Return to Transcripts main page

CNN News Central

Rep. Greg Stanton (D-AZ) On Vance, U.S. Team To Depart Washington For Pakistan; Apple CEO Tim Cook To Step Down; NYT: Some MAHA Influencers Promote Nicotine As Natural Health Hack. Aired 7:30- 8a ET

Aired April 21, 2026 - 07:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL)

[07:31:20]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: This just in. The president is putting out his first statement of the morning just as JD Vance is expected to travel to Pakistan for potential new talks with Iran. The president posting this. "Iran has violated the ceasefire numerous times!" That ceasefire, according to him, expires tomorrow night. But the president also continues to project confidence that Iran will end up cutting a deal here in the next 24 hours.

Also just in news from the Pentagon. The Pentagon now just announcing that U.S. forces have intercepted and boarded a sanctioned tanker that it says has been previously known to ship sanctioned Iranian oil. This as part of their mission as the CENTCOM commander has announced last week of disrupting vessels that are providing support to Iran.

That comes as the Strait of Hormuz remains effectively shut down still and the U.S. blockade on Iranian ports is still in effect.

Joining me right now is CNN senior military analyst and retired admiral James Stavridis. So glad you're here.

The Pentagon says -- let's just start with this news that was -- just came -- just announced that it's -- that forces intercepted and boarded an oil tanker previously sanctioned for transporting Iranian oil. And the Pentagon says, Admiral, that it was intercepted in the INDOPACOM area of responsibility.

Where is that and what does this mean to you?

ADM. JAMES STAVRIDIS (RET.), CNN SENIOR MILITARY ANALYST, FORMER NATO SUPREME ALLIED COMMANDER (via Webex by Cisco): INDOPACOM is all of what we think of as the Pacific, and then it goes into the Indian Ocean. So think the tip of India -- that stretch of water from there back to the Strait of Malacca in the whole Pacific. It's enormous. It's perhaps 40 percent of the world's surface. It's a huge area.

So why would we be intercepting a ship way out there? And the answer is the type of blockade we have put in place is what's called a "distant blockade," meaning we're not cozying up to each individual Iranian port. Rather, we're looking globally. Most of the action is happening just south of the strait. But we can take down legally, under international law with a stated blockade, any vessel that is headed to or from Iran. So that's why it's occurring tactically.

And then final thing, Kate, strategically why it's part of tightening the noose economically around Iran to try and choke off their economy and wring concessions from them at the bargaining table.

BOLDUAN: Because it goes without saying the area that you're describing is nowhere near, relatively speaking, the Strait of Hormuz, the Gulf of Oman --

STAVRIDIS: Yeah.

BOLDUAN: -- and where we've been focused so far -- right, Admiral?

STAVRIDIS: Absolutely right. And again, it can feel counterintuitive. Why are we taking down this ship so far away from the strait you're showing? And the answer is because we have intelligence that it is moving toward or from Iran, therefore it falls under a legal blockade -- a "distant blockade" -- one that can operate anywhere in the world.

If you're in Tehran that's got to worry you in terms of your economy and that's the idea.

BOLDUAN: And you talk -- and this gets to also the idea of pressure, strategically -- like you were just talking about because we now have this tanker that's been boarded -- that's been boarded. We have the Iranian cargo ship that was intercepted, fired upon, and seized.

Do you think this is motivation enough to get Iran to negotiate in a serious way?

[07:35:00]

STAVRIDIS: Well, there's the question of the day, the question of the week, and really, the question of the war. Will this pressure both "Epic Fury" alongside "Economic Fury," as the White House has called it -- will those two things come together to force the Iranians to take a deal?

I think there is a two in three chance it will, Kate. If I'm in Tehran, I'm kind of running out of cards to play. Two in three chance we'll get to a deal in the next few days. The administration certainly thinks that if they consummate sending the vice president. So that's the good news.

