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Trump To Block Strait Of Hormuz After Iran Talks Fail; Swalwell Faces Calls To End Bid For Governor; Netanyahu Surveys Territory Seized By Israel In Southern Lebanon; Hungary's Viktor Orban Concedes Election; Iran War Hurts U.S. Farmers. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired April 12, 2026 - 17:00   ET

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

[17:00:00]

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UNKNOWN (voice-over): This is "CNN Breaking News."

JESSICA DEAN, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You're in the "CNN Newsroom." Hi, everyone. I'm Jessica Dean coming to you from Los Angeles. Breaking tonight, President Donald Trump saying the U.S. Navy will start blockading -- quote -- "any and all ships trying to enter or leave the Strait of Hormuz."

CENTCOM just announcing that that is going to begin tomorrow at 10 a.m. Trump's announcement coming after the U.S. and Iran failed to come to an agreement following those marathon talks in Pakistan yesterday featuring Vice President J.D. Vance. Trump describing those negotiations as very friendly, but saying there was a stalemate when Iran refused to give up its nuclear ambitions.

Now the impasse between the U.S. and Iran puts the fragile two-week ceasefire into question. There is still some hope for a longer-term solution. The president predicting Iran will return to the negotiating table.

Joining us now is CNN chief international correspondent Clarissa Ward who's reporting from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and we also have more on the White House perspective from CNN's Julia Benbrook who's in Florida. But Clarissa, let's start first with you, this announcement of the blockade and more. What has been the response from Iran and the Middle East on this?

CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, actually, Jessica, we've just seen in the last hour or so the main interlocutor with the U.S. from the Iranian delegation. Iran's speaker of the parliament, Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf, has posted on X saying -- quote -- "Enjoy the current pump figures with the so-called blockade. Soon, you'll be nostalgic for four to five-dollar gas." That clearly kind of smirking at President Trump's decision to implement a blockade.

We also heard earlier on from the naval force with Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps, IRGC. They said that the strait remains open for the moment but that any vessel, military vessel trying to cross the Strait of Hormuz will be viewed as a violation of the ceasefire and will be dealt with or met with a severe response.

So, the question now that everybody is asking themselves is, what will happen once the U.S. begins to implement this blockade? I should say, Jessica, that where I am here in Saudi Arabia in the Gulf, there has been broad support for this initiative. One of the fears that Gulf countries had was that these negotiations might lead to an agreement which would still leave Iran even in some kind of partial administrative control of the strait, which for them is a red line.

At the same time, even though they support this initiative by the U.S., there are now concerns about how Iran might possibly retaliate. Would they potentially, for example, hit once again the east-west pipeline in Saudi Arabia here, which they attacked just a few days ago, which is a crucial artery because it circumvents the Strait of Hormuz and allows Saudi Arabia to export some 7 million barrels of crude oil a day?

So, broad support here in the Gulf, but certainly very real concerns about what this means for the ceasefire, how this will be implemented, and what the economic fallout will be as a result, Jessica.

DEAN: There are so many questions and courses. You illustrate two very different messages coming from the U.S. and Iran on this. Thank you so much for that. Julia, let's talk a little bit about President Trump and the administration, what they're saying about all of this. We know key sticking points in those marathon negotiations really centered around the Strait of Hormuz and the nuclear ambitions. What more can you tell us?

JULIA BENBROOK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, President Donald Trump says that the one point that mattered was Iran's nuclear ambitions. There was this interesting split screen last night. As you mentioned, I'm here in Florida. This is where Trump is right now. He was at the UFC fights while Vice President J.D. Vance was front and center leading these negotiations with special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump's son- in-law, Jared Kushner. But Vance comes out.

[17:04:56]

He says that they did not come to an agreement to end the conflict and that this was the best and final offer from the United States, but seemed to leave the door open for Iran to accept those U.S. conditions.

Trump is remaining optimistic here. He says that he does think that the Iranians are going to come back to the table and that, eventually, he is going to get everything he is asking for. Again, he says those nuclear ambitions are the main point.

