accused of shooting and killing eight children in Louisiana, almost all of them his own kids.

We are live on the scene next.

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KEILAR: We're hearing from community leaders in Shreveport, Louisiana, today following the nation's deadliest mass shooting in more than two years.

Over the weekend, police say 31-year-old Shamar Elkins shot and killed eight children, seven of whom were his own kids. Moments ago, a city councilwoman in Shreveport called for prayers and also for privacy for the family.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TABATHA TAYLOR, SHREVEPORT, LOUISIANA, CITY COUNCILMEMBER: Keep them the priority and respect their wishes. Respect their wishes as their loved ones go through surgery and their healing and they're in a dark place because they don't know how to wrap their minds around all of this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: CNN's Isabel Rosales entry report with the latest on this.

And, Isabel, I know that you have been speaking to people in the community. We cover a lot of bad stories. This is one that will stop you in your tracks. What are you learning?

ISABEL ROSALES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Brianna, it's just awful, absolutely awful.

This horrific crime has left the community at a loss of words, or some of the neighbors I have spoken with have been stunned, or some even angry. And we have seen people focusing that energy, some of them, by coming here to this gray home.

This is one of the three homes involved in this mass shooting. And look at this right here. They have been leaving balloons, flowers, teddy bears for the eight children that lived here, seven of them siblings. I just saw a moment ago a mom and her 3-year-old little boy coming here and dropping off these tributes, paying their respects.

But right behind this lovely display of community respect, you can see right there on the door the remnants of that horrific act that happened here. You can see on the door four bullet holes. You can see evidence markers on them, and right across over here the neighbor's house, even that, either shrapnel or other bullet holes right here.

Now, the gunman is named Shamar Elkins, according to Shreveport police. They said that he first began his deadly rampage by shooting his wife and the mother of his kids. Then he carjacked somebody and led police on a chase into a nearby parish.

In fact, CNN obtained brand-new video that shows Shreveport police closing in on this 31-year-old. You can see in the video all of the police cars near street corner in Bossier City. And an officer is seen in that video running as a loud bang is then heard.

Now, ultimately, they would shoot and kill Elkins. Now, of the victims, eight children, seven siblings, their ages ranging from 3 years old to 11 years old. I spoke to a family member, Lionel Pugh, who is the uncle of Elkins' wife. Here's what he told me:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LIONEL PUGH, UNCLE OF SHAMAR ELKINS' WIFE: But probably about a month ago, I seen her. And she told me she was filing for a divorce. And I told her, I was like: "Man, just love the one you with. You ain't going to find nothing else out there," just joking around.

But if I knew it was going to turn out like this, I never would have -- I never would have said that. I'd have been like: "Hey, get away."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: All right, we have just lost Isabel's shot there in Shreveport, but, obviously, a heartbreaking story that we will continue to keep our eye on.

She was showing you a picture there of the roof. That was because the 13-year-old who did survive that shooting jumped off the roof, becoming considerably injured, but is recovering at this point.