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U.S.-Iran Peace Talks Failed To Negotiate Peace Deal; Trump Ally Viktor Orban Concedes Defeat In Hungary Election; U.S. Navy To Begin "Blockading" Ships From Strait Of Hormuz; 100 Days For NYC Mayor; Sexual Misconduct Claims Against Swalwell; Trump Golf Courses; Masters In Georgia. Aired 4-5p ET

Aired April 12, 2026 - 16:00   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, we're going to be blockading. It'll take a little while but it'll be effective pretty soon. And we had meetings yesterday, as you said, lasted 21 hours. That was a long meeting with some very, very good representatives, as you know, J.D. and Steve and Jared. So we were well-represented, but we didn't get there on the important issue. They want to have nuclear weapons. They're not going to have nuclear weapons.

MARIA BARTIROMO, FOX NEWS HOST: So, Mr. President, was that the red line there? Can you explain to us what went on in these talks? What did the United States ask of Iran and how did they react?

TRUMP: Well, they reacted, you know, it was very interesting. It started off weak. They were -- they came in like they had the cards, but they don't have the cards. Their army, their whole military is obliterated. The whole place is obliterated. And, you know, as you know, levels of leaders are gone. They're literally gone. Khamenei is gone. The whole thing is gone. The whole place is gone.

They have one thing that they can do. They can say, well, gee, we're going to put a mine someplace in the -- just the mine. We'll drop one mine, two mines, 10 mines, and that will, if you have a ship that costs $1 billion, you say, well, you know, I'd prefer not getting whacked by a mine, losing my ship or damaging it badly at least. And so that's a little bit of a thing that they can do. And its military might and military power don't do it. But you know, it's extortion. And they're extorting the world.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: All right. We have reporters spread out covering every angle. CNN's Julia Benbrook is in Florida traveling with the president. CNN's Nic Robertson is in Pakistan, where talks between the U.S. and Iran wrapped up earlier.

Julia, you first, what else is the president saying today?

JULIA BENBROOK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: President Donald Trump, he's here in Florida. In fact, he attended the UFC fights last night while his negotiating team was in Islamabad for these talks. That group was led by Vice President J.D. Vance, special envoy Steve Witkoff, and Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner. Now, Vance, he came out and he said that an agreement to end the conflict had not been reached. He said that this was the best and final offer from the United States, but seemed to leave open the door to suggest that Iran could still say yes to the U.S. conditions.

We're hearing from Trump multiple times today. He has posted. He also spoke with FOX News in depth about what he thought about what was going on with these talks. Now, he did say he had been updated throughout that process. They lasted for more than 21 hours in total. Now, Trump did say that he got a lot of what he wanted. He did think that this went well, but there was only one thing that mattered and that is dismantling Iran's nuclear program.

I want to pull up one of those posts from this morning where he said, quote, "I could go into great detail and talk about much that has been gotten. There is only one thing that matters. Iran is unwilling to give up its nuclear ambitions. In many ways, the points that were agreed to are better than us continuing our military operations to conclusion. But all of those points don't matter compared to allowing nuclear power to be in the hands of such volatile, difficult, unpredictable people."

Now, Trump has said that he believes the Iranians are going to come back to the table. In the meantime, though, he continues to ramp up his threats, repeating a threat that he could target energy infrastructure, saying that he could take out Iran in just one day. In that interview with FOX News that I mentioned, he was pressed on some of the rhetoric that he has used, specifically the comments that he made shortly before the ceasefire was announced that he could take out an entire civilization if he wanted to.

He defended those comments, saying that is what got the Iranians to come to the table. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: That statement got them to the bargaining table and they haven't left. They haven't left the bargaining table. I predict they come back and they give us everything we want. And I told my people, I want everything. I don't want 90 percent. I don't want 95 percent. I told them I want everything.

BARTIROMO: Well, and what they want --

TRUMP: They have no cards. Maria. Maria. Maria.

BARTIROMO: Yes.

TRUMP: They have no cards.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BENBROOK: And it is interesting to just compare the different comments that he's made because right before we found out that the talks were not successful, he did say that it didn't really matter if they were successful. He believed that the United States had already won militarily -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Julia Benbrook in Florida, thank you so much.

Let's go now to CNN's Nic Robertson in Islamabad.

So, Nic, what is the view from Iranians on these talks with the U.S. and whether they plan to have another one or two?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Well, it does seem at the moment that the Iranians have gone away somewhat shocked that they didn't at least move forward.

