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Adam Farrar is Interviewed about Weapons to Iran; Trump Posts Christ-Like Image; Rep. James Walkinshaw (D-VA) is Interviewed about Congress Resignations. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired April 14, 2026 - 06:30   ET

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

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As a veteran community we have a sense of deja vu. We're experiencing -- we're repeating the same mistakes over and over again.

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AUDIE CORNISH, CNN ANCHOR: All right, you're seeing anti-war protesters in New York. They were arrested on Monday for blocking roadways. Sources tell CNN, Trump officials are also discussing a second round of in-person talks with Iran. We're going to talk more about that in a moment.

But first, good morning, everybody. I'm Audie Cornish. I want to thank you for joining me on CNN THIS MORNING.

It's half past the hour. And here's what else is happening right now.

We've got two Congressmen facing sexual misconduct allegations, and they are resigning. Democratic Representative Eric Swalwell announced Monday he would leave Congress after sexual assault allegations surfaced over the weekend, and he denies those allegations. And then about an hour later, Congressman Tony Gonzales said he would file for retirement today. And he's acknowledged having an affair with a staffer who later killed herself. Now, House Democrats and Republicans were planning an expulsion vote for each of them.

And today, a suspect charged in connection with an attack at Sam Altman's home is due in court. Now, this 20-year-old is facing state and federal charges after allegedly throwing an explosive device at the home of OpenAI's CEO. This happened on Friday. Officials claim that the suspect then threw a chair at the glass doors of OpenAI's headquarters. He's now facing charges, including attempted murder and attempted arson. Investigators reportedly found documents showing the suspect's concerns with A.I.

And L.A. schools will remain open today. A tentative deal was announced just after 2 a.m. local time. Teachers, principals and support staff were actually threatening to strike over their demands for new contracts. And that included better wages. Two unions reached a tentative agreement over the weekend. Negotiators with the third ended just a few minutes ago.

And new this morning, a warning from the U.N., the economic fallout from the war with Iran could plunge more than 32 million people worldwide into poverty.

[06:35:07]

And that's due to rising costs for transportation, electricity and food. And more than eight million of them in the Asia-Pacific region alone.

Now, China, the world's largest importer of crude oil, has a lot to lose from the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports in the Persian Gulf. A Chinese-linked ship was spotted passing through the Strait of Hormuz earlier today after first attempting on Monday and then turning around. China buys about 80 percent of Iran's oil exports. The blockade risks affecting its supply chains and trade with gulf nations. And those, of course, are important for exports.

So, that's a cost that eventually could trickle down to you.

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CHRIS WRIGHT, U.S. ENERGY SECRETARY: We're going to see energy prices, you know, high and maybe even rising until we get the ships, meaningful ship traffic through the Straits of Hormuz.

MIKE MCCARTHY, PEAR FARMER: Smaller farmers might be spending $2,000 a month more in fuel. And some of the larger farmers, maybe $10,000 a month. The challenge right now is, things are really tight in agriculture. There's not much margin. And the fuel thing really is really a difficult thing at this time.

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CORNISH: Adam Farrar, senior geopolitical analyst with "Bloomberg" joins the group chat.

Thank you so much for being here.

ADAM FARRAR, FORMER INTELLIGENCE OFFICER: Happy to be here, Audie.

CORNISH: I wanted to bring you in because you were also a former intelligence officer. You were also at the White House Security Council. And I've had a lot of questions about where China is kind of in this story.

So, first, there's been some sources telling CNN that China is preparing to deliver new air defenses, potentially, to Iran within the next few weeks. And China is denying this. And then Trump called into Fox News over the weekend, and here's what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I hear news reports about China giving the shoulder missiles, what's called the shoulder missile. If we catch them doing that, they get a 50 percent tariff, which is a staggering -- that's a staggering amount.

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CORNISH: What do you think of both the threat of them getting involved in this way, but also his response, which was on tariffs?

FARRAR: So, to start with, I think we need to keep in mind that China doesn't view its role in the world the same way the U.S. does. And while it maintains a really close relationship with Tehran, it also has a bigger economic relationship with the gulf. And so, it has to walk this careful tightrope right now, while supporting and calling for a ceasefire and a stop to attacks on Iran, but also just, you know, President Xi just met with the UAE the other day and had to emphasize its right to self-defense, to push back on Iran.

So, while there is this impression that they could play a role in the rearmament of Iran eventually, I don't think it's likely we're going to see anything in the near term. And the reality is, over the last several years, since major sanctions were put in place, Iran has facilitated -- excuse me, China has facilitated a lot of goods going to Iran, but not direct military support.

