Shownotes Transcript
When something's made for you, it simply fits. You feel special. That's the sensation of a Sleep Number smart bed. You'll sleep comfortably, hot or cold, soft or firm, because it's personalized. Scientifically made for you. Sleep Number smart beds learn how you sleep and provide personalized insights to help you sleep better. Why choose a Sleep Number smart bed? So you can choose your ideal comfort on either side.
It is Monday, May 5th. Here's what's happening right now on CNN this morning. Don't you need to uphold the Constitution of the United States as president? I don't know. I don't know.
The president of the United States not sure whether it's his responsibility to uphold the Constitution. So what's he saying now about a third term? Also, jury selection about to begin in the trial of Sean Combs. A look at the charges, the witnesses, and what you can expect when it starts up this morning. And police thwarting a plot to bomb a Lady Gaga concert. What they say one suspect was planning to do on a live stream during the show. And...
Do I believe I could win? You're damn right. Stephen A. Smith ready for a White House run. President Trump likes the idea. But what does Smith think of that endorsement? It's 6 a.m. here on the East Coast. Here is a live look at London where preparations are underway for a for V-Day celebrations marking the 80th anniversary of the end of World War Two in Europe. We'll check back in on those ceremonies later this hour. Good
Good morning, everybody. I'm Adi Cornish. Thank you for waking up with me. I'm going to start with something that's got a lot of people talking this morning. Over the weekend, President Trump was asked whether he needs to uphold the Constitution as he pushes forward with a massive deportation program. Now, you might expect a pretty clear-cut response from the president, but here's what he said. I was elected to get him the hell out of here, and the courts are holding me from doing it. But
Even given those numbers that you're talking about, don't you need to uphold the Constitution of the United States as president? I don't know. I have to respond by saying again, I have brilliant lawyers that work for me and they are going to obviously follow what the Supreme Court said.
Those comments as President Trump also weighed in on growing concerns about the economy and, of course, speculation about him seeking a third term. Joining me now in the group chat, Stephen Collinson, CNN politics senior reporter, Kerry Champion, CNN contributor, and Brad Todd, Republican strategist. You guys, welcome back to the chat. Okay, Brad, we haven't seen you in a minute, so do you mind if I start with you? Sure, go ahead. So what I hear when conservatives talk about this due process issue is that it seems
doesn't count for immigrants it doesn't count for migrants and we do know there are different rules in that respect but what do you hear way the president answer because he was asked multiple times about this this is going to do with the court said he says no follow up the Supreme Court said in that that is what all his critics answer yes or no no it will win Ellis critics have said for months I was in a few authoritarian he's gonna abolish the Supreme Court he's gonna not hold elections like
He's appealing decisions up the chain as they come. He says he's gonna follow the Supreme Court's directives. This is what his critics want him to say. They should exceed and give him credit for that. - Do we want him to get credit for that?
Well, he did swear an oath about three months ago to uphold the Constitution. You can argue whether you think that he's fully applying what the Supreme Court said in the Garcia case, which told him to facilitate the return. It didn't say that he couldn't deport...
Mr. Garcia somewhere else. But the president does say a lot of things. He says one thing one day and one the other. That's part of his political method to keep everyone confused. But you were noting that he acts like it's a choice. Yeah, well, it's obviously not a choice to uphold the... Like, on the question of this idea of whether he would run for a third term in 2028, the way that the question was answered on the NBC interview was, well, it's not something I'm looking to do right now.
I guess you could say, well, that's just following constitutional precedent, but other people would say, given what's happened in the past, given what the president has said, that's somewhat troubling that he thinks it is a choice. Let me play a little context over this so we have a sense of the kinds of things that he was saying. So at one point, we had to kind of get it all together, all the things he answered, I don't know. And here's a, okay, you're ready for that. Here we go.
You campaigned on a promise to bring prices down on day... Well, I don't know. Your Secretary of State says everyone who's here, citizens and non-citizens, deserve due process. Do you agree, Mr. President? I don't know. I'm not a lawyer. I don't know. Well, the Fifth Amendment says... I don't know. I don't know if that's constitutional. Don't you need to uphold the Constitution of the United States as president? I don't know. Is anyone in your administration right now...
in contact with El Salvador about returning Abrego Garcia to the United States? - Well, the I don't know of it all, right? To me is very clear that he does know, but I think everyone saying, oh, he does not know, I think that was very intentional in making sure that he doesn't say anything that could actually get him in trouble or hold him accountable. But in my group chat, literally in my group chat,
It was this conversation back and forth of interpretation. And they've always, they, his administration, people who work for him have always been like, let's interpret it the way we choose to interpret it until we can figure out how to get it to work our way. So you're saying the I don't know is really trying to prevent any landmines later on before a Supreme Court. Exactly. He knows exactly. Which to your point, it's about challenging. Yeah.