I want to pull up one of his posts from earlier today where he went into this more. He said, I could go into great detail and talk about how much that has been gotten, but there is only one thing that matters, Iran is unwilling to give up its nuclear ambitions. In many ways, the points that were agreed to are better than us continuing our military operations to conclusion. But all of those points don't matter compared to allowing nuclear power in the hands of such volatile, difficult, unpredictable people.

And, again, Trump does keep saying that he believes that they're going to come back to the table. But also keeps adding threats. He is continuing to say that he could target their energy infrastructure, that he could get rid of Iran in just a day.

In an interview with Fox News, he went into some detail on his recent rhetoric specifically when he said that he could end an entire civilization. He made those remarks just hours before he then announced this two-week ceasefire, this fragile ceasefire that we're in right now. But take a listen because he says it's those comments, he believes, got them to the table in the first place.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA (voice-over): That statement got them to the bargaining table, and they haven't left. They haven't left the bargaining table. I predict they come back and they give us everything we want. And I tell my people, I want everything. I don't want 90 percent. I don't want 95 percent. I told them, I want everything.

MARIA BARTIROMO, FOX BUSINESS CHANNEL HOST: Well, and what they want --

TRUMP: They have no cards. Maria, Maria --

BARTIROMO: Yes.

TRUMP: -- they have no cards.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BENROOK: And it is interesting to just compare the different comments that he has made in recent days. He was leaving the White House to come out here before these talks had concluded. They were ongoing at the time. He said he was getting regular updates but, ultimately, it didn't matter to him how those talks turned out because he believed the United States had already won militarily. Jessica?

DEAN: All right. Julia Benbrook in Florida, thank you so much for that reporting. We're joined now by former deputy assistant secretary of state during the Obama administration, Joel Rubin. He's also the author of the new book, it's out early next month, "Saving Democratic Foreign Policy." Until then, you can read the briefing book on Substack. Joel, great to have you here. Thanks for being with us.

JOEL RUBIN, FORMER DEPUTY ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE, AUTHOR: Thanks, Jessica. Appreciate it.

DEAN: Yes. Good to see you. Let's just start with kind of your broad assessment of where things stand now and what we should expect over the next few days, especially, as Clarissa was illustrating, this blockade is set to go into effect.

RUBIN: Yes. Look, right now, both sides are clearly feeling frustrated about what just took place in Islamabad. I think, also from a diplomatic perspective, it would have been wonderful if they had come up with terms of reference, some kind of framework for the future negotiations to get into the details.

But that's not where we are. It sounds like Iran is choosing to have its nuclear program over peace, and it also sounds like the White House is going to commit an act of war by blockading the strait. So, we're in -- we're in a situation now where pretty soon, hostilities could restart, and I fear that that's the track that we're on right now.

DEAN: And so, you view this blockade, again, that's supposed to start 10 a.m. tomorrow, according to CENTCOM, as an act of war.

RUBIN: Yes, I do. I mean, look, there's a rationale for it, a practical rationale. And one could argue that, you know, if the Iranians are preventing other tankers from getting through but not the Iranian vessels, let those pass, that we should do that as well.

But the blockading of the strait is against international law. The Iranians should not be able to gain financially from it. That's an act of piracy. There's no international legitimacy for taking tolls, and we should not engage in that either. But this is clearly the direction that things are heading, and it means that the White House wants to put more pressure on the Islamic Republic.

I think the Islamic Republic needs to recognize, just to add to this, that they met with J.D. Vance, the vice president of United States, the first time they've had such a high-level meeting directly in the history of the Islamic Republic with an American leader. And he's also the one who is most sympathetic to their position, and they let him walk feeling frustrated. So, that's not a good place for them to leave these negotiations.

DEAN: And so, to your point here, the president is saying that this blockade is likely intended to economically hurt Iran, that that's part of what they're trying to do here.

RUBIN: Yes.

DEAN: Do you think that's an effective strategy from that perspective?

RUBIN: I mean, it's -- it's -- what it is is it's trying to take away one more tool that Iran has at its disposal. And also, on the plus side, Tuesday, there will be negotiations in Washington between the Israeli government and the Lebanese government on how to deal with this -- this cancer of Hezbollah.

