Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

U.S. Seized Iranian-Flagged Ship; Starmer to Address Mandelson Scandal; Children Dead After a Mass Shooting in Louisiana; Gunman Kills Six, Injures 15 in Kyiv; Trump Issues Warning If Iran Does Not Accept Deal; White House: Vance To Attend Talks Amid Confusion Over U.S. Delegation; Poll: Trump Approval Rating Drops To 37 Percent Amid Iran War; Lebanon Ceasefire To Halt Israel-Hezbollah Conflicting Holding. Aired 2-3a ET

Aired April 20, 2026 - 02:00   ET

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

[02:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us here in the United States and all around the world. I'm Rosemary Church. Just ahead on "CNN Newsroom," the U.S. fires on and seizes an Iranian-flagged ship. What that could mean for the planned upcoming negotiations. Britain's prime minister is expected to get an earful when he addresses parliament in the hours ahead over the Peter Mandelson scandal. And why one high school decided to crown their principal prom king.

UNKNOWN (voice-over): Live from Atlanta, this is "CNN Newsroom with Rosemary Church."

CHURCH: Good to have you with us. And first this hour, heightened tensions and uncertainty in the Middle East as the U.S. seizes an Iranian-flagged cargo ship ahead of another potential round of talks with Iran. The U.S. Military says a destroyer fired several rounds towards the vessel that was attempting to violate the U.S. naval blockade of Iranian ports. That ship is now in U.S. custody. Iran is threatening retaliation and is again blocking the passage of most ships through the Strait of Hormuz. This comes as Donald Trump and the White House say a U.S. delegation is preparing for more negotiations ahead of a soon-expiring ceasefire.

CNN's Paula Hancocks joins us now live from Abu Dhabi. Good to see you, Paula. So, what more are you learning about the U.S. firing on and seizing this Iranian cargo ship and, of course, Iran's threats to retaliate?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So, Rosemary, we're having more details come through from U.S. Central Command about this event. They have issued some night vision footage showing some of the marines from the USS Tripoli actually boarding the Iranian-flagged ship at the Strait of Hormuz. Now, from this mission, you can see helicopters overhead of the ship, you see a bird's eye view of the containers below, and then you see one individual rappelling down with a rope onto the ship. So, this is the moment of boarding this Iranian- flagship that CENTCOM has given us footage of.

What they said happened just before they decided to board the ship was that they had been warning this ship not to continue. They say that the crew had ignored their warnings for six hours. That is when they told the crew that they should evacuate the engine room. And then they fired several rounds against the ship in particular towards the engine room to try and debilitate the ship. Then they made the decision to board it.

Now, according to U.S. Central Command, they say that since the U.S. put its own blockade on the Strait of Hormuz on, they directed 25 commercial vessels to turn around and return to an Iranian port.

Now, we have been seeing many differences, many twists and turns when it comes to whether or not the Strait of Hormuz was open over recent days with Iran saying that they were opening it but then keeping conditions on that before the U.S. then put its own closure on Iranian ports and Iranian ships, and then Iran followed suit and closed it completely. So, we have been seeing a number of different twists and turns when it comes to the Strait of Hormuz.

But this most recent event with the U.S. seizing an Iranian-flagged ship, we have seen an Iranian military response to that through state media, saying that they will soon respond to and retaliate against this U.S.-armed piracy, is the way they put it, calling it maritime highway robbery.

So, of course, the question now is, what does this latest event do to any potential talks that could be happening? Rosemary?

CHURCH: Yes. That's what I wanted to ask you next. Of course, the U.S. delegation is heading to Islamabad for a new round of peace talks. But has Iran confirmed yet that it will be sending a delegation, too, in the wake of this latest incident?

HANCOCKS: So, we haven't had official response from Iran at this point.

[02:05:00]

We haven't -- state media has said that Iran has not decided whether or not they were going to be sending a delegation. Now, this was before the incident regarding the Iran-flagged ship that was seized by the U.S.

