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Trump Administration Imposes New Round Of Sanctions Targeting Iran; High-Level U.S. Delegation Visits Cuba As Trump Ramps Up Pressure; Gunman Shoots Tourists At Mexico's Teotihuacan Pyramids; Aired 2:30-3p ET

Aired April 21, 2026 - 14:30   ET

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

[14:30:00]

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: 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.

Although that will always be -- there will be bumps in the road. Although one veteran controller tells me once they get used to it, they'll never want to go back.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: I mean, this is like rough. What happens if you drop it? If there's -- I mean, I can't -- there's hundreds of flights that you see every day.

MUNTEAN: Well, the good news is, it's low tech, and so it makes it hard to fail. And so that's what somebody would say about the old system. But, yes, paper strips and floppy disks.

SANCHEZ: This is not -- this is not comforting at all.

Pete Muntean, thank you so much for the update on the progress of things.

Still to come, another of many pressure points for the Trump administration's foreign policy taking center stage. Rare high-level talks between U.S. officials and Cuban officials taking place in Havana, the first in many years.

What we know about those talks, straight ahead.

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[14:35:38]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: We have breaking news into CNN. The Trump administration is imposing a new round of sanctions targeting Iran. The sanctions hit 14 individuals, companies, and aircraft in Iran, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent sharing this announcement. He's saying that Iran must be held accountable for what he calls the extortion of global energy and indiscriminate targeting of civilians.

In the meantime, the fate of U.S. Iran talks remain uncertain.

CNN's Jeremy Diamond is with us now from Tel Aviv on this. Jeremy bring us up to speed on where things stand.

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Well, Brianna, at this hour, we expected that top U.S. and Iranian negotiators would be in the Pakistani capital hammering out the details of a potential agreement between the two countries potentially a memorandum of understanding to reach a final solution to this U.S.-Iran war.

But instead, what we are seeing is that neither side is at the table right now in Pakistan. The vice president seems to be at the White House for meetings about the current situation. His plane hasn't taken off. It appears that Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, the president's special envoys, are on their way to Washington as well, also not in the Pakistani capital.

And the Iranians, for their part, have not even committed to sending a delegation. Instead, what we are seeing is continued rhetoric from the Iranians, including from Iran's foreign minister, who would be one of those senior Iranian officials at the negotiating table. And he is once again criticizing the United States continued naval blockade, blocking ships from going to or from Iranian ports, saying, quote, blockading Iranian ports is an act of war and thus a violation of the ceasefire, saying that striking a commercial vessel and taking its crew hostage is an even greater violation.

He goes on say Iran knows how to neutralize restrictions, how to defend its interests and how to resist bullying. That rhetoric is a far cry from, you know, these two countries being on the cusp of an agreement here.

And so instead, what we find is a region that is truly once again on a knife's edge, tilting between on the one hand, a return to all-out war between the United States and Iran with Israel.

Also, of course, very ready to carry out new strikes in Iran, or potentially diplomatic agreement between these two sides.

What is important to note is that while President Trump has talked about this ceasefire ending Wednesday evening, the Pakistani mediators have indicated that we are far closer to the end of the ceasefire.

Just over five hours away at 7 50 p.m. Eastern Time -- Eastern time is when the Pakistani mediators say -- mediators say this two-week ceasefire is set to end. Brianna.

KEILAR: All right. Jeremy Diamond live for us in Tel Aviv, thank you. Boris.

SANCHEZ: CNN has learned that a high-level U.S. delegation met with Cuban government officials in Havana as the Trump administration ramps up pressure on the island nation. The recent visit marked the first time a U.S. government aircraft touched down anywhere in Cuba besides Guantanamo Bay since 2016.

The historic meeting happening as President Trump raises the threat of military action and continues its energy crackdown on Cuba. The U.S. is pushing for economic and democratic reforms while Havana wants the energy blockade lifted.

We're joined now by Marc Caputo, a senior politics reporter at "Axios" who has reported on this meeting. Mark, great to see you as always.

What is your understanding of how this meeting came together?

MARC CAPUTO, SENIOR POLITICS REPORTER, AXIOS: It came together by the United States just wanting to communicate very clearly that there's not a lot of time for Cuba to not make a deal.

They -- United States, the State Department officials essentially reiterated longstanding U.S. law concerning the embargo, which is that Cuba has to have free elections of free and open economy, free political prisoners. And they also need to reform of the way in which their labor system that is the -- the right of people to work and to go out their business and lies freely happen.

I missed one, which is the return of seized property to U.S. persons and corporations or army corporations. Essentially, that's U.S. law that says the embargo won't be lifted until then.

