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Trump Faces 60-Day War Powers Deadline On Iran Today; NYT: Purported Epstein Suicide Note Sealed, Locked In Courthouse; WSJ: Top AI Companies Agree To Pentagon Deals For Classified Work. Aired 7:30- 8a ET

Aired May 01, 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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[07:33:50]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Breaking overnight, already very high gas prices surged even higher. The national average jumped to $4.39 a gallon. That was up nine cents in one night. These are big chunks it's going up night-to-night. A 33-cent increase from just last week.

Some perspective here though. Gas prices -- they are absolutely high, but they were lower -- they are lower than they were four years ago during the beginning of the war in Ukraine.

With us now CNN's David Goldman who does such great word on -- work on this and you've got a great piece up on cnn.com.

And the reason I brought up Ukraine is because back then prices were higher. Now there are a lot of reasons to think gas prices and oil prices should be much higher than they are.

DAVID GOLDMAN, CNN BUSINESS SENIOR REPORTER: Yeah. I mean, let's be clear. They are high right now. Filling up a tank is about as fun as -- for you and me as watching the Celtics last night.

BERMAN: Not fun.

GOLDMAN: Not fun at all. So I think that, you know, it's important to just acknowledge that it is painful for many, many Americans to fill their tanks right now, as you've said.

But it was so much higher in 2022 when Russia went to war with Ukraine and took three million barrels of oil off the market. Now the Strait of Hormuz has taken 14 million barrels a day off the market.

And the other thing to keep in mind is that when Russia took those barrels off, they actually didn't, right? They had their shadow fleets and so there wasn't much of a change at all.

So why is it that gas prices and oil prices aren't nearly as high as they were? They were $5.00 in 2022. The oil hit $122 in 2022. We haven't really approached that yet. OK, so there's three things that are going on here.

The first thing is that there were eight billion barrels of oil sitting around the world before we went to war with Iran. That's a lot of oil. Now, not all of that is accessible but JPMorgan says that almost 600 million of them are. And so it has created a little bit of a buffer for us so that even though a lot of oil is locked in the Strait of Hormuz there is accessible oil. That's the first thing.

The other thing is that there are some parts of the world that have literally run out of oil, right -- Cambodia, Myanmar. Some parts of Asia can't get parts for plastics, right? And so they can't demand something that they literally don't have access to. That's kept a price cap as well.

BERMAN: And also, the president has had an affect here.

GOLDMAN: Yeah, absolutely. I mean, people believe Donald Trump when he says that we're going to get out of war. That's kept those prices down as well. And the oil market literally can't continue to keep prices higher. They're worried they'll be holding the bag at the end of this.

BERMAN: Yeah. I mean, he has successfully talked prices down or at least kept them moderate for some time. The question is how much longer can that last if the situation itself doesn't change?

David Goldman, a great report. People, check it out on cnn.com -- Kate.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Joining us right now to talk about this is Democratic Congressman James Walkinshaw of Virginia. Thanks for being here.

[07:35:00]

The president has said that gas prices are going to come down soon and in a very big way. But what does a nearly 10-cent jump in gas prices nationally overnight mean in your district as people wait for that to happen -- for prices to start coming down?

REP. JAMES WALKINSHAW (D-VA) (via Webex by Cisco): Yeah, and it's hitting Virginians hard and the gas prices are on top of grocery prices that are up. For farmers, diesel and fertilizer costs that are up. Home interest rates that are up in part due to the war in Iran. So all of that stacks up on top of people and, you know, they're hurting and they're struggling.

And that's why people want to see an end to this war and want to see President Trump do what he said he would do when he campaigned, which was bring down prices and costs. He's failed to do that.

BOLDUAN: Let's talk about where things stand today when it comes to this war. Today is an anticipated deadline if you will that Pakistan will receive Iran's revised peace proposal. But also hanging out there now is possibly an imminent new wave of U.S. strikes on Iran.

I want to play for you what Democratic Sen. Dick Blumenthal said just last night.

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SEN. RICHARD BLUMENTHAL (D-CT): I do have the impression from some of the briefings that I have received, as well as other sources, that an imminent military strike is very much on the table, which is deeply disturbing because it could well involve American sons and daughters in harm's way and potential massive casualties. I can't be more specific because I received at least one of these briefings; several of them in classified settings. But I'm not saying with any certainty as to when it would happen but very much on the table as a potential plan.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: If that's the case, do -- and the -- and the president starts back up with strikes on Iran, do you think it will then push Iran back to the negotiating table?

