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Deaths and Disappearances of Scientists Spark Federal Probe; Gunman Opens Fire on Tourists at Mexico Pyramids; Vance Arrives at White House as Peace Talks Remain Uncertain; U.S.-Iran Talks Uncertain as End of Ceasefire Looms; Trump Turns Up Pressure on Cuba; Democratic Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick Resigns Amid Ethics Scandal; Transportation Secretary Outlines Changes to Outdated Air Traffic System. Aired 2-2:30p ET

Aired April 21, 2026 - 14:00   ET

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

[14:00:00]

NATASHA CHEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: -- abducted. I asked him to elaborate on that, but he said the Chavez family asked him not to say anything more.

Now, the White House Press Secretary, Karoline Leavitt, posted last week about what she called recent and legitimate questions about these troubling cases, that they would holistically review all the cases together and leave no stone unturned. Brianna?

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": Really interesting. Natasha, thank you for that reporting.

A new hour of "CNN News Central" starts right now.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": New questions about whether Tehran and Washington can agree on a plan to end the war as Vice President, J.D. Vance, who was supposed to lead a delegation to the talks in Pakistan, has not yet left the Capitol.

Also a mission to Havana, U.S. officials making a rare visit to Cuba as Washington ratchets up the pressure on Havana's regime, keeping its economic chokehold on the island. And a gunman opens fire on tourists at the site of pyramids near Mexico City, an eyewitness capturing the chaotic moments on video. Officials say a Canadian woman was killed and we're now learning that several Americans were hurt.

More details on the way as we follow these major developing stories and many more, all coming in right here to "CNN News Central."

We start this hour with Vice President, J.D. Vance having been expected to leave for Pakistan earlier today for peace talks with Iran. His departure now, though, delayed. He and other top officials just arrived at the White House for meetings there. Iran still has not yet confirmed it's going to take part in a second round of negotiations with a spokesperson for the country's foreign ministry saying, quote, "The reason is not indecision. It is because of contradictory messages, contradictory behaviors, and unacceptable actions by the American side." This morning, President Trump said that he expects to eventually make a great deal to end the war. He also said he doesn't want to extend the ceasefire set to expire tomorrow evening. Let's go now live to the White House with CNN's Kevin Liptak.

Kevin, what are you hearing from the Trump administration on where things stand right now?

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yeah, right now it is just a position of extraordinary uncertainty about when or even if this trip by the vice president to Pakistan for these talks will actually get off the ground. You know, the morning departure time had been conveyed to us by sources. You know, the trip had never been officially announced, but it became pretty clear by midday that the vice president was not going to be leaving Washington anytime soon.

We saw his motorcade arrive here about an hour ago. White House officials say he is participating in policy meetings. We also saw the Defense Secretary, Pete Hegseth, the Secretary Of State, Marco Rubio, arriving here to the White House.

Our understanding as well is that Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, the other members of this delegation to Pakistan, also remain in the United States. And so where this all heads from here, totally unclear. In talking to officials, there are a few factors that are undergirding all of this uncertainty.

One is this American blockade on the Strait of Hormuz. Obviously, President Trump has said that Navy vessels will block any ships going from Iranian ports. Iran wants that blockade lifted before they agree to a new round of negotiations. President Trump making pretty clear that's not going to happen.

We also understand from American officials that the Iranian negotiating position on all of these sticking points in the talks, whether it's its allowance of nuclear enrichment, its stockpile of highly enriched uranium, it's not clear where they stand on all of those. American officials also describe a degree of uncertainty about whether the Iranian negotiating team has ultimate authority to make decisions on this deal.

And so, all of those coming together to create a degree of uncertainty about where these talks go forward. No one is suggesting that this trip is off permanently. Of course, Vance could get on a plane at any moment if some of these issues are resolved.

What is clear is that there is a deadline, which is the expiration of that two-week ceasefire that's in place. When exactly it expires isn't clear. President Trump says it expires tomorrow night. The actual two- week mark would be 6 p.m. this evening. And so when that expires isn't clear. President Trump making very explicit, though, that he doesn't plan to extend it.

Listen to what he said earlier today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) JOE KERNEN, CNBC ANCHOR: So to be clear, you're saying that you need at least the prospects for a signed deal today and tomorrow, or else you would resume bombing Iran?

DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Well, I expect to be bombing, because I think that's a better attitude to go in with. But we're ready to go. I mean, the military is raring to go.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIPTAK: Now, the president in that interview made pretty clear that the targets for this new round of bombing would include bridges and power plants, all of those civilian sites that he has threatened to target in the past, really upping the pressure on Iran to come back to the negotiating table, Boris.

SANCHEZ: Kevin Liptak, thank you so much for that update from the White House. Brianna?

[14:05:00]

KEILAR: We're joined now by CNN National Security Analyst, Beth Sanner. She's a former Deputy Director of National Intelligence.

Beth, as the president's plans are really sort of up in the air here when it comes to meeting with officials to look at a path forward, Pakistan also saying Iran, you know, they haven't confirmed they're even going. How are you reading this moment that we're in?

BETH SANNER, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Yeah, I mean, Brianna, I think this is an incredibly difficult moment. And if I were sitting in the Sit Room as the intelligence adviser with this team, it would be a difficult moment right now because I think that the administration is taking a stance which is understandable in a lot of ways, but it is kind of counterproductive with the group of people who are in charge of Iran.

And while they don't want to go back to war, they are willing to call the president's bluff in order to get the United States to back down. And as Kevin was saying, the key thing right now for them is they need some relief on this blockade, and they want that relief. And so there, we're kind of in a game of chicken right now. And it is, I feel like for the administration, we're in a rock and hard place position.

KEILAR: So American officials suspect there's a divide between Iran's negotiating team and the IRGC leading to questions about who ultimately has the authority to sign off on a deal. What do you think about that? How does that affect the dynamic of finding a way out of this war?

SANNER: I feel like that is a little bit overplayed. I think that there are divisions within the IRGC. You know, there certainly are folks who are more pragmatic and folks who are even more hardline, but there are no moderates here. And the idea that politicians like the foreign minister are in charge of Iranian decision-making is fanciful. It has never been the case in Iran, and it is not the case now after they have been at war. The IRGC is in charge, and the IRGC is making a determination about what the path forward should be. And certainly, there are probably people who think like, yeah, we should probably negotiate a little bit more and spread this out and try to play with time a little bit more, and others who are saying, you know, well, look, you know, the Trump administration is lying to us and saying things publicly that are not true about where our positions are and they're seizing our ships. We've got to put our feet down.

So I think it's between hardliners and more extreme hardliners, not between moderates and hardliners.

KEILAR: Yeah, interesting. And some Trump officials privately acknowledge that CNN, the president's public commentary recently has been detrimental to these talks because they're so sensitive, because Iran is so distrustful of the U.S. And this morning on CNBC, Trump said he expects to be bombing if negotiators can't reach a deal. It's not a gentle or thoughtful approach that he's taking here. Is he misreading Iran?

SANNER: Yeah, he is. So, you know, the Pakistanis, Field Marshal Munir warned the president two days ago saying, like, this position of this kind of extreme pressure and threatening is not -- is counterproductive to getting them to the negotiating table. So if you want to negotiate an end to this and, you know, I think that this is the only way out of this, then this isn't helping. And I think now we're seeing this play out, right?

And this escalate to de-escalate, and you heard National Security Adviser this weekend, Waltz, talk about, look, this is what the president's trying to do. In other words, we're trying to threaten in order to get them to back down. But that is not how a regime that is formulated on the whole idea of resistance to us and now believes that we are, whether you agree with it or not doesn't matter, it's where their heads are at, that we are the party that cannot be trusted.

You know, it just makes it -- it makes it harder to get to this point of negotiation. And so I think this, this threat, I don't see it working.

KEILAR: And what do Iranians value more right now as they're going into negotiations? What are the priorities? Is it control of the Strait? Is it the nuclear program?

It is regime survival, of course, is the number one thing. And what they want to do is ensure that they have a deterrent in the future, in order to prevent them from being attacked again, so they can remain strong.

[14:10:00]

So the idea that they're somehow putting economics ahead of sovereignty, ahead of their revolutionary ideology, I think is the wrong way to think about this. Yes, they want the Strait to be opened and they want the blockade that we are doing to stop. And that is what they're pressing on. But ultimately, they want to make sure that they have the tools to deter us in the future.

And what that looks like is ensuring that they can have sovereignty or control over the Strait, because that's the ticket.

