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CNN News Central
Arctic Sea Ice Drops to an Alarming New Low; Fuel Shortage Impacting Summer Air Travel; RFK Jr. Testifies on Capitol Hill; Iran Says It Seized Two Ships After Trump Extends Ceasefire; Trump Reacts to Virginia Redistricting Vote; SPLC Charged With Defrauding Donors Over Paid Extremism Informants; ChatGPT Being Investigated in Florida Mass Shooting. Aired 2-2:30p ET
Aired April 22, 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]
BILL WEIR, CNN CHIEF CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT: -- of Crimea. So 50 percent of the Arctic nations are not at the table. Russia, the United States, that means that Italy and Germany and South Korean scientists are trying to keep the science going, measuring how things are changing up here, but it affects everything. It affects life up here.
The permafrost is melting. That's the infrastructure. The economy is shifting. They're shutting down coal mines. But the geopolitics right now, Norway trying to maintain a lot of its sovereignty with all these pressures from around the world, it's very tense, very sort of a powder keg of emotions up here right now in a place that a lot of people forget about. But what happens here affects the rest of the planet.
We have much more coming up all week here on CNN.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": All right. We'll be staying tuned for that. Bill, thank you so much for that report.
A new hour of "CNN News Central" starts right now.
BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": A capital clash. We may see fireworks on the Hill as HHS Secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is set to face more lawmakers in what could be his most fiery hearing yet.
Plus, straight escalation. Iran's military says it seized two cargo ships in a key shipping route just hours after President Trump extended the ceasefire. Where does this leave potential talks?
And a cruel summer for air travelers, surging fuel costs because of the war with Iran, forcing one major airline to cancel thousands of flights. Another has announced it is passing on the cost to you, the consumer. We're following these major developing stories and many more, all coming in right here to "CNN News Central."
Happening right now, Health and Human Services Secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is getting ready for Round Two of today's hearings on Capitol Hill. In an earlier Senate hearing, the secretary clarified his stance on vaccines, also defending against Democrats' repeated attacks regarding high drug prices and the White House's TrumpRx program. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. PETER WELCH, (D-VT) FINANCE COMMITTEE: TrumpRx is a fraud.
SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN, (D-MA) FINANCE COMMITTEE: They got a better than one out of four chance of paying more at TrumpRx than they would if they went to Costco. That's not much of a deal for the American people.
ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR., UNITED STATES HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES SECRETARY: Not on branded drugs.
WARREN: Oh, so your answer is Americans should just not take prescription drugs?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: CNN's Meg Tirrell joins us now. Meg, you've been following these hearings. The criticism has not just come from Democrats.
MEG TIRRELL, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT Yeah, Boris, it's been interesting today, of course. This morning, we just heard from folks on the Senate Finance Committee, and they really focused in a lot more on TrumpRx and this new prescription drug pricing plan from the White House, which the White House is very proud of and has wanted to steer Secretary Kennedy toward talking about rather than more sort of politically unpopular topics like vaccines.
And you heard some of the criticisms there from Democrats, which perhaps is not unexpected. But we also heard some criticisms of this Most Favored Nation drug pricing approach, what people sort of call MFN, from Republicans as well. Here is an exchange with Senator Thom Tillis.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. THOM TILLIS, (R-NC) FINANCE COMMITTEE: By simultaneously cutting NIH funding for basic research and imposing MFN price controls that slash private R&D by 30 to 50 percent, HHS is squeezing both sides of a balloon and expecting it not to pop. China gets the I.P. China gets the manufacturing. America gets the lower prices on drugs we didn't invent, produced in facilities that we don't own. And you've already alluded to the unacceptable circumstances in China for the workers and those there. We're aiding and abetting that, I think, through this policy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TIRRELL: So the criticisms coming from both sides for different reasons. The Democrats really sort of accusing the Trump administration of giving giveaways to the pharmaceutical industry, whereas Thom Tillis there is saying this is going to cut down on their ability to invest in research and development. But just interesting to see the focus on that one issue, particularly this morning, Boris.
SANCHEZ: Meg, what should we expect as the secretary goes in for his second round before the Senate Committee?
TIRRELL: Yeah, so this is going to be the Health Committee we're hearing from this afternoon. The Senate Health Committee, which is chaired by Senator Bill Cassidy, who is a physician, Republican from Louisiana, who has butted heads with Kennedy in the past over vaccine policy. This morning, Cassidy is also on the Finance Committee. He didn't touch vaccines in his questioning of RFK Jr. So we're going to be watching to see what he does there.