We do know from the U.S. president that there will be a delegation going. We now understand the vice president will be heading that delegation as he did last weekend. And also, Steve Witkoff, the special envoy, Jared Kushner, his son-in-law, will be going as well. We heard from President Trump that will be tonight, Monday night, that they will be arriving ready for negotiations.

Now, we have heard from sources close to the matter that there will be an Iranian delegation that will be going as well, saying it will be the same Iranian delegation as we saw last time. So, the parliament speaker heading that up. Of course, this was all before this latest maritime incident. So, we just have to wait and see now. Rosemary?

CHURCH: Indeed. We do. Paula Hancocks joining us live from Abu Dhabi, many thanks. Well, joining us live now from Doha, Qatar is Rashid Al- Mohanadi, a non-resident fellow at the Middle East Council on Global Affairs. Appreciate you talking with us.

RASHID AL-MOHANADI, NON-RESIDENT SENIOR FELLOW, MIDDLE EAST COUNCIL ON GLOBAL AFFAIRS: Hello, Rosemary. Good morning.

CHURCH: Good to see you. So, we know the U.S. delegation is heading to Pakistan for peace talks, but we haven't yet received any confirmation from Iran that a delegation will be going from there. How likely is it, do you think, given the U.S. fired on and seized this Iranian cargo ship? And how do you think this incident will impact those negotiations this week if they do go?

AL-MOHANADI: Well, I think it's fairly likely we might see an Iranian delegation. The reports we're reading on media shows that the potentiality of a meeting is quite -- is quite likely.

If you look at Iranian media yesterday after the U.S. seizure of the -- of the container ship, Iranian media immediately an hour and two hours later declared that they've -- the IRGC launched an attack on the U.S. Navy. And I think that shows you that they want to show that they have responded to the act by the U.S. And what that tells me is that they would like to continue the negotiations.

And we have to be very careful reading the statements coming out of Iran for two reasons. Reason number one is that there's an internet blackout. So, whatever comes out, there's a high level of probability that this is for a domestic audience, not for -- you know, it's not messaging towards the outside. A second thing, you know, the strategic options in front of Iran have become quite limited. And other than war, they only have negotiations on the table. And I think the Iranians would like to negotiate, but they would like to negotiate on terms that, apparently, they still disagree on with the U.S.

CHURCH: And Iran had just reopened the Strait of Hormuz, hadn't it? But President Trump refused to pull back the U.S. blockade. So, Tehran shut the strait down again. Should the U.S. president have pulled that blockade back once Tehran reopened the strait?

AL-MOHANADI: Well, the way I understand what happened, when we look at negotiations, there is something that we call confidence building measures. These are the measures you take with two, you know, parties that lack total confidence and rebuilding confidence.

And the way I read it is either two things. Either these are confidence building measures that did not transpire correctly or something more dangerous. Maybe internally, in Iran, we have, you know, leadership disputes because right after Araghchi, the Iranian foreign minister, issued that statement, Iranian state media started attacking Araghchi. So, it can be like two ways but, you know, I think the main issue here is the big distrust between both parties.

The Iranians, you know, visibly made a move in opening the Strait of Hormuz. I think their assumption was that the U.S. would remove the naval blockade, but that didn't happen. But like I said, the likelihood of discussions is quite high. They're not a hundred percent. Anything could happen. And the situation actually is quite volatile at the stage.

CHURCH: It is. And, of course, one of the major issues facing both delegations is that of uranium enrichment. The U.S. initially wanted zero enrichment but, according to sources, changed their offer to a 20-year suspension of enrichment. Iran rejected that and offered a five-year suspension. How will they come to some sort of compromise and resolve this, do you think?

[02:09:57]

AL-MOHANADI: Well, I think it comes back to how the Iranian leadership used the utility of a nuclear program. From a Gulf perspective, you know, I come from the Gulf, the nuclear program as a nuclear program isn't a big issue because all of the states, not all, a lot of the states here either have nuclear programs or have nuclear aspirations, you know, specifically civilian ones.

I think the biggest worry from Gulf states now is in the post-complex era. How do we manage Iran as a military threat and how do we manage Iran as a threat through their proxies? And I think these things have to be on the table when the discussions happen.

