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What We Know with Max Foster

Trump Threatens To Bomb Oman As U.S.-Iran Agreement Expires; U.S.- Iran 60-Day Window Expires With No Deal To End War; Trump: U.S. To Cut Back Military Drills With South Korea; Ukraine Launches Large Aerial Assault On Russia; Trial Gets Underway For Suspect In Tupac Shakur's Killing; Kushner Meets Netanyahu After Rare Talks With Hamas. Aired 3-4p ET

Aired August 17, 2026 - 15:00   ET

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

[15:00:28]

MAX FOSTER, CNN HOST: The U.S. president threatens to bomb Oman.

This is WHAT WE KNOW.

Donald Trump issuing a new threat not to Iran, but to a U.S. ally in the Middle East. The president says the United States will bomb Iran if it gets

in the way of negotiations with Iran over the Strait of Hormuz. That's after Oman held their own talks with Tehran over the disputed waterway.

This as a 60-day memorandum of understanding between Iran and the U.S. expired today. That two-month window was designed to clear a path for a

peace agreement. At this point, there are no signs of progress, and neither side seems in any hurry to jumpstart talks.

To the White House now, CNN's Alayna Treene, and it was an extraordinary way to speak about such an important U.S. ally.

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. And I think I'd, you know, remind our viewer who's what the role of Oman has been for years

now, which is a mediator between the U.S. and Iran. And when you talk to the Omanis, they continue to argue that they are trying to remain a neutral

mediator throughout this entire process.

But the president clearly showing his frustration with the country as talks to try and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, which are mainly taking place

between Iran and the Omanis has continued to kind of stretch on beyond a lot of time that I think this president others have wanted.

I'd also remind you, Max, that this isn't the first time we heard the president issue a threat like this to Oman earlier this year. Actually, he

had said that Oman will behave just like everybody else or will have to blow them up. They understand that. That was a comment he made earlier this

year responding. to reports that perhaps Oman was talking about imposing freeze and fees in the short term on vessels that transit the Strait of

Hormuz in conjunction with the Iranians. The Omanis, the Omanis had backed away from that threat.

But I do think what you're seeing here is really a increasing frustration spilling into public view that the president has about everything relating

to this war with Iran. One, of course, this has extended far beyond the timeline that he believed he would need the MOU, as you mentioned, it was

supposed to, you know, the 60 days laid out in that agreement, which was signed back in June. That 60 days expires today. No real movement on that

front.

And the key thing I point to your attention as well is some messaging and rhetoric we've heard not only from the vice president, J.D. Vance, but also

from the White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt. They have kind of shifted some of the goalposts on what the actual goals are that remain in

this war, you know, one being reopening the Strait of Hormuz, needing to keep oil prices down for everyone. The other more longer term goal being

ensuring that Iran never has a nuclear weapon.

Now Trump, he said this again today, has made clear that he believes the ultimate goal is ensuring that Iran never has a nuclear weapon. But what's

happening in the street and the continued issues of getting traffic to resume back to pre-war levels is a core concern of this White House and far

much more an immediate concern. Also something, of course, that wasn't a problem before this war began.

So, the president continuing to really lose patience, I think, not only with the Iranians, but those mediators involved in trying to get an

agreement reached.

FOSTER: Alayna Treene from the White House, thanks so much for that.

With the U.S. military busy in the Middle East, Mr. Trump says he's rolling back war games in East Asia. The U.S. president says he has dramatically

scaled back military exercises with South Korea. He said his personal relationship with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un makes the drills

unnecessary, and he also connected it to the war with Iran.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Thirty-nine thousand soldiers over there guarding you from Kim Jong-un, your next-door neighbor,

and you're not going to help us on a very easy military operation in Iran? It's strange. No, no, we'd rather not get involved. I see.

Well, why are we involved in helping you? So -- and I want to help them. But you know, when you ask somebody, would you like to give us a hand? They

say, no, thanks. And then we're guarding them from a country and paying ourselves billions of -- it's costing us billions and billions of dollars

to protect.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: CNN's Gage Goulding now has more on this story from Hong Kong.

