Swalwell Resignation, Strait Of Hormuz Standoff, Trump Feuds with Pope Leo

[Music] Democratic Congressman Eric Swalwell is resigning after multiple women accused of absexual assault and misconduct. "I have certainly made mistakes in judgment in my past." When we could go, he was a front runner for California Governor. Now he's out of the race and out of a job. I mean, Martinez, that is Michelle Martin and this is up first from NPR News. [Music] Neither the US nor Iran are letting ships pass through the straight-up or moves. The blockade has sent oil prices surging again and the world is feeling it. What are the prospects of another round of negotiations? And President Trump is feuding with the first American-born pope for opposing the war with Iran. He attacked Pope Leo the way he attacks political opponents, calling him "Week on Crime." The pope responded by saying he is not a politician and that he has no fear of the Trump administration. Stay with us. We'll give you news you need to start your day. [Music] This message comes from Wise, the app for international people using money around the globe. You can send, spend, and receive in up to 40 currencies with only a few simple taps. Be smart, get Wise. Download the Wise app today or visit Wise.com. Tees & Sees Apply. It can be hard to keep up with all the new movies on streaming services. How do you tell the good ones worth watching from the bad? Or the silly ones you can laugh along with or at? On NPR's pop culture happy hour, we're recommending some fun movies you may have missed. Listen via the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts. One week ago, Representative Eric Swalwell was seen by many as the front runner in the California governor's race. This morning, the seven-term Democrat is on his way out of Congress. Swalwell announced his resignation yesterday after facing allegations of sexual assault and misconduct from multiple women, including at least one former staffer. NPR political reporter Alain Amor has been covering this and is with us now. Good morning, Alaina. Good morning, Michelle. This all seems to have happened pretty fast. So bring us up to date here. What are the allegations against Swalwell? Yes, Swalwell has been at the center of controversy since just last week when rumors began to circulate online about him and an alleged history of abusive behavior towards women. By Friday, the controversy gained steam. After at least four women spoke with the San Francisco Chronicle and CNN about experiences they had with Swalwell ranging from unwanted sexual advances by the congressman to allegations of rape. An NPR has not independently verified the allegations, and Swalwell has forcefully denied them. But still, Michelle, the allegations sparked almost immediate political backlash. He lost key endorsements for his gubernatorial bid and ended up suspending his campaign Sunday night. But that didn't stop growing demands for him to leave Congress too. More than 50 former Swalwell staffers called on him to resign. And a handful of House lawmakers indicated they would try to expel him as soon as this week. Alaina, you said that Swalwell forcefully denied those allegations. What has he said? Yeah, in a video posted Friday, Swalwell did deny these allegations, but he also said this. I've certainly made mistakes in judgment in my past. But those mistakes are between me and my wife. And to her, I apologize deeply for putting her in this position. And he made similar comments on Monday when he announced his resignation and criticized potential efforts to remove him from Congress, arguing that expelling someone without due process is wrong. But then he added, quote, "it's also wrong for my constituents to have me distracted from my duties." Do we know anything yet about who might replace him? It starts a whole process and his statement, Swalwell didn't say when he would leave office, but when that happens, California Governor Gavin Newsom has 14 days to call a special election to fill his seat. And we should also say this is a super safe blue district. You know, it's in the Bay Area. Kamala Harris carried it by 35 points in 2024. So Democrats aren't in jeopardy of, you know, essentially losing it. Swalwell mentioned the threat of being expelled. But he's not the only lawmaker whose face calls were expulsion. Can you tell us about that? Yeah, I mean, for weeks there have been calls for Texas Republican Congressman Tony Gonzalez to resign over a past affair with a staffer who later died by suicide. And Gonzalez has since said he will not run for reelection. And shortly after Swalwell announced he was resigning, Gonzalez said in a statement that he planned to file his retirement from office on Tuesday. Today, not to mention there's also controversy with Florida Democratic Congressman Sheila Sherfless McCormick who was indicted last year on fraud charges, though she denies them. And there's an ethics investigation into Florida Republican Cory Mills over allegations of sexual and financial misconduct too. So this Swalwell news comes just at a time when many lawmakers were already extremely frustrated with how Congress has held accountable congressional ethics investigations can just take a long time. And on top of that, Michelle, only six lawmakers have ever been expelled from the House. So some lawmakers are saying this is all just not good enough. That is. And we are political reporter Alena Moore. Alena, thank you. Thanks, Michelle. In the US Iran showdown in the Gulf, the question is who can hold out longer? Both countries are blocking oil exports through the critical straight of Hort Moose. And both countries as well as others all around the world are taking an economic hit as oil is unable to reach global markets. We're closer. Look, we're joined by NPR National Security Correspondent Greg Mairi. Greg, good morning to you. Hi, Michelle. So first of all, what is the scene around the straight of Hort Moose? Are any ships moving? Well, very, very little it seems. CNN reported a Chinese own ship traveled through the straight today and another ship reportedly made it through Monday. But this near total halt to shipping traffic looks likely to become the norm. As we know, Iran closed the straight weeks ago and the focus was blocking ships from Arab countries aligned with the US. And Iran has allowed out a small number of ships going to and from Iran. But even this trickle of ship traffic now faces the US Navy blockade that began Monday against ships heading to and from Iranian ports. So both sides are blocking the other and we could be looking at a tense prolonged standoff. And as the days pass, who is likely to feel the most economic pressure? Probably Iran. Iran's economy is hugely dependent on its oil exports and it was getting some oil out as we noted. But now that's cut off with the US blockade. So it's quite possible Iran with an already