In short
A fast-moving news roundup focused on U.S.-Iran ceasefire talks under a looming deadline, a U.S. seizure of an Iranian-flagged cargo ship in the Strait of Hormuz, and separate U.S./UK/tech headlines including Lori Chavez-Deremer stepping down as Labor Secretary, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Epstein-related controversy, and Tim Cook stepping down as Apple CEO. It also covers a mass shooting in Shreveport, Louisiana, and a dispute over gas prices.
Guests (and backgrounds)
CNN national security analyst Peter Bergen (former journalist/author; specializes in terrorism and Middle East/nuclear issues). CNN national security correspondent Brian Todd (reports on military operations). CNN reporter Max Foster (UK politics; Epstein-related coverage). CNN tech reporter Claire Duffy (tech industry). CNN economist policy expert Henrietta Trey (Director of Economic Policy at Veda Partners). Huddle podcast guests: Sean Spicer (former Trump press secretary), Rachel Bain (journalist/veteran political commentator), Dan Turrentine (Democratic strategist). CNN’s Kristen Holmes (White House reporter). CNN’s Isabel Rosales (local reporting on Shreveport). CNN’s Nick Robertson (Islamabad/Pakistan negotiations).
Key claims + examples
Ceasefire likely won’t be extended without a deal; Iran says it won’t negotiate under threats. U.S. Navy fired on the Iranian-flagged Tosca after warnings; Marines boarded; ship in U.S. custody; retaliation threatened. Bergen: JCPOA took 18 months; May 1 War Powers Resolution vote could constrain action; blockade is “an act of war.” Chavez-Deremer leaving amid months-long inspector general investigation; acting Secretary Keith Sonderling named. Starmer says he wasn’t told about Peter Mandelson’s failed vetting; opposition calls for resignation. Trey: gas prices likely rise due to Strait not reopened and months to clear shipping backlog; jet fuel rationing already affecting airlines.
Written by AI. May contain mistakes. Listen to the episode to check what was said.
Chapters
Tap a time to open that second in VOCeasefire and U.S.-Iran Tensions
0:40 to 2:14
Discussion on the impending expiration of the ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran.
“military seized a ship on the Strait of Hormuz.”
U.S. Military Action in the Gulf
2:14 to 4:26
Details about the U.S. military's seizure of an Iranian-flagged cargo ship.
“Vance and other senior officials are expected to travel to Pakistan Tuesday ahead of a second round of talks with an Iranian delegation.”
Analysis of U.S.-Iran Negotiations
4:26 to 6:27
Expert analysis on the prospects and challenges of U.S.-Iran negotiations.
“It was an Iranian-owned ship, so they would have had control of it.”
War Powers and Military Strategy
6:27 to 10:47
Discussion on the implications of the War Powers Resolution and potential U.S. military actions.
“saying that we're going to get a better agreement.”
Keir Starmer's Controversy
11:13 to 14:00
Coverage of UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer's handling of a controversial appointment.
“Here at Terms of Service, we want to introduce our listeners to all kinds of voices working in and around the tech industry.”
Discussing the Political Landscape
14:00 to 15:50
Explore the implications of the political controversies surrounding Keir Starmer.
“The right, honourable gentleman's defence, is that he, a former director of public prosecutions, is so lacking in curiosity that he chose to ask no questions about the vetting process.”
Cabinet Shakeup Announcement
15:50 to 19:00
Breaking news about Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-Dremer's departure and the surrounding investigation.
“Well, some breaking news from the White House.”
Implications of Chavez-Dremer's Exit
19:00 to 22:20
Analysis of the impact of the cabinet changes and the implications for Trump's presidency.
“from the Huddle podcast, former Trump press secretary Sean Spicer, veteran journalist, good pal Rachel Bain, Democratic strategist Dan Turrentine.”
Reflections on Trump's Leadership Style
22:20 to 26:00
A discussion on how Trump's leadership and cabinet dynamics are evolving.
“So this is not somebody that had a relationship to fall back on President Trump with and say, Mr.”
Tragic Domestic Violence Incident
26:51 to 28:00
Coverage of a tragic domestic violence case in Shreveport, Louisiana.
“See a nation's enduring love for baseball when Shohei Otani and Japan's biggest Major League stars return home to play in front of their fans for the first time.”
Show all 25 chapters
Tragic Incident in Shreveport
28:00 to 30:00
A recount of a devastating shooting incident that left eight children dead.
“And these are the residual effects of what happens if we're not paying attention.”
Community Response and Grief
30:00 to 36:30
Community members discuss their grief and the need for support following the tragedy.
“The biggest lesson that we have is that we must protect those who cannot protect themselves.”
Call to Action
36:30 to 36:40
A powerful plea for a coordinated community response to address domestic violence.
“Shreveport City Council Member Tabitha Taylor, thank you so much.”
Political Commentary on Domestic Violence
36:50 to 42:00
Host discusses broader implications of the shooting and domestic violence policies.
“In the Monday lead, President Trump says his own energy secretary, Chris Wright, is wrong on gas prices.”
Diplomatic Efforts in the Strait of Hormuz
42:00 to 44:39
Learn about the ongoing diplomatic negotiations involving Iran and the U.S. over the Strait of Hormuz.
“one thing that we do know is that oil prices are once again rising.”
Congressman Baumgartner on U.S.-Iran Relations
44:40 to 47:31
Congressman Baumgartner discusses U.S. leverage and the stakes involved in negotiations with Iran.
“I think the expectation here is the talks would happen over a period of days with both sides getting some sleep in between.”
Economic Impacts of Iranian Sanctions
47:32 to 50:04
Explore the economic implications of U.S. sanctions on Iran and their effects on oil prices.
“no question on the threat that could be posed by a nuclear Iran when you talk to intelligence officials in terms of how the U.S.”
Tim Cook's Departure from Apple
50:05 to 55:55
Discuss the implications of Tim Cook stepping down as Apple CEO and the future challenges for Apple.
“It used to be when presidents did things that weren't for just political expediency, you know, we'd call those profiles encouraged, whereas our political cycle has become so jaded.”
Impact of Tariffs on Small Businesses
56:00 to 1:00:22
Learn how recent tariffs affected small businesses, particularly in the education sector.
“American importers are owed a collective$166 billion plus interest after the U.S.”
Serious Charges in a High-Profile Case
1:00:22 to 1:03:24
Discover details about the charges against singer David Anthony Burke and the implications.
“the singer David has been charged in connection with the 14-year-old's death.”
Cabinet Secretary Departures in the Trump Administration
1:03:24 to 1:10:01
Explore the recent departures of cabinet secretaries and the underlying reasons.
“I want to turn now to criminal defense attorney, Stacey Schneider.”
Discussion on Cabinet Changes and Allegations
1:10:01 to 1:11:22
An analysis of recent cabinet removals and the implications of allegations against members.
“Like what's been, I think I said it earlier, maybe last hour, like it was a mess.”
House Ethics Committee's Urgent Call
1:11:22 to 1:13:20
Exploring the House Ethics Committee's request for reports of misconduct.
“It's just like, what's Kash Patel still doing in his job?”
Challenges in Ethics Investigations
1:13:20 to 1:15:49
A discussion about the challenges faced by the Ethics Committee in handling allegations.
“I would say it's absurd that we have a Democratic member who's accused of, you know, essentially mass fraud.”
Victims' Role in Reporting Misconduct
1:15:49 to 1:16:41
The challenges that victims face when reporting allegations of misconduct.
“Yeah it's an extremely important point a good one to end on.”
Transcript
Automatic transcript. May contain errors.0:00Hey marketers, listen up. Before this, there was this. Our voice. It's how we shared knowledge, built communities. Well, guess what? Voice is back. That's why Spotify Advertising has published a new report, The Sound On Era. Because audio moves culture forward. And if your brand wants to be heard, you need a sound on strategy. Go to ads.spotify.com to download the SoundOn era and turn up the volume on your business.
0:32A ceasefire with Iran is about to expire. Will we see more strikes? The lead starts right now. New video reveals the dramatic moments the U.S. military seized a ship on the Strait of Hormuz. Now, with less than 48 hours on the ceasefire clock, President Trump is dispatching Vice President J.D. Vance overseas. But will Iran show up for talks? And a public apology from UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer. His statement today tied to the Epstein files as he tries to quiet calls for him to resign. Plus, breaking news instead of a software update. This time, Apple's making a CEO update. Tim Cook stepping down at the top of the tech company.
1:22Welcome to Lead. I'm Phil Mattingly. In for Jake Tapper. We start in our world league. The U.S. and Iran heading for another potential round of precarious peace talks. This time under a deadline with the two-week ceasefire set to end this week. Now, President Trump tells Bloomberg that the ceasefire will expire Wednesday evening Eastern Time, which is actually a day past its original expiration date, but that it's highly unlikely he'll extend it further if no deal is reached this week. Now, according to a post from Trump today, he's, quote, under no pressure whatsoever to make a deal, although it will all happen relatively quickly.
