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President Trump Cancels Trip by Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to Islamabad, Pakistan, for Potential Peace Talks with Iran; President Trump Answers Reporters' Questions about Cancelation of Trip to Islamabad and Potential Confirmation of Kevin Warsh as Federal Reserve Chairman; Severe Weather Threatens Parts of Midwest; Florida Man in Custody After His Roommate Found Dead and Second Student Missing; Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy Announces E.U. Approved $100 Billion Loan for His Country; U.S. Soldier Arrested for Using Insider Information about Operation to Capture Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro to Win Bet on Prediction Market. Aired 2-3p ET

Aired April 25, 2026 - 14:00   ET

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

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[14:00:34]

ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: We have all the cards -- President Trump calling off peace talks with Iran, scrapping the hope for a high stakes meeting in Pakistan that his envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, were set to attend.

Plus, charged with murder, a Florida man is in custody after his roommate is found dead. A second student still missing. Today dive teams are scouring the waters off of Tampa.

And severe weather threats, large hail, damaging winds, strong tornadoes targeting the plains as bone dry conditions help to fuel dangerous wildfires in the south.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN breaking news.

HILL: Good afternoon from New York. Thanks for joining me this hour. I'm Erica Hill.

We do begin with a growing uncertainty right now around any potential peace talks between the U.S. and Iran. They have reached a standstill. A short time ago, President Trump announcing he canceled a planned trip for U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. They were set to travel to Pakistan today, potentially for a second round of talks with Iran, though those talks have not been confirmed. The setback coming amid this fragile ceasefire and after officials from Tehran deny they had any plans to meet directly with U.S. envoys.

What we do know, Iran's foreign minister just wrapped up a flurry of meetings in Islamabad with Pakistani officials who are mediating those talks and the truce between the U.S. and Iran. He called the talks fruitful and left the country after delivering Iran's framework for ending the war.

We do have team coverage of these developments. Nic Robertson is in Pakistan for us, but we begin with Julia Benbrook, who joins us from the White House this hour. So, Julia, what more do we know about the president's decision here to cancel this trip for Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner?

JULIA BENBROOK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, as you laid out, we did expect special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, to travel to Pakistan for talks this weekend. President Donald Trump, though, has made it clear now that that is not going to happen. And he laid out a couple of reasons. In a few interviews that took place today. He said that he didn't see a point to sending his team on another 18-hour flight to, quote, "talk about nothing." He also placed blame on infighting in Iran for derailing these potential talks.

But I do want to highlight just how quickly things have changed here. Just yesterday afternoon, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt was speaking with reporters here at the White House, and she said that they had seen some progress with the Iranians, and that's why these talks were going to take place. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAROLINE LEAVITT, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: We've certainly seen some progress from the Iranian side in the last couple of days. Again, the president has made the decision to send Steve and Jared to hear the Iranians out. And so we'll see what they have to say this weekend.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BENBROOK: So not even a full day later, Trump is taking to social media to say that these talks are canceled. And I want to pull that up for you now. In this post, he said, quote, "I just canceled the trip of my representatives going in Islamabad, Pakistan, to meet with the Iranians. Too much time wasted on traveling, too much work. Besides which, there is tremendous infighting and confusion within their leadership. Nobody knows who is in charge, including them. Also, we have all the cards. They have none. If they want to talk, all they have to do is call."

So even as he signals that a phone call could be a potential next step, there are a lot of questions here. And in an interview with "Axios," Trump was pressed on if this meant that the fighting would resume. And he said, quote, "We haven't thought about that yet."

Now, Trump has recently said that he does not believe he is under time pressure to bring this conflict to an end, but that he believes Iran is, and that the clock is ticking. When reporters pressed him on a timetable, of course, we've heard him throw out many different timetables throughout this conflict. But when he was recently pressed on this, he said, "Don't rush me."

HILL: All right, we'll continue to watch for any of those developments. Julia, appreciate it. As I mentioned, Nic Robertson is in Islamabad where there was hope

that those peace talks might take place. So, Nic, Iran's foreign minister, has now left Islamabad. What more do we know about that visit and the meetings that he had with Pakistani officials?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes, sources here have described the past 24 hours here as hectic.

