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Dems Push Forward On Plans To Force War Powers Vote; FBI: Attack On OpenAI CEO's Home Was "Planned And Targeted"; Trump Attack On Pope Leo XIV And Posting Of Jesus Image Spark Backlash. Aired 7:30- 8a ET

Aired April 14, 2026 - 07:30   ET

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

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[07:31:00]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, so news in from the International Energy Agency. This global energy authority is now saying that it expects global demand for oil to see the sharpest quarterly drop since the pandemic, estimating that demand is going to fall by 1 1/2 trillion -- 1 1/2 million barrels a day this quarter and fall by 80,000 barrels a day over the course of year, which is reinforcing what it's already declared which is that the war with Iran has now triggered the largest oil supply shock and disruption in history.

Gas prices this morning -- taking a look, the national average fell by one cent overnight. But again, up by multiple percentage points.

CNN's David Goldman is here with much more on this. Let's talk about the IAE here. What are they saying and what does it really mean?

DAVID GOLDMAN, CNN SENIOR BUSINESS REPORTER: Yeah. Well, they're saying that high prices are going to create demand distraction, which is an economic nerd kind of --

BOLDUAN: Do we have distraction?

GOLDMAN: Yeah, exactly.

BOLDUAN: Do we like that or don't?

GOLDMAN: We can call it that.

I mean, so let's veer out of that nerd territory and just --

BOLDUAN: Yeah.

GOLDMAN: -- explain it like this. When prices go up you want to buy less of that thing, and when prices go way higher you might stop buying it altogether. And so that becomes a problem if it happens for a long time.

So think about it this way. If you are dealing with high gas prices right now -- airfares, we know, are a little bit higher --

BOLDUAN: Yes.

GOLDMAN: -- you might say you know what, I'm not going to take that trip in the summer. But if this lasts a really long time and gas prices keep going even higher -- well, then you might have to make really difficult permanent decisions about changing your lifestyle.

So if you're on the higher end of the wealth spectrum -- well, maybe you buy an electric vehicle. Maybe you put solar panels on your house. If you're on the lower end of the wealth spectrum maybe you trade in your car. Maybe you don't go to your job anymore because you can't get there and you need to get a job that's closer to your house and you start taking the bus, right?

Those are really difficult decisions. That's how recessions happen and that's why this is important.

BOLDUAN: So here we're taking a look at where oil prices are trading right now. As you can see, down just -- pointing down, looking -- it's under $100 a barrel right now. But my goodness, the rollercoaster continues.

You also have new reporting -- a new piece out today about how the -- this kind of -- this fight between Trump and Iran is now entering a dangerous new phase in terms of the economic game of chicken that they're playing.

Why now? What is it?

GOLDMAN: Well, OK. So if this blockade had happened at the beginning of the war, then oil prices would have gone up and, you know, we would be where we are now except that Iran wouldn't have been able to finance its war. Now President Trump is saying OK, I don't want Iran to be able to finance this war anymore, but you need to bear with me because oil prices are going to go even higher from here potentially. That's really dangerous for the American economy for all the reasons that we talked about.

And it's going to take a while for this to take affect because Iran has some fuel on floating platforms and on ships that are going out for delivery right now, so it's not going to happen overnight. Iran -- this would be bad for Iran -- let's be clear --

BOLDUAN: Yeah.

GOLDMAN: -- about that -- but not for many months. So that's why it's a dangerous game of chicken.

BOLDUAN: That's really interesting, David. It's great to see you. Thank you so much -- John.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, there is maybe new hope this morning that the U.S. and Iran could return to the negotiating table. A source says the Trump administration is eyeing a potential new round of in-person talks before the ceasefire expires in a week.

During the failed first round, a source says the U.S. proposed a 20- year pause on Iran's enrichment of uranium. A U.S. official said Iran responded by offering a five-year suspension, but the U.S. rejected that.

With us now retired Lt. Gen. Mark Schwartz, a former U.S. security coordinator for Israel and the Palestinian Authority. And CNN political and national security analyst David Sanger of The New York Times, who has written extensively on all kinds of U.S.-Iran nuclear talks and deals.

And David, that's where I want to start here. And just to remind people, there's still about 600 pounds of highly enriched uranium buried we think around Isfahan right there.