[15:05:03]

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GAGE GOULDING, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There's a lot to unpack here with the president's post on Truth Social, really two main points. The first being

that he's really walking back, scaling back Ulchi Freedom Shield, and that's the joint exercise between the United States and South Korea

military members. We're going to start there because this is a very, very large exercise, about 18,000 Korean military members will join the 28,000-

plus U.S. military members based in South Korea for a 10-day exercise.

Now, this is something that the president is aware of. In 2018 and 2019, during his first term in office, he scaled back the operation, then citing

costs. In 2020 and `21, it was scaled back due to COVID-19. But then the president saying that he wants to scale it back again, citing cost, but

also the fact that he says relations with North Korea are good.

Now, South Korea did respond, saying that they started the operation as scheduled on Monday morning local time. and the South Korean Blue House,

the government agency, the executive government agency, saying that they hope the relations between the U.S. and the North Koreans are great and

continue to be good and hopefully bring a period of peace for the Korean Peninsula.

But I want to keep in mind that this is kind of a two-pronged thing here because in that same truth social post, President Trump kind of throwing a

jab, if you will, at the South Korean government saying that He's also upset that whenever he asked the South Koreans for help with

denuclearization of the Iranian government and the Iranian regime, he said that the South Korean government basically said no thanks.

Now, South Korea says in a statement to CNN that they are working to help open the Strait of Hormuz and also bring a peaceful ceasefire with Iran.

However, the big thing here that we're going to be looking at over the next coming days is one, is there actually a scale back with the operation, the

exercise that's happening in South Korea? And two, is there going to be any other blowback from South Korea, which at this point is one of the

strongest allies the United States has?

Gage Goulding, CNN, Hong Kong.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Well, for some perspective on the U.S. military relationship with South Korea and why these exercises are so important, I spoke a short while

ago with CNN global affairs commentator Sabrina Singh.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SABRINA SINGH, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS COMMENTATOR: This is exactly what someone like Kim Jong-un wants to hear. This is an exercise. I mean, we've

been doing exercises with South Korea for the last 70 years. I mean, since 1955. There is a deep history here of our two countries coming together.

And the reason why you do exercises like this is to ensure that there's interoperability between the two militaries should there be a confrontation

either with China or North Korea. And this particular exercise was going to be quite interesting because as we know, North Korea has sent its soldiers

in to fight Russia's war, and they have gained a lot of intelligence and access to the modern battlefield and how to use drones in the battlefield.

And so, this was going to test that and some of their cybersecurity tests that they were going to conduct during this exercise. I think,

unfortunately, the president got ahead of himself. Even Pete Hegseth earlier this year at Shangri-La said South Korea is actually the model for

burden-sharing and cost-sharing when it comes to the U.S. military and our exercises.

FOSTER: He was talking to the president about how the U.S. is spending billions protecting South Korea. But is it as simple as that? Because

there's a massive U.S. presence, a U.S. base in South Korea, which is also useful to the U.S., right?

SINGH: Right. And this is where there's a lot more to that statement. I mean, actually, South Korea bears a lot of the costs and responsibility to

house U.S. troops. I mean, there's about 30,000 troops on the peninsula there and you know working not only within the community but establishing

relationships between our militaries and something that's critically important should the United States ever need to confront a possible war

with you know within the Indo-Pacific and with China, South Korea would be one of our allies that we would look to first when it comes to something

like that.

I also just want to mention that, you know, when it comes to South Korea, we have pulled a lot of capabilities out of the Indo-Pacific region.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Sabrina Singh speaking to me a little earlier.

Now, Ukraine has launched one of its largest aerial assaults of the war against Russia over the weekend. Video shows another fire at a Wildberries

warehouse in Russia. The e-tailer has been called Russia's Amazon.

[15:10:01]

Kyiv says it's hit seven out of the company's 10 largest logistics centers in recent months.

Russia, meanwhile, continues its barrage of attacks against Ukraine. According to President Zelenskyy, six people were wounded by Russian

strikes just on Sunday. Even as Ukraine attacks deeper inside Russia, it continues to face a shortage of missile interceptors.