[14:05:00]

They also say that they remain hopeful. It's not quite clear at the moment on what basis they remain hopeful. We know that the Iranian foreign minister left here and went to Muscat in Oman, where he's been photographed meeting with the foreign minister in Oman. Remembering before the war began, Oman was the interlocutor trying to bring an agreement between the United States and Iran. Of course, that that fell apart at the beginning of March, end of February.

So what did the foreign minister achieve here? Well, he said that it had a fruitful visit, that he had shared workable ideas for a framework. He didn't say anything more than the framework. But I think the kicker and the tale from the Iranian foreign minister, who, by the way, when he was coming here, said that he wasn't ever going to have, on this visit, at least face to face meetings with U.S. representatives. He said that wasn't going to happen. He had said that he was coming here and then going to muscat, which is done, and then going to Moscow, which hasn't happened yet. Not sure if it will.

But I think the real kicker from the Iranian foreign minister here in his tweet, as soon as he landed in Muscat, was yet to see if the United States is serious about diplomacy. This really plays into the view that Iran has of the situation, that they actually do have the cards, that President Trump doesn't have the time, that they are willing to keep pursuing what they want, the sticking points, the issues around the Strait of Hormuz, the blockade, and also the nuclear enrichment issue.

So where things go from here really isn't clear. I come back to what sources here say, that they remain optimistic. Leastways, they haven't given up yet.

I guess there's one other point just to add into that to give a little bit of extra clarity. The lockdown around the zone where the talks were due to take place, that's been locked down for over a week now. The government here finally lifted that lockdown. They could put it back in place, but that's a clue to where things are at the moment.

HILL: Yes, it certainly is. Nic, appreciate it, as always. Thank you.

Happening now, people in the central part of this country bracing for more damaging winds, hail, and intense tornadoes. Take a look at some of this video out of Oklahoma, which just gives you a sense of how destructive these storms have been over the last couple of days. A tornado swept through Kiwa yesterday, damaging roofs, scattering debris around the area, as you can see here. Cleanup, of course, continuing at this hour as witnesses to other storms across the region describe what they saw.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The wind was already blasting. We really had very little warning that it was coming in that fast.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You start feeling the ground start to move and shake, and you can hear the roar outside and you start getting hit with debris. It's a harrowing situation.

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HILL: Now, all of this is coming just days after this massive funnel ripped through Enid, Oklahoma, flattening homes, leaving major damage in its wake. Take a look at some of that damage there. The National Weather Service says this was an EF-four. That means winds of up to 175 miles an hour.

CNN meteorologist Derek Van Dam is tracking todays threat.

DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Our multi-day, severe weather stretch continues. Just over the past two days alone, we've had over 275 severe weather reports, including over 20 confirmed tornadoes, many of them located across the central and southern plains.

Now, the weather setup means that we're going to continue this severe weather threat for the next several days. And it's because of this collision of air masses, cold air moving in from the north, intersecting with warm, humid air from the south, and that's the recipe we need for thunderstorm development.

Check this out. We're going to focus in this evening across portions of Oklahoma, stretching into the Ark-La-Tex region. Some of these individual supercells that are expected to form could drop tornadoes that could be strong. So EF-two is not out of the possibility. Large hail, also a big threat with these storms that develop. And then we'll see into the day on Sunday that severe weather threat shifting a little further to the north, more throughout the central plains. So heads up into Kansas, western Missouri, and even portions of central Oklahoma.

Again, this is continuing our multi-day stretch of severe weather chances. Here it is for the day on Sunday. I want to point your attention to Monday. This is inclusive of Chicago. This could be a big ticket severe weather day. And then Tuesday, we're also focusing across the southern Mississippi Valley.

Here's a look at the extended forecast, just to give you an idea of what's happening. It's this low-pressure system that's now finally starting to eject out of the Rockies. That is going to help force our thunderstorm development for the day on Sunday, and then once again into Monday. So heads up if you're in Springfield, Chicago, southward into St. Louis. That's where you have to have multiple ways to receive weather warnings. Keep an eye to the sky, very weather aware, because the potential for severe storms and significant ones on Monday exists.

