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Trump Says His Iran Deal Would Be "Far Better" Obama-Era Agreement That He Previously Killed; Sources: Vance Expected To Head To Pakistan Tomorrow For Iran Talks; Trump: "Highly Unlikely" Iran Truce Will Be Extended If No Deal Reached; Oil Prices Rise After Iran Restricts Access To Strait Of Hormuz; Europe Could Be Weeks Away From Running Out Of Jet Fuel; Officials Identify Eight Children Shot & Killed By A Louisiana Father; 8 Children, Two Women Wounded In Louisiana Mass Shooting. Aired 3-3:30p ET

Aired April 20, 2026 - 15:00   ET

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

DAVE RILEY, RETIRED FAA AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER: It's a safety procedure that's used by air traffic control and the flight crews for numerous reasons.

OMAR JIMENEZ: CNN HOST: Yes.

RILEY: However, this -- this is starting to show exactly what happened in DCA where you have a -- a -- a very busy airport that's getting only busier with no real experienced air traffic controllers at the -- at the helm.

JIMENEZ: Yes.

RILEY: You're getting inexperienced controllers transferring into a low-level pay situation that doesn't really attract your experienced controllers who are working at your busier facilities. So ...

JIMENEZ: Yes.

RILEY: ... that, you know, in a -- in a big picture kind of thing could be a -- a cause.

JIMENEZ: Yes. Dave Riley, appreciate you being here. Pete Muntean, thank you as well.

A new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts right now.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: The clock is ticking as the President says a ceasefire with Iran ends in two days and that he probably will not extend it. Vice President J.D. Vance expected to leave tomorrow for talks in Pakistan.

And oil prices are up and it could be a long time before they come back down. The President's energy secretary says it could be next year sometime for -- before Americans will see pre-war gas prices. Trump himself says that that is, quote, "totally wrong."

And a glimmer of hope, in the battle against cancer, how a new class of vaccines could give patients a fighting chance against one of the deadliest forms of the disease.

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

President Trump says a potential deal with Iran would be, quote, "far better" than former President Obama's 2015 agreement. But there's a catch, he needs to get Tehran back to the negotiating table. Today, in an interview with Bloomberg, Trump said it's highly unlikely that he would extend the truce with Iran before it expires on Wednesday evening.

Sources tell CNN Vice President J.D. Vance is set to travel to Pakistan for a second round of peace talks. But Tehran says it has no plans to participate. In fact, the regime is vowing retaliation after American forces fired on and seized an Iranian-flagged cargo ship known as the "Tosca" after it tried to bypass the U.S. blockade.

U.S. Central Command sharing this video you see here of yesterday's operation, which shows U.S. Marines on helicopters rappelling down and boarding the ship. CNN's Nic Robertson is live for us from Islamabad in Pakistan.

Nic, it is unclear if this new round of talks is actually even going to happen. What are you hearing?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes, I -- I think at the moment the struggle to get the Iranians to commit to come to the table is going to be about as big an effort as it will be then, should they get to the table, to try to bring agreement around the table. I think there's real hope, certainly from the mediators, from Pakistan's perspective, that if they can get Iran to the table, J.D. Vance, Steve Witkoff, Jared Kushner, when they -- when they arrive in Pakistan, if the Iranians can get to the table, then the mediators really feel that there is a deal that can be done.

So, I think in that context there's some positivity. In the background, of course, there is diplomacy going on, trying to reach out to the Iranians, trying to convince them to come, conversations obviously between Pakistani and U.S. officials at -- at various different levels.

But at the moment, the core issue for the Iranians really is the Strait of Hormuz. There were -- last week, when Pakistan's sort of top negotiator, who was also the most powerful man in the country, Field Marshal Asim Munir was in Tehran. There was a real sort of series of confidence-building measures going on. You had the ceasefire in Lebanon. You had the Iranians opening up the Strait of Hormuz.