But we are also expecting questions about how RFK Jr. is going to allow his CDC director nominee to operate, whether he will allow her to have autonomy. He was asked yesterday whether he would follow her lead on vaccines. He said he wouldn't make that commitment necessarily.
So Dr. Erica Schwartz, as you see there, is seen as a very solid public health pick for this role, which is a departure from what we've seen from the Trump administration so far. So expect a lot more questions there.
[14:05:00]
And of course, Boris, this is number seven of seven hearings from RFK Jr. over the last week, and it could bring the most fireworks. We'll bring them to you.
SANCHEZ: Meg Tirrell, thank you so much for watching that for us. Brianna?
KEILAR: We have some Breaking News in the war with Iran. President Trump posting minutes ago, quote, "Very good news. I have just been informed that the eight women protesters who are going to be executed tonight in Iran will no longer be killed. Four will be released immediately and four will be sentenced to one month in prison. I very much appreciate that Iran and its leaders respected my request." We should note that Iran has denied they were ready to execute any women.
Today, Iranian forces say they seized two ships in the Strait of Hormuz after President Trump extended the ceasefire deal. CNN's Jeremy Diamond is live for us from Tel Aviv. So Jeremy, tell us the latest that you're hearing.
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Well, as talks between the United States and Iran appear to not be moving anywhere fast, we're always watching to see what other issues are happening in the background. That could give us some indication of whether there's goodwill between these two sides. Are there additional points of tension? And today, I think we have a little bit of both.
On the one hand, you have this message from President Trump saying that Iran has agreed to stay the execution of these eight female Iranian prisoners. Although, on the other hand, Iran denies that they were ever going to be executed. But the president's certainly framing it as a sign of goodwill from the Iranians and a positive signal amid this ongoing stalemate of diplomacy.
On the other hand, we've seen the news today that Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps has fired upon and ultimately seized two cargo ships near the Strait of Hormuz. And that could also add fuel to the fire, as we have seen repeated instances in both directions of ships being boarded or seized, depending on which military was actually involved here, as Iran maintains its closure of the Strait of Hormuz, that blockade that has been ongoing for weeks now.
And as the United States is also continuing to blockade Iranian ports in the area, preventing any ships going to and from those ports. And that is ultimately what seems to be one of the primary holdups here in terms of getting forward in any potential arrangement between the United States and Iran. And it is certainly what Iranian officials have been focused on. We heard today in the last hour, in a social media post, from Mohammad Ghalibaf, the Speaker of Iran's parliament, who has been sitting down at the negotiating table.
He says that a complete ceasefire only makes sense if it is not violated by the maritime blockade and the hostage taking of the world's economy. He is continuing to say that Iran will not reopen the Strait of Hormuz as long as the United States continues its naval blockade, saying that the United States did not achieve its goals through military aggression and will also not achieve it through bullying.
Now, we certainly have seen our fair share of rhetoric from both Iranian officials and American officials trying to project strength before they actually get into the room together and sit down across the negotiating table. But right now, the real question is whether or not that will actually happen.
We know that the vice president, J.D. Vance, was ready to depart for the Pakistani capital yesterday for those negotiations. That has been put on indefinite hold now, as President Trump has extended the ceasefire with no clear deadline in mind, but with White House officials trying to insist that it's not open ended. We'll see whether or not those talks can get back in shape in the coming days. Brianna?
KEILAR: Jeremy Diamond, live for us from Tel Aviv. Thank you for that report. And we do have some more Breaking News. President Trump is now reacting to Democrats redistricting victory in Virginia. And it's really a similar refrain.
SANCHEZ: CNN's Jeff Zeleny joins us now. Jeff, a refrain we've heard before.
JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: It is a refrain we've heard before. After every election that Republicans do not win or President Trump does not win, he weighs in. And perhaps the only most unusual thing is that we haven't heard it until just about 30 minutes ago. We should back up here and say that every Republican over the last, basically, more than 12 hours, about 20 hours since the Virginia results were called, no one has mentioned any fact that the election was rigged. But let's look at what the president said briefly here, and then we can parse it. The president says on Truth Social, "A rigged election took place last night in the great commonwealth of Virginia." All day long, he says, Republicans were winning. The spirit was unbelievable until the very end when, of course, there was a massive mail-in ballot drop, or have I heard that before? And the Democrats eked out another crooked victory.
He goes on to talk about previous presidential elections. Of course, there is zero evidence to suggest that the referendum election in Virginia on Tuesday was rigged in any way. But what's more unusual about this is that no one else has made this claim, including his top Political Adviser, James Blair, who was on "Inside Politics" with Dana Bash, and he explained the Virginia loss for Republicans like this.