[14:10:05]

Now look, there's a lot of rain associated with these systems as well, much needed rain. We're talking about one to three inches generally, but some of those slower moving thunderstorms could move and bring in a little bit more significant rainfall to places like Little Rock, for instance. But considering how much the southeast is within drought, this is much needed rain at this stage. Back to you.

HILL: All right, Derek, thank you.

Still ahead here, a new arrest in the disturbing case of two missing University of South Florida students. After one of the students is found dead, his roommate now facing charges, as the desperate search continues for that second student who is still missing.

Plus, deadly strikes, Russia unleashing one of its largest attacks on Ukraine in months. What Volodymyr Zelenskyy told CNN about the possibility now of a ceasefire.

And an American soldier arrested, accused of using classified intel to cash in on a massive bet tied to his own mission. Details on the federal charges he is now facing.

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[14:15:39]

HILL: A former University of South Florida student is facing two counts of first-degree murder after his roommate was found dead on a Tampa Bay bridge on Friday. Police accused 26-year-old Hisham Abugharbieh of killing two Bangladeshi doctoral students who were reported missing last week. They found Zamil Limon's body yesterday. You see him here. His image is on the left. They are still searching for Nahida Bristy.

CNN national correspondent Rafael Romo joining me now with some of these details. So a lot of developments in this case in just the last 24 hours or so. What more do we know? What are investigators sharing at this point?

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN SENIOR LATIN AMERICAN AFFAIRS EDITOR: Well, Erica, officials in Florida had been investigating the disappearance of the two students as a missing persons case. But that quickly changed, as they say they uncovered evidence suggesting there had been foul play.

On Friday, the Hillsborough County sheriff's office said they located the remains of missing University of South Florida graduate student Zamil Limon, was 27 years old. But Nahida Bristy, who is also 27 and is a student at USF, is still missing. According to officials, they're both Bangladeshi nationals studying in the United States.

Limon's brother told CNN Bristy and Limon were dating. Later on Saturday, Hillsborough County officials announced that 26 year old Hisham Abugharbieh, who was Limon's roommate, was being charged with two counts of murder in the first degree with a weapon in the deaths of Zamil Limon and Nahida Bristy. Abugharbieh, who appeared in court this morning, was already facing

charges of unlawfully moving a dead body, failure to report a death with intent to conceal, tampering with physical evidence, false imprisonment, and battery. It's unclear whether Abugharbieh has an attorney, and CNN contacted the Hillsborough County public defender's office to see if it will represent him.

In a statement, the University of South Florida president Moez Limayem said that Zamil Limon had attended USF since the fall of 2024 to study geography and environmental science and policy, and Nahida Bristy has attended USF since the fall of 2025 to study chemical engineering, adding that investigators say this is an isolated situation that occurred off campus. The suspect acted alone, and there is no ongoing threat to the safety of the university community.

Hillsborough County officials say the suspect seemed willing to cooperate when he was contacted by sheriff's deputies, but he stopped cooperating. And the officials say during his arrest, Abugharbieh barricaded himself inside a home, requiring a SWAT team and crisis negotiators to respond.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF DEPUTY JOSEPH MAURER, HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE: The suspect initially, when we made initial contact, was talking yesterday, we re-interviewed the suspect. He did talk, and then he ended the interview. Right now, currently, he is at our criminal investigations division, speaking with detectives. At this time, we have no indications to think that he was not working alone.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMO: And Erica, Limon's body was found on the Howard Frankland bridge in Tampa on Friday. Bristy's body has not been found, but investigators called her family in Bangladesh, saying they believe she may be dead based on the amount of blood found in the apartment. Limon and the suspect shared, according to Bristy's brother, who spoke to CNN affiliate WTSB, Limon brother's, Zubaer Ahmed, told CNN that the doctoral student had spoken highly of Bristy to his family in Bangladesh, telling them he was courting her and the pair had discussed the possibility of marriage. Erica?

