Is The Ceasefire Holding?

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All right, that Middle East ceasefire on fragile ground. Both sides trade shots. Could President Trump make good on new threats to quote blow Iranian forces off the face of the earth? The gas price is a little bit more than a little bit. uh hitting everybody over the head including me. Gas prices climb, restaurant sales suffer, and airline goes under. The White House says help is on the way. Will it be up too little too late? Thank you. All we want right now is to feel safe, to have clarity.

And to get home. A floating quarantine zone, hundreds of passengers trapped on a cruise ship, the deadly outbreak on 白茶白茶 So this is an explosion at the world's fireworks capital. Rescue crews are still searching for survivors. シャイオン You jump basil. Yeah. People that need to be being celebrated at the Met Gala. Other workers. The Bezos Ball, Amazon workers call out their boss as his wife struttered her way to the top of the steps of the Met. CNN This Morning starts right now.

We're gonna talk about that ceasefire. Is it gonna hold? These are anxious hours for the Middle East and beyond. Welcome everybody. Good morning. I'm Audie Cornish. And if you are just waking up wondering if that truce between the US and Iran still holds, the answer is Maybe didn't look good there for a while. President Trump rolled out a plan to guide commercial ships through the Strait of Hormuz, and then Iran fired missiles at the U.S. Navy and U.S. helicopters sank.

six Iranian attack boats. Now this was the president just a few hours ago. Is the ceasefire over? Mr. President, is it over? We're gonna hit'em tonight? Uh well I can't tell you that. Right. Yeah. W you wouldn't if I answered that question you just say this man is not smart enough to be United States of America So oil's prices uh have pulled back after hitting the highest price of the year just hours ago. US gas prices are up to four dollars and forty eight cents. They're up

$1.50 since the start of the war. So I'm bringing in CNN's Elaine Jacos. And Elaine, um, first just getting a sense of What ships were able to make it through on Monday? Um and is despite w what we saw, the movement back and forth, and are any gonna try and make it through today? Yeah, it's such a good question and frankly what we saw yesterday when Project Freedom was announced.

is far less vessels transiting the strait than what we've seen uh before prior to that. And of course President Trump saying this is a humanitarian mission, it's not a naval escort, it's about helping guide vessels through the straits. And now that we've got two uh US destroyers in the Persian Gulf, does that change the calculus?

What we saw was on one LPG carrier with the transponder on, transiting the strait yesterday. And then USNCOM says there were two US vessels that transited. I spoke to Kepler and they said they can't. track those two vessels because they turned off their transponders. So in other words they moved uh dark through the uh Strait of Hormuz. And the sense is that any vessel movement that we'll see now

is probably going to be without any tracking data. Right now, according to experts, nothing is happening at this juncture. The question is, how successful Will Project Freedom be? I want you to take a listen to uh retired Lieutenant General Karen Gibson on how this could potentially play out. Even though today was a tactical success of getting those vessels out of the strait, the metric ought to be the return to normal commercial operations. So the metric ought to be

the number of insurers and shipping companies that feel comfortable and safe and are willing to transit the straight. And you know, commercial confidence is really the center of gravity. Yeah, and she's right, it is the center of gravity and if there's any inkling of any type of threat

which we've actually seen yesterday with a lot of confrontation in the Strait of Homo's shippers are going to stay away. But it is interesting I spoke to one shipper earlier and they said American vessels are making the transit, clearly under insurance guarantees with uh, you know, American a assurances of safety.

Now the question is who's going to follow suit and are we going to see a lot more vessels moving through? But one shipping executive told us um earlier that the strait is still incredibly hazardous and I expect most ships will continue to avoid transit until both sides Come up with something a lot more concrete and Audi, this is the reality. We still are worried about those speedboats that Iran has, even though the USAs they were able to sink

Six of those. It's still asymmetrical warfare and Iran is still viewing this as a violation of the ceasefire, even though President Trump has not directly declared the attacks on us here in the UAE as a violation. So we wait to see what happens. Okay, that's Elena Jacko's talking to us from the UA.

And there's a lot to follow up on. There was also um a strike on an oil facility, so I'm bringing in the group chat. Alex Thompson, CNN political analyst. National political correspondent at Axios, Sabrina Singh, CNN Global Affairs commentator and former Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary, Mahek Cook. Senior analyst at the Daily Signal and former Trump campaign surrogate, and Maria Cardona, CNN political commentator and democratic strategist.

