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Soon the U.S. Military Begins Blockade of Iranian Ports in Strait of Hormuz; Swalwell Quits California Governor Race After Sexual Misconduct Allegations; Millions Under Threat of Strong Storms this Week. Aired 8:00-8:30a ET

Aired April 13, 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]

JACQUELINE HOWARD, CNN HEALTH REPORTER: ... able to lose abdominal fat. So that's the second category. The third way to look at peptides, there's a rising wild, wild west of wellness marketed peptides.

These are sometimes supplements. They're sometimes experimental peptides that are still in the research phase. And this third category is what's getting a lot of attention because they're not FDA approved. So they're not really regulated here in the U.S.

But some people are accessing them, Kate, from the online black market. And just to look at the safety aspect, one startup called Finnrick tests peptides and it found that 78 percent of those that fall in that third category, they did pass quality checks, but 22 percent failed quality checks. So that's why there are some concerns around the safety of that third category that I mentioned.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Absolutely. It's definitely something wild, wild west is, I think, a very apt description for what we're looking at here. It's good to see you, Jacqueline. Thank you so much.

A new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts right now.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, happening now, we are counting down to the promised U.S. blockade in the Strait of Hormuz, set to start very shortly targeting Iranian ports and vessels. Oil prices jumping this morning. We are standing by for what could be an extraordinary week in Washington.

Eric Swalwell drops his gubernatorial bid after sexual assault allegations. Now, some are calling on him to be expelled from Congress. Others suggest as many as four members could get bounced as soon as Wednesday.

Breaking this morning, the Pope says he is not afraid of the Trump administration. He also reportedly says the name of his Truth Social media site is ironic. This after the president attacks the Pope and posts an image depicting himself as Jesus.

Sara is out today. I'm John Berman with Kate Bolduan. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL. BOLDUAN: All right, let's get to this breaking news this morning. We're just about two hours now, the possibility of a major escalation between the United States and Iran, as J.B. was just talking about. The U.S. military is expected to begin imposing a blockade on Iran in the Strait of Hormuz, according to Central Command.

It's slightly more nuanced than the president first announced. Central Command says the U.S. plans to block all shipping traffic entering and leaving Iranian ports beginning at 10 a.m. Eastern. President Trump ordered this after negotiations with Iran fell apart this weekend.

Vice President J.D. Vance left those talks in Pakistan, saying that the United States had put forth its best and final offer. Still, despite this, President Trump told reporters last night that he believes that the ceasefire with Iran is still holding.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How is the ceasefire holding?

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I would say it's holding well. Their military is destroyed. Their whole Navy is underwater.

You know that 158 ships are gone. Their Navy's gone. Most of their mine droppers are gone.

They broke their word. They broke their promise. And remember, their promise was that they were going to open the Hormuz Strait.

They didn't do it. They lied.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Overnight, oil prices understandably reacting to all of this, spiking again above $100 a barrel, still on the rise as we speak. Asked in a Fox News interview yesterday if oil and gas prices could fall by the midterm elections in November, the president acknowledged and said that they could be the same or maybe a little bit higher -- John.

BERMAN: All right. With us now is CNN Global Affairs Analyst Brett McGurk. And Brett, just to bring people up to speed here, OK, this is the Strait of Hormuz.

This is the 20-mile stretch separating Iran from Oman here, only about a two-mile shipping lane. And for the last six weeks, there's been virtually no traffic through, just one, two, maybe three ships a day. And it's important to note that almost all of those vessels have been leaving from Iran.

These are the various oil ports on Iran's coast. They've been Iranian vessels or they've been vessels that Iran let through, carrying Iranian oil, bringing back money sort of to Iran. So if the United States does carry out this blockade, talk to me about what the goal here is. BRETT MCGURK, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Well, John, you had it right. Look, every time I've negotiated with Iran, they come in -- they're the weaker power, but they come in with something. But they understand that no negotiations work without leverage.

[08:05:00]

And they come in, they're holding hostages or they're attacking American troops, or I've been with the Iranians in Oman where they shut down a passage in the Red Sea through the Houthis, one of their proxies.

So what happened in Pakistan, John? Iran came in and basically put a proverbial loaded gun on the table. And they said, we control the Strait of Hormuz.

The Strait will remain closed other than our ships and ships that we approved through a passageway up near the Iranian border. There's kind of a separate route. And the Americans could have done two things.

They could have tried to put more on the table to try to open up the Strait of Hormuz or put a bigger gun on the table. And that's basically what's happened. And this will go into effect, John, in two hours.

Whether or not it works, we'll see. But it's basically the Americans saying, actually, what's going to happen is the Strait will be open to everyone but your ships. And this is the first time ever we're in uncharted waters, no pun intended, that we have a blockade on Iran.

They cannot get their oil out of the Gulf. And it's a big move that we're making. I think the Navy can do it. But, you know, we'll see how it plays out.

