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Pam Bondi Ousted as Attorney General; Deputy Attorney General, Todd Blanche Being Moved Up to Acting AG; Trump Says U.S. To Hit Iran Extremely Hard Over the Next Two to Three Weeks; Europe Faces Looming Jet Fuel Crisis as Iran War Rages on; Police Release Video from Tiger Woods' Latest Rollover Crash. Aired 2-2:30p ET

Aired April 02, 2026 - 14:00   ET

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

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[14:00:17]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": The nation's top law enforcement official fired. President Trump has ousted Pam Bondi as Attorney General. The two were actually seen together just yesterday when the president made that historic appearance at the Supreme Court for oral arguments in that birthright citizenship case and then later at night, at the White House, when he addressed the nation on the Iran war.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": Bondi is now the second Trump cabinet member to be removed in less than a month, following the ouster of Kristi Noem as Homeland Security Secretary. Joining us now is CNN's Katelyn Polantz. But we're going to begin our coverage with CNN's Kristen Holmes at the White House.

Kristen, you had reporting earlier in the day that Trump had had a conversation about Bondi, regarding the status of her as Attorney General and clearly, he moved forward with eliminating her as the head of DOJ.

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, there was a lot of questions even among some of President Trump's closest advisers if he was actually going to go through with firing her. Essentially, what we were told is they had a tough conversation. In this conversation, they talked about her future.

It was actually floated to her that she would be replaced and she would get another job down the line. We are told by multiple sources one of the jobs that President Trump had floated was a judgeship. And then, of course, the announcement that she had in fact been fired.

Now, President Trump has commented on this. This is what he posted on Truth Social. "Pam Bondi is a great American patriot and a loyal friend, who faithfully served as my Attorney General over the past year."

And then we have this. "We love Pam and she will be transitioning to a much needed and important new job in the private sector to be announced at a date in the near future." That of course is important given the fact that that is not an administration role. That is not a judgeship. That is a job in the private sector.

Now, we are told that Bondi had been upset learning that President Trump had been going to allies asking if he should replace her. And he had been growing frustrated over the last several months. This really started in earnest in January. Then it died down a little bit. And then President Trump in the last week, essentially, decided that he wanted her out. Now, there have been a number of names that have been floated. No final decisions have been made.

One of the top contenders, we're told right now, is Lee Zeldin who is currently running the EPA. But again, nothing is firm. I do think it is important to note that while he did give her a complimentary message, it is clear he is not giving her a soft landing place. Instead just saying, she's going to the private sector.

KEILAR: Yeah, that's very notable. And Katelyn, tell us what you're learning about why Bondi lost her job.

KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we're now just getting some information out of the Justice Department itself. Todd Blanche, the Deputy Attorney General, who had done so many of the things very publicly that both Donald Trump and Pam Bondi wanted at the Department of Justice, Blanche is now posting on social media that "She led this department with strength and conviction. And I'm grateful for her leadership and friendship. Thank you to President Trump for the trust and opportunity to serve as Acting Attorney General."

That is Blanche assuming that role, stepping into the top job at Justice while there is not someone Senate-confirmed. And then he says, "We will continue backing the blue, enforcing the law, and doing everything in our power to keep America safe." So that focuses on the law enforcement aspect.

There are criminal prosecutions still going on all over the country that are the typical type of things the Justice Department does every day. But one of the things that's so fascinating about Pam Bondi exiting at this moment in time, she tried hard to get across the finish line many, many things that Donald Trump wanted.

Remember that tweet back in September, where Donald Trump posted publicly to Pam that he wanted to see prosecutions of three people that he disliked, all on the Democratic or not pro-Trump side of things. Letitia James, the New York Attorney General, she had been charged. That case has fallen apart.

There have been murmurs of other investigations into Letitia James by the Justice Department. None have materialized as cases. James Comey, the former FBI Director that Trump has hated since the 2016 Russia investigation, he's charged. And then that case too fell apart under Bondi's watch as Attorney General.

And then since then, the courts have locked down the ability for the Justice Department to go back into those files that they have of James Comey that they wanted to use in that case against him. Big failure there. And then the third person is Adam Schiff, who we understand, as a Democratic Senator, was being investigated in Maryland at one point in time. That case has never materialized.

[14:05:00]

There are so many others that Trump wanted, that we knew the Justice Department had taken on and been looking at that just never came to fruition. Also very public failures, grand juries refusing indictments of political figures, including members of Congress, judges denying things, contempt proceedings opening up in courts across the country, in Minnesota against some of the attorneys there. And then finally, Epstein.