Here is the bad news. That means a one in three chance the wheels come off the deal, the strait stays closed. Iran becomes completely obdurate about the nuclear material. We break down talks and we start striking them again. That's a one in three chance. Let's hope the better angels prevail here.

BOLDUAN: Um. Today could be an important day looking ahead as how those odds may shake out or change in the next 24 hours.

Admiral, thank you so much. I really appreciate it -- Sara. SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Joining me now is Democratic Congressman Greg Stanton from Arizona. He serves on the House Foreign Affairs Committee. Thank you so much for being here this morning.

REP. GREG STANTON (D-AZ): Good morning.

SIDNER: First to you. What do you make of the fact that it is JD Vance, not the Secretary of State and not the other negotiators who have been involved in many of the negotiations in the past, who is going to Pakistan to try and make some sort of deal? And do you think he has the time in which to do it before the ceasefire ends?

STANTON: I don't make much of the JD Vance involvement and let me tell you why. The president has made clear that he's not really using the official side of his administration. Where is Marco Rubio, the Secretary of State? Instead, he's handing these negotiations over to his son-in-law Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, both of whom have significant business interests in this area and therefore, people are wondering what their real motivation is. So those are the real, apparently, decisionmakers that have the president's ear.

But what the president needs to do is to stop undermining those negotiations by either talking to the media or putting out messages on Truth Social about what Iran has already agreed to when they haven't agreed to it. Things like reopening the Strait of Hormuz or handing over enriched uranium. He keeps threatening to obliterate them. All of that undermines serious negotiations.

He needs to behave like an adult and allow for these serious negotiations to go on, even if it means extending the ceasefire, so he could actually get a deal done. Just like Obama in his administration did to achieve the Iran nuclear deal that was very successful that Trump in first term pulled us out of. And basically, he's trying to reengage the Iran nuclear deal from the past.

SIDNER: He is saying that his deal is going to be better than the Obama nuclear deal. Your response?

STANTON: Well, in what way? That Iran is now going to get $20 billion of sanction relief?

We were in a position that if we had stayed in the JCPOA -- we had not removed ourselves from the Iran nuclear deal -- we wouldn't even be in this position of America at war and gas prices going up for the American people. The American people are overwhelming opposed to the president's decisions to enter this war with Iran.

He hasn't come to Congress and gotten approval. He hasn't gotten an AUMF, an Authorization of Use of Military Force, for Iran. That 60-day time period of the War Powers Act is ending very quickly. He's not gone to the American people and explained why we are doing this. He certainly hasn't done it with Congress.

So color me skeptical about whether or not they're going to get a better deal than the one that the president left in his first term. SIDNER: I heard this and couldn't help but ask you about it. The co- founder and CEO of AI defense surveillance and analytics company Palantir is calling for bringing back the draft. And this is something that's been sort of going on among some of the, you know, big billionaires or AI CEOs.

What do you make of hearing that and having that sort of out in the zeitgeist when you know that Palantir Technologies does have a deeply intertwined relationship with the Trump administration?

STANTON: Bringing back the draft? That's what we're talking about right now?

What this president and this administration needs to be talking about is to how to lower costs for the American people. Health care costs are through the roof. Obviously, gas prices are now massively increasing because of this action. The tariffs are increasing prices.

Now we're at war with Iran and the billionaires are talking about bringing back a draft. I will tell you that will be massively unpopular and massively opposed by the American people. It's not a good idea.

[07:40:00]

SIDNER: Let me ask you on another issue. Republicans started this redistricting war basically at the behest of President Trump, who was demanding that they start going about this state-to-state. Democrats in California followed suit and now Democrats are asking voters to help them gerrymander in Virginia.

So are Democrats just doing the same thing that Republicans are doing? I mean, do two wrongs make a right here?

STANTON: What a -- what a joke the Republican position is. They were worried because the American people have turned against this administration. They knew that the Democrats, fair and square, were going to win the midterms and take back the majority in Congress. Bring back checks and balances.

They were so scared that they started this gerrymandering war. And you know what? They're going to rue the day that they did that.

