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CNN This Morning
U.S. Defense System Weapons Depleted; National Guard Extension for D.C.; Rep. Suhas Subramanyam (D-VA) is Interviewed about Congressional Ethics Investigations. Aired 6:30-7a ET
Aired August 05, 2026 - 06:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[06:31:27]
AUDIE CORNISH, CNN ANCHOR: All right, we're going to talk about this development involving the war with Iran. We've got multiple sources telling CNN that the U.S. military has depleted nearly 80 percent of the interceptors for its critical bad missile defense system, which is designed to destroy incoming ballistic missiles. Now, roughly half the supply of Patriot missiles has also been used up. Senior U.S. military commanders now warning that the Pentagon's munitions stockpile is, quote, "dangerously low."
But here's the thing, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is denying CNN's reporting. He's saying it's "not true." He's saying "we don't hate the fake news media enough."
Now, gulf allies, however, are raising concerns about how the shortage could impact their ability to defend against Iranian retaliation if President Trump decides to, say, escalate the ongoing conflict. And adding to the urgency, Iran is now threatening to attack U.S. vessels in the region.
So, we're bringing in Becca Wasser to the group chat. She's the defense lead at "Bloomberg Economics."
OK, so we've got the head of the military saying it's not true. There's no shortage or diminished supply. What say you? What do people know in the world of military analysts?
BECCA WASSER, DEFENSE LEAD, BLOOMBERG ECONOMICS: All right. So, the U.S. isn't out of missiles, but it is running incredibly low of certain types of missiles. So, it is running dangerously low of air defense interceptors, those THAAD interceptors, Patriot. And those are needed to protect U.S. forces, U.S. allies, and the American homeland.
CORNISH: And to clarify, because especially in Iran, where they're shooting off really cheap drones --
WASSER: Yes.
CORNISH: They shoot off their cheap drone, that's like $30,000. And then we use our very expensive missiles to shoot that down. WASSER: To shoot them down. And usually this is missile to missile
ballistic defense as opposed to counter drone defenses at this juncture in time. But those are incredibly important.
And then the U.S. is also running low of -- or of some of its long- range standoff munitions. The missiles that it uses to essentially prosecute war from afar and keep forces safe. And so, all of this matters is because whenever you put forward a potential operation, let's say if President Trump decided he wanted, you know, options for escalation, again, you have to say, what is the risk to mission and what are the risks to forces? And without some of those critical air defense interceptors and some of those other long-range munitions, that risk to forces grows enormously.
CORNISH: The thing I've been hearing, though, is munitions are made to be used. And we are in a war. We are also at here and there, when we decide to, helping Ukraine, right, in its war against Russia. So, is it the concern that this is a problem for the war we are in right now, or is it what I often hear, this sort of future scenario around Asia and China in the Indo-Pacific?
WASSER: It's both. Right now the U.S. is probably constrained in its operational options in Iran because --
CORNISH: Wait, say that in English, constrained in its operation --
WASSER: Yes, constrained in what it can do. So, if President Trump says, bring me options for the next phase of the war, some of those options are going to be a lot more limited than they were a few days ago. And then if we're looking for, you know, the U.S. global role, the U.S. doesn't have enough missiles and munitions to protect itself and its allies.
Plus, if you're looking to future conflict, these missiles take years and years and years to build. This is a generational gap that cannot be overcome in a short amount of time. And that has major implications for U.S. military power and security around the globe.
CORNISH: OK, Becca, I hope you come back because I think this issue is going to come back, especially with the defense secretary on the defensive about it.
[06:35:04]
We really appreciate you.
Straight ahead on CNN THIS MORNING, the president wants to extend the National Guard post in D.C. Is it worth the $1.4 billion price tag?
And then there's this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you so much for saving my life.
(END VIDEO CLIP) CORNISH: The ten-year-old boy in California speaking out, thanking the lifeguard who rescued him from dangerous waves. This was in California last month. The little boy hurt his back and lost consciousness during the rescue. His father says he's still recovering.
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CORNISH: So, President Trump's National Guard deployment extension in D.C. coming with, of course, a price tag. It's going to cost you $1.4 billion to keep thousands of National Guard members in D.C. all the way through January 2029. That's the estimate the Defense Department has provided to Congress. And it's been nearly one year since troops have been on the ground, a tense year for some of the people of D.C. It's now expected to stay that way until Inauguration Day 2020, the day Trump is supposed to leave office.
