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Gas Prices Surge Again Overnight, Now $4.39 a Gallon; Iran Submitted Revised Proposal to End War; Interview with Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL): Trump Faces 60-Day War Powers Deadline on Iran Today; 14 Million People Under Flood Watches Across the South. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired May 01, 2026 - 09:00   ET

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

[09:00:00]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, two men foil surfing off the coast of California got a little bit of a surprise when a shark began to follow one of them. The guy who filmed it estimated the shark was about 10 to 11 feet long. Eventually, after about chasing for a mile, the shark lost interest, maybe went to eat someone else.

A brand new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts right now.

So brace yourself, gas prices jumped almost 10 cents a gallon overnight. Why so many big jumps this week, two months into the war with Iran.

Then happening now, 14 million Americans under a flood watch. Some areas could see more than five inches of rain in a hurry.

And then a very close call. A driver nearly hits a child crossing the street on the way to get on to the bus.

Sara is out this morning. I'm John Berman with Kate Bolduan. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: The thing to watch this hour and all throughout the day, gas prices jumping in a big way. The national average now $4.39 a gallon, up nine cents from yesterday, up 33 cents since last week. It's the biggest one day jump in the last six weeks.

Gas prices are now 47 percent higher from the beginning of the war. CNN's Gloria Pazmino is at a gas station in New York this morning. And I assume but, you know, assume you're getting an earful about what people are facing.

GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Kate, definitely a lot of frustration, a lot of even anger, I would say, among drivers. And if you're looking for someone to blame, maybe don't blame your local gas station. Remember, many of these gas stations have big gas company logos on them, but they're actually considered independent contractors, so to speak independent providers.

And they, too, are seeing a hit because as those prices come up, people are actually buying less gas. In fact, I spoke to someone who told me that they were going to get just a little bit of gas here so they can get across the bridge to New Jersey, where they know that gas is a little bit cheaper.

So drivers are feeling it. Business owners are feeling it. And many of the drivers I spoke to told me they have no choice. They have to get to work. They have to get home. Some of them work behind the wheel, so they have to fill up that tank. Take a listen to some of the drivers we spoke to this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

EDWIN ORTEGA, DRIVER: I know it's high around the country. And I just and I pray, I just pray that things get better for us, you know, for the American people. I'll fill it up when it's a half a tank.

OK, so it's been like twenty five. Now it goes up close to like thirty, thirty five dollars, five to ten dollars more.

NOEL NELSON, DRIVER: Normally it costs about $65. This gas station apparently doesn't have super unleaded, but no doubt it'd be up over $100 if I were to gas up today.

REGINA HARPER, DRIVER: Oh, my God. $4.69. I mean, I know when I go home, I cried when I saw $4.22 last night, but I passed it straight. Now I'm going to pay $4.69.

PAZMINO: So you saw that $4.22 last night?

HARPER: At my house and I just I was like, that's a lot.

PAZMINO: And now?

HARPER: $4.69. I'm literally going to put ten dollars so I get home.

PAZMINO: Just to make it home.

HARPER: Yes, this is a lot. It's a lot.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PAZMINO (on camera): Now, Kate, let's talk about the numbers. As you said in the beginning, we're looking at a current average U.S. gas price of $4.39, up thirty nine cents here at this gas station. You're looking at $4.69 for the regular gallon and $6.30 if you get the premium gasoline. That is a significant increase that we are seeing 40 --

BOLDUAN: Well, clearly it looks like we have a bit of a technical glitch, Gloria Pazmino in New York for us. Thank you so much.

It's good that Murphy's Law still applies, John, which is the moment you go to start a live shot, every horn starts honking around you no matter where you are.

BERMAN: Gas prices, you know, so high they knocked out transmission, the shock of it knocked out the transmission of Gloria's live shot there.

All right, this is very much connected to that. We do have some breaking news.

Iran has delivered a new proposal to end the war with the United States to mediators in Pakistan. This is according to Iran's state media. This is their response, which was expected today. Now, we should know President Trump rejected a previous offer from the Iranians.

Today marks 60 days since the conflict began. Now, that 60 days is important because it would appear to trigger the War Powers Act, the Vietnam War era law that requires Congress to sign off on U.S. military action that lasts beyond 60 days.

[09:05:00]

But according to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, there is a loophole. He told Congress that the April 7th ceasefire paused the clock on the 60 day countdown. Now, many Democrats and some Republicans don't quite buy that.