I feel like this is a conversational Trump. This is Trump in low key mode. He also, by the way, we should note, has given more interviews in the past five months than Joe Biden gave in four years. Well, the thing about giving interviews is then people scrutinize the answers. Right. Which is where we are now. That's right. That's right. I want to go back to what Stephen said, though.
on the Abrego Garcia case, whether he's complying or not, the case has been remanded down to the district court for clarification. It's gonna come back up to the Supreme Court. Whether or not the administration is complying with the court will happen once the court makes its decision on the merits of the case. And I think we all know what we expect that to be, but let's don't prejudge that yet. - I'll tell you what is interesting though, is that this is a president who's very direct in making claims of expansive power, this is what I can do.
When he's challenged on it, when it's a question of is there a political price to pay, he always says in this and many other contexts, well, it's up to the lawyers. But in the end of the day, the president is the person that wields the power. He has the responsibility. He's taken the oath. Right. And they're not pushing these things without him. Right. They're not like just motoring to court to challenge some issues without his interest. So shifting the power of inconvenience.
and then saying but actually i'm in charge as you say per audience it's one thing to put something in the courts to say we should be able to x y and z it's another thing to tell a national audience for sure no some people have rights and some people don't but he they are following what the court's dicta is so far and they even wish they should they should that's clearly what they have to do but his critics for five months have been shrieking oh he's preparing to defy the courts
He's not doing that and we should note it. - Okay, group chat, stay with me. We've got a lot to talk about today. Coming up on CNN this morning, major travel delays cripple one of the busiest airports in the US. Ahead, we've also got details on the list of problems that have caused the delays and cancellations for at least a week. Plus this morning, the government will once again start collecting on federal student loans that are in default. So what happens if you can't pay?
And no, it's not a joke why President Trump says he wants to reopen a prison that's held some of the most infamous criminals in history. Welcome to the Rock.
This CNN podcast is supported by Sleep Number. When something's made for you, it simply fits. You feel special. That's the sensation of a Sleep Number smart bed. You'll sleep comfortably, hot or cold, soft or firm, because it's personalized, scientifically made for you. The tech in a Sleep Number smart bed automatically responds to your movements throughout the night, keeping you comfortable and, most importantly, sleeping soundly.
Only Sleep Number smart beds let you each choose your ideal comfort and support, your sleep number setting. Sleep too hot? The Climate Series smart beds cool up to 20 times faster than leading competitors. Getting great sleep is the journey of a lifetime. And your Sleep Number smart bed tracks the evolution and improvement of your sleep for you and your partner. It's designed to make each night's rest even better. Why choose a Sleep Number smart bed? So you can choose your ideal comfort on either side.
And now it's the Sleep Number Everything Smart Bed Sale. Every smart bed and base are on sale during our Memorial Day event. Up to 50% off. Limited time. Exclusively at a Sleep Number store near you. See store or sleepnumber.com for details. You may get a little excited when you shop at Burlington. Oh, Christ! Did you see that? They have my face! It's like a whole new eye! I can bite, too! I'm saving so much!
Burlington saves you up to 60% off other retailers' prices every day. Will it be the low prices or the great brands? Burlington. Deals. Brands. Wow. I told you so. Styles and selections vary by store.
Jury selection of the long-awaited criminal trial of music mogul Sean Combs begins today. He's already turned down a plea deal that the prosecutors had offered and has pleaded not guilty to multiple charges, including sex trafficking. CNN correspondent Lee Waldman is live outside the federal courthouse in New York. Lee, let's just start with what we can expect on the opening day for this jury selection.
Adi, good to be with you this morning. So we know that these potential jurors are going to be asked a series of questions, both from Sean Diddy Combs' defense and from prosecutors as well. Now, their questions could center around their views on things like drugs, guns, sex with multiple partners, and the hip-hop industry as a whole. One expert believes that seating an impartial jury in this case, willing to just listen to the facts and view Combs as a defendant and not
someone who is best known as Diddy in the music industry could be a real challenge here. And we're expecting this trial that it could last for several weeks. They're hoping to get this jury sat within a week and have opening statements start next Monday. But they are making sure that the jury has their schedules cleared if they're selected for the next eight to 10 weeks. We also know that there's going to be a list of witnesses and victims who are called to testify. But
But it's not only this jury selection that's happening. Combs is facing a slew of civil lawsuits in addition to these federal charges that he's facing now, including from some of those victims who say that they were minors at the time when they were subjected to drugs and sexually assaulted by Combs.
