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Iran Threatens Red Sea Shipping If U.S. Blockade Continues; Jury Finds Live Nation And Ticketmaster Operated As Monopoly; Rep. Katherine Clark (D-MA) On Congress Grappling With Accountability Amid Swalwell Scandal. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired April 16, 2026 - 07:30   ET

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

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[07:30:25]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Some of the breaking news coming in overnight, Russia has launched one of its largest drone attacks of the year on Ukraine. At least 16 people have been reported killed, including a child. The Ukrainian Air Force says that this included nearly 660 drones and more than 40 missiles in the past 24 hours.

And body camera footage from Ukrainian police in Kyiv captured an apparent double-tap by Russia. At least three explosions heard.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

Bodycam footage showing explosions in Kyiv.

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BOLDUAN: So this barrage of strikes was not just targeting Kyiv but also other key cities throughout the country. In Odessa, one of them, officials say, a music school's dormitory was among the targets or at least among what was hit in these strikes.

We're going to keep a close eye on this one.

Let's also keep a close eye on oil prices now trading under $100 a barrel. They are still much higher though, as we've been tracking, compared to pre-war levels speaking with the war in Iran. And take a look at gas prices. The national average -- as you're seeing today it fell by a bit, two cents overnight to $4.09 a gallon.

And then there is this new addition to the chat from the Treasury secretary.

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SCOTT BESSENT, TREASURY SECRETARY: I'm optimistic that during the summer we will see gas with a three in front of it sooner rather than later. So I've been meeting with a lot of my Middle Eastern counterparts -- the finance ministers -- and they all say that once the straits are open, they can start pumping again within one week.

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BOLDUAN: But what about the backlog?

Anyway, David Goldman is here with much more on this. How realistic is that projection do you think?

DAVID GOLDMAN, CNN SENIOR BUSINESS REPORTER; First of all, glad you got the memo. And then secondly, I think that it's one of the lamest predictions of all time if he means that we're going to see gasoline with a three in front of it. That could mean $3.99, right? And I live in New Jersey. I am already paying $3.89 for gas at the local gas station.

BOLDUAN: So you're calling out Captain Obvious here?

GOLDMAN: Well, right. I mean, it's so -- the question is does he mean $3.00 like what we were paying at the --

BOLDUAN: Right.

GOLDMAN: -- beginning of the war? And if that's the case that's a really bold prediction --

BOLDUAN: OK.

GOLDMAN: -- for a few reasons.

First of all, there is some history that we can look at. In 2022, when gas prices were much higher than they are now and oil prices were much higher than they are right now, President Biden called out this exact situation. And if you see, oil prices fell $20.00 in a single week, but gas prices stayed exactly the same and that continued for quite some time.

And so we know that gas prices don't follow oil prices down as fast as they follow them up. So that's thing one.

The second thing is that oil probably needs to be around $60 historically to make $3.00 gas. That's not going to happen, according to the oil market, until 2031. So --

BOLDUAN: OK.

GOLDMAN: -- we have a little bit of time before we're actually going to get back there.

Now all of this could change and his prediction could be right. I've called a lot of oil analysts. Most optimistic was yeah, he's right if the Strait of Hormuz opens up tomorrow. That's a big if.

So we'll see how close we get to that but again, either the best prediction -- boldest prediction of all time or something that is already happening.

BOLDUAN: Yeah. I -- it's not going to open tomorrow. I'm happy to be wrong about it. But even if it opens you still have to convince shippers to believe it.

GOLDMAN: And you need to get all of those facilities back online. He said that they could come back online very quickly.

BOLDUAN: Didn't a facility in Qatar say it's going to take five years to rebuild?

GOLDMAN: Yeah, exactly. So that's a gas facility --

BOLDUAN: Yeah.

GOLDMAN: -- but there are others that have been blown to smithereens. Those have to take -- they have to literally rebuild their infrastructure.

We're not going to be back to where we were for quite some time is I think the baseline prediction.

BOLDUAN: I mean, and the head of the Port of Los Angeles just -- and he's not just talking about, like, shipments of oil and gas coming in. He said it's going to take -- if it would open up soon it's going to take four months to get through the backlog of what hasn't -- what's been out there.

GOLDMAN: It needs to get there.

BOLDUAN: Yeah.

GOLDMAN: That's exactly right.