One of the greatest self-owns in American history -- political history -- is going to be the decision of the Republicans to start these gerrymandering wars around the country. They are going to gerrymander their way into the minority. They are losing these gerrymandering wars. They started it. What a ridiculous thing for them to complain about it -- complain about it now.

We -- the Democrats didn't want this. We were happy with the districts as they were in place. We were going to win fair and square. And now we're going to continue to win fair and square. The American people know exactly what's going on -- that the Republicans were trying to almost cheat their way to victory. Again, one of the great self-owns in American political history. SIDNER: Representative Greg Stanton, thank you so much for your time this morning. I know there's a lot of work to do. Appreciate it -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: So it is the end of an era. After 15 years, Tim Cook stepping down as the CEO of Apple, which will bring about a big shift in leadership at one of the world's most valuable companies. John Ternus will now take over the role in the coming months. A lot of questions about what this really means for everyone and the products that so many people use.

Clare Duffy is here with me now with more on this. What do you know about the now incoming CEO and what does it mean for Apple's future?

CLARE DUFFY, CNN BUSINESS TECH REPORTER: Yeah, this is a huge shift. Tim Cook leaves an incredible legacy as Apple's CEO. He really oversaw this transition from Apple as a product maker who makes phones and computers to this entire ecosystem that we know today. Launching the Apple watch, the air pods, Apple services business that all sort of keeps us inside of the Apple bubble --

BOLDUAN: Um-hum.

DUFFY: -- in so many ways.

He also, of course, oversaw Apple's growth to a $4 trillion valuation company. So this is a -- these are big shoes for John Ternus to fill.

But this isn't totally a surprise. There had been questions about the future of Apple's leadership, especially amid some high-profile stumbles over the past few years. In particular, the Vision Pro headset which Apple said was going to be the future of computing. That has remained a very niche produce. Apple is seen as behind its competitors in artificial intelligence which, of course, is very much seen as the future of technology.

And Ternus is a really well-respected, longtime Apple leader. He has been at Apple since 2001. He, of course, has been senior vice president of hardware engineering so I think this is very much a signal that Apple is leaning into its legacy as hardware technical innovation leader.

And I think the timing here makes a lot of sense. This was sort of a surprise, but Ternus is going to be taking the reins on September 1. That is going to give him a chance to really introduce himself as Apple's CEO to the company's customers when Apple holds its annual iPhone even which, of course, is the most-watched event for the company, later in September.

BOLDUAN: Exactly. What will his presentation be when he takes the stage? That's always been something that we've watched so much so since the days of Steve Jobs.

DUFFY: Steve Jobs.

BOLDUAN: Exactly. It's good to see you, Clare. Thank you so much.

DUFFY: Thank you.

BOLDUAN: I really appreciate it -- Sara.

SIDNER: All right. This morning we're learning new details about the terrifying shooting rampage at one of the Mexico's most popular tourist destinations.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

Gunman shooting tourists at Pyramids in Mexico, killing a Canadian.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: Gunshots ringing out while people ducked for cover. Officials say one man fired the shots. He killed a Canadian woman and wounded others before taking his own life.

A witness tells the AP some tourists lay motionless on the pyramid's platform to avoid being targeted by the gunman.

Overnight, Mexican officials released a list of 13 tourists who had been injured. Seven of them had gunshot wounds, including two children ages six and 13, according to The New York Times. Among the injured were six Americans. All were taken to the hospital.

The AP is now reporting that the shooter has been identified as a 27- year-old man from Mexico.

All right, first raw milk then beef tallow. The newest Make American Healthy Again craze, nicotine. The facts behind the highly addictive substance.

And this was not part of the circus act. What happens when a set collapses and a tiger jumps into the crowd.

[07:45:00]

(COMMERCIAL)

BOLDUAN: Happening today, Health and Human Service Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. is returning to Capitol Hill to testify before the Senate.