Um, I wanna unpack just a few things. One, uh I noticed that when there was that attack on that oil facility in the region. That's the facility people had been trying to like divert oil to, right? It was like, oh, the straits a problem, so we're gonna go here and then Iran started aiming there. So are we right back in and there's the image of it. Not that we're back to where we started. But this has not become less complex since the the proposal from the Trump administration.

That's right, even though Donald Trump wants to say that the ceasefire is still holding and he's trying to downplay this attack, that attack is significant because that is where

the pipeline that goes around the Strait. It is essentially exactly what you said. It is the pipeline that can get oil out without um vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz. So the fact that Iran took a shot at that that pipeline in particular It shows they want to continue to disrupt the global market and they are willing to incur the cost of it.

Because they don't really care about um costs going up for them. They actually I think are making the political calculation that because costs are going up for Americans, that's gonna force the US hand at the negotiating table. Because right now what we're talking about We're not talking about Iran's nuclear ambitions. What we're talking about is the strait. And they have to do that. Yeah. use their nuclear option of closing it and and global markets are obviously

Alex, can I just ask you briefly about the White House position of this? And Sabrina, you may want to jump in because we're supposed to hear from Heg Seth and we're gonna talk about that later today. So I don't know if he's gonna come out and say, Guess what? This is what a ceasefire looks like.

Or it looks like more things are changing or council patients or what. So what is your sense that um the White House wants to do just in the last twenty four hours given the return to actual what what they would call kinetic action? Well, we're in week ten of what they originally said was going to be a four to six week war. So, you know, they they are very much playing for time, in part because they know that the first time we have a lot of people who

the market reaction if they make this clear that this could go on for what some people increasingly believe is going to be several more months of these, you know, sub not just uh all you know energy shocks, but really a supply shock that will reverberate across the city of the city of the city across the world. They are very much trying to play for time to try to get a real ceasefire. Um but the fact is that their original expectations this being over soon have not uh have not been

All right, so that's let me just bring in the other side of the table because this is where the American people come in. We're being told to be patient, right? That wars are complicated. that this one is n not been very long. It's just been a couple of weeks. And so far it's an uphill battle for them in terms of um explaining that.

Uh this Washington Post poll, this is just from um late April when people were asked how do you feel about the president's handling of the war in Iran? Right now that number of disapproved Is is high, frankly. And I I wanna br come to you, Mahek, because when I listened to the president talk about polls, here's what he said on Monday. They give me fake polls. They tell me about polls and this you know, it's it's interest they did a poll on the war with Iran.

Yeah. They said only thirty two percent of the people like it. Is it okay for Iran to have a nuclear weapon? It wouldn't be thirty two percent. But even if you said that there'd be a thirty two percent because the polls are fake. Now I frequently hear the presidents say the polls are fake. What caught my ear about this is him saying they give me fake ones. Does the president trust the information he's getting from his team?

Look, I think what the president's saying today is that war is not easy and majority of Americans don't want to be in war. We're looking at our gas prices today and we're struggling. We just got out of a forty year high inflation under Joe Biden.

President Trump was able to turn that corner. Gas prices were three dollars and we were celebrating in America. And now with the Iran war, we're back to square one. But I have to say this has been sixty days. We've been dealing with the Iran regime for 47 years. Yeah. Well We've accomplished a lot. When I said square one, it's the gas prices. We're back to higher gas prices in the sixty days. But when we talk about accomplishments, we've actually kneecapped

Iran, when you think about it, Iran is now using they can't use proxies. We've tried to work with Hezbollah and Lebanon to make sure that there's at least a ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel. So we're actually looking at the Strait of Hermooth today and we have not backed down even with this Small attack on We were able to not only respond immediately, but actually take the waterways and

I mean on the first day of Project Freedom uh t took a setback, let's put it that way. How do Democrats talk about this? Especially since Democrats don't exactly argue, uh actually Iran was fine, we shouldn't have done nothing. They're really talking about how the war was prosecuted. Sure. And and what Democrats talk about is that we shouldn't have retreated from the original Iran nuclear deal in the first place because we are way worse off today than we ever were during that deal.

