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The Situation Room

Iran Cease-Fire Extended; Interview With Gov. Abigail Spanberger (D-VA). Aired 10:30a-11p ET

Aired April 22, 2026 - 10:30   ET

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

[10:30:00]

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[10:34:25]

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: New this morning, Democrats nationwide are celebrating after Virginia voters approved the new congressional maps that could potentially boost the party's chances of taking back the majority in the House of Representatives in the upcoming midterm elections.

Virginia becomes yet the latest state to approve a ballot measure that empowers the legislature to redraw its political maps. An independent commission previously controlled the process. Democrats now control six of Virginia's 11 congressional districts, but under the new maps approved yesterday, they could win 10.

Joining us now, the Democratic governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia, Abigail Spanberger.

[10:35:01]

Governor, thanks so much for joining us.

What was your immediate reaction when you learned last night that voters had approved the redistricting referendum that you supported?

GOV. ABIGAIL SPANBERGER (D-VA): So I was not surprised.

(AUDIO GAP) referendum, voting yes and passing it, because, as I have been out across Virginia, whether I'm out campaigning for the (AUDIO GAP) at events related to (AUDIO GAP) as governor, I have heard time and time again (AUDIO GAP)

BLITZER: I think we're having a -- I think we're going to have a -- we have an issue with the signal right now, Governor. But I want you to stand by. We'll take a quick break. We'll resolve this. We'll fix it and then we'll resume our discussion right after this.

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[10:40:16]

PAMELA BROWN, CNN HOST: And we continue our breaking news coverage of the Middle East.

This morning, Iran's Revolutionary Guard says it has seized two ships in the Strait of Hormuz, the vital route for oil shipments. And Iranian state media is reporting that a third vessel is now disabled. These new developments come just hours after President Trump extended the cease-fire indefinitely.

And joining us now to make sense of all of this is the Indian global affairs analyst Brett McGurk. He's been a Middle East adviser to four presidents.

Brett, thank you for being here.

So, how does this seizure of ships impact the peace talks?

BRETT MCGURK, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: I think, Pam, it feels to me like we're in a bit of a new normal, so cease-fire, but economic pressure.

And Iran has done this in the past. Even when I had this account in the Biden administration, when we increased sanctions, Iran would kind of seize a ship, seize a tanker to show that it has some power over the equation. So we have kind of seen this pattern before, of course, not to this degree.

We have a total blockade over Iranian ports, which is going to really bite the Iranians where it matters. I mean, the -- to the extent we know who's making decisions in Iran right now, Pam, it's the Revolutionary Guards and probably a guy named Ahmad Vahidi.

He was a former -- before Qasem Soleimani, the famous commander of the Quds Force, he actually commanded the Quds Force before that. He seems to be kind of seizing control, from all we can tell. And he is the one that would be directing these operations.

And he's also -- the blockade will bite the Revolutionary Guards. And that's why I think the blockade, to the extent you want to have leverage over the Iranians, it can really matter. If we were to go back to the military campaign and strike what the president's been talking about, bridges, civilian infrastructure, I have to be honest.

A guy like Vahidi doesn't care about the Iranian people. He cares about the revenues and the resources for what he would say the revolution, expanding the revolution, the Revolutionary Guards. So, where we are, we're in kind of this economic pressure standoff where, as the days go on, it will pressure the Iranians, which is why they're saying they're conditioning it back to talks is, you have to lift this blockade.

But it also increases pressure on the global economy, particularly in Asia, China, South Korea, Japan. They're very dependent on these oil flows. So it's a really -- it's a predicament. I think we can kind of ride this out for a while, build pressure on the Iranians, try to get back to talks.

But let's hope it doesn't go back to the hot war. BROWN: Well, right now, President Trump says that naval blockade is

going to continue on Iranian ports.

MCGURK: Right.

BROWN: But you have Iran saying that's an act of war.

MCGURK: Yes.

BROWN: And that is a sticking point in terms of getting back to the negotiating table. Who has the greater leverage right now in the negotiations, the U.S. or Iran?

MCGURK: It's a classic test of wills. And, I mean, it just -- before this war started, the IMF, the International Monetary Fund, Iran said Iran's economy was contracting by 6 percent before this started, inflation about 60 percent.

So Iran was in, like, a massive economic distress before this started. And I think this will -- this will bite. Does it lead to Iran to make the concessions we're asking for? And even there, I think it's important to back up and for everybody to understand, what we're asking Iran to do, in essence, is give up their thousand pounds of highly enriched uranium, 60 percent-grade uranium, which they should not have.

No country without a weapons program enriches uranium to 60 percent, and they're sitting on this massive stockpile. They can't do much with it right now because of the strikes last summer, but they need to get it out of their country, very reasonable demand.