[16:05:04]

And these were absolute marathon sessions. The highest level meeting between U.S. officials and Iranian -- top Iranian officials since before the Iranian revolution. So you're talking about almost 50 years. They were meeting trilaterally. And this is, you know, that's the negotiators, the Iranian side, the U.S. side, all in the same room in a way that they haven't been meeting in previous sort of efforts at negotiating, you know, negotiating an offramp to all the tensions.

Of course, then you had the war. Trust is at a real deficit. And I think there was a real anticipation, particularly here in Pakistan, who, you know, put a lot of effort in to try to be the mediators, try to be the negotiators, try to get everyone on the same page, try to get some kind of common idea and understanding of what the text could be and where the points of agreement would be.

And I think there was a real element of surprise and shock here in the early hours of this morning, or just, you know, spending the whole night talking. So it was the early hours of this morning. I have to check myself on that now. It was a huge marathon session. Yes. It does catch up with you after a while, I have to admit, and I'm sure it does for the negotiators. But there was that -- there was that sense of shock in the room.

But, you know, where the Iranians are on this, what we've heard from their sort of main interlocutor, the speaker of the parliament there, Mohammed Bakri Ghalibaf, he is saying that, look, this is a moment where we made a lot of concessions. We made a lot of points. And really, this is a moment where the U.S. needs to trust Iran. But what we've heard and we heard when I asked that question of the vice president last night at the press conference early hours of this morning, it came down to the core issue of the nuclear issue.

The enrichment facilities, the enriched uranium itself, the centrifuges, all of these things, Iran didn't move far enough for the United States on that. So that's a big area of mistrust. So I think in a way you would have anticipated that the talks would have built a bit of trust. But I think they've broken trust down. And of course, in an environment where there's a potential for the war to kick up again, that's a dangerous environment.

I think the other part of the picture here is on one of the reasons for the surprise and shock, particularly here in Pakistan, was because they thought if the United States, if J.D. Vance stays at the talks table longer, a couple of days, all this is deliverable. There was a lot to do, I think the Iranian side felt and the Pakistan side in the middle, a lot to do in 24 hours, which was basically what it was given, that if they stayed a couple of days longer, this really could have been hammered out. So that's part of the shock and the lack of trust that now exists.

WHITFIELD: Yes. All right. Nic Robertson in Pakistan, hopefully you get a little rest. I know you've been going 24/7. Thank you so much.

All right. Joining me right now to talk about these developments is retired Army Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt. He's a former assistant secretary for political and military affairs under President George W. Bush.

General, great to see you.

BRIG. GEN. MARK KIMMITT (RET.), U.S. ARMY: Great to see you, Fred.

WHITFIELD: So let's talk first about this minesweeping. The president says it's underway. In your view, is it necessary? Will it be fruitful?

KIMMITT: Well, it absolutely is necessary. The last thing we want is for a ship to hit a mine. Those mines are designed to blast huge holes inside, and they'll obviously sink if they're hit by mines.

WHITFIELD: And do you think that is indeed an obstacle right now?

KIMMITT: Oh, certainly. There's no doubt that the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, when they, when they dropped those mines, they knew what they were doing. So we've got a pretty good platform for mine countermeasures. Not as good as we used to have, but hopefully we have enough underwater drones that can detect them so they can be removed.

WHITFIELD: And then the other thing that the president marked today is that this blockade would be underway. No one would be able to enter or exit the Strait of Hormuz. How does that work?

KIMMITT: Well, the funny thing about it is, he could allow ships to go through the territorial waters of the Strait of Hormuz. Those territorial waters of Oman. They're not international waters. They belong to Oman. 12-mile limit is what I think it is. And then if the Iranians attack, they effectively are conducting an act of war against Oman, not simply trying to block the Straits of Hormuz. So I think he's using a few different tactics to try to convince the Iranians to come back to the negotiating table.

[16:10:07]

But let's be clear, if the Iranians are not able to fill those tankers from Kharg Island, they're going to be losing out an awful lot of money. So it's part of an economic sanctions program.

WHITFIELD: So is it conceivable that right now Oman is a, you know, cooperating -- I guess cooperating in assisting the U.S. in which to carry out a blockade that would involve those waters?

KIMMITT: Well, I don't know if they're assisting, but it is certainly the case that they are not interfering or making public announcements saying that our territorial waters can't be used.