Now, he has said he wants to make D.C. safe and beautiful. We're going to talk about what all this taxpayer money has actually done for the district so far. The D.C. National Guard's interim commanding general says this is what they've accomplished. They've responded to 788 medical incidents.
[06:40:00]
They have administered 325 Narcan doses. They have intervened in 262 fights. He says the goal is zero crime.
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BRIG. GEN. LELAND BLANCHARD, D.C. NATIONAL GUARD INTERIM COMMANDING GENERAL: Every visitor and every resident deserves to be in a -- in an environment where they're safe, they're secure, it's predictable. They don't have to fear going out.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: So, the group chat is back.
Oh, yes, I wanted to ask you about this. You live in D.C. right now. I'm going to put it up on the screen. There's about 4,600 National Guard troops. That's got to be bigger than the police force. So, they better be doing all this stuff. But what is your concern? How happy are you with your ability to walk the streets right now?
OYE OWOLEWA (D), D.C. REPRESENTATIVE: Well, the National Guard is a solution to a problem that we don't have, at a price tag we cannot afford, at a time where we're facing the highest in D.C., an unemployment rate, because of the DOGE cuts. We are seeing money being wasted on National Guardesmen who don't even live in D.C. Some of the folks live in South Carolina. Some of the folks who live in Alabama, who should be home with their families, but they're now here in D.C. watching metro stations.
CORNISH: I do have to say, the National Guard is planning a $292 million plan to house the service members for their deployment here in D.C. OWOLEWA: Yes.
TERRY SCHILLING, PRESIDENT, AMERICAN PRINCIPLES PROJECT: I just --
CORNISH: I want clean streets.
SCHILLING: Sure.
CORNISH: But, number one, there's no metric to end it. Zero crime, I think, is unrealistic for any city. And if there's no metric to end it, how do you keep justifying the spending?
SCHILLING: Well, look, I think it would be a totally different question if D.C. wasn't a failed city. They want statehood --
CORNISH: By what metric?
SCHILLING: By the fact that there are hundreds of shootings in the city. It's down since the National Guard was deployed. There were shootings in the Golden Triangle. There were shootings at Nats Park. There were innocent people. And, look, $1.4 billion --
CORNISH: So, here's what is -- look, I want to just put up the data, so people have the data and you can have it too while you're talking. 2626 year crime comparison for D.C. Homicides are down 35 percent. Robbery is down 16 percent. Motor vehicle theft, down 53 percent. Violent crime up 0.3. At what point can you say the National Guard has done a good job, y'all go home.
SCHILLING: Well, I don't know what's included in the violent crime, but murders being down by 30 percent, car thefts being down by 52 percent sounds great to me.
CORNISH: Yes.
SCHILLING: I just --
CORNISH: Yes. So, when is job well done? When is this mission accomplished?
SCHILLING: I don't -- as soon as D.C. can show that they can operate without the National Guard, I think that would be great.
But let's be honest, it was a dangerous city. Union Station was an absolute mess. You get approached by homeless person after homeless person. It reeked of weed. I just got back from New York last week. It was clean. It was open. I didn't get harassed by anyone. It didn't smell like weed.
ANTJUAN SEAWRIGHT, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Mayor Mamdani doing a good job? Is that what you're trying to say?
SCHILLING: No, no, no, I'm saying, like, when I -- when I arrived at Union Station, my friend. But look, I don't think there's any defense --
CORNISH: Antjuan looked too delighted -- he looked too delighted at that.
SEAWRIGHT: But, Terry, Terry, Terry, with all due respect, if the president was serious about lowering crime and all these things, then why not bring together a coalition of mayors, as Joe Biden did, and let's figure out how to put together funding mechanisms in place to deal with those issues from a long term perspective and investments in cities.
What the president has done has been intentional about trying to identify cities predominantly where we have higher African-American populations or cities ran by black mayors as if they're crime infested, they're bad and they're the worst in America. And I think that's the wrong narrative to project if you're serious about trying to do something about problems that existed before Donald Trump and likely will exist after Donald Trump.
SCHILLING: Look, I think there is charity in speaking truth, regardless of if people take offense at it. And you have to acknowledge serious problems if you want to make progress. D.C. had a violence problem. You had to bring in the National Guard.