But how is this idea -- this proposal, whether it be a five-year suspension or a 20-year suspension of enrichment activity -- how is that different than the nuclear deal under the Obama administration?

DAVID SANGER, CNN POLITICAL AND NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST, WHITE HOUSE AND NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT, THE NEW YORK TIMES: Well John, it certainly bears some resemblance.

[07:35:00]

So in the agreement that the Obama administration reached, which was in 2015, Iran was allowed to keep doing some very low-level enrichment -- not enough to make a bomb -- and that grew over time. And then in 2030, under the agreement, they were going to be free to basically enrich as much as they want. They still couldn't build a bomb because they're a signatory to the nuclear non-proliferation treaty. At least that would be the law.

You'll remember that President Trump dumped that deal. Called it the worst ever. So what's he negotiating now? Something that would not allow any of that enrichment during the interim period, so that would be an improvement but in 20 years would basically put it back where we are.

Now you could argue John that's been the history of the agreements with Iran, which is they're all designed to just buy us some time.

BERMAN: General, as we said, 600 pounds or so of this highly enriched uranium buried in Isfahan right now. Unclear what the disposition of that might be going forward. There are some hints that the United States won't be satisfied if it stays there. There are other hints that the Iranians aren't going to let it go, they say.

What do you think needs to happen to that material and why is it important?

LT. GEN. MARK SCHWARTZ (RET.), FORMER U.S. SECURITY COORDINATOR FOR Israel AND THE PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY (via Webex by Cisco): Well, it certainly needs to be identified, John. And, you know, whether that's the IAEA, which I believe is far more likely than, you know, actual U.S. boots on the ground to verify where it is and to make sure the disposition of it is safe and eventually moved out of Iran, needs to occur. If we had the opportunity to, you know, excavate and secure it between when this operation started and the present, I believe we would have done that. So I think it's, you know, probably very deeply underground and ultimately it needs to be identified, secured, and removed out based on the negotiations that are taking place.

BERMAN: So General, this blockade is in place on the Strait of Hormuz right now. This is a live look at the traffic going in and out. Really, not much activity. We've heard reports of a few vessels here and there going in or out.

What are you looking for here in terms of what each side is doing here, and how hard will it be for the United States to maintain its posture?

SCHWARTZ: I believe the U.S. can maintain the posture indefinitely. If you look at the force presence we've had in the Gulf over the course of our two longest wars, we had in excess of 200,000 service members operating in the Gulf. We've got a force rotation taking place now between the USS Ford and the carrier strike group H.W. Bush that's coming out of -- off the coast of Africa. So we've got the maritime capability presence.

We have certainly the air surveillance capability. We saw that play out the last, you know, several weeks.

So to maintain the posture, I don't think that's a challenge. And then also, as we get, ideally, some of our European allies and maybe some of our Indo-Pacific allies or partners, and then certainly the Gulf States, the ability to maintain surveillance on all the Iranian ports and monitor shipping that's attempting to come in and out, we have the ability to do that, John.

BERMAN: All right, retired Lt. Gen. Mark Schwartz and David Sanger. Appreciate both of you being with us this morning. Thank you very much -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: So lawmakers are returning to Washington today after their recess and Democrats are getting ready and promising to push ahead with plans to force a vote to try and rein in the president's war powers. Both Senate and House Democrats have plans to force votes this week.

I want to play for you what one of the senators driving the push, Sen. Cory Booker, had to say about this.

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SEN. CORY BOOKER (D-NJ): With the situation it's being made worse and not better, we're going to continue to call it out. The Senate is not doing its job. No hearings -- open hearings, no oversight, no checks and balance for a Senate -- for a president who thinks he can unilaterally declare war. This is a threat to our democracy. It's clearly hurting the American people and we're not going to just stand back and let the Senate roll on as usual.

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BOLDUAN: And joining me now is Leigh Ann Caldwell, chief Washington correspondent for Puck. It's good to see you, Leigh Ann.

The Senate rejected the last, what was it, three war powers resolutions as Democrats didn't win over Republicans to do so.

Could this be different? I mean, what are you hearing about kind of the state of things? As they return to Washington, they want to push forward with this -- Democrats do -- but what are they -- what do you think it's going to do?

