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Good morning, it's Friday, May 2nd, and here's what's happening right now on CNN this morning. So it wasn't let go. He is being made ambassador to the United Nations. So there's a shakeup going on. President Trump ousted Mike Waltz as national security advisor and now wants him at the U.N. What's behind the sudden move and what it means for the nation's defense strategy? There is no accounting of what payments actually go to the payment computer.
With Elon Musk heading back to Tesla and leaving the White House, what will Doge look like now? And forget about GDP, the real indicator that matters, the April jobs report. Well, that comes out today. How have the Trump tariffs affected job growth? Plus this. My payments were $1,250 a month on a firm in Klarna, that is.
As more people shift to buy now and pay later services for everyday expenses, what does this mean for the U.S. economy? And a look ahead to that long-awaited Sean Combs trial, what he told the court yesterday about a plea deal that the prosecution has offered. It's 6 a.m. here on the East Coast, a foggy sunrise in New York. Good morning to all of you. I'm Adi Cornish, and I want to thank you for waking up with me.
So we're going to start with a little bit of White House H.R., the so-called promotion of Mike Waltz. He's been removed from his post as President Trump's national security adviser. Instead, he'll be nominated for the role of ambassador to the U.N. Secretary of State Marco Rubio will take over as national security adviser, at least for now.
It was Mike Waltz who mistakenly added a journalist with Signal Chat where military plans were being discussed in March. And then Waltz was just photographed appearing to use Signal during the president's cabinet meeting this week, one day before his removal.
Why was Mike Walz let go? So it wasn't let go. He is being made ambassador to the United Nations, which of course is a Senate confirmed position. I think you can make a good argument that it's a promotion. Donald Trump has fired a lot of people. He doesn't give them Senate confirmed appointments afterwards. So the administration is sticking to that argument. They're also downplaying the use of Signal by the president's team.
The White House communications director saying Signal is an approved app that is loaded onto our government phones. Joining me now in the group chat on a Friday, Kevin Fry, Washington correspondent for Spectrum News, New York One. Rob Bluey, president and executive editor of The Daily Signal. And New York Times journalist and podcast host Lulu Garcia Navarro. So this is one of those things where when you exit a job, which I feel like is the safest term I can use right now.
Is like, is it a promotion? Is it a lateral move? Is it a demotion? And a lot of this has to do with the fact that like, what does a Trump administration think of the UN, right? Like this isn't exactly- Oh, okay. Lulu's in the chat. She says demotion. Let's be clear. This is our job as journalists to call things as they are.
But it's not a firing, which clearly the White House did not want to do. It's not a firing, but the U.N. job is not exactly like primo territory. It's also Senate-confirmed, and I have to say Democrats are rubbing their hands in glee because they want to get Waltz sitting in front of them to be able to grill him, so there's going to be a spectacle there. You mean we're going to keep hearing about signal chat forever? Yeah, this is not... Rob Bluey, demotion, promotion, lateral.
move. Probably more of a lateral move or demotion. I think it's a stretch to call it a promotion. Conservatives, as you know, have long disliked the United Nation. I mean, it's not necessarily a place that you aspire to go. But I do think that there's something here at play beyond signal. And I think that there was probably misalignment between the National Security Advisor and Trump. This is what...
The recording there is between them and also Susie Wiles, right? Sure, sure. His power in the White House was wobbly. But his outlook at a time when Trump is taking a more restrained position when it comes to foreign policy, perhaps Mike Walz was a little too hawkish, and that displeased some people within the White House. Right. I think he was somebody who was talking about support for Ukraine, right? Right in a moment where the White House wanted more negotiating room with them.
Okay, so you guys are joking about this gig. However, there are people who wanted this gig. People in New York. Other Congress people. Yes, one in particular. Congresswoman Elise Stefanik already was clearly very frustrated, as has been reported multiple times over the week. So she was the initial choice for U.N. ambassador. Was the initial choice for U.N. ambassador, went through the confirmation hearing, was basically on a glide path to getting confirmed, likely with...
bipartisan support in the US Senate, which we know is not necessarily an easy feat nowadays. And yet, because of the numbers in the House, she was basically asked to take one for the team, at least that's how she's presenting it, and stick around in the US House of Representatives. Keep in mind, she had- So Passover won. Passover won. Now number two-
Well, I was going to say, keep in mind, she has really spent the last five, six years being one of Trump's most outspoken defenders publicly on the national stage, going back to his first impeachment. She has latched herself to him and really has seen her star power rise as a result of that.