SEAWRIGHT: I just want to say --
SCHILLING: There were over 300 murders in 2024. This is --
SEAWRIGHT: I just want to say one thing --
BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: But violent crime is up.
SCHILLING: I don't know what they're -- but homicides are down. Car thefts are down. All those other --
SEAWRIGHT: Terry, can I -- can I give you -- can I give you one set of facts. Those numbers were going down in a lot of places before Donald Trump booted (ph) -- before --
CORNISH: Can I let the person who lives in D.C. speak.
SEAWRIGHT: But this is an important fact, Audie.
CORNISH: Yes.
SEAWRIGHT: Those numbers were going down before Donald Trump came into office. That's true around the country.
OWOLEWA: This is not about safety. This is about control. The only reason why Donald Trump can do this in D.C. is because we're not a state. He tried to do this in other states and it did not happen.
SCHILLING: That's true.
OWOLEWA: When you're talking about our crime statistics, as you mentioned, Antoine, our numbers were already going down. So, it's not as if he was solving a problem. And at $1.4 billion, you can invest in community-based organizations. You can put things in mental health. You can put drug boxes to make sure people dispose of medications so kids aren't getting high. You can do plenty of other things to empower D.C. residents rather than ship people from out of town, and now spend over $300 million to put them in housing at a time you can put the unhoused into spaces. This is a complete waste of money.
CORNISH: Oye, thank you so much for being here. I appreciate your time.
OWOLEWA: Thanks, Audie.
CORNISH: Next on CNN This Morning, Congressman Chuck Edwards out, dropping out of his race for re-election after an ethics investigation. We've got Democratic Congressman Suhas Subramanyam, who sits on the Ethics Committee, here next.
Plus, this.
[06:45:01]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CORI BUSH (D), FORMER MISSOURI CONGRESSWOMAN: People were bamboozled again. Deceived again.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: Progressives hit a snag in Missouri. Cori Bush losing her rematch.
As we go to break, stunning new numbers show the president's fight night was a big "L" for UFC. The BBC is reporting that the UFC lost $30 million when hosting the event. The CFO told investors Monday that it was due to significantly higher than normal costs just to hold that Freedom 250 event.
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CORNISH: All right, so we've got some breaking news this morning. Congressman Chuck Edwards is dropping his bid for re-election. This is happening just days after a House Ethics investigation found he sexually harassed two staff members.
[06:50:05]
Now, in a statement on social media this morning, Edwards said in part, quote, "after much prayer and reflection, I've decided to withdraw from my re-election campaign. I will complete my current term.
Meanwhile, embattled Congressman Max Miller, he's refusing to drop out of the race. He tells CNN that he is welcoming a newly opened House Ethics investigation into his past.
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REP. MAX MILLER (R-OH): It's an honor for me to have a platform like this, to continue to fight and to continue to show the American people that I've already been looked into, I'm happy to be looked into again.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: His ex-wife, his ex-girlfriend, and a third woman have all independently accused Miller of becoming violent during their relationships. Miller, in an interview with CNN's Jake Tapper on Tuesday, said that those women are lying.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: Do you realize what it is in terms of how tall an order it is for voters, and your colleagues, and everybody watching right now, to believe that three women who don't know each other made up accusations of you being violent, and you are telling the truth here, they are lying? That is a difficult thing for people to believe, right?
REP. MAX MILLER (R-OH): Well, yes, I -- it's, I mean -- no, not in this instance because every single one of these things that you're brought up, unlike other candidates throughout the country, I've already had investigations into.
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CORNISH: OK. Joining us now, Congressman Suhas Subramanyam, he's a Democrat from Virginia. He's also a member of the House Ethics Committee.
Now, I know you can't get into the details of this investigation, but lots of people are commenting on it. And we'll come to Max Miller in a minute.
First, Chuck Edwards, who has stepped down in the end. But the Democratic Women's Caucus issued this statement that I think is worth mentioning. They say, "the Ethics Committee recommendation to censure Edwards has no real consequences, it just means he has to stand on the floor of the House while the censure is read. A few minutes of embarrassing CSPAN coverage, while the staffers themselves had to endure over two years of sexual harassment, is not comparable. They had to leave their jobs, so should Rep. Edwards. He should resign immediately."
Edwards, as we now know, has resigned. But he says, he's not going right away. He's still going to be hanging around Congress. What's your response to them saying that censure has no real consequences?