The reason when Trump pulled out to the JCPOA, there was no pushback from the region because there was no regional involvement. In this case, it's quite different because the lead mediator is Pakistan and, visibly, countries like Qatar, Saudi, and Turkey are supporting the mediation effort. So, if a deal comes out of it, it has to address regional concerns, interests, and grievances. And if that happens, I think we potentially have a deal that might stick better than the JCPOA.

CHURCH: And here in the United States, new polling shows that the majority of Americans disapprove of the way President Trump is handling the war in Iran. You're there in Qatar. What do people in the region and, of course, their governments think of the war and how it's being handled?

AL-MOHANADI: I think the perception here is that this is not a -- this is a war we actively try to stop. This is a war we try to mediate and, you know, avoid. But, unfortunately, it happened. It's not our war, but Iran decided to bring us into this war.

Just thinking of the scenarios, if Iran did not attack the Gulf states, I think there would have been quite a viable opposition in the region towards the war. There is still opposition towards war in general because, you know, Gulf states are economic actors in the end. We have our national economic visions. We have our economic interests. So, war is not good for business. I think Gulf states will still actively try to seek to resolve the conflict through negotiations.

But, you know, we're ready for everything at this stage. The amount of aggression the Iranians threw at us was unprecedented, but we were ready and our armed forces defended our sovereignty quite well. But, you know, from a Gulf perspective, we hope that the conflict is resolved through peaceful means at this stage.

CHURCH: And, of course, we will watch to see what happens there in the coming days. Rashid Al-Mohanadi in Doha, many thanks for joining us. Appreciate it.

Al-MOHANADI: Thank you, Rosemary.

CHURCH: Well, global markets are reacting to the latest instability with a mix of concern and cautious optimism. Both U.S. and international crude oil benchmarks are up. Here's where they stand right now. You can see Brent crude at 95.10. WTI crude down to 87.37 there. And here's where Asian markets are at the moment. Japan's Nikkei has gone up more than half a percent there. And look at the futures. Let's bring those up now. All in negative territory. Perhaps not a surprise. We'll see what happens in the coming hours.

Well, Britain's chief rabbi is warning of a sustained campaign of violence against the U.K.'s Jewish community. This comes after a synagogue in North West London became the third site in less than a week to be targeted by arsonists. A pro-Iranian group is claiming responsibility for throwing an incendiary device into the synagogue's medical room, posting a video purportedly showing the incident. British counterterrorism police say they are investigating possible Iranian links to the series of recent attacks.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VICKI EVANS, DEPUTY ASSISTANT COMMISSIONER, COUNTERTERRORISM 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.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Meantime, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer will address what will likely be an angry parliament in the coming hours. He says he'll set out the relevant facts over the Peter Mandelson scandal. Starmer faces growing calls by opposition lawmakers to step down after revelations that Mandelson, the former ambassador to the U.S., failed a security vetting process. Mandelson is a veteran of Starmer's Labour Party. He was fired last year after the depth of his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein came to light.

[02:15:00]

He's now under police investigation for allegedly leaking government documents to the sex offender. Prime Minister Stalmer denies knowing anything about the vetting failure.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEIR STARMER, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: That I wasn't told that Peter Mandelson had failed security vetting when he's appointed is staggering. That I wasn't told that he failed security vetting when I was telling parliament the due process had been followed is unforgivable. Not only was I not told, no minister was told. And I'm absolutely furious about that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: A spokesperson for the British prime minister told reporters that Starmer has no plans to resign.

Early results from Bulgaria's parliamentary election show former president, Rumen Radev, taking a commanding lead. Radev stepped down from the presidency in January to run for parliament. He campaigned on an anti-corruption, Euro-skeptic and pro-Russia platform. Bulgarians flocked to the polls on Sunday. Rising costs of living and voting out entrenched politicians appear to be motivating factors. Those early results indicate Radev's Progressive Bulgaria party may even win a parliamentary majority. The final vote tally is expected later on Monday.

