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Interview with Rep. Mike Haridopolos (R-FL): House Passes Resolution to Limit Trump's War Powers; Chinese Spies Using Online Job Platforms to Recruit; Flesh-Eating Screwworm Detected in Texas Calf. Aired 2:30-3p ET

Aired June 04, 2026 - 14:30   ET

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

[14:30:00]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Right now, a resolution to limit President Trump's war powers in Iran is in the hands of the Senate. On Wednesday, four House Republicans defied the president and joined Democrats to pass a measure aimed at forcing him to end the war unless he gets congressional authorization to continue it.

Not long after the vote, President Trump lashed out. He called it meaningless while describing the four Republicans as, quote, grandstanders.

We're joined now by Republican Congressman Mike Haridopolos of Florida. Thank you so much for being with us to talk about this. Great to see you.

Enough of your Republican colleagues joined Democrats to pass this rebuke of the Iran war last night. You did not. Why?

REP. MIKE HARIDOPOLOS (R-FL): Well because this is a war that we're wanting to win. And as you know, since 1979, not only killed thousands of Americans, they put all of the Middle East in jeopardy. They have potentially have a nuclear bomb.

And now they have the ability to actually fire a ballistic missile 2,500 miles away.

[14:35:00]

And so we're going to do everything we can to finally take them off the map as far as politically because after all, their neighbors, every one of their neighbors are siding with the United States. We need to keep the pressure on Iran so they finally give up their idea of a building a nuclear weapon, which could literally terrorize the world. And of course, if nothing else, leverage the world and extort so many people around the world.

We think the president should have the leeway to try to finally execute what we need to do, which is finally push it where Iran is no longer this threat, which has been since 1979.

KEILAR: I hear you saying that you're -- because you're trying to win the war. But when I look at the four Republicans who joined Democrats, I see a lot of Republicans who have experience trying to win a war. I mean, maybe Thomas Massie isn't a surprise here.

But when you look at the other three, Warren Davidson, former Army Ranger, I believe, right? Tom Barrett, 22 years in the Army, Iraq war veteran. Brian Fitzpatrick served in the FBI, but he was embedded with Green Berets in Iraq.

These are important voices. I think if you're talking about war and whether you should keep going with it and what you're actually achieving. Have you given thought as to why those folks would vote for a resolution to end this war?

HARIDOPOLOS: Look, everyone has their opinion and I respect their opinion. I have a different opinion. The person I trust in this is President Trump and I trust Marco Rubio.

He's been a 25 year friend of mine. He knows all the intricate details of what we're doing right now. The recommendation from the White House, you know, all the details.

They want to continue to keep the pressure on Iran as long as possible because I know look, we're all hurting with gas prices. We all recognize this, but what we have to do is finally eliminate this threat in Iran. I mean, just think of these people.

They killed more than 60,000 of their own people. This is an evil regime. We need to finally put it in the dustbin of history.

KEILAR: Everyone. I'm sorry. Yes, grab a water there. Everyone has an opinion, but those ones are particularly informed, right? They really are. When you're looking at those Republicans who voted.

HARIDOPOLOS: Those are four Republicans, but there are also many more Republicans who are very similar backgrounds who voted with us. Again, we want to give the ability to win this conflict. If we're going to pay higher gas prices and go through all of this, we want to finally defeat this really crazy regime who are killing their own people and have threatened their neighbors and are the literally the funders of terrorism around the world.

KEILAR: Yes, no doubt, they are the funders of terrorism around the world. Former CIA director, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, just told us on the program that this war is very much turning into Trump's Vietnam. He hasn't said something like that to us before, but we're starting to hear more informed experts and many of whom have not served, you know, in past Democratic administrations who are very concerned that this is getting into quagmire territory. Does that give you any pause about not taking the chance to weigh in as Congress when it comes to this war and where it's going?

HARIDOPOLOS: OK, I respect each of these people's opinions. Everyone has an opinion on these matters. But what I do know is that we all know how long Vietnam took, let alone, of course, the situation in Afghanistan, et cetera.