So she is really given a lot to the Trump camp. Now she's been passed over for that. She gets thrown back into the House of Representatives, still hasn't been added to the Intel Committee because they don't know how to figure out how to get her on there. And she's been given kind of this obscure title that isn't really in the chain of command, but also as part of the chain of command, as part of being part back in the House leadership. And then you throw in one of the other Republicans that left the House to only tighten the margins further, which
was why she wasn't allowed to leave anyway, is now going to get potentially the job that she was supposed to get. All right, so the shock of all this is that I haven't had a version of this conversation about five other jobs, right? When you think about the first Trump administration, so many people passing out. That is just not the case this time around.
It is a much more stable cabinet. He feels very strongly about the people he has in place. Vice President Vance was being asked about Pete Hegseth, right? Because at the end of the day, he's the one who shared plans on this signal chat. And here's what he had to say about whether the defense secretary's job is safe.
Is Pete Hegseth safe as Defense Secretary? Are there other changes coming? Well, again, I think certainly yes, Pete Hegseth is safe. Are we surprised? I think Pete Hegseth is safe. I mean, Pete Hegseth obviously went to a contentious— Is it because of his support within the party itself or Trump himself? Oh, sure. I think both, Audie. I mean, I think that that's clear. I think also Pete Hegseth is clearly aligned with Trump and the policy agenda that he wants to see implemented and also the personnel side.
they've stood by Pete Hegseth not only through a very contentious confirmation process but obviously in the weeks that follow and Pete Hegseth has shown some results. I mean military recruiting is way up under Pete Hegseth's leadership. Wait a second. Military recruiting is way up but it has been
you know, growing under the Biden administration. You know, this is not something that he can solely take credit for, even though he is taking credit for that and even though the president is taking credit for that. What I would say about Pete Hegseth is the following. I think he is safe. You're absolutely right. I think he's shown himself to be, like, utterly loyal. And that is what we're seeing in this new cabinet.
Loyalty is what matters. Is that why Marco Rubio now has four jobs? Exactly. Okay. Just so people know, he's now Secretary of State, Acting National Security Advisor, Acting USAD Administrator, which is really kind of, I mean, it's gutted, so that's not much of a job. And then also Acting National Archivist. But I do think that this relationship now between Rubio and Hegseth will be quite interesting. Remember, the National Security Advisor in some cases was a referee between the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Defense. So now that Rubio has been...
both jobs. This has not happened, as we know, since the Nixon administration. Oh, did John Bolton do it? No, not have both. No, no. This has not literally happened since the Nixon administration, where you have the Secretary of State also being the National Security Advisor. It was Kissinger, I think, who held those two roles. It was, by all accounts, I wasn't alive then, disastrous. And so this is going to be very interesting. These are big jobs. I don't know how, you know, I
I mean, Secretary Rubio is a very smart man, very capable former senator, but these are big jobs. And now he is the one to watch. Group chat, stay with me. We've got lots more to talk about. In fact, coming up on CNN this morning, we're just days away from the papal conclave. And today, a new chimney rises over the Sistine Chapel and all eyes will be on the colored smoke signaling the naming of a new pope.
And the focus so far has been about fluoride in the water. It's actually now shifting to toothpaste. We're going to talk about why the Texas Attorney General is launching an investigation into that. And we're going to look at the buy now, pay later services plans for pretty much anything. But what could make the buy now part even harder now?
But the headline everyone's talking about is that retailers fear a toy shortage this Christmas. What are we going to give our kids? A single rock'em sock'em robot? I'm CNN tech reporter Claire Duffy. This week on the podcast, Terms of Service. What to do if the stock market's big drop is getting to you.
What's going to happen? We're going to see an economic slowdown and prices are going to go up. To help me make sense of all of this, I talked to Jean Sahadi. Jean is a senior writer for CNN Business. She has covered everything from executive leadership to personal finance. We had a great economy in 2024. Follow CNN's Terms of Service wherever you get your podcasts.
It's now 15 minutes past the hour. Here's your morning roundup. President Trump has signed an executive order to end federal funding for NPR and PBS. In a post online, the White House accused the broadcasters of spreading, quote, radical woke propaganda. The order also instructs the government to investigate NPR and PBS for possible employment discrimination.