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Hezbollah basically destroying the Lebanese state from within and bombing northern Israel. So, taking away different leverage points that Iran has in the Strait of Hormuz, which is their number one leverage point. That is a smart strategy. Again, it is potentially an act of war, but I actually -- I view it as already being currently in a state of war with Iran. This ceasefire pause is not a very official end of conflict. So, yes, this is part of the positioning to try to push Iran to an agreement at the table.

DEAN: And do you think there is a chance for diplomacy to succeed here?

RUBIN: There's always a chance. But, you know, when you look back, even in the history of World War II, we were speaking with the Japanese up until almost the day before Pearl Harbor, and then World War II broke out. And so, diplomacy has to go forward. There has to be a push. It's good that our ally in Pakistan came forward. China pushing as well behind the scenes. We need more of our regional allies to get engaged.

But, you know, it's going to require some real clarity on what they're negotiating over. Again, the weakness in this diplomacy right now is there are no terms of reference. There's no clear framework of the specific topics to negotiate over, including sanctions relief in exchange for what we're asking from Iran at the table. That's how you begin a real negotiation. It's not just one meeting. But, unfortunately, we don't have that as an outcome from the meetings over the weekend.

DEAN: And there's -- obviously, there's the Strait of Hormuz. Then there's also Iran's nuclear ambitions, which the president has really honed in on.

RUBIN: Yes.

DEAN: Iran still has this stockpile of enriched uranium even all these weeks later after the war has been going on. What needs to happen with that? What do you think is realistic with that?

RUBIN: Yes. You know, Jessica, I think, ultimately, the success or failure of this whole mission, this whole period of time that we've been experiencing will be whether or not the uranium that was enriched to 60 percent is no longer in Iran's hands. That's the measuring stick by which the president has put out his policy. He continues to reiterate it.

Now, Iran has not been able to enrich for the first time in over two decades since -- and that's as a result of the strikes back in June as well as now. But there is still enriched uranium there. It's in -- when I was at the State Department, we dealt with planning during the war in Iraq and in dealing with all the theoretical WMD. It's an incredibly extensive, dangerous mission to send people on the ground. But clearly, I'm confident that inside the administration, there are professionals working on that right now to try to do an extraction operation. But it is an incredibly dangerous and high risk one. But that is the measuring stick by which the president has said he wants to be judged of this policy.

DEAN: Yes. And, I mean, you talk about how dangerous, how complex it is, how difficult it is to go get that.

RUBIN: Yes.

DEAN: There's -- you know, do they go the way of the military, of special ops, that sort of thing, which is so dangerous and so complicated or do you try to negotiate, you know, an international body going in and getting it? Do you -- what do you think is most likely at this point?

RUBIN: Yes, I think for the international community that would do this, the International Atomic Energy Agency, they've been sidelined. They are on the outside looking in. And they would only be allowed in if Iran said, yes, we want the IAEA in. And those two entities have a very difficult, nasty relationship at this point. The IAEA condemned Iranian behavior before the June strikes of last year. So, in a perfect world, that would be the entity.

But we're not in a perfect world anymore. And so, yes, it would require some level of American military effort to extract. And that, again, to this discussion is very dangerous, potentially could fail of course, and of course highly risky. And so, we have to get the Iranians to agree to give it up. That would be the safest way out of this. And that's why I think we see the pressure and continued pushing by President Trump right now.

DEAN: All right. OK. After these marathon negotiations and weeks of war, it is tenuous. At best, it sounds like. Joel Rubin, good to see you. Thank you so much.

RUBIN: Thanks, Jessica.

DEAN: Still ahead, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu crossing over the Lebanese border. The significant timing of his visit as those two countries prepare for direct talks in the coming days. Plus, a huge loss in the Hungarian election for Viktor Orban. The prime minister conceding defeat after 16 years in power. We are live from Budapest with reaction to that. Plus, the race for governor here in California now more fractured and divided than ever as Congressman Eric Swalwell facing serious accusations of sexual misconduct. You're in the "CNN Newsroom."