And so what Democrats talk about is that yes, no one is is applauding Iran. Everyone has always, you know, believed that they should not have a nuclear weapon. No one loves the regime. But the way that this They've never explained to the American people what it was they were doing, why, what the strategy is, what the end game is, and how we're gonna get out.

Right, and and and I guarantee you that we're not gonna get any of that, which is why the polls are so low because this is not what Americans voted for. They voted for exactly. Well we're gonna get into more of this because we have more detail on the polling, and as we said, we're gonna hear from the defense secretary. Uh I want to turn to this though. You could feel this.

For miles. This is a massive explosion at the world's fireworks capital in China. And then we're gonna turn to the glitz, glamour, and controversy. The Met Galahad, that, and more. And Vegas says goodbye Dolly, why Dolly Parton says she is stepping back from the stage. And this thing of me is like an old classic car. That once restored.

It's now sixteen minutes past the hour. Here are five things to know to get your date going. Now, right now, two people are confirmed dead, several others injured after a car ramming attack in Germany. Now this car drove into a crowd on a busy pedestrian-only shopping street. A 33-year-old suspect is in custody, and officials say he may suffer from mental health issues. Hãy subscribe cho kênh La La School Để không bỏ lỡ những video hấp dẫn And it was not.

Six people have died after an explosion at a fireworks factory in China, dozens more injured. This happened in a region of China known as the World's Fireworks Hub, since it produces about 60% of the world's supply. And the Broadway musical, The Book of Mormon, cancels two performances this week after a fire broke out at the Eugene O'Neill Theater. This sparked off in an electrical room and engulfed two floors before reaching the roof.

And that legal battle between Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni's production company. It's finally over. Just weeks before the trial, the two sides reached a settlement over Lively's complaints of wrongdoing by Baldoni during the filming of It Ends With Us. The terms of the settlement were not disclosed.

And celebs became the canvas at last night's Met Gala with the theme Fashion is Art. Beyonce made her return after a ten-year hiatus. Other stars unrecognizable, Heidi Klum, dressed as a statue, bad bunny as elderly, and the glitz and glam came under a cloud of Controversy. Billionaire and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos sponsored the event for the first time. Protesters weren't happy about it. Pointing to Bezos Trump-friendly, ice backing, uh, mega-rich ideologies. Amazon workers joined activity.

activists in a quote ball without billionaires calling out the wealth disparity they say best Bezos perpetuates in a fashion show largely featuring immigrant designers. did an event that's supposed to celebrate creativity, artistry, and fabulously. In all genders, end up revolving around this Temu Lex Luthor. break. Okay, group chat is back. We have to talk about it because A, this is the first time I've really seen a proper protest of the You know what I mean? Not like you're eat the rich butt.

a dress'cause you're in it. Like a proper your workers are out there saying, What are you doing here? Um this is an example of that, you know, trying to counter spectacle with spectacle. Um and then we all still looked at the dresses here. Which is terrible. I I think it was brilliant that Temu Lex Luther out I hadn't heard that one yet. Feminine hot from Abbott Elements. was right on on target. Did you actually have a favorite dress?

I I did. I I mean, actually I liked a lot of looks. I loved Beyonce's look. I thought it was very glamorous. I should also say she is co chair this year. She wasn't just coming back. She was coming back with a job to do. As you can see, she understood the assignment.

I thought she looked just incredible and just that that large cape I th uh or ge uh you know tra train behind her was beautiful. And then I I really did like Sabrina Carpenter's look in the Dior and then she had um the designers had taken strips of the Sabrina movie. Yeah, the film stock. You know, I'm slightly biased, my my namesake as well, but I thought she looked very Is that the only reason you pick that so we're not? You are off the man. It is but I thought she looked glamorous.

Great week. Alex, do you have a favorite? I don't want to leave you out just'cause you're a man. Thank you. I really appreciate that. Yeah. Uh no, I really actually liked Kylie Jenner. She was wearing sort of Skipperelli. Um and I just recently saw a a huge exhib uh uh exhibition of Skipperelli and I just thought it was it was gorgeous.

I was intrigued, Lauren Bezos was wearing a dress that alluded to um a past socialite who also was criticized by the public. And so the dress looks very simple on the outside and there's a lot of history there. All you art history nerds, go look.