We also have this British comedian and actor Russell Brand in court in London today. He was granted conditional bail following charges of rape and assault. He has denied all the allegations. And the transportation department here in the US offering extra money to try to attract new air traffic controllers. New hires who go through the special training program would get $5,000. You get $10,000 if you go to locations that are harder to staff.
and the Attorney General in Texas now investigating toothpaste makers. He's accusing them of illegally marketing their products in a way that could lead kids to use too much toothpaste and as a result, take in too much fluoride. This comes just after Florida lawmakers approved a bill that would make this state the second to ban fluoride in drinking water.
And still to come on CNN This Morning, we're just hours away from another key indicator of how the president is handling the economy. The April jobs report is almost here. What impact have the tariffs and doge cuts had on hiring in America? Plus, the Knicks knock off the Pistons with a clutch three-pointer. We've got the latest from the NBA playoffs.
Good morning Seattle. Sunrise is still hours away. Of course, it's 15 minutes past 3 a.m. there and it's 53 degrees.
Going off script here because I have been wondering, like, how are people still spending in this economy? And it turns out a lot of you are putting everything from, like, I don't know, concert tickets to take out on the modern day version of layaway. In a recent poll for a lending tree, nearly half the people surveyed said they've used buy now, pay later services. A quarter of those people said they've used the services to buy groceries.
Earlier this year, DoorDash announced it would partner with Klarna to offer people the option to pay for fast food and for interest-free payments. Now, to help us make financial sense of this, Ramit Sethi, host of How to Get Rich and Money for Couples. I see your eyebrows up already, Ramit. I know you are not interested in this idea of using credit in this way. Can you talk about when the couples that come to you...
What do you say to the couples who use this? Let's cut to the chase. This is freaking crazy. Just like me using my taxable retirement account to pay for Burger King. It makes no sense whatsoever. I asked thousands of people last night on my social channels, what is their experience with buy now, pay later? The craziest thing. So many people said, oh, I use it. I get an interest-free loan for six months. No big deal.
Then I asked him, tell me your disaster stories. The stories I got are absolute insanity. Somebody said it's like a credit card on steroids. Another person said it's a credit card. You don't even remember what you bought. Now you're stuck paying $100 biweekly. Also, you can get a bagel. No, thank you.
The bagel's not enough for me. Okay, I'm going to put that on the chyron for you. What does it say to you about this economy? I mean, people, you have the White House saying, no, things are pretty good. Don't worry about it. But I feel like maybe these are part of the smoke signals of like, maybe not so much.
Well, first of all, we can disregard whatever the White House says about the economy. OK, I don't believe in propaganda. But secondly, I do think it says something about the economy. But I also think that we in our financialized world, the more we offer people easier ways to purchase things, the more people are going to do it. That's what human beings do. If it's easy, we're going to take it. Now, just because you can doesn't mean you should.
I think the thing is people feel like this is their way maybe of getting to have the experiences they want when they can't, when other experiences feel like they can't achieve them, right? So let's say like buying a house, interest rates haven't moved in a way that would entice people. It's very difficult to do that savings. And that's the kind of thing I would think you would want to take on a lot of debt for.
it really by now payne pay later really speaks to our these structural problems in our economy the fact that housing is so incredibly expensive not just because of interest rates but largely because of a lack of supply which trickles down all the way because of zoning issues
The average person is not sitting here studying zoning. They don't understand Prop 13 and its relationship to housing costs in California. What they see is I want to go on vacation or I want to buy this gadget. And this thing gives me a really easy way of doing it, presumably with six months free interest. Why wouldn't I? The problem is it works until it doesn't. And when it doesn't, then you are in big trouble.
Ramit Sethi, author of Money for Couples, incredible YouTube, of course, TV show on Netflix. Thank you so much for being here. Appreciate your time. Thank you. So still ahead on CNN this morning, close to the brink, why U.S. officials are putting pressure on India and Pakistan to avoid a new conflict. And Prince Harry fighting back why he calls changes to his security detail unfair.
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It's hard for Trump, you know, protesters making posters, using his beloved Sharpies against him, but maybe if he hadn't fired all those people, they wouldn't be able to march at 2 o'clock on a Thursday afternoon. Thousands taking to the streets to protest President Trump and Elon Musk's firing of federal workers. 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.