LEIGH ANN CALDWELL, CHIEF WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT, PUCK (via Webex by Cisco): So Kate, there's probably not going to be a whole lot of change in the vote count from previous times in the Senate.

There are Republicans who are absolutely concerned with this war but things that might block them from supporting a war powers resolution are first, they don't want to cross the president. They're still, despite his low poll numbers, really afraid of getting in front of the president.

[07:40:08]

Second, this ceasefire, as fragile as it is, is still holding. And so most Republicans are hoping -- are willing to give the president the benefit of the doubt, waiting to see how this ceasefire moves along before voting for this war powers resolution.

You know, this is going to come up in the Senate most likely tomorrow. There's also one that's expected to come up as early as this week in the House as well. Over there I'm told that it's new Republicans, including Thomas Massie, a Republican from Kentucky is expected to vote for that. Democrats are searching for a third, which depending on attendance is what they would need in order for it to pass. But they haven't lost all hope yet that the one in the House could pass.

But again, it comes back to those points that I mentioned before -- not wanting to cross the president and the fact that there is ceasefire, which is making it more difficult, Kate.

BOLDUAN: Yeah.

And I was looking at some of your writing and you put out a really interesting point, which was in the first 15 months of Trump's second term House Democrats have been able to ignore impeachment cries coming from more far-left members. But impeachment calls have been growing of recent.

CALDWELL: Yeah.

BOLDUAN: Compare this kind of war powers push to the impeachment push.

CALDWELL: Yeah. So Democratic leadership is really wanting to hold this president accountable, and they think that the best way is through votes like this -- through war powers. It not only puts Republicans in a -- in a difficult position on how they're going to vote but it puts Democrats on the record as trying to rein in the president when it comes to acts of war, especially this time with Iran.

But there is just growing frustration in the Democratic caucus, especially in the House, with this president. There's growing numbers of rank-and-file members who are calling for impeachment, calling for the 25th Amendment to be invoked. You know, Democratic leadership hasn't tamped down on that talk specifically. They've had a -- they had a very long conference call about it led by Jamie Raskin on Friday to talk about impeachment.

But again, Democratic leadership really wants to redirect this conversation to just accountability of the president knowing that impeachment is going to go nowhere in a Republican-led Congress. And they are worried about it turning off voters in the midterms and making it seem like they are distracted and not focused on affordability, cost of living. But the party is a bit divided about it, Kate.

BOLDUAN: Yeah. It's really an interesting moment.

Leigh Ann, it's great to see you. Thank you so much.

There are new photos of the moment coming in of a suspect throwing a Molotov cocktail at the home of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. Authorities are sharing also new details about what they believe his motives were.

And the reunion you didn't know you needed when a member of the Artemis crew reunites with her dog.

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[07:47:40]

BERMAN: This morning we are seeing new security images as a Texas man faces attempted murder charges for an attack on the home of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. Authorities say 20-year-old Daniel Moreno-Gama hurled a Molotov cocktail at Altman's home before going to company headquarters vowing to burn it down. The FBI calls it a planned, targeted plot citing writings found with the suspect titled "Your Last Warning" that called for the death of AI executives.

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MATT COBO, ACTING SPECIAL AGENT IN CHARGE, FBI, SAN FRANCISCO: The defendant is alleged to having traveled across state lines with the intent to dual target an individual and a major technology company. This was not spontaneous. This was planned, targeted, and extremely serious.

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BERMAN: With us now CNN senior law enforcement analyst Andrew McCabe, former deputy director of the FBI. Andy, great to see you this morning. What jumps out at you here so far in this investigation? We've got his video now and we've also got some writings.

ANDREW MCCABE, CNN SENIOR LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST, FORMER DEPUTY DIRECTOR, FBI (via Webex by Cisco): Yeah, John. Well, I mean, as an investigator, the first thing that jumps out to me is how incredibly strong this investigation is already. I mean, you literally have surveillance photographs of the suspect engaging in the crime. He was arrested at the corporate headquarters with significant evidence in his hands. He had a jug of kerosene and a lighter.

And, of course, now you have all these writings. You have the writing he was carrying on him at the -- on the day of the attacks and he also left a pretty significant repository of past writings, all of which are along similar themes of exhorting people to act of violence against AI executives and things like that.