HILL: Just awful developments, and for the family, too, to get that phone call. Rafael, appreciate it. Thank you.

Still ahead here, the wildfire emergency.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's scary. When you see a wall of flames coming at you, it puts life in perspective 100 percent.

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HILL: Thousands of acres turned to ash as wildfires scorched the southeast amid record drought conditions. New evacuations now underway. Some communities losing everything.

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[14:23:58]

HILL: As we continue to follow the breaking news, President Trump canceling plans for two of his top advisers, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, to travel to Pakistan today for potential peace talks. Writing in a post on social media, too much time has been, "wasted on traveling." Trump's decision coming just hours after Iran's foreign minister had already left Pakistan, where he did meet with some of the country's top leaders.

CNN national security analyst Peter Bergen joins me now. Peter, good to have you here for your insights. So as we look at where things stand, the fact that he is not sending Witkoff and Kushner, who it's important to note, Iran has said they do not trust and do not want to meet with. What is the message, though, that that sends to Iran, especially as the president is claiming he holds all the cards?

PETER BERGEN, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Well, Erica, I think to just start with the fact that, as you said in the intro, I mean, the Iranian foreign minister had already left Islamabad before Trump tweeted that it's because of, you know, the confusion inside Iran's ranks. Well, the Iranian foreign minister had also publicly said that he wasn't going to meet with the Americans. So the whole thing wasn't really going to happen anyway. So I don't think, in a sense, Trump's tweet is that surprising.

[14:25:03]

His claims that it's really about the, you know, fissures in the Iranian leadership about what to do, you know, there may be an element of truth to that. But the bottom line is the Iranians weren't going to meet with Witkoff and Kushner, right. So the foreign minister had already left. He's in Oman as we speak. So, and the larger message is, you know, they don't seem to be that, you know, they're in no rush to negotiate. And as you know, Erica, the disagreements about all the kind of principle issues are pretty massive, whether it's the Iranian enrichment or whether the Iranian uranium that's already enriched in Iran and what to do with it, whether its opening the Straits of Hormuz, whether it's, you know, unfreezing more than $20 billion of Iranian assets and also lifting sanctions, I mean, each one of those four big buckets, there are big disagreements between the United States and Iran.

HILL: Given those disagreements, this blockade, you know, was aimed in many ways at getting Iran to the table. Are you seeing evidence that there is, in fact, pressure that is starting to work in any areas? And we did have Nic reporting at the top of the show that Araghchi did apparently leave some sort of framework, some information with Pakistani officials with whom he met. Does that signal any movement to you?

BERGEN: Well, you know, in any standard negotiation, you'd have a framework, right, Erica. It took more than 18 months for the Obama administration to negotiate the fine points of the 2015 nuclear agreement. And that was also negotiated with close American allies like France, Germany, and the United Kingdom.

So the fact that he left a framework doesn't -- that's not surprising. I mean, what's been surprising about this negotiation, Erica, I think, is the idea that, you know, in 20 hours, you know, J.D. Vance would somehow hammer out a deal. That's not how these things work. And I thought it was significant that, obviously, it didn't happen. But sending lower level diplomats is usually the way you begin, you know, to actually get some agreements. You don't send the highest ranking officials to kind of hammer out these agreements. That's just not the way negotiations typically work.

HILL: I feel like we have asked this question and had this discussion so many times since this war with Iran started, but does that also underscore, right, that -- the reporting is that the president is impatient, and understandably wants this wrapped up. But does that also underscore the fact that there may be a real misunderstanding about what it takes to get a deal done in this moment and who needs to be at the table?

BERGEN: Well, certainly that, I think, Erica, is true. And then, of course, the last two times they've sat down with Witkoff and Kushner, it's been a prelude to a war starting.

So, I mean, you asked the question about the blockade. You know, obviously the Iranian economy is in freefall. They've been sanctioned since 1979 by the United States. The sanctions keep ratcheting up and up. And at one point, the sanctions in 2015 did get them to the negotiating table for the 2015 nuclear agreement. But they can certainly -- they've built an economy that's based around circumventing sanctions. And they clearly don't care very much about the feelings of their own people who they've killed, you know, at least 7,000 in January during the protests, and some estimates up to tens of thousands.