New details are emerging on the deadliest mass shooting in the U.S. in two years. When we return, what police in Louisiana are saying about the gunman who killed eight children and his relationship with the victims. Plus, Angolans are hearing a hopeful message from Pope Leo. He's encouraging them to heal rifts and create a society based on justice. More on the pope's visit when we return.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:20:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: A community in Shreveport, Louisiana is in mourning 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 father of seven of the eight children killed. All of them were between three and 11 years old. Authorities say the gunman also shot and critically wounded two women, one of them his wife.

CNN's Rafael Romo filed this report as some of early details were starting to emerge.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Shreveport police officers responded to reports of shots fired just after six, Sunday morning, and found victims in two homes in the Cedar Grove neighborhood along West 79th Street and a third home on nearby Harrison Street.

Shreveport Police Corporal Chris Bordelon described a very large scene with eight children shot dead. He called it the result of -- quote -- "a domestic disturbance." He said the dead victims were all apparently shot by the same individual who is related to some of the victims. Bordelon also said the suspect, later identified by the mayor's office as Shamar Elkins, carjacked a vehicle after the shootings and a chase ensued with Shreveport police officers right behind the suspect. The corporal said the chase ended in neighboring Bossier Parish when officers fired at the suspect. The man is now dead and is believed to have been the only shooter.

This is what Shreveport Mayor Tom Arceneaux told CNN about a possible motive.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR TOM ARCENEAUX, SHREVEPORT, LOUISIANA: My understanding is that he had some kind of relationship with the woman who lived at the home where the children were and with the woman that he had gone to first. But we're not entirely sure. Obviously, the two women are in very, very critical condition. So, we're not able to get information from them. And, of course, he is no longer with us either.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMO: The mayor also told us that there is an additional teenage child who survived the shooting and is in the hospital doing well. The shooting happened in House Speaker Mike Johnson's district. In a statement, Johnson said, we're holding the victims, their families, and loved ones, and our Shreveport community close in our thoughts and prayers during this incredibly difficult time.

Rafael Romo, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: The head of police in Ukraine's capital city is stepping down following a mass shooting that left at least six people dead. The official's resignation comes after video emerged allegedly showing two officers running away from the sound of gunfire during Saturday's shooting. Both have been suspended, pending an investigation into police conduct. Fifteen others were injured in what investigators are calling an act of terrorism. CNN's Sebastian Shukla has more on the search for a motive.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SEBASTIAN SHUKLA, CNN FIELD PRODUCER: A truly shocking incident took place on Ukraine's capital on Saturday, one that has left several dead and a dozen or so people injured, including a child. Harrowing video circulating online of the attacker shows him walking down a street wielding a weapon and then, apparently, shooting somebody at point- blank range. Authorities say that he killed four people on those streets.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

IHOR KLYMENKO, UKRAINIAN INTERIOR MINISTER: The shooter, who was born in 1968, was most likely a pensioner. He lives nearby. He walked down the street starting from (INAUDIBLE) Street. On his way, he shot four of our citizens. And he also shot a fifth person, who was being held hostage in that shop. (END VIDEO CLIP)

SHUKLA: The shooter, not named by authorities but confirmed as a 58- year-old male born in Moscow, then entered a supermarket where he took hostages. Authorities swooped on the supermarket and began negotiating with him to free those hostages for around 40 minutes, which he did eventually do, but not before he killed another person. The incident took place in the Holosiivskyi district of Kyiv, a largely residential suburb southern part of the city where you would find the usual shops, restaurants, and grocery stores.

Very little detail though has been released about the motive behind this attack, but officials are calling it a terrorist act, and that the shooter had spent a lot of time in the Donetsk region of Ukraine's eastern region. President Zelenskyy, though, has said that every detail must be examined.

[02:25:00]

The whole affair, though, has really shaken the city of Kyiv, which does say something for a city and a nation that has been under near constant attack for over four years now following Russia's invasion. But incidents, particularly ones like this, have been so rare.