BOLDUAN: All right, so lots of reality checking needed. Thank you very much.

GOLDMAN: Yes.

[07:35:00]

BOLDUAN: I never want to be told that I am -- I'm making the lamest predictions of all time.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: No, no. You make, you know --

BOLDUAN: I'm not looking for backup here.

BERMAN: No, no -- your predictions aren't lame at all. They're really not.

BOLDUAN: You're so kind. Would you like to take it, J.B.?

BERMAN: Yeah, I'll take it now.

BOLDUAN: OK.

BERMAN: It's a pretty lame toss.

All right, let's talk about the Strait of Hormuz where all of the focus is because of these oil prices.

With us now is former U.S. Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro. Secretary, thank you so much for being with us.

By all accounts there has not been much of any traffic through the Strait of Hormuz the last few days. The United States insists the blockade is working. We'll hear from the Secretary of Defense very shortly. I'm sure he will say it is working.

How difficult and how long can the United States keep this up, if they want to, as a key pressure point to force Iran to negotiate?

CARLOS DEL TORO, FORMER U.S. SECRETARY OF THE NAVY: Well, thank you for having me this morning, John.

And it is a difficult challenge for our navy and I'm, of course, very proud of all our service members in the Middle East who are performing their missions very admirably. But as we know, naval blockades can be difficult to execute.

This is about a 100-mile channel. Of course, at its narrowest point it's about six miles wide with two-mile transit channels going in either direction -- a two-mile buffer. It is obviously easy to control at its most narrowest point.

But we're also conducting a naval blockade or a naval quarantine on about 10 to 11 other ports along the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman as well, too -- five strategic ports. Just yesterday there were two. Several ships that were actually stopped from exiting Iranian ports.

And so it is a difficult challenge, and it gets more difficult as time goes by as well, even with all the forces that we have in place.

BERMAN: Yeah, it's interesting what you're saying, Secretary, because this is the Strait of Hormuz. People can see right here this is the stretch where the shipping lane is only two miles long. This is the Persian Gulf or the Arabian Gulf, depending on how you say it. This is where so much of the focus has been.

But a lot of the work being done in the blockade is down here in the Gulf of Oman in this region here, and then out into the open sea. So you can see the level of U.S. forces that it would take -- that it does take to continue this. Although by all accounts, at least right now, it is going well.

I do want to focus on a -- on a threat that the Iranians make regularly. There's been an Iranian who says OK, if you continue to close the Strait of Hormuz, the U.S., we're going to look down here. We're going to look at red -- the Red Sea -- the Bab-el-Mandeb strait down here where the Saudis and others have been using to get oil out there.

How real is the threat of Iran to somehow close this strait?

TORO: Well, you're absolutely right, John, it is a real threat. And, of course, Iran's greatest leverage over the current situation actually is the global economy and the negative impact that it will have on the global economy. So if they actually get their proxies in Yemen, the Houthis, to continue attacks in the Sea of Aden and through the straits of Bab-el-Mandeb, that creates additional pressure on the global economy as well, too, that will create even more difficulty for the negotiations that are going on.

And remember, we actually fought the Houthis for two years from about September of 2023 to October of 2025. The cost of that conflict alone was about $12 billion -- $6 billion per year. And, of course, we're seeing the cost of the current conflict be more around $2 billion per month now. So this is a significant impact on our economy. It's a significant impact on the global economy.

BERMAN: Talking about the Houthis, they operate right here on the coast -- on the coast of Yemen here -- and in theory could disrupt shipping, although they have been relatively quiet for the six weeks or so of this war.

How much faith do you have in these negotiations right now? It does seem that the administration is optimistic that Iran wants to get back to the table. What do you think could come of it in the next few days?

TORO: Well, first and foremost, I think everyone hopes that the negotiations will actually maintain a ceasefire, whether it's just another week or beyond, and perhaps that ceasefire should be extended as discussions continue in both Tehran and in Washington, and around other places around the world as well, but it's to be determined.

I mean, we'll hear from the Secretary of Defense today and we'll hear from the president I'm sure in the next few days with regards to how those negotiations go. It requires compromise on both parts with regards to the status of nuclear fission material as well as control of the straits themselves.

BERMAN: Secretary, I was unaware of this until you pointed it out to our team, but today I think is an important anniversary. It's what, 50 years since the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis admitted women to its ranks.