In just two hours, the April jobs report will be released. Economists expect the unemployment rate to remain steady, but a disappointing jobs report could rattle markets already shaken up by this week's GDP report and tariff uncertainty. Music mogul Sean Combs told a judge that he turned down a plea deal that the prosecution had offered in the charges against him. His trial is set to begin Monday. He pleaded not guilty to multiple charges, including sex trafficking.
And a High Court in England will soon rule on a major case involving Prince Harry. Since giving up his royal duties, the Duke of Sussex has received downgraded police protection when he is in Britain. He's appealing that decision. Harry argues that he's been singled out and that security concerns have affected his ability to visit the UK.
Now, back to our lead story today, President Trump shaking up his national security team after the now infamous Signal group chat scandal. The president removed national security advisor Mike Waltz from that job and is now nominating Waltz to be U.N. ambassador. Secretary of State Marco Rubio would replace him for now. The White House is not saying that this is punishment for the Signal chat scandal, but some on Capitol Hill have linked it directly to that.
I think they're holding the wrong guy accountable. I think the part that was most troubling to me about this was the information that was shared, not accidentally putting a journalist on there. The real problem with it, of course, to your point, is the sharing of at least confidential, if not classified, information on an insecure platform. I don't know that Mike Waltz is the last person to lose his job over it.
We're going to discuss this with former counsel to the Assistant Attorney General for National Security, Jamil Jaffer. Welcome to CNN This Morning. Thanks for having me on. Now, we should know you are familiar with these players, with Walton also, I believe Alex Wong, who was his deputy. Do you think that this is a demotion? How is this move being seen? Well, look, obviously being a U.N. ambassador is an important job. It's an important job in any administration. In this administration, given this one that doesn't believe in the U.N.
Well, maybe so because you're away in New York, you're able to sort of run your own book. Nikki Haley did it successfully for a number of years during the first Trump administration. So this actually might be a good post for Mike Waltz to get a little space away from the White House, all the chaos and all of what's going on down there. So I think it's in some ways a promotion for him because it benefits him being out of the chaos of D.C.,
the treadmill of the Trump administration. At the same time, I think that people are going to view it as a demotion because he wanted to be in that role. He wanted to be in the White House. The president had given him that confidence, and it appears
appears probably not because of signal, but more because of questions about alignment of policy and this whole Laura Loomer thing that we saw happen where a number of people were fired. And we should say, not to gloss over that, you had somebody who has the ear of the president come in and say, I don't think these people are loyal to you, whatever else she introduced, but it ended up gutting the people kind of in his department.
And some of the key people who are leading some of the most important initiatives. You think about National Security Advisor, this is the person who helps the president run global policy. Now the president's close to Steve Witkoff, he's been using him a lot for stuff that you typically use the National Security Advisor for, the Secretary of State for, so we'll see how this goes. Marco Rubio now playing four different jobs in the administration. He does. What's interesting here is that
This job, national security advisor, you're supposed to resolve differences, right, between the Pentagon guys, the State Department, the intelligence agencies. It's a lot of moderating, mediating that you're supposed to be doing. How disruptive is this for our national security?
Look, I think it's very disruptive. I think this goes back to the chaos of the first Trump administration with the firing of his first national security advisor. All the turnover in the White House, we're seeing that start again. It's going to happen. It's sort of the nature of it. In a lot of ways, you know, it's not the nature of it, right? Like, isn't the argument that basically you want stability in these positions specifically? It's not like, I mean, no shade to the interior secretary, but like there's certain jobs where if there's a little bit of turnover, you're like,
it's okay. No, you're exactly right. In fact, in terms of the former Trump administration, you think about sort of the chaos, the Hunger Games-esque nature of the White House where people, everyone sort of stabbing everybody in the back and trying to get their edge. You see that happening here. It's clear that people in the administration weren't fans of Mike Walton. It appears he had a tussle with the vice president, J.D. Vance. That's obviously a problem. And then you saw in that signal chat something very interesting. The person who comes in to say,
here's what the president wants is not Mike Waltz, it's Stephen Miller. Stephen Miller, who really, you know, shouldn't be playing a role. He's the deputy chief of staff for policy. In theory, he has some role in this. He's a Homeland Security advisor. I mean, he's another person with a lot of jobs, right? So you see these players, Steve Witkoff, Stephen Miller. So these people are close to the president. And then outside influences like Laura Loomer, you know, sailing in, getting people fired at the White House. This is not a traditional administration, to your point. And it's not typical and it's not good for national security, the chaos.