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DEAN: Tonight, multiple Democrats are calling for Congressman Eric Swalwell to resign the House and end his bid for California governor after multiple women have come forward with sexual misconduct allegations. Here's just some of what prominent Democrats are saying today.

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DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Would you vote to expel him?

REP. EUGENE VINDMAN (D-VA): Yes. We need to be crystal clear on this. The accusations are absolutely heinous. And his admissions betraying his family are deplorable. So, Eric Swalwell needs to resign. KRISTEN WELKER, NBC NEWS WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Will you vote to expel Eric Swalwell?

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REP. PRAMILA JAYAPAL (D-WA): And Congressman Gonzales. I would.

REP. RO KHANNA (D-CA): Oh, he should step aside. And I have said that not only does he need to step aside, but there needs to be House ethics investigation and law enforcement investigation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: Congressman Swalwell is denying the allegations. He has called them false. His attorney in a statement to CNN denied Swalwell ever had non-consensual sex with any woman or ever had sexual relations with any member of his staff.

Let's bring in Chuck Todd, host of "The Chuck Toddcast." He's joining us now. Chuck, good to see you.

CHUCK TODD, PODCAST HOST: Hi, Jessica.

DEAN: This unfolded pretty swiftly following the San Francisco Chronicle and CNN reporting Friday. Where do you see things going from here?

TODD: Well, look, I don't think his campaign can survive this just financially. He -- you know, just in the last two weeks, he had become sort of the de facto establishment favorite after sort of the collapse of other various campaigns.

There has been a -- this has been a weird campaign in California. None of the A-list candidates want to run -- wanted to run, right? Kamala Harris said no. Both sitting senators decided to sit out. Some prominent businessmen decided not to do it. So, it's really been a competition of sort of either folks that have tried and failed in the past or people looking to take a leap.

And Swalwell is starting to get a little bit of that establishment support. Adam Schiff was a big prominent supporter, Nancy Pelosi. And all of that has collapsed. So, he may try to stay in the race and maybe name I.D., he thinks, could somehow get him into that top two system. That's an all-party primary.

But I don't think so. I think it's -- I would -- I'll be surprised if his campaign survives the week. Now, the real question is, does he stay in Congress? Does he or is he going to be part of what could be four expulsions from Congress? I think it's a -- I think that is not as sure of a bet of -- because you need two thirds. I'm not as a hundred percent sure he's going to get kicked out of Congress. But his political career, at least for now, appears to be over.

DEAN: Yes. I want to come back to the race here in California in a second, but let's stay with Congress for a second because, to your point, there is talk that this could unleash kind of a wave of expulsion attempts within the House from several others, including several others as well. Do you think we'll see kind of this reckoning in the coming days, weeks?

TODD: Well, we could because it looks politically easy. I hate to put it in those terms, Jessica, but there's four members that you could say are worthy of potential expulsion. Two happen to be Democrats and two happen to be Republicans, right? So, it is -- quote, unquote -- "bipartisan."

Three of the four are male members of Congress accused of inappropriate relations or even worse. Some of them may be illegal. Cory Mills of Florida, Tony Gonzales of Texas and, of course, Eric Swalwell. The fourth is a Democratic Congresswoman from South Florida. Hers was a misuse of FEMA funds that may have been used for a campaign. But all four could get expelled. Think of the atmospheric.

DEAN: Yes.

TODD: Right? Because you -- this is -- we've been living in Epstein world, right? So, you do have -- I think it's a bad look if they're -- quote -- "protecting their own and not doing something about it." At the same time, I hate to be cynical. I think it's easy to do this. It's harder to do the other stuff, right? It's harder to focus on Epstein. It's harder to talk to those bigger folks.

And so, I think politically, I see how this is a somewhat easy vote for many of these members of Congress because they kind of just want to be able to show that, OK, maybe they didn't do the right thing on Epstein but, at least, they sort of took care -- tried to keep their own house in order. Pun intended, actually.

