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Hegseth Testifies on Capitol Hill for First Time Since Iran War Began; Hegseth Spars With Democrats Over Purpose of Iran War; Comey Makes Brief Federal Court Appearance After New Indictment; Simone Biles Weighing Return to the Mat for Fourth Summer Olympics; U.S. To Issue New Passports With Trump's Picture Inside; Tornadoes, Hail, Flooding Slam States in the Midwest and South. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired April 29, 2026 - 13:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:34:12]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": Back now to the Breaking News. Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Dan Caine, facing Congress today for the first time since the beginning of the Iran War. A short time ago, Secretary Hegseth was asked point-blank how he thought the war was going. Here's the exchange.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. SETH MOULTON, (D-MA): How is this war going? Do you think we're winning?

PETE HEGSETH, UNITED STATES SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: Militarily, on the battlefield, it's been an astounding military success.

MOULTON: No. But are we winning the war?

HEGSETH: Absolutely.

MOULTON: OK, so do you call Iran closing the Strait of Hormuz winning?

HEGSETH: Well, I would say the blockade that we hold that doesn't allow anything to come in or out of Iranian ports is always in our portfolio to use.

(CROSSTALK)

MOULTON: OK. So we've blockaded their blockade, so they blockaded us, and then we blockaded their blockade. That's like saying, tag, you're it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[13:35:00]

KEILAR: Many Democrats have been taking issue with the ballooning costs of this war as well. The Pentagon says it has spent $25 billion so far. The New York Times has reported Iranian attacks have made many of the military bases that the U.S. occupies in the region uninhabitable.

Experts also tell CNN the war has significantly depleted U.S. missile stockpiles, has created a near-term risk of running out of ammunition if a future conflict were to arise. All of that on top of the 13 service members killed and hundreds injured since the war began.

We're joined now by CNN Military Analyst, retired Air Force Colonel, Cedric Layton.

Cedric, talk to us first just about your reaction to this price tag. I mean, I know $1 billion doesn't buy what it used to, but $25 billion is a lot of money. We don't have an end in sight here. Put this into context for us.

COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Yeah, Brianna, you're right. $1 billion doesn't buy as much as it used to, but $25 billion is a lot of money still. And when you look at the types of weapon systems that have been expended, some of our most capable systems, some of the things that we need, you know, for missile defense purposes, the Patriot system, the Tomahawks for offensive purposes.

So what you're looking at here are some really high-priced weapon systems that are going after, in some cases, some fairly low-priced targets, such as Iran's drones. Some of the Shahed drones, for example, it cost around $30,000 each. And when you send a $3 million missile against a $30,000 drone, there's clearly a cost imbalance there.

So basically, what we're dealing with is a war that is being fought using very expensive weapon systems that were built for one kind of war. And we're fighting a different kind of war using cheaper, asymmetric, in some cases, capabilities.

And that means that there's a huge cost imbalance. And if we're not going to modernize in the sense of the asymmetric capabilities, we're going to be caught paying a very large bill that we otherwise wouldn't be paying, if we were really agile and modernizing our forces in a way that would allow those weapon systems to basically be as cost effective as the offensive weapon systems that the Iranians are using.

KEILAR: So when we look at that price tag, most of it is munitions, we heard that. And CNN reported just last week, the military has significantly depleted its stockpile of key missiles during the war with Iran, at least 45 percent of precision strike missiles, at least half of the THAAD missiles, about half of Patriot air defense interceptor missiles.

What is replacing those munitions look like long term?

LEIGHTON: So what you're looking at, Brianna, is a -- basically, have to reinvigorate the defense industrial base. And when you produce, like in the case of the Patriots, about 60 or so missiles per year, there is no way that you can keep up with the kind of expenditure, missile expenditure that we've had in that particular category.

And similar categories are like the TLAM missiles, the Tomahawk missiles, some of the other missiles that that we use, like the missiles that are used on the F-16s and F-35s. Those kinds of missile systems are perhaps more abundant to the ones that are used on aircraft, but they are still missile systems that need to be replenished. And that's the kind of thing where the defense industrial base argument that we don't have a good defense industrial base or that it is not keeping up with the demands of this kind of warfare, that comes into play here, Brianna, and that is, I think, a really, really serious issue.

In some ways, the Pentagon is trying to address that, but it's basically a systemic failure over the course of many years and in some cases, decades of not really anticipating the kind of warfare that we'd be facing in this particular situation.

KEILAR: Hegseth really lashed out at lawmakers who have had critical questions and concerns about this war. He criticized the, as he put it, defeatist -- I think he called the defeatist words, but he used that word defeatist -- of Democrats and some Republicans. Can you talk a little bit about, especially considering Congress isn't part of this decision-making, can you talk a little bit about just how the role is supposed to be when it comes to congressional oversight and questioning about a war, you know, during a time of war, but also with the consideration of these previous long-term conflicts that we've had here?