So this case is pretty done. This one, I would be shocked if it ever actually went to trial.

But really, the bigger picture here John is what does this say about anxiety, about technological developments potentially creating a new kind of over-the-horizon threat similar to the kind of rise in political violence we've seen in the last few years but kind of with a new flavor.

BERMAN: So how would you address that in the FBI? What would you do maybe with the writings you have now to look forward to how to keep your eye out for future possibilities?

[07:50:00]

MCCABE: Sure. So, of course, you use every case a view into the scope of the threat. So you take this case for an example. Even though it's pretty clearly wrapped up in terms of building a prosecution against this person, you're going to really deep dive on this guy's life.

You're going to look at everything he's written, all of his internet searches. You're going to try to identify his social network of family and friend connections and maybe people at a -- at a workplace, all with the hope of trying to identify like-minded people who may have been interacting with him and contributing to his radicalization and might be coming radicalized themselves.

So that's one way of doing it.

But I think more broadly, what the FBI needs to do here is something we started doing years ago, which was pushing our field commanders. So, the supervisors of field squads. In the course of their resource allocation estimates for the next year they have to identify these over-the-horizon strategic threats -- emerging threats that will kind of direct how the FBI needs to pivot in the way they think about the upcoming threat picture.

BERMAN: Anything in the writings that could lead to higher charges than attempted murder? MCCABE: Yeah, it certainly could. I mean, he's looking at the attempted murder charges on the state side.

On the federal side he's been charged I believe with use of a -- essentially, use of a -- the kerosene to start a fire or attempted arson. But you could end up -- you -- he could end up facing something like use of a weapon of mass destruction, which is a charge that carries terrorism-level sentencing. So he's really -- I think as the investigators get more deeply into the case, we could possibly see those charges adjusted and bumped up.

BERMAN: Andrew McCabe, great to see you this morning. Thanks for helping us understand maybe what the FBI will do going forward on this serious, serious issue.

In Florida, deputies pulled over a driver going the wrong way only to find her pretty confused. When asked for a license she offered up a credit card, then a bookstore gift card.

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POLICE OFFICER: Can you -- can you shut your car off for me? You don't know how to shut your car off? Is this your car?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yeah.

POLICE OFFICER: OK.

Is this your driver's license? That's your credit card.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE).

POLICE OFFICER: It's a Barnes & Noble gift card.

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BERMAN: I mean, that is a pretty potent gift card but it's not going to help you when you're pulled over there.

The 52-year-old driver was taken into custody for driving under the influence.

So Roblox, one of the most popular gaming platforms out there for children, is changing how users access the app. Staring in June, accounts will be divided by age. Kids ages five to eight will have chat turned off and access to games will be strictly limited by content rating. The company says older kids will have a bit more access, but they say with safety controls still in place. Roblox has faced pressure to better protect children from online predators.

A brand new class set to enter the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. It includes Phil Collins, Oasis, Wu-Tang Clan, Luther Vandross, Billy Idol, and Iron Maiden -- very popular in this studio. Also, other inductees as well. The late Ed Sullivan will get an award though he did not sing much as far as we know. It's basically a lifetime achievement award for all the bands introduced on his show. And this morning a pretty unusual reunion. Christina Koch back together with her dog Sadie after a 10-day business trip. Now, what made her business trip unusual is she went to the moon with the Artemis II mission.

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Christina Koch reuniting with dog Sadie.

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BERMAN: I think Sadie knew. I mean, Sadie knew she was pretty far away. She shared several videos on Instagram including the two enjoying this time together on the beach.

By the way, we heard so much about the balance issues that the astronauts might have there. Christina Koch looked pretty good there. It looked like she recovered pretty quickly. The post has already received more than one million likes, Kate.

BOLDUAN: That's a really good point. There is, like, recovery from this mission to the moon -- going further than any human has -- and she's looking pretty great.

BERMAN: Yeah.

BOLDUAN: That's awesome. What a moment, and a lot for her to be smiling about today.

Let's turn to this though, this morning. Pope Leo is in Algeria as he continues his 10-day trip around Africa. Much of the attention of this papal visit though, so far, has turned to America though after the extraordinary back-and-forth between him and President Trump.