Pam Bondi's legacy will forever be revolving around that moment on Fox News a year ago when she said, there's a client list on my desk. There was none. There is none. The Justice Department maintains that to this day. And there have been no prosecutions or investigations since all of that information has been put out there.

And then the final thing about Pam Bondi that we should note here is that in the legal community, what is going to be remembered of her legacy. We may talk about these investigations that Donald Trump wanted that never materialized and what happened with Epstein, that that has been a political problem she could not solve and has even made more problematic.

She has also overseen a Justice Department that is, its workforce is exponentially different than what it was when she took office. The experience of the Justice Department has been gutted by firings across the board while Pam Bondi has been the Attorney General.

And we do not see many times where Bondi has said no to Trump. She's tried to do what he wanted and it still wasn't enough.

SANCHEZ: So two Republican lawmakers, Thomas Massie and Nancy Mace, have been praising Trump's firing of Bondi. They accused her of blocking or delaying the release of the Epstein files. Is it clear that that's something that Trump wanted her to do? Because to your point, there was the comment on Fox News and other places, even in the campaign, regarding information in the Epstein files being put forward.

And then there was that almost comical moment where you had these influencers outside the White House holding these binders, proclaiming that they had finally uncovered what was in the Epstein files, but then later found out that all of that was already public information.

And then later on you had, about a month after Congress passed a law demanding the release of all of these files, DOJ putting out millions of documents, but there are still questions about whether they've actually put everything out.

POLANTZ: Yeah, there's a really important shift that happens in the course of that. And it is that Todd Blanche, now the Acting Attorney General, took the center stage on addressing the Epstein problem, right? Bondi said, there's a client list on my desk and all of a sudden, the political problem was at her feet after the Justice Department had tried to prosecute Epstein, resulting in his death in jail.

And then there was a conviction of Ghislaine Maxwell that part of the Justice Department believed was going to put an end to the Epstein saga. What she did at the very beginning, dug deeper, and it was quite clear the Justice Department was trying to solve this political problem. Todd Blanche was the one that got sent to Florida to go interview Ghislaine Maxwell in prison and ask her about Donald Trump.

And she said Trump hadn't done anything untoward there. This was a situation that Blanche then oversaw, but in the last couple months, when they were releasing all those files, questions still remain, issues still arose with victims. And with Blanche, he was out there having to divert resources in the department just to get through the millions of documents.

KEILAR: Katelyn Polantz, Kristen Holmes -- you, Pam Bondi, you combined her names. I was just inspired by you, Katelyn. Thank you. Thank you very much for the excellent reporting, both of you.

And less than two weeks from now, Bondi is scheduled to be deposed by the House Oversight Committee as part of its investigation into the Jeffrey Epstein case.

SANCHEZ: Attorney Arick Fudali represents 11 Epstein accusers and joins us now. Arick, thanks so much for being with us. What's your reaction to this news?

ARICK FUDALI, ATTORNEY REPRESENTING 11 EPSTEIN ACCUSERS: Good riddance. Pam Bondi was an absolute disaster. She was an embarrassment. It was a catastrophe, the way she handled this Epstein issue, and more importantly, the way she showed a complete, I wouldn't even just say disregard, but almost an utter contempt for the survivors and what they wanted throughout this process.

I mean, starting with the way she handled the release of these files. One of my clients was listed, named 500 times in the release of the three million documents, a victim named 500 times when she shouldn't have been named once. You go then to this temper tantrum she had on the House floor during the oversight hearing where she couldn't even pretend really, couldn't pretend to even acknowledge or show any amount of respect for the survivors who were there.

[14:10:00]

So certainly, from my perspective, and I think the survivors as well, this is good riddance. The only concern now is who's going to replace her. And given the way that Trump appears to appoint people in his administration, I'm not optimistic that the next attorney general will be any better than Pam Bondi.

KEILAR: Arick, I wonder how you think her ouster affects the fact that she has been subpoenaed by the House Oversight Committee, as we mentioned. Nothing changes here as far as the top Democrat on the committee is saying.

He's saying that later this month, she's still going to testify as she was before. Do you think that her ouster changes anything there? Does it put more pressure on her? Does it make it mean less? Does it make it mean more? What do you think?

FUDALI: It's a great question. Certainly, she still has to testify. I guess the question is now, she has less to lose. Right now, she is no longer under the force and the pressure of the Donald Trump administration for every breath she takes to be in praise and to be pro-Donald Trump and perhaps even anti-survivor, anti-transparency. She doesn't have that pressure, apparently, from what we're hearing.

