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Putin Paranoia?; Suspected D.C. Gunman in Court; Strait of Hormuz Tensions. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired May 04, 2026 - 13:00   ET

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

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BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Trading fire in the Strait of Hormuz.

The U.S. military says it launched strikes on several Iranian boats after Tehran fired at U.S. Navy ships, all as we have learned that negotiations toward a deal continue.

Plus, Vladimir Putin's power giving way to paranoia. New CNN reporting on the Russian leader's fears of a coup or an assassination plot and the Kremlin's moves to keep him safe.

ERICA HILL, CNN HOST: And the Oscar goes to an actual human, The Academy Awards banning A.I. actors and A.I.-written scripts from Oscar eligibility.

We're following these major developing stories and many more all coming in right here to CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

SANCHEZ: Breaking news: the cease-fire between the United States and Iran under strain right now, as we have learned that both sides have traded shots in the Strait of Hormuz. It began after the U.S. began guiding vessels through the waterway, including two U.S.-flagged commercial ships.

In response, U.S. Central Command says that Tehran launched multiple cruise missiles, drones and small boats. The U.S. says it's blown up at least six of those Iranian small boats. Also, the U.K. says at least one tanker has been hit by a projectile, while two separate vessels have each reported fires.

Meantime, elsewhere in the region, the UAE says that it's intercepted three Iranian missiles, while a fourth found its target, striking an oil facility that is now on fire and where at least three people have been injured.

Our reporting indicates that talks between the two sides are still happening.

So let's get the latest now from CNN's Nic Robertson, who's live for us in Islamabad, where those talks have been taking place.

Nic, what's the latest that you're hearing about what's happened?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes, really, the conflict overspilling from the tensions in the Strait of Hormuz back onto land, back to where it was before the cease-fire went into place almost a month ago, as well as those missiles from Iran hitting the UAE or three intercepted, as you say, one hitting that Port of Fujairah.

Also in Oman, a tiny seaside hamlet in the peninsula that sticks up into the Strait of Hormuz, that was hit, two people injured in a civilian residence there as well, so not just limited to the UAE, but Oman as well getting dragged back into this, as CENTCOM has been saying they have been able to support what President Trump is calling Project Freedom.

And that is an effort for humanitarian reasons to guide commercial vessels that have been stuck now for two months inside the Gulf out through the Strait of Hormuz, out to deliver their goods to the rest of the world.

That has involved at least one guided missile destroyer, according to CENTCOM, passing through the Strait of Hormuz today and getting into the Gulf, two U.S.-flagged commercial vessels making it out, but then a confrontation, according to the Iranian media, IRGC saying that they confronted with rapid and quick actions, preventing a U.S. Naval vessel getting into the Strait of Hormuz.

One -- at least one Iranian media saying that there were shots fired at the U.S. vessels. Now, CENTCOM has denied that. Now, what does that very complicated and rapidly developing picture look like? It looks like what was conversations about a talks process has turned into significant kinetic activity.

The Iranians, though, the ball is in their court to respond to the proposal put to them by the White House over the weekend.

SANCHEZ: Nic, is it fair to say that this is still technically a cease-fire if you're seeing that kind of attack against Gulf allies and the U.S. responding against these boats in the strait?

ROBERTSON: I think it's really in question.

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I spoke with Iranian officials on Friday here, and they said they were very concerned that any sort of easing of blockades around the Strait of Hormuz, they were very concerned that the United States would move in with the Navy to try to take control there.

So what appears to be happening, by projecting the effort to guide these commercial vessels out of the Strait of Hormuz, it has sort of upped, if you will, that tension, that suspicion on Iran's part that plays into their lack of trust about what the United States' real intentions here are. I have to say, despite that, we have seen these spikes in tensions

before, and, after a few days, things can potentially calm down. But Iran, again, has escalated beyond the tensions with the U.S., and has now targeted the UAE and Oman.

And this really could lead to a potential escalation, a kinetic escalation. If it does, and that continues for the next couple of days, then I think talks will really get sidelined, and it would be hard to restart them in a meaningful way.

Even that's really in question, just because this has played into Iran's fears. They would now say, why would we get around the table again if this is what the United States is going to do?

SANCHEZ: Nic Robertson, live for us in Pakistan, thank you so much -- Erica.

HILL: So, let's go take you now to the White House. CNN's Kevin Liptak is there.

So, yesterday, Kevin, we had President Trump saying that the U.S. was having very positive discussions with Iran. Now, on the heels of what we have just heard, of course, from Nic, what changed?

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, I have to say, we have been getting some mixed signals about exactly what the status of these talks are.

Two days before the president said that they were productive, he said that the latest Iranian proposal was not acceptable. And so it's not precisely clear where exactly those talks stand. And, certainly, it's unclear, now that we have seen this exchange of fire between the U.S. and Iran in the Strait of Hormuz.