WHITFIELD: Well, in your view right now, you know, the president is, he's tossing out a lot of things and it's unclear what allies in the region might be assisting here or even, you know, potentially what European allies might be willing to commit to do.

I mean, do you see things as a standstill right now, or do you see the president as he's kind of boasting that, you know, Iran has no cards right now, but the Strait of Hormuz is closed? The president is intimating that he has the cards. What do you believe?

KIMMITT: Well, first of all, on the issue of the Strait of Hormuz, I think that the allies are the right ones to help us out or to do it in their entirety. They are not a party to the conflict. And as a result, the Iranians would have to decide if they wanted to attack other nations and commit acts of war against the European and potentially the Chinese. But I think it's important to understand there is some through line that is going on here.

President Trump first used negotiations prior to February 28th. Those didn't work. So he said, if we're not going to negotiate at the table, we're going to negotiate on the battlefield. There's been a significant amount of damage done to the Iranian military, but it hasn't translated into strategic success. So he said, OK, well, let's try the -- during a ceasefire, let's try negotiations. It failed. So we tried diplomacy, we've tried military actions, and now he's tightening the noose with economic actions.

WHITFIELD: A few weeks ago, you wrote a piece in "The National Interest" magazine about how you believe Iran is fighting a war of exhaustion. Help us understand what you mean.

KIMMITT: Well, I think the important thing to understand as I said earlier that you can knock out all the missile launchers, all the drone sites, all the navy assets that Iran has, but those military actions are not going to necessarily lead to strategic success. Just as in Vietnam, body counts were used as a metric for success. And of course, that turned out to be a fallacy.

The Iranians are not fighting a conventional war like Germany fighting France. And when France runs out of stuff, they surrender. They are fighting a resistance model. And a resistance model says you win by not losing, and you have patience because eventually the Americans and their allies will lose patience and they'll wear out and leave. So it doesn't work out well for the people of that country.

It doesn't work out well for the government, but as long as they are like Hezbollah has done for years and years believing that they win by not losing, and if they are killed, they're martyrs, and if they stay alive they're fighters. So I just think that we need to be thinking about how to fight more of a war of resistance rather than a war of attrition and annihilation. WHITFIELD: All right. General Mark Kimmitt, great having you. Thank

you so much.

KIMMITT: Sure, Fred. Thank you.

WHITFIELD: Still to come, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani marks a milestone today. How he celebrated being in office for 100 days now, and what challenges may lay ahead. Plus, growing calls today for California Congressman Eric Swalwell to drop out of his state's gubernatorial race amid sexual misconduct allegations.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Eric Swalwell needs to resign. He needs to drop out of the race.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:19:18]

WHITFIELD: All right, this breaking news out of Hungary. Viktor Orban, the country's right-wing prime minister for the last 16 years, has conceded defeat in the country's national elections.

CNN's senior international correspondent Melissa Bell is in Budapest, where you've got a whole lot of very excited, seemingly happy people about the outcome around you.

MELISSA BELL, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. They really come out onto the streets of Budapest to celebrate. These are Tisza supporters who understand now not only that Peter Magyar has won the election, becoming the new Hungarian prime minister, but also that the Tisza Party has achieved the two-thirds majority in the parliament, giving it that supermajority that Peter Magyar had promised he would use to return the rule of law to Hungary.

[16:20:05]

And as you can see, a lot of celebrations going on here in Budapest. We've heard -- we've spoken to young people, in their 20s who told us, look, Viktor Orban had been in government, in power practically all of our lives. They can't quite believe that it's finished.

And I think one of the most surprising things and what's at the heart of some of this disbelief here on the streets tonight and all of this enthusiasm is the fact that Viktor Orban conceded as quickly and as easily as he did. And I think the theory is that it's proven such a landslide for Peter Magyar that really the numbers were simply against him. And it was the only thing that he could do. So a fair amount of disbelief, a lot of joy, a great deal of excitement.

We've watched the grown men leading this party crying, hugging each other earlier on down by the Danube, where they were holding their celebrations. But as you can see, it is all of Budapest really that has come out now to show their support, their enthusiasm, and a certain disbelief that this has actually happened in such a dramatic way. The figures really are quite astonishing. We've watched parliamentary seat after parliamentary seat held by some of the founders of Viktor Orban's party, Fidesz.

People who've been European commissioners, people who are ministers lose their seats. So it is an extraordinary landslide tonight for Tisza.