TORO: That's right. And as we actually praise all our service members serving all around the world, I remind everyone that it's now been 50 years since Annapolis and all the service academies opened up to the service of women. Since then we've have close to 7,500 women -- warriors -- graduate from the United States Naval Academy and making great contributions to our navy and to our nation. And they deserve to be respected, and they deserve to be praised as they continue to serve our nation's national security and economic security needs all around the globe, so thank you for highlighting that.

[07:40:00]

BERMAN: Former U.S. -- no, no. It's a very interesting day. The class of '81 admitted now, I guess, in the spring of '76.

Former U.S. Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro, great to speak with you this morning. Thank you very much -- Kate. BOLDUAN: So a jury just dealt a pretty major blow to a giant, Live

Nation, finding the company operated as a monopoly -- an illegal monopoly, and was overcharging consumers for concerts and live events.

What this verdict also seems to be doing is setting the stage for a possible breakup of the largest U.S. concert promoter and ticket- seller. The more than two dozen state attorneys general who pushed this case -- they would like to see that breakup happen or at least make Live Nation sell off some of their businesses.

CNN's Kara Scannell is tracking this one for us and she's here with us now. And I have, like, multiple questions. Like, what really is the jury saying went down here? What happens now and what does it mean for concert ticket prices?

KARA SCANNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right. I mean, I think the question for all of us is will we see concert ticket prices drop or the fees that are added on to those prices, and that question can't be answered right now.

But this verdict by the jury finding that Live Nation and Ticketmaster had violated state and federal laws by anticompetitive behavior is significant. It is being called historic. I mean, one lawyer I talked to said this is an earthquake in the industry because this colossus has been dominating the whole journey from buying your tickets, to the artist tours, to the promotions, to the venues.

BOLDUAN: It really shaped the industry.

SCANNELL: Really.

BOLDUAN: Yeah.

SCANNELL: Since they've been in -- since they merged in 2010.

So this was really significant -- this verdict by the jury across the board finding on 33 questions that the states prevailed here. So that is stage one though.

The next stage is going to be the remedy stage and that is where there will be a second trial before the same judge who heard all the evidence and testimony and he will decide what structural changes might be needed to encourage competition because --

BOLDUAN: But it's a whole trial? A whole second trial?

SCANNELL: It's a whole second trial before the judge. It will be focused on, you know, the structural remedies. What can be done to enhance competition because that's ultimately what it's about. Whether that's going to be behavioral changes by the company and how they operate or if it will go as far as to require them to sell off some of these businesses that they own. You know, it is -- that is going to be the next stage.

Depending on what those are, that is when maybe down the road -- maybe for Taylor Swift's next tour we'll see ticket prices come down. But Live Nation says that, as they put it, "The jury's verdict is not

the last word on this matter." They have several motions of legal issues pending before a judge. They said if those lose any of those they are definitely going to appeal. So they are going to fight this and continue to fight this now and into the next stage.

BOLDUAN: It's really a fascinating moment.

Kara, thank you so much. I really appreciate it -- John.

BERMAN: And this morning the attorney for the man whose wife went missing nearly two weeks ago in the Bahamas says he has returned to the United States. That's after insisting he would stay in the Bahamas to help with the recovery mission. Lynette Hooker's husband Brian was released from police custody Monday after being held as a suspect in her disappearance.

CNN's Dianne Gallagher here now with new reporting. What are you learning, Dianne?

DIANNE GALLAGHER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, that's right, John, released Monday night, without charges, from police custody. On Tuesday he kind of did that series of interviews with several media outlets where he said his focus was the fact that he believed his wife Lynette could still be alive and he was committed to searching for her. But by Wednesday he was on a plane headed back to the United States.

Now, Brian Hooker's attorney tells CNN that he has left the Bahamas and it's because he is going to be with his mother who is sick. NBC was first to report his departure. Hooker's attorney told them that police had been informed of his departure from the country and that he does plan though to come back to the Bahamas to continue the search for Lynette. She said that he received urgent word that his mother was in grave condition.

Now this is what he said to NBC though on Tuesday when asked about continuing to search for his wife.

