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WSJ: Trump Grappling with His Own Fears About Iran War; House Ethics Urges Potential Misconduct Victims to Come Forward; Pancreatic Cancer Patients Thrive After mRNA-Based Vaccine; The Onion Reaches New Deal to Take Over Alex Jones' Infowars; Stocks Dip, Oil Prices Rise Amid Uncertainty from U.S.-Iran War. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired April 20, 2026 - 15:30   ET

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

[15:30:00]

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN HOST: President Trump is lashing out at media reports as his administration prepares for new negotiations to end the war with Iran. For example, the president just posted on social media a short time ago that, "I'm winning a war by a lot. Things are going very well. Our military has been amazing."

But he also took aim at the Wall Street Journal after they published this story. "Behind Trump's public bravado on the war, he grapples with his own fears."

And it details his thought process and controversial moments from the ongoing war, writing, "A president who thrives on drama is bringing an even more intense version of his unorthodox, maximalist approach to a new situation, fighting a war. He's veering between belligerent and conciliatory approaches and grappling behind the scenes with just how badly things could go wrong."

With us now is one of the journalists who co-wrote that piece, White House reporter for The Wall Street Journal, Annie Linskey. Good to see you. Thanks for taking the time.

You know, this article, it goes to what I think people have associated with these tent poles of sort of what we've seen over the past, at least past month or so.

For example, when an advisor asked him why he posted that Easter message that included the F word and praise be to Allah on Easter morning. What was the president saying behind the scenes?

ANNIE LINSKEY, WHITE HOUSE REPORTER, THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: Yes, thanks so much for having me on. I appreciate it. You know that tweet, that Easter social media message that he posted was one of the kind of big moments of this conflict.

When the president, of course, said praise be to Allah on Easter. But, you know, behind the scenes, the president explained to others and his staff was surprised by some of these messages. But the president described that he was trying to throw the Iranians off guard, that he wants to seem unpredictable, and that he feels it gives him an upper hand in the negotiation. So that was very much his intent. I think he also threw a lot of people who know him quite well off guard as well, in addition to many Americans who were surprised by it. So it did have a broad -- the audience, of course, is broader than just the Iranians.

And the president was interested in that. He was interested in the wider reaction, asking his staff if he was being criticized and how that particular message was playing in the domestic audience.

JIMENEZ: And, you know, there's this other moment, obviously, so a huge moment, when an American jet was shot down over Iran, two missing airmen, and the operation to recover them was quite extraordinary. But throughout it, you wrote that aides kept the president out of the room as they got minute-by-minute updates. Why would that be for the commander-in-chief?

[15:35:00]

LINSKEY: Well, look, there was, our reporting showed that there was kind of an open call, an open line, that was running for hours and hours and hours with top officials on it. And the president was being updated regularly at key moments. But, you know, the national security staff didn't think it would be helpful to have the president on that moment-to-moment-to-moment line, where he would be reacting in real time to the different things that they were seeing. But, you know, I wouldn't say at all, he certainly was being updated.

And his staff said that at key moments he was paying close attention. For example, when the planes that went in to rescue those final airmen got stuck in the sand, that was a moment where the president was watching quite closely and was really, it was a very tense moment, according to people who were there.

JIMENEZ: Yes. Yes. I mean, even, obviously they were in the room, but even for people watching and hearing the story on the outside, so many different moments where things could have gone horribly wrong.

You know, you also reported that before the jet was shot down, it was clear that the 1979 Iranian hostage crisis was top of mind for President Trump. And I just wonder more broadly, how is the president viewing the risks of Operation Epic Fury, including potentially putting boots on the ground and the economic pain Americans are feeling?

LINSKEY: Well, you see this over and over publicly and then are reporting with people who've talked to the president regularly, supported a similar dynamic privately. There are these two big tensions on the president. One is a desire to kind of, quote unquote, get the job done, as some of his advisers are saying, a desire to do something about a national security problem that has bedeviled seven other presidents.