Uh in the meantime I'm gonna turn to this and honestly it's Really sad. There are a lot of people stranded on this cruise ship. There's a deadly virus outbreak. Nearly 150 people are waiting to go home. In the meantime, the Treasury Secretary assures Americans that help is on the way when it comes to the economy because people are talking about the In the meantime, good morning from the harbor in Baltimore. We'll be right back.

About those seventeen Americans who are among the nearly hundred and fifty people trapped on a cruise ship off the coast of West Africa. Now a suspected outbreak of the rare and deadly hantavirus. has already claimed three lives. The vessel is essentially a floating quarantine zone. Despite urgent medical evacuations for the symptomatic, there's still no plan to disembark the other people on the ship. Now there's a US travel blogger who is among that group.

There's a lot of uncertainty and that's the hardest part. All we want right now is to feel safe and To have clarity. And to get home. Okay, following this for us, CNN Salma Abdelaziz. Now we just heard him sounding afraid. And I wanna get a sense from you what authorities are doing, meaning like why can't they dock, for instance? Well the simple answer to that is because Cape Verde, which is the archipelago uh that they are off of currently, has not

granted permission for them to dock there. Instead, they're having to wait on Dutch authorities who are working right now with the World Health Organization to facilitate that evacuation. Now this has to happen in two parts, Zadi, because you need to First of all, get those who need treatment to treatment. We understand that there's at least two crew members on board who are symptomatic and one other individual who needs to be evacuated as well. That's going to be exciting.

Extremely complicated. They're gonna need two specialized aircraft with specialized medical equipment and medical teams on board. No clear timeline on what that when that's gonna happen. Now, what is Hamtivirus? What is this disease? Well it's an illness that is extremely Stream. rare and is generally spread through rodents, but it can be extremely deadly if and when contracted. The CDC says up to 39% of those who contract hantivirus.

may die of it, but the World Health Organization says this is not yet a public health threat. I want you to take a listen to what the World Health Organization said just just about an hour ago about this outbreak and how it may have struggled. Bread. The point being, regardless of which virus it actually is, um we do know that some of the cases have had very close contact with each other and certainly human-to-human transmission can't be ruled out.

Now you heard the fear in that travel blogger's voice as you mentioned, and that's because there's three people who have died of hantavirus among those who were on board that cruise ship. Again, it's usually spread among rodents. So for many of these epidemiologists, It's simply unclear where this outbreak originated and again it's about that timeline. How quickly can they get those who need treatment to hospitals to care and then for the rest of the passengers?

There's going to be a part two where they're going to have to find another location, another port that might be willing to accept them. And there might be further isolation because the time in which this virus can remain in a person's body can be up to eight weeks. Yeah, okay, that's Salma Abdelaziz. We're gonna keep following this today.

As those cruise passengers remain on that ship and straight ahead on CNN this morning. Good morning to you in Ohio, Indiana, and Michigan, because it's your election day. The national impact of these key states, plus what we could hear from Defense Secretary Pete Heggsh this morning. in his latest update on the Iran War. Is this real? It is. More outrageous you might paint? It's my favorite colour. Oh, look at this bag. fascinating people who call these one-of-a-kind places home.

Hacaboose. Zillow Gone Wild, all new season Friday at 9.30 on HGTV.

Good morning everybody, I'm Audie Cornish. I want to thank you for joining me on CNN this morning. It's half past the hour. Here's what's happening right now. Going through the ultimate test this morning, after both the U.S. and Iran fired shots in the Strait of Formuz, the U.S. Navy claims to have destroyed six small Iranian boats while providing protection for the waterway. President Trump warned Iranian forces they would be quote.

And the president is looking for revenge in Indiana after Republicans rejected his redistricting proposal late last year. To seven of the eight Republican state senators who are up for re-election. That's on the ballot, and voters will cast those ballots in Ohio as well today, where several Republicans are fighting for Democratic Representative Marcy Capture's seat.

This could be the DOP's best pickup opportunity in the midterms. Tonight you can watch the California primary debate right here on CNN or on the CNN app. That coverage begins at 9. The good news is I'm responding really well to meds and treatments, and I'm improving every day. Now the bad news is it's going to take me a little while before I'm up to stage performance level. Thank you.

