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U.S. To Start Guiding Ships Through Strait Of Hormuz; Ukraine Steps Up Attacks On Russian Energy Exports; Cuba Slams "Unprecedented" Trump Threats; Suspected Hantavirus Outbreak Kills Three on Cruise Ship; Fallout From Wave Of Armed Attacks Against Government In Mali; Fallout from Waves of Armed Attacks against Government of Mali; Fans Celebrate the Return of Korean Band BTS. Aired 1-1:45a ET

Aired May 04, 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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LYNDA KINKADE, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome, I'm Lynda Kinkade. Ahead here on CNN Newsroom, President Trump announcing the U.S. will begin guiding neutral ships through the Strait of Hormuz starting Monday. Iran is already calling it a violation of its ceasefire.

Mali in crisis a week after a wave of a coordinated terror attack right across the nation. Now there are fears the country's military ruled government may be on the verge of collapse.

And camera's capturing the moments a 767 passenger plane hits a truck while landing in New Jersey.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Live from Atlanta, this is CNN Newsroom with Lynda Kinkade.

KINKADE: We begin this hour the war with Iran. President Trump says the U.S. will start guiding so called neutral ships through the Strait of Hormuz in a mission called Project Freedom. An American official telling CNN that the initiative is not an escort mission. But a senior Iranian official warns that any plans to guide ships through the strait violates the ceasefire.

President Trump has claimed his representatives are having very positive discussions with Iran. It comes as the two countries review each other's peace proposals. The announcement also after a U.K. maritime agency reported a tanker with was hit by unknown projectiles in the Strait of Hormuz. Let's go straight to CNN's Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong for the latest developments.

Good to have you with us, Kristie. So it has been described as a humanitarian mission for neutral ships. Iran has rejected it. They're calling it interference. How is it meant to work in practice?

KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Lynda, the U.S. President Donald Trump has called it a humanitarian gesture. But top shipping executives that I've been speaking with today, they are very wary and cautious about this operation. Look, the United States is on a mission to free these neutral vessels that are trapped in the Strait of Hormuz.

Remember, since the war broke out February 28, you have an estimated hundreds of vessels and 20,000 seafarers. These are civilian workers who are stranded inside the gulf. Now this operation is called Project Freedom. It begins on Monday. Its stated objective is to restore freedom of navigation.

We have been getting details from U.S. Central Command, including a statement from the CENTCOM commander Brad Cooper, who shares this quote. Our support for this defensive mission is essential to regional security and the global economy as we also maintain the naval blockade key detail there.

Now Project Freedom will be including quite a number of U.S. military assets. Let's bring it up for you so you can have an idea of what it entails. It includes guided missile destroyers, also more than 100 land and sea based aircraft, 15,000 service members as well. It is important to note that a U.S. official tells CNN this is not an escort mission but it's not clear exactly how this operation will work. It's also not clear which countries will benefit from it.

Earlier, a naval analyst with the Lowy Institute told CNN that she believes that a purpose of this mission is to give commercial shipping executives a sense that of safety, that they could be safe here. But when you talk to commercial ship shipping executives, they're not feeling that. In fact they are openly wary about this operation. I want to share with you what they are telling me from Richard Hext.

He's a chairman of the Hong Kong Shipowners Association. He says the chairman of Iran's parliamentary National Security Commission has said such moves will be considered a violation of the cease fire. So under these circumstances we should be cautious.

I also heard from Bjorn Hojgaard. He is the CEO of Anglo-Eastern. He says it takes both sides to unblock, not just one. He says either party can signal that they're willing to let certain ships through but unless the other side accepts that in practice it doesn't materialize change the reality on the water. And he goes on to tell me this, quote, announcements are one thing, safe and predictable passage is another.

I should point out that before this operation was announced, a tanker in the Strait of Hormuz was hit by a projectile. The UKMTO reported that all crew members are reported to be safe. There was no environmental impact that took place. An investigation is underway.

But the fact that you have an incident like that taking place even now just reminds everyone and underscores the danger and the risks for the hundreds of vessels and tens of thousands of seafarers who remain stranded in the Gulf. Lynda?

[01:05:11]

KINKADE: Still very risky, no matter which way you look at it. Kristie Lu Stout for us in Hong Kong, thanks very much.

LU STOUT: Thank you.