And I have a feeling that he may be on the cusp of doing something that others have been unable to achieve. But, you know, the other side of that is the pressure that all seven of those other presidents have also felt, which is the economic impact of something like the Strait of Hormuz closing, which is new to this, newish to this conflict. It hasn't happened in quite a long time.

And also the price of oil, the price of gas increasing, and then also the threat of inflation. So he is, you know, wrestling with both of those forces as he's trying to decide and go to the negotiating table.

JIMENEZ: Fascinating reporting. Annie Linskey, I appreciate the work you and your team have done. Thanks for being here.

LINSKEY: Thank you.

JIMENEZ: All right. Just had promising signs from an experimental treatment for cancer that uses the same technology found in covid vaccines. We'll have the details.

Stay tuned.

[15:40:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: New today, a rare public statement from Capitol Hill. After multiple sexual misconduct allegations against members of Congress, the House Ethics Committee is now imploring anyone who may be a potential victim to come forward and report it.

CNN's Annie Grayer is live for us on the Hill. Annie, tell us what's happening here.

ANNIE GRAYER, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Well, Brianna, it is rare for the Ethics Committee to put out a statement or get involved in any issue publicly. But this is a topic the committee that is in charge of overseeing members' conduct does not want to shy away from as the Capitol Hill community is reeling from the fallout of the Eric Swalwell scandal. And in this rare, very clear statement, the committee that is comprised of both Democrats and Republicans makes clear that they want to hear from anyone who has any allegations of sexual misconduct of a member to report.

And they also make clear the other avenues that staffers specifically have at their disposal. They're trying to delineate what their role as the Ethics Committee is compared to some other agencies that staffers have access to, to clarify any sort of confusion that may exist. So let me read for you just two portions from the letter that came out today where the committee says quote, "There should be zero tolerance for sexual misconduct, harassment, or discrimination in the halls of Congress or in any employment setting. The committee strongly encourages anyone who may have experienced sexual misconduct by a House member or staffer or who has knowledge of such conduct to contact the committee, OCWR, or OEA."

Now, those last two acronyms are other offices that staffers can contact. And in this letter, Brianna, the committee makes clear that they will protect anyone who comes forward to them as they've investigated members in the past.

They've investigated over 20 members in its history and have two active investigations ongoing.

KEILAR: Can you talk about the impact that the allegations against former Congressman Swalwell had on the panel when they moved to put the statement out?

GRAYER: Swalwell's resignation and the fallout from the firestorm of allegations around him has really rocked Capitol Hill and really gotten to the core question of what about the culture around this institution needs to change. And we did a story over the weekend where we talked to over three dozen current and former lawmakers and staffers to talk about how Capitol Hill can often turn into a sort of breeding ground for predatory behavior. If you think about it, there are a lot of young staffers starting their careers who come here to work for members of Congress where the work setup is not like a typical nine-to-five job, where young staffers are often driving their bosses alone around town, staffing them for late-night votes or television hits.

It's a 24-7 job that often has a lot of drinking and socializing of that culture built into the work environment here.

[15:45:00]

And a lot of people that we talked to for this story, Brianna, talked about how that doesn't necessarily mean that there's bad behavior going on, but it creates an environment where bad behavior could exist.

And when you have 535 offices on Capitol Hill that each operate like their own business, it's really hard to create a centralized HR where staffers can know who to turn to. So the allegations that have exploded for the world to see have really had a huge impact and have lawmakers asking questions about what needs to change about the institution to prevent horrible situations like this from happening ever again.

KEILAR: All right, Annie, thank you so much. Such important reporting from the Hill. We appreciate it.

Researchers say the same kind of mRNA technology that was used in the fight against COVID is now showing promising signs for treating pancreatic cancers, a disease that is extremely deadly. Just one in four patients will survive for a year after their diagnosis. But in an early trial, some patients showed a dramatic immune response to the mRNA-based cancer vaccine.