This is a serious situation, but also, we have not lost the lives like we did in many parts of the world. And we believe that by continuing on this push, we know the Iranians, as usual, are playing the delaying game, but we need to win. It's essential for the future of not just the United States and the Middle East, but the world.

Again, you can imagine what the Iranians could do, which they were doing after June of last year when we bombed them. They're building up their conventional forces so they can protect that nuclear site, so they can have a nuclear weapon. They're obviously absolutely committed to getting a nuclear weapon.

And that changed the entire world dynamics. --

KEILAR: This war --

HARIDOPOLOS: And I'm not going to sit here and allow that to happen.

KEILAR: OK, but this war has also taught them a couple of very important things, that their drones are what they need and they're very cheap compared to American weapons, that the strait is incredibly effective. They're shutting down the global economy. And this is part of the reason you mentioned gas prices.

This is part of the reason why this is so unpopular. I mean, we're looking at the economic projections if this thing continues on. So knowing, I mean, what is your takeaway?

Because that isn't just a vote that happened in a vacuum. This is unpopular and it is trending more unpopular. So what do you say to Americans out there who say, what is happening?

This isn't winding down. I am paying the price and I don't see an end here.

HARIDOPOLOS: Well, it's like I'll give a history lesson because, you know, I'm a history teacher. 2013 oil prices were higher. 2022 oil prices were higher.

This is a real winnable situation for the first time since 1979 to finally take out these crazy people in Iran. And what we're trying to do is win the conflict. And I'm challenged like you are that no one likes the higher prices, but this is something we -- the president is willing to --

KEILAR: Why is this a winnable situation?

HARIDOPOLOS: Let me just say this. The president recognized the risk here. He knew that it would be politically unpopular for a period of time, but he believed the risk to the world --

[14:40:00]

KEILAR: He didn't know the strait would shut down so quickly.

HARIDOPOLOS: Well, remember, first of all, about a hundred ships have gone through the straits recently as we have gained more and more control over the straits.

KEILAR: Nowhere near what is supposed to. The global economy is essentially shut down.

HARIDOPOLOS: But again, if we go with your plan, it sounds like it's your plan.

KEILAR: It's not my plan.

HARIDOPOLOS: Well, you're pushing for it. So that's being said, there are about 12 --

KEILAR: I'm telling you what Americans are saying. This is unpopular. You have now Republicans who have experience in wars that have lasted a very long time --

HARIDOPOLOS: Can I -- you want me to answer or you want to answer?

KEILAR: You can, but you just told me what I was saying, and I'm telling you, please don't put words in my mouth. So please continue on with what you wanted to say.

HARIDOPOLOS: Well, I'm saying this is one of probably 12 different straits around the world. So if we send the message to the different terrorist groups around the world that you get a few drones and you get the straits under control in your mind, that could be one of 12 places. It's not just the only that Strait of Hormuz that's a threat.

They're 12 different locations. We're trying to say to all the neighbors of Iran who now hate Iran because of all the deadly things they're doing and attacking civilians. They're not just attacking military sites.

They're attacking -- they're shooting at hotels in some places. We need to take on this regime and finally annihilate them. And the point is, we are trying to win because --

KEILAR: Why is it winnable? You said it's winnable. Why is it winnable?

HARIDOPOLOS: It is winnable because if we finally say -- if the Iranians -- if we can force them in such a situation, which their economy is hurting a heck of a lot more than ours.

KEILAR: Their threshold for pain is also way higher than ours though.

HARIDOPOLOS: Again, because they're an absolute autocratic machine. They'll kill their own people. That just shows how crazy they are.

And I want to use that word out of reason. They are crazy. And it's really hard to negotiate with crazy.

And so what we're trying to do is push it where they're no longer that threat. And it's going to be very difficult. But if we don't do this, they're going to continue what they've done since 1979, which is terrorize that region and can continue to play games with people's lives.

And I think the president -- I know he's taking a lot of political flak for it as you're pushing on me today.

KEILAR: And I hear you about that but why?

HARIDOPOLOS: Why do I think winnable?

KEILAR: Why is it winnable?

HARIDOPOLOS: We have the best military in the world. And we have absolute control over the air at this point. We're continuing to deflect their drones as they come through as best we can. But this is a tough situation. We didn't pretend it's not.