This comes as there is some fascinating new reporting from The New York Times and others about this wave of Make American Healthy Again influencers who are now championing nicotine as what they are trying to call a natural health hack -- the patches, the gums, the pouches that you've probably heard of. These influencers are now trying to make the case that nicotine has been unfairly demonized by the medical establishment.

Secretary Kennedy, himself, has been photographed using tobacco-free nicotine pouches and even carrying a tin of ZYN. He's also said that those pouches are "probably the safest way to consume nicotine." [07:50:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR., HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES SECRETARY: Nicotine itself does not cause cancer. There is no evidence that it's carcinogenic. It may, in fact, have some health benefits. Nicotine pouches are probably the safest way to consume nicotine.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: So this trend is scaring the medical community as they try to beat back this new kind of trend of hype, warning as they have for years that there are no proven health benefits to nicotine.

Joining us right now is CNN medical analyst Dr. Jonathan Reiner for more on this. It's good to see you.

What do you think of this framing that nicotine is a health hack?

DR. JONATHAN REINER, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST, PROFESSOR OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY, GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY (via Webex by Cisco): Well, nicotine is a drug and it's a very, very addictive drug. The problem with nicotine is that the FDA -- and these nicotine pouches -- is that the FDA doesn't regulate them like a drug because if they did, they would demand clinical trial data that proves efficacy and safety. But none of that is available because it has never really been studied in that way.

BOLDUAN: I'm going to read straight from the CDC website on this one when it comes to nicotine, which is, "There are not safe tobacco products, including nicotine pouches. This is especially true for youth, young adults, and women who are pregnant."

Why is there an argument then here, Doctor?

REINER: So it's interesting. MAHA, you know, basically on the one hand argues that there isn't sufficient safety data with vaccines. You've heard the secretary of HHS say that on numerous occasions.

BOLDUAN: Over and over again.

REINER: But when it comes to -- over and over and over again. But when it comes to drugs like nicotine, they don't demand any safety data. They say it's a -- it's a natural product.

In reality, it's an incredibly highly addictive drug, particularly for adolescents. The human brain continues to develop and it's what we call very plastic or very formable until about the age of 25. And young people who start using nicotine products and nicotine pouches, in particular, will become very addicted to this drug very, very quickly.

And it causes, you know, personality changes. You know, sometimes difficulty with learning, increasing anxiety. And it also sets the stage potentially for other addictions later in life. So there are huge societal impacts to promoting these agents, particularly in the setting of young kids.

You know, from a cardiologist's standpoint, nicotine increases heart rate. It increases blood pressure. It makes blood vessels less pliable. It causes constriction of blood vessels. None of that is really good. So there really aren't any salutary effects.

Now, what the influencers will suggest is that this data suggesting that somehow nicotine can prevent Alzheimer's disease -- and there really is no compelling evidence for that -- or it can ward off Parkinson's, and there may be some sort of competing contradictory data about that.

If these drugs are going to be marketed for salutary effects, they should be studied for it. But yet, there is no data to really prove any of these claims.

BOLDUAN: The contradiction though that you point out is quite something that deserves further attention, which is there is a -- and led by RFK Jr. this movement of demanding more scientific data where there already is scientific data around something like vaccines. Like the MMR vaccine if you will.

But then not demanding that similar rigorous level of data and scientific research on something when it comes to -- when it -- when it comes to something like this -- something like nicotine, which does speak to this broader phenomenon of health influencers in general where health hacks that might not be tested are promoted over and over again, packaged in a glossy way though it hasn't -- they have not necessarily been tested.

What does this -- that -- this phenomenon mean for the medical community are you finding?

REINER: Well, it's a retreat from science. And, you know, in the last couple of months we've seen now the FDA come out and essentially, you know, reduce regulation or limitation on peptides, largely unproven short-chain amino acids where -- which have potentially real biologic effects -- not all of them good.

In the last week we saw this big event -- actually, this past weekend -- at the White House promoting the use of psychedelics perhaps for people with depression. Now, I'm all for anything that can help treat that awful, awful disease but we should demand data. These are powerful drugs.