All right, that's CNN's Lee Waldman. As we said, jury selection beginning in that case, so keep an eye on this for the rest of the week. Still to come on CNN This Morning, like it or not, people are already discussing who should run for president in 2028, why Stephen A. Smith is talking about running, even though he says he's not the most qualified for it. Plus, Elon Musk for mayor. SpaceX's Texas launch site just voted to make itself the state's newest town.
And we're taking a live look again at London as it marks the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe.
Starting today, if you have a federal student loan in default, you're going to have to start paying it back once again. The Education Department is warning that it's resuming collections on those loans. This could lead to millions of people having their benefits and wages garnished if they don't start paying again. In a recent op-ed, Education Secretary Linda McMahon defended her decision to do this, writing, quote, debt doesn't go away. It gets transferred to others if borrowers don't pay their debts to the government.
taxpayers do. So joining me now to discuss Preston Cooper, he's a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. Good morning, Preston.
Good morning. Thank you for having me. Okay, we know the administration wants to start collections again. There had been a pause during the pandemic, etc. But what is involved in doing that? Is the department actually ready to make these collections given the cuts to the department? I know that AEI has done some assessments where they're saying the programs and complete disarray is plagued by administrative failures.
So today's action to resume collections on defaulted loans was really only a matter of when, not a matter of if. They were going to have to do this eventually because the government needs to get its money back if students are not paying their loans. But as you mentioned, you know, this is going to be an administrative challenge to actually restart collections on the loans. Most of the actual collecting at this stage will be done by the Treasury Department, so they'll be affected less by some of the cuts.
But this was always going to have to happen. You know, if students are not paying back their loans, there do need to be consequences for that. And so Linda McMahon was going to have to turn the collection system back on eventually. And it should have been done, honestly, years ago. But now is as good a time as any.
Democratic Congressman Ro Khanna is among those arguing for continued forgiveness of student loans. He writes this restarting loan payments now will cause credit scores to plummet and risk millions of Americans ability to participate in the economy. And I want to ask you about this because there's also this plan. I think that Republicans are talking about in the in the next budget bill.
where economic hardship deferments for new borrowers after July 2025, those would end. I mean, you're talking about borrowers who could face repayment right when the economy is hurting or if they're facing financial hardship.
Well, so Republican proposals to reform the student loan program preserve an important feature of it, which is called income-driven repayment. And that means that if you have loans and your income goes up or down, say due to a recession, your payments will go up and down with your income. So you have a lower income, you get a lower payment. And the Republican plans preserve this.
But they also add an extra benefit to that, which says that if you cannot make the interest payments on your loan, if you cannot fully cover the interest, they'll actually waive that unpaid interest and they'll even credit your principal balance by a little bit to ensure that if you keep up with your payments, if you do the right thing and pay your loans, you'll see your balance go down over time and you'll pay off your loans faster.
One of the things that surprised me is the high number of people who are delinquent who are 45 and up, right? People who are in their 50s, people who are in their 60s, parents who have debt. They could be in a position, I think I see 37% of older borrowers in debt. What concerns should we have about this repayment kicking in and these changes happening to these programs
honestly, to a large number of people who are at retirement age, right? Who are at the age when they might just frankly end up on social safety net programs.
Well, we certainly need to make sure that this return to repayment transition is managed appropriately for all borrowers, older and younger, to make sure that people have the resources and the support they need to get back into the habit of repaying their loans. But the Republican proposal would also limit how much debt colleges can force on older borrowers. They would limit the Parent PLUS program, which currently allows colleges to force effect
effectively unlimited debts on parents and grandparents, they would cap that amount so that wealthy colleges can no longer force families to borrow up to their eyeballs loans that they're probably never going to be able to pay back.
Preston, I want to ask you one more thing before you go, because I think what's interesting is this reform effort is on the way. But in the meantime, there's lots of people who are locked into this debt now. Is this just a generation that is going to be lost to this debt? The idea is while you're trying to get colleges to pay more, the folks who are on the hook are just officially on the hook and that's it.
Well, the Republican plan would allow current borrowers to transition into their new repayment plan, which again, you know, allows borrowers to pay down their debts a lot faster because it waives that unpaid interest and provides that credit towards your principal. By my calculations, you know, the typical borrower would pay off their debt in just 11 years compared to 20 years under President Biden's plan. So I hope that if this plan were enacted, that would enable more borrowers to get out from under their debt and move on with their lives.
