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Interview with Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ): Trump: I'll Make a Determination About Arms Sales to Taiwan; Trump: Xi Offered to Help Resolve U.S.-Iran Conflict; Former Death Row Inmate Released on Bond After Decades in Prison; House Oversight Committee Democrats Say Lutnick Lied, Evaded Questions About Epstein. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired May 15, 2026 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:00]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: The primaries, right? You sent out absentee ballots and military ballots, several thousand, and some ballots have actually been returned already. So what do you tell these people who've already voted?

ALAN WILSON, SOUTH CAROLINA ATTORNEY GENERAL: Well, first off, within the deliberation that the state legislature can do, they can actually move the timeline of this primary back, giving everyone the opportunity to vote. I would remind people that redistricting is a political issue.

If you look at the New England states, there are six New England states. In those New England states, 40 percent of the people vote Republican, yet 100 percent of the congressional districts are Democrat. That's because those legislatures have decided and determined to reflect the political will of the majority of their constituents. It doesn't help Republicans up there, but it's the way the political landscape is.

Down here, we have the advantage and we have a right to evaluate the landscape down here the way that we see fit in reflecting the will of the people of South Carolina.

BERMAN: South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson, again, thank you for sticking around. I know you've got a busy day.

A brand new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts right now.

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: And we do have breaking news this morning. It could be the most consequential headline coming out of the summit in Beijing so far. Hearing from President Trump after two days of meetings with the Chinese leader, Trump now says that he himself has not decided whether to move forward on the major multi-billion dollar arms package for Taiwan after his summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

I want to play for you what he told reporters aboard Air Force One as they were leaving Beijing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What about the arms sales to Taiwan?

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'll make a determination over the next fairly short period.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're not necessarily going to go ahead. It was your proposal.

TRUMP: I'm going to make a determination. I'm going to say, I have to speak to the person that right now, as you know, you know who he is, that's running Taiwan.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Those comments raising new questions about where the U.S. stands right now on Taiwan's defense. Taiwan is a democratic and self- governing island. Beijing views it as part of its own territory.

The Chinese Communist Party has long vowed to, as they call it, unify the island with the mainland by force if necessary. Let's get over to the White House. That's where CNN's Julia Benbrook is for us this morning.

And a lot coming -- President Trump saying quite a lot aboard Air Force One but leaving a lot of questions of what really has come from this important visit.

JULIA BENBROOK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We're still looking for a lot of specifics as President Donald Trump has announced that during this summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, that they solved a lot of problems. He has not gone into specific details on exactly what those solutions might look like, exactly what they're related to. But as you mentioned, he spoke for roughly 30 minutes on Air Force One as he travels back from Beijing from this summit that both leaders have characterized as leading to a steadier relationship here.

And he did speak about Taiwan specifically. You went into some detail there, but he said that he has not made a commitment either way. On the arms sales specifically, he said that he'll make a determination.

And that comes after Secretary of State Marco Rubio in an interview with NBC said that U.S. policy toward Taiwan is quote unchanged. He said that this is something that China brings up often and that the United States has made it clear where they stand.

When it comes to Iran, that's a topic that loomed over this summit. Right before Trump went on this trip, the United States had sent a proposal to end the conflict to Iran. Iran responded and Trump made it very clear he was not happy with their response. He called it totally unacceptable.

And while speaking with reporters, Trump said that if he doesn't like the first sentence of something, he'll just throw it away and move on related to that Iranian response. And he was pressed what was in that first sentence. He said they needed to make it clear that they would not have a nuclear weapon and that was not clear to him.

So we do know that Trump has plans to host Xi here at the White House in September, September 24th is that exact invite date. So a lot could happen between now and then.

BOLDUAN: To say the very least, Julia, thank you very much for that -- Sara.

SIDNER: All right, thank you so much, Kate.

Joining me now is Democratic Congressman Josh Gottheimer of New Jersey. Thank you so much for being here this morning.

