Transcript: U.N. Ambassador Mike Waltz on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan,” April 19, 2026

2026-04-19T12:43:00-0400 / CBS News

The following is the transcript of the interview with Mike Waltz, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, that aired on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” on April 19, 2026.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Imtiaz Tyab reporting from Dubai. We turn now to the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Mike Waltz, who joins us this morning from New York. Welcome back to Face The Nation, ambassador.

AMBASSADOR MIKE WALTZ: Thank you, good to be with you.

MARGARET BRENNAN: So the President said Iran broke the ceasefire, but he is still offering them a deal. Is this a presentation of terms, or should we expect an actual, prolonged negotiation?

MIKE WALTZ: Well, I think this will be a continuation of the terms that the vice president offered a week ago. And look, we have to take a step back here in that – President Trump, the US Navy is controlling what is coming out of the straits. We’ve had the highest level engagement in the history of the Iranian regime, with the vice president leading. We have historic ceasefire talks going on between the Israelis and the Lebanese. The markets are up. Oil prices are relatively stable. The Iranian economy is devastated, and they’ve never been, I can tell you here at the United Nations, they’ve never been more diplomatically isolated. So Iran does not have the cards, and we are confident they will come to the table and finally give up their obsession with having a nuclear weapon.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, Iran has not yet announced that it’s sending a delegation to Islamabad. I know there’s this back and forth all morning long about whether the vice president would be leading it or not. CBS, as you just heard, is reporting he will be but why is it important that he be there in person? Is it because Iran has refused to send anyone with decision making authority, unless he is there?

MIKE WALTZ: Well, you’ve seen the chaos, I mean that you just pointed to on the Iranian side. The last 48 hours, you have their foreign minister announcing that they’re going to stop attacking shipping. Then you have the IRGC saying that they will and then doing so, as President Trump pointed out, an absolute violation. So the Iranian side is in a bit of chaos. This is absolutely due to the devastating strikes on their leadership. But I think the vice president leading shows the level of engagement from the US side that we are absolutely serious. And I for one, thank God for future generations that we are arresting a problem before it’s too late. We’re not waiting until the US has no options —

MARGARET BRENNAN: Well —

MIKE WALTZ: and Iran has some kind of breakout, which would lead to a nuclear breakout all over the Middle East.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Let me follow up on what you just said, though, because that’s important, the Iranian side is in chaos. So how do you know you’re negotiating with the right person? It’s been reported, The Institute for the Study of War says that the IRGC Commander General the Vahidi has secured control over the negotiations and the military within the past 48 hours. Does that mean Foreign Minister Araghchi is not the person to be sitting across the table from? Who’s in charge?

MIKE WALTZ: Well, look – again the Iranian regime, we’ve put them in chaos, but at the same time, we are never going to take an approach of trust. Any deal that comes out of this will have to absolutely be verifiable and be enforceable. I can tell you, from sitting in my seat at the UN we’ve been in extensive discussions with the International Atomic Energy Agency, the IAEA, which would have ostensibly a key role in ensuring Iran lives up to any deal that it signs to, this – signs up to, there is no trust on this side. There is verified and enforceable provisions that are that are on the table from the US to ensure they never have a nuke.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Okay, that’s important in terms of enforcement. Does that mean if you actually get to a negotiated deal, and the UN’s nuclear watchdog would be very much in those details of going in and perhaps securing that enriched uranium. Does this mean you’re going to put a deal for approval before the United Nations? Is it going to be codified like that?

MIKE WALTZ: Well, I’ll tell you, there are dozens and dozens of resolutions over the years, not just the United States, the entire world, saying Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Right.

MIKE WALTZ: We had snap back provisions that are in place now for global sanctions and that Iran cannot enrich so anything that would would change those resolutions would then need to come back before but let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Let’s see if the Iranians actually sign up to a very reasonable offer that is sitting on the table from the United States —

MARGARET BRENNAN: Yeah —

MIKE WALTZ: which is an off ramp from them, and also will ensure the region, the United States, Europe and the world, is never threatened by a regime with its hand on a nuclear button.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Okay, so, but back to the point of who’s in charge. President Trump says he hopes they take the deal, that was the post this morning. But on Friday afternoon, he spoke to my colleague, Weijia Jiang, and he gave us an incredibly optimistic read. He said Iran had quote, agreed to everything, including to stop enriching uranium forever and to stop backs – backing all proxy groups like Hezbollah. He made it sound like it’s all been sorted out. So which is it? Was there an agreement with certain parts of the Iranian government, but now there are others in charge, or was he just, you know, I don’t know, speculating about something he hopes comes true?