Preston Cooper, senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. All right, coming up on CNN this morning, police in Brazil following foiling a plot to attack a Lady Gaga concert on Rio de Janeiro's Copacabana Beach. Plus travel torture. Why a week of flight cancellations and delays at Newark Airport has no end in sight.
PMS, pregnancy, menopause. Being a woman is a lot. Oli supports you and yours with expert solutions for every age and life stage. They just launched two new products exclusively at Walmart. Period Hero combats bloat, mood swings, and more during PMS. And Balance Perimeno to support hormonal balance, mood, and metabolism during perimenopause. Grab yours at Oli.com. These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
Starting a business can seem like a daunting task, unless you have a partner like Shopify. They have the tools you need to start and grow your business. From designing a website, to marketing, to selling and beyond, Shopify can help with everything you need. There's a reason millions of companies like Mattel, Heinz, and Allbirds continue to trust and use them. With Shopify on your side, turn your big business idea into... Sign up for your $1 per month trial at shopify.com slash special offer.
Sir, this order will officially shorten the word recession. Oh, that's good. Recession will now be called recess. Fun, right? So America, get ready for a historically long recess. I call tetherball...
SNL, they're poking a little fun at President Trump's ongoing trade war. In an interview on Sunday, he acknowledged volatility in the stock market and said he does take responsibility. Good morning, everybody. I'm Adi Cornish. I want to thank you for joining me on CNN this morning. It's half past the hour, and here's what's happening right now.
Both sides in the Sean Combs trial are getting ready for jury selection to begin this morning. At least four alleged victims are set to testify for the prosecution. Multiple serious charges are on the table, including sex trafficking, and Combs has pleaded not guilty.
Traditional red drapes installed on the balcony overlooking St. Peter's Square at the Vatican. This is where we will see our first glimpse of the new Pope. Cardinals will gather for the conclave to elect Pope Francis' successor inside the Sistine Chapel on Wednesday. Also... Don't you need to uphold the Constitution of the United States as president? I don't know. I have to respond by saying again, I have brilliant lawyers.
The president of the United States, unsure whether he needs to uphold the Constitution, NBC's Kristen Welker, had been trying to get President Trump to answer whether U.S. citizens facing deportation should receive due process. On that question, he also answered, "I don't know." Now, the president also wants to reopen Alcatraz. He posted last night that he's ordering the Bureau of Prisons to rebuild the notorious prison so it can house America's most ruthless and violent offenders.
It's a symbol of law and order. And it's got quite a history, frankly. So I think we're going to do that, and we're looking at it right now.
Group chat is back. I want to talk about that idea of the symbol, because I think the president cares a lot about symbols. I think that a lot of his presidency and how he really talks to his base is doing these, what I like to call, not necessarily just performative, but things that look as if he's in charge and he says that he's in charge. Alcatraz, I think for many people,
is a place to go and visit and have some fun with your family. It is a tourist attraction. It's a tourist attraction. And in fact, if you go to the website, I think, they say it had to be closed because it was so expensive to maintain. So expensive to maintain. And to me, it doesn't make sense if we're trying to save money, too. Why reopen such a thing that would cost more money, like billions of dollars to keep it running? It makes no sense. A time when you're sending a scythe through the federal government to save money, opening it doesn't make sense. But I think you're right. It's...
It's a symbol. It makes Trump look tough. And it's probably one of those things which he says very deliberately for effect.
and they probably are never going to end up happening. He probably doesn't think it's ever going to happen, but he gets the points for saying it in the moment. Yeah, send. Was that your typing? I'm on Twitter. This is a way to maintain brand, right? People trust Donald Trump to be tough on crime. This is a vernacular way to enunciate that. He's talking in the language that regular Americans would talk about, and he's not going to reopen Alcatraz.
But he is going to be tough on crime, and that's what he's saying. Okay, one more thing. The president is considering a 100% tariff on foreign-made films that are shown in the United States. Let me see. I think we have him explaining that.
Is there tariffs on intellectual property? Is that a thing?
