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Sources Say, Trump to Give Iran a Time Limit for a Unified Proposal; Iran Says It Seized Two Ships in the Strait of Hormuz; Officials Say, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Testifies on Capitol Hill. Aired 10-10:30a ET

Aired April 22, 2026 - 10:00   ET

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

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[10:00:00]

PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now, breaking news, ships attacked. Iran says it seized two ships in the Strait of Hormuz and the U.S. boarded another Iranian ship. This as President Trump extends the ceasefire after Iranians were a no-show for peace talks. So, where do negotiations stand?

Plus, growing mystery, the FBI is now investigating at least ten cases of scientists who have died or disappeared in recent years, and they all have ties to sensitive nuclear and aerospace research.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: One-on-one with the Virginia governor, Abigail Spanberger. I'll speak live to the first term governor as voters approve a new Congressional district map in Virginia, giving Democrats a major boost ahead of the November midterm elections.

And later, melting ice. Scientists are raising the alarm about how fast the ice is disappearing in the Arctic Ocean. Today is Earth Day and CNN's Bill Weir will join us live from an iceberg.

Welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer with Pamela Brown, and you're in The Situation Room.

BROWN: And we are following multiple breaking news stories this morning. At any moment, the Supreme Court will release opinions and we're still awaiting key decisions on birthright citizenship, voting rights, and President Trump's firing of federal officials.

Also Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is on Capitol Hill. In moments, he'll come face-to-face with Senator Bill Cassidy setting up fireworks over RFK Jr.'s rhetoric on vaccines.

And Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is also on the Hill today, and this comes just days after he said, well, Americans may be sounding grim on the economy. They're actually, quote, quite buoyant.

And on Iran, President Trump says the ceasefire is extended but the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports is still in effect, and Iran has now seized at least two ships and reportedly targeted a third in the critical Strait of Hormuz. Wolf? BLITZER: Let's begin our coverage this hour with CNN's Alayna Treene over at the White House. Alayna, I understand you have some new reporting about the president's timeline. What are you learning?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right, Wolf and Pam. I've been catching up with my sources here this morning, and essentially I'm told that the ceasefire extension that the president announced yesterday afternoon, around 4:00 P.M., he didn't give it, I should note, a definitive timeline when he announced it, saying that he wants to allow the Iranians to have more time to come up with what he characterized would be a unified response.

But I'm told that he really wants to give them a narrow timeframe for this. There have been discussions going on behind the scenes throughout the administration about the concern of letting the ceasefire drag out and really giving the Iranians an opportunity to try to drag these talks out further.

Now, it was not immediate clear, my sources said, if the president had communicated, you know, that kind of brief window that he wants to give the Iranians time to get their side together, to get their proposal together. They communicated that short timeline to them.

But all to say, I think, what we've been seeing play out over the last 24 hours with this extension of the ceasefire, I think, does speak to what we've been reporting now for several days, which is that the Trump administration, the president himself, really does want to settle this diplomatically.

I'd also note that he didn't want to extend the ceasefire further. You saw him say that just as recently as yesterday. But there's also a heavy belief within the White House that they could potentially get a second round of talks on the ground and running in the next few days if the Iranians really do feel this pressure to come to the table. And so that's part of what we're seeing play out.

But, really, the White House is in this wait-and-see period waiting for the Iranians. You know, they believe there are different factions kind of warring within the Iranian government right now, waiting for them to kind of get their points in one place so that they can move forward, in their minds, hopefully to push toward a finalized deal.

BLITZER: And I take it, Alayna, that Vice President J.D. Vance is still here in Washington. No plans for him to fly over to Islamabad, Pakistan, anytime soon. Is that right?

[10:05:00]

TREENE: That's right. No, I mean, he was supposed to leave yesterday morning. We had broken the news that that was no longer happening. And so, we are kind of -- he's in a wait-and-see period too.

I think the goal still, just to be clear, is to try and see if they can get a second round of in-person talks, you know, back up and try to reschedule that. But there's so much that still needs to happen, particularly on the Iranian side. Really, the way it's been described to me is they're waiting to see if they can get a proposal together that can allow for these negotiations and hopefully in-person negotiations to continue.