So this is a regime that, you know, can, a, withstand pain, and, b, is perfectly happy for its people to withstand pain. And on the other side of, you know, in the United States, you've got a May 1st deadline for the War Powers Act. Now, the Trump administration may say, we don't really care about that, but the point is that there are people in Congress who do care about it. That's a 60-day window that Congress has the ability to really vote in a serious manner on authorizing military operations. And I think come May 1st, there may be a couple of Republicans in the House who may say, well, you know, I'm facing a pretty difficult reelection campaign in November, and I may take a different position on the war. So I think that is a clock is ticking on the American side.

And by the way, the Iranians leadership recognized, you know, read American polls. They know this is the least popular American war since -- at its inception of any American war since polling started. And they also know that Trump's popularity is at historic lows. So they understand that politically this is a big problem for not just Trump, but the Republican party writ large. And they will kind of, you know, they'll draw their own conclusions about in terms of running out the clock here.

HILL: Yes, absolutely. Peter, stay with us. We are also going to tackle this story, which is certainly getting a lot of attention. U.S. soldier arrested, charged for betting on the capture of ousted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. That is still ahead here in the show.

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[14:33:46]

HILL: President Trump just speaking moments ago to reporters just before he makes his way back to Washington, D.C., ahead of tonight's White House Correspondents' Dinner. We want to share those comments with you. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, (R) U.S. PRESIDENT: OK. You probably heard that we canceled the trip. We have all the cards. We're not going to spend 15 hours in airplanes all the time going back and forth to be given a document that was not good enough. And so well deal by telephone, and they can call us any time they want. Again, we have all the cards. They have no military left, practically. They have no leaders left. We don't know who the leaders are. Nobody knows who the leader -- I don't know think they know who the leaders are, very importantly. So you saw that. And any other questions?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, sir. What have you heard from Pakistan? Iran's foreign minister was in Pakistan yesterday night.

TRUMP: I think Pakistan is terrific. I think the field marshal is fantastic. I think the prime minister of Pakistan is great. And, you know, they'd like to see something happen. But we're not going to be traveling 15 or 16 hours to have a meeting with people that nobody ever heard of.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. President, what changed to make you make that decision?

TRUMP: Too much travel. When they say the meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, I said, Tuesday. That's a long time from now. But when you get right down to it, it's a lot of traveling. No, we don't want to do that.

[14:35:04]

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: At what point do you send Witkoff and Kushner and send Vice President Vance in? At what point are you going to be ready?

TRUMP: Yes, we would. They're all very competent, all three. Those are the three -- but they weren't meeting with the leader of the country. They were meeting with other people. And I said, we're just not going to do it. Too much traveling, takes too long, too expensive. I'm a very cost-conscious person. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. President, Mr. President, you said this week

that you're not a fan of prediction markets and that they're turning the country into a casino, but at the same time, you're not --

TRUMP: I'm not, did you say I'm not?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: that you're not a fan of prediction --

TRUMP: Well, I don't know. I know some people that are very smart. They like it. They disagree, but they like it. But what would you like to know? Are you -- who are you with?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm with a crypto focused publication, and we also have a prediction market. And your administration is aggressively pushing to legalize these markets. And I was wondering if you potentially wanted to reconsider that policy.

TRUMP: A lot of other countries are doing it, and when other countries do it, we get left out in the cold if we don't do it. So -- but I know people that are in the prediction market business and they're --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Also on the subject of crypto, what made you decide to go and attend this meet point conference today?

TRUMP: It's a big industry, and we want to beat China at the industry. We're leading with crypto. We're leading with ai. And I really feel I have an obligation from the -- as the president, I have to be able to make sure that all of our industries do well. Crypto is a big industry. It's become, actually become somewhat mainstream. The banks have it, people have it. And I think as the leader of the country, we want to lead in A.I. We want -- and we're leading China by a lot in A.I., and we're also leading in crypto.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you agree with the decision by Jeanine Pirro to drop the investigation into Jerome Powell?