I'm not sure, actually. Is that really a thing? I think what intrigued me about this is after the labor strikes, there was a fleeing from Hollywood of production companies, right? Because they were like, oh, okay, we don't want to pay this. So he would be forcing them to come back. And a lot of these people gave to his campaign. I'm sort of surprised to be hearing this particular issue. I can't wait to see the Hollywood coalition that rallies around Donald Trump's economic policy on bringing movie production back
to the states. If Sean Fain could do it for Detroit. I'm from Appalachia and the movie Cold Mountain, you may remember that. It's about a soldier's trek across Appalachia. That was shot, I think, in Bulgaria. And so he is on to something here. A lot of American creative material that comes back to American movies has been pushed offshore. Some of that's because California's regulations are so onerous and it's hard to make money. But is he
onto something or is he trying to get Hollywood to capitulate to him as a way the tech industry is? Is he trying to capitulate? Well, have a partner with him. Literally have them say, how are you? Maybe he wants them to partner with him. I mean, maybe he wants to partner. I mean, he's done it with tech and we've seen it and Hollywood seems to be very adamant about how they feel about this administration and him exactly. A little more reluctant. So maybe this is his way to say, guess what? But,
I can get you here. - The stars in Hollywood do great when they go overseas, but you know who doesn't do well is the makeup artists, the grips, the people who are running the electric department, the blue collar workers of movie production. They don't get the jobs when the movies go overseas. - Okay, Steven, let me let you jump in here. - Places like Toronto and the UK, I mean, it's called competition. They're competing against some of these US-based industries.
The thing here, though, is that movies are a massive export for the United States. There's a massive surplus, unlike a lot of the goods the president's talking about, about the trade deficit. Yeah, the primacy of the movie industry in the U.S. is not in doubt. So if foreign countries decide, okay, well, we're going to put a 100% tariff on U.S. movies, it's not going to be very popular abroad, but that could really hurt the industry. And, you know, I'm going to make a guess here that
most of the people that watch foreign movies in the United States live in democratic, liberal cities. Massive generalization, I know, but it's a cultural thing too. But to his point, it is about incentives, not punishment. It's often been an industry where it's carrots, not sticks. So why would sticks be useful here? Like the reason why people go abroad is because they are given...
incentive to do so. Appalachia could have done that, right? West Virginia could have done that. They did not. Well, it's a skewing. The subsidies are a skewing of the market by the foreign industries. And I think that the notion that we should make American movies in America is going to be pretty popular. I mean, let's see how the members of the odds... But it's not American movies. It's foreign-made movies. I think he's talking about our movie industry, he said. He's talking about movies that are made for the American audience that are written in America, produced across...
I can't wait to see if the IATSE union rallies to get on this. Yeah, we'll see, because if we looked at the last Oscars, it was a lot of international films that made it to Best Picture, so I'm sure people will care about this in that industry. Group chat, stick around. We've got more to talk about. But first, we've got to get to something pretty serious. There are two suspects in custody this morning for allegedly planning to bomb a Lady Gaga concert in Brazil.
So police say that these suspects were targeting the LGBTQ community and that they attempted to recruit people, including teenagers, to carry out attacks at Saturday's concert. The weapons, improvised explosives, Molotov cocktails. Investigators say a group that promotes hate speech and encourages violence among teens orchestrated this. One of them allegedly had an even darker plan.
He claimed the singer had a Satanist religious inclination and as such he would respond in the same way and that he would also promote a Satanist ritual by killing a child or a baby in a live stream during the show.
Ken Gray joins us. He's a former FBI special agent and criminal justice lecturer at the University of New Haven. It sounds like what we're hearing in the reporting is that they may have benefited from some U.S. intelligence sharing here. Can you talk about what you're hearing from police, your reaction?
So it's my understanding that the Ministry of Justice there in Brazil picked up on this through the Internet and then provided that tip to the state police there in Rio de Janeiro. And so they were able to hear this conversation going on, identify who some of the key players were, and then conduct a series of raids to be able to go out and search the homes,
and find out whether or not they actually had these weapons. Molotov cocktails are very easy to construct, a bottle with a rag in it with gasoline. Other incendiary devices, not fully described yet, but they conducted raids and made a couple of arrests, three arrests that I know of. One of the leader of the group, one of a teen who was arrested for child pornography during the search of his computer,
uh... and the third person being that no person who was planning to do the the ritualistic uh... uh... sacrifice of a baby or child uh... and so very successful law enforcement
of this attack on the crowd, a soft target there in Rio. - You said soft target, just last August, Taylor Swift was forced to cancel her performances in Austria over an alleged suicide attack plot. Why are concerts still considered soft targets? - And don't forget, a successful attack against the crowd there at Ariana Grande's concert there in the UK. You know, there's,
Little security. The security that does occur is at the entrance to the venues, but the attacks have been occurring outside the venues so far where people are trying to get into the concerts where there is no security at that point.
large group of people. Look, down in New Orleans, the attack on New Year's Eve, that was a car driven down the street running over people who were there celebrating. So anywhere you have a large gathering of people, you have the possibility of terrorism. That's former FBI Special Agent Ken Gray. Thank you. Thank you.