KINKADE: Joining me now from Washington, D.C. is Behnam Ben Taleblu. He's the senior director of the Iran Program at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. Good to have you with us.

BEHNAM BEN TALEBLU, SENIOR DIRECTOR, IRAN PROGRAM, FOUNDATION FOR DEFENSE DEMOCRACIES: Pleasure. Thank you for having me.

KINKADE: So the U.S. plans to escort, not escort, but at least somehow allow neutral ships through the Strait of Hormuz. Describe this mission for us. Is it primarily described, designed to restore freedom of navigation, or does it also serve as a way to test how far Iran is willing to go to disrupt tanker traffic?

TALEBLU: You know, it's an excellent question, because even, forgive me, in your statement just there, there's more questions than answers. Is this escorting? Is this guiding? And who is this directed at?

Right now if we're going to read the tea leaves on the Trump administration's intent to do this, and we'll see after tomorrow how they physically implement it, it's designed to calm markets. It's designed to restore confidence in shippers, particularly private shippers. It's designed to assuage America's Arab allies in the Persian Gulf, it's designed to project resolve and bolster deterrence against the Islamic Republic of Iran amid this larger game of chicken with that regime during a ceasefire.

So this mission is designed to do a lot of things, and that's quite a tall order for a mission right now that even, as you just mentioned, we're not exactly sure physically how it's going to be getting off the ground.

So keep your eyes and ears peeled on the Persian Gulf and Strait of Hormuz for most of Monday as to how the CENTCOM actually uses those assets in theater, particularly the ISR, what it detects, what it believes is and is not a threat. And if it chooses to respond to anything, be that a projectile or anything else that the Iranians launch, like fast attack craft.

KINKADE: It's interesting when you think of what happened in recent weeks when the president announced the Strait of Hormuz was open, merchant ships were unwilling to take that risk. And it sounds from those we've already spoken to so far, we just heard from my colleague Kristie Lu Stout, that they're unwilling to take that risk yet again.

So even if the U.S. President says it's open and there's going to be some sort of, you know, guide through the strait. I can't imagine there's going to be much change tomorrow.

TALEBLU: Well, some of them have been willing to run risks and particularly those transporting liquefied petroleum gas, but some is not sufficient to address not necessarily just the supply issue, but the price issue which is tied to that. And that's global, not just regional. Just because some are paying more in East Asia doesn't mean Americans here at home are not going to be feeling the cost and the consequences of that at the pump.

The flip side of course does have to be mentioned that the Islamic Republic of Iran at a minimum put 12 mines in some of the narrower parts of the Strait of Hormuz that they now claim they cannot find and have allegedly been still firing projectiles into this area at civilian and commercial tankers.

And the U.S. effort to bring more assets into theater are designed to blockade Tehran's ports and force them to reconsider. So if Tehran is trying to shut down global shipping, the U.S. is now trying to shut down Iranian shipping while also now trying to find a more creative way to get the tankers and vessels that are on the opposite side of the Persian Gulf free and safe to come out.

And right now that is much more of a vibes thing than a policy thing. But again, keep your eyes and ears peered on The Persian Gulf May 4th moving forward to see who tests that, who believes that and how the Iranians respond.

KINKADE: I mean, it certainly seems clear that Iran still retains the ability to disrupt shipping through the Strait of Hormuz and therefore influence global energy prices. Does that mean that Tehran essentially holds the leverage here of the global markets?

TALEBLU: Not necessarily. The Islamic Republic of Iran could always have fired a $40,000 drone, if not a cheaper drone, from its territory. If that is something that is going to cripple shipping markets, I think, you know, both the United States as well as some Arab countries in the Persian Gulf, as well as the global shipping industry are going to have to have a real rethink about their posture in the region.

But fundamentally I think there is no way out of this straight than through. I think it would be best if the U.S. used the period of the ceasefire which by the way has been extended and the U.S. and Iran continue to pass messages to each other to find a way to actually open up some of the areas that were mined to actually now be putting together a broad international coalition, not necessarily for an escort, but to engage in de mining and have the Iranians test. Will the, you know, the regime fire on international demining mission to clear some of the narrower parts of the strait and perhaps have that physically restore confidence.

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KINKADE: Of course, following the announcement of this U.S. escort mission, prices in terms of oil prices eased slightly. Does that suggest that, you know, markets believe that this operation could potentially reduce the risk or traders simply waiting to see how Iran responds?

