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Iran is Sending a Delegation to Pakistan; Fires Rage in Southeast Georgia; Investigation into Armored Truck Robbery; Rep. Gil Cisneros (D-CA) is Interviewed about Iran. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired April 24, 2026 - 09:00   ET

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

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[09:01:03]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: The breaking news this hour, Iran is now sending a delegation to Pakistan for the potential of new talks with the United States.

And we're also watching a devastating round of tornados that has ripped through Oklahoma. And it's just the beginning of another stretch of severe storms for the region.

In Georgia, the wildfire threat only growing. Extreme drought and high winds presenting new challenges now for the crews that are trying to still control those flames.

I'm Kate Bolduan, with Sara Sidner and John Berman. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: The breaking news this morning, it looks like Iran is ready to negotiate. We just got a briefing moments ago from the Pentagon after we learned that Iran is sending a team to Pakistan for a second round of talks with the United States, according to Pakistani and Iranian sources. Iran's top diplomat, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, is expected to arrive tonight with a small delegation. It's unclear whether the U.S. will take part, though. It comes after new negotiations failed to materialize earlier in the week.

During this morning's briefing, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the U.S. military will maintain the blockade on Iran's ports for as long as it takes, and he urged Tehran to cut a peace deal.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETE HEGSETH, DEFENSE SECRETARY: Iran has an important choice, a chance to make a deal, a good deal, a wise deal.

Iran has a historic chance to make a serious deal. And the ball is in their court. Either way, the War Department stands ready for what comes next, locked and loaded.

(END VIDEO CLIP) SIDNER: CNN's Alayna Treene, live this morning at the White House.

Are you hearing anything about whether the United States is going to show up for these talks?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, look, I've been catching up with my sources here, Sara, and I think the status of this is, one, they are obviously aware that the Iranian foreign minister is traveling to Pakistan. I think that's obviously a good development for the U.S., which is really trying to get a second round of talks between Washington and Tehran in person on the books. But I think they're still working through what this could look like.

But given that Araghchi is going to be in Pakistan, and we know that there is also a U.S. logistics team that has been in place in Islamabad really preparing for a potential second round of in-person talks, I think it could be likely that we could be seeing, you know, some people from the Trump administration trying to do that. But right now it's very much unclear. And I think it's all currently being discussed behind those closed doors in that building behind me, Sara.

But this could be a significant move. I mean, look, even though we've heard the president in recent days, he just repeated this yesterday, that there is no rush. He doesn't want to have pressure on him. He's kind of not putting any sort of definitive timeline on this extension of the ceasefire that he declared earlier this week.

I know from the conversations I've been having throughout the Trump administration that they do not want this to drag on longer, and they do not want the Iranians to try and drag out talks either. And so, they've really been pushing toward trying to get a second meeting in person, back on the books, and also really trying to get negotiations to a place where they believe it could lead to a diplomatic solution. That has remained the priority through all of this, even as we have reporting that the Pentagon and the military has been preparing different options should this ceasefire not produce a, you know, peaceful solution. They've been working on different target and attack plans. Many of them actually trained on the Strait of Hormuz.

But overall, they still very much want to reach a deal with the Iranians. So, this is a good development, but we really have to see where things stand and whether or not this could lead to talks in the next couple of days between Trump administration officials and the Iranians.

Sara.

[09:05:02]

SIDNER: Yes. I mean, generally speaking, a diplomatic solution is the only solution unless you want a war to go on forever.

Alayna Treene, we will wait and see what happens with these talks. Thank you so much. I do appreciate it.

Kate. BOLDUAN: And joining us right now is CNN global affairs analyst Brett

McGurk, and CNN political and national security analyst David Sanger of "The New York Times."

Good to see you, gentlemen.

Brett, what do you make of this news that Iran is now sending a delegation, one that includes the foreign minister?

BRETT MCGURK, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: It's interesting, Kate, because Iran's position has been very clear, that they will not negotiate so long as we have the blockade on Iranian ports. The messaging from the administration in the last 48 hours, we are keeping the blockade. We're going to tighten the blockade. And yet you still see Araghchi, the foreign minister, going to Islamabad. So, that's an interesting development.