KEILAR: All right, Beth, thank you so much for your insights on that. We appreciate it. And we do have some Breaking News.

Democratic Congresswoman Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick has just resigned. We are live on Capitol Hill. Also, the Trump administration is sending a rare high-level delegation to Cuba, as Washington is warning Havana time is running out for reform. Stay with "CNN News Central."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:15:41]

KEILAR: We have some Breaking News and that is Democratic Congresswoman, Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick has just resigned from Congress. Last month, a subcommittee found the Florida lawmaker guilty of violating several campaign finance laws and regulations. She's also facing federal criminal charges related to FEMA funding. The congresswoman has pleaded not guilty and has denied wrongdoing.

CNN Chief Congressional Correspondent, Manu Raju is on Capitol Hill. And Manu, there was a bit of a deadline happening this afternoon and I guess, she's sort of beating the buzzer here with this resignation.

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, there's no question about it. She was facing a certain vote for expulsion from the United States House and that's only happened six times in the history of the House. And typically, what members do is that if they are facing the likelihood of being expelled for alleged misconduct, they resign and give up their seat to avoid that outcome.

And that's exactly what Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick just did because she decided to announce her resignation, which was just read on the House floor, because the House Ethics Committee was about to recommend what sanctions to move ahead with in the aftermath of finding her guilty in its own investigation into misconduct largely involving her use of funds. There's allegations that she stole $5 billion in COVID relief money, diverting that to herself rather than it being used for its proper use.

She has denied all of that but she's been facing federal charges in that case. She's pleaded not guilty in the federal criminal case. But the House Ethics Probe, a separate investigative body here in the United States House, found her guilty on a number of charges here, about 25 violations of various House rules and was expected to announce that she should be expelled. And if she were to face that recommendation, then there would be a vote in the full House and you can bet that in that vote, there would be a very likely scenario in which it would surpass a two-thirds majority in the United States House to kick her out from her House seat.

So facing all that, she decided to resign and she put out a statement, putting it out on social, media saying that this was not a fair process. She said that she criticized the Ethics Committee saying they refuse my attorney's reasonable requests for time to prepare for my defense and she went on to say that this should not have been going forward when she is fighting her own criminal charges.

She said that she chose to step away so that she can devote my time to fighting for my neighbors in Florida's 20th District. So she said I hereby resign from the 119th Congress effective immediately and this spares a lot of Democrats a tough vote. Some Democrats allied with her, did not want to vote for her expulsion. Many of them felt that they would be compelled to do so given the gravity of the charges.

House Democratic Leader, Hakeem Jeffries never said how he would vote. He said he was waiting for the House Ethics Committee to come down first. But if that expulsion recommendation came down, Brianna, you can expect a lot of members on both sides of the aisle would have voted to kick her out of the House.

KEILAR: Yeah and there's just this kind of bipartisan House cleaning that we're watching of members for all kinds of reasons. There's also a lot of scrutiny when it comes to Florida Congressman, Cory Mills. What are you hearing about that?

RAJU: Yeah, this resignation from Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, you're right, is the third resignation of a House member in just a week's time. All facing various misconduct allegations and one person trying to battle those misconduct allegations also is Florida Republican, Cory Mills on a whole host of issues.

He's facing an investigation involving campaign finance, alleged violations, involving alleged improper solicitation of gifts, as well as an investigation into whether or not he committed "dating violence." That's in the words -- sexual misconduct and/or dating violence. That's in the words of the House Ethics Committee.

Now, he has denied all of this and the question too for the Speaker of the House is whether he supports pushing out Cory Mills from his seat. That's a question that I asked him today as well as other reporters, who said if Cherfilus-McCormick was losing her seat, should Mills as well?

[14:20:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MIKE JOHNSON, (R-LA) HOUSE SPEAKER: These are all individual cases. That would be absurd. I mean that would be --

RAJU: Aren't you concerned about Mills' conduct then?

JOHNSON: We are always concerned when allegations of inappropriate behavior and certainly sexual misconduct are made against members. If you talk to Representative Mills, and he's entitled to do that. He has said that all of these allegations are untrue. He is working through that. There is a due process that is -- he is allowed and they're going through that process as have all the other members.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: But there could still be a vote in the coming days on Cory Mills' fate. One Republican Congresswoman, Nancy Mace of South Carolina has indicated she plans to offer a resolution to expel Cory Mills. That would -- any member can force such a vote. That is unlikely to succeed because of what you heard there from the speaker saying, let's let the Ethics Committee investigate first.