Something tells me people will think she is worth the wait. Dolly Parton has canceled her Las Vegas residency over lingering health challenges. The country legend updated fans, as you can see, through social media, saying that her health has been improving. Like an old classic car that once restored can be better than ever. So this morning, Defense Secretary Pete Heggseth is set to deliver an update on the war with Iran. That's supposed to be happening around eight A.m. Eastern.

The ceasefire between Iran and the U.S. appears to be honestly just hanging on. The U.S. military claims two U.S. merchant ships made it safely through the strait on Monday. After it shot down Iranian cruise missiles and drones. So just for some context, about 120 ships would have passed through the strait daily before this war started. So is Project Freedom working?

We're close to victory. Victory to me would be regaining freedom of navigation of the Strait of Hormuz, degrading a little bit further, short, big, uh, strong response to degrade their military capability a bit further. Joining us now in the group chat, Adam Ferrar, senior geoeconomics analyst for Asia Pacific at Bloomberg Economics. He's also a former member of the White House Security Council. So I'm glad you're here because

As of now, we are kind of in a ceasefire. Meaning uh I ended the weekend on Friday hearing from Heg Seth, look, you don't have to worry Congress, because we're in a ceasefire. So don't talk about the war resolutions. We're in a ceasefire. Come Monday morning, Iran says. Not so fast and now we're in this kind of complicated moment where we don't know quite what's going on. Um I I wanna play for you something that the former defense secretary said, Leon Panetta, and get your reaction coming out.

We may have crossed the line here. Uh we aren't involved in a uh anymore in a six to eight week war uh that's was gonna end in a few days. I think this is beginning to smell very much like a forever war. What you're left with is continuing to try to use military action in order to make the other side blink. And the reality is that right now neither side is blamed. Okay.

What do you think of that? He's like military action is the only action here and and since peace talks are stalled, uh I'm curious about what you think. So uh the defense secretary clearly understands and looks at what's in front of the US and Iran right now and and realizes that there are huge, vast differences in how each regime each country is looking at potential outcomes in a negotiated settlement.

And with that space, both are looking for opportunities to increase leverage and get the the ball moved closer to them. And that is driving, you know, these kind of short term escalations in in military engagement. And what we saw on Monday was exactly that, right? The United States put out a new plan theoretically to move ships through to diminish Iran's control of the Strait of Hormuz, which has become their critical uh element of of power at this point.

And Iran push back immediately, right? But in a calibrated manner, both asserting their ability to both target ships in the strait and then also go after the ways in which the region is getting around the strait to get oil out of the region.

I sort of saw that as some caution. That's right. Um, you know, I'm interested in the fact that uh as you said, Iran is making different calculations. The foreign minister um Sayyid Abbas Araqji was saying, look, events and Hormuz make it clear that there's no military solution. to a political crisis. And then he said project freedom is project deadlock.

Can can you talk about that? What are the president's options here? He's to they're gonna come out and say our military is the best operation is amazing and Iran's like, this is not You're not gonna solve it this way. Well Iran can say what they want. They're out of options today because the only thing they're relying on is fear. Remember in nineteen eighty. I think that's what we're trying to figure out.

We have leverage over the Strait of Hermuz right now. The fact that we were able to take out the six ships. And then move. Through the thing. Shows you but it's we're still moving vessels, right? Do you remember forty seven years we've not had this? We've had a stalemate with Iran.

where we've been held hostage. US embassies to American soldiers have died. This is the first time. Every single time something happens in the Strait of Hermuz, America is betting against the president and we should be with him. We're looking at a war. That means that every single second things are going to change. That doesn't mean we should stop cheering for America today. In nineteen eighties, President Reagan did the same thing when Iran was attacking vessels.

I think Heg Seth is gonna come out and say something similar about the cheering or not cheering. I wanna know about like on the ground, when we look at what's there, is there a military solution or are they at a stalemate? Or are those two ships progress? So the question here is about how much the United States is willing to move forward on expanding the military conflict. Iran is showing that with an asymmetric capabilities.

it can continue to hold back which is what is a vastly superior US force in the region by you know continuing to grow in uncertainty among shippers and oil exporters around the world.