TALEBLU: Well, there's a seesaw, particularly for traders, but also for consumers. There's a seesaw effect here. There's Iran actions, there's the President's rhetoric, and there's the great delta in between. So taking a short term snapshot approach, yes, in the immediate response to the launching of this mission, yes, there's a slight easing in terms of price.

But again, we'll have to see how the Iranians respond and how the U.S. responds both politically based on what the President says and kinetically if CENTCOM does anything to see if oil prices spike. And my guess is that if there is a response, there will be a short term spike.

But that's, you know, you touched on something very important here, which is not just during the period of war, but during the period of ceasefire, that the President and the U.S. military mission are highly responsive to external stimuli, particularly markets and media.

And the Islamic Republic's success, to go back to your question about leverage, is not just about firing these projectiles, but turning a conflict that was initially rooted in hard political issues and hard security issues and turning them and transforming them and translating them into issues of energy and economics.

KINKADE: Yes, exactly. Behnam Ben Taleblu, some great analysis there. Thanks for joining us.

TALEBLU: Pleasure. Thank you.

KINKADE: Ukraine is stepping up its attacks on Russian energy and oil targets. On Sunday, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukraine forces struck two Shadow fleet tankers in waters near Russian black seaport.

He also says Ukraine targeted one Baltic seaport and several vessels, including a Russian missile ship, a patrol boat and at least one oil tanker. Ukraine's president says the country's long range capabilities will continue to grow as it hopes to limit, quote, Russia's war potential.

Firefighters in Ukraine responded to a Russian attack in Odesa. That strike killed at least two people and damaged houses and port infrastructure.

Former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani is in hospital in a critical butt stage stable condition. The news came Sunday evening in a statement from his spokesperson, but it did not say why the 81-year-old was hospitalized. Giuliani was dubbed America's mayor after September 11, 2001, that terror attack on New York's Trade Center.

But in later years he became better known as a staunch ally and former personal lawyer of President Donald Trump. The President sent well wishes to Giuliani late Sunday calling him, quote, a true warrior.

Well, still to come, we're tracking the fallout after a wave of attacks against the government in Mali. And now there's word that a former minister has been abducted. More on that next.

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KINKADE: Those are calls for freedom ringing out from Venezuelan migrants rallying in Santiago on Sunday to demand the release of political prisoners. Back home, protesters accused Venezuelan authorities of repression and stage change demonstrations of imprisonment.

This rally was part of a broader series of global protests backed by the opposition leader Maria Corina Machado.

Well, tensions continue to escalate between the U.S. and Cuba as President Trump claims he could take over the island at any time. CNN's Patrick Oppmann has the latest from Havana.

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PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Retort between the U.S. and Cuban governments grows more heated by the day, almost to the point where it would seem these two countries are on a wartime footing. Donald Trump is claiming that he is ready to take Cuba immediately, that he could send military assets, a U.S. navy aircraft carrier here, and that would cause the Cuban essentially raise a white flag and give up. That is something that Cuban officials are angrily rejecting.

When you see Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel saying if he's willing to give his life, that Cubans would fight back against any kind of military aggression by the United States against this island, it's also blasting the Trump administration for placing more economic sanctions on the island's government.

You're already dealing with a pressure campaign that's been really unprecedented in recent years between Cuba and U.S. governments where almost all oil shipments have ceased in silence is strangled an already failing economy. You see less cars on the road, blackouts that last longer and longer.

And while the Cuban and U.S. governments supposedly negotiating, there's little progress to show for those negotiations. And you see Cuban officials saying more and more regularly that they are preparing for a U.S. invasion, that they are willing to lay down their lives, and under no circumstances will the U.S. be able to take Cuba. Of course, for Cubans caught in the middle of this war of words, the concern is that it could turn into an actual war. Patrick Oppmann, CNN, Havana.

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KINKADE: Well, an Atlanta area high school student who says he had no clue there was a pending deportation order against him has been sent Back to Honduras. CNN's Rafael Romo spoke exclusively with the young man now living with his grandmother in the city of where he was born.

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RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is the first time the teenager speaks publicly since he was arrested in suburban Atlanta and subsequently placed in ICE custody less than three months after his 18th birthday.