And the second demand is their enrichment program, which has been part of the negotiations for some time. As this plays out -- and one thing I don't think the administration has done as effectively as it could have done is build some international support for what we're doing.

So, as the pressure builds on Asia, on South Korea, on Japan, on China, and they start saying to Washington, find a way out of this, I think the address is to Tehran to say, do the deal with the Americans and let's wind this down.

But I -- last week, I was saying it's about a 55/45 equation of likely to get back to talks. I still -- that's kind of where we still are. So, maybe not all that much has changed. But I think it's true that there's a power struggle in Tehran. They can't really make a decision. And the IRGC, the Guards, are showing they still have some power here.

BROWN: Yes.

And President Trump says that Iran didn't make it to the negotiating table this last round in Islamabad because leadership is fractured. Do you see that as the main reason they didn't show up, or do you think it's bigger than that, because of the blockade, because the seizure of the Iranian ship?

[10:45:01] And there was another one, by the way as well, an oil tanker in the Indian Ocean just yesterday by the U.S.

MCGURK: Right.

So, again, this is economic warfare. This is what Iran does. They're reacting to what we have done. But, yes, look, step back. We took out the entire leadership of the Iranian system. And so, therefore, there's a vacuum and there's a struggle for who is calling the shots.

That is clearly, I think, accurate. Whether or not the -- Bagheri (sic), who is trying to negotiate with Vance, is actually able to make a decision, we actually don't know.

I think Vahidi, the IRGC guy who I just mentioned, seems to be really seizing control. He's likely the one giving the orders to take shots at these ships. So, again, we have to see. I think not going back to the war phase is smart and try to play this out in terms of, like, providing economic pressure on the decision-makers.

But it's going to be difficult to get a deal with Iran. Even in the best case, you're negotiating with them day to day, and you're sitting with them for weeks.

BROWN: Are you thinking you can a better deal than what Obama had negotiated?

MCGURK: Well, I mean, the extent of Iran's program has been so degraded militarily that hopefully you can get a better deal there.

But it comes down to the stockpile and enrichment. Those are the two issues. And, by the way, those two issues are under Chapter 7 U.N. sanctions. This is a -- truly an international issue. It's become a U.S.-Iran issue, unfortunately.

But I think we have some cards to play, but the Iranians have some cards to play, as they're showing today as well. But let's hope the cease-fire can stay in place, this remains in the kind of economic warfare phase, and we can try to get back to the talks.

BROWN: All right, Brett McGurk, thank you so much.

MCGURK: Thank you.

BROWN: We will be right back.

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[10:51:26]

BLITZER: And joining us now, the Democratic governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia, Abigail Spanberger.

Governor, I think we have fixed the connection, hopefully.

What was your immediate reaction when you learned last night that the voters in Virginia had approved the redistricting referendum that you supported?

SPANBERGER: So, when we found the results out, I was really excited, but not surprised, because it's been clear for a number of months that Virginians were really motivated to take this temporary responsive stance, and to do so by voting yes in our referendum.

BLITZER: With about 99 percent of the vote now counted in Virginia, the yes votes stand at about 51 percent, the no votes stand at about 48 percent.

That's just a three-point difference in Virginia, whereas you defeated your Republican opponent in the governor's race by more than 15 points just last year. Were you at all surprised that the margin of victory this time wasn't larger?

SPANBERGER: I wasn't.

Virginia is a purple state. And my election in November, that was the outlier number. I was competing all across the state for a long period of time, talking about a whole host of different issues. And, notably, this April referendum was just an up-or-down vote on a referendum.

So, we had a lot of work to do to make sure people understood what this vote was, when and how to vote, and, importantly, that it was temporary, responsive, and that the maps were available to them.

And Virginia typically -- Virginia typically has a much -- and, frankly, the referendum vote margin is greater than the 2021 gubernatorial victory margin. So, it's -- it's aligned with what we're typically more accustomed to seeing in Virginia.

BLITZER: Democrats potentially, Governor, could now win more than 90 percent of the districts in the Commonwealth Of Virginia that Kamala Harris won with just 52 percent of the vote back in 2024.

Critics say this ballot measure allows politicians to choose their voters, instead of the other way around. How do you respond to that criticism?

SPANBERGER: Well, I think that that's fair criticism of places like Texas, where it was the legislature that pushed through a redistricting effort without any buy-in from the people.

Here in the Commonwealth Of Virginia, certainly, it was the General Assembly that drew the maps, but the maps were made available to the public. And so the public, when we Virginians went to the polls, we knew exactly what it is that we were voting for or against.

And, importantly, I think an important piece is that these districts, you said they could be won by Democrats, and that is a correct way to phrase it, because, in fact, these districts -- there are now five districts within the Commonwealth Of Virginia where, based on historical numbers, they have a single-digit area of potential victory.