There's also brand new reporting this morning -- according to a CNN analysis. At least 16 U.S. military sites have been damaged by Iranian strikes. A majority of U.S. positions in the Middle East that would make up a majority of positions in the Middle East. Some, we are told, are virtually unusable now.

I want to get to CNN's Kevin Liptak at the White House this morning for the latest. The new news, Kevin, is that the Iranians have responded with something. Does the White House know what that is yet? What are they saying about it?

What are they expecting? What's their red line?

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Nothing yet from the White House specifically, but I think it's almost certain that they are now pouring through this. And ahead of this, you know, when you talk to administration officials, there were a few very specific things that they were looking for from Iran as it comes back with this latest proposal. One are what concessions it's willing to make on its nuclear program.

You know what it's planning to do, for example, with that stockpile of highly enriched uranium, more than 400 kilograms believed to be buried far underground. President Trump has been pretty insistent that they hand it over to the United States. You know, he essentially rejected a proposal from Vladimir Putin earlier this week that Russia would take shipment of it.

So what exactly is Iran willing to do on that front? Similarly, how long is Iran willing to pause all nuclear enrichment? You remember during the last round of negotiations, the U.S. proposed a pause of 20 years. Iran came back with a proposal for pausing it for five years. Where do they meet on that potential pause? And I think perhaps the most important thing that the president is looking for here is who exactly is going to make the decision inside of Tehran about whether they agree to a deal.

There has been an enormous amount of skepticism on the part of the Americans that the negotiating team that is actually doing all of these talks is, in fact, empowered to sign off on a final deal. So what signals are they getting from Iran that this proposal is, in fact, the final proposal? And this is actually what the Iranian regime is coming forward as their official plan.

And so all of these things, I think the U.S. and the White House are now looking through to see if this is something that could potentially trigger the negotiating team led by Vice President J.D. Vance and Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to get on a plane to fly 18 hours to Islamabad to come up to the negotiating table for these in-person talks. The president has been skeptical in the past that that is necessary. He says the Iranians can pick up the phone and call the White House and negotiate over the phone.

But it seems pretty clear that if there is a workable proposal now that the president sees Iran coming back with, that they will get on the plane and go forward with these talks. And so I think a lot at stake in this proposal. President Trump just yesterday received a briefing from military commanders about updated military plans.

If he decides to break the ceasefire and go back to war, potentially this proposal could prevent that. Just matters what's in it -- John.

BERMAN: All right, Kevin Liptak for us at the White House this morning. You know what, Kevin? We have Nic Robertson on the line here from Islamabad, where these talks were going on and sort of where the negotiations have been going through.

Nic, what are you hearing about this latest response from the Iranians?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes, it's really dropped in the last hour. Very, very, very, very recently. It does seem to be something that is making the Pakistani mediators sort of breathe a slight sigh of relief.

Of course, they've been expecting Iran to respond by Wednesday and if not by Wednesday, then by Thursday. And if not by Thursday, then really the sense here was that this was a day if Iran didn't respond by now, then things were going to slip potentially out of control pretty quickly. So the Iranians have put something on the table.

We don't know what's inside of it, of course, at the moment. It is very clear, having had conversations in the past few hours with Iranian officials that they don't trust President Trump, that they do have an idea of how they could get back into talks. And part of that was indicated to us that it would be a simultaneous lifting of the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.

They said, who's going to guarantee for us if we take that step that the United States doesn't just then move the U.S. Navy into the Strait of Hormuz and take control of it? So there is this real, real deep distrust. I think there's also this sense here that potentially things have been pretty close and it's not clear if Iran has bridged the final gaps or are they playing for time? Are they going to try to spin out more rounds of talks?

[09:10:19]

We know very clearly, as undoubtedly Kevin was laying out as well, that President Trump has said some of this could be done on the phone, that he wouldn't send people here to talk if they were just 18 hours to get here, even if they were just going to arrive and find something on the table they already knew wasn't acceptable.

So I think if we get an indication that a U.S. talks team were coming here, that would indicate that there's space to move forward.

BERMAN: All right, Nic Robertson, great to have you there in Islamabad, where this is all sort of passing through. Right now, we're very much in wait and see mode to figure out what the Iranians did propose. Appreciate it, Nic -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: Absolutely. As we wait for that, joining us right now is Democratic Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi of Illinois. Thanks for being here.