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BRIAN HOOKER, HUSBAND OF MISSING WOMAN: I want people to know that Lynette is my life, and we have been together half -- almost half my life and we belong to each other. I don't think I've ever been apart from her in 25 years for this long. She wouldn't stop and I'm not going to stop.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GALLAGHER: Now, Brian Hooker spent five days in police custody being questioned. Again, he's never been charged with anything. And his attorney said the majority of the questions focused on their relationship and they were never presented any kind of evidence that had been collected.

[07:45:00] He originally told police that Lynette bounced off an eight-foot, hard-bottomed dinghy that the couple was traveling to their yacht on, on Saturday night around 7:30 p.m. April 4. He said she hit the kill switch, so the dinghy lost power, and he paddled and drifted about a couple -- a few miles to Marsh Harbour where she was reported missing after 4:00 a.m. on Easter Sunday.

Lynette's daughter has traveled to the Bahamas. She said that she hopes to continue the search for her mother.

The U.S. Coast Guard, John, does have an active criminal investigation.

BERMAN: Yeah, a new chapter and a new location for Brian Hooker -- interesting.

All right, Dianne Gallagher. Thank you very much.

All right, the chunk of ice that fell from the sky and crashed right into a living room. Where on Earth or beyond did it come from? An investigation is now underway.

And the new Val Kilmer film that he never acted in. The first look at the trailer starring the AI version of the late actor.

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Clip from First Line Films "As Deep as the Grave."

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[07:50:05]

BOLDUAN: This morning a new twist in the fallout over Eric Swalwell, the now former congressman, and the sexual misconduct allegations that he is facing.

Republican Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna has now posted online calling out Republicans in the Senate, posting that the Senate "has its own trash to take out" and is urging the Senate majority leader John Thune, the way she put it, "to look into the allegations against one of your senators." She did not specify who she is referring to.

Thune was asked about it and said that he would refer any information that he received to "the proper people."

So let's talk about this. Joining us right now is Democratic Congresswoman Katherine Clark of Massachusetts. She's the number two Democrat in the House. Thank you for being here.

That statement from Congresswoman Luna -- do you know -- do you know what she's referring to or who she's referring to?

REP. KATHERINE CLARK (D-MA): I do not. I don't know who she is referring to but I do know this. This has been a week here in the House where we have faced extremely serious allegations against two sitting members of Congress here in the House. They have now both resigned.

But we have work to do to make sure that every staff member -- everyone who works in the Capitol, who works for Congress feels safe. Feels they have the resources to be able to report and that report will be kept confidential through the investigation phase, and that the investigation will be done as quickly as possible. And that is what we are going to do to make sure that we do not have these incidents here in the people's house.

BOLDUAN: And let me ask you about this because I was just referring to what she's talking about is happening within the Republican Party. In the aftermath of Eric Swalwell, I want to play for you what the White House press secretary said yesterday.

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KAROLINE LEAVITT, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: I think it's also quite plausible, as you point out, Jack, that there were many other Democrats in this town on Capitol Hill who knew about his perhaps illegal behavior. Certainly, his disgusting and inappropriate behavior. And why were they silent for so long?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: How do you answer that?

CLARK: You know, I will tell you that first, it's pretty rich coming from the White House to be talking about knowing about sexual abuse and assault and not acting on it. But putting that aside, I can tell you that I take my responsibility as the top ranking woman in Congress very seriously that we address these.

I personally did not even hear a rumor about Eric Swalwell or Tony Gonzales until the allegations came out.

But we have a duty to act, and we have a duty and a standard that should be of the highest because we represent people. We are public servants and we have to make sure that we are not just meeting the law but that we are doing that honorably and they -- and that we do it and create a workplace that is secure.

BOLDUAN: Let me --

CLARK: And that is going to be my job in the reforms that we are going to undertake to ensure it.

BOLDUAN: Let me ask you about that because some of the conversation and reporting about Swalwell is that it wasn't a shock to many.

Politico put it this way. "Swalwell had developed a reputation for unsavory and sometimes unwanted behavior towards women. Those warnings were shared in whisper networks but rarely traveled outside the circle of political insiders." Alex Thompson of Axios was just on our show yesterday talking to John and let me play what he said.

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ALEX THOMPSON, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST, NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT, AXIOS: For Democrats to act like they never heard, you know, of these rumors before just strings credulity. If they'd really wanted to look in to it, they probably could have, and they didn't.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: And I know you say this is of high importance and you are the highest ranking woman in Congress. Does it concern you that this wasn't brought to your attention? That this whisper network, if it was, didn't reach you if it had been happening.

