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U.S. Military Seized Iranian-Flagged Container Ship; British Counterterrorism Police Investigating Attacks Against Jewish Sites; Eight Children Killed In Louisiana Mass Shooting; Deadly Blast At Fireworks Factory In Southern India Kills 23; Looking for Answers about Massive Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill; Chinese Android Beats Human Half-Marathon Record. Aired 1-2a ET

Aired April 20, 2026 - 01:00   ET

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

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POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, everybody, thank you so much for starting your week with us. I'm Polo Sandoval live in New York. And here's what's coming your way here on CNN Newsroom.

The U.S. seizes an Iranian ship that it says tried bypassing its blockade near the Strait of Hormuz. And this as Donald Trump prepares to send negotiators out for another round of talks.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer set to address Parliament amid renewed calls for his resignation as questions mount over how a friend of Jeffrey Epstein landed a top position in his government.

And lightning fast, the robot that's the envy of all marathon runners.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Live from New York, this is CNN Newsroom with Polo Sandoval.

SANDOVAL: And we do want to begin this hour in the Middle East. That's where there's growing uncertainty ahead of a potential round of talks between the U.S. and Iran. And this after U.S. seized an Iranian flag cargo ship.

The U.S. military says that a destroyer fired several rounds towards the vessel that was attempting to violate the U.S. naval blockade of Iranian ports. Well, that ship, according to the president, is now in U.S. custody. Iran's military is accusing the US of engaging in, quote, maritime highway robbery. And state media saying that Tehran is warning of retaliation.

And all of this is playing out as Donald Trump and the White House say that a U.S. delegation is getting ready for more negotiations ahead of a soon to expire ceasefire.

The president is renewing threats to target Iran's bridges and power plants if a deal is not reached, something we've heard from the commander in chief before. So what's next? Let's go to CNN's Ivan Watson following developments from Hong Kong.

Ivan, what else do we know about the circumstances surrounding the seizure of this Iranian ship?

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Right. So this was the Iranian state owned ship called the Touska. We have actually, you know, shipping data that shows that vessel with its transponder showing as it was approaching the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas, the Touska there, it's around 5:00 p.m. Iranian time on Sunday when the ship turns around, makes a U-turn and then suddenly its transponder goes off. And that is when we're presuming that the incident took place.

The U.S. military says that this cargo ship from Iran was essentially trying to run the U.S. blockade of all Iranian ports and refused to respond to six hours of warnings to that ship. And then the U.S. Navy, a destroyer called the Spruance issued this warning over the radio. Let's take a listen to an excerpt.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Motor vessel Touska, Motor vessel Touska, vacate your engine room. Vacate your engine room. We're prepared to subject you to disabling fire.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATSON: And then the U.S. military says that the U.S. destroyer Spruance fired its five inch gun, which has a range of about 15 miles, at the engine room and disabled the ship. We've just gotten footage from the Pentagon, from CENTCOM of the next step in this operation which was U.S. marines rappelling on board the cargo ship at night from what looks like perhaps a Black Hawk helicopter landing onto the deck of that cargo ship.

And it is believed to still be the U.S. military says in U.S. custody. Now this was -- the Iranian military accused the U.S. of a ceasefire violation here, calling this an act of piracy and saying that it will retaliate. But on Saturday, the Iranian military was accused of opening fire several times on ships trying to transit through the Strait of Hormuz.

In fact, the Indian government summoned Iran's ambassador to complain about a shooting incident involving two Indian flagged ships. And President Trump called this a ceasefire violation. So in all you have both Iran and the U.S. allegedly involved in shooting incidents on commercial shipping in this area of the Gulf in a single weekend and both accusing each other of ceasefire violations.

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So which raises some real questions about where the diplomatic track is going to go from here.

SANDAOVAL: And on that diplomatic track, Ivan, we know that U.S. negotiators are supposed to be heading to Pakistan for talks. In terms of Iran though, have they confirmed if they too will send people?

WATSON: Well, there were some reports in Iranian state media that an Iranian team would go to Islamabad on Tuesday. But there have also been some contradict that it isn't in fact confirmed in the Iranian state media.