1:59He writes, time is not my adversary. The only thing that matters is that we finally, after 47 years, straighten out the mess that other presidents let happen because they didn't have the courage or foresight to do what had to be done with respect to Iran. Now, Vice President J.D. Vance and other senior officials are expected to travel to Pakistan Tuesday ahead of a second round of talks with an Iranian delegation. Iran has not yet confirmed its participation. Iranian President Masoud Pezashkan wrote today on social media that his country maintains a, quote, deep historical mistrust of the U.S.
2:34government, criticizing what he calls, quote, unconstructive and contradictory signals from U.S. officials. They seek Iran's surrender, he writes. Iranians do not submit to force. Now, the latest obstacle before U.S. and Iranian officials staring down the expiration date of that ceasefire and a potential second round of high-stakes peace talks, the U.S. seizure of an Iranian-flagged cargo ship on the Gulf of Oman on Sunday. CNN's Brian Todd starts us off breaking down what we actually know about this military operation. First came a six-hour standoff, according to U.S. Central Command, with repeated warnings to the Iranian-flagged cargo ship, the Tosca, to stop heading toward an Iranian port in violation of the blockade.
3:18The Iranian vessel failed to comply, CENTCOMP says. Then, a more urgent warning from the U.S. Navy. Motor vessel Tosca. Motor vessel Tosca. Vacate your engine room. Vacate your engine room. We're prepared to subject you to disabling fire. Video from the Navy then shows the U.S. guided missile destroyer, the USS Spruance, firing repeated rounds at the Tosca.
3:43The Iranian vessel disabled. Then, in the darkness of night, a dramatic boarding captured in a carefully edited video released by the U.S. military. Marines from the amphibious assault ship the USS Tripoli rappelled down to the deck of the Tosca from helicopters. How dangerous a mission was this for both sides? The rappelling down onto the deck is dangerous. The firing of the round into the ship was dangerous for the Iranians. So there's risk here. How much risk is determined by what kind of fight the Iranians put up they didn't? Former NATO Supreme Allied Commander Wesley Clark believes even though the Iranian ship allegedly failed to heed the U.S.
4:21warnings, it's unlikely that its captain was just freelancing. I'm sure the Iranian ship was in contact with Iranian authorities. It was an Iranian-owned ship, so they would have had control of it. It was a test. They wanted to see if we would stop it. We did stop it. The Iranian ship is now in U.S. custody. Analysts say it's likely to be taken to an anchorage or port for inspection. It could eventually become U.S. property as a so-called prize, experts say, because it was seized after trying to run a blockade. Iran has threatened to retaliate for the seizure of the Tosca. Do I think they're pissed at the U.S.
4:56Navy? Yes. Do I think if they could get a shot at a U.S. Navy ship, they would take it in a heartbeat? But one of the things that happened over the last 45 days is a lot of their anti-ship cruise missiles were hit. A lot of their longer range drones were hit. So what happens now to the crew of the Iranian vessel? Analysts say that depends on their nationalities. Any non-Iranian crew members on board, they say, would likely be taken off of the ship and repatriated. But any Iranian crew members on the ship could be detained because of the fact that the Iranians ran through that blockade. and especially if the ship was found to be carrying armaments or weapons for Iran.
5:36CNN has reached out to CENTCOM for information on the nationalities of the crew members and on the status of the cargo ship. Haven't heard back on that yet. Phil? Brian Todd with the latest. Thanks so much. I want to now bring in CNN national security analyst Peter Bergen. And Peter, look, I'm going to be honest. It's a little hard right now to follow exactly where things are headed. It's a little bit fluid. The president sometimes seems to be in different places than where his team is. We don't know where the Iranians are going. Given the fact, though, that the president is now stating, look, this is a hard, firm deadline, even if I moved it a day.
6:10What's your sense on the ability to actually hammer something out in a very, very short period of time? I'm enormously skeptical, Phil, because it took the Obama administration at least 18 months to negotiate the JCPOA, the 2015 nuclear agreement. Trump has been posting about that today, saying that we're going to get a better agreement. If an agreement happens, it probably will be not dissimilar to the JCPOA agreement. On the table when Vance was last in Islamabad, it was a 20-year moratorium. Obama got a 15-year moratorium, which Trump pulled out of in 2018. So look, you don't do this over coffee for the Serena Hotel in Islamabad over several hours.
6:50I mean, it's just too complicated. I mean, the lead-in to your show showed how difficult this is going to be because there's so many fundamental disagreements. And the commander-in-chief himself, it's so hard to pass what he actually means or what he actually believes. Does he even know what will happen tomorrow? And I think you raise a really good point because, and again, this is just one anecdotal example, but as we've been trying to figure out, all right, will this happen? Who will be going if it does happen? There's been a question about J.D. Vance. And the reason there's a question is because the president keeps saying things that aren't necessarily tracking with what we've seen, including at one point that Vance wasn't going, then that Vance was going, then that Vance was already on the ground.
7:28Then we saw Vance at 11 a.m. this morning after the president had said he was on the ground, show up at the White House. We believe Vance is going. We've been told he's going at this point, same delegation as the last time. I think the question is, to your point, what does the president's kind of back and forth over what's actually happening right now due to the forthcoming negotiations? I mean, I think it's deeply confusing. And I mean, there's another clock ticking, which you know very well, Phil, which is the War Powers Resolution Act, which is, you know, obviously presidents have tended to ignore it, but it does come up on May 1st.
8:00And it only requires a couple of Republicans who might be getting messages from constituents for that to actually be a problem for him. So technically, there should be a vote. People will force a vote, I think, on May 1st on that issue. And, you know, this is the least popular war at its inception that the United States has ever engaged in since polling started. And it isn't getting better. I mean, with every passing day, you know, this is not, it's been very confusing message around it. And not least, you know, there was that blip where oil prices went down. But it lasted a day. And it was based on essentially, you know, both sides disagreeing on the Strait of Hormuz.
8:37So look, I mean, I hope it goes well in this land. The whole world does. But it, you know, will it go well? It seems highly unlikely. If it does not go well, do you believe a hot war restarts immediately? I think so, because I think, you know, Trump has sort of boxed himself in. I mean, he's given another day to the ceasefire, as you pointed out. But he, I just, I don't think he can do nothing when this, because it's his ceasefire. He's the one who came forward with it. And already, look, a blockade is an act of war already. Let's not kid ourselves. So even though the ceasefire is sort of holding, the blockade itself is an act of war.
9:13So we're more like activities continue to happen. The Strait of Hormuz right now, obviously, where that blockade is around at this point in time. The one thing on, I believe it was Friday, all the days are blending together at this point where everybody seemed to say, at least verbally, that the Strait of Hormuz was open. And all I could think about in that moment was there's no way Iran lets go of what they have gained in terms of sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz, the financial aspects of it when it comes to tolling at this point. That seems to be something that the Iranians would never want to part with.
9:49Do you see any way in which in a negotiation they're willing to send things back to the way they had been for 47 years prior? Of course not, because they're making potentially a billion dollars a day on fees, why would they give that up? Their economy is in freefall. They've got a lot of sanctions against them. This is actually a way they can make money. And so I would be, you know, why would anybody give that up? Do you see the US signing on to a deal if Iran does not give that up? Well, that will be where the negotiations start. Because, I mean, you know, the way wars end is a mutual recognition of a mutually hurting stalemate.
10:24Both sides have to feel that. And right now, I think both sides are saying, we can take more pain, whether that's the commander-in-chief of the United States or the ayatollahs in Iran. You know, could that be a day? Could that be a week? Could we be talking about this three or four months from now? There's no reason why it shouldn't happen that way, unfortunately. There's a lot to continue to dig into. And I am always grateful for your perspective and expertise, Peter Bergen. Thanks so much, as always. Well, given this war, as we were just discussing, can gas prices ever dip back down below the $3 mark?
10:53why President Trump called out his energy secretary for his response to that question when he was asked by CNN's own Jake Tapper. We'll have that, plus the tragic statement today from U.S. Senator Mark Warner announcing the death of his young adult daughter. Stay with us.
11:12I'm CNN tech reporter Claire Duffy. Here at Terms of Service, we want to introduce our listeners to all kinds of voices working in and around the tech industry. I have Christian Janetsky, president of the FanDuel Group, here with me. I was brought in to help bring regulation to the fantasy sports industry. The plan when I joined was to build a long-term, interesting fantasy sports company. It has always been paramount for us to build trust in our brand. We're going to talk about the history of the company, how their technology works, how they're addressing concerns about gambling addiction, and their efforts to ensure users and fans gamble responsibly.
11:49Listen to CNN's Terms of Service wherever you get your podcasts.
12:19to the U.S. Now, Mendelsohn was fired last September when the extent of his ties to Jeffrey Epstein came to light. He is now under police investigation over possibly leaking documents, government documents, to Epstein. CNN's Max Foster is outside 10 Downing Street in London. And Max, Starmer faces huge criticism for not knowing Mendelsohn failed the vetting process, but reportedly got an override to take the position since Starmer had already appointed him. yeah so he's here in downing street tonight but the knives are out for him i have to say he's basically in parliament today he admitted a massive system failure in his government so what he's saying is that he appointed peter mandelson at that time still very controversial because he had links known links with jeffrey epstein and also he wasn't a career diplomat but it's pretty clear that Keir Starmer wanted him to be in position.