[07:55:00]

Jon Stewart offered this take last night on "THE DAILY SHOW."

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JON STEWART, HOST, "THE DAILY SHOW": What did the pope say? He wants what? Dialogue, peace? He wants to choose the noblest aspirations of mankind to show humanity at its greatest articulation? (Bleep) that loser. That guy is a loser.

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BOLDUAN: Only Jon Stewart.

The president lashed out at the pope on social media and to reporters many different times in the past day. He also sent out, remember, this AI image of himself looking very much like Jesus. And after people, including some of his biggest supporters on the -- on the religious Christian right -- reacted with true anger over that depiction, President Trump did something that he doesn't often. He deleted the post and then spent some time yesterday trying to brush it off and explain it away, saying that he thought it was him being depicted as a doctor, not Jesus, though it seems few believed that.

Here is former Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene's take.

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MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE, (R) FORMER U.S. REPRESENTATIVE: I thought that was blasphemy. As a Christian I was very offended. And a doctor -- President Trump is not a doctor. I think he should apologize; not act defensive. And many Christians across America and the world were very offended by that.

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BOLDUAN: With me now is Father Edward Beck. It's great to see you --

FATHER EDWARD BECK, CNN RELIGION CONTRIBUTOR, ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST: Great to be here.

BOLDUAN: -- any time, all the time, and to have your clarity on this.

Let's start with that image -- that AI image that the president put out. Why does it seem -- or at least I'll just say, like, this feels different than other things that he has said and done that have been viewed by many as offensive to the faithful.

BECK: I don't know if you remember. On Palm Sunday he did say that Jesus enters Jerusalem like a king with people cheering. And now look at me. They call me a king. So he made like a comparison to himself and Jesus at the beginning of Holy Week.

And then we have this image. To me, it's unmistakably an image of Jesus. What he's wearing, the rays coming from heaven, the light emanating from his hands as Jesus the healer.

BOLDUAN: Um-hum.

BECK: So why would you put yourself as a healer? It seems to me that Donald Trump in our country and in the world has been anything but a healer. He has been a divider. He's been a sower of injustice, I'm afraid. And so maybe he's trying to reform his image by wanting to follow more like Jesus. I want to give him the benefit of the doubt, but it just landed really poorly.

BOLDUAN: Yeah, it sure seemed to. And what he is saying about Pope Leo and Pope Leo speaking gospel and the message that the pope has been sending out and speaking out against the war with Iran. His view and attempt to depict the pope is -- I'll just say it seems on some level like any other politician.

BECK: Um-hum.

BOLDUAN: Does this speak to what many have seen has become evident over the years of Donald Trump being a politician, which is just his -- of him having somewhat of a fundamental misunderstanding of faith?

BECK: I think so. I mean, to say the pope is weak and terrible on foreign policy or that he's not tough on crime -- I mean, it doesn't make sense. It's like saying a doctor is bad at carpentry. You know, like it's not his job. The job is -- of the pope is to put forth the gospel to try to have the message of Jesus out there -- of peace and solidarity, and ministry to the poor.

So why would you make this kind of critique about a religious man whose mission is totally different than creating foreign policy?

So I think there's a misunderstanding. But I think anyone who critiques President Trump's agenda and what he's trying to do, he lashes out at, and sometimes in irrational ways.

BOLDUAN: Let's focus on this trip that the pope is in the midst of. It's a 10-day trip. And I was looking. I didn't really appreciate just how grueling -- like, physically -- this trip really is. I mean, it's -- he's -- it's multiple countries. He's going to be taking 18 flights and two helicopters over the span of all of this.

But set that aside, what is the meaning of this trip? What is the message of this trip do you think?

BECK: Well, he's using the four poorest countries of Africa. Not the high-profile countries, the most war-ravaged countries right now, and he's trying to say that you matter. There's a lot of political oppression with the leaders in these countries so it's a common theme of trying to liberate those who feel oppressed.

He started, interestingly, in Algeria and that's where the patron saint of his community, Saint Augustine -- he's an Augustinian. That's where Augustine was bishop. And he knelt at the tomb of Augustine on his first day. And Augustine created the Just War theory and Trump is saying this war is a just war. The pope is saying no.