Sebastian Shukla, CNN, Berlin.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Pope Leo XIV is calling on the people of Angola to build a new society based on love, peace, and justice. Large crowds greeted the pontiff as he arrived for holy mass outside the capital Luanda on Sunday. More than half of Angolans identify as Catholic. The first American pope is spending several days there on his four-country tour of Africa. Some 100,000 people attended the Sunday morning mass. Pope Leo urged them to overcome divisions created by nearly three decades of civil war.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

POPE LEO XIV, SOVEREIGN OF VATICAN CITY STATE (through translator): And just as the Eucharist reminds us, that we are one body and one spirit, united to the one Lord. So, we, too, can and wish to build a country where all division are overcome forever, where hatred and violence disappear, where the wound of corruption is healed by a new culture of justice and sharing. Only in this way will the future of hope be possible, especially for the many young people who have lost it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Pope Leo is also continuing his loud calls for global peace, raising -- praising the ceasefire in Lebanon and condemning new attacks in Ukraine. Still to come, President Donald Trump is cranking up his pressure campaign on Iran ahead of the ceasefire deadline. But will it backfire? We'll take a look.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:30:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:30:05]

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back, everyone.

President Donald Trump's intimidation tactics are being put to the test. The administration is cranking up the pressure on Iran in the lead up to the ceasefire deadline. But Tehran, for its part, has shown it's far from folding.

CNN's Julia Benbrook has the latest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JULIA BENBROOK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: No more Mr. Nice Guy. That is how President Donald Trump is framing his approach to Iran, as another round of talks are expected to take place in the coming days.

Trump says that he believes the United States is offering a very fair and reasonable deal, but at the same time warning that if it is rejected, he will do what he thinks needs to be done. I want to pull up part of that recent post. In it, he said, quote, were offering a very fair and reasonable deal, and I hope they take it, because if they don't, the United States is going to knock out every single power plant and every single bridge in Iran. That's when he added, no more Mr. Nice Guy.

So, again, threatening to target their energy infrastructure if a deal is not met.

Now, it's been about a week since Vice President J.D. Vance, Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump's son in law, Jared Kushner, were in Pakistan for talks. Following those talks, Vance announced that they were leaving without an agreement to end the conflict. He said that this was the best and final offer from the United States.

Looking ahead now at these talks that are expected in the coming days, there was a bit of confusion about who would be attending. In fact, Trump said in a couple of interviews that Vance would not be attending this time for security reasons. A White House official did confirm to us, though, that he will be there, that Vance, Witkoff and Kushner are expected to take part. When we asked about the confusion related to this, they simply said that things changed.

Julia Benbrook CNN, the White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Larry Sabato is director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia. He's also coauthor of campaign of chaos, Trump, Biden, Harris and the 2024 American election. And he joins us from Charlottesville, Virginia. Good to have you with us. LARRY SABATO, DIRECTOR FOR POLITICS, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA: Thank

you so much, Rosemary.

CHURCH: So President Trump's approval rating is now down to 37 percent. That's according to a new NBC poll that's showing the majority of Americans are not happy with the way he's handling the war with Iran or the U.S. economy, particularly inflation. What could this potentially signal for the midterms, do you think?

SABATO: Well, we still have half a year to go. And we all know how quickly things can change. But this is not good news for the Republican Party. It certainly isn't good news for president Trump. It's not just the NBC poll. There have been a whole series of polls in the last month that have had Trump down in the 30s, someplace between 35 and 40 percent. That is dangerous territory for any president in any election year. And of course, while Trump isn't on the ballot, his Republican representatives and senators and governors are. And I think they're going to have great difficulty in many cases, being reelected.

CHURCH: And, of course, we all remember that during his campaign, President Trump promised not to involve the U.S. in another war. Now that he's broken that promise, voters are disillusioned. They're losing trust in a president who's struggling to end this war, to find an off ramp. On Sunday, the U.S. fired on and seized an Iranian cargo ship, with Tehran vowing to retaliate. How will voters view the president if he fails to end the war with the deal in the coming days, with the hope of peace talks?