So House Republicans are looking to make big moves this week to enact what's being called one big beautiful bill for President Trump's agenda. So they're aiming to slash $1.5 trillion in spending over the next decade. How exactly they get there remains to be seen. Over the weekend, House Budget Chair Jody Arrington seemed to signal that cuts to Medicaid are still on the table, suggesting changes there would save billions of dollars.
You've got hundreds of billions siphoned out for other purposes than serving the Medicaid beneficiary. There is no work requirement for able-bodied adults like there is in every other means-tested welfare program. And, in fact, Medicaid, because we give a higher federal match to able-bodied adult population, this is the Obamacare expansion population.
Joining me now to discuss Ron Brownstein, CNN's senior political analyst. Ron, you've been writing a lot about this. You've been on the show talking about it. Can you help translate what the congressman is suggesting? Is this about straight cuts? Is this about reforms? What are you hearing? Well, you know, the soundbite you pick really kind of gives away the game of where they want to go and whether they will be allowed to. I mean, what the chairman there is really focusing in on
are the 20 million lower income working people who have received coverage through Medicaid under the expansion that was authorized by the Affordable Care Act in 2012. And the key point that he's kind of referencing is that to get states to do it, the Affordable Care Act gave them more money to offset the cost of these people than it did for the kind of basic Medicaid population. 20 million people are now covered
under the Medicaid expansion. And many of them are kind of the classic profile of Trump voters. I mean, they are low income people who are working. The expansion, you know, raised Medicaid's kind of reach up the income ladder, not that
like $16,000 for an individual, $21,000 for a couple. At the same time that the Trump revolution has kind of extended the Republican reach down the income ladder. So you now are in a situation where Republicans who have historically looked to Medicaid for big cuts as a way to offset their desire to squeeze government, help fund their tax cuts,
Republicans represent big constituencies that rely on Medicaid. As I reported with data from KFF, there are about 65 House Republicans where more Medicaid recipients than average live in their district. There are 32 where there are more recipients specifically from the expansion in their district, including every House Republican in Louisiana, including the Speaker, Mike Johnson, have over 100,000 recipients.
people receiving care through the Medicaid expansion in their district. And not only would those people be affected by the kind of changes that the chairman is talking about, all the providers who would suddenly be asked to provide a lot more uncompensated care and would face risk of going under, particularly in rural areas, they would also have a lot at stake in the changes that are being discussed.
Ron, before I let you go, could this be a sticking point? Could this be something that could draw people, particularly moderate Republicans, away from supporting this bill? Or is the legislation just too big? Is the bill just too large? Too big to fail? You know, look, I mean, I've covered the 1995-96 Medicaid battle, budget battle between Newt Gingrich and the Republican Congress and Bill Clinton, really centered on Medicaid, on the Republican desire to block, grant, and control
cut Medicaid. At that point, Republicans did not feel like it was a program that affected a lot of their constituents and were pretty comfortable about cutting it. We're in a different world now. As I said, a lot of low income, non-college, white working people rely on Medicaid. Medicaid is critical also, Audie, in the opioid fight.
It is the biggest source of federal dollars for treatment, and more than half of all people on Medicaid who are receiving treatment through Medicaid, have all people in the country receiving treatment through Medicaid do so through the expansion. So Republicans have a lot of constituents with a lot
at stake and this is one of the lines where moderates are drawing sort of a line you know I mean you have people saying they won't accept more than 400 to 500 billion in cuts over Medicaid over a decade that is still plenty to significantly reduce the number of people receiving care through it 6.8 million total people in Republican held districts are receiving their health care through the Medicaid expansion specifically and we'll see if and when
House moderates draw the line at how many of those they are willing to see lose that coverage, you know, at the same time to pay for tax cuts that primarily benefit the affluent. That's Ron Bronstein, CNN's senior political analyst. Okay, still ahead on CNN this morning, the trial of Sean Combs begins in just a matter of hours. What to expect as jury selection gets underway in a case that could send the music mogul to prison for decades if he's convicted. Plus, we'll talk about this. By God's grace...
I did my duty that day. Former Vice President Mike Pence accepting an award for his actions on January 6th. What he says about that day at the U.S. Capitol. More from the group chat after this.
From chart-topping hits to a New York courthouse, the federal trial of hip-hop star and music mogul Sean Combs starts today, and he faces serious legal charges. So what's at stake as the potential jurors show up at the courthouse and as witnesses prepare to testify? We're joined now by former federal prosecutor Elise Adamson. Elise, good morning. Good morning, Ani. So first I have to show, if you live in New York, Washington Post, just one question, did he or didn't he?