crippled economy will suffer the most economic pain in an extended blockade. But Michelle, what's truly striking about this situation is that the vast majority of the countries in the entire world are taking an economic hit because of this conflict. That includes the US, which gets a minimal amount of oil from the Gulf. But because oil prices have surged globally, it's right around $100 a barrel now. The US faces much higher gas prices as do other countries. All the major economies in Asia and Europe depend heavily on imported oil as do many developing countries. What about oil producing countries? Don't they reap a windfall when oil prices soar? So that's true, but many of the big oil producers have also been hit by the war in this shutdown in the Gulf. We're talking about Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates. You know, there are a few oil producing countries outside the Middle East and they're likely to benefit by these higher prices. But we're talking about just a few exceptions. Really, the vast majority of the world is going to have to endure more economic hurt until the US and Iran sort this out. If this standoff continues, does either side have additional leverage to use against the other? Well, yes, but not a lot. It's obvious. In a crisis like this, you normally turn to allies, but President Trump has alienated many US allies by not consulting them. And in many cases, insulting them. So none have answered his call to take part in the blockade. And Iran has long been isolated internationally and doesn't have many allies to begin with. You know, of course, Trump could in the ceasefire and return to war, but the president wasn't able to meet his goals with more than five weeks of heavy bombing. So he seems reluctant to do that. And there's no guarantee a renewed military operation would deliver the results he wants. Any prospects for another round of negotiations? Yeah, Trump said Iran has been in touch and wants to make a deal of the associated presses reporting that Pakistan has proposed hosting a second round of talks, like the ones they did last weekend. So there's a lot of chatter, but nothing solid. And then just on a related note, Israel and Lebanon are holding talks in Washington today to try to sort out that conflict, which is linked to the war in Iran. That's and here's Greg Maywe. Great thanks. Sure thing, Michelle. President Trump was criticized by even some of his staunchest supporters this week when he posted an image of himself as a Jesus-like figure. The president has attempted to explain the post, which has also been deleted. All this has come as he has attacked Pope Leo XIV, the first American born pope. Here to tell us more about all this is NPR White House correspondent Daniel Kurslavin. Good morning, Daniel. Hey, Michelle. What is the president's explanation for this post? He told reporters yesterday he did post the image himself, but that he thought it wasn't an image of him as Jesus. It's supposed to be me as a doctor, making people better and I do make people better. To be clear though, this image depicts Trump in a white robe with a red shawl or sash, which is how Jesus is often depicted. And there's less coming from his hands as he heals a man, and there's a woman who appears to be praying to him. And crucially, many of his supporters thought it was depicting him as Jesus or God. You know, Danielle, you've reported many times that the president really tries not to be seen as ever backing down or apologizing. So is it significant that he removed this post? Yeah, I think so. I mean, the last time he gained wide attention for deleting a post, it was a really racist video depicting the Obama's as apes and a drew mass of criticism. Trump told CBS last night he removed this post because people had been confused by it. But some influential supporters, they were really mad about this, Riley Gaines, the commentator, who also outspokenly opposes transgender athletes, initially responded to the image by saying, "God shall not be mocked." And the president posted this image right as he was attacking the Pope who has spoken out against the Iran War. And is this new territory even for Trump? Not exactly. It's not the first time he's clashed with a pope in 2016. Pope Francis criticized Trump then a candidate for wanting to build a border wall. And suggested that Trump wasn't a real Christian. And as far as AI images go, once last year, Trump posted a picture of himself as Pope. Now, time will tell how much this alienates anyone. I mean, coarseness has always been a central part of the Trump brand. So his actions have often raised questions about whether his Christian supporters would abandon him. But overwhelmingly, the ones who like him have just stuck with him. By last night, for example, Riley Gaines had softened on that image Trump posted, posting that it was amazing that Trump had deleted it. Now, all of that said, Trump is already in a weak spot right now. This war is not popular. Peace talks have failed. His approval has slid. Prices are high. So you can see this image, his criticism of the pope, as new instances that could further just wear away at Trump's support. How has the pope responded? Well, he told reporters this week that he's not a politician. He's not trying to get into a political debate. He also added that he has no fear of the Trump administration. And it all highlights a pretty remarkable aspect of all of this, which is how differently Trump and the pope have responded to each other. Trump is attacking the pope like a political opponent. He posted that the pope is weak on crime, for example. Pope Leo, on the other hand, is talking about the Lord generally in these bigger terms about peacemaking, humanity, and the gospels and God. So Trump is picking a fight here with someone who's operating on this totally different level. Trump is making this about him, about winning and strength. The pope isn't really engaging with that. He's the head of this millennia old institution and he's talking from a place of belief as opposed to winning or losing. That is, and P. O'Sdanael Kersley, Daniel. Thank you. Thank you. And that's up first for Tuesday, April 14th. I'm Michelle Martin. And I'm Amy Martinez. Today's episode of up first was "Eleved by Jason Braslow, Andrew Sussman, Rebecca Metzler, Muhammad Elbar DC, and Alice Wolf. Luke is produced by Zee on Butch. And Abe a Poo Catch. Our director is Chris Differ Thomas. We get engineering support from Nation Hainist. Our technical director is Carly Strange and our supervising senior producer is Ben Spirson, joining us again tomorrow. For poor people in one of the world's fastest growing mega cities, development means displacement and violence. We are homeless now. On the Sunday story, the human cost of building Lagos, Nigeria into the Dubai of Africa. Listen now to the Sunday story from the up first podcast on the NPR app.