SABATO: It's pretty clear that this hasn't gone the way Trump had envisioned it, or the his high command had. This has gone on longer than they expected it to go. No matter what they say publicly. And it hasn't been terribly successful militarily. So, but strategically, not. And at this point, the Iranians have the upper hand in some respects. And that's not something that's going to please Trump's hardcore supporters in MAGA. Nor is it going to please any of the swing voters that will determine who wins these elections in November. So this is a bad sign.

If President Trump can manage to bring the war to a close relatively quickly, even if it isn't a great success, there's enough time for people to forget and move on to other subjects. His greater difficulty is going to be prices. That is really what is causing him and the Republican Party such trouble. Remember, he said he was going to lower prices on day one and in fact, prices have gone up pretty consistently. The gas prices are very high, but its also food prices and just about everything else that's carried by truck or rail car.

CHURCH: Yeah. And Americans are hurting as a result of that, of course. And, Larry, meantime, Democrats in Virginia are facing a test this week in a push to redraw district lines that could deliver the party. Four new seats in the House with former U.S. President Barack Obama calling on voters to show up on Tuesday and vote yes. How will this likely play out, do you think?

SABATO: The polling information that we have, both public and private, suggests that the referendum will pass and that Democrats will have a good chance to get three or four additional seats out of the new drawing. However, it's closer than it really ought to be, at least in the polling. Maybe the actual vote will be different.

I think Democrats will be extremely disappointed if they don't win this, because they need these seats to balance the ones that have been taken away from them in Texas, Missouri, North Carolina, and quite possibly in the coming months in Florida.

So we'll have to see what the results are. It's on Tuesday. Democrats are favored, but I wouldn't say heavily at this point.

CHURCH: And, Larry, over in California, Democrats are struggling in the governors race after the sexual assault scandal surrounding former Congressman Eric Swalwell forced him from office, and from that gubernatorial race. How's that race looking now? And what outcome are you expecting?

SABATO: Rosemary, it's a mess. It's difficult to call it anything but that. There are far too many candidates, frankly, who have very little chance of winning. It's a -- the top two obviously will move along to November, and probably there will be one Republican and one Democrat.

At this point, I don't think there is a frontrunner. Every poll I see has a different person in front. Swalwell was becoming the front runner, so he not only lost his congressional seat, he probably also would have been governor of California. But that, of course, is out the window as well.

So Democrats are lucky that California is so blue. I put it that way. They're lucky it's so blue because they've come close to blowing it. The Republicans simply don't have strong enough candidates to push one of their own to the governor's chair.

CHURCH: We'll watch to see what happens there. Larry Sabato, many thanks for joining us. Appreciate it.

SABATO: Thank you, Rosemary.

CHURCH: We are keeping an eye on another ceasefire underway in the Middle East. This one in Lebanon aimed at halting the conflict between Israel and Iran backed Hezbollah.

CNN's Oren Liebermann is following developments.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN JERUSALEM BUREAU CHIEF: A 10-day temporary ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon has largely held, even as it has been tested. The Israeli military says they have carried out strikes involving air strikes and artillery fire for what they say are violations of the ceasefire, with militants coming south into the swath of territory in southern Lebanon that is controlled and occupied by Israeli forces.

Meanwhile, both Israel and France say a French citizen who worked for UNIFIL, the U.N. agency that monitors the Israel-Lebanon border, was killed in a Hezbollah strike over the weekend.

So there has been some kinetic activity in southern Lebanon. And yet the ceasefire itself has at this point largely held. The question, of course, is where does this go from here? President Donald Trump was trying to use this temporary ceasefire as a bridge to get to direct talks between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, to try to get not only a permanent ceasefire but a broader peace agreement between the two countries that haven't had diplomatic relations in decades.

Now, that, of course, remains a challenge. Trump said he wanted to host them in Washington, D.C., although a date for that planned meeting or direct talks landmark though it would be, has not yet been put forward. And it's crucial here, because what happens between Israel and Lebanon affects what happens between the U.S. and Iran.

A ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon was a prerequisite for U.S. and Iran talks moving forward. So, each of these critical and difficult diplomatic negotiations affect the other. And that's why it's so important to keep an eye on what happens between Israel and Lebanon. The catch is that ten day temporary ceasefire is quickly running out.

Meanwhile, the U.S. is focused largely on the talks that are planned for Islamabad between the U.S. and Iran to try to move forward on that track.

Oren Liebermann, CNN, in Jerusalem.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Meanwhile, Israel's foreign minister says this image of an Israeli soldier apparently vandalizing a figure of Jesus in southern Lebanon is grave and disrespectful. Gideon Saar says he is apologizing to Christians, and the Israeli military says its investigating the incident. The statue had been affixed to a cross, but the image shows it upside down and the soldier striking it with a hammer or ax.

[02:40:00]

The photo was taken in a predominantly Christian village.

One North Korean family wanted a different life, and they found it after ten years of preparation. Still to come, their moving story of perseverance.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:43:21]

CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone.

Survivors of Hong Kong's deadliest fire in decades are beginning a painful return to the ruins of their former homes. Starting Monday, residents of the Wang Fuk Court Apartment Complex are being allowed limited access to retrieve personal belongings. Last November, a blazing gulf, the high rise killing 168 people. The six building complex was undergoing renovations at the time. More than 4,000 people called it home, many of whom were elderly. The cause of the fire is still under investigation by an independent committee.

Well, very few people successfully defect from North Korea. One family did after preparing for more than a decade.

CNN's Mike Valerio shares their story of perseverance.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KIM IL-HYECK, NORTH KOREAN DEFECTOR (translated): I was so tense that my heart was pounding in my ears as of it was hitting my head. It was silent and still, with no one speaking at all. It was pouring rain that night. The waves could have easily crashed our boat against the rocks causing it to sink right away.

MIKE VALERIO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This small fishing boat carried Kim Il-hyeck, his pregnant wife and seven other family members, hoping to survive one of the most dangerous escapes from North Korea, a journey they say they planned for more than a decade.

[02:45:11]

As Kim settles into his new life in Seoul, he told us how his escape began with his father and his brother.

KIM: My father said, "There is no hope in this society. There is no way to change it. There is a vast, free world out there. Let's go to South Korea."

That's how it all started, and my father sent my younger brother to the sea. While working at sea, my brother built close relationships with local security officers, to prevent any suspicions. He bribed them and earned the trust of party loyalists.

VALERIO (voice-over): For more than 10 years, Kim and his practiced their plan, sailing near the closely watched sea border between North and South Korea. It's a boundary called the Northern Limit Line, or NLL.

KIM (translated): We disguised ourselves as if we were going out to fish to make it less suspicious. When we got near the NLL, a patrol boat started following us like it was chasing us. We always calculated the time it would take for them to catch up.

We would say, "We're not trying to defect. We're just out here to make money." Then we would be released. We went through this process several times.

VALERIO (voice-over): Kim says he finally decided his family needed to leave when the regime became even more repressive and COVID spread across the country.

KIM (translated): Things became extremely difficult during COVID. People focused on survival. Many people starved to death. Every day, we would wake up to stories of deaths and robberies. VALERIO (voice-over): Kim later picked the precise timing for their

defection. May 6th, 2023, 10:00 p.m.

KIM (translated): We specifically chose a day with tidal warnings. As the warning was issued, the waves grew higher, and a typhoon came in, so the North Korean boats retreated. My sister-in-law, my brother's mother-in-law, my mother and my wife passed through a minefield and hid by the rocks on the shore.

My brother's two children were also with us. When we put them in sacks, we told them to stay silent and not move at all. To avoid detection, we moved at a slow speed.

Even the engine sound was low, like "thump, thump, thump." The children didn't fall asleep and stayed completely quiet. When I opened the sacks, their eyes were wide open, and they hadn't made a sound. With the GPS on our boat, we confirmed we'd crossed the NLL. Then we saw Yeonpyeong Island. It was lit up like daylight, while we were in total darkness.