You know, we've talked in the Ukraine context about diplomacy. Often there's a lot of motion without foreign movement. And that can mean you're really not making progress. But here, even some motion I think is important.

So, it's an interesting sign. I suspect he's going to talk to the Pakistanis about where Iran stands, given that they've had -- trying to get their act together in Tehran. Whether or not that leads to a U.S. team going, probably not, but we'll have to see.

So, I think it's a positive development. But, you know, we still have a long way to go to a deal.

BOLDUAN: To say the least.

And, David, you've done some new reporting this week on one big aspect that is central to the eventual end result of any of these talks, which is what to do about Iran's enriched uranium, what the president has called the nuclear dust, if you will, and --

DAVID SANGER, CNN POLITICAL AND NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Yes.

BOLDUAN: As to suggest it is -- he's trying to suggest it is more insignificant than it actually is.

SANGER: Well, I think we have to remember, Kate, this is what this whole thing was about, right? If it had not been for the presence of a nuclear program that includes 440 kilogram of bomb grade uranium, there wouldn't have been an attack to begin with on February 28th, or at least that's the administration's position.

But their problem now is much larger because in order to make the president's commitment that Iran could never build a bomb real, they need to get not only that 440 kilograms, about 1,000 pounds of uranium out of the country, they need to get another ten tons of material that Iran has, it's enriched to lower levels. It's not as close to a bomb.

And -- so that's a pretty comprehensive program. Very hard to understand how you would do that other than a negotiated release. And here, of course, the president is haunted a little bit by the deal that he passed by, or pulled out of in 2018 because President Obama managed to get about 97 percent of Iran's stockpile out of the country in 2015, 2016. That left them with some, but nothing near what they have today.

BOLDUAN: And, Brett, the -- one of David's colleagues at "The New York Times" has some pretty amazing reporting about what, from sources inside Iran, about the state of the supreme leader there, that on that February 28th strike that made Mojtaba Khamenei the supreme leader now, he was gravely injured, disfigured, and burned to an extent that he can't speak well. We have not seen or heard. We've seen messages.

But it's also led to him being in hiding, surrounded by doctors, no electronics around him in order so it can't -- it can't be detected, which has had him delegating, kind of relegate and leave a lot of the responsibility and decision making to the IRGC, including kind of leading on this diplomatic front. If this really is the case and the state of the supreme leader, what does that mean for these negotiations? Because the central question has remained, who can actually secure a deal on the part of the Iranians that the country will follow?

MCGURK: Yes, Kate, it makes it much harder. I mean negotiating with Iran was difficult, even when you had Khamenei, the supreme leader, and he had a -- he had like a -- they called it a five-man group around him that would kind of bless final decisions. You kind of knew that was the system. But they still had some fractures and debate. But it was really the supreme leader and the office of the supreme leader, the people around him in charge. So, if you don't have that, the first time since the 1979 revolution, you don't have a supreme leader really firmly in charge.

And the reporting from "The New York Times" that he's communicating with written messages, kind of like an Osama bin Laden in hiding type situation, makes it even more difficult because the -- this negotiation, Kate, on nuclear material and sanctions relief, it is complicated, complicated stuff. It requires back and forth. It requires adjustments here and there. It's going to take time. So, if that's how they're making decisions, it's really hard to see the road from here to a verifiable nuclear deal. You can maybe come up with a framework arrangement, but I just -- I go back to where I started.

[09:10:03]

I think we're a long way from any sort of a real, verifiable nuclear agreement. This is nuclear physics, requires inspections, international monitors, and then the sanctions relief is also very important, which is a part of it. And I wouldn't put aside the concern about missiles, support for terrorism and, of course, the Iranian people, which we can't put aside.

But, obviously, these talks are very focused on the nuclear.

BOLDUAN: Yes. And, David, just a quote that you had in one of your pieces this week from Robert Malley, who's negotiated with the Iranians leading up to the 2015 deal and the failed attempt with the Biden administration, just comparing the style and approach. It's just -- was a fascinating kind of pulling together by Malley. "Trump is impulsive and temperamental. Iran's leadership is stubborn and tenacious. Trump demands immediate results. Iran's leadership plays the long game. Trump insists on a flashy, headline grabbing outcome. Iran's leadership sweats every detail. Trump believes brute force can compel obedience. Iran's leadership is prepared to endure enormous pain rather than concede on core interests."