But the president is absolutely committed to trying to save the world from this crazy regime from having even more influence long term.

KEILAR: It does seem the military is meeting all of their objectives at this point, from what we can tell. We need to be clear about that. And yet still, here we are.

So we'll continue to follow the story because it's just very unclear at this point how this ends. Congressman, I really appreciate the conversation. Thank you so much.

HARIDOPOLOS: Always a pleasure, Brianna. Good to see you.

KEILAR: Good to see you.

So up next, the U.S. and its allies are issuing an urgent warning. Beijing finding new ways to recruit spies for China. Online job sites stay with us.

[14:45:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: The U.S. and its partners in the Five Eyes Alliance are accusing Chinese spies of using online job platforms and networking sites to recruit people. The alliance releasing a new bulletin claiming that China's military intelligence is aggressively targeting those in government, the military or anyone who could access classified information. Journalists were also said to be at risk. Beijing has repeatedly denied such espionage claims.

Let's discuss with Phil Mudd. He's a former CIA counterterrorism official and a former FBI senior intelligence advisor. Phil, thanks so much for being with us. What do you make of this warning and the tactics being used?

PHIL MUDD, FORMER CIA COUNTERTERRORISM OFFICIAL: This is the oldest tactic, one of the oldest tactics in the business, just using LinkedIn, Boris. Let me take you back a day. You could use a want ad back 30 years ago and in the want ad, you might say something like, look -- and you would do this in the D.C. area, for example, if you're the Chinese, the Russians, et cetera, looking for a retired physicist, maybe who works from the Pentagon because you want somebody on contract. That's an operation in a want ad to see if you can call through a bunch of resumes that respond to find somebody who might have contacts who are still in the DoD. Now it's simply taking the old issue of trying to recruit people by want ads and using the much easier method of LinkedIn. You're looking for people saying, willing to work who have Pentagon on their resume. They might say they have an active security clearance on their resume.

And of course, when you approach them, you never say you're Chinese. You say you're working for some vague contracting company and that you're going to pay them $100,000 a year for their expertise.

The tactic, Boris, is different. But this way of approaching people is as old as want ads.

SANCHEZ: So make the leap for me. How do you get from this want ad/LinkedIn effort to obtaining secret information?

MUDD: So let's say you get a thousand resumes and two of them might be promising. That is two people, for example, who might have retired within the past 12 months. You find out that maybe they're interested in a financial arrangement.

You find out that they have access to information you're interested in. You, again, do not tell them that you're working for the Chinese. You might say something like, we want to contract you to do some research or to help us in some research in this area.

That area is not going to be top secret. You're going to step in to see if they participate, to see if they want -- let's just say the first $10,000 and then you're going to step them down a path through the course of months and maybe even years to see if they'll reveal more and more secret information to the Acme Intelligence Company, a company that appears to have no connections with China but is obviously funded by China. That's how I do it.

SANCHEZ: So the president just got back from China a couple of weeks ago and on his way home, the New York Times, David Sanger, asked Trump if he's spoken with Xi about the cyber attacks that he's carried out in the U.S. Trump said that he did and that Xi talked about the attacks that the U.S. did in China. They do -- we do that, too. We spy like hell on them, the president said.

Is that appropriate messaging from the White House? How do you think the White House should respond to these efforts by Beijing?

[14:50:00]

MUDD: Let me just side with the president on this. It's a rare moment. The messaging -- I wouldn't include that messaging in a public statement to the American people.

But behind the spies, spies spy. I have real concern is not that China is using cyber to spy on us. The real concern is if you go into conflict situation, will China use that capability, for example, to shut down an electrical system? That's something you should be concerned about, but that's an act of war. That's not an act of spying. You can talk to Xi about cyber attacks, but they're going to do it. We're going to do it. And that's what's been going on since the beginning of time. Spies spy and now it's cyber wars. That's how you do it.

SANCHEZ: Phil, before we go, I wanted to get your thoughts about the appointment of Bill Pulte as acting director of national intelligence, someone with no known experience in Intel taking over a role that by law demands extensive intelligence experience.