MIKE WALTZ: Margaret, anybody who has dealt with the Iranians will tell you it is often two steps forward, three steps back. They’re incredibly slippery. They can’t be trusted. They cheated over the years, which is one of the reasons that President Trump withdrew us from the JCPOA. They were hiding sites. They were hiding capabilities, and this is why he made the bold decision —

MARGARET BRENNAN: Yep —

MIKE WALTZ: last year in operation midnight hammer, to just end it once and for all. And again, we have to take the perspective that we’re not waiting. We’re not trusting. We are reducing their capabilities. Their military is in shambles. Their missile program is in shambles, and now, hopefully diplomatically, they will do it the easy way, rather than the hard way, of finally giving up on this illegal ambition.

MARGARET BRENNAN: The Defense Intelligence Agency told Congress this past week, Iran has thousands of missiles and one way attack drones that can still threaten the United States. So there’s still a threat in certain ways. General Caine said on Thursday, the US is going to pursue Iranian flagged vessels or any vessel providing support, including those carrying Iranian oil. Beijing is the top customer. Are you going to start boarding vessels headed to to China? When do these operations begin?

MIKE WALTZ: Well, I’m not going to give – get into operational timelines, but I’ll tell you all options are on the table. The President is prepared to escalate, to de-escalate, he means it. When he said nothing that benefits Iran is coming out of the strait. And then on top of that, Secretary Bessent announced operation economic fury, where we are prepared to put secondary sanctions on banks who are transacting in illegal Iranian oil dollars. So we are truly putting maximum pressure on every aspect of the Iranian economy, and at some point they are going to see some level of common sense and pragmatism and say enough is enough with this nuclear obsession.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Is that the first step before you go back to combat? Because President Trump was talking about bombing power plants. Are the sanctions and the seizing of vessels —

MIKE WALTZ: Well, we’ve taken —

MARGARET BRENNAN: step one?

Mike Waltz: Well we’ve taken, you know, again, I’m not going to publicly sequence the steps, but the blockade was, was a tremendous step and has been tremendously effective, with dozens of ships turned around. Others that are already out on the water, our Pacific Command is prepared to interdict. We’re going after the banks. We’re going after this shadow fleet, one of which was run by a relative of Khamenei. So we are taking a number of steps. We’re even looking – our acting attorney general has made it very clear, he is going to start aggressively prosecuting, our threat finance unit is going —

MARGARET BRENNAN: Yeah —

MIKE WALTZ: after their illegal dollars. So this is a whole of government, full on press. I hope we don’t have to go back to a military option but President Trump’s made it very clear. And by the way, bridges, power plants that are run by the IRGC, which runs the entire military, are absolute legitimate military targets, not only now, but have been historically. That is a false, fake and ridiculous notion that this is some type of war crime.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, we’ll talk about that, and we’ll see if that happens. But Germany and other allies have said they will help the United States with that navigation through the Strait of Hormuz, eventually, once combat ends, but they said they need cover. They need an international mandate at the United Nations. Will Russia and China get on board? Are you trying to do that at the UN?

MIKE WALTZ: Well, as our Gulf Arab allies made it very clear at the UN, I guess that would be nice to have after the conflict, but they need help and are ready to take action now, particularly Bahrain, UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, we had a historic resolution to the UN with 135 —

MARGARET BRENNAN: Yeah —

MIKE WALTZ: nations condemning Iran for its attacks on civilian infrastructure, on resorts, civilian airports, ports, shipping. That was truly tremendous. It’s disappointing the Russians and Chinese chose to side with Iran rather than our Gulf Arab allies —

(CROSSTALK BEGINS)

MARGARET BRENNAN: And you still lifted sanctions on Russia.

(CROSSTALK ENDS)

MIKE WALTZ: and freedom of navigation, but you’re going to see – yeah, you’re going to see continued action this coming week. The entire world is united that you – that a country cannot hold an international waterway and cannot hold the world’s economies hostage because it has a conflict with another country. You don’t see that in the Straits of Gibraltar, the Bering Strait, the Straits of Malacca, or any other international waterway. Iran is absolutely in the wrong here from a legal, diplomatic and economic standpoint.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Let me ask you about Lebanon. President Trump posted Friday that quote, Israel will not be bombing Lebanon any longer. They are prohibited from doing so by the USA. Enough is enough. How is the US prohibiting ally Israel from bombing in Lebanon? And what is the United States doing to confiscate weapons from Hezbollah like, how are you helping the Lebanese military do that?