They got disappointed when President Trump decided to keep the U.S. closure of the Strait of Hormuz in place. The Iranians fired on ships. The United States overnight fired on, as you were mentioning, on that Iranian tanker. That's sort of given the hardliners in Iran over the past 48 hours a much sort of stronger messaging than they had previously.

But the lead negotiator, Ghalibaf, the -- who's the -- who's the speaker in the Iranian parliament, is still seen as a key interlocutor. If he can and does come to Pakistan, that he can sit at the table and, with sort of authority, have that serious negotiation across the table.

So, at the moment, everyone here is waiting for the Iranians to signal they're coming. You know, it could come late tonight. It could come early tomorrow morning. But obviously, if it doesn't come sort of by the middle of the day or early afternoon local time tomorrow, then therefore what would be the point of J.D. Vance getting on a plane and coming here? So, I think that's the sort of time frame we're looking into here.

[15:05:04]

Of course, this city is ready. Security is in place. Hotels are ready, vacated, ready for the -- for the two teams to come in. The talks venue's all sorted, super secure around there. I was down there in that area today. So, it's all set and ready to go. It's waiting on the Iranians. And can they be convinced to come?

I think the hope is the answer's yes. But until they sign on, it's still a guess.

KEILAR: Yes, it certainly is. Nic Robertson, thank you for the very latest. Omar?

JIMENEZ: Let's talk about this more with retired U.S. Air Force Colonel Cedric Leighton. So, look, I just want to start with the Strait of Hormuz. It's largely deserted at this point in terms of that -- that main portion. What -- what current threats do ships looking to pass through face here?

COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Well, Omar, some of these threats include a -- the mines, obviously, the possible mines that the Iranians may have dispersed. But they're also looking at the mine-laying aircraft -- shipcraft (ph) that are there, the vessels that they use are vessels that have not only speed, but also they're small enough that they actually go outside of the bounds of a lot of what the Navy sees on -- the U.S. Navy would see on their radars, for example.

So, they've got these fast boats that the Iranians have, they've got mines, they've got shore batteries that they could potentially use, and they've got missiles. So, the Iranians have this panoply of things that they could potentially use against any type of shipping that goes through the Strait of Hormuz. And the way the Iranians have described it, they only want ships to go through the channels that they've approved, not the previously used international channels.

JIMENEZ: And, you know, as we typically see in -- in wars and conflicts like these, obviously what happens on the battlefield, what happens kinetic-wise, militarily, affects or impacts what happens on the diplomatic side of things in terms of leverage, what's discussed, things like that. And -- and as the U.S. works towards a second round of talks with Iran, has the blockade and -- and the ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon, for example, removed any cards from Iran's negotiating table? How do you see the U.S. actions having impacted what they can offer?

LEIGHTON: Yes, so that's a very interesting question, Omar. When you look at the U.S. blockade against Iranian shipping, that blockade is actually a fairly significant development, because what it's doing is it's constraining Iran's freedom of movement and the Iranian ability to not only move their ships, but also to have cargo come in and out of the country. So, that affects their ability to gain revenue from oil sales, for example.

When it comes to the Lebanon aspect, the idea that there is a ceasefire between of sorts, between the Israelis and Lebanon, that is a positive thing. That's seen as a positive thing also by Iran. So, as far as the cards that Iran has, the U.S. blockade has removed at least one card from the Iranian deck. But the ceasefire with Lebanon actually goes in Iran's favor, and it's part of really the mix that Iran wants to achieve in this particular case.

JIMENEZ: Yes. I -- I want to ask you about a -- a separate case. The IDF says it's investigating a photo shared on social media showing an Israeli soldier seemingly hitting the head of a -- of a Jesus Christ statue with a hammer or axe in a predominantly Christian city in -- in southern Lebanon. Israel's foreign affairs minister is calling it grave and disgraceful. But -- but what's your reaction to this?