Now, importantly, John, the ceasefire is in place. The ceasefire lasts until April 22nd.vAnd this is kind of -- I would see this as -- this is still a negotiation. It doesn't mean that we're on the precipice of the war starting again.

But Iran could react here by breaking the ceasefire. They could strike ports in the Gulf. They could strike some ships. I don't think they'll do that.

But this is going to play out here over the next week. It's a big move that President Trump just made. And it is going to really bite the Iranians if it works, because this is how -- this is their economic lifeline.

BERMAN: So you said something very interesting there. And what the president has said is that other vessels leaving from other ports can go through. If you're from Qatar or if you're up in Kuwait, the UAE, those vessels can go through.

But the Iranians have been saying they can't. And there's no indication that the Iranians are going to change that position. So the end result here might be, at least for the time being, that nothing, nothing gets through this trade of four moves.

And that's what oil markets are reacting to this morning. You can see prices up 7 percent West Texas and Brent crude. Then the question becomes, is who can sort of withstand more pain for the longest period of time here, Brett?

Is it Iran suffering because it's not getting anything? Or is the rest of the world suffering from the jump in oil prices? What's your sense of who can last longer?

MCGURK: That's right, John. I remember standing there by that board very early in this crisis saying, you know, war is ultimately a test of wills. And that is still what we see playing out.

I think the Iranians are very surprised, actually, that the American side made this move. I do not think they anticipated it. I thought they believed that the economic pressure was really biting and that we were going to have to kind of sue at the table to try to get this trade open.

And we've now done the opposite. But, yes, it's a test of wills. I mean, so far here, actually, the American side and the president are showing that they are determined to achieve at the negotiating table now what they have demanded from the beginning.

And that means an abandonment of Iran's enrichment program, which is the cornerstone of a nuclear program if you want to have the potential for a weapon, and some other things that they're demanding. It's a high-stakes game, John. I don't know where it's going to go.

But I do think, given that the Iranians are using the Strait of Hormuz as their main leverage card, and they've said it openly, it's what we've known they might always do for decades. It's one reason we actually never did a military campaign like this because of the risk. They're now doing it, and we're trying to combat it by saying, OK, well, if you're going to shut the Strait of Hormuz, it's going to be shut to your tankers, and we will use our assets to open it to others.

One important thing, John, over the weekend also, while these talks were going on in Pakistan, and I don't want to just drive by the fact these were the highest-level talks between the Iranians and the Americans since Iran's revolution in 1979. So, again, unprecedented, but two American naval destroyers went through that international passageway in the Strait of Hormuz that's been used for decades that the Iranians have said is mined and is dangerous. That was an important show of force, and again, trying to build confidence for the shippers to use that passageway.

But this is going to take a long time. I dealt with this in the Red Sea, even when we had a military coalition to help open it up. It's very difficult for the confidence of the shippers and insurance companies to put those ships and those cargos through, but let's hope it works.

BERMAN: We will watch very closely, obviously, these next 24 hours, starting at 10 a.m. It will be fascinating to see if and when anyone blinks here. Brett McGurk, great to see you -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: Some of the more breaking news overnight. Democratic Congressman Eric Swalwell drops his bid for California governor over allegations of sexual misconduct, but could he now be expelled from Congress over this, and possibly this week? There's a lot percolating there. We'll get to it.

And Miami's skyline is now missing an iconic part of it, brought down in a matter of seconds.

[08:10:00]

President Trump lashes out at Pope Leo over his criticism of the war with Iran, and the Pontiff is responding this morning.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: This morning, will Eric Swalwell keep his job in Congress? That's the question after he dropped out of the California governor's race overnight. Four women accused him of sexual misconduct.

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One of those women says the congressman raped her. The Manhattan district attorney is now investigating her claims. Swalwell has denied all of the allegations.

This morning, Democrats are calling for him to resign. Some are, or face expulsion from the House. And this is setting off what could be a series of expulsions.

With us now, our friend Daniela Diaz, congressional reporter for NOTUS. Great to see you this morning. The focus now shifts really from California to Washington, where there's an enormous amount of political pressure taking place right now.

What do you see?

DANIELLA DIAZ, CONGRESSIONAL REPORTER, NOTUS: Look, Jon, it's really to the credit of all these publications, including CNN, who were able to break the news about the sexual misconduct allegations that had been swirling about Congressman Eric Swalwell now, for weeks. And because it broke on Friday, we've seen this onslaught of first, all of his Democratic colleagues calling for him to drop his gubernatorial bid. And now it seems they're going to support a measure to expel him from Congress.

To be clear, of course, is very serious. And Congressman Swalwell is standing by the fact that he is defending himself. He denies these allegations, and also is apologizing to his wife in these statements, maybe alleging that there could have been extramarital affairs.

But he does not accept that these allegations are true. And it sounds like he's going to stick by those -- by his defense. But Congress is back this week. They were gone for a two-week recess for Easter, John. And tomorrow, the House is back. And his Democratic colleagues, of course, including with Republican colleagues in the House, are going to move forward on a measure to expel him from Congress, something that's only happened, John, about six times before in the history of Congress.

