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CNN International: FBI Raids Fmr. Rep. Swalwell's Home, Seizes Devices From Him At Airport; Bessent: "Likely" No Large-Scale Military Restart Against Iran. Aired 4:30-5a ET

Aired August 21, 2026 - 04:30   ET

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

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[04:33:25]

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Federal agents seized electronic devices from former Democratic Congressman Eric Swalwell at the San Francisco airport and searched his Washington, D.C. home this past weekend. Sources familiar with the investigation told CNN that both the search and device seizure are part of an ongoing federal investigation into the sexual assault allegations against Swalwell. He resigned from the House of Representatives this past April after reporting from CNN and the San Francisco Chronicle detailing allegations of sexual misconduct, allegations that he denies. In the wake of that reporting, both the Manhattan district attorney and Los Angeles Sheriff's Department opened criminal investigations into Swalwell. Joining now is retired FBI Special Agent Richard Kolko.

So as you know, sexual assault investigations aren't usually handled by federal -- by the FBI. It's usually handled by state and local authorities. Why do you think the FBI is involved in this?

RICHARD KOLKO, RETIRED FBI SPECIAL AGENT: Well, Anderson, actually the sexual assault cases are being handled by the locals. We know the DA's in New York and L A are looking at it. But from a federal standpoint, it's a color of law. It's kind of an abuse of power case. And that's what the FBI appears to be looking into at this point.

COOPER: What is the strategy for stopping Swalwell or anyone under investigation at an airport and seizing electronic devices as opposed to going to his house when he's at home? Is there significance in the location?

KOLKO: I don't think there's that much. They had the warrant signed. They had to get probable cause from a judge that said they could go seize both the electronic devices and do the search at his home. May have been two different judges, two different districts that they would have had to do this in. And the problem with the telephone is people might get rid of it if he -- if any suspect was concerned about law enforcement coming to take it.

[04:35:03]

So they -- so that's the reason you want to get it as quick as you can. So law enforcement knew he was getting off an airplane. Public place, easy to do it very quietly. Probably pulled him into a separate room and he gave up his phone and his computer, I'm told. And FBI will break that down.

They're going to go ahead and look for photos, texts, any evidence of that sexual misconduct that could help further the -- not only the federal case, but if information could be provided to the DAs that are investigating, that would help them as well.

COOPER: In something like that, does he have to give up passwords?

KOLKO: They can fight for those. He may not choose to give them up right away. And then FBI will have to work to break the -- break into the devices. Probably not in his best interests. We have to wait and see what actually happens with that.

COOPER: Do you believe there could be a national security dimension to the FBI case, given his past association with a suspected Chinese spy? And again, Swalwell has denied any criminal wrongdoing in that situation and has separately denied the sexual assault allegations.

KOLKO: Well, we know that some documents were redacted and released just this week. That can -- he had confirmed that he had a romantic or he didn't determine as romantic, but his sexual encounters with Fang, that goes back a few years. FBI closed that case.

If they were to find any information either in his house or on his electronic devices, they would have to get an additional warrant to dig into that, and then that could be used to reopen the case. We've heard Director Patel say that he has interest in reopening that case, including sending agents to China to conduct interviews as such. I find that very difficult to believe or see as likely. If agents -- and there are agents assigned to the embassy in Beijing, they work there every day, but they're not given free roam in the city to interview Chinese citizens. They would have to work through the intelligence or law enforcement entities in China.

So that may be a little bit more difficult than just saying, go speak to her, but we'll have to wait and see on that one.

COOPER: And what would be the bar for the federal government to file charges against Swalwell?

KOLKO: It's like any case. It's just the evidence. It appears that this be color law, deprivation of constitutional rights, which means based on what these women said and if it could be proven that they didn't -- they didn't have the ability to give consent to any activities that they may have had. So while Swalwell says it was all consensual, the women are saying it wasn't. There's some he said, she said at this point of the investigation.

So they'll be looking for evidence for to be able to put it one side of the coin or the other. And if they find that, then the FBI working through the U.S. Attorney's Office would go ahead and file charges.

COOPER: Wow. Richard Kolko, I really appreciate your perspective on it, your expertise. Thank you so much. Coming up next, with no end in sight to the war, what to make of the president's declaration of an economic D-Day against Iran. That's what the administration is now saying their strategy is the impact of any on the conflict and the potentially global consequences. New York Times columnist Tom Friedman joins us.

Plus, he narrowly survived a brazen bombing in Monaco. This is an incredible story. Now he is talking exclusively to CNN about that attack that badly injured him and his family and who he thinks maybe behind it.

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[04:42:39]

COOPER: President Trump appears to be changing course on the Iran conflict, moving away from the kind of fighting we've seen toward what he called economic D-Day in a social media post last night. This morning, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent appeared on CNBC and had this to say.

