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Pete Hegseth Says Second Aircraft Carrier To Join U.S. Blockade; U.S. Envoys Head To Pakistan For Iran Talks; Apocalyptic Scene Left By Wildfires In Georgia; Prosecutors Indicted A U.S. Solider In Maduro Op Bet On Raid, Won $400,000; Large Tornado Roars Through Oklahoma; Glacier Blocks Route To Summit For Everest Hopefuls. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired April 24, 2026 - 13:30   ET

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

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[13:31:40]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": Back to the Breaking News. President Trump is sending his Special Envoy, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to Pakistan this weekend where they are set to participate in talks with Iran's foreign minister The move comes as Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth reveals that the U.S. is intensifying its blockade against Iranian ports, telling reporters today that another aircraft carrier will soon join efforts in the Middle East.

With us now to discuss, Congresswoman Chrissy Houlahan of Pennsylvania. She sits on the House Armed Services Committee as well as the Intelligence Committee. Congresswoman, thank you so much for being with us. So with this news that Iran is sending a delegation to Pakistan, the U.S. once again sending Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, are you hopeful that this will lead to a deal at some point?

REP. CHRISSY HOULAHAN, (D-PA) ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE: So obviously, no deal can be made if nobody shows up. So I am hopeful in that at least we are sending somebody and they are apparently sending somebody as well. Whether those are the right somebody to be able to negotiate or broker a peace is unclear, honestly from both sides, as you've seen even our side has been sending different people each time. And I know that Vice President Vance is on standby in case something shakes loose.

But I am I'm hopeful that we have the opportunity to negotiate a peace. But I'm also not certain that there the recipe is there for that to happen quite yet.

SANCHEZ: On the side of the Iranian delegation that's going, Iran is pushing back on this idea that the administration has put forward that there is dissent among the ranks in Tehran, that leadership is divided. What intelligence can you share with us about who's calling the shots in Tehran?

HOULAHAN: There are always different games that are being played both above the surface of the water and below the surface of the water on both sides to, you know, have different conversations about what's real and what's not real in negotiations. And so I'm not certain that any of us really knows what is real at this point in time in terms of who's really in charge, whether there's division or not. Clearly, there's even division within our own country with our negotiations as well.

So I'm not certain again, what will peace look like, when will it happen? It better be soon because I think the American people are more than tired of it. And I know the Congress is super tired of it as well.

SANCHEZ: So the question of timing and specifically how much longer the global economy can tolerate the strain on the Strait of Hormuz, the price of fuel going up. The U.S. Is sending an aircraft carrier to the Middle East, as we just noted. Tehran has now also begun collecting some of the tolls or profiting, receiving some of the profit from the tolls that it put on the Strait, which side do you think can sustain longer? Do you think the U.S. blockade will last long enough to pressure Tehran into concessions? Or do you think that Iran is in this for the long haul, they'll wait past the midterm elections?

HOULAHAN: Gosh, I hope we are not all here still talking about this after the midterm election. That would be horrifying. This is about $1 billion a day to the American taxpayer right now. In addition, this coming week, we'll pass that 60-day mark, after which point the president really does have to come to Congress to get some permission, more than beyond what he has not asked for so far. And so I do think that there will be a tolerance threshold that will be building and building as the next weeks and days go by.

If this passes more than 90 days, I don't foresee the American people being able to hang with that. But I am hopeful that the administration will do the right thing and broker a peace negotiation. At this point in time, what it looks like they're going to get out of this doesn't look a whole lot different or better than the JCPOA did that the President Trump tore up in his last administration.

[13:35:00]

As you're mentioning, the tolls are being collected in the Strait right now. That didn't exist before this conflict. So I'm not really certain that we're really in a totally good position right now of negotiation strength.

SANCHEZ: What about the international community, and specifically Europe? As you hear the Defense Secretary say that Europe needs the Strait of Hormuz more than the United States. This is much more their fight, he says, than ours. Should the Europeans and NATO be doing more in this effort?

HOULAHAN: This is an enormously frustrating part of the conversation. It's not wrong to say that Europe and the European continent rely more upon this part of the world than we do, but they had nothing to do with the decision to go into this war. And so while we, this administration, is bashing our allies and then at the same time as bashing them, they're asking for support and help. That's so contradictory that there's a really interesting article in the Washington Post today about how Europe and other allies of ours are just basically turning away from us, and in some cases, ironically, turning towards China.

And this is, again, an unintended consequence, or maybe one that they thought of but decided that it was worth taking, this administration, when they decided to go to war.

SANCHEZ: Speaking of turning toward China, still on the calendar is President Trump's visit to Beijing, May 15th with Xi Jinping, who he recently said he exchanged some letters with. After that announcement that he had exchanged some correspondence with the Chinese leader, he said that he was assured that no weapons or material to make weapons would be sent from China to Tehran.