But Brianna, with the resignation of Cherfilus-McCormick, that narrowly divided Republican House drops to 217 to 213, meaning Speaker Johnson could still only afford to lose one Republican vote on any party line vote. Brianna?

KEILAR: All right. Manu, thank you for that. We appreciate it.

Still to come, CNN speaks one on one with Transportation Secretary, Sean Duffy about the urgent need for changes at America's airports. And then later, the terrifying moment that a circus tiger leaps into the crowd. Why did this happen? We'll tell you, it has something to do with that ring falling there. That and much more coming up on "CNN News Central."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:26:15]

SANCHEZ: We may have just sent astronauts to the far side of the moon, taking video of angles we've never seen with their iPhones, but we're still using floppy disks in air traffic control. Today, Transportation Secretary, Sean Duffy used that detail to illustrate the critical updates being made in the aviation system since that deadly midair collision in D.C. just over a year ago. Duffy said 50 percent of the copper wires used in communications have since been replaced with fiber.

Also, he says more than 2,000 controllers have been added this year in the face of staffing shortages. Though Duffy also explained how much more needs to be done. CNN Aviation Correspondent, Pete Muntean just wrapped an interview with the Secretary. What did he share with you Pete?

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is sort of part infrastructure week all over again. Part celebration from the Trump administration, part pitch from the Trump administration, and it includes everybody's favorite buzzword, A.I.

Transportation Secretary, Sean Duffy just said a major makeover of the nation's air traffic control system is moving "at the speed of Trump." This is just some of the new technology going in at some 4,600 air traffic control facilities nationwide. The biggest headline is that the Department of Transportation has replaced half of all copper wire connecting air traffic control facilities with new fiber optic cable.

That was at the heart of the air traffic control outages that plagued Newark flights last year. These upgrades are taking place because of what the Trump administration calls a $12 billion down payment from Congress. But Duffy just told me he wants another $7 billion to $10 billion for air traffic control software upgrades.

Duffy says the FAA systems are essentially running on Windows 95 and he takes it one step further. Duffy says artificial intelligence should be used to better route flights and foresee delays on the horizon. So I asked him whether air traffic controllers will be replaced by A.I. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEAN DUFFY, UNITED STATES TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY: A.I. doesn't make decisions. A.I. can give prompts to a controller and then the controller decides whether they want to use that prompt or not. We are never going to outsource the national airspace to A.I. tools.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MUNTEAN: Now, it is up to Congress to provide that money. Last year, Duffy was asking for about another $20 billion. So this is a much reduced figure. He tells me the easiest part of this pitch though is likely because every member of Congress has an air traffic control tower or an air traffic control facility in their district. There's also the safety element here.

The Trump administration says the need for this is punctuated by the midair collision over Reagan National Airport that killed 67 people last year. We also saw the collision between a truck and an Air Canada Express flight at LaGuardia just last month. So, there are some really, really big warning signs here that there needs to be some major upgrades to the air traffic control system.

This is one of the examples we saw in this show and tell. These are the paper strips that air traffic controllers use to essentially track a flight. They take this strip, they hand it off physically to the next controller, details all the information here, where the airplane is going, the route it's taking, the type of aircraft, the number that the pilots put in their transponder. This is all key, but they just pass it physically from one controller to the next.

SANCHEZ: Sorry Pete, paint a picture for me. You mean that they're sitting there holding these strips?

MUNTEAN: Yeah, if you're one controller -- if I'm the tower controller and I want to hand it off to you the departure controller --

SANCHEZ: Yeah.

MUNTEAN: I truly just pass it off to you like so and now, you're responsible for that airplane. So the replacement for this is a digital system where you essentially, it's a touchscreen, you press a button, it moves that strip digitally from one controller to the next controller. It's much more technologically advanced. It seems like a logical leap, but it is something that the FAA has been waiting on for a long time.

Here is the issue though. This sort of introduces some new failure modes in the system and so they started to launch this back at Reagan National Airport back in February and it led to some delays because the controllers were sort of still getting used to it. --