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Oil Prices Rise to Highest Level Since July as Hopes of Iran Deal Fade; Trump Says No Active Talks With Iran and Blockade Remains in Effect; Trump Posts Image Showing Strait of Hormuz as U.S. Territory; Yemen's Houthi Group Claims Drone Attack on Saudi Oil Refinery; Meta Goes on Trial, Accused of Addicting Kids to Social Media; OpenAI Launches 'ChatGPT For Teens' Amid Child Safety Concerns. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired August 18, 2026 - 13:30   ET

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

[13:30:00]

ELIZABETH WAGMEISTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: -- details in the final moments of her life. And I do want to note that Brian Hickerson's Instagram account has also been deactivated. So just a horrible, horrible tragedy. This is a woman who deserves so much better after dealing with everything that she dealt with in the public eye, which we know by the way, again, from her memoir, Boris.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": Yeah. Elizabeth Wagmeister, thank you so much for bringing us those details.

So gas prices are on the rise again. And just one day after threatening to bomb a Middle East ally, President Trump is now depicting the Strait of Hormuz as a U.S. territory. The potential impact of all of that when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ERICA HILL, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": Oil prices now at the highest level since July as hopes of a resolution with Iran are fading. President Trump today says no talks with Iran are taking place, which contradicts what both Trump and his son-in-law, Special Envoy Jared Kushner, told Fox News just yesterday.

[13:35:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The president talking broadly about the back- channel negotiations that are taking place and confirming to Fox that there is a back-channel directly between Washington and top IRGC officials in Tehran.

JARED KUSHNER, UNITED STATES SPECIAL ENVOY: The conversations between the U.S. government and different areas of the Iranian government at all areas is probably more robust than it's maybe ever been.

(END VIDEO CLIP) HILL: Now, Iran had previously denied any back-channel talks. Also today, Iran's top negotiator setting out a new set of demands to fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz, including lifting the U.S. blockade on Iranian ports and releasing Iran's frozen assets. Joining me now, retired Army Colonel Peter Mansoor.

He's a former aide to General David Petraeus and a Professor of Military History at Ohio State University. It's good to have you with us. So when we look at where things stand, President Trump's inconsistency comes as Qatar is now voicing support for Oman's talks with Iran, this despite threats from President Trump to bomb Oman over the Hormuz dispute. And notably, those negotiations were a requirement of the MOU, which the president once hailed.

Do these threats from Trump risk excluding the U.S. from the shaping of any agreement on the Strait?

COL. PETER MANSOOR, U.S. ARMY (RET.): The threats are absolutely not helpful. They're typical Trump bluster. He doesn't like being excluded from these negotiations, and he doesn't know what Oman and Iran are agreeing to. And if it includes their control over the Strait of Hormuz and the ability of Iran to exact tolls, he's not going to have any part of that.

And thus, he has struck out in the way he knows with typical bluster and threats that probably will not be acted upon.

HILL: In terms of bluster, he also posted this image, I think we can put it up for you, of the Strait of Hormuz, labeling it as new U.S. territory. How much does that further complicate things?

MANSOOR: It doesn't complicate things at all. Everyone knows this is not true. I think it's pushback against Iran, which claims the Strait as its own territory. And he says, OK, well, two can play that game. We'll claim it as well. In fact, it's an international waterway. I think all sides need to agree on that.

But that's one of the problems with these negotiations. Iran wants to control the Strait. And until it agrees that it's an international waterway, I don't think we're going to come to any sort of diplomatic solution to this crisis.

HILL: In the Oval Office yesterday, Trump reiterated his goal for this war was to keep Iran from having a nuclear weapon. In terms of what you see, is the U.S. military strategy right now doing anything to prevent Iran from having a nuclear weapon?

MANSOOR: Well, it's done quite a bit. I mean, it's hit the Iranian nuclear facilities, its manufacturing plants. It has really set back its nuclear program. Ironically, I think negotiations on the nuclear program are probably easier at this point than negotiations on opening the Strait.

Iran has made it its goal in life to control the Strait of Hormuz, which it views as its only leverage against the United States and our allies to prevent another attack on Iran. The nuclear program, the Iranian nuclear program, isn't going anywhere quickly. We all know that they want to gain a nuclear weapon eventually, but that can be stymied in the future by further action.

HILL: I also wanted to ask you about the Houthis, so a proxy of Iran, right, in Yemen, now claiming an attack on a Saudi oil refinery. There have been clashes intensifying in the Bab al-Mandeb Strait. Are you concerned about a new front opening?

MANSOOR: Absolutely. I mean, one of the ways that we were able to sort of ease the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz was to have Saudi pump oil to its terminal on the Red Sea and then move through the Strait of Bab el-Mandeb and get it to Asia. That's been closed down now, and it has created a significant blockage.