You know, I think it was clear leading up to the president's decision to put this new initiative into place that he had been growing relatively frustrated with the stasis that had occurred. The war was not happening because the cease-fire was in place, but the strait was also not reopened and the talks seem as if they were deadlocked.

And this seems to have been his attempt to try and break some of that stalemate to get the ships flowing through this very critical waterway. But, of course, the risk there is that the Iranians fire on some of these ships, the cease-fire is off, and all of a sudden the U.S. is back at war with Iran.

It had been, I think, unclear this morning what exactly Project Freedom would entail. American officials were quick to point out that this was not an escort mission. The word the president used was guide these ships through the Strait of Hormuz.

Just in the last hour, we have heard from the head of Central Command, Brad Cooper, describing this as -- quote -- "a multiple-layer effort" using aircraft, using ships to sort of create a coordination cell that would allow these ships to go through the safest channel in the Strait of Hormuz, and, just by their presence, try and provide some reassurance to these shipping companies and to the pilots of these vessels that it was in fact safe to transit.

Now, what we have seen this morning is, yes, Central Command says that some vessels have gone through, but, overall, traffic is still down. So, it remains to be seen just how effective this approach will be.

HILL: All of this, of course, happening against the backdrop here in the United States where Americans are really feeling it, and that is the prices at the pump, looking at -- could potentially be staring down $5-a-gallon gas not too long from now.

How much is that playing into the White House position at this moment?

LIPTAK: Oh, it's absolutely fueling, I think, the president's desire to get this open. It is now a major imperative, I think, on the part of the White House to start seeing these ships come out.

The price of gas today, the average price of regular standing at $4.46 a gallon, that's according to AAA. That is up from a week ago, when it was $4.11 and, when the start of the war began, $2.98. So you can really start to see how this plays into some of the political pressures that the president is feeling to start getting ships flowing through that very critical waterway.

The other imperative that I think is important to point out is what's happening a week from now, which is the president traveling to China for this major state visit with President Xi Jinping, China, of course, the world's largest consumer of Iranian oil.

You will remember the president called off an initial trip to China when the war began. If this war resumes, if the cease-fire falls apart, that could make his second attempt at this trip all the more complicated, Erica.

HILL: Yes, absolutely. Kevin, really appreciate it. Thank you.

Still ahead here: a hearing to address the jail conditions for the alleged White House Correspondents' Dinner suspect, why a judge says he has -- quote -- "grave concerns" about Cole Allen's treatment.

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Plus, you will see the moment a United plane hits a truck while that plane is coming in for a landing. We will tell you how it happened.

And the Oscars banning A.I., we have those details for you and much more ahead right here on CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

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HILL: Happening now: The man accused of trying to assassinate President Trump at last month's White House Correspondents' Dinner is back in federal court, this time over his treatment in jail.

A federal judge calling the hearing after he said he had grave concerns about the alleged shooter's solitary confinement.

Katelyn Polantz joining us now with the very latest.

So, what more do we know about these concerns and also where things stand?

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KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE REPORTER: Yes, so the magistrate judge here has Cole Allen in court right now with his attorneys and with prosecutors and with jail officials, and is getting an exact lay of the land of what has happened to him since he was taken into custody at the Correspondents' Dinner a Saturday ago.

What had happened after he went to the D.C. jail was, he was put on suicide watch and he was placed in five-point restraints. That's what his attorneys said. That's really restrictive, essentially solitary confinement.

And there were jail officials who were not believing he was suicidal at the time. So his attorneys had complained. This judge called a hearing and has now made sure that Cole Allen will be moved to a less restrictive area in the jail and that he will have access to things that other inmates get access to, like a Bible.

He has wanted Bible verses. Apparently, he has said he is a practicing Christian in some of his manifesto. And he also is going to have more access to his lawyers than he had had.

The judge has said a couple of pointed things at this hearing today, that he, Cole Allen, can be both kept safe and be treated with dignity, something that this judge and a lot of judges in this country care about, as well as the Constitution guarantees.

The judge has also said: "If this is how we treat people in high- profile cases, how do we treat people who are not in high-profile cases?" making the point there. And then the judge, Zia Faruqui, also says directly to Allen in the courtroom, apologizing: "Whatever you have been through, I apologize for that now."

Now, Erica, Judge Faruqui is making a point in what he can do here is somewhat limited. The judge -- D.C. Jail has the ability, the warden has the ability to make determinations on a day-to-day basis. But he is making a point here about how defendants are treated in this jail.

He also in the hearing compared this situation to January 6 defendants, some of whom were in the jail because they had been accused of severe political violence, making sure that Allen was treated similarly, especially because he's not believed to be suicidal at this time.