And so that's five competitive seats, frankly, compared to the two that we have right now, one being held by a Democrat and one held by a Republican.

And so it will mean a lot of work on the candidates who are running to make sure that they go all across their new districts to earn every single vote, both in the primary later this summer and in the general election in November.

BLITZER: And, as you've pointed out, Governor, Virginia was not the first place to do this, and it won't be the last, by all accounts.

Florida's Republican-controlled legislature is slated to meet to consider new U.S. House maps and could target as many as five Democratic-held seats. Will we ever be able to put this lid back on the can of worms, or will the U.S. be in a perpetual redistricting arms race right now down the -- down the road?

[10:55:11]

SPANBERGER: I think it really depends on leadership from the top.

I mean, importantly, this all began because President Trump said he -- quote -- "was entitled" to more congressional seats and implored his friends in Texas to make that happen for him. And then members of the General Assembly obliged without any public buy-in.

And, certainly, I think what we -- what we know to be true here in Virginia is, we are pleased that this referendum passed. But, even for people like me, I supported it, vocally campaigned for it, but I want us to return -- as is prescribed in our legislation, I want us to return to our bipartisan Redistricting Commission after the 2030 census.

And so I think returning to whether it's commissions like we have in Virginia or other good governance and redistricting priorities, frankly, I'd love to see Congress take that up as a priority to ensure that there is bipartisan or nonpartisan -- different states have different options -- that there's community input in the redistricting process.

That will be the case in Virginia. We are not just committed to it in words, but, in fact, the legislation of the referendum prescribes specifically that it is temporary, responsive, and preserves our bipartisan commission, which will take over after the 2030 census for our next redistricting.

BLITZER: I hear the point, Governor, that you're making about President Trump initiating this redistricting battle by calling for Texas, early on, Texas Republicans to redraw their maps, Democrats wanting to counter those efforts by doing what you're doing in Virginia, to be sure, and California as well.

But what do you say to the critics who simply feel like two wrongs don't necessarily make a right?

SPANBERGER: I hear them. And I won't argue with that point.

But I think that the people of Virginia, when looking at the landscape of what is occurring across the country, the people of Virginia said, we want to take this temporary, responsive effort, and we want to respond to what we see other states doing at the request of this president.

And, importantly, across the November elections, where I expect that we will see a substantial wave election, both not just as a rebuke of President Trump and his failed policies, and yet another war in the Middle East, and rising gas costs, and no effort to try and impact lives of everyday Americans, I think we will see a wave election, where new people from across the country are elected to represent their communities in the halls of Congress.

Those voices holding this administration accountable will be so important. And, importantly, the sort of tragedy and the reality of it all is that even members of our Republican delegation here from the Commonwealth of Virginia said nothing, absolutely nothing, when Texas made moves, when North Carolina made moves.

It was only when their electoral fate seemed that it might be jeopardized that they chose to speak up. And so I think Virginians saw that. We also saw tens of millions of dollars in lies put on television, saying that I was supportive of a no-vote, that President Obama was supportive of a no-vote.

And, frankly, across Virginia, I heard from people saying: I wasn't sure how I was going to vote. Then I saw those lies, and that's all they do is games and tricks.

And so I think, frankly, some of the mechanics of how the no-vote actually tried to trick people here in the Commonwealth of Virginia made people feel really fed up with the current state of things here in the commonwealth. The option was with people as to whether or not we wanted to take this temporary, responsive effort to push back.

And the people chose yes.

BLITZER: I know you campaigned for governor as a moderate seeking to represent all Virginians, but what do you say to constituents who feel this ballot measure was partisan and only serves the interests of the Democratic Party?

SPANBERGER: I think that I -- there's a broad array of things that I campaigned on, from affordability issues, lowering costs of housing, health care, energy, strengthening our agriculture and our wood product industries here in Virginia, where agriculture is our number one private industry and forestry is number three, ensuring that I am listening to (AUDIO GAP) of people across the commonwealth.

And there are many bills and many priorities that I am going to support that a whole host of Virginians will support. And there may be some that not everybody does.

And so, for those who might have disagreed with me on this referendum, I -- there are many other opportunities for them to look at my body of work as governor, the work that I am doing as governor, and see in that work that I am working for them and, importantly, for the commonwealth as a whole.

[11:00:17]

BLITZER: Are you enjoying being governor?

SPANBERGER: I am loving being governor. I love our Commonwealth, and this job is the best.

BLITZER: Well, good luck to you, and thanks so much for joining us, Governor Abigail Spanberger of the Commonwealth of Virginia. Appreciate it very much.

SPANBERGER: Thanks.