CNN's Nick Paton Walsh got a firsthand look at launchers that have run dry. And here's his exclusive report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): Out in the quiet corn, a moment of absolute desperation. Ukraine's never shown anyone these before, an American-made Patriot air defense

launcher. The interceptors they fire, the only thing that can take down Russian ballistic missiles that rain down on Ukraine, are under a huge

global supply shortage. But these here are sitting idle, doing nothing, when in Ukraine, they could be saving lives almost nightly. Why? They're

empty, out of ammo.

WALSH: This tube being empty is a site really that would spark fear for ordinary Ukrainians and is the product of dozens of phone calls to any

ally, all sorts of deal-making, President Zelenskyy told me, to try and find the interceptors to fill this up, an extraordinary step they're taking

by showing us the fact this particular Patriot battery is essentially out of action until interceptors arrive, a sign of desperation.

WALSH (voice-over): Chief Engineer Dmytro says it is two and a half months since this one fired and six weeks since he saw one fire at all.

DMYTRO, CHIEF ENGINEER, UKRAINE'S PATRIOT SYSTEM: You know, actually, this is really heartbreaking sight when you have equipment, but you are not able

to intercept any missile. This is very sad. When you know that ballistic missiles are flying over your head and you are not able to do anything with

it, and you know that behind you, there are citizens.

WALSH: And how does that make you feel, knowing that you should help, but can't?

DMYTRO: Like, you learn how to walk, but you are not able to walk, or you are able or you know how to breathe, but you're not able to breathe.

WALSH (voice-over): He knew the global supply crunch was coming.

DMYTRO: When we saw how many interceptors were launched in Middle East, we predicted that we will be in trouble.

WALSH (voice-over): Ukraine has been reluctant to admit if they have zero interceptors left, President Zelenskyy telling me every morning he begs

allies for more.

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT: I do some things which I can't even share. It's not -- it doesn't mean that it's out of the law. No, but

it's -- I can't speak about it.

WALSH (voice-over): Kyiv is rocked by a massive ballistic attack normally once a week, racing to the subway and shelters where, before, they felt

protected. They are not anymore. It is America first in the queue and Ukraine left to anxiety in the rubble.

Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, Kyiv, Ukraine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Opening statements are underway for the man accused of planning the deadly 1996 ambush shooting of hip-hop legend Tupac Shakur. Shakur was

killed in a drive-by shooting near the Las Vegas Strip. It was an escalation in the East Coast/West Coast rap feud at that time. Earlier, the

prosecution pointed to an interview suspect. Duane Davis gave on the murder of Biggie Smalls, which they say helped connect him to Shakur's murder.

Joey Jackson joins me now.

I mean, Joey, let's just reflect on what a cultural icon he was in his lifetime, but also afterwards, because he left this legacy, didn't he,

which we still see in culture and music today, even though many people may not realize it.

JOEY JACKSON, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Oh, without question, absolutely a big deal in the industry and a big deal in pop culture and just had so much

promise. In addition to being an outstanding rap artist, he was also on his way to becoming a fine actor. And so, yes, there was a domination by him in

the `90s in pop culture.

And I think that had a lot to do with how they selected the jury, asking people what they knew about him, about his music, about his legacy. just

about, in addition to that and selecting the jury, Max, about gangs, about pop culture, about police, about police misconduct, et cetera, in order for

them to get a fair jury.

And so, it's been a long time and coming. This happened, of course, in September of 1996, and here we are 30 years later when finally, they are,

that as authorities and prosecutors attempting to identify the parties that were involved and the other ones as we look at Tupac there, of course, are

dead. The people who were might have been involved in a shooting -- the person who is on trial, "Keffe D", Mr. Davis, is a person who is alive and

well.

There were four people in the car. He, according to prosecutors, was one of them. And he, according to prosecutors, called the shots. And that's why

he's on trial today for this icon who left way too soon at 25 murdered.

FOSTER: We've seen some key witnesses who were there on the night already appearing in this case. How difficult is it going to be for the

prosecutors, considering the amount of time that's passed?

JACKSON: I think it's a challenge. I think you saw them talk about that as prosecutors in their opening statement, the fact that there was a,

quote/unquote, confession here. Prosecutors are really relying upon a 2008 interview that Keffe D, the defendant in the case, gave to law enforcement,

where he talked about his involvement procuring the weapon, procuring the car that was used, the Cadillac, handing the gun off.