CORNISH: OK. At the same time, China has been planning ahead, right, in terms of this blockade. I guess they're already dipping into their commercial oil reserves. So, can you talk about the impact in terms of how they are behaving in this market?

FARRAR: So, China has the benefit of a large reserve of petroleum that they've built over the years, not only in their commercial reserves, but a strategic reserve explicitly built for crisis scenarios. Now, part of that was actually a thought towards a potential war with the United States. But here we're seeing the benefits of that move and its diversification away from oil, particularly its move towards renewable energy. All of that gives it a lot -- a lot more buffer than most other countries in the region.

But at the same time, this hurts a lot, right? Iran provided around 13 percent of Iran -- of China's oil and the region itself represented close to 40 percent. So, the opening -- reopening of the Strait of Hormuz is essential to its security in the long term. And they're going to continue to push to see that happen.

But at the same time, they're not jumping in right now, right? We saw Pakistan actually take the role as the lead negotiator here, not China.

CORNISH: Right.

FARRAR: And so, in the last 24 hours since the blockade has been put into effect, China actually has taken a really subdued approach. They're pushing back on the idea of a blockade, but not directly contradicting it or threatening anything explicitly to the United States right now.

CORNISH: Can I ask one more thing? Trump was scheduled to go to China to meet with President Xi Jinping. There's been a lot of questions about how Trump has actually approached China in this term. They hit back so hard on tariffs that they've just -- the rhetoric is way not what it used to be.

What do you see in how this White House is approaching China right now?

FARRAR: So, the delay of this meeting obviously is a sign that the United States and the White House now have diverted their attention away from China to some extent because of the big movement in the Middle East and this war with Iran. But overall, there's no question that the president pivoted significantly from his April 2nd rollout of liberation day tariffs, the escalation of tariffs over to 125 percent, and then a de-escalation, particularly as China elevated its willingness to use critical minerals as a stranglehold on the U.S. economy.

[06:40:10]

And the president not only has shown a desire to kind of build out his relationship with President Xi, but also his staff and his team seem to recognize this real chokehold that China could hold over the United States.

CORNISH: It's not as adversarial as he made it out to be going into this term.

FARRAR: Not at all. And, in fact, what we're expecting is a really positive meeting between the two, with President Trump trying to find new ways for China to buy into the U.S. economy, to increase purchases. And this chance that we could make it through '26 without a re-escalation in the trade war, which, you know, for much of last year felt like a -- that it was certainly going to happen.

So --

CORNISH: Yes. And it is nerve-racking given threats of a worldwide recession.

FARRAR: Certainly. And I think in this moment we have to realize that they're -- while the United States is facing pressure on oil prices and now inflation, there are large portions of the world that are now looking at real supply shocks, simply showing up at the gas station and having nothing to buy. And that has huge implications for the economy as that starts to spiral through the rest of the world.

CORNISH: OK. I hope you can come back because, obviously, this is spreading through many parts of the world.

Adam, thank you so much for being here.

And I want to turn to this other story you've been hearing about. Now, the highest-ranking Catholic in the federal government weighing

in on President Trump's feud with Pope Leo. Vice President J.D. Vance was asked about Trump's angry tirade against the leader of the Catholic Church on Monday and seemed to dismiss the fact that the president called the pope weak.

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J.D. VANCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We can respect the pope. We certainly have a good relationship with the Vatican. But we're also going to disagree on substantive questions from time to time. I think that's a totally reasonable thing. It isn't particularly newsworthy.

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CORNISH: So, the vice president's comments come as Trump is now deleting this post, which seemed to show the president depicting himself as a Christ-like figure. Trump says, look, that's not what is happening here.

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DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I did post it. And I thought it was me as a doctor and had to do with Red Cross, as a Red Cross worker there, which we support. And only the fake news could come up with that.

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CORNISH: For many on the right, however, the damage by the image being posted in the first place is already done. They're not buying the presidents explanation.

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MEGYN KELLY, HOST, "MEGYN KELLY SHOW": It is obviously him purporting to be God. That is what he's doing. And it is blasphemous by any definition of that word.

I don't know why the president's getting so desperate for attention that he feels the need to mock 1.4 billion Catholics.

MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE (R), FORMER CONGRESSWOMAN: I thought that was blasphemy. As a Christian, I was very offended. And a doctor, President Trump is not a doctor.

SEN. THOM TILLIS (R-NC): I thought it was absurd. That should have been up for 30 seconds if he really felt that way (ph).

