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CNN International: Trump Contradicts Vanice, Says Iran's Nuclear Program Top Goal; Trump Threatens To Bomb Oman If It Interferes In Hormuz; Iran's IRGC Denies Trump's Claim Of Backchannel Talks. Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired August 18, 2026 - 04:00   ET

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

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[04:00:35]

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN ANCHOR: Hi everybody. I'm Polo Sandoval live in New York, and this is CNN Newsroom. The war between the U.S. and Iran, it is at a stalemate as a deadline for peace deal expires. And now President Donald Trump is threatening to bomb a key Gulf ally if they intervene.

Plus, the U.S. President doubling down on his controversial decision to scale back military drills with South Korea. And it's raising concerns about U.S. security interests in the region.

And nearly 30 years after Tupac Shakur was gunned down, the man accused of orchestrating that murder of the hip hop legend goes on trial. Get you an update.

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

SANDOVAL: And we're beginning this hour with the White House that it's as it's sending mixed messages about the top priority in the war with Iran. President Trump undercut some of his own top officials when he said that this was the U.S.'s main objective.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: Well, they want to make a deal, but they're not going to make the kind of a deal that I feel is necessary. Look, we're in there for one reason. Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon. You understand that. Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon and they won't have a nuclear weapon.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: And this comes after U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance said just last week that the administration has two war goals. They include maintaining the flow of oil and gas from Gulf countries.

President Trump is also threatening to bomb Oman if it, quote, "Gets in the way of efforts in the Strait of Hormuz." Iran says that its talks with Oman on the Strait of Hormuz are complex, but they are ongoing. And all of this comes as a 60-day deadline for a U.S.-Iran peace talks has expired. CNN's Paula Hancocks is following the latest developments from Abu Dhabi.

So, Paula, this is far from the first time that this kind of threat comes from the U.S. president.

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's right, Polo. Just back in May, the president had a similar threat for Oman and that was at a time when emerged that Oman was talking to Iran about possible fees for ships that were transiting the Strait of Hormuz. So, it's not a surprise that the U.S. President would say this, but at the same time it sort of is because this is an ally that has been decades a strong friend of the United States. And Oman has also really built itself up to have a mediating role in the region saying it's willing to talk to anyone, including Iran, it acted as a mediator when Iran was talking to the United States before the war started, it was trying to prevent the war from happening.

Now we haven't had a response from Oman itself. It's probably unlikely that we will hear any official response to either of the threats that have come from the U.S. President. But we are hearing also President Trump saying to Fox News that the Trump administration has built up a back channel with the Revolutionary Guards in Iran when it comes to trying to secure a peace deal. Shortly after this was announced, we did hear from a spokesperson for the Revolutionary Guard saying that's simply not true, that there is no back channel as far as they are concerned.

But we're hearing consistently from the US President now that he is not in a rush, that he is supporting pressure on Iran, trying to isolate Iran economically and certainly doesn't seem to be feeling any pressure, at least publicly, to push this process forward, even as that 60-day window to secure the peace deal from the Memorandum of Understanding has now closed on Monday.

Iran and Oman are in talks, we understand, to figure out how the Strait of Hormuz will be administered in the future. We did hear from the spokesperson of the Iranian Foreign Ministry. Let's listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ESMAEIL BAGHAEI, IRANIAN FOREIGH MINISTRY SPOKESPERSON (voiceover): Talks between Iran and Oman are continuing seriously regarding the taste of a joint statement. Views are being exchanged and both sides have so far shown that they are determined to formulate a mechanism that ensures interest and concern of both sides while at the same time ensuring the relevant considerations concerning international shipping.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[04:05:03]

HANCOCKS: The U.K. Maritime Agency also saying that one vessel has been struck in the Strait of Hormuz by an unidentified projectile, one casualty on board, showing just how key it is that there is agreement in the near future. Polo.

SANDOVAL: Paula Hancocks, thank you so much for that live report from Abu Dhabi.

Now to Israel, where the upcoming election is certainly complicating U.S. efforts to push through President Trump's 15-point peace plan in Gaza. Let's go now to CNN's Oren Liebermann, who's at the latest developments from Jerusalem.