DEAN: Yes.

TODD: But I'm -- you know, there's -- is this in the hands of the House and what's the line? And if you do this, is it a slippery slope? Are you going -- are the -- what's the unintended consequence? Are we going to have more expulsion attempts? I mean, this is a very rare thing. And then all of a sudden, we could have four, right? All within hours of each other. But then, again, you could argue that this, in some ways, is fitting for the current political era we're living in.

DEAN: Yes. I mean, you're right. Expulsion in the House is quite rare. And to have four would be a really wild thing. OK, I want to come back here to California for a second and talk about the race here. Tom Steyer -- so there's all these Democrats.

As you kind of laid it out for everyone, there's all these Democrats and no one has really gotten to -- no one has really broken away. You have the two Republicans in California. In a primary, the people who rank the top two are the ones that go on to the general. And that can be two Republicans, two Democrats, whatever the case may be. Tom Steyer has spent $110 million so far in ads. We've got a number of people. But no one is quite moving the needle.

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What do you see them doing? So, let's put Swalwell to the side for a second if he -- because we don't know if he's going to stay in or not.

TODD: Yes.

DEAN: Well, how do you see that all -- how do you see that being impacted?

TODD: Well, look, there are five prominent sorts of prominent Californians that if they behave, that they act together, it's a big deal. You have Nancy Pelosi, Kamala Harris, the two senators, Alex Padilla, Adam Schiff, and the outgoing governor, Gavin Newsom. If they all five endorse the same Democrat, it could elevate that Democrat and put that person in one of the two slots.

I think, you know, the president has endorsed one of the two Republicans, Steve Hilton. That probably is going to be enough to let him have some separation there. So, you're really talking about the other slot.

Steyer is not popular among fellow Democrats. He certainly has spent a ton of money, but he has never really been in the club per se. Now, that could be politically advantageous to him, right? It's not as if establishments are seen as net positives these days. But there's a -- there's a part of the Steyer campaign, I've talked to a lot of Democrats who are asking themselves, will the dogs eat this dog food?

And what do I mean by this? He has spent a hundred and odd million dollars here. Never mind hundreds of millions of dollars running for president. He spent money on behalf of referendum campaigns. People know who he is, and they're still not supporting him. And when you look at the amount of money he has spent and looked at, you know, the trickle it has gotten him in the polls, you know, there -- I would understand if some establishment Democrats had real concerns about whether Steyer could even win if it was Steyer versus Hilton. And he's got so much money and he's willing to spend it.

I'd keep an eye on two people. Xavier Becerra, he's a former member of Congress, he's a former cabinet secretary, he's a former statewide elected attorney general. His campaign has struggled to get off the ground. And I'd keep an eye on the mayor of San Jose, Matt Mahan. Both sort of were seen as people that -- you know, if those big-name people, Kamala Harris, Nancy Pelosi, Gavin Newsom, all ended up endorsing either all Becerra or all Mahan, it probably can elevate them ahead of Steyer.

But there's risk there, right? If they don't want to -- if they really don't like the idea of Steyer leading the California Democratic Party and they try to stop him and they lose, right, then you've got yourself a potential problem down the road.

So, I think it's a -- my guess is there are a bunch of risk averse Democrats, and they decide not to get involved in this primary and just sort of see what happens. And if you do a see what happens, it's probably Steyer because of all the advantages he has financially. But it's a -- I'll be honest with you, Jessica. It's a mess. You know, Gavin Newsom has not, you know, gotten involved.

DEAN: Right.

TODD: I think a lot of these people have taken a pass because they don't want to have to be governor of California where Gavin Newsom is running for president, like it becomes a complicated thing.

DEAN: Yes.

TODD: So, yes, it's a -- it's a real mess. I'll tell you what's going to happen. I think no matter who wins, they're going to get recalled within a year. That's what I think ends up happening, especially --

DEAN: And we'll get to talk about this all over again. It is a fascinating race. And now, obviously, has this layer added on to it. Chuck Todd, thank you so much. It's good to see you.

TODD: Nice to see you, Jessica. Thanks.