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CORNISH: OK. Group chat is back now.

I would not pick a fight with a guy from Chicago, but this is what Trump has done. And just to set up the table here, when you look at Gallup polling, favorability, Trump, right now, among 2025 newsmakers, his favorability was negative 16. That's not the news here. The news is Pope Leos' is plus 46. So, needless to say, he is very popular.

What do you make of the backlash here? Like, the president never deletes anything. So, why this?

JASMINE WRIGHT, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, "NOTUS": Yes, this is his second time deleting a post on a Truth Social out of how many thousands that he's posted since being back in office.

I think, if you take back -- if you go back to 2024, and even 2016, right, there is this kind of handshake deal between the Christian right, which includes Catholics, and President Trump, saying that we may not like everything that you do, we may not like your brashness, but we do like that you put forward our policies on abortion and other issues. And so, in some ways, we'll grin and bear it. And I think you saw that coming into fruition in 2024. I believe a majority of the Catholics in this country voted to put him back in office. Obviously, evangelicals has been a huge part of his base since 2016.

And now you're seeing that the president has some unpopularity. The war in Iran is unpopular, but the pope right now is not unpopular.

CORNISH: Yes.

WRIGHT: And so --

CORNISH: But I think that key part is the war in Iran is unpopular. And the pope specifically --

CHUCK ROCHA, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Yes.

CORNISH: Was talking about the war. And they're saying, look, he shouldn't maybe be getting involved in this kind of commentary.

I just want to play for the audience something the pope has said so we all have a sense of how he's been talking. This was Pope Leo on Monday.

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POPE LEO XIV: I have no fear of neither the Trump administration nor speaking out loudly about the message of the Gospel. And that's what I believe.

I am called to do what the church is called to do. We're not politicians. We're not looking to make foreign policies policy with the same perspective that he might understand it.

But I do believe that the message of the Gospel, blessed are the peacemakers, is the message that the world needs to hear today.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[06:45:07] ASHLEY DAVIS, FORMER HOMELAND SECURITY OFFICIAL: I can't imagine he agrees, though, that the Iranian regime should, for the last 50 years, have been killing their own people either. So, there is a --

CORNISH: Yes. Well, he had issued a statement about the Iranian dissidents, the crackdown, and brought the Iranians to the Vatican to talk. So, I think there has been an argument that somehow he's been silent on other things.

DAVIS: Yes, look, he was very much against the immigration policy as well --

CORNISH: Yes.

DAVIS: That the president has been doing.

But listen, I -- one thing J.D. Vance did say that I do agree with, and I say this about so many different things, but the pope should maybe stick to the Vatican policies and the president stick to public policy issues.

CORNISH: But is there a more moral issue to speak on than war and peace?

DAVIS: No. I -- listen --

CORNISH: For a both head of state and head of church?

DAVIS: Yes, I think that also -- there was also a report on Sunday on "60 Minutes" that you had these three cardinals come out, I don't know if you saw that, which is kind of what started this whole thing.

CORNISH: Yes.

WRIGHT: I think that's what the president saw which started --

DAVIS: Yes. Yes.

WRIGHT: Which led to his Truth Social (INAUDIBLE).

DAVIS: Yes. And so, I think that was a little bit interesting. I -- it's surprising that -- listen, I remember when George Bush had the same issue with the pope because of Afghanistan and Iraq.

CORNISH: Well, can I play one more thing? Because I think the picture that Trump posted is remarkable. And I want to stay with it for one second. The reason why is because there are many people of faith who support Trump --

ROCHA: Lots.

CORNISH: Who see him in these terms.

So, here is Paula White-Cain, senior advisor of the White House Faith Office, talking just on April 1st.

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PAULA WHITE-CAIN, SENIOR ADVISER, WHITE HOUSE FAITH OFFICE: And, Mr. President, no one has paid the price like you have paid the price. It almost cost you your life. You were betrayed and arrested and falsely accused. It's a familiar pattern that our Lord and Savior showed us. But it didn't end there for him, and it didn't end there for you.

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ROCHA: Look, the guy that's standing to his left, I know we were listening to that sister talk, but that's the guy who is the leader of the largest Baptist church in Dallas, because I'm from East Texas and I know that, because I grew up in a Baptist church and I'm married to a wonderful Catholic woman. And I've learned a lot about religion over the last ten years as I've delved into it trying to understand more about my own beliefs.