MIKE WALTZ: Well to answer your last question, first, the US contributed over $250 million to the Lebanese Armed Forces. This is a tremendous historic opportunity for Lebanon, the Lebanese government led by President Aoun, a former general, the head of the Lebanese Armed Forces, to take their country back. Finally, with Iran on its back foot and militarily devastated, with Syria —

MARGARET BRENNAN: Yep.

MIKE WALTZ: in a much better place, with the fall of the Assad regime and the effective diplomacy that we’ve had there, and from the pager and beeper operation to now, Hezbollah has never been in a worse place. This is a true moment, and it was a real honor for me to be at the opening of the —

MARGARET BRENNAN: Yeah.

MIKE WALTZ: first Israel – Israel Lebanon talks, first ever —

MARGARET BRENNAN: How are you going to prohibit Israel from bombing?

MIKE WALTZ: in modern history. So, we have – look, but Maragaret, we have diplomacy on the march in a number of places —

MARGARET BRENNAN: Uh-huh.

MIKE WALTZ: Backed, of course, by military strength —

MARGARET BRENNAN: Okay.

MIKE WALTZ: but we have to take a moment to understand the magnitude of what’s going on.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Ambassador Waltz, we will be watching to see what happens in the coming days. Thank you for your time. This morning, Face the Nation will be back in a minute. Stay with us.

Transcript: Amos Hochstein on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan,” April 19, 2026

2026-04-19T12:48:00-0400 / CBS News

The following is the transcript of the interview with Amos Hochstein, Biden administration senior energy adviser and Middle East negotiator, that aired on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” on April 19, 2026.

MARGARET BRENNAN: And we’re joined now by Amos Hochstein. He was a former Biden White House senior energy advisor and Middle East negotiator, and he’s now managing partner at the investment firm TWG global. Good to have you back here.

AMOS HOCHSTEIN, MANAGING PARTNER, TWG GLOBAL, FORMER SENIOR ENERGY ADVISER TO PRESIDENT BIDEN: It’s great to be here.

MARGARET BRENNAN: So President Trump said current gas prices are not very high, but regular gas costs are averaged like $4.05 a gallon. Last time we saw that was under the Biden administration when Russia invaded Ukraine. So if you were advising President Trump today, how do you make sure this spike isn’t long lasting?

HOCHSTEIN: Well, we’re over $4 now, because we have a real disruption. In the Russia invasion of Ukraine, we had a concern of a disruption that never actually happened, and it went all the way up to $5. For the President right now, any continued duration of closure of the Straits of Hormuz will have to have a spike in prices. We’re at a- when you have an energy crisis like the Strait of Hormuz. It’s very slow moving, and then it’s like falling off a cliff, because when you close a strait, the world still has all the tankers that were on the water before, and that take- could take 25,30 days to get to their destination. But right now, there are no tankers on the road, on the- on the seas to Asia and to Europe. So we’re getting to the point now where certain countries no longer have any fuel, no longer have jet fuel. Now those are poor countries, and now middle income countries, but that eventually comes to the U.S. So he’s got a couple of weeks before this can go much higher.

MARGARET BRENNAN: But he’s got to get a deal quickly, in other words.

HOCHSTEIN: He’s got to get a deal quickly.

MARGARET BRENNAN: So, because we are seeing all these economies get hit. I mean, in Europe, they’re saying jet fuel is only a few weeks- there’s only six weeks left or so. Secretary Bessent said he expects a price drop sometime between June and September. Is that realistic?

HOCHSTEIN: I think what- right now, what they’re doing in the administration is saying things further out to say, Okay, we’ll deal with that in June. If we get to June, prices are high, we’ll say it’s August to November.

MARGARET BRENNAN: They’re trying to talk the markets down.

HOCHSTEIN: They’re talking the markets down as if the straits are closed- you talked about Europe. Certain Asian countries are already canceling flights. They don’t have any jet fuel. They’re running out and probably two to three weeks at most, before large parts of Asia. But remember Margaret. When a plane leaves the United States, they can’t take jet fuel with them. The administration has been saying, we have plenty in the U.S., great. But if you leave the U.S. and there is no jet fuel on the other side. So what happens is the fuel surcharges that Americans are going to see, that are already starting to see, and ahead of Memorial Day in the summer, tickets are going to be very expensive. When jet fuel is expensive in the rest of the world. It is also expensive here.