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN JERUSALEM BUREAU CHIEF: U.S. envoy Jared Kushner held a meeting that lasted more than four hours on Monday afternoon with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu trying to forge some way forward on the stalled Gaza cease fire plan. President Donald Trump put forward the latest iteration of that plan at the end of July, a 15-point plan that Trump hailed as a major breakthrough for Gaza, but that was supposed to move forward an earlier 20-point plan from back in October that has stalled with little progress on that.

Well, now the Trump administration with Kushner here, is trying to move that forward. Notably, before Kushner met Netanyahu, he met the leader of Hamas, Khalil Al Hayya, in Egypt in a rare meeting between the two. In fact, the last time the two met was to finalize the previous 20-point plan back in October.

So, it's very noteworthy that Kushner met with Hamas again as he's trying to find a pathway forward here. But according to an Israeli source familiar with the meeting between the two, Kushner tried to pressure and press Netanyahu to go along with the plan and to, quote, not create obstacles as the U.S. is trying to move this forward.

But according to that source, Netanyahu said it would be, quote, "problematic" for him to be seen making any concessions towards Gaza ahead of an election, especially because the Israeli public would largely view those as concessions towards Hamas as Netanyahu is trying to appeal to a right wing voter base ahead of those elections. And he has been trailing in multiple polls with about two months to go until those elections arrive here.

Now, one of the other people inside those meetings was Nikolai Mladinov, the director general of the Board of Peace and a Board of Peace official as well as Netanyahu's office put forward a much more positive readout of the meetings, calling the discussions deep discussions about how to move forward here. They agreed on creating two working groups, one on sanitation and one on disarmament.

But crucially, the Board of Peace largely sided with Israel, saying that before Israel is required to pull back any of its troops Hamas has to fully disarm, giving up not only its heavy weaponry but its light weapons as well. That has been Israel's demand. And Netanyahu rejected the Trump 15-point peace plan largely because of that, saying Israel would not take any steps until Hamas completely disarmed.

Now, Hamas has from its perspective, agreed to a disarmament plan, but made clear that it's not moving forward with that unilaterally. In other words, if it's supposed to take steps towards disarmament, it demands a complete halt to the near daily Israeli attacks in Gaza and a sequenced withdrawal of Israeli forces. But Israel and now the Board of Peace have made clear that Hamas has to act first, completing its disarmament before anything is really demanded of Israel according to the cease fire plan. And that means progress here as it has been the last 10 months may be very difficult to make, especially ahead of an Israeli election. Oren Lieberman, CNN in Jerusalem.

SANDOVAL: All right, let's stay in Jerusalem and head over to Yaakov Katz. Now, he's a co-founder of the Middle East America Dialogue, an author and also senior columnist at the Jerusalem Post. Yaakov, great to see you again.

YAAKOV KATZ, CO-FOUNDER, MIDDLE EAST AMERICAN DIALOGUE: Thank you, Polo.

SANDOVAL: Let's pick up on where we left off just now as were hearing that report from my colleague in terms of the position that Benjamin Netanyahu finds himself and as he seems to face this double dose of pressure. On one hand he's obviously hearing from the United States, just met with their envoy and at the same time he also continues to feel the pressure of his hardline coalition back in Israel. So, what do you see as the options for Netanyahu if he wishes to show any sign of goodwill?

KATZ: Well, I think, Polo, what we're seeing from Netanyahu is what we've long seen from Netanyahu. And this is the MO of the Israeli prime minister buy time. Buy time, stall. Try to get as much leverage as you can on both sides.

On the one hand, be seen not as the obstacle to advancing Donald Trump's 15-point plan, but be seen as being cooperative. You don't want to have another front with Donald Trump. Israel feels that it's been sidelined already on the Iranian negotiations. You just spoke before about the expiration of that 60-day timeline. Israel's not sitting at the table right now.

It was the partner in the beginning. It's not there right now because of some tension. He doesn't want more tension with the US President, especially going into an election.

[04:10:04]

On that other side is the fact that he can't be seen as capitulating right now or surrendering to Hamas demands on the eve of an election. He's already down in the polls. They're not smiling at him right now.

According to the polls that are being taken, he's not going to win in the election on October 27. So therefore, he needs to shore up support within his right-wing base constituency. The way to do that is not to be seen as surrendering or making concessions to Hamas. So, he wants to be able to buy time, play nice with the Americans, but also not show his voters that he's doing something that they wouldn't like.