13:15He'd also had this very checkered past as a politician, being fired twice in the past, but he wanted his man. What he's arguing is, after he was appointed, the Foreign Office, just down the road here, did the full security vetting, and he failed the very top level of that vetting. Keir Starmer saying he wasn't told about that, so he sacked the head of the Foreign Office, Ollie Robbins, and he says it was all his fault, effectively. This is how Keir Starmer justified it today in Parliament. This information I should have had a long time ago. And it is information that this House should have had a long time ago.
13:57It is information that I and the House have the right to know. The right, honourable gentleman's defence, is that he, a former director of public prosecutions, is so lacking in curiosity that he chose to ask no questions about the vetting process. He asked no questions about Mandelson's relationship with Epstein. He asked no questions about the security risk Mandelson posed. So all the opposition parties calling for Keir Starmer to go, including members actually of his own backbench party as well. The big test, Phil, I think will be tomorrow when Ollie Robbins, the head of the Foreign Office, will have his say at Parliament and we'll see whether or not the stories match up.
14:41Max, at the risk of trying to turn everything into a U.S.-related story, as Americans are often willing to do, the timing of all this happening with King Charles, Queen Camilla headed to the U.S. in less than a week for a state visit, does that complicate anything here? Well, it's possibly the most sensitive trip I can imagine of a monarch, this one or the previous one at this time, because what you've got here is the king, who is head of the government, but also has a duty to stay above politics, will not be able to address this issue. And if he's caught out by that, he could constitutionally be held up on that.
15:20This is also Epstein related. The king is head of the legal service here, which is currently investigating his brother, Andrew, also something he can't comment on because he can't be seen to jeopardize that case. So very, very sensitive trip for him. It couldn't be harder, but he's pretty experienced at this. And I think President Trump is aware that he was being made aware, certainly behind the scenes, that the king can't comment on this. So I'm sure we'll try to avoid any embarrassment for him. Max Foster in London. Thanks so much, my friend. Well, some breaking news from the White House. The Trump administration just announced a cabinet-level shakeup.
15:58We're going to go live to the White House next.
16:05We do have breaking news from the White House. The Trump administration has just announced a cabinet-level departure. I want to get straight to CNN's Kristen Holmes on the North Lawn. Kristen, who is it? What's happening? Well, right now we know that the Secretary of Labor, Lori Chavez-Dremer, who has been under a months-long investigation, is leaving the administration. I want to get right to this post we saw from Stephen Chung, who does communications here at the White House, who said, Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-Dremer will be leaving the administration to take a position in the private sector.
16:34She has done a phenomenal job in her role by protecting American workers, enacting fair labor practices, and helping Americans gain additional skills to improve their lives. Keith Sonderling will take the role of acting Secretary of Labor. Okay, so a couple things to keep in mind here. There are only two other people that we know have left the cabinet. They are Attorney General Pam Bondi and Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem. We have been talking about who was going to be next to leave. There was widespread concern within the White House that because of this investigation into Chavez de Reamer, it would be her and that there would be a lot of backlash over the fact that it would be three women who were removed from the cabinet.
17:12Now, we don't know whether or not she resigned from this position or if she was fired by President Trump. You can hear this very explicitly vague context here by saying she's leaving the administration. But that had been a concern among many officials in the White House that three of the cabinet officials that were gone were women. Just to give a little bit of background here, this case against or this investigation into Chavez's dreamer had been growing. We were told at one point it was in its final stages. This all started with a complaint to the inspector general's office of widespread misconduct.
17:44Since then, there have been a lot of resignations. There have been public episodes. We've seen reporting in the New York Times about her family members being alleged to be text messaging. That was all part of this investigation. So just last week, there seemed to be new information dropping. So clearly it was becoming somewhat of a distraction. But again, there have been a lot of conversations as to who the next cabinet member was going to be that departed. Now, of course, it is the Secretary of Labor. Now, the one other part of this that is so fascinating is it really comes to show you the pivot that we are in right now at the White House after a year and a half of no firings at all, coming to a place.
18:22And now we've had three out in just the last, I think, two months. And we don't see any sign of that slowing down. President Trump has clearly entered a new phase of this presidency where he wants to have who he wants around when he wants them around and doesn't want that fear or isn't being led by that fear of looking like a revolving door like the first term. And that was something that had really driven them to try to keep a status quo, try to keep a very level cabinet. Again, we've moved on to the new phase now. Yeah. Underappreciated stability, I think, of the senior team and cabinet officials up to this point starting to change pretty fast, though.
18:55Kristen Holmes somehow keeping up with all of it at the White House. Thank you very much, my friend. I want to talk about this with the folks from the Huddle podcast, former Trump press secretary Sean Spicer, veteran journalist, good pal Rachel Bain, Democratic strategist Dan Turrentine. All right. Look, I'm going to TLDR Kristen's great rundown here. Like DOL was a mess almost entirely because of Laurie Chavez de Reamer and the, it seemed like ever we were talking about before we came on, like the day after day after day of allegations that were really not great and looked bad. She now leaves.
19:32What do you make of it? The irony is it's probably the one cabinet member outside from Sean Duffy that Democrats want to stay in the cabinet. She had great relationship with the Teamsters and other unions. I say Sean Duffy because he's worked across, you know, party lines to really get a lot of transportation projects done. But, you know, look, you're right. There was headline after headline after headline, that's where Trump just can't stand the chaos and says enough. Like, there weren't enough deliverables, if you will, in the Department of Labor purview to substantiate keeping her. So for those reasons, she's out.
20:05Let's also think about what Republicans have been talking about and yelling about at the top of their lungs the past week, and that is Eric Swatwell, right? There is a reckoning happening on Capitol Hill when it comes to sexual misconduct, inappropriate text messages with people. And, you know, I'm not saying I'm not equating, you know, what she is accused of and what Eric Swalwell is accused of by any means. But it's hard to stand on a soapbox when the person standing next to you has allegations against them as well. So I don't know. We don't know yet if she was pushed out. Did she resign on her own?
20:34But clear. I mean, I wouldn't be surprised if she was indeed fired that this is part of the calculus. This is all, you know, in the swirl right now. And they've got a problem in their own cabinet with somebody who has some serious allegations against her. Well, and this, I think, Phil, is part of it. You said last year that they've been very stable. They had a very stable campaign. What was happening in both of those instances? They were winning. They were doing well. They're not they have not been doing well the last four months. Right. And when that happens, you tend to make some changes. Right.
20:59What you might have let go before now is suddenly like, hey, this is bothering me. The headlines are getting worse. You're out. I wouldn't feel very good, perhaps, if I were Kash Patel right now. Well, look, I think the big difference between Secretary DeRiemer and others is that, as I said, there weren't a ton of big deliverables. She had done a 50-state tour, which is admirable, going out there talking to workers in these different states. She had good relationships with the union. But I think when President Trump looks at a cabinet official, if they're not delivering for him in a big way and they've got these scandals.
21:31And again, this is the other thing. You kind of mentioned it. It's not just her, but Kristen mentioned this. It's the husband. It's the father. I mean, there's a point at which it's one thing if it's just you, but when it's like the entire family, you've got a problem. When it's you reading a story and you're like, wait, I thought it was the husband. Oh, no, it's the father. It's both of them. Well, but the other thing is, look, here's the other thing. I literally have a shameless plug, a new book coming out where I talk about this.
21:56Here's the deal. Part of the reason that I talk about the difference in Trump 1.0 and 2.0 is the different relationship that the cabinet had. You referenced it. But here's the thing. Lori was not one of those people who had that relationship with him. Pete Hegseth has known President Trump for 15 years. Susie Wiles has been around him for 10 years. Caroline served in the first Trump. Lori was brought in at the recommendation of the team. Sean O 'Brien runs the team. Right. He runs the team. So this is not somebody that had a relationship to fall back on President Trump with and say, Mr. President, you know me.
22:27You know who I am. You know, my family. you know, this is all fake news. Like, she didn't have that infrastructure around him, which is why you should read Trump 2.0. I was going to get to it. All right. I get it. I understand. This is a true savvy pro making sure to get in. Always be selling. Always be selling. And subscribe to the D.C. huddle. I mean, how do you guys feel in high definition? You feel good? Like, is it a lot of people are waking up to you guys in coffee. You feel like you're showing out right now the way. It's a good thing they don't have high definition. No, no, it's great. One of the things that I wanted to get to is our good friend Josh Dawsey had the story in the Wall Street Journal about the president and kind of what was going on behind the scenes as he was working through Iran at this point in time.