The U.S. since seized the ship and the president alluded to there being some material on board that surprised him. What kind of pressure should the U.S. put on China in order to stay out of this conflict, or perhaps to bring some diplomatic effort to the table and get some concessions out of Tehran potentially?

HOULAHAN: Both are important. It is important both that we use our diplomatic prowess to the degree that we still have any with China to be able to talk to them and talk them out of participating in this, and also ask them to participate from a diplomatic standpoint in this effort.

Again, there's the above-water efforts that are going on and the below-water efforts going on. We cannot (ph) say what we will say publicly, and in fact, there may be something else going on privately as well. I'm hopeful that there's private conversations with the Chinese that are helping us evolve more rapidly towards a peace.

I think it's important, and I think that they are possibly a participant, a good broker in that conversation.

SANCHEZ: Congresswoman Chrissy Houlahan, we appreciate the time. Thanks for joining us.

HOULAHAN: Thank you for having me.

SANCHEZ: Appreciate it. Still to come, Georgia's governor visiting the site of an escalating wildfire that's already destroyed close to 100 homes and is largely uncontained. We'll take you there live in just moments.

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[13:41:49]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": A Green Beret involved in the capture of ex-Venezuelan President, Nicolas Maduro is now charged for allegedly betting on that very raid. It's an alleged gambling incident that President Trump likened to Pete Rose betting on his own team. Just moments ago, that Special Forces soldier, who's a senior non-commissioned officer in the Army, made his first appearance in a North Carolina court, and he's now set to be released on a $250,000 bond.

SANCHEZ: Prosecutors say that Master Sergeant Gannon Ken Van Dyke won $400,000 after placing a long-shot bet that Maduro would be out by January. CNN's Kara Scannell joins us now. Cara, what more are you learning?

KARA SCANNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Boris and Brianna, he did make his first court appearance this morning and is released on bond, but the judge in North Carolina says he needs to appear in New York next week to face these charges where he will likely be arraigned on those five criminal counts, including one count of using confidential government information for his personal gain.

This was a big bet that paid off hugely for him, and it's also the first time there's been a criminal prosecution for bets made on prediction markets. And what the authorities allege here is that this Army soldier was read in on the plan to extract Maduro. He was part of the planning. He was part of the execution as well, and that he had classified information about the raid.

With that knowledge in hand, authorities allege that he placed these bets, $32,000, that Maduro would be out of Venezuela before the end of January. Now, he made these trades, according to authorities, just hours before he himself was part of this extraction of Venezuelan President, Nicolas Maduro, from the presidential palace in Caracas and brought back into U.S. soil to face separate drug-trafficking charges.

And as a result of that bet, the soldier allegedly made over $400,000 in profits. Prosecutors say that's illegal insider trading. There are some calls from portions of Capitol Hill where people are suggesting he should get a pardon, but prosecutors say that this itself causes a national security risk because information leaking out of classified information could put that soldier and his colleagues in danger as they're executing raids like this.

The soldier has not yet entered a plea in this case. He is being called to do so in New York next week. We've not been able to reach a lawyer for him for comment, but, you know, this is a market where we are seeing major bets around big news announcements, and it's not just in prediction markets, but it's also, we're seeing this in oil markets, something where people are making bets and making a lot of money around the Iran war and around some of these big national security decisions. Guys?

KEILAR: Yeah. Big story. Kara Scannell, thank you so much for that.

Next, dozens of homes leveled after a large tornado stayed on the ground for more than 30 minutes in Oklahoma last night. The apocalyptic scenes right after this.

SANCHEZ: Plus, this is a massive glacier icefall, now blocking the path to Mount Everest summit. Hundreds of climbers stalled at base camp, unable to ascend. One of America's best alpinists, who summited Everest three times, will join us next. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:49:17]

KEILAR: Happening right now, Georgia Governor, Brian Kemp is getting a firsthand look at the devastation from raging wildfires consuming the southeastern part of the state.

SANCHEZ: He's been surveying damage from the Highway 82 fire. Forestry officials tell CNN it scorched about 5,500 acres, destroying nearly 90 buildings, and is forcing mandatory evacuations. About three-quarters of the state are now experiencing extreme drought conditions as crews battle multiple fires. 91 counties are now under a state of emergency, with some of those areas now under a curfew.

Meantime, people in Oklahoma are cleaning up after a powerful tornado struck northwest of Oklahoma City overnight. Travelers got this terrifying look at the storm from the window of a passing DeltaJet.

[13:50:00]

KEILAR: This video shows the same tornado outside of Vance Air Force Base. The base had to close temporarily, but we're told it is now reopened. In all, that twister stayed on the ground for at least 30 minutes.

This was such a long-traveling tornado and it damaged dozens of homes in the course of that. At least 10 people were injured. Thankfully no one died. More than 15 tornadoes in all reported across Oklahoma, Kansas and Iowa last night.

