Strait of Hormuz and Lebanon Questions, "Terrifying" New AI, Missing Mom in Bahamas: AM Update 4/9

0:00This NBA playoffs with FanDuel. You're not just watching the playoffs. You're a part of them. Steve's got the phone, opens FanDuel, and he's going for threes! Be a part of the action on FanDuel. All customers get a profit boost every NBA playoff game day. 21 plus and present in select states. Opt-in required. Bonus issued as non-withdrawable profit boost tokens. Restrictions apply, including any token expiration and max wager amount. See full terms at FanDuel.com slash sportsbook. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or 1-800-MY-RESET. Good morning, everyone. I'm Megan Kelly. It's Thursday, April 9th, 2026.

0:37And this is your AM update. The president's been very clear. The deal is a ceasefire, a negotiation. That's what we give. And what they give is the straits are going to be reopened. Amid conflicting claims about conditions on the ground, U.S. negotiators prepare for in-person talks with the Iranians as a fragile ceasefire hangs in the balance. A powerful new AI tool raising serious security concerns. The Democratic candidate currently leading in the California governor's race has a known history of being predatory towards women. With unverified allegations about sexual misconduct swirling online, Democrat candidate for governor of California Eric Swalwell is speaking out.

1:17And an American woman missing in the Bahamas. Her husband says she fell overboard. Her daughter doubts his story. Late last night, a big break in the case. All that and more coming up in just a moment on your AM update.

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2:56One major sticking point, whether Lebanon is part of the deal. The U.S. and Israel say it's not. Israel continuing strikes tied to its campaign against Hezbollah, insisting Lebanon was never included, a position backed by the U.S. Yesterday, Israel launching a wave of airstrikes, hitting more than 100 Hezbollah command centers, reports the BBC. Iran insisting Lebanon must be included in the ceasefire and was. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Aragchi posting to X, quote, the Iran-U.S. ceasefire terms are clear and explicit. The U.S. must choose ceasefire or continued war via Israel. It cannot have both.

3:38The ball is in the U.S. court and the world is watching whether it will act on its commitments. Pakistan, which helped broker the ceasefire, also says Lebanon was to be a part of the deal and said so from the first moment its prime minister announced the deal quite publicly Tuesday evening. Vice President J.D. Vance addressing the disagreement yesterday before departing a diplomatic trip to Hungary. I think this comes from a legitimate misunderstanding. I think the Iranians thought that the ceasefire included Lebanon, and it just didn't. We never made that promise. We never indicated that was going to be the case.

4:13What we said is that the ceasefire would be focused on Iran and the ceasefire would be focused on America's allies, both Israel and the Gulf Arab States. Now, that said, the Israelis, as I understand it, again, I'm supposed to get a fuller report when I get on the plane, have actually offered to be, frankly, to check themselves a little bit in Lebanon because they want to make sure that our negotiation is successful. That's not because that is part of the ceasefire. But look, if Iran wants to let this negotiation fall apart in a conflict where they were getting hammered over Lebanon, which has nothing to do with them and which the United States never once said was part of the ceasefire, that's ultimately their choice.

4:55Meanwhile, another critical question, whether the Strait of Hormuz is actually open. Early yesterday, Iranian state media announcing the strait was closing once again due to those Israeli attacks in Lebanon. Press Secretary Caroline Levitt yesterday from the White House on that reporting. Well, with respect to the first reporting out of Iranian state media, the president was made aware of those reports before I came to the podium. That is completely unacceptable. And again, this is a case of what they're saying publicly is different privately. We have seen an uptick of traffic in the strait today, and I will reiterate the president's expectation and demand that the Strait of Hormuz is reopened immediately, quickly and safely.

5:37That is his expectation. It has been relayed to him privately that that is what's taking place, and these reports publicly are false. Reality on the ground, less certain. Available shipping data shows traffic remains extremely limited. According to the AP, citing data from shipping intelligence company Windward, just 11 vessels passing through the strait yesterday, roughly the same as recent days before the ceasefire. Windward reporting that all ships are required to coordinate passage with Iran, who is charging tolls of up to$1 per barrel of oil shipped. Otherwise, the carriers risk attack. Vice President Vance yesterday making it clear the ceasefire hinges on the strait remaining open for business.

6:19Well, we've already seen an increase in traffic today. Hopefully we'll see an increase in traffic tomorrow. We actually think that we are seeing signs that the straits are starting to reopen. I think you guys have probably seen oil prices have come down. So I think the oil markets, the gas markets are seeing the same thing. But the president's very clear. The deal is a ceasefire, a negotiation. That's what we give. And what they give is the straits are going to be reopened. If we don't see that happening, the president is not going to abide by our terms if the Iranians are not abiding by their terms.