Read the full transcript
23:12Obviously, we've seen the public bluster, the shows of strength, the threats that he's had. But also you can hear him sometimes allude to concerns about perhaps going down the path of a Jimmy Carter with what happened in the failed Iran rescue or types of foreign policy fiascos like that going forward. What was your read on kind of the state of play inside the Oval Office right now? Well, I think he wants to get out of this, but he also has his brand, which is strength, dominance, and winning. And in Venezuela, it was easy, right? You were in, we were out within, you know, four hours. It was clean.
23:46You're basically President Rubio now running the country. Here, he can't figure it out. And we talk often on the show, I think most people thought, OK, this isn't going to help him politically. Maybe it won't cause him a lot of harm. Now the question is, to what degree has he harmed his party? And I think for those reasons, he sees, all right, I got to get out. But you can't, as an American right now, just leave. And the question is, what does victory look like? And there's a lot of gray in that right now. And for a guy who doesn't do kind of shades of gray, it creates a lot of problems. To that point, and I should note, Annie Linsky was on the byline, too, also a good pile of mine.
24:20No disrespect. In fact, nobody like Dawsey. We love everybody. We like Annie way more than we like Dawsey. You're hearing from the same and probably many more Republicans on Capitol Hill as I am right now about quiet frustrations, wanting, knowing that it's a midterm year, wanting to just focus on what he was talking about in Arizona and Nevada. Tax, no tax on tips. One big, beautiful bill. What are they telling you behind the scenes right now about how they're feeling? I mean, they're worried, obviously. And that's why Susie Wiles, I mean, right now as we speak sometime today, she's going to be sort of convening a whole bunch of the top Trump brains to gather at the Uwoldov Astoria to talk about the midterms and messaging.
24:57What do we need to do to try to hold our majorities? The challenge here is that we've heard about these sort of high level meetings happening a lot over the past four and five months. And it's always the same thing, which is focus on affordability, talk up your victories, right? Enough with the GOP infighting and focus on domestic politics, not foreign policy. But every time they have one of these meetings, the president does something like, you know, go pick up Maduro in Venezuela, bring him to U.S. courts. And now we're in Iran after another one of those meetings. So the person who perhaps needs to hear that, at least focus on domestics, is the president.
25:29And clearly he is a bit distracted at the moment. We have also talked on the show about GOP infighting and how it is, you know, just dominating, as Dan said, just dominating. There's the infighting and then there's also the lack of being able to deliver it. If these guys go into an election year with a list of accomplishments, in 30 years, I would want this going in, big, beautiful bill, no tax on tips, trade, all of these things from the Maha movement, and they can't even message it right. They've got the list of accomplishments. They need to go out and sell it. They, the guy in the Oval Office, too.
25:57You got a book coming out, Ben? I do. Trump 2.0, available on Amazon right now. Dan, Sean, my good friend, Rachel Braid, appreciate you guys, as always. Thanks so much. Well, up next, how President Trump today is contradicting his own energy secretary on the price of gas. And when you might see those prices go dramatically lower. Stay with us.
26:36One judgment? Anyway, give it a try at mintmobile.com slash switch. Upfront payment of$45 for three-month plan, equivalent to$15 per month required. Intro rate first three months only, then full price plan options available. Taxes and fees extra. See full terms at mintmobile.com. See a nation's enduring love for baseball when Shohei Otani and Japan's biggest Major League stars return home to play in front of their fans for the first time. Homecoming, the Tokyo series. Now streaming on the CNN app. The nation joined Shreveport, Louisiana, the whole community in mourning the lives of eight young children, seven of them killed by their father in what police describe as a domestic attack.
27:17The youngest victim, just three years old. The oldest, 11. Police say on Sunday morning, 31-year-old Shamar Elkins shot and killed seven of his kids, a cousin, and critically wounded his wife and another woman. One child, a 13-year-old boy, managed to escape. Elkins died during a shootout with police. CNN's Isabel Rosales has more on how this tragedy unfolded as a community grieves from what is now the nation's deadliest mass shooting since 2024. I'm the uncle of the girls that were deceased. Them children were my life. A father killed seven of his young children and their cousin in a horrific domestic attack early Sunday in Shreveport, Louisiana.
28:02Domestic violence is nobody's joke. It is real. And these are the residual effects of what happens if we're not paying attention. Police identified the gunman as 31-year-old Shamar Elkins and say he also targeted his wife as well as another woman. Both were injured. We mourn for these children. We mourn for the women who are recovering. CNN obtained video showing police closing in on the gunman after he ran off. Officers ultimately shot and killed him after a car chase. I opened my curtain and looked out the curtain and it was, it was the Shreveport Police Department. They were making entry into the side door, going into the house.
28:48A neighbor who lives across the street tells CNN he witnessed the aftermath of the shooting. He said he saw the shooter just yesterday. I waved, just being neighborly, and he actually waved back. And the children were playing in the yard, and so I just went home, and 12 hours later, this. Only one child, a 13-year-old boy, was able to get out of the house. He jumped off of the roof while fleeing from the suspect in this case. And he did have some injuries, but he is expected to recover. An uncle, Lionel Pugh, says it's very hard to cope right now for the family. It was devastating because, I mean, I got here and all I could see is just, you know, yellow tape, you know, a crying scene.
29:30Pew told us his sister wanted to file for divorce from Elkins last month. Told her, I was like, man, just love the one you with. You know, you ain't going to find nothing else out there. Just joking around. But if I knew it was going to, you know, turn out like this, you know, I never would have said that. He remembers the children. They were just, you know, just regular little sweet kids. Fun, just happy to be here. You know, just full of joy. Many community members visited the victim's home to pay their respects on Monday. The biggest lesson that we have is that we must protect those who cannot protect themselves.
30:11And at this home where these eight children were killed, this side door, You can still see these round, these bullet hole marks taped off by police markings. And in front of it, a growing memorial of balloons, flowers, and teddy bears. So many in the community honoring this family. The family of this shooter also spoke to me about an extensive history of mental health issues. That he had been hospitalized in recent months for over a week at a local VA. and that today Elkins and his wife were set to appear in court to sign divorce papers. By the way, his wife, the most injured out of those that survived, went out of surgery.
30:51She was shot nine times, the family tells me, but she is awake, aware, and talking. Bill. Isabel Rosales, Shreveport, Louisiana, thank you very much for the latest. Shreveport City Council member Tabitha Taylor joins us now. You saw her in Isabel's piece. I just to start with as a parent, as a member of any community, I can't imagine what Shreveport is going through, what families down there are going through right now. How is the community doing? We are devastated and we are taking each day, one day at a time, one second, one minute. The rallying of our community is extremely strong. We have support from all over, including you all, for contributions to be made to this family, prayers, mental health support.
31:41A vast majority of individuals just come to hold each other's hand and pray for one another because it is so needed. Sometimes I call this the ministry of presence. And it's not what you say. It's just your presence that's there to allow the family to know and to allow the community to know that we are banding together in this time of tragedy and trauma. I was watching the news conference earlier today with state and local officials. I know you were there, some of whom called for more to be done to strengthen domestic violence laws. I want to play for our viewers some of the sound from the sheriff who said this.
32:18Take a listen. How much are the lives of these victims worth? Because the truth is this. Domestic violence is not a private issue. It's not a family issue. It is a community issue. And when we fail to respond in a coordinated, consistent, and compassionate way, people die. You made an emotional plea yesterday asking people to make better use of resources to address mental health challenges, saying this is when or this is the result when someone snaps. Do you have a sense of what can be done going forward, what this may spark in terms of change that hopefully maybe has a policy good for something that's so terrible in the moment?
33:11It is our point of what we need to explain.
33:19I think we lost the council member. We are going to keep a close eye on this, keep you updated throughout. We may actually have her back now. Council member, are you back with us now? Yes. Sorry. I am back with you. Go ahead. You were talking about potential options. Yes. It's a call to action. I absolutely agree with Sheriff Whitehorn and what he said, um, for the last six to eight weeks, um, members of the city, Shreveport city council, some of us on the city council have cried out about domestic violence. We are appreciative of the contributions that 50 Cent and G unit made towards domestic violence in our city, because our numbers are staggering.
33:5830 % of the homicides that we have in Shreveport, Louisiana are related to domestic violence. And the growing group of women who are often affected are African-American women. So this call, this plea by the sheriff is one that we need in its totality. That means it's not just one body. It is the sheriff. It is the, it is Shreveport police. It is the city marshal. It is the community. It's the state. It's the federal government all being intentional about domestic violence and taking this extremely serious. It is important for the community that when they see this, that they have to use their voices as well.
34:41But in using their voices, what we have to do as a community is make sure that we create a safe haven for women, children, even men that are affected by domestic violence to come. It has to be a multi-layered call to action. And in that call to action, there has to be teeth. There has to be funding. There has to be training in all levels. So when we talk about this, then we have to heal the person totally. When that woman comes in, we just can't hand her a brochure and say, go on about your business. Because the trauma then leads to the children. And they feel it in school. and then they may grow to be domestic abusers themselves.