MUDD: Couple thoughts. I'm not sure the Congress, by what they've indicated already in the past day or two, is going to is going to support him. But I'd be thinking about two things.

I wouldn't worry about the position. I wouldn't say this if I were on the inside. That is not a significant position.

One of the biggest mistakes of Congress was making the DNI. I think people in the Intel world, if they spoke to you honestly, would say the director of national intelligence doesn't do much. Here's what I watch.

And this is why I think his appointment or potential appointment is significant. Messaging. He will have a megaphone and that megaphone to talk about things like election fraud or cases against former Intel advisers like John Brennan, the former CIA director.

The megaphone he has is significant. And the fact that he's been basically a spokesperson for the president is significant. The position, Boris, I don't think is that significant, despite the title.

SANCHEZ: So much. Thanks so much for sharing your expertise.

MUDD: Thanks.

SANCHEZ: Of course. Still ahead, the case of the flesh eating worm known as the New World Screw Worm, it's been confirmed in a calf in Texas for the first time in decades. Why this is a major threat to food production in the U.S. When we come back.

[14:55:14]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: A California man is now facing a federal charge after officials say he tried to bring an explosive device through a TSA checkpoint at the Sacramento Airport.

Officials also found this collection of items, a knife, torch, zip ties. They searched this carry on bag and found this last week. Investigators say the bomb had the potential to damage a plane and cause it to lose cabin pressure.

Months before his arrest, officials believe the man called the FBI tip line multiple times, claiming that he was being threatened and intimidated.

Now to the story we've been waiting all afternoon for a case of flesh eating New World Screw Worm has been detected in a calf in South Texas. The Agriculture Department says it's the first time this parasitic fly has been found in the U.S. in decades.

KEILAR: Yes, this is not a health threat in your food, but it is a threat to the cattle, herd and beef production. And if this screw worm spreads, it could lead to even higher beef prices already at record highs. The USDA has activated teams in Texas.

We have CNN health reporter Jacqueline Howard joining us now on this. I mean, this thing is sort of the stuff of nightmares, Jacqueline. And it's also just so scary what it can do to this the herd right here.

This is a parasite that was declared eradicated decades ago. How concerned should people be about this?

JACQUELINE HOWARD, CNN HEALTH REPORTER: That's right, Brianna. For humans, we really shouldn't be that concerned because the risk to the general public is very low. But like you said, Brianna, for the herds, for cattle, for livestock, that's where the real risk is.

And people who work directly with livestock, they are at more risk than the general public. And outside of livestock, there's also risks for wildlife and for pets. So that's important to keep in mind as well.

And the way that this spreads, it doesn't spread from animal to animal in the same way that you might think a contagious disease may spread. What happens here, the new world screwworm flies, they can lay eggs in open wounds on an animal's body or even on a human body.

And when those eggs hatch, the larvae then feed on tissue and can cause extensive damage, infections. And this can be deadly in some cases. So when we think about this spreading, what we're talking about is really the new world screwworm fly population.

And when we see more flies, then we see more of a risk -- Boris and Brianna.

SANCHEZ: Jacqueline what are officials doing now to respond?

HOWARD: Outside of -- they've already established a 12 mile infested zone around the detected case in Texas. And they've set up quarantines, movement controls and surveillance.

There are also screwworm detection dogs at the U.S. Mexico border that can sniff out these parasitic flies. But outside of all of that, Boris and Brianna, there are also efforts to release sterile new world screwworm flies to, again, control the reproduction of that fly population. And here's USDA Secretary Brooke Rawlins speaking about that in a house hearing earlier today.

Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BROOKE ROLLINS, AGRICULTURE SECRETARY: We have expedited a targeted release of sterile flies in the affected area to prevent the pests from reproducing and are increasing trapping for new world screwworm flies along the border. We are ramping up surveillance and also management in our wildlife. In short, we are using every tool at our disposal to eliminate this threat to our livestock producers and to our national security.

And we will actively keep you updated.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOWARD: So Boris and Brianna, as those efforts continue specifically to target the flies themselves, we are expecting to hear more updates in the days to come.

END