BLITZER: All right. Alayna Treene at the White House for us, Alayna, we'll stay in very close touch with you. Thank you very, very much. Pamela?

BROWN: All right, Wolf. Let's go to CNN's Nic Robertson and Islamabad, Pakistan. Nic, this is all unfolding very quickly this morning.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes. I think there are several things happening here all at the same time. The president said there's divisions within inside the Iranian leadership. We are absolutely seeing that play out in real time. On the one hand, you have ongoing diplomacy here in Islamabad, the Iranian ambassador going in to meet the prime minister. And on the other hand, you have the IRGC claiming that it has taken control of a number of ships in the Strait of Hormuz, at least one ship reporting an IRGC vessel coming up, an IRGC gunboat coming alongside of it.

No radio communications. The gunboat starts shooting up that container ship. It's severe damage to the bridge. We understand no one injured there. And another ship in the same sort of area in the Strait of Hormuz was not far from the Iranian coastline also shot up. Again that ship, the crew you know, not, not damaged.

But the IRGC here, the military, if you will, the hardliners in Iran, are signaling what we are hearing from the politicians are saying in Iran that the U.S. blockade on the Strait of Hormuz must be lifted. And President Trump was very clear last night when he, in his Truth Social post, extended the ceasefire, he also said, I'm not lifting the blockade on the Strait of Hormuz.

Now, how does that play into what's happening in Iran with those leaders there who are the more moderates, we might call, and who want to get into the talks? Well, we heard from the foreign minister there who was a number two at the talks last week, saying that, absolutely, the United States needs to lift the blockade on the Strait of Hormuz. It's clear, President Trump's made that clear, that's not going to happen.

We had the leader of those negotiations saying that -- from the Iranian side -- saying that they weren't going to come into the talks under the shadow of threats.

Now, the perception here in the region was clear, that President Trump wanted to use the end of the ceasefire as a lever in the talks as pressure on the Iranians. So, it does appear by extending the ceasefire, the president's taken off that pressure point. However, the Iranians have come out and said, we didn't ask for that ceasefire to be removed.

The diplomatic maneuvers here that we see in this city would indicate there's circumstantial evidence to suggest that the Iranians may well have asked for that ceasefire that was put forward by the prime minister that the foreign minister here yesterday, the field marshall here contacted President Trump about, and he acted upon.

But the diplomacy on the ground is playing out here, and the hope here is contacts I talked to that the talks can still happen, that optimism is still here.

BROWN: All right. Nic Robertson in Pakistan, thank you. Wolf?

BLITZER: All right, Pamela.

We're learning new details right now about the gunman who opened fire at a very popular tourist site in Mexico.

Video captured the moment when shots began ringing out at the Teotihuacan Pyramids and sent people running. Officials say the 27- year-old gunman appeared to have planned the attack, visiting the site several times before the deadly incident, and showed signs of, quote, psychological issues. Officials also say that the government had handwritten notes related to the Columbine attack, which took place 27 years ago to the day of Monday's shooting.

The shooting, by the way, which left a one tourist dead and at least a dozen others injured has shaken the country of Mexico this morning. An American tourist describes the chaos.

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GREG MAGADINI, AMERICAN TOURIST: My friends were still up on the platform, and everyone including them were all lying down, prone on their stomachs, and the only person standing was the gunman and he was aiming sort of haphazardly at tourists on the right hand side and turn around and aimed at tourists on the left hand side. And while he was aiming the other direction, my two friends also jumped off the platform to the lower ledge as well.

[10:10:05]

That was -- what's the scariest part of it all is that you're essentially trapped up there.

BLITZER: Mexico's president says the country has never witnessed anything like this before. Pamela?

BROWN: It's really terrifying.

All right, coming up here in The Situation Room, a big win for Democrats in Virginia after voters approved a new map that could have major implications in the November midterms.

We'll be joined by Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger just ahead.

BLITZER: and we're also watching Capitol Hill for what could be another very fiery day for RFK Jr., as he faces the man who cast the key votes -- the key vote, I should say, to confirm him as HHS secretary.