In addition to that, prosecutors are not only talking about the 2008 interview, but the subsequent podcast that Keffe D went on to talk about

his involvement, the Netflix series relating to that, YouTube that he went on, and then of course, this book, which was a memoir in 2019. And so,

prosecutors are really relying upon his own words that is the defendant in this case to say he's guilty.

The defense for their part are really saying, hey, you know what? You can't even show he was there. Our client was engaged in puffery. This was pure

fiction. It was entertainment. He was just feeding a narrative that was false so he could support himself.

But when it comes down to it, there's no physical evidence, no weapon, no DNA, no fingerprints, nothing they will say the defense with respect to

establishing that he was involved at all.

And let's remember Max this is not about showing for prosecutors that he pulled the trigger it's about demonstrating that he was an aider and a

better and encourager a facilitator that in law terms is called accomplice liability. You don't have to show he pulled the trigger just that he was

intricately involved as the, quote/unquote, "shot caller" and if they do that then they would have their conviction.

But certainly given the length of time, and we'll see what witnesses actually have actually say, we don't believe there are any eyewitnesses who

are going to say, hey, I saw him do it. We'll see how the jury really receives that information. If they receive it favorably, then, of course,

there will be a conviction. In the event it's not enough, then he will be acquitted.

FOSTER: How long can it go on for, considering there's going to be so many arguments about every piece of evidence if they haven't got the direct

evidence?

JACKSON: Yeah, you know, trials are very fluid. You know, there's indications it could be four weeks, it could be five weeks, it could be six

weeks. And so, you really don't know. It's a function of many things, not only the witnesses who were called, but the length of their interviews

because of in terms of trial process, you have direct examination.

What that means is prosecutors eliciting evidence, testimony, information. Where were you? What did you see? What did you know? Who else was involved

and then the fence cross examined right by attempting to belittle each witness to establish that, hey, my client didn't do it.

And so, it depends upon that dynamic, right, with respect to how long the prosecution goes, how long the defense goes how muddled up that is, how

many witnesses are actually called. I should say that yes, you have -- I mean, there's hundreds of witnesses but generally just because you notice

the actual judge that there's going to be this numerous amount of witnesses, prosecutors don't always call them.

After a while, it becomes cumulative. What are they actually going to say? So, I think it's got to play out. But in the playing out, remember, the

narratives and the battle of those narratives are what's key. Could you really, if you're a juror, the defense will say, convict Keffe D, the

defendant, based on his own words? Or do you really need the physical evidence?

And in the event the jurors believe those words were just done because he's a guy trying to support himself just to give out false information so that

he could make money and profit, it's one thing. If prosecutors are able to establish that what he said was credible and they could support it, not

only with his own words, but maybe from people on the street who he spoke with who will come in and say, eh, he did tell me this, then that's quite

another.

But I think what's really critical also is the absence of physical evidence. We're in a generation where people like to see, Max, the physical

evidence. Show me the prints. Show me the murder weapons. Show me the ballistics. Show me eyewitnesses.

And in the absence of that, it could be challenging, but it can go on for quite some time. That's an open question.

FOSTER: Joey Jackson, appreciate it. Back with you a lot over the next few weeks during that trial.

[15:20:02]

Thank you.

Now, South Carolina authorities say there is no sign of a struggle or trauma in the death of 36-year-old actress Hayden Panettiere. Panettiere

was found unresponsive in her South Carolina apartment on Sunday. She had battled addiction and mental illness for years. Panettiere was a child

star, appearing in movies and TV shows before the age of 10. She grew to worldwide fame with starring roles in TV shows like "Heroes" and

"Nashville".

A short while ago I spoke with CNN's Lisa Respers-France about the investigation into what happened to Hayden Panettiere.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LISA RESPERS FRANCE, CNN REPORTER: She was 36 years old and she was also in everything. It felt like, you know, there's so many memories that fans

have of the multiple films and TV shows that she was in. And right now, Max, we don't know what caused her death. What we do know is that an

acquaintance called 911. According to the coroner, she was in cardiac arrest at this particular residence. We know that she was declared dead and

it's probably going to be weeks until we actually have any answers because that's how long it takes for toxicology reports and things like that.