DEAN: And we also have this just in to CNN. There's now a letter signed by more than 50 staffers who have worked for Swalwell describing the recent allegations of sexual assault and misconduct against him as serious and credible. They are now demanding that he resign from Congress and also drop his bid for California governor. Again, that coming from former staffers for Eric Swalwell. We'll be right back.

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DEAN: Today, France calling for Lebanon to be included in the ceasefire deal between the U.S. and Iran, which has been a point of disagreement between both sides. Israel and the Iran-backed proxy group, Hezbollah, have continued exchanging attacks, including overnight. There is a growing humanitarian crisis with more than a million people displaced in this latest round of fighting. Earlier, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made a rare trip to southern Lebanon. CNN's Oren Liebermann picks it up from there.

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OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: For the first time since the start of the war with Iran some 40 days ago, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu crossed the northern Israeli border and visited troops in southern Lebanon, in territories seized by Israel over the course of the past number of weeks here. He went with his defense minister, Israel Katz, as well as the Israeli military chief of staff. Netanyahu, in visiting troops, talked about what he called the significant accomplishments not only against Iranian proxy Hezbollah in Lebanon, but also against Iran.

The timing here is significant. This rare visit into Lebanon, crossing the border into seized territory there, comes just two days before Israel and Lebanon are set to have direct talks in Washington, D.C. to see if it's possible to end the war and the hostilities and come to a ceasefire agreement.

Netanyahu, who said he directly approved these direct talks with Lebanon, has said any agreement has to have two elements. At least one is the complete disarmament of Hezbollah, and a second is what he called a real peace agreement that would last for generations. Now, both of those are incredibly difficult to achieve.

And, in fact, the war between Israel and Hezbollah continues. Israel has continued to carry out strikes in Lebanon targeting Hezbollah, and Hezbollah has continued to fire rockets into northern Israel. That complicates these negotiations, of course.

[17:34:57]

Lebanon has said they will not negotiate under fire, and Israel has not indicated that it's willing to stop the hostilities and stop the attacks on Lebanon in exchange for these negotiations. So, it's unclear if these will succeed. Noteworthy, though, they are for direct talks here.

It is also worth noting that the defense minister, Israel Katz, on his visit to Lebanon with Netanyahu said that the southern Lebanon, south of the Litani River, is evacuated and will remain evacuated as Israel expands its grip on territory there until there is security for the residents of northern Israel, suggesting, as of right now, this is very open-ended.

Oren Liebermann, CNN, in Jerusalem.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DEAN: All right. Oren, thank you for that reporting. One of President Trump's biggest supporters in Europe just conceded defeat. We'll have details on who will replace Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban after his 16 years in power. You're in the "CNN Newsroom."

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DEAN: Tonight, Hungary's prime minister, Viktor Orban, conceding defeat to opposition leader Peter Magyar, ending his 16 years in power. In a speech, Orban calling the result painful, but saying the results are clear. Meanwhile, his opponent taking a victory lap, telling his supporters they've liberated Hungary from the Orban regime. Orban's loss, a huge blow for the Trump administration who backed his campaign.

CNN's Melissa Bell is joining us now from Budapest. In the middle of it all, Melissa, what has the reaction been like there?

MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The crowd has been absolutely ecstatic. All over the streets of Budapest, you can see the Peter Magyar supporters have come out to make their enthusiasm plain. And one of the more interesting things that I've noticed over the course of last hour, Peter Magyar has made a speech. It was shown on giant screens just down there by the Danube. While he was speaking, ahead of that, the crowd was shouting "Russians out." And that's important, Jessica, because this was the cry of the Hungarian uprising back in 1956. And it's an indication of just how happy people are about what will be a change of policy now on the part of Hungary.

It is no longer clear whether Moscow or Washington and its MAGA leadership will be the main allies of the Hungarian prime minister. On the contrary, what we expect is that because Peter Magyar has won, Jessica, this supermajority, so that's two-thirds of the parliament, which will allow him, just as Viktor Orban had, to change the Constitution. What he vowed to do was return Hungary to the rule of law, and we expect him to take a much more pro-European stand.