[14:10:00]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAMES BLAIR, 2024 TRUMP CAMPAIGN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: For all the Democrats crowing this morning, if Republicans perform anywhere near on average the way they did in Virginia last night, we not only add seats to the Senate but we add seats to the House, and we have a historic midterm. It was very close last night.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ZELENY: So James Blair is a very top adviser to the president. He's been detailed from the White House to effectively oversee Republican efforts in the midterm elections. He was talking about how good Republicans did last night.
He was talking about how a three-point loss was actually a sign of strength and then about an hour and a half after that the president, perhaps trying to change the subject or seed some doubt here, he called it a rigged election. So that's the context.
KEILAR: Yeah. It's really interesting. The statement almost reads like from another time. I actually was reading it and said, oh, that's what he was talking about last night. OK.
ZELENY: But it's important because we all remember at the very beginning of 2020, he talked about a rigged election and suddenly that set in and took hold. So we'll see if other Republicans, how they respond to this. But as of now, there are no allegations or a credible evidence of any type of rigged schemes yesterday.
KEILAR: Yeah, we'll see if they follow suit. Jeff, thank you so much for that.
Still to come, prepare to pay more if you're planning to fly this summer. We'll break down how the war in Iran is causing airlines to raise their prices.
SANCHEZ: Plus, a key civil rights group known for tracking violent extremists in the U.S. is now facing federal charges. We'll explain the Justice Department's claim against the Southern Poverty Law Center and its use of paid informants.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[14:16:20]
KEILAR: We are seeing at major airlines rising jet fuel costs because of the war with Iran and they are passing it on to travelers. United Airlines saying it could raise prices by as much as 20 percent this summer. They're adding they're still seeing strong demand and those higher prices, they're not going anywhere. They are here to stay.
CNN Aviation Correspondent, Pete Muntean is here with us on this story. All right, Pete, so United is it's just the latest airline to make this announcement. Is this just how it's going to go for a while?
PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: And not much of a huge surprise here.
KEILAR: Yeah.
MUNTEAN: You know, airlines often raise fares but they typically don't go down in the long run. Here is the new warning from United Airlines CEO, Scott Kirby, from today's earnings call that passengers are paying about 20 percent more per mile than they were flying about a year ago. And Kirby says even if fuel prices fall, those higher fares are likely to stick around.
The data from travel site going shows just how much prices have jumped. Domestic airfare up 18 percent for the summer. International fares up eight percent. It's about a 13 percent increase on average. Labor, still the biggest single cost for airlines. But remember, jet fuel is number two and the price of jet fuel has roughly doubled since the start of the war with Iran, meaning airlines have no choice but to adjust.
German carrier Lufthansa is cutting 20,000 flights through October, includes about 120 flights a day through May, and their goal is to save money as these fuel costs surge. This is classic airline playbook. When the costs go up, airlines start slashing capacity. Fewer flights means fewer choices, and the routes most likely to disappear are the ones that were not really all that profitable to begin with. But here's the kicker.
Demand for air travel is still very strong, and airlines admit they think travelers will keep paying these higher prices. And so far, they're right. The bottom line here is if you have travel coming up, feel like you and I both do --
KEILAR: Yeah.
MUNTEAN: Book now. Don't wait. The fares are only going to get worse as time goes on.
KEILAR: I've already waited.
MUNTEAN: I know. KEILAR: I feel so silly. I made a mistake.
MUNTEAN: I'm one of those people, too. I like dial up something on Google flights, and I'm like, I should do it. And then I just wait until the last minute.
KEILAR: That's me.
(LAUGH)
KEILAR: They know. They know that we do that.
MUNTEAN: And we are in a deadline business, we should know better, right?
KEILAR: That's because we're not up against the deadline.
MUNTEAN: Yeah.
(LAUGH)
KEILAR: Pete, thank you so much.
MUNTEAN: Any time.
KEILAR: Still ahead, a major civil rights group here in the U. S. Is now facing federal charges, accusing it of paying informants to infiltrate far-right groups. We'll explain the new indictment from the Justice Department.
And Florida launching a criminal investigation into OpenAI over whether its chatbot helped plan a mass shooting at Florida State University.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[14:23:46]
SANCHEZ: The Justice Department is going after the Southern Poverty Law Center, accusing the civil rights group of defrauding donors by paying leaders of violent extremist groups to act as confidential informants. The organization was just indicted on multiple federal charges, including bank fraud and money laundering.
CNN Senior Justice Correspondent, Evan Perez has more on the charges. Evan, what have you learned?