SANCHEZ: So nearly 18,000 feet above sea level, hundreds of climbers are at Everest Base Camp and their anxiety is now growing. They're ready to try to summit the world's tallest mountain.

KEILAR: That's right. There's a catch though and it is a block of glacial ice called a serac that is stopping them from beginning their route out of base camp to start acclimating to other camps on the mountain.

Conrad Anker is an accomplished climber who has summited Everest three times. He's with us now. Conrad, thanks so much for being with us. Talk to us about why this is such a problem as we're looking towards May when you start seeing the best chances for summiting Everest.

CONRAD ANKER, PROFESSIONAL CLIMBER AND MOUNTAINEER: Well, thank you, Brianna and Boris, for having me on. The Khumbu Icefall is the key step to get on the upper reaches of the mountain. It's also the most dangerous part of the technical climb of Mount Everest. It's where this glacier tumbles over and it forms a jumbled mass of crevasses and hanging ice cliffs known as seracs.

The teams need to pass through this before they can get to the upper reaches of the mountain.

SANCHEZ: There are some high-altitude workers known as icefall doctors, right, that help map the Khumbu Icefall. Walk us through their job and how dangerous that is.

ANKER: There is a team of Nepali climbers that works every year on the icefall. They're known as the icefall doctors. All the visiting climbers pool their money and their funds and they're paid through this collective work. The process of it is they establish fixed ropes and ladders to ensure the safety going through the icefall.

The challenge here is that it's the Nepali climbers, specifically the Sherpa climbers, to spend the most amount of time in the icefall. So the icefall doctors working with the SPCC, which is the organization that coordinates that, wants to make sure the icefall is safe so there's a minimal amount of accidents that would happen to the Nepali climbers.

KEILAR: So Conrad, at this point in time, there's now this bottleneck that is happening because people can't get onto the Khumbu Icefall and you just have hundreds of climbers kind of stacking up there at base camp. Talk to us a little bit about the problems that can create at base camp and also that it can create as they start getting underway, possibly all at the same time in crowds.

ANKER: Yeah, usually by early April, the icefall is fixed and then people can climb through it. They go through early in the morning and a large portion of this traffic going through the icefall are Nepali climbers that are stocking Camp 2, Camp 3, Camp 4 for the eventual summit bid on Mount Everest.

And if the icefall isn't open, the people that work on the mountain for the visiting climbers that need food, supplemental oxygen, tents, climbing hardware, ropes, they're not able to bring that material up to Camp 2 for the higher stages of the mountain.

So in essence, it's creating a blockade, a bottleneck that's not allowing the climbers to move up higher on the mountain.

SANCHEZ: So in 2014, there was a gigantic serac on a hanging shoulder that collapsed and it caused an avalanche in the icefall, killed more than a dozen Sherpas. Has Everest gotten any safer since then?

ANKER: Everest by and large is a little bit safer but the one thing that we can't predict is the nature of the icefall. And ice is moving at a constant pace, moving down the mountain, and for the icefall doctors, they understand the dynamics of this, but it can be at a random moment when it decides to cut loose.

And so my guests here in the United States and looking at it from afar but knowing the situation is that they're worried that this serac is close to collapsing and should it happen like it did in 2014, the loss is borne by the Nepali people. There were no Western climbers that were trapped in that icefall of 2014. And as I mentioned earlier, the majority of people traveling through the icefall are the Nepali climbers.

KEILAR: If it doesn't collapse and kind of take care of itself with the hope being it doesn't hurt anyone, Conrad, could we be looking at a climbing season just kind of scrubbed here? Could that happen? [13:55:00]

ANKER: It might be the case. There's also they can reroute the route to different areas, but the icefall is -- it's moving every day and it's extremely dangerous. And having been in there over 10 times, it brings sweat to my palms just thinking about that.

So they have drones and helicopters to look at it, technology that's much more advanced than it was 12 years ago, the last time I was there. But they want to make sure that the people that climb in that through the icefall are in a safe place.

The Everest season in 2015 was canceled due to the earthquake --

KEILAR: Yeah.

ANKER: -- which then sent the huge serac coming down off of Lingtren, a nearby peak, and that affected base camps. So the entire season was canceled in 2015 there. I don't think it's going to be -- that is the case. And now they'll figure something out. But it's a good sign that the icefall doctors have the safety of all the climbers involved, first and foremost, in their mind, in the decisions that they're making.

KEILAR: Yeah, because we know the stakes. We've seen it on other years. Conrad, thank you so much. Obviously, we're keeping an eye on the story and we appreciate you being with us for it.

ANKER: Thank you, CNN. Take care.

SANCHEZ: Of course. So there are new talks aimed at ending the war with Iran that are soon to begin. The latest on the envoys headed to Pakistan for negotiations when we come back.

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