I want to play what the president just said about Taiwan, a country that makes 90 percent of those powerful chips needed in the AI race, a country that since 1982, the U.S. promised it would not discuss arms deals with China. But in 2026, this is what President Trump just said about Taiwan.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[08:05:00]

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We discussed Taiwan, you know, the whole thing with the arms sales was in great detail, actually, and I'll be making decisions. But you know, I think the last thing we need right now is a war that's 9,500 miles away.

I think that's the last thing we need. We're doing very well.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Would the U.S. defend Taiwan if it came to it?

TRUMP: I don't want to say. I'm not going to say that. There's only one person that knows that. You know who it is? Me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: Did the president just change the policy towards Taiwan?

REP. JOSH GOTTHEIMER (D-NJ), INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE: Well, I hope not. The last thing we need is to abandon a critical ally. That's, to me, the last thing we need.

And as you know, Taiwan has played an essential role for us as the last line of defense in the region, both from a national security perspective with other key allies and with the Pacific, and of course, trade. You mentioned AI, which right now we are in an arms race, in our Cold War-era-style arms race with China over AI. We're winning that race.

We have to continue to win that race. And obviously, Taiwan is also critical for us on that front, where 90 percent of advanced chips are made, right? So obviously, we're doing everything we can to build more domestically. But right now, when you're in this race, we should not be walking away on the national security front or a trade economic front from a key ally like Taiwan.

SIDNER: Do you get the sense from what you heard this morning that that $14 billion that's sort of left on the table that Congress has approved to Taiwan in arms sales as a part of a deal is now in jeopardy?

GOTTHEIMER: Well, when you hear the President just say what you played for me, obviously, that's a huge concern. I was very focused and involved in making sure those resources got to Taiwan. And when you're dealing with a top adversary like China, you can't give an inch.

You know, obviously, we want to make sure we continue to engage, and I think the fact that Xi is coming here is a good thing. The plan to come here in a few months is a good thing, and we should keep that engagement. We should keep that engagement from a national security perspective on AI.

But look at Iran, right? We know that China buys about 90 percent of Iran's oil, which props up their economy and helps fund terror in the region, right? So let's not forget who China is.

As much as we're engaged with them, we have to look at who our friends are and keep our friends close, especially in that region where Taiwan has shown how aggressive they're willing to be in the Pacific in terms of gobbling up more turf and territory and pushing the limits. We really need to make sure we stand by Taiwan. It's critical for our national security.

SIDNER: Speaking of Iran, the president was asked by a reporter on Air Force One just now, did President Xi make any firm commitment to put pressure on the Iranians to reopen the Strait of Hormuz? And this is how Donald Trump responded to that. He said, "I'm not asking for any favors because when you ask for favors, you have to do favors in return. We don't need any favors."

So we've not seen any commitment from Xi, although he has said that he doesn't want Iran to have a nuclear weapon and the Strait of Hormuz should be open, but no firm commitment to help do something about that. Did the president come out with anything significant when it comes to this particular area, the war in Iran?

GOTTHEIMER: I mean, it's a great question. That's one area that I'm really curious to learn more about. We haven't gotten a lot of details yet from the president, but what exactly did they discuss about Iran? What is Xi willing to do?

Obviously, they need their oil, as I just mentioned, China does, and it's obviously a very important pathway for us from oil for trade to make sure we can do and get what we need to do for our country and obviously our allies. So finding a solution here is really important in the Straits, both for China and for us.

So I wonder what happened behind closed doors about that but we have to remember they take 90 percent of China's oil. Their strategic interests, China's strategic interests vis-a-vis Iran are far different than our strategic interests. Iran is also a top adversary of ours.

They run around under banners of death to America and have killed our service members and attacked our bases. They do not share our values. So very different interests there, but in the sense of both needing the Straits open, I think we share a common goal.

SIDNER: I do want to ask you about another country and another potential conflict, Cuba, running out of fuel because of all this, the Iran war. The CIA director is visiting Cuba. This is of course the agency that Cuba has long accused of sabotaging its revolution.

And you've got these tensions here that exist right now. What does this signal to you?

GOTTHEIMER: Well, you know, I think we've heard what the president has said about his interest in Cuba in terms of strategically and in the region.