MARGARET BRENNAN: And we saw Spirit Airlines really struggling under that with the bankruptcy issue. Let me ask you about your Mideast experience here. In July 2024 Secretary Blinken claimed Iran was one or two weeks away from having enough fissile material breakout capacity to eventually make a weapon if Iran had decided to do so. There were indirect negotiations that the Biden administration did, but it went nowhere. So when President Trump argues that he did, when no other president would, is it just simply that the bill was coming due and it fell on his watch?

HOCHSTEIN: I do think there’s a certain element to that, and that’s why I was supportive of President Trump joining in in June to take the strikes that we had thought internally in the Biden administration, we may have to take if there was a second term. We thought that the spring, summer of 2025 was probably, we may have to be there in the same place. And we did, we did war games. We did some practice runs on what it would look like to look into it, because that may have had to happen under our watch as well. But we- he said, we obliterated their nuclear program. The question then is not about what he did in June, this war we were in now, did not attack the nuclear facilities, again. This was not about the nuclear, so the question now becomes, can you do a deal with the Iranians? And the maximalist positions that both sides have are right now very far apart, despite all the rhetoric that we’re we’re almost there, or we are there, but if we’re not there, we’ll bomb the hell out of them.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Right, or who knows who’s going to show up or not show up from the Iranian side to negotiate with. I thought that was interesting, that the ambassador acknowledged that.

HOCHSTEIN: Well, look, Margaret, when you have a negotiation that’s being done loosely, right? Phone calls and no real paper, you get to a point where Iran says Lebanon was included. The U.S. says, no, it wasn’t. The Iranians say we’re opening the straits because it’s completely open, and the Americans say, no, the blockade is staying. There’s no- if there’s no paper, no serious negotiation on this, and we’re trying to do it really quickly to assuage markets. Then you get to these misunderstandings, and now we’re in a worse position. This is a very serious issue, and I think it shouldn’t take just three days to do a nuclear deal. It’s really, really critical. But if the straits are not opened soon, the leverage that they have, and my concern is, no matter how the war ends, the Iranians now have a card they never had before in practice. In theory, we knew they can close the straits, but they never did, and now, for the foreseeable future, they have this card against us and against their neighbors.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Why do you think President Trump isn’t deploying his top diplomat and his national security advisor? Why aren’t we seeing Secretary of State Rubio leading on this?

HOCHSTEIN: That’s a mystery that I think many in the region and around the United States are asking, why is this not being run by the Secretary of State who’s also his national security advisor. Maybe the secretary of state doesn’t believe that this is the right approach. I don’t know you. You have to ask him if you can get him to answer that question.

MARGARET BRENNAN: We would love for him to join us.

HOCHSTEIN: I’m sure you would. But that’s- that’s a real mystery. Look, the Vice President of the United States–

MARGARET BRENNAN: –But does it show you know when you’re going to the negotiating table? The Vice President going is important because the last two times Witkoff and Kushner showed up with the Iranian delegation, the talks fell apart. In fact, they ended in bombing. So you need someone who wasn’t there the last two times it failed, right?

HOCHSTEIN: And you need someone who is senior enough that the Iranians believe speaks for the President. So I think that it’s important that the Vice President or someone go. I think it would have been great if we can get to a point where you have preparatory talks, and you send the vice president at the end of the process, in order to break the log jam.

MARGARET BRENNAN: I want to pick up on Lebanon, you brokered that 2024 ceasefire in Lebanon on Friday this past week, we saw the President announce 10 days of pause to halt the fighting between Hezbollah and Israel, which is basically linked to the big deal he really wants to get to with Iran. What do you make of this truce?

HOCHSTEIN: So a few things. One, I’m glad to see that the fire is halted, even if it’s a pause. The worrisome part is that it was seen as a ceasefire that was brokered by Iran by insisting on a Lebanese ceasefire before they would show up to talks in Pakistan. That’s a disaster, because the one thing we have always been emphasizing, Iran does not control Lebanon. It is none of their business what happens in Lebanon. Hezbollah has been unmasked in this conflict over the last couple of years as not really a Lebanese fighting organization, or terrorist organization, as they claim. But rather they said, we are doing this at the behest of the Iranians. And so allowing the Iranians to dictate terms is not a good thing. However, direct talks between Israel, even at the lower level, at the ambassador level, is a good development. Most of the Lebanese people want to see a lasting ceasefire, even if they don’t want to see a peace agreement. They want to see agreement, they want to see end of conflict, but we have to have a serious effort here. There’s such a great moment of opportunity. It will not be a moment of opportunity if Israel is occupying a significant part of Lebanon to re-establish a buffer zone. That won’t work, because ultimately that will help Hezbollah reestablish its political footing and their narrative. So we have to get to the table, create a- make sure Israel withdraws from Lebanon, stop the fighting and give the actual help to Lebanon to disarm Hezbollah. They cannot do it on their own.