WALKINSHAW: Well, I think that's impossible to say. You know, in terms of the negotiations I think it's important to note we've been in the same position that we were in before President Trump launched the war negotiating around the same issues, right?

There are reports that there were negotiations around a five-year suspension of Iran's nuclear program or a 20-year suspension. This was the same conversation taking place before the war. The only difference is the Strait of Hormuz is closed, and gas prices are way up for hardworking Americans. So we haven't strengthened our negotiation position.

It's also important to say today is the 60-day deadline under the War Powers Act. That means starting today -- starting tomorrow the law is very clear. The president has 30 days to withdraw U.S. forces from hostilities. There isn't a pause because there's a ceasefire. That's not the way the law is written. So the law is very clear. The question is will Congress and our Republican colleagues in Congress actually hold the president to the law?

BOLDUAN: Well, I mean, but that is what we heard from Pete Hegseth yesterday obviously is that the ceasefire does put a pause on this clock on congressional approval.

If that is a legal argument they're making, what do you do about it?

WALKINSHAW: Well, Congress' ability to enforce the War Powers Act has always come down to funding. And Secretary Hegseth should read the War Powers Act. It doesn't say anything about ceasefires, pausing the 60- day clock or the 30-day clock. The clock starts when hostilities begin and that clock has been running for 60 days now.

So the question for us as a Congress, are we going to be serious about cutting off funding for a war that's unauthorized and illegal as the clock runs out here? Obviously, most Democrats like myself who have supported war powers resolution votes want to enforce the law. I certainly am not going to vote for funding to continue this war

that's unauthorized and more importantly, reckless and doing damage to the American economy. But I don't see today many Republicans willing to stand up for that.

BOLDUAN: Yeah. I believe a sixth vote in the Senate failed yet again.

Um, you sit on the House committee that has been investigating the Justice Department's handling of the Epstein files. We have now learned -- according to The New York Times there's new reporting out this morning in part that a suicide note purportedly written by Jeffrey Epstein in a Manhattan jail has been kept secret for nearly seven years, locked up in a New York courthouse.

And also this. "The note was eventually sealed by a federal judge as part of a different cellmate's own criminal case, according to documents and interviews. That means investigators scrutinizing Mr. Epstein's high-profile death lacked what could have been a key piece of evidence."

Was the committee aware of this?

[07:40:00]

WALKINSHAW: No, and it's a -- it's a shocking revelation and development and I think it highlights the haphazard way that the investigation into Epstein took place over many years. We know the FBI didn't interview key figures very close to Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. Clearly, there were documents that haven't been part of the investigation that should have.

On the Oversight committee we're going to be talking in the coming weeks to one of the prison guards, Tova Noel. I think this revelation is going to lead to us wanting to talk to more folks at the prison to get a better, much more clear understanding of exactly what evidence exists and what took place.

BOLDUAN: Hmm, interesting.

Congressman, thank you for your time. I appreciate it -- John.

BERMAN: Yeah, a little more detail on that New York Times report on this purported suicide note written by Jeffrey Epstein that the Times reports is in a New York courthouse.

The New York Times reports this stems from an incident weeks before his death. A cellmate says he discovered a note in July of 2019 after Epstein was found unresponsive with a strip of cloth around his neck. Now again, this was before Epstein ultimately died. Epstein survived this first incident with the cloth when the note was allegedly found, but it was weeks later that Epstein was found dead by suicide, authorities say.

A federal judge later sealed the note as part of that cellmate -- the cellmate who allegedly found it -- his criminal case. The Times is now petitioning the judge to unseal the note. The cellmate claimed the note said, "Time to say goodbye." So the cellmate says Epstein wrote "Time to say goodbye."

With us now CNN legal analyst and criminal defense attorney Joey Jackson. Counselor, great to see you.

Before we get to the contents of the note and what is might mean, why is it locked up in a courthouse? Like, why wasn't it released as part of the Epstein document dump?

JOEY JACKSON, CNN LEGAL ANALYST, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY, FORMER PROSECUTOR: Yeah. So even before that, John -- good morning to you -- I think it's important to discuss whether it's authentic or not, right?

BERMAN: I want to get to that but just tell me --

JACKSON: Absolutely.