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SCOTT BESSENT, TREASURY SECRETARY: For now, and it is at the president's discretion, if we are doing the maximum economic pressure, then that means that likely there will not be a large scale kinetic restart. But I would emphasize that is for now and we do have control of the strait. The economic pressure means that we are going to all of our allies and this is going to be the greatest coordinated economic isolation in the history of the world. And we are going to them and saying you were either with us or against us.

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COOPER: Well, joining me now, New York Times foreign affairs opinion columnist Thomas Friedman. He's also the author of the bestselling book "From Beirut to Jerusalem."

So, Tom, Scott Bessent says to allies, you're either with us or against us in the economic D-Day campaign against Iran, as they're calling it, also claiming today that between the blockade and sanctions, we are going to collapse this regime. Do you have any reason to believe they can do that?

THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN, NEW YORK TIMES FOREIGN AFFAIRS COLUMNIST: Well, you know, there's no question, Anderson, that Iran is under severe economic pressure. There's also no question that it's been on and off under sanctions since 1979. There's also no question it's been very good at smuggling. But I think, you know, some things are true even if Donald Trump believes them and there is severe economic pressure on Iran.

There's two questions I have. One is, is the pressure on them going to get them to say uncle before the pressure on Trump, the midterms and higher gas and food prices in America forces him to say uncle? That's a sort of macro question. But underneath that, Anderson, I think there's a more important question about Iran. That is, can Iran say uncle?

That is the regime as it exists now, which is clearly some kind of rather mysterious balance between real hardliners and softer liners who did the first memorandum of understanding clearly would like to do a deal with the United States, get out under sanctions, obviously under Iran's term. Can that regime actually say uncle? Is there a word in Farsi (ph) for uncle? Because right now the hardliners, you've got a competition there. And the hardliners, you know, they can go at the soft liners day and night and say, well, you know, we're just not going to give in as a way of seizing power there.

[04:45:21]

COOPER: I do want to ask about North Korea. I want to play something President Trump said yesterday about Kim Jong Un.

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DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: He has 57 very powerful nuclear weapons. Should have never allowed it to happen. They should have never allowed it. If I were president, I wouldn't have allowed it. But he's got him.

I get along with him very well. I can't let Iran have a nuclear weapon. And I know Kim Jong Un very well and he's going to be fine.

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COOPER: The president has called Iran's leaders when he's upset with them evil six gum. The president seems to believe, or want us to believe he has some kind of special insight into and bond with Kim Jong Un. Do you see evidence of that?

FRIEDMAN: Well, you know, one of the meta questions that has been present in and around Trump since he became president is, you know, is he somehow, you know, under the control of foreign dictators? I've never seen any evidence of that and I actually don't believe it. I think it's much worse, Anderson. It's much worse. He actually thinks leadership and diplomacy and geopolitics is about personal relationships, really personal, me and the other guy over there.

And he clearly has an affection and greater comfort with dictators than with Democrats. With Kim Jong Un, a guy who has now given Russia 10,000 of his own soldiers to help him destroy the Ukrainian democracy and thousands of missiles as well to help in that project. The whole thing is nutty.

Now, I'm all for engaging in some kind of negotiation with North Korea, but to think that you can get North Korea to denuclearize without leverage just by Trump batting his eyes and talking about his friend, but you need all this leverage on Iran to get it to denuclearize. How can those two things be true at the same time?

COOPER: Yes. Thomas Friedman, thanks for joining us. Appreciate it, Tom.

FRIEDMAN: Thank you.

COOPER: Now an update on mysterious attempt on the life of a Ukrainian millionaire in the small European nation of Monaco. The bombing occurred in June, but as CNN's Matthew Chance discovered while reporting in Monaco, the case is full of unexpected twists and turns. Matthew has an exclusive interview with the Ukrainian businessman who survived the blast.

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MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's a glamorous playground for the super-rich. One of the world's tiniest nations. Monaco promotes itself as a haven of wealth and tranquility on the picturesque shores of the Mediterranean. But one evening in June, as a Ukrainian born businessman walked home with his family, that carefully manicured image of security and calm was shattered, plunging the principality into violence and chaos.

CHANCE: Well, this is the exact place where the explosion took place. You can still see the impact of the shrapnel. The stucco, plaster work here around the door has all fallen off. And you know, if I lift up the tarp here, you can see the marble steps and the -- and the brickwork is all -- is all shattered. We've also made contact with the target of the attack and despite his grave injuries, he's agreed to speak out.

VADYM YERMOLAIEV, BUSINESSMAN (through translator): When the explosion went off, I saw my partner Anna, lying on the steps with badly injured legs. My son was waving his bloodied arms and I had burns across my whole body and was missing pieces of flesh.

I'm not a confrontational person. I've always tried to avoid any sharp conflicts. So I don't understand the reason why this happened.

CHANCE: There's a suggestion in Ukraine, and there are reports in Ukraine that this assassination attempt was linked to your involvement, alleged involvement in organized crime. How do you answer that?