And so the question is not w does the United States have the preponderance of force? Absolutely. The question is is the US willing to escalate to a level that can actually clear the area and give You know, the shippers the sense that they can reliably transit safely, and what that could take is a vastly expanded strike campaign, whether it be just along the coast or going after other targets further inland.

but also the potential of leveraging these ground forces that the United States brought in.

Okay. Stay with us for a second because the fallout to this economically, as you're pointing out is becoming more and more visible to particularly American consumers who, let's face it, are still spending as as we go through this crisis. So you've got Most vessels still blocked, as we said two and through, but most vessels are still blocked. Americans don't seem to be buying the argument from the administration. You had Treasury Secretary Scott Besson's claim that relief is already on the way.

Help is on the way as as of today. The the way to think about it is the market because the of the conflict around the strait is in deficit about ten million barrels a day, between eight and ten million barrels a day right now. So every crew carrier that goes through has about two million barrels. So four or five

crew carriers a day coming through of the pent up demand. We think there are more than a hundred and fifty, two hundred crew carriers that can come out. So I think the market's gonna be very well supplied. So oil prices are pulling back at the moment after reaching the highest of the year. Many analysts

Don't expect prices to come down anytime soon. Here's what we're seeing in terms of businesses and the economy. You've got some restaurant chains, including Wingstop, Domino's, Shake Shack, Jack in the Box. They are all reporting declining sales. New this morning, according to AAA, the national average of regular gas is a very important thing.

four forty eight a gallon up nearly thirty cents in one week. The group chat is back. The reason why I wanted to talk about this is one, having a few numbers, right? But two, when you look at the marquee uh and by marquee I mean internet mega voices. your Megan Kelly's, your Tucker Carlson, all those types, they are saying this is not America first. And they are pointing to the same economy and economic problems

and saying, look, White House, this is a problem for you. Does the White House think it's a problem for them? Yeah, I mean that's why you have Scott Besson going out saying relief is on the way. But Trump is saying the polls are fake. I would I would say that there has long been a disconnect in Trump world between what the president says and what like the the political messaging Yeah.

But on the economy sometimes they hear it. Every once in a while they're like he's gonna give a speech or all of a sudden he's out there with cereal boxes. Like, are we gonna see playing to the economic issue? Well Trump is never a sort of I feel your pain politician. Trump has always been I'm gonna try to brag and try to, you know, say like basically say this is the best ever, you know, it's the golden age of America, America's the hottest country in the world.

And I don't think that's going to change. But it doesn't take a political genius to say that having four dollar, fifty dollar gas nationwide is a political liability for every single Republican going into the What's the scuttle butt in the Bloomberg room? Are you guys all just like, what business is struggling today? You know what I mean? The o I'm sure the oil corner of the room is uh looking at a bunch of millionaires, but for everyone else, how are you looking at this economic divide?

That's facing the fallout. So uh in the US, right, we're what we're seeing is really this price shock and this question of how high can it go. Our initial estimates actually saw oil at a much higher right rate right now after two months of closure. And that speaks to both the ways in which the Saudis and the UAE have been getting around the blockade via their pipelines.

but also kind of uh some under uh underpricing in the market of the the vast supply shock that may be coming towards the United States and other parts of the world. And, you know, while in the United States that's limited, you know, right now to prices and increasingly in inflation, r other parts of the world we're really starting to see supply shocks.

Yes, we're talking with potential global recession and things like that. That's right. You know, I was thinking about Democrat messaging around this kind of thing. They know this pain during the Biden years. It was the vibe session. Gas prices are high. Y'all didn't didn't really have an answer for that, and here we are. And so, do they have an answer now? Because mostly when you look at these primaries.

It's people who want a billionaire tax and people who are talking about security issues. I don't know if there's somebody who's really saying like, hey y'all who can't afford Jack in the Box and Shake Shack. This is what we have for you. There is a lot of candidates talking about what they will do w it for for voters on the affordability crisis. And that's why you're seeing Democrats. Winning.

So many elections across the board in ruby red deep but it I mean, if there was an agreement on the path forward, there wouldn't be these big clashes in the primaries between the establishment candidates and the more progressive candidates. But I I actually think that's a good thing because what you're seeing across the board again is the candidates who respond to what the voters want. What the voters want right now

are people who are going to fight for them. Why do they want uh candidates who are going to fight for them? Because they see a huge betrayal coming from this White House, from President Trump, from Republicans who promised in twenty four to deal with All right, I'm gonna hold on to you there. With forever was.