BERMAN: Just tell me why it's locked up first.

JACKSON: So what happened is that it was under seal. And apparently judges have vast discretion with respect to whether they're putting something under seal, which means it's not in the public's view. It's not in the court records. If you go -- and right now we have a system in federal courts and state courts too where you can literally go into the docket and look at a variety of materials. Well, there are some materials that are sensitive that are not going to be in the docket because a judge, in that judge's discretion, will seal it. That's what they did here.

Remember, this involves Tartaglione. Who is he? He's a person who was convicted. He was Jeffrey Epstein's cellmate. And he ultimately was convicted for four -- yes, four -- quadruple murder. And as a result of that and them sharing a cell, he purportedly -- that is, Mr. Tartaglione found the note and reported it to his lawyers. He had about 18 of them, by the way, over the course of time. And they got involved -- the lawyers did -- with respect. Hey, what should we do with the note? How do we authenticate the note? Should we put the note under seal?

It became the subject of a lot of controversy. The attorneys argued it was attorney-client privilege incident to their communications and them seeking advice, and will Jeffrey Epstein claim that I actually -- Tartaglione, his cellmate -- killed him or tried to kill him? And so what do we do?

And so the judge ultimately said it's going to be away from public view. It's going to be in a vault in a federal courthouse, and it has remained there for all this time.

BERMAN: Basically, a judge has it under --

JACKSON: Yeah.

BERMAN: -- his purview right now involved in a separate case, which is why it was not part of the Epstein files per se. And the source here. This is from a cellmate charged with four murders

-- quadruple murder -- who said the note and is the only person that we know so far to tell us what was on it -- "Time to say goodbye." So the credibility of the source?

JACKSON: Yeah, John, I think that's important to talk about. And at the time he was being charged and now he's convicted and he's serving these four life sentences. And so you have to question, right, what we call the veracity. Is it something that we could credit -- the fact that he said it? That I found this note. It said, "Time to say goodbye." It had a smiley face. What am I going to do now? Burst out in tears? They found nothing, meaning indicating what was on that particular note.

And what ends up happening, John, in courts of law is that there's something called a chain of custody. If you want to admit anything into evidence -- we're not talking about an evidentiary proceeding here; we're talking about why it's not in the files and whether it's authentic -- it has to be authenticated.

And so was it a forgery? Was it not? They were roommates for two weeks. Did he learn his patterns, right? Was he planning -- that is, Tartaglione, his cellmate -- something nefarious against Epstein?

And so I think we have to really evaluate and question the note and its authenticity --

BERMAN: All right.

JACKSON: -- and where it got to.

BERMAN: Very quickly --

JACKSON: Yes.

BERMAN: -- what role might it play in the entire Epstein investigation and cases? What questions does it raise about Jeffrey Epstein?

JACKSON: So I think it goes to state of mind. Remember that if it's something that he penned, right, there are many conspiracy theories concerning his death. Is he really alive now, John? Is this -- was this all a ruse? You know, did -- how could you lose sight of such a prisoner? Did he take his own life? Did somebody else take his own life? Was he suicidal?

[07:45:07]

And so the note may indicate that he wanted -- that is, Mr. Epstein -- to take his life. Indications are, however, that he was telling psychologists that "I have every reason to live. I want to fight these charges. I'm entangled in my case."

So I think it goes to what was he thinking at the time and whether or not he actually is dead or maybe not. There are all these theories out there.

BERMAN: He's dead. I don't think there's any question. The question is whether or not it was a suicide. This may lend credence --

JACKSON: Yes.

BERMAN: -- if the note is real to it being a suicide.

Joey Jackson, good to see you this morning.

JACKSON: Thanks, John.

BERMAN: Thank you very much -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: So perhaps the third time is the charm for President Trump when it comes to his pick for surgeon general. Dr. Nicole Saphier is now being put up as Trump's -- as Trump has pulled the nomination of Casey Means, a longtime ally of HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. This now new -- this now new pick is a radiologist and longtime Fox News contributor.

But this also comes as some in the MAHA movement say -- the way they say it is they feel "disgusted and betrayed" by the Trump administration.

CNN's Meena Duerson reports.

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VANI HARI, "FOOD BABE" ACTIVIST: You cannot tell Americans to eat real food while protecting the cancer-causing chemicals sprayed on it. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are going to fight, fight, fight.