But we do know that, you know, there are currently investigating this. They said there appear to be no type of foul play or indications of anything

like that. And so, we're just going to have to wait and see what the autopsy finds out. You know what the autopsy report tells us. And like I

said, that could take weeks because you have to do toxicology.

There's a lot that goes into this, but in the interim, people have so many questions, especially because she had recently released her memoir where

she talked a lot about, you know, being a child star. She talked about her challenges, as you mentioned, substance abuse. She had postpartum

depression. She, you know, ended up giving custody of her child over to her child's father. She has an 11-year-old daughter.

So, it's just a profound sadness among fans and people who just were familiar with her work, who maybe, you know, were not following her career

as closely, especially because she had been back in the public eye, Max, you know, talking about that memoir and about her life.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Lisa Respers France there.

Coming up on WHAT WE KNOW, details ahead on the shocking death of a former Cambridge professor, Jason Arday, which is raising questions about the role

played by the media.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FOSTER: Discussions over the life and career of the youngest black professor in the history of Cambridge University are persisting, even after

the 41-year-old was found dead on Friday. In recent weeks, media reports questioned not only Jason Arday's academic record, but aspects of his

personal life and claims he had made about his achievements. Arday's family are blaming what they call a campaign of sustained abuse. for his death.

Over the past year, there have been more than 200 newspaper articles printed about our day, hundreds more online.

Anna Cooban is at the vigil in London's Trafalgar Square, where a lot of the talk is about the media coverage of his career, right?

ANNA COOBAN, CNN BUSINESS & ECONOMICS REPORTER: Absolutely. And this vigil ended some time ago. And walking around, I tried to speak to a lot of

people, asking them to give their thoughts around Ade's death, who they believed was responsible, and hardly anybody wanted to speak to me. There

was so much anger.

And that's because Arday was subjected to a relentless campaign of media scrutiny and abuse, quite frankly. People went into his backstory. They

accused him of making things up about his personal life, his academic achievements, and accused him of plagiarism, which is an accusation which

he denied.

And there are questions around whether Cambridge should have appointed him. However, he resigned from his post, not because he agreed with those

accusations, but because he said he just couldn't take the media scrutiny any longer. And even after he resigned, Max, there was still article after

article going through his backstory. And that is where criticism is about the media is that it would not stop and many believe the media hounded him

to his death, Max.

FOSTER: Thanks so much.

Britain's new prime minister exchanging messages with someone impersonating the chief of staff for U.S. President Donald Trump. A source tells CNN

Burnham believed he was speaking with Susie Wiles. Those messages were not said to contain any information of significance, however, the breach raises

national security concerns obviously.

Nic Robertson has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Well, this does appear to be the first high profile. fishing attempt against the new British Prime

Minister Andy Burnham. The messages purported to come from President Donald Trump's chief of staff Susie Wiles, only it wasn't her sending the

messages.

Now, we understand, CNN understands that there were no important communications Passed by Burnham, and of course, as Prime Minister, and

he's probably been pranked before in the past, perhaps as an MP or when he was Mayor of Manchester, but this. be the first time he's likely been put

in this sort of a position when he has sensitive, secret national security information at his fingertips.

So, for the prime minister, this perhaps was a potentially dangerous moment, but he, we're told, became suspicious pretty quickly, shut this

messaging conversation down, informed his officials. Now, White House officials are telling CNN that Susie Wiles' phone was not hacked or the

hacking of her phone was not involved in this communication. But if you go back to 2025, May that year, a U.S. law enforcement investigation was

launched because around about that time, Wiles or prior to that time, Wiles had informed colleagues at the White House that she believed her phone and

her content list had been hacked, leading to efforts to impersonate her.

So, it brings into question now when it's happening to the British prime minister and the communication getting through to him and the message is

apparently being exchanged, albeit shut down very quickly, it does raise that question of why was this type of pranking phishing able to get through

to the most sensitive of senior political leadership in the U.K., namely the prime minister.

Now, Burnham's been a politician for some time, and he's got a lot of experience dealing with political and sensitive issues.

[15:30:03]

But it does flag, if you will, just how potentially easy it appears for somebody sophisticated enough to be able to impersonate, it appears, trying

to impersonate the White House chief of staff to actually be able to begin some kind of conversation.