YERMOLAIEV (through translator): I personally have never in my life had anything to do with that. The Monaco police also asked me if my family could be involved, which was almost funny as everything I own is already registered to my wife and children.

CHANCE (voice-over): But clearly someone wanted to send a message. This is the face of the bomber, a 39-year-old single mother from Ukraine, Anastasiia Berezovska. She even recorded herself planting the device in what investigators say was part of a complex international plot they're still trying to unravel.

[04:50:13]

CHANCE: Well, these narrow, twisting streets snaking through tiny Monaco are some of the most heavily surveilled anywhere in the world. There are more than 1,400 surveillance cameras basically watching everything anybody does and a police officer for every 60 residents of the principality. The bombing appears to have been carefully planned to bypass all of that tight security.

CHANCE (voice-over): And Monaco's police department is now under intense pressure to understand what went wrong.

Multiple theories are being explored, the police chief admitted the though he refused to elaborate or discuss the glaring connections with Ukraine and its security services.

But in a Kyiv court, those connections have become impossible to ignore. Two men, a serving officer with Ukrainian military intelligence and a former security agent, now stand accused of executing Anastasiia Berezovska and burying the Monaco bomber in a shallow grave after she fled home.

For the Ukrainian authorities, fighting a bitter war with Russia, it's a potentially embarrassing link that risks straining relations with its European backers. Ukrainian military intelligence say the suspects are just criminals.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I cannot even imagine that because --

CHANCE (voice-over): But fuelling speculation, Vadym Yermolaiev is sanctioned by Ukraine for doing business with its Russian enemies. Though he's ruling out any link to his bombing.

YERMOLAIEV (through translator): I can't imagine it had anything to do with the Ukrainian sanctions against me because that would mean our state is potentially engaged in extrajudicial executions. And I just can't believe that.

CHANCE: After, the bombing, you accused the Ukrainian security services of being behind it. Is that still your view?

YERMOLAIEV (through translator): That's not just my view. All the facts point to it. But I think this was a contracted hit. Someone privately hired military intelligence specialists who know how to do this, and they took it on for money.

CHANCE (voice-over): In both Monaco and Kyiv, investigations are now in full swing to uncover the facts, including the possible role of Ukrainian guns for hire or rogue agents making one of the world's most glamorous enclaves feel a lot less secure.

Matthew Chance, CNN, Monaco.

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COOPER: Well, coming up, my conversation with musician Travis Barker for a new episode of my podcast, All There Is, which just got released. Travis talks about the plane crash he was the sole survivor of and his mom, Gloria, who died the day before Travis started high school, and how her love and death propelled him to the success he has today.

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COOPER: Did you know she might die?

TRAVIS BARKER, MUSICIAN: No, I had no clue that that was going to happen. Luckily, I got down there the day she passed and had a chance for her to say, like, pursue music. Like, I really want you to pursue music.

COOPER: Those were her last --

BARKER: Yes.

COOPER: -- words to you.

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[04:58:02]

COOPER: A new episode of my podcast, All There Is, was just released tonight and it's available at cnn.com/allthereis or wherever you get your podcasts.

My guest this week is Travis Barker, the drummer for the band Blink- 182. Travis is the sole survivor of a plane crash that killed his close friends and two pilots. He was burned over 70 percent of his body. We talk about the guilt he felt over surviving that crash and the early loss of his mom, Gloria, who bought him his first drum set and the day -- and she died the day before Travis started high school. Here's some of the podcast.

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BARKER: It was only a few weeks or a few months after she was diagnosed with cancer that she had passed away.

COOPER: Did you know she might die?

BARKER: No. I had no clue that that was going to happen. Luckily, I got down there the day she passed and had a chance for her to say, like, pursue music. Like, I really want you to pursue music.

COOPER: Those were her last --

BARKER: Yes.

COOPER: -- words to you. After she died, did you talk about her?

BARKER: Not really.

COOPER: Did you cry?

BARKER: Yes. But I tried not to for so long, you know?

COOPER: You went to school the day after your mom died.

BARKER: Mm-hmm. COOPER: Do you remember that?

When my dad died, I was in fifth grade and I had a sense of shame about it for some reason. Like, I remember a kid wanted to come over. I remember a kid wanted to come over to my house and I was angry about it because I didn't want him to see me, like, sad or just -- I didn't want anyone to acknowledge it.

BARKER: Yes, same. I never experienced loss before that. I didn't really know a next step or a step to take after that happened, except to pick up where I left off and keep playing drums. So that's all I focused on. Like, head down, played the drums.

[04:05:00]

I had this desire in me to fulfill what she said to me and I was like, I have to do it. I think if she was alive, I don't know if I would have tried as hard.

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COOPER: You can listen to full conversation wherever you get your podcast or watch the entire episode right now at cnn.com/allthereis.

That's it for us. The news continues right here on CNN.