Some of them lived up to six years, and they are still alive and well. CNN health reporter Jacqueline Howard has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JACQUELINE HOWARD, CNN HEALTH REPORTER: These are follow-up results for a phase one clinical trial. And the reason why this is getting a lot of attention right now, pancreatic cancer is one of the deadliest cancers out there. So having treatment possibilities is a big deal. And in this trial, the treatment possibility here is a vaccine. It's administered after a patient has been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. It's intended to extend survival after that diagnosis.

And in this particular trial, 16 patients were included. All of these patients already had surgery, chemotherapy and immunotherapy as cancer treatments. Among those patients, eight of them showed a response to this vaccine.

That means their immune systems showed a response to the vaccine. Among those eight patients who responded, nearly 90 percent, seven of them total, showed survival six years later. The reason why that's a big deal, the estimated five-year survival rate for pancreatic cancer is around 13 percent.

But among those patients who responded to this vaccine, almost 90 percent were still alive six years later. Among the patients who did not show a response to the vaccine, only two were still alive six years later. Again, this is getting a lot of attention because having treatment possibilities for pancreatic cancer is significant.

Also, we know since the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a lot of political tension around mRNA technology. In some states, some lawmakers have even introduced measures to ban administering mRNA vaccines. But this phase one clinical trial shows the potential of mRNA technology, even outside COVID-19.

We're looking at this as a potential within cancer treatment options. So this trial, again, is getting attention because of the mRNA technology and because of the possibilities here for pancreatic cancer patients.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KEILAR: Pretty amazing. Jacqueline Howard, thank you.

This just in, satirical news site The Onion says it has reached an agreement to take over conspiracy theorist Alex Jones' InfoWars company. Jones was found liable for defamation in 2022 after repeatedly claiming on air that the 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting in which six adults and 20 kids were killed was a hoax. He has yet to pay a single cent of the more than $1 billion in damages that he owes those families. And as a result, Jones's assets went up for sale.

In 2024, The Onion won a court mandated auction for InfoWars' parent company backed by the Sandy Hook families, but a judge halted the sale.

CNN's Hadas Gold is with us now. This is interesting stuff, Hadas. What's happening here?

HADAS GOLD, CNN AI CORRESPONDENT: Yes, this has been a long running 18 month saga about what will happen with InfoWars. Because as you noted, after Alex Jones was found guilty of defamation, ordered to pay more than a billion dollars, that was years ago. These families still have not seen anything. All of his assets went up to sale. And then we went to this sort of kind of crazy legal saga where there was an auction. The Onion won the auction.

A federal judge blocked it. And then after some time, the federal judge actually sent it back down to a state court. The state court put it into a court appointed receiver.

And that's where things had stayed over the last few months. Meanwhile, Alex Jones has continued airing his conspiracy theory show on InfoWars and continued on as he always has been. Meanwhile, the Sandy Hook families have not seen a single cent.

[15:50:00]

So today we have this news from The Onion saying that they have a new deal with once again the support of all the Sandy Hook families. And what they're going to do, they're going to actually license out InfoWars before they say they will eventually purchase it. And what they're going to do is on the site, it's going to be a satire. It's going to be a parody site.

And the CEO of The Onion, Ben Collins, told me it's also going to be a platform for new comedians, saying that it's hard for new comedians to make a break and they hope that this will be a platform for them.

This is what Ben Collins, the CEO of The Onion, told me in an interview. He said, "It's been eight years and three days since the Sandy Hook families initially filed their reformation lawsuit. They have not received an effing penny. So we're excited to get them immediate pennies with some merch sales, but also longer term pennies once we do wind up eventually straight up buying this thing."

Now, this agreement, this licensing agreement, it still has to be approved by the judge, although Ben Collins said that he is very confident this will be approved by the judge and that they will get ownership of it.

Alex Jones, for his part, he has said and he has been saying for some time he's going to continue on with his show. It's just going to have a different name, be on a different platform. He has long said he is going to be fighting against this defamation lawsuit.