[07:55:05]

So influencers will say well, a drug like a psychedelic is natural. It comes from -- it comes from mushrooms, for instance. But those mushrooms contain real drugs. And if we are going to promote these for safe and effective use in the United States, we need to demand science that proves that they are safe and effective.

And nicotine is just another drug. It's a powerful drug and if it's going to be promoted by influencers and allowed by the FDA to be -- to be sold, then we should have the data that proves that it's safe.

BOLDUAN: Yeah, and especially when it comes to psychedelic therapies. Anyone who is in that -- in that business if you will -- in that area of science, will say it's only -- they will only promote it in a clinical setting under the watchful eye of doctors and clinicians who have years of experience in this.

It's good to see you, Doctor. Thank you so much. I appreciate it -- Sara.

SIDNER: All right. On our radar this morning a man who led officers on a dangerous high-speed chase in Georgia is facing multiple charges this morning. Cameras capturing the man in a stolen box truck weaving all over the place and at one point tried to ram multiple law enforcement vehicles. Three other agencies ended up helping out to eventually stop the driver by pinning the truck against a guardrail. Authorities say several patrol vehicles were damaged in the chase but thankfully, nobody was hurt.

All right. A California man has been charged with grand theft after cooking up a Lego crime spree. Police say the 28-year-old suspect would buy Lego sets from Target then take the pieces and figures out of the boxes and replace them with uncooked pasta before returning the sets to the store for a refund. I'm assuming it just sounds the same. At least 70 thefts across the country totaling $34,000 were tied to that suspect.

This one sounds though like a plot twist out of a mystery novel. Seventeen rare books worth millions of dollars stolen from a Long Island estate in the 1980s have finally been found. They belong to prominent collector John Hay Whitney and include works by John Keats, Oscar Wilde, and James Joyce. The books resurfaced in Manhattan last year after rare book dealers recognized them as stolen and told authorities about it. They were recently returned to the Whitney family who says the books will be auctioned off.

All right, this is cuckoo bananas. Imagine taking the kids to the circus and suddenly a tiger jumps into the crowd. That's exactly what happened in southern Russia when part of the ring gave way mid- performance and one of the tigers jumped out toward the crowd. Trainers say everyone in the audience was OK and the tigers, for their part, were not hurt -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: All right.

So right now in London special celebrations are underway for Queen Elizabeth on what would have been her 100th birthday. Britain's longest serving monarch passed away four years ago now after a 70-year reign.

Let's go to CNN's Max Foster outside of Buckingham Palace for much more on this. Max, we will see you at some point, I hope. Tell me what -- there you are. There you are my friend. Tell me more about what today -- what today will bring.

MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR AND ROYAL CORRESPONDENT: I mean, they spent years trying to plan for this, obviously, because how do you remember such an icon really of modern history. But they've come up with a plan. One of them is a digital library of memories, which the public can tag themselves on if they were at those moments with the queen and talk about the stories.

But the key one we're getting a sense of today is a memorial in St. James's Park just over there by the palace. There will be a statue of the queen and Prince Philip. Also, a bridge -- a glass bridge which will look like the queen's tiara on her wedding day.

So they're trying to create, you know, interactive moments really so her memory lives on. Today, for everyone, it appears to be a day of celebration rather than commiseration of this life long lived positively, as the king put it.

And the king also put out a brief message last night giving his thoughts on today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KING CHARLES III, UNITED KINGDOM: Today, as we mark what would have been my beloved mother's 100th birthday, my family and I pause to reflect on the life and loss of a sovereign who meant so much to us all and to celebrate anew the many blessings of her memory. Much about the times we now live in I suspect may have troubled her deeply, but I take heart from her belief that goodness will always prevail and that a brighter dawn is never far from the horizon.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Those troubling times perhaps pointing to the current political crisis in this country. There's lots to worry about, the king saying, and the queen would have been quite shocked if she looked back on right now.