MEENA DUERSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So we're at the People vs. Poison rally in Washington, D.C. where a group of some of the biggest names in MAHA have gathered together to protest against big companies that they say are poisoning Americans with chemicals.

DUERSON (voiceover): A year and a half after the Make America Healthy Again movement helped propel Donald Trump to the presidency it's facing a big test.

HARI: Let's be honest. We would be here right now if President Trump didn't sign that executive order.

DUERSON (voiceover): MAHA's coalition of health and wellness influencers, vaccine skeptics, and environmentalists united under Robert F. Kennedy as a champion of their causes.

As an environmental lawyer, he'd help win a landmark settlement against the makers of the weedkiller Roundup, arguing its chemical, glyphosate, caused his client's cancer, a claim the company denied.

But this week the Trump administration supported the current manufacturer of Roundup there in a Supreme Court case over whether Americans can sue for alleged harms from chemical exposure. And in February, Trump signed an executive order protecting glyphosate as "crucial to the national security and defense."

DUERSON: How did you feel when you saw that executive order?

ZEN HONEYCUTT, FOUNDER, MOMS ACROSS AMERICA: I was disgusted. I was literally sick to my stomach.

DUERSON: A lot of the speakers here are people who were very active in helping RFK Jr. campaign for President Trump. There's a lot of conversation here about whether those promises are actually being followed through on.

What is your sense of the movement?

ALEX CLARK, HOST, "CULTURE APOTHECARY" PODCAST: I'm seeing we are on the brink of falling apart. I'm like in red rover right now, OK? I am diehard conservative and I've got this group of MAHA moms, and I'm trying to keep us together.

HONEYCUTT: There were millions of Democratic and Independent moms, in particular, that voted Republican because they believed Trump that he was going to do something about pesticides in the food.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: MAHA is feeling betrayed and completely dissatisfied with what the administration has done.

DUERSON (voiceover): The momentum of the MAHA movement has given many of its leading voices unprecedented access to a presidential administration.

ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR., SECRETARY, HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES: In just 15 months, HHS has delivered historic wins.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The American people --

DUERSON (voiceover): And they're not ready to give up that proximity to power even as the pesticide issue threatens to overshadow their other gains.

HONEYCUTT: I don't regret any of the boost or, you know, the power that is -- has been had because there's a lot of amazing things that have been done.

DUERSON: How could they do this to us at the same time as listening to what's so important to so many women and moms like you?

HARI: I don't think they understood what they did. They kicked the hornet's nest and now I think they're starting to realize it.

DUERSON (voiceover): As the midterms loom this fall the pressure to please MAHA voters is on.

CLARK: A lot of these moms held their nose and voted for Trump in 2024 and they're not sure that they're willing to vote red in the midterms again. It's very important for the -- for the GOP to recognize that MAHA voters are not loyal to a certain political party. MAHA voters are a coalition that's up for grabs.

HARI: It makes us actually -- women with children, especially -- sit at home instead of going to the ballot.

ALEXANDRA MUNOZ, PH.D., TOXICOLOGIST: MAHA is looking for any representatives that are willing to stand up against corporations and put their foot down.

DUERSON (voiceover): And Democrats are recognizing there's power in embracing MAHA messaging.

SEN. CORY BOOKER (D-NJ): This has got to be a movement that grows. Does not divide but multiplies.

REP. CHELLIE PINGREE (D-ME): Well, I spend a lot of time telling my Democratic colleagues I know this issue isn't on the top of your list but pay attention to it.

DUERSON: Is this an opportunity --

PINGREE: Absolutely.

DUERSON: -- to try and get some of those voters back?

PINGREE: Absolutely.

ROSIE HOFFMAN, INDEPENDENT VOTER: If anybody is supporting the things that I align with in the health and wellness space, then they probably have my vote.

[07:50:00]

CLARK: This is do or die. This is sink or swim. This is the Titanic is going down. Hundreds of thousands of free votes that fell out of thin air in 2024 have vanished.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BOLDUAN: Thank you so much for that.

There's also breaking news coming in. Reports that the Pentagon is announcing big, new agreements with leading AI companies. What his reporting is and what it means now.

And the path to Mt. Everest is now reopened after being shut down for two weeks. We've got details on what it took.

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BERMAN: All right, breaking news. Just a short time ago The Wall Street Journal reported that the Defense Department has come to an agreement with several top tech companies to use their artificial intelligence in classified settings. It comes after Axios reported on a meeting between the Army and some of those companies.