35:24So this is a call to action for our city and other surrounding cities. In this nation, people have to understand how serious domestic violence is and how dangerous it is for our first responders. This man went to three houses, three houses. He shot these children. He knew who they were. Seven of them were his. and you have just left this community in a state of shock, of disrepair, this is how you left us. But in the midst of this struggle, what we have to do is look at the real issue, put political jargon aside, and let's go and do the work so we can save our city. Let Shreveport be the example of what change in domestic violence looks like.
36:17A hopeful and hopefully very accurate, I have no doubt from your side of things, message going forward. My thoughts, my family's thoughts, our thoughts here at CNN. More importantly, our prayers are with Shreveport. We appreciate your time. Shreveport City Council Member Tabitha Taylor, thank you so much. Thank you, sir. And for any of you who need help or know someone who is facing domestic abuse, please visit the National Domestic Violence website, www.thehotline.org, or call 800-799-SAFE. We're back in a moment. In the Monday lead, President Trump says his own energy secretary, Chris Wright, is wrong on gas prices.
37:02Now, here's what Wright told CNN's Jake Tapper just yesterday. When do you think it's realistic for Americans to expect that gas will go back to under$3 a gallon? I don't know. That could happen later this year. That might not happen until next year. But prices have likely peaked and they'll start going down. Today, Trump told The Hill, quote, no, I think he's wrong on that. Totally wrong. Now, keep in mind, just last week, Trump conceded himself that gas prices will not significantly fall anytime soon. Listen. Well, it's going to be eventually it's going to be lower. No, it might not happen initially, but it's going to it's going to go down.
37:42Do you believe the price of oil and gas will be lower before the midterm elections? I hope so. I mean, I think so. It could be. It could be the same or maybe a little bit higher, but it should be around the same. I think this won't be that much longer. For the record, the national average for gas has ticked down a little We're now at$4.04 a gallon. That's down 9 cents in a week, but still up more than a dollar since before Trump launched Operation Epic Fury. I want to bring in Henrietta Trey. She's the Director of Economic Policy at Veda Partners. At the risk of simplifying the complexity of a global market and we don't know the duration of the current conflict, who's right in this debate?
38:32Well, I would say they're both wrong because prices are about to go back up. So obviously you've seen that crude prices have spiked. The strait is not reopened. We are months away from clearing the backlog of ships that are in there now. And that doesn't even take into account the fact that the largest LNG facility on earth has been bombed out and 80 other facilities in the. There's some sort of. So there's an option for the gas prices to get back to where they were on February 27th right now. It's going to be months. Yeah, and it's worth noting that it had been since, I think, what, March of 2021, since they'd been under three when they hit that point late last year.
39:08It's a lift for sure. I do want to ask, we're just weeks away from the busy summer travel season. European Airlines warning they may need to start canceling flights to ration jet fuel. What do you see U.S. airlines doing in this space?
39:23They're doing the same thing. So various airlines are already canceling flights. Air Canada canceled all of its flights to JFK for the next five months. That rationing that you're talking about is really started in Asia, is moving over to the EU, and jet fuel prices are up 95 % since the start of the war. So you're going to see$100,$200 tacked on to your tickets from here. The pain hasn't really fully hit in yet. Henrietta Trey is one of the best in the business and knows I could do this for like another three hours. I very much appreciate your time. Thanks so much. Well, breaking news in the tech lead, Apple CEO Tim Cook is stepping down after nearly 15 years on the job and making Apple a$4 trillion company.
40:06What this major departure might say about the tech industry and its future coming up.
40:15Welcome to Lead. I'm Phil Mattingly in for Jake Tapper. This hour, we're following breaking tech news. Apple CEO Tim Cook is stepping down after nearly 15 years of leading the company. Apple introducing AirPods, Apple Watches, Apple TV +, literally everything you use in your house. So who will take Cook's place? And how big of an impact could this have on the products many of us use every day? Plus, negotiators are running out of time to make a deal before the ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran expires. Vice President J.D. Vance is expected to head to the region tomorrow, as President Trump warns the fighting will resume if the two sides can't quickly reach an agreement.
40:53Also, the singer David officially charged today in connection with the killing of a 14-year-old whose body was discovered decomposing inside his Tesla. Hear what prosecutors said today and when we can expect to see David in court next. And the world was captivated by the astronauts of Artemis II. And today, we got a look at the rocket that will take the crew of Artemis 3 into space as NASA moves toward its goal of landing humans on the moon and eventually Mars.
41:27Believe tonight, the U.S.-Iran ceasefire that was supposed to expire in just a few hours has been giving another lifeline by President Trump, a one-day extension until tomorrow night. But the president also says if a new agreement isn't reached, it's, quote, highly unlikely the deal would be extended again. And now he's dispatching Vice President J.D. Vance for a second time to Pakistan, suggesting a second round of talks could start Wednesday in Islamabad. But that doesn't necessarily square with what we've heard from Iran. The spokesman there says there's no plan for talks, quote, as of now.
41:58And while it's true there's little clarity on what will happen over the next two days, one thing that we do know is that oil prices are once again rising. And the Strait of Hormuz remains effectively shut down. We start things off with CNN's Nick Robertson in Islamabad, Pakistan, where the negotiations may or may not be in the days ahead. Nick, fill people in. What's the latest there? Yeah, the latest we heard many hours ago this evening now was a bit of diplomacy going on. The Pakistan foreign minister, the mediators here reaching out to the Iranian foreign minister. But there's been a lot of other diplomacy going on in the background.
42:34So there's a big lift to try to get the Iranians out of their current position and to commit to come to those talks. And I think if you kind of look at the timeline here, J.D. Vance would have to leave Washington maybe in the next 12 or 15 hours and enable him to get here for talks on Wednesday. So that gives the Iranians, therefore, another 12 or 15 hours to give their answer. There is a great hope here and even a sort of an expectation that the Iranians are going to come through. But that is not their public messaging in Iran right now. The president of Iran has tweeted in the last few hours, the speaker of the parliament in Iran, their lead negotiator, who was here just over a week ago, Galibath, he has tweeted as well.
43:19Both of them are accusing the United States of trying to get Iran's surrender. And the speaker, the lead negotiator, is saying, look, you're trying to sort of pressure us at the table. We're not going to negotiate under threats. That's what he's saying. that can work very well for public consumption. Does that get them into this sort of more international space of actually coming for the talks? So what are the other atmospherics here? Well, look at the Strait of Hormuz right now. As of about the last just under 24 hours, there haven't been any spikes in violence. Nobody's shot at anybody else's ship as far as we know.
44:00And in fact, Lloyds of London say that since the United States started its blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, 26 Iranian vessels have passed through that strait. So, you know, there is, if you will, in diplomatic terms, a space of understanding between the two countries here that neither of them has crashed out of the talks. So that's the space we're in at the moment. And if the talks do happen, I think what we're looking forward to here or what we're expecting to happen, it won't be sort of a marathon 21 hours of talks like last time all the way through the night. Everyone ends up in the morning tired and irritable.
44:41I think the expectation here is the talks would happen over a period of days with both sides getting some sleep in between. That all depends on getting the Iranians to the table. if they do come. The real, I think, firm belief here in Islamabad, the mediators, they believe that they can get a deal if they can get all sides here. One person who doesn't get sleep, Nick Robertson in Pakistan, has been doing just incredible work. Thank you, as always, my friend. Well, joining me now is Republican Congressman Michael Baumgartner of Washington. He sits on the House Foreign Affairs Committee. Congressman, really appreciate you coming in.
45:17What Nick was alluding to there, I think, is a very astute observation. There's a lot of back and forth that we're seeing publicly right now. The Pakistanis are clearly planning for something. The vice president, I don't think, would be getting on a plane if there wasn't an expectation of these negotiations taking place. My question is, what's your sense right now of the potential for an outcome here in the next 48 hours? Well, I think in the big picture, America is a lot safer than we were six weeks ago because of what we've seen happen with U.S. forces in the Middle East. I'd also say that you don't have to be Tom Clancy to understand that Iran is one of the most penetrated government regimes in the world when it comes to intelligence understanding.
45:53So I think we go into these negotiations with a pretty good idea of the Iranians' positions on things. And you put those two things together, the strength of where America is, the leverage we have, and the reality that Vice President Vance is on the plane, I think you think we're in a good position with a lot of reason for optimism. Square kind of the longstanding gulfs in the negotiations between the U.S. and Iran in general, which now includes the Strait of Hormuz as well. Nuclear materials, the ability to enrich proxy forces, ballistic missile capability. Now they seem to have a level of sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz and they're tolling it at the same time.
46:31They don't want to give any of that up. What's kind of the pathway here? Well, it speaks to the nature of the Iranian regime. I mean, these guys are a fanatical death cult. They have a messianic view of the world. They believe that the hand of God is going to come down and sweep their version of Shia Islam, not just across the Middle East, but across the entire globe. So of course, they would like to have a nuclear weapon, you know, but that would be the equivalent of having Hitler have a nuclear weapon or Osama bin Laden have a nuclear weapon. Those two individuals wouldn't give up their nuclear weapons very easily, nor will the IRCG and the Iranian leadership.