But what's notable here is that not only was that repeated by the U.S. officials, but they were also told, the Cubans, that if Cuba falls into societal collapse, Donald Trump is not going to idly sit by. That's not a direct threat of military action, but it's pretty close.

[14:40:13]

SANCHEZ: Marc, I -- I want to ask about reporting that's been confirmed by "The Wall Street Journal" and -- and other outlets regarding this letter that was apparently sent by a Cuban businessman who arrived. I believe it was at Miami International Airport.

You're laughing because he -- he sent a letter that was apparently addressed from high-levels of the Cuban government to President Trump, but he was blocked and returned to Cuba. And this meeting came about a week later.

Do you think the Cubans were trying to get around Secretary of State Rubio with that letter? Was that your interpretation of those events?

CAPUTO: Yes, that's my interpretation of it. The Rubio side of the Trump administration sort of chuckled at the amateurish effort.

Incidentally understand there might have been some other correspondence that's floated back and forth between or attempted to flow back and forth between Havana and Washington. What's important to remember is that Rubio is the son of the Cuban exile community based here in Miami, is not going to allow this opportunity to have a major change in Cuba for the first time since 1959 to pass and by.

And so if they're trying to bypass Rubio by sending a letter directly to Trump, well, that's not going to work.

SANCHEZ: Has Havana given any indication that they would be willing to negotiate on the slate of demands that you -- you mentioned that the U.S. is made through Helms-Burton, through the embargo, now through the Trump administration?

Notably an additional one in -- in the list that you made is that no Castro would be in power in Cuba. It's notable that they're partly negotiating with this grandson of Raul Castro and all of this.

CAPUTO: They are the -- it depends on how you define, you know, what a Castro is to a degree, because remember, we're in the world of splitting hairs.

One of the things that they're discussing the United States, the Trump administration is, what does a transition government look like? Does a transition government have a full-blown Jeffersonian-style democracy? No.

Does it have a Castro? The answer to that is yes. Is the Castro by name or has the name Castro in it? Or is it a Castro without the name Castro in it? Or is there no Castro? And these are the sort of high- level discussions that the United States is kind of trying to figure out.

But the experience in Venezuela, which was informed by the 2003 invasion of Iraq, is really coming to bear in the minds of the Trump administration, which is you don't want what was called a De- Ba'athification program where you just basically remove all the people who sort of know how to run government and wind up in an incredibly chaotic situation and insurgency.

So, what's important to remember about this meeting is while we're not sure the degree to which the Cuban government and Cuban officials, Cuban apparatchiks are willing, at least ostensibly to play ball. They still hosted a U.S. delegation that came there and basically told them, get your act together.

They did that because the Cubans are in a sorry state. The economy is in tatters. There's not enough food for enough people. There's garbage in the streets. They -- despite decades of railing against U.S. colonialism and resisting the United States as an imperial power, they get all of their food from the United States.

Their main currency is the U.S. dollar. And now they get all of their energy, thanks to the United States, which is controlling that supply.

So, it's essentially a degraded colony or renegade colony. And the real questions, what does the change look like? When does it happen? And how hard does Donald Trump and Marco Rubio push to make that change occur?

SANCHEZ: And whether that sort of Castro name thing is palatable to folks in Miami, which is an open question.

Marc, before you go.

CAPUTO: You know --

SANCHEZ: Go ahead, quickly.

CAPUTO: I just have a lot of doubts about Miami where I live and where you're from, flexing its muscle here. Like Donald Trump and Marco Rubio want to deal. They want to bring freedom to the island.

Ultimately, they want to have a free economy. They want to have it integrated into the global financial system and be a close ally of the United States.

If that means having a Castro by name hanging around in a transition government, I'm pretty sure, but not positive, that Rubio and Trump will sign off on it, but we'll see.

SANCHEZ: That -- that is fascinating. Marc, before we go, the producers are going to yell at me because they told me to wrap it.

But I have to ask you about new reporting that you have regarding Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. Sources have told you that he may be looking for a job with the Trump administration.

CAPUTO: Yes. They had lunch on April 12th, Trump and DeSantis. And the topic came up. Trump has told other people that DeSantis was, quote, begging him to become attorney general. DeSantis' people denied that.

But other discussions that things look like they're moving along, or better said something that's moving along, is DeSantis possibly is a future war secretary, if that ever comes open? Incidentally, it's not open yet. And they're -- they're happy with Hegseth. Donald Trump is.

[14:45:06]

Or the dream job for DeSantis, according to people who know his thinking, Supreme Court Justice. He's very good friends with Clarence Thomas. And that's one spot he would really love.

SANCHEZ: Wow. Marc Caputo, thanks so much for your reporting. Appreciate your time.