So, protection, better protection from phishing for the British prime minister, and of course, therefore, better protection from the potential

exposure of national security details.

Nic Robertson, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Coming up, a first rare meeting with Hamas, now a closed-door meeting in Jerusalem. We'll get an update on Jared Kushner's shuttle

diplomacy in the Middle East as he tries to secure commitments from Israel and Hamas to begin implementing a U.S. peace plan for Gaza.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FOSTER: After multiple meetings and intense shuttle diplomacy, U.S. envoy Jared Kushner is leaving the Middle East without a breakthrough on

President Donald Trump's peace plan for Gaza. He met with the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a day after a rare meeting with Hamas officials

in Egypt. An Israeli official says Mr. Netanyahu told him that Israel won't withdraw from Gaza or allow reconstruction until Hamas fully disarms.

Another source acknowledged that progress is difficult because of political pressures on Mr. Netanyahu ahead of Israel's elections.

CNN's Oren Liebermann is in Jerusalem tonight.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN JERUSALEM BUREAU CHIEF: Well, it's very difficult to see if there is any clear path forward here, although there certainly are

positive statements from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office, as well as from the Board of Peace, whose director Nickolay

Mladenov was in there.

[15:35:10]

And we're waiting to hear to see if, rather, Jared Kushner puts out a statement himself after the meeting.

And part of the challenge here is that we are seeing the Board of Peace come out on what is very much Israel's side, saying that before there are

any steps towards reconstruction or the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, there has to be a complete disarmament of Hamas, including heavy

weaponry, light weaponry, and that needs to take part in a process and be confirmed that process would be, at least according to what we're hearing

after the meeting, led by an American general.

Israel has refused to conduct any sort of withdrawal until the complete disarmament of Hamas, and it's because of that that we saw Netanyahu reject

the 15-point peace plan that President Donald Trump hailed as a major breakthrough at the end of last month.

The challenge there is that though Hamas has, at least in principle, agreed to a disarmament plan, they've made clear they're not doing that

unilaterally. They're not willing to simply do that on their own with no sequenced withdrawal of Israeli forces and with no halt to the near daily

Israeli attacks in Gaza. Given those positions, Israel not willing to make any steps until the complete disarmament of Hamas, Hamas not willing to

take any steps without sequenced Israeli steps, it's unclear that there really is a path forward here.

That being said, according to a Board of Peace official, it's clear whose position they're taking here. They said, and I'll quote from some comments

they made after the meeting, they said, quote, the Israelis are going to give this a chance. Now it's up to Hamas to show if it truly intends to

comply. And what's interesting about that statement is that it contrasts completely with a joint statement by a number of Arab and Muslim countries

that came out on Sunday afternoon, which blamed Israel and Netanyahu's rejection of the 15-point plan for the impasse here.

So, we are still effectively at the same point we've been now for months, which is that each side is blaming each other, and it's not clear what the

real path forward is here, and that leaves Gaza and the state it's been in basically since the ceasefire 10 months ago.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Oren Liebermann reporting from Jerusalem.

Now it is the final moments of trade on Wall Street. Stocks have been edging lower for most of the day. Investors pretty anxious over Middle East

tensions and oil prices ticking upwards. President Trump said that he doesn't see the war ending anytime soon and that's weighing on the Dow.

This is our Business Breakout.

ByteDance and the U.S. Motion Picture Association have signaled a landmark agreement to enforce strict copyright safeguards across the Chinese tech

giant's A.I. video tools. The pact follows months of friction with studios like Disney over unauthorized A.I. clips featuring copyrighted characters.

A U.S. financial regulator has conditionally approved a national bank charter for World Liberty Financial. That's the crypto firm partially owned

by U.S. President Donald Trump's family. The move is facing pushback from Democrats and raising ethical concerns.

A Ferrari is never cheap, but the bespoke model of the Italian carmaker's first ever fully electric car sold for a record $40 million. The money from

the loose EV sale will support Ferrari's educational initiatives.

Oil prices held steady on Monday, with Brent crude hovering close to $89 a barrel, with so much uncertainty lingering about the straight-up moves how

much oil is actually moving through the crucial waterway? Marine tracking services have been reporting a significant decline in vessels navigating

the strait as Iran and the U.S. have attacked shipping.