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Axel Gerardo Archaga Rios was deported from the United States to his native Honduras on Thursday night. A country the 18-year-old barely remembers because he left his birthplace with his mother when he was only four years old. The teenager says a police officer in Dunwoody, Georgia, where he lived with his family and went to high school, arrested him in late March.

Dunwoody police told CNN in a statement that Achaga Rios was pulled over for running a stop sign in a spokesman said he did not have a driver's license. Archaga Rios told me from Tegucigalpa, the Honduran capital, that it was not until he was booked in the Kalb County jail that he was informed he had a final order of removal pending against him.

AXEL ARCHAGA RIOS, HONDURAN STUDENT DEPORTEE: I was eating lunch and then I come back from lunch to my cell and then they asked me if I was Axel Archaga Rios. I told them yes and then they told me -- they took me to the intake office and they told me that Trump did not want me in the States no more, that I'm being deported to Honduras.

ROMO: In a statement to CNN, the Department of Homeland Security said that Archaga Rios illegally entered the U.S. on June 25, 2014, near the Rio Grande Valley in Texas and was released into the country by the Obama administration. An immigration judge issued him a final order of removal on September 1, 2015.

Immigration attorney Alejandro Cornejo tried to stop the deportation by asking Immigration and Customs Enforcement to consider asylum petition filed by the teenager's mother that was denied for reasons that had nothing to do with her son.

ALEJANDRO CORNEJO, IMMIGRATION LAWYER: Axel's mom is a victim of domestic violence. She was forced to leave the state and move to Georgia. All the documentation that she received from the immigration judge in Florida she never received.

RIOS: Everything just flips upside down in less than a month. And then next thing I knew I was being deported to Honduras.

ROMO: Archaga Rios says he lost almost 30 pounds in detention and had to see a doctor to be treated for what appears to be a skin infection. But all of that pales, he says, when compared to the pain of being torn apart from his family and the only life he ever knew. Rafael Romo, CNN, Atlanta.

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KINKADE: We're going to take a quick break. We'll be right back with much more news in just a moment.

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KINKADE: Welcome back. I'm Lynda Kinkade. Three people are dead, several others seriously ill after a suspected Hantavirus outbreak on a cruise ship. The ship is Dutch in origin and reportedly traveling up the western coast of Africa.

The World Health Organization says it is conducting an investigation into that outbreak and that at least one case has been confirmed so far. One patient is in intensive care and the WHO is working to evacuate two other passengers experiencing symptoms.

There is no treatment or cure for Hunter virus, which is typically linked to exposure to infected rodents, but it can also be spread amongst humans as a severe respiratory illness.

A rescue operation is underway in Morocco after two U.S. service members were reported missing during a key training exercise on Saturday. U.S. Africa Command says the service members went missing near the city of Tantan, Morocco, on May 2.

The U.S. military says it is using ground, air and maritime assets to search for the missing personnel. The joint exercise, known as Africa Line 2026, is the largest U.S. military exercise in Africa and features participation of several north and Western African nations. The situation is currently under investigation.

Mali has been rocked by widespread violence in recent days. Armed men have abducted a former Mali minister and critic of the current military authority. It comes after one of the biggest coordinated attacks the country has seen in recent years, jihadist and separatist forces have been striking cities across the country. Mali's defense minister was killed about a week ago. The violence has residents terrified.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (trough translator): The market has not returned to its usual state. There are also difficulties with supplies. People cannot get to the places where goods are supposed to come from. And even in those areas themselves, there are difficulties. That is what is affecting us greatly today.

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KINKADE: Joining me now from Senegal is Jean-Herve Jezequel, the project director for the Sahel at the International Crisis Group. Thanks so much for your time.

JEAN-HERVE JEZEQUEL, PROJECT DIRECTOR FOR SAHEL, INTERNATIONAL CRISIS GROUP: Thank you for having me.

KINKADE: So we've just seen one of the most coordinated waves of attacks in Mali in years, hitting multiple regions. Just speak to the significance of what's happening.

JEZEQUEL: Oh, clearly that's a turning moment in Mali. You know, there was a new alliance between different groups, between the Tuareg separatists, the Tuareg people from the northern part of Mali, and, you know, the jihadists. And they've been able to organize a series of attacks to kill the Ministry of Defense. And they're putting unprecedented level of pressure on the current authorities.