So some real questions here. The Pakistanis who've been mediating the Pakistani prime minister had a call with Iran's president which he described warm and cordial but no real confirmation there. So it's a big question. We're approaching the end of the two week ceasefire, temporary ceasefire between Iran and the U.S. and some questions about where it will go from here when both countries are accusing each other of ceasefire violations.

And there was already a great deal of mistrust going into this negotiated process. I think the markets are responding already. We've had a 4 percent jump in oil prices since the U.S. seized this Iranian cargo ship.

And some real questions now, what's going to happen to it? Where is it going to go? What's going to happen to the crew that was on board as well as the cargo? All of that still unanswered.

SANDOVAL: So much up in the air. CNN's Ivan Watson with that live update from Hong Kong. You know, I haven't just mentioned that those global markets really reacting to the latest instability with a mix of concern and some cautious optimism.

Both U.S. and international crude oil benchmarks, you see them here they are up at this hour still though well below $100 a barrel with those oil prices seeming to jump though at least 5 or 6 percent amid those renewed tensions in the street of remove.

So also want to show you where Asian markets are at the moment. You see they're pretty much across the board, mostly on the rise amid that latest escalation. Again, looking at some of those markets in Asia, we'll see where rest of the trading week goes as those negotiations potentially begin soon, we hope.

Earlier I did speak with Mehran Kamrava, a professor of government at Georgetown University in Qatar. I asked him what the U.S. seizure of that Iranian vessel could possibly mean for the cease fire and for potential next rounds of talks.

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MEHRAN KAMRAVA, PROFESSOR OF GOVERNMENT AT GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY IN QATAR: The ceasefire has been pretty shaky and fragile and this makes it even more fragile. And particularly coming just before the resumption of negotiations. There's tremendous pressure on the Iranian team not to negotiate with the United States because of its history of two rounds of unsuccessful negotiations back in June of 2025 and then again in February of 2026.

So this really increases pressure on both sides in heading into Islamabad. SANDOVAL: Yes. So let's explore one of those sides, which is Iran

here, and get them the delicate balance that they probably have to strike right now. On one hand, they're vowing to respond to this incident from over the weekend and their ship being seized, but they also face the possibility of returning to the negotiating table. How does Tehran sort of strike that balance in your view?

KAMRAVA: That's a really good question. I think we need to separate rhetoric from reality and rhetoric from Tehran coming out is that Iran has already retaliated against American warships in the Persian Gulf and in the Sea of Oman using its drones.

And so it could very well be that even despite this latest incident, the Iranians are willing to continue negotiations in Islamabad. So I think we need to separate rhetoric from reality.

SANDOVAL: And then, of course, the question of what could be on the horizon here if both of these sides were to return to the negotiating table, as we certainly all hope will be the case soon. In your view, though, professor, in order for the next round of any talks to be successful, what are some of the conditions that I assume each side should get in order to give both, you know, both Iran and the U.S. a sense that they each want? I don't know if there's any other way for this to come to a close.

KAMRAVA: Right. One of the perennial complaints by Iranian negotiators is that at the last minute, the American team moves the goalpost. And so the United States wants a severing of Iran's ties with its proxy groups and an end, of course, as President Trump has said repeatedly to Iran's nuclear program.

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For the Iranians, release of Iranian assets and lifting of sanctions are critically important. They now have an additional point and that's some sort of coordinating role insofar as traffic from the Straits of Hormuz is concerned.

And I think that last point, control over the Straits of Hormuz is something that the Iranians are willing to negotiate away. But sanctions relief and release of Iranian assets are something that they will definitely insist on.

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SANDOVAL: Britain's Chief Rabbi is warning of a sustained campaign of violence against UK's Jewish community. And this comes after a synagogue in northwest London became just the third site now in less than a week be targeted by arsonists. A pro-Iranian group is claiming responsibility for throwing an incendiary device into the synagogue's medical room. In fact, also posted a video purportedly showing the incident.

On Sunday, British counterterrorism police announcing that they were investigating possible Iranian links to the series of recent attacks.