Still to come, chaos exploding at one of Mexico's ancient pyramid sites after a gunman opens fire on tourists. One woman killed, several Americans injured. The details, in just moments.

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KEILAR: Moments of sheer terror at one of the most popular tourist sites in the world. Visitors at Mexico's Teotihuacan Pyramids ran for their lives as a gunman opened fire on a crowd Monday. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

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[14:50:16]

KEILAR: A Canadian woman was killed here. There were 13 other people who were wounded and that includes six Americans.

Police say the shooter, who held a Mexican identification card, took his own life. And they do believe that he acted alone.

CNN senior law enforcement analyst Andrew McCabe is with us now.

Just harrowing pictures that we are watching there, Andy. And some people seemingly kind of unaware and denial about what was going on.

What stands out to you about this attack?

ANDREW MCCABE, CNN SENIOR LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: I think the setting, Brianna, is just so stark, so wide open that a shooter with a, you know, with a towering vantage point really is limited only by their own marksmanship.

And -- and in that setting, you have obviously dozens and dozens, maybe hundreds of tourists, none of whom went there that day thinking they were placing themselves in any sort of danger.

So you can imagine when they start hearing these loud pops, not realizing what they are, the confusion, the disorientation. It's really very, very chilling. It's the first time we've seen one of these mass attacks at a tourist location. And quite sometimes these -- these used to be more commonly done by terrorists in the early '90s and putting times like that, but this is a -- a really rare occurrence and one I hope we don't see much more of.

KEILAR: Yet you see people just running down from the top of that area that he was at. They were certainly very aware of what was going on and very scared. There are six Americans injured, as I mentioned.

Is there any kind of role for the FBI here? What will that look like?

MCCABE: There's certainly could be, you know. The FBI has jurisdiction to investigate crimes against Americans overseas, particularly the deaths of Americans overseas. That's not obviously relevant here.

But, of course, this is a pretty cut and dry situation. You have one gunman who died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound yesterday.

Obviously, the Mexican government is going to do a -- a thorough investigation of this person and whether or not they were may have been connected to other people, may have had help or participation in some way. They're going to want to get to the bottom of that. But with the -- with the leaving behind of a written statement and one that -- that contains some cryptic references, there's not a lot of mystery there, I think, for U.S. authorities to try to get through.

KEILAR: Mexico, of course, has a huge summer coming up. They're hosting World Cup Games. Tourism has already taken a big hit after the violence that erupted after the death of cartel leader El Mencho earlier this year.

Is Mexico able to protect people who are coming to enjoy their country and -- and very importantly to the Mexican economy and fuse those dollars into it?

MCCABE: Well, the Mexican government is going to say they are because they are absolutely dependent on this tourist revenue. These are very significant events coming up as you've mentioned.

The question is, you know, this -- the cartel violence and the aftermath of -- of that killing is kind of one thing, right? That -- that comes in the category for them of the -- the -- a lot, you know, huge volume of work that they're doing to target the cartels.

But this is a very different thing. This is simply providing a minimal level of security at major events. And this was so easily accomplished by one person presumably acting alone. You really have to think, like, how well is -- how good is their plan to secure the events around the World Cup.

Typically, those are the sort of special events that get a lot of resources, a lot of extra personnel, a lot of attention. But it does raise questions that I think the United States and other countries who are -- or -- or sending troves of people to these events really need to be putting some pressure on the Mexican government to be revealing and collaborative about how they're planning to keep our people safe.

KEILAR: Yes. All good points. Andrew, thank you for being with us on this.

Still to come, dozens of parents who say their kids were harmed or died because of tech platforms are on Capitol Hill. And they're pushing lawmakers to pass online safety legislation which has been languishing up there in Congress.

We're going to speak to one of those parents, ahead on "CNN News Central."

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[14:55:24]

SANCHEZ: A quick look now at some of the other headlines we're watching this hour. An explosion and fire at an oil well in East Texas forcing multiple families out of their homes, Monday night. Officials arrive to find flame shooting into the sky as well as plumes of smoke. About 10 houses were evacuated out of precaution. Fortunately, no one was hurt. No word yet on the cause of the fire. Plus, a war-driven spike in gas prices sent retail sales in March to 1.7 percent. That is the fastest monthly pace in more than three years. And it wasn't just gas though furniture, electronics, building material sales all up last month. Consumers did pull back in other areas with apparel and restaurant sales mostly flat.

Also, some dramatic video to share with you from Russia. Watch as the protective netting around a circus ring collapses mid performance. And there you see one of the Tigers leaping into the crowd. You could hear screams, though the Tigers trainers say that everyone was OK, including the animals. Russian police are now investigating what caused that protective netting to come on down during the show.

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