But last week, U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright told a very different story saying the strait is open and oil is flowing through it.

CNN's David Goldman has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID GOLDMAN, CNN BUSINESS SENIOR REPORTER: So the Trump administration is out saying that there is significantly more oil coming through the

Strait of Hormuz than we had previously believed, and obviously the Trump administration has incentive to say that it wants oil prices to come down,

and it has been jawboning prices lower for quite some time. That is nothing new.

The data tracking services that Wall Street and investors look to tell us how much is coming through the Strait of Hormuz, they say, well, nothing's

really changed. There's only four million barrels coming through the Strait of Hormuz every single day. That is significantly lower than the 20 million

barrels that we had on a day-to-day basis before the war.

Now, everyone agrees about seven million barrels are getting piped outside the Strait of Hormuz and they're being picked up and transported elsewhere.

But if you add those two together, we're still only at around 11 or 12 million barrels. Not true, the Trump administration says. It says nine

million barrels are getting through the Strait of Hormuz, and that would mean 15 or 16 million barrels per day are getting through.

[15:40:06]

That is significantly closer to the 20 million. And in fact, they said that we exceeded 20 million about two Sundays ago. So, who is right here?

I don't know. I don't know that anyone really knows. But here's why it's important, because if the Trump administration is correct, it gives them

significant leverage in their negotiations with Iran.

And right now, the market seems to believe the Trump administration. It is down a lot since its peak, which was around $120 a barrel. It's now under

$90 a barrel. And the low prices have really given the Trump administration the leverage it needs to say we can take our time with Iran and not worry

about an economic catastrophe.

Here's the thing. is what about the inventories? That's what we've been drawing down in recent months to allow for the lack of oil through the

Strait of Hormuz. Well, if there's more oil coming through, then that is potentially something that we can continue to rely on for quite some time.

All of this is very confusing, but potentially good news for the economy if the Trump administration is correct here.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Well, thanks to David there.

Coming up, is the U.S. Department of Justice carrying out President Trump's political agenda. That's what critics are asking after Attorney General

Todd Blanche refused to pledge independence from the White House. We'll tell you what he said.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FOSTER: Concerns are growing over comments made Sunday by the newly confirmed U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche when given the opportunity

Blanche refused to pledge that the Department of Justice will act independently from the White House under his watch.

[15:45:02]

Blanche, who used to be President Donald Trump's personal attorney, even suggested he consider the president's views in individual prosecution

decisions, all of which has critics worried that the DOJ is carrying out President Trump's political agenda.

Here's some of what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TODD BLANCHE, U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: There's a big difference between saying we will be -- we will always do our job and investigate any case and

act independently of the White House. No, I'm not going to pledge that.

And no attorney general should ever pledge that. Will I take the president of the United States' view on something into consideration? Yes, of course.

And I hope every attorney general in history would not answer that question differently.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Evan Perez is in Washington with more on this.

I mean, it does feel like a major shift, doesn't it? Because these pillars of democracy are meant to act independently, but maybe there's some nuance

there.

EVAN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is sort of the credo that the Trump administration has taken since the president's second

term began. It's certainly part of their view that this -- the traditional separation between the White House and the Justice Department, which is

something that is that dates back to the post-Nixon years, some of the reforms that were done after the Watergate scandal that those things have

been thrown away.

And what we've heard from Todd Blanche, even when he was deputy attorney general, certainly during his confirmation, is this idea that he embraces

that he is a part of the president's Part of the executive branch, part of the president's cabinet that he believes there doesn't need to be that kind

of separation. And to remind people why that traditional separation has existed, including during the first Trump administration, is the view that

certainly for the Justice Department for the for the attorney general, the view is that you know, in order for people to have faith that the

prosecutions that are being carried out, that the decisions that are being made in the interest of justice at the Justice Department, that they're

being done on the merits of the cases, not because of political pressure from the president or from his allies in Congress.

That is out the window, certainly in this administration. They are very comfortable with the idea that the president can, for instance, put out on

Twitter or on social media specific names of people he wants to be prosecuted and then follow up on that by trying to prosecute those very

people. They're not -- they don't view this at all as a separation from the way things should be done.