MARGARET BRENNAN: This is what I asked Ambassador Waltz on that, can they do that. And to be clear, the Israelis have said not only that they’re going to stay in southern Lebanon, but also take some of the territory that they had seized after Assad fell in Syria. So it’s is serious negotiation that has to take place.

HOCHSTEIN: This is a tactical victory for Israel that will lead, once again, an overreach, that will lead them to lose more ground.

MARGARET BRENNAN: I want to ask you, as a Democrat, there was this extraordinary vote this past week in the Senate. Forty Senate Democrats tried to block a U.S. weapons sale to Israel, and that adds to this growing rift we have seen between your party and Benjamin Netanyahu. Do you think Democrats are going to come to regret this break in the alliance?

HOCHSTEIN: So I hope that it’s not a break in the alliance. I think this, what it really demonstrates is for the last several years, Prime Minister Netanyahu has sacrificed Israel’s interest in the United States. The most important asset the Israel has is not its military or its intelligence. It’s the relation, it’s the special relationship with the United States that has been bipartisan for so many decades. He has destroyed that because he has decided to become not just part of the Republican Party, but he’s decided to become just an appendage of Donald Trump. And so every Democrat now sees, if you want to be Trump, great, if we’re anti-Trump, then by de facto, we are against you. I think this is a lot to do with Bibi Netanyahu and his extremist right-wing government, and not to do with Israel. Look, you have half of Israel is voting against Bibi. So I think this- Democrats should be aligning with Israel, not with Bibi. But I think this is a very big wake up call this week, that vote.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Significant vote. Amos, thank you for your insights.

Transcript: Former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan,” April 19, 2026

2026-04-19T13:51:13-0400 / CBS News

April 19, 2026 / 1:51 PM EDT / CBS News

The following is the transcript of the interview with Obama administration Attorney General Eric Holder that aired on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” on April 19, 2026.

*

MARGARET BRENNAN: We’re joined now by Eric Holder, who served as Attorney General under former President Obama. Good to have you here.

FMR. ATTORNEY GENERAL ERIC HOLDER: Good to be here.

MARGARET BRENNAN: So, you’ve been working on redistricting. You’re chairman of the National Democratic Redistricting Committee. Voters out in Virginia are set to make this decision about redrawing districts in a way that would advantage Democrats. As I understand it, it’s not just you. It’s former President Obama, it’s the Governor of Virginia, all pushing for this, saying that this gerrymandering will restore fairness. But how is drawing a map along partisan lines- How is that not just stacking the deck? How is that about fairness?

HOLDER: We have to look at this in its totality. This is really a national fight. It’s not a fight only about Virginia. And when the President told Governor Abbott in Texas, I needed five additional seats in the House of Representatives, there had to be a response to that. And the governor in California decided, all right, we’ll put- we’ll ask the people of California, do you want to respond to what has happened in Texas? We’re asking the people of Virginia, do you want to respond to what’s happened, not only in Texas, but in Missouri as well, and in North Carolina as well. And what we’re trying to do is come up with a system whereby the people actually decide what’s the composition of the House of Representatives so that it can be an effective check on this president. So, what Virginia is doing, what California did is only in response to that which Republicans started in Texas.

MARGARET BRENNAN: But in Virginia, there already was a bipartisan commission that was set up to do these things. I mean, that sounds fair, bipartisan commission. So, by holding this referendum and changing the map, I know you said that this is just a temporary measure. How do you guarantee that this is temporary and that this doesn’t keep happening?

HOLDER: Well, the measure itself says that it is- it is time limited. It is only for this cycle, an additional cycle, and after the census–

MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, that could be changed again.