He's talked about corruption and all of this. He says he's still going to continue. But if this deal does go through, if the judge approves it, then The Onion will then take over the InfoWars brand and the InfoWars website.

A hearing on this and whether it will be approved will take place on April 30th in Texas.

KEILAR: All right, we'll be looking for that. Hadas Gold, thank you very much.

Ahead, oil prices rising sharply as the Strait of Hormuz remains essentially closed and questions remain about a potential second round of negotiations with Iran. If it's even going to happen, stay with us.

[15:55:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: Now to some of the other headlines that we're watching this hour. Space technology company Blue Origin says it successfully launched and landed its new reusable booster from Florida on Sunday. However, the company did report some mixed results from the mission.

The rocket failed to deploy a communications satellite that it was carrying into the correct orbit.

Also, we're getting even more new images. See these from the Artemis II crew's flyby of the moon. NASA Captain Reid Weissman captured this video on his iPhone from the window of the Orion spacecraft. It shows an Earth set, which is just what it looks like, right? The Earth setting behind the moon.

We Earthlings usually see this the other way around. Reid described the moment as one chance in this lifetime and like watching the sunset at the beach.

And this is the best reason to bring your glove to a baseball game. At the ballpark in Pittsburgh, Pirates outfielder Jake Mangum saw a young girl wearing his jersey. He tosses it to her, but the young boy makes the catch. It's her brother, it turns out.

No hesitation, right? No second thought. You saw it there.

He handed it straight to her. The two giving each other that beautiful big hug. Let's watch it again.

Ah, sweet. And just like that, the crowd's biggest cheer was for something that happened off the field.

And we are just minutes away from the closing bell on Wall Street and the financial markets here in the U.S. Down slightly across the board today as uncertainty lingers from the war in Iran. But oil prices, those are rising sharply today with the Strait of Hormuz essentially closed at this point.

CNN's David Goldman is with us now. So, David, bring us up to speed on the markets as we're nearing closing time here.

DAVID GOLDMAN, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Yes, yes, it was a record day for the Boston Marathon today. Not so much for the stocks, unfortunately. It looks like we are down just a little bit.

And that's basically because of just trepidation about this deal that looks like it fell through over the weekend in the Strait of Hormuz. Now, notice that we're not down a lot. I think that the key takeaway right now is that markets have largely moved on from what's going on in Iran.

And they're more focused on things like earnings, AI, you know. So there's just not a lot of investor interest anymore in what goes on. They've moved on from the war, but not so with oil prices.

Oil is certainly reacting today. It was up about 5 percent. And that is, again, not all the way back from where we were on Friday, but certainly a big move.

And so I think what we're all wondering right now is what does this mean for gas prices. So the big question right now is, are oil prices going to continue higher if that Strait of Hormuz remains closed? Or are they going to fall after a deal gets done?

Well, there's no deal in sight right now. And so the only path forward seems to be to continue to go up as that strait remains closed. So now the big question is, what does it mean for gas prices?

And that's the biggest input into gas.

KEILAR: Yes. Energy Secretary Chris Wright told Jake Tapper over the weekend that he thought gas prices had kind of peaked. Right. I think --

GOLDMAN: Yes.

KEILAR: Should we know pretty soon if he's wrong or right here? And as we're looking at this, these oil prices, what do you think of that prediction?

GOLDMAN: I've been tripping up all day over is right, right or wrong. But the big the big thing is three dollar gas is here for so many people. So if Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said last week that we're going to have a three in front of it, well, he's probably right.

[16:00:00]

But is Chris Wright correct that next week is going to be -- I'm sorry, next year is going to be three dollars. Then, yes, probably not until next year.

KEILAR: Yes, because two wrongs don't make a right. But does a right make a wrong? We will know soon enough.

David Goldman --

GOLDMAN: Yes, we'll be left with that.

KEILAR: We will be. We'll figure it out soon enough. All right, thanks so much for that. "THE ARENA" with Kasie Hunt starts right now.

END