WHITFIELD: And so what does it say about the turnout? Because you had mentioned that, you know, mostly young people are very enthusiastic about the outcome. Was there something about their voter turnout that, you know, made the difference here?

BELL: I think that is absolutely correct. Peter Magyar ran this remarkable campaign, Fredricka, where he went all over the country, deep into the countryside. He spoke to the young, he spoke to the elderly, he spoke to the cities. He spoke to the smallest villages, holding several rallies a day on Sundays, just to make sure that his vote got out, to give people a sort of sense that they could win and that democracy could prevail.

And that's the enthusiasm that you're seeing here tonight. So, yes, there's something about the way he ran his campaign and he gave people hope that change was possible. It seems to have worked. So your question about turnout, we understand that it could be when we get the final figures more than 75 percent. That is an astonishing turnout and certainly the largest that this country has seen since the fall of communism.

WHITFIELD: Wow. And still seeing the enthusiasm with the news very fresh.

Melissa Bell in Hungary, thank you so much.

All right. Still to come, President Trump now calling for a U.S. naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. We'll take a look at how that would impact the already rising prices of oil and gas around the world.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:27:29]

WHITFIELD: All right, we continue to follow breaking news. President Trump announcing today a U.S. military blockade of all ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz after the U.S. and Iran failed to come to terms in a peace deal. In an interview today, the president acknowledged that the move could keep oil and gas prices in the U.S. high and could push them even higher in the coming months.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARTIROMO: So do you believe the price of oil and gas will be lower before the midterm elections?

TRUMP: I hope so. I mean, I think so. It could be, it could be or the same or maybe a little bit higher, but it should be around the same. I think this won't be that much longer. They're wiped out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: President Trump predicts the U.S. military blockade of the Strait of Hormuz will force Iran back to the negotiating table.

Let's continue this conversation now. With us is Helima Croft. She's a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and global head of commodity strategy for RBC Capital Markets.

Great to see you, Helima. So we just heard the president say oil and gas prices could remain about the same or even go higher, and potentially through the midterm elections in October. Where do you see things potentially going?

HELIMA CROFT, GLOBAL HEAD OF COMMODITY STRATEGY, RBC CAPITAL MARKETS: I mean, we could definitely go higher, especially if President Trump backs his blockade threat with actual gunboats because we already have at this point a significant supply disruption. Very few ships are moving through the Strait of Hormuz. There have been some anticipation after the ceasefire talks were announced that we would get some type of settlement that would lead to an opening of the straits, but again, there's no indication that we are bridging the gap between what Tehran wants and what Washington wants. So U.S. consumers should expect to pay more for gasoline as we head into the summer driving season.

WHITFIELD: Oh, my goodness. And so, I mean, with the president declaring, you know, possibly the U.S. would, you know, blockade or, you know, have this blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, I mean, do you see that as conceivable?

CROFT: I mean, we have significant military assets already in the region. The real issue is, is if we try to stop the ships that are going to China, to India, that are carrying Iranian cargo, what will the Iranians do in return? Will they up their attacks on regional energy facilities? Will we see really important pipelines like the East-West Pipeline in Saudi Arabia that's been used to move about five million barrels of exports to the Red Sea away from the Strait of Hormuz?

Will the Iranians and their allies, like the Houthis, militias in Iraq, start aggressively targeting that type of infrastructure?

[16:30:00]

So, the Iranians still have the capability, through their proxies, through their drones, through their short-range missiles, to disrupt regional energy flows. So, we are watching whether this competition is moving up the escalation ladder.

WHITFIELD: And when we look at, you know, many of these, kind of, Google Map imaging. And you see the collection of ships, whether it be, you know, in the Persian Gulf or in the Gulf of Oman. You see an accumulation.

You don't necessarily see a passing through the Strait of Hormuz. I mean, what happens with those vessels? How long can they just kind of linger in the area? Because, obviously, it's very expensive for them to get there in the first place.

CROFT: Right. It's very expensive. We have crews that are sitting on these ships that are running out of clean water and food. And so, there is a real imperative to try to get these ships moving.

The problem for energy markets is that many of these countries in the region actually shut down their fields. They ran out of storage. So, the longer this goes on, the longer it's going to be to get those fields up and running.

WHITFIELD: How long would it take, you know, to clear this kind of backlog? If, at some point, there is an opening -- a reopening of the strait?