TRUMP: Well, I want to find out. You know, its not dropped. They're looking into the whole thing about --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're referring it to the I.G.

TRUMP: What I want to look what I want to look at. Yes, with the I.G. What I want to look at is how can a building that I could have done for $25 million cost $4 billion. That's a big thing. And he was in charge. So we'll get to the bottom of it.

Yes, I think Jeanine is fantastic. And she worked with other people on that. I tell you, I want to find out, I have an obligation to find out. This was done during Biden, but I have an obligation to find out how does it -- I would have done that building for $25 million, had money left over, and it would have been open a long time ago.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You or her people --

TRUMP: I want to find out because for the country. Look, we have a railroad under construction in California that's the worst thing I've ever seen under Gavin New-scum. And I want to find out why that one is costing 20 times what it was projected to cost.

Likewise, the Fed building is a small -- I built a hotel in Washington, the Waldorf Astoria. I built it for $201 million, and I believe its bigger than the Fed building. And you have bathrooms, you have a lot of, you know, it's much tougher, much more expensive to build a hotel than an office. I want to find out how can a building of that size cost whatever it's going to be. Nobody knows, by the way, what it's going to be.

Kevin is going to be fantastic. Kevin Warsh, he may never get to be in that building.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is it smooth sailing for him now? Will Tillis drop his block?

TRUMP: I would imagine it's smooth, but whether it is or not, somebody has to find out why that building that should have cost $25 million is costing billions of dollars. And you know why they have to find it out? For other buildings, because that's not the only one. I think that's the most egregious example.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: As you're figuring out who is in charge, if the hardliners or IRGC-aligned leaders have greater power in Iran, can the U.S. make a deal with --

TRUMP: I deal with whoever is running the show.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I mean, are we communicating with them?

TRUMP: I'll deal with whoever runs the show. They don't know. They're in -- they are fighting with each other. There's tremendous infighting. They're probably fighting for leadership. In many cases, I think they're fighting not to be the leader, because we knocked out two levels of leaders. But I'll deal with whoever we have to. But there's no reason to wait two days, have people traveling for 16, 17 hours. And we're not doing it that way. We'll do it -- when they want, they can call me. We have all the cards. We've won everything. We have all the cards.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yesterday you said to Reuters that were dealing with who is in charge now. What changed from yesterday to today?

TRUMP: Nothing. It's just that they gave us a paper that should have been better. And interestingly, immediately when I canceled it, within 10 minutes, we got a new paper that was much better.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What was on that paper, sir?

TRUMP: We talked about, we talked about they will not have a nuclear weapon. It's very simple. Look, that whole deal is not complicated. Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon. It's very simple.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: IS the ceasefire remaining? Will you continue the ceasefire. [14:40:01]

TRUMP: Haven't even thought about it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Did they offer anything in return to 20 years of suspending enriched uranium?

TRUMP: They offered a lot.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What did they offer?

TRUMP: They offered a lot, but not enough. Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Will Kevin Warsh be Fed Chair in May, do you think?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: President Trump there addressing reporters just before, of course, making his way back to Washington, D.C., where he will be tonight. He was leaving Florida there for the White House Correspondents' Dinner, talking about his decision not to send Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to Pakistan to potentially meet with the Iranians. He said multiple times, quote, we have all the cards, said that Iran did offer up more. But as you just heard him say there, it wasn't enough. Also questioned who is in charge but said that he would deal with anyone. We'll have more on the president's comments and also what that could mean for this ongoing war and that fragile ceasefire. Stay with us. You're watching CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:45:29]

HILL: New today, Ukrainian officials say at least seven people are dead after one of Russia's largest attacks on Ukraine in recent months. More than 600 drones and dozens of missiles primarily targeted the southeastern city of Dnipro. All this comes as Ukraine's war effort could get a big boost without the assistance of the U.S. Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says the E.U. has approved a $100 billion loan for his country.