SANDOVAL: An Israeli source familiar with the discussion between Kushner and Netanyahu, who also told CNN that the Israeli Prime Minister was warned not to create any sort of obstacles to the Trump backed plan. And I hear your point about him essentially just stalling, but with each day that he stalls, does he risk further straining that relationship that he's had with and Trump, a relationship that's certainly been tested in recent weeks?

KATZ: It's definitely been tested, Polo. And he does run the risk. Right. If Trump, for example, loses again his patience with Netanyahu. And just take a crazy example, it's not so crazy, right? Donald Trump wakes up tomorrow morning and decides to tweet out to the world or make a post on Truth Social. I think that it's time for new leadership in Israel that could be very damaging for Benjamin Netanyahu.

But on the other -- so that's why Netanyahu really wants to try to get along. He doesn't want to be seen as the obstacle. And I have to say something else.

It's important that Israel not be seen as the obstacle. Maybe there's a chance this can work. Maybe the disarmament of Hamas is real. No Israeli really believes that this is a possibility.

But on the off chance that it is real, we should try to see that it goes through. And Israel shouldn't be the one to block it from happening.

But what is telling is the fact that you had Jared Kushner, President's son in law, top envoy for the United States, meeting with the mastermind, the leader of Hamas. This is the guy who leads the terrorist organization that carried out the greatest massacre of Jewish people on a single day since the Holocaust back on October 7, 2023. He was the target of an assassination, a strike by Israel last year, as you remember, in Doha, in Qatar, this is a guy who the Americans are meeting out in the open.

This was something that Israel would never have accepted in the past. But right now, Polo, you're not hearing criticism. And I think that's also telling. Israel, trying to keep things quiet, wants to get along with the Americans, wants to give this chance to the 15-point plan, even if there's great skepticism of its success.

SANDOVAL: And, you know, I don't mean to look too far into the future, but if Netanyahu's chances of winning the election are slim to none. Just curious what, in your view? Again, we know a lot can happen between now and then, but what would it look like, for example, if his opposition would be then at the helm? How would negotiations, you think, look under those circumstances?

KATZ: It's really a great question. It's one that Netanyahu actually wants to keep reflecting to the Israeli voters because he wants to say, look, the Americans come with demands. The world pressures Israel to do things. I know how to withstand that pressure. I know how to stand up to it. But the opposition, whether it's Gadi Eisenkot, who's currently the leading contender, or Naftali Bennett, a former prime minister who's now down in the polls but is trying to climb back and also take over from Netanyahu would say, those guys, they would immediately surrender, they would bolt, they would break under the pressure of the Americans. They wouldn't be able to withstand.

I know how to stand up for Israel's security. Is there truth to that? Maybe some kernel of truth, but there's also. Probably not.

But either way, this is becoming an issue for the Israeli political conversation. And because we are in an election campaign right now, everything has to be looked at through that prism, right? His Likud party just yesterday voted in the primaries to select what their list is going to look like in the run and the race for the Knesset, for the Israeli Parliament. Everything today, Polo, you got to look at through the lens of how does it play out for the political survival of Benjamin Netanyahu?

SANDOVAL: No, absolutely. I'm so glad we're having this conversation because it's such important context. It's certainly never too early to start looking into what this -- what these negotiations could look come October, November and perhaps the rest of the year. Yaakov Katz, as always grateful for your analysis. Thank you for your time.

KATZ: Thank you.

SANDOVAL: Well, the U.S. president says that he and North Korea's leader have recently spoken that they understand each other and that their engagement is making things safer. Earlier, Donald Trump posted that his very good relationship with Kim Jong Un is part of the reason that he's scaling back the United States annual joint military exercises with longtime ally South Korea. The drills have been conducted now for over 70 years in an effort to deter North Korean aggression.

[04:15:03]

In fact, not long ago, South Korea's president called a solid alliance, quote, "mutually necessary," but also said that his country needs to get stronger to enhance its value as an ally. More now from CNN's Alayna Treene in Washington.

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: President Donald Trump on Monday continued to defend recent comments he made saying that the U.S. was going to reduce the military exercises that they do with a key ally, some South Korea, instead saying that he believes it would be disrespectful to North Korea's Kim Jong Un if they were to move forward at the same pace previously.

The president was pressed on this during an Oval Office event on Monday and asked specifically about critics who argue that he is doing more on behalf of foreign adversaries than he is for his allies. Listen to the president's response.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I'm making it much safer. You see, I'm actually making it much safer. Kim Jong Un has always treated me with great respect and we met on numerous occasions, actually two primary occasions, spoken and spent time. I understand him, he understands me.