She's going to be a lay citizen. She's going to be in the private sector. So one would think, a reasonable person would expect that maybe she'll be more honest, maybe she'll be more forthcoming. Unfortunately, given the way that she has handled this entire Epstein saga and the way everyone in this administration, whether actually part of the administration or just someone else who sort of follows in line with Donald Trump, I don't expect it to change much.

It certainly could, as she now has less to lose. She's already lost her job. But again, I don't have enough faith in Pam Bondi's character to think that she will actually speak with conviction and be honest and really show any type of empathy for the survivors of Jeffrey Epstein at that hearing.

SANCHEZ: Arick, you alluded to this a moment ago, but I wanted to get your thoughts specifically on Todd Blanche now taking over as Acting Attorney General, at least until one is confirmed.

FUDALI: Yeah, again, I have very little faith. I have similar words to say about how Todd Blanche has handled this whole thing. As you stated earlier, it's important to recall that Todd Blanche is the one that basically gave convicted child sex trafficker, Ghislaine Maxwell, a platform to just really deny things, say whatever she wanted, speak in praise of herself, speak in praise of Donald Trump with zero pushback.

I mean, they call that an interview. That was basically just serving up a platform for a convicted child sex trafficker. So again, for all the statements we've seen, all the appearances from Todd Blanche, again, continue to just be what every person in this administration seems to push forward, which is a praise of Donald Trump and his agenda.

So again, I don't expect him to be much better than Pam Bondi. Perhaps he may learn from some of the mistakes of Pam Bondi, for instance, that disaster temper tantrum of a hearing she had. Maybe he could at least pretend to care about the survivors, pretend to show some empathy, and maybe even, you know, find it in himself to actually move towards transparency, accountability and justice.

But again, I'm not going to hold my breath and I will wait and see how Todd Blanche and whoever ends up replacing him handles this situation.

SANCHEZ: Arick Fudali, thanks so much for sharing your perspective. And as Arick was speaking there, we should note, we did get a bit of news from CNN's Annie Grayer. She's reporting that House Oversight Chairman, James Comer is planning to speak to Republicans about Pam Bondi's deposition that was scheduled for the 14th of April.

A committee spokesperson told CNN that he essentially said that because Pam Bondi is no longer Attorney General, he wants to get consensus from the Republicans on that panel. Though the Republican Nancy Mace, who led the subpoena effort, has told CNN that she believes that her subpoena to Bondi still stands. So we'll see where that goes.

KEILAR: That seems significant that she's saying that.

SANCHEZ: Yeah, no doubt.

Still to come, President Trump appears ready to spell out what has been accomplished in the war with Iran, how Europe is already feeling some of the downsides of this conflict.

KEILAR: Plus, the crew of Artemis II waking up after getting a well- deserved nap some 50,000 miles above Earth. We're going to check in on their lunar mission.

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[14:18:32]

KEILAR: Today, U.S. oil prices are soaring in the wake of President Trump's speech on the war with Iran. Gas now averaging $4.08 a gallon. That's more than a dollar more than it was a month ago when the war began.

The president says military operations will continue for another two to three weeks, but when it comes to the Strait of Hormuz, Trump, who did not consult allies before launching this war, is now demanding they take responsibility for reopening the critical waterway.

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DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Number one, buy oil from the United States of America. We have plenty. We have so much. And number two, build up some delayed courage, should have done it before, should have done it with us as we asked. Go to the Strait and just take it, protect it, use it for yourselves.

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KEILAR: Meanwhile, America's European allies are now facing an incoming crisis. The Head of the International Energy Agency says Europe will soon be hit by jet fuel and diesel shortages as soon as this month. Boris?

SANCHEZ: The White House is reiterating its objectives for the war, and it shared this list before Trump's speech last night. Destroy Iran's navy, missile arsenal, and terrorist proxies, and ensure the regime can never have a nuclear weapon. Just hours later, though, Secretary Marco Rubio shared a list that was slightly different.

His calls for the destruction of Iran's Navy, as well as its Air Force and weapons factories are consistent, but Rubio does not mention the destruction of terrorist proxies.

[14:20:00]

We're joined now by retired Army Major, Harrison Mann. He's currently the Associate Campaigns Director for the organization "Win Without War." Major, thanks so much for being with us. What do you think of this new two to three week timeline from President Trump? Is it realistic?