LEIGHTON: Yeah, so Brianna, the role of Congress is to make, you know, not only the job of the secretary, in some cases, a bit uncomfortable, but it is also the role of Congress to oversee our expenditures and to provide for those expenditures.

[13:40:00]

So what we're looking at here is, you know, the secretary of defense who is criticizing Congress for exercising its oversight responsibilities. They are constitutionally mandated responsibilities that Congress has. I was a congressional liaison officer when I was on the air staff in the Pentagon, and sometimes you get some really tough questions. And those tough questions are designed not necessarily for political grandstanding, but to ensure that we're doing the right thing.

So when you look at how Congress does the -- you know, conducts its operations and conducts its oversight, in many cases, it's the opposition party, the opposition party to the administration that is actually asking the tough questions, but not always.

And in this particular situation, you have some Republicans who are asking some tough questions, but they're questions not only about budgetary issues, but also about the overall strategy. Because if you don't have a good strategy, you can't really invest wisely. And that's the kind of thing that we're seeing here.

And the secretary of defense is, you know, just at least a bit sensitive to the criticisms that he's getting from some members of Congress. And that's something that is, I think, difficult for him to overcome on a personal basis. But it's also a situation where what you're looking at is really Congress trying to exercise its responsibility and be sensitive to the wartime issues that we're facing right now.

Did Congress make some mistakes in its oversight of the defense industrial base and the way we produce our weapon systems? Probably. But there's a lot of blame to go around. But it's better to solve these problems as opposed to casting blame on each other.

And that's something that, of course, doesn't always happen in Washington.

KEILAR: Very true. Colonel Leighton, thanks for being with us. We appreciate it.

And James Comey making his first court appearance after surrendering to law enforcement. So what should we expect from the second indictment of the former FBI director? We'll have that next.

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[13:46:40]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": Today, former FBI Director, James Comey appearing in federal court on charges of threatening President Trump's life after Comey shared and then deleted a photo of seashells reading "86 47" in May of last year.

KEILAR: Comey appeared before the same judge who oversaw his first prosecution. That attempt ending with the case being dismissed, but not before the judge essentially ripped it apart and accused DOJ of potentially violating Comey's rights.

CNN Senior White House Reporter, Kevin Liptak is with us now on this story. Kevin, Comey is just one figure on a growing list of Trump critics that this DOJ has come after. But I guess, he's been the recipient of this twice now.

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yeah, and I think that just speaks to President Trump's own interest in seeing him prosecuted. He's talked about that publicly. And when you talk about this growing list, we've also seen this retribution campaign accelerating just in the 26 days since President Trump fired Pam Bondi as Attorney General, in part because he didn't think she was effective enough in getting these prosecutions over the finish line.

We've seen the Acting Attorney General, Todd Blanche spearhead some of this, and I think it's clear he doesn't want to meet the same fate. And I thought it was interesting just listening to Todd Blanche speaking on CBS this morning. He said that this had not come at President Trump's direction. He said, of course not, positively not, saying that this case had been investigated for a year.

But at the same time, I think it's clear that President Trump does have an interest in this. You know, he's talked privately about wanting to see Comey behind bars, about wanting to see Comey undertake a perp walk even. So he has suggested all of this and it's clear that the president has an interest in it.

And it's clear as well that the Justice Department knows that. You know, this is the second time they've tried to prosecute him. The first case, which was about allegedly lying to Congress, collapsed because a judge found that the prosecutor hadn't been legally appointed.

But when you think about all of the individuals that the Justice Department has gone after, whether it's Letitia James or Comey or John Bolton, it's important to note none of them have been convicted. In a lot of ways, the process is the punishment. You know, the legal fees, the reputational damage, putting them through the ringer of the legal system.

SANCHEZ: Notably, Kevin, a number of other Trump allies, people in Trump's orbit have used that language of 86, including Matt Gaetz, his one-time nominee to be Attorney General. He used 86 in reference to former lawmakers. Why does the White House believe that Comey's use is different?

LIPTAK: Well, they haven't commented specifically on what exactly the discrepancy is here. And I do think when this case makes its way through the legal system, clearly this term '86', it was going to come up in question. You know, anyone who has ever worked in a restaurant will know it means to get rid of. Restaurants I've worked in, it also meant things were out of stock.

Clearly, it has been a term that has been used by people in the political sphere over the last several years to mean getting rid of someone, getting rid of someone in office. That's exactly the way that Matt Gaetz was talking about it in his own tweet. It was interesting that yesterday, listening to the Republican Senator, Thom Tillis, obviously not an ally of President Trump, talk about this term and what it means.

Listen to what he said.