So on this news, now learning that a fresh peace proposal from Iran has gone to Pakistan's mediators in these talks. Hanging out there right now as they have this new proposal is a lot of talk of possible imminent next wave, new wave of U.S. strikes on Iran. Let me play for you what Richard Blumenthal said just last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. RICHARD BLUMENTHAL (D-CT): I do have the impression from some of the briefings that I have received, as well as other sources, that an imminent military strike is very much on the table. I can't be more specific because I received at least one of these briefings, several of them in classified settings, but I'm not saying with any certainty as to when it would happen, but very much on the table as a potential plan.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Congressman, do you think strikes now could push Iran to the table or could push Iran to stay at the table to finally get a deal?

REP. RAJA KRISHNAMOORTHI (D-IL): No, I think that it would only damage the prospects of getting to a resolution, not to mention that it would be illegal and unconstitutional as the War Powers Act has not been invoked properly. And now 60 days have elapsed with our troops engaged in hostilities. Now the president needs to come to Congress and the American people for consent for any further military action.

BOLDUAN: Well, the defense secretary told the Senate yesterday that they do not have to right now, that the ceasefire that has been in place since the beginning of April has put a pause on the countdown for congressional approval. And Republican Congressman Pete Sessions just told John that he agrees with Hegseth. Listen to this. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Do you think a blockade, which many people consider an act of war, which has been going on during the so-called ceasefire, constitute days of war, days of conflict?

REP. PETE SESSIONS (R-TX): No, I do not, John. I consider the last several weeks that this was negotiation to end it, and that would not be the, quote, war that's going on. So I think negotiation is not war.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Negotiation is not war. What do you say to that, Congressman?

KRISHNAMOORTHI: I respect Pete Sessions, but a blockade is absolutely an act of war. We are in a war right now. There is no pause button for the 60-day time deadline, and the deadline has arrived.

And the president needs to come to the American people. And I think the reason he doesn't want to do that is because he can't justify what's happening now. I think that this conflict, this illegal war, has only eroded our national security.

I think it's probably accelerated Iran's nuclear ambitions. It certainly made the regime more hardline than before. And it's caused our adversaries, including Vladimir Putin, to laugh all the way to the bank, earning billions of dollars in increased oil revenues, not to mention hurting consumers who are paying more for gas and groceries and fertilizer and everything else.

And so this is just a disastrous war right now.

BOLDUAN: One thing that I have to say, I am still surprised that this remains a question, but it is a question because the president posed it again yesterday, is who is the regime? The president says, and said yesterday, that one problem that they now have is, quote, "Nobody knows for sure who the leaders are."

Who is he dealing with? I mean, can there be an end to the war if the president continues to think that he now once again does not know who the leaders are? Do you believe that he does not know who the leaders of Iran are?

KRISHNAMOORTHI: No, I think he knows who -- the supreme leader, I have not seen any evidence that this new supreme leader is not in charge. I've been in classified briefings all week. And so I think this is just a pretext for not kind of coming to the table and getting to a deal.

Look, the only way that this ends is through diplomacy.

[09:15:00]

Military action in no way is going to accomplish any of our potential objectives with regard to Iran. Pushing away our friends, partners and allies only makes things worse. And now is the time for diplomacy, ASAP.

BOLDUAN: You sit on House Oversight. It's been investigating DOJ's handling of the Epstein files. You've now learned that, according to the New York Times -- the New York Times is reporting that there is a suicide note purportedly written by Jeffrey Epstein in a Manhattan jail and has been kept secret for nearly seven years, locked up in a New York courthouse.

Your Democratic colleague on the committee, James Walkinshaw, he was just on the show with me and he told me that the committee was not aware of this. What do you do with this?

KRISHNAMOORTHI: Well, I'm actually writing a letter today to Todd Blanche demanding that we get a hold of this particular suicide note. It absolutely needs to be released to the public as part of the Epstein Files Transparency Act, among other things. And given all the questions surrounding his suicide, it's all the more important that we get transparency on this particular note and his state of mind and anything else he released as part of that note.

BOLDUAN: Congressman, thank you so much for coming in. I appreciate your time today -- John.

KRISHNAMOORTHI: Thank you, Kate.

BERMAN: All right, 14 million people in the path of potentially dangerous flooding, a new forecast just coming in.

And then a new tool to help prevent school shootings -- drones.