HOLDER: No, well, no, that’s nothing that we would be pushing. We need to deal with the crisis that we have right now, come up with a way in which we deal with that crisis, and then get back to the redistricting commissions in California and in Virginia. And one thing I think it’s really important to understand is that the people have the ability to make this decision in Virginia, as they did in California, as opposed to–

MARGARET BRENNAN: Because they have a referendum–

HOLDER: –as opposed to it being imposed upon them in Texas and in Missouri and in North Carolina, which proved to be wildly unpopular, but Republican politicians ignored the will of the people in those states and put in place these mechanisms.

MARGARET BRENNAN: But if we put this another way, I mean, look at all the headwinds the president’s party is facing right now. We’ve been talking about the war and the energy costs that go along with it. Historically, the president’s party doesn’t usually do well in the midterm races. So why do Democrats need to do this? I mean, it sounds like it’s acknowledging that the Democratic Party can’t win on its own, that it has to go through these measures.

HOLDER: The Democrats can certainly win if it’s a fair fight. And the question I have–

MARGARET BRENNAN: –It wasn’t going to be a fair fight in Virginia?

HOLDER: No, it wasn’t going to be a fair fight nationally, if you try to steal seats in Texas, in North Carolina and in Missouri. And so the question I have for people who are critical of that which we’re doing, is, what were we supposed to do? Nothing? just allow them to try to stack the deck, to try to steal seats, and all we’re trying to do is meet them and try to make the system as fair as it possibly can be. And that’s all that this is about, and it’s temporary, and it is also something that the citizens have the ability to say yes or no to.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, I don’t have to explain to you the negative parts of gerrymandering, because you have talked about it for years and years. I mean, we looked back at some of your quotes. You said it puts in place governments that don’t reflect the policy desires of the American people. In 2019 you said it leads to gridlock. It leads to lack of compromise because it caters to the extremes of the party. You said, I don’t stand for gerrymandering for Democrats. So practically speaking, aren’t you endorsing all these things now? I mean, how does the situation get better? How do people lead to compromise now?

HOLDER: Well, we have to deal with this crisis that is in front of us and that the Republicans put before the nation. Once we get past this crisis, we can get back to that which I’ve been fighting for since 2017 which is fairness. But we have to, if we want to get to that fairness fight, we have to save our democracy now. And I’m not being hyperbolic or alarmist, if we don’t respond to that which they are trying to do, we could lose our democracy and not have the ability to get back to that fairness fight.

MARGARET BRENNAN: The Supreme Court upheld the actions in Texas.

HOLDER: Right. The Supreme Court upheld the actions in Texas, as well as in California. Supreme Court–

MARGARET BRENNAN: But you still think it’s illegal, basically–

HOLDER: I think it’s inappropriate, and hopefully the next time we have a new Democratic president and control both the House and the Senate, I hope we’ll pass federal legislation that will ban partisan gerrymandering just outright and get away- just do away with this altogether.

MARGARET BRENNAN: So even if this is a short-term measure, there are some specifically in the state of Virginia, who have concerns about what- what happens near term? There was an op-ed written by Philip Thompson. I’m not sure if you saw it. He’s the Executive Director of the National Black Nonpartisan Redistricting Organization, and he said that, specific to Virginia, the redrawn map fails to consolidate black political influence despite the fact that black voters form a critical component of the Democratic leadership and voting bloc in Virginia. And he raises this question, what’s in this for us? If you need to get people out there excited and voting, how do you respond to something like that?

HOLDER: That’s simply untrue. That is simply untrue. And what I would ask, whoever that gentleman is, do you think that another two years of unchecked Trump power is in the best interest of African Americans in this nation? No. The answer to that is clearly, clearly no. And so, we have to look at this, not again, only on a Virginia scale, but what is going on nationally, and the impact of having a positive vote in Virginia will be to put in place- help put in place a check on that which the Trump administration has been doing.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Mr. Holder, thank you so much for your time.

HOLDER: Thanks for having me.

MARGARET BRENNAN: We’ll be back in a moment.