6:48Mr. Vance, along with Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and presidential son-in-law Jared Kushner, set to travel to Pakistan this weekend for talks with Iran. Those discussions set for Saturday morning local time, at least for now. Vice President Vance was originally slated to go as well, but President Trump suggesting he might not, allegedly due to security concerns. AI company Anthropic, the company behind the popular program Claude, developing a new internal system called Claude Mythos that they say is so advanced at writing computer code, it has inadvertently become an expert at hacking, meaning it could pose a cybersecurity risk if it falls into the wrong hands.

7:31Anthropic is so concerned about what the company has built, it is choosing not to release the software publicly, warning it could be weaponized by bad actors. AI automation expert and content creator Nate Herc breaking it down in plain terms on his YouTube channel. So what is Claude Mythos? It's a new model that Anthropic has been developing internally. A lot of us heard about this during that Claude code leak. But think of this as the next generation of Claude, their most capable model yet. And the thing that really caught my attention is they didn't train it to be a hacker. They trained it to just be really, really good at writing code.

8:04And being really good at code made it really good at breaking code. And that happened all on its own. It's like training someone to be the world's best locksmith. You don't teach them to break into houses, but now that they understand locks so well, they easily could go break into almost any house. And that skill just came free. In just a matter of weeks, Mythos discovering more software bugs than many human programmers find in an entire career. Among the examples, it identified a flaw in OpenBSD, a highly secure operating system often used to protect firewalls and critical infrastructure. a bug that could allow someone to crash a system remotely just by connecting to it, missed for nearly three decades.

8:45Mythos showing it can combine multiple small bugs inside the core software that powers much of the Internet, effectively linking them together to move the user from basic access to full control of a machine. These examples just scratching the surface of what Mythos reportedly can do. It can find and potentially exploit software weaknesses across the systems that power billions of devices worldwide, according to the company. Anthropic partnering with 12 companies rather than releasing it publicly, allowing them to utilize Claude Mythos to identify bugs within their own systems in order to strengthen their own security.

9:23That list including companies like Amazon Web Services, Apple, Cisco, Google, Microsoft, and NVIDIA, major tech and security companies that power, connect, speed up, and protect the internet. Anthropic also says it is in ongoing discussions with the U.S. government about Claude Mythos' capabilities. Oh, great. Anthropic explaining the goal of the project in a video on its YouTube channel. We partner with a number of the organizations that power some of the world's most critical code. to put the model into their hands, to allow them to look at how they can use models like this to bring down risk and protect everyone.

10:01And by giving these software developers advanced tools before anyone else, it gives all of us a collective head start. It allows us to find things that we couldn't find before, and it helps us fix these things much more quickly. For a developer who tirelessly maintains software, A model that can help them discover vulnerabilities in their own code and fix them before they can be exploited. That is an invaluable tool. We've spoken to officials across the U.S. government and we've offered to work with them and collaborate to assess the risks of these models and to help defend against the risks of these models.

10:43Everything that we do in our lives now depends on software. Claude creator Boris Cherney releasing a statement, quote,

10:59Huh. Coming up, U.S. Congressman Eric Swalwell pushing back on a growing online rumor about accusations of sexual misconduct. And an American woman goes missing in the Bahamas. The husband says she fell overboard. His stepdaughter has some doubts. Late last night, a new development.

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12:12All Riverbend Ranch cattle are born and raised right here in the USA. They never use growth hormones or antibiotics and the beef is processed at the ranch in their award-winning USDA inspected facility. No shortcuts, no middlemen, just incredible, healthy, flavorful beef shipped directly to your home. Order today at riverbendranch.com and use the promo code Megan for$20 off your first order. Democrat Congressman and candidate for governor of California, Eric Swalwell, responding to unverified but rapidly spreading allegations of sexual misconduct as the gubernatorial primary is now just months away.

12:53The claims first gaining traction online, pushed by Democratic activist and former Capitol Hill staffer Cheyenne Hunt, who alleges Swalwell has a pattern of making inappropriate advances toward young women, including staff and interns. Hunt posting a video last week speaking to the camera in front of a superimposed background containing a screenshot of a text message she says is from someone who used to work for the congressman. The text message reading, quote, you know, Eric Swalwell has slept with many of his interns and makes them all sign NDAs so they don't speak up, right? And when I was 19, he tried hitting on me and sliding into my DMs.

13:32And I have so many other friends that have similar experiences with him. Hunt says there's more where that comes from. The Democratic candidate currently leading in the California governor's race has a known history of being predatory towards women. And while it may be seen as politically expedient to sweep this under the rug, it is the wrong thing to do and we know it. This message that I received yesterday is not unique. I have received others and there are many women who have reached out to other political commentators and to reporters with their stories. This particular message follows the same pattern as the other allegations currently circulating.