47:02So, but that is the stakes of what is that taking place right now, how significant that would be, not just for direct attacks potentially on the United States, but also for proliferation in the region. Because if Iran were to get nuclear weapons, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Turkey, Egypt, likely Qatar would all also have nuclear weapons. And that would be extremely, extremely dangerous. So this is as high as the stakes can be. And one of the reasons why it is so important, what has happened in the last six weeks and why it's great that the U.S. has so much leverage right now. No question on the high stakes, no question on the threat that could be posed by a nuclear Iran when you talk to intelligence officials in terms of how the U.S.
47:38government looks at it. My question is, what would meet your threshold for being enough on that issue? Does the nuclear material and rich material have to be taken out of Iran, or the alternative is the war restarts? My preference would be that the barricade would stay on until Iran handed over their nuclear material. Short of that, would you find it acceptable? That would be what I would do, but I would say we have a lot of confidence in President Trump. You know, he is somebody that took an unprecedented step in his first term when he eliminated Iranian terrorist leader Qasem Soleimani. That really changed the face of the Middle East and what he's done with Midnight Hammer last summer.
48:16And the strength and leadership he's shown now, I think he is the man of the hour that has the leverage and the strength to pull this over. So my preference would be to extremely tough on Iran until the nuclear material is recovered. I think that's something American people can understand. But I also have a lot of confidence in President Trump to look at a wide range of options that we have. We've talked about there's a back and forth between the energy secretary and the president about the price of gas at the end of the year. I'm more interested in having watched the energy secretary, watched all the policy responses the administration has had to try and mitigate the fallout for U.S.
48:50gallons of gas at this point. Do you feel like the administration was adequately prepared on the economic response and the energy response, given kind of how fast moving and evolving we've seen their policy responses be? And by that, I mean saying for days, tapping the SPR, not an option. Tap the SPR. We're not going to raise maximum pressure on Iran with sanctions. No, we're actually going to pull off Iranian sanctions. We're raising or lifting Russian sanctions once, twice, now a third time on Friday night. Do you feel like they were ready for this? Well, I think it's very clear that the price of oil impacts people here in the American economy, and that has impacts on the political cycle.
49:25Nobody's naive to that. But America is much better prepared because what President Trump and Republicans did to unleash American energy here at home to secure and reproduce the oil fields in Venezuela. But again, the big picture, Iran having a nuclear weapon is like Hitler or Osama bin Laden have a nuclear weapon. So what price would you accept of the price of oil to keep that from happening? In reality, we would accept any price because, and that's not what's going to happen, but that's the stakes of what is at play here. And so I think the administration has done a great job overall. I think the American people are well prepared for what's going to happen.
49:58And I think where we need to improve is the continuing to help people understand that need to get out of the Washington, D.C. political cycle and the cynicism of just next year's elections and think about what is the right policy here. It used to be when presidents did things that weren't for just political expediency, you know, we'd call those profiles encouraged, whereas our political cycle has become so jaded. It's just is always focused on what's the next election cycle. Let's worry about what's the good policy, keeping American people safe. And the price of oil is going to be just fine. It is a valid point.
50:26Making it inside your conference sometimes may be a little bit difficult as they look towards the midterm elections. Congressman, I really appreciate you coming in. Thank you for your time. Congressman Michael Baumgartner of Washington. Well, breaking tech news tonight. Apple CEO Tim Cook is stepping down. Much more on what comes next for the tech giant in just moments.
50:52Breaking news in our tech lead. Apple CEO Tim Cook announcing he will step down later this year and transition to a new role as executive chairman. Cook has led Apple for 15 years, succeeding Apple co-founder Steve Jobs as CEO. During his tenure leading Apple, the company experienced massive growth, becoming the first$4 trillion company. Here to discuss, technology journalist and, we are very lucky to say, CNN contributor, Jacob Ward. Jacob, really appreciate you joining me to share your perspective. We were talking before we came on. I think everybody's been expecting this in the tech space. Why now?
51:28Well, Phil, it is a weird thing, right? Because on the one hand, you look at this and you think, why would you leave the greatest CEO job ever? I mean, this guy has increased the market cap of that company by 1 ,000%. right? I mean, you just could not have done better in capitalism than Tim Cook has done, but he's also facing an incredibly complicated future. I mean, Apple is built on three things that Cook made possible. One, the China factory, right? The way that China made possible the iPhone by creating this incredible factory base. Two, the App Store, which is where Apple makes most of its money now, more than it does on selling handsets.
52:08And then three, the iPhone itself, which gets you excited to be part of all of that, makes all that possible. All of that is suddenly up in the air, right? I mean, the geopolitical situation, I mean, Apple paid like$3 billion in tariffs already. China is no longer going to be this easy go-to partner that it once was. Two, AI is absolutely upending the idea of apps. We may not use apps at all, Phil, in the future, to arrange our lives or our work. We may be using these AI agents to do it. So there goes an incredible amount of money. And then everyone's trying to come up with a new form factor for the AI world.
52:43We don't know what the new iPhone is going to be, but it's certainly not going to look like the old one has for the last 20 years. So it's an entirely new world. And that's why this new CEO is going to have to come on and face that new music, Phil. And what's your sense right now? Obviously, this popped after markets closed. I haven't had a chance to take a look at pre-market, But what is the expectation in terms of how investors are going to react here? Well, I think that they are certainly, I mean, you know, it's impossible to say, right, what the market will actually do. But I would say that if I were guessing that they're going to take some reassurance from the idea that something new is happening.
53:16Because there's, you know, there's an incredible amount, you know, the money coming. This place has been a money machine, but its financial future is pretty murky. And, you know, Siri, for instance, which is as close to an AI solution as Apple has had, has been something of an embarrassment. And I'm sure that John Ternus, the new CEO, who's an engineering guy as opposed to an operations guy, I bet he's going to be a reassurance to the market that there's a new plan at least being developed here. But this has been an incredibly profitable bet for investors for a long, long time. In the short term, that's going to continue to be true.
53:49Hopefully, for Apple's sake, the market looks at this and realizes that Apple is trying to make a move for the future because the future is coming pretty fast here, Phil. To that point, have expectations changed for them? Like, does Ternus have to produce some type of AI? We're so far past LLMs at this point, like robotics, some type of product that is as big a hit as everything we've seen over the course of the last 15 years with Tim Cook? Well, at the very least, he's got to create something that is capable of running the sorts of LLMs that we've seen, right? The hardware that a lot of us are carrying around right now couldn't necessarily handle everything that you get through a desktop version or a remote version of AI.
54:31And the whole strategy of Apple has been to create AI on the phone that would use the data that you've got just on the phone, keep it local. That's been their strategy. And so, you know, even building the engineering that would make it possible for it to run what they have in mind, that's hard enough to then make it as sexy as Apple has to make it to continue to be the world leader in very, very cool hardware. That's really tough, you know, but again, you know, Cook was an operations guy. He built supply chains. That was his great genius. Ternus is an engineering guy. He's known for getting into the weeds with the engineers in the meetings.
55:04And so if there's anyone who is going to be able to try and put together the hardware that can really handle an AI future, that's probably him. And then the question will be, can he also then make that thing as sexy as it needs to be to live under the Apple brand, Phil? Yeah, no pressure, Mr. Ternus. No pressure. But certainly matching up, as Tim Cook was with his supply chain expertise in that era, certainly matching up with this era in terms of the background. Jacob Ward, really appreciate it. Welcome aboard to CNN, my friend. I appreciate it. Thanks, Phil. $166 billion plus interest. That's how much companies are owed after President Trump's tariffs were struck down.
55:40And today, they can start trying to claim some of that refund. I'll speak to the lawyer behind the case that got us here, plus one of the plaintiffs. Next.
55:55And I'm Moneyly. Today is the first day businesses can apply for refunds if they paid President Trump's tariffs. American importers are owed a collective$166 billion plus interest after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the president's sweeping tariffs earlier this year. One of those businesses belongs to my next guest. David Levi is the owner of MicroKits, which relies heavily on Chinese products to make educational science kits. He sued the Trump administration, claiming the tariffs crippled his business. Jeffrey Schwab also joins us. He represented David in this suit. I very much appreciate both of you guys' time.
56:30David, I want to try and get into how this actually works in a minute because it's a little complicated. But just to start with, tell us how the tariffs affected your business before this point. Yeah, so those big tariffs came in in April, May, and it was just so expensive to get anything that I just had to half my production rate, you know, slow down everything my business was doing. instead of making 30 % more science kits like I planned to, I made a quarter less. So it was just a huge drop in my ability to deliver products. Jeffrey, one of the questions I have had, and it's based in large part on Trump administration officials being very circumspect about whether we'd get to this point.
57:17And if we got to this point, what the actual outcome would be if you went through the process. Do you have an idea of the timeline here for actually receiving these refunds? When do you think David will actually get his money back? Well, that's a good question. We're hoping sometime in the next few months. But as you mentioned, there's$166 billion of refunds that are owed, and I think something like 330 ,000 importers that are owed. So this could be a somewhat lengthy process. I think the administration will probably do the easy ones first and then get into the more complex ones. So I think the best thing to do at this point, if you're an importer, is go on to the system and submit your claim.