U.N. Ambassador Mike Waltz says U.S. is “never going to take an approach of trust” with Iran

2026-04-19 13:52 / CBS News

By Kaia Hubbard

Updated on: April 19, 2026 / 2:39 PM EDT / CBS News

Washington — U.N. Ambassador Mike Waltz said Sunday that the U.S. is “never going to take an approach of trust” with Iran as U.S. officials{

https://www.cbsnews.com/video/un-ambassador-mike-waltz-says-us-is-never-going-to-take-an-approach-of-trust-with-iran/

No English content available

卑尔根游泳节摘一银一铜 李君杰达第三个亚运会A标

2026年4月20日 00:24 / 联合早报 陈芷馨

卑尔根游泳节摘一银一铜 李君杰达第三个亚运会A标

我国泳将李君杰本周末在卑尔根游泳节交出的成绩，达到今年亚运会和共运会的A标。（档案照片）

新加坡泳将李君杰参加挪威卑尔根游泳节摘下一银一铜。他在男子50米蝶泳以刷新个人最佳时间的23秒19获得铜牌并达到2026年亚运会A标（23秒54）后，也拿到50米自由泳银牌。

李君杰星期六（4月18日）在男子50米蝶泳达到个人项目上的第三个亚运会A标，他去年在泰国东南亚运动会交出的50米（21秒92）和100米自由泳（48秒65）金牌成绩也都达到标准。

值得一提的是，这也是李君杰的第二个2026年共和联邦运动会A标。他此前在50米自由泳也达到共运A标，100米的时间则距离A标48秒54不远。

根据世界泳联本赛季的亚洲排名，李君杰在50米蝶泳游出23秒19足以排在亚洲第三，前两个最好的成绩都是同一名日本泳手光永翔音在日本游泳公开赛交出的，成绩为23秒06和23秒16。

李君杰在卑尔根游泳节一共参加三个项目，他在男子100米自由泳预赛交出48秒69的全场第二的成绩，不过没有参加过后的决赛。

他星期天（19日）角逐50米自由泳，游出22秒28的他以预赛第一身份晋级A组决赛，后来在决赛以21秒95获得银牌。值得一提的是，李君杰的个人最佳成绩是21秒92，全国纪录是21秒91。

17岁小将陈俐也进军亚运会

除此之外，蛙泳小将陈俐在泛太平洋游泳赛的成绩解锁三个成就，她在女子100米蛙泳交出1分08秒74，刷新个人最佳成绩的同时，也写下我国17岁以下（U17）新全国纪录，还达到了亚运会A标（1分08秒87）。

Energy secretary says Strait of Hormuz ‘not safe’ right now

12:47 PM EDT, Sun April 19, 2026 / CNN

Energy secretary says Strait of Hormuz ‘not safe’ right now

State of the Union

US Energy Secretary Chris Wright said the Strait of Hormuz is “not safe” right now while speaking with Jake Tapper on “State of the Union.”

0:37 • Source: CNN

今年3月，日本东京河畔樱花如云，吸引市民和游客驻足赏樱。 （法新社）

在日本，有一份延续了1200年的“守护”工作，持续记载京都樱花每年盛开的日期。这项最初只出现在僧侣、贵族和官员日记中的记载，如今已成为全球持续时间最长的气候观测资料之一。

但在去年夏天，长期维护这份记录的大阪公立大学气候学者青野靖（Yasuyuki Aono）因癌症逝世后，这项延续1200多年的京都樱花开花记录一度面临中断风险。

《纽约时报》报道，日本僧侣、贵族和官员数百年来在日记和宫廷记载中留下赏樱日期。青野花了15年自学古日文，把这些零散记录整理成珍贵的气候数据。

研究显示，樱花对气温极其敏感。在长达1000年的时间里，京都樱花的满开日期相对稳定在4月中旬。但随着工业革命和城市化进程的推进，花期开始大幅提前。2021年，京都樱花在3月26日便达到满开，创下了1200年来的最早纪录，较历史平均水平提前了近三周。

青野去世后，大阪公立大学一度无人接手。本月早些时候，“数据看世界”（Our World in Data）成员在社交平台发文求助，希望找到熟悉京都当地、具备科学背景的人接手记录工作。