The reason why I'm showing this is how do you, what do you even ask a juror to weed them in or out of a trial that's as well known as this? That's a great question. And it's headlines like that that's going to make this a very hard task for the defense, quite frankly, because everybody knows, or not everybody, but
A lot of the population have heard about this case. Very salacious case, very lurid details. People have been interested in this. So what the defense and prosecution are going to be focused on is whether or not a jury can be fair and impartial. They can't come in with any biases. They can't have strong opinions about things like intimate partner violence or having multiple partners. And those are kind of sensitive questions.
And so it's going to take very skilled lawyers to ferret out any potential biases here. OK, when I looked at the charges, I understood them on their face of trafficking, abuse and things like that. But actually, I want to get your sense of what it is prosecutors are saying he did. What do they have to prove in this trial?
And that's a really good question. This is a complicated case. This indictment is charging technically complicated legal theories. It all boils down to coercion and force. They have to prove that everything that Sean Combs did was by force. These women were not consenting participants in this behavior. And I think we can expect that to be the defense.
"Yeah, Sean Combs isn't a great guy, but all these women wanted to do this." - And that's a big part of the defense, right? Like whether there might have been alleged drugs at a party, anything you see, the person was there 'cause they wanted to be. Is that basically the defense? And what does that mean for these witnesses? - That's exactly right.
The entire legal theory here for the government's perspective is that they were unwilling participants. It was all through coercion. So the defense has to prove that they wanted to be there. This is all going to turn on witness credibility. Yikes. It's tough. Yeah, yeah. I'm not looking forward to that, frankly. But former federal prosecutor Elise Adamson, thank you so much for being here. I appreciate it. Thanks for having me on. I appreciate it. Okay, it's 52 minutes past the hour. Here's your morning roundup.
New this morning, there's been a shooting at a restaurant in Glendale, Arizona. It left at least three people dead, five injured. Police say there may have been multiple shooters involved. Several people had been detained for questioning, but at last check, no one has been arrested.
and seven days of delays and flight cancellations at Newark Airport. There's no end in sight. There are already dozens of cancellations just this morning. A shortage of air traffic controllers is getting the bulk of the blame, but the Transportation Secretary also pointed to the closure of a major runway and technology failures caused by outdated equipment.
And former Vice President Mike Pence received a JFK Profile in Courage Award last night, in part for his actions during the attack on the Capitol in 2021. - January 6th was a tragic day, but it became a triumph of freedom. - Pence at that time was taken to a secure location as the riot was unfolding, eventually returned to the Senate floor to certify Joe Biden's victory in the 2020 election.
OK, so could we be talking about President Stephen A. Smith in four years? The sports commentator now openly speculating about running for the White House, something the current president thinks would be a good idea.
Stephen A., he's a good guy. He's a smart guy. I love watching him. He's got great entertainment skills, which is very important. People watch him. You know, a lot of these Democrats I watch, I say they have no chance. I've been pretty good at picking people and picking candidates. And I will tell you, I'd love to see him run. During an interview with CNN this weekend, Smith laid out why he thinks he could win.
I believe that if I did take this very, very seriously and I moved forward and I decided that I wanted to be a politician, do I believe I could win? You're damn right. But it's by default. It's not because I'm the most qualified candidate in the world. It's because of the state of our politics in the nation's capital, the politicians that we're looking at and the fact that we don't believe for one second that they are serving the interest of the American people, nor are they interested in it.
Group chat is back. I'm going to play a clip in a minute of him talking about what he thinks is wrong with the Democratic Party. But during the break, Kerry Champion, you called you referred to him as sass. OK, this is your world. And as you've pointed out, he's talked about this before back in 2011. What's different do you hear in the way he's talking about it now? Well, I think with President Trump not only endorsing him, but the way in which President Trump leads, the way he talks, he's removed all the political, you know, jargon out of being
a candidate, if you will. - Yeah, kind of changed the credentials. - He's changed the credentials, and the way that Stephen A talks, the way that he performs, that plain speak, that tough on this type of image, really does resonate for whatever reasons with the base, and you know consistently what you're gonna get from Stephen A, very much like you know what you're gonna get from the current president.
And so for him to say that about Stephen A. Smith makes sense to me because he sees himself, thinly, in the way in which Stephen A. performs. Stephen A. has always been, I've said this, even working with him on First Take, he's always been one of the greatest performers we've ever had on television.
I guess that's what it takes sometimes. - He's talked about being socially liberal, fiscally conservative. Here's what he said the Democratic Party would have to look like if he were to run kind of, I guess, affiliated with them.