CROFT: Well, we first have -- that's such a great question because, first, you have to move the ships that are, basically, in this parking lot through the strait. You need to get empty container ships to the actual suppliers and start, basically, moving through the storage situation.

So, it's really interesting that the head of Kuwait Petroleum Corporation, just a few months ago, weeks ago, said it's going to take three to four months to get all of Kuwaiti production back online. And we would expect a similar type of situation for the rest of the producers in the region.

WHITFIELD: Wow, we're getting further and further, you know, deeper into the calendar, based on all the scenarios that you're, kind of, giving. So, you know, while the U.S. --

CROFT: Yes.

WHITFIELD: -- said, you know, talks were deadlocked, you know, largely over the future of Iran's nuclear stockpile, do you see Iran giving up any ground over that, in order to get a peace deal going?

CROFT: I mean, this is such a challenging issue, because the Iranians have been steadfast in their insistence that they will not abandon enrichment of uranium. They've said they'll negotiate about the type of levels of enrichment. They will negotiate about what to do with the stockpile. But they are going to continue to enrich.

And the U.S. is taking the position that there can be zero enrichment. There's also dispute over the missile program.

And so, unless we see one side giving ground, we are going to remain deadlocked and the strait will remain largely shut.

WHITFIELD: Oh, my. All right, Halima Croft, great to have you. Thank you so much.

CROFT: Thank you. Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right. Still to come, New York City mayor, Zohran Mamdani, marks a milestone today. How he celebrated being in office for now 100 days and what challenges lie ahead.

[16:33:02]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, Zohran Mamdani hit a milestone on Friday, marking 100 days as New York City's mayor. He celebrated with a trash cleanup event in the Bronx and also performed home-lead inspections in Harlem.

The 34-year-old has also, you know, faced a few hurdles, including two major snowstorms and what authorities described as an ISIS-inspired attack -- attempted attack at a protest near his home last month. A looming budget battle with city and state leaders also could be a major political test. And, later today, he is hosting a rally to reflect on the past three months and look ahead to the rest of his administration.

CNN Correspondent Gloria Pazmino is joining me right now from New York with more on this. Gloria, what can we expect from the next event?

GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Fred. And, certainly, we are expecting that this is going to be a celebratory rally. You can hear behind me, it's already getting pretty loud. They're setting up inside this massive concert venue in Queens. This is where his supporters invited guests.

Public employees will be gathering to, sort of, mark this sort of symbolic moment in the Mamdani administration, right. The first 100 days. And part of what you mentioned is going to be what this speech here tonight is all about. And that is the work of city workers.

He has had a focus, in the last few days, in, sort of, the small but essential services that municipal government delivers. So, picking up the trash, cleaning up the snow when there's a storm, making sure that New Yorkers' quality of life is being focused on is what we expect this speech to be all about.

In fact, his aides have described it to me as sewer socialism. That is a reference to an early 20th century socialist movement that took hold in Milwaukee, where there was a focus to really deliver essential services, in order to improve people's daily lives.

But, as you said, the mayor has big challenges ahead. And he has not yet fully delivered on his key primary campaign promises. Raising taxes on the wealthy. Creating free universal child care. And making the city busses free.

[16:40:00]

PAZMINO: Those are, of course, very complicated tasks that I don't think anyone expected would happen in full in the first 100 days. But he's certainly facing some headwinds in order to make them happen. Namely, the city's budget gap, which is several billion dollars, and which he is in the process of negotiating with the city council in order to be able to close that gap and find the funding. Now, I think today, as I said, will be celebratory. Mayor Mamdani, earlier today, appeared at a rally alongside Vermont senator, Bernie Sanders. That was a labor rally, where the mayor made an appearance for Bernie Sanders, being a major supporter and validator for Zohran Mamdani in the past few months and during the mayoral campaign.

So, I think, today, we'll see a lot of support. But also, looking for what he says, the next several days and several months and certainly the next three and change years, will bring in this administration.

WHITFIELD: Yes. All right, still a few unchecked items on that to do list. All right, Gloria Pazmino, thank you so much, in New York.

All right, still to come, President Trump is expanding his redesign of the landscape and skyline of Washington, D.C. Why his focus on local golf courses has many people teed off.

[16:41:23]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, we're following growing calls now for Congressman Eric Swalwell to step aside, amid the allegations of sexual misconduct from multiple women. His senior staffers have issued an unsigned joint statement saying, in part, as leaders of teams working for Eric Swalwell, we're horrified by the recent reporting. We stand with our former colleague and the other women who have come forward.