Stay with us, lots going on. You're in The Situation Room. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:15:00]

BLITZER: Breaking News, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps tells state media it seized two vessels in the Strait of Hormuz and transferred them to Iranian waters. Ship tracking data show the vessels appearing stationary just off the Iranian coast. All this just hours after President Trump called off talks with Iran in Pakistan, at least for now, and extended the ceasefire.

Joining us to discuss what's going on, CNN Senior Military Analyst, retired Admiral James Stavridis. He's the former NATO supreme allied commander. He's also the vice chairman for the Carlisle Group, an international investment firm. Admiral, always good to have you here in The Situation Room.

Sources telling us that the U.S. sent a list of broad deal points they wanted the Iranians to agree to in the next round of negotiations, but that days went by without receiving a response from the Iranians. With that in mind, was the president's decision strategically wise or are there greater risks now?

ADM. JAMES STAVRIDIS (RET.), CNN SENIOR MILITARY ANALYST: I believe that this is Negotiation 101 with the Iranians. And you know this, Wolf. You've seen this movie so many times. They take forever. They have a very splintered leadership, shall we say, at the moment, no pun intended, given the strikes. They have difficulty getting to decisions in the best of times. Now, they've got a government that's literally underground, hard to communicate with each other. It's just going to take time.

So, when I put that frame against these negotiations, I think the president made the right call, kind of take your foot off the military gas pedal, but keep your foot down on the diplomatic gas pedal and let's see what the Iranians come back within the next few days. Bottom line, it's going to take time.

BLITZER: It certainly will. President Trump has been holding firmly in his decision to maintain the U.S. Navy's blockade of the Iranian ports, which Iran views as an act of war itself and in conflict with the current ceasefire. Considering that, how do these talks proceed?

STAVRIDIS: I think the decision to maintain the blockade is the right one. That keeps pressure on, but at the same time, President Trump is not launching those massive military strikes against the electric grid, against the bridges, the infrastructures.

So, it's a delicate balance between those two. But the way the talks proceed is each side is going to continue to pass messages back and forth. That's going to happen off-stage, Wolf. That's sotto voce. What's happening publicly is going to continue to be the kind of maximalist rhetoric you get out of the Iranians in particular. But, frankly, both sides have a public posture. I think behind the scenes, they'll continue to pass messages back and forth. Here's what you want to watch. In terms of when will this get to the next step. It's pretty obvious. It's the physical location of the negotiators. So, when does Vice President Vance actually go to Islamabad? When does Steve Witkoff? When does Jared Kushner? And, conversely, when do the Iranian negotiators actually get in place? Watch them.

And, number two, continue to watch the strait. And is any traffic flowing? Not at the moment. So, we are in a bit of a stasis. But, again, I remain where I've been, which is that, ultimately, I think it's a better than even chance, maybe as high as 60 percent we do get to a deal because both sides need one. There's a 40 percent chance the wheels could come off this thing and we go back to full-on battle stations. Let's hope we don't get there.

BLITZER: Yes, we shall see fairly soon, I suspect. Footage from Iranian state media, Admiral, show Iran wheeling out what it said was a ballistic missile during a pro-regime rally in Tehran last night amid the news that talks with the U.S. faltered. What does that signal to you, Admiral?

STAVRIDIS: It signals the Iranians telling us that, you know what? We took your best smash mouth shot and we've still got capacity. And that's part of this sort of public posturing you're going to see out of both sides. And I wouldn't be surprised, frankly, on the U.S. side, Wolf, to see more conversation about those 10,000 U.S. Marines and paratroopers who are either in the region or getting close to it.

[10:20:06]

Again, both sides are going to publicly posture. What's important is what's happening off-stage right now. Again, I think better than even chance we'll get to a deal, but look for more of this posturing on both sides.

BLITZER: Admiral James Stavridis, as always, thank you very much for joining us.

STAVRIDIS: Thanks Wolf.

BLITZER: Pamela?

BROWN: All right, Wolf. Coming up here in The Situation Room right now, RFK Jr. is back on Capitol Hill facing a man who helped to confirm him in back-to-back hearings. The problem, Senator Bill Cassidy says the HHS secretary hasn't kept the promises he made to him. What we're watching for, up next.