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VICKI EVANS, DEPUTY ASSISTANT COMMISSIONER, COUNTERTERRIOSM POLICING: The incidents are similar in nature. They have been arsons targeting Israeli and Jewish premises within London. Those who are facilitating this activity on their behalf and those who are committing the acts. We will not tolerate activity that seeks to intimidate and harm our communities.

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SANDOVAL: And now to an absolutely heartbreaking story out of the United States. A community in Shreveport, Louisiana morning after eight children were killed in the deadliest U.S. mass shooting since 2024. The shootings happened early Sunday and police have now identified the gunman as the first father of seven of the eight children who were killed.

All of them were between the ages of 3 and 11. Earlier police had identified the shooter and gave an update on the condition of the women who were also shot.

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CPL. CHRIS BORDELON, SHREVEPORT POLICE DEPARTMENT: We can confirm the suspect in these eight homicides is Shemar Elkins. He is believed to be the man responsible for this heinous act. I can tell you that seven of the eight children that were killed are believed to be his children.

We are still working to determine a complete motive and understanding as to why this happened, but it is domestic in nature. The mother of the children was also shot and had very serious injuries, although we are hopeful she will recover. There is another female that was in this residence that has life threatening injuries. We are hopeful that she will pull through.

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SANDOVAL: And this awful incident sending shockwaves all the way to Washington, D.C. where U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson, who also happens to represent the Shreveport area in Congress, released a statement calling the killings heartbreaking and said that he's holding the victims and their families as well as loved ones and the entire Shreveport community close in prayer.

Still to come here on CN Newsroom, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer facing a political crisis, how he plans to fight his way out of it.

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SANDOVAL: Pope Leo XIV calling on the people of Angola to build a new society based on love, peace and justice. He's also calling on them to overcome divisions created by nearly three decades of civil war. You see some of the large crowds agreed at the pontiff as he arrived for Holy Mass just outside the capital city of Luanda on Sunday morning.

More than half of Angolans identify as Catholic. The first American pope is spending several days there as part of his four country tour of Africa.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer will be addressing what will likely be a very angry parliament in the coming hours. He says that he'll, quote, set out the relevant facts over the Peter Mandelson scandal.

Starmer facing growing calls by opposition lawmakers for him to step down after revelations that Mandelson, the former ambassador to the U.S. fell, failed a security vetting process. Mandelson is a veteran of Starmer's Labour Party. He was fired just last year after the death of his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein came to light. He's now under police investigation for allegedly leaking government documents to the sex offender. Prime Minister Starmer denying knowing anything about the vetting failure.

A spokesperson for the British prime minister told reporters that Starmer currently has no plans to resign, but that's done little to calm some of those critics. So let's discuss more on the story and head over to CNN European affairs commentator Dominic Thomas joining us now from Los Angeles. Dominic, 10pm where you are. Really appreciate you staying up late for us.

DOMINIC THOMAS, CNN EUROPEAN AFFAIRS COMMENTATOR: You're welcome. It's great to be talking about this with you.

SANDOVAL: Dominic, help us preview what we expect perhaps in the hours to come here. Give us a brief rundown of what are likely some of those questions that you think the prime minister will face when he addresses Parliament.

THOMAS Yes, well, all of this really, and this is the remarkable distinction between what he's dealing with versus, say, the Epstein story in the United States is that Keir Starmer himself as prime minister has absolutely no history of a relationship with Epstein. It's all about why Peter Mendelssohn was appointed when he was and the rush to appoint him ahead of President Trump's state visit rather than going through what appears to be due process.

And the real question is therefore, at what point did Prime Minister Starmer know this information about Mendelssohn, was it ignored? And so on.

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And so those are the sorts of questions in Parliament that will be asked and ultimately the opposition will have the opportunity to question the viability and decision making credentials of the Prime Minister here in a Parliament in which, let's not forget, they do not enjoy a majority. And this is one opportunity they have of attacking the sitting Prime Minister and his party, Polo.