CLARK: It deeply concerns me because if this was well known, especially among staff members, we have to make sure that every single person who works in this building, who works for Congress, works anywhere in our government knows how to report and that when they do it will be taken seriously, their confidentiality will be protected, and that the investigation will move along quickly to a result. That is what they are owed.

[07:55:00]

And so if there was a huge whisper campaign we have to make sure that whisper campaign -- why didn't I ever hear of this? We have to make sure we have a system that enables people if these incidents happen to them to report it and know they will be taken seriously and that their jobs will be protected while an investigation goes forward. There clearly is a system here where people don't feel they have that security, and that's what we have to address.

BOLDUAN: Yeah.

Quickly, very much changing gears I want to ask you about Iran because I've seen some really interesting reporting in Axios. The way Axios put it is "Israel's relationship with Democrats on Capitol Hill is rapidly deteriorating, with a growing number of lawmakers saying they no longer -- they can no longer support U.S. funding for even the country's defensive weaponry."

And this is coming for after the -- in the Senate. Forty of 47 Democratic senators voted against supplying bulldozers to the IDF.

Ro Khanna said -- who has supported Iron Dome funding in the past, and you have as well. Ro Khanna said, "I've never seen public opinion change as fast on any issue, including gay marriage, as it has on the U.S.-Israel relationship."

Are you seeing that shift? Are you shifting?

CLARK: I can tell you that what I am hearing -- and today we are taking up once again a war powers resolution vote. And this is tied both to the actions of the U.S., which are our foremost concern, but that this war is being waged also with Israel. And what we still don't have is any sort of strategy and end goals.

And this is the time for my Republican colleagues to join us today because we need to know while we are in a ceasefire before any troops are put on the ground what is the end game? We went into this war --

BOLDUAN: But should the funding for Israel be held up as part of what you're saying?

CLARK: Well, let me -- let me finish here.

When we went into this war the only person who apparently got a chance to have an explanation was the prime minister of Israel. And we need that explanation to everyone so we can make a determination of what not only are our -- how we are going to fund this war, which is being borne by American people at the gas pump; it is also how are we going to continue to fund Israel who is our ally? Nobody is disputing that. But this war has put all of these questions into the forefront.

BOLDUAN: Congresswoman Katherine Clark. Thank you very much for coming in -- John.

BERMAN: This morning the new trailer for a new Val Kilmer film has been released and he died last year from cancer. He is not actually in the movie but an AI version of him is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

Clip from First Line Films "As Deep as the Grave."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: An AI version of a much younger Val Kilmer.

This is an historical drama -- "As Deep as the Grave" it is called. The director and producer of the film told us they worked with Kilmer's family to figure out a way to honor his legacy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN VORHEES, PRODUCER, "AS DEEP AS THE GRAVE": Is this somehow bringing him back -- the man that he was -- and we want to be clear that it's not. That's impossible to do. He's a movie star that we all loved, and he was so much more than that, too -- a very complicated, nuanced man.

But just like when you're working with an actor on a movie set and you're co-creating a character, we're doing something similar, you know, and using this new technology, and we're doing it in a way that we believe is going to be faithful to what we might have been able to do had we had the blessing to work together.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: I think a lot of people might see it just to tell how real, how accurate the depiction is. We'll have to wait and see more than these three seconds. The movie does not yet have an official release date -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: Great point, though. Everyone's going to want to see how realistic it really is.

Roblox, that wildly popular online game, especially among kids, has now reached a settlement with the state of Nevada over claims it failed to protect young users. As part of the settlement the company will pay $10 million to support children's programming in the state as well as make changes to the platform, like age verification for all users and restrictions on content.

Regulators around the world have pushed tech companies to do more to protect kids. Europe is taking a new step by rolling out a new age verification app in an effort to better protect young people here.

CNN's Clare Duffy has a look into what that really means. So what is Europe doing with this app?

CLARE DUFFY, CNN BUSINESS TECH REPORTER: Yeah, this is a huge move to create a more practical centralized solution for platforms across the internet to verify users' ages with this one app. This, of course, comes, as you said, amid this global push to better protect young people online.

And in particular, we're seeing after Australia rolled out a ban on under-16-year-olds accessing social media, a number of other countries looking to follow suit.