And I'm just left thinking, yes, that means quite a bit to how this could ever eventually come to an end.

SANGER: Yes. Well, you know, there's a reason, Kate, that that agreement in 2015 was 150 pages long, even a little longer, had five annexes to it, that it took nearly two years to negotiate because, as Brett suggests here, the devil is truly in the details here. What the inspection and verification looks like. How you define no nuclear activity. Does that mean no nuclear research? Does that mean that you can keep some of the equipment, but you can't actually be putting nuclear material into it? All kinds of complex issues. And so, Brett points out rightly that if you've got this system where no one is -- it's not clear who's making the decision, that's a lot of material to go through.

BOLDUAN: It sure is.

David, thank you.

Brett, great to see you. Thank you so much.

MCGURK: One more, Kate. That --

BOLDUAN: Yes. Yes. Go.

And I'm going to talk to Brett about it afterwards.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Bye, Brett. Bye, David.

All right, we have new footage just in of this storm system that left a trail of devastation in Oklahoma. And this footage, it was taken from a passenger plane.

So, at least one tornado was on the ground for a full 30 minutes. Vance Air Force Base is now closed because of issues stemming from that tornado. More than 15 other tornado reports came in across the state. There were reports in Kansas and Iowa as well. Thunderstorms, heavy rain, flash flood warnings complicated search and rescue efforts overnight. And it's far from over, right? Some of the video is really, I mean, impressive and terrifying here. The central plains will continue seeing severe weather well into next week.

Now, a south Georgia, drought conditions are complicating efforts to fight fires there that have destroyed just under 100 homes already.

Let's get to CNN's Derek Van Dam for the latest on what you are seeing there.

Derek.

DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: John, we just spoke to authorities covering the Highway 82 Fire, where we're located, and they gave us some new information. They now say they have 59 fire departments and 220 personnel actively working this, including what they called a red team. It's a type one federal fire incident team. They're premier fire investigation team that is now actively working this fire. So now federal agencies are starting to take over.

There are still evacuations in place, and those are likely expected to continue as this fire still burns out of control, which now sits at 5,500 acres at a 15 percent containment as well.

There's been 87 structures that have burned, one of which is behind us here. And there's over now 1,000 homes that are threatened.

Now, I want to talk about the thick vegetation that makes this area, southeast Georgia, the southeastern parts of the U.S., so vulnerable to wildfires. I mean look at this tinderbox conditions that it's dealing with. And not only is it made worse by the ongoing drought that we have, but what I learned this morning from authorities in talking to them about this particular fire is that it's so intense, it's so hot that it's creating its own weather systems. It's altering the winds and the forward flank of the line.

And this I found astounding. When I talked to the authorities, they said that the relative humidity, which is so critical in terms of fighting forest fires, when the sun comes out it dries the air. It may go down to about 30 percent. But on the forward flank of the fire, it drops to about five percent because the fire is so intense that it literally sucks the moisture out of the air, making what is already a very dry landscape even that much drier.

The soil moisture, I mean, I know this is very specific, but it's important.

[09:15:01]

They were talking about it in the press briefing yesterday. Usually, you can stick your finger in the ground and feel a dampness to the ground, but you have to go several inches. We're talking about a half a foot below the surface where you start to feel the dampness of the ground. So, that above surface layer there really is just so dry. The tinderbox conditions. And it's allowing this fire to continue to spread.

Look at this other worldly scene that we have behind us, John. It sets the scene for just what they're dealing with here on the front lines of the Highway 82 Fire here in Brantley County.

John.

BERMAN: Look, a very treacherous situation there with some dangerous days ahead, potentially. Derek Van Dam, thank you for that report.

Sara. SIDNER: All right, thank you, John. Investigators are now saying the

million-dollar heist of a Brinks truck earlier this week in Philadelphia may have been an inside job.

And a new gene therapy is changing the lives of babies born with inherited hearing loss.

Plus, you know things are serious when the shirts come off. A golfer strips down to get his ball out of a hazard. Oh, did it work? Not bad.