REP. SUHAS SUBRAMANYAM (D-VA): Censure does have consequences. You can also lose your committee seats, for instance. And in the end, it's a serious deal. The voters will see that and they'll be able to act accordingly.
And also, you know, if those folks in the House want to, for instance, expel him from Congress, they have the ability to bring that expulsion motion to the floor as well and so the House can vote on it. The Ethics Committee gave Chuck Edwards and gives everyone the opportunity to state their case. And what we do, we offer, you know, due process to everyone. And so, this is the recommendation that the committee has put out.
But, you know, House members are welcome to bring other motions if they so feel.
CORNISH: I want to put up for you, because you guys are pretty busy. There's a lot of names there we're going to put up of people from Max Miller, Eric Swalwell, a variety of people who, over the last couple of months, have faced some kind of Ethics questioning over their treatment of women specifically.
Is the Ethics Committee even built to deal with this kind of issue, right? Like, I think of you guys as complaining about dudes who put a brick of cash in the freezer, which is a real thing that happened a few years back.
SUBRAMANYAM: That is a real thing.
CORNISH: You -- can you deal in intimate partner violence and sexual harassment because it sounds like there's a lot of women on The Hill unhappy.
SUBRAMANYAM: Yes, well, let's talk about what the Ethics Committee is. The worst thing we can do to someone, expel them from Congress, but we don't put them in jail. We're not a court of law. We're just, you know, ten members of Congress, as well as our staff. And so, we do the best we can. People try to stonewall us. They try to avoid getting interviewed by us. And we've seen it all at this point.
But this Ethics Committee, I would say, unlike past Ethics Committee, has moved faster than any other one. We've taken all these seriously. You've seen that we've had three members of Congress resign instead of facing the consequences of this Ethics Committee.
So, again, there's more that needs to be done. We're talking about reforms to make the process go faster. But we'll never be as fast as the news cycle. But I'll say, there were Ethics Committees in the past that existed to defend the members, to stonewall other people. And now this Ethics Committee is taking --
CORNISH: Meaning they would say, we're investigating everyone. Back off.
SUBRAMANYAM: Yes.
CORNISH: OK.
SUBRAMANYAM: People were put on the committee specifically to protect other members of Congress. That is not the case anymore. It is bipartisan. And we actually, you know, work really well together to make sure that everyone gets due process, but everyone is held accountable.
CORNISH: Can I ask you about Max Miller? This investigation is happening.
SUBRAMANYAM: This -- we have launched an investigation into Max Miller. And we will give him and anyone else who is being investigated full due process. And we will do the fact finding. And we have a wonderful staff who looks into every aspect of this. And often what happens is we'll see one allegation that comes out publicly, and then after the investigation, we'll see many other things that happened with a member. And so, the investigations sometimes take longer than the news cycle.
[06:55:02]
But in the end, we give people due process and we hold them accountable.
CORNISH: Let me play for you guys Max Miller on Tuesday. He was talking about why he thinks he's still going to be successful, why he's not going anywhere.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. MAX MILLER (R-OH): I am going to be successful in this November because my constituents know who I am, and they also know who my ex- father-in-law is. And they also know who my ex-wife is. And that's why you've seen, people aren't running from me. My numbers and fundraising are strong. You know, Speaker Mike Johnson, everyone else, they're standing behind me. No one has told me to get off the ballot. And that's because they know I can win this seat and see this through. And that's what we're going to do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: Terry, can I ask you, what he's saying there? He says, my fundraising is good. People aren't running from me. He talked about Mike Johnson.
SCHILLING: Yes, and he got a nice little dig at Senator Bernie Moreno, who's a great father. I had him on my podcast, to be totally transparent.
CORNISH: Yes.
SCHILLING: But I really like Senator Bernie Moreno.
But I -- look, I said this before on the show --
CORNISH: But he's like, if House leadership isn't running from me, why should I have to go anywhere?
SCHILLING: Look, I think it would be helpful to have some clarification there, obviously. But, at the same time, this guy really has to assess what's more important, your re-election or your family and your two-and-a-half-year-old daughter. For me, it would be my family, my two-and-a-half-year-old daughter or my eight children.
CORNISH: OK. Eight children.