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[10:25:00]

BROWN: Breaking News, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is on Capitol Hill right now, and he's expected to be grilled by lawmakers on two separate committees today. All eyes are also on Louisiana Senator Bill Cassidy, the senator who cast the key vote to confirm Kennedy last year, you may recall, after securing a series of promises from him. The problem, he says, Kennedy has failed to keep those promises setting up what's expected to be a fiery line of questioning today.

Let's go live now to CNN Medical Correspondent Meg Tirrell. Meg, what do we expect to hear from RFK Jr. in today's hearings?

MEG TIRRELL, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Pam, this is the sixth and seventh hearings of seven that we've heard from RFK Jr. over the last week, and these are really considered some of the biggest for some of those reasons you laid out.

So, this morning, he's before the Senate Finance Committee. And as you can see, this just got underway. The questioning just began. So, we did hear his opening statement and it's really been focused on a lot of themes he has tried to focus on all week, some of the more politically popular topics, like nutrition, like drug pricing, focusing on chronic disease. And really he seems to be trying to stay away from things like vaccine policy, which are seen as much less popular.

This afternoon, he is going before the Senate Health Committee. And, of course, that's a very important committee for a number of reasons. Bill Cassidy, a doctor, is the chair of that committee, and they, of course, have clashed before, but also because this committee is going to be the one that will hold a confirmation hearing and vote on the CDC director nominee, Dr. Erica Schwartz.

And there's bound to be questioning about how RFK Jr. is going to interact with her because she's seen as a much more traditional and solid public health pick than other folks that he has favored for that role in the past.

Take a listen to some questioning we heard yesterday about this topic.

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REP. RAUL RUIZ (D-CA): Mr. Secretary, Dr. Schwartz -- do you agree with Schwartz and her vaccine position?

ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR., HHS SECRETARY: I'm putting a billion --

RUIZ: No. Mr. Secretary, if Dr. Schwartz is confirmed, will you commit on the record today to implement whatever vaccine guidance she issues without interference?

KENNEDY: I'm not going to make that kind of commitment.

RUIZ: Because you probably won't. You'll probably fire her, as well as you did Director Monarez, because you will not accept the recommendations based on science.

KENNEDY: You're getting your --

RUIZ: Mr. Secretary --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TIRRELL: So, Secretary Kennedy saying there he will not make that kind of commitment to following the vaccine policy guidance of the CDC director nominee.

And, of course, they're citing there Dr. Susan Monarez, who had been the previous CDC director, held that seat for less than a month and was removed from the post over what seemed to be disputes with Secretary Kennedy over vaccine policy. Kennedy though saying in the hearing yesterday he fired her because she said she was untrustworthy, something that she has disputed.

So, Pam, we are expecting to hear more about this line of questioning because of so many people's concerns that while this is a very solid public health choice for CDC director, they are wondering whether she will have autonomy under RFK Jr.

We should also note that the same committee is responsible for holding a vote on the surgeon general nominee, Dr. Casey Means. They have not held one over quite a long period of time. Pam?

BROWN: All right. Meg Tirrell, thanks for that reporting. We appreciate it.

Also happening now, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is testifying before the Senate Appropriation Subcommittee. His appearance comes as consumer sentiment has dropped to its lowest level in more than 70 years.

Right now, according to AAA, the average price for a gallon of gas is $4.2 cents. Prices are dropping slightly, and the treasury secretary says he's optimistic.

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SCOTT BESSENT, TREASURY SECRETARY: And I am optimistic that during the summer we will see gas with a three in front of it sooner rather than later.

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BROWN: Now, despite that optimism, Energy Secretary Chris Wright said on Sunday that gas prices may stay above $3 until next year. Wolf?

BLITZER: Also new this morning, authorities in Georgia now say a man accused in a killing spree last week in the Atlanta area has died in custody. Officials say the 26-year-old was found unresponsive in his jail cell last night. They do not think foul play was involved, but an internal review is now underway.

One of the three people he's believed to have killed, 40-year-old Lauren Bullis, worked for the Homeland Security Department.

And coming up here in The Situation Room, the Virginia governor, Abigail Spanberger, standing by to join us live one day after voters in her state approved a new map that could change the balance of power in Congress.

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