The only way to get that oil out now is through the Suez Canal, which has also been hit by the Houthis. So this is a problem and a very unwelcome development.

HILL: Yeah. Colonel, always appreciate your perspective. Thank you.

MANSOOR: Thank you.

HILL: A landmark social media trial now officially underway in California, the potentially astronomical consequences that could reshape Facebook and Instagram. We'll take you live to the courthouse after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:44:27]

SANCHEZ: Just a short time ago, opening statements began in the civil trial against Meta, which could ultimately cost the parent company of Facebook and Instagram more than $1 trillion. 29 states filed suit three years ago, alleging that Meta designed its platforms to get young people addicted, harming the mental health of children as it boosted its profits.

Today, California, Colorado, Kentucky, and New Jersey are representing the bipartisan coalition in court, and those states are collectively seeking as much as $1.4 trillion in damages. That enormous figure is the reason this case stands out amid the thousands of lawsuits that Meta faces.

[13:45:00]

If it loses, Meta could be forced to fundamentally change how it operates.

CNN Contributor, Jacob Ward is outside court in Oakland, California. He's a Technology Journalist and the Host of "The Rip Current Podcast". Jacob, thanks so much for being with us.

Do we know how lawyers for the states plan to back up claims that Meta designed intentionally addictive features? JACOB WARD, CNN CONTRIBUTOR & TECHNOLOGY JOURNALIST: Well, Boris, according to Deputy A.G. for California, Megan O'Neill, they're going to be using Meta's internal documentation. They have what they say is study after study and internal communication after internal communication that not only says there were significant threats to the well-being of kids, but that also, they say, will contradict the public statements of the company's leadership as it sought to reassure the public that this was not a safety issue for kids.

We've heard from Megan O'Neill this morning that, you know, for instance, they'll be referring to a communication from the Global Head of Safety, Antigone Davis, who basically said, quote, "We do very little to keep teens off our platform, even as the leadership was trying to reassure folks that Meta was on top of this and trying to make the best possible environment for young people." So we've only heard from the state so far.

I should also mention here that that $1.4 trillion figure, interestingly, a little bit of gamesmanship here, turns out that's something that Meta has been telling the world, whereas the state AGs actually say they're looking for only $200 billion, if only is the right word, and they say that saying that it's over $1 trillion is a gambit on Meta's part to make the whole thing sound ridiculous. So already we're seeing, even in those negotiations, just how fierce this contest is going to be, Boris.

SANCHEZ: Important to keep that gamesmanship in mind. As you said, we still haven't heard Meta's lawyers argue their side. What are you anticipating they're going to put out to try to refute some of these claims?

WARD: Well, I think they will almost undoubtedly put forth the enormous resources that Meta has put into safety, into the moderation of content. They're going to argue that they lead the industry in the efforts to try to keep kids safe, and that over and over again, I'm sure, as they will try and show, there have been extremely positive effects for kids finding community on Instagram and on Facebook.

They undoubtedly are going to be saying here that this is a set of charges that are disconnected from reality, something that they've said before, that what the states are alleging here is sort of untethered from reality, and that the punishment that they're seeking, untethered from reality.

I mean, what I think Meta is most concerned about, right, and what sets this case apart, is that this is actually these states asking a federal judge to reach into the company and make changes, not just hit them with fines, but make fundamental changes that could in fact be national, be federal. All of that is a very new and very serious threat for Meta here, Boris.

SANCHEZ: And specifically on the issue of collecting personal data for users younger than 13, do you expect that the states are going to be able to prove that Meta was aware that these users were under 13, and then subsequently failed to remove them from the platforms? WARD: Whether or not they'll have the internal documentation to show exactly how many kids Meta understood was on there, it's not clear, but they definitely have said that there are all sorts of enforcement gaps, and that the safety tools that Meta put out, the daily limit and the take a break, were used by an extremely small number of people.

They're also going to say over and over again just how much bad experience kids were having in the internal studies shown only inside Meta's walls, while the public studies were downplaying those risks entirely. So it's going to be entirely the gap between what were private studies and shown only to people inside Meta, and the public studies shown to lawmakers and to parents and the public.

SANCHEZ: It's a bit of a coincidence that this is happening today in court, because ChatGPT is rolling out a new feature, 'ChatGPT For Teens.' It says it's going to provide additional safety protections for teen users. What do we need to know about this? Why is it coming out now? Do you think it's going to be effective?

WARD: Well, I think coincidence is not the word, right? I think any tech company dealing with kids and users under the age of 18 are looking very closely at what's happening in this courthouse and in others like it.

So ChatGPT For Teens now, the company says, is going to be putting all sorts of guardrails on the experience for young users, and will do things like keeping kids from using it to simply do their homework entirely. When it senses that a kid is doing homework, it'll ask questions rather than giving the answer, that sort of thing.