SANDOVAL: And Dominic, let's just remind viewers that it was just last week that Starmer said he was not told about Peter Mandelson's failing security vetting before making Ambassador to the US. So how is that being received by people in the U.K. and then also by both political allies and foes?

THOMAS: Yes, was an interesting context because of course, the broader geopolitical questions have seen Keir Starmer enter the global join a coalition with President Emmanuel Macron of political leaders endeavoring to achieve peace and shape the outcome of the conflict with Iran, just to name one regions of the world.

Yet domestically, this particular issue will not go away and the messaging has been inconsistent. There's a lack of clarity coming out of the Starmer Cabinet on these particular questions. And I think that until he goes to Parliament tomorrow and attempts to put out this increasingly burgeoning fire, the issue will simply not go away.

And ultimately it's going to be a question of convincing the people of some kind of narrative that is now consistent because there's been such a lack of clarity around this going along, that trust is erosion and it is costing the Labour Party support with all important local elections coming up in early May.

And that means that within his own party Polo, there are ongoing conversations about the viability of this PM and what it would look like to replace him.

SANDOVAL: And yet a spokesperson for the British Prime Minister has said CNN, that he has no plans to resign at the moment. But overall, when you consider everything that you've just laid out, Dominic, including that trust erosion as you describe it, do you think that this scandal, his decision to appoint Mendelssohn, may ultimately cost Starmer's job?

THOMAS: It depends the legs that it gets after I think the discussion tomorrow because it's a complicated process removing it. We know that from 2015-24 we saw five Conservative Prime Ministers being removed, resigning, ousted and so on. And there's no desire within the Labour Party to replicate that, particularly since they are, they enjoy such a massive majority and have done just since 2024 in parliament.

The process of replace him as risky. It's unclear as to who that individual would be and whether or not it would really salvage the sort of the situation, restore the popularity of labor right now. So I think that whatever unfolds tomorrow is important and whatever unfolds in three weeks time with the local elections will be there.

And I think those will be litmus tests that will let us know whether the threshold of tolerance has been reached within the Labour Party, who are ultimately the decision makers here. Keir Starmer serves at the will of Parliament and of his party, but because they have a majority, it is they that will ultimately decide whether they will go down the road to replace him and whether the Labour Party broader stock has been so compromised that decision will be deemed a better one rather than continuing on with Starmer.

And I think that the outcome at this stage is highly unpredictable and no one, group or no one individual has stepped forward expressing a desire to actually take over Starmer's position. So there's a lot of uncertainty moving forward, but it's going to be very important to see how it unfolds tomorrow in Parliament. Polo?

SANDOVAL: Yes. Because of that unpredictability, we certainly will be watching it. Along with you. Dominic Thomas, as always, appreciate you joining us.

THOMAS: Thank you so much.

SANDOVAL: Thank you. Well, an oil spill just off the coast of Mexico is said to be impacting the local tourism and fishing industry. Still ahead, why the Mexican government and environmental groups seem to disagree about what caused this disaster.

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SANDOVAL: We're learning that at least 23 people have died from an explosion at a fireworks factory India. Sunday's blast caused a fire in the southern state of Tamil Nadu that's a major hub for the country's fireworks industry. At least 16 of the victims were women. Three were men. Six others were severely injured and taken to the hospital. Similar industry accidents have actually happened in the area at other fireworks manufacturing centers in the past.

A massive fire has displaced thousands of people on the Malaysian part of the island of Borneo on Sunday. Authorities said that about 1,000 homes were destroyed. Strong winds spread the fire quickly through the tightly packed community on stilts over the water. Initial estimates show that more than 9,000 people have been affected, but no deaths have been reported.

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Malaysia's prime minister says that the government is working to help those in need.

Fishermen in the Mexican coastal community are struggling to make a living. They're currently feeling the impacts of a massive oil spill that happened over a month ago off the southern coast of the state of Veracruz.

The spill also spread into several nature preserves since it was first reported in early March. Mexico's president maintains that the cleanup is under control. However, some environmental groups are accusing the government of not being honest about what's happening.

CNN's Valeria Leon shows us why some fishermen can't sell their catch.