[13:50:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. THOM TILLIS, (R-NC): I searched to the end of the internet last night, I can't find one example where the number 86 had anything to do with any violent threat. So hopefully, there's more to it than just the picture in the sand. Otherwise, I just think it's another example where we're going to regret this because we're setting a fairly low bar.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIPTAK: So it is, in his words, a low bar of what exactly this term 86 means. And so, it will be interesting just to see how that process plays out in the legal system over the coming weeks and months. SANCHEZ: Yeah, we'll see. Kevin Liptak, live for us at the White House, thank you so much.

Tornadoes, hail and flooding, leaving a trail of destruction in the Midwest and South, and the threat not yet over. We're going to look at where that storm is heading, next.

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[13:55:47]

KEILAR: One of the most decorated Olympians in U.S. history says she could be ready to run it back. Gymnastics legend, Simone Biles says she'll be at the Summer Games in Los Angeles in two years in some capacity. But whether it's on -- in the stands or up there on the mat, that is still up in the air. She spoke with CNN's Amanda Davies about her plans.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SIMONE BILES, 11-TIME OLYMPIC MEDALIST: I feel like we're still out of 50/50. I mean, we're still on a time crunch here now. It's almost half of 2026. So we're going to have to make these decisions pretty quickly. So --

AMANDA DAVIES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: What will it depend on? What are the considerations?

BILES: I think mental health plays a big role in it because, again, physically, my coaches will get me in shape. I can get myself in shape. We believe in that ability. We're really thankful that I'm still healthy. But mental is a huge thing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: So if Biles does compete, it would be her fourth Olympics. Boris?

SANCHEZ: Now to some of the other headlines we're watching this hour, singer Michael Buble says his sultry voice can lead to baby booms in cities after his shows. In an interview with the BBC for an upcoming six-state U.K. and Ireland tour, he likened his performances to an aphrodisiac. Buble himself says he's had to slow down touring after having his own four children.

Also, the son of an Indian billionaire is coming to the rescue of the so-called cocaine hippos in Colombia. The animals are all descendants of hippos originally brought to the country by infamous drug lord, Pablo Escobar. Their population exploded and they now are a threat to local wildlife.

So the Colombian government recently announced plans to cull 80 of them. But billionaire heir, Anant Ambani is now offering to move the hippos to his own wildlife sanctuary in India. The sanctuary says it will follow all necessary regulations to save them if the Colombian government approves of the move. And your next passport could soon have more than your face in it. In honor of the nation's 250th anniversary, the State Department for a limited time is going to be issuing these passports featuring President Trump's picture and signature. Officials say the specially designed passports are going to be the default passport out of the Washington agency for people renewing their passport in person.

Still unclear, though, how many exactly are going to be issued. Brianna?

KEILAR: Neighborhoods in Texas and Oklahoma leveled after tornadoes ripped through both states. Several people were injured in the sixth straight day of severe weather that has been terrorizing the Midwest and the South.

Let's go to Meteorologist, Derek Van Dam, on this. Derek, what are you tracking today?

DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: So now we're up to a week, right? There are severe storms that are developing, but in a much diminished state compared to what we've experienced over the past several days. I would just want to recap what portions of Arkansas experience.

Here's one of the tornadoes that dropped from the sky, but also the other aspects of the severe weather that's rolled through is the flooding and the giant hail. There was four-and-a-half inch hailstones that fell from the sky. That's equivalent to a grapefruit.

That'll cause some damage, and it most certainly did. So did this supposed tornado. This is Mineral Wells, Texas. We're just west of the Fort Worth region. National Weather Service officials are on the ground actively, right now, trying to survey the damage and determine just how powerful and how strong this wind actually was and give it a rating in terms of the tornado.

But we've had over 175 reports of severe weather. You can see many of them located across the central and southern plains and the southern Tennessee Valley. Now, here's today's severe weather threat, the mid- Atlantic. We have a marginal risk. So does much of the Gulf Coast states.

But notice that there was an update with the Storm Prediction Center earlier this morning. They have now a slight risk that's a Level 2 of five across portions of Texas into southern Mississippi and into central Louisiana.

That's in fact where we have a severe thunderstorm watch as inclusive of Shreveport, but it excludes the Dallas-Fort Worth region. You can see why, the majority of the storms forming east of Dallas. Look at the border of Arkansas and Louisiana. That's where we have the severe weather now. It looks like we have a new severe thunderstorm warning for Jackson, Mississippi.

So this is the line of storms that are kind of taking advantage of this last gasp of our seven-day stretch of severe weather. So yeah, there's plenty of moisture and dynamics to work with, but as it moves eastward, it'll kind of peter out. And then we can all take a collective sigh of relief because the severe weather taps are going to shut off for the days ahead.

Hey, this is good news too, Brianna. --