Joining me now is Phillips Payson O'Brien, a professor of strategic studies at the University of Saint Andrews in Scotland. He's also the author of several books on the history of war, including "The Strategists" about leaders in World War Two. And you wrote an excellent piece in "The Atlantic" just a week ago, talking about where things stand in Ukraine and noting that Ukraine has finally given up on Trump. We are certainly hearing a much different, I would say there's a notable shift in Ukraine's public posture toward the U.S., toward President Trump. We're certainly hearing that from President Zelenskyy, who said the U.S. is no longer a reliable ally. What does this change?

PHILLIPS PAYSON O'BRIEN, AUTHOR, "THE STRATEGISTS": Well, it simply changes that the Ukrainians are speaking the truth. Since Trump became president, they tried to pretend that he was going to be an evenhanded broker, that he might support them, that he might be tough on Russia. They praised him. They thanked him. They went through these sham negotiations that he had foisted on them. And of course, all that happened is that the United States was protecting the Russians more than doing anything else.

And I think the Ukrainians have basically said, OK, we've had enough of that. We might as well speak the truth. We cannot rely on the United States. We do not believe the United States is an even partner and it will help us. So what we have to do is we have to work with countries that will help us, and that is primarily European countries. So it's just speaking, I think, honestly, about where they believe the war is.

HILL: He also, in speaking with my colleague Christiane Amanpour this week, said that he was glad the U.S. was able to reach a ceasefire with Iran, but wasn't holding out any similar hope for an outcome with Russia. When it comes to finding a reliable partner to actually push back on Russia, is that something Europe can do in a way that is effective at potentially getting this war ended?

O'BRIEN: Well, not as effective as getting help from the United States. I mean, the Ukrainians would love to have help from the United States, and they got a great deal of help under the Biden administration. But they have to come to the -- they have come to terms with the fact that they're not going to get help from the United States under President Trump. And therefore, these negotiations to them are not negotiations.

What the Ukrainians seem to be experiencing is the U.S. coming to them and saying, give up your land to Putin, give up your people to Putin. So the United States is putting pressure on them to come up with a deal that is good for the Russians. And for Ukraine, that's a disaster. They don't want to withdraw from their own land. They're a democracy.

So what they hear from the U.S. government is turn over your democratic people, your democratic land, to a dictatorship. And that's what we want you to do.

They can be helped to win the war by Europe if the Europeans are willing to do it. Now, more and more, I think the Europeans understand this. There's been a big sea change in Europe in the last three months. It might not be talked about as much in America, but the Greenland dispute really brought home to Europe that the United States is not a reliable ally. The United States is not trustworthy. It's threatening. It's probably not committed to NATO in any real way going forward.

And that has helped, actually, concentrate some European minds, countries like Germany, say, to really help the Ukrainians as much as possible. So they'd love to have U.S. help. They don't believe they're going to get it, and they're trying to motivate the Europeans to do more. And that seems to be having some results.

HILL: Yes. Professor Phillips O'Brien, good to have you with us this afternoon. Thank you.

O'BRIEN: Thank you.

HILL: A U.S. special forces soldier is now under arrest, accused of using secret intel to bet on the mission, which he was a part of, to take down Nicolas Maduro. The hundreds of thousands he made, which have also resulted in multiple federal charges, that's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:54:16]

HILL: As Eva Longoria embarks on a culturally curious and, frankly, enviable journey through France, she's learning about a major symbol of French cuisine, small but mighty snails.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EVA LONGORIA: How old are these?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's almost finished. They are three months. The slimy. He's slimy.

LONGORIA: I don't know if this is going to help me to like them more. I don't know about this, but is it a boy or a girl?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Boy and girl.

LONGORIA: They're both?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, they are hermaphrodite. They are both sexes.

LONGORIA: Oh, OK, do I want to know how they -- I don't know if I want to know how they reproduce.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When they find a partner. They begin with a love dance that lasts two hours.

LONGORIA: A love dance?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

(MUSIC)

[14:55:03]

LONGORIA: They have, like, a little flirtation for a couple hours.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. And just before the mating, they throw a little love dart.

LONGORIA: Love dart.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

LONGORIA: So if they like somebody, they go.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. And then they are mating.