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VALERIA LEMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fisherman's nets that's tainted with tar, The most visible face of an environmental tragedy stretching over 600 kilometers or 400 miles of the Gulf of Mexico. An oil spill that began on March 2nd, and whose causes are still unknown.

While Mexican authorities say the oil is seeping from three different sources, including a ship that has not yet been identified, environmental organizations dispute that version. They say the root of the spill is a leak from a pipeline operated by Pemex, Mexico's state- owned oil company.

Whatever the source, it has dealt a major blow to the region. Turtles, fish and other marine life have been found washed up on shore, coated in oil.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): We never imagined something like this would happen. And now look, this has affected us as restaurant owners and everyone who depends on tourism.

LEON: For local fishermen, it has upended their livelihoods now that they are unable to work in the waters they depended on for decades.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Since March 2nd, we haven't been able to fish. We usually catch crab and oysters, but now we can't because no one will buy them.

LEON: Mexico's government said at least 800 tons of crude have spilled into the ocean. Cleanup crews have been deployed, but residents say the damage is still visible and the economic impact is already being felt.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The local community has gotten together to clean the beaches because we depend on tourism.

LEON: President Claudia Sheinbaum has downplayed the impact, saying the situation is under control, adding that during Holy Week, hotel occupancy in the coastal city of Veracruz reached around 80 percent.

CLAUDIA SHEINBAUM, MEXICAN PRESIDENT (through translator): There are ongoing cleanup efforts. The beaches have been cleaned and people were able to safely go into the beaches of Veracruz.

LEON: As the cleanup continues, questions remain over what caused the spill and whether the leak has been stopped. Meanwhile, both the region's ecosystem and its local economy stand on the brink of disaster.

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SANDOVAL: Still to come, this Chinese robot has just broken the human world record. We'll show you how the robot Lightning did after the break.

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SANDOVAL: Welcome back.

Now to this Chinese android that seems to be living up to its name. His name is Lightning. During a Beijing race, it tested the human world record for a -- actually bested the human world record for a half marathon by more than six minutes.

Here's CNN's Patrick Snell with more.

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PATRICK SNELL, CNN WORLDSPORT ANCHOR: Humans and bots running side by side. Well, for a brief time, at least until several humanoid robots blew past the pack in Beijing's half marathon, leaving their human counterparts in the dust.

ZHAO HAIJIE, MEN'S HALF-MARATHON CHAMPION (through translator): In the first five kilometers, 5 to 6 robots ran past me. The robot in the red outfit had very heavy footsteps, and it was running incredibly fast. Its speed was much higher than mine.

SNELL: The winning robot, developed by Chinese electronics brand Honor, finished the race in 50 minutes and 26 seconds, besting human times without breaking a sweat.

Spectators say they were impressed, if not a little humbled.

WANG WEN, SPECTATOR (through translator): My biggest impression is that robots seem to have stolen a lot of the spotlight from humans. And judging from today's results, the robots speed far exceeds that of humans. I think this may signal the arrival of sort of a new era.

SNELL: Some see it as a win for technology. The champion robot also broke the human world record for a half marathon.

But if it's any consolation, the robot's design team says it was inspired by professional athletes.

DU XIAODI, TEST DEVELOPMENT ENGINEER, HONOR: From the very beginning of the design, our robot was modeled on an outstanding human athletes achieving long legs of about 0.95 meters. This is a major improvement in highlight in terms of its appearance and design.

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SNELL: It's a big step up from last year's race, when the robots were much slower than humans and were operated by remote control. But this year, about 40 percent of the robots ran the race autonomously, navigating the course on their own.

But robotics companies say achievements like this aren't just about winners and losers, but perfecting skills that could be used to reshape more industries.

But experts say despite this fast-paced performance, these are still small steps in a much bigger race.

Patrick Snell, CNN -- Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE) SANDOVAL: Our thanks to Patrick Snell for that.

Thank you so much for joining me here on CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Polo Sandoval in New York.

"WORLDSPORT" is next. And the news continues with my colleague Rosemary Church at the top of the next hour.

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