[08:10:00]

And we've seen post the conflict in Venezuela an interest in obviously the United States having more of a foothold in that region, both from a resource and perspective of oil, but also this is our hemisphere. And I think it's important for us to put a strong foot forward.

So I'll be curious to see in the coming months what comes out of our administration, sort of our government here and the administration in terms of their relationship with Cuba and what conversations happen, because it seems to me that's another place where the rest of the world has played, but it's obviously in our backyard. And I think you're going to see change there.

SIDNER: Just quickly, have you heard anything about this indictment of former Cuban leader Raul Castro and what that might mean?

GOTTHEIMER: I have not. I mean, I've only read what you've read on that. But I'll tell you, all of this, getting back just to China for a second, because I think this shows there's, there are a lot of pieces moving around right now with obviously in the Middle East and obviously what just happened in China, but I think the major goal -- the major message here is we've got to stand by our allies that are strategically important to us and remember who our adversaries are.

And I think that's something, whether you're talking about the hemisphere here or in China, that we shouldn't forget.

SIDNER: Congressman Josh Gotthammer, thank you so much for joining us early this morning. Appreciate it. Over to you, John.

GOTTHEIMER: Thanks so much. Take care.

BERMAN: A medical plane crashes, killing four people and sparking a wildfire. He ate three last meals, lived through nine execution dates. Now he is

out of prison and off death row, but his legal battle is not over.

And a guy just trying to get to the beach accidentally ends up on a fashion show runway. And I have to say, he looks fabulous. My question is, who is he wearing?

[08:15:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BOLDUAN: After 29 years, nine execution dates set, and three last meals, a man accused of a murder-for-hire plot back in the 90s is now out on bond while he awaits a new trial. Richard Glossip, he walked out of jail for the first time in decades just yesterday, accompanied by his attorney. Glossip is now awaiting a retrial for the 1997 murder of his former boss.

The Supreme Court threw out his conviction last year, citing prosecutorial misconduct and false testimony that wasn't cleared up from a key witness. The now 63-year-old briefly spoke to reporters.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICHARD GLOSSIP, FORMER DEATH ROW PRISONER: I'm just thankful for my wife and my attorneys and just happy, just really happy. It's overwhelming but it's amazing at the same time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: CNN Jean Casarez here with us now. Walk us through this case.

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is a complicated case but the history is a long road for him. It was 1997, he was the manager of a motel in Oklahoma. There was a maintenance man, he was a kid, he was 18 years old, and then there was the owner of the motel who was older and had seven children.

Well, the maintenance man, 18 years old, something happened and he beat to death the owner of the motel. He tells Richard Glossip about it. Richard Glossip doesn't go to authorities, he said, I was scared, I thought they would think I'm involved in the whole thing.

Ultimately, maintenance man and he were both charged with capital murder. Maintenance man pleaded guilty, life in prison, no death. Richard Glossip said, I'm innocent, I didn't do this.

He went to trial in 1998, convicted, sentenced to death. Case overturned by incompetency of counsel. 2004, second trial, convicted, sentenced to death.

And then the defense begins their post-conviction relief, just trying everything they can find. As the years go on, they start getting boxes of evidence and something that they see in the file that they did not know at all was that the maintenance man, after he was arrested, had been diagnosed with a serious psychiatric disorder, bipolar personality. He was asked at trial -- nothing was mentioned of that -- but he was asked at trial, were you given lithium at some point?

His answer with a jury present was, yes, it was for dental work or a cold, something like that. It was for the psychiatric disease that he was diagnosed with. Jury never heard that, jury never knew that he had these psychotic issues.

And then it worked its way to the Supreme Court, 2025. They said this is a violation of the Constitution because the prosecution has a duty. If something, an untruth is told during the trial, the prosecutor must clear it up so the jury knows the truth.

They did not. We, the Supreme Court, are sending this back to the Oklahoma Criminal Court of Appeals. They must do what they need to do.

The verdict was overturned. Then came the issue of bail. The U.S. District Court in Oklahoma said no bail because the proof of evidence is great that he still committed this crime. Defense kept working.