58:07You know, David, to that point, and again, like uncertainty, I feel like has been your life since April of last year on some level. It certainly hasn't ended now as we wait to kind to see how this all plays out to go through. Although, you know, obviously, because of the Supreme Court, you will be getting the refund. Are there impacts to your business that can't be undone, even when that money comes in? Yes, totally. What I've thought about is that every dollar that I paid in the tariff taxes, I've lost another dollar in my business just from all the disruptions from having to cut my production.
58:49And that other dollar is a dollar I can't get back eventually from the government. It's a dollar that just doesn't exist in the first place because I just had my workshop here in Virginia running really slow because I wasn't able to get my parts. Jeffrey, the president's answer to the Supreme Court's ruling was a 10 percent global tariff on all countries. A panel of trade and court judges have challenged the legality of this new tax. Do we have any idea where that stands today? Is this all going to kind of come back? Yeah. So what you're, I think, talking about is the section 122 tariffs that the president instituted hours after the Supreme Court invalidated his IEPA tariffs.
59:33And we're involved with that case too. Oral argument was on April 10th. So we expect to have a decision from the Court of International Trade sometime in the next week or so. And just to be clear, despite what the president announced, it's still 10 percent, right? Like I have not seen the actual EO come through or paperwork raising it to 15, which is what the president announced he was changing it to like 24 hours later. That's right. It's still at 10 percent. He hasn't changed anything to 15. So as of right now, it's 10 percent. But I suppose that could change at any time. That is a very good point.
1:00:13Uncertainty, again, coin of the realm. David Levi, Jeffrey Schwab, really appreciate you guys. Thanks so much. Thank you. Well, seven months after a decomposing body was found in his car, the singer David has been charged in connection with the 14-year-old's death. We're digging into the allegations next.
1:00:40In our Law and Justice League, a short time ago, singer David Anthony Burke, who goes by the name David, spelled D backwards for VD, pleading not guilty to all charges in connection with the killing of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez. Today's charges come seven months after authorities discovered Rivas Hernandez's severely dismembered and decomposed body inside the trunk of Burke's Tesla. Seedence Kyung Law is outside the courthouse in Los Angeles. Kyung, tell us more about the charges here. The charges are detailed and they're very, very serious. But before we get to that, Phil, I just want you to take a look at this video that is just coming in right now.
1:01:19This is the arraignment that wrapped up just a short time ago. And in this arraignment, as you said, the attorneys entered a plea of not guilty. And David's lawyers say that there will be evidence, that they will present evidence that shows that he didn't kill 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez. Now, getting down to the charges, there are three very serious charges. One count of first-degree murder with special circumstances, sex abuse of a minor, and mutilation of human remains. Earlier today, the Los Angeles District Attorney said that what it all came down to was money and David worrying about his career.
1:02:00Take a listen. This murder was committed for financial gain. as the evidence will show in court. The financial gain was for Mr. Burke to maintain his very lucrative musical career that Celeste was threatening on that particular night. Now, the prosecutor went on to say that there is extensive forensic and digital evidence that they were going to enter into court. And, Phil, I want you to take a look at this video. It's a Twitch stream that was recorded and live streamed that we were able to recover from January 11th, 2024. It is picturing David and Celeste. I want you to listen to what Celeste says here.
1:02:49I media trained you. That's controversial. It's controversial of raping kids.
1:03:01It's important to note here that he hasn't been charged with generally raping children, but it was a specific charge of continuous sex abuse of a child. There is other evidence that the prosecution is certainly indicating, Phil, that they will be entering into this case. But again, David vehemently saying that he is not guilty through his lawyers. Phil. Kyung La, live for us with the latest. Thanks so much. I want to turn now to criminal defense attorney, Stacey Schneider. Stacey, the L.A. County District Attorney's Office did not release what evidence exactly they plan to use to prove their case here.
1:03:35How strong do you think the evidence could be given? It's taken them seven months after finding the body to actually file charges. Right. And it is interesting also that they didn't release the results of the autopsy report last week when Burke was first arrested, when David Burke was first arrested. and the reason for that they typically do but in this case they didn't want to compromise the investigation the DA did say that they do have physical forensic and digital evidence in this case that leads me to believe that there's something online that they got something out of a cell phone something from an email confirming the story that they were able to put together in addition to the autopsy results, which would allege that this victim went to David Burke's rental house in the Hollywood Hills in April of 2025, and she was not seen since then.
1:04:29That's when they believe she was killed. Her body was then placed in his car. We don't know yet how they will prove that he was the one who placed her in that car, but they are saying they have forensic evidence. They will also have evidence from the autopsy. They may have DNA evidence, even though the body was found so many months later, and actually a summer had passed by before the body was found, where it was decomposed. It was also allegedly dismembered in different pieces in two separate bags in the trunk of that Tesla automobile. And there must be a good deal of evidence for the DA to charge him with these first degree murder charges and adding the special circumstance charge to it, which means that now David is eligible for the death penalty.
1:05:21One of the things I think stood out, the L.A. County D.A. said Rivas Hernandez was a witness in an investigation into a separate investigation related to Burke, adding that evidence will come out in court. Does that indicate she was cooperating with authorities prior to her killing? it could mean that but it also could mean that she might have been an alleged victim to certain acts that were a crime so she's a victim to acts that may have been perpetrated on her there's been some talk from the da's office that he was involved in alleged inappropriate sexual activity and that activity involved minors.
1:06:05She was 14 when she died. So I think that will come out eventually. And that was also, again, as a special circumstance in this case, which enabled them to allege a special circumstance type of murder and increase this penalty. Normally on a first degree murder charge, he'd be facing life without parole. But having a case where the death penalty is on the table, I'm sure the DA's office has all their I's dotted and their T's crossed with the amount of evidence they would have in their files to be able to bring this serious of an allegation. You know, with that in mind, we heard Kyung give the statement from the defense attorneys, obviously vehemently denying, planning to fight.
1:06:52How would you handle this if you were Burke's attorneys in this case? i think what they're trying to do or they're going to try to do as this comes up is to distance himself from that vehicle the tesla that tesla was parked in the vicinity of his rental home it was left there and abandoned apparently he went on concert tour during one of the months that the car was sitting there and they didn't actually know there was a body in the car until the car was towed. The neighbors called in the car that it was just sitting there. It was towed into an impound lot and there was a strong odor coming from the car.
1:07:32So that's how they were able to determine that she was in the car. And the defense to this case is going to have to be to distance himself from being anywhere near that car or in possession of that car when her body was placed in that car. That, I don't know how they're going to do that yet, but they, sounds like they have a plan because they've announced they have a plan. So we shall see. Indeed. Stacey Schneider, always grateful for your expertise. Thanks so much. We'll break the news out of the White House tonight where a third cabinet secretary is now leaving the administration in less than two months.
1:08:13Those details in moments.
1:08:20We're back in our politics lead. President Trump's second-term cabinet has remained largely intact until March, when he fired and battled Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. At the beginning of April, he removed Pam Bondi as attorney general. And today, number three, White House announced Labor Secretary Lori Chavez de Riemer is the next cabinet official to leave their post. My panel joins me now.
1:08:44Neera, you know a lot about the Labor Department. I've covered a lot of things from the Labor Department. It is not normally a very high profile cabinet post. There has been an unending stream of stories about the cabinet secretary at an agency that most White Houses probably wouldn't have a lot of patience for that. I'm actually more surprised that she's hung on this long than anything else. Why do you think that was? I feel like President Trump was basically thinking to himself he can't, you know, to get rid of any cabinet secretary was to give in because you're right. I mean, she made a lot of news and just like, let's walk through some of that news.
1:09:20It was she had investigations of basically assault complaints, harassment complaints from her family members, not even just her. And, you know, drinking on site, just really above and beyond the pale of anything we've heard from really any agency in my memory. So I think it's, you know, I'm glad he's done it, but it sort of seems like he was saying no to any, any firings of anyone. And then all of a sudden we should note we've had three women in less than a month. It sounds like, well, maybe six weeks, but basically Kristi Noem, Pam Bondi, and now the Labor Secretary. And it's been interesting.
1:10:02Like what's been, I think I said it earlier, maybe last hour, like it was a mess. Like the sheer number of allegations and none of it's been proven. They were all allegations. There were obviously investigations that were underway. But three women in this short period of time, both the decision to finally start pulling the trigger now on removing cabinet secretaries, but also the three of the women in the administration. What's your take on that? Well, I also think for the labor secretary, remember that she came in because of the union support. And so I don't know if there was anything there. She did not have Republican allies on the Hill.