Some of the young people who have been out here tonight have been saying to me, look, we've known practically nothing but Viktor Orban's rule. These are people in their early 20s. And one of the things they're really hoping for is that Hungary can take its place amongst European nations. It is currently, by most indices, the most corrupt and the poorest country in the European Union. And what the people out here, especially the young on the streets of Budapest had to say tonight was that they believe that that is about to change, that Hungary can change its system and now transform itself.

In fact, a couple of them have spoken to the fact that tonight feels like a revolution, not so much an election. That's how little they believed that Peter Magyar could do it. And he has more than done it. He has achieved that super majority. Jessica?

DEAN: Yes. It seems like where you are, it is jubilation. All right. Melissa Bell, thank you so much. We really appreciate your reporting.

And for more on all of this, let's bring in CNN's chief media analyst, Brian Stelter. Brian, Melissa really kind of laying it out there for us. It's also worth reminding everyone, President Trump had strongly backed Orban, it was one of his closest allies in Europe, saying on Truth Social, the U.S. was ready to help strengthen Hungary's economy under his leadership. J.D. Vance had just gone there a few days ago. What are you -- what are you taking away from all of this?

BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA ANALYST, AUTHOR, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT FOR VANITY FAIR: To many Europeans, Orban represented the erosion of democracy and the elevation of a strongman autocrat leader. To researchers, Hungary became a place to study democratic backsliding and rising authoritarianism. To American conservatives in recent years, Hungary has been a place to celebrate. It has been a place -- a symbol of what they called populism, nationalism, and Christian values.

We saw CPAC, the conservative group in the U.S., start to put on conferences in Hungary. We saw people like Tucker Carlson gravitate toward Budapest. And as you said, J.D. Vance was just there campaigning to keep Orban in power. This morning, Donald Trump, Jr. tweeted, encouraging Hungarians to keep Orban in power. So, this is going to have shockwaves all around the world. I've written quite a bit about Orbanism, the idea in Hungary of state capture of the media, control of other institutions and, yes, some of the corruption that has followed. And corruption is a big theme in the news coverage out of Hungary tonight, the idea that voters there are rejecting perceived corruption from the government that Orban was leading.

And, you know, we're seeing American figures like Hillary Clinton celebrating Orban's fall. Clinton writing on social media tonight, the end of Orban's autocratic regime is a victory for people who value democracy around the world. Now, you can imagine she will say exactly the same thing if a Democrat wins in the U.S. in 2028. So, those are the sorts of overtones beyond Hungary that Orban's loss certainly has today.

DEAN: Yes. And it can extend to more broadly in Europe as well. And, as we see, Trump really tangoing or wrestling with NATO.

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STELTER: Hundred percent. I think there were people who were watching these races -- this race in Hungary closely. In some cases, believing that Orban would put his thumb on the scale, believing that a close election would be contested even though he said all along that he would accept the outcome of the election. So, it's not only that he lost today, it's also that he immediately conceded and accepted defeat.

And the outpouring of people in the streets in Budapest and beyond, it feels like a moment for hungry but also for Europe and a real study about what happens in authoritarian-leaning countries when people come out in a landslide to defend democracy.

DEAN: Yes. I do want to ask you before we go. Back here in America, I know right-wing media, you constantly are covering that, keeping an eye on that. There has been this deepening divide over President Trump's war with Iran. What have you been tracking on that?

STELTER: Figures like Tucker Carlson, Megyn Kelly, Candace Owens breaking with Trump in ways that we've never seen before. And no, we're not seeing that show up in polling among MAGA Republicans. Certainly, when Republicans are asked in polls if they support the president, they almost always say yes, they stand with the president. But figures like Carlson and Megyn Kelly, they are thought leaders. They are called influencers for a reason. Their influence is being felt when it comes to their opposition to the war.