The statement goes on to say, any decision of staff members to remain in their roles in the interim should not be viewed as support for Eric Swalwell. We recognize that not everyone, in particular our junior staff, can immediately forfeit their income and benefits without significant personal risk or consequence. Our responsibility now is to them.

And now, several Democrats have come out today calling on Swalwell to leave Congress. Among them, Representative Eugene Vindman said Swalwell needs to go, while Pramila Jayapal said she would vote to expel Swalwell from Congress. Fellow Californians, Jared Huffman and Sam Liccardo, are both calling on Swalwell to resign.

Earlier, I spoke with Florida representative, Debbie Wasserman- Schultz, who says Swalwell should reassess his ability to serve in Congress.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

REP. DEBBIE WASSERMAN-SCHULTZ (D), FLORIDA: Well, these are devastating, serious allegations. And now, there are multiple women who have come forward to make them. And so, I mean, at the very least, for starters, he needs to withdraw from the gubernatorial race. I mean, there's just no question about that.

There's just too much coming at him. And the allegations are just extremely serious. And I don't see how he could possibly focus on conducting a gubernatorial race. And he certainly shouldn't be because these are women who need to be taken seriously. The allegations need to be reviewed thoroughly. And he could no longer -- he can no longer be a viable, credible gubernatorial candidate, in my opinion.

WHITFIELD: Can he continue to be a viable representative in Congress?

WASSERMAN-SCHULTZ: Well, I mean, I think he has to, at this point, take a close look at whether or not he can continue to be an effective member of Congress. You know, Fredricka, I feel -- I have young -- I have 20-something year old daughters who are, you know, in the beginning of their professional career.

And, you know, I, I think about this and look at this with, you know, six of my stomach that I can't even imagine if they were put in a compromising, difficult, high-pressure situation, like young women who are accusing Congressman Swalwell of the conduct that he -- that he committed. My heart breaks for these women.

And so, I think, at this point, he's got to decide whether he can continue to effectively represent his constituents.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Congressman Swalwell is denying the sexual misconduct allegations, calling them false. His attorney, in a statement to CNN, denied that Swalwell had ever had non-consensual sex with any woman or ever had sexual relations with any member of his staff.

All right, a big focus for President Trump's second term, remaking some of Washingtons most iconic buildings in public places. After adding his name to the Kennedy Center and planning a massive new arch near the nation's most hallowed ground, Arlington National Cemetery, Trump's push to take over the city's public golf courses is now landing in the rough. CNN's Manu Raju has this report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, nice. That worked really good.

MANU RAJU, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Washington, D.C. has long been the home of three low-cost public golf courses, but now they are battling a Trump takeover.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get in the hole. Oh.

RAJU: And fighting a president who has 16 golf courses to his name with five more on the way.

[16:50:00]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Best of the day there.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That was really good. RAJU: The impact is felt nearly everywhere, including on East

Potomac's fourth hole, near the Potomac River. Now a dumping ground for debris from the White House's demolished East Wing.

(on camera): Tell us about the dirt mound.

MIKE MCCARTIN, CO-FOUNDER, NATIONAL LINKS TRUST (on camera): So, that is -- that's the excavated dirt from under the East Wing.

RAJU: Oh, wow.

MCCARTIN: And from --

RAJU: From the demolition of the East Wing all dumped in here?

MCCARTIN: Yes. And it started in, sort of, late October, early November of last year and it's been going continuously since then.

RAJU (voice-over): Mike McCartin is a co-founder of National Links Trust, a nonprofit focused on improving golf courses.

MCCARTIN: I mean, you can see it --

RAJU (on camera): From 122, it says throw (?) it to the flag from here.

(voice-over): The group had a 50-year lease to restore the courses of East Potomac, Rock Creek and Langston.

(on camera): I took a golf clinic here.

(voice-over): But five years into the lease, Trump's Interior Department abruptly moved to cancel it, alleging the group was in default over unpaid rent and failing to implement capital improvements.

(on camera): Oh, that you can show.

MCCARTIN: There you go.

(voice-over): All being fought in federal court.

(on camera): Is there any legitimacy to that allegation?

MCCARTIN: We dispute absolutely everything associated with it.

(voice-over): Trump told the "Wall Street Journal" he would renovate the courses, quote, "beautifully." The paper reported the president hopes to have a professional golf tournament in the D.C. area in the years ahead.

