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Israeli Barrage on Lebanon Tests Fragile U.S.-Iran Ceasefire; Melania Trump Denies Relationship with Epstein in Public Statement; Interview with Rep. Glenn Ivey (D-MD): Democrats Unsuccessful in Attempt to Take Up War Powers Measure. Aired 2:30-3p ET

Aired April 09, 2026 - 14:30   ET

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

[14:30:00]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Turning back now to the major sticking point that has the U.S.-Iran ceasefire on shaky ground. Israel's attacks on Lebanon, which Iranian officials say is the reason they're still restricting tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz. Lebanon is now responding to Israel's plan for direct negotiations with an official there saying that there will be no talks under fire.

This follows massive and deadly Israeli strikes yesterday that Lebanon's health ministry says killed over 300 people. The IDF says it struck more than 100 Hezbollah command centers and military sites, claiming to have killed the personal secretary of the group's deputy chief. An Israeli official today telling CNN there is no ceasefire at the moment, suggesting there was no plan to pause hostilities for talks.

Let's discuss with former defense secretary during President Trump's first term, Mark Esper. He also serves on the board as a strategic advisor for a handful of aerospace or defense-related companies. Secretary, thanks so much for being with us.

How are you reading this development and the likelihood that Israel and Lebanon are going to discuss a disarmament of Hezbollah?

MARK ESPER, FORMER DEFENSE SECRETARY UNDER PRESIDENT TRUMP: Well, Boris, as you said, the conflict between Israel and Lebanon continues. And I think it's important to remind ourselves that after the October 7th, 2023, attacks, eventually Israel went north into Lebanon to go after Hezbollah because they were shooting rockets and sending drones and other things south to Israeli cities. And then, of course, November of 24, there was a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Lebanon after Hezbollah was basically decimated.

In August of 25, Lebanon had said they had disarmed the militias, and they in fact made a major announcement earlier this year in January. So, look, the fact is Hezbollah was supposed to be disarmed, and Lebanon was supposed to get rid of all the militias.

[14:35:00]

But nonetheless, once the conflict between Iran and Israel and the United States began, Hezbollah pulled out its weapons and began firing south into Israel. So, look, I'm not surprised that the Israelis are continuing this operation. They don't want to fight a war on two fronts. And this problem with Hezbollah was supposed to be solved multiple times.

SANCHEZ: I mean, that begs the question. Obviously, the Lebanese government doesn't control Hezbollah. They're not going to accept disarmament, as you've said before.

They've seemed to come to some terms with the Lebanese government, and then they just keep sending rockets over the border. So, what actual leverage does Beirut, does Lebanon, the government there, have?

ESPER: Well, they don't, because as you said, they've been ineffective in terms of regulating the militia due to politics. And Shias living in southern Lebanon, they've managed to push them north of the Litani River, Hezbollah, but still these attacks continue. So, look, unless some international force or some foreign force is willing to come in there and do real peacekeeping, despite the fact that we have United Nations troops there now, then Israel is going to have to do it itself.

And they're not going to let up on this as long as Hezbollah continues to attack them.

SANCHEZ: So, what does that mean for the tenuous state of the ceasefire if one side, Iran and Pakistan, are saying that Lebanon was absolutely part of the deal and the U.S. and Israel saying that it was not? I mean, does it make it more likely that we'll soon again see hostilities?

ESPER: I don't think because of Israel engaging Hezbollah. Look, the main stage is the U.S. and Israel versus Iran. It's the attacks that those two countries that we are putting on Iran and how Iran is responding to Arab states and Israel.

Not necessarily the Lebanese-Hezbollah conflict. So, I think the issue right now between the parties that makes this ceasefire fragile is not Lebanon. It's the fact that Iran is still restricting traffic in the Strait of Hormuz.

We know that the morning after the agreement was made, that would be yesterday, Wednesday, only a handful of ships made it through, maybe four or so.

SANCHEZ: Yes, Secretary Esper, I hate to cut you off. We have to get to some breaking news. We thank you for the time.

I'll send it over to Brianna.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Breaking news. First Lady Melania Trump giving a statement from the White House, responding to things that have been said about convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein as they relate to her. Let's listen.

MELANIA TRUMP, FIRST LADY: Good afternoon. The lies linking me with the disgraceful Jeffrey Epstein need to end today. The individuals lying about me are devoid of ethical standards, humility, and respect.

I do not object to their ignorance, but rather I reject their mean- spirited attempts to defame my reputation. I never been friends with Epstein. Donald and I were invited to the same parties as Epstein from time to time, since overlapping in social circles is common in New York City and Palm Beach.