Everybody is afraid now that, you know, the next phase for them could be to seize power and possibly to also force a kind of regime change in Mali.

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KINKADE: And so in terms of what we've seen so far, last week, Mali's defense minister was killed. This week, a former education minister and a prominent opposition figure was abducted.

To what extent are these two incidences related? And can you speak to what we know about them?

JEZEQUEL: Yes. So, you know, the -- Mountaga Tall, you know, the former minister was arrested yesterday night by, you know, unidentified armed men it's very likely that state forces have arrested him as they have been arrested other prominent politicians in the country and in Bamako, the capital, lately.

You know, after the series of attacks by jihadists, you know, the government and their military authorities, the government is afraid that a coalition of politicians and possibly a few army officers could organize a kind of a counter-coup to seize power and possibly to seize or to start, a negotiation with the jihadists.

So they're trying to arrest any figures that could oppose them and that could organize this kind of opposition to them.

KINKADE: Of course, Russian-backed forces and Malian units have both been heavily engaged in this. Yet these attacks are continuing on this scale. What does that suggest about the limits of external military support and stabilizing Mali?

JEZEQUEL: Yes. So, you know, the Russians, they've helped the authorities in Mali to retake control of some of some cities in the north a few years ago. But now it's the reverse situation that is developing. There have been kicked out of the -- of the -- of the same cities last week. They have been forced to evacuate the city of Kidal, which is the stronghold of the -- of the rebellion.

So it's showing the limitation of the security partnership with Russia. To be honest, you know, they have a few thousand people to be deployed in a country that is the size of Texas.

So it's impossible for the Russians to actually make a real difference against a rural insurgency that have been developing now for over a decade. And that is, you know, developing in different parts of the countries.

They are not leaving Mali but they are kind of reorganizing, especially we believe that they're trying to protect the regime and to reorganize their forces around Bamako, the capital.

KINKADE: And so given the scale of the violence we are seeing across Mali and the wider Sahel, how close is this conflict to becoming a regional instability zone rather than a country-specific crisis?

JEZEQUEL: Yes, that's a very good question. You know, the Jihadis in recent years have started to expand beyond Mali and even beyond the Sahel. They have affected some coastal countries like Benin.

You know, a few months ago, they organized their first attack. Even in Nigeria, which is, you know, the largest country in west Africa.

But to be honest, I think that right now the objective is really to focus on Mali. It's a big objective for them. You know, the capital is pretty huge. It's multiple millions of people living there.

So I think that in the coming months, you know, they're going to focus on Mali and consolidate, you know, their objectives there.

It's in the coming years that, you know, people are afraid that and neighbors of, of Mali and neighbors of Sahel are afraid that they could continue their expansion.

And in this sense, you know, this is going to be a regional crisis.

KINKADE: Jean-Herve Jezequel, we appreciate your time today. Thanks so much for joining us.

JEZEQUEL: Thank you.

KINKADE: Well, CNN NEWSROOM will be right back after a quick break. Stay with us.

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KINKADE: Welcome back.

Now to the dramatic video of a moment, a Boeing 767 jet collided with a bakery delivery truck in New Jersey. And keep in mind, the truck driver is ok.

Clearly, the truck isn't ok. Police say the tire of the United Airlines flight clipped the tractor trailer and a straight line as it passed over a highway.

The driver was able to safely pull over and suffered only minor injuries from broken glass.

The plane landed on a runway that starts less than 400 feet from the edge of the busy highway. The National Transportation Safety Board says it will investigate it.

The BTS Army is celebrating the return of their beloved K-Pop group. More than 100 fans gathered in Mexico City on Sunday for a fan-led BTS event.

[01:39:46] KINKADE: The festivities included professional and amateur K-Pop dancers performing the band's routines. The South Korean boy band took a break so members could complete their mandatory military service.

And fans expect today's event will build excitement ahead of the group's upcoming concerts next week.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The whole army is coming together and putting on huge events. Everyone is incredibly excited. The energy is through the roof and next week is their concert in Mexico City.

It's going to be crazy, crazy, crazy. We are here to cheer them on.

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KINKADE: And cheer them on they will.

Thanks so much for joining us. I'm Lynda Kinkade.

Stick around, "WORLDSPORT" is up next.

And then CNN NEWSROOM continues with my lovely colleague Rosemary church at the top of the hour.

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