1:10:38No, absolutely not. So was that reason why he delayed it? Also, he hasn't been paying that much attention. There's been so much going on, in case you noticed, that that wasn't a top priority. But listen, I think that he realized, obviously, Kristi Noem had the nail in the coffin when she testified and lied about some of the things that he knew about the plane. So she was gone. I'm not surprised about the latest, but I actually was surprised about Pam Bondi. I think that she, whether you agree with what she believes in or not, She was a strong ally to the president. Listen, as a woman, we have three women here all against you tonight.
1:11:15But I think that it's unfortunate that all three of them won. But two out of the three, it was time for them to go. Yeah. It's just like, what's Kash Patel still doing in his job? I have to ask, but still. Yeah. By the way, I know my place at the state. Very aware of who I'm surrounded by and the intellect, which is much higher than mine. Lauren Fox, I don't think I'm disclosing too much when I would say you and I were texting back and forth, venting a little bit about the state of things on Capitol Hill as it relates to harassment, members doing terrible things despite round after round after like this time it's different and this time we're going to change things.
1:11:52Today there was a rare request from the House Ethics Committee urging, quote, anyone who may have experienced sexual misconduct by a House member or staffer or who has knowledge of such conduct to contact the committee. What's going on here? The House Ethics Committee does not put out statements loosely. They are so tight-lipped. They are so careful about their investigations getting ahead of anything that they're trying to uncover. What I think is happening is you saw last week there were so many members of Congress who were sort of shaking their heads at what are they going to do to actually reform this process.
1:12:23They tried back in 2018. Obviously, there were shortcomings to that. And one of the shortcomings, right, is just people not acting ethically who are elected members of Congress. That's the biggest shortcoming. but what can you tighten up in terms of the reporting process? And a lot of people were saying the ethics committee, they're just taking too long on these investigations. I don't know if that is why this report came out today or why this press release came out today, urging people to come forward, but obviously they want to make it clear that if you don't know where to go on Capitol Hill, you can come to us and we are professionals at uncovering what is transpiring and doing a fulsome investigation, which they do do.
1:13:01Sometimes it can take years for those investigations to be completely wrapped up. Nero, honestly, why are we still here? This is ridiculous. Yes, it is. It is ridiculous. It is absurd. I mean, it is absurd that we have these allegations that go on forever. I would say it's absurd that we have a Democratic member who's accused of, you know, essentially mass fraud. And it's terrible. We have a Republican member who's still there who was under, who was basically had an investigation by the local police that was kind of quashed. So for assault. So I think all of this makes the Congress look terrible.
1:13:43And I think they need to quicken up the pace of these investigations. I think, honestly, people think there's kind of an old boys network or kind of a members club that protects people instead of trying to get these things out faster and faster. And look, the truth is they're self-policing. That is the problem with the ethics panel. That's exactly what I was going to say. It's like there isn't a separate branch of government that's involved in here. And I think that's one of the challenges. Explain that. Because I think sometimes people don't understand what I just asked. How is this possible?
1:14:12And I think it's a huge part of it. Right. I mean, a Republican and Democrat chair the Ethics Committee and they're made up of members of Congress. and the jobs, whoever chairs the Ethics Committee or minority chair of the Ethics Committee, it's like the worst job ever for a member of Congress. You don't want that job because you're always investigating your colleagues. But I actually think that's the problem. Number two, after their statement today, they better hire a ton more staff because I would think that they're gonna probably get a lot of complaints. But I do think, can you put this in two outside legal firms to help move this process further, quicker and faster.
1:14:52What is the answer? Because I don't know if them policing themselves, which is a perfect way to put it, is the right answer. But listen, it's a serious committee on both the House and the Senate side. So we'll see what happens. But we have Gallego, who was actually just put in front of the Senate Ethics Committee. And how long is that going to take if there's anything there? But one more thing quickly. I do think that there's been a call last week and this week for anyone that's been reported with some sort of allegation that that person or that member of Congress is identified. I do think that's a slippery slope because what happens if you're just mad at your boss and all of a sudden you're like, hey, he did X, Y, and Z.
1:15:33And then there has to be some sort of formal process before people's names are released on either side. I don't think we should go so far. That balance there is part of the difficulty on some level because it's politics and people are lobbing things in at all times. How do they find that balance? What do you think? Yeah, I mean, I think one of the unfortunate parts about what's transpired over the last two weeks is that so much of this is contingent on women coming forward or those who are experiencing, and sometimes it's men, the sexual harassment to come forward. And it puts a lot of onus on victims at a moment when it's really scary to come forward when you're coming up against a power differentiation that is not equal and loyalty is a paramount value in this town and if you're not loyal to your boss and you allege something you really open yourself up to what the future could be for you and I think that that's so challenging that we're putting all of this focus on victims coming forward because sadly and the ethics committee statement said that it is important that those people come forward but it's hard to do.
1:16:38Yeah it's an extremely important point a good one to end on. I do want to say, you have a new book. What's it? Tell people what's it. Oh, the Power Power. I'm going to mention it. I'm going to mention it. I know, I know, but I'm going to mention it every time you're on. Thank you. Three people I think extremely highly of. Thank you guys very much for coming in. I appreciate it. Well, today we got a look at the main part of the rocket for the next moon mission. We're going to break down what you need to know about Artemis 3 when it can launch. Next.
1:17:08In our out-of-the-world lead on the heels of the history-making Artemis II mission. Today, NASA rolled out parts of the rocket that will be used in the Artemis III mission. You're looking at the largest section of the SLS rocket, which will launch the crew into space. Joining me now to discuss retired NASA astronaut, Terry Virts. Terry, so just start top line. Why is Artemis III so important for the goal of eventually landing humans back on the moon? Well, Artemis III specifically is really critical because that's going to test out the lunar landers for the first time. So on Artemis II, the whole world watched as the astronauts went around the moon in the Orion capsule, but they didn't have any way to land.
1:17:48And so this is going to be the first time that those things fly. If you look back to the Apollo mission, Artemis II was the equivalent of Apollo 8, and then Artemis III is going to be the equivalent of Apollo 9, making sure that the lunar landers can work in deep space before they actually go on the surface of the moon on the next flight after that. So Artemis 3 is set to launch next year, which was devastating news in my household. Expectations were high for like next week with my kids. But NASA targeting a moon landing in early 2020. Do you think that's a realistic timeline? That's going to be a tough timeline.
1:18:26They have to launch. There's two different lunar lander contractors. basically Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos, SpaceX and Blue Origin. And so they have to build their landers. They have to test them. Elon's SpaceX's lander requires refueling, so they have to verify that technology. It has to be tested unmanned with no astronauts on board. And then they have to land. And 2028 is looking at my watch. It's not too far in the distance. So we'll see. You know, I hope we can get there as soon as possible. Most importantly, I hope we can get there as safely as possible. Yeah, obviously the most critical element of this.
1:19:05What do we need to learn about the moon before the conversation about a lunar base on its surface can really take place for real? Well, one of the most important things about these landers, where they land, it has to be flat. So understanding the surface really well. You don't want to land on a mountaintop, which on the moon would be the side of a crater and because the lander would fall over. So they need to make sure they can find smooth, flat areas without a lot of boulders. That was a problem in Apollo. If you watch the Apollo 11, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landing, one of the reasons why it was so stressful is that Neil had to maneuver to avoid some boulders.
1:19:44So they want to find a place where they can land safely and then also conduct some science activities. There's some water in certain craters on the moon, and that would be amazing if we could get to that. But if not, there's lots of other scientific reasons. So they want to learn the geography and the terrain before we go land human beings there. We've got about 30 seconds left. Mars. Is that real? Not the planet. It's real. I've seen it with my eyes. This is a red planet. No, no, no. Our ability to get there. In my personal opinion, Terry Virch's opinion, not NASA's or anybody else's, We need to get nuclear power first because that significant electrical power will let us make rocket engines that can get us there faster and get us back.
1:20:33Using a normal rocket engine just takes too long. So in my view, we got to get the nuclear power working first before we can send humans there. Well, I am all on board now. So is my entire household. We are diehard, dead set believers in all the things. Terry Virts, you help us explain or understand all the things. Appreciate your time as always, my friend. Thanks, Phil. And I know how you feel. I share the sentiment. Great. Well, I hope you'll join me for my new video series, CNN Breaks It Down. We're tackling the most pressing questions in business and politics. You can find the episodes on CNN.com slash watch.
1:21:07You can follow the show on X and Instagram, The Lead CNN. If you ever miss an episode of The Lead, you can watch the show on the CNN app. Aaron Burnett Out Front starts now.
1:21:24I'm Daniel Dae Kim. I'm going to South Korea to figure out how this small nation conquered the world with its culture. Join me and meet the artists and creators behind the phenomenon. K-Everything, streaming May 9th on the CNN app. Influential journalist Kara Swisher is taking a hard look at the longevity industry. There's so much bad information that the really good information gets drowned. The new CNN original series, Kara Swisher Wants to Live Forever. Now streaming on the CNN app.
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A ceasefire with Iran is about to expire so will we see more strikes? Plus, an apology from United Kingdom Prime Minister Keir Starmer tied to the Epstein files as he tries to quiet calls for him to resign.
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