To be clear, I never had a relationship with Epstein or his accomplice, Maxwell. My e-mail reply to Maxwell cannot be characterized as anything more than casual correspondence. My polite reply to her e-mail doesn't amount to anything more than a tribal note.

I am not Epstein's victim. Epstein did not introduce me to Donald Trump. I met my husband by chance at the New York City party in 1998.

This initial encounter with my husband is documented in detail in my book, Melania. The first time I crossed paths with Epstein was in the year 2000 at an event Donald and I attended together. At the time, I had never met Epstein and had no knowledge of his criminal undertakings.

Numerous fake images and statements about Epstein and me have been calculating on social media for years now. Be cautious about what you believe. These images and stories are completely false.

[14:40:00]

I'm not a witness or a name witness in connection with any of Epstein's crimes. My name has never appeared in court documents, depositions, victim statements, or FBI interviews surrounding the Epstein matter. I have never had any knowledge of Epstein's abuse of his victims.

I was never involved in any capacity. I was not a participant, was never on Epstein's plane, and never visited his private island. I have never been legally accused or convinced of a crime in connection with Epstein's sex trafficking, abuse of minors, and other repulsive behavior.

The false smears about me from mean-spirited and politically motivated individuals and entities looking to cause damage to my good name to gain financially and climb politically must stop. My attorneys and I have fought these unfound and baseless lies with success and will continue to maintain my sound reputation without hesitation. To date, several individuals and companies have been legally obligated to publicly apologize and retract their lies about me, such as Daily Beast, James Carville, and HarperCollins UK.

Now is the time for Congress to act. Epstein was not alone. Several prominent male executives resigned from their powerful positions after this matter became widely politicized.

Of course, this doesn't amount to guilt, but we still must work openly and transparently to uncover the truth. I call on Congress to provide the women who have been victimized by Epstein with a public hearing specifically centered around the survivors. Give these victims their opportunity to testify under oath in front of Congress with the power of sworn testimony.

Each and every woman should have her day to tell her story in public if she wishes, and then her testimony should be permanently entered into the congressional record. Then, and only then, we will have the truth. Thank you.

SANCHEZ: That was First Lady Melania Trump at the White House making a public statement saying that the lies and smears linking me the Jeffrey Epstein need to end today. She denies ever having any involvement or knowledge and the late convicted sex offender's crimes -- saying she never had a relation with him or with Ghislaine Maxwell. Saying that Epstein did not introduce me to Donald Trump, the president. She said that they met by chance in 1998. Notably ending her statement with a call to action to Congress.

KEILAR: Yes, there should be a public hearing centered around the survivors that every woman should have her day to tell her story in public. Let's go -- and this is a photo, obviously, from years and years ago, where you see the Trumps with Ghislaine Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein.

Let's go to Kristen Holmes, who is at the White House. This is quite an extraordinary thing. An appearance by the first lady batting down any sort of suggestions of this kind of thing in social media, talking about this kind of association, Kristen.

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Brianna and Boris, I would use the word stunning here, particularly as it pertains to this first lady. She is often not in the limelight. She doesn't take to center stage.

She doesn't react to things like this standing there at the podium. And these remarks kind of came out of the blue. It's a time when we're actually not focusing on Epstein.

The country seemingly had moved on to the latest issue that is coming out of this administration, which, of course, is the war in Iran. Yet we have Melania Trump coming up here and essentially defending her name. And we should note there were a lot of smears across social media linking her to Epstein.

[14:45:00]

None of it seemed verified. We don't need to repeat any of those claims, although she does list them out somewhat during that speech regarding meeting Donald Trump, her relationship with Epstein. But even further, the fact that she is calling on Congress for an open hearing for them, for these victims and survivors to provide their testimony. We have to compare that to what we have been hearing from President Trump, from the White House, from the attorney general, Pam Bondi, before she left, talking about how America wants to move on from this, how they don't want to have these hearings.

They don't want to draw this out. How people in the country are tired of talking about Epstein. You have a direct contradiction to that with the first lady here. So, yes, you have her defending herself, but she is also calling for what so many people across America have been calling for, which is a chance for these victims, for these survivors to come forward and speak on the record, speak to Congress.

And she is actually calling on Congress to let them have this day in court. Obviously, court is metaphorical here, talking about Congress, but saying that everyone should have to testify under oath. Talking about how people, men have lost their jobs because of their relationships to Epstein, saying that, of course, it doesn't make you guilty of anything, but it should be an opportunity to have the survivors talk, the victims talk, to get their side of the story out there.