LONGORIA: And then that's it. Voila. Their mating.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I know they have sex during 10 hours.

LONGORIA: They have sex for 10 hours?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

LONGORIA: I got to say, I have a whole new respect for snails.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: Two brand new episodes of "Eva Longoria, Searching for France" air tomorrow starting at 9:00 p.m. right here on CNN. You can also stream them the next day on the CNN app.

A U.S. special forces soldier involved in the capture of ex-Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is now charged with allegedly betting on that very raid. The indictment alleges Master Sergeant Gannon Ken Van Dyke won about $400,000 through Polymarket with a long shot bet that Nicolas Maduro would be out by January. On Friday, the active duty soldier who stationed at Fort Bragg appeared in a North Carolina court and posted a $250,000 bond.

Joining us now, Professor Geoffrey Corn. He's a former Army JAG attorney and director of the Center for Military Law at Texas Tech. And back with us, CNN national security analyst Peter Bergen. It's good to have you back with us.

I have to say, this story really threw me for a loop. Just the headline alone when it first crossed, I thought I was misreading it. Based on the indictment, Geoffrey, and what we know publicly here, the fact that the defendant allegedly tried to hide these winnings by moving the money around multiple times, tried to delete his Polymarket account, how significant are those details when you look at these charges?

LT. COL. GEOFFREY CORN (RET), DIRECTOR, CENTER FOR MILITARY LAW AND POLICY, TEXAS TECH LAW SCHOOL: Well, the charges are really focused on insider trading. And I think that the federal prosecutors used a fairly creative approach to be able to bring this allegation. There are other related charges, theft of nonpublic government property and wire fraud.

But it's an interesting case because at the heart of the case was his exploitation of access to highly classified information. But it doesn't appear that he shared any of that information. So it wouldn't be the basis for a violation of the Espionage Act. It's the profit that he gained by essentially engaging in insider trading with government information that is the basis for this accusation. And I think it's pretty serious.

HILL: It's the highest profile episode, right, that we know of, of a U.S. government employee allegedly using classified information to make money, certainly on prediction markets. But there has been a surge, Peter, in suspicious trading specifically related to the war with Iran. When you look at an incident like this through the lens of national security, I mean, how would you classify it? What does this change in terms of the vulnerabilities?

BERGEN: Well, let's start with the fact that this Van Dyke would have been -- you know, anybody working for joint special operations command in any capacity would be a target for a foreign hostile power. And if he's engaged in illegal activity, which is alleged, this is a pretty serious allegation, he could also be blackmailed himself personally.

And then to zoom out a bit further, you know, foreign intelligence services hostile to the United States might also start looking at prediction markets for anomalies. This guy put $33,000 down, made $400,000. But you can start looking at anomalies in these prediction markets to try and say, well, is somebody, you know, betting on this that might have access to information that most people don't?

So we live in a whole new world. And the lieutenant colonel is absolutely right, this is kind of a novel situation. I think it's the first case where we've had this kind of allegations put forward. But, you know, in France just recently, the French government are looking into data from Paris Charles De Gaulle Airport. This may have been manipulated by people betting on the French weather market. So we're going to see more of these cases, whether it's by just, you know, regular punters who somehow get access to information other people don't or manipulate it, or, unfortunately, by people who hold highly classified clearances.

HILL: To that point, Geoffrey, is this something that you see where you could see prosecutors wanting to make an example of this case and this and this soldier?

CORN: Well, there definitely is a significant general deterrent function of this prosecution. So I think the answer is clearly yes. I think it also exposes a gap in the law that I think Congress may need to consider filling, and that is the misuse of classified information. We have the Espionage Act that makes it a crime to unlawfully retain or disseminate or share classified information. But it doesn't appear that that's what this defendant did. He just exploited in an improper manner the way he had access to the information.

And I would hope that Congress would consider amending the Espionage Act to address the misuse of information you have special access to in addition to bringing these charges to send a deterrent message that if you're caught doing this, you can pay a very serious price.

And if he's convicted in federal court, hell also be almost certainly --