Now, look, I think one of the things that you're seeing is the consequence of that, which is that grand juries are rejecting cases that the Justice

Department is bringing. Judges are throwing out cases, so there is a reaction to the brand of justice that is being wielded during this

administration. The consequence is that judges are regularly calling out the Justice Department saying that they no longer have the presumption of

the power of the Justice Department.

So that's one of the things that it's called presumption of regular order. And so, one of the things that I think is the consequence of the words that

you hear from Todd Blanche is that there is a diminished faith in what the Justice Department is doing, Max.

FOSTER: Absolutely.

Evan, appreciate you putting that big comment, actually, into context for us. Thank you.

PEREZ: Sure.

FOSTER: Still to come, a devastating discovery for an Italian museum, thieves made off, with four paintings by a famous Renaissance artist. We'll

give you the details when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FOSTER: Rescuers are continuing to search for survivors after a powerful quake struck Indonesia on Saturday. The magnitude 7.7 quake struck off the

coast of Flores Island, killing at least 53 people and damaging more than 1,300 homes. Many survivors have sustained injuries or been displaced from

their homes, and some are still searching for loved ones.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): My husband couldn't walk anymore. He was very frail and weak. He told me, you run. I'll stay here.

It's okay. If God wills that we die, then I accept that. If we live, I accept that too.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Italy are searching for thieves who stole four masterpieces worth tens of millions of dollars on Saturday. They managed to get past an alarm

and a security system at a museum in Sicily.

Stefano Pozzebon has more details on that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STEFANO POZZEBON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Saturday being a massive national holiday here in Italy where millions of Italians just flock to the beaches.

And it's a perfect time, apparently, for thieves to try, enter, break into museums, and get away with really true masterpieces.

We're talking here of four works by the late 15th century artist Antonello da Messina, who's one of the most famous painters of the Italian

Renaissance, but he's also one of the least prolific. You think that worldwide there are less than 50 paintings from these artists all around

the world, compared to almost 200 by the more famous Michelangelo, for example.

And the city councilor at the city of Messina, who gives the name to these famous artists, referred to the theft in bleak words. Take a listen.

ENZO CARUSO, COUNCILOR FOR CULTURE, CITY OF MESSINA: More than a loss, this is a real disaster because Messina without Antonello is robbed of the

very essence of the greatest artist of the European Renaissance. Together with the mayor, we want to be close to the museum, and we hope these works

may return home as soon as possible.

POZZEBON: A real disaster since the counselor, of course, but perhaps the hope is that the investigators could really find a trace and trying to

pierce together what really happened and recover these stolen masterpieces.

Just last week, Italian cultural police was able to locate and rescue another three famous paintings that were stolen in March in Parma, in

northern Italy, for example. That was just last week, and now they're back again at work trying to figure out what happened around these works. And

according to several art critics that spoke with Italian media, it's really hard to place such a rare and delicate masterpieces on the market. So,

perhaps the investigators can really find a way to get these paintings back together. But as I was saying, less than a week after recovering one,

they're back looking for yet another theft of art crime here in Italy.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Keeps happening, doesn't it?

Now, let's be honest, we all dream of finding gold, someday, somehow. A very lucky crew of builders were working on the walls of an old brewery

that was just outside Brussels. When fortune smiled, and this is what it looked like, they found a wooden chest full of gold. The police is

investigating, and there are many claimants, but so far, no real proof on who the treasure actually belongs to. We'll see who it ends up with.

Finally, before we go, CNN mourning the loss of a giant amongst our family and industry, special events producer Alec Miran.

[15:55:03]

Now, Alec died unexpectedly on Friday. Over a remarkable 40-year career at CNN, Alec produced many of the biggest and most consequential moments in

CNN history. He was a defining and beloved leader of the special events team. I worked with him on the royal wedding in 2011, for example, an

absolute titan.

Alec was a mentor, a colleague, a friend to so many here at CNN. And he didn't just produce extraordinary coverage. He helped encourage and inspire

generations of journalists, sharing what he knew and teaching by example in a very humble way.

Alec was 69 years old and our deepest condolences to his family.

I'm Max Foster. That's WHAT WE KNOW. Do stay with CNN.

END

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