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[09:20:42]

BOLDUAN: So, CNN is learning new details about the armored truck robbery we told you about in Philadelphia this week. It may have actually been an inside job. Police say the suspects, who were still on the run, they got away with nearly $2 million. And they now say that the truck was making its first stop of the day, which is raising suspicions.

CNN chief law enforcement and intelligence analyst John Miller is here with me now.

What more details are you picking up about this truck?

JOHN MILLER, CNN CHIEF LAW ENFORCEMENT AND INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: Well, I've been talking to law enforcement sources in and around that investigation. And what they said is, since they've been looking at this particular job, there's a couple of things that are unusual.

Number one, that truck was carrying way more cash than is the normal protocol. Number two, that was the first stop of the day. So, a truck that might have been carrying hundreds of thousands of dollars was actually carrying almost $2 million, $1.8 million, as it was making a delivery to a check cashing place. That strongly suggests to investigators that the people who were laying in wait for this truck hadn't just been watching one location in one series of armored car deliveries, but knew there to be there -- knew to be there on that day, at that time, with that particular delivery, which suggests to them they may be getting information from a current or former employee inside the company. That is not unusual in the history of major armored car robberies.

The other element is that they also believe, looking at other armored car robberies over the past couple of years, that this is a crew that doesn't always use the same people, a revolving crew of people who have been doing these hits. But this far eclipses any of their other robberies, which have been mainly focused on deliveries to ATM machines.

BOLDUAN: Because I remember we were talking about, this is -- Philadelphia has had a thing about -- like this has been -- this has happened in the past. These suspects, the ones that were involved here, they're still on the run. I mean what do investigators make of it, if it is a crew, if you say -- if you -- if you will?

MILLER: Well, on one hand, that makes them a formidable set of bad guys. We're seeing people show up with assault weapons.

Armored car robberies, by their very nature, are high risk.

BOLDUAN: Yes.

MILLER: You're going up against a hardened vehicle. You're going up against armed people who have training. So, for the bad guys, it usually involves pre-operational surveillance. It usually involves -- almost always involves weapons and can, you know, spin off into a shootout in a public place. So, they operate with speed, you know, with a high threat behavior and try to overwhelm. In this case, that's what we see.

It also means if you have a revolving crew, you have a better, as investigators, chance of developing sources in the street.

BOLDUAN: That's a good point.

MILLER: Because once people are walking around with a couple of million dollars, you know, depending on how they spend that, where they spend that, how fast they spend that, that's going to stand out.

BOLDUAN: Yes, it sure is. It's really interesting, John. Great reporting, as always. Thank you so much.

MILLER: Thanks.

BOLDUAN: John.

BERMAN: So, a special forces soldier has been arrested and charged after he bet allegedly on the takedown of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro and won big.

And the rotisserie chicken battle on Capitol Hill. You heard that right. What is behind the new political battle on this high protein treat?

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[09:28:24]

SIDNER: Our breaking news this morning, Iran appears to be headed back to the negotiating table. Pakistan and Iranian sources say Tehran is sending a team to Pakistan for a second round of talks with the United States. Now, Iran's foreign minister is expected to arrive tonight with a small delegation, though it's not clear yet whether the United States will take part. It comes after new talks failed, as you remember, earlier this week.

Joining me now is Democratic Congressman Gil Cisneros of California. He serves on the House Armed Services Committee.

We just heard from the Pentagon. You had the defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, talking about the status of the war. And he says, we have all the time in the world to make a serious deal. The ball is in Iran's court. The president of the United States, President Trump, saying he's got plenty of time. Do we?

REP. GIL CISNEROS (D-CA): Look, the American people want this war to end now. It is putting extreme financial pressure on all of us. Gas prices continue to rise. The president's economic policies with tariffs continue to rise. Like, you know, the cost of groceries continue to rise. Health care has risen with his economic policies. He has just added another burden to the people who need their cars.

You know, my district, right, people rely on their vehicles. They need to fill up their tanks to get back and forth from work to home. It is putting an extreme burden on the American people, and this war needs to end now.

SIDNER: You know, when you look at what is happening here, in an op-ed there is a Republican senator writing, look, we said 60 days.

[09:30:02]

We've got 60 days. Beyond that window, we don't want to see this go on without congressional approval.

Do you have a sense that there is enough bipartisan?