One more thing, there are reports that Waltz was too sort of hawkish. Now that you have someone like Marco Rubio serving an interim role, do you think that there's a significant shift here or is he really a placeholder?
Look, in a lot of ways, Marco Rubio and Mike Waltz are similar on a lot of national security issues than other people in the administration who are much more isolationist, who think we've got to step back from the world, you know, the sort of lead-from-behind mentality of prior administrations. That's not the Mike Waltz and Marco Rubio view of the world. And so we'll see this internal fight within the Trump administration. We're seeing it sort of play out on national television.
All right. Jamil Jaffer, thank you. Always appreciate you coming on the show. He's the former counsel to the assistant attorney general for national security. All right. We're now going to talk about rising tensions between India and Pakistan. The U.S. is trying to help prevent an all out war. Last week, a gunman killed 26 people, mainly tourists in the area of Kashmir that India controls. And India is accusing Pakistan of being involved in the attack.
Pakistan denies this. Now, since then, there's been this back and forth of hostilities. Our hope here is that India responds to this terrorist attack in a way that doesn't lead to a broader regional conflict. And we hope, frankly, that Pakistan, to the extent that they're responsible, cooperates with India to make sure that the terrorists sometimes operating in their territory are hunted down and dealt with. That's how we hope this unfolds. We're obviously in close contact. We'll see what happens.
Nick Robertson is live in Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan. Good morning, Nick. I just want to start with Secretary of State Rubio, Defense Hegseth, who have both been in contact with officials from both countries. Can you tell us what you've learned about discussions?
Yeah, it's broadly seen by Pakistani officials here that the U.S. is significantly trying to help, as it has done in the past. They're seen as being a fair interlocutor who's sending the similar messages to India, that this is not a situation where they feel that the United States is favoring one side or the other. They see them as an honest, good broker in this.
who's trying to help. Obviously, a few eyebrows raised that one of their interlocutors, Mike Wilson, sort of dropped by the wayside, if you will. But the fact that Secretary of State, now National Security Advisor Portfolio 2, Marco Rubio was in conversation with the Prime Minister, it's all seen very positively here. But the...
The perspective from Pakistan at the moment is the ball essentially, whether or not this escalates and how it moves forward, is in India's court. They feel here there's a very strong assessment that they believe India still could and intends to strike in Pakistan, perhaps in the next 72 hours. The question is where. If it's in the Pakistan-controlled area of Kashmir, that's one thing. If it was in...
the main part of Pakistan, that would be an even greater significant escalation. And tensions remain very, very high. Airspace here is being patrolled along the border in a very determined and careful way. Other air flights in the country are carefully restricted and controlled. So this is a country that is hoping that diplomacy and the US role in it and the role of other countries in the region, others as well,
can play a difference. But at the moment, the sense here is that there is still a strike yet to come from India and to which Pakistan says 100 percent if India strikes Pakistan, Pakistan will respond. Nobody should be in any doubt about that. Nick Robertson, following developments in Pakistan. Thank you.
Now, here in the U.S., the world's richest man doing some reflecting. Elon Musk is on a goodbye tour of sorts as he prepares to scale down his duties at Doge. And this comes as Tesla is denying a report from The Wall Street Journal that said the company's board was looking to replace him. Musk says while he may be stepping away from Doge, it could be here to stay.
It's a long-term enterprise because if we take our eye off the ball, the waste and fraud will come roaring back. We're trying to have it be such that the funding is removed, so the grants are gone.
Group chat is back. Okay, so first let's just take on the legacy, so to speak. Musk is claiming $160 billion in estimated savings, obviously with a lot of cuts, but that is way less than was promised. Rob, is it considered a success?
So far, yes. I would say, I mean, remember, Doge's work isn't going to be completed until July 4th of 2026. We're only 100 days in. So comparatively, when you go back decades and look at the failure of anyone, whether it be in the presidential administration or Congress, to reduce the size of government, you have to go back to what, Bill Clinton and Newt Gingrich when they had a balanced budget? I'd say yes. So to you, it was like a necessary fire starter.
Absolutely. Okay, I want to talk about how Elon Musk thinks of himself. This is from the Washington Post. As he would lead it when he fades, he demurred, is Buddha needed for Buddhism? Was it not stronger after he passed away? I just want to sit with that for a moment. Yeah, let's hold space for that. Let's hold space for that. Beautiful, beautiful. Well, that aside, I think in response to what you were saying earlier,
Is it a success? If you consider slashing and burning the federal government with very little oversight and no sense of what comes after that, what is necessary or unnecessary, then perhaps it is a success.