We're actually gonna uh take a beat and talk about this very thing later in the show'cause I do think there's a question about what the path is forward. Adam, as always, I love having you. Thank you so much. One day we will end up talking about China when the president actually has that meeting.

Uh next, we're gonna talk about those lawmakers waking up in their home districts this morning, what they're telling constituents about the war, about what Maria Maria said about gas prices. Next, we're gonna talk about again Democrats versus Democrats. What is this party in for? fighting and what does it mean for the midterms? Later on CNN News Central, we're just hours away from a high stakes debate in California.

So before the break we were talking about those gas prices and the Trump administration says help is on the way. Is that gonna be fast enough for you? President of one oil consulting firm warns that if the Strait of Ramuse doesn't open by June, U.S. gas could hit five dollars a gallon. Here's the take from Megan Kelly. And I believe he needs to be focused on America. This is what I...

They m they may not matter if your last name is Trump, but they matter to Middle America, who are obsessively, if you look at these social media boards, checking the gas prices and trying to find the low the cheapest gas in their neighborhood. That's how most Americans live. All right, so I'm bringing in Republican Congressman Mike Haradopoulos from Florida. Thank you for being here. And I want to just start with

That comment from Megan Kelly, I don't think there's anything more clear and succinct than that. What is your response to what she's saying? That gas prices matter and that this president doesn't seem to understand that. Well I would just say this, Audi. I I agree. Gas prices do matter. It is a huge part of our economy. It's the everyday cost that Americans hate paying. Uh we are enjoying much lower gas prices throughout the early part of

President Trump's second term. Clearly this conflict in Iran has caused those prices to go up, and we're looking at alternative ways to fill that gap. That's why there's opportunities as you know in Venezuela. The Saudis are being smart about using their Western pipeline, but we need to solve this problem for the the good of uh not just America but the world to finally tape take this Iranian crazy regime off the map.

So what are you telling constituents? Are you just commiserating on the gas prices or telling them to be patient? Like what's your argument? No good point, Audi, and I'm saying this. We all know the crisis with Iran is real. We know it's been going on since nineteen seventy nine. We all hope that this is an aberration for a few months that we're dealing with higher prices in order to get some stability in the Middle East, which we've not enjoyed my entire lifetime.

And I think that we have allies finally in the Middle East. I mean, you think about all the Iranian neighbors, especially the UAE recently, they've said I've had enough of Iran and we're gonna t gang up together and finally take out this crazy regime. In the meantime the I just one last thing, Audie, as I would say I talk to citizens like we hate gas prices where they're at Mike.

And we're all hoping, again the key word is hoping, that we can get through this crisis in the next couple of months so we can enjoy long term lower gas prices and a world that's a lot safer considering the fact that Iranians can actually fire missiles more than two thousand miles away. So we've got new polling showing that Americans don't think that gas prices will come down over the next year. We also saw polling or earlier in the show um about whether or not people approve of Trump's

Handling of the war. Um why do you think those disapproval numbers are so high? Oh Audie, there's no doubt about it. The gas prices are too high. But can I stop you for a second? Outside of the gas prices, why don't they look at Heg seth who's out every week, look at Trump who's out talking ab about this and the diplomatic back and forth out Iran and think my president is doing a good job with this war that he kicked off.

Well two things I'd say. One is again I can't emphasize that when gas prices are high, everybody's upset, including me. Second is the part is that we don't understand sometimes these these foreign relation issues. They're they're we're critical cocky book issue. So I I think they're more than legit to be upset about it. And as you know, the media's pretty pushing hard on the idea about failure in Iran in Iran.

Remember we've knocked out their entire navy, we've knocked out most of their military capabilities and they're feeling the pinch right now because their own army might not get paid because they're not bringing in that oil revenue as usual. We're also seeing the fallout here and there in businesses. For example, Spirit Airlines basically shutting down

uh mid service that's going to impact some of your constituents. I think upwards of four thousand Florida residents had lost their jobs, seventeen thousand nationwide when it went out of business. Here's one flight attendant. You know it's bittersweet. There's a lot of memories. We had good days, we had bad days, like any other job. Okay. Bye. It was that job that I loved to have. There was no job that compared.