[09:20:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: New this morning, 14 million Americans under a flood watch. This is from Texas to Mississippi. Some areas could see more than 5 inches of rain pretty quickly.

Let's get to Meteorologist Chris Warren for the latest on this. Chris, what are you seeing?

CHRIS WARREN, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, right now, John, what we are looking at is San Antonio and a flash flood warning. So, the expectation that there's going to be at least some flooding. You get a large urban area prone to flooding.

It doesn't take much rain. And this is more than just a little bit of rain. This is big much rain here. And that is likely to cause some issues early on. And that's the flash flood warning you see in red. Anywhere in green, conditions are favorable for some more flooding.

With the kind of rain that we're seeing come down right now. Coming in the form of thunderstorms. These rain showers and thunderstorms, the heaviest of such, are heading towards Houston right now.

So, that's a couple hours. Not looking good at all for Houston. And the excessive rainfall risk for today does include Houston, includes Austin, still San Antonio, all the way through much of Louisiana into Mississippi.

Future radar shows more of that heavy flooding rain sticking around the I-10 corridor here for much of the day. This is now getting into the nighttime. Overnight into the panhandle of Florida, South Georgia, and then eventually here into Florida.

Now, in terms of impactful rain, where there could be some more flooding, it is going to be tomorrow here with a slight threat for not just flooding rain, but also some severe thunderstorms. And you see a marginal risk for severe thunderstorms. Again, flooding is still a possibility with the watches we have in effect there in Texas.

But the threat for more flooding rain, and even some strong storms, continues tomorrow into Florida and South Georgia.

Now, not all bad news because we're dealing with drought throughout parts of the southeast, and there are still wildfires burning. While some of these fires are outside of some of the heaviest rain, there is still the highest category of drought for areas.

And this is the exceptional drought, which we'll be seeing some relief. But, John, when you get drought that's as intense as this, it's going to take a lot more rain, but every little bit does help.

BERMAN: All right, so a little bit of help, maybe not enough, not just yet. Meanwhile, some of these other cities need to be careful with these storms. Chris, thank you very much for that.

All right, an SUV comes within inches of hitting a child getting on the school bus. We've got the video of that.

Plus, here's a story of the most important home renovation, maybe in history, fixing up Mike and Carol's home -- The Brady's.

[09:25:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BOLDUAN: So often, the tragedy brought and caused by a school shooter unfolds so quickly that it is over before officers can even respond. A startup out of Texas though, is trying to change that. Leaning on drone technology to do so.

CNN's Pete Muntean has a closer look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right, pilots good to go.

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Here in this Austin, Texas middle school, we're seeing how to stop a school shooting with a swarm of tiny drones. It's a new idea ripped from the world of indoor drone racing, placing a nest of drones inside hallways. MUNTEAN: So, what do you guys call this?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've just been calling it the box.

MUNTEAN (voice-over): And launching them remotely the moment a lockdown begins.

JUSTIN MARSTON, CAMPUS GUARDIAN ANGEL: So, in a school shooting, most of the death happens in the first two minutes, and it's really hard to get an effective response there in that first two minutes.

MUNTEAN (voice-over): Justin Marston is the founder of Campus Guardian Angel, the Texas startup that envisions drones mounted on the wall of every school nationwide waiting for an emergency.

For now, the system is still in trials here in Texas with a pilot program launching in Florida and lawmakers in Georgia considering it next.

MARSTON: As soon as people see it, it becomes really obvious and compelling.

MUNTEAN (voice-over): To prove it, I got to watch a test live.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bye.

MUNTEAN (voice-over): For this demonstration, the drone operators are right at our side instead of in a control room where they navigate using a 3D scan of the school's interior.

Part one, speed, the drones ripped through halls scanning for a threat and feeding point of video back in real time.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As soon as I can find him, five seconds later, I can be flying.

MUNTEAN (voice-over): Bill King is a former Navy SEAL and co-founder of Campus Guardian Angel. Live drone video can be relayed to police giving them a clearer picture before they move in.

MUNTEAN: So, we've moved on to a different part of the demo now that apparently requires safety glasses.

MUNTEAN (voice-over): The team here has now pulled out a stand-in shooter. His name --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Silent Bob.

MUNTEAN: Silent Bob?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, because he never complains.

MUNTEAN (voice-over): Even as he is pelted with pepper spray balls, enough to stop a real shooter ...