14:05Having this conversation or publicly acknowledging it may feel like aligning with Trump, but that is not the truth. It is aligning with women. Swalwell's spokesperson, Mika Beasley, telling Politico, quote, this false, outrageous rumor is being spread 27 days before an election begins by flailing opponents who have sadly teamed up with MAGA conspiracy theorists because they know Eric Swalwell is the frontrunner in this race. Beasley adding that in more than a decade in office, no staffer has ever been asked to sign an NDA and not a single ethics complaint has ever been filed. Swalwell himself now addressing the claims head on, flatly denying any inappropriate behavior Tuesday on local outlet KCRA.

14:47Did you ever behave inappropriately with female staffers? No, no, it's false. And also, you know, some of the allegations I've seen, which is that we've had NDAs in the office and never, there's never been an allegation and there's never been a settlement. And, you know, I will also just take stock that, look, we're 27 days before and an election starts. Why address it? If there are internet rumors, why even come out and address this? Yeah, I don't want there to be any question. Elsewhere in the California governor's race, President Trump officially endorsing Republican Steve Hilton on Monday, writing on X, quote, he is a truly fine man, one who has watched as this once great state has gone to hell.

15:29Gavin Newsom and the Democrats have done an absolutely horrendous job. Steve can turn it around before it is too late. An American woman missing in the Bahamas. Her husband says she fell overboard. Her daughter suspects foul play. 55-year-old Lynette Hooker, originally from Michigan, reported missing by her husband, 58-year-old Brian Hooker, early Sunday morning. The couple had been documenting their sailing life for years, posting videos under the name The Sailing Hookers on social media. Their most recent upload, Friday, showing rough conditions in the Bahamas, captioned, quote, 30 knot gusts.

16:07Hold on, everyone. Brian telling authorities the couple left Hopetown for Elbow Cay, typically a 10 to 15 minute trip around 7.30 p.m. Saturday night, traveling in an eight foot dinghy heading back to their yacht. According to Brian, Lynette fell overboard while holding the keys to the dinghy, causing the engine to turn off, strong currents then carrying her out to sea, he said, as he lost sight of her. With no engine power, Brian telling authorities he paddled for hours, arriving at a boatyard around 4 a.m. Sunday, where he reported his wife missing to someone at the yard, according to CBS News.

16:46That person then alerting authorities, prompting the Royal Bahamas Defense Force and Hopetown fire officials to begin search and rescue. Now, nearly a week later, that effort has shifted from rescue to recovery. Brian posting on Facebook that he is, quote, quote, heartbroken, describing, quote, unpredictable seas and high winds, and insisting he made desperate attempts to reach his wife as currents pulled them apart. But Lynette's daughter, Brian's stepdaughter, now raising serious questions about that account. Carly Ailsworth, telling multiple outlets, this story does not add up, pointing to what she describes as a history of domestic violence in the relationship.

17:25Ailsworth, describing the relationship to NBC as volatile, saying they have, quote, a history of not getting along, especially when they drink. Tuesday on Fox, Carly elaborating further. There's history of him choking her out and threatening to throw her overboard. So the fact that this is actually happening makes me believe there's more to the story. I've known him all my life. My mom's been with him since I was about four. So he just kind of replaced my dad really quick. So I, but I was too young to really even know what was going on. He has always been basically the one to make the rules of the house.

18:08All my groundings is very, I believe he has a bunch of anger. He hasn't processed. I've seen him choke out one of his daughters before, and we had to go to court for that and I was only in third grade. So he's just repeating patterns. Ailsworth also says a flotation device believed to have been thrown to her mother was recovered, noting that while life vests were on board, the couple did not typically wear them. She also questions key details in Brian's account, including why Lynette would have been holding the boat's keys at all. Does it strike you as unusual that Lynette would go into the water with the keys to the dinghy.

18:53Yeah, that seems a little weird. Doesn't really make sense why she would have them. She never drives the boat. It's always Brian driving the boat. And he's a pretty big guy, so he's in front of the key, basically. So she would have to reach over him, and it just doesn't add up. So do you suspect foul play in this incident? a little bit at the moment. And late last night, Bahamian authorities arresting Brian Hooker, the U.S. Coast Guard launching a criminal investigation. A spokesperson for the Royal Bahamas Police telling Reuters, quote, we took him into custody around 7.30 p.m. this evening in Abaco for additional questioning based on some probable cause we have.

19:39He's been taken into custody as a suspect. He has been arrested. Charges have not yet been filed. And that'll do it for your AM update. I'm Megan Kelly. Join me back here for the MK Show, live on SiriusXM's The Megan Kelly Channel, 111 at noon east, on youtube.com slash megankelly, and on all podcast platforms.

20:05This NBA playoffs with FanDuel. You're not just watching the playoffs. You're a part of them. Steve's got the phone, opens FanDuel, and he's going for threes. Be a part of the action on FanDuel. All customers get a profit boost every NBA playoff game day. 21 plus and present in select states. Opt-in required. Bonus issued is non-withdrawable profit boost tokens. Restrictions apply, including any token expiration and max wager amount. See full terms at FanDuel.com slash sportsbook. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or 1-800-MY-RESET.