近日，这项记录工作终于找到新接手人。东京环境生物物理学家、佳能全球战略研究所高级研究员片田源基（Genki Katata）已同意接手这份工作。

樱花花期变化反映气候变暖

樱花花期的改变不仅仅是景观的更迭，更预示着生态系统的连锁反应。

研究指出，花期提前可能使植物错过蜜蜂等传粉昆虫的活跃期，也可能因过早开花而遭遇晚春寒霜。

此外，气候变暖也可能使部分地区不再适合某些樱花品种生长。日本九州研究中心今年的研究指出，暖冬可能导致樱花无法获得足够冷量完成休眠，九州已出现异常开花现象。

新任守护者片田博士介绍，他未来的工作将侧重于进一步区分全球变暖、城市化“热岛效应”以及自然气候波动对樱花花期的具体影响，从而更精确地评估气候变化现状。

研究：腰围身高比优于BMI 更能预测高血压风险

2026年4月19日 23:31 / 联合早报

研究发现，相比传统身体质量指数（BMI），腰围身高比（WHtR）更有效识别高血压风险，或可作为更实用的早期筛查指标。 （iStock）

研究发现，相比传统身体质量指数（BMI），腰围身高比（WHtR）更有效识别高血压风险，或可作为更实用的早期筛查指标。 （iStock）

传统的肥胖衡量标准——身体质量指数（BMI）——可能在预测高血压时存在局限。一项新研究显示，相比于无法区分肌肉与脂肪的BMI，腰围身高比（WHtR）在识别高血压风险方面表现更突出。

新华社报道，东芬兰大学日前发布新闻公报指出，BMI是体重除以身高平方得出的常用指标，因计算简便，长期被广泛用于肥胖筛查。但BMI无法区分脂肪和肌肉，而肌肉量增加通常有助于降低部分心血管代谢疾病风险。

此前，东芬兰大学研究团队已提出一套新的腰围身高比临界值，用于判断脂肪量是否偏高或过多，这一指标在识别糖尿病前期、2型糖尿病和脂肪肝等风险方面表现较好。

东芬兰大学与美国罗格斯大学的研究人员分析了2021年至2023年间，美国7243名12岁以上人员的数据，这些人员平均年龄为44.8岁。

结果显示，与腰围身高比在0.40至0.50之间、脂肪量正常者相比，腰围身高比在0.50至0.53之间、脂肪量偏高者，出现血压升高的可能性高出50%，患高血压的可能性高出82%；腰围身高比大于0.53、脂肪量过多者，这两项风险分别高出91%和161%。

相比之下，尽管BMI评估的超重和肥胖与血压升高有关，但与高血压并未显示出明显关联。研究人员认为，这可能与BMI无法排除肌肉量等因素有关。

研究人员指出，基于腰围身高比评估脂肪量，是一种简单且易于推广的方法，有助于加强早期筛查，提升对脂肪相关心血管疾病风险的识别能力。

相关研究成果已发表在美国学术期刊《营养学杂志》上。

涉嫌性侵儿童而遭扣留的巴基斯坦籍嫌犯莫哈末哈山，上星期四（9日）在被送返双溪毛糯监狱的过程中逃脱。他逃亡九日后，星期六（18日）遭移民局人员重新逮捕。 （取自移民局脸书）

在马来西亚涉嫌性侵儿童而遭扣留的巴基斯坦籍嫌犯莫哈末哈山，逃亡九日后遭移民局人员重新逮捕。

移民局总监扎卡利亚星期天（4月19日）在脸书贴文指出，移民局经过多天的情报收集，并获得巴基斯坦驻马大使馆的信息支援后，移民局情报和特别行动组官员组成的行动小组终于查到莫哈末哈山的藏身位置。

扎卡利亚说：“行动小组星期六（18日）下午5时出动，前往雪兰莪旧鹅唛路24公里处，逮捕这名从双溪毛糯监狱逃逸的扣留犯。”

他透露，24岁的莫哈末哈山面对围捕时试图再次逃跑，但遭行动小队制伏。经调查，此人身上没有任何合法身份文件。

初步调查显示，莫哈末哈山从警用卡车下车时趁机逃跑。他在逃走后的七天里，白天藏匿建筑工地附近树林，夜晚则因害怕野兽而偷溜进工地过夜。

他说，为了逃避执法人员，莫哈末哈山还从建筑工地偷取衣物更换。

据移民局，莫哈末哈山去年1月11日持为期30天的旅游签证，通过吉隆坡国际机场入境马国。他重新落网后，巴基斯坦驻马最高专员署代表已进行认人程序，并确认此人就是本月9日在警方监管下逃逸的扣留犯。

莫哈末哈山涉嫌抵触“1959年/1963年移民法令”，目前扣押在移民局扣留所。

莫哈末哈山上星期四（9日）在被送返双溪毛糯监狱的过程中逃脱。他涉及多项刑事罪行，包括刑事法典的性犯罪和抢劫，以及移民法令。

网传电眼录像显示，数名警员以罗厘押送一批囚犯返回双溪毛糯监狱时，先下车的警员正监视从罗厘下来的囚犯。

身穿橙色囚服与黑色长裤的嫌犯下车后，趁警员稍不留神而迅速飞奔。等警员回过神来急起直追时，嫌犯已经逃离现场。