And what I know is that 50 to 70 million folks in America self- identify as Catholics, and we're moving into an election where this president picks a fight with the pope, or he's talking about the war. Whatever he's doing lately, in the last few months, in the last six months, aren't talking about what im seeing in elections. And I know I'm bringing it back to elections because that's my deal.

But it also is where the American deal is. And Americans are dealing with every single day where, hey, they don't like it. If they're Republicans, they probably give them a pass, to Jasmine's point, or they may not be the top of the line. But right now folks are just trying to figure out how to make it. Whether it's at the gas pump, daycare, health care costs. And now he wants to fight with the -- this is going to be a horrible midterm for the Republicans.

CORNISH: Yes. I hear you in a way saying that if people think the pope should stick to the Vatican and religion, maybe Trump should stick to the economy, which lots of voters would like to see him talking about more.

WRIGHT: Or stick to being a doctor, as he says that picture is (ph).

CORNISH: He was -- OK.

ROCHA: A savior doctor.

CORNISH: I want you guys to stay with me. We got to get back to what's going on, on The Hill because the numbers are tight and now you've got back-to-back resignations. You've got two lawmakers stepping down, one from each party, both facing inappropriate sexual conduct allegations. We're going to be talking with Representative James Walkinshaw about what's going on in the House.

Later on CNN, talks with Iran have already failed once. Traffic now limited in the Strait of Hormuz. And retired Lieutenant General Mark Schwartz will be on to analyze the options.

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[06:52:55]

CORNISH: OK, you've got two Congressmen heading for the exits after misconduct allegations. Representative Democrat Eric Swalwell and Republican Tony Gonzales, both announced their resignations on Monday because each are being accused of sexual misconduct. One former member of Congress believes this is just a symptom of a bigger problem.

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MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE (R), FORMER CONGRESSWOMAN: It was right for them to resign because they're actually guilty of some of the very type things that we found in the Epstein files. And this is -- Congress is no place for that type of behavior. But I have to tell you, it's a lot more prevalent. I think there's more members of Congress that are guilty of things similar to Congressmen Swalwell and Congressman Gonzales, and we just haven't seen them basically get caught.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: OK. Joining us now to talk about all of this, Congressman James Walkinshaw, Democrat of Virginia.

We wanted to talk to you because you're on the House Oversight Committee. You care a lot about Epstein victims. But you also were a chief of staff at one point. So, you know this whole world and culture of The Hill.

What do you think when you hear Marjorie Taylor Greene saying, this is way more common than people think? Because I've heard other women on The Hill say, why do we wait? Why do we wait to say things?

REP. JAMES WALKINSHAW (D-VA): Yes. Yes, look, I think we've known for a while that this is a serious issue on Capitol Hill. And like the combination of the power or perceived power that members have, there being a lot of young staff members, it creates a toxic atmosphere where we see people like Swalwell and Gonzales preying on their own staff.

CORNISH: But is it because staff, people around don't say anything? Like, should it be the situation where it's a whisper network of, oh, everyone knows not to talk to so and so? Chiefs of staff know about that. You know, like people all over The Hill will know about things.

WALKINSHAW: I think one of the things we need to do, and there were efforts to do this in 2020, 2021, is create better opportunities and pathways for people to come forward.

[06:55:00]

And I think right now you have staff members, and you could probably see this with respect to Gonzales and Swalwell, staff members who didn't feel empowered to come forward, didn't feel like they would be believed, didn't feel like they would be protected if they came forward to tell their stories about the abuse or harassment that they've suffered. So, it is on us to do a better job of creating those pathways, the

opportunities and a culture where that becomes acceptable, that becomes the norm.

CORNISH: To speak up?

WALKINSHAW: That's right.

CORNISH: OK. So, these guys are exiting, but I want to point you to Representative Nydia Velazquez, who posted this on social media. She said, "Congress should not tolerate representatives who abuse staff, betray public trust for personal gain," right? But here's the part I want you to pay attention to. She says, "Rep Swalwell, Gonzales, Cherfilus-McCormick and Mills should resign. If they refuse, they should be expelled. Americans deserve better and Congress must hold our members accountable."

You've got one of these people, a Democrat here, who had been accused of some --

WALKINSHAW: Yes.

CORNISH: I think some fraud issues related to the campaign. Cory Mills with allegations of domestic violence.

Should other lawmakers like these two also be expelled?

WALKINSHAW: So, with respect to Cherfilus-McCormick, the Ethics Committee found that she violated the rules. She has a trial taking place as well. On the 21st, the Ethics Committee will recommend to the Congress her punishment. I expect -- I don't have any inside information, but based on what I know, I expect that will be expulsion. And that's, in my view, the outcome that we should have there given what's happened.