U.S. District Court turned around because of the lies on the stand, by the maintenance man. It is not -- proof is not great that he committed this crime beyond a reasonable doubt. And that's how he got out.

Next, next court date is in June. Prosecution says we still believe he did this. We're going to trial for a third time because -- no death. But we believe that he is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. To be continued.

BOLDUAN: I mean, a long road to here. Perfect. You're amazing at summing it up like you did.

And a long road still now ahead. It is a remarkable, though. Now, this man in his sixties out on bond after so many years. Thanks so much, Jean -- John.

[08:20:00]

BERMAN: a plane crashes straight into a home, burst into flames. It was about to land, killing two people on board. But what about the people inside the house?

And then House Democrats call for Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to resign immediately, claiming he is lying about his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SIDNER: This morning, Democrats on the House Oversight Committee are demanding that Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick resign. Democrats say Lutnick lied and evaded questions when he testified about Jeffrey Epstein earlier this week.

Before the files came out, Lutnick had said he interacted with Epstein only once in 2005. Lutnick claimed he noticed disturbing red flags and was immediately determined to never be in a room with Epstein again. But the released Epstein files show Lutnick had at least two other interactions with Epstein over the years. CNN's Annie Grayer joining us now. What are you learning from

lawmakers this morning?

[08:25:00]

ANNIE GRAYER, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Well, Sara, lawmakers were on the Democratic side were completely unsatisfied by Lutnick's testimony. And just to start, there was bipartisan interest in having Lutnick come in and explain the discrepancy between his initial statement where he said he cut ties with Epstein in 2005 and to explain what the Epstein files revealed, which are those other interactions that you mentioned, as well as e-mails and phone call correspondence.

So Lutnick went through all of those interactions. He detailed that 2005 meeting where he and his wife went over to meet Epstein for coffee because the Lutnicks had just moved in next door to Epstein. And Lutnick said that he and his wife left that meeting pretty abruptly because they felt uncomfortable about a joke and remark that Epstein made about a massage table.

And it was after that conversation that Lutnick and his wife decided that Lutnick would not have any personal or professional relationship with Epstein. But then there was a meeting in 2011, years later, where Lutnick came over to Epstein's house, apparently to discuss scaffolding and construction about their neighboring properties. And the main interaction here that has drawn a lot of attention is the 2012 meeting where Lutnick took his family to Epstein's island, and they had lunch outside on Epstein's island.

And Lutnick claims that nothing happened here, totally tried to downplay this interaction, said it was a sort of meaningless interaction and a lunch, that they didn't go inside, they didn't see any young women or girls on the island, they didn't see anything worrisome. Lutnick condemned all of Epstein's crimes.

But Democrats walked away from that testimony saying both things can't be true, that you cut ties with Epstein in 2005, and then proceeded to have these two other interactions. And they didn't feel like Lutnick fully owned that and claimed what really happened here.

So I'm going to read for you a piece of their letter calling on Lutnick to resign that they sent directly to Lutnick. The Democrats write, quote, "You attempted to evade responsibility for your actions and avoided being clear with the American people. The facts are clear. You lied to the American people and attempted to conceal your relationship with Jeffrey Epstein in your public statements. Your lack of candor demonstrates that you are unfit to perform the duties required of you as Secretary of Commerce, and you must step down immediately."

Now, there are no Republicans at this point on the Oversight Committee calling for Lutnick to resign, and the White House still is firmly behind Lutnick and serving in this Trump administration. But this just shows that this issue of Lutnick's relationship with Epstein is not going away anytime soon. SIDNER: And no matter what else happens in the world, the issue with the Epstein files isn't going away either. The public's still wanting to know more about it. Annie Grayer, thank you so much for all your reporting there this morning for us -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: Trump Mobile says they will begin shipping this week, nearly one year after they began taking deposits for the gold-plated phones. Why the timing here is now being considered curious?

And a police chase ends with a car going airborne. All of it caught on dashcam, of course. What led up to -- oh, my God. What happened now, we'll bring it to you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)