EVAN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Boris, these are 11 charges in total. They are alleging bank fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering. And what the Justice Department says is that over the period of years, this is a program that the SPLC had ongoing since the 1980s, that they were making payments as much as $3 million, according to the Justice Department, that went to extremist leaders in some of these groups that they had informants, that the SPLC was paying informants in these organizations. Now, you know, the SPLC has been around for 55 years. They came around in the civil rights era and they became known for some of their work infiltrating the KKK and other white supremacist groups, and for years, they helped the FBI. They provided information to the FBI about some of these extremists that were targeting Jewish people and against African-Americans.
[14:25:00]
And so that's what we know about this organization until the last few months, where the FBI under Kash Patel has cut off all contact and work with the SPLC, and the SPLC now finds itself on the receiving end of these charges. We got a statement from Bryan Fair, who's the acting -- the Interim President of the SPLC, and he says that we are outraged by the false allegations levied against the SPLC, point out that this organization has been going around for 55 years, serving as a beacon of hope, fighting white supremacy.
And he also points out that, to be clear, this program saved lives. That's what the SPLC says is their defense against what this is. I should point out that part of what's going on here is that the SPLC has been under attack from conservative groups.
They believe that the SPLC in the recent years has unfairly targeted and been biased against conservative groups, including the Turning Point, for instance, under Charlie Kirk. And so there's been a lot of criticism from conservatives about the SPLC and the work it does. And so that's part of what the context here.
You know, the Justice Department, of course, and Kash Patel under the FBI are both obviously paying attention to some of that criticism.
SANCHEZ: Evan Perez, thank you so much for that reporting.
We have some Breaking News into CNN. Senator Bill Cassidy, the Chairman of the Senate Health Committee, has been questioning HHS Secretary, R.F. Kennedy Jr. Let's listen in.
SEN. BILL CASSIDY, (R-LA) CHAIRMAN, HEALTH, EDUCATION LABOR & PENSIONS COMMITTEE: Next, Mr. Secretary, you have talked about restoring trust in the agency around the issue of immunization, and people lost trust during the pandemic. But I think it's safe to say the trust gap has worsened over the last year due to false statements about safety and efficacy of vaccines for preventable diseases like measles.
Now, I am a guy who has seen people die from vaccine-preventable diseases.
KENNEDY: I didn't hear you.
CASSIDY: I'm a doctor who has seen people die from vaccine- preventable diseases. And when I see outbreaks numbering in the thousands and people dying once more from vaccine-preventable diseases, particularly children, it seems more than tragic.
Now, the CDC director, I applaud. You have said in a previous hearing that you were not involved in her selection, but you agree with President Trump's selection. I've not met with her yet formally, but I agree as well. She seems to be a qualified person.
KENNEDY: I did not say that I was not involved in her selection.
CASSIDY: I didn't follow. But -- so my question here with the new CDC director, whoever she or he is, there are currently political appointees at CDC who have worked to undermine trust in immunizations. Will the new director, whoever she is, have the right to make decisions independently of those political appointees and/or replace them or otherwise reassign them so they cannot continue to actively undermine trust in immunizations?
KENNEDY: Your characterization of the political appointees is wrong. And the CDC director has that power.
CASSIDY: Now, so she will have if she wishes to -- if she wishes to make a decision independently of them, she shall be allowed to make that decision independently. That's correct?
KENNEDY: Yes.
CASSIDY: OK. That's pertinent. This summer, we're hosting the World Cup and celebrating America's 250th birthday. Tourists from all over the world will come to the United States. Unfortunately, some of them will bring vaccine-preventable diseases like measles.
And unfortunately, our measles immunization rates have fallen, which means that this increases the risk of a measles outbreak in the U.S. What steps is HHS taking to address the outbreaks that may arise from the World Cup and the folks coming here?
KENNEDY: Mr. Chairman, we've done better at controlling the measles outbreak than any country in the world. This is a global outbreak. It started before I came to office. Most of the 80 percent of the children affected are over five years old, which means their decision not to vaccinate predated my appointment.
We have limited that last year to 2,200 cases. Mexico had three times that much with one-third of our population. Canada had double that much with one-eighth of our population. Europe had 127,000 cases the year before. We have a global pandemic. It has nothing to do with me. I wasn't in any of those countries.
CASSIDY: We should not be comparing ourselves --
(CROSSTALK)
KENNEDY: I've done a better job at limiting it than any country in the world. And you can talk to Governor McMaster about that and Governor Abbott about the help that we've given them in Texas. We --