If you actually think that what was necessary is perhaps a scalpel and not a machete, or in his case, what was it that he was holding up? The chainsaw. The chainsaw, then perhaps not. I mean, there is no question that what Elon Musk managed to do, no one thought he was going to be able to do. I remember talking about this before the administration came in. You mean just the number, the target, or just the whole way? No, well, just that...
Everyone had tried this, that his role, that he was going to get bogged down, that it was just never going to, you know, that all the sort of red tape and bureaucracy of the government wasn't actually going to be able to be cut. And of course he's managed to go through that.
But in the meantime, there are all these questions about what he actually has achieved, who he has put in there, what kind of control he now has over our information, data that is super sensitive. All of this stuff, there's no transparency, and it's deeply worrying to the American people. We've seen that over and over again. He's not fading off into the sunset, I think, because he wants to.
He is deeply unpopular. And also, he's deeply unpopular. He's a political liability, except for diehard MAGA people. You're talking about what he leaves behind. I do have to note that Doja's most infamous staffer, known by the online moniker Big Balls, revealed himself in an interview on Fox last night. Take a look. Who's Big Balls?
- It's me. - What does Big Balls do? - Right now I'm working on some payment computer stuff. So one of our initiatives is to root out fraud and waste. - So here are the people who will be left behind. And I think this is significant because I don't think this is a chapter closing, right? Between the things you mentioned, surveillance. And I think if you're another president or waiting in the way, if you're thinking about it, you're like, ooh,
I can create an agency out of whole cloth and have them like just kind of meddle around. I mean, it's very enticing the power that they have displayed in these last couple of weeks. I would also say that I don't think Elon Musk is going away in the sense that he's going to be a bogeyman for the Democrats for the next year and a half.
Oh, yeah. We're going to keep hearing about him. I mean, he is very easily identifiable by Democrats. They have made the economy, they have made the billionaires don't care about you, really their mantra heading into next November. And whether or not you think that's a fair assessment, that's what they're arguing.
And so having said he is unpopular, like his numbers are low. That argument has worked. It's worked. And I guess the question is, if he does pull back a little bit, does the salience of that go away? That's kind of the outstanding question. All right, you guys, thanks for sticking with us. We've got more to discuss now next on CNN this morning. If you can't beat him, join him. Michigan's Democratic governor keeps finding herself in photo ops with President Trump. Is that a bad thing?
Plus, the future is now ahead details on the semis now riding America's highways with no one behind the wheel. More from the group chat after this. The judge doesn't make that determination whether the Alien Enemies Act can be deployed. I think the president of the United States is the one who determines whether this country is being invaded.
Vice President J.D. Vance responding to news that a Trump-appointed federal judge in Texas had ruled against the White House's use of the Alien Enemies Act. He also blocked the administration from quickly deporting some individuals who were accused of being part of a Venezuelan gang. The judge says President Trump overstepped his authority by evoking the law, which is intended to be used when the U.S. is at war. But Vance says the legal fight isn't over.
We're aggressively appealing this stuff. We do think that the higher appeals courts, and in particular, the Supreme Court, is going to recognize immigration enforcement is a core function of the president of the United States. If you tell the president he's not allowed to deport illegal criminals, then you're telling the president he's not allowed to be the president.
Joining me now is former federal prosecutor and CNN legal analyst, Elliott Williams, and also my friend in all things legal, because we're going to talk about a bunch of things today. What's interesting about this judge is, first of all, this ruling is just for the folks within his district. It's not for everyone who's dealing with this. But he basically is giving an official word on that question JG Vance was saying about what does it mean to be at war? Yep.