So, we've seen in recent days a post from Trump on Truth Social calling them losers, claiming they don't have any influence. But the fact that he posted a nearly 500-word screed against Candace Owens, Tucker Carlson, and these other figures, I think it does actually speak to how much influence they still have. It doesn't show up on old school T.V., but it shows up in new school podcasting realms. That's where these figures have power. And what's going to be interesting to see in the coming weeks and months is whether they are actually going to lose any power by breaking with Trump in any significant way.

DEAN: Yes. So many dynamics at play. Brian Stelter, always good to have you here. Thanks so much. And as U.S. talks with Iran failed ending a deal, farmers back in the U.S. feeling that tightening squeeze from the rising fertilizer and diesel prices. More on this when we come back. You're in the "CNN Newsroom."

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DEAN: The war with Iran, specifically the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, having a deep impact on farmers here in the United States. Just as their growing season is beginning, surging fuel and fertilizer prices are taking a heavy toll. And some farmers in Iowa, a state president Trump has now won three times, say they're at a breaking point with this. CNN's Jeff Zeleny traveled there to learn more.

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AARON LEHMAN, IOWA FARMER: A lot of farmer discouragement out there. Prices of our soybeans, prices of all our commodities started going down. Prices of fertilizer and other things we import to plant a crop started going up. So, for a year, we've seen some real chaos on all sorts of trade tensions.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: There's always uncertainty, obviously, with farming. But as you start this season, are there more uncertainties than most?

LEHMAN: Oh, yeah. So many farmers are reporting that they're on the brink of something bad, that their communities are on the brink of something bad.

ZELENY (voice-over): Aaron Lehman is a fifth-generation Iowa farmer and worried like never before with fallout from the Iran War.

LEHMAN: No one anticipated that we would have a shock to the system, like a massive increase in fertilizer prices. All the experts did not see this coming when we received this rise in fertilizer prices because of this war. And really, no one has really seen a way out.

ZELENY (voice-over): Spring planting is just around the corner here in Iowa, where the cost of fertilizer and diesel have soared since the war began.

LEHMAN: We're filling over 100 gallons in our fuel tank multiple times a week.

ZELENY: So, that costs $3,000.

LEHMAN: Thousands of dollars. Thousands of dollars. And it's not just for what we put into our combine. It's not just what we put in our tractor. In addition to that, what it takes to get my grain to my market, the trucks that are using diesel fuel, they're feeling it as well.

ZELENY (voice-over): President Trump's promises on trade and tariffs face even more scrutiny here now, in a state he won three times.

ZELENY: Have you felt the whiplash of that tariff policy this past year?

WES RIETH, MANAGER, LONGVIEW FARMS: Yes. I mean, I think it's hard to say for any farmer that we haven't, right?

ZELENY (voice-over): Wes Rieth is farm manager at Longview Farms, navigating an ever-growing set of obstacles.

RIETH: You can look at futures prices for soybeans, you know, again, and kind of watch the pendulum swing a little bit. And I think, yes, that kind of lends itself to, you know, these parallels that we see in geopolitics or, you know, conflicts in the Middle East, etcetera, that, yes, create some of this uncertainty.

ZELENY (voice-over): This year, the optimism of a new season comes with even more risk.

RIETH: We get one chance to plant, we get one chance to harvest, and that's it for the year. So, we get one try every single year. And so, even like in my lifetime, I might get 30 tries at this. That really puts things into perspective, like I only -- you know, the prices of fertilizer, seed, whatever like could go crazy.

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But like we can't not plant. We still have to go out and plant the crop.

ZELENY (voice-over): For the next seven months, as the crops begin to grow --

LEHMAN: Just starting to poke through.

ZELENY (voice-over): A political season will also unfold, testing whether any of these challenges influence the midterm elections.

LEHMAN: But in addition to that, I think farmers are becoming more and more aware that you need to say to our elected leaders, what are you saying about the fertilizer situation? What are you saying about the trade situation? Are we going to stand up to these things that are hurting us or are we not?

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DEAN: And our thanks to Jeff Zeleny traveling to Iowa for that report. Still ahead, we're waiting to see President Trump as he prepares to head back to Washington from Florida. We'll have a live update on the president's strategy in Iran. That's next.

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