When we were rescued, the South Korean navy came and talked to us with a loudspeaker, asking if the engine had broken down. They must have wanted to check our intentions. "No, our engine isn't broken. We're North Korean fishermen, and we've come to defect to South Korea."

My wife was very emotional because we had left her family behind. Her eyes were swollen from crying so much. It felt like a huge weight was lifted off my shoulders. I was filled with relief, thinking, "It's finally over," and my tension just melted away.

SUBTITLE: Kim and his wife now have two children, both born in South Korea. Kim is working hard to support his family as hey build a new life in Seoul. He's sharing his story to help the world understand what life is like for North Koreans.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Extraordinary story there. Well, still to come, an unlikely prom king takes the crown at a school in Oklahoma. We will tell you why the students chose to award him the honor.

Back in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:53:13]

CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone.

Well, new research shows an mRNA-based vaccine is helping fight pancreatic cancer, which is fatal in 88 percent of patients. During an early trial, half of the 16 participants showed a dramatic immune response to the vaccine, indicating their body was able to learn to identify and fight off the disease. Seven of the eight were alive and doing well up to six years after treatment. A larger global trial has been underway for a year to test whether these results can happen with a bigger group.

Well, students at a high school in the U.S. state of Oklahoma honored their principal over the weekend after he saved their lives earlier this month.

(BEGIN VDIEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ladies and gentlemen, our king, Kirk Moore.

(CHEERING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Principal Kirk Moore was named prom king as thanks for stopping a gunman who had entered the lobby of Paul's Valley High School. Video released by the school shows the principal tackle and disarm the gunman, who was later taken into custody. While the principal was injured, no students were hurt.

To the English Premier League now and after Manchester City's narrow defeat of Arsenal on Sunday, the two giants are poised for the most dramatic title race in years.

CNN's Patrick Snell has more

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PATRICK SNELL, CNN WORLD SPORT: It really was a super Sunday in the English Premier League and no much bigger than that huge blockbuster title showdown between the leaders, arsenal and second place Manchester City.

You know, the gunners were six points ahead of city at kick off, but they would fall behind here at the Etihad, thanks to a moment of world class play from city's Ryan Sharkey. Great finish for the opening goal of the match. Just brilliant from the Frenchman.

But just over 100 seconds later, Arsenal level as Kai Havertz putting pressure on City goalie Gigi Donnarumma and the ball just flies into the back of the City net. The giant Italian keeper will want to forget that one as quickly as possible.

Sixty-five minutes on the clock the winning goal, Erling Haaland stepping up to win it for city may not be scoring for fun currently, but that goal is absolutely priceless. It's really well worked and the unmarked Norwegian can't miss from there and he doesn't. A vital goal at just the right time for the hosts. Deep into stoppage time though. Arsenal with a great chance to level but Havertz can't keep his header down and City breathe a huge sigh of relief.

Manchester City and their players know the significance of this two one victory. The title race has swung dramatically now and Arsenal, not for the first time in recent seasons, are officially wobbling.

BERNARDO SILVA, MIDFIELDER, MANCHESTER CITY: Very big obviously, because that puts us in a position where if we win the game in hand, we were on the same points. And if you look two weeks ago, this didn't look very likely this scenario. So, yeah, a tough game, a good game. And we're happy. We're happy that we can be on the same points.

MARTIN ODEGAARD, CAPTAIN, ARSENAL: It's always pressure, always nice. And that's a part of being a football player at this level. So that's completely normal to us. And we're just going to keep going, stay focused on ourselves like we've done the whole season. And as I said, just look forward to the next game now and bounce back, get a win there and move on. That's -- that's all we're going to do, you know.

So that's part of football and you have to live with that. And yeah, that's a good thing, I'd say. Still believe, of course.

SNELL: City's vital win now taking them to within three points of Arsenal. City also have a game in hand too. Could it be any more exciting? It's a case of watch this space. And with that I'll send it right back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Thanks for that.

And thank you for joining us this hour. I'm Rosemary Church. I will be back with more CNN NEWSROOM after a short break.

Stay with us.