Is this a scenario where you can apply this law? And kudos to the producers for this segment for noting the two different J.D. Vance clips perfectly sum up the issue here, because the judge says, I can't weigh in on political questions. I'm not going to weigh in on the question of whether Trend de Aragua is an arm of the Venezuelan government. That's for you and your national security folks to work out. My job as a judge is to sort out the constitutionality of an action. And did the government appoint
apply this law correctly. He says, no, it did not. And he walks through all the reasons why in his legal
opinion which leads to jd vance's second clip right where in a way you're hearing a preview of their arguments to come about why they think the president should be able to do this and that just surprised nobody the supreme court made clear at some point when the supreme court ruled yeah at some point we will have to address or somebody has to address the constitutionality of the application of this law not today we will not but a lower court in texas will be the one to do that well guess what happened yesterday a lower court in texas resolved it now
Maybe the administration accepts that. It sounds from the vice president that they won't. And so it'll get appealed up through the courts and will probably end up back at the Supreme Court. - One more footnote on Trump. We've been talking HR today, basically. And I was noticing that on the Senate Judiciary Committee, they have concerns about Ed Martin. This is Trump's nominee to serve as the US Attorney for Washington, DC.
People may think, like, well, why do I care about who's... But a lot of things fall under the purview of this district. Can you talk about what the concerns are? Yeah, so fun fact, the U.S. Attorney's Office of Washington, D.C. is the only one in the country that handles both state and federal crime because of Washington, D.C.'s unique nature. Also, it's the biggest U.S. Attorney's Office in the country. Now, as an individual who's never been a prosecutor, not from Washington, D.C., never worked in the office, and has a host of issues in his background of...
not stepping away from Nazi sympathizers and January 6th pardons and so on. - So a lot's gonna come out of this hearing. - A lot's gonna come out, well there's not gonna be a hearing, but here's the thing. Even when the president's popular, two things can sink someone's nomination in the US Senate.
Playing with Nazis or questioning whether somebody's Nazi mustache is a Nazi mustache and beating up police officers. January 6th. Right. He has this nominee has has issues with both at least tolerating or not criticizing the behavior of those things. It's made Republicans uncomfortable. It looks like this nomination. So it's made Republicans uncomfortable.
Republican senators, yes. Let's get to the trial for Diddy because I understand that on Monday we're finally going to see movement, right? Is it jury selection? What's going on? Yes, exactly, jury selection. And a host of things are happening in this case that everybody should worry about. Number one, this question came up of can he even wear prison jumpsuits into court? That's a very relevant issue. Is he challenging that?
He did. Well, he wants to wear his street clothes and he will be allowed to. This is an important question in constitutional law. What happens when a jury sees someone dressed up like an inmate? And does that have a prejudicial effect? There are a number of questions because of the sensitive nature of the allegations here.
You want someone to get a fair trial, even if this person is dead. - Someone as famous as this, yeah. - Someone as famous as this and someone who is alleged to have committed such heinous acts still is entitled to a fair trial. And questions like what evidence is brought up against him? Can evidence of acts that he engaged in in the past be brought into court? And what even does he wear are relevant?
We are going to be hearing a lot about this case over the next couple of weeks and months. Elliot, thank you so much for the preview. Stay with us. Thank you for joining me this morning. Now it is 52 minutes past the hour. Here's your morning roundup.
Starting today, all shipments from China will be subject to President Trump's 145% tariff. Overnight, the White House ended a rule that allowed packages worth less than $800 to escape the tax. Also overnight, China announced that it is, quote, currently assessing an American proposal to begin trade negotiations. Plus this. I kissed a girl.
Groundbreaking singer, songwriter and activist Jill Sobiel was killed in a house fire in Minnesota early Thursday morning. She was 66 years old. Her 1995 hit I Kissed a Girl is considered the first openly LGBTQ themed song to crack the Billboard Top 20.
And overnight, the Vatican installed a chimney on the roof of the Sistine Chapel. On Wednesday, all eyes will be on that chimney as the Catholic cardinals begin voting on a new leader. After each round, their ballots are burned. If the smoke from the chimney is black, it means voting will continue. But when the smoke is white, the church will have a new pope.
And take a look at this. Driverless trucks are now on the road, making their first regular long-haul trips between Dallas and Houston. A trucking firm named Aurora says its trucks have computers and sensors that can see the length of more than four football fields. And you could call them the odd couple of politics. Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, seen as a contender for the Democratic nomination in 2028, is taking a lot of heat from fellow Democrats for appearing and working with President Trump.
It doesn't mean I've abandoned any of my values. It doesn't mean that I'm not going to stand my ground and fight where we have to. But this is one of those moments where as a public servant, you're reminded your job is to put service above self. And that's what it was all about.
As relationships go, this one is complicated. Remember the photo of Whitmer covering her face in the Oval Office last month? She said he was signing executive orders that she disagreed with, but that she needed to stay for her meeting with him to help Michigan. Well, I hadn't planned to speak, but I'm on behalf of all.