You're doing war games. I get along with him. You know, he didn't like Biden, he didn't like Obama. He didn't like anybody. But I get along with him very well. No, what I'm doing is making things safer. (END VIDEO CLIP)

TREENE: So the president, they're trying to argue that the North Korean dictator has always treated him with respect, that he never liked the president's predecessors, but that he does get along very well with President Donald Trump.

Look, I think what's so interesting is this entire conversation taking place around another big, of course, geopolitical conflict, which is, of course, the war with Iran in the Middle East. North Korea is a nuclear state. It's almost a very similar situation, a picture really of what people in the United States are don't want Iran to become. Specifically, when you look at how the nuclearization of North Korea reshaped the Indo Pacific region And how the U.S. operates, not only the U.S. i should say, but also U.S. allies operate. That is what they're pushing Iran away from.

And so, these comments from the president arguing that he feels like he needs to do right in some respects on North Korea's behalf has been alarming to many people. If you talk to experts and listen to different commentators today.

Now I will also say that, you know, in the same time, the U.S. Carrier in the Indo Pacific is now moving toward Iran, which of course, taking another critical linchpin component of U.S. military assets out of the region and putting them in the Middle East a region, of course, which has dragged down many different past presidents. And all of this comes as there have been questions about whether different allies like South Korea can continue to rely on the U.S. for their help and support at this critical moment.

I would note as well, the president argued on Monday he was pushed by a reporter if there's been any communications between him and North Korea. The president said that the North Korean leader, Kim Jong Un, has responded to some outrage. I just, you know, some context here. Back last year, around an October visit that the president took to Asia, my colleague Kylie Atwood and I had reported that the president and his team were looking at trying to set up a summit. But one of the issues they found was that North Korea had not responded to some of the president outreach.

While the president argued on Monday that they have had some sort of communication, he wasn't clear on how much. But a key question which was asked by CNN in the Oval Office today without answer from the president is did North Korea's leader ask the president to do this and to reduce these joint military exercises? We're still waiting on a word of whether or not that was actually the case. Alayna Treene, CNN, The White House.

SANDOVAL: Still to come. It is week one of the highly anticipated trial against a man accused of plotting Tupac Shakur's murder. Still ahead, what we're learning about Duane Davis after day one of opening statements and testimony.

And also President Trump tries yet again to get back millions of dollars that he was ordered to pay to writer E. Jean Carroll in a sexual abuse and defamation case. And once again, his efforts have failed. We'll explain.

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[04:23:09]

SANDOVAL: Welcome back. The trial is now underway in Las Vegas against Duane Davis. He's the first and only person ever to be charged in the murder of rapper Tupac Shakur in a drive by shooting 30 years ago.

Members of the rapper's family were in the courtroom on Monday as the jury heard opening statements and testimony from four witnesses. Davis is not accused of actually pulling the trigger. Instead, prosecutors alleging that he orchestrated the killing in retaliation for an assault on his nephew.

But the defense is already trying to poke holes in the prosecution's evidence. As CNN's Josh Campbell reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We now have Mr. Davis. He's present in custody with Mr. Sam.

JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): Almost 30 years after rap icon Tupac Shakur was gunned down in Las Vegas, the trial for the man who prosecutors say orchestrated the shooting is at long last underway. Let's bring in the jury, Duane "Keefe D" Davis is the only person to ever be charged in the infamous slaying. Prosecutors say he didn't pull the trigger on September 7, 1996, but was the shot caller that fateful night near the Las Vegas Strip. Prosecutors are calling the 1996 killing an act of revenge.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What he did do was plan the retaliation for the beating of his nephew.

CAMPBELL (voiceover): Surveillance video shows Tupac Shakur leaving the MGM Grand Hotel with Suge Knight, Trevon Lane and others after watching a Mike Tyson fight on the night of the shooting. They run into Davis nephew Orlando Anderson, who was standing alone in the lobby and start attacking him.

Months before, Anderson had pulled a death row records chain off of Trevon Lane's neck at a shopping center near Compton. This escalated tension. The prosecutor said they encountered each other again, this time in Las Vegas. The fight happened about two and a half hours before the shooting, according to the prosecutor.

On Monday, the prosecutor read Excerpts from Davis's 2019 memoir, Compton Street Legend.