ChatGPT has been the subject of lawsuits aimed at OpenAI for endangering kids, and certainly anybody at this point with a digital product aimed at or used by children is certainly watching this case very closely and understanding just how big a threat it could be to them.

[13:50:00]

SANCHEZ: Jacob Ward, live for us outside of court in Oakland. Thank you so much. Erica?

HILL: Let's get you caught up on some of the other headlines we're watching at this hour. Spirit Airlines may be no more, but all of the data the company accumulated, that's not going away. In fact Google is buying the former discount carrier's data to feed into Google's latest A.I. model. That includes emails, frequent flyer details, Information on employees and more. Now as part of the $10 million sale, we're told the data will be stripped of anything that could identify individuals. That's according to a court filing.

A Federal judge is now blocking the Trump administration's plans to relocate the FBI Headquarters from the J. Edgar Hoover Building in Washington to the Ronald Reagan Building just blocks away. The judge ruling instead that the FBI must proceed with a Biden-era decision to move the agency's main offices to Greenbelt, Maryland. FBI Director, Kash Patel arguing the plans for the Reagan Building were more cost- efficient. But in citing with Maryland's lawsuit, the judge said the administration's actions were unlawful, arbitrary and capricious, and would cause Maryland to lose substantial economic benefits.

And Britain's Princess Eugenie, we now have a name for her little girl. Say hello to Adelaide Elizabeth Annina Brooksbank, the name we're told as a tribute to her late grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II. Princess Eugenie and her husband, Jack Brooksbank, welcoming their new daughter into the world two weeks ago at a hospital in Portugal, posting on Instagram that it's not just about the Queen, but that she is named after three people the couple love and admire past and present. Adelaide, by the way, now 15th in line to the throne. She's having a sleep on that.

Up next, measles cases at a record high as new data shows that kindergarten vaccine exemptions are also hitting levels we have never seen before. We've got that new reporting right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:56:47]

HILL: Nearly 160,000 school-age children across the country are skipping at least one state-required vaccine, as new CDC data shows that the number of vaccine exemptions for kindergartners hit a record high in the last school year. The Trump administration is also now pushing to reduce the number of recommended childhood vaccinations.

CNN Medical Correspondent, Meg Tirrell has a closer look at just what's driving this rise in exemptions.

MEG TIRRELL, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, what this trend means is essentially that more than 150,000 kids in the most recent school year started kindergarten without at least one of the required shots to start school. And this was really driven, you can see, by what are known as non-medical exemptions here.

So this line shows medical exemptions, and it's really remained flat over the last decade. But these non-medical exemptions, also known as religious or philosophical exemptions to vaccine requirements, has really been rising precipitously. And in the last year, it meant that 20,000 more kids than the previous year did not have at least one of the required shots to start school.

And now, we saw that these trends rose in all but nine states, but you can see it's a real patchwork in terms of the number of states and the sort of rate of vaccine exemptions within those states. The darker blue states here show the states that have at least five percent of these non-medical vaccine exemptions for kindergartners. And what that means for disease like measles is that you may not reach that threshold needed for herd immunity for such an infectious virus.

And, of course, we have seen that measles, mumps and rubella vaccination rates have been declining among kindergartners since before the pandemic. Really, that 2019-2020 school year was the last one we were above 95 percent. Now we're down to 92.4 percent. The CDC, however, putting out a statement yesterday saying that overall vaccination rates among kindergartners remained high, pointing out it was just a 0.1 percent or percentage point decline in those vaccination rates. They say CDC continues to encourage parents to discuss vaccination options with their doctors.

But, of course, these trends come as we have seen measles cases reach record highs, more than 2,500 cases so far this year, not even to the end of the year, surpassing the record year we had last year, which is the highest number of measles cases we've seen in this country in 35 years.

And now many states have come out as the Trump administration has been upending this federal vaccine policy, saying that they are breaking with guidance coming from the CDC and from the federal government. So you can see the states in blue here are ones that are saying they are following recommendations from sources other than the CDC and its outside group of vaccine advisers.

And it's really important to note also that it is the states that set vaccine policy and requirements for school entry, for example. And many of these states are saying that the actions coming from the Trump administration, including the executive order last week, don't change what they are recommending within their states or what vaccines are available and covered by insurance.

Now, one of the main groups that these states now are relying on is the American Academy of Pediatrics, which put out a statement on that Trump vaccine executive order last week, saying that there's no new evidence to justify significant changes to childhood immunization guidance. Dozens of studies involving millions of people show that there is no link between vaccines and autism.

They go on to say that delaying or skipping shots is risky, especially as measles continues to spread and children go back to school. So many states here emphasizing these vaccines are still available. Experts worried that parents will be --