This week, President Trump praised the governor during his visit to Michigan, declaring she's doing a very good job. The group chat is back. Kevin, I want to start with you because you cover delegations. You know, sometimes you just got to like get money, right? When there's disasters, when there's problems.
And I've been interested in how this has played out in a more punishing way in this environment as Democrats are trying to figure out what to do. I mean, I think it would be a little different if she wasn't considered kind of one of the tier of potential presidential candidates. I mean, there is definitely, as you just noted, a degree to which you have to work with the federal government to get resources for your state. In this case, it was some sort of investment, I think, at a military base.
And so there's a degree of, if I can deliver for my state, does that reflect well on me back home? However, in this heightened political environment we're in, where every single photo, especially the one of her holding the binder in front of her face, I mean, you can see that in a campaign ad in a Democratic primary. But I thought it was a selling point that you could work across the aisle. You know, it's so interesting. Governors are really, Democratic governors are
are really kind of going in two directions. Some, like Gretchen Whitmer, and if you remember in the first Trump administration, that was not her tone. She was very combative with President Trump. In this one, she is adopting a very different posture, unlike J.B. Pritzker, someone else who is discussed, the governor of Illinois, as a potential 2028 Democratic candidate.
primary candidate for the presidency who's being very combative. I mean, these are two very different ways of trying to position themselves in what is a difficult moment for them. Let me illustrate your point. Because Pritzker was at, yeah, Newsom. Well, I mean, he's podcasting his way through it. But Pritzker, who you mentioned, was actually on Kimmel last night. Here's how he talked about the president.
At this point, we've got an authoritarian in office. He's essentially tearing apart the things that really matter to working families across the United States, and nobody's stopping him. So we've got to be out there loud, proud, you know, stand up, speak out. It's May Day, everybody. I mean, it is literally... Yeah, it is.
I feel like what made Trump distinct was not playing nice. He looked at all the Bush-era Republicans and he was like, that's nice for you. Here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to basically punch people in the face rhetorically. But now we're seeing Democrats try and lean in. So which one of these paths do you...
are you thinking about? - Well, the American people want a fighter. I think that the energy that you see with Bernie Sanders and AOC, that is an example of probably where there's enthusiasm on the left. However, I do think, to your point, there's a situation where you have those who are attacking to the left and there's who are trying to go more toward the middle.
I think Gretchen Whitmer realizes Donald Trump won Michigan twice. She's in a swing state. Exactly. She's got to convince Republicans or soft Republicans or independents that she is someone who can actually work across the aisle. It's just a very different idea of what's going to happen. However,
We all know primaries are where everyone fights it out with each other. - Yeah, we're in the earliest days. - We're in the earliest days of this. - Sorry folks in the middle, it's gonna be a minute 'til anyone wants to hear from us. Okay, so now it's time to talk about what we're keeping an eye on today. Looking ahead, I know that Lulu, are you interested in the world
I am. I am very interested in Mark Zuckerberg's idea of what the American man in particular needs and wants at this point. Wait, I have it for you because I knew you were excited about this. Okay, let's watch. Already one of the main things that we see people using that AI for is kind of talking through difficult conversations that they need to have with people.
with people in their life. It's like, okay, I'm having this issue with my girlfriend or whatever, like help me have this conversation. - Yeah, okay. - I needed the look, I needed the look. - No, no, no, no, the glasses, the AI glasses, all of it. He says the average American has three friends but has demand for 15 and he thinks AI bots are gonna fill that need so we're gonna now have AI bots
filling the need of friendship. Not only everything else, our jobs, everything else, but now our friends too, AI bots, if Mark Zuckerberg has his way. Rob Bluey. We should also note that Mark Zuckerberg's meta-AI was sued for defamation this week by Robbie Starbuck for getting some egregious things wrong. But I'm keeping an eye on the Kentucky Derby, Audie, because there are two horses, one called journalism, another called publicer. Sorry, journalism. Spoiler alert. Journalism's the favorite. Okay, Kevin.
A little less fun. I'm keeping my eye on state and local tax deduction talks on Capitol Hill. This is a very New York topic, but it could be really the house that could determine if this house of cards that is the reconciliation package lives or dies, depending on how these conversations go over the next couple of days. Like a poison pill. Thank you to the group chat. Thank you all for waking up with us. I'm Adi Cornish and CNN News Central starts right now.
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