Um I know in Orlando this hit hard, so what are your concerns going forward about the economic fallout? Well as you know, companies like JetBlue are taking up some of the slack but I feel for this woman. I mean she's in a del difficult situation, uh the especially given how chaotic things are around the world today.

But Liz Austria member in twenty twenty four they had the opportunity to actually join with JetBlue and the Biden administration bragged about stopping that merger acquisition. That said, I think you're seeing JetBlue step up. taking over the bunch of those routes, offering low cost fares. Uh I wanted to see Spirit stay in business because the more competitors mean lower prices. But as you know, Audie, the pr challenge was the divide administration chose not to allow that merger and here we go.

Uh Congressman Harandopoulos of Florida, thank you so much for your time. Um I want to talk more about Congress because we're just a few months out from midterms. Democrats hoping for a blue wave. They're fighting about how to achieve that. On Monday the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee made eight endorsements and races to flip Republican seats. Now most of those handpicked candidates

still face contested primaries and some of them frankly are being outraged when it comes to money. One Democratic lawmaker tells Axios, quote, I think the D triple C owes House Democrats an explanation. And I would not be surprised if a number of members decide to put their DCC giving on hold. Some of these decisions are very perplexing. So we're hitting up uh Alex Alex talking about Axios reporting because earlier this week I was just talking with the panel about Senator Schumer's recruits.

Who were also in tough primaries. And we saw that the biggest issue in Maine, where the Democratic candidate Janet Mills dropped out. and you have um uh platiner who is uh going to the forefront without that establishment backing. Is the house seeing the same Problem? Well actually I I would say there were some Democrats that wanted Hakeem Jeffries and the D triple C to be doing this much earlier, the way that Schumer is in You mean just announcing who they want?

Yeah, exactly. And trying to clear also trying to clear the field ahead of time because now as we were talking about they have these contested primaries. There is something to be said for the democratic establishment not necessarily reading the mood of the voters. And just because you recruit somebody who is quote unquote electable, the definition of electability and what is you know disqualifying is changing clearly. Yeah, very much.

with voters and that's one of the things that you saw in Maine, which is why one of the things that was a debacle for for Schumer, although he would argue he got some other good recruits in North Carolina and Ohio. Can you guys talk about that? Because at the end of the day, we are now seeing Democrats go through what Republicans went through back in 2023, 22, where it was like candidate quality. What does it mean to be a quality candidate in the age of Trump?

where people cannot get away with what Trump gets away with, but it's not clear scandal and controversy is gonna take you down. Well, I think for democrats they are looking at a field where they have Very Good candidates. And again, and I will keep repeating this, that is why Democrats continue to win in places where they really don't have any business. When all these little office

Exactly. And and I think that is the trend that voters have said, this is what we want. They want fighters, like I said before, because they feel like they have been left behind. It's always Right. That happened with Trump. When Trump came along, Republicans were like, this is not how we do things.

Well, but I think what the Democrat Party today is facing is what we they should have actually looked at when the midterms were going on and before when Trump won. Remember, they actually never did a postmortem to see why did we lose. So the infighting is because you have radicals today. You want to tax the rich. So uh in New York you have Mondani, you have Gavin Newsom that has billions of dollars but can't get rid of homelessness.

They don't actually have solutions. And I'm asking Democrats today, what is your solutions to keep costs down? It can't continue to be tax the rich. Most of this party is imploding because they have forgotten The Obama days, and even Bill Clinton, the common sense. They continue to attack and it's TDS. It's never about solutions for the American people. I do!

I remember when the Teen Party came along, it was like what? None of these things are you know, there was a lot of complaining. And I think D Democrats might be going through something similar to the thing. I don't think you can say that the Democratic Party is imploding when we are trouncing Republican candidates. I stayed away from that acne term Democrats in disarray. Right. We are in a country.

Very good. We're not in disarray. Uh but you will be on display. See what I did there because there's gonna be uh a special tonight on CNN where you can watch how things are unfolding in California and it is a little microcosm. of some of these big questions across the country. So thank you for being in our group chat. Thank you for waking up with us. We know there's a lot of places you can spend your time. Thanks for being with us. The headlines are next.

I'm Daniel Day 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. Influential journalist Kara Swisher is taking a hard look at the longevity industry. 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.