This, again, is completely the opposite of what we had been hearing in terms of the narrative and trying to get away from the narrative around Jeffrey Epstein. And coming from the first lady in this kind of impassioned speech, where she is directly addressing these claims, again, mostly claims that have been seen on social media. She names a few news outlets that had carried some of this. And then going into a call to action to even take this further, reinjecting the Jeffrey Epstein saga back into the media narrative and essentially saying Congress didn't do enough.

That is such a stunning and stark departure from what we have been hearing and to be given again by the first lady standing there at the White House.

SANCHEZ: Yes, notable, Kristen, in part because of this disagreement between the DOJ and the House Oversight Committee as to whether or not now former Attorney General Pam Bondi should testify and follow the subpoena to get her to testify. That was the last news we'd heard on the Epstein saga. So interesting to hear this from the first lady.

We'll have much more after a quick break. Stay with CNN.

[14:50:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: House Democrats today failed in their attempt to pass a measure limiting President Trump's ability to conduct military operations in Iran. In a brief procedural pro forma session during the House's two week recess, Democrat Glenn Ivey sought to introduce the war powers measure. Here's how Republican Chris Smith, who was overseeing the session, responded.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. CHRIS SMITH (R-NJ): The House adjourned until 2:30 p.m. on Monday, April 13th, 2026.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Congressman Glenn Ivey is with us now to talk a little bit about what happened today and what might be ahead here. And I know you want to force a vote on this, sir. Would that be a discharge petition?

Do you have any Republicans who are willing to join you on this?

REP. GLENN IVEY (D-MD): Well, I'd be a privileged resolution. And I think it looks like we might pick up some Republican support for this and hopefully we'll be able to get it to the floor. We tried today, but hopefully we'll be able to get it to the floor next week or the week after that.

But we want to do it as soon as possible.

KEILAR: So you say it looks like you might pick up some Republican support. What are you basing that on?

IVEY: Well, I know there have been conversations between Democratic leadership and some of the Republicans over there who raised concerns. And then if you look at some of the statements that Republicans made the day that, you know, President Trump walked the country up to the brink of annihilating Iran, I think was the type of language he was using. You had some people come out and make statements.

Congressman Nathaniel Moran, for example, out of Texas, rebuked the White House for that kind of language and said that, you know, it's important for America to do things the right way and that that wasn't the right way to go about it. He didn't commit to any kind of war powers vote along those lines. And there have been other comments along those lines, too.

They haven't committed to support the resolution, but it's clear that they're getting concerned about the extreme language that the president's using and also the fact that he's dug us into a very deep hole. I think we spent $54 billion on this ill-advised war so far. They're in the point of trying to negotiate things that we had and we weren't issues before he started this war, like the Strait of Hormuz had free passage.

Now he's trying to figure out whether he's going to try and do a joint agreement with the Iranians and share the tolling funding. It's kind of crazy stuff, but he's in deep trouble and he knows it.

KEILAR: So I hear what you're saying on that, but a number of Republicans who express concerns sort of soften some of their concerns after they were briefed by the Trump administration. Do you have any specific pledges from any Republicans, even if you can't reveal their names? But do you have any specific pledges from Republicans who are saying, yes, I want to get on board?

It sounds like no.

IVEY: I'm not in those negotiations, so I can't speak to that. I've heard some of the Democratic leadership say that we may be able to get there. In fact, they're hopeful of it.

That was as of a few days ago. And I think we may. We'll have to see, obviously.

[14:55:00]

But I think the key point is to make sure that we keep pushing this issue. We only need a handful of Republicans to come over and to make this a viable piece of legislation and get it done. And I think, you know, there's growing concern, certainly among the people in the United States. We've lost 13 people.

Military people have given their lives in this fight so far. Gas has gone up. You know, for us, it's over a dollar a gallon higher than it was just a few weeks ago.

I know there's a lot of concern about where we are. And I don't think at this point the public has a lot of confidence in the way the Trump administration is handling this. Certainly, they haven't kept to the point about trying to get rid of nuclear weapons or nuclear capabilities.

In fact, they said in June that they'd done it then. Clearly, they haven't. And that's something we're going to have to figure out now.

And the Strait of Hormuz problem, I think, is something that they've created. And now we have to try and find a way to address it.

KEILAR: Congressman Glenn Ivey, thanks for being with us. We appreciate it.

IVEY: Thank you.

KEILAR: A new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL coming your way after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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