If I had to run, it would be as a Democrat, but I'm not happy with the Democratic Party. So the Democratic Party is presently constructed. It would pretty much need to be purged in order for me to assume that I would want to be associated with them and I would garner their support because I don't like the way they've gone about doing a lot of things for a very, very long period of time.
OK, a purge. Who goes? So if the Democrats are looking for bombast, celebrity, populism in the next election, if that's the answer to the Trump years, perhaps he has a chance. The thing is, though, that Democrats really like government. And all the Democratic campaigns I've covered, presidential campaigns,
their details, they want people to talk about policy, they don't necessarily want a populist. It seems more likely to me that a populist would be on the left of the Democratic Party than someone that's actually pretty much arguing for centrist politics and a lot of things. Maybe the Democratic Party is such a strange beast you could have a
a raging centrist populist, but it doesn't seem very likely. I don't think it's that. When I look at, say, Project 2025 and Trump, or even Trump won, he brought the performance, the energy, the connection. Someone else brought the policy. And couldn't that work in this scenario? Aren't Democrats wondering if they can do that too? Well, Trump's secret sauce was he ran against the Republican Party in 2016. Selena Zito and I wrote a book about it, and the realignment was cemented.
because he ran against the Democratic Party and the Republican Party. Jeb Bush represented the old Republican Party. Hillary Clinton, the old Democrat Party. But if Stephen A. Smith would do that. Right. That's what he's replicating here. But also Stephen A. said something I thought was interesting. He said, I'm not going to fall for this. He thinks I could lose. That's why he's trying to encourage me to go out there and do it. Yeah, he wasn't smiling during the election.
out of your skills. It was a very lukewarm reception. He was like, I don't know about this, but you're right, Stephen A. could do that because, and to your point, someone else can make the policy. He can go and do the performance. What I don't know is if anybody could get the Democratic nomination running against the Democratic Party because the Democratic Party right now is really homogenous.
and they follow orders from headquarters. And so I don't know if Stephen A. Smith could do that. Seems like the cracks are in that facade. But yeah, I want to talk about what we're going to be keeping an eye on this week. It's only Monday. Brad, let me start with you.
Well, the White House last week said that they're considering an executive order on college sports. The president went to the University of Alabama's campus, flew down with Tommy Tuberville. This is a very complicated issue, and Congress is actually, it's a place where there's actually bipartisan support in Congress for some ideas. And so I'm keeping an eye on to see if the president decides to wade into this. I also learned that you were a sports writer when you first started out. So I will be coming to you every minute now about that. I'm not in Carrie's league. I know, I know.
- Oh, you-- - It's fine. - That group chat will just say sports with like a ball. Okay, Carrie. - I'm actually looking forward to the WNBA season starting, which is May 16th. Preseason is underway. The reason why I'm interested in it is because Kaitlyn Clark was such a lightning rod last season.
And now that she has settled and said, I will not be weaponized in any political way for any political party, I'm wondering if this administration will take notice and have things to say about this particular group of women playing sports and what that actually translates to because people are having all these different conversations about women's sports. And it could just be about the game, maybe. Perhaps. Stephen Goldson. Keep an eye on Capitol Hill this week. I think the pressure's going to ramp up over the big, beautiful bill. The details. I think generally the speaker...
has not been given enough credit for the way he's managed to marshal a very difficult majority, but there's going to be real tensions between the blue
There are blue Republicans in blue state seats who are looking towards the midterm elections and some of the more conservative Republicans on fiscal issues. If he can get this through, it's a big thing for his own legacy and for the president. I'll be looking for those details as well. Stephen, thank you. Thanks to the group chat. And thank you all for waking up with us. I'm Adi Cornish and CNN News Central starts now.
When something's made for you, it simply fits. You feel special. That's the sensation of a Sleep Number smart bed. You'll sleep comfortably, hot or cold, soft or firm, because it's personalized, scientifically made for you. Sleep Number smart beds learn how you sleep and provide personalized insights to help you sleep better. Why choose a Sleep Number smart bed? So you can choose your ideal comfort on either side.
And now it's the Sleep Number Everything Smart Bed Sale. Every smart bed and base are on sale during our Memorial Day event. Up to 50% off. Limited time. Exclusively at a Sleep Number store near you. See store or sleepnumber.com for details.
Take a journey with your favorite stars to their favorite places in the new CNN original series, My Happy Place. Join Alan Cumming, Taraji P. Henson, Simu Liu, and more. A new episode of My Happy Place premieres Sunday at 10 on CNN.