Sam Sabin, of Axios, broke that first story and she joins me now. Sam, it's great to see you.

Can you explain maybe to our viewers who are seeing this breaking news -- the Pentagon has agreed to use some AI in classified settings why that's news and why that's important?

[07:55:00]

SAM SABIN, CYBERSECURITY REPORTER, AXIOS (via Webex by Cisco): Yeah. So I think for those who are blessed to not be thinking about this day in and day out this maybe is shocking. It seems like the Pentagon is signing a deal with literally every major AI company that it can find to use their tools and classified networks.

But this has been part of maybe a monthslong, since February, back- and-forth with the Pentagon. And it started with Anthropic, which is the maker of Claude AI where there was a huge fight between the Pentagon and Anthropic about how to use Claude in classified networks. Anthropic didn't want their tools used for things like mass surveillance. The Pentagon was concerned about an AI company setting terms on how it can be used when they have laws and authorities that dictate how they can even use certain technologies to begin with.

And it's been an ongoing back-and-forth. The White House is involved. Like, every department agency, et cetera has been involved in this -- the brouhaha that's been going on since February.

And at the same time, for weeks we've seen other AI companies -- think OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT or Google, which has Gemini -- making side deals with the Pentagon as well.

BERMAN: And so you reported on this meeting with these tech -- you know, AI companies and the Pentagon. Meeting about what exactly? Was it a discussion or was it an ask for the Pentagon?

SABIN: Yeah. So the meeting that happened earlier this week was with the U.S. Army, specifically the U.S. Army Cyber Command, and then their other organization, Cyber Command, which is happening -- which has -- within the Pentagon.

What they did on Monday was maybe unrelated to this but kind of underscores how quickly the Pentagon is moving into deploying AI technologies. They met on Monday with about 12 or so companies. Think the companies I just named --OpenAI, Google, Palo Alto Networks, a major cybersecurity company, and others -- to kind of run through how they can be using agentic AI to protect their systems, right?

The Army is concerned about adversaries maybe trying to target their critical systems and shut them down and make them unusable if they're in battle or going through an operation. Or maybe, you know, think China, Russia, et cetera, and other foreign adversaries just see an opportunity to target the Army and its -- and its capabilities.

And so there was a tabletop exercise Monday. They had this meeting. It had been in the works for months already and the Army was eager to learn more and had all these CEOs and top security leaders there to tap through it. And then, of course, what, four days later we are now chatting through this major Pentagon deal that is across the entire enterprise of the U.S. military and beyond.

BERMAN: Things are moving so, so quickly. Sam Sabin, thank you for trying -- you know, helping try to keep up

with it all. Appreciate it -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: So a man was saved from a house fire in Upstate New York -- and some of it's on video -- thanks to his quick thinking neighbors. You can see video showing them fighting against smoke to break down a wooden fence. When they finally get it down you can see then there are people who then dragged the man away from the house to safety. One person was killed in this fire. Several others were injured, including two firefighters. That fire is now under investigation.

The path to the top of the world is back open. A key section of the route up Mt. Everest had been blocked for two weeks by a 100-foot high column of ice. Finally, a group of mountaineers have been able to clear the way once again.

Peak climbing season typically runs from April to May when weather conditions are best. And with the path now clear there is a new concern that they're dealing with -- the delayed start for so many climbers. There is concern that it could lead to overcrowding on the dangerous climb and they definitely do not want the repeat of the scenes we saw back in 2019 when climbers were just stuck in these long lines to reach the top.

Some 425 climbers have permits to summit the world's highest mountain this year.

And gird your loins. Yes, that is what we should always say on a Friday before this show, but it also applies when it's a movie quote. "The Devil Wears Prada 2" hits theaters today.

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Clip from 20th Century Studios "The Devil Wears Prada 2."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Uh, no, no. It's never too much to have Chanel in a newsroom, I must say.

Anyway, just in time for the premiere, Emily Blunt and Stanley Tucci -- they received their stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Robert Downey Jr., Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Matt Damon, Meryl Streep all there to help honor them.

Fun fact: Stanley Tucci, Emily Blunt -- they're brother and sister-in- law. Tucci married Blunt's sister a few years after meeting her at the first "Devil Wears Prada" premiere.

And in true "Devil Wears Prada" style it is not just about the film; it is about the accessories.