LEIGHTON: Yes, Omar, that's a -- this is a very serious breach of not only the norms that the IDF, the Israeli defense forces are supposed to follow, but it's also a very serious breach of the way in which warfare is supposed to be conducted. So, this is a potential crime in terms of the law of armed conflict. And that is something that makes it a very serious thing to investigate from the Israeli perspective.

And in this particular situation, it's a pretty incendiary act to go after a -- a statue of such religious significance. It certainly has an impact on the local religious leaders in that Lebanese town, and it definitely has an impact on the way some U.S. officials, including Ambassador Huckabee, the U.S. Ambassador to Israel, are seeing this. So, it's a significant event, and the IDF says at least it's going to be investigating this.

JIMENEZ: And before we go, I want to ask about another expanded aspect outside of the -- the U.S.-Iran talks in that incident, because Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has railed against the decision by the United States to lift sanctions against Russian oil already at sea, which obviously plays into the strait and -- and what comes out of there. How do you see the U.S. war with Iran affecting Russia's war with Ukraine? Is there a tangible connection there?

[15:10:04]

LEIGHTON: There definitely is a tangible connection, Omar, when it comes to oil prices and just the basic oil market in the world right now. And so, when the oil price rises, it generally benefits the Russians because they're a major oil producer and a major oil exporter. And that, of course, then feeds their war machine to their cash flow that will then benefit their armed forces in Ukraine. So generally speaking, the idea of high oil prices and the limiting of

access to Persian Gulf oil has a direct impact on the ability of the Russians to gain money and to, in essence, fight with their war machine in Ukraine. Now, it's not quite as smooth as that because the Russians do have some -- some difficulty actually converting dollars from their sanctioned oil fleet into usable weapons and other things that they can use in the war against Ukraine. So, it's not quite a -- as major benefit as they would like, but it is definitely a benefit for them.

JIMENEZ: Retired U.S. Air Force Colonel Cedric Leighton, good to see you as always. Appreciate the insight.

All right. Still to come for us, President Trump says his energy secretary is, quote, "totally wrong" on gas prices after the official suggested the price at the pump won't come down any time soon. We'll bring you the details.

Plus, in a rare statement, the House Ethics Committee is asking anyone who has experienced sexual misconduct on Capitol Hill to report it to them.

And later, local leaders in Louisiana are asking for prayers after eight children were killed by a gunman. We have the details on the horrific attack, that and much more coming up on CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

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[15:16:06]

JIMENEZ: Global oil prices once again rising sharply today, with the Strait of Hormuz essentially closed. Benchmark crude prices have jumped more than 5 percent today, ahead of potential talks between the United States and Iran. Meanwhile, President Trump says U.S. gas prices will drop as soon as the war ends. The only issue is that contradicts his energy secretary, who predicts gas prices might not get back below $3 a gallon until sometime next year.

I want to bring in CNN Business Editor-at-Large, who joins us now.

So, Richard ...

RICHARD QUEST, CNN BUSINESS ANCHOR & EDITOR-AT-LARGE: Yes.

JIMENEZ: ... what can we expect for gas prices moving forward? Because even if a deal is reached, it doesn't just happen overnight.

QUEST: No, and as -- and at the moment, it doesn't seem like a deal is being reached. I think if you look at the last week, you get a really good idea of just the -- the discrepancy between optimism, hope and reality. So, all of last week is about the ceasefire and talks, and you saw the oil price drop some 10 percent.

But actually, nothing happened in terms of no more ships or very few ships that left the Gulf, went through the Straits of Hormuz. So, we had a price that was reflecting something that actually hadn't really changed. There were still ships trapped in the upper Gulf, and this is what's happened today. You're starting to see that unwind at these prices.

My -- my sort of gut feeling is this is an equilibrium price because we -- we hover around here when -- while we wait for more news and different news. If the fighting starts again, the price goes up. If the ceasefire -- actually, it's not a question of if the ceasefire takes, it's a question of if the ships start moving, because as long as the ships stay where they are, the price remains high.

JIMENEZ: Well, of course, that threshold of when these shipping companies feel comfortable actually going through the Strait is a question and ...