[04:25:07]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Them jumping on my nephew gave us the ultimate green light to do something to their.

CAMPBELL (voiceover): While Davis public interviews were also mentioned.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They admits to being the boss. He admits to being in the white Cadillac, and he admits to be part of the murder of Tupac Shakur.

CAMPBELL (voiceover): Defense attorney Michael Sampt warned the jury not to believe his own client's past statements about his role in the incident.

MICHAEL SANFT, ATTORNEY FOR DUANE DAVIS: KTB was known to do this. That's the testimony you're going to hear in this case.

CAMPBELL (voiceover): The defense also argued there's no evidence Davis was in Nevada when Tupac was shot. Telling jurors to determine what is fact and what is fiction.

SANFT: Look for evidence that shows that Keefe D was even in Las Vegas on the night of the fight. Receipts, credit cards, a picture of him standing next to somebody else. There's no evidence at all that man was even at the fight.

CAMPBELL (voiceover): This Davis is now 63 and is the only individual allegedly involved in the murder who is still alive. He's entered a not guilty plea. If convicted, he faces up to life in prison.

SANFT: You have to corroborate everything I say in order for it to be true. What you're going to find is that the state cannot prove to you beyond reasonable doubt the claim that Keefe D had anything to do with a first-degree murder with use of deadly weapons. There's no facts to that matter.

CAMPBELL (voiceover): Josh Campbell, CNN, Las Vegas.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL: Well, the defense has begun presenting its case in the Lindsay Clancy murder trial. She's a Massachusetts mother accused of killing her three young children in 2023. Her lawyers argue that she was suffering from postpartum psychosis and extreme mental illness at the time.

Now for the first time on Monday, the court heard directly from Lindsay's family, including her mother, who says that she witnessed a clear deterioration of her daughter's mental health in the months before the killings.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAULA MUSGROVE, LINSDAY CLANCY'S MOTHER: One particular evening that was disturbing to me was that, I mean, she was afraid. She was afraid to be alone. And she actually asked if she could sleep with me.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When was that?

MUSGROVE: That was late November, early December.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And did she indeed sleep with you on that occasion?

MUSGROVE: She did.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: Lindsay's mother and sister both testified that her condition continued getting worse and that she was having insomnia and suicidal thought in the weeks before the killings. Her mother also recalled the moment that Lindsay told the family that she was afraid of hurting her children.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MUSGROVE: I remember her being very nervous. I remember her saying, I just have to tell you guys something. And then she told us.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What did she tell you?

MUSGROVE: She told us that she had thoughts of harming the children.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: Clancy has pleaded not guilty to three counts of murdering her children.

The U.S. supreme Court has once again refused to consider President Trump's long shot effort to roll back his multimillion-dollar payment to former magazine writer E. Jean Carroll. CNN's Kara Scannel reports from New York.

KARA SCANNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The U.S. supreme Court said for the second time that it would not hear President Donald Trump's appeal of a jury award to E. Jean Carroll. This involves 3.5 million dollars that the jury awarded her after finding that Trump had sexually abused and defamed Carroll for actions in the 1990s. Now this is the second time the Supreme Court has done this. Back in June, they initially said they would not take up the appeal. And at that time, the trial judge allowed for the transfer of $5.6 million that has been held in a court control account that Donald Trump had deposited the money into. They allowed that transfer to E. Jean Carroll.

Trump's lawyers were fighting over whether that transfer was legitimate because they wanted a second chance to go to the U.S. supreme Court to try to get them to take up the case. Now Monday, the court saying that they would not do so and E. Jean Carol's lawyer saying that Trump's efforts now to try to stop this money is moot and that the money is hers in an unrestricted way.

Now this is not the end of the road for Trump's litigation with E. Jean Carroll. A jury separately awarded her $83 million after finding that Trump had defamed her for repeating many of these same statements. And that case is up on appeal. Trump's hoping that Supreme Court will take that up, though there's no timeline of when the Supreme Court will make that decision. Kara Scannell, CNN, New York.

SANDOVAL: Oil prices on the rise again. Just ahead, why we're hearing different stories from industry experts and the Trump administration about what's actually getting through the Strait of Hormuz.

Plus, someone pretending to be the White House chief of staff managed to fool the British prime minister at least for a short while. We're going to explain in a moment. Stay with us. You're watching CNN.

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