The Mills investigation is ongoing. You know, look, I think he should have resigned a long time ago, but I think the ethics investigation hopefully will lead us in that same direction.

As a general rule, I do think we should allow investigations to take place and play out, have that due process and then make a decision. There are instances where the totality of the circumstances where you have these allegations that are credible, corroborated of folks who are preying on their own staff that I think means we need to act a little bit faster than the Ethics Committee typically does.

CORNISH: OK. Will Congress only act if there are minority or majority implications?

WALKINSHAW: I don't think we should. I mean, look, I think we can look at the two situations, Gonzales and Swalwell. So, the news, the story breaks about Gonzales several months ago. He admits to the --

CORNISH: Relationship, yes.

WALKINSHAW: The relationship. Yes, that's the most charitable way to describe it. No -- very few calls from the Republican side for him to resign. A couple of courageous Republicans, I give them credit. But very few Republicans calling for him to resign because they have a thin majority. Swalwell news comes out. You have a lot, dozens if someone's tracking it, dozens and dozens of Democrats saying that he should resign.

They both should resign. Unfortunately, politics has played a role here in these decisions.

I'm very concerned about Gonzales' statement because he said he's submitting his retirement.

WRIGHT: Yes.

WALKINSHAW: I don't know exactly what that means. Retirement is a different word than resignation. I hope he's not attempting to delay it. If he does, then we should move to expel him.

WRIGHT: It seems as though he's going to resign today. But, yes, the -- he -- our -- "NOTUS" Reese Gorman first broke that news that Gonzales told him that he would retire. And that language was kind of funny. But it seems that today he's going to tender his resignation.

I mean it seems like the groundswell of Democrats coming out against Swalwell was really the tipping point there. But are there other ways in which you can protect women on the Capitol? Because it seems that there is a growing problem about accountability, even though Democrats have focused on accountability.

WALKINSHAW: Yes. Well, I think one is, we need to establish a culture of accountability. And we do that by dealing with Gonzales and Swalwell and perhaps Mills in the way that we have, pushing them to resign or expelling them if they refuse to do it. And then we have to improve those internal processes.

WRIGHT: Like, it seems like when people do go and voice a complaint, that those investigations internally take a long time.

CORNISH: They grind on. Yes.

WALKINSHAW: Yes.

WRIGHT: A lot of times they're silent. They don't have to come out and say that a staffer accused this lawmaker of doing something. It seems like there's a lot of -- not a lot of transparency when it comes to the system in which people can actually form -- make these complaints.

DAVIS: The only thing -- sorry, I just want to jump in here on this because I think something you said. The problem if you start saying this person was accused and you're before an investigation too. And I do want to say, it's not always true. And so there needs to be some sort of process. But --

CORNISH: Right. And it's not a court of law.

WRIGHT: So, there needs to be due process. DAVIS: But if they come --

WRIGHT: But I wonder if the system is too opaque and too convoluted to even have those conversations.

DAVIS: Maybe. But if I say a statement about you at some point and I -- there's no background of it. But like, still, your reputation's going to be at risk because of anything I would say against you or whatever.

WALKINSHAW: Yes, look, and I wouldn't advocate for expulsion in a situation where there's just one accusation that's perhaps not corroborated is made.

DAVIS: Right.

[07:00:01]

WALKINSHAW: But I think when you look at the totality of circumstances, in some instances, it does lend itself to that.

You know, I think -- I think, to your question, a, and this is a frustration that a lot of members have.

CORNISH: Yes.

WALKINSHAW: The Ethics Committee process moves too slow. It can take years to adjudicate through that process. That doesn't work for victims and survivors.

And transparency is important. Although, I will note, one -- critical in protecting victims and survivors is protecting their confidentiality.

CORNISH: Yes.

DAVIS: Yes. Yes. Yes.

CORNISH: Yes.

WALKINSHAW: And sometimes they want to come forward --

CORNISH: And we're going to see how lawmakers --

WALKINSHAW: And don't want it known to the media and the world.

CORNISH: Yes.

WALKINSHAW: And we have to be careful.

CORNISH: We're going to see how lawmakers balance this, this week.

Normally I do group chats. But let's face it, this is the congressional group chat for now.

WALKINSHAW: Yes. CORNISH: We'll check back with you.

Thank you for waking up with us. I'm Audie Cornish. And please stay with us. We've got more headlines on this news and others, next.