And Faruqui, as a judge, he's also one of those judges that spends a lot of time at the D.C. Jail. He works with inmates in coding classes, on a debate team. And so that's what this hearing is. It's a check-in to see how this particular defendant in this attempted assassination of the president case is being treated, guaranteeing that his rights are preserved. HILL: Yes. And interesting to hear those comments, especially after

we had heard this was initially called, because the judge had -- quote -- "grave concerns."

POLANTZ: Yes.

HILL: Katelyn, appreciate the update. Thank you.

Still ahead here: protecting Putin. New reporting about the sudden steps the Kremlin is now taking to keep Russia's president safe, including Internet-free phones, even banning cooks from using public transit.

Plus: It's not just passengers, of course, who've been stranded by Spirit Airways. We're hearing reports of crew members struggling to get home.

More on that ahead.

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HILL: Assassination and fears of a coup fueling a major security ramp-up in Russia.

CNN has now obtained a European intelligence report which shows just how far the Kremlin is going to try to keep President Putin safe.

SANCHEZ: They have installed surveillance systems at the homes of some of his staffers. Cooks and bodyguards are banned from traveling on public transport. And the president himself has limited his travel, spending a lot of time in bunkers.

CNN's Nick Paton Walsh is on this story.

So, Nick, first let's start with the threat. Obviously, the Kremlin has to have serious concerns for this to alter their operations.

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes, certainly.

I mean, look, this appears to stem, according to this European intelligence agency report that we were handed to by source close to the agency, to stem from a concern about assassination, ultimately, and the possibility of a coup as well.

And they point out in their concerns specifically about the use of drones to potentially try and hit Vladimir Putin. Just today, central Moscow was hit by a Ukrainian drone strike. But one of the other fears pertains to a coup as well.

And they point towards a former Kremlin confidant, Sergei Shoigu, who is now the secretary of the Security Council, but was formerly a lot closer to Putin, as a potential candidate for that, particularly since that man's deputy was indeed arrested. You're seeing Sergey Lavrov there actually on screen along with

Vladimir Putin.

But...

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WALSH: Forgive me.

What is particularly interesting here is the sense, I fear, of a Kremlin increasingly under pressure, increasingly anxious, and beginning to assess its own internal security procedures as a result of all these increased concerns -- Boris.

HILL: So, in terms of those increases, we talked a little bit about some of the precautions that we mentioned, even cooks can't take public transport, but -- and Putin spending time in a bunker.

Just give us a better sense of the lengths, because I would imagine Vladimir Putin was already pretty well protected, Nick.

WALSH: Yes, I mean, look, Kremlin watchers for a while will have known of some of these ideas, but it's the intensity of the detail that we're seeing here and how some of this, according to this agency report, appears to have increased in just the past few months or so, the results of these increased threats. Excuse me.

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One of the issues here is about reducing his own personal movement, his own personal footprint. And the report says that he no longer goes to some of his key residencies in the Moscow region, particularly Valdai, a luxurious favorite of his, that he spends a long time in upgraded bunkers, and that this is facilitated by so many of his media appearances.

And, remember, this is a president who is in the media an awful lot, some of those indeed being prerecorded. It also says that, while, last year, you have seen him in military facilities a lot of the time -- remember, this is a wartime Russian president. That has now been massively curtailed, all because of this increased fear and anxiety.

Now, it goes into some detail, this report, as to where this all came from. And, ultimately, it seems to be a response to an assassination of a key Russian commander late last year. That sparked an urgent Kremlin meeting.

And Russian President Vladimir Putin, normally expecting subordinates to be very, very fearless in meetings like this, actually saw them bicker about whose responsibility protecting the top brass indeed was. He intervenes, apparently, according to this report, tells everyone to present a solution.

And the solution is that his own personal bodyguards' role is expanded to cover the military. And, on top of that, they bring in new measures to help him too, so a really startlingly detailed picture in this report about the disputes inside the Kremlin, the expanded security to protect Russian President Vladimir Putin, all of this emerging, you have got to stress here, at a convenient time for Europe, desperately trying to pressure Russia into some kind of strategic defeat.

Seeing, I think, the climate inside Russia changing a little, to accentuate that sense of stalemate for Russia in Ukraine and ahead of a big May the 9th Victory Day parade in Russia, where they have already said they're not going to be parading equipment, as per usual.

And, indeed, they're saying they might actually stop some of the mobile phone Internet services in that area in the days ahead to ramp up security. Many concerned that's really about hammering down on internal dissent. A remarkable time in Moscow here and an interesting insight in this report.

SANCHEZ: Yes, and an event that Ukraine has targeted in previous years. So we will see how that goes this year.

Nick Paton Walsh, thank you so much for that reporting.

Imagine driving down the hall -- highway when you're suddenly hit by a commercial plane. We're going to take a look at how a United flight managed to get this close, clipping that driver.

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