MAJ. HARRISON MANN, U.S. ARMY (RET.): It's a fantasy. From day one of this war, they haven't had any idea how to end it. Trump said yesterday, he expected it to end in three days and when that didn't happen, it's clear They've been really desperately searching for any way out of this. The objectives that keep changing, that you listed from Marco Rubio, really reflect that they don't know what they're trying to do here. And they've been trying for a month and they can't find an easy military solution.

SANCHEZ: Iran has made clear that they're not interested in a ceasefire to stop the conflict at this point. They clearly believe that they have leverage partly by strangling the Strait of Hormuz and the traffic of energy there. How much was their ability to inflict pain on global energy markets standing in the way of the U.S. achieving that range of objectives that we've heard?

MANN: I Think what's really standing in the way of achieving any kind of objectives is the fact that nobody can trust what this administration says. The reason that Iran says that they won't negotiate a ceasefire right now is that the last two times they negotiated with Trump, he bombed them, right? So that's why they've been driven to this maximalist position of, as you said, choking the global economy.

They really feel they have no choice but to inflict as much pain as possible to try and convince Donald Trump not to attack them in the future because they really can't take him at his word. And even in his speech last night, Trump said maybe we'll come back and bomb them again in the future. So if you hear that, what choice do you really have other than trying to convince Trump that it's going to be even worse if he does that next time?

SANCHEZ: It seems to incentivize the idea as it has in other regimes, I'm thinking of North Korea, to actually go after and obtain nuclear weapons. Is it realistic from a military perspective for the United States or any military, whether European allies, et cetera, to take the Strait, as Trump has said, to reopen traffic there?

MANN: It would mean a de facto invasion of Iran, a large-scale invasion. Right now, we can see that Iran really doesn't need much capability to threaten traffic. It can fire drones or missiles or even drone boats from really any point in the country or certainly well beyond the area immediately around the Strait of Hormuz. So when you think about what it would take to deny that capability so completely that ships feel safe passing through there, it is really a total regime collapse or occupation which is just not realistic for the United States to do. SANCHEZ: Iran has consistently, from the beginning of the conflict, launched attacks against its Gulf Arab neighbors. We've not yet seen a direct retaliation from Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, UAE. Do you see that potentially changing soon? What do you think it might take?

MANN: Saudi and UAE have threatened to do this, but frankly, they are extremely vulnerable and they know that. And I think whatever rhetoric there -- whatever saber-rattling we hear, they really want a negotiated end to this conflict. They are really the weakest point in the U.S. regional alliance and they stand the most to lose.

SANCHEZ: I also wanted to get your thoughts on the discussions over NATO. There's not only anger from the Trump administration regarding NATO not backing the U.S. in this conflict, but also there seems to be resentment, anger over certain NATO nations and European allies not allowing the U.S. to use their military bases as places for Air Force personnel to land. What do you make of the back-and-forth there?

MANN: I think Europe has been one of the -- has been a much bigger victim of the economic effect of this conflict than the United States, and that has finally driven European leaders to start taking seriously what Donald Trump says when he threatens to upend this alliance, as he's been doing for over a decade now. And so I think the refusal to allow overflight or basing for the Iran War is an attempt to both to try and avoid retaliation from Iran, which it has threatened, and to show Trump finally that they won't be pushed around at least on this issue.

SANCHEZ: Major Harrison Mann, thank you so much for the perspective. Appreciate it.

MANN: Thanks for having me.

SANCHEZ: Still plenty more to come this afternoon. CNN obtaining bodycam footage from Tiger Woods' rollover crash and arrest. Plus, new DNA testing has just linked notorious serial killer, Ted Bundy, to an unsolved death. We have those details in just moments.

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[14:28:55]

KEILAR: We are following Breaking News. Authorities have released body cam video that shows Tiger Woods being arrested after his rollover crash last Friday. He was charged with driving under the influence, but he pleaded not guilty.

Here's part of what happened just after police arrived at the scene.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TIGER WOODS, ARRESTED FOR DUI: I'm down, I have my phone, and all of a sudden, boom.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm going to just take a look here. Is this comfortable for you? WOODS: Yeah, yeah. OK. Yeah, I'm cool. I'm totally cool. (Inaudible).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't feel anything out of the absolute (ph). We're still going to have our medic come and check you out, alright?

WOODS: Yeah, yeah.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just run up to the 18th security. All right. You good, man? Yeah, all set.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's OK. I just checked for anything on his back. I didn't feel anything.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Now, moments after this, Woods is given a field sobriety test, and then after that, he's arrested after the deputy told him that he failed that test.

Woods also took a breathalyzer test at the jail. No alcohol was detected with that, but he refused to provide a urine sample. That is according to court --