QUEST: Completely.

JIMENEZ: ... completely separate scenario. You know ...

QUEST: Yes.

JIMENEZ: ... throughout all of this, countries throughout the world are -- are trying to work through different scenarios, trying to deal with contingency plans, Australia easing fuel quality standards, Europe could just be a few weeks away from a jet fuel shortage as well. How long until this -- that sort of pinch is felt in the United States, or is that just not the nature of what this issue is for the U.S.?

QUEST: It's a bit of both, because the U.S. is such an energy producer in its own right, but it does still need to -- to import certain types of key crude for refining purposes, and jet fuel is in that category. I would say that the U.S. is probably four to six weeks behind Europe, which is far -- four to six weeks behind Southeast Asia.

Now, you take your numbers. The U.S. is not going to feel that deep shortage that may be felt in Europe or certainly in -- in Africa and in parts of Southeast Asia. But -- but it doesn't matter anyway to -- at one level, Omar, because the price of the product is still based on the international exchanges. So, the price will remain high because that's where it is internationally. And I think you're about four to six weeks behind where everyone else is in terms of shortages.

JIMENEZ: All right. A lot to see in the weeks ahead. Richard Quest, appreciate it. As always, good to see you.

QUEST: Thank you.

JIMENEZ: All right. Still coming up for us, we're going to have new details on that horrific act of violence in Louisiana after a father shoots and kills eight children. Nearly all of them were his kids. We'll bring you the details coming up.

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[15:24:19] KEILAR: Right now, a small memorial is growing outside of the

Louisiana home where eight children were shot and killed in the nation's deadliest mass shooting in more than two years. Authorities have identified the suspect as 31-year-old Shamar Elkins. They say seven of the victims were his own children, the youngest, just three years old. Two women, including his wife, were also shot in the attack. They were critically injured. Family members telling CNN that his wife was trying to leave their marriage.

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LIONEL PUGH, UNCLE OF SHAMAR ELKINS' WIFE: But, you know, 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're with, you know? You ain't going to find nothing else out there. Just joking around.

[15:25:03]

But if I knew it was going to, you know, turn out like this, you know, I never would have -- I never would have said that. I would have been like, hey, get away.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: We're joined now by CNN Senior Law Enforcement Analyst Charles Ramsey. He's also the former police chief of Washington, D.C.

Chief, thanks for being with us.

This is -- this is just horrific what we're watching here. What questions do you have at this hour as we're really only starting to learn some of the details about this horrific shooting?

CHIEF CHARLES RAMSEY, CNN SENIOR LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well, one question I have is whether or not there were previous calls for service involving that particular family. I've always thought that part of the problem with domestic violence is police get there, they settle things down, may even make an arrest, but there's no follow-up services that would not be provided by the police, but by other services, family counseling or so forth.

And, you know, these things tend to escalate. You get that first call, then you get a second one. Maybe there's some level of violence. Then, you get that third one and there's a high level of violence. I don't know if that's the case here, but it would be interesting to see whether or not there were previous calls for service. And if so, then that's a -- that's a sign for other departments, you know? There's got to be some other kind of intervention to take place to maybe avoid a tragedy like this.

KEILAR: Because you're saying that you see an escalation, that that is frequently the pattern when you're talking about domestic violence?

RAMSEY: It is. It is. It is. The first call, maybe it's just loud talking to one another, yelling, screaming, cursing, things like that. Second time, maybe there is some physical contact between the two. And then, (INAUDIBLE) ...

KEILAR: All right. Chief, I'm so sorry. I think we are losing your signal at this point in time. Obviously, we will continue to pay attention to this story. It's -- it's so important and raises a lot of questions, especially as we're trying to learn why this individual had this weapon, especially he had an illegal weapons charge previously. So, certainly very important there. Charles Ramsey, thank you.

And coming up, a look at the inner workings of the White House as President Trump handles the country's biggest military conflict of his two terms. Stay with us.

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