(on camera): Why is that not a worthy goal? Is there anything wrong with that?

MCCARTIN: I don't think, on the face of it, there's anything wrong with it. But at this particular site, it really poses some problems. RAJU: What's what?

MCCARTIN: So, first problem is there's only about 200 acres of golf course here. And in order to host a -- like a major championship, you need at least 350 acres.

RAJU: And it costs a lot of money.

MCCARTIN: It would cost an enormous amount of money. You would be building a ton of infrastructure that would be just for a tournament that doesn't really benefit the everyday golfer here.

RAJU: Where's your ball? Is it over here?

MCCARTIN: I think I'm over here.

RAJU: Yes.

(voice-over): Renovations at the course have also come to a halt.

MCCARTIN: So, we've spent $11 million on our improvement projects across the three golf courses. It's all wasted. We stopped projects in progress that will -- if we are able to restart, it's going to cost us more money than it would have if we had just kept going.

RAJU: But interior secretary, Doug Burgum, said East Potomac is in a state of, quote, "total disrepair."

(on camera): What do you say to that?

MCCARTIN: I think that is totally ridiculous. We've spent five years investing in this place. He doesn't know what it looked like before we took it over, how much work we put into it to get it to this point, and how far we can take it in the future. And calling something that's in progress in total disrepair is kind of an insult to all the work we've done and the direction it's going.

(voice-over): Amid the Trump feud, retaining employees has been the biggest challenge. But McCartin's biggest fear losing affordable golf in the nation's capital.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh.

MCCARTIN: These are the gateways to golf for people. This is where I learned to play as a kid.

RAJU (on camera): This is where I learned to play. Exactly. You know, when I started playing golf, when I was, you know, now 16 years ago as an adult, I wish I started playing earlier, but I started playing here in East Potomac.

MCCARTIN: Right, exactly. And so, our stories of learning here and then growing into the game, I mean, I have a career in golf that I attribute to my exposure to the game here. There it is.

RAJU: That felt good. (END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right, Manu Raju, thanks so much.

Trump has told the "Wall Street Journal" that he would allow D.C. residents to pay lower rates if he takes control of the courses. But one of the founders of the nonprofit operating the city's public golf courses says he's concerned that current fees would actually spike under the president's plan.

All right, the final round at the Masters in Georgia is underway. Defending champion, Rory McIlroy, is now co-leading with Justin Rose. And that's where we find CNN's Sports Anchor Andy Scholes.

All right, how's it going?

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Fredricka, we are right back where we were last year on Sunday at -- in the final round. It's Justin Rose. It's Rory McIlroy. Tied up --

WHITFIELD: Wow.

SCHOLES: -- in the lead in the final round. And it -- we are looking like we're going to have a fantastic final nine holes here in Augusta. So, Justin Rose, I mean, can he finally pull this out? You know, this is his 21st Masters tournament.

If he's able to win here today, that would be the longest wait anyone's ever had to put on that green jacket. Forty-five years old. He'd also be the second oldest winner behind only (?) Jack Nicklaus. And entering today, Rose is actually led or co-led around at the Masters 11 times. Only Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer and Gary Player have done it more. All those guys have won multiple Masters.

Rose, he's got three second-place finishes here in Augusta. You know, he said before, he's felt like he's had one arm in that green jacket. We all remember last year, he went to the playoff with Rory and just wasn't able to pull through.

[16:55:01]

SCHOLES: What's going to happen this year? We will wait and see. Rory McIlroy, meanwhile, you know, he had that largest 36-hole lead --

WHITFIELD: Right.

SCHOLES: -- in Masters' history. It evaporated in round three. Rory again out there. Another roller coaster day. He had a double bogey on four. Another bogey on six. Looked like he was going to catch fire on as he birdied seven and eight. But he had an easy birdie putt on nine. He just wasn't able to put it down.

But he's hanging in there. Still tied for the lead right now. Can he find some magic like he did last year? The winner of the Masters the last nine years, Fredricka, has come from the final pairing. And that final pairing is Rory McIlroy and Cam Young, so we will wait and see. But it looks like we are in for a fantastic finish here in Augusta.

WHITFIELD: Oh, my gosh. So exciting once again.

All right Andy Scholes keep us posted on things. Thanks so much.

SCHOLES: All right.

WHITFIELD: All right. And thank you for joining me today. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. The CNN NEWSROOM continues now with Jessica Dean, after this.

[16:55:58]

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