OK, I just want to check back in with all of those primaries, let you guys know what's going on with the news. Right now, Michigan's largest county, remember, we're watching the
Senate race there, it's still being counted. I think it's Wayne County. And tight races there. That primary is between Abdul El-Sayed and Congresswoman Haley Stevens. And it's bringing out a historic number of voters. As of 1 a.m., more than 1.5 million ballots have been counted so far. That blows past the turnout record for any non- presidential Democratic primary in Michigan going back to at least 1998.
And progressives, of course, are hoping to pull off a win in Michigan. That wasn't the case for them in Missouri. Moderate Wesley Bell fended off former Congresswoman Cori Bush. She's a former member of "the squad" in the House primary.
And then in Virginia's 10th district, Republican Dave Beckwith wins the GOP primary. He'll face off against none other than Congressman Subramanian, here, in November.
What is going to be your focus, right? You're going to go up against a Republican, but he's going to be able to easily tie you to these Democratic socialist movements, or maybe you're going to get flack from the left. Give me a sense of what your focus is.
SUBRAMANYAM: Oh, well, just -- my district, even the Trump voters are so angry at this administration right now. They've plunged us into a forever war in Iran. They've fired federal workers and contractors in our community. They've basically gone back on every promise they made in 2024. And Republicans in Virginia and across the country still continue to hang their hat on President Trump and rubber stamp all of his policies. And so, this is -- this is going to be about that, but also about our positive vision for making sure we lower costs, we make health care more affordable for people.
CORNISH: Where are you on the question of whether or not DSA members or DSA-adjacent candidates affect the broader ticket, affect the party?
SUBRAMANYAM: Look, they're going to be part of our coalition. We already have DSA members in Congress. I work quite well with them. In the end, we're going to be a big tent in the Democratic Party.
And what people want right now in these primaries, you're seeing it across the country is they want change. They want fighters. They want someone who will stand up. So, some of these races have been less about ideology, more about style as well, and making sure you have someone who's going to fight rather than someone who will continue the status quo.
CORNISH: Since you're our guest here, we're going to talk about group chats.
SUBRAMANYAM: OK.
CORNISH: What's in yours, other than, obviously, these insane stories happening before the Ethics Committee? SUBRAMANYAM: I'm in a fantasy football group chat. We have a fantasy
football league. And I'm going to a Commanders training camp this morning.
CORNISH: A real one, not a fantasy one?
SUBRAMANYAM: A real one. Not a fantasy training camp.
CORNISH: Like that.
SUBRAMANYAM: To scout some of the Commanders players. I have Terry McLaurin on my fantasy team.
But, yes, we -- right now we're monitoring all these training camps to see who we should trade for and who we should draft.
CORNISH: In the fantasy football --
SUBRAMANYAM: In the fantasy football league. Yes.
CORNISH: OK.
What's in your group chat, Terry?
SCHILLING: My wife has abandoned us at home. She took the baby up to Boston to see my in-laws.
CORNISH: I thought you were going to say she had another baby. I was like, I was afraid, Terry.
SCHILLING: No, no. Not yet. We're working on that. But I am -- I am back home with the other children. And I will just say, we are having the time of our lives. We are watching every classic movie. We've watched all the Indiana Jones series, all the Star Wars series, Lord of the Rings. And I will just say this, I am blown away by how useful and helpful these kids have been. My 11-year-old son, Bobby, MVP. Absolutely. He's been helping clean and help take care of the younger ones.
SUBRAMANYAM: Wow.
CORNISH: I like using like football language here.
SCHILLING: Yes.
CORNISH: Because that's how many kids there are, OK.
SCHILLING: That's right. It's almost -- it's almost a baseball team.
CORNISH: It takes a team.
SCHILLING: That's right.
CORNISH: All right, Antjuan.
SEAWRIGHT: These style versus substance conversations we're having in our primaries will not define us. Whether we win in November with the coalition centered in black, centered in rural, centered in working class, to include young people will define us as a party, not these style versus substance primaries.
CORNISH: Betsy, last word to you.
KLEIN: Discussions about a Myspace reboot.
[07:00:02]
And, for me, a millennial, this warms my heart. We are talking about like this return to '90s style parenting. Like, I want to return to 2003.
CORNISH: Yes.
KLEIN: I want, like, to customize my profile. I want my top eight. Where is Tom? A lot of question.
CORNISH: You want feral parenting. You -- yes, pre-cell phone. I get it.
All right, you guys, thank you for being with us. Congressman, thank you for being with us.
I'm Audie Cornish. And the headlines are next.