The last member of Congress to be expelled being, of course, Congressman George Santos. How could we forget about him? But this is going to be major because on top of trying to expel Eric Swalwell, there could be also measures to expel Corey Mills, who's also faced allegations of sexual misconduct.

And, of course, Tony Gonzalez, who we've covered extensively in the Washington, D.C., media sphere for having an extramarital affair with a person who worked in his office, who then committed suicide. So this is going to be a very intense week on Capitol Hill as we see how the House members are going to react to this and how they're going to deal with Eric Swalwell, who is expected to be in Washington this week.

BERMAN: Yes, and some are even talking about a package deal, where as many as two Republicans, two Democrats are expelled, or one Democrat, one Republican expelled this week. Could be extraordinary goings-on.

It is worth noting, Swalwell's the only one of these individuals not to be investigated yet by the Ethics Committee. So it would be unusual, but Congress certainly has the power to do it if they want to, correct?

DIAZ: Correct. And I think something to keep in mind is the way the House usually plays these things out is they want these investigations to happen in the House Ethics Committee. We saw that Tony Gonzalez is being investigated. Corey Mills is being investigated.

So the way that this is playing out is they're willing to move forward with this without an investigation. I mean, I think the Democratic House members that I've spoken to read these allegations in CNN, in the San Francisco Chronicle.

NOTUS was able to speak to some of the women. I was able to speak to some of the women and confirm some of these allegations. And they're serious enough for them to move forward with this.

It's really a big deal, the fact that this congressman, who of course has served in Congress for 10 years, he was seen as a front runner in this gubernatorial bid, which really launched this avalanche of women coming forward, especially after swirls of allegations on social media, which I think helped a lot of women to feel confident to come forward. And this is what's leading to this moment right now where we could see several expulsions in the House -- John.

BERMAN: All right. This will be a fascinating week in Washington. Always great to speak with you. Danielle Diaz, thank you so much.

Tornadoes hail, strong thunderstorms threatening millions of Americans this week.

And the robots, they're racing now. A half marathon. Question is, how quickly did they finish, really?

[08:20:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BOLDUAN: This week, possibly another wild week of weather, severe thunderstorms, hail, high winds, tornadoes threatening millions of Americans. CNN's Derek Van Dam, tracking all of it for us. And he's joining us now.

What are you watching, Derek?

DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, good morning, Kate. We are focusing in on the Twin Cities and into the Great Lakes for the day today. But this is going to trigger off a multi-day severe weather setup that will impact some of the same locations for several days at a time.

So we need to be very weather aware, especially across the upper Midwest into the Great Lakes and then stretching towards the Plains and the mid-Mississippi River Valley. This is today's threat. You can see it highest across the northern portions of Minnesota and into Wisconsin.

Really not much active weather right now. This is the current radar. But I want to take it forward in time to show you and kind of time things out for us if you are located in and around Minneapolis.

This evening, roughly about 8 to 10 p.m., that's when we expect the thunderstorms to really fire up. And then they'll move across Lake Michigan into Michigan and then refire into the day tomorrow. So Chicago, Des Moines, that's where we have our greatest probability of severe weather for the day tomorrow.

Here's our chances. This is a level three of five. Very large hail, damaging winds, and a few tornadoes really highlighted across this location.

Just imagine a golf ball to baseball-sized hailstorm falling from the sky. Not only is that dangerous, but that could cause property damage to vehicles that are outdoors. Keep that in mind.

This is our greatest threat for hail today, as well as the potential of tornadoes that could reach EF2 status or greater. So we've got all these conditional instabilities in place. The other story that we have not really mentioned much lately, but need to keep in mind, is the heavy rain and the melting snowpack across northern Michigan into northern sections of Wisconsin.

[08:25:00]

We have the potential for some of these flood gauges to reach major flood status, already two of them, with several more potentially in the works here with another two to four inches of rain with these series of stronger storms that will move through across the Great Lakes region. Remember the snowpack is melting quickly with temperatures this past weekend in the 70s.

You add additional rain and to saturated ground and it doesn't take much to see the river spike into major flood zone. Here's just one example. This is the Menominee River in Wisconsin forecasted to crest just shy of 20 feet record levels at 20 feet so that'll put it in a major flood stage.

That is a concern that we will have to deal with as well as tornadoes -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: All right. Watching this very closely. Thank you so much Derek. I really appreciate it.

VAN DAM: You bet.

BOLDUAN: Coming up still for us oil prices spiking once again overnight as investors are bracing for another deadline for U.S. military to block Iran's ports in the Strait of Hormuz. And that is set to set in and begin in just well just about a couple hours from now.

And the president versus the Pope. Pope Leo is now responding and now saying he is not afraid of the Trump administration after President Trump lashes out at the Catholic leader.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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